Category Archives: Local

Talk to Strangers and Embrace Overheards

Posted on by
Reply

julipan / flickr

My bathtub drain used to be clogged. It’s not anymore. And I can thank the following community-minded things for water no longer building up into some sort of “foot bath” during shower time:

  1. Talking to strangers.
  2. Overhearing community.
  3. Being un-plugged in the world.

So, like I said, my bathtub drain was clogged (this is perhaps the only downside to my wife’s thick and luxurious hair). As I spent some time running errands before meeting up with this blog’s Managing Editor, Kurt Heinrich, my travels took me to the East End Food Co-op (it’s one of the only places that you can get fair trade bananas in Vancouver).

Though bananas were the only thing on my list, I asked the very helpful clerk if there were any “environmentally friendly drain cleaning products” on the shelves. She said “sorry, but I don’t think there are.” The woman in line next to me, however, overheard my question and provided me with an answer: “depending on how severe the clog is, you can probably fix it with baking soda and vinegar,” she said. “Just put ‘em together and create a little cleaning volcano in your drain!”

Google later confirmed the success of this concoction.

And now our water flows freely. More than that, we have a sustainable solution for solving this problem from today until all of Michelle’s hair falls out!

Unplugging my drain came from being unplugged in the world, which allowed me to talk to strangers (who, let’s face it, are just friends we haven’t met yet) and be overheard by another future friend.

If this wasn’t community in action then I don’t know what is.

 

Good Grief

Posted on by
Reply

I lost a dear friend last Sunday.  She was 37 and battled breast cancer for three years.  She lived and died in Australia and I met her when I lived there in 2003.  She was a few days away from being considered to be in remission, and two days away from her birthday, when her cancer aggressively resurfaced.  This time it was a brain tumour and the cancer quickly spread into her spinal column.  It would only be four more months until her celebration of life. She came to visit me in Vancouver in 2006 and we spent some time hanging out in Whistler.  Appropriately, I was in Whistler this weekend.  And I  spent it thinking about Karen, about death, about grief, and about life.

Karen was an incredible human being.  She was witty, kind, generous, and full of life.  She was happy with where she was and with who she was.  Perhaps more than anyone else I know, she found joy in most things.  She didn’t get stressed, she never lashed out, she had totally average aspirations, and her priorities were her dog, her family and her friends.  And she was hilarious.  She was raised in a Catholic family and I can hear her joking about having died on Easter Sunday and the parallels with Jesus Christ.  I’m sure her parents found comfort in that.

She blogged about her cancer journey because she couldn’t find information online about what it actually felt like to have cancer.  She also used her blog to keep in touch when she couldn’t get out of bed.  It’s painful to read her final posts before she got really sick.  But it’s also an incredible gift to have the chance to read about what she was going through, physically, emotionally and spiritually.  I’m grateful that I could stay in touch with her through social media.  As she neared the end of her life, her sister used her Facebook page to keep her friends updated.  It’s been over a week since she died, but I’m on her page every day reading all of the lovely words and photos her friends have shared.

I don’t know why it’s so easy to ignore the painful realities of life until they smack you right in the heart.  But it is.  We continue to eat crappy food, pursue unhealthy thoughts and behaviours, and misspend time and energy.  People often describe changes they make as prompted by a wake-up call.  Are we not awake every day?  Why does it take the real threat of death to make us wake up to ourselves?

During my angsty undergrad days, I questioned the point of life.  Not in an “I don’t want to live” way, but more in a Bittersweet Symphony way.  At the time, my very smart brother told me that the point of life is to have as much fun as possible.  I thought that was way simplistic and self-indulgent and stupid.  Fifteen years on from that, I now understand what he meant.  And I agree: the point of life is to live.  And to live in gratitude.  To be a good friend, ally, advocate, activist, community-builder, parent, colleague, and child, you start from a place of graciousness.

