Ode to an iPod

O iPod, white and sleek and oblong,
Word has it that your goods are gone.
Your 1st gen wheel remains firm to steer,
Your wee screen face youthfully clear,
But Apple says your ticker's tickin'
And your battery could give me a lickin'
By bursting into spontaneous fire
That could, it seems, become quite dire.
And yet, and yet, it's hard to view
A future void of your menu,
With extras that I never filled
Figuring there'd be time for that still...
Now Apple says that chance is past.

Some things, I s'pose, weren't meant to last.

So let's remember the glory times:

The airport queues, the checkout lines,

The walks to work and dashes home

The myriad times you drowned out my phone.

Then I'll wrap you up and send you along

(After I hack your software to get my songs).

 

What's the environment worth?

The Canadian Environment Network received a brutal, although not entirely unexpected, shock last week, when the Federal Government sent a letter saying it was not going to follow through on promised funding of $547,000 for 2011/12.

The network, which links 640 environmental groups and individuals across Canada to help protect the environment and promote ecologically sound living, was forced to shut its doors nationally. (Some regional offices are continuing on provincial funding.) 

A spokesman for Environment Minister Peter Kent told CBC News that the move was designed to ensure the department was getting value for money.

So, let's take a look. What else could that that $547,000 fund?

- Almost 10 months of military travel for Peter Mackay (as averaged from his spending $2.9 million over four years*, equivalent to $13,942 per week)

- Nine days of Treasury Board-approved advertising for the Canada Revenue Agency, Parks Canada, Finance Canada, National Defence, RCMP and Veterans Affairs ($21,050,000 for the year†, equivalent to $57,671 per day)

- Eight days of security for Stephen Harper and his family (based on the $46.9-million spent from April 1, 2009 to Jan 31, 2011≠, working out to $69,938 per day)

- 5.7 hours of special tax breaks to oil companies (based on the $840-million given in 2010^, which breaks down to $95,890 per hour)

- 2.9 minutes of profit for Rogers Communications (given their $410 million net income for the second quarter of 2011~, which works out to $187,728 per minute)

Looking at that, you've really got to admire Kent and Environment Canada for saving big where it really counts. Nice work, Pete! 

Anyhoo, that pesky environment stuff will take care of itself, won't it?

* The Globe and Mail: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/mackay-racks-up-nearly-3-million-in-flights-on-vip-jets/article2184074/

† Treasury Board of Canada: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/sipubs/comm/adv-pub/alloc_1112_q1-eng.asp

≠ Toronto Sun: http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2011/02/16/17301906.html

^ International Institute for Sustainable Development, November 2, 2010: http://www.iisd.org/media/pres.aspx?id=180

~ CBC News: http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/07/26/rogers-earnings-second-quarter.html

Townee Tees!

If you needed proof that Waterloo is a great town, this weekend provided plenty to convince the most skeptical of folk. Doors Open drew thousands of people to the basically brand-new corner of Erb and Caroline/Bridgeport to check out the new PI, CIGI and Knox Presbyterian buildings, while the Medieval Faire was in nearby Waterloo Park, the Terry Fox Run on Sunday morning, and the fourth Car Free Sunday of the summer to wrap things up on Sunday afternoon. Phew!

I had my second Townee Tee stand at Car Free Sunday, and had a blast chatting to people about the City of Waterloo sign that features on my tee's, magnets and postcards.

Merchandise - Tees, magnets and postcards.

On a sidenote, it turns out the City of Waterloo is currently polling people about the future of the sign. The sign was erected in 1948 - the year Waterloo became a city - and in my opinion is freaking awesome. But it does need some love. So the City's trying to find out if people want it fixed, fixed and moved, or done away with. Put your two-cents-worth in here.

The man of the hour, manning the stand

Anyhoo, back on King Street, T. and I shot the breeze about anything and everything with a wonderful array of people. We had a ball. Thanks so much to everyone who stopped by!If anyone missed out on a shirt, I still have Mens (S, M, L, XL) and Womens (S, M, XL) available. (Be mindful that the women's shirts run quite small - the 'small' is good for a teenager, or in the case of my niece, a petite woman.) Drop me a note in the comments if you'd like to know more!

