Saturday Night's Good Rockin'! | Oren Lavie

Quiet calm music... but really well done. Brilliant video. Go to his site, it's well-done as well. (OrenLavie)

headspace | Baby working the room...

Kottke posted this one, and sums it up nicely: "The camera angle and the way he moves through the room consuming his toys makes it look like an amoeba in a petri dish. (kottke)

ThreatWatch | Panic Predictions

Image via Wikipedia

One of the messages in Michael Moore's 2002 film Bowling for Columbine pointed out the fear-based reporting of the American Media Machine. ("Children are suffering massive head-wounds by falling into furniture while learning to walk... after the break: what you need to know to protect your children...!")

Seed has published an interesting article by Bruce Sterling outlining seven potential precarious situations that are ripe for panic-picking. (seed)

My favourite: Number 6... the Westphalian system. I've been saying this for decades.

Hell in a Handbasket | Cold War Era Scare Film

Geez, they sure don't make movies like they used to. It used to be sooo glamorous.

citiZEN | Vancouver

There are recommendations in the works to change the on-ramp "loops" of the Granville Street Bridge. This already happened to the south-east... where the original "loop" was restructured into a park with tennis courts. (The photo in the Price Tags post is very revealing, even if you know what I'm referring to!)

Fascinating post. Read it! (PriceTags)

Interlude | A tale of Four Bubbles

Watch and be amazed.

headspace | Magic Wave

This comes from haha.nu.

On 27.11.2008 the Swiss Science Center Technorama opened a show that illustrates three characteristics of waves: wavelength, amplitude and frequency, using a 25-square-meter “magic carpet” that was made of more than 50,000 pieces. Here to the higher quality version. It was created by Reuben Margolin, and staff.

It's not very impressive until it really sinks in: this is not a computer-generated animation... this is an actual live show, on stage, for an audience.

useless mental tidbits | 1984 was the dawn of 1984

After showing its iconic 1984 commercial during the Superbowl two days earlier, the first Apple Macintosh computer became available for sale 25 years ago today.

The Macintosh on Wikipedia.

Interlude | The National Film Board of Canada

I love the internet, there are always amazing goodies that come along for info-junkies such as myself. (cbc) The National Film Board of Canada has released a large portion of their collection online, including such classics as The Cat Came Back. (NFB) I have dedicated an entire screen in the WarRoom as the NFB monitor.

Here's a silent film from 1928 with conservationist Grey Owl with the Beaver People.

Benevolent Prince | Trickle-Down Recycling

Image via WikipediaA post by Raul at Hummingbird604 started me thinking about how trickle-down economics is really just political rhetoric for tax cuts. The post was about recycling, which, of course, is a long way off from economics. But the theory of trickle-down, where those with too much pass along "something" to those with less, is to me a concept humanity already is familiar with. I mean, haven't most families been using this concept for generations...? We call them hand-me downs.

It doesn't work so well for items with only conceptual basis, such as money, apparently. Nobody seems to want to just "hand-me-down" some cash without some sort of artificial lever or consideration, like "tax cuts". (Unless you consider my own "Cottagist Anima" which has never yet been spoken of. And shan't be just yet.) But what about "trickle-down" recycling?

(I know, it already exists. But "trickle-down" recycling sounds much sexier than what goes on every day at the local thrift store, wouldn't you say...? Maybe it's time for a "re-branding" of the concept...)

"Hand-me-down" on wikipedia.

The point that got me thinking about it was Raul points out that BC Digital Divide will give donated computers to impovershed recipients. (H.604)

And check out the Electronic Recycling Association of Canada. (era) And the Vancouver page of the ERA site. (eraVan)

And according to this story in the CBC, recyclemycell.ca will show people where to recycle their cell in cities across Canada. (Here's the in-depth look at the cell-recycling issue. (cbc)

For a quick look at what other countries around the world are doing to curb their economic impact, check out this Good article. (good) My favourites: kick the oil habit, save the trees, and increase no-fishing zones along the coastline.

And finally, the best recycling program is the one that doesn't hae to start in the first place... Good brings us a list of five Anti-Consumer Groups... because the best way to save the planet is to reduce one's usage of something to nothing, if possible. (good)

headspace | Art of Mime

I first noticed this on good.com. (good)

I found this on youTube...

The (real) West Wing...

Hell in a Handbasket | 50mt "Tsar Bomba"

Image by Berd Whitlock via FlickrI've been hearing about the end of the world for a long time, it seems. I'm going to dedicate this installment to a Grand-Daddy of the Modern Terrors: the Nuclear Detonation.

In the following entry from Good, I believe I represent the third category of possible interested readers: "those with questionable taste in diversions." (good) Basically, the article highlights a google map that will estimate the blast radius of nuclear weapons of various yields. (carloslabs) There is also a link to a NYT graphic showing the timeline of proliferation. (nyt)

The timeline raises a question. We can see that Klaus Fuchs passed information along to the U.S.S.R and China, but there are no names listed for the exchange between the Canada/UK node and both the U.S. and U.S.S.R.

Maybe it's in the book. (amazon)

headspace | The Benny Hill-ifier

It's simple, but fantastic: find a youtube video you like and copy the url into the the Benny Hill-ifier... and the video will have the iconic Benny Hill theme play behind it. Multiple uses, as you can imagine. (haha)

For a... shall I say... slightly creepy example... go here.

