I gave a talk this past weekend called “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Blogosphere” at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario.

The presentation was a multi-media journey through the exciting universe of blogs. I introduced attendees to 20 of the most extraordinary and interesting blogs around today. I was able to take people behind the scenes to learn the stories of the people who run the blogs.

Instead of telling you the whole stories behind each blog, I’ve posted a video to go with each featured blog. You can easily google these people or find out more about them on their websites/blogs. Hopefully you’ll discover a few blogs that you’ll want to follow, and who knows, you might even want to start your own blog!

Please leave a comment below and let me know your favourites!

Also, come back to my blog soon, as my next blog post will be on how to find the best blogs. Hint: One way is to check out winners from blog awards.

1. Angela Aiello – iYellow Wine Club
www.iyellowwineclub.com/blog

2. Gary Vaynerchuck – Wine Library TV
tv.winelibrary.com

Gary wrapped up his 1,000th Wine Library TV episode just this past spring, and then moved over to his “Daily Grape” iPhone Application where he also posted videos and wine reviews. He then announced his official retirement from daily wine video blogs at the end of August, but you’ve still got a ton of videos to explore!

3. 65 Red Roses
65redroses.livejournal.com

Sadly, Eva Markvoort’s blog “65 Red Roses” is no longer run by Eva as she passed away March 27, 2010. It is now run by her family, but well worth exploring.

4. Julie Powell – Julie & Julia
juliepowell.blogspot.com

You can no longer access Julie’s original Jule & Julia Blog, but she still keeps this blog.

5. Reb Stevenson
rebstevenson.com

6. Facehunter – Yvan Rodic
facehunter.blogspot.com

7. Style Rookie – Tavi Gevinson
www.thestylerookie.com

8. Art Matters Blog – Art Gallery of Ontario
www.artmatters.ca

9. Montréal Tourism’s Blog “The Montréal Buzz”
www.tourisme-montreal.org/blog

10. 1000 Awesome Things – Neil Pasricha
www.1000awesomethings.com

11. Post Secret – Frank Warren
www.postsecret.com

12. Zen Habits – Leo Babauta
zenhabits.net

13. Four Hour Work Week Blog – Tim Ferriss
www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog

14. Seth Godin Blog
www.sethgodin.typepad.com

15. Richard Branson
www.virgin.com/richard-branson/blog

16. Perez Hilton – Mario Lavandeira
www.perezhilton.com

17. Sh*t My Dad Says (warning: explicit)
http://twitter.com/shitmydadsays

18. Mashable – Pete Cashmore
www.mashable.com

19. Huffington Post – Arianna Huffington
www.huffingtonpost.com

20. Boston Globe’s “The Big Picture”
www.boston.com/bigpicture

LIKE THIS LIST? WHAT ARE YOUR FAVOURITE BLOGS? PLEASE COMMENT & SHARE HERE!

Last Friday, I went to a live taping of 100 Huntley Street with my sister and niece.

I’ve passed by the Crossroads building (where they film 100 Huntley Street) in Burlington a number of times and I’ve had the inkling to check out the building for awhile now. It has a neat church and a number of brick houses built into it, making it look like a little village.

My oldest sister from BC (that’s not her picture to the right) – who’s taking Seminary right now – was recently in Ontario to visit our family with her husband and daughter and I thought I’d be fun to go check out the building as an outing. She suggested we find out if they were taping the broadcast that day too, and if so, if we could sit in the audience. It turned out that they did in fact tape live and that we could sit in the audience, which we were told is typically small.

So on Friday morning my sister, niece and I went to the 1-hour live taping (we were the only three in the ‘audience’) and ended up meeting Ron and Moira the hosts of the show (who were very nice – as expected) and got a tour of the building and studios. It was a really good time.

Epiphany in the washroom?

Ok, so all that being said, the real reason I am writing this blog was because while we were there I went to the washroom, as most people do when they go out somewhere, I ended up having an epiphany!

As I pushed open the door to enter the washroom, it just so happend to be at the exact same time as someone coming out who was pulling the door to exit. I’m sure you know the scene I’m talking about. We’ve all had that happen to us before on both sides of the equation. But can you remember what you say when those awkward moments happen?

