The Swans

Last summer I enjoyed feeding the Swan that stopped by our dock every once in awhile.  My husband actually fed it by hand, I got a little scared getting that close but it was pretty amazing.  This past Saturday I was looking out the window and there was the Swan swimming by with not one but TWO more swans.  I grabbed my camera, cell phone and bag of bread and ran down to the dock.  By the time I got there there were down the river a bit but when they saw me they literally turned around and came back, they must have remembered me!

Here they are swimming back to me!

The water around our dock is still frozen so they had to climb up on the ice to walk over to me.  You don't realize how big these swans are until they are walking toward you.  They definately had no fear of me but they closer they got I had a little bit of fear.  I was outnumbered, 3 of them and just me.  I was trying to feed them quickly, take pictures and call my husband to hurry and get home to see this! 

No zoom necessary this is how close they came up!



All 3 of them coming for their snack.



The ducks are back!

I was sitting in my living room yesterday checking out the view of the river which for the past few months has been pretty boring.  There's no activity out there, just snow.  With the milder weather the ice has started to melt and break down on the river and the ducks have returned.  They aren't too close to our property yet but I can see them swimming around out in the middle of the river.  It was my sign that spring is just around the corner which was so exciting! 

Oh Charlie

The Charlie Sheen drama that has been all over the TV the past couple weeks is entertaining to some and heart breaking to others.  I find it heartbreaking.  Sheen right now is like watching a speeding train just waiting to derail.  Some might think he has already derailed but I think the worst is yet to come. 

Sheen has struggled publically over the years with addiction.  But his behavior during interviews has been more and more disturbing.  I'm sure Charlie has enablers in his life when it comes to drugs and alcohol but I think the media are his enablers when it comes to his behavior.  And the crazier he acts the more popular he becomes. 

He joined twitter last week and had 100,000 followers before he even sent out his first tweet, he reaced a million followers in just days.  Two and Half Men was the most watched show on TV last week and it was a repeat.  So now his "fans" are his enablers because they are entertained by his antics.

Warner Brothers officically fired him from the show and he celebrated.  Not too many people celebrate about being unemployed but it just brings more attention to him. 

Sheen is a son and a father.  I'm afraid when this train derails Charlie's life will just be a memorial.  It's so sad to see someone so lost and out of control when God could change everything for him.

From pro-choice to pro-life

I just finished the book "Unplanned" by Abby Johnson.  For 8 years she worked with Planned Parenthood in Texas.  She had justified it to herself for years because of the other services Planned Parenthood provided and she believed their goal was to see the number of abortions descrease by informing women.  They did provide abortions because they believed if they didn't women would go somewhere else that was dangerous and unsafe.  Abby was very passionate about her role with Planned Parenthood, becoming the Director of her clinic in Bryan Texas.  She was a Christian, went to church on Sunday's, but kept what she did for a living private, again justifying to herself that she was helping women.  Pro-life advocates lined the fence of her clinic daily praying for the women that went through the doors, and praying for Abby that God would open her eyes.  He did just that when she was called in to assist with a ultrasound guided abortion.  She was asked to help with the ultra sound machine.  This day changed her life.  She saw first hand that this really is a baby who is moving and fighting to live.  That day she walked out of Planned Parenthood and crossed the fence literally and joined the pro-life movement.

Her decision became major headlines in the US and has opened a new door of opportunity for her to speak for pro-life.  Her life was totally changed and her story is amazing to read.  I definately recommend it!

 

Never Say Never

So I got a case of Bieber fever and went to see "Never Say Never" today.  I dragged a friend with me who asked to remain nameless...I think she was a little embarrassed to be there, I went in the name of research!

I have to say that I really enjoyed the movie.  I knew bit about Justin's journey but it was cool to see the whole story come together.  The story takes us through his journey up to his big sold out show at Madison Square Garden.  I had thought going into that Justin was a kid who got lucky.  He was discovered on youtube and then 2 years later he's a superstar.  That's all true but he did work hard to get there. 

