Archive for October, 2009

The marriage between hockey legends and competitive figure skaters makes for interesting television.

If you haven’t heard about the new CBC show Battle of the Blades I suggest you get up to speed. CBC has me tuning in each week to watch  some of the former greats of the National Hockey League pair skate with the most skillful and talented figure skaters of our time. This is perfect for someone like me because I have always enjoyed watching competitive skating and have maintained a long love affair with hockey.

In front of a live audience at Maple Leaf Gardens, the opportunity to see people we admire in both sports and good old fashion competition, heats up the ice. This is a brilliant concept, a reality show that is open for men, women and children to watch. Canada is rich in talent in both of these sports and this pays tribute in its own way to those that have previously dedicated their life to pursuing their dream in hockey or ice skating.

Competition is good! We have long been trying to beat this out of our system and I can tell you, keeping score is what also makes this show fun. This is a good example of healthy competition, it helps improve the performances and provides a good example of how one can step out of their comfort zone to try something new.

Did any of these NHL’ers ever think that the dance they would be doing in the future would not involve, finessing around someone to score a goal or dropping their gloves? No. None of them knew they had this in them and so they are good examples of using skills in a different way and being open to learning.

For the figure skaters who are helping to train these ex-hockey players, they must exercise patience. These women and the choreographers are not dealing with equally gifted and trained ice skaters so there certainly must be a high level of trust. Hour upon hour they work toward a goal, to enjoy the experience, stay in the competition and raise money for their charity. Yes, did I mention the charities? This is what takes this program to another “special” level, each pair has chosen a charity to represent. Only good can come from that, whether it be money or exposure.

I tune in to watch, relax, cheer and voice my inexpert opinion. I also tune in because I realized there is more to this show than voting at the end of each competition for our favourite pair. It is about pushing your own perceived physical and mental boundaries, trying something you never thought you would, raising your self confidence, partnership and trust, competition, unity and charity. Now that’s a well packaged show!

Battle of the Blades

How do we make a better world?
As the rain falls outside, I sit cozy in my office, the daily news plays out in the background.
So much is happening in our world and lyrics from a song by Ten Years After comes to mind, “I’d love to change the world, but I don’t know what to do, so I leave it up to you.”

I’m optimistic that many of our challenges have real solutions and behind those solutions will be great people we have yet to know. Their name will appear to us and we will hear their story and be thankful. Thankful, that despite the challenges we face there is always someone or something that set us back on the road to recovery.

Travelling back in history there are so many names of influential women and men that have graced our news or the cover of Time Magazine. Even within our own communities there are people, that without fanfare, make our world a better place. This is what excites me, the not knowing when and where greatness will be born.

Sometimes a great idea or act is born out of need, a circumstance that arises that sends an individual on a personal quest. Their personal quest turns into a community action, the community action is regionally embraced and so it grows.

I’d love to change to world but I don’t know what to do. I do know that one small act to support each other or words interlaced with compassion can change a life. One life is worth saving as we never know if that is the life that is bound for greatness.

Have you ever had a moment when you thought, “Today I made my world a better place?” If you choose to share with us that moment, we will hear your story. If you choose not to, I will just say “Thank you, it was appreciated.”

Ten Years After – I’d love to change the world

The story of the week, goes to the boy in a balloon.

As we all watched the balloon float across the Colorado sky, it occurred to me that either a child is in there and this may not end well, or this child is hiding out knowing full well he is in big doo doo if he reappears. How do I know this scenario, I too hid out while an entire neighbourhood rallied to find the missing girl.

It was the 1970′s and visiting my grandmother and grandfathers home in England was always interesting; so was the fact that I made a couple of very large mistakes at different times when staying there. My first mistake was when I got up on the toilet to pull on the chain, which my grandfather had already told me not to do and of course, I did. After jumping down I held the chain in my hand. Scared to come out of the bathroom I stayed as long as I could. Eventually, I came out and received my punishment; my grandfather scared me straight and my parents handled the rest.

My second mistake was taking hide and seek with my sister to the extreme. I started in my grandmothers wardrobe closet, for some reason I decided to move to another room. Under the bed I laid and I could here my Mum and others getting irritated that they couldn’t get my attention. “Where is she?”

