Monthly Archives: January 2008

Here’s another view from the dog pound. Some puppies were recently born there.

Here’s a shot taken around 7pm. (Again, the shutter speed increases the brightness, so it’s too bad you can’t see the detail.) 

 Inuvik’s dog pound is always filled to capacity.Many people don’t take care of their dogs — leaving them outside while pregnant, etc —  and so the town has to confiscate animals.   Some are shipped to Edmonton or adopted locally, but unfortunately a great number are destroyed.

 Here are some faint northern lights around 2am.The night looks much brighter because the camera’s shutter was open for about 30 seconds. (The title is Canadian bluesman David Wilcox’s description of northern lights, from his Yukon gold rush song Shotgun City.) 

 Here’s the CBC Northwind songlist, as well as the radio station console.We often play traditional language music such as this song by Charlie Panikqunial. 

Here’s a window of the Mackenzie hotel, which catches the cold Inuvik wind.

When it’s -40 degrees, the last thing you want is to get stranded outside and have to wait for a towing!

 Can anyone read this NHL autograph? I believe it is from Guy Lafleur, who grew up in the same town (Thurseau, Que) as my mom.  

  Today was another yearly marker for Inuvik. We finally hit -40 degrees celcius. With the windchill, it might have even been colder.  At this temperature, there is an ice fog which rolls near the ground.  Hell of a day to be walking around taking photos! But seeing nature get this cold is mighty impressive. 

   Today marked the triumphant, inspiring and warm return of the sun. It’s been appearing for a few days now, but I guess everyone in town has their own story about the first sighting after winter darkness. You forget how generous nature can be.   This truck is driving on an ice road. 

   With the sun gone, this car’s headlights cut through the ice fog around 6pm.

This is one of many decorations at the Mad Trapper pub. I believe it shows the death of Albert Johnson in 1931 after a police chase.It’s kind of creepy, no?

Kind of reminds me of film noir. “I listened around, but it was quiet. It was too quiet. Something was wrong.”

Here is Tununuk street in the early evening.

The Globe&Mail recently held a public forum with Canadian author, visual artist and modern art installer Douglas Coupland.Here are my submitted questions, which have Doug’s comments on efforts to preserve Inuvialuktun.The whole thing is online at www.globeandmail.ca.

 Philippe Morin from Inuvik, NWT writes: Here’s a question for Doug: I live in Inuvik, Northwest Territories where traditional dialects are fast fading. Despite teachers’ and families’ best efforts, it’s estimated that fewer than 500 people still fluently speak Inuvialuktun and most are over 50. (And even then, that language has sub-dialects.)Coupland: One quick question comes to mind, Philippe … is Inuvialuktun difficult to learn? I mean this on a practical level. For example, Japanese and Italian are very easy (in spite of the fact the Japanese try to psych out the world and tell everybody it’s hard) whereas Scandinavian languages are like Martian. And what sort of language does Inuvialuktun structurally resemble?Philippe Morin: Embarrassingly, more people speak Klingon than Inuvialuktun today worldwide.Coupland: Klingon is a language? Seriously? WHTMFTOOHAAS (We Have Too Much Free Time On Our Hands As A Society.)Morin: How do you feel about this idea of languages disappearing? Is it better if all humans switch to a ‘compatible operating system’ or are we losing some priceless diversity? Thanks, (or Quanna, or Masi Cho, or Merci, etc..)Coupland: When I think about languages disappearing I think of Passenger Pigeons or Labrador Ducks and species going extinct. It’s profoundly sad and is bigger than death. It’s as if a whole universe is destroyed.Morin: Doug, what’s your take on the font ‘Helvetica?’ Do you share the many designers’ infatuation with it, or has it been overused? What is the message of Helvetica? If Helvetica were a person, who would it be?Coupland: Hello again, Philippe. I love Helvetica and always have, right back to art school days in 1980-84 (pre-Mac.) When I think of words in my head, they’re in Helvetica. I wrote extensively about this in the NYT blog that’s on coupland.com. Not trying to slough off the question, but it’s a good read for anyone who wants to pursue Helvetica further.Morin: Doug, you’re an author and a visual artist – Do you read comic books or ‘graphic novels’?Coupland: Yes.Morin: What’s your thought on that medium anyhow? Some of your books (like Generation X, and jPod) have visual elements outside of straight text such as sequences of numbers and different font sizes. What do you feel about comics? Now that you’ve written a screenplay would you ever try a comic book?Coupland: I’m for anything that tries to experiment with words and text and letters and numbers. I don’t have the huge specific kind of patience required to be a cartoonist …it takes a very specific kind of brain to do that. Have you ever met cartoonists? Of all the creative forms, they’re archetype is the most universal. They’re good talkers, but to a one they seem embroiled in a constant battle between themselves and the way reality impacts on their consciousness. Not crabby or fussy … prickly, maybe. In a good way.  

