An urban daddy public service announcement for Super Bowl Sunday

As most of you know, Super Bowl Sunday is this Sunday and no matter where in the world you are, there is a good chance that you, or someone you know will be having a Super Bowl party.

In the past few weeks a report came out in Canada stating that at sporting events there are a lot of fans who leave stadiums and arenas intoxicated, and these same people hop into their cars and drive on our roads, streets and highways.

This problem not only comes to light at live events, but also this time of year at Super Bowl time. I mean imagine it… The big game on a large TV, your buddies around, chili, beer, chips…

In order to bring awareness to people, the folks at SYLVANIA flipped me some statistics to help me with this post.

Since I drive to and from the office each day, I really have no patience for distracted, agressive or impared driving.  Being behind the wheel of a vehicle is a privelage, not a right, and some people feel they can break the rules and everything will be fine.

So please check out these figures; 

The New England Journal of Medicine reported a relative 41% increase in the number of casualties over the course of 27 Super Bowl Sundays compared with other Sundays and comparing the time periods before and during the game. That number exceeds the relative increase in casualties on New Year’s Eve over the last two decades. 

The increase in accidents amounted to:

• 1,300 more car crashes
• 600 more injuries
• Seven more deaths nationwide  

 

Because you are more likely to attend a party in your area – around children – I have some Super Bowl Driving Safety tips:

1. It seems obvious, but don’t drink and drive. It may be shocking, but during Super Bowl Sunday, 48% of all U.S. traffic fatalities are alcohol-related according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. That is almost half of all accidents.  Think about those driving drunk who do not kill someone but are on the road… Please have a designated driver.

2. Be visible – Higher performing lighting provides whiter and brighter lights, which allows drivers to see obstacles and hazards sooner—and as importantly, be seen.

According to SYLVANIA, a leader in automotive lighting, a car going 65 MPH is traveling 95 feet per second.  A premium headlight may translate into an additional 100 feet or more of visibility and an additional second of reaction time. This could make the difference between safely avoiding a hazard or having an accident.   Pedestrians also need to be smart and be seen.  Give these headlights a fighting chance. 

Common sense must also come in to play. If you are wearing black do not cross in the middle of the road, or wear an ipod while walking.  Buy some light coloured, or reflective clothes, and be aware at all times.

3. Eliminate distractions like loud radios, cell phone calls and texting.  Researchers at Virginia Tech found drivers who were involved in a crash while using their cell phones had typically been looking at the devices for five seconds. That’s enough time for a vehicle to travel 29 car lengths while traveling at 70 MPH.

So be smart.  For your safety, and the safety of others on the road and our kids / your children… If you plan on having some drinks at a Super Bowl party, make sure you have a designated driver, or ask the host if you can crash there on the couch until the buzz wears off.  Heck, if they let you stay, be nice and make them breakfast! 

Just don’t drink and drive!!!

Before you choose to have children (or have unprotected sex) you must read this first!

Ahhh children.

So cute.

So kind.

NOT.

Welcome to my world. Father of three beautiful, smart, children. Ahhh, they take after their mother so much (thank goodness).

Here is what you can expect if you decide to help populate the earth with your offspring.

Monday night. Baby girl who is caught up in the I-want-to-walk stage has taken 3 steps and when put to bed for the night still wants to get up and walk.

I get that. Our first child spent the better part of 3 hours from 7pm to 10pm walking in circles once he figured it out. He was the freaking energizer bunny. I thought he was just going to collapse at a moments notice.

So after a period of getting up in her crib and calling and whirling and warbling so much R2D2 would be proud, she fell asleep.

Instead of seizing this moment to get some much-needed sleep too – how many times can I get away with going to work with these bloodshot eyes before someone recommends I check into rehab – but NO, I go back to work on my laptop.

Then at 11:30pm she starts calling;

“MAMA”

“MAMA”

“DADA”

“DADA”

…and on it goes.

I ignored her hoping she will go back to sleep but conscious that urban mummy will be kept awake and she needs her rest to function normally the next day.

She continued, on and off,and at 12:30am the cries from her room were this; “WAT-TER”.

“WAT-TER”

“BLANKIE”

“BLAN-KET”

So I went to get her.

We went to the kitchen and she ate and ate and ate until almost 2am. I grabbed my office lap top and logged in to work from 12:30-2 while she hummed, sang, danced, ate, drank and every few seconds to make sure I was paying attention would say, “HI”.

At 2am I put her back in her crib and she wailed but fell asleep.

Then the boys came marching in at 6am. One had a nightmare, the other was scared.

——————————-

And just yesterday my oldest boy, 6-year-old Linus fell on the ice at school and according to his school, had a bloody lip and may have chipped his tooth.

My wife went to the school to check on him and convince him to stay the rest of the day.

She called me from the school, I was worried about the potentially chipped adult tooth, and I spoke to him. Boy was he bummed out.

I asked him if I could do something to help him out.

“I want to come to your work”.

“Sorry buddy”, I responded. “What else can I get you to help you feel better?”

“I want a hi-liter, please. All my classmates have one”, he said.

So I went and got him a blue hi-liter.

When I came home he greeted me at the door, very excited to see if I followed through. I checked his lip – no blood, no swelling, then his tooth – not chipped. Cool.

Upon taking the hi-liter out of my bad, child #2, a very tired and emotional Stewie, turned on his siren, and began to wail.

“I want a hi-liter too! It’s not fair. I hate you.”

Part laughing and part stunned, I get down to his level and explain to him that I did not know he wanted one too and I would go get him one later this week.

He didn’t stop… In fact he just got louder and more out of control. I swear he’s going to smack me one of these days…

“NO DADDY!!! It’s NOT fair.”

