Most Interesting Photos of 2010

My Most Interesting Photos of 2010 set track photos taken in 2010 that have ranked in the top 200 of my ~4200 pictures on flickr. Currently at 44 photos it's quite the drop from from 2009's 114. It think I spent more time on specific shoots and posted less of the random photography from my life. I do I have a number of things from 2010 that I never got to posting.

- Peace

Ultra Wide Christmas Walk

My family gave me Sigma's new 8-16mm Ultra Wide Lens for Christmas. We were also blessed with +4c weather today :) So we went for a walk in Fish Creek and I took the camera and new lens along. I've very happy with the results.

Thank you family :)

- Peace

Social Network Christmas

So a Social Network Christmas isn't the Huron Carol, it's still a cool retelling of the story. Video by Igniter Media. As seen on Waving or Drowning.

Playing God? Towards machines that deny their maker

Having enjoyed the questions of faith raised in Tron and the re-imagined Battle Star Galactica I was drawn toward the lecture title of Playing God? Towards machines that deny their maker by Prof Rosalind Picard of M.I.T.

Rosalind W. Picard is founder and director of the Affective Computing Research Group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her current work includes developing systems that can read the emotional non verbal cues and translates them for people who have a hard time reading them for themselves. It's a fascinating lecture.



- Peace

Hanukkah and Hockey, what's not to love?

Fun Hanukkah music video from Matisyahu.

- Peace

Father of an Adult

I've been focused on turning 40 this year. Last week it dawned on me that as of today I would be the father of an adult. Wow, that's quite the realization. Not sure how that snuck up on me but it did. When I mentioned this to Kim it freaked her out too.

Happy Birthday Kiddo.

- Peace

40 4 40 @ Cafe Koi

Forty of my pictures are on display at Cafe Koi from now to the end of the year. In the spring Kim asked what I wanted to do to mark my 40th birthday. "I don't know, something to do with photography". Just after that Koi asked if I wanted to do a show there. "Do you have December available?" They did. So it's been in the works for months and now it's up.

There is a reception on Wed December 8th. I've sent invites to everyone I've thought would be interested. If you didn't get one, A) check your spam folder, B) Sorry just let me know and I'll send you the details.

It's my first time doing a show like this, have no idea what to expect, it's weird not to have stats on views etc.

- Peace

Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus

Thanks to Andy K. for sending me this fantastic video. I wonder how many of the people were in on it to begin with and how many joined in? I would have joined in :)

- Peace

Mr. Bean’s Salvation Army Christmas

Lifted strait from Jordon Cooper. For those who don't know Jordon works for the SA in Saskatoon.

- Peace

The Human Brain is Truly Awesome

Bad new for those looking forward to the singularity. Human brain has more switches than all computers on Earth. from the article:

The human brain is truly awesome.

A typical, healthy one houses some 200 billion nerve cells, which are connected to one another via hundreds of trillions of synapses. Each synapse functions like a microprocessor, and tens of thousands of them can connect a single neuron to other nerve cells. In the cerebral cortex alone, there are roughly 125 trillion synapses, which is about how many stars fill 1,500 Milky Way galaxies.

- Peace

Lady Justice Shoot

After the wedding in Ottawa I was able to do a concept shoot with Farrah Ferguson. Now that the wedding pics are done, I've had time to start on the Lady Justice shoot.

- Peace
Dave

Shepherd Book and the Prayer of Saint Francis

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.

Amen.

Had to look this up after reading it in a comic book, I was quite sure it was the Prayer of Saint Francis. While not credited, it is put to great use in The Shepherd's tale. The story by Joss & Zack Whedon exceeded my hopes for the mysterious story of Shepherd Book. I highly recommend it.

Free New MP3 from the Decemberists

The Decemberists are giving away a copy of Down By the Water, a track from their new album, in exchange for your email address. The track is worth hearing.

- Peace

How Nenshi Won

A great article in the Calgary Herald on how Nenshi won.

- Peace

New Music from U2

The above video is Every Breaking Wave one of the new songs U2 has been introducing on tour. Hennmusic has two other new songs and news on U2 releasing a new album in 2011.

Calgary Mayoral Race Re-Cap

First off Dave Bronconnier announced he wasn't running again.

This left Ric McIver and his sizable ($700 000) campaign war chest as the front runner. Ric is reported to have been raising money since 2007 - doing "constant fund raising".

Barb Higgins quit her position as local CTV news anchor to run for mayor. Having been on TV almost every night for 20 plus years she has amazing name recognition.

Conventional Political wisdom says municipal politics comes down to money and name recognition, money helping you buy name recognition. This should have been a battle of two titans.

But...

Here we are with three days to go and it's a three way race, McIver, Higgins and Nenshi.

Naheed Nenshi was at the back of the pack at %4 support when Higgins entered the race. He didn't have her name recognition, and he doesn't have McIver's war chest. So what's going on? He's beat conventional wisdom by working out side of the traditional system. He's engaged with his supporters beyond just asking them for money. His web site had content and ideas on it! (what a crazy idea) He showed supporters how they could spread the word via their social networks. He asked tough questions about the Police budget. That upset the Chief of Police, though the chief couldn't say why Nenshi was wrong. That exchange got Nenshi coverage. Also it showed him asking tough questions. That is worth way more than saying you know how to ask questions.

Defying conventional wisdom by doing more with less; that's the type of thinking we need at City Hall.

Don't forget to vote on Monday!

- Peace

Shepherd Book get's his own Comic Book

Wired has a preview of Serenity: The Shepherd’s Tale. Looking forward to this, Book is my favorite Firefly character.

