Wednesday, December 23, 2009
MERRY XMAS
Enjoy your holidays all!!! I plan on taking this time to relax... I hope you all do the same.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Inspiring... and fun
I had the wonderful opportunity to speak to a grade 10 Prince Rupert class this week. I was dreading it, as I had NEVER spoken in front of a group of teens before. It sounds wierd, but although I'm comfortable speaking to the northern B-C masses every morning on Daybreak... I was terrified of facing off with a grade 10 class.
How did it go?
BRILLIANTLY!!! It was fun, and a lot easier than I thought it would be. The class was actually a "Planning 10" class. I basically shared with them, my story of how the "Green Traveller" came to be. I even shared a fair bit of myself that I had never done before.
I gave the usual intro about myself. THEN, I gave them the REAL intro about who I was. I felt it necessary to show them that I was not by any means anyone special. I consider myself an average dude, who like everyone else has the capacity to do great things (or terrible things). I shared with them the less then proud moments of my life as an alcoholic, smoking, college drop-out loser... before I changed my life for the better. I also told them why I was NOT a good "green" role model, and all the funny nuances along the way as Marc and I filmed over the summer. It sounds like it would have been difficult to have been so transparent in my presentation, but in fact it all came out a lot easier then I thought it would.
Before the class started, the students, did not seem attentative... they were chatting amongst themselves, and I thought "man, they're going to eat me up and spit me out..." but as soon as I started speaking, they were extremely attentative. It was nice. Hopefully they enjoyed it as much as I did.
Another neat update. I had been looking for some more music for our pilot and trailer. I found some. Local musician (Terrace) Brad North has performed in northern British Columbia for years. He's a family friend, and we are going to see if we can implement his tunes in our project. Pretty exciting!!!!
Also, by some wierd coincidence... I self assigned myself some homework over the holidays. That was to locate some archival Haida photos we could draw from, for our project. The very next week, i was booking a guest for our morning radio show to reflect the 'officializing,' of the name Haida Gwaii for the now former "Queen Charlotte Islands." The guest I booked is president of the Bill Reid Foundation. I quickly learned he has access to photos that date back as far as 120 years ago, and we may be able to use some. What LUCK!!!
So all in all, its been a great week. Now back to getting ready for the holidays!!!
rd
How did it go?
BRILLIANTLY!!! It was fun, and a lot easier than I thought it would be. The class was actually a "Planning 10" class. I basically shared with them, my story of how the "Green Traveller" came to be. I even shared a fair bit of myself that I had never done before.
I gave the usual intro about myself. THEN, I gave them the REAL intro about who I was. I felt it necessary to show them that I was not by any means anyone special. I consider myself an average dude, who like everyone else has the capacity to do great things (or terrible things). I shared with them the less then proud moments of my life as an alcoholic, smoking, college drop-out loser... before I changed my life for the better. I also told them why I was NOT a good "green" role model, and all the funny nuances along the way as Marc and I filmed over the summer. It sounds like it would have been difficult to have been so transparent in my presentation, but in fact it all came out a lot easier then I thought it would.
Before the class started, the students, did not seem attentative... they were chatting amongst themselves, and I thought "man, they're going to eat me up and spit me out..." but as soon as I started speaking, they were extremely attentative. It was nice. Hopefully they enjoyed it as much as I did.
Another neat update. I had been looking for some more music for our pilot and trailer. I found some. Local musician (Terrace) Brad North has performed in northern British Columbia for years. He's a family friend, and we are going to see if we can implement his tunes in our project. Pretty exciting!!!!
Also, by some wierd coincidence... I self assigned myself some homework over the holidays. That was to locate some archival Haida photos we could draw from, for our project. The very next week, i was booking a guest for our morning radio show to reflect the 'officializing,' of the name Haida Gwaii for the now former "Queen Charlotte Islands." The guest I booked is president of the Bill Reid Foundation. I quickly learned he has access to photos that date back as far as 120 years ago, and we may be able to use some. What LUCK!!!
So all in all, its been a great week. Now back to getting ready for the holidays!!!
rd
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Still chugging along.
What a productive weekend!!!
It's been a busy Fall/Winter for me so far. Already I've been to Vancouver twice, and Toronto once. All work related. The good news though, is that Marc and I were able to collaborate and get things on track. We now have a rough timeline for our project, with an overall deadline of March 30th 2010.
