You’ve got to admire the innovation here – with my North American mentality, I find it almost impossible to conceive of living in such a tiny amount of space, but I really admire the clever way in which this guys has re-imagined his living environment. Slick!
Our Little Super Logan!
Favourite Songs: “Come On Get Higher” by Sugarland
Before hearing Sugarland cover this song, I’d never heard the original by Matt Nathanson. Between the two, I prefer the Sugarland version – there’s something about hearing a female voice sing lead – and a male voice accompanying her – that makes it even more powerful. It’s such a beautiful song; the melody, the emotion, the mood of it – Matt Nathanson wrote an incredible song. I can listen to this song for hours on end; I’ve literally had it on loop for an entire day. It’s incredibly fun to harmonize along with as well. Unlike my two previous picks, When You Call My Name by Paul Brandt, and World’s Apart by Jars of Clay, the lyrics of this song don’t speak to me in a particularly powerful way…but it’s still a beautiful love song worth having in your collection.
[click here to listen to a 30 second sample of the song]
“Come On Get Higher”, Sugarland/Matt Nathanson
I miss the sound of your voice
And I miss the rush of your skin
And I miss the still of the silence
As you breathe out and I breathe in
Continue reading Favourite Songs: “Come On Get Higher” by Sugarland
Darth Vader’s Recording for TomTom GPS: Behind The Scenes
via @jonwestfall
Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo 2010 Photos
On Saturday the 24th I attended the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo 2010 – I’d been to the event a few years ago, and back then it was much smaller. This time around, it was huge! It was also a little expensive – $25 at the door per person, and that didn’t get you anything more than in the door. It was a fun event, though it seems like they had too many people for the amount of space they had – it was crazy busy! It was really cool to see all the comics, action figures, graphic novels, famous people, and people dressed up as any number of different characters from comics, fantasy, and sci-fi. Lots of photographic opportunities if you were courageous enough to ask the people to stop so you could take their picture (sometimes I did, sometimes I didn’t).
I took my Panasonic GF-1 to the event, but I really should have brought my Nikon D300. I thought I could get away with the nice and small GF-1 – especially after I stopped on the way to the show and purchased a 14-45mm lens (which is 28 to 90mm on the GF-1) – but ultimately I was really disappointed with the quality of the images from it. The GF-1’s images turn to crap noise-wise at anything past ISO 800, and I’m so used to shooting with the 20mm f/1.7 lens on the GF-1, it was an ugly transition for me to start shooting with an f/3.5 to f/5.6 lens. Picking up a new lens and having no practice with it is never a good idea, but at the time I thought I’d stand out too much if I brought my big iron (Nikon D300 + f/2.8 24-70mm lens)…there were plenty of others with big DSLRs there, so I should have just brought the damn thing. The lighting was predictably awful, so more often than not my shots were ISO 1200 or ISO 1600 (since I abhor flash photography). Here are a few of the shots I took…
(Yeah, that’s Brent Spiner, AKA Mr. Data, above)
Crosstown Traffic
Your PowerPoint Presentations Probably Suck, So Watch This Video
The Story of Bottled Water
“The Story of Bottled Water, released on March 22, 2010 (World Water Day) employs the Story of Stuff style to tell the story of manufactured demand—how you get Americans to buy more than half a billion bottles of water every week when it already flows from the tap. Over five minutes, the film explores the bottled water industry’s attacks on tap water and its use of seductive, environmental-themed advertising to cover up the mountains of plastic waste it produces. The film concludes with a call to take back the tap, not only by making a personal commitment to avoid bottled water, but by supporting investments in clean, available tap water for all.”
People who know me understand that I’m not a hyper-environmentalist, but I do believe that we are stewards of this planet and need to honour the gifts that it gives us. This video is extremely well done and cements what I’ve thought for a long time about bottled water: except in rare circumstances, it’s something best avoided. Well worth watching the video!
