PJMixer

Photo organization and editing on OSX

2012-01-18T13:25:00.001-05:00

In response to a friend's Facebook question - can anyone share experiences with Picasa, iPhoto, Aperture, or Other on OSX ? I jotted down the following notes and thought I'd post it hear for those that may be interested.

I have over 50K photo files (JPGs and raw - I shoot in both and try to keep one or the other, but often keep original and edited versions) to manage, so I've tried a few different photo software products on different platforms.

I started off many years ago with Picasa on my PC. I still think it's a very good product and I recommend it to many people for organization and basic editing needs. I use it on occasion to post to my Google web albums and it seems to run fine on my Mac computers (Macbook and iMac). I only use iPhoto occasionally to get albums onto my iPhone.

But I've been using Photoshop Elements now for quite a few years. Loved it (v6) running on my PC until my library got too big and the PC too slow. So I moved to an iMac just last year with Photoshop Elements (v9). But the experience has been less than perfect and has exposed some bugs and different functionality on OSX. I'm sticking with it and have noticed that one really stupid bug (date changing) has been fixed. Note that I use PS for my raw processing/edits too.

As I wasn't 100% happy with Elements, I tried Aperture and Lightroom. Lightroom had all the organizing features I was looking for, but you still needed PS Elements or PS CS for edits so the price would be too high. I played around with Aperture for a little while - it seemed to have everything to needed but all the editing functions were completely different to what I've been learning in PS for many years. So I dropped it.

Good news is that you can try all these products out with full featured eval versions. I'm sticking with PS Elements on my iMac, my workflow works well for me and it's not having any consistent problems with my 50k+ library, and the thing I like the most is that PS is still the my common product in the market so you see lots of tips in the mags (although sometimes the features mentioned are only in PS CS).

Coincidence - Nagra pops in in Alcaltraz

2012-01-17T08:17:00.001-05:00

Watching the Golden Globes on Sunday night, my wife confuses Slumdog's Freida Pinto with the actress from Bend it like Beckham, Parminder Nagra. Unlike, Pinto who I'd seen recently in Rise of the the Planet of the Apes, I hadn't heard nor seen Nagra in a long time.

I decided to give the new Alcatraz series a try last night (very good I might add) and who is one of the stars - Ms. Nagra. I had thought there was a second coincidence, but I was mixing up Sam Neill with Derek Jacobi who I'd seen in The Gathering Storm on Sunday. Almost a double.

Also posted in my Only Coincidence ? blog.

Hot Tub Time Machine and old friends

2011-10-21T10:45:00.000-04:00

[originally posted on onlycoincidence.blogspot.com]

After I got home from ultimate last night, I watched a hilarious movie called Hot Tub Time Machine (7/10). I've been thinking of old friends a lot this week, people I've been friends with since university years, for over 25 years. They are an important part of my life and I make a big effort to stay in touch with them: I saw one (high school and university) friend in Vancouver last week while there on business and I'm staying over with a friend in Ottawa next week while I'm in town for another (rare) business trip. I've seen 2 other friends here in Toronto over the last few weeks and we go to concerts often together. I have two of one of my oldest friends live just 4 blocks from me and I'm seeing another tomorrow in Paris, Ontario. Over the last year, I've also met up with an old university friend who lives in New York. Including, my wife who I met in 1986, that makes a circle of 9 university friends whose friendships I cherish.

Well, that's not really really a coincidence, but perhaps one of the reasons I chose to watch the movie late last night. But I wrote another blog this week on inTunein and I made a reference to an old song called Obsession by Animotion. Of course, that song was was one of the many great 80's tracks in the movie. Also have to say in closing, the last scene was just a perfect fit for The Talking Head's Once in a Lifetime.

A simple lesson learned on taking photos of people on the street

2011-09-08T18:40:00.000-04:00

Love seat - #250/365, a photo by PJMixer on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I've been doing the 100 Strangers project for a couple of years and holding at no. 99 for a while. Around Yonge Dundas Square there's some new clever advertising on the benches and I noticed these folks enjoying a nice conversation framed perfectly for the "Love Seat" wording. I wanted a decent shot and couldn't easily take it without them knowing. So I approached them, deciding ahead of time that I wasn't going to formally ask their names and talk to them for my stranger project, but rather simply say hello and ask if it was ok to take their photograph. I gave them one of my cards and asked them to continue as they were, I took a few shots, then showed them what I'd taken. In comparison to the extra effort it takes to talk to people and find out a little more about them for the 100 Stranger project, I felt much more relaxed and less rushed. I'd read a guest post by David Powell on DPS about lessons learned from daily shooting and in point 3 he simply says "The approach I have taken that seems to work is being genuine and I simple ask ‘Do you mind if I take your photo?’. Often I will ask them to continue doing whatever they are doing and I take my shot." It definitely worked for me today.

Goodbye old friend

2011-08-11T10:00:00.002-04:00

Goodbye old friend - #222/365, a photo by PJMixer on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
My wife and I said goodbye to our first car. We had put 183,320 kms on this 1993 Mazda 626. Apart from one big dent in her left hip, some scratches and scars, she still looked a nice car when they loaded her on the trailer destined for the crusher. Although the engine and even the original clutch were still good, her brakes were completely gone and there was a nasty loud rattle from her underside. And she needed a little work and encouragement to pass her last emission test. So the cruel fact is - I doubt whether anyone would pay much more than the salage value knowing they'd have to invest at least a grand to get her back in driving condition. How many cars go through their life with only one owner ? We're sad to say goodbye to an old friend.

itsa Tursday

2011-08-04T17:35:00.000-04:00

It's been too long. And normal blog posts take too long to write, what with all that spell checking and stuff.

Normal day at the office, but a few amusing things caught my attention that I thought were worth noting:

At the office: guy's wearing a nice sport jacket and casual shirt accompanied with some nice baggy shots and loafers with no socks - some how he pulled it off.

On the subway: sat next to a guy reading a Russian newspaper, that's a first; idea: pick up a newspaper of a different language every week and pretend to read it - see what trouble you get into.

On the street: guy's wearing a t-shirt, it says Meat is Murder in large print...followed by Tasty Tasty Murder in small print.

Tonya

2011-08-03T13:00:00.003-04:00

Tonya - stranger #99 and daily photo # 214/365, a photo by PJMixer on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
One of the joys of working at Yonge and Dundas is the variety and number of people about and the events that occur at Yonge Dundas Square. Today, there was a small exhibit bringing attention to the crimes of human trafficking, called FACE IT. The exhibit asked people to write something as a contribution or have their photo taken to be part of a petition that the group hope to take to the Canadian government (as Canada unfortunately does have a serious criminal role to play in this growing global concern).

I had my photo taken, then asked one of the volunteers about the exhibit and about herself as part of my 100 Stranger project. Tonya and her husband moved to Canada in May from Barbados. She has lived here in the past on a few occasions and says she's ready for the winter. She likes how multicultural Toronto is. As my wife and I had honeymooned and celebrated our 10th anniversary in Barbados many years ago, we talked a while about her beautiful homeland. She says that the resort heavy West coast is suffering and the reefs are starting to die, but luckily the East coast (her favourite part of the island) remains largely unspoiled.

I'm pleased that I had a chance to meet Tonya and include reference to such a worthy humanitarian cause in my project.

Tonya is #99 in my 100 strangers project.

Chris

2011-07-31T15:00:00.003-04:00

Chris, a photo by PJMixer on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
I took the family to Heart Lake Conservation area for the afternoon. After a tiring longer-than-planned nature walk, I let the kids cool off in the splash pad area. As I sat down to relax and read my book in the shade I noticed this man playing guitar and singing. I read for a little and as he was packing up I told him I liked his music and he told me he'd only been playing for a few weeks.

I'm not certain exactly what prompted him to offer up more about himself, but when he told me he was a professional sports coach, I was all ears and quickly introduced myself and opened up the idea of a photo and the 100 Stranger project.

Chris was full of stories, most of which revolve around boxing and his side job as a movie stunt double. Chris is originally from Guyana and moved to Canada when he was 12, he lives in nearby Brampton. He excitedly showed me lots of pictures of his current boxer along with celebrity shots with the likes of Gretzky, Jamie Fox, Mr T. (who he doubled for, mohawk and all), and most impressive, Muhammad Ali. He'd even met Princess Diana during a charity event.

But boxing is Chris' passion. His uncle, brother and cousin were all Olympians, with his cousin Troy Ross/ being his training focus today. Troy is Canada's top professional boxer, current Commonwealth Champion and 3rd ranked in the world today in the cruiserweight class. Chris has crossed paths with many famous boxers and grew up with and worked with Lennox Lewis.

He was at the park with his daughter and we talked a little about meeting people and the relationships and connections that can be made. My wife came over and Chris didn't tire of telling telling us stories and sharing his excitement for life. We touched on photography briefly and Chris said he still enjoys his Nikon D50. I took a few shots, but asked him to take his sunglasses off for a shot - and I'm really pleased with this boxer's stare down shot ! I just finished reading his Ringside Report interview online and found out that he is also a mechanic for CN. Wow, he really does have a lot going on in his life, but as he says in closing, "Whatever I’m doing I give it 100%".

Almost of an afterthought, Chris says to my wife, "look up Valerie Amos". Valerie Amos is another famous cousin of Chris', she is Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator for The United Nations. How many more connections and stories does he have ?

I'm so pleased I made the simple gesture of complimenting him on his music which opened up into meeting such an interesting man. I hope I'll have the chance to meet him again one day, maybe take a few shots of Troy and definitely hear more of his stories.

Chris is #98 in my 100 strangers project.

Political outrage or kids' fun ?

2011-04-27T00:08:00.002-04:00

Political outrage or kids' fun ?, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Via Flickr:
There's been quite a lot of controversy in Toronto leading up to the federal election on May 2nd. There were reports of tires being slashed and then just yesterday a Liberal party canvasser was caught in our riding removing Green Party literature from mail boxes and replacing it with Liberal Party material. Some saying dirty politics, others saying over aggressive tactics. Our MP fired the canvasser the same day. The plot thickens.

The case of the curious dog and the Yonge Street piper

2011-03-30T21:44:00.002-04:00

The case of the curious dog and the Yonge Street piper - #88/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I'm pleased I decided to take a little detour on the way home tonight. Just one block out of my way and I stumbled on this piper nestled between these beautiful old columns. I took a number of shots and then caught this gem. He was busking in celebration of Tartan Day, April 6th.

Corner roller derby moves

2011-03-24T21:00:00.001-04:00

Corner roller derby moves, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

The Toronto Roller Derby league is located at Downview Park. On my way to my weekly ultimate games at The Hangar, I pass by the rink, so I left home early and stopped into to grab a few photos of one of Toronto's newest sports. The Chicks Ahoy team were practicing and were kind enough to allow me a take a few shots of them. Click here for more photos.

Rather alert considering...

2011-03-23T20:00:00.001-04:00

Rather alert considering... #81/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

My son arrived home from a very long trip back from Toulouse, France. He flew via Munich and had a few delays caused by a nasty Toronto snowstorm. I think he'd been up for almost 24 hours. He was in France on a 2 week student exchange and from all accounts he had a great time and is already talking about a return visit next summer.

Since I've been taking photos of my children continuously since they were babies, they are very comfortable in front of the camera and are great sports. My son, oftentimes strikes a comic pose like this one which I love.

Pot hole and dent

2011-03-14T11:07:00.002-04:00

Pot hole and dent - #71/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

On of the many pot holes on my street and across Toronto; my old '93 Mazda is in the background. I managed to move it from it's diminishing snow cocoon and take it around the block to give it a little love. I got the dent a few years ago from a anonymous admirer in Scarborough parking lot; the cost of fixing it is actually more than the value of the car.

The Streatles @ Tranzac

2011-03-14T10:56:00.002-04:00

The Streatles @ Tranzac - #70/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Friends invited us to join them to see their children's guitar teacher Edward, perform with his Beatles cover band The Streatles. Our daughter joined us for a great evening of Beatles songs and good times. Click here for the full set of photos.

Trip of a lifetime excitement

2011-03-09T17:00:00.000-05:00

Trip of a lifetime excitement - #67/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I'm really excited for my son (pictured on the right) as he begins his two week student exchange in Toulouse, France.

Frost/Nixon and the sin of television

2011-03-05T18:57:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to watching the 2008 movie Frost/Nixon, an adaption of the post-Watergate television interviews between David Frost and former president Richard Nixon. I'd had it stored on the PVR for months and after watching it over the last couple of days, I'm happy I kept it. Like I said in my recent review of The King's Speech, Who needs boring history books when we have fabulous historical films like this.

In fact, the closing of the movie contains a wonderful quote about television from historian and journalist, James Reston Jr. (unsure he actually said it, but I like it still the same).

The first and greatest sin or deception of television is that it simplifies, it diminishes great complex ideas, trenches of time, whole careers become reduced to a single snap shot.

And so goes my thoughts about the film. An immensely complex story that comes down to a few minutes of heart felt reflection and a close up. I've watched a few of the original interview segments, and I think the movie has done a decent job in representing the original. I didn't know a lot about Nixon, but the movie shows that Nixon was a very intelligent man and even charming at times. Frost was perhaps out of his depth, but recognized a massive TV exclusive, a monumental opportunity for his career and he pulled it off. Wonderful acting and storytelling, Rebecca Hall was a lovely distraction and the production was wonderful. 4/5.

Harry Connick, Jr.

2011-03-04T17:20:00.003-05:00

Harry Connick, Jr. intro from Rudy Blair, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Harry Connick, Jr. did a brief interview with Rudy Blair from AM680, then signed autographs to promote his new CD/DVD at First Canadian Place on March 4th, 2011. I've seen Harry perform a couple of times, incl. his Toronto debut at Roy Thompson Hall in 1989. Click here for other shots.

The family bell

2011-02-26T16:12:00.001-05:00

The family bell - #49/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I bought a desk bell a few years ago and it always gets placed on the dining room table at my parent's home when we have family visits. The rule is that someone can ring the bell when they get extremely bored or uncomfortable with the conversation. It most circumstances, everyone agrees with the ringer and we move on to another topic. Saved by the bell.

The King's Speech

2011-02-24T08:41:00.002-05:00

The King's Speech lived up to the hype, it was a wonderful story excellently portrayed by all. Firth's handling of the King's stammer was amazing and I could feel his pain in every shot. The rather gray London motif worked for the serious tone, but Rush added lots of humour. Who needs boring history books when we have fabulous historical films like this. Even though this retelling (like other historical films) may not be 100% accurate, it paints a very clear picture of an important part of our history and with The King's Speech, I've learned a new deep respect for King George VI. 4/5.

Intersecting with The Grammies

2011-02-13T18:04:00.000-05:00

I'm not a huge fan of The Grammies for a number of reasons: too American-centric; too pop focused; and all the thanks to God. That being said, there are usually a couple of good performances and a few of my favourites artists to cheer for.

So of the Grammy nominees this year, the following are artists I have been listening to over the last 18 months:

Cee Low Green
Jay-Z & Alicia Keys
Eminem
Arcade fire
Ray Lamontagne
Florence & the Machine
Mumford & Sons
Norah Jones
John Mayer
Sade
Groove Armada
Chemical Brothers
Robert Plant
The Black Keys
Them Crooked Vultures
Kings of Leon
Katy Perry
Broken Bells
John Legend & The Roots
Janelle Monáe
Gorillaz

And lastly, good luck to my old mates from ultimate, Sam Dunn & Scot McFadyen for their Rush movie.

Blip updates

2011-02-05T14:32:00.002-05:00

Caught up on sharing some music via Blip, incl. electronica and dance tracks from Katy B, Groove Armada; smooth vocals from Ray Lamontagne, Belle and Sebastian, Broken Bells and Paloma Faith; and lots more.

Where I find new music: inflight entertainment

2011-02-05T13:50:00.000-05:00

Originally posted as part 7 in the series on our music blog: intunein.

In the old days of long distance commercial air flight, you often had the option of listening to various music selections across a wide variety of genres using the armrest dials and an awful pair of airline headphones. With the help of the playlists being published in the inflight magazine, I'd often find some interesting new tracks.

With the new touchscreen personal entertainment centres and the option to use our own headphones we now have, the ease of browsing and enjoying lots of new music is wonderful. I'm currently listening to Belle and Sebastian's latest album - Write about love. Plus, it's worth noting that the decent choice of movies also brings up the opportunity of finding some new music on the soundtrack.

Lots of coincidences

2011-02-05T13:38:00.001-05:00

Flying home from my business trip to California yesterday and I noted 3 coincidences, incl. Santa Monica Blvd, neighbourhood limo riders and girls on motorcycles. See my Only Coincidence ? blog for the details from the books, movies and life in the city.

Desmond and a little bit of Toronto architectural history

2011-01-29T10:36:00.003-05:00

Desmond - stranger #84 and daily photo #25/365 (or #441), originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I was photographing the old facade of O'Keefe House (Now Ryerson's G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education) when Desmond said hello and told me a little about himself and the building.

