In which silence is broken.

obody will be surprised to hear that there are many things I don't know. Some may be gobsmacked stunned staggered  bewildered a little surprised to realize that I'm aware of how many things I don't know. This ignorance, believe it or not, exerts a braking effect on one of my favourite activities, which is running my mouth. It takes a truly colossal awareness of my own ignorance to stop me, but more often that you'd think, even I am  dumbfounded by my own lack of knowledge. 

The Things I Have the Gall Not to  Know are divided, appropriately, into three parts.


First are things that I'm learning (like woodworking and flugelhorn). On these subjects, I don't say much. Occasionally, I'll pass on what I've learned from others, like the 19/30 exercise, or the joy of knifing layout marks when sawing wood, but usually, I just keep shtum, for fear of missing what someone else is saying, or fear of making a complete fool of myself, or just awareness of the awesome extent of my ignorance.

Second come the things which I don't know, but which I'll learn if I live long enough, like Gaelic, Korean, Double Bass, counterpoint, and amplifier design. Here, the level of my ignorance will almost always keep me to a Trappist reticence, except for occasionally remarking to a bass player, "Gosh, that really is the coolest instrument in the world, isn't it?" Which remarks seldom provoke disagreement from bass players, oddly enough.

Finally, there are things of which I know as little as I can manage, and strive to know less, but which keep impinging on my life, and which provoke a response, however unqualified I am to give it. (Speaking categorically from a state of profound and perfect ignorance is an academic hobby endorsed by the past Oxford Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, so I plead in mitigation the malign influence of my elders and betters in this matter, m'Lud.) 

Today, we will consider a proposal to set off a wave of hiring by means of a miniscule reduction in fees charged by the federal government for UNemployment Insurance. What it boils down to, is that thousands of jobs are about to be created, by giving a number of employers a maximum of... wait for it... $700 each. (God forbid they should do something weird with the EI surplus, like, oh, I don't know, maybe... give it to unemployed people?)

Now, I don't have a masters in economics from the University of Calgary, a fact for which I am extremely grateful. (I find that the hard and fast realities of music theory, medieval history, theology  and brass technique are enough for me. The phantasmagorical imaginations of Milton Friedman et. al.  require a suspension of disbelief that is beyond my powers, so I try not to waste a lot of thought on them.)  

Still, even a music major can estimate the probability of success in this latest plan. So, as the sun pulls away from the shore, and the latest genius economic action plan sinks slowly in the west, may your humble correspondent suggest a little traveling music?