Your humble hostess!

On 9/11/11

Ten years ago right now, I was in a hotel room on the Sunshine Coast of Australia breaking up with my boyfriend. We were on holiday before I started a job at a bigger newspaper. We were breaking up because I'd kissed someone else. Or rather, that was the "reason". The fact was that I'd known all along I didn't want to marry him. As an early-20-something, though, I hadn't realised that was a serious consideration. So, almost three years into our relationship, I'd forced the issue both for him and myself. (Not my highest point, granted.)

We'd just come back to our hotel room from a painful dinner at a mediocre Irish pub, trying to avoid a painful truth. In an effort to distract ourselves from what we knew was inevitable, or to find some kind of way to avoid the mess in front of us, we turned on the television. Among the usual drab late-Tuesday-night fare, Channel 10 had interrupted the broadcast to report a strange accident in New York City. One of the World Trade Center towers was on fire, and it was thought a plane had crashed into it.

Ground Zero, 2006.

As we - the newscasters, the people on those New York streets, us in our beachside hotel room in coastal Queensland - watched, a second plane came into view. It seemed to bank slightly. And then it crashed into the South Tower.

I think I uttered something like "Oh my god" as the newscasters grappled to explain what they'd seen (and, I guess, not to swear). I looked up at my boyfriend, my mind and heart racing. "This is war," I whispered. 

 We like to tell ourselves that the world before September 11 was peaceful and innocent. We could waltz onto planes. The biggest danger of leaving bags unattended was having them stolen. But the reality is, that "peace" was an anomoly made of selective blindness. The world was rife with battle. Australia had peacekeepers in some of the most wartorn places on the globe. Foreign policy had for years gone astray, led by at-times willfully ignorant US policy. It was a house of cards built on secrets and betrayal.

Black street signs were later installed in the area where the Twin Tower debris fell.

And for all that purported pre-9/11 innocence, I recognised an act of war when I saw one. While I was horrified, devastated, shocked and scared, I wasn't actually too surprised. Human history being as savage as it is, and world dynamics being as fragile as they were, something was bound to happen. I just don't think anyone expected this. 

We stayed up late that night, largely silent with bursts of worry and speculation. We watched the towers fall. We cried for the people in the towers, in the Pentagon, on Flight 93. And I fought to keep out of my mind's eye an image of my boyfriend donning fatigues to go to fight a foreign war. We reluctantly went to sleep, hoping by morning to find out who was behind it, what it all meant.

The relationship didn't end that night, but it did soon afterwards. In a world rocked to its core, we clung to each other for stability, for normalcy, maybe for a bit of blind hope. Eventually, though, we learned one of the most brutal facts about mass tragedy: Life does go on.  

On a fence covered with memorial tiles in downtown New York City, in 2007.

As for what it all meant, we're still working that out now, 10 years later. It seems that the world was forced to grow up and face ugly truths that day: That secrets and underhandedness have repercussions; that motives for terrible acts can be complicated and ugly, but they can also be based on a kernel of truth; that retaliation is a two-edged sword; that a war of attrition will scar both sides.

We've moved on, as a world, as nations, as individuals, but the battle within us all continues. Surrounded by a new world of security, fracturing government policy and rising intolerance, it is up to individuals to rise above base instincts of suspicion and blame, anger and guilt. In the wreckage of 9/11, we must strive to find a place of unified humanity so that the generations that come after us inherit something to celebrate, rather than mourn.  

The torch is passed

The outpouring of love and emotion following Jack Layton’s death has dredged up two painful truths: There is such a thing as Canadian politics, and we Canadians almost let it disappear.

That first truth elevated Jack above many of his counterparts. Where some seek division, he sought unity. Where some wield spite, he chose dignity. While others pursue gain, well, he did too. After all, politics isn’t a selfless sport, but Jack made it clear that if he won, he would share the spoils.

