Body Worlds

An unbelievable exhibit that was in Vancouver for the better part of the fall until last weekend. I had slept on it for quite some time and finally got over to see it. Spectacular.

The exhibit uses real bodies to display the anatomical beauty of the human body. It uses some spectacular positions to highlight certain aspects of our physique, as well as some very interesting dissection techniques to present different views and parts of our body. Definitely worth checking out online and in the (excuse the cheese) flesh should it come to hood nearest you.

How Canadian are you?

A great article in the Globe and Mail about an issue I feel strongly about, national identity.It's something I often fret about and may be overly concerned about. According to the article, however my concerns may be justified. Focusing on the children of "visible-minority" immigrants, the article states that these individuals are identifying less and less with Canada and often integrate slower into Canadian society than their parents.

Given Canada's multicultural hodge podge, we really only have an identity if people integrate and contribute to the mix. Those marginalised, or those who marginalise themselves contribute little to Canadian culture and detract in some ways. Now I know stats can be misleading, but it is an issue that needs to be brought into the open and focused on if we are to be anything more than a land of satellite countries. Something to think about?

The "D" word

I was trying to think about when diversity could possibly be a bad thing. Take something like the concept of hot, and one can easily list many instances of when hot is good. By the same taken, one can also go on and on about when hot is not good. Hot car seats, hot lettuce, hot vodka and hot flashes are just a few examples. Diversity on the other hand, hell I can't possibly think of when you could have a negative aspect of diversity.

The reason for my train of thought came about while running through a slightly dodgy part of town. The area is a little run down, and suffers from some poor planning. It is, however in the process of revitalising itself thanks to some changes. I got to thinking about diversity while running through this area, because a friend had mentioned how building densely populated answers wasn't always a good thing in terms of planning. I agree, but density is needed to bring in adequate amounts of people to make a number of things viable. Transportation, a bustling street life and a mix of shops/services. Density by itself would not bring all the aforementioned things, but diversity sure would get you closer to that.

Building diverse living accomodations, diverse building types and trying to keep a mix of ethnicities in an area will all foster the types of places that are worth living, working, playing and being in. There is so much mono everything, and it seems like every time you stop there is a bit more. I say think diversity in everything we do and we'd all be a hell of a lot better. Although, if we all were thinking diversity, could diversity in itself be considered mono?

La vacance

Visiting family and friends in Toronto was a great experience. Never ceases to amaze me how easy it is to feel "at home" again after having been away for months. The conversation never dies and the only strangeness comes from the temporary nature of the relations. One week just isn't enough.

Seeing as many people as possible was great. Had the chance to see some friends that I haven't seen in quite some time which was excellent. Again though, it makes me sad when we get up to leave and I realise it will be months maybe even a year before we catch up again. There being no shortage of great places to be in and visit makes it even tougher to peg down when our next coffee will be.

Going downtown was great as always. Such a great feeling being in the mix of so many people and cultures. So many lifestyles crossing pathes over and over again. I especially enjoyed popping into the Opera house, which is a state of the art building. Gorgeous and another great landmark for Toronto.

A list of "to do's" awaits for the final days of my vacation. Not all of them are banal which is uplifting. We'll see how many end w/a line through their heart.