Wordless Wednesday

My iPad has a timer we use for the children’s math drills. I named it “Math Drill” because that is what it was for. Then I opened it…

Headache Network of Canada: Free event in Toronto. May 1st, 2013.

As a former migraine sufferer I can relate to headaches.  With so much uncertainty around the causes of migraines, so is there uncertainty around why they stop.  I suffered from migraine headaches – 2 to 3 a week – from the age of 13 until I was 19-years-old and had my wisdom teeth taken out.  I have not had a single migraine since.  It could be a coincidence or maybe there was a link, but I can recall the pain and agony as if it were yesterday.

The Headache Network of Canada is running an event in Toronto on Wednesday May 1st, at SilverCity Yorkdale at 5:30 p.m. At this event, guests will:

• Learn more about chronic migraine and treatment options from specialists, including Dr. Gary Shapero, one of Canada’s leading headache and pain specialists, and Valerie South, Executive Director of Headache Network Canada
• Enjoy a movie presentation of The Big Wedding starring Robert DeNiro, Dianne Keaton, and Robin Williams. This will be presented in a Chronic Migraine friendly environment where the brightness and volume levels have been adjusted so guests can enjoy a night out with peace of mind

Guests who come early can mingle and get a Glam Photo taken by an expert stylist and fashion photographer.

The event is free and there are still seats available, but you have to RSVP first, and the RSVP link is located here: http://chronicmigrainefreezone.eventbrite.com

For more information on chronic migraine visit: http://mychronicmigraine.ca

Chronic Migraines are a debilitating disorder that affects more than 370,000 Canadians.  People who suffer from Chronic Migraine often dissociate from the world around them and have a tough time finding help.

Ford vs. Thomson: An International Woman’s Day Nightmare. 2 Weeks Later.

Mayoral candidates from 2010. From left to right: (front row) Rob Ford, Rocco Achampong, Sarah Thomson, John Pantalone, George Mammoliti, (back row) Keith Cole, Rocco Rossi, George Smitherman. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

International Woman’s Day (previous called International Working Woman’s Day, originating in 1909) was March 8th this year and the focus of the day ranged from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to celebrations for women’s economic, political and social achievements.  This day began as a Socialist political event, and in some countries it has morphed into a day for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother’s Day and Valentine’s Day, while in many countries, the political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

In Toronto, a very odd event came to light on this day, which may or may not have occurred, the previous night at an event for CJPAC.

Sarah Thomson, the editor of the Woman’s Post and who ran for the mayor’s office in 2010, claimed on both social media and in several interviews that Mayor Rob Ford grabbed her buttocks (“Grabbed my ass” were her exact words on the radio) while taking a photo with Ford at the event.  Ms. Thomson also said in an interview that Ford suggested to her that evening that she should have been in Florida with him because his wife was not there.

Ms. Thomson also posted a very unflattering picture of the Mayor on her Facebook page –  his eyes were closed and there was either a stain on his shirt or he was sweating a lot.

In a radio interview, she continued to pile on the accusations by suggesting that Ford was high on cocaine that night.  Apparently she Googled cocaine use and concluded that “…it’s, you know, sweaty, talking quickly, out of it, arrogant. Like all these things were on there.”

While Thomson has continued to stand by her allegations, she has also thrown her own allegation into doubt because she said, “I looked up the symptoms and it looked like it was cocaine use, it could have been anything like that, I’m not sure what it is. I’ve also read that diabetes could have some odd effects. I’m not sure what was wrong with him, but there was definitely something wrong with him that night.”  Oops.  Cocaine, diabetes… Well, he was “erratic” and “arrogant” that night so it might have been one of those.

When Thomson was asked if she’d ever taken cocaine herself, she said she didn’t know, as she spent time on the street in her youth.

But it gets even more odd from here…

Two councillors from Richmond Hill, who were at the event, were part of a crowd when Thomson allegedly was devising a plot to get a photo of the mayor’s hand on her assistant’s rear end.  She planned on using this ”evidence” to corroborate her story and she told the group it would be put to good use when she ran for Mayor again in 2014.

