New Places to Get Lost

Here are a few blogs and websites I have recently discovered as enjoyable or awesome.  Totally distracting myself from my actual work.  Yay for holidays!

For all you design lovers and home project do-ers out there:

Design Salon

A funny look at life, work, family and sarcasm:

I Am Prepared to Give Up At Any Time

Need a t-shirt?  I have not ordered any and I am unsure of their quality but a quick gaze through these is an historical walk through modern times:

6 Dollar Shirts

Since I am in grad school, here is a person who is on her way to a tenured track professor position.  Funny and honest:

Fumbling Toward Tenure

Enjoy!

Travel as a Political Act, Rick Steves

Rick Steves, a travel guru who has opened up and interpreted European travel to North Americans for 30 years, has written a new book titled Travel as a Political Act.  It is on order at the library for me.  I am the first person in line and very excited to read it.  In addition to the book there is a blog and a video and audio recording of a speech given in California, available through ABC TV.

While I did not agree with everything he said in this video, I do agree with the ability travel has to remind us that our human condition is far more similar than different, and other people who appear different that you or I are not scary and to be feared, but interesting individuals from who we can learn a great deal.  Different lives.  Different choices.  Travel changes your perceptions if you are willing to open to its lessons and get off the beach of a first world resort supplanted in a developing nation.  Get off the beach.  Be brave.  Go further.  

I shall write more when I have read the book.

Flickr

Yep, I joined Flickr.  The thought has been in my head for a few years now but I wanted to investigate the site for a while.  I am adding my name to the really good pictures I post there and will only be posting my favourites of the one's I take.

T. Bates on Flickr

So far, it turns out a know a few people on the site and have started making new photography friends.  Here is the first of what I hope becomes many:

Beauty Surrounds You

Christoph Fischer on Flickr

Oh the rush, joy, fun and high of photography!

Dead Grandmother's

All my three grandmothers are now dead.

It is harsh but true.

Never met my maternal grandmother.

Lucky enough to have two paternal grandmothers.

Both paternal g's, very different from each other.

Opposite sides of the spectrum.

I am more like the one who birthed and raised my father, Grandma Billy.

None of them are around to provide me with advice anymore.

Don't worry.

In today's day and age, all you need is a good website or blog to replace a loved one.

(I can't believe I am posting that sentence.  Lightning may hit me as I strike the publish key.)

In particular you may enjoy this blog.

A rollicking good time reminding us of the progress society has made over the past few decades.

Advice as my grandmothers, I am sure, would give me if still here to provide it.

HERSTERIA

And enjoy!

Thank the creator after you have picked yourself off the ground 

when the giggles have moved onto laughter, 

the laughter onto guffaws, 

thence on to crying with sobs of hysteria.

Have a box of kleenex at the ready.

Comics and Women

There are several reasons why I have never really been a comics reader, but as I mature and age the obvious reason becomes less subtle and more overt: sexualization of female characters.  To the point at which creators of comics are pushing soft porn images on children and teens; that women become valid and contributing members of society only if their bust size is four times their waist size; the unrealistic behaviour of these women who are doing less and standing about doing nothing more often; slowly being turned into appendages to male characters who battle it out (or she is the token female in a cohort of four); the reinforcement of a very narrow and unhealthy stereotype of female "beauty" and "acceptance" etc, etc etc....

Now not all women see things the way I do and most heterosexual men would tell me to shut up and check out the size of the characters boobs (got my own thanks!).  Sorry.  Can't. Drives me nuts.  So completely neanderthal and dismissive of who women actually are amazing and who contribute an incredible amount of work daily to improve the groups, communities, and organizations of which we are a part.  In continually sexualizing women or in establishing over-the-top unrealistic images of women, we damage how women see themselves and how others see us (see the APA report below).  Drives me nuts.  Fantasy or no fantasy, what we see, read, hear, speak becomes our thoughts and our actions and I am not interested in the fake fantasy of womanhood that does little of us women any good (see APA report below).  

Don't just listen to my ramblings, listen to the words of a seven year old girl who loves female comic characters....well most of the time....

