Essay Published

Remember my posts from the beginning of this year about having my paper on Cesarean Section rates published in the undergrate Journal of Sociology at McGill University? Well, I'm now experimenting with how to post large documents to my blog without it taking up tons and tons of space and am using this as my first test (it was more than 25 pages, including the bibliography). Some of you have expressed interest in reading it before so I hope you enjoy. Click here to read the essay.

Merry Christmas

This has been such a special for Christmas for Sarah and I. This is our first Christmas together and a wonderful chance to establish traditions for our new family. Some highlights include: making sugar cookies with our friend Lee, caroling to new friends in french, setting up a tree, leaving cookies and milk out for Santa, reading the Christmas story of both continents in 3 Nephi 1 and Luke 2 and waking up early to open presents. The funniest Christmas moment happened last week as volunteered to gift wrap at the mall, with proceeds going to charity. Things "unraveled" pretty quickly when the group we were with had to leave after only one hour, and no one else showed up to help us for another two hours. In other words, we were alone at the gift wrapping booth for two hours during the busiest hours of the day! It was insane and certainly was a great opportunity for us to work on communication skills. But by the end of evening we felt great about having raised a couple hundred dollars for people with disabilities. That's what it's all about right? Christmas is also about drawing close as a family, and it's been great. I've never felt closer to Sarah and as I wrote in my card to her, it's humbling to have married someone I admire and look up to so much. But when it gets down to it, Christmas is about Christ, right? Here's a great talk by a modern day Apostle about why Christ's life was so important and how it can help us all, regardless of how overwhelming our problems seem.

Team of Rivals

What was just a 2 paragraph story buried deep the NY Times was major news up here. The Liberal Party of Canada just selected Stephane Dion of Montreal as their new leader. This means that in the next election (which could be as soon as next Spring), he will go against Stephen Harper to become Prime Minister. While I've been working for Harper's party lately and genuinely think Harper is a good leader, and that Dion's struggles in English will make it tough for him to win Western Canada, I kinda like him. I haven't spoken to him or met him, but have been around him on a few ocassions. His office was just down the hall from Rob's, where I interned this fall, so I got to see him interact with his staff a lot. I've also stood by him during media scrums (impromtu press conferences) and enjoy his charisma. Harper is right to say he shouldn't be underestimated, though I won't venture to make any predictions on the outcome yet.

He won the position in dramatic fashion, on the 4th ballot of an old-school politcal convention. If I remember right, he was in fourth place on the first ballot, but gained delegates as other canidates dropped out, until he passed the leader to get more than 50%. Interestingly enough, he just named that opponent, former Harvard Prof. Michael Ignatieff, to be his deputy (kind of like his running mate). He's given prominent roles to almost all of the people he just beat, reminiscent of Abraham Lincoln naming each of his principal opponents to his cabinets. If you haven't read Doris Kearns Goodwin's book about this, then you should ask for it for Christmas, it's that good.

One of these opponents was Bob Rae, former Premier of Ontario. Remember my post from Nov 2005 about hearing him speak at a McGill Law School lecture? He was actually college roomates with Ignatieff and switched into this party to run for its leadership, making him a great storyline (he finished in a very respectable third). As for the photo, this should be one of those that Rick Mercer posts on his blog, challenging people to come up with the funniest caption or photoshop version they can.

On my mind...

One of the nice things about having a blog is I get to write about what's on my mind with the assumption that someone cares. You get three things today: Christmas, Petitte and Finland. Well, Finland hasn't actually been on my mind that much except that I just happened upon this great photo essay of the day the Helsinki Finland Temple was dedicated (Oct 22). As for Christmas, our ward (congregation) just had its annual Christmas party, and it was a blast. I really like our ward and enjoy my role. I'm the Ward Mission Leader, meaning I work closely with the full time missionaries to help them teach people interested in our Church. The woman holding the baby was baptized in November and has become a good friend of ours, and the kid in front (with the bunny ears) is the son of a woman who was baptized last Sunday. I also feel privileged to work so closely with these missionaries who seem to be the perfect combo for Sarah and I. One is from Idaho, the other from France. Finally, I couldn't be happier that Andy Petitte just signed to come back to the Yankees. What was he thinking going to Houston! I totally forgive him for going since it was to be closer to his family, but I'm so glad he's back. I'm convinced we wouldn't have caved to Boston and might even have won the World Series in 04 had he still been a Yankee. As long as he can stay healthy, he'll plug a big hole in our rotation. He might even convince Roger to come back next season (never thought I'd be hoping for that!)

