LOVE THAT CHRISTMAS MUSIC!

            I'm not sure if it was because of the Baby Boomer radio/television era that I grew up in or Dad, Mom and their children's involvement in the United Church or just the way things generally were back in the day while I was growing up but around this time of year we listened to Christmas music. A lot of Christmas music. I loved it. Still do. It wells up a magical time of  the year for me.

            Apparently, not everybody feels this way as I have heard, more than once, that some folks would just prefer a few songs on Christmas day or none at all. Maybe if they didn't start playing Christmas music on November 1st we wouldn't be sick of it by the 1st of December. Just a thought.

            I'm a very nostalgic person anyway so I cannot understand how people can say that they just don't like Christmas music. Do they not like any of it? Or just some of it? Were they not exposed to it while they were growing up or were they overexposed perhaps? Maybe they just don't like the Irish Rovers' "Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer"? I've got mixed feelings on that one, too, but how can you not like "Silent Night"? Or "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas."? Depending on the rendition, of course.

            Music was an early feature of the Christmas season and its celebrations. The earliest chants, litanies and hymns were Latin works intended for use during church liturgy, rather than popular songs. The 13th century saw the rise of the "carol" written in the vernacular.

            In the Middle Ages, the English combined circle dances with singing and called them carols. Later, the word carol came to mean a song in which a religious topic is treated in a style that is familiar or festive.

            Many of these carols hearken from centuries ago, the oldest (Wexford Carol) originating in the 12th century. The newest came together in the mid-to-late-19th century. Many began in non-English speaking countries, often with non-Christmas themes and were later converted into English carols with English lyrics added. Christmas carols in English first appeared in 1426 and music itself soon became one of the greatest tributes to Christmas.

            Many of the traditional Christmas carols such as "Away in a Manger", "O Come All Ye Faithful", "Silent Night", "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" and "O Holy Night", to name just a few, were written and popularized in the 19th Century. Secular tunes such as "Jingle Bells", "Jolly Old Saint Nicholas" and "Up on the House Top" were also popularized in the 19th Century.

            More recently popular Christmas songs, often Christmas songs introduced in theater, television, film, or other entertainment media, tend to be specifically about Christmas or have a wintertime theme. They are typically not overtly religious. The most popular set of these titles—heard over airwaves, on the Internet, in shopping centres, elevators and even on the street during the Christmas season—have been composed and performed from the 1930s onward. Name a pop star from Frank Sinatra in the 40's to Bono in the 2000's and they've recorded a Christmas song. Some to great success...some...not so much.

            According to a recent survey there are a lot more people who like to listen to Christmas music than those who don't so whether you are a big, big fan, like me, or an old pooh-poohing bah-humbugger, music and Christmas will indelibly be linked.

"One thing I love about Christmas music is that it has a tradition of warmth."- Zooey Deschanel (1980-).

CHRISTMAS LIGHTS?

            I’m pretty sure that my brother Gord and I were in grade 10 and 11 or 11 and 12, somewhere in there, when we were first assigned the Christmas lights duty on the United Church Manse house in Kipling back in the 70’s when our family was living there. The task was kind of sprung on us one day when we got home from our regular post-schoolday hang out at the old Hub Cafe.

            Dad usually saved these kinds of tasks for himself. Sure, he'd allow us to cut the grass, shovel the snow off of the sidewalks and driveway and distribute the cow caca a couple of times a year on the garden but the finicky stuff he liked to do himself 'cause he was a little anal about it, you know? He could be awful particular about certain things. Just like the car washing...he'd "allow" you to do it but if it didn't cut the mustard...his mustard, that is, you'd be heading right back to the carwash.

            My guess is that it got pretty darn cold pretty early that year and he didn't want to go up on the roof and mess with the lights himself or he was just giving us one of his "character building" lessons like the times when he made us help with the chicken butchering or go with him when he was helping someone castrating calves, or some damn thing...you know, the kind of tasks that would make us real men...blah, blah, blah.

