All posts by Robert

Flickr Uploads Gone Wild

I wonder what’s going on with Flickr.

Up until a couple of days ago, it was pretty normal to see 4,000 to 5,000 photo uploads a minute, according to the Flickr  Most Recent Uploads page.  In the evenings, Pacific time, these numbers would be a little lower, usually between 2500-3500 per minute.

Last night, I noticed the numbers were in the 24,000 to 30,000 photos per minute range !

And today, they’re in the 45,000 photos per minute range.

Either there’s been some kind of massive (by a factor of 10) sudden increase in usage – or Flickr’s number is  now based on something completely different.

Anyone have any insights ?

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Vivaldi Never Lived in BC

Even though I’ve lived in the Lower Mainland since 1987, I’ve just now figured out the seasons.

What was throwing me off is that they aren’t distinct, discreet seasons like elsewhere in the country.

They’re mellow, they over-lap, and there are some wildcards.

Today, in a moment of clarity like I’ve never had before, it all came to me.

The seasons here go like this:

  • Mostly Snowboarding
  • Mostly Gardening
  • Mostly Sailing

Oh, we also have a season called Hawaii.

To help keep it all clear, I’ve put together a little chart – click for a larger version – print it up and stick in on the bulletin board.

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cross posted to VanGoGreen.com

Vintage Sound From the Prairie

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Growing up in Manitoba in the 60’s and 70’s, you could tell the guys who were into music by their Garnet Amplifier t-shirts.

Garnet Amps were local, and they were hot.

The t-shirts were the sign of someone who knew what real tube amps were supposed to sound like, someone who knew gear and who rocked out.

These amps weren’t sleek and sexy like a Fender Twin. These were working heads and bottoms – made to be stacked and made to be played loud. A working man’s amp with a signature sound.

Like the amps, Garnet T-shirts were working class clothes. They came in your basic t-shirt grey – all the better for crawling around setting up gear or pulling cable in some smoky hall. And perfect for wiping up a bit of spilled brew.

If you missed it, you can still grab a little piece of genuine Canadian music history. A big thanks to Pete Thiessen of Garnet Amplifiers for keeping it all alive.

And Peter – me and Little Garn love our new (old) T’s.

Garnet Amplifiers

Valentine Day Bounty

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Vancouver got a glimpse of spring today, and it seemed like everyone was out trying to grab a piece of it.

It was clear and crisp today, not particularly warm at plus 6 – but could tell that the city is buzzing with the idea that winter may be behind us.

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Tibetan Fund Raiser

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My friend Luyen Dao is organizing a unique fund raiser later this month.

For five days, from Feb 24-28, a group of Tibetan monks will create a Sand Mandala at Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Gardens in Vancouver.

It’s incredibly intricate work, and this is a chance to see first hand how it is done by masters of the technique who are visiting Vancouver from the Dzongkar Choede Monastery.

I got Luyen to tell me a bit more about it when I visited with him at the gardens…

Get the Flash Player to see this content.

A $10 tickets gets you admission to the gardens for the entire five days, and $2 from every ticket goes to help support the young monks, many of whom are orphaned or come from poor Tibetan families.

You can get more information and updates on the event on the fund raiser web site.

Here’s the link to the Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Gardens web site.

You can also grab this invitation and pass it along to a friend.

Here’s a YouTube video of a sand mandala being made.

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That Night Follows Day – Premeire

You feed us. You wash us. You dress us. You sing to us. You watch us when we are sleeping. You explain to us the different causes of illness and the different causes of war. You whisper when you think we can’t hear. You explain to us that night follows day.

It’s a big week around our place as the 2nd major thespian in our house has a show opening this week.

GB is in the cast of That Night Follows Day by Tim Etchels, opening on Wednesday at the PuSh festival in Vancouver.

It’s the North American English premiere …

That Night Follows Day starts out from observations as to how the adult world shapes the world of children. A play for adults, performed by children. With humour and great clarity, the evening explores the economies of parenthood, upbringing, discipline, control and care that define the adolescents’ worlds….The original production (in Flemish) premiered at Brussels’ KunstenFESTIVALdesArts in May 2007. Since then it has toured throughout Europe and beyond at several prestigious festivals.

More on the play, how it originally came together, and reviews of some of the (other) international productions on the author’s web site, timetchles.com

The show runs at PuSh February 4 – 8 at the Roundhouse in Yaletown.

There’s a mini web site/blog for the production here.

You can find out more about Theatre Replacement here.

Tickets for the Vancouver shows through the PuSh festival here

This production also goes to Seattle on March as part of On the Boards – Northwest Series. So if you’re in the US Pacific Northwest you can catch it March 20 & 21 at Behnke Centre for Contemporary Performance in Seattle.

