2014 Sochi Winter Games

I have always longed to see my Ice Cream houses. Some, call this Red Square, but to my mother it was the Forbidden City. It was the place of dangerous sabre rattling men that banged their shoe on the table at the United Nations. It was the place of our enemy. The great Soviet Bear poised to nuke our cities and kill our children. But to me it was the place that had Ice Cream houses. The colourful spires representing soft ice cream of delicious and exotic flavours, and to my Mom; fear and destruction.

I am not sure if it is the duality of our worlds or if it is the point of perspective but I’ve never feared this Great Russian Bear. They were, after all, our allies during the war my father fought in. In fact of any of the countries involved they arguably suffered the most. Twenty million proud and incredibly resilient people lost their lives. So how could a country, or friend, that fought alongside us turn against us. They had already demonstrated their superior intelligence.  Beating us in the race for space, so they had to know starting a war would kill their children too.

So while my mother at the time said I could never go, I can honestly say I never lost the desire or the hope I would.  This dream almost came true in 1992, but events beyond my control took life in a different direction.  That direction continued, and continues today, but only till May.

Keep this in mind while reading this blog for potential bias. I watch the opening ceremony of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games with enormous pleasure.  Having the courage to accurately show the history of Russia to an audience, like my mother, that still view this country with guarded suspicion to others that view it with outright disdain was courageous. It was speedy in its transitions and focused on entertaining, rather than educating, but it was inclusive. While slightly avant guard in its symbolism, it was easily understandable, in all languages, and immensely entertaining.

If you believe my perspective regarding suspicion is harsh let me shed a light on this observation. There has been a ton of bad press surrounding these games. Some of it deserved and other plays on stereotypes. A statement made in English about cameras in hotel bathrooms gets tons of air time on many networks. Is any consideration given that the person making the statement is under immense pressure and speaking in a tongue not native to him? Nope, the networks just run with the stereo typed sound byte. If USA Today ran with a story that St. Patrick day celebrations ended with party goers being escorted home in a paddy wagon would it not be called racist? I believe it would. (Paddy is a derogatory slang for Irish and drunk is a stereotype. Akin to saying violent Nigger)

Much has been made about the US president not attending the games. Theories abound about the reason for this. The most likely is that during the Georgian War, Georgian forces retreated from their border when the Russian Federation advanced. This allowed for an unguarded border that could have allowed hostiles bent on terror into the area.  Hostiles that are not friendly to the US or the Russian Federation. But we will never know. Because neither our Prime Minister nor The President will comment officially.  But why the conspiracy? The US President didn’t come to Vancouver either.  This didn’t create any conspiracy theories about it being a snub because of Chechen terrorists or Gay Rights.  But then Quebec Separatists’ were quite then and in Vancouver waving a rainbow flag is about as common as finding a polite Canadian.

So can we really call the mass media racist in the way they are focusing on the issues of the Sochi Games? Perhaps not entirely. But we can call them ignorant, spoiled, and remiss. Ignorant in viewing a culture that has only had its current freedoms for twenty four years yet comparing it to others that have been "free" for over two hundred. Remiss in providing balanced journalism in an attempt to accurately inform rather than titillate or grab a headline. How long ago were the Gay Raids in clubs on Toronto and New York City? How long has our two countries been cool with Gay rights? When was the first Black baseball player? How long after emancipation? The large number of journalists being educated in US schools, in a country shown to be spying on its populace! Perhaps even using Angry Birds game to do so? While international companies like Apple confirms SIRI gathers intel and keeps it for years? Really? I am the only person with the hypocrisy alarm ringing?  As for the spoiled comment let us all remember the slagging we got in Vancouver about substandard accommodation. Really Vancouver?

