Playoff pool: round four
It’s a rematch of the Penguins and Red Wings, with game one of the Stanley Cup finals kicking off tonight.
I’ve still got my three players from last round – Jordan Staal, Evgeni Malkin and Niklas Kronwall – and I’m still in third, though 63 points behind first place.
Though I have been following the playoffs because of my participation in the pool this year, I think I’m much less invested in the whole series than I was last year. That’s due to silly CBC Ottawa not showing half the games, the teams that I was rooting for getting knocked out early, and simply the busyness that my life has become. I lost $10 (your welcome, Tom) but it was a fun experience anyway.
My prediction for the 2009 champion: the Pittsburgh Penguins, in seven games. What’s yours?
My new hero: Michaelle Jean
Okay, so she’s not exactly my new hero. Despite being primarily a ceremonial position, I think the role of the governor general is pretty sweet.
The reason for being in my spotlight lately is Michaelle Jean’s decision to participate in eating and hunting seal during her trip to Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. Half the world is up in arms over it, decrying the industry as inhumane and revolting. Someone even compared Jean to Sarah Palin, which I think is unfair and irrelevant. Others are calling her Braveheart and applauding the GG for standing up for what is a way of life for the Inuit.
I’m with them.
This is where my non-animal friendly side comes out. No, I don’t want to see baby seals clubbed to death. But I’d rather that than watch the Inuit lose their livelihood and culture. It’s how some of them survive and a few animal rights groups shouldn’t be enough to stop it. It’s a contentious issue, and I understand why Prime Minister Stephen Harper doesn’t want to take a stance and risk alienating other countries over it.
That’s why Jean was a good person to stand up for it. As an nonpartisan leader, she was able to participate in the seal hunt without putting a political party on PR clean-up duty. The majority of comments I’ve read on the Internet and news stories are impressed a voice of authority has finally spoken out for the Inuit, instead of letting the discussion be dictated by other nations and organizations.
As I blogged about recently, Canadians are often too worried about what other people think to share their opinions. Whether or not people agree with her position, we should be glad Jean decided to firmly take a side in this whole debate. It’s about time someone did.
What do you think?
Twitter and the future of journalism
I love picking up a newspaper and flipping through the crisp pages, scanning headlines, becoming engrossed in a news story or opinion piece.
But I’m also following updates about the mayor’s trial on Twitter and reading liveblogs on Macleans.ca. As I’ve written about before, I think the demand for news is changing, but not abating. Though I don’t always agree with our culture of immediacy and instant gratification, as a journalist I have to keep up with where and how people are looking for information. I think all of the new online tools can be very helpful for media companies, as long as we are not lumped together with anyone that sets up a website and claims to be a reporter.
I’ve created Twitter and Facebook accounts for my newspaper, the Kanata Kourier-Standard, which I try to update every day as well as our website. Then there’s this blog, which of course is always bursting with breaking news and captivating randomness.
I’m trying to stay up with the times, see. I’m still figuring out how to maximize coverage through these online means, while continuing to put a great newspaper in the community’s hands every week. It’s an interesting balance but I’m actually enjoying it. I love my news as quickly as possible, so why wouldn’t I want to provide that service for our readers?
Click here for an interview about a journalism that includes Twitter and blogs, and let me know what you think.
O’Brien interview
The police’s interview with mayor Larry O’Brien was shown in the courtroom during his trial for influence peddling on Monday. He’s not going to take the stand that I know of, so this was his testimony. The video has been released to the media and you can watch all of it here. Interesting stuff.
The trial continued today with MPP Lisa McLeod taking the stand. In her testimony, she said she spoke to O’Brien on July 31 and the topic of an appointment for Terry Kilrea came up … which means the offer was still in play weeks after the two men first met and discussed the mayoral race.
Tomorrow, court will remain in recess to O’Brien can go to his son’s graduation from McGill University.
