Movestrong, Blogstrong

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Help is close to home

Good news!
I was named the new on-site chiropractor at the Canadian Tire head office at Yonge & Eglinton!
I'm starting in a few weeks, and am really excited to start making a difference inside a company with so many employees.
This means I'll be out of my office on Mondays seeing patients down at Cantire (that's what I get to call it now).

On the office front, the hunt has officially begun for my new assistant. I've been flying solo for the last month, and am really looking forward to help with the administrivia (that is not my best skill)

Not so much funny stuff today, but some good news that will help to make my life easier, my practice to grow, and to help more people.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

I’m 15 all over again…only without the angst or isolation

Continuing on with my purchase of ZooTV, I picked up Roger Waters’ Wall live in Berlin.
Excellente

Theatrical rock is lots of fun. What’s especially cool is the size and scope of this concert. It’s gigantic. The stage is 600 feet long, which is really long, and they had huge inflatable puppets. Plus they stopped taking tickets past 250,000 people – which is a big crowd!

Plus the spectacle of the stage version of the wall- They’re actually building the wall to completely cover the atage through the whole first act. Play in front and behind the wall for the second act,
then at the end, after the trial they rip the whole thing down. Uber cool!


Plus it’s so cool how the bigger the wall gets, the deeper he falls into his isolation and craziness.
But that’s not all
Rick Danko and Levon Helm from The Band sing excellent harmony on Mother and Comfortably Numb.
Plus Garth Hudson is playing Sax solos……sweet.

Van Morrison singing the chorus on comfortably numb is awesome!!
Cyndi Lauper on Brick in the Wall (part 2) is so so, but the music more than makes up for it.
What’s it called when each member of the band takes a solo. There has to be a concise term. But I digress.
So I’m listening to the wall again.

God damn that’s a good album. So many tremendous musical transitions and in between song moments. I listened to this album and memorized it when I was about 15-16 years old. I had a theory that every guy went through a Wall phase at some point in his teenage years. It was that kind of album. Teenagerhood is tough. Remember yours? Do you want to? I think that’s when so many of us found our diversions and interests. For me it was music and movies. Think back to Saturday nights in high school. I spent a lot of time at Videoflicks in Thornhill with my buddies picking out piles of videotapes. Girls were not to be found, much to our dismay. But I digress.

Anyway, I’ve really been digging watching concert movies, as it allows me to appreciate the music on a different level.

For any pink floyd or big-concert fans, this is a great pick up.

Healthy thoughts about unhealthy marketing

One of the original intentions of this blog was to comment on health issues as well as my own inane ramblings.
Well there are a few things I just heard about that I wanted to wade into.
First, on the good side Great Britain has announced that they’ll be banning junk food commercials during children’s programming. This is a great step forward.
On the down sided I was watching some Saturday Morning programming (with um…. my daughter), when I saw a commercial for fruity cheerios. 2 things. First they stated that they had 25% less sugar than the leading fruity cereal (Fruit Loops). Do you think it would give the same impression if you said that it had 75% as much sugar as Fruit loops.

Secondly, their slogan was “If it tastes good, it is good”.
What!! Did they really just say that?
How can something that makes you obese, insulin resistant, changes your behaviour and attention span, and make your teeth rot be good for you.
How is this allowed on TV?

The have commercials now saying that chocolate bars are peanut free. Great!!! Now anaphylactics can kill themselves with metabolic syndromes also! Awesome news!

They can also go get themselves some Doritos chips that are Trans fat-free. F**kin A!
And wash it down with some calorie-free Diet Coke.


If these types of foods (processed and artificial) makes kids fat and causes them to develop diabetes (it doesn’t give it to you- your body develops it itself), then what makes us think they’re any better for us. This is why it is so important for us to Eat strong too!
I’ll get off my soapbox now

Homework:
Next time you’re at the grocery store, look in your cart at all the boxes and cans, and replace 1 of them with something that comes in little or no packaging. Ie. Instead of crackers, replace with bananas. Discuss amongst yourselves.

Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Daddy's taking us to the Zoo today

Tourism continues!!
Zoo day for Daddy and the little bear.

We jumped in the car and headed to scarberia.
Lots of walking today for papa bear. Plus I left the bugaboo (name brand strollers only people) at home and slinged it up for the day. lots and lots of walking. Mental note.
We made visited the Americas pavilion and animals first, and had a great experience with the polar bears. It went into the water and played ans swam around for us, and I (playing the role of asian tourist) got great pictures.


The we saw some llamas (the second L is silent), jaguars (the cats, not the cars), and made our way to the rhinos, oragutans, and tigers. Awesome stuff. The little one LOVES animals, and had a blast.



There is also a kid's discovery zone which closed at the end of Octotber, but which looks like uber fun for the munchkin.
It's funny how these are the first places that I check out at attractions now - How is your interactive learning zone?
Tourism expert Dr. Adam, recommends the zoo as a definite visit, and on the way out, used today's admission towards a membership. Considering one visit is 19 bucks and a dual membership is only 110. Done and done!
You get free zoomobile rides with the membership, so you can get on board, head out to the area you like (without wasting the precious time walking) and then head back. Plus free parking until March! Adam likey!!
Also, it's just a nice place to be and walk around. Fresh air, Rouge Valley- a class act all around.

