Erin's Journals

Welcome to a brand new week! Here on Vancouver Island, we’ve been treated over the past few days to blue skies and temperatures in the low teens: chilly enough for a spring day, but warm enough in the fall that you can’t resist the call of the convertible!
 
Where is 2018 going? I almost tossed my rice cakes the other night when Rob and I were watching an episode of The Good Doctor taped on October 1st, and saw an ad luring people to spend Christmas at Disney World. We’re not even at Halloween yet, for heaven’s sake! Then again, keeping in mind that some radio stations in the US start running Christmas music at this time of year – or even sooner – who am I to be the judge and jury over when people start thinking about the holidays?
 
I’ve found myself doing some last minute shopping, two months before the holidays, myself! Rob and I are going to be snowbirds this year for the first time, so any gifts we’re giving in person in Canada will have to be done by November 4th, when we fly to Ontario (and then I go on to Halifax before heading south). It’s so much to get straight in our heads: Toronto, Ottawa, Toronto, Halifax, then sun. I’ll tell you more about the wheres and wherefores later on. 
 
With few exceptions, you can’t go wrong with movie passes. It was just such a gift from my aunt and uncle last Christmas that came in handy Friday when Rob and I went to see First Man starring Ryan Gosling and The Crown‘s Claire Foy. We decided to splurge and see it in IMAX. Am I glad we did?
 

 
Well, I’m glad I asked! I don’t know what it is with me lately, but I want more from my movies. As much as I liked A Star is Born and plan to see it again soon on the big screen, it didn’t GRAB me. Maybe I want to laugh ’til I cry, or cry ’til I can’t cry anymore, but where is the movie that’s going to take me on the ride that some of the best pictures did last year? Three Billboards, Shape of Water…movies like that. And before that, the whimsy of La La Land or the depth of Moonlight? 
 
First Man is saddled with the task of making a quiet, private man like Neil Armstrong into someone audiences can connect with. A family tragedy that precedes his moonwalk sets a backdrop for the film whose emotional climax may just be a case of dramatic license. (I won’t give away here; of course, it’s connected to the moonwalk, but that’s not the entire picture.) 
 
Speaking of picture, IMAX is indeed a fitting format for the subject of this film: space. But so much of it is done in extreme closeups: the capsule itself, the faces of its occupants, the Vitamix-like jostling that these brave men endured. All of that wasn’t enough to sell me on the total necessity of seeing First Man in that format in order to fully appreciate it.
 
Contrary to what Faux News and ill-informed politicians like Marco Rubio were ranting about, there are plenty of American flags that appear in this film. They don’t have a flag-planting scene per se, but there are plenty of stars and stripes. 
 
At the risk of nitpicking, the film could have used subtitles for many of the radio conversations between the astronauts and mission control. That would have helped a lot (not that I think we missed a whole bunch because the dialogue was drowned out by static and soundtrack). There is little character development outside of the Armstrong household, unlike films like The Right Stuff, where we not only knew the astronauts’ names, but we knew more of their backstories as well.
 
Just as comparing versions of A Star is Born is impossible to avoid but still unwise, First Man is its own film and director Damien Chazelle has done a masterful job. I expect technical and arts Oscars to go this film’s way, but for my money, there’s no better picture (yet) than A Star is Born. However, as fast as time flies, there’s a lot of time yet before those statues are handed out on February 24th, 2019.
 
Have a great day and I’ll be back with you here tomorrow.
 

Well, what a fun – if shortened – week that was! And if it ever seems as if I’m complaining when I write about travel (including the journal a few weeks back when someone refused to put his phone on airplane mode) please don’t get me wrong. As I wrote on Tuesday, I’m truly pursuing what I hoped this chapter in my life would bring. But that doesn’t say it isn’t without speed bumps and they’re things I love to bring to your attention.
 

 
We can start with Tuesday’s trip from the Winnipeg airport to the Fairmont Hotel at world-famous Portage and Main (okay, maybe just “world famous in Canada” as what is reportedly the coldest or windiest intersection in this great land of ours). This tale is of a situation that was awkward, dangerous and just plain inconsiderate, but one that was exacerbated by my fear about what mentioning it might suggest.
 
