Brief Thoughts on the American Election

My wonk is still kind of burned out. I tried to avoid the US election as much as I could this time around. It was enough going into it that Rmoney was likely going to lose. I'm glad he did - the man was the damn near the poster child for sociopathic CEO. Anyway, on to my thoughts, shared by many:

1) Given the choices offered, you chose wisely. Hopefully without having to worry about re-election he'll pull out all the stops.

2) Secular/Progressive forces got a big boost. Keep it up.

3) Don't get complacent. The Democratic Party is still largely owned by the "sane billionaires"*. It's better than the "insane billionaires", but I'd rather it was "the people". However, today's Democratic party has moved significantly to the left. Not anywhere near what anyone else in the developed world would describe as "left-wing", but it's still a step in the right correct direction.

* No cite, but I think I got it from Matt Taibbi. US Politics is dominated by the fight between the sane billionaires and the insane billionaires and can be summed up like this:

Insane billionaires: Let's kill everyone and take all their stuff!
Sane billionaires: I like your thinking on taking all their stuff, but if we let them live, they'll make even more stuff.
Insane billionaires: *grumble*

4) You can't buy an election... yet.

5) One party is trying to increase the number of people who vote for them. The other is trying to reduce the number of people who can vote for their opponents. The former is a better tactic than the latter.

6) Ubiquitous social media is becoming a wonderful way of stopping actual voter fraud. Faulty/fraudulent voting machines where on youtube damn near instantly. People where being educated about voter fraud tactics (for example, being lied to about a poll's location/timing) and asked to take/upload pictures of anyone engaging in them. Sunlight, as they say, makes the best disinfectant.

7) Pay close attention to anything the right-wing accuses you of doing. It means they're already doing it.


I might add more to this post later, but that's it for now.

A Tale of Two Theatres

Longtime readers and friends know that, until it was closed, the Uptown was my favourite Calgary theatre. It was funky, retro, showed lots of truly odd movies and was the centrepiece of the beautiful Barron Building - Calgary's first skyscraper!

My current favourite theatre isn't even in Calgary, it's in Vancouver: The Rio. I've been to about four shows at the Rio in the last year (two for each visit) and I've been paying attention to it for the last several months.

The Rio has done everything right and it's still around. The Uptown largely half-assed it and it's gone.

In the Uptown's defence, they also had an adversarial relationship with Strategic Equities, the Barron building's owners. Even if you intend on doing everything right, and have the people and money to pull it off, it's hard to get any traction when the theatre is cold and empty. They also had to contend with being in downtown Calgary (dead after 6pm) rather than the Commercial Drive/Broadway area of Vancouver (only dead after the bars close). True, Calgary is slowly adding condos downtown, but it's still a ghost town in some areas in the evening.

In the end, they gave up the fight, claiming "...movie piracy and the popularity of internet services such as Netflix, industry prospects are poor for cinemas specialising in 'Art House' product."

I aim to show, with the Rio's example, that that's not the case.

The Rio has, to my mind, done four things well. First, they bring in a good class of art house movies. Now in Vancouver they're not unique in that, just like the Uptown wasn't unique in Calgary for art house movies. The big difference is that the Rio doesn't depend on that, but the Uptown did.

Second, the Rio brings in a lot of unique live acts. So far I've yet to see a movie at the Rio, what I have seen is D&D Live (serial improvisational comedy) and the East Side Spectacular (a sexy variety show). The elements of those things already exist in Calgary, and I think we have a large enough population that we could grow more if there was a venue for such a thing.

Next, the Rio brings in cult movies and heavily advertises them. You know, films we all own already, which gives the lie to Netflix or movie piracy. I can watch Serenity any time I please, but the Rio will let me watch it while dressed up with a couple hundred other people!

Looking at their schedule for this month I see:

• A talent show.
  
• A grindhouse festival.
  
• Live music on eight separate occasions.
  
• Serial improv comedy.
  
• Burlesque.
  
• Niche documentaries.
  
• Spike and Mike.
  
• Five cult movies.

I'd be there multiple times a week if I lived in the neighbourhood. Probably once a week if I was just in Vancouver.

And that I think is where the Rio really succeeds: They're not just building a theatre - they're trying to build a local arts community centred on their theatre. Hell, they're even offering matinee screenings for parents with toddlers.

Finally, they have a liquor license. They fought long and hard for this but it does make it rather unique. Given some of the acts, it makes sense. I'd rather have a highball if I'm watching burlesque or a live band. The Uptown had the Marquee Room, but you couldn't watch a movie with the drinks you bought there. Sadly, they can't have liquor sales at the same time as the toddler shows - I think that would be epic. Stupid laws.

The Rio also put a lot of effort into making the venue nice. The Uptown was still using the seats they had in the eighties. The place looked run down. Little improvements appeared here and there, but it seemed like it was the work of one person or a small group working when they could fit in the time, rather than a positive effort to refurbish the joint. The Rio on the other hand has been extensively remodelled (new, modern, theatre seats; a nice stage and screen; a brand new lounge). Of course this takes money, which the Uptown clearly didn't have. However the variety of the shows and their self-promotion are a good way of making the money to improve the theatre.

I see no reason why Calgary couldn't have something similar. Perhaps the Plaza will do it since it's the next most Rio-like of the Calgary theatres.