Happy Birthday Canada!
2010 has been a great year for you!
"Luck, that's when preparation and opportunity meet."
-Pierre Elliot Trudeau
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Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.
This is a short film that was directed by the French animation collective H5, François Alaux, Hervé de Crécy + Ludovic Houplain. It was presented at the Cannes Film Festival 2009. It opened the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won a 2010 academy award under the category of animated short.
In this film there are two pieces of licensed music, in the beginning and in the end. All the other music and sound design are original. The opening track (Dean Martin "Good Morning Life") and closing track (The Ink Spots "I don't want to send the world on fire") songs are licensed pre-existing tracks. All original music and sound design is by, human (www.humanworldwide.com)
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So yesterday I broke down and bought one then took it with me to my flight lesson yesterday evening. I mounted it to the back window of the plane and shot 40 minutes of video before the suction cup popped off and the camera fell to the floor. Luckily it was inside the plane.
Next time I'll do a better job to mount it. But for now, enjoy the show.
In The Back Seat of My Flight Lesson - July 21, 2010 from Michael Laverdiere on Vimeo.
Recorded with my new GoPro HD Hero camera mounted in the back seat of Cessna 172P C-FNJB during one of my flight lessons.
It's basically one camera shot for the whole 7 minutes...well almost.
It shows part of our trip from Boundary Bay Airport (Delta, BC, Canada) to Glen Valley training area (Langley, BC, Canada) with Koh. He isn't my regular flight instructor but he stepped in so I could go up because my regular instructor Kristy couldn't fly a because of an injury.
Recorded on the evening of July 21, 2010.
Happy Birthday Canada!
2010 has been a great year for you!
"Luck, that's when preparation and opportunity meet."
-Pierre Elliot Trudeau
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For those interested in G-8 security: It's tight.
Security detail added an hour to my commute this morning. I'm staying in Huntsville, Ontario which is normally about 15 mins from Deerhurst Resort where the G-8 Summit is being held.
But this morning it took an hour and 15 minutes.
All people entering Deerhurst are scanned individually, one-by-one. All bags are searched. In fact we have to get off the bus that takes us there as it's quicker to scan us individually than to search the whole bus every time it leaves and comes back. Once through the gates, we have to get on another "clean" bus to take us further into the resort.
In addition to that:
So is it safe to say I'll be working at one of the most secure places on the planet for the next week?
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I have been hearing some people - who will be coming to Vancouver to work on the broadcast side of the XXI Olympic Winter Games - complaining about their accommodations. Some are even threatening to not even come now!
Many of us who travel for work frequently are usually put up in rather nice hotels like The Westin, Sheraton, Marriott, Fairmont etc. Many are complaining about the fact that they aren't staying in a 4 or 5-star hotel at the Olympics or they're angry that they are a 20-minute train ride from the Venue they are working.
Keep this in mind as you complain:
Normally at an Olympics they build a Media Village and put all media and broadcast personnel up together. After the games, they often turn the Media Village into student or affordable housing.
In Vancouver, they chose not to go that route and there are only SO many hotel rooms. Believe me, if you are in your own room in ANY hotel for an Olympics, consider yourself lucky. At the XX Olympic Winter Games in Torino, Italy, I was at the Verolengo Media Village. It was considered one of the better Media Villages. The stories I heard about some of the others (like one dubbed Gulag 13) were horrendous.
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• Door in the middle (open) is the entrance to my room. • Door on the right is the main entrance for my roommate and me. |
With these accomodations come the notion that you get a tiny private room and share a bathroom with someone. No kitchen.
That being said, the room I had wasn't dirty or anything. In fact, it was brand new. So new that I had to go down to the desk to ask that my "elettricità" be turned on! But, it was small and uncomfortable.
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| Top: Looking through the door into my room. Yes, there was a lock on the door. The glass doors lead to a small balcony with a view to kill for. Middle: The small desk with a TV that had many of the world's broadcasters on it. CBC Toronto, baby. Yeah! The bottle of 1999 Barolo ended up being a gift for a friend. In Canada it was worth almost $100. I got it for €0! Bottom: The tiny Twin bed I slept on for 21 days. |
Oh yeah. I can't forget to show you the wonderful view I had from the balcony:
I had to share the bathroom that came along with this room. Not too bad if your roommate isn't messy or smelly. (Thanks for not being either Ed Eyto if you can read this in London)
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| The bathroom I shared in Torino. Note the shower "tray" and accompanying curtain that didn't keep water inside the "tray." After every shower there was always a huge puddle on the floor. That was even after tucking it in and putting shampoo bottles on top to keep it in place. |
I'd like to add that every day I had to take a bus back and forth from the International Broadcast Centre (IBC) and it was 40 minutes each way. Makes the 20 minute Canada line ride some will take in February 2010 look like an Indy Car race...okay maybe not.