Saturday Night's Good Rockin'! | Peter, Bjorn and John

Swedish trio Peter, Bjorn & John's single "Young Folks" featuring Victoria Bergsman of The Concretes, was one of my favourite tunes of 2006. (wichita-recordings)

useless mental tidbits | History of the Internet

"History of the Internet" is an animated documentary explaining the inventions from time-sharing to filesharing, from Arpanet to Internet.


History of the Internet from PICOL on Vimeo.

People We Outlived | Khan and Number Six

This will be a short post. I have to go to bed and cry myself to sleep.

The star of the '70s-era hit television program Fantasy Island, Ricardo Montalban, is dead at the age of 88. (He may be more familiar to some as the reason for William Shatner's most-famous-Kirk-scream: the Star Trek villian Khan Noonien Singh. Khaaaaannnnnnn!!!)

The CBC write-up is here.
The wired write-up is here.
And his bio on wikipedia.
And his entry in IMDB.



And, if that all were not bad enough.

The star of the '60s-era George-Orwell-meets-Timothy-Leary-meets-Franz-Kafka television program The Prisoner, Patrick McGoohan, is dead at the age of 80.

The CBC write up is here.
The wired write-up is here.
And his bio on wikipedia.
And his entry in IMDB.



Be seeing you.

citiZEN | Vancouver

Jackson Murphy over at The Vancouverite has a nice round-up of the Olympic Village debacle that unfolded over the last weekend, along with some insightful insights of his own. (vancouverite)

And for those following along at home, Vancouver recorded the first two homocides of the year on January 8th and the 11th. The first murder last year wasn't until January 19, 2008. (ctv)

Maggie Chandler, on her Vancouver Reflections site, posted the average price graph of Vancouver real estate. Sales decreased by 35%. And while prices are down over the previous year, house prices are up 64% for the Vancouver West Side over the last five years. Maple Ridge comes out on top on "Best Value" for houses, townhomes and condos in Greater Vancouver. (vanreflections)

According to Tourism Vancouver, the number of tourists that are visiting Vancouver has gone down since the Summer of SARS in 2003, for reasons that can be easily guessed: the economy has tanked. But the good news is that more people are choosing to spend their time and money at home, paticularly on local restaurants and attractions. Ticket sales at the Vancouver Aquarium are actually up. (ctv)

Even though I hardly ever leave my warroom, or go out of the bunker, or even step foot off the compound, I'm a huge supporter of local neighbourhood attractions. Even in (supposedly) laid-back Lotus-Land, we seem to forget most of the amazing sights and places that surround us. Sure, Grouse Mountain and the Stanley Park Seawall are all sexy for getting the outdoorsy-types and therefore all the press, but many of us are (particularly the born-and-bred, or close-at-hand born-and-bred) very much like those lifer New Yorkers that have never been to the Statue of Liberty or into the Empire State Building: it's always been there, so we figure we'll get to it eventually. Yet that visit to the Vancouver Police Museum or lunch at the Jericho Sailing Club never seems to come by.

Sean Orr at Beyond Robson has posted an interesting review on the Vancouver Museum's new exhibit called The Unnatural History of Stanley Park. (br) If you have a chance to watch the youTube video and Mr. Orr's Flickr set, please do. The silent video is particularly relaxing.

From the Civic-Duty citiZEN files comes an article via Megaphone, Vancouver's Street Paper, called 50 Ways to Help the Homeless: A Practical Guide to What the Experts Say Can, and Must, Be Done. (megaphone) (tyee)

And more from the General-City-Improvement files, take a look at this bicycle-storage unit that's being used in Japan. It can store up to 144 bicycles at a time. For a view of how it works, here's dannychoo.

headspace | Nature Can Save the Environment

...who would have guessed?

Janine Benyus discusses sustainable design ideas from nature.



Robert Full talks about how engineers learn from evolution.

useless mental tidbits | Immune Cell chasing bacterium

Archival footage of a neutrophil dancing through red blood cells to destroy its bacterial enemy.

Keep On Keepin' On | Mony Mony round-up

I won't bother to run through the FearWatch File... it's difficult to escape the fact the global financial markets have tanked (cb), the loonie's wings have been clipped (fp), job losses are rising quickly (cb), high personal debt is leading a rise in bankrupcy, major corporations we once thought invincible are walking the tightrope-with-oblivion-game (and bringing down entire industries), home starts and building permits are slowing (fp) (cb), and at least one government that I know of (Stevie Canuck might take a stick to the 'nads, so to speak...) is being threatened with a Coalition-led toppling unless they produce "comprehensive" budgets to address dire circumstances (cbc) (fp) (cb)... and so on...

I think the Take-Away is that we need to keep an eye on our cookie-jars. So here's a fairly random round-up of money-saving, finance-watching type posts that have caught my eye lately.

Let's start with the "general-getting-your-finances-together" types, like the Personal Finance Section of the CBC. And Get Rich Slowly has a good list of 9 methods for 2009. (grs)

The basic list for getting it together looks like this:

First you need to figure out what comes in and where it goes. In other words, it's time to learn, or review, the tracking-the-cash and budgeting-skills. (grs) (cbc)

Then deal with debt: the CBC has a good "in depth" section to look through. (cbc) You can go right to the tips here.

