Daniel Hurtubise had been living with diabetes since he was 15. 2 weeks ago, at 50, he launched an effort to cycle across Canada raising funds and awareness for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. He was joined on the ride by his son Alexandre, his daughter Sonia, and a friend.
Eager to leave an extraordinary legacy and to help a cause that affects the lives of many Canadians, our friend asked his children a simple question that would change their daily lives. As they were cycling on a sunny Sunday afternoon in 2005, Daniel exclaimed: “Hey! Alex, Sonia, how would you like to cycle across Canada to raise funds for diabetes research and increase diabetes awareness?” [JDRF]
In 2 weeks they logged over 2 000 kilometres. They had just entered Manitoba when the ride came to a sudden and tragic end this weekend.
They were riding on a section of the Trans Canada without a paved shoulder. Their support vehicle was stopped up ahead when the entire group was hit from behind by a driver in a Honda Civic. Daniel, and his friend were killed instantly. Daniel’s son was taken to hospital and released, while his daugther remained in stable condition. [CP]
The journey was dubbed the Ride of a Lifetime. It certainly was. You can experience their ride through their blog at Readers Digest.
There are many research groups dedicated to discovering more about Diabetes. I am running in support of the Canadian Diabetes Association in 2 marathons in the next year; one in Disney World in January, the other on Easter Island in June.
While I’m not running in direct support of the JDRF, my cause is still to raise awareness and funds for those living with Diabetes, people like Daniel.
Here’s an excerpt from Daniel’s blog that give some insight into why athletic endeavours like Team Diabetes and the Ride of a Lifetime are important, and a huge accomplishment for diabetics.
Day 13, Swift Current to Moose Jaw 177km. For some unknowed reason I had a very bad day with my diabetes, during the whole day I could not transform my carbohydrates and protein to energie. The whole day I had a terrible headache, I was weak and could not think straight. Alex, Sonia Robert and François were very concerned, everyone was very quit and did not know what to do, I told them that despite the situation the day had to go on. A bad day for a diabetic trying to control his/her energy is much worst than riding 177km… Ask any type 1 diabetic and they will all agree with me… [Ride of a Lifetime]
If you’ve been moved by the tragic end to Daniel’s dream, there are 3 ways you can help out.
- Pablo Su was in the right place at the right time with the right camera. Check out the spectacular image he snapped as a lioness captured a golden eagle at the Greater Vancouver Zoo.
- If you missed the Greek Day party on Broadway a few weekends back, you can still soak up the souvlaki on Boundary as the Greek SummerFest is on now!
- You've got your cheque from the government, now get ready to give it back to them. The Carbon Tax goes into effect tomorrow jumping pump prices 2.5c a litre.
- Angelina Jolie may be one of the most famous actresses in the world, but she's never really had a box office hit - until now.
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The sign outside the hall said “please enter quietly, an author reading is in progress,” or something like that.
There was no “reading”, there was no reason to be quiet. Gary Vaynerchuk was holding court with about 75 or so Vayniacs in attendance, fielding questions on everything from his rotisserie baseball team, to a diabtribe on the uselessness of decanting, from his dream to own the NY Jets, to the environmental practices of winemakers, from terroire to twitter, it was all covered and none of it was read.
101 Wines is the book Gary was in town promoting, but there was no need. It was sold out before it started. Go figure. I always thought book tours were done to promote sales with boxes and boxes unleashed upon the masses, but not at this joint. They were sold out. So I got to watch Gary not read from his book and wax on about things that I share a passion for. Wine, web, sports.
Gary is a very very passionate man. He’s all about breaking molds, doing things differently, not buying in to conventional wisdom and just squeezing every second out of life. There were at least 3 of us at the back of the room capturing the session on Flip cameras. I’d love to toss some of it up, but the Flip Ultra doesn’t play nice with my Mac.
Gary had some great and strong ideas about social networking, talking about how he’s a very public and not private person. If you’re semi private, you’ll have some issues with the way these networks operate.
He talked about his vision for Corkd, a social wine site that he’s owned for a couple of years and hasn’t really done anything with. Gary’s idea is to have it work like Pandora, or Last.fm (my comparisons not his) where you would input meta data on your favourite wines and it would help suggest new ones you might like. He also wants to take it mobile, where you could snap a photo of a wine label and the site would send you back all the data you, or your friends, have inputed about that wine.
