Mont Blanc 360〫

This is a really cool virtual trip over and around Mont Blanc. It's produced using a new camera called yellowBird. On this particular trip you can take photos and direct where the camera is looking, even at the helicopter above you. Wild.

The Stanley Cup 2011

My team, the Edmonton Oilers, didn't make the playoffs again. Instead I cheered for the Canadian teams that made the top 16: Montreal Canadiens/Vancouver Canucks.

Montreal took Boston to game 7 in a mighty first round series only to lose in overtime. This was too bad because Montreal was super fun to watch.

Vancouver scarcely advanced past the 2010 Cup Champs in round 1, then a bit more present against the Predators in round 2, and finally at the top of their game against a fast San José.

The final brought the team who had dispatched Montreal to play Vancouver. It was a painfully exciting series. Exciting when the games were in Vancouver because the Canucks would win and painful when the games were in Boston because Boston would pulverize them.

I couldn't watch the third period of game 7 because Boston had taken a 3-0 lead in the second period. Vancouver had such promise, but because of several injuries, a bullying Bruin team, and a weak showing from their top scorers in the final, they really had no chance.

Edmonton 2013!!

Corporate Director

Dragonfly Cohousing, our intentional community that is planning a building project in Calgary, is in the process of incorporating. I volunteered to be one of the four directors just so I could blog about being a director of a corporation. I don't think I have any special duties (this is what I was led to believe) as a corporate director except perhaps reminding people that I am a director of a corporation.

One of our first decisions as a corporation will be that all decisions will be made using the consensus model. This means I will be able to wield as much power as the non-director share-holders. In fact I wield half as much as the single members since I share my vote with my wife.

I'm sure the most fun about all of this is the title. I think I should get a name plate made for my bedroom door: "Corporate Director: Zaak Robichaud"

"For What it's Worth, Milk a Goat" is DONE

The only thing left is adding the French subtitles. This project has taken nearly 4 years to complete. The middle 2 years rather passive, though I did a major cataloguing of footage last year and a coherent draft of the script. The bulk of the post production was done this spring and finally the soundtrack (again, courtesy of Justin Jeffery) was installed last week.

Now, I'm submitting the film to festivals - I've just missed a bunch of deadlines, something I wasn't paying much attention to aside from one, but I've got it in to three and I'm toying with the idea of sending it to Europe and the US.

So a special thanks to everyone who participated in the filming, the interviews, the post-production. Not possible without you!

I look forward to sharing For What it's Worth, Milk a Goat with you this coming year.

A major hurdle I have to leap is that of high definition. I shoot in standard definition, the same resolution people watched TV in for decades, and now I'm out of date. Those 3 years in Guatemala left me in the dust. There are many things I like about HD, but other things like camera costs, hard drive space, render time, blu ray disc authoring, and having to educate myself in the many formats. I know it's not a conspiracy, but it feels like one.

U2 360º Tour, Edmonton, AB

You see, I'm not as hard core as some, but this was my third time seeing U2. It was a brilliant concert; best I've seen them.

The June 1 show at Commonwealth Stadium was postponed for nearly 12 months when Bono hurt his back last year. I attendedwith my sister Saison, her husband Dean, and my friend Chris who flew to Calgary from Regina to drive up to Edmonton with me. Also in attendance were dozens of Edmonton and Calgary friends. I ran into a few of them and found some on this amazing picture (I'm the orange hat-below left).

So the show, well, it was fantastic! I was on the field with thousands of other general admission fans and I was amazed at how close to the stage we were despite not camping outside the stadium all afternoon. Chris and I took the LRT from Southgate and only got into the venue at 7:15 pm. We found Dean and Saison and watched The Fray for their set (I wasn't too impressed - his voice got on my nerves).

