A World Of Possibilities

Happy Short Work Week Cyberspace. I went to my cousin's first Motocross race over the weekend...he did very well. My biggest complaint is that I chose to wear white shoes, which are now victims of the red dust of the track. Looking at them this morning got me thinking about colours and their impact on our world.

“What’s your favourite colour Daddy?”

My daughter asks this question at least once a month. My answer is always the same – orange and blue, but I like ‘em all. I can never answer the inevitable why that follows.

It’s strange, the power that colour holds. Orange transports me back to sitting on my couch as a kid watching Michealangelo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles…we’ve had many great times together. Blue takes me back to Grade 4, when I moved to Eastern Passage and lived next to the ocean for the first time – I can still remember the peaceful, soothing crash of the waves against the shore. The yellow walls in my Grandmother’s kitchen come into focus in my mind’s eye whenever I smell fresh baked chocolate chip cookies. Pink reminds me of the fuzzy blanket that my little girl was wrapped up in the first time I ever held her in my arms. We all see things differently and every colour means something different to each and every one of us.

The colours that we decide to be surrounded by say a lot about us as individuals. There is nothing as unique as the colour scheme of your home. I chose mine to speak for me – you can do the same. They can say “Hello world! Welcome to my home!” or they can say “This is the quiet room.”

We all use colour to reflect our mood, our personality and ultimately ourselves. My daughter, for example, chose her own clothes to wear to school today – everything was purple. I asked her why and she replied “I don’t know – I just feel purple today.” And who could argue with that?

I guess what I’m trying to say is that colour is as unique as you or I. You may choose to spend your vacation cooking under the sun on a white sandy beach…I may spend mine going on an African safari. You may choose a white vanity to go along with light blue paint for your bathroom, while I would be more inclined to use orange on the walls with a black vanity. It depends on you…what you like, what you want and what you need.

Colour has had so much impact on me. It has enhanced and defined some of the major events in my life. The birth of my daughter, my time in the desert, recuperating from a smashed pelvis in a hospital bed -   the colours have told me a story…the colours have told my story. Pick your narrator…it’s time for your  next chapter.    

Hustle and Bustle

Hi Cyberspace,

I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but I seem to be struggling to keep up with blogging everyday.  Yesterday's blog wasn't even written originally as a blog post, but I liked it so I decided to put it up. In light of the many distractions (especially the NHL and NBA playoffs), I've decided to write a poem about the scatterbrained type of life we all seem to live.

Daylight; the rays break through my curtain
I don't want to get up
I work up the courage;
Only the bravest can leave their sanctuaries.

I fear the hustle and bustle.

Outside; surrounded by the masses
I am a trailblazing pioneer on this sidewalk.
The current; I fight my way against it
Eventually I'll get there.

I fight through the hustle and bustle.

Fluorescent lights; is that the colour of my skin?
The air conditioning hurts my sinuses
Phones; Computers; Televisions;
We love our electronic lives.

I am a slave to the hustle and bustle.

Murmurs; Words; Tweets; Emails;
I over-read some conversations; my language is dying.
Manners have flown the coop;
We are all just running chickens.

Screw the hustle and bustle - I'm going back to bed.

Peace and Love
The Critical Stranger

As always thoughts, comments and suggestions are encouraged and appreciated!

The Natural Path

Canadians spend $24 billion dollars a year on prescription drugs. That’s six billion dollars more per annum than we spend on doctors. The only difference between prescription drugs and poison is dosage. There are thought to be approximately 10,000 deaths in Canada outside of hospitals caused by patients taking the wrong drug, the wrong dosage or adverse reactions.

Most of these prescriptions are composed of chemicals that the average person can’t even pronounce, let alone have any idea where they come from. Yet we put these pills into our bodies without a second thought because our doctor tells us it’ll help.

The reality of the situation is that the clinical lab tests do not actually measure the effect of the drug itself. It is not tested against whatever prescription already exists; it is measured only against the effectiveness of a sugar pill. What would you say if the doctor told you that the best treatment for your disease is to eat two lumps of sugar twice a day?

