Why I will always like Gretzky

I have some friends who don't like Wayne Gretzky. Some say he's a whiner, not that great or that he's an Edmonton hero, which can't be a good thing.

To those people I say a strong: whatever.

Wayne Gretzky plays an interesting role in the Canadian mythos. He's practically univerally known as a hockey player, coach, manager and advocate. There are movies about his family and many a documentary. He's likeable and when bad things happen around him, he seems to inspire sympathy rather than frustration in people. Many people, hockey fans or not, have some image of him in their mind whether it's him being intense behind the bench in Arizona, jumping up after Canada won the 2002 Winter Olympics, or hoisting the Stanley Cup.

And then there's people from Edmonton. In the 1980's, there was this team called the Edmonton Oilers. They'd been around for a while, but it wasn't until a young Wayne Gretzky joined the Oilers (along with other famous names like Coffey, Kurri, Messier, MacTavish, Lowe, etc) that the team became part of hockey history. There were Stanley Cups won and a city rallying behind them.

I remember going to visit my grandparents and Grandpa would be watching the Oilers play (TV on, sound off, radio on). His enthusiasm for the game was infectious and it was hard not to catch the excitement. The Oilers was his team and there is still memorabilia around the house from those years.

So, there you have the history... now here's the more recent story. Rather than tell you myself, let me just reprint the letter I sent to in October 2005:

Dear Mr. Gretzky:

Thank you so much for signing a $100 bill for my grandfather. His name is Dean Randle and he lives in Edmonton, although he now spends a third of the year in Yuma, AZ.

The reason I’ve made this request for your signature is because I’m trying to replace something that was stolen from my grandfather six years ago. He is not a collector of memorabilia but simply a die-hard hockey fan (of all teams, but he has a soft spot for the Edmonton Oilers, of course). He was an Oiler season ticket holder for almost all my youth until the ticket prices became too high. Over 20 years ago he was stricken with a disease that put him on long-term disability and, to spend his time, he became a solid fan of the Oilers while you were part of the team. He proudly tells stories about how he went to so many practices that he began to be recognized by some of the players. The Stanley Cups the Oilers won then are a part of that pride.

In the late 1990's, you were in Edmonton for a charity golf tournament which my uncle (my grandfather's son) also attended. As my uncle's story goes, he asked you to sign a $100 bill for my grandfather (because that was all he had in his pocket). It was my grandfather's birthday present that year, and it became a prized possession that he kept in a special frame. He would show it off to everyone who visited his home.

In the winter of 2000, while I was staying at my grandparent's home in Edmonton attending university, their house was burglarized. Fortunately, very little was stolen (much of what my grandparents own has sentimental, not monetary, value). Unfortunately, one of the few things stolen was that signed $100 (the burglars even broke the frame to get at it).

It is one of those things that insurance can't replace and its loss was a real disappointment for my grandfather (he still brings it up even though it is almost six years since it was stolen). Therefore it means a lot to me to be able to give him another $100 bill with your signature on it.

Again, thank you so much for your generosity in signing this $100 bill. I will frame it and give it to my grandfather for his 71^st birthday this February. I know he will be very excited to receive it.

Sincerely with best wishes,

Daorcey Le Bray

Prior to sending this, I sent an e-mail to the Board of Directors for the Phoenix Coyotes asking if Mr. Gretzky would be able to sign a bill for me. I guess that e-mail made an impression, because I got a call from Gretzky's agent in charge of merchandizing the next day. It's been a long time since a phone call has made me so ecstatic, but that day I was walking on air and telling anyone who would listen how I was going to get Gretzky's signature for my grandfather. Once the logistics were figured out (thanks to much help from mom and dad), the bill made it there and back.

In March, Grandma and Grandpa returned from their annual vacationing in Arizona (coincidence) and I gave the bill to Grandpa as soon as I could. I think he was pretty excited about it and I was really happy to give him such a present.
And that's why I'll always like Gretzky. He helped me give my Grandpa the coolest present ever.

Bird-Killer Le Bray

Always look both ways before crossing the street.

Because, if you don't, I'll be coming right around the corner.

If you haven't heard yet (because Natalie hasn't told you), I had a little run-in with a magpie last Tuesday. After driving to spicy perogy pizza after my last soccer game with the Smashing Pumpkins, I came off the Sarcee overpass onto 16th Ave NW and saw two magpies land right in front of my little Echo.

At this point, I'm rationalizing what's about to happen: Oh, those birds are going to fly away 'cause that's what birds do. Birds stupid enough to stay on a traffic-busy road are meant to be taken out of the reproductive population.

This one was stupid enough.

The next thing I know, I'm bracing for impact and I hear the quick 'thud-thud-thud' of a bird's head being smoked by the undercarriage of my car like a hockey card against the spokes of a bike wheel. I gasp and look out my rear-view mirror to see a puff of feathers.

The next thing I know, Jordan and Caleb are pulling up beside our moving car and giving me a big thumbs up. Natalie's laughing hysterically. I feel a little sick.

Honestly, I don't like being responsible for the death of an animal. But this isn't the first time. 'Bird-Killer' is not my first moniker of the sort. It follows 'Fish-Killer' after I killed a line of three siamese fighting fish (one through the stress of transport, the other with the aid of a toy sandcrawler in the tank for decor, and the final because it committed suicide).

I once hit a duck in the head with a slingshot. All I remember about that is that the duck promptly tipped over with its feet sticking out of the water. I've never picked up a slingshot since.