And make sure your investments are in order. (cbc) It's also good to check your credit rating. (cbc)

Cutting down on expenses will help with staying in the budget and reduce the debt-load. There are lots of tips out there. Like creating a "price book" for comparison shopping with your groceries. (frugalhacks) And why you should only buy your gas at gas stations, not groceries. (mbh)

You can increase your income... like leveraging your hobbies into paying work. (dumblittleman)

Make sure you're planning your retirement. (cbc)

And... "after your retirement" is politely called Estate Planning. (cbc)

There are lots of good sites to check out.

Festival of Frugality.
Frugal Hacks.
Frugal Living.
Get Rich Slowly.
The Simple Dollar.
I Will Teach You To Get Rich.
Mighty Bargain Hunter.
Not Made of Money.

Saturday Night's Good Rockin'! | Spiritualized

Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space

People We Outlived | "Dave Dee" Harman (1942-2009)

British pop star Dave Dee, whose biggest hit was 1968's Legend of Xanadu, has died. He was 65.

Obit. (CBC)
Obit. (BBC)
Bio. (wikipedia)
Legend of Xanadu. (wikipedia)

Legend of Xanadu... from Top of the Pops in 1968...

Conspiracy Analyst | U.S. Disintegration

I think Professor Igor Panarin is having one of those "15-minutes-of-" moments.

Over the last little while, the Soviet-era-KGB-Analyst-cum-Professor has been interviewed by the media as much as twice a day. (To put this in perspective, at the time of this writing, Google News shows a total of 179 stories about Professor Panarin. There are 15,650 about Britney Spears. Suppression? You be the judge...)

The real fuss began when the Wall Street Journal published a story about Mr. Panarin. (WSJ)

But enough hedging: At a conference in 1998, Mr. Panarin gave a presentation on his theory that the United States would disintegrate in 2010. His forecast was based on classified information provided by FAPSI, which at the time was the Russian version of the National Security Agency (US NSA).

The theory is basically this: Economic, financial and demographic trends provoke a political and social crisis. Then wealthier states withhold funds from the federal government, triggering social unrest and civil war. Finally the U.S. splits along ethnic lines, which is the cue for foreign powers to move in.

Panarin says right now there is a 45-55% chance this disintegration will occur, in either June or July of 2010.



The current fuss started Mon Nov 24, 2008 when Professor Panarin was interviewed by the Russian newspaper Izvestia. After that the story appeared in the Drudge Report on Tue Nov 25, 2008. (drudge) Then the bloggers started feeding. (freedomfighter) (curmudgeon) Eventually a big name media outlet caught on, and the Wall Street Journal published their story on December 29, 2008. (WSJ) After that it hit the wire... or the fan. Take your pick.

So: Professor Igor Panarin.



His entry in Wikipedia.
His entry in RussiaHouse.
One of his affiliations is the Diplomatic Academy.

As one might imagine, there are opponents to Panarin's predictions. Here's a good article (Time), pointing us toward Joel Garreau, who wrote the book Nine Nations of North America. Mr. Garreau also responded to Mr. Panarin's theory, which is nicely summed up here.

And Future Atlas puts the chances of an American Disintegration on the low side. (future.atlas)

The abomb&thecorpse Analysis: Professor Panarin is an expert in Information Warfare. The initial interview occurred in a tightly-regulated media environment. This sounds like a distraction campaign. But for what? Generated by the Americans... for keeping minds off the Israeli-Gaza conflict, perhaps to give Israel time, slowing public popular opposition? Generated by the Russians... for keeping the Americans occupied during the Gas-less Ukraine manouver?

Interlude | Amazing Artist: Devorah Sperber

As designboom puts it:

devorah sperber is a new york city based artist who recreates famous works of art using spools of thread. sperber treats the spools like pixels, recreating the works of da vinci, rembrandt and van gogh in detail. however viewers will not see the work until the move up close because most of her work is created upside down. the reason why the spools hang from the wall backwards is so that when reflected in a mirror or metal sphere, they will appear in the correct size and proportion. the reflection also shrinks the images and blends the spools together to create a more accurate representation of the original works. (designboom)

It's amazing stuff.





Check out her web site. (devorahsperber.com)

citiZEN | Vancouver

The first thing to do is give a tip of the hat to Old Man Winter, who has been knocking these parts around for the better bit of a few weeks now. I think I've heard the word snowmageddon more times than I care to admit. There are a lot of people that went from thinking it was pretty, and lovely to have around during the Traditional Western-Culture Holiday Season that is popularly referred to as "Christmas", to really wishing it would hurry up and melt and allow us to get back to our first love (being driving). Urban Vancouver has some good photos. (UV Pt1) (UV Pt2)

And check this out: during the snowstorm, somebody in Seattle created these snow-sculptures on the windows of parked vehicles. Amazing! (wooster)

Onward. One of the opponents taking on Premier Gordon Campbell in the upcoming Provincial election will be Mel Lehan, punching in for the NDP ticket. (straight)

Lastly, we know you've been waiting all year for this to come back: the 2009 Vancouver Taboo Sex Show will be at the Convention & Exhibition Centre from January 15-18. Tickets are $20 at the door or can be purchased online. (vanBuzz)

I am thinking of thirty-nine secrets.