Dear DC Comics

Out of the 278 comments on the blog post above, here is the best one:

Draw Michele Lee's Daughter

If I was an artist I would draw Michele as a superhero without sexualizing a seven year old girl, any other girl, or any other woman.  What would you do?  Contribute to the website with flair and talent.

Sex between two (or more) consenting adults can be an amazing and phenomenal experience. Being sexual and being sexualized are two very different occurrences.  The former is a choice in which pleasure and enjoyment is extended to all voluntary participants.  The latter is an objectification, a commodification of a person for whom a removal of one's humanness is the goal, in addition to the making of money.  My body is not for sale.  I hope more women, teenage girls and female children find an increasing number of ally's (photographers, writers, PR firms, magazine editors, movie makers, etc.) who are willing to halt the sexualization of women within media, movies, TV, online sources, comics, literature, blogs, and video.  To support the sexualization of women after the research that has been conducted (see APA report below) is to regurgitate immature, condescending and destructive images of women, which becomes horrifying when directed at or which are available to children and teens.  We should be more disgusted by and take action against this sexualization more often (much like Michele Lee).  

American Psychological Association's (APA) study of the Sexualization of Girls finds (all direct quotes):

1) Cognitive and emotional consequences

Cognitively, self-objectification has been repeatedly shown to detract from the ability to concentrate and focus one’s attention, thus leading to impaired performance on mental activities such as mathematical computations or logical reasoning (Frederickson, Roberts, Noll, Quinn & Twenge, 1998; Gapinski, Brownell & LaFrance, 2003; Hebl, King & Lin, 2004).

2) Mental and physical health

Research links sexualization with three of the most common mental health problems of girls and women: eating disorders, low self-esteem and depression or depressed mood (Abramson & Valene, 1991; Durkin & Paxton, 2002; Harrison, 2000; Hofschire & Greenberg, 2001; Mills, Polivy, Herman & Tiggemann, 2002; Stice, Schupak-Neuberg, Shaw & Stein, 1994; Thomsen, Weber & Brown, 2002; Ward, 2004).

3) Sexuality

Sexual well-being is an important part of healthy development and overall well-being, yet evidence suggests that the sexualization of girls has negative consequences in terms of girls’ ability to develop healthy sexuality. Self-objectification has been linked directly with diminished sexual health among adolescent girls (e.g., as measured by decreased condom use and diminished sexual assertiveness; Impett, Schooler & Tolman, 2006).

4) Attitudes and beliefs

Frequent exposure to media images that sexualize girls and women affects how girls conceptualize femininity and sexuality. Girls and young women who more frequently consume or engage with mainstream media content offer stronger endorsement of sexual stereotypes that depict women as sexual objects (Ward, 2002; Ward & Rivadeneyra, 1999; Zurbriggen & Morgan, 2006). They also place appearance and physical attractiveness at the center of women’s value.

5) Impact on others and on society

The sexualization of girls can also have a negative impact on other groups (i.e., boys, men, and adult women) and on society more broadly. Exposure to narrow ideals of female sexual attractiveness may make it difficult for some men to find an “acceptable” partner or to fully enjoy intimacy with a female partner (e.g., Schooler & Ward, 2006).

All told, a choice like this from DC Comics is a form of backlash (conscious or unconscious); for every movement, for every change, there is a backlash.  In this case a backlash against what women have gained, what women continue to want, and what we deserve: a society in which women self-define their bodies and find acceptance in this definition, in which women have ultimate and constant control over their own bodies, and a world that consistently values each human being.  

This is me pushing back against the backlash.

Positive Advertising for Women - YouTube

Positive Ads from Love Your Body

Pro-Age Ad Banned in US

Campaign For Real Beauty - Dove
(not a perfect campaign or company, but a great beginning)

Post-Sexist Society? - YouTube

Sexualization of Women in Magazines - YouTube
(These last two are hard to watch for 7 minutes each and not want to vomit in disgust, but they do reinforce the points made above.)

All Books Are Not Created Equal

The post below may have just been qualified.  Please take the time to select books that enlighten and enlarge the mind, rather than those that reinforce stereotypes, old notions, and inequality.

