Another Vancouver Weekend Recap

• picnic with blueberries and cake at Edgemont music in the streets
• got a library card (North Van Libraries are still open) and borrowed some films (documentaries on Napoleonic wars and King Tutankhamen tomb discovery plus Leonard Cohen “I’m your Man,” something else i forget)
• Caribbean fest (corn on cob, ribs, iced coffee, hot coffee)
• Canadian fireworks for Celebration of Light along with Choogle’rs form Colorado and Ianiv from the newly-more-funded Now Public – watched from Dundarave, ate picnic and played disc on well-manicured West Van park lawn
• podcast editing (new Choogleon up (Happy Vappy) plus 4 more almost-ready-to-go
• updated podcast queue page and uploaded album art rough drafts for editing plus made some album art
• Flickr posting (Canadian fireworks set)
• commented in support of Miss 604’s (very successful) blogathon
• assembled an art table (bought screws from dollar store) for my studio room
• rehung a Van Gogh print with a pool table in a cafe – hung so is in the rays of a translucent skylight (sigh)
• tokes on the porch/park/etc. (sweet tooth, purple kush, durban poison)
• played wiffle ball (the boy kicked my butt (again))
• hung hemp twine line with clothespins for the outline sheets for novel project (working title: elsewhere)
• bought screws to assemble my custom maple bookcase (home to massive, qulaity literature library)
• saw simpsons movie too (a tearjerker, sniff, sniff)

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Tags: recap, weekend, mundanitie, mundane details, miscellania, ephemera,

Some Surrey Taxi Company is charging bogus rides and my North Vancouver Credit Union is hassling me

For the second time in 8 months, some Surrey cab company has charged my credit card $50 for a taxi ride i never took (i’d remember a drunken night in Surrey for sure – heh).

Last time was a serious hassle to resolve the issue (and was right around the festive period when cash and time is tight) and included my (yet to be named) North Shore based Credit Union asking me to pay $60 to notarize a declarative affidavit to initiate a $40 chargeback.  While i understand there are regulations and policies, this is their problem, not mine and frankly, $50 is significant money to me.

I am hoping this can be resolved more easily as i cannot afford to miss work to come by a branch during their luxurious hours since i am at my toil from 9AM-6PM.  Lat time took 4 branch visits and a bit of hollering and griping to fix it. 

What i cannot understand though is how come the taxi company isn’t harshed out bigtime by the CC processor for not checking/authorizing or whatever and why the CU puts the burden of proof on lil ole me. 

We’ll see how the CU handle the problem this time and i noticed they added an RSS feed (nothing interesting , just rates and promotions) and see if they need a proper thwacking in this public forum.  I do biz with a CU instead of bank thinking i’d be treated with respect and decency which has not been the case – only once i get onto the third person who “bends the rules” for me to i get sh!t resolved.  Unacceptable and i am just about ready to jump to some other organization who maybe spends more effort on customer service than pretty, shiny, feel-goody advertising.

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Tags: credit-union, north-vancouver, north-shore, surrey, taxi, sunshine

Tri-Coastal trip with topics on my mind and documentaries in my ears

A few quick shots before i head to Book Expo American in NYC (skyscrapers and everythang …) where i will be shilling the goods for the day job while soaking in some literary and otherwise atmosphere – hopefully meeting up with the filmmaker and illustrator of the Uncle Weed book, Brandon Kiggins of brooklyn, see the wild Alex Grey museum about the his trippy art and of course visit the mysterious haunted speakeasy pub in the village with a local amigo.

Taking Haruki Murakami collection of stories and Herman Hesse’s Reflections – not the quintessential NYC lit but see what serendipity delivers – i am going to a book show – gotta be something worth reading (and i am admittedly somewhat stuck to older (dead-er) writers). Of course taking mobile podcaster-o-rator/recorder, notebooks and the snapshooter.

Then to San Jose for another day-job related trade show and since no time for San Fran hi-jinks- might be decidedly vanilla so to speak but will likely find some adventure. Will be catching Stanley Cup finals on the road (kinda need a sling box eh).

