InfoMoney:

Sem indicadores relevantes nos Estados Unidos, a agenda desta segunda-feira (28) reserva atenção especial para os dados domésticos. Cenário interno O Banco Central divulga nesta segunda-feira o tradicional Relatório Focus, que compila a opinião das instituições financeiras sobre os principais índices macroeconômicos do País. O Ministério do Desenvolvimento divulga a Balança Comercial semanal. Indicadores brasileiros Horário de Brasília Referência Anterior Expectativa Relatório Focus 8h30 Semanal - - Balança Comercial 11h00 Semanal - -

So I decided about 8 months ago that I no longer wanted to relax my hair. May 6, 2009 was my last relaxer. Since then I have been researching what it means to be natural, how to take care of my hair, products to use and other girl’s transition experiences. Initially I wanted to transition for 12 months (grow out my relaxer) but a few days ago I got really tired of dealing with 2 different textures. I have never had really short hair and I was scared of what my hair might look like but I decided that there was no time like the present and that if I didn’t just do it I would never do it.

So ……. I cut it all off. Well not ALL off but its a pretty dramatic difference. At first, I felt really liberated and happy that I did it, but then an hour went by and I severely regretted doing it. I knew my family was going to freak out but there was nothing I could do. After a couple of days, Im sure it will grow on me but for now I’m still trying to get used to it. Here are some pictures (click to enlarge)… First are some pictures from before. Then you will see when I did the kinky twists for the first time (2 days, 11 hours). Then are pics from the second time I did kinky twists (1 day, 10 hours). Then you will see pics 2 days after the BC.

Photographed by ecstaticist

It is 1:00am PST and Santa just dropped in. My family is asleep and I met the jolly old elf as he came down the chimney. He looked a lot like me. he enjoyed his snack, as did his reindeer. my daughter will be thrilled to see empty tart tin, the orange peels and leftover bits of carrot. And of course the presents as well.

Some Holiday drops for you.

Santa is cool.

– License

2010 is something most in Vancouver and BC have had in their minds since the summer of 2003 when they were awarded the Winter Olympics in Prague. You can’t miss it as the city has been uprooted and traffic has been a nightmare. In 2003 I was in Praha for the announcement, but there on entirely different business; ‘Absynthe’ and drinking beer that is cheaper than bottled water. Vancouver is a growing beer destination on the West Coast.

I moved to Vancouver in 2008 from Toronto and I was struck with the much more suburban nature of the city and the lack of decent beer bars. The first impression is the city is run by Molson, Keiths, Coors Light, Okanagan Springs, and Granville Island. Unfortunately that is still the case in most Canadian cities, but the positive side to Vancouver is that Granville Island is not a bad brewery. Sometimes!!

Vancouver Brewpubs..

Everyone in Vancouver talks about Yaletown Brewery and Steamworks as being the places for Vancouver’s best beer. These are amongst the ‘brewpubs’ that dominate the cities beer scene, which like Montreal can produce different batch based beers. Yaletown, Dix,  and Steamworks are all within walking distance to each other.

Yaletown brewery is in the heart of a trendy upscale area where locals are as akin to carrying a poodle in their handbag as they are at acting like their Internet Business is the next Google. We call the area ‘New Moneyville’. Yaletown Brewery is a very cozy bar, with decent beer. This year the brewer has really gone into a Sour Beer, and Brown Ale styles that are different to most in the city and has brewed these with good success.  The brewery is definitely changing the styles of beer they are producing and gaining a lot of respect from people whom aren’t big fans of the brewery. The major issue they face  is having rude and arrogant staff.  Have had numerous evenings there with friends, or alone and always get the feeling I’m interrupting the inattentive and rude bar staff when asking questions about the beer. When drinking beer I don’t want to feel like I’m speaking to a Bouncer outside a trendy nightclub.

