Posts By Crommunist

0 Some quick answers to common statements about homeopathy

January 26, 2015
by Crommunist
· blog · critical thinking · health · health care · medicine · science · skepticism

An article published in the Guardian is making the rounds quite rapidly among my social media circles. The article, coverage of a report by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council, makes some pretty bold statements about the efficacy of homeopathy – namely that it doesn’t work:

But the NHMRC review, conducted by a working committee of medical experts, said it had no impact on a range of conditions and illnesses including asthma, arthritis, sleep disturbances, cold and flu, chronic fatigue syndrome, eczema, cholera, burns, malaria and heroin addiction. For the 68 conditions – including those listed – the review either concluded definitively that homeopathy was not more effective than a placebo, or at the very least there was no reliable evidence to suggest it was.

The skeptics in my Facebook and Twitter feeds are, perhaps unsurprisingly, feeling pretty vindicated by this report. They (we) have been saying for quite some time that homeopathy is nothing more than a hoax perpetrated against a credible public by people who are either so craven as to intentionally exploit people’s ignorance, or so irresponsible as to refuse to examine the abundant scientific evidence that homeopathy is simply a placebo with an elaborate ritual preceeding it. I myself have participated in a couple of demonstrations of the fact that homeopathy simply does not work, both times taking an “overdose” of homeopathic “sleeping pills” that are, in fact, nothing more than sugar pills.

However, if you are not close friends with someone in the skeptics community, or if you simply don’t care to follow this particular debate, you might find yourself a bit lost. I thought I would provide my somewhat-informed take on this report and what lessons we should take away from it. … Continue Reading

6 Violence isn’t the answer, unless I’m asking the question

November 26, 2014
by Crommunist
· black history · blog · civil rights · critical thinking · crommunism · history · law · police · politics · race · racism

On Monday, a Missouri Grand Jury decided that when a police officer kills an unarmed young person, no crime has been committed as long as the officer can spin a fanciful tale of The Incredible Nigger Hulk. That officer not only need not be locked up, decided the Grand Jury, but he doesn’t even need to see the inside of a courtroom. He doesn’t need to be cross-examined, his story doesn’t have to be questioned, there need be nothing more than the pathetic ghost of a due process that the people of Ferguson have been told to shut up and wait for.

Predictably, the residents of Ferguson weren’t pleased with the result. Peaceful protest and non-peaceful protest filled the streets, shut down traffic, and in the latter case, destroyed many local businesses and other property. In response to the protests (which have, by the way, been called “riots” in the media from day 1, regardless of the predominantly peaceful nature. Until the cops showed up, at least), a chorus of voices has gone up condemning violence and looting. This would be a defensible position from people on the ground in Ferguson, or people who are leading specific civil rights projects relevant to police brutality – in that case, it’s brand management and promotion. Nothing wrong with that.

The problem, in my eyes, is that the “violence solves nothing” crowd has a broad swath of representation from people with absolutely no connection to the issue. It is the ever-present spectre of respectability politics manifesting itself as a treatise about the merits of violent vs. non-violent protest. It is an excuse to remove one’s self from any sense of responsibility or complicity in the situation that has triggered the violence – “well, I agree that things are bad, but that’s no excuse to be violent!”

In response to this sneer disguised as a moral stand, I sent out a couple of tweets: … Continue Reading

0 Leaving Even Handed Odds

October 27, 2014
by Crommunist
· bmusic · Music

I moved to Vancouver almost exactly 5 years ago. Having been a musician for essentially my whole life, I wanted to jump into the music scene in my new home as quickly as I could. On something quite like a whim, I answered a Craigslist ad looking for “someone to harmonize with” and found Stuart Alves, a local musician who had been in the scene for a few years and was looking to change directions. Over the course of the next few months, Stuart and I developed a setlist and began playing at an open mic at a bar near his house – the King’s Head.

As we became regular attendees at the King’s Head open mic, we regularly ran into Paul and Darin – two friends from high school who enjoyed playing covers and originals together. Stuart and I were offered the opportunity to play a night at the Cottage Bistro, a restaurant whose owner Stuart had known for some time. Because we didn’t have enough material to cover the whole night, Stuart and I hit on the idea of offering to split the night with Paul and Darin. Eventually the idea of trying to put together a few songs as a four-piece came up.

And so it was that we found ourselves at Kitsilano Beach, guitars (and viola) in hand, kicking around some ideas. We enjoyed the process so much that, after the original show, we decided to stay together and form a band.

0 Ordinary Man (Christy Moore cover)

October 15, 2014
by Crommunist
· Covers · Music · music videos

This cover was arranged and performed for Brian, who sponsored me on Patreon at the $6/song level. As the reward for that level of sponsorship, Brian could request any song he wanted, and he chose this anti-capitalist protest anthem from Irish folk singer Christy Moore.

