The Cormac MacSweeney Blog - 660News Calgary

A wonderful run … um actually a walk:

So on Sunday I took part in the Great Strides Walk with my girlfriend. All the cash goes to fight Cystic Fibrosis and of course find a cure.

It was amazing. There were hundreds (around 200) of people there and the Calgary Chapter of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation raised close to $130,000 buckaroos. We kicked Edmonton’s aaaaaa … butt!

The only snag was that it was raining.

Melissa (my girlfriend who suffers from CF) and I wanted to do a couple of rounds on the one-kilometre path but rain and CF just don’t mix well. So the walk pretty much ended after the first go around the path. Either way it was a bunch of fun and it was good to see so many people helping fight against CF.

Melissa and I ended up raising over $4000.

It was a tremendous experience for both of us. I have never taken part in a walk/run and it feels good to do it for someone you love, not to mention with someone you love.

Where in the world is Kevin Taft??:

So, like the political loser that I am, I have been watching the Legislature when I get home from work. It hasn’t been tough to notice the absence of the Leader of the Official Opposition.

Liberal Kevin Taft hasn’t been sitting in Edmonton with his fellow MLAs, who are still battling it out on the floor against the PCs. So where did Taft go? At first I thought there may be some personal issues, or he was kidnapped, or possibly he just took a vacation. Well it seems the latter is correct.

According to an article in the Edmonton Journal, Taft is in Greece. No he didn’t quit the Liberal Party to become an actor in musical theatre, he is taking a trip to the country in Europe.

It seems odd that he would duck out in the middle of the session. As Graham Thomson ponders, is he thinking about his future as the leader of the Liberals? Apparently he is set to announce his career plan in June and that could mean a leadership race in Alberta. While Taft has been lounging on a beach (we can only assume he’s relaxing) the PC’s haven’t been doing too bad with a number of well supported initiatives.

As the article explains, the only rumoured MLA interested in the spot is Dave Taylor. He has laughed at those suggestions…specifically on Breakfast Television and made reference to my report a couple of months back. But let’s not forget David Swann. The good doctor has been talking funny and sending out peculiar e-mails recently about change in the opposition and a rejuvination. Could he also be eyeing the Liberal prize? Like Taylor, he denies it…but he’s missing the chuckle.

So would an ousting of the current leader and a race for a new one be a good thing for the Liberals. I think so, it makes perfect sense (and don’t take this as a shot to Kevin Taft…I am saying nothing about his ability to run the party). The Liberals desperately need to rejuvinate support for their party (as Dr. Swann says) and if you claim you’re new with the same line up…you’re setting yourself up to be knocked down, unless you have a brilliant strategy..which of course would have been useful before the election. An actual leadership race would keep the party in the news and renew interest (even if only a little). People will want to know who the new leader is going to be and after that they may want to know what the new direction will be for the party. People may keep paying attention and support can grow. Heck, Taft was able to do it in 2004 to get a reasonable seat count, why not ______ in 2012?

Whatever, I’m not a political strategist or a political scientist so I could be way off the mark. But at least it makes sense to me. What do you think?

It’s just one possibility for the opposition to try and rebuild after a near fatal blow in the last election.

Yesterday we had Liberal MLA Dr. David Swann on our station after he sent a peculiar e-mail. The e-mail focused on rejuvenating the opposition and getting citizens once again interested in provincial politics. This part was pretty straight forward but it was the last paragraph that raised my eyebrow and had experts asking questions.

Basically it read like this: “After 37 years of one-party rule, the writing is on the wall. Alternate parties must change or become more marginalized. And if existing parties are not able to find common cause or make the necessary changes, then a more inclusive democratic party of the centre must emerge which will inspire and engage citizens in the grand experiment that is Alberta. Let’s get to work.”

I’m not sure about you but my first impression from that comment was that Dr. Swann is trying to plant the seeds for a new party and start a recruitment drive.