Long shutter speeds
I took a few days off work recently to spend some time with my family, including the travellers, my brother and sister-in-law. It was fabulous to relax with them and hear all about their travels.
Here’s a few random photos from my nice long weekend.
Friday: Kellon chases around his uncle Jay around the trampoline.
Saturday: Karen spikes the volleyball. We had some sweet rallies going on.
Sunday: Allie continues to be adorable and entertaining.
More from Sunday: a long shutter speed shows the movement of the clouds and stars.
Monday: We all go walking. We're cool like that.
And there you have it folks. There was a huge amount of photographing in there too, not to mention croquet and euchre. Boring? Not in the least.
Court reporting, part two
I covered day 10 of the mayor’s trial on Thursday, when Conservative cabinet minister John Baird took the stand in the morning and Terry Kilrea’s testimony was finally wrapped up in the afternoon. Read my story on what happened here.
Baird didn’t say a whole lot we hadn’t already heard. The examination went over all of his dealings with Kilrea, which the former mayoral-candidate had already shared. The stories were consistent. Kilrea said he didn’t bring up the topic of a possible appointment to the National Parole Board, and Baird said he didn’t either: because Kilrea wasn’t qualified for the position.
Even though Baird was only on the stand for a few hours, he’s still a prominent politician in Ottawa and it was a big deal. When he left the courtroom, two-thirds of the gallery followed him – basically all the media looking for a scrum or a photo op at least.
“Was it something I said?” joked judge Douglas Cunningham as courtroom 36 nearly emptied.
I went along with the crowd, but Baird ducked out a side door and didn’t give the media an opportunity to talk to him. Still no photos of Larry O’Brien either … the mayor has remained elusive by arriving early or going through side doors, or so I’ve heard.
The trial resumes this morning at 10 a.m. I’ve heard Det. Sgt. Brian Mason could be next on the stand.
Lessons in the living room
For those of you that weren’t aware – I was homeschooled. And I turned out fairly normal, I think. And I loved it.
I wrote a story about some homeschoolers in Ottawa that was published in the Kourier-Standard this week. The parents told me they wanted to keep their kids out of the public school system because of the crowded classrooms, peer pressure and other negatives that decrease how much is actually being learned.
I enjoyed going into their homes and watching the kids dive into their math textbooks or, like three-year-old Christopher, rattle off the numbers and letters he already knew. It was neat doing the interviews, hearing about their motivations, their struggles and their triumphs … then casually mentioning that I was also homeschooled as well. It’s an instant connection. One mom began questioning me about my experiences and how I transitioned from high school to college.
Anyway, you can read my stories here; check out the photo gallery here for pictures of the families I interview.
The missionaries return
My brother and his wife, Jason and Shannon, are returning from a six-month missions trip to Burkina Faso (western Africa) tomorrow. I am super stoked to see them!
Jason built a computer database for a handicapped centre, while Shannon used her nursing skills as a clinic. They are my heroes.
Playoff pool: round three
It’s down to four teams in the NHL playoffs … and I’m down to three players in my pool. I’ve got Evgeni Malkin and Jordon Staal from the Penguins and Niklas Kronwall from Detriot. I hope those teams make it to the finals or I’m officially done. There’s no chance of winning it – my coworker has it pretty much locked up with 124 points and 10 players left. I’m hanging onto third place with 80 points, with the consolation that I won’t be on the bottom – one of our managing editors has got that spot all to himself. He’s stuck with 59 points and zero players left.
So, my predictions:
Detroit vs. Chicago – Chicago in seven games
Pittsburgh vs. Carolina – Pittsburgh in six games
And I think Pittsburgh is going to take home Stanley this year …
What do you think?
Jen the traveller
I’m living vicariously through my friend, Jen, at the moment. She quit her job and hit the road a few days ago on a cross-North American drive to see friends and the sites. I’m a little jealous, not going to lie.
To follow her adventures on her blog, click here.
Cheryl