Spring return from California visit, into Toronto coming back to life with city activities.
Oakland, California; San Francisco, California; Toronto, Ontario
Gallery of California History: Spun the wheel to get Strike A Rick Vein, Retire to California!, on an exhibit on the Gold Rush Days. Meandering stroll through California history, since betore the acquisition of the territory from Mexico, through to modern-day Silicon Valley. Free admission on the first Sunday of the month an extra incentive for families to visit. (Gallery of California History, Oakland Museum of California, Oak Street, Oakland, California) 20220501Gallery of California Art: Revisiting patriotic stories from Chinese picture books #HangLiu (2012) Heroine of Gu Yanxiu has added plants and birds that didn’t appear in the 19th and 20th century originals. This image shows the heroine organizing women to plow the fields in revolutionary labour. The painter passed away in 2021, having previously been twice recognized by the National Endowmenf for the Arts. (Gallery of California Art, Oakland Museum of California, Oak Street, Oakland, California) 2022050SFO F gates: I wasn’t going to Hawaii, but one gate over were musicians, hula dancers and agents offering macadamia nuts. On the short flight SFO to LAX, the aircraft doesn’t even have entertainment screens in the seatbacks. First leg towards home, to meet my sister for a handoff of my father for the return to Toronto. (F gates, San Francisco International Airport, California) 20220502LAX Terminal 6:. Leisurely connection at LAX, as inbound flight was late. Excellent service on passenger assistance to get around the terminal. Automobile traffic outside was more stress. (Los Angeles International Airport, California) 20220502Arsenal Contemporary Art: Reflective fabric 40 metres long, stitched by @MataAhoCollective (2014) Kaokao #1, part of @TorontoBiennial. Pieced together by Maori artists, in a tukutuku chevron design used both as a military symbol and birthing maps. Size shown in relation to another visitor, innocently reading the description card for the work. (Arsenal Contempotary Gallery, Ernest Avenue, Junction Triangle, Toronto, Ontario) 20220507High Park: Cherry blossoms on a bright spring day attracts both parents with children, and social influencers looking for a selfie. Roads in the park closed to automobiles, traffic jams on the roads north of Bloor Street. Expedited the trip by taking the bike on the subway outbound, and riding on dedicated lanes all th eway home. (High Park, Bloor Street West, Swansea, Toronto, Ontario) 20220507OCADU Graduate Studies: In dimmed room, @mary_k_mcintyre 2022 Breathing Exercise #gradex107 @ocadugrad has partially gilded found cedar root lit from above, with cyanotype print behind. In shadow below is a charred pine branch. Work might have been better exhibited in a space with higher ceilings. Biography says metalsmith, maybe education is broadening the choice of materials. (OCADU Graduate Studies, Richmond Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20220512Centre for Social Innovation Spadina: Frdiay afternoon in-person social event for @climatecsi in the main lounge of @csiTO, bringing together enterpreneurs weary of years of Zoom calls. Easy to meet new people, as the cohorts have changed with years passing. Not a full representation, as the breadth of ventures has expanded nationally, so extra scheduling may be needed to catch individuals passing through town. (Centre for Social Innovation, Spadina Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20220513St. Lawrence Market South: Volunteers @SLNASpeaks ReMarket sorting donations on the left, Free Market on the right open Wednesday to 7pm. Thursday Repair Cafe 11am-3pm. Waste reduction by keeping unwanted items out of the garbage. Long table has many clothes, I scored a Cuisinart food processor for one son, and a Tiger rice cooker for another, as they’re setting up households. (St. Lawrence Market South, The Esplanade, Old Toronto, Ontario) 20220518Villiers Street: Looking south, new eastern bank of future Villiers Island is dry, with the Commissioners Street Bridge in place for 2024. Had to stand on short concrete construction cylinders to see over the barb wired fence and blue curtain. When the Don River is redirected from the westbound Keating Channel, this roadway today will have been dug out and underwater. (Villiers Street, Port Lands, Toronto, Ontario) 20220519Pine Hills Cemetery: Celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Lowkong