Toronto, Ontario; Chicago, Illinois; Waterloo, Ontario.
Jari and Kirsti say that Lake Ontario is colder and clearer at Bluffers Park than at Cherry Beach, having started waterfront tour way west at Sunnyside. They say the great lake is the size of the Gulf of Finland (Toronto, Saturday) 20100703 1700Harbourfront Centre Sirius Stage: Beats, Breaks and Culture final battle between Ground Illusions and FAM. Noah Ing taking the stage (Toronto, Sunday) 20100711 1750The Bean (Cloud Gate) at Millenium Park, installed in 2004. Much better use of the parklands thab in the 1980s when I lived in this city (Chicago, Thursday) 20100715 0930Debora Hammond taking questions after her talk on Food Policy for a Resilient Future, with Ockie Bosch moderating session (Wilfred Laurier U., Waterloo. ON) 20100721 1000Markus Schwaniger causal loop diagram on the Culture of Fear associated with an economic downturn at ISSS 2010 (Waterloo, Ontario) 20100722Jennifer Wilby taking the role of president of the International Society for the Systems Science. A transition from the role of VP of Administration, revisiting bylaws developed by G.A. Swanson with a renewed emphasis on the ISSS council (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) 20100723 1200
Acupuncture mannekin in Dr. Lam’s treatment room. This show the position for needles in the back, where I had eight needles formed in two rows. Hours later, I am still feeling heat on my back. (Toronto, Monday) 20100726 1630
Leaving Tennessee, Jennifer and I were on different flights to Chicago, but met up at the connection for the same final leg to Toronto. Jennifer had crossed the Atlantic from the UK not only to visit with G.A., but also to stop by Waterloo to plan the ISSS 2010 meeting. With Allenna, visited the Wilfred Laurier University campus. It’s a compact site, as viewed from the residence across the street.
Since the university tour only took to midafternoon, I suggested that we do some sightseeing. The Grand River by the Elora Mill Inn is scenic. We drove south over the bridge from the centre of the village to oversee the mill.
We walked a little farther west on the south bank for a better look of the dam.
Looking east, there’s some traditional-looking buildings on the north side, and the Metcalfe Streeet bridge.
Toronto, Ontario; Niagara Falls, Ontario.
Music from Sam Martin and the Haggard spilling out on Augusta Street from Graffiti’s Bar in Kensington Market (Toronto, Saturday) 20100605 1730Project Bookmark Canada reading about the Prince Edward Viaduct, from In The Skin Of The Lion by Michael Ondaatje, east of the Don River where Bloor Street East becomes Danforth Avenue (Toronto, Monday) 20100608 1815Leuty Lifeguard Station on the Eastern Beaches, with sailboats on Lake Ontario in the distance (Toronto, Thursday) 20100610 1830Niagara Falls from the Fallsview lookout (Niagara Falls, Tuesday) 20100615 1600Pre-G20 traffic jam includes police on bicycles, as well as automotive vehicles. Walking is fastest, at King Street westbound at University Avenue (Saturday, Toronto) 20100619 1600East Lynn Park Farmers Market on Danforth Avenue west of Main Street runs 3 pm to 7 pm on Thursday. Another hidden feature of Toronto, on my bike ride without a destination (Toronto) 20100624 1800Smashed windows at American Apparel and pedestrians taking over Yonge Street north of Dundas Street. Presumably G20 protesters working their way east from Queen’s Park (Toronto, Saturday) 20100626 1700John Hagel @jhagel and Omar El Akkad @omarelakkad on The Power of Pull at the Design Exchange, starting the conversation with The Shift Index (Toronto, Monday) 20100628 1700
Elizabeth Shepherd @eshepherdmusic at the Square in the Shops at Don Mills, as part of the Toronto Jazz Festival. I haven’t been at this mall since the late 1980s, when Don Mills Centre was all inside. Pedalling up to Lawrence Ave. was easier on road bike (Don Mills, Friday) 20100702 1900
When G.A. Swanson released the news that he would soon been passing on, a group of us quickly scheduled for a visit. Convening at the Nashville airport, Jennifer flew in from the UK, I flew in from Toronto, and Gary drove down from Kentucky. We rode together to Cookeville. Paulette had been visiting G.A. to help out, and hosted us with a welcome in a show of southern hospitality.
