Movember Journal 2013: Day 30

Alas, the month is coming to and end and tomorrow moustaches will disappear from the faces of men all over the world.

But it was worth it!

The Moustache Growers Union Local 416647 have had an amazing month if I do say so myself. As of right now our team has $4508 in donations submitted and I know that there is still more that will trickle in. In fact, there is an outside chance that we could get to $5000 which is far above any goal I set in my head when we started 2013…

To be honest with you, I’m a little emotional thinking about it. I am teamed up with 11 people who have fundraised and shared facts and spread the word and done a great job helping to raise awareness of Men’s Health initiatives. And while there are a couple members on our roster that I only know a very little bit, I love them all right now. That’s how I feel.

Side Note: I am also extremely proud of all of the 172,757 Canadian Mo Bros and Mo Sistas who have raised over 26 MILLION dollars this month!

As you all probably know, we hosted our 4th annual Movember Challenge Karaoke Toronto event on Thursday at The Winchester Kitchen & Bar. It was an absolute success.

We had a great turn out. Friends were in the room an hour before the show started. Jason Rolland (our friend and host and deserver of special thanks) started early and stayed late giving us 5+ hours of singing and money raising time. The bar staff were accommodating and friendly and fantastic. The challenges were flying, banned songs were sung and a very very special friend donated $100 just so make sure that nobody would sing Lady Gaga all night.

There were a lot of highlights and I know that everyone will take their own favourite moments from the show… but here’s mine.

All of this started in 2010 (which seems like a lifetime ago) with Sean and I sitting at Tequila Sunrise talking about Movember and karaoke and money ideas. Which is why my favourite part of the 2013 event at The Winchester was at about 1:30am when Rannie paid $100 to sing Celine Dion and put us over the $2000 mark for the evening. It’s a number I couldn’t have imagined in 2010. Sean and I looked at each other, shook hands and knew that we did good.

All said, with challenges, raffle tickets and other donations we came in at $2200 for the night. And for that I am thankful and proud.

Thank you again to all of our raffle prize donors: DE’BA Designs, Emily, Caplansky’s, Gluckstein Home, The Winchester, Jason Rolland, Fresh Collective, Mazz Salon, Rock Fitness, Jess, Rannie, Sean and more, more, more.

In 2010 we raised about $500, in 2011 we raised $1116, in 2012 we raised $1680 and now and in 2013 we raised $2200 to bring us to a 4 year total of almost $5500.

I’m blown away and kind of emotional thinking about it. We are part of a community that has come together and grown and shown kindness and generosity. Thank you all.

I can’t wait to start planning for 2014 and the anxiety and brain cramps that come with trying to find a way to raise even more money than we did this time. And I know that we will.

I love you all.

Happy Movember!

101st Grey Cup Predictions! Roughriders vs. Tiger-Cats

The 101st Grey Cup kicks off today at 6pm EST in Regina at Mosaic Stadium, and there are a lot of excited people in Southern Ontario and Saskatchewan.

I won’t lie, there’s still a big part of me that wonders what the hell happened last Sunday at the Rogers Centre when the Argos were up 24-10 at halftime and looked like they were ready to head to the prairies to  defend their CFL Championship. But, that ship has sailed and now we look at the Roughriders vs Tiger-Cats match-up for the chance to raise the Grey Cup as the CFL’s best in 2013.

Before we get to my pick for the win and some props, let’s take a look at the weather because it is going to matter. The Weather Network shows that Regina is currently sitting at about -2 degrees Celsius, feeling like -8 with the wind. The evening forecast, the one that really matters, is calling for -4, feeling like -12 with winds at 40 km/h and gusts up to 65km/h.

It’s going to be a frozen field with wind that has a chance to mess up some of the passing and kicking game for both teams. However, it does not look like we’re going to get a snow covered field of the 101st Grey Cup.

Now for the picking!

