The Captain’s Quiz

Close your textbooks and clear your desks because it is time for the inaugural Captain’s Quiz! I want a nice, clean quiz. No cheating. No peeking. No speaking. No drinking. No clinking. No blinking. No dashing.

I feel like I’m naming Santa’s reindeer now.

Okay, I will allow some blinking. But only some!

If you are confused by what’s about to happen, go back and read THIS post from last week.

Rules & Format

This is not a normal quiz. These questions may not have a right answer, nor may they have a wrong answer. However, they will always have an answer.

We start out with The First 10. These are 10 Questions. Each worth a maximum of 1 Point. I will determine if you shall receive: 1 , 0.5, or 0 points.

Some of the questions may have hidden bonus points. Your answer may, or may not, unlock them.

In today’s quiz, we end with 3 Bonus Questions. Each one is worth a maximum of 3 Points. I will determine if you shall receive: 3, 2, 1, or 0 points.

These are not trick questions. Do not overthink it.

You may answer these questions in a blog post of your own, linking back to this one so I can mark it.

Or, you may answer the questions in the comments section below. However, doing so may not allow you to fully maximize your response to some questions. You will forfeit those points.

YOUR ANSWERS MUST BE IN BEFORE NEXT WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 27, AT NOON.

The results, and winner, will be announced on Thursday, January 28.

I think it’s time to begin. Are you nervous? Good.

THE FIRST 10

1. In the movie, Space Jam, Daffy Duck sneaks into Michael Jordan’s house to pick up his lucky basketball shorts. What animated character would you trust with your personal belongings and why?
   
   
2. What is the chorus of your favourite song?
   
   
3. Complete the sentence: I wish I could ________.
   
   
4. The singer, Meat Loaf, said he would do anything for love, but he won’t do that. In general, what are three things you won’t do?
   
   
5. What is the worst thing about pockets?
   
   
6. Should I be concerned about your most recent Google search?
   
   
7. If there was an eighth day of the week, what would it be called, and where would you place it amongst the other seven?
   
   
8. When you look in the mirror, what do you see behind you?
   
   
9. You can have dinner with any three people in the world, but you must dine at a fast-food restaurant. Who are you bringing and what does each person (including yourself) order off the menu?
   
   
10. Think of a word (in English) and create a new, alternate spelling for it. What is the new word you have created?

BONUS QUESTIONS

1. On a sheet of paper, draw your happy place. Do not include words or numbers. You have 60 seconds to do this. Share the picture in your blog post.
   
   Note: If the picture looks like you took more than 60 seconds, you will receive a zero.
   Double Note: Do NOT tell me what it is. I will ask you when I’m ready.
   
   
2. Text someone, “Knock Knock”. What is their reply?
   
   Note: A screenshot isn’t required, but if I think you’re lying about their response, you will receive a zero.
   
   
3. In your place of residence, pick up a book and turn to Page 50. What is the third sentence on that page and how does it relate to your life?
   
   Note: If Page 50 doesn’t have a third sentence, try again on Page 73.
   Double Note: If Page 73 doesn’t have a third sentence either, just hit yourself with the book. I give up.
   

THANK YOU!

Thank you for participating in the inaugural Captain’s Quiz! I really have no idea how this thing is going to go, so hopefully it goes well!

I’m looking forward to reading your answers, whether they’re on your blog, or in the comments.

Again, if you want to be eligible to be crowned the winner, have your answers in by next Wednesday, January 27, at Noon. What’s Noon for you is Noon enough for me.

Don’t ask me what you win. I haven’t thought that far ahead. There may not be a prize; aren’t bragging rights enough?

See you next Thursday for the results!

Viewing Notes: The Bachelor (Matt) – Ep. 3

Welcome to Episode 3 of this season of The Bachelor. Last week’s episode ended during the middle of the Rose Ceremony. Let’s pick things up there.

ROSE CEREMONY

• With six roses left to hand out, Sarah faints. Matt takes her outside for some fresh air.
  
  
• Some of the girls aren’t so sympathetic and aren’t happy with the extra attention she’s getting from Matt.
  
  
• SHE FAINTED. HAVE A HEART. GEESH.
  
  
• Khaylah receives a rose.
  
  
• Mari, MJ, Anna, and Kaili also receive roses.
  
  
• The final rose goes to Queen Victoria.
  
  
• Which means Marylynn is going home, after Victoria made her out to be a villain, which she wasn’t.

THE NEXT DAY

• Chris Harrison walks in like he’s ready to head up to the cottage.
  
  
• He says Matt has trouble feeling uncomfortable, so he has planned some uncomfortable dates for him. How thoughtful.
  
  
• This week, there will be two group dates and one one-on-on date.
  

GROUP DATE (Rachael, Bri, Lauren, Kit, Serena C., Queen Victoria, Khaylah, Anna, Kaili, and Katie)

• Ashley I. from a former season is on today’s date, reading lines from Chris Harrison’s book. Available now, and for the last five years, wherever you get your books!
  
  
• Today, the women will be writing their own love scene for Matt.
  
  
• The word “steamy” has been used. Cross it off your Bingo card if you have it.
  
  
• They will be reading their scene in front of a live studio audience, which will probably just be the girls not on the date.
  
  
• Well, this is about to get uncomfortable.
  
  
• Matt goes first and tells a story about a girl smelling chocolate cake in the kitchen. No word if it was Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines.
  
  
• Anna is next and tells a story called, “The Fantasy Suite”.
  
  
• Basically, they’re all reading their stories to Matt, as he sits right next to them on stage, and Chris Harrison and Ashley I. are on their own couch cracking up.
  
  
• Queen Victoria calls the girls “vanilla”. Uh-oh, here we go.
  
  
• Lots of censored words in her story. I’m skipping ahead.
  
  
• After having a one-on-one date with Matt, Sarah is finding it hard hearing all of these things being said to Matt.

AFTER PARTY

• Rachael tells Matt she was super uncomfortable, but he says he enjoyed her story, and likes how their relationship is progressing.
  
  
• Bri and Matt are on the same page in regards to keeping the intimate part of their relationship private.
  
  
• Meanwhile, Sarah (who is not on the date) feels emotionally exhausted and it kills her to know that he’s having special moments with other women.
  
  
• Sarah is crashing the date and stealing Matt away from a conversation with Katie.
  
  
• Katie goes back to tell the girls that Sarah is there.
  
  
• Sarah tells Matt that it’s been harder than she expected, when Katie returns to ask if they’re done and if she can have her time back.
  
  
• Sarah says she’ll bring him back in five minutes. Katie wants him back in two minutes.
  
  
• Katie steps out and comes back in saying she’s just trying to get her time on her group date. And now she sits down next to them.
  
  
• This show is so ridiculous.
  
  
• Sarah goes to apologize to the other women for stealing their time. They don’t seem to be accepting her apology.
  
  
• On one hand, it’s a group date with ten people, what’s one more?
  
  
• On the other hand, Sarah already had a coveted one-on-one date and has had, arguably, the most time with Matt out of anyone. So, maybe don’t crash a group date?
  
  
• Sarah is outside giving an interview and Victoria and Katie interrupt it to try and figure out why she is there.
  
  
• “Find a different time to talk to him.”
  
  
• I’m getting a headache.
  
  
• The group date rose goes to Rachael.
  
  
• Anna is upset that Matt hasn’t even talked to her yet.

ONE-ON-ONE DATE (Serena P.)

• It’s the Torontonian’s time to shine!
  
  
• Matt comes in to pick up Serena P., but sits down to talk about Sarah crashing the after party. He looks around and Sarah isn’t there.
  
  
• It’s the Home Alone 2 scenario all over again.
  
  
• Sarah’s not here. Sarah’s not here. Sarah’s not here. Sarah’s not here. SARAH!!!
  
  
• Matt says he’ll be five minutes, and goes to look for Sarah, who is laying in bed. The girls complain that it’s been longer than five minutes.
  
  
• Note to anyone going on this show in the future: BRING A STOPWATCH.
  
