Here is a link to Parson's Pleasure by Roald Dahl. The best short story ever!!
And here is another short story:
Cookies by Douglas Adams (author: "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy")
This actually did happen to a real person, and the real person was me. I had gone to catch a train. This was April 1976, in Cambridge, U.K. I was a bit early for the train. I'd gotten the time of the train wrong.
I went to get myself a newspaper to do the crossword, and a cup of coffee and a packet of cookies. I went and sat at a table.
I want you to picture the scene. It's very important that you get this very clear in your mind.
Here's the table, newspaper, cup of coffee, packet of cookies. There's a guy sitting opposite me, perfectly ordinary-looking guy wearing a business suit, carrying a briefcase.
It didn't look like he was going to do anything weird. What he did was this: he suddenly leaned across, picked up the packet of cookies, tore it open, took one out, and ate it.
Now this, I have to say, is the sort of thing the British are very bad at dealing with. There's nothing in our background, upbringing, or education that teaches you how to deal with someone who in broad daylight has just stolen your cookies.
You know what would happen if this had been South Central Los Angeles. There would have very quickly been gunfire, helicopters coming in, CNN, you know. . . But in the end, I did what any red-blooded Englishman would do: I ignored it. And I stared at the newspaper, took a sip of coffee, tried to do a clue in the newspaper, couldn't do anything, and thought, what am I going to do?
In the end I thought, nothing for it, I'll just have to go for it, and I tried very hard not to notice the fact that the packet was already mysteriously opened. I took out a cookie for myself. I thought, that settled him. But it hadn't because a moment or two later he did it again. He took another cookie.
Having not mentioned it the first time, it was somehow even harder to raise the subject the second time around. "Excuse me, I couldn't help but notice . . ." I mean, it doesn't really work.
We went through the whole packet like this. When I say the whole packet, I mean there were only about eight cookies, but it felt like a lifetime. He took one, I took one, he took one, I took one. Finally, when we got to the end, he stood up and walked away.
Well, we exchanged meaningful looks, then he walked away, and I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back. A moment or two later the train was coming in, so I tossed back the rest of my coffee, stood up, picked up the newspaper, and underneath the newspaper were my cookies.
The thing I like particularly about this story is the sensation that somewhere in England there has been wandering around for the last quarter-century a perfectly ordinary guy who's had the same exact story, only he doesn't have the punch line.
(Excerpted from "The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time" by Douglas Adams)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Halfway there!
Something interesting that happened the last week of classes: a guy proposed to a girl in class! So it was the last day of our FNH 355 class, and everyone was there (like 350 people?) and the prof was like, oh my god i'm so excited. no one leave at the end, ok? there is something really special happening!!
So the lecture went on as normal, but she finished 15 minutes earlier than usual, and then she started a slide presentation with music and pictures of this korean girl drinking tea and doing 'cute' stuff. And then a guy in a suit came out of the door at the bottom of the lecture hall, like 30 seconds before the end of the video, and he said like, [whateverthegirl's name was] can you stand up please? OHHAAHHH!! everyone woot wooting!
Anyway, everyone was going crazy, and the girl came down the steps and then the guy proposed in english (so that the audience, us, would get what he was saying) and in korean saying something like, I only follow Jesus in this life, do you want to follow him with me? or something like that. And she said yes. I mean it was a bit of pressure, imagine if she had said no in front of all those people. But it was a great show! For us.
I had my first (almost) all-nighter the night before the last day of classes. I was writing two term papers that were due on Thursday so sleeping was not an option (I slept for 30 minutes, which was a BIG mistake). Here at UBC we have the AMS-organized Block Party, which happens the last day of classes and EVERYONE loves. I didn't go last year, but I did go this year. I hate to say this but I didn't have THAT much fun, but I think it was because I was not in the mood, it was cold and I had headache.
BUT YEYYYYY!! I'm done with my SECOND YEAR OF UNIVERSITY!!!! Now exam time, and then Chile and Singapore here I come :D
One exciting thing I'm looking forward to before I leave is Camilo The Magician!!! This deserves a post on its own, I'll talk more about it later.
Oh yes, and here is UBC LIPDUB! I appear for 0.5 seconds. I'm so glad UBC has a lipdub now and that I'm part of it.
