The Friday Fillip

I’m forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.
They fly so high,
Nearly reach the sky,
Then like my dreams,
They fade and die.

James Kendis, James Brockman and Nat Vincent – 1919

I refer, of course, to the unfortunate Officer Bubbles, the Toronto police officer who has become something of a celebrity because of, among other things, his lawsuit against YouTube for publishing cartoons of his response during the G20 meeting to a protester who blew soap bubbles in his direction. For those three of you who missed the fuss, the Toronto Star has the story and a video of the Bubbles/Protester confrontation.

But I’m not about to comment on his plight or chosen remedy, except to say that it’s a great reminder that litigation as a response to perceived defamation is often, if not always, a good way to add injury to the insult. Instead, I’d like to look at bubbles.

Take, for example, the photography of Mila Zinkova, who uses the spherical surface of bubbles to reflect and distort the world:

And then there’s an old favourite of mine: bubble gum. For me, few things were more filled with anticipation than the pink block of chew wrapped in a comic that Fleer Dubble Bubble used to sell. This source of child-joy, I learn, was invented by a man named Diemer, an accountant for the Fleer company, back in 1906. The tender pink colour was an accident of chance: it happened to be the only food colouring available at the moment. I’ve tried to find out how to reproduce the distinctive odour given off by the gum but haven’t been successful.

And now that I’ve reverted to childhood, I’m reminded to play. So let me point you to a game called Bubble Shooter.

It’s got most of what you want for a good session of time wasting: it’s easy, there are satisfying sound effects, and there’s no point to it whatever.

I’m forever blowing (up) bubbles…