Flotsam & Jetsam

Sign Generators

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:32:35 -0500

You never know when you’ll need a custom sign to illustrate your point. I’ve happened upon these and thought that they were fun enough to share here.

Warning Label Generator

Street Sign Generator

Tombstone Generator

A Ton of Other Signs

African Body Art

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 19:48:00 -0500

Someone on Twitter posted this link, and I apologize for not remembering who. I’ve had the tab open on my browser for a week and I haven’t been able to bring myself to close it, so beautiful are the subjects and the photography. So, I thought it best to share it here. Now maybe I can close that tab!

Tribus de L’OMO / Hans Silvester Publish at Scribd or explore others: Images Culture river corps

Tag! I'm it! Flickr Meme

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:08:00 -0500

I’m not a fan of chain letters, and rarely participate these things, but I was tagged by my friend Brian Rendel in a Flickr meme. I like Brian a lot and I like Flickr, so, OK, I’ll bite. Here is the sixth photo on the sixth page of my Flickr stream.

This photo is from a trip I took to Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. It is one of Canada’s best places for surfing, but I was there in 2002 to relax and say farewell. I would be moving back to Montreal 3 months later and would not see an ocean again for years (I’m still waiting). This is the view from our cottage. Just a short stroll through the temperate rainforest to the beach, where the Pacific waves came crashing ashore. It was wonderful.

Strangely Brian’s picture was one of exploring, as was Ben’s, the person who tagged him.

I must now tag six other people to post their sixth photo from the sixth page of their Flickr stream. They are six incredibly intelligent, creative, talented, interesting women:

Musical Interlude

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 16:10:00 -0500

Lately, I’ve been really enjoying Blip.fm as a place to find new music, reminisce with older songs, play with my friends and meet new people.

Then, last night I discovered a new meme/game on Twitter that’s right up my alley. In Musical Join the Dots (#MJTD) you link words in song titles from one person to the next, like a game of tag. The originating post offers this example:

There must always be some clear connection between each song and the next one. This is usually achieved by linking a word from the title, artist or album name from one to that of the next. For example, ‘We Will Rock You’ by Queen could be followed by David Bowie’s ‘Queen Bitch’.

I was tagged by @DaveFleet with The Final Countdown by Europe. I decided to continue the game in Twitter and augment it with Blip.fm. In turn, I tagged @RandyMatheson with Countdown to Chaos by Bette Dillinger.

In a retro mood, I’ve since, started 3 new games tapping

@TWalk with Tattoed Love Boys by The Pretenders,

@HeatherShorter with Cities in Dust by Siouxsie and Banshees

and @Merlene with Come Undone by Duran Duran.

I’d like to see this integrated with Blip.fm to make the game more, well, musical. To me, it’s more fun to hear the songs and follow the connection that way.

Give it a try!

In Flanders Fields In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between...

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 10:22:29 -0500

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

- John McCrae

Lest we forget.

Peace Is Up To All Of Us

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 12:56:00 -0500

Yesterday was monumental. I’m proud of my American cousins to have elected a person with a different approach, who happens to be of colour, and to try something new. But, I am cautiously optimistic.

Expectations that Barack Obama will right all the wrongs of the past - political, economic, racial - are far too high for any individual to bear. I fear that people who have placed an unrealistic hope in this one man will be bitterly disappointed if he is unable to fix these problems.

There is the potential for a major backlash by fervent supporters whose fantasies may be destroyed. They may feel duped and become angry, akin to discovering that there is no Easter Bunny or Santa Claus.

In that environment, things could get ugly. There is the potential for factions on any side of the race card to pick a fight out of pure disillusionment. Even now, in the heady honeymoon phase, there are those who feel direly threatened and those who harbour feelings of revenge over past misdeeds, whether politcal or racial.

And the tinderbox potential scares me. I wish that colour didn’t enter into this discussion and that it was merely an afterthought. But with firsts, it is the thing that is untried that gains the attention.

(Frankly, there are many things about race in this election that befuddle me. Just as Tiger Woods is as much asian as he is black, Barack Obama is as much white, as he is black. Yet, somehow these truths get downplayed, because of skin tone alone. In the end, we’re all genetic soup.)

And so, like yesterday, I am appealing for peace. If you are celebrating a win today, be sensitive that there are many feeling a loss. Be joyous without being callous. Be a good sport. Hold out your hand in condolence and collaboration. Build a bridge for your future.