U2's setlist with some brief comments:

Even Better Than The Real Thing (perfect way to get the show going with a classic, one of my favorites for sure)
I Will Follow
Get On Your Boots (one of only four from their last album)
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways (psychedelic video, at least I didn't have a crazy woman holding up a sign "I can belly dance" in front of me this time, one of four from Achtung Baby)
Elevation
Until The End Of The World(such a great performance, again)All I Want Is You (Edge's choice, great participation from the crowd)
Stay (Faraway, So Close!) (this is a late favourite of mine, I didn't like it on Zooropa, but have fallen in love with their live acoustic version)
Beautiful Day (the video for this is fun, and it brought me back to when I lived in Edmonton, I'd listen to this album driving Amber to U of A in the mornings)
Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Miss Sarajevo (such a great song, with excerpts from the documentary, it was perfect, even with Bono singing the opera part)Zooropa (this one made the concert for me, one of my favourites that they never do live)
City Of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy / Discotheque (Their live remix version of I'll Go Crazy is so good and went so well with Discotheque)
Sunday Bloody Sunday (brilliant performance with potent images)
Scarlet (rejoice!)
Walk On (with an updated video message from Aung San Suu Kyi and participation from Amnesty International)
One
Where The Streets Have No Name (great with a little rain, glorious)
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
With Or Without You
Moment Of Surrender

Chris and I only got to Calgary at 4:20 AM after 2 hours to get to our car from the stadium, 30 minutes at the Leduc McDonalds and 2 1/2 hours on Hwy 2. So worth it!

Looking forward to July 30 in Moncton. I hope Bono's voice holds out until then.

Photos courtesy of Dean Demitor (and the 360 shot from u2.com)

Stampede Brunch Day at BCS

I thought I would be as authentic as I could for this theme day at school.

Amber hates it. My students love it.

GeoCaching on Nose Hill

Some cohousing friends invited us to go geocaching with them a couple weeks ago on Nose Hill. I had never been, so I was keen to see if we could even find any of the caches.

Dan has a GPS and he brought the coordinates of 10 caches on the hill (there are many more than 10, but we had 7 young children with us). We followed his itinerary until the kids started to get tuckered out.

I will never make fun of Nose Hill again. It's a gorgeous park even though driving by it on John Laurie Boulevard it looks like a huge bald hill with nothing on it. There are great little gullies and forested areas full of wild life and flowers. We saw deer a couple times.

We tracked down four caches, each of which had a log book and a bag of prizes that we exchanged with ones that Dan and Carmen brought.

A Brand New Car

I've never owned a brand new car. I like it.

When the maintenance on our previous car was going to cost upwards of $5000 when the car itself was not worth that much, we made the decision to go car shopping and unload our Audi. We ended up at the Toyota dealership near our house with every intention of getting a 4-5 year old Matrix or Corolla. We were convinced to spend $3000 more on a brand new 2011 Matrix with far better financing.

It had 37 km registered on the odometer.

Despite our desire for a base model (5-speed manual transmission, no A/C, no power windows or locks, etc.), it has numerous features that are standard to new vehicles these days. I just hope they don't cost a fortune to fix. I plan to drive this car until it expires. We've registered over 2000 km in less than a month already.

Huge thanks to our friends who loaned us their car while we shopped (I sold the Audi in a bit of a hurry).

A Public Service Announcement:

from Gil Scott-Heron (1949-2011)

You will not be able to stay home, brother.
You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out.
You will not be able to lose yourself on skag and skip,
Skip out for beer during commercials,
Because the revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be televised.
The revolution will not be brought to you by Xerox
In 4 parts without commercial interruptions.
The revolution will not show you pictures of Nixon
blowing a bugle and leading a charge by John
Mitchell, General Abrams and Spiro Agnew to eat
hog maws confiscated from a Harlem sanctuary.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be brought to you by the
Schaefer Award Theatre and will not star Natalie
Woods and Steve McQueen or Bullwinkle and Julia.
The revolution will not give your mouth sex appeal.
The revolution will not get rid of the nubs.
The revolution will not make you look five pounds
thinner, because the revolution will not be televised, Brother.

