I cannot- I just can NOT.

Let me clear it all up with a few words… Today’s world is SICK. The people responsible for this act and other acts of violence such as the New Town shooting, or the stabbing in Texas, or anything similar are SICK.
You know what else is SICK?
The Media. 

The media does not have the best interest of the victims in mind, nor getting the whole story. They take an opportunity like this to pounce and twist the facts into whatever they can for their own benefit, usually on a political basis.  If you would take the time, please read my thoughts, I posted this on Facebook only moments before writing this blog entry.

“In reaction to the event of the explosions at the Boston Marathon the LAST thing I want to do is sit around and look up what the MEDIA has to say about it. There are so many problems in today’s press that I don’t even TRUST a thing they publish. So instead of wasting my time trying to figure out what all the news stations tell me I’m going to sit here and spend my time praying and wishing well for those involved and their families. I hope you all do the same. What they need is comfort not journalists making assumptions and flocking to the scene like parasites… My heart goes out to Boston today. Rather than my mind to the media. ♥ “

Now that I have that inserted in here I can get back on track. I feel that it is disgusting how society depends on the media for nearly everything in this modern world. The second something happens, everyone has to know about it. What happened to taking a minute to stop and think about those affected? Does it matter as much WHY something happened as opposed to the fact that is DID happen? Life is a chain of unexpected events no matter how hard you try to plan them. Where is the sympathy, empathy, and humanity in this world anymore? People seem only to care about how something effects them rather than how it effected those involved in the actual event. Does no one have a heart anymore? Does no one stop to think of anyone other than themselves? From what I’ve witnessed today the answer is bleak; only a handful of people I’ve run into seem genuinely concerned for the victims of this attack. Many people I’ve overheard are more terrified that they will become victimized by this event… Now I completely understand if maybe someone had a loved one in Boston and are worried about them but the people I am talking about are the ones who have NO connection to it and are suddenly shell shocked and worried that they are NEXT, that every small town will experience an act of violence… Boston is not a small town and there could be a million explanations for the event.

One explanation people seem to leave in the dust is this; what if the explosion was nothing more than an unfortunate accident? What if it was by pure chance that it happened? Instead people jump to conclusions and assumptions like “It had to be the Taliban,” or “the only explanation is that it was some whack-job.”

If you find yourself asking these questions I beg you to take a step back and think to yourself about what is really important… Not WHO did it and WHY, but who was AFFECTED and IF they’re okay. So, my prayers and thoughts are set towards Boston today. To those hurt and injured. In time, God will pass judgement on those responsible- that is not for US to worry about.
Turning to the media is exactly what they want so that they can fill everyone’s heads with political bias and ultimately… Lies.

In conclusion I just want to reiterate; think about what really matters; use your heart before your mind and put your concern towards the PEOPLE not the EVENT.

I hope you all understand where I’m coming from and God bless you all.

Thank you for reading the humble, unimportant, meek thoughts of a nineteen year old college student.

EDIT (April 16, 2013)
I would like to take a minute to thank those who shared this blog entry yesterday and continue to support it. It means more to me than anything. 
Something I saw on twitter this afternoon truly summarized the situation better than I could. The one and only Charlie Daniels posted the following:
Please choose one. 1 Man caused disaster 2 Violence in the work place 3 Foreign combatant 4 Terrorism
No one could have put it better.

Diaspora, (commonly referred to as the dispersion of people from their homeland,) featuring: Tito Charneco, saxes; Brad Leali, saxes;

The core musicians of Diaspora are Stefan Karlsson, Tito Charneco, Fred Hamilton, Brad Leali and Jose Aponte.

Stefan Karlsson, keyboard/piano; Evan Weiss, trumpet; Tony Baker, trombone; Fred Hamilton, upright bass; and Jose Aponte, drums; kicked off the group’s CD release last night at Sweetwater Grill & Tavern, in Denton, to an enthusiastic, overflow crowd. The professional musicians, all at the “height of their game,” are either University of North Texas faculty or Alumni.

Jumping right in the deep end of Diaspora‘s eight-song repertoire, Charneco, Leali and trombone-Meister Tony Baker created a choir-like Jazz harmony on Warden’s World. Never faltering between solo hand-offs, band members took turns riffing and rolling through improvisations, then stepped away as others took off with runs, slides and brave challenges of rhythm and texture.