Without sounding like I'm rambling. If you're coming to work the 2010 Olympics and you're not happy with your accommodations, look at these photos and count your lucky stars. Others in Torino had it worse. I also heard the accommodations in Athens in 2004 were worse than THAT!
I suppose all this is easy to say from someone who will actually be sleeping in his own bed for these Olympics.
Now...for those of us who live in Vancouver, we can now prepare ourselves for Olympic-sized traffic jams! Get ready to avoid those "Olympic Lanes!"
And in case you missed it, here's a link to the blog I wrote while in Torino: Of Almost Olympic Proportions
It was another warm day at Boundary Bay Airport, 18°C, with high clouds, winds at 5-10 knots (9-18 km/h) from 130 (South Southeast). So, they were using Runway 12 today.
Airport runways are numbered based on their magnetic bearing on the compass rounded to the nearest 10°. This is also based on the direction you're landing or taking off from the runway. At Boundary Bay, Runway 12 sits at 125° if you're flying out Southeast over the water, Runway 07 sits at 71° if you're taking off to the Northeast. Those same strips of pavement have different numbers if you're landing or taking off in the opposite direction. Basically, 180° different. So, Runway 12's opposite is Runway 30 (305°) and Runway 07's opposite is Runway 25 (251°) At Vancouver International Airport for example, the North Runway is 26R/08L the South Runway is 26L/08R. The runways are parallel to each other and are situated at 261° from north and 81° from north. So, if you're landing west over the city, you'll likely land on either runway 26L (left) or 26R (right) if you're landing east over the water, you'll likely land on either 08L (left) or 08R (right). It's left or right from the pilot's perspective. |
Since i just learned how to calculate weight and balance in ground school, Josh (my flight instructor) had me do all that while he checked the fuel in the plane. Shortly after that, I was outside on the apron doing my pre-flight checks.
Again, Josh did most of the radio work so I could concentrate on flying the plane. I found it a lot easier to taxi today. Since there was a lot of traffic and I am still a bit slow lining it up on the runway, I didn't take off the plane today.
Once in the air, we headed over Cloverdale to the Coquitlam/Pitt Meadows area and practiced turns, climbs and descents. He also had me do some turns while climbing to 3500 feet then doing an opposite turn descending to 2500. So far the toughest part is doing a turn and maintaining altitude. When you turn, the plane will start to lose altitude, so you have to pull back at the same time to keep the same altitude.
After 45 minutes of that we headed back towards CZBB (the ICAO code for Boundary Bay Airport). We flew over highway 99 following it back until we were just north of Runway 12. Again, after a large bank to the left, I landed on Runway 12. Apparently quite well again. I also know this because so far I haven't accidentally set off the Emergency Locator Transmitter which sometimes will go off if you land too hard. (It's set to automatically activate after sensing a certain amount of load factor or Gs)
I'm going to try to get several more lessons in before CFL season starts as I will be on the road a lot more and it will be tough to get all those lessons in. I have to do it while the weather is still nice. The fall will bring crap rain and low clouds making it more difficult to get flying in.
This first lesson concentrated on basic movement and attitudes (the angle of an aircraft in relation to the horizon).
Josh, my flight instructor, handled all the radio traffic. He had me do all the pre-flight inspections and go through all the pre-flight checklists.
After starting the engine, we got clearance to taxi down taxiway E (Echo) to Runway 25. Taxiing is something I really need to work on. Airplanes were not designed to move on the ground easily. They are meant to fly. Plus, you stear the aircraft on the ground using your feet, with the rudder pedals. That takes a little coordination!
Upon reaching Runway 25 where we had to hold short for three other aircraft to land and two ahead of us to take off. After that, we were cleared for takeoff. Once again, Josh had me throttle up to full power and steer the Cessna 172P down the runway. I pulled back gently on the column and after about 15 seconds or so, the plane took off.
We flew to a practice area over Pitt Meadows where Josh had me try different turns, climbs and descents. One of the most important lessons I learned was how to do a coordinated turn.
When you steer a car, you simply turn the steering wheel in the direction you want to turn. It's similar with an airplane but when you turn the yoke, it simply manipulates the ailerons (control surfaces on the wings) that turn the plane. Airplanes (especially single engine airplanes), however, have a tendency to want to turn left on their own. This due to the effects of a propeller on an airplane. So simply turning the control to the right, for example, the plane will shimmy a bit to the left before it turns right.
