Archives for January, 2007

Contextless Links

01/30/2007 | Contextless Links, politics | 3 Comments

Categorical Imperialism

Jonny Baker has some good thoughts on the Archbishop of Canterbury’s sermons being posted to YouTube.

i remember a term from one of len sweet’s books - categorical imperialism - i.e. imposing the categories from one world/media into a new one rather than understanding that new media change everything. i’m also thinking about this marshal macluhan quote :

official culture still strives to force the new media to do the work of the old media. but the horseless carriage did not do the work of the horse; it abolished the horse and did what the horse could never do

I think the church flooding YouTube with 30 minute sermons may not be the best use of time and resources either but as I am typing this post, iTunes is busy fetching all sorts of podcasts from all sorts of people that I would never have the time or the resources to hear without them using old technology forms (Meet the Press with Tim Russert or the TED Talks).  I don’t know if when Dave Winer and others came up with the idea for podcasting if they were thinking that NBC or tech conferences would benefit but in the end they are are what stuck when it was tossed to the wall which I think is part of the process of escaping categorical imperialism.  The crazy thing with YouTube is that you know right away if it fails or succeeds by the number and pageviews that are shown.  If only 4 people watch the Archbishop, we know it has failed.  If 500,000 people watch the video, we know it worked.  To a degree it is the same as the awful television rating for the NHL All-Star game.  The midweek experiment failed horribly.  The numbers don’t lie. I think that experimentation is part of the process of innovation.

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01/29/2007 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Contextless Links

01/29/2007 | Contextless Links, emerging church | 3 Comments

Stephane Dion as a leader?

Below is the new Conservative Party attack ads targetting Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party.  They are running them during the Super Bowl.  I may be slow but I didn’t notice there was an election going on.  My only thoughts are that if you are going to throw a sucker punch, you need to make sure you knock the guy out, I don’t think these do.
According to CTV last night, the Liberals only lead by 4 points on the environment.  Running ads during the Super Bowl seems to a tad bit of overkill for 4 points considering that the ads last night totally overshadowed the good environmental news that the Sydney Tar Ponds were being cleaned up.
 
Update: Calgary Grit has some thoughts on the ads worth reading.
I’ll go against the majority and say that running attack ads against Dion is sound strategy. I’m a firm believer that it’s very important to define new leaders during their first few months in charge, so now is the time the Tories (and Liberals) should be trying to define Dion (especially when you have the cash to do it). And by going after the Liberal environmental record, Harper is definitely playing scorched earth in the hope that voters take the “none of these guys will do anything on the environment” approach and it becomes a non-issue. Once again, probably a good move given the Liberal environmental record.
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01/29/2007 | environment, politics | No Comments

Contextless Links

  • Wendy has a video of Canada’s national pastime, that is lying to Americans. Pretty funny.
  • For those of you who are still using IE7 and not Firefox (why, I don’t know), make sure you download the Google Toolbar for IE7, it makes a bad browser better.
  • Dooce proves other mothers are some of the most judgemental people on earth.
  • Top ten ways of getting noticed on Flickr
  • RIP Gump :: How tough was Gump? Well he was a goalie in the NHL and he didn’t need a mask. “He was one of the first real characters in the NHL,” Nanne said. “He had a lot of personality and really showed the human side of the game. He didn’t look like an athlete and smoked like a chimney between periods, but he was terrific when he put the pads on.”
  • The NHL All-Star Game ratings plummet 76% :: If you have an All-Star game and nobody watches, did it really happen? Let’s see Gary Bettman spin this one. “Wednesday night’s game in Dallas drew a 0.7 Nielsen rating on Versus, the cable channel formerly known as OLN. The game was viewed in an estimated 474,298 households and by 672,948 viewers, down from the 1,985,000 households that saw the 2004 All-Star game on a Sunday afternoon on ABC. “

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01/28/2007 | Contextless Links | 1 Comment

The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch

A couple of weeks ago I was sent The Forgotten Ways by Alan Hirsch.  I haven’t said that much of it here since I was going to review it as one of the 52 books that I am reviewing in 2007.  After I did the review of The Complex Christ/Signs of Emergence which was around 4000 words and took a couple of readings I decided to give myself a bit of time to read and reflect on it so look for it as review number six next Monday… and yes it will be another long review of an excellent book. For those of you who can’t wait, there is a free chapter online.