Listeners stood outside the open patio windows, or sat inside – sending up rousing applause after each solo and at the conclusion of the numbers. More acclamation came when Charneco introduced band members. Sadly, Baker had to pack his trombone after the opening number, as he had to make an out-of-town engagement.

New CD Diaspora

This brings up a heart-felt appreciation for these astounding musicians – this is the end of another busy semester at UNT, most band members had classes on Monday – they may have played other gigs over the weekend. Some were playing with all-out verve after driving many hours to and from gigs, only to play other events, prior to Sunday night at Sweetwater. Music will out.

The be-bop Jazz on Diaspora is phenomenal and well worth adding to your audio library.

Purchase Diaspora at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/diaspora.

More CD releases by University of North Texas Faculty, students and Alumni

Dan Haerle Quartet releases new CD

 

John Wasson releases “The New Cool”CD

Brian Donohoe releases CD “Beatmaker”

Mike Myers releases CD “The Big Picture

If He’d had to discontinue the kindred conversations, the soft whispers, the affectionate laughter of Eden so His presence wouldn’t cause death to Adam and Eve, how could He be “God with us”?

And why would He want to?

Remember that perfect world God created? When God says something is “Very good,” it’s magnificent!

But an enemy was present. Long before us, God created Lucifer who became dissatisfied with being the perfect work of God. Little by little he began to separate himself from God and launch a deceptive campaign to exalt himself.* Sin started in heaven.

Lucifer (later, Satan) insinuated against Love and caused doubt about God’s motives and His way of governing, resulting in war. He wanted to be God. His malicious deception ruined many of his own kind and spread to ours.

Now God had a problem. Who He was had been challenged. But He was ready.

He had chosen to create beings who were capable of reason and choice because He would only rule over freedom. God’s one desire was to have children who obeyed out of love. And only love that is chosen is true love. If choice is important, there must be freedom.

*Isaiah 14:12-17, Ezekiel 28:12-17

I don’t know if it was a true story or not, but it holds a valuable lesson.

How many of us go through life waiting for luck to strike? We waste our time looking down with hope of finding something, while life is passing us by. I realize I am guilty of relying on luck. Who knows how many opportunities I missed because I was looking in the wrong direction.

Success in life has little to do with luck. True success is a result of hard work. We must make a goal and walk toward it. In order to know where we are going, we need to be looking in the right direction.

Looking forward

Recently a friend of the family who suffers from Parkinson, fell and broke his shoulder. When I called my dad to ask how the fracture was healing, he explained that he had taken our friend to the neurologist,  who gave the patient very important advise. The doctor told him that to avoid falls he should not look at his feet, instead, he should look forward. This poor man felt more secure looking at his feet to concentrate on one step at a time. However, the brain was missing the bigger picture, and the visual input was not enough to help guide his steps.

What great advice that goes beyond our physical walk! This should be applied to our walk through life as well. Don’t miss the big picture! Lets look forward, lets focus on the prize! This can be done! If at any point you feel tempted to look in a different direction, immediately close your eyes and say: “Lord, I refuse to keep walking until you guide me in the right direction, and keep me focused on the big picture.”

The other night my friend and I were discussing our excitement for some upcoming games, like Animal Crossing New Leaf, or Monster Hunter 4. Then he pointed out that there is only so much time, so really how many games can one plan to play in a lifetime should be considered when trying to plan out what games we will play in the future. It was a good point, and got me thinking.

My friend very quickly decided that the calculation goes something like:

By guessing how many more years you will live, and assuming that the time you have available to play games on a weekly basis will stay relatively stable for the remainder of those years, and that the average length of the games you will play will be similar to those of the same genre types you now enjoy, and that the variety of the genres you play will remain somewhat constant as to what you have been into recently, you can then pretty easily calculate how many games you still have time to enjoy over the course of your remaining life.

I think he came up with a number that satisfied his curiosity, and assured him that yes he will indeed have time to play both Animal Crossing New Leaf, and Monster Hunter 4.

The thing is, I think there are still a lot of pieces to calculate in before being absolutely sure that the games you are planning on getting you may in fact have time for.

But first, let me explain why I kept thinking about this.