            Anyway, I was none too excited about climbing up on the roof and attaching the Christmas lights to the eaves. I sniveled and I whined and I stomped around while Gordie just went about the task of untangling the lights and cords while telling me, "You know, if you'd stop complaining and get at it we'd be done before you know it. Bitching about it won't make it go away." So then I started complaining about him complaining about my complaining and I huffed and I puffed and I...climbed the ladder. I always hated it when he was right. And he usually was.     We froze our hands and our feet and our faces and we had to redo a few spots but we managed to fit in a bit of fun, too, as we usually did and before you know it we had the lights hung up and a hot chocolate in our hands. Yup, lights were hung and character was built.

            It's funny, Dad pointed out, that you don't say a whole lot about your frozen fingers and your frozen toes and your frozen face after an afternoon of road hockey or tobogganing or shinny at the rink, do you now? Because it's "volunteer" freezing that's why! It's different! It even feels different!

            The next year we came home around the same time from the same place and there was a whack of lights lying on the patio again and a ladder leaning on the eaves. Just like the forks sticking out of the manure pile on the garden in the fall we knew what had to be done and who was going to do it without having to be told. Last year's light hanging had been a learning experience and a character builder but the second time around was just plain torture.

            Fast forward forty odd years later and I'm stomping around our house now and whining about getting up on the ladder and hanging the stupid lights and I'm going, "Why can't we be green this year? You know, save the planet and everything and not spin the power meter off of the wall and go old school and burn a candle or two in the window or something because it's pretty damn cold out there today and I'm going to freeze my fingers and my toes and my face and I think I'm catching a cold already and what if I fall off the ladder...I know, I know...if we just stick to task we'd be done before you know it and we'll have a cup of hot chocolate in our hands...blah, blah, blah."

"My core belief is that if you're complaining about something for more than three minutes, two minutes ago you should have done something about it!" Caitlin Moran (1975-).

MY MAPLE LEAFS EXPERIENCE THE 23 PHENOMENON

          Last week, while preparing for our home office makeover, Deb and I were cleaning and emptying out the room. We were getting the room drywalled and painted so it was as good a time as any to purge the place while we were at it. There were bookshelves and file folders and the usual accumulation of paperwork that we had to go through. We did our best to stick to task and not get carried away looking through all of the family history reminders but it wasn't hard for me to get distracted as I sifted through the family treasures. Some of it junk some of it priceless.

            One of the items I came across was an album that our youngest daughter Emily had given me a few Christmases ago. She had printed a bunch of my old Random Thoughts articles on some fancy printing paper using an old style writing font and placed them in the leather-bound book for me. Such a nice gift.

            Anyway, I flipped the album open and the first article I came across was Random Thoughts-8 from March of 2007. The subject matter of the column was about the 23 Enigma. The 23 Enigma refers to the belief that most incidents and events are directly connected to the number 23. Some examples of this include: there are 23 chromosomes in a child's DNA; blood takes 23 seconds to make a round trip through the human body; the Earth's axis is on a tilt of 23.5 degrees; Psalms, the longest book of the Bible, is the 23rd  book of the Old Testament and the famous Divine Shepherd psalm is the 23rd Psalm. The list goes on and on. Look it up. It is very interesting.

            Wikipedia says that ,"Numerology is any belief in divine, mystical or other special relationship between a number and some coinciding event. Today, numerology is often associated with the paranormal, alongside astrology and similar divinatory arts." Many people fully believe in numerology and the mysticism behind it while others are completely skeptical arguing that numbers have no occult significance and cannot by themselves influence a person's life.

            Now, I don't care whether you fully believe that the number 23 is indeed an enigma or you feel that it's all complete bunk but there were events that occurred at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on the night of Saturday November 30th that thoroughly defy the odds and should make a believer out of the biggest skeptic. And it does involve the number 23. Significantly.

            That evening's event was a National Hockey League game being played between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the visiting Washington Capitals. The game was an important early season tilt between the conference rivals who were a point apart in the standings and will most likely be battling for a playoff spot throughout the season.

            Besides the importance of the game in the standings the Maple Leafs were doing a pre-game tribute to former player and popular coach, Pat Quinn, who had recently passed away from pancreatic cancer. Quinn grew up a Leafs fan and entered the NHL in 1968 as a Maple Leaf and returned to coach them for seven seasons leading them to the playoffs in six of those seven years. Needless to say, it was a very emotional night for anyone attending or watching the game at home.