- Peace

Free Music from Asthmatic Kitty

The Asthmatic Kitty Digital Sampler, October 2010 is out. You can listen online or download as a set of MP3s. Asthmatic Kitty is home to such artists as Sufjan Steven's and a bunch of really cool artists you've probably never heard of :)

- Peace

Save Blue Like Jazz (the movie)

Save Blue Like Jazz from Save Blue Like Jazz on Vimeo.

I borrowed a copy of Blue Like Jazz a couple of years ago. Enjoyed it. Not enough to care about the movie, but then I heard Steve Taylor was involved in making the movie and I've been a Taylor fan since Jr. High. So I checked out a link to Save Blue Like Jazz when I saw it on Cheaper Than Therapy a couple of days ago, they had raised just over $70k of the $125k they needed for the movie. Checked today and they've raised $93k with 21 days to go. Figured I should post this now while there is still time, cause it looks like they should hit 125k before time runs out.



- Peace

Canada' Entries in the World's Best Universities: Top 400

From U.S.News & World Report's World's Best Universities rankings, here are the Canadian Schools that made the list:
#18 McGill University
#29 University of Toronto
#44 University of British Columbia (UBC)
#78 University of Alberta
#131 Queen's University
#136 Université de Montréal
#145 University of Waterloo
#163 McMaster University
#164 University of Western Ontario
#165 University of Calgary
#212 Dalhousie University
#215 Simon Fraser University
#231 University of Ottawa
#241 University of Victoria
#271 Laval University
#333 York University
#358 University of Manitoba

I'll admit I surprised to see the U of C ahead of Dalhousie and SFU. Was glad to see UBC near the top :)

- Peace

2600 KM good news / bad news

Good news is that on Sunday, I dusted off the mountain bike and enjoyed an 18 KM ride in Fish Creek in some gorgeous autumn weather. Much nicer than most of the summer. We do get some autumn colours, and Fish Creek was the place to enjoy it. Don't think there's been that many people in the park at any point this summer. Hit the 2600 KM mark to boot.

The bad news is why I dusted off the mountain bike. Should have hit the 2600 KM mark on Thursday. Unfortunately my commuter's hub locked up just after I arrived at work. I took a spill, but least it wasn't in traffic. I was 16 KM short of 2600 KM. Was able to get the bike to Pedal Head before they closed, but the senior bike guys were in Vegas for a trade show. Heard from them today that they will have to order a part from the states, not sure how long that will be. Here's hoping the nice weather is still here when I get the bike back.

- Peace

Streaming Age of Adz by Sufjan Stevens

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NPR is streaming Sufjan Steven's new album Age of Adz.  From the NPR article:

So the good news is that Stevens is back. The bad news, for fans who only want to hear more of the same, is that his new EP and album show that he has little interest in rehashing his old sound. On The Age of Adz, Stevens replaces delicately plucked banjo lines, wispy vocals and sentimental melodies with glitchy soundscapes, hip-hop beats and heavily filtered vocals. As an added touch, he soaks the whole thing with a warm, deep wash of reverb. It's a bold move, and it pays off incredibly.

- Peace

Two Free Sufjan Stevens MP3s

Sufjan Stevens is giving away to free MP3s from his upcoming album the Age of Adz.  I'm enjoying them, but doubt it will be the hit that Come On Feel the Illinoise was.  Far more experimental.  

- Peace

Behind on Biking and Blogging

OK haven't been keeping up with the biking, been doing worse with the blogging.  I've hit 2300,2400 and 2500 since I last blogged my KM.

- Peace

Home Sick

We had sun after a week plus of rain.  There were some fall colours, and that makes me home sick for the vibrant colours of New Brunswick every autumn.   This year I'm also feeling home sick for home.  Sarah's at UBC and we had to put Winston down on the weekend.   The house is quiet.  This will take some getting used to.

- Peace
Dave

Git diffs with Meld

Nathan Hoad's How to: Meld for Git diffs almost worked for me. Two minor things got in the way.  First you have to have a change in the selected file or git diff does noting.  There is no error message, just nothing happens. It took me a minute to figure out. Sure seems obvious, but  I tripped over it.  Second, you have to set the execute permission on the python file. The error message made this obvious, still worth noting.

- Peace

Twitter the Movie

via: D'Arcy Norman dot net.

- Peace

And the work begins

One of the over 1700 photos I have to go through from the wedding. People think digital photography is instant, and it can be. Most of the time it involves selecting then developing a photo out of dozens of possibilities. As work through the photos I'll be posting a number of them to Laurier and Andrea's Wedding set on flickr. I'll give Laurier and Andrea a DVD with a wider selection of photos.

Wish I could say I planned the above shot, but it was a happy accident :)

- Peace

Burst Mode is Your Friend

As I was walking around Parliament Hill this afternoon there was one woman trying to take a jump shot of her friend. After a few attempts, I asked her if she had gotten the shot. She said no. I explained about burst mode that shoots multiple shots in rapid succession. The only way to time a jump shot is not to time it. Alas we couldn't find a burst mode on her point n shoot. So I offered to take the shot and would give them my card so they could email me. They we quite excited by this offer. So I did the above shot and one with more of the Library.

- Peace

In Ottawa to shoot a Wedding

Shot a wedding yesterday for a friend's daughter. Had some fun at the dance with some long exposure photography.

- Peace

Listen to the new Arcade Fire Album on NPR.

NPR is streaming the new Arcade Fire album The Suburbs.

2200 km on 22x

Had a flat on Friday, didn't get to do the 16 KM or so that would have made sure I hit 2200km on the Bragg Creek Ride. So this morning, having slept too late for church, I headed out 22x knowing I'd hit 2200 KM at a point with a good view of the mountains. Met a fellow cyclist named Mike, who's also a PedalHead guy. Felt a bit of discomfort after yesterday's ride, but still made good time. Mostly cause I was trying to keep up with Mike, who was going slow for him to talk.