About 6 years a go I got into Magic: The Gathering. For those who know it, they know what that might mean. For those who don’t, let me just say that it is a collectable card game that has about 800 new cards introduced a year, and that players typically are looking to have 4 of each card available to them for about 30% of those cards in order to make reasonably competitive decks. This leads to a lot of spending, speculating, planning, calculating, and in the end owning a lot more cards than can reasonably be played with. While some very organized people zero in and only buy what they know they want for that year, most end up with piles and piles (or binders and binders) of cards that could be used in decks, but are in fact just taking up a ton of space. At any given time I usually had about ten playable decks (which are made of about 60 cards) while thousands of other cards waited on the sidelines to be reconsidered.

About 3 years in to my “Magic” career it occurred to me that I had spent a considerable amount of money, not to mention time, on the game. And while I was starting to see some results in some smaller tournaments, I decided to take a break from getting any new cards. And so I turned my eyes (and wallet and time) towards videogames, which for the last 3 years had ranked second tier in my hobby world.

Being used to spending too much money of pieces of card board, I immediately reasoned out that buying videogames was not the same at all. Each one can provide huge amounts of entertainment, particularity when measured in relation to time. I quickly started figuring out a games value to me organized by average length based on genre divided by monetary cost, to give me an hourly cost. So, standing in the videogame store for me would go something like this:

“Hmmm, Uncharted 2 is 30 bucks. It’s an action platformer, so those usually take me about 12 hours. Let’s call it 15. I won’t play the multiplayer, so that’s not a factor. Well, at 2 bucks an hour, that seems pretty good. I’ll take it!” or “Hmmm, Skyrim is 50 bucks. I heard that game is like 200 hours long! That’s only a freaking quarter an hour?! Must have!” And so on…

In reality, I quit Skyrim after about 50 hours, and I finished Uncharted 2 in less than 10. Which of course I noted, and still calculated the cost and value after the fact, particularly when trading it back in, getting something for it, and redoing my calculations.

Unfortunately, for about a full 18 months after putting aside Magic I was doing more calculating the value at time of purchase then after completion. I ended up with about 100 un-played games. Somewhere in the back of my head I reasoned out that I would have plenty of time to play them when I retire if nothing else. Then I had the idea that I should try to blow through the games and even write up little reviews of them. That’s where this blog started… It soon became clear that I was not going to get through all those games in short enough order to ever see the end of them, or to stay up to date with whatever mouth wateringly exciting new game was about to come out. So, I did what anyone would do, I got rid of all the ones I had tried and had been less than amazingly excited about. Turned out to be about 50 games. (I got about 500 dollars for them, so all was not lost.)

So, back to where this started:

I am now into a new phase in my videogame hobby. I now try to play the “now” game to something like fruition before buying anything new. (Of course, if it’s one of those games that I know will be hard to find after the fact I still end up buying those…). I also have discovered howlongtobeat.com which does a slightly more accurate “calculation” of a games length, which allows for slightly more accurate valuations. I also quit smoking about 8 months ago, which extends my life. (And yes, I basically quit to have a longer videogame playing career.) Also, I’ve noted that the amount of time I have to play in a week seems to have increased as my kids get a bit older. And so, rather than trying to calculate how many more videogames I will play in my life I actually just play what I’m playing, and look forward to what I’m looking forward to, and of course, calculate the hourly cost and aim for good value. Still, if I follow my friends calculation, (and modify it a bit for my assumptions), I end up with:

Remaining years: Well, Canada average is 81 I think. I’m 33 so lets call it 50.

Average daily time to play: I want to call it 1 hour, but sometimes it’s 3. Let’s call it 2 for the first 30 years, and then 3 for the last 20. (I will be retired after all.)

That’s give or take 44,000 hours.

Divide that by the average length of games I like to play… Well, RPGs are long. Monster Hunter is very long. It took me 80 hours to beat Dark Souls. 80 to beat Borderlands 2 (on TVHM). But I do like the occasional action games, or platformer. I want to say I average at something more like 40 hours, but in the hopes that there are more awesome long games to sink into in the future, and less quick experiences, I’m gonna hedge my bets and call it 50 hours. So that is 880 games?! or 17 a year. Well, that seems like more games than there actually are that I want to play a year, so I may even be able to cut back a bit and put more time into my other hobbies. Hmmm…

It really isn’t a malfunction. God put that in you to lead you to Him–the One who satisfies.