Well it turned out that I instinctively (and immediately) said “sorry” as we crossed paths to continue on our separate ways. It turned out the other guy said nothing, except “no problem”.

Just after I said “sorry” I wanted to kick myself. “Sorry, was I really sorry?” I thought. “No, no I’m not sorry. That’s ridiculous. So why did I say it?” I should have just said “excuse me” instead, I thought to myself. Especially when the other person didn’t say a thing!

Now I know we Canadians like to use our sorry’s and excuse me’s a lot, but in this case I believe it called for an “excuse me” instead of a “sorry.” I think it’s probably fair that the person entering says “excuse me” for sure, but the person leaving could say it too, but not sorry!

Since this epiphany I’ve found myself paying more attention and noticing what people say in these types of situations. My conclusion so far is that I think we’re all saying sorry way too often when what we really mean is excuse me. We’re not sorry for getting in your way, but we know we did get in your way, so a simple excuse me is justified.

Do you agree? Do you use “sorry” too much? I’d love to hear what you think!

~ Flickr photo credit ~

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I keep coming across his name. I read his Biography on Marshall Mcluhan in the spring. I caught an interview of him on tvo.org in the past month or so; just last week he was in the Globe and Mail where he wrote a huge spread called “A radical pessimist’s guide to the next 10 years” with 45 tips and more. Then two nights ago I was at the Pen Center in St. Catharines and noticed a new Roots store opened up. I began scouting out the store and I noticed the name again. Douglas Coupland. This time it was Coupland’s clothing line called “RootsXDouglasCoupland”, a first ever for Roots and Coupland. I could hardly believe it.

Douglas Coupland, as you may know, is a Canadian author, visual artist and now clothing designer. He’s done a few public sculptures in Toronto and Vancouver that I know of, and perhaps he’s most famous for his book Generation X. (coupland.com)

The Coupland clothes that I saw were pretty unique and a refreshing change from what you’ve come to expect from Roots. I ended up buying a t-shirt with a graphical beaver on the front of it. I really do like Roots and was proud to host a couple iYellow Wine Club events at their Flagship Toronto store a couple years back.

I have to give Coupland credit. He’s got a great gig. It’s nice to see opportunities keep coming his way and that he takes them. I have to say that he’s been an inspiration for me, and I really like the diversity and number of things he’s been able to accomplish. I like to see creativity, like his, being rewarded. His stuff is real art, and it’s Canadian to boot. It stands out and is different. Kudoos to him. I look forward to what he does next…. I’m not worried to find out what, I’m sure I’ll read about it, or see it in a store somewhere.

Here’s a couple official videos on Coupland’s new clothing line. I like the second one quite a bit. Enjoy!

Topics Include…
- What is Zen?
- How to meditate
- How these people manage their lives
- How to live with meaning
- How to use the technology and the tools of our times”

Quoted from Jesse Jacobs’ vimeo page.

This is a great topic and I think we need more of this type of interviewing, especially from good society role models. I find it interesting and useful to learn how “successful” people live their lives and choose their everyday routines and strategies. Sometimes it reaffirms my choices and actions, and sometimes it can open my eyes and mind to new opportunities and approaches. Enjoy!

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It’s Sunday morning as I write this, and I’m one of those types who really enjoys my Sunday mornings. I enjoy watching the political shows or arts shows such as Meet The Press, CTV’s Question Period, Bravo’s Arts & Minds…I like being able to lounge around but feel intellectually stimulated at the same time.

Last night I watched the movie “Good Night, and Good Luck.” Perhaps you’ve seen it? It’s by no means a new release (I think 2006), but this time around it stood out on the Library DVD shelf so I grabbed it.

The movie is based on a true story as you may know. I don’t know the whole history, but it’s essentially the story of the first ever investigative Television journalism, and how it came up against conflict because of threats to sponsorship being pulled etc. In the 1950′s – when Television was still an infant – CBS Anchor Edward R. Murrow and his crew’s investigated Senator Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee, who was on an unethical ‘witch-hunt’ for communists in America. The news team helped bring light to the issues of the committee and address the wave of fear that was sweeping the country.