On the Boards also has a blog for the play on their site.

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Growlers in English Bay

The two cars couldn’t be further apart in aesthetic.

But there they were, parked on the same block, on a quiet day in the usually tourist laden English Bay in Vancouver.

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My snow-eating-Yaris looked positively anemic next to the grey Maserati.  Even sitting at the curb, the car looked fast.  A lean high tech machine.

Down the block, perfectly at home next to the Sylvia Hotel, a 1951 Mercury with suicide doors.

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The chrome alone probably outweighs the Maserati up the street.   In the early 50’s, this Canadian made Mercury commanded respect.

Today, it still does, looking every bit as menacing as it ever did.

Made a bland day in the bay a little more interesting.

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Sixty Three Days

20090127_madsu_63But who’s counting.

My little sailboat Madsu will be back in the water in 63 days.

I was in Horseshoe Bay on other business today and took a walk down the dock. It’s a very different feel this time of year, the docks deserted and today, wet from a light snow fall.

Yet as soon as I walked down the ramp, I immediately felt that thing I feel every time I go down to the boat. Its impossible to describe – a connection of some kind that can’t really be articulated.

In sixty three days I won’t need to try to articulate it – I can simply go – and be.

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Australians Explain Everything: Financial Crisis

I’ve been to Australia twice, and would return in a snap given the opportunity.

With apologies to my pals in Melbourne (like Tony Walker who is taller than your average Ausie), Sydney is one of my favourite cities in the world.

But what it really come down to is people.

Frankly put: Australians have a way of cutting through the bullshit and putting even the most complex issue into perspective.

Case in point.

The current financial crisis.

Be confused no more.

American Express and Negative Option Billing – Customer Beware

This is specific to American Express, but I’m sure it’s an issue with other credit cards as well.

I’ve always believed that if there was a charge on my card that I didn’t agree with, all I had to do was call the credit card company to get it removed.

In the past, when it’s come up, that’s exactly what I’ve done, and there’s never been any hesitation on the part of the card company.

Apparently I was wrong.

Today I hit an interesting issue, and I’m both surprised and disappointed in American Express’s policy regarding recurring  or negative option billing.

In December of 2006 I purchased a 2 year membership to Classmates.com. This was before Facebook pretty much destroyed their business model.

I received an invoice from them at the time which states the 59.00 USD fee was for a 2 year period.

Nowhere on the receipt does it indicate that I’ve agreed to any kind of automatic renewal or recurring billing, but it does indicate a ‘renewal date’ of December 2008.

When I received my Amex bill in the mail today, there was a 59.00 USD charge from Classmates.com. I called Amex to ask them to remove the charge.

Not so easy.

According to Amex, because the merchant (i.e. Classmates) has indicated it is a recurring charge, Amex will not reverse the payment without proof that I’ve canceled my membership.

Ok. So, with the Amex agent on the line, I pull up my receipt and send it to her:

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The agent then tells me that nowhere on the receipt does it indicated that I’ve NOT agreed to renewal.

Huh ?

She then looks online and says that the Classmates site indicates that memberships are automatically renewed. Maybe today it does, but that doesn’t mean that it did in 2006 when I did the original transaction, and beside, the receipt doesn’t indicate that.

Not good enough says American Express. I need to prove that I haven’t renewed, some VALID indication that I DIDN’T agree to autorenew.

Hmmm. Me on the phone saying I didn’t ? Not good enough.

Of course it’s impossible to call the vendor (American Express even tried with me on the phone) and an email to them results in an auto reply. Interesting, the reply explains how to turn off auto renew (even though I never turned it on).

The problem is that only stops it for the next renewal, scheduled for December 2010, and doesn’t help me with my current billing problem.

Surprisingly, neither will American Express help me.

Classmates.com is essentially using negative option billing. It’s a terrible business practice.

The Government of Ontario even has an advisory on their web site about it. They’ve even passed laws to try to stop it. Did I mention that it’s a terrible business practice – desperation really.  I’m surprised that American Express is so supportive of merchants doing business this way – to the point of siding with them over their card holders.

According to the agent, if the vendor claims the charge is recurring, then American Express takes the side of the merchant, until the customer can PROVE they didn’t agree to a recurring charge. And from my example, supplying a copy of the receipt that clearly indicates a 2 year term and DOESN’T indicate an autorenewal just isn’t good enough.

Based on this position, any merchant you’ve ever conducted an online transaction with, who claims to have a recurring billing arrangement with you, CAN put through a charge. And your credit card (or at least American Express) will not reverse if if you call them to tell them you never agreed to such a thing.

