I am (as many of you may know or may not know) a non-native English speaker. However, I speak six other languages in addition to my native tongue, so if you’ve heard me speak, you probably know that it is *really* hard to tell my accent. I speak good enough (this is commonly designated near-native fluency) to not only make myself understood, but to have been able to create deep friendships and share meanings and communicate my thoughts with fairly good precision.
Anyhow, the reason why I bring up the accent is that I have been incredibly tempted to podcast at some point, but I’m somewhat worried about my pronunciation. I am very fond of several local podcasts, which I will describe below very briefly, because instead I want YOU to go and check them out.
Several elements really attract me to podcasts.
1. The first element, the podcasters’ pronunciation. I have a huge admiration for podcasters who speak slowly and clearly.
2. The second element is the podcasters’ choice of background or associated music. If the music is not exciting, it is unlikely I will be excited about the podcast.
3. The third element is the choice of technology. As a non-geek (though this excuse is becoming a little bit overused, because I have indeed absorbed some geeky knowledge), I appreciate it when podcasters choose to embed the podcast and/or give choices as to the way in which I can listen to their product.
4. The fourth element is what I call the podcast design (maybe it’s not called that way but hey, this is my blog and my own analysis, so…there). Does it give me enough background? Do the podcasters introduce themselves? Why should I be listening to *this* particular podcast instead of another?
5. And the fifth element that attracts me to a podcast is the blog/webpage content. Yeah, I know you are surprised. Why would I care about the blog content, if what I am looking for is the podcast itself? Well, in an era of multi-taskers and adult ADD (attention-deficit disorder), do you *really* think I’m only listening to the podcast? No, I am also scanning your website or blog and trying to see the content. That doesn’t mean that I am *not* paying attention to the podcast, it only means that I am now associating the content you give me in print to that you are giving me now on audio.
Ok, and now on to some Vancouver podcasts that I think you should check out.
Lip Gloss and Laptops: I am a male, admittedly, but I do have a mother and I am very close to her. Since I was a child, I helped her choose her lipsticks. Because of her heritage, her skin tone is particularly difficult to associate with some lipstick colors. However, she always does find the right match and she looks beautiful. I grew up, did some catwalk and portrait/profile modeling and learned a bit more about colors, and skin tones, and aesthetics, knowledge that you can now find distilled and concentrated on Lip Gloss and Laptops. This podcast, helmed by Airdrie and Kerry-Anne is very fun and covers the cosmetics industry. You can check it LipGlossAndLaptops right here.
RadioZoom: My blog, by it’s very nature, is very random. One day you hear about how my weekend was, and the next you read me talking about the problems in the Ddowntown East Side, or pondering about love. Not surprisingly, these are some of the reasons why I love Radio Zoom podcasts. These podcasts give me a window into what used to be the life of John Bollwitt (before he moved to Canada to be with Rebecca), and what it is right now. John and Rebecca’s lives are always intermingled with music and radio, so RadioZoom gives your ears a peek into these. You can check RadioZoom right here.
PenMachine Podcast: I have lost one of my grandmothers and one of my dearest aunts to cancer. Thus, I have an inherent admiration and respect for those who are currently battling this deadly disease. Derek K. Miller is one of those brave people, a professional musician, a great podcaster and a role-model in many ways. I have yet to meet Derek in person, but just reading his blog and listening to his music makes me admire him even more. You can check Derek’s PenMachine Podcast right here.
Feel free to recommend other local podcasts (you can email me at hummingbird604[a]gmail.com – substitute [a] for @, or follow me on Twitter as @hummingbird604).
I do get around to completing projects and doing things, I swear 🙂 The thing is, I usually have like 10,000 things on the go, so it’s kind of hard to do everything at the same time. At any rate, I’ve finally managed to get around registering with FrogBlog , the official blog of HappyFrog and publishing a first blog post.
It’s kind of nice to see that even though I am not a geek, I managed to realize that I had the Rich Text editor on, cancel on the publication of the post, copy and paste the code for my post, switch off the editor, switch back to HTML coding *and* post the correct code, and not screw up a thing. The Blogging Jedi Master should be proud 🙂
FrogBlog is powered by Drupal, but even though I’m not a Drupal-er, I have managed to learn enough HTML coding to recognize when I’m doing something wrong. Well, except for the stupid tags and categories on WordPress. GRRRRRR. Oh well, live and learn I say.
I’ve been on Twitter for a very short period of time (posting Tweets maybe since last week, or so?). While having lunch with Rebecca last week, I mentioned that Twitter gave me just about the right amount of openness and the right amount of privacy. I am not on Facebook (I actually REFUSE to be on Facebook) but I felt Twitter would give me an opportunity to reach a broader audience. It would also allow me to communicate with friends that I have met through the blogosphere and keep up with them on a regular basis.
Those bloggers whom I’ve now met in real life and, particularly those with whom I have hung out enough that I actually consider friends, will know that I actually do care about what they post on their blogs and their tweets. I follow this philosophy with everything. I care more about the person than the job, the blog, the position, etc. I have good friends who are now famous authors, actors, writers and renowned scholars. Yet, I am more interested in how they’re doing (personally) than I am on whether their latest journal article was cited 10,000 times.
At any rate, I was scanning recent blog posts and came across Darren Barefoot’s post on his feelings on Twitter. I left a massive comment on his blog and I still feel sort of guilty about it, so I just figured I’d post something somewhat funny and related to Twitter.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YT5yCnEr8kQ&hl=en]
Rebecca alerted me about this episode of CSI on a comment she left on one of my posts. In this episode, the CSI team is reviewing the Twitter account of a dead victim who (apparently, haven’t seen the episode) was in the midst of a love triangle. Video courtesy of YouTube.