The second, so brutally highlighted by Jack’s passing and its resulting vacuum in Ottawa, sadly reveals what we have let our House of Parliament become.

Jack’s method of politics was for a long time dismissed as the token pang of conscience in our bitter, bloody, ruthless and unchangeable body politic. His idealism was sweeping and grand because it could be. As the leader of the third party, he was never expected to deliver on his promises.

Then, on May 2, 2011, Canadians looked at the state of their Parliament and chose another way.

We’ll never know if Jack could have married his idealism to the pragmatism needed for rule. We won’t know if, or how, official Opposition status would have impacted his policies, his idealism, his hopefulness. But we can be sure it would not have changed his way of doing politics, and this is why his passing feels so personal to so many.

Jack showed us that public discourse can be honest. It can be polite. Our representatives can be driven and idealistic, tactful and fierce, and yet they can overcome their differences to work together. Honourable traits don’t have to relegate politicians to the fringes. Our Parliament can turn party divides into common ground, rather than razor-wired barrens.

And Jack’s death has reminded us that Parliament is the people’s house. We can – we must – demand that our representatives inside those walls treat each other with the same respect, civility, tolerance and understanding that we expect on our streets, at our schools, in our workplaces, and inside our homes.

We fight for this co-operative spirit around the world, and we should expect it from our elected representatives. It’s the Canadian way. Jack showed us that it is possible. Now it’s time for Canadians of every political persuasion to ensure we make it so.

  

(Addendum: Links to Jack's letter to Canadians and Stephen Lewis's eulogy.)

(PS: I say 'we' despite the fact that, as a resident, I cannot vote. When I gain my citizenship, Jack, I'll raise a glass to you.)

Opening the shutters

In the months that I've been visibly absent from this blog (*cough*SLACKER*cough*), I've been up to a couple of things. Holding music events. Becoming publisher of a national magazine. Making these shirts:

More (and hopefully better) pics will come soon. But for now, may I just report that my one-woman unofficial Waterloo tourism bureau opened today and met with some cheery reactions at Waterloo's Car-Free Sunday.

If you're interested in shopping, t-shirts sizes still available are: 

Youth - L 

Women's - S, M, XL  (Runs fairly small - the small will fit a thin woman or a teenager. XL is more like a typical L) 

Men's - S (I HAD ordered Men's Large, but the screenprinters gave me Youth Large instead. Some heads will roll on Monday....)

I also have magnets and postcards, which include a nifty "Greetings from..." to deliver hearty salutation in a snazzy retro font. Send me a comment if you're interested in any/all of the above!

Porch Party!

Have I told you about my little soiree coming up? Amid the whirlwind of setting up life in a new town, new job, new crazee diet, et cetera, I've also decided to create a new event in Waterloo: The Grand Porch Party.

It's gonna be an awesome afternoon. We're getting homeowners in my 'hood to offer up their front porches so musicians can play on them. Imagine sunshine, music wafting down the street, people wandering from house to house. Plus, it's on Canadian Rivers Day, so we're sharing the love with the Grand River Watershed.

If you're around, come check it out!

GrandPorchParty.wordpress.com

Spring!

Where does all the time go? Sucked into a gaping maw of busy-ness, in my case, what with the day job, the side job, the husband, the stepsons, the family and friends, the need to shower, and the inclusion of a week long science journalism study trip into all that (or, as I prefer to call it, Nerdfest). Expect pics and details soon, once I work out where my head's at!

Critters

Critters are taking over the UW campus! The squirrels, chipmunks and occasional ducks outside our office window were today joined by this little fellow:

Did you know groundhogs have adorable wee ears? They do. Tres cute.

Meanwhile, the front steps to the building are under constant supervision by this gent:

Mama Goose laid her eggs on the awning over the doorway, you see, so Papa is on constant guard duty. He's feisty. And poopy too.

The hole gets deeper

News today: The Harper Government has not only been accused of misleading parliament in regards to funding its anti-crime agenda and buying military aircraft. Today, a draft report shown to the Canadian Press indicates the Tories spent $50-million in one Tory riding during the G8 and G20 conferences. The money was spent on park upgrades, town beautifications, footpath improvements, public toilets, a lovely new gazebo.... in towns 100km way from the G8 host site.

