Happy 42nd Birthday to Me. 42 Facts about The Urban Daddy.

Happy Birthday! (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Today, February 21st, is my birthday. It’s actually been my birthday since 1971, and I’m not posting this to solicit birthday greetings so please do not feel obligated to do so, but I realized this morning during my drive into the office that in the 8-years that I have been blogging, and the over 1100 blog posts between The Urban Daddy, Intaxicating, and Daddy Knows Sports (which I’m not using anymore) that I have shared very little about myself. So today, in honour of my birthday I have decided to open up my kimono and reveal 42 facts about myself to shed some light into who exactly has been writing these (long) posts for so many years.

So please sit back, enjoy, there is no need to take notes, and for those of you who actually know me, there are some things here that you will not have known and for total strangers who come by frequently, I hope you will still come back. LOL.

42 things about The Urban Daddy.

42. I am not in any way affiliated with UrbanDaddy.com, although many people “like” me on Facebook for this reason, then realize I’m a Canadian Daddy blogger, and they run the other way. That site, for the record, is not a “Daddy” and while it is “Urban”, it is not an “Urban Daddy”. I am.

41. I have a full-time job outside of being a parent, husband, etc. I have been working for 18-years in the taxation industry here in Toronto. I worked at the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA)for almost 11 years, then I joined the private sector and have moved from a Manager, to an AVP, and now the Managing Director at Tax Solutions Canada, where this great organization of professionals help people who have tax problems work with the CRA.

40. I am a level-3 CGA, but stopped taking courses when my father, who was a CA, gave me some advice.  He said, “Son.  Why are you doing this to yourself?  You’re terrible at this.  Pick a different course of study… Please.”  So I enrolled into graduate school 3 days after our first child Linus was born, and completed my MBA 3-years later.

39.  I was a typical 80′s kid, growing up.  Overweight, bad skin, big plastic-framed glasses and a mullet.  Thankfully I grew out of it.

38.  In middle school I carried my baseball glove everywhere and was too busy with sports to do my school-work.  I told my mother I was going to quit school to be come a professional soccer player – yet I was never good at soccer.  I was also the kid who showed leadership in everything I did yet struggled in school.  When I applied myself I excelled.  I earned 50′s through grade 8, 70′s in high-school, 75 (B+) through University and 85-90′s (A/A+) in Grad school.

37.  I was bullied as a child in public school.  In middle school I was picked on for being Jewish.  In Hebrew school, I was bullied for being over-weight.

36.  After high-school, I lost 50lbs and found my voice.

35.  After our second child, Stewie was born – he was such a difficult child for the first 10-months of his life that I herniated a disc in my back carrying him all the time.  I asked my physiotherapist to please allow me to tie my shoes on my own.  She got me into shape and one year later I ran a 5k race in 33-minutes (without stopping).

34.  I tend to be a little right-wing in my political views, but fiscally conservative, not right-wing extreme in any way.  I’m pro-choice – A woman should decide what she wants to do with her body.  I believe marriage is for anyone and everyone, if they want to, and I don’t care who you marry, or sleep with.  I believe no one deserves to carry guns unless they are protecting people and you have the right to free speech and practice whatever religion you want, until you either insult someone else, or try to convert them to your beliefs.  Like my mother used to say, “Look at your own plate.”  Don’t look at what I’m eating or how I’m eating it.  Mind your own peas.

33.  I’m left-handed and actually started a left-handed club while at University to help get left-handed desks in some of the lecture halls where they were all the way on the left-side of the room.  Personally, I needed to sit front-middle, so I could see.

32.  I have never tried drugs.  Ever.  Not a puff of anything.  That being said, I do think that certain drugs should be legal and taxed.  Take the criminal element away and increase revenues.

31.  I see people as human-beings on one giant planet.  I don’t see race, or colour and I was really embarrassed when working at the CRA where I delivered a lot of training and we had a new employee from West Africa with a VERY heavy accent and I could not for the life of me understand him.  I was devastated.  He kept asking questions and I couldn’t understand him.  That was over 10-years ago, but it stays with me.

30.  I’m a terrible friend.  I never learned what it means to be a good friend and I don’t have any friends from when I was young.  Certainly makes it challenging as an adult, however, we’re meeting lots of great parents through school events.

29.  My voice is a little on the higher-pitched side and I used to mumble sometimes when I spoke very quickly, but I am also just under 6 feet tall and 225lbs, so no slouch at all.  I used to deepen my voice when I answered my phone at the government so people wouldn’t call me Mrs.  I even had a guy tell me he was coming to see me at the Tax Office so he could “kick the shit out of me” because I sounded like a “weak, little man”.  He came.  I greeted him in the meeting room, and he was about 6ft2, 350lbs, but when he saw me he apologized for his actions and within 5 minutes being in the meeting room, he was bawling his eyes out talking about his tax problem.  It’s unfortunate that people feel violence is the best solution.

28.  I have no tattoos, but I have my ear pierced.  I wanted to pierce it so badly when I was 14 but my mother said no, and it wasn’t until my wife convinced me to do it at age 30 when I finally did it.  Now, at my age, I’m not so sure I want or need it…

27.  I’m a great defensive driver.  I let cars out, I wave thank you, I don’t cut cars off and I do the speed limit.  But if you piss me off, Karma will box you in and I’ll be on one side laughing to myself while you stew.