I say it’s time to stop the days of Mary Poppins medicine. Be it ancient Aboriginal ancestral knowledge or those “Old Wives’ Tales,” the treatments are often effective…that’s why they still exist.

There are many advantages to Naturopathic Medicine. First of all, herbal remedies come from plants. Plants grow with soil, water and light from the sun. I know what those things are and seeing as all of our sustenance originates from plants, I have no qualms putting something like that into my body.

Another advantage to natural medicine is the lack of side effects. You know those commercials for the latest pill that will make your life ten times better instantly? They’re always followed by a voice or text rolling on the screen that is something to the effect of “Side effects may include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, blurred vision, vertigo, memory loss, loss of appetite, dementia, headaches and fever.” If your drugs come from plants that don’t cause those effects - then the drugs won’t have those effects.

Taking prescription drugs can help you. It can also hinder you and often does. The amount of complications that arise from prescriptions grows larger every year, as does the amount of prescriptions written and the amount of revenue brought in from the prescription drug industry. I don’t know what’s inside of any prescription I’ve ever taken…and that’s an extremely scary thought to me. So before you reach  out and grab a pill bottle, at least take a little bit of time to look into some Naturopathic cures…a few minutes now could save you a lifetime later.

A Doggone Travesty

I'm back again Cyberspace.

I went away again this weekend, and my blog again had to be sacrificed. However, now I'm back and ready to go. I even picked up my topic along the way.

Friday afternoon while I was driving, I got cut off by a woman driving an SUV. This is not an uncommon occurrence, as every time any of us are behind the wheel, I'm sure there is at least one instance where an accident could have happened. The part that really started my juices flowing was that she was driving with a lap dog.

Yes. A lap dog. It may not sound like much at first...but then I thought of the fact we are not allowed to talk on a cell phone while operating a motor vehicle in Nova Scotia. So why can someone have a dog on their lap? A cell phone is an immediate distraction. A dog can turn into a distraction at any time. Especially if it's sitting on your lap. What if the dog starts to pee? Or bark? Or move? Or lick your face? What if the dog moves down by the driver's feet and impedes the clear operation of the pedals?

I was just taken aback by the tiny black nose peering over the edge of the window at me as the white SUV calmly moved in front of me. I may or may not have muttered the word 'bitch,' without even knowing if the dog was female.

Just needed to get that off my chest. Thank you Cyberspace for letting me vent.

Peace and Love
The Critical Stranger

As always thoughts, comments and suggestions are encouraged and appreciated!

The Value of Vanity

Good morrow Cyberspace, I hope this post finds you well.

I was recently enlisted as a chauffeur for a friend - he was going to a cosmetic surgery office to see about getting a mole removed.  I'm not really the type to be overly concerned with my appearance...you can usually find me in jeans, a hoodie and baseball cap. When appropriate, I may upgrade to some khakis and a polo, but I've never been the type to stand in front of the mirror. So maybe that's why I don't understand how places like this stay in business.  

Let me relate some of the highlights of my experience.

The first thing that threw me off was the sign. It was ridiculously small and hard to find. I thought to myself 'Wouldn't a business that respected itself and its clientele want to advertise?' I brought this up to my friend, who very quickly pointed out the fact that he was embarrassed to be walking into a cosmetic surgery clinic and most of the people going there probably felt the same way. I conceded the point.

The next thing that caught me off guard was the door. We had to be buzzed in. Why? What reason would a place that sells self-image have for keeping the door locked at all times? Is it common for someone to run in and demand a nose job at gun point? Is the staff so terrible at their job that the patients want to murder their doctors after they recuperate from an operation? It seemed extremely strange to me.

Then there were the people. Those in the waiting room and the staff. The receptionist wore so much make-up I wasn't sure if she was actually trying to be serious. The people in the waiting room were looking at themselves in their handheld mirrors. Clients came from behind closed doors, the skin on their face tight enough to show every structural bone in their face. But the people that really got me were the two standing by the door. I'm not going to lie to you, I was eavesdropping like I never have before. The conversation was absolutely sickening.

