Grey Cup memories, Election coming ...

The Grey Cup game was fantastic - and the Eskimos even won, in overtime. Some highlights of the weekend:
-talking to other fans on the harbour cruise we took Friday night (everyone in their team colours of course, even if their team wasn't in the game!).
-the Save-On-Foods shopping cart drill team in the Grey Cup parade (original and hilarious idea, seeing as I think every pipe band in BC was also in the parade it was good to have something different).
-the groups of fans in the parade, like the Fritos Fandemonium winners, the BC Booze Brothers and the Box J Boys from Hamilton. The Box J Boys chanted "Thank you for waiting" as they were the last entry in the parade and we were watching towards the end of the route - plus they did the Ticat Cheer "Oskee Wee Wee...", at the end when someone then yelled out "Arrrr-gooos" they responded "Suck!" without any hesitation.
-the Cheerleader extravaganza - well, actually for me it got a little repetitive, but Ed enjoyed it. The Eskies' guys (the only cheer/dance team with guys because they're the only team that does acrobatic stunts) did their own little dance number - the females in the crowd loved it.
-seeing the excitement on Ed's face as I took a photo of him with league MVP Damon Allen.
-the game itself - heartstopping excitement at the end of the 4th quarter and into overtime. And Ricky finished the game and was named MVP!

Now we're into a federal election campaign, Warren Kinsella had a good column in the National Post today about why the Liberals should lose (even though he's a Liberal).

(addendum - non-football highlights included crab ravioli, French onion soup, and the calamari sandwich at Feenie's)

It's not easy for the refs...

Poor NHL ref Don Van Massenhoven - first he was there in Detroit on Monday night when Jiri Fischer collapsed, Fischer's heart stopped and they had to postpone the game; then Van Massenhoven was hit in the face with a puck last night in Florida and required seven hours of reconstructive surgery. Ouch!

Pay your Visa bill with pennies...

That's what Don Rogers in Kingston did, to protest that his bank has moved its credit card processing to the US. His concern is one of privacy - because a US company is involved, US authorities can now gain access to his personal information under their Patriot Act.

So he paid his bill online in 985 installments, and his next statement was 35 pages long and half-an-inch thick!

Similar concerns about how the US Patriot Act could affect Canadians were raised last year as well, when the BC government planned to sign a contract with an American company to take over management of health records (MSP and Pharmacare).

The Cycling World Waits...

...for the results of Roberto Heras's B-sample testing for EPO, which were supposed to have been released today - but there has been some sort of technical problem and they have to repeat the test, so no results until Friday. Some of the Spanish articles (that broke the news sooner than anything in English) seem to say that Heras's side is calling for his testing to be stopped because the tests are invalid.

This whole issue around Heras is a key one for cycling, because he's such a big name - some have suggested it's a no-win situation (ie. either cycling will lose further respect and sponsorship if he's positive, or if the B-sample is negative it shows that the tests aren't fully accurate and it sets back the anti-doping efforts). A good summary was in the New York Times today (wow, non-Lance-Armstrong-related cycling news in a major North American paper!)

I guess the cycling world will have to wait some more ...

A quote ...

I found this quote the other day, it was one the chaplain used at Darryl's memorial service in trying to understand what had happened, and I found it comforting:

Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. - Helen Keller

Contemplations on life and the internet...

Last night, as I had trouble falling asleep after the exciting CFL Western Final (see other entries on this below), I pondered why I spend a lot of time on the Internet. I realized that a lot of it is because I like to read, and obviously the Internet supplies an endless source of reading material. (I also have a ton of books on various topics that I'm currently reading or mean to read soon - from triathlon training, to the 2005 Tour de France, to Music Therapy, to stress management, to "In Praise of Slow", to "Why French Women Don't Get Fat" ... maybe I should put up a reading list on the sidebar...)

In a broader sense, I guess it reflects a desire to learn more about the world, from different perspectives.

I then realized that my internet activities are likely the logical follow-through on my prior hobby of radio. I think I was probably about 10 years old, living in Vancouver, when I discovered that my AM radio could actually pick up radio stations from other cities - Victoria, Kelowna, even Seattle. With more practice and experience, I learned the best times to listen and how to adjust my antenna to pick up even further stations. I then branched out into shortwave radio listening as well ... many an afternoon spent listening through a ton of static, trying to pick up a station ID from a signal that I suspected was a rare or exotic find, only to discover it was something common (BBC/VOA/Radio Canada International etc.) in a different language. I also enjoyed listening to newscasts from different countries - I thought it was fascinating that the BBC had different news stories than the local media (my first introduction to media bias, I guess). And one of the highlights was when I could actually hear an internationally significant event take place on radio - like when I listened to Radio Vilnius at the time when the Lithuanians were rebelling against the Soviets, and their radio station was broadcasting from a secret exile location.

