The Barron Blog

Wednesday, 8 July 2009

Michael Jackson: Phenomenal Success Mixed With Tragedy

I watched the memorial for Michael Jackson yesterday. I was impressed that there weren't any commericals or running commentary. It felt like being in church watching a funeral.
The only parts that I didn't like were the political rants and Usher's "James Brown's soul performance" with Michael's coffin.
The eulogy by Brook Shields was very touching and the highlight of the funeral. Michael and her connected as child stars, and perhaps, Michael's shyness prevented the relationship from becoming a romance. Like in the song, "Smile", his heart was breaking on the inside, but he hid it with a smile. If Brook had married Michael, maybe he would still be alive today.
It's hard to add anything to Jackson's successful career. He made rock videos into an art form and helped develop the hip-hop dance genre.
Lisa Marie Presley had something to say about Michael and why they broke up. Please check out her commments on her blog. There were parallels between her father's life and Michael's.
Don't you think, the song "Smile" was MJ's last performance through Jermaine's body? It sure sounded like it to me.

Posted by qualteam at 10:02 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 8 July 2009 10:09 PM EDT

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Sunday, 5 July 2009

Fun With Slideshows

With a slideshow, I'm telling a story with images rather than words. The series of pictures above depicted my life as a Postal Worker and a CUPW (Canadian Union of Postal Workers) member.
In one photo, "The Gateway Post Office" is displayed as my previous job location.
In another photo, Harvey Kanner, a fellow postie, is smiling at the camera . Believe it or not, after 39 years, Harvey is still working at Canada Post . Maybe it's time for him to find a life outside of the PO. He's sticking his finger in the air. Posties have been known to do that often.
In another photo, Barb Gardiner is hugging me on my last day at Gateway. Barb is retiring in November of this year. Unfortunately, while she has the years of service she hasn't reached the retirement age of 55 yet.
The other photos relate to CUPW and other posties. It wasn't always fun, but certain parts were memorable. Check out www.cupw.info for the highlights.
The slideshow at the top of the blog relates to my life and family in Canada. My family pages are found at www.daveandirene.ca.
I've also tried to find pictures that represent the spiritual and imaginative part of my existence. Hopefully, those images communicate not just different layers of reality, but something positive about human life on Earth.
The slideshows were created on Photobucket's Website. I'm happy with the results. Many of the images came from "The Google Search Engine".

Posted by qualteam at 5:51 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 15 July 2009 7:31 PM EDT

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Wednesday, 1 July 2009

Happy Canada Day, Hoser

If you think you know a lot about Canada, try this test. I got 96% on it while Bob got only 85%. Put on a tuque, drink a few beers and when you start "feeling Canadian" go to it. We challenge you to beat our scores. This is the quiz link.
Here's a list of Canadian stuff that you probably don't have a clue about. Maybe, you might reach Canadian enlightenment or baffle your friends at parties, eh.
Isaac Brock, a British general, protected us from invading Yankees in 1812. If he didn't do that, we would all be talking American and carrying hand guns.
Keifer Sutherland is the grandson of the greatest Canadian who ever lived Tommy Douglas. Most Canadians don't even know that.
The greatest Prime Minister of Canada was Lester B. Pearson. He gave us the Canadian Flag and the Canada Pension Plan. Not bad for someone who never had a majority in Parliament. He also started those peace keeping programs in the U.N. which provided jobs for the unemployed.
The fans of the Toronto Maple Leafs are the most dedicated in the world because they fill up the Air Canada Centre for every game. The Leafs haven't won a Stanley Cup since 1967.
Native Rights and Multiculturalism are parts of the Canadian way of life. We're all different. Some drink from stubbies and others drink from cans or "big ones". We don't care what you've got on your head. You can be a mountie or a cop with just about anything on it.
Canada sells more oil to the U.S. than anyone else. Why deal with hostile greedy Arabs when you can deal with friendly, greedy Canadians?
Newfoundland was discovered by John Cabot in 1497, but waited until 1949 to become a province. That only shows that Newfies wanted to have a better deal out of Confederation than most of us, especially with Unemployment Insurance. It's easier to draw it there than Ontario or Alberta.
Funny Canucks have produced such oddities like "Corner Gas" and "The Comedy Network" while other comics were making movies or making fun of people in your neighbourhood.
I hoped you've learned something about what it means to be a Canadian. For a greater understanding of this subject check out "The Canadian Beaver Video" on YouTube.