  
• The girls think Sarah is playing on Matt’s kindness and playing up the whole, “sharing you with other women is really hard” thing.
  
  
• I don’t know if that’s true.
  
  
• I also don’t know what they want her to do. Mingle with the group? None of them like her right now. Would you mingle with a group of people who don’t like you?

ONE-ON-ONE DATE, TAKE 2 (Serena P.)

• They are riding horses.
  
  
• And it’s time for a picnic.
  
  
• Matt says she needs to show him how to make a charcuterie board.
  
  
• What’s there to show? You put the cheese next to the meats…
  
  
• Back to the action. A family of donkeys has interrupted their kiss.
  
  
• Matt had a pet turtle as a kid and Serena thinks that is so weird.
  
  
• Serena is “falling in like” with Matt.
  
  
• Serena is very normal, and likeable, and is representing Toronto well.

DINNER TIME

• They don’t even pretend to eat the food anymore. I am crushed.
  
  
• I zoned out, but they both really like each other.
  
  
• It’s time to hop in a wooden hot tub. Yes, it’s the same one they used on a date last week.
  
  
• Matt’s bathing suit has turtles on it.

BACK AT THE HOUSE

• The next date card has arrived and Sarah finally emerges, to the surprise of everyone.
  
  
• Sarah apologizes to the women she interrupted last night. She also apologizes for not coming downstairs until now.
  
  
• The girls are all taking turns letting Sarah know they don’t appreciate her stealing Matt away from them all the time.
  
  
• The words “calculated”, “manipulative”, and “toxic” have been uttered. Surely, someone has a Bingo! by now. Anyone?
  
  
• There are 22 minutes left in this episode. I am suffering.
  
  
• Sarah sits down with Katie and tells her she’s going to leave. Katie tells her she should stay because she doesn’t want to be Matt’s backup, if what he and Sarah have is real.
  
  
• Sarah opens up about what her Dad is going through. Katie says her Dad passed away in 2012. All the tears are flowing.
  
  
• That was the most mature conversation this season.
  
  
• Katie tells everyone that she talked to Sarah this morning.
  
  
• “She realized that this is not for her. She also has a really big family thing as well that’s looming over her, so she went home today.”
  
  
• She reminds the women to stay classy during this process because they don’t know each others’ stories.

SARAH SAYS GOODBYE TO MATT

• Sarah is at Matt’s house.
  

• Sarah says she feels completely alone here, was attacked by so many women in the house, and doesn’t feel welcome.
  
  
• Matt says he doesn’t want to lose her.
  
  
• It’s too little, too late. Sarah says she’s decided to go home.
  
  
• As Matt walks her out, we see that Matt has two islands in his kitchen. Is there going to be a cooking competition, Masterchef style, at some point? What is the meaning of this?
  
  
• Sarah in the car: “This isn’t the best Sarah, and Matt deserves the best. I gave it my all. I just can’t do this.”
  
  
• I still can’t believe he sent Saneh home in the first episode.
  
  
  The preview for next week reveals that five new girls are showing up. That should be chaotic.

Thanks for reading!

First Time Watching: Inception

Before you say anything, I just want to let you know that this was not intentional. I did not intentionally watch a Leonardo DiCaprio movie for the first time, two weeks in a row. In fact, I was shocked he was in Inception. Didn’t expect to see him at all.

DiCaprio? With all that hair? How on earth did he get there?

10 points if you got the polka dot shorts reference.

If he pops up in the movie I watch next week, I’m buying a lottery ticket.

When Inception came out, I had no idea what it was about. All I knew was that my friends would see something, or take the contents of a conversation, and refer to it as, “Inception!!!”

Does anyone else remember that phase, or am I the only one who experienced it?

After this happened about 147 times, I caught on that “Inception” probably referred to something that was happening inside of something else.

It’s weird what we take away from movies, isn’t it? I watched this movie and never in a million years, would I think to start saying, “Inception!!!” in the real world.

Same with the movie, Groundhog Day. People say “It’s like Groundhog Day” all the time whenever they’re referring to something that happens over and over again.

And I just have to ask, are you all puppets?

Never mind.

Preamble

I went into this movie expecting to be thoroughly confused. Sure enough, I was.

You know how back in the day you would go to Blockbuster, pick out a movie on VHS, and go home, only to find that whoever had the movie before you, hadn’t rewound all the way to the beginning?

If you pressed play, you’d be right in the middle of the movie.

That was a really roundabout (and unnecessary) way of me to say, it felt like Inception started in the middle and forced the viewer to catch up. It wasn’t until I was about 40 minutes in, that I started to piece everything together and understand what was happening.

By the end, I felt like I knew what was going on. After reading the “plot” section on Wikipedia, I can tell you that I picked up on about 85% of the stuff in the movie.

Don’t expect me to retell it. Oh no. C’est impossible.

Look at that, I’m speaking French.

I’m noticing a (scary?) trend developing whenever I finish watching a movie for the first time. I immediately put myself in the seat of a high school student and think about whether or not I’d be able to write an in-class essay about the movie right then and there.

I don’t know if this means I’m traumatized, or if I’m just resorting to what I know.

With this movie, I don’t know if I’d be able to write about it right away. There was a lot to digest and retelling the whole thing feels like a giant hassle.

So, here is my very abbreviated synopsis.

Synopsis

Inception is about a guy named Cobb (no relation to Corn) and his pal Arthur (no relation to the aardvark), who specialize in stealing information from others by infiltrating their subconscious via a shared dream.

A guy named Saito is a wealthy businessman. He has a competitor. That competitor has a son. Saito tasks Cobb and Arthur with planting an idea into that son’s subconscious, so when his dad dies, the son dissolves the business. Thus, Saito will no longer have competition.

To do this, they must achieve “inception” which is a dream within a dream. Naturally, they assemble a team to help them, and proceed to create a multi-layered dream that can be confusing for the viewer to follow, yet second-nature for the characters involved.

Oh yeah, Cobb is played by Leonardo DiCaprio. His wife jumped off a ledge to her death and made it look like Cobb did it, so he can’t go home to his kids. It’s complicated. Something about 50 years in “limbo”. It’s a whole thing. I won’t talk your ear off.

But, anyway, Cobb’s subconscious interrupts the “Create-A-Dream” thing they got going on because he can’t let his wife, Mal, go.

Eventually, they complete their tasks and the authorities no longer want to arrest Cobb. He goes home to his kids. The end.

I think that sums up the movie rather well, don’t you?

I don’t have much to say about it, but I’ll talk about the things that stood out.

The Titanic Reference

Very early in the movie, there is a scene where Mal and Cobb are on a boat and Mal asks him something along the lines of, “If I jump, would I survive?”

I honestly thought they put this scene in the movie just for me. Surely, they would’ve known that I just saw Titanic last week, so the whole “jumping off a boat” thing would be fresh in my mind.

I was fully expecting Cobb to say, “If you jump, I jump”, but no. They couldn’t have any fun. Instead, he told her that she might survive if she jumped at the right angle.

Uh, since when is she trying out for the Olympic diving team? Just recycle the Titanic line!

Needless to say, I was disappointed. However, I was proud of myself for making this connection. I have no idea if it was intentional, but I am choosing to believe that it was.

Also, the movie began with Cobb (Leo) washing up on a shore.

Ding Dong, Hello! Was that another reference to Titanic?

Do all Leonardo DiCaprio movies have him in the water and/or talking women off a ledge? Kinda like how Newman from Seinfeld is Newman in everything else he appears in?

I feel like I’m onto something here.

I am killing it with these references today, too.

The French Song

That two-word sentence I wrote in French, earlier, makes it look like I was foreshadowing this part of my post, but I wasn’t. Perhaps my subconscious was, though.

Anyway, the song I’m referring to is called, “Non, Je ne regret rien” by Edith Piaf. It means, “No, I do not regret anything.”

It played multiples times during the movie, particularly when the characters were to receive their “kick” and wake up from a dream.