I am not sure if there is or not a lot of exciting stuff on my tweets, but I can guarantee that at least, there will be links to my new blog posts.
Previous posts of mine have touched upon how Vancouver is perceived to be somewhat of a cold and not-so-friendly city, particularly by new immigrants or transplants from other provinces/cities/countries. I have found that one great way to re-energize myself is just to keep smiling at people…
– While I walk on Main Street listening to my iPod.
– While I am waiting for the bill in a restaurant, and when the waiter finally shows up to take my order.
– While I ride the bus.
– While I chat with my friends.
– While I listen to music all by my lonesome.
– While I play volleyball, even when my serve deserts me.
– While I wait for the bus, even in the rain.
– Even when the weather is horrible.
I smile at life and life smiles back at me. It’s such a small and simple gesture yet so many people refuse to change their facial expression. Frowning actually uses more muscles than smiling.
No, it’s not me making a funny, cow-like sound. I just recently upgraded to a Pro Flickr account (after discovering that I had way too many photos for the world to see). Anyhow, I just noticed that I am supposed to get 10 (ten) free Moo cards with my Flickr Pro account. After reading Rebecca’s moo card debacle, I wasn’t all that impressed with the Moo cards and wasn’t even thinking of ordering them. To be even more bold, I haven’t looked at the Moo website. But I wonder what I should order for my 10 Moo cards (e.g. an image, or whatever?). I was thinking I should find a pretty profile of a hummingbird and send that to Moo (along with of course, my personal data). Suggestions most welcome.
Ah, the Vancouver blogosphere and its characters… 😀 How to begin…? Well, The Meg and I have a special and interesting relationship. Yeah, by “The Meg” I mean, Meg Fowler. She has been blogging like, forever. She is one of Vancouver’s most widely read bloggers. Meg writes hilarious posts. I am sure she has the readership of seriously like that of Scobleizer. There have been posts on her blog that are so serious, so intense, so introspective and so full of insight that I just say “WOW. Meg really nailed it“. And then, of course, as it happens with any other blog, there are really funny blog posts. Like this one. Or this one.
So, I comment on her blog just about every time I read it. Just ’cause. Just ’cause I think I have something to add. Just ’cause I think it is important to comment on other bloggers’ blogs. Just ’cause, well, you know, it’s Meg Fowler… THE Meg Fowler. Even for a relatively newbie blogger, even when I had started to blog, I had already heard of Meg… sort of a living urban legend. And I know I’m now perpetuating the urban legend 🙂
I’ve used some of Meg’s trademarked ideas on my own blog (for example, for my 500th post I asked Tanya, Rebecca and Meg to allow me to write something using their trademarked concepts, and all of them agreed) and over email exchanges (we’ve never met in real life) Meg has been sweet, pleasant and always funny.
Now, since I am a non-geeky blogger, I don’t have FeedBurner. I have been encouraged by HZ, Gus, Tyler and Rebecca to get it. But I’m so… not… geeky… that I really don’t know if/when I’m going to get around to it. So, in a way, I may never know if Meg Fowler reads my blog. But just in case she does, and just in case she decides to read this list of the things I love, I figured I’d list them off. So, this is for you, Meg.
The things I love on a Saturday afternoon (UPDATED on Sunday evening).
Walking around the False Creek seawall with HZ…
… after having brunch at The Nice Cafe…
… and going through a route I had *never* gone through before..
Reading my friends’ blogs (and yes that includes you, Meg).
Having coffee and geeking out at Bean Around The World.
Dressing in brown and beige colors (Earth colors, they call them).
Being addicted to Twitter…
… after having refused to be on Facebook…
… because I knew if I was on Facebook I would be addicted to it…
… and now that I am on Twitter, I tweet all the time…
… which only comes to demonstrate that I am, in fact, addicted to Twitter.
Going to Tanya‘s house-warming party…
… and seeing familiar and friendly faces there…
… while I dread waking up on Sunday…
… but I have to wake up anyway because I have volleyball games
(UPDATED)… and waking up at 10 am…
… and missing my volleyball games because I am hungover…
… on five Okanagan Ciders… (yeah, I’m a cheap date)…
… with a massive headache (you’ll ask — how can you *love* a headache — well, it forced me to have a nap… which I *love*).
(SIDE NOTE) – OMG Tanya, you throw, like, THE best parties, EVER! Thank you SO much for inviting me over! Everyone was adorable… Tanya’s parties FTW!
Ok… so where were we? Oh, right. The things I love.
I love…
Comments on my blog (seriously – which other way can you have a conversation with your readers, if it weren’t for the comments?)
Having burgers at The Red Onion with JT
Doing impromptu brunch with LM at The Nice Cafe (notice a trend?)
Doing not-so-impromptu-more-like-fully-planned-two-weeks-in-advance-brunch-with-K, R, L and W-because-Raul’s-agenda-is-so-insanely-booked-so-you-need-to-book-him-in -advance-three-weeks-from-the-tentative-date
Group shots at Tanya’s housewarming party
Taking lots and lots of pictures…
… and managing not to have any of me taken…
… that could be potentially compromising…
Blogging Under the Influence (seriously, I am *so* sorry… ooopsies)
Getting email invites to guest-blog and cross-blog
And, the admitted one thing I’ve been loving this past week and I’m, like, totally addicted… TWITTER!!! Yeah, I Twitter. I’m about to enter Twitter-rehab. That being said, I have to say that I did not Tweet from 2 pm up until 10 pm. So, not bad… 8 hours in between tweets. 😀
So, how was YOUR weekend? Mine was FANTASTIC!!!! Vancouver bloggers rule!
