“Borrowed Light”

Samuel’s sculpture “Borrowed Light” (with shadows, including my own)

Samuel Houston, welder

Our son Samuel focused on the prism-effect and shadows for this sculpture and he calls it “Borrowed Light” — a phrase that my father used to use to describe a room that doesn’t have light of its own but needs to gather it from an interior window. So much of who I am is because of the things my dad taught me.

Music, science, space, Canada, social media…. what more can I say

For his last downlink before returning to Earth, CSA Astronaut Chris Hadfield performed I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing) with hundreds of students at the Ontario Science Centre and nearly a million people, mostly students from coast-to-coast Canada and around the world, performing the song in unison from their location.

I.S.S. is a song co-written by Hadfield and the Barenaked Ladies’ front man Ed Robertson.

Chris Hadfield just seems to represent everything that *can* be right about humanity. The only thing to say is “thank you!”

Here are the lyrics:
http://www.leafpress.ca/Mondays_Poems_2013/Chris_Hadfield/Is-Somebody-Singing.htm

And a link to more info:
http://music.cbc.ca/#/Space/blogs/2013/2/Ed-Robertson-takes-us-behind-the-writing-of-ISS-Is-Somebody-Singing

Productivity Decoupled from Employment

Erik Brynjolfsson’s TED talk “Race with the Machines” has a powerful idea. Due to technological advances, human work has become decoupled from wealth and our productivity decoupled from employment. In turn this leads to an ineffectiveness of traditional ways of measuring the economy — especially as a way of viewing innovation.

http://www.ted.com/talks/erik_brynjolfsson_the_key_to_growth_race_em_with_em_the_machines.html

Lots to think about here. Another “distribution problem”? His point related to the industrial revolution is especially fascinating…. it took about thirty years (e.g. all the managers had to retire) for factory procedures to change when electricity was introduced. While the managers were in place, the factories ran as they had done with steam power – not taking advantage of what the new power source had to offer. The same 30-year cycle appears to be necessary to make best use of computers.

Are MOOCs an example? I certainly understand the arguments that MOOCs are incomplete. But couldn’t MOOCs be a valuable part of a new model, that includes teachers in a somewhat “guide on the side” role with the MOOC content being the central organizer. A different post-secondary economy would be required but maybe the new managers will see it that way — looking more at learning and less at the notion of formal education. Those who really hate MOOCs, often pointing to high dropout rates, lack of support and variable quality, seem to me to be missing the potential of MOOCs (or similar environments) to assist learning. Should we get rid of books since, after all, a person might start to read one, not like it and decide to move on to something else?

Update on May 6 – Bonnie Stewart’s interesting blog post!
http://www.insidehighered.com/blogs/university-venus/not-hand
“….MOOCs started, in a sense, as a recognition that the credentialing equation was hollow…“

Beacon Hill this Morning

Up early and took some lovely shots with the little old iPhone. Always amazed at the freedom provided by a digital camera.

Beacon Hill early morning

 

 

Beacon Hill camus in bloom

Beacon Hill soft colors

Beacon Hill altered photo

Deryk at Beacon Hill

Chasing Rainbows

Chasing Rainbows

Still chasing rainbows

Caught one!

Deryk Houston’s Art Exhibition 2013

Point no Point Logs

Deryk’s current art exhibition includes some amazing work and we’re looking forward to the opening reception tomorrow night (6pm – April 4, 2013) at the Eclectic Gallery on Oak Bay Avenue.

http://victoriaartgateway.derykhouston.com/?p=267

These paintings include some of our favourite places like Point no Point, Garibaldi, Peggy’s Cove and Saanich fields – all shown through his imaginative eyes. The exhibition also depicts some of his most personal memories, such as a brilliant flower-filled room that takes him back to his mother and his childhood or the feeling of staring down into a pool of swirling fish.

Peggy’s Cove

Shadows Under The Surface

Eco Workshop

(this piece is called “The Heart is Everywhere”)

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Join me for an “Eco Workshop” – I’m giving a Glass-on-glass mosaic demo
Monday April 29 7 – 8:30 p.m. $18
Register April 2 at Monterey Rec Centre. http://oakbay.ca/parks-recreation/facilities-rentals/recreation-centres/monterey-recreation-centre

More info about my process is here:
http://glass-on-glass.ning.com

Elizabeth at Point no Point

Deryk’s new painting.

I love how he has captured the way the indoors and the outdoors can sometimes blend into one and I also love how he has shown how comfy it can be on a crisp winter day to sit near the fire and read.

