Mountainfm.com

When this happens to me, I’ll know I’ve made it in journalism…

…when it comes to amazing light shows, that is!

On October 9th, Prague celebrated the 600th anniversary of its astronomical clock in the old town square. Can you imagine? It was built in 1410… just think about what was going on in Sea to Sky country back then… 

Every hour, the clock chimes and things move, and it’s quite a spectacle. But this, this!! Is something else… it’s a 3D light show into the history of the clock’s 600 years, with sound effects to boot!

Czech it out!

I consider myself relatively well-informed but not when it comes to boxing. So I only learned about Manny Pacquiao by chance as I watched the news on Saturday night, waiting for my ride to pick me up. I was stunned to learn that he is the 8th highest paid athlete in the world, ahead of Lance Armstrong and Shaquille O’Neal. So why hadn’t I heard of him? I’m generally not interested in watching two men pummel each other until one is KO’d (knocked out, for those of you not well versed in boxing speak). But all this changed within hours… I found myself in a converted bar, sitting in front of a large screen, snacking on Filipino barbeque skewers (which probably deserve their own blog post). It was THE place to be as the crowd was comprised of mostly Filipino spectators cheering for their hometown hero. What makes Pacquiao, or “Pacman” as he’s also known, even cooler is that he’s a congressman in the Philipines. He’s a champion boxer AND a congressman AT THE SAME TIME! And I’m not talking Jesse Ventura styles. We all know that wrestling is fake anyway.

I must admit, my first boxing match was quite enthralling. I squirmed and squealed when Antonio Margarito’s eye puffed up at the hands of Pacquiao, or when his cuts squirted blood – but Pacquiao? Wow. He’s about 5’6, weighs about as much as I do (no joke) and smiles as he walks into the arena, whereas every other boxer likes to look as menacing as possible. And while Margarito’s face ended up looking like steak tartar, Pacquiao looked barely bruised. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” indeed. Even a boxing promoter who oversaw Muhammad Ali’s matches told 60 Minutes that Pacquiao is the best boxer ever. I agree. And now I’m spending my afternoon googling his name.  

Did I mention that Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson was standing right behind me, watching the fight? Apparently he was wearing a Pacquiao t-shirt. I want one. Does that make me a barbarian?

And one more fun fact about Pacquiao – apparently, crime in the Philippines goes down 98% every time he fights because everyone is just too busy watching his fight to do anything else.

I came across this video, which is a great reminder that when we think we’ve got it soooooo bad (me every Monday morning, by the way) – someone’s got it worse than us. This young man lost his arms in a tragic childhood accident and now he is playing the piano with his FEET for China’s Got Talent judges. Rather than letting his lack of arms define who he is – he’s decided to focus on a passion and run with it. We all have it in us. And sometimes we just need to be reminded. So I’m reminding you right now. You got it going on sistah (or brotha). Pull up your boot straps, dust ya shoulders off… do whatever you need to do to get off your bum and start doing something. Anything! Learn a new hobby, help someone out, put in a little extra quality time at work, get some fresh air and go pick some blackberries by the side of the road (but remember to pick high to avoid dog pee), pick up the phone and tell your dad you love him, pick someone else up who is feeling down… It’s all relative, I know… we’re going to have our down days, our funky days, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But all I’m saying is if you need a little pick me up – think of this pianist playing beautifully with his FEET!

 And if my little rant above didn’t warm your heart – then maybe this little girl will:

This is Mike Relm. He’s a DJ from San Francisco and yes, he’s cooler than you. And not just because he wears those ridiculously cool glasses. Or because he rocks out at the turntables in a jacket and tie.

He’s cooler than you because he incoporates video into his set by actually controling the images with his turntables. So when he scratches on his turntable, he “scratches” the video image, essentially pulling the image forwards or backwards. Confused? So was I… but he explains how it all works here.

interview

He’ll be performing at Garfinkel’s tonight in Whistler as part of the Deraylor music festival.

You’ve heard about female circumcision, but what about breast ironing? I hadn’t, until stumbling across a video about it on my number one trusted news source: perezhilton.com. On a website normally dedicated to the lives and loves of the rich and famous, Perez fills us in on a horrific practice taking place in Cameroon.