Anyway, I guess my interest in hearing news from other sources and learning more about the world has transferred from radio as a source to the internet. And probably it's the same sort of fascination at learning about things that caused me difficulty and frustration in a full-time family practice medicine situation - I'd love to talk at length with a number of my former patients, hear their perspective on a variety of things (including their health), but fee-for-service universal healthcare in Canada doesn't really allow for that (or at least I would have been chased out of my clinic for not making enough money/seeing enough patients, rather than voluntarily leaving).

So now I regularly read a number of news sites, blogs (see sidebar), and Google News to keep up-to-date on topics that interest me. It's useful having somewhere to share information when I find something interesting, so I guess that's partly the purpose of this blog (and the Daily Peloton forums).

(and I guess the whole point of this exercise was to justify to myself the amount of time I spending surfing the Internet... no, I mean reading about world events and other interesting topics).

Jason and Ricky ...

Ricky's going to start next Sunday - which is probably good, as Jason pointed out last week, Ricky doesn't have the experience Jason does in being a backup/coming off the bench:

"I'd very much understand the reasoning for it (Ray starting) and agree totally with it," Maas said. "I'd probably feel that's the best scenario because Ricky has started 19 games and got us here and I'd definitely go with that."

But I like Terry Jones's angle today ...

Call it the Legend of Jason Maas. It's now grown into a story of magical, mythical, memory-making tell-your-grandchilden-about-the-day proportions.

The team player of all team players put his name on a game last week to get the Eskimos here and yesterday put his name on an even bigger game to get the Edmonton Eskimos back here this week to play in the 93rd Grey Cup game.

Go Esks!

Ja-son Ja-son !!! Part 2

Woo-hoo! We made it to the Grey Cup! (a big bonus since Ed and I planned to go to the Grey Cup game anyway - bought our tickets at a time, in the summer, when it didn't look there was any chance for the Esks to be there...) Two weeks in a row the Esks pulled their starter QB Ricky Ray to put in Jason Maas and Maas fires up the team to get the win. Wonder who'll actually be going to Hamilton for next year (there were rumours that Maas will be traded there ...)

A Relief...

Today I did a demo of our electronic medical records software for a doctor and 2 staff from another clinic - it went really well, I think. The reason I even mention this is because this is really the first formal training session of any kind I've done in a year - I'm on leave as a Girl Guide Trainer at present, and still think my stress levels would get too high to do a Guiding training right now, but it was reassuring to realize that I can do "training" in general without too much stress. (Other than procrastinating a lot before properly preparing for today, and a bit of anxiety this morning, it was fine).

So now I can go and read my new book, "The 2005 Tour de France", that arrived today. (Makes me think of something Jerry Seinfeld said when we saw him live a few years ago - he commented on how strange it was that after people watched a sports event live, they'd have to rush home to watch the highlights on the news as if to prove that what they saw really did actually happen - and then they'd read all the stories about it in the paper the next day, to prove that what they saw in the highlights and live really did happen ...)

Ja-son Ja-son!!!

This is what I and a girl in front of us chanted on various occasions this season when Ricky Ray seemed to be struggling, as Edmonton Eskimo season ticket holders in upper Section F (the Lieutenant-Governor section - right above Normie Kwong on the Eskimo Wall of Fame). Too bad the coach didn't do something last week, when we lost and ended up 3rd instead of 1st going into the playoffs - but at least Maciocia realized that he had to pull the highest-paid player in the CFL in order to get something going.

So, from being down 23-12 at the half, we went on to win 33-26 thanks to Jason Maas, the backup QB who was actually the starter last year (when Ray tried to make the NFL). (And I guess also thanks to Sean Fleming for making 6 of 6 field goals or we wouldn't have even been able to come back).

It was interesting last weekend watching the documentary "The Inner Circle" about the Eskies' 3 QB's, how friendly they are to each other - yet competitive.

Anyway, on to BC Place next weekend and the Lions ... then hopefully the Grey Cup!