Keep On Keepin' On | Self-Help Round-up!

Even though The World seems to be quickly sliding into Hell on a variety of transport modes, from handbaskets to Big-Three-Automaker vehicles... it's always important to keep on keepin' on.

Here's a great list of 15 tips designed to save time. (ListVerse)

Chris Hardwick reviews a few popular productivity methods. (wired)

Here are 21 Excellent Web Apps for College Students, though I think there are some very useful ones for everyone. (dumblittleman)

WikiHow explains how to clean a toilet with Coke. I'm not sure how environmentally-sensitive flushing coke into the sewers is, but... must be better than flushing whatever chemicals they use to make regular toilet-cleaners. (wikihow)

Wired has put together an interesting article on what one should pack for The Apocolypse. I was sold when I saw the first thing listed is a still. (wired) For some additional reading, here's a link to the web site for B.C.'s Provincial Emergency Program (PEP) and to Canada's "Get Prepared" site. (getprepared.ca) And here's the site for Vancouver's Emergency Plan. (CoV) Lastly... the Disaster Response Routes. (GovBC)

Saturday Night's Good Rockin'! | Vadrum

Check out these great drum videos... Vadrum plays to the Mario theme, with Tenacious D, and the William Tell Overture...

FearWatch: Methane

Image via WikipediaToday's fear-monger hell-in-a-handbasket threat comes from under the sea... the East Siberian Sea, to be exact.

National Geographic reported that a recent expedition travelled along the Siberian coast monitoring methane concentrations in the air and observing the seas. According to the data collected by the University of Alaska expedition on the 22,000km journey, more than 50% of the Arctic Siberian shelf is serving as a source of methane to the atmosphere. Methane gas is currently "bubbling" up from the undersea permafrost. (NatlGeo)

While carbon dioxide gets all the press, methane gas is 20 times more powerful as a greenhouse gas. And when you take into account this earlier story, where geologist Tessa Hill, at the University of California, Davis, stated that more methane is released into the atmosphere from ocean deposits during periods of warming than previously thought, the implications for our future are not rosy. As the expelled methane increases temperatures it proceeds to release more methane, creating a positive feedback loop. (NatlGeo)

The Result: Doom, the crispy-planet version.

Please ignite your Terror immediately.

2008 in the Review Lists

We've all seen the "Best of..." lists, more and more, earlier and earlier, every year. Here's a few that I've noticed. (As I collected these, I noted that a lot of them are from Wired.Com, which is a great site, and deserves frequent checking-in on one's surf-breaks... but rather than showing that I spend a lot of time at wired.com, it's actually more indicative that they put out a heckuvalotta "top" lists...)

The Big Story:
2008 U.S. Stockmarket compared back to 1825. (economist)

New York Times' 2008 in Pictures. (NYT)
2008 State of the Inner City Report. (CCPA)
2008 Buzzwords in Review. (NYT)
2008 "Foot-in-Mouth" Awards. (wired)
Top 10 Stories You Missed in 2008. (ForeignPolicy)
100 Notable Books of 2008. (NYT)
re:Place mag's Top Reads of 2008. (re:place)
Top 10 Archaeology Finds of 2008. (NatlGeo)
Top 10 in Architecture of 2008. (NewYorker)
Top 10 Astronomy Photos of 2008. (DiscoverMag)
Top 7 Capers of 2008. (wired)
Top Gadgets of 2008. (wired)
Top 10 Games of 2008. (wired)
Top 20 Music Album Flops of 2008. (MetromixDC)
Top 11 Music Videos of 2008. (spin)
Top 10 New Organizers of 2008. (wired)
Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2008. (wired)
Top 10 Things Launched into Space in 2008. (wired)
Top 10 Videos of 2008. (wired)

Clothing for the year 2000AD... as seen from 1930...

Designers from the 1930s were asked to design their predictions of what clothes will be like in the far-off future of AD2000... (from haha.nu)

Watching marbles move through hoops

The little theme "ga-donka-donka-deet'zee" gets a bit old by about the middle of this clip, but it's well worth watching these crackpot contraptions. It's interesting to think that somebody thought up, and then put together, these marble-runs. (haha.nu)



And another, called Pipe Dreams...

Volcano eruption in HD...

Vancouver round-up

Here's an excellent review of Lisa Smedman's new book Vancouver: Stories of a City. (re:place)

And a story about Joe Rimmer and his hand-made limited-edition copies of Tom Sawyer, mostly talking about growing up in a Vancouver that resembles the Mark Twain classic. (VanSun)

Francis Bula writes in Vancouver Magazine about how cities around the world are trying to emulate our city. (VanMag)

The Urban Dweller on VanCity Buzz talks about Vancouverism. (VCBuzz)

Speaking of Vancouver, what about Electoral Area A...? A failed-candidate has asked for a referendum on becoming a municipality. (straight)

Gordon Murray created a parody copy of the Vancouver Sun newspsper in 2007, to highlight his opinion towards the Canwest-owned paper's apparent pro-Israel/anti-Palestine position. He was taken to court, of course. Judge Alan Donaldson, of the B.C. Supreme Court, decided that freedom of expression could not be used as a defense in a copyright infringement case. (straight) [Personally, I see this as setting up for all those "copyright infringers" that use any Olympic icons for parody or satire, or some other unwanted-by-VANOC bad-press.]

