I love tigers. I have always been fascinated by the largest of all cats. Tigers are on the very edge of extinction. With only 5,000 – 7,000 remaining tigers in the wild around the world, the species is forced to live in increasingly fragmented forests and shrinking land areas from India to southeastern China and from far eastern Russia to Sumatra, Indonesia. Tigers in the wild exist in 40 percent less habitat than was thought a decade ago and now occupy only seven percent of their historic range.
What an awful world this will be if we let these magnificent be wiped off the face of the earth (and we are almost at that point!).
Here is what the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has to say about the plight of tigers: * An astounding 95 per cent of tigers have been wiped off the face of the earth through a combination of habitat loss and hunting.
* The estimated 5,000 remaining tigers in the world are among the most endangered of all species.
* Once, there were eight tiger subspecies – but by 1980, the Caspian, Javan and Bali tigers had been hunted to extinction.
* Today, five tiger subspecies remain – the Bengal, Siberian, Sumatran, Indochinese and South China tigers. However, it is estimated that there are only 20 South China tigers left in the world, and that species may also soon become extinct.
* There has been an upsurge of tiger killings recently in India, where most of the world’s remaining tigers live. A recent investigation revealed that tiger products are being marketed on the Internet.
* The greatest threat to tigers continues to be the international illegal trade in tiger parts (mostly used in traditional Chinese medicine) and products.
* In the late 1990s, the price paid to a hunter by a trader for one kilogram of tiger bone ranged from $15 to $160.
* Climate change is having a deadly effect on the Siberian tigers of Russia. Last winter was so cold and icy that tigers could not approach their prey noiselessly. Unable to feed themselves, many tigers and their cubs starved to death.
The Good News: * There is hope – WWF has been working to save tigers since the launch of Operation Tiger in the early 1970s. Since then, the Bengal tiger population has nearly doubled. The Siberian tiger has recovered from fewer than 40 in the 1940s to more than 350 in 2002.
* WWF’s goal for 2010 is to eliminate the illegal hunting of tigers and the international black-market trade in tiger parts and products, and to protect well-managed habitat areas across the tiger’s entire natural range.
A few years ago my family got me a great birthday present. They adopted a tiger from the WWF in my name. I really love the idea behind this gift and keep the stuffed tiger I got as part of the package as a reminder to what is happening to tigers.
* You can find out more from the World Wildlife Fund Canada website:
http://wwf.ca/index.cfm.
* You can Adopt a Tiger of your own or for someone you love:
https://wwfstore.donorportal.ca/p-68-a-tiger.aspx * Or you can Give a Tiger a Fighting Chance:
http://wwf.ca/donate/uniquegifts/tiger/ “When a man wants to murder a tiger he calls it sport: when the tiger wants to murder him he calls it ferocity.”
- George Bernard Shaw
Imagine you had a successful dog walking business in Toronto’s Beach community. There are a lot of dogs and dog owners in that area and business is really booming. You have staff, happy customers, lots of leashes and lots of poop bags. So you decide it’s time to reach out and expand your business by opening up in a new location. You do your research and see that there are tons of communities in Toronto, in Ontario, and all across Canada that are filled with dogs and dog owners. AND these areas are under-supplied with dog walking services. So when it comes time to expand your company, you decide to open your first satellite location in tiny shack on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan. Where having a dog as a pet is against the religious beliefs of the locals, where dogs are used for sport, or left to roam the streets wild
Not the best business idea the world has ever seen.
This is what the NHL has been trying to do. Trying to bring the game of hockey to places like Phoenix, Nashville and now Kansas City is not just stupid - it's ridiculous! Oh, sure. I know this kind of thing has been done before. Jamaica had a bob-sled team, right? Sure, but incidents of products swimming that far upstream are pretty few and far between. At some point you have to do what makes sense.
I understand that the goal is the lucrative US TV contracts. But that voice in Kevin Costner’s head was right when it whispered to him, “Build it and they will come.” You can’t hand-shake your way into a lucrative US TV contract – okay, maybe you can, but you really shouldn’t be permitted to do it that way and it's not the best way to do. Fix your product, make sure your ducks are all in order and expand into places that make sense.
