Man Down! Man Down!

Last night the boys’ school held a ‘family dance’. Essentially it was a disco for the kids that the parents got to go along to so that they could embarrass their kids (well I’m sure that wasn’t quite the intent, but for the only girl-aware boy that we know it was certainly the case!)
That however is the purpose of writing. As usual it was something of a struggle to get all four Temby minors dressed, agreeable and moving out the door in a cohesive fashion, so Michael went on ahead to wait for us in the school playground. As we managed to mobilise extra children, Sam and Thomas also went on ahead and we followed with Emily (more than happy to be escorted by both Mummy AND Daddy!)

When we arrived at the school, we found Michael on a bench on the side of the playground in tears. Asking what had happened, it was quickly determined that a boy from Sam’s year level had shot both Michael and Sam with a ‘bb gun’. My first instinct was to shrug it off (I’ve never actually seen or used a bb gun but was always of the impression that they would sting a bit, but that was about all. The fact that the kid had one in a school playground (even after hours) was something that I wasn’t impressed with by any stretch of the imagination.

Sam showed me where he’d been hit (in the knee) and blood had been drawn and then Michael showed us the two spots (welts) on his back where he’d been hit). I decided to call the boy (who was nonchalantly playing on the equipment) over to let him know just how I felt about it.

He was rather insistent that he’d only shot Michael once (like that made a difference) so we showed him the two spots and asked him what he thought they were. A rather ignorant shrug of the shoulders was the response to which I believe i replied, “Well they aren’t bloody bug bites are they?!”

We abandoned him and went on to the school, having assured him that we would be reporting it to the school and that therefore he could expect his parents to know about it.

Its worth noting at this point that if I was angry, Caroline was seething to a degree at the dangerous level of “very angry mother.”

We did indeed report it to the headmaster of the school, who promptly went directly to the house of the child in question and knocked on the door. Massive kudos for immediate action.

During the course of the dance, Caroline discussed the incident with a number of people who said that we should report the incident to the RCMP (cops). My initial thought was that this was possibly a little over the top. But I kept thinking about it as the night wore on.

I haven’t ever really reached a point of being particularly pro or against gun ownership. Because it all comes down to who owns the gun. Responsibly owned, the gun is no worse than a chainsaw. I know a number of people that own guns and take every precaution one could ask for in regards to ensure safe operation.

And then there’s the American gun culture that we all hear about. And living up here in the remote parts of Canada, there’s a lot of hunting that goes on. So I have to wonder about a 9 year old kid who is allowed to wander around the streets with a bb gun unsupervised and exactly what his future holds for him.

Let’s just say that his immediate future definitely includes a visit with his parents by the school and may well indeed include a visit from the RCMP. Because in the end, we did make the call. I don’t want to have to worry about my kids being threatened by a bb gun. Deadly? Probably not. Potential to cause injury? Definite. I don’t want to risk that one percenter (or even less) that one of those pellets takes out a kid’s eye (my kid or anyone else’s).

Emily's first goal

Here, it is, Emily's first ever soccer goal!

And a minor twitch

Something that I haven’t been able to ignore over here lately are the ads for drugs on the television. I really only remember two types of drug ads from back home (well three if you count the anti illegal drug type) and those tended to be grouped into two areas: Headaches and period pain. Not having any need for the later, I didn’t pay much attention. Neither did I tend to pay a whole lot of attention to he former (which probably means that there’s a host of ads for different drugs that I’ve completely failed to account for).

But over here, it’s almost no holds barred by comparison. (Remembering here that much of te TV that we watch is from the US via cable). But the thing that gets me literally giggling on the couch, in serious risk of a floorward tumble is the second half of the ad. Well really, it’s more than half and that’s part of the point, but it’s the bit of the ad that comes after the first bit and therefore is thought of as the second half.

You see if an advertisement for one of these drugs goes for a minute, only the first 10 to 20 seconds actually tell you about the benefit of the drug and the wonders that it will do for the body, mind and/or soul.

The REST of the ad, the funny bit is obviously one of those things that get’s generated by the legal, sue the pants off your neighbour type world that America seems to live in.

So what transpires is that you start out with an advertisement for a medication that will (hypothetically and not based on any REAL drug) cure you of a mildly annoying case of drippy nose. They’ll tell you just how wonderful it is and how dry and well maintained your nose will be as a result of taking your drug. The announcer will be upbeat and happy.

Then there will be the bit that says that before undertaking a course of their drug, you really should consult a physician. Because there’s just a slight, remote chance of a side affect.

Well, for a start, there’s the bit where they tell you that the drug is guaranteed to work for everyone. Then there’s the side affects. These are generally read in that sort of monotonic, deadpan voice that says, “We’re really not saying anything important right now, so you may as well change channels, but just in case, we’re going to cover our arse). And of course, there’s a remote chance of:

Liver failure, heart palpitations, weepy arse, genital shrinkage, mild brain melt and just ever so remotely possibly, your dog will turn gay and run off with the neighbour’s tomcat.

And you wonder why I fall about laughing ...

And one more ...

More Video

So I went to bed last night thinking that the video had failed as it wouldn't come up after I'd posted it here, but tonight when I turned the computer on, there it was, so hopefully it worked for everyone else! The footage is from our trip to Marmot Basin as the title suggests. It's taken on a green slope mainly because that's where I was prepared to get the camera out. We've some footage from the top of the mountain of the scenery but I'm still experimenting with getting the video from the camera to the computer. Anyway, here's a little bit more from when I got adventurous and did some filming whilst skiing (on the easy run of course)!

Ski Bunnies

I should know better than to try and post video, but I'm a glutton for punishment, so let's see how we go ...

Clunk

With the sun making a reappearance and treating us to a truly beautiful day on Saturday, I cajoled Michael and Sam into getting out into the park that adjoins our house to kick the soccer ball with me. They'd been enjoying the sun most of the day, but I'd just returned from a couple of hours at work and so was keen to get out and have some fun.

All was going well and we were chasing the ball as much as our inaccurate passing required, right up to the point where Sam chased the ball in amongst the play equipment in the park. He was so focussed on the ball that he was chasing that he failed to notice that he was running straight at a steel horizontal bar that was right at head height.

There was a rather loud clang as he managed to smack his forehead into the bar and then he was flat on his back, tears streaming from his eyes, blood in his mouth and just a little bit the worse for wear.

It would have been funny if it hadn't been such a vicious smash. Fortunately he was ok not too long after, though with a sizeable egg on his forehead which is now starting to bruise nicely.