Normal by Brad Cran

For my daughters Micah-Sophia and Rory Sarah

I’m fighting normal. I’m choreographing this other dance, where you spin across the floor and out the door while the other kids are still jumping on the spot, popping up to learn ballet. From an outsider’s eye,

you might call ours the dancing raccoon disco, or perhaps we are the hip hop squirrel brigade. The slippery salmon lovers of clouds? Or are we the bears who hold up signs saying, Will work for honey and funk! Find your totem.

There is no tradition I will hold you to.

What I’m saying is that I want you to keep moving and I don’t care if it is in your body or your mind.

When the other kids pirouette, you are already gone. You’ve sold your tutu and moved to Amsterdam. You have woken on a beach in Vanuatu and when the person you love says, I love you, you have the confidence to say, I love me too and that’s why I can love you back ferociously in the language of red.

It’s simple really: I want to give you both the gift of yes.

The door is open and even though we are supposed to stay, we are spinning across the floor in violation of expectation and structure.

What I’m saying is: go barefoot. Or walk out with a handstand. Live in possibility and in constant proximity to desire.

Don’t just dream; burn your dreams. Heat your life with that fire.

Science Fiction // Brad Cran

In writing school we were all so in love with ourselves that we wanted to be someone else, someone good enough to reflect our egos back to us in pleasing ways. We had a Gwendolyn MacEwen type, who had windswept eyes and a penchant for rowboats that she would fill with candles and use to sail out of the classroom and down the street in a funeral procession led by her own mother’s hate. We had a Paul Theroux who would never shut up. I suppose at the time I wanted to be Raymond Carver. But of all my classmates the person I remember clearest was the one everyone respected the least: the small awkward student who wrote science fiction. He was perhaps the most passionate person in the class but his passion for science fiction made him even more absurd to a group of young people already dreaming about the composition of their literary obituaries. To introduce a story he said: What you need to know is that there are three moons that revolve around the planet of Andor. Then he was gone into the science of his plot: the effect of the gravitational pull on character development, the available ballistics, how they’d have guns but preferred to fight with sabres and his hero who shall, by the end of his story, slaughter the orc-like villains and send them back to a life buried in clay. His work was widely dismissed. He was given suggested readings: serious books by serious authors. He came back to the next class with a poem he had written about karate. He stood up, took off his coat and from his bag he unfolded, and then put on, a white karate jacket, which in all honesty made him look even smaller. He squared his feet back, braced his body in battle position and shouted his poem while punching the air. He may even have had good style but the sight of this tiny science fiction writer, dressed for karate and punching his poem into being, was too much for our group to handle. When those who were trying to hold back their laughter simply could not anymore it blew out of our chests uncontrollably until everyone was openly laughing. He simply stopped, picked up his jacket, walked out of the room and never came back. Officially we were told that he had dropped the course to find something that was “a better fit.” Unofficially we talked about “the moons of Andor,” his karate position and whether or not he was the kind of person who would come to our class and shoot everyone. At that time, in our early twenties, we just couldn’t see past our own self-delusion, but in thinking about him now, I understand he was just a young man who desperately wanted to make himself stronger. We were all so wrong about science fiction. Three times in my life, in very real ways, I have felt the knowledge that I have super powers. You see, one day I became a super villain and had the power to shoot beams of energy from my chest. I have also glimpsed portals and occasionally I can see through them. Lastly, when certain elements line up with my body, I gain the perception of perpetual speed and I do indeed become the Flash, the fastest man in the world.

On April 17, 2007, at approximately 5:14 pm in front of my house my daughter, age five, waved at a friend from the sidewalk. When she stepped off the curb and ran to go see him, a speeding SUV struck her and knocked her down the street. I saw the impact from our living room window. I may have flown off the front of my steps. I may have teleported to her. I can’t be sure how I got there, but when I picked her up blood trickled out of her mouth and I went into shock. As it turned out, the blood from her mouth was not internal bleeding but ran from a deep cut where she bit through her tongue. Three ambulances and two fire trucks came. She had muscle pain and road rash up one side of her body but otherwise was fine. Gillian held her and I went outside where the driver of the SUV was in our front yard with her camera. She was taking pictures of the street and her vehicle. She kept repeating to my neighbour that she wasn’t going to have to pay. This is when I became the super villain. As clearly as I have the power to walk, I could feel the hate in my chest coagulating into a ball of energy that I was sure I could shoot from my chest to vaporize her. I could feel the power to kill her through the strength of my hate. I charged at her and my neighbour intervened. I thought about releasing a beam of hate and vaporizing them both but instead I told her to leave my neighbourhood or I would kill her with my bare hands. My neighbour insisted that she stay until the police arrived and I went back inside to get Gillian because I was certain Gillian would want me to kill her—but instead she told me to calm down. I couldn’t understand her. A police officer came in to check on Rory and question us. Gillian started by apologizing for me and telling the officer I was just upset. She told him about the woman taking pictures. The police officer said he would have been equally angry but we should keep in mind “the driver of the vehicle was in shock.” I said, yes I was sorry, that I got caught in the heat of the moment, that I was just worried about my daughter. But really I was lying to them and I wanted them to believe me so I could leave and follow the woman home, because even then I still wanted to kill her. Gillian began to cook. I usually do the cooking in the house but in this moment she began to cook and cook and cook. She could not stop cooking. Her mood was jovial which frustrated me because I wanted to convince her that we should burn the world. She invited the police to stay. She would make pineapple and red pepper shish kebabs, with a teriyaki glaze. Garlic mashed potatoes and all of Rory’s favourite food. There would be enough for the ambulance drivers and all the neighbours. Really they should all stay. It was as if the accident had cheered her up. It wasn’t until three months later that her hair began to fall out. At first we noticed just a little, but then it became clear that her beautiful hair was falling out in large clumps. We took her to the walk-in clinic and the doctor asked her if she had suffered a trauma within the past few months and she told him, Three months ago, if only for a moment, we thought we were going to lose our daughter. That fall Gillian and I finished collecting oral histories for a book called Hope in Shadows. We would take turns going to the Downtown Eastside to interview disadvantaged people about their lives. We alternated so neither would have to take the full emotional burden of hearing stories of abuse that are so common in an impoverished neighbourhood. Sometimes the stories would inspire us, but often they would open us up to a narrative we weren’t prepared to hear. One day I listened to the story of a woman I assumed was about forty years old. She had started working as a prostitute at the age of thirteen. She was in a wheelchair because someone had thrown her down the escalator at the Granville SkyTrain and one of the striped metal steps crushed her vertebrae. Recently she had been panhandling outside the Roxy nightclub and some men came out of the bar and threw her out of her wheelchair. I asked her age and found out she was actually twenty-four years old. When I got home I had two goals: to keep calm in front of my kids and drink as much wine as possible. I must have poured half a bottle into my first glass. I prepared myself to put up with my kids’ misbehaviour; I would do everything I could to hold it together, but Rory could tell something was wrong. She hugged my legs and said, Daddy, you’re the best daddy in the world. And that is what set me off, bawling like a child in front of my own children. Sometime that fall, my friend Ian introduced us to the music of Jonathan Richman. I wasn’t familiar with Richman’s music but Ian had tickets to see him and he assured us we’d love his show. So we went. I now own many of his albums but it is Richman’s Rockin’ and Romance that became an important part of our lives. This album is a sonata to happiness. It is sunshine and beach sand. It is the human condition told through the quest for a new pair of jeans. On days we had hard interviews it was our cure, our cleanser: to go for a run and listen to Rockin’ and Romance. Three years later the book was going into a second printing and I was at my publisher’s. He said he had forgotten to tell me but we had received a letter. It was a letter from Jonathan Richman. He wanted us to know that he had been in town performing and a homeless person had sold him a copy of Hope in Shadows. He was writing to say how much he enjoyed it. This was more important than just receiving a note from someone we admired. It was a convergence. I couldn’t have been on my bicycle fast enough. I was pedalling as quickly as I could. I had to get home to show Gillian this letter from Jonathan Richman. I was biking down Abbott toward BC Place and the road was blocked. People were standing around. There was a baby stroller in the street under a yellow tarp. I asked someone what had happened and was told a mother was waiting at the light to cross the street, and when she stepped off the curb a tow truck hit and killed her baby. Panic set in. Again I couldn’t get home fast enough. I needed to get home as quick as possible. Every molecule of my body was water. It was as if I could slip into the ocean. This is how it happens. A mother’s life changes forever one afternoon. Where could that mother place herself after such a horrible loss. Sometimes all we have is fantasy. Sometimes we need science fiction. Throughout the city you can see memorials built for people who have been killed by motorists. Each memorial has its own distinct energy. The memorials with the strongest pull are the two I have seen in the city that were erected for children. One is framed around a teddy bear tied to a pole with purple ribbon. The other is a perpetually refreshed stack of flowers above a large Tonka truck. I haven’t yet figured the science out, how exactly they work but I believe they are portholes to a second chance, an alternate universe or a world with different gravity. What you need to know is that there are three moons that revolve around the planet of Andor. From a hundred yards back of a roadside shrine, I can spot the flicker of another world, the glimmer of something as easy as a second chance. As I get closer the portal fully opens; a child is again standing by the road, everything depends on this. I am the Flash. My thoughts are lightning, my heart beats by its thunder. The child fidgets and I am running.