I was disappointed by the video when I first saw it, but it gets better every time you watch it. And after 1.5 days it has like 80 thousand views. Some things I didn't like: the girl at the beginning (this is a reference to the Old Spice commercial), the length of the clip, the use of two songs (should've been just Pink, with more people in less space so it didn't look as empty as it did), more lip synching with more focus on individual people. But overall it's good!!
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Last day to vote!
Hi everyone!
Please have a look at the PREVIOUS POST 'BORNEO IN 3D ACTION MOVIE' for more information onBorneo and on the project! I’ve been lucky enough to have the media supportingthis initiative. Here are some articles from Vancouver, Mexico and Italy about my participation in this project :D (I'm Mexican and have lived in Mexico all my life, and my mum's Italian. So I grew up in a multicultural household, and that's why the Italy media were interested too)
TheWoman.it – March 31st “Olivia la ragazza degli oranghi”
THANKS SO MUCH FOR VOTING!!
Make a new account, and cast your vote. Mi video is at the bottom (6th row bottom-up) I'm the one wearing 3D glasses! YOU CAN VOTE THREE TIMES
You can also view and rate here http://gg.tigweb.org/tig/deforestaction/48895/by clicking on the stars!
BORNEO IN 3D ACTION MOVIE!
SO WHAT IS THIS BORNEO 3D PROJECT ALL ABOUT? READ ON!
1) 1) The local communities were involved andintegrated in the project, every step of the way, and local managementtechniques were incorporated into the new management strategy. This is just thebeginning of making local communities give value to the forests, first bylooking at the economic value and later at the other ecosystem services.
The international competition I’m currently participating inis an exciting opportunity for youth from all over the world to be activelyinvolved in the conservation of the forests. The ten selected project leaderswill go to Borneo to West Kalimantan to continue Dr. Smits’ work in reforestingthe island and bringing back biodiversity. They will be there for five monthsto film an incredible 3D nature documentary about deforestation and orangutans,and they will be communicating with the rest of the world though videos, picturesand blogs how the project is coming along and how the issues that theyencounter are resolved – a true action agent story! The things that the teamwill do include orangutan rescue (and the participation in the project ofbuilding one of the largest orangutan sanctuaries in the WORLD!) andreforestation activities, everything with the support of local communities. Thedocumentary will reach out to people from across the globe, and will be directedby Cathy Henkel (The Burning Season- a must watch to understand the fires in Indonesia!) and filmed by Don Alpine (Wolverine,Moulin Rouge).
Some things I’ve done in the past related to conservationand the environment:
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| Borneo is the 3rd largest island in the world, belonging to Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. |
BORNEO is the third largest island in the world and one ofthe most biodiverse places on earth. In Borneo we can find the larges speciesof flower, orchid, moth and carnivorous plant, as well as the smallest speciesof elephant and rhinoceros.
The island is located in South East Asia and belongs in itsmajority to Indonesia, but around 30% is part of Malaysia and Brunei. Despitethe wonderful natural riches of the island, its tropical rainforests are disappearingat an alarming rate because of uncontrolled logging and the inefficient conventionalconservation models. The orangutan, which has become Borneo’s trademark,together with thousands of other species, is endangered due to human causes.These include habitat destruction, and illegal poaching and trade.
Indonesia produces around 90% of the world’s oil palmconsumption, and thousands and thousands of hectares of oil palm monocultureshave been replacing virgin tropical forests to satisfy demand for thislucrative oil, used all over the world in the production of cosmetics,biofuels, and processed food (you most likely consume palm oil from Indonesiaand Malaysia every single day, without realizing it) Deforestation, togetherwith drought and forest fires, has created a biological desert and madeIndonesia the THIRD largest greenhouse gas emitter (this is crazy if you thinkthat the second and first place go to China and the US, both highlyindustrialized countries).
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| Asia's last great rainforest (shutterstock.com) |
The legal, economic and political framework for halting thisdestruction is lacking, and the enforcement of current policies and regulationsproblematic. Designating large areas as natural reserves has proven to be inefficientdue to the corruption, the lack of funding, and the lack of support from localcommunities that have no economic incentive to conserve their forests. Newinitiatives, such as the ones proposed by Willie Smits, bring hope to the island’sbiodiversity. In 2002, a reforestation project was started in East Kalimantan(the Indonesian side of Borneo) with two very important characteristics:
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| Baby orangutans getting a ride in a wheelbarrow at the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation, largest organization in the world for the protection of Bornean endangered orangutans |
2) 2) Agroforestry was undertaken. By plantingfire-resistant sugar palms and fruit trees together with the native trees. Thesugar palms and fruit trees were able to be harvested as the trees weregrowing, thus they provided a stable income source for the inhabitants of the communitythroughout the duration of the reforestation process.
