America's Stonehenge

I'm a fairly patient guy. So much so that I've waited to get to a backlog of magazines that have been collecting in a pile for more than a year now; interesting magazines like Adbusters, Discover, and my favourite, Wired.

In reading Wired's May 2009 issue (yep, eek!) last night I came across an incredibly interesting and weird (that's "weird" not "wired") article. The issue's theme was focused on magic, puzzles, and some of the strange places found on Earth. Near the back of the issue, I came across an article dedicated to one of America's least possibly heard of attractions. I'm not a world traveller by any means, so I guess it's not unusual that I've never heard of this mysterious structure. Its name: the Georgia Guidestones.

To look at them, they appear to be a backyard version of Stonehenge. While their appeal is likely limited, the messages that are inscribed upon them are meant to be a guide map for after the apocalypse. The ten "rules" for re-establishing world order are even written in seven major languages to assist whoever might still be around to read the inscriptions.

Due to its controversial message, and the fact that the Guidestones are situated in America's Bible Belt, the stones have seen their share of misfortune. There have been calls to destroy the stones as some feel they are tied to the Antichrist, and there has been at least one attempt to pull them down. To date, graffiti has damaged the site the most and the County has tried lighting the site to avoid further damage (Technically, the site is owned by Elbert County where the stones are situated. The identity of the man who financed and arranged to have the stones erected was known by only one man; the lawyer who handled the legal necessities and immediately transferred ownership of the small parcel of land to the County after the unidentified man paid for it).

The most controversial of the stone's messages are the first three. Do I believe they should be pursued? Absolutely not. We can't snap our fingers and turn back to the clock to a time when Earth's population was more manageable. But I find it fascinating (and spooky) that there are people who take any of this seriously. As to the identity of the man who commissioned its construction? That's just good publicity. No single, largely unknown, assembly of stones are bound to upset life as we know it. For the most part, the recommendations on the Guidestones seem pretty rational. Countless structures that convey their own messages have been erected in cities, townships, and villages all over the world. They're called churches, mosques, temples, or any other variant of places of worship. If you hold your own beliefs to be true, it should matter little as to what another person believes. If no one is inciting hatred or being harmed, let it be.

Were the Guidestone's in my hometown, I certainly wouldn't sweat it.

And now, the time is near, and so I face...

...the end of Semester 3. Yay!

I don't know if I've ever had a late post (oops), but I'm happy to say that I've completed my last assignment for this semester. I've been working on building a four-page website for the past seven hours at the college. It's my last task for Image Editing, and now that it's done I can say that it looks great. If only the actual business that the idea is framed around existed, I would have it hosted and displayed on the web. I feel as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulders as I was concerned about my competency going into this assignment, but I feel I have done a decent job. All that I have remaining is an exam in Canadian Literature and then I am done.

I look forward to my fourth semester at Red River College, but I'm looking forward to resting even more. There's at least a couple of things I've had to put on the back-burner at home the past few months; not the least of which will be installing two chandelier light fixtures in our home before Christmas arrives.

My life is wayyyyyyy too much fun.

Filming

A few weeks ago, myself and two classmates began an assignment for TV class that would see us visiting an industry professional's workplace, and asking them questions about their job. As luck would have it, the two classmates I joined for this assignment had located a person to interview, and they were okay with me joining them for the project.

A few days before the shoot, I went to the location where we would be filming. The woman we were interviewing was Deborah Zanke. Deborah is the owner of her own business called Message Communications. She manages her business from a very spacious, contemporary home. I couldn't wait to tell my group-mates about the great location we would be shooting in.

We spent almost two hours filming our interview with Deborah and getting the required "b-roll" to fill in any gaps in the editing room. All told, we spent about five hours editing what would become a three minute, twenty-four second video. I offered to give Deborah a copy of our assignment once it was complete, and upon viewing it, she commented on how "professional" the final product looked.

I think Deborah's video is the best work I've been involved with to date, but I'm still a student so I won't let it go to my head.

As with many of our assignments, there is always room for improvement. Overall, I feel there are some particularly good shots and advice from Deborah. We really appreciated the fact that she agreed to be our subject and allowed us to shoot in her home. Thanks again.

In tomorrow's class, we are watching all the groups' work from this assignment, and getting tips from our instructor, Dean Cooper, about the good, and the bad, and sometimes ugly. :)

I was surprised about how much I enjoyed this assignment. As I sat in the editing room, I really enjoyed all the piecing together and the patchwork quality to creating a film, as short in duration as it was. I look forward to our next challenge.

"Don't Fear the Dreamweaver"

The pace of learning software can be a bit stressful at times, but it's important to remember that there are always resources outside the classroom to help you if you need them. When learning something as formidable as website design, never forget to search the Internet, that repository of which you ultimately plan to build for.