After a quick trip through the modern and bright Winnipeg airport (where a piano and upright bass played outside a lounge – a pleasant surprise, and a Hug Rug awaited reunited loved ones at the base of the escalator) I hopped into a taxi driver’s Prius and told him where we were going. As he pulled away, a video began playing on the smart phone he had set up to the right of his steering wheel.
 
I can’t tell you what it was about; a man was talking excitedly in another language and there were letters in an alphabet I’m not familiar with. It seemed to be about religion, politics or even travel? I don’t know; I was too busy trying to see the road ahead of us, which is not what my driver had his eyes on. I could see in the rearview mirror when his eyes were down to the right as he looked at this video. And they were not darting, as one might expect with a GPS. 
 

 
What to do, what to say? I took a picture of his licence, in case I needed it, and was about to shoot whatever was on his phone, when it rang. So he answered and then proceeded to have a fifteen-minute conversation with someone; who and about what I have no idea. Although it was on speaker, it, too, was in another language. Which is definitely not the point. 
 
I have an idea what the language was, and I can tell you what the man in the video was wearing to identify his religion or nationality. I won’t. And that – fear of being called racist – is exactly why I didn’t ask him to turn off the video while he drove. How crazy is that? 
 
When we arrived, I gave him a $4 tip on a $26 ride. I usually tip at least 15 per cent. But I told him, “I don’t know if other passengers feel the same way, but I was terrified when you were watching a video while you drove.” He smiled and laughed a bit, as though he was going to deny it, but he didn’t. I know what I saw.
 
I watched as a school bus ahead of us unloaded its precious cargo in downtown Winnipeg. I saw a pedestrian weaving between cars and hoped the driver saw it, too. It was unnerving and I was too chicken sh*t to say anything, lest the man think I didn’t like the video because it wasn’t in my language or of my faith. Or whatever it was.
 
Maybe you’d have done differently, but decades of being super careful of offending anyone ALL THE TIME has taught me otherwise. The rampant racism that is real, both south and increasingly north of the border, is making me hyper aware of not being one of those people.
 
I do have the receipt from my ride and plan on contacting the cab company. Although the bellman at the hotel said, “Our cab companies are the worst…” when I told him of my harrowing ride, I don’t believe this is or has to be the case. And as reluctant as I am to get this gentleman into any kind of trouble, should that happen, I really do think he needs to be like the rest of us and leave the phone alone when he’s driving. Otherwise, we’re all going to feel like we need a SOMKE.
 

 
Have a great weekend and thank you for sharing in these travels and adventures here. Last night I embarked on a scary/exciting new part of this journey – taking the stage and hosting/emceeing/interviewing for a major event here in my new hometown – and I can’t wait to share it with you next week. I haven’t had a chance to digest it just yet (and it’s late as I write this) so I’ll need a few days. Also, we’re going to see First Man this afternoon, so I’ll have that for you, too. Talk to you soon. 
 

This is a day that is so filled with love and joy and bittersweet memories that I hardly know how to process it all. So, as always, I’ll focus on the positive: thoughts of how incredibly happy this day was four years ago.
 
We got the call at the cottage, having finished an early Thanksgiving dinner on the Saturday of the long weekend. We’d been on pins and needles awaiting that phone call from Lauren and it came just as we were getting ready to serve ourselves seconds. Sister Leslie, who lived nearby, was called into action: in they swooped to stay with the dogs and clean up after dinner.
 
I remember so much about that late night drive to Ottawa, including a low-slung, pumpkin-coloured moon that guided our way until we got close to Ottawa. Then, as if on cue to provide a backdrop for the mood ahead, a light rain began. For it was then that we got a call from a worried Phil saying that Lauren was going to have to undergo a Caesarian section: she’d had but one contraction and it was evident that the baby was in distress.
 
I was sorry not to be at her side, but had heeded her stern request for no company that Thanksgiving weekend. We arrived in the dark, just hours after Colin’s arrival and will forever associate the gratitude of this annual holiday with the way we felt when he made it into the world – albeit a little grey – safe and sound.
 
11’s can hold joy on our calendar, too, you see. It’s just the yin and yang of life and the universe in general, isn’t it? (You can see the video I posted of the day after his arrival here.) It seems impossible that he’s grown so quickly in just four years, but that’s how life works, right? Another trip around the sun, as they say. 
 

