One of my favourite Old Testament heroes is Gideon. Gideon was a prominent judge who led the Israelites in several key battles around 1150 BCE. In one story, Gideon recruited 32,000 Israeli volunteers in preparation to fight the Midians. This army, however, was deemed by God to be much too large so Gideon was directed […]
Last week, I was in Toronto participating in the annual general meeting of Tomatosphere. Tomatosphere is a Canadian project that promotes science learning at the grade school level (students aged 8 – 14). It connects students’ fascination with space travel and the role that green plants must someday play in the life support system of space […]
My wife Brenda and I were at Place des Arts in Montréal last night to attend a concert by Diana Krall. Some dear friends and family members joined us for a memorable evening. The concert was superb. Diana and her band played a wide variety of music from 1920s jazz to American standards to blues. 3,000 […]
Today I was in Vancouver to participate in a Board of Directors meeting for LIFT Philanthropy Partners. LIFT is an organization that is pioneering ‘venture philanthropy’ in Canada. While the notion of venture philanthropy is novel, I find the concept to be intriguing and promising. In a nutshell, LIFT Philanthropy Partners uses the methods of venture […]
Today I visited the Alberta Children’s Hospital, located on the west campus of the University of Calgary. I wore my flight suit, talked with the young patients about my adventures in space, and signed photos for them. I hope it brought them an hour of respite from the treatment programs that they are undergoing. No […]