Rachel Maddow - David Bahati "Kill The Gays" Bill Sponsor

Never take your rights for granted. In times of tumult there are always scapegoats. In the 21st century we will likely face a series economic, environmental and population crises. Any delusional belief that a certain kind of person, by their nature alone, is causing harm to the "foundation" of a culture (e.g. the family) cannot be tolerated. Something is not a fact because you assert that it is, yet we allow people to make these assertions based on their personal beliefs in ancient religions. When these sorts of campaigns are brought to the political realm, they serve as distractions to the root of real problems in society - none of which have anything to do with who your neighbor sleeps with. 

The rights of personal beliefs cannot supersede human rights - as it stands this most frequently means the rights of women, gays and minorities. Below you can watch the madness in this kind of assertion, as Rachel Maddow interviews Ugandan member of Parliament David Bahati. He came to the US to promote a bill that would punish homosexuality with life imprisonment or execution. You better believe there are numerous North Americans who feel the same way as this man - it's easy enough to find them, but I won't privilege them with a link here.

Fun with Google labs: Dogs more popular than cats

With all the power of the Google Labs Books Ngram Viewer we've finally been able to answer the age old question; which are more popular - dogs or cats? As it relates to references to the beasts in English books from 1800-2000 - dogs come out way ahead. Sorry cat people. 

Fuck you Fluevog! (a love letter)

Dear John,

I've had it. What the hell is it with your product? What the hell is it with your "oh-so-clever" marketing - targeted at freaks, geeks, nerds and dweebs? I mean, who would create an entire (immaculate) line of shoes named after bloody public-radio? Public radio? Really? Come on. No one listens to public radio these days. No one.

These are called BBCs. Apparently the BBC is some kinds of "news institution."

Who the hell to you think you are that you can just confiscate my hard-earned cash and force me, at virtual gunpoint, to apply it to something as impractical as a sixth pair of (Fluevog) shoes? In all earnestness - I'm an environmentalist - I don't need six pairs of (Fluevog) shoes. I didn't even need five pairs of (Fluevog) shoes. And because I'm a highly rational being, I'm blaming you, John, for your seemingly perfect understanding of your clients - me, obviously, being one of them. Now could you stop it? I'm running out of closet space.

As a rather petite woman with somewhat masculine sensibilities, shopping for anything - let alone footwear - can be tiresome. I cope, trust me - but only because I like a challenge and am as persistent as a mosquito at a Winnipeg garden party. However, unisex wear is rare and mostly not very fashionable - there is an unusual notion that the world between male and female is beige rolling sea of Pat-like sensible and sexless attire. You understand this as a ridiculous concept, John, recognizing instead that this very particular aesthetic space should just as easily be reserved for the fabulous -decidedly more Bowie than Pat. For that, I will hate you (until your next public radio shoe comes out. And then I will love you and throw hundreds of dollars at you. I know, it's confusing. Love can be that way).

It gets worse. As a pretty committed vegan who occasionally buys leather products if they are a) likely to last for a long time due to proper craftsmanship and a consideration to repair and/or b) from sustainable sources, e.g. used, waste or scrap leather - I would prefer to not have to have leather products. As a person who undertook veganism from an environmental standpoint, vegan shoes - often not very durable and/or made of petroleum products - are not always a more sustainable option, though they are, in theory, less cruel to produce. Of course, John, you make this simple - not only do you offer finely crafted leather shoes in fashionable, classic styles, which can be worn for years - but now you have a number of vegan and eco options.

Honestly. Just stop it. I can rationalize these kinds of purchases like it's nobody's business - shopping is almost a charitable act at this point. Damn you! What about consumerism, John? You are making it almost impossible to be anti-consumerist! There is no reason not to support your sweet blinking Canadian business. How do you sleep at night?

These dandy shoes fit men, women and VEGANS. WTF? (get out of my brain, John!)

I teach university students about positioning - and how many companies will sacrifice their position for growth, only to find that by straddling multiple markets they end up servicing the needs of no one particularly well and then resort to competing on price. This is a difficult concept for many business people to grasp. It's so tempting to think you can do it all - but you rarely can. We all want to feel special after all, so maintaining some kind of focus is key to a sustained competitive advantage. Clients become loyal to those that really want to service their particular needs and not doing so leaves room for someone else to jump right in and do just that.

