Posts by dyan campbell
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I was in Ottawa for six days and we spent exactly six minutes outdoors.
Giovanni, you do know that I’m from Vancouver, which is more than 4,600 km from Ottawa?
I’ve been to Ottawa once and skated on the Ridout Canal, (dodging commuters dressed in business suits and carrying briefcases skating to work) and went snowshoeing and tobogganing on the hills around Parliament. And that was a completely urban visit.
I am now utterly terrified to visit Canada, the land which apparently makes New Zealand seem ‘not very outdoorsy’.
Watch the 2 year old doing the Grouse Grind and you’ll feel better. Canadians are big on safety and providing for all levels of ability. There’s even a good number of wheelchair accessible hikes.
People may be outdoorsy in Vancouver, but the thing is you don’t have to be good at what you’re doing to enjoy it.
Here is a clip of a young friend of mine James & his buddies skiing the Pillows at Whistler – on the meta-cafe site their level of skill is rated at “bong water” and there are some truly epic face plants (the fellow at the beginning bears the marks of one on his face) but it’s as if they filmed pure joy and set it to Arcade Fire’s music. They are proof you don’t have to be any good to enjoy it, and in typically Canadian fashion it ends (quite happily) on a note of defeat.
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It surprises me when ex-pats still refer to the country of their birth as “home” – even after they’ve lived here for decades.
I've lived here for decades but Canada will always be home for me, this place -the landscape, lifestyle and the customs are all very nice but completely foreign to me. I miss how outdoorsy and active the lifestyle is back home.
American musician and 60s draft dodger Jessie Winchester became a Canadian citizen, but while living in freezing cold Montreal he was horribly homesick for his native Tennessee. He was unable to even visit the US until President Jimmy Carter granted all draft dodgers amnesty, and he wrote this beautiful song that can almost make this Canadian from Vancouver homesick for a place I've never even visited. (The song doesn't start till the 16 second mark).
I'm from North Vancouver, and this list from a "You're Know You're From North Van if..." website pretty much sums up my local traits.
YOU KNOW YOU'RE FROM NORTH VAN IF...
..You love the fact that you can go up the mountains and to the beach in the same day
- You can do the Grouse Grind with a 300 lb keg strapped to your back
... and you think people who take the gondola back down are pussies
- Every member of your family owns a mountain bike
- You know how to either ski, skateboard or snowboard... or all three
- You know Jason Priestly's postal code was V7L- - - before it was 90210
- You still use "like" and "dude" and "totally" as part of your daily vocab
- Someone in your family knew Chief Dan George
- You know what a 360, the Casper, or what an Ollie is
- You knew Bryan Adams went to Argyle AND Sutherland
- You had bonfires under Lions Gate Bridge
- You partied at the Quarry
- You partied at the Canyon
- You partied on Seymour
- You drove up to Cypress to tan in the snow with your friends on Spring Break
- You grew up with a KICK ASS view of Downtown VancouverExcept I can't do the Grouse Grind with a 300b keg strapped to my back.
Interesting NZ fact: the record for the Grouse Grind was held for six years by NZ runner James Wyatt, though his record was broken by Sebastian Selas last year.Here is a London magazine editor struggling on the Grind, going very slowly:
And here's a toddler (not quite 3 years old) beating the magazine guy's time by quite a bit - despite stopping to find homes for stray rocks, have a drink and draw pictures in the dirt.
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We're in this twilit zone that is the end of a beloved animal friend's life, and though I'm sad, I'm also incredibly grateful to my Cleo.
Jackie, I'm so sorry to hear about Cleo's decline - and thanks for the joyful clips of finer days. I hope she rallies again, one more time (they do in their twilight days - you no sooner think they're nearly gone, then they have 3 more weeks of energy).
The hardest part is trying to figure out if your pet's quality of life outweighs their discomfort and justifies keeping them alive - but if you're vet's good, they'll give you some idea when the scales tip from quality of life to too much discomfort. A house-call euthanasia is much less stressful than making that terrible trip to the vet. I tried to use that Buddhist ritual of trying to convert all my own grief into a calm demeanor - the Buddhists believe being distraught near someone dying is distressing for them - (animal or person) so they suggest you try to transform all the loss you feel into best, most comforting wishes for the one dying. It doesn't sound like it would make much difference, but it did help to keep turing my attention off my own feelings and on to whatever I could do to make it a bit easier for my elderly cat. Of course it's not possible without some crying - when our ancient (19 year old) cat finally had to be euthanised, the vet was weeping as well as Paul & me - very quietly, but all of us were going through mountains of kleenex.
