If you started to walk the length of Canada’s coastlines from the Strait of Juan du Fuca on the West Coast to the Bay of Fundy on the east coast, covering 20 kilometres** a day at a moderate walking pace, you would complete your journey in approximately 33 years.  That seems like a remarkably long time to cover the whole of Canada’s coastlines, especially when you compare it to how long it takes to cross the country on foot. At 5000 kilometres from coast to coast, you could walk across Canada in a little under a year. Then again, when you consider how many fjords, bays, inlets, and ice packs you’d have to cover along our country’s coastlines, 33 years sounds a little more believable. Now consider the time and effort it would take to keep these coastlines clean from human litter.

From September 18th to 26th, Canadians across the country will organize clean-ups along Canada’s ocean, lake and river shorelines in what is known as the Great Canadian Cleanup.  Last year during the cleanup, organizers covered 2, 457 km and picked up a total of 160, 914 kg of trash.

Cigarette butts take the cake as the number one item picked up by organizers with over 367, 010 found on our country’s shores. Food wrappers, plastic bags, bottles and dishes follow as the next most popular litter items on the list.

As a program, the shoreline cleanup originated in Vancouver in 1994. Over the last 16 years, it’s grown to become national in scope. Over 1,000 different cleanup sites have been registered across the country. Another 600 sites and it will smash last year’s record-breaker of over 1,500 sites.

You can join a clean-up or organize one yourself.  If you would like to read more about the Great Canadian Shoreline Clean-up, visit their website here.
It’s time to clean house, gumboot-style.

**Gumboots may, in fact, slow you down. They’re known for their sexy good-looks and H2O protection, but they’re not the best at long distances.

(A similar version of this post also appears on TheBigWild.org. The Big Wild is an online partnership between Mountain Equipment Co-op and the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. With the help of Canadians, it’s dedicated to protecting large areas of wilderness across the country.)

You can read Ms. McLaren’s complete article here, if you’d like. Otherwise, I would recommend reading the passage below. It captures the content in question.

And no, she has not written back, yet.

“More important, [jeggings] are an astonishing reminder that, in the world of design, two rights can and often do make a wrong – in extreme cases, one so painfully incorrect that it denatures both itself and the wearer. Jeggings, in other words, are the fashion equivalent of the mule – ugly, indestructible and thankfully unable to reproduce.”

- From “Jeggings are About as Hip as Skorts and Sandal Boots” by Leah Mclaren, The Globe and Mail, August 14th, 2010

Here’s My Email to Ms. Mclaren

Dear Ms.McLaren,

My name is Theodora Lamb and I live in Vancouver, British Columbia. As per my Saturday morning routine, I read your article on “Jeggings” this morning in the Cafe below my apartment building. I couldn’t agree more with you on the latest fashion phenomenon. Although, here in Vancouver, you’re more likely to see a pair of Jeggings on 4th Ave, which is Starbucks mama and hot yoga central.

One thing you’re far less likely to see in the “wilds” of Vancouver’s urban streets are mules. From what I know about them, they are gentle, hard-working animals and totally helpless when it comes to their reproductive situation. Simply put, I see the mule as nature’s underdog, which is why I thought it was a little unfair that you used the mule as your comparison to a fashion faux-pas. Yes, I know they’re the perfect example of nature’s hybrid. But unlike the “fashionistas” in the world that wear Jeggings, a mule has little to no control over
the circumstances of which it finds itself in nature.

Can I suggest another animal, perhaps one more appropriate for your comparison: the Skunk. Yes, I know it’s not a hybrid but, like the Jegging, Skunks scuttle our city streets both night and day turning heads the way only a freak of nature can do.

Incidentally, if you enjoy Science Fiction from time to time, I highly recommend Isaac Asimov’s “Foundation” Trilogy. In particular, the second book in the series introduces a character called “The Mule.” Asimov quite cleverly embraces the animal’s characteristics and incorporates them into a character full of dimension and a story rich in epic suspense.

All the best,

Theo

I am Elissa Joy Watts, wife of Steve, daughter to Jon and Marilee, sister to JJ. I was born into a loving relationship with language, food, and all things beautiful. By day, I wield my linguistic skills as lululemon’s Communications Specialist. By night, I am usually dancing around in my kitchen, making a terrific mess.

What do you do for fun?

Simple things. The recipe for fun in my world is uncomplicated: free time, fresh air, family, friends and food. Give me sunshine, comfortable shoes, a good book, my journal and a cappuccino and I’ll follow you anywhere.

What is your favourite community and why?

