My friend Brandi brought this awesome new wood finish back from the Seattle Hempfest. I wish I had some of this while I was finishing my parents woodshed this summer...
This is a perfect example of how hemp products, particularly a hemp oil product in this case, can be an environmentally sustainable and friendlier alternative to the petroleum industry. Wikipedia don't lie... hemp oil is damn useful stuff, if you haven't looked at it before. Refined hemp seed oil was even used in the first diesel engines as the primary fuel source.
If that doesn't sound like some stiff competition for certain industries, it was this usefulness that had the plant made illegal in the first place (Looking at you Big Oil!). They were also behind prohibiting the production of ethanol during alcohol prohibition. Go figure.
HempShield is not only a great hemp product, its a direct replacement in an industry where petroleum based products practically have a stranglehold.
Best of all, HempShield is competitively priced! Brandi paid 25$ (USD) for a gallon at Hempfest- compare with Thompson Wood Protector at Home Hardware (25.99$ CAN/gal before tax) this is a great deal.
So if you want to be an environmentally conscious consumer, and give the petroleum industry a 'market-share kick in the ass,' look out for products like HempShield to give that dollar some more impact!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Mission Update
Its been a little while since I've mentioned my main goals- specifically Japanese immersion and learning taijitsu.
Quite frankly, I had a bad week. Transitioning back to Victoria wasn't perfect, but I'm back on track with the Japanese! I got caught up on my kanji and I've got myself up to 352! I don't think I'll manage 50 every day, but sometimes I just get on a roll. The stories are fun to make up and mnemonic memory tricks are fun to learn and play with. I'm just imagining what the world would look like if everyone knew how to learn like this...
I've been pretty good about my immersion environment the whole time, though I'm still waiting for an mp3 player (should be soon). But its constant when I'm at home, which is alot, and its quite the novelty to feel the language slowing down. This requires a bit of focus, but once I have a word in my memory and recognize it in use, I'll "hear" it even when my attention isn't focused. Very neat phenomenon.
As far as taijitsu goes, I got to one class here in Vic before I decided to take some time off training and let my shoulder rest- I'm nursing a sprain. I've been pretty good about keeping my fitness up though, and practicing the techniques that I know.
Anyhow, I'm up late *again* so I'm going to hit the hay. I'll have more thoughts on learning Japanese later... some interesting revelations!
Quite frankly, I had a bad week. Transitioning back to Victoria wasn't perfect, but I'm back on track with the Japanese! I got caught up on my kanji and I've got myself up to 352! I don't think I'll manage 50 every day, but sometimes I just get on a roll. The stories are fun to make up and mnemonic memory tricks are fun to learn and play with. I'm just imagining what the world would look like if everyone knew how to learn like this...
I've been pretty good about my immersion environment the whole time, though I'm still waiting for an mp3 player (should be soon). But its constant when I'm at home, which is alot, and its quite the novelty to feel the language slowing down. This requires a bit of focus, but once I have a word in my memory and recognize it in use, I'll "hear" it even when my attention isn't focused. Very neat phenomenon.
As far as taijitsu goes, I got to one class here in Vic before I decided to take some time off training and let my shoulder rest- I'm nursing a sprain. I've been pretty good about keeping my fitness up though, and practicing the techniques that I know.
Anyhow, I'm up late *again* so I'm going to hit the hay. I'll have more thoughts on learning Japanese later... some interesting revelations!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Alone in a Life Worth Living
This article came across my Facebook feed today. Not only does it remind me of my friend Tiger, who wants to run away into the rainforest to live sustainably, reading the story brought tears to my eyes.
In particular this part: "Some of the markings he makes on trees have suggested to indigenous experts that he maintains a spiritual life, which they've speculated might help him survive the psychological toil of being, to a certain extent, the last man standing in a world of one."
Now, forgiving those "experts" whose ethnocentric bias leads them to 'speculate' on the behaviour of another human being, the spiritual life of the remaining indigenous peoples is one of the few things standing between the human race and disaster. The fact that he still honors the spirits of his natural environment, strives to live in concert with them and protect them, is testament to the strength of an individual connected to a web of understanding larger than that of the one that exists merely between human beings.
