Snow Day vs. Groundhog Day
It looks like Toronto is set for winter to end early. As this is being posted the worst snowstorm for a couple years has started and is expected to continue through to tomorrow bringing about a foot of snow. Any unfortunate groundhog that is dragged from hibernation tomorrow morning won’t be seeing a shadow or likely anything else between the heavy snowfall and wind.
Urban Densification and the Death of the House Party
On many an occasion, friends in Vancouver have crammed upwards of 30 people into their 692 square foot apartments. And a few times since moving to Vancity in 2008, I’ve seen many of those same 30 people party in a fairly spacious household setting, where – throughout the course of the evening – components of the party will actually take on identities all their own: the kitchen might turn into a cauldron of political debate, a guitar-playing sing-along might erupt in the livingroom, a game of croquet might take place on the lawn, and people might check out wedding photos on the computer in the den.
Who’s better at fighting crime – Superman or Visa?
In the US, the crime rate is down. Significantly. While crime had once soared sharply in the late 1960s and early 1970s (does anyone remember the days of the “crack epidemic”), it has since declined steeply since 1993. The marked…
A Critique of the Metro Vancouver Sustainable Region Initiative
My first assignment for a course I’m taking at UBC – it’s called Building Sustainable Communities and is taught by the awesome Sarah Northcott – is to critique the Metro Vancouver Sustainable Regional Initiative (SRI) in about 500 words. I…
Surfing – Yachting for the Masses
There is nothing – absolutely nothing – half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats. Rat, Wind in the Willows I’m the first to admit that my yachting days are still a ways off, so in the…
The History of Work Series Concludes
So there it is. This concludes The History of Work Series on the The Potentiality. Godfrey and I have researched, analyzed, evaluated, and delivered results on, first, the nature of work as it relates to community and, second, the best and…
The Very Best and Worst Jobs Ever!!!
We’ve explored Pirates and Message Runners, Professors and Fact-Checkers, Singers and Searchers of Plague Dead, and, yesterday, Politicians and People Born into Wealth and Title. Amazing. We’ve come a long way and, before we ring in the new year, it’s…
The Second Best and Worst Jobs Ever
Holy crap we’re almost done the series! Through Pirates and Message Runners, University Professors and Fox News Fact-Checkers, and Singers and Searchers of the Dead we have explored myriad kinds of work and how these historical jobs impact communities. Sort of. Other times we rambled about tenure and the coming Plague. Sorry about that. On to the next two jobs!
The Third Best and Worst Jobs Ever
Welcome to Part 3 of the Daily Gumboot’s award-worthy series on the History of Work. We’ve explored Pirates and Message Runners and University Professors and Fact-Checkers at Fox News. It’s been as hilarious as it’s been informative and interesting. With many of you in the Private Sector back at work, we hope that this mental exercise burns off some of that holiday goodness as you make great use of your downtime and read this blog!
The Fourth Best and Worst Jobs Ever
Yesterday we examined Pirates and First World War Message Runners with edutaining results. Whether you’re on vacation today or not, you’ll love the next installment of this award-worthy series. Enjoy! Best. Job. Ever. Number 4! Welcome to my dream job:…