Community is such a loaded word and favorites are hard to choose. I love the community of people from my church that meets at our place on Tuesdays because they genuinely care for one another and it shows. Being in the company of my friends who work for JJ Bean is fabulous because they are all so incredibly passionate about their craft. I love the familiarity of family and old friends because being known is a beautiful feeling. Wherever there are people putting others before themselves there is community. I strive towards fostering that.

What is your super power?

Bringing people together over food. (Preferably with butter involved. Lots of butter.) I come from a long line of women who have embraced the art of hospitality. Naturally, I wanted nothing to do with it as a child. And as a teenager.

Then slowly, after moving out on my own, I learned that I really liked to create with food and that it was the perfect way to express love for people. I fell head over heels and dropped out of college on a whim to pursue culinary school. It sounds romantic. It wasn’t. It was hard work but I loved it all. (Especially pastry.) My education has fueled my super power fire.

How do you use it to build community?

As I have honed my super power, I have become keenly aware that I am a rare breed among my peers. My goal is to use my gifts to inspire and encourage others to cultivate their culinary love language, expressing themselves and caring for others in a new, yet familiar medium – food. Nothing builds community like time spent with people over a meal. As long as there are hungry people that need a friend, my door is wide open.

My three favourite things about Elissa are…

1. Morning Coffee. Elissa is an ambassador of early morning get-togethers over a delicious cup of coffee. You may, at first, be blind-sided by the early, social start. But once you’re up, breathing in that morning air and sipping your way into a new day, you’ll thank her! Forget that first visit to Facebook or email. I’ve come around to the idea that, if you can swing it, starting your day with a friend is the way to go. Unlike lunch or after work drinks, you’ve got the advantage of talking out your day, working through anticipated fears and generally warming up your brain. 7:45 AM is the new extended lunch, only you’re energized twice as much in half the amount of time. Brilliant, Elissa!

2. Dish Washing. With talking/venting/commenting/liking/critiquing/judging/observing more popular than ever, the gift of listening is in high demand these days. I’ve known Elissa since we were both in Grade 5. Back in elementary school, our teachers would have special events in their conference room and be left with a sink full of dishes. Elissa and I were the two volunteers called in to wash and dry the dishes, during class time, no less! If you ask me now, I can tell you that my vision and memory of Elissa hasn’t changed one bit. She is still the beautiful girl with this evanescent quality about her who (gasp!) asks more questions and listens more carefully than one would expect of a ten-year-old or a twentysomethingyearold, for that matter. Elissa, whether she knows it or not, is leading a cultural crusade that rewards active listening and makes it “hip” and “cool.”

3. Elissa’s Joy. Both literally and figuratively. Elissa keeps a blog on Tumblr called “Elissa’s Joy” which she writes for friends, family and anyone else interested in what catches her eye. With only a few words and a photo, Elissa is able to capture those honest, fringe moments in life that film directors and essayists create by design. You know those moments; the ones where you discover a little piece of script or a seemingly accidental play of colour. They come as honest reminders that the pleasures in life are meant to be small, unexpected and filled with joy!

It’s no secret photographic evidence from these wedding rituals and rites of passage can do more harm than good. But it’s not enough to simply acknowledge this harm and encourage your friends to honour the no-pic and post rule: abjuring photos from stags and stagettes has to find a place in pop culture before things can really change. We need to create a meme or cultural “on-switch” to remind us they don’t belong.

We’re pretty busy these days, posting our lives on Facebook and making a point to capture these events in the hopes that our friends will comment and thus, make us feel included and “cool.” I think we need to stop and consider what, exactly, we should be doing to ensure there’s protocol around what should not be posted on Facebook. Stags and bachelorettes are an excellent place to start.

Just like we have the catch phrase “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”  which has embedded itself into mainstream culture and risen to meme status, we need a reminder that cell phones and digital cameras should be put away, left at home or thrown off a bridge for the sake of unbridled fun times** with our friends. An added bonus to doing away with photos during a stag or girls night out also minimizes the number of drunken and destructive phone calls you make to your potential new partner or, heaven forbid, ex-lover.

In a perfect world, the likes of Seth Rogen or Andy Samberg could alter the world of photo and Facebook etiquette forever by writing it into one of their scripts. The post-credit photo sequence at the end of “The Hangover” is a perfect example (keep in mind, it’s R-rated -er, X-rated.) Alas, we’re left to our own devices.

I ran this idea by a friend and he suggested the catch phrase come off as something like the “papa-nazi.” Perhaps this particular phrase is a little too loaded but it’s a start. We need a go-to line that can be heard and understood across a strip club or martini-strewn counter that is quickly and simply understood by the crowd as “put ‘em away boys and girls ’cause tomorrow is another day.”

