My blog has moved!

I recently re-launched my website, www.daniellemc.com, and have my blog integrated to the site. Please check it out!

(I will be redirecting this URL over there soon...)

Survival of the "Feetest" in Toronto

On a recent trip to Toronto I was able to get together with a good friend from my undergrad years at McGill University, Katie Reed. We met at her shop, Sole Survivor, in Kensington Market.

Katie, who is 28 years old, has owned and operated this cobbling business for two years. As a young woman, she bucks the cobbler stereotype (in fact, she is the only female cobbler in the Greater Toronto Area). After a B.A. from McGill and teaching jobs in Japan, it certainly wasn't a career path her friends imagined for her. But like all her undertakings, she has thrown herself into it completely and made it a success.

It has required a lot of hard work and determination. Just finding someone in the GTA to apprentice her was a seemingly insurmountable challenge: she was turned away by all but one of the working cobblers in the region. Now that she is experienced and established in this trade, she is taking on an apprentice of her own (another woman) to pass along her knowledge.

Katie is keeping our favourite shoes in tip-top shape (including finance ministers at budget time!), which can save us precious pennies. She is also keeping many out of landfills, a great way to lessen our footprint (if you'll pardon the pun).

For more information on her and how she got into cobbling, check out these articles:

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  "The shoe lady: a modern cobbler with vintage tools," Toronto Star (May 6, 2010)


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  Ryersonian.ca has a short video featuring her and her work. Click here to watch.

Katie also has a blog for here: http://solesurvivorcobbler.blogspot.com.

Beautiful British Columbia (and Washington State)!

Some shots from a recent road trip from Edmonton, Alberta through to BC and WA (and back):

A harbour on Salt Spring Island, B.C.

Salt Spring has a vibrant artist community - and many of their pieces are out for public enjoyment.

Salt Spring Air seemed to have a thriving business: saw three of their Beavers take off in quick succession while enjoying an ice cream cone one afternoon.

After a night camping by the ocean at Ruckle Provincial Park, we enjoyed driving from winery to bakery to cheese shop. Above is the rear view of the Salt Spring Winery where we ate our lunch while sipping a glass of their lovely Pinot Noir (and got a bottle of their Blackberry Port to go!).

After a couple of days in Victoria staying at the English Inn while visiting with family, we boarded a ferry in Sidney bound for Anacortes, WA. We had to stop for a bit to let a pod of orcas go by!

We found this sign in Burlington, WA right next to a church in a building that looks like Noah's Arc. Religulous? I think so.

From there we drove east to North Cascades National Park, stopping for a permit at the park office. Then we did the 30 min hike through temperate rainforest to Thunder camp site.

In the middle of mountains and under the canopy of trees, darkness fell fast. I got a fire going and whittled a marshmallow stick while Doug got dinner made and rigged up the backpack so that we could string it up the tree when we went to bed. It is bear country, after all!

Our dessert that night was an amazing slice of home-made blackberry pie!

Tablets That Pass the Test

There are so many tablets on the market that it can be difficult trying to decide which one to buy. Here, guest blogger and tech-toy junky Doug Pagnutti gives his take on which pass the test for the average consumer:

My favourite one so far is the Asus 10" Transformer. The tablet itself is pretty much like all the other Android honeycomb tablets but the keyboard that comes with it is genius. Not only does it provide a few USB ports and an SD Card reader (perfect for getting pictures from cameras) but it has a built-in battery so you can double the battery life on the road. Basically you get a netbook where the screen detaches and becomes a tablet.

All the other tablets at the moment seem pretty uninspiring. The iPad and iPad2 are probably the best for ease-of-use but the fact you can't view flash sites, as well as the proprietary ports make it less useful. The slew of android tablets are all pretty much the same although prices seem to be going down quickly. Definitely get one that runs honeycomb (3.X) because Android 2.X doesn't really work for tablets. The only other 10" of note is the HP TouchPad that just came out. Apparently the software is great (it's really made by Palm, which HP bought) but the hardware is already out of date (HP should only make printers).

Personally I'm holding out for a good 7" tablet with usb ports and there's a good chance the Acer A100 will fit the bill. Amazon is planning to come out with a bunch of tablets this year too but it's hard to guess what they'll be like. The one I was really hoping for was the Asus Memo but they just announced it would be "indefinitely delayed".

I should also say that if you're looking for something to read e-books, you're much better off buying an e-reader. The screens don't hurt your eyes, they're much much lighter (easier to hold for extended periods) and the batteries last months instead of hours.

Flying High in Yellowknife

Last weekend I was lucky enough to be in Yellowknife, NWT for the Midnight Sun Float Plane Fly-In doing research for my book on northern Canadian aviation history. Here's a little photo album from this amazing event:

It may be ranked one of the coldest places in Canada during the winter, but July was warm, sunny, and surprisingly bug-free!

After a great meet-and-greet on Friday night and a pancake breakfast Saturday morning hosted by the Piro family, I boarded a Buffalo Airways Douglas DC-3 along with 20-odd other passengers for an aerial tour of YK.

