Word Prisms

We all like to figure out how other people tick. That's what makes gossip so popular. It confirms or changes our impressions of other people and we come up with responses like, "Typical" or "You wouldn't believe what he did last night." And, if we can't figure people out, we become suspicious of them. Politicians are no different. In order to feel comfortable with them, we have to be able to understand them. Americans got to know Donald Trump on fourteen seasons of "The Apprentice." Even if they didn't get to know the real guy, they got to know a pretty well established persona. By the time he hit the campaign trail, he knew his audience and they knew or at least thought they knew the Donald. It's not any different for Canadian audiences. Albertans loved Ralph Klein as the guy you could go out with for a beer. Even when he fucked up, he'd apologize and nearly everyone would forgive him. Like the time he walked into the home...

Verklemmpt -  A Yiddish word meaning overcome with emotion or choked up.  It’s a new and weird feeling to support the party in power after having lived in Alberta all my life.    And so I found myself paying $100 a ticket to attend a fundraiser in Falher, Alberta.    Falher is just south of Peace River and very close to Donnelly if that helps.    We were late.    I’d had to ask directions from a couple of guys in “The Source” who were only too happy to help.    We’d driven into town on the wrong road.    If we’d come in past the giant bumble bee we would have driven right past the Knights of Columbus Hall.  The interior is a big open space with a stage on one end, kitchen at the other and glaring florescent lighting.    I spotted Rachel's body guards before I spotted her.  I got the same surreal sensation I get spotting any celebrity.    It’s like, “Hey I know you,” and I’m about sa...