{"id":11540,"date":"2022-11-27T21:59:50","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T02:59:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=11540"},"modified":"2026-01-27T23:20:48","modified_gmt":"2026-01-28T04:20:48","slug":"11540","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=11540","title":{"rendered":"November 27, 2022 \u2014 A Pleasant Summer and Fall, With Occasional Threats of Nuclear Doom"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writ\u00ading fresh from a relax\u00ading bub\u00adble bath. You all know how tough guys like me enjoy a good laven\u00adder-scent\u00aded bub\u00adble bath. And I am fol\u00adlow\u00ading this plea\u00adsure with a quick sup\u00adper of home-made yaki\u00adnori soba and steamed frozen dumplings. It\u2019s time to reflect on this sum\u00admer and fall, and keep my friends up to date on how I\u2019m doing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sum\u00admer was quite pleas\u00adant for me. The pleas\u00adant\u00adness began with a back\u00adyard fish-and-chips din\u00adner with my friends Skye, Natasha, Isaac and Mag\u00adgie. Good folk, good food, good talk, good times. When I returned home\u00adward, step\u00adping out of the sub\u00adway at Welles\u00adley Sta\u00adtion, the streets of the Church &<\/span> Welles\u00adley Vil\u00adlage were already jam-packed. Pride began the next day, but the crowds were already there, par\u00adty\u00ading\u2026 but I head\u00aded straight home to feed two cats of noto\u00adri\u00adous\u00adly unfor\u00adgiv\u00ading temperament.<\/span><\/p>\n

The next day, after sleep\u00ading in, I ven\u00adtured out on to Church Street. Pride is always a big deal in Toron\u00adto. It start\u00aded in 1982, as a protest against the police raid of gay bath hous\u00ades that took place the year before, and it grew steadi\u00adly in size and respectabil\u00adi\u00adty from then on, attract\u00ading many from around and out\u00adside the coun\u00adtry. But, of course, it was can\u00adcelled in 2020 and 2021 because of Covid. I was curi\u00adous to see if there would be a sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant \u201cbounce-back\u201d this year. In the last few years it was on, I had attend\u00aded Pride mere\u00adly because it was on my doorstep, with my apart\u00adment only half a block from the par\u00adty area. Crowds and big par\u00adties are not real\u00adly my thing. Over recent years, I have noticed the par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpants get\u00adting steadi\u00adly old\u00ader, most\u00adly the same faces, and the music was out of a time warp. It was suf\u00adfer\u00ading the same demo\u00adgraph\u00adic chal\u00adlenge as Sci\u00adence Fic\u00adtion Fan\u00addom. The Vil\u00adlage was still get\u00adting some refugees from small town oppres\u00adsion, and peo\u00adple from Toron\u00adto\u2019s drea\u00adry sub\u00adur\u00adbia com\u00ading down\u00adtown to do a lit\u00adtle whoopy, but on the whole, the local com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty had been get\u00adting old\u00ader and more set in its ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

Well, I need\u00adn\u2019t have wor\u00adried. This year, the crowd was huge \u2015 like noth\u00ading I had ever seen before. The area of Church Street fenced off for con\u00adcerts, danc\u00ading, booths, and food trucks, was fif\u00adteen blocks long<\/em>. It stretched from Bloor to Dun\u00addas, a dis\u00adtance of 1.7 kms (some\u00adwhat more than a mile). Every inch of this space was crowd\u00aded with peo\u00adple, and the after\u00adnoon crowds at Pride would give way to much big\u00adger ones in the evening. I have no fig\u00adures, but this seemed to me to be twice as big as any Toron\u00adto Pride I\u2019d ever seen. And, to my sur\u00adprise, the crowd was young. There were far more peo\u00adple in their teens, twen\u00adties, and ear\u00adly thir\u00adties than I had remem\u00adbered see\u00ading for many years. And, boy, were they hav\u00ading a good time. Pride has become a kind of uni\u00adver\u00adsal car\u00adni\u00adval and cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion of free\u00addom, not some\u00adthing con\u00adfined to LGBT<\/span>+. All of Canada\u2019s var\u00adied pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion was rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00aded. Every\u00adone was enjoy\u00ading them\u00adselves, except for about a dozen reli\u00adgious fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adists hold\u00ading up signs at the cor\u00adner of Carl\u00adton street exhort\u00ading \u201crepent your sins!\u201d But lat\u00ader in the evening, I rec\u00adog\u00adnized one of them, an earnest look\u00ading teenag\u00ader, still in his churchy suit, but danc\u00ading with a drag queen and laugh\u00ading joy\u00adful\u00adly as if he had just escaped from prison. Free\u00addom is not cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded with dirges and sour faces. Think of the video for Jon Bap\u00adtis\u00adte\u2019s 2020 sin\u00adgle \u201cFree\u00addom<\/em>\u201d * and you\u2019ll get the idea of the mood that had descend\u00aded on Toronto.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I did\u00adn\u2019t catch the parade on Sun\u00adday, which I\u2019m told was gar\u00adgan\u00adtu\u00adan. For the whole week\u00adend it was non-stop par\u00adty\u00ading, but on Mon\u00adday, every\u00adthing was mirac\u00adu\u00adlous\u00adly cleaned up. For such a huge event, I must say that every\u00adthing was well planned and exe\u00adcut\u00aded. A vast amount of lit\u00adter must have been gen\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded over the week\u00adend, but when I came to the epi\u00adcen\u00adtre at the cor\u00adner of Church and Welles\u00adley, there was no sign of it, except for a cou\u00adple of stray bal\u00adloons bounc\u00ading down the street. I enjoyed a cof\u00adfee at Church Street Espres\u00adso, my favourite spot for that mag\u00adi\u00adcal bev\u00ader\u00adage, and start\u00aded to read Bar\u00adry N. Malzberg\u2019s Herovit\u2019s World<\/em>. But the book\u2019s peev\u00adish tone was not suit\u00adable for such a day.** For\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, there was a yard sale a few feet from the caf\u00e9, and I bought a copy of Randy Bach\u00adman\u2019s Vinyl Tap Sto\u00adries<\/em> for the sum of fifty cents. As my cof\u00adfee dimin\u00adished in the cup, I read his account of a con\u00adcert tour that The Guess Who made of Cana\u00addi\u00adan Armed Forces bases across the high arc\u00adtic. This was in ear\u00adly 1968, when they were known only in Cana\u00adda for a few sin\u00adgles. Bach\u00adman wrote:<\/span><\/p>\n