26.  I say “bless you” when someone sneezes.  Anyone.  Anywhere.

25.  I love Canadian music.

24.  My musical influences were Queen and the Police when I was young.  Then Def Leppard, Platinum Blonde, Bon Jovi, STP, Soundgarden, Green Day all the way through Rob Zombie, Saliva, etc.  I like my music loud, hard, with a great beat and no screaming.  I’m also awesome on SongPop.  All genres, any year.  Challenge me!  I dare you.

23.  I support the Canadian Armed Forces – I prefer if there were no wars – but there are bad dudes everywhere and we need our troops to keep us safe.

22.  I’m in awe of my wife for so many reasons including the way she runs our household and has led the raising of our children.  She’s been supportive of all of us and sadly I have not taken her out enough.  She needs so time away from the house, the kids and the responsibilities.  She certainly earned it.

21.  I’m in awe of my children.  They fascinate me.  They’re smart, good-looking, friendly and they laugh a lot.  I find myself looking at them, staring at them amazed at how they are developing and hoping they can stay that happy forever.  They have no idea how nasty the world can be and unless we can create a nasty laser to zap away all the scumbags, they’re going to need to be watched over to make sure they stay safe while they find their way in the world.  Oh, and at 8, 6 and 3, I have a little time.

20.  I am externally motivated so I seek confirmation that I’m doing a good job / staying on track often.  I’ve learned to read the signs so I don’t annoy.  If you want to help me you can “like” The Urban Daddy on Facebook or follow this blog (or follow The Urban Daddy on Twitter).

19.  The glass is half-full.  Always.

18.  My favourite number and the number of my ball-hockey jersey.  I’ve played ball-hockey in a league (not floor hockey in a gym, but ball hockey in an arena – no ice and running) for 23 years and I’m getting better and better each year.  I’m shocked at the improvement, but loving it.

17.  I hate to lose more than I like to win.  In everything I do.  My ball-hockey team was 0-62 before we won a game and it felt okay to win, but when we lose I’m pissed.  That goes to everything I do.  Success and winning is great, but the other side really gets me going.

16.  I used to have no sense of direction whatsoever until my wife taught me how to navigate my way out of a wet paper bag.  Once, in France for our honeymoon, it was getting dark and we were in the countryside driving on a dirt road surrounded by lavender and sunflowers.  I was beginning to worried that we would need to sleep in the car but my wife made me stop, she got out of the car and pointed off to her right, and within 10 minutes we were at the B&B we had booked.  I have no idea how she knew to go that way, but she gets it and I’ve been learning from the pro.

15.  Nice guys do finish last, and after being sick of being passed over and left behind, I’ve brought in a little bad ass / I don’t give a f*ck attitude and it’s helped me tremendously with my confidence and getting things done.  I no longer take sh*t, but I’m still really polite and kind to service people no matter the place or the service.  They’re people too, and deserve to be treated with respect.  But when I have a task to get done for myself, my family or a client, look out.  I play to win.

14.  I’ve realized you cannot pick your neighbours, your family or your nose.  You get what you get and you don’t be upset.  Plus, I’m big into forgive and forget.  I’m just hoping others are too.

13.  I am passionate about things and sometimes that passion can get confused with a lack of patience.  If I know I am right, I will do whatever I have to do to get others on my side and go that way.  I had a keychain as a kid that read; “Diplomacy.  The ability to tell someone to go to hell and make sure they will enjoy the trip.”

12.  I don’t like clutter and sometimes in my odd way to keep my personal space in order, I line up things, like shoes, to keep them neat.  I might be a little OCD on that side.

11.  My father passed away 10 years ago, and my grandfather 8 years ago, right after we went on a vacation to Poland to visit his birth place.  I actually have someone right now who is not speaking to me because “[I] don’t know what it’s like to lose a father.”  I’m not upset.  I feel for them because they said something in a time of grieving which was factually incorrect and one day they’ll realize it and I’ll forgive and forget.  Life’s too short.

10.  I love coffee.  Flavoured coffee, actually, and have been compiling a list of the best coffee in Toronto for 3 years.  My last ranking reached McDonald’s Canada, Tim Horton’s, Country Style and Starbucks Canada.  These brands have amazing marketing and social media practices.

9.  I had bells palsy as a child, which resulted in paralysis of half of my face for almost a year.  I was lucky I recovered 98% of my functioning and only have the slightest sign of the virus when I’m tired.  The left part of my lip is ever so slightly higher than the right side.

8.  I have always had body-issues from being a solid shaped child and for the longest time I refused to take off my shirt to swim even though I love swimming and even though when I was running and going to the gym at lunchtime.  I have been in pretty good shape since the end of high-school.  I will never ever be that 150lb skinny guy.  As it is, my shoulders and back are so big that I need a larger shirt / jacket to fit my shape.  When I was 13-years-old, I fit into a size 56 jacket.  I was in a 42 pant (maybe more – as high as a 48, I’ve blocked this from my memory), but now I’m a size 36 pant and a 46 tall jacket.

