from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Aug 1, 2012 at 10:38 PM
subject Rapport sur la publicité: les Travaux publics accusent 2 ans de retard; Federal political parties distance themselves from Quebec election campaign
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived a short week at work, an provincial
election call, the 100th nightly manif, and a dishwasher that almost
set our apartment on fire. Let me explain. I only worked 3 days this
week so I have tomorrow and Friday to work on the apartment. Today
Charest called an election for the day after Labour Day. Today is also
the 100th night in a row of protests over the tuition fee hike; it was
huge, and is still going on and probably getting tear-gassed. We
participated (the president of the EDA Papineau for the #CPC part of
me is always a little conflicted about this). Started at Jarry, we met
up at Jean Talon, and walked down to Laurier. By that point the crowd
was 1000-strong; it more than tripled by the time it reached Parc
Emile-Gamelin. But by then we were back home. Rose quite enjoyed the
casseroles, but we forgot to bring ear protection for her. The SPVM
were acting like assholes, driving their cruisers through the crowd at
high rates of speed at one point! And the dishwasher, well, let’s just
say the heated dry function forgot to turn itself off, so a couple
nights ago Claudine woke up from the smell of melting plastic. Ruined
the utensil tray, a few utensils, made some interesting fused utensil
sculptures, but luckily no serious damage. And I tested it this
morning and it still works, kinda.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Aug 6, 2012 at 10:56 PM
subject Appels trompeurs: trop tard pour de nouvelles preuves, selon l’avocat du PC; Rockies, other geography made Canada’s West a dinosaur hot bed
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. Sorry for not writing much. I was surviving another
heat wave, and many visits. My brother and friends were down for
Osheaga but they didn’t buy their tickets in advance and all the shows
they wanted to see were sold out. They seemed to have fun doing other
things however: biodome, Alexandraplatz, Vice et Versa, the Jarry park
pool, Rogers Cup qualifying matches (free). I survived a bit more
bathroom renovations but didn’t really advance much. Last night Aaron
and friends offered to babysit Rose so Clo and Sarah could go see a
movie. We saw The Amazing Spider-man, which was gooey mush at times,
and LOL outlandishly preposterous plot wise, but also significantly
better than the first series.
Here is what I wrote regarding the subject back in August, 2001 (!) :
Spent some time on the Internet tonight looking up info on the new
Spider-man movie. I had been thinking of Spidey the other day,
wondering what was going on, and what would turn up if I searched on
the web. The movie looks a bit cheesy. Bad computer graphics. Tried to
view some 3-D images but the plug-in I downloaded had no effect. I’m
feeling the Luddite urge coming more and more frequently.
And again in May, 2002 :
Just came back from watching Spider-Man. It worked for me; the story
is close to the original comics, and it is a fun visual romp. Unlike
the TV cartoon, the movie makes web-slinging through the streets of
New York appear realistically acrobatic. His webs aren’t simply
shooting into the clouds. My biggest complaints would be surrounding
dialogue and the lack of character development for MJ. The webs
streaming from his wrists appears ridiculously ejaculatory in a few
scenes, but that method is easier to explain than having Peter Parker
build his own ‘web shooters’ from scratch.
Whatever. It was just nice to get some AC and enjoy an evening without
a wailing toddler. We saw it in IMAX 3D and the 3D worked, didn’t give
me a headache, wasn’t too dim and even seemed to be used with
thoughtful restraint.
We survived a bit of a scare yesterday when during lunch Rose ran out
of the house, undid the front gate and ran halfway down to Jean-Talon
before we realized that she was gone. An older couple were keeping
tabs on her, which is one advantage to living on a busy street. I
don’t want to think about all the possible negative outcomes that
could have happened but I think about those things constantly anyway.
Helps increase the quantity of grey hairs.
Also, helping a friend learn how to drive a standard in a busy
McDonald’s parking lot can add to grey hairs. Sarah picked it up
quickly, and we mostly worked on first and second gear.
Tomorrow we leave for vacation part 2. This time, St-Irenee, near
Malbaie, in Charlevoix, just past Les Eboulements, where Clo and I
married way back in 2007. We’ve switched the roof racks and travel box
over to the new car, now we just need to pack.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Aug 8, 2012 at 11:44 PM
subject Le fédéral prévoit redoubler d’ardeur pour réduire les GES; Undercover language watchdogs descend on airports
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived a gastro the night before leaving on
vacation. Woke up in the middle of the night and puked my guts out.
