I’ve got some exciting days ahead, and I’ve been spending a lot of time getting prepared. First of all, in less than a week, BarCamp Vancouver 2010 takes place on November 19th-20th at the new location of the Waldorf Hotel, just to the East of downtown. It’s a unique venue, complete with the city’s most spectacular vintage 1950s Tiki bar and it’s recently been renovated and is ready to host events. I’ve put together a presentation and demo called: Playing with Future Television, What I learned Messing Around with Plex 0.9. I’m a huge fan (perhaps even a fanatic) of this free software that turns any Mac (Intel only) into a Media Center. Built originally from the XBMC (XBox Media Center) project, but now an independent initiative, Plex includes a gorgeous (and skinnable/customizable) TV interface (that like Apple’s own Front Row, works with a remote), an omnivorous video player that can handle most of the video formats I’ve ever come across, iTunes and iPhoto connectivity out of the box, plugins that add the ability to stream media from all sorts of places: YouTube, Shoutcast, Hulu and Pandora if you’re in the US — although I have found a sneaky workaround — Apple Movie Trailers, MSNBC, and again, if you’re in the US, Netflix. (That last service ought to work in Canada as well, because we now get Netflix…sort of, but the US plugin won’t work in Canada, and the company has not offered any support for developers trying to use their API in Canada, despite the cries of protest from the small but vocal group of Canadian Plex users and developers.) So that’s my contribution, and I’m also looking forward to presentations by Kris Krug on iPhone photography and John Biehler and Duane Storey on Arduino.

But Wait, There’s More…

A few days after BarCamp, I’ll be doing another presentation, on a completely different topic. It’s entitled “User Experience Design for WordPress Web Sites: Does Your Blog Design Support Your Content?”, and I’ll be presenting it at the November meeting of The Vancouver WordPress Meetup Group at The Network Hub, a co-working space in downtown Vancouver. I’ve been doing a ton of research and work on this presentation, so I’m looking forward to giving it. The attendance so far is completely full, with a waiting list of over 16 people as I write this. Wow.

Speaking of temperature, today was chilly, and for the first time, it truly felt like fall was in the air. Never mind that summer has officially been over for 3 weeks. Vancouver doesn’t get the spectacular display of autumn leaves that we used to see in New England, and it was partly what made it my favourite season. Now, I’m not quite as fond of it as I used to be, but I still do like the seasonal dishes and produce: Ratatouille, roasted squash, pears and cranberries, and I also like the fact that it’s typically the time of year when I feel as if everything’s starting up, that the year is really beginning. January 1st may be the official kick-off of the calendar year, but as the son of two teachers and now sometimes one myself, the academic calendar always seems more appropriate.

Back to classes here also means the return of the Fringe Festival, and I’m a fan. That’s over and done with now, but I did make it to a few shows. It was gratifying to see that the annual festival of intimate theatre that takes place nearby us on Granville Island as well as throughout the city was more popular this year than ever. I’m afraid that I didn’t get to the International Film Festival, which usually comes on the heels of the Fringe, but it also looked to be well attended.

So what’s coming up? I’m looking forward to BarCamp, the yearly unconference where everybody gets to be an expert in something. I think I have a subject to talk about this year, and I’ll be putting some of that up beforehand, mainly to tease those who might be interested in it. I’m also anticipating the Cassoulet festival that Oyama Sausage Company celebrates. I’ve written about it before, and perhaps I will again. After all, it’s not ever day that you get to eat what’s probably the most sublime dish ever made with beans, herbs and meats.

I’m not looking forward to the election back in the US. Politics and government in the US has reached the point of complete and utter absurdity. The American electorate is now by and large so irrational and driven by Public Relations manipulation that I don’t expect any sane outcome in November. I’ve been listening to the audio version of the book The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby, and I’m becoming convinced that she is right on target. Political culture in the US is a reflection of general culture, which has become less and less informed, knowledgable and reasoned. Americans have stopped talking about anything important, except the latest scandal, goofy YouTube moment, or gaffe. Instead of calling the Tea Party out on their ignorance of what the Constitution says (like for instance, the separation of powers which makes it clear that a President can’t send in soldiers to another country without the approval of Congress, which is exactly what George W. Bush did in Iraq), the TV networks focus on entertaining people with sound-bites. Americans don’t read newspapers any more, much less books. With entertainment trumping real information, it’s clear to me that the most powerful voice in US politics is not any of the politicians, but Fox News. During my US trip, at certain motels, Fox News was the only cable news channel available on the television. That would be like Pravda being the only newspaper available at a news stand (for those who aren’t familiar with the name ‘Pravida’, it was Russian for ‘Truth’, and was the official news source of the USSR). With Fox the most widespread and popular source of info-pablum, the US is now effectively being led by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.

There, it looks like my motor is running again.

Well, I’m not quite old, yet, I hope, but I am going East, for about a week. Here’s the the plan: My family is having a reunion in Orlando, Florida next weekend, celebrating my Aunt’s Birthday (suffice to say It’s a big one). In the week leading up to that date, I’m going to visit some parts of the eastern US that I haven’t seen since we left in 2005 (a year and 10 days ago, to be precise). First stop is Dublin, New Hampshire, to visit The Walden School Summer session. I’ll write more about this amazing institution in my next entry. I’ll be visiting and hopefully soaking in the creative juices there from Tuesday through Wednesday. On Thursday I’ll be in Boston, visiting our old neighborhood in Cambridge and looking up some some old friends. I have to admit that while I consider Vancouver my home, we did live for 14 years in Cambridge, and since we’ve left, every once in a while I’ll do a little digital sleepwalk using Google Maps Street View to our old courtyard and the other streets in the neighborhood. I know every crack in the sidewalk between Hampshire Street and the Kendall Square T stop, or used to know, rather. I expect that I’ll be surprised at how things have changed. I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to taste some Toscanini’s Ice Cream, or even an Emma’s Pizza or Kendall Brewery beer, but any and all of those will be nice to sample once again, just to make sure that they are all as good as I remember them. I’ll also have no chance to hear the BSO, or go to any concert, for that matter. Perhaps a ‘cultural’ reunion is something I’ll have to plan for another time. In the meantime, 3 whirlwind days in New England bookended by flights all around North America will be how my week goes. Let’s hope the heat wave has broken before I get there.

Early Friday morning I fly out of Logan (which I must admit I’m not looking forward to seeing again — I hate that airport — often called the worst in North America — with a passion and hope that someday they will mercifully tear it down, but I’m not holding my breath ) to Orlando, where Pam and I will join my parents, cousins and others in the Florida heat (although I suspect we’ll be in air-conditioning much of the time).