As Bob Dylan said quite eloquently: “But I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

That was before I lived through my twenties.   Hello perspective.

Anyway, guess who just turned 30?  Macaulay Culkin.  I couldn’t believe it either, until it occured to me that I’M also 30.

And this dude certainly had a more bumpy ride than me.  His troubled upbringing –including battles with a money-hungry father, an unusual famous childhood that included a BFF named Michael Jackson, and a teenage marriage and subsequent divorce–this guy seems to be a pretty grounded adult.

He’s been dating Mila Kunis since 2002, has had a string of Indy roles, and seems to lead a quiet, private life.   Makes me really respect the guy.  Rather than using his past as an excuse, he seems to have learned from his experiences and moved forward.   I dare say, we can all learn a thing or two from Mac.

Welcome to 30, Kevin McCallister.  It’s a good place to be.

I don’t think I’d ever really taken the time to sit down and watch footage of a live Queen show.  It blew my mind.    I watch a lot of recorded performances but this one really stood out.    I actually ran out and got a DVD of the show this week and I love it.  You can get the Montreal Show alone, but I recommend getting the extended version released in 2007.  It’s around the same price, the sound is great, and the latter version includes Queen’s performance at Live Aid.

I’m compiling a list of my favorite performances captured on film,  and I’ll blog about my selections as soon as I stop arguing with myself.   Until then, here’s Freddie doing “Play the Game” from the ’81 show – it gets me every time.  Enjoy!

Cut to two years later.  I’m now single, empowered, and have convinced myself that maybe, just maybe, the ex gave up on the sofa the way he gave up on the relationship.  Ok, that was overly dramatic…   and actually not true, at all…. but hey, breakups don’t really tend to make people think clearly, do they?

So, I mention my thoughts to my dad, and the two of us get all riled up, and convince each other that it is possible.  Picture the Rocky montage where he runs up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as part of his training regime.  THAT sort of pumped up.

The movers who arrived with my sofa the very next day were not as pumped up as we were.  For starters, I live in a third storey walk-up, and the sofa needed to be brought up the rickety, old, fire escape.  The men – one a strapping young Indonesian with a sunny disposition, and the second, who could best be described as Nikita Khrushchev, in terms of both looks and accent- were skeptical to begin with.

The older one, upon scoping the scene, exclaimed: “Dieux, c’est impossible!”  Translation:  “God, it’s impossible. “  The old man seemed to be invoking God a lot – Dieux this, Dieux that.  I thought he was just one of those people who mutters God a lot,  until the young one put out his hand to me and said: “J’m'appelle Dieux.”  Sorry, you’re called WHAT?  I’m sure his name is really great in Indonesia, but given that he now lives in a French province, he might want to change it to something other than God.  Just a suggestion.

So, the guys finally make it up the fire escape with the sofa, and it quickly becomes apparent that the sofa was in storage for a reason – it doesn’t fit through the doorway.  I wish I could say I admitted defeat and sent it back to storage.  But I’m too stubborn.  So I called my dad.  Let me just say the two of us have a way of getting each other worked up, so we might have been a little overly excited when we convinced each other it WAS possible – even if that meant removing a tiny piece of wall.

An hour, two exasperated movers, a whole the size of a car window in my wall, a pile of concrete on my floor and a back door off its hinges later, and the sofa still didn’t fit.

Today, I sit writing this blog post as Sam the carpenter hammers away in the other room, repairing the damage I made to my apartment, and intermittently chuckling under his breath.  The sofa, as you’ve probably guessed, is back in storage.  My sister and her fiancé are looking for a place, so maybe they’ll be able to use it.  Let’s just hope they’re smart enough to use a measuring tape before they take a hammer to their wall.

Lesson learned.

It’s been almost 10 years since Suri passed away after a difficult three and a half year battle with cancer, but she is still very much alive in the hearts and minds of her family, friends, and countless others who she touched in her short life.

Suri was a community leader, artist, teacher, singer and actor who enjoyed life to its fullest and valued art in its many forms. It is with her passions in mind that Suri’s loved ones have joined forces with ICRF to out together this incredible event.

Suri’s Soiree, where the impossible is possible, will feature Canadian singer and songwriter Kuba Oms, DJ NV Nazli Var, who regularly spins at Montreal hot-spot Garde Manger and Grammy award winning musical guest, COMMON, who is scheduled to perform a compilation of his most popular hits.

All of the proceeds from the event will go to ICRF, which has raised more than 33 million dollars to date for over 1800 cancer research projects.

Suri’s friends, family, ICRF and this blogger invite you to be part of a celebration of life and art on March 27th, 2010, at the Segal Center for the performing arts.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.icrfnewleadership.com

This past November, I was lucky enough to travel to Toronto to work with the amazing people at the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation and be part of the Run for the Cure 2010 video. Despite my preference for remaining behind the camera, I’m very proud to have been a part of this video, and to speak up and share my story. You can see me featured in the video posted below:

The Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure is Canada’s largest single day, volunteer-led fundraising event dedicated to raising funds for breast cancer research, and education and awareness programs.

