Out with the old?

Imagine how much different things would be in different countries if the opposition could band together and say, sorry, your leadership stinks and we’re going to show you how it’s done. That’s the situation in Canada right now. There was a federal election in October that returned the Conservatives to power, but still with a minority. They have fewer seats in parliament than all of the other parties combined, but have more than any one other opposition party.

It’s a precarious position. The average lifetime of a minority government in Canada is something like 18 months before they do something that pisses enough of the opposition off to cause a vote of non-confidence in the government. The opposition parties aren’t happy with the way the Conservative party is responding to the financial crisis, so they are essentially staging a palace coup. The Liberals and the NDP plan to form a coalition against the Conservatives and defeat a bill that has confidence attached. That puts the prime minister in a position of having to go to the Governor General and admit the lack of confidence. He would probably ask her to call another election. However, this new coalition could offer an alternative: give them a chance to form the government rather than call an election two months after the previous one. This is uncharted territory for Canada. The fact that the leader of the Liberal party resigned after the election places him in an awkward position. He would become prime minister of the coalition, but could conceivably be replaced at a Liberal leadership convention in the near future. Interesting times.

We watched a movie called The Visitor last night. It stars Richard Jenkins (dead dad from Six Feet Under) as Walter, an economics professor at a Connecticut college who has been on cruise control for years. His work load has been reduced to one class, the same class he has been teaching over and over for years. He simply whites out the year on the syllabus and replaces it each semester with the new date. He’s supposedly working on a book, but you can tell he isn’t. When one of his colleagues falls ill, he is forced to go to New York City to present a paper he coauthored, but really he just had his name attached to lend it credibility based on his past reputation.

All of this is preamble to get Walter to NY, where he discovers two people are living in his old, disused apartment. The man is Syrian and his girlfriend is from Senegal. She sells handmade jewelry at flea markets, he plays African drums in a band and on the street. Of course, they leave, but Walter has second thoughts and invites them to stay on for a while. He even becomes friends with the young man, who teaches him to play the drums. His girlfriend, though, is wary of strangers, because they’re in the country illegally. The crisis comes when the young man is arrested and put in a detention center. Walter could easily wipe his hands of the whole affair and go back to his bland life in Connecticut, or he could try to do something about the situation. Jenkins is a well-controlled actor, who conveys a lot about his character through aborted gestures and half smiles. The movie rarely goes in completely predictable directions, even though certain things seem pre-ordained. Overall a very well done film that deals with the treatment of foreigners in the post-9/11 universe.

I finally had a chance to watch this week’s Dexter. Anyone who had reservations about Jimmy Smits being cast in the show should have had them put to rest after the rooftop scene near the end. Powerful stuff, no? Someone suggested that the kidnapping at the end was actually related to his bachelor party, which would be a cheat that might not go down so well with all viewers. I absolutely did not see the twist with the skinner coming, but then remembered that Miguel spent a lot of time with him in the interrogation room with the camera off. Who knows what went on behind that closed door? I liked the subplot with Angel and the guy who beat up his new girlfriend. Angel has his off moments, but he’s a good guy to the core.

Two episodes left. Can’t wait!

I had some useful discussions yesterday with an editor who proposed a project that could be a lot of fun. The gears are moving along slowly toward a decision in the coming weeks. Certain things are out of my hands, but so far everything is converging. It’s exciting and nervous-making at the same time.