May 09, 2011
February 22, 2011
Take the Wayback Machine to 1983.
I called my daughter 'Pooky Bear' the other night...and she wanted to know this expression's etiology.
Well, here it is. I LOVED that Bear.
And, I wish I still had my ATARI...
August 16, 2010
The road to town. Silton, Saskatchewan. #prairies
I was in Saskatchewan this weekend for a family reunion of sorts...
Everything around here is of the Earth, or eventually returns to it...
May 26, 2010
March 19, 2010
March 05, 2010
March 04, 2010
Find a Happy Place. Warning: #Golf is involved.
It was nice enough in Calgary today to be out on the golf course...if you're into that kind of thing.
Outside with a colleague soaking up some sunshine. He just had a 'client from hell' call and was clearly, um, well, livid.
Unconsciously, he gripped his hands together, but not too tight, and made a swinging motion. A Walter Hagen - type moment.
His mood lifted, much to his surprise. A 'mental movie' at work. Re-invigorated.
There is much talk and evidence about the parallel between business and high-performance sport. Visualisation of success. An objective, challenges presented, strategies, (sometimes) flawless execution, results, analysis for the next success.
I walk golf courses everyday whether I'm on them or not.
(PIC). The Old Head in County Kildare, Ireland. One of my best 'good walk (s) spoiled', ever.
February 24, 2010
February 20, 2010
NomNom
I grossed my son out this week with these pics, so thought I'd share. And yes, the scorpions were still moving when I snapped this...
February 09, 2010
The 'TRON' building and its burnt out cousin
We're staying a couple of blocks from China's main TV headquarters, which, in the current haze, looks like something out of a Philip K. Dick novel, only re-imagined to be included in the gloom of a TRON world.
Next to it however is the burnt out shell that never opened. When I asked about it at dinner tonight, local urban legends abound. One irrefutable fact remains. It went up like a firecracker last Chinese New Year.
Posted via email from John Hutchings
UPDATE:
Here's a pic of me and said architectural wonder:
February 08, 2010
Hmmm...what shall we do today? Lots of steps, that's what.
It was a bit frosty and definitely snowy, but the sun managed to burn through. It was wondrous to see the scale of it and then to walk, or rather, scramble the thing. In some places, with the icy conditions, it was quite daunting.
One thing interesting that you have to see up close - Chinese over the years have left their personal mark on the Wall. Messages etched into the stone. Suppose you could call it graffiti, but I saw it more as generations leaving their near present mark as part of this monument's rich historical past.
February 07, 2010
Huh, I guess I'm in Beijing
Have been in transit/awake for 30h. now, so you'll have to bear with me.
We arrived here at about 5pm on Sunday (after leaving Calgary at 8am on Saturday). This whole International date line thing is a bit of a boggler.
We're staying in the Business district, but we still managed to stretch our legs tonight and visit a local 'goods' market. With Matt's haggling assistance, I procured a nice 'Rolex' as well as some other nifty doodads.
We're off to the Great Wall and other significant monuments tomorrow before doing what we came to do - business.
As an aside, and as you might well imagine, Twitter and Posterous are blocked here (at least on the network we have access to). After some Matrix-like lateral thinking, we figured out how to make this work.
I'll post up more photos as they come.
February 05, 2010
January 23, 2010
Told my daughter I was soon travelling to China. She asked for a Panda bear...
Me: "Do you mean a real one? Because they are kind of big and, between you and me, smelly".
Eva: "No silly, another one like you gave me, only maybe bigger and squishier to go with all my stuffed animals". (Editorial Note: China = Panda bears to 5 year-olds, but at least she's pragmatic. Kind of like Savannah).
Me: "Oh, OK."
Admission: Grimaces were harmed in the filming of this movie.
January 16, 2010
'Our capacity to do good for others in need.' #Haiti.
"We can be a great people, we wish to be. We only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all, our capacity for good.."I'm not sure why this popped into my head, but it seemed appropriate. I'm thankful to my work family (@criticalmass) for matching donations for #Haiti relief efforts. My donation has been quadrupled and I am hopeful that it all gets to the right people, soon.
January 15, 2010
After a long day...'I'm wondering', and snoozing to a sonic electric blanket, courtesy of the 'Diggers'.
December 25, 2009
November 18, 2009
Goodnight, and thanks for the (Bob The) Fish
- I'm thankful in particular to Tom, Geoff and Dave for giving me the opportunity to work with them and for the chance to give back to the advertising game here in Calgary
- I've been fortunate enough to work on some great accounts with savvy people, and I dare say, make their lives as marketers a little easier. So, Thank You.
- The most difficult part about moving on is leaving behind the day-to-day interaction and collaboration with smart folks and friends. Heitmann and Komery, I'm looking in your direction...
As a ghost, I'll see you all in the not so distant future.
With that, a dear and familiar blessing:
May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face.
And rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the hollow of His hand.
November 10, 2009
Remember
I'm looking at my grandfather's canteen in my warm, safe kitchen. It's still in pretty good shape. A few dings, as expected. He had it strapped to his waist for a time, during WWII. He signed up. Never made it overseas, but nevertheless did his duty for King and Country. The family yarn is that he fought the 'Battle of Medicine Hat'. Not a joke, really. If he had shipped overseas, I might not be here to remember him.
Dad was a navigator on Douglas DC-6's before and during the Korean conflict and they named an airport today (second - to be fair to Owen Sound) after a rather infamous relative.
The point? Remember the past and present, how fortunate we are, and the sacrifices other families have made. They have stories - tragic scars unhealed, in scrapbooks, almost forgotten.
I'll certainly take a moment tomorrow to remember.
If that doesn't convince you to wear a poppy: 'good dog': Sgt. Gander. 'good dog'.