If the NHL had any real leadership at all - or any brains, they would be looking at how they could expand into markets that have already proven themselves as "hockey markets" – you know, with people who like hockey. So yes, that means more Canadian teams – many more Canadian teams. It probably means 3 or 4 more teams in Ontario alone. I think the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) can EASILY handle 2 more teams alone! But it also means places like Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, and Russia.
Oh, I’m not sure how it would all work out. There would legal issues - that’s why the NHL has an army of lawyers. There would be travel concerns – I’m guessing that airline sponsorship might be a little easier to get than that lucrative US TV contract. Maybe the current-NHL teams all play each other for the Stanley Cup and then the winner of that part of the new world-league plays the winner from the European part of the new world-league. That would keep the air miles down at least. It COULD be worked out somehow.
To say it can’t be done. Well, that is just protecting the status-quo. Ever notice how many super-hero movies are coming out? That’s because they know that each of those comic books and graphic novels has its own built-in fan base. Before the movie is made they already have a market for it! That’s just good business.
I don’t actually believe that the new Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) in Russia is going to start challenging the NHL for fan loyalty or even for revenue. I’m talking about leadership and what makes good business sense for the NHL.
On that note, The Philadelphia Flyer’s Jaroslav Modry has agreed to play hockey in the Czech Republic next season. He is just the latest in a long line of NHL players and future NHL-ers that leaving to play hockey in those other countries that like hockey – and dogs.
We are all familiar with the more high profile NHL players who have signed contracts to play hockey overseas this year (Jaromir Jagr, Alexander Radulov, and Ray Emery). But there are a lot of other second and third tier players who have already made the decision to leave the NHL and play for teams in Russia and the Czech Republic. Most of them aren’t “big name” players so no one is prepared to hit the panic button – yet. But if you look closely there are also a few surprises and a few young guys who a few NHL teams had being grooming for the future (you’ll note this isn’t a complete list as I’ve missed a few goalies as I was mostly compiling this list for our annual hockey pool and unfortunately our pool doesn’t include goalies):
* Joe DiPenta (ANA)
* Jason King (ANA)
* Bruno St. Jacques (ANA)
* Alexei Zhitnik (ATL)
* Steve McCarthy (ATL)
* Joel Kwiatkowski (ATL)
* Karel Pilar (ATL)
* John Grahame (CAR)
* Andrei Zyuzin (CHI)
* Jeff Jillson (COL)
* Jaroslav Hlinka (COL)
* Mark Rycroft (CBJ)
* Nate DiCasmirro (CBJ)
* Dick Tarnstrom (CBJ)
* David Vyborny (CBJ)
* Johan Holmqvist (DAL)
* Bryce Lampman (DAL)
* Janos Vas (DAL)
* Mark Hartigan (DET)
* Allan Rourke (EDM)
* Magnus Johansson (FLA)
* Branislav Mezei (FLA)
* Jozef Stumpel (FLA)
* Martin Lojek (FLA)
* Kevin Dallman (LA)
* Jon Klemm (LA)
* Petteri Nummelin (MIN)
* Branko Radivojevic (MIN)
* Chris Simon (MIN)
* Alexander Radulov (NSH)
* Sergei Brylin (NJ)
* Jordan Parise (NJ)
* Noah Clarke (NJ)
* Karel Rachunek (NJ)
* Mike Morrison (NYI)
* Josef Vasicek (NYI)
* Jaromir Jagr (NYR)
* Martin Straka (NYR)
* Ivan Baranka (NYR)
* Ray Emery (OTT)
* Niko Dimitrakos (OTT)
* Jaroslav Modry (PHI)
* Patrick Thoresen (PHI)
* Denis Topelko (PHI)
* Marcel Hossa (PHX)
* Niko Kapanan (PHX)
* Mark Ardelan (PIT)
* Curtis Brown (SJS)
* Dmitri Patzold (SJS)
* Martin Rucinsky (STL)
* Alex Brooks (STL)
* Jean-Guy Trudel (STL)
* Martin Kariya (STL)
* Hannu Toivonen (STL)
* Kyle Wanvig (TB)
* Chris Harrington (TOR)
* John Pohl (TOR)
Pretty long list eh? Whatever the NHL does or doesn’t do with expansion, you can at least expect this list to get longer every year.