7.  I was asked to contribute my thoughts to the OHIP4IVF awareness campaign and realized that I have found a cause that I strongly believe in.  Now I just need to help convince the government the same thing…

6.  I once asked then Toronto Blue Jays General Manager J.P. Riccardi for a tryout with the Jays, at a breakfast with the Blue Jays function.  He must have thought I was nuts, but he asked me this; “Do you have any experience?  Have you ever played ball?”  I replied, “No. But I’m left-handed, I’ve been clocked as fast as 88mph and I’m deadly accurate with a baseball.”  He then thought about it and said to me, “The day I sign a 38-year-old pitcher is the day I need to start looking for a new job.”  Sure enough 3 weeks later he signed a left-handed 38-year-old pitcher from Japan with a career 5.38 era.  Not long after he was looking for a new job.

5.  I did some fundraising for Karen Stintz when she was just getting elected, and we raised a ton of cash to help her out.  She was very appreciative and good to the community.  I hope she can find her way again and help lead the right-wing on Toronto City Council move some stuff through.

4.  After sponsoring 4 nannies over 8-years through the Canadian Live-In Caregiver program - and helping them settle in Canada once they fulfilled the terms and conditions of the program, I dubbed myself an expert on the CLICP.  I regularly post about it and get contributing articles from others in the industry.  As a matter of fact, readers from the Philippines are the 3rd most popular readers to visit here daily – after Canada and the US.

3.  I used to be horrible with money until my wife (probably fiancée back then) taught me a great lesson about impulse purchases.  She froze my credit card and debit card in a block of ice so when I needed it to make an impulse purchase, she said I could do that but I would need the ice to melt on it’s own first.  And by the time the ice melted I didn’t want or need that purchase.  The cards actually stayed in the freezer for almost 7 months while I got my spending under control.  Now… I’m very good with it.

2.  I, um, err, Ahhh, I… Fine.  I like wrestling.  It’s like a male soap opera with strong guys and girls in it.  I like the music, it makes me laugh and and I’m impressed with their athleticism.  Plus, my kids love it.  My daughter wants to be Kane when she grows up.

1.  I made it through the entire day without telling anyone – not one person – that today was my birthday, except the 2500 people who follow this blog, mind you.  This was a first for me, who usually tells anyone and everyone.  Now I feel better.

Honourable mention:  I love escargots, but hate bamboo shoots and water chestnuts…

Just under 46 Reasons why my kids have freaked out, at 3-years-old.

My wife posted a link to an article on Facebook the other day called “46 Reasons Why My 3-Year-Old Might Be Freaking Out“, and this was just after our 3-year-old daughter Boo had an epic 20-minute meltdown.  Once she was done we confirmed the cause of the meltdown was a result of the fact that she wanted the zipper on her fleece sweater zipped up… Who knew?!?

Sidebar:  Forget the terrible two’s, new parents.  It’s the Terrible three’s which will kill you!!!  Am I right?

I loved the article so much I wanted to re-post it, but I also wanted to yank out a few of the 46 reasons which applied to any of our 3 children.

So please, visit the original article, but only after you read this on either Facebook, Twitter, Google +, Tumblr or here on The Urban Daddy’s blog,   Then your next mission is to see which meltdown’s we have I/ had in common.  Then let me know in the comment section so we can all laugh together.

I’ve broken it down by boys (ages 8 & 6 right now) and girl (just turned 3).

Coles Notes Version

Meltdown’s in Common:

His sock is on wrong.

His lip tastes salty.

His shirt has a tag on it.

They are hungry, but can’t remember the word “hungry.”

His brother looked at him.

His brother didn’t look at him.

We don’t understand what he/she said.

He/she doesn’t want to get out of the car.

He/she wants to get out of the car by himself.

The iPad has a password.

He jumped off the sofa and we weren’t  watching.

He’s not allowed to touch fire.

Everything is wrong with his coat.

There’s a dog (or raccoon or monster or dragon) within a 70km radius.

I asked him/her a question.

His brother/sister/mother/father is talking.

The cat is in his/her way.

The inside of his cheek feels rough.

Things take too long to cook.

He has too much food in his mouth.

He sneezed.

He doesn’t know how to type.

His/her mom is taking a shower.

Someone knocked over his tower.

The food won’t stay on his spoon.

… and so much more…

How does this relate to your kids?

Related articles

• Momfessional #47: Freaking out (themomfessional.com)

Why this recognition is greatly appreciated.

I was added to the list of 7 new blogs by Dan Bohmer who writes Nine and a Half Hours Ahead http://danbohmer.wordpress.com/ as part of him receiving the One Lovely Blog Award.

Dan is a US Soldier overseas in Afghanistan.  He’s a father and he’s been blogging as an outlet in order to share some of his pictures and his thoughts.  I don’t think I have to go into detail about my thoughts on those who enlist in the services and who put their lives on the line to protect our countries.  In my opinion it is probably the most selfless, most courageous, thing one can do and I respect these men and women for doing something I could not do, but would if I had to.

So because Dan left me a note to nominate me and that he enjoys my blog (thank you Dan, the feeling is mutual), I am proudly accepting this award and complying with all the rules.  I also encourage you to check out Dan’s blog.  Read his thoughts, look at his beautiful pictures and enjoy.

The rules:  To post 7 things about myself and then to nominate seven other fantastic, inspiring bloggers:

1. My first online identify was “SpeakEasy” because I thought the concept of a speakeasy was very cool.  When my wife became the “Urban Mummy” it only seemed to make sense that I became the “Urban Daddy”

2. I grew up with a baseball glove on my hand, a baseball cap on my head and a hockey stick nearby, but never played any organized sports until I was 19-years-old.  At 41, I’m still playing!

