Portrait of a true hero

I listen to a fair number of podcasts, and one of the ones I listen to is The Moth podcast, which is a short segment of a person telling the story of a significant event in their life, ranging from near-death experiences to, well, trying to seduce Chip of Chip & Dale fame at Disney World. Last week, they played a story of Jerry Mitchell, who's a writer for the Clarion-Ledger, a paper based in Jackson, Mississippi.

Mitchell really is an unsung hero, I realised, after hearing his story and reading more about him. See, Mitchell, after watching the movie Mississippi Burning, was inspired to begin looking into cases of black people who had been killed by old KKK leaders and members, but for whose murders nobody was ever charged. His efforts have led to the direct arrest and conviction of four Klansmen, and him and his family have been threatened more than once (his wife was in her third trimester at this point as well, which makes his actions extra brave). According to him, when Beckwith, the first Klansmen against whom he got a case successfully opened, talked to him after figuring out it was Mitchell's journalism that had reopened the cold case, told Mitchell that he was a reckless driver and was likely to have an accident.

I really can't tell you much more about Mitchell that'll do him justice, so I'll just leave you with this link to his biography in the Clarion-Ledger

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/SPECIAL17/60416008/

If I ever end up being half the man that Mitchell is, I'll consider that a success.

This one's a repeat

Of a post from my old blog. This is the speech given by Al Pacino's character, coach Tony D'Amato, in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday, and I really like it, so I'm transcribing it here again, relatively speaking. It's powerful stuff, and it's something I recite to myself whenever I feel a little lazy or unmotivated. It says so much, and rings so true. He says "That's football" but really, that's life. You fight for those inches, or you die.

"I don’t know what to say, really. Three minutes to the biggest battle of our professional lives. All comes down to today, and either, we heal as a team, or we're gonna crumble. Inch by inch, play by play. Until we're finished. We're in hell right now, gentlemen. Believe me. And, we can stay here, get the shit kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb outta hell... one inch at a time. Now I can't do it for ya, I'm too old. I look around, I see these young faces and I think, I mean, I've made every wrong choice a middle-aged man can make. I, uh, I've pissed away all my money, believe it or not. I chased off anyone who's ever loved me. And lately, I can't even stand the face I see in the mirror. You know, when you get old, in life, things get taken from you. I mean, that's... that's... that's a part of life. But, you only learn that when you start losin' stuff. You find out life's this game of inches, so is football. Because in either game - life or football - the margin for error is so small. I mean, one half a step too late or too early and you don't quite make it. One half second too slow, too fast and you don't quite catch it. The inches we need are everywhere around us. They're in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team we fight for that inch. On this team we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch. Because we know when add up all those inches, that's gonna make the fucking difference between winning and losing! Between living and dying! I'll tell you this, in any fight it's the guy whose willing to die whose gonna win that inch. And I know, if I'm gonna have any life anymore it's because I'm still willing to fight and die for that inch, because that's what living is, the six inches in front of your face. Now I can't make you do it. You've got to look at the guy next to you, look into his eyes. Now I think ya going to see a guy who will go that inch with you. Your gonna see a guy who will sacrifice himself for this team, because he knows when it comes down to it your gonna do the same for him. That's a team, gentlemen, and either, we heal, now, as a team, or we will die as individuals. That's football guys, that's all it is. Now, what are you gonna do?"

And the video, if you're so inclined

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myyWXKeBsNk

This post is whatever you want it to be

"Listen to me," he started, "I know you're with her now, but I want you to know, I'm right here. You can avoid being complacent, you can work hard to please her and make her happy, but I want you know know, when you screw up, and you will screw up, I'll be right there to turn your mistake around. I'll be the one to catch her when she falls, I'll be the one to fix what you break, I'll be the one who'll..." he paused.

"The one who'll put Humpty Dumpty back together again when I inadvertently push her off the wall?" the second man finished.

The first man looked at him quizzically. "Yeahhh," he finally said, slowly, "Yeah, I'll be the one who'll put Humpty Dumpty back together again."

"Because she's meant to end up with you, not some schmuck like me who can't possibly appreciate what I've got?" The second man continued.

"You think this is funny? You think I'm joking?" the first replied back.

"Certainly not. I have no doubt, despite not knowing you, that you're completely sincere and have every intention of waiting for me to mess up so you can leverage that into an opening where you can prove to my girlfriend that you're better for her than I am. However, you're making one big mistake." A slow grin spread over the second man's face.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" the first replied, the last shreds of his defiance slowly evaporating.

"You're assuming I was never in your position. You know what happens when you assume, don't you?"

Top 4(5?) Canadians

So one of my courses this semester revolves around Canadian Issues, and one of the topics we talked about last class was who would we consider a top Canadian. It got me thinking, and I came up with a list long after the class was over, so here it is, in no particular order.

• Michael Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie: yes, it's a bit of a cheat to have two names, but since they both co-founded RIM, the company that made the Blackberry now attached to your hip, they should be on together or not at all. And I can't leave them off. As to why, well, they made the Blackberry, which might possibly be one of the top technological advancements of the lat decade, and corralled it into a successful company; so successful, in fact, that Balsillie (and possibly Lazaridis as well) has enough money to buy an NHL team. That level of success is nothing short of commendable.
• James Cameron: Speaking of success, the director of the two all time highest grossing movies has to be on this list. Even though he did leave the country at 18, Cameron has been back since, and well, he did spend his formative years here, so he's as Canadian as anyone.
• Mario Lemieux: Played hockey at a high enough level to captain his team to a Stanley Cup twice, all while suffering through back pain so excruciating he couldn't even tie his own skates. Came out of retirement to captain Team Canada to an Olympic Gold medal. Battled Hodgkin's Lymphoma, and still had the highest points in the league. Imagine how good he'd have been without all these hardships he had to face (which is one of the reasons I think he's a better player than Gretzky, as blasphemous as that sounds) And through it all, he never complained or asked for sympathy or preferential treatment even once. And really, isn't that what being Canadian is all about?
• Craig Kielburger: An Order of Canada recipient at age 25, Kielburger was inspired as a teenager to create Free the Children, an organisation dedicated to fighting child labour. His action-oriented attitude and big heart is to be commended, and he's a great role model. Hell, he's done all this and more already, and he's not even 30 yet. If that's not impressive, then I don't know what is.

The three of you who will eventually read this over the lifetime of this blog, do feel free to let me know your thoughts. Otherwise, until we meet again, auf wiedersehen.

Introduction

Hello, everyone, and welcome to my new blog. Exits are located at the top of your browser, and please be sure to have your seatbelt on at all times. We hope you enjoy your stay here, and that you visit again soon.

(This ain't the Hotel California yet, but I'm working on that part)