Back to beloved Vancouver for a couple days before London UK-bound. More podcasting for the job and then heading on a 4 day walkabout – likely to Dumfries (a home of Robbie Burns and one of his many loves – Jean Armour), Scotland and then mayhaps to a festival of sorts in Leeds. Gonna not get too hung up the deets here but i will be stuck with more than a backpack in London so might be a wee bit limited.

Anyhow, this week …

- a new Canucks Outsider is up (Vancouver Giants day at Vancouver City Hall) – next up is my coverage of the BC Floorball Challenge

- went to a kick ass Police concert which deserves along loquacious post of it’s own (which is unlikely to happen unless i start into a list of “noteworthy concerts of my life”)

photo by Unabonger

- Cosmo and Dingo came to visit for aforementioned Police show – too short a visit (job gets in the way) but good times (note to self: pay them for tix)

- really wanna bust out some more White Poppies for Remembrance episodes – next one will feature a track by Drive by Truckers and a chat with a disenfrancished soul at the New Amsterdam about the conceptual conditions of Vancouver’s  downtown eastside

- listening to podcasts by Rick Steves’ on Rolf Potts’ book Vagabonding), BBC’s Melvyn Bragg (Opium Wars), BBC on Nigeria as Black Superpower, Tavis Smiley’s interviews with Joe Biden and others, Bill Maher talking to Bill Richardson (Gov. New Mex and Demo Pres hopeful), Scarborough Dude in Tokyo soul-searching and representing plus the usual smattering of Clubside Breakfast Times and KEXP goodness.

I Dig Jorg and Olif Bikes

I love these burly, utilitarian bikes and now they are on sale! Buy one if: a) you are hip; b)have some bread; c) wish you lived in Amsterdam.  I once saw a photo project online of snapshots of local Nederlanders rolling their iron sleds with all sorts of loads from lumber to children hanging on.  NO helmets, no worries, … in The Netherlands, bike rule – pedestriants be wary, those wide lanes aren’t sidewalks and the unwary will be run down but cars stop and trucks wait.

More about Jorg and Olif on “Wellness at Canada Place – Urban Vancouver podcast #1.”

technorati tags:bikes, bicycles, vancouver, wellness, nederlands, netherlands, amsterdam, jorgandolif, jorgolif

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Seeking UI Guru for Ecommerce Software in Vancouver

Avast me hearties, …In a quest to score a pleasing recruiting bonus from my day job at Elastic Path Software, I am on a quest to find a User Interface Designer/Developer.

Indeed, you must enjoy thinking about the user experience in a way that makes them more apt to spend money at online shops I suppose. You likely should have a mix of technical kung-fu (CSS, JS, AJAX, whatev …) and understand that nice, quasi-minimalist design aesthetic that all the cool sites use and rock the Photoshop/Fireworks kinda apps.

You will make some decent bread and enjoy some benefits yo. But to me, the benefit is living in Vancouver BC (which rules all cities, even SF methinks). Lots of gruvy webby start-ups, pleasing community vibe and many ways to recreate.

All I *really* care about is hooking someone nice up with a job doing sh!t they like and me scoring the obnoxious recruiting bonus and spending it on a record player, new trail-running shoes and a bag of pucks.

The official announcement gives the deets at:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/245fax

Here’s a preview to inspire you to uhh … apply I guess:

“Do
you believe the UI is in fact the product? While shopping online, do you routinely think of ways the customer experience could be improved? The User Experience Designer will be responsible for the visual design
and interaction design for Elastic Path’s eCommerce platform. This will include the visual design and implementation for both the administrative tool as well designing innovative commerce store fronts
for both live customer sites as well our reference demo stores.”

Enjoy!

PS Pass this along to your folks and/or blogpost it and I’ll hook up a tasty 12 pack of adult beverages for a headhunter bonus if successful*

* offer not available in all areas, beverage 12 pack may be replaced with coupon or special gift, skill testing question may be required in Quebec

technorati tags:jobs, designer, ui, developer, employment, vancouver, britishcolumbia, techjobs, geeks, ajax, css, userinterface, usability

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Recycling old Computer Stuff in Vancouver

A colleague passed along some useful info on cleaning up all the electronic flotsam and jetsam which accumulates in any techie’s closet. I saw a booth at the EPiC Expo last weekend doign something about free-cycling old computers too so i’ll dig up there brochure.

