The Daily Observer

Washington DC: Congress Heights

2011-08-07T12:52:00.007-05:00

When people tell me not to go somewhere but neglect to give me a good reason, I usually end up going there. And so it was that I ended up strolling down Congress Heights, generally considered the poorest neighbourhood in DC. As I strolled down Martin Luther King Avenue, I passed by the sprawling St. Elisabeths Hospital. Built in 1852 as an Insane Asylum, it is now being converted into the new headquarters for the Department of Homeland Security. Nobody in DC noticed the irony in this.

St Elizabeths, making way for a new kind of insanity

There are also some intriguingly flashy stores on Martin Luther King Avenue, especially the ones that inhabit older buildings.

It all looks so appetizing, except perhaps the white bread

I also found a caution sign that I have never seen anywhere else. It seemed a bit cruel to me, but I suppose it's for everyone's safety.

I looked carefully, but could not find the Blind Pedestrian

Washington DC: Metro trip to Eastern Market

2011-05-29T22:20:00.005-05:00

Hop into the Metro station, take the Yellow line to L'Enfant Plaza, transfer to Blue line (east).

Outside the Eastern Market (actual market building not shown)

Inside the Eastern Market

Still inside the Eastern Market

Library of Congress

2011-05-28T23:37:00.009-05:00

On Hold

2011-02-11T22:49:00.005-06:00

I am putting this blog on hold for the year. My workload is too heavy to write anything of quality.

However, I am happy to note that the Buttonbush photograph that I posted in this blog several years ago has been included in Encyclopedia Britannica.

Perhaps the same thing will happen if I post my photograph of the Prunus tomentosa.

An attempt to travel along Omand's Creek

2010-07-07T11:39:00.014-05:00

Omand’s Creek enters the City of Winnipeg from the RM of Rosser and flows southward through St. James Industrial park until it reaches the Assiniboine River. Although the creek passes through several city-owned parks, walking the length of Omand's Creek is difficult, sometimes dangerous, and often impossible.

A rough sketch of Omand's Creek

Earlier this year, I attempted to navigate the portion of Omand's Creek that lies within the City limits.

As Omand’s Creek enters Winnipeg, it flows through a city park simply called “Omand’s Creek 9”. Accessing the park off of the highway is difficult; I had to leap over a marshy area to reach solid ground. There is no walking trail through the park. Attempting to walk through the park brings visitors through a field of thistles. A waterfowl nest is installed in the creek and mallard ducks were spotted nearby. There is ample room for walking, especially on the west side of the park. The park is crossed by a bridge and continues until it reaches Brookside Cemetery. Although the park and the cemetery are both owned by the City of Winnipeg, a series of chain-link and barbed wire fences block visitors from walking from the park to the cemetery. Because I did not feel like walking through the Creek or ripping my clothing on the barbed wire, I opted to take the (very) long way around.

Fence blocking access to cemetery

Brookside Cemetery has multiple winding paths. Many of them are cement, and a few follow directly along the the creek. All of the paths are forested and there are many benches along the water, and picnic tables throughout the cemetery. A pedestrian bridge crosses over the creek on the East side of the cemetery. Signs are provided for navigation. A path follows along the creek as it exits the cemetery towards Notre Dame Ave. Flowing under Notre Dame Ave, the creek re-emerges in property owned by the Winnipeg Airport Authority. This portion of the Creek is narrow and faces the back lanes of warehouses. Debris, such as cinder blocks and gravel, is sliding into the Creek. As the creek turns west, it is blocked by another fence. Yet another fence crosses over the Creek as it flows under Sherwin Rd.

Brookside Cemetery

The Creek continues along Dublin Ave. A small sliver of land (about 10 metres on each side of the Creek) is owned by the City of Winnipeg. Several culverts are built across the Creek to connect Dublin Ave to businesses on the other side. These culverts are very low and it was impossible to walk under them. Multiple train tracks cross the creek as well. Many of these tracks run on to property that is not used for industrial purposes. These tracks are likely not used; once they reach the other side of the creek, they are completely paved over. In some cases, the grass growing along the Creek has been mowed. Near the Peak of the Market warehouse at the intersection of Dublin and King Edward, gravel and large rocks are piled up to the edge of the water. Near the intersection of Border St and Dublin Ave, a small wedge - 1.26 hectares - of greenspace has been preserved. There are no paths along any of this segment.

