Another post about Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years aboriginal art exhibition

I had written of my impressions of the opening at the main exhibition venue of Close Encounters – The Next 500 Years. You can check out those comments here. Robert Enright’s review is contained in today’s Globe & Mail. You can check it out here or see the copy I’ve placed below these two pictures which accompanied the article in the Globe & Mail.


The first picture is of one of my favourites at the exhibition, and of which I wrote in my first post on this exhibition of aboriginal art. I had also included a video there of people riding the horses. The donkey was too small to ride! This picture’s G&M caption reads:

Installations include The Four Horses of the Apocalypse and the Donkey of Eternal Salvation by B.C.’s Mary Anne Barkhouse. ROBERT TINKER

Here’s the second picture. It’s G&M caption reads:

Detail from Lawrence Paul
Yuxweluptun’s contribution to the
Close Encounters exhibition, Killer
Whale Has a Vision and Comes to
Talk to Me about Proximological
Encroachments of Civilizations in
the Oceans, 2010. ROBERT TINKER

Globe and Mail article:

New aboriginal art show tells stories of adaptation and transformation

ROBERT ENRIGHT

WINNIPEG — From Monday's Globe and Mail

Rebecca Belmore’s 4½-minute video called The Blanket shows a dark-haired woman wrapping and unwrapping herself in a red and black Hudson’s Bay point blanket while she moves about a snow-covered Manitoba landscape. The video is not without a sense of anger (the blanket has a poisonous history in relations between white and native Canadians), but The Blanket is also lyric, elegant and sensuous, qualities it shares with the best work in Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years, an international exhibition of contemporary indigenous art organized by Winnipeg’s Plug In ICA that opened in January in five main venues and several satellite sites across the city.

Larger than either Indigena at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que., and Land, Spirit, Power at the National Gallery in Ottawa, both mounted in 1992, Close Encounters is the culmination of Winnipeg’s year as the 2010 Cultural Capital of Canada. It includes 33 aboriginal artists from six countries (Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Finland and Brazil), chosen by four of this country’s best aboriginal curators: Lee-Ann Martin, Candice Hopkins, Steve Loft and Jenny Western.

Close Encounters is an historic exhibition. We have come to accept history as the story the victors tell about the vanquished. In Winnipeg, stretching across three days of openings, panels and artist’s talks, there seemed only to be winners.

The most consistent work was shown at the new Plug In building, where Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun and Wally Dion from Canada shared a gallery with Lisa Reihana and Brett Graham, two Maori artists from New Zealand. Graham’s Te Hokioi, which means magnificent bird, is a one-third scale wooden Stealth bomber, the entire surface of which is carved in Maori patterns. Dion’s Thunderbird is a mesmerizing constructed painting made from computer circuit boards. Both birds are symbolic emblems of nature’s ability to overcome technology. The future of Yuxweluptun’s animal kingdom is less certain; in his magnificent painting an oil-coated killer whale leaps above the surface of a chemical-slick ocean. It is appropriate that the first two works you see in this gallery are a splendid drawing called Bush Capsule Study and Little Habitat II, a compact sculpture by Brian Jungen, the West Coast artist whose ability to fabricate a world of visual delight out of the excesses of consumer culture is unparalleled in contemporary Canadian art.

There are, as well, excellent works in the main exhibition venue, a converted Costume Museum of Canada. Michael Belmore’s Smoulder, a seductive fire whose imaginary heat comes from a floor sculpture made of carved stones and copper leaf, and a tower of small, cast-bronze blankets by Marie Watt from Portland, Ore., are both brilliant. This venue is also filled with large installation pieces, which invite a sense of speculation and prophecy. In Skawennati’s Time Traveller, the trickster’s “What if” question gets projected into the future, where a second-life powwow spectacle, emceed by an avatared-and-feathered Billy Merasty look-alike, takes place in the Winnipeg Olympic Stadium in 2121. In Mother, Teacher, Destroyer, a sound and video installation by Postcommodity, a native artists’ collective from Oklahoma, women are the keepers of the culture’s songs. On a four-sided, suspended structure, a quartet of aboriginal women play a traditional peyote song on instruments that combine noise band and taxidermied aesthetics. It is a richly layered fantasy romp that seems archaic and futuristic at the same time.

