Language and Culture

A language is defined as a system of communication used by a particular nation or people group (Gessner 2017). There is no consensus on the over 100 definitions of culture by anthropologists, but it is widely accepted as “a web of meaning which human beings weave and in which are Read more…

Kingsmere

William Lyon Mackenzie King kept a daily diary totalling about 30,000 pages from 1893 to 1950, almost all of it is available online on the Library and Archives Canada digital library. He wrote much of his diary at Kingsmere near Gatineau, an estate that comprised of three parts. Kingswood was Read more…

Carp Custom Creamery

After writing about the best gelato in Vancouver and the best ice cream in Seattle, I just have to write about the best ice cream in Ottawa. Carp Custom Creamery offers classic American flavours like lemon blueberry, double vanilla coconut, and chocolate fudge with the consistency of good Italian gelato. Read more…

Seattle Monorail

The Seattle Monorail is just under a mile long and probably one of the world’s shortest urban railway lines. It was built to shuttle passengers between downtown Seattle and the Space Needle, which was the site of the 1962 World’s Fair. The two trains, called the Red Train and the Read more…

Space Needle

The Space Needle in Seattle is tall, but doesn’t reach anywhere near space. Its exterior style is typical of 1960’s futurism with an enthusiasm for human progress. The observation tower is 184 meters tall, but the highest floor only stands at 158 meters. It was originally built for the 1962 Read more…

Ottawa Tulip Festival

The Ottawa Tulip Festival comes into full bloom every May. The display contains 10,000 tulips sent by air from the Netherlands to show their gratitude for the Canadian Armed Forces that liberated them from German occupation during World War Two. The flowers are planted along Commissioner’s Park, a waterfront public Read more…

Philip Zimbardo

Yes, the Professor Zimbardo that conducted the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment gave a lecture in the Chinese University of Hong Kong once and I had the rare opportunity of a lifetime to attend it. For those who don’t know, the Stanford Prison Experiment, much like Milgram’s compliance experiment was highly Read more…