common sense = financial sense

While browsing through the Edmonton Sun’s letters to the editor today, I came across some excellent examples of why we’re colorfully referred to as ‘deadmonton’.  It seems that our city council had recently debated the pros and cons of hosting the 2017 World’s Fair.  You’d normally think that hosting a World’s Fair might be a great way of showcasing the city to millions of people …possibly attracting future citizens and further etching the name ‘Edmonton’ on the world map.  I mean, we do have some great things in this city for others to see.  Don’t we?

I happen to think we do …for the most part that is.  Certainly there’s crap around too, but overall I feel Edmonton people are generally kind and caring.  We attempt to balance nature with technology.  We try to stay abreast of new ‘trends’ while at the same time honor traditions that brought us to where we are …both good and bad at times.  We’re a new city, relatively speaking, and as much as we seem to be ‘blessed’ with wealth, we attempt to balance that with education, social awareness and a civil commitment to goodwill and equality.  We try at least, that’s the important thing.  And lets not forget location!

However, wealth at times tends to be the deciding factor when it comes to certain ‘intangables’.

In response to city councillers’ idea of hosting a World’s Fair, there seem to be many who fail to find a good reason for such an extravagance.  They view the proposed plan in terms of economics …the bottom line being, or course, money.  Here are a few responses from those concerned citizens who wrote in to the Edmonton Sun… “The proposed world’s fair is to cost 1.6 – 3 billion, but will bring in an economic boost of 2.5 billion.  So really, nothing.“  “It doesn’t take a degree in accounting to deduce this is a bad investment.  Why is the city even considering this foolishness?“  “I don’t see how this fair is an economic win for Edmonton.  Sure, some may say that you can’t put a price on international recognition, but any educated person would disagree.“

I suppose ‘educated’ in this sense might mean the ability to earn a higher wage.  Hummm.

Anyway, the kicker for me was the editors reply to the final letter written by someone expressing their concern over the Sun’s constant coverage of hockey games – posting Edmonton Oiler shots on every front page while neglecting other more ‘newsworthy’ items.  She stated… “I don’t need to worry that there is anything more important going on, like stock market collapses, financial recessions or our soldiers’ welfare in Afghanistan; I just glance at the front page and see that nothing more urgent could possibly be happening.“  The response from the editor was quite simple… “Oilers covers sell newspapers.  It’s not complicated.”  And I suppose it’s not, for when the bottom line is money, everything becomes simple …you either have it or you don’t.

And who really needs a World’s Fair in the first place.  I’d rather my city be known for other more substantial things …like ‘least pot-holes per capita’.

asian harbor

Today on my way home from work I stopped in at a Goodwill store.

The other day I dropped off an old wet-suit (too 80’s for its own good!), a bunch of pants and some shirts that I never wear anymore.  That’s kind of a habit with me …not keeping things for too long.  The way I see it, if I never use/wear it after a few years, then get rid of it.  Donate/recycle/lend it out or give it away.  If I find myself needing something similar, then just go and get it again.  I hate packing around ‘crap’ for years – the roomie is like this, and I occasionally have to go out of my way to make sure his ‘crap’ doesn’t creep into our common space.  If you’re not using it – then maybe someone else will.  Right?  I mean, you’re not doing anything with it are you?

Anyway, while I was there today, I noticed a picture that was pushed into a dirty corner, buried behind some smaller ‘modern’ crappy prints …the typical half-nude, abstract or anne-geddes image of their time.  This picture was an oil painting of boats in a harbor that seemed somewhat east asian.  I say this because of the style of the boats.  I don’t really know for sure.  I looked at it for a while, when a lady came over and started eye-balling the piece.  I watched her looking, then drifted just out of her view (so as not to let her notice my interest in it, although she had prob. been watching me anyway) – and I of course waited while she took her time going over it.  She studied it.  She rubbed her hand gently across its surface.  She adjusted it in the lighting.  She made me anxious!  But I waited.  And waited.  And after at least 3 minutes she shuffled on to see something else that called to her from a neighboring isle.  It was at this point that I quickly walked by and grabbed the painting (cautiously) and made a bee-line for the checkout till -lol.  She didn’t see me take it as her head was turned, but I’m certain she noticed it was gone.  Bad me.

I got to the till and realized there wasn’t a price on it.  I kinda figured $30-40 dollars or something so when I asked the checkout girl she said …”It’s $57 dollars.”  “Really” I said, “That much?”  “Yep” she replied …then waiting about three seconds asked “Do you still want it?”

I briefly furrowed my contemplative brow and replied – “Yeah, I do.”

The frame was pretty ugly/70’s in style, and in my opinion didn’t work with the painting at all.  I removed it, and wouldn’t mind getting it reframed at some point in the future.  It hangs now with just the canvas image stretched on its small inner frame.  It looks great against a white wall though …the south american colors with an asian context …and I like it!  I know what you’re thinking …”That things a freakin’ ugly monstrosity probably painted by some hack in a mall while strung out on crack” lol.  But that’s fine.  Luckily beauty is still in the eye of the beholder.

