Morning at Any Time of Day

Japanese Language Lessons for Free!

2007-04-09T13:03:00.000-04:00

Well, this is a somewhat delayed followup to the iLanguage note I had dropped back in January. I finally found the time to get into the Japanese Language podcast from JapanesePod101.com, and I must say, its definitely be enjoyable. The lessons are well thought out, consistent, and useful. While I do speak Japanese to a decent level, since I hadn't really used it much in the last few years, I've found the beginner lessons to be a good re-intro to the language, and I think this will continue.

I'll try to periodically post a little more here, but I'd have to say, if someone is interested in learning Japanese, its a good place to start!

Cheers,

Adam

Behind the scenes

2007-01-15T12:37:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note, if anyone has noticed the drop in posting. As I was travelling for work last week (and apparently Europe hasn't gotten on the free Wi-fi in hotels thing), and then had to get caught up with life upon my return, things have dropped off a bit.

But that isn't to say that nothing is happening. I'm working on a few things in the background, that if the week goes as is roughly planned, I'm hoping to launch a few things next Monday, so stay tuned for updates.

Cheers,

Antemeridian

iLanguage?

2007-01-04T14:01:00.000-05:00

from Lifehacker

Came across this yesterday. As someone who is always interested in learning languages, and wanting to brush up on my Japanese and French, this is something I'll be checking out. For now, this is just an information link. Next week, I'm travelling for business and I've got a few long flights ahead of me, so I plan to download a few of these before I go, and I'll post a followup of how they seem when I get back.

If anyone else has checked these out, please feel free to post in the comments!

Congrats Juniors!

2007-01-03T14:08:00.000-05:00

(Link to TSN.ca's Story on the Win)

Just wanted to say congrats to the Canadian Juniors on their shootout win in the Semifinals at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Tournament.

Must say, its always fun standing around in a mall with about 30 people watching the shootout on a TV inside a restaurant, everyone cheering and enjoying the game before heading back to work. One of the joys of Canada ;)

Cheers

Brighten Things Up

2007-01-02T15:21:00.000-05:00

For those of you that may have been here before, you may notice a bit of a change, and more may follow. Through a combination of wanting to brighten things up a bit, and seeing how many people were using the Minima template, I decided to change the basic template. Now begins the process of trying it out, tweaking it, etc, so more may come.

Happy New Year!

Wireless Data $ervice

2006-12-29T08:54:00.000-05:00

Ran across this article on the globe this morning, interesting look at the adoption rates of wireless data services in Canada (and North America in general) and some of the reasons why the numbers are where they're at.

It brings up a point I've heard a lot in various discussions, that more people would use wireless data if it was cheaper. While for some, that isn't the only issue (there are things like screen size, speed, sounds, etc.) that is a large one that would prohibit people from even being willing to overlook some of the other problems.

I'm a wannabe technophile (wannabe in the budget part of things, not the technophile side), but just can't afford to use a lot of this stuff because I can't justify the outrageous costs for wireless data. So basically I get my 250KB per month and use it to occasionally check the weather, a movie time, or a hockey score if I'm nowhere near a TV or computer.

So, what do you see as problems with wireless data? Is it too expensive, too slow, or what? And will the mobile companies start to bring rates down to drive a larger subscriber base? Post your thoughts in the comments.

An elected Senate?

2006-12-27T10:20:00.000-05:00

The Globe and Mail had an interesting article online today about the modification of the Canadian Senate into an elected body through Bill C-43.

The article brings up issues regarding the original reason for an appointed Senate as opposed to an elected body. An appointed Senate is theoretically free from the political pressure of an elected body, and the best people for the job could be selected and could operate based on their abilities, not a party agenda.

However, the big problem with this is that the position is still political! Even though the senators are appointed, the positions are largely partisan and as a reward for past service to the party.

So will an elected Senate fix this problem? Not necessarily, instead we just have a quicker change of the makeup. What would fix it? I don't know, but its definitely an issue to consider.

Happy Holidays!

2006-12-23T09:41:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy holiday season. Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noel, Happy Hannukah, and to everyone, a Happy New Year.

It'll probably be pretty quiet around MaAToD (If that's the acronym, might need to change the name of the blog . . . ) as tomorrow starts the 3-day mad dash for Christmas, and then back to work on Wednesday, but I hope every one has a safe and happy holiday.