Naturally, John, you are a master of positioning. For 40 years, you've successfully targeted a chronically under-serviced market of well-to-do oddballs at the expense of people who would rather not take the chance of looking a touch unusual. Oh yippy-skippy! Further, you seems to be deepening this relationship at every turn - suggesting a stellar understanding of your market. I assume this is because you are one of us, but I can't say that for sure, it's just a hunch. It's also because you want to hog our quantity-of-quality seeking dink dollars all to yourself, you inconsiderate jerk.

So congrats on getting to 40, as much as part of me hates you, I love to support Canadian businesses that are making responsible choices. May you have many years of continued success.

PS. Nice move on the sweet limited addition tie - another weakness of mine (naturally).  If only I hadn't blown far too much money on fistfuls of beautiful recycled bow ties last week.... but I'm sure you'll have no trouble unloading those little gems.

Chevron Thinks We're Stupid: the step-by-step guide.

A colleague of mine sent me a great collection of links pertaining to a recent Chevron greenwashing campaign, and it is with great pleasure that I repost them here.



It's really worth visiting the Chevron YouTube Channel to view the comments associated with this video, which include the following most popular comments, as voted by viewers of the above video: "In California, Chevron spent $4.1 million lobbying legislators to change regulations so it can refine a dirtier grade of oil at its facility in Richmond without conducting any environmental review on what the change would mean for the low-income community surrounding it." and "In Washington, Chevron spends millions each year lobbying Congress to make sure we don't get a cap-and-trade bill, or anything else that might harm their profit margins.In the Arctic, it wants to drill for oil even though knowing such operations would be risky and hard to clean up.It's also one of the chief sources of funding for disinformation about the causes of global warming."

As is becoming more and more prevalent, there has been a response to this ad, this time found at Funny or Die, and apparently credited to the Yes Men (there is more information on the campaign on their website).

 

Chevron Thinks We're Stupid from The Yes Men

And to drive the point home, sketch comedy style:

Anatomy of a Greenwash from Paul Scheer

Diversity Fail

I love the fine folks at Corporate Knights, I do. However, something jumped out at me while viewing pictures from the recent publicity around the Corporate Knight Cleantech 10(tm) TSX event -  the dearth of female and non-white faces in the photos.

I recognize this mostly lies well outside the hands of CK - they serve as a messenger for CSR and Enterprise sustainability, not the direction of it - but it still serves as a signal all isn't well in Corporate-Canada - even Green Corporate Canada. Granted, just prior to seeing this image, I had read an article on the search for female authority in university classrooms, another about the 30-year anniversary of women winning the right to serve as firefighters (spoiler: it's still not easy being recognised), a rather superficial post on Big Think about Women in Finance, and, most applicable, a succinct Business Week article addressing the issue of Why There Are So Few Women in Tech. So maybe I was primed to notice this wee gender (and race) imbalance when I got around to reading this particular post.

I'm not going to address the deep and challenging issue of diversity in Corporate Canada on this wee post (though I do have a lovely presentation on the topic) - but I will humbly point out the ad that appeared on the same page as the Corporate Knight Cleantech 10(tm)  image...

Update: the folks at Corporate Knights also noticed the issue of diversity at this event and an "article in upcoming issue will ask why [the] green movement lacks [diversity]".You can check out their most recent  report of diversity in Corporate Canada here. Or, for fun times with spreadsheets, download a spreadsheet with all the companies within the index and count the "0.00%" until your eyes bleed.

300 Years of Fossil-Fueled Addiction in 5 Minutes

A public service announcement from the Post Carbon Institute.

The piece is written and narrated by PCI Senior Fellow and "Peak Everything" author, Richard Heinberg, and animated by Monstro Design.

Converting Plastics into Oil

More on the theme of energy being everywhere, and in keeping with Braungart and McDonough's Cradle to Cradle, "Waste = Food" concept, below is a short presentation featuring Akinori Ito of Blest Co, a Japanese company that has developed a machine that is able to convert plastics back to fuel oil.

More details on the concept can be found at the World 2.0 website.

