KyleWith Content

That time we went to Bite of Oregon

Sat, 22 Aug 2015 16:15:04 +0000

When we decided to go to Portland it just so happened that the food festival, Bite of Oregon, was happening at the same time.

I was very excited about this. I love food. Portland has good food. This was going to be good.

Right along the river, right across the street from our hotel, was the festival grounds. Fenced off on a grassy dirt area, 20-30 vendors were all set up selling bite-sized foods for goers to try.

Wanting all the food, we got tickets for the Chef’s table. Some of the top chef’s in Oregon has planned small dishes and of the 8 we could try five. It was fantastic. I have no idea anymore what I tried, but it was good.

The one problem with the festival though was during the day it was horribly hot. To the point of uncomfortable while trying to eat food. And to make matters worse there were few places to go that had shade. There were so many people.

I’m being picky, obviously, but it just wasn’t what I imagined. It felt, to me, like Folk on the Rocks, without the music. Granted the entry fee was only $6, so the barrier to entry was quite low, I for some reason thought it would be a bit more classy.

What I wish we had done more of was watching the demonstrations. They only had one stage and the demos were so spaced out over the three days, it would have been hard to seem more of them. And I wanted to see the rest of Portland. We did see a fun demonstration on Street Tacos. The demo, the banter, the teaching, was what I was looking for out of the festival, almost more so than the food. Clearly I want to go to a food conference and not just a festival.

All in all, it was neat and I’m glad I experienced it. I did eat a lot of good food.

Blue Star Donuts – Portland, Oregon

Mon, 17 Aug 2015 17:14:57 +0000

On a Sunday morning, we got up and trekked up 12 streets to the downtown Portland location of Blue Star Donuts.

I’d heard a lot of about donuts in Portland. “Go to Voodoo Donuts” people would stay, but honest I wasn’t that into it. Donuts packed with as much crap as possible didn’t appeal to me. Blue Star Donuts on the other hand. They seemed to have some class to them.

We arrived at Blue Star about 20 minutes before they opened, 8 am, to find only two people in line ahead of us. So we waited and as the time grew nearer the line grew longer. By opening the line must have been 30 people long, on a Sunday morning.

We decided to try six. I won’t review them all – go try them for yourself – but I will say that we can 6 to try, not to eat in one sitting. They were as follows:

Blue Berry Bourbon Basil
Raspberry Buttermilk
Hard Apple Cider Fritter
Lemon and Key Lime
Death by Real Chocolate with Crunch (Not the real name but that’s what I’m calling it)
Maple Bacon

They all tasted real if that is a way to describe a donut. They didn’t just taste like sugar, they tasted like real ingredients, which goes a long way.

The neatest part for me, though, was actually seeing them prep, bake, fill and display the donuts. It was quite the production, in a relatively small space.

If you go to Portland, try the Blue Star donuts. It is less of a line than Voodoo, but they do still sell out.

Portland Farmers Market: What I Saw

Mon, 10 Aug 2015 15:14:49 +0000

I love Farmers Markets. I’ve gone to them since I was a little kid. They bring me so much joy nowadays. Seeing all the fresh food and products that have been grown, harvested and made by local people. It puts a smile on my face that I can’t get rid of. No, seriously, it happened.

While visiting Portland, Oregon, we went to the Portland Famers Market. It is Portlands longest running Farmers Market and is located in a square at the Portland State Univesity in downtown Portland. There are other markets around town run by the same organization, but this one seemed to be the biggest.

There were so many different products that my head was spinning, but most of all it felt like a communal place. People were meeting up with friends and family. Rushing to their favourite vendors, all while having a good time. Not unlike the Yellowknife Farmers Market.

The primary vendors were the ones selling products a customer could take home. The produce, fruits, milled flour, cured meats, baked bread and pastries. The market also had a select few ready-made food vendors selling food of different cuisines. And at one end a band played. Although there seemed to be buskers throughout the market.

I would shop here all the time. I wouldn’t leave.

The Powerful Little Camera that is Perfect for Me

Thu, 06 Aug 2015 22:22:21 +0000

I don’t travel enough to have a system in place for what gear to bring. Instead, about an hour before my flight, I go into a panic about what camera and associated gear I should bring with me on said travels.

Last February I went to Las Vegas for the first time. I took a Fuji X100s mirror-less camera with me that has a prime 35mm lens. I also took my Nikon D600 with a 24-70mm Lens. Both cameras are great, however, I only used the Fuji. It was simply lighter and easy to carry around, whether walking the Vegas strip or hiking in the desert. I didn’t use the big DSLR at all.

