How can you be in two places at once...

(...when you're not anywhere at all)

Hmmm. I can't believe 25 years have gone by since John Lennon was killed in NYC. I was in grade 12 in Vancouver, and I wore a black armband for a few days (I think until I was told to remove it). I was 16 going on 17 and Lennon was one of my biggest heroes. He still is a hero, and I sometimes wonder whether his death was just one of the signs of how bad things were getting.

At the same time, it's a rare winter election here in Canada, and the convergence of the anniversary, the election and the absurdity of it all put me in mind of the Firesign Theatre. It's been a while since I gave them a serious listen, and even longer since I heard anyone mention their name in public. Another sign of how un-creative, yet more reactionary our social order has become. When I try to take a God's eye view and wonder what history will make of this era, I find myself almost lost. We really have entered the realm of the surreal, the Age of Absurdity.

And who is our Lennon today? Who is leading popular culture to re-examine itself, to ask tough questions, to follow wherever the trail leads? Much as I respect Bono, he demonstrates more how the corporate elite have managed to co-opt even their biggest detractors, more than what can be done to make the world a better place. He helped Paul Martin launch his leadership of the Liberal Party, but he hasn't succeeded in having him honour any promises. He is, apparently, crushed, but what's to be done? The genie is out of the bottle. Bono has played his cards and they didn't turn up Aces. His own song, God Part 2 pretty much admits his compromised position:

Don't believe in excess
Success is to give
Don't believe in riches
But you should see where I live.
I, I believe in love.

This was a good 18 years ago. And to bring things full circle, the whole song is a tribute of sorts to J.L. and his own song God. But even a cursory listen to Plastic Ono Band demonstrates the sheer power and poetry that Lennon had at his command. I miss his voice.