Thank you, but I didn’t actually get cancelled in any meaningful way. Valiant attempts were made to drown me (figuratively), but since I don’t have a job I can’t be fired, I’m a tough old bat, I’m too elderly to give much of a poop about my future “career,” it’s not the first hanging party and book-burning featuring myself, and it seems that my Dear Readers were having none of it. Thank you, Dear Readers. It is for you, after all, that I write, not for some craven scholar trying to save her own behind by beating herself up in public for having built her reputation on studies of my oevre. (You know who you are. I accept apologies.) Why the posse tried to take me down: I signed (and refused to retract, Bad Me!) an open letter to the University of British Columbia (“UBC Accountable”) calling for due and fair process for writer Stephen Galloway, who had been accused — dubiously, it now strongly appears —of rape –a violent criminal act, lest we forget. Nine years later, this claim has still to be thoroughly investigated in a court of law, due to the prolonged and frantic efforts by those being sued for defamation to keep such a trial from happening. But enough preliminary court cases have gone on so that a number of folks have now reversed their snap judgments, and some have gone full Mea Culpa. You can read all about it in Brad Cran’s Substack called Truth and Consequences; start at the bottom and scroll up. It just gets worse and worse. What was amazing to me was the casualness with which the posse — mostly academics — tossed the Declaration of Human Rights and the Canadian Rights and Freedoms out the window, with cries of “Burn it all down” and the like. But every sword has three sides: your side, the other side, and the Oh Shit! side you didn’t anticipate. Some are now beginning to smoulder themselves, as folks set fire to their feet. Darn, where are those Rights and Freedoms now that a person might need them?

The novelist Margaret Atwood responds in an acerbic style to the attacks she received for having called for due process when the writer Stephen Galloway was accused of rape.

The fact that calling for due process was treated like a crime, while presuming an accusation was true without due process was treated as normal behaviour, shows the level of dystopian tyranny that has overtaken Canadian institutions.

It shows how academics are at the forefront of trashing fundamental pillars of civilisation for the sake of their own ideologies and malignant self-righteousness, which includes smearing and threatening anyone who dares to disagree.

When we acknowledge that many malign tyrannies have been spearheaded by academics (Nazi racism was promulgated by German academics in the 1920's; China's Revolution of 1949 thrived in the universities), then we cannot be surprised by examples such as this.

Such conduct wouldn't be nearly as effective if so many refused to be intimidated and toe the line. When the majority are cowards more concerned about their reputations than about justice, brave voices such as that of Atwood and others who have dared to displease the disciples of currently fashionable movements are seen as radicals: easy to intimidate, abuse, and threaten.

It's time for people to stand up to such intellectual thuggery by defending freedom of speech and the right to the presumption of innocence. When the bullies see that people have a backbone and can't be threatened into silence, they lose their repugnant air of impunity and imagined righteousness.

american surnames + atomic and subatomic particles BUT similar to "svetlana"

Acevelen Adamson Aguilate Alberts Albertson Ales Alest Allahane Alls Alsh Alva Alvargent Andolph Antu Armons Arne Aton Austice Austino Avens Aver Avez Ayalazar Bair Bake Barloway Barrison Bart Bartines Barty Bassen Beachyon Beckers Bendoza Benjamire Bens Blacruz Blain Blandez Boote Bott Brad Bradleton Brand Brandry Brera Brews Buchane Bullon Bulloney Burge Burker Burn Burtin Butle Butledges Butley Calder Caldonado Caldstout Caller Camacias Camer Camery Cantoya Cantry Carez Carnes Carp Carres Carrino Cars Cart Cartlett Cartman Carvis Castana Castravez Castron Cervan Cervantin Chand Chandley Chard Chardina Chardy Checo Chelton Chez Chran Chris Chulton Clarsh Clins Cobbs Cobson Coch Colemeney Colomon Comb Connon Contry Cort Corton Cran Crosa Cummer Cunning Dalence Daughn Daver Davez Daviton Deck Dick Dila Dill Dilly Dods Domington Donado Doughn Dowell Dows Doyler Doylers Dudleton Dudletty Duffman Duncasey Edware Elen Elly Emender Emenez Ementosh Eston Evan Ewis Farles Farlson Ferman Fermion Figuer Fischneil Fish Fitzgers Flowansen Fole Fowlandez Frandez Freder Frederson Frencent Fuenters Fullips Gallers Galls Gamber Gard Garne Gate Gilberger Giley Gillivery Gimpson Glas Gleton Glove Gold Golder Gonzale Gran Gravis Graymon Greed Griff Grosborn Groster Guer Guez Guthris Halla Hallarson Hancannon Hard Harden Hards Hargas Harpero Hayers Heber Hender Hensen Hernarden Hickson Higgino Higgs Hillar Hillon Hintyre Hold Holdston Holdstout Holl Hollier Hollino Hols Hoods Houn Houstiago Howen Howers Hutcherd Hyden Hyper Ingston Jacobbs Jamer Jamire Jeffey Jenkinson Joynes Juarks Kaney Kell Kennell Kenner Kennis Klins Land Lark Lawrencia Leachyon Leblaker Leonand Levince Littley Livan Livas Lowers Lucasey Lyon Magnett Malder Malderson Maldwin Malls Mars Mart Marthy Mathewitt Mayner Mccard Mccarney Mccarr Mccarrez Mcclayton Mcconway Mccorton Mccraft Mcdanield Mcintone Mcker Mckett Mckins Mclayton Mcmahony Mcneill Mcneillis Mcphonon Mcphoto Mead Medin Melectron Meler Mender Mentlett Mermion Meronan Michamble Milton Mitchez Mora Moranon Moreman Morgas Morino Morron Mortin Mullegord Munoza Nguy Niel Niels Nolderson Obrie Orre Pachoa Palmero Parden Patrino Patt Paulkner Payner Pecker Pence Pench Pent Peroa Perrell Perris Peter Phill Photo Pickson Pitt Plas Poland Poolemin Pott Potton Powe Pres Prester Princh Pruiz Pughn Quinner Rames Ramire Rams Reeman Reer Reil Reyer Rhodgers Richapman Rick Ricks Rickson River Robb Rober Robers Robert Roberty Robins Roble Rodges Rodright Rodrix Roger Rollace Romason Roses Rutle Sala Salins Sandright Santinez Sargins Sariton Saunez Savargas Savargins Schneil Schneillo Schrancia Schurst Schward Schwarez Scotton Sell Serra Shart Shephen Shepherra Sheppark Sherrell Shers Simond Simontoya Singhan Skyrming Slatino Snowles Solivang Stepherd Stes Steward Ston Stro Stron Suarks Sullock Sweeks Tach Tard Tauanters Tauantosh Taunder Taylore Taylores Terr Ters Thomass Thony Torrino Trevins Trujiller Tucklein Turn Tyle Upquarks Vald Valenn Vales Varadford Velander Velaney Velers Vins Wallowan Wardson Warrett Wartine Wash Watkinn Weene Weet Weston Weylfe Wilders Wing Woodman Woody Wooth Work Wyattle Wyatts Youn Zimmeron Zimmerry