Wasn’t feeling great for the drive to St-Irénée yesterday but survived
that, too. The mini portable DVD-player I bought helped keep Rose
occupied. Today was a fun day at the beach, after a little drive to
look at some cows. Ate at the local casse-croute just for the irony.
It rained in the evening and there was a gigantic almost-double
rainbow all the way across the sky, across the St. Laurence. Rose
asked where Kermit was. Just finished watching Yes Sir! Madame, a
great patchwork video about a fictitious filmmaker-turned-politician,
which definitely reminds me of my infiltration project within the
Conservative Party. Not advancing much on that dossier while on
vacation, but I did receive a phone call last week inviting me to a
barbecue in Beaconsfield. I gave the guy my email but he never did
send the invite; or, if he did, it went into junk. I’m sure I can find
the info, the event isn’t until the 20th. Maxime Bernier is the
keynote speaker. I wonder if he’ll talk about what’s going on in
Syria?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Aug 9, 2012 at 10:32 PM
subject Le fédéral prévoit redoubler d’ardeur pour réduire les GES; Iran holds conference to calm Syria crisis
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived a visit to the Parc National des
Hautes-Gorge-de-la-Rivière-Malbaie. We did a quick little hike which
Rose climbed herself (I carried her down), and after catching the
shuttle back to the car to retrieve my Visa, we rented a canoe and
paddled upriver, against current and wind. Moods were not high; Rose
didn’t really nap, Clo and I bickered. But the landscape was stunning.
Bought some street hockey balls at the Canadian Tire in Malbaie this
morning, as well as a tripod from a photo store in the mall, so now
I’m all set to shoot some Public Goalie video. Maybe tomorrow morning
while the tide is coming in; I plan to shoot on the beach. Rose will
be up early; she was asleep just past eight. Routine shmootine!
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sat, Aug 11, 2012 at 10:27 PM
subject Le fédéral prévoit redoubler d’ardeur pour réduire les GES; Declining membership, dwindling finances likely to top church agenda
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived a visit to the Symposium in Baie-St-Paul.
It is celebrating 30 years this year. You might recall that Claudine
and I met during the 21st edition back in 2003. It’s looking very
designed this year; big letters announce the entrance within the
arena, and all the ateliers are wild angles. We ran into M. Simard,
the man who lived next door to la Maison des artistes (the house has
since been sold and is now an old age home). He still comes frequently
to the symposium but his health is not as good.
This morning we attempted a Public Goalie video shoot, but after a
couple hours of preparation, dressing, and having Claudine man the
camera as well as throw street hockey balls at me (while containing
Rose), we realized that there is something seriously wrong with my
video camera. All the footage is washed out and too high-contrast and
unusable. We’ll tackle it again tomorrow morning but with her iPhone.
Now we’re watching the Green Mile, dubbed into French. I think one of
the inmates on death row is played by the actor who plays Mr. Noodle
on Elmo’s World. My cultural references run real deep now.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Aug 12, 2012 at 9:45 PM
subject Le fédéral prévoit redoubler d’ardeur pour réduire les GES Le fédéral prévoit redoubler d’ardeur pour réduire les GES; United Church votes to include aboriginal elements in crest, documents
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived the drive home from St-Irénée. We packed
up everything in the morning and headed for the beach for the goalie
video shoot part 2. It went well, and we captured some good video and
pictures. Rose saw more horses and a kinda train – train wagons hauled
by a type of transport truck engine, not as impressive but still a
loud horn. We stopped in Quebec City for lunch at a great restaurant
called Le Cercle. Rose ate a ton of bacon and crêpe. Met up with Sarah
almost as soon as we came home and after unloading the car we all went
to eat at the Vietnamese restaurant nearby for soup and veggies. Had a
nice bath with Rose and Clo read stories and tucked her in. The
routines begin again. Tomorrow I anticipate a crazy day at work as we
scramble to assemble all sorts of documents and quotes for a grant to
help us mount a super-complicated and expensive show by Thomas Demand.
What’s all this I keep hearing about major polar ice loss this year?
Anything to be concerned about?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Aug 13, 2012 at 10:10 PM
subject Harper préférerait éviter un lock-out de la LNH; Suspected smugglers ordered released on bail
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday at work.
Posted a teaser video for the Everyday Goalie series and scored a
brief interview with Mike Landry in Saint John. He was writing a piece
anyhow on the Art in the Open festival. I managed a few minutes to
speak to him amidst somewhat frantic gathering of multiple equipment
and transport quotes for this IFA grant we’re tossing together.