Integrated Design Charette

On Monday November 1st, at the at the EQuilibrium™ Housing Forum — True Stories: Sustainability in Action - I've been granted the opportunity to present the the Integrated Design Process for the Abondance, Le Soleil project. I'll be introducing the concept of a design charrette and it's role in the implementation of a systemic, facilitated integrated design process. The conference presents to people in the larger building community the successes and challenges of the development of three net zero home building projects in the province of Quebec. 

The fundamental importance of the integrated design process was one of my personal take-away lessons form having participated in the development of the Abondance Montreal project. Not only were we able to understand the project from a variety of perspectives and work out complex design issues as a group - but when challenges arose (and they always do in construction projects), the sense of collective ownership and commitment to the team that was developed through the collaborative design and development process was invaluable in over coming challenges. It's a civil and incredibly democratic way to work.


If you weren't aware there are these advanced homes in the province - you can actually visit the projects to learn more about them. Visiting these sites provide an excellent opportunity to witness the culmination of many years work the teams involved.

Psssst.... Tale Spin #21 is coming up!

The 21st edition of DeAnne Smith's Tale Spin is taking place this Thursday, October 28 starting at 8:30pm. I will be telling tales about "Spilling Secrets" with Dan Bingham, Kyle MacDonald, Andrea Stanford, and Tim Rabnett. The evening will be hosted by the DeAnne Smith. Old school story-telling infused with comedic sensibilities. 


Great value for only $5. Takes place at Cagibi, 5490 St. Laurent.

10:10 No Pressure

Wow. Well, you can't fault someone for trying (most things), below is an short film for the organization 10:10.

I suppose one way to broach the notion that not doing something about climate change is fundamentally suicidal, is with dark humour. It's an uncomfortable notion, but many feel that there is folly in our current laissez-faire approach to climate change. I guess the folks at 10:10 were thinking that subtleties are best reserved for non-urgent situations. However, given how defensively some have reacted to the piece, it might not be terribly effective in terms of bringing people "into the fold" of environmental action. But strangely enough, that is not likely the point of this campaign.

For those who "get it" this wee film could likely serve as a kind of in-joke, reminiscent of the now famous Apple/PC ads. As a result of that particular campaign, PC people might think Apple users are - more than ever - self-righteous assholes (not my opinion, btw). However, Apple users will be more likely to further identify with their computing choice, as they come out looking like the cool kids in those pieces. Cool kids, in the case of the "No Pressure" film, are the folks not blown to jelly-coloured bits (the majority of those depicted in the film).

The film was pulled within hours of its release, as it was said to cause some embarrassment for the organization. But I think these clever folks are well aware of the power of the internet and are letting the video live on, in YouTube-land. It'll likely have a bigger impact post-pull than it ever could have without this controversial chatter around it.

Happengläd's New Hat #4

Happengläd's New Hat is a monthly New Work Salon, hosted by the ever-labouring lady of laughs  DeAnne Smith. It's a chance for Montrealers to watch local performers "try things out." If you are familiar with the concept of creativity, trying things out is very, very important. However, things tried are not always perfect or particularly refined. At other times they are truly magical. You don't know until it's tried, honestly. And that's half the fun (I'm not sure what the other half is - but I believe it has something to do with the cheap refreshments available at the theatre). 

I'll be participating this month in my first attempt at what I'm calling a "public service announcement" of sorts. I have a few of these percolating, this will be the first public execution of one. This one has a decidedly light tone - it deals with murder, hospital visits and dogs. Come, watch - and let me know what I can do to improve on this sort of thing.    

Tuesday September 28, 8pm - only $5 tiny loonies, 264 St. Catherine Est, near Berri Metro. 

"Man Muß Immer Umkehren!"

I have the word "umkehren" tattooed on my arm. It is part of the above phrase, which is credited to the 19th century geometrist Jacobi, who apparently suggested inverting every geometrical theorem to better understand it. "Umkehren" means "to invert." There are some obvious reasons I did not want the English translation on my arm, as fitting as it my be. Like many others, I believe that Jocobi's phrase has a much broader application than the one he developed for geometry. It is important to always question assumptions and to turn some notions on their head to understand them from another perspective. As such, my tattoo serves as a reminder to challenge my assumptions when I do not immediately understand something.

In the place of such a corporeal reminder, feel free to watch this great short clip featuring musician and entrepreneur Derek Sivers, which cleverly explores this very notion.

