Rooperstar's Blog

Raising money for my cause celebre

Rooperstar — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 15:57:20 -0800

This month we are hosting the 3rd annual Naught Noses Gala evening to raise money for Jest For Joy Clown-Doctoring foundation.

We aim to raise $10,000 on the night (28th Jan if you are available - it's at the River Rock Casino to make it easy to get to). Music by Micheal Creber, Comedy from Greg Kettner, silent and live auctions, food, bar, charity balckjack. It's going to be a fun evening.

Each and every $50 raise pays for another hour of light and laughter in the lives of the residents in the centre and I can tell youy that everytime I leave that place I leave with tears in my eyes. Tears for the happiness and love that i just witnessed and also tears that anyone has to live their life in a care centre while the rest of us go about out lives as if it could never happen to us.

I am just passionate now about making sure that the George Pearson centre never has to go without the support of the clown-doctors and that, in practice, means that we need to grow this charity so that we can support full-time clown-doctors and we need to pay them a living wage. They do an immensely valueable thing and to make it sustainable we need to fund it properly. That's what the Naughty Noses Gala is all about. I'm praying for a good turnout and a great fundraiser for the guys.

Enjoying fundraising for Jest for Joy

Rooperstar — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 12:00:02 -0700

It's funny that coming from such a selfish, parochial society as (I found) the UK how much I am enjoying being an integral part of the fundraising fro Jest for Joy Clown-Doctoring Foundation.

We're in the process of organizing a fund-raising gala dinnner and just booked the River Rock Casino for 28 Jan 2011 and it's going to be a balst. The function of the Jest for Joy clown-doctors is to bring laughter and joy to the residents of the funded centers so we're going for a fundraiser that focuses on fun and laughter with a stand-up comic and improv group along with the music and food. For me this is a complex event and one that I am really looking forward to making it a slick and enjoyable event for all involved.

I'll sign off with the obligatory - contact me if you want to attend and/or contribute to the event. We'd love to have loads of people there and all sponsorship/support ideas are going to be welcomed.

Jest for Joy - why they are important

Rooperstar — Fri, 17 Sep 2010 16:40:30 -0700

This week I joined the board of Jest for Joy as the Fundraising Chair. I have done this because I think that the work that they do fills an important gap in the healthcare system for a particularly underserved demographic.

The work that that they do is to provide Clown Doctoring for long term residents of centers within the healthcare system in BC. The residents are often sufferers of advanced MS or other neurological afflictions and their lives are extremely restricted. Some residents have been in the same centre for over 50 years.

The Clown Doctors spend about 4 hours a week in the centre to brighten the spirits of staff and residents. This is more than having a few laughs however. I was touched by the Clown Doctors own descriptions of the soothing effect that they witness their singing or joking having on distressed residents. Over the course of the last year or so they have worked their way into the lives and routines of the residents and are an event for the centre to look forward to each week. Who wouldn't look forward to a "Frown-ectomy"?

Their work is restricted to one centre at present. It costs about $12,000 a year to finance the visits. The Clown Doctors are all qualified, professional actors and the small amount of pay that they do received per visit allows the charity to rely on their input and also recognises that there is skill required to do what they do. There is much more to clown doctoring than acting the Goat for 4 hours.

With that finance requirement in mind I hope that my commercial background can help them produce and deliver a strategy that can generate a sustainable income stream to support 3 or 4 centers and enrich that many more lives in the process.

Systems Thinking

Rooperstar — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 17:00:55 -0700

I attended a systems thinking seminar on Saturday by Russel Horwitz. It was very interesting but like all courses based on the true nature of the predicament that we are facing, somewhat daunting, depressing and aggravating. http://www.leadership-vancouver.ca/Sys-Think.asp

It occurs to me that we are in a communal grieving process.

Shock stage: Initial paralysis at hearing the bad news.

Denial stage: Trying to avoid the inevitable.

Anger stage: Frustrated outpouring of bottled-up emotion. Anger at past generations and others who made/make poor choices.

Bargaining stage: Seeking in vain for a way out. We are too late to avoid the consequences of some of our communal actions.

Depression stage: Final realization of the inevitable. That we can't stop the degradation of the planet in it's totality and return the world to it's pristine state is a depressing thought.

Testing stage: Seeking realistic solutions. How will we cope? What alternatives are there that are sustainable? I see that degrowth gets it's knocks but is there a better solution that avoid war, famine and disease?

Acceptance stage: Finally finding the way forward. In my view this will only come when we are forced into new ways of living by circumstances and resource constraints. This isn't something that humans will do voluntarily en mass.

I think that the last point was driven home when Russell showed us (and for me this was news but not to everyone I am sure) about the Tragedy of the Commons (google it or Wiki it). There is just too much self interest out there that it is simply unavoidable. We can see it when we leave the correct amount of space between cars on a highway and some prick jumps in front of us so how are we going to stop pollution and excessive consumption on the scale required? At the seminar we did come up with some small ways of making a difference and getting leverage, I for one do most of the suggested actions anyway - but it all feels quite futile to act. Maybe a better way forward is to prepare for the worst so that our families survive with less when there is less rather than survive on less when there is (apparently) plenty.

Very confused and quite depressed. I guess that I must be grieving the loss of ignorance.

Reading "Why your world is about to get a whole lot smaller"

Rooperstar — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 10:22:15 -0700

This book, by a former chief economist of CIBC, is facinating if somewhat depressing. Anybody interesting in profiting from the upcoming and permanent surge in oil prices would be well advised to read this book. At least you can make some money out of an economic armageddon that you won't be able to stop anyway. It doesn't have to be buying oil companies, just posotioning yourself to make money as other scramble for less oil dependant solutions and that could be as simple and easy as planting carrots locally to as risky as buying oil futures. Basicaly we (humanity)can't afford oil and the next 10 years are going to prove that.