The Green Riders and Ti-Cats met twice this season in weeks 4 and 5. In both games the Roughriders came out on top. In week 4 they shut out Hamilton 37-0 at home and in week 5 they won again 32-20 in Hamilton’s 2013 home of Guelph, ON. Now, that was a long time ago as far as the season is concerned. But, I think it matters. The Riders will come in with confidence and home field advantage which includes the most passionate football fans in the country.

It all adds up to this: I pick the Saskatchewan Roughriders to win the Grey Cup.

Bodog has the Roughriders as 7 point favourites going into the game. That line is only up half a point since mid-week and looks like it will stay where it is going into the game today. While I’m taking the Riders to win the game, it does have a chance to be close. You never know what can happen in the last 3 minutes of a CFL game. So taking the Tiger-Cats against the spread isn’t a terrible idea. Think about it.

And because this is the Canadian Super Bowl, we’ve got prop bets to look at, which is a lot of fun!

1. Will the team that scores first win the game?
Yes.

2. The first score of the game will be: Touchdown, Field Goal, Single Point, Safety?
Touchdown.

3. Highest scoring quarter?
4th.

4. Team points Over/Under, Hamilton Tiger-Cats: 23.5
Under.

5. Team points Over/Under, Saskatchewan Roughriders: 29.5
Under.

Good luck to fans of both teams today. At the end of it all, I’m hoping for a great game of football that gives us a champion without controversy and lets the fans celebrate…

I just really hope it’s Roughrider fans and not the Tiger-Cat fans.  

Movember Journal 2013: Day 23

It’s the 23rd of Movember and that means that we are now in the home stretch…

It’s been a great month so far, with moustaches all over the city of Toronto… and the world.

The last week has been pretty darn good to me. Last Saturday I hit the Marlies game with friends and saw some pretty alright hometown hockey. Sunday I hit the CFL Eastern Conference Final, and while the Tiger-Cats broke my heart with their 2nd half performance against the Argos, I’m glad that I was there.

At work I got some interesting news regarding staffing, new projects and an unexpected monetary show of appreciation for my work.

And on the blog there has been a bunch of traffic from the Green Arrow fangirls who really, really, really want Oliver and Felicity to be together on CW’s Arrow.

On the Movember front, The Moustache Growers Union Local 416647 has had a run, our current fundraising total is $1517. 5 of our members have cracked the $100 mark – and Rannie has topped the $600 barrier in his 1st year as a Mo Bro.

AND there’s still more to come!

• On Monday night at Yonge Dundas Square, Rannie will be hosting #Avatarcamp, Movember Edition to raise more funds. Come down to the square and have your photo taken to use where ever and how ever you want. A donation of $10 is suggested. Check the event page for more info: #Avatarcamp Movember Edition.

• Also on Monday, Mo Bro Michel will be hosting MoMonday at The Pilot with a portion of the proceeds going to his campaign and the team. MoMondays is where people come to get inspired, entertained and transformed by other people’s stories. It’s the perfect blend of heart, humour and happiness! And just for Movember, they’ve got a great line-up of speakers just itching to shave — I mean ‘share’ — their story with you!

• On Thursday at the Winchester Kitchen & Bar we will be hosting Movember Challenge Karaoke Toronto #MoChaKaTO for the 4th year. I know that I’ve told you all about it already, so today I’ll just tell you some of the things we’re giving away in the raffle.

☞ 2, $50 gift certificates from the Winchester.
☞ 3 personal training sessions with Dallas Price and Rock Fitness.
☞ A “Night In” pack with gift cards for free pizza and beer.
☞ Gift cards for free hair update and maintenance services from Mazz Salon.
☞ Some sassy artsy awesome cross stitch from our good friend Emily.
☞ Fresh baked tasty goods from Mo Sista Jess.
☞ A José Bautista autographed baseball.
☞ 3 VIP cards from Jason Rolland that will give the winner front-of-the-line access to the karaoke rotation for a year.
☞ An original Movember themed print from our new friend D’Andhra and DE’BA Designs.
☞ MORE!