If you want to contrast with the original, you can watch it here.

I recorded the live version of the song in my living room (obviously), and then added the rest of the instrumentation (percussion, bass, fiddle) later. I tried to go with a ‘stripped-down’ feel, to stick to the simplicity and earnestness of the original. Christy Moore has an inimitable style – his voice sounds like he’s sitting next to you at a pub or a party telling you the lyrics rather than singing them. I figured it would be insulting to try and mimic him, so I didn’t.

Lyrics:

I’m an ordinary man, nothin’ special nothin’ grand,
I’ve had to work for everything I own,
Well I never asked for a lot, I was happy with what I got,
Enough to keep my family and my home,
Now they say that times are hard & they’ve handed me my cards,
They say there’s not the work to go around,
When the whistle blows the gates will finally close,
Tonight they’re going to shut this factory down,
Then they’ll tear it down.

I never missed a day nor went on strike for better pay,
For 20 years I served them best I could,
With a handshake and a cheque it seems so easy to forget,
Loyalty through the bad times and the good,
The owner says he’s sad to see that things have got so bad,
But the Captains of industry won’t let him loose,
He still drives a car and smokes a cigar,
And still he takes his family on a cruise,
He’ll never lose.

Now it seems to me to be such a cruel irony,
He’s richer now ever he was before,
Now my cheque is all spent and I can’t afford the rent,
There’s one law for the rich, one for the poor,
Every day I’ve tried to salvage some of my pride,
To find some work so’s I might pay my way,
But everywhere I go, the answer is always no,
There’s no work for anyone here today,
No work today.

And so condemned I stand, just an ordinary man,
Like thousands beside me in the queue,
I watch my darlin’ wife tryin’ to make the best of life,
God knows what the kids are goin’ to do,
Now that we are faced with this human waste,
A generation cast aside,
For as long as I live, I never will forgive,
You’ve stripped me of my dignity & pride,
You’ve stripped me bare.

6 “Just Unicorns” – a dissection of The Friend Zone

September 16, 2014
by Crommunist
· blog · critical thinking · feminism · sex

A friend on Facebook recently asked about whether or not I think “The Friend Zone” exists. I gave a short (for me) response, but I wanted to flesh out where I am in this debate more fully. For some personal history on where I once was on this topic, I encourage you to read my post: I Was a Nice Guy™.

Also, the subject matter of this post requires me to be far more cisnormative and heteronormative than I usually try to be – I hope the reason for this writing choice is clear from the context of the post (but I will gratefully receive any offered criticisms if I overstep that justification).

What is “The Friend Zone”

The highest-rated entry on Urban Dictionary is somewhat revelatory of a central dichotomy within the very concept of the Friend Zone:

What you attain after you fail to impress a woman you’re attracted to. Usually initiated by the woman saying, “You’re such a good friend”. Usually associated with long days of suffering and watching your love interest hop from one bad relationship to another. Verb tense is “Friend-ed”.

One should not fail to note, by the way, the gendered language in the definition. We will return to this later in the discussion.

The more generous definition of the Friend Zone describes a situation in which one person (‘the friender’) maintains a non-romantic relationship with a person who would prefer to have a romantic one (‘the friended’). Reasons for this situation vary. In some cases, the friender is simply unaware of the friended’s interest, perhaps wilfully so. In other, more nefarious cases, the friender is aware of the non-reciprocated interest but keeps the friended person around for reasons of psychological self-gratification or because the friended provides some sort of benefit (companionship, emotional support, sometimes even material support). In the latter case, the friender is exploiting the romantic feelings of the friended in order to maintain a relationship that, in the absence of the romantic interest (and tantalizingly possible romantic involvement), would not persist. The key is that the friended does not derive the desired benefit from the relationship, and has either decided to ‘settle’ or is hoping that some day romantic reciprocation will occur.

The least generous definition of the Friend Zone is one in which the friended party is a predator, waiting for a lapse in judgement or self-restraint in order to foist a romantic relationship on the friender. Friended people are misrepresenting themselves as genuine friends as part of a ploy to gain the confidence of the friender. The friender believes that the relationship is organic and free of sexual potential, and that both parties spend time together simply because they enjoy each other’s company – as friends do. Under this definition, it is the friended who is misrepresenting the relationship, and the friender who is the wronged party.

It is my position that, at some point in time, both of these definitions have accurately described a situation between two people. There are a broad variety of possible relationships between human beings, and some of those are not constructive or healthy. There are, almost certainly, people who have exploited someone’s romantic interest for their own selfish purposes. There are, almost certainly, people who have dissembled platonic interest solely as part of a gambit to propagate a sexual encounter. … Continue Reading

2 My 30th birthday wishlist

September 9, 2014
by Crommunist
· blog · personal

Today is my 30th birthday. I know a lot of people talk about how getting older is a drag, and how turning 30 is the end of something. For my part, I’m actually really excited for my 30s. I have devoted most of my 20s to building a scaffolding for future success (in my job, in my musical career, in my personal relationships) – my 30s are when I am planning on building some real things on top of that scaffolding. There’s a lot of really great things happening in my life as I head into 30, and I am optimistic about things getting even better.