Realizing I was going to be in trouble I stayed put. Bad idea. Unbeknownst to me the seeking part of the game gravitated to a full on neighbourhood ground search for a missing child. Me.

When I was eventually found there was relief but there was also very big consequences for my stupidity. This was definitely not the age of talking to your child and needless to say, I never did that again.

Today, when I watched the story unfold we came to understand this child was in the home the whole time while officials from many different jurisdictions worked to save him. When one reporter asked the parents about whether their son would be grounded the father stated, “We don’t believe in grounding”… but he would give his son a talking to. Well, I sure hope that is enough. I’m not advocating a corpral punishment but I think this kid needs something! Take away the things he loves from his room, have him compose a letter (with the help of his parents) to each agency who assisted in his search.

Yes, he is six but so was I that young and I can tell you 40 years later how my parents handled it changed my behaviour quickly. I felt so much guilt for what I put my grandparents, family and others through and that is good. Guilt can be a good thing, respecting others and especially authority is important. Fearing punishment is also natural and he will not be the last child to send people on a wild goose chase. I guess I hope that these parents make sure this child understands the magnitude of his actions.

Update: As with all news the story gets bigger, previous opinions fall to floor. This may have been a hoax; the family so accustomed to publicity. This is where I drop out from this topic, no good can come from exploiting it further, other than to say that this families balloon isn’t the only thing floating out in space.

Today, is Thanksgiving Day. It is quiet, the sun is shining and we have made no real plans. Having just had the family together for a wedding it was hard to gather again so soon. Giving thanks can be done with or without the turkey and fixings in front of us anyway.

This weekend I have been thankful for:

The beautiful days and the comfort of not being in the prairie provinces that are already seeing a dump of snow and upwards of -10 degree temperatures.

Chats with friends, catching up on life and plans.

Sitting and watching hockey, with both of us providing our couch commentary on how the Vancouver Canucks could improve the game and then celebrating a win last night.

Catching up with my Mum on things that make her day extra special.

The roof over my head and the wonderful garden that we share with our fellow creatures, especially the little birds.

Actually, I’m thankful for so many things and maybe if everyone had gathered this weekend I wouldn’t have had time to contemplate my good fortune.

Just a reminder to check out the featured Charity of the Month and the newest addition to Women of Influence. This month I am highlighting an organization known for its tireless work for animal protection and in the spirit of October (though not trivializing her year round/life’s work) I will introduce you to a witch who also believes in giving back.

Last night, I sat down as always to watch 60 Minutes, I love that show. In particular is the brief time I get to spend with Andy Rooney. His reflections on life, stated in a very sure and straight forward manner, keep my attention from start to finish.

This is how I see him – His topics are varied but not in the flavour of the day/week but varied in that life is full so pick from the bounty. He can find the irony and the humour in a situation without even cracking a smile or needing to laugh at his own brilliance. His observance of life is so deep sometimes I need to sift through what he said just to reap more of a good thing. Mr. Rooney doesn’t appear to feel the need to conform to anything or anyone, but he is respectful and classy in his nonconformity. He doesn’t need to beat me over the head with his viewpoint like many on TV today, he sets it out there and I can take it or leave it. 99% of the time I gladly take it, as if I have just been to fabulous class on culture, human ethics or something of the like.

His topic this Sunday, was on the US Mail Service dwindling in size despite the rapid growth of America. Operating like any business with cut-backs and restructuring it has and will go through changes. Overall, there are more people who don’t much like change than there are those that can roll with it. I hadn’t much thought about mail and the importance of a letter showing up at your home. Increasingly the email culture has taken over, most of which is similar to junk mail. Mr. Rooney tied in the story with the experience of seeing the mail man/woman coming to your door and how well a handwritten letter makes you feel over an email. He stated, ” He would rather receive a letter any day than an email.” I agree.

I have a very large decorative bag full with cards and letters I have received over the years. The special ones from people who have great meaning in my life. Once in awhile I have pulled them out to see my friends and family from long ago; a pen pal from Australia I had forgotten until seeing the letter, my Grandmother’s letters/cards from England, Aunt’s and Uncles that have long since left my world. What is beautiful in the handwritten letter is not just the words, but I can see their unique hand writing. For those that have past away this becomes particularly meaningful to me, when I touch the page I can almost feel them. How their pen flowed, how they crossed their T’s or signed their name. The time it took to sit and transcribe their thoughts to paper or describe a vision in front of them at that moment, so I could be there.

