The Other London

November music releases I'm looking forward to via @Storify

2011-10-29T18:16:00.000-07:00

I decided to spend the afternoon checking out the new updates to Storify and simultaneously drafting up my Christmas wish list ;)

Snack city slide show: Food we ate during our Seattle weekend getaway

2011-10-25T20:59:00.001-07:00

My Favourite Places on Vancouver Island: Mount Finlayson, Goldstream Provincial Park

2011-10-11T14:22:00.000-07:00

The summit of Mount Finlayson

Hike length: Approximately 4km
Hike duration: 2-3 hours

If you like your outdoor experiences to include an blood pumping workout, then this trail should be right up your alley.

The hike up Mount Finlayson in Goldstream Provincial Park just outside Victoria was one of the first trails we hiked after moving to Victoria. It's among the select must-do day hikes locals dependably recommend to newcomers - a collection of world-class gems that includes East Sooke Regional Park's Coastal trail, for it's gorgeous vistas, and Botanical Beach at Juan De Fuca Provincial Park, for marine life viewing.

The Mount Finlayson trail can be accessed a short distance from the parking lot at Goldstream's main entrance on Highway 1, just west of Victoria (map). From the main entrance, follow the side road from the parking lot across the bridge and into the park to the trailhead. Just past the bridge, look for a large sign and an intimidating-at-first-glance flight of stairs. If stairs aren't your thing, or if you're looking to ease into the hike, take the alternate, slightly less steep trail to your left. The two routes meet a short way up the mountain.

After the two trails merge, the path continues climbing through beautiful, mossy, green forest until levelling out for a short stretch near the Bear Mountain subdivision.

The trees change from soaring pines to scraggly arbutus, then disappear all together as the trail turns into a steeper scramble up the remaining distance to the rocky summit. I believe most hikers familiar with this trail see this as being the fun part of the hike, though I have had a handful of hiking companions suggest this section can challenge the reserve of anyone with a fear of heights.

The summit is a nice spot to enjoy a meal or snack before you make your way back down the mountain. From the top you can enjoy views of the Olympic Mountains and the Straight of Juan De Fuca.

Planning tips:

Sections of this trail are a bit technically challenging. Wear shoes with good support and rubber soles that will grip rocky surfaces, especially important in slippery, wet weather.
It's also possible to approach or descend from the summit of Mount Finlayson via the north side of the mountain from an access point a little over a kilometre down Finlayson Arm Road from Goldstream's main entrance. This is a gentler route that doubles the distance of the hike.
As an added bonus, if you head out to Goldstream over the next month or so (mid-October to early December) you should also be able to catch the park's yearly salmon run.

How to make a pumpkin pie

2011-10-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

My first (successful) pumpkin pie

I felt ambitious enough to try my hand at making another pumpkin pie this year. My last attempt, which had a disastrous outcome, took place when I made a somewhat less-than-stellar Thanksgiving dinner for my German hosts when I was traveling in Europe a number of years back. Gladly, I was very happy with the results this time around. In celebration of the coming Thanksgiving weekend, and to atone for my sins of Thanksgivings past, here's the recipe. Guten Appetit!

What you'll need:

4 large eggs
3 cups fresh pumpkin puree
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 unbaked, 9 inch pie shell

To prepare the pumpkin, remove the seeds, cut into chunks and remove the skin. Boil, roast or steam the pumpkin until tender then puree. Cool to room temperature and drain off any standing liquid that forms.

Mix the pumpkin puree with the remaining ingredients until well blended and pour into an unbaked pie shell. When it comes to pie shells, I usually use whatever pastry recipe comes on the box of the shortening I've bought. Read my blog post, Things I’ve learned about making pies, for more on how to make pie pastry.

Bake the pie at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes. The top of the pie will be slightly browned and the middle of the pie will still look slightly wet when it's done.

More tips:

- Use a small pumpkin. I chose one that was a little bit smaller than a basketball and ended up with enough pumpkin puree to make two pies.

- If you don't have pumpkin pie spice, you can also use a mix of spices (1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon cloves, and 1/2 teaspoon ginger).

- This is the kind of pie that needs to bake a while for the filling to cook. If your pie crust starts to darken too quickly around the edges, cover the rim of your pie with a strip of tin foil (shiny side out).

- Save the seeds and roast them in a pan with a little oil and a sprinkling of salt. Yum!

While your pumpkin is stewing you can roast the seeds in a pan with a little oil and salt.

Aidan Knight and Snailhouse, live and in concert! ...in my neighbour's living room

2011-10-05T15:31:00.000-07:00

Aidan Knight and some of his Friendly Friends performing at a house concert in Victoria, BC.

About this time last year, I wrote a blog entry about my first house concert experience. Over the past year I've had the pleasure of attending a number of these events, every one of them fantastic. When it comes to live performances, the intimacy of watching a musician play to a small crowd in a private residence cannot be beat.

The Aidan Knight concert I recently attended was no exception. Opening act, Snailhouse (Mike Feuerstack of the Wooden Stars) started off the night with a short - sadly, I felt, a little too short - set of emotion packed songs. After a quick break, Knight took to the stage/living room floor while some of his backing musicians, the Friendly Friends, wandered through the rest of the house playing their instruments. From the introspective and melancholy, Lambics, to the feel-good, Jasper, it was a captivating experience made all the more personal and charming in a home setting. Knight's music is a carefully tuned harmony of contrasts (despite all the trouble he experienced with a faulty tuner during his performance). Familiar sounding melodies with unusual orchestration; sometimes dynamic and filled with texture, sometimes sparse; and lyrics that reflect his youthful perspective balanced with just the right amount of world-weary wisdom.

From time to time I get asked how to find out about scheduled house concerts. As these shows are usually organized by home owners, promotional marketing is commonly limited to grassroots channels. If you live in Victoria, BC, my best recommendation is simply to sign up for the Victoria House Concert B Facebook Group. If you live anywhere else, I'd suggest searching the web, or you can try asking friends who might be connected to your local music scene if they know of any upcoming shows.

Video shot by Dfinlan.

Rifflandia 2011 and the art of the singer songwriter, three ways

2011-09-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing that sets the Rifflandia Festival apart from other music festivals I've attended, I'd have to say it's variety. Not only from venue to venue, but more definitively, from year to year. Each year I've attended, I've come away with an experience completely different from the last. In 2009, my Rifflandia experience was all about rock, last year, it was big on alt-country. This year, my favourite shows of the festival all featured talented singer songwriters, albeit in three very different veins.

The troubadour: Royal Wood

Royal Wood at the Rifflandia Festival 2011

In another world, the ideal venue for watching a Royal Wood show would be a smoke-filled club with shadowy corners, a bartender named Atticus, and a well tuned piano that's seen plenty of action every night since the dawn of time. Wood Hall, despite having none of those attributes, might be a fair contender for second place. I'll submit that observation based solely on the captivating performance Wood put on the Saturday night of the festival. The intimate recital space/former chapel was, perhaps unexpectedly, a fitting compliment to the subtle poetry of Woods' lyrics, smooth-as-butter vocals and rich melodies. Highlights of the performance included the sweet and lovely, I'm So Glad and Wood's pop-infused hit, A Mirror Without. Wood also performed a haunting, sparse version of Foster the People's Pumped Up Kicks. Unforgettable.

The traditionalist: Old Man Luedecke

Old Man Luedecke at the Rifflandia Festival 2011

Well, if we're going to continue on the theme of ideal venues, I'd suggest an Old Man Luedecke show would be best viewed at a barn dance, your neighbour's kitchen, or, as proposed by Luedecke himself, a farmers' market. Likewise, the mood of the moment at Luedecke's concert on Saturday was one of simple pleasures and good times. Unlike most other performances at the festival, Luedecke didn't fuss about waiting around for the official start time. Immediately after his short sound check he sat down with his banjo and began playing, choosing songs as they seemed to strike his fancy, or at times the fancy of the audience. The Joy of Cooking and I Quit My Job were particular crowd pleasers. And, oh yes, there was plenty of dancing and hand clapping enjoyed by all throughout the show.

The enigma: Damien Jurado

I'm not even going to try to suggest an ideal setting for a Damien Jurado show. In my books, I suppose any place where you can watch him perform, it'll most likely be an extraordinary experience. I took in Jurado's show at Rifflandia with a friend who was only planning to stick around for a couple of songs and he ended up staying for the entire set. That's the kind of musician Jurado is. His songs have the ability to capture and draw in every audience member, no matter how large, or unfamiliar, the crowd. Mesmerizing in a disarming combination of deep introversion and unguarded openness.

There's really no picking favourites with Jurdado's songs, but if I had to choose, I guess I'd say Sheets and Cloudy Shoes were amoungst the most memorable moments of the night. Jurado mentioned the show would be his last before taking a well deserved six-month hiatus, so if you're interested, you may have to be patient in waiting a little while to catch his next performance. That said, I'd urge everyone to go see Damien Jurado in concert at the earliest opportunity.

View more of my pics from the festival in my Rifflandia flickr set.

What's in my backpack?: Packing for a long distance hiking trip on the west coast

2011-09-18T21:27:00.001-07:00

The beach near Laura Creek on the North Coast Trail, a photo by theotherlondon on Flickr.

Everyone packs for a backcountry camping trip differently. Some are minimalists, some pack as much gear they can manage to carry just in case. I think I fall somewhere in the middle.

At the moment, I'm getting ready for a 4 day, 47km hiking trip on the Juan De Fuca. The last time I did this hike was in April of 2009 and as wonderful as it was, it was also the wettest backcountry trek I've ever experienced. This time around I'll be going with a few friends, two of whom will be doing an overnight backpacking trip for the first time, and I've been getting some info together to help them prepare. Below is a list of items I'm planning to take along, which is a pretty much a run down of what I generally pack on backcountry camping trips (my pack usually weighs about 40lbs).

What's in my backpack on a 4-day, west coast hiking trip in autumn:

Waterproof backpack cover
Eureka 3-season tent
Pine Ridge 3-season sleeping bag
Thermarest air mattress
Petzl headlamp
Victorinox Swiss Army knife
First aid kit
Waterproof matches and a lighter
Rope
Bear spray*
Trail guidebook*
Notebook and pen
Point and shoot camera

Food and water
PUR water filter*
Collapsible bucket*
MSR backpacking stove
1L camping fuel
2 water bottles
Cascade Designs ultralight aluminum backpacking pot with lid 1.5 L + potholder
MSR stainless steel bowl
Set of Lexan utensils (knife, fork and spoon)
Can opener
Breakfasts and lunches - oatmeal, cheese, bagels, nuts, gorp, chocolate, jerky
Dinners - Pasta with pesto and pepperoni, instant mashed potatoes with flakes of ham, soup with dumplings, mac and cheese with tuna
Small mickey of scotch
Tea
Spare Ziploc bags
Cloth for cleaning up

Clothing
1 spare tights quick dry/moisture wicking
1 spare top, quick dry/moisture wicking
4 pairs socks
1 pair waterproof socks
Underwear
Gaitors
Water repellant soft shell jacket
Fleece jacket
Warm hat
2 pairs gloves
Comfy shoes to wear around the campsite (sandals)

Toiletries
Camp soap
Tooth brush and tooth paste
Brush and hair elastics
Toilet paper

*In my experience, I've found only one person in the group needs to pack these items.

Most of the questions my friends have asked have been about what food to pack, and rightly so! I'll be posting info on what I'm bringing to eat and how I'll prepare it soon. Of course the easiest solution where meals is concerned is to buy dehydrated meals from your local camping store. I know there are many people who find dehydrated meals to be acceptable fare, but I'm not among them.

Other resources on how to pack for a backcountry camping trip:

The Magic of Theatre in the Age of the Internet

2011-09-14T15:25:00.000-07:00

According to Klout, I'm influential on the subject of robots. Snicker. I'm going to guess this is because I recently attended some shows at the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival and did a bit of posting about Jayson MacDonald's play, 'Giant Invisible Robot'. I know you're going to hate that I check up on my Klout score, which is why I'm a little loathe to explain what Klout is.

Oh, very well then! Klout is an online reporting tool that measures people's level of influence online. Now, lower that eyebrow, and let's get on with it already.

For a long time I've wanted to write a post about theatre in the age of the Internet. You remember theatre? That's where you pay a lot of money to watch actors you might vaguely recognize perform a play your mother, or grandmother, recommended. Or, more likely, where one of your friends paid a lot of money to watch actors you've never heard of perform a play you might feign interest in, but in all likelihood you will never see. Ah yes, that theatre.

I don't think it's much of a stretch to suggest live theatre doesn't quite have the 'klout' it once did. And unlike other arts industries that are struggling to adapt in our changing times (music, film, and television for example), where live theatre is concerned, there's no need to go pointing a finger at the Internet. No, the demise of live theatre was written in the stars with the advent of talkies and black and white home television sets back in the olden days.

Which might explain why, relatively speaking, there is so little evidence of it's existence to be found on the World Wide Web. Oh yes, there is the odd review, a few theatre sites that might have a similar vibe to the site for your local museum, but really now, this is comparatively trivial gewgaw. Add to the mix my apparent expertise in the field of 'robots' and I'd suggest the fact of the matter is, theatre and the Internet just don't play well together. Excuse the pun.

So what gives? Why am I, a huge fan of the Interweb, forking over more money than I can realistically afford for theatre tickets? What's enticing me away from the wealth of entertainment and information I can access from the phone I carry around in my pocket to go sit in a theatre to experience a performance I can't look up on IMDB ?

Plainly put, what lures me away is the promise of something unique. I know from personal experience, which truthfully may not be as limited as I've professed, that every show is, from production to production, and from night to night, different. Different in as many ways as the number of people who have contributed to the performance, and as many ways as there are seats in the house. Different depending on the weather and the time of year, and how much the lead actor did or did not drink at the bar the night before.

The result is a priceless kind of magic we get so little of in our binary world, and why, I might offer, live theatre is more worthwhile today than it ever has been before. Turn off your cell phone and go check it out.

More on the discussion:

Review: Jeff Culbert's The Donnelly Sideshow at the Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival 2011

2011-09-06T11:06:00.000-07:00

Every location on the planet has a family whose notorious history becomes steeped in local culture as well-told legend. In the cities and countryside of Southwestern Ontario that family is the Donnelly family of Biddulph township. Growing up in London, Ontario I became familiar with the Donnellys, commonly referred to as the Black Donnellys, through plays, museum visits, books and articles. Throughout much of my formative years, local punk rock band, The Black Donnellys were regular headliners on the stages of local clubs and dance halls. A good friend of mine played lead guitar in one of the later incarnations of the band, The Black Donnellys 5.

The Donnelly story has all the necessary ingredients of a riveting yarn and then some. Immigrants from Ireland who lived in Biddulph township in the late 1800s, the clan included parents James and Joanna, seven sons, one daughter and a cousin. Their wild ways culminated in a feud which eventually saw five members violently murdered by a vigilante mob in the middle of the night, February 4, 1880.

The most unassumingly earnest version of the story I've encountered is told by playwright, director and actor, Jeff Culbert in his new play, The Donnelly Sideshow, which Culbert performed at the recent 2011 Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival. Culbert brings new life to the story by going back to it's unembellished roots, recounting the tale in a straightforward manner from the perspective of the only surviving witness of the massacre, farm hand Johnny O’Connor.

The result is a performance that transports the audience back to the Donnelly homestead in the days of their dark demise. A matter-of-fact point of view that allows no opportunity to turn away from the pulse pounding, heart-wrenching horror, drama, and romance (yes, romance) of the Donnelly story. Culbert peppers his recounting of the tale with occasional humour, some new insights uncovered through his research, and a smattering of original, toe-tapping folk-songs.

The Donnelly Sideshow is a rewarding and captivating story-telling experience, even and especially for those who may already be familiar with the tale.

For information on Jeff Culbert's plays and upcoming performances visit www.jeffculbert.ca

Jeff Culbert Interview at the 2011 Victoria Fringe Festival by theotherlondon

My Favourite Places on Vancouver Island: Ridge Trail to Jocelyn Hill, Gowlland Tod Provincial Park

2011-08-24T17:05:00.000-07:00

Ridge Trail outlook at Gowlland Tod. Stunning views even on a foggy day.

Trailhead location: Gowlland Tod, Caleb Pike trailhead on Caleb Pike Road about a half hour drive west of Victoria

Note: It's also possible to approach Jocelyn Hill from the McKenzie Bight access point at the north end of the park. This section of the trail has longer inland stretches.

Hike length: 8km

Hike duration: 3-4 hours

Whenever I've mentioned Gowlland Tod to locals on Vancouver Island, I've noticed there's about a 50/50 chance the name of this hidden gem of a park will be recognized. Considering the beautiful views to be seen from it's hiking trails it's a mystery to me why it isn't more popular. If I had to take a stab at the cause of it's lack of renown, I would guess it might have something to do with poorly marked trails. When I first began visiting the park, it took numerous false starts before I could confidently navigate the series of looped paths near the Caleb Pike trailhead to successfully reach Jocelyn Hill. Happily, I noticed on my most recent visit that numerous new sign posts have been added.

The Ridge Trail hike from Caleb Pike to Jocelyn Hill overlooks one of the area's most impressive fjords, Finlayson Arm. The 8km trek (4km to the the summit of Jocelyn Hill and 4km back) includes a few strenuous sections, but numerous scenic outlooks provide plenty of opportunities to stop for a rest along the way. Of course, the struggle is more than worth it. Once you reach the summit of Jocelyn Hill, with it's stunning views of Saanich Inlet and the Gulf Islands, you'll know what I mean.

Exploring New Technologies at SIGGRAPH 2011

2011-08-16T12:46:00.000-07:00

Emerging Technologies displays at SIGGRAPH 2011

I've been lucky enough to attend past SIGGRAPH conferences in Boston and Los Angeles, and having traveled a fair distance from my home base on both counts, I thought it was wonderful this year's host city was nearby Vancouver. A fantastic opportunity to rub elbows with an amazing array of world class digital researchers, artists and developers right in our own back yard.

Anyone would jump at the chance to go to SIGGRAPH. Right?

I especially appreciated having the opportunity to share the experience with many SIGGRAPH newbies, though admittedly, enticing friends to join me in attending the conference was more of a struggle than I had anticipated.

SIGGRAPH stands for Special Interest Group on GRAPHics and Interactive Techniques, and the subjects covered in the presentations highlight the mind-boggling scientific methods and theories developed by leading thinkers in the field. In past years I've mainly stuck to taking in the layman-friendly presentations but I've also made it a point to try to struggle through a few advanced level sessions. Memorable moments include the MIT Lab's Ramesh Raskar and Jack Tumblin's 2006 course on computational photography, and Mine Özkar and Sotirios Kotsopoulos's 2008 course on spacial grammars.

