All posts by Robert

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Turn It Off

How energy efficient is your game console ? Not very.

The short story is this.

If you’ve got a video game console in your house, and you leave it on, you’re wasting energy.

The exception – the Nintendo Wii.

A new report by the National Resources Defense Council surfaces some pretty interesting data – and a clear message (note that figures are for US only):

Through the incorporation of more user-friendly power management features, we could save approximately 11 billion kWh of electricity per year, cut our nation’s electricity bill by more than $1 billion per year, and avoid emissions of more than 7 million tons of CO2 each year. In this November 2008 issue paper, NRDC provides recommendations for users, video game console manufacturers, component suppliers and the software companies that design games for improving the efficiency of video game consoles already in homes as well as future generations of machines yet to hit the shelves.

The full report is available as a PDF from the NRDC web site.

Here’s an example of some of the data they present, and there’s one thing very clear from this chart. You can do something right now, without having to wait for anyone – just turn the darned thing off.

(originally posted to VanGoGreen)

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In-Box Entrails

The email in-box is a great guide to the state of the world.

A quick glance through the subject lines of the morning mail is proving to be an accurate gauge to the psyche of the nation, or at least accurate enough to rival the augurs of the ancient Romans.

On one hand, the Christmas gift idea flood has begun, with new ideas on how to spend money arriving almost hourly.

These cheery greetings come from companies I’ve bought from in the past, and dozens I haven’t.

They’re seductive and appealing, providing countless reasons to buy buy buy, and spend spend spend; all on things I don’t really need.

Isn’t it great ?

It’s like an in-box on Alprazolam.


But along with those cheery missives come the not so cheery missiles.

Stark reality.

Barging its way into my plastic subsidized world

From one of my local news stations:

CKNW Breaking News…

Another dark day on the markets; TSX down 766 points, Dow Jones down 445.
Sent 1:32pm

And from Canaccord Capital, a reminder that:

It seems there are lots of stores that are closing due to the “recession” and the fact that people are not shopping. If you have any “gift cards” from these stores, make sure you use them, or you will lose them

The above, followed by a depressing list of major retailers going broke or closing outlets.

Of course, there’s more trouble for big media, now admitting, finally, tough times ahead…

CTV Inc. will lay off some employees, freeze hiring and cut spending to cope with “sharp decreases” in advertising as the television industry braces for a deep slump.

And this from Ipsos (the polling folks)

Year Over Year Online Spending Drops 13% in Q3 2008
Past Three Months Spending Also Down 15%

Dudes, don’t you realize all this reality is bumming us out ?

I mean, I can only take so much reality – what about you ?

In the word’s of Detective John Kimble in Kindergarden Cop:  SCHTOP IT!

Thankfully, at least in my in-box, reality is losing out to Happy Thoughts.

Things like: free shipping, 0% down, and gift cards (while they last) from friendly retailers (while they last).

To which I say: “Keep ’em coming boys, and hey mailbox – pass the bottle would ya?”

latest, Madsu, Ozzie Says, Photos, Podcast

How Long Is Summer ?

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The answer is simple.

Cruising with Madsu on a typical BC summer day.

It’s possible it gets better than this, but I doubt it

Get the Flash Player to see this content.

A little reminder of what to expect (again) in just a few months.  And really just an excuse for me to futz with Final Cut Studio 2 which arrived this week.

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Screen Caps Speak

Hard times are hitting the media – sort of.

Canwest is laying off 560 employees across Canada – five percent of its staff.

Details here and here.

Instead of pink slips, CBC’s giving out performance bonuses to execs.

The optics: bad. The timing: execrable.

South of the border, they’re moaning about layoffs in the publishing sector, including Al Gore’s Current TV.

Meanwhile, North of the border, Al Gore’s Current TV is expanding.

Imagine:

  • Fly on the wall.
  • Communication teams drafting speaking notes & key message.
  • Layoffs in the US and We’re Expanding to Canada
  • Discuss.