**When I say unbridled fun times, I do not mean breaking the law or committing adultery or hurting yourself or anyone else around you for that matter. Follow my advice and embrace this motto: make smart decisions (patent pending.)

To add to the excitement,  I have a few fun tools to enhance your online World Cup experience. The first is a schedule that an online developer has put together for our delight. As Darren Barefoot puts it, “it gracefully enables you to explore a complex schedule–32 teams, 30 days, 10 venues, 64 games–along a number of axes.”

The second tool is designed to help you support your team in the Facebook and Twitter arenas: Twibbons. Click here and you can select the team of your choice and bear their flag on your Facebook and Twitter profile. It will be as if you’re carrying the country flag yourself. You could, as I’ve done, split your allegiance and decide to support two different teams. I’ve chosen to support an underdog on my Twitter profile and a favoured team on my Facebook profile, as you can see above. Germany is favoured, right?

Have fun with it! Go Cameroon, go!

Click on the image above to donate to Team Media Awesome.

On Sunday, June 6th, contributors at the Daily Gumboot will lace up their running shoes, soak in sunscreen, and run for oncology research at BC Children’s Hospital. You can support our team, aptly named “Team Media Awesome” here.

It’s hard to describe the feeling you get from supporting a cause like ChildRun. Our generation has so much to do in this lifetime and so many things to pass on to our children. Something tells me the hardest work is yet to come and to accomplish it, we need healthy children living disease-free, nourished and loved, all around the world. And, after all,  gumboots are worn best by young people jumping in puddles and living cancer-free.

Next to Shakespeare and Lao-Tzu, Khalil Gibran is one of the most widely read poets in history. I believe his words  perfectly describe  our role and responsibility when it comes to caring for the next generation:

“Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.”

- Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

I would argue that nowhere in the annals of blogging has the term “douchebag” been more explored than here, on the Daily Gumboot. In particular, the different perspectives that herald from Germany, East Africa and Argentina does as much to shroud this nebulous word in mystery as it does to shed light on it. I’ve learned many things from reading this blog’s line-up of articles discussing the douchebag, Tarado, Makmende and Spacko. I have enjoyed the back and forth play between contributors on the merits and disadvantages of douchebags in the community, and reading about the historical significance of the word – stretching and assimilating every possible meaning behind it.

But most of all, this series has left me thinking about memes. A meme is when something – a word, song, movie, expression, or movement – is passed on from one individual to the next. When we say something has “gone viral,” we mean it’s reached meme status. I would argue that the term douchebag is now a meme. From the emo-hipster douchebag (urbandictionary.com has yet to list this one) to Sarah Silverman’s Douche Canoe, the word douchebag carries a lot of baggage which, if you take the pun seriously, says something about pop culture today.

I have no doubt, that when Saturday Night Live first aired their infamous Lord and Lady Douchbag skit in 1980, my parents were blown away and tickled pink by the gall and humour of the cast and writers. What was fresh and controversial for my parents is classic, pioneer humour for me. When I watch the skit, I think of the words “playful,” “naughty” and “obnoxious.” I suppose you could apply these words, combined or not, to douchebags and those of us who use the term as liberally as we do, today.

Well done, Gumbooters! If there were a douchebag-reporting award, I think we would win it – or is that way too douchey of me to say?

Douchebag Table of Contents

A Discussion of Douchebags – Introduction

A Discussion of Douchebags – History & Etymology

Douchebags of the World, Unite!

The East African Douchebag

The Douchebag in Latin America: “We all have a little Tarado inside!”

To Douchebag, or Not to Douchebag?

Befriend a Douchebag Today!

For the Sake of the Community, Bring out the Antidouche!

Political Douchebaggery

Your Digital Fill (of Douchebags)

Get to Know Your Community Douchebag – Pete (the Mystery Man)

This fantastic photo is listed under Flickr's creative commons license by Edward: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stewart/120334567/

Earlier this year, a friend of mine who is getting married asked me to compile a wedding playlist for him. I posted the news to Facebook and suggested an open playlist that anyone could add to – the idea was pretty well received. It turns out there are other people out there looking for the perfect wedding playlist, too.

I thought a good place to start compiling this imaginary perfect list would be on Facebook. So, I created a fan page: “The Ultimate Wedding Playlist.” If it catches, wonderful! Here’s hoping this seemingly “simple” way to manage song suggestions doesn’t turn complicated. If this page turns out to be a flop, no big deal. I’m confident I can come up with a damn good list on my own.