The stories being told in this landmark exhibition are less narratives of resistance and imposed accommodation than stories of adaptation and self-directed transformation. The aboriginal artists in Close Encounters are fully aware of the need to renegotiate the terms of engagement as they head full-bodied into the next 500 years.

Postcommodity has a clear sense of where that process begins. The collective has installed a large, multicoloured balloon high above the atrium entrance of the new Manitoba Hydro Place. It represents the eye of a predatory bird. The collective sees the eye as a surrogate for aboriginal people in general; it is commanding, buoyant and unblinking. As one of the members said at the opening, “We’re just keeping an eye on what’s going on. We’re here and this is our place. We’re happy to share it with you, but remember, this is our place.” The message was less a threat than a genial affirmation of continued presence. It underlined that in Winnipeg, at least for the next four months, the woven history of our close encounters will become an even closer knit of our evolving identity.

Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years will be on exhibition at various venues in Winnipeg until May 11.

Special to The Globe and Mail

Priceless Editorial Cartoon from Globe & Mail - Toronto coping with snow

New Music Festival's Gala Concert Unbelievable

I had originally written this last night as 13 tweets, so it seems a little choppy as a blog post.




The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival Gala Concert began last evening with the world premiere of Randolph Peters’ work Io. It flowed beautifully with a delightful mix of colours. The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra was in fantastic form.



We then heard the world premiere of Vincent Ho’s new percussion concerto, The Shaman. It teleported us to another dimension, not of this universe. Dame Evelyn Glennie’s performance was spectaculactic (sorry, spectacular + galactic)! There was an immediate standing ovation, which was so well deserved! She then performed an encore which was a fantastic contrast – slower, melodic, heavenly.



The final work was John Corigliano’s Symphony No. 1. As the program notes stated: it is “hailed as one of the most important pieces of our time, the work expresses his personal response to the AIDS epidemic during the late 1980s”. He spoke eloquently in introduction explaining his motivation of expressing memory of friends lost to AIDS. He converged those feelings so well in the music.  It was passionate, expressive and deeply moving.



Thnx to the New Music Festival for the best concert I’ve ever attended in my whole life. (At least my life so far!)

Boycott Winnipeg Restaurant, Sawatdee Thai, for Firing Server for Shaving Head to Support Uncle's Cancer Battle

Set out below is today's Winnipeg Free Press article about a Winnipeg restaurant, Sawatdee Thai, which fired a server, *, for shaving her head to support her uncle's battle with cancer.  I find it horrendous that a server would be fired for shaving her head.  That she did it to support her uncle's battle with cancer is most commendable.  I think an appropriate message should be sent by we customers of Sawatdee Thai that its actions are not acceptable.  I for one will be sending that message with my feet - by not walking into either of their locations!

Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION


Bald is beautiful, but not to boss

Server fired after cutting her locks

By: Melissa Martin

ON New Year's Eve, as her long locks tumbled to the floor, Stephanie Lozinski wasn't thinking about her appearance.




Instead, as the clock ticked towards 2011, the full-time University of Winnipeg student was thinking about making a statement for her uncle, who was fighting a losing battle with the cancer that had spread to his bones.



At first, her close-shaved skull felt amazing. "It was just my way of saying that vanity, and the way I look, is not as important as supporting somebody who is going through something that is a lot bigger," Lozinski said. "Having a physical symbol that I'm there for them is important. Looking pretty means nothing (compared to cancer)."



Apparently, it did mean something to her employers.



On Sunday, Jan. 16, Lozinski was fired from her job at Sawatdee Thai's Provencher Boulevard restaurant when its managers weren't keen on her shorn look.



Lozinski, who had already been covering her head at work with a long auburn wig or a richly embroidered Indian silk scarf, was stunned, especially since she said she told her bosses about her plan beforehand.