What SIGGRAPH offers everyday folks (with an interest in technology), like me

But I digress, or rather, perhaps I should digress! The reason I love attending SIGGRAPH is, when it comes to exploring forward thinking concepts in technology, in my books this event is the bomb! I've repeatedly observed those seemingly abstract new developments eventually mature into more mainstream interfaces, tools and services. It was at SIGGRAPH that I first encountered early examples of micro-blogging systems (like Twitter), augmented reality gaming interaction (like Wii), and new ways of interacting with devices (like your new smart phone). Along with discussions on the science of these technologies I've also heard early rumblings on the social and legal implications that go along with these developments. Questions on privacy, morality and ownership that might surface down the road. Then of course there are the artists who use the technologies to comment on current issues in society. Much food for thought.

SIGGRAPH 2011 did not disappoint. Some of my favourite offerings included Jack Stenner and Patrick LeMieux's augmented reality installation, Open House, an exploration of the results of the U.S. housing collapse; and the PocoPoco musical interface developed by Tokyo Metropolitan University and IDEEA Lab.

Hope to see you at SIGGRAPH 2012!

Trying out new gaming interfaces in The Sandbox at SIGGRAPH 2011

My Favourite Places on Vancouver Island: East Sooke Park, Coastal Trail

2011-06-19T12:30:00.000-07:00

View from the Coastal Trail, East Sooke Park

Location: East Sooke Road, East Sooke, BC, 1 hour drive west of Victoria (download a map on the Capitol Regional District, East Sooke Park webpage)

Hike duration: 5-8 hours

For my two cents, of the trails to be found on Vancouver Island, the most spectacular day hike by far is the 10km Coastal Trail at East Sooke Park.

You can access the trail from numerous spots along East Sooke Road but if you want to hike the entire trail, you’ll need to park either at the east end at the Aylard Farm entrance off Becher Bay Road, or at the west end at the Pike Bay entrance at the west end of East Sooke Road. Whichever end you choose to start at you’ll need to make arrangements to drop a vehicle off at the far side (expect this to add about half an hour to your trip).

I’ve encountered various views on which side of the park is best to start at and why. Whether you start at Aylard Farm or Pike Bay, you’re in for amazing vistas complete with views of the Olympic Mountain Range across the Strait of Juan de Fuca, wildlife viewing, rest stops at quiet pocket beaches, and a long, challenging hike. Heaven on earth!

By the way, for sake of reference, my favourite multi-day hike is the North Coast/Cape Scott Trail, but that’s another story :)

Coastal Trail, East Sooke Park

Beach at the Aylard Farm entrance

The Olympic Mountain Range across the Strait of Juan de Fuca

Back Alley Jams finale show: Why I heart local campus radio

2011-06-12T01:17:00.000-07:00

Versa performing on Back Alley Jams, Jan 23, 2011

This week marks the last official episode of Back Alley Jams which has been broadcasting from The University of Victoria’s campus radio station, CFUV 101.9 FM for little over a year. The show, created and hosted by Ali Lopez in support of the local music scene, features live performances from local bands and musicians every week and was affiliated with the University of Victoria New Music Club.
Since BAJ’s pilot broadcast in May of 2010, I’ve had the pleasure of participating as one of the show’s volunteer techs on a number of live concert broadcasts. To commemorate the show’s finale, below is a list of my favourite BAJ performances (this is in no way meant to be a list of best performances by the way, just a few that for one reason or another I found to be personally memorable).

Live On-air Jam 1 (May-16-10)
First one!
Live On-air Jam 4 (Aug-8-10)
At the end of this jam I was a little taken aback when I noticed the musicians introducing themselves to each other. Listening to this show again, it’s hard to believe many of these songs were made up on the spot. Magic!
The Loose Cannons (Dec-5-10)
I didn’t work the board on this one, but I tuned in. Glad I got to join in on the fun along with the rest of CFUV’s listeners.
Quoia/ Mindil Beach Markets/ David Ross McDonald – Rifflandia Jam (Sep-12-10)
One of the numerous shows where an impractically large number of musicians crammed onto CFUV’s little closet of a studio floor (which has a grand total of six inputs). Everyone made the best of the less than ideal conditions and the result was this great show.
Vital Hands (Feb-6-11)
Really enjoyed the performance put on by these friendly and talented musicians.

For a full listing of Back Alley Jams episodes visit the BAJ website.

Tune into Back Alley Jams' finale episode on CFUV's website at 5pm PT, Sunday, June 12, 2011.

Being a somewhat recent transplant to this area of the country, BAJ has offered me a unique way of getting acquainted with Vancouver Island’s fabulous local music scene. It’s also been a rewarding counterpart to the other hat I wear at UVic as a member of the university’s web team, allowing me to work closely with some of UVic’s amazing students. For these reasons and many more, I’m sad to see this amazing show come to and end. So long, BAJ. I miss you already!

Support your local campus radio station!!

Sasquatch 2011: Memorable moments

2011-06-01T21:38:00.000-07:00

I trust you won’t be too surprised to hear that our recent Sasquatch weekend didn’t quite go as planned. By no fault of our own, of course. This year, we even went as far to draw up a concert wish list.

Of course we missed out on a few concerts, happened upon a few shows unexpectedly, and generally wandered off course repeatedly. And thank goodness we did! Otherwise we would have seriously missed out on those special, unexpected moments and revelations…

We're definitely doing this again next year moment

We reached the gates half way through Friday night’s lineup and finished setting up camp as that night's closing act, the Foo Fighters, were wrapping up their set on the main stage. As a consolation prize we discovered there’s more to arriving late to this party than just being fashionable. In the interest of not letting the cat completely out of the bag on this well kept secret I’m going to (overflow camping!) stop here.

WTF moment

We left the City and Colour concert early hoping to catch an artist signing at the Easy Street Records booth and wandered into this…

In case you can’t figure out what’s happening in this picture, this is a sky full of toilet paper and Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears performing a rocking cover of Surfin’ Bird.

What music festivals are all about moment

I believe everyone who had the privilege of witnessing the Other Lives concert on the Yeti stage on Sunday afternoon will understand what I’m talking about when I say this concert was the epitome of what music concerts are all about. Hands down my favourite musical performance of the entire festival. The five piece band, each member playing multiple instruments, sometimes simultaneously, put on one of the tightest, richest sounding shows I’ve heard in a while. I’d originally planned to leave a little early to try and claim a good spot at a following concert on another stage. Once they started up though, I just couldn't tear myself away.

What was I thinking?! moment

Having caught Local Natives in a small club at SXSW earlier this year I had assumed I didn’t need to see them play again at Sasquatch. As luck would have it, I ended up at their show anyway. Boy, was I wrong!

Double rainbow moment

A colleague of mine asked about The Flaming Lips show on Sunday night. My description went something like this: At the start of the show, the band members emerged one by one from the centre of a giant eye projected into the middle of the stage. Then Wayen Coyne appeared in a giant plastic ball and walked on the crowd. The sky was filled with streamers, coloured confetti and giant balloons. Then the Teletubbies appeared. Oh yes, it was AMAZING!

Giant eye

Wayne Coyne walks on the crowd in a giant plastic ball

Streamers, coloured confetti and giant balloons

Teletubbies

See more pics in my Sasquatch Festival 2011 Flickr set.

My Favourite Places on Vancouver Island: Cathedral Grove

2011-05-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

Cathedral Grove, Vancouver Island

Living Forest Trail, MacMillan Provincial Park

Location: Vancouver Island, Hwy 4 between Qualicum Beach and Port Alberni (map)

Parking along either side of Highway 4

Time: About two (leisurely) hours, could be shorter if you’re in a rush

Cathedral Grove! A pretty, lyrical name that I think suits this little gem of a spot very well. True, not everyone loves Cathedral Grove. To placate the naysayers and to keep everything on the level, I thought it might be apropos to start things off with a quick run down of what Cathedral Grove is not:

While hiking is listed as one of the activities to be enjoyed in MacMillan Provincial Park page on the BC Parks site, I believe it’s fair to suggest this is based on a somewhat broad interpretation of the concept of hiking. I expect most will see this as more of a ‘stretch your legs’ kind of experience and not a hiking destination.
A visit to Cathedral Grove isn’t a ‘get away from it all’ kind of experience, unless your interpretation of getting away from it all includes encountering people. Possibly lots of people. To be more precise, possibly lots of tourists. Depending on the time of year you visit the grove, the parking lot and trails will likely be moderately busy to crawling with people. Furthermore, you should be aware that at most points along the trails winding their way through the grove you’ll be within eyeshot and/or earshot of Highway 4.
Cathedral Grove is not the only spot on Vancouver Island to view stands of tall Douglas Fir…though it is one of the most accessible spots. I believe taller samples of Douglas Fir can be found in the Nimpkish River Ecological Reserve

Cathedral Grove, Vancouver Island

Per aspera ad astra

Now, let’s cut the doddling and get down to the nitty-gritty with the stellar details! These trees are massive and they’re 800 years old!!! 800 years old!!! To us colonials, 800 years is virtually ancient. Practically before the universe began. Nay, for intensive purposes, truly before the universe began! America had yet to be discovered, after all.

Beyond being massive and ancient, the trees of Cathedral Grove are beautiful. In my books beautiful enough to warrant the two hour plus trip up Island from Victoria to spend a couple of hours checking them out. If you’re going to make the trip I’d recommend stopping at the Old Country Market in Coombs, BC (a.k.a ‘Goats on the Roof’) to pick up some snacks and/or taking a side trip a little ways off the highway to the best pub on the Island, The Crow and Gate Pub in Cedar, BC. Order the Cheddar Ploughman. YUM!

Sasquatch checklist: A few music festival packing tips for my friends

2011-05-20T16:03:00.001-07:00

Crowd shot of the terrace at the Gorge during the National concert at Sasquatch 2010, a photo by theotherlondon on Flickr.

One week to go to the Sasquatch 2011 music festival and the excitement is almost too much to bear! While the big draw at Sasquatch is, of course, the stellar line-up, a close second is the opportunity to take it all in whilst surrounded by the majestic glory of the Columbia River Gorge. Gobsmacked I tell you!! As with all experiences in the great outdoors, one must be prepared.

If you're wondering what to bring, here's a few things I'd suggest:

Sunscreen
Warm clothes for chilly evenings
A small backpack to bring your stuff to the festival grounds in
A blanket to sit on...no chairs allowed
A point and shoot camera...no pro cameras allowed
Snacks
Rain gear (just in case)
Earplugs (if you’re planning on sleeping in the campground)
Hand sanitizer and wipes

Sasquatch 2010 photos by theotherlondon on Flickr.

Things I learned at SXSWi 2011, part 4: Optimizing content for mobile

2011-05-03T19:51:00.000-07:00

Things I’ve learned about making pies

2011-05-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

My first strawberry rhubarb pie.

A while back my friend Andrea came up with the awesome idea to get a group of our friends together on a regular basis so we could teach each other things. It’s of course also an excuse for us to meet up to enjoy a few beverages and some conversation, but that’s not the main point (at least that’s our story and we’re sticking to it).

Anyway, Andrea started us off with a flower arranging party (if this perks your interest and you live in the Victoria, BC area, check out the workshops at the floral shop Andrea co-owns with her mom, Poppies Floral Art). Next, our friend Carole introduced us to the art of making wontons. Yum!! We’ve also gotten together to decorate mirrors and dye Easter eggs. For my contribution, I promised everyone I would organize an evening of group pie baking.

That was over a year ago.

An explanation in my defense

I most recently proposed holding my pie baking soirée in June, but I don’t think anyone, least of all me, is overly serious about the idea that this will actually happen. 2 months ago, I proposed a spring date that has since come and gone. Yes, this is a recurring pattern. Now before you go passing judgment and blaming me for being a serial friend-disappointer, I want to point out, in my defense, that it has proved extremely difficult to coordinate a night that works for everyone during a week when I have time to make enough pastry dough for 10-15 pies. 10-15 pies!!

Anyway, I fear the time has come for me to rethink my skill-swap strategy. That said, in the interest of not completely dropping the friendship ball where passing on pie making skills are concerned, I thought I’d offer this post:

How to make pies

Notice I’ve titled this section, ‘how to make pies’, not ‘how to make A pie’. If you’ve resigned yourself to being a one-off pie baker, I can tell you right now, your pie will probably suck. How can I be so certain? Well, one of the innate qualities of pie pastry is it’s ability to recognize undedicated novices. Seriously.

Choosing a pastry recipe

I don't believe it really matters which pastry recipe you choose. I’ve tried a few different ones with fairly consistent levels of satisfaction – in the beginning, every recipe I tried produced somewhat miserable results and, with those false starts behind me, every recipe I’ve since come across has been pretty all right. As of late, I most often use the recipe printed on the label of whichever brand of shortening I’ve purchased. The only additional recipe-related comment I would offer is that, despite any claims you might come across, ‘no-fail’ pastry is a pipedream.

Tips for making pies:

Keep your shortening in the freezer and when you’re ready to use it, cut it into sugar-cube sized cubes before adding it to the flour.
When cutting the shortening into the flour, don’t worry about making sure the ingredients are well and uniformly mixed. The less you fiddle with the mixture the better. As outlined in most recipes, stop when the mixture begins to resemble crumbs and small peas. I’ve learned that stopping a little sooner- when the mixture begins to resemble flour with crumbs and peas of various sizes - works too.
Wrap your pastry dough in plastic wrap and allow it to rest in the fridge before rolling it out. I usually let dough rest a 1/2 day or overnight.
Wrap your rolled out pastry dough around your rolling pin and unroll it into the pie pan.
Unless the fruit you’re using is super tart, use 1/2 to 3/4 the amount of sugar the recipe calls for.
For fruit pies, assemble the ingredients for your pie filing and let the mixture sit for a bit (at least 15 minutes), then drain off the juice before placing it in the crust.
Add a little additional flour, corn starch or tapioca to your pie filling. I usually put in an extra teaspoon or two if the fruit seems very juicy.
In my experience, the easiest kind of pie to make is apple. If you’re trying to decide what type of filling to put in your first pie, go for apple. Strawberry rhubarb is pretty easy too, but don’t forget to drain the juice before placing the fruit in the crust.

Links to pie filling recipes I've tried and liked:

With thanks always to pie baking superstar, Corrie Huys and her son Baasje who gets the first slice of every pie I make.

Things I learned at SXSWi 2011, part 3: The game layer

2011-04-29T15:55:00.000-07:00

I really enjoyed attending Josh Williams’, CEO of Gowalla, game-mechanics themed presentation, Chasing Virtual Good in the Real World at SXSWi 2010. That said, I was pleased when Seth Priebatsch’s, Chief Ninja of scvngr, SXSWi 2011 keynote, The Game Layer on Top of the World, was announced. I was keen to see how the inside conversation on game mechanics in the real world had progressed over the past year.

SXSWi 2010: Chasing Virtual Good in the Real World, Josh Williams:
Through discussing his experiences developing PackRat and Gowalla, and sharing some of his observations on user behaviour, Williams provided great insight into what compels people to participate in game type activities online. Williams went on to point out that game play mechanics were not just limited to location based services, but were becoming more and more prevalent in behaviour all over the web, and in the real world, too.

Some of the info Williams' included in his presentation at SXSWi 2010 is covered in this blog post by Andrew Mager on zdnet.com.

SXSWi 2011: The Game Layer on Top of the World, Seth Priebatsch:
I expect this is a bit of a moot point but, what a difference a year makes! Over the past year, it seems game mechanics have gone well beyond ‘creeping into real world behaviour’. In his keynote at SXSW 2011, Priebatsch proposed the game layer might provide solutions for 5 pretty large problems facing our world today, including issues with education systems and global warming.

Things I learned at SXSWi 2011, part 2: Rey Junco's Twitter research

2011-04-28T21:16:00.001-07:00

Things I learned at SXSWi 2011, part 1: Updates from Google's Marissa Mayer

2011-04-28T20:15:00.000-07:00

Food friends cook for friends when they’re feeling under the weather

2011-04-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

Since moving from the east to the west coast a few years back, I’ve observed a few notable cultural differences. Attitudes toward eating, for one. As you might expect on the ‘left’ coast, food choices are generally lighter and healthier than those you’d find out east, though I’ve recently learned there are exceptions to this rule. When I fell ill a short while back, my amazing friends dropped by with dishes that it appears are tried and true standbys no matter what part of the country you live in. Soups and casseroles that make for great stick-to-your-ribs dinners and also reheat well for lunch the next day. As a little thank you, I promised to post links to a few of the recipes for others to try out and share. Call me sentimental (or perhaps, a sentimental little piglet) but in my books, nothing makes a person feel as loved as a gift of food.

Maclaren's Imperial Cheese and Macaroni (thanks, Carole)
This is like mac and cheese turned up to 11 especially if you’re a fan of Maclaren’s Imperial Cheese, the crumbly cheese spread in the red container with the black lid. If that’s not enough to perk your interest, perhaps the addition of mushrooms and bacon will up the drool factor. Where has this recipe been all my life (minus the years I was vegetarian, of course)? Maclaren's Imperial Cheese and Macaroni recipe.

Mom’s Shepherd’s Pie (thanks, Steve)
This dish made frequent appearances on the supper table of my childhood, so I was extra pleased to savour it’s yummy goodness while I was convalescing. A pretty standard recipe with all the usual suspects – potatoes, ground meat and a few additional ingredients for flavour. To me, shepherd’s pie is all about the condiments, so you really want to keep it simple. In addition to gravy, I like to apply a sprinkling of mint sauce AND Heinz 57. Mmmmm! Mom's Shepherd's Pie recipe.

Cocoa Chili (thanks, Cara)
I had no idea you could put cocoa in chili, but apparently a lot of people do and you know what? It makes for pretty fantastic tasting chili. Cocoa Chili recipe.

Chicken Noodle Soup (thanks, Baasje)
Of course. Chicken soup recipe.

Hot Cocoa
One of my favourite rainy day treats. You might be as surprised as I was to hear that hot cocoa is exceptionally good for you. Add a little chili and cinnamon to make it exceptionally delicious. Hot Cocoa recipe.


Great treats and boredom tools (thanks Andrea, Bob and Terra!)

My Top 5 Fave Digital Media/Social Media Researchers

2011-04-05T22:51:00.000-07:00

Inspired by an experience I had at SXSW Interactive a few weeks back, below is a list of my top 5 fave digital media/social media researchers – scientists, artists and teachers whose ideas and theories have made the biggest impact on my professional values, changed my life, and oh yes, rocked my world.

Michael Wesch
Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Kansas State University

Why I think Michael Wesch is awesome: From my point of view, if digital media research has a pop superstar, it’s Michael Wesch. Wesch conducts cutting edge studies on the effects of new media and then, to leave no doubt he’s got his finger on the pulse, he produces viral content about his research. Having started out on my career path in the mid-nineties, my knowledge and understanding of the Internet was, at first, pretty much limited to pure mechanics. Wesch was one of the first researchers I encountered whose work made me consider what was happening beyond the tools and code.