We were told to wear our warmest clothes. It was the mid\u00addle of win\u00adter, forty below in Win\u00adnipeg, and we were head\u00ading north towards the Arc\u00adtic Cir\u00adcle. I had this cool sheep\u00adskin coat that was bulky but warm, and we all wore scarves, toques, mitts, and boots. When we showed up <\/span><\/em>[at the Atlas car\u00adgo plane that would car\u00adry them] <\/span>wrapped up in our win\u00adter wear these air force guys pro\u00adceed\u00aded to give us even more clothes to put on, telling us \u201cWhere you\u2019re going you\u2019ll need these extra clothes.\u201d As big as my feet are, size thir\u00adteen with big win\u00adter boots on, they put them into anoth\u00ader pair of sheep\u00adskin-lined boots with gal\u00adva\u00adnized rub\u00adber on the out\u00adside. With six pounds on each foot, I could bare\u00adly walk. They then gave us parkas to be worn on top of our parkas. As he was hand\u00ading me mine, the offi\u00adcer told me, \u201cBy the way, the but\u00adtons are made of com\u00adpressed, dehy\u00addrat\u00aded soup, and inside the hood is an alu\u00adminum lin\u00ading. If you take it out, put some snow on it, and place it in the sun, you can heat up the but\u00adtons and eat the soup. In your pock\u00adet is some ster\u00adno and match\u00ades to start a fire.\u201d This coat was a walk\u00ading sur\u00advival kit. I thought to myself, \u201cWhat have we got\u00adten our\u00adselves into?!\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This was the per\u00adfect thing to read in a side\u00adwalk caf\u00e9 on a hot sum\u00admer day, and nos\u00adtal\u00adgia for any\u00adone famil\u00adiar with the North.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The next week\u00adend was anoth\u00ader kind of cel\u00ade\u00adbra\u00adtion, for Fri\u00adday was Cana\u00adda Day. This has a dif\u00adfer\u00adent style. Much as with the Amer\u00adi\u00adcan Fourth of July, the Cana\u00addi\u00adan First of July is a mat\u00adter of lit\u00adtle neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood fes\u00adti\u00advals, free con\u00adcerts, fam\u00adi\u00adly gath\u00ader\u00adings, pic\u00adnics in local parks, and fire\u00adworks in the evening. There are sev\u00ader\u00adal good bands that I first heard per\u00adform\u00ading at Cana\u00adda Day con\u00adcerts (Moist and Bare Naked Ladies come to mind). So I went out for a stroll in the after\u00adnoon, won\u00adder\u00ading if I would come across some nice lit\u00adtle neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood fes\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty, or some good music in a park.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not far from my home is Bar\u00adbara Hall Park, a lit\u00adtle patch of grass and patio bricks with a foun\u00adtain, a mon\u00adu\u00adment to AIDS<\/span> vic\u00adtims built some time in the 1990s, and a chil\u00addren\u2019s play\u00adground. It\u2019s a bit sketchy some\u00adtimes, but it\u2019s a very pop\u00adu\u00adlar lit\u00adtle park. An aston\u00adish\u00ading vari\u00adety of peo\u00adple use it. The poor and the pros\u00adper\u00adous rub shoul\u00adders, and on a sin\u00adgle day I\u2019ve seen gay cou\u00adples sun\u00adbathing, old men play\u00ading check\u00aders on a bench, an elder\u00adly Mus\u00adlim read\u00ading the Quran under a tree, kids prac\u00adtis\u00ading soc\u00adcer moves, and a bunch of actors rehears\u00ading scenes from As You Like It<\/em>. There was no offi\u00adcial Cana\u00adda Day event in such a tiny park, but there was some\u00adthing going on. Three mid\u00addle-aged men had set up some bev\u00ader\u00adage cool\u00aders and a Cole\u00adman stove. They were cook\u00ading ham\u00adburg\u00aders and hand\u00ading them out to peo\u00adple, along with cans of pop. There was no sign iden\u00adti\u00adfy\u00ading any char\u00adi\u00adta\u00adble group. There was no indi\u00adca\u00adtion what\u00adso\u00adev\u00ader of any \u201ccause\u201d or orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion. It was just three reg\u00adu\u00adlar guys (I rec\u00adog\u00adnized one of them) who lived in the neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood, who thought that the winos, lone\u00adly old folks and ragged sub\u00adstance vic\u00adtims left in the park while every\u00adone else had gone off to fun in big\u00adger places, were just as wor\u00adthy of some Cana\u00adda Day good cheer as any\u00adone else. As I passed, one of them offered me a ham\u00adburg\u00ader. I answered \u201cIf these are for peo\u00adple in need, I\u2019m not in need.\u201d He stretched out his arm with a burg\u00ader in hand and said \u201cNope, these are for every\u00adone.\u201d And you know what? It was a real\u00adly good<\/em> burg\u00ader. Not some lame thing done on the cheap, but a prop\u00ader home\u00admade bar\u00adbe\u00adcue burg\u00ader with all the trim\u00admings. I\u2019ve met sub\u00adur\u00adban\u00adites who show undis\u00adguised dis\u00addain for the inner city neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood I live in, which they nev\u00ader set foot in. Lit\u00adtle do they under\u00adstand what they\u2019re missing.<\/span><\/p>\n