I absolutely love this song and honestly, the fact that it’s in 95% fuck-awful Engrish kinda makes it even better

Trophées de la LNH 2021: Nos prédictions

Réjouissez-vous, chers partisans, la saison de hockey est enfin commencée! Et quoi de mieux que de pouvoir regarder du hockey tous les soirs sans se sentir coupable de ne rien faire à cause du couvre-feu? Même si la Ligue nationale vient de débuter sa saison, nous avons décidé de vous offrir nos prédictions sur les différents trophées dans la LNH, afin de voir, à la fin de la campagne, si nous avions raison ou si nous nous sommes royalement trompés. Voici donc les prédictions en question :

 KING CLANCY : Matt Dumba, Défenseur, Wild du Minnesota

 Trophée très difficile à prédire, n’étant pas en lien avec les statistiques des joueurs, le King Clancy est un trophée remis au joueur qui a démontré du leadership autant sur la glace qu’à l’extérieur, tout en contribuant à sa communauté. En 2020, le récipiendaire de ce trophée fut Matt Dumba, pour son implication dans la cause sociale contre la brutalité policière envers les Noirs aux États-Unis, et il est difficile de croire que le trophée ne lui sera pas remis pour une deuxième saison. En effet, Dumba est cofondateur de la Hockey Diversity Alliance, qui se veut promotrice de la diversité dans la Ligue nationale, et il a été le visage de la lutte aux inégalités sociales dans la LNH, avec ses discours au centre de la glace avant les matchs de séries dans la bulle, entre autres. Nous croyons que Matt Dumba recevra ce trophée pour une deuxième saison consécutive, car la lutte aux injustices envers les Noirs est loin d’être terminée et Dumba pourra utiliser la tribune que lui donne la LNH pour discuter encore plus de ces injustices durant la saison 2021.

 BILL MASTERTON : Oskar Lindblom, Attaquant, Flyers de Philadelphie

 Autre trophée ne concernant pas une donnée statistique, le Bill Masterton est donné au joueur qui démontre une persévérance et une dédication au sport qu’est le hockey. En 2020, le récipiendaire fut Bobby Ryan, ayant accepté d’intégrer le programme d’assistance de la LNH pour combattre son alcoolisme. Finaliste au trophée l’an passé, Oskar Lindblom se verra assurément recevoir ce trophée s’il joue toute la saison 2021. En effet, il avait manqué toute la saison 2020, dû au sarcome d’Ewing, qui est une forme de cancer des os, mais avait pu revenir au jeu à temps pour la première ronde des séries des Flyers, dans la bulle de Toronto. Maintenant complètement rétabli de ce cancer, Lindblom pourra avoir un impact majeur avec une équipe comme les Flyers, qui aspire aux grands honneurs, et se verra, selon nous, remporter le trophée Bill Masterton.

 WILLIE O’REE : À déterminer

 Trophée donné à des individus qui ont eu un impact positif dans leur communauté par le hockey, il est impossible de se positionner sur qui sera le récipiendaire de ce trophée, car il est choisi par un comité distinct de la Ligue Nationale et ne concerne pas des joueurs de la LNH. Nous préférons donc nous abstenir de nommer un gagnant pour cet honneur.

 JACK ADAMS : John Cooper, Lightning de Tampa Bay

 Trophée accordé au meilleur entraîneur de la Ligue nationale, il avait été donné à Bruce Cassidy, des Bruins, car son équipe avait gagné le trophée des présidents, avec une fiche de 44 victoires, 14 défaites et 12 défaites en prolongation. Par contre, nous croyons que cette année, il sera accordé à John Cooper, car, en plus d’avoir gagné la Coupe avec le Lightning en 2020, nous croyons que le Lightning finira avec la meilleure fiche de la ligue, grâce, entre autres, au retour de Steven Stamkos dans l’alignement. Au niveau des finalistes, nous prédisons Jared Bednar, de l’Avalanche, et Alain Vigneault, des Flyers.

  FRANK J. SELKE : Aleksander Barkov, Attaquant, Panthers de la Floride

 Trophée accordé au meilleur attaquant défensif de la LNH, il avait été donné à Sean Couturier l’an passé, en raison de sa capacité à gagner des mises en jeu en zone défensive et à limiter les chances de marquer dans sa zone. Par contre, Sean Couturier est, en ce moment, blessé pour un mois et demi, donc nous croyons que cette blessure va diminuer la probabilité qu’il soit voté pour le trophée Selke. C’est donc pourquoi nous donnons le Selke à Aleksander Barkov, qui est, depuis 2013, un des meilleurs attaquants défensifs de la ligue, mais qui n’a jamais gagné le trophée Selke. Âgé de 25 ans, il débute l’apogée de sa carrière et devrait être capable de montrer qu’il est le meilleur attaquant défensif de la LNH cette année. Au niveau des finalistes, nous avons Ryan O’Reilly, des Blues, et Patrice Bergeron, des Bruins, deux habitués de ce trophée.

 LADY BING : Auston Matthews, Attaquant, Maple Leafs de Toronto

 Trophée remis au meilleur joueur qui combine une capacité à bien jouer tout en restant gentleman, c’est-à-dire en ne prenant pas trop de pénalités pour son équipe, il avait été donné à Nathan Mackinnon l’an passé, car il avait terminé avec 93 points et seulement 12 minutes de pénalité. Par contre, Matthews était parmi les finalistes et avait pris seulement 8 minutes de pénalité, et c’est pourquoi nous croyons que s’il est capable d’élever son jeu d’un cran et d’amasser entre 85 et 90 points tout en gardant le même nombre de minutes de pénalités, le trophée Lady Bing sera donné au numéro 34 des Maple Leafs. Au niveau des finalistes, nous prédisons Nathan Mackinnon, de l’Avalanche, qui est toujours dans la course à ce trophée, et Aleksander Barkov, des Panthers, un autre régulier du Lady Bing.

 JIM GREGORY : Marc Bergevin, Canadiens de Montréal

 Trophée remis au meilleur directeur général de la LNH, il avait été remis à Lou Lamoriello, des Islanders, en 2020, en raison de son excellent travail à entourer sa vedette Mathew Barzal, en allant chercher des joueurs comme Semyon Varlamov, Derick Brassard et Jean-Gabriel Pageau, travail qui avait amené les Islanders à la finale de la conférence de l’Est. Cette année, nous croyons que notre DG chéri pourrait très bien gagner ce trophée si les Canadiens font les séries et se rendent minimalement en deuxième ronde. En effet, les acquisitions de Jake Allen, Joel Edmunson, Josh Anderson, Tyler Toffoli et Corey Perry, ainsi que l’arrivée d’Alexander Romanov, vont amener le Canadien à être beaucoup plus compétitif dans la division Nord, et ceci pourrait donc assurer le trophée Jim Gregory à Bergevin. Au niveau des finalistes, nous avons Brad Treliving, des Flames, qui a aussi fait plusieurs acquisitions pour rendre Calgary plus compétitif, et Joe Sakic, qui a réussi plusieurs vols, dont l’acquisition de Devon Toews pour des pinottes.

