Not gonna lie, I can’t “code”! And truth is, I don’t need to know how!

However, I will tell you that I am very good at writing page content “keywords” of websites to land on Google’s first page. And I would go so far as to call myself a Google Expert as I can look at the first page of Google and see right away how to get there. Please don’t let these companies tell you that it costs thousands of dollars to create a small website because it doesn’t. It takes a little bit of know-how, some research and a great website template! I have all of the above and I am here to show you how it’s done.

http://www.wix.com/stunningwebsites/complete-solution?utm_campaign=af_ybog.com&experiment_id=Godyea.com

Free web design, 100′s of templates to choose from, awesome tutorials on how to see use the easy software and absolutely no cost to build, share and optimize to search engines like Google. Click on the template’s text, change it to yours, voila! The site will “index” to search without the upgrade as well.

In case you wanted to upgrade the website for $99.00, you get $75.00 in Google Advertising included, you also get $50.00 for Facebook Advertising, A Free Domain Name, and hosting is included for 12 months! That means Wix basically pays you as you come out ahead $35.00! Once again, you don’t need to pay the $99.00, but if you want to remove the little bit of advertising Wix.Com does on your site…then it’s worth it. Plus you get your own domain name, instead of imthebest.wix.com/imstillthebest.

Visit here to get started!

http://www.wix.com/stunningwebsites/500?utm_campaign=af_ybog.com&experiment_id=Godyea.com

A study on Toronto and Vancouver (Canada) from [4]: the risk of bike infrastructure separated of traffic is under-estimated. Note the result carried for the cycle track is an aberrant and irrelevant one for reason explained in [8]

Usually, Urban segregated bike lanes (cycle tracsk) are perceived as safer than non segregated one, by many cycle advocates and public alike. Alas most accident statistics say otherwise, and most scientific studies conclude, consistently overtime, that segregated bike lanes impair safety by ~20% ([1] summarizes and complete previous studies, see also a list of studies at [9]), some older studies putting this number up to 4 fold time higher [2].

Of course, it is possible to find some studies saying otherwise, but usually those studies show significant methodology shortcomings. To focus only on recent Canada centric examples: [5] draws conclusion on cycle track from a field study conducted in cities not having such infrastructure per sei, as seen in [8] and [3] compares a cycle track set on a one lane residential street to a reference street carrying up to 6 lane of traffic (more critics here and there):

Montreal, QC: In (3), a separate bike path in a one lane residential street (rue Brebeuf) is compared to an up to 6 lane thoroughfare (rue st Denis) on a 1km section (Rachel to Laurier), where St Denis has more intersection, and higher speed limit than Brebeuf...to conclude that separate bike lane improve cyclist safety! (no indication of motor traffic volume is provided) -

The most recent study extended to the USA by the same authors, [10], seems to suffer similar flaws [11].

In urban area, most of the cyclist accidents are due to conflict with motor vehicles (85% in French cities according to the OSNIR), and most of them occur at intersection: In Canadian cities, 50% of fatal accidents and 72% of accidents resulting in serious injury occurred at intersections [12].

Thought, that a separated bike lane can remove potential conflicts along a road, and is recognized to reduce risk in such cases, it makes matter worse at intersections: This is mainly due to the fact cyclists, not on the road, tend to be overlooked by other road users, generating conflict at road intersections. The increased risk for cyclist is illustrated below:

According to (2), the cyclist could be up to 12 time safer on the right side of the street - credit photo (6)

Aware of this fact, Some transportation professional organizations don’t recommend separated bike lane, it is the case for the AASHTO in the USA, or the CERTU for urban area in France. A position supported by many cyclist organizations, be in France (FFCT, Fubicy) or Germany (ADFC), which have been at best rather neutral on the development of segregated cycle track, in some case opposed, and consistently advocating against the mandatory use of it. That eventually became the case for most of the french cycle track, circa 2000. For this later purpose a new road sign has been introduced, and Germany is following track:

The cycle in a blue square sign has been introduced circa 2000: it indicates a recommended cycle track. The cycle in a blue disc indicate a mandatory cycle track ... except of course in UK Which has not ratified the Vienna convention on road sign, from which those signs are derived

An issue is that motorists tend to ignore the difference, and harass cyclists not using the cycle tracks

Traffic engineers, on their side, sometimes eager to remove cyclist of the road for their “good”, have worked to increase the safety of separate bike lane:

Reintroduction into general traffic at intersection

Rennes, France (Armorique Bld): Cycle track merging in general traffic at intersection, and resuming after it

Treating cyclist as pedestrian at intersection

Hong Kong (Along Ting Kok Rd, Kong Kong NT): Cyclists are expected to walk their bikes to the cycle track... and dismount at every intersections...what by the way is seldom respected in despite of the British style staggered pedestrian crossing! -credit photo left (16), right, Google

Cycling Commuters are generally not impressed by those treatments, which are just slowing down their commute, even when the obligation to walk the bike at intersections (Hong Kong case), is obviously widely disregarded by cyclists using such facilities.