Part 5: The Sisterhood of Roller Derby

Last, but certainly not least:

Part 4: The Culture of Roller Derby

This piece features a brief interview with the ever insightful Rick Mercer (aka Hurt Browning), who came to play with us during a fun bout.

Part 3: The people of MTLRD.

Part 2: Roller Derby Bootcamp

To better understand the whole Roller Derby thing.

This was a series made last year by watchmojo.com about roller derby featuring the Montreal Roller Derby League. I like that the makers of this particular series took the time to really explore multiple aspects of the sport and to interview a number of people from the league about their various experiences with the sport. I'll post the whole series one day at a time.

Afternoon Sketch: Self Portrait

Self portrait, 2010 8"x10", oil on canvas board

2pm - original sketch with high-tech mirror set-up.

2:22pm The initial blocks of color always looks pretty crappy.

 

2:43pm Starting to fill out the rest of the face - started to realize that I have a really sad expression on my face. I suppose "concentrated" and "sad" overlap in my arsenal of facial expressions.  Decided that I would not change this at that point, but made a mental note to try and not look depressed the next time I try this exercise. 

3:27pm "Finishing" touches. I'm going to have to try doing this again sometime - what an interesting way to objectify your own face. 

Things you do not want to mix up:

Paint brush sitting in odorless mineral spirits 

with spoon sitting in Chocolate Soy Ice Cream. 

Sheryl WuDunn: Our century's greatest injustice

The Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, Sheryl WuDunn, gives a compelling speech on the importance of gender equity gerneally, but most specifically in the developing world. "It may well be that the highest return on investment in the developing world is the investment in girls' education"

"Si amoureux/se de toi" Campaign launch August 14th

Photo: VDireck/Vanessa Dorvily

As part of the Community Cocktail held during Montreal's Pride Celebrations, Photographer Vanessa Dorvily and the Quebec Gay and Lesbian Council (Le Conseil québécois des gais et lesbiennes - CQGL) will be launching a post card campaign entitled "So in love with you" or "Si amoureux/se de toi." The campaign features images captured by Vanessa of a diverse range of queer couples - and my lovely partner and I are one of the couples that are part of the campaign. 


It will be possible to both have a cocktail and pick up some of these postcards on August 14th at 18h30 au Cabaret Mado (1115 rue Ste-Catherine East).

Dog Portrait: Hector

Hector and his tongue, 2010 8"x10" oil on canvas board

Another quick sketch or another small dog. Hector is a black pug - he might be a mix of some kind. He has a tongue too great for his mouth, so it's pretty well always sticking out. He's sweet and funny looking, both excellent qualities in a small dog. 

Here are a few of the steps that brought me to this little sketch:

Drawing 3:46pm. Not much to look at. I don't draw much in terms of details, as my painting style isn't at all like my drawing style, so I don't commit too much time to this. I like to start with a base color that will contrast what I might imagine to be the more interesting of the subject colors. I thought Hector might look good in a blue/purple coat, thus the yellow base coat.  

 First steps: 4:18pm - cover in the background spaces (just happened to be in another kind of yellow, for fun) and started laying down most of the darker stuff.

Middle steps: 4:42pm - more of same, started introducing some layers of color, as the early steps always look so ugly, and this layering gives me some hope that the sketch might look half-decent upon completion.

Finishing touches: 5:31pm - play with lights and darks, revisit background. Voila - little dog sketch. 

Wolf

Wolf 8x10, oil on canvas board

Another morning sketch.

Dog Portrait: Blue Ruby

Blue Ruby 8x8, oil on canvas board, 2010

This one really is Ruby. I hope. 

Dog Portrait: Not Ruby

not Ruby fan art, 2010 8x10 oil on canvas board.

I made this painting based on a photo that I assumed was Ruby, Georgia W. Tush's iconic Boston terrier and the inspiration for the logo to her great new Roller Derby shop Neon Skates (in the back of Local 23, at 23 Bernard, Montreal). I found the image on the store's website, so jumped to conclusions about the model - painted this little guy and clandestinely tacked the painting onto the wall of the shop. It turns out, it's a customer's dog - so I'm going to have to go back to the drawing board and do one of Ruby to make up for this grave error. Man, you can't even make assumptions about dogs. 

Guilty Pleasures: Pet Portraits

Simbad has dainty knuckles, 2008 9X12" oil on canvas.

