Burn baby burn

Mobile combustion
Quebec City, QC
July 2011

About this photo: It's Thematic's "playing with light" week all week long. You don't need to try the veal, but you may want to click over here to see what we're talking about.

We happened across this scene while walking around Quebec City - the only walled city in North America and a living example of history that two months after our trip there remains a constant topic of conversation among our kids. A large crowd had gathered around a street performer on the riverfront boardwalk. This particular guy was unusually acrobatic and unusually funny, more professional than hokey. Our kids were entranced. So were we.

It didn't take long before he was down to his skivvies - fleur-de-lys, of course - and riding a unicycle. A few bilingual jokes later and then the flaming batons came out.

I'm not an arsonist or a pyromaniac, and I generally don't end up entranced by flames. But this time, I'm figuring it was the late afternoon heat or the fact that we were in a unique place with friends who mattered, enjoying a day we knew the munchkins would carry with them for a while yet. Whatever it was, I zoomed in on the flames and let the fun begin.

I'm kinda glad I did. This picture takes me right back to that moment when everything was just right. I like when photography does that.

Your turn: A picture's ability to take you back. Has that ever happened to you?

On why you matter

"In the world you may be just one person, but to one person you may be the world."
Brandi Snyder

Another day, another year

Fourteen years plus one day ago, my wife received the best birthday present imaginable. Which means today is another birthday day in our house. I won't share any numbers because, well, she'll kill me. But however many years she celebrates, I'm just observant enough to realize how lucky I am to get to share them with her.

It's been a pretty cool journey, thanks to her. My only wish is we get to celebrate many more days - birthdays, regular days, and everything in between - because she always finds a way to make any day special, and to make things better for everyone around her.

Happy birthday, sweets.

Your turn: What do you wish for Debbie's birthday? Feel free to visit her here and drop her a line.

Thematic Photographic 162 - Playing with Light

Going with the flow
Quebec City, QC, July 2011

This week's theme, playing with light, is a bit misleading. That's because one can easily say that all of photography is technically playing with light. It's all about optics, about capturing light in certain ways and sharing the results with others. So why would I single it out on its own?

Good question. Because for the next week I'd like us all to explore pictures where the light is the story. It doesn't matter how strange it may look - all that matters is that the picture jazzes you in some way, and that you find some way to interpret the theme. As is always the case with Thematic themes, there are no rights or wrongs. Just visions. And for the next week, I hope you'll enjoy exploring this one. And yours.

Your turn: Take a pic that reflects the "playing with light" theme - or find one you may have posted online - and then leave a comment here letting everyone know where to find it. Repeat as often as you wish, and feel free to pull in a friend. We'll be doing this all week, so don't be shy. And if you're new to the Thematic thing, click here and all will be explained.

Update: Almost forgot to update y'all on what this is. It's a jellyfish, and I caught this shot at the Quebec Aquarium. Low light and relatively fast-moving beings made for an interesting challenge. The meandering crowds didn't help, either. But I stuck with it for a bit and eventually got this one reasonably decent shot. I'm learning that patience can be a virtue on occasion.

Peanut grows up

So serious
Laval, QC, July 2011

She was just born yet she's already an accomplished, confident young woman. She was a tiny little thing, yet now she fills a room with her spirit by simply walking through the door. She quietly made friends with everyone in pre-school just as easily as she settled into her first week of high school. And as our daughter, Dahlia, turns 14 today, I find myself wondering how she went from that to this so quickly that I fear I'm missing the journey.

She's "Dali" to us, a delightful, engaging, whip-smart, limitlessly kind template of my wife. She's "Dal" to her best friend, and is the kind of friend who I wish everyone had a chance to have at least once in a lifetime. I still call her "Peanut" because that's what she looked like in her first ultrasound. And I know it drives her crazy - especially when I use the term outside the house - so I'm doing my best to cut back.

Whatever we call her, it's hard to imagine what our family would be like without her. Of course, we say that about all of our kids, as each of them brings such a remarkable sense of uniqueness to this little world of ours. But today is Dahlia's day, and as I think about what makes her her, and how that her-ness makes us that much more us-like, I'm reminded of how much joy she manages to inject into the little things we do every day. The conversations in the car as I bring her home from a program, the banter on the walks to the grocery store, the sound of her voice when she talks to the dog. She makes all of these seemingly routine slices of the day seem better, somehow.

No surprise, of course, as that's the way my wife's always been. Gentle, empathetic, sweet, spine made of titanium, attitude as sharp as a tack, a laugh from the depths of her soul. Little moments matter to her, and the needs of others always seem to take precedence over her own. We've been blessed by her for 14 years, and I'm already looking forward to seeing what she does with the years she has ahead of her.

Happy birthday, maidel. May you continue to go from strength to strength.

Water. Falls.

Transience
Quebec City, QC, July 2011
[Click all photos to embiggen]

About these photos: We're winding down Thematic's white week, and by all accounts it's been a great one. If you've played along, please accept my thanks for your contribution - and if you're still wondering whether or not it's too late to jump in, rest assured it isn't. Click here to squeeze your shot in under the wire. And stay tuned Monday (tomorrow) night - at 7:00 Eastern - for our new theme, playing with light.

The neat thing about water as a photographic subject is its ability to shift form. Left undisturbed, it can potentially be as clear as the surrounding air. But get it flowing just so, and set the camera this way or that, and everything changes. Use a long enough shutter speed - like I did in the smaller shot to the left, and you can almost feel the motion in the resulting still image.

This isn't the first time I've done the moving-water thing (click here, here and here for earlier examples) and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last. There's just something about standing near flowing water that speaks of peace, that reinforces that all is right with the world, even if for only this moment.

