570News Blog: Lisa Drew

The Summer Games are in full swing,  and Michael Phelps continues to dazzle all in the pool.

The golden swimmer has even been fully covered up for some events - wearing  a unitard-style swimsuit.
And it’s working for him.. look at the loot around his neck.

And then there are the women’s beach volleyball teams.
What are these athletes wearing?
Two tiny bits of spandex.. pretty much a bikini.
Their male counterparts on the sandy volleyball court are sporting long shorts, and a loose- sleeveless jersey.
Four years later.. not much has changed.
One bend over or dive.. and the women are spotted worldwide re-adjusting their tiny bottoms.  Did you see the American men’s pair pulling at their uniforms last night on CBC?
They were busier with their backward ball caps and shades.

Also noted during our CBC summer games viewing last night - the sea of blue in the stands - all those empty seats.

At least they had a full house for the lip-syncher. 

lisa

The sunshine is truly here..none of that stormy, broody stuff from the last week or so.  The less-than-perfect weather just meant more time curled up on the couch
and out on the porch on the wicker chair, just reading.

We had a great week at the cottage.  We started up in Huntsville for the long weekend.  The long drive up was worth it. ( Way too much traffic for a Saturday morning!)
While the sun was out - I finally got some sea legs and got a ride on a jet-ski.  The kids were sent thru the air tubing.  Our five-year-old also experienced what he calls his ” best campfire ever”! 
Then we headed to the family cottage on Lake Erie.

I did get through two books, and am now into number three, so it was a good week off despite the weather.

I loved (loved!) Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay.  It surrounds life and love at a radio station in Yellowknife in the 1970’s.  It really captures the daily life and characters found at a radio station.
It also follows a life-changing canoe trip the group from the station makes.  Beautifully written, I wish there was more.

Holy Cow by Sarah Macdonald chronicles her stay in India.  She and her husband are reporters,
and she is adjusting to the India way of life while he covers the political unrest around 9/11.
She charts her own religious journey.   The book is an updated, hipper version of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love. 

I am now halfway thru A Complicated Kindess by Miriam Toews…and I’m already in love with Nomi.  She’s a very Juno-like young Mennonite woman trying to make sense of why her mother and sister just up and left.

I still have my eye on some bio’s, and way too many decorating and current affair magazines left stacked up by the bag of dirty laundry at the back door.
I just have to shake the sand out of them…and find some more time.

lisa

This week’s gruesome attack on a bus in Manitoba is just that..gruesome.  The details are not pretty - they are truly horrible and  tough to talk about,  but people are talking about it… and quite a lot.
It is a story like this that prompts extended discussion here in the newsroom.  How much information is too much?
Is the right to know the same as the right to possibly offend?

Some media outlets did advise listeners of the disturbing nature of the story before some details were given.
Many didn’t.
We have cautioned listeners in the past.  One of the more recent examples would be the details given in court during Robert Pickton’s trial.

As the morning progressed yesterday, and the more horrific details were coming down, the discussion focussed on the eyewitness reports.  Police had not confirmed the multiple stabbing or the beheading of the victim.
We did report that.

I took a one call yesterday, and the listener thought
we should be giving out even more information.

We do try to be sensitive, and to report all stories honestly and factually.
Many of us are parents, and those children are home for the summer holidays hearing reports, even seeing the footage on TV.. as they search for that show on YTV or Teletoon.

The bus attack is being called unprovoked and  isolated, and that means these types of stories are isolated too.

It is a good reminder to remember who is listening, and how the information is handled.

We do appreciate your feedback.

lisa

I’m so embarrassed.. we have chinch bugs!

If you happen to do a drive-by… don’t look.
You’ll know it’s my place– it’s got the big brown island where lush green grass should be.

Chad the lawn expert pulled up the driveway yesterday, and he didn’t even need a long look.
He just said “chinch bugs”.

To his credit he still pulled up what was left of my grass and pointed out the little chompers.
They are about half the size of a red ant, with a white dot.
They are evil.

Here’s the official description of just what they do from Health Canada’s website:
Chinch bugs feed by sucking the sap from the crown and stems of turf grasses. This damage appears as irregular yellow patches, which will spread over the summer. The grass may turn brown and die if feeding continues unchecked. A severe infestation of chinch bugs may destroy an entire lawn.

It’s not good.  

So much for all that rain.

lisa

Have you ever really checked out a workmate’s toes?
I mean…. really checked them out?
Good or bad, some offices have a more relaxed attitude with summer attire- and those toes just come poking out.
Some piggies just might need a time out with some carp.

Yep, real live little fishies nibbling on your toes.
They’re called fish pedicures and they are a big deal in the Washington D.C. area.

Here’s the deal:  for about 50 dollars, you can sink your feet into the bath and little toothless doctor fish called garra rufa nibble on your feet, nawing off dead skin and callouses.

Some newsroom co-workers are going for colour instead.
There’s a foot detox place in Waterloo, where you plunge your feet into a special bath.. and the water changes colour according to your toxin.

Just get some ice cream and go for a walk on the beach.