I first met G.A. at the 1998 ISSS meeting in Atlanta, which I’ve cited to many as the single best educational experience of my life. G.A. had encouraged me, as well as Jennifer and Gary, to become more and more involved in the systems community over the years.
We spent the evening catching up on news, and reminiscing. In his home, the photographs and souvenirs of world travels suggested not only a man who was known internationally, but who might also have been a Southern rebel in his youth. The next morning, we moved a few things around to take G.A.’s car to the university.
We helped G.A. finish cleaning out his office. He had sent in his last paper for publication, and said that he wouldn’t be needing any more references. In the inner room were years of books not only on systems research, but also on accounting.
Having reoriented myself from Takeshita dori, we crossed Meiji Street to a landmark I remember — the Birkenstock Store. It’s in a flat iron shape, with the street forking off.
The fork on the east side is Harajuku Street. I remember walking down this stretch and thinking that the buildings didn’t seem very interesting.
One or two intersections up, looking to the right, is a strange building at the end of the street.
Design Festa Gallery always amuses me, with the nearly-random pipes on the front facade of the building.
Since I’ve been to the gallery before, I decided to start on the upper floors for a change. The murals on the stairwell walls are entertaining.
Still a free thrill to carefully descend and ascend the arc of the bridge, holding handrails to moderate speed. Posted sign says closure in the fall, maybe time for resurfacing that happens every 10 years. Valley for the Lynn Creek is separate from the larger Capilano River, where we visited the fish hatchery. (Lynn Canyon […]
Dyadic waterfalls may follow Shinto style of complementary Odaki (masculine) and Medaki (feminine) forces of the natural world. Original small memorial garden with kasuga style lantern honouring diplomat Nitobe Inazō builtin 1935 did not survive vandalization when Japanese Canadians were sent to internment camps in the 1940s. Norman Mackenzie, president of UBC (1944-1962) recognized Nitobe […]
Overhead sculpture, light projection onto floor, + audio recording Yuan Wen (2025) Play in the Field, part of Impos(s)able Impositions: UBC Master of Fine Arts Graduate Exhibition. At end of hall, drawings on xuan rice paper. Noises were intruding from the installation just over the wall, with sounds set for the opening night reception two […]
Outstanding view of North Vancouver mountains, and West End city centre from second floor patio on south shore of English Bay. Club is private for sailors, but upstairs is open for public. Can't remember visiting this venue when I lived in Vancouver in the 1980s. (The Galley Patio and Grill, Jericho Sailing Centre, Discovery Street, […]
Hoist from 1930s industrial heritage was moved opposite Sea Village in 2022. Prior location was hidden by Emily Carr University site 1980-2017 at 1399 Johnston Street, a building still vacant. Tower has become a landmark near southeast end of street, visible from Public Market. (Historic Yellow Crane, Johnston Street, Granville Island, Vancouver, British Columbia) 20250503
Leisurely Saturday morning breakfast with scrumpet (crumpet variant) and crepe. Observing not only are visitors smiling and unstressed, but also the worker teams seem happy. Purchases from Muffin Granny, a food stall original in the market since its 1979 opening. (Muffin Granny Crepe & Bakery Cafe, Granville Island Public Market, Johnston Street, Vancouver, British Columbia) […]
Malaysian cuisine may not be found in Seattle, so sampled roti canal, beef rendang, carmellized ginger fish, and Assam curry tofu at steadfast Vancouver restaurant. Last time together may have been 16 years ago in Toronto. Catching up on years that have passed. (Banana Leaf, Davie Street, Vancouver, British Columbia) 20250502
SUCCESS Care Home: Entertaining mother with crafty folding of paper butterfly. Since last year's visit, we were advised against offering food and snacks. Pushed wheelchair around the circular hallway. (SUCCESS Care Home, Carrall Street, Vancouver, British Columbia) 20250502
