q at the Junos

It's Juno weekend in Ottawa! Tonight I attended a taping of CBC's show q at The Bronson Centre. After I bought the tickets I wondered if the show would be too young for this grey-haired grandma. It's not like I'm really familiar with many of the Juno nominees. However, The Strumbellas were playing, so that was enough to convince me to buy tickets. Plus, we've always enjoyed the taping of any other CBC shows we've been to.

As we joined the lineup, which stretched around my former high school, I noted a wide age range among the shivering patrons. Clearly the show appealed to many. It was sold out. Age range was made more evident throughout the show. While interviewing Buffy Sainte- Marie, who will receive a humanitarian award at The Junos, Tom Powers reminded the audience that she is seventy-six! After the taping was finished, Powers conducted an informal question and answer session and revealed that he will soon turn thirty.

So yes, this was a show with range for sure. We were not disappointed. It was simply a great evening. It wasn't just that the performers were talented. Yes, they were. However what's often more important for me is what kind of people they are. How do they make you feel? Do they connect with their audience?

Tom Powers set the tone right from the start. He was warm, friendly and welcoming. He admitted to feeling nervous at this, his first live taping of the show. He did a great job. He's a knowledgeable, but down-to-earth interviewer.

I would have gone away happy right after the opening because it was The Strumbellas singing Spirits, for which they are nominated for Single of the year. The interview with band members Simon Ward and Dave Ritter was just lovely. Powers asked about the lyrics of Spirits, and Ward admitted it's not that cheerful; that he wrote it at a time when he was feeling down. He now gets great satisfaction from the song's success and the many positive comments he's getting from fans. His song, written at a low time, is now bringing joy and comfort to many, which continues to lift him up. It was a touching conversation.

My view of the Strumbellas from my balcony seat, right where I used to sit in grade 10.

That was followed by an interview with Henry Burris of the Ottawa  Redblacks and Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo. They were talking about the Juno Cup, a celebrity fundraising hockey game in support of Musi-Counts, a music education charity. Again, two really nice guys. 

I won't go through the whole show. You'll have to listen to it. At a time when we're inundated with so much bad news, it was a real pleasure to be part of a show that was just celebrating the positives: good music, good artists, good people. Thanks again CBC!

Winter Wonderland

On Saturday morning I looked out our bedroom window to this!

Isn't it gorgeous? That's not what most Ottawans are saying. All week there's been grumbling:

"When is this winter going to end? 

Enough with the snow already. 

This is supposed to be spring. 

I can't take any more of this stuff.

Don't you just hate this snow?"

 On and on it goes. People are pretty fed up with all our snow. Personally it doesn't bother me all that much. Maybe it's because we had our two week reprieve in Costa Rica. Yes, I'd rather have an early spring but the plain fact is; this is Ottawa in March. Anyone who has lived in Ottawa for more than a couple of years should have resigned themselves to the fact that you can get all kinds of weather in March - wonderful, warm temperatures or the worst snowstorm of the winter. I never count on good weather until mid April.  

For families on March Break, the snow cover was a real benefit. Toboggan hills and ski resorts were probably very busy. Here at our place, Sean took advantage of the snow piled high on our deck and shovelled a toboggan track below it, for the kids.

It was their first real experience of tobogganing and they loved it. It had been many years since we had helped little ones get settled on a toboggan. We loved helping them, as much as they loved the pure joy of flying down the hill.

So, we just have to make the most of this wintery weather. There is nothing to be gained by complaining about it. There are plenty of real problems to worry about: the U.S. president, the North Korean president, all the people we know who are living with cancer or other serious health conditions, the civilians who are dying in Syria. No, this weather is nothing to be concerned about. It's not a real problem. Today we had freezing rain. There will, no doubt, be more snow. This is nothing new - just Ottawa in March.

Screenagers

Last week I went to a screening of a great documentary - Screenagers. It was made by Delaney   Ruston, a doctor with teens of her own. Although the movie is aimed at families with teenagers, I went because the whole issue of screen time is one that concerns me.

This film is only available at community sponsored events. It was easy for me to attend, as it was showing at our kids' former school. I was happy to sit in the familiar auditorium and see that nearly all 700 seats were filled. This was quite an accomplishment. All those parents were concerned enough that they and their teens were out in force on a Wednesday night. How often do teenagers and their parents attend a movie together?

Screenagers is well worth seeing. It's not preachy but informative and entertaining. Here are some of the ideas mentioned in the film:

Self control is the main issue. How much self control do kids, teens, and adults exercise when it comes to screen time? How much are we all sucked into more, more, more?

On average, teenage boys play 11.5 hours of video games a week. They profiled one family where the son became totally addicted. He eventually went to Restart, a rehab centre for screen addiction. One concern with video games is the effect of repeated violence. Another is the fact that a sense of empathy is diminished with increased game time.

A new digital divide was explored. This is not the divide between those who have devices and those who don't. No, this new digital divide is about how devices are being used in homes of various economic status. In homes where parents are absent or too busy, kids are using all sorts of electronic devices with absolutely no supervision or adult guidance. In homes where parents have more time and education, their kids' online activities are being restricted and closely monitored. That monitoring makes all the difference. With screen time and everything else - kids will succeed if they have boundaries set by loving parents.

As in all aspects of parenting, easier said than done. In the movie, the doctor tried to impose a five page contract on her daughter when she got a new cell phone. It included important rules like no technology in the bedroom. (Lack of sleep in teens is a major issue.) By the end of the movie, the rules in the contract had been adjusted. Parents' rules always have a better chance of success if they are explained, discussed and justified by the parents.

