Violence in Sports

I've never liked hockey. I live in Alberta and avoid hockey like the plague. I hear it said that hockey is a very smart game, and the players are intelligent, and that makes me think, 'Okay, I'm intelligent. Why don't I get it?'. This morning I realized why. I've never watched a game for more than a few minutes. As soon as someone loses it and starts fighting, I can't watch anymore. I don't like watching sports anyway, so I won't pretend I'd be a huge fan if not for the fighting, but I might be able to sit through a live game once in a while at least. But then I ask myself, 'Why does the fighting bother me?' It doesn't bother me near as much in boxing or wrestling. The reason is they're not fighting as part of the competition, they're losing their tempers and any control their parents hopefully taught them, and just flailing at each other, exactly like they do in a pub brawl. Who decided this was acceptable as part of a respected sport? Immediately I lose any respect for the combatants, just as I would in the pub, except at least there, they probably have the excuse of drunkenness, not a good one I admit. The same phenomenon is happening in other team sports, like soccer and lacrosse, and I think that as parents and role models we need to teach kids to control this emotional behavior, on and off the field, and we need to hire coaches who don't stand for a behavior that wouldn't be accepted anywhere else in life.

Accountability Today

I've had a problem with the levels of accountability in our society, in some areas, for a long time. Maybe some of you are thinking, "Ya, people need to be held more accountable for their actions." But no, I'm going to talk about the areas where we're held responsible to a seemingly excessive degree. Don't get me wrong. I think that criminals should be punished to suit the crime. I just also think that the crime should be judged by intent. Some people seem to consider a crime of omission or neglect as horrible as a crime of intent. A car accident, for instance, is too often seen as a car crime, in my opinion. I think a careless driver should definately be punished, but unless the driver is a repeat 'offender' that seems to have no concern for others, an accident should be treated as 'an accident' and not a crime. We should judge our fellow humans less for the mistakes they make, and more for their general good intentions.

The other area of concern for me is personal accountability for good and normal human actions. We have to be so careful these days what we do that we can't act from our good impulses, impulsively. A man, especially, can't stop and help a distressed child without considering what he may be charged with, not necessarily by the court system, but by society. I think seriously before recommending a babysitter. What if he/she does something wrong? I hesitate to ask someone if they want a lift home. What if I have an 'accident'? That goes both ways, too. If I accept a ride and my samaritan turns into a monster, I'm stupid for taking a ride from a stranger, so I hope I don't break my leg and have to accept a ride from just anyone. I just heard a good story about a retired nurse who watched a car sit in front of her home for a long period one day, until she finally got really worried about the driver and whether he was suffering some medical distress. She plucked up her courage, went to the car, and was completely shocked to discover an undercover police officer, who opened the window and yelled at her for approaching an unknown vehicle. It could have been a 'bad guy' and she could have been hurt. We all know a senior these days whose completely afraid of being set upon in real life or online, so you can imagine now this lady is much more freaked out than before. Well, I think she could have been hurt, but he could have been hurt, too. He said she should call 911 if she was worried, but I bet she'd have been charged, and called naive or stupid if she had.

Maybe most of these problems arise from the media - baring all of our dirty laundry, and therefore making the public hypersensitive to what might happen, just because it happened once to someone someplace. Don't get me wrong. I think it's important we have media. It's maybe just another kitten grown into a monster. For whatever reason, it's gotten way out of control somehow. Society is paralyzed by fear, fear of reprisals for living. It's one of the causes of the separation of mankind these days - how can we act as one organism when we're afraid of each other?

On my mind

I've slowly discovered people come into my life for a reason, or rather all the people in my life have something to offer me in the way of personal growth and it's my responsibility to learn from them. New friends, co-workers and rediscovered family members have helped me remember to build on different aspects of my growth and without them, I would not have learned much in these areas. Everyone we meet should be - hopefully not too consciously - sized up for usefulness and farmed for knowledge and insight. I've heard it said that we should always try to keep company with people who are smarter than we are. I agree and would add that your people just need to have something you need. Most of my friends are smarter than me in one area or another and help me grow in that area, but some also or instead, just teach me about myself or about how to be a better person.
When I recognized this enigma, I started to notice just how brilliant some of the people are around me. When we are asking questions and discussing different topics than usual, we find a huge knowledge base in some of our quiet friends, and incredible insight in others. Young people look around at your friends and family. Ask yourself what each is offering you, and what you're offering them. You might not see the answers right away, but they might come to you when you least expect it.

Las Vegas Lit

I think the Venetian above is my favorite hotel. We stayed at the Paris, which was lovely and charming, but next time - The Venetian.

I took my new Canon 5D to Vegas to test it out, and so set it for 1600 iso for the whole weekend. It didn't disappoint me.

Visions of Vegas

I just got back from a girl's weekend in Las Vegas with some friends. It was my first time there, and I was really impressed and awed (in both good and bad ways). I consider it a great big amusement park for adults, and definately worth experiencing at least once. These pics I took with my little Fujifilm F40.

Tulip

I bought a new camera. It's magic. I'm too delicate :) to take winter photos, so I experimented on some tulips I had. Spring is here, and there will be more posts now.