"Iconic" interpretive dancer wants news network taken off the air
In the wake of the fevered response to Krista Erickson's June interview with "iconic" interpretive dancer Margie Gillis, an interesting subtext has emerged.
Canada's arts community -- despite enjoying millions of dollars in federal subsidies on an annual basis -- have convinced themselves that they are an oppressed group. And, like all self-imagined oppressed groups, they are now eager to re-invent themselves as the oppressor.
In a recent interview, Gillis -- who self-organized a boycott of Sun News Network's advertisers that has very clearly failed comically -- has suggested another "solution" to the Sun News Network "problem". She wants it taken off the air.
This is actually a more extreme position than her previous position, in which she and her cronies merely suggested that Sun News Network be ordered removed from basic
cable packages. Now she's calling for it to be removed entirely.
"I think the station should be taken off until they can prove that they represent Canadian values," Gillis declared in an interview with the Vancouver Observer.
Naturally, one would expect that Gillis would describe "Canadian values" within a very narrow set of far-left values. And it shouldn't be considered even remotely surprising that Gillis and her cronies would want to silence anyone who disagrees with them.
Amidst a plethora of Orwellian messages to her followers telling them to "be compassionate" and "stay human", Gillis has held her bruised ego up as a rallying point for all the emotionally-unbalanced artsy types who are enraged that she wasn't treated with what they consider the proper deference.
In order to keep that rage alive, Gillis is still pretending she's some sort of victim.
“It was just an attack,” Gillis said. “She just didn't care what I was saying … I've never done an interview where they don't come back on to say thank you very much. I sat there in this little room. Nobody came in, nobody came out and I sat there for about 10 minutes just going: wow, that was an attack.”
Then again, perhaps Sun News Network staff had already had their fill of Gillis by the 8:50 mark of the interview, when Gillis very obnoxiously began to speak over Erickson, reciting self-scripted remarks even as Erickson asks her to stop talking over her.
Gillis and her cronies continue to pretend that Erickson "constantly" spoke over her. Erickson had indeed spoken over Erickson in the interview -- to self-correct an error she had made. Comically, Gillis objected to Erickson correcting herself.
Ever since, GIllis has been using the interview, in which both interviewer and interviewee did their fair share of the dirty work in turning the entire affair awry, as a lightning rod for every Canadian artist who feels they're being oppressed if they can't live as well as a doctor or lawyer off of their work.
Now Margie Gillis wants to take up the role of oppressor for herself. It would be frightening if it weren't merely comical.
Showing posts with label Margie Gillis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Margie Gillis. Show all posts
Thursday, September 08, 2011
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
The Far Left's Bizarre Love of Mediocrity Strikes Again... and Again
Canadian artist out to canonize herself as leftist cause celibre
It seems that, in Canada, if one really, really wants their 15 minutes of fame, one has to go out and get it themselves.
Since June alone, Brigette DePape, Kai Nagata and Margie Gillis have done everything they can to seize the imaginations of the Canadian left. In each case, each one was forgotten within weeks of their self-glorification.
DePape chose to spat on her job by holding up a "Stop Harper" sign during the 2011 speech from the throne. Her career as a leftist icon peaked with a job offer from Michael Moore that no self-respecting left-winger would actually take.
Interpretive dancer Margie Gillis appeared on the Sun News Newtork, then rallied her followers into petitioning the CRTC to order Sun News removed from basic cable packages. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council had enough of the whining of far-left gladflies, and said "no mas" very quickly. Gillis complained that interviewer Krista Erickson talked over her, when it was in fact Gillis speaking over Erickson.
Kai Nagata left his job as CTV correspondant for the Quebec National Assembly amidst complaints about how the national media selects political stories.
All were declared to be "inspirational" figures by the far-left -- somehow all of the far-left's figures are "inspirational" even when they're actually banal and mediocre.
That seems to be the case with artist Franke James, who has been her own best publicist, alleging that the Canadian government pressured sponsors of her planned European tour into withdrawing. She also complains that embassies that were planning to host her exhibit also pulled out, and that government funds for the tour were withdrawn.
Sources with the Swiss insurance company that was sponsoring the tour and the government have each since stated that the funds had never been promised in the first place.