I summed it up in a tweet this morning:

Gloating does nothing for unity or peace. Please be inspired by how inclusive and humble both candidates were in their speeches last night.

My hope is that we’ll all see this opportunity to take a collective deep breath, create room for everyone and choose peace in our lives.

—————-

Here’s my Twitter train of thought on the election over the last 24 hours:

Good morning Twitter. This is a big day and I have one wish for my American cousins, on my personal blog: http://adelemcalear.tumblr.com

@HeatherShorter Oh, it’s a very big day. I hope that warm hearts and level heads prevail. No rioting, no violence. I may not be ‘round much.

@vargasl I wish that your people become agents of peace, inside and outside of your country. That would be the *best* cultural export.

Poking my head back in… is it safe yet?

NBC calls Obama

@ScottShorter Your country just made a huge step to heal a long and short history of wrongs. Celebrate this moment. Wake your children.

@ScottShorter That said, I worry that your new president can’t possibly live up to the heightened expectations placed upon him as a cure-all

I hope that peace prevails tonight and in the coming days and months.

@ScottMonty Not yet…you still have Iraq to deal with. But a big step in the right direction.

[@leahjones] Champaign all around the bar! Please G-d, keep him and his family safe.

@leahjones That is my fear as well. Let peace prevail.

[@Jillfoster] @adelemcalear Big win, big, big win … thinking of you

@Jillfoster This is a wonderful moment. A big moment. May level heads prevail. May your country live up to it.

MSNBC showing Kenyans celebrating in the village of Obama’s father & paternal grandmother

Five minutes until the big speech.

[@BaghdadBrian] @mosqueda not yet. #baghdadbaby missed our expectations as I fear Pres Obama is bound too. Probably within 24 hours of election end though

@BaghdadBrian How could any person live up to the expectations that are on the man (by his own design or not)? C’mon baby! Nov 5=Guy Fawkes

Good night friends. Sweet dreams. Please don’t screw this up. Thanks.

[@BaghdadBrian] @adelemcalear the question should be when will we stop idolizing and acknowledge our own power? We are the change we want to see in theworld

@BaghdadBrian I couldn’t agree more. Except where forces of nature are involved. Then things move at their own pace. Right Dad? :)

Gloating does nothing for unity or peace. Please be inspired by how inclusive and humble both candidates were in their speeches last night.

@HeatherShorter Good morning Heather :) I hope you enjoyed your champagne last night :)

[@vargasl] @adelemcalear awesome points to keep in mind…now we move FORWARD.

@vargasl I’m such a downer when people want to revel in their democratic revenge. Is that a defining Canadian trait? (Good morning!)

[@vargasl] @adelemcalear No, you are not…very wise words. What did you say yesterday about the best export?! (Good morning!)

My favourite tweet last night, just after the announcement, from Australian @fifikins So the war is over and we are out of recession? Sweet!

A Wish For My American Cousins

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:07:00 -0500

On this day, as you elect a new President, I wish you peace.

Peace in your democratic exercise.

Peace between your people.

Peace with other nations.

Whatever the outcome of today’s election, no matter which party wins, no matter if you celebrate with joy or weep in despair, may peace be your guide.

I leave you with wise words and a hopeful heart.

“If our modern world should be able to recapture the power, the earth’s natural resources and web of life would not be irrevocably wasted within the Twentieth century…..True democracy founded in neighborhoods and reaching over the world become the realized heaven on earth. And living peace, not just an interlude between wars, would be born and would last through the ages.”
— John Collier

Democracy is an objective. Democratization is a process. Democratization serves the cause of peace because it offers the possibility of justice and of progressive change without force.
— Boutros Boutros-Ghali

Let us continue to strive together for a more inclusive, democratic, and peaceful future for us all.
— Fernando Cardoso

Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.
— Albert Einstein

Friends, Comrades and fellow South Africans. I greet you all in the name of peace, democracy and freedom for all. I stand here before you not as a prophet but as a humble servant of you, the people. Your tireless and heroic sacrifices have made it possible for me to be here today. I therefore place the remaining years of my life in your hands.
— Nelson Mandela

WANTED: ZappApp Developer & Investment

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 10:55:00 -0400

Concept:

Remotely send a shock through someone’s keyboard while capturing the moment on video. Video collected and auto-posted to ZappApp site. Takes the Facebook poke to the next level.

