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| This will be explained |
It's Sunday night and it's starting to look like summer, even if it doesn't entirely feel like it. We just drove home from dinner at my in-laws and passed people walking dogs, kids on bikes, and a group of guys playing basketball. I like the look of a neighbourhood where people appear to be out actually seeing each other.
The thing I've been missing lately is some sort of neighbourhood gathering place. In that episode of Tapestry that I've referenced before there's a story about a man who set out to find the happiest place in the world, and it was a village somewhere (I have to get to bed so I'm not going and looking it up). The point of the story was there were all these places where neighbours could intersect with each other. And towards the end the village chief or elder told the guy he had to go back to his own community and find those lines, those points of intersection.
I look around my neighbourhood and I'm not sure where those points are. I'm not sure they exist. Just up the street from there used to be both a pub and a coffee shop, but they are both gone. We have a couple of Chinese food restaurants, a laundromat, a take-out pizza place, a pharmacy, a convenience store, a gas station/garage, a women's fitness centre, and that's really about it. There's a retirement home that I feel may have been a bit of a missed opportunity- put more of a public gathering place in the foyer for the community to intersect. Right now there's nowhere for that to happen, and as I quipped on Facebook when I mentioned the lack of a pub/coffee shop in this area, the status got eleven likes so it's obviously a sound business idea.
Last Saturday we took a wander through a part of the city I've not often been, the banks of the Nechako River along Paddlewheel Park. It's easy to get stuck on the idea of your home/work/shopping spaces as being representative of your entire city, so I always like discovering what I think Prince George would feel like if I lived somewhere else. Given that we came across a fence made out of skis, a dog who lived on a roof, and some houses that looked more like they belonged in some run-down English village I think it's safe to say "somewhat different." So sometimes it's worthwhile to switch things up. In fact, just this past Friday night we decided to walk our dogs from home to the grocery store along an entirely different route and discovered all sorts of different things, including a park I'd never been to- this being the neighbourhood I grew up in, bear in mind. Plus, I discovered that the black fox I've seen in the early morning over the past year actually has an entire fox family: two parents, five kits! Urban wildlife is my favourite.
Between walks, we've been working on making our house a little less dull which includes testing out new colours as evidenced by the photo and the top of this letter. The split-level is incredibly uninspiring to me, and I'm not sure if it's just because it's what I was raised with and to people of other backgrounds they hold some sort of beauty, but we've been here five years and regular visitors still drive by our house because of how much it blends in, so it's time for a change. I'll keep you posted.
I know last week I made a big to-do about working regular hours. Well, it didn't last long. Our regular host is taking an indefinite amount of time off to help her elderly parents during a tough time, so I've been tapped to be the morning show host for however long it winds up being. But having been exposed to regular sleep, I hope that I'll be able to make it more of a priority this time around. Wish me luck, and if you're up between 6 and 8:30, tune in.
Finally, I will mention that I was verified on Twitter this week. I like the blue checkmark because it looks cool, but in actuality what it seems to accomplish is you get a lot of new followers, most of whom are misguided teenagers/"social media professionals" who mistakenly think following verified accounts will help them get verified, as well. So, yeah.
Stuff I done did:
When autistic children are murdered, are they treated as victims or triggers?
During the short time I was an associate producer, I rediscovered the joy of seeking out interesting guests to talk about current affairs. This week I found a blogger who wrote about some sad circumstances in Prince Rupert where a mother apparently killed her autistic son before killing herself. In a post titled "Please Stop Being Understanding When Autistic Kids Are Murdered", Shannon Rosa (who also has an autistic son) writes:
"Once again the implication is that Robert's mother Angie, who could tell people what she was experiencing and could have walked away, was the victim; and that Robert, who relied wholly on Angie to communicate and advocate for him and who had no escape options, was ... his mother's trigger."
A tough topic of discussion, and well worth a listen.
Listen to a drone fly over Cottonwood Island Park
This was fun. Basically, an area that would've taken weeks to map out using traditional methods can be done in forty-odd minutes using a drone. A drone custom-made here in Prince George using tough styrofoam, lots of electronics, and duct tape. And it sounds cool.
What to drink and how to dress for the Kentucky Derby
The guy who runs the Copper Pig BBQ House down on George Street has an affection for horse races, and threw a Kentucky Derby party. I spoke to him ahead of time to get some tips and enjoyed putting together a little musical piece. I also enjoyed going there yesterday and eating a cheesesteak sandwich with mint juleps while in a shirt and tie. Bonus points because we ran into friends walking down the street.
