What was Lost

Kate Meaney I will remember your character forever.  I loved it if the pages in the book was filled with your story.  In fact, when I reached chapter 12, I have already developed what would happen to you and how would you change the lives of Teresa Stanton, and Adrian.  Instead I had to read roughly 150 pages of irrelevancy until I get to your story in the final two chapters.

Reading about Crawford, Dan, Scott, the vignettes, and mindless jibber jabber of Gavin was brutally boring.  Needless to say a little more thought in developing Gavin's story in relation to Lisa and Kurt's would have made this section of the book far more interesting.

I have to admit, I liked how the book ended.  It made total sense!  I also got the author's sense of humor.

The Falls, GO Transit's summer service

Niagara Falls is a fun destination and a popular get away destination during the summer for Torontonians.  I have been to the Falls a few times, via QEW, driving past Oakville, Burlington, and St. Catherines.  Each trip took a bit longer than the suggested two hours due to high volume of traffic.

 When GO transit Tweet appeared in my feed telling about a direct service, naturally I became very interested to use it.

Only a few more wknds left to ride our #GOseasonal #NiagaraFalls and #Barrie weekend trains http://t.co/E2mYme3RQW & http://t.co/puuyMhDQOa

— GO Transit (@GOtransit) August 13, 2013

We missed the outbound train on Saturday August 24. On weekends there are three outbound direct trains; connecting Toronto's Union St. to Niagara Falls' Via St. The departure times are at 9:00 am, 16:15 pm, and 20:10 pm. We took the train to the Burlington GO station and transferred to the bus to Niagara Falls. The trip took close to three hours! But coming back we took the 7:20 PM direct train to Toronto Union station. The trip took 2:30 hours. The inbound direct trains are at 8:00 am, 11:30 am, 19:20 pm, and 22:30 pm. The train stops at Exhibition, Port Credit, Oakville, Burlington, St. Catherines, and Niagara Falls. There are designated compartments with bike storage.
A few good points: it beats the weekend traffic, and it is direct (eliminates the transfer to the bus at Burlington)
One not so good point:  it is limited to a few times a day on weekends between June 28-Sept. 2.
I understand that the service makes sense when there is demand for it.
In fact the Niagara Falls bus service offered by Niagara Parks also runs full service during June 28-Sept. 2. providing convenient transport to attractions around the Falls, adult $7; child $4 for 24-hour pass.  This makes June-Sept the best time of the year to travel to Niagara Falls.

nach Deutschland

The Best of Berlin

No matter how much a city undergoes change, there is no way it can escape its history.  Berlin is a city that has embraced its past, shows no remorse of it and flaunts it extensively.
The events prior to the first World War that lead to the Nazism, followed by defeat of Germany in the War by the allies; and the country's 50 years separation to East and West, are no happy memories.  Yet, in every tourist area there is a building, a poster, a sight that hints to these events.  It is hard to expect to see reminiscence of Prussian kingdom in Berlin, since this city was nearly flattened in the consecutive world wars. 

How to get here:
The train ride Frankfurt - Berlin takes only four hours, and the city main train station, Hauptbahnhof is central and connected to almost anywhere.  The DB Bahn web site, has an option of translation to English.  It offers discount of advance purchase, and offers deeper discounts on non-refundable tickets.  The first class section of the train offers more leg room, individual tables, and 1-hour free Wifi.

Hotel:
Holiday Inn chain has two locations in Berlin, City Center, and East City Center.  The rates are very reasonable, 50-100 euro, and some rates include breakfast.  The rooms are clean, with coffee, tea station and small fridge.  The breakfast is generous and there is lots of different options to choose from.  You can get breakfast for 5euro per person anywhere in Berlin and by noon you actually have appetite to eat lunch! :)

Sightseeing:
The first day in Paris, and one goes to visit Eiffel Tower.  The first day in Berlin and one goes to visit the Wall, Berliner Mauer.  There is still such curiosity surrounding where the wall was once --even 24 years after 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens were told they can visit West Germany without paperwork.  On Friedrichstadt close to Postdamer Platz there are pictures of "then", you turn your head and right where the wall used to be, you see nothing, open space.  Once you look down you see the cobble stones dividing the city right in the middle.  I got goose bumps from happiness.  If you have to see the wall, a part of it has been preserved; it is available for viewing at no charge. [U6 - Kochstrasse]

Imagine 6-acre land.  It is a huge area.  Now imagine it, packed with rectangular, shaped gray concrete at different height and width.  This is the site of the holocaust memorial, dedicated to an estimated six million Jews who were killed.  Keep your eyes peeled to these structures as you walk toward it, and as you approach, change your view and look through them.  It's a maze.

For something more pleasing on the eye and heart-warming head to the area around the "Unter den Linden", Under the Lime Trees.  There is metro construction until 2013, nevertheless the buildings in this area tell the story of the Germany of a different era, pre 1800.

 

The Staatsoper was commissioned by King Frederick II of Prussia in 1741, designed and built by Georg von Knobelsdorff as the first and the oldiest structure on Babelplatz. At that time it was called Hofoper (Court Opera) and was inaugurated with the performance Cesare e Cleopatra in 1742. After the collapse of the German Empire in 1919 the opera was renamed Staatsoper.