(On that note, airplane manufacturers take that into account when building airplanes so that they fly in a straight line as much as possible.)
With a coordinated turn, you include the rudder (the control surface on the tail) that is controlled with your feet. So if you do a right turn, you turn the control surface and press the right rudder pedal. The plane will make a proper turn to the right.
We practiced turns, climbs and descents then headed back to Boundary Bay Airport. This time Josh had me line up the plane for approach to Runway 25 and actually land it. I nearly shit my pants. That was scary as hell. I guess it gets easier with practice! He said it was a very good first landing.
That pretty much sums up lesson #1. Lesson #2 is Monday, June 8, 2009.
]]>About 10 years ago, I went to the Edmonton Flying Club to investigate what it would take for me to get my pilot's license. But, it seemed so out of reach for me then. Since my job with Dome Productions has me flying a lot, it's reignited my fascination with flight and with aviation in general. In the last month or so I've really been looking into what it would take to get my Private Pilot's License. It's basically a license that allows you to fly any single-engine aircraft, during the day, with as many passengers as it will seat, anywhere in the world.
In any case, most flight training starts with a Familiarization or "Fam" flight. I took mine today in a Cessna 172P (similar to the one below) out of Boundary Bay Airport.
When I showed up at Montair Aviation (the charter company and flight school I chose to go to) I got a quick tour of the facility. They have several classrooms, cool flight simulators and aircraft where they are currently training a new set of pilots for airlines in Asia or anyone else who wants to learn to fly. Mind you, most of these guys are going through a much more thorough and rigorous training program to get a Commercial Pilot License.
After a short briefing from Josh, the instructor, and signing out the aircraft, we walked out to the tarmac (which was surprisingly busy for a smaller airport) and did a walk around. All pilots have to check the plane thoroughly before even starting up the engines. Safety first. Basically it's to locate any mechanical problems or safety hazards way before you leave the ground. It's easier to fix them on the ground.
With everything in check and the plane ready to go, we strapped in. From my years of fascination with planes, I was familiar with the basics of the cockpit (i.e. all the dials and levers). I was able to identify most of them and know what they were for. Obviously their location varies from aircraft to aircraft and the bigger planes have more things to look at. But a Cessna 172 is fairly basic in that sense.
So, after flipping on the switches for the main power, and priming the engine, he had me turn the key to start it. After a few moments, he made a radio call to the tower and we got permission to taxi. He had me throddle it up and steer the plane down the taxiway to Runway 25. It's a little strange as, when you're on the ground, you steer a Cessna 172 with the rudder pedals at your feet. Press left to go left, press right to go right. Brake by pushing them back on an angle.
Once we got to Runway 25, we had to hold for two other aircraft to take off and two other aircraft to land. Once we got cleared by the tower, Josh had me throddle up to full power and steer it straight down the runway. After reaching a certain speed (I believe 45 knots or 83 km/h) he had me pull back on the yoke and the plane lifted off.
For 20 minutes, we flew over Delta and White Rock, BC. Following Highway 99 basically. He had me do turns and climb to 2200ft and decend to 1500. It was a rather windy day actually so it was bumpy. When it gets bumpy like that, especially in a smaller aircraft, you have to correct as you can get blown off course easily. Josh then had me descend to our final approach into the airport right over the water. He actually landed the plane. Runway 30 this time.
Upon landing, I heard on the radio from the tower that we needed to hold again for other aircraft to take off (Runway 30 intersects with Runway 25). I stopped the plane short of the runway and after permission from the tower, we continued to taxi back to the Montair office.
After the flight, Josh said he was impressed at how well I handled the plane for my first flight. He said I kept it at level flight at the desired altitude for the whole flight. Especially with the higher winds and the bumps. He said that most people are up and down a lot for most of the flight. He also complimented my abilities with the radio and for understanding what was being instructed of us by the tower.
Shortly after that I enrolled in Ground School (which I had planned on doing post-flight anyway). Most Ground Schools are done in classrooms. They have an online Ground School at Montair as well. So, I enrolled in that and got my special flight bag, with my text books, aviation maps, my E-6B Flight Calculator, various compasses and calculators all in a fancy bookbag.
I think the most important thing in the bag is my Pilot Log Book. Here I will keep track of every minute I fly until I don't fly anymore. My "Fam" flight this afternoon counts as a 1/2 hour. The first half hour of many I will have to fly in lessons before I get my license.
]]>As tempted as I was to swear and curse at the people taking their sweet time to scan everyone in, I decided to use the CATSA (Canadian Air Transportation Security Authority) website and file a complaint. I actually got a response and someone there wants to talk to me by phone about my complaint.