Desmond told me the building used to be the offices for O'Keefe breweries, with the top floor being the office of the business mogul E. P. Taylor. The brewery was located next door at the corner of Victoria and Dundas. I hadn't looked very closely at the sculpture on the building until Desmond pointed out they were holding barley grains designating the connection to brewing beer.

Desmond is a program director at The G. Raymond Chang School of Continuing Education, part of Ryerson University. Thanks for sharing a little about old Toronto and its architecture.

Desmond is #84 in my 100 strangers project.

The Social Network

2011-01-29T09:10:00.000-05:00

Review of The Social Network from Facebook Flixster.

Excellent acting all around. Although only perhaps 40% accurate, an interesting tale of .com glory. Good balance of geekdom with startup energy and big business powerdrive. Puts a little fire back in the belly of some of us in the IT world that have an idea for the web. I don't recall another significant movie that portrays a the .com startup story; long overdo very well told; and one of the reasons I'm rating this as a 7.5. Oh, and the irony of it all.

Remembering Sgt. Ryan Russell

2011-01-18T11:00:00.001-05:00

Remembering Sgt. Ryan Russell, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Sgt. Ryan Russell died in the line of duty on January 12th. This was the first death of an officer on duty in Toronto since 2002. Click here for more pictures and the full story.

Gould Street fallout

2011-01-04T17:15:00.003-05:00

Gould Street fallout - #4/365, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I took some shots of the Gould Street wall collapse a few months ago and sadly, the building which had recently be designated as a Toronto heritage building, had a huge fire yesterday morning. Reports are saying that the building is now beyond repair. The fire appears quite suspicious as electricity and natural gas had been turned off.

A few blocks of Yonge street are currently cordoned off and many business inaccessible. I thought this shallow depth-of-field shot with a few cruisers in the background made for a good minimalism shot for today's daily photo. I like how only some words are in focus and a large part of the image (and the story) remain a little fuzzy.

Circling Wychwood Barn number 4

2011-01-02T16:31:00.002-05:00

Circling Wychwood Barn number 4, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I passed by the Artscape Wychwood Barns a few weeks ago and added it to my photo shoot ideas. I didn't have a lot of time today and it was very cold, so I'm sure I'll be returning for more shots (including the interior spaces) on other days.

Last post of 2010

2010-12-31T23:05:00.004-05:00

With a hour to go before the New Year, I just got back from my evening walk with Kooper. Here's the North Toronto neighbourhood New Year's Eve assessment:

Number of house party's in full swing: 3
Yonge Street restaurants catering to a good crowd for dinner and celebration: 4
A little dose of some backyard fireworks
Biggest party: big lineup, bass driving tunes and security at The Capitol
Friendly dogs: 1
Smoker's alley party: 1
Best atmosphere: all windows open at Cam's Place

Happy New Year to all

Reasons to live in the city - #1 an interesting dog walk

2010-12-19T23:39:00.001-05:00

I've been using the themed, numbered series idea for quite some time on one of my other blogs - in Tune in (music focus) with the series Where I find new music. So as I was walking my dog tonight, I thought about a series I could develop here on PJMixer.

I often catch myself these days, wondering if I can really afford to live in Toronto, let alone my affluent North Toronto, uptown neighbourhood. What's the point of owning a home in one of the city's best neighbourhoods if you really can't afford to enjoy its fine dining and shopping on a regular basis. Sure, in better times and with less family expenses, my wife and I knew all the better restaurants and our wardrobe provided lots of options for our many evenings out. But times are a little tight, so perhaps this outlet we help me reevaluate the value of my urban life.

I have an energetic 20 month old Australian Shepherd, named Kooper. I typically walk Kooper a few kilometres around my neighbourhood every evening. I usually take a path that heads North from my house toward Lytton Park and the larger homes, and then back via Yonge Street, walking along streets like Alexandra Blvd (one of my favourites). I wonder whether walking by these beautiful homes, with their equally appealing collection of cars, the lovely restaurants, and doing some window shopping every evening is good for me. Of course, the walk is good for my health, but what about my mental health, am I comfortable in this world, this city, surrounded by things that I desire, but can't really afford at this point in my life.

But let's take the wealth of the neighbourhood out of the equation for a moment. I often take different routes around my neighbourhood, walking past large apartment buildings, small, poorly maintained homes and many businesses. What the common thread is in my neighbourhood, my city and likely many great cities in the world, is the variety and the people.

Whether it's the multi-million dollar mansions, the apartment buildings with thousands of single people or new immigrants, the family run Thai restaurant, the greasy spoon or the #7 best restaurant in the city, the dollar store or the latest in ski apparel, there's so much to look at on my evening walks. Combine the visual stimulus with the common occurrence of Kooper and I crossing paths with many other urbanites and urban dogs and stopping for a brief sniff and the chat, and you have my first reason to live the city - an interesting dog walk.

I really don't think I'd enjoy going out every evening in a rural or small town setting. I guess if I had a large property in the country, I may not need to walk my dog on city streets, but that's not the point. To be fair, taking in the beauty of the countryside, a sheep filled meadow, a Muskoka lake on a regular dog walk would be nice, but perhaps could get a little repetitive. Plus my neighbourhood, like many in Toronto has a huge amount of trees that add some natural beauty to the cityscape. And keep in mind, that for half the year, my evening walks are when the sun's down ! I enjoy walking my dog in my neighbourhood, it's rarely boring and there seems to be an ever changing urban landscape to soak up. Adding the right personal soundtrack (I wear my iPod probably on half my walks) can also help complete the urban experience, but you've got to be careful there, there's only a few hours in a day where country music makes sense, and the Sex Pistols doesn't always fit a quiet Sunday morning walk. But when it's dark, some mellow electronica usually hits the spot.

A friend of mine who's a real estate agent, recently asked if he could perhaps use some of my photos for his neighbourhood newsletter. I often take shots when I'm out walking Kooper, or to and from the subway station or whenever something or someone catches my attention. Hopefully you can get an impression of my neighbourhood from the Around the neighbourhood set I just created on Flickr.

So is it healthy for me to fill my head with desires for larger, more beautiful homes and luxury cars every night, probably not. But like the feeling you get from looking at glossy pictures in a magazine, or classic art at the gallery, or snapshots of everyday street life, admiring the beautiful things around you is good for the soul(1).

(1)Paula, a stranger I met in Washington in 2009, told me that looking at photography is good for the soul.

I've got quite a lot of draft blog articles that I haven't had to a chance to complete. I'm on vacation for a few weeks over the holidays, so I'm hoping I can use some of my time off to catch up with some new posts.

Imagine

2010-12-08T22:01:00.003-05:00

Imagine, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

John Lennon was born 70 years ago.

The Beatles broke up 40 years ago.

John was killed 30 years ago today.

I can't say I'm a big Beatles or Lennon fan, but I can imagine I could be one day. Q107 has been playing his music all day and I'm still listening to it now. In a strange way, his words, music and ideas still seem very current. I feel like a know him a little better today.

Ross Petty's annual holiday theatre production at the Elgin Theatre

2010-12-04T11:45:00.002-05:00

Ross Petty's annual holiday theatre production at the Elgin Theatre, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Last year my family went to the Elgin to see the Ross Petty holiday show of Robin Hood. We had a fantastic time, fun for all in a holiday tradition close to a British pantomime. This year it's Beauty and the Beast and I'm sure the comedic production will be just as good - get your boos ready !

How private is your junk ?

2010-12-01T21:40:00.003-05:00

How private is your junk ?, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

As I was packing up to leave the office I noticed a pile of cardboard boxes in one of the hallways of my office. I share the office floor with a number of different companies and knew that there was some new tenants moving in - so I thought of a daily shot on the theme of "moving day". I didn't like my first few hallway shots so I got a little closer and noticed there were a few personal items mixed in with the usual assortment of computer boxes and office junk. As my professional job is IT security I thought I could use a shot to comment a little on privacy and security issues today.

I blurred out the name on the Rogers bill in the photo and didn't go diving in, but wondered what data was on the CD-ROM. As I share the same office and janitorial staff it made me wonder a little about my disposal habits. Although my desk may look otherwise, I don't receive or print of lot of hardcopy documents in my job, and what client files I keep for historical purposes are locked in a cabinet. But investing in a shredder for some sensitive documents that I want to throw out would be a good addition to my security practices. At home, I shred bills and things I feel are of a personal nature. But what about that disc ? I don't back up to CD-ROM any longer and rarely have customer data or information on CD-ROM, but when I do I either keep the media safe or destroy it. Seeing that CD-ROM reminded me a little of the WikiLeaks news hitting the worldwide press this week.

It was past normal working hours and there were only a few people still in their offices. But as luck would have it, as I took this shot, a gentleman appeared in the hallway. I was a little embarrassed and felt like I'd been caught snooping red-handed. Then I learnt that it was his stuff ! Now that was a little more embarrassing. But I quickly introduced myself and explained what I was doing - curious as I was and interested in privacy and security. As he was new to the office, he actually asked me whether disposing of his stuff this way was safe. He told me he was a lawyer and I asked if there was any confidential client information in the mix. He said no and then bent the CD-ROM in half.

'ello 'ello 'ello

2010-11-24T22:55:00.004-05:00

'ello 'ello 'ello, originally uploaded by PJMixer.
I took a quite few shots here in Hudson's Bay lower level as the tones, lighting and the reflective top of the garbage can opened up a variety of ideas. I must have been there quite some time and I'm sure I was a rather unusual site, but I didn't really notice the time as I was focused on capturing a good shot. Finally a very polite, casually dreshed Englishman with an earpiece approached me and said that I wasn't allowed to take photographs in the store. I apologized and said I'd get in touch with the store if I used the shots [commercially], he was actually kind enough to give me the name of the store manager. I asked him his name and thought briefly about a 100 Stranger shot, but I know security people never want their photo taken. It's odd, but it seems that the majority of security people I've met while pushing the limits of legal photography (incl. Peter at Hudson's Bay) have been very polite and I often take a moment to have a brief chat with them. When I reviewed the shots later, I noticed I actually caught Peter in one of the shots (but not really appropriate for a Stranger entry, pity).

Inception: Immediate reactions

2010-07-24T02:16:00.002-04:00

Just saw Inception. Incredible. 9.5/10.

Just poured a stiff drink (bourbon) to write some immediate thoughts and impressions, hopefully avoiding any spoilers for those that haven't seen it yet (which is likely a lot of people since it's only been out a week).

The kind of movie you want to analyze and talk about over drinks at a bar afterward. I saw it solo tonight, so that's why I'm here writing this at home for you. Although a good friend couldn't join me tonight (he suggested Sunday), I've already told him I'll go and see it again on Sunday. There's hasn't been many movies in my life I've wanted to see again so quickly.
I don't think there's been many movies (and very few good movies) made about dreams before. The one that sticks out is Vanilla Sky and that was a brilliant movie too. But I don't think a movie's been able to capture the mystery of dreams, explain the fundamentals and take it to the scary depths that Inception does.
My brain hurts a little thinking about the movie, but at the same time I feel very alive and awake.
The movie paradoxically shows how the human mind can be more creative than Hollywood.
Fantastic casting with some great (relative) newcomers, solid acting and star power.
Just found out that Christopher Nolan also wrote and directed Memento, plus the latest round of Batman movies - very impressive portfolio and may have to see a few of his others as well.
The pacing and complexity of the plot is perfect.
There are many different levels and dimensions to this movie and it works so well, but also has so many ideas woven through it you can't help but want to hit the pause button.
It seems that the moviemakers have been very generous with their production dollars and jammed in so much content for us to savour. Far less movies and even other good movies are told in 15 minutes in Inception.
If you read any deep reviews, spoilers and theories the movie possibilities become even more complex.
Do you have a totem ?
Enjoy. Time for bed...and to dream.

Where am I hiding ? 365inCamera.

2010-06-26T15:53:00.000-04:00

If you're wondering where I've been, well I've been focusing my artistic and journalistic efforts toward my daily photo project - 365inCamera - hiding behind my camera so to speak. Some days I post a portrait, an urban abstract or Toronto location shots - there are lots of different styles and content. But I'm finding that there are some interesting stories behind the pictures and for the last couple of months I've been writing something for every daily shot. So there are many views of daily life and little vignettes that you may find interesting and of course, every picture tells a story. And if you're looking for some photogrpahy tips along the way, I often write about how I took the shot. I could copy some of the better ones over here (as sometimes I also copy posts from here over to in Tune in), but I didn't want to clutter up web 2.0 too much. So, if you're looking for a little more PJMixer on a daily basis you may find 365inCamera to your liking.

A few life lessons inspired by Nina and a dog

2010-05-29T22:19:00.000-04:00

Just got back from walking Kooper and while in the rhythm of the walk and enjoying the smooth remixed sounds of Nina Simone I had an opportunity to reflect on my day and compile a modest list of some life lessons for the day:

Dogs are good. They give you an excuse to get out of the house on a regular basis and they listen to anything you have to say. And for men, yes, a dog is a perfect wing-dog to attract attractive ladies (proven tonight outside the event theatre on the corner).
If you have a evening of adult beverage indulgence in mind, a quick paced dog walk is a perfect way to freshen up and move from dinner wine to the next stage of the evening.
If you happen to have sustained a broken ankle at some point in the past and the hardware gets a little sore, then flat shoes are perhaps a better choice than supportive athletic shoes (this one may not apply to everyone).
Music can always create and change a mood. Think of music as fashion for the soul.
If you've lost something and you really miss it, now and again, look for it again. It's such a good feeling when you find something you've lost for a while (I found my iPod tonight).
In a pinch, a Blackberry is a decent stand-in for music if you've lost your iPod. Actually the search feature is better and on my Blackberry (v5 OS), I can create new playlists that I can't do on my iPod Nano (2nd gen).
Whenever you get the chance, get out and enjoy your city - it will surprise you and show you sides of the city you may not know existed (I visited quite a few buildings today as part of Toronto's Doors Open event).

My day in court, well a few minutes anyway

2010-05-27T22:14:00.000-04:00

I had a date in court today to fight a parking ticket. Over a year ago, I had an appointment at Toronto East General Hospital. As you can imagine the parking options are always bad around the hospital, but as I circled a second time I saw someone pulling out of a spot pretty close to the hospital on Coxwell Ave. I couldn't believe my luck. I pulled in and hopped out and headed over to the ticketing machine. Before I got my ticket, and still quite close to my car I notice a ticketing officer and make a gesture of "hey, don't ticket me, I just pulled in and I'm going to pay for my ticket, right now, like, ok!". Of course, when I came out, I found out that I'd actually parked in a drop off area for another medical building. I felt that this just wasn't right, the officer must have seen me pull in, allowed me to pay for my ticket and not say I'd parked illegally. Therefore I went down to the parking office and told then I was going to fight the ticket. (Funny how ticket means two opposite things in the world of parking!).

So my court date was today. This is the second parking ticket I've fought against and they have both been in the court offices on Markham Road in Scarborough (quite the drive). My first ticket a few years ago was dismissed because the officer didn't show up. Today, after I checked in, I learnt that the officer was in attendance. I noticed that many people checking in to the court clerk were pleading guilty, I however wanted to argue my case. Just after I indicated I was pleading not guilty, the clerk stood up and made a clarification for everyone (and perhaps especially me), that if you plead guilty, it's very likely your fine will be reduced. However, if you plead not guilty, you could face a larger fine. Furthermore, she said some legalize about the black and white of a parking offense, you're guilty if you parked illegally. Maybe I should have just taken the easier path and not worry about taking my chances explaining my case ? I had parked illegally, but I wanted a chance to explain my story and bring to light what I think was unfair, unethical and perhaps even be as bold as to say it was entrapment ! I wanted my day in court (I honestly would have been ok paying more jsut to make my point!).

So they began calling up the cases, and many people simply confirmed that they were pleading guilty and the judge lowered the fine (quite considerably in many cases, e.g $20 down to $5). There were a few cases that were dismissed since the officer had no evidence to prove his case.

So my time came and I was called to the front. I provided my name and the clerk said the officer had no evidence to present so my case was dismissed. How anti-climatic ! I felt a little cheated. What evidence did he need ? Sure, I was happy to leave the court and get on with my day, but I wish I'd had a chance to tell my story - thanks ma'am, but can I tell you what happened, see that officer over there, well he's the one who should be in trouble...

The Urban Cottage Weekend

2010-05-25T07:44:00.000-04:00

I don't have a cottage. I can't afford one and I'm not lucky enough to have one in the family. I love visiting Ontario's beautiful lakes and enjoying cottage life. Even a drive that passes through cottage country, freshens my wish list and tints my mood a little green with envy. However, what many people say and I may have to agree, owning a cottage isn't all it's made up to be. You have a second home to maintain and tackling the traffic really taints the whole experience. I recently heard from one Muskoka regular, that he avoids the lakes on the weekend, because of the chaos on the water with the boom in powerboat action.