Years ago I read a book touted to be the #1 book on Jesus life in the Library of Congress. Notwithstanding the beauty, the words were 19th century, difficult usage and syntax. It was also long. The intro says its purpose is to show Jesus’ beauty and draw people into a “face to face” and “heart to heart” experience with the “One who satisfies all longing.” I did fall in love with Jesus, the desire of hearts.

So here is the book I love, The Desire of Ages, about The Man I love, distilled into short bits to come to your inbox five days a week. My commitment is that none of them will be over 250 words, (about this long) so you have time to meditate on it. Imagine being there.

Experience Jesus, the One who came to show us God–the Greatest Giver, Love in a Man. Sign up and God, The Man, will come to you daily.

I am prone to this, feeling impatient with the rate of change.

Even in gardening, I value a relatively quick turnaround: Plant a bunch of lettuce seedlings, and a month later I can be snipping salad from my own raised bed.

But some things take time, and move in a crooked line, and require great patience to see results.

Photographer: Kessner Photography

I’m reminded of this when I visit a farmer friend who lives in my neighborhood. Her family farm is called Artesian Farm. It’s in the next county over, where Anna and her farm partners raise grassfed beef.

When she talks about farming, she thinks in terms of decades. For example, the process of transitioning the farm to organic—which her parents wanted to do long before there was any infrastructure of support—has barely begun, and the beginning itself is taking years.

It’s been nearly 10 years of preparation, and a very small portion of the crop acreage is just beginning the transition to organic.

To grow corn and beans organically, and to be certified as such, farmers undergo an elaborate process. One of Artesian Farm’s first steps was adding more cattle. It seems an odd thing: what do corn and beans have to do with the beef side of the business?

But Anna explains that crop rotation is key in organic farming. Hay is their chosen rotation crop. “It’s common wisdom that if you grow hay and sell it off your farm, you’re taking all the nutrition off your farm.” So more cattle were needed to make use of the hay.

A 200-page plan has taken about six years to complete. It would cost $2500 to have an outside agency prepare this plan, on top of the $1000 for certifying. Anna opted for the DIY approach.

During my visit Anna cuts me some lemon balm, which is near an imposing compost heap about the size of a mobile home. It looks like a small sod house was plunked down in the middle of her modest “back 40.” “How do you turn it?” I ask, thinking of our own compost pile—a midget compared to this—and how it never gets hot enough to kill weed seeds, because we don’t turn it, though we always say we will.

“Oh, I don’t bother turning it. Nature doesn’t turn it, in the woods.”

Anna and her compost bin, which she created “free-hand” with odd broom sticks, twigs, mop handles, rusty pipes, and other finds. Photo by Danny Chase.

Walking me back to my car, Anna reflects on the passage of time, how long it takes to make a change, to heal the land, to see results. Those of us who don’t spend as much time with our feet on the soil and hands in the dirt might expect results in a much shorter time frame than the decades that are really required.

Like the compost, like building the humus of the forest floor, there are things that can’t be rushed.

Marcellite Garner (voice of Minnie Mouse) 1924

I have been contemplating, and not my navel, for the past couple days and have been absent from my post. Soon I’ll be back chattering and responding to your comments which I apologize for neglecting.

I might have something profound to say about social networking, but probably not… because here’s the deal: behind all the flash and speed and superficiality of the Internet are people.

Not that I’m equating myself with Norma Desmond, but I thought I’d throw this out there:

And I promise you I’ll never desert you again because after Salome we’ll make another picture and another picture. You see, this is my life! It always will be! Nothing else! Just us, the cameras, and those wonderful people out there in the dark!… All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.

