....to my New Personal Homepage!

I started this site to contain material that didn't logically fit into any of my business sites.  If you were looking for any of these business sites, click on the "About Us" tab and click on Links in the side menu.

If you want to set up your own website I can recommend 1&1 - to get your own web site sign up with 1&1 today.

I have this novel kicking around in my head that never sees the light of day - I am using this 2007 writing project to see how much I can get out in 1 month.  The objective of the project is to write a 50,000 word novel in a month.  Good luck to me!

My company, CyberSpace Industries 2000 Inc. undertook to produce a DVD as part of an entry by the Downtown Heritage Perth Business Improvement Area (DHPBIA) to CTV's Canada AM "Wake up a Winner Community Challenge" contest.

On the morning of August 30, this entry was declared one of four winning entries from across Canada.  The DVD is viewable at http://shop-heritage-perth.com/contest.html .

On Thursday September 21, CTV televized the "Breakfast with Jeff" National morning show from the streets of Downtown Heritage Perth.  Thousands turned out to have a pancake breakfast on the streets in front of the town hall, and to watch "Jeff" interact with the friendly people of Downtown Heritage Perth.

Take a look at clips of the broadcast on the CTV site.

Read about the back story - how Perth came to win the contest. 

Welcome to my first art display!  I have a single piece exhibited.  It is a minimalist scupture reminiscent of the cubist era.  In order to get some attention for this display I have decided to hold it on Mars.  The piece is for sale, but shipping will be the responsibility of the buyer.

In order to view this piece you will need to pay attention to the photos being transmitted back from Mars. [see the Mars Rover Mission website].  It is clearly visible in the first high resolution colour photo sent back.  I have a couple of low resolution portions of that picture here to orient you.

Note: It is also quite visible in the panoramic colour photos available from the NASA web site.  In the Horizon_hills_color_A11R1.jpg photo, look at Azimuth 178 [towards the South Mesa], a very short distance away form the lander.

If you have access to this high resolution photo [PIA04995] you will need to zoom in on the area where the yellow arrow is pointing.  The piece is the only right angled piece in the photo.

Here we have zoomed in and you can start to see the piece more clearly.  My initials start to appear.  Some people seem to have difficulty seeing the initials.. I don't know why.... it is only a few million km.

Here is the piece.. closeup, with only the levels enhanced.  This is a pretty good shot of the piece even if much of it is now buried.  If you are still having problems seeing my initials [HC] take a look at the next photo.

Here I have highlighted the initials with yellow.  Hopefully you can now appreciate the full impact of this minimalist work.  I thank you for your interest in the arts.

The other lander has an interesting object nearby that has a familiar shape.  Seems a lot of people have already found this.. see discussion  - more discussion.  If you want to look for yourself go here, download the 8.5MB image and open it some image program [such as Photoshop] that will let you zoom in.  Follow the rock outcrop at the top to the end - then zoom in and pan down.. you can't miss it.  

Even NASA has a bunny detail now... trying to find out what it actually is. See Bunny Detail. 

The Ottawa Business Journal (OBJ) did a great little piece on me and the web site work I have been doing.  Check out NEIGHBOURHOOD RETAIL WATCH: Perth woos Ottawa shoppers on Internet

[July 12, 2004] One of the very interesting things that the internet brings along, is the ability to meet people you would never have met otherwise.  Three examples, all related to music, one of my passions, are as follows:

Elyssa Mahoney - the surprise hit of the Ottawa BluesFest yesterday who got on stage and jammed with Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater.  This amazing 11 year old will be jamming at O'Reilly's pub across from our store urbanMarket - Perth on Wed. July 14.  Check out samples and video at her web site site as well as other gigs.  This young lady is the daughter of friends of mine that I first met at the Hyperion Users Group of Ottawa (HUGO). 

Bodicca Mitchell  - A Perth teen that is equally at home with BLUES, JAZZ or SPIRITUALS this exciting young lady plays solid swinging piano a la Jay McShann or Teddy Wilson. Her bluesy voice is very reminiscent of Billy Holiday, Peggy Lee or Ruth Brown.  Check out this amazing jazz artist at http://www.urbanmarket.com/all-about-perth/artisan/bodicca.html

David Dawson - Wilderness Artist - another Perth resident that is a poet, artist, composer and performer.  He is an avid fan of Jimmy Rogers and has released several tribute CDs of Jimmy Rodgers songs.  Find out more about this wilderness artist at http://www.urbanmarket.com/all-about-perth/artisan/Dawson.html

All three of these are quite unique artists and deserve your attention.

Last Saturday I went to the Perth Farmers' Market to buy some organically grown eggs.  Much to my dismay, I was forbidden from buying any eggs!! It seems that the govt now wants small egg producers to create a govt approved grading station, and grade all eggs before they are allowed to sell these eggs off their farm property.  Large fines are possible for the egg producer and the market that allows these farmers to sell their produce.

Now since these are far better tasting, far fresher than anything I can pick up in the local Suoer Loblaws... who is protecting who from what??  Another example of government squeezing out the small producers in favour of the very large factory operations. 

I took the trouble to start looking at this problem.  My eggs were only the tip of the iceberg.  An excellent overview can be found at Farm Facts or Fiction.  If what you read here gets you concerned, write to your head of state, and let them know of your concern. I did.

Stay tuned for further developments!

Do you remember this piece of toast that sold for $28,000 on E-Bay?

Well - guess what happens when you turn by 180 degrees?

Hmmm - Mark Twain?  Bet they didn't know they bought two, two, two people in one.

One of the activities I have been involved with is the promotion of Downtown Heritage Perth as a shopping destination.

Since my wife and I own a retail store, we get newsletters from the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) providing information about hot new retail trends.� One key trend emerging out of California is something called "lifestyle centres".� This is supposed to be the next step beyond the "malls" (which are dying) and the big box farms.�

Developers buy a tract of land and construct a simulation of a small town downtown.� They build many shops, add people spaces, decorative lighting, attractive street decorations, sidewalk cafes, theatre, entertainment, farmers' market... all to convince you that you are visiting a small town.� However, the stores are typically merely another re-incarnation of the mass merchandising discount stores found in any mall in North America.

Perth has all the above ... and is not a simulation.� It is a real small town downtown built in the late 19th and early 20th century.� Also to it's advantage - in the downtown core there are only a few mass merchandisers.� Most of the shops are privately owned and are the "mom and pop" shops you remember from your childhood. All that is really required for Perth to take advantage of this new trend is to run to the front of the crowd and yell "follow me".

Having such a town is not too useful if nobody knows about you - so one key step was to mount a permanent display where a lot of people can see it and learn about the town.� Since Perth is just outside the capital of Canada (Ottawa) - it made sense to start here.� The first location chosen was the lobby of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.� Over a million people per year� will travel through that lobby.

Hence a 4ft by 6ft display was conceived, designed and installed in one of the large showcases in the lobby of the National Arts Centre (see photo above).� To provide further information, a new web site� http://shop-heritage-perth.com was designed for interested parties to learn more about Perth.� This site was designed using the most modern technology: XHTML and CSS to enable the main site, and RSS� to enable a Syndicated News feed (Read the News Feed at Canada Connects.