Paved-over railroad track

The Creek turns South and flows along McCrossen St. A good 20 metres of walking space is provided on the West side of the Creek. There is no formal path, but the trail is quite accessible due to repeated use. A barbed wire fence runs along the Creek; I could walk along the Creek, but could not access to the Creek itself. On the East side of the Creek is the abandoned Dominion Bridge factory, which is - according to the most recent online tax information - owned by the City of Winnipeg (City of Winnipeg, 2010). A deteriorating barrier, presumably built to prevent industrial debris from falling into the Creek, is rusting and debris is falling through. Large slabs of concrete are slowly falling into the water. Thus, the Creek itself is completely inaccessible on either side. The path stops near Saskatchewan Ave., and there is a picnic table (only Heaven knows why) at this cul-de-sac. A chain link fence prevents anyone from walking further southward; a railroad track crosses the Creek on the other side of the fence.

Beside abandoned Dominion Bridge factory

After running under Saskatchewan Ave, Omand’s Creek flows along Empress St. To the West is a warehouse used by Safeway grocery stores. To the East is a road with no sidewalks. An old wooden fence runs along a small portion of the Creek; an old street sign lies in the tall grass. Further south, the Creek enters Westview Park, which is owned by the City of Winnipeg. There is no path along the Creek in this park, and still no sidewalk along Empress St. As Omand’s Creek crosses South under Wellington Avenue, it enters private property. The owner of this property, 4841035 Manitoba Ltd, has built a hideous parking lot directly over top of the Creek, making it completely impassible.

Parking lot built over top of Creek

On the South side of Sargeant Avenue, there is a path that runs along the Creek. This path is built to allow pedestrian to cross over the culverts that cross over the Creek. The path is gravel and provides limestone benches nearby. However, the path runs very close to the blank wall of a Wal-Mart, which is rather imposing. This path (and the Creek) runs through private land. South of Ellice, the gravel path runs directly next to a large parking lot: there is no separation between the Creek and the concrete lot.

Bluestem Nature Park

As the path crosses southward over St Matthews Ave, it enters Bluestem Nature Park, which is owned by the City of Winnipeg. Bluestem Park provides a nature buffer in between the commercial development and the gravel path. There are interpretive signs and a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Creek. At the end of Bluestem Park, the Creek flows under a train bridge that is still actively used. The gravel path does not continue under the bridge, but repeated wear from pedestrians has created a small path.

Omand Park bridge (flooded at the time)

Flowing southward under Portage Ave, Omand’s Creek enters Omand’s Park. While preserving much of the natural surroundings, Omand’s Park also provides benches, lit pathways, two baseball diamonds, and smaller walkways along the river. At the time of my visit, a pedestrian bridge that crosses over Omand’s Creek was impassible, as it was flooded by the Creek. Omand’s Creek continues through the park until it reaches the Assiniboine River.

If (for whatever reason) you want to read more about the Creek, you can download my somewhat longer report on the subject.

Murder, Poverty, and the Inner City

2010-04-13T22:06:00.004-05:00

What are the two things that people think of when they hear the term "Inner City"? Crime and Poverty. Those two seem to go together like bread and butter. Or do they? I wanted to find out if there really was a correlation between the two, and examine what the nature of the correlation was. Using data from the most recent Census data (2006 Census, which reported 2005 income data) and Winnipeg Police press releases, I made a combination choropleth/dot map showing Homicide and Low Income incidence in Winnipeg's inner city. The the darker the neighbourhood is shaded, the higher its proportion of low income people. Each dead body shows the location of a homicide in 2005. You can examine the results for yourself.

The map. Click to view full size.

Or, if you prefer, the map is available in SVG format.

OurWinnipeg "Call to Action" - a travelogue

2010-01-22T00:12:00.008-06:00

Full disclosure: As you can see from my previous post, I was formerly employed by SpeakUpWinnipeg in order to collect qualitative data for the new city plan. I am no longer employed by them and had no role in shaping the plan itself.

