Mary and I had a chance to see a legend tonight. The Gambler himself, Kenny Rogers made his final, self proclaimed visit to Calgary.

Mary and I have made a habit of frequenting the Grey Eagle casino to see these legends as they come through. This one was a special one for me. I grew up on his music. My parents were a fan and therefore I became a fan. I was even a fan of the bad 80’s movies that came from his music. The guy just has charisma and people wanted to be with him and everyone wanted to be him. Tonight, he showed that even at 78 years, he could tell a story with the best of them. He took the audience on a journey of his entire life in music, telling the stories and highlighting the people who made his amazing 60 year career possible. By his own admission, he has become old. His knee replacement made his mobility impossible and the old pipes just sounded more raspy than ever, making some of his trademark moments difficult to hear. But he can still entertain.

His music was always transcendent. Not country and not pop but somehow always mainstream. His duets with Dottie West and Dolly Parton made for some of the most memorable songs of this generation. His blockbusters like “The Gambler”, “Lucille” and “Islands in the Stream”, still brought the crowd to their feet and left you with a glimpse as to how great he was at commanding a room. He made sure to hit all of the highlights of his great musical anthology and we all left thankful for what we had witnessed. It allowed me to take my own journey down my Kenny Rogers connection as well.

My Mount Rushmore of under appreciated Kenny Rogers songs:

1. All I Ever Need is You (duet with Dottie West). This is my go to song when I want to here the energy that he carried with his favourite female duet partner. Take a listen through this classic song once more and enjoy the playful voices within the song.
2. Love Will Turn you Around. I loved the movie Six Pack, where this song was written for, because that was the way I remembered Kenny. The song has a tremendous meaning to me and always brings a smile to my face when I hear it come on.
3. Something’s Burning. The buildup in energy within this song, makes this a song that has to be played when regaling this man. The way he slowly takes you through the intensity of this song makes it a masterpiece.
4. Love Lifted me. Many versions of this song have been sung over the years but none this powerful. This has become one of the greatest choir songs ever but has so much more value. One of the best songs he wrote and one that many artists has enjoyed success from.

Better than all the music is that he genuinely seems like a great guy and someone who you would enjoy talking with if the opportunity ever arose. I will always remember the way he was able to laugh at himself on places like variety shows, concerts and even talk shows. Even last night, you could hear in his voice that he wasn’t willing to put on a concert anymore if he couldn’t do it well. He knows he isn’t the same performer that we all recognize and he will ride off into the sunset knowing he had that kind of showman impact on crowds everywhere.

I guess the Gambler does know when to fold em’ after all.

Marco

Man, I hate winter.

No I mean it, there is very little good about winter to me. I know, it is sacrilegious in this part of the world to not have love for the snow but it just don’t. I have spent far too many of my formative years in the Prairies with frozen hands, snot icicles and seven layers of clothing for anything we want to do. I grew up playing hockey, indoors and outdoors, and loved everything about it except the cold. Skiing was also a blast. Couldn’t get enough of the thrill of swooshing down the hill, except for freezing my bloody face off. Who doesn’t love Christmas? Everyone loves the holiday season, travelling through the city, seeing all the lights, hitting the malls. Everything is magical, except the cold.

Thankfully, I have met a woman who shares the hated for the cold. Mary and I often discuss the desire to move to a warmer climate once the kids are moved on. We have this silly fantasy where we are sitting on the lenai in some fictitious Hawaiian home while the boys and our grandkids hang off of our every word. Do you what the key ingredient is to the entire dream? Warmth. When is the last time you heard of someone tell you their latter years story including a snow drift. Um never, is the answer. Who knows if this warm climate dream will ever actually happen but it literally warms me up thinking about it.

Back to reality. Friday was a shock to my system. You knew it was coming too. Colder and colder mornings, the grass stopped growing, baseball playoffs started. I miss the summer already. Normally, I love the fall and all that it offers the 403. One of the great things it offers is a chance to catch your breath from a frantic summer of BBQ parties, camping, car trips and endless cool drinks. Not this fall!

Friday morning, it was ice fog leading into light flurries that turned my normally easy trip to Red Deer into a skating rink. Yeah, I’m the guy that was trying to milk the last legs out of his balding all-season tires. The same guy that won’t put a jacket on until Thanksgiving. The same guy that won’t put the patio furniture away until snow covers the cushions. All of that went out the window on Friday. I was thrown quickly into my own personal snowy hell. I’m not sure I can handle a long winter.

It’s Thanksgiving weekend and it sucks out. For those who long for the snow, this is awesome. For me, I will dig my sweaters out, find my snow brush and change the ole’ furnace filter while I long for the days of sunshine and cool beer.

Happy winter everyone.

Marco

Last night, Mary and I were lucky to be invited to attend the grand opening ceremony at the new YYC international terminal. Although the terminal won’t officially open until October 31, we were lucky to be amongst a thousand people who were paraded through the new terminal and entertained along the way. It really is a beautiful facility, one that will make Calgary a go to destination for the world. New flights are already being directed towards the city and many more will be scheduled in the coming years.