Merry Christmas,

Antemeridian

Christmas Photo Tips

2006-12-22T13:43:00.000-05:00

from Digital Photography School via Lifehacker

For those of you who are looking to take a few photos over the holidays, Digital Photography School has a great list of tips. And as usual, there's probably sure to be some other good tips in the Lifehacker comments.

More Photography Terms for Beginners (Part 2)

2006-12-22T09:18:00.000-05:00

A followup to yesterday's part one on terms useful for beginner photographers.

The only caveat is that the more common/basic terms are mixed in with some of the more advanced terms. Autofocus is right around anastigmat, etc. But if you go through the full list, its definitely helpful.

Look ma, no plugs!

2006-12-22T08:52:00.000-05:00

via Engadget

Engadget posted a story regarding a new tech developed by the University of Tokyo. Basically, with the properly equipped piece of electronics hardware, instead of having to plug something into an outlet to recharge or draw power, you would just have to put this on a plastic mat! Nice way to clear up the desk.

I look at this as an even greater boon for business travellers. I'm supposed to go to Europe next month, and if I could just make sure my cell phone, iPod, laptop, etc. would be able to charge/draw power from a flat mat, and the hotel would provide said mat, wouldn't that be great? No longer having to worry about bringing 7 adapters for all your gadgets, and then having to get adapters to make sure they fit the local plugs. Seems like a definite bonus to me.

That's a little better . . .

2006-12-22T08:34:00.000-05:00

Via Engadget Mobile

Well, hot on the heels of the previous . . . um . . . phone (?) Engagdet Mobile shows what creative people can do.

Now, might not be for everyone, but its definitely an interesting proposition, and that's far better.

Cheers,

Antemeridian

Wow . . .

2006-12-21T11:43:00.000-05:00

No really, wow, that's all I can say. Nothing like spending $310K for something that looks like it came out of a gumball machine . . .

Virtual World Shrinks (not the size type)

2006-12-21T11:25:00.000-05:00

Virtual World Experiments

Interesting article on CNET, regarding the use of virtual worlds to conduct psycological experiments that are not legal or ethical in the real world, and find that people will still behave in largely the same way.

So based on that, where will things continue to? Studying group dynamics in guilds in WoW? Probably reasonable, or at least interesting. Watching business dealings and the creative process in Second Life? Why not?

As virtual worlds grow, and become populated with a wider variety of people, it would seem that their usefulness as a test group also grows. And artifical environments are already used for a variety of other simulations, so why not this?

Antemeridian

Photography Terminology for Beginners (Link)

2006-12-21T09:49:00.000-05:00

For those who are interested in taking more photos, but don't really know a whole lot about the technical terms, or perhaps those that are looking to buy a gift for that photographer friend, here's Part 1 on some terminology for beginners.

Its a good list, though, I don't know if its all for beginners. Perhaps for the aspiring prosumer.

Cheers,

Antemeridian

Outside looking in . . . Holiday Gifts

2006-12-20T17:05:00.000-05:00

*Note - This is the first article in what I hope will be a series, looking at Canadian and North American culture through examining other cultures' traditions, actions, behaviours and events.

The Japanse are masters of gift giving. Whether it be a small gift presented when you are meeting someone or visiting someone or returning from a trip, in many ways, it has been broken down into a science.

At this time of year, another tradition arises: oseibo (Oh-say-bo). This is the traditional Japanese New Year's gift. Given to people you have interacted with over the previous year, its a way of thanking them, or to repay someone for their help throughout the year. This is also a way of showing how you value a relationship, and in the largely structured Japanese gift market, the value is easily calculated.

But this brings me a little closer to home. It seems to be more and more customary these days to give small gifts to people you work with, teachers, acquaintances, customers, suppliers, etc. as a way to show that you "value" the relationship.

This leads me to a question. Do gifts lose their meaning when they become standardized or expected as part of the relationship, or do they show the value of the relationship because you felt that you should have given a gift?

Maybe both?

Antemeridian

Lingua Franca?

2006-12-19T21:16:00.000-05:00

While a student, I had the opportunity to study in Japan for a year. I got to live with a Japanese family, learn the language, and attend a Japanese university for the third year of my degree, and it was definitely an interesting experience.

