Friday, November 29, 2024

What is Peace?

 


What is peace? #peace #meditation #seoulnature #서울산책 #명상 #평화로운 #outdoors #paix #walkingtrail

Wednesday, November 27, 2024

What is democracy? Part one

 


What is Democracy? Part one #democracy #trumpelection #january62021 #insurrection #capitolriots

Tuesday, November 26, 2024

First snowfall

 


First snowfall in Kyonggi-do, South Korea #snowfall #firstsnowfall #southkorea #climateimpact #첫눈

Sunday, November 24, 2024

Nuclear war? Part six

 


Is “Limited” Nuclear War Possible? Pt. 6/end #icbm #russiaukrainewar #putin #biden #nuclearwar #nato

Saturday, November 23, 2024

Is limited nuclear war possible?

 


How would a nuclear war that apparently started small play out?

Is “Limited” Nuclear War Possible? Pt. 4 #icbm_missile #russiaukrainewar #putin #nato #nuclearwar

Tuesday, November 19, 2024

Clogged expressways

 


Clogged expressways in Korea #traffic #expressways #rushhour #buslanes #publictransport

Friday, November 15, 2024

Construction mania in Seoul

  


The rapid pace of rebuilding in Seoul #rebuilding #apartments #condoliving #seoul #gangnam #아파트 #서울

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Cat food

 


What kinds of food do cats prefer? #catfood #catvideos #고양이일상 #고양이브이로그

Saturday, November 9, 2024

Natural gas

 


A new Quick Reduction in Carbon Emissions? #greenerearth #naturalgas #co2reduction #environmentalscience

Sunday, November 3, 2024

Buddhism

 


Eternal souls? Buddhist concepts #buddhism #lifeanddeath #reincarnation #nirvana #transmigration

Saturday, November 2, 2024

North Korea

 

North Korea, Russia, Ukraine and their effect on northeast Asia:

https://youtube.com/shorts/8DjtLNSCApc?si=WyvtoCl-mZuyNxxQ

Thursday, October 31, 2024

Hospitals

  


How much can we trust hospitals? #agingparents #hospitalcare #medicalmistakes #medicalcare #doctors

Tuesday, October 29, 2024

North Korea

  

What is the current situation between South and North Korea? #northkoreansoldiers #northsouthkorea
https://youtube.com/shorts/3RZhzPBSiXI?feature=share

Saturday, October 26, 2024

Iran, Israel, America

 


Iran, Israel, America: What Next? #iranisraelwar #israeliranconflict #israelirantensions #uselection

Saturday, October 19, 2024

Family passages

 


What happens in our minds when loved ones pass away #lifestages #lovedones #familymemories #death

https://youtube.com/shorts/8O760Cx2Qdc?feature=share

Friday, October 18, 2024

Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Saturday, October 12, 2024

What happens?

 


Nature’s cycles and what happens when we die

 #deathandrebirth #naturalcycles #mortality #lifecycles

Full video at YouTube:

https://youtube.com/shorts/5kEDHlHfXRg?feature=share

Saturday, October 5, 2024

Medical Systems

  


How medical systems operate

 #palliativecare #agingparents #hospitals #qualityoftreatment #medicine

https://youtube.com/shorts/Sdmzi7ufwW4?feature=share

Cycles

 


 Clip from “Life/death cycles: how to cope with a sense of loss”

#lifestages #lifecycles #lifedeath #agingparents

Full video at YouTube

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

Chronicles of Earthly Change

 


Chronicles of Earthly Change  — a personal view of climate change 

Saturday, September 21, 2024

The Highly Illustrated Screenplay Novel

  A few years ago, Tom Dooley, editor of the online literary magazine Eclectica, was kind enough to publish one of my novels, a historical work entitled The Business Army. It’s about an attempt to engineer a fascist takeover in America. It’s based on fact.


I’m reworking the project, since it’s become more timely than ever.


The novel exists in two versions: as a conventional text only work, and as a new kind of hybrid graphic novel I call the illustrated screenplay novel.


To read the conventional version, go here: https://www.eclectica.org/v23n2/harvor.html


(Note: I have other unpublished fiction mss., including a historical novel about Juno Beach.)


*


Pitch:


Economic injustice is everywhere. The wealthy have too much, the poor too little. Unemployment is massive, and political violence is on the rise. In the midst of all this, powerful elites decide that the sitting president is too feeble to govern and democracy itself is "a problem".


*


OUTLINE – THE BUSINESS ARMY

Below are the opening pages of THE BUSINESS ARMY. This is a carefully researched yet quick-paced novel about one of the most interesting episodes of the Great Depression: the "Business Plot" against Franklin D. Roosevelt.


The novel itself is unique. It comes in both a conventional format, and also as a form of illustrated novel I call a "screenplay module novel". (It is linked to other novel projects of mine, but stands on its own as an independent manuscript.)