Thomson has ruled out pressing sexual assault charges against Ford; “It’s a big waste of time to go through the legal procedures,” Thomson said. “Now, I looked at it and I realized I had no proof.”

Thomson put herself at risk of being sued by making the public allegations against Ford.

The mayor had responded to her accusations on Friday in a written statement calling them “absolutely, completely false.”

Thomson responded to the mayor’s comments by saying that HE was trying to discredit HER.  “Decades ago powerful men who sexually assaulted women would call them ‘hysterical,’ or ‘crazy’ to debase their credibility,” Thomson said. “It pushed many assaulted women into silence…. He will not push me into silence and I hope his accusations do not re-ignite the old fears that once silenced women.”

Thomson went on to say, “I did not make these accusations lightly.”  And as for her hopes of one day being Mayor, she said the approach she took may not have been the best one; “I admit I did not handle the press perfectly.”

The problem here is not about he said vs she said, or is drawn along political lines.  It’s about a very serious allegation, made on a very important day and what the implications are if one of these parties is not telling the truth.  Since Ms. Thomson has in fact announced in public that she was sexually ‘assaulted’ by the Mayor of Toronto (in front of dozens of people no less) then I would think the police are duty-bound to investigate it to see if there are sufficient grounds for charges against the Mayor.

If it turns out however that this was just a politically motivated, vexatious, stunt by the publisher of a women’s-only magazine made purposely on the eve of International Women’s Day then of course SHE should be criminally charged with public mischief and making false accusations.

Criminal sexual assault is a very serious crime. Making public, false, allegations about it are equally so.

At the end of the day, this is very sad because either Sarah Thomson was assaulted by Rob Ford on the eve of International Woman’s Day, or Sarah Thomson was playing the victim and trying to set up the Mayor in order to further ruin his reputation and ultimately for her political gain.

Given the recent troubles Ford has had publicly under the attack of the left, a situation like this certainly causes people to question Ford’s ability to lead and make many people wonder if he is promoting a good image of Toronto for the rest of the world to see.  In light of the recent information revealed by Georgio Mammoliti we know the left have been targeting the reputations of right-wing politicians.

One of these two people made a horrible decision on the eve of International Woman’s Day.

Shame on him if it’s true and shame on her if it’s not.

Where was this when I was changing diapers: Dove Men + Care Ultimate Changetable

Parents, as we grow older, we see products and services for our children and wonder how cool it would have been to have had that when we were kids.  I’m not the only one who does this, right?  Massive bouncy castles, iPads, gas-controlled mini-cars, and SO much more.

So yesterday, when I saw a clever twist on an established product, I was blown away.  I saw a change table which not just contained all that a father would need to change a diaper – diapers, wipes, etc., but also with a TV.  Sweet.

I can remember having to change diapers in stores, or malls, or restaurants only to find out that the change table was in the woman’s bathroom.  Then came the change table in the family / handicapped bathrooms, and finally change tables in men’s bathrooms.  We do change diapers too!!!

But a change table at a sporting events with a TV.  Brilliant!  As Dads, we have to make sure our children are clean and we gladly miss several minutes of live action to make sure we look after our kids, but not having to miss any of the action is a luxury and a gift to father’s everywhere.

I saw the Dove Men + Care Ultimate Gameday Change Table – billed as a “souped-up baby change table” at the Toronto Raptors / Miami Heat basketball game at the Air Canada Centre.

The official press release: 

Toronto, ON (March 18, 2012)  – Dove Men+Care unveiled an interactive change table to Toronto sports-fan dads at the Air Canada Centre, yesterday. The table was designed to be a light-hearted way to call attention to the brand’s campaign to support real men and their changing role in today’s society.