I have an e-machines (a sub-division of Gateway) laptop that I bought in February of 2005. Everybody has told me that I’ve been lucky that this laptop has survived this far (over 3 yrs). Truth be told, I don’t have the cash flow right now to buy a new one (otherwise I would have substituted it ages ago). But I really enjoyed working with this e-machines laptop, even though I had to send it for repairs more than 4 times (and the good thing is, I had a 3 year warranty with Future Shop).
Photo credit: Drustar on Flickr
In a way, I wish I had sent it for repair more times so that I could get a new one, but well, I didn’t. So, now I’m stuck at home with it. It has some minor mechanical damage that doesn’t allow it to close properly, and since I’ll be doing some live-blogging in the very near future, I figured I needed to save its last breaths for those events (EPIC 2008 and Earth Day).
This is one of those occasions where I wish I had Darren Barefoot‘s or Stephen Rees or Rebecca Bollwitt‘s readership. I could very well tell e-machines “hey, send me a new laptop and I promise I’ll review it”. Can’t really promise a good review from the get-go, but I can be honest and say that I enjoyed working with e-machines.
I don’t really have the time for the learning curve that switching to Mac would entail. So, I’ll be stuck for at least a few months with a PC. I do have a PC at home, but with an almost-dead laptop, my mobility is seriously compromised. DARN IT. Anyhow, just needed to vent. I *might* contact e-machines and ask them if they could send me a new one and I’d review it. Do you all think it would work?
This new coffee shop serves up a nice coffee (within the same price as any other coffee shop, around $2.00 for a 12 oz regular coffee). Has wi-fi (secured, so you need to ask for the password) and it is spacious, even though it looks weird because it is located in the wedge that is formed at the corner of 7th Avenue, Kingsway and Main (yes, it’s pretty much across from The Foundation, the new Mount Pleasant Community Centre and the Venus Theatre. The coffee is fairly good. Yesterday (which was the day that I visited), it was a tad too hot indoors but I think they’ve fixed that now. It may be hard to work there on a sunny day because there’s an insane amount of natural light coming in. I got lots of glare from my laptop screen. But I’d recommend it, for sure.
I’m live-blogging (and admittedly, probably Blogging Under The Influence) from Tanya‘s (aka NetChick) place… we have had here Rebecca and John Bollwitt, David Drucker, of course Monica Hamburg, Corinna and Adam Carlson, Nancy Zimmerman and lots and lots more people! Hope you guys are having a great Saturday evening, the party is still going!
UPDATE – We are all playing Guitar Hero. I am absolutely bad at Guitar Hero. Or Rock Band? I dunno.
UPDATE – Just about everybody left. I am here with Tanya, Holly, Chris and myself. We tried Rock Band. We suck. That’s ok. We’re all drunk.
UPDATE – I just left Tanya’s. Holly, Chris and Tanya are so sweet. Everyone I met was awesome – Miranda, MJ, Corinna, Adam, Monica Hamburg, Nancy, David Drucker and wife, Rebecca and John. It’s interesting. I do care for these people, and I do so because they are part of the Vancouver blogosphere that I consider my friends. Phaedra, Keira-Anne, Richard, Jennifer, everyone… this is such a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may know that environmental issues are my realm, even though my blog is, well, sometimes very random. However, sometimes I just enjoy immersing myself in sustainability issues, and blog about those. Well, my wish has been granted. I have just been invited by DaveO to be one of the greenie bloggers covering the upcoming sustainable living expo, EPIC 2008 (April 18th to 20th). From the EPIC website, you can tell that they’re really going all the way and (as we say in Spanish, “throwing the house through the window” – “tirando la casa por la ventana“). The organizers are bringing you some of the powerhouses in the field, including Mike Holmes from “Holmes on Homes”.
So, what is EPIC 2008 you ask? Quick answer brought to you by EPIC:
EPIC: The Vancouver Sun Sustainable Living Expo is Vancouver’s largest green consumer show and eco-marketplace. Visit EPIC to learn about environmentally-friendly products and companies that mix style and quality with sustainability. [EPIC 2008 website]
I will be joined by a number of local greenies and bloggers, including (but not limited to) Keira-Anne, Rebecca, and of course, yours truly. You can follow my updates on Twitter, and of course, cross-posts on HappyFrog.ca’s FrogBlog.
Since EPIC will be held at Canada Place, there are LOTS of sustainable ways to get there. Most likely, I will walk all the way to Main Street/Science World station and then Skytrain my way over to Waterfront Station. Here are some suggestions on how to get there, too.
If you want to get involved, click on this (the kick-off post courtesy of HappyFrog.ca, official blogosphere media sponsors for EPIC 2008).
We will be cross-posting with FrogBlog, hanging out with the visitors (something that many of you know, will be not difficult at all since I am a people person and *love* chatting people up), and if you want to get a summary of these posts, I will be tagging mine “Epic2008” in addition to the usual tags (sustainability, environment, Vancouver). I will also be covering Earth Day at Jericho Beach on April 26th. Look for the coverage here and on FrogBlog!
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
It’s a beautiful Saturday morning in Vancouver. The sun rays are invading my bedroom and living room, and I’m getting ready to meet HZ for brunch on Main Street. Friends of mine organized a hike because they heard the thermometer was going to hit 20 oC. To think that just a few weeks ago, we had snow! Anyhow, I have a full day ahead of me, *have* to finish a legal document and send it via e-mail and then write another two pages of a paper I’m about to publish. Then tonight I have a housewarming party to go to… can’t wait! Will be seeing lots of bloggers there. Given that I’m crunched for time, this is almost going to be a micro-post. Time for me to ask you — what are YOU doing today?
PS – If you need to get a fix of blog content, read below – new restaurant review: Tequila Kitchen, FTW!