Global urban population by size class of settlement – note that over 50% of people reside in cities of less than 500k

A key observation relates to the facts behind the figures (ref UNFP reports 2007 and 2011) - in my previous post I noted the headline figure that is the number of people in cities now outweighing those in rural areas, but this is not the whole story:

• the world’s urban population will grow to 4.9 billion by 2030, whereas the rural population will decrease by some 28 million between 2005 and 2030
• most of the urban growth will take place in developing nations – the urban population of Africa and Asia is expected to double between 2000 and 2030, whereas for the developed world it will grow from 870 million to 1.01 billion
• the ‘second wave’ of urbanisation taking place in developing nations is occurring at a far greater size and scale than the first wave that unfolded in developed nations in the 20th century – meaning that developing nations will need to build new urban infrastructure (houses, power, water, sanitation, transport, commercial and productive facilities) more quickly than did developed nations
• the urban growth of the 21st century will be composed largely of poor people, through both natural increase (urban births) and migration (from rural to urban areas), the balance of which varies from region to region (India more the former, China the latter)
• over half of the world’s urban population resides in settlements with a population of less than 500,000 (refer to the chart above)
• many of the world’s poor are migrating from the centres of the biggest cities to smaller settlements on the periphery or in satellite locations as a result of the high cost of living and scarcity of jobs

This last point has much resonance for my home town of Melbourne, where a demographic divide is forming between the affluent inner areas and the poorer but rapidly-growing urban sprawl.  The 2009 MacroMelbourne report argues that the most significant trends and challenges effecting disadvantage and inequality in metropolitan Melbourne are:

• Rapid population growth, particularly in outer urban areas
• The employment and economic impact of the global financial crisis
• Rapid increases in the number of people with multiple and complex needs
• Ongoing challenges facing migrant, refugee and Indigenous communities
• Lack of access to affordable housing

These themes are clearly echoed in the UNFP reports, and I suspect that they are true for cities everywhere.

In reflecting upon what all this means I draw upon Porter and Kramer’s concept of Creating Shared Value to make the following observations:

• The lessons from the older, more populous cities should inform the answers for the smaller, faster-growing settlements - however there needs to be more attention given to the specific challenges/solutions applicable to small/medium cities
• Technology solutions, in particular relating to Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), are a key enabler to addressing many of the challenges faced
• Low-cost, highly transferable/scaleable technology solutions represent the greatest opportunity

In future posts I will explore each of these issues/opportunities in more detail.

New announcements:

May 5. Slum Village

May 22. Folly and the Hunter

June 12. Milow

June 19. Trails and Ways

July 4. Driver Friendly

Aug. 17. Passenger

Dec 14. Rod Stewart and Steve Winwood (postponed from April 16)

APRIL

April 9. Jamie Lidell, Cabaret Mile End, $20. (A)

April 9. The King Khan and BBQ Show, Il Motore, $13. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 9. July Talk, Divan Orange, $10. ticketabc.com

April 10. Bobby Long, Divan Orange, $10. (A)

April 10. Redd Kross, Il Motore, $15. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 10 and 11. Tryo, Metropolis, $34.50. (A)

April 11. Oprah Winfrey, Bell Centre, $95 to $355. (E)

April 11. Born Ruffians, La Sala Rossa, $15. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 11. Harlan Pepper, Il Motore, $12. (A)

April 11. Connie Kaldor, Segal Centre, $18 to $25. 514-739-7944; segalcentre.org.

April 12. The Black Angels, with the Allah-Las and Elephant Stone, Le National, $18. (A)

April 12. Matt Costa, Petit Campus, $22.50. (A)

April 13. Billy Talent, with Sum 41, Hollerado and Indian Handcrafts, Bell Centre, $52 to $62. (E)

April 13. Great Big Sea, Metropolis, $49.50. (A)

April 13. Jesse Winchester, Petit Campus, $40. (A)

April 13. The Joy Formidable, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $20. (E)

April 13. The Besnard Lakes, Cabaret Mile End, $15. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 13. On An On, Club Lambi, $13.50. ticketabc.com

April 14. Rhye, Cabaret Mile End, $15. (A)

April 14. Today Is the Day, Il Motore, $15. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 14. Mark Fewer Quartet (featuring Jim Doxas, Jim Vivian and John Novacek), Segal Centre, $18 to $25. 514-739-7944; segalcentre.org.