There will be no pictures of you and Willie May
pushing that shopping cart down the block on the dead run,
or trying to slide that color television into a stolen ambulance.
NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32
or report from 29 districts.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of pigs shooting down
brothers in the instant replay.
There will be no pictures of Whitney Young being
run out of Harlem on a rail with a brand new process.
There will be no slow motion or still life of Roy
Wilkens strolling through Watts in a Red, Black and
Green liberation jumpsuit that he had been saving
For just the proper occasion.

Green Acres, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Hooterville
Junction will no longer be so damned relevant, and
women will not care if Dick finally gets down with
Jane on Search for Tomorrow because Black people
will be in the street looking for a brighter day.
The revolution will not be televised.

There will be no highlights on the eleven o'clock
news and no pictures of hairy armed women
liberationists and Jackie Onassis blowing her nose.
The theme song will not be written by Jim Webb,
Francis Scott Key, nor sung by Glen Campbell, Tom
Jones, Johnny Cash, Englebert Humperdink, or the Rare Earth.
The revolution will not be televised.

The revolution will not be right back after a message
about a white tornado, white lightning, or white people.
You will not have to worry about a dove in your
bedroom, a tiger in your tank, or the giant in your toilet bowl.
The revolution will not go better with Coke.
The revolution will not fight the germs that may cause bad breath.
The revolution will put you in the driver's seat.

The revolution will not be televised, will not be televised,
will not be televised, will not be televised.
The revolution will be no re-run brothers;
The revolution will be live.

Rain=Peace

It's raining now. Pretty hard. I hear it through my school ceiling as my calculus students write their last chapter test. As I listen to it, a wave of peace comes over me and I wonder why. Now I remember. When we were in Guatemala, the constant awareness that our security was never sure weighed heavy on me; whether it was the threat of theft or assault, it was always there. Except when it rained. I felt safe behind the noise of loud rain on my roof because I didn't think a thief would venture out in such a downpour.

Though, it was a false security because it was the perfect time to strike. The audio levels were so high during a storm that a thief could probably smash through a lock or break a window without the residents hearing the ruckus.

Regardless, I still enjoy the peace that comes with rain.

Biblically, rain symbolized security: the crops would succeed. In Canada, rain reduces the risk of forest fire so fire bans are lifted.

(Plus it means it's not snowing.)

Vote Strategically

Vote strategically for better government.

Lent - a first observance

The church I am currently a member of is semi-liturgical, meaning it follows the Christian calendar and celebrates such things as Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, and Easter in a formal way. Candles are lit on the Sundays leading up to Christmas, readings related to Christ's crucifixion are read on the Sunday's leading up to Easter, a Good Friday service is held, etc.

Many of these Christian holy days derive much of their symbolism from the pagan tribes that inhabited Europe. The birth of the sun at winter's solstice, the celebration of fertility in spring, the name Easter coming from the old name for the month of April which had been named after the pagan goddess Ēostre, etc. The argument could be made that many of the Jewish holy days were adapted from local Canaanite and Egyptian rites too though.

My concern in celebrating liturgical days is whether or not they point us toward Christ or not. I am disappointed by the consumerism at Christmas rather than a meditation on the incarnation. I am frustrated by the emphases on chocolate and giant pink rabbits at Easter rather than on Christ's suffering and death and resurrection. I am confused by the fünken bonfires they have in Germany during Lent. The conclusion I've discovered is that we choose whether or not we will be directed to Christ, whether we will find spiritual renewal or not.

This is why I chose to purposefully practice Lent this year for a first time. I chose to give up coffee. I'm not a coffee addict, but I have a cup most days since having lived in coffee rich Guatemala. I didn't think too much about what was going to happen, but rather decided to give something up and see what happened. So, on March 8 I drank my last coffee and began my fast the next morning on Ash Wednesday (but I didn't get to have the ash cross put on my forehead). I teach, so almost all the coworkers around me have a mug of coffee not too far away at all times, it wouldn't be a cakewalk avoiding coffee.