Mary and I had a wonderful evening amongst the masses who joined us. We were entertained to artists playing music of all genres, trapeze artists suspended from the massive ceilings above the terminal, wonderful food and wine and really just great ambiance within a state of the art building. The food was an excellent display of what the new Marriott hotel will be serving at the airport and the wines and beer samples were first class. The artwork within the terminal, sets this apart from anything we have seen previously. We were particularly enthralled with the polar bears carved out of sone and the detail that went into these sculptures. It is a functional facility, blessed with all of the nuances of a world class building.

Most importantly, I had tremendous night with Mary. She was her usual engaging self, making me laugh at every turn. We strolled arm in arm through the terminal, looking at all of the shops, restaurants and decor with nothing but time to enjoy them all. I suspect, the next time we are through that building, it will be under the stress of travel and trying to get somewhere quickly. Not last night. We enjoyed each other’s company, sat around at the different seating areas it possesses and I swear Mary tried every washroom in the place. We even photo bomber mayor Nenshi several times throughout the evening, determined to take a selfie with him never knowing we were there. This evening was another example of why I love this woman so much. She captivates me. We were dressed in our nice clothes for a night having a date with a thousand other strangers and it was wonderful.

As Mary said towards the end of the night, “we should do this again”, and we should. Hopefully we don’t need to wait until next time they open a multi-million dollar airport terminal.

Love you Mary.

Marco

It was a sad news article for me today. Blackberry has decided to stop producing it’s own phones. No that doesn’t mean that Blackberry ceases to exist. Nothing will derail the Apple train now but back in the early 2000’s Blackberry was the bomb. Those were the days with the smooth click of the track wheel, the distinctive sound of the email transfer and the soft touch of the QWERTY keyboard. My 5000 series Blackberry was my first electronics love.

Think back to those days. Before the billion apps dominated our minds. Before we cared about web access. Before we cared about plus sized screens. Before we knew better. It was so simple and then it was gone. Run over on the super-highway of  technology and mocked as quickly as it was revered by phone snobs. It makes no sense to me when I reflect on it.

When I upgraded to the Blackberry Bold, I thought it couldn’t be any better. Sleeker look and feel with the centre track button. Sometimes I pull the carcass of that phone out of my cupboard just to feel her touch again. Now my kids laugh at what she looks like, but not me. To me she was a golden goddess of information.

Soon enough it will vanish altogether. The newer Blackberry’s look more like the hollow feeling iPhone anyway. The soul of the phone was ripped out of my hands, many moons ago. I hope that as they outsource the hardware, that somewhere in the outsource world, a young engineer listens to an old phone fogey like me and remembers that what’s old is new again. I can hear the click, click, click of that track wheel coming down the tracks again one day.

Marco

Ever have one of those days? How about when one of those days turns into one of those nights? Everything seemed to go wrong last night. Mary was out at a work function and I am coming back from out of town. In a matter of 30 minutes I am dealing with a crisis from both of my boys and I know my night has gone sideways.

Nic has had a big week. He has received his license, bought a car and driven to school for the first time alone and got his first part-time job. He is the man! That is until he is coming home from his big day and  he has three slashes in the side wall of his tire. Who else should get that call? His first reaction is to try and pump the tire so I now know that being a mechanic is not in his future. Second is to call me. I am 60 minutes from getting home so Mary helps him by calling AMA and he is in a hard wait. Then I get the call from Cam…

Cam has a slightly more interesting story that only a man could love. He has decided to break the news to me that the basement toilet is broken. His logic is that it’s a fluke and unbelievable while I am thinking I see the unbelievable everyday with these kids. He tells me he was holding a cutting board in his one hand loaded with brie cheese, crackers and a glass of milk. No big deal except with the other hand he is taking a leak in the bathroom. Makes total sense to me… As he is finishing his business, he drops the glass of milk into the toilet. In a normal world the glass shatters and life moves on. Not in my world. The glass projectiles right through the side wall of the toilet leaving a huge hole in the throne. After 4 hours of Cam trying to Gorilla glue, duct tape and stick a towel in the hole (like we would never have seen it), he calls. Now I am stopping to buy a crapper along the way.

The end result is 90 minutes at Canadian Tire, another 90 minutes to change a toilet and $900 later the night is shot. I’m sure there are worse things that could happen to a guy but this was a strange one. What can Thursday bring.

Marco

It was a terrible day in sports. For sure I am unhappy that my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers lost their game badly today but that was nothing compared to the loss that the world took today. There are few times where the on field loss hurts less than usual. Today the losses were compounded by the death that cast it’s pall over sports.

The tragic death of Jose Fernandez of the Miami Marlins woke me up this morning when my phone exploded. The sites and emotion that came from South Florida were as gripping as it was surreal. He was a bright light amongst a group of self centred, egotistical baseball players. A great player, who by many accounts, was on a track for Hall of Fame accolades but also one who shed his positive and boyish outlook on what is essentially a kids game. The sports world lost a future great, in my eyes.