April 15. Terri Clark, Olympia, $38.84 to $56.09. (A)

April 15. Parkway Drive, Metropolis, $20. ticketmaster.ca

April 15. Pissed Jeans, Il Motore, $16. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 15. Acid Mothers Temple, La Sala Rossa, $13. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 15. Marnie Stern, Casa del Popolo, $12. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 16. Rod Stewart, with Steve Winwood, Bell Centre, $74 to $166.50. (E) POSTPONED to Dec. 14

April 16. Bonobo, Telus Theatre, $26.50. (E)

April 16. Anberlin, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $19.50. (E)

April 16. Phosphorescent, Petit Campus, $15. (A)

April 16. Stereo Total, Il Motore, $14. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 17. Mindless Self Indulgence, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $32.50. (E)

April 19. Buddy Guy, Metropolis, $63. (A)

April 20. Dennis DeYoung, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, Place des Arts, $43.60 to $74.05. 514-842-2112; pda.qc.ca.

April 20. Akron/Family, Il Motore, $13. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 22. Clinic, Il Motore, $13. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 22. Pickwick, Divan Orange, $12.50. (A)

April 23. Death to All, Club Soda, $35. 514-286-1010; clubsoda.ca.

April 23. Killing Joke, Café Campus, $22.50. (A)

April 23 and 24. Muse, Bell Centre, $53 to $73. (E)

April 25. Collie Buddz, Metropolis, $22.50. ticketmaster.ca

April 25. Steven Wilson, Club Soda, $35. 514-286-1010; clubsoda.ca.

April 26. Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy, Gesù, $55. ($93.95 VIP tickets available at www.progquebec.com) (A)

April 26. The Milk Carton Kids, Il Motore, $13.50. (A)

April 27. Vishten, Petit Campus, $20 ($10 students). (A) 

April 28. Single Mothers, Divan Orange, $10. ticketabc.com

April 29. IAMX, Cabaret Mile End, $18.50. (A)

April 29. Tera Melos, Il Motore, $12. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

April 29. Trixie Whitley, Divan Orange, $12. (A)

MAY

May 1. Rihanna, Bell Centre, $48.50 to $165.50. (E)

May 1. The Lumineers, Metropolis. Sold out.

May 2. Gipsy Kings, Théâtre St. Denis, $68.75 to $83.75. (T)

May 2 to 4. Les Trois Accords, Le National, $31.75. (A)

May 3. Alexi Murdoch, Cabaret Mile End, $20. (A)

May 3. Colin Stetson, with Sarah Neufeld, La Sala Rossa, $13. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

May 3. Family of the Year, Club Lambi, $13.50. (A)

May 3 and 4. Marie-Mai, Bell Centre, $57 to $67. (E)

May 4. Engelbert Humperdinck, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, Place des Arts, $54.50 to $74.50. 514-842-2112; pda.qc.ca.

May 4. R5, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $20. (E)

May 4. We Are Wolves, Cabaret Mile End, $15. (A)

May 5. Billy Bragg, with Kim Churchill, Club Soda, $36.50. 514-286-1010; clubsoda.ca.

May 5. The Veils, La Sala Rossa, $15. (A)

May 5. Slum Village, Cabaret Underworld, $11.50. ticketabc.com

May 6. James Blake, Metropolis, $25. ticketmaster.ca

May 6. Daughter, Petit Campus, $15.50. (A)

May 7. Ghost, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $20. theatrecoronavirginmobile.com

May 8. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $23.50. (E)

May 8. Foxygen, Il Motore, $13. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

May 9. Classic Albums Live: The Doors – L.A. Woman, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $27.50. (E)

May 9. The Presets and Dragonette, Le National, $25. (A)

May 9. Doldrums, Le Belmont, $10. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

May 10. Foals, Club Soda, $25. 514-286-1010; clubsoda.ca.

May 11. Lights, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $30. (E)

May 12. Taurey Butler, Segal Centre, $18 to $25. 514-739-7944; segalcentre.org.

May 13. Mötley Crüe, with Big Wreck, Bell Centre, $68.50 to $88.50. (E)

May 13. Charles Bradley and His Extraordinaires, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $25. (E)

May 13. Shout Out Louds, La Sala Rossa, $18.50. (A)

May 14. Airbourne, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $20. theatrecoronavirginmobile.com

May 14. Keith Harkin, Petit Campus, $20. ticketabc.com

May 17. MxPx, with the Ataris, Masked Intruder and Inside Riot, Club Soda, $34. 514-286-1010; clubsoda.ca.

