From the blog of Seth Godin....Generation C"

Sounds pretty good to me. "We’ve been naming generations for a long time. Demographers use it to begin a conversation about the changes around us. While a birth range doesn’t guarantee an outlook, the demographics and cultural shifts that a group shares tell us a lot about how they might see the world. And the name is a shortcut to remind us that not everyone sees the world the way we do. Baby boomers Gen X Gen Y Gen Z Millenials The last four are pretty unimaginative if you ask me, but I also know that a baby boomer is probably thinking of the world differently than a millennial is right now. These are inexact labels, but helpful nonetheless. So what to call the next generation? My co-authors Bruce Clark and Paige NeJame have coined the term “Generation C.” It’s so well-suited, I believe it’s going to stick. C is for Covid, C is for Carbon, C is for Climate. The combination of years of school spent at home, in a mask, combined with the significant revolution (economic, political and social) that our industrialism has led us to means that this generation will be different than the ones before. Every decision and investment and interaction is going to be filtered through the lens of carbon and remediation and resilience. And yet, if we combine this with the c of connection, of a cohort of people who are finding solace and possibility in community, there’s a chance for all of us. Generation C didn’t ask for any of this, but I’m hopeful that they’re up for leading the change."

Rock Garden

Just loved this photo by John Denniston. I guess it's the simplicity.

Curious about this course

I wonder if they teach a "British accent". I'm reminded of some friends of Monique who were visiting from France and who were quite fluent in English and spoke with a British accent. Richard was just a few months old and they asked us if we were going to teach him to speak English with a British accent. Katey and David were often asked why their kids spoke with a British accent while they spoke with a Canadian accent. Well, the kids grew up in Britain so obviously spoke like their peers. "Online Courses Language Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam logo English Pronunciation in a Global World 4.8 (376 reviews) In this course, you will improve your English pronunciation skills and learn about speaking English in today's globalised world. Join course 99,816 enrolled on this course"

A lovely dinner with Donna and Earl

We met at the University Golf Club for dinner last night. It was so nice to see them both again and to feel comfortable getting out after a long Covid winter. Saw some wonderful displays of tulips on our short drive there. It does feel like Spring and new beginnings. An excellent day all round. Elena Rossi called from Victoria and we had a lovely chat catching up. The Blue Jays lost but it was an exciting game and fun to watch.

Great photo from John with two of my very favourite things

Libraries and newspapers...love them!

-Photo by John Denniston

Fish and chips in the sunshine yesterday

I'm having trouble editing this post so will just leave it as is. We enjoyed our lunch and it was amazingly warm.

Tomatoes wonderful tomatoes....

Posted on FB by Ra Vee with the heading: "Just some of the over 10,000 varieties of tomatoes in the world" I love tomatoes and so many yummy dishes include tomatoes but right off the vine will always be my favourite way to eat them.

Jane Austen and Ukraine

It's great to see support from so many groups large and small and such a variety. The people of Ukraine must feel very loved and cared for. https://austenvariations.com/jaff-loves-ukraine-update/

Blimps

I've always been rather fascinated by blimps. If I remember correctly we did see the Goodyear Blimp when we were in Palm Springs...perhaps part of the Cochela Music Festival? From "Interesting Facts" "In terms of speed and safety, airplanes have largely outpaced airships, but there is one metric where airships still reign — efficiency. Scientists have dreamed up many ways to slowly wean ourselves off fossil fuels (think solar panels, wind turbines, and electric cars), but airplanes remain a conundrum. Some estimates project that by 2050, 27% of the world’s carbon budget (under targets developed to keep the global temperature rise below a 1.5 degree Celsius increase from pre-industrial levels) could come from aviation. That’s why some researchers have begun reexamining the airship. Because of its buoyancy and ability to ride the global jetstreams, airships use significantly less fuel. One ambitious airship company says its dirigibles could run at only 8% of the fuel cost of a typical jet airliner. Because of safety issues and long travel times, airships would only be practical for short-distance commercial flights or for hauling cargo, but they could still have a significant place in a greener future."

A lovely Easter dinner with Grace and Richard

Well, as usual, no photos. That means we were too busy talking and laughing. They brought over some Easter eggs from Purdy's....yum! I served Cornish Game hens and we all enjoyed them. Grace hadn't ever had one before. No dealing with turkey leftovers...good and bad aspects of that:)

Hand painted Ukrainian Easter Eggs

This seemed like an appropiate post...hope it works.