Next trip, a conference in Toronto, Ontario and a visit with family. For this trip I opted for only the Fuji. I wasn’t primarily going for a holiday and didn’t suspect I would be doing much sightseeing. It works perfectly.

The dilemma with this trip I’m on, that will have me going from Victoria, BC to Portland, OR and then back again along the west coast, is that I don’t know what I will encounter.

Food Festival and street events in Portland, the Fuji would do fine. Driving up the coast and hiking in Washington’s parks, I’m not so sure of.

The deciding factor that finally made me decided to only bring the Fuji X100s was a simple question to myself: what will I be using the photos for.

The answer, nothing but blogging, Facebooking and Instagraming. I’m not a photographer who is going after photos to sell or to get into a big magazine. I’m a casual photographer who likes to document the experiences that I have and then share them through some of these mediums.

The Fuji works perfectly for this.

And at the end of the day the Fuji does shoot some amazing RAW images that could be used in print if I ever wanted to explore that route.

Expect more from me on the topic if Portland and travels through the area.

KyleWith: Michelle MacDonald on Why you need a Website and Website Hosting

Thu, 30 Jul 2015 22:28:13 +0000

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You would be surprised at how many businesses, organizations and artists don’t have websites out there. There are valid arguments as to why an entity doesn’t have a website and that they don’t need one to survive, but Michelle and I disagree.

In this episode of the KyleWith Podcast, we talk about what the point of a website is in 2015, how you can actually build one yourself easily, some tips for doing it and how to host it.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to Subscribe via iTunes.

KyleWith: Michelle MacDonald on Social Media and Podcasting

Sat, 25 Jul 2015 22:26:29 +0000

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Welcome back to the KyleWith Podcast. It has been a long time since we had a new episode of the show, almost 3 years in fact.

Now recorded out of my awesome mobile recording camper, the show will feature different creative and entrepreneurial people from around Yellowknife, the North and the world.

However, on a reoccurring basis we will have a regular guest on the show. Michelle MacDonald is a friend of mine and also a big advocate for Social Media communications. Her musings can be found at ykuptowngirl.com. When Michelle is on the show we will be talking about different topics regarding social media, digital communications and website and how they affect small businesses and organizations.

This first introduction episode with Michelle is a little rough. It was our first time recording and we went in without a plan. Don’t judge our skills on this episode. Listen, laugh and then hang on for the next episode where we really get into a groove.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to Subscribe via iTunes.

Renovating a Camper into a Mobile Studio

Tue, 23 Jun 2015 02:02:38 +0000

For many years, I have wanted to renovate a camper into a mobile office or studio. I work from home or from a coffee shop so the concept of having a mobile office was fascinating to me. Hooking it up to the Jeep and just stopping anywhere to work. This beast might not yet make it down the highway, but you can bet I’ll tow it around town on occasion.

Lets start from the beginning. A friend calls, says he has a camper he wants to get rid of. I just at the opportunity to get it. I had a truck camper once and a similar camper to this one, both which I sold and then a couple years later regretted. Life goes on. I got an another one.

This one wasn’t pretty. I didn’t even take an initial ‘before’ photo, I just started ripping crap out of it. There was a ton of stuff. A couple dump runs worth, but I got it all cleaned out and stripped down to the bare minimum.

As you can see the outside is also not pretty and I have yet to do anything with it. It will remain crappy looking until such a time when I get ambitious again. Maybe next year.

Anyways, the interior, in all its glory, was gross and needed a fresh face. I was never going to strip it right down to the frame, that would be just too much work for me. One of my original plans was to have two walls covered in pallets and the other two white. This also changed as I realized how much work this would be. Harvesting pallets is no easy task. I also had to do something about the split level floor. Annoying.

Four coats of paint later. I’m not joking, four coats on all four walls and the ceiling. Everything was white. I really wanted a simple and minimalistic feel to the space and figured that white was a good starting point if I ever wanted to do something else with the space.

Sidenote: The table in the pictures directly below is a solid wood dining room table I sanded and refinished. I put IKEA table legs on it, but for how I want to use it, it is too big for the space.

On to the floor. I wanted to fill in the lower level. Like I said, it was annoying now that the space is so open. I filled the space with stripped 2x4s and then sheeted the entire space with new plywood. Again, I had plans to do something nicer but things take more time then you always estimate.

To finish it all I did was put down two coats of polyurethane to seal and give the wood a bit of gloss.