So, I decided that we'd have an urban cottage weekend. Of course, we don't have a beautiful (but cold) lake on our doorstep, but there are many things we can simulate in the city that can give us the feel of cottage life. My daughter wrote up our rules (version 2) and posted it on the fridge. We managed to do most of the things on the list, including roasting marshmallows (in our living room fireplace) ! And funnily enough, the city on Sunday and holiday morning was quite quiet, maybe quieter that cottage country !

Although not specifically on the list, I avoided checking my Blackberry all weekend and didn't check email, blogs, Facebook and Twitter at all. Although I felt a little disconnected from the world (isn't that one of the things you enjoy from being at the cottage), the odd feeling was that time slowed down. I wasn't always distracted by an incoming email and social posts and neve had to say - just a minute, while I check something ! I managed to get outside a lot and enjoy the glorious weather, which unfortunately limited the time to play one of my favourite games, but we did enjoy some movies and I had lots of time to read.

G20, Brookfield Properties and street photography

2010-05-10T17:00:00.003-04:00

G20, Brookfield Properties and street photography, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

I had a few minutes to kill while I was recently at Yonge and Bloor, so I thought I'd do some street photography and see if I could capture some interesting people. I took a few shots of this guy and a few others before a security guard approached me. I have been told on quite a few occasions that I'm not allowed to take photographs in a particular location (library, mall) but this was the first time it has happened while on the street. My exact location was just outside the doors exiting the Yonge and Bloor subway station, next to the Hudson's Bay store.

I can understand that photography may be formally restricted in certain buildings and I appreciate the concerns around taking pictures of children in public, however I was rather puzzled in this case. The security guard tells me that Brookfield Properties owns the sidewalk where I was standing. I asked where their property ended and I was shocked to hear that they own the property right to the curb - the whole sidewalk ! How can that be ? Could Brookfield Properties go a hop skip and a jump further and restrict certain people from walking on the (sorry, their) sidewalk ? I was rather taken-aback by this and found it quite absurd. I thought it would be funny to ask the security guard if I could take his photograph - I thought this was an interesting encounter and a perfect addition to my 100 stranger project ! Of course he said no, but maybe not for security reasons. The security guard was part native and he said there were very few photographs of him because of his belief that a photograph takes something away from their being. I of course, respected his position, but it made the encounter even more interesting. His name was Sherman, a real nice guy. He also said that they had been asked to step up this type of security because of the upcoming G20 meetings.

Drawing a line in (personal) photojournalism

2010-04-27T23:25:00.000-04:00

As you may have seen from my photo blog (365inCamera) or from some of my recent Flickr updates I've been doing a little personal photojournalism of late. So much so, I added a new set on Flickr just for photojournalism. I say personal photojournalism, because I'm really only doing this for personal reasons rather than working on behalf of some kind of news provider (although that's not to say, I wouldn't mind the opportunity to do this at some point in the future). Similar to sports and candid photography, trying to capture the drama of a newsworthy event is a challenge I enjoy. By following the golden rule of photography - always have a camera with you - I've been able to photograph some interesting events of late. I was going to say that working downtown Toronto is another factor that has provided these opportunities for photojournalism, but just tonight there was another event that was closer to home.

After dinner tonight, I decided to take my dog Kooper for a run at Sunnybrook dog park before it got dark. On the way to the park, I noticed that Blythwood Road was closed at Mt. Pleasant with quite a lot of emergency vehicles and TV crews at the scene. I decided that a little exercise for Kooper was more important that investigating right then, so I continued to the park. It's been very windy for a few day so I thought a large tree may have some down. On the drive home, Blythwood had been re-opened and a did a quick drive by and saw that there had been a fire in one of the houses. A drove on a little, but then my new found photojournalistic instincts kicked in (plus I didn't have a great shot yet for the day), so I stopped, circled back and grabbed my camera.

While photographing the other recent events, I had some serious reservations about the potential personal injuries and losses that I may be recording. In the Chinatown accident, I hesitated taking any photographs until I could see that the young girl was not seriously injured and those people nearby were helping her. For the Gould Street incident, I heard from a few sources that luckily there had been no serious injuries. For the First Nations' protest, even though there was plenty of police at the ready, the event looked to be quite peaceful. I did wonder what the chances were of it boiling over, especially seeing a few people masking their faces. What would I do if things got violent ?

Back to Blythwood. So I'm walking back to the burned out house with my camera in hand and I'm wondering was anyone hurt here ? There was just one person I noticed on the street other than emergency and TV people so I asked if he knew if anyone had been hurt in the fire. He said that he heard from TV news that a lady had died.

I decided not to photograph the house. I didn't feel right. I drew a line.

The Toronto Sun report.

Guilty pleasures

2010-04-03T13:40:00.001-04:00

I'm sure every music fan who is conscious of their music taste and feels they have a good grip on the quality dial of the music scene has at least one guilty pleasure.

For me, it's Neil Diamond. Although his earlier work and interestingly, his latest work is well respected, most middle agers / Xgeners likely heard Diamond during his sappy middle period (maybe his You don't Bring me Flowers duet with Barbara Streisand). But I first heard Neil Diamond during a once in a lifetime trip to Singapore, Christmas 1975. I had never been anywhere outside the UK when my family made this trip to visit my Australian uncle and family who were living in Singapore at the time. Therefore my memories of Singapore remain very vivid, the topical humid air, the exotic smells, 4pm rainstorms, new tastes and funnily enough, the sounds of Neil Diamond. My uncle was a big fan of Neil Diamond and I recall sitting in his living room with all the windows open late in the evening, with family all around and hearing Diamond's classic live album Hot August Night.

So today, an unusually warm (hot even) April day here in Toronto while the kids are elsewhere and my wife (not the biggest Diamond fan) is out - the windows are open, I'm taking a little breather and I put on my favourite tracks from Hot August night and I'm back in Singapore.

Also posted on my music blog in Tune in.

Book extremes: Gladwell to Gaiman

2010-03-23T22:03:00.000-04:00

I just finished reading Malcolm Gladwell's third novel Outliers. After reading all three, I'd say that Outliers is just as good as Blink, and better than Tipping Point, but as Outliers is most current in my head, it was just a fantastic, fascinating read and perhaps my favourite non-fiction book ever. I've been sprinkling in parts of the book into conversation with my wife, but find that it's rather difficult to summarize Gladwell's comprehensive life lessons into tea time digestives. Sorry, you're just going to have to read it for yourself - but make sure we get together over a few drinks to talk about it afterward ! I've also been reading Gladwell's most recent book called What the Dog Saw, however it is a compilation of the his articles published in The New Yorker, as opposed to new material. I have to say that Malcolm Gladwell is my favourite non-fiction author, his writing style is a simply a joy to read, full of colourful and interesting real world characters and he has just has an incredible knack of explaining very complex subject matter in a clear, entertaining and thought provoking way. Needless to say, I'd highly recommend reading anything written (he also has a blog) by Malcolm Gladwell.

On the other side of the written-word coin is Neverwhere. I found this book from my friend Kelly who is a big fan and raved about the author Neil Gaiman on her blog a few months ago. I'm only on chapter 3, but loving it already. Again, the style of Gaiman's writing is easy to digest, but is also beautifully descriptive (and succinct at the same time) and the dialog does wonders for defining his interesting characters. You may know a little of Gaiman's work becuase he wrote Coraline. I recently watched this gem of a animated movie the other day with my daughter and really enjoyed it. The fantasy genre, especially in a novel, is a little unusual for me, although I've read horror fantasy writers like Clive Barker in the past. I do like some fantasy movies (like Pan's Labyrinth), but it's been a while since I've enjoyed escaping to wonderfully creative fantasy world every time a turn the page. I mentioned the book and Gaiman to a friend from ultimate last night, and he was also a big fan and raved about his work. Just as in the book, it turns out I've stumbled on a mysterious and marvelous new world - in my case the wonderful artistry of Neil Gaiman. Time for bed and more Nerverwhere.

The importance of sport, The Olympics or your local footy team

2010-03-01T15:42:00.000-05:00

Photo from www.ctvolympics.ca

The 2010 Olympic Winter Games wrapped up yesterday with a massive party right across Canada as the Men's hockey team clinched the gold medal and put Canada in the history books with the most medals of a host nation in the Winter games. After a fantastic, but stressful overtime win, I had tears in my eyes and joined my family for a quick walk along Yonge street to take in the party atmosphere. I caught a few good photos and then finished off the evening watching the closing ceremonies. I thought they were really good, especially with the comical, clever and heart warming opening in light of the mechanical failure during the opening ceremonies. I thought the comedic segment was kind of quirky, but it worked for me (but not sure if the rest of world appreciated it as much). The musical finale was ok and pretty representative of popular music here in Canada. I managed to see many of the Canadian medals live and must say I'm very proud to call myself Canadian and proud of all the athletes wearing the Maple Leaf.

Now, on to point of this blog post. I believe that sport is the one thing we have in this world that consistently and unequivocally brings people together. And I don't just mean at the global level of the Olympics or the Wold Cup. In every town and city all over the world, people get together every week to play and celebrate sport. For me, I have an ultimate (frisbee) game tonight. Although sometimes it's a little hard to go out in the dead of winter for a late night game, once on the field, there are few places I'd rather be. When I have to miss a game, it is very disappointing and takes a little chunk out of the valuable stuff in my life.

As I've stated previously, sport can bring a whole nation together for a common goal and we all share in the glory of victory or the agony of defeat. When it's our local teams, the same rule applies, but on a smaller scale, and after a hard fought game on your own sports field, the thrill of sport can create new meaningful, friendships. There's a lot you can learn from the sports field, hey, that's why there's so many sports analogies for life. But remember, life lessons also come from playing fair and having respect for your opponents. I prefer team sports over playing an individual sport or working out at the gym. One reason is the camaraderie, but the other is the feeling of commitment, the team needs you and you need them. It's a lot easier to give yourself a break and not go to the gym when you're too tired or it's not convenient. There has to be something pretty significant for me (family mostly) for me to tell my team I can't make the game.

Could it be that sport in modern times has taken over the team building and fellowship of going to war ? You may be able to say that world charities and coming together to help out victims of devastating disasters is a decent analogy to fighting evil and protecting those less fortunate, but you can't really count on (nor do you want to) have an natural disaster or deathly disease fundraiser every week. That's just way too depressing. But it's healthy and a valuable part of living, to fight for a common goal with our fellow men and women.

In the closing official words on the Olympics, they ask for youth to reassemble in 4 years for the next games. We need this regularity in our, often times chaotic lives. We need to cheer on our local professional sports team throughout the season and follow all the highs and lows of the campaign. We need to play with our teammates once a week to experience the unfiltered emotion of the playing field. After each game, whether we win or lose, don't we always say "see you next week" ? Take a photograph of a team after they've played together and you'll see a consistent look of joy, weariness, disappointment or relief. You're rarely see hatred or loathing, or an expression on one face that differs to the expression of their teammates. We're in this together and we'll bravely share the outcome. Some people don't like the pressure of team sports, I feel that they just haven't found the right sport or group of players. And a book or camera club just don't deliver the same things in your life. Take the worst guy on your team for instance. You're not going to ostracize this guy, you need him to pitch in and play the best he can. And you'll help him improve and yell words of encouragement from the sidelines. What if your job was like that ?

But why stress youth ? Maybe because we're in danger of losing the value of team sports in our society today as kids turn to more individual pursuits on their game consoles. Maybe, the lack of team sports today is the cause behind the growth of gang violence ? Gangs after all, fill the need to fight with your brother against a common enemy. And this is perhaps why the line grays a little between team passion, national loyalty and bigotry, intolerance and hatred toward your opponent. Occasionally we lose the plot and forget to acknowledge the skill and determination of the other team when they gain the upper hand one day. And that unfortunately turns into violence on the field, nasty chants from the stands or post game hooliganism in our cities.

Kids, join a team, it's good for you to play hard for your team, trust me. But remember be as good a loser as winner, you can't win all the time. And play fair. There are many kids in the world today that do want to play sport, but sadly many of them don't have the opportunity. And that's why I contribute to Right to Play.

There is a lot more I think I could write on this subject, but that'll have to wait to another time. Game on.

More photo sources:

Megapixel men of the mountain - photography at the Olympics.

Official photos from Vancouver.

Some spectacular Olympic shots from The Big Picture (Boston.com)

Bodyworlds

2010-02-20T20:22:00.001-05:00

My wife and I went to see the Bodyworlds exhibit at the Ontario Science Centre today. I had missed a previous exhibit, so I made sure I didn't miss this second chance. The exhibit was much more comprehensive than I thought it would be. This specific exhibit focused on the heart, but (I imagine) like the other exhibits it presents all parts of the human body in real life graphic detail. I found that I had many, many questions about the human body, medicine, disease and the process of plastination. I kept asking my wife (BSci in micro-biology), but the macro questions were perhaps rather newbie or out of scope for her. Unfortunately photography was not allowed, but it was actually nice to just take our time (2 hours) and enjoy the exhibit rather than be distracted by trying to photograph it. The written descriptions were quite technical, but really weren't enough to explain what exactly I was looking at and left me with more questions. There were audio guides but we didn't purchase them. After the exhibit we bought the book and the DVD, so I'm hoping those will fill in many of the details and they include lots of beautiful and very educational pictures.

The exhibit gives you a very special opportunity to view the internals of real human bodies and body parts up close. Based on the quiet reading and intensive viewing of other viewers, I wasn't alone in being awestruck by the exhibit. I don't think I've ever been to an exhibit where almost everyone was reading almost every description and viewing every piece. It was marvelous, but rather overwhelming. It was good to hear many comments from people educated in human anatomy and physiology, but once again, I wanted to stop and ask them lots of questions. I also wondered how many people were taking notes on what their bodies could look like as smokers, drinkers or fatties. Along with technical descriptions they were some wonderful quotes from deep thinkers and artists about the human heart and the one that got my attention was about optimism or pessimism. It went something like pessimism is a bigger cause of death than age or heart disease. Having trouble finding the exact quote or fact.

The human body is just a massively complex, but perfect machine. I don't think we do a good job taking care of it in our lives, but amazingly it's pretty resilient. However, in the end, we just wear it out. Be good to your body, give it some lovin', be proud of it and respect it. Santé.

Imperfect passions

2010-02-19T19:28:00.004-05:00

For a while now, I've been hearing talk about the importance of following your passions in life. Or for those still a little lost or in a mid-life crisis, maybe truly discovering what your passion is. We all know life is short and if you can spend a good chunk of time focused on what you love the most, then you're going to be happy puppy. Furthermore, if you manage to devote your working life to your passion, then you're most likely to be better at your job and enjoy your working life much more than the average Johnny.

But what is a passion ? Formally, in the context I'm referring to, it is: a strong or extravagant fondness, enthusiasm, or desire for anything: a passion for music; or the object of such a fondness or desire: Music became a passion with him. Over some deep conversation over lunch at the pub with my wife today. I suggested that one way to think about what you are passionate about is if you have an afternoon off work and nothing else you have to do, what would you do ? I would assume that a person with a passion would have no trouble saying they'd paint, or another person would say they'd play golf.

But what if someone has many things they're enthusiastic about or have lots of activities they love doing ? Is it fair to say they have many passions in life. Are people who have more than one or many passions less passionate about any one of those passions. I'm one of these people.

I love finding and listening to new music. I'm enthusiastic about photography. I really enjoy watching football and playing ultimate. Skiing and golf are great days out and of course, I always want to travel more.

So I said to my wife, if I had an afternoon free, I'd probably do something I miss doing. That could be one of my passions I've perhaps been neglecting or maybe just something a love to do that falls short of being a true passion. Today, if I had the afternoon free, I'd go and see a movie. Of course, some things require the right timing and preparation, but putting that aside to try and make a point, I'd choose a movie over listening to music or doing a photo project. How can I then say I'm really passionate about photography or music if I'd consciously decide to do something else ? So this worries be a little and chips away at those grandiose theorems about what makes us happy. Would following my "passion" and becoming a professional photographer really make me happy. What if I could listen to music all day, find new bands, promote concerts and festivals and be able to see the best bands in the world on a regular basis. Sounds perfect for me right ? Maybe not. Am I spreading myself too thin, not focused enough to really appreciate the things I love ? Am I destined to flirt with a pocket full of passions. Well, put that way, it sounds kind of nice.

2010 New Year's Resolutions

2010-01-05T22:09:00.000-05:00

New Year's resolutions may be a little out of fashion these days, but they always say you should write down your personal goals and what better time than a fresh new year to do it.