Gendarmenmarkt is a beautiful example of an architectural ensemble full of harmony and it includes both the French and the German cathedral as well as the Concert House.

Built in 1688 according to plans by Johann Arnold Nering, the square was originally called Linden-Markt and later on Friedrichstädtischer Markt and then Neuer Markt. However, after being used from 1736 to 1782 by the military for sentry duty and housing their horses, it came to be known as the Gendarmenmarkt. After 1777, the square was developed uniformly according to plans by Georg Christian Unger.
Severely damaged in the war, the square was rebaptised “Platz der Akademie” in 1950 on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the Academy of Science. In 1991, it got its original name back. Numerous restaurants, businesses and hotels are located around the Gendarmenmarkt.

French cathedral

The French Friedrichstadtkirche was built between 1701 and 1705 based on designs by Jean Louis Cayart as a church meant for French Protestants (Huguenots) who had fled to Berlin. In 1786, while the Gendarmenmarkt was being transformed, the impressive tower of the French cathedral designed by Carl von Gontard and Georg Christian Unger was opened. The cathedral was severely damaged in World War II and was rebuilt starting in 1977.

German cathedral

Located across from the French cathedral, the German cathedral was built by Giovanni Si-monetti between 1701 and 1708 according to plans by Martin Gruenberg. From 1780 to 1785, Carl von Gontard completed the building by adding on the domed tower. The cathedral was destroyed in World War II and, after extensive restoration work, it reopened again on 2 October in 1996.

Concert House (formerly Theatre house)

The Concert House was built as a theatre in 1821 by Karl Friedrich Schinkel, who was replacing the National Theatre, which had been constructed between 1800 and 1802 by Karl Gotthard Langhans and which had burned down in 1817. The design of the Concert House, or the Konzerthaus as it is known to Berliners, integrated what remained of the Langhans's rectangular shaped building and added a larger and wider building which was crowned by a pediment. After being destroyed during the war, the building was initially preserved and then the systematic, faithful restoration work began in 1979. After the reopening in 1984 concerts instead of plys were given in the Konzerthaus.

The Elegance of HedgeHog (L'Élégance du hérisson)

It is hard for me to come to terms with the way this book ends. Nevertheless, this doesn't change the way I think about it. It's an excellent read.
A 54 year old, ugly, short concierge of a posh residence in Paris, and a 12 year old highly intelligent daughter of a rich family living in the same residence, each struggle to conform to what society expects of her. Each is unhappy with what it seems her fate.
Through out the book, independently, each ponders the social convention imposed upon them and philosophize on the possibility of change. There is hope for change. Jean Arthen the junkie, son of the prominent Paris food critic, turned his life around.
Their encounter happens half way through the book, and something so tender and sweet blossoms. It is two chapters back to back, "Sisters" and "Profound thought number 15", when the story peaks emotionally and leaves the reader thoroughly satisfied.
But the ending. Ugh the ending is harsh!  I want to believe in the power of "Camellias".

 

nach Deutschland

The Best of Munich

How to get here

Die Deutsche Bahn offers a great price for first class travel from Berlin(hbf) to Munich(hbf), both these are the main train stations of the corresponding cities.  It cost me 74€ per ticket for one way ticket.  For peace of mind, and an extra 8€ per reservation, I chose seats at the time of the booking.  Booking was easy using the the DB on-line reservation system.  For added convenience the site is available in English as well.  The more advanced of the trip the tickets are purchased the greater the savings.  Also, the DB offers a special price, sparepreis, that is non-refundable and cannot be changed.  I took advantage of this offer which significantly reduced the price.

Cash or credit

Cash is the preferred means of business in Munich, and in general Europe.  Credit or debit card machines are rarely seen at the museums, cafes, mini-markets, public transit, and shops.  I always buy euro at home.  Unlucky me, this time round, I lost 200€ to a hustler in Berlin.  As a result I had to change Canadian dollar.  The der Reise Bank AG at Munichs main bahnhof, charged me a hefty 4.90€ commission on $100 Canadian and gave me a lousy rate of $1.50.  Really sucked!

Place to stay

Munich Park Hilton, Am Tucherpark 7
Rooms are spacious, furnished tastefully and include free coffee-tea service, cash mini-bar, bio toiletries, hair dryer, and a very spacious bathroom with shower massage.  The hotel offers a gym, which I have to check out before departure, a restaurant with excellent food, we had the pasta of the day, ceasar salad, and pumpkin soup all deliciously made with the finest ingredient and cooked to perfection with hand squeezed, fresh orange juice, a fully equipped business center, public computer with access to Internet, and Microsoft office in the lobby and unlimited free access to wifi in the lobby.  All this for starting price of 159 €, I was able to get a room for 2 adults for 110 € three weeks in advance of my travel dates --excellent deal!

