Lise's Ramblings

Members of the SkyHawks Parachute Demo Team  Last weekend, I took in the 2011 Atlantic Canada International Air Show. It struck me that everyone enjoyed the event, despite the wide range in ages. Young children squealed as they clamoured up static displays run by the Canadian Forces. The Generation Z kids also cheered from strollers and grown ups' shoulders . Teenagers were mesmerized by aircraft breaking the sound barrier and star struck by pilots and parachutists. Adults gasped at the are-they-out-of-their-mind feats and the precision of the manoeuvres. Senior citizens and WWII veterans watched patriotic performances and reminisced about seeing an antique aircraft in its heyday. Your age just doesn’t matter ; the consensus is that air shows are       AWESOME! Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, GenXs, Millennials (GenYs) and GenZs take in the 2011 Atlantic Canada International Air Sh...

As adults, we go out of our way to avoid showing up somewhere dressed like anyone else. If I end up sporting the same outfit as a friend, we can chalk that up to an irresistible sale or similar taste in clothes. From then on, we'll call or text one another before leaving home wearing that particular item of clothing. But remember when you were young and you thought it was cool to dress like your best friend or a sibling? My childhood friend Jolanda and I used to have matching leotards for rhythmic dance classes at the Y and sometimes our moms sewed identical dresses for us. Matching outfits made us feel like kindred spirits…two peas in a pod…        AWESOME! Two cuties at Old Home Week 2011, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

Old Home Week 2011, Charlottetown Sometimes we call spud sacs either potato pouches, gunny shoes, hessian sacks or jute bags. Apart from storing potatoes, those stitched flaps of burlap can be used for various ends: a magic carpet to whisk you down a slide (see right) a scarecrow’s head or a haunting mask for Halloween  an itchy, shapeless dress (exception: Marilyn Monroe successfully sported one) a wrap to protect sensitive shrubs and trees from frost and moisture-wicking winds inexpensive weights for fitness training or stage riggings a temporary sandbag measure for diverting floods or rising waters a makeshift shield or wall during military operations a nearly indestructible prop for a sack race – the burlap stands up to greater abuse than when you sub in sleeping bags or pillowcases for the spud sacs. (As a child, I enjoyed  the potato-sack hop almost as much as the three-legged race at my grandfather’s corporate picnics.) Spuds sacs are ver...

Fairs present children with thrills galore.  I believe a major part of the heady trip is that combination of having great fun, but feeling so grown up. Do you recall r eaching that magic height that opened the gates to allow you access to your first fair ride? How about: having someone who loves you take you on that first ride? getting to experience a ride without adult supervision? taking in your first solo ride? The only part to top all of those moments was being grown up enough to go to the fair with friends instead of family.      AWESOME!

I chose today’s topic when I found out our neighbours in the U.S. will celebrate National Radio Day tomorrow. My fondest public radio moments always happen right before Christmas, when the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) plays an on-air reading of Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince. Through national radio, a reading like that can reach remote communities and be heard in cars even when all other stations turn to static noise. Unlike commercial radio stations full of ads, banter and tiny news snippets, national radio programming is as varied as its audiences. National radio listeners explore comedy, science, news, books, culture, politics, all genres of music, sports, controversy and much more as the writers and radio personalities take the time to delve into deep discussions, interviews, phone-ins and exceptional, well-researched programming. Who among us hasn’t: learned something about natural or physical sciences from Bob MacDonald, Jay Ingr...

They aren't wallflowers. Of the 15 female performers below, the majority are still belting out tunes decades after their first chart-topping hits. I'll let these women use their powerful voices to prove they’re      AWESOME! Joan Jett Sass Jordan Annie Lennox Chrissie Hynde Pat Benatar Debbie Harry (a.k.a., Blondie) Ann Wilson Lee Aaron Annie Woods Alannah Myles Aretha Franklin Madonna Carole Pope Sheryl Crow Cher I realize that new talent, from the mid-1990s to the present, is noticeably absent. I considered adding Fergie, given her performances with Slash, Black Eyed Peas and Ann Wilson. So, who would you add to my list of women who rock?

Why is it that we set professional goals and objectives, but rarely do so for personal pursuits? Last week, I had a rare evening of quiet and solitude, so I curled up in a comfy chair and pondered my personal goals.  So far, my life has been full of tremendous joys and unforgettable experiences. (Thanks to all of you who have been part of the ride!) Still, I dug deep to dream up other activities to attempt, places to visit and ways to stretch beyond my comfort zone. To avoid distractions, I turned off my computer and put my Blackberry on silent mode. Armed with a pen and paper , I began what some label a bucket list. I’ve called mine Lise Lafontaine’s Lofty Life List. I left out the hyphen, because it is both a lofty-life list and a lofty life-list. Interpret it as you will. The 60 items on it range from serious to silly, inexpensive to pricey and commendable to selfish. While I may not attain all these goals in the next half century, I plan to try. The journe...

Who needs a diving board when you're at the beach? You can plunge into the water from someone's shoulders.  Photo by andih on flickr Can't shell out extra for bleacher seats? You can watch the concert from the mosh pit, but at a slightly higher vantage point. Just don’t spoil other concertgoers’ line of sight.) And hey, there's no need to grow up too fast. Just climb on an adult's shoulders and you will be able to see the parade go past. Spot Santa or Elmo way off in the distance. Human platforms aren't just a boost, they're...      AWESOME!

Sure, my Scrabble Dictionary suffices for resolving most disputes in word games, but it doesn’t cut it for anything else. Sometimes you need to consult an authority. When it comes to words, The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) reigns as the heavyweight―literally and figuratively speaking. After all, the OED is dubbed “The definitive record of the English language” and its weighty 20 volumes fill at least one reference shelf. Photo by emdot on Flickr And talk about dedicated fans. When new words are added to the OED ’s tomes, healthy debates rage internationally between bibliophiles, librarians, lexicographers, linguists, etymologists, academics and your average Joe/Jane. I find it remarkable that more than 150 years after the OED ’s origins, authors and bloggers alike continue to be inspired to write fiction and non-fiction works about the OED (e.g., The Professor and the Madman ; The Meaning of Everything ; Reading the OED ; Treasure House of the English Language ; Empir...

Oh, the varied ways to enjoy grapes. You may relish just tossing cold, seedless grapes into the air and catching them in your mouth. Chefs and bakers cook up dried grapes in bread pudding, butter tarts and raisin bread. And on a hot day, you can reach into the freezer to treat yourself to rum raisin ice cream. Even grape leaves serve a purpose. In Greek cuisine, dolmades are a popular appetizer with grape leaves wrapped around rice and meat concoctions. Gardeners train grapevines to climb trellises. Then, the vines and their fruit are grown on a larger scale at wineries, where people harvest, crush, ferment and bottle grapes to cater to our thirst for vino . Children’s television programmers even use non-alcoholic grape juice to instruct and entertain. Recall Ernie and Bert explaining the difference between more and less in the classic and comedic delicious grape juice skit (a circa 1970s episode of “Sesame Street”).   Apart from consuming grapes in their many form...