In any one day, I come across a number of thought-provoking and interesting videos (a blissful side effect of working in an office). This one, by Xianjun Shi,  has had a considerably greater effect on me than most of what I see. Perhaps it's because I'm feeling particularly melancholy and lost as of late, but I've watched it at least eight times already. And I'm still watching it.

It's comforting to remind myself that all of my favourite people manage to balance philosophy and physics. Personally, I can't understand concepts like chirality unless I think about them in the context of poetry, but then again I've never felt firmly grounded in reality. I can work on that later. For now, I will just resist the urge to reduce the world into circles and squares.

(Find the original video where I saw ithere, but I recommend watching it and all her others onher site.)

Two weeks left. Two weeks left. Two. Weeks. Left.
Gina and I are considering starting a post-OS support group for those of us who have come and gone. There will be cocktails. There will be cats. There will be significant cuddling. Not unlike being at the office, in most regards.
For the time being, we are drowning our sorrows with ice-cream lunchtimes and poutine consumption.

Everybody is on vacation today so it's a short list.
Beverly - Madora
Dawn Golden - All i Want (Manila Killa Remix)
Shugo Tokumaru - KEXP Live Session: Katachi, Poker, Linne, Rum Hee
Gold Panda - Brazil (Slow Magic Remix)
Pros & Cons
A Tribe Called Red - Red Skin Girl

...with one tribute to Robin Williams.

New staff, new songs:

XV - Never Noticed
Scarlett Johansson - One Whole Hour
Five Finger Death Punch - Bad Company
Aerosmith - I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing
Matthew & The Atlas - Pale Sun Rose (TEEMID & FDVM Remix)
Ken Domik - Rock The Poutine
Lee Fields - Still Hanging On (Acoustic)
St. Paul and the Broken Bones - Broken Bones and Pocket Change
Yamantaka // Sonic Titan - One
Logic - Let Me Go (Ft. Lykke Li)
Kid Cudi- Brothers (Ft. King Chip & A$AP Rocky)
Blondie - Heart of Glass
Dustin Tebbutt - The Breach
Dustin Tebbutt - Bones
Lorde - Everybody Wants To Rule The World
Break My Fall - Golden Coast
Cyanide & Happiness - Daydreaming
Cat Stevens - Peace Train
Trampled By Turtles - Wait So Long
Jason DeRulo - Talk Dirty
K Camp - WWYD
Weird Al Yankovic - Tacky
USS - Ying Yang
Bloc Party - Banquet
Freddie Mercury - Love Kills
Devendra Banhart - Lover
Bee Gees - Stayin' Alive 
Bon Iver - Calgary
Morandi - Save Me

So it's National Farmers' Market Week in the United States this August 3rd through 9th. Given that I've spent an ungodly amount of time researching Farmers' Market-related information in the past few months, I felt it necessary to contribute something to the conversations that are opening up online. Here is a radio segment, first aired July 23, 2014 on CBC, that addresses the question "are Farmers' Markets actually worth the time and money?"

I'll be the first to say that I find their answers quite dissatisfying and sometimes even plain wrong, but I think that some of the assumptions made are indicative of certain voices and opinions that are quite prevalent in Calgary and should be addressed. I'm trying to answer my own questions regarding the authenticity, community, and relevance of Farmers' Markets in Alberta (along with the suite of issues represented by the categories of food associated with them - organic, local, grain-free, vegan...), and I think it would be really interesting to follow-up some of the assertions made in the segment ("is it really a market if you can buy kiwis?").
It'll be interesting to see what other discussions and questions occur as a result of this Farmers' Market Week; hopefully there'll be some useful resources and papers that we can use for our U of C info sessions!