 
Today, he’s a beautiful, strong, tall and healthy boy. He’s happy and does math almost better than I do (which isn’t really saying much, I confess). He’s got an inquisitive mind and an ear for mimicry. His latest trick: “EEEEHHHH. Winner! Gagnon!” No, he hasn’t inherited Grama Banana’s penchant for video poker (that we know of) but it’s his version of the sound he heard a machine bellow while at a cash register recently.
 
Colin is crazy for Paw Patrol, loves to read and sings Raffi’s “Baby Beluga” beautifully. He’s a rough and tumble little boy who likes nothing better than to be jumping on or off things. He keeps his momma and daddy on their toes, for sure.
 
I know that Lauren is beside him, beside Phil and Brooke, helping in any way that she can to give them the strength and stamina to keep up with this amazing little person. Despite being first-time parents, they’ve both got wisdom galore and are doing a great job of guiding him with what we would say is the right balance of love and discipline. I’m just so proud of the three of them for the life they’re building and the memories they’re making with every passing day.
 
Happy Birthday, Colin. You have so many people near and far who love you very deeply, including more grandparents than you’ll probably ever figure out! And our devotion to you only grows with every passing year. Thank you for bringing us such joy, sweet boy. Thank you, Lauren, for leaving us with this everlasting gift.
 
Love, Grama and Grandad Banana.
 

Hello from wintry Winnipeg. We don’t have the snow here that greeted us during a brief transfer in Calgary yesterday (briefer than planned, as my WestJet flight was uncharacteristically late in taking off from Victoria), but it’s cold – near freezing. Honey, I am not ready for this! But the reception last night from folks at CREA was warm enough to keep me cozy all the way home.
 
This past weekend I had to do something to take my mind off the Kavanaugh confirmation (yes, it depressed me that much) so Rob and I had a good old fashioned date. Well, maybe not so old fashioned: dinner and a movie isn’t our thing as we consider the gluttonous amounts of popcorn we inhale at the theatre actually to be our dinner. But we headed downtown, picked up our reserved tickets, loaded up on popcorn and reclined in style to take in – at long last – A Star is Born.
 

 
Although it would seem that Beauty and the Beast isn’t the only “tale as old as time,” this was my first experience with a movie by this title. Having not seen the 1937 Fredric March/Janet Gaynor original, the 1954 Judy Garland/James Mason version (until Monday night), nor the Barbra Streisand/Kris Kristofferson remake, I had only the raves from TIFF and the trailers that had so captivated us to go by.
 
By the way, Lady Gaga, who co-stars with writer, director, singer and songwriter Bradley Cooper, says that the film really bears little resemblance to its 1976 precursor; we’ll know after seeing it this weekend on TV. Check your listings if you’re interested in seeing it. 
 
I discussed this movie and its predecessors with guests on the weekend and, to my surprise, it became clear that not everyone knows the basic storyline! I thought everyone did. So with that in mind, I won’t even allude to anything that happens. I think you know the basics: a superstar (actor in earlier incarnations; singer in the later ones) discovers an unknown talent and helps to make her a superstar, too. Then hilarity ensues. (Just kidding. It does not.)
 
I know comparisons are not fair, but when a movie’s been done so many times, it’s almost impossible not to. By the time Kris Kristofferson embraced one of the co-lead roles in 1976, he’d already been on the silver screen, but was known chiefly as a singer/songwriter. Bradley Cooper, on the other hand, has really only achieved fame as an actor.
 
Well, here’s a real revelation: he’s one hell of a rock-country singer, contributed to the writing of some solid songs, acts beautifully and directs the film with such deftness that he’s likely to become the ninth actor to be nominated for Oscars both as an actor and director (joining such luminaries as Orson Welles, Laurence Olivier and Warren Beatty, to name three). He’s just that good. The guitar work he does is not just convincing, it’s REAL and his performance almost guarantees him the Oscar that has eluded him despite four nominations. 
 
Then we get to Lady Gaga, who turns out to be the actress that a singer with whom she’s frequently compared, Madonna, always wished she could be. The casting of Stefani Germanotta (aka Gaga) in the role of the singer/songwriter who’s molded into a superstar could not be more pitch perfect. And better still, she makes the role her own, leaving other comparisons – like that to La Streisand – in the dust. 
 