The Copenhagen’s Treatment: Blue cycle crossings

Copenhagen, DK: An intersection where potential conflict zones are highlighted in blue – credit photo (13)

It has been “invented” in Copenhagen in 1981: The basic idea is to mark the area of conflict between motor vehicles and cyclists blue so road users pay more attention to this conflict and cyclists have a lane marking through the junction area. Alas, while it is found effectively reducing the number of accidents (and injuries) with one line, it increases it with 2 blue lines or more, according to [13].

A reason for that is that, it becomes too much solicitation for the motorist than he can process – resulting in an increase of rear ending collisions and red light runnings; and provides a false “sense of safety” to the cyclists, becoming more complacent- not doing head check or using hand signals according to [14], what is consistent with the “naked street and risk compensation theories.

…and more often that not:

Separated bike lanes come with a panoply of restrictive sign

All, in the name of cycling safety of course…

Left, Bideford UK; center, Harlow UK (now dismantled); right Vancouver, CA - credit photo resp (5),(unknown),(16)

But at the end, it is sometimes better to give-up

…than to cut the trees:

Rennes, France (Clos Courtel Street): A once mandatory segregated bike lane, has been replaced by a painted bike lane, allowing much better visibility of cyclists by other road users on Clos Courtel street - credit photo Google

Should we be Against the separated bike lane?

or…Should we support the helmet law under evidence of greater safety provided by the helmet

Both generate passionate debates, and unfortunately, both generate biased scientific literature too.

[1] Traffic safety on bicycle paths – results from a new large scale Danish study, ICTCT workshop Melbourne, 2008

[2] Signalreglerade korsningars funktion och olycksrisk för oskyddade trafikanter – Delrapport 1: Cyklister. Linderholm, Leif, Institutionen för trafikteknik, LTH: Bulletin 55, Lund 1984

[3] Risk of injury for bicycling on cycle tracks versus in the street, Anne C Lusk, Peter G Furth, Patrick Morency, Luis F Miranda-Moreno, Walter C Willett and Jack T Dennerlein, Injury Prevention, February 2011. doi:10.1136/ip.2010.028696.

[4] Route Infrastructure and the Risk of Injuries to Bicyclists: A Case-Crossover Study, Teschke K, Harris MA, Reynolds CC, Winters M, Babul S, Chipman M, Cusimano MD, Brubacher JR, Hunte G, Friedman SM, Monro M, Shen H, Vernich L, Cripton PA., American Journal of Public Health: December 2012, Vol. 102, No. 12, pp. 2336-2343.

[5] Safe Cycling: How Do Risk Perceptions Compare With Observed Risk?, Meghan Winters, Shelina Babul, H.J.E.H. (Jack) Becker, Jeffery R. Brubacher, Mary Chipman, Peter Cripton, Michael D. Cusimano, Steven M. Friedman, M. Anne Harris, Garth Hunte, Melody Monro, Conor C.O. Reynolds, Hui Shen, Kay Teschke, Injury Prevention, Canadian Journal of Public Health , Vol 103, No 9, 2012

[6] Bicycle Quaterly

[7] Gary James

[8] Conclusion of both [4] and [5] are drawn from a study carried from May 2008 to Nov 2009 in Toronto and Vancouver. To the bets of our knowledge, it was no “cycle track” in Toronto, and the only ones able to qualify in Vancouver, were an experiment started on July 2009 on Burrard Bridge, with no intersection along the ~1km cycle track segment, and a ~300m segment in one direction on a quiet street (Carral street) with ~300 cars at peak hour with only one very quiet intersection (Keefer street) featuring ~120 car at peak hour (From City of Vancouver’s 2006 traffic count) what is barely representative of a typical cycle track: The result provided for the cycle tracks is hence certainly irrelevant, and that is the reason it stands as an outlier.

[9] Bicycle Infrastructure Studies review by Ian Brett Cooper

[10] Bicycle Guidelines and Crash Rates on Cycle Tracks in the United States, Anne C. Lusk, Patrick Morency, Luis F. Miranda-Moreno, Walter C. Willett, Jack T. Dennerlein, American Journal of Public Health, July 2013

[11] [10] draws conclusion by comparing current crash rate on some cycle tracks with some numbers collected, sometimes in specific situation- like a study on Boston’s bike messengers- more than 10 years ago, without correcting them of external factors, like significant general crashes reduction rate in the last decade, and well documented safety in number effect affecting more particularly the cyclists. Furthermore, one could argue that the “crash rate” is a very poor, if not uncorrelated, proxy, to qualify the safety of a road infrastructure: Roundabout are well-known to increase the rate of crashes, vs a signaled intersection, but they are also well recognized to reduce the risk of serious injuries, most of the crashes being limited to fender-bender type. In other word, a crash rate ratio is not representative of the safety social cost of an infrastructure…what ultimately matter. More awkward [10] suggests that “The AASHTO recommendations may have been influenced by the predominantly male composition (more than 90%) of the report’s authors” without being able to substantiate this assertion, showing that we have here more a opinion paper: attacking the gender of authors to disqualify their works, seems pretty petty at best!

