It has been crazy. Fall's first month has seen me in the car for about 5500 km, been in the States as well as at three conferences, the last of which finishes today. I think I can sustain having my brain blown by possibilities only so many times in a 30 day span. Good gatherings are quite amazing but I need to stop thinking for a bit. Need to get into a bit of a rut, face the grind to put things in perspective.

• Setting aside the copyright question, oddest professorial statement of the week: ""Yeah, he probably would have travelled down there ... it's legit," said Ryerson University professor Patrice Dutil, vice-president of the Champlain Society, which increases public awareness of, and accessibility to, Canada's historical records. "It's nice to see the spread of Canadian culture down to the U. S...." Here is a map of the forts of New France. Note that about 50% of New France was in the U.S. at its height and how, at the time of Frontenac, there was a significant presence in the US mid-west.
• Iggy-tastic news! I still think Harper beats him but by a reduced minority in 2009. How exciting.
• Best Twitter comment ever seen yesterday (but unlinkable) - and, frankly, reason enough for it to exist: "sausage is pretty good. But it's no bacon or anything..."
• Keep your keys away from David and his pesky camera. He knows too much now.
• "Among the demands rejected was the cable firm's call...to allow U.S. genre channels such as ESPN...to compete with Canadian ones": noooooo!!!
• No cabinet post for Diane Ablonczy? That is nuts.
• Russell Smith. Is it hard or easy to be Russell Smith?
• Jay linked to the ice cap comparator tool this week. Remember: Sea ice concentrations less than 30% are not displayed in these images. That may make all the difference. Or not.
• Being too sleepy ought to be a crime. Are we not humans We need to nap. Oh...it is a crime.
• Blogs v. real media: Stephen Taylor illustrated their interconnection when he wrote on thing this Wednesday at 4:40 PM (original edit) but another at 1:27 am today. Call it MSM remorse.

You know, I've never bought the idea of "paradigm shift" but I did create the idea of "paradigm collapse" today listening to sustainability discussion. When the paradigm collapses, that is when you learn who by plan or by fluke found themselves in the position to best deal with the collapse. They survive. Random selection. Makes more sense.