In the meantime, here are Peter’s notes:

I took it all to:

CAL Computer
3083 Grandview Highway

(between Rupert and Renfrew stations)

604 437 5551
Hours: 10 – 6 Tuesday to Saturday

DISCLAIMER: I don’t know if they actually recyle the equipment like they promised, but it is one of 2 companies recommended by the city of Vancouver Recycle Hotline. It is better than the alternatives: taking it to the transfer station which treats it as GARBAGE (for a fee), or sitting in the closet for another N years.

And they did take in my 486, PII, PIII, and an old 17 inch CRT monitor, FOR FREE. The stuff does not even need to be in working order.

BTW, CAL Computer could be a little bit hard to find, they are situated at the back of the building (address above). The front has a big sign for Canadian Sun – Supplement City, and a smaller sign for Cal Computer. It is on your left side if you are traveling eastbound on Grandview Highway.

UPDATE: 
Electronic Recycling Association Vancouver depot locations
http://www.era.ca/donations/recycling/yancouver.html (sic)

RSS web comic is funny

Involve the Green in the Conversation

The Greens are being shut out of the Federal debates in the hitherto unannoucned election debates.  Regardless on how you vote, you will likely agree that a party with candidates in every riding deserves a part in the dialogue.  If you are Canadian, sign the petition.

Here’s what they say:

Take action to ensure that Green Party leader Elizabeth May is included in the leaders’ debates…

Your tax dollars finance the Green Party. Wouldn’t you like to hear where we stand on the issues?

CANADIANS VOTE YES!

77% say Elizabeth May

should be in the debates.

More>

Sign the Petition

Tell a friend
Donate

technorati tags:publicpolicy, greenparty, canadianpolitics

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Faces to go with Names – Xeni Jardin, Bruce Sterling

Bruce Sterling & Xeni Jardin (cool shirt)

Originally uploaded by Laughing Squid.
Xeni rocks Boing Boing and NPR and does these fascinating journies to far flung lands (i.e. Tibet) to geek out on culture and communication.

Bruce sees the future and speaks about it in a compelling and entartaining manner.

Photographer Scott is Laughing Squid (hosting etc) and rocks the photos at every damn geek-fest going.

Kurdistan – The Other Iraq

My brother Lt. Magnum (USN) is in Iraq and recently traveled to Kurdistan and says,

“I am in Irbil (sometimes spelled Erbil.) It is Capitol city of Kurds (you know, in Iraq, they have Arabs and Kurds) – you should look for it on a map. Kurds have culture closer to Turkey. Also, Irbil is a lot closer to Turkey than to Baghdad. The camp is run by the Korean Army. Only about a dozen Americans here.

Kurdistan – The Other Iraq

I flew down on a Japanese Self Defense Force C-130 painted pastel blue. My Japanese buddy, Major Natori, hooked me up.  Today I got a tour of a vocational school and a hospital that the Koreans built here. I met lots of really friendly Iraqis who are getting an education. A lot of them speak English really well and even make jokes.

This place is so nice. Lots of hills and green grass. The air is very clean and clear. Maybe like North Dakota from pictures I’ve seen, or Mongolia.

It is fun being with the Koreans. I ate lunch and dinner at the Korean cafe. For lunch I had bulgoggi and the red hot spicy soup that Kaito likes. It has meat and tofu and big green onions. For dinner, it was mackerel Korean style, two types of KIMCHI, and beef with Toppogi mochi. And rice is sticky rice. It is delicious after all American in Camp Victory for 4 months!

Anyway, the adventure continues.

A note on Press Release writing

In brief, … write your press release in a way that is easily copy and pasted for refactoring (ergo: change byline and title) by “journalists” seeking to refactor your release into valuable news coverage.

dilbert2007916360222.gif (GIF Image, 600×210 pixels)

Police in Vancouver

After rehearshing in NOrth Van the past while, this announcement is totally unexpected but exciting.   Stand in line now for tickets!

LOS ANGELES — The Police 30th Anniversary reunion world tour will kick off May 28 at Vancouver’s GM Place and travel through North America until early August, Sun Media has exclusively learned.

CANOE — JAM! Music – Artists – Police, The: Police reunion tour starts in Van.