Normally announcing that you are interested in starting a new party, while you’re currently with one, would get you kicked out of your caucus. But the environment critic chose his words very carefully, so if he was grilled on this issue he has many “outs”, so he’s not entrapped by his words. That and the Liberals can’t afford to lose an MLA.

The other possibility to take from Dr. Swann’s words is that he wants co-operation, a coalition, or even a merger of opposition parties.

Either way the Liberal MLA is looking for an end to 37 years of Tory rule. But will either scenario help the opposition (any of the parties) topple the PC’s from their perch at the top of the pyramid that is Alberta.

On this question I spoke with Keith Brownsey, a political scientist with Mount Royal College. He believes everything for Swann will fail if he keeps pursuing these options. A merger or coalition with the NDP or Green Party is unlikely and if it does happen the core groups of both parties will feel alienated and betrayed. Let’s also face the fact that a deal with the NDP will further brand the Liberals as socialists…even though the current branding of Liberals as socialists is ignorant. The party falls into the centre of the political spectrum, not the far left like some spin doctors would like you to believe.

Also Brownsey says a new party doesn’t have enough support and historically these situations have been losing causes for the person trying to break away and make history. He doesn’t think its smart for Swann to try and be a crusader with a new party because he could be shooting himself in the political foot.

So do you think a new party is the answer for the dismay voters felt in the last election about a lack of choice? Or will it be an issue for parties on the other side of the house by spreading the opposition voice thinner?

Let me know what you think.

(First off, If you are looking for the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk story, it is the blog entry beneath this. Or to donate just follow this link http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=449990 … thanks.)

That’s right … I got to be a paramedic. Okay, well not exactly. Calgary E.M.S. gave members of the media a chance to experience what it’s like to go through an emergency situation so we better understand what they do.

I love these opportunities. I got to do this with Calgary Fire and had a blast; It was no different with E.M.S.

Adam is the paramedic I was paired up with. After a brief but informative training session on the rescue techniques I’d be performing, we were off to an emergency.

We jumped in an ambulance and with lights flashing and sirens wailing we sped through the parking lot at 30km/h and arrived at the grassy part in the back of the lot at E.M.S. headquarters.

We jumped out and assessed the situation. One woman was hysterical saying she didn’t know what happened but saw her friend lying on the ground. Another woman explained he touched a wire sticking out of the ground, there was a flash, and he fell to the ground.

By the way this wasn’t a real emergency. All involved were actors and no one was harmed in the making of this Media Medic Day.

The man on the ground had burns to his face and arm and Adam and I had to work together with some of the bystanders to properly get the patient on a stretcher and secured before putting him in the ambulance.

Just to rub it in, of course they have a “reporter” on scene asking questions. She was pushy and jumping in my face as I was trying to help this injured guy. I was trying to be diplomatic explaining I couldn’t talk. After further annoyance I was biting my tongue trying not to tell her to _______ (you can figure it out).

To be honest I have never seen a reporter do something as stupid as get in the face of an emergency worker when they are trying to save someone’s life. It is disrespectful, rude, and not to mention idiotic because I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate reporters disrupting the paramedics trying to save their life if they are ever in danger. BUT … there is always a “but” … I have heard of such stories and I’d like to say those reporters are rare, they don’t use common sense and probably shouldn’t be reporters in the first place.

Back to the story. After nearly killing a reporter and carefully getting a patient with electric burns, and possibly more injuries, onto the ambulance it was time for CPR. The actor playing the patient didn’t jump in, instead we had a dummy. No I’m not talking about Ted Henley (kidding), it was a mannequin. This wasn’t an ordinary dummy though, it actually had a pulse, the chest would move while it breathed, and it’s eyes would open as a response.

Thanks to Adam’s help I was able to save the patients life … or at least keep him alive until we got to the hospital.

I said it when I wrote my blog for my day with Calgary Fire, but you don’t fully realize what emergency crews go through until you get at least a little taste. The stress of the moment, trying to deal with family & friends of the patient, properly assessing the situation, applying life saving medical techniques and trying to keep your hairs from turning white are not easy things to do all at once.