"I finished my shift on (that) Sunday night, and my boss told me that her husband (manager Linh Bo) didn't like my head," she said. "I just walked out and I couldn't believe it. I was really in shock. I've never been fired before, so it was pretty upsetting."



Reached last week, Bo, who manages Sawatdee Thai's Osborne Street location, said even with a scarf, Lozinski's new look didn't fit the restaurant's standards. "If you go to fine dining, what do you expect from a server? Seriously," said Bo, whose partner owns the business. "As a customer, you walk into fine dining and you have fine dining."



Bo said managers at the restaurant's two locations are clear with staff they can't have visible tattoos and must wear their hair appropriately, besides dressing in a required Thai skirt.



But Lozinski, who said she was never informed of a dress code and other employees were allowed to have edgy haircuts and colours, doesn't believe the firing was fair.



If she had been a "Steve Lozinski," for instance, she doubts she would have been canned for shaving her head.



That could set the stage for a gender-discrimination complaint to Manitoba's Human Rights Commission. Lozinski left messages with the commission this week, she said, and plans to file a complaint soon.



"I think trying to build awareness is helping me," she said. "I'm just trying to get the word out there so that people understand that it happens, and my boss will realize it's the wrong decision... I felt it was really inappropriate and thought it was against my rights."



This isn't the first time a healing-minded head-shave has sparked an employment tussle in Canada.



In 2008, an Owen Sound, Ont., waitress, Stacey Fearnall, was fired from her serving job after she shaved her head to raise $2,700 for cancer charities.



After a storm of media attention, the restaurant's owner apologized to Fearnall and cancer groups and Fearnall found work elsewhere.



Lozinski hopes other restaurants will welcome her look, too, though she chuckled she won't expect a call from Sawatdee Thai.



But before finding a new gig, she has another hurdle to face: Only hours after the Free Press spoke to Lozinski last week, her uncle -- the man who inspired the shave -- died. He never did get to see her symbol of solidarity.



Still, Lozinski plans to keep showing off the bald-is-beautiful statement. "It's just my way of showing people that it's important to not connect the bald head and sickness," she said.



"It's important for people to see that sometimes it's just a decision."

Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years - a great art exhibition

Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years is an international exhibition of contemporary indigenous art presented by Winnipeg Cultural Capital of Canada 2010 and organized by Plug In Institute for Contemporary Art with a number of other Winnipeg galleries.




I attended the exhibition opening Saturday, January 22, 2011. It was at the Close Encounters Main Exhibition Site, so I’ve only seen so far the part of Close Encounters that is there. The program guide says that “Close Encounters invites engagement with the speculative, the prophetic and the unknown.” It did not disappoint.

There is a deep work by Mary Anne Barkhouse entitled “The Four Horses of the Apocalypse and the Donkey of Eternal Salvation”. The main part of this work is four riding horses – the kind you would find at a mall and ride for 25 cents. Each was mapped to an apocalyptic element, which was displayed on a banner behind the horse. The banners were exquisitely done. The detail was well worth the examination to see elements of doom that the artist had worked into them. The donkey was small, white and did evoke the image of redemption. Very thought provoking.



After the speeches to open the exhibit, each of the four curators of the exhibition: Candice Hopkins, Steve Loft, Lee-Ann Martin and Jenny Western, mounted a hose and rode to the thunderous rapture of the audience. See attached video. They did not however come anywhere close to the ride made earlier in the evening by Rebecca Belmore, who rode to orgasm to the rapt satisfaction of the onlookers. It was very reminiscent of “When Harry Met Sally”.