Thoughts on Remembrance Day

I joined a choir this fall, as I hadn't been in one since UAMC then our med students' choir, and missed it - so I joined the Cosmopolitan Chorus of the Cosmopolitan Music Society. We had our first concert last Sunday, Lest We Forget, a Remembrance Day tribute. The choir members got to sit in the choir loft at Winspear the entire time, even though we only sang in the second half - I didn't realize prior to the dress rehearsal that afternoon how many others were involved besides the Cosmo bands and chorus - Tommy Banks not just as MC but also played/conducted, a piano concerto with Michael Massey, the Vimy Ridge Academy Pipe Band, and several solo vocalists. Very patriotic and well-received by all the veterans (and others) in the audience. I feel absolved of any guilt for having to work on Remembrance Day previously (the last few years I never even managed to be anywhere where poppies were sold - but I have one this year).

As for poppies, according to Colby Cosh and Bourque Newswatch, it would seem that the Legion has trademarked the poppy symbol and is forbidding anyone from posting it on a website, even with the purpose of promoting poppy sales and remembrance of our veterans. Interesting ...

I was intrigued to read in the paper earlier this week how in Newfoundland, the true "remembrance" actually takes place on July 1, when they commemorate the battle of Beaumont Hamel in 1916 - out of 780 Newfoundlanders there were 684 casualties:

In Mary Walsh's corner of the country, Nov. 11 plays only a supporting role in the annual ritual of wartime remembrance. The real commemorations -- the genuine acts of tribute and sadness -- take place in Newfoundland on July 1, when the rest of Canada is having a party and setting off fireworks.

At the national ceremonies today in Ottawa, the mother of Marc Leger was the Silver Cross mother - he was one of the four soldiers from Edmonton Garrison who were killed in a friendly-fire incident in Afghanistan. And apparently, there were no World War I veterans at the Ottawa ceremony today - there are only 5 left in Canada with an average age of 103.

And I just saw an interesting interview on TV about why there would have been so many poppies during WWI - a botanist from UBC mentioned how poppy seeds lie in the ground for up to 100 years if undisturbed, so it was likely all the disruption to the ground (bombing, digging graves) that brought the seeds up to the surface and caused so many of them to germinate.

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Fall can be nice... even in Edmonton

The temperature in Edmonton today reached a high of 17 deg. Celsius today - needless to say, all the snow from Sunday has melted :-) I went for a 5 km run in early afternoon, when it was 14 C (already above the predicted high of 12) - then when it was even warmer I thought I'd better take advantage of it and go for a bike ride as well. I'm not sure I've ever ridden my bike in November in the 20 years I've lived in Edmonton...

(unlike usually when over the winter I lose both leg muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness/endurance, I think that 2 months of being sedentary for September-October due to injury then other health issues have led to my losing only the cardio this time - both on the run and bike my legs felt great, but my heart rate was skyrocketing!)

Unfortunately, this weather isn't supposed to last - high of -1 C and snow on Sunday, maybe I'm actually glad the Eskimos don't have a home playoff game...

Music Therapy

I took a Music Therapy course last month (no, I'm not planning to change careers entirely): "Introduction to Music Therapy/MUSC 0195", noncredit, four 2.5 hour classes at Grant McEwan Community College (oh wait, sorry, they're just called "MacEwan" now, guess "community college" isn't hip and cool now that they can offer Bachelor's degrees).

This is an area I've been interested in and intrigued by, the effects of music on health and well-being. My music teacher in BC had mentioned something once about experiments she had done in university. Also, I've had personal experiences where I've seen music definitely having a beneficial effect in others:

-my grandfather at his 90th birthday party, frail and with cognitive impairment from Parkinson's disease, yet he joined in the singing of "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" as best he could (don't think he realized we were singing it about him);
-a piano student I had who I think was struggling with school and wasn't doing well at piano lessons either, so instead often we'd improvise and create music simply to have fun as I figured it was probably more important to have a good experience with music than to pressure him to learn exactly by the book
-my grandfather (again) coming to the hospital bed of my grandmother in ICU on life support and he tried to sing to her (even though he couldn't really speak well).

These are just some of the experiences that had left me wondering more about what uses people had come up with for using music in a structured therapeutic setting.

The course was very interesting - there aren't many music therapists in Alberta, and no training programs (it's actually a 4-year degree program), so little knowledge of the field amongst other health care professionals and facilities who might actually make use of it. The official definition, from the Canadian Association for Music Therapy (CAMT):

Music therapy is the skillful use of music and musical elements by an accredited music therapist to promote, maintain, and restore mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health.