This makes James not only the most recent far-leftist to attempt to canonize herself as a left-wing political icon, but the most recent to describe the government's decision not to supply funds that hadn't actually been promised as a "funding cut".
There may be one other reason why James' would-be sponsor chose not to support her tour. That reason is that her work is simply not very good.
That also sets James up for the next evolution of her ideological canonization: for a while, the far-left will ride the Franke James bandwagon. Then, shortly after, Franke James, every bit as forgettable as Brigette DePape, Margie Gillis and Kai Nagata, will be forgotten in favour of the next mediocre, self-serving "inspirational" figure.
The far-left will find someone new whose mediocrity they will love just as much as Franke James'. The far-left will again hold up that person's mediocrity as if it's excellence, and again Canadians shall yawn.
Think of it as part of the circle of life.
It seems that, in Canada, if one really, really wants their 15 minutes of fame, one has to go out and get it themselves.
Since June alone, Brigette DePape, Kai Nagata and Margie Gillis have done everything they can to seize the imaginations of the Canadian left. In each case, each one was forgotten within weeks of their self-glorification.
DePape chose to spat on her job by holding up a "Stop Harper" sign during the 2011 speech from the throne. Her career as a leftist icon peaked with a job offer from Michael Moore that no self-respecting left-winger would actually take.
Interpretive dancer Margie Gillis appeared on the Sun News Newtork, then rallied her followers into petitioning the CRTC to order Sun News removed from basic cable packages. The Canadian Broadcast Standards Council had enough of the whining of far-left gladflies, and said "no mas" very quickly. Gillis complained that interviewer Krista Erickson talked over her, when it was in fact Gillis speaking over Erickson.
Kai Nagata left his job as CTV correspondant for the Quebec National Assembly amidst complaints about how the national media selects political stories.
All were declared to be "inspirational" figures by the far-left -- somehow all of the far-left's figures are "inspirational" even when they're actually banal and mediocre.
That seems to be the case with artist Franke James, who has been her own best publicist, alleging that the Canadian government pressured sponsors of her planned European tour into withdrawing. She also complains that embassies that were planning to host her exhibit also pulled out, and that government funds for the tour were withdrawn.
Sources with the Swiss insurance company that was sponsoring the tour and the government have each since stated that the funds had never been promised in the first place.
This makes James not only the most recent far-leftist to attempt to canonize herself as a left-wing political icon, but the most recent to describe the government's decision not to supply funds that hadn't actually been promised as a "funding cut".
There may be one other reason why James' would-be sponsor chose not to support her tour. That reason is that her work is simply not very good.
That also sets James up for the next evolution of her ideological canonization: for a while, the far-left will ride the Franke James bandwagon. Then, shortly after, Franke James, every bit as forgettable as Brigette DePape, Margie Gillis and Kai Nagata, will be forgotten in favour of the next mediocre, self-serving "inspirational" figure.
The far-left will find someone new whose mediocrity they will love just as much as Franke James'. The far-left will again hold up that person's mediocrity as if it's excellence, and again Canadians shall yawn.
Think of it as part of the circle of life.
Monday, July 04, 2011
John Doyle To Be Added to the Tremendous Hypocrites Walk of Shame
It seems arts funding is only for failures
According to Globe and Mail columnist John Doyle, Alex Trebek belongs in a game show host hall of fame, if there is one. Shania Twain belongs in a bare midriff hall of fame, if such a thing exists. Rich Little would be a shoo-in for an untalented comedian hall of fame.
Doyle himself would be a first ballot inductee into a hypocrite hall of shame. If such a thing existed. It doesn't, but it should.
Doyle recently attracted the attention of the Hollywood Reporter for his opposition to a grant from Heritage Canada to fund a festival inducting Trebek, Twain and Little onto Canada's Walk of Fame in the Toronto Theatre District.
"On the cusp of Canada Day, I put it to you that our taxes are collected and spent by a government that has contempt for us," Doyle fumed. "They must think we are airheads, as they dole out our money to fund the celebration of the already rich and famous."
Doyle goes on to infer that Trebek's success renders him unworthy of taxpayer money being spent to celebrate his success on the Walk of Fame.
Doyle, it seems, is like a lot of people: he dislikes a winner.
But it seems necessary to remember that he loves a loser. Consider his outrage that Sun News Network personality Krista Erickson would dare ask "iconic interpretive dancer" Margie Gillis some challenging questions about her arts funding.