The house call was well worth it, as we didn't have to put her in a carry-case and distress her - she could just stay there on her bed - and again we tried put the Buddhist philosophy to work , focussing less on the loss or our cat's pain, and more about how everyone and everything dies eventually, and how lucky anyone - animal or person - is to have someone love them while they're alive and care for them while they die. It's about the best you can have, if you think about it. Best wishes from both Paul & me.
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Truth be known, I'm going to struggle on ponies. That's basically a chick thing.
A chick thing? - what about that story by Turgenev about some poor man who buys the horse Malek-Adel, a fabulous silvery-black horse whose indispensable traits - he could be left for hours without even tethering him to a tree and would just come over when he was called, would never, ever spook or shy or bolt, was the strongest, most sure-footed, fastest, most beautiful, most fearless horse imaginable - so perfect and so extraordinary that when he's stolen right out of his stable the poor man pretty much loses his mind with grief.
And what about Alexander the Great and Bucephelus? Alexander the Great's legendary horse who shared many traits with Malek-Adel, except Bucephelus could only be ridden by Alexander.
Bucephelus was the starting point for the greatest boy-and-horse film The Black Stallion. Well, greatest until they get rescued from the island where they are shipwrecked together, and it becomes an ordinary hollywood horse film. But before that, it is an almost mythical boy-saves-horse, horse-saves-boy film, with just the two players, horse and boy. The kid in the film, Kelly Reno is one hell of a rider.
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My favourite cat film clip would have to be Jupiter the cat - "what cats are really thinking".
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I’ve finally figured it out. Lhaws is on the Pipe.
It's easy to see why people could assume the bile that passes for copy published in his (sometimes incoherent) column is the product of methamphetamine psychosis, but have a look at this description, you'll see his personality is literally a text book case of an abrasive psychopath .
This struck me as a remarkably accurate description of the hostile, weird, offensive and ultimately pathetic personality of Michael Laws.
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Hard News: What Now?, in reply to Stephen Judd,
Stephen, thank you for posting the link about refugee city. Since the quake I've been able to contribute nothing besides a donation, and the sense of being nothing more than a spectator to so much misery has been frustrating.
I'm so glad each and every PASer (and everyone else of course) who survived the quake is still with us. I hardly know many of you in person, but feel I know you so well in print.
The link Stephen posted really drives home to me how hard life is for people in the aftermath. We read about the quake and the loss of life, but quickly forget about the huge hardship that ensues.
The link also talks about the terrible inequalities that are emerging - this is a very bad thing for a society (and by "society" I mean the people that make up that society), especially now. So the bit about urging the media to change the script the really jumped out at me. I am going to act on this fellow's plea and write to various media to voice my opinion that the media should shift their focus on how efficiently and how equitably the services are being restored.
I'm grateful to Stephen for supplying some small sense of purpose for me - there's great consolation in being useful.
From the link:
REGARDLESS of where you live:
Please do something to help the media to change their script. Lost lives and broken buildings do matter, and so does our nation's economic future. But there is potential for much more stress and suffering in the hidden Refugee City if we fail to help where help is needed, right now.
So call talkback, post on Facebook and Twitter, email radio stations, hassle the Press, TV staff and any politicos you know -- until the focus shifts away from Rescue City a little.
Put the message out! [I'd give you contacts for all the above -- and many others nationally and internationally -- but almost every one of you reading this has better bandwidth than me today, so go look them up! Likewise appealing photos to illustrate this story.]
The acute phase will pass for these suburbs once power, adequate transport and running water (or good access to drinkable water) is commonplace in each of them. But that's not today and -- for some -- it will be weeks away.
That's it. There is a real, immediate problem, and the solution is not an easy one. But there ARE things that you can do, if you are willing.