The movie is a film buff’s type of film as it’s all in black and white with fancy lighting and sophisticated subject matter. Being that I have a Communications degree, this is exactly the type of thing we studied at school so I couldn’t help but enjoy it. The movie explores the influence of media on society, the impact of new media on old media, and also the impact of business and power on the media (messages) themselves.

The movie has some of the appeal of the TV show Mad Men. Of course everyone is smoking, like Mad Men, but it also paints a picture of what the world was like back in the 50′s, and puts you in a context where TV was new.

As we spend more and more time on the internet these days, I think this type of movie is good for us. It reminds us that we are in the early days of the Internet. It reminds us that society has undergone a significant change in the past few years because of this new communications technology, just as TV did.

I’ve embedded the final clip of the “Good Night, And Good Luck” movie below which I think summarizes the whole film and calls people to use TV/Media in a better way. Also, funnily enough, I went online this morning to see if I could get some clips from Meet The Press on their website and I came across a clip of a 50th anniversary panel discussion discussing the first ever (infamous) televised Presidential debate between John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon. It was almost perfect timing after seeing the movie last night. The Meet The Press clip examines another TV first, and watching the movie last night before hand helped put this time of history in context.

Since it’s in the morning that I’m writing this, I’ll sign off by saying Good Morning, And Good Luck!

The “sand animation artist” in this video is Kseniya Simonova – winner of the 2009 Ukraine’s Got Talent tv show contest. The depicted scene, according to wikipedia, “portray[s] life during the USSR’s Great Patriotic War against the Third Reich in World War II.

Sand animation is a unique art form and storytelling technique that I’ve never seen before. It’s fun to watch and it has helped get my creative juices flowing again.

You can see more videos of Kseniya Simonova’s animations on monkeylog.com. Enjoy!

Interview with Kseniya Simonova:

Photo taken with my new MacBook

I purchased a new MacBook this week and I’m lovin’ it! I had an iBook before, but it had to be plugged in to work and it’s time had come. I spend so much time on the computer for work and personal reasons,  so it was really an essential tool and upgrade for me.

As an homage to the blog/book 1000awesomethings.com I declare the MacBook “Awesome!” Not only are all the programs awesome, as I expected. But the TrackPad is incredible. I love how I can just use my fingers for everything on it, and can even avoid pushing down to click on links (etc.) – I set it up so I just have to touch the TrackPad with one finger when I want to click on something – similar to a touch screen. It saves my wrists the extra effort.

I know some of you will have already figured the TrackPad out, but it’s new for me, because it’s really only when you have something new that you take some time to get familiar with it…which is what I’ve been up to the past few days since getting my new laptop. If you don’t know a thing about the TrackPad, you can watch a video tutorial of the TrackPad here.

On the weekend it was my nieces 7th birthday and at one point in the afternoon my brother-in-law’s brother was raving about his new iPhone and gave me a demo of all the apps, etc. I’m typically a late adopter for technology (I don’t have an iPhone) and tend to not want to get caught up in it all. But here I am too raving about technology! Before I got this laptop I tested out the new iPad and it was really cool too, but it didn’t have all the functionality I need with programs etc. so I didn’t get it. But regardless, I’m still happy with my new laptop!

See you next time!

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As someone who worked at Starbucks for three weeks because I liked their coffee and business values (at least at the time), and as someone who takes advantage of the Starbucks environment to do work online, and as someone who prefers Starbucks to Tim Hortons, I was pleased to see the new and green concept stores – they look pretty cool. I just hope that they also find a way to better deal with excessive noise and traffic “pollution” to enhance the experience as well.

So far three new stores “showcase” the new approach. Two stores are in Seattle and one in Paris. For more info about the new stores and a virtual tour of these stores see Starbucks’ new website>>

What do you think of the new stores? Are you a fan of Starbucks? Is LEED certification enough? Please comment here>>

I took this picture just before dark at the Pen Centre in St. Catharines. I had to play with the lighting a bit, but you can image that it’s quite noticeable at night. The sign has been like that for awhile now and  I just had to take a picture of it! Any one hear of any good PR from Zellers lately? I think their sign answers that question.

Are you in retail? Make sure to replace the lights on your exterior signs because you never know what it might say when one goes out = bad PR!