I loved what he said about Twitter when responding to calls that Twitter is dead. “Is Twitter dead? No, 99.9% of the people in the world haven’t even heard of Twitter.” Gary admits he’s always looking for the next big thing moving from Friendster to MySpace to Facebook to Twitter, but at the same time we need to take time to make them more than passing fads.
I kept thinking the whole time how Gary is so much like Seth Godin. A natural. An outside the box thinker who is constantly innovating, but at the same time using the most basic of tools to build his brand - relationships. Gary even name checked Seth saying he’s heard the comparisons before, but doesnt buy them. He says he’s never read any of the big buzz business books. He doesnt have time to read blogs anymore. He’s just himself. He believes in himself. And he believes in his relationships.
Gary may have been there to promote his book, and he may be famous for his Wine Library Thunder Show, but if you look a little deeper and spend a little more time at GaryVaynerchuk.com you’ll learn things a lot more valuable than the difference between Pinot Noir and Pinot Blanc.
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Earlier this week, the blogging gang got together for SteakCamp at The Brave Bull. [read Raul and Karen's reviews.] I couldn’t attend as I was at our daycare’s BBQ. It’s one of the things about being at the higher end of the SocMed demographics. Most of the gang in town are single, or married without children. Not me, I gots responsibilities.
The tag line is “making eating out child’s play.” The concept is a large open area for the children to frolick freely, while around the outside moms and dads chill with lattes and salads and have a stressless visit.
It is novel. I’ve seen many a mom with a squirmy son while she tries to kibbitz with her girlfriends on a Starbucks patio, this is the kind of place they could now frequent. Moms get to gossip, kids get to squirm wherever they want.
You do have to pay to play, $4 for the kids and $2 for the adults. They’re selling memberships at $125/yr for kids and $75/yr for adults. That’s about $25 a month to have a membership at a cafe with a playroom. Seems a little steep. But then again, perhaps that’s the crowd they’re going for. The National Post piece is nothing but dollar signs and name droppping.
… crawling with $1,000 Bugaboo strollers .. after several Vancouver-area house flips, raised the equity (just shy of $300,000) … The adult chairs are Eames and the $425 highchairs are HiLo, by Montreal’s Age Design … These are the kind of kids who learn sign language just for fun. … there is organic buffalo meatloaf on the menu, and Weleda nursing tea … wooden trucks by Fagus and bright plastic Trioli chairs … our stylishly rounded-off James Burleigh table … the designer toys, the melamine dishes, the German wallpaper … [National Post]
It all sounds veryPosh and Becks.
The food is all organic, and ultra healthy. I had a Portuguese Stew, Jen had some salads while Z had brown rice pasta with turkey quinoa meatballs.
My stew was all potato with sauce, Jen’s salads were a little too much to have as a full meal (as in the taste got boring quick), while Z licked and smacked his fingers inhaling the meatballs and pasta. The portion was huge for $5 and we have some locked up in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch.
babyeats has only been open a few weeks, and, as you’d expect, some of the things just didnt quite seemed finished about it.
Rachel, the owner, admitted they didnt have the rice balls that were on the menu because they hadn’t found an appropriate rice yet. We weren’t given napkins or wipes and the highchairs were very high for Z (our $40 ikea chair at home blows the stink out of these $425 beasts). The place is called babyeats, but at a larger 13months, the tray was almost tight under Z’s armpits.
Would we go back? I don’t know. $4 for a 13 mo old to mess around for a while seems a little steep, especially when you toss in $2 for each adult. Our entire meal came to $36, which felt expensive for what it was. Jen wasnt a huge fan of the toys either. There were lots of sharp edges and a few of the heavier toys (like a wooden cash register) weren’t attached to the shelf and came crashing down.
I asked her if it was a place she would come with her girlfriends and relax while the kids ran around, again she wasn’t sure.
The demographics seem a little off, for what they offer. There was one child there pushing 5 who seemed really bored, the walking toddlers had a bit of fun, and you really had to hover over Z to make sure he didnt bonk himself, so the demo seems tight. 2-4 year olds only.
