Happy Halloween!

For Our Troops and their Families

Earlier this month I blogged about Dennis LeClair's "To Our Canadian Troops" commemorative album, all proceeds of which go directly to The Military Families Fund (created in 2007 by General Rick Hillier), a fund that assists military families faced with problems that result directly from service. This fund continues to grow through the generous contributions of Canadians whose continued support of our Canadian Forces members and their families is very much appreciated. 

Purchases can be made at a CANEX, on LeClair's website, or on iTunes. If you would prefer to purchase your CD over the telephone you can do so by calling 250-860-4912. 

Mooooo!

I was very excited to come home and find that my Moo Cards had arrived! I loves them! These are the little business cards I have on my key chain that everyone asks about, looks at and then chooses their favourite - I find they are quite popular. I print them with pictures I have taken myself and this batch of Moo Cards has my social media info printed on the back.

I highly recommend Moo Cards to anyone who is looking for a fun and non-traditional style of business cards that they can put their own personality into (these would also work well as gift tags). Check out Moo.com for other items you can create and have printed and you too can have the great experience and customer service that keeps me coming back year after year! Also, if you would like to order something let me know as I have some promo codes for 15% off your next order - I'd be happy to send one to you.

Dancing with Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son, the battle is between two "wolves" inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grand son thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

Edmonton Tweetup!

I am soooo tired in this picture...

Finishing off a very busy week (including Beyond 2010, the Hackathon, the Yeg Girl Geek Mixer, and the Empire Avenue Boardroom) was a great BBQ tweetup hosted at the iNews880 Radio station. A HUGE thank you goes out to Edmonton's fabulous Brittney LeBlanc (and her boss) for such a successful gathering. It is great to have a venue for a family friendly tweetup and the radio station knows how to make any night fun!   

Long Live the Cabal...

There is no Cabal...

The Edmonton Empire Avenue Boardroom on October 21 was well attended with more than 40 Empire Avenue Influencers and some local twitterites who were EAv curious. Highlights of the evening included mingling with out of towners (e)ADRIEL and (e)DUPS, gathering together the most amount of Cabal members to ever (yet) be in one room and checking out the new Empire Avenue iPhone App that is currently being beta tested (coming soon). As always I was pleased to meet people IRL and put faces to twitter names and tickers.  

A big thank you shout out goes to Trevor at Original Joe's Varsity who always treats us right! Highly recommend!

Beyond 2010 Hackathon

I've stayed up all night with a great group of talented people at the Beyond 2010 Hackathon (in Edmonton, Alberta) and an equally talented group of people in Birmingham UK. We've all been hard  work developing a mobile app tool to help people in the event of a disaster. It's been a fun and productive process and I really love the truly collaborative nature of the project - we've all been using typewith.me to produce the written documents and skype for conference calling with the UK Hackathon team. I'm really happy to have had an opportunity to be involved in this (thanks to Brittney LeBlanc for coordinating!) and I can't wait to use and see the final product! And hopefully we will all have created something that saves lives and eases suffering. 

Look at me, I'm in a Cave!

I was the featured Empire Avenue member today on the Dragon's Cave.

You can read the whole article HERE.

Red Sky in the Morn...

Edmonton Sunrise Oct 19 2010

Four Easy Steps to Voting in Edmonton!

I've heard various reasons over the past few days as to why people don't vote or why they likely won't vote in tomorrow's election. Some people expressed that they don't know "how" to vote and they don't want to feel dumb when (if) they get to the ballot box. I've thought a bit about this and I understand that no one wants to feel this way but the process of voting is actually fairly easy (and quick). If you are 18 years old, live in Edmonton on election day, have been in Alberta for six months and are a Canadian citizen then you get to vote for Mayor, one city councilor and one school board trustee (either public or catholic).

Here's FOUR easy steps for those living in Edmonton:

1. Find your Ward and Candidates. You can find your ward using this LINK.  Once you know your ward, a complete list of the candidates is found HERE.

2. Learn a little about your candidates. Most of the candidates have websites and if they do you'll find their links HERE.  

3. Find your polling station using this LINK. Your polling station is open on Monday between the hours of 9am and 8pm only.

4. VOTE! On Monday October 18 2010 go to your polling station between the hours of 9am and 8pm. Take your ID or alternatives with you (there is no voters list). The most commonly used types of identification are an Alberta driver's licence, Alberta ID card or your Canadian passport. If you don't have any of these, check this LINK for other types of accepted ID.

If you require assistance marking your ballot you can even get help from a friend or the deputy in the voting station.

If you are like me (I'm still undecided for Mayor) I encourage you to get yourself to the ballot box on Monday - at the very least, if you still can't decide, you can spoil your ballot. Remember we have something amazing here in our country but the only way our democracy works is if citizens are active participants. Just vote.

Empire Avenue Photo Contest!

The Empire Building Network has just announced the first Empire Avenue photo contest.

Post an original photograph between October 16th 9am (eastern) and October 19th at 9pm (eastern) to the Empire Building Network Facebook page. The picture that garners the most number of likes and comments during that time will be determined the winner (each like will count as one vote, each comment will count as two votes and only one vote per person, per entry will be counted). You will be permitted to like and vote for your own entry and there is no limit to the amount of other entries you can vote on. You can also vote on all entries without submitting something yourself - but it would be more fun to see your pictures in the contest as well!  

Check out the Empire Building Network Facebook Page to see all the rules. And good luck!

The UltraAVX Experience...

 
Thanks to Cloud AdAgents and Cineplex Entertainment, last weekend myself and 8 other Edmonton twitter friends had the chance to experience the new UltraAVX Cinema in South Edmonton Commons.

