Heart of Canada

Oral History Buffs, Use those Airmiles!

This should prove to be some fun!

Jigsaw!

Edmonton Rally for Canada

Here's a link to the Edmonton Rally for Canada.

What did Mike Duffy say?..."Sad, sad, sad."

So far, Dion wanted a do-over on national news, had an EPIC FAIL with his televised national address, and now this, courtesy of SDA.

I'll let Hughes Mearns speak for me on this one:

As I was going up the stair,
I met a man who wasn't there.
He wasn't there again today...
Oh how I wish he'd go away!

If those plotting to overthrow the government are so concerned about the economy, why aren't they publicly putting forth their ideas, instead of obsessing about their obvious hatred of Stephen Harper?

UPDATE: Video of the Toronto rally. Check out the excellent signs, plus you can hear the speaker.

And to your Left...Academia

Every once in a while, I read something that reminds me of my days as a professor. Then I take a Tums.

Charles Adler's got it exactly right. People have precious little tolerance for Conservative viewpoints in academia. Trust me -- I worked there for twenty years. If you have anything approximating large or small-c conservative values, you put up or shut up if you want to stay in the gang. If you're libertarian of any stripe, you should just leave.

The sad truth about this, though, is that universities socialize people. Is it any wonder, then, in this highly educated country of ours, that we have so many socialists?

On the other hand, in the Great Canadian West, where many people settled who actually had lived under socialist and communist rule in Europe, is it any wonder that the majority want to be anything but socialist?

Here's a gem from Adler:

Continue reading "And to your Left...Academia"

Diary of a Gong Show

According to CTV, this is what was happening behind the scenes when people across Canada were waiting for the Liberal Party's leader address tonight:

6:15-6:30 - The Liberals miss their promised deadline to deliver Dion's statement to the television networks.
6:40 - Liberals arrive with a single tape at the press gallery in Ottawa. They were supposed to deliver two tapes: one in French, one in English. They arrived with a single tape in DVD-minicam format, which is not broadcast quality.
Shortly after 6:40 - The Liberals decide to run back to their offices -- a block away -- because the French portion of the tape needs another edit.
7:05 - Liberal staffers are still in their offices as the networks go to air with the Harper address.
7:07 - Harper's statement finishes and network anchors are forced to kill time as they wait for Dion's address.
7:10 to 7:15 - Liberal staffers arrive back at the press gallery on Wellington Street with a DVD-minicam player that they had taken from their own offices, along with the associated cables. There is still only one tape, not two. A press gallery official tells the Liberals that the gallery is not the feed point and an argument ensues. The Liberals ask why they weren't told that earlier. The feed point is next door at the CBC building, which is the long-established feed play point for all network pools. The Liberals are informed that they need to be walked into the building by authorized staff.
7:20 - English network anchors are still live on television, wondering where the tape is. CTV has still had no communications from the Liberals about Dion's address.
Approximately 7:15 - CBC receives the tape and begins dubbing into French and English versions. This takes about 10 minutes.
7:28 - CTV decides to go off-air and back to regular scheduled programming at 7:30. CTV has still not seen a feed of the tape.
7:28 - CBC incorrectly punches out the finished feed only to their network.
7:30 - CTV signs off broadcast at scheduled time.

*

Rally for Canada!

If you care, attend!

Do's and Don'ts in the National Parks

We went to Banff. It cost us over $130 to get into the park for a week -- not your typical family rate, in my opinion. We love the mountains and try to respect nature. We thought it was a little silly that we were not allowed to take a rock or a stick from the park. However, when a park ranger reprimanded one of us for talking to a chipmunk -- yes, for talking to a chipmunk, well that was just ridiculous. Birds can squawk at chipmunks but people? No, because obviously the National Parks system does not consider humans to be part of the natural order of things.

So remember, if you go to Banff, DON'T talk to the wildlife.

Upstarts and usurpers beware: Don't do this at work

Just so it's perfectly clear and the record is set straight, I founded the oral history project . The project started in 2000, not in 2002, and the first public announcement about the project was made in May 2001, although some public awareness of it already existed earlier than that. Two research data collections were completed on the oral history project before the lifestories project was ever even embarked upon. The first data collection was a study of Ukrainian perspectives on parenting, and the second was a videotaped collection of interviews with Ukrainian leaders in the province.

Also, I proposed the lifestories project to the college in 2001, before any other researchers later involved in the project were ever employed there. In 2002, other associated researcher(s) asked me to participate in the oral history project because, allegedly, of a high level of interest in my work on oral history. I let other(s )participate in the project by co-facilitating on the project I had previously proposed. So, no matter how far around the globe other researchers go, no matter how many newsletters are published, no matter how many merit increments anyone makes off of my original data and work, I always will be the founder of the original oral history project.

I suppose I should be publishing this notice and correction in an academic journal, not just on a blog.

*sigh*

I miss blogging.

I like blogging.

I should blog more.