At CBC they have recently been discussing the redesign of cities and a beautiful and thought provoking flash presentation called Visionary Cities has been put up at CBC Webone. On it are clips and photos on preserving urban nature, honouring the past, and creating user friendly spaces. And if you read nothing more, the looped soundtrack consisting of a uniquely Canadian soundscape of water, wind, loons, traffic, children playing, crickets and other elements is a great wall of sound to bring a few minutes of relaxation to your day.

Here is a list, with vivid descriptions, of 35 canoe strokes. All your favourites are here, including the J-stroke, C-stroke, draw, pry and sweep. But included are a whole bunch of specialized strokes like the slice, the thumb-up rudder, sculling draw, the high and low brace and the Cross Stationary Bow Draw (also known as a Duffek). Each stroke comes with what amounts to a little three part poem about its execution, such as this one for the cross stationary bow draw:

Dervala mentioned in her comments that she has perfected her solo J-stroke. I can tell you that once you have mastered that, it’s a skill you never forget, like riding a bike.

Stepping into a sleek cedar strip canoe on a misty morning with glassy black water beneath me is the best heart medicine there is.

I am really grooving on Dervala’s blog these days. And it is getting cooler by the day as she pokes around central Canada, bringing her sharp eye and lucid prose to our forested heartlands.

Her notes on Canadian culture have been great, and they were topped recently by this brilliant take on the “I Am Canadian” rant, featuring a distinctly Irish theme:

Cool, eh?

Parking lot has gone to the beach.

Back in a week

You need to go to this page and click on the first Real Media link in the second section. There you will find a video of Daler Mehndi’s hit “Tunak Tunak Tun.”

Just go. Now.

AKMA is to blame