There was a man and a woman both dressed very professionally. They were discussing some aspects of the business - from what I gleaned, the woman was a doctor and the man was an owner or investor. The conversation swirled from clients (isn't there supposed to be a doctor/client privilege?) to business strategies to complaints about the attitudes of stockholders. Some quotes that I overhead included "I don't know what [other operations] we can tell her she needs, but she won't argue with me," "So I sold her the lotion...I didn't tell her yet that it won't do the job alone," and "The stockholders are getting too big for their britches, they should just shut up and let us run this the way we want."

It pretty much confirmed what I already thought about privately owned cosmetic surgery clinics - they are in  place only to take advantage of the insecurities of the population. The laugh lines, the crow's feet, birthmarks...all those things that make us unique have been labelled as ugly. We're told everyday, you don't want to be yourself...you want to look this way - it's the only way you'll ever be happy. I call bullshit.

If you're thinking about going to get some work done, take a good long look in the mirror. Ask yourself if you would feel better if you looked different. Ask yourself why. Then ask yourself who you really want to change for.

Peace and Love
The Critical Stranger

As always thoughts, comments and suggestions are encouraged and appreciated!

When the Police Need Policing

Hey Cyberspace.

Let's get right to it. I don't know if you've heard, but there was an absolutely disgusting incident that happened last year in Fullerton, California - the police literally beat a homeless man to death. The officers' hearing was earlier this week, and a judge has told them they must stand trial. You can read the article from Tuesday here and the article on cnn.com from today here.

Whether you go and read either of these articles, the fact remains that up to 6 officers relentlessly beat and tased a homeless man until he stopped breathing. While being recorded by a security camera. If you watch the video, you can clearly see Kelly Thomas (the victim) complying with what the police are telling him to do - then begging them to stop, and finally screaming for help. Only the two officers that originally started the confrontation have been arrested and will stand trial. To top it all off...they have been on "leave" with pay since the incident.

So why no Trayvon Martin-type backlash? Why were there no protests, no giant news stories dominating the media, no call for these officers to be punished, or at least not be paid? It's disgusting - and the reason is that the man was homeless.  Even in the apathetic world we live in today, such gross abuses of authority should be met with so much public outcry that California would have no choice but to convict these men. Instead, their lawyer has tried to argue that there is 'insufficient evidence' - even with the whole thing caught on video. Disgusting.

Let's think about this for a second. The police are sworn to 'serve and protect.' They are sworn to uphold the law. Most of us know that this is not the reality. Even in a metropolis as small as the Halifax Regional Municipality, there are a shocking amount of these types of incidents - I've been a witness many, many times. There are two officers in particular on the Halifax Regional Police force who have to be mentioned; the Fairbanks. These guys are two bald brothers who are allowed to patrol together. I've literally watched them tell someone to get out of a car and block the car door closed, then use that as an excuse to reach INTO the car and zap the guy with a taser. I've heard them slinging racial slurs. I watched them tackle someone in a pizza shop downtown, pin him to the floor and call in 'reinforcements.' When they arrived, four officers each picked a limb and held it down while the other two officers proceeded to beat the man with their batons. There was also the whole Occupy Nova Scotia situation, where the mayor told the police to arrest people for something they weren't even allowed to be arrested for (breaking a by-law is only a ticketable offense)! These are just a couple of examples, and this is only Halifax. I can't even imagine the type of things that go on in California, or any other large city.

So how do you police the police? Internal affairs can't do it alone. The people have to stand up for what's right. If you see something terrible happening, get it on video (that's the only evidence that will hold up in court) and send it to the local newspaper or TV station. If we don't do something soon, we will lose our chance. The Riot Act can be enacted at any time, which allows the police to arrest absolutely anyone at anytime for literally any reason they choose. The worst part is, at least in Halifax, the Riot Act is read once a year so the police don't even have to read it to you before they arrest you. Does this sound a little like V for Vendetta or George Orwell's 1984's police states? That is where we're headed...I'm just waiting for the curfews to start.

