Youth Literacy Day!
There are few organizations that I like more than 826 National (and all of their regional affiliates, for that matter). The organization combines writing, community and pirates. Few places/people/things/nouns have established such an utterly perfect Venn Diagram. In honor of…
The Laser: the Peoples’ Boat
The editors of this fine publication have asked that I periodically pick a boat, ship, vessel – whatever – and say why it’s awesome, curious, noteworthy, etc. (I’m supposed to do this in 25 words. #Fail on that one.) Anyway,…
Whitecaps FC connects with Street Soccer Community
Yesterday afternoon Whitecaps FC players Jeb Brovsky, Shea Salinas, Bilal Duckett and Jonathan Leathers joined dozens of street soccer players at Oppenheimer park for a pick up game and meet and greet. It was an amazing afternoon for many players who’ve…
Bike Lanes and Post-Cold War Lithuania
We’ve all heard Vancouver’s bike lanes have caused a bit of “stir” recently. But all the opponents out there should remember it could be a lot worse. Don’t believe me? Check out what Arturas Zoukas, mayor of Vilnius, Lithuania recently did…
Careers from Graduate School
Last week my friend, Dr. Jim Clifford, shared an article by William Pannapacker on Slate.com that painted a pretty grim picture about the plight of graduate students. First, you should watch this video montage, which is brilliant: Second, the above…
Riding with headphones – illegal, immoral or irrelevant?
I’ve had three incidents in the past month that have got me thinking about my bike riding etiquette. Twice in the past couple months friends have stopped me as I took headphones out of my ears to tut-tut me on riding…
The Cost of Poverty
Poverty accounts for huge costs on our society. And not just the ones incurred by the massive losses suffered by our human capital because of all our wasted talent. There are financial costs, too. Big ones. The Canadian Centre for…
Transformers 3: A Case Study of Flaws
This weekend my partner and I were travelling around Portland, Oregon. It was the July long weekend and we thought quite naturally, what better way of ringing in the 4th then watching Transformers 3. After all, it’s got all the…
Going Zen
Every now and then all of us need to go zen – we need some time to re-charge our internal batteries and re-focus on the important and inspiring things that drive life, the universe and everything. For me, this place of zen is my family home in Merville, British Columbia.
Sustainable Shipping: the Wave of the Future
“Sustainability”, “low emissions”, “saving fuel” – these are the buzz words in global shipping circles these days. With jacked up oil prices and pressure on ports to “Green” their operations, ship owners are frantically casting about for new technologies to…