Stacy invited Jon, Myles and I for a beer at Alexandraplatz after
work. Due to proximity I’ve been able to snag the Foursquare
mayorship, which means absolutely nothing. Claudine made a great
gazpacho for supper, also homemade hummus. Rose was a darling, she ate
well, had a bath and read stories with me and fell asleep around
8:30pm. Now Clo is on another episode of Breaking Bad, I’m editing a
longer version of Everyday Goalie but think I might just head to bed
early and check out the new New Yorker.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 9:48 PM
subject Vic Toews aura accès aux entretiens filmés avec Omar Khadr; Vic Toews aura accès aux entretiens filmés avec Omar Khadr
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived Alexandraplatz for the second straight
day after work. When I got home Clo was still in preparation mode for
supper and needed yeast for some veggie paté so I hopped on the bike
with Rose to the Metro. We ran into Kim and Thomas there. Rose had a
bath with her Mama while I cleaned up the kitchen, and I read stories
before bed. Now I’m beat! I need to find / make time to go to the
studio to find some things to send to Judith for the opening of TUCK
studio. Her Into the Wild house is almost, at long last, and she and
Robert plan to move in about a week or so. Aaarg, planning is not my
strong suite. I’m still waiting on a friend of a friend to determine
if I can catch a ride back to Montreal from Charlottetown so i can
book a flight to…but I need to fly on points and can only leave
Wednesday night, with a layover overnight in Halifax. Not enough time
to visit Tam and Trev, who incidentally are celebrating their 15-year
wedding anniversary today. Holy moly that suddenly seems like a long
time! Longer than I have been writing to you.
Here are some thoughts on the upcoming provincial election brought to
you by my pal Mohanad:
me: Jean Charest is a big poophead
mohanad: he is a puppet doing that other guy’s will whats his name the
business guy that put martin in
and trudeau
me: Pierre-Karel Peladeau?
mohanad: no
me: or the Power Corp. guy?
mohanad: yes
me: you’re probably right
mohanad: he is the one people need to seek out not the other
monkeys…he pulls the strings
me: damn string-puller!
Then I asked him if he had anything to ask you and he says: “Does he
think his children are going to think he was a good person? Does he
think history is going to think he did the right thing? Does he care?”
It’s funny how people can have such dramatically different views of
what “good” is.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Aug 15, 2012 at 9:53 PM
subject John Baird fait volte-face sur un octroi à un groupe canado-syrien; Merkel meets Harper, will leave without bailout funds
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. Suvived another day at work. I also survived bumping
into, unexpectedly, Gerry the Treasurer for the Papineau ACE. Luckily
I wasn’t wearing a red square! Tonight I picked up Rose after daycare
and then after ice cream made a Tom Yum salmon soup. Claudine had gone
hiking near Sherbrooke with Sarah and was stuck in traffic on the 15
on her way home, but after eating we bundled into the car again and
headed to the McCord Museum for one of their weekly summer concerts,
tonight by Donzelle. Femke was there so Rose was in her glory and ran
about jumping and dancing for an hour straight. She was really, really
into it. I quite like the purple garden they had designed and built
for the section of Victoria St. that is closed to cars for the summer.
In other news, here’s the text for the latest petition I just signed.
I’ve lost track of how many petitions I sign in a year; maybe fifty?
-chris
If a tar sands pipeline and supertankers project looks too dangerous,
what do you do? If you’re Enbridge, you delete islands off of public
videos and maps to convince the public the project is less dangerous
than it really is.
Right now, oil and gas giant Enbridge is fighting to build a 1,177 km
tar sands pipeline from Alberta, to BC’s coast, despite massive public
opposition.[1] If the project is approved, up to 500 oil tankers a
year laden with toxic heavy crude will have to weave through the 4th
most dangerous waterway in the world, making sharp, 90° turns through
twisting, rocky passages.
Enbridge knows that as the public is learning about its 800 oil spills
in the last decade, they are turning against the company’s plans to
run pipeline and tankers through pristine rainforest and coast. So it
hired the same PR firm that worked for Big Tobacco and Enron to roll
out a multi-million dollar public image makeover. Its slick website
campaign is designed to convince the public that the oil tanker route
is safe, but a scientist just discovered that Enbridge deliberately
removed 1,000 km2 of islands off of a public video and map to make the
oil tanker route look much less treacherous than it actually is. [3]
Use the form on the right to tell Enbridge to stop misleading the
public and pull the ads immediately.