Ian Hall sits in front of a table and greets visitors as they enter the hotel conference room. The walls of the room are plastered with pinstripe wallpaper; the carpeting bears a floral print. At the centre of the room is a cornucopia of fruit and cookies. This prosaic atmosphere belies the event’s ambitious purpose. For in this room is the embryonic form of an initiative that will shape the future of Winnipeg for the next 25 years.

“It’s not the Plan,” says Hall, a Policy and Program Planner for the City of Winnipeg, “It’s a milepost on the way to creating a plan.”

Mr. Hall sports a plaid shirt and red hair. He talks excitedly about SpeakUpWinnipeg, the City’s initiative to involve citizens in shaping the city’s long-term plan. This open house, he says, sums up what he has heard from the community over the past few months.

Hall insists that it is possible to build the future of Winnipeg on unanimous consent. “There does seem to be a consensus on the broad ideas here,” he says “and people are really keen to get down to the details.”

The most important issue by raw numbers is Safety. “A lot of that centres around different philosophies of how to create safe communities,” explains Hall. In other words, the old prevention-versus-cure debate.

In elementary school science fair style, cardboard displays of different topics are arranged around the perimeter of the room. Each poster bears a title from a section heading of the OurWinnipeg Call to Action, the document released for public consultation. There are six main posters with each with a title: Sustainability, Safety and Security, City Competitiveness, City Building, Communities, or City of the Arts.

Visitors are encouraged to post sticky notes with their comments on the poster. Sometimes the comments are posted on the wrong poster. One comment on the City of the Arts poster reads “Actually hire people to implement your Climate Change Action Plan. You have nobody.” Other comments are simply confused. “Put [these] actions in plain language so we can understand,” one sticky note begs.

Michelle Peters, Executive Director of the Association of Manitoba Book Publishers, ambles around the room, glancing at the posters, trying to digest the information. This is the second time she has attended a planning consultation. “Tonight seems to be a 3D form of the website,” she observes. Indeed, all of the information in the posters is identical to that on the City’s website. Yet the open house does seem to have more of a human touch. “It’s nice to be able to access people [from the planning department] to ask them questions.”

Walter Schurko certainly intends to take advantage of the open house’s human element. He spends about ten minutes talking about recycling bins with a representative from the City’s Water and Waste department. Schurko, recently retired, believes that it is his responsibility as a citizen and a taxpayer to know where Winnipeg is headed. But he has some misgivings about the draft plan.

“It’s very impressive,” Schurko says, “I take a look at this and say ‘Is this just a dream?’” He doubts that the plan will ever transition from dream to reality because the City continues to increase spending but does not increase taxes. “I’m retired,” he declares, “I’d like to see higher taxes. I’d like to see the city look a helluva lot better than it is now.”

A display in the corner of the room brags about the high citizen participation levels in SpeakUpWinnipeg. Thirty-thousand people have participated in the planning process so far through various media including the website and open houses. These numbers are not apparent in the barely-occupied hotel conference room. Representatives from the City outnumber attendees. The planners spend much of their time talking amongst themselves.

Ian Hall admits that the open houses have only attracted 40 to 50 people every night. “But,” he adds, “the quality of engagement is very high. These people spend a lot of time here and give good feedback.”

The Call to Action can be read its entirety at http://speakupwinnipeg.com/home/call_to_action/

Building cities with children

2009-12-24T11:55:00.006-06:00

As part of my job as a city-planning-public-consulter, I decided to engage children at the Winnipeg Children's Festival in the concept of urban planning. After giving the children some plasticine and a paper plate, I asked them to build their ideal neighbourhood or city. While they were building, we talked about all the things necessary for a city to thrive. The day was blustery - the plates were blown away several times - but the children were persistent. Indeed, I observed that the children were much more thoughtful on the subject than many adults

I have recorded each child's explanation of their plasticine cities. You can see all of the photographs with their descriptions in my Plasticine Cities web album.

The Flickering Mind

2009-09-03T18:30:00.003-05:00

A book review of mine was recently published at OLPCnews. It is about Todd Oppenheimer's The Flickering Mind. Here is an excerpt, followed by a link to the whole review.