It’s a fun and interesting and fresh idea, will it still be open in 2 or 3 years? Not so sure. Then again, we don’t have a Bugaboo stroller and a Danish au pair.
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I’ll pick the first number and then you just put the number you want on the ticket in the comments section. I’ll group them, in order, into sets of 6 and buy the tickets.
Anything less than $10 each will be donated to Team Diabetes Easter Island. Anything greater than $10 each will be split evenly.
I pick #4 .. which number do you want on the ticket?
Entries will be capped at 10a Friday June 27, or at 119 responses (i.e. 20 tickets), whichever comes first.
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Jen and I did a little Joie v Beringer face off tonight. A battle of rose. Nothing on video, just a little home grown tasting, I’ll tell you more about it next week when I run down all the wines that will save you some money in July!
This weekend, Jen and I are headed to Seattle to meet Gary Vaynerchuk as he takes his 101 Wines book tour to The Elliott Bay Book Company, Saturday at 2p.
Gary Vaynerchuck, director of operations for Wine Library, reaches thousands of wine aficionados via his video blog, “The Thunder Show” (www.winelibrary.tv). Meet him (better than online) and taste a few of his top choices for this year here today, as he answers questions about his new book, 101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World (Rodale). Gary Vaynerchuck’s picks span many prices, nations, and kinds, and he invites both experts and novices to come and share the love of the grape.
But that’s not all, he has some other events when he’s in town.
There’s the sold out schmooze at The Vineyard Table, which looks like a great event, $40 a ticket with only about 50 people sampling and sipping alongside Gary Vee.
His first word? “Hi!” - complete with a wave and smile.
He does it a lot. Everytime I arrive at daycare to drop him off, he starts in the car and chats and waves the whole way into the room.
Everytime the phone rings at daycare, he turns and faces the phone and waves and says “Hi!”
You think I could catch any of this on video? Nope. Been trying for a week, but it’s official. It’s a word, it’s used in context and he repeats it.
I’ve got a happy, cheerful son who is happy to greet everyone he meets.
“Hi!”
The very sad thing to me is I’ve been saying “Bonjour” to him consistently since he was a day old. I’ve said it fast and slow and hundreds of times a day, trying to get him to repeat it. But he says “Hi!”
Even when I say “Bonjour” to him, he pauses, waves, and says “Hi!”
I’m just telling everyone he’s good at translating.
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Madonna’s first ever concert in Vancouver is set for October 30 at BC Place. So anticipated is the show, nearly 50 000 tickets sold out in 30 minutes.
50 000 fans didnt get the tickets, immediately after the tickets were sold, dozens of them were popping up on Craigslist for well above the original $165ish sale price. If you still need tickets to the show, don’t pay the inflated scalper prices, use that extra cash to buy a plane ticket and head to Los Angeles, where ticket sales aren’t as hot.
Big sales around the world for the Material Girl’s upcoming “Sticky & Sweet” tour have been overshadowed in music industry circles by chatter about the large number of tickets still available for a key stop in Los Angeles in November and softer-than-expected sales of her latest album “Hard Candy.”
But just over half of the 43,000 seats available for a Nov. 6 date at Los Angeles’ Dodger Stadium - 27,000 tickets in all - have been sold in their first three weeks of availability, raising red flags about the limits of US demand for the 49-year-old Madonna at this stage of her career. [new york post]
Madonna’s new album may not be as good as her last album (I think Confessions was the best of her career), but a Madonna concert is a Madonna concert, and if you’ve been Madonna-less in the great white north for nearly 30 years, get yourself south to see the show.
The Blog According to Buzz. Spread the word, ya heard?
The journey was dubbed the Ride of a Lifetime. It certainly was. You can experience their ride through their blog at Readers Digest.
Gary Vaynerchuck, director of operations for Wine Library, reaches thousands of wine aficionados via his video blog, “The Thunder Show” (www.winelibrary.tv). Meet him (better than online) and taste a few of his top choices for this year here today, as he answers questions about his new book, 101 Wines Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World (Rodale). Gary Vaynerchuck’s picks span many prices, nations, and kinds, and he invites both experts and novices to come and share the love of the grape.
50 000 fans didnt get the tickets, immediately after the tickets were sold, dozens of them were 
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