Here are some photos from a recent Energy Conservation Fair.

What you’re seeing is a heat-seeking camera, which is used by the NWT government. It can determine where buildings are losing the most heat, and even check bearings on a truck wheel. (Bad bearings will create more friction, and therefore heat.) 

These two boys enjoyed the crazy colours on screen.

Here’s the corner store, on the corner of Kingmingya and the inexplicably named Dolphin street. Dolphin? What’s the story here? 

Here is an animation of Inuvik’s old water reservoir, with traffic going by.

Using a camera and tripod outdoors is very cold these days! 

  Sea otters wearing sunglasses!    

The Igloo Church and Arctic Foods grocery store, around 5pm. 

Here’s a post with less things moving around. (In the foreground, at least.)

Lunchbreak experiment: A little trick called a stereoscopic image.

I first discovered this idea here, and I must admit the result isn’t perfect. (I think there’s too much distance between photos and they aren’t well aligned.) 

Still….it kind of works, doesn’t it? 

Note to photographers: The trick is to create two images which are side-by-side with identical framing. (ex: The Eskimo Inn sign is at the centre of the frame but the tripod was moved a foot sideways.)  The back and forth motion leads to a sense of depth perception.

Expect to see a few more of these now and then in the new section called “video and motion.”

LATER NOTE: Can we agree than the middle image is the best one? Which do you think is most effective?

Here’s a new feature: We will look at corporate logos and iconic graphic design in the north.

A great logo will capture people’s idea of “the north” in only a few lines. Here are three great examples:

1.The syllabics on the CBC button.
2.The GNWT’s famous polar bear.
3.A satellite dish and drum dancer, for the Inuvialuit Communications Society.

All are very pleasing designs. They are simple and evoke a concept of north.

Tonight marked Inuvik’s annual Sunrise Festival. It celebrates the return of the sun after about 30 days.About 100 people gathered near Inuvik’s golf course and watched fireworks at 7pm. There was also a large bonfire.This year marks Inuvik’s 50th anniversary so the fireworks were extra large.Remember: We can’t have fireworks for Canada Day because of 24-hour sunlight!(Little soapbox note here: Who decided to blast rap music from the speakers? I don’t think T-Pain’s “buy you a drank” was very appropriate for a family event!)

Many buildings in Inuvik seem to be painted aqua green. It’s a nice bright colour despite being a little unusual.

Here’s a sign from the Mackenzie hotel. Why does a building need an air intake?

Here’s an amazing idea heard on CBC’s “Trailblazer” morning show today: Lockheed Martin and other companies are developing prototypes for relatively inexpensive “airships.”

It turns out northern diamond mines spent more than $100 million on airplane cargo last year, and it’s obviously expensive flying milk and oranges to places like Cambridge Bay or Ulukhaktok.

According to the report, these blimps could change cargo from dollars per ton to pennies per ton, and could start flying within 5-10 years. They were originally designed for military use, such as carrying tanks.

(These two images are taken from Google image search. Neat, eh? Looks like science fiction but maybe not!)

(It’s living at the Mackenzie hotel.)

The lobby of the Mackenzie Hotel has beautiful fabric wall hangings.

They depict beluga whales, northern lights, fishing, traditional drummers, etc.

Here’s another view of the “solar glow,” around 2pm as the light begins to fade.

These NTCL shipping containers are everywhere in town. They are usually loaded on boats.

(Note that this year, many western arctic communities did not get barges on time. In communities like Aklavik and Fort Good Hope, perishable goods were delivered by plane instead. So you could buy a turkey for $80 or something!)