View my photos at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49150250@N07/

Is there any escape from noise?

APRIL 5, 2010 – Gosh, Darned Summer in the City.
By Matt Weingarden


With the coming of summer in the downtown core, out come the noise police.
My apartment building is full of these whiny curmudgeons. They want to rain on everyone’s parade.
Seems everyone who buys a decibel meter is an expert Acoustician.
Those folks run around the building complaining of gigantic decibel levels. It’s amazing how they quote numbers like they actually understand the science of sound. The noise police band together to better the downtown core, to raise awareness and complain for the greater goodness.
They actually had the gall to try to prevent several new nightclubs from getting a liquor license last year.
Some folks have no life and need to live in chaos.
We need to work together to make our downtown vibrant. We need to bring families back to the core. The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association is doing a solid job. They are learning from last year’s mistakes and working to make this year’s events even better.
There were so many great events held downtown last summer. So why can’t we all get along?
My condo overlooks Pelissier Street. The answer is easy for me. I simply shut my windows and turn on my air conditioner for a couple hours. It works.
And I mind my own business.






Here are some interesting numbers, collected from a variety of sources, that help one to understand the volume levels of various sources and how they can affect our hearing.
Environmental Noise
Weakest sound heard 0dB
Whisper Quiet Library 30dB
Normal conversation (3-5') 60-70dB
Telephone dial tone 80dB
City Traffic (inside car) 85dB
Train whistle at 500', Truck Traffic 90dB
Subway train at 200' 95dB
Level at which sustained exposure may result in hearing loss 90 - 95dB
Power mower at 3' 107dB
Snowmobile, Motorcycle 100dB
Power saw at 3' 110dB
Sandblasting, Loud Rock Concert 115dB
Pain begins 125dB
Pneumatic riveter at 4' 125dB
Even short term exposure can cause permanent damage - Loudest recommended exposure WITH hearing protection 140dB
Jet engine at 100', Gun Blast 140dB
Death of hearing tissue 180dB
Loudest sound possible 194dB

Springtime in Windsor

APRIL 1, 2010—Springtime in Windsor.

You know it’s springtime in Windsor.
Those random surprisingly warm temperatures, the smell and taste of pollen in the air, the blooming trees and the return of the freighters on the Detroit River.
With that, so starts the annual tradition in many urban centres including ours -- the annual orange barrel polka.
I knew it was coming. After all, the paint marks were everywhere on Pelissier Street. It was striped with red, white, blue and orange engineered graffiti. There had been talk in the media and on the downtown streets of the impending start on the next phase.
Seven A.M. Monday March 26. I was rudely awakened with the rumble of some very large machinery outside my apartment. The entire block shook. Then the jackhammers started. The dump trucks came. The beeping of backing up machinery. Groups of construction workers and city engineers trying to look busy. Organized chaos.
By the time I had left for school, the entire street had been transformed into a messy construction zone.
The entire building was abuzz. Talk in the elevator was of how long the project was going to take. The people complained of the dirt, the noise and the inconvenience. It was the darned governments fault again.
Isn’t that always the case? People hate change. Will the little bit of inconvenience be for the good of the downtown core? We all hope so.
Seven A.M. came early everyday last week.
Who needs an alarm clock anyways?

JOURNALISM PROGRAM
Two years - Ontario College Diploma

PROGRAM GOALS

This program is designed to prepare students to function well in a news centre that is committed to convergence news reporting. This means the graduate will have the ability to perform well in all media platforms including print, radio, television and electronic on-line filing. The curriculum will provide students with cutting edge knowledge and skills making them highly marketable across all media platforms.

Students will experience actual on-deadline news filing projects, be expected to adapt their story for multiple media deliveries, and to back up their stories with photography, audio or video. Much of the course work is in field, and as such, students must be strong self-starters and motivated to seek out, interview and write stories on a frequent basis. Successful applicants will have a very strong interest in news and current affairs. They must have above average writing skills and the ability to meet deadlines while working under pressure. They should also have an innate sense of curiosity.

For more information please contact:

Veronique Mandal
(519) 972-2727, ext. 4292
email: vmandal@stclaircollege.ca

what the...

Ever read something you wrote the day before and think...what the heck was I thinking when I wrote that hippy crap. (I don't even do drugs anymore)

faith and fear

I'm not sure why things happen the way they do. Some of my friends tell me that I think to much. Don't read to much into things. Trying to understand every little thing is the reason your thinking has gotten you into trouble in the past. I suppose I should have more faith. I'm told the opposite of faith is fear. There is a lot of fear in my life still, even after 46 years on this planet. Fear keeps me in my comfort zone. Faith gets me out of my comfort zone. Fear keeps me from opportunity. Faith gives me opportunity. Fear keeps me in my head. Faith gets me out of myself and allows me to help others.

I'm not sure why things happen the way they do.
Faith allows me to accept life on life's terms.
Fear rules my life if I let it.