If I can’t be physically with someone or hearing their voice, their writing is how I connect. The email is rarely a source of that for me. I save very little of them as I can’t feel what I can feel in the written word. It comes off the computer with foreign energy nothing recognizable to the heart despite the well meaning efforts of the one who wrote it. The beauty is missing, no card with a scene or bonded paper they picked out to send, the script has no resemblance to their hand writing, their touch never made it to the page, finger prints non-existent.

I’m with Andy Rooney on this: I would rather a letter in the mail than an email any day….though I know sadly things have changed.

Warning: This post contains anger and even a swear word. Viewer discretion is advised.

Ok, we are all buzzing about Polanski the Pedophile – the child rapist that skipped the country to avoid serving time.

Thankfully the blog world, as always, has lit up the issue in ways the regular media won’t. I’m sure, if it wasn’t for the growing uproar from the “common folk” this issue would have died at the hands of mainstream media and Hollywood moguls. Some directors and actors alike would have hoped for a swift conclusion to the eyes on their precious genius and the potential revealing of their own soiled casting couches.

I mean, I’m sure there are a lot of stories like this one out there, hidden in the film rooms of other directors and the like.  Also, I just can’t accept that this was a one time deal for Mr. Polanski, most guys that like sex with children don’t find one and stop. His rap sheet would have read like any other pedophile had he not been who he is and had the protection of money, fame, Hollywood’s long reach and a cast of well paid characters.

Oh, sure I could be way off. “Maybe it was a one time thing”, doesn’t matter he is guilty! He raped a 13 year old girl, the court transcripts now available to public certainly tell the story well.

What bothers me is the silence of those in Hollywood that are so worried about their careers that they don’t speak out on this issue. They have no trouble standing up for their environmental causes, throwing their good name behind their political candidate. They get up on the stage for AIDS, farms, famine and wars but where is their face and name on an announcement or petition for justice in this case. I guess this is not a big enough deal to support victims of child sexual abuse in their country or anywhere for that matter.

You don’t need to read the transcripts of this case by the way. Know this….a grown man in 1977 saw a 13 year old girl as a sexual object to be used,  he drugged and raped her. If common sense doesn’t tell you that is wrong, then you have really lost it! I mean come on people there is no excuse that can even touch this. As a society do we really want this? To be so out of reality that this type of behaviour becomes normal? What the f*** are we thinking? Children are not to be used for sex in any way! Apparently, it has been said that “In Europe they see this issue differently; we know in Asian countries there is rampant use of children to sell sex even on the covers of magazines bought and sold on the streets.

I’m tired of this! I’m tired of our hyper-sexualized world, that has adults imposing their sexuality onto children in various forms. I’m tired of the lack of common sense, apathy and the need for self preservation over compassion. I’m tired of some of the hypocrites in film industry ramming stuff down my throat as if, through their lens, they can capture the essence of the human experience when they can’t even get this right.  I’m tired of stupid actors/actresses and overpaid ego centric directors and producers who are clueless self serving imbeciles speaking without checking their facts first. I’m tired of people who say “women” should be outraged about this…this isn’t a “women’s issue” we all should be outraged about rape! And most of all I’m tired of hearing from the mouths of anyone that there was any reason to drop this case.

This victim is like any other victim. Yes, she may want to protect her family from the on slot of media coverage but she can’t. Polanski has eluded the authorities long enough and like any other convicted criminal in our society he should pay the price. My blood is boiling on this issue and I get sick of people wanting to stay in la la land rather than face it…rape is rape…you do the crime we demand you do the time!

Oh, and by the way take a look at the list of actors and directors who have supported Polanski on a petition – BOYCOTT THEIR MOVIES!! Maybe we should have a DVD burning or a Theatre boycott. Hell – they have burned a lot of crap over the years – I’m all for a boycott of anyone who supports child sexual abuse.

Put the lights down on those in Hollywood who are silent – shame on you! For those that signed that petition…well the spotlight is on your ignorance.

(A small list of recognizable idiots: Harvey Weinstein, Martin Scorcese, Tilda Swinton, David Lynch, Woody Allen and many more, I encourage you to check out the lists further available online)