Creative Thinking

"Be creative! Use your brains!"
-myself to Allthrillz and K Tuppswhen the boat was sinking (not the S.S. Value Village)

Being creative, in so much as being able to create music or art or write or whatever, is a wonderful ability.

Creative thinking is, in my mind, a little bit of a different skill set. Looking at a problem or situation and then creating a solution that wasn't readily apparent is a special trait that is usually beneficial.

It might be something like coming up with an 'out of the box' solution to a problem at work. Or maybe its being able to find that perfect but totally unexpected gift for someone. It can be as simple as opening the bottle of beer you found on that fence railing over there.

In this world, the countries, the cities, everywhere we live there are problems. Alot of these problems are complex... answers are not always easy to come by.

I have no political aspirations at this point in my life but I do have some ideas about things.

In Victoria there are lots of 'topics' to have ideas about. With this post I'm sharing my 'out of the box' all-in-one solution to several of Victoria most commonly discussed problems. I believe it qualifies as creative thinking.



(click to see full size)

Imagine the possibilities!

• Resolving the cities homelessness crisis
• Addressing the problems with rabbits at UVIC and deer in my yard.
• And the City of Victoria's favourite... more tourist dollars!

It's makes so much sense, I know.

A Brief Update

"You gotta get that dirt off your shoulder"
from Dirt Off Your Shoulder by Jay-Z

Well I am back to the realities of a desk jockey position after a week of working from home whilst nursing a dislocated shoulder.

The shoulder, while still sore, is getting better. I had an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon on Monday who informed me I no longer needed to wear a sling. This is great news because I lost it Saturday night. With some physio and 6 weeks of controlled activity I just might be able to hold my left arm straight out. Amazing.

The good news for Leon Paints followers is that even though my left shoulder was injured and I am left handed I am a right handed mouse user so my 'paint' endeavours won't be compromised.
With that in mind, I offer up this quick status report.

That's so straight

Everybody makes mistakes
Everybody makes mistakes
Even me
Just be free
This is a place
Where in the end
It happens in
Our world within
-from Ultraviolence by New Order


The Duke and the Admiral went paddling last week.

On their expedition they talked about many things. One of the most fascinating discussions was around the history of the Gay World Order- GWO for short.

For those who aren't aware, most historians agree that the GWO began with the second coming of the baby jesus. What was amazing about the second coming was that it was two men that made the baby jesus (it was not an immaculate conception). And there were actually two baby jesuses, twins infact, and these two twins were both gay. And with the birth of the twin gay baby jesuses society's crutch of heterosexual reproduction was no longer needed.

It was an amazing start to the next phase of evolution. Homo erectus, homo sapien, and finally the homo sexual.

There were a lot of different changes and cultural phenomenon that came about during the development of the GWO. Enough to fill many, many blog postings. I could tell you about the straights that still live, scrounging for berries and fish in the woods, ruining the best hiking spots. I could talk about the four great gay houses, the families of the twin baby jesus direct descendants. Or I could discuss the complex moral argument around straight 'rehabilitation'.

Linguistically, one of the most rapid changes was the emergence of a new meaning for the word 'straight'. As the GWO took over, the term straight quickly came to signify all that was dirty, unnatural and ugly in the world. People everywhere started saying things like 'that's so straight' or 'that's so fucking straight' to describe things like cheap red wine and plaid.

To show you belong/identify with the GWO I encourage you to start referring to things that aren't cool as 'straight'. To give you a idea of what's straight now I've created the pic below.

Local Landmarks

Long ago life was clean

Sex was bad and obscene

And the rich were so mean

Stately homes for the lords

Croquet lawns, village greens

Victoria was my queen

- from the song "Victoria" by The Kinks

Known by some as the 'City of Gardens', Victoria British Columbia is a smallish city of about three hundred thousand or so.

By B.C. standards, Victoria has a fair amount of history. The Hudson's Bay Company, let by James Douglas, founded Victoria in 1843. Much of the city still has a colonial feel... partially because of the historic buildings, partially because we have several British Sweet shops and partially because 98% of the population is white.