[12] Vulnerable Road User Safety: A Global Concern, Transport Canada, 2004.

[13] Safety effects of blue cycle crossings: A before-after study, Søren Underlien Jensen, Accident Analysis & Prevention, Volume 40, Issue 2, March 2008

[14] Evaluation of Blue Bike-Lane Treatment in Portland, Oregon. Hunter,W.W., Harkey, D.L., Stewart, J.R., Birk, M.L., Transportation Research Record 1705, 2000

[15] The finding of [13] seems in fact to suggest that the increase in accident and injuries are mainly among motorists, and eventually moped: so that in fact the blue line could effectively be not than “unsafe” for cyclists. Unfortunately, the paper doesn’t provide detailed break down of the injuries according to the transport mode. In any case, the measured global effect is a negative one

[16] www.vivendesign.com

[17] Vancouver Embraces Bikes, Adds Lanes, Tim Newcomb, Planning;, Vol. 77 Issue 2, Feb2011

Leaked last summer exclusively to dj’s and media outlets, I.Blast of the Reps Up camp touches on the time of his life in his latest release over production by Theory Beatz.

Previous: I.Blast sits down with Toronto Rappers.

C2 is officially starting in 8 hours and 22 minutes! I’m really not sure what to expect anymore. I had butterflies in my stomach and I barely ate my supper. My friend who accompanied me for supper noticed that I wasn’t listening to him talk at some point and I couldn’t even deny it…knowing very well that my mind was fading out and was wondering about C2′s big day tomorrow. I just don’t know what to expect. Will I be bombarded with questions on the spot? Probably yes! Will I stay idle? I hope not and shouldn’t be. I wonder if I will ever meet my assigned attendees. Probably 1/3 of them…

I’m feeling very excited yet nervous. I have to wake up in 4 hours so I guess black coffee is an ideal breakfast for tomorrow. But I cannot wait!!! Let the show begin!

Sneak Peek

Today we had a little sneak peek of the C2 site that is installed in Arsenal, a shipyard built in 1846 and is now converted to a gallery space for contemporary art. Arsenal is not exactly located on Notre-Dame street but can be seen from this road. The building is slightly hidden behind a medium-sized parking lot and industrial factories on the side.

Without further ado, I’d like to share some snapshots I took today.

Main entrance

The Stage (Forum)

Container box as passageway

Qatar’s bid prompted a strong response from Canada’s political system. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, his Parti Quebecois counterpart, Jean-François Lisée, and Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum, came together to call for the ICAO to remain in Montreal. Baird also put forward a motion endorsing all efforts to keep the ICAO in Montreal, which passed with unanimous consent in parliament.

Yet despite the unanimity of support for Baird’s bill in parliament, certain opposition MPs have unfortunately taken the opportunity to slam the government’s foreign policy and the theory that Qatar’s bid was motivated by Canada’s stance on the Middle East — namely its support of Israel.

[related_links /]

The real explanation is simpler. Qatar, newly flush with oil wealth, is trying to buy international relevance . It has already bought the opportunity to host the World Cup, having allegedly bribed multiple officials. It has purchased and funded various prominent structures around the world, including the Shard in London. It is now trying to procure itself an international organization — and a UN agency, to boot. The choice of an aeronautic organization is logical. Qatar is currently in the midst of a battle with Dubai to become the main air travel hub in the region. It is building an international airport in Doha that The Economist said is shifting “the centre of world aviation… ever closer towards [Qatar].” Moreover, according to Skytrax, an aviation research group, Qatar is already home to the best airlines in the world. The country would have a great deal to gain by hosting the headquarters of the ICAO.

Whatever Qatar’s motivation, Canada is right to be pushing back. Dr. Paul Stephen Dempsey, the Director of the Institute of Air and Space Law and the Tomlinson Professor of Global Governance in Air & Space Law at McGill University, believes that Montreal stands to lose a great deal from the ICAO’s potential departure. The ICACO’s “departure would tarnish the city’s reputation as the third largest aerospace community in the world, behind only Toulouse and Seattle,” he told me recently. “Other international aviation trade associations likely would leave as soon as their leases were up.” The loss of ICAO would mean “fewer international aviation seminars and conferences” in Montreal, as well as a potential drop in applicants to McGill’s acclaimed Institute of Air and Space Law. The bottom line? Prof. Dempsey believes losing the ICAO would mean a $100-million hit the Montreal economy, as well as thousands of direct and indirect job losses.