This conservation method was very effective and clear positive results were observed: between 2002 and 2006, jobs to support 650 families were created; hundreds of species of animals that had disappeared when the trees were gone came back; precipitation increased, and so did cloud cover. Poverty in the region dropped significantly, and school rankings went way up.
This conservation method was very effective and clear positive results were observed: between 2002 and 2006, jobs to support 650 families were created; hundreds of species of animals that had disappeared when the trees were gone came back; precipitation increased, and so did cloud cover. Poverty in the region dropped significantly, and school rankings went way up.
Check out Willie Smits TED talk about this conservation approach.
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| Bornean clouded leopard in Borneo and Sumatra, 'new' species announced in 2007 |
Pretty cool stuff! Other Action Agents besides the 10project leaders will be involved in this great initiative and they will somehowparticipate in the project, which is really exciting because more people will stillbe part of this. This Borneo 3D Project is done in collaboration withTakingITGlobal, a global online community where youth from over 200 countriesengage and discuss about social issues. Create an account today and startparticipating in the dialogue! You can create really cool profiles, uploadartwork to participate in contests (or just so other people get a chance toappreciate it!), and connect your account with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube toshare your interests related to global issues with other like-minded people!
DeforestACTION is this initiative that supports conservationthrough the engagement of youth in the decisions made about forests. There are many components to the project, including the Dome Tree and the rebuilding of a rainforest in Borneo (for this last one, students 'buy' land and protect it from deforestation for 100 years. This patch of land can be viewed online and its progress recorded with high definition cameras!) Find more about it HERE. It’s growing in popularity and the conservationmessage is spreading, which is also very very exciting! I swear you'll be inspired the second you start reading all about this and exploring the TIG website.
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| In Subotica, Serbia, building a reed fence for the Visitor Centre at the Biological Research Station |
- I’m currently following my passion studyingNatural Resources Conservation! I’ve taken courses in silviculture, ecology,hydrology, GIS, statistics…all things that I believe would be great for theteam. In the Institute of Biology and ChemistryFaculty in the Mexican National University, I assisted a PhD student with her thesis’fieldwork and lab work on Bursera species, and Masters students with labanalysis of water pollutants. In high school I volunteered at the University’sBotanical Gardens on week-ends helping out with tours and public outreach, and one of the research projects I worked on the last year of high school was on the effects of orientation on insect herbivory within a plant. I also volunteered at the Biological ResearchStations of the Mexican National University in Chamela, Jalisco, and LosTuxtlas, Veracruz, were I helped in various research projects, including projects abouthowler monkeys and forest fragmentation. After graduation I went to Serbia to work on an environmental projectrelated to the removal of invasive vegetation from the shores of Ludas Lake andthe surrounding forests, and I spent this past summer working in Vancouver Island doing silviculture work (this was very physically challenging! After this, no slope will be to steep and no ground will be slashy enough to stop me). I love getting involved in things that expand my horizons and really make me challenge my views and make me aware of new concepts and ideas. I like to make the most out of every experience I have, and take advantage of every opportunity.
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I’m passionate, adventurous, lovebeing around animals and around people, have a passion for the environment, andlove love love LOVE communicating my experiences!
<--- Check out this movie that just came out to learn more about elephants and orangutans: Born to be Wild. Parts of it are set in Borneo, as the movie is mostly focused on the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation!
<--- Check out this movie that just came out to learn more about elephants and orangutans: Born to be Wild. Parts of it are set in Borneo, as the movie is mostly focused on the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation!
Friday, April 8, 2011
There's something about... PAPER
let it be written, what is written,
as well as what it is
written on
Do you know where the stuff you use on a daily basis comes from? Maybe you know the country? Probably not. The people that were involved in the production of its many components? Their stories? Not really. Look around you. Everything comes from somewhere else, and someone, probably hundreds of people, were involved in the conception of the idea, the production process, the transportation, everything. In my Economic Geography course we looked at commodity chains, which basically involve tracing things back to were they came from, every step of the way. Being unaware of the source of the things you consume is known as commodity fetishism. Here is something to read to defetishise if you use paper at UBC!