That song was in a TV commercial many years ago. I can’t remember what it was for, but the song always drove me nuts.

So, when I heard it in this movie, I felt like I was under siege. I just can’t take it anymore.

Commercials have a way of ruining songs for me.

Anyway, that’s all I have to say about that.

The Ending

The movie ends when Cobb returns home and his kids finally turn around to acknowledge him, while they’re playing outside. Throughout the movie, they never turn around because he only sees them in a dream.

Before going out to them, he puts in motion a spinning top on the table.

The spinning top is a totem. All the dreamers have one. It’s what they look to, to see if they’re dreaming, or if they’ve gone back to reality.

Wait….snap back to reality…oh, there goes gravity.

Is that why Arthur lost gravity in the second dream? Because the kick happened too soon and they were supposed to go back to reality?

DID THIS MOVIE REFERENCE AN EMINEM SONG?

I’m losing myself, I tell ya.

Anyway, the spinning top would never stop if Mal was in a dream.

The movie ends and the spinning top is still spinning, though there was a slight wobble in it. I took that slight wobble as confirmation that it would stop and he was back to reality. It appears other people think he might still be in a dream.

I don’t believe that at all.

It turns out the whole meaning behind the ending is that Cobb doesn’t care which realm he’s in anymore because he went off to play with his kids, instead of waiting to see if it stopped spinning.

How wholesome.

Anyway, back to my Eminem discovery. Has anyone ever made that connection before?

Other Thoughts

Elliot Page was really good in this movie.

I had two things constantly running through my head for the duration of the film.

The first one was the song, “I Dreamed a Dream”, specifically, the version performed by Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent. I kept telling myself that the name of the song was an example of inception.

The second thing was, the episode of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids where Nick couldn’t fall asleep or else the sandman would get him and his family and they’d die. So, his sister entered the dream world and caused a kerfuffle. I don’t remember how it ended, but I’m sure it was a happy ending.

Let me know if you remember that episode. It was a bit haunting at the time.

I don’t think I really like movies where the plot is centred around what happens when we fall asleep. I’m not entirely sure why.

They said the word “dream” so many times, it felt like they were playing into a drinking game.

The characters’ mission didn’t excite me. This cast of criminals went through all this trouble just so a businessman no longer had a competitor? That felt a bit weak. I didn’t really care if they succeeded or not.

I feel like the idea of infiltrating someone’s subconscious and sharing dreams was interesting, but was wasted on something that wasn’t relatable.

I found myself thinking of all the directions the movie could’ve gone in had they not gone the “corporate espionage” route.

Then again, what do I know? None of my movies have ever made million of dollars.

Overall

I think I’m indifferent to Inception.

I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it. I understood most of it, but was also confused for a good chunk of the time. It had great performances.

For me, it comes back to the plot.

You can leave in the whole story with Cobb and Mal – fine.

The, “go plant an idea in this guy’s subconscious, so he doesn’t take over his dad’s company when he dies, thus giving me one less competitor” thing was boring to me.

I would’ve liked to see the characters use their powers to fulfull a different purpose.

That’s all.

Have you seen Inception? What did you like/dislike about it?

Captain’s Quiz – Coming Soon

Are you good at trivia? Do you know random facts about obscure things? Are your friends impressed by your breadth of knowledge? Do you know…stuff?

Unfortunately, none of that is of any consequence here.

Welcome to, Captain’s Quiz!

There may not be a right answer, there may not be a wrong answer, but there will always be an answer.

One day next week, the inaugural Captain’s Quiz will go live on this blog.

There will be 10 questions, each worth 1 point, and all you have to do is provide an answer to each one. I will determine if you have earned the 1 point, or not.

You may answer the quiz in a blog post of your own, or you may answer them in the comments section.

Beware!
Some of those questions will have hidden bonus marks. Certain answers may or may not unlock them.

Double Beware!!
There will also be bonus questions, worth more than 1 point. Some bonus questions may have an “at-home” element to them, so if you choose to answer in the comments, you may not qualify for extra points.

Triple Beware!!!
You will have one week to complete the quiz and will receive a score for your efforts. You may or may not be added to a leaderboard, which will be shared at a later date.

Will you sink to the bottom?

Will you hover in mediocrity?

Will you float away into the unknown?

Or will you become the first-ever Captain’s Quiz Champion?

We’ll find out in due time, won’t we?

Until then…toodle-oo.

Okay, hi, Paul here. I was channelling my inner Professor Dumbledore with that announcement, so if you want the full effect, go back and read it in his voice. I really got into it when I started with the “Beware!” Might’ve fallen into some Snape at some point.

Anyway, yes, I’m starting a quiz. It’s not a blogger tag. It’s not a chain message. It’s a quiz. I’ll ask questions and you’ll answer them, hopefully. It’s going to be fun, hopefully.

Yes, I need to put “hopefully” at the end of every statement. Hopefully.

If all goes well, this might be a monthly thing. Or, it could be every other month. Or, four times a year. I really don’t know. We’ll see how it goes.

I mentioned in my post yesterday that I’m taking a “Just Go For It” approach with this blog this year, so here is the first step.

The questions are going to be offbeat. Few, if any, will have a correct answer. As I said before: there may not be a right answer, there may not be a wrong answer, but there will always be an answer. I will decide if your answer deserves a point, or not.

That being said, don’t suck up to me by giving answers you think I want to see. That’s not how this game is to be played. I will not award pandering.

Intrigued? Hopefully.

Confused? Double hopefully.

I’ve had the idea to do something like this for a few months. One of the things that I’ve really enjoyed over the last year is a YouTube series called, QuizzleMania. There is a host and at least four contestants, who go through creatively crafted rounds, answering questions about professional wrestling.

The spin-off to that series is called, CineMania, which is trivia pertaining to movies. I’m sure most of you would be more interested in that, than the wrestling one.

Either way, they’re both really fun and I’ve been trying to figure out how to host a quiz on this blog ever since.

That is why my questions won’t have a correct answer. That would be too easy. So, I’ll be asking questions that could yield a variety of responses.

I think I’ve said enough.

Hopefully, this whet your appetite a little bit. Let’s have some fun!

See you sometime next week for the inaugural Captain’s Quiz!

Don’t bother studying.

Two Zero Two One

Is it too late to write a year-end/start-of-year post? If it is, just let me know and I will stopping typing and go look in the fridge for the eighth time in the last hour, just to see if anything moved when I wasn’t watching.

Quick question: Anyone else watch Toy Story as a kid and then arrange their toys in a weird way, so that if they moved when you weren’t looking, they had a really difficult position to get back to?

Because I…I didn’t do that. Nope. Not me. Not once. Not ever. Nope. What is Soy Tory anyway? Never heard of it.

Anyway, I’ve talked myself in and out of writing this post for about a month because who really wants to talk about “the year that shall not be named” more than necessary?

It was a hard time for everyone, whether we’ve shared our story on social media, or not. And it remains a hard time.

But one thing I’ve always been able to come back to is this blog. For some reason, this place feels detached from the real world and it’s just us – the people who like to talk to themselves, via writing.

Analogy: I don’t know if you ever had a class in a portable during your years of education, but that is what this feels like to me. We’re apart of the school, but not really, because we’re outside in our little silo.

Last year, though, I felt like this blog was slipping away from me. I don’t know if you would’ve come to that conclusion looking back on everything I wrote, but deep down, it felt different.

And I’m not even entirely sure how to explain all of this. I just felt out of rhythm most of the time. My blog felt stale. I’ve been meaning to edit stuff on my home page and have kept putting it off.

More than that, I fell victim to the stats page and the parabolic shape the “views” bar graphs have taken. Are my best years of blogging behind me? Have I run out of interesting things to say? Why are 98% of my new followers not real? Why am I finding it harder to find new blogs I enjoy? Does anyone care?

I felt like an athlete who was starting to feel like the game had become too fast for them.

Note: If you’re thinking I ever thought about giving up blogging, I didn’t. I’m doing this until I’m 100-years-old.