During the interview, Gillis would complain that her renumeration as the top "professional" in her field is allegedly unfairly dwarfed by the pay received by other top professionals (who are actual professionals). In other words, she chose her career and when it turned out that it didn't pay what a top doctor or engineer pays, it's up to the government to step in and cover her losses.
Doyle tried to mask his outrage in smug yet spiteful contempt. But the irration and illogic of Doyle's screed was unmistakable. This was, after all, mere questions he was complaining about.
Now the government, instead of doling out $1.2 million over 13 years (1998-2011 was not a 35-year period, as Gillis comically insisted), the government is doling out a mere $500,000 to celebrate Canadians actually being successful on the international stage.
And not merely successful... wildly successful. In fact, Trebek and Twain (perhaps not necessarily Little) boast the kind of success stories that inspires many other Canadians to follow in their footsteps, following their dreams. And Doyle doesn't like it.
It's a bizarre look into the Canada that Doyle imagines for the rest of us to live in: one in which failure is celebrated as if it were success, and success is ignored as if it were failure.
Frankly, it's the kind of backwardness that could only be considered preferable in the mind of a consumate hypocrite; one of walk of shame calibre. Sadly, it seems John Doyle is up to the task.
According to Globe and Mail columnist John Doyle, Alex Trebek belongs in a game show host hall of fame, if there is one. Shania Twain belongs in a bare midriff hall of fame, if such a thing exists. Rich Little would be a shoo-in for an untalented comedian hall of fame.
Doyle himself would be a first ballot inductee into a hypocrite hall of shame. If such a thing existed. It doesn't, but it should.
Doyle recently attracted the attention of the Hollywood Reporter for his opposition to a grant from Heritage Canada to fund a festival inducting Trebek, Twain and Little onto Canada's Walk of Fame in the Toronto Theatre District.
"On the cusp of Canada Day, I put it to you that our taxes are collected and spent by a government that has contempt for us," Doyle fumed. "They must think we are airheads, as they dole out our money to fund the celebration of the already rich and famous."
Doyle goes on to infer that Trebek's success renders him unworthy of taxpayer money being spent to celebrate his success on the Walk of Fame.
Doyle, it seems, is like a lot of people: he dislikes a winner.
But it seems necessary to remember that he loves a loser. Consider his outrage that Sun News Network personality Krista Erickson would dare ask "iconic interpretive dancer" Margie Gillis some challenging questions about her arts funding.
During the interview, Gillis would complain that her renumeration as the top "professional" in her field is allegedly unfairly dwarfed by the pay received by other top professionals (who are actual professionals). In other words, she chose her career and when it turned out that it didn't pay what a top doctor or engineer pays, it's up to the government to step in and cover her losses.
Doyle tried to mask his outrage in smug yet spiteful contempt. But the irration and illogic of Doyle's screed was unmistakable. This was, after all, mere questions he was complaining about.
Now the government, instead of doling out $1.2 million over 13 years (1998-2011 was not a 35-year period, as Gillis comically insisted), the government is doling out a mere $500,000 to celebrate Canadians actually being successful on the international stage.
And not merely successful... wildly successful. In fact, Trebek and Twain (perhaps not necessarily Little) boast the kind of success stories that inspires many other Canadians to follow in their footsteps, following their dreams. And Doyle doesn't like it.
It's a bizarre look into the Canada that Doyle imagines for the rest of us to live in: one in which failure is celebrated as if it were success, and success is ignored as if it were failure.
Frankly, it's the kind of backwardness that could only be considered preferable in the mind of a consumate hypocrite; one of walk of shame calibre. Sadly, it seems John Doyle is up to the task.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
More From the Relentlessly-Whiny Canadian Left
When the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council waved a red flag in the face of thousands of rabidly-censorious Canadian left-wingers, Charlie Smith of the Georgia Strait interpreted it as a red flag in the face of a raging bull.
And he's the bull. In so many ways.
Smith, of course, is among thos outraged that Sun News Network personality Krista Erickson asked "iconic" interpretive dancer Margie Gillis some challenging questions about her funding.
Smith is outraged that the CBSC has called for a halt to the complaints. Gillis' self-organized campaign to complain to the council has amassed so many that it can't process them all. So he recommends that, instead, the implacably-censorious left go directly to the CRTC.