Breast ironing is a practice in which hot stones are pressed onto the breasts of girls in order to disfigure them. Surprisingly, the mothers that do this to their daughters have good (but extremely misguided) intentions. The idea is to make their daughters unattractive to men so they don’t get pregnant before they finish school. This practice is painful and leaves lifelong physical and emotional scars.

Here’s the video (warning: there are some disturbing images).

A new television ad is encouraging people to get out of Toronto and visit the Niagara region. It’s doing this by showing an unnamed city (but the CN tower is in the background so it’s obvious where it’s set) filled with graffiti, buildings and noise. This ad has Torontonians fired up and defending their city. 

Before everyone gets their panties twisted in a knot, hear me out. I think Toronto is exciting. I love the diversity. There’s always a buzz on the street. And it’s the only place where you’ll bump into K’Naan on the sidewalk and have a short convo with him, only to be interrupted by a fellow Somali on a passing mobility scooter (yes, this really happened to me). 

But I think we can agree that it’s not the most beautiful city in the world. Just in the same way we can agree that with all the natural beauty Vancouver has – it’s lacking in arts and culture and the only buzz you’ll feel is from that cloud of smoke seeping out of the bushes. So Toronto – don’t be sad that you’re ugly.

Learn to love yourself for everything great that you have going for you. Besides, you can’t be exciting and beautiful; otherwise you would really be the centre of the universe! 

Read the article here.

This picture will not be seen in Montreal because the Montreal Film and Television Commission thinks it’s sexist. It will not be giving PETA a permit to unveil it in the city. Firstly, I don’t think it’s sexist and I’ve seen much worse. Secondly, this is coming out of a city that has the strip joint “Super Sex” featured prominently on one of it’s main drags. 

I’m trying to figure this out. Is it sexist because she’s scantily clad? Or because the writing on her body compares her to a slab of meat? It’s obvious to me that PETA is trying to make the connection between people as animals and what we eat as animals – “we shouldn’t eat animals because they’re like us.” But animals don’t wear clothes (and no, your chihuahua’s designer coat doesn’t count, although it is pretty cute) so really, I think Pam should have left her bikini in the change room to make her point.  

As for her body being a slab of meat – so what?? We’re not seeing anything new here.

Plus, she’s more fun to look at than this:   

The ad is supposed to be tongue-in-cheek. If you’re going to be offended by THAT – then make sure you never attend a Horak family dinner. We’ll show you what offensive really means!

Read more about it.

A Melbourne artist and her family travelled to Europe and visited concentration camps where they made videos of themselves dancing to the disco hit “I Will Survive.” What?? I was initially appalled upon reading this.

My dad took me to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in the Czech Republic when I was 15 and I still remember how sad and eerie it was. Thousands of white crosses covered the lawn in front to honour the people who died there, and blood on the brick walls reminded me of the cruelty that people are capable of. And now we have some twits smiling and dancing around these horrible reminders of the Holocaust?

But my feeling has changed a little upon learning that one of the dancing family members is a survivor of the Holocaust. He is seen in one part of the video giving the peace sign and wearing a shirt with “Survivor” across the front. I can’t help but wonder if this is his weird way of reclaiming his past, celebrating that he did, indeed, survive one of the greatest crimes in modern history.

What do you think? Are they crapping on the injustices suffered by people during the Holocaust or are they free to dance wherever the heck they want?

Read about this family here.

… and her name is Dawna Friesen!

She’ll be taking over when Kevin Newman steps down. I am so excited for this change. I met Dawna in October 2008 when I was interning at NBC in London, England. We had a good chat in her office about starting out (she told me about driving around Brandon, Manitoba when she was a young journalist, desperately hoping for a garage sale to report on), being a working mom (she has one son) and working as a foreign correspondent. I was her stand in at Buckingham Palace when she was doing a live-hit about Prince Charles’ 60^th birthday. It was the highlight of my journalism school career!  

She is smart, experienced and, let’s be honest, has a face made for TV. 

So long boys – hello Dawna and Lisa LaFlamme. LaFlamme will replace anchor Lloyd Robertson on CTV National next year.