There were so many ideas that entered my mind, that I wanted to follow through on, but never did. I couldn’t muster up the energy for them.

In the past, I’d be like, “I can’t wait to share this!” And all of a sudden it was like, “It’s a hassle to write. Who would even care?” I just felt really discouraged a lot of the time.

I’m very willing to blame that mindset on the pandemic as well as personal things that transpired last year.

For some reason, I get a lot of inspiration for posts by just doing something mundane like walking down the street and picking up lunch. Something always seems to happen, or a stranger comes up to talk to me.

I couldn’t do that anymore. It was a lost source of inspiration.

That being said, I am proud of the “First Time Watching” series that I started. It forced me to do something new (watch movies) and I’m having fun discovering a world that every else was already aware of.

This blog has always provided me with so much relief. I finish writing posts and can feel a physical weight being lifted off my shoulders. There is a sense of joy that comes along with it.

That’s another thing that’s hard to explain.

I tell myself all the time that I can feel that joy more often if I just sit down and write more often. Simple, right? Yet, the opposite happens. I write less.

One thing I’ve noticed in the first two weeks of this year is that I seem to have adopted a “Just Go For It” mentality. I don’t know where it came from, or if someone’s going to put up “Missing” posters and I’m going to be forced to return it, but every time I thought about writing this post, or trying out a new idea, a voice inside me kept saying, “Just go for it”.

So, that’s what I’m going to try and do this year. At least, for this blog. Maybe it’ll trickle into my own life, too.

If you want to join in on that mindset, feel free to hop onboard.

I’ve had a new idea that I’ve been kicking around for a few months, that I think I’m ready to unveil tomorrow. It’s a fun idea (I think) and it includes all of you.

Now that I’ve said that, I’m terrified it’s not going to go over well, so I guess this is me pre-emptively guilting you into pretending to like it. So, ha!

Let’s all have a good year – at least out here in our blogging silo – and just go for it.

Thanks for reading!

Viewing Notes: The Bachelor (Matt) – Ep. 2

Welcome to Episode 2 of your favourite show to read. Before getting started, I’d just like to make a brief statement.

We, here at The Captain’s Speech, are still disappointed that Saneh was sent home last week. However, she did like our tweet on Twitter, in which we said that she deserved to stay. So, that was cool.

End of statement.

Note: When I said “we” and “our”, I’m definitely only talking about me.

Let’s get started.

• We start out with Matt going for a run, as the sun begins to rise. He follows this up with some time on an exercise bike, before taking a shower right in front of a camera crew.
  
  
• That’s a full day right there.

CHRIS MEETS WITH THE WOMEN

• The women are walking the grounds of the Nemacolin Resort in Farmington, Pennsylvania. As I said last week, this place is nice.
  
  
• Chris walks in and unintentionally imitates Dr. Nick Riviera by saying, “Hi, everybody!”
  
  
• There will be one group date and two one-on-one dates. Some women will not get a date.

ONE-ON-ONE DATE (Bri)

• Matt and Bri are going to drive ATVs across the resort. The rest of the girls swoon over Matt putting a helmet on her.
  
  
• The date just started and Queen Victoria is already “lashing out” back at the house. She wants to spend time with Matt; she’s not there to be part of a sorority.
  
  
• I mean, it’s never a bad thing to make new friends…
  
  
• Meanwhile, Matt and Bri are getting all muddy on their ATVs.
  
  
• Bri hops on the back of Matt’s and he does donuts…until it tips over.
  
  
• Matt issues an apology to Bri’s mom. Well, that’s thoughtful.
  
  
• And since they’re in the middle of nowhere, it’s time to hop in a wooden hot tub! I feel like they had this date a few seasons ago. It’s probably the same hot tub.
  
  
• They start kissing and the camera slowly starts to pull away until it’s behind some tree cover.
  
  
• Back at the “house”, everyone is still talking about Queen Victoria. This footage is definitely setting us up for the group date later.

DINNER TIME

• Bri tells Matt that she was raised by a single mom, but her dad wasn’t around that much.
  
  
• She says she somehow always gravitated towards friends with big families because that’s what she wants for herself. She’s wants to meet that one person where she feels like, “this is my family”.
  
  
• I just want to point out that the camera has yet to pan down to the table, so I have no clue what they’re not eating.
  
  
• Matt really enjoyed the date and is giving Bri a rose.
  
  
• After dinner, they go watch fireworks. Actually, the fireworks watch them.
  
  
• I like these two together.
  
  
• Speaking of fireworks, the line, “Oh my God, I’m so over it” has been uttered back at the house for the first time this season.

GROUP DATE (Chelsea, Serena P, Abigail, Sydney, Illeana, Kristin, Lauren, Jessenia, Serena C., Kit, Kylie, Katie, MJ, Mari, Piper, Rachael, and Queen Victoria)

• Is this a group date, or a field trip to the science centre?
  
  
• It’s a damp, foggy day and Matt is wearing a suit. All the girls have see-through umbrellas, which is a brilliant decision by production.
  
  
• It’s time to take wedding day photos because of course it is! Franco the photographer is there.
  
  
• They have the same dates every season, it’s hilarious.
  
  
• The skies have cleared up, as the girls line up to take wedding photos with Matt.
  
  
• This had a chance to be a really intimate photoshoot, but now it’s like they’re waiting to get a photo with Santa at the mall.
  
  
• Queen Victoria forces her way to the front of the line and causes a scene.
  
  
• It’s Chris Harrison! He’s here! Where did he come from? What does he want for Christmas?
  
  
• Chris says Matt is looking for someone who will fight for Matt’s heart. Matt looks like he had no clue that’s what he was looking for.
  
  
• Chris has brought them out to the forest where they will be divided into two teams and play “Capture The Heart”. This is basically capture the flag.
  
  
• There are purses, bouquets, and wedding cakes that they can dip in paint, and tag people on the other team.
  
  
• This is basically an excuse for them all to make a mess.
  
  
• The winning team will spend the night with Matt. The losing team will go home and dream about one day being able to talk to their “boyfriend”.

CAPTURE THE HEART

• It’s the Gold Team vs. Red Team. This could be fun. Let’s see who’s competitive.
  
  
• And they’re off!
  
  
• Everyone has a plan until they get paint splattered on their white dress.
  
  
• Some are using slingshots to fire bouquets of paint, others have drenched purses in paint and are just swinging them with no regard for human life.
  
  
• OH headshot! MJ took a purse to the face! Hey now, that’s no way to treat someone who brought pizza on Night One!
  
  
• Rachael has retrieved the red heart but gets stopped in her tracks.
  
  
• While there’s a six bride pile up, MJ grabs the gold heart and brings it home for the red team. Yeah! Pizza prevails.
  
  
• The Most Valuable Bride award goes to Mari. She will join the winning team tonight.

NIGHT PORTION

• Lauren sits down with Matt for the first time. She didn’t get to talk to him on the first night.
  
  
• Lauren is looking for a man of faith and someone who is loyal, forgiving, and kind.
  
  
• Matt says he grew up in the church but has never lead a relationship by telling people he’s Christian because it gives off a preconceived notion.
  
  
• Jessenia says she is looking for her rock; the type of unity her parents have.
  
  
• A lot of good people on the show this season.
  
  
• Queen Victoria shares with Matt that she comes across confident, but still has her insecurities. She tells us she hasn’t been this deep with a guy in a long time.
  
  
• Matt pulls Lauren aside and offers her the group date rose. She accepts it.
  
  
• Queen Victoria thought she was the one who was going to get the rose. No one else says anything.

ONE-ON-ONE DATE (Sarah)

• And we have our first plane date of the season! They really hit the jackpot with this location.
  
  
• The plane is quite small and looks extremely dangerous. Sarah says it looks like the first plane ever made and I agree.
  
  
• It’s a four-seater and there is no roof over them.
  
  
• This is bringing back memories of me almost falling off a bumble bee ride when I was a kid.
  
  
• The plane has landed and Matt and Sarah head to a camp fire in the forest.
  