May 17 and 18. Billy Tellier, Théâtre St. Denis, $35.50. (E)

May 19. New Found Glory, Metropolis, $35. (A)

May 19. The Darkness, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $32.50. (E)

May 19. Chris Webby, L’Astral, $20. ticketmaster.ca

May 21. Kvelertak, Club Lambi, $15. (A)

May 22. Folly and the Hunter, Cabaret Mile-End, $13.50. On sale Friday, April 12 at noon. (A)

May 23. The Shins, with Ra Ra Riot, Metropolis, $35. ticketmaster.ca

May 23. The Boxer Rebellion, Cafe Campus, $20. ticketabc.com

May 23. Ms Mr, Il Motore, $15. ticketabc.com

May 24. Indochine, Bell Centre, $67.50. (E)

May 24. Of Monsters and Men, with Half Moon Run, Lachine Canal (Esplanade du Centenaire), $49. (E)

May 24. Marina and the Diamonds, with Charli XCX, Metropolis (moved from Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre), $25. ticketmaster.ca

May 24. Kristina Maria, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $37. (E)

May 25. Fall Out Boy, Metropolis. Sold out.

May 28. Kellylee Evans, Segal Centre, $18 to $25. 514-739-7944; segalcentre.org.

May 29 to July 14. Gregory Charles: Vintage, Vintage Theatre, Old Port, $76 to $110.50, vintageexperience.com

May 30. D’Angelo, Olympia, $75. (E)

JUNE

June 3. Rachael Yamagata, La Sala Rossa, $18. (A)

June 4. Pitbull and Ke$ha, Bell Centre. $42 to $99.50. (E)

June 4. The Dandy Warhols, Club Soda, $29.50. 514-286-1010; clubsoda.ca.

June 5. Devendra Banhart, Corona Virgin Mobile Theatre, $20. (E)

June 6. New Kids on the Block, with 98 Degrees and Boyz II Men, Bell Centre, $42.50 to $104. (E)

June 6. Bloc Party, Metropolis, $33.50. ticketmaster.ca

June 7. The xx and Grizzly Bear, Lachine Canal (Esplanade du Centenaire), $45. (E)

June 7. Travis Tritt, Metropolis, $50 (general admission) to $65 (reserved seating in balcony). ticketmaster.ca

June 7. Jonathan Richman, Sala Rossa, $15.  ticketabc.com

June 9. Judy Collins, Rialto Theatre, $35 to $95. (T)

June 9. Supersuckers, Sala Rossa, $13. ticketabc.com

June 11. Calexico, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $30. (E)

June 11. !!!, Le Belmont, $15. http://www.blueskiesturnblack.com

June 12. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, MOVED TO METROPOLIS; Original tickets for Club Soda show will be honoured; $25. ticketmaster.ca.

June 12. Milow, Lion D’or, $25. On sale Friday, April 12 at noon. ticketabc.com

June 13. The National, with the Barr Brothers, Lachine Canal (Esplanade du Centenaire), $54. (E)

June 14. Selah Sue, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $19.50. theatrecoronavirginmobile.com

June 15. Chvrches, Le National, $20. (A)

June 18. Fleetwood Mac, Bell Centre, $64 to $156. (E)

June 19. Trails and Ways, Divan Orange, $10. On sale Friday, April 12 at noon. ticketabc.com

June 22. The Tragically Hip, with Sam Roberts Band and the Rural Alberta Advantage, Lachine Canal (Esplanade du Centenaire), $62 to $132. (E)

June 27 and 28. Pink Martini, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, Place des Arts, $58.75 to $91.75. 514-842-2112; pda.qc.ca

June 28. Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra featuring Wynton Marsalis, Maison symphonique, $78.49 to $95.50. 514-842-2112; pda.qc.ca

June 29. Aretha Franklin, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, Place des Arts, $101.49 to $152.50. 514-842-2112; pda.qc.ca

June 29. Wayne Shorter, Théâtre Maisonneuve, Place des Arts, $76.50 to $93.50. 514-842-2112; pda.qc.ca

JULY

July 4. One Direction, Bell Centre. Sold out.

