Clean up in aisle four.

I’m ducking out of town for a few days, and will be otherwise preoccupied for a few more — not much time for blogging until Monday or Tuesday.

I do, however, have a lot of neat links sitting in my proverbial shopping cart, and I wanted to share them with you before I ran off.

Time to empty my cart.

Instant Photo Frame: A photo frame that’s cheap, easy to assemble, and looks like a Polaroid? I’m sold. Anyone want to get me one for Christmas?

The blogosphere is alive, well and kicking: Despite the fact that he uses the term “Blogging 2.0” and using almost anything “2.0” makes you lose a ton of credibility in my book these days, Duncan Riley has a point. Blogging isn’t dead, it’s just that the verb “to blog” is dead because the blurring of boundaries.

Um, don’t blog, or something: I’m not sure how this whole “blogging is dead” meme started, but Zeldman says it best when he asks, “when do we stop reducing the web to a vulgar and trivial competition between head boys, and start appreciating it as a maturing medium for real thought and expression?”

5 Additional Contacts Every Web Worker Should Have: From experience, I know for a fact that it is almost impossible to be a freelance web consultant without having someone around to take care of your legal paperwork and your finances. And if you’re working in web communications, you don’t want to worry about the technical stuff all the time — hire someone to manage your hosts, servers, development, etc.

What The F**K is Social Media? One of the best presentations on social media and its importance to companies and organizations I have ever seen. Humorous, and directly on point.

Flip Mino HD: Yeah, I’ve got a video camera. Yeah, I don’t need a Flip Mino. But hey, it’s a pretty camera, it’s small, and it’s HD. Guess what I’m buying myself for Christmas?

When Books Could Change Your Life: The two best books I ever read, I read before the age of twelve. Turns out, according to this article, some of the most important books we’ll ever read in our lives will be read before we hit the heart of adolescence.

Why Can’t Johnny Jump Tall Buildings? I’ve been thinking a lot about parenting these days (don’t ask) and one thing I remember growing up was my dad’s insistence that I can do better, no matter what I did. He was right, but it’s interesting to read articles about high parental expectations and compare them to my dad’s high expectations, which I think actually helped me in my development.

GOP should ask why U.S. is on the wrong track: I’m no Republican, but every time I hear Ron Paul speak or read something he’s written, I gain more and more respect for the man. I may not agree with everything he says, but I have to acknowledge his political acuity and deep interest in making the country a better place.

Should Every Outward Facing Employee Have a Web Presence: Chris Brogan gets it right again. “Not every employee needs a blog, and not every employee should be outward facing from a web perspective. But the folks who have jobs that put them in contact with people like me? I think you need a web presence, please.”

Oh, and before I go: KVETCH IS BACK! Now, it’s powered by Twitter. Awesome.

Alright, I’ve dumped out my shopping cart for now, time to check out. See you all in a few days.

A politician’s reading list: my unsolicited recommendations

A professor once told me that you can learn a lot about people by the books they read. I’d argue that you can learn even more about people by the books they recommend for others to read.

That’s probably why I found this article in the New York Times so fascinating: earlier this month, the Book Review asked a handful of writers to recommend books for the presidential candidates. Their recommendations are varied and extensive, but provide a much deeper insight into the writer’s mind rather than the politician’s sensitivities.

I decided to take a stab at making some recommendations myself, but instead of targeting my suggestions to presidential candidates, I thought it might be more fun to try and recommend books for the current leaders of the major Canadian political parties.

(Apologies to my international readers, but hopefully you’ll still learn something about me through this exercise, if not about the political scene in Canada.)

Stephen Harper

Leader of the Conservative party and current Prime Minister of Canada, Harper is a right-wing politician and avid hockey fan, but hasn’t really been known to be very progressive on environmental issues. My first recommendation for him would be Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us, which is a book that demonstrates our impact on the world through captivating scenarios.

Harper’s government also seems to be very scared of sexuality, trying to restrict rights for same-sex relationships and raising the age of consent in the country. My second recommendation for him would be Judith Levine’s Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex, a book that explores how the best way of raising a generation of sexually-responsible young people is by giving them education.

Stéphane Dion

Dion is an unlikely leader of the Liberal party, particularly since he was competing against heavyweights like Ignatieff, Rae, and Kennedy for the position. Even now, as leader of the opposition, Dion does not seem to be at ease in his role.

Because of his seeming apprehensiveness and because of his inability to portray himself as a great leader even within his party, I have a recommendation for Stéphane Dion that is not my own. A coworker of mine has done a lot of reading about leadership and management, and one of the books he recommends is Shackleton’s Way. The book details how Ernest Shackleton’s leadership saved the lives of twenty-seven men stranded with him in the Antarctic for almost two years.