Society, the 吳 Ng Wu Ing Eng brotherhood in Canada. Ceremony explained that this monument is much newer, yet it’s a place that our sons have visited each year for decades. Cloudy day on Sunday was better than the tornadoes reported on Saturday. (Pine Hills Cemetery, Birchmount Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario) 20220522Pine Hills Cemetery: Visited Mom’s final resting place on a cloudy tomb sweeping day. Planted some flowers, burned incense and hell money. Event was overdue, mobility has been discouraged in multiple years of pandemic. (Pine Hills Cemetery, Birchmount Avenue, Scarborough, Ontario) 20220522Tov-Li South: Regaining lost time since university years and the wedding decades ago, had a casual dinner together to catch up on lives. Recapping the movements and careers of children who are scattering around the continent. Took some scheduling and logistics to coordinate this event just three of us across this big city. (Tov-Li South, Bathurst Street, North York, Ontario) 20220524Zoomerplex: Welcome and question-answer by #MarilynLightstone for @Doors_OpenTO tour of main hall, before seeing radio booth and museum. Complimented on her voice, she related history as a graduate of the second cohort of the #NationalTheatreSchool in Montreal, many years ago. I’m old enough to appreciate the career of this actress, but no so old that I’m listening to radio targeted to listeners reliving the 1950s and 1960s. (Zoomerplex, Jefferson Street. Liberty Village, Toronto, Ontaro) 20220528The Ismaili Centre Toronto: Park northeast of building is open not only for @Doors_OpenTO, but also wedding parties with photographers. Had joined 20 minute tour inside, the glass column extending up to the roof would be behind a featured speaker in the circular prayer hall. Guides were concise on Muslim history and religious history, I need to do some more homework to catch up. (The Ismaili Centre Toronto, Wynford Drive, Don Mills, Ontario) 20220529
Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre: Sumi-e (black ink on paper painting) #HiroshiYamamoto (2022) encountered on @Doors_OpenTO site crawl, although the exhibition of The Way of the Brush regularly welcomes visitors. Work is one of 13 artists, students and teachers of the JCCC program running since 1964. Other activities in progress concurrently were a guided tour of immigration in the Moriyama Nikkei Heritage Centre, and kendo demonstrations in the studio. (Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, Garamond Court, Don Mills, Ontario) 20220529
Spring sees art exhibitions opening up around Toronto, then a trip to the Bay Area in Northern California to visit family and friends.
Toronto, Ontario; Orillia, Ontario; San Francisco, California; Sunnyvale, California; Redwood City, California; Oakland, California; Albany, California; Emeryville, California; San Rafael, California
St. Matthews Clubhouse: Exhibition opening of Doorstop Diaries @EastEndArtsTO, terminus for travelling journals progressing through the neighbourhood along an art-at-home program July through February. Diana Yee (2021-2022) collage works officially untitled, but the text reads: “My hands aren’t really that big or bumpy, I just had problems tracing them”, and “Things I enjoy”. This event is the first opportunity to meet other art contributors beyond an online web conference. (St. Matthews Clubhouse, Riverdale Park East, Broadview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20220401Ignite Gallery: Water-worn bricks from #LeslieStreetSpit now @brandonceli (2020-2022) Rock Sculptures, painted with acrylic to resemble digital music players and smartphones obsoleted with time. Part of the #ElectricCircus exhibition @OcaduIgnite gallery, reflecting on imperfections in technology that might present an opportunity to change direction. Biked over late for the OCADU Gallery Crawl, missing the guided tour in favourite of a quieter visit. (Ignite Gallery, OCADU, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20220402
Ignite Gallery: Illuminated ceiling, reflecting from #KatieKotler (2019–2022) Permanent Fixtures – Bath Tomb. Immersive exhibit behind a darkening curtain, part of the #ElectricCircus show @OcaduIgnite gallery. A little sleuthing to find a projector above, and a mirror below. (Ignite Gallery, OCADU, McCaul Street, Toronto, Ontario) 20220402