But my favourite was the work, Time Traveller, by Skawennati. She is an artist “who is currently focused on creating projects for the World Wide Web, which she believes, is an extraordinary art delivery system”. When you think about it, the digiverse is a marvellous medium for art. One might even say the medium is the art (with apologies to Marshall McLuhan). Time Traveller is an imaginative machinima (“video” in old timey speak). Very creative, entertaining and probing – particularly of some past political events involving aboriginal peoples (e.g. Kanehsatake 1990). I was blown away by the segment “Pow Wow of the Future” which is set in Winnipeg on July 23, 2011. It is set in a stadium and had a lot of the look and feel of the 1999 Pan Am Games, the opening ceremonies for which occurred in Winnipeg on July 23, 1999. The coincidence of date was just too much. When I talked of that with Skawennati it turns out it is truly just a coincidence. But things do happen for a reason, right? The episodes of the work that were on display can also be viewed on her website www.timetravellertm.com .



Major congrats to Anthony Kiendl and his team at Plug In ICA for their work in mounting this exhibition.

Agora - a movie worth watching

I missed Agora when it passed through the theatres in Winnipeg this past year. I had wanted to see it because of a review I had seen at the time it was released (http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/movies/28agora.html). I did find it on Shaw Pay-Per-View. I would recommend your viewing it.



It is a story set in Alexandria in 400 A.D. of many struggles: between science and religion, slaves and owners, and men and subjected women. Come to think of it there was also an explanation where the struggle between men and subjugated women was the same as the struggle between slaves and owners. How sad. The story revolves around Hypatia (played well by Rachel Weisz) who embodies the emergence of strong women, a scientist (philosopher, mathematician and astronomer), a teacher, a forward thinker and also a pagan. But there is a great more to this plot which portrays the conflict between pagans, science, Christians, Jews, and the Roman Empire. Mixed into it will be the love for Hypatia by one of her slaves, and also by one of her students, who becomes the Roman Empire’s prefect in Alexandria.



The cinematography is wonderful. The characters, particularly Hypatia, are strong and well developed. The movie is full of mind catching analogies. Listen for a leader of the Christians inciting his followers to violence and shouting to them that “God is with you”. An analogy to extremist Muslim fundamentalism? There is an interesting shot of ants atop the wall surrounding the Library of Alexandria, and then shortly after an aerial view of the Christians, who have taken the Library, ransacking it. The destruction of the statues brought to mind the pulling down of statues in Iraq during the American invasion. At one point the violence between the Christians and the Jews leads to the Christians stoning a large number of Jews to death, and then the Christians cart them away and pile the bodies to be burned. One reviewer has pointed out that these mangled corpses vividly call to mind the bodies of the dead in photographs of Auschwitz.



All in all a good movie, with a strong analogy to our modern situation of extremists, whether religious, political, etc., who attempt to indoctrinate and control others, either with a view or a consequence of inciting violence. Times haven’t changed very much!

Ski Vacation 2010

December 27, 2010




Spending a few days at Sun Peaks, B.C. (near Kamloops – regrettably daughter#1 who lives in Kamloops is not here, but in Brandon, Mb) on a ski vacation. First of all I want to make it very clear that I am not a big skier – not aggressive at all – as an expert skier friend of mine once said, I’m more of a glider. That’s what I like to do – glide around the mountain.



Temperature today was about 0 degrees Celsius and there was 2.5 cm fresh snow. The sun was brilliant and the sky a gorgeous blue. The evergreens were blanketed in whiteness. The mountains were of course majestic.



So given the temperature I ventured out without my knit helmet under my hard, brain protection helmet. As I came down the first run I experienced brain freeze – from the outside in! Too much breeze. Went inside and got my knit helmet.



After another run we lunched on Mexican (think jalepenos) chicken burger and red wine. Very civilized. Was then too relaxed to ski any more, so took over the outdoor hot tub.

Very hot.

Then decided to roll in the snow.

Very cold.

Not so bright!

Then moved quickly to get the Cold FX Extra Strength.



December 28, 2010



Temperature today was about -7. About 3 cm of snow over night. Snowing this morning. Nice and sunny above the clouds – which was at the top of one of the lifts. I’ve heard skiers say that they like fresh snow. As for me, as I glide I like it because it helps to slow me down - I don’t have to drag my poles as much!



Wind was very cool – about 20 kmh. As I approached a flat section of a run I leaned into the wind and it almost stopped me. I envisioned that the gust would let go and I’d be down into chaturanga. Must remember tomorrow to do my yoga practice before I go skiing!