The Dove Men+Care Ultimate Gameday Change Table’s was given a ‘field-test’ during one of the hottest ticket basketball games of the season. The souped-up change table provides all the tools necessary to keep dads and their babies happy during unplanned intermissions, including:

• A built-in television so dad didn’t miss any game action
• An emergency Lullaby button that played soothing music
• An interactive timer and scoreboard to determine the best diaper-changer in the game

According to a recent study, men have tripled their involvement in childcare over the last four decades. That’s why Dove Men+Care has taken steps to change societal norms by tailoring a public change table temporarily to suit the needs of men and make it more enjoyable too. The Ultimate Gameday Change Table is designed to help men maintain at least one aspect of their daily life so they can maintain everything else and never miss a moment.

About Dove® and Dove Men+Care

Thanks to Dove Men+Care all men can literally be comfortable in their own skin. Built on Unilever’s success in the men’s deodorant, personal wash and hair categories, and the Dove brand’s heritage in outstanding skincare, Dove Men+Care products are specifically designed to provide men with both the results and the care they need. The Dove product lineup, manufactured by Unilever, includes beauty bars, body washes, face care, anti-perspirant/deodorants, body mists, hair care and styling aids. Dove is available nationwide in food, drug and mass outlet stores.

I actually began using Dove Men + Care products recently when my current deodorant / anti-perspirant started giving me a rash.  It’s safe on sensitive skin, smells great and the scent is not overpowering at all.  It also helps that their products are available everywhere.

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[i] Bianchi, S.M. (2011). “Family Change and Time Allocation in American Families”. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 638:21-44. The author analyzes how recent changes have altered American family life and have produced new challenges for working caregivers. Unpaid and paid work hours are averaged over all couples with children under age 18 and over the 2003–2008 American Time Use Survey data collections.

You can and should follow Dove on Twitter @madeformen.

Here are some pictures of the table.  The music note is so you can add a lullaby if your baby is cranky.  There is a pile of diapers already stocked in the table (on the right).  The TV screen you can see is in the middle and the hand on the top right let’s you compete with other Dads to see who can complete the diaper change the quickest.  The ranking is on the left of the TV screen.

It’s smart, it’s cool, and it’s fun!

Toronto City Council’s Secret Left-Wing Agenda Revealed!

Giorgio Mammoliti speaks to reporters (Photo credit: hyfen)

When Toronto City Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti alleged he, Mayor Rob Ford and other “right-wing” councillors at Toronto City Hall have been victims of a “left-wing conspiracy”, everybody laughed.  When Mammoliti said that a preliminary investigation he has conducted has pointed to a group of people “out to do some damage, personal damage” to the right-wing councillors on City Council, people again laughed and thought Mammoliti was going crazy.

A former member of Mayor Rob Ford’s executive committee, Mammoliti claimed that he has been followed by private citizens here in Toronto and that his home and office phones have been tapped.  He raised the question about just how badly do the left-wing councillors really want him, Ford and the other right-of-centre councillors out of office, replaced with the free-spending, union-loving, tax-the-rich, left-leaning council which almost brought Toronto into bankruptcy.  (Insert Olivia Chow here).

Mammoliti revealed that an investigation has pointed to a number of key suspects; city councillors, private citizens, lawyers in this city, who have united together to ruin the reputation of the right-wing candidates, force the public to sour on them and run them right out of office and we need to look no closer than the legal actions brought against Mayor Rob Ford by a private citizen – a very pro-NDP citizen, no less – which was handled pro-bono by another pro-left-wing lawyer in Toronto, Clayton Ruby.  This legal action resulted in the temporary removal of the Mayor from office and tarnished his reputation.  The citizen who was the front-man of this lawsuit and his lawyer were eagerly expecting the Mayor to cover the court costs, around $150,000.00, however, upon winning the appeal Ford had gone to the court to ask his costs be covered by this duo.  They in turn have asked Ford to cover the costs by taking the money from the taxpayers of Toronto, stating the individual who brought the case against Ford does not have those kinds of funds.

Oops.

We’re also waiting to see if lawyer Clayton Ruby is going to follow through on his pledge to waste more taxpayers money and take the appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada.  This case is that important but it’s not going to challenge the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, is it??