- Peace

To Bragg Creek and Back

View To Brag Creek in a larger map
When I first started getting back into biking, when my goal for the year was a 1000 KM; I was told of a woman who was a hard core biker. She'd ride out to Bragg Creek and back, 80 KMs just for fun. I was new in Calgary, didn't even know where Bragg Creek was. Of course soon I learned that there was good mountain biking out past Bragg Creek. And would drive past all the roadies riding to Bragg Creek and think they're nuts.

Almost ten years later, I've ridden to Bragg Creek and back, with the support of friends. I'm not sure I'm at the just for fun point yet. Got passed by a ton of roadies. But I made it, with encouragement from my friends. Thanks, Calvin, Kevin, Sameer, Ken and Andy. The BBQ after was fun :)

For the record it's 83 KM round trip from my place, 568 meters of elevation gain on the way there, 320 meters on the way back. Data was captured using My Tracks.

Kia Soul at 2100 KM

2100 KM had me right at our front door. So Kim's new Kia Soul seemed like a good idea. Obviously I need more work with the low light function on the new camera. Was hoping to hit 2200 KM tomorrow as I have a 88 KM ride planned. Was going out to do 16 KM when I found I had a flat, a puncture in the rear tire. So no riding tonight, and will need to rush to MEC first thing in the morning to get some tires. Need to have a spare on hand.

- Peace

Welcome Olivia

It was wonderful to meet Olivia the other night. She has very cute parents :)

- Peace

Our New Way to Roll

This or That Kia Soul Ad

The manual for our 94 Toyota Carolla said it would last 15 years. It's been 16, has almost 300,000 km. It's been good, but it's time has come. We're going with a KIA Soul, great head room, leg room and good on gas. Was also very impressed with how good the bluetooth integration with my Nexus One was. Not that I'll be driving it that much, this car is for Kim. We're picking it up tomorrow.

- Peace

2000 km, finally.

July has been slow km wise. Weather and life have a way of getting in the way. Currently two days behind my 2008 pace. I have some serious biking to do.

- Peace

Toy Story 3D

Loved the number of references to the original movie. Strong plot, tons of humor. Thematically it revisits mostly familiar ideas from Toy Story 2. The 3d was well done, and not over done. Better than Toy Story 2, not quite as good as the first but time well spent.

- Peace

Three Bikers

Catching up on some photography I did in the spring. Ken, Calvin and Sameer came out and did some riding while I shot from the back of the Element. Kim did the driving. Posting to a set called Three Bikers.

- Peace

Tony, Julie and Liam

Had the honor of doing a family photo shoot with Tony, Julie and Liam when they were in town. Will be adding more over the next few days.

- Peace

The Other Hitchens on Q

Peter Hitchens was on Q on Friday. Enjoyed the interview. Adding his book to my to read list. "The Rage Against God". Part-memoir, part-polemic, the book traces his personal journey from atheism to faith and challenges some of the atheist arguments in his brother Christopher's best-seller, "God Is Not Great."

- Peace

Now working for Blackboard.

Elluminate is being acquired by Blackboard. We're all just finding out what that means.

- Peace

1900 KM: A Slow Start

A slow start to July. Hit the 1900 KM mark, where my original schedule had me for the end of June. At the start of June I was 140 KM short and that put me four days behind. At the start of July I was 100 KM behind and I've take six days to do that. On the upside I'm seven days ahead of my 2008 pace.

- Peace

Megatunes is Closing

Looks like Calgary is loosing it's coolest music store. Megatunes is closing. The staff confirmed it. Nothing about it on their web page though.

Update CBC has a story on the closing.

- Peace

Melissa and Phil Expecting

Couple of weeks ago I had the honor of doing a shoot with Melissa and Phil. Melissa is very pregnant and is just a week or so from her due date. It was a joy to share in this time of expecting.

- Peace

1800 KM and a Plan Update

Hit the 1800 KM mark last night. That's over the original 700 KM goal for June but under the 840 KM goal that would have cleared my 140 KM debt from May. Will take me two or three days to get to the 1900 KM mark as originally planned for the end of June. Going to set July and August's goals at 700 KM each. That would leave me with less than a 1000 KM to do in the fall to reach 4500 KM.

Going to try and even out the pace, doing almost 300 KM in the last week was intense.

- Peace

1700 KM

Hit the 1700 KM mark last night. Not much else to say.

- Peace

1600 KM and 18 Years and other stuff.

Kim suggested we spend a night at Kananaskis Village for our Anniversary. She even said I could take my bike, thank you my Love. Having had a large brunch I decided not to do another 20 KM on the above path, instead Kim drove me to the top of the Highwood pass so I could ride down. On the way to the pass we were stopped by an accident involving two motor bikes. First bike had stopped because of sheep on the highway, second bike did not stop fast enough. Called 911 as I was the first one with a cell phone. One guy was taken out by ambulance, EMS called off the STARS Helicopter as the patient was status green. One of the cars that stopped was an off duty EMS member, she knew the other EMS personnel when they showed up. So the guy was well looked after. Two other riders walked away with minor injuries.

There was snow at the top of the pass even a guy throwing snowballs :) Hit the 81 KM/H mark coming down the pass, pure bliss :)

Felt good to hit 1600 KM as I didn't make it to 1600 KM last year. Ankle injury that I didn't give enough time to heal when it happened.

Hit 1600 KM on June 27, 2009. Need to pick up the pace to hit 4500 KM this year. Did 4200 KM in 2009.