Ended the afternoon in the hot tub – but no rolling in the snow today!



December 29, 2010



Today it was cloudy, -13, 20 kmh wind and no new snow. Reminded me of last year when some B.C. residents told me, when it was -8, that it was almost too cold to ski. Guess that’s what comes from being in the granola belt. I remember learning to ski in Manitoba and regularly going out when it was -20, and only drawing the line not to go out when it hit -30. Finished the day skiing down a blue run (think “steeper” than my usual green runs) – which means I was gliding faster than usual. I was really dragging the poles! Almost wished I had some anchors on the ends of them to add more resistance.



Tomorrow I get to experience my present from Santa: I start the day with a deep tissue and hot stones massage. The spa says that I will “emerge relaxed and rejuvenated”. Then it’s off to sip wine with tapas for lunch. The restaurant says it is “somewhere to relax, sip distinctly European coffee, enjoy handcrafted soups and gourmet paninis for lunch, indulge in local and international wines, and enjoy the company and conversation of your partner.” I think Santa added that last part. Now it’s time to go to arrange an all day snowboard lesson for daughter#4 tomorrow!

Warning re: Air Travel

THIS JUST IN!




At New York's Kennedy airport today, an individual later discovered to

be a public school teacher was arrested trying to board a flight while

in possession of a ruler, a protractor, a set square, a slide rule,

and a calculator.



At a morning press conference, the U.S. attorney general said he

believes the man is a member of the notorious Al-Gebra movement.



He is being charged by the FBI with carrying weapons of math instruction.



"Al-gebra is a fearsome cult," the attorney general said. "They desire

average solutions by means and extremes, and sometimes go off on

tangents in a search of absolute value.



They use secret code names like 'x' and 'y' and refer to themselves as 'unknowns', but we have

determined they belong to a common denominator of the axis of medieval

with coordinates in every country.



As the Greek philanderer Isosceles

used to say, 'there are 3 sides to every triangle'."



When asked to comment on the arrest, former President George W. Bush

said, "If God had wanted us to have better weapons of math

instruction, He would have given us more fingers and toes!!!"

Is Judge's sarcastic writing style acceptable?

In the December 17, 2010 issue of the Globe and Mail there was an article by Kirk Makin entitled "in family court, a judge turns to ridicule to defuse the rage".  The full article is set out below.  I don't think the ridicule would have any effect on the rage, but it may have been therapeutic to the judge to get it out of his system.  Those in the legal biz can understand the frustration felt by family court judges.  But does this type of writing, and it's easy publication throughout the digiverse, bring the administration of justice into disrepute?  Have those thoughts? Sure.  Want to write that way? Sure.  Do it in a decision?  Or save it for a private bar and bench skit night?

If you want to read the full decision you can find it at:
http://www.canlii.org/eliisa/highlight.do?text=catherine+larry+roulette&language=en&searchTitle=Ontario&path=/en/on/onsc/doc/2010/2010onsc6568/2010onsc6568.html
Note: the best parts of the Judge's writing is contained in the footnotes.  Note in particular #26 for the Judge's admission of seeking the dictionary definition of "dickhead".

Here's the full article from the Globe and Mail:

Faced with warring ex-spouses besieging one another with threats and verbal abuse and dragging their children into it too, Ontario Superior Judge Joseph Quinn resorted to the only tool he had left – a highly unusual verbal roasting.


“Paging Dr. Freud, paging Dr. Freud,” Judge Quinn began a recent judgment that has gone viral in the family-law community. “Here, a husband and wife have been marinating in a mutual hatred so intense as to surely amount to a personality disorder requiring treatment. The source of difficulties is hatred: a hardened, harmful, high-octane hatred.”

Judge Quinn’s 31-page decision boils over with the frustrations of a family-law judge who is called upon time and again to referee bouts between couples who were once in love. He even takes a shot at family law itself, saying that spousal support is “the roulette of family law – blindfolds, darts and Ouija boards being optional.”