Photography: take more photographs of my family. I take tons of pictures, but I'd really like to capture some shots of my family that really shows their true selves (and that will be the challenge); continue with my daily photo blog - 365 in Camera (getting difficult to continue to find new subjects every day, but I'm looking hard); and add at least another 30 strangers to my 100 Strangers Flickr project.
Health: get back to my humble morning workout - some push-ups and some sit-ups - no big whoop, but every little bit helps this tired old body. Yes, I'm still playing lots of sports (ultimate twice a week, shinny starting this week for a few months and a couple of runs with the dog/kids each week), and I intend to try and maintain a good amount of this for the year too.
Food: make sushi more often at home. I love maki rolls, my daughter loves them and it's something we can do together. It's healthy and not too difficult to make. Ingredients and decent prep time tis all. Add some new food and recipes to our home menu, don't need to necessarily stress healthy, just stuff that gets the whole family excited about dinner time !
Fun and games: play more board games with family and friends. I love board games and whenever I can convince others to play, most end up really like playing, especially my son who said the other day he wants to play more often. In today's age of constant audio/video bombardment , I find it refreshing to spend time with a board game and experience a little nostalgic throw back to simpler times. The two big games that I constantly try and get people to play are Ticket to Ride and Carcassonne (I received a couple of expansion sets for Christmas).
Work: stay on top of email (easier said than done); pick up the phone or meet face-to-face more often rather than relying too heavily on impersonal email correspondence; meet and socialize with more people in my shared office environment and create a less lonely work life; get a little more active thru Linkedin; and of course, make my quota.
Film: watch a movie with my wife once a month. This is probably easy for most couples, but not for us. I love movies, and so does my wife when she has the time, but finding something we both like and is worth our valuable time, can be a challenge.
Money: spend some money on the house. The reward isn't as immediate as shiny somethings that plug-in, but our wonderful home deserves some loving updates.
Music: build some quality playlists from the huge amount of music in my collection; find more music a little further afield, incl. some more jazz, classical; get out and support local artists; continue to write on our music blog: in Tune in.
Family and friends: stay in touch with family and friends on all channels; get to know more of our kids' friends and their families; begin to document my family story - maybe a new blog, co-authored my my Mom, Dad and brother ?
Get back to writing this blog a little more regularly, I've missed the ramble and rant.

Deal of the year

2010-01-05T16:27:00.000-05:00

I usually buy a calendar for my office wall in January as they are usually priced at 50% of the original price. I'm not too picky and I usually change things up year after year. I had a casual look in Indigo at lunch and this Weather calendar caught my eye. Pretty unusual, some nice photography and lots of extra weather bits inside that I thought my son would like at the the end of each month. But I couldn't believe the $2 sticker - wow, now that is a no-brainer. I take it to the checkout desk with another book I wanted to do a price check on. Turns out the book was not on sale, so I say "just the calendar" and she says "can't beat a $2 calendar", no kidding. So then she says, it's 50% off ! Hah, this must be the cheapest purchase in a very long time, with tax $1.13.

On a somewhat related note, it really bothers me I have to pay full price for magazines. I assume this is the case everywhere in the shopping world and you can really only save yourself a few dollars if you get a subscription. Subscriptions for me don't work out too well because my mag choices are mostly from the UK (why do UK mags seem to have so much more content in them?). Here's an idea, don't you think the mag companies/distributors etc, could make some decent money selling last month's mags at a discount rather than sending them back and selling as a back issue ?

Best of 2009 music

2010-01-04T19:26:00.001-05:00

I downloaded and listened to a ton of music this year and also went to more concerts (21, 31 artists) than I have in many years. There are a few friends and fellow concert photographers that enjoy the same music as I do, however my tastes are quite varied and I'm finding more than ever, that perhaps my music is not on everyone's radar screen of what's good or popular in music today. However, I do hope that you'll agree with some of my choices for 2009 and more importantly I hope you'll find something new in the lists below that appeals to your ears and rhythm.

1. Kasabian - West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum. Driving riffs, beats, and sing-a-longs across the majority of the tracks of this fantastic record - first time I heard it I knew is was going to be my number one (shortlisted for the 2009 Mercury Prize, and was named Best Album of the 2009 by Q). The only thing missing is a North America tour ! pjtracks: Underdog, Fire and Where did all the love go ?

2. K'Naan - Troubadour. Somalia born and now based in Toronto, K'Naan conjures up a modern blend of hip hop, rap, pop and African beats with very personal and political story telling. Fabulous. The album was shortlisted for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize. A remix of Waving Flag has been selected as the official song of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. pjtracks: Dreamer and Take a Minute.

3. Jamie T - Kings & Queens. Quirky voice singing our clever, perky and potent lines make the blend of upbeat pop, rap, hip hop with a few ballads irresistible. pjtracks: Sticks 'n' Stones and Chaka Demus.

4. The Temper Trap - Conditions. Fantastic surprise when we saw these Aussies bring the house down at The Horseshoe Tavern a few months ago. Credit to Suze20TO for the find, must-see live act, overflowing with energy and chart potential. pjtracks: Science of Fear and Love Lost.

5. U2 - No Line on the Horizon. When I first got this album I wasn't immediately impressed. However, after quite a lot of listening, the quality of the songwriting and the music is what we've come to expect from U2 - perfect. But what got them on the list this year was their concert performance. Best show of the year and maybe an all time top 10, big thanks to Scotty H for the comp tickets and getting the chance to see the biggest band in the whole up-close. pjtracks: I'll Go Crazy If I Don't go Crazy Tonight, Magnificant and Moment of Surrender

6. Champion - Resistance. This second album from Montreal DJ and guitar gang takes much more of a rock path, but the beats from Max always get you moving and then the guitars and catchy keep you in the moment. Superb live show a must-see. pjtracks: Alive Again, Resistance (Skool) and Backing Off.

7. The XX - XX. Wonderful mellow minimalist, electronica perfect for late night listening. Thanks to Rob S for the tip on this one. pjtracks: Crystalised and VCR.

8. Florence and the Machine - Lungs. A voice that at times reminds me of Kate Bush (and on other tracks can really belt it out), lovely layered and varied tracks on this rather unique sounding album. pjtracks Rabbit Heart (Raise it up), You've got the Look and Kiss with a Fist.

9. White Lies - To Lose My Life. A great example of the renewed 80's sound found in quite a few albums this year. Lyrics are a little dark, but the synth layers are warm and the beats and buildups are top draw. pjtracks: Death and E.S.T.

10. Camera Obscura - My Maudlin Career. Light, fair-weather tunes that put a smile on my face, but don't seem to fit our current sub-zero conditions. Another recommendation from Rob S. pjtracks: You Told a Lie and James.

Other 2009 releases that I played a lot this year, but didn't quite make the top 10 include: The Clientele, Jet (pjtrack: She's a Genius), Manic Street Preachers, Coldplay (the live LeftRightLeftRightLeft), Sam Roberts (pjtrack: The Pilgrim), Franz Ferdinand, The Streets (pjtrack: Heaven for the Weather) and Cut Copy (pjtrack: Lights and Music).

There were a flurry of releases later in 2009 (or in the case of Metric weren't available via my regular download channel), that I've begun to listen a lot to and are very promising and perhaps would have made the list if I'd found them earlier or monopolized the stereo for the last few weeks: John Mayer (pjtrack: Heartbreak Warfare), Norah Jones (pjtrack: Chasing Pirates), Metric, Jay-Z and Timbaland (pjtrack: Timothy where you been, feat. Jet).

My picks for songs of 2009 are:

1. Kasabian - Where did all the love go ?
2. Kasabian - Fire
3. K'Naan - Take a Minute
4. K'Naan - Dreamer
5. Peter Doherty - Last of the English Roses
6. Arctic Monkeys - Cornerstone
7. U2 - Moment of Surrender
8. Jay-Z - Empire State of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys) (and with all the shots of NY in the video, on first viewing, this becomes my favourite video of 2009)
9. Jamie T - Sticks 'n' Stones
10. White Lies - Death

And to finish off the lists for 2009, a few odd tracks from other artists that got a lot of iPod playtime: Deadmau5 - Ghosts 'n' Stuff; Reverend and the Makers - No Soap in a Dirty War; Madelaine Peyroux - Instead; The Enemy - Sing When You're in Love; Junior Boys - Work; and last but not least, what 2009 list would be complete without Dizzee Rascal's Dance Wiv Me.

The urban beauty of leafless trees and early darkness

2009-12-08T22:21:00.008-05:00

Sure, fading daylight naturally comes with the fall of the leaves from our trees. But for this urbanite, I've been noticing how beautiful the city is this time of year. I've been taking my dog for walks in my North Toronto neighbourhood almost daily and the lack of leaves on the trees reveal some of the beautiful homes in this old and well kept part of our city. In the early evening, the darkened residential streets, unmasked of tree foliage, produce a perfect backdrop to the welcoming glow of a house awaiting its owners return. You add the occasional aroma of a wood burning fireplace and in a few weeks, the crunch of crisp snow underfoot, and you have a picture perfect winter neighbourhood walk. In warmer months, seeing neighbours working on the yards or enjoying a patio provides the neighbourhood feel, but in the darker months, the homes themselves take on the character of the street, displacing the homeowner, but seem to provide an warm invitation for the passerby.

I'm also driving downtown once a week for an indoor ultimate [frisbee] at Lamport Stadium, and I'm enjoying the beauty of our busy night time street scenes. I'm thinking that for many reasons, a true city is at its best at night. For a business focused city like Toronto, the day just shows us the work life of Torontians and our suburban neighbours. But as soon as the clock strikes five, the city begins to transform into a living, social and artistic canvas. You add the reflective properties of a damp and glistening street and you can be driving through a stellar light show. Catching sight of friends chatting on the street, mates gathering at a local bar, or romantic couples in a cozy cafe, makes me want to pull over and soak up that urban life. But with an appropriate accompanying soundtrack (urban, hip hop and electronic for upbeat hours and jazz for later hours) and a warm car, you can appreciate your city in a different way - taking in big slices of urban life, with the ever-changing lighting of the street scape, along with the constant trail of car taillights, sprinkled with sites of locales that trigger memories of your time with the city.

I love the oranges of the warm cafe, the bright whites of the mega billboards that temporarily turn a corner to day, the silhouetted office worker high up in his tower, the brick glow of history's landmarks, the faint din of music coming from a club or the rattle of a street car, and the neon pulses that are our city's heartbeat. And over the last few weeks, the Christmas decorations and lighting have added to the blaze and colour on our city streets. And don't forget those special Christmas shop window displays.

On a somewhat related note, I have a strong feeling that black must be the predominant clothing colour these days. The fashion of the youngster masses definitely skews the noir balance, but the preference for the ultra dark seems to span all walks of life. Is this just a city thing ? Is it a seasonal byproduct ? Whatever it is, I don't like it. Come on people, show some individuality, lighten up these dark nights and add some fresh colour to our often too somber world.

It may be my focus on photography these days is opening my eyes to new angles, interesting lighting and beauty of our everyday places, but I'm enjoying the beauty of the city as we close in our Christmas. If you love city life, if you love this city, bundle up and go for a walk a night around your nighbourhood or get comfy and warm in your car and take a drive around your city. If you want some iPod soundtrack recommendations for your nightime urban tour let me know, I've got lots of ideas.

Confusing lessons from Monday dinner night

2009-10-26T21:06:00.002-04:00

You'll like this one guys. Ladies, maybe you can explain it.

With the chaotic lives we live, I believe a little bit of a routine is a good thing. I suggested to my wife this year that I would be happy to cook on Friday, Saturday and Monday nights. I've been trying to uphold this new household tradition as best I can and my wife has been quite supportive although perhaps not enthusiastic about the regimen.

My wife was kind enough to do the groceries today and she mentioned a few dinner choices as I was on my way home from work. I like Italian food and I really like gnocchi, so I was pretty happy to hear it was one of the base ingredients for the potential Monday night menu. Even better, my wife found a wonderful recipe in a Jamie Oliver book for mushroom and sage gnocchi.

The recipe was quite straight forward and very tasty and wholesome. My wife made a few comments about the roughly torn pieces of sage and had a bit of a fit with a overly aggressive piece of garlic, but on the whole seemed to enjoy the meal.

I commented afterward about how I loved the meal and perhaps we could add it to our family menu and perhaps cook it for friends. At which point she informed me she doesn't like sage. I ask why she picked the recipe and she says she thought I'd like it.

The mysteries of the female reasoning and logic process continue to amaze and entertain.

Time for comments on time

2009-10-25T18:43:00.000-04:00

I'm up quite early on this Sunday morning, but know that the opportunity to write a few words will quickly escape. It's not that I have such a busy work life or have children with demanding social and sports schedules or that I'm a conscientious home owner constantly maintaining my old home. Ok, it's partly because I have a puppy at home (6 months today). It's really because I choose to spend my free time on other things at the moment. Last night I did have some time, but I was rather tired from quite a busy day and didn't really have the concentration required to contribute anything meaningful to this blog. I was going to watch a movie, but couldn't find something that would potentially hold my attention for a couple of hours. I ended up watching a 30 min travel show on HDNet and then going to bed early to start reading The Last Lecture (written by Randy Pausch, out from the library and quickly read by my wife and a book I've heard lots of good things about).

Interruption - Kooper steals coffee traveler lid - I need to take him for a walk...

Most of my free time these days is spent on photography. I've always been a keen photographer, but with the latest digital photography advancements, I'm finding that I take a lot of photos, spending a lot of time fine tuning the images and sharing them online. I'm very pleased with the results I'm getting and feel it's my true artistic calling. I actually described myself as a semi-pro this week. Well, I did this as I was asking for a photo pass for Friday night's concert. Well, semi-pro isn't too far of a stretch when I do hope to make a little money with my photography some day and I'm getting quite a few photos published on various sites these days. BlogTO have now used 5 of my photos and a few shots from this week have been posted to Skyscrapercity's forum. I've even had one photo picked up by a cricket site. Like all photographers, I'm constantly learning as a take 100's of photos a week and really appreciate all the comments I get on Flickr - I'm actually closing in on 10,000 photo views ! Just updated my favourites.

To maximize my time, I do try to do two (or more) things at once. For instance, I've been writing this while "watching" the Liverpool ManU game - however, with with the sound off (Suz has music on) I'm actually missing what appears to be a gripping game (Liverpool just scored, gotta watch now). Actually there are of course a few no-brainer things you can do simultaneously like doing the dishes or flossing while watching TV or doing almost anything while listening to music. But some things are almost impossible, like trying to take photographs while walking your dog or doing anything when your wife is trying to have a conversation.

On a related subject, wondering...do people wait for stuff any more ? It seems we don't have a lot of waiting time these days and consequently less golden opportunities to make the most of this forced down time and catch up on something. The only concrete example I can think of when almost everyone still waits for something is at the airport. Now there's a good time to catch up on your reading, photo editing, blogging or calling an old friend.

From another angle, if you're neglecting your relationships or find yourself talking to yourself more and more, there's nothing better than doing stuff with someone else. Perfect examples for me are concerts (with my wife and friends), playing video games (with my son), doing some photography (with my daughter), going on a walk (with my mom) or playing golf (with my Dad, my son and my friends). For us blokes, these shared activities address most of people needs. We're pretty happy fellas if we've got a bud to hang with. However, the gentler sex appear to require more dedicated talk time. Unfortunately with the personal choices we all have these days, there seem to be fewer activities truly shared by friends, spouses or family and more "alone quality time". But as we've recently added the dog to the family, I now have the proverbial man's best friend, a loyal, eager, non discriminating companion. If only he understood the genius of Quentin Tarantino.

Blog Action Day - Climate Change

2009-10-15T12:55:00.006-04:00

www.blogactionday.org

I truly believe we have a big problem on our hands - global climate change. I think it is everyone's problem, from Western governments to the Third World to you and me. Although I'm not an expert on how to solve the problem, I'm aware of it and consciously (or subconsciously) try to do my small part every day.

I take the subway to my downtown office
I prefer to take the subway when going out in the evenings and weekends
I often walk to customer meetings
I often ride my bike to locations within a couple of miles of home
I bring my own shopping bags to the store
I prefer not to use air conditioning
I collect items for safe disposal on city environmental days
I donate old clothes and household items to charities rather than throwing them out
I use refillable water containers
Under the right political circumstances, I think voting for the Green Party can make a statement

You could perhaps look at the following a few different ways (e.g. over packaging= clutter=waste/additional recycling, waste versus energy to recharge/recycle) , but I'll list them anyway:

I don't mow or water my lawn very often
I prefer to use cloth napkins rather than paper
I try to be as paperless as possible and use the computer for reading and note taking
I use rechargeable batteries
I buy digital music rather than CD's
I use CFL light bulbs in many parts of the home

Make Green part of your everyday

Many little things from everyone can add up to a lot !

Polar bear side story: There are around 20,000 polar bears in the wild. However, scientists predict that, if current warming trends continue in the Arctic, two-thirds of the world's polar bears could disappear by 2050. Read more at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1218255/The-polar-bear-invited-dinner.html#ixzz0U1ZcQXNt

How useful are social networking websites for finding answers ?