3.  I started and ran a club in University for left-handed students.  The University subsidized me and provided me an office to use at my leisure and it was massive.

4.  I ran for student council president in my 3rd year of University and lost to some kid named Jian Ghomeshi. Look him up.  He’s done quite well for himself since that landslide victory.

5.  I was approached to be a regular participant on a TV show as a “Daddy Blogger” but turned it down because at that time it’s not something I could see myself doing.  As I get more comfortable in my skin, the door to something like that slowly opens again…

6.  I’ve been blogging since 2004 and that precedes the urbandaddy.com site that promotes cool things in big cities and urbandaddy.com.au which sells shoes.

7.  Ball-hockey: I once scored a goal on a slapshot from beside my own net.  It was our only goal in a 10-1 loss.  I have played well over 1000 games and have never been in a fight or injured another player on purpose.  I have, however hit someone hard enough that their shoe flew off and went over the boards. 

Now for the seven utterly fantastic, must-read, blogs – they are not rank ordered, so the first one listed is not ‘better’ than the seventh one.

For those that I select, I want to reiterate that I completely understand if you do not wish to continue to keep the award chain going.

Just know that I enjoy your blogs!

1. Lazy Photographer; http://www.lazyphotographer.ca/

2. Funny Things Are Everywhere; http://www.mapsgirl.ca/

3. Edudad; http://edudad.com/

4.  Luke, I am Your Father; http://liayf.blogspot.ca/

5. Good, Bad, Wicked; http://goodbadwicked.com/

6. Daddy’s In Charge; http://www.daddysincharge.com/

7.  Aiming Low; http://aiminglow.com/

So for each of the above 7 blogs named, I am passing along to you the One Lovely Blog Award.  The avatar is below and you can add to your blog if you would like, or you can ignore this and continue writing some amazing posts and taking some incredible pictures.

About the Urban Daddy

I update the about me section of this blog and thought it might be time to post it in order to answer questions I frequently get sent to me via email and twitter.  Who I am and what I do…

About me

I am the urban daddy because my wife of 11 years who got me into blogging in 2004 was calling herself the urban mummy. It only made sense.

I am a father of two boys, Linus (because he carries around a security blanket and a white stuffed cat which is my avatar) who is 7 and Stewie (because we feel he’s trying to kill us) who is 5. Our baby girl, Berry (who makes us laugh) is 2-years-old. We live in mid-town urban Toronto where we live our lives as a laid back, no fuss family. We eat healthy (my wife was a vegetarian for 12 years when I met and converted her – but she has recently returned to the land of veggies). She is studying to be a holistic nutritionist.

Both her and I have our Master’s degrees, her in education, me a MBA which we completed with newborns preventing us from sleeping. Crazy, eh?

I love politics, especially Canadian, and have fundraised for Councillor Karen Stintz and was approached by the Conservative Party to run municipally or provincially in my riding. I would have, except I love my job as a taxation executive.

I’m also a sports junkie, love playing ball hockey (21 years in organized league play), and watching it on TV. I also love wrestling and Star Wars so my nerd side gets equal jock play too.

I have always been on the slightly more than I should weigh side, gained that with Linus’ birth and have yet to shed it.  Yes, it’s my pregnancy weight!  I have been described as being freakishly strong and can run 5K in my sleep, now.

I’ve been blogging since 2004 and have made some year-end award lists, been mentioned by CBS news, asked to be on a local Canadian TV show as their daddy blogger expert and been ripped for my views by some really great people and some real jerks. My views.  My opinions.

You’ll find a lot of posts about my kids, about politics, coffee, Toronto, sports, pop culture, current events and things I endorse for free, and things I think people should steer clear of.

Everything here comes out of my head and this blog is meant to allow me to empty my head of thoughts and opinions and if you choose to read and like it or if you find something offensive let me know. Just nothing personal, racist or rude. I can delete them… And block you.

I also blog for money, but I won’t ask, it’s a bonus and not the reason I blog. If you want an expert opinion, or a family opinion on a wide range of things, drop me an email at realurbandaddy@gmail.com. I have a large pool of contacts and connections who can assist too. I’m on twitter @urbandaddyblog and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Urban-Daddy/109554365740659?ref=ts . Find me, drop me a note, like me, vote for me… All that jazz!

Those who do not call me “Daddy” or “Urban Daddy” call me Warren, but as Linus liked to tell his teacher when we have to meet with her / him, “His name is Warren but they call him the urban daddy”.

Read on… You might actually like something here…

Related articles

• Ah, those kids and the things they say… Was I this clever / funny as a kid? I doubt it. (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• Should I be concerned that my kids are smarter than me? (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• Are you hungrier than a 5-year-old? (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• As a Father, if you’re going to disappoint some of them, you might as well disappoint all of them… (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• A Daddy Blog’s Greatest Hits! (adaddyblog.com)

What I Learned on the Weekend: If you hold your breath long enough you pass out.

I learned something new on the weekend about my youngest child, my daughter Berry.

I learned that when she is upset (or hurt) that she holds her breath until she passes out.

Joy!

But she didn’t just do it once this past weekend, she actually did it twice.

To say she had a rough weekend would be an understatement.

The first time she pulled this stunt she was already 30 minutes past her bed-time and was in the kitchen with me eating cheese strings as a before bed snack.  She was sitting at the little plastic table on the little plastic chair and I had to go to the washroom, so I asked her to stay sitting there, and eat and drink until I returned.  The boys were already upstairs in bed.

