Kyle Thomas

The Website of Kyle Thomas (KyleWith)

Make sure that Wood Stove is WETT Certified

I don’t know what WETT certification really is but apparently more and more home insurance agencies require wood stoves to have it.

My snag currently with getting house insurance on my new home is that, despite the wood stove having an approved mechanical inspection but the City of Yellowknife, it does not say that the inspector was WETT certified. 

This is what the insurance company needs, something that verifies it was WETT certified.

So I’m jumping through hoops with my closing date getting nearer and nearer and I’m hoping to say you some trouble.

I’m not saying to make sure your wood stove is WETT certified, I’m saying make sure you ask your insurance company if they require it or not.

I am what I watch on TV

Okay maybe this is a bad thing, but I don’t follow shows, I wait until they are all done and watch them in bulk by season. Watching TV is my mind numbing way of turning off my brain. I actually normally watch TV while baking or while I write blog posts, like right now.

When I watch these shows, in bulk, I tend to absorb them and associate them into my everyday life. Let me give you two examples.

Bakering bad

Mad Men

Well this is an easy one. They ran an advertising agency in the 60’s and 70’s and I work at a marketing agency here in Yellowknife. Despite it being based in the past and, well, a tv show, there were similarities. When I was working on a projects scenes from the show sometimes pop into my head. Things like how to work with clients, manage things, pitch ideas, etc. Now I’m not saying that I use it as a guidebook, but sometime it helps to think about things in a different way. 

Breaking Bad

It took me a long time to get into Breaking Bad, but now I’m hooked. When I started watching the show I was in full force at the Yellowknife Farmers’ Market. I was making the only locally made bread, producing about 100 loaves a week, and I was damn good at it. There was excitement, thrill, long nights and stress to meet quotas. I was known to many as the bread guy. All of which you could say about Walter White and his blue meth. Weird I know, but when I find myself in the kitchen weighing out different measurements that when combined make an unbelievable product.

Dexter

Well I just started Season 8. It has been a while since I watch Season 7 so I don’t recall how I associated this secret serial killer with myself… so we’ll have to see where this goes.

What TV show do you associate with your life?

Image Source: Slate

Last night was unreal

Last night, on a Friday night, I had the most wonderful time just taking in Yellowknife and the North. It will never get old and I will say it over and over and over and you will get tired of hearing it from me but it is oh so true.

If you are bored, just leave.

My evening started when a friend and I grabbed a quick dinner and our cameras and headed out. We didn’t know where we were going but I wanted to trying push forward with my project about recording the stories of many of Yellowknife street people.

I was absolutely blown away, and I have done this several times now, how welcoming, polite and generous many people are when I approach. I thank them for their time. I only hope they know how much I appreciate the conversations I have. Throughout the 2.5 hours we walked the streets we met many people. For the last hour we were down town we spent it with someone very special to me. We sat down with him and just had a blast talking about so much and I am so blessed to be called his friend. I can’t wait to tell this mans story, he is truly a wonder soul.

Happy playing Harmonica on Yellowknife streetsWe left downtown eventually and headed towards Pontoon Lake where we were going to set up for some aurora shooting.

As we pulled up to “the spot” a large lanky looking dog trotted out from the shore of the lake onto the road. Only thing was this wasn’t a dog, it was a white wolf. A beautiful creature. He slowly meandered across the road, checking us out. It was to dark for a photo but he  crossed the road and walked up a rock face onto a hill. Standing there staring at us, all we could see was his outline as a silhouette against the ever fading blue sky. It was special.

I often feel like I have this small gift for showing up at places exactly at the right time to get the best show of Northern Lights. After the wolf left, we pulled in and setup. As soon as we did the aurora just took off, dancing, twisting, sparkling and moving. Green and purple. It was a show that you’d think cost lots of money. Who is the lighting genius that created this number.

Aurora Yellowknife - Kyle Thomas15 minutes later it was over.

Nights like this don’t happen very often but boy am I feeling good that I got to experience all that.

My Response to Pat Kane’s Love/Hate Relationship with the Aurora

First you must go read Yellowknife Photographer Pat’s blog post My Love/Hate Relationship with the Aurora.

My response is preach, brother preach. I get where Pat is coming from. You see one photo of the aurora, you have seen them all. I am guilty of being an “aurora chaser” going out night after night looking for the aurora to photograph. I don’t know why. Its not like I do much with the photos.  

I’ll uploaded one or two on Flickr, maybe one to YkOnline’s Facebook Page and then they disappear into my archive. 

Aurora - March 1, 2013

It must be because aurora photography is not just about getting great photos of the aurora, which is nice, it is more about actually getting out and experiencing the wonders of the NWT on a consistent basis. For me anyways. Last week for example I ended up on Johnston Lake, which is way up an ice road. If it hadn’t of been for the aurora I would have not gone up there. I wouldn’t have seen a couple foxes, a lynx and heard an owl. 

That said though, the aurora are the most marketable tourism product the NWT has to offer. People, whether we agree or not, find the aurora borealis fascinating and spectacular and want to see it in person. So in order for us to convince them to come to the NWT and spend their money here, we need to show them that we have the best lights show in the world. This involves photos. This involves us as local ambassadors to talk and show how great they are. 

I completely agree with Pat on the front that the NWT also has amazing people and culture. Personally I love documenting people more than the aurora. People can tell stories… the aurora are – and to quote Pat – green blobs.

The solution I see, not that there needs to be one, is capture people with the aurora, bring them north to see them and then expose them to the north’s rich culture, history and people.  

 

Update on No TV February

I guess I should remind you that I didn’t actually have cable before I started this. I have never had cable, I’m the next generation who likes to watch everything online. And I watched EVERYTHING online.

On to the update and I’m really happy to say it is going quite will. There have been one or two days where I’ll watch a movie but generally it is because I’m doing some mundane task like sorting my 2012 expenses.

I don’t miss shows at all. I followed a lot but now I don’t and it does seem to bother me. When I’m not working on some project I’m normally making bread, which is a project in itself.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/95306799@N00/1360710739/

The question is: do I start watching TV again in March? I don’t think I will but we’ll see.