This is what I wrote to them (and it's my honest observations everytime I've gone through Calgary):
To: CATSA Complaints
From: Michael Laverdiere
March 24, 2009
Calgary International Airport has the most inefficient and slow security operation of any airport in Canada.
I fly regularly and have flown through all of the major airports in Canada and I have to say that Calgary's security operation needs a serious fine-tuning. This is after many flights out of the Calgary airport, but it seems to be worse in the US Departures.
Today I flew out of Calgary to Chicago and arrived 2 hours early for my flight. That's more than usual for me. I have Nexus and in Vancouver (where I live) I will arrive 60 to 90 minutes early and thats usually more than sufficient. In Calgary, this morning, it took more than an hour for my line to clear security alone. It took me 15 minutes to get checked in and I cleared US customs in 5 minutes.
Here is what I have observed to be the causes of the slow down:
•Quite frequently there are enough people working security (not less than the other airports) but a lot of them are standing around not doing anything. I have even seen the person operating the x-ray scanner stop the machine and walk away for 5 to 10 minutes!
•They frequently stop the whole x-ray scanning process when one person gets stopped for a manual inspection. In my line, they were waiting until that inspection was finished to start the scanning process again. This is absolutely unnecessary and doesn't happen anywhere else except Calgary.
•If someone does not have their liquids in a plastic bag, they force the person to exit the security area, retrieve a bag and enter the line again. This hasn't happened to me, but I saw it frequently today in my ONE HOUR wait to clear security.
•They do not have enough of the grey bins to place belongings going into the x-ray machine. The line is often STOPPED while they wait to free up more bins and often bins freed up in my line were being taken to other, equally-as-long lines.
•Vancouver and Toronto have a Nexus security line so that those of us with Nexus can bypass the long lines. Where is that in Calgary?
•Calgary domestic departures does not have enough scanning machines for a major airport.
One frequent problem I have come across - and is more serious - is that CATSA security personnel are so keen to catch people with too much liquid that knives and other forbidden sharp objects are making it through security. This is a SERIOUS problem. Maybe it's time to either loosen the liquid restrictions again, or train security personnel better.
Also, it seems to be inconsistent whether they will accept those liquids in a special CATSA bag or a plain, equally-sized plastic bag. In Ottawa, Edmonton and Calgary they will make you go back for a CATSA bag where as Toronto and Vancouver, it's not as much of an issue. Is it necessary to be that specific about what kind of BAG it's in? Really!
I, luckily, made it to my gate as my flight was boarding. I believe several passengers missed their flights this morning.
I'd really appreciate a response to this because I'd like to be sure that CATSA actually cares about it's operations.
I'm supposed to talk to a representative from CATSA next week. It will be interesting to hear how it goes.
]]>Here's the quick breakdown of the top sins:
The Top Sins for Men
1. Lust
2. Gluttony
3. Sloth
4. Anger
5. Pride
The Top Sins for Women
1. Pride
2. Envy
3. Anger
4. Lust
5. Sloth
While all the subjects in the study were Catholics. It's safe to say that these results are pretty much universal for all people in the western world.
CLICK HERE to read the full news report from ABC News.
]]>This is what came up for me:
1. Mike Needs A Date.
2. Mike Needs A Light-Razoring.
3. Mike Needs - Bristol - Facebook.
4. Mike Needs A Heart.
5. Mike Needs A Wee.
6. Mike Needs Help.
7. Do You Think Mike Needs A New Avatar?
8. Mike Needs to Flex His Muscles.
9. New Toys Mike Needs.
10. Mike Needs To Get A Clue.
It has me thinking about five days ago (September 22) when I had flown to Edmonton to switch the game there between Vancouver and Edmonton. The flight to Edmonton was a Westjet flight. But after the game, I flew on the Canucks' charter plane back to Vancouver.
Because the flight to Edmonton was a commercial flight, I was departing Vancouver International Airport. Since I was actually working for the Canucks (as opposed to a Mobile TV company or network) I was told to bring my car to the valet at the airport and they'd be expecting me. "Just tell them you're with the Canucks. They know you're coming," I was told.
Not to mention: I had been told that, because it was game day, I was required to wear a suit and tie on the team's charter flight home. So, I just flew to Edmonton in the suit and tie.
Basically after flying to Edmonton and working the broadcast of the hockey game. (dressed up more than I usually was and my colleagues in Edmonton poked fun at me) Paul Brettell, the Canucks' TV director, Greg Shannon, the producer and I) were rushed on to a bus that drove us straight to Edmonton International Airport, on to the tarmac to the foot of the plane. No security. No need to check in. No ticket. Essentially, we just stepped off the bus, and up the stairs to the plane.
