stand up for education

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the students of America, the wealthiest nation on the planet, are ranked 24th place in math.























































"Whether you think you can or you think you can't - you are right." Henry Ford

The Word-Truthiness

In its 16th annual words of the year vote, the American Dialect Society voted truthiness as the 2005 word of the year. Recently popularized on the Colbert Report, a satirical mock news show on the Comedy Central television channel, truthiness refers to the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true. As Stephen Colbert put it, “I don’t trust books. They’re all fact, no heart.” Other meanings of the word date as far back as 1824.

Canadian pronunciation of the word coupon

Traditionally, the retention of the diphthong [ɪu] (as in cute [kɪut]) is said to distinguish Canadian English speakers from American English speakers. Thus we assume the Canadian pronunciation of coupon should retain the glide and be pronounced [kɪupɑn]. However, as the word coupon never contained the [ɪu] sound, its "retention" in this word is actually a hypercorrection, and the true Canadian pronunciation of coupon is the same as the phonology in noon [kupɑn].

(ENGL 320: History of the English Language)

red chair project

for under $30 and 4 hours of labour, i was able to make 2 plastic adirondack chairs headed for the dump, shinier than new.

1 can RUST-OLEUM plastic spray paint (primer)
2 cans RUST-OLEUM plastic spray paint (Colonial Red - awful name!)

(no i do not work for RUST-OLEUM or any of their affiliates. when i went to the store to purchase my paint i was overwhelmed by all the options, so i thought it would be kind to prevent that from happening to someone else. and so i share the success of the particular paint that i chose.)

so the question is, what is more harmful to the environment?
a. the nasty effects of aerosol cans and the toxic paint gases released into the air (probably would have been less harmful if i had been in a spray room with proper exhaust, rather than outside on my patio).
b. the waste of discarding perfectly useable plastic furniture and pretending that it will decompose in the landfill.

your kind of cake?

good find christopher!

and speaking of bees...

An artist I revere was featured in that same Beetalker episode of The Nature of Things. Manitoban Aganetha Dyck collaborates with honey bees to create her otherworldy, interspecies art.

beetalker: the secret world of bees

A recent episode of David Suzuki's The Nature of Things featured honey bees and their protector Dr. Mark Winston.

"I think of bees not for the individual things they do, but as a whole, the way they're so integrated into nature. They pollinate, they produce honey, but they have this magnificent social structure that depends on each other in order to survive. And I think that's the fundamental lesson that we take out of a beehive is how important it is to rely on each other and depend on each other and work with each other if we're going to have a successful planet."

One of his online bios describes Mark as "that rare individual, a scientist who can speak eloquently to the public." That is a serious simplification of the presence of such a compassioniate human being, but it is absolutely true. I was lucky enough to be invited to a "screening" of the show with a group of Dr. Winston's students and friends (thank you Delanie!). He is an inspiration.

simplicity

To know what to leave out and what to put in; just where and just how, ah, that is to have been educated in the knowledge of simplicity.

Frank Lloyd Wright

ricky gervais on the bible

Perhaps you missed the hilarity that was The Office. Maybe you haven't heard The Ricky Gervais Show or seen The Ricky Gervais Podcast. Ricky Gervais makes me wet my knickers ... Obviously.

this post brought to you by the letter Christopher.

scooters

The power scooter is a wonderful invention that has improved the mobility and increased the independence of thousands.

Is the latest scooter trend an abuse of the machine's function?
Motorized scooters for the disabled are finding a lucrative new market: People just sick of walking.

..."Now waiting on line at the buffet is no problem," she says. "You just sit there"...

...In the last year, Pride has super-sized models like the Maxima and introduced the Celebrity-X, to keep up with the increase in obesity...

..."I tell the usher, how do I get all the way back there? And he puts us right in the mezzanine with the handicapped people"...

(thank you for the link Mr. Christopher!)

ethanol

"Vinod Khosla is a venture capitalist considered one of the most successful and influential personalities in Silicon Valley. He was one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems and became a general partner of the venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers in 1986." "On Wednesday, March 29th, by invitation from our co-founders and CEO, our special guest, Vinod Khosla, visited Google to deliver a tech talk about the emergence of ethanol as a viable, market ready, and competitive source of renewable energy." a grain of salt: a Silicon Valley billionaire, who wants to save the world from oil.

crave aid

saw this in l'architecture d'aujourdh'hui (no. 357: mars-avril 2005).

followed it to IDEO's website:

Crave Aid concept
for IDEO
Concept for skin patch to fight food cravings

Much like nicotine patches that allow wearers to wean themselves of cravings without enduring withdrawal symptoms, Crave Aid food patches are intended to be worn on the skin to allow us to experience the fantasy ingestion of unhealthy foods.