Just like us bloggers, mainstream media seems happy to publish whatever crosses their desk, no questions asked.

How else do you explain a March 2008 prediction of little change to BC’s hot housing market over the next 2 years, and the October 2008 story predicting a drop in house prices of 18 percent over the next two years.

BTW: I have a bridge on offer if you’re interested.

Podcast

Keep Clean and Green podcast posted

I’ve just posted a podcast with Munu Hicken-Gaberria on VanGoGreen.

Munu’s the guy behind a line of eco-friendly laundry products. Not only are they eco-friendly, but they’re sold in glass jars that are re-usable.

A successful businessman from the UK who fell in love with BC’s natural beauty, he’s doing his bit to try to help the environment. I think you’ll find him interesting and inspiring.  He’s based in Port Moody.

Podcast is here.

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Victoria Mayoral Candidate Bozo

According to a CBC story, a candidate in the municipal election in Victoria is complaining there are too many people running for office.

A Victoria mayoral candidate says the large number of candidates running for council is turning the race into an unmanageable circus.

As if to underscore the point, one candidate turned up at a recent all-candidates meeting wearing a clown’s nose and hollering at voters.

Dean Fortin says with 35 people vying for eight seats on council, and eight candidates for mayor, all-candidates meetings have become difficult.

Dude.

It’s called democracy.

And given the track record of ‘legit’ candidates, I’d be careful about pointing fingers.

Sheesh

latest, Madsu

Sailing to Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

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I’ve been pretty smug  about my low carbon recreational footprint. My little sailboat Madsu does have an auxiliary outboard motor, but it’s only on for a short period of time while I motor in and out of the docks at Horseshoe Bay.

The rest of the time, Madsu is under sail.

I do have the need for electricity aboard – power for my running lights, GPS, cabin lights, marine radio and of course my stereo. For that I have small solar charger that keeps my two 12 volt batteries perfectly topped up – in the last 2 years I’ve not once had to plug in to the grid to recharge.

So, when I saw a story in Treehugger about a BC community using sailboats to lower their food carbon footprint, I was hooked on the idea.

It’s reallly the story about a community getting together to do something that’s healthy, rewarding, and dare I say, fun.

Almost 200 people agreed to pay 100.00 dollar each for grain grown by farmers using horses instead of tractors. And to reduce the carbon footprint even more – someone came up with the idea of delivering the crop by sailboat…

After the heritage varieties of wheat were grown, harvested and packaged, the grain shipment was loaded at Kuskanook Harbour on the eastern shore of Kootenay Lake. The sailors took one and half days to sail the length of the lake and into its western arm to a private dock in Nelson. CSA members were out in force to help unload the sailboats and collect their zero carbon grain, including red fife wheat, khorasan wheat, hard spring wheat, spelt and oats. (full story here)

Since I’m out sailing in Howe Sound and the Straight of Georgia a few times a week, I’d gladly carry some cargo aboard.

Who knows, maybe my pal James Glave would like some stuff brought over from the mainland to his Eco-Shed on Bowen Island.

So, if if you’ve got a few bags of grain, baked goods or any other stuff you’d like delivered somewhere on the south Coast – let me know.

Madsu’s out of the water now until spring, but I’d by happy to oblige and help lower your food chain impact.

< cross posted to VanGoGreen >

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The Only Bright Spot in the Economic Crisis

Worried about the global economy ?

Trying to find your way through the uncertainty ?

I have a hot tip for you on where the real growth is, during this, the worst economic crisis in 100 years.

When the sh*t hits the fan, you can do like the late Warren Zevon says and ‘send lawyers, guns, and money’.

Or.

You can do what every right thinking bureaucrat does:

B o o k a M e e t i n g.

