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Radwanski's Ramblings... This way, you don't even have to listen to me reading it As promised, here’s the bit I did on escalating crime – or, more to the point, the myth of escalating crime and why we choose to believe it – for CBC Radio. I’m fascinated by what this phenomenon tells us about our culture and ourselves, and I’m hoping to further explore it in some print form or other. But for now, here’s the short, punchy version: If you live in Toronto, you know that 2004 was the year the city went to hell in a handbasket. Newspapers, the nightly news, call-in shows, local politicians, they all told us that violence was out of control. The whole year was one endless stream of stabbings and shootings, revenge killings and random assaults. Except it wasn't. The truth is, walking down the street was no more dangerous in 2004 than it was in 2003. We just like to think it was. In 2004, 62 murders were reported in Toronto. That's three fewer than in 2003 - a year in which Toronto had the third lowest crime rate of any major Canadian city. In Toronto, fewer than two people out of 100,000 are murdered each year. That's less than one-sixth the murder rate in America's 10 largest cities. Even in New York, much safer than it used to be, you're more than three times as likely to be murdered as you are here. Face it: Toronto, like most Canadian cities, is remarkably safe. Mirroring numbers across the country, violent crime has significantly declined since the early 90s. So why do we refuse to believe it? It's true that there are certain neighbourhoods where crime is on the rise. And yes, those neighbourhoods need help making their streets safer. But that's not what this is about. Most of the griping about crime is coming from middle-class types who've never set foot in the afflicted areas. And in their case, the areas they're living in are safer than ever. The media obviously have a lot to do with the misperceptions. Drug shootings or gruesome sex assaults attract viewers and sell newspapers, so they're given disproportionate coverage. Because stories are stretched over several days, audiences are left with the impression that we're always in the aftermath of a horrible crime. But there's something else, too. Promoting the idea of an unsafe city is also a well-worn strategy on the part of certain political interests. In some extreme cases, they're playing on the xenophobia of people who don't know what to make of the changing city around them. In others, they've just played on the reasonable fears of every parent of a small child, or every woman who has to walk home alone at night. Either way, it works. For years, conservative politicians and media types have told us about liberals promoting a so-called "culture of victimization." And yet, that's exactly what they've done on the issue of crime. By promoting the myth that we're unsafe in our own homes and on our own streets, they've made phony victims of us all. On the other hand, we should be talking about that 'fro as much as possible I was all set to ask if anyone else found the response to Randy Moss’ faux mooning a little absurd. But having poked around a bit online, I can see I’m not alone on this one…for every hack following Joe Buck’s sanctimonious lead, there’s another one (kinda like this) deflating what’s really a pretty lame controversy. Good thing, too. Half the NFL is juiced up, there’s no shortage of players with criminal records, the league is still dogged by some uncomfortable racial undertones…and Fox et al get worked up into a frenzy over a guy pretending to pull his pants down – at a stadium where the fans have reportedly been treating visting players to the real thing for years? If nothing else, maybe this’ll serve to accelerate the inevitable – and much-needed – backlash against the NFL’s morality police. Let’s hope so. As someone who spends more than enough time around politics as it is, I’d rather not be worrying about it on Sunday afternoons. Random music notes Don’t worry…I’m not going to launch into an “indie isn’t really indie” ramble (I’ll save that for people with the time and energy to worry about such things). What I will take issue with is the enormous accompanying photo of the Killers’ Brandon Flowers (alongside smaller shots of Rilo Kiley, the Shins’ James Mercer and Death Cab for Cutie), on account of this little exchange from my interview with the '80s revivalist in question: Me: There seems to be some debate in reviews about whether this is a pop album, a rock album, a new wave album. I know nobody likes labels, but how would you describe it? Him: Um…It’s not an indie album. We have a lot of the same mentalities as indie people, I understand a lot of the indie thing, but I mean…you ask me what my favourite bands are, and I’d say the Beatles and U2 and these bands that…they’re not indie bands. They sold records and they wanted people to hear their music. And that’s what we want. We want to make songs like that. I want people to wake up…it’s like when you’re young, and you just know songs – I want to have songs like that. And indie bands aren’t going to have those kinds of songs - they’re just not. In