Prince George, British Columbia

The worldwide climbing community was shocked earlier this month to learn that acclaimed Canadian ice climber Guy Lacelle was swept to his death (while momentarily un-roped) during an ice climb in Hyalite Canyon (when a team climbing above him triggered a spindrift avalanche into the gully) in a competition at the Bozeman Ice Festival in Montana. Our collective hearts go out to Guy’s widow Marge, and to the many, many friends and climbing colleagues whose lives this master touched…

A 2008 Alpinist interview with Guy worth reading is here.

Copenhagen, Denmark

Leading up to the Copenhagen global climate negotiations that start next week, Greenpeace is currently running a clever ad campaign in the Copenhagen airport. Adverts feature digitally aged images of sad-looking world leaders apologizing for not addressing climate change when they had the chance. (Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper looks like “the saddest hockey coach in the land” according to one pundit).

I, for one, am not holding my breath in expectation of meaningfully positive outcomes from the upcoming talks… and I must say, with our country’s shamefully deplorable environmental record (and total lack of leadership) in recent years, this is one of those (thankfully rare) times I’m truly embarrassed to tell folks that I’m a Canadian.

Winnipeg, Canada

It’s been a busy weekend, helping Ev set up and then disassemble her Handmade Holiday Sale craft table at the West End Cultural Centre. An unexpected bonus was the discovery of some beautiful silk-screened posters in the venue’s lobby and hallways… bearing socialist quotables by the likes of Woody Guthrie, Dom Hélder Câmara, and Bertold Brecht. (My apologies for the crappy photos—low light and shiny glass made for less than ideal conditions).

Winnipeg, Canada

This Friday (16:00 to 22:00) and Saturday (10:00 to 15:00) Ev will be at the West End Cultural Centre in Winnipeg (586 Ellice at Sherbrook) along with 15 other local artisans. Please do drop by to check out her unique “handmade wares”… Friday night will also feature live entertainment and a cash bar.

Winnipeg, Canada… late on a long day.

My good friend Gregor the programmer just sent me this link for Scroll Clock, along with the note “someone has too much time on their hands.” My favorite is still this old-school “Flip-Style ‘Pata Pata’ Clock” screensaver however… which I’ve been using for several years.

Now that it’s almost the witching hour, I’ll head outside to take in the last of the Leonids (annual meteor shower) for a bit—they promise to be brilliant in the perfectly clear starlit sky…

Winnipeg, Canada

This day of remembrance, gratitude, and reflection also seems like a suitable time to (re)consider pacifism… following is an excerpt drawn from a useful and more in-depth online posting, here.

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Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes or gaining advantage. Pacifism covers a spectrum of views ranging from the belief that international disputes can and should be peacefully resolved; to calls for the abolition of the institutions of the military and war; to opposition to any organization of society through governmental force (anarchist or libertarian pacifism); to rejection of the use of physical violence to obtain political, economic or social goals; to the obliteration of force except in cases where it is absolutely necessary to advance the cause of peace; to opposition to violence under any circumstance, including defense of self and others.

Pacifism may be based on moral principles (a deontological view) or pragmatism (a consequentialist view). Principled pacifism holds that at some point along the spectrum from war to interpersonal physical violence, such violence becomes morally wrong. Pragmatic pacifism holds that the costs of war and inter-personal violence are so substantial that better ways of resolving disputes must be found…

Toronto, Canada

Julia’s work is both conceptual and intuitive… her illustrations have garnered recognition from awards annuals and associations including 3×3 Magazine, American Illustration, the Society of Illustrators (LA), Lürzer’s Archive and Taschen’s Illustration Now! Julia is also an educator, currently in her seventh year as an instructor at Sheridan College, where she explores Conceptual Process and Visual Language with her illustration students. Her first picture book, An Eye for Colour, the Story of Josef Albers (written by Natasha Wing) was published in September by Henry Holt.

See more of Julia’s work here…

Vancouver, BC

Leo Obstbaum, the creative mastermind behind the designs of the Vancouver Olympic Games, died suddenly in his home of natural causes in the early hours of Friday, 21 August 2009. Leo was just 40 years old, and left behind his beautiful wife Monice and young daughter Dakota. Leo was admired and respected by everyone who knew him, as was demonstrated by the hundreds who attended his funeral and remembrance celebration.

Mark Busse has written a moving and beautifully illustrated tribute to Leo here, and the Society of Graphic Designers of Canada (GDC) has awarded Leo with posthumous professional membership (MGDC). A poignant description of Leo comes from one of his colleagues at VANOC, designer Ben Hulse:

“The brightest of eyes. The biggest of smiles. The warmest handshake. The proudest father. The cool hunter. The king of design. The king of the party. But most of all a dreamer. He helped each of us realize a dream, and how fortunate that the biggest dreamer realized so many of his. He remains an unstoppable inspiration to all of us. Leo, you are an icon. You will be missed dearly, but through us your dreams live on.”

View a beautiful video tribute put together by his colleagues here. Read a nice article in Shift here.

Rest in peace, Leo… forever young!

“In my experience, the theory hits practice pretty quickly.”

(thanks to Bob Roach and Rick Strong for these quotable truisms—from the GDC’s Listserv earlier today)

Winnipeg, Canada

OK. So, this is admittedly a bit weird (for me to be posting, I mean, given that I have never had children)… but don’t you agree that wee Haylee (Ev’s two-and-a-half-year-old grand-daughter) is over-the-top cute? Her favourite colour is pink (as you can see, followed closely by purple, as you will learn if you talk with the little lass for a bit) and at this point in her life, she aspires to be a “Rina-rina,” (Ballerina in adult parlance) or, maybe, a welder—like her dad Jayson.

In the above images, Haylee is modeling her outfit for the upcoming Halloween (thanks to proactive mom Nicki).