Steamworks @ Waterfront station is the bar that I frequent every so often when an interesting seasonal is on tap. The location is convenient as I will have a beer or two there before walking 10 minutes to Alibi room. Steamworks is a brewery that is struggling with capacity and is having some of their beers made by R&B to help with their space limitations. Steamworks are making some special seasonal offerings that bring them to the forefront of the brewpub scene when they are on. This year were saw a Double Belgian, Espresso Stout, Pumpkin ale, a Christmas Belgian Blitzen and a few others that came on briefly and then disappeared. The regular beers are not bad, but its the seasonal beers that make this place special when they are on. Staff can be inattentive when busy, but also quite knowledgeable about beers they have. Would really love to see Steamworks delve into more specialty limited release beers, and less mainstream beers.

Dix Brewery in Yaletown has a real cult following amongst beer people in the city. Their Thursday night Cask night is always a load of fun with the cities beer crowd talking to each other, no matter who you are, and Derrick the brewer is always around to talk to. Dix brew a solid and hop driven IPA, and this year Derrick had a great Double IPA on tap, but it blew at the summer Cask Festival. Caskival is a twice annual festival that Derrick organizes with CAMRA that is once in Summer and once in winter. It is the only Cask based festival in the city. This year there was a Texas Brown Ale, Imperial Stout, Barley Wine, Double IPA.

Beer Bars

One of the unfortunate aspects of Vancouver is the lack of places to drink good craft beer on tap. The liquor stores are full of small craft brewers such as; Nelson, Tree, Phillips, R & B, Howe Sound, Cannery, Driftwood, Fat Cat, and Old Yale, but we can never see them on tap. Some bars are promoting their bottle selection, but it’s that tap selection that is lacking in Vancouver. Some bars still consider Keiths an IPA, and Okanagan Springs lager a craft beer.

Alibi Room is the leading beer bar in Vancouver with 26 taps of BC & US beer, with 1-2 beers in Cask. The owner is a Brit who has a great dry wit, is always behind the bar and has a great knowledge and passion for beer. The bar is the only real place for a cross selection of beers in the city. Alibi has implemented the Sample Tray concept so patrons can order several beers in smaller servings which is a great concept for new beer drinkers. Over the past year there have been some great beers on tap such as Deschutes, Pike Extra Stout, Brooklyn Chocolate Stout, Rogue is a regular, with rare beers such as Swans Barley wine. The staff are great and they are trying to provide a beer venue for people in Vancouver, but there are improvements that could be made. If Alibi  is going to continue to be the premier beer venue in BC (if not Canada) then breweries should be providing their interesting seasonal beers not just their Lagers and pale ales. It is not just the brewers that need to offer more interesting beers, it is patrons who need to ask for these beers as ultimately these are the customers that support the bar.

St Augustines is a new beer bar that opened up right on the corner of Commercial and Broadway in Vancouver. They have 20 taps of local and American beer. The bar is quite new on the scene and are trying to set their focus on not just local but hard to find US beers, as well as limited release seasonal beers. Rogue is a regular feature as well as Lighthouse, Salt Spring, and the Red Truck limited release series. This is a bar that will be interesting to watch in 2010 for their beers and cask nights. They offer sample trays of their beers, but they only serve beer in 1 size 16oz which is too big for some high strength beers.

2009 HIGHLIGHTS

Central City in the Can available at liquor stores is probably the biggest success story for the beer scene. This IPA appears to be a consensus favorite amongst those in CAMRA and other serious beer people. Phillips held the title for best IPA in my opinion until this year when Central City hit the market with their single great IPA that comes in at 6.5%. The beer is not for everyone, but for Hop Fans it is a huge hit.

Phillips Crazy 8’s series, where they produced an Imperial IPA from their own Hops and created what I feel has been one of the best seasonal IPA’s in BC. Phillips are definitely one of the most innovative breweries in the province, and their seasonal releases are turning into hard to obtain beers.