What I've experienced is a constant reminder of the coming celebration of the cross and resurrection. I was surprised by the power of coffee in my life, how in its absence I was forced over and over and over to contemplate why I had given it up. I have been refreshed over and over through the reminder of Jesus' resurrection these past 45 days (No one told me that Sundays were exempt from the Lenten fast, so I've been extra self-depriving).

Conservatives "Economic Stability" and e

I read in the Calgary Herald earlier this week that the priorities of my Conservative MP Diane Ablonczy are "the economy and stability." Considering conservative policy on the economy (deregulation, privatization, lower taxes, fewer tariffs, foreign investment and ownership, etc.), this seems like the worst way to promote stability. I think Ablonczy should simply say her priority is unmitigated economic growth despite future costs to communities, small businesses, the environment, the disadvantaged, and pretty much every Canadian, very few of whom will be able to afford the inflated costs of living.

As an example: Alberta. Following a conservative economic policy for the past several decades, the province has a bloated infrastructure and skyrocketing prices in energy, food, housing, education and healthcare. How did it happen? They allowed economic growth to happen too quickly. People flooded the province seeking work causing more demand on just about everything. Private industry was willing to pay outrageous wages and prices for services and supplies making it impossible for the public and non-energy sectors to keep up with livable wages. The gap between rich and poor widened shockingly and as history has demonstrated over and over again - the bubble popped and citizens and province are left with things they can't pay for.

In mathematics we have a number, e, which represents the natural growth constant. It is a number related to everything in the universe that grows. It is also called Euler's Number and it's value is roughly 2.7182818284590... (it's irrational). If things grow at a faster rate, I believe it is unsustainable. If it grows at a slower rate, there is a risk of it failing or dying.

It's not that I don't understand the Conservative's policy. They want to lower corporate taxes so more national and international corporations will park themselves in Canada, create more jobs and in turn generate more revenue for the government. The fallacy is twofold. The larger and wealthier these corporations become, the more political power they gain over than the people (gov't) and their interest is not a public one. Second, the money pools at the top and the benefits are not enjoyed by the most of the population.

The Conservative Party of Canada is promoting a get rich quick scheme that is not-sustainable and that puts our nation's proud federal services and increasingly less stable economy at risk.

I believe the greatest challenge we face is that Canada feels it must compete with the United States with tax rates so our jobs won't flow south. If we operate out of fear rather than out of our identity, we risk losing ourselves completely.

If you choose to not vote Conservative, I encourage you to vote strategically (seriously, visit this site). The Green, Liberal and New Democrat Parties are not very far from each other ideologically whereas the Conservatives are drifting further and further to the right.

N.T. Wright gets it

I read N.T. Wright's astounding book Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church last summer. It's the best dissertation on the topic that I have come across.

I've happened upon these great small bite interviews with Wright on the 100 Huntley Street YouTube Channel.

Watch it over and over!

Beep.

The Royal Tyrell Museum

It was my third visit to the Royal Tyrell Museum. The first time I went, my aunt was visiting from the U.S. in 1987 and so we took her there. The second time, friends from the U.S. came for a visit in 1997, so we took them to Drumheller. This time, yesterday, we took Blaise and Acadia. Blaise has been crazy over dinosaurs for nearly a year, so it made sense to drive 80 minutes each way to the badlands and visit this world class museum. Both kids were so excited to go!

Drumheller is an odd place. It gives you the impression that the entire town is there simply because of the museum. You can't grow much there and it gets ridiculously hot there in the summer. The winters aren't mild either. But it is the site of a former coal mine, so the museum sort of saved this dying town. In fact the Midland Coal Mine is famous for the greatest mining disaster of the 1920s.

The museum is stellar. The exhibits are captivating. The kids wanted to race from one display to the next, but we managed to slow them down so we could enjoy the ancient skeletons.

I am not a paleantologist wannabe, never was. But I must say, the puzzle solver in me was drawn to the field more and more as I read about new discoveries and about how they painstakingly piece the dinosaur bones together.

