Blogging Abroad

I'm at the airport in Ottawa, about to depart on the longest, farthest trip from home I have ever experienced! The exciting part is seeing a couple of small pockets of the Earth that promise to be very, very diffent from what I know. The downside... I won't have Internet at my fingertips the whole time. I may have access while in Japan, but in Nepal, I wouldn't expect anythin mgore than intermittent access, and certainly no access when I get out into the village side.

to make quick, easy posts in one easy-to-find locale, I set up http://bnjmnwood.tumblr.com. Here, I'll post pictures and impressions when I can. I'll probably blog here as well, just not nearly as often, and maybe not until I get back.

So yes, please keep an eye on Tumblr, which should also send tweets when I post to @bnjmnwood.

Also, iPad should stop autocorrecting Tumblr as "tumble"!

Japan Nepal

I'm traveling to Nepal!

After being involved with the Nepalese Canadian Association of Ottawa (NCAO) and Canada Foundation for Nepal (CFFN) throughout the past decade, and getting to know many of the Nepalese families who have moved to Ottawa, I finally have the opportunity to see Nepal for itself. While I'm there, I will get to see some of the capital city, Kathmandu, as well as the countryside where the best way to get from one village to another is to trek.

It all started about a month ago when a friend of mine wanted me to go to Japan to visit a mutual friend. This trip was feasable - and how often will I get an invite to Japan? Just as I was about to make that happen, it was brought to my attention that the Non-Resident Nepali Assocation is holding their every-other-year conference around the same time as the Japan trip. At this confence, I would be able to present an update to a project that I'm leading on behalf of CFFN. Also, I could see CFFN's Community ChildCare Centre first hand, and also work on the Open University venture. Since I'd already be halfway around the world... Why not go the extra mile (well couple thousand miles)?

The decision to do both Japan and Nepal complicated the purchase of flights. It was prohibitively expensive to do an Ottawa-Nagasaki-Kathmandu-Ottawa round, and it would take far too long and require too much coordination to do round trips between Ottawa-Nagasaki and Nagasaki-Kathmandu. All the discount flight and trip websites were really starting to stress me out. That's where Baba came in!

Baba, from Himalayan Travels & Tours in Toronto is the person to go to when you want to fly to Nepal. Everyone that I spoke to said she has helped them and recommends her. Baba was able to put together an itinerary for me at a cost much lower than I could myself. All people and things considered, she was the most important - I would say that Baba made this trip possible for me. For that, I am absolutely grateful to her. Plus, I really enjoyed telling people that I had to call my travel agent!

Now that I'm less than 2 days away from flying to Japan, packing is my greatest obstacle. I have to pack light, but enough for my trip. If I leave or forget anything, it'll be 6 weeks before I can get it. Knowing me, I should probably glue my passport to my forehead!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Confessions of a Disneyholic

Cars 2 opens this weekend and I'm not even excited. In fact, my excitement level hasn't been this low for a Pixar movie since Ratatouille (important note, Ratatouille was the last Pixar movie released before I started working at The Disney Store), and I think that's because I wasn't a fan of Cars. Don't get me wrong, it was a decent film, but it was certainly my least favourite of Pixar's roster. It's no Up or Wall•E or Finding Nemo.

That the Cars universe has explosions and choppers and international locales (I think the Mater's Tales shorts had all these, actually) hasn't really swayed me, and seeing the main billing as Owen Wilson and Larry the Cable Guy doesn't help either. That said, I'm hoping to be pleasantly surprised by what I'm sure will be a high octane sequel. The near Abramsian secrecy around the content of the movie, which Pixar has shown on their projects of late, will hopefully ensure many surprises.

Since the first Cars, Pixar's storytelling has jumped to a whole other level. compare Toy Story 2's level of emotion to that in Toy Story 3. Whole. Other. Level. Plus John Lasseter is such the man at Disney these days that nothing leaves their magic factories without his approval... And his hands are all over this movie!