Sightseeing

Munich is a small city, very classy, and it provides a lot of opportunity to  enjoy beautifully restored pre-war architecture for free and by just walking the streets surrounding the city center.  Today we traveled to the city center, Marienplatz U and S, and from there walked about twenty minutes to one of the collection of museums, Alte Pinakothek.  Sundays are reduced admission fee days, 1€.  The two floors museum, is not only Munichs most important art museum but also one of the most significant collections in Europe.  Among the 900 paintings on display are historical and exquisite paintings by renowned painters of renaissance era, 1400 - 1800, from all over Europe.  Such as Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Sandro Boticelli, Fra Filippo Lippi, Rambrandt, Paul Rubens, Anthoins Van Dyck.  I make sure to include pictures of some of the paintings that caught my un-trained eye here when I get to download them.  The museum is one of the must-see sights of Munich.  The museum is on Barer Straße.  The 27 tram to Petuelring has a stop close to it on Barer.  Theresienstraße, U2, is a few blocks north west of the museum.

Leonardo Da Vinci - Madonna of the Carnation

 Nieghborhoods:

Ludwigstr and Universitat

Although Marienplatz and surrounding streets have a lot to keep you busy for two days, there are some other places that worth the visit if time is not an issue.  The university neighborhood of Munich, easily accessible by the Ubahn, is one example.  Check out the small cafes on Amalientstrasse.  Enjoy delicious potato chips at Pommes Boutique.  Indulge in a creamy dessert at one of the Eiskafe-s on this street.  Or just enjoy a walk along Ludwigstrasse --but be aware of the bike lanes or you will get honked at. :)

Pommes Boutique on Amalientstr.

For fashion the Maximilianstrasse and the surrounding streets is the place to go.  The quality and design of the dresses please the eyes, but not enough to spend hundreds of euro on them.
Don't miss the Englishcher Garten.  To get there, travel on U6 to Giselastr station and catch the Bus 54.  Bus 54 travels through the garden.

Where to eat

If you are staying at Munich Park Hilton, indulge at the Tivoli restaurant for dinner.  The cafe at Marienplatz, serves a variety of breakfasts, Pariser, butter croissant, or Kleins Fruhstück, bread, butter and marmalade, average price for breakfast for two is 8€.  There are a large selection of different variety food at Munichs main Bahnhof.  All U and S trains have a stop at this station.  There is also a mini-market inside that sells fresh fruit.  REWE, city of Munichs super market is located on Bahnhofplatz 1.  Knowing a few words Duetsch definitely improves the quality of your trip. 

General Tips

When booking train tickets for travel within Europe or if you intend to use public transportation to and from the international airport, avoid the rush hour.  Traveling with suitcases during the rush hour, maneuvering the crowd who ruthlessly pass or run you over, is a rather stressful, unpleasant experience.

There are many web sites that offer travel tickets on behalf of the air-lines.  These on-line agents gather, and compare ticket prices and sort them for you.  In the event you need to change or cancel you have to
a. call these companies which is most likely a toll call
b. adjust the time difference because they are most likely in a different time zone
c. they charge you their cancellation fee in addition to the airline fee

So, it's best to buy the tickets direct from the airline as opposed to these third party companies.

More expensive non-stop tickets really add to the quality of the trip, unless you are planning an overnight stay or the length of the flight is ridiculously long.  Stop over means going through transit and this translates to standing in line for immigration and custom as well as gate security check. It also means spending valuable hours in a closed, noisy airport with little motivation to do anything other than snoozing.  Unless it is Schiphol Airport, the stop-over leaves you tired and sore.


Wifi:

In Marienplatz free Wifi is available for one hour interval.  During the peak hours the service is slow and spotty. 

Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury

Joe Montag lives in a strange time. But according to Ray Bradbury this is the future, 2022. Seashell Radios, a device that resembles iPod, are best past time and accompanist. Atomic wars are declared and won in a day. Relatives are characters in episodes of T.V. programs. Children are snatched from parents at an early age because people are not born to be free and equal but they are "made equal. Each man the image of every other; then all are happy, for there are no mountains to make them cower, to judge themselves against." Books are burnt and those who possess a book are arrested. Alarms are there to notify the police of the crime of reading, owning a book. Firefighters, they are "the Happiness Boys…." They "stand against the small tide of those who want to make everyone unhappy with conflicting theory and thought." They "have our fingers in the dike. Hold steady. Don’t let the torrent of melancholy and drear philosophy drown our world.”

Joe Montag is a married firefighter. His life is the very definition of status quo. Up until he meets Clarisse McClellan, who claims to be seventeen and insane. "Are you happy?", she asks. She is unlike anyone Joe Montag has met before. She thinks about everything and anything. She is interested in others.

Montag a complacent resident, all of a sudden feels uneasy in his environment. He questions his own action. Why does he burn books? What is in them?

The shrewd, hateful supervisor, Captain Beatty, does all in his power to dissuade Montag questioning things. But he can't stop Montag. But in the end he fails and it is with these words he condemns him.
“Now, Montag, you’re a burden. And fire will lift you off my shoulders, clean, quick, sure; nothing to rot later. Antibiotic, aesthetic, practical.”— Beatty

But could there be hope? One man's moment of weakness is the other's opportunity to gain strength.

Unbundled: I intend to slash my internet, phone, cable bill by half by end of the month!

As far back as five years ago, for better service and convenience of having to pay for everything in one-bill, I consolidated all my services, phone, cell-phone, TV, and internet  with Rogers.  Recently, I have noticed that I can save a whole lot, minimum $200/year, if I abandon Rogers.

