Filed under: Uncategorized

Warren Macdonald knows a LOT about motivation. He famously (see appearances on Oprah, Larry King Live, Vicki Gabereau, The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, etc) survived a harrowing, agonizing ordeal while mountain climbing, when he was trapped beneath a one-ton boulder in a freak rock fall. Macdonald’s test of will lasted two full days before a helicopter arrived. He was rescued, but the accident cost him both legs.

Ten months after becoming a double above-knee amputee, Macdonald, who currently lives in Vancouver and travels worldwide as a professional speaker, climbed Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain “using a modified wheelchair and the seat of his pants.”

A year later, he traveled through some of the most inhospitable terrain in Australia and climbed Federation Peak.

In winter ‘03, he became the first double above-knee amputee to reach the summit of Africa’s tallest peak, Mt Kilimanjaro (19,222ft).

And more recently, in a mind-bogglingly punishing climb that required more than 2800 pull-ups over 4 days, he made an ascent of America’s tallest cliff face, El Capitan.

He is also the only known above knee amputee to make an ascent of Canada’s landmark frozen waterfall, the 600 ft “Weeping Wall“ in Alberta.

.

For more, visit…

warren-macdonald.com
twitter.com/warrenmacdonald
youtube.com/warrenmacdonald
facebook.com/warrenmacdonaldunlimited

Then…

Read Irked posts tagged “amputation”
Read Irked posts tagged “sports”
Read Irked posts tagged “British Columbia”

.

Permalink / Comments

Filed under: Themes, Bum Deal, Campaign Watch

The sessions—which are free and open to the public—will be moderated by highly-acclaimed journalists Kathryn Gretsinger and Charlie Smith, and the great David Diamond (Headlines Theatre’s trailblazing co-founder and current Artistic Director). They “will get at the nuts and bolts of creating safe, affordable and supportive housing. Each day deals with location, financing and necessary supports and services.”

Moderated panels will be made up of people who have experienced homelessness, Metro Vancouver city councillors and business leaders.

Panelists will each present a short talk on the day’s topic, followed by an open dialogue with the audience.

The ideas discussed at the Sessions will generate an official Community Action Report—designed “to inform policy.” In fact, Headlines Theatre has written agreements from the following organizations to receive the report for their research for national, provincial, regional and local strategies on mental health and homelessness:

• The Mental Health Commission of Canada
• BC Housing
• The City of Vancouver
• The Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness
• RainCity Housing
• Coast Mental Health

If you’d like to participate (and you really really should), The Community Dialogue Sessions are being held in Vancouver at the Firehall Arts Centre:

280 E. Cordova Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
November 24, 25 and 26 @ 1:30pm each day
Admission is free and open to the public

For more information call 1-604-871-0508 or email info@headlinestheatre.com.

.

Learn more at headlinestheatre.com

Then…

Read Irked posts tagged “homeless”
Read Irked posts tagged “theatre”
Read Irked posts tagged “mental illness”
Read Irked posts tagged “British Columbia”

.

.

Permalink / Comments

Filed under: Uncategorized

“Three accessible playgrounds are being built as a part of a legacy of the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The province [of British Columbia], Ronald McDonald House Charities and the Rick Hansen Foundation are each contributing to the $1.2 million project. The playgrounds will be built at Kits Beach in Vancouver, the Middle Arm Waterfront Greenway in Richmond and the Celebration Plaza in Whistler. Those in Whistler and Richmond will be built in time for the Games. Vancouver will get its park by next summer.”

Every single city should have at least one accessible playground in its jurisdiction.

Does YOURS????

.

Read Irked posts tagged “accessibility”
Read Irked posts tagged “sports”
Read Irked posts tagged “British Columbia”

.