Posted by qualteam at 10:49 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 1 July 2009 11:45 PM EDT

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Sunday, 28 June 2009

The Sun Sets On 20th Century Song And Dance Men

With the passing of Michael Jackson, we can say goodbye to an era that started with "The Travelling Minstrel Shows" of the 19th century. In some ways these shows were racist, but in other ways, it celebrated the joy of the oppressed who could relieve their sufferings momentarily with songs and dances. Take a look at Al Jolson and some dancing minstrels doing "Camptown Races". It's both funny and joyous.
It is interesting to note, that Jackson's autobiography "Moonwalk" was dedicated to Fred Astaire. There are some great pictures on this website of Michael with Fred. It's like "the torch of song and dance excellence" being turned over to a new genius.
Lets not forget the innovating and energetic dancing of Gene Kelly who thrilled audience in "Singing In The Rain" and "An American In Paris".
It's a rare person who can entertain millions with both singing and dancing. This has brought much happiness and excitement to many.
In the words of Charlie Brown's dog Snoopy, "To live is to dance and to dance is to live".

Posted by qualteam at 1:16 PM EDT

Updated: Monday, 29 June 2009 1:30 PM EDT

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Friday, 26 June 2009

Naughty Marietta And The History Of Popular Music

The passing of Michael Jackson made me think of all the great innovators in the history of popular music who brought unique sounds and visuals to their art. With Jackson, it was his rock/dance songs that popularized MTV videos.
With the Beatles, each song was different from another. They combined old rock and roll, country, blues, ballads and novelty material into their own creative sound.
Elvis Presley popularized rock and roll/blues which before him was played only on African American radio stations.
Before Elvis, Al Jolson was singing "Black Music" like "Mammy" and "The Robert E. Lee" for more than 40 years.
In this blog entry, I'm paying tribute to Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy who popularized operettas in the 1930s. Not only did they sing great duets together like "Ah, Sweet Mystery Of Life" from Naughty Marietta. They had an unfullfilled love affair that never resulted in marriage. The reasons for this are complicated but you can read about it in their bios.
The above duet brings tears to my eyes when I hear it. It a shame that Jeanette's and Nelson's story hasn't hit the big screen or the stage yet.
Ask Andrew Lloyd Weber to do it.

Posted by qualteam at 1:59 PM EDT

Updated: Friday, 26 June 2009 4:53 PM EDT

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Monday, 22 June 2009

Regrets I've Had A Few

Over the weekend, I attended the birthday party of my grandniece, Cecilia, who is now two years old. The above picture is not her, but it's close facsimile.
It's was great seeing Cecilia blow out her candles and play with her supersoaker squirtgun that was almost as big as she was.
She helped herself to the cake by sticking her hand into it. When you're a two year old, you don't need a fork or spoon.
My stepdaughter, Roxane, and stepgrandsons, Kyle and Devon were also there.
The birthday party was held at Delores (Irene's niece) and Danny's home in Ajax. They are the parents of Cecilia.
The next evening, we went to The China House in Cambridge with Irene's brother Joe and his wife, Laurie, to celebrate Father's Day.
Joe's two sons, Blair and Bryant, and his daughter, Jo Anne, were there as well to celebrate this special day with their dad.
One of my few regrets in life was that I never had kiddies.
My wife ended her childbearing days many years ago. That was ok, she had three children by her ex-husband.
I know there are joys and sorrows of raising children, but the joys seem to prevail. I miss that.
My two brothers and sister all had kids, I had a ballon with the skin off it.
If I live long enough, maybe I will have children. Some flowers and humans are late bloomers.

Posted by qualteam at 10:19 PM EDT

Updated: Monday, 22 June 2009 10:28 PM EDT

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Monday, 15 June 2009

A 21st Century Look At Purgatory

As you might know, large parts of this blog deal with my visions of the afterlife, heavenly places and alien life forms. The links on the right column called " Cosmic Views Of The Universe" contain most of these entries.
The one subject that I haven't discussed so far is Purgatory. Roman Catholics seem to be the only ones that believe in this place. It's suppose to be an afterlife condition where souls are cleansed half way between heaven and hell.
Personally, it seems to be a reasonable explanation as to where souls go immediately after death. A soul would probably be disoriented in a new environment. It might take some time to familiarize a spirit with new realities and unknown beings.
Also, most beings are carrying around the memories of a previous life like heavy baggage. The new arrivals would have to be debriefed and unburdened from this baggage.
Human beings suffer from mental problems of various degrees. Purgatory would give them a chance to resolve those issues on a higher spiritual plane.
While one was waiting to be placed elsewhere in the universe, the darknesss of subconscious impulses would be exposed to the light of understanding.
I'm aware that certain religions on Earth do practice extensive spiritual counselling. This indicates to me that such practices are common in this part of the galaxy.
Purgatory might be called different names by different people like Limbo, the Twilight Zone or the Q Continuum. Maybe, they're just suburbs of the same place.