It is an incredible achievement for any city to pull off an Olympic event. Montreal paid for theirs for years. Vancouver, a city used to massive building projects, struggled under the stresses even with thousands of unemployed. Sochi is a resort city seeing up to four million visitors per year yet only has a population of about 420 thousand.  Journalism is supposed to be about perspectives and information not titillation and pouncing on racial stereotypes.  Canada we only let First Nations vote in elections after 1960 and America you were still arguing about women’s rights into the 70’s. Saudi Arabia has a worse stance on gay rights, and deplorable human rights especially towards the above mentioned groups. But they do have some of the most wonderful hotels in the world, and oil...Propaganda. It’s not just for Russia anymore. 

THE GRAND ELOPE

            So, Christmas is only a few days away and it has been an interesting time in my life. December has always been a great month for me. I was born in December and until I was about three always thought people were putting up lights for me. I do remember thinking “why don’t they decorate for the other kids?” I come by my ego naturally!

            I am happy to see that my Post on PTSD got lots of exposure. I think it is important that with the new healthy lifestyle choices a little focus gets turned toward mental health. I was slightly amused that some thought it was a cry for help and sprung into action. I appreciated the calls and if you just posted on Facebook, well that gives me an indication of you concern. I am not really sure how many people saw it on Facebook as I don’t trust their numbers. But suffice to say with over 150000 followers the exposure was large. I have received many private notes and messages from a great deal of people thanking me for having the courage to post such a personal story.

            Facebook. Hmmm, I recently reactivated my personal account for friends only. I had to take it down many months ago as the Facebook police flagged it as a duplicate account. It was right before the IPO, go figure! Anyway I reopened it and hopefully it skates by scrutiny. I don’t post much on it, just things for people that aren’t close by or in touch on a regular basis. I am blessed that most of my friends are in touch regularly and for the most part I see them weekly. I saw a t-shirt that kind of speaks to this. “My wish for you is that one day your life is as good as you say it is on FaceBook”. A more truthful and sad concise statement probably hasn’t been said since the Beatle’s epic “One is the Loneliest Number”. Cluttered life albums with old pictures of partners that don’t matter anymore. I mean sure they were part of your life, so some contextual images that mark a moment, a place, an idea. But single selfy’s? Really? Move the fuck on! Like the shit we buy to impress people we don’t know, and perhaps even dislike, it clutters you. It creates emotional clutter that, forces you to drag it forward. Like the oversized carry on you loaded at the outlet mall, you’re now trying to drag through airport screening! How do you get to Happily ever after, with all the clutter of the “my life sucked” past? Perhaps this is just my perspective. But, I am really at a loss at how to look at it differently. If you’re betting on a game and the team fails to win do you really care what gets said in the locker room after? As the old saying goes “You don’t have a horse in that race.”

            I said this to a friend recently, as we smoked a cigar and talked about life, the universe, and everything. A common topic while herfing (it’s a word) an expensive bit of Cuban Culture. Ever the sensitive sort he put forth a few observations:

“Perhaps it serves as a lesson”

“Perhaps it allows memories of a happier time”

“Perhaps they’re just lazy and don’t edit”

I thought about these while watching the smoke curl and the ashes form. This brought my mind around to a few different thoughts. Does the ash of this cigar serve as a reminder of how good it was previously? I guess in fact it does. However if I don’t leave it in the ashtray it will just drop all over my shirt and make me look like a slob. The lingering smoke, does leave a scent. It is reminiscent of happier times now grown stale with time, and the absence of additional cigars. Smoked cigars left in the ashtray do not grow finer with the passage of time. So the lazy host is condemning his friends to future herfs outdoors in the cold. I guess it is plain to see my mind, once made up is very hard to change. Perhaps a failing, but one thing is very clear with this mindset. I am exactly where I decided to be.

            To other things as we race towards Christmas. Remember even if your friend or partner is not suffering from PTSD or the Christmas Blues Love is the reason for the season. Corny perhaps but when we have the courage to let down our defenses we see the real gifts bestowed on us. Recently I had four friends put their lives on hold, rearrange schedules, and spend time and money to jet to Vegas to be part of my Grand Elope. Considering at this time of year the effort it takes to meet a friend for coffee between mall excursions and the cost with all the gifts to budget for this was quite a demonstration of LOVE. It wasn’t easy for any of them to make this happen and it wouldn’t have been the same event without them. So a public thank-you.