Which makes finding more moments like this all the more important.

Your turn: Why do waterfalls, rapids and other fast-flowing stretches of water appeal to you?

9/11: Looking back. Looking inward.

"If everyone howled at every injustice, every act of barbarism, every act of unkindness, then we would be taking the first step toward a real humanity."
Nelson DeMille

It's been 10 years since that fateful day, when hatred came home and embedded itself more deeply in our community than we ever felt it would. It's been 10 years since we learned how little value some among us place on human life. It's been 10 years since the rate with which cynicism and suspicion replaced innocence began to accelerate. It's been a difficult 10 years, and there's no end in sight.

I wonder if the world would indeed be a better place if more among us heeded Mr. DeMille's words. I don't know the answer, but I feel the question still needs to be asked.

Your turn: 9/11 + 10. Where were you on that day? What's going through your mind as we look back today?

One more thing: I wrote this piece on the 5th anniversary of 9/11.

About those balls, officer

Fiesta!
Quebec City, QC, July 2011

Either it's the world's ultimate practical joke or someone's really got a thing for plastic balls. Whatever the reason, when you come across a white Ford Fiesta stuffed to the roof with enough balls to keep an army of snot-nosed indoor playground dwellers happy for months, your only choice is to take a picture.

Funny thing, though, is I probably would have grabbed the shot even without the balls (oy, this is getting ugly.) I liked how the bright white paint reflected the various colors of the evening streetscape. It really doesn't take much to get me to lift my lens these days.

Your turn: So how did the balls come to be there? Take your best shot.

On realizing Mr. Kasem was right

"We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."
Oscar Wilde

NASA launches its GRAIL mission to the moon tomorrow morning, and despite my never-ending wish to sleep in and let the world take care of itself, I'll be watching. Because life's sweeter when lived with a certain sense of limitless wonder.

Your turn: What stars are you shooting for?

Blizzard conditions

Remember this? It's from a wintry - and decidedly white - January afternoon, but I found myself thinking of winter last night as I walked the dog. There was a distinct nip in the air and before long I found myself buttoning buttons and zipping zippers in a vain attempt to keep the advancing cold at bay. Summer's over, folks, and it's only a matter of time before we're seeing this out the window. Nice thought to end the work week, no?

Hockey's darkest day

The impact of the horrific crash of a Yak-42 jetliner on takeoff from the Russian city of Yaroslavl is just now sinking in. Virtually an entire team, Lokomotiv, has been killed. The hockey world there and here is in shock, as the victims list included a number of former NHL players. In this interconnected age, the ripples travel far and wide.

There's no way to undo tragedy, no way to bring back what's irrevocably gone or fill the incalculably huge hole that results. I often lament the lameness of mere words at times like this, because they don't seem to tangibly change the fact that a plane fell from the sky and countless lives were either ended or forever altered.

But words are all I've got right about now, and those shared by a Brazilian author (who's inspired me previously) seem tailor-made to the way I'm thinking right about now:

"Tragedies do happen. We can discover the reason, blame others, imagine how different our lives would be had they not occurred. But none of that is important: they did occur, and so be it. From there onward we must put aside the fear that they awoke in us and begin to rebuild."
Paulo Coelho

The woman with no face

Whitewashed
London, ON
August 2011

About this photo: It's Thematic's white week. What's Thematic? What's white? Click here for more.

Don't ever say that modern-day advertising can't be completely bizarre. When every available square inch of retail and online space is used up by advertisers screaming for your attention, it's a given that the messages will, over time, become increasingly loud, obnoxious, and just plain weird. Advertisers that stick to normal and sedate risk getting lost in the mix.

Which is my only way of explaining this one. I came across it at the mall (the very bottom of the billboard actually crept into this recently posted pic.) I'm guessing it's Sony's way of saying people who buy Vaio computers stand out from the crowd. Because, as we know, a colorful case makes all computers better.

Hang on while I ponder the message inherent in my oh-so-sober-silver laptop. I guess I'm not cool enough to be in a Sony ad. Manyana.

Your turn: Perhaps this is a bit of an oversimplification, but does advertising work on you? Why/why not?

On optimists, pessimists and leaders

"The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails."
John Maxwell

Taking flight

Gull needs a name
Grand Bend, ON, August 2011

Sure, he's white. Or is he really a she? I guess I'll never know.

Either way, it was the blue sky that really got my attention as I was shooting from a crowded beach. I understand the optical reasons for this color to appear in the atmosphere, but that doesn't make it any less breathtaking.

So as I write this blog entry on this grey morning in the middle of a week of grey, I thought it might be fun to close our eyes, to look back at the summer than was and remember what it was like to be surrounded by scenes like this.

Your turn: So what should we name him? Or her?

The ultimate (white) driving machine

Bangle butt
Orangeburg, NY, July 2011

About this photo: Thematic. white. here.

I'm not the world's biggest fan of white as a car color. I figure if I'm going to spend six figures on a vehicle, it'll have a color somewhat more appealing than that worn by the fridge that until recently stood in our kitchen.

Either that or I'm still experiencing flashbacks to my mother-in-law's late, unlamented white Ford Tempo. I swear that car started rusting before its first birthday. Then again, maybe it would have sucked in any color. Whatever.

Still, there was something neat about the golden-hour glow on the rear trunklid of this BMW convertible. It reminded me that little details - in any color - can make even an ordinary-seeming thing like a nameplate seem a little less ordinary.

Your turn: What's in this car's trunk?

Thematic Photographic 161 - White

Backed into a corner
London, ON, July 2011

They say you can't wear white after Labor Day. I'm not quite sure who "they" are, but I'm virtually certain their so-called rules deserve a one-way trip to the recycling bin. Life's short: Wear what you want, when you want. Except the topless-on-main-street thing. That's just plain hideous. But I digress.