Once the flooring was done drying I got excited and decided to move in the actual desk I would be using in the new studio. It is another simple desk project: three core boxes put together, stained and sealed, with red IKEA table legs (yes I have a stockpile of IKEA legs).

What I am really excited about is what I’ll be using the studio for. I’m not ready to start talking about it, but it will be a video project. What I’m really hoping I can accomplish with my lighting rig is the ability to light the subject while also keeping what going on outside at a viewable exposure, so you can see the location the studio is in. I’ve going to neat location ideas. However, I think I may need a better video light.

And just for the sake of it this is something like what it might look like. I’m happy.

What did I spend

Paint: $0 – Salvaged from the dump
Plywood: $0 – Salvaged
Sealer: $17/can
Core Boxes: $0 – Salvaged from old mine
Table Legs: $16 for 4 legs
Total: $33 + A lot of time.

What still needs to be done

I still have a list of things that need to be done in order to get this to a state in which I’m completely happy with it.

Baseboards
Baseboard/Plywood vent covers
Broken Window – I accidently smashed it moving the camper
Heater – I want to get a wall mounted propane heater for the back wall
Exterior – We’ve talked about this. 2016. Jeez, get off my back

I’m hoping to continue updating this article as I cross off those items.

So, what do you think?

On Technology in Scouts

Mon, 04 May 2015 15:42:50 +0000

I’m glad this article came up because I’ve had the conversation about electronics in Scouts a couple times since the Yellowknife Scouts snowmobile camp this past March. And I say electronics, not technology because technology can be any number of devices. Technically rope is a technology.

You might be surprised to know that I actually don’t like the idea of many electronics on Scouting trips. I don’t support the use electronics to fill time that could otherwise be used for activities that can be skill building and more practical.

However, this is not to say I don’t support the advancement of technology within Scouting. There are many digital technologies that can be deemed useful and align with the Scouting mission. Astronomy charts, GPS, Messaging systems, First Air, etc.

And at a certain point Scouts should be introduced to coding and development. As society moves forward into a digitally connected age, Scouts should understand how it works.

I’ve always considered a scout to be a jack-of-all-trades and a resource. They don’t just consume, they understand how things work so they can help when needed. They can sew, cook, work with wood, weld, perform basic automotive care, survive, adapt, work together and, eventually, code. They embrace learning new things for the betterment of society.

So yes, mindless digital games and endless pointless communication don’t have a place in Scouts, in my eyes, but new technology and how it contributes to society and those around us does. And as the author of the article points out, it is how Scouts approaches these new technologies and educates scouts about them that will make the difference.

Photo from BSA Flickr

Another weekend of fishing at Hidden Lake

Sun, 05 Apr 2015 04:11:02 +0000

When the weather is nice and you still have the means to get out to a remote cabin out of cell service where there are good drinks, good food, good fishing and good people, you just have to go.

Took a friend, Joe of Chasing Pisces, out to Hidden Lake to for a day of ice fishing. He was on a mission to catch a lake trout. Well, he caught one. Then caught another. And another. We found a sweet spot.

Preparing the ciscos started off the day, along with a big breakfast. With two lines set and the third hole drilled we were setting a line when the fish started to bite like crazy. one, two, three, four fish later we finally were able to leave to try for some whitefish. A venture which didn’t pan out.

While lounging around the next morning I thought to myself, Yellowknife is a place where you can start up until three in the morning swapping fish stories only to get up the next morning to make new ones. It is a beauty.

One my way back into town from the lake I stopped into the Scouts cabin on Pontoon Lake where an ice road was plowed into. The Scouts Cabin was a popular place for friends and I back eight years ago now. It is a little run down and is in need a major clean and renovation, but bits of history still hang on the walls.

Hiding at Hidden Lake

Wed, 25 Mar 2015 22:37:24 +0000

The first time I went out to Hidden Lake was as a Scout in 2002. It was the annual snowmobile camp where Scouts would spend 5 days out at a camp on Hidden Lake. We’d snowmobile right from town with all our gear, food and fuel for the week. During the week we’d spend it learning about the operations of a camp as well as many outdoor survival skills. Over the years we did many things. One of my most memorable trips was when we did a lake wide scavenger hunt that had us doing activities like shelter building, signal fire building and ice fishing, all guided by a compass and map.

I have gone out to Hidden Lake every year since with the exception of a couple of years where I was out of town. This year I tagged along with today’s Scouts and helped mentor them just like others did for me. One of my favourite events of the winter.