Research interests: The effects of new media on society and culture

Big accomplishment(s): Several major awards for his work, including a Wired Magazine Rave Award; recently named an Emerging Explorer by National Geographic

I recommend: Michael Wesch’s Digital Ethnography YouTube Channel; don't miss Wesch’s 2007 classic, The Machine is Us/ing Us

Tim Berners-Lee
Director, World Wide Web Consortium
Senior researcher at MIT's Computer Science and AI Lab

Why I think Tim Berners-Lee is awesome: I don’t think I’d be alone in suggesting the world would be a very different place if Tim Berners-Lee wasn’t one of the good guys. As the inventor of the web, Berners-Lee was/is uniquely positioned to influence the user experience. Where others might have focused on leveraging potential business opportunities, Berners-Lee has concentrated his attention on championing the protection of human rights and spearheading initiatives related to accessibility, standardization, open access data, and net neutrality.

Research interests: Continued development of the web

Big accomplishment(s): Inventing the World Wide Web

I recommend:

Follow recommendations laid out by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), founded and headed by Tim Berners-Lee
Read Weaving the Web: The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny of the World Wide Web by its inventor, Tim Berners-Lee, ISBN 0-06-251587-X. Though many things have changed since this book was published in 1999, I’d still suggest it as a necessary read for everyone who works with or on the web (which, these days, could be just about everyone, I guess)

Florian Thalhofer
Guest Professor and Lecturer University of Leipzig
Inventor of the Korsakow System (software for creating database narratives)

Why I think Florian Thalfhofer is awesome: I expect it might be easy to assume German artist/scientist/inventor Florian Thalhofer to be a token wild card entry on this list, but that isn't the case. I attended a workshop on Thalhofer’s database cinema software, the Korsakow System at a SIGGRAPH Conference in 2006. As you know, at the time the web was as bit of a different place, static content was king, web 2.0 was in pre-explosion mode, the popularity of personal blogs and podcasts were starting to gain steam, YouTube was just coming out of it’s infancy. In this environment, the Korsakow System was, and still is to some extent, a precursory exploration of non-linear, user driven narrative taken to the extreme. A tool designed to deliver all the necessary components of a narrative with minimal structure, where the user can navigate a story in whatever random way preferred. My introduction to the Korsakow System was the first time I considered how much and how little influence the content creator truly has on the audience - an audience with the ability to control their own experience…or so it would seem. As a little additional tit for tat, Thalhofer chose to name his system, invented way back when in 2000 by the way, after Korsakoff’s Syndrome, an affect of extreme alcoholism characterized by apathy, an inability to maintain focus, memory loss and invented memories. How’s that for visionary?

Research interests: Non-linear, interactive narration

Big accomplishment(s): Inventor of the Korsakow System; numerous international awards and exhibitions

I recommend: Download the open source Korsakow System software and give it a try

Rey Junco
Associate Professor, Lock Haven University

Why I think Rey Junco is awesome: I’ve repeatedly experienced first hand the difficulties associated with introducing social media tools and services in a higher education environment. In fact, it’s been the bane of my existence for the past six or seven years. I am indebted to Junco whose research appeared as a light at the end of a long, dreary tunnel when I had the pleasure of attending his presentation at SXSW Interactive 2011. Junco uses quantitative methods to assess the effects of social media on student development, engagement, and success. His revealing studies are the first I’ve encountered to reliably bridge the gap between the rigid ideals and expectations of academia and the pragmatic, laissez-faire attitudes that permeate online culture. Not an easy feat.

Research interests: Social media in higher education

Big accomplishment(s): The best higher ed related presentation I’ve ever attended at a digital media conference; numerous awards and publications

I recommend:

Check out Rey Junco’s blog, Social Media in Higher Education
Follow @reyjunco

Tim Blackmore
Professor, Faculty of Information and Media Studies

Why I think Tim Blackmore is awesome: For many current and former Faculty of Information and Media Studies (FIMS) students at The University of Western Ontario, Tim Blackmore is that memorable professor who wakens enthusiasm and kindles interest enough to make all the years of struggle and hardship worthwhile. When I decided to return to school in 2004, I’d already worked in the web industry for almost a decade and I felt I had a pretty good grip on how things were put together on the web. It was a huge eye opener for me when I began the 3-year MIT program in FIMS. Blackmore’s introductory course, then titled MIT025, was the first course I took. The material we covered helped me gain a much broader perspective of the web and other digital technologies, a stronger understanding of why and how the web had evolved to it’s present state, and a better idea of where things were going.

Research interests: Ways that culture and cultural products revolve around each other

Big accomplishment(s): In my books, Blackmore is the most awesome professor ever; numerous awards and publications

I recommend: Blackmore’s introductory Media, Information and Technoculture course offered at The University of Western Ontario.

While composing this list, I realized it would probably be appropriate to put together a corporate counterpart ‘My Top 5 Fave Digital Media/Social Media Business Leaders’. Stay tuned…

Fast, Cheap and Out of Control: An Errol Morris Inspired Take on Hot Topics at SXSWi 2011

2011-03-25T14:13:00.001-07:00

SXSWi Display Screen. Photo originally
posted in my SXSWi 2011 Flickr set.

South by Southwest (SXSW) is a set of film, interactive and music festivals and conferences that take place every spring in Austin, Texas. In 2011, SXSW commemorated it’s 25th year and was held March 11 to the 20th.

Hot Topics at SXSWi 2011

There were three main ideas I took away from SXSWi this year. Themes which are coincidentally paralleled in the title of my favourite Errol Morris documentary, Fast, Cheap and Out of Control:

Fast: Publishing content to multiple platforms

Many sessions this year focused on methods and best practices for designing for multiple platforms and devices. Of the talks I attended, the folks who seemed to have the best grip on the situation were the technology design team at NPR, their basic approach summed up in a handy acronym for their content publishing strategy: C.O.P.E., Create Once Publish Everywhere
Cheap: The benefits of giving it away for free

From Julie Cohen's polished and info packed presentation, Radical Openness: Growing TED by Giving it Away to Blake Mycoskie’s keynote address to the many discussions regarding new models of education, it seemed everyone was up for promoting 'free' as a worthy business strategy this year.
Out of Control (kind of): Curating content

A fair portion of the sessions at SXSWi 2011 focused on the ins and outs of curating online content. Notable sessions I attended included:

I’d be remiss not to mention what appeared to be this year’s catch phrase du jour, ‘The Game Layer’, huge in the spotlight of hot topics at SXSWi this year and subject of Seth Priebatsch's March 12th keynote address . That said, I can’t realistically list it as one of my take away highlights as I work in an industry where we’ll probably guffaw over this one until the 11th hour is upon us.

As a surface summary, I'll also offer that my second year at SXSW Interactive was way less overwhelming, and subsequently a bit more illuminating, than my deer-in-the-headlights initiation last year. I should point out that I’m still every bit as worn out - any energy I saved through planning and foresight was quickly folded into a ramped up social schedule centered around reconnecting with people I’d met last year. Well, I've got plenty of time to recover before SXSW2012. Can't wait!

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart performed a set so smokin' hot at Sapient Nitro's Mix at Six, SXSWi 2011, one of the stage monitors caught fire during the finale. Photo originally posted in my SXSWi 2011 Flickr set.

My Favourite Places on Vancouver Island: McKenzie Bight, Mount Work Regional Park

2011-02-23T21:59:00.001-08:00

McKenzie Bight, Mount Work Regional Park
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Location: Mount Work Regional Park. Trail head for the McKenzie Bight trail can be accessed near the Mount Work parking lot

Distance: About 3km

Time: 1 - 1.5 hour(s)

Parking: Parking lot/street parking Mount Work Provincial Park

If you've only got time for a quick outing close to the city, I'd say this is an excellent choice. All the usual suspects are here, gorgeous dense green vegetation, a breathtaking seaside vista (a bit on the brief side), bubbling brooks, pretty waterfalls plunging over cliffs steps from the trail, a grind of a climb (mercifully on the brief side), etc., etc. It's also a great walk to enjoy with a group of friends as most sections of the trail are fairly wide.

The trip is actually comprised of two trails - the McKenzie Bight Trail and the Cascades Trail. And, as you may now be suspecting, old friend, the Cascades Trail is the reason I've included this spot as one of my favourite places on Vancouver Island. Not just because of 'the cascades', which are beautiful, of course! We are such sentimental creatures...

Yann Tiersen-live aux eurock rue des cascades, Eurockéennes de Belfort, 2001

“There are hundreds and hundreds of dollars to be made in the Canadian music industry”: Making it count when purchasing music online

2011-02-13T22:31:00.001-08:00

Brasstronaut at Market Square, Rifflandia 3
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

I’d like to send this one out to the person who burst my bubble this week. You know who you are. We had a conversation during which you pointed out the Internet has broken the music industry and there’s no money to be made in it anymore for anyone. If I remember correctly, your main arguments were that iTunes and other au current music distribution platforms are a colossal disaster, at least terms of potential for generating any semblance of an income for artists – though not for facilitating the sale of iPods – and that musicians can’t make money from selling concert tickets or merchandise.

The gory details

Further investigation led me to the following articles (by the way, if you’re at all interested in the impact of digital technologies on the music industry the second article in particular should be an interesting read):

Pop

or rather, pfffffffffffffffffffft.

Yes, this is terrible news for musicians…and might I offer, a little deflating for someone who regularly lists ‘music' amoungst her largest monthly expenditures. Terrible news.

A case in point implicating yours truly

The comment I’ve quoted in the title of this post was made by a member of Canadian band, Brasstronaut at their performance at Rifflandia 2010. Though I’ve attended a couple of their concerts, regularly include their music in my Blip.fm stream, voted for their entries in online contests and have interacted with @Brasstronaut on Twitter, I admit, I haven’t purchased any of their music (yet). Before continuing I’d also like to point out that I’ve never illegally downloaded any of their music either. But that’s beside the point, isn’t it?

I can hear you tsk-tsking from here.

I do buy music. Quite a bit of it, I might add. In fact, all the albums on my top 10 of 2010 are albums that were recommended to me online that I eventually purchased…though yes, the total number of albums I purchased last year, amounts to just a fraction of the bands I listen to online.

Does it matter that I probably wouldn’t have heard of the majority of the bands I listen to had it not been for the Internet? Didn’t think so.

Support your favourite artists...for real

Anyway, all I can offer is this – music buyers, if you really want to support your favourite artists I’ve learned the best way to do this is to buy CDs directly from the artist or from CD Baby. MP3 downloads don’t really amount to squat in terms of revenue for the artist. For the purchaser, there are additional benefits to buying a CD you may or may not care about - read more in ZDNet’s geek tome Ed Bott's Microsoft Report, Who owns your digital downloads? (Hint: it's not you).

For a better understanding of what to do/avoid when purchasing music, check out this great graph on Information is Beautiful for a pretty, visual representation of how much money musicians get paid in the new digital marketplace.

One little tip I might offer to CD Baby, it would probably be good on you to up your marketing efforts for your download cards. Being a music lover, I regularly get iTunes gift certificates from friends and family, many of whom are conscious consumers who would probably choose you over iTunes if they understood the difference. Just sayin’.

Update, February 20, 2011 - Seems I forgot when I was writing this post that there are two sides to every coin. See article below. Thanks @dbarefoot.

Infographic Does A Great Job Misrepresenting Opportunities Of The Digital Era, techdirt, April 14, 2010

My Favourite Places on Vancouver Island: Niagara Trestle, Goldstream Provincial Park

2011-01-30T17:52:00.001-08:00

Niagara Trestle, Goldstream Provincial Park
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Location: Goldstream Provincial Park. Trail head for the Arbutus trail can be accessed from the Goldstream campground.

Distance: About 5km

Time: 2.5 hours with lots of time at the trestle for sight seeing and picture taking.

Parking: Day use parking adjacent to the campground and additional parking on Sooke Lake Road.

I feel so guilty! I do! Paired with the title above, I'm sure you can guess where this is going. You in the throws of winter, and me, marveling at the returning but forever new, tender growth that accompanies the first signs of spring. I'll at least spare you a plea for forgiveness, though I'm afraid I'm helpless to refrain from reporting that the snowdrops and tulips have begun to bloom.

But enough of that.

Our copy of 'Hiking Trails I, Victoria & Vicinity' (which I would encourage anyone living on or visiting Vancouver Island to pick up), rates Goldstream's Arbutus Loop Trail as 'easy' and the Gold Mine Ridge Trail as 'moderate'. As I am additionally apt to measure the difficulty of a trail by comparing it to the hellishness of the three days we spent hiking 46km of mud-slide chaos on the Juan de Fuca in April 2009, I will include that these trails are also dependably dry. The only-slightly-muddy-even-in-the-springtime route ascends and descends through shadowy, mossy stands of Douglas fir, fantastic in the spring fog. While there's a notable lack of viewpoint vistas (uncharacteristic for a ridge top hike in this part of the country) I must say it is, in my mind, one of the most scenic hikes on the south end of Vancouver Island.

To perk up the monotonous glory of the forest glades, points of interest appear at regularly spaced intervals along the journey. Not just one, but two springs, 'Hidden Spring' and 'Miner's Spring', are located close to the trail. Though I'd expect it's unlikely you'll need to replenish your water supply at all on a 5km hike, both sites are worth a stop to appreciate the pretty, little (and I do mean little) water falls. As if that's not enough, there's also an abandoned gold mine on the trail - also little, so keep your eyes peeled or you might miss it.

The money spot on this hike is the reason this is one of my favourite spots on Vancouver Island. The trestle! I'm not going to go on too much about it because you really must see it for yourself, and I'm also going to insist that you do your best to go on a foggy day. One glimpse between the railway ties into the mist shrouded 125m drop below and you'll see what I mean. Gobsmacked I tell you!

You could help me out,
You could slow me down,
You could show me things,
That otherwise I would just pass by.
- Breathe Owl Breathe, House of Gold from Magic Central (2010)

A few of my favourite albums in 2010

2011-01-03T20:44:00.000-08:00

To begin, I’m hoping you can answer me this (oh, goddess of literary terminology): How does one refer to this decade? ‘The ‘10s’? Doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, does it? Well, if this year was any indication of what’s in store for, um, the next ten years, I believe we’re in for a bit of a treat musically speaking, but enough dilly-dallying.

New albums in heavy rotation on my iPod in 2010

10. Leif Vollebekk, Inland
9. Avi Buffalo, Avi Buffalo
8. J. Tillman, Singing Ax
7. Arcade Fire, The Suburbs
6. Raised by Swans, No Ghostless Place
5. Beach House, Teen Dream
4. Fredrik, Trilogi
3. Mimicking Birds, Mimicking Birds
2. The National, High Violet
1. Horse Feathers, Thistled Spring

The house concert experience or why I love the Internet

2010-10-04T20:34:00.000-07:00

David Ross Macdonald house concert, September 2010

Okay, I'll admit, the title is a bit of a stretch, but being the good, old friends that we are, I hope you will bear with me as I recount my recent initiation with the house concert experience and coincidentally relate a little folderol in the cannon of my come-on-the-Internet-isn't-that-bad arguments. I promise by the time this post wraps up, all the dots will have been connected...in a round about way at least, and isn't that just the way we like it? But, I get ahead of myself.

To start, or rather, jump back, to the beginning, I went to my first house concert about a month ago and it was every bit as unforgettable as the initiated (myself, now included) claim. In case you're not familiar with the house concert experience, I'll clarify before we go any further that the moniker is pretty much self explanatory - house concerts are musical performances that take place in someone's home. On the bill that night was an Australian musician named David Ross Macdonald. You should check out his music if you get the chance (*well meaning and earnest promotional plug: you can download a free EP if you sign up for his mailing list on his website*), I know you're going to like it. The concert took place in a lovely, old home in the Fernwood area of Victoria, which is the city's equivalent to our favourite bario, Wortley Village.

Now, where to start with the stellar details? Oh yes, they have yet to begin! You, being every bit the music lover that I am, can well imagine the joy of listening to music well played in an intimate setting. It's slightly akin to those times you and I would sit in your apartment passing your guitar back and forth while warbling to each other's musical stylings, only with music of a much higher calibre (at least where my input was concerned as you are, of course, a fantastic musician). Yes, it's like listening to a friend tell stories and give an amazing musical performance, except you've most likely never met the musician before and, as with my experience, may also be newly acquainted with the homeowner. But still and all, the illusion of familiarity is pretty darn convincing. I was hooked, and you know how hard it is for me to get carried away where music is concerned.

And this is where my little tarradiddle, as the case may prove to be, comes back around to my original suggestion. Being a newcomer to this city, there's no way I would have been drawn into an event like this had it not been for the Internet. On a semi-related note, I stumbled across an interesting article, The punter is the star on these nights out, in the Independant about 'immersion experiences'. It would appear, at least from my back-water point of view, that the popularity of the grassroots participatory experience is on the rise. I suppose we could extrapolate as to how these things might be advertised without the use of the Internet - printing press perhaps?

If you'd like to learn more about house concerts by the way, I came across a great resource on a site produced by a musician named Bob Bossin. Though I've learned that the related logistics - ticket prices, split of the proceeds, concession arrangements, etc. - can vary based on the artist's agreement with the homeowner, the basic idea is that arrangements are kept pretty simple and most or all of the proceeds raised go to the musician, just as it should be.

Gobsmacked, I tell you!

The fantastic John Mann (Spirit of the West)

house concert I attended just this past weekend.

The Other UVic LipDub Project

2010-09-28T21:05:00.001-07:00

UVic lipdub, choreography practice
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

In the eight plus years I've worked in higher ed I've come across a fair number of instances where I've been pleasantly taken aback at the lengths students will go to in the name of school spirit. I'm not talking about the gewgaw of costumed athletics fans cheering in the stands at football games and the donning of extreme hair styles during orientation week, I'm referring to the undertaking of projects of such momentous and lofty scope as to make me wonder how the students involved a) didn't consider the improbability of success; b) came up with the idea in the first place; c) managed to find time to do their homework; and d) all of the above (sorry about that, I couldn't resist).

If such displays of school spirit are any indication of how much the students involved love the institution they attend, then going by what took place on filming day for the UVic lipdub project this past weekend, it's fair to say that I haven't come across any students who love their university as much as the students at UVic - and I'm not just saying that because I work there and I'm supposed to say stuff like that. Come on, you know me...