Leslie Grove Gallery: Striking colours Sadie Compton @sadies_art (2022) A Citrus Friend, in acrylic and pesca markers. Fine Art Studio @CentennialEDU group show @TechnicolourFAS @LeslieGroveGallery. Creature resembling a lemon embodies the feeling of overstimulation and sensory overload. (Leslie Grove Gallery, Queen Street East, Toronto, Ontario) 20220403Daniels Spectrum: One in the series of Ripened Off the Vine paper collages of @DesignTOFest, #DavidWoodward (2020) The Memory of Dirt. Cuts from magazines and old books provide lots of details with plants in monochrome, the earth and hands in muted colours. In the hall by the ticket office and theatres, passersby should pay more attention. (Daniels Spectrum, Dundas Street East, Regent Park, Toronto, Ontario) 20220404Small Arms Inspection Building: Terracotta tiles and containers #DanaPrieto (2022) Footnotes for an Arsenal reminds @TorontoBiennial visitors of the history of the former munitions plant of the Canadian Army. Could be a playground or a patio, except for the shape of shell casings. No crowds on a weekday morning, plus docents enthusiastic to explain the art. (Small Arms Inspection Building, Lakeshore Boulevard West, Mississauga, Ontario) 20220408Small Arms Inspection Building: Lighthouse tower #AugustasSerapinas (2022) 5 Sheds transformed by @SawmillSid for @torontobiennial. Reclaimed wood, nails and wallpaper reassembled from an abandoned shed from Barr’d Islands, Fogo Island. Friday morning scheduling presented an opportunity for a date, on short notice. (Small Arms Inspection Building, Lakeshore Boulevard West, Mississauga, Ontario) 2022040872 Perth Avenue: Wooden balls almost hidden at base of #AndreaCarlson (2022) Never-Ending Monument of 28 columns @TorontoBiennial . Sculpture related to Man Mound ancient earthework in Wisconsin, that bridges supernatural and natural worlds, and life and death. Progressive visits to contemporary art on Friday morning, sites are across town from home. (72 Perth Avenue, Toronto, Ontario) 20220408Union Station: West wing #ArtworxTO @culture_to foreground #MADEYOULOOK (2022) non-monument programme Stories Edition, background #ShellieZhang (2020-2021) Facades. Brown pedestal is a cardboard shell reimagining memorials from colonial architecture. Double-sided illuminated electric sign boxes inspired by Saskatoon’s Chinatown lack words or information, functioning more like tombstones. Observed passengers on the way to or from trains pausing to circle the installations, noticing their presence. (Union Station, Front Street West, Toronto, Ontario) 20220414Mississaga Street East: Bright but cool spring afternoon, short day trip north to remove the complexities of online meetings. Still early in season for tourists, storefronts exhibit enthusiasm for their businesses. Outside the bustle of urban centres, there’s more calm. (Mississaga Street East, Orillia, Ontario) 20220420AC741: Leaving YYZ, heading to SFO. Father’s docs are better than mine, I had a secondary screening all the way to gate. Started voyage early, stress was low. (Pearson International Airport, Toronto, Ontario) 20220422SFO International Terminal: We brought a plane down from Toronto to San Francisco, so that NPI and CL could fly home. Tightly coordinated visits to the Bay Area so that we don’t overload all of our California-resident family at the same time. After deplaning, another connection with one automobile headed south on 101 to Sunnyvale, the other going north to Oakland. (SFO International Terminal, San Francisco, California) 20220422De Anza neighbourhood: Dinner with grandfather visiting from Toronto, since newlyweds (of 6 months) have had deferred nuptial festivities due to pandemic. Paths crossing for Muskoka-born generation of family, with their own descendants scattered across the continent. Some in the adjoining room playing with the next generation. (De Anza neighbourhood, Sunnyvale, California) 20220423De Anza neighbourhood: Family photo in Northern California back yard, flowers blooming in spring. Father will visit with more family in Southerh California and enjoy cruise, before returning to Toronto next week. We communicate frequently online, but have a few days when we’re at least all in the same time zone. (De Anza neighbourhood, Sunnyvale, California) 20220424Tafoni Trail: In amongst the redwoods, @JimSpohrer assesses the probability of the Tafoni Sandstone Monolith rolling downhill as minimal. The honeycomb weathering takes thousands of years as water dissolves calcite and redeposits as crystals, resulting in craters and bulges. Five mile hike outbound on Tafoni Trail, led down to valley stream, concluding with a long incline back on the Fir Trail. (Tafoni Trail, El