Our pilot was "Buffalo" Joe McBryan (below) himself, and co-piloting the aircraft was Tyler Sipos. And of course they have a few good luck charms, like this polar bear I'm holding.

Joe is an aviation history buff and it didn't take long for us to get to chatting about northern aviation, his role in it, etc. The next thing I knew, he was inviting me to tag along on a Norseman flight with a group of folks.

I guess I behaved okay (and didn't get airsick), because he then invited me to join him, his granddaughter, and the director/videographer of Ice Pilots NWT for a trip down memory lane for a 50th anniversary special. Up we went in the Norseman again, this time bound for Gordon Lake.

By dinnertime we were back at the old Ward Air float base (that's Max Ward's turbo Otter behind us below) for the Ice Pilots Jamboree.

To recognize Joe for all his generosity toward the fly-in and the Fox Moth Society, reps from both (Yvonne Quick and Mike Burns, respectively) presented him with a model of his beloved Norseman - which he promptly flew off-stage, grinning!

It was a gorgeous night, and all the fly-in folks enjoyed mingling with the Ice Pilots crew. So much so, that a bunch of us went out afterward to the Monkey Tree and closed it down!

There was no sleeping in the next day for me, though, as I had an interview lined up at 8:30am with a local aviation legend. Then at 9:30am I was back in Joe's orange jeep headed to his dock in preparation for the bush pilot memorial fly-by.

After a bbq lunch it was tour time at the Buffalo hangar, where I got to see Joe's office just full of aviation history books, photos, and even a motorcycle!

Sunday night was the wrap-up banquet and auction. My new friend from Cold Lake, Terry, gallantly bid my book up to $100 - so I thought he deserved a kiss to go with it!

After the banquet, some of us wanted to keep chatting - and I didn't want to miss out on any good stories! Next thing I knew it was 1am (hard to tell by the photo below, eh?)

Monday after a big day doing research at the archives (in the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre), I was invited to a friend's house for supper. Then we set off for a short hike at Cameron Falls - at 9pm!

But when you're in the land of the Midnight Sun, the days really do go on forever... I think the memories will too!

A Conscientious Canadian Maverick

I just found out I'm a finalist for Chatelaine's 2011 Women of the Year Awards, which is very exciting! While I was originally nominated for the 20-Under-30 category, when the finalists were announced, I'd been switched to "Mavericks." I had to pause: me, a maverick?

According to their criteria, women in this category are "Trailblazers, pushing boundaries socially, politically, creatively or in business." Several of the other finalists in this category are political powerhouses: Eva Aariak, premier of Nunavut; Sheila Fraser, former auditor general; Elizabeth May of the Green Party. Then there's Buffy Sainte Marie, a folk singer and activist without equal. Last but not least are two high-ranking military women; the first female pipeline worker in Canada; and a motorcycling editor.

Buffy Sainte Marie

I guess by virtue of writing about Canada's aviation history and being the first female president of the CAHS I am a little out of the ordinary. I certainly stand out in an aviation history crowd, but that's slowly changing through groups like the Canadian 99s, Women in Aviation International, and writers like Shirlee Smith Matheson. Being an under-30 historian is also a little outside the norm (although I love elbow patches on tweed jackets!).

But based on the definition of maverick, I don't think I really fit: I'm not a "lone dissenter," or necessarily "pursuing rebellious, even potentially disruptive, policies or ideas." No loose cannon here, I hope!

I would have to modify it by saying I'm a conscientious Canadian maverick. The very idea of a "maverick" is pretty American, I think. I envision a rugged individualist on a ranch in Wyoming (where I did live for two years). Being a Canadian, I'm a little more predisposed to social order and cohesion. Also, my main goal is preserving Canadian stories - in all their complexity - in a scrupulous and careful way. I try to be sensitive to all involved, and would never run roughshod over the people who entrust me with their photos, documents, and memories.

Making Aviation History Sexy: The 2011 CAHS Conference

Aviation history - indeed history in general - is often seen as a little dull by the general public. While there are those who love lists of dates, facts, and might even have a footnote fetish like I do, most people do not. I think most of us do like humour, gripping stories, and special events that highlight the adventure and romance of of bygone eras.

Me with Alberta Aviation Museum exec director, Tom Hinderks, leaning on their 5/8 scale Hurricane

So this is what I focused on for the 2011 Canadian Aviation Historical Society Convention, and why I was excited to partner up with the Alberta Aviation Museum for their swing dance, bush pilot dinner, and AirFest.

CAHS Convention-goers checking out the aircraft at AirFest (Photo: Richard Goette)

Here's some more photographic proof that aviation history can be a ripping good time (for more, please check out the photo gallery at http://www.cahs.ca/)!

Convention attendees joined forces with the Alberta Aviation Museum's volunteers for a bush pilot dinner - no cold beans in a can for us, though.... (photo: John Chalmers)

Who doesn't like playing dress-up?! (Photo: John Chalmers)

...or shooting down the enemy from the mid-upper turret of a Lancaster movie mock-up on loan from Bomber Command Museum?

...or getting to shoot the breeze with visitors to AirFest (and getting to eat delicious treats from Enjoy Cupcakes, set up next to us!)?