The novel centers on two figures: Gerald MacGuire -- an anxious, insecure, yet highly ambitious junior broker on Wall Street; just the sort of person willing to compromise his morals to get ahead -- and Smedely Darlington Butler, a Marine general who knew war but also realized the ways in which it was often manipulated by powerful interests in order to advance their own agenda ... not democracy or political ideals.


About myself: I'm an artist, writer and occasional musician/movie-maker living in South Korea. I've published in several journals, including PACIFISM21, DARK SKY, THE BROOKLYN RAIL, ECLECTICA, THE PURITAN, THIS MAGAZINE, etc. I've written and staged two plays, had films screened internationally, have had group and solo shows of my art, and had work broadcast (radio). Academically, I've written on new media, graphic fiction, Yoon Heung-gil and Thomas De Quincey, presenting papers (in person) in Berlin, Oxford, Osaka and Indonesia (via Skype in Helsinki, Kuala Lumpur and Madrid).


Finn Harvor


*


Il y a quelques années, Tom Dooley chez Eclectica a eu la gentillesse de publier un de mes romans, un ouvrage historique intitulé The Business Army. Il s’agit d’une tentative d’organiser une prise de pouvoir fasciste en Amérique. C’est basé sur des faits.


Je retravaille le projet, car il est plus que jamais d’actualité.


Le roman existe en deux versions : en tant qu'œuvre conventionnelle uniquement textuelle et en tant que nouveau type de roman graphique hybride que j'appelle le roman de scénario illustré.


Pour lire la version conventionnelle, rendez-vous ici : https://www.eclectica.org/v23n2/harvor.html


(Remarque : j'ai d'autres textes de fiction inédits, notamment un roman historique sur Plage Juno.)


*


Synopsis:


L'injustice économique est partout. Les riches ont trop, les pauvres trop peu. Le chômage est massif et la violence politique augmente. Au milieu de tout cela, des élites puissantes décident que le président en exercice est trop faible pour gouverner et que la démocratie elle-même est « un problème ».


*


L’ARMÉE D’AFFAIRES

Vous trouverez ci-dessous les premières pages de THE BUSINESS ARMY. Il s'agit d'un roman soigneusement étudié mais au rythme rapide, sur l'un des épisodes les plus intéressants de la Grande Dépression : le « complot commercial » contre Franklin D. Roosevelt.


Le roman lui-même est unique. Il se présente à la fois sous un format conventionnel et également sous une forme de roman illustré que j'appelle un « roman à module de scénario ». (Il est lié à d’autres de mes projets de roman, mais constitue à lui seul un manuscrit indépendant.)


Le roman est centré sur deux personnages : Gerald MacGuire, un courtier junior anxieux, peu sûr de lui, mais très ambitieux à Wall Street ; juste le genre de personne prête à compromettre sa moralité pour aller de l'avant - et Smedely Darlington Butler, un général de la Marine qui connaissait la guerre mais qui a également réalisé à quel point elle était souvent manipulée par des intérêts puissants afin de faire avancer leur propre agenda... pas cette démocratie ou ces idéaux politiques.


À propos de moi : je suis un artiste, un écrivain et un musicien/cinéaste occasionnel vivant en Corée du Sud. J'ai publié dans plusieurs revues, dont PACIFISM21, DARK SKY, THE BROOKLYN RAIL, ECLECTICA, THE PURITAN, THIS MAGAZINE, etc. J'ai écrit et mis en scène deux pièces de théâtre, projeté des films à l'international, présenté des expositions collectives et personnelles de mes art et faire diffuser des œuvres (radio). Sur le plan académique, j'ai écrit sur les nouveaux médias, la fiction graphique, Yoon Heung-gil et Thomas De Quincey, présentant des articles (en personne) à Berlin, Oxford, Osaka et en Indonésie (via Skype à Helsinki, Kuala Lumpur et Madrid).


Finn Harvor 


*




Thursday, September 19, 2024

Life Cycles…

  The deaths of individual loved ones are very hard to come to terms with, but eventually we do. But how about the deaths of all?

#mortality #death #grieving #deathsoflovedones

Full video at YouTube: Life Cycles Individually, Life Cycles Collectively

youtu.be/C8_vCUoNPvY



Monday, September 2, 2024

Thursday, August 29, 2024

Seoul

 


 33 degrees Celsius at the end of August 

Thursday, August 22, 2024

Thursday, August 15, 2024

Thursday, August 8, 2024

Tuesday, July 23, 2024

The World…

  Happy that my moviepoem “The World As It Is …. Now” was just selected by Almaty Underground Screening Series.

This part of a much larger series on 21st C society tentatively titled Muddernity.

If curious, YouTube link: https://youtu.be/etylxRUePZ8?si=i6iOW29WvR3kn7JN


Friday, July 5, 2024

Away From Violent Culture

  


WHY, THE VIOLENT CULTURE?