The dropping of the writ prevented the final report from going to parliament (it's expected to do so after the election). I can only hope this leaked release, showing such blatant disregard for the people, taxes and the responsibilities of respectable governance, won't be ignored on May 2.

Best ad so far

Election campaigns aren't exactly known for subtlety or humour, so it's awesome to see this little spot from the NDP. It might be in French, but its message is universal:

Groundhog Day

As Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff duke it out to prove themselves the legitimate alternative to Stephen Harper, one must wonder who they're really trying to serve. The NDP and the Liberals both claim they are the only party to stop Harper. They also both claim to be the only party working for the Canadian people. The truth is, if they really cared about the former, these parties would stop quibbling about the latter and join forces.

We're caught in an electoral groundhog day: The same parties are spouting the same lines as they have the last two elections, and they're bound to get the same results unless someone shakes up some serious change. The Liberals and the NDP either have to fight to the death, or form an amicable union.To continue this charade of both being viable options to stop the Conservatives is a sham, and these pained efforts to promise they won't form a coalition is ridiculous. It's the only way out of this mess, guys. Unite the left, and the country will finally be able to move beyond this stalemate and have a reasonable debate about the issues, instead of this tussle for class president (or is it class clown? It's hard to tell sometimes.)

Parliament Hill has been in gridlock for years, with too many parties clogging up the 308-seat House and churning up the airwaves during election campaigns. The Conservatives saw the writing on the wall years ago and merged the Progressive Conservatives and the Canadian Alliance to create the Conservative Party of Canada. The left needs to do this too.

Unless it is ruled ineligible for federal party status due to a lack of national candidates, the Bloc Quebecois will always be the third, spoiler party of this two-party-based system. The Liberals and the NDP must sort out their differences and create a working, co-operative union of the left, just as Harper did on the right. That co-operation could then - gasp! - be carried into the House to create something other than this blocked, grasping, dysfuntional set-up with which we've been belaboured for the last five years. Only then can the House clean up the current messy state of denial that is hurting democracy and robbing Canadians of a viable, functioning government.

(NOTE: I can't vote, so don't have a stake in this. I also don't have a party loyalty. I just can't stand this ridiculous pounding of our collective heads against the same wall. Get your acts together, politicians!!!)

To vote or not to vote

Unlike Australia, where it's mandatory for people over 18 to cast a ballot, voting in Canada is voluntary. Watching this current election campaign unfold, Canada makes a bloody good argument for mandatory voting. The turnout for the last election, in 2008, was just shy of 60 per cent. The Conservatives got roughly 37 per cent of that vote. So, by my rough calculation, with the support of less than a quarter of the eligible voting population, Harper formed government.

This election is shaping up to be just as tight, but with much the same cast of characters to choose from as last time trotting out much the same tune, it's not exactly inspiring. And I suspect we'll end up in much the same situation as before the writ was dropped, facing the same dysfunction in Ottawa that will only be resolved by a dramatic shift in leadership, or a dramatic shift in the rules of the game.

What would be different if voting were mandatory?

The theory: Because people MUST cast a vote, they are inclined to get involved in the debate and pay attention to the issues. This enhances the level of debate because more people know and understand the issues. End result: A better, more meaningful campaign.

The practice: Media coverage remains saturated with breathless issue-of-the-moment coverage that fails to delve into matters of public concern. End result: Voters make decisions on gut feeling having scanned the latest headlines. 

To be fair, that's largely what happens now in Canada, so I figure mandatory voting would at least get more people paying slightly more attention, and would force the parties to actually engage the centre ground, instead of trying so hard to build up their partisan base so they can win what basically becomes a ground war of recruitment. 

Mandatory voting is not the solution, and by definition it's not purely democratic, but at least it might help nix this awful stalemate in Ottawa right now.  That or reform the Senate, but that's a whole different bag of ugly, smelly wrong.