Did Berry listen?

If you said “no” out loud I’m giving you a funny look right now, but you would be correct.  She ran down the hall to see me than ran back into the family room, however from the bathroom, I heard a “THUMP” wich could only be the sound of a child smashing into a solid wood coffee table.

Then came the crying.

I screamed, Urban Mummy and the boys came flying down the stairs and with cheese strings in her mouth, Berry was holding her head, giving us the silent cry (I HATE the silent cry) until she passed out.

Worried she would choke on the food we sat her up and before I could smack her back out came the food and she awoke quite groggy.

Concussion?

Who knew.

I do know that it’s an urban legend that you have to wake someone every hour if you think they have a concussion.  That’s only needed for a brain hemmorage.  Pretty sure she didn’t have that.

Needless to say, I went into her room every hour that night to make sure she was still breathing.

The second incident happened when she was with me and she stubbed her foot on a toy.  The silent cry came, and while crying she held her breath and passed out in my arms.

Lovely.

Thursday Thirteen – 13 News Stories that matter to this urban daddy

This weeks edition of the Thursday Thirteen focuses on 13 new stories which matter to this urban daddy living in North America’s 7th largest city.

You may recognize some and others may be new to you.  Please take the time and see what matters.

Here we go!

13.  Anyone find the irony here?  TaxMasters, a firm that advertises it can help consumers facing problems with taxes, has filed for bankruptcy protection.

TaxMasters, earned revenue by getting their customers to pay advance fees of $2,000 to $8,000 allegedly by misstating the help they could provide people with unpaid IRS tax bills.  It has been reported that in some cases, TaxMasters claimed they would reduce people’s tax bills by up to 90% but when they were not able to, they kept the advanced fees and moved on.

The Better Business Bureau says it has received more than 1,000 complaints about TaxMasters over the course of the last three years.  In their bankruptcy filing, TaxMasters stated their liabilities – money owing to creditors - between $1 million and $10 million and their assets to be less than $50,000.  This is what happens when you have commissioned sales people pitching services which involve the government.  No one can truly appreciate the inner workings of a government agency or departments unless they have working in one, or worked with one over a period of time.

12.  Library workers in Toronto go on strike over job security for the full-time and part-time workforce.

For those of you not in Toronto, you should know that recently, the Toronto government has been looking at libraries – in addition to all other public bodies – as an area to save city taxpayer dollars.  As the 7th largest city in North America, Toronto has a conservative mayor who wants to tighten up spending, reduce waste and not have to keep increasing taxes in order to meet obligations and this is not being accepted by the strong left-wing contingent in the downtown core.

As a result of this mention of libraries, a rallying cry came out about how much libraries are used in this day and age even though people are using iPads, and Kobo readers and downloading reading materials.  Internet has reduced the reliance on libraries much in the same way that Wikipedia spelled the end for encyclopedia’s.

Unionized library staff, clearly concerned, started campaigning to keep libraries open and began to justify some of the very large – over $100K salaries – and reinforced the need for libraries in the City of Toronto.  The mayor clarified that there was no intention to close libraries, but are librarians really worth $100K/year.

The issue had since did down until they went on strike – closing the libraries as of Monday.

If there ever was a way to show the mayor and the local government that the City can do some cost cutting in the library system, it will become perfectly clear when the public show they can live without libraries.

Nice job union!

11.  Some wack-job, now identified as being Mohammed Merah, a  24-year-old member of al-Qaeda who had escaped from prison in Afghanistan is behind the killing of 3 French soldiers one who was Muslim, and a Rabbi and 3 children at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France.

Police found explosives his brother’s car, and have arrested his brother, mother and an acquaintance of the brother.  He said he wanted to kill the Jewish kids in revenge for Palestinian children being killed in Israel, and the soldiers for France’s participating in the war in Afghanistan.

This morning he jumped out of the apartment building he was in while shooting, only to become a pancake upon his bodies arrival to the ground.  Oh well.  I hope he suffered.

10.  Reports out of Israel indicate that several of the prisoners returned to the West Bank and Gaza strip in the Gilad Shalit swap have been re-arrested during failed attempts to kidnap Israeli citizens…  How does that expression go?  “Stupid is as stupid does”.

9.  Former Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning has signed a $96 million dollar, 5-year contract to play for the Denver Broncos, meaning current QB Tim “G-d Bless Me” Tebow has not been traded to the New York Jets.  It’s not that I’m against athletes getting that kind of money – I am – but that almost billion dollars would help build a lot of stuff in these tough times… Like maybe Toronto’s subways.

Huh?  What?!?  Peyton Manning, not Preston Manning… Oh.  Move on.  Nothing to see here.

8.  The Toronto Maple Leafs are falling.  The Toronto Raptors are falling.  The Toronto Rock… falling.  Go Jays Go, 16-4 in MLB spring training coming into Thursday which puts them second to the 14-3 Detroit Tigers for the best record in the entire league!

7.  Show of hands for who wants to bring back the death penalty for the killers of Tori Stafford.  I have both hands up…

6.  Quebec students are planning a “massive protest” against rising tuition hikes.  Really?  I’m sorry I must not be paying enough taxes so that I can provide you with subsidized tuition.  Poor baby.  When I went to university, I – gasp – got a job to pay for my tuition.  I even worked during the school year.  I think we’re really getting a glimpse into Generation “me”, with the G20 riots against capitalism, then the “Occupy” movement against greed, and the protests against rising tuition… This generation really does just want to get things for free and not have to work for it, or put in any time.  It’s not like the Internet kids, where you just go download stuff for free.  you’ll see once you grow up, when the next generation starts stealing your hard work that it really sucks.  Life’s not fair.  Deal with it!