Corte de Madera Creek Preserve, Redwood City, California) 20220425Old Oakland: Temporary digital nomad, with family support. Shelter by son #1, second screen via portable monitor from son #3, after his visit to the Bay Area last week. Weekend was full with extended family in California, early week catching up from colleagues who I normally only see online. (Old Oakland, Oakland, California) 20220426Solano Junction: Lunch with Ian @MitroffCrisis , discussing next book on dumb arguments. He hosted in his neighbourhood on the edge of Albany and North Berkeley, and walked over. I arrived via the scenic route on AC Transit Bus 18, educational to see civic landscape northbound on MLK Way and southbound on Market Street. (Solano Junction, Solano Avenue, Albany, California) 20220426Morcom Rose Garden: As we playfully stalked the wild turkey in the rose, he fanned out his tail to look more threatening. We hadn’t appreciated that there may be 20 or 30 in the flock, with an aggressive gobbler named Gerald leading to a park shut down in 2020. Garden first opened in the 1930s won’t see full blooms for a few weeks. (Morcom Rose Garden, Jean Street, Oakland, California) 20220426Old Oakland: Bright lights in alley off Ninth Street illuminate storefront, while mural @blksiren et al. (2020) #SayTheirNames is in the shadows. Created circa the George Floyd protests, the feathers bear names of individuals killed by the police. An after-dinner stroll on a Wednesday night revealed some nightlife, with more activity expected on Thursday, and into the weekend. (Ninth Street between Broadway and Washington Street, Old Oakland, California) 20220428Embarcadero West: Walking west on Clay Street towards Jack London Square, blocked by a long, slow-moving freight train. Discovered the elevator up to a 4th floor pedestrian overpass, crossing over to the waterfront. The history of Oakland as a transit hub accepts open rail crossings that other urban centres might not. (Embarcadero West, Jack London Square, Oakland, California) 20220428NIDOs BackYard: After ordering a beer and a horchata (yellow with tumeric) from the bar, the Tostadas de Atun came as expected, while the Aguachilde de Negro de Pescado con Chiltepin was a surprise – served in a bowl with a spoon, and tortilla chips on the side. We were laughing as the waiter capturing the photo was dodging a fern moving with the slow breeze. Sunny, but not warm enough to be wearing shorts. (NIDOs BackYard, Oak Street, Oakland, California) 20220428The Drawing Room SF: Friday, 8:30pm, after dinner in the Mission District, encountered a lively art gallery, with a musician packing up after a performance. Large variety of styles in the Women Rising 2022 exhibition, connecting local artists by making their work accessible. Valencia Street has many blocks closed to traffic for pedestrians, and restaurants spill over the sidewalk onto the street. (The Drawing Room SF, Valencia Street, Mission District, San Francisco, California) 20220429Rudys Cant Fail Cafe: Brunch Dazed and Confused plate of scrambled eggs with chorizo, pasilla chiles, and house-made hollandaise sauce on hash browns. When my black bean burger arrived, the next table exclaimed “Onion Rings!” they could have had instead of fries. Local diner is well known for its name from a Clash song and part ownership by a member of Green Day. (Rudy’s Can’t Fail Cafe, Hollisville Street, Emeryville, California) 20220430
China Camp Village: North of San Francisco Bay, on the west side of San Pablo Bay, is the remnants of the last of the shrimping villages dating back to 1855. Chinese immigrants would harvest shrimp, dry in the sun or oven, and then ship up to 3 million pounds of shrimp per year back to China. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, banning of exports in 1905 and then outlawing of bag nets in 1911 all but discouraged continuing industry, with the last descendant seeing the transfer of property for a state park in 1976. (China Camp Village, San Rafael, Marin County, California) 20220430
Beyond city-building as urban planning is the idea of a Music City. This sees development of cultural life across a wide variety of arts, alongside economic benefits brought to the region. At the 119th meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario in March 2024, socio-cultural designer Adam Hogan and musician-designer Ziyan Hossain joined moderator Zaid Khan in conversation. […]
