Sunday, December 11, 2011

Wayne Cao: A Politician of the People

On December 10, Wayne Cao had his annual Christmas Party at the Dover Community Center for his constituency members for his Calgary Fort West Riding. The Honorable Member for Calgary Fort West invites anyone who wishes to attend his celebration to partake in a fabulous buffet and take an opportunity to socialize with members of the community. Wayne plays a most gracious host to his diverse constituents who come from a large cross-section of ethnic backgrounds--Chinese, Vietnamese, Fiipino, Mexican, Anglos, East Indian, Pakistani, just to mention a few.
Even though I do not live in Wayne's constituency, I attend the party and bring a Chinese family who have just immigrated from mainland China and who have only been in the country four months. I introduce them to Wayne who gives them a hearty welcome. I explain to my new Chinese friends that Wayne Cao is a member of the Provincial government and they would be more than welcome to come and volunteer in Wayne's next upcoming election in March. The new family are excited that they will be able to participate in the democratic process of getting someone they know elected to office.

Over the past twelve years, I have worked on three campaigns to elect Wayne Cao and with the upcoming election in March it will be my forth campaign. The reason, I support this gentleman is because of his contributions to his community. In 1999, I approached Wayne Cao for advice on how to obtain government funding to host an International World Schools Debate tournament to be hosted in Calgary in 2005. At the time , I thought I would need a $150,000. When every other agency, organization gave me the cold shoulder, Wayne Cao provided advice, support, letters of recommendation that helped me validate the project. Because of his support, the tournament in 2005 became the Conoco Phillips World Schools Debate Championship that raised over $450,000 to run a 10 day international debate tournament attended by 250 of the brightest students from 32 different countries spanning 6 continents. The debates were hosted in 40 different schools spanning the public, private,separate,rural, first nations schools and the Calgary Teacher's Convention. Over 10,000 school children and teachers were introduced to world schools thematic debate on topics of international interest. Without the help of Wayne Cao, I could not have made this tournament a reality. Wayne Cao, quietly worked behind the scenes. But such is the style of Wayne Cao to work behind the scenes for causes that help the community. For example, Wayne was instrumental into bringing low cost affordable housing into the Dover and Ogden area while the Federal, Provincial and Municipal government were still mired in bureaucratic inaction on how to create affordable housing. Wayne was instrumental in kick starting a program turning the weir on the Bow River into a recreational white water kayaking area. I once asked Wayne Cao why did he not tell the general public about his contributions and he replied, " I do not need recognition, my job is to help my constituency."
In his Christmas message to his constituents Wayne states: " I thank you for giving me your trust and honour to represent you in government. I feel it is my privilege and duty to serve Albertans. I hope to receive your continuing support, trust and friendship."
Wayne has written lyrics for a song that he has sung at Canada Day Celebrations and Citzenship Celebrations:
Our Canada, the land of people free.
Together we're building our great country
From West Pacific to East Atlantic,
And North Boreal to Southern lake land,
Blue sky, white snow always pure,
Green grass and wheat fields abound.
We're Canadians, so blessed and free.
We, Canadians, love our country.
Fron all parts of the world
we have come here
to live together in peaceful joy.
Canadians, we stand together.
Canadians, we will live forever
keep on building country we love.
Blessings from Creator to Canadians!

I have included pictures from Wayne Cao's Christmas Party. ( Wayne and his grandson with his son William, Will's wife and mother in law) (Wayne and the new Chinese family: Ivy,Wayne,Michael, Peter)