5.  Some employers have been asking potential applicants for access to their Facebook accounts during the hiring process.  I suspect with all that has gone on in social media, people posting nude pictures, or inappropriate things about their jobs or drug pictures employers want to make sure they’re hiring solid candidates who can grown with the company and represent it well.  I 100% do not agree with this policy, however, as a huge user of social media, the candidate should be able to communicate the messages that I have always done, that my Facebook profile only has pictures of my family.  I do not identify my employer.  I never, ever blog or tweet about my employer and representing your employer your number one priority.

Let them look.  They probably already have, but don’t give them reasons to pass you over.  Keep your profile clean.  You want a friend to see you drinking, or in a bathing suit, send it to them.  Don’t post it online!

4.  Torontonians and suburban 905ers  will be seeing new area code overlays with 437 being added to 416/647 exchange and 365 being added to the area now served by the 905/289 codes.  Did you know that the 416  area code is one of 86 original area codes established in North America in 1947.  The western part of the original 416 code was split into the 519 area code in 1953 and the remaining portion outside of the city was split into 905 in 1993. This geographic split made it easy for people referring to the suburbs rather than the city because it could simply be called the 905.  647 and 289 came on board in 2001.

Area code 387 has also been reserved for future use in what will soon be the 416/647/437 area.

3.  An “abnormal” amount of a protein – called prostaglandin D2, found in the bald spots of the scalp of men who are losing their hair - causes male pattern baldness, researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania discovered.

Knowing what causes male pattern baldness could lead to new treatments.

A different prostaglandin, F2alpha, is known to increase hair growth.

2.  Google announced today that through their Street View technology, we can now all explore portions of the Amazon Rain Forest.  The pictures were taken along the Rio Negro in Brazil last year using camera-mounted three-wheeled bicycles have been woven into Google Maps, allowing users to virtually venture on waterways and trails and in even villages.

Some key things to look out for; Take a virtual boat ride down the main section of the Rio Negro, float up into the smaller tributaries where the forest is flooded, enjoy a hike along an Amazon forest trail, see where Brazil nuts are harvested, and you might even see an animal or 2

1.  Air Canada.  Ahh, to be unionized.  Air Canada has been bailed out by the Canadian government and Canadian taxpayers so many times its ridiculous, but then out of nowhere on Thursday the ground workers staged a wildcat strike meaning they held up over 70 flight.  People were trapped in airplanes on Toronto’s Pearson International Airport runway and baggage was slow to move from plane to terminal.  As a result of this illegal strike, 37 workers were fired.

But wait.

As a payback to Canadians who has contributed hard-earned tax dollars into this carrier to allow they baggage handlers to keep their jobs, the union backed off the strike only if the workers were re-instated and the airline promised not to punish them now or in the future.

What a gig.

And union leaders wonder why the majority of citizens how come to be fed up with unions.  Take this as yet another example.

Toronto viewed south from Bloor (Photo credit: Small)

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A Question for you. Yes, you. If you are reading this now, I’m talking to you.

What was your wedding song?  Either the first song you danced to as a married couple, or the one that closed out the event… Or both.

Now, tell me how long you have been married, and tell me now, what your wedding song should have been in hindsight where all vision is 20/20.

Has it changed?

I ask this because I was chatting with a friend of mine who said their wedding song was “Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin, but in hindsight with all the troubles they’ve had over the years together and the impending marital break-up, it should have been “Highway to Hell” by AC/DC.

So that got me thinking.

 

Ours was “Heaven” by Bryan Adams, which I picked but in hindsight it probably should have been a children’s song since our kids have become such an important part of our lives.  That or I should have let me wife pick one of her “favourite songs” from days gone by, like “Blue Monday” by New Order to some song called “Girlfriend in a Coma”, not that they relate to us, but that she really likes those songs and gentlemen, we all know, a happy wife = a happy life.

 

So whats your story?

And the Academy Award for the Largest Ego for a Spoiled Athlete(s) goes to… The Miami Heat.

I just realized the Academy Awards were on the same night as the NBA all-star game.  Oops.  Different genres of people, I guess.

I watched the 2nd half of the NBA All-Star game because at the end of the first half the score was something insane like 109-88 for the Western Conference which meant the Miami Heat threesome of LeBron (I am the King) James, Dwayne (I can win on my own and don’t need these clowns) Wade and… oh yeah that third wheel and former Raptor Chris (Can I please ride on your coat-tails) Bosh, were losing.  Yay.  so I continued watching hoping for the Eastern conference to lose even though my Raptors play in the East.

But to my utter enjoyment, the East made a game of it, LBJ was putting up 3-pointer after 3-pointer.  It was incredible.  Sure they were down by 20 points, but that is when LBJ is at his best, right? because when push came to shove, it was LBJ who missed a key 3, and then Wade dropped a long-bomb pass which would have been an easy lay-up and probable East win.  Even on the last shot of the game, LBJ didn’t want to take it, he passed it off. 

They choked. He choked.

History repeats itself.