And, if you have any better guesses as to what the subject is (or the artist?) …then let me know

?????

DBBB

Tonight I got to be sound guy kids.

I don’t get to be sound guy too much, but that’s mostly by choice. Many days ago I enjoyed playing with knobs and buttons …’tweaking the mids’ as they say – but not so much anymore. Too many bad experiences kinda turned me off of it. It happens I suppose. I think it takes a certain type of character to be a good sound guy …and it’s not really me. Not really.

But tonight was kinda fun. It was for the Don Berner Big Band at a function for the Rotary Club. Nice crowd, and everyone seemed to be dancing or either shuffling in their seats. I don’t like ‘loud’ things (as you could prob. imply from previous posts) so the crowd and me got along just fine. Of course I do like it loud every once in a while …everything in moderation though. So yeah, it was the big band thing as opposed to any real ‘rock and roll’, which was pretty straight forward, undemanding and kinda did itself. Moving gear sucked …but at least it was gear that worked. Most of it that is.

Maybe you’ll recognize some of these hits from yesteryear.

Hey, my spellcheck thinks yesteryear is a real word!  Wow.  My spellcheck kinda scares me sometimes.  Maybe that’s what I can be for Halloween!  Maybe. It might be a tough sell though.

DBBB

obama-web

That was a stupid move.

I’m talking about the college student who claimed she was beaten, robbed and assaulted by an Obama supporter who then wrote a ‘B’ on her forehead with a dull knife. The problem was that the ‘B’ was reversed, and this was enough to arouse suspicion with the police. She confessed to the whole fabrication though – but still, it was a dumb move …and it seems the Obama campaign doesn’t need the extra help from events like this.

In an article by Geoff Norquay for the periodical Policy Options (October 2008) titled ‘Organizing Without An Organization: The Obama Networking Revolution‘, he discusses how the Obama campaign (particularly for the Democratic nomination) grew into the success that it is because of its “mastery of information technology (IT) and its understanding of social networking.“

“Obama ….rewrote the rulebook on campaign techniques. By marrying information technology and social networking, he empowered a juggernaut of citizen participation that recruited 750,000 volunteers, created 8,000 online affinity groups and organized 30,000 events. It also smashed all records for fundraising – more than $200 million – with almost half from individual donations of less that $200 dollars.“

He definitely took advantage of the web. One of his media directors was Joe Rospars – and along with Chris Hughes (co-founder of Facebook) they “recognized that the secret of social networking is to connect friends and share information around an issue, interest or cause, the idea being that self-generating peer-to-peer participation is much more likely to flourish in the absence of experts or authority figures who guide or mediate conversations. You just provide the user-friendly framework and some flexible, downloadable software, and stand back.“

Of course utilizing new media is nothing new to politics as Geoff points out, starting with Roosevelt’s “fireside chats”, TV mastery by Kennedy and Regan as well as Bush’s micro-targeting voters’ locations, income, buying habits and voting histories to estimate the possibility of support. Commanding the web was naturally the next logical course of action, and Obama seems to have jumped on this completely.

I’m sure future presidential races will also capitalize on such things as decentralized workforces, online donations, individual fundraising and barrierless communication in much the same way.

Lucky us.

Sun is Going Down

More crap kids

I should of kept the last one simple like I did here. That’s a problem I have …I tend to start adding crap where I don’t really need to. So for simplicity, this one is as simple as it gets – one guitar and two voices. Actually, three voices, because I couldn’t exactly limit Amber to something that simple. That would be a waste!

Click below for instant gratification, or go to the Music (New) page for all the details.

autumn leaves

I know Fall has almost fallen already, but I figured I’d give you three reasons why I don’t even bother to be a musician. And so, in no particular order of greatness, here’s Stanley Jordan, Eva Cassidy and finally a duet featuring Wynton Marsalis and Sarah Vaughn – all performing a little ditty by Joseph Kosma called ‘Autumn Leaves’.

Journal targets Sun readers

‘TERRORISTS TARGET U.S.A. VIA ALBERTA’

That’s the headline from today’s Edmonton Journal – typically a liberal paper who’s fairly cautious with the use of exaggeration and hyperbole. Usually. Not in this case though. The article discusses the idea that Alberta’s (BC) pipelines and oil properties, which supply the U.S., are vulnerable targets that can be used by terrorists to inflict economical damage to the States.

Aside from disrupting the oil and gas industry, these actions would also “hurt the rest of the economy …and shake up consumer confidence and foreign policy decision-making.” …according to the Calgary-based defense and security analyst Mercedes Stephenson. Stephenson’s unbiased view on our security needs aside, who else better to have input then a company called Global Strategic Resources, which develops and teaches emergency-preparedness courses in the U.S. and Russia. The company’s founder Igor Shafhid mentions that international foes of the U.S. are “closely watching that nation’s sharp economic decline …Those are things terrorists states or countries will take advantage of. If it goes towards recession or depression in the United States, I suspect some activities might start happening in the next few years in the form of biological, radiological or who-knows-what-else terrorism.“

Be at ease though kids, because he also states that terrorists “are in a waiting time right now.” and that “there’s no need to fear the world will be destroyed.” – lol. Whew, that’s relieving. I don’t mind the world being destroyed, but if it could happen later rather than sooner then at least I can get around to a few things I’ve been putting off.