So what do you make of this conspiracy?

Following this failed attempt to remove Ford from office, came an audit of his 2010 election funding in which Ford over-spent by $40,000.00.  Yes, he kept very detailed books and records and the auditor was impressed by that, and yes there was no further action against him, but I’m sure every single Councillor would be in contravention of the Elections Act if scrutinized by audit.  Where are the other audits of team lefty?  Oh, yeah.  Not in Toronto.

Did you know Mammoliti is also up against the same audit?

What about the audit of George Smitherman when he ran for Mayor?  He promised to reveal who donated to him campaign but never did.  Something to hide, maybe?

So let’s move on to the conspiracy…

When Mayor Ford announced (for probably the 50th time) that he was seeking right-leaning (fiscally Conservative) citizens to run in the next election, in order to get better traction on some of his ideas to reel in spending, cut costs and reduce duplication of services, the cries from the left were deafening.  I think the most critical of them all, Adam Vaughan, wanted to haul Ford before some panel or committee or something, yet again, to be slapped on the wrist.  Apparently it’s in bad taste to say it, but it’s okay to skulk around with your left-wing colleagues to find ways to overthrow the Mayor.

Mammoliti mentioned specific knowledge of secret meetings of left-wing councillors and their “inner circle” with their plans to run the “righties” out of City Hall and that… Well, that is okay.

So as the crack researcher that I pretend to be, I have uncovered their plans and compiled a list of the top thirteen items on the secret agenda of these left-wing councillors.

13. Hire unionized workers at $85.00/hour to remove all the doors at City Hall which open to the right and re-hang them so they open on the left.

12. Re-name any streets in the Greater Toronto Area which bear the name “Ford” to “Fraud”.

11. Create their own newspaper aimed at reporting items supported by the left and trashing any thoughts or suggestions by the right. Oops, that one was done already in triplicate; Toronto Star, NOW magazine and the Grid.

10.  Move to teach children left-wing socialist views at schools and institutions of higher-learning.  Oops.  That already happens too…

9.   Remove the term “Right of Way” from the Highway Traffic Act and replace it with “Wrong Way”.

8.   Pressure Ford Canada to rename its Canadian operations and to give its unionized workforce the credit they deserve, so all cars coming from their factories will cost $350,000.00 each, but a wealth tax on the rich will bring the price down to $45,000.00.

7.   Bringing in a fat tax aimed to penalize fat people, especially ones who take office and do not lose weight like David Miller did.

6.   Ban football in Toronto.

5.   After sending that CBC “comic” Marg whatever her name is to harass Ford on his driveway, the lefties are lining up more characters to disrupt Ford’s personal life including; Doink the Clown, David Suziki, ummm, other famous left-wing Canadiens like Brandon Prust, Max Pacioretty and Travis Moen, and the gravy train and a few others…  If they’re smart, however, they will stay out of Ford’s backyard.

4.    Toronto will implement a new wealth tax on all citizens making more than $65,000.00 a year (politicians exempted) and the new tax will be call the “Open your Wallet” tax whereby those rich bastards – damn them for getting educated and working hard to earn money and pay taxes – will pay to ensure that Toronto’s lowest class are able to move into Forest Hill or the Bridle Path like everyone else.

3.   Shows like AM640, SunTV and the like will come with disclaimers warning the risks associated with their dangerous, fiscally conservative views.

2.   Left-wing media will post unflattering pictures of Ford everywhere, including putting his head on top of a naked body in order to… Well, I don’t know why they did that actually…

1.   The number one thing that the secret left-wing group will do is to continue to pester and harass all the right-wing candidates in Toronto, in Ontario and in Canada and turn all the moderates into fiscally Conservatives resulting in right-wing political leaders at all three levels of government for a long time.  This secret operative will forever be known as Operation backfire.

In addition, there will be many new jokes as a result of this secret plan, such as; “How many socialist, left-wing people does it to take down Mayor Rob Ford?”  Answer:  We’re not sure yet.