And when the camera panned to LBJ, he was laughing and shrugging his shoulders like it was nothing.  Then while being interviewed he played it off even more along the lines of it doesn’t really matter, the game is over.

It does matter.  LBJ knows he is not the most popular player in the league and that he is slowly developing a reputation of being a bit of a choke artist.  It’s getting to him, and it’s clearly obvious.  He wants to win but doesn’t want that last shot.  Wade will take it.  Kobe will take it.  Even Bosh is used to taking it since he was forced to in Toronto. 

This is the same LBJ who was so popular in high school that either an agent or the school bought his mother a Hummer and when it was made public they denied it.  He’s not cut from a moral cloth to be a role model and to be honest, he’s drinking the cool-aid about how great he is (or thinks he is). 

Now having said all this, the Heat will probably win the championship this year… UGH.

—————————————————

On Sunday, I took Linus with me to a volunteer event – we, at the urban daddy household volunteer at least once a month with the kids to give back to the community – and we took part in an hour of yoga while at this event.  Let me tell you this… Dads… It was hard.  I’m sure the moms have done it numerous times and we all know woman are more flexible anyways, but for me it was tough, but as the program went on, I could really feel the stretch.  I was sore after, a little bit sweaty – not like playing ball hockey – but I knew I was in a workout.  So then after all the cobra’s, downward dogs, sunset’s, etc., the instructor informed me this was a “beginner” class.  OY.   

By Monday morning, I realized that my back was not sore when I woke up which told me need to do more yoga!

What do you have to say?

And don’t forget to like me on Facebook; https://www.facebook.com/pages/Urban-Daddy/109554365740659 

And follow me on Twitter @urbandaddyblog

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Thursday Thirteen – You know you have lost touch with the adult world when…

Hello to my happy readers. As my 2-year-old daughter Berry would say with much excitement in her voice, “You came back!!!”.  For those of you who are first time readers, welcome, feel free to come back at any time, and if you’ve come here accidentially, thanks for the hit and please come back unless you are looking for Santa Claus porn. 

Because I’m a giant loser, I find myself not needing to dip into the almost 80 blog posts sitting in my draft folder for this weeks Thursday Thirteen, but instead I felt compelled to reach out to my readers with kids and form a bond.

Below you will find the 13 ways in which I realized I have lost touch with the adult world.

Sit tight and here we go.

13. I saw what appeared to be 2 hookers walking through the side streets near Eglinton and Allen Road last night in mid-town Toronto, on my way home from the office – probably heading to one of the many massage places with neon lights that light up on the very quiet Eglinton strip (pun intended) after dark.

For some reason even I cannot explain, I began singing this following song – out loud – in my car, to the tune of the Dora the Explorer theme;

Do do do DO do DO do… Hookers.
Do do do DO do DO do… Hookers.
Hookers, hookers, HOOKERS on Eglinton.
Hookers…

If you know the theme, you know what I mean.

12. I sit down in front of the television infrequently and instead of checking out the regular stations, Ch22 - Sportsnet, Ch30 TSN, Ch53 Headline sports and Ch 418 the NHL network, my fingers immediately press ch65 which is Treehouse TV.  A bad habit indeed because once the kids catch a glimpse of one of their shows the begging begins.

11. Like my kids, I have found myself not caring about the colour of my socks when I head into the office. It used to be black socks for everything unless I’m wearing blue pants, then it would be blue socks and brown socks for brown pants but because my kids regularly wear, for example, an orange shirt, with green pants and red socks, I’m feeling their vibe. I’m not sure those without kids would understand other than to think I’m  losing my mind.

10. I heard a song by Anthrax called “I’m Alive” which I really love right now but instead of singing that I find myself singing a children song that has words in it like, Syria, Oman, Pakistan… and what’s worse about this is that Stewie played it for me on my birthday saying “It’s daddy’s favourite song”. He knows it and I don’t. DOH!

9. I needed to move an icon from my iPad into a folder and ended up giving it to Linus to close off once I finally figured out how to move it – UrbanMummy showed me how to move them but not how to turn it off.  He knew without hesitation.

8. I needed to get through a level of Plants Vs. Zombies but couldn’t figure out how, so I gave it to Linus and Stewie and they had it done in 2 games. That used to be me…

7. I need to make more guy’s nights out to talk about real world topics not having to do with, or involving diapers, trips, programs or any more to deal with a vasectomy.

6. I have read over 1000 children’s books in the past year, and precisely 1 pleasure book for my interest and it was a Dan Brown book which I polished off in just under 2 weeks.

5. Before my ball-hockey game on Monday night, instead of my normal pre-game ritual of pasta, Advil, tums/rolaids, stretching and very loud aggressive rock to get my mind focussed, I took tips from Linus (who hates hockey and has seen me play twice) and his tips WORKED!   In honour of Ron Simmons who is going into the WWE Hall of Fame, I say this; “DAMN”.

4. See the previous discussion about my kids clothing “style” and wonder why it is that I ask them if my clothes match in the morning before I leave for the office.  That’s like me asking Urban Mummy who tells me I look fine when the room is pitch black and she cannot see me, and is the first to comment when I arrive home at the ned of the day with; “You wore THAT to work today?!?”

3.  As Daddy carpool, I take my kids to karate, swimming, parties, Beavers and any other kid only or family outing (like trips to sleepyville) and I am unable to yell or swear at other cars, bikes or people.  I also am banned from singing in the car or listening to my music. 

