I just completed the fall reading challenge with all the other bloggers and readers. My last posting just went up with my review of the sixth book in the Harry Potter series. I squeezed that one in at the end. It was a great group and I'll now be participating in the Winter Reading Challenge. Just like the fall, you'll have to go there to read my reviews.

more pictures

Bert Flinn park.
Gigi lounges.
Prima taking one of her daily 30 baths.
more Gigi.
I've been trying to get a good picture of Gigi but she is so aloof and I think she's clued in to what I'm trying to do because every time I get the camera out she decides to get up and run off. I'm trying not to take it personally.

The first photo of Bert Flinn park is so close to home and I can't believe we haven't been through there up until this past week. It's lovely and we had a beautiful day to walk through. It's a very easy going park since it's mostly flat and the trail is well trodden and wide. It does descend in one section and from what I can tell from the very sketchy map of it is that it does connect to another trail that I frequent. So I'm hoping we can find that route on our next visit.

random whoville photos

morning fog
middle school project that shows the streams of salmon


Mount Baker viewed through the trees

it arrived!

After a somewhat crappy day at work, I came home to find a mister anchovy original digital artwork with the postcard image represented in the print. This was my prize after answering the postcard challenge correctly. It's a fun challenge and I am thrilled with the prize. That made my day a whole lot better.

Now...I just have to find a suitable frame.

sunday in whoville

Another busy Sunday. I started my day by capping my own coffee with noel nog (kind of a soy no-no but just a little suffering for an amazing latte) and it turned out beautiful. With db away in Montreal for coffee business meet and greets, I'm making my own lattes. The peaks of nog rising above the cup rim reminded me of Golden Ears or Blanshard Peak that I see so frequently around here. The froth and crema lasted until the last sip. Delicious.

Later I headed out for my run along the trans Canada trail (same link as above), deciding to explore a part of the trail I'd never been on. I really was looking forward to going a little further distance this week and thought the soft left strewn trail would be just what I needed. I felt great and was enjoying the sun when out in the open. The river was just rushing when I hit the coq. river trail. All I could hear was the river and my breathing. I went about two kilometers and then I saw three dogs come up over a dip in the trail. I have a bit of a phobia when it comes to strange big dogs. Furthermore, these dogs were not on leashes and I couldn't see an owner. When I saw a doberman with its ears pinned (dumb and pointless by the way) stop and start checking me out, I decided to stop, turn, and slowly walk the other way. Fortunately I had just passed an opening to a nearby street and I headed for that, trying to keep calm and not look back.

Once on the street I waited and thought the dogs might pass on the trail and perhaps I could head back in, but instead they sniffed around at the trail head and ran up and down to the river while the owner stood waiting. I gave up and kept running on the side streets. So much for my trail run. Nonetheless I had a great run and completed the last 2 k at a faster pace. I even ran most of the hill up to our house.

I find it rather annoying when Dog owners let their large guard dogs run freely on public trails that are clearly marked as "dogs on leash" trails. It's one thing on a less travelled hiking route, but quite another on a busy trail on a Sunday. Owners always say "don't worry s/he's friendly." Of course the dog is friendly to them, the dog knows them. I've seen dogs lurch towards me and the owner will scold the dog and apologize saying, "s/he never does that." Maybe it's me? I've seen dogs checking me out, wondering if I'm chewy or not.

Anywho...back at home I spent a couple of hours in the backyard raking leaves and planting the last of my bulbs. As always I get a little rushed when I realize I have lots of bulbs and am out of planning ideas. I started coring out soil all over the place, sticking in tulips, alliums, crocuses, and dutch iris. I also started tagging everything in the garden since so much of it will be gone over the winter and when they bring in the "landscapers" (Grrrr) next spring I want everything labeled and visible so that they don't start tearing out my precious perennials.

The sun was just starting to drop when I came in. I feel lucky to have had such great weather on my day off.

the day after the video

Yesterday the news updated the reaction to the screening of the Dziekanski video. The radio reported that the cbc website was getting more hits than ever and people were going there to comment on and view the video. How did this end up as being a lead story about the death of Dziekanski? Who cares how many hits the cbc website gets? How is this news? How callous can you be? That seems like a shameless promotion for the cbc that had already prompted it's listeners and viewers to "stay tuned" for the video at 6 o'clock.

Now the deconstruction begins. Everyone is interpreting the video in many ways. I've already heard the police say that after the first taser shot Dziekanski was still struggling and aggressive which therefore required further taser shots. Once again I want to draw your attention to the police version of the Rodney King incident that also said King was fighting back after he was initially taken down by police.

In a more positive light, questions about the police actions are being questioned from the use of tasers to how recruits are trained. This is an important move since it is necessary that we (as a society) question how we are being policed. If we are open to questioning how we are being governed then it is also essential that a democracy question how it is being policed.

