In the newspaper yesterday, I saw an article about the opposition to a private member's bill currently tabled in the House of Commons. Apparently, three of Canada's largest mining conglomerates oppose this bill.
The bill in question states that, when the Canadian federal government (and its various investment funds, like the CPP, etc) invests in a particular company, the company must adhere to Canadian social responsibility standards in both domestic and foreign operations.
In plain English, this bill would mean that a company could be investigated to see if its operations (including ones in South America, Africa and Asia) are up to the standards expected in Canada. If not, no investment.
In related news, apparently, three of Canada's largest mining conglomerates have done shit that apparently they want to hide.
Check out the article here.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Vancouver's Amateur Comedy Scene
In a tragic case of breaking rules I just made for myself yesterday, I wanted to say something in the traditional blogging sense.
While I wasn't there (I was busy speaking into the smoky darkness at another comedy room at the time) based on every account I've heard, the LOL @ the Cellar charity benefit last Thursday was a rousing success. I just want to say congrats to the two brains behind the show, Andy Kallstrom and Donovan Patrick Mahoney.
While browsing through the facebook pictures of said event (which you can find here), I came upon a realization; Vancouver's amateur scene is pretty damn stocked right now.
After nearly 5 months of hauling my ass around to the different open mics and Pro/Am shows in this city, I'm amazed at how far a lot of us have come. Even just speaking of the 10-12 comics who started this summer (including the aforementioned Donovan and Andy), seeing the progression of both the individuals and the group has given me a real boost of confidence regarding my own development as a stand-up.
It seems to me that, while we may all still have extensive periods of intense stage-suckage, we also are kicking ass in greater frequency and amplitude than expected. In other words, for a bunch of rookies, we seem to be better comics and having more great shows than we should be.
Pardon me while I pat myself on the back. If you're part of the scene, feel free to do so too. I'll wait.
What's also amazing to me is how well we all seem to mesh. While there's some amount of the personality conflicts and back-stabbing that goes on within any amateur scene, we all seem to get along (though, I, for one, still maintain that Ross Dauk is far too handsome to be a comic; get off the stage, dreamboat and leave it for us Fug-ohs, dammit).
Anyways, my point is this; I'm honestly proud to be part of this scene right now. I also wouldn't be surprised if, 10 years from now, I'm going to be telling people "You know that guy/girl, (insert name here)? The one on TV, the one with that special? Yeah, I knew him/her in week 5. And man, did he/she SUUUUUUCK!"
Keep it up everyone, and if you are not a local comic reading this, go to any comedy show and look for the amateurs (we're easy to find, we're usually the ones begging the Host for more stage time). Better see them now before success hits and the same people become giant assholes.
Also, I hope Ross knows I was joking before. I think you are plenty unattractive to be a comic. I (heart) you, buddy.
Francis Brian Shaw
Thought for the day:
I realized last week three things: my father owns a trailer, my mother lives next to a swamp and favorite uncle just got parole. Apparently, my white trash credentials are in fine order. (Seriously guys, NOT joking)
While I wasn't there (I was busy speaking into the smoky darkness at another comedy room at the time) based on every account I've heard, the LOL @ the Cellar charity benefit last Thursday was a rousing success. I just want to say congrats to the two brains behind the show, Andy Kallstrom and Donovan Patrick Mahoney.
While browsing through the facebook pictures of said event (which you can find here), I came upon a realization; Vancouver's amateur scene is pretty damn stocked right now.
After nearly 5 months of hauling my ass around to the different open mics and Pro/Am shows in this city, I'm amazed at how far a lot of us have come. Even just speaking of the 10-12 comics who started this summer (including the aforementioned Donovan and Andy), seeing the progression of both the individuals and the group has given me a real boost of confidence regarding my own development as a stand-up.
It seems to me that, while we may all still have extensive periods of intense stage-suckage, we also are kicking ass in greater frequency and amplitude than expected. In other words, for a bunch of rookies, we seem to be better comics and having more great shows than we should be.
Pardon me while I pat myself on the back. If you're part of the scene, feel free to do so too. I'll wait.
What's also amazing to me is how well we all seem to mesh. While there's some amount of the personality conflicts and back-stabbing that goes on within any amateur scene, we all seem to get along (though, I, for one, still maintain that Ross Dauk is far too handsome to be a comic; get off the stage, dreamboat and leave it for us Fug-ohs, dammit).
Anyways, my point is this; I'm honestly proud to be part of this scene right now. I also wouldn't be surprised if, 10 years from now, I'm going to be telling people "You know that guy/girl, (insert name here)? The one on TV, the one with that special? Yeah, I knew him/her in week 5. And man, did he/she SUUUUUUCK!"
Keep it up everyone, and if you are not a local comic reading this, go to any comedy show and look for the amateurs (we're easy to find, we're usually the ones begging the Host for more stage time). Better see them now before success hits and the same people become giant assholes.
Also, I hope Ross knows I was joking before. I think you are plenty unattractive to be a comic. I (heart) you, buddy.
Francis Brian Shaw
Thought for the day:
I realized last week three things: my father owns a trailer, my mother lives next to a swamp and favorite uncle just got parole. Apparently, my white trash credentials are in fine order. (Seriously guys, NOT joking)
Week 1 : Blogging
Welcome to the obligatory first post on my blog. And in saying that, I am fully aware that as a first post on one of 14 thousand new blogs created daily in this world, this post has less chance of being read by any other human being than it does becoming the constitution of a newly created nation made entirely of aliens. Whoa, that was a long one. I think I need to sit.
