Foxymoron

WorldChanging

This is what you should buy for the person with everything and even those without everything. I don't normally write about products on this blog but I really feel that everyone should read this book.

On Tuesday night, I attended WorldChanging's book launch/event stop in Toronto where I picked up a copy of the organization's first book, WorldChanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century. Both the event and book are inspirational. Like the website, the publication is dense with a plethora of ideas and reasons for how and why we can live better and created a more sustainable, healthy world. Don't be intimidated by the 600+ pages, it is beautifully designed and easy to read.

[mp3] Lily Allen - Everything's Just Wonderful [Buy]
[mp3] Bright Eyes - Old Soul Song (For the New World Order) [Buy]

Chapters.Indigo.ca is selling the book at 34% off, only $31.64CDN
Amazon.com has it for $24.75 USD (it's not available on Amazon.ca yet)

Laundry and the cost of living

Property values are linked to where you hang your undies? According to some American homeowner associations, clothes lines can lower property values by 15 percent, so even though a clothes dryer can account for 10 percent of household energy use (which line drying obviously eliminates), hanging your laundry out to dry has actually been banned from certain neighbourhoods.

If people want proof that laundry lines are not linked to property value take a look at Hong Kong, home of some of the world's highest property prices and some of the most public underwear.

(story via Treehuger / AutoblogGreen)

mp3: Antipop Consortium - "Laundry" (DJ Spooky Remix with Of Unknown Origins)
mp3: Radiohead - "High and Dry"

Call for contributors

I'm looking for contributors to the Foxythings blog. If you haven't visited it, it's a new blog of beautiful design and ideas. The slogan is simple: indie and eco-friendly ideas and stuff. So far, I've written about sustainable homes, indie fashion designers, technology that turns your dance moves into energy and other stuff. If it looks good, isn't harmful to the earth and supports small businesses, then it's welcome on Foxythings, or rather, it is a foxything.

Interested contributors don't have to have a background in design or environmental issues. I don't. The important thing is that you're interested in finding and promoting good and positive ideas and products. So if you or someone you know fits this description and can put a reasonable sentence together, e-mail me. Don't worry, it's not a big commitment. I'm just looking for a few good people to share their idea of a "foxything" once (or, if they like, more times) a week. C'mon, e-mail me.

If you don't want to or can't contribute but like the blog, please link it from your blog or site. It's still getting off the ground and we could use a few more blog friends.

Thanks!

Your children will be next

It has been a pensive week with the 9/11 anniversary and the shooting at Dawson College in Montreal. It's times like these that I wish I could be back in Canada remembering and mourning those events. I felt like I should have been there and not here. Although the news of the Montreal shooting reached Hong Kong news stations, I don't feel anyone but a fellow Canadian could feel or understand the significance of this event. It was was a terrible reminder of 1989 when another armed man shot and killed 14 women and injured 13 others when he went on a rampage at the University of Montreal's École Polytechnique. Seventeen years later and I'm still trying to make sense of it.

mp3: David Usher (w/ My Brilliant Beast) - If You Tolerate This (Manic Street Preachers Cover)
mp3: REM - Sweetness Follows

"It's Great To Be Alive"

Canadian James Loney was rescued from captivity in Iraq last week. He arrived back home this weekend and at Toronto's Pearson International Airport made, a touching statement. The Star has the aduio version. Here's the full text, via Maggie:

I heard there might be some interest in my arrival so I wrote down a couple thoughts. I’ll just read it so I can get through. During my captivity I sometimes entertained myself by imagining this day. Sometimes I despaired of ever seeing it. Always I ached for it. And so, here we are.

For 118 days I disappeared into a black hole and somehow, by God’s grace, I was spit out again. My head is swirling and there are times when I can hardly believe it’s true. We had to wear flak jackets during our helicopter transfer from the international zone to the Baghdad airport and I had to keep knocking on the body armour I was wearing to reassure myself this is all really happening.

It was a terrifying, profound, powerful, transformative and excruciatingly boring experience. Since my release, my rescue from captivity, I have been in a constant state of wonder, bewilderment, surprise, as I slowly discover the magnitude of the efforts to secure our lives and freedom: Tom Fox, Norman Kember, Harmeet Sooden and myself. A great of hand of solidarity reached out for us; a hand that included the hands of Palestinian children holding pictures of us and the hands of the British soldier who cut our chains with a bolt cutter. That great hand was able to deliver the three of us from the shadow of death. I am grateful in a way that can never be adequately expressed in words.