As a result, I've always found it interesting to see the interaction between the Japanese and English languages in Japan. For those of you who know about the language, Japanese has words known as "loan words." Basically, words from other languages that have been adopted into the Japanese language, and adapted to the Japanese phonetics. Whether this is apato (apartment building), depato (department store) or pan (bread, from the Portuguese), they've been modified from the original pronunciation. Hell, even McDonald's can be a mouthful (Makudonarudo).

So, seeing this article in the Daily Yomiuri, I found it an interesting look at the goals behind teaching English (or any foreign language).

I think the author is on to something. Unless you are a translator, learning a language should be about communication, not being able "to speak like a textbook."

This is something that isn't only present in Japan, but everywhere multiple languages might be used. I live in Ottawa, which has a large bilingual population, from both French and English backrounds. I hear stories of friends who speak French very well, but because they made a small error in their speaking (used the wrong term, or a slightly wrong verb conjugation) when dealing with a sales clerk, the clerk suddenly switches to English. Now, this isn't always a bad thing, if the clerk is happy to work in both languages, then great. However, some clerks almost seem to get angry about being "forced" to work in another language (which they also speak fluently).

Now, I'm coming to the kind of cliche question, why can't we all just get along? But seriously, if someone is trying to make an effort to communicate in a language, why don't people accept that effort and work with them. Why get mad at having to switch to another language just because they perhaps aren't fortunate enough to speak more than one language? Or why ignore their efforts just because its not perfect?

This is especially important for people who start learning languages later in life, or who may not have a chance to live in an immersive environment, or who may not have a natural aptitude for other languages. If one does understand multiple languages, why not try to communicate. I know I've had conversations in English, French, and Japanese where neither of us spoke the other's language fluently, but through meeting in the middle, we could communicate.

In summary, I guess it comes down to two points. For our language instructors, let's also make sure we're focusing on the day to day communications, not just conjugating verbs or using the past perfect tense, and for those of us who do speak more than one language, let's give people a chance, we could all use the practice!

I guess this post is part rant, part discussion. What do you all think? Chime in on the comments, let me know your thoughts regarding the end goal of language instruction/learning and multi-lingual communication.

Cheers!

Now its not Beta . . .

2006-12-19T21:14:00.000-05:00

Wow, a Google product out of beta. And on the day I get into the beta. . .

Now in Beta . . .

2006-12-19T16:19:00.000-05:00

Well, just a quick note, seems that after logging back in later in the afternoon, I did get the migration over to the Beta.

So labels it is . . .

Musical Cartography?

2006-12-19T12:25:00.000-05:00

Browsing around today, I came accross an article from Discovery.

Basically, for those of you who didn't click through, there's a piece of software in development that analyses the music in a person's libary on a variety of traits, and then organizes it into a visual "map" of islands, based on these characteristics. Users could then navigate through their library based on these "islands" and hear music based on these criteria, rather than the usual playlist/album/etc. format. To sum it up, I'm picturing Pandora meets iTunes meets MS Flight Simulator.

Now, this is something I find interesting on its own, but also makes me think, what if instead of Pandora/iTunes meeting MSFS, what if it was something along the lines of Google Desktop Search (or Spotlight if you prefer) in this interface mash-up?

The data mined from these indexed search could be browsed visually. Or perhaps this is even a new way to view search results. Narrow down the field with a few keywords, and then your new Data Atlas takes shape, allowing you to (literally) come at a problem from a variety of directions.

For those interested in the various productivity methodologies, could this be a counterpart to the mind map? Not just an internal processing/brainstorming exercise, but finding a way to mine all your past data in new ways?

If anyone has any feedback, please, leave it in the comments!

Cheers,

Antemeridan

Okay, Reboot Attempt 2

2006-12-19T12:20:00.000-05:00

Well, this is something I've been meaning to do for a while, as can be seen by my previous attempt to restart blogging about 9 months ago. Well, here we go again. For the time being, I'll probably keep things fairly basic, as I still haven't gotten the invite for migrating over to the Blogger Beta, and I don't feel like making the jump to Wordpress at the moment, so we'll stick with plain vanilla Blogger.

Well, here goes attempt 3!

Cheers,

Antemeridian

43 Folders

2006-03-22T20:19:00.000-05:00

This one will be brief, more just a recommendation for a blog to check out. For those interested in the GTD system, check this one out. It's focused a little more towards the Mac crowd, but at the same time, it also has a lot of good tips for working on the overall GTD system.

