Noteworthy: On Sept. 30, let us all take ‘A Day to Listen’

By Bruce Penton on September 25, 2024.

Music and regular programming will take a back seat Sept. 30 as the annual “A Day to Listen” hits local radio stations. From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., programming will feature a variety of people speaking about their Indigenous identity.

This year’s theme is ‘All My Relations’ – a term used by some Indigenous people of Turtle Island to express that everything is interconnected. According to the ‘A Day to Listen’ website, “humans, animals, insects, plants and inanimate objects are all related. We are connected through ancestors, land, communities, air, water – everything.”

Throughout the day, guests will speak about Indigenous identity “through conversations about representation in sports and entertainment, Indigenous comedy as culture and healing, merging traditional and contemporary fashion, the challenges of health care in the north and beyond, reconciliation as recolonization and more.”

â€¢ Words of wisdom from American writer William Arthur Ward, found in Rob Carrick’s ‘Carrick on Money’ column on the Glove & Mail website: “Before you speak, listen. Before you write, think. Before you spend, earn. Before you invest, investigate. Before you criticize, wait. Before you pray, forgive. Before you quit, try. Before you retire, save. Before you die, give.”

â€¢ Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb, Ted Williams and Barry Bonds are all regarded as among the best baseball players of all time, but Japanese star Shohei Ohtani outdid them all last Thursday in what may have been the greatest single game in Major League Baseball history.

Chasing 50 homers and 50 stolen bases in the same season (never been done before), Ohtani reached both milestones in one game as his Los Angeles Dodgers blasted the Miami Marlins 20-4, going 6-for-6 at the plate, swatting three home runs, stealing two bases, getting two doubles and a single, and finishing with 10 runs-batted-in.

Oh, and by the way, he’s one of the top three or four pitchers in the game. He’ll return to the mound next year after recovering from elbow surgery.

In terms of the greatest, most dominant athletes of all time, Ohtani is entering a room currently occupied by, in my mind, four people – Gretzky, Tiger, Ali and Jordan. Arguments welcome.

â€¢ As an old rock ‘n’ roll fan (emphasis on the old – and getting older), some albums just don’t ever get old. Such is the case with Rumours, the 1977 record by Fleetwood Mac that produced at least five top-10 hits – Don’t Stop, Dreams, You Make Loving Fun, Go Your Own Way, Second Hand News – and more. Which leads me to suggest that the Fleetwood Mac tribute show Oct. 4 at the Esplanade should be a can’t-miss performance.

Says the advertising for the show: “Rumours has meticulously put together a show that spares no detail. From period accurate equipment and costumes to spot-on characterizations and musical performances, Rumours takes you back to a time when music was still an unbridled cultural experience and bands weren’t afraid to put on a show.”

By the way, Rumours easily makes my Top 10 list of all-time favourite albums, which is topped by Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and followed in no particular order by Abbey Road, Led Zeppelin II, Green Day’s American Idiot, the Eagles Greatest Hits, Purple Rain by Prince, Michael Jackson’s Thriller, U2’s Joshua Tree, Dark Side of the Moon by Pink Floyd and REM’s Out of Time.

â€¢ Short snappers: We take health care for granted in Canada, but the establishment of Obamacare in the U.S. has made it a non-issue in this year’s presidential election. But did you know that the U.S. remains the world’s only wealthy country not to guarantee health care to all its citizens? In 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, 26.4 million Americans, or about eight per cent of the population, did not have health insurance. … An Orkin pest control truck passed me the other day and all I could think of were the playing partners in my regular golf foursome. … The Medicine Hat Water Run, a fundraiser that helps to bring clean water to the Turkana people of Northern Kenya, will be held Saturday, Oct. 12. If you’d like to take part, or donate, pertinent information can be found online at thewaterrun.ca. … The pool at the Big Marble Go Centre, which has been closed for infrastructure upgrades since mid-May, is scheduled to reopen Oct. 11. If you’re listing reasons why Medicine Hat is a great place to live and raise your family, the Big Marble Go Centre would be high on that list.