As a painter, but perhaps more so as a student of "Fine Arts", I feel a certain pressure to focus my attention and creative abilities towards the "deeply symbolic". I do like to tell stories in paintings, often using dream imagery to bring together disparate elements in a seemingly sensical way, as only dreams can. These stories often leave a lot up to interpretation, which is what I feel good art should do. These are my more "serious" works, when they happen - which hasn't been often of late.

When I'm not in a rhythm of painting, which is most of the time, I like to start up with simple sketches and frequently this means portraiture - the bread an butter of painters for centuries. I get a guilty pleasure for capturing someone's likeness in a mess of thick and unrealistically colored brush strokes. It's hardly cutting-edge, but it's fun and challenging, and often bring a smile to someone's face upon completion.  For the last couple years, after having brought a dog in my life, this has also meant pet portraits. I love painting dogs and I'm not too sure why this feels like the equivalent to admitting a taste for Lady Gaga - but it does. Painting pets isn't deep, but it's fun.

Pretty Penny, 2010. oil on canvas board.

When my dog Simbad was sent back to Mira for training as a guide dog, I did nothing but paint him (from pictures) for about three months. It was my way of coping with his massive absence in my life. I loved finding the blues and mauves in his black fur, as well as finding ways to capture his gentle nature in simple lines and shades. As I've recently started painting again, I've again come back to my love of dogs and have again come up against this guilty sense of pleasure in producing these images. I figure I might as well share them as they come along. They are quick and dirty - as they often take less than 3 hours to complete and are mostly done on tiny and cheap canvas board.

Simbad, 2008 8x10" oil on canvas board.

Advertisement and it's many sexisms.

As a bit of a follow up a few previous posts on gender and advertising, below is a short clip from the BBC comedy series "That Mitchell and Webb look." I find the dialog that ensues in the comments section interesting, especially the notion of "reverse" sexism through the use of stupid men in advertisement - which is something I've heard discussed in an intelligent fashion on Terry O'Reilly's Age of Persuasion.

O'Reilly mentions that the "why are men portrayed as morons, while women are portrayed as brilliant?" question in one of the most common posed to him as an ad expert. In the radio piece on this topic, he suggests that as women are the main consumer decision-makers in most households, depicting the women as the "comic foil" in an advertisement meant to sell products would constitute "biting the hand that feeds you." Further, as this remains a Man's World, it's simply funnier to see men as the butt of the joke, whereas it's not generally understood as funny to kick a (wo)man when s/he's down. Advertisers, in their creepily intense understanding of human psychology, get this and suggest that guys should just grow a pair and learn to deal with this mostly silly form of advertisement.

Comments on Terry's page with regards to his explanation behind this kind of "reverse" sexism, are still called "lame" by an astute/anonymous poster (who naturally provides no additional understanding of the topic). One thing not addressed in the piece, which I think is also important to point out, is how these ads in being humorous or silly, are in no way suggesting that men should start acting like morons - or that there would be some kind of advantage to this sort of moronic behavior. It acknowledges the power dynamic in the home by directing the advertisement to the women and makes a simple joke at the man in the advertisement's expense. While it may imply that men are morons, it's not suggesting that this is a good thing to be. This is in contrast with the kind of sexism generally directed towards women in advertisement, which tends to far more persuasive if not subtle and is often meant to encourage behavior change in women. Purchasing in this case comes from repeatedly pointing out supposed shortcomings in the target population and suggesting that the product in question can help one overcome these shortcomings. And it's this very point that this little bit of sketch comedy seems to really get.

Energy is everywhere!

We are so married to the systems that currently deliver energy to us - be it hydro, petrol, or coal. Big systems run by big companies for big profit are needed to extract, make usable, and deliver these forms of energy to us. They cost a lot in terms of money and tend to have negative environmental impacts. But energy is everywhere around us - and within us - and we waste it for a lack of creative ways to capture it. But this is changing.

Behold sOccket - the soccer-ball socket...

Developed by Jessica Lin, Jessica Matthews, Julia Silverman, and Hemali Thakkar (recent Harvard engineering grads - note: all ladies), the sOccket is a product that takes what energy is readily available in many developing nations - namely many children with a love of soccer - and converts kicks into a usable source of electricity. This is not old school child labour - but a portable generator that encourages play! Apparently, 15 minutes played on sOccket 1.0, could store enough energy to illuminate a small LED light for three hours!  The new prototype sOccket 2.0, can power the same LED for the same amount of time with just 10 minutes of play. Imagine how much wood or kerosene this can save a family.

