Take Action on Junk Mail!

Have you ever opened your mailbox to find it bulging with flyers, brochures and newsletters. . . none of it addressed to you? Or an avalanche of credit card approvals and catalogues in your name, all unsolicited? Does your local newspaper come with more flyers than news articles? If you are frustrated by the waste of paper and ink, but don't have the time to phone each company directly, here are some easy ways to drastically reduce your junk mail quandary.

• Stick a note on your mailbox requesting "no unaddressed admail." Read the particulars on the Canada Post website.
  


• If you need a waterproof sticker, many environmental groups can send you one for free or for a nominal fee, like Green Calgary or the Red Dot Campaign. It's a good idea to send Canada Post this letter as well.
  


• Canada Post is legally obligated to deliver addressed items (solicited or not), so you have to stop it at the source. To hit up to 800 corporate birds with one stone, register for the Canadian Marketer's Association Do Not Contact Service.
  


• Even with a sticker, some items including community newspapers will still arrive. . . advertising contents included. Fortunately many community newspapers will send you their paper without the flyers and inserts on request. Look up their number and give them a call.
  

Doesn't that make you feel better already?

Fringe! Who wants to come with me?

Hello possible Fringe buddies!

Sept 2 update: shows I've seen and my recommendations in red below!

I went to the Fringe festival preview night last night, and it was like being a kid in a candy store. Listed below in roughly the order of my interest, are the 14 shows I want to see most. 12 of them had fantastic previews (that is like 30%, so no I’m not even pimping all of them). The other two on the list were held over in Edmonton, so I forgive them for not churning out a preview.

Courtesy of my buddy Nic, the technical lead for Venue 1, I have three fringe buttons. This means two people can go with me at a time without getting their own (saving $5 if they weren’t going to get one anyways). The shows are never more than $9, and are usually an hour long. Most of them have 6 show times, and we should be able to buy tickets at the door of all but the most popular shows without waiting more than half an hour for the final showings.

Think of it – cheaper than a movie! In 3D without the glasses! Check out the shows, see the Schedule for the show times or consult the booklet, and get back to me. My number is 250-882-7094, and I will check this email from home over my 4-day weekend. Fringe starts tonight and goes until Sept 6, so you can totally fit one in!

The Honeymoon Period is Officially Over
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue07.php#38

Caburlesque!
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue02.php#25
Pretty good, excellent singing, a good dancer . . .

Uncalled For Presents: Today is all your birthdays!
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue04.php#43
Fantastic! My favourite so far. Funny and accessible. I'd see it again!

Shortened
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue07.php#53
Funny, with a great dance montage sequence at the end. Recommended.

The War of 1812
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue10.php#21
The topic was good, and the comedy was better. Even my American date liked it!

Straight (from that side of town)
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue06.php#48
My only miserable Fringe experience so far. SO not what I'd hoped for. Brock was horrified. It was so bad he doesn't want to talk about it.

The Accident
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue02.php#18

Missed Connections
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue01.php#13
Cute, funny, and that mime barely shows up at all. Recommended.

Collette Unplugged
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue01.php#11

Fall Fair
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue03.php#30

The Power of Ignorance
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue07.php#20

It’s Probably Love
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue05.php#45

Two to Django
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue09.php#60

Burlesque Unzipped
http://www.intrepidtheatre.com/fringe2009/venue07.php#56

Cheers!
-Lindsay

Canoeing!

One of my friends, Margaret Archer, just completed the Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit (A BC Provincial Park thing near ) and after looking at the Facebook pictures, I want to go try it NOW. I also assume that I should perhaps canoe once or twice, first . . . so I'm guessing I might actually try such a thing no sooner than nine months from now. Anyone else interested?

http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/explore/cariboo/trails/bowron.htm
http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/bowron_lk/

Bowron Lake Park is located about 120 kilometers east of Quesnel, past Barkersville, which I would also like to see. http://www.barkerville.ca/plan_visit.htm

I know it sounds goofy to look so far ahead for an adventure, but if I'm hoping to solicit people from different provinces for a reunion, I had better start now!

Cheers,

-Lindsay

Text to Email and Back Again

How to spam your friends and coworkers with texts, from your email or from their service provider webpage. It’s FREE . . . on your end at least.
I have the instructions for Telus, Bell and Rogers email-to-text. If you know the drill for other providers, please comment below.