Hunting in a Windstorm

On Sunday, November 30 on the last day of hunting season, at first light I walked into a patch of bush that was a half mile wide and one mile long. My hunting partner and I were to walk into the bush from the east about two hundred yards apart and walk in a slow zigzag pattern to hopefully flush an elk, moose or deer into a 60 foot open cutline a quarter mile due east where our two other hunting partners waited in ambush. With my trusty compass in hand , I had to take a bearing that I was moving in a south south west direction to appear at the cutline. I had walked only about 100 yards into the bush when I heard a slow dull roaring whirr that sounded like a muffled jet engine. Within minutes , I was hit with a blast of wind as the windstorm hit the forest with gale force winds of 100 to 140 km per hour. The forest exploded into a series of sharp reporting sounds that at first I thought were gunshots but quickly realized the cracking sound was the snapping of tree trucks as the hurricane like gusts began bringing down trees between eighteen cm and 36 cm in diameter crashing all around me. I looked above my head and the trees that were 10 to 20 metres in height were swaying back and forth. As I turned slowly making a 360 degree turn, I heard the crack of breaking limbs and trees crashing to the forest floor in every direction. I heard a crack and quickly stepped back behind a tree as a 30 foot tree fell two feet from where I was standing showering me in falling bark, twigs and leaves. It was like being in a war zone with shells exploding all around you.
I waited for the wind to subside and when there was a brief lull, I would quickly walk fifty yards and take cover before the next wind gust came and witness the next wave of crashing tree trunks. I was in that predicament for an hour and a half. During that time, I came upon deer within 20 feet but I had no intention of shooting a deer. The deer were befuddled and did not know where to run or hide. I remember leaning up against a sturdy tree and to my surprise I could feel the tree vibrating like a drum through my jacket. I quickly looked up to see the tree swaying back and forth. The black bamber aspen was the most dangerous of the trees in the forest because their inner core becomes hollow and rotten when they mature and they were snapping like twigs. I emerged from the forest after an hour and half and feeling grateful to be alive. Mind you while I was in the forest , I never felt more alive in my life.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Creating an Online Alias

Create An Online Alias
Online registration information
Purpose of registration
Information to exclude
Information chart
Create a secure password

Monday, October 10, 2011

Thanksgiving

I recently invited a Chinese family who have been in Canada for only two months to spend Thanksgiving dinner with my cousins in the country. Here are 19 things we did that day that I took for granted but they were experiencing for the first time:
1. Seeing the Rocky Mountains
2. Seeing large hay bales in the foothills
3. Seeing cattle roaming in the fields
4. Entering Kananaskis Park and seeing a forest of firs and aspens
5. Hiking along a forest trail
6. Seeing trail riders on horses
7. Seeing white-tailed deer
8. Seeing a mountain river and skipping rocks
9. Fishing in the river
10. Sitting around a campfire and poking the logs
11. Roasting marshmallows
12. Making a smores from graham wafers, nuttal and marshmallows
13. Eating garden grown tomatoes
14. Eating turkey and stuffing
15. Sharing a Thanksgiving dinner with other Canadians
16. Riding a tandem bicycle in the mountains
17. Finding a maple leaf
18. Setting off rockets
19. Using a knife and fork instead of chopsticks


Sunday, October 9, 2011

Tour of Six Provinces of Northern and Southern China

China Tour : July 21st to August 8 2012

If anyone is interested in taking the 18 day all-inclusive China tour that departs from Calgary, look at Mrleeschinatour2012blogsite.blogspot.com
The final bookings will be made in December. The tour is designed to accommodate 30 travelers and all costs are based on double occupancy.

Hunting Season In Alberta

From September until December, residents of Alberta are allowed to purchase bird game licenses to hunt waterfowl and upland game birds. Big Game animals such as elk, moose, white tail deer, sheep,
Big Horn Sheep, and antelope may be hunted in wildlife zones known as WMU's or Wild Life Management zones. In some WMU's only people who have picked in a draw in June may hunt big game animals in specified WMU's. There are general hunting areas for white-tail deer that do not require a special draw because there is such an abundance of white-tail deer. There are more white-tail deer in North America today than was present when the first white settlers arrived in America. There is also a special draw for Wild turkeys. Canadians from outside Alberta are classified as non-resident hunters. Foreign hunters are classified as non-resident aliens. Hunters who do not live in Alberta must pay higher license fees for the privilege of hunting the animals.

On Thanksgiving Day, I decided to take a drive in the country to view the habitat where the hunters of mule deer, moose, elk and white-tail deer will be from November 1st to November 30.
As I stopped along a country road classified as parkland habitat, it reminded me of the topography one would see in a game park in South Africa but instead of deer or moose one would see elephants, giraffes, spring bok, gazelles, zebras and wildebeests. Unlike the African animals who roam in large herds in the scrubland, the Elk, Moose, and deer hide in the aspen thickets and only venture out into the open just as twilight approaches. With my camera in hand , I snapped a few photos of cow elk that I saw at an elk farm that sells the velvet horns to Asian markets.