The UltraAVX theatre experience offers you a chance to reserve your seats, a feature I'm a huge fan of and certainly took advantage of. This involved me going to the Customer Service desk where a very helpful agent showed me a seat layout of the new theatre and helped me to choose the exact seats I wanted. Once I had made my selection he gave me my tickets with the row and seat numbers on it, just like a concert. When the group of us returned later that night for the movie there was no line ups and we went directly into the theatre and found our seats. I really liked that when everyone went to grab food there was none of the typical anxiety involved with having to protect seats or try to make a jacket stretch over as many chairs as possible. This in itself might have been enough to impress me, but the theatre has more to offer than that.

The first thing we noticed when we got to our seats was the seat - like individual rocking armchairs that allowed plenty of leg room to get comfortable and lean back if you'd like. I really liked the mobility of the chair. In addition, each row of seats is positioned high enough that your view isn't obstructed regardless of where you're sitting or how tall the person in front of you is. I can honestly say that I haven't had as comfortable an experience watching a movie in a regular theatre, but then this isn't a regular theatre.

UltraAVX features a large format wall to wall movie screen, allowing for a great image from wherever the vantage point (although I wouldn't suggest sitting too close to the front or on the extreme sides). The theatre boasts dolby digital surround sound which made me feel immersed within the sound which was a neat experience. I didn't feel like the sound was coming at me like some other theatres I've been in although it wasn't as loud as an IMAX theatre. There may have been a better movie choice to showcase this sound experience (we saw Secretariat) but I quite enjoyed it nonetheless. All in all it seems to me that this is how movies should be experienced.  

I was impressed enough with the UltraAVX experience that I can't wait to go back. For me, the 15.75 per adult ticket price (11.99 child/senior) is worth it just for the convenience of selecting your desired seats before hand (in the past I've waited hours in line ups hoping to get the seats I wanted), but the quality of the experience is now something that I am looking forward to, especially for the more anticipated movie releases (like Harry Potter). Maybe it's not for every movie experience, but I'll certainly be back!    

You can find an UltraAVX theatre in both the Cineplex Odeon North Edmonton and Cineplex Odeon South Edmonton Cinemas. 

Also, read Brittney's review here, and John's here.  They're awesome!

Happy Thanksgiving!

In Canada we celebrate Thanksgiving Day on the second Monday in October. For us it is a celebration of the end of the harvest season, similar to the older English continental-European Harvest Festival and not totally unlike American Thanksgiving celebrated in November (first a pilgrim celebration at Plymouth Plantation). I think in the past it made sense to have a party after working so hard through a summer to prepare for the coming winter. In more modern days we get to focus more on family gathering and the blessings that we are thankful for in our lives.

I am thankful to live in Canada. I am thankful for the opportunity to raise my family here and that our quality of life and standard of living makes it possible for each of us to explore the things that interest us and allows us to pursue our goals and dreams. Today I am cognizant that this experience is not shared by all of the earth's citizens and I am grateful to be Canadian.

I am also thankful for my family, our continued good health and the many blessings we share together everyday.    

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Happy 10 - 10 - 10!

Everyone knows the answer to the ultimate question of life, universe & everything is 42.

10 10 10 in binary = 42. For geeks worldwide that makes today, 10-10-10, #42day. Which then, by further extension, makes it an awesome day to celebrate The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

So fellow hikers, let us commence the celebration!

"The Effect was Instantaneous..."

Ninety four years ago today, on a bleak battlefield known as the Somme, along a forsaken line known as the Regina Trench, a young boy of only 20 years old would spend ten precious minutes of his life displaying such courage that - unbeknown to him - it would reach years into the future to make such an impression on me that my heart would burst when I first learned of it.

I was a young Canadian Scottish Regimental cadet (2422 RCACC) learning regimental history when I first heard the name Piper James Richardson. In my tender youth, for me, his Victoria Cross was a matter of legend and pride and I wanted to be as brave as I imagined him to be. It wasn't until my basic training that I would learn the harrowing details of the amazing story that earned him that honour and it wasn't until I was much older that I came to realize just how spectacularly terrifying that whole time must have been for him.

The setting of the story of those ten minutes is the battle for the Ancre Heights. Piper Richardson (who had joined the 16th Infantry Battalion Canadian Scottish as a private and piper) was part of an advancing company that had been pinned down in a storm of enemy fire - machine guns, rifle fire and artillery. Heavy casualties, the death of the company commander and the mounting gravity of the situation had taken the momentum out of the attack. Just when it all hope seemed lost Piper Richardson asked his sergeant-major if he could pipe them over the top. Yes, he volunteered.

For what must have been the most amazing ten minutes in Somme, Piper Richardson, fully exposed, marched back and forth just outside the enemy wire playing his bagpipes for his troops. Not a single enemy bullet struck him. The citation to his VC decoration would later read "The effect was instantaneous. Inspired by his splendid example, the company rushed the wire with such fury and determination that the obstacle was overcome and the position captured.”

Instantaneous indeed - and all these years later my heart still fills with wonder, inspiration, pride, amazement, thankfulness and a tiny bit of sheer terror when I think of Piper Richardson's courage in those ten minutes.

John Wayne once said "Courage is being scared to death... and saddling up anyway." I don't know of a finer example of "saddling up anyway."

NOTE: In honour of this anniversary the new Pipes of War website launches today.

Guestblogging From an Undisclosed Location

Duncan and I co-wrote a playful election piece for Edmonton's popular podcast talk show - The Unknown Studio. Involving Battlestar Galactica and Edmonton's 12 wards, it was a lot of fun. Intrigued? You can read it here:

Edmonton’s Quorum of Twelve (October 07 2010, the Unknown Studio)

The Force Is Strong With This One...

