It will likely be very difficult for me to post consistently for the next 2 weeks because of my preparations for the Energetic Olympics booth at the UBCM Conference in Vancouver next week. I have been venturing into the world of graphic design for our material (banner, brochures, posters, alouette) and it has been very pleasant and rewarding when you see the final product. I will post the material once it's completed but for now, a little teaser (done by the wonderful Facundo Gastiazoro)...
A rock star forgets the city he's in. A city boy never looks up at the stars. A laid-off machinist sits alone at the end of the bar. A child lies in its broken bed. A cyclist runs on altruism. A plumber connects pipes to his freedom. An introvert writes with a handful of exclamation marks. A wheat farmer never looks down from the sky scrapers. A G.I. stands idle, facing verbal bombshells. A proud mother never stops bragging at the hair salon. A quarterback can't decide to throw or to run. A skeptic waltzes with the most optimistic. A writer wears everyone's shoes but his.
In one of my rare moments of watching TV, I caught a part of The Hour where the guest was Frank Warren, creator of the largest advertisement-free blog on the web: PostSecret. It is an incredible story of a man who opens himself up (he gave his home address on the cover of his latest book of postcards) and, in turn, receives about 1,000 postcards per week. Each one is from anonymous people who want to share a secret with a complete stranger.
An update is slightly overdue and the only reason is that, for the first time in my professional career, I am working long hours. Another first has been the enjoyment of working so much because of a high sense of ownership over the work. One Sky's 6th annual goods and services auction is coming up this Saturday, September 15th, and it has taken up a lot of my time during work hours in order to collect donations from local businesses and individuals. We've also decided to go with a theme this year and so the event is called GO FISH! and includes the following jam-packed night: kids activities, a free magic show, a salmon BBQ, a live and silent auction, performances from the Local Vocals choir, the bellydancers group and our headliner, Yael Wand.
Along with GO FISH!, I have had to juggle the organisation of the Energetic Olympics, my project challenging 22 B.C. communities to reduce their energy footprint. It has been a multi-faceted endeavour ranging from finding a seamstress to make a polar bear costume (for our mascot Scuba, sporting a life-jacket) to creating "Energy Report Cards" for these communities and researching success stories in the developing world.
One Sky has a booth for the Energetic Olympics at the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) Conference in Vancouver at the end of the month and I am creating the display as well as the overall concept of the booth. It might be very obvious for me to say but I've realized that with greater responsibility often comes a greater sense of ownership over the project and therefore, a heightened sense of motivation. This is what I have experienced at One Sky more than any other previous job (no offense to ATIP, I swear!).
In other news, Mali is coming up very soon and I feel like I am about to blink and find myself over the Atlantic, wondering how I got here so quickly as well as why the attendant is taking so long to bring me my microwaved lasagna.
One last thing, I came across a couple of interesting articles today that I wanted to share:
Morning bright stars stare back into blank faces. Glowing minds and eyes daydream of a logical paradise. Social capital is the new human(e) currency; savoir-vivre the new market. Efforts relentless to build bridges between perspectives. I see a suit with a silver lining but no pockets for wrinkled dry-cleaning receipts. Acrylic on hope is the medium, very avant-garde. An elder stands tall amongst slouching pin-stripes. An opportunity arises from a gasefied curse. Defeat was never on the license application; sympathy was written between the lines. The mechanics of the human spirit need no oil.
(Photo courtesy of Jahiah) *************************
Seven Generations
Footprints turn to dust A foreign place A foreign time A feigned disgrace In a hereditary line Seven generations A proverbial light An ancestral right For life as a reason To live To give To share tall tales From Tahltans To live To receive Gifts of black feathers And eternal flames There is no word for blame... Footprints upset the earth They are stories Of no worth Of no glory
Footprints and tire tracks Meet us where we're at.
Yes, I know... The term is grossly over-used when it applies most accurately with Julie, one of the interns at One Sky. At first I was debating whether I should post this link simply because no one will want to look at my pictures (compared to hers). Capturing moments is an art form and she is the closest, in my opinion, to mastering it. But what do i know...
Note: This set of pictures posted below is just the tip of the iceberg, especially the first one below which I thought was necessary to put due to its excessive ingenuity.
There are many ways to approach this topic. One can write from the perspective of the first nation people fighting for the survival of their land and way of life. Another can write about it from behind a solid oak desk on the 72nd floor of Shell Canada's headquarters in Calgary. Another can write it strictly from an environmental and conservation perspective. The list goes on...
I'm writing about this the only way I can, from the perspective of a global citizen concerned about sustainable livelihoods. First, let's look at what it is I'm so vaguely talking about.
First,
Second, here's a bit more background.
In 2004, the B.C. Government awarded mineral rights to Shell Canada Ltd. for the Klappan methane reserve, estimated at eight trillion cubic feet. Shell's proposed development occurs among the small tributaries that give rise to the great salmon systems of the Nass, Stikine, and Skeena rivers, a place in the Klappan Valley the Tahltan people call the "Sacred Headwaters"
Shell's plans threaten to transform wilderness into an industrial landscape. Shannon MacPhail, a fourth-generation Kispiox Valley resident and spokeswoman for the coalition of citizens concerned about coal-bed methane, says "They're planning to drill a thousand-plus wells; it would totally industrialize the landscape and there would be 30 or 40 technical jobs for non-locals. It doesn't make any sense no matter how you look at it from an environmental, social, or community perspective. Nobody benefits but the company" (Source: Andrew Findlay, 2007).
Friday I attended a rally to support the blockaders in Iskut that you saw in the video. There was a court decision that day that basically declared they wouldn't be going to prison for "disrupting the peace". It was so inspiring to hear these Tahltan elders speak about their fight against Shell and I have to admit that some parts gave me real chills.
The purpose of this entry isn't to talk about how this rally made me feel, it's about how this cause makes you feel. I urge everyone who reads this to take just 5 minutes to visit the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition and if you're a "facebooker", to join the group.
Whatever lens you're employing, it shouldn't matter because this is a global issue and whether you want to believe it or not, you'll be as affected by this as will any bear, salmon or Tahltan.