I've chosen white as this week's Thematic theme because I'm selfish. I've always had issues shooting white, as it's one of those colors that demands a little extra attention. Never mind that white, in the optical scheme of things, is an agglomeration of all colors, a super-color, if you will. It still throws me off a bit, makes me think a little longer before I pick up the camera and start shooting.

I hope this color-themed theme gives you similar opportunities to think and shoot over the next week, and I'm looking forward to seeing what you all bring back from your adventures.

Your turn: Shoot a picture in support of the white theme - or simply find one that you may have already taken/posted online. Leave a comment here letting everyone know where to find it, then feel free to visit other participants. Repeat as often as you wish: serial Thematic is highly encouraged. For more background on how Thematic, our totally non-competitive, hopefully-smile-inducing, weekly photo-sharing experience, works, please click here.

Marie Antoinette was here

Is this a store? Or a museum?
Quebec City, QC, July 2011

About this photo: I thought I'd sneak in a final shopping-themed vignette before the new theme, white, launches at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Please forgive my indulgence.

The Chateau Frontenac is an iconic hotel on the banks of the St. Lawrence River, the kind of building that instantly takes you back to an era where the finer things were made Right Here, before rollbacks, the lowest price is (was) the law, and extreme couponing. This building is breathtaking whether you're looking at it from across the river or across the street, and that sense of reverence continues as you wander inside and take in every sumptuously historic detail.

Like this store just off the main lobby. I still have no idea what they sell. Or if they even bother selling anything at all. Perhaps it's an excuse to show off the kind of history most other hotels can only dream of. Perhaps the staff here do nothing beyond shushing visitors and shooing them away from the ornate floor displays. Whatever the story, I couldn't resist shooting through the display window before one of them started shushing me.

Your turn: Who shops here?

You really don't want to sit here

The old and the forgotten
London, ON, May 2011

We're wrapping up our week-long shopping expedition with this rather forlorn view of a downtown sidewalk. I found it more than a little ironic that the 15-ish year-old chairs were being tossed away mere meters from an antique shop window filled with lovingly restored furniture that was old when my grandparents were born.

I guess they really don't make things like they used to.

Your turn: What have we lost in the move toward a disposable society?

One more thing: Thematic's next theme, white, launches tonight at precisely 7:00 Eastern. You're all invited. Even you, Bill.

People watcher

A typical Masonville afternoon
London, ON, July 2011

About this photo: It's still shopping week - till tomorrow, anyway - and you're invited to share your own here. What's our next theme? How does white grab you? More details tomorrow...

As we often do when we run errands as a family, we split up to cover more ground in less time and, more importantly, to give our kids a little more "alone time" with each of us. Divide and conquer doesn't only apply in war and business, apparently, as parents like us have learned it's a great way to keep things balanced when you'd otherwise be outnumbered or outgunned.

So on this sunny afternoon filled with things to do and not enough time to do them, the gents went one way and the ladies went the other. Noah and I had a little extra time when we were all done, so we decided to hang out in the atrium and take it all in. My mom did this with me, in malls much like this one, a generation ago, and now it was my turn to hang back and watch him watch the world around him.

When he asked if he could go downstairs for a bit, I hesitated a bit before nodding my head. He's still our baby, and allowing him to go off on his own still gives me pause. Perhaps I've become a modern-era paranoid parent, but I worry. Still, it was only downstairs, and I'd see him the entire time. So off he went. And out came my camera, because something told me this image of our no-longer-small son beginning to explore the decidedly large world around him was something I wanted us to remember.

Your turn: When is it time to let go?

On life's canvas

"Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it."
Danny Kaye

This being a long weekend and all, I thought the late Mr. Kaye's words would be particularly worth sharing. I hope you're making the most of the time you've been given, this weekend and always.

Your turn: What does your canvas look like?

Let's all go to Bikini Village

Cover up
Grand Bend, ON, August 2011
[Please click here for more shopping silliness]

Sometimes, pictures tend to be best displayed in pairs. As I was reviewing my images from our grand adventure to Grand Bend last month, I realized that the topless picture - posted earlier today here - was taken immediately before this one.

Which essentially means first I question why grown men are running around town topless. Then I'm suggesting they pop into the women's wear shop to cover up.

This photography thing just keeps getting weirder. Somehow, I'm not disturbed.

Your turn: Who shops here? Why/why not?

Topless shopping

Taste is subjective
Grand Bend, ON, August 2011

Once upon a time, we dressed up when we went out to dinner, went shopping, took a flight, went to work, etc. Maybe the world was a more formal place back then. Maybe we spent more time thinking about how our behaviors impacted others.

I get the whole shift to casualness. After all, who wouldn't want to walk around in shorts and sandals instead of a stuffy shirt and tie? Life is short, so why would we deliberately spend it wearing clothes we hate?

Still, a little voice in the back of my head - what, you don't hear them, too? - sometimes suggests, in a whisper, that there's such thing as too casual, and sometimes it may make more sense to put some real clothes on before stepping out the door.

Your turn: Is there such thing as too casual?

On two ways of looking at the world

"Loving people live in a loving world. Hostile people live in a hostile world. Same world."
Wayne Dyer

The wrong side of the mall

No delivery today
Laval, QC, July 2011

About this photo: We're shopping this week. You can, too, by clicking here.

The 21st century shopping mall has evolved into a slickly architected environment designed to efficiently separate unwitting consumers from their money. Everything about a mall speaks to marketing perfection, from gleaming glass and marble floors to the placement of the food court relative to the department stores relative to the places that sell Mrs. Roper-ish costume jewellery and gourmet popcorn. Setting aside my natural cynicism toward the all-sales-all-the-time mentality, I realize just how much insight goes into every last detail of these places.

