Baghdad by the Bay

Here are a few snaps of my amazing trip to San Francisco May 6 to May 10 this year. What an amazing city — no wonder why so many people leave their heart in SF!

Still hope for print

Here are some quick stats about newspapers and their readers I picked up while in Toronto at the Canadian Newspaper Association and Canadian Community Association Ink and Beyond Conference. The associations did research with pollster Ipsos Reid to understand Canadians impressions of newspapers and their ads.

Newspapers are visited multiple times daily:

— Most (63 per cent) Canadians look at a newspaper more than once over the course of a day, getting an update in the morning and more specific information, such as TV listings, movies, weather and more, later.

— Another 16 per cent come back to the paper two or more times of a course of a day.

Newspapers last more than one day:

— Despite the perception a newspaper is read and then discarded that same day, 62 per cent of newspaper

readers indicate that they often keep sections or the entire paper for more than one day, as it provides on-going information, such as sport schedules, what’s on locally (where community activities are highlighted), special topical sections, movies, ads and other information.

Canadians trust newspaper ads:

— Consumers expect and accept ads in newspapers and, compared to other media, newspapers always score high on “most trustworthy for advertising.”

— In 2010, 63 per cent of readers indicated they trust the ads in newspapers.

Newspapers ads drive to online:

— Compelling ads in newspaper are driving 70 per cent of its readers to the Internet to find out more information about an ad.

This is the end

Once again, Lady Gaga outdoes herself with her new video Telephone, Mile Cyrus is a bird, Kesha's lyrics are "blah, blah, blah," Timbaland has a song with Justin Beber, Sean Desmond has released a new single and Canadian dance legend Blake McGrath has a music video. Fucked we are.

(Life) time

Where have the last three months gone? OK, it's been awhile since my last post, so I thought I'd do a quick update on my unburied life.
Since January, I've learned to cook (much to the chagrin of my son who is a fan of KD and pizza pops), have gone to the movies by myself (saw The Serious Man by the Coen brothers during a local film festival) and will be heading south to see one of the seven modern wonders of the world, the Golden Gate Bridge.
I'm really pumped about the latter. I'll be heading down to San Francisco for three whole days of beatniks, trolleys, Chinatown, North Beach, bridges, prisons — oh my.

My unburied life

In two months I will turn 31. It's not the number that scares me, it's the number of years left to do things dreamed of. And after watching an episode of a reality TV series called The Buried Life — in which four friends from Victoria, B.C. write out their quasi bucket list and, in their travels, discover human potential and the joy of helping others — I'm starting my list. It will be a running list to be added to, changed and, hopefully, completed.

Completed:

1. Get a university degree
2. Go to Canada's capital, Ottawa
3. Experience the joy (pain/love/frustration) of having a child
4. Volunteer in my community
5. Do what I love for a living
6. Sky dive from 10,000 feet
7. Zip line through trees
8. Visit my dad in Australia

To do (in no particular order):

1. Visit at least one place on every continent (I'll start big. So far, two. Five to go)
2. See the wonders of the world
3. Swim in all five oceans (got two under my belt)
4. Work for a large daily newspaper
5. Work overseas
6. Go to a movie by myself
7. Write a novel — or two or three
8. Travel across Canada in a van
9. Help a community in a developing country
10. Stop thinking about my teeth when I smile
11. Golf in the middle of the night in Alaska during the 24-hours of daylight
12. See my son graduate from a post-secondary school
13. Complete my own "Motorcycle Diaries"
14. Get a tattoo by Chris Garver at Miami Ink
15. Speak a second language fluently
16. Tour Vancouver Island
17. Buy a house
18. Grow (some of) my own food
19. Visit my mother's grave
20. Learn to surf
21. Get out of debt
22. Buy a new couch — a real one
23. See my grandparents in Ontario before they die
24. Become a better cook
25. Read a book to a group of children
26. Finish my life-guarding requirements
27. Be spontaneous

OK, I think that's a good start. I'll post more as they come...

So, here's the question: What do you want to do before you die?