And he anticipates criticism of his tone: “The parties repeatedly have shown they are immune to reason. Consequently, in my decision, I have tried ridicule as a last resort.”

In a novel twist, Judge Quinn granted the wife, Catherine, sole custody of the feuding couple’s 13-year-old daughter. However, he ordered Larry to pay Catherine just a dollar a month in spousal support.

Judge Quinn expressed disgust with the way Catherine has induced her daughter to detest her father. “The harm is irreparable,” he said. “Generally, it is unwise to place an immature 13-year-old in charge of her life. Here, however, Catherine and [her current partner] have engineered an alienation that is so complete as to leave the court with no feasible option.”

Toronto lawyer Phil Epstein, an expert in family law, describes Judge Quinn as a respected jurist who was justified in ridiculing the couple. “I’m sure there will be some who criticize Justice Quinn for this,” he said. “But others will say that sometimes you have to step back and laugh at the foibles of mankind.”

Family law judges spent their time dealing with inflamed litigants whose stories are “highly conflicting and replete with inappropriate behaviour and misconduct,” Mr. Epstein said. “They use the courtroom as a forum for all the wrongs that have been done to them in their marriage. It is not surprising that some judges try to find a better way to help resolve their problems.”

Alternating caustic gibes with amusing observations, Judge Quinn portrayed Catherine – a 36-year-old school caretaker – and Larry, a labourer, as vile, foul-mouthed creatures who had burned through an enormous amount of police and court time waging their futile blitzkrieg.

He said that they cannot attend their son’s ball hockey games without erupting into loud conflict, and that Catherine once tried to run over Larry with a van. “This is always a telltale sign that a husband and wife are drifting apart,” Judge Quinn remarked dryly.

On three occasions, a niece of Catherine’s who is engaged to a Hells Angels biker called Larry to warn him that he would be shot dead, Judge Quinn said. “On Oct. 18, 2007, a nautical theme was added,” he remarked. “According to Larry, ‘Catherine’s sister-in-law yelled out her window that I was going to be floating in the canal dead.’”

Judge Quinn said that Larry, 38, possesses “a near-empty parenting tool box,” and was fond of venting his anger by sending Catherine insulting text messages and giving her ‘the finger’ as he drove by her home. “A finger is worth a thousand words and therefore, is particularly useful should one have a vocabulary of less than a thousand words,” Judge Quinn added.

Catherine gave her children “advanced animosity-tutoring,” and repeatedly denied Larry access to them, Judge Quinn said. He said that on one occasion, Larry and his daughter were thrown out of a McDonald’s restaurant because she was yelling that he was ‘a deadbeat.’

“This is language she would have learned from Catherine,” Judge Quinn noted. “They are the result of persistent, behind-the-scenes brainwashing by Catherine.”

He said that Catherine also warned the children several times that if they attempted to telephone their father, they would go to jail. She also once text messaged her daughter while she was on an access visit with Larry to ask: “Is dickhead there?”

Judge Quinn said that he foolishly called a four-month hiatus during the trial in the hope that Larry and Catherine could benefit from mediation. “It is touching how a trial judge can retain his naivety even after 15 years on the bench,” he said.

Wow! Excellent talk by Hilary Clinton at Ted Women's Conference, where she said "Give women equal rights,and entire nations are more stable and secure".  She talked naturally of US policy on girls and women, particularly with a focus on foreign policy.  She said empowering girls and women is vital for peace and security.  Secretary Clinton said also said sending a girl to school increases her earnings and improves her family's health.  At the end she tells a wonderful story of a girl who, because of her education (and her cow) is able to avoid being forced into an early marriage by her father.  Secretary Clinton acknowledges that empowering girls faces cultural obstacles, but that must be overcome.