And they're off!

It's election time here in Canada, and I have the pleasure (and, at times, pain, depending on the politicians) of watching it all unfold from outside a newsroom. As a resident of Canada, but not a citizen, I'm not allowed to vote. So I figure that makes me the perfect guide through the quirky theme park that is ElectionLand Canada. Stay tuned - it's only open until May 2.

In the blue corner we have inveterate minority ruler Stephen Harper, aching to finally get more than half the vote. Heck, even half the seats would be nice.

In the red corner, we have Michal Ignatieff, an egghead and former professor whose barbecue bus tour last summer managed to make him seem, um, like an egghead former professor making a big effort to connect with real people. He won over the press, but that's likely because most of them don't understand normal people either.

And in the other three corners of this pentagon-ring, we have Jack Layton and the New Democrats (does that sound like a band name or what?), the Greens (the sports bra of politics: Lots of support, little to show for it), and the Bloc Quebecois, which really only cares about one province (guess which one? Bet you can't...), only fields candidates in that province, and generally likes to play spoiler a lot in parliament while quietly propping up the governments they claim to despise.

The writ was dropped last Friday, and the weekend produced lots of hubbub, but really, most people around here were too busy looking out the window and wondering why we still have a foot of snow on the ground at the end of March. (We'll get interested in a Spring election when it actually starts to feel like Spring.)

Still, this is my cranky-because-I-can't-vote-but-secretly-happy-I-don't-have-to-choose-from-this-sorry-lot report card on yesterday's events:

RIGHTO: Michael Ignatieff was actually discussing policy. The Liberals went hard on student funding, but I'd like to see how that funding would be dispensed. More college/university places? Only if they're used to do something other than push more kids into paths they're either not good enough or not interested enough to warrant. I have enough misplaced students in the class I teach, and there's only five of 'em in the course.

MEH: Jack Layton was in town (Kitchener), discussing the tough times of small business. Yup. Got that. Nice of you to buy a couple of shirts from your photo-op stop though. Points for that.

WHAT THE??: Stephen Harper, who continued his 'Look, I promise I'm not a robot!' series of photo opps by standing next to (and what's that? Singing with? Save us now...) that kid who sings Lady Gaga songs really well. Really, Steve, how many of your hard-core supporters like listening to Gaga's 'lesbian transgendered life'? 

(Note: Harper spent the weekend warning about democracy-killing coalitions. Here's a heads-up for you, mate: Coalitions are democratic. They're actually more democratic, because they involve co-operation among parties elected by the people. Spell that with me. "C-O-O-P-E-R..." Oh never mind.)

BOO!: The bloody consortium of broadcasters that televises the leaders' debates has excluded Greens leader Elizabeth May because her party doesn't have a seat in parliament. The party gained 6.8 per cent of the primary vote last time. That may not seem huge, but remember, Harper formed government with just 37.6 per cent of the primary vote and the Bloc was the third party with just 10 per cent.

It's not a lack of support that is keeping the Greens out - it's the parliamentary first-past-the-post system that is used here in Canada.  If you want a truly representative democracy, get this woman in the debates and get yourselves a bloody decent electoral system.

Harrumph.

This is from SavageChickens, and was dedicated to the 2005 election campaign. Not much has changed...

The Waterloo Chronicles

If you haven't been to Waterloo, you'll likely be surprised by what you find. As well as the two universities, the area is home to RIM headquarters (yup, I live at the home of the Blackberry), the Perimeter Institute for theoretical physics, the Institute for Quantum Computing and the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI). There's a lot of smart people here. Really smart. Which leads, generally, to some absolutely fascinating events and conversations.

Two weeks ago I attended a panel discussion hosted by CIGI at its headquarters (which is, incidentally, a converted rum distillery). The topic was 'The Dark Side of Globalisation', and discussing the matter were former Chilean ambassador Jorge Heine, John Ralston Saul, writer and husband of a former governer general, and political science prof William Coleman. 