Talk about an industry that’s taking off – there’s a veritable orgy of meetings planned. This weekend, there’s the world economic forum meeting in Dubai:

During the three-day Summit, the 700 participants of this interdisciplinary event will engage in interactive workshops and sessions to set priorities for the most compelling ideas for improving the state of the world, from groundbreaking areas of research to new and exciting developments and cross-cutting solutions to address the world’s challenges

Since fall is swiftly moving to winter, any good meeting planner knows the best thing is to have your meeting somewhere warm. Dubai may be hot, but Sao Paulo’s hotter…

Officials from the rich and the emerging countries of the G20 will gather in Sao Paulo this weekend to discuss the global financial crisis, but by the time they sit down, a much smaller meeting that has attracted far less attention may already have set the agenda.

Of course, any good meeting worth its salt is really just a precursor to another meeting. This weekend’s meeting in Dubai ? It’s really just a warm up for the other world economic forum meeting in January:

Against a background of economic uncertainty and global crisis, the World Economic Forum has announced record engagement from business, government and other leaders for the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2009 in January. More than 20 heads of state/government, including G8 countries, and close to 1,000 business leaders have already confirmed their participation, demonstrating the need for governments and business to sit together and focus on an agenda to restore sustained economic growth.

Of course, here in North America, we’re looking forward to the big meeting on November 15th called by George Bush (I dare say when you get a request in Outlook for a meeting featuring BUSH you’re sure to respond).

The beauty of this meeting business is that for every great meeting, there’s also a pre-meeting …

US President George W. Bush announced Thursday that he and president-elect Barack Obama would discuss matters like global economic turmoil and the war in Iraq “early next week.”….The meeting will come just days before world leaders converge on Washington for a November 15 summit to address the causes of and remedies to the international economic meltdown, likely the first in a series.

And of course, by the time the meeting is actually held, we’ve already been told what the attendees are going to say when they get there.

In the entertainment business, we call this ‘phoning it in’. In other words, you don’t really need to be there.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he will urge world leaders meeting later this month to make “selective” improvements to financial regulation, to avoid protectionism and use “sensible” fiscal policies to navigate the uncertain global economic waters.

All these meetings make me absolutely giddy with economic spin-off possibilities.

Imagine all the travel, hotel rooms, cabs, room service, printing, lounge singers and hookers who’ll benefit – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

I once worked at a place where we instituted the BlackJack Meeting Rule – no meeting could last more than 21 minutes. It’s one way of keeping meetings to the point and getting to the good stuff, and you can do it on a conference call.

Of course, that would suck for the world economy.

So leaders of the world – keep sending those meeting requests, and let’s see if we can’t juice up the world economy the good old fashioned way – with rubber chicken dinners and endless PowerPoint presentations.

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The Urban Clearcut

This happens. A lot.

Vancouver’s housing market may be softening, but the urban clearcut is alive and well.

Even here in super green North Vancouver.

It goes like this.

They’re typically 30 or 40 year old houses – a 3 bedroom bungalow or rancher that served its family perfectly well. Here in North Vancouver they’re usually sitting on a pretty big lot – often with mature trees on either side and in the back.

The house gets sold and the new owners want to build something  big – usually the maximum size allowed  – so the house goes and so do the trees.

I took this photo this afternoon. A few days ago there was a house on this lot, and a lot of trees. Its easy to see how many from the pile of timber stacked out front.  In the background you can see the trees on the neighbour’s property.

No doubt the new owners will do their best to pave the remaining natural surfaces

Sad.

Media, WordPress

Flash 10 and WordPress image uploader

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I’m not sure how I missed it, but if you’re a WordPress user and you love the image upload function, stay away from Flash 10. It borks the uploader – and you’ll need to revert to Flash 9 or use the browser upload instead.

The WP forum ‘closed’ topic on image upload problems does mention this, but I hadn’t gone back to that doc since reading it the first time (trying to solve other image upload problems).

The WP forum seems to indicate its an issue especially for Linux, but the WP Image uploader for definitely doesn’t work with WP on my Intel Mac when running Flash 10.