"It seems that Tretiak is still too inexperienced to stand up to the NHL sharpshooters. He is not confident with his ability in tight situations. The goalkeeper is definitely the weakest link on the Soviet team."
- Canadian Hockey Experts, after watching Vladislav Tretiak let in 9 goals during a game in
Russia the day before his marriage, quoted in Tretiak: The Legend
That’s my new spy name. Richer Micros is an anagram of my name, Chris Cormier. I’ve got to find some way to use this new name. Right now I sign all my love notes to Sherri this way.
I am not a conspiracy “nut.” I don’t believe that “everything happens for a reason,” or that there is some divine master-plan guiding us all and making it all make sense.
I will certainly admit to being a skeptic.
But sometimes, something as simple as an anagram can make the hairs on your arm stand up just a little bit straighter… all right, that might be a bit much. Sometimes an anagram can make you stop and say, “Hmmm.”
For example, “Listen” is an anagram for “Silent.” Whoa. That’s an anagram – and it’s profound. Here are a few more of my favourites:
* Elvis = Lives
* Clint Eastwood = Old West Action
* Dormitory = Dirty Room
* The eyes = They see
* Astronomers = Moon starers
* Postmaster = Stamp Store
* Clothespins = So Let's Pinch
* Desperation = A Rope Ends It
* David Letterman = Nerd amid late TV
* Ronald Reagan = A darn long era
* George Bush = He bugs Gore
Those were fun. So I decided to look up the name of our graphic design and promotions company, ideas company. Some really good ones here:
* A dynamic pose. A little mellow-dramatic. Might be more fitting a dance troupe.
* Panic someday. Ain’t that the truth. Let’s all try a little harder to plan ahead people!
* A side company. Wow! This one isn’t accurate at all (unless it’s the universe really is trying to tell me something – nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Wake up, Neo!), but it works out great!
* A copy sideman. Not bad considering we coordinate printing and production for our clients as well. It’s not really a “side” business for us but it’s not the main part of what we do either.
* Pain made cosy. Yes creativity, design, and creation can be painful sometimes. I like to think we do a good job making the pain our clients feel a lot more cosy.
* Any media cops. Ahhh, brand enforcement. Sometimes I feel a little like a cop when I have to explain to some clients why I so strongly disagree with this or that revision because it will be in some way harmful to their established brand.
* Company aides. This is my favourite! Graphic design is so much more than putting text on a page. Some days I’m an editor, a copywriter, an administrative assistant, an “ad man”, a small business advisor, a telephone tech support person, an event planner… I get to asked to wear a lot of different hats. That’s why I like this anagram the best. Sometimes, when I’m asked what we do, I sum it up as “We help businesses communicate their message and grow”. So this one works... I'm not sure why I need an anagram for my business name.
Get your anagram today using Wordsmith.org’s anagram search.
"Shouldn’t there be a shorter word for monosyllabic?"
- author unknown
I’m obsessed with a CD. I’ve been listening to soundtrack from the movie Once a lot lately. That was such a great movie! And it’s a great CD!
I wish I could sing like Glen Hansard! (if you are big fan of the film The Commitments - you might remember him as the red hair guitarist). In a few songs his voice is so committed and emotional it’s shocking. This is the kind of music I wanted to make back when I played guitar and considered it as a career (only I envisioned an electric guitar run through a chorus pedal with a violin and a cello – with the occasional acoustic guitar and maybe some keyboards depending on the song).
But I could never be a singer. My memory is horrible and I can never remember the lyrics to any song (oh, and I can’t sing – not really), no matter how much I love it or many times I listen to it. I’ve often thought it would be funny to see a cover band that mumbles it’s way through parts of the song cuz the singer can’t remember the lyrics… maybe as a scene in a movie or something. “Let’s a have a really big welcome for Big Johnny and Mumblers!”
I really enjoy most of the songs on the CD but I am obsessed and addicted to these songs:
* All The Way Down
* When Your Mind’s Made Up
* Leave
* Say It To Me Now
* Lies
* The Hill, and
* Falling Slowly
“Music is well said to be the speech of angels.”