Or how about a night club dance floor that captures the energy of the dancing upon it? There is so much energy wasted at night clubs - not least of which is the energy being expended by all the people writhing about (mostly) to the beat. This kind of thinking, which recognizes the power of movement, can easily be applied to so many places where people move - train station turn styles, for instance, or slightly more exciting/creepy - in the chest cavity - where we breathe with some regularity.

Generally speaking, these tools are not meant to replace all the energy used to power our lives, but rather supplement them - for the time being. In combination with proper energy saving measures, they could eventually become a more important source of energy for all of us. Further, these products help to remind us of the multitude of opportunities for those who think creatively about issues such as energy sourcing and uses - and points to a future where more democratic energy sources abound.

Make your own eco-notebooks.

Like a lot of visual learners, I have to write everything down in order to remember them - I write words, pictures and anything that might help me commit certain kinds of ideas to memory. I began studying for the GRE recently and am thereby forcing myself to revisit the high school math that, despite it's purported importance at the time, seems to have been underutilized in my academic and professional life. I forget most of it completely, while the echoes of some rules of logic seem to be trapped in the folds of my grey-matter and tease me continually by their inaccessible presence. So I take notes. I draw pictures. I procrastinate.

While looking for an excuse not to start an algebra review, it occurred to me I might be better able to use the scrap paper I had been using for notes. So I got out my cutting board and hacked a substantial stack of old lecture notes in two.

I then used the three-hole punch to make a few holes on one side. I found an old pasta box in the recycling and cut that to make a front and back to the book, and I bound all the stuff together with a few hinged metal book rings. I'd advise the use of some heavier cardboard stock, but otherwise it's functional, mostly recycled and took no time at all. Sure beats buying a recycled paper "eco-notebook" with a plastic cover in the stores.

A kind of alleyway arms-race.

If you walk around Montreal with any regularity, you may have noticed the recent rise of an artistically rich and linguistically complex graffiti tag known as "Cobra Cock". Clearly a deep thinker with much on the mind, this street artist has shared his floral and richly original understanding of mankind by tagging many homes, businesses and alleyway fences with this overtly naïve approach to street art.

A particularly nuanced version of the ubiquitous Cobra Cock tag. 

Well, it's happened, as it was bound to. There is a new alliterated snake/genital tag in town. Behold: Viper Vag.    

Viper Vag stamped threateningly above a rather limp Cobra Cock.

I have no idea who did this - but you have my respect sir or madame - well played. As many Montreal property owners surely do, I look forward to the ensuing alleyway battles for space and supremacy.

How To Tell People They Sound Racist

Sound advice for those who might also make sexist or homophobic comments. Learning to confront people based on what they (in fact) did, rather than confronting them on who they (appear) to be.

Tale Spin #18: Worry.

Thursday June 24th, 2010 I'll be telling tales around the theme of 'worry' with the likes of Dan Bingham, Gerard Harris, Michael Lifshitz, and Anna Berlyn. It should be a good time - especially as the whole event is organized and hosted by the charming and hilarious DeAnne Smith - and with any luck she'll break out the ukulele. The event takes place at Cagibi (5490 St. Laurent), starts at 8:30pm and runs until about 10:30. All these yarns for less than a decent alcoholic beverage - $5.

Binaries are Tools of Oppression: down with the Jock/Nerd divide!

In our collective memories of high school, rings a "truth" so frequently cited in popular discourse that rarely is it ever challenged in any substantive manner – but I honestly think that time is long overdue.

Perhaps it is the year in sports thus far - we went from the Olympics, to the NHL Playoffs right into the World Cup of Football - but I've been thinking about sport more than I like to admit. In honour of the nerdish celebration of jock culture we are currently surrounded by (only pollsters value stats more than sports fans), I think it’s time we challenge the concept of a unquestionable, insuperable abyss between the two camps of jocks and nerds.