Related articles

• Did Toronto Star reporter Royson James just call me a Simpleton?!? (urbandaddy.wordpress.com)
• Councillor calls for investigation into Rob Ford’s football charity, again (macleans.ca)
• Councillor Mammoliti probing secret plot (thestar.com)

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…

Did Toronto Star reporter Royson James just call me a Simpleton?!?

Whenever I see articles that come from the Toronto Star which relate to Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, I cannot resist the temptation to read through them – not to see what the Star has to say, but more to see how the Star spins it to show the Mayor in a negative light.  Clearly still upset that Ford will not speak with them because of their pro-George Smitherman, anti-Rob Ford stance in which they tried to promote Smitherman for teh top post in the city even though the Pronvicial Ministry he oversaw wasted a BILLION dollars of taxpayer’s money.  Since that time, The Star just keeps finding ways to alienate readers through their opinions on Toronto City Council and the Mayor.

But, the article that came out on February 14th was a classic, even for the Star!

In this article (and I noticed there was nowhere to leave comments), author Royson James takes three pot shots.  One at Mayor Ford, one at voters in the City of Toronto and one at those of us who are fiscally conservative.  I could not believe my eyes.  I actually reread the article 3 times.

The Title of this article is; “Ford’s ‘mandate’ not what it appears – Most voters neither expect nor want Rob Ford’s campaign pledges to be fully fulfilled.”

How could I not read on…

Shot number one comes in the first paragraph, here; “Torontonians left no doubt that they wanted Rob Ford as their mayor when 383,501 of them — 47 per cent of those who voted — chose him to lead the city in 2010.”  47%, eh?  So 53% didn’t want Ford is what I am reading here and why that is important to point out, I don’t know other than to make the point that there was not a clear mandate from the citizens in Toronto to have Ford there, or to point out to voters that if 53% vote for a certain candidate in the next election, Ford will not be re-elected.  Either way, not so important in this article but worth noting.

Shot number two comes in this sentence; “Except for a few simpletons and wilfully blind acolytes who consider grants to cultural and community groups a waste of tax dollars, few drank the Kool-Aid. Most citizens liked the rhetoric. Few expected he could carry out his threats. City council wouldn’t allow it.”

I’m sure Royson didn’t mean to imply that by “drinking the Kool-Aid” that people were just following a leader blindly to death as referenced in the Urban Dictionary; A reference to the 1978 cult mass-suicide in Jonestown, Guyana.  Jim Jones, the leader of the group, convinced his followers to move to Jonestown and then late in the year ordered his flock to commit suicide by drinking grape-flavoured Kool-Aid laced with potassium cyanide.  In what is now commonly called “the Jonestown Massacre”, 913 of the 1100 Jonestown residents drank the Kool-Aid and died.  One lasting legacy of the Jonestown tragedy is the saying, “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid.”  This has come to mean, “Don’t trust any group you find to be a little on the kooky side.” or “Whatever they tell you, don’t believe it too strongly”.

Even more interesting is the use of the term “Simpleton”, because only a “simpleton” would consider grants to cultural and community groups a waste of tax dollars – well, I guess we need to re-define simpleton for Mr. James, because this simpleton (armed with a MBA) - and probably many of the 47% who voted for a stop to the “Gravy-train” have plenty of issues dismissing that any funding – even to community groups and cultural organizations –  is not being duplicated through another part of government or to assume that 100% of any funding – no matter to whom and for what - is used for what it was requested for, or that these organization need to be funded by the taxpayers of Toronto at all.

To wave a hand and insult any fiscally conservative person in the Greater Toronto Area is not only insulting but a little short-sighted unless Mr. James knows for a fact where each dollar of grant money goes and that each and every cent is being used according to plan.  Or maybe Mr. James prefers that those in the city who earn the most money simply keep their wallets open for the local government to use as their bank account whenever they need money or want to sue someone to prove a point.  This narrow-minded left-wing attitude in the City has to be stopped.  If the City spent more time performing checks and balances on where the money goes when it leaves City Hall and less time looking to see how it comes in (ahem: $3500 donation to a football team), our taxes would not be so high, our streets and infrastructure would not be crumbling and City Council might work better.