I can't speak for Marc, but it was quite amazing to relive the experience of this summers adventure. We went through the majority of the logged tape. We also wrote and voiced two trailer bits, which we hope will be posted soon online. At this time we're still working on getting our music together AND also getting our hands on some historical stills. Overall, just reconnecting with Marc made it worth it... just to get that excitement going again.
In the meantime, I'll be speaking to a highschool class next week about my current profession AND what the Green Traveller project was all about. It should be fun.
On another note, I've been bad. Super bad. Slowly, but surely the weight has been coming back on. It is all diet... I can't help myself. I love crappy food SO much, but I need to put a stop to this, or the first season of the Green Traveller will need a wide lens to ensure all of my 400 pounds fit into the screen.
Work life has been great... family life even better. Kali (my little baby) is growing quickly and already crawling all over the place. I have even more time on my hands, as I recently dropped out of my hockey pool (which quite honestly was taking up way too much of my working/family time).
In addition to getting this project together and the trailer, I must say researching the first season has been quite fun. Basically I'm at the 'gathering' stage. Province by province I'm clipping out all the amazing green travel opportunities our country has to offer. It's like planning for the holidays in a way... Some neat quirky travel finds to be seen for sure. I pray this project finds some success. Regardless, this will make for very cool Canada travel in my lifetime.
Anyway, holidays are almost here... and plenty to do. Keep an eye out for the latest Spirit of the North magazine. Its available now. I didn't know what to write, so I just put together a grab-bag of neat winter activities to do in northern BC. The Haida Gwaii chronicles should be out in the Spring.
Til next we speak. Ta Ta!!!
Robert
It's been a busy Fall/Winter for me so far. Already I've been to Vancouver twice, and Toronto once. All work related. The good news though, is that Marc and I were able to collaborate and get things on track. We now have a rough timeline for our project, with an overall deadline of March 30th 2010.
I can't speak for Marc, but it was quite amazing to relive the experience of this summers adventure. We went through the majority of the logged tape. We also wrote and voiced two trailer bits, which we hope will be posted soon online. At this time we're still working on getting our music together AND also getting our hands on some historical stills. Overall, just reconnecting with Marc made it worth it... just to get that excitement going again.
In the meantime, I'll be speaking to a highschool class next week about my current profession AND what the Green Traveller project was all about. It should be fun.
On another note, I've been bad. Super bad. Slowly, but surely the weight has been coming back on. It is all diet... I can't help myself. I love crappy food SO much, but I need to put a stop to this, or the first season of the Green Traveller will need a wide lens to ensure all of my 400 pounds fit into the screen.
Work life has been great... family life even better. Kali (my little baby) is growing quickly and already crawling all over the place. I have even more time on my hands, as I recently dropped out of my hockey pool (which quite honestly was taking up way too much of my working/family time).
In addition to getting this project together and the trailer, I must say researching the first season has been quite fun. Basically I'm at the 'gathering' stage. Province by province I'm clipping out all the amazing green travel opportunities our country has to offer. It's like planning for the holidays in a way... Some neat quirky travel finds to be seen for sure. I pray this project finds some success. Regardless, this will make for very cool Canada travel in my lifetime.
Anyway, holidays are almost here... and plenty to do. Keep an eye out for the latest Spirit of the North magazine. Its available now. I didn't know what to write, so I just put together a grab-bag of neat winter activities to do in northern BC. The Haida Gwaii chronicles should be out in the Spring.
Til next we speak. Ta Ta!!!
Robert
Monday, November 9, 2009
I can't believe its been so long.
Before you get the wrong idea. The Green Traveller is still on its way. After Haida Gwaii, it was back to reality for ol' Rob, and let me tell you, I've been BUSY. Of course I'm now back to work, and that's been fine and dandy. Since my return, I've been to Vancouver for an award benefit (Jack Webster award finalist, not a winner though), and Toronto (for union stuff). On top of that, I've been working full time, and raising my beautiful daughter. So excuses aside, what have I been up to on the Green Traveller front?