In going to the CRTC, Gillis' cronies would be scrambling for an even bigger fly swatter than the CBSC; one that cannot be ingored.
And the CSBC very much can be ignored.
As Ezra Levant and Brian Lilley recently alluded to, it was the CBSC that, based on a single complainant, attempted to direct all radio stations in Canada to air an edited version of "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits.
Radio stations decided to ignore the ruling. The CRTC directed the CBSC to revisit their deicision, and they backed down.
The CRTC, however, cannot be ignored. If they decided to give in to the demands being made by Charlie Smith and the rest of the mice following Margie Gillis in her pied paper act, they could pull the Sun News Networks' broadcast license.
There should be no doubt that those expressing contrived, sanctimonious and generally false outrage at Gillis being asked some tough questions are prepared to accept nothing less than that. They're already demanding it.
And he's the bull. In so many ways.
Smith, of course, is among thos outraged that Sun News Network personality Krista Erickson asked "iconic" interpretive dancer Margie Gillis some challenging questions about her funding.
Smith is outraged that the CBSC has called for a halt to the complaints. Gillis' self-organized campaign to complain to the council has amassed so many that it can't process them all. So he recommends that, instead, the implacably-censorious left go directly to the CRTC.
In going to the CRTC, Gillis' cronies would be scrambling for an even bigger fly swatter than the CBSC; one that cannot be ingored.
And the CSBC very much can be ignored.
As Ezra Levant and Brian Lilley recently alluded to, it was the CBSC that, based on a single complainant, attempted to direct all radio stations in Canada to air an edited version of "Money For Nothing" by Dire Straits.
Radio stations decided to ignore the ruling. The CRTC directed the CBSC to revisit their deicision, and they backed down.
The CRTC, however, cannot be ignored. If they decided to give in to the demands being made by Charlie Smith and the rest of the mice following Margie Gillis in her pied paper act, they could pull the Sun News Networks' broadcast license.
There should be no doubt that those expressing contrived, sanctimonious and generally false outrage at Gillis being asked some tough questions are prepared to accept nothing less than that. They're already demanding it.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
The Relentlessly-Whiny Canadian Left
4,100 Gillis-organized crybabies wirte the CBSC
If one were to judge from the volume of complaints received by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, one would think Krista Erickson's interview on the Sun News Network with Margie Gillis is a geat and terrible thing.
News outlets like the Globe and Mail and distinctly not-news outlets like The Mark and the Toronto Star have repoted that the CBSC has received more than twice the number of complaints about that one specific interview than it normally receives in an entire year.
However, they're declining to report a single salient detail:
The complaints are the result of a campaign organized by Gillis herself.
In a previous Facebook note, Gillis expressed sadness at the malicious hate messages being posted on Erickson's own Facebook page. That much is to her credit. But in the very same post, she recommended that her followers write to the government to complain not about Erickson's conduct, but rather about her views.
"Filing a letter with the CRTC , with copy to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages and to the Prime Minister, stating that the unilateral view depicted in that interview is not what we want for ourselves or how we wish to be known in the world would be a far more fruitful action and it wouldn’t replicate the hatred we want to denounce," Gillis writes.
That's almost as comical as concluding her campaign call with a direction to "be brave, be clear, be compassionate."
Uh... what? What does compassion have to do with Margie Gillis' outrage at being asked some challenging questions on the Sun News Network? Or being confronted with her bizarrely-sanctimonious attitude toward Canadian society (the same Canadian society that supported her interpretive dance endeavours to the tune of $1.2 million over 13 years).
Speaking of sanctimony.
In a comical turn of events, the Star's resident hate addict, Heather Mallick wrote a column about the complaints, wherein she depicted Erickson as "venomous".
Mallick even seemed to echo Gillis' bizarre insistance that 1998-2011 is a 35-year period.
"Viewers are up in arms about the bullying the much-loved Gillis took from the angry, wired Erickson for having received a total of $1.2 million in government cultural grants over the decades," Mallick writes. Huh? 13 years "over the decades"? It seems that Mallick shares Gillis' extremely bizarre sense of time.
She acknowledged the Facebook campaign, but failed to attribute it to Gillis.
Quelle suprise!