Changes

As you can see, the blog looks quite a bit different now. I have upgraded to the Blogger Beta version and am quite excited by how easy it is to work with. There were some causalties in the process of transferring over however. As you can see, it got rid of the clock announcing how long Sarah and I have been married. It also got rid of the counter at the bottom, telling me how many hits the blog was getting. The biggest change is that Sarah and I have created a new blog, a blog to chronicle our family events. As we talked about creating a Christmas letter with all our recent news, we thought it would be much easier and more fun to begin a blog together. We hope this will fill much of the same role my blog has played recently, to update our family on everything that's going on. I will still keep my blog and there will probably be some overlap, but this will be my venue for political and social commentary, as well as the occassional proseltying message about my Church, the Yankees or Phish. I hope you'll bookmark both, or follow the links we have on the side, and check them often. Enjoy the changes! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Canadian National Gallery of Art

The other night Sarah and I took advantage of the fact that museums are free on Thursday evenings and went to the National Gallery of Art. We had a wonderful experience and were deeply impressed by the unique building which itself is a work of art. It includes two or three wonderful atriums like the one pictured above, including one with a fountain on glass, so that you can stand underneath it from one floor below. You can also see the stories high Christmas tree they had in the entryway. But the highlight for me was the giant baby's head in the entrance of the contemporary art section. I still can't get over how cool this thing was in person! Maybe I'll post a video of it so you can get a better perspective on what it looks like.

Barack Obama on Monday Night Football

Have you been hearing all the hype about Barak Obama lately? I've been following him closely for the last year, listening to his weekly podcasts, etc and I am really impressed. He is extremely intelligent and straight forward. A lot of people are hoping he's going to run for President in 2008 and he gets questions about it all the time. There was even an editorial in the Washington Post this week by George Will, encouraging him to run. As this video demonstrates, he also has a sense of humor.

Spectacle

On Tuesday night I played a gig with Dylan Morgan on bass guitar. We had a lot of fun preparing for this event. It was a cool feeling to see our names in the paper in the upcoming events section, to drive up to the venue and see the board out front, as well as a little poster advertising our show. How was the music? Well...I've decided to stick with health policy! The title of this post is a play on the french word meaning "concert." Many thanks to Sarah for her wonderful support, she's the best.

Christmas Staff Dinner

One of the reasons I pushed so hard to get from NYC early this week was so I could make it back in time for my staff Christmas dinner. Rob Merrifield, the Member of Parliament I've been interning with since September was nice enough to take the three of us and our spouses out to dinner at the Parliamentary Restaurant. It's a pretty swank place on the 6th floor of Parliament. You need to be staff or a member to eat there, but the prices are quite reasonable ($15 for a phenomenal filet mignon). We had a great time and it meant a lot to me that Sarah and I were included. Before dinner we met in his office to take pictures and exchange gifts. The staff gave Rob a copy of the most recent Canadian Bill of Rights signed by the Prime Minister at the time (it was fairly recent, 20th century). They all gave Sarah and I a beautiful portrait of the Parliament Building, a beautiful coffee-table dish and coasters that were from the floor of the original library of parliament! If you remember my October post about how amazing the Library is then you'll know how cool a gift this is. My internship will end next week and I feel so grateful for the experience I've had working with Rob and becoming friends with Michael and Ranelle. I have learned a ton about politics and legislating, and my love for Canada has deepened considerably (especially since they keep letting me back in the country!)