The lipdub phenomenon and 'the other UVic'

The libdub phenomenon has been glee-ly weaving it's way around the Internet for a number of years. The 'official' lipdub site reports that the first lipdub production was filmed at Hochschule Furtwangen University in Germany and lists charming slightly-lost-in-translation advice on how to produce your own lipdub video. A good number of higher ed institutions around the world have answered the site's call to 'Join it!' by developing and broadcasting lipdub videos to varying degrees of success. In Canada, perhaps the most successful example is the L'Université du Québec à Montréal's 'I gotta feeling' video' that has currently received almost 7 million hits on YouTube.

In May of 2010, a lipdub video was produced by UVic, not the University of Victoria, in Victoria British Columbia, but the less-abbreviated Universitat de Vic in Spain. Reports on the web suggested the video had most people (including Perez Hilton, I kid you not) believing it had been produced at the Canadian UVic. Being the socially sensitive, humble, west coast institution it is, the general response at the University of Victoria was to an extent, one of slight moral confusion. The Spanish version received fairly positive accolades world wide - and rightly so - but while I think it's fair to say many members of the University of Victoria community appreciated the unintentional praise received by way of the success of the other UVic, the truth of the matter was, the video fell short of accurately reflecting the true spirit of the community and environment to be found at Canada's UVic. In short, some felt that our own UVic could do better.

The University of Victoria (UVic) lipdub project

The following exert is taken from the UVic lipdub news release posted on the official UVic lipdub website. Visit the website to view information on the amazing accomplishments of the group of UVic students who organized the project.

When Shawn Slavin, a University of Victoria undergrad, saw UVIC Spain’s video, he decided that his UVic (“the real UVic”) should and could do bigger and better. Slavin’s project is shooting for a Guinness record by hopefully inspiring over 3,000 members of the community to sing, dance, and perform on UVic’s campus on Saturday, September 25. Slavin says, “I also hope this project unites the university community in a way I’ve never seen before. This is an opportunity to make a name for both UVic and the city of Victoria.” Read more.

It's 9 am on a Saturday, I'm tired, my head hurts and I'm learning choreography to a Michael Buble song.

Thus it came to be that I woke up at 6am on Saturday, September 25, 2010 to head down to campus for filming day, participating simply as an extra in the big dance number to be featured at the end of the video. As weekends usually go for me, it didn't start out as one of the best of morning experiences. I posted the above status update to Facebook soon after I reported for registration to my assigned classroom.

Gladly, I soon realized that no attention to detail had been spared, including the provision of coffee and breakfast and the understanding that most participants would require additional instruction if they were to master the choreography developed for the video (I meant to practice more, honest I did). By the time our group, last name ending with the letter P, made our way over to the UVic fountain at 9am for the shooting to begin excitement was high and all seemed clear that we were going to go for it...big time!

Filming of the big finale wrapped up around noon and with it, my brief participation in the UVic lipdub project came to an end. I headed home with a new appreciation of the talent and earnest dedication to be found in UVic's student population. The experience was by far the most overt demonstration of school spirit I have ever witnessed, manifested in the core group of students who pulled it all together and the 900 or so UVic community members who followed their lead. Congrats to Shawn Slavin and team, and thank you for an amazing experience.

Can't wait to see the video! It's going to be awesome (way better than that other UVic lipdub)!

My UVic Lipdub Flickr Photoset

I love your music, but do I really care about your new t-shirt?: A letter from a fan to a musican I follow on Twitter

2010-09-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to meet a musician I'm now following on Twitter. I'm fascinated by the impact the Internet is having on the music industry and was very interested in hearing about the grassroots marketing techniques musicians are using these days. Our conversations made me think about how I use the web as a music listener/purchaser, what I like and what I don't like and how I behave online. With the purpose of it maybe being helpful I wrote a little piece about it.

How I use the Internet as a music listener/purchaser

Here’s a rundown of the music sites I use, why I use them and what I like about them. Though I know there’s a lot of additional sites and services out there, and I’ve tried out more than the ones I’ve listed, these are the ones I’ve continued to use.

twitter.com

Generally I don’t actively seek out musicians to follow on Twitter. The musicians I follow are mainly ones who have contacted or followed me first. If I see a new band or musician is following me on Twitter I’ll check out their feed and if their feed looks interesting I might check out their music on last.fm or myspace. I like feeds that include reflections on tours (thoughts on countries visited and venues played in), info on upcoming projects, and some creative writing is nice. If I like the music, I’ll follow the musician, and I have followed up on tweets I’ve received to download music and purchase merchandise. That said, I think there’s a little luck involved with Twitter. It’s kind of touch and go as to whether I’ll actually see everything (or even anything) a band or musican posts. I heard a good tip when I attended SXSWi this year, which was to tweet important items multiple times (the specific suggestion was three times). The second and third tweets are to catch any followers who may have missed the message the first time around.

myspace.com

I’m going to guess I’m not your typical MySpace user. For one thing, I don’t participate in the myspace community. I only use it to access music by musicians I’ve never heard of before, and last.fm is kind of taking over in this category. I most often use it to check out new bands, especially local bands, who are opening at concerts I’m going to.

last.fm

Again, I’m not a typical last.fm user as I don’t actively participate in the community, but I use last.fm a lot to check out new bands I’ve never heard of before and, to a small extent to check into bands I notice other last.fm users suggest.

facebook.com/iLike

I first hear about a fair number of concerts that I attend through iLike on Facebook.

facbook.com fan pages

I come across the majority of info I hear about about upcoming concerts, new releases, merchandise and special offers through Facebook’s fan pages. Most of the music and merchandise purchases I’ve made have started with a Facebook post. Of course, I don’t think I’d be too keen if all the info a band posted on FB had to do with ways I can spend money. I like reading about projects, reflections on current events, checking out photos of concerts, and news items.

blip.fm

I use blip.fm a lot to learn about new music from other users who like the same bands I do. It’s where I get the majority of tips on new bands to check out - in fact, I’d estimate at least 75% of the new bands I heard about this year were suggested to me by blip.fm DJs.

CBC Radio 3 (radio3.cbc.ca)

I love the CBC Radio 3 site. If the other music sites I participated in offered a Canadian only area, that would probably suffice, but as it is, Radio 3 is the only source I’ve come across that provides in-depth info on what’s new and happening in the Canadian music scene. As the majority of concerts I attend are in Canada, that’s important to me.

Band sites I use regularly

I can see how it’s necessary to have a site to provide resources for media and a store, but to be honest, there aren’t a lot of band sites out there that I’ve found have warranted more than a very occasional visit (once or twice a year). All the information about concerts, new releases and special offers I’ve ever followed up on have come from the sites and services listed above. That’s not to say I don’t think it’s important to post this information on a site, I just think there’s more exposure to be had from posting this information elsewhere. There are two exceptions, I will frequently return to the two sites listed below. Great Lake Swimmers because they update their site frequently (very frequently) with news and announcements (more than a monthly basis) and Billy Bragg because he’s an amazing man-of-the-people and I’m fascinated by what he’s doing with social media (heavy on the ‘social’ aspect’, with ‘media’ only an aside).

greatlakeswimmers.com
billybragg.co.uk

All the way east: Wot we does in Trinity, Newfoundland, Part 2

2010-08-17T09:41:00.001-07:00

Buildings in Trinity, Newfoundland
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Coffee at the Mercantile

If you’re craving a coffee and some conversation Ian’s is the place to go. I would hazard that, on any given day, it’s safe to say every person in Trinity - locals, townies and people who ‘come from away’ alike - will stop by Ian’s at some point during the day. If the beverages, baked goods, sandwiches or cool coffee-culture inspired souvenirs aren’t enough to tempt you, the town’s only public access to the internet may seal the deal (I’ve also been told the library provides internet access, but with four visits to Trinity under my belt I have yet to see the library open).

Rising Tide Theatre

I like to take in at least one production put on by Rising Tide Theatre every time we visit Newfoundland. The company focuses on plays that are distinctly east coast and often by and about characters and people who have lived or are living in the area. It’s a great way to immerse yourself in the local history, culture and dialect. Some of the productions are held outdoors, including the company’s staple the, ‘Town Pageant’ that explains the history of Trinity (my guess is it won’t be your cup of tea, but there are plenty other offerings, and I think at least one or two that might perk your interest). There is a dinner theatre production offered each Saturday evening during the theatre season - also probably not your cup of tea (I’m guessing there won’t be much in the way of vegetarian options for diners, it being all about the seafood here), but I thought I’d mention it anyway.

Photo trekking around town

Trinity is arguably the most photogenic of the collection of small villages dotting the shores of Newfoundland’s Bonavista Peninsula. Just about every typical east coast image you can imagine can be found here in beautifully restored technicolor glory - with of course, a few weather worn examples preserved for the sake of authenticity. Brightly coloured clap-board homes, root-cellar doors peering out from grassy fields, freshly painted wooden fishing boats lined up in the harbour, an old lighthouse and fort on the other side of the bay, lines of crisp, clean laundry flapping in the wind. Get the picture? ;) It’s a photographer’s paradise I tell you! Oh, excuse me - it’s a photographer’s paradise, dat’s wot I says!

Jigging for cod

This summer we got to go cod jigging with 82 year old Boyd in the boat he built. It was made of wood and Boyd used a traditional hand line (I cheated a little and used a rod). We caught 10 cod between us which will be dried and salted to be consumed in the winter. How cool is that?

View my Newfoundland, Canada photo set on Flickr

All the way east: Wot we does in Trinity, Newfoundland, Part 1

2010-08-15T15:57:00.001-07:00

Buildings in Trinity, Newfoundland
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Hiking up Gun Hill

For ‘people from away’ who are used to a regular exercise routine, the closest thing to a local gym in Trinity is a hike up Gun Hill. It’s a great way to work off all that hearty, though perhaps not ‘heart smart’, Newfoundland fare, pork scrunchions, fish and chips, fish and brewis, steamed pudding with brown sauce, and the town looks lovely from the summit. There are many interesting reminders of the town’s history to be discovered along the way. Not the least of which being the ‘guns’ - abandoned cannons left on the hillside after the war of 1812. Yes, I said the war of 1812. One of the town’s oldest cemeteries is located about half-way to the summit. Our friend, Eric’s, great-great-great-great-great grandfather - a Norwegian sailor who jumped ship off the shore of Trinity in the 1700’s, swam to shore and decided to stay - is buried there.

Beach combing

On a good day, within a few moment’s beach combing on any one of the town’s many beaches one can find a handful of clay pipe stems , pieces of pottery (one piece I found was date-stamped 1849!), black beach glass that I’ve been told is from seltzer bottles, mixed among more common beach finds like sun-bleached urchin shells and anemones.

Sea of Whales whale watching tour

Chris Prince owns and operates the Sea of Whales whale watching tour company based in Trinity, and his tours are fabulous. Why are they fabulous? Well, first off his boat rocks - it’s the most awesome zodiac I’ve ever seen. Secondly, along with the many species of whales, dolphins, puffins and eagles that can be viewed along the shores of Trinity Bay are some pretty impressive sea caves and waterfalls AND, if you go in the spring and early summer, you can view icebergs that have floated into the bay from the Arctic. Chris will even take you close enough to the icebergs to pick ‘popsicles’ out of the water so you can suck on the most pristine water on the planet. When there are icebergs to be seen, if you ask nicely, Chris will take you out in the early morning or at sunset when they glow an unreal turquoise blue in the slanted sunlight. Thirdly, Chris is super friendly and his wife packs great snacks and meals for Chris to share with his fellow sailors. The chicken salad sandwiches are particularly tasty and there are even vegetarian options.

Blueberry picking

I wouldn’t really say I’m a fan of blueberry picking, but I am a huge fan of Newfoundland steamed blueberry pudding. Here’s a recipe:

Blueberry pudding

Cream together three tablespoons of sugar and three tablespoons of butter. Add on beaten egg. Add one and a half cups of flour, a dash of salt and two teaspoons of baking powder. Mix with one half cup of milk. Fold in blueberries. Place in steamer and boil for one and half hours. Serve with brown sugar sauce. (Recipe courtesy of Trinity resident, Rosalind Cooleridge taken from her self-published memoir, ‘Sufficiently Blessed’.)

Lunch or dinner at the Dock Marina

The best place to eat in town is, in fact, one of the only places to eat in town - did I mention that Trinity has a year round population of 28? Don’t let the lack of competition fool you, the quality of the food here would make it a standout in a place a hundred thousand times larger (which would put it in the range of a medium-large size Canadian city). Try the fishcakes, made fresh every morning or Trinity Bay scallops, or the fish and chips…in fact, anything on the menu is pretty delicious.

Drinks at Rocky’s

All parties in town wind up at Rocky’s, as did a wedding reception we attended last year. When I remarked at one o’clock in the morning - after the reception had gone on for an epic ten hours - that I was glad last call was coming up as I was about ready to call it a night, one of the locals laughed hysterically. “You guys are so cute (and by ‘guys’, she was grouping me into the category of ‘people from away)! You think last call is at two? Last call is when everyone goes home!” The proprietor, Rocky, is everyone’s friend and has a dandy mustache. ‘Quite the crowd’ at Rocky’s can mean the place is packed to capacity or there are five people hanging out around the bar, it really doesn’t matter. Get the picture?

View my Newfoundland, Canada photo set on Flickr

All the way east: Trinity, Newfoundland

2010-08-13T17:07:00.001-07:00

Buildings in Trinity, Newfoundland
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

I arrived in Newfoundland via the red-eye from Victoria yesterday afternoon. You know, I’m a big fan of traveling at night. Overnight flights, train rides, bus trips, even driving through the night. I find night travel quiet and dreamy in all the best ways.

I’ve been looking forward to this trip for weeks, even months, even perhaps fourteen months, starting when we left at the end of our last visit. Trinity is one of those places you miss as soon as you leave, you look forward to returning and then within a few seconds of being back, it’s like you never left. It’s like everything you did in between when you last left and the moment you return suddenly ceased to exist.

We woke up this morning and ate breakfast and left the house with a loose plan to go to stop by the Mercantile to meet up with Baasje’s mother and have coffee, then maybe go for a hike up Gun Hill. Our plans soon changed unexpectedly when we happened to walk by Boyd and Rosalind’s at Pie Corner in time to see Boyd and Tony starting to pull away from the dock in the little wooden fishing boat that 82 year old Boyd built last year.

Drying cod in by the bay in Trinity Newfoundland

A few minutes later, we were in the boat with Boyd and Tony heading out to the narrows beyond the lighthouse to jig for cod. We caught ten fish, mostly small ones and a couple of big whoppers. We’ll probably have one for dinner tomorrow night and Boyd will salt the rest. When we ran into Rosalind upon our return she mentioned the small ones are very tasty salted and that they particularly enjoy them in the winter. After chatting with Rosalind about salt cod and the book she just published - a memoire of her experiences growing up in nearby Trouty called, ‘Sufficiently Blessed’ - we headed up to the house for some supper (which means lunch here). Then we lit a fire and I made some pastry dough and it started to rain. I expect this afternoon we’ll walk to the store at the edge of town to buy bread and cream then Karen and Eric will come by for dinner, after all their guests have checked in at the B&B.

Maybe we’ll go up Gun Hill tomorrow, or the next day. Well, all in due time, dat’s wot I says.

View my Newfoundland, Canada photo set on Flickr

On ‘Billy Bishop Goes to War’ at the Belfry and the 'magic of theatre'

2010-07-27T00:03:00.000-07:00

First a little back-story - being the minimalist that I am, you may be surprised to hear that, amongst the ten boxes of belongings we whittled all our worldly possessions down to when we made the move across the country to the west coast, is a box full of theatre programs. They are mostly from The Grand, of course, though a few are from Stratford, The Shaw Festival and a couple from that playhouse in Grand Bend - oh yes, Huron Country (not County) playhouse.

To get back to my story, or rather my back-story, though that box of theatre programs survived, ‘the big purge’, I’m afraid it didn’t make the journey with us to our new home. Instead, it was left behind in the cluttered abyss of my parent’s attic along with our jeweler’s anvil and that awesome set of golf irons I bought at a flea market for $40. Still and all, in that box of theatre programs are two that I, in this moment, wish I had. ‘Why is that?’ you might ask. Well, because tonight I’ll have the pleasure of taking in Billy Bishop Goes to War at Victoria’s Belfry Theatre. Need I say more?

Well, I suppose further details may be in order.

Had I had those programs I would now be placing them in an envelope along with the following note:

To Zachary Gray:

Enclosed are two programs that I would like you to have. They are from the two previous productions of ‘Billy Bishop Goes to War’, that I’ve attended, one in 1985 and one in 1999 both of which featured your father in the role that you performed tonight.

As I worked at the Grand in 1985, I had the pleasure of seeing that particular production numerous times. If my aged memory serves me correctly, on one of the evenings, the crew were unable to raise the curtain due to a technical malfunction. Your father and Eric Peterson were left to perform the entire play in the four feet of stage in front of the curtain. They did a excellent job dealing with the unexpected turn of events, and the audience that night, who were not informed of the circumstances, were left to believe that that was the way the show was always performed. It was the first time I fully understood the extremity of the expression, ‘the show must go on’ and the beginning of my love affair with live theatre.

Thank you so much for your performance this evening. I’m sure your father must be very proud (between you and me, I felt your interpretation of the role of ‘the musician' to be far more memorable*).

Yours truly,…

That’s where I would end my letter of course, but as this is a blog post I will partake in a little self-indulgent rambling (because it seems that’s what blog posts are for). You, in your more acutely tuned sense of theatre esthetic, may have always been aware of this, but it wasn’t until I saw that performance that I realized the significance of live theatre, where every show is different form the last (granted, not as obviously different as that particular performance, but I was a teenager at the time and responded best to exaggerated demonstrations along with excessiveness in general). That, to me, is one half the ‘magic of theatre’,

…the other half being no matter how long the line-up is outside the theatre door at five minutes to show time, the front of house staff always manage to get everyone inside and seated in time for the show to begin on schedule.

Magic, I tell you!

*As you will surmise I am writing this post in advance of my taking in the performance and this remark may not turn out to be factual. I’m going to assume it will be so as in my ‘aged memory’ I will most likely recall the minute details of this production more clearly, at least in the short term.

