Lights of Vancouver

One of my sisters has lived in Vancouver for about 30 years now. My other sister moved British Columbia last week. She and her partner, or maybe it is just her partner, accepted a new job running an eight-unit motel situated in the mountains an hour outside of Vancouver. Another friend, K., was visiting friends in Vancouver two weekends ago. To them and all the rest of you, a beautiful time lapse film for you to enjoy. Stunning. It is not hard to imagine why Vancouver always rates as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

The Geek In Me

My son sent me this link to photos of 25 great coffee cup designs. Though many of the cups are fun looking, I really got a hoot out of the one above. I was obviously channeling into my inner geek.

Crazy Neighbour

We just had another huge snowfall last night. Well, huge by northern German standards, which is admittedly a wimpy affair in comparison to what the east coast of Canada and the US are used to. Still, all very exciting for us indeed.

Our crazy neighbour was out last night until midnight shoveling the snow off the sidewalk in front of his apartment building.

Sara and I went for a walk to the train station this afternoon. What usually is a 10-15-minutes walk took more than 45 minutes. We slipped and slided (SP) as though we were trudging over loose sand dunes and not snow. We were planing on walking home, but took the bus instead. (I agree, we are not hardy troopers at all.)

The grant proposal for the new research project is sewed up and submitted. Think we've done a good job of capturing the scope of our vision. Please, can you all say your prayers or keep your fingers crossed that the foundation agrees to fund the project?

Onto The Next Round

Last Friday, we received the good news that our preliminary project proposal was accepted as one of the finalist in a research funding competition. After walking around with my head in the clouds the whole weekend, I sat down today and started working on the more detailed proposal we have to submit in a few days time. There are strict requirements about how long the text can be, so every word is weighed and every idea is examined closely before putting them down. My brain is mush.

Tangential Learning Through Gaming

Being the only person in this household who doesn't game, I've had plenty of time to witness the phenomena mentioned in this video: the wide gap between educational games and entertainment games. I found both the argument Daniel Floyd presented and the way he presented it very good. The only think that I wonder at, is why nearly all of his examples concern war and weaponry. Are the games only concerned with those matters?

Why has Mr. Obama not done, what he said he'd do?

I've followed Mr. Lessig's blog for many years and was very sorry to hear that he was distancing himself from the field of copyright law and moving towards corruption in the US Congress. Watching this presentation and hearing his arguments about why it has been so impossible for Mr. Obama's administration to "get things done", a lot became clear. I'm bias, but what he says sound convincing in my ears. Or, what do you think?

Needed Assistance

I just received the following bulletin from Rev. Wasike in Kimilili,

“Last night, we had an incident where thieves broke into the school office and took cereals and other things in the school. These things used to be kept at our neighbour’s home, but were transferred recently after the school had doors and windows installed. The school lost the following:

1. an old manual type writer donated to school last year by board member
2. maize and beans donated by guardians
3. a box of schoolbooks and teaching material

The matter has been reported and being investigated.”

The school management and the children are going to try and run a fund raising action to see if they can replenish their food supplies. If the children do not receive nourishment throughout the day, they will begin, as Rev. Wasike says, "to be absent in mind and body".

What is most needed are schoolbooks and teaching materials. If there is any possibility of you sending one or two primary school books or some notebooks, we would be ever so grateful. If you would like to contact us, please do. Rev. Wasike (cbsmkeny at yahoo dot com) or I (cbsmkenya at gmail dot com) will give you any information you might need. You can send the packages to:

Rev. Wasike Wilberforce Walubengo
P.O. Box 2099-00200, City Square
Nairobi 2099
KENYA

You can send books in English per post or in Kiswahili through mamamikes. We thank you for any assistance you can give.

Slowly getting back into gear

I am just about ready to crawl off the sofa and over the large pile of discarded books that I have consumed these last weeks... nearly three weeks of a book a day... most of them crime mysteries... all of their stories have haunted my dreams. My inner batteries have been recharged. Now it is time to get back into the grove of things.