I mean when you write this; “For one, the mayor’s promises of cuts to government spending rested on the shaky ground of no service cuts. Ford has cut some services, so the foundation of the promise and mandate is fractured” and don’t or cannot name the service cuts (if there were any at all), then you are eluding to something which may not be there, maybe so the “simpletons” who read your articles will think Ford is a fraud.

So no matter how much the Toronto Star tries to justify the agenda of the left, or promote their own agenda at City Hall, they have to realize that by making comments like this, “If citizens expect the mayor to do the best he can to achieve his campaign promises — not necessarily achieve them 100 per cent — then the same citizens expect city councillors to save the mayor from doing outrageous things.  Apparently, at city hall, the mayor’s mandate is not sacrosanct; it’s as flexible as the mayor’s ability to convince and win over city council with sound arguments and compromise.”  When in actual fact, citizens want the councillors to not “save” Ford, but “Support” Ford.  The Mayor will not be able to work with Council not because he’s a brute, or a bully, but because the majority of Councillors on Council have fundamental differences in opinion as to how they personally feel about the role of government and are unable (or unwilling) to cast that aside and work on a truly non-partisan council.

Did you know, Mr. James that before the election, I reached out to my City Councillor, Joe Mihevc and asked him on the phone and then again in an email if he would support Rob Ford as Mayor of Toronto, if Ford was elected, because if he said yes, he would get my vote as councillor.  If Mr. Mihevc said no, then my vote would be directed elsewhere.  Mr. Mihevc was adamant that he would support Ford as Mayor and work with whomever was chosen to represent us, his constituents, blah, blah, blah.  Then the moment Ford was elected, there is Mr. Mihevc blathering about what a poor choice it was and how he would need to keep Ford in check and now 2-years later, each newsletter.

Here was Mihevc even before the election; “it is absolutely imperative that I/we do everything possible to stop Rob Ford from becoming mayor. This is a powerful driver for me. Rob Ford and his associates would destroy so much that we value about our city – its diversity, animated neighbourhoods, care for the newcomers and the poor, our quality of life. Very simply, and without getting too personal, I have watched him for the last 10 years as a colleague on Council, and Rob does not have the skill set required to lead a complex city hall and its agencies. Simple one-liners, an angry persona, a divisive disposition is not leadership and will only hurt Toronto.  Under Rob Ford, City Council will not function, our city agencies will be in disarray, economic development will be hurt and our city will suffer in many ways.”

Short of predicting that a Ford win would topple the CN Tower, maybe Mihevc was worried that a right-wing council would question how a $42-million dollar St.Clair traffic right-of-way turns into $142 million dollar driving disaster.  Say what you will about St. Clair – pro or con – but to drive it is a fiasco and with parking already at a premium they’ve done a great job to ensure that those outside the strip find other streets to shop along because of the headaches involved in waiting in long-lines or making left-turns.  Expecting residents to use public transit because you think they should is not the mandate of Council, and if they really cared about moving people quickly in cars, on foot, through transit and on bikes, they would build subways already, open up the road and add dedicated bike lanes and enforce rules for cyclists.

I’ve called him on it and will continue to call him on it because my ward does not deserve to be represented by someone who will tell you one thing to get elected, then another once in power.  All along, Ford said what he was going to do, and every day in office, the left find ways to hold up council, make Ford look bad and slow down the proceedings at City Hall.  Hello… Bag tax?!?

I digress.

So before the Star calls out the citizens of Toronto for their support of Ford keep in mind that the 47% who voted for Ford want AND expect him to cut waste in government, and reduce the red tape, and where red tape should not exist, make that go away too.  If City Council does not want to get in line and follow – if they want to go more than 3-times over budget and try to explain it away on additional hidden repairs – then that tells me that they either have no idea how to plan through a project from start to finish or that they just don’t give a damn about taxpayers money and they will continue to spend, then raise taxes and blame it away on Ford’s inability to run council, or on his weight, either one.