  
• Why so many forest dates, you ask? Well, they’re cheap. The backdrop pays for itself.
  
  
• Matt says he’s looking for someone who is like an emergency contact. That’s a good way of putting it.
  
  
• Sarah talks about how close she is with her parents, but it’s clear she’s holding something back.

DINNER TIME

• Will they eat something? Will we see the food? Ahhh I don’t know! Stay tuned!
  
  
• After some false starts, Sarah shares that when she was in college, her dad was diagnosed with ALS.
  
  
• She says she quit her job as a reporter and anchor to move back home to help her dad.
  
  
• Matt says he will be praying for Sarah’s dad and her family.
  
  
• Matt is honoured that she’s out there with him. Sarah says it says a lot that she’s able to talk about this with him.
  
  
• Sarah receives a rose.
  
  
• Sarah is mature beyond her years.
  
  
• They end the night in a pool.

THE COCKTAIL PARTY

• For as large as that group date was, a bunch of women still didn’t get a date this week. They’ll be looking to talk to Matt tonight.
  
  
• The women are sitting around the couches and Matt offers a toast. None of them stood up to clink his glass and he had to go to them to do it. That looked awkward.
  
  
• It’s like when you shake someone’s hand, but they don’t stand up.
  
  
• Putting on my thinking hat: the women don’t know what their cues are yet. The men didn’t know what to do on Clare’s season either.
  
  
• Do they stand? Do they walk away? Which camera is following them? They’ll be pros by Episode 4.
  
  
• Everyone’s favourite, Abigail, finally gets time with Matt.
  
  
• Abigail creates a signal they can use to show they’re thinking of each other. It’s the very subtle “pulling ear/fixing earring” signal.
  
  
• We now have a quick montage of Matt having good chats with a bunch of the women.
  
  
• This can only mean we’re heading to a commercial soon and chaos will follow. I know this show like the front of my hand. Trust me.
  
  
• Marylynn didn’t get a date this week and tells Matt it’s been hard for her. She wonders if he even wants her there.
  
  
• Well, Rico Suave has a trick up his sleeve and it’s hiding behind the couch. He remembered her favourite flower is an orchid, so he got her an orchid.
  
  
• Queen Victoria sees Marylynn with the flowers and tells us that Marylynn is toxic and she’s going to tell Matt!
  
  
• And here comes the chaos.
  
  
• “Marylynn was my roommate and cries to manipulate situations.” – Queen V with a Vendetta
  
  
• Victoria says she had to sleep on the couch one night.
  
  
• “She’s just so toxic.”
  
  
• The word “toxic” is toxic.
  
  
• Matt comes to the conclusion that Marylynn has been bullying Victoria. Oh boy. He’s been hoodwinked.
  
  
• Matt pulls Marylynn aside.
  
  
• The girls in the other room doubt that Marylynn would say anything mean to anyone.
  
  
• Marylynn is trying to defend herself to Matt and says she’s not the type to involve herself in drama.
  
  
• Just once, I want the bachelor/bachelorette to take a walk out to the production truck and be like, “SHOW ME THE FOOTAGE”.
  
  
• Maybe someone can throw a challenge flag and force the bachelor to review the play.
  
  
• Marylynn: “Victoria, I’m sorry I hurt your feelings.”
  
  
• Victoria cuts her off and says she accepts her apology, but they remember things differently.
  
  
• Marylynn is just a patsy in this situation. I don’t even know what she did.
  
  
• The girls are mad that Victoria started this drama, which cut into their time with Matt.

THE ROSE CEREMONY

• The first rose goes to Piper.
  
  
• Kit, Madi, Rachael, Abigail, Chelsea, Jessenia, Katie, and Serena C. get roses.
  
  
• Oh no! Sarah is about to faint. She walks away from the group with help from one of the girls.
  
  
• “I’m seeing stars.”
  
  
• Here comes the medic.
  
  
• And that’s the end of the show. Hopefully Sarah is all right!

Let me know what you thought of tonight’s episode!

First Time Watching: Titanic

At some point in my life, I convinced myself that I can’t sit through movies that are three hours long. Maybe it was ten years ago when there was a Lord of the Rings marathon going on in the residence lounge on my floor at school. Only three of us showed up because everyone else had finished exams and gone home, or were studying.

Don’t ask me what the movie was about, I sat at the back and didn’t have my glasses with me. Nor did I even try to pay attention. Looking back, I think the three of us just wanted to hang out. I remember we were all sick, too.

Anyway, Titanic falls in the category of “Movie longer than 3 hours” so I’ve always put it on the back burner. But since I started this, “First Time Watching” series, I knew I’d have to watch it eventually.

This past Saturday night, around midnight, I decided to watch Titanic.

It was totally a spur of the moment thing. I hadn’t thought about it all day.

I think, subconsciously, I knew that if I started a three-hour movie around midnight, I’d give myself an excuse to stop watching after an hour and continue another day.

Nope! I watched the whole thing in one sitting. And you know what?

I loved it!

Now, I feel a bit uncomfortable saying that, just because it’s about an event where around 1,500 people died in real life. So, when I say I loved Titanic, just know I’m talking about the movie and the story it told.

I was worried the movie would be really slow. That wasn’t the case, at all. The first half hour flew by and no one had even boarded the ship, yet.

As you probably know, it’s a story about a first-class woman named, Rose, and a third-class man named, Jack, who fell in love faster than Clare and Dale on The Bachelor.

Rose was on the ship with her fiancé, Cal, who was a real Hickory Dickory the entire movie. I don’t know what that means, exactly, but it sounds right. Doesn’t it?

Rose never liked Cal, but was going along with the marriage because her mom was persistent. Rose’s father had left them with nothing and marrying Cal ensured they’re future wealth.

Clearly, Rose’s mom wasn’t there for the right reasons.

Rose snuck away one night with the intention of jumping off the boat. Jack saw her and said, “If you jump, I jump”. This talked her out of it. Hey, sometimes all you need is one person to care about you, or believe in you.

From then on, Cal always looked like he had sand in his socks, and a fly up his nose, whenever he saw Rose interacting with Jack. How dare she speak to a mere muggle? What did Jack have to offer her? Two for one coupons? Cal had the big bucks! Not to mention a rich-person haircut!

What Cal failed to realize was that love is not about money, but I guess the show, For Love or Money was still decades away from making its television debut.

The “I’m Flying, Jack” Scene

Let’s talk about it. Can we talk about it? Let’s talk about it.

This is the only scene in the movie that I knew about ahead of time. Before I started the movie, I had no idea what would fill the entire three hours. Tea at high noon? Or is it high tea at noon? Maybe it’s just high tea?

Regardless, that only takes up so much time.

This scene where Rose is on the edge of the boat and lifts her arms up like a bird, and Jack is behind her for balance – and to display physical affection – came out of nowhere for me.

For some reason, I thought it would be much later in the movie? Maybe as the Titanic is starting to flood and they sneak off to have a moment?

To be honest, the whole scene was overrated. I was expecting to hear the voice of Celine Dion come in and accentuate the moment, but she never did. The song was purely instrumental! I was let down.

I’ve seen so many recreations of it, and so many sporting moments set to “the Titanic song”, that I expected to be blown away as a viewer. I wasn’t.

No joke, when the scene ended, I went right to Google to find out if this scene appears twice in the movie because, surely, this one was just to whet our appetite, and the one later would be more emotional and have CELINE DION belting out, “My heart will go on.”

Nope! This was it. I felt ripped off just because I was expecting so much more.

It was cool that the song played in the background of many scenes later in the movie, though it did get to be a bit much.

Like when a hockey team scores ten goals in a game and the goal song goes off every time. By goal number eight, we get the point.

Also, was Rose really flying? It felt very, “It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Rose and Jack again” to me.

Without a doubt, the internet – and its memes – overhyped the scene. I mean, it was fine, but as I said earlier, I came away from it thinking they’d do the same thing later on, but more…what’s the word…magically.

Magically? Magically.

