The Image Age is Reemerging

A teenager in the UK has written a report that nicely encapsulates trends that are emerging from todays teenagers. This demographic is probably one of the most important today as prominent consumers, with high levels of disposable income. They do have very strong preferences though, and because they have been immersed in consumer culture from birth, they are incredibly sensitive to marketing strategies and advertising.
New methods of growing popularity are being demonstrated by this group, as they readily embrace 2.0 technology, especially social networking tools, such as Facebook. To me, 2.0 appears to signal a reemergence of pre-patriarchal society communication, where image is used prominently to convey information quickly to groups of people, rather than words, which limit communication to groups that have a certain level of education (which may also mean they are of a certain economic strata), and are part of a tribe that uses a particular language (like English, or Mandarin). In short, words are high-functioning elitism while image tends to be universally accepted.

This is where fear culture leads you...

Sad much?

US office building evacuated in scare over device used to cut off long-winded speakers

Shared via AddThis
as seen on CBC.ca

Donald the Dooner

So this dude was hanging out in my backyard today. I went to put a bag in the garbage can in the yard, but stopped at the door when i noticed this beast. My pugnacious little black cat was mad as hell that I wouldnt let her outside to eat him. He just sat there pleased as punch, eating our clover. Then he ambled over to the back step, curled up and fell asleep! Ah wilderness...

Sweet Mama What an Empanada!

On the recommendation of a friend, we checked out Carlito's Bakery and Coffee Shop in Kitchener today. Its a Latin-American cafe in a strip plaza at Weber St. E and Montgomery (not an area I spend too much time in, so it took us a while to find the place- at first we drove right past it)

The inside is not terribly welcoming, a few lonely tables a rack of specialty groceries tucked in the back corner next to a tv blaring childrens programming.
The menu is in Spanish and baked goods on display dont have labels - just ask Carlos and Martha the friendly Colombian couple who own the place.


Today we gorged on chicharron, a flaky sugary pastry with a sticky sweet guava filling and chicken and beef empanadas. The empanadas were soft tender envelopes of hearty filling, onions, beef, boiled egg or chicken and peas.
Its out of the way for us, but I have a feeling we'll be back for more. Hopefully they stick around for awhile. I have this awful tendency to fall in love with a place only to watch it go out of business...

SSSSsshh!

It's been more than a year now since i've had a full night's sleep.
Sleep is an obsession for me, it colours the way i see everything else. I see young professionals on the street and i look for bags under their eyes, a sign of a commonality. I watch parents of young children in the grocery store, wanting to ask how much sleep they get, but too embarassed, in case they are in fact, getting a full night. On the way home from said grocery store, i panic, what if the baby falls asleep on the way home? Do i stay in the car and let him sleep? Do i risk taking him out of the car seat and try to put him in his crib? If he wakes up, how do i deal with the wrath of a sleepy but not sleeping infant/tyrant?
There is so much conflicting advice for parents out there, let him cry it out, dont let him cry it out. Let him sleep with you, dont let him sleep with you. Give him a bottle for bed, dont let him take a bottle to bed. No matter what, the common denominator at the end is a tired, guilt-ridden, confused parent of a sleepy child.
I dont have the answer. I might not ever. As long as he's sleeping through the night by the time he goes to university, I'm happy.

Amer-Italian food the way it should be

Relatives took us to an Italian eatery in D.C. recently. Normally I shudder at the thought of eating Italian out, as here in Canada at least that generally means paying 15 dollars for an enormous plate of bland, not fresh pasta smothered in sugary sauce. Needless to say, I had low expectations for Vapiano, a German owned chain of Italian restaurants.
Upon entering, you are given a swipe card, and shown to the wooden butcher-block tables, decorated with fresh basil and sage plants. You select items from the menu and take your card up to the open bar/kitchen where everything is made to order right in front of you. Our table had spinach ricotta ravioli in fresh tomato sauce, ham and mushroom pizza, angelhair pasta primavera and fresh mascarpone cheese and fruit for dessert. The food was fresh, delicious, light and also cheap! Now if only they would open one here in Ontario...

p.s. sorry, no food photos, I was too busy scarfing!

Talk about No Frills Flying

Air New Zealand is so cheap, the crew doesnt even have clothes!
This safety video has had over 3 million views on youtube - but do the viewers know how to fasten their seatbelts?

Smithsonian =Awesome

Spent the day at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. last week. I could have moved in for a week and still not viewed every exhibit!
I was impressed that this grand institution has an admission fee of ZERO dollars, as opposed to places here in Canada (ROM, I'm looking at you...)





The Hope Diamond was magnificent, and the giant quid in the main atrium was much larger than i imagined (I know it says giant, but it was GIANT)Am still a smidge tired from traipsing around the D.C./Baltimore area with an 11 month old all week, but it was worth every moment!