I didn’t meet this woman, Colleen Jones, but I know of her and I’ve watched her in action as both a curling skip and as a reporter. I admired her competitive spirit, her sincerity, and her humanity. She was a fully genuine person and for those who knew her personally – they will all be grieving deeply this evening at news of her untimely death at 65.
My memories of her via TV are not vivid because they go quite a ways back but I have this gnawing and yearning to share as I recollect that central to her character was the way the she treated others. Curling is a game where players make shots and miss shots. Some shots go awry but then produce a favorable result. Some shots can lose a team games. She was the skip and thrived on having the last shot. Leaders step up to this kind of calling. Good curlers and leaders know how to keep a vibe when things go off the rails. They know how to uplift a disappointed player. Colleen had this going on like no other. She had other peoples interests at heart seemingly at every moment in her very raw unpretentious way. This is my memory of Colleen Jones.
Of the 30 traffic related deaths in Calgary so far in 2025, 11 of them have been pedestrians. This morning on the way to work at the intersection of 17th Ave and 5th St SW (east side of intersection) heading southbound an anxious driver turned right, right into myself and a woman in a crosswalk who was on her cell phone walking her dog. My eye is always on drivers making thinking about making a right turn. Our eyes met and he was unapologetic. The woman on her phone didn’t even know what had happened. This is not something that has happened once. I have experienced this on multiple occasions. I bet it’s happened to you too.
CTV News just ran a feature on the topic and the them was about “culture” and “awareness” as opposed to enforcement. Enforcement officials who are obviously not sanctioning aggressive drivers sufficiently and frequently enough in order to help with deterrence are deferring to our social condition in highlighting the problem. It’s peculiar to me when city budgets are stretched and responsible tax payers are fatigued that fines for such violations are not in the four figures for such infractions. With cameras at intersections…why are we not sending more tickets out in the mail? If we care about public safety and tax fatigue, why are campaigns to remove photo radar finding success?
Throughout the movie, there is an unexpressed gnawing at what was going on with Bruce and this is the movie’s biggest appeal. “The River” had been spun many times on my turntable as a teen so it was fitting for me that the film kicked off while winding up the tour supporting “The River”. He was primed to move into superstardom in 1981 with a follow up and everyone around him knew it. However; Bruce became introspective.
He had found a platform of expression. He was now sitting in a sweet spot yet demons lurked. He had the freedom to shift with a loyal articulate manager at his side equipped to handle pleas from a label excited to produce the next platinum record. Bruce revisited darkness from his early Nebraskan days.
The sound needed rawness not appealing to recording engineers. Technology’s limitations arose as a subtext. Emotions ran hot. The label was not. Events all unfolded with drama backstage.
In particular, actor Jeremy Strong (manager / producer) was outstanding. The movie is worthwhile because it goes to a place where we all long. That is, the deeper construct of our manifested selves.
So I was walking up to my office entrance this morning at the street level and was delighted to see a cleaner taking care of the welcome mat by doing some sweeping. She was sweeping the top of the mat while also ensuring to sweep up underneath and other debris surrounding. I kept my distance deliberately because I didn’t want to disturb her given the brevity of such a short task. However; the next person on her cell phone wasn’t quite so aware. She walked right up to the individual expecting to be granted immediate access to the door. The cleaner naturally accommodated and given the interruption I followed along. Inside the door was another woman peering through the glass quite intrigued. We exchanged glances as if in agreement of how the encounter should have unfolded.
So…..a couple of more Republicans have figured out that the “Big Beautiful Bill” isn’t so beautiful. In the back of my mind upon learning that that Senate needed amendments in order to pass it, I pontificated that this could be just the opportunity for particular conscience driven House members to step up. The one name being floated as a flipper is Thomas Massie from Kentucky. The Republican hold outs stand at five into the very early hours of Thurs July 3rd. The interesting context is the timing in which Elon Musk has made a dramatic post indicating the establishment of a new party if this thing passes. Moreover, if these Republicans stand their ground in principle on subsequent legislative efforts, there would be a substantive mark finally driven on the idiot’s grip on power. Some fluttering from nightmare’s REM state tonight. Massie has an interesting background and doesn’t appear to be the quivering sort. A quote of from him tonight “There’s no reason to bankrupt the country because you want to go shoot off some fireworks.” An amusing adjunct…..I guess during the Senate’s negotiated amendments, a provision was included to restrict poker player losses at 90 per cent and ironically the World Series of Poker’s “Main Event” just got underway.