My point is that the creation of blogs has immediately caused a sudden counter-reaction within the culture; the technology that made everyone's voice available to hear has also caused so much noise that the average blogger, loud or not, is lost in the static. Therefore, thanks for tuning your AM dial into me (and to the ppl who get that reference, you're welcome and I'm truly impressed you made it past AOL keyword search).
Regardless, even the mightiest redwood must start from a seed and similarly, even the world's most popular blog must stat with an audience of zero before it blossoms into something worth having the three, maybe four dozen followers that allow it to rule the rest of the blogosphere. Alas, this may be a goal I shall never reach, but a man can still dream.
Blogging, in my opinion (read: the only one that matters in a blog) is the modern day equivalent of a caveman yelling at his cave wall. Yelling not out of necessity, but more out of sport, pretending the cave's echoes were agreeing voices. Part of me wonders how many caveman generations passed before somebody turned to the guy yelling and went, “For Random-Sun-God's sake, Ugg, would you invent the goddamn pencil already! We've got kids trying to sleep and/or pick bugs off of each other!”
And with that, bang, we got what is now called blogging. Granted it was fairly simplistic and easily communicated thoughts, like “This is what food looks like,” or “This is me with a spear looking for food.” But, boiled down, this is what a blog basically is. If you added the occasional racial slur and a link to a twitter account, Ugg's cavewall accounts would be on par with 90% of the blogosphere.
But my point remains. Homosapiens, as a species, like communicating, even if (actually, I've found, especially if) there's no one there to retort. We, as the phrase goes, just like to hear the sound of our own voices. This blog is just that, you are now reading the echo in my cave. And no doubt, by this point, you are wondering what your voice will sound like with an echo. And we're back to the thing I said about static.
It's like the circle of life, but comprised entirely of people who should be out hunting wildebeest instead of listening for an echo. In other words, it's the circle of “should be living”.
But I digress, as I'm currently writing this while on a ferry (also know as a boat, idiot) and I'm fairly sure we just ran over a whale. And for some reason, I'm now hungry.
Francis Brian Shaw.
Thought for the day
Is it just me or does Prime Minister Harper's head remind you of what the heads of the parents on Charlie Brown would look like if the camera panned up?
My point is that the creation of blogs has immediately caused a sudden counter-reaction within the culture; the technology that made everyone's voice available to hear has also caused so much noise that the average blogger, loud or not, is lost in the static. Therefore, thanks for tuning your AM dial into me (and to the ppl who get that reference, you're welcome and I'm truly impressed you made it past AOL keyword search).
Regardless, even the mightiest redwood must start from a seed and similarly, even the world's most popular blog must stat with an audience of zero before it blossoms into something worth having the three, maybe four dozen followers that allow it to rule the rest of the blogosphere. Alas, this may be a goal I shall never reach, but a man can still dream.
Blogging, in my opinion (read: the only one that matters in a blog) is the modern day equivalent of a caveman yelling at his cave wall. Yelling not out of necessity, but more out of sport, pretending the cave's echoes were agreeing voices. Part of me wonders how many caveman generations passed before somebody turned to the guy yelling and went, “For Random-Sun-God's sake, Ugg, would you invent the goddamn pencil already! We've got kids trying to sleep and/or pick bugs off of each other!”
And with that, bang, we got what is now called blogging. Granted it was fairly simplistic and easily communicated thoughts, like “This is what food looks like,” or “This is me with a spear looking for food.” But, boiled down, this is what a blog basically is. If you added the occasional racial slur and a link to a twitter account, Ugg's cavewall accounts would be on par with 90% of the blogosphere.
But my point remains. Homosapiens, as a species, like communicating, even if (actually, I've found, especially if) there's no one there to retort. We, as the phrase goes, just like to hear the sound of our own voices. This blog is just that, you are now reading the echo in my cave. And no doubt, by this point, you are wondering what your voice will sound like with an echo. And we're back to the thing I said about static.
It's like the circle of life, but comprised entirely of people who should be out hunting wildebeest instead of listening for an echo. In other words, it's the circle of “should be living”.
But I digress, as I'm currently writing this while on a ferry (also know as a boat, idiot) and I'm fairly sure we just ran over a whale. And for some reason, I'm now hungry.
Francis Brian Shaw.
Thought for the day
Is it just me or does Prime Minister Harper's head remind you of what the heads of the parents on Charlie Brown would look like if the camera panned up?
Friday, November 27, 2009
Welcome, oh non-existent readers
Welcome one and all to My Brain Is (Not) Broke, the one stop comedy blog for a comedian you've never heard of: me, FBS. As a lowly amateur comic, I'm big on heart and short on funny (here's where you go "awwww"), but hopefully, over time and maybe a few alcoholic beverages, this may be a good place to have a laugh once in a while.
Until then, sit down, read an essay or a story and shut the fuck up, dammit! Oh, I nearly forgot. Did I mention I'm also good with people?
And if you're wondering about my choice of name, then obviously you don't know me and in which case, wait, and you should get it after a few posts. For those who know me and still don't get it, congratulations, you haven't been paying attention to me for the last 7 months and are therefor a terrible person.
Anyways, I'm out.
Francis Brian Shaw
Thought for the day:
Expect nothing and sir, (or ma'am, if you have the appropriate lady-parts) and I shall deliver.
Until then, sit down, read an essay or a story and shut the fuck up, dammit! Oh, I nearly forgot. Did I mention I'm also good with people?
And if you're wondering about my choice of name, then obviously you don't know me and in which case, wait, and you should get it after a few posts. For those who know me and still don't get it, congratulations, you haven't been paying attention to me for the last 7 months and are therefor a terrible person.
Anyways, I'm out.
Francis Brian Shaw
Thought for the day:
Expect nothing and sir, (or ma'am, if you have the appropriate lady-parts) and I shall deliver.
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