fairness, Spin writer Jon Dolan makes passing reference to the fact that the Killers are not, in fact, an indie band. Too bad whatever editor chose the photos forgot to read the article. Last year, I encouraged Post readers to pick up the new Charlatans disc – then realized, slightly red-faced, that it was never released in North America. (Yes, I downloaded it; no, I don’t feel guilty - it was on their site free of charge; yes, it was good; no, not as good as the three that preceded it.) So it’s positively delightful to see they’ve signed an international deal with Sanctuary. Aside from the new album in ’05, some Canadian gigs best be following. And if you call yourself a Britrock fan, you’d best be going. I probably got turned onto more bands in ’04 than any other year since the mid-’90s. But the next 12 months are looking like a time to catch up with old friends. Aside from the aforementioned Charlatans, new stuff is on the way from Brendan Benson, the Soundtrack of Our Lives (two separate albums, no less) and the Eels – three long overdue favourites. And I should know better, but I can’t help myself…so I’ll come right out and say it: I’m looking forward to the new Oasis disc. Stop laughing. With the Libertines’ implosion now more or less complete, Libertines Jr. is starting to grow on me. Up All Night is a mighty listenable debut, even if it occasionally sounds alarmingly Springsteenesque. Wednesday’s show at Lee’s might prove a decent way to kick off the concert year. Sorry to burst your bubble, but you're perfectly safe Hey, anyone remember all those breathless reports about Toronto’s descent into lawlessness? You know…an endless stream of violent crimes that had everyone reminiscing about the city that was, and calling on the powers that be to take action? Care to know how many murders there were in Toronto in 2004? Sixty-two. How does that compare to the year previous? It’s three fewer. I’m not saying we don’t need to invest time and money and plenty of effort into making a few trouble spots safer. But I find it pathetic and self-indulgent that residents of one of the safest big cities in the world – a city that, if anything, is getting safer – are constantly trying to convince themselves that they’re living in a war zone. More on this in a commentary I'm doing for CBC, which I'll post here in text form afterward. He can start by telling Danny that bluffs don't work if you're not holding any cards... I don’t want to overstate things. But how he handles this whole Danny Williams temper tantrum will go a long way toward making or breaking Paul Martin. If the PM caves in – returning to the table before the flag is being flown again, for instance, or giving the Newfoundland Premier the groveling letter he’s demanding - he’ll forever be the schoolyard wimp. If he holds firm, he’ll finally send a message that he’s capable of taking a hard line, and of standing up for himself, his government and his country. Williams’ performance the past couple of months has been so absurd that this should be an easy stand-off for any politician worth his salt to win. We’ll soon see if Martin is up to the challenge. Further proof of Ottawa's ability to suck the life right out of you Last Thursday’s column, now on-site (along with the previous one on Stephen Harper’s amateurism), pretty well speaks for itself. But I do wish I’d had a chance to elaborate a bit more on where – or how - it’s gone wrong for Jack Layton. Admittedly, I come at this from the bias of someone who does most of my writing these days from outside the capital. But it seems to me Layton was a hell of a lot better when he didn’t have a seat, and was out talking to Canadians rather than hanging around Ottawa. If I’m the NDP, I get my guy back on the road in a hurry. Face it: He’s never going to get much respect from the press gallery, and he’s not really all that good at seeming outraged over the strippers or sponsorship scandals. What he’s good at is engaging people who’d otherwise be disengaged – and that doesn’t apply to anyone within a three-mile radius of Parliament Hill. Get him into town halls, and onto local newscasts and the front pages of papers that don’t have massive Ottawa bureaus. That’s what created a buzz when he first took over the NDP – a buzz that’s faded frighteningly fast. Daring not to be embarassed to be Canadian Kudos to the feds for pledging to match every dollar committed by Canadians to relief efforts. My employers, to their credit, are doing likewise for all contributions by Canwest staff, and I’m hoping the same can be said for other businesses and corporations across the country. I don’t think there are a whole lot of us who’ll be able to spend a few bucks and then erase the whole thing from our minds, content that we’ve done our part – at least, I hope there aren’t. But I do think Canada, typically well behind the U.S. on charitable donations, is doing itself quite proud. A bit of extra champagne for us this New Year's... It’s hard to go into this New Year’s with too many positive thoughts, considering the horrifying news still dominating our front pages and newscasts. But you’ll have to forgive me if I’m feeling a bit cheery anyway. Jen and I got engaged