Vancouver at Night

Vancouver at Night
Originally uploaded by julebule.

I think I love this city.
Really.
Really really.

I Called Them Hummingbirds

While south of the borders, relaxing for a few days, I had a chance to really slow down time, and enjoy the surroundings; if 72 hours counts as relaxing. :-)
At the resort we happened to be at, the Fiesta Americana Condesa
there seemed to be hundreds of different employees, zooming and zipping, taking care of the property, the guests and the services. Instead of 3 bartenders, there would be three times that many, flitting around, changing ashtrays, bringing napkins, spiriting empty glasses away. Something on the ground? An outside worker would zip in, remove the offending trash and zip out again. grass cutters, pool skimmers, sweepers, washers, people with carts and cloths and rakes. It was a veritable beehive of activity from before 6am until after 9 pm.

And so we wondered, the wiz and I - is there so many people, with so many inconsequential tasks because the labour is so very cheap? Is it because an individual's productivity is low, and by extension, they can only be counted on to do one thing, and one thing only? There were so very many workers, and they were so darting and zipping, I crowned them the Hummingbirds of the resort.

After our room was broken into, I realized the gravity of having so many different employees working in one place.  So many hummingbirds were flitting around every day, each time i left the room, or used the balcony, or walked from the balcony to the beach and back. So many eyes, so many conections. Perhaps the hummingbirds had us staked out. It's likely. It's unfortunate.


Technorati Tags: Cancun, Hummingbirds, Fiesta Americana Condesa

What happens in Cancun....

.... doesn't necessarily need to stay in Cancun.  It was an outstanding trip. 4 days, all the sun you can take, and all the marguerittas one can sip.  Mango marguerittas are perhaps a better invention than sliced bread. Dangerous.

I met the Wiz on wednesday; he had gone done early for an AT&T conference, and by Wednesday, it was just rapping up.  Thursday was blissfully uneventful, nothing more strenuous than the ocean, the beach and the swim-up bar at the pool. :-) The resort was beautiful.  Simply stunning. The Fiesta Americana Condesa.

Tourist days happened on Friday and Saturday, where we played around in the ocean snorkeling, visited aquariums and shopped. Curiously enough, Cancun is EXPENSIVE. No fooling. Pesos are easy to come by, and EASY to spend. The economic basis of Cancun's existence is tourists willing to part with their dollars to buy memories. The economic imbalance between the tourists and the inhabitants is significant, and it's hard to block that imbalance when the cost of the drink you are sipping is equal the the daily wage of the person serving it to you. I'm not sure how many other vacationers are challenged with this ethical dilemma, but we were.


Saturday night, our last night in Mexico, and we didn't want to do anything too silly - a dinner on the water, a few gentle beverages; we were pleased to return to the resort - only to discover our room had been broken into. We lost both cameras, a Rogers Blackberry and a few Canadian dollars. The kicker was the loss of the almost full memory cards in the cameras. Damn. That hurt the most.

Funnily enough, my TELUS Blackberry remained behind in the carnage. Even Mexicans realize that my stupid Suretype keyboard is crap. :-)
The concierge from the hotel was outstanding, and took charge - taking us to the Policia, doing the translating and making sure that all the documentation was completed and signed off. Insurance, thank god. Despite the loss of the excessive number of photograps, it was a fantastic trip. Just what we needed for a few days. The coming days, weeks and months are going to make us thankful that we were able to get away, if only for a moment.


Technorati Tags: Cancun, Fiesta Americana Condesa, Mexico

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Back in Canada

loads to update.
apologies for tardiness.

Stay tuned - what happens in Cancun doesn’t need to stay in Cancun, but what you bring to Cancun doesn’t always come back with you either.
Adrien - I need some camera advice now.

;-)


Technorati Tags: Cancun, cameras

Winter Ice and Snow - Ontario Gets Come Uppance

Imagine - the winter wonderland.  Not good timing. But of  course, bad weather rarely comes at a good time.All of Ontario is being hit by ice, show, sleet and rain. I am stranded in London.  The freezing rain has rendered most of the major highways as accident magnets. Our collective giggling over seasonal temperatures - we might have well said "Shutout" in the 3rd period.

Somehow, I've got to get back to Toronto in the next 24 hours in one piece. Thank Nissan for 4 wheel drive.

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Common Sense - Not So Common in BC Anymore

From The Zero Boss

B.C. school yoga classes slammed
Yes - Really.  The province notoriously know for new age, granola munching, and the ever popular tree hugging has now gotten some bad mojo from a few insane Christians. Sad but true. It’s the uneducated ones that may be the worst. I have a feeling that the Devil is having alot more fun stirring up the dust in Afghanistan than using Yoga to trick kids to “let them into their souls”.
Some of the quotes provided in the CBC report sound so very backwoodsy and (Religious-Right American, sorry about that) that it makes me shudder that Canadian can appear so creepy as well.
Where are the hungry lions when you need them?
Yeow.





Technorati Tags: yoga, christians

Building A New Year's Theme

I took a few minutes off work tonight (yes, working at night - that's another story) and stopped by Back in Skinny Jeans where there was an outstanding post that resonated deep within me - likely in the sub-cockles of the heart - about having a New Year's Theme, instead of the oft-abandonned New Year's Resolutions.