This incarnation of A Star is Born will be the film to beat at the Oscars next year, but as we all know, a lot can happen in the run up to movies’ big night. (Just ask the aforementioned Warren Beatty.) You don’t want to miss this one, though. I wish I could say more about the film, but again, I don’t want to be your spoiler.
 
Oh, one note: there are more f-words than F-chords in this movie, just so you know. I was too busy eating popcorn to clutch my pearls, but just in case you know someone thinking of going who might feel differently…. (Also, drug and alcohol abuse is rampant.) 
 
On a much different note, this weekend we’re taking in First Man, starring, coincidentally, another actor who embraced playing an instrument (piano) and singing for a role that elevated him to Leading Actor Oscar status in La La Land. I’ll let you know if, in my humble opinion, it’s worth your IMAX money to see Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong. 
 
Don’t you love when it’s grown-up movie season again? Have a good Wednesday and I’ll be back with you for a red-letter day here tomorrow.
 

I hope that you had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend. Ours was spent with friends and extended family and it was boisterous and spirited and wonderful. We couldn’t ask for more. We even got to take home leftovers!
 
After a joyously social weekend, this work week begins on a busy note: provided snow in Calgary (where I’m catching a connecting flight) doesn’t get in the way, I’m on my way to Winnipeg this morning for another in the Canadian Real Estate Association series of talks.
 
I get to emcee when marketing gurus Terry O’Reilly (CBC podcast Under the Influence) and Michele Romanow (CBC’s Dragon’s Den and youngest-ever “dragon” in the show franchise) take to the stage to share their wisdom with realtors. It’s always inspiring and I’m going to be so sorry when this series wraps up next month in Halifax!
 
This is my dream moving into the future: to keep doing what I do – be the glue that holds an event together, the lubricant that lets all of the pieces slide into and out of place again and the person who provides just the right levity at the right time, solemnity when the occasion demands it and never (as I just learned recently) commenting on the hopes of a local team. Do you think I’ll be talking about the Blue Bombers tonight? No, indeed I will not! I learned my lesson in Regina, thanks.
 
My problem is in getting myself representation. I have/had an agent in Toronto who takes care of (blessedly) repeat bookings like the one I have annually with the Canada Awards for Excellence, which is coming up next month. But what I need is someone or some company that will represent me for national work. The problem? I don’t know how to pitch myself. That may come as a surprise to you, but it’s true.
 
Terry kindly gave me the name of a firm in Vancouver that had approached him and he suggested I get in touch. But what do I say? That I love to emcee (I’m pretty good at it, I’m told) and that I’ve been fortunate enough to do it for 30 years in Toronto and that you’ll just have to trust that I can do it for your event, too? Or that I have a keynote speech that I love to give which has dozens of accompanying pictures and video, but that I don’t have an actual video of my keynote speech?
 
You see, Rob was going to record the one I did in Kelowna last spring, but when all hell broke loose with the missing iPad, those plans fell apart. And then, at the last minute when I had the chance to deliver it to the CREA folks at their gathering in Ottawa in April, no one was running tape from the booth. And then there’s this question: how do I convey to companies and event planners that my speech is not a downer; that it’s hopefully one of inspiration and proof that there’s life after loss? And just what company wants that? 
 
I mean, if Oprah was coming to town and wanted an opening act, SURE, my message would be on target, but it’s not like that’s going to happen – like the skies are going to open up and Oprah Freaking Winfrey is going to say, “Hey, Erin, I hear you have a pretty good message and a book coming out in February. Why don’t you come and talk at one of my gatherings some time?” Ha ha ha ha. I amuse myself. Putting my hopes and dreams down in writing?!?
 
Then I remember that quote from Jane Fonda that I shared with you a while back. That it’s never too late to become the person that you were meant to be. And I remember that I would be some kind of hypocrite if I just put inspirational quotes out there and didn’t follow them myself.
 
So, what to do? 
 
I’ll meditate on it. Maybe while I’m in the air today. Flying to do something I really want to do and cherishing every moment. Back with you here tomorrow with a review of the smash hit A Star is Born. Never was a title more appropriate for a film.