My goal is to pay half of what I am paying now, $155-$157/month, for all the above services;  hence the title of this and follow on blogs.

So far I have spoken to three people I know who are using Teksavvy for Internet.  If there is any truth to "word of mouth marketing", I should feel confident of giving TekSavvy a try.  TeckSavvy Cable 6 is exact same Internet service I have for $10.00 cheaper

Rogers vs Teksavvy

DL Speed	UL Speed	Bandwidth	Rogers' Price	TekSavvy's Price
6 Mbs	256 Kbs	25GB	$34.71	$24.95

The savings will only show in the second year. The cost of service for the first year is on-par with what I am paying Rogers, because no doubt there will be one-time upfront fees to switch to TekSavvy. The two I found on their web site are:

• Activation Fee: $45 after $20 fee discount
• Modem: $75-$99

The following modems are compatible with their Cable service:

Product	Price	Specification
Thomson DCM 425	$75.00 from TekSavvy	DOCSIS 2.0, good for DL speeds up to 18MBps
Thomson DCM 476	$99.00 from TekSavvy	DOCSIS 3.0 latest standard, faster DL speed than DOCSIS 2.0
Motorola SB5101N - firmware version: 2.1.7.0	$69.99 from Canada Computers	DOCSIS 2.0, DL speeds of 30MBps
Motorola SB6120 - firmware version: 1.0.6.1	$99.99 from Motorla web site	DOCSIS 3.0, DL speeds of 180MBps
Joohong SL-2810 - firmware version: 10.2.7	$52.00 from laceytech.com	DOCSIS 2.0
SMC D3GN-RES-DOCSIS 3.0	$130.00 from Audio 2001	DOCSIS 3.0, Draft-N Wireless Residential Cable Modem Gateway

All the above modems can be found for cheaper prices on web sites such as kijiji.ca. There was a post in one of the forums that buying off of kijiji runs the risk of being stuck with a returned modem that cannot be activated by the provider. The other advantage of paying for a brand new modem is that it comes with peace of mind that it can be returned/replaced if not functional. A few retailers that may have new modems for competitive prices are:

• Canada Computer
• Tigerdirect

I don't have a router now; it is an unnecessary cost to pay for the convenience, and with smart phones enabled with data plans it seems even less likely that I'd be interested in paying an additional $50-$90 for a router. Nevertheless I looked into it. Half the population out there prefers a router+modem combo to separate devices. The router+modem combo saves on space, creates a cleaner visual effect, think about all those wires tangled if you have two separate boxes--yikes, and it consumes less electricity. The other half of the population thinks having two separate boxes is more prudent, because trouble shooting is easier, and in the event of trouble with router one can still enjoy connectivity with a working modem. Someone was raving about how his Motorola SB 6120 modem and a Netgear WNR 3500L work in harmony together.
After spending a good part of the day searching for all this wonderful information, I am still not clear if the reward of the switch will beat the:

a: uncertainty of service of a new, relatively small provider -despite the good word-of-mouth advertisement 

b: time spent to research and find good deals on modem, set up, and trouble-shoot 

c: money spent on activation fee and modem 

d: an additional bill to remember and pay each month 

 Next up is the phone service.

Innovation in the transportation

This is my last of a three part blog series on the topic of transportation.  Motivated by the Global Engineering Innovation Challenge, my friend and I brainstormed on what can be done to improve the road share in a limited right of way.

The goal is to pack a collection of objects, cars, buses, and bikes, into the minimum number of fixed-size bins, the road lanes. The resemblance between this and the classic bin packing problem is eminent.  In a bin packing problem one may pack based on first fit, or first best fit, based on ascending or descending ordered list of object based on its size.  Here we will be packing based on time of use.

The existing infrastructure of surface transport is sliced in at least three bins

            The side walks at least one on each side

            The roads at least one for each direction, North-South or East-West

S_urface -> {S_idewalk, R_oad1, R_oad2}

The objects are bikes, cars, buses, and trucks

I_tems -> {B_ikes, C_ars, B_uses, T_rucks}

In solving this problem it is important to consider the time of the week day as the constraint to optimize.

T_ime -> {   06 < T < 10                   // demand is high because it is morning rush hour

               10 < T < 14                     // demand is low

               14 < T < 20                     // demand is high because it evening rush hour

               20 < T < 24                     // demand is low

            }

The solution is:

T_ime -> {   06 < T < 10                        S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                             , R_oad1       Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                             , R_oad2  Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                     }

                10 < T < 14                        S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                             , R_oad1     Bikes, Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                             , R_oad2  Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                      }

                           

               14 < T < 20                         S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                             , R_oad1       Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                            , R_oad2  Car-pool, Buses only

                                                                     }

               20 < T < 24             S_urface -> {S_idewalk        No constraint

                                                                , R_oad1     Bikes, Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                , R_oad2  Cars, Buses, Trucks

                                                                  }

            }

This proposal promotes better, safer sharing of the road by distributing the load of its usage through out the day.