Fortunately I was able to find my old Flash V9 player and reinstalled it.

http://wordpress.org/support/topic/164999?replies=1

Here’s the error message I get inside WP CMS:

(click for a larger version)

click for a larger version

Error #2176: Certain actions, such as those that display a pop-up window, may only be invoked upon user interaction, for example by a mouse click or button press.
at flash.net::FileReferenceList/browse()
at SWFUpload/SelectFiles()
at Function/http://adobe.com/AS3/2006/builtin::apply()
at flash.external::ExternalInterface$/_callIn()
at <anonymous>()

latest, Madsu

The Otters Revenge

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A couple of weeks ago I made what I thought was an innocuous remark about river otters at the marina and the various ways boat owners have chosen to keep them off their vessels.

River Otters use their scat and urine to mark their territory, and once they find a spot they ‘like’, they return over and over. If your the lucky owner of a boat that’s become their favourite spot – good luck.

Here’s the thing.

They’re cute as hell, but their leave-behind, while I’m sure aromatic to another Otter, is down right smelly. Our friend Mandy on Saltspring says if they get in your boat, about the only way to get rid of the smell is to sell it.

With a sailboat, the issue is less problematic than an open powerboat.

Unless you leave a hatch open.

Which I never do.

Except for earlier this week.

When I did.

Leave the hatch open.

Stupidly.

Ironically, the day I left the hatch open was the day I went down to the boat to wash the otter goo from the foredeck.

Oops.

Normally, leaving the hatch open would mean a nice fresh air smell down below.

Except.

Our local otters discovered my mistake and used otter SMS to let their peeps know it was time to party.

Compared to the cold fiberglass non-slip fore deck, things are downright luxurious below decks. At least from an otter’s perspective (or a cold sailor’s).

Those crazy kids left quite a mess, the smell was quite unbelievable. I spent a couple of hours pulling everything out of the boat, washing it down, and scrubbing down the boat. EB finds it amusing that I can spend hours scrubbing the boat but rarely do the same with our kitchen or bathroom floor but that’s for another post.

Even then it smelled mighty ripe.

A nice day out on the water to air things out seemed appropriate.

What little breeze there was didn’t do a lot to dissipate the smell, so I’ve hauled everything ‘marked’ by my otter pals home for a heavy duty scrubbing, using organic orange peel concentrate and whatever else I can get my hands on.

So far the results are 50-50.

My foul-weather gear is smelling pretty good actually – the 4 settee cushions a lot less so.

Thankfully the boat’s only in the water for another week then will be parked beside the house where I can apply any number of smell-reducing-organic-concoctions in hopes of bringing Madsu back to her odiferous self.

Never before have I longed for that musty smell of a closed up sailboat.

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The iPod for Books

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Publishers should be thinking a lot more seriously about electronic books and how to leap ahead of their competitors.

Sony’s eBook has only been available in Canada for a few months, and it’s far from the perfect product, but it provides a glimpse into what’s coming.

Playing with the eBook Reader reminds me of the first MP3 players I used in the 90’s. At the time, people scoffed at the idea that the small players would replace their CD collection. People scoffed at the idea of an online music store where songs would be downloaded. And we all know how that turned out.

The shift to electronic books could easily follow the same pattern, assuming the hardware meets our needs. The Sony eBook is close – more on the problems later.

First – the good.

I love the eBook reader. It’s sleek, easy to use, and the screen technology is far better than anything I’ve seen before. Partly this is due to the high resolution of the e-ink technology – it’s more than twice the resolution of your typical computer screen – so text is crisp. Since the screen technology doesn’t depend on back lighting (like your laptop) it looks totally flat, so the effect is much closer to the look of paper than a digital screen.

The Sony eBook also displays images (in black and white), plays MP3’s and allows you to load up Word documents and PDF files, along with their own e-book format and other open electronic book formats.