One would almost think Mallick forgot that it was herself, not Erickson, who once penned a column in which she declared that then-Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin dresses like a porn star. That column blissfully ended her career at the CBC, even if the Star has breathed undeserved life into it. But the most salient detail seems to be that Mallick is so unashamed of her own venmous performance that she maintains it on her personal website.
No rational person needed the reminder, but that's how contemptible a person Heather Mallick is.
This author would love to see her go on the Sun News Network to defend her condemnation of Erickson in light of her own conduct. Unfortuately, Mallick is far too much of a coward to do anything like that.
For the CBSC, there should really be only one response to the complaints, spurred by Gillis' own wounded pride: severe disintrest in the complaints, and immediate dismissal.
After all, one could likely safely guarantee that if one were to examine the complaints submitted to the CBSC and compare it to the petition that Avaaz so feverishly organized in order to prevent the Sun News Network from ever coming to air, one would likely find each one of those 4,100 complainees had signed the petition.
Because that's what this is about: it's about the relentlessly-whiny, impacably-censorious left trying to run the Sun News Network off the air.
If the CBSC doesn't treat this comical complaints with the seriousness they deserve -- which is none -- the Sun News Network should summarily respond to them with a middle finger. Perhaps even an exploding one.
Shake it off, ignore the crybabies, and just let them wail. No one's listening to them anyway.
If one were to judge from the volume of complaints received by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council, one would think Krista Erickson's interview on the Sun News Network with Margie Gillis is a geat and terrible thing.
News outlets like the Globe and Mail and distinctly not-news outlets like The Mark and the Toronto Star have repoted that the CBSC has received more than twice the number of complaints about that one specific interview than it normally receives in an entire year.
However, they're declining to report a single salient detail:
The complaints are the result of a campaign organized by Gillis herself.
In a previous Facebook note, Gillis expressed sadness at the malicious hate messages being posted on Erickson's own Facebook page. That much is to her credit. But in the very same post, she recommended that her followers write to the government to complain not about Erickson's conduct, but rather about her views.
"Filing a letter with the CRTC , with copy to the Minister of Canadian Heritage and Official Languages and to the Prime Minister, stating that the unilateral view depicted in that interview is not what we want for ourselves or how we wish to be known in the world would be a far more fruitful action and it wouldn’t replicate the hatred we want to denounce," Gillis writes.
That's almost as comical as concluding her campaign call with a direction to "be brave, be clear, be compassionate."
Uh... what? What does compassion have to do with Margie Gillis' outrage at being asked some challenging questions on the Sun News Network? Or being confronted with her bizarrely-sanctimonious attitude toward Canadian society (the same Canadian society that supported her interpretive dance endeavours to the tune of $1.2 million over 13 years).
Speaking of sanctimony.
In a comical turn of events, the Star's resident hate addict, Heather Mallick wrote a column about the complaints, wherein she depicted Erickson as "venomous".
Mallick even seemed to echo Gillis' bizarre insistance that 1998-2011 is a 35-year period.
"Viewers are up in arms about the bullying the much-loved Gillis took from the angry, wired Erickson for having received a total of $1.2 million in government cultural grants over the decades," Mallick writes. Huh? 13 years "over the decades"? It seems that Mallick shares Gillis' extremely bizarre sense of time.
She acknowledged the Facebook campaign, but failed to attribute it to Gillis.
Quelle suprise!
One would almost think Mallick forgot that it was herself, not Erickson, who once penned a column in which she declared that then-Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin dresses like a porn star. That column blissfully ended her career at the CBC, even if the Star has breathed undeserved life into it. But the most salient detail seems to be that Mallick is so unashamed of her own venmous performance that she maintains it on her personal website.
No rational person needed the reminder, but that's how contemptible a person Heather Mallick is.
This author would love to see her go on the Sun News Network to defend her condemnation of Erickson in light of her own conduct. Unfortuately, Mallick is far too much of a coward to do anything like that.
For the CBSC, there should really be only one response to the complaints, spurred by Gillis' own wounded pride: severe disintrest in the complaints, and immediate dismissal.
After all, one could likely safely guarantee that if one were to examine the complaints submitted to the CBSC and compare it to the petition that Avaaz so feverishly organized in order to prevent the Sun News Network from ever coming to air, one would likely find each one of those 4,100 complainees had signed the petition.