If anyone has any other good blogs on the GTD topic, pass them along! I'm always looking for more to read on the topic, and its interesting to see what other people are saying and doing in this field.

Filed under:

GTD
Blogs

The future of air travel?

2006-03-22T19:39:00.000-05:00

Well, I was flipping through the channel this evening, and caught the tail end of an interview on discovery.ca, and it was regarding the Aeroscraft. Check it out here.

Looking this over, must say its interestin, if nothing else. Could be nice to take some of the pressure off some of the mid-distance intercity travel. And if it would be a little cheaper than the usual airlines . . . well, who knows?

A change in direction

2006-03-20T20:39:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note, those of you who have been reading, may have noticed a change in topics of late. Well, with the end of the election a few months back, I've decided to refocus this a bit, or perhaps unfocus would be a better term. Look to see some changes over the next few weeks, aiming for more frequent posts, a broader spectrum of topics, and hopefully, more feedback and readership from you!

Thanks,

Antemeridian

Podcasts

2006-03-20T20:08:00.000-05:00

For those of you who are looking for some good podcasts, there's a few I'd like to recommend. In the mood for some technological news, check out CNET's Buzz Out Loud, with Tom Merritt, Molly Wood, and Veronica Belmont. For some interesting discussion on a wide variety of topics, check out the new East Meets West, by Tom Merritt and Roger Cheng.

On the music side, I've just recently found some interesting electronic podcasts, namely Podrunner and One Nation Underground. They're updated biweekly, and feature mixes ranging from one to two hours. All in all, good mixes.

Does anyone have anything else they'd like to recommend? I'm always on the lookout for some more to listen to!

For links, check out

http://podcast.cnet.com/ - The Home of CNET's Buzz Out Loud
http://www.subbrilliant.com/blog - Check this out for East Meets West
http://www.djsteveboy.com - Both Podrunner and One Nation Underground hail from here.

Filed under:

Getting Things Done

2006-03-14T19:59:00.000-05:00

Well, this week I started a new project, organizing myself. For those of you who know me, you know what that's like. For those who don't, you can use your imagination.

So, what makes it seem doable this time, as opposed to the other times I've tried and it just hasn't worked? A system that finally seems that it fits with my personality, the Getting Things Done system by David Allen. (http://www.davidco.com/)

Frankly, its a system that just seems to work, and for someone still fairly new in a job, I've made it a priority to try and stay organized. So, for those who might be looking for something to get themselves organized, and found that nothing else has worked, I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone.

Filed under:

Weekends . . .

2006-01-20T10:48:00.000-05:00

Okay, so its Friday, thankfully, and the weekend is almost here. So basically we're looking at 2 days of me wanting to catch up on some R&R, but will most likely be spent getting stuff done I don't have time to do during the week, and showing up to work Monday morning more tired than Friday!

So what's my proposal? Hey, I'm all for 4 10-hour days as opposed to 5 8-hour days. Still get the same amount of time actually at work, but get more USEABLE time at home.

Any comments? Alternate suggestions? All are welcome.

(Note: These are the kind of posts that come from a tired mind)

2006-01-20T10:20:00.000-05:00

Well, this is just a quick note, with the election only a few days away. It's now January 20th, and I'm still not 100% sure who I'm going to vote for, but its been an interesting campaign. Nobody really knows how things are going to turn out, but it should be a good one.

As the election will be drawing to a close, so will this section of the blog, really. While it started off as a grand idea, it was unfortunately sidetracked by the rush of the holidays and of course, regular life and work picking up. All in all, it was an interesting experience for me at least, and got me focused on some of the issues, and looking in deeper at an early part of the campaign, rather than just relying on the news coverage.

From now on, I guess the blog will transition to something of a more regular rant, who knows how often, and on what subject, but if anyone would like to bring up topics for discussion, don't hesitate to let me know!

Cheers!

The Issues Series Vol. 2 - Child Care

2005-12-06T13:55:00.000-05:00

This seems to be another issue that has come to the forefront early in the campaign. Different plans have cropped up as to how best take care of our children under 6. Here's the brief synopsis thus far.

Conservative Party
Stephen Harper really started pushing the discussion on child care this week with his announcement of the $1200 annual benefit ($100 monthly) paid directly to families for each child under the age of 6. This would be to offset the cost of childcare in the best way the parent sees fit. The program, estimated at $10.9 billion over 5 years, would also create 125,000 new daycare spaces through tax credits to companies and community groups.