Happy Birthday to my Soul Mate. May the Force Be With You today and for many more birthdays!

T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far

To Our Canadian Troops by Dennis Leclair

When I was at the CANEX yesterday I noticed a a small card advertising a commemorative CD being sold as a fundraiser to support the Canadian Military Families Fund. I found the card in my pocket today, looked up the song and enjoyed it enough that I wanted to share it here.

If you like information on how to purchase the CD you can visit LeClair's Website HERE.

Let's go see the stars!

Today I received an interesting offer via twitter from Shannon Hunter, who works with Cloud Ad Agents in Toronto. Here is what her email said:

My name is Shannon and I work for Cloud AdAgents, a digital advertising agency representing Cineplex Entertainment. We’ve been asked by Cineplex to invite Edmonton’s most influential social media users to experience an ultra cool advancement in movie theatre technology, UltraAVX!

Why is UltraAVX worth Tweeting about? Because it delivers one of the most immersive entertainment experiences possible. UltraAVX features wall-to-wall screens that are significantly larger on average than traditional screens. A superb digital surround sound system utilizes the latest in Dolby digital sound technology. Special projectors provide stunning, crystal clear images.  And to top the experience off, reserved seating options and extra wide high back, luxurious  rocker seats.

We’re talking to the best, the brightest, the most dialled-in people we can find... and giving them tickets to try out UltraAVX on us!

Starting Friday, October 8, UltraAVX opens in Cineplex Odeon North Edmonton and Cineplex Odeon South Edmonton Cinemas. We’d like you and a friend PLUS four of your followers on Twitter or four of your blog readers to come check out a movie in UltraAVX and experience what we believe is the next generation of theatre. 

So, if you need something to do on Saturday (movie T.B.A.) and would like to check out a movie on the new UltraAVX screen with me (and Duncan), let me know (via @ message on twitter). I need four friends from the Edmonton area who would be willing to tweet about the experience.

Livestrong Together

 

Fourteen years ago, on October 2, Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer - but with the news that it had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain his chances were greatly hampered. He was only 25 years old.

 

Through a combination of determination, education, physical conditioning, aggressive medical treatments and a positive attitude, Lance fought back at the disease. Before even knowing how the story would end he declared himself a cancer survivor. He created the LIVESTRONG Foundation as a support and advocacy group for other survivors. And he never backed down. Amazingly, after his treatments finished, he went on to win the Tour de France a record breaking seven times in a row.

 

Lance Armstrong has been an inspiration to me and his LIVESTRONG website has long been a source of knowledge and motivation for me as I try to incorporate healthy choices into my own lifestyle.         

 

Today is LIVESTRONG Day - a global event to raise support and awareness for the 28 million cancer survivors worldwide. I am going to wear yellow today in support of the LIVESTRONG ideology and in honour of Lance Armstrong and the way he showed us to believe in our strengths. 

 

You can also participate in LIVESTRONG Day online - help spread the word.

Updating my links...

If you were wondering where @AllieW went ...  I am now @Allie!

Please Don't Kill Yourself

It's hard to be a kid/teenager sometimes. For some maybe even most of the time.

I remember it as being the most difficult time in my life. I didn't feel like I fit in or that anyone really understood me. I felt alone a lot of the time. I was sometimes angry that the world didn't seem to appreciate the person I was becoming. Sometimes I even thought no one would care if I died. At the time I really believed these things to be true.

But I was wrong. Those lonely and sad days don't matter anymore. Today the world is full of people who like me and love me for who I am - no matter what. As an adult there are many opportunities for me and most importantly, I can be who I want to be. The world is large and there is a place for everyone within it. 

I don't mean to suggest that life will be uncomplicated, but it does get easier and it is worth it. There is love, sunshine and happiness to experience ahead of you. You will meet people who will change your life. These things will make the challenges easier to bear, I promise. 

I wish I could say to Tyler Clementi that I would love to hear him play the violin someday, because it is true. I am sad that I will never have the chance to tell him that.

I would implore the world for acceptance; to raise caring and compassionate children; to irradicate bullying and stereotypes and for people to fight against injustice or cruelty where they find it. This is an ongoing battle (but one that can be, and will be, won).

Until then I want everyone to know, no matter how hard things are right now, how alone you feel or how desperate you might be, that there is a world where we are all one. Not everyone is totally there yet but we are here, waiting for you. Come join us.

For Just One More Birthday

On Sunday a tweet from Rhiannon MacDonnell brought me to this video and the latest American Cancer Society campaign, More Birthdays. The slogan is "the official sponsor of birthdays." It's a good campaign and if you go to their site you'll see many popular artists are participating.

This campaign especially touches me because in 2004 Duncan and I both lost parents to cancer, each of them dying just days short of their respective birthdays. Of course, there is no good time to say goodbye to a loved one. 

The Canadian Cancer Society also has an amazingly powerful campaign. They tell us that every three minutes another Canadian finds out they have cancer. There's a good chance that none of us will have lives unaffected in some way by this disease. We need to support research and development as we work towards finding a cure.  

And until then, here's to more birthdays. For everyone.

Gunned Down in Scarlet, Coldest Blood...

"When Mayerthorpe, she cried, as her four horsemen died"

I'm happy to hear today that the Alberta Court of Appeal ruled that Shawn Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman will serve the remainder of their sentences. Both men pleaded guilty to four counts of manslaughter in the shooting deaths of RCMP Officers Peter Schiemann, Leo Johnston, Anthony Gordon and Brock Myrol. 

I believe that what these two men did was reprehensible and feel strongly they must accept responsibility for the consequences of their actions. 

James Roszko, often referred to as a psychopath, was a well know locally as a criminal with a history of violent, armed offenses. It is unlikely that any rational person who knew him would have allowed him the benefit of doubt or not take seriously his stated intentions.