I am very grateful they have taken steps to protect him and I hope we all hear his story and honor his struggle- which is why I am sharing it here. My heart goes out to the man, against all odds, holds out against the machine of the world pressing down upon him alone.
Peace and Love brother!
In particular this part: "Some of the markings he makes on trees have suggested to indigenous experts that he maintains a spiritual life, which they've speculated might help him survive the psychological toil of being, to a certain extent, the last man standing in a world of one."
Now, forgiving those "experts" whose ethnocentric bias leads them to 'speculate' on the behaviour of another human being, the spiritual life of the remaining indigenous peoples is one of the few things standing between the human race and disaster. The fact that he still honors the spirits of his natural environment, strives to live in concert with them and protect them, is testament to the strength of an individual connected to a web of understanding larger than that of the one that exists merely between human beings.
I am very grateful they have taken steps to protect him and I hope we all hear his story and honor his struggle- which is why I am sharing it here. My heart goes out to the man, against all odds, holds out against the machine of the world pressing down upon him alone.
Peace and Love brother!
Of Greatness and the Great One
This post was motivated by an argument my father and I had last night about the relative abilities of people to do certain jobs. He claimed that individuals have a particular aptitude for a certain skill, or set of skills, and that for reasons of biology- literally what you're born with- you are more apt to succeed at one thing than another. I disagree, arguing that with enough hard work and practice any individual can master any given skill. Real Science, it seems, is in my corner.
And, happily, it was also the topic of the most recent book review from Khatzumoto! The title? "Talent is Overrated" by Geoff Colvin. Hmm, provocative!
What he basically says is this:
ANYONE can become a virtuoso at ANYTHING- assuming a biologically normal physiology and psychology. It just takes diligent, deliberate practice. More evidence? The study that Colvin draws from is right here.
Hooray for free information!
Both being hockey fans, the example we argued over is the most dominant figure in modern professional sport: Wayne Gretzky. Dude is pretty amazing. 44 League records, all-time points leader by nearly 100% over his nearest rival and the only player to score more than 200 points in a season (4 times!). Even more amazing, Wayne was playing with 10 year olds at the age of 6, and managing to compete!
How is this possible you ask? Just read the wiki... During the winter Wayne was skating and practicing PROFESSIONAL LEVEL DRILLS with his father from the time he was a little over 2 years old.
From Wayne's autobiography: "All I wanted to do in the winters was be on the ice. I'd get up in the morning, skate from 7:00 to 8:30, go to school, come home at 3:30, stay on the ice until my mom insisted I come in for dinner, eat in my skates, then go back out until 9:00. On Saturdays and Sundays we'd have huge games, but nighttime became my time. It was a sort of unwritten rule around the neighbourhood that I was to be out there myself or with my dad."
Now, check me if I'm wrong, but that's more than 8 hours a day on a SCHOOL day, not including weekends. By the time Wayne was 10 years old, he had EASILY banked 10,000+ hours on the hockey rink. Practicing skills that were not only above his level, but above the level of MOST of the hockey world at the time. This isn't counting possible cross-training from summer sports, particularly lacrosse and baseball. I wonder if he played street hockey at all during the summer...
By the time Gretz hit the NHL... Sorry, the WHA first... the league was going through a major flux. The expansion in the 70s had seriously diluted the talent pool of the sport, created avenues for brutal teams like Philadelphia's 'Broad Street Bullies' to force their way through to a championship on intimidation alone. It is this world that Gretzky entered- when he was an 18 year old rookie he had probably put in more icetime than more than 75% of the league. And Gretzky's numbers reflect it. He WAS that much better than everyone on the ice.