The “Draw me like one of your French girls” Scene

Are you kidding me?

I can’t tell you how flabbergasted I was to hear that line in this movie. I was beside myself and there wasn’t even a mirror next to me!

I don’t know how long this line, and accompanying photo, have been an internet trend, but it’s been a long time.

Until now, I just thought it was a line that someone on the internet made up. I had no idea it was from a movie, let alone this one.

I am still shocked. How do I go on? How does my heart go on? Someone get C. Dion on line one and ask. Thanks.

Was I the last person to know this? It feels like I was.

My innocence – gone! Just like that.

We now return to my general thoughts on the movie.

When trouble struck and the ship hit the iceberg, most of the men in charge of the operation showed they were completely unfit to lead. You had some men ensuring they got a spot on a lifeboat, while ignoring the “women and children, first” mandate.

You had a crew member shoot a passenger, before shooting himself.

It was just mayhem. I don’t know how it wouldn’t be mayhem in a situation that dire, but the leaders didn’t lead. As soon as things started to go bad, they wanted to get out before it really went bad.

The parallels to our current world are shocking, yet not really.

Back to Cal. He decides that this is a great time to chase Jack around the ship with a gun and try to kill him because Rose refused to leave the boat if Jack didn’t go with her.

It was almost as if Cal knew that his terrible personality would make it hard for him to find anyone else to marry.

If they remake the movie, they can have Adele sing, “Never mind, he won’t find someone like you.” I want royalties.

Because Cal has to get off the ship, he grabs a little girl, who is crying, and hops on the boat with her as if he’s the father. You’re expecting me to make a Maury reference right now, aren’t you? Well, I am!

Cal is NOT the father! Nor should he ever be a father. He’s as useful as the paper towels at every elementary school. What exactly were they supposed to soak up? The sun?

Cal doesn’t care about anyone, except himself and his money.

Classic villain, though. I respect the performance.

When the Titanic went under and over 1000 people were left to freeze in the water, I’m sitting here like, “Those others boats will turn back! They must turn back! Wait, why aren’t they turning back?”

Only one boat went back. I’m fairly certain that one boat went back in real life, too.

Look, I’m not going to sit here and Monday morning quarterback the sinking of the Titanic. If I were in the water, I would’ve wanted the boats to come back. Obviously.

If I were in one of the boats that escaped, I can see why going back and taking on more passengers would’ve been dangerous.

The whole thing is just devastating.

When Jack and Rose finally entered the water and Rose was able to sit on a piece of debris, while Jack had to remain in the water, I knew what was coming. I don’t think Rose did.

By the way, I don’t think they made enough of an effort to get both of them to balance on the same makeshift raft.

Not to get too sappy, but I really enjoyed their love story.

I was shocked to find out at the end of the movie that Rose never mentioned Jack to anyone, even her husband. How is that possible? You survive one of the most devastating ship wrecks in history, thanks in large part to a guy named Jack, and you don’t tell anyone about him?

I guess, in a lovey-dovey sort of way, her not telling anyone meant that she was still holding on to him. As soon as she told someone, it would be like she let go.

This would match up with when Rose said, “I’ll never let go, Jack. I’ll never let go.”

I impressed myself with that analysis.

Other Things

Jack’s friend, Fabrizio, had one of the worst Italian accents I’ve ever heard. Yet, as an Italian, I loved every syllable of it. It warmed the cannoli of my heart, or however that phrase goes.

When everyone was boarding the Titanic, it had very strong “last day at Hogwarts” vibes. For a moment, I found it strange that everyone on the ship was vigorously waving goodbye to everyone on land.

Even people they didn’t know.

Just “BYE!!! BYE!!!” at the top of their lungs.

And then I realized that this was an era when human interaction was everything. It’s not like the Titanic would end up at its destination and everyone could just call home, or send a text saying, “We arrived”. There’s no video call to make, there’s no email to send.

The screams of “Goodbye” as the ship pulls away is the last time those people would hear a voice, and see a face, for a while. They made the moment count.

We don’t do that in 2021.

When Jack and Fabrizio were trying to board, the officer asked if they had gone through the inspection queue. They lied and said they had, but assured the man they didn’t have lice.

Well, knock me down and roll me up like a carpet! That was too real.

I think I read on Wikipedia that this is a movie known for making men cry.

I didn’t cry at all. I never even had the urge. This isn’t me boasting; I’m just being honest. Yes, there were many sad moments. Even the ones that didn’t have dialogue. And yes, I felt bad that Jack and Rose would never get the chance to have a life together.

But tears never came.

At one point in the movie, it dawned on me just how big the catering budget must’ve been for the film. Never mind, the overall budget which was over $200 million. Just the catering budget.

When the band continued to play while the ship was sinking, I could’ve sworn they were playing the Christmas song, “Mary’s Born Child”. It turns out, they weren’t.

Overall

I’m not someone who goes out of my way to rewatch movies, but I would definitely rewatch Titanic.

I am not the same Paul I was last Friday, that’s for sure.

It was just really well done. I went into it think I’d have to watch an hour at a time, just to get through it, and that wasn’t the case. It kept my interest the entire time.

There were so many layers to this movie and although the love connection between Jack and Rose was concocted for the purpose of the big screen, it does make you realize that there were real people on the Titanic and probably many new friendships and bonds being made.

It’s heartbreaking to know that the voyage ended tragically and everything just…ended.

I’ll definitely be looking up more about the Titanic and watching YouTube videos about it because I love learning about historical things like this.

If you made it this far, thank you!

And if, for some reason, you haven’t seen Titanic. Go watch it.

What are your thoughts on Titanic?

What Are Words?

My Senior Kindergarten teacher was universally loved by everyone at my elementary school. No matter what grade you were in, you could walk by the fenced off area for kindergarteners and wave, or say hello, and she’d return the gesture. She remembered everyone by name, even those who had graduated and came back to visit.

When it was “home time”, she would march us through the hallway and have us chant “W-A-L-K” or “Q-U-I-E-T”. I doubt we were aware she was subtly teaching us how to spell.

In class, there were flash cards with words on them and we’d spell them out. The one I still remember is, “Because”.

We would start out with “B-E”, take a half second pause, and then say “C-A-U-S-E, Because” with a quickened pace. I’ll never forget it.

I don’t think I ever appreciated the emphasis that teachers put on learning words. In Grade 3, we had a Spelling textbook and each unit had a list of words. Our homework was to write out each one, three times.

It was the most boring, repetitive thing. I didn’t get the point. But repetition helps you remember. That was the point.

In Grade 6, we read a book called, Bridge to Terabithia. For each chapter, we were given a list of words the teacher pulled from the chapter, and had to look up their definition in a dictionary.

Again, at the time it just felt like homework. I didn’t fully grasp the intention behind it.

At every step of the way, teachers were trying to expand our vocabulary. How could we use a word, if we didn’t know how to spell it? How could we use a word if we didn’t know what it meant?

I had a high school English teacher tell us, “Let every word tell.” He was quoting someone else, but I still think about that. “Let every word tell.” That’s how you weed out wordiness. If a word doesn’t contribute to what you want to say, don’t use it.

I had a university professor who would advise us before exams and assignments to, “Say what you mean and mean what you say.”

Sure, he was using a Dr. Seuss line out of context, but it was still effective.

Throughout our childhood, we were taught when to use certain words.

When someone gave us something – maybe it was a present for our birthday – there would be an adult to cue us up with, “What do you say?”

And we’d let out a, “Thank you!”

Or, if we were asking someone for something: “What do you say?”

“Please.”

Or, if there was a disagreement on the playground and the teacher pulled us aside to solve the problem.

“Sorry.”

There is a word or phrase for every situation in life. The hope is that people know the right one to use.

By the time we’re a full-fledged adult – let me know when that is, exactly – we’re expected to use the words that fit the situation. We’re supposed to be passed the stage of being told, “You don’t say that!”

“We’re supposed to be…”

We’re supposed to be masters of language, having amassed years of experience in social interactions, both online and in person.

