sketches of the mind

I see trees of green…….. red roses too
I see em bloom….. for me and for you
And I think to myself…. what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue….. clouds of white
Bright blessed days….dark sacred nights
And I think to myself …..what a wonderful world.

The colors of a rainbow…..so pretty ..in the sky
Are also on the faces…..of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands…..sayin.. how do you do
Theyre really sayin……i love you.

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In his latest blog post Garry offered his thoughts about effectiveness of corporations becoming green. I wanted to add my thoughts on the same topic.

From where I sit (on a comfy sofa in my friend’s study room in Cremorne Sydney as I type this) there is definitely a problem with foresight. To be frank people (and corporations) generally don’t see far enough to care.

“Why should I care what happens in 100 years time when I won’t be around anymore?”

It’s a very selfish view (we are selfish beings after all right?) and I think that there are people out there who are getting it… what we do NOW will affect future generations i.e. our children and their children.

Environmentalist David Suzuki spoke along these lines when he presented at Ryerson University a couple of weeks ago. Having never been to an environmental talk before I was impressed and also alarmed by what he had to say.

Here’s an interview with David Suzuki about the degradation of the planet:

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If you were around in the late 80’s then you may remember New Kids On The Block…

Well they’re back… again. This is the second comeback effort. The last one didn’t go too well. I suspect this time they might do a little better. Teaming up with Ne-Yo for “Single” will definitely win them some fans.

I have to say, I heard the song one day last week and I was hooked. It’s typical cheesy pop but hey I wouldn’t expect anything less.

Their new album “The Block” is now available for purchase, and it features some other popular artists such as The Pussycat Dolls, New Edition (R&B super group of the 80’s), and mega producer Teddy Riley.

For all the latest including tour dates check out nkotb.com.

Today I attended the Photographic, Video, & Digital Imaging Show in Mississauga with my friend Carole. We met Chris (a mutual friend from photography class) and Kayvan at the show.

The day started off beautifully. I got my Starbucks coffee and banana choc-chip cake before heading to Carole’s new place (which she recently purchased with her bf) in the same neighbourhood as me. I even had time to stop at a nearby park and take a snap of the wonderful autumn leaves. Carole’s place was lovely, as was her gorgeous cat Prune (which means “plum” in French so Carole tells me).

It didn’t take us too long to drive to the show, and considering neither of us had been there before we did pretty well to get there without getting lost.

The show itself was OK, nothing to write home to mum about.

The Good
———-
- free entry
- Flash Fundamentals workshop (learn about camera flash)
- Enhancing Landscapes and Portraits workshop (requires previous experience of photoshop tools)
- Posing Techniques workshop
- fun people to attend the show with
- there is a small deals section but i didn’t really look at it

The Bad
———-
- Making Money with Digital Photography workshop (had nothing to do with the topic, it was some guy selling his software)
- Travel Photography workshop (good for basic/beginner/casual travel photographers)
- limited food options. $3.50 pretzel was all salt!
- ’ssauga! (not too bad if traffic is good I suppose)
- camera equipment being sold at retail (even above retail) prices. You can find cheaper elsewhere.
- most of the workshops were a sample of the 3-hr workshops that Henry’s is selling so it’s limited content.

Overall: workshops are better suited to beginners I think. Lots of equipment if you’re prepared to pay retail price.

After the show we went to a Chinese restaurant nearby and had yummy food. It was cheap too… bonus! TGarry, Silvia and Gabi joined us after they found the show to be unexciting. After everybody was full we ended up at Bowlarama at Finch and Yonge but we didn’t bowl (I would have loved to but others weren’t up for it… boooo!). After a few rounds of foosball (so cool!) Carole, Chris and I stopped by Baskin Robbins for some icecream. It was my first ever BR experience. They sure do have great variety but I found the pistachio almond icecream that I had to be nothing special, and a tad bit pricey.

All in all a fun day with great company.

Photos from today:

Nuit Blanche (literal French to English translation “White Night”) is an annual arts festival in Toronto. This year it ran from 6:52pm Saturday evening to sunrise on Sunday morning. A group of my friends and I met up inside a mall and proceeded to apply our makeup and finalise our costumes. I was wearing an old suit that a CS/veggie/biking friend of mine (Dave) had given to me that I’d cut/torn up as per this video tutorial an hour or so before we left home.

When our makeup was done the group of us participated in Zombies in Condoland - a performance for Nuit Blanche Toronto by Jillian Mcdonald, a Canadian artist living in Brooklyn. It was like being on set for a film shoot. There were cameras, makeup and costume tents, actor training sessions, and a director screaming orders down a megaphone.

I spent most of my time at Zombies in Condoland with my Zombie crew and by the time we got to walking around (in complete zombie gear) the queues were massive and we were stopped frequently by people who wanted to takes pics with us. So I didn’t really see much, and of the installations that we did see nothing really stood out as amazing.

Notable sights were a music and laser show eminating from a street corner bin (one of the ones you see all the time here where you can dispose of garbage, paper or plastic) and pong being played on city hall. Those were cool.

There was a recycled plastic waterfall thing and an installation inside the Eaton Centre which were just weird.

I had hoped to sidewalk salsa outside the Royal Ontario Museum between 8:30 - 10:30pm but there was just no time.

So the highlight for me was definitely dressing up zombie and walking around with the crew freaking people out. We even scared a waitress inside a restaurant when we stared through the window at diners! lol.

Here are the rest of my pics:

Thanks goes to Jose-Jose for taking over my camera for the night and being our zombie manager. Major respect to Lena, Sandy, Marie-France & Richard who came from Montreal to join in the weekend festivities! Special mention to Andres who drove them all (and back today) too.

For those in Toronto who are interested in participating in more zombie wackiness be sure to check out the Zombie Walk on Sunday Oct 19th at 3pm!