Telus:
You can send a message to any TELUS Mobility digital PCS or Mike phone or alphanumeric pager from your computer using e-mail. Just address the message to 10digitmobilenumber@msg.telus.com (e.g., 4031234567@msg.telus.com)

Bell:
Each Bell Mobility cell phone has a unique e-mail address: (10 digit cell phone number)@txt.bell.ca. For example, 4165555555@txt.bell.ca
Reply to the message as you would any other text message

Rogers:
1) Your phone's e-mail address is your10digitphonenumber@pcs.rogers.com2) You will receive a 'Message Alert' when an e-mail is sent to your phone.3) Simply reply to the Message alert* if you want to receive the message, or block the sender from sending you future messages.

Messaging from the service provider websites could be handy too, though with Rogers you must be a Rogers client, and sign up to receive a code on your cell/BB before you send your first message.
http://websms.rogers.page.ca/2way/
http://www.telusmobility.com/sendamessage/sendamessage.shtml
http://www.txt.bell.ca/bell/en/

Harbans Dosanjh's Dahl

Done correctly, simple dahl (stewed and curried beans, normally served with either rice or chapatti) is one of the most economical and popular dishes on the planet. This recipe is from chef Harbans Dosanjh of UVic's International Grill, as printed in the Monday Magazine. If only they printed the recipe for the mint chutney, too!

Preparing good dahl is easy, Dosanjh maintains, so long as you pay careful attentive to what you’re doing. “When I’m cooking, I put my mind and soul into it.” In terms of method, she plays up the importance of rinsing the beans in advance (which cuts down on some of the, uh, breezy after-effects of bean consumption). She also uses the tarka method, where a spiced oil mixture is prepared separately from the beans then added at the very end.

Harbans Dosanjh’s Dahl
• 1 cup red lentils
• 1 cup yellow split peas
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 ½ tsp salt
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped finely
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 knob of ginger, diced (about one square inch)
• 1 tsp crushed dried chiles
• ½ tsp chili powder
• ½ tsp paprika

Soak lentils and split peas in warm water for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse them then add them to a thick-bottomed pot with 6 ½ cups of water, the salt and turmeric. Bring this mixture to a boil then simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes (until the beans have become soft).

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions, garlic and ginger together for 5-10 minutes, until lightly browned. Add the crushed chiles, chili powder and paprika to the onions and continue to fry for 30 seconds longer while stirring. Add the onion mixture to the beans with a pinch of garam masala, stir well, and you’re ready to go.

Ling 361 Presentation

Journal article review PowerPoint of
"Language choice as a means of shaping identity" by Janet M. Fuller
Presentation by Julie, Lindsay and Caitlin

LING 376 and Ling 375 presentations online

Linguistics 376 Presentation:
"Teaching ESL at home and abroad" by Michelle, Lindsay, Sandra, Dale and Shannon given March 25


Linguistics 375 Presentation
"Review of Learner English: a teacher's guide to interference and other problems" by Chris and Lindsay

Linguistics 375 Presentation
"Chapter 8: Bilingual Syllabus"
by Chris and Lindsay

LING 376 LINKS

Dave’s ESL Café

http://www.eslcafe.com/

AAC

(China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan)

http://www.aacircle.com.au/

Transitions Abroad

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/esl/articles/workinasia.shtml

ESL Job Find

http://www.esljobfind.com/

Serious Teachers

http://www.seriousteachers.com/

Saxon Court Schools

http://www.saxoncourt.net/index.php

Going Global

www.goingglobal.com

Voyage.gc.ca

ESL USA

ESL Cafe

ESL Jobs

Craigslist

ESL teachers board

http://www.overseasdigest.com

http://www.associatedcontent.com/

Inlingua, Linguarama, and Berlitz are reputable and have schools throughout Europe.

Some reputable schools by country:

Leipzig Language Service (Germany), Le Comptoir des Langues (Paris, France), Royal School of Languages (Portugal, Germany), any school that is a member of AISLI, the Associazione Italiana Scuole di Lingua Inglese (Italy), BKC International (Russia), English First (Russia)

http://www.embassyworld.com/ –> a list of ALL of the world’s embassies in one
database

http://www.swap.ca/out_eng/destinations/ireland.aspx –> information about Ireland’s working holiday visa program

www.visarus.co.uk –> continuously updated directory of schools in Moscow and St. Petersburg, with phone numbers and addresses

http://www.nextstepabroad.com/Site/abroad/working-holiday-eligibility.aspx –>A list of countries that have working holiday visas available for citizens of specific countries

http://www.esljobs.com/ –> Very helpful index of jobs from around the world, separated by continent

http://www.lingobongo.com/madrid/ –>index to various language schools in Spain

http://www.simplyesl.com –> Go to their job board

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/travel/ –> very helpful travel information, sorted by destination. Gives detailed descriptions of relevant diseases.