We know that tone is almost everything. We know that when someone takes a while to respond to a message and then replies with a few words, punctuated with a period, that something is probably wrong.

As adults, it’s not just what we say anymore. Saying “sorry” because someone told us to apologize, isn’t good enough anymore. Now, it’s about how we say it. It’s about showing that our words genuinely reflect our inner intentions.

We know when someone isn’t being sincere. We know when someone is just spitting out words, as if they’re an arcade game dispensing tickets.

In a professional environment, emails can turn into a boomerang of clichés. And do any of us really talk like that in real life? Probably not. But it’s a professional email, it’s not a text message to a friend.

The situation calls for a certain tone; we know which one to use.

Sadly, there are people who cannot use words. My grandmother has lost her ability to speak and write. Can she tell me what she’s thinking with non-verbal cues? Yes. It’s a way to communicate and use words, without actually using any.

This opens up a whole other realm of communication. Body language is a universal language and, sometimes, it says more than any amount of words do.

If you stop and think about it, we are all smarter than we realize. The things we now do instinctively, are things we’ve been forced to pick up on and develop, as we’ve gotten older.

Where am I going with this?

Well, words can be a dangerous tool.

It’s never been easier to tell someone – anyone – what you think. And yet, so many people abuse this ability. They leave their niceties at home, forget all the manners anyone ever tried to teach them, and venture off to belittle a human being.

You pick the right words, put them in the right order, and you can really tear a person down. Nowadays, it’s a very popular hobby, thanks to social media.

Ever just scroll through Twitter and see the hurtful replies people send to others? Ever just sit back and think, “Out of all the words they could’ve used, including none, they chose those.”?

You don’t need me to tell you there’s a problem with how people communicate with each other. It’s despicable.

Buckle up, now.

When I see people with powerful titles like, oh I don’t know – President – constantly using words to create the type of division that rapidly turns into hatred and violence, it’s disheartening.

No, that word isn’t strong enough on its own.

It’s aggravating.

It’s unjustifiable.

It’s maddening.

It’s ridiculous.

It’s frustrating.

It’s infuriating.

It’s just downright stupid.

I’m not a big fan of titles. I know why they exist, but in some instances, they really separate us. Can’t we all just be human beings and go from there?

Too many times I think titles allow people to hide under an invisibility cloak, while they do things someone without that title would never be allowed to get away with.

Titles are just words. We’re adults now. Your behaviour matters. Your tone matters. Your true intentions matter.

You can’t just get up to a podium and say throwaway lines that turn into chants. You can’t spew lies that you want people to accept as truths. You can’t get away with starting the fire and then quote the Billy Joel song, saying you didn’t, in fact, start the fire.

And you can’t walk away from the chaos, throw your hands up, and say, “Me? I would never. My words were twisted. I didn’t say those things.”

But you did.

People in positions of power are smart, even when they’re unbelievably unintelligent.

Because they know how to get their message across without dictating it word for word. The know the tone to use. They know which words to put in All Caps when they tweet. They know what will get people riled up.

They know how to do this because WE, as human beings, know how to do this.

We know how to manipulate words.

We know how to get a desired outcome without outright asking for it. (See: your childhood).

We know how to say the right thing, but bookend it with how we really feel, to cover our bases.

Words are a game and we’re all on the field at the same time. Maybe that’s why there’s so much yelling all the time.

If you want to put it in the most simplest of ways. That situation we all witnessed yesterday, came about because the alleged, “Most powerful person in the world” consistently used the wrong words for years. Years. Plural.

Don’t tell me he didn’t know what he was doing.

A four-year-old doesn’t know what they’re doing when they call someone a “poo poo head”. They laugh.

So, don’t tell me the President of a country didn’t know his words would lead to something dangerous and deadly.

There is a way to talk around things and have everyone know what, and who you are referring to.

I’ve done it this entire post. You know who I’m talking about. I haven’t said his name once.

And now we, the world, find ourselves at a point where even when someone makes a speech and says, “We must come together”, it sounds hollow and hopeless.

No kidding, we need to come together. What are you going to do to make that happen? How will you change things? What words will you engrain into our subconscious that affect our behaviour in a positive way?

If words are a game, then life is a team sport, and we all need to lean on each other to succeed.

I think we find ourselves in a culture where we feel this need to constantly say something. Heck, look at how long this blog post is.

But as I said earlier, you can say things without saying anything.

There’s a song lyric that goes, “You say it best when you say nothing at all.”

There’s a quote from former football coach, Paul Brown, that goes, “When you win, say nothing. When you lose, say less.”

I’m not saying people need to learn to be quiet, or not speak up. But maybe we can resist the urge to contribute something detrimental to the universal discourse.

Children aren’t going to spearhead this change. They’re going to follow the teachings passed down to them by adults. The words we use, they’ll use too, and as the generations turn over, nothing will ever get better.

So, therefore, it must be adults who change. It must be the ones who hold titles that hold power. It must be the ones who have the ability, patience, and determination to be a positive influence through the words they use, and then back it up with their actions.

But it also must be the rest of us, too. Be a good human being and treat everyone like a human being. This concept should not be harder to understand than the piece of technology you’re holding in your hand.

I’ll end with this.

What are words? What are these elements of speech and writing with which we fill the world?

Well, let me put it this way.

They say, “Speak from the heart.”

Do you know why?

The heart is a symbol of love.

Wouldn’t it be nice to fill the world with a bit more of that?

Let me know your thoughts below.

You can follow me on Twitter @CappyTalks

Viewing Notes: The Bachelor (Matt) – Ep. 1

The first episode of The Bachelor is always my favourite. You never know who’s going to get out of the limo next, or what their “memorable introduction” will be. It’s a night of unpredictability, unless you read the spoilers ahead of time.

The only thing I don’t like is when I pick out a favourite based on a 30-second limo entrance and then they’re sent home on the first night. Why do they do this to me?

Unfortunately, that happened again tonight. I am in shambles.

WELCOME TO THE BACHELOR

• Chris Harrison welcomes us to a new season of The Bachelor, as he walks down the front steps of a mansion that looks like it was inhabited by a rich family from a Netflix show.
  
  
• We’re not at the La Quinta Inn anymore, kids.
  
  
• This looks nice. Makes the show seem “big time”. This is being filmed at the Nemacolin Resort in Pennsylvania. Book your stay today in about a year.
  
  
• Chris says the show received a record-breaking amount of submissions from women who wanted to be on the show. Yes, because we’re in a pandemic, Christopher.

MEETING THE BACHELOR

• The bachelor this season is Matt James. He is 29-years-old and is the first Black Bachelor in the history of the show. He hasn’t appeared on any previous seasons, though he is close friends with Tyler C., who was on Hannah’s season.
  
  
• Matt is a Commercial Real Estate Broker in New York City; he grew up in North Carolina. He also works with kids in the inner city.

MEETING SOME OF THE WOMEN

• Here are some video packages of some of the women, who have been quarantining at the resort.
  
  
• Alicia is a professional ballerina/ballet teacher and is dancing in the hallway.
  
  
• Abigail was born completely deaf and if she takes her cochlear implant off, she can’t hear anything. She says it’s awkward to bring up, but likes when people ask her about it.
  
  
• Kristin is a lawyer, but she likes to go out to rooftop bars and have a drink.
  
  
• Magi is a pharmacist who was born and raised in Ethiopia and moved to the US nine years ago.
  
  
• Anna is a caffeine fiend or at least she “used to be”. She was holding two coffees.
  
  
• Sarah is a broadcast journalist, but moved home to be a caregiver. Her Dad has ALS.

MATT ARRIVES

• Chris Harrison is there to greet Matt and immediately comments on his height. Chris really has to look up, it’s like he’s staring at the roof of a house.
  
  
• Matt says he has a few questions for Chris before they get started. They go inside.
  
  
• The inside of this mansion/chateau/giant property is extremely luxurious. If a lamp falls off a table and breaks, someone’s paying $800 just for the bulb.
  