Challenges of the modern transit planners

Studies show Torontonians commute an average of 80 minutes a day - or when you crunch the numbers, a month in a car.  Thanks to the suburban sprawl or work places out in the boonies :) we now have to spend more time getting to work than before.  We are more involved in extracurricular activities.  We volunteer.  We want to stay employed longer so we take continuing education courses.  We want to live a healthy life so we go to the gym.  We want our kids to learn how to swim, do karate, dance, play hockey, play music, etc., and so we chauffeur them from school to class to home, etc.

In short: we move around a lot.

It is important for us to have access to a good transit system that guarantees safe, efficient, and fast transportation.  Also, it is important for us to have an integrated transit system that enables us to drive, walk, cycle, or take the train or the bus to our destination.  When we are in rush, we want to have access to a rapid transit.  When we are not in a rush we can afford to sit back and enjoy the ride.  We want to be in control of what to choose and when to choose it.  If there is a traffic jam we want to know about it and to know an alternate route to avoid it.


The transit architect has to take all the above into consideration in the planning.


Resources:
TheCityFix.com is an online resource for sustainable transport news, research and “best practice” solutions from around the world    http://thecityfix.com/blog/pedestranged/ 

With the York Region Rapidways project new express lane is being built in the middle of the street for the buses
www.vivanext.com

Efficient sustainable mobility
http://www.frame-online.net/sites/default/files/first-view/further-reading/PlanningGuide.pdf

Other resources provided by the "Global Engineering Innovation" web site.

• http://www.transect.org/codes.html
• http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/widgets_document/download-document/piece_id/2141/file_number/0
• http://www.ttc.ca/About_the_TTC/Commission_reports_and_information/Commission_meetings/2009/May_28_2009/Other/East_Bayfront_Transi.pdf

High demand on the transportation system

Everyday I join 1,000,000 residents of this city and its suburbs to travel to my destination. Whether it is work, school, day care, store, we all have a route and a way to get to our destination. I take the subway. Then I switch to the bus. I spend close to 40 minutes door to door. Recently I spend more time on the bus, because there is construction. You see they are building a bus rapid transit system in the middle of Highway 7. Although, the road is open and operating, but due to separating the construction site: the workers, the tools, and the machinery, from the rest of the road, there is traffic and cars move very slowly. The 40 minutes travel time takes 50% more. I spend roughly 20 more minutes in the bus each way. If I produced 7 units of work each day, my productivity level dips to 6.6 units of work. That's if I don't adjust my arrival to and departure from work times to make up for the lost time. This is just one of the impacts of changing the surface transit operation to address the increase in usage. One can only imagine that the impact is much larger to local community that need shop, play and live there.

What I am living day in and day out, happens as a result of population growth in an urban area.  The existing transportation system is not able to meet the demand.  Therefore expansion of the roads become necessary but this comes at the cost of severely disrupting the life of the local community.


If money was abundant we would finish such projects in a week or two.  In reality, however, the timeline is around two to four years.  The thought of  having the construction workers in the backyard for that long of a time, even makes the most easy-going people cringe. 

What are some of the strategies to reduce the negative impacts of road expansion projects?

This is one of the three questions in the "Global Engineering Innovation Challenge".

 "     How can we balance the needs of surface transit operations, drivers, cyclists and pedestrians that use streets with limited right-of-way, safer, faster and more reliable, in a way that is acceptable to the local community?"

The End of Growth, Jeff Rubin

Mayan predicted December 21, 2012 to be the end of the world.  They were not the first to herald apocalypse.  According to wikipedia there are 150 predictions of the end of the world prior to the Mayan's. Some predict a clash of Earth with obscure objects in the milky-way will end it all others predict that there will be a nuclear war.  Despite radically different ways each predict the world will end, there is one common theme: life on Earth as we know it today will dramatically change. Thankfully none of these predictions have rung true. 
But, we cannot deny the gradual shift that has been happening over the past two decades in the world.  The world reached its 7 billionth inhabitant in 2011.  How can the definite resources sustain the indefinite growth?
Jeff Rubin's The End of Growth explains the changes in the context of oil possession, consumption and acquisition.  The appetite for oil has been on the rise and so has its price, from $20 a barrel to $120, the oil price have been steadily rising.  Rubin argues the world's dependency on oil is at the root of most political unrest, long term wars and foreign interventions in domestic politics of oil rich countries. While we can control the amount of energy we consume or conserve, we tend to see, most governments shift towards consumption of energy.  But, reducing the oil consumption is not an impossible tasks.  Rubin talks about how Danes curbed their appetite for oil and the consequence of that is "rosy-cheeked, good-looking Danes peddling around he city".  What Danes have done is: they have shown to the world that it is possible to reduce the dependency on oil and still have a healthy, prosper society.
Although the book looks at issues concerning energy and economic growth at the macro level, it also provokes readers to think about their own energy footprint.  I know that I will be buying more local food, use more public transportation, and ride my bike more often.
The only thing I wish the book had more of is Canadian content.  There is only one chapter, "Keystone Conundrum", on the situation of connecting the oil in Alberta to refineries.