Ironically, our credit card companies have for years been trying to reassure us that online purchasing can be safe. Here’s a straight forward example where the immediate response from the card company should be simple:

Remove the charge. The client says they didn’t authorize it. Simple.

Instead. American Express sides with the vendor, leaving the customer hanging in the cold. The problem with this of course is that any merchant I’ve done business with in the past could easily put through a transaction for any amount claiming it was a ‘renewal’. As I said at the top, I’ve always believed that solving any such problem was as simple as a phone call to the credit card company, Apparently not so, as long as the vendor claims it’s a recurring charge.

What’s irritating is that the agent at American Express kept saying that I “must have agreed to recurring billing” when I did the original transaction. I explained over and over that I did not, regardless of what Classmates.com claimss. There’s any number of changes they could have made to their policies in the 2 years since my original purchase, and even sending a copy of the receipt to Amex didn’t change their position one bit. I really annoys me that they can be so dismissive of a customer, while that customer is on the phone with them.

Perhaps Amex should be advertising with the words of the agent who was on the phone with me: “If you’re going to buy on the internet, it’s buyer beware”

I’m sure I’ll eventually get hold of someone at Classmates.com and will get the charges removed, but if you can’t reach the merchant, good luck convincing your credit card company that you never agreed to be billed on a recurring basis.

Doesn’t inspire confidence.

Vancouver Theatre Company Cranks New York City

20090120_gt_nytIt’s always great to see talented people get recognized. The New York Times gave a lot of space to Vancouver’s Green Thumb Theatre and their production of Cranked.

It’s also great to see my old pal, artistic director Patrick McDonald and his team, getting the attention they deserve in New York.

Patrick was the best man at my wedding, we’re both 5′ 11″, and he’s almost as old as I am.

Unlike me, he does manage to keep a job.

This year he’s celebrating 20 years as artistic director with Green Thumb.

He’s always had a great eye for a script, and under his direction, they turn into exciting and mesmerizing theatre.

Just getting noticed in New York is a big deal, and the NYT gave the show quite a lot of coverage in this (non review) review…

With Kyle Cameron as its focal figure, and Jason Pouliot as its D.J. and sound technician, “Cranked” is an engrossing, cautionary tale by Michael P. Northey. Directed by Patrick McDonald, it is produced by a theater company that explores issues relevant to the young and is mounted here by New Vic at the Duke, the New Victory Theater program for teenagers that parallels Green Thumb’s aims.

full story here

Cranked actor Kyle Cameron is blogging about his time in New York, though the by-line on the blog says “Green Thumb”. Kyle’s been doing Cranked for a while before getting to New York, but his excitement is infectious…

I love this city. There’s so much to see and do. Since we’ve been here, I’ve eaten at two or three different (usually fantastic) restaurants every day, seen numerous beautiful and interesting neighbourhoods, and done my best to overdose on great theatre

read more here

The NewVic Theatre, where Cranked is playing until the 25th, posted a YouTube ‘trailer’ for the play. I don’t know why there’s a odd music bed over the footage and no audio – maybe they couldn’t get the rights to use excerpts ?

Better to use this one, put up by Green Thumb.

(cross posted to LivingWithAnActor.com )

Shocker : District Discovers Snow

Someone at the District of North Vancouver just discovered the snow.

A week after we really needed it, they sent a crew over this morning to clear the corner.

Ironically the street’s become significantly less hazardous in the last week  as the snow’s melted a lot.

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It’s great that they’re clearing the roadway – people will actually be able to pull over now instead of stopping in the middle of the road.

Too bad they didn’t send the crew out when people were trying to make their way to the high-school up the street when it opened after the holidays.  Or when even more snow fell after that, and people were getting stuck just trying to turn.

Oh, I guess they’ll be back soon.  In their fervour to clear the street (that no longer really needed clearing) they managed to dig up part of the traffic lane separator on the corner.

A World Above the Fog

Vancouver woke up to another fog-bound day. At our elevation in North Vancouver, the fog wasn’t too thick, but as I drove down the 200 metres or so to the freeway, it thickened considerably.

After turning up the Cypress Bowl road it became apparent very quickly that it was blue skies all the way. Just as Snowboard Expert had noted earlier in the week, things up top were the exact opposite of down in the city.

For one, the sun was shining brilliantly. For two – it was a lot warmer up there. In fact, as I rode the lift this morning, I could feel the temperature rising. A classic weather inversion (not really a pineapple express – there’s little or no wind).

By 10 this morning it was plus 6 celsius – and heading to 10 or 11 for the day. Back at my house in North Vancouver, the temperature stayed steady at around freezing most of the morning.

At the top of Black Mountain, I had to unzip my jacket – 3 guys went by me in t-shirts.