July 4. Driver Friendly, Divan Orange, $10. On sale Friday, April 12 at noon. ticketabc.com

July 5. Bruno Mars, with Ellie Goulding, Bell Centre, $53.50 to $108.50. (E)

July 5. Belle and Sebastian, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, Place des Arts, $58.50. 514-842-2112; pda.qc.ca

July 22. Beyoncé, Bell Centre, $59.50 to $267.50. (E)

July 29. Kiss, Bell Centre, $80.50 to $142. (E)

July 30. Yes, Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier of Place des Arts, $54.75 to $93.75. (E)

AUGUST

Aug. 17. Passenger, La Sala Rossa, $18.50. ticketabc.com

SEPTEMBER

Sept. 3. Depeche Mode, Bell Centre, $83.50 to $114.50. (E)

Sept. 17. Sarah Brightman, Bell Centre, $78 to $196.50. Tickets for original Feb. 1 date will be honoured. (E)

Sept. 25 and 26. Luc Langevin, Théâtre St. Denis, $38.75 to $63.25. (T)

OCTOBER

Oct. 3. Steve Hackett: Genesis Revisited, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, Place des Arts, $67 to $110. 514-842-2112; pda.qc.ca.

Oct. 15. Ian Anderson, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier of Place des Arts, $66.25 to $86.25. 514-842-2112; pda.qc.ca.

Oct. 17 and 18. Roger Hodgson, Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, Place des Arts, $57.49 to $86.23. 514-842-2112; pda.qc.ca.

NOVEMBER

Nov. 10. Hanson, Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre, $29.50. theatrecoronavirginmobile.com

DECEMBER

Dec. 3. Pink, Bell Centre, $54 to $114. (E)

Dec. 14. Rod Stewart, with Steve Winwood, Bell Centre, $74 to $166.50. (E) Postponed from April 16.

A city recently

In 2001 then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan announced that this would be the urban millennium:

Cities have always been crossroads of culture, and today urban areas are the driving forces of development and globalization.

- Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, 25th Special Session of the General Assembly, 6 June 2001

In 2007 the UN Population Fund made the oft-cited observation that as of 2008, more people would be living in cities around the world than in rural areas:

In principle, cities offer a more favourable setting for the resolution of social and environmental problems than rural areas. Cities generate jobs and income. With good governance, they can deliver education, health care and other services more efficiently than less densely settled areas simply because of their advantages of scale and proximity.

Cities also present opportunities for social mobilization and women’s empowerment. And the density of urban life can relieve pressure on natural habitats and areas of biodiversity. The challenge for the next few decades is learning how to exploit the possibilities urbanization offers. The future of humanity depends on it.

- UN Population Fund, May 2007 to coincide with the release of the ‘State of the World Population 2007: Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth‘

This quote from the UNFP sums up the issues and opportunities perfectly, and provides the foundation for my own focus on cities.

So there you have it - a blog about technology solutions for the issues and opportunities of urbanisation, originating out of a demographic milestone and a simple equation.

To paraphrase Abraham Maslow: If your favorite tool is a hammer, every problem starts to resemble a nail.

The views expressed by Colonel Gentile here do not necessarily represent those of the United States government or the Department of Defense.

This interview was recorded shortly after the event, “The War in Afghanistan: What Went Wrong?” at the Cato Institute April 5, 2013.
http://www.cato.org/events/war-afghan.

2nd week of April, 2013

Here’s a thought for a gorgeous spring day when the shovel is about as high-tech as I’d like to get.

© Phil Date | Dreamstime Stock Photos

For all the successes of Western civilization,
the world has paid a dear price in terms of the most crucial component of existence–
our human spirit.

The shadow side of high technology–

modern warfare
& thoughtless homicide and suicide,
urban blight,
ecological mayhem,
cataclysmic climate change,
polarization of economic resources–

is bad enough.

Much worse, our focus on exponential progress
in science and technology has left many of us

bereft

in the realm of meaning and joy, and of knowing
how our lives fit into the

grand scheme

of existence for all eternity.

From Proof of Heaven, by Eben Alexander

Won the The Newpaper Big Picture Contest Week #27.

http://www.tnp.sg/picture/big-picture-201213-week-27-winner

Taken at the green corridor at Buona Vista. The vast greenery and the path under bridge makes the place feel different, almost surreal.
Forgive me, I am 1 month late, trying my best to update more often with my tight schedule. I love the explore the forgotten places in Singapore, places that are soon to be gone, this exploration gave me a win and I am really proud of this one.