First off, I’m on a mission to map those urban forests of Winnipeg that I have explored.

The letters to steven are coming along. They’ve inspired other letters:

• An inquiry with Mayor Sam Katz on the “health” of our rivers. An exercise in friendly re-direction.
• Commerce pays the bills? Printed in the May 20th Winnipeg Free Press. A response to Jake Marks’ call for schools to embrace commercialism. Mr. Marks is likely the president and owner of Jake Marks Advertising; therefore, his support for ads in our schools isn’t surprising.

* * *

• BeautyCheck - Computer generated beauty?
• Saturday Morning Cartoons on YouTube
• The Emergence of Social Inequality among Robots
• We Feel Fine
• Principles of the American Cargo Cult
• Iraq War Coalition Fatalities
• The civilian body count in Iraq is now well over 37,000.

Update (29 May 2006):

We have received our first reply from the Prime Minister’s Office: brief, automated, and bilingual.

PBS was good to me;

• Three, Two, One, Contact (w/ the Bloodhound Gang)
• Square One TV
• Sesame Street
• Mr. Rogers
• Mr. Dressup (CBC produced and syndicated on PBS.)
• The Friendly Giant (CBC produced and syndicated on PBS.)
• &c.

And later;

• Doctor Who
• Mystery!
• Masterpiece Theatre
• &c.

“In 1969, the US Senate held hearings about funding the newly formed, Corporation for Public Broadcasting. A $20 million dollar grant, was in jeopardy.

President Richard Nixon wanted that amount cut in-half.

Alright Rogers, you’ve got the floor…” - Mr. Rogers, a kind and caring rhetoric.

***

Tendrils:

• Humans
• William S. Burroughs, The Cut-Up Films
• Pjotro - The man with the musical suit
• How to Pirate a Vinyl Record
• Seamless pictures
• How Small We Are
• Forest Grove
• Hema Shoplifter Number Ten Thousand

On Tuesday I started a new project with my pal Kyle M. Together we’re writing daily emails to Prime Minister Stephen Harper. We’ll be blogging all the emails, along with any responses we receive. The subject matter will be diverse, ranging from the serious, through the mundane, to the fancyful.

You can find more information here: Dear Mr. Harper

Or, you can jump straight to the emails we’ve sent Steve thus far.

* * *

Links:

• The Basic Principles of Communication
• Dead - In - Iraq - A virtual protest using the US army’s recruitment video game.
• Graf in Chernobyl - Move you mouse to the top of the screen to reveal the menu. Haunting images.
• How big dare you dream?
• Visual Scratch
• Pathology in the Hundred Acre Wood - a neurodevelopmental perspective on A.A. Milne
• Visual Composer
• Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights - We saw this up close in Spain. Amazing.
• Skateboard music interface

Also, if you live in Winnipeg and haven’t seen the Supernovas exhibition at the WAG yet, you have until Sunday. Go go go… inspiration awaits you.

I’ve inherited a lawn-full of dandelions.