Our palettes are trained to desire foods that are high in sugar and fat content. We endure cravings for these foods that are so powerful they alter our moods and interfere with our body chemistry. Studies show that women can overcome sugar cravings if a drop of vanilla is worn on the wrist and sniffed when the craving starts.

Created as part of the "Value Meal" exhibition at the Design Bienale in St. Etienne, France, the Crave Aid food patches were an ironic take on a way to overcome cravings for unhealthy foods. The curators asked us to create a conceptual, engaging, and light-hearted piece that commented on the dangerous habit of consuming unhealthy food.

Our idea was to ironically present food cravings as a medical emergency and to engage visitors and foster dialogue by offering a take-away, which led to the emergency kit reference and the food patches dispensed from the modified emergency box. Reportedly, food patches were spotted on visitors to the Bienale all over town for a few days.

Teams:
Industrial Design

Project Date: 2005

summer stocking stuffers for the ladies

I have to give props to a clever solution to any design problem (especially if it's local - yay! Vancouver, BC). Now I will use my best infomercial voice. Ahem. "Ladies, if you're tired of the tank top/bra strap combo, and looking to de-clutter your summer look, have we got the answer for you!" Embrace

the planet is fine

George Carlin is a challenging and hilarious talent. This is one of my favourites. Check out Part II, or better yet, buy Jammin in New York and enjoy the whole sh-bang!

rotoscope

Scanner Darkly is a very cool film. Though I'm not a huge fan of rotoscoping, it was a totally appropriate choice for the colour of the story.


My new favourite actor (after this and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) is Mr. Robert Downey Junior - hilarious / quirky / sexy.

Director: Richard Linklater (Fast Food Nation, Waking Life, Dazed and Confused)

Story from: Philip K. Dick (Minority Report, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? ie. Blade Runner, We Can Remember it for you Wholesale ie. Total Recall)

Thank you Miss Sarah for inviting us to the screening!

she makes me wanna speak spanish

"Hips Don't Lie". there is nothing i do not love about this video. i'm not a fan of Shakira, but after seeing this, i obssessively believe she is the most smokin pop culture diva of the day (for now). so no judgements. watch the video.

Buy Nothing Day?

How about a Buy Nothing YEAR!

That's right.
From the Publisher: "Disgusted with the commerce in everything from pet cloning to patriotism, panicked over the fate of her finances and that of the trash-strewn earth, Judith Levine enlists her partner, Paul, in a radical experiment: to forgo all but the most necessary purchases for an entire year.

Without consumer goods and experiences, Judith and Paul pursue their careers, nurture relationships, and try to keep their sanity, their identities, and their sense of humor intact. Tracking their progress—and inevitable lapses—Levine contemplates need and desire, scarcity and security, consumerism and citizenship. She asks the Big Questions: Can the economy survive without shopping? Are Q-tips necessary?

Not Buying It is no primer on the simple life and how to live it. It's the confessions of a woman any reader can identify with: someone who can't live without French roast coffee or SmartWool socks but who has had it up to here with overconsumption and its effects on the earth and everyone who dwells there."

Oh ya. And don't go out and buy the book - hit the library to borrow a copy for free!

really?!

Geoff Lawton is a permaculture consultant/designer/teacher from Australia and this bloke's got some big important ideas.
he can turn deserts into gardens.
(the presentation isn't super slick, but it's well worth watching)

taste of kelowna

took a road trip to kelowna for a good friend's wedding reception this weekend.










my impression of kelowna is a fast-expanding, amenity-packed, playboy/playgirl car town. the most appealing feature is being situated on big blue okanagan lake - a near neccessity in the dry okanagan heat.
on the super sunny drive there (though i'm not a bit fan of air con.) i was finding it a bit warm without, ie. my back was sweating and it was gross! have to admit that i was expecting to see more orchards and vineyards along the highway and found it disappointing to be surrounded by dried out/burnt bushes of trees. maybe that idyllic landscape i was hoping for is more abundant further along the road.
anyway, had a rip roarin good time at the party - best limo ride ever on the way home (unfortunately i didn't get the name of the driver). thanks sam and serina and families for "letting us live on your farm"!