Posted by qualteam at 10:25 PM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, 17 June 2009 1:27 PM EDT

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Wednesday, 10 June 2009

Lunch With Canada Post President, Moya Greene

I'm not the person in this picture with Moya Greene. That's Liberal MP, Scott Brison.
However, my wife and I did have lunch with her at Heritage Fish & Chips in Brampton.
We talked about the joys of retirement and, of course, Canada Post, the Canada Post Pension Plan and CUPW. Revenues were down because of the recession and Canada Post still needs to cut costs. This is understandable because our defined pension plan depends on Canada Post profits as well as employee contributions.
We also talked about the kinds of electrical vehicles that Canada Post needs for the future, but these have to be made individually for the particular requirements of the company.
Both my wife, Irene, and Moya were from Newfoundland, so they shared moments of reflection on this one-of-a-kind province.
Like many of her fellow Newfoundlanders, Moya has an unpretentious friendliness and outspokeness about her. She definitely wants Canada Post to survive this downturn and insure jobs for present employees and defined benefits for retired employees.
There are many pension plans in dire straights these days. It's important to take nothing for granted about company profitability. All employees have to work together to make sure the employer makes enough profit to pay sustainable retiree benefits and pensions.
My history in Canada Post and CUPW can be found at www.cupw.info.

Posted by qualteam at 9:55 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 11 June 2009 11:22 PM EDT

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Sunday, 7 June 2009

Rock On Dave: Today's My Birthday

Nice version of Elvis singing "Happy Birthday". It's good because it's short and sweet.
Yesterday my wife, Irene, took me to Baton Rouge for dinner in Mississauga. Both the quality and quantity of the meal met expectations. The honey mustard salad was so good that I gave it to Irene and she loved it. The main course included huge baked potatoes which we enjoyed immensely. Irene had Altantic salmon as her main entrée and I had sirloin steak. They were both cooked to our specifications and filled us up.
The dessert, chocolate mousse, was ok, but we really didn't need it.
The bill which included two beverages came to $61.00. This was bit higher than most family restaurants, but for good homecooked food, it's a bargain.
Reviews of Baton Rouge are high and most people give it a four star rating(four out of five).
As far as my age is concerned, I've been around before rock and roll and TV.
I've worked at Canada Post for over 35 years. You can discover my postie years at www.cupw.info.
My wife and I have a family website at www.daveandirene.ca. There lots of pictures of our families, Ontario, and Newfoundland on this site. There's also great oldies that you play in the background.
The other websites at www.davebarron.info, www.davidbarron.info and www.davidbarron.biz pertain to me as a writer.
Since I've retired, I've lost 16 pounds from working out and playing volleyball.
I still have goals that I want to achieve beyond paying off the mortgage. I want to succeed as a writer and screenwriter.
I've been lucky in life to have secure pensions. I've been lucky as well to have the ability to express myself with words and images.
Enjoy a song about the 1950s from the Statler Brothers.

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Posted by qualteam at 9:04 AM EDT

Updated: Sunday, 7 June 2009 9:51 AM EDT

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Tuesday, 2 June 2009

Winning Poker: Luck? Skill? Deep Pockets?

While there are disputes about how much skill goes into Hold'em Poker, there is no dispute that it can be very entertaining. Check out the hand between Phil Hellmuth and Danial Negreanu above. It's hard to believe that Hellmuth is one of the top poker players in the world.
Recently, I ran into many bad beats over the last four months. This was hard to take because I did so well last year.
I reassessed my views on poker.
There's no disputing that there are acquired skills connected with playing winning poker. You could probably learn them in a year or so. You can read opponents. You can follow "Poker Basics 101" or you follow your instincts. You can clown around or act like tar baby. In the end, you have "to go all in" to win large or progress further in a tournament. You have to get lucky each time the flop, the turn and the river are turned over. You need "deep pockets" to get through the bad beats. In the end, the game is about 60% luck, 20% skill and 20% reserve cash.
In my opinion, it may take more than one lifetime for one's poker skills to win in the long run. Despite that, Texas Hold' Em is still an exciting game both to play and watch.

Posted by qualteam at 12:21 PM EDT

Updated: Tuesday, 2 June 2009 1:01 PM EDT

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