Our lives are full of moments in which we strive to be better people, all of us at once both student and teacher to one another with roles constantly reversing. But events are what put the exclamation marks on our existence.
This was a picture I snapped while walking through the Old Quarter of Hanoi, Vietnam. As I was walking down the street a bride exited from a nearby building, and I managed to coax my crappy, but ever faithful Kodak to capture this image.
As the whole street joined me to look at this touching scene, I felt a sense of shared engagement and joy with all who were present. Except for the bride, of course, because for her, it was an event. For the rest of us, it was a moment.
I was also thinking; my goodness, that is one lucky groom.
Earlier today, I read this post from Darren Rowse at problogger.net , and I had to laugh. It might be the biggest signal yet that we are entering a new microera of Facebook 2.0. Yet, it is not the first signal that people are beginning to realise the cost of being "friend sluts" on Facebook.
One friend recently lamented that she had joined a certain group that caused her to have a ton of friend requests, and as a result she was having trouble distinguishing the quality of information she was getting from people she truly cared about versus those who wanted to use Facebook purely as a networking and promotional tool.
Problogger.net is probably one of the most influential blogs on the net, but I am surprised that it took so long for Darren to figure this out. You have three choices with Facebook. Either use it as a business tool and be a friendslut, or use it to stay in touch with people that matter to you, or create two identities one to serve each different purpose.
There is a reason that I have thirty plus facebook friends and over 1000 twitter followers. My Facebook friends are all people that I genuinely care for and respect. I don't just add friends no matter what. If you are among my friends on Facebook, it is because I like and respect you, and I am interested in your life and your welfare. And that is the way it should be.
Either way, be careful. Real friends are precious and Facebook friends are a dime a dozen. Make sure that you don't confuse the two.
The saddest aspect is that we are actively and collectively diminishing the definition of friendship, one "add" at a time.
I have a few very dynamic friends, and, though they may not know it, I am deeply jealous of them.. These are people who are living their lives everyday in the moment. Yes, like, the rest of us, they have day to day challenges and difficulties.
Somehow, they manage to be very present in their own lives, unhindered by the scars that time inflicts on all of us. They are in the moment and they own who they are.
Disclaimer - . I work for a great person in a great place with great people and great customers. After almost thirty years in the hospitality industry, I consider myself lucky to be where I am.
A good friend is currently reading the book Waiter Rant. It is a bestseller based on a blog by Steve Dublanica. While I haven't spent much time at waiterrant.net (yet) , my literary friend imparted a story from the book about dealing with some of the worst of the worst, the most vile and childish that he would run across, telling them that their card had been fake declined in front his dining party. Truly brilliant.
When I heard that, an evil grinch like smile began to grow from my undersized heart. Truly diabolical and I doff my cap to his spirit of street justice. So in the spirit of a man who seems destined to escape the hospitality industry through blogging, I offer this post in homage and as an observation about the emerging distracted nature of humanity. Would you just make a decision already?
My Own Impatience
Seriously, I think it has something to do with the fierceness of my Scottish DNA. I have little patience with the inability of people to make a simple desicion. Do you want a drink or don't you? It is a seemingly simple question, but it invariably leads to a committee meeting.
The Committeee Meeting
OK, you flagged me down. Fine, no problem, but I'm a tad busy. "What can I get for you?". Hmm, what do you want, what do I want, what should we have? Are you having another one,do you have half pints do you have pitchers? Call me after the committee meets.
One Drink At A time, Sweet Jesus
I'm fine now, but I'm going to want another drink in twenty eight seconds. I'm not going to tell you now. After all, its not like you have anything to do other than to cater to my needs. By the way, I'll take my bill with that last drink, pay it, and open another tab thiry four seconds after I've paid.
Last Call, Folks
Yeah, I know you're special and that you know the owner. You know what (he said with hands clasped on cheeks) I do tooooo! That is sooooo unbelievable! But seriously, its last call and I don't need to see all your collective hamsters jump on your collective treadmills. You have ten seconds to decide. Do you want a freaking drink or not? Of course, after you make this decision, you're going to want another drink precisely four seconds prior to legal last call at which point I'll open up yet another tab for you. And the other ten people playing the exact same game that you are.
Last Sunday at work someone sitting at the bar made a snide comment about one of the participants crying after an event. I can understand Olympians crying after they fail to meet their own expectations after a crucial performance.
