Is 2012 the year to burn?

Last summer my cousin went to Burning Man. He had a great time and when he showed me his pictures, I could see why. Here is a video, some of which was shot in the "camp" where my cuz was staying, makes me feel warm and fuzzy, maybe it's partly due to the fact that they are in a desert and I am in sub zero rainforest. I don't know what I thought burning man was, but never before had I wanted to be part of it. My cousin showed me that, for all the drugs, nudity and techno music, there is equal parts art, diversity and in a way that seems harder and harder to find, culture. In short I have started thinking about it and in doing so, realized how much homework there is to be done in order to attend. I am doing some homework. This is a good place to start.

Terrariums for xmas?

Last xmas my cousin and I made some terrariums for xmas presents. Here's the next level.

The Beauty of polination

Just saw a great video/Ted talk about pollination check it out. Reminds me of microcosmos, which I have just ordered from the library :)

Seduce Me

Isabella Rosellini's latest films, the spawn of her first series "Green Porno" are amazing! Called "Seduce Me" They are short films about the mating rituals of animals/fish/birds etc all done with artistry and hilarity. They are also locally relevant. There are deer, salmon, ducks, snakes and even bedbugs! check it out.

Hoop Dreams

It's been a while since I've added anything. This is partly because I haven't had the internet, and partly because it's summer. However, now there is something to get excited about. Hula Hooping. Beyonce does it, and now, thanks to a friend I am doing it. Bobbi Lee Chatelaine has started a free hula-hooping class in Queen Charlotte City. The class meets Wednesday evenings on the lawn of the Living and Learning School. She has made a selection of beautiful hoops to share with those who show up.

These hoops are specially designed for adults, so even though those run of the mill light plastic kids hoops could never hold my attention, these do. This is hooping for grown ups, it's actually reminiscent of belly dancing. Along with being a larger and slightly heavier type of tubing, they are also colourful, sparkly and even glow in the dark. Beauty and functionality, who could ask for more?

Bobbi-Lee’s first class focused on making hoops, then at the second meeting of the class on August 24^th Bobbi Lee wowed participants, teaching the group the basics of hula-hooping as well as a series of simple beginner tricks to keep the repertoire fresh and interesting.

Bobbi Lee’s interest in hooping started when she went to her first lesson in Alberta and discovered her mentor. Inspired, she returned to Ontario and immediately started making her own hoops and teaching lessons in Peterborough. She had hoped to continue teaching hooping when she moved to Haida Gwaii and now, two years later, the interest is there and the timing is right.

Bobbi Lee plans to keep up with her free classes throughout the Fall, offering a fun way to keep fit and have fun on Wednesday nights from 5pm-7pm at the Living and Learning School, 220 Bay street, just down the road from the library rain or shine. When the weather gets bad she may relocate to the Queen Charlotte Secondary gym if people are interested. She is also selling custom made hoops for $25 each for those who want to practice at home.I got one, it's purple and yellow and white and glow in the dark and I love it!

Masa's North Beach Video Blog

We're famous!

Well not really, but nice to be mentioned in our friend Masa's video blog from radx .ca

Masa has been building a cabin on North beach and documenting his adventures weekly on his video blog. He is a really interesting guy and the blog is an intruing lens into the Haida Gwaii world.

The Native American Church

I have just started doing some research into the Native American Church. An artist here on island is doing some beautiful bead work, including bracelets, baskets, earrings, and fans that are based in this tradition, which I know little about. So far I am having no luck finding anything from the library about it, but have found a couple of wikipedia articles, one on the NAC and one about "hair drops" which are basically beaded buffalo tails!!!

Book mobiles, WOW bus and Reading Rockets

When I was a child Vancouver had a Book Bus. It was wonderful. I came in the evening once a week or so and allowed me and my brothers to be proactive about literacy. The librarian paid attention to our interests and would bring us books that suited them.

I have been doing a little research about the existence of such busses and am relieved to see that in some places they still exist!

