Toronto, Ontario (summer, all within bicycling distance of home)
Pho House: Casual Canada Day dinner out in neighbourhood resto, at leisure. Sons used to eat lunch at this location in high school days. The business across the street moved in, when the other Viet business moved out. (Pho House, Gerrard Street East, Toronto) 20170701Wong’s Ice Cream: Took home vegan coconut mango sticky rice ice cream + vegan lemongrass lime sorbet, after we sampled a variety of flavours. Wanted to take a packed pint of the former, but small daily production lots meant two scoops of two flavours instead. New business only opened in neighbourhood in the past few months. (Wong’s Ice Cream, Gerrard Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20170701Nathan Phillips Square: Universal Breaking League on the Pond Stage for Battle for the North two-on-two competition, as part of Canada Days celebration. Big screen alternating with musical acts on the Main Stage. Large crowds out for Sunday evening, statutory observance will be on Monday. (Nathan Phillips Square, Bay Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20170702HTO Park: Mama Duck 61-foot rented by Province of Ontario for 3 day Redpath Waterfront Festival from Craig Samborski, attracting major crowds. The “World’s Largest Rubber Duck” was last shown in Tacoma, Washington; next stop is Owen Sound. Copyright dispute with 105 foot Rubber Duck at Saint-Nazaire, France, by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman. (HTO Park, Harbourfront, Toronto, Ontario) 20170703Sugar Beach: Ride by DY along Waterfront Trail from Portlands to HTO Park and back was the first time in many years. Canada Day weekend a less than ideal time on the bike paths, as so many pedestrians obliviously inattentive. (Sugar Beach, Queens Quay East, Toronto, Ontario) 20170703Danforth Mennonite Church: Cute book house for Little Free Library, by well-kept front garden on major east-west city street. Mennonite Community opened church in 1911, and urban development has filled in around it. Through mutual ties in Ethiopia, the building is shared since 2011 with the Freedom Gospel Church who worship in the Amharic language. (Danforth Mennonite Church, Woodbine-Lumsden neighbourhood, Danforth Avenue East, Toronto, Ontario) 20170704Trillium Park: Bridge over the lit ravine walls with Moccasin Identifiers, northbound at dusk from Ontario Place towards the Martin Goodman Trail and Lakeshore Boulevard. Biked south through the CNE grounds with barricades in progress for the Indy race in two weeks, then east by the marina. (Trillium Park, Ontario Place Boulevard, Toronto, Ontario) 20170705Scrap Metal Gallery: Augustas Serapinas (2017) “Four Sheds”, reclaimed woods, nails and wallpaper reassembled from existing shed on Barr’d Islands, Fogo Island, destined to be demolished. East wall illuminated by lights from adjacent installation by Abbas Akhavan (2013) “Study for a Garden”. Collaboration in “Belonging to a Place” exhibition by Fogo Island Arts. (Scrap Metal Gallery, Dublin Street, Bloordale Village, Toronto, Ontario) 20170708Lowkong Society: Bimonthly meeting of family village society, with elders over 80 years old getting greater involvement by younger under 60. New members on the board of trustees, started definitional discussion on governance and membership. (Lowkong Society, Huron Street, Chinatown, Toronto, Ontario) 20170709Trinity Square Park: Noon @DowntownYonge @esltrio #playtheparks under the canopy on a sunny summer day. Playing instrumental versions of familiar tunes, more pop than jazz. Took a request to play bossa nova, responded with a Jobim medley. Bassist and drummer challenged keeping up on short guitar solo of Bright Size Life. (Trinity Square Park, Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20170711Vari Centre: Lightning talks at GTALUG Greater Toronto Area Linux User Group are being recorded on video. First time attending, I offered to talk for 5 minutes on Desktop Environments, followed by 5 minutes for questions. Others are technically deeper. Linux isn’t my full time job, but I’ve spent the past 10 years of my life using it. (George Vari Engineering and Computing Centre, Ryerson University, Church Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20170711Woodbine Park: Dance platform in front of Son de Cuba Orquestra at Beaches Jazz Latin Carnival, for audience who can’t sit still to the beats. Many families in lounge chairs enjoying the music and weather, fenced off area for beer garden to the south. Such an embarrassment of riches for music festivals this summer, so little time. (Beaches Jazz Latin Carnival, Woodbine Park,
Jackfruit 20 lb.: More effort to cut up jackfruit than we expected. With the whole family at home, we picked up the fruit for dessert after dinner in Chinatown. (Riverside neighbourhood, Toronto, Ontario) 20170717
Riverside: Jackfruit 20 lb. after Chinatown family dinner, with all sons at home. Their grandfather had never tried jackfruit before, it grows in Vietnam, not China. Boiling seeds, they are supposed to taste like potato. (Riverside district, Toronto, Ontario) 20170717Tabule: Accept invitations when a friend calls to meet for lunch! First met AL when we moved back to Toronto in 1984, and we haven’t kept in good contact over the years. Noontime rain showers changed original plans, he suggested a destination in my neighbourhood. (Tabule, Riverside district, Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20170720The Power Plant: Ydessa Hendeles (2016) Blue Beard, in the Fleck Clerestory, viewed from the second floor. Heroine is the victor in a power struggle in a short marriage, from which she escapes. Normally bright venue is totally shrouded with curtains for the exhibition of “The Milliner’s Daughter”. (The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery, Harbourfront, Toronto, Ontario) 20170720Hacklab.to: Linux in