These folks are under a lot of pressure, and more so for those who perform on home soil. I understand the release of emotion after an event that you have worked all your life to participate in. Kurt Browning famously apologised for letting the country down after failing to win a medal. Tonight Melissa Witherspoon did the same thing.
The fact is that Kurt and Melissa never came close to letting us down. They represented us with dignity, and they conducted themselves in the true spirit of the games, and I, for one, could not be prouder.
At least they didn't pull the Olympic version of a Kanye West ( "I'm gonna let you finish, but I have to make some of your moment about me") and cry on the podium. Oh wait, thats the hockey players, not the sledders department. Though it could be worse, you could have a thing for Justin Bieber , whoever that is.
The day before the opening ceremonies, I read this article about a skier from Ghana, who was the first Winter Olympics participant ever from that West African country.
As some of you know, Ghana is a special place for me. It was where I took my first solo trip into the "Big And Bad Mysterious World" and where I accidentally helped to start a charity project. I tried to give a gift, and ended up being given a much larger one.
At some point during my trip to Ghana, I had a palpable moment when I promised myself that I will do more traveling, that I had to have more of these experiences. And so I did. Over the next ten months I visited another seven countries.
Somewhere along the way, the array of experiences, the ongoing process of learning about blogging, and simply having too many things on my plate left me with a feeling that I was doing too many things, and I wasn't doing anything particularly well. Time and again, I found myself moving on to the next thing without having mastered the previous one.
In Ghana one of the iconic symbols is a rooster looking backwards. It means that you if you forgot something, you can go get it without shame. Go back and fetch it. On a deeper level it means you can go back and fix your past mistakes. Nothing is irrevocable, and I like that concept, which is odd because I can be very unforgiving.
Its time to be focused like a downhill skier from Ghana.
Its time to get back to the basics, and to finish what was started in Omenako.
Its time to give up going and getting going on giving, at least for now.
I once had a music teacher, a wonderful and gifted musician and actor, a very fine teacher, and, most importantly, a lovely human being.
I remember sitting in class one day when he suggested a brilliant concept, that those of us who live in colder climes can relate to. To this day, I live on an eleven month calender.
His revolutionary concept was that February and March should be combined into one appalling legacy of suffering named Farch, and to me, it makes perfect sense
April may be known as the "cruelest month", but that is only because April holds within it a "faint hope clause" that the weather could turn habitable during its run. In my experience in Toronto, it rarely does.
On the other hand, Farch represents the "dog days" of winter, a trek through a frozen desert with little hope of an oasis.
You might think that it is mid February, but for me it is early Farch. Hang in there, my sisters and brothers, we have a long way to go yet.
God I hate the media, even when I agree with them.
Having worked at The Toronto International Film Festival for many years, I have some concept of what is involved in trying to make very large events function. To be clear, I'm just a foot soldier at TIFF, trying to execute the visions of others and just a minor cog in a large machine. And while TIFF has grown into a world class event, it constantly evolves and the organisation is smart enough to be very introspective and aware enough to learn from any mishaps along the way.
The Olympics are a much more grandiose matter, and you only get one kick at the cat.There is no reviewing and tweaking so you can be better next time. As a former Vancouverite and someone not unfamiliar with large cultural events I am becoming increasingly angry at the media coverage from these shwag addled half drunk leetches who pass for the arbiters of opinion in our culturally bankrupt society.
The truth is that if one of the elders of this fools congregation says something, the rest fall in line. This is especially true at sporting and entertainment events, where left and right can throw aside their political differences to dance on the grave of any endeavour with impunity.
From unqualified and egomaniacal American talk show hosts opining on serious matters in front of millions of even more ignorant viewers, to a onetime former caddy, former session musician, and current mouthpiece for The Guardian Newspaper, a rabidly left wing entity that has managed to convince a significant portion of Great Britain that what they do should pass as journalism, the feeding frenzy is clearly at hand. I just hope the paper has a dental plan, cause God knows a large percentage of Brits are in need of one.
Mr. Donegan announced after three days of competition that Vancouver could be the worst games ever. The geniuses at the Guardian, obviously on a break from the pub, elected to pull that post so they wouldn't have to edit it, probably because it was Cornish Pasties and warm beer night at their local. But they did print this.
Mr. Letterman is nothing but an aging parody of himself who made me laugh once twenty five years ago. Here is a part of what Mr. Letterman had to say on his show lifted from Ken Tucker at Entertainment Weekly. I would like to ask Mr. Letterman if he is talking about the tragedy of the luger from Georgia or about Paul Dana . Hippocrates indeed.Nuff said, but ya might want to grab a couch and start talkin'. Ya didn't get the Tonight Show and you're banging interns to try and compensate. We're aware and we don't care.