This project merges with several other anti war projects I’ve been working on, but places more emphasis on the importance— that is, the benefit — of gaining pleasure from quotation life.

Full video at YouTube: The Drama of Peace (statement): youtu.be/vcS6aGggT1k


Thursday, July 4, 2024

AI and weapons


YouTube link: Rise of the AI killbots

https://youtu.be/Fs3OREhDaKM

Friday, June 28, 2024

Debate

 


Well, America, choose wisely


YouTube link:

https://youtu.be/0rB7z0L4iuY

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

Thursday, June 20, 2024

Saturday, June 15, 2024

My father Stig

 


Stig Harvor, February 1, 1929 - June 13, 2024. Missed very much.

Thursday, June 13, 2024

Sunday, June 9, 2024

Heavy traffic

 


How can big cities better handle heavy traffic?

Traffic jams, bus lanes & what average people endure #trafficjams #commuting #publictransport #buses

Full video at YouTube:
https://youtube.com/shorts/dVgkxzDGkwo?feature=share

Friday, June 7, 2024

Thursday, June 6, 2024

Cats!

 


 Semi feral cats in South Korea.

Wednesday, June 5, 2024

Cranes

 


Cranes in the developed areas of South Korea.

Thursday, May 30, 2024

Trump


Donald Trump’s pattern of denying that he ever loses anything…


#trump #trumpcourt #stormydaniels #trumpcase #hushmoney #trumpfelony


Full video at YouTube: « Everything’s Rigged! »

https://youtu.be/fEPj5YmYNhk

Monday, May 27, 2024

Writers as Filmmakers as Artists as Musicians 1

Increasingly one finds the phenomenon of writers who are also filmmakers. Multimedia art-making is nothing new, but it’s taken a long time to begin to gain acceptance in the stuffy, hidebound world of literary production. The trend, though, will almost certainly continue. 

And one reason for that is the trend has always existed: from Blake to Peake to the poet/painters of Joseon, artmaking and writing have always had  the potential for a symbiotic relationship. And some writers simply enjoy art-making. This was true , for example, of PK Page. 




But the trend expanded in the 20th century, as poets became singers and vice versa. From Cohen to Dylan to Mitchell to Lennon to Springsteen, there is a large number of songwriters admired precisely for the poetic sophistication of their lyrics. In the 21st century, poets sometimes branch into music long after establishing literary reputations. 

For example, Steve Heighton became serious about performing his music shortly before his death: https://youtu.be/zdGkPrvYOMI?si=8__6AYb3ltAaeA14

And auteur filmmakers have always been, by definition, writers. But how about multimedia narratives that combine several art forms into a single artistic artefact? That form could be musical/ literary or artistic/ literary; however, I think the newest territory to be discovered is combining *all* these elements; that is, a film made by an artist/writer/musician. I call this type of filmmaking the authorial movie, and have made over 1,500 of these that are specifically literature-connected. It is a major body of work.

If curious, here are a few examples:

Three Tragedies, Four Seasons (take 7)
https://youtu.be/GV2sxT5t8yg

These authorial movies tend naturally toward poetry (because of its generally shorter length). But they can take the form of short stories and novel excerpts, too.

Last Question of the Evening 4K Mar 30 20
https://youtu.be/dYR6NYukpuM

Thursday, May 23, 2024

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

Aging parents, away

 


 Looking after aging parents from far away.

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Bamboo wind

 


Bamboo groves are particularly nice places to experience wind, both as a visual and aural experience.

#fieldrecording #bamboogarden #bambou ##대나무숲 #명상 #meditation #naturesounds #southkorea

YouTube link; https://youtube.com/shorts/DG7PDz1I81c?si=NmoWGYYPgDUGQVGC

Friday, May 17, 2024

Trains in Japan

 


On why train service is so popular in Japan 

Saturday, May 11, 2024

Protecting nature

 


Cranes in South Korea are one species that’s benefited from improved environmental protection.


Protecting wild birds in S. Korea #koreannature #asianwildlife #wildlife #한국의야생동물 #경기도 #cranes #두루미

Boy Meets Girl After Battle 2




This poem, "Boy Meets Girl After Battle 2," was published in the online literary journal Word City. In it, I employed a childlike cadence to critique of war's devastating impact on human lives. The poem describes a girl grievously wounded by shrapnel, her home destroyed by artillery fire. Despite her injuries and the shock of her ordeal, she survives, only to be discovered by a platoon. The soldiers' reactions range from indifference to minimal kindness.

War, as we know, makes normal people callous. The work attempts to highlight the dehumanization and moral decay that can accompany war. The final soldier's search for loot amidst the chaos serves as a poignant commentary on the exploitation and disregard for human suffering that often occurs in war-torn areas. The simple, rhythmic language is intended to contrast with the grim reality of the situation.