            The Grand Elope. Inga and I wanted to throw a celebration in the city we were introduced in. So we decided to get married in Vegas. Now I know Vegas sounds like a bit of a tacky place to get married and while I am sure it can be it doesn’t have to be. In fact I really believe having done reams of research that it will give you the most bang for your buck and eliminate a mile of headaches. Take limos as an example. Presidential Limousine probably moves more people in a week than a comparable Vancouver company. This gives the client a level of service that is tried and tested and second to none. Restaurants are used to groups and being slammed is not an excuse for poor food or service. To sum up they are set up to do large celebrations. Ours was no exception, it went off as planned and designed without a hitch with most of the arrangements made on the web, or phone text! I planned the whole thing and trust me it was as easy an experience as a wedding could ever be.

• 1400sqft Suite for champane and cake after reception reception
• Chapel, Photogrpaher, video, and officiant.
• Lamborghini (Inga’s fathers “white horse”)
• Limo tours and pick up.
• Reception in the Foundation Room, with the view Inga and I saw on our first date!
• Russian flower arrangements and Cake decorating

All of these projects arranged and completed without actually talking to a single person! This is the digital age.

            So this is life moving forward and MY life moving forward. It has been a challenge of late to complete writing projects and move the sequel along, but it is. Slowly and more tightly this time that will add to your reading pleasure. Some other large changes loom on the horizon and rest assured I will take you all along for the ride.

            Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Best of the season. Enjoy this time with those you love and those that love you. Whatever your faith, beliefs, or delusions, remember Love is why we are all here and without love we will not be!  

Click here to see the New and Improved Website

Robots, Crop Circles, and Russians, OH MY!

    Wow it’s been quite a while since I’ve had time to update my blog. I’m seeing a common theme here, and in truth a troublesome character arc. But I have bored you with enough excuses already over the years so I shall just pretend like I haven’t let anyone down and go forward with what’s been new and going on in my world. I have moved once again and downsized in a 1st step in a continuum of downsizing to the point that I can either start work on the manuscript,  Left Turn No Fixed Address", or get the travel bug out of my system for a couple of years.

    Some good news I have actually been working quite diligently on the  next instalment of Grey Redemption. It had really died on the vine earlier and I was having difficulty restarting and remembering which reality, in which world, we are actually working in and that creates a lot of continuing issues in continuity. I think once a writer becomes an author one of the hardest things or challenges that this new reality brings is trying to guard your time. Between promotion and marketing, doing various dog and pony shows, attempting to get exposure in new markets and give attention to old markets, the beginning author can really get overwhelmed. I thought it was just me and that I was poor at managing time. But like most things in life when we think where the solitary person afflicted with the problem, in reality, it is hardly the case.  I watched a good friend do the exact same thing for his 1st year as a published author. However, the difference being he ignored, for the most part, the marketing promotion dog and pony show and continued on what he does best which is  write. Subsequently, he has his 2nd novel coming out published by a small but very well respected  horror publisher. So let me take this opportunity to congratulate Mark  Fuson on his 2nd book.

    Some of you know I use dictation software instead of typing manually just for the speed and break it gives me. Being  dyslexic provides a few challenges when typing and sometimes when my ideas rolling faster than my hands can keep up  I find it challenging and frustrating. So I’ve always found it easier to use new technology to adapt and overcome some of the disabilities, yes I said disabilities, not challenges. Challenges are what you give yourself if you want to be an Olympic athlete. If by nature, nurture, or damage things become harder it is not correct To say: a challenge. It is by its very nature a disability. So yes I know the PC police will cry foul, and I’ll get a series of e-mails about how this person or that  overcame their disabilities because they didn’t see them as disabilities but challenges.   Great,  hurrah for the special  class. This is my blog and I see it as disability. 