Awful Library Books

PS.  Don't forget to check out the disturbing books on the website above titled I'm Black & I'm Sober, The Right Touch and Why Do People Harm Animals and Beefcake.  Yikes!

Vinyl Recreations at Winnipeg Fringe

My friend Wanda, the owner of Estudio Luna (Facebook link), whom I met through another friend Darren, the CEO of Solalta Advisors, introduced me inadvertently to Ashleigh and Scott, owners of Vinyl Recreations, as I arrived at Wanda's studio one night to go out to The Academy's UK Pop Night.  Funny enough it was a mistaken meeting as I showed up at Winnipeg Fringe on the wrong day, but at the right time and volunteered for the wrong shift that lead me to these new people as friends.  If I had arrived a day later for the correct shift, I would have missed their incredible work at Estudio Luna and would have missed meeting Ashleigh, Scott and Ryan.  This mistaken meeting made Fringe Fest ever so much more fun than it would have been without them.  Chance meetings, leading to good friends, leading to several evenings of brilliant times!

Vinyl Recreations

Ashleigh and Scott have collected 20,000 and researched methods to turn these now antiquated objects into interesting, fun, and useful products.  In their first roll-out of reused records they have created necklaces, earrings, clocks, rain sticks and bowls.  In their second roll-out Scott discussed an attempt at making lamps, earring holders, and more complex necklace patterns amongst other creations.  Holding on to the records that are still playable, they only manipulate and reshape records which no longer make music due to scratches, scrapes, etc.  I made a few purchases for gifts and bought myself a pair of earrings made from old 45 inserts.  If you are male and you wear jewellery, this will look good on you too as it has an interesting mix of retro cool factor and solid heteronormative maleness wrapped up in a simple black design.  In all, an amazing show within a fantastic festival.  Take a peak and Vinyl Recreations website and remember: be open to plans changing, fresh opportunities and new people.

Fixed It?

I have been in Ottawa enjoying the debates involved in student governance, seeing old friends, and visiting sights I dearly love.  A post about that to come later.  For now, a new website for me:


see more There I Fixed It

For more hilarity, check out:

There, I Fixed It

(A part of the Fail Blogs)

Bodega

A classmate of mine encouraged me to download Bodega the other day.  She said that her partner had developed this website for phone Apps, a unique idea at the time, then disappointment struck as Apple created their own App store.  Download it.  Check it out if you get the chance.  Share the money, power, capital, production and consumption of goods in North America.  Give as much as you can to the littler people like you and me.

Bodega

More than iTunes

Now that I have converted to Apple products, I am continually ensuring that I am have not sold my heart and soul to the company, any company.  Here is one place I have found to pay for and download music that is edgy, more independent and Canadian.

Zunior: The Little Digital Music Store

Here is a band whose music I just heard on my beloved CBC Radio procured.  A delightfully quiet and lyrical look at break-ups and the end of relationships.

The band: Spring Breakup

The album: Spring Breakup

From zunior.com website

My desire to listen to more artists on the periphery of music scene has developed as I have moved the music mecca of Winnipeg.  Who knew?!?  I am not mocking.  I am being quite serious.  Having moved from Calgary where oil, gas and business money-making corporations run the city (and I do enjoy the city), I am now in a place where the arts run the city.  Incredibly refreshing!  The groups is mightily interconnected and it is still a pyramid of the who-knows-who, as in most areas of life, but a city with a focus on the arts?  Really enjoying it!

I have joined the West End Cultural Centre as a volunteer in the past month and have already attended two performances:  Christine Fellows, and Jim Bryson & The Weakerthans.  Not only did I volunteer but I chatted with Christine before the CD release party helping with arranging seats and coordinating the lights. As well, I ended up talking with lead singer of The Weakerthans, not even knowing who he was.  Much to learn about the music and arts scene in The Peg.  Firstly, the main acts that make up the city's musical aura.  More concerts and arts on the way!

Arts on the Edge

I am not in favour of anyone group having exclusive access to the art that we can access, but I am in support of making visual art more accessible for all people across the planet.  Browse through images, see them electronically up close, view rooms in museums around the world.  Then save your pennies and visit them with your own eyes and your own brain.