01/26/2007 | Books & Reviews, emerging church | 1 Comment

A Low Impact Woodland House

This is kind of cool.  via.  Everytime I think of a Thomas Merton type hermitage to get away to, Wendy reminds me that a brisk 15 minute walk takes me into the “country”.

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01/26/2007 | environment | No Comments

Book 4 of 52 :: Bastards and Boneheads by Will Ferguson

Bastards and Boneheads This is a re-read but one of my favorite books lately has been Bastards and Boneheads: Canada’s glorious leaders, past and present.  Wendy got it for me for Christmas 2005 and it is a telling of Canadian history’s most noted characters through the framework of whether they are a bastard (ruthless, intelligent person who got what they wanted or thought was right no matter the cost) or a bonehead (reactionary victim of history where all of Canada pays for it).  Bastards succeed. For you American readers, George W. Bush is a bastard.  John Kerry is a bonehead.  At first glance I thought it was just a ranking of Prime Ministers but it is much more than that. 

It starts with the pre-history and conquest of Canada by the English, works it was through the War of 1812 (fought mostly by boneheads - the U.S. had more troops fighting it then the entire population of Canada and still managed to lose.  Althought I can’t forget the icon of chocolate branding and heroine of the War of 1812 , Laura Secord, was a bastard.), finds itself at the founding of Canada (lots of bastards and a mindnumbing amount of booze), the Metis rebellion (fought just north of Saskatoon at Batoche but by that time Louis Riel is classified as a bonehead) and by that time we are almost at the 20th century.

It also talks about Canada’s role was in the Holocaust where he suggests that MacKenzie King was both the most overrated Prime Minister in Canadian history but also because of his role in turning away persecuted Jews in the 1930s (the Voyage of the Damned), as he put it, a Ice-cold Bastard. He also points out that Canada let in more Nazi’s after the war into the country than we allowed Jews during it.

In reading the book, some of the people written about were easier to classify as bastards or boneheads.  Progressive Conservative Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. Joe Clark and Liberal Prime Minister, the Rt Hon. John Turner were both boneheads and I don’t think there is much argument from anyone no matter which political party you vote for.  Others are harder.  Two recent Prime Ministers who left hated and reviled by the Canadian public.  The Rt Hon. Brian Mulroney was a bonehead.  The Rt Hon. Pierre Trudeau was hated from coast to coast when he left office in 1983 was a called a Bastard Maximus Supremo. 

In the end it is a fascinating and fun look back at Canadian history which unveiled a lot to me about some of the lesser known figures in Canadian history.  If you are Canadian and have a chance to sit down with the book, regardless of what you think of politics, you will be glad you did.

For more information

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01/26/2007 | Books & Reviews, Saskatoon, politics | 3 Comments

I’d rather watch Sue Thomas, FBI

Than the NHL All-Star game.  Never again.  That was horrible.

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01/24/2007 | Uncategorized | No Comments

"Fight" with the Canadian Forces

A couple of ads from the Canadian Forces that caught my attention lately.  Basically the idea of the word “fight” being used thoughtout the commercials as a recruitment tool for a country that is more proud of being peacekeepers than warriors.  I wonder if it is a post-Afghanistan shift in Canada’s thinking.   I would be interested to read about the response to these ads. 

Of course you can read the political response here.

Just a side note, I searched for this on YouTube and Google Video and could not find the ad.  It wasn’t until I went looking on just plain old Google that I found it which is really odd.

01/24/2007 | video | 2 Comments

The Five Steams of the Emerging Church

Scot McKnight articulates what the emerging church is and gives an idea of how complex it is in Christianity Today.  Worth reading.