Sasquatch 2010

2010-06-08T22:22:00.001-07:00

Crowd shot of the terrace at the Gorge during the National concert at Sasquatch 2010
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Tips for attending Sasquatch Music Festival

Showing up late Friday night is not as great an idea as you'd think. Sure we avoided the Saturday Memorial Day weekend traffic, but the backlog of people arriving a day before the festival more than made up for any time we gained. We arrived at the highway exit just before midnight and it took 4 hours to go the last 5km to the campground entrance. We were pitching our tent as the sun rose over the Columbia River at 5am.
Try to arrive at the gates to the concert grounds before 10am. The entire campground seems to make a mass exodus to the gates between 10am and noon. Arriving at the gate just before 10am can make the difference between waiting 10 minutes in line and waiting an hour in line. If you think waiting an hour in line sounds bad now, wait until you're in the middle of it and you hear your favourite band launch into their set on the other side of the fence.
The showers are quietest in the evening. If you can tear yourself away from the concert grounds before the shows wrap up, chances are you'll find the showers completely empty. Of course this means you're going to miss a headlining act, but these are the sacrifices we have to consider when going three days in a row without flush toilets and not many sinks and showers for thousands of people.
Concert goers are only allowed to bring one small sealed water bottle into the concert area. Once you've finished up that bottle you're left with the options of refilling it at one of the water stations, conveniently situated with the 'Honey Buckets', or purchasing water at $4 a bottle. The smartest folks I saw brought water in collapsible water hydration packs, like the kind you bring along on a backpacking trip.
Judging by the conversations I overheard, it seems the benefits of reserving a 'premium' campsite are well worth the additional costs. Upon our arrival I ignorantly lamented the conditions of our premium campsite until campers who had upgraded from the 'standard' sites began to pitch tents around us. I can only image what they must have encountered to be so relieved to move camp in the middle of the night to an open field with a few scattered groupings of Honey Buckets and one communal sink at each 'rest area'. [Shudder]
Next year I think we're going to consider giving the even-more-premium 'terrace' campground a try. There were only a small number of sites in the terrace area, but I expect enough facilities for all AND campers were served free coffee and doughnuts in the morning. That said, one does have to weigh the cost of spending twice as much for a better patch of grass to sleep on.
There's not a lot of running water around in the camping areas or the concert grounds. For the sake of your health you might want to consider biting the environmental bullet and loading up on wet wipes. Hand sanitizer is also a good idea.
Don't forget to arrive at the gate to the concert grounds prepared to spend the whole day and ready for any kind of weather. You'll be asked to pay extra for 'in and out privileges' if you need to go back to your campsite and, personally, I think $10 is a lot of money to spend to grab a jacket.
In 2010 there wasn't any wireless access at the Gorge (quelle horreur!), at least not that I encountered, and I did ask at the information booths. A couple of the display booths had computers with internet access for concert goers to use.
Try the chicken chow mein. As concert food goes, it's pretty okay.

And above all...
Have a fabulous time! No matter what you have to put up with to be there, the musicians are going to make it well worth the experience.

View my Sasquatch photo set on flickr.

Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip, Day 5 - San Francisco, CA

2010-05-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

Union Square, San Francisco
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Okay, I'll admit it. I have perhaps, and just as of late, mind you, grossly underestimated the appeal of urban America. I'm sure you will forgive me as I believe I am fair in professing that I am not alone in this mis-judgement. But still and all, I concede that I've had my share of recent love-affairs with the metropolises of the good ol' US of A (God bless her!) - Boston, Austin, San Francisco. Fully aware of the unfashionable nature of such entanglements I tried to resist! I truly did!

In my Canadian-esque interpretation of what makes a city fabulous I tend to measure the appeal of a city against the standard set by the most fabulous city on the planet, Montreal. Specifically, Montreal during the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal. I feel sorry for people who have never experienced the awesomeness of Montreal's Jazz Fest, but I digress.

Lack of jazz festivity aside, it's stellar details all the way for San Francisco. Firstly, 'if you're going to San Francisco' (sorry, I couldn't resist), be sure to stay at the Hotel Carlton on Sutter Street. I'd guess it's not everyone's cup of tea, but you are going to love it, as we sure did. It's reasonably priced, the staff are lovely, the location is excellent and the complimentary wine and cheese served in the lobby before dinner hour comes complete with entertainment featuring the musical stylings of the concierge. How perfect is that? Yes, look out, Montreal.

As we unfortunately, only had a day and a half to spend in San Francisco (but we will definitely be back), we barely had time to scratch the surface of the myriad of attractions and distractions the city has to offer. With some effort, we managed to cram in most of the not-to-be-missed touristy engagements - a stroll on Golden Gate Bridge, a ride on a street car, a visit to Lombard Street, Alcatraz, dinner at Fisherman's Wharf (which we were warned by a local to by-pass), a walk through China Town, window shopping in Union Square, taking in a view of the city from Twin Peaks, and browsing the shelves at City Lights Bookshop. We also ate a two spots featured on 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives', Grubsteak and the Golden Coffee Shop. Whew!

View my West Coast Road Trip Flickr set.

Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip, Day 4 - Ukiah to San Francisco, CA

2010-05-22T21:34:00.000-07:00

Wine Tasting at Chateau St Jean, Sonoma Valley, California
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

We woke up on the fourth day of our road trip in Ukiah, California, in one of a string of equally forgettable hotels by the highway - the type of hotel that one ends up in when one is traveling with no specific itinerary save, 'let's wait 'til we're tired and then start looking for a place to stop'. This tactic, by the way worked fine for us in Ukiah but would later come back to bite us in the behind in a big way in beautiful, but outrageously overpriced, Gorda 'by the sea' (I'll get to that later).

One other point I should mention about ending up in Ukiah for the night, if you ever take this trip you will encounter a fork in the road along Highway 101 in Leggett, California. At this juncture (literally) you will be faced with making the difficult decision over whether to head west towards Fort Bragg and Highway 1 or continue on the 101 towards Ukiah and the Napa Valley. As I believe you will agree, such decisions are best left to the mindless, random workings of chance or, as I prefer, the abstract pull of simple whim and fancy. Thus, when the road divided before us, my mind ran to thoughts of Billy Bragg weighed against happy memories of drinking red wine out of the bottle around midnight bonfires on summer nights. What's a girl to do? When I later learned from a 'friend' on Facebook that the stretch of highway from Fort Bragg to San Francisco is the money spot as far as coastal views go, the blow was comfortably softened by the glow of the wine tasting we'd enjoyed at the Chateau St. Jean Winery (and the realization that there were plenty more coastal views ahead of us). That's all I have to say about it.

In my 'Sideways' tainted perception of California wine country, it turned out that wine tasting in Napa Valley was quite different than expected. Chateau St. Jean was much more polished and orderly than the rustic winery environment suggested in the film. Also, as we drove along the winding side roads leading off of the main highway, I half expected to pass Sandra Oh on a scooter (did she ride a scooter in that movie, or am I getting mixed up with some other movie?), but we, in fact, encountered very little evidence of scooters, philandering singles, or mid-life crisis burdened men acting younger than their age. But still and all, and I say this comfortably knowing that you will forgive the perhaps inappropriately low-brow flavour of such a comment, the wine was pretty tasty. Yes, it was. We purchased two bottles of 2006 Chateau St Jean Cabernet Sauvignon Sonoma County and a bottle of white truffle olive oil (that I believe was manufactured in France).

We arrived in San Francisco in the mid-to-late afternoon with plenty of time to snap some shots from the viewpoint at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, settle into our hotel, and take a short walking tour of the city that included Union Square and China Town. I'm going to leave it there because San Francisco is too fabulous a city to tack on some comments at the end of this blog post ('Gobsmacked, I tell you!). We'll save the details for next time.

View my West Coast Road Trip Flickr set.

Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip, Day 3 - Portland, OR to Ukiah, CA

2010-05-21T21:28:00.001-07:00

Pacific Coast Highway
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Distance: 592mi
Driving time: 12 hours with frequent stops

We didn't actually see the coast until the third day of our trip. Isn't that strange? I mean, had you left London at the same time, you could've met up with us at that point.

There are, in all honest truth, no words to accurately describe the beauty of the Pacific Coast highway. In one day we saw beaches and caves carpeted with sea lions, trees larger than I'd ever imagined, herds of grazing, deceptively peaceful looking elk (apparently they can be extremely dangerous if approached on foot!), giant sand dunes, and all of it strung together with hundreds of miles of winding road skirting the edge of the pounding surf of the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

PCH haiku for D

Pacific coast road
technicolour dolby sound
and cheap gas to boot!

View my West Coast Road Trip Flickr set.

Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip, Day 2 - Portland, OR

2010-05-12T22:17:00.001-07:00

Voodoo Doughnut
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

I have been remiss! Remiss to the Nth degree! What kind of person am I that I would begin to recount a west coast road trip adventure only to leave you hanging after one measly day of travel, through rainy Washington and in the dark nonetheless! I know it's no excuse, but, you must forgive my lollygagging, I've been recovering from our time spent in Los Angeles. You know how it is.

But I get ahead of myself...

When last I wrote we were spending our first night (of two) in Portland at the Convention Center La Quinta. Unlike my perception of the bright and friendly Austin Airport La Quinta, where I happily sojourned during the SXSW conference in March, I'm afraid I don't have many good things to say about the Portland Convention Center La Quinta. It is cheap - with the $50 cash back 'Portland Perks' deal offered on the Travel Portland website, it was actually cheaper than some hostels I've stayed in...which to be fair were a great deal more dingy and stinky. Meh. I still wouldn't stay there again.

But let's not doddle on the less than stellar details! You and I prefer the amusing haberdashery of pleasant, loosely organized travel memories - e.g. 'Was that Bolivia or Switzerland?' - and the describing of aesthetically intriguing or culturally interesting finds that simply become more fabulous with the passing of time - e.g. ' The colours in the marketplace were so vibrant I was gobsmacked' on second telling to become 'I was completely gobsmacked' later to be followed by an emphatic, 'Gobsmacked, I tell you!'

And I will tell you, there are many fine things to appreciate about Portland - unless you compare Portland to San Francisco, but we'll get to that post in a few days. Anyway, taken on it's own, there are many fine things to appreciate about Portland and of all the fine things to appreciate - lovely architecture, interesting neighbourhoods, abundant evidence of the local population's regard of fine art, culture and all things environmentally friendly - what I appreciated most was the food. In my admittedly limited experience, Portland is an exceptional city when it comes to culinary offerings.

Our first real meal in Portland was at a comfy little diner in the city's trendy Pearl District called the Byways Cafe. At this point, I must make a confession that I fear may cast an unflattering light on our journey. That is, that I planned the restaurants we would visit based on one of my favourite Food Network TV shows, 'Diners, Drive Ins and Dives'. In case you're not familiar with this show, which I would guess to be the case, it features a boisterous, bleached-blond, red convertible driving Californian, named Guy Fieri, who tours around the US visiting famed local greasy spoons recommended by viewers where he samples America's 'best' over-sized and deep-fried diner specialties. You must forgive my shortcomings for referencing the 'p' word (plan) and the banality of scheduled television broadcasting, but time was short and a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do when she's traveling with a guy who's unfailing response to, 'What would you like to eat?' is, 'How 'bout A&W?' As recommended by Guy, we ordered the blue corn pancakes, which were every bit as good as he said they would be, and the 'Lumberjack' hash which was okay.

After our meal at Byways, we took part in an informative and entertaining walking tour called 'Underground Portland' offered by a tour guide company aptly named Portland Walking Tours. When the tour wrapped up, we decided to revisit one of the spots we passed during the tour, a little hole in the wall (literally) doughnut shop called Voodoo Doughnut. This was, in fact, not the first time we had returned to Voodoo Doughnut during the day as we had passed the shop numerous times while exploring the core area, each time hoping the forty-five minute lineup would diminish on our next pass, which never happened. We finally acknowledged we would either have to wait or forgo the experience. Well, the decision was obvious, of course. When we were finally admitted to the closet sized interior space, packed with bodies, punk music blaring, anticipation was high. Gladly, we were not disappointed by the array of choices on the chalkboard menu, awash with tantalizing, exotic combinations including maple glaze with bacon - well, hello?! why hadn't anyone thought of that one before - and our choice the 'Memphis Mafia', a banana fritter the size of a human head topped with peanut butter, chocolate sauce, chocolate chips, chopped peanuts and, for good measure, sugar glaze. It took us three whole days to eat most of that doughnut and we ended up throwing some of it away. My, it was good.

We had dinner at another 'Diners, Drive Ins and Dives' gem, Pok Pok, which unexpectedly features a menu of Thai street-food. Unfortunately, I'm tired and ready to go to bed so at this point, I'm afraid we're going to have to make due with my insistence that a meal at Pokpok alone is worth the drive from Victoria to Portland. Being the good, old friends that we are, I know you will know what I mean. Remember the fish and chips place at Tobermory I deemed good enough to warrant the drive from London? Well this is twice the distance. It's that good.

I know you're vegetarian, but I'm still going to recommend you try the chicken wings. Gobsmacked, I tell you!

View my West Coast Road Trip Flickr set.

Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip, Day 1 - Victoria, BC to Portland, OR

2010-05-01T22:30:00.001-07:00

Washington State I101
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Distance: 410km
Driving time: 1.5 hour ferry ride + 4 hours driving

Dear D!

I’ve decided to write my blog entries about our trip down the coastal highway to LA as if I was writing a letter to you. Partially because I particularly enjoy writing letters for you and partially because I suspect you may be the only person who reads my damn blog anyway.

So, to start at the beginning (I’m so sorry about that opening, but it’s what popped into my head and we’re going to go with it), which is right now, Baasje and I are waiting at the Coho ferry dock to catch the 4pm ferry to Port Angeles and Baasje is so bored he is cleaning his nails with a Swiss Army knife. ‘Does that bother you?’ he asks politely as I glance his way out of the corner of my eye. Then, ‘I wonder if they are going to show the hockey game on the ferry - they would if it were a Canadian Ferry.’ You get the picture. Why the seasoned Coho ferry folks would need us all to show up 90 minutes early to go through customs is beyond me. All it’s amounted to is a whole lotta waiting around and nail cleaning if you ask me.

…I decided to spare you an hour of me rambling on about the wait at the ferry dock and put my computer away. I won’t say much about the ferry experience, other than, the atmosphere on board reminded me of Sunday afternoons spent at the bowling alley with my father in the seventies and, if you ever happen to find yourself on this ferry, whatever you do, do not eat the food.

Oh, this is something you should find amusing - the ferry ride turned pretty rough towards the end of the crossing and we overheard the couple at the table next to ours in the cafeteria asking a passing ship’s officer if the borderline violent shifting was ‘normal’ to which he replied ‘I’m not nervous. Do I look nervous to you? When the staff starts looking nervous that’s when you have to worry.’ An answer which I expect would have put the couple at ease had it not been immediately followed by two cafeteria wait staff bursting out of the kitchen yelling ‘John! Stuff is breakin’ in there!’. Needless to say, I took a quick glance around for the nearest exit and took note of the axe mounted to the wall, should the need arise to break through a window in the event the ship capsized - thankfully, it did not.

The drive from Port Angeles to Portland ended up taking about 5 hours including a stop for a chicken fried steak supper in Tenino and 15 minutes of wrong turns after we got lost in Portland trying to locate our hotel. We took a pleasant route along ‘The Canal’ suggested to us by the cafeteria staff on the ferry - a winding two lane highway passing through a string of forest reserves and pretty lakes.

All in all it was pretty much what you'd expect on a first day of a road trip - the anticipation that comes with knowing the best of the trip is still ahead of us balanced by the relief of finally getting on the road. You know how it is.

View my West Coast Road Trip Flickr set.

SXSWi 2010, March 16, 2010 - Day 5

2010-03-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

SXSWi 13th Annual Web Awards
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Got up and made my way down to the convention centre just before 9am to take in as much SXSWi as I could on the last day. The sessions/events I attended over the course of the day included, 14,000 Songs in 28 Days, Social Business, Keynote: The Future of Business Delivery, Cracking the Books: User Generated Content Management in Education, 140 Conference (Twitter) and the very fun Interactive Closing Party Hosted by (mt) Media Temple at the Mohawk.

I was a both sad and relieved to have the conference wrap up - with all the activity I was starting to feel a bit frayed around the edges - but part of me wished it wasn’t over. Or rather, part of me wished I had made plans to stick around for SXSW Music. Next time ;)

It wasn’t a perfect experience, there were a few bumps along the way, but the issues were relatively minor and not out of the ordinary for a large-scale conference (long line-ups for registration, occasional long waits for shuttles, and the false alarm evacuation come to mind). I attended one or two sessions (out of the 20+ total sessions I took in) that were disappointing or not what I expected, but the solution was simply to move onto another panel discussion or event.

As a whole I had a fabulous ‘noobie’ experience at SXSWi. The opportunity to listen to, and sometimes even speak with, the creators and developers of the tools I work with was priceless. The conference was well organized and I found the content to be extremely useful. On the networking side, I made a lot of great contacts and more importantly, some new friends.

SXSWi 2010 was one of the best professional development experiences I’ve had and I’d definitely love to come back for SXSWi 2011. Thanks Austin and SXSW!

Additional resources:

SXSWi 2010, March 15, 2010 - Day 4

2010-03-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

Dries Buytaert
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

I'm guessing most people in the attendance at Dries Buytaert’s session, RIP Content Management System, myself included, don’t require a Drupal pitch to understand the benefits of going open source. That said, it didn’t detract from the geek thrill of listening to Buytaert, creator of Drupal, plead it’s case. The room - one of the ballrooms on the main level of the convention centre - was packed to capacity and despite complaints on Twitter about the lack of content and new information, nobody left. Buytaert took us through the ever expanding list of government organizations, corporations, and institutions who build their sites using Drupal. Upgrades introduced with Drupal 6, Drupal’s scalability, and the upcoming release of Drupal 7 were also touched upon. I was very pleased to get the opportunity to speak with Buytaert afterwards and came away with some useful information that will be of great help with a project I’m currently involved with at UVic.

Too bad about Monday’s keynote address! I think we learned at this keynote that a popular interviewer and a brilliant, visionary mind do not necessarily make for a great presentation. I’m not exactly sure what happened but of the 3,000 people who packed the main exhibit hall to listen to Evan Williams discuss Twitter, the majority had vacated by the time the address hit the half-way point. Things did start off with a bang with Williams announcing the new Twitter’s new ‘@’ platform - integration for websites called @Anywhere. The rest of the interview went pretty smoothly with Williams talking about his involvement in Twitter’s continuing development and strategy; his thoughts on building the company both externally and internally; his view of the Internet as a facilitator of the democratization of information and the role he expects Twitter will play.

Finished off my day at the Adobe All-Access Happy Hour with some yummy food, free drinks, tons of give-aways and a team of Adobe experts on hand to demo the latest updates and new products. Updates and new products included Flash Mobile development tool and Browser Lab which allow you to overlay opaque renderings of web pages in different browsers. How awesome is that?

What happened at the end of the day was probably the highlight of my entire SXSW experience, and similar to our trip to the Olympics, it had nothing to do with the core focus of the event, but with music. Half way through the day I noticed on Facebook that Billy Bragg was playing a surprise show at the British Music Embassy that night! Unfortunately I already knew I was too pooped to make it to the late hour of midnight when he would be taking the stage. That said after the Adobe Happy Hour wrapped up, I headed over to the BME on the off chance that I might catch a sound check and guess who was there, hanging out! Now that I think about it, perhaps running into Billy Bragg is appropriate to the conference…in addition to being one of my fave musicians he is also my social media hero. Check out his NoBonus4RBS Facebook page for an example of his handiwork.