Apparently he also suggested in a recent presentation that the current gulf oil leak may well do for oil what 3 Mile island did for nuclear energy. Personally I hope so.

It's very well written and the kind of wake up call that none of us want but all of us need.

Degrowth

Rooperstar — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:11:00 -0700

Am facinated by the Degrowth movement. I believe with all my heart that it is the only way forward the question now is whether people will adopt it out of necessity or willing enlightenment. I can't see a way that they will adopt anything but the most rudimentary degrowth principles without all alternaives being removed through taxation (which won't happen) of some form - maybe tarrifs.

I look forward to the day when a respected MBA course teaches degrowth as a profitable avenue or at least if not wildly financially profitable then a responsible avenue and one worthy of respect. MBAs will eventually teach how to live an optimal degrowthed life, getting the balance right between resource consumption and contribution.

Modern economic teachings are a recipe for disaster. I hear more and more about how businesses need to keep growing but I don't know if (m)any of the commentators have stopped to ask why that is necessary. Can't a business survive in its environment without growing or only grow at the pace of the growth of it's economy - continuing to occupy the same equivalent space? This relentless pursuit of growth has destroyed as much wealth as it has created (I accept that this is a non-provable claim but so too is any opposing claim). How many times do we see business acquire another business only to drive it under or sell it off at a loss because the desire was to grow the bottom-line rather than stick to the knitting and solidify the original business?

Growth of businesses will come when that business adds value to the society that it serves. For as long as that is the case the growth looks after itself. If you play with that and try to grow for growth's sake you defy nature and it can't last.

Bring on Degrowth and let's see what the economy does with it. I'll take my fair share of the cut in living standards required because I'll take my fair share of increase in quality of life.

Children's toys - Careful what you give

Rooperstar — Tue, 25 May 2010 12:32:22 -0700

When giving presents to the friends of my child I am now going to consciously avoid anything that is over packaged. I was actually offended by the level of waste that her recent 4th birthday party generated in terms of ribbons, paper and plastic barbie packaging. I for one am boycotting anything in that hard plastic box stuff and will go for Farmer's market type, locally produced, non-commercial presents or just donate to the foodbank like we did last year then got sucked back into the "got to buy something tangible to show we care" cycle.

Top 5 huh? Where to start

Rooperstar — Tue, 18 May 2010 16:50:36 -0700

Off the top of my head here are my thoughts:(Please don't read this if you are overly politically correct it's just my point of view - and some opinions are liable to change with time.)

1. Dependancy on oil. Got to stop needing the stuff before we wreck Alberta and the oil sands area. On a side note: Personally I think that we should consider anyone who works on that patch as akin to soldiers who commit war crimes. "Just following orders" doesn't cut it my friend. What you are doing is wrong, wrong, wrong and you have the choice to not do it. Follow through and you are a criminal. Necessity is the mother of invention. If we don't get a billion barrels of oil out of there we have to live without it. Let's start working out how to do that now rather than pretend that we have an endless supply. It's pure greed and not only at a corporate level.

2. Pay our politicians like we pay our top business people. Make politics an aspirational career by rewarding high achievers. Paying MLAs like middle managers gets us... well, middle managers doing really senior jobs. Does it work? You tell me. We need LEADERS in politics not politicians. People who can make a stand and paint a clear vision.

3. Make long term impacts on the planet much more important than short term gain. For instance so what if the fishermen can't make enough money off smaller quotas? They will when the price of fish accurately reflects the true cost to the planet. Go find another job in the meantime. I mean once upon a time stoking coal fired steam engines was a job for someone then life moved on. Protecting old jobs should never be a reason for impeding progress in the light of new knowledge. Side note: Stop fish farming. If the ocean can't supply it we've got to find better ways of feeding ourselves.

4. Mandate that everything that is manufactured be compostable or recyclable. If it can't be then tax the crap out of it. That'll change supply behaviours which will then turn consumer behaviours. Waiting for the other way around is too slow. Oh and price in the future cost of the energy to recycle it. Barbie's new doll's house isn't looking so attractive at $700 is it? Packing?.. Don't get me started.

5. Make obesity a criminal offence. That will cut down on resource consumption and buy us some more time to work out the solutions. Controversial I know but it's not entirely a flippant comment.

Now I'm just getting going... there's buy local, ban religion (just kidding on that one). I'm looking forward to seeing what other people post.

Rainwater collected

Rooperstar — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:49:26 -0700

This is my first spring with the rainbarrel that I installed last year. I hope the water that I collected isn't too rancid when it goes on the lawn. Early indications are that it's good.

So far I've washed my car twice and watered the lawn just once but be fair it's not dried up properly yet. Maybe I'm deluding myself but I think that the moss is less problematic this year. Maybe moss thrives on flouride and chlorine. Stay posted :)

By the way I also went on a water meter and my utility bills have been slashed. I reckon that between fewer flushes and and a new dishwasher we have about halved our water consumption. We shower instead of bathing (unless I've been playing sport - sorry I need the Radox bath). Now what I need is one of those thermal capture devices for the waste water pipes. That would definatly make me feel less guilty about the baths.

Close call - sticking to the principle though

Rooperstar — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:59:08 -0700

Yesterday I saw a guy drop his butt out of the window of the car ahead of me at some traffic lights. I thought twice about jumping out because a) I had my mom-in-law in the car b) there were two of them in that car c) something looked odd.

Anyway when I drew up to it it was a filterless tab which I have far less issue with. I'd rather that they didn't drop them but I'm not going to risk my health on a piece of paper that will degrade over time. Filters I'm passionate about but self-rolled I can roll with for now.

Does it make any difference to you?