            Now, here comes the eerie part...John Brian Patrick Quinn passed away on November 23rd 2014, his jersey number as a Maple Leaf player was number 23, the Maple Leafs' current coach, Randy Carlyle, also wore jersey number 23 during his playing days with Toronto in the 70's, it was the Leafs' 23rd game of the season, they scored a goal with 23 seconds remaining in the first period, 23 seconds into the second period and they also scored exactly 23 seconds after Washington scored their first goal and they finished the game with 23 shots on goal in their 6-2 win. Hmmmm...believe it or not!

"Some things are too strange and strong to be coincidences"-Emery Allen.

DO YOU BELIEVE IN GLOBAL WARMING?

           The other day an acquaintance of mine started up a conversation with me regarding the instant winter that Saskatchewan residents have been subjected to in the last couple of weeks. Our comments were of the usual variety about how the sharp drop in temperatures and the incessant high winds gave a January feel to the last days of November as we moaned and groaned about the start of what will surely be another long, long nasty winter. Although, to me, even a nice, mild, beautiful winter season will still be classified as nasty and too long, but I digress.

            We continued on and I said something about “so much for Global Warming, haw, haw”. To which his response was, “Pfttt, I don’t believe in Global Warming” anyway.” So, I’m like, “Really? You don’t think 7 billion humans and all of the by-products and processes required to sustain 7 billion humans on the planet isn’t causing some kind of adverse effects?” I was thinking that surely “Common Sense” will tell you that something’s going on but, then again, if “Common Sense” were so common everybody’d have it, don’t you think? Anyway, he said that of course there would be some kind of adverse effects but Global Warming isn’t one of them. According to him there’s just not enough evidence.

            So, I listened to his arguments with his list of “experts” and I nodded and smiled because I knew that it would be a complete waste of my time to argue with him about it. And him with me. Our minds were made up. Him on one side…me on the other.

He, of course, took my smiling and nodding to be condescension from a “left-leaning-wing-nut-holier-than-thou-tree-hugger”. I, on the other hand, took him to be a “right-wing-conspiracy-theorist-big-oil-loving-extremist”. And so, the lines were drawn.

            Call me what you will and I do refute some of the “left-leaning-wing-nut-holier-than-thou-tree-hugger” stuff…I’m not a nut…but I don’t think showing concern for the only planet human beings can currently live on as being alarmist or unrealistic. In fact, I think it’s the other way around. If humans are damaging the planet at the rate 97% of the climate scientists working directly in the field think it is then I think the human race is obligated to pay attention to the damage being done. Keep in mind human beings’ record for environmental responsibility being less than exemplar e.g. pollution of oceans, seas, rivers, air, soil…

            I had done a lot of researching and reading on the subject over time and I’m not afraid to tell you that some of his arguments got me rethinking my stance so I did some more researching and reading and that led me to a couple of conclusions. One: you could read about the subject of Global Warming and Climate Change for the rest of your life and still not cover all of the information written on the subject and Two: I’ll stick to my original conclusion…Global Warming is not a myth.

            But, hey, you don’t have to believe me. Find out for yourselves. I encourage it. Every resident of this planet should be as educated as they can be about the state of our environment. Take an honest look.

            My suggestion for a good start to your research would be to look online at:climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus.

“Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge, it’s common sense.” Ronald Reagan (1911-2004).

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

           I really like history so there’s a “This Day in History” calendar hanging on the wall at my work station and another one hanging on the wall in our office at home. The calendar is made by an American publication associated with the History Channel so it’s understandably centered on Americans and American history but they do throw in the odd tidbit of  historical information like the opening of Vatican’s City’s Sistine Chapel to the public in 1512; November 1^st, 1512 to be exact.

            Last week, on the morning of November 13^th, as usual I checked out the calendar to see what had happened in history on that particular day and I was a little surprised to see that day’s big historical news was that it was the day in 1955 when Whoopi Goldberg was born in New York City. Whoopee for Whoopi.

            I’m a big fan of Whoopi’s, by the way, and she has won an Academy Award and everything and she has been a major celebrity for years and years but, seriously folks, in all of the recorded history from time immemorial the most celebrated event that can be attributed to the 13^th of November was the birth of Whoopi Goldberg?