Yet no one gives much thought to the unseen infrastructure that feeds all that artificial commercialism. (Or is it commercial artificiality? I never really know.) But if you wander around enough, eventually you see the somewhat less glitzy backside of the whole operation. It's the seamy yin to the average mall's more prosperous-looking yang. But without it, none of the pretty stuff would work. Or even exist.

So as I wandered around the back of this local mall and dodged the shards of glass embedded in the cracked asphalt, I didn't fault anyone for the ugliness back here. It's simply a function of its design. It's up to us, however, to look at both sides of the equation.

Your turn: Do you ever go behind the scenes? Do tell...

On knowing when to shut up

"It's very important in life to know when to shut up. You should not be afraid of silence."
Alex Trebek

I've always liked Alex Trebek. And who wouldn't? The longtime host of Jeopardy - and wannabe-thief-catcher - is Canadian (well, he was, once), he answers his questions with a question, and he gives away lots of money to smart people every day.

After seeing this quote, I like him even more.

(And being the Canadian that I am, I'll apologize for the ever-so-slightly-edgy title of this entry. Goosing the Google algorithm makes my heart race.)

Your turn: How do you deal with folks who don't know when to turn it off?

Blockbuster busted

The other shoe in the traumatic redrawing of the entertainment landscape has just dropped: the remaining Blockbuster stores in Canada are now slated to close.

That's right, folks: the video store as we know it is finally dead. No one ever said progress came without cost.

Your turn: In a world without video stores, where do you find stuff to watch?

For more shopping-related Thematic, click here.

This just in: If you're in Canada, I'll be chatting about this live tomorrow (Thursday) morning on CTV's Canada AM. Tune in just before 7:15 a.m. and I'll be on with Seamus O'Regan.

But wait, there's more: Here's a link to the Canada AM interview.

Saucy collection

Just for the taste of it
London, ON, August 2011

There's a delightful market near our house. It's called "Remark", and it's one of those local, folks-know-your-name kind places that makes you glad that nationally-owned chains haven't completely taken over. I'd heard about it for years but, for reasons I can't explain or understand, never got around to going.

Until this weekend. Thanks to my wife and kids who know how much I enjoy everyday adventures like this, we decided it was time for me to become Remark-savvy. And what a revelation it was, chock full of neat little finds that make grocery shopping more like fun and less like a chore. We bumped into folks we knew, and delighted in finding little flourishes of decor that made it feel much warmer than the typical store.

The lighting also caught my eye, so it didn't take long for me to start wondering how it would all look on a two-dimensional, 4x6-inch plane. From the looks of this spice display, it all looks rather delish. I'll be back.

Your turn: Got a locally-owned/managed store near you that makes a difference? Do tell.

One more thing: To share your own shopping-themed experience, follow your mouse this way.

Popeye the Sailor Man

You come across the craziest things when you go grocery shopping. Like this fellow. What should we name him?

For more Thematic shopping silliness, go here.

Thematic Photographic 160 - Shopping

Conspicuous consumption
Laval, QC, July 2011

Thematic goes shopping this week, and we're hoping you'll find a bit of time to do the same. As you can imagine, shopping can be interpreted six ways from Sunday, and you've got a whole week to play with your camera and come up with your own take on it.

As you can see, I've been to the grocery store. This time, anyway. Where will I go tomorrow? Not sure yet. Drop back in to see how this develops.

Your turn: Are you feeling like a shopaholic? Either way, post a shopping-themed pic to your blog or website - or simply find something you've already posted - and leave a comment here letting everyone know where to find it. Repeat as often as you wish through the week, and feel free to invite your friends along for the ride. Thematic isn't a competition: It's a fun, non-competitive way to spread our photographic wings a bit. Are you in?

If you're new to the Thematic thing, click here for more info on how it all works.

Get yourself some cheap sunglasses

Faceoff
Grand Bend, ON
August 2011

About this photo: We're winding down our "vibrancy" theme with one last pic. It's not too late to share your own: Just click here. Our next theme will be "Shopping" and will launch tonight at 7:00 Eastern.

They're cheap, cheesy and oh so kitschy. Everything on sale on the sidewalk of the main drag through this lakeside tourist town seems to scream immediate, almost-disposable gratification.

Purists may hold their noses up, of course. But when you're headed to the beach and need a towel, a few toys and some eye protection you don't want to worry about, you're almost thankful for the few dozen opportunistic vendors who've set up shop here.

Summer selling season is an all-too-brief blink of time for these people, and they either sell what they've got when the warm sun shines or risk spending a very cold winter by a very cold lake. I quietly hope their sales are as hot as the pavement below before I turn for the lake and head back to my family.

Your turn: Who wears these? Why?

Fire in the sky

Blink and it's gone
London, ON, August 2011
[Click photo to embiggen]

Vibrancy can happen anywhere, but we only pick up on it if we're looking for it in the first place. It's all too easy to get caught up in the back-and-forth of the everyday. It's all too easy to miss the fun because we simply weren't paying attention.

On this night, it was halftime at our daughter's soccer game, and I found myself looking for things to shoot before the light faded for good. The sky was particularly entertaining, and I'm glad I paid attention this time.

Your turn: How do you avoid missing moments that matter?

On immoral force

"Force always attracts men of low morality."
Albert Einstein

A face in the flag

Can you see it?
Grand Bend, ON, August 2011

About this photo: It's Thematic's vibrant week, and it can be yours, too. Just follow your mouse here.