DC Photos

Over the weekend I took a bus down to Washington DC so I could spend some time with my mom, who was there for a conference. She was in meetings during the day Saturday, so I had a great time sight-seeing. If you've seen my last DC post, from June 2005, then I can't use my joke about all the good real estate being taken. If you haven't, then you should explore the archives a little. The top picture is of the Capital Building from Pennsylvania Ave. The 2nd picture is the inside of the beautiful dome. It's so high that if you took the Statue of Liberty off her pedestal, she could stand up in there and still not touch the top! The third is the room where the House of Reps used to sit back when Abraham Lincoln was a Congressman. The acoustics in there are crazy, such that you can't whisper without everyone hearing every word you say. Terrible for politicians! In the basement of the Capital is the old Supreme Court chambers, which is still only lit by oil lamps. Of course the room isn't used for anything now, but it's fun to imagine how dark it must've been for those judges. As for the White House photo, you should have seen the protesters out front. There is one guy who beats a drum constantly, and apparently has a 24 hour vigil going with a couple other people. There was another guy dressed up as Pres Bush, but with horns and other devilish apparel. I don't like Pres. Bush's policies, but that might be a little over the top!

The Intrepid

It's funny how quickly things change. I was in NYC all last week, and just 2 days ago rode past the intrepid in a cab on my way to the bus station. If you've never been to the Intrepid, it's a former World War II battleship which has been turned into a museum. It's really pretty cool to sit inside one of the planes or imagine what it was like to live on the ship. It's been sitting at its home in the west 50's in Manhattan that it was so stuck in the mud they couldn't get it out! Apparently they finally suceeded yesterday, and there were some great pictures on the NY Times website of its trip to Bayonne, NJ where it is going to be cleaned up. I love this image of the skyline and can't believe I've said goodbye to it again. Truth be told, however, I am so happy to be up in Canada where even though temperatures are already below freezing and our car is covered in snow, I am eveloped by the warmth of my wife's love!

NYC?

You'll never guess where I am right now... at work in downtown Manhattan! It's been so wierd to be home, and although I've had a great time, I really look to being back in Canada with Sarah. I came down a week ago so that I could get a study permit to take a graduate level seminar in Canadian Health Policy at the Univ of Ottawa. But wasn't I already in Canada you ask? True, but it's actually much more difficult to apply for a Canadian study permit from within Canada. Because I'm from the States, I can just do it at the border when I come up on the bus. Since being down I've been staying at my father's apt and have enjoyed spending time with him. My mom was in Washington D.C. for a conference, so I took the bus down Friday night and spent the weekend with her. It was great, I toured the Capital Building, walked around the White House and had dinner in Georgetown. In all honesty, this was hardly a vacation though. I've been home in NewYork City for 5 days, the first was spent recovering from an overnight bus trip. The other four weekdays were all spent working down at my old summer job, as a Temp in the Tax deparment for Legg Mason's Mutual Fund Accounting. It's so surreal to be back, but I'm very grateful to have a job where I can call up on Monday and essentially say, "Well, I thought it was good-bye when I left in July, but I'm going to be in the city this week and I'm hoping to start working on Wednesday," and for them to say "ok, great, come get as many hours as you want." Tonight I catch the 9:30 bus back north, crossing the border around 4am, but not getting into Ottawa until 9am. Ahh, I'm so happy I'll have 12 hours on the bus to look forward to tonight! I promise to post pictures soon.

Gig: Dec 12th

I'm real excited to have a gig booked at the Avant Garde Bar in downtown Ottawa for Dec 12th at 8pm. I'm going to be debuting a bunch of songs I've written and am very excited that bassist Dylan Morgan will be joining me. I hope to see you all there! Here's the link to the venue: Avant Garde Bar

PHISH-

Here's another fun memory. This is New Years Eve Dec 31,1999. Peter Jennings did a 24 hour broadcast of NYE celebrations in each time zone. I stayed up until 3am to see this clip and was so dissapointed I wasn't down in Florida for what is widely considered the best Phish concert in their more than 20 year history. They played 3 sets on the 30th, 1 on the afternoon of the 31st and then from just before midnight until after the sunrose at 7:30 am the next day! I've listened to the whole set a few times, including once or twice listening to it non-stop and it's phenomenal. Here's a phun little taste for you.