About five years ago, Todd Oppenheimer published an extensive critique of the use of computers in North American schools. When I opted to research technology-in-education for a philosophy of education course, his book appeared to be an excellent resource. Having brought the book home, though, I became apprehensive.

Would I be able to read the book without making comparisons with OLPC? Had technology (and schools) changed enough in five years that the observations in the book were no longer valid? Would I really enjoy reading a 400-page book subtitled "saving our children from the false promise of computers?"

I needn't have worried. The Flickering Mind: Saving Education from the False Promise of Technology is extremely readable and, despite the subtitle, not polemical. But spontaneous OLPC comparisons were inevitable.
Read more...

Much more scientific - are you happy now?

2009-07-07T20:39:00.003-05:00

You may recall my unscientific attempt to find some correlation between happiness and small cities. I was able to contact the author of the happiness study, John Helliwell, and can now confidently present to you some accurate information on where to live.

Manitoba Vacation: Steinbach Mennonite Heritage Village

2009-07-05T22:44:00.017-05:00

For Canada Day, I always like to get out of the city and visit a nearby town or park. This time, I visited the Mennonite Heritage Village in Steinbach. At the turn of the 20th Century, Prime Minister MacDonald allowed a group of Dutch Mennonites, a pacifist Anabaptist sect, to emigrate from Russia (where they were being persecuted) to a rural reserve in Manitoba. They would be granted an exemption from military service and would be allowed to run their own schools (taught in German). The latter promise was broken ten years later.

Some traditional Mennonite foods for sale. But I brought my own food!

The biggest attraction is the Windmill. They actually use it to grind the wheat - which they grow - into flower, which they then bake into bread and sell to visitors. The original mill was a victim of arson a few years back, but has since been rebuilt.

The exterior of the awesome windmill. There wasn't much wind that day.

Inside the mill, the gears eventually connect to a grindstone, which pulverizes the wheat.

They also had some sort of saw mill operating. The saw was attached to a belt, which was attached to the motor of an old tractor. The people working there seemed to be enjoying themselves, cutting the logs and stacking the lumber in criss-cross piles (to allow for quicker drying). I think that the wood is used for repairing the old buildings.

The saw in operation. Not the best photo, I know.

This is the guy who lifts carries the logs to the saw.

As usual, I just walked around and photographed whatever interested me. Here are a few pictures I took:

A textbook inside the (English) government-run school. They packed a surpising amount of literature in there. Notice the hole in the desk for an inkwell.

There was a huge display of farm equipment. No, I don't remember what each one does.

A tractor up close.

Inside one of the houses.

The News: Condensed

2008-07-26T15:31:00.004-05:00

This word collage is a statistical representation of words appearing on the Top Stories from CBC News. The more frequent the word, the bigger it appears. It was created using Wordle.

Interestingly, the word "million" was the most frequent. It is bizarre that we encounter this word so often but have little understanding of what it actually means.

Highly unsicentific...

2007-12-28T19:27:00.000-06:00

Just for fun, here is some graphical analysis using the data from this news item. Take it with a grain of salt.

Edit: The graph has been upgraded with the correct population for St. John's , which actually improves the coefficient of determination.

Repetition: A Dire Problem

2007-11-15T13:20:00.001-06:00

Click to Play

We are constantly plagued by the guilt caused by our knowledge of the Worlds atrocities. We at once feel an imperative to act and a sense of helplessness. Bombarded with this sad reality, we try to ignore altogether.

I feel that the Class of 2007 has bourne much of this weight. We learned about social inequality and the woeful mistakes made by world leaders. Then, we are told that it is our job to fix it. Politicians repeat the mantra "Young people are the future" because they want to dump the responsibility for the future onto us.

With that in mind, I have made a parody of the pressure we are facing: death, sad music, seemingly random depressing pictures taken off the internet. Mostly, it is to parody the repetition of form that is used in an attempt to pull at our heartstrings.

Manitoba Vacation: The Prairie Dog Central

2007-09-17T19:56:00.000-05:00

Riding a restored 1910 locomotive is not something you do every day. The Prairie Dog Central posed an excellent opportunity and the day was gorgeous. While it once called St James Station home, it has recently moved to perimeter of Winnipeg. It's worth the extra drive.