I’m sorry, Mr. James, but I cannot and will not support a councillor, or council, who disrespects and takes for granted my tax dollars, any longer.  I trust you understand this simpleton and understand that for all the negatives that come with Mayor Ford, the positives far outweigh them (pun intended).

P.S. I have actually used big words like ”Sacrosanct” before (Regarded as too important or valuable to be interfered with.  Holy.)

Shucks.

I’m such a simpleton.

Related articles

• James: Toronto politics ramp up some more as Smitherman and Thomson reappear (thestar.com)

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)

The Harlem Globetrotters Are Coming to Toronto! February 9th and 10th, 2013. Get Your Discount Code Here;

Harlem Globetrotters (TV series) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

WOW, how exciting.  The legendary Harlem Globetrotters are coming to Toronto on February 9th at 7pm and February 10th at 2pm to play games at the Rogers Centre.  If you know who the GlobeTrotters are, then you are going to want to read through this article and see the special discount code I posted at the bottom of the screen.  If you are not sure who the Harlem Globetrotters are, then read on.

The Harlem Globetrotters are an exhibition basketball team that combines athleticism, incredible skill and a lot of comedy.  It’s basketball theatre which will leave you with your mouth wide open in awe.  The Globetrotters’ act feature incredible coordination and skillful handling of one or more basketballs, such as passing or juggling balls between players, balancing or spinning balls on their fingertips, and making unusual, difficult shots.

Over the years they have played more than 20,000 exhibition games in 120 countries.

The team has their own signature song, which is a whistled version of Brother Bones‘s ”Sweet Georgia Brown“.

Among the players who have been Globetrotters are NBA greats Wilt “The Stilt” Chamberlain, Connie “The Hawk” Hawkins, Nat “Sweetwater” Clifton, as well as Marques Haynes, Meadowlark Lemon, Jerome James, Reece “Goose” Tatum and Hubert “Geese” Ausbie. Another popular team member in the 1970s and 1980s was Fred “Curly” Neal who was the best dribbler of that era of the team’s history and was immediately recognizable due to his shaven head. Baseball Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Ferguson Jenkins also played for the team at one time or another. In 1985, the Globetrotters signed their first female player, Olympic gold medalist Lynette Woodard, and their second, Joyce Walker, just three weeks later.  In 1995, Orlando Antigua became the first Hispanic and the first non-black on the Globetrotters’ roster since Bob Karstens played with the squad in 1942.

Another cool thing about the Globetrotters is that they rarely to never lost.

Harlem Globetrotters, are playing with a spectator during a game (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After a loss to the Washington Generals in 1962, the Harlem Globetrotters lost only two more games in the next 38 years (12,596 games).  Usually they played a “stooge” team owned by “Red Klotz”, which also appeared as the Boston Shamrocks, New Jersey Reds, Baltimore Rockets, or Atlantic City Seagulls.

On January 5, 1971 the Globetrotters lost to the New Jersey Reds, 100–99 in overtime; that ended a 2,495-game winning streak (which would mean that the Globetrotters were playing 277 games per year up until that date).

In addition to their hundreds of exhibition games, the Globetrotters returned to competitive basketball in 1993 under the new ownership of former player Mannie Jackson.  On September 12, 1995, they lost 91–85 to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar‘s All Star Team in Vienna, Austria ending an alleged run of 8,829 straight victories going back to 1971. The 48-year-old Abdul-Jabbar scored 34 points. The 8,829 games in twenty-four years would mean the Globetrotters were playing nearly 368 games per year, or more than one game a day some days, for twenty-four years. This is because multiple team line-ups tour as The Globetrotters to allow for a greater number of exhibitions.  Amazing!

The Globetrotters won the other 10 games during that European tour.

Five years later, following another 1,270 wins, they lost 72–68 to Michigan State University, the reigning men’s collegiate champions, on November 13, 2000.