Granville Island Jolly Abbott, this was released in time for Christmas and is a high alcohol Double Belgian ale that is one of the best seasonal beers I’ve tasted from the brewery.  The beer comes in at 9.5% and is best at room temperature.This should be on tap in good restaurants.

Boundary Bay, is a brewpub in Bellingham (1 hour south of Vancouver) that has one of the best IPA’s in North America along with their Cabin Fever winter beer. This brew pub is closer to Vancouver than Seattle and it was awarded 2nd best brew pub in Washington State. The beer is not widely distributed, but their beer is worth the visit, along with a growler to take home. The brewery always have different seasonal beer on tap, whether its the Imperial IPA, Imperial Porter, Cabin Fever, or Barley Wine.

BC has come along way in the last five years, and the brewpubs are getting better with their beers, and especially in the seasonal categories. The major improvement that could occur is in beer knowledge and training of staff. Craft beer is growing, and the industry needs people that care. One of the breweries s in this article had a staff that doesn’t drink beer!!  I don’t know anything about Cars, and don’t care for them so why would I work in a car yard?

BC has a good beer scene for a Canadian city, but it can be better. Beer people need to keep asking questions for better beer, and trying to promote craft beer to friends. We all started somewhere with beer, and so will more people as they discover the nuances of the craft beer.

Hoping  for more craft beers in Vancouver bars in 2010 and more seasonal beers.

Well, the college football bowl season is upon us.  The ACC has quite a slate to offer during the next several days.  So, without further ado, here are my picks:

• Meineke Car Care – PITTSBURGH vs. North Carolina
• Emerald – USC vs. Boston College
• Music City – Kentucky vs. CLEMSON
• Champs Sports – Wisconsin vs. MIAMI
• Chick-Fil-A – Tennessee vs. VIRGINIA TECH
• Gator – West Virginia vs. FLORIDA STATE
• Orange – Iowa vs. GEORGIA TECH

Worth Noting:

• It’s no secret that the Gator Bowl will indeed serve as Bobby Bowden’s swan song.  He ends an amazing 34-year run with the Seminoles, although it could have continued for another season had that option been made available.  Still, his legacy will continue on campus in an entirely different form.
• You can call the Meineke Car Care Bowl a match between two teams that lost to the Wolfpack.  Pitt suffered a 38-31 defeat back in Week 4, while UNC went down 28-27 in Week 13.   Both contests took place in the friendly confines of Carter-Finley Stadium, which is a 2 1/2 hour drive from Charlotte’s  Bank of America Stadium.  Hopefully neither team will encounter a sea of red in the Queen City.
• Boston College will take on a USC team in unfamiliar territory.  The Emerald Bowl will be the first non-BCS bowl for the Trojans since the 2001 Las Vegas Bowl.  They lost three of their last five games to end up making the trek to San Fran, although the bowl organizers there seem to be thrilled.
• Hopefully the third time will be the charm for Virginia Tech as they make their way back to Atlanta for the Chick-Fil-A Bowl.  They also hope to break a four-game drought against SEC opponents.  Better hope UT coach Lane Kiffin isn’t up to his bag of tricks again.
• The Orange Bowl should be an interesting matchup, given Iowa’s stellar defense and GT’s amazing triple-option.  The outcome will likely depend on which side blinks first and who can capitalize on the most available opportunities down the stretch.

For ACC Football fans everywhere, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Rock Your Awareness took place on Dec. 10th, 2009 at Logan’s Pub. It was a benefit variety show to raise funds for AIDS Vancouver Island. We caught part of the show but had to leave early & missed the last 2-3 acts.

Tegan & Sara performing at the Jingle Bell Rock Concert @ SOFMC in Victoria, BC on Dec. 21, 2009.  They were definitely the biggest highlight of the concert.  The gals are hometown favourites and the crowd really gathered when they took to the stage.  Victoria was the first stop on Tegan & Sara’s North American tour to promote their latest album “Sainthood“.  I brought a reviewer, Kim Magi, with me to the concert and she wrote the review to accompany the photos.