All aboard!

The interior of the coaches are lavishly decorated with brass and mahogany. Beautiful chandeliers curve gracefully from the ceiling. The seats are leather and some are rotateable. For some reason, I am reminded of the Polar Express and half expect some eccentric conductor to give me hot chocolate. The whistle blows and we leave the station at a comfortable pace. As we travel across the endless plains, I am reminded that railroad companies are the accidental preservers of the Tallgrass prairie. While 99% (real statistic, see here) of the Tallgrass prairie was removed to make way for agriculture, the railroad tracks preserved thin slivers of this rare ecosystem.

Lavish interior

We stopped for a break in Gross Isle (pronounced "Gross Aisle" by locals). There were a few merchants assembled outside, selling their wares: honey, candles, clothing... one person was spinning wool by hand. I found a building with a most unfortunate exit.

Watch your ste... Aaaaaah!

After packing back on the train again, we set off for Warren. When we arrived, there was live music, more food, and a tour of an old grain elevator. When it was originally built, the elevator was made entirely of wood. Over the years, modern additions had been made and it is still used (sometimes) for weighing things. A thick coat of dust and cobwebs covers almost everything. An ancient sign warns of a "nightly inspection". Spidery wire pipes form a network throughout the structure.

A proud grain elevator justs out against the prairie sky

The town of Warren has built a beautiful garden with fountains and a variety of lovely flowers, welcome respite on a hot, sunny day. However, time waits for no-one and soon the whistle beckoned passengers back on the train, to return to Winnipeg.

Not dead yet

2007-07-21T18:00:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted anything for a while, so many may have been wondering if I'm still alive. This poses an interesting philosophical and logistical question: how many dead people are floating around the internet? How many usernames belong to people who are no longer alive? How will the internet companies deal with the always-increacing number of users (taking up server storage space) who just don't exist?

Anyhow, I'd like to talk about my new experimental project, called Psychoanalyze the Doodler. The concept is to allow ordinary people to psychoanalyze me based on doodles that I upload. Visitors are encouraged to interpret my doodles and leave their diagnosis in the 'Comments' section of each post. It can be seen at http://randomdoodler.wordpress.com/

HD-DVD DRM Hex Code Hubbub

2007-05-02T18:09:00.000-05:00

Apparently there's a big fuss about some numbers:
09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0

I have no idea what to do with them.

Nobody ever goes there

2007-01-07T15:49:00.000-06:00

For anyone who has grown up in a rural area, there has always been that spook abandoned shack that nobody ever uses. Often, you ma have wondered "Who owns this place". In this case, the answer is: Me!

My creepy abandoned shack

The plan is to fix it up in the summer. Sadly, once we chink it, much of the wood won't be visible. So I took some pictures so I could remember it. It was an old pioneer homestead. There aren't that many left.

Ode to a Fire Hydrant

2006-11-23T22:06:00.000-06:00

"No one dast blame this fire hydrant. You don't understand: The fire hydrant was a fire hydrant. And for a fire hydrant, there is no rock bottom to life... A fire hydrant's gotta dream, boy. It comes with the territory."

Anyone want some Free children's books?

2006-11-23T17:08:00.000-06:00

I have been quite busy lately in preparation of the final layout for Wikijunior Big Cats. This is a project of the Wikibooks.org (I have no affiliation with the Wikimedia Foundation) to which I have contributed. I have also worked hard to create an appealing layout based on the materials provided.

Wikijunior Big Cats if Free in the sense that you are free to reproduce, modify and redistribute the text and pictures in almost any way you want, because it is released under the GFDL You can buy the book for about $20 (plus shipping) by clicking on the button below:

All profits will go towards the production of other open content publications.

It's fun to share!

2006-11-22T22:33:00.000-06:00

While some people may believe that p2p downloading is illegal, there is one method that is perfectly legit: Trading.

Music Trading
Try lala.com, where you can trade CDs with people for only $1. Just type in what you have and what you want. Also, if you type in an artist or album name, lala will give you recommendations for other albums.

Book Trading
Try bookmooch.com. Each time you send someone a book, you collect points, which you can redeem for other people's books. It's free to sign up!