Qatar may be able to buy itself a one-time sporting event lasting no more than a month, permanently relocating a major UN agency is a much harder sell

But Canada can argue against the ICAO’s relocation for reasons beyond self-interest. If the agency did move to Qatar, thousands of its staff would go with it. Qatar is far from an ideal place for expatriates.

Qatar is an authoritarian state with discriminatory laws. According to Amnesty International, at least 46 people, mostly foreign nationals, were arrested and convicted on charges of illicit sexual relations in 2012. Moreover, they reported that at least six foreigners were sentenced to flogging. Personal freedoms and rights are further restricted for women. In some court cases a woman’s testimony is only worth half that of a mans, in others, nothing at all. Currently, the ICAO’s staff enjoy the protection of our Charter. They’d lose those freedoms in Qatar. It’s no surprise that labour leaders have been quick to speak out against the proposed move.

The UN must also consider its own credibility.  Qatar is described as an “authoritarian regime” by the Democracy Index and is listed as “Not Free” by Freedom House’. It provides funding to Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist organization by both the United States and the European Union. Is this really where the UN wants to move a major agency?

Moving the agency would require a 60% majority at the UN General Assembly. Qatar may be able to buy itself a one-time sporting event lasting no more than a month, permanently relocating a major UN agency is a much harder sell. As it should be. Keeping the ICAO in Montreal isn’t just good for Canada. It’s the right thing to do.

National Post

Kokulan Mahendiran is a student at McGill University double-majoring in political science and Canadian studies.

1. The Simpsons (Love it so much that it’s all I’m watching while in Montreal, AND IT’S IN FRENCH!)

2. Ice (They look at me here like a lunatic when I ask where the ice machine is.  So American)

3. Great zombie movies (I will explain)

So it appears that they are filming a zombie movie or television show outside my hotel.  I realized it when I woke up, opened the curtains, looked down, and saw about 50 zombies creeping down the street.  I flipped.  Thought the end was near.  I asked the concierge about the zombies (“Is this a Montreal thing?”) and he said no worries, just filming for TV.  Whew!  Thought I was done for.  So my mind started to wonder:  wouldn’t it be great if there was a “Zombie Circus”?  A real travelling circus, just with zombies.  They would do trapeze, high wire walking, etc.  They could stick their heads in the mouths of lions, and when the lions bite off their heads, they keep performing headless.  I would go see that.

So to mark my trip to Montreal, here are a few cuts from Eek-A-Mouse’s superb 1988 album “U-Neek,” produced by Gussie Clarke for Peace Posse, including “Rudeboy Gone A Foreign.”.  If you don’t have this one, track it down…it’s a killa.  Hard to find though. 

One note, I get tears in my eyes when I listen to the first one here “Let The Children Play.”  An elementary school in Moore, Oklahoma was decimated today by the devil’s tornado.  Multiple casualties.  Unspeakable.

]]> http://jermin.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/monument-national/ Tue, 21 May 2013 03:37:54 +0000 jeremy http://jermin.wordpress.com/2013/05/21/monument-national/

On the south end of St. Laurent, spring.
16×16 on canvas

down the door

to come and sit here 

in the darkness

and listen to the sound of my breathing.

I like the dark and all its possibilities

its mystery

I am editing again

reading urban dictionaries

farktard is a real good one

as is memes. 

Another good find is Cody Chesnutt ‘Landing On A Hundred’. The video for the track ’til I Met Thee’ is directed by indie filmmaker, music video and film director and artist Terence Nance:

The brother is an independent artist. The album is warm, solid, earthy and unpretentious. A rarity these days.

Also in heavy rotation on the playlist at the moment is the Brit, James Blake. Blake employs a sonic landscape similar to Radiohead & he admits that, and while he is not in the realm of Radiohead genius just yet – he is getting close – constantly haunting & ethereal and focused on evoking an emotion in his songwriting which is usually sadness, beauty, & fragility. And a guest appearance from RZA. Yay!! The music resonates with experience making it hard to believe that Blake is only 24. This video for ‘Overgown’ was directed by Nabil whose worked with ‘Ye and a few other artists. It borrows from Bergman’s ‘Seventh Seal’ but still, it is beyond dope:

As I’ve gotten older, I have started realizing the awesomeness of traveling.  The BF is a major part of this revelation– he’s all about exploring new places, and I love it!  Together we’ve taken quite a few road trips, and learned a few tricks along the way.

