A sour Lululemon

Posted on December 29th, 2006 by Antoine.
Categories: Politics, Anecdotes.

My girlfriend was telling me about her Bikram yoga class today and how you pay $20 a class to just sit there like a pretzel and sweat and feel nauseous and have acid bile rise up your throat at each contortion. Wow, what fun. Anyway, apparently all the other ladies at yoga sport Lululemon outfits. This was the first time I’d been introduced to this apparently wildly popular brand.

Needless to say, inspired by the “yes men” video, I looked into the company and was pleased to see they were based in Vancouver and produced all their clothes here. Basically, the company seemed an ethical, homegrown success that supported the local economy and made Vancouverites justifiably proud of their stylish yoga apparel.

I dug a little deeper and was dismayed to discover that Lululemon has become so popular that they have sprung up all across North America and started outsourcing all their production in China. Not only that, but according to this Tyee article, the owner, Mr. Chip Wilson thinks child labour is a great idea and that we should even implement it in Canada to give the street kids something to do.

Mr. Wilson is hardly politically correct. Here’s another example - The name Lululemon was supposedly chosen by Wilson because “he thinks the trouble Japanese people face pronouncing L’s works as an extra marketing tool for his product in that country.” “It’s funny to watch them try and say it,” he adds.

Mmmmmm… All this leaves a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. Here’s a little tongue twister for you Mr. Wilson: Lululemon is for losers.

4 comments.

With thunder in his voice

Posted on December 6th, 2006 by Antoine.
Categories: Videos, Politics.

This topic interests me because I lived for a year in South Korea in a little town close to the border. I went up to the border on more than one occasion and even have a piece of the barbed wire fence dividing North and South Korea. I’m waiting for re-unification. That piece of wire could be as momentous as having a piece of the Berlin wall. Anyway, if you have a minute to spare, check out this hilarious example of North Korean propaganda. In North Korea, legend has it that Kim Jong Il was born on top of a sacred mountain. The clouds opened up, and he came down from heaven…

In reality, Kim Jong Il was born in a Russian military camp. I should point out that the above video would be taken quite seriously in North Korea. If you have more time, then be sure to watch this fascinating documentary on Kim Jong Il and the Nuclear arms conflict. What I found especially fascinating is the way he infuses spiritual determinism into his political platform. He has set himself up as a sort of deity who is a father figure to the North Korean people. This representation is entirely congruent with Confucian ideology on hierarchical family structures where the nation is equal to a family and the father must always be obeyed.

Kim Jong Il started out in the communist party making propaganda movies and musicals and was said to have a lot of “girlfriends” in the industry. It’s incredible that there are still dictators like this in the world.

0 comments.

Shhhhh! It’s a Government secret

Posted on November 21st, 2006 by Antoine.
Categories: Politics, Anecdotes.

I recently received a letter from the provincial government telling me that I was disqualified from receiving a student loan. You can imagine the horror this letter inspired at this point in the semester. Anyway, sleepless nights aside, I called up the Student Loan centre today and I spoke to a robotic young lady called Angelina. She told me that I was in good standing and that I should call the CIBC student loan centre to see if the restriction originated from there. So, she gave me the number and I called up CIBC, and guess who took the call? Angelina! So, I asked if we had not been speaking a moment ago and she mumbled something noncommittal and proceeded to give me the same drill we had just gone through. You know the one: has your address changed recently, has your phone number changed, etc, etc. I felt like protesting that we already had gone through this rigmarole a few minutes ago, but she wasn’t having it. So, Angelina told me that there are no problems at CIBC. So I said “So, there are no restrictions on Canada Student loans and CIBC loans?” Then she said “CIBC is ok, but I don’t know about Canada Student loans, you would have to call them.”

I just called them, and I talked to you there! Yes you! Angelina the robot girl. If the government student loan division and the CIBC student loan centre are the same entity, why do I have to waste money on postage stamps to two different addresses? Everyone knows government institutions don’t communicate with each other, but did you know government employees are prohibited from communicating with themselves? What a schizophrenic bunch.

We were told that CIBC was taking over loans negotiated before 2000, but guess what people. It’s the same damn bureaucratic department, they just don’t want you to know about it. Think you’re dealing with the bank?

Think again.

1 comment.

The politics of Tetris

Posted on November 19th, 2006 by Antoine.
Categories: Videos, Politics.

Here is a rivetting Channel 4 (BBC) documentary on the inventor of Tetris and the subsequent war between Nintendo and Atari over its console rights. This was so good I couldn’t tear myself away. This is not a documentary about a simple game, it’s a commentary on Russian bureaucracy and power plays between capitalism and communism.

From Russia with love

1 comment.