2009-09-21T12:48:00.004-04:00

Today, I'm going to start a test to determine if social networking websites like Twitter and Facebook can actually be a useful tools for finding answers to your many questions (and I know you have lots). Many of us Twitter and Facebook users typically send out statements on what we're doing or how we're feeling and like when we get a comment back. However, I don't think many people post questions. I definitely sprinkle questions here into my blog and occasionally get some answers, but generally speaking I don't think we're getting the most out of our investment into web 2.0. Many people still go with the web 1.0 route when looking for answers, such as highest rated products, cheapest prices, best local restaurants, music reviews and concerts listings. The latest tools in web 2.0 offer an array of clever ways of creating ever widening social networks, so why not leverage those networks a little more ? I'd go out on a limb and say that more people like to answer questions and provide their suggestions and recommendations than simply post of comment about their thoughts. Perhaps this way, people can participate in web 2.0 networks without feeling they are bragging or telling the world useless bits of personal information ! I'll prefix my Twitter and Facebook questions with QOTD - question of the day, and see what I get back.

Champion: a music formula that works (for me)

2009-09-16T19:00:00.001-04:00

The band: Champion; the sound: DJ Champion, aka Maxime Morin. The guitarists: the G Strings. Singers: Betty Bonifassi originally, now Pierre-Philippe (Pilou) Côté. Formula: Base of electronic beats; generous handfuls of hard rocking guitars x 5; interesting singers with straight up blue inspired lyrics. I've only been clubbing in Montreal a few times, but from what I recall from a great night at Fou Founes Electriques, Champion personify all that is cool in the Montreal music scene.

The first time I heard and saw Champion was on TV as they closed the Juno awards back in 2007, and right away I was hooked.

Their 2004 debut album, Chill ‘Em All, won a 2005 Felix Award for Album of the Year in the electronictechno category. Chill ‘Em All went Gold and The Remix Album was nominated for a JUNO for Dance Recording of the Year in '07. They also released a DVD called Champion at ses G Strings that perfectly shows the energy of their lives shows, especially playing in hometown Montreal at Metropolis.

They released the second album Resistance yesterday. I had a quick listen at home last night, but it wasn't until I got a chance to listen to the album properly today with headphones that I can now say I like it. It don't think it's as strong as Chill 'em all and the upbeat tracks are definitely closer to the rock curve. I'm not big on lyrics, and some may find the lyrics somewhat repetitive, but they work well for me as sing-a-long words for the driving, thumping electro-rock sounds. There are a few interesting tracks that explore more electronica and trance themes, with Champion's signature instrumental layering and building of electronic intros and groundwork with guitar riff crescendos and intricate rhythm patterns.I saw Champion at Lee's Palace a couple of years ago and it still remains one of my favourite concerts of all time. Unfortunately I attended solo and there's no photos or video. On a trip out to BC days after the show, my skills of persuasion failed when I couldn't sell my friends on the idea of going to see their Vancouver show. I think one of my Quebec work colleagues has seen Champion perform live (as they do a lot more shows in Quebec) but I don't know anyone else that has seen their fantastic shows in the past. But quiet a few of my friends have loved the music on the first listen ! I've waited a couple of years to see them again, and was over the moon when I found out they were going to play a free concert at Yonge Dundas Square to open the Toronto International Film Festival.

I'm proud to say my 12 year old son is a big music fan (across rock, alternative and electronic music) and in combo of learning to play guitar, he's a fan of Champion just like his old man. So I took him to the concert on Thursday. We got there nice an early as I wanted to make sure we got a good spot so he could see and I could take photographs. We chatted with a few photographers and music fans, including Stranger #22 - Sherlon. With the exception of not playing one of my faves (The Plow), Champion delivered an awesome show. What makes Champion's compositions and performances unique is that while he's live mixing the electronic side of the equation he directing the guitarists with the intros and transitions with hand signals (as you can see in some of the photos on flickr). On the DVD he talks a lot about this technique and I'm still a little amazed at how he pulls this off and creates such a well "produced" sound. I'm not certain how many fans were present, but I'm sure there were plenty of new fans afterward. The free tent in the square was pretty packed and everyone quickly fell into step with Champion's mix of driving dance beats with hard rocking guitars. New male lead singer, Pilou added strong vocals and the special appearance of Canadian Opera diva Measha Brueggergosman topped off the evening perfectly.

A little clip of the YDS crowd showing how you just can't stop moving to the Champion sound ! ( I love the guy in suit and tie holding up his BB on the left at the beginning of the clip)

Playing their hit No Heaven as their encore (poor sound, but you get the idea)

So, for me, Max has created a fantastic formula for an alternative to the often sterile sounds of pure electronic music and the dime-a-dozen unimaginative rock bands who struggle to find that killer riff and a recognizable lead vocal sound. I think his mix of his laptop creation of electronic dance beats and intricate orchestrated guitar melodies, riffs and movements is pure genius.

TIFF

2009-09-10T13:52:00.007-04:00

The Toronto International Film Festival starts today. In the festival's early years, I attended quite a view events and made time to see some more obscure movies, however I don't have any set plans this year. But, I do plan on enjoying some of the free events and also trying to take some photos, incl. candid shots of celebs and fans outside some of the gala events. There are a quite a few free events this year, especially at Yonge Dundas Square where I just enjoyed a light lunch while watching Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man under the tent. Plus a treat I'm really looking forward to tonight is the opening night concert by DJ Champion. The new single is out and the album due next Tuesday. If you're reading this today and within striking distance and like some hard groovin' electro beats and guitar riffs, check it out, you won't be disappointed. On the movie front, I'm going to use the festival as an excuse to watch some quality movies at home. I have a few queued up, incl. The Wrestler and Water.

Photo Blog #15: Finger by courier; Photograhpy is not a crime spinoff

2009-09-04T12:00:00.000-04:00

I went out at lunch yesterday to practice my panning skills, trying to determine the best shutter speed to capture movement, not too fast because you don't want to stop the background (and wheels etc) and not too slow that you can't freeze the subject. I was getting some reasonable results with 1/125sec. To be honest it was kind of hard to even find fast moving objects around Yonge and Dundas as the traffic is pretty grid locked most of the time.

This was the last one I shot and as it happened, I think there's a story here. If you're not from Southern Ontario, then you've probably missed the news about a prominent politician who is being charged in the death of the bike courier earlier this week (Bryant quits post, declares innocence, cyclists ride in support of dead bike courier). This incident has sparked the debate again about cyclist safety on our city streets. I sometimes ride my bike around the city and I've had a few close calls with cars and experienced the tension of sharing busy city streets with mammoth SUV's, trucks and just plain, poor drivers. However, I must admit that I'm not always a model bike citizen and on occasion I'm guilty of disobeying some laws of the road. Another combustible element to the argument is the bike courier - urban hero or antihero ? So back to the photo, could my friendly subject be reacting to the possible negative slants towards couriers or is it simply capturing the stereotypical anti-establishment attitude of this urban figure ?

The other story that this photo perhaps captures is the growing negative attitudes towards photographers taking photos in and of the public. I've been personally tackling this one as I straddle the line between trying to capture unstaged urban street scenes versus approaching strangers for permission to take their picture as part of my 100 Stranger project. There is quite a lot of new commentary and a few organizations raising awareness on public photography, how it is legal - not a crime, how it is a creative art form to embrace, and in some parts of the world, how photographers are sometimes being suspected of being terrorists (something I haven't personally experienced).

So I'm going to keep taking pictures of people, because they are beautiful, interesting, funny, colourful and in many cases there's a story behind their photograph.

The cottage dream

2009-08-05T19:00:00.001-04:00

I drove up to Muskoka this past weekend to pick up my son from camp. Whenever I'm driving back from this beautiful part of Ontario, or just passing through, or even after short visits, I have a very strong feeling that I want a cottage for me and the family. But it's not just a cottage that fills my dreamy head, it's the water, the dock, the boat, the whole shabang. There is just something relaxing about being close to water, maybe it's the sounds, or even the smell, but it's definitely how clean lake water feels on your feet, or as it cools you down with a summer swim. I love how tired you get when you're at the cottage, it's all that fresh air in your lungs, the sun still warm on your skin, your face weathered from the boat ride.

I truly think that Muskoka is one the Ontario's best assets, the water is clean and deep, the shorelines are rocky and dramatic and mostly free of weeds. There are many lakes or varying sizes (but none too big) and every one of their bays is unique. If you can afford a a property, they are spread out, strategically situated for lake and sun angles. The cottages are large with separate guest and boat houses. A Muskoka chair adorns almost every deck. Muskoka is a true outdoors escape just a few hours drive from Canada's largest metropolis. If a vistor to Ontario was to ask what the most beautiful and truly Canadian thing to see was - I'd say Muskoka.

But this is where the dream luckily ends. I've been able to create a nice little argument against the idea of a cottage. First, the traffic. A normal drive from Toronto to Barrie (half way to Muskoka) is about an hour; on Saturday morning (of the long weekend), it took me two and a half hours to get to Barrie. It was bumper to bumper for almost 100kms with only an occasional (and very dangerous) speed up break. People often say the Friday traffic is terrible and I've been caught in Sunday drive home traffic too. Net, the traffic to and from Muskoka around and on the weekends is very bad. Second, money. Ok, obvious I know, but lets peel back a few layers. A cottage is a second home and it would require just as much maintenance and maybe more over the years. It takes a lot of my energy to destroy my city home, do I have the time (no) or money to pay someone to do all the work on a cottage. Plus, contractors and trades are known to be more expensive in prime cottage country. Then there's the furnishing costs, I'd surely want most of the comforts of home in my new cottage, incl. an adequate entertainment system and a decent kitchen. Toys - well that can get expensive, from additional bikes to the highly desirable ski boat. And last of course, is the cottage itself, better-than-the-city size and parking (guests welcome), waterfront with dock and a deck with a view. I hate to be a snob, but what good would a small shack in a field within "walking" distance to the lake be ? If I'm going to have a cottage, it has to fit the dream. But I'm afraid, that picture is just too costly for this dude.

A perfect new morning

2009-07-13T08:01:00.003-04:00

Kooper woke me up around 6:15. I didn't mind the early wake up call, I had a good night's sleep. I'm starting vacation this week, so no work reminders, ideas or problems rattling around my head. No puppy mistakes this morning and he played nice and gentle with some timely treats and some lovin'. He's getting at that bonding stage where he wants to be close to one of us a lot of the time and when I sat with him this morning, he wanted to straddle me and sit on my lap - part dominant move perhaps, but still nice. Had enough mini-breaks to check computer stuff (still trying to figure best backup process), and he had a little snooze, timed perfectly for me to grab a shower. He woke up and I just took him for a little walk to the corner and back. It's one of those summer mornings where there's a slight coolness riding the gentle breeze, like that morning when you're up before everyone else in the cottage and you go out to the dock and you're alone with the water, the rising sun and splashes of fish and some merry birds. Well, here, there's no water, and the sounds are rather more urban, but accompanied with that fresh scented, summer morning breeze, they feel gentle enough to great a summer Monday morn. Kooper is loving his newly introduced walks and is very excited at the possibility of meeting new people. Not a lot of people out at 7:30am, but there was a work crew assembling for their job down the street. Sure enough, one of the rough looking guys asked about Kooper and came over to get some licks. I'm loving our new walks too ! Now, just getting enough minutes to record some thoughts on the deck with Kooper on this perfect new morning.

Photo Blog #14: Mani

2009-07-04T11:41:00.001-04:00

Mani, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Mani is #16 in my 100 Stranger project...click on the pic to read the full story - the hardest photo in the project so far.

Photo Blog #13: Acton meadow

2009-07-01T16:24:00.002-04:00

Acton meadow, originally uploaded by PJMixer.

Simple rules of composition, well balanced colour and exposure seem to work well. New Flickr config allows me to now post to my blog a little more conveniently.

Happy Canada Day

2009-07-01T10:02:00.008-04:00

These three people sum up what I love about Canada. They are caring, compassionate and loving. They like an adventure and discovering new things, but are firmly rooted in family traditions. They accept and enjoy our cosmopolitan cities and multicultural mosaic. They are interested in the world beyond our borders, but understand the beauty of Canada. They love the outdoors, but also like the simple joys of life inside (which is especially useful during winter). They are kind and polite to friends and neighbours and are fair to all.

I put together a quick Flickr photo set celebrating Canada in pictures. These pics are all quite recent, so along with the Ontario countryside and lakes, Toronto and Ottawa, I'd like to use photography as an excuse to revisit a few of my other favourite Canadian places: Whistler, Montreal and Halifax.

I'm listening to iTunes set to Canadian artists today and enjoying a little time on the deck with my dog Kooper before the weather turns. I was going to add a playlist on Finetune, but for some reason they've disabled the create playlist feature, so I'll just Blip Sam Roberts instead.

Happy Canada Day

The dog blog

2009-06-28T11:11:00.000-04:00

Thursday, June 25th. We've had our new puppy Kooper for almost 2 weeks now. He is a 2 month Australian Shepherd. We had done quite a lot of research about the breed, visited with another Aussie owner and talked extensively with the breeder. We chose Kooper from the litter when he was just a month old based on what appeared to be his nice, calm nature and his beautiful colouring. However, since picking him up and bringing him home he is showing the true Aussie in him. That is, high energy, strength and intelligence, constant gnawing and chewing, frequent nipping and the occasional angry snarl and bite. It also appears that we have the potential for quite a large dog as opposed to the medium size more characteristic for the breed. At this time, I think he thinks he's the boss, perhaps enjoying his new role having come from more dominate pups at the breeders.

We had our first puppy training on Thursday night. I think it went quite well, no human or puppy was hurt, he didn't pee or poop on the floor and he wasn't barking uncontrollably. The little guy was so tired afterward though, all that play time and constant pulling on his leash. I could probably say Kooper was the most entertaining of the 7 dogs present. He definitely tried to assert himself, but was overpowered a few times by an older and larger labradoodle. Nice that he got a bit of a reality check. The one takeaway from the trainer on how to deal with his biting and nipping was consistently use food as reward for all good behaviour (playing nice, sitting and lying, waiting, leaving temptations alone etc).

Friday didn't end well. We tried some of the new ideas, but today it seems that every time we were playing with him it quickly came to an end when he began to bite. We even saw some true doggy aggression today with nasty growls and far from playful biting. We knew it would be difficult, but we didn't expect such a level of biting issues and aggression. We know its not his fault, and it must something we were doing wrong. We felt we are approaching his training as best we could, applying what we were reading and learning from other dog experts. We were putting a lot of energy, time and effort into his training and we seemed to be only making matters worse. My wife and I were very stressed out and I admitted that I was thinking that perhaps we'd made a mistake. It appears that Kooper felt the stress and sadness in the air and was very quiet in the evening.

One of his good traits is his nightime behaviour. He is quite easy to settle down now at night and there haven't been too many peeing accidents. Sometimes we'll sleep for a while beside his pen and we're testing the crate at bedtime on occasion as well.

We had a good Saturday, we probably gave half of his food today as treat rewards for obeying simple sit, wait and down tests and for leaving certain objects alone and listening to corrective instructions. We had family visitors in the evening and it went well with only occasional nipping.

I also had my second puppy driven stranger meeting in as many days on Saturday. On Friday, Kooper was the perfect chick magnate, attracting two attractive ladies over for a chat. And then on Saturday, I'm sitting with Kooper at the front of the house and one of our neighbours drives by and pulls his car into his driveway. Now this gentleman lives across the road and I've never met him. He always appears very serious, never noticing me or any of our family - quite an unfriendly fellow. He is however, a dog owner. On this day, he sees Kooper and I and as soon as he's parked his car, comes across the street to meet us. And what a nice man he is, I found out he's also from England and we talked about our dgos for a little while. Kooper lives up to being a true dog icebreaker.

It's Sunday morning now, the good news is that he lasted over 7 hours without needing to pee in the night. This morning's energy spurts were all fun and games but perhaps we let them go on a bit too long, so he's been getting rather nasty a few times this morning. He's having he morning nap now and the house is quiet. We'll pick up the new treat training when he wakes up and keep a close eye on his mood.

We are also starting to understand his daily moods, his eating and pee and poop timing and recognizing when he's over stimulated, when he needs some crazy time and when to just let him be. Hopefully, Kooper is starting to understand how we work too. We noticed that Friday was not a usual day as I worked from home and the kids were off school, so maybe that had some effect on his behaviour. Let's hope we don't have many more days like Friday.

Our new addition to our family is already changing our family in many ways. There are many challenges, but I can clearly see the positives and beginning to see the progress with his training. He has been part of our lives for just 2 weeks, but the emotional bond is already there. We love our Kooper.

Off season football treat

2009-06-11T18:00:00.001-04:00

Here's something to brighten up this rather dull, gray Thursday. First shot I've seen of one of the new stadiums for next year's World Cup in South Africa. This is in Johannesburg and will be the site of the final. The colours are amazing and immediately say Africa.

