I had to laugh yesterday when reading about the Prius that had a stuck gas pedal and the “hero” Police Officer that moved his cruiser in front of the Prius to slow it down. The media played it up as if it was a passenger jet flying without a pliot….why didn’t the driver of the PRius just put it in neutral or turn off the ignition? Is it just me or do you find that the Amercian Media seems to be picking on the world’s number one car maker? We all know about the Buy Amercian Policy introduced last year. Seems to me that a few cars out of 10 million sold having a problem would be no big deal if it was an American Automaker. But, if you are a foreign company doing well in the States, eventually, someone will find a way to make you look bad. That’s my take on it. I would buy a Prius, hey, then handle well at 151 kilometers per hour, I didn’t even know a Hybrid could go that fast. Wonder if they come with zero percent financing?

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Well, back from a trip to Cuba last week, a well deserved 7 days on the island of Cayo Coco. I’ve travelled to many warm destinations, Jamaica, Florida, Mexico last year, but have always wanted to get to Cuba and was not disappointed. Friendly people, beautiful beaches and incredible scenery. Quite interesting being in a communist country, I was expecting to see machine gun toting soliders, military vechicles and stern faced Cubans weary from years of tyrany. After all, we have been bombarded with anti- communist retoric from American based media since we were old enough to walk, so I was a little interested to find out what going through customs would be like. Big Surprise, very smooth, customs officials actually smiled and wished us a nice vacation, then onto the bus and into the resort. People in Cuba are super friendly with an amazing sense of humour. Health Care, Dental Care and a University education are provided for all citizens, so everyone seems healthy, smart with great smiles. The one thing we noticed after a few days is that the people in Cuba have incredible passion for their culture and music. I also noticed that even though they do not have many of the luxuries that we do, the lack of capitalism has resulted in a society that is not bitter or resentful. Seems that our capitalistic society makes us want everything that everyone else has, and so many people get consumed by the desire to get “material things”, we forget that the simple things….the best things, are free. If you can get to Cuba, go….inexpensive trip and very relaxing, I hope to get back there sooner than later.

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It has happened before and now it has happened again. In front of horrified families, a Killer Whale at Sea World grapped a trainer and the result was fatal, a real tragedy. I’ve been to Sea World before and after walking around the complex wondered why I bought a ticket. A sad looking Polar Bear in a glass enclosure., huge killer Whales in holding tanks waiting for their next performance. I’ve always thought that if we want to see large animals, pay the money to go on Safari or go whale watching. I’m not a member PETA, but believe that large animals should not be on public display for our amusement. I guess some people haven’t figured out that even animals have a bad day and when an elephant or killer whale gets a little moody, tragic things will happen.

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Sudbury’s Devon Kershaw placed 4th in the Cross Country Skiing Team Sprint event at the Vancouver Games yesterday, one place out of a medal finish but still an accomplishment to be proud of. Devon said in a recent newspaper interview that Sudbury has some of the best Cross Country ski trails, some real gems. Very cool to think that our rocky landscape helped a local skier to be one of the best in the world. Way to go Devon!

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Tough loss for Team Canada in Men’s Hockey in Vancouver, 5-3 to team USA. So now team Canada has a long road ahead of them to get to the finals, Germany tomorrow and IF they win then it is off to the quarter finals against Russia. If think that the decision to recruit older highly paid legacy players for team Canada was a mistake. All the other teams have younger faster players who are just a step ahead of players like Chris Pronger and Jerome Iginla. Sure they are amazing hockey players in the NHL but Olympic hockey is the elite level of hockey, Team USA has a team featuring the future stars of hockey, Team Canada couldn’t keep up. I’m still cheering for Canada, Roberto Louongo will help the team and so will the crowd. Go Canada!

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A bizzare television broadcast at 11 a.m. Friday morning as Tiger Woods spoke to the cameras, not the media about his recent transgressions and disapearance from the public spotlight for the past 3 months. One thing I noticed is that Tiger is a terrible actor, reading from a script and not very believable. In the room, 50 close friends and family members, no media were allowed to prevent questions from the press, kind of a campfire chat. I’m still trying to figure out the purpose of the event. I was hoping he would announce his return to golf within the next month, but Tiger says he won’t be golfing anytime soon. So, for 5 or 10 minutes we listened to Tiger talk about all the trouble he got himself into, said he was sorry etc. I wanted to hear Tiger talk about getting back to golf and was disapointed that he would interupt the Olympics on a Friday during the first PGA Event of the year. When Tiger speaks it should be about golf, the other stuff doesn’t really matter.

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23 seconds to see if years of training pays off for a gold medal. For Alexander Bilodeau it was obviously the thrill of a lifetime to win in the Men’s Moguls. All Olympic athletes are incredible role models for Canadian kids and Alexander is no exception…. Family first, strive to be the best you can be and compete fairly. . It has been a tough few years for Canadians, but the Games seem to bring us together and when we see a hero like Alexander Bilodeau step up on the podium we are remember why we are proud to be Canadians! Go Canada!

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An amazing opening ceremony for the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games on Friday Night. A bunch of us gathered at my Dad’s place to watch the opening ceremonies on the “Big Screen” and it was incredible. As Canadian’s we usually cannot match the big “Hollywood” spectacles like the Superbowl halftime show for example. But I’m sure you will agree that the Opening ceremonies were not only visually spectacular but also a first class cultural experience. Great job by the people who put the show together, I was proud to be Canadian watching the opening ceremonies.

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Valentine’s Day is coming up on Sunday. Flowers and chocolates are the favorite gifts again this year, but I found it interesting that a new survey suggests that 78 percent of women say they would love to get a hand written love letter or poem from their significant other for Valentine’s Day. The poll also found that an outdoor activity like ice skating would be a nice treat for Valentines Day. So while chocolates or flowers are nice, perhaps the simple things in life could make this Sunday extra special for you and your Valentine.

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O.k. Forget the Groundhog, we live in Northern Ontario and we will always get 6 weeks of winter after February 2nd, the good news is that we have passed the halfway point of winter, spring is about 42 days away, or 6 weeks. These are the best days of winter, yesterday we went for a walk on the lake, hardly any snow, the ice is perfect, and the sun is getting higher in the sky. Even though it was cold and a little windy there is something peaceful when walking on a frozen lake in the middle of winter. And it is winter carnival time, the Walden Winter Carnival gets under way on Thursday. This is one of the longest running carnivals in the area and is always a lot of fun. So get outside, make the most of winter, enjoy the sun and get some fresh air, you’ll feel good!

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