Jean-Dominique Bauby - Le scaphandre et le papillon

I have read and heard a dozen stories about the strength of human spirit but Jean-Dominique Bauby's, (23 April 1952 – 9 March 1997)), story trumped them all.
The movie "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", (Le scaphandre et le papillion), masterfully directed by Julian Schnabel is based on Jean-do's, as he was called by his close friends and family, life after he was diagnosed by a very rare condition of locked-in syndrome.  The illness took away all sense and mobility and left him with one motion, a blink of one eye.  His fully functional brain grasped all the stimulus in his surrounding but was unable to react to it.
His life pre-stroke, masterfully shown by image flash backs through out the movie, is one filled with richness, and glamor of an editor of the famous French fashion magazine, Elle.  The movie is artfully showing the life of an artist whose imagination is strong enough to create despite his inertia!

His nurse, a gorgeous looking woman full of life and compassion, so ironic and appropriate for a man who has been surrounded and involved with beautiful women day in day out, is his last muse.  Through her, he writes a book in the most unconventional way, using partner assisted scanning or listener assisted scanning, a technique used for a person with severe speech impairment to communicate.
The movie became a favorite in the award circles the year it was released, 2007.  It was nominated for 4 Oscars, and won the award for best director at Cannes and best foreign movie at Golden Globes.
C'est magnifique!

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

In the pages between one cover to the other nothing much happens but everything that can happen in life, birth, death, graduation, wedding, and so much more.  The book is meticulously detailed; it's 500 pages!  The language is simple and empty of metaphors.  The story is crowded with people; events in the lives of two families, Rommely and Nolan occupies most of the pages; and there are a bunch of other people, like Sissy's Johns, teachers, visitors, neighbors who enter and exit the story. 

Dear Francie Nolan,
   It was nice meeting you.  I am also an avid reader.  But, Francie, how could you read one book a day?  In all these years I have read, the fastest I was able to finish was to read this book in two and half days.  You are right though, librarians should show more interest in us.  They have a grand opportunity to spend their day amongst books and know so much about them.  So sharing a bit of their happiness and knowledge with others is seriously not too much to ask.
I admire your perseverance Francie.  Your school was a scary place.  How could a teacher possibly ignore your request to let you go to the washroom?  That's just plain wrong and mean too.  And to let those other girls and boys to go out during the class is just favorism.  Good for you to find yourself a different place, a nicer place to get your education.
You are a lucky kid, Francie.  Your dad, despite his dependencies, was a gentle, kind man.  Oh how he tried to be a good dad.  I laughed with you when he fell in the water.  You kids must have found it hilarious.  Good for you not to laugh in his face.  He was a proud man.  He never wanted to drink so much.  But he was not strong to face life.  All the while he was hurting and hurting badly.  He thought he was not a good father for you and Neeley.  That's why when he heard of the third being on its way he solemnly decided to change.  Pity, his attempt to change ended so badly.  I wish I had known him for a bit longer.  I wish he had stayed.  I just loved his character so much.  You know Francie I think you have so much of your Dad in you; your imagination for one.  You would have become the biggest liar if you had not listened to your English teacher's advice to write. :) 
All the strength your dad lacked your mom had.  She was the woman of steel.  She had the courage to pull the trigger on that pervert.  And you know what, don't blame her for knowing everything --being a wise one.  You are becoming one too.  And you don't want your child, cause I am sure you will be a mother one day, to hate you for it.  Most women have this trait.  It's called intuition.  Embrace it, Francie!
Having two charismatic aunts, Sissy and Evy, is a blessing.  I never had one.  Thanks for sharing their stories, Francie.  But, in all honesty, did Sissy's "John", Steve, really believed that the little baby was his?  It was a bit too much to believe that she was pregnant, despite showing no physical sign of it.
You had a good life. And I had a good time reading about your life.  As you turn around to depart Williamsburg, Brooklyn, by the way your love for Brooklyn inspires me to visit it, and as you say good bye to your old self, I believe so much of what you will become in the future will be because of the Francie you are saying good-bye to.  I want to know the rest of your story; I want to know what happened to Laurie.  Did she become a spoiled brat?!  Yes, you and Neeley had a good life.  I, too, feel sorry for Laurie who cannot take in the pleasures of having a hot chocolate with marshmallow, a special treat, in life.
Good-bye Francie!  Have a good life!

Can't connect to WiFi?!

The other day at the gym, the T.V. was on BNN channel and they were discussing Apple's iphone 5.  The two news reporters were impressed by the gadget's features; while expressing their fondness for various features of the phone they kept incorrectly interchanging Internet with WiFi.  
Internet is not the same as WiFi!
It is incorrect to say we [cannot] connect to WiFi.  We can connect to Internet, a group of computers connected together, via WiFi, technology that allows any computer with wireless network interface controller to connect to another through radio frequency and without using any wire.

Digital History

I am having second thoughts.  I am still interested in learning about the discoveries and inventions of the 21st century and relating them to those of the past two centuries.  But I am afraid it may require spending many hours sitting in front of the computer.  And I already exceed the healthy limit of  using a computer. 
History as I know it, written in books and shelved in libraries, doesn't exist any more.  In my local library, which has a large collection of books covering many areas of science and technology, I could only find two books relevant to the invention I wanted to write about, the World Wide Web, one of which was written for kids.