If you were inclined to do something nice/special for me on this birthiest of days, here’s a list of cheap/free things you can do that would make me very happy.

1: Read My Blog

You’re already doing this one right now, so thanks! But I’ve written a bunch of other things that I think deserve to be read. If you go to the blog’s front page, there is a pulldown menu on the top left that allows you to access 4 years of archived posts. Something there may interest you.

2: Become a Facebook Fan

I have been sinking a non-trivial amount of my time and effort into my music projects, all of which is documented on my Facebook page. There are free mp3s, Youtube videos, pictures, and a whole bunch of other stuff that is available for free. I do it all with the hopes that people will listen and enjoy, so I hope that you will listen and enjoy.

I do have a personal Facebook account, but I don’t add people I haven’t met in person (or unless I’ve had long-standing online interactions with them, in some rare cases).

3: Become a Patreon Sponsor

If you have a couple of extra bucks kicking around, please consider sponsoring me on Patreon.com. I write, record, and release original tunes roughly once every couple of months. Patreon sponsors pledge a small amount of money (the lowest level is $1) for each song I release, and get rewards for doing so on a sliding scale. The money I make on Patreon goes toward purchasing studio time to make professional-quality recordings of my music. If you’ve got at least 30-50 cents a month, consider throwing some of that my way!

4: Subscribe on Other Social Media

I am a surprisingly easy person to find online:

– I have Twitter
– I have Instagram
– I have SoundCloud
– I have YouTube

I try to keep all of my channels free of boring/spam content (although no promises about my Twitter feed), so if you’re interested in what’s going on in my life, that’s a really good way to accomplish that.

5: Listen to my latest song

I released a new recording last week. Listen to it.

6: Come see a show

If you live in the Vancouver area, I am playing two shows this week. On Thursday I will be playing with my new band The Sheets at the Blarney Stone in Gastown. This is what The Sheets sound like. I’m not in that video, but imagine more fiddle (and less creepy murder-light), and you’ll be somewhere in the ballpark. There is no cover on Thursdays.

On Friday I am playing a solo show at Clough Club, also in Gastown. This is what my solo set sounds like. Clough also has no cover. My set is a mix of original tunes and covers, and people usually seem to enjoy it. If you’re around, and you like live music, you can come see some.

7: Come to my party

I’ll be at Clough Club on Saturday as well, for the formal celebration. The more the merrier, although if you’re meeting me in person for the first time, you won’t be seeing me at my best (although I will be at my most distracted). There will also be fantastic live music courtesy of Alex Maher. This is what Alex Maher sounds like.

That’s the list. I would be very happy if you did any of these things, as they are all quite meaningful to me. For my part, you can expect more writing, more music, and more new endeavours. I’m looking forward, as always, to sharing that process with you.

Thank you!

1 Unmade

September 5, 2014
by Crommunist
· Media · Music · Originals

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At the beginning of the month, my girlfriend Jessica moved into my apartment. This is the culmination of many months of her partially living at my apartment. A lot of this arrangement is purely pragmatic – since she was spending 3-4 nights a week at my place anyway, it made enough sense for her to just fill in that gap. Also, we’ve put in enough time and effort and gone through enough bumps and bruises that a lot of the anxieties I had about sharing space with her have been addressed. There were fewer and fewer reasons not to try living together, and a lot of reasons why we both felt it would be a great idea (to her credit, she arrived at that conclusion months before I did). Plus a lot of her stuff is nicer than mine.

Jessica works nights, meaning that about half of the week she sleeps during the day. Over the past few months, there were a number of instances where she would sleep at my place during the day (I live in a really quiet neighbourhood – for a while she lived across the street from a train yard) and then have to take off for work or errands. On days when I thought it was likely she’d be there, I tried to get into the habit of making the bed (which is a habit I picked up from her – I hardly ever do it when it’s just me). Sometimes, not often, but sometimes, I’d come home from work to find the bed unmade because she’d been sleeping in it – a circumstance that always made me smile. I liked that she felt comfortable and at home at my place. … Continue Reading

4 Is Richard Dawkins an asset or a liability to atheism? No.

August 20, 2014
by Crommunist
· blog · freethought community · religion

I received an invitation to provide comment on a piece that was going up in Religion News about whether or not Richard Dawkins is an ‘asset’ or a ‘liability’ to ‘movement atheism’. The author chose not to use any of my comments (or to ask me any follow-up questions), which was her prerogative, albeit a decision I am personally disappointed by. What follows is what I wrote in response to the invitation, with slight edits that I will explain as a post scriptum.