 MARK MESSIER : Gabriel Landeskog, Avalanche du Colorado

 Trophée remis au joueur qui démontre de bonnes qualités pour son équipe et à l’extérieur de la glace, c’est monsieur Mark Messier qui choisit le joueur qui recevra cette reconnaissance, et c’est souvent des capitaines qui finissent par la recevoir. En 2020, Mark Giordano, des Flames, a reçu le trophée, grâce à son leadership en tant que capitaine des Flames et son travail charitable, lui qui a fondé des organismes de charité, comme Team Giordano, qui promeut l’activité physique et le travail académique chez les jeunes. Cette année, nous croyons que le trophée ira à Gabe Landeskog, car, tout en étant le capitaine d’une équipe qui se rendra assurément loin en séries, il est impliqué dans plusieurs organisations, comme Friends, qui aide à lutter contre l’intimidation dans les écoles, et a fait beaucoup de dons pour contrer la COVID-19 dans l’état du Colorado.

 CALDER : Kirill Kaprizov, Attaquant, Wild du Minnesota

 Trophée remis à la recrue de l’année dans la LNH, Cale Makar en avait été le récipiendaire en 2020, dû à sa récolte de 50 points en 57 matchs en tant que défenseur, ce qui est absolument phénoménal. Cette année, nous le donnons à Kirill Kaprizov, qui en est à sa première saison dans la LNH, après avoir dominé la Ligue continentale de Russie, considérée deuxième meilleure ligue au monde. De plus, à 23 ans, il est un peu plus vieux que les autres recrues de la LNH, et il a donc un peu plus d’expérience, et il jouera sur le premier trio du Wild dès le début de la saison, tous des facteurs qui peuvent l’aider à remporter le Calder. Au niveau des finalistes, nous avons Igor Shesterkin, des Rangers, et Tim Stützle, des Sénateurs.

 HART : Nathan MacKinnon, Attaquant, Avalanche du Colorado

 Probablement le trophée le plus prestigieux après la Coupe Stanley, il est remis au joueur le plus important à son équipe et a été donné à Leon Draisaitl en 2020, dû à une récolte de 110 points en 71 matchs chez les Oilers. Par contre, nous croyons que Nathan MacKinnon a toutes les chances de le gagner cette année, lui qui était finaliste l’an passé. Étant le visage d’une équipe comme l’Avalanche, qui aspire aux grands honneurs, il arrive à son apogée, à 25 ans, et devrait donc connaître, en théorie, une des meilleures saisons de sa carrière déjà exceptionnelle. De plus, si son équipe termine haut dans le classement, cela pourrait grandement jouer en sa faveur pour gagner ce trophée. Au niveau des finalistes, nous avons Connor McDavid, des Oilers, et Artemi Panarin, des Rangers.

 NORRIS : Quinn Hughes, Défenseur, Canucks de Vancouver

 La décision de choisir Quinn Hughes pour le trophée du meilleur défenseur de la LNH est très impressionnante, nous en sommes conscients, mais elle n’est pas illogique. En effet, Quinn Hughes a terminé la saison dernière avec 53 points en 68 matchs, tout en étant le visage de la défense des Canucks, équipe qui s’est rendue en deuxième ronde dans la bulle, et le quart-arrière de leur supériorité numérique, tandis que le gagnant de l’an passé, Roman Josi, a terminé la saison avec 65 points en 69 matchs dans une équipe des Prédateurs qui a eu de la difficulté tout l’année. De plus, Quinn Hughes va continuer d’évoluer en tant que joueur et pourrait connaître une saison offensive mémorable, lui qui a déjà 3 points et 2 matchs joués dans la saison 2021. Au niveau des finalistes, nous avons Cale Makar, de l’Avalanche, et Victor Hedman, du Lightning.

 TED LINDSAY : Connor McDavid, Attaquant, Oilers d’Edmonton

 Trophée remis au joueur le plus important à son équipe selon le reste de la LNH, il avait aussi été gagné par Leon Draisaitl l’an passé, dû à sa saison de 110 points en 71 matchs. Par contre, nous croyons que les joueurs diront cette année que Connor McDavid est le joueur le plus important à son équipe, simplement car il est impossible à défendre pour les défenseurs adverses, dû à sa vitesse incroyable, vitesse qui lui permet d’amasser beaucoup de points. Donc, nous croyons que les joueurs pensent que McDavid est plus important à son équipe que MacKinnon, par exemple, car il est un cauchemar pour les défensives adverses. Au niveau des finalistes, nous avons Nathan MacKinnon, de l’Avalanche, et Artemi Panarin, des Rangers.

 VÉZINA : Andrei Vasilevskiy, Gardien, Lightning de Tampa Bay

 Trophée le plus prestigieux pour les gardiens, il a été remis, en 2020, à Connor Hellebuyck, qui a su garder un pourcentage d’efficacité de 0,922 et une moyenne de buts alloués de 2,57. Par contre, même s’il sera encore dans les finalistes, nous ne croyons pas que Hellebuyck gagnera ce trophée pour une deuxième année de suite, car nous ne voyons pas les Jets en séries, dû à une division Nord très compétitive. À la place de gagnant du trophée, nous voyons Andrei Vasilevskiy, qui est un habitué de ce trophée et qui, dû au fait qu’il joue dans une division Centrale assez faible, ne sera pas menacé par les attaques adverses, ce qui lui permettra de garder des bonnes statistiques. Au niveau des finalistes, nous avons Connor Hellebuyck, des Jets, et Carey Price, du Canadien, autres habitués de ce trophée.

  BONUS : Voici, selon nous, l’équipe de recrues de 2021 :

 Gardien : Igor Shesterkin, Rangers de New York

 Défenseur 1: Alexander Romanov, Canadiens de Montréal

 Défenseur 2 : Ty Smith, Devils du New Jersey

 Attaquant 1: Kirill Kaprizov, Wild du Minnesota

 Attaquant 2 : Tim Stueztle, Sénateurs d’Ottawa

 Attaquant 3 : Alexis Lafrenière, Rangers de New York

Levidromes

A levidrome is a word that when spelled backwards makes another word. Well, at least not yet. It is not in the Oxford English Dictionary. Levi Budd is a six-year-old boy from British Columbia in Canada who has coined the term 'levidrome' after spotting that the word 'STOP' spells 'POTS' backwards. After realising that there is no such word in English for this phenomena, a social media campaign has started to get this word in popular usage (hence this post). I wrote a short Python script this morning that will pull all of the levidromes from a dictionary file. The full list is copied below.