Because that's what this is about: it's about the relentlessly-whiny, impacably-censorious left trying to run the Sun News Network off the air.
If the CBSC doesn't treat this comical complaints with the seriousness they deserve -- which is none -- the Sun News Network should summarily respond to them with a middle finger. Perhaps even an exploding one.
Shake it off, ignore the crybabies, and just let them wail. No one's listening to them anyway.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Sheesh... Artists Are So Sensitive
Following a blogpost criticizing interpretive dancer Margie Gillis for her bizarre remarks during an interview with Sun News Network's Krista Erickson -- claiming that 1998-2011 was a "39-year period", and that receiving millions of dollars in government funds to do what she loves to do is a "sacrifice" -- a Grant MacEwan music composition graduate by the name of Andy AF Burns decided to take exception.
His "arguments" proved to be razor-thin, but when they weren't extended what he considered to be the demanded consideration of merit.
What followed was, without a doubt, one of the most pathetic displays in the history of the internet. While Mr Burns should likely have been reported to the police for uttering threats, it seems a public humiliation should serve better:
It requires a remarkably disturbed individual to threaten to run someone over with a car, and then call them a "fucking gorilla".
Perhaps it's as good a reason as any to not question an artists' sense of entitlement to a small fortune in government grants: in this case, Andy AF Burns' bizarre mix of sensitivity, irrationality, and primitive violence bubbling just under the surface.
But if any Edmonton-area readers happen to know Andy AF Burns personally, do him a favour: have him seek professional help. He needs it. Desperately.
His "arguments" proved to be razor-thin, but when they weren't extended what he considered to be the demanded consideration of merit.
What followed was, without a doubt, one of the most pathetic displays in the history of the internet. While Mr Burns should likely have been reported to the police for uttering threats, it seems a public humiliation should serve better:
It requires a remarkably disturbed individual to threaten to run someone over with a car, and then call them a "fucking gorilla".
Perhaps it's as good a reason as any to not question an artists' sense of entitlement to a small fortune in government grants: in this case, Andy AF Burns' bizarre mix of sensitivity, irrationality, and primitive violence bubbling just under the surface.
But if any Edmonton-area readers happen to know Andy AF Burns personally, do him a favour: have him seek professional help. He needs it. Desperately.
Thursday, June 09, 2011
The Far-Left's Bizarre Love of Mediocrity Strikes Again
Margie Gillis bumbles through interview, hailed as a hero for it
As the Brigette DePape episode has shown Canadians, there's nothing the far-left truly loves more than mediocrity, so long as it's ideologically-soothing mediocrity.
Little else could explain the far-left's sudden love of interpretive danger Margie Gillis, who recently was the quieter -- yet no more polite -- participant in a dust-up over arts grant with Krista Erickson on Sun TV.
Erickson outlined $1.2 million in grants Gillis had received from the Canada Arts Council over 13 years. Gillis accused Erickson of belittling the arts community. The Globe and Mail's John Doyle firmly took Gillis' side:
Gillis may draw some sympathy from the far-left because of her soft-spoken demeanor, but that also requires them to overlook her own behaviour during the interview. She did her best to be slippery, refusing to answer Erickson's questions. Despite $1.2 million in grants over 13 years being outlined on the show, Gillis tried to insist that money was spread out over 39 years... despite the fact that the grants were listed year-by-year from 1998 onward. (There may well have been more grants, but they were not the ones Gillis was being asked about.)
Over and over again, Gillis declared that she had "sacrificed her life" to interpretive dance. Aside from this remark being a little bit creepty, it doesnt' strike a rational person as much of a sacrifice: Gillis "sacrificed" her life to be funded to the tune of millions of dollars in order to do what, presumably, she loves to do.
In fact, since 1998 Gillis has been funded by the federal government, through the Canada Arts Council, to the tune of nearly $100,000 a year. According to her remarks, she also uses that money to fund the salarty of at least one other individual.
But even $50,000 to travel the world spiraling her arms is a pretty sweet gig.
In reality, Margie Gillis hasn't made any discernable sacrifice. She isn't hard put upon.
Nor does her spiralling arms actually do anything toward the goal of world peace. A Canadian fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan does; Gillis does not.