A manager in Atlanta Georgia saw his youtube videos and flew his mom and him to Atlanta to meet with producers.  Several record labes said no to him, who i'm sure are kicking themselves now.  He got a chance to sing for Usher who took him to L.A. Reid and he got signed.  He traveled all through the States to push his first single.  He sang acoustic at every radio station he could to get them to play his single.  He would get 50 people out to see him, then 100 then more and more and then the mania began.  His story is proof of the popularity of social networking.  Youtube made him famous, twitter and facebook helped spread his popularity.

The back story is his family.  His mom was just a teenager herself when she had Justin and his grandparents had a huge role in his life which is obvious when you see them all together.  His mom is always with him and his grandparents are there as much as they can.  His mom and dad didn't stay together and it doesn't look like his dad goes on the road with them.  He wasn't interviewed during the movie but we see him at Justin's Toronto show, his first time seeing the show, and I can't imagine what it would be like to see your son up there performing.  You could see the emotion all over his face.  Justin's other family is the team behind him.  The movie gives a good look at who helps with his career and it seems like he is in good hands.  His vocal coach is like a second mom, his manager and road manager take up the role of big brothers and by all accounts, yes everyone is making money from his success, but they all take good care of him.

Justin's Christianity and faith has been a big topic around LIFE lately and it's evident in the movie.  Seeing people pray before a performance doesn't always convince me because even Madonna prays before her shows.  But you see Justin saying grace at a restaurant with his friends when he's back home visiting Stratford, his mom praying over him when he was sick.  So I felt it was genuine and obviously God is an important part of their lives.  There is a clip of his mom on Huntley St. just before they moved to the States to persue Justin's career. 

The movie is 3D which was cool and there are several concert performances around the documentary part of the movie.  This kid is talented, he's not just another bubble gum pre-packed artist.  He plays drums, guitar, piano and is a great singer.  I think his fans will grow up with him and stick with him, but if in a few years Bieber fever goes away what an amazing time in his life to look back on, he lived the dream.

The falling star

Billy Ray Cyrus has an achy breaky heart again.  He's talking to GQ magazine this month about the break up within his family and the behaviour of his daughter Miley.  He blames the Hannah Montana franchise for the problems in his family.  His marriage has ended and Miley has started acting out a bit in public and is slowly on the Britney Spears train of destruction.

The fall of the teen star is nothing new to this generation.  When I was a kid it was the Brat Pack and the 2 Corey's - Feldman and Haim who shot to success only to fall just as fast when the partying the started.  For some they can never get past it.  Corey Haim died just last year from an overdose and Charlie Sheen....well we know what he's going through.  So why is Billy Ray surprised by all of this?  Instead of trying to help his daughter and protect her from business people who could be leading her astray he's spilling all their family laundry to a magazine.  That's definately not going to help put his family back together. 

Some have said that Justin Bieber has a timer on his back to when his destructive behavior begins.  So who is to blame?  The parents for letting their kids get caught up in this world and not controlling it more or US for buying into it all?

Keeping up with the Joneses

I watched an interesting movie over the weekend with David Duchovny and Demi Moore "The Joneses".  I'm not going to recommend the movie but the premise of it really got me thinking.  The Joneses are a fake family who are really sales people and actors place by a company in wealthy neighbourhoods.  Their job is to sell their lifestyle to the neighbours.  They have all the latest gadgets, newest cars, best clothes and beautiful home, they seem to have the perfect life to those around them.  That makes everyone around them want the same perfect life so they start buying everything the Joneses have.  The reality of trying to keep up with the Joneses is that the neighbours start going bankrupt with their new lifestyle.  So they can't really afford all the luxuries but their greed and jealousy prevail so they do whatever they can to have all the "stuff". 

After I watched the movie I started thinking about the truth behind it.  Maybe there aren't fake families out there (or maybe there are) but it's so easy to get consumed with "stuff" and material things, wanting more or wanting what the other guy has.  Look at companies like Apple who roll out new product all the time and people line up all night to be the first to have it.  We can become overpowered with that feeling of greed or want.

Imagine if we were as concerned about our salvation and relationship with God as we were about having the latest video game or iphone.