And, finally, the only other animal I can remember killing was a poor frog that happened to be unlucky enough to be caught by a set of curious young boys with a hammer. I still get kinda sick thinking about that one. Maybe that's why I don't like hammers, saws, etc.

So yeah, the point is that I feel remorse. Poor bird. But if I had to do it again, I would. Better to smoke a bird than endanger people with a bit of hazardous driving. I still feel bad about the duck, fish and frog, though.

National Notoriety

I'm a bit more famous this morning.

On weekday mornings, CBC Radio One has a show called the Current. It's been around for a long time and it is known for its sense of humour and take on current events.

Before this whole Middle East thing became the news, there was a bit of a furor over a show called The One: Making a Music Star hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos. I guess some people (including me) thought it was a bit lame that The National (CBC's flagship news show) would be jostled around on Tuesday nights for some reality show produced by CBC.

Anyway, The Current decided to have its fun with this controversy by hosting its own reality show The Radio One: Making a Journalist Sing. The gist of the contest: CBC radio and television personalities face off doing their own interpretations of Elton John's Rocket Man. The results were pretty funny (which you can listen to in the above link) and I was lucky to catch last week's episode of The Current when they were playing clips and encouraging listeners to vote for their favourite.

So I voted. And I added a bit of my own flair to my entry about why The National's Terry Milewski should win.

Well, I guess Terry won today and it was all thanks to me and the 36% other respondents that voted for him. But, here's where the national notoriety comes in: my entry was read on the radio today. Yup, I'm officially part of the Milewski fan club.

Don't believe me? You can listen for yourself. (Requires Realplayer.) The contest wrap-up begins right away. Milewski's reading begins at about 5:30. My moment of fame follows right after. If you feel like listening beyond, you'll notice that my endorsement of Milewski is brought up again in an interview with him.

Now that I think about it, I'm pretty impressed that they pronounced my name right. But, in retrospect, I may have chosen my words a little better if I'd known they'd be read on the radio.

National Film Board

My last semester ever in university, I took Canadian Animation. I was excited to take this class since watching cartoons for marks sounded good to me. It was even better when I found out marks were only based on three exams throughout the semester. Thanks to this class, I got my only A+ which some what illegitimate since it's based on watching cartoons.

To my delight, the NFB has just posted many of their fantastic, superlative-eluding films online.

So if you're bored at work, you could probably plow through many of these. You'll find old favourites that you watched years ago and new ones that are incredible.

There are a few I highly recommend.

Neighbours. Done by Norman McLaren who is the father of Canadian animation. McLaren was always pushing the boundaries of animation weather it was drawing on film, stop-motion or printing overlapping images. George Lucas, among others, lists McLaren as an influence on his style, so take that as you will. This won an Academy Award.

The Sweater. It's a classic based on the eponymous story by Roch Carrier. It's charming especially since its narrator is Carrier himself.

The Cat Came Back. Oddly I only saw this for the first time in class while everyone had seen it before.

Two Sisters. Done by Carolyn Leaf. This film owes its interesting style to Leaf scratching layers of IMAX film to reveal different colour layers.

There's a few I wish were on there like Getting Started, Log Driver's Waltz (remember it from YTV?) and Begone Dull Care. Begone Dull Care was the first film we saw in class. It was done by McLaren where he scratched and painted on film. It was set to fantastic piano jazz music by Oscar Peterson. I was blown away by the energy and mood created by such a simple technique. Unfortunately, some people were turned off by the abstract nature of the film

What I find fascinating about the NFB was their hands-off approach. When McLaren joined the NFB during WWII, he was told to make propaganda films. He agreed if only he could do it whatever style he wanted. You got some crazy films as a result and it also paved the way for other artists. There are many films about a pedestrian topic such as food safety but the artists went to town on the presentation.

In large part to the NFB, Canada has gained a worldwide reuptation for animation. So I guess the ultimate Canadian would be a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic hockey playing, Tim Hortons coffee swilling, funny and drunk animator.

Killing the Easter Bunny

I heard the oddest quote on the CBC morning news a couple of days ago.

Go here. It's about war brides and their children that may lose their citizenship for some obscure reason. Even Romeo Dallaire, born to a Dutch mother and Canadian father could be affected.

The quote was from some women who was involved with war brides. It is the most bizarre quote ever.

"If Romeo Dallaire is not a Canadian, you might as well kill the Easter Bunny."

I'll let you puzzle over that one.

This is my face

So, by now you probably know I'm a tad bearded. I think it's kinda neat, mostly for the novelty factor. I've never had a beard before and it's definitely a different face I see in the mirror.

So, who's face is it?

At the end of May, Nicole made a blog entry about a webby device that scans your face and compares it to celebrity photos in their database. Intrigued, I cropped and downloaded this photo for them to scan:
Which is part of this larger photo from Arone's grad:
Once downloaded, the site does it's high-tech scan (complete with sci-fi green grid moving over my photo) and promptly tells me that I look like:

Joshua Jackson - 54%










Michael Palin - 53%










Antonio Banderas - 53%










Stephen Jay Gould - 52%









Gary Cooper - 51%










Ben Johnson - 49%
Tom Welling - 49%
Bill Gates - 47%
Georges Brassens - 45%

Ewan McGregor (as Obi-Wan Kenobi): 0%
But, I'll take Gary Cooper... just don't talk to me about Bill Gates.

Darnat is one!

To all those who picked one year or less for the divorce pool, guess you lose out.

Yes, today is our anniversary. We walked down 17th Ave, stopped for sushi with bad service, and perused several bookstores. Shortly, we'll be chowing down on perogy pizza because a one-year anniversary deserves Ukranian pizza.