These two week\u00adends set the tone for the sum\u00admer, as far as my mood was con\u00adcerned. I spent my spare time, when not work\u00ading at the com\u00adput\u00ader, walk\u00ading around and enjoy\u00ading my neigh\u00adbour\u00adhood. I am still recov\u00ader\u00ading from can\u00adcer treat\u00adment, with only a frac\u00adtion of my pre\u00advi\u00adous ener\u00adgy and sta\u00admi\u00adna, so I\u2019m in no posi\u00adtion to run off to some jun\u00adgle, desert, or polar wilder\u00adness for boy\u00adish adven\u00adtures or breath\u00adtak\u00ading scenery. So, for the moment, walk\u00ading in wood\u00aded ravines and pok\u00ading around Toron\u00adto\u2019s neigh\u00adbour\u00adhoods will have to suf\u00adfice. This is more inter\u00adest\u00ading than it sounds, as Toron\u00adto is under\u00adgo\u00ading a build\u00ading and pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion boom beyond any\u00adthing it has expe\u00adri\u00adenced before. Not just the pha\u00adlanx\u00ades of new sky\u00adscrap\u00aders, but con\u00adstruc\u00adtion at every lev\u00adel. Tons of new and new\u00adly repaired infra\u00adstruc\u00adture, much of it influ\u00adenced by the \u201cNew Urban\u00adism\u201d and \u201cStrong Cities\u201d move\u00adments. Neigh\u00adbour\u00adhoods I last vis\u00adit\u00aded just a few years ago have com\u00adplete\u00adly trans\u00adformed. The pan\u00addem\u00adic has had absolute\u00adly no effect on the sea of con\u00adstruc\u00adtion cranes and fren\u00adzy of build\u00ading, except to con\u00advince peo\u00adple that they real\u00adly like out\u00addoor din\u00ading patios and want to keep a lot of the ones built for Covid. They have made the streets far more agree\u00adable. Every\u00adwhere, peo\u00adple are putting more effort into their house gar\u00addens, and flow\u00aders are sprout\u00ading in front of com\u00admer\u00adcial and apart\u00adment build\u00adings that nev\u00ader had them before. The city is now engaged in a neck-and-neck bat\u00adtle with Chica\u00adgo, hav\u00ading sur\u00adpassed it in eco\u00adnom\u00adic clout, but not yet in sky\u00adline or urban mys\u00adtique. Toron\u00adto\u2019s lake\u00adfront is still not the equal of the Windy City\u2019s spec\u00adtac\u00adu\u00adlar Lake Michi\u00adgan shore. But a flock of super\u00adtalls under con\u00adstruc\u00adtion, and huge rebuild\u00ading at the mouth of the Don Riv\u00ader, includ\u00ading a re-chan\u00adnel\u00ading of the riv\u00ader and new park lands, are expect\u00aded to clinch the com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtion soon. While Toron\u00adto is an extreme exam\u00adple, there seems to be meta\u00admor\u00adpho\u00adsis of this sort occur\u00adring in dozens of North Amer\u00adi\u00adcan cities. I don\u2019t think I would rec\u00adog\u00adnize most of the cities I used to know well, if I vis\u00adit\u00aded them now.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

But the cen\u00adtral social prob\u00adlem of Toron\u00adto is only made worse by this fre\u00adnet\u00adic growth. As with oth\u00ader boom cities, such as Seat\u00adtle, San Fran\u00adcis\u00adco and Van\u00adcou\u00adver, rents are far too high. The build\u00ading boom can\u2019t keep up with the influx of new\u00adcom\u00aders, who need to be housed, but archa\u00adic zon\u00ading laws squeeze devel\u00adop\u00adment into nar\u00adrow seg\u00adments of the city. I live on the edge of one of these seg\u00adments. Here is my apart\u00adment build\u00ading, the mid\u00addle of a set of three walkups built a hun\u00addred years ago:<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>Next door is a 44-sto\u00adry build\u00ading and there\u2019s a taller one across the street. Here is a pic\u00adture of my street three blocks to the west of me:<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>And here is the same street four blocks to the east of me:<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>I try to walk some dis\u00adtance every day, some\u00adthing nec\u00ades\u00adsary for recov\u00ader\u00ading strength from my treat\u00adment. Each time I step out the door, I must decide to walk either to the east or west, each of which opens a dif\u00adfer\u00adent world, and has a dif\u00adfer\u00adent set of options for north and south. But famil\u00adiar as every\u00adthing is to me, I don\u2019t have to go far before find\u00ading some\u00adthing unfa\u00admil\u00adiar that has popped up when I was\u00adn\u2019t pay\u00ading atten\u00adtion. On one per\u00adam\u00adbu\u00adla\u00adtion, I dis\u00adcov\u00adered that under\u00adneath the ele\u00advat\u00aded sec\u00adtion of East\u00adern Avenue, just before it cross\u00ades the Don Riv\u00ader, where I had\u00adn\u2019t looked for years, there is now a set of bas\u00adket\u00adball courts and a rather good skatepark, and all the con\u00adcrete pil\u00adlars and walls have quite beau\u00adti\u00adful mur\u00adal art on them. It\u2019s full of kids. Yet it gives no impres\u00adsion of being \u201coffi\u00adcial.\u201d Rather it seems to be some\u00adthing that just grew there, like a mush\u00adroom sprout\u00ading on your lawn after a warm rain.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I had this pleas\u00adant sum\u00admer and fall, walk\u00ading dai\u00adly, gain\u00ading strength and health, while explor\u00ading inter\u00adest\u00ading cor\u00adners of the city. The air was fresh, a mil\u00adlion flow\u00aders pleased the eye and nose, and every apple turnover, samosa, sashi\u00admi and slice of piz\u00adza picked up along the way was sub\u00adlime. A com\u00adbo play\u00ading decent R &<\/span> B on Par\u00adlia\u00adment Street filled me with joy, and an old man play\u00ading a sweet-sad tune on his \u4e8c\u80e1 in Riverdale park, filled me with calm. The cow pas\u00adtured in the chil\u00addren\u2019s \u201cfarm\u201d [a sweet fea\u00adture of the park] lis\u00adtened intent\u00adly, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>