In addition to driving Roszko back to his farm and providing him with a firearm and ammunition, both Hennessey and Cheeseman admitted that they knew Roszko was planning on murdering "as many RCMP officers as he could." While they considered alerting police, they decided against it.

THESE MEN COULD HAVE SAVED FOUR LIVES.

Instead they chose to remain silent and that choice allowed these events to unfold as they did. I believe they had a duty to make a different choice that day, to take action to protect life.

Of course, I do feel that our system failed terribly in this regard, to this day I am astonished that a man like James Roszko was not incarcerated in some fashion. But that's a whole other topic.

Shine On Harvest Moon

Tonight we bid summer goodbye with the advent of the Equinox at 9:09pm. Before that however, if the skies remain clear, the Harvest Moon will rise in the east just as the sun sets at 7:32pm. As you watch the moonrise you will notice Jupiter in the eastern sky as well. Happy Autumnal Equinox Edmonton!

How Do You Say "Fun" in Irish?

According to their twitter bio, Ceilis "is an Irish Gaelic term meaning a gathering of friends for song, drink & dance." Every time we have visited Ceili's we have found this to be true; the friendly staff, good service and plenty of specials (plus sometimes a little twitter play thrown in to round out the evening) makes it a great place to hang out.

This past summer we were at Ceili's for a tweetup and they had a promotion for Alexander Keith's Pale Ale which allowed you one contest entry for every beer purchased. Needless to say Duncan was a huge fan of this prospect and managed to garner more than enough entries over the course of the evening. He really was enjoying himself, perhaps a little too much, but any guilt he may have harboured dissipated when the winning contest entry was drawn and it was his name they were announcing (well, half his name anyway, as they really couldn't pronounce the last name). He had won a BBQ. Not just the BBQ itself, but also hamburgers and beer for ten friends, delivered, cooked and served.


Yesterday, Kaley and Justin from Ceili's Edmonton arrived at our home with the BBQ and fixings to prepare for us an amazing feast. They attended to our complete happiness; making sure we always had beer, they cooked burgers until no one could eat any more and in the end they cleaned the BBQ and took the dishes away with them! I think I can safely say that a delightful time was had by all and that the hospitality shown to us by Ceili's will be long remembered.


I want to extend a sincere thank you to Kaley, Justin and the staff and management of Ceili's here in Edmonton for the evening. I will also wholeheartedly recommend Ceili's to everyone in Edmonton (or Calgary and Vancouver) who is looking for a relaxed but fun authentic Irish pub with good food and a decent selection of beer. Ceili's is an Irish pub done right!

Oh, and the Irish word for fun is craic, but I could have sworn it was Ceili's.

Allie Wojtaszek Photography

Introducing my new facebook fan page - Allie Wojtaszek Photography. Please stop on by and check it out. If you like what you see make sure you click the "LIKE" button so you can see future additions to the site and (if you want to) participate in the discussions.

Empire Avenue is YouTub'in!

Tonight Empire Avenue added YouTube as a network connection. You can check out my YouTube channel HERE and feel free to add me as a contact. I have recently started uploading short video's I am taking with my iPhone.

William Pitcher has created this great video in celebration of Empire Avenue's addition of Youtube. I am pleased to be included (although I'll admit it gave me chills)!

Ottawa Pictures = Done!

Stone lions on guard in Sparks Street Mall.

I finally finished processing the pictures from our summer trip to Ottawa and got them up online. You can view all of them by clicking HERE.

Ottawa is a beautiful city to take pictures in. There is so much to see and so many different ways to see it! I hope you get a chance to check them out.

I See Pictures Everywhere

On Friday I participated in something of a first for me - a live interview with Adriel Hampton via the social media site, twitter.

Adriel asked me questions about Flickr, Empire Avenue and how I tie them both together. The interview could be watched by anyone who wanted to follow along in real time on twitter, but Adriel also put it all together in an article on his blog called Q&A: ‘I See Pictures Everywhere’ which you can read by clicking on the link.

Turns out I'm quite happy to talk about Flickr and my photography so if anyone has any questions they should feel free to ask. The medium of twitter worked really well for an interview and it was a lot of fun so I hope we see more interaction like this in the future.

Don't Let The Terrorists Win

Each year I wonder what to write about on this day and in recent years I have just skipped it. Then an email arrived in my inbox from Michael Moore and I found inspiration:

I am opposed to the building of the "mosque" two blocks from Ground Zero. I want it built ON Ground Zero.

Why? Because I believe in an America that protects those who are the victims of hate and prejudice. I believe in an America that says you have the right to worship whatever God you have, wherever you want to worship. And I believe in an America that says to the world that we are a loving and generous people and if a bunch of murderers steal your religion from you and use it as their excuse to kill 3,000 souls, then I want to help you get your religion back. And I want to put it at the spot where it was stolen from you.

Words can not describe the turmoil that exists inside of me on this subject. PASSIONATE feelings compete convincingly - some fueled by hurt, anger and a sense of duty and others originating from the caring, accepting and protective parts of me. I don't think there is an issue for these modern times that equals how the world has changed since September 11th 2001. It has, and continues to, define us.

Michaels words hit me like a hammer to the forehead. Eloquent as always, he is right. Just because the people who enacted 9/11 considered themselves Muslims does not mean that Islam attacked "us" that day. Just because some terribly bad people are intent on using terrorism in the name of Islam does not make all Muslims terrorists. Terrorists are terrorists regardless of race or creed. I hate the terrorists with every fiber of my being and I want to do everything within my power to stop them. To end them even.