He may not be a techie but he’s got the social part down pat.

SXSWi 2010, March 14, 2010 - Day 3

2010-03-14T10:36:00.000-07:00

SXSWi 13th Annual Web Awards
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

When I arrived at the convention centre at the late hour of 10am things were relatively quiet. I spent the morning checking out some of the sponsor lounges and then hit the exhibition floor. The exhibits for the film and interactive portions of the conference share the same space, which makes for a neat mix of exhibitors some of whom you might not normally see at an interactive and web trade show, but whose products and services are still relevant.

The theme of the day - for me at least - was social change. Of the keynotes so far, Valerie Casey’s address, “Systems Design Inspiration” has by far been my favourite. Casey’s presentation focused on fostering sustainable practices through systems design and included specific tactics of implementing change. Casey’s approach included, examining issues in a larger context, creating the right measurement of success and acknowledgment of the concept that it is necessary to change the purpose/goal in order to effect change. In closing Casey observed that the Interactive community has to be the leader in making change and called for audience member to step up to the plate.

I followed up the key note with the very well attended Crowd Sourcing Innovative Social Change. The session was held in a packed room with a very enthusiastic audience who were given the opportunity to participate in some real-time crowd sourcing. Joining the in-person attendees were a fair number of followers participating in the discussion from around the world.

The HTML 5 Accessibility panel included presenters Cynthia Shelly from Microsoft and John Foliot from Stanford. Along with the Designing for CMS and Objective C Crash Course for Developers this was amongst the more technical presentations I’ve attended. Shelly and Foliot demo-ed the still in development HTML 5 and provided a fairly detailed tour of the new document semantics. The discussion branched into the idea that these technical updates should be accompanied by a shift in attitude towards providing a better quality browsing experience for the disabled.

I finished up the day at the 13th Annual SXSWi web awards - a semi-swanky night of fun held at the Hiton. Our host for the evening, Doug Benson, did a fantastic (occasionally abrasive) job on the mic.

SXSWi 2010, March 13, 2010 - Day 2

2010-03-13T07:42:00.000-08:00

How to Create Viral Video Panel at SXSWi 2010
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

I’ve noticed some whining on Twitter about the caliber of the SXSWi panel discussions this year, but I have no complaints. True, they haven’t all been mind-blowing, some have been a little slow, and/or not what I expected, but so far I’ve found the experience to be pretty impressive. After all, with such an expansive selection, you really can't expect them to all be stellar.

Here’s a little rundown of the panels I attended today:

Web Content Management Systems from a Designer's Perspective
Scott Fegette – Adobe
Chris Charlton - xtnd.us

I expect this will turn out to be the most useful of the panel discussions I will attend at the conference, mainly because it was of it’s relevancy to a project I am currently involved in and a particular problem we’ve been struggling to solve for weeks. Scott Fegette started things off by going over specific concerns to be addressed when designing for CMS. His talk included tips on handy Dreamweaver functions that are specific to the process - I’m particularly excited about trying out the ‘Use Generated Markup’ option.

Chris Charlton concluded the session with the more technical details, focusing specifically on designing for Drupal. He shared information about a slew of very useful tools including a free program called Drupal Theme Starter, available on xtnd.us (a quick GUI for generating .info files for Drupal) and a list of the specific Drupal files connected to the theming process. For additional details, check out the back channel.

How to Create Viral Video
Jonathan Wells - Flux
Margaret Gould Steward, User Experience Manager - YouTube
Jason Wishnow, Director of Film and Video - TED
Damian Kulash - OK Go

With memories of how flakey less-seasoned ‘experts’ can get when they start talking about what makes a video go viral, I have to admit had some reservations about this one. Thankfully they turned out to be unfounded. The session was full of simple, straight-to-the-point steps to take to ensure your content has the opportunity to go viral. The discussion by-passed low-brow ‘viral by accident’ content (e.g. Charlie bit my finger) and delved into the much broader market driven by people who ‘do viral video on purpose’. Tactics included: building your audience; enabling embed; using metadata; distributing on multiple fronts; leveraging ‘Superspreaders’; and exclusivity.

Damian Kulash of OK Go kept it cool by sharing his experiences producing music videos with his band. To finish off the session everyone was invited to participate in the shooting of a rip on the ‘Surprised Kitty’ viral video, ‘Surprised Audience.’ “Everyone remember, there are five, ‘Koochie, koochie koo!’s before, ‘You look like a little monkey’. Ready?”

Media Armageddon: What Happens When the New York Times Dies
Greg Beato – Reason Magazine
Markos Moulitsas – Daily Kos
Amy Langfield – NewYorkology LLC
David Carr – NY Times
Henry Copeland – Blogads.com

I was looking forward to this session as I’d attended a fabulous similar offering at a SIGGRAPH conference a few years back. When all is said and done, however, I don’t have much to say about this particular panel so I’m going to leave it there (it just didn’t have much to offer in the way of content). For information about traditional publishing media outlets transitioning to digital formats see remarks on, “New Publishing and Web Content” panel below.

Keynote address Danah Boyd - Privacy and Publicity

Danah Boyd is an eloquent and passionate speaker who really knows her stuff and I’m sure her presentation was more than appropriate for the majority in attendance. That said, I drifted a little during this one. Working in external relations in higher ed I am well acquainted with the multitude of privacy and ownership issues associated with publishing user-generated content. I hear about it every day, and I mean, every day.

New Publishing and Web Content
Erin Kissane – Incisive.nu
Jeffrey Zeldman – Happy Cog Studios
Lisa Holton – Fourth Story Media
Mandy Brown – Etsy
Paul Ford – Harper's Magazine

Someone on the back channel remarked that Jeffrey Zeldman should moderate every session at SXSWi. Agreed! Zeldman somehow managed to ensure this end of the day panel was paced for worn out conference goers. Quick and sharp enough to keep everyone engaged and relaxed enough to give tired brains a chance to process yet more information.

Most importantly, the discussion seemed to address all the right questions. Where the presenters in the ‘Media Armageddon’ discussion asked, ‘How many of you would pay to access the NYTimes online?’ and received a show of hesitant hands (in what appeared to be a room full of journalists). The presenters here asked, ‘How many of you would pay $3 to access the NYTimes online?' and were answered by a confident and positive response from those in attendance.

In this discussion the pros and cons of media publishing today basically stacked up like this:

Pro: It's a good time to start a publishing company. When you have an industry in the midst of change, opportunities for new models emerge.

Con: ‘It’s a terrible time to try to shoehorn existing content models into the web’. For existing models to exist they need to be open change. Paul Ford’s specific recommendation went a bit further to suggest, that publishers must first ask, ‘How do I serve and interact with people?’, then build publishing and editorial above the conclusions reached.

While I had witnessed the defensive side of this discussion earlier on in the day with one panelist simply seeming to insist traditional publishing models must be allowed to survive or accountability would be in retreat. The discussion here ended on a more pragmatic note to say that if everyone working at a newspaper looses their jobs because someone hasn’t figured it out yet, they will just go work for someone else who has. We don’t know what the future of publishing will look like, but it will come.

All in all, a pretty good day.

SXSWi 2010, March 12, 2010 - Day 1

2010-03-12T11:27:00.000-08:00

SXSWi Schedule Browsing
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Today was just a half-day as things didn't officially start rolling until 2pm. That said, I attended four hours of fantastic panels including Josh Williams', CEO and co-founder of Gowalla “Chasing Virtual Good (not Goods) in the Real World” and Mark Cuban, HD Net/Dallas Mavericks and Avner Ronen of Boxee’s “Pay TV vs Internet - The Battle for Your TV”.

I enjoyed listening to Williams’ take on geo-location technology and game mechanics. Through discussing his experiences developing PackRat and Gowalla, and sharing some of his observations on user behaviour, Williams provided great insight into what compels people to participate in game type activities online. Williams went on to point out that game play mechanics are not just limited to location based services. These dynamics are becoming more and more prevalent in behaviour all over the web, and in the real world too.

“Pay TV vs Internet - The Battle for Your TV” was an epic, David and Goliath contest between corporate utilitarian, Cuban, arguing for pay TV and our man of the people, Ronen, presenting the case for Internet video. I’d like to say that Ronen won, or at least that the fight went undecided (especially considering the level of support for Ronen from the audience). To be honest, Cuban won the day, hands down. The discussion was intense and temperatures ran high - not just between Cuban and Ronen but, even more so, between Cuban and the audience. To get a full idea of how the battle unfolded I’d encourage you to check out the back channel on Twitter.

I was also pleased to be able to take in part of Christian Crumlish's “Ukulele for Geeks” session at which I learned how to jam on the Ukulele.

SSXSWi 2010, March 10, 2010 - Day -2

2010-03-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

Just thought I’d share a little of my noobie experience at SXSW Interactive (and Austin, Texas - and Texas in general). The arrangements were made in the 11th hour, so I expect my experience from a logistics perspective will be a bit outside average. My conference registration, flight and accommodations were booked yesterday (March 9, three days before the start of SXSW 2010)… from what I’ve heard the city is pretty much booked up and the accomplishment of the trip being organized at such a late hour is by all accounts a testament to the miraculous abilities of our admin officer and her travel agent husband.

So here I am in the midst of a twelve hour travel day which will take me from Victoria to Calgary to Chicago and, finally, Austin. I’m going to arrive two days before the conference and will have all day tomorrow to make my way down to the conference space to check in. Which is great if you don’t consider the two days work I had to cram into one day before leaving the office. Anyway, I'm hoping to get some sightseeing and a bit of rest in. Judging from the schedule on the SXSW website I'm going to need all the rest I can get - the next few days are going to be busy!

China Beach

2009-12-01T16:31:00.001-08:00

China Beach
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Surfing at China Beach

72km on the North Coast & Cape Scott Trails, Days 5 & 6

2009-08-25T20:50:00.000-07:00

Nels Bight to Cape Scott Lighthouse to Nels Bight
Distance: 15km
Time: Less than 5 hours
Weather: Cool and misty in the morning, sunny and warm in the afternoon
Trail: A little bit of scrambling but mostly easy walking on wide worn in trails, sandy beaches and dunes
Photos: My Northcoast Trail Flickr Set

We spent the day hiking out to the lighthouse at Cape Scott, located at the northernmost tip of Vancouver Island, and back. It was a fairly easy trail with three pleasant beach walks and a sand dune section covered with long beach grasses and patches of wild strawberry plants.

The lighthouse keeper at Cape Scott sells pop, chocolate and potato chips and we took advantage of the opportunity to pig out on junk food. Other than this one instance, I don't think I've eaten pop and chips and chocolate in one sitting since high school.

Back on the beach at Nels Bight we spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening kicking around on the beach hunting for sand dollars, playing Frisbee and soaking up the sun.

Nels Bight to Cape Scott Trail Head
Distance: 17km
Time: 6.5 hours
Weather: Sunny with cloudy and rainy periods
Trail: Long but easy with lots of boardwalks and stairways with handrails through inland forest and lagoon areas

This was the longest and easiest stretch of our journey. After leaving Nels Bight in the morning the trail consisted entirely of forest or lagoon walks. When we neared the parking lot we decided to hike out a day early rather than spend the night at San Josef Bay as we had planned. The weather was promising a rainy evening and we decided a final night of camping might prove anti-climactic.

On the drive out down the bumpy logging road back to Port Hardy we encountered two bears - the only two we spotted during the week, though we did see lots of scat on the trail - and the infamous 'Shoe Tree' where it seems hundreds of hikers have left their worn out boots and shoes in tribute to the grueling and unforgettable Cape Scott/North Coast trail.

72km on the North Coast & Cape Scott Trails, Day 4

2009-08-25T20:49:00.000-07:00

Laura Creek to Nels Bight
Distance: 12.5km
Time: Less than 5 hours
Weather: Misty and cool
Trail: A little bit of scrambling - after Nissan Bight, easy walking on wide worn-in trails with gentle ascents and descents
Photos: My Northcoast Trail Flickr Set

The day marked our final leg of the North Coast trail which ends where the extension joins the original Cape Scott trail at Nissan Bight. The day started with an easy walk down a long stretch of sandy beach followed by a bit of inland scrambling.

After a short lunch on Nissan Bight we started out on the Cape Scott trail, a comparatively easy hike. The trail, being older and more worn in, is fairly even and wide with little in the way of roots and debris to contend with.

On our way to Nels Bight, we passed the ruins of an old Danish settlement. It's interesting to think that had things worked out differently, the area might have become the site of a town or village.

There were lots of people on the beach that night - it appeared to be a popular spot with overnighters who hike in from the parking lot on the San Josef Bay side. And why not? Standing on the beautiful white sandy beach we watched whales and seals jumping in the surf as bald eagles flew overhead. Definitely worth the trip!

72km on the North Coast & Cape Scott Trails, Day 3

2009-08-25T20:48:00.000-07:00

Shuttleworth Bight to Laura Creek
Distance: 12km
Time: 6.5 hours
Weather: Misty but warm(ish)
Trail: Lots of cobblestone beach walks, some scrambling through forested sections
Photos: My Northcoast Trail Flickr Set

We ran into two park rangers half way through the day's hike who mentioned that this is the most tedious section of the trail. Technically, it's not that difficult, but most of the walk is comprised of cobblestone beach walking, slippery in spots and hard on the ankles.

That said, the views were still stunning. For the first time since we began the hike, the early morning mist never quite burned off, so we came across a lot of the mist-shrouded, rocky coast and crashing waves landscape scenes that are often associated with Western Canada's coastline.

Laura Creek was my least fav of the campsite beaches on the walk - very buggy with mounds of fishy smelling seaweed everywhere. It didn't help that our trip coincided with the highest tide of the year. We actually had to move our tent at 10pm to avoid getting swept away by the surf.

72km on the North Coast & Cape Scott Trails, Day 2

2009-08-25T20:47:00.001-07:00

Skinner Beach to Shuttleworth Bight
Distance: 16km
Time: 10 hours
Weather: Sunny and warm
Trail: 3 most technically difficult sections of the trail, lots of rope work, slippery cobble beaches
Photos: My Northcoast Trail Flickr Set

Note: If you're doing this hike in the near future, fill up your water bottles at Nahwitti. The summer has been unusually dry on the North Coast this year and between Nahwitti and Shuttleworth Bight we did not come across any sources of moving fresh water.

The day's hike included multiple sections of steep ascents and descents. Thankfully the weather has been, uncharacteristically, mostly pleasant this year so the trail has been relatively, stress relatively, dry.

The pay off was a series of unforgettably beautiful beaches - in fact, the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen. Long stretches of undisturbed white sand, sea stacks and lush green pines topping giant bolder rock formations all under a vivid blue sky. Fantastic.

Through 10 hours of hiking including frequent breaks to catch our breath and take in the views we only met one other group of hikers.

Shuttleworth Bight where we set up camp for the night is a gorgeous long sandy beach. After the sunset the stars came out in full force and we rested up by the campfire, fed and re-hydrated, and talked about all the amazing sights we'd seen that day.

72km on the North Coast & Cape Scott Trails, Day 1

2009-08-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

Shushartie Bay to Skinner Beach
Distance: 8.5km
Time: 4.5 hours
Weather: Sunny and warm
Trail: Steep, long climb followed by scrambling and boardwalks
Photos: My Northcoast Trail Flickr Set

After a miscommunication with our water taxi driver we ended up arriving at the trail head at Shushartie Bay at the late hour of 12 noon. Right off the bat we were faced with a steep, long climb with a fair bit of rope work up to the highest elevation point on the trail.

Eventually the trail leveled out to a series of boardwalks traversing marshy areas divided by short stretches of scrambling through forest. This first day is is basically a long stretch of in-land trail and I was glad when we finally reached Skinner Beach in the late afternoon.

Skinner Beach is a beautiful stretch of sand divided at one end by a cobble creek. The beach was such a welcome site, especially under a clear blue sky in the golden, late-summer sun, that we decided to set up camp rather than pressing onto Nahwitti as we had originally planned. When we hiked through Nahwitti the next day, I felt we'd made the right decision as Skinner is definitely the choicer spot to camp. That said, it meant the next day would be a ball-buster of a day - a grueling 16 km hike including the three most technically difficult sections of the trail...but why care about that when you're sitting on a warm beach, watching the sun set with a yummy meal in your belly.

Yes, I said the North Coast Trail, not the West Coast Trail

2009-08-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

Being a recent transplant to British Columbia, most people seem to assume I've made a mistake when I mention we're planning to hike the North Coast Trail. "Don't you mean, the West Coast Trail?" is a common response. To be fair, I hadn't heard about the trail, which I've learned just opened last year, until this past spring when one of our hiking buddies mentioned it...and I thought he'd made a mistake, too.

We're lucky enough to be hiking the trail with a friend who's already completed the trip and most of our planning has been left up to him. He is a cartographer, which was a great boon in helping us to understand how the days would play out. I've posted a small snippet of the awesome map he's created (above) that outlines how far we will travel each day, which campsites we will be shooting for, where the water sources are and other handy details.

Cape Scott + North Coast Trails

Total distance: 65km + 8km for a possible side trip to the Cape Scott lighthouse
Number of days: 7
Number of nights: 6
Entry: Shushartie Bay
Exit: San Joseph Bay

After trying out the package dehydrated menu plan on our last hiking trip (four days on the Juan de Fuca) we're opting for more 'real food' this time around. We will bring a couple of those meals, nothing beats their convenience after all, but most of the meals we'll be eating will be our tried and true favourites with a couple of new recipes thrown in.

6 Breakfasts:
4 x oatmeal with dried cranberries, cinnamon and nuts
2 x instant grits with cheese

7 Lunches:
Assortment of jerky, nuts, tortillas, hard tack and fruit leathers

7 Dinners:
2 x dehydrated dinners - we picked up Mountainhouse Beef Stew and Turkey with Mashed Potatoes, which are our favs of the packaged dinners we've tried
2 x cous cous with nuts, lentils and dried fruit
2 x pasta with pesto, sun dried tomatoes and dried peperoni
1 x chicken soup with dumplings

We're also bringing an assortment of snack bars, Gatorade power to mask the taste of our iodine filtered water, and tea and coffee.

As much as this sounds good to me right now, I know my mouth will be watering for french fries by the last day...I hope Port Hardy has a good burger joint.

The best campsite on Harrison Lake

2009-08-08T23:34:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, Baasje, Chewy and I drove 60km down a dirt logging road to a spot on the west shore of Harrison Lake halfway between Harrison Hotsprings and Pemberton. Including highway driving time it's about a three hour drive from Vancouver - one hour east to Mission, BC and then 2 slow and bumpy hours northeast following the shore of Harison River and Harrison Lake.