aa ab aba abac abba abo abos abut acca ad ado ados ae aga agar agas agenes ah aha ahs aia aider air airts ajar aka al ala alan alif alma alula am ama amahs amas amen amene amir amis amla amman an ana anal anan anana anes anew anger animal animes anna annat anon ante apod araara arak arb arbas are ares arf aril arret arris arum arval aryl assam asses at ataata ate ates aua auks ava aval avel avid avo awa ay ayahs ba bac bacs bad bag bal bals ban bans bard barf bark bas bat bats bed beef ben bens bib bid big bin bins bird bis blub bo bob bobac bobak bod bog boh bok bon bonk boob boord bor bos bots bows boy bra braced brad brag braw bro brod bros bru bub bud bug bulb bun bunk buns bur burd burg bus but buts cab caba cabob cam camus cap card cares cep ceps cire cires cis cit cite cito civic clat cod cor cos cot cram cran crem cur da dab dace dad dag dah dahs dal dam dap daraf darb darg dart darts das daud daw daws day de deb debut decaf decal decarb dedal deed deem deen deens deep deeps deer dees deet deets def defer deffer deffo deg degami degged deid deified deifier deil deke deked del deled delf delis deliver delos dels deman demit demits den denier denies denim denis denned dennets dens depart deport depot depots derat derats dere dered deres deros derris dessert desserts deus devas devil devils devots dew dewans dewed dexes deys di dial dialer dials diaper dib did died dif dig dim din dinar diol diols diram dit div diva do dob doc dod dog doh dohs dol dom don dons doom door dop dopa dops dor dorb dormin dorp dorps dort dorter dos doser dot doy drab drac drail dram drap draps draw drawer draws dray drey drib drier droob drool drow drows drub duad dual dub dud duel duo dup dups ea ean eas eat ecad ecce ed edile edit ee eel eels een ef eh ehs eke eked elide elides elutes em eme emes emir emit emits emmets emong emos en ene enema enes enol enows er era ere ered eres ergo eric eros ervil eses esnes espial esse et eta etas etat etats eten etic etna euk eve even evil eviler evils ewe exul eye faced farad fe fed feeb feer fen fer fet fid fier fig fila fir fires fled flog flor flow fool fra frab fret fro gab gad gag gal gals gam gan gans gaps gar garb gas gat gateman gater gats gay ged gel gelder gem gen get gib gid gif gig gins gip girt girts git gnar gnat gnats gnaw gnaws gnome gnus gob god golf gon gons goog gorp gorps gos got grad gram grub gu gub gul gulp guls gum gums guns gup gups gur gut guv guy ha habus had hadedah hah hahs hajjah halalah hales hallah hallan halos han hap haram hay he heh henry hep her hey ho hob hod hoh hon hoo hoop hop hos huh hup id ikat imaged io iris iron is it itas iwi jar kabob kaiak kak kam kara kat kay kayak keek keel keels keep keet keets ken keps kier kips kirks kis kiths knaps knar knit knits knob knop knot knots know knub knuts kob kook kor korat kow krab krans kue la lab laced lacer lad laded laer lag lager laid laipse lair lam lamina lana langer lap lares larum las laud lava lavra leat leben led lee leek leep leeps leer lees leet leets leg leir lemel leper les let leud leva level lever levins levo lez liar liard liart lias lied lies lin lion lira lit live lived livre lobo lod loges loid lone loof looks loom loons loop loops loord loos loot looter loots lop los lotos lug luxe lyra ma mac macs mad madam maes mag mak mal malam mallam mals mam man map maps mar marah marc marcs mard marg marid marram marrum mart mas massa mat maws may me meed mees meet meets meg mem merc meter mets mew mho mid milks mils mim mined minim mips mir mis mm mo mod mom mon moo mood mool mools moops moor moos moot mop mor mos mot moy mu mug mum mura mural mures murram mus mut muton muts na naan nab nae nag nah nala nallah nam named namer nametag namma nan nana nap napas nappas naps naras narc narcs narks nas nat naw ne neb nebel ned nee need neep nef neg nek neks nelis nema nemas nep net nete nets neve neves new nib nid nil nimrod nip nips nis nit no nob nod nog noh noil nolos nom non nona nonet noo noon noop noops nori nos not notes notum now noy nu nub nun nur nus nut nuts nys oat ob oba obey obo obol od oda odas offed offer ogre oh ohm oho ohos oi oiks om on ono oo ooh oohs oom oon oop oor oot op oppo orb orf os otic otto oud ova ovel ow owt oxo oy pac pacer pad pah pal palp pals pam pan pans pap par pard part parts pas pat pats paw paws pay pec peed peek peel peels peen peep pees peh pelas pen peons pep per perp perts pets pig pin pins pip pir pis pit plap plug po pod poh pol pols pom ponk poo pooh pool pools poon poons poop poor poort poos poots pop port ports pos pot pots pow pows prat prep prod prog pud pug puh pullup pup pupils puris pus put puy radar rag raga rager rages raggas rail rait raj raja ram ramis rang ranid rank rap raps ras rast rat rats raw ray re real reaps rebus rebut recal recap recaps reccos redder redes redia redips redleg redraw redrawer reed reef reeks reel reels reens rees ref refed refer reffed reffo reflet reflow regal regar regna regnal regos reh reif reified reifier reik reiks reined reird reknit reknits reknot reknots relaid relit relive reliver reman remeet remit renies rennet rep repaid repaper repel repins repot repots res resat resod retag retem retool retrod retros revel reviled reviler reviver reward rewarder rewets rexes ria rial rias ribas riel rif rim rima rime rims rip rits rob roc rod rok rolf rom rones roo rood room rooms roop roops roots rosies rot rotator rotavator rotor rub ruc rucs rug rums run sab sabir sabra sad sadis sado sados sae sag saga sagas sagenes saggar sail sair sakis sal salep salles sallets sam sama samas samen san sanes sap sapan sappan saps sar saran saros sarus sat sate sati sav saved saw saz scab scam scares scot scram scran scur seals seam seat secret seder sedes sedile seed seeks seel seem seems seep seer sees segar segol seil seined seiner seis seisor seities sekos sel selah selahs seles sellas selles seme sememes semes semina sena senas sene senega senegas sennet senor sense ser sera serac seracs seral sere sered seres seric serif serons serres serum sese sesey sessa sesses set seta seton setule seven sexed sexer sexes sey seys sha shad shah shahs shakos shales shama shay shaya she shod shoo shtik si sib sic sidas sies sik sikas siled silen sim sima simar simis sin sined sinnet sip siri siris sirra sirred sirs sirup sis sit six skat skeer skees skeets sken skeps skier skio skips sklim skool skran skrans skrik skua slab slaes slag slaid slam slap sled slee sleek sleep sleeps sleer sleet sleets slim slipup slit slive slived sloid sloom sloop sloops sloot sloots slop slug smart smees smew smir smits smoor smoot smug smur smut smuts snab snag snap snaps snark snarks snaw snawed snaws sneb sned sneed sneer snib snig snip sniper snips snirt snit snivel snod snoep snog snool snoop snoops snoot snores snort snot snow snub snug so sob soba soc soccer sod soda sodas sog soger soh soho sokahs sokes sol solah soled solon solos som some son sonnet sool soom soop sop soras sorb sore sored sorter sos sotol sow soy spacer spaer spag spam span spank spans spar spard spart sparts spas spat spats spaw spaws spay spaz spec speed speel speels spek speks spets spider spik spiks spim spin spins spirt spirts spit spod spool spools spoom spoon spoons spoor spoots sports spot spots sprat sprits sprod sprog spud spug sris stab stag stang stap staps star stared start stat state stats staw staws steed steek steeks steel steels steem stellas stem stemme sten stenned step steps stet stets stew stewer stime stimed stims stink stinker stir stirps stob stonk stonker stool stools stoop stoops stoor stop stoped stoper stops stot stots stoved stow stows strad strap straps straw strep stressed stria strig strips strop strops strow struts stub stum stums stun stunk sturts sub subah suber succus sued sulu sulus sum sumac sun sung sup suras sus susus swad swam swang swans swap swaps sward swat swats sway swey swob swone swop sword swot swots syed syes syn ta tab tae tael taes tag tak taki taks talc tallat tam tan tang tanna tao tap taps tar tared tarok tarp tarps tart tas taser tat tate tats tav taw taws te teed teek teel teels teem teemer tef teg tel telfer ten tenet tenner tennes tennis tennos tenon terces terf terra terret tes tet tets tew ti tiar tic tid tide tig til tiler tils time timed timer tin tink tinker tins tip tips tirrit tis tit toc tocs tod tog tom ton tonk tonker tons too tool tools toom tooms toons toot top toped toper tops tor torot tort tot tots tow tows trad trail tram trams trap traped traps trat trats tressed trew trig trins trips trod trons troop trop troped trot trow tsar tub tuba tubed tuber tug tum tums tun tup tut two ug ulu ulus um umu un urb utu vas vat vav vid vug wad wan wang wans wap waps war warb ward warder warts was wat wats waw way wed wem wems wen wena wert wet wets wey wo wok wolf wolfer won wonk wons wop word wort worts wos wot wots wow xis ya yad yag yah yahs yak yam yap yaps yar yard yaw yaws yay yebo yeh yerd yes yeses yew yews yo yob yod yom yon yos yrneh yug yup zaps zas zel ziz zuz zzz

It is interesting to note that some levidromes are also palindromes. I wonder whether we need a new word to describe this phenomenon also?  Furthermore, there is no word in English for "a word that you make up in order to make another word make sense". I suggest: "emordivel" ?

