randomosity

Last weekend Toronto dedicated a starkly breathtaking park/memorial to the Irish Famine immigrants of 1847. Ireland Park was opened by Mary McAleese, President of Ireland and features a rather striking memorial wall made up of glass bricks commemorating those who died during the exodus and also those who died trying to help them. The aim of this park is to commemorate this historic tragedy and also to remind us of similar events occur today.
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I attended a very informative and thought provoking presentation by Peter Baskerville at the University of Guelph today. He postulates that the
shift in wealth from men to women during the period 1860 - 1930 was of similar magnitude to that of the land grab by European settlers from native Canadians. His presentation was based on material from his forthcoming book “Silent Revolution: Wealth and Gender in Canada, 1860-1930.” Baskerville’s work in this book, as in past, rests on his impressive use of cutting edge quantitative analysis and synthesis of census data with other official records. His impressive record of articles, books and edited volumes has shed new light on the life of ordinary Canadians during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
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A great online historical tour of the University of Guelph campus is now available. It doesn’t feature whizzbang flash effects or implement AJAX functionality. Instead, it delivers a smooth and effective tour in a simple and compelling fashion with simple html. It’s pleasingly lo-tech, well executed and a great example of matching technology to needs.
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On the flight down(?) to Montréal the other day, it was a sharp and clear early morning so I kept the camera with me in the cabin in hope of catching a few neat snaps from above. There were about 10-15 of the 300 or so I shot that were worth actually keeping. Those of you that know me of course realize that I will keep them all as I am a pack rat, both digital and materially. However, of the ones that were worth keeping, a few of the marginal ones were of something that both caught my eye and on processing scared me. Halfway through the journey I was keeping my eyes out the window and there was this orangey-brown ribbon on the landscape. It caught my eye and on further examination it was not ‘on’ the landscape, but was instead floating above. It was a stream of exhaust from a source that eventually hove into view. I say eventually as the plume was about 10-12 km right across Prince Edward County. I had no idea what was there or might have been creating the massive amount of pollution.

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According to a Washington Post headline, “Canadian military reinforces Arctic claim.” Apparently this is of more interest to the US than to Canadians. Although the CBC did mention the trek in the wider context of beefed up presence as mandated by the Tories on, the foray of the 24 member team did not make it to the top of the heap in the Canadian media. Interesting. Possibly we just take it for granted that our troops will stake out our claim and conduct routine excursions to demonstrate this fact. However, it certainly is of note that this made it into American headlines. Does this suggest the continuing attention of Washington and their concurrent attempts to undermine Canadian sovereignty in the arctic? I would suggest the latter. The Washington Times article does reinforce the American view that Canada does not have arctic sovereignty and goes to length to stress than most other countries do not recognize our sovereignty in this area either.
The larger domestic question is whether Harper’s message is playing in Canada. Do Canadians worry about arctic sovereignty? Why doesn’t this initiative make it into the Canadian media?

Ok. Who’s really tapping the reason why we fight?
English Russia, a perennial source of high quality commentary, posted a Ukrainian Army recruitment ad. As I watched I was struck by the latest Canadian Armed Forces ad designed to presumably accomplish the same end. With a long dry period between recruiting ads, they’ve been showing up on Canadian TV with greater frequency as of late. They have taken a very ‘Canadian’ high brow approach: look how Canadian men and women are working around the world to make it a better place. How well does this sell? At least the Ukrainians have found a blunt but honest approach: chicks dig men in a uniform and very chic APC. Mind you the rescued lass with the blanket wrapped around her is looking rather lovingly at her hero…

Ok. The constant CBC warnings that this programme contains coarse language is certainly the hint that the CBC has yet to warm to Brian Mulroney. A rather tepid presentation. The challenge to the film maker was to take the taped conversations and find a way to make them visually compelling. Although a good collection of documentary footage and occasional switched between soundtrack and voice overs, Peter Newman’s self-described role as ‘pet newsman’ causes a real lack of counter voice or even narration that does come across in the book. All in all despite the good footage, the book is a far more compelling product. Nonetheless,listening to a man seeking to constantly justify his actions, remind of his hard knocks, our former prime minister comes across as a sniveling twit, paranoid, and convinced that he was a better man than the country deserved…always convinced that he was doing the right thing…his remark referring to the ‘genuine mediocrity’ of the Canadian media seems to really capture his feelings towards the citizens of Canada in general.

Well done little show this Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making. Great
integration of footage and shootage. Well cast. Hope they replay it…

This wetness can well drive one insane. I guess it should come as no small surprise that weather has a *huge* effect on one’s mood. This incessant rain and cold which seems have gone on for a week now just has that affect on one’s productivity. I would compare it to Kubrick’s Shining, but then David Schellenberg sent me this link last week… The Shining…Feel Good Hit of the Year … it’s rather amusing and worth the click.