This poem also a moviepoem . If curious, YouTube link: Boy Meets Girl After Battle (part two)

https://youtu.be/ohVwbNav880

Thursday, May 9, 2024

Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

Saturday, May 4, 2024

Auster, CanLit, and the search for vitality

 Korean-American literary writer R. W. Kwon recently wrote an interesting take down of essays in which all the principals always act reasonably and decently. It’s a good point because it’s not how human always act, even when they pride themselves on their maturity. Canadian critic Steven Beattie seconded Kwon, adding that there’s a certain of reader that wants boring novels — that is, novels without conflict.


Boringness in essays (Kwon’s complaint) or boringness in novels (Steven’s) is nothing new. As coincidence — chance, let us say — a literary novelist criticized for having just this failing recently died. His name was Paul Auster. 


I recall once having a conversation with my brother Richard about Auster’s work. Richard said, « It’s just one plodding sentence after another. You wonder when it’s going to stop. » 


Auster himself has many defenders — they tend to be rather thin skinned about critiques aimed at Auster; indirect evidence that the core of his support is middle brow — that is, readers who want their novels to be boring yet at the same time classified as art; a genre of cultural production I term “midrature”. And Canadian letters, FWIW, also provides many examples of this. 


So … what is to be done? How can we create a literary culture that, to use Philip Roth’s phrase, combines high seriousness with great playfulness?


Part of the answer is to stop looking at traditional methods of literary production to save lit culture from its drearier pretensions. In order words, do not make  the (middlebrow) mistake of assuming literature exists only or above all in the form of an offset printed book that’s been curated by a Selector Class which mystifies its own self-interests. Look instead to new media and certain forms of underground publishing. 


John Metcalf called for just that. But he didn’t quite seem willing to take the argument to its logical conclusion, which was to celebrate interesting writing wherever it was produced, whether it had the stamp of institutional approval or not. 


This is one reason I started publishing my late brother’s work as videopoems. 


Example here: A Moviepoem about Winter: Richard’s Last Universe

youtu.be/wqroSWmtJyw


Or as straightforward spoken word: Richard's writing - April 19/20 - 1

youtu.be/qssW5v-GRYw


Critics in anglo Canada are particularly susceptible to walling themselves off from anything that’s not “proper”. 


It’s a blind spot in the way Canada produces culture, and its publishing industry has, ironically, paid a huge price; its audience share is described by one insider as “the worst in the literate world”. 


This is a sad consequence of a middle power such as Canada not placing enough energy into creating genuinely democratic and vital cultural scene. Instead, we’re weighed down by institutions that are instinctively inclined toward “literature” that’s actually social work or a watered down imitation of interesting literature. 


My guess is there will be an interesting debate on the worth of Auster’s novels; American letters is big enough that it can endure such a debate without people freaking out and becoming vindictive.


The opposite is sadly true in Canada. The result is a stymied literature, a mystified literature, a moralizing literature, a message-carrying literature, a cautious literature, and, yes, a boring literature.


Wednesday, May 1, 2024

Saturday, April 20, 2024

On screenplay fiction 4

 


 About the illustrated screenplay novel The Business Army 

Monday, April 15, 2024

Sur les romans scénarios 2

 Le Canada publie un nombre raisonnable de livres – même si ce nombre pourrait être augmenté ; Son plus grand défi, cependant, est de vendre davantage de livres… c'est-à-dire d'augmenter sa part du marché canadien du livre par rapport à son point bas actuel de 5 pour cent.


Quels types de stratégies pourraient être utilisées ? Les éléments suivants méritent d’être discutés :


1. Marketing et visibilité améliorés


Il faut un effort concerté pour commercialiser les livres canadiens de manière plus agressive, tant au pays qu'à l'étranger. Cela pourrait impliquer des campagnes mettant en valeur les aspects uniques de la littérature canadienne et sa pertinence par rapport aux enjeux contemporains.


2. Soutien des détaillants (libraires faisant la promotion de la littérature canadienne en la mettant plus en évidence dans les magasins et les plateformes en ligne).


3. Initiatives culturelles. Ceux-ci existent déjà, mais il y a des absences flagrantes, comme les grands salons du livre. Les festivals de nouveaux médias pour les formes hybrides telles que les vidéopoèmes, les films d'auteur et les récits cinématographiques sont indispensables.


4. Éducation et sensibilisation. Insérer davantage de littérature canadienne dans les programmes éducatifs et les programmes de lecture communautaires.


5. Diversification des modèles de publication. Adopter véritablement des modèles d'édition alternatifs, tels que l'édition indépendante et l'auto-édition (nous en parlerons plus tard, car le snobisme enraciné a créé une situation autodestructrice et intellectuellement malhonnête à cet égard).


6. Distribution internationale. Le renforcement des canaux de distribution internationaux pourrait aider les romans canadiens à gagner en popularité et en lectorat à l’étranger, ce qui pourrait accroître leur popularité au pays.