I'm always taking pictures of flags (like this one and this one.) I don't believe in the I-already-have-it-at-home-so-I-won't-bother philosophy of photography. Rather, I believe in returning to things we've shot before, because you never know when a factor or two will shift a little and completely change the tone of what you ultimately capture.

Which brings me to this flag. It stands at the entrance to the public beach at Grand Bend, a sentinel to the thousands of people who converge on this playground on the average sunny summer day. Almost no one pays attention to it because, let's face it, they've seen it all before. But I had my long-ish lens on the camera, and as I walked back from refilling the extort-, er, parking meter, I decided I didn't want to leave this delightfully raucous little tourist town without some photographic evidence.

As I often do when I'm walking alone, I'll deliberately carry my camera over my shoulder. That makes it easy to shoot at will whenever the urge strikes. The shoot-and-run principle dictates fast decisions, quick compositions and not a whole lot of forethought. You go with your gut, grabbing whatever strikes you as meaningful in the moment. It's a glorious way to fill what would otherwise be a few mindless moments, a wonderful way to remember what it felt like to walk from here to there, to remember the feel, the spirit of this place.

So, back to the flag. As I got closer to the beach, the familiar fabric that was blowing in the wind almost seemed to ask for a shot. I stopped mid-sidewalk, composed and shot off at least ten frames (G-d bless you, digital.) Nine of them were lousy thanks to wind-whipped shapes that completely ruined the majesty that is the maple leaf (you don't have to be Canadian to love this flag, after all. It rocks in its own right. I know I'm biased, but still...) The tenth and very last frame was, well, look for yourself.*

Sometimes, magic happens through a lens. Sometimes, you're just lucky enough to have decided to be there at that moment when it happens.

Your turn: So how do you explain this? Pure coincidence or some kind of sign? Or am I just seeing things?

* For the record, this pic isn't PhotoShopped. I'm not that good. Besides, it would violate my whole no-heroic-editing philosophy.

On vision

"Imagination gives you the picture. Vision gives you the impulse to make the picture your own."
Robert Collier

Hurricane Irene: You suck

Forgive me for the harsh headline. Bad weather puts me in a mood.

Of course, it's weather. It's been happening for billions of years, long before we built cities beside - or in some cases, below - the sea, long before we decided we were masters of the environment. Yeah, right.

So I can't really blame Mother Nature for doing her thing. I can, however, toss a few barbs at every American television network anchor and reporter currently covering the hurricane beat. There's a fine line between informing the public (good) and scaring the bejeebers out of them for no good reason (as you likely guessed, bad) and I'm going to conclude that most of these journos long ago crossed that line.

Their hyperbolic, sensationalistic choice of words and tone doesn't help viewers understand what they need to do to protect themselves and their homes. Sure, it may grab viewers' attention, but like a Fox "News" show, you come away feeling like you've actually lost brain cells in the process.

I just watched a reporter stand in a wind tunnel to illustrate the effects of hurricane-force winds on the human body. I didn't learn a whole lot that I didn't know, but I'm going to spend a while trying to banish those images of his flapping cheeks from my mind. Repeating the Google Earth projection of lower Manhattan flooding with 500 BILLION TONS OF WATER three times was probably a bit much, too. I'm pretty sure there's at least one viewer out there who thought it was real and is now reaching for his panic attack meds.

There are plenty of examples of great reporting on this potentially serious weather event. Unfortunately, they're being drowned out by the morons whose attention-grabbing pursuit of ratings seems to matter more to them than the basic journalistic goal of serving the community's greater good.

Your turn: How is Hurricane Irene touching you?

Painted ladies and a bottle of wine

The definition of red
Grand Bend, ON, August 2011

About this photo: It's Thematic's vibrant week, and you're invited to post your own. Go here to start.

Ever notice how towns near large bodies of water seem to be painted with a different palette than those further inland? I found this delightfully painted building just a couple of blocks in from Lake Huron, on the main drag of an equally delightfully busy tourist burg. This place is raucous kitsch in all its glory, and I wouldn't change a thing.

Your turn: Who lives here?

Steve Jobs quits Apple. The world slows down a little

So by now you've likely heard the news that Steve Jobs is stepping down as CEO of Apple. What's next? Good question. I'll do my best to answer it - and many others - in the days to come.

What was initially a quiet evening spent shepherding our son to choir practice quickly turned into a bit of a free-for-all (don't worry, though, as I dig this stuff.) I've spoken with CTV News Channel's Brad Giffen, the Toronto Star and the Deutsche-Presse agency. Coming up is a chat with CFRB Newstalk Radio 1010 in Toronto, and CTV's Canada AM. Busy night around these parts - never mind the tornado warnings and the blustery storms that are blanketing the region.

More soon. In the meantime, I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on Mr. Jobs's resignation.

Mine? I'm a little sad. I wish cancer didn't have to touch as many lives as it does.

Jack dies. The earth moves.

Canada was rocked yesterday with news that Jack Layton, leader of the federal New Democratic Party, lost his battle with cancer. He was 61.

As leader of the perennial #3 party for the past eight years, he never became prime minister, never lorded over Parliament Hill, never tasted the ultimate pinnacle of power. His party, a somewhat left-leaning organization whose union-, family- and community-friendly policies often stood in stark contrast to the more fiscally strident focus of the Conservatives, has traditionally been just a little too far away from centrist to grab the attention of Canada's mainstream.

But here's the thing: Mr. Layton managed the impossible in a political career that spanned a generation and took him from Toronto city council to one of the most influential positions in federal politics. His everyman appeal and ability to relate the political process to the people it served helped him grow his party's fortunes during his leadership. The NDP served as an increasingly influential balancing factor in federal politics, a counter to the policies of opposing parties who often seemed to forget who they were serving.