Many of "us" are Muslims - it is not a crime to be a Muslim - and more than anything I want to live in a world where it is both safe and ok for you to be Muslim if that's what you choose. This means we have to stand up for them, just as we would for any other religious belief, because allowing injustice to spread and divide us only hurts all of us further.

Some days it seems as if these two sets of feelings are such opposing values that they don't belong together, but in reality I feel both of them equally and know I desperately need both to produce a rational and tempered response. I have to make a clear choice as to which one wins and I choose FREEDOM.

If we don't rise up to protect freedom (for everyone) then the terrorists have already won.

Elk Island National Park

Today Duncan and I spent the day in Elk Island National Park. We've been a few times but never in early Fall before - it seemed to us as the tree's were turning yellow right before our eyes. It is the beginning of a beautiful season.

Elk Island is only 45 kms away from Edmonton. It took us a few years to discover it ourselves but now I can't get enough of it. It really is a treasure - home to Bison, Elk, Moose, Deer, Beavers, Porcupines, Skunks, Coyotes, etc - it is the perfect place to go for a day trip or camera date. Great trails to hike and you can even take your dog as long as it remains on a leash. I highly recommend it.

Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice...

Happy Birthday Raven!

I'd like a Small Virtual Island...

Last night Empire Avenue went through an "important one-time adjustment to the market," that saw some shares gain and some shares lose. (e)ALLIE fared well in the Erindale "adjustment," my stock went up just over a point (now third on the leaderboards for Overall Share Price) and I received enough eaves that I was able to reinvest in my portfolio and get the Millionaire Achievement Award (that I so wanted). More importantly I am excited that the changes implemented will allow me to produce higher dividends for my investors - I'll be watching that with interest over the next week or so.

As I predicted I was sold out by the time Erindale came into play and there seemed to be some demand so I upgraded again, allowing another 5000 shares of (e)ALLIE to be available for anyone who wants them. As always, if you are interested in joining Empire Avenue please let me know as I would be happy to send you an invite.

True Story...

I had a check up with my Doctor today and he was asking me about my sleep habits - worried that a new medication I recently started might be causing insomnia for me. I wasn't sure how to answer that so I described to him Empire Avenue and told him it was hard for me to know if I was staying up at night because of the medication or because of Empire Avenue. He asked me some questions about how long it takes me to fall asleep once I do pack it in and after some thought he declared that the medication was having no ill affect and that my poor sleep habits are indeed entirely related to Empire Avenue!

Outstanding!

(e)ALLIE is sold out again and I don't think there will be another upgrade for me before Erindale, although I am sure some shares will come available due to normal stock movement. Thanks to everyone who helped me sell 25,000 shares, it's been a lot of fun so far!

Let the World Changing Games Begin

I just watched this TED Talk by Jane McGonigal called “Gaming can make a better world.” McGonigal outlines how Gaming (and Gamers) can save the world. You should watch this TED Talk in it's entirety but I have taken the liberty to aggregate McGonigal's points for you:

Urgent Optimism: Gamers always believe an epic win is possible;

Social Fabric: Gaming builds strong social relationships;

Blissful Productivity: Gamers are willing to work hard all the time if they are given the right work; and

Epic Meaning: Gamer's love to be attached to awe inspiring missions and epic stories.

McGonigal says this adds up to Gamers being super empowered hopeful individuals who believe that they are individually capable of changing the world. To harness this power of thought, we just have to convince them to look past the virtual world to the real life problems of this world.

But I think the challenge would also be to change the opinions of the old school people who would be hard pressed to understand why they should value or empower this type of behaviour. While I believe Gamers (like McGonigal suggests) would happily rise to a global challenge, the virtual world remains the most comfortable place to turn when a person finds little value or satisfaction in mundane workplaces were employers will never value their skills (or recognize their potential). When people are only cogs in a money making machine why would they bother to innovate at work - especially when the rewards from gaming are so much more enjoyable and readily available.

I do think McGonigal is onto something here... but I wonder how will we convince the grown ups that they should let us play?

Do you have your (e)ALLIE yet?

In Empire Building Network's latest article, entitled Top Influencer Scores Compared Prior to Erindale, William Pitcher writes:

“As in July (e)ALLIE, who is ranked 12th by share price, has the best Influence Scores based on the four numbers provided by Empire Avenue. She is also the best value relative to her share price.”

Pitcher goes on to recommend (e)ALLIE, (e)ANGLER, (e)MIMI, and (e)LAUGH as the best value of the 45 share price leaders based on Influence Scores. You can view his spreadsheet here.

As we head into the much anticipated Erindale modifications in just a couple of days I think we are all trying to figure out what those changes will mean for our portfolios. It is common thought that the influencer scores will play a larger role in determining someones value - but we don't really know for sure what that will look like.

I've been trying to focus my investments on influencers who have consistent scores across all of the connections, usually in the double digits. This means (for now) I haven't been investing in those who don't have flickr hooked up or are still in the under 5 range on their scores. Of course, the results of Erindale might change my mind, but that is my strategy going into it. And of course I aim on keeping my own values as high as they can be (within reason of course, it has to be sustainable).

At the time of writing this I have less than 600 shares available... there's a good chance I will be sold out again by the time Erindale arrives. I want to thank all of my investors for their support and Bill (who by the way is one of my best investments) for good analysis and writing!

Looks Like the Summer is Over...

It seems even the trees have given up on summer

In the northern hemisphere summer ends September 23 at 3:09am GMT and then we begin the season of autumn. However, lately in Edmonton it has felt as if summer might already be over - particularly disappointing since many who live here might remark it hardly seems summer ever got started at all.

As much as I look forward to transitioning to fall (and the wonderful colours it brings), it necessarily comes at the expense of summer and sometimes I have a hard time forgiving it for that. I live for the summer time, daydreaming of summer days is what gets me through the winters here.

