Hockey

Pond Hockey from Enki Studios on Vimeo.

This strikes a chord for me for a couple of reasons:

  • It's getting cold out;
  • The water will be freezing soon and I'll get to take my Texan girlfriend skating;
  • The Oilers are an extremely fun team to watch this year and has rekindled my love for the sport which had been dormant for a couple of years;
  • Working on my hockey coaching/training software (AIM Hockey) has been very time consuming lately but a lot of fun.

I also like short films and this was a well done piece. I'm excited to get on the ice!

I hate pop, but I really like this guy.

Obsessives: Soda Pop from CHOW.com on Vimeo.

John Nese runs a grocery-store style shop in LA that only sells soda pop. It's probably going to be tough for him to make his business work over the long haul for a number of reasons, but I really hope he makes it.

He might have a little crazy in him but he's following his passion and making it work for him and others - and he's a likable guy all around. This 15 minutes does a pretty great job of summing up a lot of my thoughts on business, politics and what's wrong with the world today. This is what America (and Canada) should be all about so he's making it happen. Unfortunately it's more of a corn sugar, CRV and Ralph's kind of place - a Pepsi Co. world.

Watching this reminds me exactly why I got excited about Nenshi winning the mayor's race in Calgary. He was talking about making business easier for the average guy (easier to get permits, easier access to city hall, preventing government subsidies to special interest groups). I'm really hoping that it leads to more innovation and industrial diversity in this city. And I'm hoping that the rest of the world takes note and it catches on.

In any case, if I go to LA I'm gonna go visit this guy and buy some rose petal soda.

Cool short film about World of Warcraft (for real)


Here's a confession for those that don't already know - I played World of Warcraft. A fair bit for a while.

I've happily separated myself from the game for a couple of years now, and even when I did play I understood that there were a lot more productive things that I could do with my time.

This is a beautifully shot short film that shows people who play World of Warcraft in their daily lives, except that they are represented by their game characters. The players talk about their 'avatars' and explain why they play the game. It's a pretty neutral look at those who play the game, but depending on your thoughts on WoW it could probably be seen as either inspiring or sad. Either way, it is oddly compelling.