Worth a watch. (approx viewing time 20 min)

http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/12/12/clinton.empower.girls/index.html

Social Media Connection Technologies

In an article in the July 18, 2010 issue of The New York Times Magazine about social media connection technologies (e.g. Twitter, Facebook, etc.) Clay Shirky, a New York University professor is quoted as saying “The loss of control you fear [in using these technologies] is already in the past.  You do not actually control the message, and if you believe you control the message, it merely means you no longer understand what’s going on.”  Makes sense – once you’ve posted the message you have no control over what is done with it in the digiverse.  It brings to mind Marshall McLuhan’s statement that “the medium is the message”.  Come to think of it, I don’t think we can say that we really control the medium either!

digiverse vs. live professional performing arts

In this TED talk arts administrator  Ben Cameron speaks eloquently of the battle between time spent accessing the digiverse and what that means for the time society is prepared to spend enjoying live professional performing arts. 

TED describes this talk as follows: "Arts administrator and live-theater fan Ben Cameron looks at the state of the live arts -- asking: How can the magic of live theater, live music, live dance compete with the always-on Internet? ...  he offers a bold look forward." 

It's worth a watch: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ben_cameron_tedxyyc.html

Deseo Bistro, a new restaurant in Winnipeg

(Note from GB: In July, 2011 Deseo Bistro moved to 696 Osborne Street, adjacent to the Park Theatre, on the North side.)

Had lunch today with a friend at Deseo Bistro, a new restaurant located in the Royal Albert Arm’s Hotel, 48 Albert Street, Winnipeg.  It is a great restaurant albeit the space makes it seem like a little hole in the wall.  But the food and service were fantastic.  I expect it will eventually have to move to more elegant space that more befits the food and service.  The menu is eclectic with Spanish influences.  It wasn’t until after we had left that I realized from what little Spanish I know that the name is a neat play on words – this bistro is truly to be desired.

Panel Discussion by General Counsel of Microsoft and Google

At lunch today at the Association of Corporate Counsel Annual Meeting in San Antonio, TX, there was a panel discussion between Brad Smith, Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Microsoft and Kent Walker, Vice President & General Counsel, Google. And it was a thriller!



They set the scene by talking about the amount of information that is available today, and how much we are creating. They talked in units that are like a thousand times bigger than a terabyte. Made my head ache! Then they turned to YouTube. The amount of material being put on it in 24 hours is equivalent to Hollywood releasing 126,000 full length movies every week.



Smith has had to tell colleagues “I know you read that on Wikipedia, but there is more to law than that.” In addition I don’t understand why we put trust in something like Wikipedia which is a collaborative effort of reciting facts. It just doesn’t have credibility from my viewpoint. Really, people, what is likely to be the quality of something that has that sort of input. I’m reminded of the concept of reversion to the mean.



And we are going well beyond gui (graphical user interface), to natural user interface (nui) – more smart screens. And screens where the camera is imbedded in the pixels.



Google thrives on innovation and there was a news story one day about the creation of a robot car. Walker said that you haven’t lived as a General Counsel until a colleague tells you that the Shah of Bahrain wants to drive a robot car, and asks whether Google has to issue a release (for securities law purposes). Think with your head – it’s a “robot” car! Too much ping pong I guess.



They both talked that the best technology tool for in house lawyers are those that are collaborative, presumably like Google docs and SharePoint. These help to create the “hive mind”. Nice concept for a team.



There is clearly a huge advantage to these companies taking on the influx of young workers who have grown up with technology. They described these youngins as “digital natives”. One of their characteristics is that they expect more transparency in the workplace.



Walker spoke of the work Google has done with the Center for Disease Control. The Center was used to tracking the number of cases of flu for example and allocating resources accordingly. What Google introduced them to was watching the numbers of searches on the symptoms (e.g. cough, fever, etc) and realize that when people were searching on that, that flu was about to break out in those areas. So in other words, people can look online for data that will be a better predictor of problems, than monitoring the occurrence of problems.



At one point Smith (remember Microsoft) lamented that it was easier to find info on the web than in their own company. Walker (remember Google) replied: let us know if we can help with that!



A great presentation. Kudos to ACC for arranging this.