Happy Easter everyone!

Lego

I thought this was a great story and so glad to see this kid got lots of lego! Richard loved his lego.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60994304

Kestrals

Somehow this bird doesn't look like it could capture a small mammal. "This striking high-key photo of a kestrel on a blossom branch has taken top honors in the GST Nature Photographer of the Year competition."

The name kestrel (from French: crécerelle, derivative from crécelle, i.e. ratchet) is given to several members of the falcon genus, Falco. Kestrels are most easily distinguished by their typical hunting behaviour which is to hover at a height of around 10–20 metres (35–65 ft) over open country and swoop down on prey, usually small mammals, lizards or large insects. Other falcons are more adapted to active hunting in flight. Kestrels are notable for usually having mostly brown in their plumage.

Marc Chagall’s “The Ukrainian Family” was painted during WWII. It could have been painted today. 🇺🇦

Tulip Ukraine

What a wonderful idea and I'm sure there will be lots of plantings. Dutch developed a new tulip named in honor of Ukraine and featuring the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag. Named the “Tulip Ukraine” (Tulipa Ukraine”). These are gorgeous and need to be planted everywhere possible💙💛 📷: Hoven & de Mooij bv

Fun Facts about ET

I managed to bring this up finally...I think. "On March 4,Director Steven Spielberg’s heartwarming masterpiece, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, will close out the 12th Annual Festival of the Arts BOCA. Experience all the mystery and fun of this film with John Williams’ Academy Award-winning score performed live by a full symphony orchestra. It's going to be a magical night but before we get there, learn some interesting facts about E.T. Steven Spielberg shot most of the film from the eye-level of a child to further connect with Elliot and E.T. With the exception of Elliot's mom, no adults' faces are shown until the last half of the film. E.T.'s face was modeled after poet Carl Sandburg, Albert Einstein and a pug dog. According to the film's novelization, E.T. is over ten million years old. Steven Spielberg also stated in an interview that E.T. was a plant-like creature, and neither male or female. Steven Spielberg worked simultaneously on both this film and Poltergeist (1982) in 1982 (which was directed by Tobe Hooper but produced by Spielberg), and both were made to complement each other. "E.T." represented suburban dreams, and "Poltergeist" represented suburban nightmares. At the auditions, Henry Thomas thought about the day his dog died to express sadness. Director Steven Spielberg cried, and hired him on the spot. Don't miss out on a very special evening with E.T. and The Symphonia, Boca Raton & Constantine Kitsopoulos, conductor. Reserve your seats to experience watching a film with live orchestra. Sunday, March 4 at 6:00pm, Mizner Park Amphitheater "

Strange things with blogger these days

I can't seem to get the link working to the "Interesting Facts" and can't seem to edit the post.

Interesting Facts about E.T.

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Official languages

From "Interesting Facts" "Most countries have an official language by law, but not the U.S. While 90% of Americans speak English, an estimated 350 languages are spoken within U.S. borders. There have been federal attempts to make English official, but none of them have stuck." This surprised me and also that there are 350 languages spoken in the US. Then I went to Wiki which was pretty interesting. I thought the illustration did an excellent job of getting this information across. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_United_States

I was hoping to get a similar chart for Canada but there wasn't one; however, there was a really great article worth looking at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_Canada

Ah...my wonderful otters once again

Sea otters have the thickest fur of any mammal. A sea otter’s fur is an evolutionary marvel. Within just one square inch, otter fur contains 850,000 to 1 million hairs, making it denser than any other mammal on land or in the sea. The aptly-named fur seal comes in a distant second, with only about 300,000 hairs per square inch. Humans, meanwhile, only have about 80,000 to 120,000 hairs on our heads (if we’re lucky).