I’ve loaded about 70 books into my reader and I’ve barely touched the internal memory. This version of the reader has 2 slots for Sony memory sticks, so there’s really no limit to the amount of content you can carry around.

I found that I quickly adjusted to the form factor. The placement of the ‘next page’ buttons line up with where you normally hold a book, and there’s a bookmark function to hold your place.

Essentially, the reading experience is different, but not in a negative way. The feel of the book obviously isn’t there, but it functions pretty much like a book, and that’s what makes its potential so powerful.

Riding the bus, sitting in a doctor’s waiting room, or hanging out on a park bench – this device is ideal. Like an mp3 player, it’s light and easy to carry – so I’m more likely to have it with me than I might a big heavy book. And considering that I can haul around hundreds of books, it’s hands down a much better option.

Opportunities

I can see a lot of major advantages in terms of publishing.

Timeliness

Reference and technical books, particularly those about software, are largely out of date by the time they’re published. With an electronic book, updates and changes could be made as often as required, and just a download away. It’s a natural for serialization. And dare I say it – a daily newspaper ?

Presentations

While I can haul out my laptop for a quick one-on-one presentation with a potential client, the size of the eBook is more easier to deal with, and I can literally stand in the elevator and walk through a presentation on the way up. Keep in mind that the screen only displayed in black and white (actually, 4 shades of grey) so I do repurpose my presentations to make them look good on the screen, but you can also just load up any PDF, Word doc, JPG or Gif image, and the eBook will simply display colour as monochrome images.

eBook and Podcasts

Given that Sony’s included an MP3 player right in the eBook, it seems natural to bundle books with author podcasts, as well as serialized “books on MP3” packages that could be used for promotion.

Trees

Books use paper. eBooks use bytes. Need I say more ? Shipping ? Fogetaboutit.

Here’s where I think things need to improve

Software. Sony makes great consumer entertainment products but its software is often horrid. Given that they have a great model with the iTunes store, there’s really no excuse for the state of Sony eBook store. The software is also the interface for loading books onto the eBook reader. It needs a major over-haul in look & feel as well as functionality.

Connectivity. Hard to beleive, but Sony’s software is PC only. Given the nature of the eBook reader, the Apple crowd should be a prime target market. But unless they’re running their MacBook in dual boot mode, they’re out of luck.

Tether. Connectivity to the computer is via a USB cable. I’m assuming the reason there’s no Bluetooth or other wireless connectivity is space, but I’d dearly love to be able to move data back and forth without having to find the cable and plug in. This is a challenge Apple still hasn’t solved with the iPod so I supposed I shouldn’t be so demanding. All I know is that as long as the device has to hook up to my computer, it’s potential is limited.

Price. The 505 model is 300.00 Canadian, which seems expensive given the price of things like iPods, game consoles and and digital cameras. The goal here is to get people using the device so they’ll buy books. Consumers don’t like paying for technology development and a price point that’s too high will keep the adoption rate low.

The newly released 700 models has some nice new features including touch scrolling, but at 400.00 it’s just way too expensive. Amazon’s competitor, the wireless Kindle, is 359.00 USD

Why publishers need to pay attention

The book isn’t going away any time soon, but things are going to change dramatically. Electronic books open up some new possibilities for existing publishing models, and throw the doors wide open to new models.

Is it possible that within a few years the biggest book seller might be a hardware manufacturer ? There’s a reason Amazon created it’s own electronic book reader.

Why not publish dailies in ebook form, so that I can grab up update on my way out the door and read it on the bus ?

Sony’s eBook reader already supports RSS feeds – with a wireless connection there’s no reason I couldn’t be walking through the mall, train station or even at transit bus shelter and downloading the latest update to the periodicals and books I’ve subscribed to.

The e-paper will get better. The connectivity will improve. The price will come down. There’ll be other models and competitors. All those things bode well for publishers – IF they get with it and start to explore what’s possible.