7. Inventer de nouvelles formes de fiction ; c’est-à-dire réinventer le roman lui-même afin que la publication des livres atteigne de nouveaux publics parce que les livres eux-mêmes attirent les acheteurs. Cela se produit déjà avec la fiction graphique. Mais ces formes expérimentales pourraient être poussées plus loin, beaucoup plus loin.

On screenplay fiction 2

  Canada publishes a reasonable number of books — though that number could be increased; its biggest challenge, however, is selling more books … that is, increasing its share of the Canadian book market from its current low point of 5 percent.

What kind of strategies could be used? The following are worth discussing:

1. Enhanced Marketing and Visibility

There needs to be a concerted effort to market Canadian books more aggressively, both domestically and internationally. This could involve campaigns that highlight the unique aspects of Canadian literature and its relevance to contemporary issues.

2. Support from Retailers (booksellers promoting Canadian literature by featuring it more prominently in stores and online platforms).

3. Cultural Initiatives. These exist already, but there are glaring absences, such as major book fairs. New media festivals for hybrid forms such as videopoems and authorial moviepoems and moviestories much needed.

4. Education and Outreach. Putting more Canadian literature into educational curricula and community reading programs.

5. Diversification of Publishing Models. Genuinely embracing alternative publishing models, such as independent and self-publishing (more about this later, as ingrained snobbery has created a self defeating and intellectually dishonest situation in this regard).

6. International Distribution. Strengthening international distribution channels could help Canadian novels gain acclaim and readership abroad, which in turn could boost their popularity at home.

7. Inventing new forms of fiction; that is, reinventing the novel itself so that publication of books reaches new audiences because the books themselves attract buyers. This already happening with graphic fiction. But these experimental forms could be taken farther — much farther.

Sunday, April 14, 2024

Sur les romans de scénarios illustré 1

 Récemment, le critique Steven Beattie a passé en revue un roman policier écrit sous la forme d'un scénario (un documentaire sur un meurtre) accompagné d'un e-mail/SMS. Il s’agit d’une sorte d’expérience stylistique qui pourrait être considérée comme une mise à jour du roman épistolaire ou quelque chose de nouveau et d’audacieusement moderne. Il reste à voir si ce débat aura lieu, mais je voudrais cadrer le débat en des termes rarement utilisés. Le premier est la spécificité de la production littéraire canadienne (Stephen et moi sommes tous deux canadiens), et le second est l'attitude généralisée à l'égard des œuvres littéraires. Produire un roman dans une édition internationale, c'est-à-dire un roman qui reçoit une renommée et une distribution internationales.


La production canadienne de fiction est considérée presque entièrement comme le produit de maisons d'édition de propriété canadienne et québécoise. En apparence, cette perception semble assez logique. Après tout, qui publie des livres autres que les éditeurs de livres ? Mais ce que les étrangers au domaine ont tendance à ne pas réaliser (et ce que les initiés ne veulent pas non plus admettre), c'est que les livres canadiens sont très impopulaires parmi les acheteurs de livres canadiens. L'industrie du livre et des magazines contrôlait autrefois 25 % du marché canadien, mais elle en représente aujourd'hui 5 %. Ce déclin a amené certains à prétendre que l’édition canadienne est « morte ». Une telle qualification est manifestement injuste. Les éditeurs canadiens produisent environ 20 000 nouveaux livres chaque année. Mais la part de marché reste extrêmement faible. Cela est particulièrement vrai par rapport à d’autres pays. Un initié de l’édition a décrit la performance de l’industrie canadienne comme « la pire en littérature ».


Alors, que devrions-nous faire? Comment les livres canadiens peuvent-ils conquérir une plus grande part du marché national du livre?


(À suivre)

On the highly illustrated screenplay narrative and the screenplay module novel, part one

 Recently, critic Steven Beattie reviewed a mystery novel that was written in the form of a screenplay (for a documentary being made about a murder) and accompanying emails / text messages. This is kind of stylistic experimentation that could be dismissed as nothing more than an updating of the epistolary novel, or as something new and daringly contemporary. Whether this debate happens remains to be seen, but I’d like to frame a discussion in terms that are rarely employed, the first being the specifics of literary production in Canada (Steven and I are both Canadian), and second a generalized attitude toward novel production in international publishing — that is, those novels which receive international acclaim and distribution.

Canadian novel production is considered almost exclusively the result of Canadian / québécois owned publishing houses. This perception seems logical enough on its surface, since, after all, who will publish books but book publishers? However, what outsiders to the scene tend not to recognize (and insiders are not eager to acknowledge) is Canadian books are remarkably unpopular among Canadian book buyers; the book and magazine industry used to have 25% of the Canadian market — it now has 5% … a decline that’s led some to claim Canadian publishing is « dead ». That characterization is clearly unfair ; Canadian publishing produces approximately 20,000 new titles a year. But its market share remains embarrassingly low, especially when compared to other countries. One publishing insider described the performance of the Canadian industry as being « the worst in the literate world ».