Karen taught me how to live life when she was alive and she taught me how to live in her death.  I’m sad but I’m also grateful for the reminder that our time is finite and each day is to be lived.  So I’m choosing to honour my beautiful friend Karen by having as much fun as possible.  I know I’ll forget and get irritated by the usual annoyances, like bad manners, alarm clocks, and telecom bills.  My simple plan is to keep a photo of Karen close at hand so I’ve always got her beautiful face to remind me to smile.  I like to think of this as good grief.

Community Work Search Resources

Posted on by
Reply

[Editor's note: thanks to Robin Anderson for the photos and information below. Where we work and what we work at is one of the most important aspects of community].

On Monday April 2, 2012 all provincial employment programs changed. Job seekers will be able to use a new set of services to help them find a job. All the employment services currently being funded by the Ministry of Social Development will end and will be replaced by the new Employment Program of B.C. Under the new Program, Metro Vancouver has been divided into various catchment areas and different organizations are responsible for providing services in each area. MOSAIC and its Partner Service Providers will be offering services in the Northeast part of Vancouver. There is a Centre for all job seekers at Commercial and Broadway and locations for specific groups of job seekers, such as youth and people of aboriginal descent.

[Editor's note: there has been a bit of controversy around the re-distribution of resources - from in-person to online - with Service Canada's Hire a Student program, at which I used to work in the lat '90s and early 2000s].

Says Anderson about the changes:

In terms of the context, CSJ is a federal program delivered by Service Canada, and our employment resource centre is a provincially funded project under the Ministry of Social Development. We think our WorkBC employment services would fit well with the re-vamped CSJ.

Students have access to self service services at all Work BC employment centres across the province. This includes access to computer terminals to print work related documents, search job postings including employment opportunities for students such as those available through the Canada Summer Jobs Program (CSJ) and attend workshops. They can also ask staff for some feedback on their resume and for information about where they can find job search leads.

In the MOSAIC locations, job seekers can find out what jobs are in demand, how to write the best resumes and cover letters and how to give successful job interviews. “We can also help select and fund training for eligible participants,” says Drive Youth Employment Services employee, Robin Anderson. “All the services, including access to computers and the internet are free.” For more information, email NortheastESC@mosaicbc.com, check out the Work BC interactive, phone 604-708-9300, www.workbc.ca/workbccentres/welcome.htm.

The Lost Art of Conversation

Posted on by
2

When was the last time you had a proper conversation? I’m talking a real-life, animated conversation with eye-contact and gestures and the occasional accidental hurling of spit at your fellow conversationalist? And don’t even try to say it was in a meeting, because both of us know that absolutely doesn’t count. If you’re like a lot of people today, particularly young people, there’s a good chance that it’s been a while between chats.

This question came to me while I was sitting at dinner last Saturday night, and led me to start wondering when we, as a community, had all lost the art of conversation. One of my dining friends spent most of the meal glued to his iphone checking the football scores with an OCD-like determination, which tended to inhibit the communication flow just slightly. Then, when a discussion came up about whether a broken nose is counted as a head injury, there was no spirited debate where each person knows there’s a good chance they’re wrong but argues the point with steely determination regardless. Instead, someone just Googled the answer.

I’m sure you’ve all heard the saying – ‘great minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events and small minds discuss people.’  Well, I’d like to make an addition please: ‘even smaller minds don’t discuss anything at all because they’re too busy playing Draw Something on their iphone’.

Now I love technology, and I only wish I could get as excited when I create something at work as I do when I create a great illustration of Lady Gaga in Draw Something and send it to my boyfriend (who may or may not be sitting right next to me). But I also love conversation, and I’d give up all my technology if it meant getting to have real talks with real people on a more regular basis. I was a tad frightened when I was doing some reading for this blog post and I found a study suggesting that 53 per cent of 16-30 year olds would rather give up their sense of smell than their technology. That doesn’t bode well for the future of great and lively conversation (or our ability to tell when our toast is burning).