Needed:

Developer mad scientist
Investor

The birth of the idea:

adelemcalear: I am officially grumbly

StarrGazr: @adelemcalear Well, Ms Adele, that is just not acceptable! Please reach into your depths, pull out your smile and slap it on — NOW! :D

adelemcalear: @StarrGazr I would much rather slap someone else. That would make me smile. Good morning Tracy.

StarrGazr: @adelemcalear Hee…hee… I suspected that. Go for it! You’ll feel better. ;)

adelemcalear: @StarrGazr Oh, if only the Interwebz had that. Can you build me a virtual slap machine? Make sure it has video to capture the moment, ‘k?

StarrGazr: @adelemcalear LOL!! That would be awesome! We should build one!! We’d be quadrillionaires!

HeatherShorter: @adelemcalear Oh, we need to work on one of those. Definitely. That would make me very happy.

adelemcalear: @StarrGazr Maybe there’s a way to send a shock through the keyboard? That would be almost as good. Just as long as it was on video.

adelemcalear: @HeatherShorter Yes. I would make me happy too.

HeatherShorter: @adelemcalear @StarrGazr Zzzzzzzzzzzzzap! That might be even more entertaining than the slap machine.

StarrGazr: @adelemcalear Haa!! That would be so wonderful!! Imagine how rich we would be if we developed that??

adelemcalear: @StarrGazr @heathershorter Right, so now we just need a developer and some investment to get us started. A quick call out to Twitter? ;)

HeatherShorter: @adelemcalear Yes, let’s.

StarrGazr: @adelemcalear Yes, we need investors! Perhaps a Chip-In and a call to those technically inclined. We definitely have something here.

All hail Joe Strummer! This picture makes me happy.

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 10:35:00 -0400

All hail Joe Strummer! This picture makes me happy.

Rolling Stones, April 22, 1979

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 23:33:27 -0400

Rolling Stones, April 22, 1979:

I was at this concert. One of two that day, actually. The famous Keith Richards CNIB benefit concert that he was sentenced to do by a judge in Toronto. The Oshawa Civic Auditorium held 1300 people. But well beyond that, is the memory of meeting someone in the parking lot who would become one of my dearest, and lifelong, friends. We are lucky enough to know the date to celebrate our upcoming 30th anniversary of meeting. :)

You can order the bootleg, or just check the set list, here:

http://www.bruceb.com/boots/stones/live/70s.htm

My first shot at a cooking video. Vegetable chili - yum!

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 23:33:00 -0400

My first shot at a cooking video. Vegetable chili - yum!

Burl Ives or Peter Gabriel

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 22:31:00 -0400

A little voice work from last June: bumpers for a friend’s...

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:42:00 -0400

A little voice work from last June: bumpers for a friend’s podcast.

Revitalizing a Dead Tumblr

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 00:00:00 -0400

This place used to just aggregate RSS, mostly from my Twitter stream. And then, mysteriously, it stopped doing that in January ‘08. It was boring then, and I assure you, the archives are even more dull now. Nothing to see here…move along, move along.

Instead, I’ve revitalized the Tumblr account to be the catch all for interesting things I might like to link to that don’t belong on my main blog.

Mind your step, it could get messy ‘round here.

@mtkr W00T! Do you know Rick Mercer? He does great rants…

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 02:56:56 -0500

@mtkr W00T! Do you know Rick Mercer? He does great rants…

@tommyvallier I left you a comment on your blog.

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 02:56:24 -0500

@tommyvallier I left you a comment on your blog.

Now why wasn’t I watching this CES live bus thing when the debates were on?

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 02:55:35 -0500

Now why wasn’t I watching this CES live bus thing when the debates were on?

I love it! @loiclemeur just said they’ve been on the bus 8 hrs and have 9 more to go...

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 02:53:33 -0500

I love it! @loiclemeur just said they’ve been on the bus 8 hrs and have 9 more to go “that’s why they invented planes”. LOL!

@newmediajim Hey! My parents were watching the same show around Christmas time as I was Tweeting....

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 02:52:03 -0500

@newmediajim Hey! My parents were watching the same show around Christmas time as I was Tweeting. I’m also watching CES. Parallel lives #3

@kahunagirl I heard on the radio tonight about the flooding and supposed evacuations. That would be...

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 02:44:31 -0500

@kahunagirl I heard on the radio tonight about the flooding and supposed evacuations. That would be Canadian radio. Glad to hear you are OK.