Places like Peace River North A.K.A. District 60, which also has a great website listing all the different projects they are offering. and District 59 has one too, as does district 69. Coquitlam has a beautiful one. All this makes me wonder if Haida Gwaii would have a WOW bus of it's own. Why not?

Not only that, now I am seeing pictures of really fashionable busses! Cool ones like the award winning sweedish beauty pictured above. At the very top is an image of a revamped airstream called "projet mobilivre" from montreal, which specializes in zines, I have actually been on it once when it visited Vancouver. I was thinking cutesy 0-5 kid friendly, but hey, cool buses could work too. Depends on the budget/librarian I suppose. The point is to get books into the hands of kids, and to get kids into books. Though creating an appealing environment seems like a no-brainer. This space can also offer puppet shows, reading circles, and perhaps just a safe place for kids in rural areas to come and hang out with books? Could be good.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia!

Did you know that chia, in addition to it's ability to give fur to ceramic animals is also a wonderful food!?

On a whim, we ordered 5 lbs of it, and then needed to figure out how to cook with it.

Our biggest success thus far is chia pudding. Chia seeds have tons of fiber, calcium, omega 3's, they are 20% protein, and also have lots of essential minerals. This recipe is also vegan and raw, great for those hard to please potluck throwers.

2 ripe bananas mashed
1 can coconut milk
6 Tablespoons chia seeds
sprinkle of salt
sprinkle of cinnamon
drizzle of maple syrup
shredded coconut adds nice texture if you have it.

blend together with whizzer, blender, food processor or patient fork, leave for a little while to allow the chia seeds to acclimatize (they start to resemble tiny tapioca). I find it tastes best when left over night. decorate with banana slices if you have them. Delicious and nutritious. You can also watch the you tube video that inspired my new favorite food.

Also, just in case you need to see that chia pet video again, here it is. Here is a link to info about chia and 10 recipes (though I haven't tried them yet).

Inuit Modern

This summer I will be helping to run Ben Davidson's Art gallery in Skidegate.
Needless to say, I am a little nervous. I have a lot to learn.
Just spoke with my good friend Niall McClelland who is turning into a bit of an Art star out Toronto way, and he mentioned a great art show he saw recently at the AGO entitled Inuit modern which juxtaposes the work of Inuit artist Annie Pootoogook who does contemporary pencil crayon drawings of daily life with that of Shary Boyle, who has done work in porcelain, after training for years with dedicated grandmas, and who also paints, draws etc etc etc. Eeenteresting!
Inuit Art seems to be really going places. Check out this site.

Check out this article about the show.

Thelonium Monk's Advice

How to be happy in Business

Rites of Passage

"If the young men are not initiated into the Village, they will burn it down – just to feel it's warmth"

This is a quote I heard today on CBC's The current. It was voiced by David Hatfield. The program was about the risk taking behaviours of young men. I feel it could apply to all children, but does seem to be of highest importance for young men. I also found it on the Origins Blog.

Roy Henry Vickers

I have started doing some research for All About U Arts, and am looking to find examples of other high end art galleries that are owned and operated by the artists themselves. Henry Roy Vickers' gallery in Tofino is a landmark, and his career as an artist and speaker is an inspiration. Check out his website.

Todd Golumbia

Yesterday a friend recommended that I find out about Todd Golumbia, and his work with Deer on Vancouver Island. Above is a picture of Todd with a lovely Black Oystercatcher chick, seems he has worked with them as well. Here is an article by the Vancouver Sun that describes his work on fallow deer deer culls and their mobile meat processor. Interestingly enough they appear to be utilizing a squeeze chute and are very concerned about the humane treatment of the animals. I think that Temple would approve. The meat they produce is sold to high end restaurants in Victoria and the antlers and hides are used by local first Nations. Sounds like a good deal to me.

My latest Hero

Last night I watched the movie "Temple Grandin" starring Clair Danes of My so Called Life fame. It was one of the most inspiring movies I have seen in a long time.

