Lame-o Five

Have you heard of the newest fad in the blogosphere? Listing the five things you do, did or like that some may consider “totally lame,” but that you are totally proud of.

I'm on to this raging fad because of El Beño.

Not to be left behind...

FIRST: I never buy or watch pirated DVDs and I do not own pirated music. This self-righteousness has not made me new friends but I will not dither. As an artist who has made very very very little money from art I sympathise with those who need to protect their work. I heartily approve of artists who give their work free, who encourage sharing knowing that they will benefit in the end, and those who offer their work for any price (yeah, Radiohead) but I also strive to protect those who put their work up for sale and do not expect to be robbed. I am not swayed by arguments that "that [artist's name] is already so rich". The problem with this is that some friends stare at me strangely and necessarily don't invite me to their movie nights. And I have to pay a lot more in the short run.

SECOND: I am a rabid Greg Keelor fan. Greg is one of the singer/songwriters in Blue Rodeo and my favorite musician. I have a story about Greg stopping a song to ask me if I'd told him to shut up. He was starting to sing something a cappella (was it 'Diamond Mine'?) in Philadelphia and some drunk Canadian women in the audience would not stop talking. I yelled 'Shut up' at THEM and Greg stopped and said "Did you tell me to shut up?" He understood and was joking but I was devastated. Later I managed to say "I didn't mean you" and he grinned and said he knew. Special note to Jim Cuddy fans: Jim is awesome too and I'm not interested in arguments about who is better. Greg is only my favorite musician in the world but I admire Jim very much. (And he's a lot friendlier with strangers like me than Greg is. Only Jim would have noticed that I was following Blue Rodeo around the British Isles and dedicated a song to me half way through the tour.)

THIRD: I like railway (/railroad) locomotives, rolling stock (but not long German four-wheelers), tracks (especially), signals, couplers (but not buffers), schedules, crews, maps, history, pioneers, museums, stations, yards, tunnels, bridges, crossings, legends, models, games, fiction, archeology, policy, advocacy, politics, passengers and TRAVEL.

FOURTH: I buy and wear used clothing whenever possible.

FIFTH: I declared all my earnings when I was a restaurant server in Montreal. More self-righteousness. I get very impatient with members of the artist / bohemian crowd (who made up the staff where I worked) who demand government services (especially to artists and bohemians) but who do not pay their share of taxes. I wonder if this was an indirect cause of my sacking - the stated reason was shabby dress (see #4 above?). Restaurant serving was the job I think I've done best in my whole life and which I've enjoyed the most.