These men and women save our lives day in and day out and many of us take it for granted. This Medic Day comes shortly after the death of Cpl. Michael Starker, and while the feeling is still fresh, let’s remember what these courageous people do for us and thank them whenever we can.

Hello all,

For this blog entry I am going to get a little serious.

As you may know, I am Cormac Mac Sweeney with 660News. But some of you may not know that my girlfriend Melissa has Cystic Fibrosis.

It is not something that just happened, she has dealt with this degenerative disease since she was diagnosed shortly after birth. There is currently no cure for CF which is a disease that attacks the digestive, immune, and respiratory systems.

Here comes the “pulling the heart strings” part. Every day Melissa has mucus filling her lungs which means she has to take her medicine with a mask and go through physio-therapy three to four times. Because her pancreas is pretty much non-existent she has to take five to seven enzyme pills with each meal and snack just to digest her food and get nutrients. She is also susceptable to many viruses, infections etc. What would normally just be a hassle to us can end up being a two-week hospital stay for her … which recently happened for the second time this year.

The Great Strides Walk is May 25th and it raises funds for the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and I’ll be there with Melissa looking like a dork in my running clothes. This fundraiser could help find a cure for a disease that affects more people than you may realize.

http://my.e2rm.com/personalPage.aspx?registrationID=449990

This is a link to donate to my efforts in the Walk. I am not asking for much, you can give anywhere from $5 dollars to $1,000,000,000,000 (if you can afford the latter). Every little bit helps. As an example, if my 400 friends on facebook give just five bucks each we can raise $2000. Think of the difference you can make.

Melissa is and always has been a sweetheart who is not bitter about having a deadly disease, rather she makes the most of life trying to be as happy as she can be in the short time she has on this earth.

Most individuals with cystic fibrosis die young: Many in their 20s and 30s from lung failure. Think about it, just by giving up a little bit of cash YOU can help extend Melissa’s life through funding advancements in life sustaining medicine.

I have never bugged you guys about stuff like this and I probably wouldn’t if it didn’t mean so much to me. Please help, and if you want to learn more about Cystic Fibrosis visit the website www.cysticfibrosis.ca or e-mail me at cormac.macsweeney@rci.rogers.com

Also if you want to walk with Melissa and I, you can register on the same site and you’ll get to see Beesley from Calgary FM (formerly with JackFM), who is hosting the event.

Thanks,
Cormac

Yesterday we unexpectedly got word from Canada’s largest oil and gas company that it will split.

Encana will be dividing into two companies, one that focuses on oil and the other on natural gas.

This is great news for shareholders because for every one Encana stock they’ll get one stock in each new company. That means if they hold onto their stock and get past the initial start up costs, they could be rolling in the cash.

Is it good for the company though? The analysts scream in unison…”YES!” Having two specialty companies is a better route because they will be able to grow further than the divisions could under Encana.

This news is huge because it means a restructuring of one of the most famous names in the energy business and one analyst is predicting that other companies will follow suit. That could mean further changes, and by the end of it all the oil and gas sector is going to look a lot different.

The only thing I regret about all of this, is that I didn’t pick up Encana stock when the buying time was right.

After a four-day trip to Las Vegas, I’m back.

Vegas was fun with a lot of gambling, some drinking in the streets (which is legal there) and of course catching a show. In the gambling department I lost but I still had a lot of fun. Chris Bowen and I took the trip and we had a chance to check out Second City Las Vegas. That was a heck of a lot of fun (I suggest to anyone heading to Nevada) and I got up on stage and did some volunteer improve with the actors and true professionals.

The big story is from when I got back. My girlfriend Melissa surprised me with a little bundle of joy. No, no, no…She wasn’t pregnant for 8 months and 3 weeks without my knowledge; she actually bought a puppy!

