Happy Bike to Work Day

I cycled to work today for the 6th time this month. When I woke up, the radio announcer said it was walk, bike or take public transit to work day (or in some places it's called curb your car day). I thought, now I have even more of a reason! I'm cycling tomorrow and Friday too this week.

My commute isn't too far and we even bought a house specifically so my commute wouldn't be long and so I could cycle on occasion. We live 8 km from my work so it's not too bad - 22 minutes there and 27 minutes back (more hills and against the wind). I average 22 km/hr. Since we have only one car, it's handy for Amber when I cycle too (and I don't have to bum rides from other teachers).

I geared up my bike a bit more on Sunday after stopping in at MEC (the first time I've been to the Calgary branch since the Bike trip in July, 2003). Since I go in before it's fully light out on Fridays, I picked up a set of lights and an ankle reflector. I also needed some standard bike care equipment, so before I knew it I had 6 items when I meant to get 2. But it's cool.

The one real hassle of biking to work is having to maintain a wardrobe at the school. It's quite time consuming to get changed before and after school (though I save time throwing on my shorts and jersey at home).

The best part of cycling to work is how amazing I feel. I drink more water. I have so much more energy. I'm more cheerful. It's pretty awesome.

Blogged about 400 Flicks

So in less than 2 1/2 years I've managed to watch 400 movies and write a few thoughts about each one on my blog. I'm glad I'm doing it for a few reasons. It forces me to write and try to write critically. As I watch films, I think about what I'm going to take away from it. I eye the editing, camera operator, writer, actors and directing more than I would if I knew I wasn't going to write about it later. I also have a comprehensive list of the best films I've watched over the past couple years.

I only wish I had gotten started earlier.

Bon Cinema!

Air Guitar Champ 2009

Air Guitar World Champion 2009: Sylvain "Günther Love" Quimene from OMVF on Vimeo.

I think the whole world should rock out.

Prince Edward Island

Traveled to Prince Edward Island yesterday. I made a quick visit about 4.5 years ago in the winter to visit some friends, but otherwise I hadn’t been in more than 20 years (I think). The bridge is less than 45 minutes away from my father’s house.

Our first stop was Green Gables. I wasn’t keen on paying $7.80 to walk the grounds of a fictional character, so I didn’t. Plus, it's not like Megan Follows is wandering around. Amber’s sister April went in and we hung out on the lawn with the kids. April confirmed that I didn’t miss much.

We continued our trip to North Rustico where Amber had determined that there was a festival happening with lots of activities for FREE. (Yes, I’m cheap) (One of my spiritual gifts is voluntary poverty) We ate at a local pizza joint called Amanda’s Restaurant. I tried fried clams for the first time. The festival was a great discovery. The kids did a treasure hunt, had their faces painted, won prizes, painted oyster shells, played in the sand, enjoyed a children’s performer and the playground. Blaise even got on stage during the performance on his own to get a secret code name from Michael Pendergast (he's the nephew of Father Pendergast according to a guy I sat next to).

We returned to Prince Edward Island National Park to see Cavendish Beach. The beach itself isn’t as nice as our local one de l’Aboiteau, but the red cliffs and dunes are gorgeous.



Instead of eating supper with the family, I spent an hour at Ripley’s Believe it or Not. Some amazing stuff for sure – and some sad stories too, like the one about the tallest man and the people who traveled around as freaks.

What is still amazing to me is the Confederation Bridge that spans 12.9 kms from NB to PEI. I think it is just one of the most beautiful structures ever built.

Le Pays de la Sagouine

We visited Le Pays de la Sagouine on the weekend. It’s an Acadian heritage park with dramas, live music, cooking demonstrations, kids activities, tours and historic buildings. It is located in Bouctouche on the east coast of New Brunswick.

Our tour began with a ½ hour account of the history of the Acadians complete with a demonstration of how to play the spoons and the reason for the quinquennial Congrès Acadian.



We then walked the boardwalk to the little island that houses a village on stilts. We tried poutine rapée, listened to some Acadian tunes, watched a drama put on by the chicaneuses, and toured the little shops and demos.



It was wild hearing the strong Acadian accent being used in a public forum – I’m used to it in private conversations, but publicly it’s pretty hilarious with all of its idioms and contractions.

New Toy: Nikon D90

My gracious wife granted her grace on this extravagant purchase after we reviewed a few of my friend Justin's pictures that he had taken in Guatemala. I went to Black's Photo and got the Nikon D90 with a couple lenses: 18-105mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR and the 50mm f1.8D. I've been clicking pictures ever since.

bee in calgary

cherry over citadel

getting pushed by grandma

settlers

pepere's beans

the fingerpuppet stands alone

Blaise cranks out moves at 4.5 frames a second

Hopewell Rocks

A mixture of clay and gravel stand against time, wind, and pounding waves to support giant figures complete with evergreen hair. 

A wonder of the world in the Bay of Fundy.