Jack, as he was comfortably known, never seemed to forget. And it all paid off this last May when, in a stunningly historic victory, the party paved Quebec orange and became the official opposition for the first time ever.

I don't write this to be maudlin. I write it for perspective. Because as headlines screamed news of today's earthquake that touched most of the U.S. and Canadian east coast region, it occurred to me that some of us may have lost it.

Here's the bigger picture: On Sunday, a tornado destroyed the center of town in Goderich, Ontario. An employee at the Sifto salt mine, Normand Laberge, died as he tried to escape the lakeside boom crane he had been operating. Earlier this year, a magnitude 9.0 quake - over 1,000 times stronger than today's - and tsunami left 20,000 people dead or missing in Japan. Last year's Haiti quake (at 7.0, over 10 times as intense) left upwards of 85,000 people dead, a million homeless, and an already-decimated economy in an unimaginably worse shambles.

Somehow, watching office workers mug for the cameras that descended on the scene as they evacuated their buildings seems a little ridiculous given the real losses, large and small, faced by others. In the end, it was a harmless diversion. Let's define it as such, and let's move on. False drama doesn't become us. There's enough real drama - and real loss - to go around.

Your turn: Thoughts?

Thematic Photographic 159 - Vibrant

Filet O Fish
Saint-Leonard d'Aston, QC, July 2011

If you're a pessimist, the world can be an ugly place. If you're an optimist, it's gorgeous. It all depends on your perspective, then, and it's up to you - indeed, all of us - to look for the beauty. Otherwise, there's no telling what kind of incredible things we might miss along the way.

For the next week, Thematic asks you to share your most vibrant pictures. What's vibrant? It can be color, as you see here. Or it can be a person, a scene, a moment that moves your soul. As always, it's totally up to you to interpret the theme. I suspect this is going to be a fun one!

Your turn: Post a vibrant-themed picture to your blog/web site - or find one you've already posted online - and leave a comment here letting folks know where to find it. Visit other participants to spread the joy. Repeat as often as you wish throughout the week, and don't be afraid to pull in friends, families, and anyone else looking for some photographic fun. For more background on how Thematic Photographic works, please click here.

Not a snow globe

The purple vase of happiness
Quebec City, QC, July 2011

I thought I'd drop in another glass-themed pic before we move on to our new Thematic theme at 7:00 p.m. Just because.

Your turn: Where did I find this? How did they make the water purple?

Streetwalker

Here's looking at you, kid
Quebec City, QC, July 2011

Glass isn't just something we look through. Sometimes we use it to look at ourselves, as well. I'm guessing whoever mounted this decidedly modern piece of mirrored glass to this heritage building was more interested in preventing accidents and boosting security than in preserving the property in its absolute historic condition. I doubt mirrors were part of the landscape when warring armies fought in this place some 400 years ago.

But this entire stretch had been so lovingly preserved that it was easy to overlook the occasional concession to modern life. That a walled city - the only one in North America - can be such a vibrant home for homeowners and business owners alike is pretty cool in my book.

Your turn: If only this corner could talk. What would it say?

One more thing: It's not too late to share your own glassy vision. Just click here to dive in. New Thematic theme, vibrant, launches tonight at 7:00 Eastern.

To market, we must go

Looking toward an invisible sun
London, ON, May 2011

About this photo: If it's made of glass, we hope you'll share a similarly-themed picture of your very own. It's called Thematic, and you can get involved by clicking here.

I live in the other London, the one without the accent, the European cachet, or the riots. We're a sleepy, mid-sized Canadian city that's often only too happy to live in the shadows of its more famous namesake.

We don't have traffic jams, per se, unless you define such a thing as a dozen cars arriving at a red light at approximately the same time. We don't have any expressways within the city limits. Nothing is more than a 20-minute drive away. I can realistically bike across the city and be back home in time for breakfast. Okay, a late breakfast, but still.

It makes for a quieter lifestyle, but it has its costs, too, like a sluggish economy and limited business/career opportunities for some. Unlike the "real" London, or Toronto, a mere two-hour drive east, our economy doesn't grow as much as it staggers from one milestone to the next. We tend to rely on fading sectors - manufacturing and call centers, for example - and as a result now enjoy one of the highest unemployment rates in the country. When Dr. Oetker, a German pizza maker, announced plans to open a plant here a few weeks ago, the out-of-scale cheerleading from a civic administration desperate for good news, any good news, was more than a little bizarre. And sad.

London, Ontario, world frozen pizza capital. We're so proud.

A number of notable initiatives and groups are doing great work to turn it around and reignite this place as a center of non-all-dressed-with-mushrooms-on-top innovation and business excellence, but it's a long road and we're just getting started.

This is a picture of London's Covent Garden Market, one of the jewels in the crown of an earlier effort to anchor the city's future. Part of a number of big-buck projects designed to spark interest in redeveloping our crumbling downtown, it's become a go-to place for the slowly growing number of area residents and the corporate employees who still work nearby. It's also a great example of the kind of long-lead investment that spurs growth for decades to come.

I no longer work in the neighborhood, so whenever I find myself downtown, I try to make it down here to soak in the sense of community and wonder about what will grow next out of this much admired seed. This place remains under a consistent cover of clouds, but as long as enough of us continue to look to the sky in the hope of a better future, the London that everyone forgets will continue to be the kind of place we want - and can afford - to call home.

Your turn: What will it take to jumpstart growth where you are?

Polar bear in heat

He walks alone
Quebec City, QC, July 2011

Meet Eddy, the Quebec Aquarium's polar bear. He used to have a friend, Tiguak, but she sadly passed away in April. We visited him on a hot - about 30 C, plus humidity - sunny July day, and the paint scheme on the outdoor part of his enclosure notwithstanding, I couldn't help but wonder what he thought of the heat.