Victoria has an abundance of ocean related events and culture. There is the naval base in esquimalt. There are lots of cruise ships with tourists that flock downtown over the summer. We have a Tall Ship festival, sailboat races and paddlers fighting with developers over plans for a mega yacht marina.

There's lots for visitors to do. Do you like insects? Perfect. There is a Butterfly Garden AND a Bug Zoo. Do you like observing wildlife? Perfect. There are one million bunny rabbits breeding and shitting up at uvic campus AND an abundance of fat ass seals to feed at fisherman's wharf.

How about walking? Well you can walk the beautiful inner harbour and explore plenty of historic alleys through the downtown core. I've even included a map of some of the more popular alley's below... enjoy!

LeVar Burton and Friends

Butterfly in the sky
I can go twice as high
Take a look
It's in a book
A Reading Rainbow

I can go anywhere
Friends to know
And ways to grow
A Reading Rainbow

I can be anything
Take a look
It's in a book
A Reading Rainbow
A Reading Rainbow
- Reading Rainbow Theme Song

There was some pretty cool television shows when I was a kid. In Canada we had alot of great shows, most running on CBC. I've linked to some clips of some classics... looking back now these dudes were pretty cool.

Fred Penner: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4frIsSEp03E

Mr Dressup: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4frIsSEp03E

Friendly Giant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBuFZ-jxC8s

America's public television programming was no slouch either. Alot of children's shows have learning themes, but two programs from the US focused specifically on two different learning areas.

One was the show Square One, which was all about.... Math. Yes, a show about Math that was both entertaining and informative. And at the end of every show came my favourite part... Mathnet. Detectives using math to solve crimes? So cool.

Square One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXp3AMgbG6k

Mathnet - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrLjLeGUjio

Last but not least is Reading Rainbow. A show starring LeVar Burton who's engaging personality captured the attention of children everywhere. As we all know, LeVar of course went on to co-star in Star Trek The Next Generation, but in Reading Rainbow he really made his mark... who else can get you this excited about a shower in the toilet?

Reading Rainbow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0M-X70-MvM

Last night my friends told me that LeVar is now working on a comic. Its called ConCERNed and deals with the Large Hadron Collider. The Large Hadron Collider is the worldest largest particle accelator located in Europe. Some people are worried this thing is going to create a black hole and the world will end up getting eaten by itself. Others swear this thing can change lead into gold. I have my own theories about what's actually going on so I made my own comic...



Bonus! RUN DMC droppin' science on Reading Rainbow: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOBDEhxd_WU

Leaders

"Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

(Matthew 6.31-34 ESV)

It seems my earlier attempt to resolve social strife has not yet succeeded. Alas.

We live in a time of religious disillusionment. Church's are being replaced by yoga studios as a new generation turns to the east for enlightenment.

Many proclaim their spirtuality while eschewing religious faith. Such are the times we live in.

But we still need leaders. We still need heros. We value those within our communities who can teach us about life and teach us about ourselves. These people inspire us to rise above ourselves, to better ourselves.

There are leaders all around us. Some take on this responsibility while others lead as they live. This potrait is of one such leader who is doing his part.

Sébastien Tellier

"Sébastien Tellier is a modern day enigma. A hirsute lothario, conquering hearts with soulful music that brims with a seductive élan."

from the Biography section of his myspace page.

http://www.myspace.com/sebastientellier

I'd by lying if I said I completely understood every word in the quote above but I'm pretty sure I get the sentiment. Sébastien Tellier is rad. I think this is probably because he is from France. All the coolest music comes from France.

His last album, titled 'Sexuality', has alot of really fresh songs... and most of the official remixes are killer. Plus the album cover has a small man on horseback overlooking a women's breasts which represent mountains of opportunity.

It's funky sexy crazy cool. Perfect for rollin' deep in the Parisienne and/or moving your hips too. You should check it out.

I did this MS Paint portrait of Sebastien Tellier and I sent it to a music blog as part of a contest. I won this cool pink vinyl single... (Thanks to http://www.sluttyfringe.com/)

Here is portrait that made me famous: