I have some mixed feelings on the Olympics. While I appreciate the opportunity for athletes to compete at such a high level, I find the governing body and the politics to be somewhat absurd and filled with paranoia.

One thing that I have found interesting with this years Olympics is the large number of Canadian indie acts that are getting a chance to perform. The list includes Stars, Hey Rosetta!, Nathan, The Rural Alberta Advantage, K’naan, Kid Koala, YSP!WSD! and the list goes on. What a great time to be in the Vancouver area. Today I came across an interesting article by Swan Lake’s Carey Mercer citing the censorship contracts that the artists had to sign in order to play. Talk about becoming part of the states propaganda machine. He definitely give us something to think about.

“When artists are not allowed to critique their government, or the governing agency that endows them with grants and funding, then what they are asking for is nothing more than propaganda. Propaganda, for some reason, rankles that sensitivity towards freedom of expression that seems to be hard-wired into our culture. It’s kind of immaterial though: neither propaganda, nor deeply subversive art won’t stop us from, in the foreseeable future, cracking a can of cola/Pabst while loading up our cool, individualized playlists that reflect our life-style identification. Sorry: I just ralphed in my mouth again.”