Here is one such website:  Google Art Project

Then I came across this very interesting design and art company that makes me want to hire the to redecorate and brand my whole world.  Love the creative people in the world:
derooted creative agency

As well I found a most helpful website and blog by a man who designs, photographs, and develops.  Very sexy website and wonderful hands on info for the post-production work in various photography programs: Kremalicious

They all look delicious!

"They Are Young. They Will Heal Fast."

Several years ago a talk was posted on the TED.com website that had me laughing and saying, "yes, we should do that!"  This week I was reminded of this talk with my Aunt as she posted on a family blog a chat with her daughter and granddaughter concerning children playing with fire.  Gever Tulley was the speaker and the talk was titled: 5 Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do.  Yep.  Dat's wat eet iz!  Playin' wit fiyaaa!

He ensures that his listeners are aware that we are making larger and larger safety bubbles around each child, to the point that we stifling their creativity, ability to learn, understand how real objects work, and ability to manipulate objects with their hands and minds.  This type of childhood training reminds me of the difference between one of my siblings and I.  After dinner with family members, my brother Trent and I, when we approached what appeared to be a moving waterfall landscape picture in the restaurant, had very different reactions.  He was up close to the picture looking behind it, trying to figure out how it worked, and I was further back looking at the artistic rendering of the landscape, absorbing its beauty and interpreting its meaning.  Trent was ready to pull it apart and discover its inner guts, which Tulley suggests each parent should do with their child when appliances and other objects no longer work.  Disect them and learn together.

The most important message that Tulley suggests in addition to remembering the art of discover, is the reality that parents could be passing this work on to their children, do so with safety and supervision, have fun, and create shared meaningfulness between the scientific dissectors.  His best piece of advice if someone does accidentally sustain an injury: "Don't worry.  They are young.  They will heal fast."

Several years have passed since my initial viewing of the videocast, there is now a website and a book, both titled Fifty Dangerous Things.

Enjoy the information and get dissecting!

Cultural History Buff!

Did you know that Canada has a Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC)?  Until I started completing a Master's Degree in Recreation Management, I was unsure as well.  It is the government's agency to increase the awareness of Canada as a tourism destination to the rest of the world, and to encourage Canadians to travel in their own country rather than heading off to foreign destinations.  As of 2011 the CTC will be targeting the following countries as major sources of vacation travellers to Canada: USA, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Mexico, Japan, China, South Korea, Australia, India and Brazil.

Their website includes links to multiple pages that will lead you to through a labyrinth of initiatives including LOCALS KNOW; brand, experiences and EQ toolkits; you can find out your EQ (Explorer Quotient); flip through a corporate brochure; order posters featuring many of Canada's beautiful sights; sign-up to receive updated information as new initiatives are implemented.  As well, the CTC has joined all the social networking sights online.

The only thing I don't like is the branding of a country, my country.  It is a brand?  Do we want people to come to Canada because we have adopted a corporate model of marketing?  Branding and I don't really get along.

Mind Mapping with Prezi

Last week I started an MBA course in Organizational Theory and Design and the professor begin his lecture telling us that he no longer used PowerPoint.  That audiences had been slided to death and people no longer paid attention to the slides, or the presenter, or both.  He then mentioned that he used a substitute software called Prezi.  He admitted that he was a new user of the program and that his movement around the program might be slower.  "No problem," I thought, "I am just excited that I am understanding what you are saying and you have not jumped right into business technology.  Prezi away!"

The projector turned on and we saw a map of many pictures, words, speech bubbles, quotes, and wavy lines all organized in a creative pattern around the main idea, "What is Organizational Behaviour?"  The professor proceeded to slide and glide around the map, scrolling in and out of the text, shapes and pictures making them large enough to see, and referring to a specific concept on the screen only every so often.  We sat in amazement at this new program, listening to his words, asking questions, and enjoying the novel 'picture within a text, within a picture' pattern.

(Lomography Mind Map copied from fuzz2buzz Google Images.)

Recreation and Leisure in Canada

Just thought I would add some information about Recreation, Parks and Tourism on my blog.  (I need a break from reading, my eyes and brain hurt.)