An abuse of authority is an abuse of each and every one of our human rights. Let's use them while we still have the chance.

Peace and Love
The Critical Stranger

As always thoughts, comments and suggestions are encouraged and appreciated!

If you to read a first hand account of the Occupy Nova Scotia debacle, there are a few articles written by a great local blogger who is and has been involved in ONS pretty much since the beginning.

What Is Occupy?
Remembrance Day - The Deception
Remembrance Day - The Eviction
Remembrance Day - The Detention
Occupy: Justice

My Red Hot Dream

Long time, no talk Cyberspace.

How the hell are ya? I'm doing wonderfully. As you may have noticed, I took a brief hiatus from writing this blog. Why? First of all, I was moving and didn't have the internet hooked up. The second and by far most important reason is that I took a little vacation - to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Montreal.

To say that RHCP is my favourite band may be an understatement. I may be obsessed. I have listened to them everyday since I was about 13 years old. I considered doing a review of the concert, but it would just be fluff - so I'm just going to tell you what I think.

I guess I have to start with this - it may have been the best place I've ever been (I think it's a toss-up between this concert, holding my daughter for the first time, diving with sharks and standing in a Buddhist monastery in Thailand overlooking what I can only imagine paradise looks like). It has always been a dream of mine to go to an RHCP concert, as their amazing live shows are their claim to fame. Making the trip was absolutely nerve-wracking...I just tried to pretend it wasn't going to happen.

All of the sudden, I'm sitting in the Bell Center. The opening act is terrible - there isn't a single person in the arena listening to 'Sleigh Bells,' quite possibly the worst band I've ever heard. There are crowds of people and large pockets of empty seats. I begin to form my strategy for moving in closer to the stage - but as the whining voice and distorted bass descend to silence, the seats quickly begin to fill. Stagehands are frantically rearranging the equipment on stage, unveiling Chad Smith's drum kit (Oh My God!! Is that Chad Smith's drum kit!?), tuning Flea's bass and new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer's guitar (is this actually happening right now?!), setting up Anthony Kiedis' microphone (pinch me, slap me, wake me up, this has to be a dream!!!). The crescendo of the murmur in the crowd peaks in a roar as the band files on stage. Everyone stands as the beginning toms of 'Monarchy of Roses' cuts through the noise of the audience - they will not sit down again until well after the encore is over.  The music is almost drowned out by the cheers as Anthony Kiedis runs onto the stage, grabs the microphone and begins an hour and fifty minute set of musical ecstasy.

From older hits like Californication and Under the Bridge, newer hits such as Goodbye Hooray and an assortment of seemingly random songs like Throw Away Your Television, RHCP gave the mass of people in the Bell Center more than their money's worth.

After the concert, we retired to our hotel room in a state of euphoria (well...I was in that state anyway). We had made the trip by car from Fredericton to Montreal, so we were fairly worn out and passed out rather quickly. I was not prepared for the next morning. I awoke to a feeling of...emptiness. I can now imagine what post-partum depression feels like (not actually, but you catch my drift). I didn't realize just how excited I was to actually make this dream of mine come to fruition. Waking up the next day with nothing to look forward to made the immediate future seem very drab. I missed the feeling of anticipation, the feeling of excitement - it really brought to life for me the saying "Be careful what you wish for."

Having said that, I could never regret it. This was the one thing I had wanted for longer than anything else and finally experiencing it was an indescribable feeling. To the people that made it happen - I'm indebted to you forever.

I guess I'll leave you with this - make your dreams come true - but when you do, be prepared for afterwards. And never, ever, ever, EVER miss a chance to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers - it's life-changing.

Peace and Love
The Critical Stranger

As always thoughts, comments and suggestions are encouraged and appreciated!