But fear not, because there’s a couple of Australians who have made it their life’s quest to keep the art of conversation alive, through a very cool ‘game’ called TAOC (The Art of Conversation). TAOC is a card-based game (which incidentally, is also available as an app), where participants select a card and ask their fellow players to answer the question on the card. Instead of trivia or maths or quotes, the questions on the card are along the lines of “What was the first song you learnt” and “Happiness. What comes to mind?”.  So really, the game has absolutely no point other than sparking conversations and discussions, which I totally love.

The wonderful and talented Editor-in-Chief of this blog Mr John Horn and I used to have some amazing cubicle conversations, most of which started with truly ridiculous questions like “what are your three favorite things about my short sleeved shirt and tie combination today, Jilly?”.

So how ‘bout it? When you’ve finished reading this, I dare you to start a proper conversation with someone – co-worker, boss, partner, child, checkout guy, whoever. And see how awesome you feel afterwards. I guarantee that you’ll feel something, learn something, and hey, maybe you’ll even smell something with the sense you didn’t have to trade to make it happen.

Masthead photo from this photostream, body photo from this photostream. Both used with the permission of a Creative Commons license.

Octopi Falls 4-3 in Bronze Medal Match

Posted on by
Reply

This Soccer Ball Reflects on the Fourth Place Finish for Octopi Vancouver

[Editor's note: for the record, our Wednesday night soccer experience began with five members of the Octopi Vancouver team moving the goal into position - basically setting up the field - as two administrators/supervisors from Urban Rec stood right next to this activity and sipped their coffee and made terrible jokes, which begs the question: what do our pricy Vancouver Urban Rec fees actually pay for?!]

On a crisp, clear Wednesday night at Thunderbird Stadium, a substitute-sparse Octopi Vancouver squad went down 4-3 against a very chippy The Scoring Machine “team” – other accepted synonyms for “team” in this description might include “gang” or “hooligans” or “Postmodern Peles” (the last one is my personal favourite).

The Octopi squad began the game with vigour and urgency, hitting goal posts, crossbars and narrowly missing the corners of the Scoring Machine’s net. About 10 minutes into the first half, John Horn, making a great run down the left side in the third-person, crossed the ball squarely on to the foot of dashing right-winger, Jessica Pautsch, who expertly looped it into the top corner, away from the sprawling – and quite talented as well as handsome – keeper.

1-0 Octopi.

The first half wrapped up with Pautsch on a break-away – if there were actual referees (perhaps Kinesiology students from SFU or UBC, you know, to tackle youth unemployment and student debt in BC while simultaneously providing meaningful experiential learning opportunities for the future leaders of our healthy and happy community) I’m sure that the play would have been allowed to carry on – but the non-game-specific whistle blew and Jessica wasn’t allowed to snipe her second goal of the match.

Still 1-0 Octopi.

The second half saw Octopi drop into a 3-2-1 defensive formation, which was a dumb idea, as The Scoring Machine earned a quick tally following a strong run down the left-side by one of their nicer players. In between their first and second goal, The Scoring Machine’s centre defender, Long Sleeved Black Shirt, absolutely throttled Octopi’s star striker, Erin Loxam – again, if UrbanRec employed referees the gentleman might’ve been asked to leave the game at this point.

1-1 draw.

After a blazing goal kick by The Scoring Machine’s handsome goalkeeper, All-Urban-Rec defender, Matt Kieltyka, whiffed on the ball and one of the opposing team’s players sprinted in for an unopposed goal.

2-1 The Scoring Machine.

Following some intense pressure by Sustainable Stewart Burgess and Prautsch, a The Scoring Machine pass, deflected by Prautsch, found its way to Horn’s foot – the striker made no mistake, burying the shot in the back corner. As Horn said to Kieltyka later, “karma was on our side, man – they caught a break, and so did we, because the universe wants us to win.”