Raffle tickets will be on sale right from the start of the night – 3 for $5, 7 for $10 OR any person in the bar’s arm length for $15 – so when you get to the Winchester, start looking for the person with the longest arms. You don’t even have to know them to use them!

I’m excited and nervous for Thursday. Every year we have a great turn out and an amazing night. But every year I’m anxious and nauseated until the first few people arrive. And then the first 2 or 3 challenges are issued and people start to buy raffle tickets… and then I start to feel better. So please, come early and make that happen for me!

If you have any other fundraising ideas, prize donations or other awesome things that you think can help The Moustache Growers Union Local 416647 in our Movember fundraising efforts, please let me know!

And if you would like to make a donation to my moustache, you can do that by clicking right here: mobro.co/phjoshua

Stay Awesome!

The Complicated Love Life Of Oliver Queen – Season 2 CW’s Arrow

Season 2 of Arrow is now deeply under way and the question of who Ollie is going to end up with is still unanswered. In fact, it’s even more complicated than it was in season 1.

In February I wrote the 1st edition of this post and had 4 options listed: Laurel Lance, Felicity Smoke, Helena Bertinelli and McKenna Hall. In season 2 we seem to have lost Helena and McKenna… but we’ve added 2 new love interest possibilities.

But before we get to them, let’s revisit our holdovers.

Oliver and Laurel:

Ollie and Laurel have been the star-crossed lovers presented to us since the beginning of the series. He loved her, he wronged her, he fought to get back from the island because he missed her. Hell, he risked everything by calling her from that com tower in season 1.

But now Laurel is broken. Losing Tommy and blaming herself has taken her to a dark place. The drinking, the meds, the depression… it’s not good. There is a chance the Ollie thinks he can save her. That he still loves her (I believe he does), but I’m not sure that they are meant to be the couple that we once thought they were going to be.

I don’t really think that this is a couple that will work out long term.

But they could end up in a fling again before this is all said and done.

Oliver and Felicity:

Felicity’s feelings for Ollie are becoming more and more transparent with every episode. It’s at the point now where Oliver has had to tell her that he can’t be with anyone he cares about because of the danger that would come with that.

However, the more time they spend together, the more she helps him and learns him and supports him emotionally and outside of the “Arrow Cave” the more chance there is that these 2 end up in love.

I know that there is a lot of support for this couple in the fan community, but I’m not sure that it’s going to happen – even as a fling.

I do think that there’s a chance that we’re going to see a really passionate kiss between the Ollie and Felicity, probably during a mission and the reaction on her face will show the deep, deep feelings that she has for him. And then it will change when she realizes that it wasn’t real… or that it doesn’t mean she’s going to get what she really hopes for.

And now the newcomers…
Oliver and Isabel Rochev:

Isabel is very much Ollie’s match in female form. She’s admitted as much. She’s a little bit broken on the inside. She has trouble with feelings and interpersonal relationships so she gets way into her work.

That ability to be disconnected from “real life” might be what leads to more hook-ups as this season moves on. It might even lead to some sort of pseudo relationship – but I wouldn’t really count on that.

Ms. Rochev probably isn’t going anywhere any time soon. And she is likely to get nosy.

This could end badly.

Oliver and Sara Lance:

The Green Arrow story has Oliver and The Black Canary together… and apart and together. It’s a messy, complicated relationship. Kind of like Ollie and Sara.

The issue with their relationship on this show is Laurel. That’s a new wrinkle in the lore. It’s also the reason that I don’t think that Oliver and Sara will be together.

Unless Laurel leaves.

And there’s the rub.

Ollie and Sara probably belong together. They understand each other. They have a unique history. They can take care of each other. They might even be able to save each other from their demons.

For the sake of the story and the legend and DC’s Green Arrow – I hope these 2 end up together some day.

Just don’t expect it to happen in season 2.