Once I was up the stairs into the plane, you could already smell food. There were various snack foods, nuts and wraps out for players, coaches and media types to help themselves to. After finding a seat, Paul (who was seated beside me) and I ordered glasses of wine. Now, normally on a flight you get one of those tiny bottles and a little tiny glass. They brought us those cups you'd normally serve beer in at a BBQ and filled it with red wine.
Shortly after take-off (in which my wine nearly took a header off the tray table which they didn't make me put into it's up-and-locked position) they served a full meal. There was a choice between Southwest Chicken or Lasagna.
Since most of the players seemed to need the protein from the chicken, (ie they ate it all) I could only get lasagna. Seeing as I had (what they claim is) lasagna for dinner at The Fireside in Edmonton, I could only hope it was better than that or even typical airline food. It exceeded my expectations, half-decent lasagna served on real plates, with real cutlery and cloth napkins. Not to mention the small piece of cheesecake and ice cream afterwards.
I didn't even get to finish my wine before we landed. Upon exiting the plane at the South Terminal in Vancouver, I looked down and saw a whole lot of SUVs, BMWs and Mercedes parked on the tarmac. I thought, "Wow, these players have it good!"
It wasn't until I was at the bottom of the stairs and wandering aimlessly through the plethora of gas-guzzlers that I finally noticed that my dented, 11 year-old Chevy Cavalier was among them. In fact, it was the first car at the bottom of the stairs and so close to the plane that the tip of the left wing was hovering vicariously over the trunk of my car. I can't believe I walked right by the damn thing!
Now THAT is service. A great flight, no waiting at security, no fussing with parking and my car was sitting at the base of the stairs of the plane waiting for me. Did I mention is was already started and warmed up for me?
I should have taken a picture.
Hey Paul, if you're reading this, I'll work for the Canucks out of town ANYTIME!
]]>"Simply put, narcissists are people who think they're pretty great. ... They think they're more attractive, more intelligent, more unique and entitled to special treatment," said Lauren Buffardi, a University of Georgia graduate student and lead author of a study that will be published in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin next month."They're well-liked upon initial meetings, but have more difficulty maintaining warm and intimate relationships," she said.
By surveying 130 Facebook users, analyzing their pages and asking untrained strangers to assess the users' pages, Buffardi and associate professor W. Keith Campbell found that the number of Facebook friends and wall posts that people have on their profile pages correlates with narcissism.
After reading this, a thought occurred to me: this is not just a Facebook and MySpace phenomenon. It seems, in this day and age, that it's considered acceptable to shamelessly promote oneself and to be completely self-absorbed. (Is self-absorbed the same as narcissitic?)
As a kid, I was raised to be more humble and be more cognisant of others and their feelings. But I've found that in this fast-paced age of Blackberries, iPhones, e-mail, voicemail and where the corporations think of you as a number, that really doesn't seem to be the norm. I've found that there are a lot more people now who'd rather TELL you how great they are instead of just being who they are and allowing others to form their own opinions.
I also read an article this week that, on average, we connect with people electronically 17 times a day and only twice in person. (ie you'd rather send an e-mail to someone at work than walk over to them and ask them in person).
I think, as people living in such a lazy and inpersonal age, we tend to feel unnoticed and undervalued. They study found that social networking sites like Facebook allow us to connect more with people on that impersonal level. However, many seems to think that the amount of traffic on their profile page and the number of "friends" they have is a measurement to their greatness.
I've also found that this is the case with people who were born 1985 or later!
From the article:
"At the core of most people who are narcissistic, underneath they often feel inadequate, lonely [and] a sense of shame because they haven't learned the skills to connect with someone in a real way," she said. "Facebook allows them to stay in hiding."In addition to finding that people who score higher on narcissism personality tests tend to have more friends and wall posts on Facebook, the study also noted that they chose more glamorous photographs.
I know I have both a website, blog and a Facebook profile and have often mentioned I have over 300 Facebook friends. But, I don't really think that it's a measurement of my self-worth. There isn't THAT much traffic on my wall (although, I was REALLY flattered by the number of people who wished me a happy birthday on it last week). When I post photos or blog entries, I don't expect comments. At work, I prefer to walk over to someone to ask a question instead of calling on the intercom, phone or sending on an e-mail.
Would I be still classified as a narcissist based on the article?
]]>"I think President Bush was right when he told people down in Houston recently that Wall Street got drunk and they had a hangover. The problem is the people being asked to buy the broken furniture didn't get invited to the party."
How true! I love all these cliches coming out of the mouths of politicians when they talk about this $700 billion bailout money!
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