Early Tuesday morning CBC picked up both stories, CTV followed and by the end of the day the story was spread and picked up by the international media, who tend to give a lot of weight to what the local media are saying at such events, predominately because their contracts forbid them from being capable of seeing and thinking for themselves.
So lets break the problems down before we call in The Red Cross to hand out coffee and cookies.
The death of the luger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, (and yes I copy and pasted his name). A terrible and tragic event.
This led to three different questions regarding the track, access to Olympic facilities for training and the qualifications of the rider.
There is little doubt that the track is extreme and that many athletes expressed this sentiment prior to the games. However, having athletes compare this horrible incident to Munich is absurd. Some question the steel girders, which provide an excellent visual scapegoat, but the truth is that unpadded girders matter little. If you're getting flung at 95mph no amount of padding is going to save you, no matter what. On the other hand having the governing body issue a "report" saying it was the riders fault is self serving and tasteless.
Limited Access To The Facilities
In my mind, limiting access is simply un - Canadian and if this went on it taints every medal that we win. The sad thing is that it did go on and our athletes had nothing to do with it. Shame on those in power at VANOC, I want to live in a country that strives to be better than that, and the claim that "others do it" carries no truck with this Canuck.
Equipment Problems
Another complaint was equipment problems at the Richmond Oval. Equipment fails, get over it. You could be waiting at a soup line in a Sudanese refugee camp. At least you had a seat. Gimme a break.
Own The Podium
What the hell is the problem here? Criticism because Canada wants to win a lot of medals at an Olympics that it is hosting? Of course this is in contrast to Salt Lake and Beijing, which merely wanted to welcome the world, with no thought whatsoever to personal gain, national pride or corporate sponsorship. As a Canadian, I profusely apologise for wanting to win. Suck it.
Weather Problems
Weather is a huge problem and I have to say that I have seen many, many warm days at this time of year in Vancouver. For Mr. Rogge and Mr. Furlong to pretend that they are shocked by the warm weather is disingenuous.
Warm weather has resulted in the powers that be refunding tix because the viewing areas could collapse at Cypress due to soft ground. Is the media showing compassion for the ticket holders missing an event, or are they sorry that they missed out on a potential story about bleachers collapsing?
But at the end of the day, why must everything be picked apart so that we may seek justifications for our petty anger? Can't we just enjoy all the marvelous things about this event, instead of seeking out petty stories about how an upper middle class white grandmother had to wait fifteen minutes for a bus, or how someone had to wait in line for a drink, how a piece of hydraulics failed or the placement of a fence makes it difficult for morons with digital cameras who don't know how to operate them?
Its the freaking Olympics, you spoiled morons.
Lets appreciate what we have, 'cos we got more than most.
ps: I don't care what anyone says, I'm still with rap artist Classified, are you? Yo, one two, one two, mic check, one two, one two.
In the early summer of 1972, my parents packed up everything and off the wagontrain went, westward from Calgary to Vancouver. I was not yet seven years old.
I would spend my next seventeen summers in Vancouver. More than any other place, Vancouver is where I became who I am, and oddly, it is still the place I think of when I think about home. And what a beautiful home it was. Lush green forests, soaring mountains, and beautiful beaches synchronize with my memories of those oh so formative years.
I miss Vancouver a great deal, and I don't get back as often as I should, but when I do return I still marvel at the intrinsic beauty of this rain soaked paradise. Often Canadians who don't live in Vancouver utter complaints about the amount of rain on the west coast. This is usually done just prior to their dropping the snow shovel and clutching at their hearts as they collapse in their driveway. I'll take the rain anyday.
The 2010 Olympic Games will be Vancouver's coming out party, a clarion call to the world. If the world is smart it will listen. Vancouver is by far the most beautiful city I've seen. Then again, I may be a little biased, after all we all have a place we think of when we think of home.
Canadians suffer from a lack of patriotism, which might be our greatest strength. Nonetheless, we have so much to be proud of, and grateful for, that once in awhile its nice to indulge in some old fashioned cheerleading. Good luck to the Canadian Olympic Team.
1. The United States. Post 911, America is still one of the most frightened and paranoid nations on the planet. It remains a place where outsiders are greeted with suspicion from the get go. In general, they don't want you to visit and the populace is mostly averse to traveling to "strange places". Best to leave well enough alone, despite the stunning array of destinations. Throw in an appalling domestic airline industry and you'll understand why the United States is number one on my "No Fly" list. What a shame, cos there is so much too see.