Well, last month, I submitted an article for the Spirit of the North magazine. At first i thought my first submission would be a sum up of the BIG adventure. Nope... It's the winter publication, so it just didn't fit. In lieu of that article, I was asked to write something 'wintery.' Being that I'm not green travelling expert, I had to really rack my brain. After weeks of going back and forth, I decided to make up a grab bag list of random fund winter things to do. It was a fun piece, no real hardline focus, or green preaching. Just a mishmash of things to check out or do. When I say mish-mash, I really mean mishmash. It includes an ice fishing destination, ski resort, ice carving festival, winter parade, and a festival of trees. Something for everybody. I'm sure there are a billion things I've missed, but what can you do. So have a looksy, it should be out soon.
I have fallen hard on my bad habits again. Eating out, less active, drinking tonnes of coffee. I did try one new thing, that I think I'm going to keep. Jude (my wife) and I decided to do a non-tech day. Basically we spent a WHOLE day without internet, TV, cell phones, movies, handheld game systems or ipods. I had grown tired of constantly feeling wired in, so we decided to spend a whole Sunday disconnected. It was a rousing success... I made it til 11:30 pm. I think we're going to try doing it once a month. Its not only a great way to enjoy the little things in life... it also cuts down on energy consumption.
My coffee cup experiment has failed.. miserably. I wanted to cut out my coffee cup waste. I'm failing hard... super hard. Anyway, I'll give it an honest go... soon... this week... okay tomorrow.
The next few weeks should see a pickup of sorts. Marc has been tirelessly logging our tape. I'll be meeting with him soon, to start piecing it together. The narrative will happen concurrently. Also, i've been researching cool eco-tourism type things to do IF we get picked up. If it does in fact happen, the first season, I envision, will be a green travel trek across Canada. After that? North America and beyond. I've already dug up things to do in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and recently finished Ontario. Over the next three weeks, I've got to pour over Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, PEI, and Nova Scotia.
So there you go. I'll be back with more VERY soon. Promise.
Well, last month, I submitted an article for the Spirit of the North magazine. At first i thought my first submission would be a sum up of the BIG adventure. Nope... It's the winter publication, so it just didn't fit. In lieu of that article, I was asked to write something 'wintery.' Being that I'm not green travelling expert, I had to really rack my brain. After weeks of going back and forth, I decided to make up a grab bag list of random fund winter things to do. It was a fun piece, no real hardline focus, or green preaching. Just a mishmash of things to check out or do. When I say mish-mash, I really mean mishmash. It includes an ice fishing destination, ski resort, ice carving festival, winter parade, and a festival of trees. Something for everybody. I'm sure there are a billion things I've missed, but what can you do. So have a looksy, it should be out soon.
I have fallen hard on my bad habits again. Eating out, less active, drinking tonnes of coffee. I did try one new thing, that I think I'm going to keep. Jude (my wife) and I decided to do a non-tech day. Basically we spent a WHOLE day without internet, TV, cell phones, movies, handheld game systems or ipods. I had grown tired of constantly feeling wired in, so we decided to spend a whole Sunday disconnected. It was a rousing success... I made it til 11:30 pm. I think we're going to try doing it once a month. Its not only a great way to enjoy the little things in life... it also cuts down on energy consumption.
My coffee cup experiment has failed.. miserably. I wanted to cut out my coffee cup waste. I'm failing hard... super hard. Anyway, I'll give it an honest go... soon... this week... okay tomorrow.
The next few weeks should see a pickup of sorts. Marc has been tirelessly logging our tape. I'll be meeting with him soon, to start piecing it together. The narrative will happen concurrently. Also, i've been researching cool eco-tourism type things to do IF we get picked up. If it does in fact happen, the first season, I envision, will be a green travel trek across Canada. After that? North America and beyond. I've already dug up things to do in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and recently finished Ontario. Over the next three weeks, I've got to pour over Quebec, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, PEI, and Nova Scotia.
So there you go. I'll be back with more VERY soon. Promise.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
A java change for the better
I'm making a change for the better... I think.
Lets just call it an attempt at breaking a very bad habit. When I used to work at the CBC bureau in Prince George, I used to drink 2-3 cups of Tim Horton's coffee a day. We shared a building with the Canadian icon, and I love coffee. It was a terrible equation, that led to my increased appetite for java.
Anyway two years ago, we had an intern at the office where I worked in Prince George. Her name was Adrian Mrdeza. During that whole summer, she would accompany me to the Tim Horton's but would always bring her OWN mug, while I continued to get my coffee's to go. Although she attempted to get all of us to change our wasteful habits, I resisted.