But not because of a natural aptitude for the game that others can't acquire. He put in many long hours of diligent practice, doing things he couldn't do. Then we was gifted with the EASIEST POSSIBLE CONDITIONS under which to perform. If you examine the later stages of his career, once butterfly goaltending catches on, after the league decreased the space behind the net (SPECIFICALLY to deal with the advantage Gretzky had there- its colloquially known as the 'Gretzky Rule'), when the game gets bigger and faster, the other players average talent higher, the advantage diminishes to more human standards. I can definitely see Sidney Crosby, for example, reaching 130 points (The Great One's total for 93-94). Even in the 'new' NHL.
Will the Great One's Records stand forever? Most of them. But that's like asking if baseball stats from 1898 should apply to determining "The Greatest Players of All Time." Its impossible to say. The game is too different. Quite simply, Gretz grew up before the game did. He invented a new way to play the game of hockey, not merely because he was a genius, but because he had mastered the game so early- through diligent practice- that all that was left was to build on what had been given to him.
And he had a puckload of fun while he was at it.
The last argument my father presented was, all else being equal physically and skillfully, it was aptitude- some particular spark of SOMETHING- that gave these men the ability to surpass all others. And to this I will agree.
They are the ones who, after 82 regular season games and four grueling playoff rounds, can skate onto the ice for the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Final and feel like a kid on the pond. The one who can forget the pain, the hatred, the pressure and bring the fun back to the game.
Hockey is a game. Fun is the X-factor.
You don't have fun by winning, you win by having fun.
Anything you want to do should have the same X-Factor. If its not fun, you'll never motivate yourself enough to diligently practice, to expand your skills.
So there you are Dad. You CAN master any skill you want, so long as you have enough fun at it to practice diligently! We're not born, we're made!
And, happily, it was also the topic of the most recent book review from Khatzumoto! The title? "Talent is Overrated" by Geoff Colvin. Hmm, provocative!
What he basically says is this:
ANYONE can become a virtuoso at ANYTHING- assuming a biologically normal physiology and psychology. It just takes diligent, deliberate practice. More evidence? The study that Colvin draws from is right here.
Hooray for free information!
Both being hockey fans, the example we argued over is the most dominant figure in modern professional sport: Wayne Gretzky. Dude is pretty amazing. 44 League records, all-time points leader by nearly 100% over his nearest rival and the only player to score more than 200 points in a season (4 times!). Even more amazing, Wayne was playing with 10 year olds at the age of 6, and managing to compete!
How is this possible you ask? Just read the wiki... During the winter Wayne was skating and practicing PROFESSIONAL LEVEL DRILLS with his father from the time he was a little over 2 years old.
From Wayne's autobiography: "All I wanted to do in the winters was be on the ice. I'd get up in the morning, skate from 7:00 to 8:30, go to school, come home at 3:30, stay on the ice until my mom insisted I come in for dinner, eat in my skates, then go back out until 9:00. On Saturdays and Sundays we'd have huge games, but nighttime became my time. It was a sort of unwritten rule around the neighbourhood that I was to be out there myself or with my dad."
Now, check me if I'm wrong, but that's more than 8 hours a day on a SCHOOL day, not including weekends. By the time Wayne was 10 years old, he had EASILY banked 10,000+ hours on the hockey rink. Practicing skills that were not only above his level, but above the level of MOST of the hockey world at the time. This isn't counting possible cross-training from summer sports, particularly lacrosse and baseball. I wonder if he played street hockey at all during the summer...
By the time Gretz hit the NHL... Sorry, the WHA first... the league was going through a major flux. The expansion in the 70s had seriously diluted the talent pool of the sport, created avenues for brutal teams like Philadelphia's 'Broad Street Bullies' to force their way through to a championship on intimidation alone. It is this world that Gretzky entered- when he was an 18 year old rookie he had probably put in more icetime than more than 75% of the league. And Gretzky's numbers reflect it. He WAS that much better than everyone on the ice.
But not because of a natural aptitude for the game that others can't acquire. He put in many long hours of diligent practice, doing things he couldn't do. Then we was gifted with the EASIEST POSSIBLE CONDITIONS under which to perform. If you examine the later stages of his career, once butterfly goaltending catches on, after the league decreased the space behind the net (SPECIFICALLY to deal with the advantage Gretzky had there- its colloquially known as the 'Gretzky Rule'), when the game gets bigger and faster, the other players average talent higher, the advantage diminishes to more human standards. I can definitely see Sidney Crosby, for example, reaching 130 points (The Great One's total for 93-94). Even in the 'new' NHL.