As the reviews start pouring in, I'm sure that we'll get to know whether Cars 2 is a great movie by Pixar standards, by regular Hollywood standards, or if it's a run of the mill sequel. One thing is certain though, every boy aged 3 to 10 will be seeing it. Twice if they get their way. I'll probably brave the crowds and see the movie, as to not break the tradition of seeing every Pixar movie in theaters since Finding memo (minus Ratatouille). If not for the cars, for the Toy Story short. Who knows? Lightning McQueen and Mater might convert me into a true Cars fan!

116 - iPad

I bought an iPad.

I hadn't wanted one until fairly recently when it just clicked that i would use one as more than an oversized iPod. I could use it to write and read comfortably in the couch or out and about. Up until now, my iPhone has been indispensable, and the iPad would allow me to do even more in an easier fashion.

So far, i've been right. It's a much more comfortable platform for iBooks, which allows you to add PDF documents. I haven't checked my Google home page, which is crammed with rss feeds I read, with my computer because I've moved (most of) them to an app called Pulse, which simplifies reading via RSS while making it a more visually appealing experience. Also, browsing the Internet really is a better, more intimate experience on a touch screen device. I thought that was all hype and spin. It isn't.

Pages was the first app I downloaded, and used it to rewrite an entry in a brand new blog series I will hopefully one day soon start. I also used it to take notes during a CFFN meeting. Typing on the iPad is something I'm still getting used to, but hey, I'm doing it right now, thanks to BlogPress, which will hopefully allow me to update this blog more often as well! Email is nice on the iPhone, but it's so much better on the iPad. As is Twitter. And the calendar.

The hilarity that PhotoBooth creates is astounding, when mixed with a bunch of teenagers, a toddler, and a mother who had no idea what was going on.









The photos get crazier, and the laughs escalated. I hadn't laughed that hard in ages.

I can't just do away with my laptop — I need it for photo editing, storage, and anything that still uses Flash. However, this iPad effectively kills my netbook. I can't wait for iOS 5 to be released to make it, my iPhone (and eventual, inevitable iMac or MacBook purchase) that much more amazing. Not too bad coming from someone who bought his first apple device less than a year ago, eh?

The iPad does have its dangers though. I accidentally bonked Serene in the head with it as she was taking pictures (at almost 2 years old, she's surprisingly adept at navigating and using the camera and photo apps). While she didn't talk to or even look at me for maybe 10 minutes, she didn't shed a single tear. Impressive! Here she is, recouping, ignoring me:

115 - The New Canon

I got a new camera! It's amazing! All the pictures above were taken with it. Whenever I get a new camera (which has only happened three times, including this one), I suddenly see the world differently. Now, I see footprints in mud, and sneakers hanging from phone wires, and unusual pipes that don't seem to be doing anything other than look important. One thing I miss with my previous camera is its zoom though. I'm going to need to go and get a lens soon. And those are pricey.

I just need time to go out and play with it. Mysteriously, I have a family of small mannequins that I really want to use for a set of photos... I can not wait! But they are heavy. If you want to help, let me know.

This Canon T3i (ESO 600D) purchase is just one (albeit the biggest) of many purchases that I think has made this March a crazy expensive month it seems. But, thanks to me doing my taxes very early, I can afford it for the moment! Of course, the next big thing, also coming this month: Nintendo 3DS. That one I can't wait for! I'll take a picture of it with my camera, then turn around and take a 3D pic with the DS. It'll be epic. Or not.

And yes, those are shots of Toronto.

114 - Ninety-Five Percent

Three of these four pictures were taken waiting at bus stops. The last one was taken walking to a bus stop where I had to wait.

I'm not happy that my local bus is on the list being considered to be downgraded from a regular black route to a red peak period route, going from available morning to night everyday to rush hour-only route for school kids at 8 and 3.

The city has the idea that they can ave money by taking the 98.6% of Ottawa that live within 5 minutes of a bus stop and shrinking it to 95% within 5 minutes... some of the time [article]! It's bad enough that I have to wait so long at night between connections, but at least there is a connection. It doesn't make any sense to make it hard for people to get home, especially at night. Aren't buses supposed to be an alternative to keep people from driving after drinking? How about the parents who can't always pick up their kids after going out with friends? Or all the older people who need buses to kneel for them? Can they walk an easy 20 minutes (because they tend to be slower than an average walker) in the rain or snow or humidity?