If You’re a Parent of a Young Child, or Plan to be Someday, Read This
“The current trend of over-parenting began in the early 1980’s when baby boomers – who ended up having fewer children, later in life – started having kids, and it has continued down the line. At first, Baby on Board signs in car windows proudly announced “precious cargo” inside. Today, however, it is not enough to wait until the baby is born. While pregnant, parents start their single-minded search for ways to create an über child – and there is no shortage of products to help them, including ‘prenatal education systems’ that claim to give Junior an intellectual, social, creative and emotional advantage. Once the baby is born, the race to keep him or her ahead of the pack intensifies – with baby videos, baby ballet, gymnastics before they can walk, and parents’ near-fanatic devotion to finding the right pre-school.”
I really like documentaries – though I don’t watch as many as them as I’d like – and when I find one that impacts me, I feel compelled to share it with others. This is one such documentary – it’s called Hyper Parents & Coddled Kids. Years before we had Logan, I’d feel a sense of bafflement watching the extremes that some parents would go to in order to get the very best for their kids. Sure, you love your kids, but does it really make sense to financially strain yourself to the point of breaking in order to get your kid a marginally better education or a vocal coach for what amounts to a hobby? Or how about spending $4000 on a birthday party for a one year old, as shown in the photo above? And thinking that turning one is, in the words of the mother, a “milestone achievement”? Talk about a warped perception of reality – making it to one year old isn’t an achievement in our modern world, it’s an inevitability. Aging is a biological certainty, not an accomplishment worthy of lavish praise. Celebration, yes. Praise for something that happened without effort or sacrifice? No. There’s a big difference between the two.
Now that I’m a parent, I understand more keenly the desire to provide the best options for your child, but I still think there are limits to how far parents should go…and when it comes to letting your kids go through the bumps and bruises of life to learn independence, I’m in complete agreement. As a parent, I want to make a big deal when Logan accomplishes something – but making it to age one isn’t one of those things. I love my son unconditionally, and will tell him so every day, but I won’t lie to him and puff up his ego to the point where he feels like he’s the Chosen One every day of his life.
Anyway, if you’re a parent of a young child, or one day plan on being a parent, I’d highly encourage you to set aside 45 minutes to watch this documentary. It’s truly fascinating because it shows the impact that this style of parenting has on the kids as they grow into stressed out, needy, dysfunctional young adults who can’t cope with life on their own after being conditioned for decades that they’re special, wonderful, and great at everything they try. If you like the documentary, or this post, share it with others.
Wondering What Happened to Wealthstreet?
If you’re in the Calgary area and have had any dealings with Wealthstreet or Dave Jones, the President and CEO of Wealthstreet, the above notice of bankruptcy of Wealthstreet Inc. tells you where the company is at now. I get a few emails a month asking me what’s happening with Wealthstreet, and now it’s official. I’m not an accountant, but according to page two of this document, there are $3.2 million in unsecured creditors, $942K in preferred creditors, for total liabilities of $4.2 million dollars. The asset side of the equation shows $40K in accounts receivable, $4.4K in cash, and $1K in furniture. Somehow this company that dealt with millions of dollars in investment money only has assets totaling $45K. Interesting how that worked out, isn’t it?
The sad part of this document is the list of unsecured creditors; there are 136 individuals and companies on that list – most of them individuals – who are owed large sums of money. $50,000…$100,000…one couple is owed $228,167! Entire life savings were wiped out, which I find disheartening. I feel very fortunate that we were able to escape losing virtually nothing directly with Wealthstreet, instead having the bulk of our money locked up in the battle with the now-defunct Concrete Equities – a battle that seems to be nearly won last I heard. I received a copy of this document because apparently we have an unsecured claim with Wealthstreet of $1…despite what the cover letter says about a minimum $25 claim. I certainly never filed any claim with Wealthstreet.
Worth noting is that the single largest unsecured creditor is by Rachel Poffenroth in the amount of $658,874. Why is that worth noting? She was the one-time President of Wealthstreet – she held the position when Ashley and I started dealing with Wealthstreet. Also noteworthy is that the second biggest creditor, this time a preferred creditor, is one Dave Jones, claiming $650,000. Given the corporate assets of $45K, I think they’re both out of luck. It’s a strange world we live in…