Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Employ your time in improving yourself by other men’s writing so that you shall come easily by what others have laboured hard for."
—Socrates

The Girl Effect

Oprah would like to suggest that we consider giving a tiny bit of money to the TheGirlEffect.org this holiday season.

To find out what it's all about, watch this beautifully-crafted 2-minute video with no audio except haunting piano. No visuals except haunting words. No alternative except to stand up and listen.

Coming from Oprah, one does stand up and listen — after all, she's one of those girls that affects a nation.



• Watch The Girl Effect Video on Oprah.com
• What The Girl Effect video on YouTube
• TheGirlEffect.org
• Global Giving to The Girl Effect
• Oprah's "For All Women" Registry

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

If you think about it, the most important moments in your life — were you alone? Life’s better with company."
— George Clooney (as Ryan Bingham) from the movie Up in the Air

Wednesday's Word of Wisdom

When people show you who they are, believe them the first time."
—Maya Angelou

I can think of several times in my life when these words would have been useful.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
— Abraham Lincoln

So, get to it and start having fun! As I say to myself every morning, "Attack the day!". My niece now says it to me before I get a chance.

A friend wins Silver Wave Award for music composition

I'm proud to announce that Ralf Cassidy Bindels (Composer for GroovingFarm Audio Productions) has won Excellence in Music Composition at this year’s Silver Wave Film Festival for the film A Dark Radius.

The award-winning action short film directed by Gia Milani and produced by Tony Whalen is based on human trafficking and will be broadcasted on CBC in early 2010.

• Silver Wave Film Festival
• A sampling of the award-winning Soundtrack
• GroovingFarm Audio Productions
• IMDB's profile of the movie A Dark Radius

Congratulations, Ralf!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom — from a 3.5-yr-old

I asked my 3.5-year-old niece if she had any life advice for me. She answered without hesitation...

Just do your best and don't dig in your bum. And that's it."
— Ella

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

And then one day you find 10 years have got behind you.
No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun."
— Pink Floyd

Interestingly, we all allow the first 10 years and the second 10 years and the third 10 years of our lives to pass without a worry of getting older. It's not until our 4th set of 10 years that we take notice. Even with words of wisdom from bands as pervasive and all-reaching as Pink Floyd, we still miss the message. Some knowledge can't be passed down, it has to be experienced to be fully understood. It's precisely our 40 years of experience that allows us to take note and understand it. I think we should celebrate reaching that level of wisdom rather than fear it. Use the knowledge we've accumulated to fine-tune our path and approach living with new vigor.

Alma Mater #1 again!

Mount Allison University has again been named the top undergraduate school in Canada by Maclean’s magazine in its 19th annual University Rankings Issue. The university has achieved this ranking a record 13 times in the past 19 years and has never placed lower than second. No other university has led its category so many times.

• Mount Allison University 

• MacLean's Magazine 

Note to self

Don't go for a pre-dawn walk on a wet day. You can't see well enough to avoid stepping on the earthworms. (They're just trying to go for a pre-dawn walk (slither), too!)

Sound Over Season

I have noticed that the same sound —for example, a train dopplering in the distance— has a different quality depending on the season. Am I imagining it or is this possible?

Something bugging me today

Noticed a few red dots on my face this morning. I heard about a recent outbreak of bed bugs in the news so I thought I'd check my pillow... here's what I found.



The hazards of living with a cheeky 3.5-year-old who has access to large plastic bugs.

Now that I look more closely, those are coffee dots on my face. Must reduce intake.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

A branding program should be designed to differentiate your cow from all the other cattle on the range. Even if all the cattle on the range look pretty much alike."
— Al Ries

Grading on a Curve

Stittsville, Ontario has its charm. I'm still doing my research but I was impressed to see the Town's construction of this curved sidewalk to accommodate a huge maple tree. Perhaps someone thought it was beautiful. Or, perhaps there is a bylaw in place that's friendly to greenery. Whatever the case, this sidewalk gets high marks from me.

Like a thief reason sneaked in and sat amongst the lovers eager to give them advice. They were unwilling to listen, so reason kissed their feet and went on its way."
— Jelaluddin Rumi, Sufi poet

Straight from the horse's mouth

Guess what this picture is of?


Horse teeth! They're a bizarre shape.

Here's the shot zoomed out for context:

Texting a message to the world, outside of Cell range

Last Fall I was fortunate to be selected as a Visiting Artist at the Eco-Arts Festival at Cape Jourimain Nature Centre.

The Centre is located in a 675-hectare National Wildlife Area and celebrates the link between natural and human environments. So it’s no surprise that they hold an annual festival that marries art and nature.



Beached
I planned on numerous artworks all based on the use of the naturally-occurring wrack line of dried eelgrass. As the tide continually reshapes the shore, my intention was to continually reshape the eelgrass during the course of the festival. A rake would be my paintbrush, the seaweed would be my paint, and the beach would be my canvas.

On day two, I created this artwork: a fish that is sneaking up and about to swallow me! The natural line of the eelgrass became the waterline of the Northumberland Straight. With me swimming along the waterline, half above water and half below, the fish comes up behind me for a chomp.

The GREAT thing was that some tourists really got engaged and took turns photographing each other getting chomped!

Peye in the Sky Idea
The Observation Tower’s vantage point gave me a pie (or eye) in the sky idea.

Could these artworks be visible from the satellites used by Google? Their big eye in the sky is a technology whose omnipresence is being exploited for marketing purposes the world over. So, I attempted to write CapeJourimain.ca large enough to be captured by Google Earth. This URL not only names the land but identifies it as Canadian (.ca) and lets people know where to go to find out more information about it. I put a bird, an eel and a snail around the web address to indicate that it's an area rich with wildlife spanning earth, air and water habitats.



The web address ended up being about 96 feet long and 12 feet tall. To give you an idea of size, I've included a photo with people in it.



During the festival, visitors were really enthusiastic. We talked about seeing art as it was being created as opposed to seeing the finished work in a gallery and about what the real meaning of a studio is. In this case, I got to work in the world's largest studio. No walls, no barriers to creativity. And, no barriers to entry.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

The successful person makes a habit of doing what the
failing person doesn't like to do."
— Thomas Edison

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

One cannot too soon forget his errors and misdemeanors.
To dwell long upon them is to add to the offense."
— Henry David Thoreau

Shelob of Sackville

Enjoyed the positioning of this spider and car and couldn't resist trying to capture it.