- Peace

Play List Sync for Android (Alpha)

I have written a small Android app that can download and m3u file from a web server and grab all the songs. It then rewrites the file form HTTP urls to local URLs for the phone's built in player to use. Still have some refinements, like a progress bar. But it's working :) I also have a small web app that takes a m3u playlist from itunes and translates it into an m3u list with HTTP URLs. So I export a playlist from itunes, to my play list server folder, point the phone app to the play list server and it copies songs to the phone.

Yeah I know there are apps that will do that, but they didn't work the way I wanted and I needed a project to play with Android.

- Peace

1500 KM

Got caught in a thunderstorm on the way home tonight. Waited out the worst of it under deerfoot trail talking with another cyclist.

- Peace

Our New Copmany Song

We'll be singing this each morning.

- Peace

1400 KM and a new Camera

Hit the 1400 KM mark this morning. This is the first 100 KM mark that I've used my new Lumix TS2. I had to retire my Olympus Stylus 790SW after Goat Creek. It had been slightly damaged when it got knocked off a table. It had worked fine, but one of the doors was slightly off allowing water in. I went with the TS2 as the latest in the Stylus line has a boot time of several seconds. The TS2 is ready in just over a second, that matters when you're shooting and riding.

- Peace

Thanks to the Chinook Triathalon Volunteers

No I'm not a triathlete. I did ride 50 KM on 22x today, and 22x was part of the Chinook Triathlon today. The Volunteers cheered and gave me an electrolyte drink. Even after I explained I wasn't in the race.

- Peace

Goat Creek Map

View Goat creek in a larger map
Used my phone to map out Goat Creek Trail. Click on the red icon at the end to see the altitude data and timing Data. I've also uploaded the Banff to Canmore map.

- Peace

On a new path @ 1300 KM

Hit the 1300 KM mark next to the Trans Canada Highway yesterday after the June Goat Creek ride.  Took the Trans Canada back to Canmore and big chunks of the new path connecting Canmore to Baff are done.  Nothing like new pavement for a smooth ride.  Path won't officially open till 2011.

- Peace

Biking Calgary and Vancouver

Calgary City council is voting on Monday, June 7 to work up a comprehensive biking strategy for our city over the next year, one that:

“identifies actions The City will take in the short, medium and long term in order to make Calgary a bicycle-friendly city for all – a city where cycling is a great option for transportation and recreation purposes.”

D'Arcy Norman has great post that outlines the need for a plan in Calgary.  Having spent a week in May biking in Vancouver I can say there is hope.  The bike routes in Vancouver work,  the routes are well marked, with bike symbols on the main street signs.  I was able to follow the routes with ease.  Bike lanes on main roads are well marked, and are well separated from parking spaces for cars.  Most of the routes are on side streets, but unlike Calgary there aren't stop signs every block or two.  Cross streets have stop signs but the bike route has the flow.  They also use small traffic calming roundabouts.     When a bike route crosses a major route there are buttons for the lights are placed at the curb where a cyclist can reach them without getting off their bike.    One is not expected to go kilometers out of the we to get to a bike route.  It was wonderful to ride in a city that had planned for people to ride in it.

I rode in Vancouver back in 95 or 96 and I don't remember it being so welcoming to cyclists, so progress is possible over 15 years.   I hope our city council gets started soon.

- Peace

1200 KM, Four Days Late

Hit the 1200 KM mark tonight.  That puts me four days behind my original goal of hiting 1200 KM by the end of May.  We'll see if I can make up four days in the remaining twenty six days.

- Peace

1100 KM and a Revised Plan

Hit the 1100 KM mark on the way home tonight.  Thing is I should have been there sometime last week, but we had rain and snow last week.  I was short 140 KM for May, so I'm upping my goal for June from 700 to 840.  I've done more than 800 KM in a month before, but I don't recall cracking 900 KM in month, so 840 will be a stretch goal for sure.

- Peace

JC and Jesus Manifesto

Jordon Cooper has posted about a new book from by Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola: Jesus Manifesto. Amazon.com and Amazon.ca has it on sale today for the launch.

I've been told I have a review copy in the mail. I haven't read Viola or Sweet before, though I've heard a fair bit about them. Will let you know how it goes.

- Peace
Dave

Northern Voice

I buzzed a fair bit from Nothern Voice and have posted pics to flickr. But haven't blogged anything about it. I've had a hard time summing it up. After all how do you relate a drawing with letters, realizing the editor of the Vancouver Sun doesn't understand the term 'public domain', eating sushi with Gov 2.0 types, talking with a member of the Thunder Bird support team about Lightning and Google Calendar, talking with Transit Bloggers about how great Vancouver's Bike Route system is and all the other cool random moments at Northern Voice? Northern Voice is a target rich environment for making connections about tech, art, Vancouver and the state of the net. Time well spent.

- Peace

Sarah Speaking at her Grad Banquet

This is our daughter Sarah, presenting the Centennial High School Class of 2010's Legacy Gift to the school. They're putting in benches to the school and sending solar lamps to teachers and nurses in the developing world. She's growing up and going to UBC in the fall. We're very proud of her.

- Peace

1000 KM near Crimson Lake

Spent the long weekend camping with friends at Crimson Lake. Did over 90 km, most of that trail ridding. Hit the 1000 KM mark this afternoon on the trail that runs from Crimson Lake to Rocky Mountain House. 7 days and 200 KM to go for May :)

- Peace

Celtic Goth

Had hoped to do a shoot while in Vancouver, things didn't work out. Did meet make up artist Kristina Wood who's from Calgary and is studying in Vancouver. She was back in Calgary for a visit, so got together with Talitha and did a concept we've been calling Celtic Goth.