Jack Layton

Of all the party leaders, I know Jack the best. After all, he has been living in Toronto for over 30 years and he is definitely a pro-big-city kind of politician. When I reflect on reading I would recommend for Jack, the first thing that comes to mind is Jane Jacob’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities, but I know he’s read that already. He’s a fan of cycling, so Paul Kimmage’s Rough Ride makes sense to recommend, but I have a feeling he’s already got through that too.

Time to start thinking out of the box.

Jack’s always playing second-best when it comes to Canadian politics. The Liberals and Conservatives have turned the political scene into essentially a two-party contest, so the NDP — despite holding the balance of power — always looks like the little kid trying to play with the big boys. Jack’s a perennial underdog, so for him, I recommend Joshua Davis’ The Underdog, where the author participates in competitions that are way over his head — and thrives.

Added Recommendations

I have one strong recommendation to make for all three political leaders — and, in fact, to everyone that reads this blog at all — and that is Where Hope Takes Root: Democracy and Pluralism in an Interdependent World by His Highness the Aga Khan. This collection of talks (with a forward by Adrienne Clarkson) is the perfect starting point for any discussion on civil society and democracy and their roles in shaping a better future.

I threw the question out on Twitter earlier today. Thomas Purves came back with some great suggestions for all three:

Code and laws of cyberspase by Lessig. Herodotus for the long perspective. Harrison Bergeron by vonnegut. and dawkins just in case

Mike Rotenberg made a simple but very apt suggestion:

“The Internet for Dummies” http://tinyurl.com/yx8qyw

Ryan LaFlamme brought a recommendation that is extremely pertinent to our country:

Why I hate Canadians or How to be a Canadian by Will Ferguson

So what about you? If you could build the reading lists for Stephen Harper, Stéphane Dion, and Jack Layton, what would you include?

Barack Obama has a place in history

At this point in the US presidential race, it doesn’t really matter who wins. What matters is that Barack Obama has managed to reinvigorate Americans to look at politics as a system for change instead of simply an exercise in power.

I have praised Obama on his oratory skills before — going so far as saying that he was the best orator American politics has ever seen — but his speech yesterday brought political discourse to a whole new level. Instead of simply denouncing Reverend Wright’s previous comments and simplifying the race issue, he used the opportunity to address the complexity of (and lend relevance and validy to) America’s inherent frustrations with the way things have been happening in their country.

For those of you that haven’t seen the video, I strongly recommend you check it out in its entirety to understand the true historical impact that his speech will have on American society.

History textbook writers across the nation woke up this morning with an important task ahead of them: to incorporate this speech into the historical canon of American politics. If there’s anything high school students in the USA need to learn, it’s how to take adversity and turn into inspiration — how to use other people’s anger and frustration as a springboard for enlightened discussion and motivation for change.

I’m not here to tell you to vote for one candidate or another. I’m here to share with you the vision of a man who truly believes in the potential of the people in his country.

In a post earlier this year, I explained why I felt Obama was what America needed more than anyone else:

Obama was not only insightful and intelligent, but he also had a passion. Not a passion to win an election or to gain power and respect — instead, he had a passion to discuss what was on my mind, to learn more from who I am, where I came from, and what I knew. It is this passion to learn, to grow, and to inspire that makes me hope that Barack Obama is the next President of the United States of America. After all, if America needs anything right now, it’s the passion to learn from the people within and outside its borders.

I have not wavered from that sentiment. Obama is a man that embraces potential and rigorous discourse instead of petty politicking. That’s my kind of world leader.

Remember how, four years ago, some Americans threatened to move to Canada if George W. Bush won the election? Well, if Barack Obama wins the election, I’m threatening to move to the United States of America.

Update: In even more impressive news, it turns out Obama wrote the speech himself. No speechwriters involved. Wow.

All in five lines

Because I’m a geek, I spent a good chunk of the evening reading the top rated limericks on LimerickDB. I thought I’d share a few of them with you.

First, a limerick with a political slant:

Regarding the coming election,
I have carefully weighed my selection,
Mrs. Clinton’s too old
And McCain leaves me cold,
But Obama gives me an erection.

Now, a hat tip to one of the best television shows of the 1990s:

There once was a boy from Eau Claire
Who had given his mother a scare
“I see what you’re doing,”
She said, “and you’re moving
With your auntie and uncle in Bel Air.”

And finally, perhaps one of the best limericks I have ever read:

There once was a man named Bertold
Who drank beer when the weather grew cold
As he reached for his cup…
“NEEEEVER GONNA GIVE YOU UP!!!”
Oh, snap! You just got limerickrolled!

If you don’t get it, read this. And then watch the awesome video by Rick Astley.