Canada’s Debate

Come swish around, my pretty punk,
And keep me dancing still
That I may stay a sober man
Although I drink my fill.

I’m no huge fan of Yeats, but I wanted a way to work the word “punk” into the post title. I wanted to do this because I want to talk about punk (sort of) with you. The subject has been weighing on me since I came across a contest over at The Rebel Sell. The writer was asking people to come up with “punk” moments in Canadian history. Try as I might, the best I could come up with was the Fisheries Minister impounding a portugese fishing vessel about eight years ago over illegal halibut fishing. My failure to come up with anything has pissed me off, and got me thinking. As you may have noticed I talked about bubblegum punk bands in my last post. I detest them as a listener of music, and someone who has operated on the fringes of the socially-conscious subculture for a few years. But they’re just symptoms of a greater malaise, which I am going to call (for lack of a better term) anti-punk.

I should qualify that term before I continue. When I say “anti-punk” I don’t just mean someone with a mohawk who works for a bank; I am describing an ethos which isn’t just the opposite of punk, but is borne from punk and directly rejects it. This doesn’t have to be a conscious process by any means. I sincerely doubt “A Simple Plan” gave much thought to their rejection of the values of punk artists that preceded them… or anything beyond what they could stick into other people and what they could stick in themselves.

That all being said, where is this anti-puck coming from? Is it a matter of complacency? Has the social dissonance which gave rise to youth angst really evaporated? Or is it as simple as, “entertainment and fashion industry execs figured out they could cash in on it”? To be honest I’m not entirely sure. I didn’t experience punk first hand, and I’ve never really bought into it’s current incarnation. But there is obviously something dysfunctional about a culture which embraces the language of a social movement only to appropriate the fashion a youth-oriented product placement advantages.

Damn. I lost my train of thought talking about Fetuccini Alfredo. I’ll try and pick this up tomorrow. For now, here is the recipe in question:

4 tbs butter
1/2 lbs fettucine
2 egg yolks beaten
4 ounces 35% (whipping) cream
1/4 cup parmesan
salt & pepper (to taste)

Cook pasta. Add butter to cooked pasta and toss until butter is melted. In a bowl mix the other ingredients. Remove pasta from heat and place in bowl. Pour over cream/egg mixture and stir.