Nowadays I live in Prince Rupert. I've reduced the amount of coffee I drink (about 1-2 cups now), but have continued to use paper cups. As the so-called Green Traveller, I see the error in my ways. I've decided I'm going to make a real effort in following Adrian's advice, and BMOM (Bring My Own Mug). It's a minor incovenience, in that I hate washing dishes, but it is for the better. At least I'll be saving the landfill from hundreds of paper cups and plastic lids.
PS Before I wrote this I had a coffee NOT using my to-go mug... so the mission staaaaaaarrrrrrrrrttttttssssssss......................................NOW!!!
Lets just call it an attempt at breaking a very bad habit. When I used to work at the CBC bureau in Prince George, I used to drink 2-3 cups of Tim Horton's coffee a day. We shared a building with the Canadian icon, and I love coffee. It was a terrible equation, that led to my increased appetite for java.
Anyway two years ago, we had an intern at the office where I worked in Prince George. Her name was Adrian Mrdeza. During that whole summer, she would accompany me to the Tim Horton's but would always bring her OWN mug, while I continued to get my coffee's to go. Although she attempted to get all of us to change our wasteful habits, I resisted.
Nowadays I live in Prince Rupert. I've reduced the amount of coffee I drink (about 1-2 cups now), but have continued to use paper cups. As the so-called Green Traveller, I see the error in my ways. I've decided I'm going to make a real effort in following Adrian's advice, and BMOM (Bring My Own Mug). It's a minor incovenience, in that I hate washing dishes, but it is for the better. At least I'll be saving the landfill from hundreds of paper cups and plastic lids.
PS Before I wrote this I had a coffee NOT using my to-go mug... so the mission staaaaaaarrrrrrrrrttttttssssssss......................................NOW!!!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
From Summer to Fall to Winter
So things have slowed down considerably. It's been a BUSY few months. The shoot is already a month old, but my return to the real world has been filled with plenty to do. At my CBC gig, we just orchestrated the best live show, in conjunction with Hockeyville. Organizing the morning show and national radio sports coverage was daunting but completely worth it. In addition to that, being a full-time dad. That was one thing I hated about being on the road. I hated being away from my newborn daughter. Now, I'm working on an article for "Spirit of the North," magazine.
I submitted an article in its inaugural edition. My Green Traveller adventures will not be featured til next Spring. In the meantime I've been wracking my brain about what I'll write about for the upcoming winter edition. Again I'm not green expert, but I thought a list of some fun "green" things to do this Winter sounded like a fun thing to do. Nonetheless, because I'm not an outdoor enthusiast, this has been a challenge.
Already I've written about ice fishing at Stuart Lake in Fort St. James (despite my laughable fishing ability), cross country skiing near Prince George, and taking in the parade of lights in Vanderhoof. I'm not sure what else I have in me, but will likely do something about Skiing at Shames and Powder King... perhaps a snowshoeing excursion in the peace region? Who knows.
Anyway, editing continues. Marc is still logging tape. I think the real editing will not start until November/December. We'll see.
I submitted an article in its inaugural edition. My Green Traveller adventures will not be featured til next Spring. In the meantime I've been wracking my brain about what I'll write about for the upcoming winter edition. Again I'm not green expert, but I thought a list of some fun "green" things to do this Winter sounded like a fun thing to do. Nonetheless, because I'm not an outdoor enthusiast, this has been a challenge.
Already I've written about ice fishing at Stuart Lake in Fort St. James (despite my laughable fishing ability), cross country skiing near Prince George, and taking in the parade of lights in Vanderhoof. I'm not sure what else I have in me, but will likely do something about Skiing at Shames and Powder King... perhaps a snowshoeing excursion in the peace region? Who knows.
Anyway, editing continues. Marc is still logging tape. I think the real editing will not start until November/December. We'll see.
Monday, September 21, 2009
MORE PICS!!!!
I Heart Haida Gwaii!!! EVEN MORE PICS!!!
Biking was my favorite. Except for that part where it rained everyday, and I was super drenched, and I realized my water-resistant jacket is not.
Edge of the World music festival - amazing!!! My hula-hoopin' mad skillz... not so much.
Talking, thinking, reflecting... man-bonding
I sailed us across... whew we made it. That was some party. Now how to get back?
They're posing.. I'm thinking.. where is my food already. By the way this is at the Trouthouse. Some of the best food on the island.
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