Construction (less pretty) pics.

Downer start, but ending on the up

2009-06-09T22:14:00.007-04:00

I played soccer tonight and I must say, apart from the good workout, it wasn't a lot of fun. I now have ice on my ankle and my jaw hurts from a full blast goalie clearance I took in the face. I think I may actually pack it in. My ankle, which in normal situations doesn't give me any trouble these days (after the break and surgery last year), is just not strong enough to make a convincing pass or worse, a threatening shot on goal. If you have access to my health file, you'll know about my "frozen shoulder" so I'm not playing my regular ultimate or golf this summer. I thought soccer may be a decent substitute but and I'm a little tentative on the soccer field too. Maybe someone is trying to tell me something ?

So, foot up and on ice, wondering whether to do some physio for my shoulder and if I need to treat my other problem (I'm still a little uncomfortable sharing the details, but let's just say, PA is forcing me to change my diet and is taking forever to cure). I'm actually saying screw it tonight and enjoying a beer as I feel sorry for myself.

So what else is keeping me busy these days ? Well from the business side, I'm enjoying having my evenings and weekends free until the next busy cycle hits. I'm probably spending the most time with photography and building a good collection of public content on Flickr and sharing personal photos via Picasa. Actually, I'm getting a lot more viewers and comments on Flickr than all my other online sharing these days. New music has fallen on the list, but I'm still downloading quite a bit of new stuff every month. I picked up the latest Q mag today and quickly found some interesting stuff, incl Canadian electronic act Junior Boys, the cool sounds of Camera Obscura (playing at Lees on June 27th), and the hard rocking new album from The Manic Street Preachers.

The other big news that is about to change my life is Kooper. Kooper is our new Australian Shepherd puppy who we're bringing home on Saturday. I'm sure he'll generate quite a bit of content here over the next few months. Still have some prep work to do, incl. installing some extra fencing in the back yard. We picked an Aussie because they are more of a medium sized dog, a super smart, athletic and very loyal.

Watching a little Derek Trucks in High Def (HDNet from the weekend) before heading to bed, hoping to log a few REM meets the sandman hours.

Photo Blog #12: Luminato Long Wave

2009-06-09T21:41:00.003-04:00

This is one of the reasons I haven't been blogging much these days. I've been immersed in a couple of photography projects: 100 Strangers and capturing all the wonderful things to see at the Luminato Festival that is running thru next weekend here in Toronto.

Wrecked quiet moment

2009-05-29T13:30:00.004-04:00

Unfortunately I don't have my camera with me otherwise this may have been a wrecked landscape photo. I'm having lunch and reading my photo mag at Ryerson's green space, nestled among college buildings in the heart of downtown Toronto. I've been here a couple of times and find it's a relatively quiet spot that is isn't very busy and close to my office. A little din can be heard from close by Yonge Street, the faint radio sound from a parked truck isn't so bad, and the occasional hospital helicopter I can take, but the high pitched, metallic grind of the work men cutting concrete is doing a marvelous job at ruining this quiet urban moment.

Photo project

2009-05-28T00:14:00.004-04:00

Had to jot this idea down before going to bed. Felt that I might as well share it. I've had an idea about seeing the mess of a city in a different light. I added a new set in my Flickr account that is starting to capture some of the photos with this theme, although I haven't managed to capture the beauty yet, just document some wrecked landscapes.

So I was thinking, really what makes the city great ? It's partly its physical diversity and impressive structures, its neighbourhoods, but mostly, it must be its people. However, I'm a little too shy to simply walk up to people on the street and ask to take their photograph. I do it on occasion, but prefer to steal a candid shot. So I'm now thinking of trying to capture one of those one genuine expressions that you can't really pose for, laughter. But try and capture the moment and faces in amongst the less than pretty places on the street. Unsure of depth-of-field challenges with my 70-300, but I'll give it a try tomorrow (well, later today).

This is probably relevant, but I watched Slumdog Millionaire tonight. Still trying to put my thoughts into words, but I loved how "beautiful" the movie looked, slums and all.

Only Coincidence ?

2009-05-27T19:16:00.003-04:00

As I've noted a few times in the past, I notice coincidences quite a lot
and I am very curious about their math and meaning.
So much so, that I've decided to blog them.
Announcing PJMixer's Only Coincidence ? Blog.

Photo Blog #11: 100 Minute Street scene

2009-05-19T20:48:00.001-04:00

100 Minutes on (West) Queen West and a little Dundas too. I had rented a couple of high quality lenses for the weekend which I returned this morning. However after viewing the Contact Festival exhibition at Mocca after work I put my faith back in my 18-55mm kit lens and along with some new inspiration I took a long walk to see what angles and content I could capture. Originals and full set going on Flickr shortly along with weekend shots.

Twitter overflow

2009-05-18T00:50:00.001-04:00

I haven't been twittering a lot recently and now I find I'm a bit behind. Engage Twitter overflow blog mode.

Even though I've had to work a little this weekend and my shoulder is still causing 4am wake times, I'm enjoying this long weekend.

We went to the Ontario Science Centre today. I've never been a big fan since I always feel it's very disorganized and many exhibits are not working properly. But, the interactive exhibitions always seem to be hit with the kids and it got their brains working hard for 3 hours.

Catching up on a few movies too this weekend, Forgetting Sarah Marshall was hilarious and we just watched Benjamin Button tonight, which was a little different to what I expected. Can't say I loved it was but a curious story well told. Hot music of late includes Pete(r) Doherty, White Lies and S&R just introduced us to Bash for Lashes after dinner last night.

I enjoyed shopping with the kids yesterday and especially liked my son's rare fashion sense kick in with a pair of white and red Ferrari logo'd Pumas, sweet !

I've been taking a ton of photos this weekend. I went to Vistek on Friday and rented a couple of lenses (Nikon 18-200mm VR and Nikon 50mm 1.4) and a Nikon SB-800 speedlight for the weekend (pretty good deal I think). Although I'm constantly trying new photographic techniques, camera settings and subjects, I think I'm gradually getting a little better, but adding some quality lenses hasn't produced instant wows. Probably a good thing considering the price tags.

Sports - keeping it brief, Arsenal put up a decent performance to hold ManU to a scoreless time at Old Trafford, which gave The Red Devils the point the needed to clinch the Premiership. It's been a difficult season for a Gunner fan, but I'm sticking with them and hopeful for next season if they can add a little muscle and height at the back. Sorry hockey fans, still haven't invested time into the NHL playoffs yet, I'll probably wait until the next round. F1 is looking interesting this year, big shake up with Brit boy Jenson Button leading the pack - worth watching some new faces get the time at the front !

My sports, unfortunately Ive had to cancel a number of golf tournament and my ultimate season due to this frozen shoulder injury. I think I've stabilized it a little, but it hurts like a bugger now and again and very uncomfortable at night (to say the least).

As some readers may know I like coincidences. In fact with a few recent events and a story from SEH I'm actually thinking of spinning up a new blog to log coincidences - I think there's enough to make you go hm.

And to finish, today is my 18th wedding anniversary. We're planning on spending the afternoon doing the West Queen West walk, taking in some galleries exhibiting during this month's Contact Photography Festival and having a nice cafe lunch. Can't end without saying she's the most amazing woman and perfect for me.

Status of the blog, Twitter and Facebook

2009-04-25T09:56:00.004-04:00

As you may have seen, I'm neglecting my blog a little these days. I'm finding that Twitter is standing in for as-it-happens content, but is of course, limited to 140 characters. Therefore, for more in depth posts, pictures and embedded content I will continue to post here in my blog. As I was talking with friends last night, the 140 character limit becomes an interesting exercise in writing. The challenge is to summarize your thoughts and content in just a sentence or two. With the help of tinyurl and some abbrevs and TLA's, Twitter updates can become very efficient and potentially deliver a potent message. I have included my real-time feed of my Twitter updates in the right hand panel of this blog, in case you're wondering what's happening between blog posts.

If you don't get Twitter, let me try and explain it in 140 characters...Twitter allows you to instantly share what you are doing, what you find interesting and what you think with about 8 million people. For those familiar with Facebook, Twitter is just the status part!

There is tons of information about Twitter these days (including a new blog called Twitter Facts I just found) and you're probably hearing a lot more about it these days as celebrities, news sources and sports personalities start coming on board. Some interesting notes: only 35 people work at Twitter; I often hear news through Twitter, before I hear it through other online or traditional communication channels; for many celebrities, Twitter provides a way to disintermediate the paparazzi and junk tabloid press; and the limit of 140 characters stops the rants, rambling marketing BS, and wordy commentary - it just gets the point !

If you're wondering about the credibility of the Twitterer or their tweet, then my answer is the same for many online sources of information. The democratization of the internet, where everyone has a very easy way to provide feedback and comment to anyone and everything, creates a self-regulated internet information source. For instance, if someone nabs a celebrity's name and pretends to be them on Twitter, it will not take very long time for many people to discredit the fake source and educate people on where to find the real person.

However, not everything is rosy in Twitter world. There is an ugly side to Twitter in that it can open up unwanted online marketing channels. You'll notice this when you're happy tweeting away (say about your latest ultimate injury) and you get a notification that jennyhealthexpert has started following you. Now, jennyhealthexpert may be a friend with a weird alias, or someone that legitimately is interested in your health and condition, but more often than not, jennyhealthexpert wants you to follow her so she can tell you about her thoughts or perhaps advertise her services. You have of course, the choice not to follow jennyhealthexpert, and if you don't then she'll likely eventually unfollow you. But, it still feels a little uncomfortable, knowing people are just waiting for you to tweet on a topic that they want to use to market themselves to you !

The other thing that came up this week about Twitter was the use of real names versus aliases. For me, I think I still like to use my alias when publicly posting on my blog and Twitter. I keep my real name for Facebook where the community is better controlled. As a few people have said, it is a little surprising how open people are sharing personal and professional comments under their real name on Twitter. It's probably not that difficult to figure out my real name from my blog or Twitter, but why advertise it ! My friends know how to find me if they're interested in what I have to say, so I'll leave it like this. In case you're reading this or following me on Twitter, and also a friend of mine on Facebook, you may have noticed that I have fewer Facebook status updates these days. This is because the auto feed from Twitter to Facebook now is selective, I get to choose which Twitter updates go to Facebook. I do get quite a few people politely comment that I update my Facebook status much more often than other friends. Hopefully, I'm not clogging your news feed as much these days !

I also use my alias when sharing other things publicly, incl. Flickr and comments on other people's content. On that note, I'm pleased to say that one of my pictures was recently used on blogTO. I wonder how many people on the net are known more by their alias rather than their real name ?

I had contemplated posting "The Big Blog Weekend Update", but instead I'm just going to post individual pieces with titles and labels so readers can pick and choose. Plus I won't feel that I just need to add this one extra thing before I post the big update, so I'll actually get something out. Just remembered another reason I was going to do one big blog...so I could post just one link to Facebook rather than posting a lot of individual links, um.

Well, this little topic took a lot longer than planned this morning, blogs about soccer, Arshavin, Anfield song, ultimate, St George's day, health, money, Travis gig, other music, Contact and Luminato festivals, God poster and cars will have to wait for another day.

Ultimate - more than you think

2009-04-23T12:11:00.004-04:00

Great article in blogTO about ultimate today. Fab video showing intense highlights below (although as one comment suggests, not really showing the nice, spirit-of-the-game side of our fabulous game). The video does its job of showing the sport really is extremely athletic and should dismiss those silly comments about it's just throwing a frisbee on the beach. Now if I could only cure this nagging arm injury, I'd be ready for the outdoor season next month.

Creative Grumpiness

2009-04-14T09:31:00.003-04:00

I'm a little down these days. Maybe it's the cold weather delay of Spring, or my nagging arm injury (and concerns about sports in the upcoming months), or more dietary changes, or the lack of sleep and routine, or my Dad's health, or the economic woes effecting the globe. I guess it's all those things put together. Sidebar on health - maybe it's my age, but it seems that each successive issue I have these days has a much bigger impact on me than it used to do, I'm finding that just one ailment can easily effect me, combine a few and drag it on for weeks and months, and I'm not myself.

I've heard that musicians and maybe writers, find it therapeutic to channel their negativity through their art. We all know that there have been some great songs written my rejected lovers, or in memory of family deaths or reflecting on troubled times.

But what about photography (the art form I perhaps can partake in) ? Apart from the photo journalism reality of reporting on the nasty news of the day, I'm not one to look for depressing photographs. But maybe this is a neglected field.

Maybe I'll snap a few shots on the Blackberry at lunch or bring the DSLR out tomorrow and shoot some shots of road work, dirt and grime, ugly construction sites, garbage and litter. But how could that make me feel better ? I don't know, maybe I'll feel better with a few days of warmer weather, an extra hit of ibuprofen for my arm and a overdue pint.

Hope you're having a better day.

Photo Blog #10: DC Angles and Reflections

2009-04-07T22:44:00.003-04:00

We recently had a fabulous visit to Washington DC. Lots of sites in all kinds of Spring weather. More shots on Flickr.

The Mac Experience

2009-04-06T18:00:00.000-04:00

I bought a MacBook shortly after Christmas.

First, I must say that the simplicity of buying a computer that deliberately has few options is a joy. Saw a rare $100 off deal at Future Shop, went in and um'd and ar'd for a few token minutes, then said I'll have it. Some might say I'm crazy, but we turned down Future Shop's maintenance plan and haven't signed up for Mac's service program. Logic suggests serious problems happen within a year and I really only buy insurance for my life, my house and my car. I bought a Airport Express at the time of the purchase with thoughts of a replacement for my 'g' router plus I loved the wireless iTunes capability.

I got home and literally within minutes turned it on for the first time, answered some very basic configuration questions and connected to my existing wireless network. I was literally up and running on a brand new Mac computer in about 30 minutes.

Next task, was familiarizing myself with basic Mac applications and getting used to the new magical trackpad. Some Mac things immediately began to trip me up like missed home/end keys and the awkward Finder interface.

The Airport Express wasn't really a "silver bullet" as it doesn't have an ethernet cable input for my existing hard wired PC. So I configured it as a wireless client just to stream iTunes. I got it configured pretty quickly and it worked beautifully. However, it did trigger the next wave of networking decisions and since then, I have bought a Airport Extreme from a friend and almost got it perfect. Some gotchas on the networking front and still occasional interference problems and the odd drop. It's not perfect , but doing the job and pretty fast. Note that I had thought my PS3 had an 'n' wireless card, but it only has a 'g' card so I've decided to downgrade the network on occasion when I need PS3 network connectivity. Otherwise I'm going to try and keep the network as 'n' only and on 5ghz to hopefully reduce interference. The last configuration change was connecting my Seagate external USB drive to the Airport Extreme. I had to reformat the drive (using an included Seagate app) to be compatible with the Mac (I think that means FAT32, but haven't confirmed because the drive appears as something special to the PC and is now being used as a backup Mac Time Machine. This last little bit was a nice bonus. I spoke a little too soon - it just failed with a connection error.

And that little excursion may be a good example of the problem with Mac. When things go wrong, it's not always that obvious how to fix them. A few people have asked about my Mac experience and comparisons to PC's. I've quickly replied that I think Macs are great for the home, but I'm not sold on them being a good solution for a large business customer. The logic being that I haven't seen the granularity of control and configuration that is often needed to meet the high demands of enterprise information technology today. I've been very impressed by the simplicity of the Mac OS and its easy plug-and-play capabilities (especially with other Mac products like the Airport network components). However, on a few occasions I've been tripped up, merrily walking down the pleasant Mac boulevard, when gotcha, figure this one out !

I'm just getting around to finishing this post a few weeks later. I have seen Mac's hourglass equivalent - spinning colour wheel a few times and had to force quit on a few occasions, but I'm getting pretty comfortable with MacBook. Network instability is still a bit of a problem, but it's been on 'n' with 'g' compatibility for a little while and all the clients (PC, MacBook, Airport, PS3 and my work Windows laptop) seems happy. [Just as I finished typing this last sentence the Extreme router hiccuped and I lost the connection - connectivity up and down now - weird, it's like the Mac network knows I'm talking about it from a Windows laptop].

I actually gave it trying to finish this post last night, I finally got the network back after installing the Airport Utility on my PC and changing it to 'n' 5Ghz - again. This morning, the Extreme was reporting an error connecting to the internet - I really getting to dislike that little flashing orange light ! I'm seriously thinking of replacing the Airport Extreme if I can't get config a reliable setup. Any suggestions on specific settings appropriate for my mix of machines and adapters in a very (wireless) busy and close proximity neighbourhood would be appreciated.

