my dream – laptop with no spinning disk

The Walt Disney Studios will celebrate Earth Day 2009 (April 22nd) with the debut of “Earth,” the first feature-length nature documentary from its new production banner, Disneynature. …

Follows the epic migratory journeys of four animal families as well as the earth’s journey around the sun and the massive influence it has on all life on the planet, from the Arctic spring to the Antarctic winter.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

I’m really looking forward to getting outdoors more this summer. … It’s SNOWING now in Calgary.

Dogbert’s Top Secret Management Handbook

On April 21, 2009April 18, 2009 By Rick McIn books, humour, product endorsements1 Comment

Corporate Business Communication gurus like Ron Shewchuk learn secrets of their industry from authorities like

… world-class consultant Dogbert, it focuses on critical management responsibilities like keeping up with fads, implementing pointless reorganizations and demanding status reports. “Leadership isn’t something you’re born with,” it declares. “It’s something you learn by reading Dogbert books.”

dogbert

Dogbert’s Top Secret Management Handbook – Amazon

Here’s what the 1997 textbook had to say about corporate newsletters:

dogbert-on-newsletters

Lost on Planet China

On April 20, 2009April 18, 2009 By Rick McIn books, product endorsements, travel1 Comment

Of all the places I’ve traveled, the least rewarding was China.

It’s a disaster for the laowai (foreigner), especially a bumbler like author J. Maarten Troost.

… ill-equipped with a sliver of Mandarin, questing to discover the “essential Chineseness” of an ancient and often mystifying land. What he finds is a country with its feet suctioned in the clay of traditional culture and a head straining into the polluted stratosphere of unencumbered capitalism, where cyclopean portraits of Chairman Mao (largely perceived as mostly good, except for that nasty bit toward the end) spoon comfortably with Hong Kong’s embrace of rat-race modernity. From Beijing and its blitzes of flying phlegm–and girls who lend new meaning to “Chinese take-out”–to the legendary valley of Shangri-La (as officially designated by the Party), Troost learns that his very survival may hinge on his underdeveloped haggling skills and a willingness to deploy Rollerball-grade elbows over a seat on a train. Featuring visits to Mao’s George Hamiltonian corpse and a rural market offering Siberian Tiger paw, cobra hearts, and scorpion kebabs (in the food section), Lost on Planet China is a funny and engrossing trip across a nation that increasingly demands the world’s attention. — review by Jon Foro

China changes so quickly that this book published July 2008 is already nearly hopelessly out of date.

If you foolishly ponder a trip to China in future, this is a must read.

book-cover

Lost on Planet China: The Strange and True Story of One Man’s Attempt to Understand the World’s Most Mystifying Nation or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid – Amazon

loving the Calgary Airport

On April 15, 2009 By Rick McIn Cirque du Soleil, gymnastics, product endorsements, travelLeave a comment

For a city of 1 million, Calgary truly has one of the best airports in the world.

Flying on a Wednesday I had no long line-ups at any of the usual bottlenecks.

The self-service check-in kiosk for United Airlines worked. (You need a zip code and hotel name destination to do it on your own.)

The U.S. border was friendly and efficient.

Security check brisk.

Two Tim Hortons greet you in the departure concourse.

It’s easy to find an electrical outlet for your laptop. And — best of all — there’s 2hrs free WiFi.

You still much flip through some log-in pages. But it’s easy to use your Facebook credentials to speed that process.

calgary-airport

I’m flying to Lincoln, Nebraska for the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships.

farewell Corner Gas

On April 13, 2009 By Rick McIn humour, product endorsements, TV1 Comment

Watched the final episode tonight.

I’m not a manic fan (like Dana) but I’ve always enjoyed the understated rural Canadian humour. Thanks for the memories.

… The finale was, in almost every sense, just another typically, quietly, dryly drop-deadpan hilarious episode. This has never been a show about emotional upheaval or shocking revelation or forensic medicine or tempestuous romance (unless you count Brent and Lacey’s near-kiss, or Hank’s sexy fish talk, or Emma’s occasional snuggle-up with Oscar).

So there was no reason to expect anything earthshaking, like Brent waking up next to Suzanne Pleshette, and finding Patrick Duffy in his shower, and suddenly realizing that the whole thing’s all just been a horrible dream.

Actually, that might have been kinda funny. But very, very un-Corner Gas.

The theme song says it all: “There’s not a lot goin’ on…

The Star – Corner Gas stays true to itself in finale

corner_gas_group

Corner Gas is a Canadian television sitcom series created by Brent Butt. It airs on CTV in Canada, WGN America in the United States, and SBS in Australia.

Deriving its name from the roadside gas station located in the fictional town of Dog River, Saskatchewan. Corner Gas is the only gas station for 60 kilometres (37 mi), in any direction. …

The show became an instant hit, averaging a million-viewers per episode …

Wikipedia

A Game of Thrones – George R.R. Martin

On April 13, 2009April 9, 2009 By Rick McIn books, product endorsements2 Comments

A Game of Thrones is the first book in the sprawling A Song of Ice and Fire series, seven planned novels.

George R.R. Martin (GRRM) looks exactly as you would picture him.

grrm

Book 1 is smart, complex, vivid. And realistic. It reads like a real historical account.

I recommend it to any fan of this genre.

As usual, I listened to the audio version read by Roy Dotrice. He is fantastic at distinguishing between the many hundreds of characters.

At over 33hrs for the unabridged version, it’s EPIC.

(I may need to listen to it again on a LONG hike before deciding whether to move on to Book 2, A Clash of Kings.)

… Martin’s Seven Kingdoms resemble England during the Wars of the Roses, with the Stark and Lannister families standing in for the Yorks and Lancasters. The story of these two families and their struggle to control the Iron Throne dominates the foreground; in the background is a huge, ancient wall marking the northern border, beyond which barbarians, ice vampires, and direwolves menace the south as years-long winter advances. Abroad, a dragon princess lives among horse nomads and dreams of fiery reconquest.

There is much bloodshed, cruelty, and death, but A Game of Thrones is nevertheless compelling; it garnered a Nebula nomination and won the 1996 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel. …

game-of-thrones1

Wikipedia – A Game of Thrones

It was announced January, 2007 that HBO Productions has purchased the broadcast rights for the entire A Song of Ice and Fire series, with the author also serving as co-executive producer on the project. The plan calls for each book from the series to be filmed over an entire season’s worth of episodes.