Some people feel as though the recreation and tourism side of our vast fields is a bit fluffy and does not carry strong academic roots.  Interestingly enough, leisure and recreation is such an important part of healthy communities that each province in our country has its own municipal, regional or provincial department(s).  As well, Canada has a federal group that coordinates the efforts of Canadian professionals, called Canada Parks and Recreation Association (CPRA).  

In Manitoba (from what I can deduce being new to the province), there are several branches of the government that support, protect, provide space for, and who organize opportunities for leisure within the province.  One such organization is Parks and Natural Areas Branch.  An additional tourism branch promotes travel in the province using the moniker, Unforgettable Manitoba.  You may also be interested in a group that connects recreation and leisure services around the province, Recreation Connections Manitoba. 

Within Winnipeg, the City of Winnipeg houses its own Recreation and Leisure Department who maintain public access and use of recreation services.  This city offers an extensive list of opportunities to plan your free time with its Leisure Guide, if you are looking for ways to improve a skill or improve the enjoyment your free time.

Here is the website for the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association (ARPA).  They are the umbrella group that coordinates the work of public and not-for-profit recreation groups in Alberta.  Their annual conference is coming up in October 2010.  

rip! A Remix Manifesto

A movie create through the support of the NFB  written and created by Brett Gaylor, Rip! A Remix Manifesto is an dissection and questioning of the development of copyright laws over the course of the past 20 years.  Boring you may think.  I have not yet mentioned the rave music, sweaty bodies, questions to the money makers, analysis of choices, clips of the famous, effects on many industries, and the exceptionally cute acting by a young Brazilian girl as the finale.  So much more than a simple documentary.

This is the most interesting or important information that my stream of consciousness tapped into while I watched.  You may have heard and responded to different ideas.  Feel free to share your thoughts with me.

Brett Gaylor and those who want to protect the public domain have created a manifesto:

A Remixer’s Manifesto:

1.  Culture always builds on the past.

2.  The past always tries to control the future.

3.  Our future is becoming less free.

4.  To build free societies you must limit the control of the past.

“Whoever wins gets to decide if the ideas will be determined by the public domain or private corporations, in science, industry, medicine, our entire culture.”

Teaching Human Sexuality

So another uprising occurred last week in Canadian politics, but a fun one this time: Sexual Education.  I remember first learning about sex from my cousins when I was approximately 8 years old and thinking, "My parents are Mormon.  They would never do anything that disgusting.  They know a different way to have babies."  Oh the innocence of youth!  I still have a brother who believes he was born through immaculate conception (we just let him keep thinking this).  Eventually I realized that no matter the belief system, nationality or race, we were all created through sex.  Over the years for each of us, sex has become more appetizing and less shocking.

Each province and territory in Canada creates their own curriculum, available on the Internet for students, parents, teachers and the public to view (Ontario).  Despite the availability of this information the news of the proposed changes to the Ontario Sexual Education curriculum shared in January, did not make headlines until April.  The proposed changes would include children naming body specific body parts in Grade 1 and talking about gender identity and sexual differences in Grade 3.  As well more intense topics such at homosexuality and alternative lifestyles being introduced in Grade 6, rather than waiting until Junior High (Grade 7 -9).  These changes caused a mixture of an outcry and support from parents, guardians and the public about the range of topics and the ages of the children to which they would be taught (more outcry at this point).  In response to the nay-sayers, the Premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty's government flip-flopped their decision and announced the government would discuss with parents what they wanted to see their children learn before implementing permanent changes.

In my opinion, parents should have input into this curriculum, and as difficult as it is to think about one's own children as sexual beings, it is important for parents to understand that they can rely on educated people to provide sexual information to their children.  In Alberta, parents can opt out of classroom sexual education for their child, but once again it is a place where this information can be handed out and discussed in a safe and welcoming environment.  Other places where children receive information and messages about sex could include, but are not exclusive to, cousins, friends, playground chats, sleep-over parties, books, TV programs, Internet, advertising, conversations with relatives, etc.  Not all of the information received from these sources is accurate and this is one reason why sexual education provided in a safe, informative and interesting environment, such as a classroom, is essential for raising children who are prepared to make more educated choices regarding their sexuality. 