Check out her review of the concert at Guttersnipe with more pics that I took of the bands.

Guttersniped ‘zine & Atomique Productions have permission for full photo usage.   Please do not use any of my photos without prior permission and full credit.  Thank you.

InfoMoney:

O Banco Central divulgou na última terça-feira (22) seu Relatório de Inflação do quarto trimestre, estimando um crescimento econômico na ordem de 5,8%.O número mostrou-se mais otimista do que o próprio Ministério da Fazendo havia projetado.

Além disso, o relatório também previu que a inflação no próximo ano deva ficar ligeiramente acima do centro da meta de 4,5% e que o risco de pressão nos preços será ainda maior. Devido aos números, o BC reforçou seu discurso conservador, afirmando que agirá “preventivamente” para conter possíveis picos inflacionários

A notícia é um dos principais destaques nos jornais e cadernos de economia desta quarta-feira (23). Veja também as demais manchetes referentes a economia e finanças que são ou poderão ser assunto no mercado:

O Estado de S. Paulo
B1 – Arrecadação cresce 26% e reflete melhora na atividade econômica;
B3 – Risco de inflação faz BC sinalizar alta de juro;
B4 – Mantega: ‘Estão com Saudade de ganhar com juro’;
B9 – Revisão para baixo mostra PIB de 2,2% nos EUA;
B12 – MP investiga compra de GVT.

Folha de S. Paulo
Dinheiro – Retomada gera recorde de arrecadação;
Dinheiro – Dívida pública encosta em R$ 1,5 trilhão;
Dinheiro – BC vê demanda alta e indica juro maior;
Dinheiro – BC autônomo não é essencial, diz Mantega;
Dinheiro – Petroquímicas: Liminar barra fusão entre Braskem e Quattor, diz acionista;
Dinheiro – Estados Unidos: PIB cresce menos que o esperado, mas mercado imobiliário reage;
Dinheiro – Procurador abre processo para investigar venda da GVT.

O Globo
Economia – Para ministro da Fazenda, Guido Mantega, eleição não vai afetar economia e BC não deve subir juros.

Jornal do Brasil
Economia – Congresso aprova Orçamento 2010 e libera 4 obras da Petrobras.

Valor Econômico
A3 – Nível de emprego cresce mais do que PIB;
A4 – Arrecadação de tributos sobe 19,4% em novembro;
A4 – Petrobras Biocombustível compra 40,4% da Total;
A12 – EUA revisam para baixo PIB do 3º trimestre;
B7 – Petrobras terá de desenvolver fornecedores;
C1 – CSN busca € 3,4 bilhões para Cimpor;
D3 – Ministério Público investigará compra da GVT pela Vivendi.

[HD] Shounen Club 080810-Chikai no Sora

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Big Al!  Save my life.  I thought I’d never get out of Peachland with the sunset and all.  Or at least to the hostel in time for check in.  Big Al had a smooth, relaxing voice that raised in pitch mid sentence making a calming tone.  The door handles inside where missing and the wind whistled past the door crack the whole ride which I didn’t bother fixing.  He knew the guy working at the hostel that night and actually had travelled to Victoria with him.  I think I’ll live in Victoria instead of Vancouver.  I got the member discount for coming with Big Al.  Cool Shit!

1)This town is burning down

now exit as directed

Made a sound when it hit the ground

though the damage was deceptive

The people flee in anarchy

there seems to be no sanity

Lets get these stubborn souls some safety quickly

2) Surprised to find

the fine line

between the hippies

and the hustlers

We’re counting the top ten stories of 2009! These stories were based on frequency of appearance in the media, user-activity (replies, page views etc.) from our own blog, and our own opinion of the importance of these stories.