He would alternate between wandering inside, popping into his pool for a dip and, most poignantly, pacing back and forth on the ragged edge of the deck. It's hard to tell what he was thinking, of course, but staff members told us he's been doing this ever since he lost his partner.

I know that the raison d'etre of this incredible facility is conservation and education. But the sight of this magnificent, lonely animal pacing behind plate glass on a hot summer day made me more than a little sad. We sent him virtual hugs from our vantage point and hoped it was enough to cheer him up.

Probably not.

Your turn: Animals in captivity. Supporters say we need aquariums and zoos and the like to teach us all about animals, biology, conservation and the planet. Opponents say it's just plain cruel. Where do you stand? Why?

On fixing what ails us

"If everyone howled at every injustice, every act of barbarism, every act of unkindness, then we would be taking the first step toward a real humanity."
Nelson DeMille

Perhaps I'm overly influenced by the unnecessarily screaming headlines, but I'm sensing there's been a lot of unkindness floating around the planet over the past while, and I'm not entirely sure why. All I know is that this needs to change. Do you agree?

My $0.02 on HP, webOS and myopia

By now the geek world has had a day to absorb the news that HP is killing its mobile/tablet webOS platform, getting out of the hardware business and buying a British software firm, Autonomy, for $11.7 billion. The irony: The company pulled the trigger on the anniversary of its founding in a California garage.

What does it all mean? Well, if you ever had a PalmPilot, this marks the end of the line for Palm, which HP bought last year. And if you covet HP laptops - hello, The Office! - your next machine may very well be made by someone else. Beyond the personal/nostalgic realm, the implications extend right into the corner office.

Yahoo! Canada published my article, The HP verdict: investors win, innovators lose, today. Hope you enjoy it.

A glass more than half full

Drink. Be Merry.
Quebec City, QC, July 2011

About this photo: We're exploring all things glass this week as part of our latest Thematic theme. You're invited to share your own glassy vision, too. Just click here.

When the room is filled with the happy sounds of friends and family, it's easy to just sit back and drink it all in for a bit. Which is exactly what I did on this night. There was a spirit to this meal that I won't soon forget, a feeling that as long as you had the right people around the table, the result would be something you wouldn't soon forget - and hoped would never end.

I wish my camera could have recorded the warmth of this moment. I'll have to keep working on that, I guess.

Your turn: Do you remember one particular meal particularly well? What made it so unique?

On mistakes. And learning from them.

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing that you will make one."
Elbert Hubbard

This quote reminds me of the La-Z-Boy recliner and the bicycle. It may be safer to sit in the big, cushy chair instead of riding a bike precariously through traffic. Or maybe the sedentary avoidance of sudden risk is the deadliest of all paths.

I'm going to presume the whole point of this life thing is to get out, risk a fall, and see what happens next. On that note, the outside world beckons.

Your turn: How do you learn from your mistakes?

Behold the glass cathedral

Let the sun shine in
Mahwah, NJ, July 2011

I think the world would be a better place if more buildings looked like this. Don't you?

On owning our fate

"Life is like a game of cards. The hand that is dealt you represents determinism; the way you play it is free will."
Jawaharal Nehru

Your turn: I've heard all too often that life isn't fair. But is it, really?

Salt and pepper

Shaken, not stirred
Laval, QC, July 2011
[Click here for more glass-themed Thematic goodness]

They're about as plain as plain can be; so plain, in fact that they almost fade into the background whenever we encounter them at mealtime. The lowly salt and pepper shaker don't typically merit anything more than a passing glance. And looking at this shot, I'm still left wondering why, on this night, in this place, I decided to go beyond the passing glance.

Maybe I enjoyed watching the other restaurant-goers try to hide their curiosity as I set up for the shot. Maybe deep down inside, I enjoy the little jolt I get from throwing strangers little curves and giving them a reason to break out of their own sense of conventionality. Sometimes, people just need an excuse to think different.

Your turn: How do you think different?

Waiting at the hospital

Good news or bad?
London, ON, June 2011

About this photo: It's Thematic's "made of glass" week, and we're hoping you've got something glassy brewing either in your imagination or in your archives. Either way, head this way to share what you've got.

This is a shot of the overhead bridge in front of London's largest hospital complex. I felt like a bit of a voyeur when I took this, as I used my long lens to reach across the parking lot and capture this seemingly quiet moment between the couple toward the left.

They'll never know this photo was taken. Similarly, I'll never know who they are or why they were there. All I know is they lingered in that spot for what seemed like an exaggerated amount of time, watching the comings and goings of this world so different from the world outside.

Whatever brought them to this spot, I quietly hoped it wasn't ominous.

Your turn: Do you have a moment from a hospital you'd like to share?

Thematic Photographic 158 - Made of glass

Coke of a different color
Toronto, ON, May 2011

On the surface, this week's Thematic theme is somewhat straightforward: If it's made of glass, we want to see it. The twist lies in the fact that glass is generally transparent or translucent, and sometimes plays games with exposure and composition. Despite the challenges - or likely because of them - glass has become one of my favorite subjects to shoot, and I hope you enjoy the experience for the coming week, too.

Your turn: Take a picture of something glassy or find one you've already posted online. Leave a comment here letting folks know where to find it. Visit other participants to share the joy. Repeat. And don't be afraid to spread the word. Thematic Photographic is our non-competitive weekly exploration of all things photographic. For more background, please click here.

After the devastation

Ravaged
London, ON, August 2011

About this photo: We're winding down our Thematic theme, rough, today and getting ready for the new one that's set to launch at 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Quick hint, if it's made of glass, you'll want to get it ready for our upcoming theme. In the meantime, it's not too late to do the rough thing. Just go here.

