Entry in two completely unrelated parts

[ciroccoj]

• Nine Nations of North America
  
  OK, I have got to read this book. It's probably somewhat outdated, as it came out in 1981, but the politics & geography geek in me is enthralled by this map:
  
  
  
  The premise is that our current political boundaries between countries and states are meaningless, and that a better organization of North America would be one in which the geography respects the actual cultural/economic differences between the regions. Personally I rather doubt it, as some of the cultural differences between Canadian and American approaches to, say, gun control, socialized medicine, foreign policy, the environment, the role of religion in education and politics, the military, the economy, etc go a little deeper than the author seems to give them credit for. Never end a sentence with a preposition. I would not want to be part of a country ("Foundry", capital: Detroit) where there was a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage and not a lot of socialized medicine, even if it did share much of the same ethnic & economic background as Ontario. And I doubt that a lot of people in the author's new New England (capital: Boston) would like to have no right to bear arms and little/no military.
  
  Then again, the book was written in 1980, when (to my memory, at least) those kinds of differences were not quite as entrenched as they appear to be now. And I haven't read it, so for all I know the book may have taken those factors into account.
  
  Anyway. The book sounds way cool. Also, it makes me laugh that Alberta would be part of the "Empty Quarter" ;)
  
  
• Choir: Our director taped one of our last rehearsals for the upcoming choir concert, and for one of the songs we sound a lot better than we normally do in concert. And that song is my favourite on the program too, which is nice, because it's always really disappointing when he tapes our concerts and the one song I most wanted to hear isn't worth listening to - baby wailing in the background, or the sopranos totally missed an entry, or somebody in the audience was wrestling with gum wrappers throughout, or whatever.
  
  No such problems here. It's beautiful. And it's Stephen Hatfield too, which is always good, and it's got a Celtic folk tune in there, and... ::sigh::
  
  Labour of Love (Take Me Somewhere), by Stephen Hatfield.
  
  (Chorus)
  Take me somewhere (carry me somewhere)
  Take me somewhere (carry me somewhere)
  Take me somewhere (carry me somewhere)
  Carry me on...
  
  Carry me to somewhere, wherever
  Carry me to somewhere, wherever
  Carry me to somewhere, wherever
  Carry me on,
  To where there are people like me...
  
  They brought me to the doctor,
  She said it's the clearest case I've ever seen,
  This kid needs a ransom,
  She needs a genie,
  She needs a ship sailing where
  She was always meant to be
  
  Chorus
  
  They brought me next to the altar,
  I know how you feel, said the voice behind the screen
  This world needs a ransom,
  We need a genie,
  We need a ship sailing where
  We were always meant to be
  
  Chorus
  
  We're standing here in our order,
  The chords in our voice hoist the sails into the breeze,
  We'll give you our heart,
  Give you our breathing,
  Give you the ship that could sail
  Abelard to Eloise
  
  And you know I'll be looking for someone,
  And I'll be looking for someone,
  And I'll be
  Looking out for you there,
  Somewhere there are people like me,
  Somewhere there are people like me,
  Somewhere there are people like me...

Comments

[lizzie-omalley.livejournal.com]

I have read the book, back in the mid 80s when things like gay marraige were barely on the radar screen and there were few large scale shooting going on so the gun debate was only just beginning to hot up. It really got some steam when Hinkley shot Reagan.

I would like to see an up dated version because I do think that things have changed in a big way. The 80s were a decade where it was clear that the manufacturing of large goods was really on the decline and that area of the country was still trying to figure out where to point themselves next while at the same time hold on to that manufacturing identity. In the nearly 30 intervening years most of the manufacturing has moved to other places and the population there has had to move on in some way.

I think that the boundaries would be somewhat rewritten and the identities redefined in a more modern book. Getting past the idea of the specific boundaries and identities he describes, the idea of looking at things with that kind of a boundary system is, I think, interesting and has some application to facilitate communication between different people from different regions within the same so called nation.

Note: he doesn't deal with the indigenous nations at all, that I remember, which, I think, could be described as a "pocket nation" within the dominant politcal nation or regional nation. This may become more of an issue if the native nations can continue to develop economics and political power that rests on their individual national identities.

[woffproff.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see a revised version of it as well, mainly (because of my own field of study) to see what they'd do with the boundaries of Dixie. I doubt Florida would be included anymore (thought certainly North Florida *is* very Dixie in terms of culture still) and my colleagues from the Midwest slices that were placed with Dixie in the 1980s would be shocked and offended to know that anyone ever thought they were Southern!!!!

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

I have read the book, back in the mid 80s when things like gay marraige were barely on the radar screen and there were few large scale shooting going on so the gun debate was only just beginning to hot up.
Yeah, they weren't big issues here either. If asked, I'm sure most people would've said gay marriage was wrong and gun control was a pretty good thing, but nothing to get worked up about.

I would like to see an up dated version because I do think that things have changed in a big way.
Yeah, bigtime. Although just looking it over as is, it still makes a certain amount of sense. BC has a lot more in common with, say, Oregon, than it does with Quebec.

Note: he doesn't deal with the indigenous nations at all, that I remember, which, I think, could be described as a "pocket nation" within the dominant politcal nation or regional nation. This may become more of an issue if the native nations can continue to develop economics and political power that rests on their individual national identities.
Oooh, hadn't thought of that. And of course now I'm busily trying to imagine what it would be like for native nations here to have to negotiate with different nations, not just different provinces. Interesting...

[ciroccoj.livejournal.com]

I'd like to see a revised version of it as well, mainly (because of my own field of study) to see what they'd do with the boundaries of Dixie.
Yeah, that's one of the areas I'd love to read about. What made him group them together that way in particular? Why those parts of those states? And how did he explain the three-part Texas split? It makes sense to me on an immediate level, but I'd like to see his reasoning. And see if it would still make sense today.

and my colleagues from the Midwest slices that were placed with Dixie in the 1980s would be shocked and offended to know that anyone ever thought they were Southern!!!!
Heh :)

Our own placing in Foundry makes a lot of sense, even though we're really notsomuch with the manufacturing so much any more. Culturally in Ontario I think we in many ways we have a lot more in common, for good and bad, with Michigan, New York, etc, than we do with Nova Scotia or Prince Edward Island. I prefer the lines the way they are, but can understand why he would draw them differently.

[scrtkpr.livejournal.com]

I live right on the border of Ecotopia and Mexamerica. How exciting!