Sunday, October 14, 2007

Feist is like catnip for girls

Just thought I'd write a bit of an update about the world - or my world.. cause there won't be a very adequate view of anybody else's world here. Last post was April 21st, so I figure I need to add something or let this thing die. Facebook has really been boring lately so I'm back to old internet habits, like "blogging."
I forget what I usually write about, or how I write, and there's really a lot to write about.. new city, new job (temporary new job, hopefully a new new job soon, fingers crossed) but for this post I will focus on what I've learned lately. Don't laugh.

1. Stupid to the Last Drop: How Alberta Is Bringing Environmental Armageddon to Canada (and Doesn't Seem to Care) is an actual book.
I haven't read it, yet, and if this book is about what I think it's about (he may be pulling a Will Ferguson "why I hate Canadians" stunt here) but according to random house, this book is about Alberta
"On It's digging, drilling and blasting its way to oblivion, becoming the ultimate symbol of Canada's-and the world's-pathological will to self-destruct."

This calls for some type of critical review.. Luckily, a fine reporter from the Globe and Mail has beat me to it. Andrew Nikiforuk writes:

" Explore any Appalachian-sized open-pit mine north of Fort McMurray, and you'll find a new national dream writ larger than life as well as scores of Montreal engineers having the time of their lives. You can call tar-sand developers anything you want, but "stupid" is one adjective that would never come to mind. Most are incredibly accomplished and erudite men. So let's be honest and stop blaming Alberta for keeping half the nation tanked up in carbon-emitting fuels. The really big truth is this: Canadians are land abusers, carbon makers and resource exploiters extraordinaire. It's what we do best."

You can read his whole review here.

2. Feist is like catnip for girls. I've finally caved. She's so awesome, and I've only heard a few songs from her new album. one two three four - the video is so fun! Colour coordinated dancers, blue shiny outfit, Catchy tune! what girl doesn't love that?
Also, the Besnard Lakes are worth noting.

3. Back to the topic of Alberta, and how they really have done a good job with the whole privatization of liquor stores. I'm sure when I was still in diapers, there was major problems with the whole privatization process and lots of good people lost money and there were scandals and rude editorials and heated arguments, but now, in comparison to Ontario's liquor disaster, Alberta looks mighty fine .
We can buy alcohol at 1:59am at a store. Small beer producers can sell, and display their beer on shelves. There is a competitive market for liquor, meaning anybody can start a liquor store, meaning lots of people do, meaning there's lots of them, meaning not everybody goes to the same one, meaning you probably won't have to stand in a line. No joke, there's a line up out the door of the Beer Store (A chain, cleverly called the Beer Store, that sells only beer, (not even cider) also the only store that can sell beer in Ontario) most nights. People can't see what they're buying, they roll out your product on conveyor belts from the back room after you make your order. You'd think that this store is government owned and operated and all the money is going towards health-care and better schools, but the Beer Store is privately-owned. A handful of people are making handfuls of money, and people have to wait in line for their beer! What a world?!

LCBO (where you can buy non-beer alcohol) is ok, except the hours suck, there aren't many of them, and they carry way too much shitty Ontario wine. Luckily, Quebec is 5min. away so we can visit the depanneur if necessary. Who am I kidding? I don't even drink that often, cause I'm too busy serving fancy cheese to diplomats and watching Law & Order.

4. People are interesting. Case in point: My international accounting teacher. He is an accountant from the states with a strong Matt Damon north-east US accent who lives in Quebec and works in Ottawa. He calls the canadian dollar "the loon" and calls easy things "a lay-up" (Are lay-ups easy?) He also talks about the euro in Sweden (there is no euro in Sweden) and in Norway (a country not part of the EU) and reminds me of the high-school football coach I never had. Thank you, University of Ottawa.

5. Hi Michele, you better be reading this. And watching Persepolis.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Trois-Pistoles


This summer I will go to Trois Pistoles UWO French Immersion School for 5 weeks! It's on the St. Lawrence River and people there speak french! I will stay with a host family, which I usually enjoy. I am excited - about learning french, exploring Canada, meeting new people, plus A-man and I will be in Montreal in the same time (not really planned) so we can hang out there fore awhile before I'm off to 3pistols. I am also excited about using the government's money to pay for fun things! I have been trying to do this as much as possible before I start to pay a single penny in taxes.

There is also a beer from Belgium with the same name: Trois Pistoles. I think having a beer with the same name as a town you're going to is a good sign.

Vive le Sprintime!

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

“The Gross National Product includes air pollution and advertising for cigarettes, and ambulance to clear our highways of carnage. It counts special locks for our doors, and jails for the people who break them. GNP includes the destruction of the redwoods and the death of
Lake Superior. It grows with the production of napalm and missiles and nuclear warheads. And if GNP includes all this, there is much that it does not comprehend. It does not allow for the health of our families, the quality of their education, or the joy of their play. It is indifferent to
the decency of our factories and the safety of our streets alike. It does not include the beauty of our poetry or the strength of our marriages, or the intelligence of our public debate or the integrity of our public officials. GNP measures neither our wit nor our courage, neither our wisdom nor our learning, neither our compassion nor our devotion to our country. It measures everything, in short, except that which makes life worthwhile.”
Robert F. Kennedy
March 18, 1968

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

tiRED

I just got back from my class on Corporate Social Responsibility and Social Entrepreneurship and I am very bubbly, as I usually am after this class.

Today we picked apart cause-related marketing ie breast cancer pink campaign, HIV-AIDS red campaign, any company that donates a % of profit, or proceeds, etc. to charity.

On one hand, it's kind of ridiculous; companies are using a disease to gain them more exposure, and positive exposure at that. They are likely to make more money by attaching their name to a good cause, even if at the end of the day charities would be better off if people just donated to them seperately if that was something they valued. Once you get past the fact that we don't know how much of the profit or what the profit is - that is being donated, there is still know way of knowing what the charity is doing or how efficient it is.

For example, there is treatment for HIV-AIDS but most of the people that need it can't afford it. So what is project RED going to do about that? I buy a red ipod cause I want $10 to go to a charity who donates money to the Global Fund. After everybody has a red ipod* and a red phone and red clothes. I'm sure the Global Fund is well run and is doing great things. But more money seems to be spent by these companies in advertising the fact that they are part of Project RED than is actually donated to the Global Fund.

*(meaning Apple makes tons of money - even though they are the WORST offender in terms of creating hazardous, non-recyclable material waste pollution worldwide according to Greenpeace, but we'll deal with that once we figure out this whole AIDS issue)

An AIDS activist I met on PEI mentioned that they were developing an immunisation for HIV-AIDS, and when they found that it worked better on black people than on anybody else, they scrapped it. So, there are things that charities can't do, no matter how much money they make. Like prevent pharmaceutical companies from wanting to please their shareholders by earning profit, for example.

On the other hand, who cares? We spent alot of money on silly things and one fraction of a percent of those dollars might as well go towards fighting a cure for breast cancer or fighting HIV-AIDS. Plus the whole "walk for the cure" thing is a nice community building exercise. As long as charities are busy plugging away, filing in the gaps, problems will be temporarily fixed or hidden and society will depend on the goodwill of volunteers and shoppers on the look-out for pink and red.

That said, check out Earthwater.org. This dude is from Edmonton and he started his company with very specific core values, and a guiding quote: "if you had the chance, would you change the world?" He answered yes to this question and now he's exploiting the fact that the luxury/bottled water industry is growing exponentially and donating the money directly to UNHCR - avoiding the bureaucracy costs that the UN is criticized for. The money is being used to build wells in places where it is needed, so more people have access to water.