What can be better than having lunch with a good friend after having accomplished some of your own goals? Well, being treated to lunch by said good friend at a really good (and authentic!) Mexican restaurant. I was working on some of my own stuff at the SFU Belzberg library, and when I asked Rebecca (aka Miss604) if she had plans, she indicated she had none, so we agreed to meet up. Rebecca suggested Tequila Kitchen, which I have to admit, I had my reservations about.
You might recall a guest blog post I wrote for Rebecca summarizing my suggestions for good Mexican food in Vancouver. Tequila Kitchen hadn’t appeared on the food scene yet, so I did not include it there. However, since we were both downtown, and I had promised myself I would try it anyways and Rebecca wanted to try it, we headed there.
First of all, I have to say that one of the things I totally dig about Tequila Kitchen is that I can speak with the owners in Spanish. You’ll wonder why. Well, because when you speak in the same language, you can bring the nuances that you can’t when you speak in English (or any other foreign language). I mentioned to one of the owners that I was a bit scared about authenticity. She smiled at me and said “check the menu and tell me what you think“.
The lunch menu is really good, I got to admit. The names are actually real Mexican food names, and the food is as close as they can get to the real deal. Sure, they used a baguette for my torta de cochinita pibil (pulled pork sandwich), but that’s forgivable. I noticed that they included slices of red onion (which is one of the key elements of the torta de cochinita pibil. Rebecca ordered tacos de pollo (chicken tacos), which were also pretty authentic, and at four tacos per order, fairly decent size. You can upsize your order to a full meal (that includes small bowls of rice, salad and refried black beans) for an extra charge (not too high, $ 4.00).
Photo credit: Miss604 on Flickr (for some reason, clicking on the photo doesn’t bring up the actual Flickr link, but you can click here for the original photo on Rebecca’s photo stream).
Admittedly, those who follow the Mexican food scene in Vancouver will unavoidably ask me how does it compare to Cilantro y JalapeNo or DoNa Cata or the other restaurants. The answer is simple – I don’t know (I will be able to tell you when I go there for dinner or lunch). What I do know and can tell you is that I do recommend Tequila Kitchen for authentic Mexican food. The portions are not huge, but I wasn’t hungry after lunch, and I have a fairly decent appetite.
Of course, the highlight of this lunch wasn’t as much the food as much as the company. Lunch with friends rules! Particularly when you can talk about geeky stuff and I think I’m starting to delve in the world of geekiness. I love that, I really do. As I told Rebecca, I have a great appreciation for geeks, and have a tendency to hang out with them (techno-geeks, enviro-geeks, and intellectuals).
Many of you dear readers will know that, in principle, I try to avoid Yaletown. Not because it is not a pretty location, but simply because I find some times it can be a bit pretentious. But Tequila Kitchen is a great restaurant, and the owners are really down-to-earth. I will definitely come back at night, I want to check out their dinner menu. And of course, we can do it a blogger and/or blog-reader evening out!
Spoonback right here 🙂
April 11th, 2008 in
dining out |
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I was reading a comment left by Tyler Ingram on Rebecca’s blog answering my comment on the fact that I have never been to Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows. I have driven past Langley (well, actually I saw Superman Returns in Langley), been to Surrey a handful of times, definitely know my way around New Westminster, have had dinner in Delta and Ladner. But I have really never gone east of Port Coquitlam. Lots of people ask me “what is the temptation to do that, anyways… there’s *nothing* to do in Maple Ridge or Pitt Meadows”. But the truth of the matter is that I’m tempted to just take a day off and go explore one or both of these cities. Not sure what I’ll find, but I’m just tempted to do it. Anyone want to join? Or, for that matter, anyone want to just have lunch at some point in one of the other Metro Vancouver cities, just ’cause? Drop me a comment, send me an email or “tweet” me at @hummingbird604 🙂 (ok, I admit it, I’m fascinated by Twitter right now – will have a chance to discuss it later). Anyhow, bottom line — I’m looking for someone to join on a Metro Vancouver roadtrip, bottom line … and since I don’t have a car, it will probably be by transit.
“In a world where celebrity equals talent, and where make-believe is called reality, it is most important to have real love, truth and stability in your life”. This is a phrase attributed to film and television producer Bernie Brillstein and published in a Starbucks coffee cup as “The Way I See It # 291“.
This has also been the way I was raised by my parents. Mom and Dad are both lawyers (although Mom went on to do a PhD in political science and is now a fairly well-known specialist in intergovernmental relations and federalism). They raised five boys and in the process, they trained each one of us to work hard in four realms: art, science, humanitarianism and sports. But they also wanted us to know that however successful we became, no matter how popular our success made us, we should always remember that popularity and celebrity was irrelevant if we didn’t have real love. And they worked really hard at keeping us well grounded, giving us stability and imbuing a sense of truth, honor and self-worth that has remained with me in my adulthood.
I was (as have always been) the black sheep in the family in that I always wanted to do something different to my brothers. Yes, I know how to play basketball, but I didn’t want to be a competitive basketball player, so I asked Mom and Dad if I could instead play volleyball. Their answer? “Of course, sweetie … but you are still subjected to the same high standards… you should try your hardest to be the best you can“. These words, of course, let me to play highly competitive junior volleyball. I also play piano, but I didn’t want to do it at the high level my brothers do it. So I asked Mom and Dad if I could instead dance and do theatre. Their answer? “But of course, son… just remember the rule about high standards“. And off I went, to do competitive dancing and being a stage actor in plays inside and outside high school.