 According to my research, recorded history begins with accounts of the ancient world around 4000 BC which coincides with the invention of writing. This does not include historical narratives of oral history or mythological traditions which would take human history back more than a few centuries further. Regardless, there has to be over four thousand November the 13ths throughout history and Whoopi comes out on top.

Let’s have a quick look at some of the events that Whoopi has overshadowed, shall we? Now, keep in mind that I’m not blaming Whoopi or in any way saying she isn’t an important person but a little perspective never hurts, does it?

In 1553 the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, and four others, including Lady Jane Grey are accused of high treason and sentenced to death under Queen “Bloody” Mary I. In 1775 during the American Revolutionary War the American forces under General Richard Montgomery capture Montreal. In 1956 the Supreme Court of the United States declares Alabama laws requiring segregated buses illegal, ending the Montgomery Bus Boycott. In 1974 Ronald DeFeo Jr. murders his entire family in Amityville, Long Island, in the house that would become known as The Amityville Horror. In 1982 the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is dedicated in Washington, D.C. after a march by thousands of Vietnam War veterans. These are but a few of the historical events that took place on the 13^th of November.

Other notables sharing Whoopi’s birthday are King Edward III of England (1312), Dorothea Erxleben, (first female medical doctor-1715), Jiaqing, Emperor of China (1760), Robert Louis Stevenson (1850) and our own local celebrity actor Lloyd Warner(1963).

I am not so shocked that celebrities are trumping real history or news anymore. It seems to me that our infatuation with all things celebrity is escalating. There’s even a pop culture term for individuals who are “Famous for Being Famous”. Hello there Kim, Kloe, and Kourtney Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie and anyone associated with the old Jersey Shore reality show.

I guess history will, once again, have to be the judge of the long-term effects on our society’s escalated pop-culture-celebrity-itis. Time will tell.

            “Celebrity doesn’t have anything to do with art or craft. It’s about being rich and thinking that you’re better than everybody else.”-Joseph Gordon-Levitt (1981-)

           

HELP ME

            Did you hear about the 18 year-old Alabama man who robbed four Subway sandwich shops in four days because he wanted his money back over the failed “Subway Diet”? His armed robbery skills and his excuse for carrying out the crimes just reek of stupid. I’m sorry. I don’t know the guy at all but, seriously, he might not qualify as the stupidest burglar of all time but he’s up there with the best of ‘em. Or is it the worst of them? Well, you know what I mean.

            If you’re new to the planet or just don’t watch television, or anything, the “Subway Diet” was a Subway fast food restaurant ad campaign that was marketed around university student Jared Fogle who had become obese, (62” waist size for his pants…yes, 62”), from his junk food addictions and decided to do something about it. So he switched to eating Subway’s sandwiches, which he must have felt was the healthiest choice of junk food, I guess, and he also reduced the portion sizes, eliminated the fattening condiments like mayonnaise and started walking a lot. The result was a huge loss of weight. Good for him.

            His college roommate wrote about Jared’s successful weight loss in the Indiana Daily Student News which then led to Jared’s story being included in a Men’s Health article called “Stupid Diets…that Work!” Jared soon became a long-time spokesperson for Subway restaurants and has kept his weight in check ever since.

            The Alabama robber should have read all of Subway’s literature on the “Subway Diet” because the diet comes with this disclaimer, “The Subway Diet, combined with a lot of walking, worked for Jared. We’re not saying this is for everyone. You should check with your doctor before starting any diet program. But it worked for Jared.”

            So, apparently, according to Zachary Terrance the 18 year-old man accused of the robberies, the first course of action after the Subway Diet let him down wasn’t to try to get a refund from the restaurant or maybe write to the Subway store or the corporate offices and complain or anything, his course of action was to grab a gun and demand his money back. At four different Subway locations. In four days. Without a mask on. In full view of the on-site cameras.

            After local police aired footage of the robberies and pictures of the culprit he was spotted at a local Wal Mart wearing the same bright orange running shoes that the robber wore and then the authorities were notified and Terrance was arrested while shopping for a holster for his gun. Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Maybe he should have been shopping for other diet solutions or something. Just saying.

