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Today's Blog Post
Gasp and Panick! Canada is falling apart – Left, Right and Centre! And if the Toronto Star has its way it will sell more newspapers at the Cold Time of year!
The Prime Minister of Canada has Prorogued Parliament! Holy Mackerel the entire world is going to tip over. The Parliament of Canada will not meet until March 3, 2010!!!!!! What could be worse than that?
Maybe not selling enough Newspapers or getting enough of your own stories written so you can justify the keeping of your job as a reporter – that’s what!
In today’s piece written by Susan Delacourt and Richard J. Brennan we are warned of the impending danger of a “Grassroot Uprising” by Canadians that are unhappy… and the article notes that as of yesterday 20,000 people had signed up and will possibly be protesting by or on January 23, 2010… and the implied threat for the PM is that perhaps the whole country will be upside down with his Detestable Actions taken on December 30, 2010 – when he, along with the Governor General Michaëlle Jean approving – stopped the whole world moving ahead! God help us all!!!
The world has stopped spinning on its axis – so it is reported….
Hey – Canada – WAKE UP – it is January and University Students that are sick of studying and need a break to do stupid and completely silly things. And University Professors that basically have to deal with University Students that are sick of studying – like to sell their books, give their valuable, over rated opinions about everything… but be sure you buy their book!!!!!
How can I be so hard on these knuckle heads? How dare I rise up on this insignificant blog and belch out my own rant against a possible uprising? Who do you think you are Lincoln?
Well… are you ready for this? I was once a really Stupid and really Silly University Student that was really sick of studying in January 1965. In fact it started in 1964, the fall, and the day we organized the Agricultural Club at the University of Saskatchewan, Regina Campus.
The “Ag Club” was formed by my friends when they sat next to me in a study session of that big old building on College Ave. in Regina, Saskatchewan They leaned over to me and asked if I would like to join. I asked them to tell me what it was about… and they responded by telling me that official organization meeting was to be that afternoon at Room 103B… “If you are interested come along and bring a friend!”
I showed up and heard the presentation.
The “Ag Club” was formed in a heart beat. One guy explained that on Campus there were a number of Clubs formed and partially funded by University money… and given rooms to meet in… and a staff member could facilitate where they felt the usefulness of it all.
The “Ag Club” had “No Purpose At All” – in fact it was formed to be the only No Purpose Club to do no purpose things wherever possible! After along and well explained No Purpose a rousing cheer went up from all 8 people that had come out.
One guys suggested that we needed a crest and logo that everyone could see and identify with in our group. After some extensive discussion on this issue we all came to conclusion that the very best logo and symbol was a “Pile of Manure with a pitch fork in it”… just a plain old pile of Crap!
That was as close to Agriculture that we got… was the pile of Crap. It best described what we were to do – as everything we did, out of total contempt, was to be nothing and absolutely nothing but Crap! We spent much time on deciding which Non Purpose things we could follow, design and carry out!
Now I know that some of my close friends that know my stellar reputation that I have tried so hard for 55 years to build… may be a bit surprised at this open confession… but it is true. I belonged to a group that was represented nothing but Crap – spread as thick and deep as we could spread it and to make as much noise about nothing as we could.
Now I must go back to the planning meeting… the leader stated that officially the University needed to register the Club Officers when the club was recognized. So they needed a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer. He became the President, another and then another took the next positions. That left five of us that were looking at each other with some doubt as to the leader’s sanity at that point. We were still trying to see the fact that we could join something with no purpose and radiate no purpose in complete defiance to the establishment that represented complete purpose and absolute perfection.
All eyes were turned away from the newly appointed President’s stare… all but me. He looked at me and asked a profound question, “Will you be the Treasurer? You won’t need to keep any books or handle any money. You will have no purpose at all – in keeping with the No Purpose of our club. If we do get anything given to us you can keep the Pile of Crap. Would you be able to do that for us?”
I mean what can you say except, “YES! I can do that!” And with that I was the first and only Treasurer of the Ag Club!!!!
Our first “coming out” action was well planned. It took us at least one afternoon of talking about it and making the detailed plans that would be carried out on a key night coming up.
We knew that the National Press would be there. They had been for that last two years that we could remember. And we knew too that not only would the Newspaper people be there – the National TV People would there too.
At least the Local TV would be there and the reported, spoken words would hit TV somewhere. In 1965 they still couldn’t do the Film thing to every TV Station in Canada in a split second. There were no TV Satellite Trucks yet…
We cut classes one afternoon to make the posters. As the only artistic one of the bunch that came that day – I designed the posters. Others coloured the things that I drew. The Pile of Crap was excellent and the pitch fork was just right and even the steam coming up from the pile was very graphic!
Our purpose was to Picket and Protest the “Burning of Christmas Trees” that had become a city wide event about the middle of January. All the trees that were picked up from the front of people’s houses after Christmas were deposited in one absolutely huge pile in an open field.
On a certain night the City’s Mayor and Councillors all arrived along with the Fire Department guys. The whole city arrived as well… thousands upon thousands of people gathered for a huge Mid January Bon Fire that went on for a long time as thousands of Christmas Trees sizzled and snapped and popped out on that empty field. It was a city happening of absolute wonder!
We arrived in our three cars, fetched our signage and followed our President. We pushed through the crowd to the front near the tree pile. We kept of signs down and at the ready.
The Fire Men lit the trees on fire at the Mayor’s signal… and a mighty roar went up from the thousands standing there. What a moment!
With the light of the huge Bon Fire we grabbed our signs and held them high – shouting with all the anger and vengeance that we could muster from our First Year, Second Year and Third Year University Voices!!!!! We were loud and the spectacle was absolutely perfect with us walking between the crowd and the Bon Fire… cameras were there and clicking away… our silhouettes and signage could easily be seen by all.
Our chant was simple “Burning Christmas Trees if Unfair”!!!! “Unfair!”
We made noise and we made the news. Our illustrious President was interviewed on our behalf and got the word out about the “AG Club”. The reporters scribbled and made avid notes.
People looked on with their mouths open and some even shook their heads.
We were away ahead of the gathering of Christmas Trees for making Mulch and environmental things… like big nonsense kind of fires.
But we did it. And it was a Mid January kind of stupid and silly thing to do.
The next week the University Office informed our President that they did not think that they could back a club that had no purpose. They also asked about who was at the Bon Fire Picketing episode. He told them that it was dark and he couldn’t really see everyone.
We did a few more really stupid and really silly things. The University went on to become the University of Regina. The leaders of this group graduated and for the most part either became Lawyers(eventually Politicians), Doctors and one Minister in a Church(that was me).
Special Note for Delacourt and Brennan – the 2010 Ag Club needs you to keep doing what you are doing.
It is reported that Mr. Michael Ignatieff will be visiting Universities all across Canada…. and my guess is that he will be meeting the 2010 Top Leadership of the Old Ag Club… with steam and pitch fork in place.
The one thing that I envy today is… the Old Ag Club with its original 8 founding members never had the invaluable tool of Facebook. Darn!
To Prorogue or Not to Prorogue – that is the Question!!!!
~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/
Source:
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/746068--grassroots-fury-greets-shuttered-parliament
1 comment:
Murray, you really do scare the liver out of me sometimes. :)
I must confess to being in plenty of meetings with no purpose as well. sigh
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