Links:

Get this article for your Sony eBook reader (open BBeb format)

Sony eBook reader at SonyStyle.ca

Amazon’s Kindle

(this article has been cross posted at RobertOuimet.com )

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Crisis? What Crisis?

The title of a 1975 album by Supertramp has absolutely nothing to do with the current financial meltdown. But the phrase (also from the movie Day of the Jackal) is my favourite response when things get testy.

With every news report laden with the latest stories on the financial crisis, and an election campaign both here and in the US, its time to deal with this stuff once and for all.

How ?

Simple.

Fugetaboutit.

Down on the docks at Horseshoe Bay there was no inkling of anything other than the typical waterfront activity.

Ferries from Bowen Island, Departure Bay on Vancouver Island, and Langdale came and went like clockwork. And hundreds of cars – long-weekend mainlanders heading to a B&B or Gramma’s house – lined up (as usual) waiting for their boat to arrive.

Over on the east docks, where Madsu is moored, river otters continue to make a mess on boats tied there. Given the choice between munching their seafood on the rocks or on a nice Sumbrella fabric cover, they go for the boat covers ever time.

They also seem to like those lovely upholstered seats in power boats, and they leave quite a mess.

Here’s what they left behind on the boat in the slip next to me.

This is the same guy who’s parents leave CBC Radio One on in their boat, claiming it keeps the otters away ( and it seems to work).

My boat neighbour though claims he’s found the perfect anti-otter-repellant: wolf pee. I’m not entirely sure how he’s going to acquire it, or how he’s going to apply it, and if his boat will smell better or WORSE because of it, but what the heck – sounds like a plan

Over at the government dock, a big vintage power vessel was tied up, getting all gussied up for what looked like a wedding party.

I’ve not seen the Tarapunga before, and her aft deck was decorated with ribbons and flowers – but the wedding is a fake: they were shooting on-the-water scenes for the TV series Harper’s Island.

While I was out sailing, Tarapunga went steaming by – not far behind the picture chopper flew just a hundred feet or so off the deck – swooping in on Tarapunga for what I’m sure will be a very sweet shot since as she steamed out into the Straight with the sun glistening off the water.

Beautiful BC couldn’t be much more adorable than it was today.

I tried to get Madsu in the shot but when it comes to a race between my Catalina 22 and a helicopter, well…

The wind piped up so I put a 2nd reef in the main and pulled out my bagged out old jib.

Six hours later I was back at the dock, giving Madsu a proper scrub down after soaking the foredeck in salt-spray.

One fine Thanksgiving Weekend sail – and the only bail-out I considered the entire day was in relation to the dinghy.

Markets ? What markets?

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Kung Fu Candidates and Other Great Links

What a week.

  • Tired of the election campaign(s) yet ? You won’t be once you try Kung Fu Election
  • Speaking of voting. Still time to cast your ballot for poultry trainee of the year
  • OMG! What can they be thinking! Musicians want ownership of their own material! The nerve of them !
  • Cool 20 years ago – can Q magazine be cool again ? 20 years ago it was a great way to see pics of bands and read about them before they hit big. Given the proliferation up to the second information available today, not so much.
  • Turn that thing up. Emergency vehicles may soon be getting sub woofers just like your local low riders.
  • 14 years ago almost to the day, EB and I bought a used 91 Jeep Cherokee after realizing that having kids and not having a car wasn’t going to work. This week ICBC towed it to the salvage yard – a write-off after I got rear-ended a couple of weeks ago. Bye Bye Jeepee, you served us well.
  • Somehow this doesn’t sound like an impending depression. Or does it ? “Hey Brother can you spare 7 billion dollars?
  • You Like Skype ? You Like Privacy ? Hah !
  • Craigslists and an inner tube. Sounds kinky. Wrong. Just a clever thief who’s probably already signed a book deal
  • Looks like the days of sailing barefoot are over for this season. Apparently I’m not alone. Canada’s coast lines are going red, and I don’t mean red hot.

latest, Madsu, Photos

CBC Radio One – Not for Otters

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What a difference a couple of days make.