Francis Bula talks about her friends' photo blog. (bula) It's called Splinter In Your Eye, and is about Vancouver in transition (mostly). (SiYE)

Another good read is the summary from re:Place magazine about their re:Connect event. (re:place)

Here's a tip for drivers: know where the unregulated parking areas are. (CTV) There's also a great link on the right-hand side that shows the frequency of parking tickets across the city that's fascinating!

Check out this link to Bob_2006's flickr stream with a good write-up about the Vancouver Museum. (flickr)

And there's an even better idea than my "tent city on vacant lot" idea from before. "Stop Gap Housing." (tyee) The problem? Finding land...? Maybe those vacant lots I was mentioning...?

Before I forget, check out the rest of Penny Coupland's awesome paintings of Vancouver scenes, like this one of Kits Beach. My personal favourite is one she did of our favourite watering hole, the Wolf and Hound, but it was unfortunately taken down from her Flickr photostream.

Mats Sundin signs with Canucks

This just off the wires: Mats Sundin has signed with the Vancouver Canucks, since the NY Rangers couldn't clear their salary cap.

Province
Team 1040
VanCity Buzz

Muppet Beaker sings Yellow by Coldplay

REM encore

Pro-shot video of REM's encore in Mexico City.

Explaining ten-dimensional concepts...

Crazy Artist alert!

Daito Manabe is a Japanese composer that has started a series of experiments, using the electrical signals of music to control his facial muscles. (cdm)

Daito Manabe website.
Daito Manabe on youtube.

I Google You (music video), sung by Amanda Palmer, words by Neil Gaiman

Prepare for The Invasion!

Part of the hype for the new Keanu Reeves film, a remake of the already-classic 1951 film The Day the Earth Stood Still, involves beaming the film into space. I think I'm becoming increasingly jaded about the ideas that are pitched about in the name of marketing, because when I first heard about this I actually rolled my eyes.

One part of me, the Conspiracy Analyist, might be concerned with the thought of sending out the details of one of humanity's greatest fears to something that could very well be the fulfillment of those fears... but that train has already long-left the station. After all, we've already been advertising our celestial presence by leaking a constant stream of radio, television and radar signals for around a century. The cat's out of the bag, and we've already "stepped on the proverbial twig in the forest" if you get my meaning. (mail) Some even say we've actually already been contacted, and it's all a cover-up... but you already knew that. (mail)

In fact, the same Florida company that will be sending Mr. Reeves film to the aliens will beam any 5-minute message into space for U$299. This company has also already beamed out whale songs, and the entire Craiglist web site. (So if you're in Alpha Centari and want a used iPod, we on Earth have got you covered. But the shipping chrages are gonna cost you an eyestalk and a tentacle.)

Aside from the muddle of random broadcasts, here is my list of Ten Signals That Have Been "Beamed into Space."

10. The Beatles song Across the Universe. But is it DRM-free?! (wired)
9. An advertisement for Doritos tortilla chips. (New Scientist)
8(a). Messages (like Brit photos and such) from social network site Bebo users. (BBC) (skynews)
8(b). A time capsule from Yahoo Inc, transmitted from a Mexican pyramid. (CBC)
7. A live Paul McCartney concert. (NME)
6. Swedish poetry. (dublinka)
5. A creepy rendition of Gershwin music. (seti)
4. Harry Potter film. (BBC)
3. Your phone calls, for U$3.99 a minute. Cheaper than to the Philippines. (New Scientist)
2. Your blog. (imo.org) (bloginspace)
1. The debate on whether beaming stuff into space is smart on our part. (seed)

It all boils down to this, my fellow humans: Be Prepared.

Videos showing flights on Earth...

Wired.com has the full write-up on how this was put together, and a bunch of other video simulations that are interesting. (wired)

Here's every flight on Earth.



And here's a neat one with flights in Europe.

Timelapse Antarctica video by Jordan Manley

Seriously brilliant.

antarctic peninsula (2008) - jordan manley from raman on Vimeo.

The problem with Day of the Ninja

December 5th is the annual Day of the Ninja.

A couple of quick tidbits:
Day of the Ninja (Dec 5) started in 2003 by the guys at website Ninja Burger.
Talk Like a Pirate Day (Sep 19) started in 1995 by two guys in Oregon.

Why won't Ninja Day catch on like TLaP Day? Well, maybe it will. But right from the official ND site: Plague your co-workers with ninja-ness and wear a ninja mask to work! Got the day off? Run wild in the streets, or dress like a ninja at the mall! Just show the world that YOU ARE NINJA!

Let me put it this way: I may give an "avast, me hearties" while slipping past my co-workers in the lunchroom to grab another cup of coffee... but I am certainly not wearing a ninja mask to get to that cup of java. The first, a funny conversation-starter... the second... I see no potential but humiliation and embarrassment. And dressing like a ninja at the mall or on the street? How about International "Kick-Me-Sign-On-My-Back" Day instead?

And fine, maybe I ain't as free-wheelin' cool as others out there... but I like to think I likely represent the median attitude on this Ninja vs Pirate vs Zombie question, and it's my opinion that Ninja Day will only catch on with hardcore extremist ninjas, while Pirate Day will appeal to a wider audience. It boils down to the "ease of participation" and "potential humiliation limited to self-chosen situations" factors.