Liberal Party
Paul Martin and the Liberals announced several months ago their creation of a Childcare and Early Learning program, allocating $5 billion over 5 years (through 2009) to subsidize spaces in daycare programs. Today (Dec. 6) he annouced that they would be extending the program, making it $11 billion over 10 years.

NDP
Layton and the NDP have taken a stance on childcare that is slightly different. Basically, the NDP aren't campaigning to win the election, they are campaigning to have some of their ideas be represented as the "power brokers" of the next parliament. So based on that, they have set a list of conditions for child care, as "having a network of accessible, quality child care providers with regulated standards, and preventing public dollars from paying for private, big-box-style child care." (From http://www.ndp.ca/).

The Green Party
The Green Party's stance on childcare focuses on several things. They've stated that they wish to both develop a national childcare system, as well as provide incentives to businesses to increase programs such as flextime and on-site day care services.

The BQ
The Bloc has the fairly standard response in something that falls under the general provincial purview. Pretty much they signed their deal with the liberals for $1.125 billion to run their provincial childcare system, and that's as much input as they want from Ottawa.

Again, everyone, feel free to comment.

The Voting Youth

2005-12-06T13:05:00.000-05:00

Here is an issue that seems to crop up every election, and then largely be left dormant between elections. Youth and voting. To some, a big deal, to others, not so much. Reports of the last election's turnout in the youth demographic were quite low, but now a new story crops up saying that 88% of people aged 18-24 intend to vote? And 70% of them affiliate with a party? (Check out the story)

I'm sorry, but I find that hard to believe, for a few reasons. As a member of said demographic, while I intend to vote, whenever I attempt to have a conversation regarding political issues with my friends and peers, I frequently find they don't have any idea what the issues are. And as such, many of them have said that they don't want to vote as they don't know enough about what is going on. Is that wholly their fault? I don't think so (and its also partly the reason I started writing this blog).

I think much of the problem stems from the fact that young people don't feel that they have a say, or true representation in Parliament. Many people look at the government and see a bunch of older men and women, more representative of their parents and grandparents generation than their own. Is that 100% accurate? Not necessarily, but even for some of the younger MPs, younger voters don't necessarily relate to them either, due to ideology, attitude, or how they act in the House of Commons.

So what needs to be done? Sure, people my age could work to take a larger interest in public affairs and politics. And the parties could meet us halfway, and start focusing on some of the issues that appeal more to younger voters, and delivering their messages in channels that younger voters connect with.

These are some of my thoughts on the issue, if anyone wants to suggest anything, please comment, this is definitely a subject I'd like to hear some discussion on.

Debates on Debates?

2005-12-06T11:34:00.000-05:00

This is an interesting issue for the current Canadian Election. When scheduling the leaders debates for the 2006 Canadian Election, the media panel which organizes them has chosen who gets to speak.

For those of you not following too closely, the panel, which consists of CBC, CTV, Radio-Canada, TVA, and Canwest-Global have decided that in the 4 televised debates (2 English 2 French) the leaders speaking will be Paul Martin of the Liberals, Stephen Harper of the Tories, Jack Layton of the NDP, and Gilles Duceppe of the Bloc Quebecois.

Now, where is the issue, some ask? Well, there is a party called the Green Party, who might have something to say about that. While small, they did garner 4% of the popular vote in 2004, and are running candidates in all ridings. Now, the same can't be said of the Bloc. While they did gain a larger portion of the popular vote nationally (12.4% according to Elections Canada results available at http://www.elections.ca/scripts/OVR2004/default.html), they do only run candidates in Quebec. So, for the voter in the other 9 provinces and 3 territories, what is the relevance to having the Bloc in the debate?

Frankly, I personally care more what the Green Party has to say than the Bloc purely because I can't do anything to affect the results of the Bloc. Sure, include them in the debate, as there are many voters in Quebec who do want to hear what they have to say, but for the rest of the country, its more of a preview into the election elsewhere than something they can directly take action on. For the remainder of the country, I personally think that it would be good to have the Green Party included in the debate. And if another new party develops, and starts to gain the publicity, include them too. The debates should be about giving Canadians the chance to hear what each of the major parties in their ridings have to say on the issues, and until they are willing to include parties like the Green Party and other future parties, no significant change will happen. Then we're just hearing the same stories from the same players.