Proximity

My Mémère (grandmother) feeds some feral cats on her front porch. Some of the other wildlife take advantage of the free food too. This skunk and raccoon have very little fear of humans (they won't let us pet them, but they don't run when we're just a few feet away) since they've been feeding on cat food and scraps.



She also has bird feeders set up above the cat food. I see humming birds, blue jays and lots of small birds out the front window. The jays are super messy and mean.



My father has flowers planted in manicured beds around the house and garage and in the yard, but near the garden he has let the wildflowers flourish yielding black-eyed susans, daisies, queen anne's lace, and a bunch of other flowers I can't name. They are absolutely stunning.

Cakes by Salomé

Fortunately for us, my sister Salomé has been in town to make amazing cakes for our children's birthdays. My son turned 4 a couple days ago and this was the cake he got.

Salomé used to work at a bakery and I think she should start her own cake decorating company. I could be her, um, promoter on my blog?

She made giraffe for my daughter back in April.

Plage de l'Aboiteau

It rained for the first few days we were in NB. We made it to the beach about a week later. 

The beach 15 minutes away is a provincial park in Cap-Pelé. It is shielded on one side by a sand dike and has a long and beautiful sandy beach that runs into the water for a few hundred metres that you can walk out to at low tide - perfect for little people.

Blaise kept himself busy with sand toys and Acadia slept. I didn't bring anything to do, so I burned - and I enjoyed it.

Wine Touring in Acadia

Yesterday, along with my family, I toured three wineries in the local area here in New Brunswick. We did a 2 hour loop passing through Dieppe, Memramcook, Sackville (the name gave Dean and I hours of entertainment), and Baie Verte.

Our first stop was at La Cave a Vin Boudreau in Memramcook. It is run by a couple named Paul and Rose-Marie who began planting their vineyard in 2000. We sampled seven varieties of wine and made a quick visit to the the tiny grapes (there were lots of mosquitos, so we didn't stay there too long). I found the wine to be very flavourful, but not too full bodied. I picked up a couple bottles to take home - a nice Seyval (white) and a Leon Millot (red).



Just down the road about 10 km is the Belliveau Orchards and Bourgeois Farms. There were no grape wines, but a large variety of fantastic fruit and berry wines. I found this to be the most enjoyable one since these products seem to fare the best in this cooler climate. The flavours were more familiar to my palette too: apples, pears, cherries, raspberries and blueberries. We sampled four kinds here - the best being the pear wine.



We picked up enough wine here to warrant a box. How am I going to get this home?



We drove through Sackville and almost to the Nova Scotia border and into Baie Verte to the Winegarden Estate. Amber and I had visited this vineyard four years earlier. It is run by a German family who began the operation since the mid-eighties. They have a large variety of red, rose, white and sparkling wines as well as liqueurs and desert wines.

Amber's favorite was the strawberry rhubarb wine which was a very mild and scented wine. I liked the maple wine - amazing aftertaste and a fair burn in the middle.

I had to pick up the two favorites and the Acadian Rose.

4-Year-Old Logic

Papa: Blaise, go get your sweater.

Blaise: Papa, you know Mama knows best.

Papa: Who told you that? Go get your sweater.

Blaise: No one, that's just the way it is.

Papa: Well, you know both Mama and Papa know best, not just Mama. Go get your sweater.

Blaise: Both you and Mama?

Papa: Yes, but we can be wrong sometimes too. Go get your sweater.

Blaise: Well Papa, you're wrong now.

Back in Touch

I'm in New Brunswick for July. 

As I lay in bed I hunt a lone mosquito. I spy both a skunk and a raccoon as they eat cat food off the front deck. I gaze upon hawks, herons and hummingbirds. I hear the rain pelting the window. I feel the cool wet grass on my feet. I sense the wind rustling the leaves. I pick strawberries and cherries. I wait to rise as the morning birds greet me. I watch a nearly full moon shine on the river. I paddle against the tide and then drift with it back home. I eat supper in the open air. I pee in the field. I dodge slugs and worms as I run. I drink water from the well. I savour deep breaths.

Hide 'n Seek

My son's favorite game is hide 'n seek. Blaise's favorite part is finding the hiding spot, being found is secondary as he'll usually pop out before being found. "Clounting" is also a key feature as he enjoys doing this on a regular basis whether there is a game on or not. Acadia loves to tag along with either her brother or me, usually giving away the hiding spot if she is hiding or watching while she is supposed to be counting as the other hides.

We've recently expanded the territory to all three levels. I get left in my spot for long spells so I hide with a book now.

Winnebago, Cherokee, Acadia, Touareg, et al.

This has always bothered me: corporations who take existing proper names and trademark them. Today, I've chosen the transportation industry to be my whipping boy.

• More than 40 years ago a recreational vehicle was made that really defined RVs for years to come. It decided to take the name from the midwestern Ho-Chunk Native Americans who were at one time called the Winnebago (also where we get the name for Winnipeg).
• In 1974, Jeep decided to name their new SUV after another North American Tribe called the Cherokee.
• Two years ago, GMC rolled out their new SUV adopting the name of the oldest French Canadian colony: Acadia.
• Volkswagon used the same method in choosing the name for their 2003 SUV, this time going to the north African Tuareg people for the Touareg.