However, no matter how tired my parents were, no matter how many things they had to do and regardless of the fact that they had to take care of four other boys, my parents always had the patience, time and care to tend to my wounds whenever I fell on the volleyball court, or console me when I lost a dance competition. They never stumped my curiosity and accepted that one day I wanted to be a librarian (devouring dozens of books on library science), another day I wanted to be a criminologist (they even took me to the police academy to get a glimpse at the realities of crime-fighting), another day I wanted to be an interior designer (they bought me every supply I needed to design my first floor plan layout), and the list went on and on.
This brings me to the Bernstein phrase. I love it when people read my research papers and quote me. I am honored that I’m considered an expert in the environmental field that I’ve chosen. I am humbled by the fact that my popularity has increased in several other realms. But regardless of how popular (or not) I am, I know that I will always have truth, love and stability in my life, because I am surrounded by so many wonderful old and new friends (including many of you out there who read my blog), and by the love of my family.
This past couple of weeks have been very trying and I have been angry and upset at bureaucracy and incompetence. But after having talked to some of my friends, my brothers and my parents, I realize that sometimes, you just got to be patient and take things one day at a time. In recognizing this, I also was able to see once again how loved I am and how lucky I am that I have the people I have in my life. Celebrity would never get me this far. It’s been the love I have in my life that has gotten me as far as I am right now. For all that love, I am very thankful.
No, no, no, no. If you *really* thought you were going to find a nude picture of me on here, you clicked the wrong blog. Today is “Strip Down Your Blog” day, a day in appreciation of those absolutely adorable, hard-working geeks who create our WordPress (and other platforms’) themes. So, you’ll see… I can’t modify the CSS of my theme, but I fully support the day, so technically, my blog will be naked for today.
To be symbolically nude in the blogosphere today, I will *not* insert any pretty photos on any blog posts, even though I am now armed with the knowledge of how to do it. If you are able to change your CSS theme and want to support the day, run to Tanya’s and Lorelle’s blogs for more info. Thank you techno-geeks for making my life better every day! 🙂
April 9th, 2008 in
blogosphere |
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Photo credit: Raul on Flickr
There might be another quick reminder as the dates approach, but just wanted to call your attention to the following events:
* Metro Vancouver Sustainability Breakfasts – Organized by Metro Vancouver, Thursday Apr 10th, 2008 @ BCIT downtown campus, 7:30am to 9:00am – Living Buildings (sort of ‘green buildings’ to the extreme). Check Metro Vancouver’s page for more information.
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
* Surrey’s Environmental Extravaganza – Via Rebecca (Miss604.com) I learned about this 7 week long extravaganza (Apr 19th to June 8th) focused exclusively on enviro-related events. You can download the calendar of events here. Looks like a really promising bunch of events. I’ll tell you more in the next little while.
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
* Waste Management Plans for Metro Vancouver meetings – Organized by Metro Vancouver, these meetings are intended to discuss the current strategies for managing solid and liquid waste. Since this is one of my areas of interest, I *will* be at the Vancouver meeting. Potentially at the Richmond one too. Definitely not anywhere else. Details and the calendar dates can be found here.
Photo credit: Raul on Flickr.
* Green Drinks Vancouver: April 16th, 2008 (5.45pm onwards) – This is a meeting of environmentally-minded folks that happens every third Wednesday of the month. I will for sure be there (and since I’m looking for a job change, I might show up with business cards!). For more information, here’s Green Drinks Vancouver’s page.
If you know of any environmental events worth of publicizing, e-mail me and I’ll amend this post. My contact details are in my About page.
The Justice and Reconciliation project (headed by Dr. Erin Baines) is organizing a fundraiser for the Peace Girl grassroots project in Uganda. From their website:
Peace Girl emerged as an idea after many years of working with former child soldiers and survivors of sexual and gender-based violence in Uganda and Rwanda. It is an offshoot of the Justice and Reconciliation Project, northern Uganda, a joint research initiative of Gulu District NGO Forum and the Liu Institute for Global Issues at the University of British Columbia.
Despite the fact that we have much more knowledge about the plight of girls and young women in conflict zones, and despite the fact that global policies have advanced significantly over the past decade, their situation is grave. We want to break from traditional approaches that views girls and women as victims in these circumstances and stop and listen to what they have to tell us about their survival. We seek to learn from survivors and introduce their stories to audiences who are also willing to listen. [Peace Girl Project website]
Here are the details:
Where: UBC, Liu Institute for Global Issues
When: Starts 5:00pm
Suggested donation: > $8.00
Why: To support Peace Girl, an action research community grassroot project for women in Uganda.
More details can be found here.
If you can’t make it but would like to make a donation, you can click here for more details.
Anyone who knows me well (or who reads my blog) knows that I define myself in many ways. Being a competent salsa and tango dancer is one of them, my absolute dislike for cheese is another, and my love for deep house is yet another. This particular song (I Love You by Unity, remix by Manoo and Francois), I believe totally encapsulates many aspects of my personality. Don’t focus on the lyrics, just listen to the song. And if you feel inclined to do so, (particularly those of you who actually know me in real life), drop a comment and indicate what you think of this song. Does it actually sound like me?
For the song, click here.
I am hoping that the code I found to embed the song will appear on my blog (fingers crossed). If it doesn’t, I’ll come back and add a link. UPDATE – It did upload the widget, but it didn’t show the actual player, so it’s kind of useless. I was hoping I was going to be able to show the online player so that all you needed to do was click the “Play” button, but that didn’t happen. However, I have linked to the song, so I’m hoping you’ll be curious to check it out.