Providing Cancer Services in Aboriginal Communities

Mr. Justice Murray Sinclair spoke this evening at the Community Cancer Care Education Conference. He spoke of his leadership at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and related that to providing cancer related services in aboriginal communities. The essence has to do with hearing. People will respond if you hear what they need and offer the services accordingly. Specifically, engage local traditional healers in the process. Very insightful.

Happy Binary Day

On this binary day (10/10/10) remember that there are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary and those who don't.

You’ll chuckle as you read ...

In the October 4, 2010 issue of Thompson’s Insurance News there is an article on “’Gen Y’ Recruiting Requires New Understanding of Workers” – reporting on a session from the 2010 Risk & Insurance Management Society Canada Conference. The report is on an address by MarsUSA managing director Dan McGarvey. It makes a number of very good points – and it seemed to me some very true tongue in cheek humour. This publication is not generally available so I’ll repeat the best parts here:



“If you think 20-somethings entering the insurance industry are disrespectful, self-involved and always looking for shortcuts, you’re right. But those aren’t necessarily liabilities. ... the “millennial” generation doesn’t respond to the same carrots or sticks as earlier generations. The average 21 year old will have four or five jobs before age 30. So it’s hard to motivate Gen Y workers with promises that patience and paying dues will lead to slow but steady promotion and a good pension. More Gen Y’ers believe in UFOs than social security.” D A H !!!



“McGarvey cited frequent stereotypes associated with 20-somethings:

-they don’t respect authority. They respect authority that’s earned, not artificial titles. Where boomers might consider a 30-year company veteran a font of wisdom borne of experience, the Gen Y is more likely to consider him a loser for staying in one place for his entire working life. Is 15 years of experience just one year repeated 15 times?

-They’re always looking for short cuts. Yes, and that’s good. It makes a company more efficient.”



“Stereotyping swings both ways, and boomers might squirm to know how they appear to the brave new cohorts:

-They are technically illiterate and don’t even try to keep up.

-they are slow to adapt to change. “We’ve always done it this way” is simply not an acceptable explanation to Gen Y.

-They’re no fun. Millennials make no apologies for having a life outside work, nor for bringing their irreverence and sense of humour to the job.”



“Want to send a downy-cheeked recruit to your competition. Mr. McGarvey offered some ways to alienate Gen Y.

-use standards other than the quality or quantity of their work to evaluate them. So they dress casually and flaunt piercings and tattoos – if they get the job done and don’t interact with clients, why not?

-give the “dues paying” lecture. It just doesn’t register.”



Definitely food for thought.

Rebooting Prosperity May Require Updating Our Culture

http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2010/10/sam_zells_tribune_and_the_high.html

Wow! This article has a great message and is entertainingly written. The author talks of a “company making all the wrong moves – and one where the boardroom is like a parody of Animal House”. Ok, now he has my attention. He describes the newspaper company in question as “pursuing tired old 20th century advantage – in the most simplistic way possible, hoping that cutting costs to rake in a few tiny efficiency gains or adding a few ad pages will save it from sweeping strategy decay”. His conclusion: there’s a deeper problem at a cultural level.




He then winds around examining corporate strength and concludes that it is no longer about dominance, but about the capacity to evoke. “It’s the power to inspire, animate, infuse, spark, evoke – and then connect, link, and collaborate, to be a force multiplier.”



He feels that booster jumping the economy is going to take more than stimulus packages, bailout and quantitative easing. It is going to require something deeper; a change of values. And it is not just in the corporate arena, but in society in general. There is a need to examine the culture of our society. I think he has a point.

Lennox and Darwin - Be curious, think outside the box and be responsive to change.

Had some time for some interesting reading at lunch time and came across these quotes:
   Annie Lennox: the secret to staying relevant is curiosity, and not allowing yourself to be boxed in or easily categorized.


Charles Darwin: It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.

Negotiating

I get to assist in judging a negotiation competition at the University of Manitoba Law School tonight.  I’m reminded of the effective negotiation method suggested in “Getting to Yes”: separate the people from the problem; focus on interests, not positions; invent options for mutual gain; and insist on using objective criteria.