Foo Fighters - Big Me

Bring back some memories?

Remembrance Day

What we call Veteran's Day in the States is called Remembrance Day up here. The Canadians seem to do a better job of honoring their soldiers, getting a 3 day weekend (I can't even remember if they do in the States) and having lots of ceremonies. Remembrance Day is Nov 11th, which I think is the anniversary of the end of World War I (thank you Kerrie). During the week leading up to the 11th, everyone wears a little red plastic poppy on their lapel as a reminder of the sacrifices that gave and protected our freedoms. I am very grateful for all the men and women who are willing to put everything on the line for others. While I desperately wish we didn't have wars, and I don't agree with the cause motivating most of the world's current conflicts, I am so grateful for the Americans and Canadians who love their country enough to go where their commander in chief sends them. As Remembrance Day approached, one of my assignments in my internship was to write a newspaper column for Rob Merrifield, the Member of Parliament I work for. It's kinda tough to write a newspaper as if you're someone else, but it was a good experience. It went through a couple revisions by the rest of team after it left my hands, but I'm still proud of the final product. Go to his website to read the article and scroll down to the Oct 26th posting. Here's a copy of the draft I wrote.

Big Changes

Tuesday was a very big day as the Democrats won control of the Senate and the House of Representatives for the first time since 1994. I won't lie, I'm pretty excited about this development. I like the way David Brooks summarized the implications of the election saying it was a victory for moderates and centrists. Pres. Bush has been in power for 6 years and has had a Republican congress to go along with whatever he wants. The American system is designed so that the three branches provide checks and balances on each other, making it difficult for any one person to get too much power, and it will be refreshing to have some balance back. I'm so glad that so many Americans saw that Pres. Bush has led us on a wrong path in Iraq, federal spending, health care and stem cell research. A Democrat congress will require all sides to work together and will lead to more intelligent legislation. I'm also excited that Charles Rangel, the man I interned for over the summer, will become Chair of the very powerful House Ways and Means Committee and that Harry Reid, who I met in January, will become Senate Majority Leader. I'm kind of proud that the person with the highest elected office in the country (outside the executive branch) is a Mormon and democrat. He's a great example that Democrats can be principled and Christian. Now that he and Nancy Pelosi (first female Speaker of the House) will soon be in power, the pressure is on them to live up their word. I'm very happy to hear that their first initiative will be to limit the power lobbyists have to influence legislation. The other side of the fact that the election is over is that it's basically the unofficial start of the 2008 Presidential Campaign. Already, Governor Thomas Vilsack of Iowa has announced he's running for President, and Senator John McCain of Arizona has set up an official exploratory committee about whether he could win.

President Hinkcley

Over the weekend, Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley became the oldest man to serve as prophet in modern history. The most impressive thing about this distinction is that he is the only one of the 6 pictured to have a very vibrant and aggressive presidency into his 90s. These two factors combined speak volumes about how good a leader he has been. I have never met him, but have been very close to him on a number of occassions. Being in his presence and hearing his teachings has had a profound impact on me. I love him very much and truly believe he is a prophet on the earth, doing God's work.

Gatineau Ward Talent Show

Here are some pictures from the Ward Talent Show I mentioned earlier. Sarah and I began by playing the Phish song "Dirt" as a duet. I love the 3rd picture, it's of her whistling the introduction. Sarah playing the bass is the epitome of sexiness as far as I'm concerned!! Sergio and Emilie joined us for a funkier verson of "I hope they call me on a mission." We had a blast!