- Peace

900 KM

Hit the 900 KM mark last night. Lost a week of ridding, was exhausted when I got back from Vancouver and came down with a bug. Still have twelve days to do 300 KM. No worries.

- Peace

Who Said?

"It turns out the oil rigs today generally don't cause oil spills. They are technologically very advanced." Answer.

Of Science, Faith and History

Enjoyed my week at Regent for Wonder and Devotion: Bringing Science and Faith Together for the Church. I was struck by how important history was in bringing Science and Faith together. The history of theology in reading the book of Genesis, and the history of the Church's relation ship with science. The history of science and how it's been married to ideologies.

A couple of bits that I found interesting:

The first Christian response to Darwin's On the Origin of Species is dated six days prior to it's publication. Review copies are a very old practice. The first review was positive.

By the 1920's Evolution had been married to political theories such as the Eugenics Movement. The text book that was at the center of the famous "Scopes Monkey Trial" had a section dedicated to the praise of Eugenics. Quotes like "If the stock of domesticated animals can be improved upon, it is not unfair to ask if the health and vigor of the future generations of men and women on the earth might not be improved by applying to them the laws of selection." The opposition to Evolution was more complex than simply insisting on a literal six day creation as it's made out in the popular understanding of the "Scopes Monkey Trial".

Really enjoyed the Canadian premier of Test of Faith. They have a number of great clips, so from the film some not on the Test of Faith YouTube chanel. For example you can hear Dr Denis Alexander on How have different ideologies used Darwinism for their own purposes? There is a good clip from Darrel Falk. He explains his concerns about both the science and the theology of the Intelligent Design movement - and says that both are deeply flawed. He very much echoes the thoughts that Dr. Alexander shared at the conference.

- Peace

Pat LePoidevin Unplugged Near Golden

Had a chance to hear Pat LePoidevin on the TransCanada just east of Golden. A rock slide had stopped all traffic. Pat was passing the time strumming and his drummer Matt joined him for a short set. The acoustics on the bridge were really good.

You can hear a great collection of songs by Pat on CBC Radio 3.

800 KM in Vancouver

On Sunday I biked from near this spot, downtown and back to reach the 800 KM mark before leaving Vancouver.

700 KM in Vancouver

Lisa and I hit the trails in the UBC Endowment Lands. A wonderful ride, the smell of pine is almost intoxicating.

- Peace

600 KM - Alberta Weather

Took the scenic route home last night, 40 KM was just enough to get me to the 600 KM and meet the goal for April. I had given up, thinking that with the two days of snow the paths would be a mess. But the weather started to change late Thursday. I came home from the store Thursday night to see our spring blizzard on the National news. I was wearing shorts. Other than a few broken branches and large puddles the bike paths were clear.

The goal for May stays the same at 600 KM and I'll be aiming for 700 KM in June. That would put me at 1900 KM by the end of June. 4500 KM is the goal for the year :)

- Peace

Science, Faith and Reduction

A number of articles seemed to echo one another recently. I'll blog them in reverse order to my reading them, so first or last is Breaking Things Down to Particles Blinds Scientists to Big Picture

Karl Popper, the great philosopher of science, once divided the world into two categories: clocks and clouds. Clocks are neat, orderly systems that can be solved through reduction; clouds are an epistemic mess, “highly irregular, disorderly, and more or less unpredictable.” The mistake of modern science is to pretend that everything is a clock, which is why we get seduced again and again by the false promises of brain scanners and gene sequencers. We want to believe we will understand nature if we find the exact right tool to cut its joints. But that approach is doomed to failure. We live in a universe not of clocks but of clouds.

This resonated with me as I had just read John Stackhouse saying much the same thing about faith. From “All Religions Are the Same…” (except Where They’re Not)

What needs to be argued and not just asserted is that each of the major religions really does reduce down to moralism or mysticism without a loss to its essential character. And, in my view, most religions do not so reduce. Devotional (bhakti) Hinduism (the most popular form of Hinduism) doesn’t; Mahayana Buddhism (the most popular form of Buddhism) doesn’t; Judaism doesn’t; and Christianity and Islam, the most popular religions in the world, certainly don’t. (I recognize that there are moralistic and mystical varieties of each of the Abrahamic religions, but the majority of believers and of those religions’ formal traditions do not, I maintain, reduce their religions to mere moralism or mysticism.)

To get the full character of what he's saying you need to read the full post, it doesn't reduce to a quote particularly well.

Reduction of faith is often called Pluralism, though how you have many when everything is the same is lost on me. Brian J. Walsh touched on the idea of Principled Pluralism in Inclusive, Particular and Being Down and Out in Austin.

We need to acknowledge and affirm the plurality of worldviews in our society and find meaningful and respectful ways for various faith communities to make their contribution to the common good. Now I also happen to think, on anthropological grounds, that we are all members of faith communities, but that requires an expanded notion of faith that breaks through the religion/secular dualism that has been championed by Enlightenment modernity. I think that all people live their lives out of some foundational worldview or narrative that is, at heart, religious in character, even if that religion is self-consciously “secularist” or atheist.

...

So maybe what we need to talk about is just what do we mean by inclusiveness. If what we mean by inclusiveness is that we need to find ways to bridge the gap between various groups, whether Christian of various stripes, Muslim, Aboriginal, feminist, gay/lesbian, liberal or even neo-conservatives (a stretch likely for both of us!) to fight against poverty and to seek the common good, then of course, count me in.

But count me in as a Christian.