Then tonight, the world lost a true titan of not only golf but of the sports pantheon, Arnold Palmer. If I could pick my Mount Rushmore of all-time golf greats he would be right at the top of the mountain along with Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods and Bobby Jones. He was a great golfer and an even better person in society. He was a literal ambassador to golfers around the world and he would be on a short list of faces that people across the globe could pick out of a crowd. All of this because he was a genuine and positive leader amongst all men.

Where does this leave us today. The sports world continues to revolve. Baseball pennant races are on fire, NFL games continue to draw billions of eyes and the World Cup of Hockey has captivated all hockey enthusiasts. Tomorrow, the world will wake up and do it all over again and we will continue to be gripped by the drama. For tonight, take a moment and reflect on the great things about sport and remember that sport is only great because of great people. All professional athletes are all gifted and special in their own way but there are those that take things to another level, on and off the playing surface. Today, we are poorer for losing these greats and the world should thank them for the gifts they have brought us.

Marco

Another Thursday night is upon us where Mary and I are heading in opposite directions. As I roll into the driveway after work, I have barely enough time to give Mary a kiss hello while she is trying to get her son out the door to hockey practice. Wouldn’t be so bad except by the time she gets back, I will have my son at basketball practice until late enough that we will likely talk again tomorrow morning. What are we doing all of this for again? That’s right… it’s for the boys. It’s their sports and it’s the stuff that will make them good men one day. But at what cost?

I am the bigger issue here for sure. I have coached my son’s sports for 10 years and it has been my ability to stay in touch with the boys through thick and thin. I have dutifully taken my kids 2-5 nights a week to their sports and never batted an eye. Under the cloak of “it’s for the boys” anything goes I guess. It does take its toll on the boys and their social and school lives. We spend many an evening trying to get these boys to unwind from sports while plying them with homework. They sometimes complain about missing their friends and often tell us they are too tired for school the next day but it’s all part of the life mission to turn sports into their moral fabric.

From the family point of view, nothing bonds a family together like cheering for a child at a sporting event. The thrill of victory and agony of defeat makes families stick together and go back wanting for more. All of the work and suffering is worth it, win or lose in those moments. But what about the time spent apart, with the family fractured over soccer, hockey, basketball etc. Hard to say it’s worth it. I run across the occasional family who have decided that keeping the kids clear from activities of any kind, is the smart path. What the kids lose in the life experiences is what the entire family gains in sanity. I think the approach may have some merit. Many times I have longed for the simplicity of the casual evening but I think it is dictated by your kids more than the parents. Some kids simply NEED to be active. Forcing them to sit and watch a movie and pay attention is more painful then hauling them to practice. Kids NEED activity and sports is a great way to burn that energy.

I am a sports guy and I will likely always defer towards that direction. I think the social, leadership and confidence that kids gain from a team sport supersede the damage it provides a family. Easier said than done tonight when all I want to do it hit the couch with Mary….

Marco

When Mary and I discussed the prospect of moving in together I never knew that it would come with conditions. Often the conditions are complicated and serious in nature. Marriage, more kids, a new house, moving cities are of the “we better sit down and discuss this” variety. Not me. My Mary had a simple request. She wanted two dogs.

Seems easy on the surface. Go select a couple of pooches, buy some food, beds and toys and welcome them to the family. Even for a non-dog guy like me, I could make that happen, right?

They are cute and they are destructive. They cuddle and they bite your ankle. They shock you with their compassion and then they take a whizz on your foot. They are complicated and no one really wants to deal with their complications. The kids always say, “I will look after them, walk them, clean up after them”. Blah, blah, blah. Now I am not claiming to be the family resource for the pups. I am simply a help to Mary’s passion to making sure the dogs are loved but it really needs to be a team effort.

We have a plan, the kids will be with us for 12-13 years and so will these pups. After that, Mary and I ride off into the retirement sunset together. Maybe dogs will be a long term part of my life for the long haul after that too.

Marco

My two teenage boys both drive and they share the same car. This is a major pushing point in this house as they have to schedule a plan to share. This is impossible

In my day, there was no car when you earned your licence. You begged and pleaded with your parents daily to see if they would let you drive the car. The idea of taking the car to school was a non-starter and you were lucky to cruise the streets on a Friday night in your family mini van. God forbid you had another sibling also driving as you might never feel the fine Corinthian velvet of your dad’s car.

In today’s world, kids want a car, now. Although there is a vast after-market of used beaters rolling around the city, it’s the cost of the operation of the vehicle that sinks most kids (and therefore their parents) before they get off the driveway. Teens have no perspective of the cost of running these beaters across the city, let alone the safety of doing so. My boys are learning the hard way.

My kids were lucky to have a car left for them from my divorce. We never planned on them both driving at the same time, let alone the same vehicle. I forced my oldest son to get his own insurance set up before he was 18. This left me exempt from his rash of speeding and parking tickets in those early days and my second oldest is headed for the same expensive fate. Now we are trying to manage the “division” of the vehicle by selling it and dividing the proceeds into 2 beaters. When I wanted a car as a youth, I was completely on my own to source the car, pay for it and make it run. Today the internet has streamlined this process and makes the dream of that 15 year old sports car, a reality. The chess game of selling one car to buy two is yet to come but will be the next evolution of their driving life.

Stay tuned for the continuation of the saga.