Because I love you so...

Recently I read about the Pet’s Ten Commandments posted at Pet's Health and wanted to share them here. Of course, this works for cats and dogs equally.

1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Please understand that any separation from you is likely to be painful.

2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.

3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.

4. Don’t be angry with me for long and don’t lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainments, but I have only you.

5. Talk to me. Even if I don’t understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me.

6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.

7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I could hurt you, and yet, I choose not to bite or scratch you.

8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I’m not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.

9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too, will grow old.

10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never say you can’t bear to watch. Don’t make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.

September...

Means I am back to the gym now after the laziness of summer vacation. Thirty minutes on the cross trainer tonight and I am feeling it!

I recently watched a TED Talk (Keep Your Goals To Yourself) where Derek Sivers talks about how you should never verbalize your goals to people as it apparently makes it far less likely you will actually carry through with those goals (something about your brain considering the immediate accolades you get from people when you express your goal to be equivalent to "Mission Accomplished") so I'm not going to tell you how often I am planning on going and I won't list my most immediate goals.

This TED talk is worth a listen and is only three minutes.

Awaiting Erindale

As I ponder the changes that are coming to Empire Avenue next week in the Erindale iteration and how it will affect not only my stock but also those of my investments, I was pleased to see this recommendation from (e)ANGLER on his blog, eavproblog.com.

However the rumours are true, yes they are. Peter Dutton has an amazing flickr influencer score of 46. Check out his flickr profile HERE.

Flickr has long been one of my favourite Web2.0 sites. For more than five years my photo's have been part of the community there and I have easily spent more time there than any other social media site. I'd be happy if you could pay it a visit and if you use Flickr, please feel free to add me!

The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier

When I first visited Ottawa (about nine years ago) I had an entire day to myself. I was staying with a friend who lived along the Rideau Canal but he had to work so I set off to explore Ottawa, walking along the Canal (beautiful, btw) until I eventually got to the end by the Locks and then headed up towards the Parliament Buildings. Between that point and where I was going I came across the National War Memorial and of course, the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier, who had been buried there just the year before (repatriated home from the Vimy Ridge burial grounds in France).

When I came upon the Tomb I was ill prepared for the feelings that overcame me; feelings that ran the gamut from sorrow to thankfulness and finally to brotherhood and kinship. I sat beside his Tomb for a couple of hours, just sitting and thinking about who this person must have been and what his life meant - both at the time he gave it for our country and now, to me (to all of us really).

I could not visit Ottawa without visiting this old soldier again. He may not have a name and we may not ever really know who he is but we do know that he gave us everything in the hopes that we would continue to live free in this world as Canadians. I owe him everything.

His Inner Cowboy

"There is no try, only do."

Wes spent this past weekend with a friend north of Edmonton. They were supposed to do a three day trail ride so Wes went a day early to learn how to ride a horse. We'd been on a couple of rides before - hour long rides - but really he'd never ridden independently.

The weather ended up preventing the three day ride so instead they took the horses to the Gymkhana in Josephburg. Wes and his friend competed in the Intermediate 15-17 yr old division, in events that included barrel racing, pole bending, flag race and something called a keyhole race.

Did I mention he learnt to ride three days before that?

He came home with 3 ribbons - placing second in two events and third in another. He's quite pleased with himself and I think he might be hooked on the whole equine sport thing. Just goes to show you never know what you can do until you actually try!

I Was Here

I remember once when I used to take the bus I was coming home from work on a particularly full bus - people were crammed so close together but everyone was ignoring everyone else. I remember looking at my patch of window, staring out at the traffic (also crammed together) and feeling strangely ... alone. I wanted to reach out and write in the condensation on the window I WAS HERE.

When I was a kid, to be a smartass, I liked to write "Kilroy was here" on various surfaces. But years later I realize the commonalities. I do want to leave my mark on the world... and some might suggest that I have, or that I will, but really in 1000 years (or more) what will I mean to anyone?

Kilroy (and Allie) was here.

Brave Battalion

Spent the afternoon at the Canadian War Museum today. I found it profoundly moving. I didn't have time to find all of the medal sets there from my unit (16th Battalion, Canadian Scottish) and since Piper Richardson's, Pte Milne's and LCol Peck's VC are there I might go back tomorrow.

EDIT: I did go back to the museum but was disappointed to discover that the medal sets, while part of the collection, were not on display. They were actually locked in the vault which apparently needs two people with two different keys to open (similar to a nuclear launch). This intrigued me to learn but the day I went back the other person had called in sick so there was no way for me to view these medals. I will have to make an appointment to come back next time I am in Ottawa.

There are snails in my belly

I pursuit of my goal of eating five new foods this summer I have thus far tried camel, boar and today, escargot. I need some suggestions on what to try next as I am running out of summer. It should be foods that I could actually eat in Canada and I'd prefer no one suggest bugs. The snails were hard enough for me to wrap my head around, even covered in cheese!

Assuming that I have eaten all the regular western diet foods (Canadian and British), I've compiled a list of meats I've had already: Elk, Bison, Venison, Caribou, Moose, Emu, Ostrich, Llama, Alligator, Shark, Lamb, Mutton, Rabbit, Squid, Octopus, Goat, Duck and Pheasant. There was also a cat "incident," but I don't usually talk about that.

I usually am quite interested in trying anything new at least once, so don't be afraid to suggest more than two things.

Ottawa!

We have arrived in Ottawa and had a great day yesterday visiting the Parliament Buildings and then a wonderful evening out with friends at a place called Sweetgrass in the Market area. I had the best buffalo there that I have ever had in my life! Very good.