Satan alert!

Rachel Ann Lindsay

Rachel Ann Lindsay is an illustrator in Toronto with an interesting drawing style... each element of the drawing consists of a single unbroken line. The result is frenetic and sketchy, and fantastic.

Take a look at the work on her site.

Hit Puberty Yet?

"Belly Dancer turns Sci-Fi Fantasy Into Career."

and

"Princess Leia."

Need I say more?

Not quite dead yet.

It's the nature of my life that I happen to have quite a few "imminent-end-of-the-world apocalypto-at-any-moment" types within close circles. Like folks that surround themselves with "uglier-than-themselves" friends because they think it makes them look more beautiful, I often wonder if this is my mind's sub-conscious effort to make myself appear... how shall I say... more normal...? It's a high order.

Regardless, as usual I bounce between two sides.

On one, those EoW types frustrate me, because they usually couch their arguments in religion or conspiracy when really it's just common sense that the times are a'gonna change sooner or later. After all, until we start moving into collecting extraterrestrial resources (and even then, just moved into time-frames we can't imagine yet), we are confined to a finite system, with only so much that can be gathered or created. Sooner or later things will end as the resources needed to continue are depleted and exhausted.

I think the collapse of the auto industry is an adequate illustration of this principle. As usual, nobody planned the transition, and instead of evolving smoothly into something that can sustain itself for a while longer in a different form, nothing changes until backs are to the wall and the smell of panic hits the air(waves). I mean, I could've started predicting the end of the petro-based auto industry before the first Ford rolled off the line, but it wouldn't have made me a prophet.

(I don't want to seem unsympathetic to the situation so many people are now facing: it's terrible. My point is simply in regards to planning ahead for major problems. But that would include "someone" taking responsibility of a situation that (a) is a long ways away, (b) debatable in causes and solutions, and (c) contains amorphous suspects as to actual responsibility. These combine so "blame" is spread too thin for anyone to actually need to step in and solve the problem until it's boiling over. If the problem is international, like global warming, the consequences become exponentially cataclysmic.)

The other side of the EoW types point is compelling. I am, after all, an accomplished procrastinator, and an imminent apocalypse is the best excuse ever.

Do the dishes? Why bother. The world is ending any moment.

Anyhoo. Here are some interesting stories I've noticed lately.

Instead of still feeling guilty, pat yourself on the back for using those aerosol deodorant cans in the '80s: a new ice age had been predicted, but global warming will hold it off indefinitely! Job well done, everyone! (NatlGeo)

New threat: brown clouds over Asia, making the skies darker and throwing weather systems into further extremes. On the up-side, this reflects the sun's rays enough to cool the earth's surface, masking the effect of global warming. I'm confused. Does this mean Asia is in for a brown-ice age? (CBC)

Remember the Russia-Georgia Conflict? Everyone was to blame. Effectively therefore: no one was to blame. (NYT) Yet, there was a chance it all could have been avoided, and right now relations with Russia could be less adversarial. (CdnBusi) Yet, a spy has been passing NATO secrets to the Russians for a while... (CBC)

Here's an interesting article about how neither Communism nor Capitalism actually work in pure form. Communism needs free markets... Capitalism needs regulation... (Tyee)

And if history is any indicator (hint: it is), things are not looking good on this whole Peace Movement thing. The grave of the earliest known nuclear family has been located. Unfortunately, they died violently. (NatlGeo)

Some military tidbits: Given the number of attacks within Pakistan, despite their public objections, I suspect The Terror War has shifted into Pakistan as well. (NYT) And USB drives have been banned due to Worm Attack. (wired) And then there's that whole Piracy thing. But pirates take note: don't mess with Islamic ships, because ships belonging to Muslim countries should not be seized. (CBC)

But let's get to some serious news. Like a possible alien invasion in Canada. "Meteorite" my ass. (CTV) (CTV) Where's my tinfoil hat? (Maybe here...)

Mad scientist alert: DARPA plans to create flying cars. Crap. How much will that bail-out cost? (wired) Good seque to some auto company propoganda.



Let's get closer to home. Who owns Genesis Security? (DavidEby)



I think I'm just going to stay inside and watch more TV. Like that's possible. I have so many screens in my warroom I could probably cook a turkey. Hmm. Some would argue I already am. (CBC)

Chickens break up a rabbit-fight...

Historical Films Sample Reel of scenes of Vancouver

"Photos" of the "Moon" in 1874

Fascinating fakery hailed by scientists.

2008 Vancouver Civic Election round-up

First, head over to the City of Vancouver's election summary page. (CoV) It includes a fantastic map showing how each Voting Division in the city swung, either behind Ladner or Robertson. And the good folks at Kitsilano.ca chat about the results a little. (kits.ca)

Two quick tidbits:

Jamie Lee Hamilton says she will not run for civic election again. (Straight)

Ken Clement has become Vancouver's first aboriginal politician elected to office, for the School Board. (Straight)

And there had been speculation that Robertson may have been riding enough of a tidal wave of popularity to break through the 100,000 vote barrier. (Straight) Philip Owen won with 51,085 votes in 1999, Larry Campbell won with 80,772 in 2002, and Sam Sullivan won with 61,543 in 2005. Robertson won with 67,598.