Park Snacks, a sum\u00admer\u00adtime-only shop fac\u00ading Riverdale Park. It\u2019s owned by two Montrealers.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

And yet, the March of Fol\u00adly con\u00adtin\u00adues in the back\u00adground. The Forces of Dark\u00adness, man\u00adi\u00adfest in the bel\u00adliger\u00adent and decrepit empires of Putin and Chair\u00adman Xi, the author\u00adi\u00adtar\u00adi\u00adan move\u00adments around var\u00adi\u00adous small\u00ader dic\u00adta\u00adtors and would-be dic\u00adta\u00adtors, bar\u00adbar\u00adic move\u00adments of reli\u00adgious fanati\u00adcism, the antics of ruth\u00adless and ego\u00adtis\u00adtic bil\u00adlion\u00adaires, and the trea\u00adso\u00adnous and moral\u00adly cor\u00adrupt Repub\u00adli\u00adcan Par\u00adty in our neigh\u00adbour to the south. Even Cana\u00adda has it\u2019s por\u00adtion of creeps, though they have not found much support.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Putin\u2019s impe\u00adri\u00adal\u00adism has put the world on the edge of nuclear anni\u00adhi\u00adla\u00adtion, and even if he is bluff\u00ading, may trig\u00adger famines killing mil\u00adlions. The giant fraud of Xi\u2019s Com\u00admu\u00adnist Chi\u00adna is unrav\u00adel\u00adling before our eyes. Every\u00adwhere, the most idi\u00adot\u00adic kinds of crack\u00adpot luna\u00adcy are snatch\u00ading the minds of oth\u00ader\u00adwise nor\u00admal peo\u00adple. With super\u00adsti\u00adtion ram\u00adpant, sci\u00adence and rea\u00adson ignored, edu\u00adca\u00adtion being cor\u00adrupt\u00aded and destroyed, pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal liars and pro\u00adpa\u00adgan\u00addists deploy\u00ading new and effec\u00adtive tech\u00adniques, mobs of delud\u00aded morons attempt\u00ading to over\u00adthrow democ\u00adra\u00adcy where it exists, and mil\u00adlions of nitwits now lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly con\u00advinced that the Earth is flat or that our main prob\u00adlem is demons and alien lizards, it\u2019s bizarre for me to feel so con\u00adtent and opti\u00admistic. But I am. In fact, I\u2019ve nev\u00ader been so con\u00adtent and opti\u00admistic dur\u00ading the whole of my life.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s easy to come to the con\u00adclu\u00adsion that we will either be fried to death by nuclear weapons, or slow\u00adly bar\u00adbe\u00adcued by the glob\u00adal warm\u00ading we have brought on our\u00adselves, or sub\u00adject\u00aded to some infan\u00adtile theo\u00adcrat\u00adic dic\u00adta\u00adtor\u00adship that will enslave us while scream\u00ading ser\u00admons at us. Back in 1951, the pre\u00adco\u00adcious young sci\u00adence fic\u00adtion writer Cyril Korn\u00adbluth wrote a sto\u00adry called The March\u00ading Morons<\/em>, which explored human gulli\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty and stu\u00adpid\u00adi\u00adty with deft satire. It was bla\u00adtant\u00adly pla\u00adgia\u00adrized in the 2006 film Idioc\u00adra\u00adcy<\/em>. Korn\u00adbluth, a fine styl\u00adist and bril\u00adliant satirist, died absurd\u00adly and shock\u00ading\u00adly at the age of 34, in 1958. He was prob\u00ada\u00adbly most famous for his col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtive nov\u00adels with Fred\u00aderik Pohl, includ\u00ading an acknowl\u00adedged clas\u00adsic,The Space Mer\u00adchants<\/em>. <\/span>Unlike Korn\u00adbluth, Pohl lived a long and pro\u00adduc\u00adtive life, writ\u00ading suc\u00adcess\u00adful\u00adly until his death in 2019. When I spoke to him in 2003, he was still mourn\u00ading Korn\u00adbluth. As for me, I read The March\u00ading Morons<\/em> when I was kid, and the title has rou\u00adtine\u00adly popped into my head when\u00adev\u00ader I\u2019ve wit\u00adnessed some face-palm induc\u00ading stu\u00adpid\u00adi\u00adty of humankind. I don\u2019t think a day has passed since 2016 when the words \u201cmarch\u00ading morons\u201d haven\u2019t been in my thoughts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet, I also have the per\u00adspec\u00adtive of his\u00adto\u00adry, count\u00ading myself a minor suc\u00adcess in that dis\u00adci\u00adpline. Anoth\u00ader writer approached it a dif\u00adfer\u00adent way. Hemann Melville wrote a cou\u00adple of suc\u00adcess\u00adful nov\u00adels in his youth, but rapid\u00adly slipped into obscu\u00adri\u00adty. When he wrote Moby Dick<\/em> in 1851, it sold only a hand\u00adful of copies. Its sta\u00adtus as an icon of Amer\u00adi\u00adcan lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture dates only from the 1920s. But even when it was acknowl\u00adedged that Melville was a great writer, few peo\u00adple \u201cgot\u201d his last nov\u00adel, The Con\u00adfi\u00addence-Man, His Mas\u00adquer\u00adade<\/em>, pub\u00adlished on April Fool\u2019s Day in 1857 with its action set on that very day. It\u2019s only recent\u00adly that this strange nov\u00adel has elicit\u00aded any\u00adthing more than head-scratch\u00ading, or at best been dis\u00admissed as a \u201cfailed exper\u00adi\u00adment.\u201d Now there are at least some who con\u00adsid\u00ader it a work of genius. I read it when I was very young, and there was at the time no incen\u00adtive to read it even among the most lit\u00ader\u00adary peo\u00adple. I don\u2019t know if I under\u00adstood it on the first read\u00ading. The lan\u00adguage is dif\u00adfi\u00adcult for a mod\u00adern read\u00ader \u2014 it repro\u00adduces very old col\u00adlo\u00adqui\u00adal speech among Amer\u00adi\u00adcans of a vari\u00adety of regions and sta\u00adtus, and that speech is now quite dif\u00adfi\u00adcult to inter\u00adpret. It has no vis\u00adi\u00adble plot. It does\u00adn\u2019t even remote\u00adly resem\u00adble what was con\u00adsid\u00adered a \u201cnov\u00adel\u201d either in 1857 or today. But scenes in it float\u00aded in my mem\u00ado\u00adry through\u00adout my life, and I now think that it had a per\u00adva\u00adsive influ\u00adence on my inter\u00adests, my atti\u00adtudes, and my approach to life. I also think it would be hard to find a more imme\u00addi\u00adate\u00adly rel\u00ade\u00advant piece of 19th cen\u00adtu\u00adry fiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Con\u00adfi\u00addence-Man<\/em> was writ\u00adten a decade after the term was coined. The orig\u00adi\u00adnal \u201ccon\u00adfi\u00addence man\u201d was one Samuel Thomp\u00adson, whose odd\u00adly direct tech\u00adnique for part\u00ading the gullible from their prop\u00ader\u00adty gave us the name \u201ccon\u00adfi\u00addence man,\u201d now usu\u00adal\u00adly just \u201ccon-man.