If anyone expected that Gillis' experience yestearday would provoke even the slightest bit of self-exploration to determine whether her behaviour on Sun TV contributed to the argument or not, don't expect it. Gillis has posted a message on her Facebook page asking her followers to write the CRTC and complain about the "unilateral views" expressed on Sun TV.
(She did, to her credit, instruct her followers to stop posting hate messages on Erickson's Facebook page. However, readers of the Nexus are by now familiar with the hateful behaviour of the far-left. They probably won't listen to her.)
It's nothing new to Canada's far-left, who demand merit for every mediocre remark to tumble out of the mouth of their adopted icons. Fortunately for the rest of Canadians -- who are becoming increasingly conservative -- it works out to our advantage.
As the Brigette DePape episode has shown Canadians, there's nothing the far-left truly loves more than mediocrity, so long as it's ideologically-soothing mediocrity.
Little else could explain the far-left's sudden love of interpretive danger Margie Gillis, who recently was the quieter -- yet no more polite -- participant in a dust-up over arts grant with Krista Erickson on Sun TV.
Erickson outlined $1.2 million in grants Gillis had received from the Canada Arts Council over 13 years. Gillis accused Erickson of belittling the arts community. The Globe and Mail's John Doyle firmly took Gillis' side:
"Recently, the channel’s Krista Erickson accosted dancer Margie Gillis on air about arts funding and tried to beat her up, verbally. This was comedy of the raw sort. Erickson explained that Gillis is a very famous, award-winning dancer and choreographer. Gillis, who talks in a very soft voice, thanked her for the nice introduction and things proceeded. Erickson, aided by an onscreen crawl, pointed out that Gillis and her dance foundation have, over the past 13 years, received grants totalling $1.2-million. That’s $1.2-million spread over 13 years. She demanded to know why Gillis was costing taxpayers $1.2-million.As anyone who actually watches the interview would quickly realize, this actually bears very little resemblence to the interview itself.
Gillis explained that all the money didn’t go into her pocket. It kept a lot of people going. Erickson then went wacky. She waved her arms around in a lame attempt to mimic dance movement. Not a wizard at the arm ballet is Krista, believe me. She looked like the Martin Short character Ed Grimley getting excited. 'This whole thing,' she barked, while frantically waved her arms, 'Why does it cost $1.2-million over 13 years?' Then she shouted at Gillis to try to drown out the response. "
Gillis may draw some sympathy from the far-left because of her soft-spoken demeanor, but that also requires them to overlook her own behaviour during the interview. She did her best to be slippery, refusing to answer Erickson's questions. Despite $1.2 million in grants over 13 years being outlined on the show, Gillis tried to insist that money was spread out over 39 years... despite the fact that the grants were listed year-by-year from 1998 onward. (There may well have been more grants, but they were not the ones Gillis was being asked about.)
Over and over again, Gillis declared that she had "sacrificed her life" to interpretive dance. Aside from this remark being a little bit creepty, it doesnt' strike a rational person as much of a sacrifice: Gillis "sacrificed" her life to be funded to the tune of millions of dollars in order to do what, presumably, she loves to do.
In fact, since 1998 Gillis has been funded by the federal government, through the Canada Arts Council, to the tune of nearly $100,000 a year. According to her remarks, she also uses that money to fund the salarty of at least one other individual.
But even $50,000 to travel the world spiraling her arms is a pretty sweet gig.
In reality, Margie Gillis hasn't made any discernable sacrifice. She isn't hard put upon.
Nor does her spiralling arms actually do anything toward the goal of world peace. A Canadian fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan does; Gillis does not.
If anyone expected that Gillis' experience yestearday would provoke even the slightest bit of self-exploration to determine whether her behaviour on Sun TV contributed to the argument or not, don't expect it. Gillis has posted a message on her Facebook page asking her followers to write the CRTC and complain about the "unilateral views" expressed on Sun TV.
(She did, to her credit, instruct her followers to stop posting hate messages on Erickson's Facebook page. However, readers of the Nexus are by now familiar with the hateful behaviour of the far-left. They probably won't listen to her.)
It's nothing new to Canada's far-left, who demand merit for every mediocre remark to tumble out of the mouth of their adopted icons. Fortunately for the rest of Canadians -- who are becoming increasingly conservative -- it works out to our advantage.
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