So this blog post is about paper. PAPER! What would we do without paper... Present in our everyday lives, yet so substantiallymorphed from its original form and so readily available that we often use itwithout considering that every sheet goes through a lengthy process before inkof all sorts is unleashed on it. Paper is a commodity, something self evident,ubiquitous and everyday; it is something that we take for granted. How did a tree in a managed forest in the South East USA turn into thesheet of paper you use all the time? Here I'll try and look at the linkages of the convoluted network that connects endless numbers of people,processes and materials in the pulp and paper industry. All information comes from personal communication, unlessstated otherwise. And the names have been changed.
I usepaper every single day. Despite the increase in technology that allowseverything to be done electronically, paper still plays an important role andis often irreplaceable. It is definitely indispensable for the University: inthe year 2010, around 140 million sheets of paper were purchased at UBC (these numbers are not updated on the UBC Sustainability Office, they only have for 2006/2007). I don’tuse a printer at home, but instead take advantage of the convenience offered bythe printers available in the Computer Labs of the Faculty of Forestry, as doaround 200 other students that use the facility on a regular basis. The paper is available to us, asmuch as we want. The copycards are a minimum of ten dollars and the HP LaserJetprinters are constantly being replenished by Fraser, the Computer Lab Manager.Two, three, four times a day as students frantically print off theirassignements at $0.05 per page.
But where does Fraser get the paper? He gets it delivered tohis office thanks to the orders placed by Anne. Anne is the person designated to place the orders for the Dean’sOffice and the Student Computer labs, and she has access to a UBC Purchase Cardnumber with which she can place orders from Unisource, a single-source providerof just-in-time delivery of printing products. Anne started recording paperusage in September 2009, and roughly speaking, an order of 5 boxes (5000 sheetsper box) has been placed every month up to March 2011 for the Computer Labs andthe Dean’s Office.
The paper ordered is Recycled Husky Xerocopy, uncoated 8.5” X 11.5" sheets that are $8.06/1000sheets (+tax) and contain 30% post-consumer fibre. From April 1st 2008,Unisource and UBC have a revised contract that agrees to provide 30%post-consumer recycled paper for the same price as virgin paper. However, there is more behind this branding thatwhat we might think.
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| In the paper industry, this symbol is used mainly to demonstrate theamount of recycled fiber in a product. The symbol should be accompaniedby a legend identifying the percentage (by weight) of recycled fiber. Absenceof legend indicates the product is made from 100% recycled fibre. There shouldalso be a specification of what type of fibre it is. Post-consumer fibre hasalready been used once for its intended purpose and returned for re-use,therefore uses less energy and water, and doesn’t impact forest ecosystem. Unisource is the distributor of many different paper brands.Recycled Husky Xerocopy paper is produced by Domtar, the second largestmanufacturer of uncoated paper in the world. The Head Office where thecorporate decisions are made is in Montreal, Canada, and the company employsnearly 13,000 people across North America. |
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Most of this picture is SFI, which allows large clearcuts. Centre is FSC. There is no more information about this picture - we don't know if the areas were logged the same time, etc. |
With the help of the stenciled number on the package of the paper, I tracked down where the sheets of paper I use have been every step of the way. James, who works at the Ashdown Mill, told me how there is alot of wildlife in the forests managed for paper and how “ a lot of people think that not using paper willcontribute to more forests and more wildlife, but this is not the case in theSE USA."
The trees were cut down in early 2010 bya harvesting crew, and they could have come from and area that would includemost of East Texas, Southeastern Oklahoma, Central to SouthernArkansas, and Central to Northern Louisiana. Trees are cut and replantedon 12 to 50 year life cycles depending on the timber type. Thenon-recycled fibre in this paper is hardwood fiber (oak and cottonwood) withthe balance being softwood fiber (pine).
The trees were cut into logs and transported to the sawmillfor lumber production. The waste both from the harvesting and the sawmill wasthen sent to the Ashdown pulp mill in Ashdown, AR. The chips could havebeen chipped out of the wood anytime between May and June 7th 2010. The conversion of pine and hardwood chips to pulp for thepaper started around June 7th or 8th 2010. The chips from thedifferent species were mixed, boiled and washed. This separated the fibres fromthe lignin, and then chemical bleach was added to produce the “pleasing 92brightness and good opacity”.