\u201d From this ori\u00adgin, we now refer to any swin\u00addle as a \u201ccon.\u201d Thomp\u00adson would dress like a \u201cgen\u00adtle\u00adman\u201d \u2014 some\u00adthing strict\u00adly cod\u00adi\u00adfied in 19th cen\u00adtu\u00adry soci\u00adety, even in Amer\u00adi\u00adca. He would approach peo\u00adple, who he knew would be car\u00adry\u00ading an expen\u00adsive pock\u00adet watch, or a dia\u00admond bracelet, or a well-stocked wal\u00adlet, and ask them: \u201cDo you have suf\u00adfi\u00adcient con\u00adfi\u00addence in me to trust me with your watch [or oth\u00ader item] for a few min\u00adutes, after which I will return it to you?\u201d It was all in the style. He was a Gen\u00adtle\u00adman. You could have con\u00adfi\u00addence in the hon\u00adesty of a Gen\u00adtle\u00adman. A sur\u00adpris\u00ading num\u00adber of peo\u00adple would give him their valu\u00adable prop\u00ader\u00adty, and he would just walk away with it, dis\u00adap\u00adpear\u00ading into a crowd. He had mere\u00adly to choose a place and time where the vic\u00adtim, slow to real\u00adize what had hap\u00adpened, could not eas\u00adi\u00adly pur\u00adsue him. In his nov\u00adel, Melville explored the many dif\u00adfer\u00adent things that peo\u00adple choose to have con\u00adfi\u00addence in, and the many ways that their con\u00adfi\u00addence is exploit\u00aded. It is set on a Mis\u00adsis\u00adsip\u00adpi steam\u00adboat, with a vari\u00adety of char\u00adac\u00adters meet\u00ading and talk\u00ading to each oth\u00ader over the course of April Fool\u2019s Day. The nov\u00adel is strange\u00adly dream\u00adlike, com\u00adi\u00adcal, reveal\u00ading the weak\u00adness\u00ades of human\u00adi\u00adty, and yet it does not come across as cyn\u00adi\u00adcal. It mere\u00adly observes human nature like we would observe the behav\u00adiour of mice or lobsters.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you think that human gulli\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty has dimin\u00adished since then remem\u00adber these things \u2014 <\/span>Item: Trump, a noto\u00adri\u00adous\u00adly fraud\u00adu\u00adlent prop\u00ader\u00adty devel\u00adop\u00ader and \u201creal\u00adi\u00adty show\u201d per\u00adformer, descend\u00aded an esca\u00adla\u00adtor in front of a crowd of actors that he had hired to stand around and cheer. Trump had pre\u00advi\u00adous\u00adly conned a vari\u00adety of news\u00adpa\u00adpers, mag\u00ada\u00adzines, pub\u00adlic offi\u00adcials, banks, and cor\u00adpo\u00adra\u00adtions into believ\u00ading he was a genius and mul\u00adti-bil\u00adlion\u00adaire, though in fact, he had mere\u00adly squan\u00addered a medi\u00adum-sized for\u00adtune he had inher\u00adit\u00aded and then been propped up finan\u00adcial\u00adly by Vladimir Putin. He had long been an \u201casset\u201d of Moscow, begin\u00adning in the old Sovi\u00adet days. Sev\u00aden\u00adteen months after the esca\u00adla\u00adtor stunt he was elect\u00aded to the most pow\u00ader\u00adful pub\u00adlic office in the world, and was in charge of Amer\u00adi\u00adca and 2,821 nuclear weapons. A cult of mil\u00adlions has not only been whipped into idol\u00ada\u00adtrous devo\u00adtion for him, but some have pro\u00adgressed in stages from polit\u00adi\u00adcal sup\u00adport to believ\u00ading that he is anoint\u00aded by God to rule Amer\u00adi\u00adca. Among the most fanat\u00adi\u00adcal, he is even seen as a rein\u00adcar\u00adnate avatar of Jesus.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Item: Just recent\u00adly, a young man named Samuel Bankman-Fried walked away with sev\u00ader\u00adal bil\u00adlion dol\u00adlars giv\u00aden to him by gullible investors, includ\u00ading many rep\u00adutable finan\u00adcial insti\u00adtu\u00adtions. Regret\u00adtably, the Ontario Teach\u00aders\u2019 Fed\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion Pen\u00adsion Plan invest\u00aded a hun\u00addred mil\u00adlion. One of the scheme\u2019s pro\u00admot\u00aders was a Kevin O\u2019Leary, who had briefly been the front-run\u00adner for lead\u00ader\u00adship of Canada\u2019s Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive Par\u00adty. Jour\u00adnal\u00adists, bankers, investors, and politi\u00adcians in great num\u00adbers were con\u00advinced by Bankman-Fried\u2019s <\/span>trans\u00adpar\u00adent\u00adly stu\u00adpid bit\u00adcoin scam. A few wis\u00ader heads point\u00aded out that he was basi\u00adcal\u00adly sell\u00ading mag\u00adic beans, but were ignored. Bankman-Fried care\u00adful\u00adly craft\u00aded his image, dress\u00ading and talk\u00ading like a young genius-nerd entre\u00adpre\u00adneur who \u201cjust wants to make the world bet\u00adter\u201d and talked about \u201cnot being inter\u00adest\u00aded in mon\u00adey\u201d and \u201cliv\u00ading sim\u00adply\u201d while in real\u00adi\u00adty he lived in a lux\u00adu\u00adri\u00adous man\u00adsion in the Bahamas with his \u201cpolyamorous\u201d pals. This month, as the ponzi scheme col\u00adlapsed, he pub\u00adlicly boast\u00aded that this pose was mere\u00adly a \u201cdumb game\u201d he played to reel in the suck\u00aders. Bil\u00adlions have \u201cmys\u00adte\u00adri\u00adous\u00adly\u201d dis\u00adap\u00adpeared, and he no doubt has access to much of this errant cash. <\/span><\/p>\n