potentially useful information to pass on:
1. stopped at the Hope Drive-in & Restaurant in Hope. i had a delicious clubhouse sandwich with turkey barley soup. though we didn't have any, the wide variety of pies looked incredible.
2. stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in a non-smoking room with 2 queen beds. we spent $220 on the room after tax. it was a huge corner room with big big windows: plenty of space for 4 adults. the beds were super comfy (each body had TWO plump pillows and the covers included a duvet). the shower and toilet were separate from the sink so we didn't even suffer from bathroom conflicts! there is a cactus club, a starbuck's and a wal-mart within walking distance.
notes: if we had been in kelowna to play at the lake, the location could have been more ideal and i didn't have a chance to check out the pool.
3. ate at Merritt's Coldwater Hotel on the way home. the building is so completely old west. it was built in 1908, but the original balconies and clapboard siding (restored in 1986) look more movie-set historic than historically preserved. as for the food, both chris & angela enjoyed their chicken caesar wraps, and i enjoyed my "killer fries" - though the BLT had a sickly sweet taste that i didn't really care for.

don't know what to read next?

i haven't tested the results of my searches by reading any of the recommendations, but whatshouldireadnext.com is a wicked good idea. book suggestions are based on items entered into personal favourites lists; unlike amazon's recommendations, the information is based on mass opinion rather than spending patterns. i know my own amazon purchases are often gifts for others (Stokes Field Guide To Bird Songs Western Region for my mom on her birthday), or required texts for courses, and i know that i don't always like the books i buy. take it for a spin and see what you find.

more than inspiration

The Merger

















Medecine
Gustav Klimt :: 1900-1907
















The River
Michael Parkes :: 1994

old school in the new school

#1 place to study/read @ UBC : The Ridington Room, in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. i feel smarter just sitting there.
photo from Flickr courtesy Cyprien Lomas.

kiss kiss bang bang

thank you mr. something for sending it my way! i would have completely missed this wee gem! the script is witty. the lines are well-timed. don't judge it by the trailer because seriously, i was busting a gut.

illustrated moments

act.000
artist :: myouji/name ayumi

see also ::
marumarumaru
trick
kakoyuuu
prima
sukima
furnace

books that mean something to me :: 1

"our entire economy is built on human weaknesses, on bad habits and insecurities. Fashion. Fast food. Sports cars. Techno-gadgets. Sex toys. Diet centres. Hair clubs for men. Personal ads. Fringe religious sects. Professional sports teams--there's vicarious living for you! Hair salons. Male mid-life crisis. Shopping binges. Our entire way of life is built on self-doubt and dissatisfaction..."
Happiness by Will Ferguson is meaningful AND hilarious!

and now it's time for a graphic!

the end.

the 100 most meaningful books of all time

A 2002 survey of around 100 well-known authors from 54 countries voted for the "most meaningful book of all time" in a poll organised by editors at the Norwegian Book Clubs in Oslo. Voters included Doris Lessing, Salman Rushdie, Carlos Fuentes and Norman Mailer.

