Giorgio Armani Should Visit Vancouver

In my town, polar fleece is considered a fashion statement (although I’m shifting to natural fabrics personally, both wool and organic cotton.)

Armani says italy is ‘too slovenly’
Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, June 24, 2008

ROME — Giorgio Armani, the godfather of Italian style, has excoriated his home country for slipping into “slovenliness.” As he unveiled a collection of trim blazers and sharply cut suits in Milan, Armani said Italians had let themselves go. “It is time to straighten ourselves out, we are too slovenly,”

Best. News. Ever.

A Special Moment in History - The Atlantic Monthly

In May of 1998 the Atlantic Monthy print an article called A Special Moment in History

It beings with a caution to:

BEWARE of people preaching that we live in special times. People have preached that message before, and those who listened sold their furniture and climbed up on rooftops to await ascension

and then goes on:

And yet, for all that, we may live in a special time.

The rest of the article goes on to make several points with society, in general, has yet to fully aware of. The article’s well worth reading, and should lead to some careful reflection on the values of our world.

“…William Catton, who was a sociologist at Washington State University before his retirement, once tried to calculate the amount of energy human beings use each day. In hunter-gatherer times is was about 2,500 calories, all of it food. That is the daily energy intake of a common dolphin. A modern human being uses 31,000 calories a day, most of it in the form of fossil fuel. That is the intake of a pilot whale. And the average American uses six times that—as much as a sperm whale.”

The emphasis is mine.

This is closely followed by another good point, particularly salient to my life.

“…Some scientists in Vancouver tried to calculate one such ‘footprint’ and found that although 1.7 million people lived on a million acres surrounding their city, those people required 21.5 million acres of land to support them—wheat fields in Alberta, oil fields in Saudi Arabia, tomato fields in California. People in Manhattan are as dependent on faraway resources as people on the Mir space station.”

Galactica Season 4

Galactica Season Four has just ended and it was far far better than Season Three which, in my opinion got wrapped up in its own sense of self-importance with an obvious Iraq war allegory.

The finale was excellent, although the second to last episode was better (and written by Jane Espenson.) By far, my favourite moment came towards the end when the crew lands on Earth, and Adama reaches down to pick up a handful of sand.

I have seen the future salvation of humanity, my friends, and it comes on a wet, foggy beach in Vancouver.

Season Five in 2009 seems to be promising, with ten episodes to come.

Play It Again, Sam

…or not, as the case may be.

Sam Sullivan is out as the NPA candidate for Mayor of Vancouver, leaving him in office as a lame duck until November. Effectively, Peter Ladner is the mayor starting today.

Don’t believe me? Vancouver’s electoral system is not like those of most Canadian cities. There are no wards: all councillors are elected on a city wide basis, as is the Mayor. This makes the Mayor’s chair one of first among equals: every chair in that room has the same mandate. With Sam not running in the next election, he’s the worst kind of lame duck at the moment.

I’ve never been a fan of Sam, but I’m not convinced that Ladner’s going to be a huge improvement. He’s been lackluster as a councillor, and I see no reason to think this will change.

This city needs leadership from it’s Mayor, and that will only come with an overhaul of the structure of the city’s government. The appetite for that, unfortunately, appears to be a long time coming.

Fastest Boat in the Race

Blueback was the first boat home on Sunday, although Saturday’s lack of wind left us flailing. It did, however, give us a chance to put out our asymmetrical sail.

CBC Meteorologist Claire Martin’s First Appearance

2:36 seconds into the video, the girl wearing the number 32 with her sleeves rolled up.

When You Need Something Done in a Pinch…

you can always count on a penguin.

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