We ran into friends from church and also friends from university that we hadn't seen in years. I wonder how many people I know are actually in Drumheller on the average day (except for Mondays - they're closed then).

Toward mid afternoon, Blaise and I went for a stroll on the loop through Midland Provincial Park. The Red Deer River snakes through this valley. You can see the many sedimentary layers since a glacier carved it out a while back.

On Break, At Home

It's Tuesday. I've been off work for 11 days now. I still have 5 left.

I was kind of envious of some of my colleagues and students who left for California, Arizona, China, Guatemala, Vancouver, Germany, London, Québec, etc. while I stayed at home in cold Calgary. But I'm really glad I'm home!

• I hit the bottle depot.
• I went to a friend's talk on sustainable and energy efficient building.
• I went to the doctor.
• I'm half way through a novel by Douglas Coupland.
• I went for tea* with a friend.
• I've spent hours on my latest documentary, completing the script and rough edit and I even got a famous singer to do a song for the film.
• I helped plan a benefit concert for Ubuntu.
• I spent a couple hours at a pro recording studio owned by a friend to record some of the narration for my movie.
• I cleaned out a couple drawers.
• I wrote 12 posts for my movie blog.
• I built snowmen with the kids (and pelted them with snowballs, the snowmen and the kids!)
• I went to church a couple of times.
• I did a dozen crossword and sudoku puzzles.
• I'm going to the Royal Tyrell Museum in Drumheller tomorrow (the kids are overthetop excited about this).
• I spent a wonderful night at some friends house for dinner and playing games.
• I spent some time on the project manager search for cohousing.
• I'm going to a movie this afternoon with Amber.
• We're taking the kids to Aggie Days (Agricultural Days in Calgary) later this week.
• We had some friends over for supper.
• I watched 5 movies so far.
• I shovelled our parking spots, twice.
• I'm doing an info session for cohousing in a couple nights.
• I attended a cohousing general meeting (and I have another on Sunday).

I'm happy I stayed because almost none of this would have happened if we had gone on a trip (plus we'd be a couple grand poorer too!).

*I gave up coffee for lent. ;)

On Stage: The Hobbit

Richard Grafton, a theatre mastermind and teacher at my school, directed a production of Tolkien's The Hobbit (play by Kim Selody) for the students back in February. He sent out an all call to the teachers to see if anyone was interested in being Smaug - the dragon. I eagerly volunteered.

What a blast to be a part of! I didn't have many lines and I was off stage inside a huge duct tape head, so I only had to emote with my voice. It also meant that I didn't have to go to many rehearsals, though a couple more may have done me good as I was still learning my lines the day of the first show.

The four shows we put on over 2 days went super. I was very impressed with how organized and professional the crew was - mostly made up of jr. high and elementary students (with a handful of 10th graders).

I read The Hobbit for the first time when I was in grade 7. It moved me deeply. I dreamed of making the film and I even designed an 18 hole miniature golf course following the various scenes from The Hobbit.

Lake Louise: Ice Sculptures Competition

As melted snow runs down my gutter, I feel pressed to post this entry on our February trip to the mountains.

Amber had a great idea on how we should spend a Sunday: attend the Ice Sculptures Competition at Lake Louise.

We arrived at around 10 am and the kids got to do some ice carving of their own in the village just off the highway. They were equipped with protective eyewear, a picking fork and a square foot block of ice. I helped Blaise form a T-Rex head. The kids put their sculptures on display in a bank of snow and were given a stuffed husky puppy and we got free coupons for coffee, tea and hot chocolate for each of us!

Inside the information building, there were a variety of children's activities - we let the kids choose one. They both chose face painting by the same woman who was at the maple syrup festival in Calgary a year ago.

Then we drove up the mountain to Lake Louise, I dropped the family off and then spent 20 minutes trying to find parking.

While I looked for Amber and the kids, I perused the 20 or so entries - by now they were nearly all finished and about to be judged. I was genuinely awestruck!