See his website:
http://www.derykhouston.com

Cuba

Deryk at the Beach in Varadero Cuba

Hopefully these pictures speak for themselves…. The trip to Cuba was amazing and we loved it. So much to learn and it is really hard after just 10 days to say whether we have anything close to a true understanding of what life is really like for these wonderful people.

Natural beauty. Beaches, jungles, amazing weather! We walked for hours each day.

Architectural beauty… some restored but much in ruins with encouraging signs of many sites being made ready for restoration. And yet the project seems insurmountable. Since coming home I read that three buildings per day collapse in Havana. From what we saw, I believe this to be true.

Everyone was friendly and we always felt safe even though we were often in very impoverished areas. It seems to be a completely drug-free culture and even the easy flow of rum and beer didn’t seem to lead to anything very problematic. Just music and dance.

We didn’t buy as many cigars as the street folks would have liked… but we escaped some of those situations with everyone’s good humour still intact.

Below are some pictures, in no particular order:

Monumento Jose Marti, Havana Cuba

Karl Marx Theatre in Havana

Architecture in Havana covers a range of eras. When older buildings have been maintained or restored, they are magnificent.

Looking at the door of our casa in Havana Vieja

Looking out our door in the casa in Havana Vieja

I loved the water!

The horse and carriage is still a common form of transportation in Cuba – not just a tourist thing it seems

Old architecture in Varadero

They gave me a flower after our first dinner in Varadero

red car in Varadero Cuba

tobacco man havana

Deryk near our casa Havana Vieja

Malecon Havana

Red Car on the Malecon Havana

Old cars parked Havana Cuba

gorgeous beach at Varadero

jungle vegetation in Varadero

old mercedes – best cab ride ever!

I *do* love my fresh coconut water!

coconut kiss

I swear I didn’t inhale!

Backyard smoke break in Varadero. Lots of cigar scams on the Cuban streets

Deryk and the Cuban flag

caring for an old car in old Havana

reno about to start

looking up at museo de la revolucion

museo de la revolution was pretty interesting and very grisly. Lots of bullet holes in the walls, bloodstained shirts of freedom fighters etc. We spent hours and learned a lot about what is cherished here

Two cool cars, two contrasting buildings

Restored building beside ruin

Restored building beside a ruin

old cars Havana

art from old piano Havana Cuba

scary wiring

building in decay Havana

building in decay Havana

Bird and dog on the roof of a decayed building. People live in some very unstable places

Havana Vieja jester

lots of stray animals

cafe and postcard

Havana Vieja architecture

Amazing coordination

Later, this guy picked up a child from the audience and danced with her on his shoulder.

Street dancing!

Square miles of decayed buildings are dotted with beautifully restored areas, generally this is where the tourists spend their time and money (by the way, I never saw as many Canadian dollars as I did in a Cuban bank.)

So much work to do

amazing restoration

I have a theory about jump rope. In North America it’s usually a girl’s game – especially the style where two people turn the rope and one or more jump inside. I think it teaches collaboration and perhaps that’s why it’s also a boy’s game in Cuba. Just sayin’

how would you start to renovate this?

coco cab Havana

Old cars on Malecon Havana. In Varadero we thought perhaps the old cars were just for the tourists. We changed our mind when we saw Havana!

Elizabeth at church on Malecon Havana

Street culture was tons of fun.

Repair in progress – there are so many projects that need to be done. Some seem like they are well under way and others look like they may never get started.

Favourite quote: “Cuba doesn’t have the technology to make a bad beer”

people live with disrepair

repair and disrepair

Classic View of Havana Harbour

We saw many stray cats and dogs.

Small carts were everywhere. The fruit was delicious.

The schools were in about the same state of repair as the housing. Kids know Manchester United though….

The iconic image of Che Guevara was everywhere! In Cuba we learned that the photographer, Korda, is highly respected for the impact of his work on the world’s view of the revolution.

Right across from the Jose Marti monument (big tourist attraction) was an 8 or 10 lane highway, so empty even in mid-day that it was easy to jaywalk. There just aren’t many cars on the road in Cuba.

Sign on school wall says “practice physical exercise”

Another view of the beautiful patio at Betty and Jorge’s

patio of our casa in Varadero (Betty and Jorge’s)

Staying in “casas” meant breakfast prepared by a family and served in their living room!

Self-compassion

It’s the time of year where many of us think about all that has happened over the past twelve months (and plan for the next) and I think Heidi Grant Halvorson has described a very interesting approach that can be used at the personal “year end review” where “ego is effectively out of the picture“:
http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/09/to_succeed_forget_self-esteem.html

To Succeed, Forget Self-Esteem