the Park GTALUG potluck BBQ, diverse group sharing the common language of technology. Hamburgers, italian sausage, brownies, cherries, watermelon in a dry period between two rain showers. (Hacklab.to, Parkdale, Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20170722Queen Jones Pawnbroker: Dealing on a used bike, AKY negotiated a bike helmet and a better seat with seat post. Moving here from Vancouver, wanted a bike for winter. Chose lighter model without front shocks. Also tried out guitar amplifier, but will defer to another day. (Queen Jones Pawnbroker, Leslieville, Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20170726Design Exchange: Northern Touch exhibition includes late 1960s Electrohome and Clairtone stereos, all Canadian manufacturing (except for German and English turntables). Enthusiastic guided noontime tour on the last Friday of the month, enlightening visitors on things they may not have known were designed in Canada. Upstairs former Toronto Stock Exchange currently a wide open space, building registered as historic. (Design Exchange, Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20170728
Natrel Pond: Paddleboat congestion around the fountain at the Natrel Pond. Busy summer Saturday, lineups for 15-minute rentals. Water is only thigh deep, saw a boater jump out to change direction by pushing. (Natrel Pond, Harbourfront, Queen’s Quay West, Toronto, Ontario) 20170729
Researching the philosophical foundations of systems theory to understand the meanings of “causal texture, contextualism, contextural” from the Tavistock legacy led to philosopher Stephen C. Pepper. The philosophical lineage and contributions of Pepper were the focus for the January online meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario. A deep reading of Pepper’s work (over a month!) was […]
The first Systems Thinking Ontario session for 2023 is scheduled for January 9, on “Root Metaphors and World Hypotheses”. This is philosophical content, for which a guided tour and discussion will be better than attempting a solo reading of the World Hypotheses wiki on the Open Learning Commons. Upon announcing the session on social media, […]
The October online meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario presented an opportunity for an update on progress made by the Systems Changes Learning Circle by 2022. A slide deck had been prepared an in-person seminar at the Universitat de Barcelona Graduate Programmes in Business, organized by Ryan C. Armstrong, one week earlier. Our regular monthly meeting, […]
Just before starting a trip to Spain, I received an invitation from Ryan C. Armstrong at the Universitat de Barcelona Business School to give some lectures. The students in the bachelor’s programme in international business had a short mention of systems thinking in the first lecture of the operationa management class. With that brief entry, […]
While the adaptive cycle and panarchical connections reflect the possiblity of movement from one stable state to another, it’s possible to get “stuck” in a disfavoured trap. Social ecological systems involve both natural systems and human systems. After widespread recognition of the 2002 Panarchy book, reflections in 2010 revealed further development of the theory and […]
In order to appreciate the influence of resilience science and panarchy on ongoing research into systems changes, revisiting foundational works sometimes resurfaces insights. In the 2002 Panarchy book, Chapter 15 provides a summary of findings. In the course of the project hat led to this volume, we identified twelve conclusions (Table 15-1) in our search for […]
In conversation, @zeynep with @ezraklein reveal authentic #SystemsThinking in (i) appreciating that “science” is constructed by human collectives, (ii) the west orients towards individual outcomes rather than population levels; and (iii) there’s an over-emphasis on problems of the moment, and…Read more ›
In the question-answer period after the lecture, #TimIngold proposes art as a discipline of inquiry, rather than ethnography. This refers to his thinking On Human Correspondence. — begin paste — [75m26s question] I am curious to know what art, or…Read more ›
How might our society show value for the long term, over the short term? Could we think about taxation over time, asks @carlotaprzperez in an interview: 92% for 1 day; 80% within 1 month; 50%-60% tax for 1 year; zero tax for 10 years.Read more ›
For the @ArchFoundation, #TimIngold distinguishes outcome-oriented making from process-oriented growing, revisiting #MartinHeidegger “Building Dwelling Thinking”. Organisms are made; artefacts grow. The distinction seems obvious, until you stop to ask what assumptions it contains, about the inside and outside of things…Read more ›
In web conference, #HermanDaly says #EcologicalEconomics used to get attacked from the right, now it's from the left. Panel @revkin @jon_d_erickson @ktkish @sophiesanniti #TimCrowshaw #KatieHorner livestreamed #sustainwhat .Read more ›
Complementing the idea of a @longnow , @nfergus provokes the challenge of a #shortthen as the online social media platforms distract the larger perspectives on history.Read more ›
An online version of a special issue of Paunch (1980) on "Root Metaphor: The Live Thought of Stephen C. Pepper" has been preserved on the internet Archive
Attributed to Hippocrates is the use of the term kairos in observational methodology, and the presentation of significant findings. Just to be scholarly, Hippocrates is generally reported as a institution, rather than a person. Although Hippocrates is generally accepted as the father of medicine, few have recognized, or even realized, the extent to which he […]
Autopoiesis, as coined by Humberto Maturana, is in the contextualist root metaphor of Stephen C. Pepper, rather than the organismic root metaphor, say #HowardMancing and #JenniferMarstonWilliam .