There are several reasons why I am publishing my thoughts on Dr. Michael Geist’s recent lecture at SJC. First, it was a really eye-opening experience, particularly as I am a non-geek blogger. I don’t code, know barely my way around HTML and (up until this morning) had no clue how to insert photos on my WordPress blog. So really, the blogosphere is in a way uncharted territory to me. Geist’s lecture gave me new insights into living a geek’s life as a non-geek (I’ll explain this below). Second, I am an academic – I analyze, challenge, question and think about things – all for a living. Geist is a well-renowned professor who does research and puts his work out for the world to hear (or read). It’s only natural that as an academic, I have an opinion on another academic’s work (even if his area is entirely different to mine). But the third reason and I think, the most important, is that his concept of “the new normal” (as coined by Michael Geist) has hit home with me in so many ways it is almost impossible to ignore. Let me explain. For the past few years, I have refused to join Facebook. Thanks, but no thanks. MySpace? Don’t think so. Friendster? No thank you. The list goes on…
However, as time has gone by, and I’ve embraced blogging more (and as it has become part of my current lifestyle), I have clued in that ‘the new normal’ for geeks is exactly the same ‘new normal’ for me (and everyone else). Yes, I know I refuse to be sucked into technology and I am happy about it. JT has a running joke that he always has the techie gadgets about four years before I do. My current TV? It’s a gift from AF and DM. Not a flat screen, nor an LCD panel. But I love it and it’s served me well. My current DVD player? A gift from my brother. Don’t own a Blu-Ray nor do I care to do so. Cell phone? I lost it a few months ago (yes, I am going to get a one whenever I get around to it, don’t worry!). And even when I had a cell phone, it was pretty basic. The new phone I’m going to buy is pretty basic too. I don’t own an iPhone, and until about a couple of years ago, had very little understanding of podcasting, Second Life, viral marketing, crowdsourcing and all that jazz. So, for me to be immersed in the techno-geek sphere is a new form of seeing the world… and quite frankly, I like it.
In his lecture, Geist described numerous examples of what Geist calls “the new normal” (Michael – if you are reading this, feel free to correct me where appropriate). Amongst the ones that resonated the most with me are:
– Using Facebook, YouTube and other tools to reach broader audiences.
– The emergence of open-access journals.
– Real-time publishing of up-to-date, online information.
– The rise of the “citizen journalism” phenomenon.
– Creative Commons and a new culture of openly sharing knowledge, information and art.
– The evolution of access to government information and privacy laws.
I could go on for pages, and pages, and I think I am going to use this first post to re-think Geist’s ideas more. But there are two points I want to pick on that are relevant.
The first one: online privacy. I have talked about this with bloggers, techno-geek friends and non-blogger friends alike. I have refused to publish my last name online except for a very small number of people, and although I post photos on my blog and on Flickr, I try very hard to keep the personal ones restricted to very few people. Other bloggers post their photos online, and some of those photos may include me in the picture. Maybe I will do the same in the (not so far) future (that is, posting photos of myself), but for now, this is the level of comfort I have. I am sure other bloggers have snapped pictures with me, and generally speaking, I don’t mind if said pictures are posted. But I kind of like thinking that I have some degree of privacy. Although after reading more about the whole Facebook debacle (where some Vancouver-based techno-geek guy was able to access even Mark Zuckerberg’s personal albums) I am somewhat skeptical about privacy. But I think this is one of the collateral elements of “the new normal”: accepting that the boundaries and limits of your privacy aren’t set exactly where you want them set. And understanding that you can set new boundaries and terms that are perfectly compatible with “the new normal”.
For example, my former students know very well that I have not joined Facebook. I have asked them to e-mail me instead to let me know what they are up to (as opposed to reading about it on FB’s Mini-Feed). Having them e-mail me gives our interaction (between the student and myself) a much more personal feel. All of my good friends know that I have refused to join FB, yet they are always willing to e-mail me separately to inform me of a certain party they’d like me to attend.
That is the whole gist of my blog post – I have learned to adapt to “the new normal”, yet I still set my own personal boundaries around what I am comfortable doing and what I am not. I took a stance with respect to FB and all of my friends have respected that stance and the boundaries that it has established it. In doing so, they are also making choices about how they relate to me, and they choose to establish communication through other means (such as e-mail invites to parties and/or updates on what is going on with their lives). Many of them, as a matter of fact, call me and/or organize meetings over coffee to catch up.
The second point I wanted to touch upon (and I better do this quickly as I am fading fast, I’m physically and mentally exhausted – have been battling a headache/migraine all day) was the use of Facebook, SEO and all that jazz to reach broader audiences. I am not going to lie. Do I enjoy the fact that my readership has increased a heck of a lot? Yes, I do, I love it. Would I be thrilled if my readership was that of Rebecca Bollwitt, Darren Barefoot or Stephen Rees, to give you a few examples? Hmmm… Maybe, maybe not. (Side note – Truth be told, I really don’t know how many people read my blog. I usually rely on BlogStats, and not sure really how to get a better number – and yes, for the record, I do love it when people read my blog, and comment on it).
Don’t get me wrong, I *love* being read. I *love* sharing my thoughts and ideas. And I *love* commenting on other bloggers’ sites. But my worry sometimes (not ALL the time) is that with growing readership, I feel that I have a bigger responsibility to my readers. What if I am caught on a day off and I blog some sort of incoherent blurb? What if I decide to just post a music review? I wonder… will readers stop coming to visit my blog? And is that something that would make me sad? I still wonder…
So, yes – I am tempted to use these tools to reach broader audiences (I even signed on to Twitter) but only to the extent that I feel that my privacy is still protected. Of course, I am pretty sure that if I tweet (post a short micro-blog update online), everybody in the blogosphere will know what I am up to. And *that* level of openness I am comfortable with. I have no problem tweeting that I have a migraine (I have had one all day long). Heck, I will not even feel uncomfortable tweeting that I am having brunch at the Nice Cafe on Main and 8th Avenue and asking whether any local bloggers/users of Twitter would like to join. That is just fine. Again, this is a sign of my own adaptation to the “new normal”. For me, “the new normal” will most likely include posting short updates of what I am up to on Twitter.