Dziekanski's death had led us to bigger questions and for me this is an important step to help prevent future tragedies.

the video

I chose not to watch the video of the death of Robert Dziekanski that was so heavily advertised on the radio today. The half hour and hourly news kept mentioning that the video would be broadcast for the first time on the 6 o'clock news. Every time I heard it it made me angrier because it clearly did seem like an advertisement inviting people to watch this man's death.

Should the video be made public? I suppose it should as long as there is an investigation taking place. The need to make the video public was only heightened by the fact that the police kept it to themselves for so long saying that they needed it as part of their inquiry into how this happened and if the taser was used unnecessarily. The need to make the video public was also heightened by the video owner coming forward to the media to let them know that the police had yet to return his property. With this in mind it was only a matter of time before some version of the video would be seen. In a way it had to be made public since by now we were all wondering what happened to this man and how could it all go so wrong?

The questions will continue to be asked as they should. Will the video help clarify? I would guess somewhat. However, keep in mind that like the Rodney King video we need remember how the police used that particular video to show that they weren't using excessive force and in fact King was fighting back. In other words depending on who is doing the viewing and thus drawing the conclusions, events that happened separate from the reality of what actually happened can be interpreted. I guess the advantage of making the video public works to help clear the police of any sort of cover-up, but with the King video setting a kind of precedent, it is hard to imagine that they can be cleared of using excessive force (tasering unnecessarily).

Of course I haven't seen the video so I can't draw conclusions based on video evidence, but I can say that it would seem that an unarmed man who spoke no English was frustrated and confused at the Vancouver airport. Police swept in and tasered the man more than once that caused his death. What do I see? That there is something very wrong with this picture.

raise the loaf

My first loaf of bread! db had some trouble with his recent loaf of sourdough. He's not sure what exactly happened but the loaf turned out to be quite narrow. For toast this is fine, but as I said to db I wanted to make some tuna-free salad and needed a sandwich bread.

Having been spoiled for the last six years with fresh baked bread every week I haven't been able to enjoy anything from any store or bakery for quite some time. Everything seems pale in comparison to db's bread. So what am I doing making bread? I'm not sure, but with a recipe from db and some tips on how to release the bread from the peel, I did a simple loaf and it turned out!

I did learn that I need to put more cornmeal on the peel in order to slide it off the peel with ease. I couldn't get the dough off the peel and had to hand it to the pro to get the bread in the oven. I also learned that I have to spritz the oven with water if I want a crusty loaf. This is something I'm hesitant to do ever since db once had an exploding light bulb in the oven when he spritzed that. Oops. It only happened the once, but since then I am reluctant to be in the same room whenever db spritzes the oven.

Seeing as db will be away this weekend, I will be on bread making duty and I have to say that I'm looking forward to it.

***

last place

It seems I'm in last place again in the hockey pool. D'oh! So much for sp's goalie slayers.

This week seemed to fly by.

I've been busy at work trying to learn about more areas of the store to get an idea of how the whole system functions (or where it can break down) so it's been a challenging and tiring week. I've been multi-tasking myself stupid to the point where I started to wonder what area fits best with me and what doesn't. I suppose this is a good place to be since now I can make my job what I want it to be. I was a bit down on my job because I felt I wasn't being fulfilled creatively, but I've been trying to make my job work for me as much as possible. After not getting the office position, I was a bit pissed feeling like it was a dead-end job, but now I see that since then I've been working harder in other areas. In the end it is probably more rewarding working with displays, learning the warehouse, and juggling the express and web orders. True it's not as much money as the office job, but money isn't everything is it?

It's also true that I'm not freelance writing or making much money in that area (actually zero dollars right now), but if I sit around moaning about it I'll waste too much time and energy bitching and complaining which leads to bouts of not wanting to get out of bed and poor eating habits (damn you Miss Vickies!).

Does this make me want to get up and go to work? No. Am I still chomping at the bit to leave at the end of a shift? Yes. Am I the last person to volunteer my time? Yes. Some things can't be changed.

***

db and I went for a run today. This is the first time we ran together since the marathon. The day was overcast and cool, the ground damp from the rains earlier in the morning. As far as I'm concerned it was great running weather. There's very little chance of overheating in this weather. We covered a solid 6 k before db's IT band started to bother him. He had to walk by the time we got to the inlet trail. So I'd run ahead and back to meet him and then we just walked for a bit. After all I'm not training for any event right so I thought I might as well enjoy the walk with db.

We stopped at one of the creeks that runs into the inlet to see the salmon. I sense it's nearing the end of their run. There seems to be fewer now. We followed the path along the creek and stopped a various points to see if others were struggling along. Sure enough there was always one or two working away. We also noticed two bald eagles quite close to the creek ready to reap the benefits of a creek swimming with salmon about to give up. I think we saw a nest. Makes sense that they would set up home in such an ideal spot.