So what do I say? Give them a chance, see what they have to say, and let us hear all the options.

The Issues Series Vol. 1 - Health Care

2005-12-05T15:13:00.000-05:00

The hot-button issue of late, Health Care is something that is sure to be a big deal this campaign. With differing philosophies regarding public and private care, wait times, and spending, the parties definitely have their work cut out for them in selling their respective packages, to the Canadian Voter. So, in no particular order, here are some of the key points on Health Care:

Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberals point out the money allocated towards health in the last budget, at just over $41 billion spent over 10 years. This includes working towards shorter waiting times, increased medical staff, and a national pharmaceutical strategy to be implemented by mid-2006. They also state goals towards improving access to health care for groups such as aboriginals, those requiring homecare, and to improve community and family care.

In the public versus private debate, the Liberals haven't really weighed in as of yet, more just stating a committment to the Canada Health Act.

Conservative Party of Canada
The Conservatives have mentioned their healthcare plans early in the campaign. Thus far it has been based on following the National Health Accord, designing a system to guarantee a minimum acceptable standard for wait times, and strengthening the public healthcare system so as to remove the additional need for an alternative.

NDP
Jack Layton and the NDP have thus far stated that they will fight any push towards a private system and will increase Health Care funding to the provinces.

Bloc Quebecois
The Bloc pushes for a more hands off approach from the federal government, while wanting increased federal funding.

The Green Party
The Green Party has a platform based around several things, including supporting universal health care, increasing promotion for a healthy living, activity, and healthy eating, and increasing research into and usage of alternative healing methods. They also take a fairly progressive stance on some of the more sensitive areas of medical research.

Thus ends volume one, for the moment at least. Should you have any comments, or notice any inaccuracies, please let me know, and I'll work to correct them.

The Issues Series - More to follow . . .

2005-12-05T15:00:00.000-05:00

As I've been speaking to a few friends and coworkers, some have said that they may not vote because they just don't know what's going on. Well, based on that, I thought I might take the time to try to put together a brief summary of where the parties stand based on the info available online. So I'll be posting here periodically, and trying to keep things up to date. If anyone would like to comment on things I've missed or what you'd like me to cover next, feel free.

Local vs. National

2005-12-05T14:17:00.000-05:00

I think this is something that is starting to become more of a debate, both internally and externally. Now, it isn’t something that everyone will have to face, but there are those of us who may have to make the choice between choosing a local candidate that we feel is most competent in representing the riding, and voting based on the party we want to make the government.

I know, in my riding, I am currently facing this proposition. Do I vote for a candidate I really can’t stand, for a party that I may want to make the new government (I’m still undecided about that, as there’re 7 more weeks of campaigns to see first), or do I vote for the candidate I actually think would be a good representative, and support a party that I may not actually want to rule.

In my opinion, this is one of the problems that needs to be addressed in the Canadian electoral system. The role of an MP is not merely to determine the party making the government, but to represent their riding. However, with the current electoral system, our voting doesn’t always reflect this.

So what needs to be done to fix this? Well, one solution as I see it, is to begin allocating a number of seats based on popular vote percentages. Now, I’m not advocating a 100% proportional system, as then we can lose some of the local representation that our MPs purportedly provide. Perhaps a second vote on each ballot to a party that may or may not be the same as the candidate voted for to select these.

So where would these seats go? Well, there are a few options that could be touched on in a few posts of their own. Maybe through an expansion of Parliament, or through changing the Senate to a proportionally elected body. There are other options as well.

Frankly, I think that this is one of the things that will need to be changed to really have an effect on the Canadian political landscape. It would allow for new voices to be heard in government, and for people to have a say both in how their riding is represented and their country governed, as opposed to possibly being forced to compromise between the two.

Time for Change?

2005-12-05T13:41:00.000-05:00

As the most recent election campaign spins up here in Canada, I can’t help but sit here and wonder what is going on in our political landscape, and where things are going. We are in an environment that seems ripe for change, yet will it actually happen?

Canadians seem now to have choices to make about where they want things to go, but there are many things to consider. Who do we want to lead the country? Should we be voting for our local candidate, or the party we feel we should? Should we be voting for the party that says they’ll do the things we want, or the party we think will do the things they say?

These are all issues, and things I’d like to touch on throughout this blog over the coming weeks and beyond. Should anyone have any comments, please feel free! Open discussion is something we could always use more of.