dryfly.ca started as a website for sharing one of my DIY projects, a stitch and glue kayak. Since then I've added several more projects including a skin-on-frame kayak, cedar strip canoe, kayak paddles, canoe paddles, building a spey rod, and an antenna for receiving OTA HDTV. I also occasionally ramble on about politics, technology, bike racing, product reviews and last but not least, our kids.
Click on the Photo Gallery to lots of my pictures in their full glory, including family, friends, boat building, travels, etc.
Tight Lines!
May 8, 2011 at 8:21 am · Filed under Politics
I came across this blog posting a couple of days ago, where an NDP candidate reflected upon his campaign in the recent election: http://glenpearson.wordpress.com/2011/05/04/transitions-brutal-in-their-despondency/
This is strikes to the heart of what worried me the most about the election. From Harper’s reluctance to face the public and field questions, to pre-election smear campaigns run via tv commercials, to manufacturing public fears about crime and economic doomsday. The Conservatives have almost perfected campaigning in the 21st Century, where simple sound bites sent through the TV at a frequency that only money can buy creates an environment that overpowers the politician that tries to engage the public in a more honest type of debate.
I find it appalling that the Conservatives were spreading innuendo and falsities about Glen Pearson via a call center, all while Pearson was actually out in the community trying to meet and engage people. In my mind, this is American style Fox-News politics in the making, where all it takes is a bunch of $$, airtime and a loud mouth to make any ridiculous accusation become true.
I can accept that a majority of Canadians do not currently share my opinion of who’s budget is better, or exactly on what public spending should be targeted. What really bugs me is dishonest marketing used to sway people’s opinions, coupled with opportunistic policies that feed off of emotions like GST reductions and building prisons. The GST reduction was particlarly troublesome, as nearly every economist agreed that it was bad policy. Yet the Conservatives, who trump themselves as being the kingpins of economic policy, lowered the GST anyways because they knew it would get them votes. I guess that’s hold news now, but it speaks volumes to the principles the Conservatives hold.
Locally here in Vancouver this disturbing trend is replicating. Christy Clark, having seen the success of the Conservatives, has taken a page out their playbook. She is avoiding all public debates for her upcoming byelection. Let’s all hope she loses, if for no other reason than because of this.
April 28, 2011 at 9:15 am · Filed under Just Stuff
A (short) conversation with my daughter:
me: Emma, what are you doing?
E: Stapling.
M: You’re using a lot of staples
E: I’m making things very stapley
Ah, I love talking with my kids!
April 24, 2011 at 10:10 am · Filed under Technology
Last week I bought RIM’s new Playbook tablet to see how it runs and if it is something that I could find useful. For those interested, the answers are “excellent” and “no.”
I opted for the 16gb version, my thinking being that I’m usually not prone to wanting large amounts of data being carried around. As well, the need for holding many small files is waning with the growth of cloud computing and services such as Dropbox. The price for this device is $499 and I think it came to about $550 after HST.
I must admit that my expectations for this device were not great. A day before I was joking with friends that “you know you have a failed launch when you aren’t asking if they bought one, but instead you ask them if theirs works.” There are reports of people having problems with the Blackberry Bridge, which would be a bad thing for PB owners. You see, RIM hasn’t yet developed an email client for the PB. Instead, they are relying on PB owners to connect to their blackberry phones in order to receive emails, contacts and calendars. I’m not sure if the Bridge only works with BB devices.
When I got home I unboxed the PB and plugged it in to give it some charge. I had to go out for a while, so I’m not sure if the device came with a charge or not. A couple of hours later I returned and fired up the PB. The first thing it did was find a new OS update. 250mb and 5 minutes later I had the latest software, fast and easy – sweet. I had a quick look with the device Read the rest of this entry »
March 26, 2011 at 9:00 am · Filed under Just Stuff
Last weekend I gave my apple trees to a neighbour of mine. I couldn’t stomach another year of fighting coddling moth, where I would have to spend hours walking around the trees and slipping nylon socks over the apples for protection. I considered keeping the trees simply for their aesthetic value but I thought I would growing some soft fruits instead. I opted for blueberries and raspberries. Raspberries are my favorite berry but I’ve heard that they can be difficult to grow on the coast. Blueberries should flourish though.
I chose four different varieties of blueberries, trying to target early, mid an late season growing: Reka (early), Toro (mid), Hardy (mid) and Dixi (late). The raspberry I bought was a Tulameen, and we already have some unidentified raspberry bush established. I think both are summer bearing.
March 23, 2011 at 3:25 pm · Filed under Sports
This week the kids have been attending a ski camp up at Mt. Seymour. The camps run in the morning from 9:30 to 11:00 (Emma) or 12:00 (Grady). Mt. Seymour is well prepared and the kids have been enjoying it. Grady has been skiing down various runs so I’m hoping he is making some good progress. Emma is in a younger kids group and so far they have only been on a 30′ bunny hill. I’m sort of disappointed with that because I know she can ski with enough control to go down a real hill or run. She seems to enjoy it though. Grady really likes the skiing too although he get thoroughly exhausted, which then causes him to get a bit whiny.
I’ve gone for short snowshoe jaunts while the kids are skiing, and today was absolutely amazing. The temperature was close to 0C with totally clear skies. It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced a sunny winter landscape and I didn’t realize how much I missed it.
I’m thinking that on Thursday or Friday I will bring my skis up and hit the slopes myself. I may bring my skins for a quick tour up and back, or I may get a lift ticket. If I get a lift ticket I can then do a couple of runs with Grady so he can show me what he’s learned. I’ll need Mercy to come up too though, so she can hang with Emma. As well, Grady may be too tired and not want to ski more. The rain is returning to Vancouver too (hopefully snowing on the mountain, so that might change things if we get wet.
Spring touring @ Mt. Seymour
March 22, 2011 at 3:50 pm · Filed under Photos
After receiving dozens of emails from friends that said they couldn’t access my photo gallery anymore, I managed to pull an all-nighter and recode everything. It’s back up, with a new look.
Actually, my sister-in-law told me over dinner that she couldn’t find any pictures of the kids and I had to fix one line of code to get to the new gallery. But I know you all wanted to tell me it wasn’t working…
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