I found them in the magic show inside a hotel venue. Jason "that funny magic show guy" made the kids laugh and Blaise wonder.

It was a great trip and I had a great time taking pictures of the many entries. Full size photos can be found here.

Blaise's First Hockey Game

On February 19, I took my son to his first game at the Red Deer Centrium where we watched the Red Deer Rebels play the Kamloops Blazers. His hockey playing uncle came with us too, so it was a great family outing. The game started at the same time as his usual bedtime, so I was concerned that he would fade part way into it. He didn't though - he remained enthusiastic throughout all three periods, right into overtime. He didn't complain during the icy walk back to our car at 10:15 pm either.

The guy shooting the puck in the above photo is speculated to be among the first picks in the draft this summer: #9 Nugent-Hopkins.

Some highlights for me were explaining some of the rules of the game, watching Blaise enthusiastically do the wave, point out the Rebels mascot a few times, and when Blaise asked why someone didn't just go and score when the all the players were at the bench and the rink was clear. He was pleased as punch when the Rebels won in overtime.

Cleaning House with Kijiji

High on my list of things to do this winter is clear out some of the accumulating furniture and stuff in our basement. I photographed all the stuff and posted 11 items to Kijiji. This was almost 2 months ago and I've been able to unload 5 of them. Time to repost what is left.

What is frustrating is that so many people email "Is this still available? I can come get it tonight." I reply that it is still available and that tonight would be fine. I provide a phone number and address. No response.

Sure beats a yard sale in February though!

ipod lint

jack will not stay in

ipod's port is jammed with lint

needle jimmies free

A Visit to the Endodontist

On the morning of my first day back to work this month I zip to my 7 am appointment for root canal therapy. My calculus students aren't too disappointed that I've cancelled their 7:45 class.

I take the needle 5 times - the last time it is stuck right into my molar. Once I am finally frozen, my endodontist labours furiously in tandem with his assistant for about 40 minutes drilling, picking and mining my infected tooth root as top 40 music sounds from the ceiling speakers.

What I take away from this surreal experience is the rare perspective I had of the whole operation. Complete strangers are thrusting foreign instruments and needles into my mouth (wedged open and covered with a rubber dam) as I restrain my gag reflex from all the fluid that is collecting in the back of my throat.

It is both violating to be so vulnerable and exhilarating to know they are working for my benefit. The fact that my jaw is numb compounds the feeling of vulnerability as I can not respond to their actions. The fact that I can not see what is happening to my tooth leaves me completely at their mercy. The fact that I really have no idea what good endodontics looks or feels like makes the previous two facts irrelevant.

I arrive in my classroom 25 minutes after paying a hefty sum, back in the real world, a place where I have a modicum of control.

Stone Age Tournament

This post is about 3 weeks late. On New Years Eve four men traveled all the way from Saskatchewan to challenge me and Amber to a Stone Age tournament. (The proceeded to Banff Nat'l Park for some winter fun afterwards). Blaise warmed the boys up with some Jr. Monopoly while I finished making curry.

I organized a six game round robin for the six players. The top scoring three players would move on into a final game. The play was enhanced greatly with the presence of choice Bushwakker and Duchesse de Bourgogne beers - in particular, a seasonal treat: Blackberry Mead.

Play was very competitive, though we only got through a couple rounds New Years Eve and had to resume after breakfast on the first. Each player got to play two 4-person games and one double in the round robin. Game winners earned a small bonus of points.

Chris will lament that he was ill (and ill he was) and was therefore not able to present his finest game. Neal learned to play at the tournament, so it is understandable that he came in last. This means that Graham should be the most shamed for not cracking the top three. In fact, it is important to note that Graham's sole purpose was to beat me.

So, it came down to Amber (the sole female, well representing), Bryan (perhaps the most deliberate player at the table), and me in the final.

The turning of the decade was great fun; accentuated by my emergence as Stone Age victor.