Some miscellaneous items:

antivirus - none installed, yes, none installed
Firewall - basic Mac firewall included in OS - seems a little too basic
fast user switching - beautiful and highly functional in a household with 4 users - but it's not ideal, because we have the "home" account streaming the music and then when someone is on their personal account, they're always being asked to skip to the next song; on a sidenote I did consider a remote control, but Apple told me it works on line-of-sight, so not great for me trying to DJ from the kitchen.
USB/iPod connectivity good except the Seagate connection on the Extreme seems a little funky and disrupting Time Machine and manual PC backups
Garage Band and Photo Booth lots of free fun
I'm still loving the trackpad
I'm not using many native Mac apps, Firefox runs great, and OpenOffice has nice compatibility when needed for office apps; I've moved all our music to the MacBook with iTunes, but for disk space reasons, source photos are still on the PC with Photoshop
Battery power seems ok, but not great and it does run pretty hot
The MacBook chasis is beautiful and strong - it's getting around the house on a regular basis
The screen is pretty nice and feels bigger than it's most 13"
Spaces seemed like a good feature to use initially, but not using it much these days

Final thoughts. I'm happy with the Mac OS, the beautiful styling and quality of Apple's products and I can overlook most of its shortcomings, although I have some doubts about Apple's networking products. Mac OS is more simple to configure and manage than Windows, in many situations it performs better is more stable than Windows. I'm pretty sure, my next desktop will be an iMac.

The result is in...being a vegan doens't help me

2009-04-05T20:55:00.001-04:00

As you may recall, I recently became a vegan for 2 months in hopes of dramatically lowering my blood cholesterol levels, specifically my LDL.

I talked with my doctor a few weeks ago and my LDL number (the key measurement) only fell 15% from 2.9 to 2.48. As it happens, I've been told on a few occasions that the average person's dietary intake only accounts for 15% of their blood cholesterol. Decreasing it by 15% may be coincidentally convenient, but I'd like to think that I was in pretty good control of my dietary intake of bad fats before I became vegan (with the 2.9 measurement in January). There is in my mind, only one other factor that is in my control that may have some say in my blood cholesterol levels - alcohol. During my vegan months, I kept my alcohol intake normal (well, "normal" for me). One reason was to control the variables, and the other one is that there is no clear indication that alcohol consumption negatively affects blood cholesterol. And in fact, there have been quite a few studies that suggest regular drinks of wine and beer can help - I like those studies.

This week I got the final numbers: LDL 2.48, HDL 1.37 (which didn't go up as much as I'd hoped), total: 4.46, triglycerides 1.34 and Risk ratio: 3.3. Pretty good for a normal person, not good enough for someone in a high risk category like me.

So the good news/bad news. Bad news: I can't reduce my blood cholesterol levels enough through diet, therefore I've increased my dose of Lipitor to 40mg/day (but still a moderate dose). The good news: I can enjoy meat and fish once again, and perhaps even better, I don't have to feel guilty or have to second guess - I now know being a vegan doesn't help with my particular condition. However keep in mind that besides my personal biggest health threat, high blood cholesterol, there may be many other health benefits of limiting animal protein based foods.

The experiment did teach me one thing, I don't need to eat meat. Put into more socially acceptable terms, I don't need to eat meat as often. I have enjoyed many vegetarian and vegan meals over the last few months and will continue with many of them, but I'll enjoy eating fish (especially sushi) once again and be able to eat some red meat guilt free on occasions too.

Bon appetit

Measure your personal Earth Hour this Saturday

2009-03-26T08:33:00.004-04:00

Hopefully, you're aware that this Saturday is Earth Hour. Last year, we did our part by using candles and playing a board game (although it was a little tricky to tell the difference between red and orange markings on the board!). One quick thing I just thought of was using your electric meter to measure the amount of electricity you use during that hour versus the following hour when you switch everything back on. I just checked mine, which is a new fangled digital one, but the kWh number should do the trick. This maybe difficult for apartment dwellers, but for anyone living in a house, you should have access to your electric meter. Happy Earth Hour.

Rogers (8300HD) PVR Extender

2009-03-11T22:30:00.001-04:00

I feel I'm pretty up to date on technology. When I bought my HD TV about 2 years ago, I also started my love/hate relationship with my Rogers PVR. Note that in Canada we seem to use the acronym PVR (personal video recorder), whereas in the US I they use the term DVR (digital video recorder). We like to use "PVR" as we also have another component we call a DVR. It was our first hard drive recorder and we still use it regularly for overflow recording and archiving to DVD. It's a Pioneer DVR-633H-S. It did well, with std def, but the hard drive got messed up a few years back so we can't set it for timed recording any more, Pioneer do have newer versions, but I'm still bitter about their service, but that's another story.

Rogers use the Explorer 8300HD from Cisco (prev. Scientific Atlanta) which is widely used in North America. It's been around for years, seems to job relatively well, but I've never been happy with its very limited 160 GB capacity. That sounds like a lot of space, but not when you're hooked on HD. It's supposed to get 20 hours of HD programming, but from our experience it's more like 10 hours. We know this primarily because available disk space decreases by 10% for every one hour of HD programming we record.

With the convenience of daily and weekly programming, timeshifting and two tuners, our PVR is used very regularly and we have a constant struggle to keep free space available.

A little while ago, Bell introduced support for external hard drive extensions for its PVR. It allows you to connect any hard drive via USB to increase hard drive space, however I believe the solution required you to manually copy/move items from the onboard hard drive to the external unit (not sure if that's still the case). My wife wrote about Bell's External Storage for PVR last August and it's still one of her most read postings.

In the last month, Rogers have finally caught up. However, they are doing it a little differently. Their PVR Extender is a 500GB Seagate external drive which is connected to the PVR using a sSATA connection. This type of connection is more unusual than USB, but isn't rocket science. Consequently you can purchase your own cheaper hard drive instead of paying for the Rogers drive for $200. A quick look around shows you can get a 1.5TB Seagate eSATA hard drive at Tiger Direct for $250. All you need is a cable. I actually have a 500GB Seagate drive with the eSATA connector but it's loaded with a lot of my techie work stuff (e.g. massive VMware images), but I'll probably buy a new large one when I get approval from the HomeCFO. The other option is to use an internal hard drive and eSATA compatible enclosure, probably even cheaper. See this digital home forum for some more info on the options.

The other thing to watch out for is that the eSATA connection between the PVR and the external hard drive is rather sensitive. I've had a few chats with a very friendly and helpful chap at Future Sop that has tried this himself and by reading a few extra pieces online, there is definitely an issue if you disconnect the eSATA cable once the initial formatting has been done (local encryption key restrictions possibly). I'm not certain if there's still an issue when the units are completely powered down. As for brown outs and power cuts, I believe if they're connected, everything will continue to work ok. As for current recordings, I'm not certain if they'll still be available since the PVR begins to use the drive with the most amount of space once it recognizes the external drive. More testing and comments to hopefully come later.

If you google a little, you'll see that the discussion on extending the 8300 has been going on for some time. If I'd found this info earlier I probably would have jumped on this a while back, but like so many tech decisions, waiting a little sometimes helps. In this case, you can now easily buy 1.5 TB hard drives for very reasonable cost. That is almost 10x the capacity of the current PVR - now we're talking, bring on nightly HD recordings of The Hour and saving HDNet concerts and TMN HD movies for a little longer.

Sky Blues

2009-02-27T09:31:00.004-05:00

Coventry City FC (The Sky Blues) were my home town football team growing up. I actually wasn't as big a fan of the game when I was younger (as I am now) but did manage to go to a few games, including accompanying my best friend Tommy who worked as an usher at Highfield Road. The team highlight that always remains very clear to me is their win over Spurs in the 1987 FA Cup. Many people have said that game was one of the best FA Cup finals ever.

For some reason, Cov City has had a good habit of progressing quite well in the FA Cup over the last few years. With Setanta sports at home, along with a few other soccer carrying stations, I've been lucky enough to see their 4th round game against Torquay United (a little worrying) and the the tie against Blackburn Rovers in the 5th round (strong performance). Unfortunately I didn't see Tuesday's 1-0 win over Blackburn in the replay at Ricoh Arena. But the fantastic picture above seems to sum it up well. Next up, the quarter final at home to Chelsea next weekend - I hope that one is on the tele.

Photo Blog #9 Gould and Yonge

2009-02-26T18:23:00.007-05:00

A few shots taken at lunch yesterday. For those that know this corner, you'll be
saddened to hear that the first shot is taken across an empty lot that was once Sam's.

In the news

2009-02-23T12:05:00.003-05:00

Some interesting articles in the bite size Metro this morning:

Clement seeks more info on Chrysler's financial plan - good for him, I'd ask a lot of questions too if I was giving someone $3B.
CUPE Israeli boycott sparks furor - wow, awkward mix of academics and politics and a union.
Tory delay "infantile" - this has to do with more delays in the listeriosis investigation and a 4 month consultation about handwritten notes - odd that I can't find a link to this story anywhere, hm ! Do we need more examples of wasteful government bureaucracy ?

Thievery Corporation concert review

2009-02-23T10:27:00.010-05:00

Absolutely brilliant show here in Toronto on Saturday night. It was much better than I anticipated and is one of the best shows I've seen in the last few years.

I was a little shocked about the ticket price when I initially heard about the date, but I must say it was worth every penny. The main men of TC, Rob Garza and Eric Hilton were stationed prime centre stage but raised and highlighted towards the back to let them DJ without the show just being about a couple of guys behind laptops. Front and centre and always on the move was the bass player, making the moves with the large rotation of singers (5 or 6 I believe, including 2 South American ladies, another lady from Tehran and 2 hip hop DC lads). They had two percussionists, a sitar player, and a wonderful trumpet and sax horns duo. Large screens showed a dazzling array of images and video.

The reviews have been a little hard to come by with the Toronto date being only #2 on the tour with Chicago being on Friday night (pics). The one review of the Toronto show wasn't that positive (mainly because of venue and sound issues), but it gives you a sense of the show. I think the Kool Haus is a decent venue for its size and sound is ok if you're familiar with the material. Towards the end of the 2 hour show they got about 20 groovy ladies from the audience up on stage to dance along with the band - quite the party ! Apparently, David Byrne jumped up on stage for one number in Chicago - wow, that would have been something to see. If you're a fan of their blend of electronica and world beats then I'm sure you'll love them live.

Highlights would be opening numbers Sound the Alarm and Madala from their latest album, Warning Shots "one" singalong, The Numbers Game, and of course Shadows of Ourselves.

The set list which I found on a cool little site called setlist.fm:

Links - main site, videos (incl. a good live montage - embedded below); myspace (tunes, dates etc)

Oscar extras

2009-02-22T17:49:00.004-05:00

For movie fans tuning in to the Oscars tonight I thought I'd collect some links and add a little game (inspired by 100 Books in Facebook) in case the proceedings are moving a little slow.

The main site - http://www.oscar.com/
Big winners and nominations - http://www.filmsite.org/oscars2.html
IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/features/poweroffilm/ - my movie bible.

Unfortunately I have seen very few of the nominated movies and performances this year. Having a quick look, I saw The Dark Knight (Ledger), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Cruz), Ironman (sound and FX) and Wanted (sound).

Past 25 Best Picture winners - seen 'em all. How many have you seen ? My faves with an *

1983 Terms of Endearment
1984 Amadeus*
1985 Out of Africa
1986 Platoon
1987 The Last Emperor
1988 Rain Man
1989 Driving Miss Daisy
1990 Dances with Wolves
1991 Silence of the Lambs*
1992 Unforgiven
1993 Schindler's List*
1994 Forest Gump
1995 Braveheart
1996 English Patient*
1997 Titanic
1998 Shakespeare in Love*
1999 American Beauty*
2000 Gladiator
2001 Beautiful Mind*
2002 Chicago
2003 Lord of Rings - Return of the King
2004 Million Dollar Baby
2005 Crash**
2006 The Departed*
2007 No Country for Old Men

I do watch a ton of movies, all my reviews are on Facebook - Flixster.

My pics for tonight:

Actor: Rourke
Actress: Winslet
Picture: Slumdog Millionaire
Supporting Actor: Ledger
Supporting Actress: Cruz

I'm suspicious about coincidence

2009-02-18T14:31:00.006-05:00

My Facebook profile says that my religious view is "I'm suspicious about coincidence".

Coincidence continues to be something I notice a lot, maybe more than most people. The way I've said this is deliberate - I believe coincidences are happening all the time and the personal connection is simply a matter of noticing them. Coincidences may not really happen to people, they happen and people observe them.

I'm not a religious person (well not in the traditional, organized religion, sense), but in this week's episode of House, I heard a great requote of Einstein - "Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous". There seems to be a lot of links on this quote.

Don't laugh, but I'm actually trying to develop a more complete theory about coincidence. One element of the theory needs to consider the time element. How far apart in time do two events have to occur for them to be considered coincidental ?

I hope to write more on the subject in the future, but if you find some other interesting views on the topic or have your own comments I'd love to hear them.

Latest coincidence that sparked this entry: listening to a Beth Orton track that a friend reblipped and I in turn reblipped with the comment "The mood of this just kinda sums up this gray wet day". I then notice that the original Blip DJ provided "rainy day ohio" and "here's my perfect rainy day band" as comments to earlier tunes today. Weather may not be the largest of coincidences, but it's a nice feeling when a little coincidence make us feel connected to other people. Are we really strangers ?

Photo Blog #8: Downtown Snow Scenes

2009-02-04T12:35:00.007-05:00

University Avenue - Canada Life and CN Tower

Snowy Train Tracks taken from Strachan Avenue crossing

University of Toronto

[By the way I'm still adding photos to my Flickr and personal Picasa web albums]

Clueless networking assistance from Bell

2009-01-31T13:36:00.005-05:00

I just had a very humourous call w/ Bell technical support. I was trying to find out some more information about the combined modem and wireless router product they have been promoting. The sales department quickly routed my call to technical support. Apparently Bell are selling this product for home networking customers, but clearly, apart from stratosphere level marketing information, they haven't got a clue about the product.

Keep in mind that Bell Canada is Canada's most "experienced" communication company and one of the first companies to offer internet connectivity for the public.

The "technical" person I was speaking with did not understand my simple technical question - what wireless specification does your product support, e.g. is it a wireless N or G router ? They hadn't get a clue about different wireless specifications, 802.11n/g. Maybe it was my accent ! Oddly he did quote 128bit security which I suspect he was reading from a cheat sheet in front of him. I did ask him to forward information, but he didn't seem to acknowledge my request so after a few more uncomfortable words trying to politely say he was useless, I hung up.

This total lack of understanding of home wireless networking technology is oddly disturbing coming from Bell Canada technical support. I have been using their ISP service for a long time and am quite happy with it, but obviously I crossed some line in technical expectations. I wouldn't be surprised to get a call from another Bell rep this afternoon.

So, I'm still a little stuck on my networking dilemma. My current Netgear G router is acting up a little, dropping connections now and again and problematic for the PS3 wireless connection. I recently picked up an Apple Airport Express but it's configured as a wireless client and connected to the stereo to stream iTunes. Plus it's not conveniently close to my modem and my desktop PC cannot use it because it doesn't have a wireless card. So I'm looking at new N routers and hoping to get faster and more reliable performance, plus gain USB network attached storage if possible. I'd like to get something that's a little future proof, but reviews are all over the place and prices range from about $100 to $200. I put out a twit and Facebook status asking for advice, but only got one who said they liked Netgear. Any solid advice on a reliable and good performing wireless N router would be appreciated.

The one and only Rolling Stones

2009-01-25T11:40:00.000-05:00

I watched Shine a light last night. I didn't have high expectations, but I was in the mood to listen to some classic Stones and see if there was any Scorsese magic (I'd actually forgotten he's directed another concert film - The Last Waltz - which I still haven't seen - my bad).

I must say the cinematography was beautiful, especially so in HD. The sound quality was superb, although I noticed various instrument sounds were highlighted when the camera moved to them, especially from the supporting musicians. Even Richards' guitar work seemed to come in and out, but then again maybe he's struggling to stay on and that's how he plays these days. Or maybe, because of the sound quality, I've just noticed this for the first time. If the highlighting was deliberate, the effect seemed a little unnecessary.

Some would call the music of The Stones classic rock, however from this performance you can see that the sound of American blues music is solidly in their English blood. I've noticed their take on the blues on past occasions, but I think it was more evident than ever in the film, maybe it's always been there and it just took a more intimate setting to show it off rather than the mega shows we've been used to in the last 25 years.

[pause while I put on some tracks from 1969's Let it Bleed]

The duets with White, Guy and Aguilera were a great addition. With Jack White you got to really see his playful natural side, Buddy Guy's booming voice was just fantastic and the I loved the sassy and sexy chemistry between Mick and Christina Aguilera. I was also pleasantly surprised by Keith's lead on You Got the Silver, that drugged-out dude can really sing and he really poured a lot of heart and energy into all his playing and singing in the show.