Sarcasm aside, I suppose I should fill you in on a little background to this whole ‘terrorists striking the oil patch’ thing. You see, just last week there were two separate bombings directed at pipelines that run through the land surrounding Dawson Creek, which is a B.C. town close to the Alberta border. Certain land owners from that area are the hands-down favorites for being the culprits, and their complaints stem from the treatment they receive from the oil companies who buy and use the neighboring lands. This is nothing new of course, and there is a long history of conflict between farmers and oil companies in that area, the most public being the case of farmer/activist Wiebo Ludwig who, in the late 90’s, was convicted of bombing and vandalism because he felt the oil companies sour gas wells affected the health of the residents in the area.

The latest pipeline bombings seem to be the same thing happening all over again.

What grinds my gears however is that this time around, the idea of ‘disgruntled farmers’ is being used to imply something unrelated – terrorism. Terrorism, that is, as most of us ‘post 9-11′ people understand it. To even remotely conclude/associate that the Alberta oil-patch is a prime target for international terrorism because of an incident involving upset farmers and imperious oil companies is simply careless. Reckless. Sensationalizing. The Edmonton Journal is not the Edmonton Sun – at least not yet!

In a neighboring article by Elise Stolte, Mr. Wiebo Ludwig is interviewed and he shares his thoughts on the actions of those responsible for the new pipeline bombings. He makes some very interesting comments. “It drives people to the point where they have to take the law into their own hands ….they take something more than the law in their own hands – something having to do with justice that is beyond the law, because our laws don’t embrace it. …I’ve been there; I’ve wanted to do terrible things to the industry because of what was happening to us here – not because I wanted to pay them back, but to stop them somehow because they wouldn’t listen. We talked for six years to authorities, wrote letters ad nauseam, and everybody just passed the buck. And when you get to that point, you say, well, there’s only one thing left. You’ve got to shake them up.” Although Mr. Ludwig is far-removed form the image of an international terrorist, I wonder if perhaps his opinions might lend some insight into this type of mind?

Or maybe it’s just the case that the Edmonton Journal was along the right track …and Osama Bin Laden was driving the pick-up truck that some people saw leaving the scene of the pipeline blast

Who knows, maybe the terrorist mastermind got tired of living in his cave.

59%

59%…

That’s the turnout for this election …and, according to some, seems to indicate strong voter apathy (defined as lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern.) Well, kinda. That’s the assumption at least, that those who did not vote were not interested or concerned with the election. But you know what happens when you assume, right? What if, for example, a person was keen on the political issues, up to date on where the corresponding leaders stood, and was satisfied with maintaining the status quo? What if the non-voter was happy with having a minority government, including all the checks and balances that go along with that distinction? What if a person exercised their vote by ‘not voting, and not wanting to interfere with the current political situation?

Could be. Which raises the question …would that still be considered apathy?

a moment of truth is that

A moment of truth is that.
Once past, history’s talons rip and
shred that singular beauty, leaving
truth but a carcass of itself.

Its frail bones hoarded away
in ideals, clutched in desire and
reshaped as monstrosities -
as glimmers of what was.

A moment gets ignored or placed in haste
when man cares of himself …and sight’s misplaced.

Tisdale trip #45445.3

The trip to Sask was perfectly uneventful – which is good.

Grandpa really enjoyed his trip to Holland this summer (more relaxing than last time around) and Tyler actually took an interest in everything over there.  He’s 15 and my Mom thought he’d get bored, but he didn’t -and is looking forward to going back there with school next year.  He also got his learners permit lately, and had to drive me all over freakin’ town.  His corners were a bit fast, but I think he’s just testing his limits …that’s fine.  The weather was good too (low single digits) and Ashley put her horse Score through his paces for me one day.  I ate like a little piggy and Kim made a half-decent Thanksgiving Day dinner.  Lol, that’s surprising if you know her – but soooo good that I took some left-overs back to Mom’s for the next day.  Mom sent me home with her electric piano too …she never uses the thing because her fingers are pretty bad from work (hair-dresser) and now I have to get rid of my smaller M-audio unit.  Mom’s has weighted keys and some built in speakers which means I might actually use it more often …so it’s time for a little rearranging of the quarters so to speak.  That’s about it I think.  Did I mention the drive was long!?  Probably.  I didn’t take any real pictures because I just didn’t feel like it.  I did take a couple at the farm that turned out ok, but other than that I guess I decided to ease off on the landscapes for a while.  For a while that is.

Coal ...the mini schnauzer who thinks he's a horse.