Here's the catch with all the screen time rules a parent may want to set. How are kids going to follow any of these rules if parents themselves are constantly glued to their own devices? What kind of example are we all setting for our kids and grandchildren? The movie closed with a question meant for all of us, at any age - How can we maintain balance between our screen time and other activities, throughout the day?

For more information on Screenagers click here. If it plays at a school or community centre near you, it's well worth attending.

Costa Rica

After a couple of lovely weeks in Costa Rica, we're back in the land of ice and snow. It's been a long time since we had such a restful vacation. The warmth, the flowering trees and the ocean swims were all a wonderful reprieve from the dreariness of winter. It was our first time in Costa Rica and we enjoyed it as much as others had predicted.

The only hard part of the trip was the flight.  I was the guy sitting in the middle. As usual, I had difficulty with the buttons on my seat and never did get it reclined. The guy in front of me had no such trouble. He had his seat rammed back pretty well into my lap so I had a perfect view of his Major League Bow Hunter baseball cap. Now I'm not into hunting or shooting but I was not thinking pretty thoughts about him as I struggled to be comfortable for the five hours. It was such a tight fit that by 10:15 I had pain running down my right leg. I simply had to bother the person seated on the aisle and get up and walk every hour or so. If I could have stood for most of the flight I would have. However, the aisles are too narrow for that.

Our airline sent an email a few days before the flight, promoting their pre-flight meal sales. That would guarantee our first choice for meals so I decided it was a good idea. We left Toronto at 9:15 am, on a 5 hour flight to San Jose. At 9:45 our names were called and it was to deliver our meals! We had just eaten a breakfast sandwich at Tim Horton's in the Toronto airport so I squashed my ham and cheese sandwich into my carry-on bag, under the seat in front of me.

I had been looking forward to watching a movie to pass the time but there was nothing remotely interesting on and the satellite tv was unavailable. The most interesting channel was the one where you watch your plane fly across the map. Actually the best visual was looking out the window as we passed over the Florida Keys. Thank goodness for our books!

About noon I bent down and fished my warm sandwich (so glad I pre-ordered) from my bag. Space was so tight that when I bent down, my face was pretty well resting on my neighbour's knee.
As I chewed through my warm sandwich I thought back to airline travel of years ago. Flying was sort of glamourous then. People got dressed up to fly. There were real meals, good meals, served on real plates with real cutlery. I even remember being handed a hot wet facecloth to use after dinner! The only freebies on these flights  were a tiny bag with about eight corn chips in it and a glass of ginger ale.

Enough with the complaining already! One of the best aspects of our holiday was the people. Certainly the Costa Ricans were gracious and very hospitable. Our hosts at hotels and bed and breakfast places, the tour guides on hikes, the taxi drivers who could speak English, even the drivers who couldn't speak Engish - they were all eager to show off their country and to make us feel welcome and comfortable.

We weren't surprised by the warm welcome given by the Costa Ricans. Everyone had told us they would be great. A pleasant surprise was the fun we had meeting so many other travellers. In restaurants, on buses, on guided hikes and while sitting around at our last cosy hotel, we met folks from all over the world. For the most part they were pretty friendly. It was February, not March break, so travellers fell mostly into two age ranges: the twenty/thirty year olds and fellow seniors. Both groups were equally friendly. It didn't seem to matter to the young travellers that we were gray haired. We were all in the same boat and the questions were often similar:

Is this your first time in Costa Rica?
Where else have you travelled in Costa Rica?
What did you do there?
What do you recommend...for a place to stay, a place to eat, activities and guided hikes?

We all shared and traded information that was immensely helpful. Just as I don't appreciate it when people judge me by my gray hair, I need reminders myself, not to judge others by their appearance. I was thinking about that one day at the back of a bus, bumping along the roads in the mountainous Monteverde region. We were returning to the small town of Santa Elena after a morning spent at Selvatura Park. We had enjoyed a spectacular hanging bridges walk through the cloud forest, a guided tour of their butterfly garden and their hummingbird area as well.

We found ourselves sitting beside an elderly couple from the Netherlands and a young couple from St. Louis, Missouri. In another situation we might not have spoken with the young black man from Missouri. He and his partner had tattoos running up and down their arms, he wore a thick chain around his neck and a ball cap on backwards. But at that particular moment we were all in the same boat, or bus. We had all enjoyed a pretty wonderful place and the six of us had a fun conversation as we bumped along the horrendous road back into town. The young couple couldn't have been nicer and I gave myself a mental reminder not to judge people so hastily.

On our last Saturday in Costa Rica we signed up for a boat ride to look for dolphins and do some snorkelling. We did see some bottlenose dolphins and admired their synchronized swimming. We also saw a pair of mating olive ridley turtles.

However, the lasting impression that I have of that morning is the feeling of contentment among fellow travellers and gracious hosts. We were picked up at our hotel and as we clambered into the back of the truck and sat down on a bench we were introduced to our fellow participants. There were about a dozen of us - folks from Italy, France, Holland and the States. Our guide, Alex, hung on while standing at the back of the truck.

As we drove along the beach to meet our boat it just seemed like such a perfectly peaceful moment. No technology, no seatbelt, no jobs to do - just a bunch of people going for a boat ride on a beautiful summer day. When it was all over and we had handed in our snorkelling gear, we sat in the boat, dripping wet. These guys - the captain and the two guides, were not in a hurry to get rid of us. The music was turned on, drinks were passed around and Louis impressed us with his great fruit carving skills. We all sat there eagerly grabbing slices of fresh watermelon and pineapple, juice running down our faces.

And so we are back. We're so glad we had the opportunity to explore a new country, to unplug from everyday stress and to meet people from all over. My questions is - How can I bring any semblance of that feeling, of that relaxation, into my regular, day to day life?