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01/24/2007 | emerging church | No Comments

Contextless Links

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01/24/2007 | Contextless Links | No Comments

Day off

Over 32 hours earlier in the week, I worked 24 of them.  By last night coffee wasn’t doing a lot for me.  To use Thomas Homer-Dixon’s idea, there was a diminished Energy Return On Investment happening.  When I got home at midnight, I was so overtired, I couldn’t sleep for a bit.  When I did crash, I crashed hard.

Today I have just been chilling but I promised Mark I would get him a castle for his goldfish and while I was out, I went to the Re-Store which is run by Saskatoon Habitat for Humanity.  I am escaping the reality that it is supposed to be -25 degrees celcius next week and instead am thinking of my backyard and especially our bar and back patio.  I went looking for a wooden door for a counter top but from what I saw, it will be cheaper to just purchase some new spruce plywood.  Around here, spruce is cheap and it has gotten us this far…

A couple of years ago we had started laying down some concrete blocks with a paving stone look to them but stopped when we changed our mind about the backyard.  The plan is to finish that up with another 8 of those and then plant another long hedge this year to close in the parking area. 

Before we get to the outside stuff, we are painting Mark’s room.  He wants a Calgary Flames/Lightening McQueen combination so apparently red will be in vogue.

01/24/2007 | Saskatoon, sports | No Comments

A puzzle or a mystery?

Malcolm Gladwell connecting Enron, WWII V1 rockets, and Richard Nixon in a way that only he can do it. On his weblog he asks what Jeff Skilling did wrong and also ponders the role of the papers in the Enron scandal.

01/23/2007 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Lately

Life has been really, really busy lately.

  • I was incredibly encouraged by Pernell’s announcement of the FRWY’s mentoring program for kids. While government’s tend to talk in terms of money, there is a gap caused by the breakdown of community (whether it be family or a larger sub-culture breaking down). The church needs to step into this and just be there. While I appreciate the ideas of Pete Ward in Liquid Church, I wonder if in urban contexts where family, school, finances, and even a shelter are all liquid, if there is a roll for something solid and unchanging. Of course it would need to look and act differently than some churches do now in the cities (hostile to their urban environment) but while third spaces are incredibly important, safe spaces are as well.
  • Wendy and I have been discussing some holiday options. Waskesiu is one option but we can’t figure out what we need to do over three days there that we can’t do in one and I don’t enjoy fishing. There is shopping and the adventure of travelling as a family which we enjoy so we may spend a night or two there and hopefully connect with some friends as we go through Prince Albert. We had also talked about heading to the mineral spa in Moose Jaw but then again, you are vacationing in Moose Jaw when all I want to see is the Western Development Museum there. It is only 2 1/2 hours away and we can do a day trip. Same with Regina and the IMAX. We do plan to take Mark to Fort Carlton this summer which isn’t much a trip but a nice picnic spot and I think he will get the idea of a trading fort better than a trip to Batoche and having to explain to him the politics of a Metis rebellion. If you have ideas for a Saskatchewan vacation, let me know in the comments. We would appreciate it.
  • Wendy and I are building a version of this for our backyard this summer. I priced it out at our local Co-op hardware store and it will be under $50 for the wood and then I think we are going to stain it a redwood color. Instead of a tin roof, we are going to mount a nice wooden patio umbrella on it. We get too nasty of winds here and to keep it upright would mean a different base and this way all I have to do is put the umbrella up when I am going to use it. I thought the one in the photo was plumbed in but I can’t tell if it is from the picture. We won’t with ours but rather have a small shelf for a cooler in it. Now all I have to do is wait for the three feet of snow to melt and then clean up 5 months of dog poop in March/April. We are reshingling part of the roof and cutting out or back a really old Maple as well. It will be a totally different yard by July and a little nicer for entertaining.

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01/22/2007 | environment | 4 Comments

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