She looks like a little Rottweiler but the vet tells us she is not. She’s a Beagle cross…but the other breed he’s not sure of, he’s just sure it isn’t a Rottweiler. I’ll have to post some photos, and I still owe you photos from the playoff beard days. Patience is a virtue.

On to work talk. It is never easy to adjust back to your routine when you’ve been on holidays, especially when you work on a morning show. You get so used to making your hours and doing what you want that, you dread waking up and don’t even want to go to work.

That applies for most jobs but imagine dealing with it on a morning show when you wake up at 3 a.m. That’s a complete bummer.

Well that’s all for an update I can give at the moment…stay tuned to your same bat station on your same bat website.

Just one more day and I’ll be boarding a flight to the city of sin.

I am really excited and pumped up for this trip. I have never been to Las Vegas before, so it should be an interesting time. I am going with my co-worker Chris Bowen, so I’m sure he and I will get into some shenanigans while we’re there. Let’s just hope we don’t get arrested.

I don’t usually make travel itineraries, but I produced a loose one for this trip. Chris and I are going to catch a magic show, a comedy show (both are in our hotel…the Tropicana), meet an Elvis impersonator, play some blackjack, walk up and down the new and old strips, and jump on the “Big Shot”  — a thrill ride more than a 1,000 feet in the air on top of the Stratosphere Hotel.

I hope to get most of this done before I leave on Friday…but if I don’t I’m sure I’ll have fun trying.

Oh and don’t worry, if I win big I’ll try and keep my day job…for five minutes at least.

So I think it is safe for me to declare myself the winner of the playoff beard competition between myself and Ted Henley.

To be fair to Tedley, I did have a head start because he didn’t put the razor down until the playoffs actually started. I let the hair grow beginning a couple of days after the regular season ended.

Next week we will post photos…I just have to get off my lazy butt and take some pictures of my face.

On another note I must apologize for not writing lately. I was sick as a dog (missing work and everything) and recently have had some personal stuff, so right after work I have been out of here as fast as a lightning flash.

And on Tuesday I’m off for Vegas so unfortunately you will not get your full fix of Cormac next week either. I’ve been a bad boy, so sorry about all this. If I have access to the internet while I’m there I’ll try and update you on my trip.

Yours truly….the 660 staff member with the greatest playoff beard!

So I am not at work today because for the second time, I believe, since I started work at 660News two years ago, I have called in sick. I rarely get sick, but I think the hectic month I have had is finally catching up with me.

First, it was a radio conference a few weekends ago, then non-stop action with the Juno Awards, and then I threw my whole sleep schedule out of whack by working the afternoons. That is close to three weeks of running around and playing with my sleep schedule…not fun when it all catches up to you.

The good news is, I hope to be back tomorrow at my regular spot…reporting for the morning show.

On another note, I have started a playoff beard. I stopped shaving before the Flames played game one and I have not touched my razor since. I have never done anything like this before, but felt a little crazy and decided to go through with it. We are only three games in and I already have the itchy feeling all over my face. Maybe I need to rub moisturizing cream into chin and cheeks everyday to get rid of that…if you know, contact me and give me some beard-o tips.

Right now my playoff beard is more like playoff stubble…but as the flames keep winning, I will look more and more like a biker. Oh and one more thing, if you see me walking down the street DO NOT rub my poor excuse for a beard for good luck…unless you ask for permission first.

That’s right, I’m Mark Strashok this week. Well not exactly … if I really was Strashok I would have to grow 5 feet and become a fan of the Edmonton Losers … I mean Oilers.

I am merely filling in for Mark while he fills in for our morning man Ted Henley, who is on vacation somewhere wonderful with his children.

I am very happy that the week after the Junos I am able to sleep in until 9 in the morning. I was so busy from Thursday until late Sunday evening that I swear I was about to burn out. At least now I can grab some shut-eye as I anchor the afternoon show and not come in to work as the grumpiest radio man on the planet with a runny nose and a hoarse cough.

Now that I can relax and have my mornings available … maybe I’ll hit up a spa … just like Mark Strashok does.