iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 02/10/2026

28 Bastion Square update from this week: Chat, is it good when a heritage building is crumbling and boarded up? #yyj #bcHist #cdnHist @victoria.ca @susankimyyj.bsky.social

Colour photo. Extensive water damage in a building. It is literally peeling and crumbling

Colour photo. A large multi-storey building with the lower windows covered in plywood

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 01/10/2026

Pretty awesome cloud cover last night down by the water. I dont know what these are called or the effects happening #yyj

Colour photo. Looking up at the clouds. They are across the sky, looking like cotton candy with layers of white, blue, dark grey and yellow.

Colour photo. Looking out over the ocean to some mountains. There are clouds and in the distance clouds that look like cresting waves

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 28/09/2026

I hike the #Cowichan River footpath this weekend - a meandering path through ancient forests and the territories of the Hul’qumi’num speaking peoples

Colour photo. Looking up into a forest canopy of Douglas Fir and big leaf maple trees

Colour photo. Mist rises from a river. Blue sky above

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 08/09/2026

I only see The Be Good Tanyas

Cover for The Be Good Tanyas’ album Hello Love which resembles the repaired cloth technique

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 05/09/2026

“28 Bastion Square should be put to use” www.timescolonist.com/opinion/lett... #yyj #cdnHist #bcHist #bcPoli

Screenshot of text. “28 Bastion Square should be put to use

Victoria city council, after a presentation by historian Kelly Black, unanimously approved a motion to ask for an update on the current condition of the building at 28 Bastion Square, and to urge the timely restoration and reopening of the building.

Black is the former director of the Point Ellice House Museum and Gardens, another part of Victoria’s past with an uncertain future.

Surprisingly, although in 1980 the 1889 building at 28 Bastion Square was designated a National Historic Site, it has stood empty for the past 12 years.

So, given the historic status of this building, council’s motion is a welcome one.

In particular, restoring 28 Bastion Square deserves support from British Columbia’s legal profession.

It was not only a courthouse; it was where our province’s first chief justice, Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie, presided in the last few years of his life.

And Victoria needs spaces to talk about our past, such as the series of talks on “Controversial Characters in Historical Context” that the Times Colonist hosted in 2018.

I recognize that there are many demands on the resources of our governments. But once such an important part of our history is gone, it is gone for good.

Hamar Foster

Victoria”

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 27/07/2026

Post a perfect album for the 90s that isn’t Nirvana Soundgarden, Pearl Jam or Alice In Chains

The cover of “Gordon” by Barenaked Ladies

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 23/07/2026

Maybe the letter writer does not know this, but the US and Canada -did- curb acid rain by signing an international agreement to take action on it. You know, kinda like Canada and the US were supposed to with climate agreements.

Screenshot of text: “Can Carney control when Reagan could not?

Regarding U.S. President Donald Trump’s comments to Prime Minister Mark Carney: “You got to stop fires from coming in.”

When Ronald Reagan was president in the early 1980s, a reporter asked him if he was going to curb the amount of “acid rain” expelled from some factories in the United States into Canadian airspace, polluting our air and damaging our forests.

His answer was something like, “I can’t control where the winds blow.”

Bill Bey
Saanich”

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 18/07/2026

The federal government approved a merger between Rogers and Shaw in part based on assurances no such thing would happen. Who could have foreseen this - certainly not Minister Champagne!

Screenshot of text. “In addition to the creation of digital and technology positions focused on "building networks," Staffieri said Rogers also plans to add more "customer-facing" jobs. He said those should be expected "rather quickly," though when pressed on a timeline he pointed to the five-year timeline set out in the agreement.”

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 18/07/2026

Hey there pole bean. Welcome!

Colour photo of a pole bean plant emerging from the soil

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 17/07/2026

And they say there’s no algorithm here

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 15/07/2026

Here, enjoy an orca in the Salish Sea.

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 10/07/2026

Hey Alex. I’m Kelly. Me too.

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 03/07/2026

Reminds me of this Gary Larson cartoon

A cartoon from Farside by Gary Larson. A man stands looking out the window at sunrise. There is a piano behind him with sheet music. There is a balled up piece of paper on the piano keys and a pen by the sheet music. The hand written lyrics read “jeepers creepers where’d you get those …” and the. A bunch of words are crossed out including “eyeballs” “retinas” and “tear ducts”

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 02/07/2026

Sorry, Vancouver Island, the world needs our oil. You get it, it’s cool. Don’t worry about it.

Screenshot of a news headline: “Island districts ratchet up water restrictions as drought concerns rise”

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 28/06/2026

Probably my most niche book #bcHist

Book cover. “Boilermakers in British Columbia” by Robert Macintosh. The cover shows an orange topo map of the province

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 23/06/2026

Highly specific return to sender instructions

Colour photo of an envelope. In handwriting across the top it reads, “Moved 17 years ago”

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 20/06/2026

Rolled over 6,000kms on my bike today. 6,000kms not in a car. Feels good!

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 17/06/2026

Strange. I visited cbc.ca/news on my desktop and it pulls up a landing page from 2013…

Photo of a the cbc news page. The “breaking news” is about a chemical weapons deal for Syria being reached by the US and Russia. Another story is about Senator Pamela Wallin having to repay $100k in expenses.