I calmly asked him to stop yelling or he would have to go to his room and come back when he was in control. “You have the right to be upset”, I said, “But I do not want to be standing her while you yell at me. If you want to talk to me, please come down”.

He continued.

I went to walk him up to his room, but he took off running… Through the front foyer, into the living room, through the dining room and into the kitchen.

I tackled him in the kitchen, then carried him up to his room while he berated me the entire way about this not being fair.

“You are 4, your brother is 6. His classmates have one, he asked me for one”.

“No DADDY. IT’S NOT FAIR. IT’S MY FAVOURITE TOY!!!”

“I’m sorry, what??” Now I’m laughing… “It’s your favourite toy?!?”

“YES DADDY. I WANT MY FAVOURITE TOY! YOU ARE NOT BEING NICE!!! I HATE YOU!!!”

“If it’s your favourite toy, what does it do?”

“I KNOW WHAT IT DOES”, he yells back, “BUT I’M NOT TELLING YOU!!!”

Giggling, “Do you? Really”

“YES I KNOW BUT I’M NOT TELLING YOU! IT’s NOT FAIR. I’M NOT TALKING TO YOU. I HATE YOU DADDY.”

Then my 6 year old pipes up with, “Stewie, it’s okay that you hate daddy because he loves you enough for both of you”.

So I put him in his room.

30 seconds later he’s back in the kitchen with my wife – his ally and protector.

Her and I talk about strategy, then I pull him aside and ask him this”.

“Would you like a hi-liter too?”

“Yes please”, he responds.

“I’ll bring you one”.

“OKAY”.

And back to his cranky self he went.

OY.  At least he didn’t call me a liar… This time.

Clearly he’s going through something as 3:15am he came into our bed and tossed and turned until I got fed up and left at 6:15.

And to make matters worse, he’s off school today because of the “storm”.

Snowmageddon… Snowtastrophe… Whatever.

Still want kids?!?

Guest Blogging time at urban daddy: Elliott Hurst from Supernova.com steps to the plate

It’s about time for another guest blogger.

This time www.supernova.com CEO Elliott Hurst steps up to the plate and provides his insight into the world of social networking and how a movie from the 1980’s called Revenge of the Nerds may have come to life for Facebook CEO MArk Zukerberg.

Elliott, for those of you who may not know, was building Supernova in his basement in Toronto, while Facebook’s Mark Zukerberg was creating the next best addiction in Silicone Valley. There are some parallels…

Elliott, help me here. 🙂

Now on to Mr. Hurst’s post;

I just saw the The Social Network and was very intrigued by the story, the characters and the dialogue. Yes, it’s a really good movie. It may even win Best Picture (however, that is a relative term, and I’m definitely not saying it is in the same class as The Godfather, Rocky, American Beauty, Schindler’s List, etc.), but given today’s offerings, it just might.
Oscars are very political and affected by a myriad of factors including money. It may even win due to the fact that the spectacularly visual Avatar won last year and the Academy’s taste pendulum may swing back to a “substance” movie with a story. Plus, it’s a very hot topic.

Whether the story is 100% true, 50% true or even 10% true, it actually makes no difference, because as a story, it has just the right amounts of sub-text, irony, and tragedy and to make it a compelling film.

Sub-text: man seeks out to show the world his value based on his creation ends up alienating his best friend and business partner due to deep seated resentment towards his personal social success, personal success that eludes man.

Irony: man who creates a revolutionary service based on being social is actually socially inept in real life.

Tragedy: man who gains the respect and adulation of the masses, despite not being born into bourgeoisie blood lines nor being aesthetically or athletically gifted to be popular, can’t parlay that popularity into recapturing the love of his life.

But at the core of this film is a simple message that was first brought to light in the purely fictitious, 80’s gross out comedy franchise, Revenge of the Nerds. The premise? As Imdb puts it; “At a big campus, a group of bullied outcasts and misfits resolve to fight back for their peace and self respect.” Ok, so Zuckerberg wasn’t exactly bullied in The Social Network, but the goal was the same, and he and his computer nerd buddies were outcasts and misfits. The clearest example appeared near the beginning of the film when the popularity of Facemash was spreading like wildfire amongst the cool, popular kids through dorm room parties, while the nerds gathered around their lonely computers hatching the idea and tracking its popularity in solitude. In fact, the nerds turned the cool kids’ narcissism upon themselves to create a site so popular, it shut down the Harvard network within hours.

Facebook has accomplished so much more than that. And other sites like it. And all those sites were created by nerds. They are utilities now, as important to the world as the things that made the cool kids popular in school; sports, heritage, money, aesthetics, etc. Brain power. The nerds have it. The world runs on it.

It is now cool to be a nerd.

What was laughable fiction in the 80’s has actually happened today. Nerds are the new BMOCs. Nerds are the new Rockstars. Nerds are the new Quarterbacks of the football team. Nerds never got the girl. Well, actually, in the end, neither did the nerd in The Social Network. But the reason was best given by Rashinda Jones’ character toward the end of the film where she said, “Mark, you’re not an asshole. You just try too hard to be.” And that’s the tragedy. Whereas in the 80’s hi-jinks screwball comedy nature of Revenge of the Nerds where the main characters remained undaunted in their enthusiasm to prove themselves, the weight of this burden had the reverse effect on The Social Network’s Zuckerberg. Whether he was born with it or it manifested within himself since puberty, Zuckerberg is shown to continuously damage his personal relationships due to deep rooted resentment.

If The Social Network is Revenge of the Nerds 2.0, then today’s Zuckerbergs are finally being given their due.

But at what cost?