You may think that I'm being too sensitive. My reason for offense is that these corporations really have no right to copyright a people group's name and heritage. Names are important. If the first thing you think of when you hear the word "Cherokee" is a Jeep SUV, then the Cherokee have lost a part of their distinction as a culture. 

You may be in the minority in knowing who the Tuareg or Winnebago are and think I'm off my rocker. What if you were Tuareg and whenever someone asked you who you were they would say "Oh, like the VW?"

I, being of Acadian descent, feel wronged that GMC has taken a word that makes up a part of my identity and has no connection to the General Motors Corporation in order to make a familiar sounding product name that will forever be associated with Acadia. 

A search of "Acadia" in Google yields the following results today:

• Acadia University (an anglophone university in Nova Scotia)
• an entry in Wikipedia on the colony of Acadia
• GMC Acadia
• Association for Computer Aided Design In Architecture
  
• History of Champlain in Acadia
• an entry in the Canadian Encyclopedia
• an association of five First Nation reserves in Nova Scotia
• and finally Acadia Pharmaceuticals

My issues are these: How long before the original meaning of Acadia makes it to the bottom of the list and corporations dominate? Will it take very long for most identifying people groups' names to be incorporated as trademark names for multinational corporations? What say should people have over the use of their corporate proper name by corporations?*  How can minority cultures maintain their identity in this current climate dominated financially by large corporations (bailouts with tax money for big business, Wal*Marts swallowing local businesses, multinational oil companies (war), etc.) let alone maintain their name.

*we know that individuals' names are protected - Ford can't call their next vehicle the "Michael Jackson" or the "Barack Obama"

Free Music

I was just exploring some music that a friend exposed me to a few months back and came upon this website of the choir Scala. They are a girls choir from Belgium who have traditionally sung pop songs a cappella / just piano accompanied. Great sound and great arrangements. So the website offers their latest album as a free download. Sweet.

Then, right around the same time, I discovered k-os was coming to Calgary on his rapidfire cross-Canada Yes! Karma tour. Turns out they are free concerts. So I went. It was an optional donation deal. If you donated something, you'd get a free CD of his latest album remixed by fans. It was a great show and a friend even caught me on the road on the way for a ride.

Cheers! to FREE music!

Leonard Live

On April 26, I paid a lot of money to see a 74-year-old Leonard Cohen sing for 3 hours. I've seen some good concerts in my lifetime: U2, Barenaked Ladies, Bob Dylan, La Bottine Souriante, Audio Adrenaline, Switchfoot, dc Talk, Sam Roberts, Howard Shore's Lord of the Rings, Burlap to Cashmere, Habib Koité to note a few of the best. I am amazed to say it, but Leonard Cohen blew everyone out of the water.

My mom accompanied me to the concert at Jack Singer Hall. Everyone in our area was giddy with excitement and the entire hall gave Cohen a standing ovation when he bounded onto the stage at 8 pm.

He began nearly every song on his knees. His band and back up singers were stellar. His voice was the best I have ever heard it, even comparing it to all of his albums. A month later, I can scarcely find words to describe the experience other than it was a holy time.

1. Dance Me to the End Of Love
2. The Future
3. Ain't No Cure For Love
4. Bird on the Wire
5. Everybody Knows
6. In My Secret Life
7. Who By Fire
8. Chelsea Hotel No. 2
9. Waiting for the Miracle
10. Anthem
11. Tower of Song
12. Suzanne
13. The Gypsy's Wife
14. The Partisan
15. Boogie Street (sung by Sharon Robinson)
16. Hallelujah
17. I'm Your Man
18. A Thousand Kisses Deep (recitation)
19. Take This Waltz
20. So Long, Marianne
21. First We Take Manhattan
22. Famous Blue Raincoat
23. Sisters of Mercy
24. If It Be Your Will (sung by the Webb sisters)
25. Closing Time
26. I Tried to Leave You
27. Whither Thou Goest (unison)

The highlights for me were Take This Waltz (an hommage to Federico García Lorca), If It Be Your Will, and The Partisan.

Listen to some songs and catch some video of the London concert.

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I celebrate my 33rd year today with the help of dozens of people. Primarily those closest to me who seem to be more excited about making my day special than I am.

We had a little party at my mom's house on Saturday night with my sister's family and mine. Mom made curries. I got some pretty sweet movies too (and underwear and drinking glasses). Blaise gave me his first personally chosen gift: a coffee mug. I tell ya, it's gonna be a special mug for the rest of my life.

My kids made a Guinness Chocolate cake (my wife was the mastermind/supervisor).

I got 70 birthday wishes on Facebook and a cake at work today too.

Amber has made the day the best though. She's awesome - made me a tremendous breakfast and supper and even let me go see Che part 2 tonight as I'm busy the next 3 nights and it might not be in theatres after Thursday. I love her so.