Enbridge’s pipelines across North America just keep spilling, and the
official report from the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board
found that negligence caused the massive 3 million litre Michigan
Kalamazoo spill in 2010. [4] Two years after the worst pipeline spill
in US history, the toxic crude is still polluting waterways and making
people sick.
Enbridge’s official application to build the Northern Gateway Pipeline
includes maps from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA), Google Earth, and even the Government of Canada. This proves
that Enbridge knows what the treacherous oil tanker route looks like —
but is grossly misrepresenting how wide the shipping routes would be,
and misleading the public about the true dangers of the project.
The slick route animation and map in the route safety video both show
the Douglas Channel without the maze of islands that oil tankers as
long as the Eiffel Tower will have to weave through. Enbridge knows
that spill cleanup would use skimmers and booms that work only in low
breezes and a light chop — not in treacherous waters with names like
Terror Point, Calamity Bay and Grief Point.
Right now, Enbridge is feeling the heat. Its pipelines just leaked
again — this time in Wisconsin — intensifying fears about Enbridge’s
safety track record. [5] And now, Enbridge’s CEO is admitting that
opponents to the pipeline have taken control of the debate, and he’s
trying to discredit them by labelling them as “revolutionaries”.
Enbridge is highly vulnerable to public pressure, and that’s why we’re
teaming up with Leadnow.ca to run this campaign. If enough of us speak
out together, we can force Enbridge to pull the ads. [1]
Tell Enbridge to pull its misleading pipeline ads immediately.
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Thu, Aug 16, 2012 at 9:26 PM
subject D’autres unités de l’armée seront bientôt appelées «royales»; Corporal’s critical letter latest salvo against RCMP management
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived a shit-ton of ridiculous traffic today. I
took the day off work to get things done. I picked up a load of stuff
from the studio, then headed to work to talk to Katie about the
Bovinities. I got stuck in traffic on the way home; St-Laurent was
blocked up at Beaubien. I was fifteen minutes late for moving the
Corrolla (street cleaning day) but luckily they hadn’t been by yet. No
ticket! Thank fuck. I met Claudine for lunch at le Pick-up and
afterwards picked up some gardening and bathroom-renovation supplies
and lo and behold got stuck in the same snarl of traffic, a gazillion
people trying to wind their way through Mile Ex. I took a short cut up
a one way. Spent the afternoon working on the bathroom, finally! The
shower stall is framed in, and I made good headway on levelling the
floor around the toilet. Might actually finish the floor tomorrow.
This evening we took Rose to the street festival at Parc St-Zotique
(the reason for the street closure) but it was noisy and there were
huge lines for everything, even to get inside one of those giant
inflatable animals where kids just jump up and down. Rose was in for
45 seconds and got weirded out by it. There were 2 live cows available
for photos but that just seemed cruel. The lineup for hotdogs and corn
just wasn’t worth it, and we didn’t feel like eating at Dinette Triple
Crown, so we grabbed gelato and made pasta at home. A good night, and
I’m on track to being in bed by 10. A little Facebook and New Yorker
and that’ll be it.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Fri, Aug 17, 2012 at 10:47 PM
subject Harper en visite en Arctique; Electrifying and elusive, Justin Trudeau quietly mulls his political destiny
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived a day of bathroom renovations that
included some electrical work and I didn’t electrocute myself not even
once. The subfloor is down and the shower walls are prepped and ready
for drywall, the shower taps are placed and the ventilator has a new
wall switch.
I also rented a car for while I am on PEI. I figure it is the best way
to get myself to scenic locations (such as the Green Gables) for
shoots with the Everyday Goalie.
Still no email invitations for the Conservative Party BBQ in
Beaconsfield on Monday.
We ate at El Rey dey Taco tonight. It was delicious but gave Clo a
tummyache. Too many onions, she thinks.
We started watching The Artist but she fell asleep. So I’m here now.
Facebook. Free Pussy Riot. Stop Enbridge. Etc. etc.
Have fun up North.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 9:03 PM
subject Les Canadiens conservent un bon souvenir de Jack Layton; Target in Quebec election debate: Prime Minister Harper
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I am surviving an ongoing, somewhat mild form of
depression. I feel stuck and not so motivated, art or life-wise.
Apartment renos continue, however. Yesterday I almost finished all the
drywalling. Today we had a big visit from Nataniel, Dorian and Jo,
eating lunch outdoors and then going to the Jarry Park pool. The kids
played so well together and Rose had a crisis when it was time for
them to go. She also skipped afternoon nap, so was in bed by 7:45.