There are scores of websites on the Internet that offer free advice, techniques, and tips on the basics of Adobe's Dreamweaver. Here are a few of them:

1. Best Web Designz

2. Adobe TV

3. Tutorial Lounge

4. Killersites.com

5. vtc.com

There is another site called lynda.com that provides some free tuorials, but this is a fairly established site and it is primarily a pay-for-use service. I hope at least one of these sites turns out to be useful for you in the Dreamweaver learning process.

The New Professionals

Today, me and some of my CreComm peers held a mock news conference at Red River College. I can't disclose any details of our announcement for fear of anyone reading this may misunderstand and actually think the content of our announcement was something that was actually taking place. Needless to say, it was a very fun event that put our institution in a very positive light.

The Public Relations majors (of which I am a part of) all did exceedingly well in their preparations, and designed two exceptional media kits. A lot of work went into both of them and it showed. The Media Production majors handled their camera equipment very well, and did a fine job of setting up in the limited amount of time they had. Last, but not least, the Journalism majors stepped up to the plate and asked very thoughtful questions. They are bound to write great stories using the quotes provided to them by "our representatives" of the College who stood in for their real-life counterparts today.

Cheers! to everyone who had a hand in making this "event" run smoothly today, and for CreComm existing in the first place to make our communications training possible.

PR Newsonline: All the News That's Fit to Post

Not a day goes by when I don't sit back and wonder at the awesomeness (not a word I use often) of the Internet; particularly, search engines.

In a few short weeks I will be conducting a presentation for my classmates and awesome instructor she's entitled, "PR In the News." In this assignment, students take a current events topic from the news that relates to Public Relations in some way and discuss it in front of the class–complete with a slideshow. As my presentation date draws nearer (Dec. 6), for fun I typed "pr news" into my Google search engine. Lo and behold, what appears before me at the top of the list?

PR Newsonline.

Why it had never occurred to me to type these two short words into Google I'll never know, but it appears I've discovered a great resource. PR Newsonline is the online version of PR News' print version. Articles on Public Relations abound and there is even a video window called PR News TV where professionals in the industry give short interviews about their profession or area of interest.

You can gain access to PR Newsonline's content via a simple exchange of your name, address, and email.

This is a site I'll be returning to on a regular basis.

The Potash Party Hangover

transplant v 1 transfer, move, remove, shift, relocate

Saskatchewanian n 1 an individual who resides in the Province of Saskatchewan in Canada

The above is meant as a reference for the disclosure I am about to make. Are you ready?

I, Greg Berg, am a transplanted Saskatchewanian living in Manitoba.

Whew, I'm glad I got that off my chest. Now that we've recovered, and I've stated my bias, please allow me to continue.

I share my birthplace of Esterhazy with acclaimed Canadian author, Guy Vanderhaeghe. My hometown is a simple, quiet place. The people who live there are cut from good cloth: they are friendly, supportive, act with good intention, and live within optimistic norms. Other than the farmers whose agricultural endeavours stretch as far as the eye can see, there is another staple of business that contributes by and large to keep the community afloat. Esterhazy practically sits on top of one of the largest potash deposits in the world. Esterhazy is a mining town.

The potash business in Saskatchewan has been a focus in the news lately and I had to weigh in. I grew up within a stones throw of this impressive mineral deposit, and I've seen the tailings mound grow higher year after year. The potash business is booming, and for a good reason. Our agricultural system is expected to do more with less. Fertilizers are replacing nutrients in the soil that would naturally be replaced over time. We need our arable land to recover faster in order to get the next crop in the ground. Land and soil have basically become a medium to shore up a plant's root system; chemicals do the rest. So far, demand has yet to outstrip supply. But one thing is for sure, potash is big business.

At issue is the Canadian Governnment's recent decision to halt the takeover bid by BHP Billiton of Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan (see History 1989). At first I thought it was all about keeping a company "Canadian," until you can see that PCS had once been a Crown Corporation. As Potash Corp is now publicly traded, one can't even say this company is Canadian owned even if its headquarters are in Saskatoon.

Now, Prime Minister Stephen Harper is preparing talk of revisiting the Investment Canada Act. I find this interesting as this document was written in 1985 during a period when the Progressive Conservative's (a precursor to the Conservative Party of Canada) were leading the country under former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney; Canada appeared to be "open for business" in 1988. Could it be that the Investment Canada Act was tidily written to allow easy progression of NAFTA? If so, I guess it was just a matter of time before another country other than the U.S. stood up and took notice.

Being as fertilizer is such an integral part of modern agriculture, I guess the time is now. There will be a lot of debate that will come out of this decision – its merits and demerits – but history will be the ultimate decider.