This is the last weekend of summer, and to make sure we get the picture, the sky turned heavy overcast with, yes, some rain today.

Walking to the marina ramp, I was stopped by a tourist who was looking out at Horseshoe Bay. “I guess it looks better in the sunshine ? “, he asked, optimistically.

At the boat I managed to drop my boat keys into the salt chuck as I was loading stuff into the cockpit. The keys were on a lanyard around my neck, but as I pulled my shoulder pack off, it managed to catch the keys and slide the lanyard right over my head and into the water. After 20 years of sailing, I’ve managed to do this twice – both times this year. The last time was at the beginning of the season, and even though I had a key float attached to the key ring, it too sank like a stone.

Since I’d already lost a set of keys, I knew I had no duplicates for the padlocks on Madsu’s hatch and cockpit lockers. So, off I went to the hardware store to buy more locks, and home to pick up my bolt cutters.

When I stopped by the Marina office to buy a new gate key, the staff and I exchanged ‘lost keys in the drink’ stories – I think they were doing their best to make me feel less foolish.

Somehow it all seemed to fit with the grey day and light drizzle, and somehow it didn’t really matter.

The Marina was quiet, so after cutting the old padlock off the hatch, I listened to Radiohead while I wrapped self-amalgamating tape around the new lock bodies so they won’t rust all over the cockpit.

Two slips over is a powerboat with a full canvas cover. The owner keeps a radio on inside 24/7. It’s not terribly loud so it’s not so much annoying as it is curious. When I asked one of my other boat neighbours what the deal is, they told me he uses the radio to keep the otters way.

The river otters use the boats as a sort of dining room. The guy next to me has tried everything and still the otters find a way into his powerboat and leave behind a huge smelly mess. I’ve been gifted the occasional bit of leave-behind, usually on my docking lines, but there’s some serious chowing-down that goes on in the boat next to me – and remnants smell to high heaven.

Radio guy seems to have found the answer though. He’s not troubled by otters any more.

His secret ?

He keeps his radio tuned to CBC Radio One, and that keeps the otters away.

Wonder if that’ll make it into an ad campaign anytime soon.

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Go Figure for Sept 9

latest, Madsu

Screw Heading to the Pub

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Even though I’ve lived in Vancouver since 1987, I’m still a prairie boy at heart.

And the prairie boy in me still finds it amazing to be able to head over to the dock after work, go out for a sail, and still be home for dinner.

That’s precisely what I did today. Though I missed most of the afternoon sunshine, it as still a delightful couple of hours and an excellent way to unwind.

The wind was super light so I doused the 150% jib and hoisted the cruising chute. This is my first season with the gennaker and I can’t believe the difference it makes having this sail. Today is a prime example – on a beam reach the wind was barely filling the jib, and though I was moving, it was painfully slow.

As soon as I hoisted the cruising chute, the boat took off. I’ve got a NorthSails G3 which is a bit smaller than their big gennaker – its super easy to handle and having a snuffer means I hoist it more often knowing it’s not a big deal, even if I’m sailing by myself, as I was today.

Short of a dead still day, this sail keeps me moving, and for day sails where destination isn’t all that important, the off-wind performance is really nice to have.

Even though Madsu’s cruising chute is small, it’s still magic playing the sheet on the kite, and the sight of all that material full to the shoulders and pulling, is quite mesmerizing.

Given the option of heading to a bar for a quick one after work, or doing this ?  No contest.

latest, Media

Gutenberg a Must See at the Vancouver Fringe

Its not too often, in fact it’s never happened to me before, that you get offered a free book while waiting in line to see a stage play.

The man with the bag of books is director Brian Anderson who’s done an amazing job with Gutenberg! the Musical!