Item: Mean\u00adwhile, in Moscow, Vladimir Putin pur\u00adsues his Des\u00adtiny as the embod\u00adi\u00adment of the Russ\u00adian Soul, pre\u00addes\u00adtined to defeat Evil Amer\u00adi\u00adca and Evil Europe, and urges the youth of Rus\u00adsia to sac\u00adri\u00adfice their lives for him, while the Russ\u00adian Ortho\u00addox Church assures them that they will have auto\u00admat\u00adic entry into heaven.<\/span><\/p>\n

Think of these items, and pon\u00adder the fact that there is absolute\u00adly noth\u00ading unusu\u00adal, sur\u00adpris\u00ading, or unpre\u00addictable about them. They are mere ran\u00addom exam\u00adples of behav\u00adiour in high places. And they dif\u00adfer from events in low places only in the fact that they are more vis\u00adi\u00adble and record\u00aded by his\u00adto\u00adry. At every moment there is some\u00adbody sell\u00ading mag\u00adi\u00adcal cures for dis\u00adeases, or ter\u00adror\u00adiz\u00ading inno\u00adcent chil\u00addren with hell\u00adfire for imag\u00adi\u00adnary sins, or ped\u00addling Q\u2011anon garbage while rak\u00ading in mil\u00adlions on lec\u00adture cir\u00adcuits and talk shows. At every moment, some elder\u00adly man or woman is los\u00ading their retire\u00adment check to some smooth-talk\u00ading oper\u00ada\u00adtor. At every moment, some self-declared Mes\u00adsi\u00adah is telling well-craft\u00aded lies, either to dozens or to mil\u00adlions. At every moment, some child is starv\u00ading to death to buy a yacht for a monster.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, I am not a cyn\u00adic. Cyn\u00adi\u00adcism is, I think, just anoth\u00ader pose, like the \u201cgen\u00adtle\u00adman\u201d and the \u201cleader anoint\u00aded by God\u201d and the \u201cgenius entre\u00adpre\u00adneur\u201d pos\u00ades. I can\u00adnot walk through the tree-filled streets of Toron\u00adto, look\u00ading at it\u2019s fran\u00adtic squir\u00adrels, at racoons scam\u00adper\u00ading from tree limb to rooftop, at patient moth\u00aders mind\u00ading their tod\u00addlers at the kid\u00addy splash pool, then chat with the friend\u00adly lady who sells me cof\u00adfee and beg\u00adni\u00adets at the Con\u00adgo Caf\u00e9, and after\u00adward sit down at the com\u00adput\u00ader to write, impos\u00adtur\u00ading as a cyn\u00adic. True, I under\u00adstand that I am not a young woman with a new\u00adborn baby hud\u00addling in a base\u00adment in Ukraine, pray\u00ading that the next strike of Putin\u2019s mis\u00adsiles will not end both their lives. I under\u00adstand that I am not a young Uighur in one of Xi\u2019s prison camps, fac\u00ading the prospect of tor\u00adture or brain\u00adwash\u00ading, or both. I under\u00adstand that I am not an eleven-year-old girl in a hos\u00adpi\u00adtal bed, going through the ago\u00adnies of ter\u00admi\u00adnal leukemia. But I\u2019ve seen a few things. I under\u00adstand that peo\u00adple suf\u00adfer. They may despair, but those peo\u00adple, I can assure you, are not cyn\u00adics. Cyn\u00adics pon\u00adtif\u00adi\u00adcate their cyn\u00adi\u00adcism from com\u00adfort\u00adable armchairs.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Which is why it\u2019s good to get lit\u00adtle reminders of dis\u00adcom\u00adfort, when things are, as they have been for me, very pleas\u00adant. As Sum\u00admer shift\u00aded into Fall, I was walk\u00ading on a street quite near to home. The side\u00adwalk was per\u00adfect\u00adly clean and dry, with no irreg\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adi\u00adties or obsta\u00adcles, but I sud\u00adden\u00adly found myself slammed to the ground in a frac\u00adtion of a sec\u00adond. My face was mashed against the con\u00adcrete side\u00adwalk, my hand some\u00adhow crushed on the curb beneath the weight of my body, shins and knees banged up and the breath knocked out of my chest. It hap\u00adpened with\u00adout any sen\u00adsa\u00adtion of trip\u00adping or slip\u00adping on any\u00adthing \u2014 I was just walk\u00ading, and then was abrupt\u00adly squashed on the pave\u00adment as if it was a clum\u00adsy cut in a film. Passers\u00adby helped me up. I felt no dizzi\u00adness or any indi\u00adca\u00adtion of a frac\u00adture or con\u00adcus\u00adsion. I pro\u00adceed\u00aded to the super\u00admar\u00adket uncon\u00adcerned, only to be informed by the check\u00adout clerk that my face was bleed\u00ading from the fore\u00adhead and right cheek\u00adbone. By the time I was home, my face was start\u00ading to turn yel\u00adlow and pur\u00adple, and two fin\u00adgers on the right hand were look\u00ading even worse. By the next day, I looked like I had just stum\u00adbled out of a bar fight in Yel\u00adlowknife.