I don't consider myself an early adopter when it comes to any of the ever-changing social media that we are bombarded with. I usually leave it up to Craig and let him point me in the right direction. So, at Craig's suggestion I am now officially a twit. I have signed up for twitter that is. You can find me by searching for my username - @paceonearth.
I'm not really sure how this is going to benefit me but in the grand scheme of this this is just another way to interact and keep connected. Philosophically, this will never replace real human interaction but if you look at it as another way to interact, which then leads to more real interaction, then it is undoubtebly a good thing. That's what I keep telling myself anyways.
I was listening to Q on CBC this week and Jian Ghomeshi was lamenting the fact that the MuchMusic Video Awards seemed to ignore hot Canadian artists in favour of US hip-hop acts and MTV 'personalities'. In his mind this was particularly egregious because Canada is currently fighting way above it's weight when it comes to exporting musical talent. Indeed on the same show last week Jian had a radio host for BBC on the show trumpeting Canada's musical talent and innovation; the Canadian Invasion?
I bring this up now because an event that focuses on Canadian (and Maritime) talent is coming up real soon. The Canada Day Countdown, an idea that I like to think came out of hazy late night conversations with Craig Allen, is happening again this June 30th. A 6 hour party on the Saint John boardwalk is capped off by a countdown to Canada Day at midnight. It is a great idea. I'm glad I thought of it; I just wish I remembered before Craiger got to take all the credit.
The big bonus this year is that it looks I will be able to attend. The last couple of years my rugby schedule has made it impossible. I'll get my due this time.
Tomorrow is a big day for voters across New Brunswick as the head out to decide the next four years in the development of their cities and towns. I will be exercising my right here in Freddy but I will also be exercising my brain sending telepathic messages to the good citizens of Saint John's 3rd Ware where my good friend Craig Allen is trying to be a part of this very excting time in Saint John's history.
No matter what happens tomorrow I applaud Craig for having the balls to go through with such an exercise. I like to think that one summer spent getting persecuted by one 'crazy old neighbour' helped lead Craiger towards this bigger form of civic activism. Wherever it came from, we could all stand to care this much.
To head in to the weekend I think it best to provide you with the feel good story of the week (besides praise for Craig Allen’s campaign). A monkey that was stolen from the Cherry Brook Zoo in Saint John earlier this week has been returned to the Zoo none the worse for wear. An anonymous tip led police to a pick up point where the guilty thief left the monkey for them. No word on whether Craig's apple campaign had anything to do with the monkey's return but let's assume so.
It's official - Craiger's campaign kicked off today. As you can see from the press release, Craig is running a sustainable campaign, foregoing any print materials that will likely just be defaced anyways. I did get word that he will be rolling in style with a van donated by the Trius Truck Center to serve as a campaign vehicle. I'm very excited about helping out in any way that I can and getting down to SJ to stump for Craiger. I hope his campaign speeches look this one:
I may be jumping the gun on the "Official" campaign kickoff but this news has got me too excited to stay quiet. My good friend Craig Allen, known here mostly as JC of Big Santo fame, is running for Saint John City Council. He is campaigning for a seat representing Ward 3, which represents Uptown Saint John, the South End, and (I think) the West End as well.We have jokingly called Craiger Chairman Mao for years because of his tendency to make the decisions that we didn't want to have to. We gave him a hard time for it but he brushed it off becaue, typically, his decision paid off. I have no doubt that he would do the same good work for the people of Saint John.
He loves Saint John and since Murch left has stepped into the de facto role of deputy mayor, not to mention Ambassador. He has tapped into the pulse of the city and is already active in the community. I'll have more to follow after his campaign kickoff but wanted anyone out there reading this to know what's up.
Kudos to Craiger down at Big Santo for pointing me to a new contender for most spot on satire site I've seen this year. The site is called Stuff White People Like and its devoted to highlighting, well, stuff that white people like. As with most good satire its mostly funny because its true.
I am particurly fond of the ones that I can see in myself like the Sunday paper, the Daily Show, public radio, and standing still at concerts. If they post anything on rugby, self-portraits, Moosehead shirts, or eggnog I will register a complaint.
The site is actually taking off; another fine example of the nature of the world wide beast.
My net savvy friends down at Evolving Solutions have their hands in all kinds of cool stuff. So much so that I have trouble keeping track of their brands; Evolving Solutions = Big Santo + YourTeam Online + Youtube? Might as well be, what with Craiger driving around in his tricked out Acura...but I digress.
Of all their products the one that has been most intriguing to me is YourTeam Online. It is a FREE global sports community that allows you to keep track of your team’s schedule, stats, bios, etc. and then network with other teams and leagues around the world to share updates on results and standings but also coaching techniques and drills. Basically it’s a place for sports nuts to connect, brag, and trash talk without spitting on anybody; and that’s good for everyone!
The most recent addition to the YourTeam site is SportsWire Live. It’s a highlight show of user-submitted clips from the YourTeam network delivered by my new favourite sportscaster (frankly, she had me at "hi"). Check it out:
At this point YourTeam is set up for Hockey and Soccer but I'm lobbying to get them to add rugby to the mix, partially so I can connect, brag, and trash talk, and partially so I can watch Steph Downey tell the world that we rock! I'm going to play hardball with Craiger to make this happen; until he makes this a reality he can't call me "the Guy Lafleur of Maritime Rugby", not until he gives that title the respect it deserves. The proverbial ball is in your court Craiger!
In the meantime keep a look out for the next edition of SportsWire Live.
There was a time when if I wanted to randomly run into my friends I would head to the pub on wing night or the Northstar on amateur night. Last night I went to a geopolitics lecture on campus and found my two housemates and my good buddy Craiger covering the event for Big Santo. The event in question was a lecture by journalist Gwynne Dyer entitled Climate Wars. The basic premise is that changing climate will put massive strain on food supplies as drought reduces production while populations continue to increase. When people start starving they will look more and more to the rich countries, which are also the one's primarily responsible for climate change, and expect change. If that doesn't come conflict will ensue. Basically we're all f*cked. It was a very uplifting...so much so that we decided to celebrate, at the pub.
It was is also interesting to note that we were able to go and enjoy a beverage on a patio downtown because we are in the midst of the warmest last September weather I can recall. It actually got up over 30 with the humidex. Global warming indeed...
I would like to take this opportunity to point you away from this page - Avert Your Eyes! - to introduce you to the most important thing to happen to the internet since...well, since this blog. My friends down at Evolving Solutions have liberated Craig Allen's thoughts from the confines of their walls and allowed them to roam freely across the internet.
Craig told me about this blog last week and I've been reading all the old posts all week. This blog is almost exactly what my blog would be like if I got paid to do it; exept that I would update it daily. If you can forget while you read that this is a business blog and Craiger is therefore a corporate whore then you will be rewarded. There is a high Maritime content factor and, next to North, Craig is the funniest person I know. And sometime he even means to be.
So without further ado I introduce you to Big Santo, and more importantly Big Santo's Blog - www.bigsanto.blogspot.com. I'm so pissed that Craiger actually made a post about the Seven Wonders of Canada before I did that I can't even tell you. Hopefully this post, and the huge increase in traffic that comes with it, will make him forgive me when I make one of my own. I will have to do something else for not getting expressed written consent to use the Big Santo logo. I think I had implied verbal consent but it was a couple of Saturday's ago and Craig said he doesn't remember it.
I don't consider myself an early adopter when it comes to any of the ever-changing social media that we are bombarded with. I usually leave it up to Craig and let him point me in the right direction. So, at Craig's suggestion I am now officially a twit. I have signed up for twitter that is. You can find me by searching for my username - @paceonearth. 