I’m up to 28 “likes” on the EDA Papineau ACE Facebook page (I think
the last few are from the ad!), with 2 more I’ll get to the next
level. I haven’t heard back from anyone regarding the BBQ in
Beaconsfield tomorrow but I can’t go anyway, as Clo has yoga or
something so I am home with Rose.
Hard to believe I will be off to PEI in a few days for some art. It’s
also hard to believe it has been a year since Jack Layton died.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Aug 20, 2012 at 10:09 PM
subject Mulcair admet qu’il n’est pas «Jack»; Defence officials juggled numbers to rationalize F-35 costs, e-mails show
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday. Work was too much Phun,
too much Phi. Also I woke up at 3am and couldn’t get back to sleep. My
brain is hyperactive and I can’t stop thinking about life, the
universe and everything. Working for a living, wages, labour, time,
effort and meaning weigh heavily on my mind lately. As does the
fallout (or lack thereof) from the debates last night and tonight
(which I only catch peripherally on Twitter, Facebook etc.). The world
is a strange place, becoming even stranger after the bizarre comments
from Republican Representative Todd Akin : “Akin stated that pregnancy
from rape was “really rare” because “if it’s a legitimate rape, the
female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.”
My grandmother just sent me a cheque for $1000 as a belated birthday
gift, part of proceeds from the sale of her house. Wow! I hope she
doesn’t mind that it goes on Mr. Visa. A Good ways closer to Freedom
2012 (which will really be more like Freedom mid-2013).
I should go have a shower before bed, I smell rank.
Up to 252 followers on Twitter.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Tue, Aug 21, 2012 at 10:46 PM
subject Nord canadien: Harper veut simplifier les règles du développement; Future lies in Arctic resource development, Harper says
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived driving to and fro through the Turcotte
Interchange while taking Sarah to the airport. I took a long lunch
break to do so. Stopped at Home Depot and debated buying a toilet but
decided against it. I don’t have time to install a toilet, even
temporarily. Bathroom renos will have to wait until next
week…possibly the week after. Now I’m packing, getting the goalie
gear as well as regular clothes, and tomorrow picking up camera from
Oboro after getting a re-sized screen from Lesna (work-related). Rose
was good tonight, after daycare we went to the park for a good long
hour, she ate lots of broccoli for supper and watched a bit of Toy
Story.
Had an interview with a girl from Here newspaper, they are featuring
me in the upcoming issue.
Another headline from tonight: “Arctique: vers une fonte record de la
calotte glaciaire”. Seems a bit odd that you are pushing more natural
resource development up North, no? Are you trying to be ironic?
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Mon, Aug 27, 2012 at 11:02 PM
subject Le NPD dénonce l’autorisation d’employer des infos obtenues sous la torture; Independent counsel resigns from judge’s conduct hearing
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. I survived another Monday, an 11-hour drive
yesterday, Art in the Open, Anne of Green Gables, PEI, missing a
connecting flight, a Ford Fiesta, POP Charlottetown at the Legion, the
Bad P.I. in the bushes, sheep with LEDs attached, toddlers, children,
women, the aged and semi-pro drunken hockey players launching orange
street hockey balls at me with their golf clubs. I’m glad I decided to
wear the cup.
I’m glad to be back. I’m tired, Rose grew a whole bunch while I was
away (or so it seems), she is sleeping with abandon, so is her mom.
I’ve made a selection of artworks to send to Judith for the opening of
TUCK and now I’m transferring images and videos from the Canon Eos 5D
so I can eventually start editing the videos. I might post an image of
me in goalie gear at Green Gables to Facebook tonight.
Bill 78 was invoked today as the student strike caused class
disruptions and riot police to descend on campuses to enforce classes
to continue. It must be very distracting to try to learn when there
are 40 riot cops hanging out in the hallway outside the classroom.
Enforced freedoms.
-chris
from chris lloyd
to pm@pm.gc.ca
date Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 9:30 PM
subject Stephen Harper ne viendra pas aider Jean Charest; Sensenberger allowed to contact senator husband by phone, email
Dear Stephen,
I am still alive. Tired, but alive. I edited footage from the PEI goalie shoot in front of the Charlottetown Harbour cannons, but the soundtrack is bad, so it needs an overhaul. I’m too tired to do it tonight (I should be finishing the drywall in the bathroom). May just go to bed and read the New Yorker. Facebook is full of Québec election and riot police on campus news. Very, very depressing.
-chris
DEAR PM 