The plan for Saturday is the Art Gallery
My what a world class city we live in!
Where have I heard that before? Who told me that all the time? Who could it have been?
Noooobody!!

OSC better than ROM

Saturday mornings I've started playing the role of tourist in Toronto. That's Daddy & Munchkin time!
Last week we went to the science centre, and this week we went to the Museum.
The whole week I was looking forward to the time, and we had such a blast!

For a 16 month-old, the science centre gets my vote overall, but there were some things she really liked.
For 17 bucks, you get a whole morning, which is better value I think than a formal program like gymboree....it's at least around the same price. They have all sorts of interactive learing displays, and some really cool new workshops. There's definitely some older exhibits- remember the one with the static electricity hair from 1981. That stuff is kind of dated, but still cool. Remember this kid?

The best for toddlers though is the kidspark. it's 2 full zones for kids as early as toddlers to explore, learn and discover.

Top notch. Except the little Loblaws store in the middle of it. Brand placement starts early I guess.
The in-door rainforest was super cool, and it's a cool environment to run around in.

It's got all those escalators on different levels.

Plus its got the imax dome which is a plus. Parking is 8 bucks, but I parked across the street for free and walked 5 minutes.
They also have a re-done outside area in front that is really nice. Check it out.

Note:
Now this post has been taking me a lot of time.
I think I need to get into the habit of posting without all the pics, since fitting that stuff in is very time consuming, and a hassle.
So I think I'll start posting without pics right away, and that way continue the habit of posting. But I digress

The ROM was also great, but not as much to do with the toddler. Their kid's learning zone was too old for the munchkin.
What was really cool about the trip was that we went on the subway! I walked her in the sling up to the station and onto the train so easily.


There is some serious construction going on at the ROM, which I think looks really cool. I know others who don't like the crystal and the old ROM together, but cool is cool. It's a marval to me that we're able to construct such complex architecture. I couldn't do it.

It's reminds me of the Hitchhiker trilogy, where Arthur gets stranded in prehistoric earth, and can only figure out how to make sandwiches.

The dinosaur exhibit was closed - Huge bummer!!
The animal exhibit was pretty cool, I just wished that they'd had more.


The last museum I was at was the American Museum of Natural history in New York. That's the best museum ever!
But I could see the ROM getting WAY better as the kids get a little older. They had a great looking program going with kids making their own statues and artifacts. Very cool.

What I've discover is that playing tourist in Toronto rocks! There's so many cool places to go and things to do. Discovering all these things all over again is so much fun, and such a riot. I remember going to these places with my parents and grandparents.

Next week is the Ontario Art Gallery (also by TTC- this time a streetcar)
After that I'm not sure. Casa Loma maybe
There are a lot of great outdoor places too, like High park, Sunnybrook park and Bruce's farm.
Any ideas of great places in the city to discover is appreciated too.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

They're selling postcards of the hanging, but didn't play that one

Yesterday was Bob Day!!
For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, it was the Bob Dylan concert at the ACC here in Toronto.
This was Bob show number 8 or 9 for me, and it was a good one.

I need to get out to more concerts. They're so much fun. Somthing about 20,000 people cheering and singing that gets me going.
Bob played Tangled up in Blue, which is an alltime classic but which I don't think I've heard too many times.
He also played Harmonica on about 5 songs which is always the highlight of the show. People forget what an amazing harmonica player Bob is.

It's not really the kind of show to get up and dance at, but is still a great time because of the songs, the music, and because it's Bob. It was funny though that he has this introduction that plays (I've heard before at other shows) that talks about a brief synopsis of his career and finishes by saying that after being written off he's createds some of his best material of his career recently. It's true, but funny to have that in your introduction at the concert.

In honour of T.D.A.B. (the day after bob) I've listed my top 5 Dylan songs and top 5 albums. How about favorite lyrics too!
Now far be it from me to jeopardize the Recording industry of America (canada), but if you don't have these albums or songs go onto iTunes (or limewire) and check them out. All classics, sure not to disapoint.


Albums- Buy these!!

1) Blood on the Tracks

2) Time out of Mind

3) Desire

4) Slow Train Coming

5) Bootleg Series Vol.5 1975

Lyrics (most favorite lyrics come from favorite songs)
1) Isis- "Thinking about Diamonds and the world's biggest necklace"
2) Love Minus Zero/No Limit "There's no success like failure, and failure's no success at all"
3) A hard rain's gonna fall "I met a man who was wounded in love, I met another man who was wounded in hatred"
4) Tangled Up In Blue "I must admit I felt a little uneasy when she bent down to tie the laces on my shoes...Tangled up in Blue"
5) when you gonna wake up "Got unrightous doctors dealin drugs that'll never cure your ills"
6) License to Kill "They bury him with stars, sell his body like they do used cars"
7) Don't think twice it's alright "Well I wish there was something I could do or say to make you change your mind and stay, but we never did too much talking anyway, so don't think twice it's alright.

There are an almost infinate number of amazing Dylan songs & lyrics so share some of your faves, and let me know if you'd like more recommendations. Otherwise I'd be here typing all day.