Good Old Fashioned Canadian Values go-get-em attitude Generosity Parochialism

(or, Reason 235,609 why I hate Canada.)

So, I picked up a book last night from the remainder table at Indigo (What were you doing in that place anyway!? yes yes, I know. I was killing time waiting for a film to start, and looking for a copy of Melanie Philips "Londonistan" if you must know. And anyway, I saw plenty of Steyn in there last night.)

...where was I?

Oh yeah, about to make another embarrassing admission: I bought a self-help book.

"The Joys of Much Too Much" by Bonnie Fuller. She's some kind of fashion magazine magnate or something. Anyway, she caught my attention because, as with any good self-help book, she told me what I wanted to hear and already believed anyway.

"the key to happiness is not a balanced life, but one that is maxed out [sorry, but she does write 'fashion news'] with career, romance, and family."

er...yah. Ok.

The gist, however, is something I've been thinking lately. You can't be a monk in the world. The world is there, even the world of men, for us to get into, not hold back from... but anyway, that's not what this is about.

The part I liked is where she made the Canadian magazine and fashion industry look stupid, petty, small minded, parochial and hopelessly self-absorbed; good old fashioned Canadian values, (c. 1968).

She has just become the managing editor of Flare, Canada's first "national" fashion magazine. (I admit to remembering when it came upon the scene, but I was actually a teenager then, and had an excuse, therefore.)

"I started coming to New York and got some help from [grown-up non-stupid] people at modeling agencies, who knew all the hot, up and coming photographers - the budding Avedons and Irving Penns. I was able to get some of the young talent to work fo rus but was then criticized when I got back to Canada for using so many non-Canadians. Canadian makeup artists and some photographers were incensed that I had crossed the border instead of supporting ourlimited pool of native talent.

Reports appeared in the Canadian press about Flare's new policy of recruiting international talent. I was determined to establish that just because Flare was Canadian, it didn't have to be small in its range or focus."

Of course, to do that, you'd have to not have it be Canadian...tough call.