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Notes from a Garage

With John Gardiner

Organized crime at the government level; the Kitchener Blues Festival; and what’s art…..

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

So, I see that the federal government has moved to make gambling a “serious” crime in Canada. Apparently, the government did this so they could better deal with gangs and organized crime. So, I suppose that the police will first of all arrest all of the members of the government who are involved in carrying out this nefarious activity. Why, oh why, is it okay for the government to operate gambling institutions in every corner store, but not okay for anyone else? I have long argued that government has no business operating any type of gaming – government is supposed to be there to protect its citizens from bad stuff – it’s not supposed to be part of the bad stuff that ruins people’s lives. For untold centuries, it was generally recognized that gambling was a bad thing. Very addictive…..very destructive for a lot of people. When I was a kid, it was illegal to even buy an Irish Sweepstakes ticket – you could go to jail. But, somehow – and I’m not exactly sure how this happened – the laws have changed to the point where anything gambling related goes – as long as it’s the government running the blackjack tables. This is so completely wrong that it boggles my mind that any right-thinking person could think it’s right. If you made me King of Canada even for a day, the first thing I’d do is pack up all the gambling junk. Either that, or I’d let everyone have a crack at it. If gambling is okay for the government to operate, it surely should be okay for everyone else as well. No, I don’t like the way the government seems to be very selective in terms of which vices are okay and which are not. Government are a bunch of hypocrites and they are helping to ruin the lives of ordinary Canadians. And that just ain’t right!

Was off up to Kitchener this past weekend for the 10th annual Blues Festival in the twin cities and, wow, what an event. You’ve got to understand that the whole thing is free. There are three stages set up right in the downtown area and you can just walk from one stage to another and see some of the greatest blues talent on the planet. They do it all with corporate sponsorship and what a tourist draw for the city. We stayed at a local motel and on Sunday morning over breakfast, all you could hear was talk about the blues festival. My goal on this trip was to see blues icon Dr. John, who had made the trip all the way from New Orleans to give the Blues Fest fans a real thrill. But the lineup for the blues festival read like a who’s who of blues talent from across the continent. My wife and I were blown away by Watermelon Slim and the Workers, a band we’d not been familiar with before the trip. Anyway, the blues fest in Kitchener is proof that if you build it – and you do a good job at it –they will come. Congrats to everyone involved up there – great job!

Had a talk with another artist the other day and we got to talking about the Canadian arts grant structure. I told her that if I was put in charge of the country for a day, one of the first things I’d do is get rid of most of the arts grants. I think art has to somehow survive in the market. If it can’t, then the artist has a problem. I’m not saying that artists should only create their art if there’s a market. I’m saying that you’ve gotta create your art and then hope there’s a market for it. We’ve got a lot of so-called art in Canada that isn’t really art and we’ve got a lot of people in Canada who are only artists when it comes to filling out grant applications. The arts grant structure in Canada has done nothing but create an artificial arts elite in Canada – a body of people who sort of decide what’s art and what’s not. I am a writer who’s actually had work rejected because it was “too popular” for the Canadian press I submitted it to – whatever that means. I always thought the idea was for your art to be popular, but apparently not in Canada. Anyway, I know this just sounds like sour grapes because I can’t find a publisher, and maybe it is. But I don’t know…..if you look from Shakespeare to Dickens to Hemingway, here are some guys who were wildly popular in their time. I guess their stuff isn’t real art. Too popular.

Out of time for another week……Hope life is treating you well and you’re getting through this really hot, humid summer…..remember, “Hew to the line; let the chips fall where they may.”



John Gardiner is a 25-year-veteran of the community newspaper business, but he is also a prolific writer of moralistic short fiction he refers to as "emotional thoughtscapes" or "adult fables". Samples of his fiction can be found at:

He has also produced a noteworthy piece of humanist philosophy which can be found at: http://www.xs4all.nl/~aboiten/ad502.htm He welcomes comments on his work.