2-2 Octopi (yes, we were winning).

On the heels of their second goal, some great passing between Kurt Heinrich, Kieltyka and Roger Hosking finally got the ball to under-appreciated/utilized star striker, Loxam, who promptly netted her 27th goal of the season with impressive aplomb.

3-2 Octopi.

This is where things got weird.

First, there were the antics from a bald and bearded talker from The Scoring Machine side – in no more than three minutes he took an illegal shot on goal from the post-score-kickoff, attempted to throw the ball into the net (it was a legit throw-in, but still weird), yelled at the Octopi team for diving and whining, proceeded to dive and whine himself, knocked down Burgess and Hosking at least twice, and started a goal-mouth scrambled that resulted in The Scoring Machine’s third goal. Following this experience John Horn, talking in the third-person, loudly referred to the gentleman as “The Postmodern Pele” – #amazing.

3-3 The Scoring Machine (they had the momentum and, thanks to their ample substitutes, the legs).

Only moments later, Heinrich made a stomping run down the right side and sent a perfect cross to Horn, who was waiting at the far post. Horn, in the third-person, chested the ball down and sent a cracking half-volley at the goal, which was expertly stopped by The Scoring Machine’s keeper.

The chippy play continued with Long Sleeved Black Shirt sweep-kicking the ankles of star striker Loxam – again, if there were referees in the game this player/goon would (a) not have even been in the game at this time and (b) would have been put in his place by an official, instead of an Octopi player, making a call – when Loxam said “you fouled me” the player/goon responded “no I didn’t, you slipped; now stop whining and get up.” #notaclassact #payforrefs

With little time left, Postmodern Pele got involved in another goal-mouth scramble and, somehow, the ball crossed the touch line in spite of a great effort from League MVP David Willinsky.

4-3 The Scoring Machine.

The Octopi Vancouver squad wrapped up the season with an impressive 5-4-2 record and a fourth place finish in their first season together. Other teams in the Urban Rec league best keep on the lookout for this up-and-coming soccer football powerhouse. And the Urban Rec organizers/management best be on the lookout for a strongly worded letter and pending petition that addresses their knowing sacrifice of health, safety and fun for slightly awesomer profit margins.

Great season, team!

O.U.R. Eco Village

Posted on by
Reply

Ben, my husband, is spending the summer working at an intentional community on Vancouver Island, called O.U.R. Ecovillage. We visited O.U.R. for the first time in September, during one of their regular open houses.  We joined the residents for a public event about food security and by the time we left that day, we were hooked.  The way those kind and interesting people are defining community is where it’s at.

I grew up in the country and am ever grateful to my parents for deciding to move our family to Vancouver when I was 13.  I remember listening to the adults talk at the time about our big move to Lotus Land.  I had no idea what that meant but was scared and sad.  I was nervous about starting high school in a big city and scared about doing it with no friends.  I was totally intimidated by the huge school, the rich kids, and the diversity.  I had no idea what the hell was happening on the first day of school and I felt supremely uncool, but man, was I happy to be there.

All this to say that I never ever thought I would move back to the country.  Since visiting O.U.R., and then reflecting upon my experience of “the country”, I’ve realized that my memories are a long way from the kind of rural community I long for now.  Last summer, as I was pulling a carton of eggs from the fridge at Costco, I told my young daughter: this is where eggs come from.  As I listened to my own words, I had to stop for a minute.  An industrial fridge in a sterile warehouse is where eggs come from? Ouch.  When we visited O.U.R. shortly after my Costco moment, I pointed out a Jersey cow to Sydney and realized that it was the first time she was seeing a cow that wasn’t in a book.  And that Jersey cow was so beautiful, I wondered about the last time I’d seen a real live happy cow. Too long.