Let the various groups make their contribution – often on their own, but sometimes in coalition where that will be most effective – but let them make their contribution with their worldview clearly in the forefront, not hidden behind some veil of religious neutrality. That imposition of religious neutrality is, in fact, one of the oppressive legacies of the liberalism that I am opposing.

- Peace

Of Science, Faith and Blogging

Will be in Vancouver next week for two conferences. First up is Wonder and Devotion: Bringing Science and Faith Together for the Church at Regent. As that wraps up on Friday I'll head over for Northern Voice 2010: a two-day, non-profit personal blogging and social media conference. My guess, I'll be the only person at both conferences.

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500 KM and a broken spoke

The good news, I hit the 500 KM mark tonight. Also it was the first day this year I've done the entire trip to and from work, no ctrain. On the downside I have at least one broken spoke on the rear wheel, so the bike will be going into the shop tomorrow. The forecast for the end of the week isn't looking great and I still have 95 KM to go for April.

- Peace

400 KM

Hit 400 KM on the way home tonight. To stay on target I need to hit the 500 and 600 KM marks in the next 9 days - fun :)

Ctrain Angel

Now posting a shoot I did last week with Jessie F as a C Train Angel. Thanks to Darlene Brink for doing the Makeup, Hair and last minute adjustments to the costume.

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At 300 KM for 2010 - 300 KM to go in April

Hit the 300 KM mark on the way to the ctrain tonight. I'm still not doing the entire 52 km round trip. Lost a week due to snow, wind and a sleepy Saturday. So I have two weeks to do another 300 KM to keep with the plan.

- Peace
Dave

Hope for a Tree Cut Down

Not sure where I found it, but I'm enjoying Hope for a Tree Cut Down a free Album in MP3 format from the folks at Church of the Beloved. BTW I'm not a fan of most "worship" music. This one reminds me of The Choir and friend's excellent At the Foot of the Cross.

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William Gibson on Q, on Wired

William Gibson, one of the authors I try to read deeply was on Q yesterday talking about Darwin's Bastards a new Canadian speculative fiction anthology. In the interview Gibson talks about the relativeness of dystopia and how people have missed that his new writing is set in the present, not the future. You can hear the intervew as part the April 13th Q Podcast. The interview starts at 15:46.

I also spotted a William Gibson story on Wired summarizing a Q & A session Gibson has been running on his blog. Gibson was answering questions on his new novel Zero History due out in Sept.

Two more books for my To Read List.

- Peace
Dave

Ironman vs Bruce Lee

Cool animation by Patrick Boivin of Montreal.

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Dave

Darlene Brink has a Website.

It will come as no surprise that if you ask me to recommend a Make Up Artist in Calgary that Darlene Brink would be top of my list. She's been the magic behind some of my favorite photos. Now she has a website showing off her work: darlenebrink.com.

- Peace
Dave

James Gosling has left Oracle.

James Gosling, father of Java and native Calgarian has left Oracle and has posted about moving on at his new blog. For those of us who have made our living with the tech he invented this isn't an encouraging sign from the company that now controls Java. For anyone who's heard James speak candidly about J2EE this doesn't come as a surprise, in fact I'm surprised it took this long.

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Copyright needs to return to it's roots

The notion that lengthening copyright increases creativity is questionable, however. Authors and artists do not generally consult the statute books before deciding whether or not to pick up pen or paintbrush. And overlong copyrights often limit, rather than encourage, a work’s dissemination, impact and influence. It can be difficult to locate copyright holders to obtain the rights to reuse old material. As a result, much content ends up in legal limbo (and in the case of old movies and sound recordings, is left to deteriorate—copying them in order to preserve them may constitute an act of infringement). The penalties even for inadvertent infringement are so punishing that creators routinely have to self-censor their work. Nor does the advent of digital technology strengthen the case for extending the period of protection. Copyright protection is needed partly to cover the costs of creating and distributing works in physical form. Digital technology slashes such costs, and thus reduces the argument for protection.

Copyright and Wrong From The Economist print edition

If You Can Make God Bleed

"If you can make God bleed people will cease to believe in him." - Whiplash From the second Iron Man 2 trailer. Really? cause that's a big part of why I believe.

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Google Wave Notifications

Looks like Google has been listening, they've added notifications to Google Wave. Not sure how well that will scale, but it beats where they started.

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200 KM and a plan

Hit 200 KM last night while trying a new path home. The new path is shorter, but waiting 20 minuets for the train kills any advantage. If I can optimize my route a bit, maybe I hope to ride more. The search continues...

200 KM for March - total bonus :) Goals for the next two months: 400 KM for April and 600 KM for May.

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My Ride To Work via Downtown.

View To Work Via Downtown in a larger map
This is one of the ways I bike to work. Tracked via my tracks on my phone this morning. If you click the red end of track marker you'll see the graph of the altitude changes from my commute. Works best while viewing on the larger map.

The other route to work involves heading east earlier and then north along the river, will post that route later. First time this year I've done the entire ride to work.


- Peace

The Unmeal

to eat the unmeal
to wash the feet of the one who will betray me tonight
to wash the feet of the one who will deny me three times by morning
to love as i' ve been loved
to live under the unlaw

Evolution has better Google Calender Support than Lightning

I run Ubuntu at work. The only thing I miss from Windows was automatic calendar syncing between Outlook and Google Calendar. I tried to get it to work with Thunderbird and Lightning but no luck. Oh you can see your Google Calendar in Lightning no problem, but you can't accept meeting invites and have them propagate to Google Calendar. Today I found I could do this with Evolution. They only hiccup is that I have to select the Google Calendar each time I accept an invite, even though I've set Google Calendar as my default calendar. I can deal with that.