I have a sneaking suspicion my saving grace will be the fact that some truly universal wedding dance songs exist. You know what I’m talking about – those songs that have the ability to crack even the most reserved of wedding guests. Like “Twist and Shout” by The Beatles made fabulous by John Lennon’s vocal gymnastics. Or “Love Shack” by the B-52’s – who can resist throwing your arms and voice up when singer Cindy Wilson belts out “Tin roof… rusted!” (it was ranked #243 in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.) These days you can’t throw a garter without hitting a wedding that features Chris Brown’s “Forever,” thanks to Jill and Kevin’s unforgettable wedding entrance. I’m sure Gumboot editor Kurt Heinrich would argue that Coolio’s “Gangster’s Paradise” should show-up somewhere on our list (I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that he knows the lyrics by heart.) I know I would consider throwing in a little Jonsi into the mix (he’s the lead singer from Sigur Rós.) But that might be a little too “alternative” for some people’s tastes. And then you have to consider the fact that not all wedding playlists are created equal. It all comes down to the crowd and what sort of energy you want pulsing through your guests.

In any case, I hope to extract at least a few song suggestions that will help me on my musical compilation journey. Take a peek at the Facebook page – add your two cents and let’s try and build one, killer song list.

Facebook has teamed up with Pandora, Microsoft and other companies to provide you with a “like” tool that connects their websites to your Facebook account. Essentially, you’ll be cruising for tunes through Pandora’s virtual stacks, come across a song you like, “like it” and the news will carry over to your Facebook feed. The idea is to connect people through common interests.

You’ll notice that your fan pages no longer measure the number of fans they have but, rather, how many people “like” it. And you can also see how many of your own friends like that page, too. Your friends’ support is added incentive to like a page yourself. If there was ever any confusion around whether Facebook depended on the human condition to “follow the crowd,” there shouldn’t be anymore.

As Mashable’s Adam Ostrow puts it, the new “like” function is “a small wording change with some potentially big implications.” According to Facebook, people click the like button almost twice as much as they “Become a Fan” of something.

For those of you out there who don’t like change, I wouldn’t worry too much about this new addition. The changes we’re seeing, on a whole, won’t have a major impact on how you connect with your friends. It will, however, open things up and connect more people to common interests, be it an onion ring more popular than the Prime Minister, or Kung Fu.

Be smart. Know what you’re opting into, for security and simplicity’s sake.  Advertisers and brands can use the “like” function to collect a fan base of their own. It’s just another way for them to plug into you. The next time you “like” something, ask yourself, “do I care about this?” After all, it may just be a like, but it’s also a gateway into a company, brand or interest that’s vying for valuable real estate:  your attention.

(I’ve written my concert review of  Jónsi

Dear Alistair

I miss you. I went to a concert last night and it made me think of you.

Jónsi is the lead singer from Sigur Ros (I’m sure you know this.) He’s traveling the world, performing songs from his new album, “Go” – a side project while his Sigur Ros band mates have babies.

The stage was designed by Fifty Nine Productions, a company that usually designs sets for the Metropolitan Opera Company and the English National Opera. The stage was set with a series of backdrops built for projections. Jónsi’s performance started quietly and slowly built into what became an obvious but elegant theme, to which I won’t reveal in the hopes that you go see the show yourself. Animation was projected  on stage throughout the show and accompanied the rise and fall of the music and Jónsi’s unmistakeable falsetto voice.

I was sometimes irritated by the crowd’s applause. Like a play or any worthwhile story, it could have done without interruptions. “Jónsi” or  Jón Thor Birgisson’s falsetto vocals soared in perfect pitch. The costumes were bold. And his band mates used a number of unusual instruments and tools to fill out his sound. But most of all, Al – Jónsi reminded me of you. The moment he stepped out on stage, you knew you were about to witness something very personal and close to his heart. And that’s exactly what I feel when I watch your work.

I thought the best moment of the whole evening came at the end, when Jónsi and his band of talented and beautiful young men, returned to the stage before a standing ovation, bowed, and spent a good moment looking out at us, as if they couldn’t believe we were there to watch them perform. They gave us genuine smiles and expressions of surprise.

I think you should go see, Jónsi . It’s likely he won’t tour with this band and set again. And I want to know what you think. I’ve included a video – a snippet from his song “Grow Tall.” A friend told me he wrote the song the day after a New Year’s party. He wanted to try and capture the feeling of “the next morning”, after a night of celebrating with his friends.

Lots of love,

Theo