I’ve been thinking about the absurdity of the way we live for about five years.  Rushing to and from work, living in nuclear families in big expensive spaces, seeing friends and family when schedules permit and eating alone most of the time.  Since I’ve become a mother, the stakes of our decisions are higher.  I want my daughter to grow up amongst our loved ones.  I want her to understand where her food comes from and for her to care about her role in our environment.  And I want her to know our friends and extended family as well as she will know her immediate family.  In the same way, I want to know my friends and their children more than occasional visits permit.  I want all of our children to feel that they are surrounded by love, care and security.

That’s not our experience at present.  We have lived in our current home for six years and sure, we know our neighbours but we don’t hang out.  I would for sure knock on their doors if I needed to borrow something or if I was in danger, but that’s pretty much the depth of our relationships.  So over the last year, Ben and I have moved our philosophical chats about our reality and into practical conversations about our future. We know that we want to live differently than we are now.  Now we need to figure out how to make that happen.

Ben is in construction and is doing such cool work around green building, off-grid housing, and alternative energy that his path naturally leads to O.U.R. Ecovillage.  He’s managing a team of interns this summer and they’re all in for four months of building, learning and sharing.  We’re excited and incredibly grateful to the folks at O.U.R. for creating a space for this kind of community-building.  It’s a magical place, so be sure to check it out if you’re headed for the Cowichan Valley (ourecovillage.org).

Speaking of Lotus Land, I’ve just seen the Wanderlust trailer and it looks like my kind of film.  If you’ve seen it, please leave a comment and let me know what I’m in for.  Thanks!

Vancouver’s Very Own Viking Ship

Posted on by
Reply

For several years now, ever since I’ve lived near English Bay, I’ve been noticing this odd sight out on the water.  Once in a while, there’s this Viking ship out there. That’s right, with that characteristic striped orange sail, oars and what even what look like shields lining the gunnels. On really windy days it never appears, but periodically, when there’s a ruffle of a breeze you can see it bobbing about amongst modern yachts and freighters. The sail seems to hang limp most of the time, but the oars are busy enough.

Turns out that the ship, named the Murin, was launched over a decade ago as part of the BC Viking Ship project. Basically a group of gung-ho folks got together to create a 40 foot replica of the Norwegian Viking Ship Gokstad, which was built around 890 A.D. and unearthed in 1880 near Oslo. The “Gokstad Ship” was amazingly well preserved in an old Viking grave. It is currently on display at the Viking Ship Museum in Oslo. Pretty hardcore! No maritime city is complete with a couple of full scale replicas bobbing about, I say, and this one does us proud.

But what I really like about the Murin - and I just found this out – is that it’s open to the public. With a donation, anyone is welcome to experience working a real Viking longship. Although this isn’t like doing the Gondola thing in Venice. Apparently one’s expected to show up ready to row! Organizers estimate that up to 5,000 people have the chance to try their hand at sailing the Murin every year.

According to the Viking Project website: “This 40 foot boat can accommodate 12 people and the 2 hour rides are by donation. As a passenger you will be rowing (when there isn’t wind to propel the boat) so be sure to bring gloves to protect your hands…”

Amazing. What a great way to build on our nautical community!

Details on how to embark on the Murin. 

  • Departure Point: Heritage Harbour dock in Vanier Park, Vancouver (map)
  • Cost: By donation (please give generously)
  • How to Book: Email vikingship.ca@gmail.com to reserve

Header photo courtesy of stevecadman

Whitecaps FC Community Asset Review – Part 1

Posted on by
Reply

Editors’ note: Kurt and John are firm believers that Vancouver can and should be the Canadian epicenter for growing the sport and culture of soccer football soccer. This is a self-described healthy community. We can play outside year-round, as fields are rarely closed due to snow and/or freezing. And, most importantly, Vancouver is the place to expertly develop the sport of soccer because our city’s team, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, shares this goal and so demonstrates this vision through its Club Structure and the Whitecaps Foundation, which aims to create the fittest generation of BC Youth by 2020.