Permalink / Comments

Filed under: Irked Audio

Singer-songwriter Dan Mangan, speaking to Q radio host Jian Ghomeshi about the song Basket:

It’s a bit of an ode to my grandfather. After he passed away, I kind of came up with this idea that your life is a basket, and throughout your life you’re putting greeting cards and letters and notes into this basket. And every story, every  experience that you’ve ever shared gets fueled into this basket that becomes you. And you are shaped by everything that’s ever happened to you or around you. He started to lose his memories, he started to mix things up, he started to call me his own brother’s name, and he’d confuse my brother and I. And I thought, y’know, that’s really tragic, and what do you do when the basket starts falling apart, and all those letters and stories fall to the ground? So the song is about getting old and pissed off, but then at the same time it’s about the redemption, it’s about holding on to those memories.

.

Listen to Dan Mangan’s overwhelmingly-moving live performance of his song Basket off the new album “Nice, Nice, Very Nice” (Then go buy Dan’s music on iTunes!):

.

Learn more at DanManganMusic.com

.

Permalink / Comments

Filed under: Books & Book Reviews

Quoting Matthew Burrows, writing for straight.com:

“Vancouverites can be forgiven if they believe this is a great city for people with disabilities. After all, quadriplegic former Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan and paraplegic athlete Rick Hansen are known around the world for their achievements. In addition, Vancouver—the largest city in a province that Premier Gordon Campbell has proclaimed the Best Place on Earth—is hosting the Paralympics in March. Talk to University of Victoria social-policy professor Michael Prince, however, and he’ll tell you he rolls his eyes “a little bit” at the boosterism. [October 22 marked] the launch of his book Absent Citizens: Disability Politics and Policy in Canada (University of Toronto Press). Although not quite a “slap in the face”, Prince said the book is a “challenge” to the conventional wisdom that we are doing enough for people with disabilities in this country.”

.

Buy Michael Prince’s new book >>

Then…

Read all Irked posts tagged “British Columbia”

Read all Irked posts tagged “accessibility”

.

Permalink / Comments

Filed under: Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board, Irked Videos

WARNING:

You’re about to laugh ’til your gut busts, your sides split, and your cheeks ache.

.

Last week we wet your appetite. Here now is the extended clip of Rick Mercer and Rick Hansen (wheelchair and all!) going bungee jumping in beautiful British Columbia. Damn, the Rick Mercer Report is h-i-l-a-r-i-o-u-s!:

.

Permalink / Comments

Filed under: Themes, Bum Deal

Quoting Jane Armstrong, writing for The Globe and Mail:

A proposed provincial law that would give police the right to force homeless people into shelters during bad weather has angered civil libertarians, who claim the move is a back-door bid to clean up Vancouver’s streets in time for the Olympics. The proposed law, which is the first of its kind in Canada, won’t pass a Charter challenge, B.C. Civil Liberties Association president David Eby said Monday. “The proposal is absurd,” Mr. Eby said. “I’m picturing someone face down on the sidewalk in handcuffs for the crime of being homeless and refusing to report to the nearest homeless shelter. “And that is not something that is … permissible under the Constitution.” Housing advocates and outreach workers who work with Vancouver’s homeless population said the proposed law is fraught with logistical problems: What will police do if the homeless person refuses to go to the shelter? Can shelter staff force people to stay in a shelter if they don’t want to be there? Will the law force city police officers to become de facto social workers, coaxing reluctant people into shelters on rainy and snowy days?

.

Read the rest of this article on theglobeandmail.com >>

.

Permalink /  Comments

Filed under: Themes, Bum Deal, Campaign Watch

After we published info on July 1st about Headlines Theatre’s fantastic AFTER HOMELESSNESS… project, we received a very gracious thank you note from Artistic/Managing Director David Diamond. A few days later, we received another email, this one from Headlines’ official publicist Gabriela De Lucca:

Click to continue »

Filed under: Themes, Bum Deal, Campaign Watch

It isn’t often that a distinguished (and paying!) job opportunity comes along specifically targeting “people who have been touched by homelessness.”

Click to continue »

Filed under: Regular Contributors, Brian Segal, Themes, Wheelchairman of the Board

My Shoes Will Last Forever

An original essay by Brian Segal

Click to continue »