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CRITTERS 4 (1992)  Déjà en perdition depuis le troisième et passable opus de 1991, les pauvres Crites arrivent directement en vidéo pour ce dernier épisode inutile et menteur: rage et frustration se mêlent à ce visionnage énervant du long-métrage de S-F de série Z ennuyeux au possible. CRITTERS 4 est donc la goutte d’eau qui fait déborder le vase, les boules poilues des frères Chiodo -on parle bien des Crites- n’apparaissant que cinq fois -et encore!- dans le film, quand ce n’est pas Brad Dourif -le voix de CHUCKY- qui tire sa tronche de mec au bord de la rupture: le seul lien avec l’histoire est le bounty hunter Charlie, mis en retrait comme tout le background de CRITTERS (1986-1992) d’ailleurs. Pire, ce CRITTERS de la honte ne fait même pas l’effort de nous divertir, avec cet équipage humain sans empathie, coincé avec des œufs de Crites dans leur vaisseau: il ne reste plus rien du charme de ces monstres alien frénétiques et brutaux, pas même une goutte de sang. Navet pur jus, CRITTERS 4 achève le fan avec son scénario ridicule, son cast qui n’en a rien à foutre, et ses SFX bien pourris: on ne peut que comparer cette incursion spatiale à JASON X (2001), un comble alors que les Crites viennent d’ailleurs et auraient pu trouver un moyen de s’icôniser dans l’espace… Tu veux qu’on continue? Alors REGARDE juste la pochette de ce quatrième chapitre naze, où le même Crite est dupliqué plusieurs fois, et tu auras l’idée générale du film: AUCUNE ORIGINALITÉ! Et ce n’est pas un simple reproche du fait que CRITTERS 4 ne rend pas honneur aux deux volets d’origine, mais il rate carrément sa transition, scénaristique et visuelle. QUI VEUT DE CE FILM? Personne, excepté les accros aux loooooooongs dialogues humain/I.A. on ne peut plus plats, et à ceux qui détestent la saga! Depuis, que dalle, et on espère que si CRITTERS doit revenir sur les écrans, il aura droit à un traitement similaire que le HALLOWEEN (2018) sorti il y a peu. En bref, CRITTERS, c’est le 1 et le 2, point barre. On oublie ça et on avance.  SUR QUEL CRITTER VOUS BASEZ-VOUS? /20

I would gladly name, shame and sue #MeToo accusers who have ulterior motives: Howard Levitt

In the #MeToo era, investigations have become de rigueur. If anything, we are in a climate of over-investigation where management, too often alleges the need to investigate so they don’t have to make necessary decisions. Employers have also neutered their own human resource departments by using outside investigators when their own trained human resource executives know the company’s culture, policies and the individuals involved far better. They can usually do a more efficient and effective job than an outsider. Companies also too often use lawyers for investigations when that only invites the affected employees to bring their own lawyers, further delaying the process. (Employees otherwise have no right to bring counsel to an investigation.)

There is also the problem that the very fact of an investigation usually seals the fate of the investigated employee. I have seen few cases where an employee, suspended pending investigation, has ever been reinstated, regardless of the ultimate findings.

But one particular case, in which the investigator cleared the employee from allegations of sexual harassment and worse, seems particularly egregious. In that case, a complainant, M.C. (for Main Complainant), made serious allegations of violent rape, purportedly years earlier, against Steven Galloway, who was a sessional instructor when the rape allegedly occurred, but, at the time of the complaint, UBC’s Creative Writing Chair. M.C.’s allegations were conveyed by Chelsea Rooney, a former student in the department. Rooney claimed that she could bring forward an additional 19 former and current UBC students who could also allege abuse by Galloway.

According to an article in the Quillette by Brad Cran, an emergency meeting of creative writing staff was held at the home of one professor, inviting only selected faculty. They requested that the Dean suspend Galloway and remove him as Chair. UBC’s Office of Equity and Inclusion (whenever such an office is involved, due process generally flies out the window), according to Cran, conscripted Rooney, M.C.’s spokesperson — despite her lack of training, let alone objectivity — to gather evidence of complaints against Galloway. She tried her damndest to do so.

UBC eventually did retain, to its credit in this case, a professional factfinder, retired former B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mary Ellen Boyd, who had a history of strong decisions in favour of victimized women. I note that, unlike lawyers, who are skilled in cross-examination, judges have expertise in fact-finding. Boyd found that M.C. fabricated her story and that, rather than a violent rape, M.C. and Galloway had conducted a two-year-long consensual affair, which went on long after the rape was alleged to have occurred. There were also no 19 complainants. The few witnesses whom Rooney conjured up had complaints that were, at best, trivial and in no way constituted sexual harassment.

Rooney, according to Boyd, ultimately disavowed her earlier recollections. Open and shut, one might think. But Galloway’s accusers became a mob on social media, viciously attacking anyone who stood up for his right even to due process. Even Canadian feminist icon Margaret Atwood was not spared from the attacks of the Twittersphere for declaring that, “I believe in order to have civil and human rights for women there have to be civil and human rights… Including the right to fundamental justice… In regard to the specifics of Galloway’s case, any fair-minded person would withhold judgment until the report and the evidence are available for us to see. We are grownups: we can make up our own minds, one way or the other.”

The Galloway story has been well covered in the pages of this newspaper, including, in his own words, in a remarkable three page spread.

The result for Galloway: ruination reputationally, financially and psychologically. Shockingly, while Galloway’s name is pilloried, his accuser, M.C., retains her anonymity. She does not deserve this and I would be delighted to name her. Indeed, in my view, she, Rooney and the entire coterie that so viciously attacked Galloway and Atwood should be named, shamed and sued.

And Galloway is not the only one.

Ahmed Fekry Ibrahim, an assistant professor at McGill University, recently sued a student and another professor, Pasha Khan, for $600,000 as a result of what he claims to be a “ruthless campaign” to destroy his reputation and right to privacy. He claims that he was in a consensual relationship with a student three years earlier but, after it ended, a smear campaign erupted with the goal of having him fired, with stickers appearing in bathrooms alleging that he was a sexual predator and allegations made in the student newspaper. Although the messages were posted by an anonymous group, the lawsuit claims that the student he sued was behind them. The lawsuit also alleges that Khan warned female students to stay away from him to avoid sexually inappropriate behaviour. His tenure application was denied, and he now must leave McGill at the end of his existing contract and he asserts, with good reason, that he is unemployable in academia.

Many employers faced with allegations against employees have found it more convenient to fire rather than to determine whether the accused actually committed what is alleged. This need not take the form of a full-blown investigation. Speaking to the complainant, asking for the names of and meeting with apparent witnesses and then putting to the accused the allegations against them and providing them a chance to respond, usually suffices legally.

But what if none of this occurs and the accused are unfairly pilloried and ruined reputationally? What is their recourse?

Ibrahim has sued for defamation. In addition, the law provides a variety of potential causes of action against those who make false allegations. They include inducing breach of contract, intentional infliction of economic loss and intentional infliction of nervous shock, i.e. mental distress.

The risk of such lawsuits should not prevent anyone from making allegations in good faith. In the context of the workplace, employees are able to make accusations that they reasonably believe to be true even if they turn out to be wrong. But allegations made in bad faith out of political proclivity should not be protected and indeed are not.

Scant solace for Galloway as the limitation period for such lawsuits is two years. But, to the extent #Metoo has led to the elimination of due process, the falsely accused indeed have recourse.

• Howard Levitt is senior partner of Levitt LLP, employment and labour lawyers. He practises employment law in eight provinces. The most recent of his six books is War Stories from the Workplace: Columns by Howard Levitt.