For more information, please visit the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
You can also pre-register for the next run; October 3rd, 2010.

1. Buying mechanical items made in Canada is probably not a good idea.

While most of the show went off without a hitch, in the final, pivotal moments, an equipment malfunction left one of the final four torchbearers, Catriona LeMay Doan, standing in front of an empty hole with nothing to light.

2. Canadians have a good sense of humor

Even as the mechanical malfunction unfolded, the four torchbearers seemed more giggly than irritated. Gretzky looked amused, and Steve Nash’s smirk gradually turned into a wide smile.

3. Canadians are a diverse people, who respect each other.

Our governor general is not only African American, she’s a woman. Her name is Michaëlle Jean. It’s like we nominated Barak AND Hillary.

4. You likely do not want to visit the Prairies.

With all due respect to the music (Canadian Veteran Joni Mitchell) and the young acrobat, the segment with the boy floating over the wheat fields was entirely too long, and was by the end, a bit boring. But hey, Canadians like to be respectful, and the prairies were given their due.

5. Canadians respect their history

You heard it right, the ceremony kicked off with God Save the Queen, a salute to Canada’s history as a British colony.

6. Canada has some amazing athletes

The opening ceremonies included Basketball star Steve Nash, hockey legend WayneGretzky, Paralympic athlete Rick Hansen and even Betty Fox, Terry Fox’s mom. These athletes not only represent excellence in their fields, but are good people with civic causes and foundations.

7. Canada has some remarkable talent

Singer KD Lang performed Halleluiah, written by current poet laureate Leonard Cohen. She was amazing, although she really could have used a better tailor. Actor Donald Sutherland voiced some of the recorded parts of the ceremony, and helped bring in the Olympic flag. Sarah McLachlan performed. Joni Mitchell recorded clouds (although it would have been nice to see her perform live.) Although I must admit, I was a bit shocked not to see Canada’s #1 national export, Celine Dion.

8. Canadians encourage their youth

She’s gotten some flack in the media for doing her own spin on O Canada, but I absolutely loved how Nikki Yanofsky sang at the opening ceremonies. It’s hard to believe someone with that much poise is only 16. And hey, she’s a Montrealer (woot woot!).

9. Canadians are real

Canadians are not fake, and they are empathetic, good people. Canadian officials were visibly sad when expressing regret over Georgia’s Nodar Kumaritashvili, who died after flying off the Olympic luge track.

With all the accolades given to Beijing’s opening ceremonies, we sometimes forget that they were so hell bent on being perfect they shunned a child, having a “cuter” one lip synch her song. The Canadian Opening ceremonies weren’t perfect, but they were real, and make me proud to be Canadian.

10. There’s a reason people think we live in igloos

Okay, I get it; they wanted to pay respect to our heritage. But really, that was a bit ridiculous. A performer representing Canada’s history entered the stadium. A native Canadian danced during the Opening Ceremony. There were totem poles. There was a canoe… with a horned fiddler in it. And it just kept going and going. Next time I’m travelling abroad and someone asks me what it’s like down there in those Igloos, I’ll be far more empathetic.

You can check out a lovely pictorial of the entire Opening Ceremonies event here.

Really? Because last time I checked there was a division between Church, State and the Media. Or there was supposed to be, anyway.

Despite their longstanding tradition of prohibiting controversial spots during the Super Bowl, “CBS now claims to have changed its policy on accepting advocacy ads. But its decision to debut this policy by associating itself with the anti-choice, anti-equality Focus on the Family raises serious questions about CBS policies and bias” (Souce: The Women’s Media center.)

As part of their efforts to get CBS to drop the add, the Women’s media center has launched a campaign, urging viewers to suggest what CBS stands for. Their examples include “Corporate Broadcast Sell-outs” or “Completely Blatant Sexism.”

Never been a Jay Leno fan, and this whole debacle certainly hasn’t changed my mind.

Good Luck, Conan.

(On an editorial side note, I’m running with the spelling “Hanukkah” because it’s what’s used in the article… but I’ve always been more partial to “Chanukah”.)

You can read Jeffrey Goldberg’s entire account of how Orrin Hatch came to write a Hanukkah song at Tablet Magazine. Here’s a little snipit:

“It’s a delightful thing to have Orrin Hatch write a song for Hanukkah. Of course I appreciate the absurdist quality to this project, but I also deeply appreciate Hatch’s earnestness. His lyrics are not postmodern or cynical, which is a blessing, because I for one have tired of the Adam Sandlerization of Judaism in America. Yes, we are, as a people, funny (at least when compared to other people, such as Croatians) but our neuroses, well-earned though they may be, have caused us to lacerate our own traditions, which are in fact (to borrow from Barack Obama) awesome. The story of Hanukkah is a good case in point—maybe the perfect one.”

Happy Hannukkah/Chanukah, everyone!

‘Eight Days of Hanukkah,’ by Sen. Orrin Hatch and Madeline Stone

Eight Days of Hanukkah from Tablet Magazine on Vimeo.