The free paperback is just the first of many treats in store as characters Bud and Doug take us on a ‘reading of the musical’ they’ve written about the man who invented the printing press. Defeated by Google in their attempt at researching Johann Gutenberg, Bud and Doug opt instead for an ‘historical fiction’ version – as they say “It’s fiction – but its true”.

The two actors, like director Anderson, are both Theatre Sports vets – Nathan Clark plays Doug, and Ken Lawson plays Bud. The two play over 20 characters, including a complete Broadway chorus line and a bevy of singing mice rats.

They sing, they dance, they cry; more importantly, they pull it off. Under the deft and thoughtful direction of Anderson, what could easily turn into a big broad mess wins us over within the first few minutes, and holds right until the end.

In this show timing is everything, and Clark and Lawson never miss a beat – or rather – know when to take a beat, and let the comedy work. A good Fringe show pulls you into its big warm bosum and smothers you with heart – these guys, along with pianist Matt Grinke (who’s awesome), ace it.

– – – – –

There are only 3 shows left – Sept 10th at 9:15, Sept 13th at 3:15, and Sept 14th at 7:15. Advance tickets at the Festival Box office or at the venue (the Arts Club mainstage on Granville Island) 50 minutes before the show.

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The Loneliest Number

Two can be as bad as one, its the loneliest number since the number one.

-Lyrics from “One” by Three Dog Night

It’s been five years since I worked at CBC – but this week I’ve been pummeled with questions about CBC Radio Two.

Oops. Sorry.

Radio 2.

Once known as CBC Stereo, and beloved as “Classics and Beyond”, the CBC’s other radio network has become The New 2.

The New 2 is sporting a funky URL (thenew2.ca) that takes you to the same old URL (cbc.ca), and more fonts than you can shake a stick at…

Oh. And there are on-air changes as well.

Those changes have sparked yet another online protest by Friends of Canadian Broadcasting, who seem to have missed the importance of the number 2, and have focused instead on the actual content of the network, with their WHO? campaign.

I’ve received two (2) emails from Ian Morrison of Friends of Canadian Broadcasting who wants to enlist help in fighting the changes to Radio 2 (two).

They too (umm, also) have their own funky URL, www.friends.ca/fight4radio2 . . .

We believe the Radio Two changes are consistent with the misguided approach of CBC’s current management group to “dumb down” CBC’s programs in search for a new and broader audience without regard for the damage this will do to its current loyal listeners.

We also believe that these changes signal CBC’s intention to ask the CRTC for permission to advertise on CBC Radio.

So, what’s all the fuss about ? And why are all my friends and neighbours assaulting me with questions about The New 2 ?

  • A few were thinking this was some sort of long-weekend-hang-over-programming-error. You know, with the B team working the holiday weekend, someone loaded the wrong tapes in master control.
  • One called this afternoon asking if CBC was ‘trying something out’ since it was Wednesday and the kids are back in school.
  • Another (who knows a little of my history at CBC and the long fights we had convincing the the corp to let us call our online network Radio 3 instead of Radio Three) just emailed the classic text shorthand: WTF ?

The thing about it is this – it’s not that important.

They’ve made some programming changes.

Some of the new shows will be good and some won’t.

If they leave them on the air long enough people will get used to them, or they’ll find their niche audience, or they’ll just be mediocre and have small audiences.

Just like the old Radio Two.

See, it’s really hard to create any kind of broad or mass audience with ‘appointment’ radio programming.

The New 2 will have the same kind of small dedicated audience that the Old Two had.

It’ll just be a somewhat different audience, an audience that likes an off-centre, not ready for prime-time program. Just like the old Radio Two audience.

All the new hosts have that raised-on-DNTO sound. Just like all the old hosts had that Wanna-BBC sound.

The important thing to keep in mind is: it’s just a radio channel. There are others.

My answer to my neighbours:

Get an iPod.

You’ll be happier.