What, then, is to be done? How can Canadian books gain more of the share of the book market in their own territory?


(To be continued)

Thursday, April 11, 2024

Last Question: spoken word


 This is a spoken word version of my moviestory “Last Question of the Evening”, the text and art version of which is in the post below.

The story is set in the call center of a polling company. This is precarious work in its original form: unpredictable hours, low pay, and a work force that’s meant to dress middle class while not belonging to it.

The concept of the moviestory is both a critique of the gig economy and post industrial capitalism and also a critique , so to speak, of the conventional film industry, with its high production costs. At the same, the concept of the moviestory is a critique of traditional literature, with its apparently limitless tolerance for conventional narrative tropes.

In effect, the moviestory “Last Question of the Evening” is meant to bring the positive energies of the movie industry — such as its ability to engage an audience — while at the same time being so simple and low cost to produce that a moviestory escapes the pressures of artistic compromise that conventional filmmakers often feel.

*

YouTube link to see the full authorial moviestory: Last Question of the Evening -- short story/ authorial movie

https://youtu.be/MPivPuRAyYA

*

More to follow.



Last Question of the Evening: a moviestory

 Fade in. 


An office comprised of cubicles, all of them lined in rows, as if the aisles of an airplane had been converted into office space. In each cubicle, a worker with a headset.

"They're all liars," a voice through one headset says.

The man conducting the interview, Anders, doesn't reply. He waits for the respondent to answer the question in the survey.

"Eh?" the respondent says, his voice charged with a coercive energy. "Whaddayou think?"

"A lot of people feel the same way you do, sir."

"That's right!" the man from rural Saskatchewan says. "They all go to Ottawa, they promise you the world, and then they do nothing."

Pause. Anders glances at the supervisors' station, eager to see if his call is being monitored. He can't make out the supervisors' screens.

"Sir, if you could please answer the questions as they're phrased, we'd get through this much faster."

Saying this is a mistake; not because the respondent is offended by Anders's chastisement, but because it suddenly makes him aware of how long he's been on the phone. "Good lord, mister! Lookit the time! We've been yammerin' for half an hour!"

"We're almost done," Anders lies.

"I can't be talkin' about all this sort of political nonsense for half an hour!"



"Please, sir. Would you just bear with me for another ten minutes?"

"Ten minutes?! Listen, I don't have ten minutes. I think I told you enough."

"Is there some time I could call you back at?"

"No. I'm real busy. I said enough. You just fill in the rest."

"I can't do that, sir." Now a note of pleading has entered Anders's voice. "I'll get through the rest of this really fast. If we don't finish it, then I'll have to throw the whole thing out."

"Am I gettin' paid for this?"

"Pardon?"

"Are you sendin' me money? I give you a lot of my time, I expect something in return."

"Sorry, sir, the company I work for hardly pays me anything, I don't think they'd be generous enough to start mailing cheques to all the people we interview."

This attempt to establish a sense of camaraderie falls flat. "I'm serious, mister. I gotta go," the man says.

The line is cut.

Anders lets out a deep sigh and swivels around in his chair. He first looks at the supervisors' station, then the clock. It's twenty to ten. An incredible exhaustion, mitigated by the proximity of quitting time, washes through him. He rubs his eyes and stands up.

Laura, one of the supervisors, casts him a condemning glance. Feeling guilty, then, an instant later, feeling with defensive pride that he does his fair share of work and deserves the occasional break, he walks over to the station.

"Cheques in?" he says. The question is virtually rhetorical.

Laura looks at him with her glassy, neutral eyes. "No," she says.

"They were supposed to be here at five," Anders says.

"Don't blame me. There was some screw-up with the payroll system."



"Yeah, well --." Anders bites his tongue. He simply says, "I need that money."

"You're not the only one." Laura smiles tightly. "They'll be in tomorrow." 

"I'll be hungry tomorrow."

Perhaps Laura feels a touch of compassion for him. She regards him with full attentiveness. But then she says, "You should plan ahead."

Anders gives her a what's-that-supposed-to-mean? look, then turns away to make a trip to the washroom.

On the way back, he notices one the senior analysts behind the glass wall that separates the executive offices from the hall that leads to the teleresearch room where the interviewers work. The analyst is a bulky guy who's shaved his head bald and clearly works out. He has the aggressively friendly, somewhat sinister manner of a doorman at a night club. In front of him is a woman in a power suit. 

Anders only glimpses all this as he walks down the hall. 

When he gets back to his work station, it's twelve minutes to ten. Generally, this is just around the time when one of the supervisors begins walking around and telling everyone who's not on a survey to log off. Anders feels a contented relief. He figures he'll find a way to feed himself until tomorrow. He fingers the change in his pocket: his clinking life's savings.

