Plenty of Strings Attached

From the [Victioria] Times-Colonist:

Handmade guitars signed by musicians, celebrities, athletes and politicians - including the Beach Boys and Prime Minister Stephen Harper - are being auctioned off as part of the "Built by Suns, Signed by Stars" online auction in support of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

The electric guitars were made by BOSS (Building on Student Success) Guitar Works, a group of Grade 7, 8 and 9 students at École Selkirk Junior High.

Bidding for the signed instruments and other items, ranging from electronics to sports memorabilia, wraps up Thursday at bossguitarworks.com.

Winners will be announced at a sold-out gala in Selkirk, Man., on May 26.

The museum is set to open in the spring of 2013.

Gee-tars, eh? Considering the Soviet-like nature of our homegrown "human rights" apparatus (replete with officious "human rights" commissars from sea to sea), wouldn't balalaikas be more appropriate? As for that "Built by Suns..." line--I can honestly say of it the same thing I would of the "human rights" mausoleum: Sorry, I don't get it.

But wait--these aren't any old guitars. These are earth-shaking, game-changing guitars:

"This isn't really just about building guitars," said Wayne Davies, the school's principal. "It's about engaging students and having them believe in themselves, learning to work with one another.

"When people hear about 12-to 14-year-olds trying to change the world, they want to be part of it."

Canadian Museum for Human Rights board trustee Gail Asper said that message is "exactly" what the museum hopes to instill in visitors - "to take action and improve the world, to take responsibility and take on a leadership role within the community."

I'd be much happier if it told them to work hard, never take your freedom for granted, and stop trying to "fix" the world because you'll probably make things much worse--but, hey, that's just me.

Update: Gently weep for our foolishness:

I look at the 'Peg
See a "museum" spending.
While balalaikas all weep.
I hope and I pray that this nonsense is ending.
Still balalaikas all weep.

I don't know why-hy-hy
We're paying for it
We should deplore it.
I don't know why-hy-hy
It's so ambitious.
It acts perniciously.

I look at the world and I see it's still spinning
While balalaikas all weep.
From somewhere in hell Marx looks up
And he's grinning.
While balalaikas all weep.

I don't know why-hy-hy
We're validating
"Human rights" hay-ay-ting.
I don't know how-ow-ow
We all can nix it
Before it "fixes" things.

I look at this shrine
See a pit full o' money
While balalaikas all weep.
It this a good thing?
No, not on your life, honey.
Still balalaikas they weep...