Chewy said the drive from Mission could have been done in about an hour and half, but we had to stop a few times to clear logs off the road using a winch tied to Chewy's truck. Driving into the forest at night with the trees and brush crowded close against the side of the road it felt like we were headed to a spot that hadn't seen people for a long time. Surprisingly when we arrived at the place Chewy had in mind, there were already a few other campsites set up. Well, it was the August long weekend.

Considering how beautiful a spot it was - a turquois lake surrounded by mountains and forest, and deep water warmed by the hot springs - it was definitely worth the drive.

My Top 5 Fav Canadian Campgrounds

1. Missisaugi Lighthouse, Meldrum Bay, ON
2. Green Gardens Trail, Gros Morne National Park, Newfoundland
3. Neys Provincial Park on the north shore of Lake Superior, ON
4. Sombrio Beach, Juan de Fuca Trail, Vancouver Island, BC
5. Doc's Point, Harrison Lake, BC

This social media marketing thing is starting to give me the willies

2009-05-26T22:07:00.000-07:00

Lately I've attended a number of events focused on social media marketing. Is it just me, or is the whole idea of using social media as a marketing tool a bit of a creepy concept? Don't get me wrong, I understand that companies and organizations are monitoring the content I post online to try and figure out ways to tempt me into buying into their products and services, but I'd like to think the scope of the online discussion is beyond the strategies of professional marketing companies. Are they misguided in their belief that the mindset of the collective voice of Internet users could possibly be swayed by carefully crafted social media policies, or am I just deluding myself?

At a social media workshop I attended recently, participants were asked to raise their hands if they 'hated Facebook'. Half the people in the room, most of whom were past the youth demographic in age, raised their hands. In contrast, I did some usability testing with two groups of high school students this week and when I asked the question, 'Do you have any favourite sites?', all of the students, with the exception of one, mentioned Facebook. I can't locate any articles on the nature of this apparent divergence of opinions. I do know that the fastest growing demographic on Facebook lately appears to be the 35+ age group. Okay so the 35+ age group is using it and hating it? What gives? Could it possibly be that professionals just haven't figured out the big picture on social media yet? Enter the topic of 'policy development': we'll make the rules and teach people to follow them.

Social Media Club International, an organization comprised of members of the Social Media Community is currently promoting participation in an online discussion on the topic, "How do we educate the younger generation to prepare for the modern workforce?" Yikes! Here's my two bits, I'd keep this discussion behind closed doors and do my best to make sure no one finds out your contemplating such a creepy undertaking.

What I find most disturbing is that the topic of 'developing trust' is frequently finding it's way into the discussion of establishing corporate social media policies and practices. Yes, trust is what it's all about. From my experience, trust is why I prefer my interactions on Facebook to the more open discussion on Twitter. My friends on Facebook are people I know, people who respond to the content I post, in a meaningful way. And yes, I can tell the difference. I think...

Okay, so it's possible I'm the deluded one, but when it comes to social media and the vast expanse of the semantic web I prefer to think that theorists like Michael Wesch have a better grasp on what's happening out there: the world wide web is us, that everyone has the ability to organize content on the web, and that we also have the ability to look beyond the tool and think critically about how this tool affects our relationships and who we are.

Just my thoughts of course. Admittedly I don't have all the answers, at least not on my own...

Things I learned at Convergence 09

2009-05-11T22:51:00.000-07:00

I hadn't intended to attend Convergence 09. I found out about it the day before Convergence 09 took place when I read an email from a colleague about the event, described on Cossette West's site as, "A Forum for Digital Marketing Thought Leadership". When it comes to professional development, my pursuits have mainly leaned towards digital art and emerging technologies (admittedly not a great fit considering my work profile, but it suits my personal interests which is the best I've got to go on these days). Amidst the workshops and conferences I've attended in the past, marketing is rarely at the forefront of topics of discussion. However, what grabbed my attention when I first came across the Cossette West site was the next bit of text I encountered on the main page: "Featuring Keynote Speaker, David Plouffe, Obama's Unsung Hero Campaign Manager, Obama for America". Well, why didnt' you say so?!

David Plouffe's keynote address was an inspiration. I have just about zero experience with political science so I'm going to refrain from commenting on why he's so great. As a believer in Tim Berners-Lee's vision of the semantic web, I will say this though, Plouffe's presentation reaffirmed my belief that the web holds the potential to place the power of mass media in the hands of the people. Finally!

However...

My first experience with live blogging:
Convergence 09 keynote address by David Plouffe, Campaign Manager, Obama for America

Identify a noteworthy point in the presentation
Quickly decide on how to best sum up the point, injecting personal commentary and wit if possible in 140 characters or less. Leave room to add related hashtag(s), reference speaker (use Twitter address if available), and links (shorten any relevant web addresses using a URL shortener - I use bit.ly)
Review what you've written to ensure it makes sense and edit where necessary
While focusing on completing steps 2 & 3, keep an ear out for the next appropriately blog-able item
Check your post to make sure it's accurate, appropriate, unoffensive and grammatically correct (though I've observed that this step is widely accepted to be optional)
Half way through completing step 5 realize speaker is in the midst of making his next profound point, way more interesting than the one you're currently working on
Quickly decide on how to sum up next point in 140 characters or less (forgo the personal commentary and wit this time around)
Make the somewhat foolhardy decision to bookmark the site the speaker mentioned - because you're a nerd you've already logged into Delicious anyway
Press the update button to post your last half-reviewed tweet
Realize the speaker has moved onto making another profound point
Press the update button to post your last tweet without reviewing it first, realize you've forgotten to add the hashtag(s) and/or refer to the speaker and/or include a shortened link to the site he mentioned
Peer into your clutter of your mind to try and do your best to accurately recall the last point the speaker made
Experience difficulty editing the point down to 140 characters. With some struggle, manage to whittle your post down to a cryptic, choppy faux-sentence that still leaves you with a character count of -3. Remove punctuation
Realize you've haven't left any room to include the hashtag(s), URL or reference the speaker
Glance at the clock and realize you're only a little more than 10 minutes into the presentation with over an hour left to go

As these things go, I did refine my technique as I went along. For starters, I resorted to typing and formatting my tweets in TextEdit before pasting them into Twitter. I quickly let go of the idea that I would be able to blog presentations in their entirety. As the day worn on, after the haze of information overload began to set in, I also noticed that focusing in on elements that related closely to the topics I knew best (however disjointed from the actual focus of the topic being presented) resulted in more meaningful commentary on my behalf. Where this point is concerned, this meant that many of my latter posts focus on the loosely related topics of music and techno-pop culture.

So, what did I get out of my experience at Convergence 09? A reaffirmation of my belief that the web holds the potential to place the power of mass media in the hands of the people, people like you and me who now have the ability to participate in real time discussions (so widespread that they start trending on Twitter - woohoo!) that contain content that is potentially inaccurate, incomplete, gramatically incorrect and littered with personal bias. Of course the idea is that our combined comments will provide an accurate depiction of the facts.

View the results of my first experience with live blogging on Twitter

View the complete #cvg09 discussion

Fishing weekend at Cultus Lake Provincial Park, Fraser Valley, BC

2009-05-04T20:32:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we made a last minute decision to head to the mainland and go fishing with Mike. That meant rising at the ungodly hour of 5:30am on a Saturday morning to catch the 7am ferry from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen. We consoled ourselves with the knowledge that we would have the opportunity to catch a nap on the hour and a half long ferry ride over to the mainland. As Mike had offered to pick us up at the ferry dock we parked our car on the Vancouver Island side and paid the walk on fare which amounted to about $27 for the two of us.

As none of us had any concrete plans or agendas (other than to catch some fish), we headed out on the highway from Tsawwassen with no specific destination in mind. Mike had a vague idea that we should try Chilliwack (in the Fraser Valley, about an hour's drive from Vancouver), so with a little help from Mike's GPS and my iPhone we eventually found ourselves at Fred's Custom Tackle and Barbershop in Vedder, BC. Fred's advice was for us to head a few minutes down the road to Cultus Lake Provincial Park which, he explained, had a terrific campground, warm showers and, of course, great fishing. He then proceded to load us up with all the appropriate lures we would need, including 'flying ants' that he had noticed had just begun to appear in the area a few days before.

So it was that we ended up at the Delta Grove campground in Cultus Lake Provincial Park which is a beautiful family-friendly recreation area with large, pretty campsites (though they don't offer much in the way of privacy), set on the shore of the largerst warm, freshwater lake in the Fraser Valley. The shoreline near the campsite is a pebble beach and the water is crystal clear. After a few quick spins around the first-come-first-served campground, we selected campsite #23, situated right on the lake and close to the bathrooms and showers (campsite cost, $24/night).

Making quick business of unpacking the truck and setting up the tents we headed straight to the beach with our new lures and started casting away. After showing us the ropes, Mike headed back to the campground to fetch us some refreshments and Baasje left to give him a hand...and a few minutes after they left I caught my first fish! I yelled to Mike for help and reeled my catch into shore unguided. In the long moments it took Mike to respond, I watched the poor fish miserably flopping around on the beach with the hook in it's mouth. Admittedly, when it finally managed to work the hook free I experienced a strange combination of disappointment and relief. Mike ran up with the net just as it disappeared into the middle of the lake. Of course, the recurring joke all weekend long was that I had caught a pretend fish that had sadly 'disappeared' before anyone else could see it. Yes. Ha, ha.

It began to rain in the evening and our campsite was taken over by a group of very friendly twenty year olds who'd unfortunately forgotten to bring rope to hang their own tarp. One of the girls was a traveller who'd recently been accepted to Emily Carr and the others where all very nice, but with all of us crammed under our little 6' x 8' tarp, I'm afraid none of us stayed very dry or warm. The three of us eventually abandoned our tarp to the upsurpers and retreated to the campfire area. Note to self, if twenty year old girls ask you for rope to hang a tarp in a campground, do whatever you have to do to get it for them - or be prepared to tell them to hit the road when it starts to rain.

After the girls left, the wind picked up and did a crazy number on our tents. Our own tent (with quite a bit of our stuff inside) was blown halfway down to the beach, and the six person goliath tent that Mike had brought along turned into a giant windsock that ballooned upwards towards the tree branches. At the same time the wind picked up, it also began to pour rain and the tarp became a useless, flopping and annoyingly noisy sail. It was one of those moments in life where everything is going so horribly wrong it feels like you're living in a gong show. With a bit of a struggle we managed to get the tents back in place and we snuggled down into our warm and thankfully dry, sleeping bags for a good night's sleep. An unexpected bonus to the ordeal was Mike's discovery of a fish attached to one of the fishing rods' tangled lines down at the beach.

Sunday was a lazy day that started with a big breakfast of fresh fish cooked over the campfire, eggs, bacon and toast. Breakfast was followed by an hour or so of fishing before getting down to business with the cleaning and packing up. To get the most out of our Cultus Lake epxerience, we decided to check out the short two hour hike up to the 'Teapot Hill' lookout. This, perhaps, wasn't the most exciting hike I've ever been on, but the trees were lovely. We left Cultus Lake around 3pm in the afternoon, grabbed a late lunch at the Husky in Chilliwack and headed back to the Tsawwassen ferry dock just in time to miss the 5pm ferry. Oh well, the ferries are on the summer schedule now, so thery're running every hour. It wasnt' too much of a stretch to wait the extra half hour for that long hot shower and some take out Chinese.

Gulf Islands Trip, April 2009

2009-04-30T20:23:00.000-07:00

We caught the 9:35am ferry at Swartz Bay (1 stopover on Pender Island) on a sunny Saturday morning. As our destination on Mayne Island was in walking distance to the ferry dock we decided to leave the car behind which meant we only had to pay the very reasonably priced $9.45/adult fare.

Stephen had left a note for us on Facebook just in case he couldn't make it down to the dock in time to meet us:

"...our road is directly behind the sign. It's about a 15 minute walk...feel free to let yourselves in and make yourself at home (the tea is above the stove)."

Gotta love that friendly BC hospitality!

When the ferry arrived at the dock at Mayne Island, Stephen was there to meet us. On the walk back to their lovely home, he and his son filled us in on a few facts about our new surroundings:

Mayne Island is about 10km in diametre, a little under 30 square km in area
the island is located roughly half way between Tswassen (Vancouver) and Swartz Bay (Victoria)
Back in the day it was a regular stopover for Aboriginal peoples travelling between the mainland and Vancouver Island
The Aboriginal name for Mayne Island roughly translates to 'party place'

After a quick lunch we headed off down the road on foot towards the trail. Setphen showed us a 'secret' short cut from a hiking path near their home to Halliday Viewpoint. The shortcut involved taking a service road/path for a few km before veering off onto a mining road and then scrambling about 50m up a slope to a deer path. We followed the deer path for about 100m before scrambling a few feet up a somewhat steeper slope to meet the main hiking trail in Mount Parke regional Park. We spent most of the afternoon trekking on the park's gentle hiking trails enjoying beautiful panoramic views of the Navy Channel, and Saturna, Prevost and Saltspring Islands.

In the late afternoon we made our way to Wild Fennel via the shady Old Gulch hiking trail only to discover upon our arrival at the restaurant had closed until the evening. Too bad! Stephen's description of their menu sounded delicious...guess we'll just have to save a visit to Wild Fennel for our next trip to Mayne.

Tired, hungry and perhaps a little cranky, we walked a further half hour along one of the island's quiet roads to 'the village' where we gorged ourselves at the Saltspring Lodge on yummy grilled salmon salads, large orders of friends AND onion rings and cheese cake. Yum! We also stopped at the grocery store on the way home to pick up a peach pie and a tub of ice cream for later on in the evening.

After a few hours of conversation, warm pie and a couple of beers we hit the hay early and in anticipation of another big day.

The next morning, we got up early and Baasje and I caught the ferry to Galiano Island. A larger island - about 26km across and 6 km wide - just west of Mayne Island. The fare for the Mayne to Galiano trip was $5/person. We also learned that our return fare to Swartz Bay from Galiano would be covered in the fares we had already paid, meaning our weekend transportation expensese would amount to a grand total of $30 for both us us. What a deal!

Galiano was a bit of a metrolpolis compared to Mayne Island, but it maintained the same quiet, slow-paced atmosphere with little traffic (more like next to no traffic). There was a 'food wagon' at the ferry dock serving German and Indonesian dishes and the smells were delicious. As it was still breakfast time, Baasje and I made our way up the road to "Grand Central" a neat little train themed diner for eggs and bacon. Delicious!

After breakfast we walked for about 45 minutes on deserted roads to Bellhouse Provincial Park were we encountered the most amazing coastline I've seen out west yet - a weathered and ridgy sun bleached sandstone beach. I took many, many pictures. After an hour or so exploring the coastline at Bellhouse we returned to the road and walked a further hour and and a half up winding roads to The Bluffs. From the ridge walk at The Bluffs we took in beautiful views of the Gulf Islands and Mount Galiano.

When it was getting close to mid afternoon we started on our way back to the dock to grab lunch and do some beach combing before catching the 4:40pm ferry back to Vancouver Island. Tired but happy we removed our boots and stretched our legs on the almost empty ferry and began to make plans for our next trip to the Gulf Islands. I think it's safe to say we'll be back that way again (and again, and again).

47 km on the Juan de Fuca

2009-04-14T21:03:00.000-07:00

Total cost of four day hike for 2 people: About $300 including...

$200 for new gear and food
$12 parking
$40 camping fees ($5 per person, per night)

Bears: No sightings, but did see scat at a few points along the trail

Day 1 - Trailhead at China Beach (km 0) to Bear Beach (km 8.7)

Our trip began with the 2+ hour long drive from Victoria to the Juan de Fuca trail head at China Beach on a cloudy and grey, Good Friday morning. Noticing the skies growing darker the closer we drew to Jordan River, we soon gave up hope the weather would make turn for the better. When Baasje and Mike returned to the trail head after depositing one of our vehicles at the far end, it was just past noon and we decided to delay lunch and hit the trail, anxious to get going before the rain hit. Gladly, the rain held off for most of the first leg of our journey, a series of relatively easy ascents and descents through vibrant green (despite the gloomy light of overcast skies) forest.

When we arrived at Bear Beach (km 8.7) in the mid-afternoon we briefly considered pressing on towards the next campground at Chin Beach (km 20.6). Had the weather been fairer, I expect we would have kept going. As it was, we quickly came to the conclusion that none of us were keen on the possibility of setting up camp after after nightfall in the rain. After taking a tour of the already crowded campground to scout out our options, we squeezed onto a campsite with an Australian who was hiking solo. Thankfully he was a good sport about sharing. After we'd pitched our tents and filled our bellies with dinner and smores for dessert (thanks, Mike!) we settled down to a fantastic night of good conversation and music around the campfire.

Day 2 - Campsite at Bear Beach (km 8.7) to Chin Beach (km 20.6)

Bear Beach to Chin Beach is the most physically demanding stretch of the Juan de Fuca trail. The section is comprised of continuous steep ascents and descents - a heart pounding grind with 50 lbs on your back, especially when the weather is wet. By mid-morning the steady rainfall had turned the path to series of slippery mud puddles deep enough to reach mid-shin in spots. It took us most of the day to travel the 11 km to Chin Beach, with only a few short breaks to grab quick bites to eat. With the ladders and bridges wet and slippery, keeping our feet required quite a bit of focus. The effort and hardship was not without it's rewards - the views were beautiful and the sense of accomplishment I felt at the end of the day is what hiking is all about. When we finally reached our destination we were able to grab a good campsite beside the creek with a great view of Chin Beach (see pic above). We quickly set about cooking and inhaling dinner before spending a few hours resting sore muscles and checking the damage from the spills we'd all taken on the trail.

Day 3 - Campsite at Chin Beach (km 20.6) to Little Kuitshe Campground (km 34)

The second day of the trip had been one of the most physically demanding hikes I'd ever encountered, and the third day turned out to be, by far, the most mentally challenging. Steady rain continued throughout the day and turned the trail into an endless, soupy puddle that eventually waterlogged my boots (that on previous trips had miraculously seemed impenetrable to water). Mud also began to seep beneath my gaiters, soaking my pants to the knee. As the day wore on, the condition of the trail began to deteriorate to the point where we were regularly coming across sections that were completely washed out, resulting in some treacherous detours. Once we'd worked past these rough spots it was sometimes difficult to determine where the trail picked up on the other side and we ended up having to backtrack of find our way a few times. As it can sometimes go at moments like these, the sites from the trail were breathtakingly beautiful - Sombrio Beach appeared gorgeous and moody in the grey mist and at one point we climbed high into the clouds during a particularly stunning interior section of the trail.

