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Make America boring again

04 Wednesday Nov 2020

Posted by Ricky Leong in Alberta, art, Calgary, Canada, fun, photowalk, photowalking, politics, random, urban

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alberta, art, calgary, canada, humour, photowalk, politics, random, sticker, urban

Make America boring again

Someone put up this sticker along Kensington Road in Calgary, back in the spring. Whoever it is, they didn’t get their wish.

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The Future Starts Here at London’s V&A Museum

23 Sunday Sep 2018

Posted by Ricky Leong in England, London, photography, photowalk, photowalking, random, Travel

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England, environment, futurism, health, London, museum, photography, politics, technology, Travel, U.K., urbanism, V&A

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England, U.K.

The word sandbox can mean different things to different people.

For some, it might evoke a play area inhabited with children and their toys, fuelling young imaginations as they shape and reshape the sand to create an evolving imaginary world.

For other, it’s simply a technical term to describe a virtual place for safe technological experimentation.

The V&A Museum in London melds those concepts with an exhibition called The Future Starts Here, which runs until Nov. 4.

The multi- and inter-disciplinary installation, which I visited as part of a personal vacation this spring, is best described as a quick survey course on futurism, with an emphasis on humans’ role in fashioning the world of tomorrow and how we all might fit in such a place — should we fit in at all.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England, U.K.

As visitors descend into a vast space in the bowels of the museum, they are greeted by a laundry robot (photo above) — the first of a chain of thought-provoking displays tackling our present and the future in relation to science and technology, climate change and environment, politics and philosophy, urbanism and more.

The introductory focus on home automation and other types of high-tech convenience quickly gives way to weightier subjects, including the effect of technology on care for seniors. A sign next to a cuddly robotic therapy seal (photo below) asks viewers to evaluate if such devices are simply helpful tools or if they are the first step in the outsourcing of companionship.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England, U.K.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England, U.K.

Farther along, visitors get to peer into the mind of a teenaged aspiring architect (photo above) as he conjures up an ideal for his home city, war-ravaged Aleppo, Syria. His Aleppo, according to the card describing the display, would have integrated public green spaces, top-notch public transportation and buildings fuelled by sunlight — and when he grows up, he wants to help bring such a city to life.

What if humans truly mess up and permanently wreck this fragile blue marble suspended in space we call home? That’s where the sandbox (first photo in this post) comes in, asking us to participate in a virtual terraforming exercise. Dig deep and create a vast sea; pile up the sand and watch snow caps form. If only things were so simple in real life.

A few steps away is a prototype showing an artificial leaf capable of photosynthesis, just like its natural counterpart, offered as a possible aid to slow climate change. And around the corner from this is a brief examination of space exploration and the ongoing hunt for a new galactic foothold for Homo sapiens.

As visitors wend their way through the displays, they are also asked to consider the impact of technology on democracy, energy consumption/extraction and the accumulation/dissemination of knowledge.

The myriad questions posed by the presentations are left to linger as you leave — and how to answer them is, of course, left to you.

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England, U.K.

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Battling with words

12 Wednesday Apr 2017

Posted by Ricky Leong in photowalk, politics, Portland, random, Travel, urban

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Oregon, photography, photowalk, politics, Portland, random, Travel, urban

As the roses bloom all over Portland, Oregon, this spring, so too does a proliferation of window and lawn signs denouncing a variety of political ills in the United States.

Despite some strong differences and disagreeements across the American political landscape, it reassures me somewhat that for the most part, the fighting is happening with words — just as it ought to be.


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Bringing more life to our downtown cores

30 Wednesday Nov 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in Alberta, Calgary, Canada, planning, politics, urban

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alberta, calgary, canada, cities, politics, urban, urban planning

Downtown West

Downtown West, Calgary, Nov. 27, 2016. The neighbourhood is home to a forest of residential towers. (Ricky Leong photo)

Skyscrapers are the hallmarks of many modern cities.
But what if our race to the sky was a mistake?
In my newspaper column last week, I shared my thoughts on some of the difficulties facing the City of Calgary as property tax revenues slump due to empty office spaces downtown.
The more time I spent thinking about the subject, the more I wondered about whether the central neighbourhoods in many of our cities were unintentionally set up to fall — and fall hard — with every economic slowdown.

Continue reading →

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Astute political commentary

21 Sunday Feb 2016

Posted by Ricky Leong in Calgary, politics, random

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alberta, calgary, canada, graffiti, photowalk, politics, random, street art, urban

Politically astute commentary

Some very smart graffiti scrawled onto a wall in Calgary’s Kensington neighbourhood, spotted a few days ago. Too bad few people will see it in person: It’s in a space about half-a-metre wide between two buildings on 10 St. N.W.

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Fellow Canadians, please make yourself heard today: Go vote!

19 Monday Oct 2015

Posted by Ricky Leong in politics

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elxn42, politics

IMG_0184

Monday, Oct. 19, is federal election day in Canada.
Democracy is a commodity too precious to waste … so if you haven’t already taken advantage of opportunities for advanced voting, please cast a ballot today.
Check out the Elections Canada website for information on what you need to vote and where you can do so.

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Everywhere she looked, she finally saw trouble

20 Thursday Mar 2014

Posted by Ricky Leong in Alberta, Canada, politics

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Tags

alberta, canada, front page, journalism, news, newspapers, politics

20140320-121903.jpg

Front-page news around these parts: After weeks of controversy and pressure, Alison Redford announced yesterday her resignation as premier of Alberta, effective Sunday.

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It’s civic election day in Alberta

21 Monday Oct 2013

Posted by Ricky Leong in Alberta, politics

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alberta, calgary, canada, election, politics

Election season is upon us

To my friends across Alberta: Today is voting day for city councils and school boards. Please exercise your democratic franchise … Go out and vote!
This photo was taken outside Calgary city hall during the advance vote last week; today, it is a polling station for a part of Ward 7.

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Worrying about the future

27 Saturday Apr 2013

Posted by Ricky Leong in art, Canada, montreal, photography, photowalking, politics, random, Travel, urban

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art, canada, montreal, photowalk, politics, quebec, random, street art, urban

A couple of photos taken in Montreal recently, reflecting some slightly pessimistic views of the future.

Avenir inquiétant (I)

Above is a polar bear displayed as you’d see in a museum … as if it’s gone extinct. Part of artwork in a campaign against global warming.
Below is some sticky graffiti on St. Laurent Boulevard.

Avenir inquiétant (II)

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Motto to uphold

19 Monday Nov 2012

Posted by Ricky Leong in Paris, photography, photowalking, politics, random, Travel, urban

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France, Paris, photography, photowalk, politics, random, Travel, urban

Liberté, fraternité, égalité

Truly, one of the hallmarks of the French Republic is the idea of liberty, fraternity and equality for all of its citizens.
And when this founding principle is chiseled into the side of a building and adorned with some flags, it can make for a cool photo.

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Greetings

Welcome to rickyleong.com and thanks for stopping by. Pictured in the header above is Calgary’s skyline seen from McHugh Bluff.

About me


Journalist by trade, photographer for fun. I help make newspapers and related multi-platform content at Postmedia in Calgary. Opinions expressed here are my own.

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