[email protected] | Twitter.com/HowardLevittLaw

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UBC had a #MeToo bloodletting. It was a disaster for everyone

Barbara Kay: June 26, 2018

Why was there so little moral outrage amongst author Steven Galloway’s peers while this cultural stoning was in progress?

The Lottery, Shirley Jackson’s macabre 1948 tale illuminating the human tendency to conform with evil, ranks high amongst American short stories. The ending is unforgettably shocking: as the ritual climax to a harvest festival, a lottery “winner” is stoned to death by the victim’s fellow townspeople.

Jackson’s cautionary tale sprang to mind with the cultural stoning of Steven Galloway by his fellow University of British Columbia “townspeople.” Galloway is the author of the internationally laurelled 2008 novel, The Cellist of Sarajevo, as well as the formerly beloved, but — in 2015 — brusquely deposed chair of UBC’s vaunted creative writing program.

Australia-based Quillette.com has published a long article on the Galloway affair, chronicling the scandalous dereliction of duty at the highest levels associated with Galloway’s fall from grace. Its author, formidable researcher Brad Cran, captures academia’s cultural moment in this disturbing exposé of a #MeToo movement run amok, and the collapsed ethical integrity of colleagues and administration in its thrall. (Disclosure: My son, Jonathan Kay, is Cran’s editor.)

The hysteria began when Chelsea Rooney, a former student in the creative writing department Galloway had headed since 2013, came forward in November 2015 to support another student’s claim — brought forward on the same day — that Galloway was guilty of raping a student in 2012 (later amended to 2011). The alleged victim would become known only as Main Complainant, or “MC.” Rooney claimed she could bolster MC’s allegation with several similar accusations (later reported to be 19) from current and former writing students of Galloway although, reinforcing later Rooney-linked credibility lacunae, these never materialized.

MC was technically Galloway’s student in 2011, but he was not yet chair of the department, and she was older than him, therefore a social peer. That they were sexually involved is not in dispute.

An ambiguous, apologetic voicemail left by Galloway on MC’s phone served as the primary evidence for the allegation. It speaks to a guilty conscience — “I’m pretty ashamed of the way I used to be and act. I can assure you that I am no longer that way” — but not to a crime.

UBC announced a disciplinary action against Galloway before any investigation was even considered

On the day following the charge, a hand-picked group of the creative writing department staff met at a professor’s home; assuming guilt, a decision was taken to ask that the dean suspend Galloway, removing him as department chair. UBC (unprecedentedly) announced a disciplinary action against him before any investigation was even considered. The fix was in.

From here on, you have to read the story to believe it, and I urge you to do so. After reading it, I believe that like me, you will feel indebted to tenacious Brad Cran for the more than two years of self-initiated sleuthing he dedicated to producing this comprehensive report.

After reading it, I believe that like me, you will feel indebted to tenacious Brad Cran … (for) producing this comprehensive report

With no regard for the human life unravelling through their machinations, Rooney and other women involved in Galloway’s persecution displayed a chilling, implacable demand for a #MeToo “harvest” scapegoat. They attacked Galloway then — and some continue to attack today — like pit bulls that, driven by genetically encoded impulses to latch on to prey, literally can’t let go. The only individual officially connected to UBC’s investigation who comes off with dignity in this saga is retired B.C. Supreme Court Justice Mary Ellen Boyd. Boyd conducted a fact-finding mission with complete objectivity, concluding that Galloway’s and MC’s relations constituted what Galloway said they were — a bilaterally adulterous, but consensual affair.

And what of Steven Galloway today? He’s in a bad place. Cran writes: “For over two and a half years, Galloway has been vilified, threatened, and driven to the edge of both bankruptcy and suicide.”

For over two and a half years, Galloway has been vilified, threatened, and driven to the edge of both bankruptcy and suicide

Brad Cran

As Jonathan Kay noted to me: “We have an alphabet soup of well-funded organizations in this country that throw lavish fundraisers at Toronto hotels and recite self-congratulatory mantras about their supposedly holy mission to protect writers, and get at the truth. But when one of Canada’s greatest authors came under vicious attack on the basis of allegations that, even from the beginning, looked to be made up, these literary and academic grandees mostly either stared at their shoes or got in line with the inquisition.”

Why was there so little moral outrage amongst Galloway’s peers while this trainwreck was in progress? We must return to The Lottery for at least a partial explanation.

Kay Haugaard, a California teacher, wrote an instructive essay in the 1990s, “Revisiting The Lottery,” about her students’ changing reactions over time to Jackson’s parable.

Between my reading of The Lottery and that of Haugaard’s students, multiculturalism entrenched itself as the culture’s dominant ideology. My generation’s horror at the story’s end had accordingly, by the 1990s, subsided into morally relativistic detachment. Haugaard says she was told by one student, for example, that, if such a ritual was part of a cultural belief system and “worked for them,” then it should not be judged. Another student even opined that occasional “bloodletting” could be good for a community.

Really? Well, UBC has had its “bloodletting.” And was it good for that community? For CanLit? For anyone?

So,

This is my little brother Cody.

I’m calling this painting “The Ricky to my Julian” because my life is never more Trailer Park Boys-esque than when I’m chilling with him. Dude’s a giant human version of a golden retriever, full of giddy innocence, and since I’ve been home he’s been at the frontlines of circling the wagons. He tells me “I love you, bro” about five or six times a day. 

When I first met Cody, he was three years old. The back of his skull had flattened out from being left alone in his crib, and my sister Ashley halved all of her meals because his biological parents always forgot to feed the baby. When we first adopted him, he ended up wandering off so many times that my parents ultimately got him a tether so he wouldn’t get lost while we were shopping at Costco. He was adorable.

(One memory: he kept walking up to grown men, including my swim coach, and reaching up their shorts to touch their bums. We thought maybe that meant he was going to grow up gay, but as it turns out he’s become a heterosexual gorilla of a dude.)

Since being back, I’ve been reflecting a lot on our adoption. The social worker at the time told each of us kids that it was our decision, that it would only go ahead if each of us were on-board. The vote was unanimous, and me, Cody and Tyler all have our adoption date tattooed somewhere on our body. (The girls are lagging behind.) That experience has deeply informed my worldview, and adoption for me has become a way of life. 

Cody’s getting into cryptocurrency these days. One evening when I freaked out (Finley’s sent me an unexpected email to re-fire me) he took me up to Todd’s memorial tree in Fred Gingell Park and drank beer with me in this giant mansion he’s working on. Apparently it belongs to the brother of poet Brad Cran.

I took this photo of him while we were at Boston Pizza the other day, and the flash gave him red eye. “That’s dope,” Cody said. “Give me red eyes in the painting!” (You’ll also notice I gave him a subtle red neck, hrr hrr.)

Today I’m feeling really grateful for him. Love you, Cody.

The Kootenay Goon

5 surprises des séries 2020 de la NBA

À la suite du dénouement des finales de la NBA, gagnées en 6 matchs par les Lakers de LeBron James et Anthony Davis, l’équipe du Fan-Club a décidé de faire sa liste des surprises et des déceptions des séries « COVID » de la NBA, séries qui ont été remplies de rebondissements et d’imprévus, 2020 oblige. Après nos 5 déceptions, voici donc notre liste des 5 surprises.