I grabbed a shot with my point-n-shoot (I don’t bring my Nikon to the hill) of downtown Vancouver poking its head above the blanket of fog. Interesting aspect of Vancouver you don’t see very often. (click for a full frame version)

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Over in the other direction, Howe Sound is draped in a huge blanket of fog

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So, if you’re feeling hemmed in by the fog, head UP UP UP to where the sun’s shining.

Merge Challenged Spammer

Has it come to this ?

If spammers are going to continue to pester the rest of us, the least they can do is do their annoying job properly.

In today’s email, this eh-hole didn’t even finish his find-replace (merge is probably far too technical). Hence..

I am John Woogies, and I am the General Manager for . We are a group of
business oriented people who deal primarily in screen process, wicks and braids.. [rest snipped because it’s the usual crap

John John John. If you’re going to take the time and trouble to send thousand of emails out to people who know better, the least you can do is take some pride in your work, as horrid as it is. General Manager for ??? What ???

If this is what’s become of the art of spam, no wonder the economy is in the toilet.

Those Darned Email Links

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I love Twitter.

Now that it hardly ever goes sleepy, we’ve got nothing to complain about.

Except today, I registered a new Twitter user for a client, and as usual Twitter sent a lovely email back with info about the account etc.

Problem is the email link to their ‘invite your friends’ page is 404.

Hello, new Twitter-er!

Using Twitter is going to change the way you think about staying in touch with friends and family. Did you know you can send and receive Twitter updates via mobile texting or the web? To do that, you’ll want to visit your settings page (and you’ll want to invite some friends).

Activate Phone: http://twitter.com/devices
Invite Your Friends: http://twitter.com/invitations/invite

The New York Times calls Twitter “one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet.” TIME Magazine says, “Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app,” and Newsweek noted that “Suddenly, it seems as though all the world’s a-twitter.” What will you think? http://twitter.com

Thanks again for signing up!

– Biz Stone and The Twitter Team

Maybe they’ll fix the page.

In the meantime, I think at least one of the right URLs for the Invite Your Friends is http://twitter.com/invitations/invite_by_email

Chair to Nowhere

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There’s something eerie about riding a chairlift into heavy morning fog.

This was around 9 this morning at Cypress, and riding up the deserted Midway chair (above) the light drizzle added to the mood. Near the top left of the frame you can see some boarders shrouded in the fog

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Adding to quirkiness of the morning – the distinct smell of garlic about a third of the way down the Horizon run. Not sure if it was successfully warding off whatever was lurking in the fog, but it sure made me hungry.

Intoxicating Northern Voice

20090109_nv2009mooseI’m starting to measure my year in terms of Northern Voice, and I was thrilled to see registration open this week for the 2009 version.
Northern Voice really reminds me of the early days of the Fringe Festival in Vancouver. Back when the Fringe was on Main Street and run by Joanna Maratta.

Like the Fringe, Northern Voice is really about a community of people passionate about what they do, people who are highly experienced sitting next to someone who’s just starting out. It’s about people who are at the top of the field interacting with people who are just being introduced to social networking for the first time. It’s about sharing experience, desires, business practices, crazy ideas and a lot of long conversations at the bar.

Back when the Fringe Festival was a real grass roots thing, anyone with 100 bucks could put on a play. Ticket prices were cheap and lineups were long. Shows sold out on word-of-mouth. On any given day you could see shows featuring some of Vancouver’s top actors (like Angry Actors Co-op) as well as total neophytes who while not experienced, shared the same passion and excitement about their craft. It’s intoxicating to be around, and even more so to be part of.

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Northern Voice features an un-conference format on the 1st of the 2 days. Literally anyone can host a session on a topic of their choice; sometimes to a packed room, sometimes to a handful of people. Its a wonder to behold as people stand up and announce their ‘session’ to a gathered crowd. It’s real honest to goodness sharing. It’s learning and teaching and experimenting and collaborating and master-class all rolled into one.

The Fringe festival used to have its own version of an un-conference. It was never articulated as a stream at the Fringe, but it was understood by everyone that the de facto conference centre was the Fringe Club in the Main Street legion. This is where you could learn from the best, trade tips and tricks with performers and technicians and stage managers from around the world. I learned tons sitting at those plywood tables drinking draft, listening, laughing, arguing and learning. Perhaps most importantly, I made lifelong friends and was introduced to lifelong colleagues in the process. Like Northern Voice, some people even met their future professional-and-or-personal-or-both partners there.

Northern Voice has a spirit fueled by people who genuinely love what they do, are intrigued by what’s possible, and who dream of what’s to come.

I used to measure my year by the advent of the Fringe – sadly I don’t anymore more.

But I’m glad to see that same spirit alive at Northern Voice.