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Gary Mar: The Next Premier of Alberta

It is 9:05 am and I am going to play tennis with a friend to get some exercise on a Saturday morning.
I am attaching a picture of myself and Gary Mar. The last Premier of Alberta, Ed Stelmach has decided to step down as Premier on Oct. 1st. For the last two months 6 party members from the Progressive Party Gary Mar, Alison Redford, Doug Horner, Doug Griffiths, Rick Orman and Ted Morton
have been selling party memberships for $5. Any Alberta citizen who buys a $5 membership becomes a member to the Progressive Party for one year. Only Party members can vote for the new Premier. I have volunteered to work Gary Mar to help get him elected as Premier of Alberta by selling Party memberships. Gary Mar is Chinese. If he gets elected he will be the first Chinese Premiere in the history of Canada. When the first Party vote was held on Sept. 17 Gary won 42% of the total party vote but you need 50% plus one vote to be Premiere. The bottom three candidates are dropped after the first vote. Doug Griffiths, Rick Orman, and Ted Morton who were in the bottom three have asked their voters to vote for Gary Mar on the second ballot. The second voting day will be on Oct. 1.
Gary Mar in past Alberta governments has been the Minister of Education, Minister of Health, Minister of Culture and Ambassador to the United States. If Gary Mar becomes Premiere he will hold a general election next year and all the political parties will run candidates and all Albertans will go to the polls to see which political party they want to govern our Province. Our political parties are: The Progressive Conservatives, The Liberals,
The New Democratic Party, The Wildrose party, The Alberta party and The Green Party. The Progressive party has formed our government for the
last forty years. Knowing people in government is very helpful when you need personal references . People who run for government offices rely on volunteers to get them elected because they cannot use government money to run their elections campaigns. I noticed that people who volunteer to help get government officials elected are usually from the business community or older retired people. These people are also free to join the government members organizing committee that advises him on the concerns of the people. By volunteering to help get a government person elected
you have a direct influence on how the government should serve your citizens . For example, Health care, education, the oil sands, the environment and the economy are my concerns that the government members will listen to me because I helped to get them elected. This is one way in which democracy works in Alberta. Everyone in Alberta is free to join or not to join a political party and work to get them elected. It is the candidates that win the nomination in their voting district known as a riding that run for government office. There are 85 ridings in Alberta that creates 85 government representatives. The party who has the most officials elected ( they are called MLA's or members of the legislative assembly) form the government.
Presently the Progressive Conservatives have 70 elected officials in the Alberta government and they decide how are Province is run.
Most people in Alberta complain about our government not doing a good job but do not take an active part in contacting their government representatives. They take their right to vote for granted. When a general elections is called only 40% of the population will come out to vote.
I thought you might be interested in how democracy works in Alberta. The same system is used for the Federal Government of Canada that has 265 elected government officials across Canada. I helped a Federal Conservative named Jim Prentice who was Stephen Harper's Finance Minister and many people thought Jim Prentice would replace Stephen Harper. JIm Prentice recently resigned from politics and is now a Senior President of the Royal Bank of Canada and is making much more money . It is amazing how any citizen in Canada can meet the leaders of your country if you are willing to volunteer.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

House Of Chinn

House Of Chinn

Chinese genealogy
Chinese names
Chinese dialects
Genealogy records
Chen history
Pearl River migration
Origin of Chen
Roots search

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Lake Louise: Hiking to the teahouse

Decided to Travel Alberta this year. I went hiking from Chateau Lake Louise. From Lake Louise you can hike 6.4 km and follow the glacier scour to the base of the mountain called 6 plains on the Glacier. Due to global warming the glacier has melted from Lake Louise to the base of the mountain where the Glacier originates. At the end of the 6.4 km climb there is a two story log teahouse that is similar to the Skoke Lodge that Prince William and Lady Katherine visited in the Kananaskis. Along the trail you will meet people from all over the world who do not speak English as their native tongue who cannot believe the wilderness experience that I take for granted. Sometimes on the 3 foot wide path there is a steel cable bolted into the cliff face that you should hold onto to keep you from falling down the 1000 foot vertical cliff on your right.
At the teahouse, there are three or four college students whose summer job is to run the teahouse.
Because the students have to work until 5 pm they trek down the mountain to go to the town of Banff to relax. The students have to daily backpack out all the garbage to the town of Banff and then do grocery shopping. All the groceries for the teahouse must be carried by backpack up to the teahouse. These young students sometimes end up trekking back to the teahouse at 12 midnight because they want to socialize but they have to open up the lodge for trekkers in the morning.
Hiking in the mountains at night is not a good idea because creatures of the night come out such as porcupines, cougars, coyotes and bears and they can see , hear and smell much better than humans in the pitch black night. And of course there is the 1000 drop to your death off the cliff if you miss a step.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Chinese Canadian History

CBC news documentary traces Chinese immigration in 13 television clips and 9 audio clips.

Website traces the Chinese involvement in the building of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.