- Thomas Carlyle, The Opera
So this week, Sherri and I went to see the new Batman film, The Dark Knight. My friend Matthew will be so happy, because now I can finally watch all the trailers for the movie that he has been sending me for the past few months (he loves trailers and I hate them – but maybe I’ll rant more about that another time).
Wow! What a great, exciting movie! I really loved Batman Begins, the first Christopher Nolan/Christian Bale Batman movie. And this one completely lived up to my expectations.
Finally, the re-invented Batman of Frank Miller’s comic book mini-series The Dark Knight Returns comes to life on the big screen. While Frank Miller doesn’t get any credit for this movie, Batman Begins, or the original Tim Burton films Batman, and Batman Returns, without Frank Miller these movies and the character we all now think of as Batman would not exist. Frank Miller (creator and visionary behind the very stylistic movies Sin City, 300, and the up-coming Watchmen) redefined the character of Batman in the mid 80s as a “darker” more sinister super-hero. He turned up the realism for the character and turned Gotham City into a gritty, mad-house over-run with crime. This wasn’t the almost-slapstick, KA-POW Batman from that TV show in the 60s that everyone my age loved so much as children.
Frank Miller’s new Batman was a huge success and changed comic books forever. His new vision of Batman was the inspiration behind Tim Burton Batman, and Batman Returns movies. Burton’s villains were embarrassingly comic – no pun intended, Batman was just a bit moody and just not “dark” enough to live up to Miller’s vision. Don’t get me wrong, at the time, I really liked the first Batman movie and, well, Michelle Pfeiffer in a cat-suit really helped me overlook the flaws in the second movie. (Let’s not mention the other Batman movies. They were just horrible and unwatchable).
The Dark Knight was everything I was hoping for in a sequel and stayed true to the dirty nasty world they created in Batman Begins. As much as I love Christian Bale as an actor and his portrayal of Batman, the real star of the film is Heath Ledger. What an incredible performance! When Jack Nicholson played the character I thought he was incredible – and I told my parent’s at the time that, regardless of all his other movies, his many awards and accolades, that this, The Joker, was the role he was born to play (okay, looking back, I admit, that was a little overly enthusiastic!). But what Heath Ledger did with the character was so much more. More real. And well, more – insane.
This version of the Joker isn’t an over-the-top villain from a comic book. He’s a driven extremist. An anarchist with a vision. A madman, and a real person. It made me start to think Nicholson’s performance in a new light. Quite frankly he put Nicholson to shame. While watching this movie, I realized I was starting to compare Nicholson’s Joker more and more to performance of Cesar Romero in the original 1960s TV show, and less as a portrayal of a real, flawed, scary human being.
Ledger did something with his tongue while playing the Joker that was so subtle that I kept asking myself, “Was that his tongue?” Normally, I really hate it when an actor will use his tongue to convey insanity. The insane people I know aren’t so considerate to declare themselves to the entire world by sticking out their tongue every now and then during normal speech. You have look for other clues about their madness.
Ledger’s tongue was subtle and the rest of his performance was thoroughly convincing and entertaining. I don’t know if a dead person can win an Oscar, but I think he should certainly be considered.
And I really wasn’t a big fan of Heath Ledger before this movie. I liked him in The Patriot and thought he was pretty good in Brokeback Mountain. Yes, guys, I saw Brokeback Mountain – in the theatre no less. Grow-up! I’m an adult and I love movies. That wasn’t the first gay love story I’ve watched. It certainly wasn’t the best, the most graphic (my memory of Wong Kar Wai’s Happy Together seems much more graphic - but I could be wrong about that), or the most romantic (I thought John Hurt’s troubled performance in Love and Death on Long Island was so much more romantic). In fact, Brokeback Mountain wasn’t very romantic at all – in spite of what all the critics said at the time. It was okay. It didn’t nearly live up to all the hype and attention it received.
It’s an awful shame that we won’t get to see more of Heath Ledger as the Joker.
“Some men aren't looking for anything logical. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.”
- Michael Caine playing the character Alfred Pennyworth in the film The Dark Knight, speaking about The Joker