*** For two weeks, my chest was painful enough make sleep dif\u00adfi\u00adcult in any posi\u00adtion, and typ\u00ading at the com\u00adput\u00ader was one-hand\u00aded. I popped in for some X\u2011rays, but they revealed no bro\u00adken bones, oth\u00ader than old frac\u00adtures from more adven\u00adtur\u00adous times. All the dam\u00adage quick\u00adly healed.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Fall came on, and the weath\u00ader fore\u00adcast iden\u00adti\u00adfied the last nice day of the year, I left the city to try a more ambi\u00adtious walk. I have not been in the near\u00adby city of Hamil\u00adton for decades, so I was curi\u00adous to see what it looked like now. And, with its impres\u00adsive cliff-face, exten\u00adsive marsh\u00adlands, and giant rust\u00ading steel mills, it seemed a good pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adty for a change of mood and some inter\u00adest\u00ading walk\u00ading. It was easy and cheap to get there by the GO<\/span> com\u00admuter train.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was not dis\u00adap\u00adpoint\u00aded. I spent the whole day walk\u00ading around. Right near the rail\u00adway sta\u00adtion, where I arrived, was James Street, clear\u00adly the hippest street in the city, with a mix\u00adture of trendy clubs and upscale shops mixed in with old Por\u00adtuguese fish mar\u00adkets and immi\u00adgrant busi\u00adness\u00ades, all in old build\u00adings that have been cleaned up or restored. Some of the build\u00adings are real\u00adly fine, and despite the new\u00ader mon\u00adey and ten\u00adants, it has not betrayed its roots as an old Por\u00adtuguese and Ital\u00adian work\u00ading class district. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/a>Fol\u00adlow\u00ading this street led me straight down\u00adtown. <\/span>Hamil\u00adton has a few lar\u00adgish office build\u00adings, some of them old and charm\u00ading. Most dis\u00adtinc\u00adtive is the Pig\u00adott Build\u00ading, built in 1929 in the Sky\u00adscraper Goth\u00adic style with some touch\u00ades of Art Deco \u2015 the sort of build\u00ading that Super\u00adman would leap over in the old\u00adest comics, before he could actu\u00adal\u00adly fly. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>

Hamil\u00adton\u2019s pre-WW2 glo\u00adry. The Pig\u00adott build\u00ading\u2019s spire is vis\u00adi\u00adble behind two oth\u00ader build\u00adings of the era.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

From the 1940\u2019s to the ear\u00adly 1970\u2019s, the city was dom\u00adi\u00adnat\u00aded by its two home\u00adgrown steel man\u00adu\u00adfac\u00adtur\u00aders, Dofas\u00adco and Stel\u00adco, which in their hey\u00addays had the con\u00adti\u00adnen\u00adt\u2019s most advanced mills. Dur\u00ading the 1950\u2019s, Hamil\u00adton was the wealth\u00adi\u00adest city in Cana\u00adda, and that wealth was expressed in it\u2019s 1950\u2019s style sub\u00adurbs \u2014 as well as 1950\u2019s style pol\u00adlu\u00adtion. It\u2019s long been known as a blue-col\u00adlar town, and has the pecu\u00adliar\u00adi\u00adty unique in Cana\u00adda of being a Foot\u00adball Town rather than a Hock\u00adey Town. The Hamil\u00adton Tiger Cats (the \u201cti-cats\u201d) are root\u00aded for with gus\u00adto. When the steel indus\u00adtry went into decline in the 1990s, Hamil\u00adton drift\u00aded into lim\u00adbo for a few decades. Some young pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adals have been mov\u00ading there late\u00adly, lured by low\u00ader hous\u00ading prices, and because McMas\u00adter Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty has been blos\u00adsom\u00ading, espe\u00adcial\u00adly in med\u00adi\u00adcine and nuclear physics. But the fre\u00adnet\u00adic recent growth of Toron\u00adto and it\u2019s sub\u00adurbs has not yet reached it. Burling\u00adton, just a few miles to the east, is clear\u00adly a Toron\u00adto sub\u00adurb, with all the 2022 trim\u00admings, but walk\u00ading through most of Hamil\u00adton is a form of time trav\u00adel. It looks and feels like two gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions ago, with only a few timid hints of this one. It\u2019s only a short walk from the down\u00adtown office core to res\u00adi\u00adden\u00adtial streets dot\u00adted with emp\u00adty lots and old two-sto\u00adry brick store\u00adfronts with fad\u00aded paint\u00aded signs. <\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>