Le Parkour

While in London I saw the following clip on one of the most famous shows that has been created in the United Kingdom, Top Gear.  I could not believe my eyes and watched in amazement at the dexterity and agility of these two men.  Parkour starts approximately 2 minutes into the video.



Did you watch it?  Amazing eh?  The goal of the process is "the physical discipline of training to overcome any obstacle within one's path by adapting one's movements to the environment." (Quoted from Wikipedia.)  I was astounded as I watched this episode on TV, and then I had a chance to see a live Parkour performance at a weekend festival in London along the Southbank, near the Thames River.  A stage had been set up with various bars, platforms, climbers, and crash mats as 20 - 25 young 'traceurs' and 'traceuses' demonstrated their phenomenal skills.  The way they climbed vertically climbed like sticky bugs up the walls; jumped, arms and legs spread out like flying squirrels from the top of the platforms; then rolled, flipped, grabbed and spun all over the 3D objects; it was physical work that boggled my mind.  

Here is some Parkour, also called Free Runnning, in Canada, all collected by Recreation Canada.  If you know an energetic child who needs a focus, try signing them up for a group or class near you.  If they become very serious about the sport, direct them to the Sports and Lifestyle Magazine titled SPIKED Extreme Sports, Parkour articles in the February 2010 issue.  (May I suggest you skip the boxing articles.  I have always despised boxing.)

I am going to try grabbing the edge of my bed, jumping enthusiastically into the air, and landing gingerly using a tuck and roll move onto my bed.  That is the extent of my Free Running abilities.

Honouring a Woman

Tonight, as the whole day was International Women's Day, I wanted to honour a woman whose life, work and opinions I admire.  Too bad International Women's Day ended 58 minutes ago.  But I shall not falter; I shall proceed.  From what I can devise from broadcasts, podcasts, CBC, her French blog, and her political comments across these mediums, her intelligence and wit is admirable.  She can play with the big boys and girls, and she impresses easily.  No grasping hold of an archetype, latching on to a stereotype, or conforming to a prescribed notion of womanhood to achieve notoriety.  She is authentic, real and deomonstrates high intelligence within her professional domain.  Here are a few links for you to enjoy!

Chantel Hebert Blog in French   Blog in English

Chantel Hebert on the CBC

Chantel's Book "French Kiss" and Short Podcast

Chantel's Wiki Bio

Chantel on Canadian Voices

Writing for The Star

On Twitt

(Photo copied from flickr.com)

Photography Fuzzy Again

My feet strolled down Carnaby Street just off of Regent Street in London, I gazed at the shops full of three inch heeled shoes, wondered at the denim cut into a myriad of fashionable shapes, and lusted after the sparkling jewellery I wanted hanging off my body.  My feet turned and I saw window display that I thought had died back when I was a child in the 1980’s.  Camera’s.  Old school camera’s.  A whole store full of them.  Large.  Sqaure.  Gigantic flashes perched on top.  Orbesque, protruding lenses.  Plastic.  Some black.  The rest bright colours.  What the?!?

Did I miss something?  Did I not purchase a DSLR camera and fall in love with it?  What was this flash back?  This retro reach into my childhood past?  What had happened to progress in the field of photography?  Upon further research, a duo of students in the 1990’s in Austria discovered an old Russian camera called the ‘Lomo Kompakt Automat’. 


With further development and creative spunk the Lomo LC-A camera was born as well as a company called Lomography (I thought the company's name was Iomography.  Look at the store front, bad font.)  Thus began a sub-culture of individuals who wanted to enjoy the spontaneity and joy of capturing life’s natural moments with an old school blur.  The company has expanded from a sub-culture to a large and proud world-wide following, even though these cameras require film.  Remember film?  The tube shape in which is found a long, string like curl of brown, clear plastic on which your pictures used to be stored.  Yep film.  In a world of digital images, these people have assisted in keeping a part of photographic history alive.  (info from Lomography website, Wikipedia)