I am taking pictures with both the camera and my iPhone (with the Hipstamatic App which is responsible for the affect you see above). I have started loading the iPhone pics to my flickr page. You can check them out here.

Might be Time for a Diet...

Duncan said today "My cat might need to go on a diet. She just asked me to bring her Solo and the Wookie..."

Tonight's the Night!

Earth has entered the debris from comet Swift-Tuttle, meaning the annual Perseid meteor shower - the best shower of the year - is upon us. August 12th (tonight) is the peak night of the shower where observers (best to be outside of the city if possible) could witness between 60 - 100 Perseids per hour. Friday and Saturday should offer good opportunities for viewing as well.

Also in the sky tonight (at sundown) will be Venus, Saturn, Mars and the crescent Moon in a tight conjunction in the western sky - AND if you stay up late into Friday morning there are two International Space Station passes over Edmonton to watch. The first flyby happens at 3:54am (look SSE) and the second at 5:26am (look WSW). The ISS is quite bright and will take about 2 minutes to cross the sky.

Tonight has a lot of promise if the skies stay clear. I suggest getting out of the city - Elk Island would be perfect but there is no need to go so far.

Other things to do - Listen to the meteors on radar, check out pictures from people more talented than I and watch NASA's Fireball Cam.

Enjoy!

Biking in Edmonton?

Recently I've witnessed several close calls with bikes in traffic, mostly related to bikes not going fast enough and people trying to get around them in their vehicles. It frustrates me and scares me.

I have a beautiful bike that I love, but it has sat in my basement for almost the entire time I've been in Edmonton because the drivers here scare me (as a driver myself sometimes the cyclist's scare me too). The roads are not bike friendly, yet it is against the law to ride on the sidewalks. To me it almost seems like a battle between rider and driver.

Today on twitter I saw Michael Janz pass along a link for the Canadian Cycling Association CanBike 2 Course being held in Edmonton in September. CanBike 2 is an 18 hour, on-road cycling course that covers both theory of on-road cycling and practical riding techniques. Worth the time for anyone who commutes to work by bike. Click on the link for more info or to register. And stay safe out there.

Send Just Five More Hugs!

As the Edmonton Food Bank nears it's goal of 7500 virtual hugs (that Kraft will turn into 7500 jars of Peanut Butter) I just wanted to ask everyone to please take a minute to send 5, 10, or 15 hugs to aid this process along. Anyone can send hugs, residency doesn't matter.

Send a Bear Hug Now!

To track the progress as the hugs add up, click this link HERE. The Edmonton Food Bank has until this Friday to meet it's goal.

And thank you.

Sunshine on a Cloudy Day

Today's Livestrong newsletter broaches the topic of Vitamin D, something that I have been interested in ever since the Cancer Society of Canada suggested that large doses of Vitamin D can help prevent or fight cancer. Other health experts have suggested that Vitamin D deficiencies (hypovitaminosis D) of Canadians could be attributing to our higher instances of auto-immune disorders, like MS.

Vitamin D (commonly referred to as the "sunshine vitamin") plays an important role in both our physical and mental health. The vitamin is made by our bodies when our skin is exposed to direct ultraviolet rays from the sun for at least 20 mins at a time. The problem with living in Canada is that we don't get a lot of sunshine and we often don't go out in the sun unprotected (sunscreen hampers this process).

I can't recommend to you how much Vitamin D you should supplement your diet with as I am not an expert, but I can suggest to you to go off and research it yourself to determine what would benefit your lifestyle. Personally, in the winter I will take up to 1000 IU a day and in the summer I often drop it down to 400 IU a day and will sometimes even skip it (because I am a sun worshiper and often forget my sunscreen).

Vitamin D is one of only four vitamins that are stored by the body and as such we have been long taught not to take too much of it. This way of thinking is changing with new research and from what I've come to understand it would actually be difficult to ingest enough Vitamin D to produce toxicity (In healthy adults a sustained intake of 50,000 IU per day can produce toxicity after several months). Currently most information I've found suggests the "Tolerable Upper Limit" of Vitamin D is around 2000 IU per day.

Vitamin D is easy to obtain and take in pill form - I would suggest asking your pharmacist to recommend a trusted brand to you if decide to add a supplement to your diet.

Help Spread the Feeling

This week in Edmonton KRAFT Peanut Butter is gearing up to stock the shelves of the Edmonton Food Bank and you can help!

For every virtual Bear Hug you send (via email), KRAFT will donate a 500g jar of Peanut Butter to Edmonton's Food Bank. You don't have to do anything else. You don't even have to live in Edmonton!

Send a Bear Hug Now!

Edmontonians have already started sending their virtual hugs and have until Friday August 13th to send more! At the time of writing this the total was at 2649 jars!

Edmonton’s goal is 7,500 hugs (that's a lot of peanut butter). You can keep an eye on the progress HERE.

For those that prefer a more hands on approach, the Kraft bears Smoothie and Crunchie will be giving out bear hugs at West Edmonton Mall this Saturday (August 14) near the Ice Palace from 11am to 4pm. Just like the emails, for each hug Kraft will donate a jar of peanut butter to Edmonton’s Food Bank.

Let's go to the Market!

This past summer Duncan and I have developed a weekend ritual of hanging out at a Farmer's Market. We walk around the market checking out all the wares and making selections that allow us to support the local economy. Eventually we return home with an armload of locally grown fruits and veggies and sometimes some buffalo or specialty sausage to BBQ. Every trip brings something different.

Normally we go to the City Centre Market but today Duncan suggested we go to the St. Albert Farmer's Market, which happens to be the largest outdoor market in western Canada. With 250 vendor's to choose from you really could find everything here that you might need (except a cool basket to carry it all in). Today we bought some Rosemary Garlic Chicken sausages from Sunworks Farm, an SPCA certified family farm that raises their animals ethically, organically and free range. They were very good!