As I said in my earlier e-mail, the answer to your question is “no”. Richard Dawkins is not an asset or a liability to movement atheism. The question makes a number of presumptions that I think are ultimately misguided.

First, movement atheism doesn’t have a single set of goals. Unlike pro-choice activism or civil rights activism, the atheism movement has several goals, some of which are in direct contradiction to others. Many within the movement are working for church/state separation, others are looking to establish atheist communities as an alternative to the religious monopoly on communal organization. Still others simply want to be able to openly be atheist without having to hide their nonbelief, while others are actively involved in developing counterapologetic arguments to ensure that religious claims do not go unchallenged. These are all activities of “movement atheism” that are not aimed at an overarching shared goal. “Movement atheism” therefore cannot and should not be thought of as a unified group that any individual could be an asset or liability to. … Continue Reading

0 Ian’s open mic survival guide

August 15, 2014
by Crommunist
· bmusic

So you’ve been working on mastering that guitar that has been taunting you from the corner of your apartment for months. You’ve put in the time and effort to make a sound that no longer makes your pets flee from you in bewildered terror. Maybe you’ve even written a couple of songs that you think aren’t terrible. But there’s still a lot of time and effort and luck between entertaining friends around the campfire and rocking a sold-out arena show. Where do you go next?

I’ve spent the past 7 years (give or take – the most generous estimates start my open mic career 10-12 years ago) as a regular performer at open mics. For a few years I was also the host of a couple of open mics around the city. By no means am I an ‘old timer’, but I’ve been around long enough to pick up a few tips on what to do, and what to avoid, when you’re trying to break into the music scene for the first time. I’m going to share them with you, because I’m that kind of guy. … Continue Reading

0 Joining The Sheets

August 5, 2014
by Crommunist
· bmusic · personal

The world works in funny ways sometimes.

I was walking home from my girlfriend’s place, and because I used to live in the neighbourhood I happened to take a particular route to the bus stop. Passing by a bar called The Pint, I noticed with moderate interest the fact that they had an open mic on a Tuesday night. Attending that open mic some weeks later introduced me to the guys from the Gastown Royals, who were regulars there. One of their members invited me to play fiddle on a project he’d been working on, which I happily accepted. That, in turn, led to me meeting Tom, who is the bass player of a group called The Sheets. They just happened to be looking for a fiddle player for a regular gig they play at The Blarney Stone, a popular Vancouver club.

And so it was that I found myself on stage a few weeks ago, jamming alongside The Sheets and their blend of rock and reggae covers. I was invited to join the group for their Thursday gig on an ongoing basis, and after giving it some thought I eventually accepted. Now you’ll be able to catch me Thursday nights at The Blarney Stone, as well as Friday nights a The Coppertank with my band, Even Handed Odds.

As one might imagine, having two weekly gigs requires some ‘give’ somewhere else in the schedule, so I am putting most of my solo project on the back burner for now. I will no longer be pursuing solo gigs, and once the busking season is done I will putting solo stuff on a fairly comprehensive hiatus. I will continue to write and occasionally record my own solo songs, but otheriwse the solo stuff will run pretty quiet for a while.

For any of you who might be disappointed by this decision, there are a couple of practical matters to consider. First, while I really do enjoy solo performance, it’s quite a bit more work than ensemble performance. For every 3-hour show I might play, there are countless hours spent promoting and preparing new music – these are now hours that I can redevote to songwriting and recording. Indeed, many of the days that I have spent busking this summer are days where I had to decide not to work on turning a growing number of music fragments into coherent songs. Less time out on the streets, at open mics, and in bars means more time in my apartment working on producing new stuff for you.

The other silver lining aspect to this development is that this gig with The Sheets isn’t a volunteer position – I will be making a decent amount of money. It is a well-known truism in the world of gigging musicians is that steady work is better than flashy work. 100% of the money that I make performing is funneled directly back into music, meaning that this gig will allow me to pay for equipment upgrades (I very badly need a new viola – I’ve had Dennis since I was 14 and I outgrew him by the time I was 18). More importantly it will allow me to pay for studio time, which means I’ll likely be able to release an EP within the next year.

For my own part, I am mostly happy about this turn of events. The guys in The Sheets are really talented, and The Blarney Stone is a huge room – it also has an honest-to-Hendrix dance floor, which is a feature much appreciated by live musicians. It will also give me an opportunity to try something new, and to sharpen my fiddle skills. At the same time, I am obviously conflicted about arresting the momentum I’ve been building with my solo project, and curious about what this will end up meaning for Even Handed Odds. On the whole, however, I’m very optimistic about this new direction. I hope you’ll come along with me!

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