2. Nigeria. The cities of Nigeria are a really good place to have someone step over your decaying body while doing nothing. A wholly corrupt society utterly lacking in moral principles and a populace beaten into submission by an evil and despicable regime.
3. Myannmar Surprisingly, it is not that difficult to get into this incredibly repressive depository of human suffering
4. CanadaFrom questionable dealings with its aboriginal peoples, to the disaster that is The Alberta Tar Sands, to an environmental record that is the shame of the world Canada needs to recognize the big disconnect between its image and its actions.
5. Haiti. Unless you're a professional connected to a legitimate organisation that can help people, stay the hell out. In the meantime, give as much as you can to your favourite charity.
6. Russia Another country with a wealth of riches, but the Stalinist cult of personality created by Putin puts this place on my "not to do list"
7. Honduras Another "banana republic" where The West looked the other way as a democratically electded leftist government was illegally overthrown. Anyone remember Jean Bertrand Aristide? See number five.
8. Indonesia A recent wave of anti Christian violence makes this already worrisome locale even more so. The cause of the problem is a recent Supreme Court decision restricting the depiction of Mohammed (may peace be upon him) by non Muslims
9. Somalia In an odd reversal, Somaliland has become more accessible than Somalia.However, neither would be on my go to list.
10. Mexico Waves of drug violence continue to plague certain parts of this country. Much of the rest of the country is overcome by a plague of all inclusive resorts. Choose your destinations carefully.
DISCLAIMER
Obviously The United States is way better than Nigeria, and Canada is not comparable to Myannmar. This list is not meant to compare these countries. It is meant to shine a light upon countries where tourist dollars can alter behaviour within the context of the country and its current progression. Each country on the list is underperforming within its own context.
I'm kind of sorry that I probably won't be around to be proven right. But make no mistake, the rightness of my position will be ultimately revealed.
In 1989 I was twenty four years old. In North America, a major free trade agreement was being signed by a right wing President Reagan, and an equally pro business regime in Canada. Toronto was booming, spurred by a real estate frenzy. Money was everywhere, but I had a palpable sense that I was being bought off and the real bill would come due much later.
A sea change was happening. In Canada, Mr. Trudeau was being systematically discredited for deficit spending, even though Mr. Mulroney, the Prime Minister at the time would actually plunge the country into more debt over a shorter time than Mr. Trudeau ever did. However, unlike Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Mulroney would achieve his rampant profligacy without lowering the poverty rate or increasing the literacy rate.
The true legacy of Mr. Mulroney is the elimination of the "manufacturing tax" to help unburden corporations and the replacement of the tax with the "Goods And Services Tax" payed for by every citizen in the country on the overwhelming majority of every purchase they ever made.
In the United States Ronald Reagan was busy attacking Grenada and removing solar panels that President Carter had placed on the roof of the White House. It was an era of sea change whose ramifications are felt to this day. Our consent was manipulated and manufactured and we accepted it like the sheep we are.
For some reason, I had a Time Magazine, a publication that I never read and rarely respected. But this issue caught my eye. Time Magazine named the planet earth as its "Man Of The Year" in an effort to raise awareness.
Tewnty one years on we've accomplished nothing. We sit like turtles in a pot of ever warming water, stunned and stupid, pretending to ourselves that scientists are "kooks" while Chrysler urges us to stay the course. How is it that I live in a world where economic indicators are more important than environmental indicators?
Thats one reason that I don't have kids.
Yes, people have been warning us the end is near since time immemorial, but humans have never existed on this scale, nor have they ever faced problems of this magnitude.
In the face of billions of Chinese, a billion people on the Indian subcontinent and hundreds of millions of people in Indochina all wanting and increasingly gaining what we take for granted the tap of consumption is clearly unsustainable. And frankly, in a just world, its difficult for me to righteously deny to others standards that I enjoy. That don't seem fair to me.
With a nod to George Carlin, people don't care about the planet, they care about their own habitat and by extension, their own self interest. Those of us who are most invested in the status quo will be the last to admit that there is a problem. This revelation will probably not come until they are sandbagging their front porch. We might be the most intelligent species, but no one said we were the wisest.
So, I have come to the conclusion that it is time to party like its 1999. The game is over, our fate is sealed, so why worry about it? Its not like I have kids or anything.
At the end of the day, the only question is in what round will humanity go down? My money is on the under.
Posts