We went through various applications of music therapy, and learned about different components (music listening, improvisation, creative music therapy, and recreative music therapy). Overall, I think it is a good resource to know about for my future practice experience.

I have some thoughts about how music therapy pertains to Arts Trainers within Girl Guides of Canada, but that will have to wait until another day...

Road Trip...

I took a road trip today to check out the Anthony Henday extension that opened today from Lessard Drive (45 Ave) to Terwillegar Drive. Seeing that since the summer, we've basically tried to avoid the Whitemud/Calgary Trail and Calgary Trail/23 Ave intersections (plus Calgary Trail itself) by turning south on Terwillegar off Whitemud, continuing south via 156/170 Streets to Ellerslie Road and taking Ellerslie out to the QE2 (and back north again if we're going to South Edmonton Common, heaven forbid) - this is great news that they got the extension (and new bridge across the North Saskatchewan River) open ahead of time.

And after driving it, all I can say is... sweet. Four minutes from Terwillegar to Lessard Drive (where I had to stop at the light), 8 minutes total from Terwillegar back home (compared to at least 20 minutes when we had to go all the way around and across Quesnell). You can see where the freeway and bridge are by looking at this Google satellite map.

Interesting how the 2 cars in front of me and the one behind (and probably more) did exactly what I did - when we reached the end at Terwillegar, we turned north over the interchange and then went right back onto Henday to go back to where we came from...

Rick Mercer's back!

Tonight, the Rick Mercer Report starts its new season on CBC - one of the few TV shows that I make a point of watching (along with 24 and The Amazing Race - 24 doesn't start until January, and the family edition of the Amazing Race isn't as good as the usual ones IMO).

Who else could get Anne Murray, Susan Aglukark, Jann Arden, Evan Solomon (CBC Sunday Report), Steven and Ed from BNL and Gord Sinclair from the Hip (among others) to all appear in a spoof ad for the fake CBC documentary "9 Months in April" (about Joe Clarke's time as Prime Minister)???

So, I hope with the move to Tuesdays (the show used to be called "Monday Report" for obvious reasons) it will remain successful and be around for a while.

I went to Wal-Mart...

This may not seem like such a notable item, but I usually avoid Wal-Mart for a number of reasons (both philosophical- eg. destroying the smaller stores, questionable labour practices); and also personal preference - I don't like really really big stores, that's why I usually avoid Superstore as well). But I needed something and Ed said that Wal-Mart would be a good place to get it, so I went there.

The closest Wal-Mart actually moved earlier this year, and I haven't been in to the new location at all yet - it was huge! Definitely would have a case of sensory and information overload if I had to spend much time there (though I'm sure you could find anything you needed, true "one-stop shopping", I didn't realize how large a grocery section they have) - luckily I was able to find what I needed quickly and get out. Was I really naive to expect an express line at Wal-Mart? (because there wasn't one). Does that mean that people come expecting to buy lots, or that they generally get sucked into buying lots even if they didn't intend to?

And in the end, the item I needed was the same price as it would have been elsewhere, or even more expensive if you consider that it's often on sale elsewhere and wasn't at Wal-Mart. So, I guess I won't be back anytime soon.

Internet study shows Canadians are heavy users

Apparently, according to the study quoted in this article, "56 per cent of all Canadians are online at least seven hours a week, with the average Canadian user online 13.5 hours each week".

Another interesting stat - "Canadian internet users watched, on average, 3.7 hours less television per week than non-users".

(I'll make no comment about the fact that by blogging about this I'm upping my internet hours for the week...)

Yesterday was a good day for new releases

Not only did Episode 3 of Star Wars come out on DVD, but the Tragically Hip released Hipeponymous, a limited edition box set of 2 CD's and 2 DVD's - I've been listening to the CD's and rekindling my love of Gord Downie's unique vocals and lyrics.

(I went to an unnamed store yesterday to buy these - interesting how at 11 am on a Tuesday all the cash desks were manned and everyone in line had a copy of Star Wars. I know that it was a special one-day only price, but it's only $2 more today - is it that important to get it on the first day? Mind you, I was there too...)

EPO maker to back California Tour

The newly announced cycling Tour of California next February is to be sponsored by AMGEN - the company that developed recombinant erythropoietin (EPO). AMGEN states "its sponsorship is driven by its awareness of the inappropriate use of its product." I'm sure Dick Pound and WADA will absolutely love this :-)