Midterm Elections

On Tuesday, Americans will vote in what we call the "midterm elections." This is halfway between a Presidential term, when all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and one third of the 100 Senate seats, are up for grabs. The Republicans have controlled the Congress since 1994 and while there is an incumbency retention rate of something like 90% (meaning that the guy who is already in Congress only loses an election for that seat about 10% of the time, very rare) this year's race is wide open. I am very frustrated by the Bush presidency and the 109th Congress, which did much more rubber stamping than providing "checks and balances." It will be really healthy for the country to have a very different 110th Congress. Most predictions are that it will be close, but that the Democrats will gain a majority in the House and maybe even the Senate. You should check out the really cool election guide on the NY Times website, which lets you profile races in any state. You can also make your own race by race predictions and it will calculate the implications for you. When I made my very conservative predictions, the Democrats won the House by about 5 seats, and the Republican majority in the Senate was narrowed to 2. I've already sent in my absentee ballot, and therefore have already voted. I voted for Elliot Spitzer (Dem) as NY State's Governor, Callaghan (Republican) as Comptroller, Hillary Clinton as US Senator, Charles Rangel as Representative, Eric Schwendiman as State Senator and Herman Ferrell as State Assemblyman. If the Dems win control of the House, then Rangel will probably become Chair of the very powerful Ways and Means Committee, which will be somewhat of a boost to my resume, since I interned with him this past summer. Do you have any predictions for Tuesday?

Bill Sali: What Republicans say

While I don't like negative campaigning, this is an ad that Idahoans need to see. I was around the Republican canidate Bill Sali a lot while working in the legislature earlier this year, and he was so unimpressive to me that it stood out. He would show up unreasonably late to committee meetings, then pull out the laptop and start working on other stuff while people were testifying. He would even make calls on his cell phone from his seat at the committee table. I've seen Larry Grant speak and he is a very impressive and inteligent man, and I hope he wins.

Recent Adventures

I recently drove a recent convert of the Church to the Temple in Montreal, so he could do baptisms there. It was a wonderful experience for all involved. He was able to get a ride home with someone else, so I took advantage of my time and location to pop in on the Coutures. Rebecca jumped when I knocked on their kitchen window, and I had a blast playing with Guillaume and Estelle, my completely adorable niece and nephew. Guillaume and I made this halloween bat for Sarah who was back home working. As you can see, she was pretty frightened!

Last weekend, Emilie (Sarah's sister) celebrated her birthday by coming to our place with her boyfriend Sergio. We had a fantastic time playing games, eating good meals, and even performing in our Ward's talent show. We also went across the river to Ottawa and we gave them a tour of Parliament. Technically the building was closing to the public, but whenever the guards saw my badge, they let us walk around freely. It was fun.

Last night Sarah and I explored more of the Parc de la Gatineau, the stunning provincial park that is literally just minutes from our apartment. We love this area so much, and can't believe how close we are to a center of international diplomacy on one end, and a nature at its best on the other end. I'm not feeling well and wasn't sure I was up to the walk (and am paying a bit of a price now), but I'm glad my wonderful wife suggested we do this. I love her so much and feel so lucky to be with her. Do you like the haircut she gave me? We bought clippers for the price of 1 haircut, and will now be able to do it ourselves for free. Truth be told, I did most of my own haircut!

Hanging with Melinda & Tony

Sarah and I went to Edmonton, Alberta (in western Canada, right above Idaho and Montana) for about a week in the middle of October. Sarah lived there for 6 years and has lots of friends and family there, so of course we had a blast. Among the highlights was the night we spent at Melinda and Tony's cottage (really her parent's cottage). Tony made us the most incredible meal, we played with their 20 month old son Dallin for hours, and we laughed all night. I feel so lucky to have inherited such great "friends in law."

Dallin

Proof that kids like me!

Mo Fun

While staying at the Mo's cottage, we went on a little canoe trip. It was pretty cold, and we didn't all have our winter gear, so we wore whatever was around, resulting in a pretty funny picture. Our life jackets didn't fit outside of our coat, so we wore them under. The result was having stomachs so big we could hardly kiss! The third picture is at Suzy's house. She and Sarah worked together and are great friends. She came all the way to Montreal for our wedding, and was kind enough to feed us a feast when we visited her. As a side note, Suzy is from North Carolina and is serving a vital role in mentally preparing Sarah for her upcoming transition to Chapel Hill. Then again, when I check the weather report and see that while it's snowing here in Ottawa, it's in the 60's in NC, the transition doesn't seem too hard anymore. Meanwhile, I realized how well my current transition is going (staying a bonus year in Canada), because I had a great time talking Canadian politics and hockey with Tony and Suzy's husband Dean.