Will the Great One's Records stand forever? Most of them. But that's like asking if baseball stats from 1898 should apply to determining "The Greatest Players of All Time." Its impossible to say. The game is too different. Quite simply, Gretz grew up before the game did. He invented a new way to play the game of hockey, not merely because he was a genius, but because he had mastered the game so early- through diligent practice- that all that was left was to build on what had been given to him.
And he had a puckload of fun while he was at it.
The last argument my father presented was, all else being equal physically and skillfully, it was aptitude- some particular spark of SOMETHING- that gave these men the ability to surpass all others. And to this I will agree.
They are the ones who, after 82 regular season games and four grueling playoff rounds, can skate onto the ice for the seventh game of the Stanley Cup Final and feel like a kid on the pond. The one who can forget the pain, the hatred, the pressure and bring the fun back to the game.
Hockey is a game. Fun is the X-factor.
You don't have fun by winning, you win by having fun.
Anything you want to do should have the same X-Factor. If its not fun, you'll never motivate yourself enough to diligently practice, to expand your skills.
So there you are Dad. You CAN master any skill you want, so long as you have enough fun at it to practice diligently! We're not born, we're made!
Friday, August 20, 2010
Moments that Change my World
I said I was going to bed, which I was preparing to do, when my friend Becky messaged me on Facebook.
"I just wanted to say thankyou," she said.
"You're welcome!" I replied, a little bewildered. "Thank you for what?"
"I dont no if you realize this, but you offered me a haven. I'm where Im at now because of the friendship you offered. :)You rock."
For those of you who haven't had a chance to experience the Foxx Den, I will often open my home to youth in a tight spot.
Has this brought me trouble? Occasionally. But no one has ever stolen from me, or brought lawless intent into my space.
Has my hospitality been abused? Occasionally. But no one has been ungrateful, or ungracious when asked to leave.
Has it been draining on me? Occasionally. But I've always gained more than I've lost. Their lessons and perspectives are invaluable.
Not on one occasion have I regretted the decision to save someone from a night on the street. And its moments like this that perspective falls into place and the world becomes impossibly simple. A full meal and a safe bed will change a life faster than gold or lead.
To assuage the fear that lies at the heart of hopelessness, if just for a moment, is to give the world a glimmer of hope; maybe one day, if the world gets enough help, the waves of fear will roll back from all of us.
Until then, if I can ensure that one more person can wake up to a hopeful dawn, a thank you is more than enough reward. It gives to me as much as I ever offered them.
For that gift, to know that another life will forever be better through my actions, I offer my heartfelt thanks.
"I just wanted to say thankyou," she said.
"You're welcome!" I replied, a little bewildered. "Thank you for what?"
"I dont no if you realize this, but you offered me a haven. I'm where Im at now because of the friendship you offered. :)You rock."
For those of you who haven't had a chance to experience the Foxx Den, I will often open my home to youth in a tight spot.
Has this brought me trouble? Occasionally. But no one has ever stolen from me, or brought lawless intent into my space.
Has my hospitality been abused? Occasionally. But no one has been ungrateful, or ungracious when asked to leave.
Has it been draining on me? Occasionally. But I've always gained more than I've lost. Their lessons and perspectives are invaluable.
Not on one occasion have I regretted the decision to save someone from a night on the street. And its moments like this that perspective falls into place and the world becomes impossibly simple. A full meal and a safe bed will change a life faster than gold or lead.
To assuage the fear that lies at the heart of hopelessness, if just for a moment, is to give the world a glimmer of hope; maybe one day, if the world gets enough help, the waves of fear will roll back from all of us.
Until then, if I can ensure that one more person can wake up to a hopeful dawn, a thank you is more than enough reward. It gives to me as much as I ever offered them.
For that gift, to know that another life will forever be better through my actions, I offer my heartfelt thanks.
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