2.  I spend so much time in the children’s rooms at night – bedtime routine is happily my task – that my daughter has said to me repeatedly, “You have no bed.  Stewie in Stewie’s bed, Linus in Linus’ bed, Mummy in mummy’s bed and Berry in Berry’s big girl bed.  you have no bed.”  No matter how many times I have tried to convince her than mummy and daddy sleep in the same bed she won’t buy it because she never sees me there.  She’s 2.  Yet, I try to convince her over and over again.  Why is that?  It’s a giant waste of time with a 7-year-old, let alone a 2-year-old.

1.  I spend my days waking up at 6am when the kids get up.  I wipe butts, I smell hands, I smell stinky breath, I deal in diapers (thankfully no more poo).  I cook on demand, entertain on demand, feed on demand.  I’m their bitch.  I keep the TV low at night when watching sports.  I have not watched a movie which has suggestive content, the potential for nudity or swearing or inappropriate TV in 7 years.  What’s up with that?

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My 775th post – for all readers for all seasons.

Welcome to my 775th post.  If you’re a blogger you will know this is a lot of writing, covering 8 long years.  If you are not a blogger, trust me, it’s a lot of writing.

The thing is, I’ve been getting a lot of traffic in the last couple years, and some very kind accolades here and there, but both of them are from all over the place, as are most of my posts. 

So for my 775th post, I want to make sure I cover off as many visitors as possible by touching on some of my most popular topics;

If you’ve come to read about politics, I can confirm that those on the left in (downtown) Toronto are still way off base in thinking that this financial crisis was ”created” by Mayor Ford so that he could solve it to look good.  False.  Look at Greece.  Run by socialists and on the verge of bankruptcy.  Look at the TTC.  In effort to cut costs, the Mayor and the TTC chair Karen Stintz cut some routes and there was backlash, so the public spoke that we needed those routes and a $0.10 fare increase was added instead and the public… Back in an uproar.  You cannot have it both way, folks.  I’d love to help the poor, keep all social programs, have amazing snow removal, etc., but someone has to pay for this and I can tell you I’m already taxed up to the top of my head.  If you think you’re not paying enough taxes, then you can pay more and help those in need.  I’m maxed out, thank you.  If I don’t have enough disposable income, then I cannot afford to go out, buy things, eat out, and help re-distribute my income to those in need.  It’s the way the world works… Get over it.

If you’re here to read about coffee, then let me tell you about this great coffee I tried recently at a place called Neighbours.  It came highly recommended from one of my awesome readers and I was really surprised how nice it was.  Not too bold, not too weak, and the cool thing about the location I went to was that they have flavoured coffee mate and that removed the need to have flavoured coffee.  I didn’t put any in for my first cup and I probably won’t for my next one, but it was very nice!

If you’re here to read about parenting, then you’ll be pleased to know that I am the “Daddy 101″ blogger for Pink and Blue Baby.com. Cool, eh?  I find this site really useful, and I have a ton of great stories and baby / toddler / kid tips from almost 7 years of being a daddy and 3 beautiful children.  For example, just Wednesday was my son (Linus’) 7th birthday party and we had a Lego party.  It was great.  The Lego ninja had the kids sitting in 4 teams of 4 and they raced to build a Lego tower, then the built a Lego candy house.  The hour flew by.  After the hour the kids ate Lego candy blocks (thank you Bulk Barn) and Lego cupcakes that I made and my wife decorated so beautifully.  Pizza, grapes, whole wheat pretzels and air popped popcorn round it all out.  It was totally worth it.

For 5-year-old Stewie, we had The Magic and Comedy of IncrediBrent, Toronto’s birthday musician and Brent was amazing.  The kids loved him, the parents loved him and he interacted with the kids so well.  He was a pleasure to deal with and have in our home and I would totally have him back for any future kids parties.  His web-site is www.incredibrent.com.

For Berry’s 2nd birthday party – you saw the Hello Kitty cupcakes in a previous post – we had Applefun Puppetry, www.applefun.ca, and Mike was also spectacular.  He had all the 2-year-old’s participating and his show was so clever and funny that he had me in stitches.  I’ve seen him a couple of times before but that did not stop me from being completely engaged.  Worth the price of admission.

If you’re here to hear my views about food then I can recommend Java Joe’s for catering because they have added some new sandwiches and they are killer.  Spicy chicken and their steak and hot peppers goes great with their chicken Parmigiano and eggplant Parmigiano.  The coffee is great – some organic too – and they have these wickedly heavy brownies and skor brownies.  Find the location at Leslie and West Beaver Creek, call and speak to Randy.  Tell him the Urban Daddy sent you.  He’ll like that!

So I’m not sure what else to cover at this point in time, except to say thank you to all of you who take the time to comment and who tell me you’ve been following along with my posts at home.  It means a lot to mean and it always makes me wonder what’s so interesting that keeps people coming back.  But I like to tell stories, I’m proud of my family, and I like to write, so there.  I’m going to do it if 200 people come to read or 20 million (LOL).

Feel free to subscribe to my feed, or like me on Facebook.  If you are reading this through my actual blog, then go on the right side, check out some of the amazing writers on my blogroll, and further down you will see the link to my Facebook page and some other sites that have featured me.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy New Year to all of you from all of us!

Warren aka the urban daddy.

@urbandaddyblog