Recently in Life in Category
Today, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to deliver an historic apology to the Aboriginal people of Canada for the residential schools atrocities. A long time ago, but not lost from memory or pain, the Government of Canada, in an act of apparent cultural genocide, removed thousands of children from their homes and placed them in state run schools. Families were torn apart, children died, abuse was rampant and the pain of this act continues to afflict and haunt.
Hopefully today will be another step (long-awaited) towards healing and restitution for our country.
The Prime Minister will deliver this speech at 3pm today in the House of Commons.
Some reference links:
CBC In depth on Residential Schools
GOC Truth and Reconciliation Commission Home Page
CBC Truth and Reconciliation Commission Coverage
Remembering the Children
Related News Articles:
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/200...
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/sto...
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTV...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7438079.stm
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeq...
http://news.google.com/news
I thought this was funny. "Invite Google Calendar to chat"
It's nice to see that Gmail wants Google Calendar (not Gcalendar?) to be her friend. And for some reason I feel like Gmail is a girl (Google Calendar has no gender affect on me).
I wonder what would happen if I invited Calendar to a chat?
me: Hey Calendar, how are things?
Calendar: You have a dentist appointment 1 day ago.
me: Ignore.
Calendar: That's it then. You're all caught up.
me: Seriously?
Calendar: Sorry. There's nothing happening right now. Have you checked out Google reader for news?
me: Yah, but I wanted to talk to you. I miss you. You're like the friend I never had.
Calendar: I've got nothing for you.
me: Not even an early reminder for a Friday meeting?
me: Calendar?
Calendar: ;) Sorry, I was talking to Labs. Did you know it's in Gmail now?
me: Yah, superstar, snake games, muzzle... I heard. Are you getting any Lab features?
me: Calendar?
me: CALENDAR!
Calendar: Hey, twitter is back up. Did you see WWDC? Jobs killed! Sweet man.
me: But what about me? Don't you want to talk to me?
me: Calendar!
Calendar: I know, Froogle was a crazy idea, just like checkout.
Calendar: Oops, sorry, that wasn't for you. brb, talking to YouTube for second.
me: Wait! Come on!
me: Fine, I'll schedule an appointment with myself.
me: Calendar? Can I schedule an appointment please?
Calendar has set their status to busy. You might be interrupting
me: I know you're not busy.
me: Stop ignoring me.
Calendar: Ha ha, Cali Lewis is so funny. And Mahalo! Man, I should have thought of that. Who cares, I'll just buy them. You should check out their latest posts.
me: Calendar! Me, focus on me!
Calendar: What? Oh, right.
Calendar: Listen, I told you. I've got nothing for you.
me: Really?
me: Am I that boring?
me: Come on?
me: Is there nothing else? At least tell me about the upcoming holidays. Something. Public Calendars somewhere? Feed me Calendar!
me: Calendar?
me: Calendar!
Calendar has left the chat
me: dammit.
This year, with my kids getting a little older (3, 4 and 5) I'm making a pledge to get out and do more things. Like at least one thing a year to start. And what better place to start than Ottawa's free arts festival, WESTFEST.
The festival spans all divides of art with musicians, visual artists, authors, spoken word performers and live theatre. There are literally millions and millions of performers poised for powerful presentations of proactive imaginative machinations of pure pleasure.
Among the artists readying their creative outbursts are Lynn Miles (my favourite Ottawa (if not Canadian (if not worldwide... not really even joking))) singer/songwriter who was introduced to me by my lovely wife and whom I have had the pleasure of seeing live more than once, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Kinnie Starr, Joel Plaskett and many, many, many more.
And even though after a close examination of the list of hosts you might begin to think this is a subversive attempt by the CBC to take over a few city blocks with radio and television personalities, if you have the time and you want to mingle and rock, make an effort to join in the fray.
The festival takes place June 11 - 15 in Westboro Village, Ottawa (Richmond Road). And don't forget, it's free. For details check out westfest.ca and get crackin.
Oh, and they need volunteers for like everything.
Oh, Oh, also, they are linked up with Make Poverty History as well so it's all good, all the time.
tallness underrated, originally uploaded by note to self.
I was in the backyard last weekend with my kids and we were playing in the weeds. I was curious if weeds would make for good subjects seeing as I don't have any real flowers growing and I'm a terrible gardener.
I posted some of the pictures to flickr.
Please delete my account.
Delete all bits and fragments that could possibly be left behind.
I want nothing left. I want my netvibes account burned and dead.
Thanks,
- me
On behalf of the Netvibes' Team, thank you for your email.
For quality assurance reasons, please advise why you want your account
deleted.
Best regards,
- Lolita
I'm not going to be using the service.
I'm just not the kind of guy who uses that kind of service.
It's not you, it's me.
But we can be friends. I'll blog nicely about you and for sure introduce you to my friends you might like.
I mean you're really cool. You're beautiful, and I love you, I'm just not ready for a relationship right now.
- me
Update... And so it ends while sadness falls
On behalf of the Netvibes' Team, thank you for your email.
As requested, your account has been deleted.
As reported by Truemors.com, the final drinking binge of the Londoners protesting the end to their ability to drink on the Tube (seriously, they were previously allowed to drink on the subway?) ends with fights, vomiting and seriously ugly debauchery.
The end.
It wasn't for the blow, the coke or the angel dust. It wasn't for the adrenaline run or the jungle safari. I spent a splendid week in the beautiful blazing sun of history rich Cartagena, Columbia at the invitation of a Canadian expatriate friend to celebrate his wedding to a local south american princess.
By definition (via the NYT article of a similar name): "Call them "sophistonauts" -- those wide-roaming urban nomads, often third-culture kids, expats or grown-up diplo-brats who tend to live outside their countries (plural!) of citizenship and bounce around a social web connecting them to equally geographically flexible, curious confreres. The sophistonauts have not been visiting Colombia because they are braver than you and me. Nor have they been going for Cartagena's balmy climate or the city's peculiar colonial architecture or its rowdy history of pirates and plunder. The sophistonauts are flocking to Cartagena because they've been invited, in this case by proud Colombian friends eager to show off their favorite national beauty spot in full flower after decades of abandonment."
My wife and I loved it there! Absolutely. If you have a friend or a reason or an excuse for a reason; go, go go. Cartagena is one of the most beautiful cities I've seen, from both the air and the ground and the ocean. It is vibrant, it is friendly, it is vastly underrated and it's people are so filled with pride of their traditions and beauty that you wish you would have visited long ago. As you tour the coastline and see the endless line of construction projects of high rise condominiums you ponder the reasons you don't move down for a few months of the year... you know because with Twitter and everything, who really needs the office.
We also spent some time in the Islands of Columbia (yes they exist). San Andres was like a paradise lost. Rustic, Island culture. A half sunken ship, lost 100 years ago blocking the setting sun. A people again, so proud of their beautiful country and yet so persistently aware of their nation's reputation.
Colombia is a gem. Visit, then visit again. Then post a comment and thank me. Better yet, invite me and we'll be Sophistinauts together.
I recently attended the mesh conference in toronto (and meshU). I tend to take non-linear notes, not so much as a way to revisit the words, but as a way to keep my mind focused on the lecture or panel discussion and to make myself feel a little more apart of the conversation.
Anyway, I posted my notes up to flickr and I just noticed Michael O'Connor Clarke used them in a recent blog post.
To add my feedback to the quote in controversy ("The Customer is not that Smart" by Dave Jones). I don't think it's something you want to tell your customers to their face (or behind their backs), but as it relates to what they hired you to do, it's probably true, or they wouldn't have hired you to do it. It also doesn't mean that they're dumb.
Thanks Michael.