As Vancouver Whitecaps FC season ticket holders, Kurt and John are well-positioned to evaluate how the franchise showcases its commitment to “be a significant community asset” – so, following every match we will reflect on this commitment by answering two questions. Here they are:

How is the team a significant community asset?

Well, the ‘Caps beat the Impact 2-0 and you should read the wise words of my main man Simon Fudge for all the great details.

As this is the first post about the first game, well, I’ll keep it short and sweet. Vancouver Whitecaps FC demonstrated its role as a significant community asset by the way the team brought together people of different shapes, sizes, cultures, ages, neighbourhoods, and (kinda) socio economic statuses to enjoy a spirited match of very good soccer played by men from dozens of communities around the world.

Any time thousands of people high-five each other, sing songs together and embrace an opportunity to meet new people the event that makes this happen is an asset to our community. And this was the scene at Bell Pitch at Telus Stadium in BC Place on Saturday. And it was a beautiful thing.

What BIG IDEA will make the club an even better asset?

Here’s the idea: break the BMO Banking/Sponsorship hegemony!

BMO is “the official bank and a proud fan of Vancouver Whitecaps FC” and one of the club’s founding partners. The bank is also hedging its bets in terms of MLS support, as its logo adorns the uniforms of both the Montreal Impact and Toronto FC. Further, Toronto FC plays at BMO Field. So, is BMO really a proud fan of the Whitecaps? Or is the company just a proud fan of strategic cross-marketing opportunities?

Vancouver is a different kind of franchise in a different kind of city, which is why our recommendation for this week is for Vancouver Whitecaps FC to strategically align itself with Vancity Credit Union. One particular piece of cool collaboration between the ‘Caps and Vancity could be ongoing support of Vancouver’s Street Soccer League – some of the Whitecaps players have already trained with homeless players from Portland FC and Vancity funds many of the services, programs and places upon which Street Soccer players rely. I mean, how cool would the Vancity logo look on the uniforms?!

Vancity is all about economically, socially and environmentally healthy communities, which certainly jives with the goal to create the fittest generation of youth by 2020. So, think about it, Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Vancity. You’re made for each other!

Holly Langland is Carpe Diem!

Posted on by
2

Who are you?

Well, my life purpose is bringer of light, play and possibilities and the older I get [Editor's note: she's not old] the more I realize how true it is and how hard I strive to achieve my purpose. And I realize how much I need to get out of my own way and just be it and live it!

What do you do for fun?

First of all, I do whatever I can to make my life fun. In fact, I take issue with dividing fun from everything else. So, for me living is fun. My life is fun. Having said that, I really enjoy cooking, listening to the birds – communing with nature, that is – and defying the odds.

What is your favourite community? Why?

In [self-assessment tool] StrengthsFinder my top strength is Connectedness. My community is humankind, and I need to live in a community that is limitless; I need to be a part of something that recognizes the beauty in all human beings as well as the fact that, really, I’m no different from someone in, say, Ghana. Humankind’s similarities far outweigh our differences and through understanding and celebrating these similarities we can overcome our differences. I think that this kind of approach and understanding will allow our community to not be run down by all the mechanisms of life, like bills, debt, structure, rules, and all the rest of it.

What is your superpower?

You know, I think my superpower is seeing peoples’ beauty and vulnerability at the same time. Whether it’s at a bus stop or Starbucks I am often approached by people – one time, a guy started singing me a song – because I feel like I’m on the same page as them. So, showing kindness is my superpower; I give people the benefit of the doubt without seeking any judgment.

How do you use it to build community?

People like to be seen, noticed and acknowledged. I’m able to extend a hand – physical, mental, emotional – and do it in a way that make people trust me. I strive to give more than I get and this approach naturally creates an opening in any community.