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I wonder what Michael Laws would make of two of Canada's greatest athletes?
Rick Hansen and Terry Fox .
I suppose Fox really wouldn't have qualified as an athlete in Law's eyes, what with dying before he could run any more than he did.
Terrance Stanley "Terry" Fox CC OD, (July 28, 1958 – June 28, 1981) was a Canadian humanitarian, athlete, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated, he embarked on a cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Although the spread of his cancer eventually forced him to end his quest after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 mi), and ultimately cost him his life, his efforts resulted in a lasting, worldwide legacy. The annual Terry Fox Run, first held in 1981, has grown to involve millions of participants in over 60 countries and is now the world's largest one-day fundraiser for cancer research; over C$500 million has been raised in his name.
Fox was a distance runner and basketball player for his Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, high school and Simon Fraser University. His right leg was amputated in 1977 after he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, though he continued to run using an artificial leg. He also played wheelchair basketball in Vancouver, winning three national championships.
In 1980, he began the Marathon of Hope, a cross-country run to raise money for cancer research. Fox hoped to raise one dollar for each of Canada's 24 million people. He began with little fanfare from St. John's, Newfoundland, in April and ran the equivalent of a full marathon every day. Fox had become a national star by the time he reached Ontario; he made numerous public appearances with businessmen, athletes, and politicians in his efforts to raise money. He was forced to end his run outside of Thunder Bay when the cancer spread to his lungs. His hopes of overcoming the disease and completing his marathon ended when he died nine months later.
Fox was the youngest person ever named a Companion of the Order of Canada. He won the 1980 Lou Marsh Award as the nation's top sportsman and was named Canada's Newsmaker of the Year in both 1980 and 1981. Considered a national hero, he has had many buildings, roads and parks named in his honour across the country. -
Up Front: Say When, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Jane Goodall? What a tramp!
God Craig, I totally agree... she was always consorting with those chimps when her heart belonged to Tarzan...
Tarzan's primitivist philosophy was absorbed by countless fans, amongst whom was Jane Goodall, who describes the Tarzan series as having a major influence on her childhood. She states that she felt she would be a much better spouse for Tarzan than his fictional wife, Jane, and that when she first began to live among and study the chimpanzees she was fulfilling her childhood dream of living among the great apes just as Tarzan did
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The examples people are using for women who age – almost all are actresses. Their faces – whether plain or beautiful – are famous, recognisable and ther aging is followed with avid, unnatural attention. Anything else they do is ultimately irrelevant.
The great – and famously ugly – writer George Eliot captivated and atrracted many men – Henry James was one, and he wrote
"Behold me literally in love with this great horse-faced bluestocking,” Henry James wrote of Eliot. “I don’t know in what the charm lies, but it is thoroughly potent. But in this vast ugliness resides a most powerful beauty."
so a bad set of features is not impossible to transcend.
Actress and co-inventer of spread spectrum radio technology (used in communications and defence) Hedy Lamarr (who for a time was considered the most beautiful woman in the world) once said
"Any girl can be glamorous,. All she has to do is stand still and look stupid.”
That’s very true for girls, but it looks terrible when grown women do it.. (See my post on The Kepi).
To my eyes Helen Mirren has the same regard (or look that comes out of the eyes) as Joan Crawford – it’s a bit cold and a bit crazy. That may not be true of Mirren’s actual character, but it’s what I see in her eyes when I look at her photos or see her in an interview. She may actually be terrifically fun, kind and interesting, but she invariably looks bored and a bit angry to me – and no matter how nice the hair or unlined the face – is not appealing.
I think Jane Goodall (at 73 in this clip) has a regard of lively intelligence, humour, kindness and courage. She looks much, much more beautiful (to me anyway) than Helen Mirren. And unlike all the other examples on this list, was never known for her appearance, nor is she obsessed with it now.
Goodall is seen here at TED talking about the schools project she leads – (my sister Shirley runs the one in Nepal) Jane Goodall is wearing the kind of frumpy clothes that allow you to go from sleeping on a plane to climbing a tree – and obviously not bothering with her hair or makeup for this presentation. In this clip she is 73 but I think she looks substantially younger than Mirren does at 63. Especially when she give the chimpanzee greeting….