If you haven't yet been to this market (Saturdays 10am-3pm) I highly recommend it. We will definitely be back.

Where Everyone Knows Your Name

Today this song is running through my head like my theme song.

I'm heading back to the Food Bank today with my kids to volunteer. I'm both excited and looking forward to it. A lot of really good people work really hard under that roof to help a lot of people. Everyone's motivations for working there are different but they are all genuine and pure. For me it's nice to be in a caring environment for a change. And I really like how happy they are to see me.

And while the circumstances of my having free time at this point aren't optimal, I'm starting to feel like the universe really does have my best interests at heart with it's small and seeming strange twists of fate recently. I'm going with the flow and we'll see where the current takes me!

My wish for a happy Friday for everyone is that they see a place of value for them in their lives - have a great weekend!

Stop, Hammertime!

What does it mean?

Originally found in the 1990 lyrics from MC Hammer's song "Can't Touch This" Hammer sings "Break it down, Stop - Hammertime!" right before he breaks into a dance solo.

According to Yahoo answers, the saying has evolved to mean that "it's time to get busy" or "do something like get to work."

An entry on Urban Dictionary says that Hammer Time is one minute every day that is dedicated to awesomeness. "The official time of Hammer Time has been set by the internet community to 11:42 AM."

My favourite, out of all the explanations I collected, is that this phrase is commonly used right before hitting someone with the Gravity Hammer in Halo 3. Now I want to play Halo so I can get some Hammer Time!

Get out and Make a Difference

Volunteering for Edmonton's Food Bank

This past weekend we volunteered at the Heritage Festival, taking donations for the Edmonton Food Bank. It was nice to have an opportunity to volunteer as a family activity and the people at the food bank are wonderful to be around.

Volunteering has always been a way for me to ensure I can have a positive impact on my community. Even a couple of hours once in a while can make a difference to a local organization and leave you feeling accomplished and needed.

If you don't have an organization that you normally support then I urge you to call 311 in Edmonton to find some opportunities to get out and make a difference.

Everywhere a Sign

Enough Said...

Today included an impromptu trip to CFB Wainwright to pick up Wes. It's been one of those weeks so when I saw this sign at the Junior Ranks Mess I knew it was speaking directly to me.

So yes. Thank God It's Friday

Have a Heart?

I want to blog about recycling - but not the kind that comes to mind when someone says "recycling." We can be recycled. Yes, you read that right.

Most of us have a cursory understanding of organ and tissue donation - likely from stories in the media about people waiting for heart or kidney transplants - but I don't know how many people realize that almost ALL of us is recyclable. In addition to our organs you can also donate your eyes, skin, tendons, bones and cartilage. In fact, just one person can provide usable parts for up to 75 different people!

Now that's the ultimate act of recycling!

I like this idea quite a bit but I am ridiculously paranoid about carrying around an organ donor card so I've made other preparations. I've let my family know that should I meet with an unfortunate and untimely death that I would be happy if they donated whatever they felt they could part with. I've also included this in my Will and Power of Attorney documents.

You should think about this too. For more info (in Alberta) check out Alberta Health Services. For other places just google "Organ and Tissue Donation" with your location.

Come Along For The Ride!

In the latest Empire Building Network blog post titled "Breaking News: Empire Avenue Adds Influencer Scores," William Pitcher writes about the new social networking scoring introduced today by the Empire Avenue development team. He calculates an "iRanking" based on the unweighted averages (as they are listed today) of the twenty five influencers on the Leaderboard.

Today my scores are EAv (62), twitter (46), facebook (48) and flickr (37). William's calculations of the top 25 leaders on Empire Avenue makes my iRank at number 1.

"Clearly, there are differences between share price and influence scores with someone like ALLIE scoring well on all four measure plus being number one in weekly earnings while only ranking 12th in share price. Expect to see her move up."

When I read this I was pleased - but also a tiny bit perplexed. I think the only way I can move up in share price at this exact moment is to buy the upgrades to offer more shares for people to buy. While this seems to be a no brainer the upgrades are pricey and will come at a considerable cost to my portfolio.

However there can be no gain without some risk and forward movement is the name of the game - I owe it to my shareholders to continue to build on the investments they have made in me. There will be upgrades forthcoming to offer more shares of ALLIE to anyone who wants them - watch out for your chance to own some of the best producing stocks on Empire Avenue. I can't predict exactly where this new adventure will go but I am confident it will be worth coming along for the ride!

See you on the Avenue!

Sunday Morning Coffee

Duncan makes the best Coffee

As much as I love the whole experience of going out to a coffee shop and sitting in nice chairs while enjoying a hot beverage, nothing at all can beat Duncan's coffee. He crafts the perfect cup from grinding the beans to percolating it through the AeroPress with love and no certain amount of skill. And sitting outside in the yard on a sunny summer morning is better than any coffee shop anywhere.

The Right of Way

CFB Wainwright

We spent last weekend in the bustling Alberta town of Wainwright, there to visit Wes for his birthday, which conveniently coincided with a leave pass weekend. Before we went we had compiled a list of "attractions" in Wainwright and the surrounding area, all of which we finished/saw/did on the first day. The biggest attraction for sure was the Trestle Bridge (literally) and the town's Buffalo statue was a close second.

It was great to see Wesley and hear his stories. He has grown up so much in just two short weeks. It was good also to see the base again, although a lot has changed since my time there - for example they now have fancy barracks to sleep in (we slept in these tiny "H Shacks" with shared showers... ah, memories).

You can see the pictures of the Wainwright trip HERE.