A Canadian Historical Research Project that interviews 13 Chinese Canadians who recall stories of their relatives who worked on the building of the CPR and were subject to the Chinese Head Tax and the Chinese Exclusion Act.  Includes: Personal photographs, anecdotal stories, Timeline of Chinese immigration,  Audio interviews, Educational materials for studying Chinese immigration.

Legal struggle for equal rights of Chinese Canadians. Traces the Canadian Government's policy of discrimination in implementing the Chinese Head Tax and Chinese Exclusion Act. 

  1. Chinese immigration to Canada
  2. Chinese settlement in Alberta
  3. History of benevolent association
  4. Chinatowns across Canada
  5. Changing face of Calgary's Chinatown
  6. Lee Family histories ( Chinese Canadians who have contributed to Canadian society
  7. Chinese Memoirs (Literary story)
  8. 100th anniversary celebration photos 

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Safety On The Job

View the Six Workplace Scenarios :
a) Identify how each situation could have been prevented.

Describe Scenario 1: At the store               Explain how the  accident could have been prevented
Describe Scenario 2: At the Deli                Explain how the accident could have been prevented
Describe Scenario 3: At the restaurant        Explain how the accident could have been prevented
Describe Scenario 4: At the gas station       Explain how the accident could have been prevented
Describe Scenario 5: At the cafe                 Explain how the accident could have been prevented
Describe Scenario 6: At the lumberyard      Explain how the accident could have been prevented

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

March 2 Creating An Online Alias

Sometimes a website will ask you to register your email address in order for you
to access their site. The people on the website want your address so they can
try to sell you things you may not want and you will get unwanted SPAM. So what
you can do is to make up an email address which you can use to register online
to get information but you do not give out your real identity.
Click on the following link to learn HOW TO CREATE A FAKE ALIAS

Monday, February 21, 2011

Tuesday February 22: Assignments Due/Adobe illustrator

Welcome back from family day.
You should have all submitted your power point presentation
into Mr. Lee's assignment folder under your folder name.
You should also have submitted your question sheet on the
15 elements of design.

After completing your first two assignments you should
complete the lessons on Adobe Illustrator in The Classroom in
a Book.
In Adobe ILLUSTRATOR you are learning how to compose graphic layouts that can be seen in newspapers,
magazines, business cards, pamphlets, etc. ILLUSTRATOR shows you how to alter shapes, colors and superimpose
layers to create a graphic design. The program has many arbitrary tools that makes the program to appear complicated
but the program is not that difficult. Understanding the properties and function of each tool as you work through the lessons
will make the program easy to understand. Each day you work on Adobe Illustrator it will become easier as you become
familiar with the tools

If you have difficulty in getting a specific graphic tool to work do not
panic. The problem could be:
1. You did not follow the proper sequence of instructions.
2. You chose the wrong tool.
3. You used the tool in the wrong sequence.
4. Poor design of the program instruction has caused confusion.
5. You did not deselect or select the object properly.
6. You did not reverse the foreground/ background layers.
7. Confusion between following the Mac or PC instructions. There are different activation keys.
8. You saved the wrong changes and must now go back and edit the changes.

Solutions:

1. Repeat the instructions
2. Ask a fellow student who has already encountered and solved this problem.
3. Collaborate with a partner.
4. Inform your instructor who will try to assist you with the problem.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Feb. 14 : New Folders, Graphic Tools

Happy Valentine's Day
Today we will create five new folders in your portfolio drive.
You will save all your module work in these folders.
Create one main folder and label it: Multimedia 10
Create 5 subfolders within Multimedia 10.
The 5 subfolders:
1. Com 1005 : Visual Composition
2. Com 1035 : Graphic Tools
3. Com 1105: Audio/Visual
4. Com 1275: Photography-Digital Processing 1
5. Com 2025: Electronic Layout & Publishing 1

1. Save your first powerpoint presentation in the Com 1005: Visual Composition folder
2. Go to the S//: Drive and find Mr. Lee's Folder
1.1 Click on the Submission folder and find the name of your folder with your name.
1.2 Submit your Visual composition folder that contains your powerpoint presentation.

We will go to the business office and sign out Adobe Illustrator Classroom in a Book.
We will install the CD Classroom in a Book to the hard drive.
You will complete the Classroom In A Book Assignment #1 and save the assignment in the Com 1035 : Graphic Tools folder
Submit the 15 assignments in Mr. Lee' submission folder.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Feb.2 Visual communication 1005

Topics For Today:

Elements of design.
You will view a brief video on design elements and after a class discussion you will complete a question sheet on the elements of design.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011