I dread googling.  I anticipate more than 100+ pages of information and no matter how much I narrow the search, I still will have many pages to go through to find authentic information.  A few years back I heard encyclopedia stopped publishing the hard copy of version of the book.  That's a pity!  I wonder if I can find what I am looking for in the digital version of encyclopedia, and I wonder if accessing this information is free of charge.  Wikipedia is another place.  Unfortunately, my list ends here.  I guess as I look for information I will develop a knack for searching for information in the 21st century.

 

Observation: Are we better or worse off in the 21 century

Look at all we have accomplished, it is incredible when we look back at how far we have come along. 
We have managed to discover and name diseases such as cancer, and aids that didn't exist in the past centuries.  We have welcomed variety of electronic devices into our lives and as a result we have managed to have less time to spend with each other.  We now use "smart" as an adjective to describe objects, e.g. smart grid and as a result see the need for smart person diminish, use "big" as an adjective to describe data, e.g. big data.  Being in the cloud is no longer considered to be removed from reality, instead doing business in the cloud has become a trend.

As we are closing in on the second decade of twenty first century, I am interested in high lighting the significant inventions that are differentiate setters for the future generation similar to advent of penicillin in the 20th century.  I'd be posting them here interleaved with the usual content of book reviews. If you stop by and are reading this and have a favorite 21st century invention you can leave me a note here. 

I've Got Your Number

How can one ever be sure if the other is the right person for her?  Persumably no one wants to intentionally hurt the other person.  No one wants to live a miserable time. Yet it happens often.  Is it because we chicken out and suppress our true feelings, and instead try to learn to live with them; or we try to become a different person; or we are convinced to make compromises?  When should it set the alarm bells ringing?

Luckily in Kinsella's latest novel, I've Got Your Number, such story is narrated with such lightheartedness and hilarious tone with best possible ending one could hope for.  Kinsella is a believer of good heart no matter how stupid, foolish and naive it will make the protagonist look.

Poppy Wyatt is a perky physiotherapist who is faced with the unthinkable.   Weeks before her wedding she looses her engagement ring.  An emerald ring surrounded with 4 carat diamonds, taken out of family safe and presented to her by her fiance Magnus Tavish.  She cannot seem to bring herself to tell the truth to Magnus and his family and this brings about the most creative and hilarious ways of hiding and diverting the attention of all while she is frantically looking for the ring.  (Un)Luckily her cell phone is stolen and she cannot seem to find or think of a better way other than grabbing a cell-phone out of a bin --after all what is in the bin is considered "unwanted" trash and considered public property.  Therefore no need to worry about turning it in or trying to find its owner.  And even in the likely event of its owner, Sam Roxton, locating her; she convinces him that the cell should stay with her, at least for a while _PLEASE_ until her ring turns up.  And she promises Sam Roxton to forward all company e-mail, voice mail and other correspondences to him on time and in orderly fashion. Needless to say this sharing of information sets the story for a very interesting turn of events. 

Like when Poppy is visiting the in-laws, Antony and Wanda Tavish, the genius people, completely in a different league than her, and she feels inferior, and intimidated by them; not being able to say anything clever.  But, when it is scrabble time and Poppy after a disappointing start, PIG, is able to play 70 points words, thanks to words Sam texts her. 

These two keep helping each other out, or they think that they do.  I laughed my socks off when Poppy tries to mend Sam's aloof image with his colleagues by sending Lindsay a bouquet of flowers and signing her birthday card with zillion 'x'-s.  Or sends an eulogy poem to Chloe who is grieving for her dog.  Sam in return help Poppy to face up the challenge and not to avoid confrontation all the time.  Really good lesson that I needed.  Poppy and I share this attribute.  I hate confronting people and avoid it like a plague.

Read the book.  It won't be a let down.

Characters in the order of appearance:
Poppy Wyatt     ......  The bride-to-be
Sam Roxton    .......   The other guy
Magnus Tavish  ......  The groom-to-be
Felix     Tavish   ......  Magnus' brother, the guy who saves the day
Wanda Tavish   ......   Magnus' mother
Antony Tavish   ......  Magnus' father

The House I Loved

I like a book that presents a challenge to the reader, a challenge to understand the protagonist, the scheme and the story. This book is a super easy read. You can still read it and know what the story is about even if you are multi-tasking.

"[wikipedia] Haussmann's renovation of Paris commissioned by Napoleon III and led by Saine prefect Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann between 1853 - 1870 comprised of modernizing all aspects of life in the city and the surroundings, sewers, water works, public parks, building facades, and etc. Haussmann's vision of Paris was widely criticized during his time. He restructured Paris from a city of irregular, narrow, and medieval alleys to wide avenues and more open spaces. His restructuring of Paris gave the city its present form; its long, straight, wide boulevards with their cafés and shops determined a new type of urban scenario and have had a profound influence on the everyday lives of Parisians. In order to give Paris its present shape many houses, shops, and even churches had to be destroyed to make way for the boulevards and open spaces. [wikipedia]"

Rose Bazalet's receives a letter from Prefect's office informing her of imminent destruction of her house to make way for the St-Germain Boulevard. Her very short, 4/5 pages==one chapter, quest to save her house falls flat and she resorts to writing her memories to her beloved husband who has died years ago. Unfortunately, except for maybe one, there are NOT many events in her life that would keep the reader anxious to read on. There are interesting characters: Rose's exotic mother, the ragpicker: Gilbert, and the flower girl Alexandrin but they all stay in safe and confined chapters of the book and never get to play a role in shaping the story.
There are very abrupt, unstructured and not well researched references to Paris during that historic time but just not enough to make it memorable in the readers mind.