1) Le Heat de Miami

La définition même d’une équipe Cendrillon. En effet, au début des séries 2020, personne ne donnait cher de la peau du Heat, qui venait de terminer 5e au classement dans l’Est, avec 44 victoires. Malgré cela, le Heat a réussi à surprendre tout le monde, se rendant en finale de la NBA en atomisant les Pacers en 4, les Bucks en 5 et les Celtics en 6, tout en donnant du fil à retordre aux Lakers, qui ont tout de même fini par gagner la finale en 6. La recette du Heat était simple : une équipe unie avec un coaching de niveau élite. En effet, chez le Heat, tout le monde touchait au ballon et même si Jimmy Butler était le joueur à qui on donnait le ballon le plus en zone offensive, le coach Erik Spoelstra s’assurait qu’il y ait des jeux offensifs pour chaque joueur, pour déstabiliser les défenseurs adverses, qui devaient s’assurer de défendre tout le monde au lieu de mettre plus d’emphase sur Butler. Cette attaque variée a amené l’explosion de certains joueurs méconnus du public avant le début des séries 2020, dont Tyler Herro (16 points par match) et Duncan Robinson (11,7 points par match). En défense, l’intensité de Bam Adebayo et Jimmy Butler, deux des meilleurs défenseurs de la ligue, déstabilisait les jeux offensifs adverses et a été un facteur majeur dans ce beau parcours du Heat. Une autre étoile au dossier de Pat Riley et Erik Spoelstra, qui sont parmi les meilleurs présidents et entraîneurs-chefs de la ligue respectivement.

2) Les Nuggets de Denver

Nous étions si près de connaître une finale entre les deux underdogs des séries 2020. En effet, même s’ils ont perdu en 5 matchs face aux Lakers en finale de conférence, les Nuggets étaient dans le coup tout le long de cette série, leur plus grande défaite étant seulement par un écart de 8 points. Aussi, les Nuggets ont réalisé ce qui, selon plusieurs, est le plus grand exploit de ces séries 2020, c’est-à-dire de revenir de l’arrière d’une série où ils perdent 3 matchs à 1 en première ronde, mais aussi en deuxième. C’était la première fois dans l’histoire de la NBA qu’une équipe surmonte un déficit de 3 à 1 pendant deux séries d’affilée. Menés par un Jamal Murray hors de ce monde et un Jokic fidèle à son habitude, les Nuggets de Mike Malone ont surpris pas mal tout le monde lors des séries 2020, car, même s’ils sont une bonne équipe de l’Ouest, ils n’étaient pas vus au même niveau que des « superéquipes » comme les Lakers et les Clippers. Ils ont tout de même réussi à éliminer ces mêmes Clippers et offrir de la difficulté aux Lakers en finale de conférence. Murray, moyennant 26,5 points par match tout au long des séries, a vraiment cimenté sa place dans l’élite de la NBA, au poste de meneur de jeu, et comme meilleur joueur canadien depuis Steve Nash. Au niveau du Joker, Nikola Jokic, il a su s’imposer comme le meilleur centre de la NBA, avec 24,4 points et 9,8 rebonds par match. Mais, ce qui le distingue des autres centres de la ligue, c’est son talent de passeur, démontré par sa surprenante moyenne de 5,7 passes décisives par match durant les séries NBA. En effet, Jokic peut faciliter le jeu en attaque, en réalisant des passes aux joueurs qui coupent au panier, mais aussi à ceux qui sont postés sur le périmètre en attente d’une possibilité de tir aux trois points. Bref, ces deux joueurs ont élevé leur jeu d’un cran en séries et formeront pendant plusieurs années le Big Two de Denver, qui n’en sont pas à leur dernière finale de conférence, nous en sommes certains.

3) Jayson Tatum

Il est difficile de dire si les Celtics de Boston ont connu de bonnes ou de mauvaises séries 2020. En effet, ils se sont rendus en finale de conférence, ce qui serait une victoire pour n’importe quelle organisation, mais les Celtics, ayant une des meilleures équipes de la ligue sur papier, ne sont toujours pas capables de passer au prochain niveau en tant qu’organisation et se rendre en finale, même si plusieurs les voyaient comme finalistes de l’Est cette année, devant les Raptors et les Bucks. Tout de même, ce parcours en séries 2020, qui les a menés jusqu’au 6e match de la finale de conférence face au Heat, est en grande partie dû au brio de Jayson Tatum, qui a vraiment éclos comme la vedette des Celtics et le joueur autour duquel le coach Brad Stevens doit bâtir son jeu offensif. Suite aux déboires de Kemba Walker en séries 2020, Tatum a vraiment pris la responsabilité de meneur de l’attaque des Celtics et son impressionnant total de 25,7 points par match sur 43,4% d’efficacité aux tirs montre qu’il a excellé dans ce rôle. De quoi rendre fier Kobe Bryant, qui était le mentor et le joueur sur lequel Tatum modelait son jeu.

4) Anthony Davis

Il est bizarre de mettre Anthony Davis comme joueur surprenant des séries 2020, car il est déjà établi comme le meilleur ailier fort de la ligue et, selon certains, le meilleur intérieur de la NBA. Tout de même, AD a connu certains déboires en séries lors de ses années avec les Pelicans de la Nouvelle-Orléans et ça a amené la communauté NBA à se demander s’il serait capable d’agir à titre de deuxième vedette, aux côtés de LeBron James, lors des séries 2020. Malgré tout, Davis a su dissiper tous les doutes posés sur lui, réalisant le plus de points chez les joueurs en séries avec 582 (pour une moyenne de 27,7 points par match). Il a su montrer qu’il était le joueur parfait pour jouer aux côtés de James, étant capable de prendre la charge offensive lorsque le King devait se reposer et excellant en défensive, avec 1,4 tirs bloqués par match. Par son jeu lors des séries, qui a amené la victoire des Lakers en finale, certains croient que Davis est devenu la vedette principale de L.A. et sera capable d’assurer la relève lorsque LeBron prendra sa retraite. Reste à savoir s’il va rester à Los Angeles, car son contrat se termine cette année mais contient une player option, c’est-à-dire une clause où le joueur doit prendre une décision s’il continue une année de plus avec l’équipe ou s’il teste le marché des joueurs autonomes.

5) Luguentz Dort

Pour terminer, nous ne pouvions pas passer sur la fierté de Montréal-Nord, Luguentz Dort, qui s’est, comme on dit en bon français, mis sur la map lors des séries 2020. En effet, même si le Thunder de Luguentz s’est fait éliminer en 7 lors de la première ronde par les Rockets de Houston, Luguentz a élevé son jeu d’un cran lors des séries et a montré à tous les fans de la NBA qu’il avait le potentiel de devenir une vedette dans cette ligue. Il a cumulé une respectable moyenne de 12,5 points par match, mais ce qui a réellement marqué sa présence en séries est son jeu défensif incroyable, qui a réussi à limiter James Harden à 17 points lors du 7e match, ainsi qu’à lui faire prendre des tirs douteux tout au long de cette série. Dort s’est aussi servi de ce 7e match pour marquer l’histoire, battant le record pour le plus de points pour un joueur de moins de 22 ans lors d’un match 7, devant LeBron James et Kobe Bryant, avec 30 points. Malheureusement, cette série mémorable pour Dort s’est terminée de façon abrupte, lorsque James Harden a décidé de jouer de la défense pour la première fois de sa vie en bloquant le tir de Dort qui aurait pu faire gagner le match 7 à OKC. Malgré cela, Luguentz a fièrement représenté le Québec, et la suite des choses s’avère intéressante pour lui et le Thunder, qui est une équipe remplie de jeunes talents. Nous avons bien hâte de voir ce que Lu Dort nous réserve lors des prochaines années.

I’m fighting normal. I’m choreographing this other dance, where you spin across the floor and out the door while the other kids are still jumping on the spot, popping up to learn ballet. From an outsider’s eye, you might call ours the dancing raccoon disco, or perhaps we are the hip hop squirrel brigade. Or are we the bears who hold up signs saying, Will work for honey and funk! What I’m saying is: go barefoot. Or walk out with a handstand. Live in possibility and in constant proximity to desire. Don’t just dream; burn your dreams. Heat your life with that fire.

Brad Cran - Normal

...go barefoot. Or walk out with a handstand. Live in possibility and in constant proximity to desire. Don’t just dream; burn your dreams. Heat your life with that fire.

Brad Cran, from Normal