I have been learning about Temple Grandin for years, in Psychology classes, and from friends who work with Animals and can attest to her wisdom. I have listened to her books and today watched her speak for the first time on Ted. I think she is one of the greatest and most important thinkers of our time. In her talk she emphasizes the need for hands on learning. I couldn't agree more that this is one of the best ways of addressing the many different kinds of minds that exist in our schools today. There is also a BBC documentary about her that is broken into 5 parts on youtube and is really interesting. Here is a link to part 1.

Salt

I am starting to learn about salt. I have an audiobook entitled "salt a world history" that I got from the library and just got this link to a great website that clarifies the different harvesting techniques for various kinds of salt. Seems like there is a good potential for people here on Haida Gwaii to produce their own sea salt, and this is one product idea we have been toying with at the HGCC. I am bouyed by the fact that they are alredy producing salt on Vancouver Island at Vancouver Island Salt co.

Book Bus

I also want to start a book bus. They have one in coquitlam...More on this later. Here's one that started in Tampa Bay Florida, Bess the Book Bus.

Bike School

At the moment I am house sitting for a couple who own a high performance bike shop called cycletherapy in Queen Charlotte City, Haida Gwaii. Part of this house sit means working at their store. I love bikes and have derived great distances, excercise and joy, especially from bikes that fit me and worked well. Being here in the store has made me think about the times when I have fixed me own bike and the satisfaction and empowerment that came from those experiences.

The people I am house sitting for will be moving off the island in the next year or so, leaving a hole where parts, repairs and skookum gear are concerned.

The other night at a party I started talking about this impending void with a group of teachers, there happened to be representatives from elementary, highschool and alternative school present. We discussed the possibilities of incorporating bike maintenace and bike riding into curricula. All were excited.

In highschool I took a class in car mechanics, learning how to change brake pads, oil etc. Only this year (10 years later) did I actually end up owning a car though (thanks dad!) and sadly most of that knowledge has been lost to the ether. I have, however owned many bicycles, which have needed many repairs. Thanks to Our Commuinity Bikes, and the Bike Kitchen in UBC I have been able to at least assist in many of these repairs. These places make bike repair approachable and practical by supplying you with all the parts, tools and assistance you need. Sadly, Here in small town Haida Gwaii there is simply not the volume to support something like this, however the idea of a bike club, which could evolve into a bike class seems totally feasible. It has been tried in Montreal as a way of keeping at risk kids from dropping out of school. I feel it would also be a great way of promoting physical education (the kind you don't need a team for, even better) and reduced carbon emmisions. Yet another tangent for me to send myself on.

I am just starting to read Zinn & the art of Road Bike Maintenance which was reccomended to me by one of the teachers at that party. We happened to have it at the bike store, It includes tons of illustrations and great instructions. Hopefully it can help me start a bike school. I have been in touch with the Haida Gwaii Semester Abroad program, which is run through UBC to see if any fot their spring students feel like taking this on as a student project. Time will tell.

Five Left

My friend Lincoln (yes he is American) is a pretty amazing guy. I met him while working with his wife Alison at Edie Hats. One Lincoln is so great is his talents with leather. Years ago my brother asked if he would make a bag like Lincoln's own, a rough, old-school, lunch box shaped wonder of brown leather. It was the manliest book bag imaginable. Lincoln made him one and after that, kept churning out more and more beautiful bags for men and women, and some wallets, and card holders, and bracelets, and myriad other wonders. He started a company called five left. Now my brother is the one working for Lincoln, usually at local craft fairs and a couple weeks back at the Eastside Culture Crawl. Check out his website , blog the article about him in the sun and on this fashion blog. Both Lincoln and Alison graduated from Emily Carr and I have been impressed and inspired with how they have both managed to make art a part of their lives (she is a part time high school art teacher and mother of 2).

Maybe I can get him to make bags out of Haida Gwaii deerskins?

Deer Hunters are "the ultimate localvores"

New article this week in the washington post about deer hunting and urbanites who like to hunt. Also, on CBC a story about an urbanite who goes on a hunting adventure, listen here.