1. Don Quixote Miguel de Cervantes
2. Things fall apart Chinua Achebe
3. Fairy tales and stories Hans Christian Andersen
4. Pride and prejudice Jane Austen
5. Old Goriot Honore de Balzac
6. Trilogy: Molloy, Malone dies, The Unnamable Samuel Beckett
7. Decameron Giovanni Boccaccio
8. Collected fictions Jorge Luis Borges
9. Wuthering Heights Emily Bronte
10. The Stranger Albert Camus
11. Poems Paul Celan
12. Journey to the end of the night Louis-Ferdinand Celine
13. Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer
14. Nostromo Joseph Conrad
15. The Divine Comedy Dante Alighieri
16. Great expectations Charles Dickens
17. Jacques the fatalist and his master Denis Diderot
18. Berlin Alexanderplatz Alfred Doblin
19. Crime and punishment Fyodor Dostoyevsky
20. The Idiot Fyodor Dostoyevsky
21. The Possessed Fyodor Dostoyevsky
22. The Brothers Karamazov Fyodor Dostoyevsky
23. Middlemarch George Eliot
24. Invisible man Ralph Ellison
25. Medea Euripides
26. Absalom, Absalom William Faulkner
27. The Sound and the fury William Faulkner
28. Madame Bovary Gustave Flaubert
29. A Sentimental education Gustave Flaubert
30. Gypsy Ballads Federico Garcia Lorca
31. One hundred years of solitude Gabriel Garcia Marquez
32. Love in the time of cholera Gabriel Garcia Marquez
33. The Epic of Gilgamesh
34. Faust Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
35. Dead souls Nikolai Gogol
36. The Tin Drum Günter Grass
37. The Devil to pay in the backlands Joao Guimaraes Rosa
38. Hunger Knut Hamsun
39. The Old man and the sea Ernest Hemingway
40. The Iliad Homer
41. The Odyssey Homer
42. A Doll's house Henrik Ibsen
43. The Book of Job Anon
44. Ulysses James Joyce
45. The Complete Stories Franz Kafka
46. The Trial Franz Kafka
47. The Castle Franz Kafka
48. The Recognition of Sakuntala Kalidasa
49. The Sound of the mountain Yasunari Kawabata
50. Zorba the Greek Nikos Kazantzakis
51. Sons and lovers D H Lawrence
52. Independent people Halldor K Laxness
53. Complete poems Giacomo Leopardi
54. The Golden notebook Doris Lessing
55. Pippi Longstocking Astrid Lindgren
56. Diary of a madman and other stories Lu Xun
57. Mahabharata Anon
58. Children of Gebelawi Naguib Mahfouz
59. Buddenbrooks Thomas Mann
60. The Magic Mountain Thomas Mann
61. Moby Dick Herman Melville
62. Essays Michel de Montaigne
63. History Elsa Morante
64. Beloved Toni Morrison
65. The Tale of Genji Murasaki Shikibu
66. The Man without qualities Robert Musil
67. Lolita Vladimir Nabokov
68. Njal's saga
69. 1984 George Orwell
70. Metamorphoses Ovid
71. The Book of Disquiet Fernando Pessoa
72. The Complete tales Edgar Allan Poe
73. Remembrance of things past Marcel Proust
74. Gargantua and Pantagruel Francois Rabelais
75. Pedro Paramo Juan Rulfo
76. The Mathnawi Jalalu'l-Din Rumi
77. Midnight's children Salman Rushdie
78. The Bostan of Saadi (The Orchard) Sheikh Saadi of Shiraz
79. A Season of migration to the north Tayeb Salih
80. Blindness Jose Saramago
81. Hamlet William Shakespeare
82. King Lear William Shakespeare
83. Othello William Shakespeare
84. Oedipus the King Sophocles
85. The Red and the black Stendhal
86. The Life and opinions of Tristram Shandy Laurence Sterne
87. Confessions of Zeno Italo Svevo
88. Gulliver's travels Jonathan Swift
89. War and Peace Leo Tolstoy
90. Anna Karenina Leo Tolstoy
91. The Death of Ivan Ilyich and other stories Leo Tolstoy
92. Selected Stories Anton Chekhov
93. Thousand and One Nights
94. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Mark Twain
95. Ramayana Valmiki
96. The Aeneid Virgil
97. Leaves of grass Walt Whitman
98. Mrs Dalloway Virginia Woolf
99. To the lighthouse Virginia Woolf
100. Memoirs of Hadrian Marguerite Yourcenar

Of the 7 that I have read, I would say that only George Orwell's 1984 is of change-your-life quality.

my consumption poetry

this is my call,
nay.
my cry.
my blood-curdling SCREAM.
for a new way,
a new deal.
i hear it.
consume consomme consumere
take devour finish squander gorge
take up completely and for always
it is for me (all of it).
for my in di vi du al it y.
today, "today is the greatest day"
and i hear your answer.
"sustain"
"sustain"able consumptionnnnnnn.

impossibility.
to sustain: to continue, to go on, to hold, to maintain, and for all time.
to consume: to take.
the taking of all, until all you had is gone.
so it must be something
else
something altogether else
for tomorrow
and us
and for earth-connectedness
to protect, to preserve, to use and give back.
it needs a name.
beorgan borgian borwen
borrow

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

if i cannot quench your fire
quel your desire
if you will continue to want
and want
sustainably
forever ...
i will follow behind
and perhaps some day
you will turn round
and see.

phone trickery

how could i NOT share this most amusing trick with you?!
so get to it! have some fun! (just don't be a jerk!)

beautiful wisdom

we are the environment, and the environment is us.
we deal with all of nature as equal members of the universal family.
we go to the mountain, we got into the mountain,
we become the mountain - never trying to overcome it,
but always being part of its energies.
(Aboriginal Elder)










my mother earth

amusing political cartoon

terra lund

taste the artwork of my friend terra.








(her art is on the walls of Alice's apartment in the latest season of the L Word!!)

do you have a mac?

have you seen the new apple ads?
hee hee.