My Three Favourite Things About Holly Are…

1. The Big Picture. She gets it, explores it, and celebrates it. Such an approach is very evident given her above description of her favourite community: humankind. Holly is positive and hopeful about our inteconnected global community recognizing that we’re all more similar than different and that, through acknowledging this fact, we can make the world a better place. You gotta love this kind of positive mindset!

2. Amazing Listening Skills. I worked with Holly for just about three years. One of the many things that makes her so good at developing talent is her ability to listen … actively. Holly knows how to take in information – even rambling, semi-disconnected, incredibly tangential stuff from yours truly – and ask really, really, really good questions based on what she heard. And, through these questions, the person to whom she’s conversing is usually empowered with the necessary tools that will allow them to develop their own solution and/or strategy for being awesome. So, thanks for that, Holly.

3. She’s an Amazing Cook. My lovely and talented wife, Michelle, has four rules about meals: they must be affordable, healthy, tasty, and easy to make. Not only do Holly’s many creations hit all of the previous touchpoints, but they exceed them! Dinner parties at Chez Holly are simply delightful, and it was always a pleasure when she brought in culinary creations for potlucks.

–

As told by John Horn…

Octopi Underperforms in 2-1 Victory Over Turfinators

Posted on by
1

Nobody left the pitch happy on Wednesday night. Not the Turfinators (they lost 2-1). Not Octopi Vancouver (they/we should’ve won 8-0). Not the UrbanRec official (Octopi may have lost its sportsmanship award).

Many of the Octopi team members – except Jen, Jess and Nicole, whose positive energy and team spirit were awesome and semi-contagious – left the field in angry states that truly ran the gamut of sensation; from Erin Loxam’s “we could’ve done a lot better” to my yelling in the car on the way home things like “I had the whole right side of the net wide open and shot it right at the goalie because I’m an idiot” and “those guys couldn’t control their bodies and almost hurt a lot of people with their goonish awkwardness.”

But enough about that. What about the soccer football?

Roger Hosking started the scoring on a one-timer – which was also a cracker – off a gorgeous heel-pass from centre-midfielder and Architect at Large, Stewart Burgess. The onion bag bulged and Octopi got off to a fast start.

The Turfinators answered back quickly, as White Socks – their one All-Star-caliber player – weaved his way through our entire side and then sniped a perfect snipe into the top corner of League MVP David Willinsky’s goal. Colanders contain water better than our team’s collective defensive effort contained White Socks on that play..

The next 20-30 minutes unfolded as an exercise in goal-mouth futility for the Octopi side, who had no fewer than 87 exceptional scoring chances that unfolded not as goals, but as near misses, huge misses, incredible misses, goal-post-bounce-offs, shots right at the goalie, shots right at the sideline, shots right into the sprawling legs of defenders, and, yes, shots backwards, too.

Luckily, the team’s savior, Roger Hosking, came to the rescue with a well-timed strike that beat the Turfinator keeper with ease – Roger did a neat thing by not shooting the ball 10 meters wide or right at the goalie. Well done, good sir.

By the end of the evening, the Turfinators’ unintentionally chippy play (they put me on my butt at least five times and absolutely flattened our star striker Erin Loxam) and Octopi’s collective inability to put more balls in the back of the net resulted in the vocal presentation of some heated and biting feedback at the opposition players and an UrbanRec official that may or may not have come from the author of this blog post.

Allow me to stand on my soap box for just a moment: players and officials, when an emotional competitor who frustratingly underachieved during the game and is upset with himself apologizes to you for his inappropriate behaviour, don’t tell him to keep his mouth shut and then say something else that can’t be repeated on this blog. A happy and healthy community this does not build. At the end of the day, it’s just sports!

Oh, one last thing. League MVP and Vancouver Whitecaps back-up goalie, David Willinsky, also made a win-saving stop with about 10 seconds to go in the match. Amazing.

Editor’s note: a special thanks to Jen for her enduring positivity – as I reflected on my life choices and poor performance at 2AM on Thursday morning, your kind words and enlightened spirit made my frustration melt away.