***

Friday we went to Circle Craft since it was two for one entrance fee. Since we don't really do Christmas gifts with anyone it's fairly easy to go through there and not shop which was great. We mostly just purchased food (like we usually do) and I bought a recycled rubber card holder (I gave my last one to my brother and have been trying to replace it since).

Once again it was the woodworkers that impressed me the most. The knitters are interesting but I can't wear a lot of it because of the wool factor. Mostly I just got ideas from the knitters and a couple of booths I thought "I can do that." A couple of shawls and some scarves seem to do the trick. Hmm yes, but do I want to try and make a living at it? That's a whole other ball of wax (or wool I guess).

It's a little more specialized than the one-of-a-kind show in Toronto. There's more high end work as opposed to the production stuff. There were many craftspeople from Quebec which seems like a long way from home to be, but I guess it must be worth it for them.

***

Anywho...we're getting out the persimmon chutney and making a bit of an Indian themed dinner tonight with a veggie korma, homemade chapati, tamarind tofu and coconut rice so I'd better get cooking.







We are also getting incredibly busy since the Christmas shopping is underway. I've been working with the display coordinator for some time now and I feel like I'm scrambling around to make things "Christmas" ready when we're already in full swing.

salmon

the pelaton try and decide which route is the best.

the salmon get splashy

I didn't expect to see the salmon get so aggressive. There was the pelaton (as db called it) just grouped together and then this one large guy came streaming up the creek and paused with the pelaton before taking off under the bridge.

salmon

They speak for themselves. I wish they could all make their journey without the inevitable end, but I understand their contribution to the ecosystem is significant for those that feed on them once the salmon are spent (so to speak). It is quite something to witness them returning to a location that I don't know how they find again, but here they are.

Sunday

The leaves are really covering the ground everywhere now. The other day I noticed snow on the mountains for the first time. And the time change also signals fall to me. I know it's November, but this is the first time I've felt fall is in full swing.







Even though there isn't a whole lot of excitement waiting at the bus stop, there was an incredible sky.



Nothing too exciting going on in whoville on Sunday. We just ran our errands with a stop at one of the creeks to see if the salmon were starting their journey upstream and indeed they are.
I took some video images of the salmon on their journey that I'll post shortly.





By the way I just found out that I won the postcard challenge over at mister anchovy's! Woohoo!

Christmas wish

True, my family doesn't really buy gifts for each other at Christmas. We sort of stopped that a while ago. We do make gifts for each other though or we do something like give the gift of a wine press so that we can make something in the future. There's been donations and adopt-a-chimp gifts and I think all of us have made each other something at some point (I apologize to family members for my early knitted socks before I knew how to really make them).

Nonetheless I'm taking the pledge because there is a gift here and there that I might buy (if I can't make it in time) and with Circle Craft coming up I may find a little something there for sis or whoever. I guess the point is if you have to buy, buy handmade.

The news from Mexico is not good. Not only has most of the state of Tabasco been flooded, but now I've heard news that Chiapas is facing flooding as well. They've already evacuated thousands from Chiapas too.

This makes all the Canadian political bickering (abstaining from voting, questions about inquiries etc) that has been frustrating me this past week seem trivial right now. I hope our government acts quickly to help Mexico with this disaster.

notebook

I'm running when I can and when I feel like it. It's a little odd to not have a training goal, but as I ran down the hill yesterday I was really having fun (probably because I was going downhill). The crisp fall air and the leaves scattered everywhere gives me energy.

Also I noticed that the salmon have returned to the creeks. They're struggling up the creeks and success seems to be low already. Fortunately it is raining today after a pretty dry week and this should raise the water level in the creeks which will hopefully help a few more along. I know they're not all destined to make it and that is part of their journey.

***

Isadora: Fabulist opens next week in Montreal and I won't be able to see my sister in the role of Isadora Duncan. I'm so excited for her and for those who get to see the play. I've missed so much of my sister's performances in the last few years it's quite shameful really. However, there is little I can do about it when it requires so much travel. I guess it's one of the downsides of having moved whoville west.

***

another chance for the electric car in Canada?

It appears that transport Canada has agreed to let the Zenn car be seen on roads in Canada (cbc update) Now that transport Canada has given the go ahead, it is leaving it up to the provinces to legislate where the car can be driven. B.C. already has legislation in place so now...I guess it's only a matter of time before I start investigating further.
There is another electric car being manufactured here in B.C. It's called Dynasty. I did hear that they might have to shut down their manufacturing in Canada, but (fingers crossed) maybe with the new legislation they'll reconsider since we'll be able to buy their cars in Canada.