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 23/05/2026

Hey Victoria folks - if you're looking for something free and interesting to do today, check out Fort Macaulay Day. Fort Macaulay was part of the coast defence system that protected Esquimalt and Victoria harbours #yyj www.esquimalt.ca/community-ev...

black and white photo of white military tents in a large field. NA-40384, BC Archives.

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 17/05/2026

Fawning over my new work friends

Colour photo. A deer fawn and its mother on a paved road

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 14/05/2026

Still there. Took this last week from the E&N rail trail. The building to the right is also a reproduction of a Fort Victoria building

Colour landscape photo of a bastion (fortification) and another wooden building with a roofline that looks like a pointy tilly hat. The sky is blue with clouds and there are cars parked in the foreground. The photo is dark because of the bright sun at the top left of the image

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 07/05/2026

Rising up Back on the street

Colour photo. Looking up at an entirely blue sky. On the left, the cornice of a building; in the middle a red building crane, on the right a white globed lamp post which is a well known element of the Victoria urban landscape

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 29/04/2026

Dale Miller, the editor, works for an “AI” company…

Screenshot of text. “I am the Director of App Innovation and AI at Charter Telecom. In this role I lead and direct the go-to-market strategy for Charter’s AI…”

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 26/04/2026

Here, have some orchids

Colour photo. Two pink orchards (Calypso bulbosa) growing on the forest floor, these orchids are in focus and there is another in the distance out of focus. Sunlight streams in from the top of the frame

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 25/04/2026

Get your teeth into the job

Photo of a Second world war propaganda poster from Canada. A beaver is chopping down a tree with Hit ler in it. The text reads “Get your teeth into the job”

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 25/04/2026

*extremely Flaming Lips voice*

Colour photo of a Second World War poster for Canada Victory Bonds. “Do you realize…that a saving of 56 cents pee day buys $100 in Victory Bonds in 6 months…”

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 20/04/2026

Quick time out for flowers (purple camas)

A purple flower. In the background green grass, blue sky, and some mountains

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 12/04/2026

Mayor Herbert Anscomb and Sir Arthur Currie at tree planting ceremony in Mayor's Grove, Beacon Hill Park. City of Victoria Archives, M10237.

Black and white photo. Two men dressed in suits stand in front of a pile of dirt and a small tree. There are other people standing around in the background.

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 01/04/2026

For example, you could have used this well-known painting by William Hind found in the BC Archives.

A painting of a prospector panning for gold

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 01/04/2026

Hey @royalbcmuseum.bsky.social - why are you using an AI generated image when you have a wealth of digitized images and paintings from the gold rush that you could use?

Screenshot. What looks to be an AI generated image of people panning for gold above a description of an “online learning” event about the 1858 gold rush

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 01/04/2026

The herring have arrived!

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 31/03/2026

Spotted this St. Paul landmark in a Victoria thrift store. Did not buy but took this pic fpr @chrissteller.bsky.social

A photo of a framed drawing of Alexander Ramsay House in St Paul Minnesota

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 27/03/2026

Please enjoy these shooting star flowers.

A few pink or purple shooting star flowers against a green background. The sun is shining on the flowers

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 24/03/2026

Nanaimo woman fined $1,000 in senior’s monster truck parking lot death globalnews.ca/news/1174246...

Simpson’s “That’s a paddlin’” meme. Murder someone with your truck? That’s a paddlin’

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 19/03/2026

Please enjoy a few seconds of the mighty Ottawa River

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 18/03/2026

Im glad to see the Pearson cartoon by @katebeaton.bsky.social is still on the wall at Mike’s Place pub at Carleton. Something I suggested we add when I was on the grad student executive many years ago.

Photo of a Kate Beaton cartoon titled “Pearson” framed and hanging on a brick wall.

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 17/03/2026

Had to stop by and see The Meeting of the School Trustees. @gallery.ca www.gallery.ca/magazine/in-...

Painting by Robert Harris. “The meeting of the school trustees.”

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 17/03/2026

Happy St Patrick’s Day from the @gallery.ca! www.gallery.ca/collection/a...

Painting. “The Croppy Boy (The Confession of an Irish Patriot)” by Charlotte Schreiber.

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 17/03/2026

Could be a fun way to get a root canal

Storefront for Rideau Dental, but the A is missing so the sign says “Ride U Dental”

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 16/03/2026

“Perhaps the cruelty is the point. Afterall, we’re not talking about a lot of money. Let’s add up the Budget 2025 cuts…” buttondown.com/leftcoastdis...

Screenshot of text from Left Coast Dispatch. “…perhaps the cruelty is the point. Afterall, we’re not talking about a lot of money. Let’s add up the Budget 2025 cuts:

Documentary Heritage Communities Program: $1.5M annually

Reductions in Access to Information and Privacy at Library and Archives Canada: $13.6M annually

Parks Canada library and Canadian Register of Historic Places: ~$300,00 annually

Department of Public Safety library: Unknown, presumably the same or less than Parks Canada’s library cuts: ~$300,000 (?)

Correctional Service Canada librarians: ~$1.5 to 2.5M, annually

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Kelly B @kellyblack.ca · 12/03/2026

I wonder if there was such a ‘debate’ when the Royal Canadian Mint came out with these two birbs in the 1980s

A colour photo of the front and back of the old Canadian two dollar bill. The bill is brownish or orange with a picture of Queen Elizabeth II on the front and two robins (birds) on the reverse

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