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/work/esl/teaching_english_in_europe_top_jobs.shtml –> list of ‘Top Jobs’ teaching ESL or EFL in Europe.

Books:

Teaching English in Europe, Susan Griffith (Book)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

A BBC site for learners and teachers of English, includes lessons, quizzes, and more.

http://www.english-to-go.com/

A provider of English training resources delivered via the Internet.

Resources are used by more than 55,000 teachers in 190 countries reaching over one million students worldwide. Up-to-date resources based on Reuters® news articles.

www.langsols.com/html/index.htm

This is a company based in London called Professional Language Solutions. This is a good solid company to check out if you want to teach professionals in business. “Professional Language Solutions has its Group Headquarters in London, and a significant presence in the Southern Mediterranean, Caspian and North African regions, with our own training centres in Italy, Spain, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Saudi Arabia.”

http://www.cpltraining.co.uk/international/teacher-recruitment

is another UK based service operation, it recruits English language teachers from around the world on behalf of clients.

www.escapeartist.com

Expatriate Resources & Resources for Global Relocation

http://www.english-international.com/

good for Canadians and Americans interested in teaching English overseas. Includes an overview of the job market, and special pages for Regional Job Markets.

http://www.esljobs.com/

ESL job listings around the world.

http://www.voyage.gc.ca/consular_home-en.asp

Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada, provides essential information for Canadians abroad. Everything you need to know from travel warnings, health issues to consider, registration with Canadian offices, global issues, cultural insights, visa requirements, and much more. Essential site to check out.

http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/62-013-XIE/2008003/priv-en.htm

This is the Statistics Canada Foreign Post Indexes, which are calculated to establish and adjust the Post Living Allowance (PLA) paid to Canadian government employees serving outside Canada. They are comparative measurements that numerically express the difference between the retail prices of a representative basket of goods and services at a foreign location with prices for a similar basket of goods and services in Ottawa.

So, if you figure out what it all means, you can sort out if your job pays enough for you to get by.

http://www.destineducation.ca/pdfs/witwigo_e.pdf%20

Cumyn, Alan. 2001. What in the World Is Going On? A Guide for Canadians Wishing to Work, Volunteer or Study in Other Countries. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Bureau for International Education.

http://www.workingoverseas.com/

4th ed. Canada: Intercultural Systems/Systèmes interculturels (ISSI)

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Travel/Employment_9976.html

A good listing of places to look for jobs in Africa.

http://www.etni.org.il/index.html

An Israeli site for teaching ESL.

Teaching English Overseas: A Job Guide for Americans and Canadians, Jeff Mohamed (Book)

So . . blogging is out, facebook is in

Heya people,

So, I have the feeling that my blog isn't the only one that has suffered since Facebook arrived on the scene. It's not like my blog was particularly well kept . . . quite the contrary . . . but at least I used to check other people's blogs. Now I'm lucky if I can even remember what their addresses are. And it's not like I'm even a big Facebook user - three times a week is lots in my books. But it is easier to have a convo on there with someone who isn't necessarily online at the same time you are. What did I use before Facebook for that, other than messages on blogs? Email, you say? Yeah, too much of a pain in the butt to remember email addresses as well as the last thing you told the person . . .

Information Safety

So, my current bf doesn't want his picture on facebook, uses his visa as little as possible, and gives out as little information as he feasibly can. He hates the idea that people are tracking his purchases, noting his habits, and so on. Now it's not that I'm fond of the idea . . . you'll notice that I use nicknames and general rather than specific area indicators this blog and perhaps elsewhere on the internet.  I NEVER carry around my SIN card - hey, I'm lucky if I can find it once a year when I need it. But I still use that visa (hey, no credit will stop me from getting a mortgage just as fast as getting
 my identity stolen) and I still joined facebook, though I futzed with the options so only my accepted friends view my profile and friend list.

I figure that, especially given the lavish student life which I indulge in . . . heh . . . my identity has no particular draw for someone wanting a new one, my student credit card isn't going to get anyone very far, and there are many people who are far less careful about the info they toss around the ether than I am. Safety in numbers, and I swim along in a very large school of fish. I know I should get a little more savvy about these things . . . but I don't feel much 
pressure to do so until I have more to lose.

What do you guys recommend I do to cut down on my electronic info trail? I guess the most paranoid of you aren't going to post about it, but any hints will be appreciated. I already falsify info in most of those 'required information' fields. Hey, it is never 
too early to falsify your age . . . and the address I use when I can is an old one, where the shared-owner landlord turned out to be a dick. But apart from that, things aren't too paranoid around here,
though perhaps they will get a bit more so . . .