The Hamil\u00adton Twi\u00adlight Zone<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

<\/a>

A nice trib\u00adute to Hamil\u00adton\u2019s blue-col\u00adlar roots.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

To cel\u00ade\u00adbrate this Twi\u00adlight Zone expe\u00adri\u00adence, I bought din\u00adner at a Chi\u00adnese take-out place that must have been there for a cen\u00adtu\u00adry. I could not resist what it had to offer: the old \u201cChi\u00adnese-Cana\u00addi\u00adan\u201d food that once could be found at every rail\u00adway stop across Cana\u00adda, con\u00adsist\u00ading of chop suey, fried rice, bar\u00adbe\u00adcued wings and bat\u00adtered chick\u00aden balls coat\u00aded in a glow\u00ading pink sauce that looked radioac\u00adtive. Such things nev\u00ader exist\u00aded in Chi\u00adna, but once they fin\u00adished build\u00ading the rail\u00adway across Cana\u00adda, Chi\u00adnese work\u00aders spread this impro\u00advised cui\u00adsine to every cor\u00adner of the coun\u00adtry, much as they did in the U.S. You would be hard-pressed to find this old stuff in Toron\u00adto, where the del\u00adi\u00adca\u00adcies of Sichuan, Hunan and Shan\u00adtung are the norm, and peo\u00adple earnest\u00adly debate the authen\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adty of Mon\u00adgo\u00adlian hot pots. Of course, this sat\u00adis\u00adfy\u00ading feast came with a for\u00adtune cook\u00adie, which was terse and gen\u00ader\u00adal on the Eng\u00adlish side, but curi\u00adous\u00adly par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar on the French side.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>

The last of an old breed.<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

When I got home, rather tired because I had not done so much unin\u00adter\u00adrupt\u00aded walk\u00ading since before the can\u00adcer diag\u00adno\u00adsis, I found myself back in my com\u00adfort zone. The two cats for\u00adgave me for lock\u00ading them in for an entire day. They slept con\u00adtent\u00aded\u00adly at either side of me, and I too fell asleep. In the night, I was wak\u00adened by a loud crash\u00ading sound. I rose and walked around the apart\u00adment, look\u00ading for some\u00adthing that could have caused it, but found noth\u00ading. Assum\u00ading that it must have been a dream, I went back to sleep. When I woke up, I went to the kitchen to make some cof\u00adfee, which would taste best in my favourite blue cof\u00adfee cup. What I did not know was that the \u201cdream\u201d sound had been real. Inside the kitchen cab\u00adi\u00adnet, the plas\u00adtic studs that had been hold\u00ading up the shelves for some unknown num\u00adber of decades had slow\u00adly aged into brit\u00adtle\u00adness, and in a sui\u00adci\u00addal moment, had dis\u00adin\u00adte\u00adgrat\u00aded. The top shelf col\u00adlapsed, cre\u00adat\u00ading a cas\u00adcade effect on the shelves below. The cab\u00adi\u00adnet was stuffed with dish\u00ades of every sort. When I opened the door, an avalanche of dish\u00ades poured down upon me, smash\u00ading against the fridge, the counter, the stove, and my most\u00adly naked body. In the sud\u00adden tor\u00adna\u00addo of bro\u00adken crock\u00adery, I received a dozen cuts, two of them deep gash\u00ades. I spent a long, unpleas\u00adant time treat\u00ading the cuts and clean\u00ading up the chaos of bro\u00adken glass, porce\u00adlain and spat\u00adtered blood. The music nec\u00ades\u00adsary for this task was alter\u00adnat\u00ading tracks of Prokofiev, Turkuaz and Steely Dan. I\u2019m not say\u00ading this was fun, but I could reflect that my archae\u00adol\u00ado\u00adgist friends do this every day for a liv\u00ading. As with before, all the injuries rapid\u00adly healed, though one will prob\u00ada\u00adbly leave a long-term scar.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clear\u00adly, the Gods are pur\u00adsu\u00ading a \u201clet\u2019s play tricks on Phil\u201d agen\u00adda (I\u2019m look\u00ading at you, Loki, Raven, Coy\u00adote, Anan\u00adsi, Nan\u00adabozho, Gwydion, and an assort\u00adment of leprechauns).<\/span>
\nAnd yet, I am still not a cynic.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\n

* https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3YHVC1DcHmo<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

** I fin\u00adished it lat\u00ader on, in a more tol\u00ader\u00adant mood.<\/span><\/p>\n

*** Yel\u00adlowknife [Dogrib name: S\u01eb\u01eb\u0300mbak\u2019\u00e8] is the cap\u00adi\u00adtal of the North\u00adwest Ter\u00adri\u00adto\u00adry of Cana\u00adda. Pop\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtion 20,340. Record low tem\u00adper\u00ada\u00adture, \u221251.2 \u00b0C \/ \u221260.2 \u00b0F. See any hon\u00adest account of this town for many lurid descrip\u00adtions of bar fights.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m writ\u00ading fresh from a relax\u00ading bub\u00adble bath. You all know how tough guys like me enjoy a good laven\u00adder-scen\u00adt\u00aded bub\u00adble bath. And I am fol\u00adlow\u00ading this plea\u00adsure with a quick sup\u00adper of home-made yaki\u00adnori soba and steamed frozen dumplings. It\u2019s time to \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,1540],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-ae-blog-2022"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11540","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11540"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11629,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11540\/revisions\/11629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}