Siftography: Zifnab
Zifnab is one of only a few people I’ve met from my own generation, who grew up in a remote area without power or running water. Dag is another and when Dag and I first discussed where we should settle down together, he was adamant that he didn’t want to live in a remote place. He wanted all the facilities one could need, including power and an Internet connection.
I couldn’t understand his aversion to living in the sticks, until I went and saw where he grew up in interior Alaska. This desire to live somewhere well-serviced, was echoed in Zifnab’s conversation, so I can only draw the conclusion that like Dag, the experience of living without power and running water must have left a big impression on him.
Here’s a little about how he spent his childhood:
Zifnab: I was born in Vancouver. My parents actually lived up in the interior of BC on a trap line so after I was born they took me back there for my first couple of years. When I was four we moved back down to the lower mainland near Vancouver and I've pretty much stayed around here since.
The trap line was in the middle of nowhere. We didn't have any power or running water (well the water would run as fast as you could carry it). We had a number of animals, which were my playmates. My mom said the first time I saw a light bulb I tried to blow it out
Persephone: Ha ha, what a sheltered existence you had! Sounds a bit like Dag's, growing up on a homestead near Delta Junction. What's a trap line?
Zifnab: A trap line means that my parents had access to a section of land were they trapped animals and then sold their pelts. beaver, mink, and some others (I don't remember a lot about it)
Persephone: Wow! Did they work with other families, or alone?
Zifnab: We were pretty much alone. We had a log cabin in the woods where we lived. We had quite a few dogs, goats and rabbits (well, we started with two rabbits and my mom thought they were the same gender then quickly realized her error).
Persephone: Your parents must be pretty strong characters. I'd imagine life wouldn't have been easy for them. Do you remember the rabbits?
Zifnab: Yes they are very strong characters (and just characters too). I remember that rabbit tastes pretty good
I do remember them a bit.
I was starting to form pictures in my mind of Zifnab living in the woods and the scene resembled something out of Grizzly Adams, so I asked him to describe them better for me.
Here’s what he had to say:
Zifnab: My mom wouldn't name any of the animals that we might use for food. Except that she once got a couple of turkeys. So she named one "Thanksgiving" and the other one "Christmas"
I've only had rabbit a few times since.
Persephone: LOL Sometimes I think everyone would really benefit from having the experience of growing their own meat and vegies. We take food for granted in the city.
Zifnab: I know what you mean. I don't remember a lot of it, but from the stories from my parents it definitely makes one think more about the food supply.
Persephone: Have you ever gone back to that region to see where you grew up? Would it have changed much?
Zifnab: I used to go up to an area near there in the summer where we had (and still technically have) a quarter share in a hundred acres of land. My parents and some of their friends had built some cabins on the land and I'd go up there with my Dad for part of the summer. But I haven't been back for about 18 years now.
I've thought about going back at some point to see, but haven't had the opportunity as life can be quite busy with a young family
. I've thought about taking my son up there when he gets older to see it. After having a child of my own I can't imagine how my parents coped with me as a baby there with no electricity or running water. Persephone: Amazing! Are they nature-lovers, or pioneer-types? Was it the opportunity that took them there?
Zifnab: They called themselves hippies
. They are nature lovers though. I don't think it was really opportunity as much as it was just a way for them both to get away from everything. Persephone: Would you say you're a country boy at heart? Do you call remote areas 'the bush' like they do in Alaska?
Zifnab: I wouldn't call myself a country boy. Even though my early life was spent in that type of an environment and I understand it to a degree, I don't think I would have the heart to do it myself. And yes we do call the remote areas "the bush".
Zifnab says he’s not a country boy, but it’s obvious that he has a love of nature and a concern for the environment. We talked about the pine beetle problem briefly and here’s what he had to say:
Persephone: When we visited BC, we noticed a lot of trees had been affected by some beetle, making the foliage all brown. Is that still a problem?
Zifnab: Yes, that's the Pine Beetle and it's becoming a huge problem. The winters have been getting warmer and warmer (thanks Global Warming) so we haven't been having enough consecutive days of cold weather in the interior forests to kill off any significant number of the beetles during the winter so their population has exploded. They burrow into Pine trees mainly and end up killing them.
Persephone: Do you think the problem can be solved? Does it mean having to replant areas with totally different trees that aren't prone to the beetle?
Zifnab: There has been a lot of talk about the problem in the media and from the politicians, but I'm not sure what they can do. The lumber companies are trying to harvest the trees that the beetles have killed as they can still use the wood if the tree doesn't start to rot.
Here's the Wikipedia link for the Mountain Pine Beetle with some info.
Persephone: Do you ever feel scared for the future of your kids?
I mean with global warming?
Zifnab: I feel scared a bit about the effects of Global Warming on the earth as a whole, but I don't really feel scared about the future for my son specifically. I'm not exactly sure why I feel that way, might be that I just want to take the glass is half full approach for him
Persephone: Maybe you are remaining positive because you haven't bought into media fear-mongering
I get paranoid sometimes and worry that there'll be food shortages, because we have such a bad drought here. Farmers are abandoning the land.
In contrast to his early life, Zifnab is now surrounded by the comforts and cosmopolitan lifestyle afforded by living near beautiful Vancouver city, where he says there is always so much to see and do.
His workplace is also very different from that of his parents, finding himself in the busy hub of a university computer centre.