Neither of these tricks are revolutionary, and I’m sure quite a few of you already use these without even thinking about it.  But for the rest of you (like me!) who don’t think about these things… this is for you :)

1.  Food

I have a love-hate relationship with car travel.  I enjoy getting to our destination, but often get bored after… oh, about hour 2.  On our most recent trip, I got smart and packed the one thing that entertains me.  FOOD.  I packed up 4 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a couple apples, and some water.  We each ate a PB&J around lunch time and then shared an apple a couple hours later.  When we reached our destination, we had another sandwich and that held us over until dinner time!  (and we saved the 2nd apple for the next day).

This was the perfect idea!  It saved us a ton of money (it probably would have been around $10 for lunch for both of us if we had stopped, plus another $5-10 for a snack once we reached our destination) and saved us from having to make a pitstop.  Win-win.

2.  Parking

I always assumed when visiting a new place that we would have to park somewhere pricey.  I would always write it off, figuring that we were traveling to a brand new to us place and there’s no way we would be able to find a cheap/free/safe parking area.  Boy, was I wrong.

Before we set off on trips now, we will google “free parking in (city name)” or we will just drive around to the slightly farther out areas (usually the industrial looking areas) of the city until we find a stretch of road with no ‘No Parking’ signs.  Most cities know that people won’t walk over .25-.5 mi to get into the city, so they never put meters too far out from the city center.  We’ve found maps like the one below that point you to the exact areas that have free parking.

The important thing to remember here is to make sure you feel comfortable leaving your car in these free areas.  As I just alluded to, many of these free spots will be fairly far away from the “downtown” area in a more industrial or less populated area, and it might be hard to swing by and check on your vehicle while you’re out sightseeing.  The location we parked in Montreal looked like this…

Not exactly a “pretty” area but it worked!  In this case, we scoped out a few spots before we found one that we were comfortable with.  Just make sure:

• it’s on a well-traveled road
• triple (or quadruple) check that there are absolutely no signs restricting your parking
• triple/quadruple check that you’re not in a driveway of any sort (or near a fire hydrant!)
• take a brief scan around you– check for any possibly shady characters who you wouldn’t want to leave your car near :)

It hasn’t happened to us (knock on wood!) but I’m sure there’s nothin’ worse than coming back from a long day of exploring to find out your car has been towed.  Just make sure you check everything!  We have successfully used this method to get free parking in Lake Placid, Montreal, and Philadelphia, and $3/day parking in Baltimore.  No towing in any place!

What are your favorite packable travel foods?  How do you normally find parking in new cities?

Shie’s Buckwheat shortbread.

In the spirit of good Japanese tea and snacks, I wanted to share my dear friend Shie’s recipe for buckwheat shortbread. I have several oily, crinkly recipes from Shie in my collection, and all are simple, economical, and beloved for their charm.

Shie is an artist who has often worked with food in intriguing projects – including one entitled Survival Japanese Cooking. In this ongoing work, she is developing solutions for cooking versions of Japanese food wherever she might be living or working, with the available non-Japanese ingredients. In Rotterdam for example, she invented various versions of sushi using gouda, italian rice, and Dutch pickles and more – see her sample menu below.

From Survival Japanese Cooking, by Shie Kasai.

Shortly after having my son, Shie sent an exceptionally wrapped package by mail from Montreal, filled with toys for my new baby, and a tin of these unusual, homemade biscuits. Not only were they elegantly square, they were as grey and flecked as stones. They tasted pleasantly sandy, a little salty mixed with sweet, and they were fantastic accompanied by tea. I immediately asked for the recipe, and despite my bleary-eyed condition in those early weeks, I baked several beautiful and comforting batches.

Japanese Buckwheat Shortbread Cookies:

Combine :

1 cup flour

1 cup buckwheat flour

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

Combine separately:

1/3 cup sugar

½ lb softened unsalted butter

1 tsp vanilla

 Combine wet and dry ingredients to blend well.

Chill dough for 15 minutes, form into squared logs, slice and bake.

Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

So today was my first day of work for the summer. I have been doing this job all of the past semester so I wasn’t nervous about knowing what to do or making of fool of myself. After already working here for the past six months, my bosses have definitely already witnessed me do some very ditzy and silly things. What I was more nervous about was the huge increase of hours I was going to be working daily. During the school year, I worked either three or two hours each day. Now that I am not taking classes, I’m working 8 hours Monday through Friday. I know this is a normal work day, but as a full time student, its something I am definitely not used to.

Ah! I totally forget to tell you what I do! Here goes the spiel that I have told probably a hundred times by now (including on my Teach for America interview, but I’m not bitter or anything). Anyway, have you ever heard of Frederick Law Olmsted? Probably not. But you have heard of Central Park. Well Frederick Law Olmsted is the landscape architect who ingeniously designed it. He also created Prospect Park in Brooklyn, Mount Royal Park in Montreal, and the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. He designed park systems for Rochester, Buffalo, Boston, and Louisville, as well as played a prominent role in the planning of the World’s Columbian Exposition. Trust me, the list goes on and on. This dude was awesome.