Having reached year 6 of an espoused 10-year journey, the Systems Changes Learning Circle is (again) convening monthly Dialogues on Social Innovation at the Centre for Social Innovation in Toronto. Starting up in 2019, the Circle was convening regularly in the Climate Ventures space at 192 Spadina Avenue. The pandemic interrupted in-person meetings, and the […]
EQ Lab runs Dialogic Drinks, “the kind of philosophical discussion you have in a coffee shop or bar”, twice per week. Wtih this group interested loosely in questions on leadership, I was invited to host an online session on March 12 (evening in Hong Kong and Singapore, really early in Toronto) and on March 14-15 […]
At the 118th meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario in February 2024, behavioral scientist Cameron D. Norman and design strategist Tara Campbell were invitied for a conversation guided by Zaid Khan. The panelists are both alumni of the Strategic Foresight and Innovation program at OCADU. Some time ago, they had conducted a research project on evaluation […]
An article on “sciencing and philosophizing”, coauthored by Gary S. Metcalf and myself, has been published in the Journal of the International Society for the Systems Sciences, following the ISSS 2023 Kruger Park conference in South Africa, last July. There’s a version cacned on the Coevolving Commons. This article started in a series of conversations […]
For the January 2024 Systems Thinking Ontario session, educational game designer Scott DeJong and innovation designer Geoff Evamy Hill joined a conversation moderated by Zaid Khan. Mutual interests in the new field of educational design and games were at the core of the discussion. This was an opportunity for systems thinkers to expand their knowledge on […]
David L. Hawk (American management theorist, architect, and systems scientist) has been hosting a weekly television show broadcast on Bold Brave Tv from the New York area on Wednesdays 6pm ET, remotely from his home in Iowa. Live, callers can join…Read more ›
Following the first day lecture on Philosophy of Chinese Medicine 1 for the Global University for Sustainability, Keekok Lee continued on a second day on some topics: * Anatomy as structure; physiology as function (and process); * Process ontology, and thing ontology; * Qi ju as qi-in-concentrating mode, and qi san as qi-in-dissipsating mode; and […]
The philosophy of science underlying Classical Chinese Medicine, in this lecture by Keekok Lee, provides insights into ways in which systems change may be approached, in a process ontology in contrast to the thing ontology underlying Western BioMedicine. Read more ›
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 ›
Finding proper words to express system(s) change(s) can be a challenge. One alternative could be diachrony. The Oxford English dictionary provides two definitions for diachronic, the first one most generally related to time. (The second is linguistic method) diachronic ADJECTIVE Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. “diachronic (adj.), sense 1,” July 2023, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/3691792233. For completeness, prochronic relates “to […]
The selection of readings in the “Introduction” to Systems Thinking: Selected Readings, volume 2, Penguin (1981), edited by Fred E. Emery, reflects a turn from 1969 when a general systems theory was more fully entertained, towards an urgency towards changes in the world that were present in 1981. Systems thinking was again emphasized in contrast […]
In reviewing the original introduction for Systems Thinking: Selected Readings in the 1969 Penguin paperback, there’s a few threads that I only recognize, many years later. The tables of contents (disambiguating various editions) were previously listed as 1969, 1981 Emery, System Thinking: Selected Readings. — begin paste — Introduction In the selection of papers for this […]
In a recording of the debate between Michael Quinn Patton and Michael C. Jackson on “Systems Concepts in Evaluation”, Patton referenced four concepts published in the “Principles for effective use of systems thinking in evaluation” (2018) by the Systems in Evaluation Topical Interest Group (SETIG) of the American Evaluation Society. The four concepts are: (i) […]
How might the quality of an action research initiative be evaluated? — begin paste — We have linked our five validity criteria (outcome, process, democratic, catalytic, and dialogic) to the goals of action research. Most traditions of action research agree on the following goals: (a) the generation of new knowledge, (b) the achievement of action-oriented […]