The description on the Husky specification sheet mentions it is “elemental chlorine-free (ECF)”. This is not the same aschlorine-free as the products are still bleached with chlorine-based compoundsthat produce dioxins, which have been connected to cancer, infertility andother critical health problems. Who would have thought that for usto have this white bleached paper a worker in a pulp mill is getting increasedrisk of lung cancer from occupational exposure to sulphur dioxide in pulpmills? We also getthe characteristic “paper-town smell of rotten eggs” from the release ofhydrogen sulfide.
The paper was made from the pulp on June 11th, 2010, at theAshdown Paper Mill. Some of the larger Mills of the company, such as Ashdown,have the pulp mill, paper mill and the converting centre in the same location. Atthe paper mill, the water was drained from the pulp and then subsequentlysqueezed between rollers with heat applications. When the paper was dry, it waswound into giant rolls and transported to the Ashdown Converting Centre.
Sheetconverting is the last stage of papermaking, when the paper rolls are cut intosheets. The sheets were made on June 12th, 2010, and after the paper was cutinto A4 size, packages of 500 sheets were produced. Ten of these packageswere placed into a cardboard box, and 40 of these cardboard boxes were placedon a pallet. Finally, 21 pallets were loaded into a truck. Theloading/unloading is done by workers like Harry. Harry is 25, and he probablyloaded the boxes containing these sheets. His job is variable – sometime heloads trucks with ready-to-use sheets, sometimes he unloads the rolls of paperfrom the paper mill. He describes the work atmosphere as "very hectic", and 60hour labour weeks are common.
Thepaper then started the journey to cross the border and get to the NewWestminister Unisource Distribution Centre in Canada, from where it was shipped to theFaculty of Forestry at the University of British Columbia, about 12 monthsafter the trees that contributed the fibre were felled.
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| Sustainable Forestry Initiative logo on packaging. Domtar does carrypaper lines, such as the EarthChoice paper, made from FSC certified fibre. FSCoffers a more effective certification system (comprehensive set of ecological indicators, stringent guidelines, social criteriafocusing on local communities and indigenous peoples, Chain-of-CustodyCertification for careful trucking through all the links of the suply chain,etc.) |
Thepulp and paper supply chain shows how many people are involved over greatgeographical distances. The intention of the chain is to provide the knowledgefor the reader to defetishise and decide independently what to do with thisinformation. Although we asstudents are the main users of the paper in the Forestry’s Computer Labs, probably no one is aware of where the paper comes from. We arereally not faced with a choice of what paper to buy, like we would in asupermarket when choosing between different brands. We just accept theconvenience of the Faculty’s printers without looking further, even if we couldbe demanding paper made with FSC certified-fibre.
When I contactedthe UBC Sustainability Office to inquire about the paper they promoted on theirwebsite for the people that make the orders all over campus (this paper is,just as the Recycled Husky Xerocopy, produced with SFI certified fibre) theywere unaware of the distinction between SFI and FSC certification, and I wasput in contact with Supply Management. They are currently going through arequest for proposal for a preferred paper supplier at UBC. After talking tothem and bringing this to light, UBC will specify FSC certification in the newcontract/bid and will be working with Unisource to find an alternative paperbrand. I thought this was pretty great, and I’m grateful I had the chance to do this project that allowed me to do something to change my consumption practices for the better.
Obtaining all the information on where the paper actually camefrom involved many phone calls all around Canada and theStates – which shows how difficult it is for consumers to obtaininformation on the exact places where the product was made, even with the Chainof Custody label in place. In a printed essay are different places, socialrelations, financial circumstances, and so much more. We just go into theComputer Lab and print as much as we want. Eventually, these sheets of paper(stapled together with a $0.003 Staples staple made from zinc-plated steel inChina and printed with refurbished toner manufactured in the States) will beplaced in one of the 5000 Deskside Recycling Units all over campus, or in oneof the Blue Bins. It will be part of 850 tonnes of office paper and 295 tonnesof cardboard that UBC recycles every year (or part of the illegal 160 tonnes ofoffice paper and 14 tonnes of cardboard that get sent to the landfill).
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This is a movie by one of my favourite photographers, Yann Arthus-Bertrand. He's a french photographer, environmentalist and jouralist! Check out the documentary, the images are amazing (the video posted here is in Italian because it's the only one Blogger allowed me to post. For English go HERE) ENJOY!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Magnified food
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| Banana skin |
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| Sugar sprinkles |
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| Cauliflower |
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| Chocolate cake |
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| Fortune cookie |
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| Pineapple leaf |
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| Purple onion |
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| Red radish |
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| Red licorice |
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| Star anice |
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