Anyway, I work for the Frederick Law Olmsted Papers Project. Basically this project transcribes Olmsted’s handwritten letters (only the most informative of course) and add annotations for each so that the reader knows what the hell Olmsted is talking about. Basically  which since its inception in 1972, the project seeks “to identify the most significant of [Olmsted's] writings and to present them in context in a readable, published twelve-volume format.” The entire project consist of 12 volumes, 9 volumes full of Olmsted’s letters with the last three acting as supplemental volumes. Honestly though, like back in the 1800s, no one had cellphones or emails. Do you know how many letters this dude wrote every day? A lot. And guess how legible they are…

So Franklin & Marshall is in charge of putting together the ninth volume, which covers the years 1890-1895, the last five years of Olmsted’s career. I am the research and editor’s assistant. So basically I do whatever my bosses (two American Studies Professors) ask me to do. Usually I organize, proofread, research, and help edit and transcribe letters. For example, today I had to make a giant spread sheet with all of the 500 letters we are planning to publish on it. Then I had to mark off which ones Charlie (the senior editor) had checked, which one’s were proofed, which one’s had annotations that were finished, and if there were any plants mentioned. It’s a cool job and I will get credit when the volume comes out! Wooooo look out I’m a published blogger. Well almost. And not really published, but cited in really small font. But its a start!

Keep reading and I’ll keep posting!

From the artist:

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Photo: RAnnDomized

Namaste,

A

How spoiled were we today? We had the best weather in Toronto!

Started off this magnificent day with a nice lakefront run with my partner in crime @offneraurelien. He’s a great running partner!

Following our run, we grabbed a late lunch on the patio of the Drake Hotel. Always good food and good drinks at the Drake. We continued our day with a little ballad along Queen west and I stopped by Jacflash to grab a brand new One Teaspoon Superman Bodice bikini for my upcoming vacation in California. I’ve been seeing the bikini pop up on my instagram feed and needed to get one for myself. I love the cut, the straps and the hot pink is adorable! Can’t wait to rock it in Venice (not surfing in this though )!

We finished off our walk with a little stop by Bellwoods, which was even more packed than usual. No surprise here! All in all, another fabulous day! Stoked for our vacation next week but also really enjoying the weather in the city. Now… movie night?!

Happy to finally be wearing shorts today! For my outfit, I mixed shades of blue, florals and also black and gold accessories. Love stacking two of my favorite necklaces: the Biko Colby necklace & the Uranium Sign necklace.

Forever 21 Bleached demin vest (get it here)

H&M neon blue cuffed shorts (similar ones here)

H&M floral tee (similar one here)

Biko Neon Blue Colby necklace (get it here)

Uranium Signal necklace from Spring Summer 2013 collection 

Forever 21 spiked and rhinestoned bracelet (get it here)

Forever 21 etched Geo cuff set (get it here)

Biko black chainmaille bracelet (get it here)

Karl Lagerfeld ’7′ Beveled Bezel Bracelet Watch (get it here)

Steve Madden Madhouse Stud Strap Ankle Boots

This lengthy trailer confirms the appearances of Gotham’s most notorious villains. Bruce Wayne is still adjusting to his cape and cowl, and these goons aren’t making it any easier for him. Players who pre-order now will get their hands on the Deathstroke character before everybody else. That’s right, he will be playable in all the challenge rooms, including two unique levels designed with him in mind. Were still waiting on a gameplay trailer, but this is awesome for the time being.

Follow us @PlayLegit

Although refining the collection methods is really never done (one needs to be iterative and reflexive about such things), I have now embarked on the journey of data collection. I have my online and paper version surveys, my base introductory email and phone speech, my Ethics Review approval, and my field assistants.

I have to admit I actually started my first meetings with stakeholders in March but they were mostly to explain the project or do a pilot survey. I really started contacting people at the beginning of April, so about a month and a half ago.

In the first few weeks, I made initial calls to “arrondissement” departments that are responsible for managing the community gardens in each of their areas. I contacted them to see if it would be possible to give a short 3 minute presentation at gardens’ annual “kick-off” administration meeting to recruit a few volunteers. I thought this would both be a more efficient way to recruit volunteers  (as opposed to standing in community gardens around the city trying to get people to fill-out the survey), as well as more respectful of everyone involved in community gardens, as I am asking for permission.

As anticipated however, its hard to get in contact with the right person at the right time. And we only got to present at meetings in one arrondissement (more on that experience in the the next post).