You want to hit a high ridership percentage, then the system has to be usable. If you want to increase (or maintain) ridership, you need to keep local buses accessible.

The public transportation system and ridership are always stuck in this cyclical chicken-egg pattern. But in order to save costs, you cut service, which cuts ridership - which in turn means less revenue, leading to more cuts. And what gets cut? The least profitable routes, which coincidentally are the routes that help make those bigger more profitable rapid-transit routes the successes that they are.

You need to save money, start at the top. Curb the overspending there. I've heard nothing but terrible things about OC Transpo management for years, and clearly this scheduling system isn't working the way it was meant to on paper. You want to reduce inefficiencies to save a few pennies, then redesign the whole system! Keep to running the local buses more frequently (drivers get paid the same, regardless of where they end up) into hubs where other buses will take us riders where we want to go, quickly. Merge local routes at night if you have to, but don't kill them altogether. Will Samuel, a fellow Ottawan that I started following during the last municipal election, has a great read here.

Spend a couple hundred million and get us light rail that can hold way more riders to the city's biggest destinations! Where's the fast, reliable way to go from downtown to Scotiabank Place, and all the stops in between? Building a tunnel where we don't really need one doesn't help either.

I would gladly spend over $100 on a monthly pass (we're almost there now anyway; Toronto riders spend less than $130/mo for a system that, in my experience, works very quickly, but that's another story) that saves me 20 or 30 minutes a day. Rail could do that. Frequent local buses could do that. Making me walk more and wait more won't.

You want to give OC Transpo a facelift? You don't need crazy fancy rebranding - OC Transpo is probably one of the top 5 known local brands. Concentrate on making buses a social experience. When people think buses, they think of dirty transports that rarely come on time and are crammed with strangers. Really, it's a great way to find time daily to be with friends and neighbours on the way to work or play. Make it easy for riders to bring friends and family with them!

OC Transpo needs to change at a fundamental level, and it's going to cost money, whether that's new buses (I'm looking at you, double decker), rail, more drivers, redesigning routes, and or a new paint job on the brand. Spend the time and energy and money now to take OC Transpo to the next level... or a new level. Focus on increasing revenue through more stronger ridership. In return, can we just have an accessible system that just works for us all?

113 - Winterlude

For all the trouble that winter causes, it really does have it's fun side. Skiing, skating, snowmen, snow forts, ice hotels, ice sculptures. Winterlude combines a few of these into a really fun festival just when people usually start tiring of the cold season. I love going down and seeing the exhibits and sculptures and people out enjoying themselves (and Beavertails)! Fortunately I managed to make my way downtown this year (it's been three or four years since I last went - even longer since I made it to the Quebec side of the festivities).

There were some very nice sculptures this year. Perhaps my favourite was this interactive domino-like sculpture that had windows that were perfectly aligned. It gave you the tunneling effect of looking in a reflection of a reflection of a mirror, without seeing yourself. Very cool!

Perhaps it's because I'm more aware of these kinds of things, but the event seems to get increasingly more branded by sponsors. Rogers and Samsung were on hand to provide heat, photo ops, and a peek at their gadgets and services. Everyone at the Rogers tent were having a good time, snapping pictures of their friends in a Galaxy Tab, tweeting a rogers hashtag to get it on the big screen, and trying to touch the ice-encased smartphones. It's brilliant how they created a positive interactive experience that fits the theme of Winterlude.

Of course, the best part of Winterlude is the Beavertail! The lines at Confederation park were pretty long (though efficient I noticed), so we opted to head to the storefront in the market. I haven't been in a while, and in that time, they've developed a number of new types! I tried the apple cinnamon, which was amazing.

I had a great time and I wish there were more winter festivals in the area, which would give people more reasons to get together and be outside in this beautiful season.

More Photos here.

112 - How Did Shopping Carts Get Up There?

