Thursday 29 November 2012

Man, Grass, and Oilhoppers


"One hundred trout are needed to support one man for a year. 
The trout, in turn, must consume 90,000 frogs, that must consume 27 million grasshoppers that live off of 1,000 tons of grass."

-G. Tyler Miller Jr., author and environmentalist

**Prezi Presentation: Environmental Education**

Sunday 25 November 2012

UNESCO or World Wonder?

The environment does not only include flowers and trees. Buildings, landmarks, bridges; they are also a part of our environment. On that topic, people occasionally tend to mix up UNECSO World Heritage sites with the Seven Wonders of the World. There are in fact more than seven world wonders if you include the "natural" wonders, "new world" wonders, "ancient" wonders, etc. The World Heritage list, on the other hand, includes close to a thousand properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the "World Heritage Committee" considers as having outstanding universal value. A sight like the Pyramids of Egypt, for example, is on both lists but that isn't automatically the case. Also, having UNESCO World Heritage status does not necessarily help when war is involved. An example of that right now would be the ancient markets in Syria that have sadly all but burned in September, 2012 during the course of their civil war. 

UNESCO World Heritage Sites: World Heritage
Seven Wonders of the World: Seven Wonders
Syrian War: Syria in Flames

(Ancient markets in Aleppo, Syria)
Before the war...

During the war...

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Flower Power

Another unique photographer that caught my attention recently is American Andrew Zuckerman. His trademark is capturing animals, flowers, or other things with a distinctly white background "divorcing subjects from their context and equalizing the larger conversation between them." It is definitely one of the most minimalist approaches to photography/film-making I've ever seen but the results are simply breathtaking. His photography exhibitions are all over the world but he is more famous for his short films, especially the one on Wisdom which features several prominent actors and politicians. People like him don't really need additional press (considering he was on the Ellen show recently) but I genuinely like his work!

Check out his website: Andrew Zuckerman
An interesting article: Flower Portraits



Sunday 18 November 2012

Justin Trudeau

No one can argue that a lot has been written about Justin Trudeau since his surprise win over Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau in a charity boxing match last year. When he announced his desire to run for Liberal leadership in September all hell broke loose and journalists from every corner of the country sought to get a piece of him. Apart from being Liberal and the son of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, however, I found myself knowing surprisingly little about him so I did some light research and came up with some interesting facts. Now that he has been officially named Liberal leader I hope he earns the trust of the country back and proves that he is more than just a pretty face with a name!

Ten Random facts about Justin Trudeau:

10. Parents: Father was 15th Prime Minister of Canada for 15 years while his mother was 30 years younger and suffered from Bipolar Disease, publishing "Changing My Mind" in 2011.
9. Born on Christmas Day, 1971 in Ottawa while his dad was Prime Minister.
8. Youngest brother, Michel, died in an avalanche accident in 1998 at age 23.
7. Married Sophie Gregoire, a model and former television host in Quebec in 2005.
6. Invited Brian Mulroney to his wedding who also supports his bid for leadership. 
5. Holds a B.A. in Literature from McGill and a B.Ed from UBC.
4. Taught social studies and French for five years at high schools in Vancouver.
3. Running against the mother of his half-sister Deborah Coyne for Liberal leadership.
2. He is an astounding speaker and perfectly bilingual in English and French.
1. Called Environmental Minister Peter Kent* a "piece of shit" in the House of Commons.

Check out his campaign website: Justin for Liberal Leader 
The final results: Liberal Leadership

Here he is speaking passionately about Education and the state of our Environment:


*For more on what makes Peter Kent so questionable, read my October 14th post.

Thursday 15 November 2012

Beautiful Destruction

Louis Helbig is a man of many talents; aerial photographer, visual artist, trendsetter. He gave a presentation on his photography last week at the University of Ottawa and I've been quite  captivated by his work ever since. One of the perks of flying your own airplane is being able to see things in a completely unique point of view. Helbig uses this to his advantage, snapping away at landscapes that are simply unfathomable to the average eye. His particular interests include sunken village and the Alberta tar sands. This is what I mean when I say do something you're passionate about...

Check out some mesmerizing photographs:



Monday 12 November 2012

Montreal Botanical Garden

Although Ottawa is littered with museums, a decent botanical one does not exist here. Sure there are some nice shrubs around Parliament, but if you want to visit a one-of-a-kind set of gardens, might I suggest the Montreal Botanical Garden located on 4101 Sherbrooke East (near the Olympic Stadium). Over 22000 plant species flourish there along with several greenhouses, and thematic gardens including First Nation, Chinese, and Japanese ones. The fee is $15 for Quebec residents and $11.25 for students.

Here are some pics from my last visit over there... 







Wednesday 7 November 2012

GM Foods 2: Prop 37

November 6th was an important day for the Americans in more ways than one. Sure it's great that Obama got reelected. Obviously some people were rooting against him, but pretty sure that those people are not the types to be reading a blog like this. Maryland, Maine, and Washington also legalized same-sex marriage and Wisconsin elected its first openly gay senator. Another less publicized event that occurred yesterday was the rejection of Proposition 37, otherwise known as the GM Food Labeling Bill which would was largely seen as a test-bed for the rest of the country and continent.

This proposition was introduced in California this year. The aim was to require mandatory labeling of genetically modified/engineered foods and not to falsely label products as "Natural". It is interesting to note that pro-GM companies like Monsanto, PepsiCo, and Kraft had put in over $45,000,000 on advertising against this Proposition while organic food companies like the Organic Consumer Fund, Nature's Path Foods, and Amy's Kitchen could barely muscle up about $8,000,000.

Unfortunately, 53.7% of Californians ended up rejecting the Proposition yesterday. In this day and age it seems that elections are won with money and power, but does a Proposition like this win no matter what the results? As long as it gets people talking and thinking about what goes into their foods, isn't that a good thing? Personally I feel that consumers have a right to know what goes in to our bodies. Apparently 90% of US-grown corn and soybean is genetically modified and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

Do you think people have the right to know what's REALLY in our food? The Right to Know

Also, check out some info and FAQs from Europe: Labelling of GM Foods

Monday 5 November 2012

Alberta Tar Sands

What does one need to know about the Alberta tar sands? A ridiculous amount of heavy crude oil is located around Fort McMurray, North of Edmonton. Athabasca is a river that runs through it and is obviously loaded with traces of oil that were noticeable to people centuries ago. It was only a matter of time before North America realized getting oil from its neighbors up north made a lot more sense that carrying it in boats from the Middle East. 

Although this is certainly helping Canada economically, I see nothing but bad news coming out of this in the long term. As it is, few animals can survive in that area and many that do are riddled with tumors and diseases. Commercial planes are actually forbidden from directly flying over the tar sands as the sight of it would surely shock the passengers. Although most people I know are aware of the existence of the tar sands, few (including myself) know a whole lot of details since keeping a population ill-informed of such exploits seems to be the trend. 

Millions of barrels a day are transported to the United States and that is why Keystone XL is building a pipeline that would easily carry oil from Northern Alberta all the way to Texas. Despite the fact that First Nations and environmentalists are against its construction, phase one has already begun. My feeling is that nothing, aside from an apocalyptic event, will stop the completion of the pipeline. Information is out there. Documentaries have been made. Petitions can be signed. Whether any of this makes a difference remains to be seen...