I also emailed and called all of the collective and institutional gardens and relevant city departments I knew about and used my  “standard” email and speech adapted to the situation of each garden. I always joined a copy of the consent form and the survey to emails. I realized after getting a few answers that the survey was a bit “scary” so I added a few sentences to the email about the fact that the survey looked long but could be done in 15 minutes in person with no great difficulty.

In the first 2 weeks I had a few meetings, which went really well, but then responses slowed down. I have had to call most people that I initially emailed, and then send them another email with all the information. I am now getting meetings though, which is great. A number of the actors want to be re contacted later in the season to schedule a meeting as they are to busy in april and may, which is fine. At least I have their contact information so I fell confident the surveys will eventually get filled out.

Last weekend we were able to visit 3 community gardens and get 3 or 4 gardeners in each garden to respond. The summer is starting to pick up!

Over the next few posts I will go into a little more detail on some of the encounters that have occurred since the beginning of the season to show how things have been progressing and how some element of my planning need to be adapted as the whole team (me and my assistants) actually use the data collection tools and protocols.

things are planted in the gardens and growing!

In the past few days, I’ve seen my share of : new bands. great concerts, old classics, new records(CDs, 45s, LPs) and new t-shirts purchased impulsively and way too much beers and too much shots of tequilas. One funny thing, I never thought there was a K7 come back !?! when did this happened ?
This past weekend held the PouzzaFest 2013 in downtown Montreal, an man, it was a blast ! Loads of great venues welcoming all these great punk bands and the punk-enthusiasts.
I saw almost all the big names : Mxpx, Ataris, American SteelGood Riddance and even the Teenage Bottlerockets and Me first and the gimme gimmes, but sadly i missed The Slackers ! arghh ! I discovered some new names bands like Winslow! or Alie Sin, The Masked Intruders, Swiss Knife, Esprits Noirs, Bompin’ Tacoos, Invaluables, but then again, also missed some names I wanted to see again, like La descente du coude or Nuance Noire or The Creepshow…But to some it up, I had a great time !And my biggest discovery is this band called : Sad & French.

These guys are from Brooklyn and have an awesome sound. Called it Low-fi punk, or cow-punk, or just plain and simple folk music, i don’t care, it’s sounds awesome !

This here is a cover by famous Rancid. From the …and out comes the wolves record. I think this is one of the best songs on this record. I loved how they did this cover live : 

And here is one song from the new Bloody Face’s EP (available free on download at : sadandfrench.com)

It’s that marvelous time when food meets the beer ! guess what ?!? The pizza-delivery-boy is here.  So, once again…

This is me, saying Cheers to you ! 

xxx

Our starting point.

Hello readers,

First off, welcome to my brand-spanking new blog.  If I have some time, it might get a little fancier.  At the moment this blog is up for my travel-seminar to Montreal.  The course is “Cross-Cultural Mission and Service,” and we will be in Montreal for about a week working closely with the Montreal City Mission.  MCM is a ministry of the United Church of Canada (the other UCC), and has been working in the city for 102 years.

So what will we be up to?  We are headed to Montreal to gain first-hand insights into how to do mission and ministry in cross-cultural settings through observing and engaging with MCM’s work with immigrants and refugees.  Given all the rhetoric floating around in the United States it is interesting to be seeing how many of the same issues are playing out in Canada.  Look for a lot of reflections on themes like otherness and belonging.

That’s all for now.  I’ll be posting daily on this trip as a part of the course.

Happy readings.

Peace, Love, Unity, Respect

and do you know what connects us all? On the net it’s called PLUR. No, it’s not a dishwasher detergent, it’s an acronym that stands for Peace, Love, Unity and Respect. These are big words and may be difficult to define but here are some ideas:

Peace: The calmness you find with those around you, and also inside of yourself. It’s tough, we often have to work at it but when you’re at peace with others, with ourselves and with our planet only good can come of it.

Love: The caring you feel for friends, for strangers, for those in need and also for caring you show for yourself. It’s symbiotic, it’s about sharing whatever energy you put into something will be returned to you!

Unity: This means we all share a lot of common things, regardless of our age, gender, race, orientation, whatevah! We are all human beings, we all need other people, & we’re all in this for the happiness experienced being around others. Though we may have differences, we all arise from the same source.

Respect: This may mean respect for others, their ideas, their music, & their lives. It’s also respect for one’s self; one’s body and the needs that it has (food, sleep). Educating yourself on the substances you ingest shows love and respect for your body; passing on the knowledge to others shows respect and love for your fellow person.

ecto@magnet.ca & spooky@magnet.ca

But let’s face it, what’s fun in Karaoke is, yes be able to sing, but also listen to those other incredible, and not-so-incredible voices that populate our neighborhood.

Sushi 2000 and La Petite Boîte (Rosemont) are two of these places that look a bit dodgy from the outside…and maybe also from the inside. However, you can sing all you want and enjoy once in a while the fun singing of the regular customers.