There's so much waiting done each and every day. It's so easy to become annoyed and pace while waiting for the waiting to end. I do most of my waiting at bus stops (and increasingly, O-Train stops), and for a while, I took a fair number of pictures for those 5- or 12- or 30-minute waits. Then DS games, books, and eventually the iPhone got in the way, demanding my full attention not only at stops, but for the whole commute. Yet lately, a sudden reversal. Perhaps I should apologize now!

Speaking of iPhone, the Google Translate app is available, free, and pretty much the most amazing tool ever. Just speak into it, and it can speak your phrase back in another language! Hoshi Sato might even be impressed. I want to go to a non-English-speaking area and see if I can really get by using it to communicate. Would anyone like to take a trip to India, China, or Mexico? In fact, Google if you're listening, I would blog and Youtube the whole experience!

Photos: I love the view of the O-Train heading North from Confederation Station. If I were more daring, I would jump down onto the track after it departs to get a better shot. There's only a few seconds before the train is too far away!

Also, on my way home tonight, I noticed that, somehow, a couple of shopping carts have ended up atop a parking lot snow mountain. Alas, I didn't have my camera, but the iPhone worked to prove the insanity of such a discovery. I hope Loblaws isn't missing their carts...

111 - Mountains in the Parking Lot

Perhaps the best thing about Winter is snow. It's amazing how it can completely change the look of the land- and cityscapes. Unfortunately, in order to be able to get anywhere, it needs to be put somewhere. Often, it's in a corner of a parking lot, which creates a sizable mountain that, as a kid, I loved to climb. Because there were no nearby hills to slide down (that I knew about, but I have since discovered a few...) these mountains of unwanted snow were where I would toboggan and slide and dig out forts. They were canvases where a young Ben could let his imagination go.

I haven't climbed any this year. Yet.

The flip side of winter is the cold. When you aren't playing, when you have to go from point A to B (or when I'm commuting home, A to B to C to D), the cold is a nuisance. Salt stains everything an undesirable grey, and waiting 10 minutes feels like an hour. Seeing your bus pull away as you run to the platform is the most depressing sight, because it means waiting 10 minutes, or 30 minutes.

Lately, I've decided to walk home rather than wait for that bus that just doesn't line up with the other ones. I get home at about the same time, but walking and moving around in the cold, I think, is more desirable than standing still... as long as it's not a piercing cold blowing right at you!

110 - Calm After the Storm

One of the small things in life that I truly enjoy is the calm after a storm. One moment, it's thundering and lightning bolts touching down all around, and the next, the sky is clear and the sun is beaming, as if it's happy to be back. Maybe it's the quick reversal of weather that intensifies the beauty that's all around that makes me not take it, at least for a short while, for granted.

Last week, I had a moment when I was waiting for a bus, after the big "snowmageddon" (and I use that term in quotes, because it wasn't a bad storm at all, at least not by Ottawa's standards) where, yes, it wasn't the best weather to be commuting through, but the next morning had a certain crispness to it. It was calming, despite the traffic zooming by. It's that feeling that, if it could be bottled, I could make a fortune. I took a picture instead.

And yesterday, it had started snowing in the afternoon. Seemingly out of nowhere, huge flakes began to fall slowly, as if each one was taking it's time. The thickness of the snowfall muted everything, which also created a certain serenity. If every snowfall in winter was like that one, nobody would be as quick to have groundhogs see their shadows.

I want to get using this blog (again) the way I wanted to when I first created it. A blogging hero of mine, Joseph Mallozzi (http://josephmallozzi.wordpress.com/) says that a writer should write everyday. And in the three or four-plus years that he's been blogging, he hasn't missed a single day. Then again, he is a writer. And he eats a lot. I'm not committing to updating this that frequently, but I would like it to inspire me to take more photos so that I can share them here (and of course, on my flickr account, http://www.flickr.com/photos/myutopian).

Last year, despite going on two (2!) trips, I only took pictures on 77 days, which is the lowest it's been since I got a digital camera! I would love to get back to 100+ calendar days this year, though probably not my peak year of 190 days back in good ol' '06. So, please enjoy and tell me to take more pictures!