Photoshop CS5 Looks Like a Game Changer

Watch this demo of the new Photoshop that Adobe is working on. Skip ahead to see the really cool stuff. The things they are doing with a couple of clicks are the type of things Photoshop Wizards used to compete on. Will seriously consider adding Photoshop CS5 to my photography tool set.

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Eugene Peterson, Calgary May 27th

Rocky Mountain College is bringing in Eugene Peterson May 27th. They have PDF for the event. I've been reading Peterson since the mid 90's. Know a number of people who've studied under him. Will be the first time I get to hear him speak in person.

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Neighbourhood Fire

As I left work CBC had the new of a major condo fire in my neighbourhood. The good news is no one was hurt. I talked to a couple of owners, one was very shaken up as it was her first place. The other was a landlord, it would be a huge inconvenience for him, but more of an issue for his tenants. This was a new building that was only finished in the last year or so. The sign for the developer is still on the side of the building.

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100 KM and it's Still Winter

Hit the 100 KM mark on the way home tonight. That's the earliest 100 KM mark since I started tracking each 100 km in 2007. Last year I only hit 1600 KM, so this year is my second go at 4500 KM, so if feels good to get an early start.

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I'm now a Published Photographer

Seven: A bi-monthly Christian magazine for Canadian men used my Tallest Teepee at Dawn picture for as a two page spread in the March 2010 (PDF) issue. See page 20.

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New Look for IdeaJoy via the new Blogger Template Designer

IdeaJoy has a new look thanks to the new Blogger Template Designer that Blogger released in beta last week. Looking forward to being able to use my own background image, so the look will change once that feature is available. One note, the new system does not support IE 6, so one more reason to use something else.

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Speaking of Fish...

Dan Barber: How I fell in love with a fish - a TED Talk. Really it's about how he fell in love with a fish farm. If you hate the idea of fish farming, you need to watch this. My first question, is it too good to be true?

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First Ride of 2010

first two k of twenty ten
Fish Creek hill
water across path
black ice under water
wheels slip
heart stops
bike stays up
what a start

The Real Alaska Pollock with Sexy Arms and Legs

Yep, it's me again, Calvin, invading Dave's blog. This time I have something wonderful for YOU. It is, I think, a commercial for a game:



Yep!

And those wondering what type of fish it is, it's an Alaska Pollock with Sexy Arms and Legs. According to my sources, which I will not reveal here.

The definition of “neighbour” has changed

As voters, as tax-payers, as inventors and proliferators of goods and ideas, and as consumers, our decisions cause not ripples but tidal waves throughout the world and, for the first time, we can track them. The advent of modern telecommunications has given us access to an unprecedented volume of information about one another, at an unprecedented speed. None of us can lay claim to innocence on the grounds that we are ignorant: more than at any other time in the history of our species, we in the developed world are equipped to understand the suffering of others and our complicity therein. As a result, the very definition of “neighbour” has dramatically changed.

From the Forward to Mara's Thesis that she submitted last Friday. I found it interesting.

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Thanks for the 80's Girls

A big thank you to Darlene Brink for organizing a fantastic photo shoot on the weekend. She brought together three fantastic models. Left to Right: Shanajane, Heather Schmidt and Kimberley Ma. She brought in hairstylist Connie Boone to do the Big 80's hair. Darlene recruited fellow make up artist Gethyn Prior to work with Darlene on the fantastic glam makeup. Darlene had her husband track down the guitars, and he let use his drum kit. Not only that they rearranged their basement so we could use it as a studio. Oh and she provided most of the outfits and had healthy snacks for us. Wow.

Me? I just had to show up with my camera and some balloons. Thank you Darlene, you're fantastic.

BTW I'm posting the pictures to a set called 80's Girls.

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Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds

As a geek with a number of geek and nerd friends I found this talk fascinating. Hadn't heard of Dr. Grandin before, but I'm adding her book Thinking In Pictures to my to read list.

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Chess an Iconic Battle

Just post the last two pics to my set of Talitha and Rachel playing Chess. This is part of my on going plan to make Talitha a geek pin up girl, having done a set with her and her battle axe last year. So that's the Role Playing club and the Chess club covered. Not sure what we're going to do for the A/V club.

I think it speaks to how natural these two are in front of a camera that a number of people have wondered if I just stumbled into a chess match. Before a wedding perhaps? There are hints in the set that something else is going on, but I was expecting a chess nerd to object and no one has. I deeply appreciate Talitha and Rachel's support of my photography. Not only by throwing them selves into the roles but also arranging access to the impressive space, providing the furniture and creating such wonderful outfits. They are a joy to work with.

- Peace

Tony Campolo

Inn from the Cold is brining in Tony Compolo, tomorrow night. This is Tony Campolo on the Hour.

See the Inn From the Cold site for details.

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Games as Liturgy?

It was probably the photo shoot of a chess game in an old church that got me thinking of games as a form of Liturgy.

Games structure our interaction
We take turns, move icons

There are moments of passion
Moments or contemplation

House rules and orthodoxy vary

Cheats are known to be common
but we play on

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East Advocate on Google Maps

OK enough Google Buzz, how about Google Maps? This week Google Maps expanded to cover a great deal more of Canada with Street View. The view below is of East Advocate.

View Larger Map
East Advocate is just down the road from my Grandfather's place, Kim and I were there this summer. I took this picture:

Just blows me away how comprehensive Google wants to be with this project.

- Peace

Getting Your Blog on Buzz

If your blog isn't showing up as one of the sites that Google Buzz will connect to, then try adding the Google Web Master Tools. That worked for me. Thanks to LT for the tip.