You may ask yourselves “well, how is Twittering that different from Facebooking?“. I don’t have the answer to that question just yet. I haven’t tweeted enough. I’ll let you in a few weeks/months if the whole Twitter mumbo-jumbo has worked for me.
Final remarks – even as a non-geek, I was completely enthralled by Michael Geist’s lecture. Besides, he’s very pleasant to chat with. No wonder why geeks like him so much. And it was really fun to guest-live-blog for Rebecca.
Now that I have learned how to insert Flickr pictures directly on to my blog, I can walk you through what we did on Saturday afternoon (the cherry blossom photowalk I had talked about), and include a few photos.
I have had this conversation with Nomade Moderne, who is a phenomenal photographer, and with Arjana as well. And PatZ concurs. Apparently, Rule # 1 of Flickr is to only upload what you think are the best photos you’ve taken. Quite honestly, I have to say that I loved ALL my photos from the photowalk. Yes, I deleted about 10, but overall, I really liked them. Comments, absolutely welcome of course.
We then proceeded to drop by Cafe Crepe for a crepe-to-go (in my case, banana and dark chocolate, walking along Thurlow until we reached the cherry blossoms on Beach Avenue and proceeded to take a few more photos.
Arjana suggested to jump in the AquaBus. Since I love undertaking random adventures (and she is one of the best partners-in-crime to do so, plus Pat had never taken the AquaBus), I said “sure, let’s do it“. We crossed the water and reached Granville Island, which is one of my favorite destinations. Bumped into a street guitar player who was playing the first movement of the Moonlight sonata (which I play in the piano) and a random couple started dancing along.
We then walked along Granville Island and sat on the pier overlooking False Creek. I *love* this area, I really do. Arjana offered us some “iced tea” (you know what it was, hehehe) while we took in some of the gorgeous views of False Creek.
Finally, we ended up having a coffee at Starbucks (I was forced into it, I swear! In principle, I do not drink Starbucks – but it was the closest coffee shop and we needed something warm after a photo-walk in the cold). Absolutely loved the company of Arjana and PatZ. It was a great Saturday! And if you really want to see the rest of my photos, here is my Flickr link. I may not be the best photographer in Vancouver, but I really liked how these photos turned out.
Before I could show you some of the pretty pictures I snapped on Saturday’s cherry blossom photo-walk (which I did with PatZ and Arjana), I needed to learn how to insert the Flickr photos on my WordPress-hosted blog. Not having a self-hosted blog makes it a bit harder if you’re not a geek and know your HTML (which is my case).
Even though she and John couldn’t join in the photowalk, Rebecca offered to coach me on how to do the photo insertion so that my cherry blossom post looked obviously nicer. I am not only grateful, but also very honored that she agreed to do this for me. Of course, in absolutely fine geeky form, she did a video. So here is a lesson on how to insert Flickr photos on WordPress, courtesy of (and produced and executed by Miss604.com herself, Rebecca Bollwitt).
(SIDE NOTE – Rebecca sent me the code but somehow WordPress doesn’t want to embed the video, so you’ll have to click on the link above for the video).
Now, just another side comment… I am 100% sure she is going to blush because I am raving about her, but what the heck, hehe. I told Rebecca on a recent GMail Chat conversation that I am a blogger-Padawan, and she is a blogger-Jedi Knight. I admire her not only for her tech-related abilities but also for her good-natured heart. She really doesn’t need link love as her readership is about the size of the population of White Rock, but she’s always quick to provide link love (which is always good in my books!).
She blushed profusely when I told her that my blog had taken off ever since we did the Blogathon 2007, and her contribution towards my blog’s rise has been substantial. I started blogging on April 23rd, 2006 (yes, my two-year blogiversary is coming up). When I e-mailed Rebecca about whether she was planning to do Blogathon, she said that she was. If you see my blog stats and the number of posts I used to write per month, I have gone from 3 readers (yes I know who you are!) and a maximum of 10 posts a month to an average of 60 posts per month (last time I checked on Blogspot, I don’t know how to check this on WordPress) and a good 150-200 individual visits per day. Not bad, I would say! Of course, I know this doesn’t show those who follow me on their RSS feeds or Google Reader (and most likely it won’t show those who will follow me on Twitter, because – YES I fell prey to Twitter, I am signed on as @hummingbird604 – and about to download the Thwirl application).
And from time to time, I ask for some tips which she is always quick to provide. So, for this and much more, thank you, Rebecca!
April 7th, 2008 in
Vancouver |
3 Comments
Over two years ago, my friend HZ introduced me to a lovely couple of friends of his. Both of them have PhDs (albeit in completely and unrelated fields) and they’re very smart. Whenever I need to talk shop about the ins and outs of academia, they are always insightful and very encouraging. We have shared lots of laughs, good times, jokes and bottles of wine. I spent American Thanksgiving at their house and had a fantastic time.
I had been meaning to come and visit to meet their newborn baby, but I had not made the time to do so. While KS and I were chatting on GMail Chat, we agreed that Friday was a good day to come visit, so I showed up at their apartment armed with camera in tow. The truth is, our mutual friend HZ is MUCH better photographer than I am, but I decided that even if I’m not a great photographer, I wanted to meet the baby and what better memento for their parents than pictures of the whole family? So, I braved the weather and came by for a photo session. I had a great time (we did end up talking shop, which was really fun). The only sad element is that I just learned they’re moving to the US soon. That’s what I hate about academia: your friends move away all the time.