At first glance, the tree in the middle of a beautifully landscaped and equipped park doesn't seem to stand out from any other. To the hundreds of parents and kids skittering every which way to find the right soccer field at the right time, it's just another tree, a taken-for-granted source of shade for some, a near-invisible part of the background for others.

But after I sat underneath it during a rare quiet moment in between games, I noticed something was just a little bit off: I could see light coming through the leaves. I'm guessing whatever little bugs who ate multiples of their body weight in leaf bits were by now long gone, no doubt devouring some other defenseless canopy somewhere else in this city that laughably calls itself the Forest City.

The week I took this shot, the city announced plans to update its tree-filled logo. I'm guessing they'll steer clear of scenes like this one. Reality, after all, has no place in civic marketing.

Your turn: May the week that lies ahead for us all be nowhere near as rough as this tree has apparently had it. How will you avoid the rough edges of life in the days ahead?

Goodnight moon

Saying hello to our neighbor
London, ON, August 2011
[Please click photo to embiggen]

About this photo: We're exploring the various facets of "rough" as part of this week's Thematic. If none of this makes any sense to you - or even if it does - head this way to share your own.

For a place with no atmosphere, brutal temperature ranges, not a lot of gravity and a huge commute to the nearest Tim Hortons, the moon sure gets more than its fair share of publicity. Over the past month alone, it's garnered headlines for a new theory of its creation (namely, that it once crashed headlong into a second moon), the impending launch of two identical probes, and the possible sighting of the crashed Lunar Orbiter 2 on the dark side of the moon. Oh, and Buzz Aldrin (#2 man on the moon) is in court battling his soon-to-be-ex-wife and stepdaughter.

Other worlds never lose their ability to intrigue us, I guess.

As I often do when I'm bored, I'll point my camera in whatever direction interests me and see what comes up. I probably need longer glass to bring home viable moon shots, but that doesn't stop me from occasionally trying, anyway. On this remarkably clear summer night as we finished up at the local Dairy Queen, I'm kinda glad I took the chance, as billions of years of direct exposure to space has given this place a roughness that not even the wildest sci-fi-fed imagination could conjure up.

If only this world could talk.

Your turn: What would it say?

Talk radio silenced: Remembering Ted Tevan

Ask any writer, journalist or media type who his/her influences were and you'll likely need to clear off a few hours to hear the entire list. If you're in the business of creating stuff - words, pictures, sounds, whatever - and sharing them with an audience, those whose work inspired you early on tend to stick with you long after they're gone.

And so it is with Ted Tevan, the legendary Montreal sports talk radio host who passed away yesterday at the age of 78. As a kid, I often found myself beside a radio in the house, listening to his Sports Rap show. He'd come on after an Expos baseball game or a Canadiens hockey match and inevitably get into it with his listeners. He was argumentative, combative and endlessly entertaining.

His was one of the first shows I ever called, and it was the first one I ever got kicked off of. If you irritated him - not that difficult to do, apparently - he'd blow you away with the sound of a machine gun and a call of, "You're gone!" On his watch, Chenoys, Mort the Sport, Nicholas the Great, McGarrity and 790 became an integral part of our vocabulary. His show was more than a little dangerous, and when it faded to silence well past bedtime, you knew you'd be talking about it with your friends the next day, then counting the hours until he hit the air again.

As edgy as his on-air delivery often was, deep down you knew how much he loved being behind the mic, and his shows always pulsed with the kind of energy that's sadly lacking from much of what sails over the focus-grouped, demographic-sliced airwaves today. From the outpouring of responses on Twitter, Facebook and the blogosphere, it's clear I'm not the only one who felt this way. It's also clear his influence is as strong as it always was.

In my own admittedly unconventional career in media, I often find myself talking live on-air with radio hosts at stations across the country. As I sit on the phone or, even better, in the studio, waiting for the interviews to begin, I often think of those long-ago calls to his show, how my pulse would race more than a little bit as he began speaking to me, as I wondered if my voice would even work as I took my first breath, as we got deeper into whatever the topic of the day was, and as the conversation either settled into a friendly groove or derailed into a catastrophic, machine-gun mess. I'd be fooling myself if I didn't acknowledge how the imprints of a childhood experience helped shape who I ultimately became.

I do hope he knew just how profoundly so many late-night listeners appreciated who he was. He was an original who was infinitely comfortable with his own voice, and unafraid to let the chips fall where they may. The business to which he contributed so much needs so many more like him today. The world does, too.

Your turn: A media figure who influenced you. Please discuss.

Desperately rough

Textured by time
Laval, QC, July 2011

As we continue to look at the rougher side of life - please head here to see what this rough stuff is all about - I'm starting to appreciate something: That things are slowly deteriorating all around us, and they often do so in absolute anonymity. The process of erosion is so far below the radar that we typically fail to pay attention until something drastic happens.

Ironically, I took this picture in Laval. It's just north of Montreal, and part of a region that's been getting national headlines in recent weeks for a spate of high profile infrastructure road collapses and other concrete failures. In fact, I grew up a few kilometers away from the Boulevard de la Concorde overpass, whose 2006 collapse killed five people. In case you're counting, the Boulevard du Souvenir overpass - even closer to my old house - failed in 2000, killing one.

For what it's worth, I don't believe these events are random. They're largely the result of a provincial culture that has generationally neglected infrastructure and sliced maintenance and inspection budgets below critical levels. What we're seeing now - the Ville-Marie Tunnel collapse, the Mercier Bridge, the Champlain Bridge, you name it - is the true cost of such short-sightedness. You can't escape physics and time, apparently.

Your turn: My yellow-tinged photo is deliberately abstract. Care to guess what it is?