13 January 2000
Why the hell do you do this?!? - THE COMMENTARY
By Joseph Planta
VANCOUVER - Like that column I did in the last week in Novemeber, entitled “Ask Me”, lemme go through a series of questions that readers and others have lobbed my way since then. Well, there are more questions that sound interesting, and I think formulating answers to those very questions, would make terrific column fodder, so what the hell, here goes...
One of the questions I answered in that column, was whether or not I actually write The Commentary. The answer was (and still is) yes, but the other side to that question is, when do I write The Commentary? Some people have the gall to say, “You got a lot of time on your hands, to write 5 times a week, eh?”
Well, truth be told, I don’t write during the week at all. I do all my writing for the column during weekends, because I hate thinking about writing during the school week.
It’s also not very hard to think about topics. The Commentary’s mandate, at least one of them, is to be a venue for my praise and or frustration. It gives me the chance to spew endlessly about politics or junk like that.
Is it hard to write?
Well, it is and it isn’t. We can all write, any of us, unless one’s absolutely illiterate. Writing, as any good writers will tell you, Fotheringham for one, is an almost God-given talent. I can’t speak from experience, but I guess I should be pleased that I am able to let the thoughts run out of my fingers. My colleague at “Now That’s Entertainment!”, will probably tell you its pretty easy and all you need is time. Any truth to that, Mike? Modestly, it’s only easy if the topic is good. The writing is only as good as the material, and any writer will tell you that.
Why do you do so much political stuff?
Politics has always interested me. I can talk about any subject I know about with a degree of cynicism, honesty and passion, hell I could do that about professional wrestling, but alas I stopped watching wrestling when I was 12. Political conversation is kinda fun for me. Call me crazy, but I really surprised myself when I carried on for almost 20 minutes with a Dosanjh hack recently. I honestly don’t enjoy talking about politics, as much as I like talking about show business. A lot of people will mistake me (or not) for being a deep political thinker, but I really am not one. I could tell you who won best picture in 1927 at the Oscars, better than I can tell you what riding W.A.C. Bennett ran in, in those 20 years he was a member of the Legislature. (And Premier.)
Who do you admire?
Well, in my world of column writing, I admire Vaughn Palmer a lot. He’s good, and really good, again. No one can dissect politics like Vaughn and no one can bug the hell out of Gordon Wilson than Vaughn. Rafe Mair has always been a person I look up to, his writing though is rather better heard to, than read. His editorials on his radio program are superb pieces of literature, and brilliantly written, but you need Rafe howling. Both Vaughn and Rafe have been tremendously generous with their time and thoughts to me in the last year or so, and for that I admire them more. Allan Fotheringham, the great columnist on the Maclean’s back page has been a must-read for me. He writes like no one can. Foth writes what we think and say and writes it the way we’d say it. When I grow up, I’d like to write like him.
Are you making up some of these questions yourself?
No, they all came from readers, except the next one...
Why do you say Lucien Bouchard will resign as Quebec’s premier?
Lucien Bouchard is a complex individual. He’s terribly smart and he knows he has to look after himself and his family more than dream of Quebec separation. Foth, in one of his columns said Bouchard will be gone by June, and somehow I believe that. He’s got a young wife, a woman who’s from California and who lives there now. She’s got their two kids with them, and I don’t think the separation of family is a tremedoulsly helpful thing, especially a man like him who’s 61. Quebec separation is a dead issue, and I think sooner or later Bouchard will realise that and leave. Then again, he could stick around, if Ottawa offers him goodies and if Quebeckers are happy with him.
Now this is a question I used to get a lot, I still do, but not as much: Why the hell do you do this commentary stuff?
Easy, It was the summer of 1999, and I didn’t want to get a job and I just wanted to have a restful, yet rather productive summer. I spent an inordinate amount of time on the computer, sitting in front of my keyboard and screen, so I said why don’t I just write. I was too young for an autobiography and too too young to write my own obituary; I decide to make like Rafe, Vaughn, and Foth and write. My first edition was June 29, 1999 and I haven’t looked back since.
When are you going to stop writing The Commentary?
Ah, the retirement question! Well, I planned to stop when school started in September, but its now January, so I guess I didn’t follow through. As I said earlier, this column has been my venue to bitch and complain, to praise and to compliment. It’s also being read by other people, making it ever more gratifying and, for me, kinda cool. A wise person once said, “It ain’t over till it’s, over.” Yogi Berra? I think so. But that great catcher was right, and the day my diatribes stop appearing in your mailbox, or I get hit by a steam roller crossing 41st, is the day I stop. Who knows, I may stop altogether sooner than that. If I get tired or bored, I’ll stop.
Do you make New Year’s resolutions?
No.
I’ll do this again next time, it’s been fun. Send in a question too, if you’re so inclined.
Questions and comments may be sent to: editor@thecommentary.ca
An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE .