Joanne Rochette skates for the BronzeCP PHOTO/ANDREW VAUGHAN
Hi again from the ramparts of the Bastion on the Puget Sound. Well, even though the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver officially ended Sunday night, they will linger in my mind for days and weeks, if not years to come, and the memories will be both vivid and poignant.
Who can ever forget Joanne Rochette, the small, slender shy Canadian lass whose mother, Therese, died of a massive heart attack just hours after arriving in Vancouver to watch her daughter compete in the Games? The entire world held its breath as Joannie skated for a Bronze and into the hearts of a nation and the world.
Whatever she accomplishes in her life from this point on ~ and I’m positive Joanne is destined for greatness in several fields ~ I suspect she will always be remembered most for reminding us that regardless the flag or the event, the athletes who represent us are very special human beings.
They carry forth a tradition which seems to be fading in professional sports; the idea that the strength and durability of an individual’s character is just as important as their athletic prowess; that because they are role models, the paths they take are necessarily “limited” to the high road.
No, they are not perfect but in striving for perfection, they definitely raise the bar for all of us. They show us what we are capable of in our own individual lives. They attest to the notion that dedication, practise, ethics and honor are still as much keys to success as talent.
Joanne Rochette may have only won the Bronze. But as far as I’m concerned, she brought home the Gold.
For an outstanding roundup of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, please go here.
And our hearts certainly go out to those impacted by the earthquake in Chile. The tsunami validated a prediction model developed by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA) scientists in Seattle, who predicted a three foot rise in water. NOAA in Hawaii forecast much worse and a spokesman for the agency said that’s because they had not totally integrated that model into their system. I also read an excellent comparison of the quakes in Chile and in Haiti and why, RELATIVELY speaking, the latter did more damage. Check that one out here. And for a totally comprehensive look at earthquakes, what causes them and what constitutes a city at risk, this site is a wealth of information. Our thanks to Tulane University.
This next one’s not going to be real fun but since several of you asked how I feel about that orca who killed his trainer down in Florida, not too far from where Winter lives, I made some calls behind the news accounts and this is Northstar’s spin on it.
Tilikum was never meant for captivity in the first place. He was exceptionally alpha and very intelligent. He was captured and forced onto what amounted to a very very small place to live. Where he was not allowed to hunt but was made to perform for a living for considerably less than he could have chased down on his own with considerably more honour.
These life forms which seem so amendable to performing for us are here to teach us something about communication. Tilikum knows that. But he got lonely for a human being he thought would understand that it’s not enough sometimes. When his trainer shared that laying down with him, he thought that meant she understood. And that he wouldn’t have to do it anymore.
It took him a bit to figure out that nothing had changed, that in the end, it really didn’t matter how he felt about it. He felt betrayed and in his rage and his only way of acting on a survival instinct older than his species, he struck out and killed the one human being who hoped would understand what being a performer in captivity was doing to him, despite and perhaps on top of the fact that he was also there to breed.
It wasn’t Tillicum’s fault, nor was it the fault of his human trainer for understanding him well enough to try to make him feel better, despite the fact that there wasn’t one damned thing she could do about it because SeaWorld is a corporate operation that seems to care more about the cost of admission than it does about the value of a life, human or orcan.
That corporation, however, is a business and it is fed by those who go there. There’s way more than enough technology out there to watch these folks in their natural environment. All the sad and desperate Free Willy gone wrong movies aren’t going to make a difference as long as we, as human beings, are so lonely that we make pets out of those in those several big oceans out there who are evolutionary leaps beyond us in understanding what it takes to live on this planet in peace.
I ask myself, week after week doing the Critters portion of this ezine, when are we, humans, going to finally get that we share this planet with a host of others who may not look like us, or act much like us and certainly not swim like us but are certainly just as much a part of our family as the closest of human kin.
We capture Tilikum and his kind and we put them in glorified fish tanks. I’ll grant you that once, perhaps, we needed them that close to learn about them. As lonely a species as we are, I’m not surprised we really needed to be entertained by them. And it’s a definite improvement over the times when we nearly hunted them into extinction.
We’ve got the technology now to go to where they live; to learn in their classrooms, to be entertained by them in their home. Let’s put these parks like SeaWorld in the ocean and let them educate and entertain us on their turf. I don’t normally advocate swimming with other species but in this case, when it’s totally their choice, I can get behind it. Am I personally going to get that close to these folks?
Ummm. Nope. But since I was asked, right?
Well, according to the New York Times, wind power had a banner year with an increase of 39-percent over 2008. A great deal of this can be attributed to enlightened state officials and legislation designed to facilitate construction of wind turbine farms and individual units on commercial and residential buildings. The manufacture, siting, and selling of wind generators has provided a new career field for some and a reapplication of old skills for others. It’s a growing industry and for more on this one, yep, please go here.
MORE GOOD NEWS
If you live in Washington State and have a golf cart, you might just be looking at alternative transportation. The Everett Herald’s Gale Fiege reports, “Golf carts might not be just for use on the links anymore. If proposed legislation passes the House and gets ink from the governor’s pen, you might see golf carts tooling around some neighborhoods throughout the state.” Yep, for more on this one, please go here.
I love eggs and I’m talking about what they call “free range” which ~ to my understanding ~ is to chickens what California is to happy dairy cows. Yep, totally organic. Every weekend, the U District Saturday Market, has people who raise happy chickens who, in turn, lay contented and healthy eggs.
This having been said, I am not, however a fanatic about TOEs (totally organic eggs and yes, I made that up). Being a fanatic takes entirely too much energy and in my admittedly limited experience with them, fanatics don’t strike me as happy people in many other regards either.
So if sometimes the eggs I buy are not TOEs, I can live with it. Apparently that’s not quite the case up in Canada where they are taking this very, very seriously. Their passion is producing a market for not quite TOEs and the Maple Leaf is having none of it.
They’re not quite ready to call in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police yet but they are, rumour has it, commissioning law enforcement officials whose sole duty will be to apprehend those who would sell less than TOEs. It’s considered a travesty right up there with spitting on the sidewalk in Saskatoon and forgetting to rise for the Queen. To see just how far Canadians will go in defense of a national treasure, check this out. And our thanks to the Globe and Mail.
Now that I know that a child was allowed to direct air traffic at New York City’s JFK Airport, I’m even more enthusiastic about flying than when I consider going up 30,000 feet with a bunch of people I don’t know, without a parachute and in something put together, in part and in total, by the lowest bidder. I can understand, especially in times like these, wanting to get a kid started on a career path early but by the time the press and the FAA are done with this, the child in question will probably be looking at picture books of submarines. Please, for God’s sake, do NOT let him on one. For a video of this story, check this out.
SURVIVING HARD TIMES
We’ve said it before and it’s worth repeating. Sometimes surviving hard times is all about attitude and sometimes attitude is what you eat, literally and figuratively. For a healthy meal of cute pet and animal stories and videos, check this out.
We reported earlier about a new “cult” of people who are taking things they enjoy doing and are good at and making a living. This is a series and the link to this one carries them all. We’re going to be running this reminder until that series is finished. Yep, go here.
This next one falls under the heading of “If They Can Do It, We Probably Can Too.” In Seattle’s Beacon Hill Neighborhood, they’re starting an urban farm to feed the needy. Check it out.
HEALTH NEWS
One of the chatrooms I visit to sample public opinion has a lot of what I refer to as “geriatric Sixties”. They’re people who gave little or no thought to their health when they were younger and in some cases, ridiculed and attacked those who advocated for a more nourishing environment and body politic. Now, at a time when, at least in the Pacific Northwest, to be fit at 70 is to live another very active 20 years, these people still find more reasons to fall apart slowly than they do to stop complaining or at least stand up and breathe deep while doing it. These people have more excuses than a chronicle juvenile truant and the biggest one is that they don’t have time. BULL-(oney). Everyone has time. Go here to see how.
Well, here’s one that should come as no surprise. Researchers have confirmed that the stress of losing one’s job can cause fatal heart attacks, destroy the immune system and dramatically exacerbate existing but formerly manageable health conditions. The impact of becoming unemployed is also credited with a rise in the national suicide rate and definitely reduces an individual’s life expectancy. The good news is that it doesn’t need to be that way and for a wealth of information on how to not only survive but thrive in these hard times, yep, the proverbial “please go here.”
CRITTER STUFF
We welcome to the world L114, who was born late last month, off Canada’s Vancouver Island. His mom, Matia, or L77 as she’s scientifically known, is the second orca this year to give birth. Back in January, right off Vashon Island in Seattle’s Elliott Bay, J47 and his mom, J35 were spotted for the first time. For a pictorial history on the Puget Sound’s resident pods, check this out. And for a video on L114, please go here.
The other day, while working in a yard which looks more like a forest clearing than an urban landscape, I heard the most incredibly beautiful bird song. It was as loud as the raucous crows that occasionally still alight on cat protected turf so I looked for something at least the size of a robin. A half hour later, I spotted this little guy and then, as kismet sometimes, dictates, ran across this story, video and “sound track” on another of nature’s marvelous miracles, the winter wren. To listen to this little cutie belt out a song, go here
If you’re still trying to get your child or grandchild to chew their food well before swallowing, do NOT show them this story about this new, huge, plant-loving dinosaur discovered in eastern Utah that swallowed its food whole. This story got a tad too technical for me but for anyone who is really into this stuff, this is definitely a recommended read. Yep, check it out here.
YOU GUYS THINK I MAKE THIS STUFF UP.
This is another of those “I don’t blame you guys this time,” because I ended up calling the source of this story on the phone to make sure they weren’t putting a readership of about a million and a half people on. Seems there was this guy in rural Washington State who lost control of his motor vehicle and slammed into a power pole at relatively low speed. He did everything he was supposed to do. He shut the engine off, got out of the car, called 911 and then walked to the side of the ditch that was running along side the road (and next to the power pole) to get some of the fear out of his system. He of course did not see the downed (but live) power wire and when he relieved himself, the electricity took a new path and electrocuted him. I am still trying to wrap myself around this one. For the details, yep, go here.
That’s it for this week. We’ve got some cool stuff down below you might want to check out. Stay the course, gang. We’re getting there and we’re going to make it. And thanks once again for the ear. And stuff.
Rusty
For the ezine (graphics enhanced) version of The Northstar Journal, please email a request to mminstrel312@aol.com and you'll be added to the subscriber list.
NORTHSTAR RECOMMENDS
FUN STUFF
Ever been told you look like someone famous? Ever not been told that but would like to have been? Find a photo of yourself, go to this site, MyHeritage.com, upload it and get a gallery of celebrities you resemble, to one degree or another. Yep, it’s a total waste of time and an unabashed indulgence of ego. Probably two reasons why I totally loved it, even though a couple of my own pix didn’t turn up any results. It’s fun to play with so enjoy.
If you’re into a real interesting and visual escape, we certainly recommend The Art In LA website. It’s a virtual art gallery created by a real gentle, occasionally obnoxious but totally good-hearted soul with standards as fine as those of any engineer I’ve ever met. It’s also a good place for healthy meditation. If you’re lucky, you might just run into the artist herself. Her name is Colleen and she’s a trip, trust me. Yep, she was born under the fourth flag on our masthead.
Writer At Work is a blog which comes to us from Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, England and here’s another case of appropriate hyperbole. Cadie, its author, is a university writer in training with a visually impressive informational website worthy of a professional with three decades more time in grade. Whether it’s specific advice to her peers or a dynamite story on a literary event in the United Kingdom, she does an admirable job of, as they say in the Colonies, “covering her bases.” She learns quickly, this one, and passes it along. What I also truly like about this site is that it is also a lifestyle slice of Merry Olde and from as ingenuous a source as I’ve met in some while. She’s a trip, gang. Check her out here.
HEALTH
Ten foods that really do help prevent cancer.
Grub you libido will love.
If you’d like to know whether your eating habits are either adding years to your life or taking them off, take this RealAge quiz. It will not only score your real age against your health age but give you a program for improvement. I’ve been working this one for about a month now and yep, I feel a lot better.
Want to know how to live to be 100? Try this one.
Take this test to see how your memory compares with the average.
Click here for fun games to improve your memory.
ONLINE TOOLS FOR THE KIT
PC World – This is the best source we’ve found yet for totally free, useful, reliable and secure (no viruses) downloads ranging from games through utilities and with a nice selection of screen savers, etc. What I particularly appreciate about it is how easy the site is to navigate. They also have a daily letter featuring two “daily downloads.”
Free People Search – This is an American online White Pages that I found really simple, quick and user friendly. I looked for myself under the several versions of my name and it found them all. It’s also free and doesn’t involve anything to download.
Know Thy Elected Officials - Just type in your zip code and this site will supply you with the names and contact information for your legislators from the state level up. This is a two click site with a host of other relevant features.
FOR YOUR SHOPPING CONVENIENCE
And for a truly unique shopping experience, drop by and browse THE NORTHSTAR GENERAL STORE.
MEDIA
Overview
For those interested in what’s going on in the world of magazines and newspapers in general, we highly recommend Woodenhorsepub.com. They publish a weekly online newsletter for media professionals and for readers simply interested in the future of the publications they enjoy and an advance on new ones they might. Their website is located here.
Good “Reads”
News
BBC – Best source of international news.
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (multi-media), the Toronto Globe & Mail and the Vancouver Sun -- outstanding sources for Canadian national, provincial, and world news.
KING 5 News – Best source of video news of Seattle and the Greater Puget Sound.
New York Times – Best source of American news.
Reuters – Best source of an international perspective on American headlines.
Seattle Times – Best source for news of the city and the Puget Sound. Its reportage is unbiased but their columns and other opinion pieces do reflect the predominant values of the Pacific Northwest.
Sightline Daily (formerly Tidepool) – Best source of Pacific Northwest regional news. Delivered daily by email, it covers Alaska, British Columbia, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington. They also put out an excellent weekly environmental edition.
Entertainment
BBC Knowledge Magazine – designed to give the American magazine National Geographic the proverbial run for its money.
Writer At Work -- a visually impressive informational website which includes specific advice to writers, a list of resources for same and dynamite stories on a literary events in the United Kingdom, this one is for the aspiring writer and the professional alike.
TomatoMan Times -- For those who love good writing, there are fewer finer contemporary craftsmen out there now than professionally known as Tomatoman Mike. He’s as Northern Californian as John Steinbeck is, albeit with a dash of Sam Clemmons, Bret Harte and Robert W. Service in him. He’s a romp to read, trust me.
U Got Style is a monthly ezine dedicated to independent films. Fully illustrated, it features hard news, interviews, reviews and a wide variety of other information. It’s also fun to read.
Vinyl Cafe with Stuart McLean – Live from the smallest record store in North America. Canadian humor, entertainment and commentary at its maple leaf best. Popular on National Public Radio in the States.
Talent For Hire -- Rusty Miller, Freelance Photojournalist – Whether it’s a one time press release, book or product review, difficult business correspondence, resume or classified ad composition you need, take a look at the services offered menu on my writer-for-hire homepage and we’ll get together on it.
Are you a travel editor looking for color shots of Seattle? Are you an art dealer looking for new work to carry on consignment? You might enjoy checking out a gallery of my work for sale
See you next week, eh?