 It can also be incredibly amusing. Using dictation software and reading  when it  types what it thinks you said can be more than a little  funny. It also helps you work on your antonyms and synonyms because quite often you will say something and not quite articulate it correctly, and it will put down something completely absurd. But it’s  a robot and like the computers that run them, they are prone to do stupid things. I think the idea that we are all on the cusp of a Utopian society aided and helped by our electronic  toys/tools is about as far fetched as Hollywood coming out with something new and fresh in the movie.

     A great example of this is my  Roomba. I picked one of these up a few weeks ago as I like  the house being cleaned on a daily basis and I know I’m not going to do it. So this little round disc does an admirable job of rolling about the house picking up various pieces of  debris, entertaining the  Cat, while at the same time picking up his  hair. But, it is far from perfect and it is in that imperfection;  bloody hilarious. You see IKEA  Poang  chairs are the international nemesis of  these robotic cleaners. The legs are about 3 1/2 inches wide and so the robot sees this as a transition between perhaps carpeted and hardwood floor. Confused it tries to climb over the transition onto the carpet and then back over the transition onto the carpet, and then thoroughly confused it centres itself like some oddly round Jeep and  cries for help. This means I have to run to its rescue or rescue it when I get home.  It has of late been doing odd things. Perhaps growing tired of the molestation from The Piker. For example, the other day it was stuck underneath the chase lounge despite having more than enough clearance to go in or out. I also found it stuck underneath the leather theatre seating. How it got under the theatre seats I have no idea. Perhaps drawn to its prison by popcorn or perhaps hiding from the aforementioned evil creature. I know this sounds slightly paranoid, but in truth this little robot does seem to try and avoid any interaction with the cat  after it was attacked, viciously so, when it decided to "spot clean" near his food dish. Not knowing that the kibbles on the floor upset the robot as much as the robot upset the cat lingering far too long near his food supply. A happy medium is perhaps too much to ask for. I see artificial intelligence trying its best to be malicious. This is evidenced by the concentric circles in the  living room. The robot is obviously going around and around and around in an attempt to make the cat  ill, Or it has been possessed by alien technology and is doing crop circles. Which in itself may not be that funny however what is funny is thinking that any alien technology who would develop some sort of highly advanced engineering mode of travel and in doing so probably depleting many resources on their own planet. Would then travel through the vastness of space using navigational technology that we have yet to even conceive of, only to land on blue planet,  to push down some fucking corn. but I guess it works as a joke.

    Also new on the agenda for me is learning Russian. Yes I mean the Russian language. Now this is actually a challenge, the language having no easily recognisable characters in English and being quite foreign sounding is providing a new level of frustration. However difficult this is, it was significantly less difficult than working with the customer support section of Rosetta Stone. That was a experience not too unlike  conducting a deaf orchestra in a rousing rendition of “There’s a hole in my  bucket”. However, that challenges now been overcome I am slowly learning how to speak the Russian tongue.  Why, might this be important? Well, I guess you’ll just have to stay tuned for the sporadic, erratic, and less than scheduled posts to learn more.

Publicity is good even if its under the wrong name!

http://www.thevalleyvoice.ca/Voice%20Stories/October%202012/Chilliwack%20Books%20-%20Grey%20Redemption%20-%20Author%20Steve%20Covey%20-%20Oct%207%202012.htm

Just some local PR! Nice as other than a quick spot in the Langley Times newspaper the book has been getting very little attention in Canada! No idea why as I worked like hell to keep the spelling in Canadian english! But I guess I am in good company as the Surrey International Writers Conference was last week and it got very little mention in the local press and it had a book signing with trully luminary authors! SO while they got my name wrong they got the rest of the info totally correct and it is all about the book and having fun with it and not about me! Just a quick blog to keep you all in the loop.

An update on the writing! Chapter one is done in rough form and it has been difficult to write in the third person global perspective but I am learning! Along with some help from others and gentle pushes it is coming along.

The AudioBook is moving slowly. You'd think it be easy but far more hoops to jump than a regular book, Good news is it will be inexpensive for its size. Bad news is it won't be available in any format other than digital download!