Crisis in Haiti - help however you can now. · Wednesday January 13, 2010 by colin newell
You can visit here (Your Red Cross), World Vision or whatever your preferred charitable organization is.
Give what you can.
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2009 a year in review - part three - Joy, World Peace, and fighting · Tuesday December 29, 2009 by colin newell
Many, many years ago one of my, now fully grown, nephews declared while hoisting a plastic sword (or light saber…) over his head…
“I believe in Peace, Harmony… and fighting…”
Which is something that must have been on Vancouver city council’s mind when they made the bizarre and unexpected decision to sanction and approve the exhibition of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA, UFC, whatever…).
MMA: defined as: two competitors using techniques from boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and other fighting styles to knock each other out. It used to be called “extreme fighting” but now those who run this pathetic excuse for a sport prefer to call it “mixed martial arts” — sounds so much more civilized is all…
Call me a sissy but I have always thought that there is very little “sport” in two guys pummeling each other into a senseless mass. I mean, come on. Pinning someone and delivering kidney shot after kidney shot (or head shots) is not sport. It is barbarism, pure and simple.
And, ironically, I actually feel for the combatants that choose this avocation and blame the promoters and audience for getting off on it. Because, hey, it is oh so Toss the Christians to the Lions mentality.
Vancouver Counselor Andrea Reimer, who voted against the motion said “It’s become very hard for me to see the logic in passing this motion … I’ve spent a lot of time . . . dealing with the fallout of kids who have been desensitized to violence because of adult sanctioning of violence, but then adults also saying it’s not appropriate for children to participate in the same level of violence that we have sanctioned ourselves.”
Can’t touch that. Thank-you Rafe Mair for getting that word-byte from Andrea.
More locally, there is some talk among city folk in and around Victoria out through the West Shore (read, Langford, Colwood, Trailerland…) thinking about getting some of that MMA action here on the lower Island.
And no, some of the action in and around the West Shore council meetings, although taking advantage of verbal sparring, bullying and other goon like behavior, may appear to be a form of Mixed martial arts – it ain’t.
For me, integrating brutality and senseless violence into a public spectacle was one more step in the de-evolution of the Province of British Columbia.
2009 a year in review - part one · Monday December 28, 2009 by colin newell
One of the more challenging aspects of wrapping up a year is getting a sense of what the heck it was all about; summing up the highs and lows and moving forward with a sense of closure and anticipation of growth and evolution.
2009 was difficult in light of some of the deeply personal challenges that arrived at our feet (many of which we are still unraveling) and utterly brilliant in the number of bright and shiny doors that opened.
Photo right – Given the opportunity to write for EAT Magazine on a monthly basis has opened doors… and menus!
And the thing that is most ironic or perhaps eloquent or even bittersweet is that you can experience tragedy and opportunity at the same time. In immensely lethal doses.
And guess what? It tastes like a macadamia-nut and maple infused slice of French toast. Really, it does.
Because while my dear wife and spent evening after evening sitting on the lanai of our Kona area condo, we tasted the saltiness of our tears combined with the bracing fruit of a California Merlot, followed by a Pinot Noir, followed by a Shiraz, – all with great home cooked food of course!
Some would say that the combination of tears, sadness and laughter is a sign of madness – in our case it was a part of healing and re-birth.
We spent almost the entire month of November 2009 in the tropical womb of Hawaii, surrounded by friends, given our space – to meditate and find peace as we neared the conclusion of a tumultuous year.
And what made it the most difficult was the loss of our Wing-Man – my Mom-in-law. She was like the proverbial co-pilot, who when faced with a insurmountable ethical, moral or technical question, would look at the dashboard of the cockpit, illuminated with a zillion possible answers, glance over the console, through the windscreen and down onto the unforgiving World below, furrow her brow and toss out the most obvious and logical answer possible.
Yup. That was what she was like. She always had the answer. Which left me with that sweet option of being along for the ride – maybe pulling my weight… maybe not.
And losing that creature-feature in your life is like losing the aircraft hydraulics or tail rudder… no so easy when you are in charge of the crew and passengers.
Now I am the captain. And it is a tough role trust me. Still getting a feel for the cap and the uniform. It’s still kind of sticky but it think I am up for it.
Anyway. 2009 was one of those years where it occurred to me that there were going to be way more opportunities than time to actually do everything justice.