Sushi 2000 is also a restaurant (but I admit I haven’t tasted their food) which turns on the disco lights, the digital screens and the dodgy karaoke videoclips after 10PM. It’s a great place to go with friends!

La petite boîte, on the other hand, has karaoke from Thursday to Sunday after 9:30PM. It’s a local “brasserie” in Rosemont where you probably wouldn’t want to set foot on any other time…but to sing? It’s great! The DJ is a sweet lady and there is great, popular, everyday music in between performances. It’s like being in a club with your friends, but with cheaper beer and with your own time on stage during the night!

Voilà! That was my own little personnal comment on karaoke spots in Montreal…Next, I need to try le Réservoir!

Best. Sandwich. Ever. Cafe Veritas in Old Port.

Believe it or not, the entire three days we were in Montreal last month, not once did we eat at what I would call a truly French restaurant. Then again, French cuisine is often heavy on seafood or meat and, being vegetarians, that doesn’t work so well with the old digestive tract. That said, we still had many a fancy feast at everywhere from little holes in the wall to an eatery specializing in raw meals. I even had every American’s obligatory “deer caught in headlights” look at a restaurant – twice – when the servers thought I spoke French. Nope – just gold, ol’ Amer-uh-can … er, English.

Here’s just a sample of some of the places we dined at whilst in French Canada:

Crudessence – Expect to spend about $15-$17/plate

I’ve eaten at “raw” restaurants (or places that don’t cook their meals) twice now and while both times I went in feeling nervous about my choice of restaurant, both times I left feeling satiated and happy. The meals aren’t cheap given the simplistic and shotgun layout of the restaurant (located on the lower level of a building off Rue Mackay near the hoity-toity Rue Sherbooke), but the food is fantastic. The pesto “spaghetti” is fine zucchini noodles with pistachio pesto, apple and marinated mushrooms on a bed of spinach with fake cheese and dehydrated onion crackers. The menu also boasts “B”LTs, wraps, salads and heartier creations like pad thai and lasagna. There’s even a small store in the front selling ingredients and raw foods for those on the move.

Lola Rosa – Most entrees around $11-$11.50

Apparently, if you’re vegetarian, Yelp and the rest of the Internet says you just HAVE TO come to Lola Rosa. First, some words of advice: Get a reservation – while there are many tables crammed closely together to maximize seating, it fills up … fast. Second, the food is good, but I’m not even sure I would say it was the best veg food I had in Montreal. I got the quesadilla, while Caitlyn got the Lola’s Nachos, chock full of black beans, avocado, salsa and so on. Both dishes were fine, but I prefer my homemade nachos and quesadillas at La Margarita back home in Indy. Lola Rosa has two locations; we visited the Milton venue (near McGill University).

It’s nothing flashy, but what Cafe Veritas lacks in pizzaz, it makes up for in taste.

Café Veritas – Everything’s pretty much $10-$12

You wouldn’t suspect a little sandwich shop next to a Subway and not even a block up the street from a McDonald’s would hold much promise, but, boy, were we wrong. Hands down, this was one of the best meals we had in Montreal. Perhaps it was the hunger pangs from having been en route to Montreal since five that morning, or building an appetite from lugging our luggage a mile to the hotel, but it sure was tasty. We both got the grilled vegetable and goat cheese sandwich on olive bread. Wow. The goat cheese was so melted, it sometimes dripped from the sandwich, making for some messy – but delicious – eating. Very simple, but modern décor inside the café, located as you approach Old Port.

Of course, no meal is complete without dessert … especially when on vacation! We were fortunate enough to find two delectable dessert destinations.

Canadian Maple Delights

Located in Old Port, it was one of the few places still open “late” (7:30 p.m.). In addition to offering a smattering of sugary confections, Caitlyn was particularly fond of the macarons, even badgering the clerk into going into the freezer in back to grab her some since there were none in the display case. OK, she didn’t badger the guy, but you could tell she really wanted those colorful macarons!

The brownie was expensive, but yummy.

Juliette et Chocolat

With a handful of locations around the city, Juliette et Chocolat is slowly bringing all of Montreal into a diabetic coma. This place is clearly intended for the sweetest and richest of sweet tooths. I was boring and picked up an “intense” chocolate brownie, while Caitlyn nabbed some funky flavored chocolates, which were mostly unappetizing to myself. Whatever you get, bring the platinum card – it was near $4 for a 2.5×2.5” brownie.

Maxi skirt: Brandy Melville
Knit cutout top: Brandy Melville
Necklace: Forever 21
Rings: some vintage finds, Gillian Berry Design, Charms diamond centre
Shoes: Michael Kors
Bag: michael Kors
Lips:Marcelle Jumbo Glossy Balm – roseberry