Bike to Work Week - Nov 17-23

It's a last minute notice, but here's a reminder that this week is Bike to Work week.

Read all about it on the Buzzer Blog.

Where do I put my mark on this shard of broken pottery...?

With Vancouver's 2008 civic election campaign coming to a close in a few hours, and considering the seemingly-unending months of election-stuff we've been fed over the last 18 months, it may be time to look at this concept we call Democracy. A few random thoughts and diversions, I mean...

Democracy is a form of governance where ultimate power rests with the people, under a free electoral system. (wikipedia) Even though there is no universally-accepted definition of democracy, two principles are always included: all members of society have equal access to power, and all members enjoy universally recognized liberties and freedoms.

But let's get back to the beginning, and check out the Greeks. There are some great articles on N.S. Gill's Ancient History Blog. Aeschines (389-314 B.C.) was an ancient Greek writer that was in favour of democracy. (NSGill) Yet Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), one of the most influential ancient Greek philosophers, was not exactly a fan of democracy. (NSGill) And an interesting tangent, I didn't know there's some question as to whether Greek citizens were required to vote, and if they did not if they were deemed idiots.

Here's an interesting table that compares the words and deeds over the first 100 days of office for each U.S. President going back to Roosevelt. (Good)

Since we're dealing with nothing more than an idea of how civilized society is to be organized and governed, like all ideas it is under constant threat to remain relevant. Any intellectual construct can be replaced. And though we dismiss many threats as no more than the delusional spouting of conspiracy theory crackpots, we must not forget that conspiracies have existed, and likely do still exist. Here's a list of conspiracy theories. And if you think all conspiracy theories are crackpot, let's take a glance at one that turned out ot be real... the Business Plot: the plot to overthrow FDR in 1933...

To run through some quick "possible threats"... let's quickly start with something close to home... the "sleazy" threat to democracy in North Vancouver. (VanSun) And here's a new issue that is on the rise: dog owners demanding more off-lease parks. (CBC) I have to say that I agree with Erik V's rant on Kitsilano.ca about "one-issue voting." (kits.ca) And I don't have either a child or a dog. (Ok, maybe this is not really a "threat" to democracy, but it's my opinion that strategic voting related to party-politics is another of those slippery slopes, of which blind one-issue voting is a cousin.)

Let's touch on a couple of other perceived threats: Like the legends of the Illuminati that arose in the 19th century, today technology brings the possibility of the Numerati, a shadowy group that data-mines your personal information, and bends the world to bend your will.

There is also the danger represented by Corporations. Political and Economic theory are dangerously interlinked. The regulatory failure that resulted in the current economic crisis could be seen as a dangerous step toward a slippery slope. An essay in the New York Times describes an interesting view of what happened during the last crisis, The Great Depression, and how it re-aligned power in Western civilization. (NYT)

And here's a link to the first part of Zeitgeist. If you're marginally interested in conspiracy analysis, start here. (youTube)

Plus, there's The American Conspiracy.

Vancouver Civic Election 2008

As a true non-partisan (meaning that I am not politically affiliated with any particular party or candidate, unlike how the term has been usurped by the you-know-who party), I have to admit I have no idea how best to vote in this weekend's civic election in Vancouver. It's been an election circus. So, mostly just to help me review the facts, I offer here some of the info-threads that have caught my attention of late. It is by no means comprehensive, and unlikely to be of much use in deciding. (Just to toot my own horn.)

Public Service Section:

City of Vancouver Election Centre.
Profiles of Mayoral Candidates.
Profiles of Council Candidates.
Profiles of School Board Candidates.
Profiles of Parks Board Candidates.
CBC's Civic Vote 2008 special feature.
Georgia Straight's site has ShawTV Profiles!
CoV's Voting Place Search Tool.

Some of the Issues:

Many of these stories are full of links to explore...
The Pantages Theatre issue. (Bula)
The Burrard Street Bicycle issue. (CBC) (CTV)
The Olympic Village issue. (TyeeHook) (Bula)
The former-Mayors on Olympic Village. (TyeeHook)
The Estelle Lo issue. (Straight) (Straight)
City Staff getting pulled into the fray. (Bula)
The inevitable investigation of Olympic Village. (TyeeHook) (CBC)
And Pivot Legal's take on the Olympic Village. (Straight)
And... lie detectors? (CTV) (CBC)
And lastly, from the fire-starter. (Mason on G&M)
"Dirty Tricks" says Van Sun. (VanSun)
"Bump in the night" says van Sun. (VanSun)
Last Candidate Standing. (re:place)
School Board...? (TyeeHook)
The (loss of) EcoDensity issue. (CTV)
The Zero Waste incinerators issue. (Straight)
The "CAR 87" issue. (DTES Enquirer)
The Straight Slate. (Straight)
Upper Kits Residents Association suggests slate. (kitsilano.ca)

A final word from Francis Bula, on what happens after the vote. (CTV)

And my final word: I still don't know who exactly to vote for. But I am afraid. Very afraid.

Arts round-up

A few of the "arts-related" tidbits I've ran across recently that have caught my eye.