Edmonton

While in Edmonton a couple weeks ago, Sarah and I really enjoyed the morning we spent cleaning the Temple. As silly as it may sound, I learned a lot about the importance of taking constant care of my marriage by taking close care of a Temple that's exactly like the one we were married in. If we work at it, this relationship really can be eternal. And yes, that is snow in the picture. It snowed two of the 5 days we were there.

Sarah's family

While in Edmonton we spent lots of time with Sarah's extended family. I loved getting to know everyone and feel a deeper understanding of who Sarah is and where she comes from. I love her more now than I did before. The top picture is us with her Aunt Sharon's family. They invited us over for lunch and fixed us a great meal. We had dinner with her Aunt Peggy, the second picture. We brought some strange fruit as dessert. Have you ever had dragon fruit or horned melon? Dragon fruit, which is the pink and black one, wasn't that great, but I really enjoyed the horned melon, the greenish pulp fruit with a spikey yellow skin. The final picture is her cousin Deanna, a very interesting girl who works in the federation of community organizations, and her Grandpa. We stayed most of our nights at Grandpas and really enjoyed our chats and games of dominoes.

Alberta Provincial Legislature

Due to some lucky timing, Sarah and I got a private tour of the Alberta Provincial Legislative Building. It's a beautiful building in downtown Edmonton which impressed us a lot. These photos are taken inside the Assembly's chambers. I was interested to learn that the provincial legislature is uni-cameral, meaning there is only one house of the legislative branch. The tour guide was really surprised to learn that in the US, every state has a Senate as well.

Yankee Pitcher Dies

Cory Liddle

Sometimes wierd and tragic things just happen. What happened to Yankee pitcher Cory Lidle yesterday affected me in a couple different ways. Firstly, I am a New Yorker and am always sad when something tragic happens in my city. It also makes me feel a bit vulnerable, in that the apartment I just moved from was also on the river, though at a different spot on the island. My Dad lives in a building by the river. What if the plane had been closer to finishing a whole circle around Manhattan? On a different level, the images of a plane flying into a building, of firemen rushing up into a building and of New Yorkers worringly looking up at a burning building obviously brought a myraid of feelings to the surface. I can't speak for all New Yorkers, but I always had the feeling that we all sense it is just a matter of time before the next big attack comes. You don't know which day it will be or where or with you will be when it happens, but it feels a bit imminent. When I read the headlines: "Plane crashes into NYC building," what do you think goes on in my head? Thankfully, this was just an accident, and only two people were killed. Of course, one of them happens to also be a member of the New York Yankees. In case you haven't noticed, I am a big Yankee fan, so this feels like it hits a little closer to home and puts the sport in perspective. When stuff like this happens, it makes you feel a bit more appreciative for every day you have, and for how great your wife and life are.

Canadian Prime Minister

Here's a brief video I took while waiting with the media for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to make an appearance. It all happened pretty quickly, so if you don't recognize him, just trust me, it was him.

Another day in Parliament

I am really loving my internship in the Canadian Parliament. I took the first picture while waiting for the bus last night, minutes after walking past Michael Ignatief, the man ahead in the polls to become leader of the Liberal Party and therefore the man who might go up against Stephen Harper in the next election. Earlier in the day I watched question period and then took part in all the "scrums" afterwards. That's the word they use to describe the huddle that forms around someone as they field questions from the media. Recognize the man in the 2nd picture? That's Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois, the party that has significant federal power considering they only represent one province. The bottom picture gives you a sense of what the scrum feels like from the politicians point of view. That's Lucienne Robillard speaking to the media, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and representative of the area around McGill University in Montreal.