The three of them differed greatly in their backgrounds and approaches to the topic, but came to a similar conclusion: Globalisation, for all its ubiquity and apparent unavoidability, has created many problems that simply are ignored. (You can read about the discussion and watch the webcast here.)

It really got me thinking: Many great empires ended due to their own success. While the colonised lands asserted their statehood through independence movements, they often retained the societal structures of the colonisers. Which means, ultimately, the colonisation was successful.
Is that what will happen with globalisation? Globalisation has until now been a largely one-way process: The democratic and capitalist West 'globalises' the poorer, often undemocratic rest of the world. Will those countries embrace what they want of the West's loaded gifts, and tweak them to their own national purposes before booting out the globalisers? Will we see a number of interpretations of capitalism, some different variations of democracy, emerge in these lands? If that happens, none of these end results will be the same, so the world will remain splintered into nations catering to their own needs first, potentially at the expense of cross-border business and governance. Does that mean globalisation has worked when it fails? 

And is that what we're witnessing in the Middle East? In rejecting a status quo that had been supported by the West, while also striving for democracy, perhaps these countries are becoming the first of a post-globalisation world. It's too soon to tell. History shows that many will fall prey to the power-hungry bastards that often step into a power vaccuum. But at this moment, with so much reform and so many peaceful resolutions* seeming possible, these are fascinating developments to watch.

*Sadly, that's not likely to include Libya.

The mea in the culpa

Oh, woe me. How did it come to this? Two months back at the grindstone and all of my fun extra pursuits have completely fallen off the map. Bread making? If you're lucky. Art and card creation? Dream on. It's all work this, house that, and my most creative and artistic pursuits have largely revolved around the graceful shovelling of snow. And some damn fine wallpaper removal, if I do say so myself. 

Such is life. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I just have to somehow make it seem interesting enough to chronicle here. Or find something better to talk about. Or drink wine. Stay tuned.
 

Workin' life

I've now racked up six weeks on the job(s), and I've gotta say, this is exhausting! All of my plans to continue the bread-making, the artistic endeavours, the happy housewifery, have evaporated in the simple demands of having two jobs and trying to have a vaguely sane household.

I'll tell you about it some time. For now, though, my walk to work helps make everything better. Even when it's -24 with a wind chill, like today, sunny days and snow are a beautiful mix.

This is my walk to work...

And this is an awesome snow fort someone made in the baseball diamond. Love it!

Floods

The Globe and Mail asked me to give a Brisbanites account of the utterly devastating floods happening at home. It was a terribly hard piece to write, as it's been so terribly hard to watch it unfold from a distance. While I should be relieved to be in weather-sane Ontario, I really just wanted to be there with everyone.

 Makes no sense, but there you go. 

Anyhoo, story was published today. You can read the full piece at The Globe's website here. (Until it eventually goes behind a paywall. Sorry about that.)

An excerpt: "Most people are fine, if damp. What they’re really struggling with is a shared sense of helplessness, and a looming sense of imminent grief as the receding waters reveal the past week’s death toll, expected to be in the dozens."

No-one's looking forward to what's to come. My thoughts are with everyone at home.
xx

What the hell, homeland?

After literally months of rain -- nothing but pouring rain -- Queensland is now mostly underwater, with floodwaters building in the Wivenhoe Dam about to be unleashed on Brizzy. What the hell is going on down there? When I left, you were in drought, Queensland. Since then you've had the hottest Christmas on record, then almost run out of water, had the worst storm in memory, and now are about to drown.  If it wasn't all so hard to watch from afar, I'd joke about you lashing out because you want me back. But it is hard, so I won't joke.
Photos below give a teeny glimpse, and it hasn't even hit its peak. Be safe, all.

(P.S.: Let's mark this moment as the first in likely a long line of 'I wish I was still a newspaper journo' moments.)
* Photos care of news websites, and my mum's friend's facebook account. 

Where I used to run at Kedron/Stafford

Down the hill from my old apartment in The Valley.

Down the hill from my folks in Stanthorpe (on another old running path from when I lived there).

Round the corner (and down the hill a bit) from my folks in Stanners.