These stories and some of their outcomes in Part two!
Reader's Digest Canada rant chapter three - Our Canada · Monday December 14, 2009 by colin newell
On the phone to Reader’s Digest today – and this time they were under the questionable cape of Our Canada magazine.
Let’s look at the Bill shall we? Dated within days of my mom-in-laws passing.
“Dear Mrs. Mother-in-law,
A few months ago, you requested a subscription for Our Canada.
We sent you your first issue in good faith with the understanding that you would honor the invoice and pay it promptly.
We’ve kept our part of the bargain, but so far we have not received your payment.”
Jumping in now…
My Mother-in-law was in the hospital without a phone, radio or television for 4 months prior to her passing and she, in no way, requested a subscription to this shady Readers Digest front.
So. According to the above passage, Readers Digest lies.
Of course during the conversation the very friendly lady said that someone signed my mother-in-law up for the copy of Our Canada.
Let’s keep reading.
“I must ask that you pay the enclosed invoice immediately. If we do not receive payment within 15 days, we will turn your account over to our credit and collection department.”
Can you imagine a little old lady sitting in her apartment. Perhaps she is a tad forgetful. Perhaps she is on a fixed income. These letters and invoices can be scary for our old folks!
The RD invoice I hold in my hand is dripping with intimidation and disrespect for our beloved elderly folks.
Readers Digest. It’s senior-abuse, plain and simple. And it should stop!
My opinion: I feel that RD are weasels that need to be exposed for the abusers of our dear Canadian seniors.
Go on RD. Take me to the carpet on this. I dare you.
Shame on Reader’s Digest Canada – Shame, shame, triple shame.
And to my departed and beloved Mom-in-law, god bless her… At least she doesn’t have to deal with RD ever again.
Read this CBC Marketplace expose of Readers Digest’s questionable nonsense. Watch the video. It is shocking. Activities that are banned in the U.S. appear to be commonplace in Canada.
Shocker: The Canadian government subsidizes Readers Digest Canada to the tune of $2,000,000 a year in postal tariff reductions – reduced postage… so they can scam and harass your parents and grand-parents.
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Fall Fun Food Drink and Words with Rex Murphy · Monday September 21, 2009 by colin newell
One of the great pleasures of the spoken (and written) word (particularly in a country as free as Canada) is the ability to wax philosophic on every subject that irritates the psyche. It is, as if, in Canada, a country that prides itself on free expression, labels the very exercise of soliloquy as a national obligation – the failure to do so, within itself, could well be rewarded with a social punishment, or banishment worthy of a much harsher crime.
Which leads me to the hour of validation provided by none other than Rex Murphy – orator, intellect, maven of all things Canadian Culture – host of Canada’s beloved “Cross Country Check-up”, writer for the Globe and Mail… and on… and on… and on…
We have seen Rex on several occasions, each successive venture in listening more profound than the one before it. Mister Murphy has an uncommon connection to the most intimate fabric of the Canadian experience and a word skill sufficiently advanced to weave an otherwise cryptic and esoteric sweater of ideas into a warm and gentle blanket of thought wearable by even the most jaded and maple leaf detached person.
His message tonight was quite simple: We live in a country with a whole lot of great stuff around us and like the “forest for the trees” adage, we don’t know what we have even when we are surrounded by it – and it is not so much about the learning of this concept, because we know it by rote – but that we often need to be reminded of the little things that coalesce into the big things… that make Canada the most desirable place on the Planet – and the people resting on its familiar soil some of the most giving and empathic.
In a short story about 9/11 and how average Canadians (Newfoundland in his example) come to the aid of stranded Americans and Internationals, forced out of the air in a day of infamy, senseless aggression and rage. – Rex illustrates the factor of molecular memory in Human behavior and how good things can come from all Canadians – of all stripes, because we know what the right thing to do is when we are in dire straits – or when our neighbors are in difficult times.
And not only that, the very manifestation of the Canadian zeitgeist guarantees the feels good reward by doing the right thing – without expectation of recognition – but just the simple satisfaction of lending a hand when it’s needed.
And it is intrinsically Canadian to do so.
It was a great time. We bought his new book (photo upper right) and lined up with other Canadians to have a private moment with the wordsmith – and to have the book custom signed.
A moment with a great Canadian, teacher, speaker and a reminder what it is to be Canadian…
Utterly priceless.
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