- Peace

Buzz Day One

Back in October Google launched Wave
with a great deal of hype, but Wave washed out almost instantly. Wave's big mistake? No integration with email. When someone sent you a wave, you had to check your wave inbox. Wave also rolled out slowly, so by the time other people you know tried it, you had moved on. I just checked, I have 10 new waves since I last checked in Nov!

Google launched it's latest social network attempt Buzz yesterday. I think they've learned a thing or two. Most of my contacts in gmail have it today, even my wife who joined Gmail very late. Buzz is built right in to gmail and seems to gaining people rapidly.

That said there are some things that strike me as strange:

Adding your Bloggger blog is not automatic, even though google knows the blogs your own via your google id. Linking to my google profile might fix that.

Email integration needs work. Buzz is part of gmail, it notifies you when someone replies to a Buzz post. While the notifications are in your inbox, they are not emails. There is no from address. This makes filtering them, like I do with Facbebook and Flickr notifications painful.

Few women. Most of the posts I see on Facebook are from female friends. All the posts I've seen on Buzz Today are from guys. That's just day one, but if that keeps up and few weeks it's just me and the guys then Buzz is in trouble.

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I'm not a Lost Geek

OK, the words "Do you actually watch the show?" have come out of my mouth when talking to a coworker who didn't get a number of references I made to Lost. He said we watch it at different levels. After a rare blog post form Joe Kirk on the premiere episode of the final season of Lost, I now know how my coworker felt.

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Of Lost, Narnia and the Other Story

"Oh, Aslan," said Lucy. "You don't mean it was? How could I? I couldn't have left the others and come up to you alone, how could I? Don't look at me like that, oh well, I suppose I could. Yes, and it wouldn't have been alone, I know, not if I was with you. But what would have been the good?"
Aslan said nothing.
"You mean," said Lucy rather faintly, "that it would have turned out all right somehow? But how? Please, Aslan! Am I not to know?"
"To know what would have happened, child?" said Aslan. "No. Nobody is ever told that."
"Oh dear," said Lucy.

Prince Caspian - C. S. Lewis

Watching Lost Season Six Premier last night I couldn't help but think of the response Aslan gives more than once in the Narnia Series, of the stories we're not told. Lost has chosen to tell the other story, what would happened if flight 815 hadn't gone down and it was very well done. It gave a deeper understanding of why Jacob could put people on doomed flight. I don't know how Lost will finish, the beginning of the end was well done.

Another Narnia quote along the same lines.

“I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice.
“Don't you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?” said Shasta.
“There was only one lion,” said the Voice.
“What on earth do you mean? I've just told you there were at least two
the first night, and-“
“There was only one: but he was swift of foot.”
“How do you know?”
“I was the lion.” And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said
nothing, the Voice continued. “I was the lion who forced you to join
with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the
dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I
was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last
mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion
you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near
death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight,
to receive you.”
"Then it was you who wounded Aravis?"
"It was I"
"But what for?"
"Child," said the Voice, "I am telling you your story, not hers. I
tell no one any story but his own."
"Who are you?" asked Shasta.
"Myself," said the Voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook:
and again "Myself", loud and clear and gay: and then the third time
"Myself", whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it
seemed to come from all round you as if the leaves rustled with it.

The Horse and His Boy

I understand what Lewis is saying and agree for the most part. However at times we get glimpses of the other story, and though never the full story they are still important so I'm enjoying the indulgence of the other story in Lost.

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First Interesting Pic of 2010

Jim of Claymore is my first "Interesting Pic" of 2010. That means it's broken into my top 200 pictures of the over 3400 pics I've posted since starting with flickr in 2005.

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A Deal With the Devil

In 1794, a slave uprising began and within ten years the French were expelled and Haiti became the only nation in the world’s history to be born of a successful slave revolt.

France, refusing to let her “rights” to the land and its inhabitants go uncompensated, posted warships off Haiti’s coast, and after 25 years of international isolation and threat supported by the U.S. and Europe, Haiti agreed to take out a loan from a designated French bank and pay compensation to French plantation owners for their loss of “property,” including the freed slaves. The amount of the debt – the modern equivalent of 21 billion dollars – was ten times that of Haiti’s total 1825 revenue and twice the price of the Louisiana Purchase, paid by the United States to France (a year before Haiti’s independence) for seventy-four times more land.

This imposition of compensation by a defeated power and reimbursement by freed slaves of their former owners is unique in history and violated international law even in 1825. The 1825 agreement began a cycle of debt that has condemned the Haitian people to poverty ever since whose government has some years paid up to 80% of it’s annual revenues to service debt. Needless to say, money for the most basic infrastructure enjoyed by most western nations was not available. Haiti did not finish paying the loans that financed the debt until 1947. Over a century after the global slave trade was recognized and eliminated as the evil it was, the Haitians were still paying their ancestors’ masters for their freedom.

Now that sounds like a deal with the devil.

From Steve Bell's Debt, Dictatorship and Disaster – A brief history of Haiti. As seen on Bene Diction Blogs On.

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Not a natural disaster...

Melissa compares the effects of the 1994 7.0 earth quake in California to last weeks 7.0 Earth quake in Haiti. Her conclusion: This is not a natural disaster. This is the result of extreme poverty.

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Practice Resurrection

Practice Resurrection: A Conversation on Growing Up in Christ by Eugene Peterson is coming out in February. The title comes from a Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front by Wendell Berry. The final stanza reads

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn't go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

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A Meet the Baby Party

On Friday Ed hosted a party for Calgary friends of Lisa and Luis to meet Mateo. Mateo really was the star of the party, he was very good natured and soaked up the attention with joy. It was my first meet the baby party, had a great time. I've posted more Mateo pics on flickr.

- Peace