Monday, April 27, 2009

A Post About Nothing

The use of "Seinfeld" as a prefix in political jargon has become almost as annoyingly common as suffixing "gate" to scandals. The latest example is this weekend's "Seinfeld convention" in Vancouver (christened as such because, with the golden boy being crowned without a vote, it is seen to be "a convention about nothing").

This follows a barrage of headline double dipping, where every election over the past few years has been dubbed a "Seinfeld election" at one point or another. Here's my beef with this:

1 - A "Seinfeld convention" sounds like a ton of fun! Giddy up! You're telling me that a Seinfeld convention in Vancouver wouldn't draw a packed house, generate tons of excitement, be a great time, yada yada yada. If you want to make it sound boring, maybe call it the "two and a half men convention" or something like that.

2 - Seinfeld wasn't a show about nothing (not that there's anything wrong with that!). You had more plot in a given episode than you'd ever get in Friends or Frasier. The "show about nothing" was in reference to a pilot Jerry and George wrote within the show. I don't know about you, but I tend to think a bubble boy, dead fiances, some puffy shirts, a Soup Nazi, and beached whales would add a lot of excitement to an otherwise dull convention.

3 - It's not creative. Sure, calling the 2004 Alberta election the "Kleinfeld Election" was kind of clever. Just like if Bill Gates was involved in a scandal, calling it Gates-gate might be cute. But it's lazy to just toss "Seinfeld" in front of every election as an adjective and then act like you're as witty as Larry David.


So let's put a little more effort into it guys and quit the headline re-gifting. I fear we're suffering from a case of creativity shrinkage here.

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19 Comments:

  • Oh, we probably have our own share of Jackie Chiles in the crowd...

    By Blogger WesternGrit, at 11:10 p.m.  

  • Plus, Seinfeld is funny. Hard to believe anything starring Iggy could be.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 11:20 p.m.  

  • Stephane was funny. Ask him the one about bam the dog.

    By Blogger Jeff, at 12:22 a.m.  

  • *Iggy standing stunned in a lineup, proprietor shouting*
    No leadership for you! Come back, two year!

    By Blogger Gauntlet, at 12:46 a.m.  

  • Ignatieff could walk up to the podium and just say "Harper" derisively, with a little fist-shake.

    Of course a real matter of debate would be whether Harper is more Newman or George Costanza?

    By Blogger french wedding cat, at 1:32 a.m.  

  • I never got what the hell people were talking about regarding that show being "about nothing"! It was like a soap opera for crying out loud.

    By Anonymous jason Bo Green, at 4:44 a.m.  

  • Seinfeld was about nothing in that nothing had consequences, no lessons were learned, no emotions shown.

    It built the trivialities of life into ridiculous mountains of problems, tied various plot threads all together in 22 minutes, and then ... nothing.

    Everything was forgotten by the next episode or story arc. Cause and effect did not exist in the world of Seinfeld.

    There's probably a parallel to the upcoming Convention in there somewhere.

    By Blogger Corey Hogan, at 5:25 a.m.  

  • Agree with everything you've said here, CG, except when you say that Seinfeld wasn't about nothing. The pilot that Jerry and George were proposing had the same premise that Seinfeld itself does: nothing. It's not a sitcom about people working for a newspaper, or about a wacky family. It doesn't have a love story at its centre. It's just about a group of people and the stuff that happens to them.

    But I love all the references. I need to rent some Seinfeld DVDs now.

    By Blogger - K, at 6:31 a.m.  

  • Hmm....I think about the episode about George and shrinkage - Harper is showing signs of shrinkage.

    Why is everyone angry? Becuase media, kids, et al wanted an excuse to party.

    Did anyone complain about the Conservative and NDP conventions being such a bore? Na.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 7:52 a.m.  

  • As long as the Liberal convention doesn't turn into a Rae v Iggy bet on who can go the longest without ... you know ... then Libs should feel um gratified.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 8:15 a.m.  

  • I think an increased count of beached whales is sound advice for ANY party's leadership convention, or policy convention for that matter.

    By Blogger The Fwanksta, at 9:44 a.m.  

  • Just to follow up on the theme started by anonymous poster at 8:15...

    I would write a $1000 cheque on the spot if, during his keynote address, Iggy thanks the delegates for making him Master of his Domain.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:12 p.m.  

  • I freakin' love this thread about my favorite "show about nothing".

    Perhaps we should - in an environmentally friendly move (being in Van and all...) - get one of our Postie buddies to run some bottle recycling to Alberta, for the higher deposits???

    Oh the humanity...

    At least WE don't have an "East River" to swim in. But... you can wait for dinner in a local Chinese restaurant: "Ignatieff... Party of Four!"

    By Blogger WesternGrit, at 12:39 p.m.  

  • Grit is calling this exactly!

    What happened to the re-defining of your party that you were promised after the last election?

    I thought that the ground-support was going to have a say?

    So is it true that Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney will speak? I don't think we ever did get that answered.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 4:12 p.m.  

  • Anon 4:12: This party has changed quite a bit since the last election. Most of it is in the organizational aspect - which is not something the public will notice right away. A retired debt, an invigorated and enthusiastic base, and a resurgence in the polls speaks to the changes which have taken place...

    By Blogger WesternGrit, at 5:48 p.m.  

  • "Did anyone complain about the Conservative and NDP conventions being such a bore? Na."

    Only because Harper kicked a chair. How can you top that for excitement?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6:27 p.m.  

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