tim’s thought property

At 7:15am, this Sunday morning, March 26; the old Winnipeg Arena will be no more. It will mark the completion of the almost four months of slow demolition, with a timed implosion, which will level the steel structure in no time. And then what happens?

The Arena has been a fixture next to the Stadium all my life, and I’ve enjoyed some hockey games there. I have no sentimental attachment to it by any means, it was an old structure that lost it’s charm years ago, and was becoming more run-down in the last decade. Well, in the name of progress, we Winnipegers will destroy one old building to replace it by creating a sleek, newer version. And, said version is already paid its dues, it was that building that replaced Eaton’s, remember? All the fuss and frustration? All the sentiment to keep a husk of an old monument, to hold on to the past so recklessly that it didn’t matter that a six storey vacant building would hinder urban renewal? Yeah, there’s been no such foolishness attached to the Arena. It’s old, it’s going.
Speaking of it being a fixture, all my afternoons spent looking out the western windows of Chapters will now have less to see. On many a slow day, my co-workers and I would ponder what it would be like to run around a demolition site, or perhaps volunteer our time, by helping to break parts of the building ourselves. We even went as far to compose a list of songs about destruction, loss or death, a sort of “Demo-Mix: The songs to remember the Arena“.
Here’s some of the songs put to paper:
Times are a’changin’ - Bob Dylan
Benny and the Jets - Elton John
We’re here for a Good Time - Trooper
Don’t fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
You Can’t always get what you Want - The Rolling Stones
The Good ‘ol Hockey Game - Stompin’ Tom Connors
Sugar we’re goin’ down - Fall Out Boy
Every Part of me - Sam Roberts
It’s Coming Down - Cake
I still miss someone - Johnny Cash
Seconds - U2
Left and Leaving - the Weakerthans
….
There were a couple of these lists over the course of a week. I found the first one we worked on.
Feel free to contribute your own ideas for the song list. What other songs would you deem suitable for the destruction of an old building?
So if you guys have some desire to see the thrill of implosion, head on down to Empress st on Sunday morning. It’ll be a blast. (hmm, can’t decide if I want to intend that pun or not…)

Why don’t you ever want to play? I’m tired of this piece of string. /You sleep as much as I do now, and you don’t eat much of anything. /I don’t know who you’re talking to-I made a search through every room, /but all I found was dust that moved in shadows of the afternoon. /And listen, about those bitter songs you sing? /They’re not helping anything. /They won’t make you strong. /So, we should open up the house. Invite the tabby two doors down. /You could ask your sister, if she doesn’t bring her Basset Hound. /Ask the things you shouldn’t miss: tape-hiss and the Modern Man, /The Cold War and Card Catalogues, to come and join us if they can, /for girly drinks and parlor games. We’ll pass around the easy lie /of absolutely no regrets, and later maybe you could try /to let your losses dangle off /the sharp edge of a century, /and talk about the weather, or /how the weather used to be. /And I’ll cater with all the birds that I can kill. /Let their tiny feathers fill disappointment. /Lie down; lick the sorrow from your skin. /Scratch the terror and begin /to believe you’re strong. /All you ever want to do is drink and watch TV, /and frankly that thing doesn’t really interest me. /I swear I’m going to bite you hard and taste your tinny blood /if you don’t stop the self-defeating lies you’ve been repeating since the day you brought me home. /I know you’re strong.
_______________________
-Plea From A Cat Named Virtute by The Weakerthans

Now, there is a lot to be said about entertainment and good and bad taste.
I am not going to stand long on this soapbox, to give a tired speech about poor creative choices or unnecessary white-noise. No, I am going to alert your attention long enough to observe this. Please, click the link below, observe what I am talking about, then resume reading this post.

Ok.
You’ve seen it once. So have I. That is all that you need.
My first question is Did someone actually write this, thinking it would be a great movie to watch? Snakes do not scare me, for one, but even from an action movie standpoint, this movie looks terrible! How many times can we expect to see numerous one-liners from the passengers, and Samuel L? How many different ways are they going to slither up on a person? How many different ways are there to kill a snake? How many ways are there to kill a snake…on a plane?!
Honestly!!
I don’t need to see the film to know that this is a bad movie! Why are these sorts of things encouraged? Why is money being spent to pay people to make these wastes of time? If I had some influence in the industry, I would put an end to all the shitty scripts being submitted by writers. I would encourage actual writers, creative thinkers and successful ones too (Michael Chriton’s magic touch in the film industry as long since fallen away, and he should move on), and have them come up with original ideas.
No more books to film, let’s hold off on that. No more re-makes or “re-imaginings” of old, good films. No more “so real you can feel the blood” horror films. Whatever happened to the thrill of suspense? Remember Hitchcock anyone? Remember why Psycho was so scary? Because you never saw the killer!!!
For goodness sake! A medium has been taken away from the people who can really make it worthwhile, and it’s been given to the dopes in suits who have their sights on money and profit over story and acting, and they have ripped out the audience’s mind, put it in a blender and handed it back to us, with the option of putting butter on top. Stupid movies will perpetuate stupidity!

No. I have to stop.
This rant can go on.
I can’t believe they are making a movie called Snakes on a Plane. That haiku horoscope was right…

So as it happens, there is more to Moustache Day than just growing an awful ’stache. There is the mentality that goes with it, and the attitude you have to exude just to get through the day. It also works as a scapegoat for odd behaviour. It really is something else to got through. It’s a style that I don’t feel comfortable wearing, but I have been complimented on it. It’s something that I think gives off a certain vibe that I just don’t have.

As you can see, this looks out of place.
On the left, Zen looks like he should be in high school in the class of ‘81. I mean, it feels like the style is very dated. I chose “the Musketeer” look, and even that makes me look like a snooty French artist. With aviators on, I am absolutely hideous.
Jordan, on the other hand, has little wisps of hair, not unlike a catfish, which has caused us to coin the term “cat-fishing” to describe awful moustaches. As for Bea, well, her work afforded her the time to construct this, which I must say looks a lot like Mario. Now that is someone that can hold the look….Mario…..

In short, young people (and women) cannot have a moustache as a worthwhile facial hair style.
What’s the point of it now anyway? I’m sure that is going through your heads. Well, a customer asked us the same thing, she thought we were doing something with this event, other than proving the moustache as an outlawed statement. It has come to be a fundraising effort now. It is a “Save it or Shave it” style fundraiser to generate money to allow underprivileged kids the ability to afford sports equipment. I think it will turn out to be a good thing. Us young men at the ‘bucks can have fun looking bad, and we can be able to do a good thing for some kids too.
I suppose that’s what putting your looks to good use is like…..

And so it was….
Dirty Moustache Day.

This picture, taken by Marc Willerton, is from last year’s Dirty Moustache Day event. In fact it was the day before said event. You can see that it is hidious. You can see that it looks seedy. I felt the same way that day, having gone bowling, smoked a Guatemalan cigar and ate at McDonalds. Yes, it was a day of decadence in the worst of ways. But that is half the fun of DMD. It’s like wearing a joke, only it’s on your face. Well, that isn’t the greatest, either. Hmmm….
The point of the event is to show how the moustache as a style doesn’t look good on men younger than forty. It’s not something that is so eagerly sought after by young men, as it was in the late seventies and eighties. No, the way of the moustache is fallen, although I do fear it’s eventual return. I, myself, am a beard and sideburn kind of guy, and would much prefer either of over a moustache.
So come out to my work on Monday March 13th, and you will see three moustachioed employees. The time to do it is between noon and five o’clock. It will be a day of laughter. …nervous, uncomfortable laughter….