Here’s how he describes his job and how he came to work there:
Zifnab: I work for a University in Abbotsford (about 40 km east of where I live). I'm a Network Administrator there and manage a number of the servers and applications that we use. I've been working in the computer industry since I was in high school and have been at my current job for almost 10 years now.
Persephone: Did you study computers after you left school, or learn on-the-job?
Zifnab: I was working for a local computer store while I was in high school, assembling and repairing computer systems mainly. When I graduated I went to post-secondary school and was taking a number of science courses as I was thinking about doing electrical engineering at the time.
I kept working at the computer store while I was in post-secondary and they had started up a BBS, which I was really interested in. This BBS morphed into a local Internet Provider (dial-up of course). I became more interested in what I was learning at work as we were trying to sell this new fangled thing called "The Internet" that I dropped out of school mid-way through my second semester.
I worked at the ISP for a number of very interesting years as the Internet gained steam. At first we really couldn't give away the Internet to most people as they couldn't grasp what it was. Then, almost overnight, we couldn't keep up with the demand for Internet access.
I learned a lot working there and then moved on to my current employer. The really ironic thing is the school I dropped out of is the place where I now work
. And to top it off I've taught some classes here too Persephone: Ha ha, so you fast-tracked yourself to a university job!
Well done!
Zifnab: Hehe it's funny how things have a way of working out
Zifnab has also been on Videosift for a long time. With his work so closely connected to the Internet, it stands to reason that he would have a passion for such a site. Here’s how he describes his experience of Videosift.
Persephone: How did you discover VS?
Zifnab: I discovered VS through bluesnews
Persephone: what were your first impressions/experiences of VS?
Zifnab: Well when I first got here I thought, "Wow, look at all these funny video's I can send to my friends". I poked around a bit and started to wonder what the vote thing was all about. So after a week or so of just browsing once and a while I decided I wanted to vote too so I set up an account so I could vote.
I had no intention of actually posting a video at that point. I then wanted to have some more abilities so I decided to post a video. Well that one didn't make it out of the queue so I decided to try again, and again and that third time (a Chad Vader clip) I finally got my first published vid.
Persephone: Were you hooked then?
Zifnab: Pretty much, it was exciting to have the video published and I wanted more
. Persephone: Is your participation now, different from then?
Zifnab: Yes, initially I really didn't pay a lot of attention to the community side. I was only interested in the videos. I don't think I even looked at "Sift Talk" for the first couple months. I started to pay more attention to comments and Sift Talk and to actually participate more. I'm still not the most talkative person on the Sift, but I try to participate in the discussions when I think I have something of value to contribute.
Persephone: Do you think online communities are as valid as any other kind of group of people? Do they have power to affect change/influence the world?
Zifnab: Yes I think they are as valid and they definitely have power. With the upcoming generation being so connected to the Internet and online communities, I think the influence is going to continue to grow. The Internet made Chris Crocker a star after all....
When I asked Zifnab if he has shared his interest in Videosift with his family and friends, he had this to say:
Persephone: Did you introduce any colleagues/friends to VS?
Zifnab: Yep, I've told most of my friends and co-workers about it. Some of them check it out quite frequently, but none of them have decided to do any direct sifting yet. Every couple of weeks I round-up 4 or 5 videos from the sift I think people will enjoy and send them out to a bunch of my friends, so they generally get their fix that way.
Persephone: Does your wife sift? Do you share any videos with your son?
Zifnab: No she doesn't sift, she enjoys the videos I send to her, but she keeps herself quite busy as it is and doesn't have the time. I've shared a few videos with my son, mostly the silly quick ones otherwise he gets bored since he's only 4.
There was one video that really touched both my wife and I, the Kids With Tourettes sift from Eden. I watched that video and was in shock, as my son had displayed a few of those tendencies (albeit very minor), so I shared the video with my wife and she was equally shocked.
She started doing some research and we made some significant dietary changes and have seen a dramatic improvement in him (no more signs at all).
Persephone: That's great to hear a video has had a positive effect on you.
Zifnab may have initially become interested in Videosift because of the funny videos, but it’s obvious that it is his interest in the community aspect of Videosift, which has sustained his continued participation. Here’s what he had to say about where he sees Videosift heading and why he started the British Channel:
Zifnab: I hope VS continues to grow as it has grown, with a focus on the community. I came for the videos but I truly stayed because of the community. When I was growing up I loved watching Monty Python. I then branched out to other British comedies like Fawlty Towers, Black Adder, and Red Dwarf. I found them a lot funnier than anything from North America. So when I got my gold star I thought it would be a good idea to create a British Humour collective to help pool all those great comedies together.
After I had created it I started to think I should have made the scope a bit broader as I liked a lot of other British things that could have fit (Some of my favorite bands are British). So when VS 3.0 hit and the Collectives changed to Channel's, I thought it appropriate to broaden the scope at that time.
Persephone: Do you think being Canadian has influenced your style of humour to connect more with British than American humour, or is it just you?
Zifnab: I do think being Canadian has definitely influenced me that way.
Well this edition was planned to come out today, because it is actually Zifnab’s birthday today. He turns 32. So from myself and on behalf of the rest of the Videosift community, here’s wishing you a very Happy Birthday, Zifnab. “For he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly god fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellow, and so say all of us.”
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