What a stunning idea. I'm thinking of themes that can rap up these initiatives:

• personal growth and a deeper self awareness of who i am and where i want to be
  
• reconnecting with friends and family
  
• improved ability to be *tough*
  
• improved health
• de-stressing
• balancing work and life
• developing more photographic skill
• developing more patience
• building and encouraging creativity
  

Now - I need to come up with an over-arching theme that can encompass all these pieces....

I toy with the idea of "decluttering".. but that's seeming fairly static. Authenticity and Vibrancy are suggestions of Skinny Jeans, and they feel close, but not exact either. I would imagine that deciding on a theme for a year is something that one may not be able to nail down in one blog post.
Suggestions welcome :-)

Thanks Skinny Jeans!


Technorati Tags: New Year's Theme, Back in Skinny Jeans

The Sickness of 2007

I'm not the only one - 9 days into the new year - and 9 days of only operating at half value. First the flu, the dreaded flu - you know what I mean. And everyone who's anyone got it over the holidays. And now, it's mutated into a painful cold. The kind that makes you want to overmedicate yourself every night, only to wake with a cough syrup hang over in the morning.

I've got 6 days till mexico.13 days till London. 21 days till Vancouver. I need to be healthy. Damn. The telecom world rests for no one.


Technorati Tags: 2007, flu, cold, cough syrup hangover

My Blogging Z-List Meme

Mark Evans led me to Billionswithzeroknowledge.com, which led me to The Viral Garden, and the idea of a Z-List of Bloggers.  Although, truth be told, there are more than a few folks on the list below who have risen above the rank of Z Lister. :-)

The idea is that publicizing Zlisters will pull more and more wheat out of the chaff, making a better experience for both writer and reader. Now that’s an appealing idea, akin to The Good Blogs (which, by the way, has over 11,000,000 blogs in it’s widget)
Go ahead, copy the list into your own blog, add blogs that YOU like (try and stay away from the A-lister blogs, huh), and see what happens!


The Idea Dude
Steve’s Tech Journal
Telecom Trends
Ali Thinks
I’m Not Bored
Zazzafooky
A Rain of Frogs
My Name is Kate
jules.ca
Creative Think
Soloride
Movie Marketing Madness
Blog Till You Drop!
Get Shouty!
One Reader at a Time
Critical Fluff
The New PR
Own Your Brand!
OTOInsights
bizandbuzz
Work, in Plain English
Buzz Canuck
New Millenium PR
Pardon My French
Troy Worman’s Blog
The Instigator Blog
AENDirect
Diva Marketing
Marketing Hipster
The Marketing Minute
Funny Business
The Frager Factor
Mindblob
Open The Dialogue
Word Sell
Note to CMO:
That’s Great Marketing!
Shotgun Marketing Blog
BrandSizzle
bizsolutionsplus
Customers Rock!
Being Peter Kim
Pow! Right Between The Eyes! Andy Nulman’s Blog About Surprise
Billions With Zero Knowledge
Working at Home on the Internet
MapleLeaf 2.0
darrenbarefoot.com
Two Hat Marketing
The Engaging Brand
The Branding Blog
CrapHammer
Drew’s Marketing Minute
Golden Practices
Viaspire
Tell Ten Friends
Flooring the Consumer
Kinetic Ideas
Unconventional Thinking
Buzzoodle
Conversation Agent
The Copywriting Maven
Hee-Haw Marketing
Scott Burkett’s Pothole on the Infobahn
Multi-Cult Classics
Logic + Emotion
Branding & Marketing
Popcorn n Roses
On Influence & Automation
Bullshitobserver
Servant of Chaos
converstations
eSoup
Presentation Zen
Dmitry Linkov
aialone
John Wagner
Nick Rice
CKs Blog
Design Sojourn
Frozen Puck
The Sartorialist
Small Surfaces
Africa Unchained
Perspective
gDiapers
Marketing Nirvana
Bob Sutton
¡Hola! Oi! Hi!
Shut Up and Drink the Kool-Aid!
Women, Art, Life: Weaving It All Together
Community Guy
Social Media on the fly
Jeremy Latham’s Blog
SMogger Social Media Blog
Masey.com

Technorati Tags: Z-List Meme, blogging

On the Trail of the PufferFish - or How to Spend $500 Quickly

PufferFish
Originally uploaded by sinned4ohio.

It’s hard to find a good pufferfish. Thanks to sinned4ohio for capturing this perfect wee devil.
There’s something mildly human about his face, and the interest in his eyes suggest some level of floobergeist.

I am so close to wanting to get one. I can almost feel him.

Starting to feel the same about the Blackberry Crimson, since the wiz has been stalking the illusive Indigo since before Christmas.  I have him convinced that the Suretype keyboard is for sh&t. :-) And it is.  

Im also feeling a wee bit woozy about the Canon SD700. 

I’ve got a cash christmas pressie burning a hole in the proverbial wallet. Can’t decide what angle I want to pursue. No Adrien, it’s not going to be a Mac. A fish? A berry? A camera?

What sort of interesting thing would you pick up if you had $500 (and no - you can’t pay off a bill with it). 

Experimenting with Technorati Tags: Daniela Cicarelli, Saddam, Studivz, Youtube,