Neil Gaiman's work on The Sandman series ranks near the top of graphics-based literature. Good Omens, the book he co-authored with Discworld-creator Terry Pratchet, is one of the funniest books I've ever devoured multiple times. And now Gaiman is giving away his latest, The Graveyard Book, by taping himself reading individual chapters on his book-tour and posting them on his MouseCircus site for young readers. (Wired)

And to follow-up on a story mentioned earlier: Stephen Colbert has won the White House! (In the Marvel Universe.) (Wired) And, like the Chicago Tribune's "Dewey Defeats Truman" gaffe 60 years ago, the Daily Bugle blows it! (Wired)

Staying with the comic theme for another moment, kottke posted some links to maps of the New York City of the Marvel Universe. (WizardUniverse) (NYCmetblogs) (flickr)

Next: some awesome t-shirts for sale at Glennz.

Then check out Edmund McMillen's independent artist product: This is a cry for help. A load of stuff for $10!

And if you figure you've already bought so much stuff you can't get more, check out this post on Swaptree... like ebay, except it's an exchange of goods. (Lifehacker)

On another note... if you think you're old ask yourself this question: Do I dream in colour, or black-and-white? If it's B&W, then you're right, you are old... apparently the television you watched as a child may influence the colour of your dreams. (TelegraphUK)

Speaking of old, here are the definitions of some commonly-used abbreviations, most of which are derived from Latin. (BloggingTips) And another list in the follow-up post. (BloggingTips) Both excellent posts are written by Kevin Muldoon of System0.

Olbermann's commentary on Proposition 8

Keith Olbermann of MSNBC pleads to understand the results of California's Proposition 8 result. It is a passionate and reasoned commentary, which bears viewing.

2008 Vancouver Civic Election round-up

It's great that Shaw Cable has given time for each candidate in the civic elections of the region to describe their political positions. There are a few crazies out there. The unexpected part is that a several are incumbents.

But to some issues that are circulating the Vancouver race: On his ever-name-changing blog, David Eby reviews a few of the stories about the $100 million back-room guarantee deal to save the Olympic village development. Great title to his post: Vancouver going to hell in Olympic-sized handbasket. Even David Berner agrees that citizens deserve answers to "villagegate".

I just have to point this part out: the controversy resides around unknown concerns to this guarantee from the City's Director of Finance who may (according to Robertson) have been fired or resigned from the City, or may (according to Ladner) be on a regularly-scheduled annual vacation... conveniently returning to Vancouver the day after the election, on November 16th! (CTV)

The Georgia Straight has an interesting review of the "Creative City Cabaret", in which Vancouver's mayoral hopefuls performed in a talent show. If for nothing else, it's an interesting illustration of some of the "crazy" mentioned as being on display on Shaw Cable. (Georgia Straight) And another review, this time by Francis Bula, on the Last Candidate Standing event, which Geri Tramutola won. (Bula)

And based on the Last Candidate Standing results, and my opinion of the afore-mentioned two-minute Shaw Cable ad, Geri Tramutola is now officially added to my "Vote For" list. Only nine more Council candidates to decide on!

If Wes Anderson did a John McCain campaign ad...

If John McCain had this sort of talent on his side, he may have come closer to winning.

Vancouver round-up

Here's some of what I've glanced at over the last while...

A new ground-penetrating device is assisting UBC researchers in finding the graves of missing First Nations ancestors. (UBC Reports)

Vancouver's obscurest election may get an "historic" 1,000 voters this year... while one of the candidates for Director of Electoral Area A says "you couldn't write a better farce." If you live around UBC, you should find out more. (Tyee)

Gordon Price of Price Tags says tonight's all-candidates debate, Last Candidate Standing, will be like politics and theatre all rolled into one. Isn't it already? That aside, tonight does looks interesting: they're going to have musicians and performance artists between rounds. (Price Tags)

Not another bleeding-heart cry-baby group yapping about minimum wage... and in fact, it certainly doesn't seem so: Business in Vancouver is calling on the municipal candidates to make Vancouver a "living wage city." In Vancouver that means a minimum wage of $16.74 an hour. (BiV) I'm guessing Peter Ladner is no longer intimately involved in BiV...? I only say so because this seems like a good idea and will energize the hourly-wage demographic to support the candidate that supports this measure... so if he's behind it he really should be shouting it from the rooftops. (Except around developers or other biz-owner-type folks, I guess...)

Vancouver has decided to go ahead with a trial of the laneway housing development idea. (CBC) Re:Place Mag has a good breakdown and update on the particulars. (re:place)

Plans for revitalization around the BC Place area have been released. (CBC) It includes a new roof for BC Place, a new Art Gallery, and more residential, retail and office space.

Metro Vancouver board members (see that Electoral Area A item above...?) voted unanimously to send a letter endorsing the position that UBC Farms retain its current 24-hectare footprint. (Georgia Straight)

Local poetico Ben Hart's review of Lee Henderson's The Man Game. (Tyee)

More back-and-forth blah blah about the "bikes on Burrard" issue. (Georgia Straight)

And in honour of honour, please get yourself one of those nice new sticker-poppies. (CBC)

And you may know that Vancouver sold some of our old trolly-buses to Argentina. Here's a video from the Buzzer blog showing one of the trolleys being lifted onto a shipping freighter. The original post has a great write-up, and additional photos and videos. (Buzzer)