            Hopefully Zachary Terrance is young enough to get some help. He is obviously not the clearest of thinkers. I don’t know anything about the man but maybe he has mental health issues. If he can atone for his mistakes and get some sort of rehabilitation instead of sticking him in prison with the hardened criminals, making him a lifer no doubt, there’ll be hope for a better life for him and everyone else. He’s just lucky the gun didn’t go off during one of his capers. I’m sure the store’s clerks would agree.

            The above story may have been my long winded way of bringing up men’s mental health issues but as I am, once again, Movembering up, I thought this would be as good a time as any to shill my Movember website.

            Again, if you are unaware, Movember is a fundraising campaign to get men to grow their mustaches for the month of November in support of Men’s Health Issues like prostate and testicular cancer and men’s mental health problems. For more information or to donate to the cause you may visit my Movember website at: http://ca.movember.com/mospace/. Your assistance in raising awareness and addressing men’s health issues would be greatly appreciated.

“Unfortunately, we force people to break the law in order to get any kind of mental health treatment.” Pete Earley, Bestselling author and Mental Health Advocate, (1951-).

IT'S ALL ABOUT PERSPECTIVE.

Is there ever a good time to receive bad news? It always seems to come when you least expect it, doesn’t it? Then again, who sits around expecting bad news? So when it does come it always seems like...really? Now? Did this have to happen right now?

Case in point: on October 22nd I was watching the news about the killing of Corporal Nathan Cirillo, while he was on ceremonial guard duty at the Canadian War Memorial in Ottawa, the aftermath of the attack, the killer’s death and the whole upheaval on Parliament Hill when my cell phone rang. It was our youngest daughter, Emily, calling from her newly banged up car minutes after she had had an accident on the William R. Bennett Bridge in Kelowna, B.C.

Obviously distraught and in a bit of shock from the suddenness of the event and the damage to her car it took a few moments to calm her down and get her to assess the damage, first of all to her physical well being, and then the damage to her car. Was she okay? Was anyone else hurt? How bad is the car? Is it drivable? How did it happen? The standard set of questions, you know?

What a completely helpless feeling knowing that your overwhelmed and hurt child is two provinces away and you can’t hold her or reassure her with anything other than your voice over the phone. Thankfully, she wasn’t severely hurt in the ordeal, but still.

I am in no way trying to compare a fender bender to the death of a child but during the conversation with Emily my thoughts went to the parents and family of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo who would have received much worse news that same day. What would it be like to get that call? I cannot even imagine nor do I ever want to find out but one thing such a tragic event will do is put things into perspective pretty quickly. As bad as things may seem at certain times in your life they can often be so much worse.

Events alter life. Immediately. One minute you’re cruising along and an instant later everything has changed. Canada changed that day.

It was just two short days after Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent was killed when he and another officer were struck by a car in the parking lot of a federal building in Saint-Jean-sur-Richilieu, Que. They were deliberately targeted only because they were members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Two Canadian Armed Forces members killed in one week on Canadian soil. As stated…it changed Canada. More innocence lost.

The two horrible deaths sparked an outpouring of grief and outrage while inspiring a wave of Canadian pride and a renewed sense of unity across Canada. While the families, friends and comrades of the fallen soldiers may take some solace that the soldiers’ are now viewed as heroes and their deaths have not been in vain the fact remains that both men were taken far too early in their lives.

There was a “gut-wrenching” irony, as Prime Minister Stephen Harper so aptly stated, to the fact that Cpl. Nathan Cirillo was guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. “He knew what he was protecting and he knew what he was preserving and he died protecting and preserving.”

There is never a good time for bad things to happen. At least that has been my experience in life. We are left to learn from tragedy, make the best of a bad situation and move forward with renewed hope that we have gained something from the experience.

It is not lost on me, either, that these events happened days before we are to gather together to honour the sacrifices of so many others who have served our country in the past. Remembrance Day is upon us and we shouldn’t have needed such a raw reminder that Canadians have much to be grateful for but every now and then it takes a nation’s tragedy to remind us of how fleeting life can be and how precious our way of life is and how worthy it is to protect. Lest We Forget.

“Perspective is everything when you are experiencing the challenges of life,”-Jodi Eareckson Tada (1949-).