Friday, February 27, 2009

Oh! The hammock district !?

Today all I have for you are some reminders of great moments in history courtesy of Marc Lemire.

First order of business is a picture Marc took from the distant land of Quebec City inspired by this Simpsons moment:

Hank: Uh, hi, Homer. What can I do for you?
Homer: Sir, I need to know where I can get some business hammocks.
Hank: Hammocks? My goodness, what an idea. Why didn't I think of that?
Hammocks! Homer, there's four places. There's the Hammock Hut,
that's on third.
Homer: Uh-huh.
Hank: There's Hammocks-R-Us, that's on third too. You got
Put-Your-Butt-There?
Homer: Mm-Hmm.
Hank: That's on third. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot... Matter of fact,
they're all in the same complex; it's the hammock complex on
third.
Homer: Oh, the hammock district.
Hank: That's right.

Now that I have established context here is the pic:


I also recommend that you check out my answer to this post where I explore the hammock district of Florianopolis, Brasil.

The second thing that Marc thought it would be mission critical to do today is to remind ourselves about U2’s 1993 hit “Lemon” from the Zooropa album. I came up with that idea 2 weeks ago but whatever…

BTW, My friend Meghan gave me a X-Mas hammock (as is clearly demonstrated by the xmas coloured fonts I used in Homer Simpson and Hank Scorpios' hammock related dialogue). How many xmas hammocks did Meghan give you Marc? ...
That's what I thought!

Enjoy your video everyone. But do it cause you want to, not cause some fat cat down at Capital Hill told you to. "PEACE!" (Andy Samberg style)

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Mike... a Sauvé Scholars?

Hey everyone!

A few months ago I applied for a Sauvé Scholarship. http://www.sauvescholars.org/en/

"The mission of the Jeanne Sauvé Foundation, sponsor of the SAUVÉ SCHOLARS PROGRAM, is to help prepare young adults of merit so that they can develop their potential and skills to be used towards making a difference and building a better future for the societies of tomorrow... The Foundation has chosen to implement this mission by gathering in Montreal a highly-talented and motivated group of post-graduate, or equivalent, young emerging leaders, to share an experience of inquiry, debate and reflection, to help advance their careers, intellectual capacity and, most importantly, leadership potential."

Basically I would have access to unlimited access to McGill University for 8 months. During this period scholars take an idea (which was part of our proposals) and work on it. I came up with an idea at Stela (my job in Brazil) for sustainable development software.

So far out of over 1000 applicants I am in the final 50. Only about 11-14 get the scholarship. Now I need:

1. Three letters of Recommendation – each must be sent directly from the referee to the Selection Committee either by (a) e-mail as a scanned document including signature, (b) fax or (c) in a sealed envelope (with the referee’s signature across the seal)
2. Official [with the official seal of the granting institution(s)] Academic Transcripts for all college or university level studies that you have completed or will have completed before June 30, 2009. Transcripts must be sent to the Selection Committee by the institution.
NB If your transcript is not in English or French, please ensure that a translation - in either language - accompanies each transcript.
3. Examples of your Leadership (attestations by third parties, media reports, etc.)
4. Copies of your Published Works (i.e. work in the public domain)
5. Medical Certificate

If you can think of a way to help, please contact me at mike.mcnulty@gmail.com. I have already identified a shortlist of recommendations that I would like to get and am contacting the people. #3 is the one that is easiest for people to help with.

Details about 3#:

"Candidates must submit evidence of actual leadership in one or more areas such as: advocacy, arts, civic engagement, community involvement, education, entrepreneurship, government, media and communications, research. Confirmation of a Candidate's leadership should be provided through third parties, for example: media reports, commentaries, testimonials, public and/or professional recognition, etc."

Characteristics that the selection committee will be looking for include:
  • Initiative
  • Motivation
  • Vision
  • Imagination
  • Demonstrated communication skills
  • Awareness of international and domestic issues
  • A strong desire to effect change
If you have any additional testimonials or records of me exhibiting leadership and any of these qualities please forward them to mike.mcnulty@gmail.com. If more form submitting them are required I'll let you all know ASAP.

Thanks for the support!