I was recently introduced to energy drinks by a friend who recommended them as a hangover cure. I haven't had a hangover for - how old is Pace now? - 13 months or so. (Er, not counting the post-SLA conference "Books to Beers" event at the Free House - that one hurt a bit. I blame Jessamyn.)
But that's beside the point. You've probably seen the energy drinks - when Shea ran in to 7-11 to buy me one in Calgary, she said "When did they take over the drink case?"
Now, back in the day, energy drinks were named Jolt Cola and that was good enough. Apparently this new version has the added benefit (?) of vitamins. To which I say, "Whoopdee-doo - bring on the caffiene levels certified to give you heart arrithmia please!".
Yes, I do have the occasional energy drink. I can justify it because I don't drink coffee. Or smoke crack.
Which is all a long preamble to say I was drinking Bushwakker beer I imported to Calgary for a friend (who coincidentally is the brother of the guy who first recommended energy drinks to me.) We're both responsible fathers now (he's a newly certified medical doctor for godssake) so we weren't consuming to the levels we may have at one point in our lives.
But when he showed me this video, I thought it was the funniest thing I'd seen in a long time...
George Carlin died yesterday. Like most deaths, it was inevitable. It also fucking sucks.
I got to see him live in 1995 at Bally's in Vegas when my parents offered to take my sister and I to Vegas for a family vacation the year I turned 21. (I was quite the little gambling addict when I was younger. And that's all I'll say about that.)
They offered to take me to one show as my actual birthday gift and out of all the shows available in all of Vegas, I picked George Carlin.
As we were sitting in the theatre, enjoying our two-drink minimum, and he launched into his "101 Words for Dicks" routine, and I saw my dad's jaw drop and my mom's face go ashen, I thought, "hmmm, maybe this wasn't such a great idea." But then I thought, "Ah, fuckit! This is fucking as awesome as it gets! I'm seeing George Carlin. Live. In Vegas. With a two-drink minimum!"
Carlin probably had the ability to cut through the hypocrisy and bullshit of our society like no one else I can think of (Bill Hicks? Kurt Vonnegut? Hunter S. Thompson? All close but I'd say Carlin beats them all.)
So much of my own worldview, my own sense of questioning everything and sarcasm comes from listening to him.
I also love that so
much of Carlin's material focuses on language - how we use it and abuse
it. ("Why do we park in driveways and drive on parkways?" being a very tame example of this.)
There's also probably a direct connection between my interest in
freedom of speech/freedom to read issues and the seven words that give
the title to today's post.
I think I first heard about "The Last Lecture" via a book request we got at the library. The Amazon page for the book has more info including a couple video clips explaining the background and significance of this particular Last Lecture.
A bit more searching revealed that the full video of the original Last Lecture presentation at Carnegie-Mellon University is on YouTube (of course).
It's an hour long clip but if you watch the first couple minutes, there's a good chance you'll want to watch the whole thing.
Well, we're back from Calgary and it was a great trip!
Pace was an amazing traveler, we saw lots of friends, family and old familiar sights. In many ways, it felt like we were trying to cram three and a half years of memories from when we lived there into just under a week of visiting. But even with that constraint, we managed to hit many of the spots we wanted to see - the Calgary Zoo, the Wave Pool, Shea's old unit at the Foothills, my old office at the Old Y Centre for Community Organizations plus lots of shopping and good eating. Oh, and the obligatory pilgrimage to IKEA that all Saskies must make when visiting Cowtown.
I haven't downloaded our pictures or video yet but was looking for something to sum up the trip and found the clip below.
If asked to name my single fondest memory of the three and a half years I spent in Calgary, it was when a dozen people (including the couple we stayed with while visiting on this trip) rented a 10 man dingy (yeah, I know I said it was a dozen people involved - but there were always two or more in the river at pretty much anytime so it wasn't *completely* illegal) spent a beautiful +30 day floating lazily down the Bow River that runs through the centre of Calgary.
The day had it all - beautiful hot weather, tons of other rafters to visit with, lots of chances to jump in and swim in the swift moving river or just hold on to the edge of the dinghy, a picnic lunch, getting ambushed by kids with water guns at one beach along the ride, a chance to drink directly from the river via one survivalist participant's new water filtration gizmo, a spot check by the river patrol (conveniently happening after our portage spot where we dumped a lot of empty cans!) and even a lost engagement ring swept away by the strength of the current (luckily not Shea's ring!)
We only did this once during the entire 3.5 years we lived in Calgary because I think we realised that doing it again might bring disappointment when it wasn't as magical as that first time.
I had the same worry going back to visit Calgary after so many years away and with so many good memories of our time living there. But except for a couple small pangs throughout the week (okay, and one big one when Shea and I spent a couple hours strolling 17th Ave aka "The Red Mile" where we'd spent so much time while we lived in Calgary), I realised I don't miss Calgary as much as I thought I would. It was a great city to spend a few years in during my 20's but I would argue that Regina's an equally great city to be a young parent in. (Comparing notes with a cousin who does a 2+-hour round trip to take her daughter to soccer three nights a week is all the proof I needed on this point! )
Anyhow, I found this video which doesn't quite do justice to how peaceful and wonderful and amazing our own day floating the Bow River was. But it may give you a bit of a taste...
)