Leave the flip flops at home.

lisa
 

570 News is proud to be part of a great event this fall..
it’s called Inspiring Women ” the Experience”.

I’m thrilled to be one of the co-hosts for the event again.
This year it’s being held at Bingemans on September 18th, and the keynote speaker is one incredible redhead, Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York. She’s one busy working mom who also flies helicopters, writes children’s books and knows about the Royal life and what really comes with it.
Dini Petty kicked things off last year, reminding us to be good to ourselves and to look after ourselves.

The event features a number of speakers, women inspiring women in business and in life.
You leave the day feeling rejuvenated, and make new friends and business contacts.
Please grab me and say hi.

This is the second year for the event put on  by the Waterloo Region Small Business Centre and TD Canada Trust.

The organizers need some input from you.
Nominate a woman who truly inspires YOU! 

www.iiiforyou.com

lisa

As we grin ( HA!)  and bear it at the pumps, a Kitchener man is fighting back.
He’s converted his van to run on grease and has said goodbye to the crazy gas prices.

I’ve known Ian for years.. and this summer the musician and audio engineer is hitting the highway for Cape Breton.
He’s converted a 94 diesel van to run on WVO ( that’s waste vegetable oil).
He’s got three huge blue drums of grease loaded in and ready to go for the trip starting this Friday.  He also has the Rush tunes handy.

You can check out his road trip on grease at www.vegvan.ca

lisa

You never know what a trip to the cottage will bring.

We went down to the cottage this weekend, and took the kids to Cherryfest.
It takes place every summer in the town of Blenheim, a town surrounded by farms, about two hours west down the road from Waterloo Region.  It’s an event we remember as kids.
They shut down the main street, set up the carnival rides,
sell Sno Cones, put on a big sidewalk sale, and hold the cherry pit spitting contest.
This is a big deal for the town with a population of 4000.
They have guys in the record books for the farthest pit spit!
The Lessards (Joe Sr. and Joe Jr) are local pit spitting legends, but this year the pair fell to Windsor spitter Alex Mitchell.
His distance? 16.8 metres.
The trick I’m told, is to go with as dry a pit as possible.

Just when we were leaving the event, we took a final spin on the Ferris wheel.  When  I got off the wheel, two women came up to us, and I thought they said my name.
It was my longtime summer sister- another Lisa D..who I probably haven’t see in over 24? years!
They swear they spotted me way up on the wheel and swear I still look the same.
Funny.
Lisa was with her sister, and all of their kids.  Lisa and I spent two months together every summer as kids.. going from cottage to cottage, spending countless hours on the beach, and hanging out on the front porch listening to K-Tel records, and biking up to Erieau.
I’m not even sure how we lost track of each other.. it proabably happened sometime between our military family
moving again.. and her family cottage changing hands.

It was a great connection, and now we’re all back.
I’m hoping to sit on the beach again with her and her family
next month and really catch up. 

Where would we be without those cherry spitters and some Shaun Cassidy albums?
 
lisa

Following two weeks at the cottage..my sister sent me an email today about getting your older loved ones to get rid of stuff.
It’s been an ongoing thing everytime we’re at the cottage, or visiting our grandmother..we try and raid the cupboards.. even clear the shelves full of empty food containers that they just can’t part with.
We’re talking empty margarine containers, peanut butter jars.. and takeout plates.
I guess it’s a family thing. My basement still has boxes unopened from our last move.. oh…from ten years ago.
And I can’t part with some Martha-type magazines.

But what gives with the old food containers?
My entire workplace could leave the cottage with leftovers in those babies!
It has become a contest between sisters -who can toss the tubs without getting caught.

My Grandma is the original recycler, reuse.. and then reuse some more..
But in my crazy, busy household full of boys, a place already littered with Lego, lunchbags, backpacks.. and missing tupperware lids,  I truly don’t feel the need to  hang onto extra stuff - and toss it promptly into the blue box.  Gone! 
I also love it when charities call monthly to pick up stuff. Bye-bye clothes and books.

I’m hoping Julie Hall will save this mother-daughter relationship.
She is a professional estate liquidator.
She is out with a book called” “The Boomer Burden: Dealing with Your Parents’ Lifetime Accumulation of Stuff”..  Hall says the sheer amount of stuff (some of it
can be valuable) piled up by Depression-era etc. parents is often overwhelming.
She says its often due to a generation that doesn’t get rid of much and some of them are downright hoarders.

I smell one big garage sale… coming soon.  My boxes and some yogurt containers might go free of charge.

lisa

Okay.. so I’m getting back into the game.. after two weeks of sleeping in..wiping sand off my feet.. and counting the calories in s’mores.  (Okay, vacation calories do NOT count!)

But a recent study finds many of you are not taking advantage of your time off.
The people at Mercer Human Resource Consulting finds Canucks are truly overworked…and we’re not taking advantage of our full vacation time.
Of the 49 nations surveyed.. Canada ranks third last…behind Thailand and the Philippines.

Take those days my friends.. use them up!  Stay up late, sleep in,  go on the FreeFall ride at Ontario Place nine times in a row. ( Yeah,  that last one was not my choice!)

Just Breathe.

Rest your BlackBerry thumb.. neck.. and shoulders.

I only had to deal with 353 new emails this morning.

lisa