The movie was really a concert film with some intro elements from Scorsese to set the stage. There was some odd nonsense with Bill Clinton and company that seemed a little out of place. It may be a little hard to appreciate Scorsese's hand in the film with no clear directing of the performers, but I'm sure he had a big say in all elements of the film, from the choice of camera angles, editing, lighting, etc. Whatever he did, he made this intimate, bluesy and rocking performance a must see for any fan of The Stones, or any music fan wanting to find out what makes The Rolling Stones one of the best bands of all time.

The movie had a few interjections from old interviews, simple but effective. The selected excerpts showed their early confidence, their intelligent humour and a sense they already knew they would make a mark in the music world. Now in their 60's, the lines on their faces show they've enjoyed an exhausting career, but you can't fault their energy levels. It shows that youth never has to die, these kids are still just doing what they love. Jagger's non stop moves actually reminded me of Brandon Flowers' Killer performance at Friday's night show here in Toronto.

I watched the movie by myself in my basement, but I didn't feel alone. I sung out loud a few times and felt like clapping in appreciation of their artistry on many occasions. I've seen them live twice (1981 Tattoo You tour in Detroit and the massive SARS concert here in Toronto in 2003), but I felt I could almost call this the third, it was such a personal experience.

The film did it's job for me. It reminded me how truly great The Rolling Stones are. The New York performance shows what wonderful consummate performers they are. 40 years on and their energized and intelligent combination of classic blues and rock with the most singable and mature lyrics around is still shining bright. I'm proud to call them my countrymen.

The Killers part 3

2009-01-23T22:29:00.002-05:00

Great show, Flowers and drummer true performers. They played all their hits and my fave Joy Division cover. Better in the bigger venue than plastic performances on SNL and the like. Worth the crush.

sent from my BlackBerry

The killers part 2

2009-01-23T21:42:00.002-05:00

Piano interlude. Second fight avoided. Great energy. Screaming girls. Still very intimate - crushed, but nicer folks a few feet back. My kind of Vegas floor show.

sent from my BlackBerry

M83

2009-01-23T20:22:00.001-05:00

Solid opening act for The Killers tonight. Great exposure for this small band - small enough that they're putting their own gear away and the guitarist walked on this his parka under his arm and his guitar case in hand. Great start to the night.

sent from my BlackBerry

Killers part 1

2009-01-23T19:23:00.004-05:00

We have general admission floor tickets at the Air Canada Centre.

So my gung-ho-early-liner-upper wife has us jammed in up front and still a few hours to go before they go on - I must be crazy. And a little annoyed because they don't allow booze for floor tickets.

Looking around - I'm definitely the oldest guy in the mob. Spanish banter behind me. Mob is about about 20 deep - it must look odd for those sitting down in this 15,000 person arena !

Supporting act M83 hopefully up in the next 30 mins.

Not sure if I'll have elbow space to write later.

sent from my BlackBerry

The new vegan and the health of my heart

2009-01-23T12:30:00.002-05:00

I've been a vegan for a week. It's not easy, but actually not as difficult, nor as depressing as I thought it would be. I'm the guinea pig in my wife's nutrition experiment.

[If you don't want all the medical background you can skip the next 3 paragraphs].

What set this off a week ago was an appointment with my cardiologist to discuss my latest blood cholesterol levels. Basically they are not as good as he'd like them to be. By normal standards, my levels are very good. However because I've inherited my Dad's tendency to "naturally" have higher blood cholesterol levels than normal people, and he had a heart attack when he was about my current age, that puts me in a high risk category. Therefore my doc is pushing me to really low levels to reduce the risk of heart disease. He's talked about research that indicates there is certain reversing effects at LDL levels below 2.0 mmol/L. [note to convert the mmol/L measurement to mg/dL used in the US, then multiple by 40].

I started going to a family doctor on a regular basis in 1992. When I first got tested, my total cholesterol was 6.74. By following a recommended low fat diet I reduced my total cholesterol to a natural low of 5.26 in 1994. In 1997, I started to record the LDL and HDL numbers individually and the corresponding risk factor. My LDL was 3.99 and my risk factor ratio (total/HDL) was 4.87. My levels were hovering around those numbers (+/- 0.5) for quite a few years. In 2006 I complained to my family doctor that I felt some chest/muscular discomfort, maybe from over-excursion playing sports ? That's all it took for her to refer me to a cardiologist ! I did a full stress test (which I aced) and echo cardiogram (my "normal" functional heart murmur may have made an appearance) and he decided that diet was not making a big enough impact on my blood cholesterol levels and we agreed that I should start taking a drug to lower it. I started on 10mg of Lipitor and moved to 20mg/day within a year. I remember him saying that diet really only makes up a small portion of your cholesterol levels and actually said I could relax my diet a little ! Over the last few years the new low was a total of 4.55, LDL of 2.61 and a risk factor of 3.55.

My latest result from a few weeks ago was a total of 4.65, LDL of 2.9 and a risk factor 3.7. This doesn't seem to be good enough for my cardiologist and I must admit I've probably been relaxing my diet a little. The research and guidance suggests that people categorized as high risk should aim for LDL level below 2.0. He said to try harder on the diet and get retested in a few months. To me, that seems quite a jump, but perhaps not impossible. I've asked him on a few occasions how susceptible the results are to daily differences in diet and exercise, but he said the levels are quite steady - but he thinks I can carve off a big chunk in a few months ! However I am still wondering if my unhealthy Christmas habits and a potential missed dose a day or two before the test had inflated the numbers. So after chatting with my wife and relating the news with her findings from The China Study, I signed on to the vegan program (at least until my blood work). The theory (and evidence) in the study is that most of our (bad) blood cholesterol comes from animal protein. Now I'm pretty sure that's a big generalization, but don't worry, she'll be adding her comments and clarifications quickly after this gets posted. BTW the study focuses on cancer as well, so even though you may not have problems with high blood cholesterol, you may have concerns with cancer, but I digress.

So, back to being a vegan. In case you don't' know, this means cutting out any food that comes from an animal. One gray area I was happy to resolve was pasta. I think most dried pasta is not made with eggs, although some fresh pasta maybe. I may have cheated just a tad over the past week with a few slices of apple pie and some nibbles of high % cocoa chocolate. But other than that I haven't had dairy, meat or fish in a week.

My diet has been a lot of vegetables and fruit, beans, a few meals with tofu (which I must say I've been enjoying for quite a while now), pastas (already my favourite food) with tomato, pesto or oil olive, grains, nuts and cereal (now with soy milk). I tell you one thing - I makes a trip to the grocery store a lot simpler - you can cut out entire aisles and sections.

And I'm just glad that almost all of my regular liquid intake is already vegan, but first tastes of soy milk in my cuppa is a far stretch for an English lad. Beer and wine - bring it on.

I don't feel that I really need to eat meat or fish, but it's more a matter of finding enough tasty varieties of vegan food so it doesn't become too boring. I can probably do without dairy (although a yogurt based smoothy would be nice), but I'm finding that the majority of dishes I love like pasta, sushi, Asian and Mexican food, and hearty soups have meat or fish added to them. I can't say I'm craving a big steak or a piece of chicken, but I'm sure that day will come. What's a little sad is that I'm actually not looking forward to going out to eat. It will save me some dolalrs for sure, but I'm not really looking forward to my business lunch and dinner on Monday.

Now I've got to wrap up and find something for lunch.

A decent summary of understanding Cholesterol is the brochure Living with Cholesterol from the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Lunchtime connections and commentary

2009-01-15T12:12:00.002-05:00

I'm tracking the Kaka mega football transfer story, FIFA player of the year in 2007 may be on his way to Man City from AC Milan for a staggering transfer fee ($200M) and salary (1M/week). He's good, but really, come on, is he (or anyone) really worth that kind of money ? [from Kaka story I spotted the reference to the Time 100 list - nice to see some global sports inclusion in the American mag list].
Also on the list is Alex Rigopulos & Eran Egozy. These are not names that most people recognize, but they run Harmonix, the originator of Guitar Hero and now developers of Rock Band. I think the article in the Time 100 piece is a great take on the secondary power of these new music games - I believe they can and will actually lengthen the lifespan of classic rock, and music from many other decades and genres. I think that Kids (and parents) are getting a new (or renewed) passion for great old music and making sure rock 'n roll will never die. Since getting Guitar Hero and now Rock Band, my son has a great appreciation for classics such as Cream, The Stones and Cheap Trick, as well as rarer finds (Eric Johnson), punk (Sex Pistols), new wave (Talking Heads) and alternative (Beck).
Steven Van Zandt. He wrote the piece above and his name is instantly familiar. BUT, I didn't know the guitarist with Springsteen was one and the same slick haired Silvio from The Sopranos. I always saw the name in the credits and thought I should know him, but dough-head me never connected the two. Well, he does look radically different in his two roles.

Blip.fm - another way to share and find new music

2009-01-12T20:27:00.004-05:00

Hot on the tail of what-influences-your-music-choices, last week I dabbled a little with a new music sharing site called blip.fm. I wasn't immediately impressed, but today a few other friends joined on and if you know me, obviously I didn't want to be left out of the new community. It's like one of those things out of The Tipping Point, when there is a critical mass of users or content focused on something that is of particular interest to you - you can't ignore it for long ! You can find my Blips at http://blip.fm/pjmixer.

Blip has a few quirks, but it's method of sharing and streaming individual tracks in decent quality seems quite appealing. It services two audiences, of which I'm probably both. One, the ever-aspiring DJ who wants to be the first to tell his friends about some great music finds; and second, the person always looking for new music. From what I've been able to find out so far, it seems quite legal which is very surprising because you can preview the full version of any track in its library and search and skip through Blips to hear exactly what you're interested in. In that regard, it is much better than other streaming sites I've used like Finetune. However, it doesn't seem easy to get a good constant and stable themed stream going, and you're constantly being drawn from the latest hip track to old favourites and questionable diddies. If you blog a little about music or use Twitter for micro-blogging, then you can look at Blip as a micro-blogging site dedicated to music. The library is quite vast and I've found I few gems already.

This snappy player will likely be heading over to the right-hand column shortly. I'll be interested to see if Blip will become a music extension to this blog and if you'll jump into the Blip community. See you on the flip side.

What influences your music choices ?

2009-01-07T10:09:00.004-05:00

Just reading and commenting in Mark Evans' blog about how Radio 2 is igniting a renewed interest in music for him. Mark posed the question "The question is why Terfry’s show has inspired the consumer in me when there are services around like Pandora and Jango?". My comment... "Interesting note on why radio seems to drive some of our music choices over other non-personal channels. I actually just finished reading The Tipping Point and in the updated afterword, Gladwell provides thoughts on impacts of technologies on The Law of the Few: Connectors, Mavens, and Salesman. It seems that we may be building an immunity to the huge volume of data we receive through new tech channels. I'd like to hear Malcolm's thoughts on the smaller community focus of web 2.0 being a better chance at building more valuable connections online."

Although I did comment back in November that I was getting some new (old) music from Radio 2, the vast majority of my music finds continue to come from reading reviews in magazines and then taking the time to sample a large amount of music. For instance, scattered around our living room are months of Q magazines with year-end US focused publications from Rolling Stone and Spin. I've been busy correlating many of the best ofs and making sure I didn't miss any gems in 2008. A found a few new ones just over the last couple of days from Rolling Stone. Mostly American artists like Blitzen Trapper, Conor Oberst and Girl Talk that haven't quite made the impact in the UK which is my primary source. There are plenty of online reviews (metacritic being a good consolidator) but music magazines remain one of the few hardcopy purchases I make on a regular basis - I love marking them up with check marks, c/o for "check out" and other personal ratings and comments.

Personal recommendations are almost always better than what you hear from mass market channels. You build a sense of trust with the person who recommends a good band or book, especially if you find one that hits the mark, is close to your tastes or perhaps they even begin to understand your personal tastes and they tailor their recommendations to you ! There must be a little gap in the web 2.0 weave for a little more personal recommendation. Blogs, Twitter and Facebook work to some degree, but there's room for improvement and readers should make a good effort to fuel the feedback loop. I pretend to be a source for recommendations and ratings for music (here and there) and movies via my Facebook page, and but then again it all comes down to personal preference and how specific your tastes are.

Can a good, reliable source influence your tastes ? I'd say it probably has for me over the years, especially with popular music in the UK. It's taken a while for me to trust the ratings in Q, but now we seem to be in sync. One other source I go to on a regular basis is IMDB for movies. I'd say the reader voting and reviews really do provide a good guideline for me and I can invest good time in any movie scoring over 7.

So where do you get your new music from ?

Dream life

2009-01-03T09:33:00.004-05:00

I just woke up a few minutes ago after a particularly vivid dream. The unusual thing about this dream was that I think I "remembered" and incorporated experiences from other dreams into this latest one. I know this is all sounding pretty weird and I'm trying to type before the dream memory evaporates...

In the dream...

I'm a Dad, same children, same wife, different home. I'm seeing my son off for his school day and he has a project due. He's done a particularly good job and I'm very proud of him and we're arranging lunch plans.

However, I'm in hurry because I have a university project due as well. I've completed the project, but don't feel I've done a great job and perhaps even missed some vital elements of the work. I'm going to the university to hand it in.

But I'm thinking about the other subjects I've been neglecting, especially my math course. I know that I haven't been going to many courses, incl. math and maybe history. I "know" that this has been going on for some time.

My wife returns home and I say that I've got something to talk to her about. My daughter comes in from the other room, curious to what we're talking about. I say this university thing isn't working out and I should give it up. I've got my bachelors degree and a job anyway, why do I need any more education ?

I can still see the house we're living in, the confusing time on the alarm clock in the bedroom - 12:38, the room I had the conversation in with my wife, the side story of a police officer checking bike racks and allowed "parking" times. But I also vividly "remember" the auditorium where I'm taking the math course, and I'm pretty certain I didn't dream that part last night !

The dream as I've told holds many clues to my feelings and experiences in my life today, some clearer than others. And there are some good mysteries in there too.

I have reoccurring dream themes quite often, but I don't recall I dream that "clearly" seemed related to past dream memories. Then again, maybe all this was a new dream - I should have recorded those old ones. On other occasions, I have managed to write down dreams when I first wake up. Sometimes the complex connections and bizarre content make complete sense in your cloudy head - just waking up state, but then when I review what I've written at some later point, the dream doesn't make any sense at all. Maybe that will be the case here and you've got this far, saying - what the hell is he talking about. I'm more awake now and going to make my breakfast.

Good morning.

Listening to RFK in 2009

2009-01-03T00:00:00.005-05:00

I have to admit I don't know a lot about Robert F. Kennedy, but the little bits I've heard from my parents over the years, and what I've seen through historical movies (Thirteen Days) and now tonight in Bobby, greatly impresses me.

I found the playing of one of his speeches overlaying the closing scene particularly riveting. I did a little googling and found out that the speech was delivered the day after Martin Luther King's assassination, just two months before his own assassination. The speech talks to the problem of violence in America and provides some hope for what the world should, and could be. Maybe not as well known as King's I have a Dream speech and obviously not as current as Obama's speech on race in Philadelphia last year, but I feel RFK's speech about violence is still true to this day and one that we should all perhaps use as a warning on a global level. You can read the text of this short speech here.

On the Wikipedia page, I also found these other following great quotes, perhaps some guidance for our leaders and ourselves for 2009:

"Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly."^[7]
"Few men are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or great intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital, quality for those who seek to change a world which yields most painfully to change."
"The sharpest criticism often goes hand in hand with the deepest idealism and love of country."^[35]
"Men without hope, resigned to despair and oppression, do not make revolutions. It is when expectation replaces submission, when despair is touched with the awareness of possibility, that the forces of human desire and the passion for justice are unloosed."^[36]
"There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were and ask why not."^[37]
"Few will have the greatness to bend history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation ... It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."^[38]
"At the University of Natal in Durban, I was told the church to which most of the white population belongs teaches apartheid as a moral necessity. A questioner declared that few churches allow black Africans to pray with the white because the Bible says that is the way it should be, because God created Negroes to serve. "But suppose God is black", I replied. "What if we go to Heaven and we, all our lives, have treated the Negro as an inferior, and God is there, and we look up and He is not white? What then is our response?" There was no answer. Only silence." South Africa, June 1966^[39]
"What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black." Indianapolis, Indiana, April 4, 1968 Announcing to the crowd that Martin Luther King had been assassinated.
"Fear not the path of truth for the lack of people walking on it." From his last speech, June 5, 1968^[40]
"Laws can embody standards; governments can enforce laws — but the final task is not a task for government. It is a task for each and every one of us. Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted — when we tolerate what we know to be wrong — when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy, or too frightened — when we fail to speak up and speak out — we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice." June 21, 1961^[41]

Photo Blog #7: Santa Claus is coming to town

2008-12-24T18:00:00.001-05:00

Toronto Eaton Centre

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all.

A big thank you to my blog readers, Facebook friends, Twitter followers, Flickr viewers and Finetune listeners for being part of my online world.