On the DEWLine 2.0: Dwight Williams

It's like Twitter-as-was, Bluesky-as-is, and the Mastodon-Fediverse network. Canadian-based - Penticton, BC, specifically - and Canadian-owned, though. If you're in Canada and want one more fallback option for short-form social media stuff, this might be useful to you at times.

https://hey.cafe/

Just putting it out here.

I'm maintaining an account on that Penticton, BC-based social media service, partly as a fallback measure in case I lose access to Mastodon, Bluesky and Twitter-as-was, and partly as a means of supporting made-in-Canada social media. You can find my account here:

https://hey.cafe/@dewline

Yes, I expect to set up something with Gander as well, for similar reasons.

Just a reminder that Hey.Cafe exists. It's Canadian-based and Canadian-owned. It's an alternative to Twitter and the rest - however well-behaved they are - just in case.

My account is here:

https://hey.cafe/@dewline

Yes, I plan to try Gander as well once it opens up.

A couple of resources:

https://www.ottawafestivals.ca/jobs

https://apt613.ca/ottawa-arts-and-culture-jobs-april-2025/

Two weeks left on the current contract.

Then the job search starts. Or maybe it already has.

Good night.

Any of you ever heard of a "Machiavel Studios"?

"Petition to the Government of Canada
Whereas:

Passenger rail is a safe, efficient, sustainable, affordable, and accessible mode of public transportation;
Due to federal cutbacks and underinvestment over many years, Canada’s current passenger rail services lag far behind those available in other countries;
Since its creation in 1978, VIA Rail has lacked both the legislative mandate and stable budget necessary to maintain and expand passenger rail service in Canada;
While VIA Rail's on-time performance on tracks it owns is over 90 percent, it is only 60 percent on tracks it shares with other railways;
Rail privatization and outsourcing schemes in other countries have led to higher fares, reduced service, deteriorating safety performance, and lower salaries for workers;
Unlike other public passenger rail providers around the world, VIA Rail lacks representation from passengers and workers on its board of directors; and
In its Corporate Plan, VIA has warned that its long-distance fleet, built in the 1950s, is overdue for replacement, without which it will soon be unable to provide services in Atlantic and Western Canada.

We, the undersigned, Residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to:
1. Incorporate the contents of Bills C-371, the Rail Passenger Priority Act, and C-236/C-640 (41-2) the VIA Rail Canada Act, in a Government Bill and prioritize its passage through the legislative process;
2. Commit, in the 2024 federal budget, the funds necessary to renew VIA Rail’s long-distance fleet;
3. Provide passenger and worker representation on VIA Rail’s board of directors; and
4. Revise the High Frequency Rail project to protect VIA Rail’s role in delivering public passenger rail service along the Windsor to Quebec City corridor."

https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-4754

Following up a bit on local comics creators and suchlike.

One friendly acquaintance of mine from the long-dissolved Orléans Comic Jam sessions, Dominic Bercier, has a Kickstarter fundraiser/project going at the moment. Timing might be tight for you if you're interested, I understand that...

Anyway, here's the link.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/renaissancebp/exclusive-holiday-card-delivered-by-santa

If you're interested in Dominic's published work to date more generally:

https://www.bercier.ca/

The local publisher that Dominic's more recently tying in with:

https://pressesrenaissancepress.ca/

I had to amend my ArtStation profile. I'm getting asks about wedding anniversary illustration gigs, and between my day job, the map project and the caregiving trips, this is going to fall by the wayside.

Again.

Well, it wasn't a deputation. That's apparently not until next month, which is going to...not complicate at least one other appointment at the end of November. I am going to have to deal with lost income for however long I have to be ready to deliver it on that day, I think.

What did happen was further training, as well as face time directly with three city councillors. Leiper, Troster and Devine. Also, contact with some of the staffers of other members of city council.

Focus is still on mental health, poverty reduction and housing, because the city budget-building for 2024 is underway, and the staff's under direction to keep the rate increase to 2.5 %.

What I could have felt better about? More than a half-dozen of the 50 attendees masking up, for one. Seeing working air purifiers in the room for another. Neither of those things happened, though, so...