Bad Pun Mr. PG
After seeing this massive cake, I was inspired to combine Mr. PG and Bad Pun Dog to make-- well....
I also bought a Flying V guitar at a garage sale for $50.
Out-of-context Tweets
"Flannel, jacket and shorts ensemble. #cityofPG RT @nytimes: Prince George Ascending to the Throne of Trendsetter" #
"I meant to call it earlier, but I'm calling it now: surprise comeback song of the year is 'Ride With Me' by Nelly." #
"Not even a joke. RT @CBCThisIsThat: BREAKING: The Governor General has just named 'How has the weather been?' Canada's National Question." #
"A text message warning your dog is coming home from the park and needs a bath is the most ominous text message of all." #
"Coun. Koehler misses great pun opportunity by referring to medical marijuana rules as 'half cooked' rather than 'half baked.' #cityofpg" #
"Wait, what time is it Toronto? Sorry, journalists who wanted to spend time with their families. #robford" #
"I'm at Ginter's Park" #
"One day someone will make a coming-of-age movie that takes place in 2012, and the soundtrack will have 'Gangnam Style' and 'Call Me Maybe.'" #
"I'm curious to see how a thread asking people to watch for a stolen vehicle will fit in a forum that bans negatives comments about the city." #
"If your Twitter handle has your company name, your bio links to company wesite, and avatar is company logo, "views my own" probably doesn't do much." #
"Just realized it's midnight, so... May the 4th be with you.
"Just realized it's midnight, so... May the 4th be with you.
Alright, I'm going to bed." #
B.C.'s teacher surplus, is it more than just a math problem?
"Anyway you cut it, there is a oversupply of credentialed teachers in relation to available jobs in BC. This is circumstance BC educators and teachers educators have been aware of for many years, even as provincial universities have continued to graduate about twice as many BEds per year as there are province-wide vacancies."Prince George neighbourhood trying to convince city to build bike lanes
24 years after bike lanes were planned for North Nechako... the neighbourhood is still waiting.
Are you ready for caterpillargeddon 2014?
Are you?
Planning 101... we missed that class
Ben Meisner is not happy with the prospect of new neighbourhoods in the city:
"We could put another 50,000 people in the city and hardly notice it, but instead, we have a policy that says, you want to build here, go ahead."What (else) can men do? Grow the fuck up
"If you were once young, nerdy and male, it is not unlikely that your future sense of self-worth was funded with a non-consensual IOU from the world’s women."When "Life Hacking" is really white privilege
"If you seem to be “getting everything you want,” you should probably examine whether you’re getting it at someone’s expense, or whether you’re just constantly, in small ways, making the world worse."The racists we love
"Because while standing up against bigotry and racism is all well and good when we’re communicating on social media or when we’re amongst like-minded individuals; when we’re among those we know, those we grew up with or those we’re forced to be around, activism takes a backseat to just wanting to make it through the encounter."Nothing as bad as in this post, fortunately, but guilty nevertheless.
Nobody really cares about racism in the NBA
"What other race is a mascot, huh? Why is it just us?"Case in point.
RCMP uncover over 1,000 cases of missing and murdered indigenous women
Yeah.
W.A.C. Bennett on B.C.'s hydroelectric future
We're expecting to hear recommendations on the controversial Site C dam project sometime this week. Let's go all the way back to 1961 when it was first proposed.
Public editor: more feedback on vague and troubling phrases
What do "known to police" and "no fixed address" actually mean? What do they imply?
Vox is publishing some of its stories and the interviews behind them in parallel
Interesting concept. I'm not sure when it clicked in my brain that interviews could be turned into stories, but this is a good demonstration of it.
Whatever happened to music rivalries?
Would Oasis vs Blur or Tupac vs Biggie make sense in the time of Twitter?
The Ballad of Geeshie and Elvie
A fantastic journey into the world of blues historians- and the discovery of some great unknown artists.
Sonder
Fantastic word, overwhelming feeling.
Superhero songs
Sharing for this line and this line alone:
"The original Spider-Man theme song... was recorded in Toronto, with vocalists from the Canadian Broadcasting Company."Why wasn't that ever a Heritage Moment? Huh?
The Struggle
Another great moment from Parks & Recreation.
Vine of the week:
Baby gets to play in the dirt
Hope you have a great week.
- Andrew