I saw this book in the top ten National Bestsellers list and given that I absolutely LOVED de Rosnay's past book, Sarah's Key, I dashed to read it. It is far from what I expected.
By the way today the St-Germain-de-Pres is one of the most beautiful parts, as seen by Parisians and visitors alike, of the city. So, I can't even identify with the protagonist's motive to save her house.

Moonwalking With Einstein

Have we reached the end of remembering? Looks like with all the memory applications and tools available, remembering stuff is beginning to feel like a thing of the past. We barely need to memorize anything anymore; information that we would have had otherwise remembered is indexed and available on-line. To retrieve we need to type keywords. Sometimes we don't need to spend much time to think the right keywords because the auto-fill function of the search engine suggests those to us, and nine out of ten the suggested words are and work better than the ones we would have spent ~10-15 minutes thinking up!
As we rely more on such techniques we loose the ability to think and remember. Pretty much everyone I talked to, while reading this book, was not happy with his or her memory. One person called her memory, ephemeral! :)
Some think this is due to information overload. That we have too much to remember, so we have to learn how to be selective and remember the important things.
I really don't care how much overloaded my brain is, I just want it to keep vital information safely and make it available to me when I need it. I jump out of my chair numerous times on a daily basis searching my bag frantically to ensure that I still have my bus pass, or my house key is where I "think" I have last seen it, or my cell phone is still around. I am lost without the contact list stored on my phone.
Does this book help? Moonwalking with Einstein, by Joshua Foer, the title is certainly confusing and I would be very interested to know what does moon walking with Einstein have to do with the science of memory.) is an interesting read. Mr. Foer's curiosity of memory athletes prompts him to take on the challenge to become one. In this book he shares his story of going from having an average memory to an exceptional one that awards him the title of the US Memory Champion. He interviews those who have made a name and fortune training people mind mapping and mental literacy, e.g. Tony Buzan. He meets with the man who can't forget and a man who can't remember and out of each discussion a couple of chapters filled with fun and informative facts about the evolution of science of memory comes about.
When I turned the last page, did I feel I have now learned techniques that help me to remember better? Yes! Simple and probably one that you, who have not read this book yet, may know already. And that is our brain remembers when in full cognitive consciousness, the techniques such as: memory palace, one the author talks about and uses to win the title of US Championship, is just one way of forcing the brain into the state of full cognitive consciousness.
Happy Reading!

A Second Look at Regent Park - Jane's Walk 2012

It's Regent Park; one of the neighborhoods in old Toronto. It's got Canada's largest and oldest social housing project.  And it's now in its fifth year of fifteen year journey to be revitalized to a mixed income neighborhood. The profit from sale of 3000 condo units will pay to re-build the 2083 social housing units.

Regent Park was our destination on this years Jane's walk.  It was a bitter sweet walk. We witnessed the impact the revitalization has had on a community that up until recently was mainly concerned on how to stay afloat and alive.  In every building we stopped to listen to a resident or a group of residents anecdote. We heard stories of what Regent Park was and what it has become.  One thing has not changed: the love of the residents for their neighborhood.

The walk started at Daniels Corporation presentation center, 505 Dundas East.  Our first stop was 40 Oaks, one of the newly and renovated social housing buildings. The residents of 40 Oaks told us about the building amenities.  "It's when people come together, sit face to face, break bread, that the social stigmas are eliminated."  With these words by one of the executives of the 40 Oaks we started learning about many features of the building; the volunteer run kitchen, the Rogers dinning room, that many of the furniture was made from reclaimed material.  Take the beautifully designed ceiling lamps in the buildings peace, meditation and prayer chamber.  The glass in the chandeliers were collected from Harbourfront, washed, and polished.  The chamber will see its first wedding in June!

At the next stop our walking tour, Sima welcomed us to the Regent Park Arts Cultural Centre.  Ground has been broken and the structures of this three stories building has been put in place.  A couple of youth, members of the center, read us a poetry and sing us a rap song, both of them show off talents in context of their roots in the neighborhood.  Though the building is not complete but the pictures encourage us to dream big. The new center will be nothing but perfect.  It will cultivate art, and bring like minded people together, e.g. the Centre for Social Innovation Regent Park will occupy 10,000 square feet on the third floor of the new Regent Park Arts & Cultural Centre. CSI Regent Park will become home to a diverse cross-section of social mission organizations and individuals who are coming together to share ideas, resources, advice and inspiration.

We continue our walk through the streets, and any moment we get, we stop to capture memories on photo.  I am excited, and filled with hope and wonder.  I wish all the behind-the-scenes hand and brains of this project the success they deserve.  Not only, I hope success for this fifteen years journey, but I hope the revitalized community is going to sustain itself after all the helping hands and external support, builders, leaders, and project managers, leave the community.  Meanwhile, I have been wearing "I <3 Regent Park" button since the walk to show my affinity to what could be the end of stigma stricken core downtown T.O.