We’re kicking it off with the HST at #10. BC and Ontario residents felt a little blind-sided by the introduction of this unpopular tax already implemented in certain locales across the country:

Top Stories 2009: #10 – The HST:

Thousands attend HST rallies in B.C.
From The Globe and Mail,  September 19

Former British Columbia premier Bill Vander Zalm jumped back into the political spotlight Saturday when he led the biggest of 20 provincewide rallies against the proposed harmonized sales tax.

Mr. Vander Zalm, 75, told more than 1,000 people gathered outside a downtown convention centre that the HST will deal a cruel blow to most people while boosting profits for big business.

“It takes from the people, the consumers, particularly those who are packing the lunch bucket, the seniors, the students, the people that can least afford to pay yet another tax and it’s giving it to the big corporations,” Mr. Vander Zalm told the rally.

Mr. Vander Zalm, who led the Social Credit party from 1986 to 1991, headlined the anti-HST rally in Vancouver and said 19 other communities from Prince George to Victoria were also waging an attack on the tax that the Liberal government will implement next July.

In Vancouver, small business owners and families made up the crowd, many carrying signs including “Don’t bleed us dry;” “More taxes, more lies;” and “Fight the HST.”

Mr. Vander Zalm told them they have the power to stop the 12-per-cent HST by putting pressure on Premier Gordon Campbell’s Liberal government, which maintains the tax is being unfairly slammed.

Mr. Vander Zalm said he hopes public outrage will lead to a referendum if 10 per cent of voters in each constituency oppose the HST, which is also being implemented in Ontario next July, but at 13 per cent.

“We’ll do whatever it takes and we’ll go from now until election time so that the people won’t forget,” he said to cheers.

The charismatic Mr. Vander Zalm resigned as premier in 1991 when a provincial conflict-of-interest report found he had mixed private business with his public office in the sale of his Fantasy Gardens flower business and theme park.

He has only occasionally commented publicly on issues since then, but Saturday’s rally was perhaps his most high-profile appearance in nearly 20 years.

Opposition NDP Leader Carole James joined Mr. Vander Zalm and leaders of smaller political parties to say halting the HST will take people from all political stripes to stand together.

Ms. James said the Liberals introduced the HST after saying that wouldn’t happen and then failed to consult voters.

“The public is angry at being betrayed by this government and I have to tell you it shows how angry people are when you can get political opponents together,” Ms. James said, adding she and Mr. Vander Zalm have been on opposite sides on many issues over the years.

Ms. James said the vitriol against the HST could eventually force the government to bow to public pressure.

“It will take seven Liberal MLAs to vote against the HST,” she said. “So I encourage you to get out there. Phone your Liberal MLAs, talk to them, write to them. Tell them to do the right thing.”

I’ve technically been natural for almost a decade!  Wow.  It was 2000 when I shaved my head (literally, I had a fade) originally for cathartic reasoning, but it wasn’t until 2006 that I started to really focus on growing healthy natural hair.  When I refer to my BC, I’m always pointing to September 2006.  And when I talk about my journey, I tend to focus on the period since then.

But I think I owe it to myself, newbies, and everyone else that is struggling with some of my past issues (you’ll know who you are in a sec) to talk about my six years of wandering before reaching my own follicular nirvana (not saying it’s perfect for every one to try, but my routine works for me, I like it, and I’m sticking to it).  At the very least, I can outline some of my past tribulations in an attempt to offer lessons learned even if only one doesn’t have to suffer.

Let’s rewind the tape for a moment for a little historical analysis…

Denial.  Deemed Sigmund Freud’s most notable defense mechanism.

• de·ni·al
  a. A refusal to accept or believe something, such as a doctrine or belief.
  b. Psychology An unconscious defense mechanism characterized by refusal to acknowledge painful realities, thoughts, or feelings.