Touring halls during preparation for The Show at ECU, 5 days before official opening. Background right painting Jesse Ward (2025) Mundane Presence. Installation on the floor yet unlabelled. (Emily Carr University of Art + Design, East 1st Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia) 20250502
Mounted early for The Show, ECU graduate Katherine Langdon (2025) The Set-Up draws the eye upon entry into hall. Is the subject with the head in the closet avoiding the situation, or showing discretion. Curtains on the framing suggest a performance? (Emily Carr University, East 1st Avenue, Vancouver, British Columbia) 20250502
Two years after submitting an academic manuscript and responding to double-blind reviews, “Rethinking work, with the pandemic disruption” has now been published in the International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior (IJOTB) as earlycite. The article has a DOI (Document Object Identifier), and should be streamed with an official volume and issue number soon. The […]
The 128th meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario was convened in person. The classroom was filled with current students, alumni, our regular participants, and a few curious newcomers. Moderated by Zaid Khan, the conversation was sparked by Stephen Davies and myself (David Ing) on the evolving styles in learning systems thinking. Stephen has been leading SFIN-6011 […]
The “Understanding Systems” SFIN-6011 course is a requirement in the master’s program in Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCADU. For winter 2025, the class is now led by Stephen Davies, breaking the incremental evolving of content since 2008. While still on faculty at OCADU, the original course designer Peter H. Jones is now a Distinguished […]
In the 1970s, five ways of knowing were established by C. West Churchman in The Design of Inquiring Systtems. In the 1990s, his student Ian Mitroff carried on the tradition and extended that work in The Unbounded Mind. Now in the 2020s, the technology of Generative AI opens up opportunties to query or request responses […]
For readers with an interest deeper than the 15-minute presentation given in August, the Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Socio-Technical Perspectives in Information Systems (STPIS 2024) have now been formally publishied. The invited paper on “Reifying Socio-Technical and Socio-Ecological Perspectives for Systems Changes: From rearranging objects to repacing rhythms” was reviewed by the […]
The 125th meeting of Systems Thinking Ontario coincided with the closing day for the RSD13-RSDX online program. As a regular systems convening group, we’ve had monthly meetings since January 2013. Zaid Khan moderated a discussion including me (David Ing), Tim Lloyd, Allenna Leonard, and Kelly Okamura. We recollected starting as a spinoff from Design with […]
Rhythm and pitch are primordial to language. Susan Rogers, after a career becoming Prince's recording engineer, turned to complete a PhD in psychology focused on music cognition and psychoacoustics.Read more ›
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 ›
In 2024, WordPress Studio was released, making installation on a local computer simpler. The instructions were modified from MacOS to Ubuntu Linux, by Daniel Kossmann, “How to install WordPress Studio in Ubuntu Linux” | Jun 15, 2024 at https://www.danielkossmann.com/how-to-install-wordpress-studio-ubuntu-linux/ I already had NVM installed, but in Terminal, with the result “command not found”. In the […]
The appreciation of change is different in Western philosophy than in classical Chinese philosophy. JeeLoo Lin published a concise contrast on differences. Let me parse the Introduction to the journal article, that is so clearly written. The Chinese theory of time is built into a language that is tenseless. The Yijing (Book of Changes) there […]
In trying to place the World Hypotheses work of Stephen C. Pepper (with multiple root metaphors), Nicholas Rescher provides a helpful positioning. — begin paste — Philosophical perspectivism maintains that substantive philosophical positions can be maintained only from a “perspective” of some sort. But what sort? Clearly different sorts of perspectives can be conceived of, […]
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 […]