LOHAS

Just found out about an interesting marketing demographic courtesy of a group of German marketing students who did some research for the Haida Gwaii Culinary Co-operative this week. LOHAS or Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability make up about 2/3 of the German market! I wonder how many Canadians would be considered LOHAS? How about that? Better than just calling them hippies right? I was just discussing the other day with someone how we needed to develop more words so that we aren't just constantly referring to the 70's. Thank you Germans!

The Living and Learning School

This week my friend moved up from Vancouver to work at the Living and Learning School! The most inexpensive alternative school in BC. I am so happy to have her here, as are the children, parents and fellow teacher and principal! This is an amazing school. The picture above is of a deer carcass that washed up on the beach in front of the school last week. The reaction to it was to cut off it's head and put it in a crab trap (courtesy of one of the dad's at the school) which would serve to strip the skull in a few days. One child in kindergarten wrote in her journal "my teacher is the best, she gets us deer bones". The kids also wrote about the deer bones on their blog.

I love this place.

Uncle John

My uncle John McBride who passed away on October 25th after battling pancreatic cancer. He and my Auntie Val are my golden tickets. They got me up to Haida Gwaii and some of the most rewarding times of my life. He has taught me a lot about living, even when dying.

Here is another post on the SFU center for sustainable Community Development where he completed his Masters.

Another one of his friends Geoff Meggs wrote this post on his blog and his friend and co-worker Ray Gerow put together a wonderful remembrance on the National Network of Urban Aboriginal Economic Development site.

Yet another remembrance is this article dedicated to Uncle John and his prowess with all types of games.

I miss you uncle John, your hearty laugh, your delicious food, your wise words, but I carry them all with me, you are an inspiration.

My Market

I have spent months telling people about how there is a market among urban foodies for venison, and for the adventure of catching them. This week I was validated by an article in the Globe and Mail, passed along to me by a friend which is written by one such foodie. Thanks Micheal!

Check out the article, and related ones here.

Wearable Art

jakalopes and wild things.

Wild Wear

Haida Gwaii Culinary Cooperative interview on CBC

Recently Kiku from the HGCC was interviewed on All Points West. click here to listen, or download the podcast.

Stoic Joy

I recently listened to a podcast from CBC ideas called "a guide to the good life - the ancient art of stoic joy" and greatly enjoyed it. Here is a link to the book of the same name by author William Irvine who is interviewed on the show. You can read it online.

Niall is a big deal

My Friend Niall is in the Canadian Art Foundations online art auction. Check his piece out here. Check out his blog here. I just mailed him a box of skulls and bones including a beaer skull with a broken tooth, his request. What a guy, who else gets excited about a package like that?

John Ralston Saul punched me in the chest

I am reading a wonderful book. It is giving me a new framework with which to think about canadian politics, and in particular, our "interculturalisme" or the circle of diversity which makes Canada, and our way of existing different from other places. Saul makes many thoughtful and persuasive arguments towards the adoption of his view of history, and a new way of conceptualizing ourselves.

I hold this author and in particular, his oinions in high regard which is why, last night as I read this passage, it felt like a punch in the chest.

"The desire of many in the established middle classes to withdraw their children from the public school system is deeply irresponsible. To do so is a failure of citizenship; an unwillingness to take the time to help right whatever is wrong in the system; a failure to consciously accept that Canada works because of the mixes created in those schools. If the elite desert them, they betray their country."

pg. 149
A Fair Country
by: John Ralston Saul

He then goes on to blame past governments for the debilitating cuts to education funding that have happened over the past decade, but even so, as a teacher I feel that Saul is throwing down a gauntlet for me.

I have been dubious about entering into the public school system again, and don't totally agree with this sweeping statement, as I feel that for many people close to me, even just a few years of homeschooling and/or attending alternative schools has resulted in a sea change for them. Fortunately I am no longer a student, and thus MAY be in a position to embetter this system, in some small way. I am reminded of the words of Mahatma Gandhi that I "must be the change I wish to see in the world". I will try John. For you, and your wise words, I will try.