Maybe we'll get to a game this season

I think it would be fun to go but still a little worried about being in big crowds. Since we love baseball so much I feel a bit guilty not supporting our local team. It was a very exciting home opener for the Blue Jays yesterday. Wow, they were down 7-0 and came back to win. Way to go Blue Jays! "The Vancouver Canadians have started getting ready for this upcoming season. Players warmed up on April 5 in the beautiful sunshine and warm weather while others had interviews and took official headshots. That means that Nat Bailey stadium must be in tip-top shape to host its guests. This will be the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic that the Canadians will be back playing at home. The last games to be played at Nat Bailey Stadium were in 2019, and Vancouver baseball fans have had no events or opportunities to share the communal love for baseball until the Canadians come back. Crews cleaned the stands and bleachers to prepare for attendees while the field was prepared for the player's practice. Nat Bailey Stadium is coming back to life again and will soon be bustling with excitement, cheers, and shouts from fans. The High-A Minor League baseball team sports a fresh new roster of 29, only six have only appeared in Nat Bailey Stadium before. New head coach Brent Lavallee and his staff look forward to the start of the season on April 8 in Spokane, Washington and then they make their way back to Vancouver for the Canadians' home opener against the Eugene Emeralds on Tuesday, April 19."

Salesforce lands on world's most ethical company list for the 13th time

As a mom it's great to know my son is working for an ethical company. Good on Salesforce!

https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/salesforce-lands-on-worlds-most-ethical-list-for-13th-time/?utm_source=single-newsletter&utm_campaign=FY23Q1

Colossal Cacti Sculptures

"The sculptures by Andrew Kovacs were at one time part of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The "Colossal Cacti" sculptures are installed in a grassy area on Smurr St. in downtown Indio, January 10, 2022. The sculptures by Andrew Kovacs were at one time part of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.Jan 10, 2022" I just love these and think they are so much fun.

National Library Week

Expect lots of posts on libraries this week. They are amazing institutions and this one is certainly one of my favourites in the world.

"The Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory is always striving to improve our services and offer more to the community. As many libraries have begun to do across the country, we evaluated our policies on fines – and what they do to our patrons. Fines are supposed to encourage the timely return of materials, but they have not had that effect. Instead, fines have created a barrier that stops people from being able to use our resources. In many cases, these are the people who need our resources the most. The City of Rancho Mirage created this facility and has continued to encourage its growth to help others pursue lifelong learning. In following that directive, the Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory will be eliminating fines. This does not mean that patrons can simply check out materials and never bring them back. It means that an item that is a day or two late is not a big deal. Because an item that is a day or two late is not a big deal." And they have fun activities for kids with free materials to make things. This is an example for on an Easter theme. Event Details Starting April 4, stop by the Library and pick up your Springtime is in the Air Family Night Kit! Create some pretty tulips all in a row! Decorate a flower pot and plant sunflower seeds. Design colorful spring eggs with a doily. Finish your springtime scene with a paper roll bunny!

Pepino's with Richard and Grace for Sunday dinner

This is the old Nick's on Commercial Drive.It was a favourite haunt of ours when we were students at UBC and managed to get there quite often when visiting Vancouver when we lived in Victoria. It seems to keep the same old very special atmosphere. Some things don't change...well, except the prices. It used to be a very cheap place to go.

It was great to see them very busy.I think they are such an institution that they probably haven't been hurt as much by the pandemic as many businesses.

Westjet ad for a trip to Paris

"Welcome to the City of Lights, and the City of Love. Welcome to Paris, where you’ll fall head over heels for mouthwatering pastries, stunning European architecture and, of course, that dazzling Parisian charm. This year, enjoy non-stop service from Calgary on the Dreamliner or from Halifax on the 737 with convenient connections from across our network to get you from hello to bonjour in no time." I guess they photoshopped all the people out:)

I was curious about the Covid situation and brought this up: What's the Covid situation? France has been one of the hardest hit countries in Europe, with over 25.4 million cases and more than 143,000 deaths as of March 30. The emergence of the Omicron variant towards the end of 2021 brought about yet another rise in infections, with over 2,5 million infections recorded in one week towards the end of January 2022. While numbers began to decline once again in the following weeks, they are currently on the rise again. There were 935,432 cases in the week leading up to March 30. Over 154 million vaccination doses have been administered in the country as of March 30.

Love White Spot's new "Barge Pak"

Linda alerted me to this...love it!

The barge....

We drove by the barge the other day on the way to The Sylvia for lunch. I'm of two minds about it. I am rather fascinated by all the proposals and think it could be rather neat to keep it around. I like this proposal. But, getting rid of it is fine by me too and perhaps the best option.