On February 27, 2006, the Globetrotters extended their overall record to exactly 22,000 wins. Their most recent loss came on March 31, 2006, when they went down 87–83 to the NABC College All-Stars to bring their loss tally to just 345, a losing percentage of 1.5%.

The Harlem Globetrotters were also quite popular on television.  In 1979 Hanna-Barbera created an animated TV Series called The Super Globetrotters, in which the players undercover superheroes who would transform from their regular forms by entering magic portable lockers carried in “Sweet Lou” Dunbar’s afro, or in a basketball-shaped medallion. Although the Super Globetrotters would first attempt to take on the villain with standard comical heroics, things would almost always be settled with a basketball game, of course.

My second favourite Globetrotters show was when they appeared on Gilligan’s Island in 1981 and faced a bunch of robots in a basketball game.  The Globetrotters decide to play with standard moves in the first half, which the robots are able to counter, until Gilligan unwittingly comments that they have not done any fancy tricks, which make the Professor advise the team to use their comedic style of play to win, which hopelessly confuses the machines. However, a couple of Globetrotters suffer injuries, and the team needs the help of Gilligan and Skipper to substitute.

They also appeared on The Love Boat‘s “Hoopla” episode where The Globetrotters were on a cruise and challenged the crew to a game in the dining room and they appeared on an episode of The Simpsons, called ”Homer the Clown” where Krusty the Clown used all the money he made franchising his name to bet against the Harlem Globetrotters in their game against the Washington Generals stating that he “thought the Generals were due!”.

Coming to Toronto!  Get a discount this way:

February 9th: http://www.harlemglobetrotters.com/event/harlem-globetrotters-rogers-centre-1

February 10th: http://www.harlemglobetrotters.com/event/harlem-globetrotters-rogers-centre-2

The discount code is “TOGETHER” and through it you will save $7.00 on each ticket purchased (available for select ticket levels).

Active for Life: Great Resource AND Cool Steve Nash Contest. Details Inside

Steve Nash(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I recently came across a cool contest run by an organization called Active For Life.  Active for Life happens to be a leading promoter of children’s physical literacy to help parents raise active and healthy kids and they are kick-starting their new year to get families thinking about getting active with an exciting contest for a chance to win a Luyou shoe autographed by Steve Nash, himself a Dad and an advocate for physical literacy, and $200 SportChek gift certificate.

This contest is currently running and it’s worth heading over to the site to see some great current articles such as;

Tips to manage your kids handheld media time, which can be found here;

or “Soccer Skills, not Trophies, leads to success” which can be found here.

As a Dad blogger, I hadn’t really heard of physical literacy before seeing this, but I’ve learned an incredible amount over the last few months and this site is great for offering suggestions to keep children active and healthy.

Active for Life is the place where parents go to learn about how to make a difference in the health and happiness of their children. Research shows there’s a right way and a right time to develop the fundamental movement and sport skills that benefit kids for their entire lives. Learning these basic movement and sports skills is known as becoming physical literate.

Being physically literate is the foundation for being successful in sport and in life. Physical literacy gives active kids the best chance at becoming top-level athletes who may someday compete in high-performance sport. It also results in them leading an active life. And as the word “literacy” implies, just like reading, writing and arithmetic, movement skills need to be taught.

The website offers expert advice, inspirational tips and activity ideas which can help us, as parents, make sure our children get their recommended daily amount of physical activity and we all know that active kids become active adults.

Physical literacy, is about giving our kids the physical foundational skills to enable them to stay active for life – able to participate in a range of physical activities.  What I like about this in particular is the down-to-earth information and articles that provide practical direction in how to incorporate physical literacy into family life and some of the do’s and don’ts around it to help us get it right.  Their website is a magazine format that provides a ton of information and a very cool skills-builder tool which helps when we want to look at what skills to work on with kids at a given age.

You can find out more and enter the contest here.

It’s a great cause, and a very cool contest.  Active for Life can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.