Go tell Jesus what you want for Christmas!

2006-11-17T17:44:00.000-06:00

Kudos to the United Church of Canada for their edgy, thought-provoking ad campaign. I wonder how many children would go to the mall to sit on Jesus' lap. Would anyone protest?

Florida Vacation Log: Day 5

2006-08-27T13:24:00.000-05:00

First, I must apologize that I haven't posted in a month. Blogger kept messing up whenever I tried to upload pictures, so I decided to take a break from it.

Today was a cloudy day as we made our way off to Everglades National Park. It's not a far drive form Homestead, and a very nice place to be. First, we set off on the Swamp trail. As we began, I spottes some anhingas, which are strange comorant-like birds that almost swim underwater. Then it began to rain, so we ducked under a picnic shelter. At this point, I must mention that there was a drink machine there, and it was selling a drink called "Pibb". I have never heard of this drink, but apparently it tastes like Dr. Pepper with "chocolate undertones".

Crazy vine tree!

Bromeliad

Please tell me if you know what this plant is

Eventually we found the alligators. They weren't doing much. Mostly just lying around in the heat. I got whithin an arm's reach of one. They may not be tame, but they're certianly not interested in eating me.

Life is good.

We then ventured onto the Gumbo Limbo trail. The Gumbo Limbo tree is also known as the 'tourist tree' because of its red, peeling skin.

This snail was so patient while I took its picture

Florida Vacation Log: Day 4

2006-07-31T23:57:00.000-05:00

Downtown Miami is the place to be. This giant urban jungle (and it's continuous progress; something is always being built or torn down) amazed me. With a first-rate art gallery, showing mostly modern art (my favourite) and a beautiful library (not to mention the new concert hall and opera hall complex, creatively called the "Performing Arts Centre"), this modern metropolis is bustling with activity. I ate at an authentic downtown Cuban restaurant and ordered a sandwich called the "Cuban". No veggies in this sandwich!

Downtown Miami with only one car on the road: This is an unnatural phenomenon

The main exhibit at the Miami Art Museum was an exhibition of the urban change in Miami. It portrayed the excitement and heralded caution. It showed new ideas. The most powerful piece was a whole wall covered in phoros of beautiful buildings. Written underneath these buildings are the memories of what he did there. The viewer then learns that all of the buildings have been demolished.The connection was reset

The museum in the cultural complex was alright; nothing much to speak of.

The library, on the other hand, was impressive. Designed in the style of the old Carnegie Libraries from the (turn-of-the-century 1900s) but with modern materials. It was welcoming and comfortable. The colours were warm and there was all sorts of public art. On the second floor (in which there was a circular "balcony" hole so that one could look down at the first floor) there was an exhibit on the history of innovation in books.

There were four inches of rain today. Thunder and lightning continued into the night.

Florida Vacation Log: Day 3

2006-07-24T22:03:00.000-05:00

I went to the Ocean Reef Club (situated in the Florida Keys) today and tested the boat. Weather is so local here: as we were driving there we endured a torrent of rain for a mile. Then the rain disappeared as soon as it had started.

The water was a bit too rough and the clouds were too threatening (and someone had stolen our gasoline) to go anywhere far, so I had to satisfy myself with practice-snorkelling (all the coral within a few miles of the dock is dead) and having a nice lunch on the boat.

I discovered a discusting custom at this place: instead of walking to the washroom (it's not that far away), people use the hoses on the dock to "wash" themselves, and urinate while doing so. I made sure I put on sandals before stepping on the dock.

Grey Florida days can be gloomy and imposing

Florida Vacation Log: Day 1

2006-07-20T20:39:00.000-05:00

After waking up at 11:00 am, I went for a bike ride. Bad idea. The sun is hottest when it is highest in the sky. I passed a Bhuddist Temple and went in to cool off. Apparently the neighborhood has a large Thai population. There were some magnificent gold lions ferociously guarding the temple, but I forgot my camera, so I have no picture of them. Cooling off after the hot and draining bike ride was made possible by a refreshing, clear pond.