on our vacation earlier this month, and now that our parents are all in the loop I don’t have to worry about them finding out through a blog. With apologies, I can’t guarantee that every one of you will be invited. Although the possibility exists that it’s just a friends and family crowd here, in which case every one of you probably will be invited. I promise not to become the male Eckler talking about this. (If gratuitous references to “the fiancée” begin appearing, please draw it to my attention forthwith.) But it’s happy news, so I thought I’d share it. Missing the point It occurs to me that I haven’t actually said anything on here about the tsunamis – mostly because there’s really not much to say. You don’t need me to tell you how horrifying it is; you’ve either gathered that by now, or you’re so tuned out from anything that’s going on outside your home that there’s no way in hell you’ve found your way to this blog. That said, I find all the political posturing a little tiresome. If you want to be outraged, be outraged that we weren’t able to send DART off the bat, or that there doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason to your country’s relief contributions. But don’t waste much time worrying about Paul Martin’s vacation plans (or, for that matter, George Bush’s or Tony Blair’s). Canada’s response would have been exactly the same whether the PM was in Morocco or Montreal. Yeah, he would’ve done himself a favour by taking more of a visible leadership role, and he’s once again proven inept at reading public sentiments - but that’s only about optics. And optics, really, are a pretty trivial concern when the death toll is at 120,000 and counting. Incidentally, there are all kinds of things you can accuse Martin of - but I don't think laziness is one of them. If he wanted a few days away from it all to clear his head after a pretty gruelling year, I'm not going to hold it against him. Now, if the PMO is so understaffed over the holidays that it lacks the capacity to help coordinate relief efforts, that might be a problem. Unfortunately, I’ve yet to see any gallery types tackle that question. You know what this season needs? More lists. I left the top-ten lists that were sent to me at work…apologies. But I swear I’ll still get to them. One, in particular, has to be posted just so you can see how good the gentleman’s taste is. (In other words, it’s very similar to mine.) In the meanwhile, the five best live shows I saw this year, to go with my top-ten discs: 5.) Hope of the States (Lee’s Palace) Full marks for overcoming equipment and sound problems to bring to life a debut album that comes off a little flat on disc. Of course, the elaborate video footage didn’t hurt. 4.) The Walkmen (Lee’s Palace) Hamilton Leithauser is a bit of an intense dude, but he’s a hell of a frontman. And having a drummer who bears a striking resemblance to Animal is a big bonus. 3.) The Futureheads (Lee’s Palace I didn’t quite get the hype on their first studio release, but they’re loads of fun live. Even their banter was delightful. 2.) Franz Ferdinand (the Kool Haus) It’s almost incomprehensible that a bunch of novices could be this polished, but they look like they were born on a stage. There may not be a band better at working its fans into a tizzy. Radwanski's Ramblings from December 17-30, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from December 3-16, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from November 19-December 2, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from November 5-18, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from October 22-November 4, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from October 8-21, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from September 24-October 7, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from September 17-23, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from September 3-16, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from August 20-September 2, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from August 6-19, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from July 23-August 5, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from July 16-22, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from July 9-15, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from June 25-July 8, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from June 18-24, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from June 11-17, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from June 4-10, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from May 28-June 3, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from May 21-27, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from May 14-20, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from May 7-13, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from April 23-May 6, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from April 16-22, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from April 9-15, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from April 2-8, 2004 Radwanski's Ramblings from March 26-April 1, 2004 All rights reserved. |