I’ve had this Edison Record case (empty, alas) on my shelf for years; so long that I’ve forgotten how I got it.

Tonight I finally got to hear what its missing contents sounded like: For Love and Honor was digitized by UC Santa Barbara Cylinder Archive.

Evidence that Oliver is taller than his mother.

As much as I’m delighted at the thought of a diary bar, I felt it only right to correct the record.

The sunflowers on our dining room table started to shed yellow today; I decided to seize the opportunity to experiment.

Oliver was very passionate about getting a chance to speak at the “Inaction is Not an Option” rally today here in Charlottetown, organized to give Islanders a chance to gather to speak out against racism, hatred, white supremacy and nationalism.

The organizers generously allowed his name to be added to the speakers list at the last minute; he chose two passages to read, one from Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, and one from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

I have never been prouder: Oliver has a deep-seated aversion to inequity, violence and hatred, and feels a strong common cause with anyone whose intrinsic worth is threatened.

We wanted to get something to help Oliver with his photography at Cloggeroo last week, something that would clamp around the Moto G mobile phone he was using to shoot the photos, that would allow him both extra reach and a way of steadying the phone.

We went up to Best Buy the morning of Cloggeroo to see what we could find; I remembered there being a wide array of phone-mounts-for-tripods; alas there was nothing in evidence, and the staff disclaimed any knowledge of such things ever having existed.

Just before we headed out, empty-handed, I noticed a kit labelled Quik Pod by Digipower hanging in the camera accessories rack; it was exactly what we needed. Inside the carrying case was a telescoping monopod and a mobile phone clamp that screwed into it. It was $34, which seemed dear, but it was all they had, so we purchased one.

Here’s what it looks like:

And here’s an annotated sketch illustrating how it all fits together:

The Quik Pod performed well at Cloggeroo: Oliver used it as a monopod, as a selfie-stick, and as an extension to allow better photos of the crowds. It was a good investment, and I’m sure we’ll make more use of it in the future.

It took more than two months from start to finish, but the Coles Building in Queens Square has a new set of stairs.

Demolition on the old concrete stairs, which had been patched beyond their ability to be patched any longer, started on June 7, 2017; through July and into August, MacLean Construction removed the rubble, set forms, poured concrete for the sides, let this set, set forms, poured concrete for the stairs, let this set, and, finally, put in place brand new rails on August 11, 2017.

The restored entrance, which affords access to the temporary home of the Legislative Assembly of PEI, opened earlier this week.

MacLean did great, careful work, and I’m certain that the new stairs will outlive it and me.

Because I walk by the Coles Building at least twice a day–it’s on my way to and from the office–I had a front-row seat to all of this, and every time there was a new development I snapped a photo.

Here’s a photographic journey through the process.

An early morning visit to Charlottetown Veterinary Clinic on a sunny day.

For what seems to be the first time in my lifetime, Triscuit cracker boxes have undergone a redesign. I like it.

From What If Stores Charged Admission? in The Business of Fashion:

Ah, but there is at least one café that recognises that customers truly value the time spend in their establishment. Its a small chain in the United Kingdom called Ziferblat Café (ziferblat being the Russian word for “wall clock”). Here, you sign in when you enter and pay six pence per minute for the time you spend there — and the coffee is free! Sure, you’re not going to get a tall, half-sweet caramel macchiato (or whatever your favorite drink is), but you are going to get a place to call your own for however long you want to stay, with books, magazines and newspapers, free internet and some rather sociable people to chat with, if you so choose.

This is an intriguing mashup of the private club, the co-working space, pay-as-you-go mobile plans and the local coffee shop. From the café’s website:

Ziferblat has a relaxing sitting room, shared office space, private meeting rooms and a full programme of events - it is place where you can do as you please, like an extension of your own home.

Work, Study, Relax, Play, Attend and Put on Events, eat cake, have a brew or breakfast or afternoon tea or…..

You will be welcomed by a Ziferblat host and can help to create and develop the concept by putting on events, volunteering or joining our team!

We have amazing wi-fi, newspapers, board games, a piano and record player, 43 kinds of tea, our own special Ziferblend coffee, we are very children friendly and dog friendly, too!

Part of what makes us unique is that everything you receive is free, the coffee, the cake, the wi-fi, everything, you pay only for the time you spend at just 8p a minute. If you want to spend the day with us, your spend will be capped at 4 hours and the rest of your time is free! That includes Vat and we don’t charge for service or, in fact, anything else at all.

My local coffee shop, Receiver Coffee, has a capacity issue that renders it delightful at 7:30 a.m. and less hospitable, because of tourists and “cheap place to work all day” laptop-bearers, for much of the balance of the morning and afternoon; is a by-the-minute charge the solution to this?

8p is 13 cents Canadian a minute, or about $8 an hour; that seems like a reasonable price to pay for a chair, table, coffee and cake. And yet it also offends my egalitarian sensibilities in the same way that having a private park would (I’d love a private park; I’m also offended by the very notion of a private park).

The Small Print Board Game Café has a scheme that’s similar in some ways to Ziferblat:

Here’s the scoop: You pay $5 and you can play as many board games as you want and stay as long as you want. With over 300 games to choose from; these range from classics like Monopoly, Pictionary and Scrabble to more modern games such as, Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan and Carcasonne. There will be staff that have intimate knowledge on board games, who can help you select a game and set it up providing you with a walk through of the game and its rules; let us take care of the small print!

I’ve never been to Small Print because the conditions of its liquor license don’t allow Oliver, being under 19, to be there after 8:00 p.m., and if I was going to go somewhere and play board games with someone, it would be with Oliver, after 8:00 p.m. But I’m not offended by the cover charge, and that it’s still in place, a year after opening, suggests that it’s working for them.

The other Prince Edward Island experiment in this regard has been Avonlea Village in Cavendish, for which, in a quirk of history, I wrote the original business plan. When Avonlea opened there was a modest admission charge that some, especially Islanders, resisted as, in essence, “paying for the right to shop.” As Avonlea evolved, the commercial aspects of the attraction gave way to Anne of Green Gables-related activities and theatre and, with this change, the admission fee rose; more recently the model changed again, with the admission fee removed entirely and Avonlea refocusing on the commercial, especially its cluster of restaurants.

Would you pay $8 an hour for a clean well-lighted place to drink coffee and read the newspaper?