A lovely pond in which to swim

Florida's water table is very high; the pond is basically a hole in the ground that groundwater seeps into. I ate supper at a resaurant called "Captain's". My Uncle reccomended the yellow-tail. It came juicy, flavourful, breaded, and with a decent salad. There was no vinegar in sight. How can I eat breaded fish without vinegar!?

I had some time to explore the orchard and take some pictures:

There are lots of avacado trees here...

...and flowery foliage...

...and weather fish...

...and nice comfy places to relax!

Florida Vacation Log: Day 0

2006-07-19T22:23:00.000-05:00

The story starts as many travel stories do:
Airline tells us to arrive at the wrong time... trying to fall asleep on airport chairs... smuggling an illegal pastrami sandwich accross the border... flying the Northwest Airlines economy plane (their motto should be "Bring your own fun")... arriving in a foreign country...

Anyway, I'm staying at the house of my great Aunt and Uncle. They have an grove (don't let them hear you call it an "orchard") outside of Homestead.

A tree growing in the grove

When pineapples are orange and fall over, they're ripe

They showed me around and I got to try the "miracle fruit", which is a small creamy, and by all accounts wierd. Anyway, it numbs the tastebuds that sense sourness, so after eating a miracle fruit, one can proceed to enjoy an entire lemon. I'm suffering from major jet lag and lack of sleep so that's all for now.

Miracle Fruit (not my photo)

Goin' to Florida!

2006-07-06T14:42:00.000-05:00

I will be in Florida - and thus away from any computer - for the next ten days. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures, and fill you in with my insights when I come back. Homestead is where I will be staying; just 35 miles southwest of Florida. The lack of computer access is not what worries me, however. It is the lack of CBC that might eventually drive me a bit nuts.

More Cook's Creek Pictures

2006-07-05T11:37:00.000-05:00

An old log cabin homestead, with plaster on the outside

St. Micheal the Archangel slaying a dragon

Chandelier inside a church

Some barn

Visit to Cook's Creek

2006-07-03T17:10:00.000-05:00

This weekend, I went to visit Cook's Creek, small town in Eastern Manitoba. There is a strong Ukranian and Polish Catholic community here, and I got a chance to visit the Churches there, as well as some old artifacts lying around. Here are some photos. More to come...

When will CDs die?

2006-04-02T17:55:00.000-05:00

"When will CDs die?" It's a question I've been asking myself a lot recently. Cassetes replaced vinyl. CDs replaced cassettes. Now we have MP3 players and such so why are CDs still so popular?

Not that I'm upset about this. I much prefer CDs anyway.

So here are the Top 3 Reasons Why Music CDs have Staying Power:

Industry Influence: There are a lot of organizations that are keeping CDs alive. The Recording Industry (music labels, etc) force music download sites to keep the music bitrate at 128k. This is lower than what you can get from a CD. Then there are the brick-and-mortar music stores (Indigo, HMV) that make money from selling CDs, not MP3s. Finally, there are the blank media companies (Maxell, etc) that sell blank CDs. MP3s don't need to be "on" a medium, they need to be "in" your MP3 player

Hard Copies: Although many people percieve MP3 Players to be more "portable", the full ability to move individual albums around has not yet developed. The MP3 has no hard copy, it is just information stored on flash memory. You can take a(n inexpensive) CD around with you and pop it into a computer, diskman, or stereo. With MP3 Players, the music is not as transferable. You can't carry the music. You can only carry the device in which the music is stored.

No Refunds: In music stores, one can listen to entire tracks of music. If you don't have time to do this, no worries, you can always return the CD for a refund if you don't like it. "Online Music Stores" have no such policy, because there is no way to return songs once you've bought them. These "Online Music Stores" offer 30-second "previews" of their songs. These clips are often unhelpful, and if you haven't heard the song before, you don't know if this clip in from the beginning, middle, or end of the song.

Long live solid media! Long live the CD! (Maybe music DVDs will be common soon)

Look what they've done to Kid Pix

2005-10-11T22:28:00.000-05:00

Apparently, Kid Pix is now "politically correct"

Follow the link: http://www.mackiev.com/kp_politically.html

Buffalo Pound Provincial Park

2005-10-09T21:38:00.000-05:00

Me in beautiful Buffalo Pound Provincial Park, Saskatchewan!