This one time, around midnight in the middle of the week, I caught a really tall skinny white guy with died red dreadlocks (I mention all this to set the scene) in the process of stealing my bike, outside of the Royal Albert Arms Hotel, a turn of the century hotel/bar (home to the down and out, as well as Winnipeg's punk scene) in Winnipeg's downtown exchange district. I'd seen the fella inside earlier chatting with a waitress and one of the local gents that lived upstairs, both of whom were now outside watching as the dude worked on my kryptonite flexi chain thing with a pair of industrial wire cutters. As we exited the bar, my companion was the first to notice him crouched beside my bike, and as we walked briskly towards him, I called out "Hey, that's my bike!" He must not have heard me, as he continued to work at the chain, until we were both standing directly over him. I again stated "Hey, that's my bike" at which point he looked up and said, "Oh, this is your bike?", to which I replied, "Yes". He then stood up, untangled his clippers which had remarkably done only peripheral damage to the rubber coating of the chain, and made a "Here you go gesture" before jogging off across the street and dissapearing down an alley. I like to think that it was the casual way in which I confronted him that lead to him simply running away, as if I had attempted to hold him back or anything I probably would have wound up with a pair of clippers sticking out of me.

The Futureheads are an amazing band - blew me away 3 years ago in Vancouver. It was one of those shows where a band you know nothing about turns you into a fanatic within the first two songs. I was happy to hear that The Futureheads set up their own label (It's too bad Sony Canada is doing the Canadian release of it). The new album freakin' rules. I like News and Tributes just fine but this one has an urgency to it.

Oh, I ache from laughing.

Here is Komar & Melamid's site for their similar project based on The Most Wanted Paintings and Least Wanted paintings of various countries: http://www.diacenter.org/km/

This reminds of the story of the british Skinhead who went to get his movement's moniker, Oi!, tattoed on his forehead, but was sadly misunderstood by the tattoo artist who proceeded to fill in the word Oil. Possibly an urban myth.

@#20 The change in the credit is not about eliminating the credit altogether. McVety wants to eliminate the credit for art HE does not like.

@#17 There's a big big big difference between state sponsored art such as the Socialist Realist "movement" imposed by the former-Soviet Union or the purging of "degenerate art" by the Nazis, and providing funding or tax credits as an incentive for people to create fims, videos, books, etc., all of which in some way contribute to other areas of teh economy (book binding, film processing, etc, etc, etc.)

@#17 There's a big big big difference between state sponsored art such as the Socialist Realist "movement" imposed by the former-Soviet Union or the purging of "degenerate art" by the Nazis, and providing funding or tax credits as an incentive for people to create fims, videos, books, etc., all of which in some way contribute to other areas of teh economy (book binding, film processing, etc, etc, etc.)

@#13 Some arts funding in Canada is provided through a grants system. I don't think it's arbitrary.
http://www.canadacouncil.ca/grants/

What is in question here is not so much funding as it is a tax-credit specifically for film and video productions.

I do think alot of artists and people that like art, movies, and so forth would be upset if, as you described, "some crazy libertarian" came and removed all arts funding. I think arts funding in Canada is a good thing, and we'd be the worse for it if it disappeared altogether.

@#10 This isn't about government not having a hand in the arts - it's about the government rewarding the art it deems acceptable, and pushing everything else to the margins or right off the page. Economic incentives will not be eliminated, they will come a caveat that the work produced must pass by an appointed committees approval. It forces the people creating the works to impose upon themselves a form of self-censorship in order to gain this approval.