Respect of their privacy, I have decided not to post pictures of their beautiful baby on here nor on my Flickr account (I have a PicasaWeb account with Google, so I’ll post them there), but I just thought I’d share what I did on Friday evening. And besides, taking pictures of babies (particularly when those babies are your nephews/nieces both ‘natural’ and ‘adopted’ is much more fun – SIDE NOTE – In Mexico, the tradition is that the children of your close friends become your ‘adopted’ nephews and nieces. Which means that I have a HECK of a lot of ‘adopted’ nieces and nephews).
My weekend ended up being extremely intense, with volleyball, the photo walk (hanging out with Pat Z. and Arjana), coffee with Jonathon Narvey, brunch with K, L, R and W (which is always nice – and considering that Crave is very reliable for brunch, I’m a happy man). And of course, I’ll tell you all about the cherry blossom photo-walk (Pat Z and Arjana already have their photos up on their respective blogs and Flickr).
However, this weekend has also been very tiring and thus you’ll have to wait until tomorrow (Monday) for me to tell you all about what I did this weekend. For now, go and read Pat’s blog (who was recently profiled on Miss604.com) and look at the pretty pictures in Arjana’s Flickr stream.
I had previously indicated that I was organizing a photo-walk to take pictures of the cherry blossoms, and given the crappy weather we had had, I didn’t know if it would happen or not. Since some of you have expressed interest in doing the photo-walk regardless of the weather, I figured we could do a first attempt, using one of the locations that would have the best transit access: the Burrard Skytrain station. This location has some beautiful cherry blossoms that we can take pictures of. And then engage in some walking.
Regardless of the weather (which I hope won’t be all bad), I plan to be there tomorrow Saturday April 5th, 2008 at 4:00pm (within the ticket vending machines). I’ll have my camera with me (hence I am hoping I will be easily recognizable). If the weather is decent, we may want to either go to Stanley Park or walk down to Beach Avenue.
Thanks to the hard work of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival organizers, you can find a great map of locations in Vancouver for cherry blossom viewing.
The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival is organizing lots of events.
The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival welcomes you to the third annual city-wide cherry blossom celebration this spring, capturing the exuberance of the blossoming with new cultural programming including the Cherry Jam Downtown concert, Haiku Invitational, Plein-air Blossom Painting, Haiku Garden, BC Blossom Watch, self guided walks with the Cherry Blossom Viewing Map and Picnic, The Cherry Trolley Tours, Bike the Blossoms, and The Pink Tie Affair. There are so many unique ways to enjoy this exciting celebration which you can discover on the festival website. Uplifting city spirits, the ephemeral nature of the blossoms remind us all to take time to celebrate life now. [Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival ‘About Us’
There is an interesting walk scheduled for the morning of Saturday April 12th (I’m free after brunch, but then busy at night as I have a great party to go to – hehehe numerous bloggers will be there, I am sure!).
So if you want to join in the cherry blossom photo-walk, feel free to meet at the ticket vending machines at Burrard Skytrain station, Saturday April 5th, 2008 at 4:00pm. See you there! I figure we’ll wait for about 15 mins to see how many people show up and then start the photo-walk. Cheers!
Frankly, I hate rainy days (immediate question asked by random person on the street and/or close friend walking near by: “so why do you live in Vancouver if you hate rain” … Raul’s answer “…”). I mean, please, weather gods, can we just have ONE full week of full sun? I don’t care if it’s cold, I’ve learned to layer up. Geez…
The problem with rainy days is that they may screw up my “Cherry Blossom Photo-Walk”, the one I’ve been trying to organize for a couple of weeks. If the weather cooperates tomorrow, there might be a cherry blossom walk. Please check my blog tonight and I’ll let you know where we stand. I might have to cancel, depending on whether people are willing to go for the photo-walk regardless of the crappy weather. Can I have a show of hands who would be interested? Thank you. Drop me a comment or an email.
Well, after having had a minor weather-related rant, here is some link love. Note: some of these posts *may* be recent (e.g. within the last week), but not necessarily. While I admit that yeah, sometimes I *love* bringing you very fresh content (liveblogs count as ABSOLUTELY FRESH, on-the-spot content), this Friday link love is just for some posts I think you would benefit from reading.
– Duane is going to the 2008 Junos and Rebecca has an action-packed post about it. I am looking forward to Duane’s coverage. And of course, to pretty pictures 😀
– Phaedra tells you some rather important stuff about Maca. For a second there I thought she was going to trick me with “Maca…damia nuts”. Sorry, silly joke 😀 … go read about its properties!
– Corinna and Adam are launching a Sock Monkey business and they tell you all about it. I think those sock monkeys are totally lovable 😀 I should seriously consider getting one!
– Barbara (who usually talks a lot about love!) makes a couple of good points on Earth Hour and Live Earth and stuff. Since I’m an environment specialist, I *should* read them in detail and offer my thoughts. But given that I’m almost running out the door for another engagements, I’ll read them tonight – but YOU should read them now 😀
– Jonathon tells you the small things you can do to save the environment, even in your small business offices. Great suggestions 🙂 My ecological footprint is not as small as I wish it was, but hey I’m working on it!
– Maktaaq gives you an overview of a recent Africa-focused book. By the way, even though this is a serious and insightful post of hers, you should really read some of her earlier writing. She is SO incredibly funny!
– Keira-Anne always writes beautifully but this particular post hit home with me. It’s really poetic. You need to read it to understand.
Ok, I got still a lot of love (and link love) to give, but I have a heck of a lot of things, errands, appointments and stuff to do. So, I got to run. I’m off to take pictures of a wonderful couple of friends of mine and their beautiful newborn.
And YES – I do have commentary on the Geist lecture and the ‘new normal’ But I don’t have the time to post it right now. Sorry, got to run 😀