At ten-to-ten, Jeremy, one of few consistently nice supervisors, begins walking down aisles. Anders stretches his arms. Then Jeremy's voice becomes audible. "Don't log off. We'll be working to ten. Even if you're not on a survey, keep dialling."

"But Jer-emy," a whiny voice says. "This survey is super-long. If we get someone now, we'll be here to, like, midnight."

"I'm just passing my orders along. I don't want to stay here any more than you do," Jeremy says. Then he adds, as if as an afterthought, "We're going to be starting another survey at ten."



"WHAT?!" a Jamaican woman named Celia says.

"I'm sorry, but that's the way it is. We've got a rush job from The Policy Group, and everyone has to work till quarter past."

The Policy Group isn't technically part of the company that Anders works for. Anders's company is called Windgate Research, and it's a pollster for the federal Liberals. The Policy Group has its office halfway down the hall between Windgate's executive suites and Anders's workplace. It in turn does polling for the provincial Conservatives. Both firms use the same interviewers.

Celia says loudly, "I SIGN UP FOR TEN, AND THAT'S WHEN I'M LEAVING. YOU WANT PEOPLE TO STAY EXTRA HOURS, YOU TELL THEM IN ADVANCE." 

Anders listens to Celia with a distant kind of neutrality. He doesn't share her fury. Then he starts thinking about what's going on and gets angry not only because Celia has a point but because she isn't pin-pointing the exact nature of the way the truth is being spun.

The description of this survey as a 'rush job' is a misnomer; while it's understood that some surveys are more urgent than others, all of them need at least a day or two of preparation. If nothing else, the analyst who wrote this particular survey would have begun working on it early in the afternoon. There is no way management could have 'just' discovered it needed this survey done.

Then a more calculating, more cautious part of Anders's mind kicks in. He's been having trouble getting along with the supervisors lately -- even the normally genial Jeremy has been prickly. And Anders, a university student with post-grad ambitions, is too intellectually proud to put up with the low-level condescension which is routinely directed at the interviewers. He tends to snap back when criticized. He knows that he has a reputation for being difficult. If he were to stay for an extra fifteen minutes, it'd help him go down in the supervisors' good-books.

"Everybody log off," Jeremy says to the whole room. He repeats his message a few more times, like a portly town crier walking down a street of computers.

"You know what this survey's about?" Anders says to Michelle, the woman with no front teeth, who's sitting at a station opposite his. 

She shrugs. "Maybe the teachers' strike," she says.

Anders realizes she must be right. It's early November, 1997 -- the strike has been dragging on for over a week. And the provincial government is starting to lose the battle of public opinion; simply that it has been holding off legislating the teachers back to work shows that it's scared. 

Despite himself, like a true political junkie enzymes of excitement begin coursing through Anders's blood. It's like being a sports fan at a playoff: He wants to see what the final match up is going to be.

"The survey's number is 154," Jeremy announces. "This is manual dial. Please log on."

Anders begins reading the new survey. Any anticipation he experienced a moment before is evaporated by the sheer length of it; it contains over eighty questions.

"LOOK AT THIS!" Celia says. "THIS SURVEY LONG, JEREMY."

There are murmurs of agreement from her section of the room. Laura rushes over to quell the problem. She speaks to Celia, her voice inaudible.

"I DON'T CARE," Celia says. "THEM POLICY GROUP PEOPLE DO THIS ON PURPOSE. THEY DO IT LAST WEEK, TOO. AND WHAT ABOUT OUR HALF HOUR BREAK? WE WORKIN' FOR MORE THAN FIVE HOURS, WE'RE ENTITLED TO HALF ... AN ... HOUR ... BREAK."

"It's only fifteen extra minutes," Laura says. "You'll be paid for it."

Celia's tone lowers, but it's still adamant and clear with outrage. "That's not right. They're tryin' to nickel and dime us. They plan this." 

Again, Laura's voice slips under the threshold of hearing. Anders turns back to his screen. 

He's been phoning the West most of the evening. With its time differential, he hasn't had to worry about upsetting people by calling too late. With dismay he realizes he'll now be phoning metro Toronto, the most cranky and survey-harassed region of the country, at ten on a Tuesday night. He swears to himself. The questions keep appearing before him. Almost all of them are leading.... As was said earlier, the strike by the teachers' unions is illegal. Does knowing this make you more likely or less likely to support the provincial government's reforms to education?

"It's just another fifteen minutes," the interviewer sitting next to Anders says. He's a skinny skateboarder named Lance. He once told Anders that he ate one meal of eggs and bread a day for a week.

Anders looks back at Lance with an aghast expression. "Are you kidding?!"

Lance shrugs. He slouches deeply in his seat. "Just phone a coupla numbers. Look like you're workin'. Make 'em happy."