Go Spiderman

I thought I blogged about this back in June when I was Hong Kong on vacation but turns out, I didn't. But one afternoon, I was enjoying coffee and lunch in Lan Kwai Fong and on my way back to the MTR station, I found this man, Spiderman aka Matt Pearce, perced on building. It was a peaceful protest against the Tianamen massacre. The lunchtime crowd gathered in one of the city's busier intersections and was entertained for at least half an hour. I got bored and left before the firemen brought him down.

My colleague, Albert Wong writes about Pearce's appearance in court where he faces charges of causing a public nuisance. Turns out he came down only for a dim sum lunch.

Silver lining

My first reaction to the Canadian election was to cry. Then I got angry. It would be easy to continue lamenting and talk of denoucing my citizenship but I've had almost a full day to digest the news and that's just ridiculous. Yes, friends, it's ugly. But, as a still proud Canadian, there are some things to be happy about:

1) It is a Conservative minority government: With the Liberals, NDP and Bloc adding up to 183 seats vs. the Conservative's 124, it'll be hard for Harper to slip anything radical through parliament. (At least, this is what I'm counting on.)

2) Martin resignation as Liberal leader is a good thing. He didn't help his party in terms of public relations and I think if the Red Team wants to win the next election, they'll need change. This can only help the Liberals — and in turn, Canada — in the long run.

3) Jack and Olivia: together at last. In 2004, Jack was like totally bummed that Olivia wasn't invited to Ottawa but now that people are pissed off with Tony and all his friends, they're like "Oh, Olivia, we totally want you to come hang out" and she's going to. Jack and Olivia are so perfect for each other. They're so hot together. If that's not a love story, then I don't want to believe in love.

4) Canada is still a democracy and the beautiful thing about that is that there is always the possibility for change. Don't turn your back on it now. I may not love the new prime minister, but I still love Canada.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

With a week before Canada goes to the polls again, other parts of the world seem a little more hopeful with the election of two female political leaders: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in Liberia and Michelle Bachelet in Chile.

On the home front, things, at least from my eyes, look a lot less progressive.

It's over

The WTO meetings in Hong Kong are long over but the discussions about it are not. Here, the debate is mainly about the police performance. You can read my personal opinion in an article from Monday's paper in which I basically say "Police, Koreans just doing their job."

Roland at EastSouthWestNorth translated a couple of somewhat contraditory articles from Hong Kong magazines about the police and Korean relations. The magazines, Next and Eastweek, both applaud Commissioner of Police Dick Lee, but the way each descirbes his negotiations with Koreans is different. Judge for yourself, either way, it's an interesting read and I suggest Roland's site for daily translations of Chinese media.

On the actual WTO meeting side of things, my co-worker Zach writes in today's paper, that HK government did alright in hosting the meetings.

OK, that's it. The last of the WTO-related posts.

(Photo: On Fleming Rd. right after the tear gas.)

WTO MC6 Day 5

Frankly, I'm too tired to write a long account of tonight's experience. I will say this however, tear gas sucks. It's far worse than I thought it would be and since I found mself right in the front when it first reared its ugly head, I got it really good.

I will recount the details in the morning when my eyes stop hurting and I stop yawning. I will say, however, that I have a lot of respect for the Koreans. I may not agree with all of their opinions and acknowledge that a lot of their charm comes from very professional publicity stunts, but I like them anyway. Afterall, they outsmarted the police and broke throught barrier at Central Plaza around 7:30 tonight.

They've been very respectful of Hong Kong and its citizens, first of all. And when I was running up the Flemming overpass, tears in my eyes, gagging and gasping for air it was two Koreans, whom on seperate occassions offerred me water to wash away the pain. Of course, I felt guilty when a desperate Korean stood at the end of the overpass and in his broken English tried to deter people from running away from the protest, "No, don't go!" he said.

I did go, but we returned after some Shanghainese food. The Koreans had taken up camp on Glouchester Rd. and within minutes of our arrival, there was more tear gas. Things settled down and I left. Last I heard, no one was allowed to leave the Wan Chai area and John says the Koreans have started singing and dancing in a congo line again.

Tomorrow, we return for the last day of WTO meetings and what is supposed to be the largest protest/march yet.