Day 4 - Little Kuitshe Campground (km 33) to Botanical Beach (km 47)

Thankfully the section of the trail from little Kuitshe Campground to Botanical Beach is the easiest leg of journey. If you're looking to experience the Juan de Fuca on a gentler scale, I would suggest taking on this portion of the trail. The path here is well maintained and many of the trouble spots have been smoothed over with boardwalks and wooden steps (some even with railings). Despite an uncomfortable night's sleep and sore legs we were able to cover the 14 km to Botanical Beach (the longest stretch of the trip) before mid afternoon. The shoreline on this section is very pretty and there are many interpretive signs along the way to enhance the experience.

We live in a beautiful world...yeah we do, yeah we do

2009-02-22T22:03:00.001-08:00

Friday is my favourite day of the week, and Friday afternoon at half past four is my favourite time of my favourite day of the week. It is the moment of the week where the longest amount of time exists before I have to return to work. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job, but it can't compete with free time on any level. As I often find myself in a celebratory frame of mind on Friday, it's the day of the week where I most frequently indulge in little out of the ordinary extras. A favourite meal for dinner, a nice bottle of wine, going to a favourite bar, checking out a movie I've been waiting to see, etc.

This past Friday, the sun was still up when I arrived home from work and I asked Baasje if he would like to take a walk down to the little beach at the end of our street before dinner. I quickly changed out of my work clothes, put on my hiking boots, grabbed my iPod - but neglected to get my camera, a decision I would later regret - and ten minutes later, we were there. I hadn't brought my camera as I assumed, after three previous visits to our little beach, that I had plenty of pictures of the piles of driftwood, the rocky outer edges of the cove, the mountains across the water. Regretfully, I did not consider that the shoreline changes throughout the day. When we arrived, as the sun was beginning to set, the tide was out and a stretch of tidal pools and large sandy flats had been exposed. The water was smoother and the mountains across the water were tinted pink and orange. We walked to the far end of the cove, to a spot that is inaccessible at high tide, and stood on the rocks watching the sun set. I never in a million years would ever have guessed I would one day live by the ocean.

Up island adventure: Our first trip over the Malahat

Saturday morning we woke up, ate a quick breakfast and hit the road on our up island adventure. Since arriving in Victoria, I'd heard numerous people remark on the beautiful, sometimes dangerous, frequently tedious, drive over the Malahat - the mountain just west of Victoria and gateway to the north side of the Island. The Saturday traffic was a little congested in spots, but we managed to make it to the summit (elevation 352m) in under an hour. We spent a few minutes at the summit taking pictures and enjoying the view and then drove on to Chemainus to check out their "world famous" murals. The highlight of our road trip was definitely lunch at the Crow and Gate, a spectacularly situated pub owned and operated by British ex-pats. As most country pubs go, it was located in the middle of nowhere, though you wouldn't have guessed this from the crowd inside. Baasje had a scotch egg and I had the cheddar cheese ploughman's lunch. Both meals were delicious and we purchased some of their homemade rhubarb and red onion chutney to take home. We arrived at our destination, Qualicum Beach, a little after two o'clock in the afternoon and spent the afternoon catching up with Baasje's dad and two aunts.

Unfortunately, we've woken up to rain this morning (the day after our arrival), so I think we'll have to save the hikes we had planned until next time. Though it doesn't have to stop us from doing a little reconnaissance, as Baasje's Tante Marianne puts it. We'll be heading out soon and I guess we'll see where the day takes us.

Oh, wake me please when this is over...

2009-02-09T21:10:00.000-08:00

It saddens me to no end that the corporate machine still has a strong enough grip on the music industry to have the means, and the gall, to drag us all through another Gram-lamity. 2008 best pop male vocal performance nominees, Kid Rock, Paul McCartney, Jason Mraz, Ne-Yo and James Taylor. I'm sorry, but can you repeat that? No, wait - please, don't.

In my admittedly sheltered experience, I find it difficult to imagine that the pop music industry could still be profitable enough to warrant this kind of behaviour. Don't get me wrong, I'm spending more money on music these days than I ever have, but it's certainly not on James Taylor or Kid Rock albums. In fact, I'm not even buying albums so much anymore.

My top 5 concerts of 2008

1) Holy Fuck, Plants and Animals
LOLA Festival, London, Ontario
September 29, 2008

I went to check out the Saturday night offerings at last summer's LOLA Festival to take in the Plants and Animals concert. It ended up being one of those delicious live music experiences were I was awestruck by a first time encounter with a band other than the one I had come to see. In my books, Holy Fuck is the first group since Pink Floyd to achieve a truly innovative and successful marriage of rock and technology (well okay, maybe Mike Patton's pretty good at it, too).

When I came across the band listed on the LOLA website, I had abruptly concluded that the name was the tragic and annoying result of a frat-boy perception of a clever moniker. By the time the first song had finished, I was drawn to admit the performance was leading me to rethink not only the appropriateness of their choice of band name, but my entire perception of what I had previously considered to be a tasteless expletive.

2) Iron and Wine
Phoenix Nightclub, Toronto, Ontario
November 13, 2008

It was a warm late autumn evening and Sam Beam and company played a lengthy set that encompassed a good assortment of offerings from all three albums in the Iron and Wine discography at Toronto's historic Phoenix Nightclub. Afterward we stopped at a kebab place for a snack before driving back to London. All in all, a fabulous evening.

3) The Sadies
Grand Stage Music and Arts Festival, Paris, Ontario
July 12, 2008

I'm not a big fan of North American versions of the outdoor summer festival. Too often the music seems to take a back seat to the underage drunk-fest in the beer garden. Thankfully the Sadies took the stage before the atmophere degraded into an alcoholic stupor. Well, to be fair, this particular festival never reached that point, most likely due to the excellent food options in the canteen (the pulled pork was delicious). Anway, the Good brothers were in fine, high-energy form and the thunderstorm in the distance that framed the stage with black clouds and streaks of lightning was a nice touch.

4) Great Lake Swimmers wsg Kate Maki
Lee's Palace, Toronto, Ontario
October 18, 2008

It was great to have the chance to take in one last performance from the Ongiara era before the upcoming release. My favourite band playing at my favourite Toronto venue - this concert probably would have been higher up in the list had it not been for the ridiculous heckler standing beside us.

5) Mother Mother wsg The Wooden Sky
Call the Office
London, Ontario
October 19, 2008

Ever since this concert, Mother Mother has been in heavy rotation on my iPod. They're just so damn fun.

How to move you, your partner and all your belongings across the country for $1000 - part deux

2009-02-04T20:28:00.000-08:00

When we decided to make the move to Victoria, it quickly became apparent that it would be unreasonably expensive to move any of our large belongings out with us. On the bright side, this meant that there was no need to despair over which furniture to keep and which to jettison - we could just collectively morn the loss of our furniture in general. Considering this was the result of a choice we had made of our own free will and that more furniture was on the horizon, we did our best to get over it and move onto the decidedly more difficult task at hand - what to purge of the assortment of personal belongings the two of us had amassed over a total duration of 60+ years.

Top 10 casualties of the big purge:

1. The Vasque hiking boots Baasje purchased on the day we met (I was covering for the cashier on her lunch break)
2. The anvil*
3. My Monsterland upright video arcade game
4. The remainder of my vinyl collection
5. Most of my comics and graphic novels
6. Most of Baasje's wood working tools
7. Our large cast iron frying pan with an awesome finish that took over 10 years to build up
8. My Gamecube and games, most notably my copy of Zelda, Ocarina of Time
9. The awesome oak bookcase we bought for $10 at the auction held when they cleared out the old downtown branch of London Libraries
10. The heavy oak antique science lab table we got for $20 when they cleared out the staging building at Western

*Technically the anvil isn't exactly a casualty of the purge as we've stored it at my parents house, so there is a chance it might one day make the move if we ever see fit to pay to ship 80lbs of iron out here. We shall see.

Through a little blood, sweat and tears, we managed to pare everything down to about 10 boxes (of the storage bin 'Rubbermaid' variety):

3 boxes - clothes, outerwear and shoes
2 boxes - kitchen stuff
1.5 boxes - books, DVDs and CDs (transferred to a 400 disk capacity binder), and videocassettes
1 box - office supplies, necessary paper records and photographs
1 box - electronics (1 DVD player, 1 VCR, 1 small stereo, 1 printer)
1 box - camping kit
0.5 boxes - miscellaneous tchatchkis

Thanks to a deal we got through a family member we were able to Fed-Ex all 10 boxes out to Victoria for a little under $1 a pound which amounted to a little less than $500. In addition to these 10 boxes, Baasje drove our compact hatchback out here loaded with our artwork, guitars and the two small pieces of furniture we decided to keep - a sheepskin lamp we purchased in Montreal during the 2006 Jazz Fest and a one of a kind little end table built by our good friend, 2 Dollar Bill.

Selling off the rest of our furniture piece by piece was a bit of a dog and pony show ('So-and-so wants to buy our sofa...we sold it already, right?' and 'You said we'd sell the barbeque for what price?') The process culminated in a drop-in and pick-up your ‘new’ furniture open house complete with a 'plant with every purchase' throw-in and a daycare service that saw our house overrun with pre-schoolers as their parents transported furniture in multiple trips across the city in pick-up trucks. When all was said and done we made enough money to mostly cover the cost of the new furniture we purchased from IKEA** when we moved into the apartment in Victoria. Though the quality isn't quite what we'd had before, the new pieces are far more suitable in their compactness. As an alternative to purchasing from IKEA we briefly considered buying all our furniture off of usedvictoria.com - an excellent site with some undeniable great deals - but with all the hoopla we'd been through liquidating our belongings piece-by-piece, we really weren't keen on turning around and doing the whole thing in reverse.

**The IKEA bus departs twice monthly from the bus station in downtown Victoria headed to the Richmond IKEA on the mainland via the Swartz Bay - Tswwassen ferry. The cost of the return trip is $40, but if you spend $250 you get a $40 coupon to use towards your purchase. IKEA throws in a raffle draw and a 15% discount in the restaurant. I don't know about you, but I've never walked into an IKEA and not spent at least $40. That said, why go any other way?

When all was said and done we had spent about $1000 to move us and 'all' our belongings across the country. The breakdown of our expenses/income ended up as follows:

New furniture costs = A little bit less than the money raised by selling old furniture
Shipping costs = $500.

How to move you, your partner and all your belongings across the country for $1000 - part 1

2009-01-25T21:08:00.000-08:00

By far the most tedious aspect of taking up a new job on the other side of the country has been the ordeal of moving ourselves and our household across a 4,000km distance. Upon learning that the opportunity in Victoria had solidified into bona fide reality, and after the expected procrastination/denial phase had passed, we somewhat reluctantly set down to exploring our options. Romance of heading west aside, it was not a pretty picture, particularly in terms of financial cost. Shocker.

My new employer did offer a moving stipend, which in the end amounted to enough money to pay for my own transportation costs, but not those of my partner. That said, as the career benefits of the move mostly sided in my court, I felt it only fair that I should undertake the majority of the resulting expense for both of us.

The least costly quote we received for shipping our furniture and belongings from Ontario to BC (for a two bedroom house) was $3,500 US + gasoline 'tax', which we were told to expect would probably amount to another $1,000. This was for the mostly-do-it-yourself option, where the moving company would drop off a container at our house that we would then pack ourselves. The company would then pick up the container, transport it across the county and deliver it in Victoria where we would then be expected to unpack it. In addition to this expense, we also needed to consider our own transportation costs, which we expected would amount to somewhere between $700 and $1000 one-way for the two of us. In case you're curious, the most expensive quote we received was about $8,000 US for a full service option where the moving company would pack, load and then unload all our belongings.

Being the cheapies that we are, we immediately viewed this level of expense as being out of the question. Having had only a brief, four year experience with home ownership, we remained of the mindset that anything demanding an immediate cash-in-hand payment greater than $2000 is outrageously extravagant. Re-evaluating our options it occurred to us that it might be more practical to consider selling the majority of our furniture and belongings and using the resulting funds to purchase the necessities upon reaching our destination. Realizing the multiple benefits associated with this option - drastically reducing our moving costs, earning a few bucks, and being afforded the opportunity to purchase items to best suit whatever new living arrangement awaited us - we quickly decided that this was the route to go.

We set down to tackling the task at hand, which we jointly decided was to pare our belongings down to the bare minimum. What followed was an interesting exercise in negotiation and determination as we struggled to find common ground between our somewhat disparate interpretations of 'bare minimum'.

On the charms of red broadloom and apartment living

2009-01-16T20:06:00.000-08:00

B and I have moved into a one bedroom apartment with a bathroom big enough to spin around in, reclaimed kitchen cabinets, an acceptable amount of storage space (thankfully we pared down our belongings before making the move out west), and a nice big living room with wall-to-wall tomato red carpet. As far as living arrangements go, I think it's a pretty good find - what seals the deal is that, if you make a right turn out our front door, it's a ten minute walk to my office, and if you make a left turn, it's a ten minute walk to the beach. I'm sure the novelty will wear of eventually, but having migrated from the relatively, flat, waterless expanse of Southwestern Ontario where the closest substantial body of water is a forty-five minute drive away, this location seems like somewhat of a dream scenerio. All that's left to do now is to pick up some furniture so that we can stop sleeping, eating and lounging on the floor.

B seems to be settling in and is mostly recovered from the drive across the continent which in the end only amounted to three days of driving stopping each evening to bunk down in a roadside motel. The first evening he and Karen spent the night in Walnut, Nebraska, the second in Ogden, Utah and the third in Port Angeles, Washington, where they caught the morning ferry to Victoria the next day. Compared to the experiences I've had making this journey, they made pretty good time - of the three times I've travelled to the west coast from Ontario by car, the fastest was two and half days and that was driving non-stop with two drivers trading off. The total cost of the trip, which put about 4,500km on the odometre (gas, food and lodging included for two people) was about $770.

Tomorrow we plan to take in the Royal BC museum and hopefully pick up some new (old) bikes at one of the Victoria's many second-hand bike shops. Getting acquainted with a new environment is a bit of an adventure for Baasje and I and we're enjoying the unusual sense of accomplishment that accompanies even the most everyday experiences, (e.g. shopping for groceries and going to the laundromat). Most of our trips by car include at least one u-turn and we have become accustomed to explaining our behaviour to people we encounter by mentioning that we are not from around here. Interesting times!

By the way, Mother Mother and Hawksley Workman are both playing here over the next few weeks. It'll be a treat to see Mother Mother (I'm curious to see what effect the departure of Debra-Jean Creelman has had on their sound) and am pleased to get another opportunity to catch Hawksley as we had to eat the tickets we purchased for his concert in London which took place a few days after my departure in November. Anyway, we've got our tickets purchased and the routes all mapped out! Can't wait!

How I came to be drinking a Slipstream in Victoria on January 5, 2009

2009-01-05T20:29:00.000-08:00

Every new year I try to reflect upon all that's happened over the past 12 months, what's different, what's the same, all that I've done, all that I failed to do, etc. I remember last January the mood of the moment appeared to be complacency. I remember thinking that I had finally reached the plateau of mid-lifeness, where very little would change forever and ever. I could picture myself at sixty living in the same house, with the same job, following the same weekly routine I'd always had. Visiting the same hair dresser I'd gone to for years who might comment from time to time that perhaps I should think about trying a new style, to which I would perpetually reply, 'maybe next time'. Maintaining a tidy wardrobe of classic staples season after season - one black turtleneck, one grey turtle neck, one grey cardigan, five neutral short sleeve dress shirts, black slacks, grey slacks, brown slacks, and so on. Visiting the grocery store every Saturday morning to stock up on the same staple items - boring apples, pasta and tomato sauce that I don't really enjoy eating, brown rice and tofu to mix it up a little.

The scariest part of a static existance is how okay it all seems.

In the spring of 2008 Baasje and I decided, a little out of the blue, to go to Bolivia. A few years had passed since we'd purchased the house, and our bank accounts had recovered sufficiently to make it somewhat practical to assume we could afford a vacation that didn't entail sleeping in a tent every night and cooking all our meals. The decision to go to Bolivia was mainly based upon rumours we'd heard that Machu Picchu (our second choice) was well on it's way to becoming the Niagara Falls of South America, and Baasje's cousin Julia's stories of getting stranded in the Bolivian jungle and having to ford swollen, muddy rivers to reach the nearest village on foot to beg for water and food from the locals. 'It's the hidden gem of South America' she said.

So we flew into La Paz where we spent 2 days recovering from altitude sickness followed by 12 days of being constantly at the mercy of strangers we couldn't communicate with. We had a fabulous time. Since then, Baasje has often remarked how the experience, opened his eyes to the idea that there are many people in the world living an alternate existance - enduring little inconveniences for the payback of seeing the world and experiencing new environments. It was a first time for him, and so many years had passed since I had last experienced it that I had forgotten.

With this newfound/renewed perception of the limitless possibilities life has to offer we returned to Ontario for the summer were I quickly fell back into my old routine while Baasje got shipped off to spend weeks at a time working refractory jobs in the cultural wasteland of Northern Ontario. I was very disappointed when he forgot his camera at the hotel on his last night in Sudbury and so returned home sans pictures to share of his time at INCO. Yes, that's the kind of summer it was.

Insert reflections on very cool trip to Los Angeles here (omitted for the sake of consitency).

Towards the end of the summer, as we braced to bypass autumn and head straight into winter (as has seemed to be the routine in Ontario for the past few years) I was invited to apply for a position at the University of Victoria. With all the fun we'd been having - Inco, turtle necks, apples, etc - it was a bit difficult to decide whether or not we should entertain the prospect of undertaking such drastic change. Once I'd finally made the decison to give it a go and apply, 'just to see what happens' it occured to me that I may as well check around and see what other options might be out there. I discovered there was a position open at Memorial Univesity in Newfoundland working on their website. If you've read my past blog posts you'll know that I LOVE Newfoundland, and Memorial has an awesome website. Unfortunately, the job prospects for Baasje out there are just about zero, so Memorial wasn't really and option. I also noticed there was a web position open at MIT in Boston that I applied for thinking they would never accept and out of country application, which is why I didn't keep an eye out for their response, which is why I missed their invitation to interview.

So a few months later, I flew to Victoria to start a new job at UVic and we decided to sell the house along with most of our belongings to start a new life out west. And here I am in January 2009, hanging out in my comfortable, temporary accomodations drinking a Slipstream cream ale, which is very tasty, fighting off jet lag having just returned from a visit 'back home' for the holidays. It was, by far, one of the most memorable holidays I have had in a while - hectic and wonderful. We cleared out the house, which had been a terrific first home first home for Baasje and I and will be sorely missed (particularly, I suspect, once we reacquaint ourselves with the relatively un-private charms of appartment living), struggled through Christmas colds, and enjoyed too brief and much treasured visits with good old friends and family that I was loathe to part with. The static existance I thought lay before me is now nowhere to be seen and, once again, the universe has proven that I will never, ever have it all figured out.

Thank goodness.