When I started growing my hair after my original, I did everything imaginable…

1. Used every product in the book listed by every head of curly hair, not focusing on those with similar traits as my own
2. Straightened, straightened, and straightened some more (I had a weekly standing appointment at one point)
3. Never used heat protectant when I straightened
4. Washed my hair looking for the squeaky clean feeling
5. A few times, while a super duper rush, I actually flat ironed my still damp hair.  Sizzle.  Sizzle.  Sizzle.
6. Never knew what “protecting my ends” meant

But you couldn’t tell me a thing.  Why?  Because I was natural.

I remember once when I had an appointment to get my hair twisted.  The stylist told me that I still had some relaxer left on my hair and that the style would hold better if I finished cutting it out.  I turned, and vehemently stated she was mistaken because my hair was fully natural.  And she replied that it wasn’t possible and that stylists could tell the difference between relaxed and natural hair.  I was appalled.  How could she claim to know the difference given that there was not an iota of relaxer remaining on my tresses.  I vowed to never return to that salon again, upset when I overheard a general conversation about “these girls that don’t want to give up their dead, relaxed ends”…how could that be talking about me in ear shot like that!  Rude, gossipy conversation aside, I just didn’t get the flashing lights that were right in front of my eyes.

I would say it was probably another year before I finally gave up the routine straightening and started experimenting with twists.  And I would rant about my “pesky straight ends” and complain “about the way my hair grew”.  :-|

Really?  It’s hard for me to actually type this without laughing.  I really and truly believed that my hair somehow, magically grew this way.  That it defied nature and went from textured at the roots to straight near the ends.  At that time, in my head, my hair was simply the ultimate example of extreme, multiple textures.

It actually took a lot of research, even more time, and a few more BCs to get to a very short, but finally fully natural AND healthy state.  Given that my hair keeps growing with each chop, I imagine I could have had waist length hair by now had I known then what I know now.  But, you live, you experience, you make mistakes, you move on and you grow (figuratively and literally).

In Pt. 2, I will post some pics of the old journey vs. the new and outline the mistakes I’ve made in the past, with the hope of enlightening someone somewhere.

Good luck to all and happy growing (or whatever your goal is!!).

InfoMoney:

A agenda desta terça-feira (22) reserva atenção especial para a terceira prévia do PIB (Produto Interno Bruto) norte-americano e o Relatório de Inflação do Banco Central brasileiro.

Cenário interno
O Banco Central divulga o Relatório de Inflação, que descreve os padrões inflacionários no País e é publicado trimestralmente. O BC publica ainda relatório sobre as operações realizadas no mercado aberto, como a venda de títulos da dívida federal, na Nota de Mercado Aberto.

A FGV (Fundação Getúlio Vargas) divulga a Sondagem do Consumidor e o Dieese (Departamento Intersindical de Estatística e Estudos Socioeconômicos) divulga Pesquisa de Emprego e Desemprego para a Região Metropolitana de São Paulo e para o conjunto de regiões acompanhadas pelo Sistema PED (Distrito Federal, Salvador, Recife, Porto Alegre, Belo Horizonte e São Paulo).

Cenário externo
Nos EUA, o Departamento de Comércio divulga a terceira prévia do PIB do país. Também será publicado o deflator do PIB. Ainda na agenda desta terça, está o Existing Home Sales, índice que mede a venda de casas usadas nos EUA.

Back in 2007 myself Matt maddaloni of Sea to sky cam and Bryan Smith of Reel water productions teamed up to produce some viral video content for the Welsh Canoe Assosication. This was very early on in the development of Matt’s camera motion systems and involved myself and Matt actually being on the line to shoot. Matt has since progressed to a full automated system which can be rigged in back country situations in a matter of hours. Here are some of the clips shot using the early cable camera systems.

To read more about Matt’s new rigging and motion camera company : Sea to Sky Cam

Britannia Creek cable camera from Steve Rogers Photography on Vimeo.

Cable camera on Britannia Creek

Kayaking cable camera

Andrew Oberhardt

Roni and Tav start the road trip in force, hitting the border, visiting Sign Post Forest and eventually getting to Whistler, BC: Roni’s arch-nemesis in city form. [9:57]