Idea City is an annual Toronto event featuring exceptional people who present their ideas and experiences in a seminar style. It is the brainchild of ex-Montrealer Moses Znaimer.
I say "ex-Montrealer" not lightly. Ex-Montrealers do make up a "nation" of influential people all across Canada and indeed throughout the world. They are another resource that was lost by the you-know-what of the last 30 years. Along with the other resources like money and power.
As we know, the separatists were prepared to lose all this to win their goal of independence. But, ironically, now Montreal has lost so much and they still never won their big prize, and probably never will.
Every time I work in Toronto, I am reminded of that. It is such an active and thriving multicultural hub. It is what Montreal would have become if it hadn’t been stopped in its tracks in 1976.
I know Montrealers love to put Toronto down. We say that Toronto is like New York run by the Swiss. But isn’t that what we all want? It has the excitement and vibrancy of a New York with the safety and order of Switzerland.
This year, Idea City presented people from all across the spectrum of human activity. There were scientists, musicians, artists and entrepreneurs; from many nations and many ages.
There was a teenager who invented a motorized unicycle powered by electricity. And another teenager who played the piano like Glenn Gould. There was a 70-year-old aerobics instructor and an 80-year-old doctor who fought for the rights of terminally ill patients to choose the time and place of their own death.
John Ralston Saul argued that the biggest influence on Canadian life is aboriginal culture. Irwin Cotler talked of his struggle for universal human rights. And a magician showed us how to successfully cheat at cards.
One man, who was convinced that sharks are the most misunderstood of all species, predicted that by 2048 our oceans will be lifeless. And then humans will begin to eat each other. But that was OK because another man proved that the Bible says the world will end on May 27, 2012. One wag actually cried out: "What time?"
Robert Kennedy was there to announce his crusade to save the fresh water on our planet. And Preston Manning pitched his idea of creating a college for politicians to teach them the skills of debate and communication before they are elected rather than having them blunder into the job with no training whatsoever.
The marketing director of Facebook explained their success. The man who created Second Life, a burgeoning new virtual online planet, predicted his. And there were American venture capitalists looking to invest with real money.
And what was I doing among all these luminaries? It was because Bowser and Blue had written the theme song for the conference and as it was their 10th anniversary, we were invited to perform it live.
After the conference, the inventor of Second Life suggested that we join his virtual world and perform there. Imagine, he said, you could create younger, better looking avatars of yourselves and give concerts, with live streaming. No one would need to know the way we really look. We would sound like Bowser and Blue but look like the Jonas Brothers. And all our fans would also be young and attractive.
Welcome to the future.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Rick Blue – Freelance
Rick Bowser is a Baie d’Urfé resident and half of the musical-comedy duo Bowser and Blue.
