Signal Down! Reconnecting in 3 weeks time (or so)

Although I’ve got a few ideas kicking around, I haven’t been able to properly express them with my available time and I am unhappy with the drafts I’ve got up and running.  I want to respond to this post and it’s survey over at Scott’s blog and I will do so in the future.  I will be away working and then travelling with the old man and my little brother during August, so I won’t be posting here for the next 3 weeks or so. 

I am currently reading ‘Bad Samaritans – The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism’ by Ha-Joon Chang, and this book is having an impact on my views regarding how governments and markets interact.  The sub-title is a bit fantastic and reeks of conspiracy theory, but that’s misleading as so far it’s an excellent and well researched book with a strong contrarian bent.  I should be done this book by the time I am ready to post again, and hopefully I’ll have it assimilated and ready for some debate.

Langara Island Drowning

Ok, so I got the full scoop on this tragic event up on the fishing grounds.  The news clipping said a man and woman went in the water, with the man drowning and the woman surviving.  I was concerned for my friends and people I have met while working up there, so finding out more information has helped.  Nobody I knew was in the incident, but people I am working with were directly affected.

It was a 17′ self guided boat from the Marabel with a father and an adult daughter aboard.  They were at the lighthouse, which means there were swells of some size, the current rips through there and there are shallow areas where things can roil around pretty good.  All told, a fun spot to fish in fair conditions.  I’m not sure if they were fishing there or just passing through, but somehow they flipped the boat and they were both in the water.  The daughter made the decision to stay with the boat rather than swim out to try and help her dad who was not at the boat.  Somehow a mayday was called, and a young guide from NIL responded and pulled the lady out of the water.  The man was then pulled out, and another guide from NIL administered mouth to mouth and CPR on the man, to no avail.  That guide subsequently quit in the following days.

The not so surprising part of all this?  Both the man and woman were not wearing flotation.  It’s not brain surgery folks, people die when they fall in the ocean.  It’s avoidable and tragic and stupid.  I remember when Bob Gainey’s daughter drowned a couple of years ago in the Atlantic gulf stream.  In those warm waters she would have survived 24 hours before succumbing to exposure, but she didn’t have flotation on when she got swept over board and the rough seas took her down.  Wear flotation on the water, ’nuff said.

Wolf Parade

Went to a rock concert last night at the Commodore, and both bands were great.  The opening act was Listening Party who had something good going on in terms of their musicianship and vibe, but the headliner Wolf Parade knocked it out of the park.  Easily the best concert I have seen in a few years.  Every music fan in Vancouver who was not at the concert last night missed out was blowing it.

I was introduced to this band when I attended The Arcade Fire show at the forum a few years ago.  Wolf Parade were the opening act at that time, and the energy that they brought to the their music was obvious and powerful.  If it was a different band as the main act, WP would have blown them off the stage.  I hadn’t heard about them prior and didn’t get the chance to do any research on them, but I became a fan during that concert.  There are two singers who share the vocal duties, and they both bring a unique and interesting style to their lyrics.  And I’ve never seen a keyboard played with such vigor. 

After that concert, I went out and bought their first wide release, ’Apologies To The Queen Mary’, and fell in love with it.  If you are looking for a standout track from that album, check out I’ll Believe In Anything, a stinging and joyful criticism of the pre packaged individuality of consumer culture.  Their current release, ‘At Mount Zoomer’, has toned down the rocking aspect by bringing out more synth sounds.  It is different enough that I started as pretty tepid on this one, but I am getting to like it more and more.  Last night sealed the deal for me though, as the new songs really came together on stage.

Those curious about my whereabouts, my departure got pushed back to Monday, which was a relief, so I can relax a bit today and put my ear drums back in place.  For those involved in the CD collective, I will be inserting ‘At Mount Zoomer’ as my next selection, and I can pass around their first album for anyone who is interested, though I’m hesitant to clutter up the box.

Matt

Back in Town, Now Leaving Town

I just returned from a great road trip to San Francisco (but really the Pacific Coast was the star of this show), and I’ve been recalled to do some more work at the the fishing lodge.  Looks like there was a capsized boat this past week and a subsequent drowning.  It sounds like they are sort of scrambling up there; I’m a little concerned for my friends as I don’t know the identity of the victim.  I’ll find out more tomorrow, but you can read the (scant) details here. 

Remember the first rule when you are on the water, stay in the boat. 

Otherwise, next week I’ll give a full recap of my trip to the states, camping recommendations and what not.  For all the baseball fans out there, I managed to catch a great game between historic rivals the Giants and the Dodgers on July 5th.  The stadium was packed and everyone was into it.  Zito and Park both pitched well (Zito had 10 K’s!) and the home side came through with some timely hitting against LA’s bullpen for a 5-2 victory.

MD

New Blog Name; Feedback

Tonight a new name was found for this blog over a bowl of ramen with TMalk, who was quite taken by it.  I think it conveys the perspective I’m bringing, and I like the idea of transmission.  I believe it will do the trick.  Sorry to those who have linked to this site, I think you’ll have to manually change your link.  To top the night off, ’Doc’ Halladay just pitched a 4 hit shutout in Seattle, the sun has been shining in Vancouver and I am about to embark on a road trip with a good friend.  So all’s well.  Also loving the feedback on the last post.  It’s funny to think random people out there can stumble over my little corner of the web and then type out a comment.  Strong reactions give me something to ponder and I will have to write another post dealing with fossil fuels in a more complete manner to take back my good name as a moderate.

Back in town, new post soon

Made it back from Haida Gwaii yesterday after a week of guiding.  It was very cold and very wet and was the worst fishing I had ever seen up there.  Among the guides, there were long faces all round.  I pretended like it would be old times and that worked to my advantage for a couple of days, but then I came crashing back to earth.  However, summing up the week, doing the rock star tour was awesome; it was great to catch up with old friends, make a little cash, and do some fishing.

This piece by Andrew Baxter has got me fired up to write a new post that will be about ‘peak oil’ and energy.  Basically, it will be a long time before we run out of fossil fuels on this planet, regardless of what has been happening in the last few years with the price of oil.  But doom and gloom sells no?  The reality is that there is a bountiful deposit of energy on this planet, and no matter what we do in our lifetimes it will not run out.  More to follow.

It’s going to be a busy summer for me with various trips planned in and around about 4 more weeks of guiding, so I’ll post when I can!  Still working on the name…

Blogging

First of all, I want to express my gratitude for everyone that read my first post, and extra thanks to those who felt compelled to comment, directly or on the blog.  I am looking forward to further expressing myself in this medium.  I believe careful illustration of economic ideas to a wide audience is important, so that people can be informed about the larger forces at work and get away from reactionary thinking about gas prices, China as workshop to the world, and peak oil, to name a few items.  

Now, about that title.. yes, it’s lame, and yes it’s temporary.  I’ve given it some thought but haven’t yet come up with a title that I have found to be appropriate.  We’ll see what develops.  Suggestions are welcome.  The photo is staying btw, that part of the title I think I knocked out of the park.

I’ve been working on my next post, and it’ll be up later in the week.  It’ll be fairly topical to my life as I am heading up the coast to do some work and I’ll be demonstrating my trade of sport fishing guide in the wilderness of Haida Gwaii from the 20th to the 30th of this month.  So, with salmon on the brain, I thought I would ruminate on the state of the pacific wild salmon stocks.  Stay tuned true believers.