 

Photo: me and the sysop - Flikr Creative Commons

I'm not a big fan of generalizations, though I surely make them all the time, but I truly disdain the simplistic, reductionist principle that one cannot be effectively both a jock and a nerd. Frankly, I believe the best jocks are likely nerds - of sport - if nothing else. While I'm not sure that the opposite claim can also be made - I may explore this thesis for a future PhD dissertation. It's just that important to me.

Consider the following:

San Diego Padres pitcher Chris Young went to Princeton wrote a senior thesis entitled The Integration of Professional Baseball and Racial Attitudes in America: A Study in Stereotype Change, which examined the impact Jackie Robinson and the integration of Major League Baseball had on attitudes and stereotypes regarding race in the media. Man, that sounds pretty damn nerdy.

Anaheim Ducks right wing George Parros also attended Princeton, majored in economics and maintained a B-average, had a GPA of approximately 3.18  - presumably while training intensively for his sport.

Free agent utility player Eric Bruntlett attained a degree in economics in just 3 1/2 years, recorded an SAT score of 1440, posted a 3.97 GPA in high school, started studying algebra when his parents introduced him to it when he was in first grade. Such early signs of nerd-hood, are particularly interesting - he was likely nerdy long before knowing he was also a jock.

Anyway - enough with the anecdotal stuff. There are SO many such examples to be found on the interweb. Many of these men chose sport over knowledge work, as it can be so lucrative and presumably because sport was their true passion. I had a harder time finding female athletes for this exercise - presumably because the comparable women are likely more notable for their knowledge careers, given the relative dearth of women known for their professional athletic carriers. Moreover, searching anything about female athletes always leads to a plethora of "100 Hottest Female Athletes" lists - which despite my orientation, I find rather tedious. However, during my lifetime of playing a variety of sports, I've noticed that the best athletes have been what one might conventionally consider highly intelligent - as they generally have a better grasp of the training and strategy needed to excel in their sports.

Further, in a Northwestern State University study it was discovered that 133 "student athletes" were on the school's honour roll, and a full 21 students had achieved a 4.0 average. (Not knowing how many students in total qualify as "student athletes" makes it hard to interpret the study results as significant or not - but that academics are excited enough to talk about the findings to the media, suggests a certain degree of significance).

I think it's high time to acknowledge the false divide between jocks and nerds. I would suggest just like the controversial concept of "highly intelligent beautiful people", the idea that someone can be both kinestheticly wise and intelligent in more academic ways seems unfair in the grand scheme of things. Well guess what? Life is not fair. Deal with it. And while you are at it put your kids into sports - especially your daughters - you never know, it might help with their math grades. 

Note: I recognize that rhetoric around Nerd/Jock relations is incomplete without addressing the issue of Preps. I feel the particular tension between the two former groups requires careful attention and at this point I did not want to burden this foundational issue with additional complexity.

Boozer Bookshelf

I've been collecting wine bottles - attempting occasionally - mostly unsuccessfully - to make drinking glasses out of them. I had a few of these blue Aufkellerein bottles kicking around when the need for more book storage became evident.

After a visit to Instructables.com I found a great idea for this little boozy bookshelf project. And voila - an afternoon, several nights of drinking white wine in the park with my sweetheart, and a trip to the hardware store later: a lovely little place to house the children of my Amazon.ca addiction.

The best of Target Women

The great thing about living in a 1,000 channel universe is the increased likelihood that there will be something worth watching on TV.  Most auspicious for us is the coming together of both a 1,000 channel universe and the internet age, meaning that in order to watch said "good TV", you don't really need a TV at all.

As evidence, I present you the best of "Target Women", a regular segment on infomania,  where comedian Sarah Haskins considers the often ridiculous way marketers and the media more generally "reach out" to women. Smart, sad and funny all at the same time.

Overcoming the tyranny of common sense

Sir Robinson is charming, insightful man who has now given two fabulous talks about creativity and learning. So he's basically one of my growing lists of nerd-heros.

He's calling for a revolution in education - one that is personalized and creates the conditions for meaningful and passionate learning.

More cool recycling ideas from Montreal coffee shops...

I love glass walls - but they are so blinking expensive. Unless, of course you run a coffee shop with an alcohol licence and a clientele that has a taste for Moosehead. Check out this great glass wall at Le Caffè Mariani (4450 Notre-Dame ouest - in St. Henri)

The two sides of the glass wall - stacked Moosehead bottles, stuck together and encased in a thick welded metal frame.