modern life vs. human nature

I found this cool looking jacket on the Coolhunting website(sorry no link there too lazy today).  I really don’t know much about it because I think I was drunk when I found it late on the internet(not really drunk… just Christmas party drunk). I am relatively sure the jacket would be expensive..as in over $1000 expensive but I don’t know that either. Again, it looks cool..and it is legitimately “eco-friendly”.

enjoy

I read about…and please note, did not read, the review of a new book about Izzy Asper, the late owner of Canwest Global Communications, National Post, The Vancouver Sun and a bunch of other newspapers which I don’t read.  Charlie Smith,(Georgia Straight) who wrote the short article about the book blew my mind.

Within a small storyline he essentially captures what I, you or any independent thinking person in the world should be scared of; an owner peddling his ideas through what is supposed to be, and generally accepted as, an unbiased media source.  Now mind you , I know that the National Post was a biased rag based on the fact that its original owner, Conrad Black, literally thought he was God and that his word was testament. However, from what I’m reading the Asper’s who now own the paper, a few others and a network..Global?, are far worse than Conrad Black for skewing news to their agenda and political beliefs.

Currently, David Asper who runs the media empire is a “rabid Harper fan” and believes that journalists are no better than Wal-Mart employees and should tow the party line or be fired. That’s all fine and good for a spoonfed richboy with no real understanding of the real world but the next quote sent tingles up my spine.

Quote: “We own the papers. We have the right to have the papers print whatever the hell we want them to say. And if people don’t like it they can go to hell.”

I’m not sure I will buy another National Post, Vancouver Sun or listen to a news broadcast the same way. I used to look to the news as a unbiased source of information. I was even dumb enough to watch or read the news to help me determine who to vote for. Was I naive? Maybe just a little.

enjoy,

I recently found this interesting tidbit about sustainable sushi while browsing the internet trying to figure out how I would eat fish again after hearing that farmed fish was not such a healthy alternative to wild fish.

However, I was not satisfied with the tiny bit of information that was provided in this clip. I wanted to know more and figured that others would too.  So then I found this little guide to sustainable sushi by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

It gives you the straight up facts on the best choices, the best alternatives and the fish to avoid at all costs.

For example, it says quite point blank to avoid farmed salmon unless you like eating pesticides and PCBs. On the best choice board I found that I could still eat shrimp and prawn by the bucket load as long as it was from BC or Oregon.(sorry tiger shrimp but you are on the AVOID list.)

For a great in depth read on what fish are healthy and sustainable this is the guide.

enjoy.

I stopped producing modrobes years ago when I envisioned doing an environmentally friendly line of clothing that was more fashion forward.  Over the years and after hundreds of requests I recently have been thinking about reviving the brand, and of course the pants. For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, Modrobes was essentially a comfortable, functional pant design that I created for a student project and became relatively popular in Canada in the 90’s.  Modrobes grew into a full line of clothing dedicated to comfort, style and sport. After huge growth that skyrocketed the brand and the company we were soundly thrashed by the “big players” and the industry. In other words,  everyone ripped us off and took advantage of how young, naive and stupid I was as a businessman.

Am I bitter? No. I was for a long time. The business world teaches hard lessons to creative types with big ideas. Over the years, I have talked to many old customers and their positive feedback and “love of the pants” has helped me remember the best parts about the modrobes experience; creating products people love!

So after years of trying to distance myself from Modrobes and not “live in the past” I am contemplating a revival of Modrobes in conjunction with a new “eco” line called Modernature; a sort of “big brother with little brother” clothing company.

Hhhhmmm…

Just when you were settling into another few years of oil money running the Canadian government and bam! We are back at it…squabbling over who has the right to run our geriatric state. I am not going to waste a lot of words on this one though because it is very obvious why we are here. Stephen Harper did two things wrong: 1) He did not create an economic stimulus package that would help Ontario and Quebec; the manufacturing sector of this country that is being hit the hardest with the economic downturn.  Whether you agree with a stimulus package or not, the Liberals, NDP and BLoc all have their core of constituents in these areas so they have to do something. 2) He tried to make it virtually impossible for new and small political parties to get started or maintain any funding and therefore tried to deal a heavy blow to real democracy! The most progressive ideas in our society typically don’t come from the rich or in this case from political parties backed by the rich. Democracy was created so that those without riches had a fair chance at happiness and a reasonable standard of living. Stephen Harper tried to eliminate the opportunity for others to create parties based on ideas that might not be backed by rich people.  So when you see the opposition hell bent on taking him… down don’t feel so bad…they are doing it for us..and them.  Power still corrupts. Democracy is the leveler. Lucky us!

enjoy.

More and more I am hearing about how Canada is falling down the list of countries that have progressive energy, environmental, labour and even business policies.  In just about a month the US will have better policies in all of these areas..hmmm..makes me wonder.

Below is a joke.  If you have heard it before…are tired of hearing it or think it is long winded and goes on longer than it should to prove something that we already know..well, then slap me and call me Stephen…..Harper that is.

enjoy,

The Cowboy
An Alberta cowboy was overseeing his herd in a remote
mountainous pasture when suddenly a brand-new BMW advanced out of a dust
cloud towards him.

The driver, a young man in a Brionioni suit, Gucci shoes, Ray
Ban Sunglasses and YSL tie, leans out the window and asks the cowboy, ‘If
I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd ,  Will
you give me a calf?’

The cowboy looks at the man, obviously a yuppie, then looks
at his peacefully grazing herd and calmly answers, ‘Sure, why not?’

The yuppie parks his car, whips out his Dell notebook
computer,  Connects it to his Cingular RAZR V3 cell phone, and surfs to a
NASA  Page on the Internet, where he calls up a GPS satellite navigation
System to get an exact fix on his location which he then feeds to another
NASA satellite that scans the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo.

The young man then opens the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop

and exports it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany.

Within seconds, he receives an email on his Palm Pilot that
the image has been processed and the data stored.

He then accesses a MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected
Excel Spreadsheet with email on his Blackberry and, after a few minutes,
receives a response.

Finally, he prints out a full-color, 150-page report on his
hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer then turns to the cowboy and
says, ‘You have exactly 1,586 cows and calves.’

‘That’s right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves,’
says the cowboy.

He watches the young man select one of the animals and looks
on amused as the young man stuffs it into the trunk of his car.

Then the cowboy says to the young man, ‘Hey, if I can tell you
exactly what your business is, will you give me back my calf?’

The young man thinks about it for a second and then says, ‘Okay,

why not?’

‘You’re a new Member of Parliament for the Canadian Government’,

says the cowboy.

‘Wow! That’s correct,’ says the yuppie, ‘but how did you guess
that?’

‘No guessing was required.’ answered the cowboy. ‘You showed up
here even though nobody called you, probably on some expense account; you
want to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never
asked. You tried to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you
don’t know a thing about cows…this is a herd of sheep.   Now give me
back my dog.’