Anders's emotions shift very abruptly. Lance is right. Pretend to be a good employee. 

But at ten sharp, a mutiny breaks out. People begin rising from their seats, starting first, it seems, with Celia. "I got a connectin' bus to catch," she says by way of explanation.

Hunger gnaws at Anders's stomach. He only had a can of sardines for supper. He was counting desperately on the pay-cheque. He figured after work he'd make a beeline to a bank machine, deposit his pay, then treat himself to dinner at a souvlaki place. Physical discomfort reminds him of how much he hates his company.

Despite his resolution, almost involuntarily Anders finds himself rising from his seat. He makes an extra show of lining up his keyboard neatly on his desk and putting on his coat with genteel calm. 

"What are you doing?" Michelle says.

"I'm not staying. This is ridiculous. What, we're supposed to phone people now, and ask them a bunch of propagandistic questions for half an hour?"

"It's a job." 

"Barely."

As Anders is walking towards the supervisors' station, the man who was in the front office -- the one with the bald head and fighter's build -- enters. He sees the mass of people huddled around the sign-out sheet.

"What's going on?" he says loudly to Laura.

"People don't want to stay. They signed up till ten o'clock, and they're leaving." 

The tough bald man looks around him. For a second his expression is so similar to that of a captain trying to give orders to soldiers who are on leave that Anders wants to laugh. Then the man composes himself, and his face becomes a managerial mask.

"Everybody, could I have your attention!" he says loudly. "Everyone! Listen, this is a rush job. It's very important. We need you people to stay."

A number of the people milling around stop. Everybody seems temporarily frozen by this man's voice. Then a few people move discreetly towards the door.

"Listen, I know it's late, and I know you people want to get home. But we have to start getting results on this particular issue. Certain people -- important people -- need feedback, and they need something that they can start working with first thing tomorrow. So everybody, would you please ... just return to your stations. If we all pitch in, we can make a dent on this baby."

Some people seem to have been convinced by this man's manner, but no one actually returns to a station. 

Seeing this, the man adds in a deal-maker's tone, "I'll give you a bonus."

The man is standing right beside Anders. Although the man isn't looking right at him, Anders can practically feel tendrils working their way out of him, as if he has thousands of microscopic hairs waving gently in the air, picking up people's opinions chemically.

"How much?" Anders says. His voice is steady, but he's surprised at how fearful he feels.

"Come on," the tough bald man is saying to everyone, clapping his hands together. Then he turns to Anders, his body language like that of an adult irritated by a child.

Anders watches as the man's eyes settle on his. They are disconcertingly focused; they are powerful and unblinking. When the man's mouth moves, there is the slightest of hesitations when he pronounces his first syllable. "Three bucks."  

The adrenalin that Anders experienced minutes before comes back to him stronger. "You've got to be kidding." 

The tough bald man holds his hands out from his pockets as if to say: hey buddy, that's all I got. 
Then the man says, "You think you're worth more?"

A voice in Anders's head tells him that he should back off. It tells him he's making a huge mistake, engaging in confrontation. Everybody else in the room knows this man's a jerk. Why say it to his face?

So Anders, thinking he's being conciliatory, says, "I'll do it. But yeah, I think I'm worth more."

"Let me tell you something about what you're worth," the man says. He holds up his hand, making a zero sign with his thumb and forefinger. "I could have you replaced like that." He snaps his fingers with startling volume. "Now you get back to your friggin' station or you take a walk out the door."

This is too much. Anders glares. "Maybe more than one person will walk out that door."

"What's that supposed to mean --?"

"People here are pretty sick of working for eight bucks an hour. We get no raises, no benefits, no consistent hours, and the company rakes in millions." Anders feels as if his nerves are exposed. He's absolutely convinced the man is going to hit him. He's startled; he thought he'd left this level of fear behind in high school.

"That's the industry standard," the man says. He narrows his eyes. "Pal."

"You got people here who don't even get enough to eat. You think that's a fair standard?"

The man looks at Anders -- he looks at the people nearby. He smirks. Most everybody is well-dressed.

A schizophrenic electricity fills the room: Anders is completely alert but also more tired than ever. He feels that everybody's attention is on him and nobody is with him. The other people all stand around, waiting. A horrible sense of defeat hovers on the fringe of his consciousness. 

"What did you say your name was?" the man says. His voice is superficially polite, but it's edged with the appetite of an axe.

*

Finn Harvor is an artist, writer, filmmaker, and musician. He lives with his wife in South Korea. His work -- literary and academic -- has appeared in several journals including Poetry Film Live, This Magazine, Canadian Notes and Queries, Former People, Eclectica, and others. His author-made movies have been screened in Korea, the U.S., the U.K., and Greece, with upcoming screenings at the Athens Poetry Film Festival and the Rabbitheart Poetry Film Festival.