  
• A theme that arises during this pre-limo chat is that Matt needs to learn how to be vulnerable.

LIMO ENTRANCES

• This is my favourite part of every season.
  
  
• First out of the limo is Bri. She says she is here for this opportunity to get to know him.
  
  
• Out next is Rachael, who is so nervous, she’s shaking. We are 2/2 on green dresses, if you’re keeping track.
  
  
• Here comes Sarah, who says she may feel a bit homesick. Her dress is not green.
  
  
• Next out of the limo is Jessenia, who says she is looking for someone who can be her rock, just like she would be for them.
  
  
• Chelsea is next. She says he’s making history as the first Black Bachelor and hopefully they can make history together.
  
  
• Mari says that love makes the world go ’round and even though they can’t travel anywhere, she’s looking forward to this journey with him. She walks away and he says, “You ever meet somebody and just don’t know what to say? That was that moment.”
  
  
• The next limo is pulling up. So far, everyone seems nervous, especially Matt.
  
  
• “My heart is racing a mile a minute.” – Matt
  
  
• I love when they give me a quote at the exact moment I need it for these notes.
  
  
• Magi says she came all the way from Ehtiopia to meet him.
  
  
• Carolyn says her mom knew she was nervous, so she sent her some lavender from her garden. She shares the lavender with Matt.
  
  
• Sydney says Matt is the “hottest human being” she’s ever met.
  
  
• Kristin says the verdict is in and Matt has been found guilty of being “so incredibly fine”.
  
  
• Anna has brought him a Bachelor Survival Kit! It contains a stress ball and some mini red flags he can hand out to some women. Anna is fun. That was a good gimmick.
  
  
• Khaylah arrived in an old pickup truck to remind Matt of home. She’s from North Carolina, just like him. This put him at ease.
  
  
• Serena C. trips up the first step as she goes to meet Matt.
  
  
• Serena P. is from Toronto and is only 5-foot-2, so she brought a step stool to get on his level. Okay, that was fun. I’m a fan.
  
  
• Alicia, the ballerina, comes out of the limo dancing.
  
  
• Saneh thinks Matt is the Greatest Of All Time and hopes he thinks she’s also “The GOAT”. She then pulls up the bottom of her dress to reveal really large, furry goat shoes on her feet. HA! So cheesy, I love it! She has an infectious laugh, too. Saneh has won me over.
  
  
• Has anyone ever received the first impression rose before all of the limo entrances are complete?
  
  
• Alana, also from Toronto, gives him a small bowl of pasta and they share a noodle, which results in a kiss. The girls watching from the top floor window aren’t please.
  
  
• Kaili shows up in lingerie and a clothing rack with two outfits. She has him pick one out for her. He picks out the red strapless dress.
  
  
• He loves her confidence.
  
  
• Abigail arrives and tells him she’s deaf, so she’ll be reading his lips tonight. She’s sweet.
  
  
• Corrinne is super excited to be there.
  
  
• Marylynn feels that everything in her life has brought her there to meet him.
  
  
• Emani thinks this is crazy and never expected to be here.
  
  
• Lauren says she doesn’t settle for anything in her life.
  
  
• Pieper said her Dad always wanted her and her sisters to keep their last name, which is James.
  
  
• Hey! That’s Matt’s last name! Well isn’t this perfect.
  
  
• A pizza car has pulled up! Yes! I don’t know who this is, but I’m a fan.
  
  
• Out of the car comes MJ. She gets out and tries to open the back door, but it’s locked. Unintentional prop comedy! Yes!
  
  
• MJ gives him a pizza! Send her to the Final 4.
  
  
• Out next is Katie, who brought a toy from home, that needs to be censored.
  
  
• Amber arrives on a two-seat bike.
  
  
• Kimberly steps out of the limo with a giant fish from Bass Pro Shops. I don’t know if non-Canadian readers will understand that. She throws the fish at him and it falls on the ground.
  
  
• Casandra is dressed like a football player and says she’s his number one fan.
  
  
• Illeana asks if she can put her meatballs in his mouth. It’s the size of a five-pin bowling ball. Nonnas everywhere are astonished.
  
  
• Kit arrives in a Bentley. She says “K.I.T. stands for Keep In Touch”. She likes to be the centre of attention.
  
  
• Victoria…”like the Queen”…is carried in on a throne. She’s wearing a tiara and gives Matt a crown. She falls down the stairs on her way in the house.
  
  
• “I’m Victoria, like the Queen” is quickly becoming a catchphrase.
  
  
• She kind of reminds me of Stephanie McMahon. The show should’ve played her theme music when Victoria entered.
  
  
• “Welcome to the Queendom…The Queendom, where the kings bow down, then relinquish your crown, y’all gonna hate me now, I’ll just turn that around and make you love me, love me, love me.”
  
  
• No one has any clue what I just quoted. It’s fine, let’s move on.
  
  
• That seems to be everyone!

MATT GOES INSIDE TO TALK TO THE WOMEN

• Matt has everyone bow their head, so he can say a quick prayer. Well, this is different.
  
  
• Matt says whenever he’s feeling nervous, he says a prayer to put himself at ease.
  
  
• The leads in the past have always brought a sense of comfort to the role because they’ve been on the show before. He hasn’t, so he’s going through everything for the first time too.
  
  
• Bri tells us she appreciated Matt’s vulnerability in that moment. Ah! She’s reinforcing the theme of the episode.
  
  
• Matt is going around, talking to the women.
  
  
• Matt tells Kristin that he feels a load of responsibility, being the first Black Bachelor.
  
  
• Rachael wasn’t sure about going on the show, but loved to hear that Matt would be the Bachelor because he hadn’t gone through the process before, so they’d get to go through it for the first time together.
  
  
• You can tell that Rachael is genuine.
  
  
• Serena P. (from Toronto!) brings Matt outside to play chess. He tells her he was in chess club, but that doesn’t mean he was great at it.
  
  
• Mari gives Matt a boarding pass, which is a placeholder until they can actually travel somewhere. It has some facts about her on it, including that she’s originally from Puerto Rico.
  
  
• Matt asks how her family has dealt with the hurricanes there. It’s a very serious chat, until Katie and her toy break it up.
  
  
• Khaylah and Matt are sitting in the back of the pickup truck she arrived in, to remind him of home (North Carolina).
  
  
• Kit has brought Matt a snow globe to remind him of home (New York), but it reminds me of The Santa Clause.
  
  
• Queen Victoria quickly breaks it up.
  
  
• Matt uses a “drinking through a fire hose” expression and Victoria doesn’t understand.
  
  
• Chris Harrison is dropping off the first impression rose.
  
  
• Queen Victoria is going to steal Matt away for the second time tonight, which is a big no-no on night one and a quick way to get everyone else to dislike you.
  
  
• “What do you do?” “I do marketing.” “Well market yourself to Matt.”
  
  
• Matt’s favourite animal are panda bears because they eat and then take a nap. This is a great answer.
  
  
• Bri says she forgot about everything else when she was talking to Matt. She has her head on straight. I can see her going far.
  
  
• Abigail and Matt have a really easy conversation and they kiss.
  
  
• Abigail is getting the first impression rose.
  
  
• I approve this decision. They are already adorable.
  
  
• Chris Harrison is breaking up the party, as Matt has to prepare for the first Rose Ceremony.

THE ROSE CEREMONY

• The first rose goes to Bri.
  
  
• Rachael accepts the second rose.
  
  
• Chelsea, Sarah, MJ, Serena P., Khaylah, Kristin, Kit, Magi, Pieper, Mari, Illeana, Jessenia, Kaili, Marylynn, Serena C., Lauren, Syndey, Alana, Katie, and Anna accept roses.
  
  
• We are down to the final rose. Saneh hasn’t been called yet. I’m ready to yell.
  
  
• The final rose goes to Queen Victoria.
  
  
• HOW DOES SANEH NOT GET A ROSE?? DO YOU NOT LIKE TO LAUGH??
  
  
• Did the goat shoes scare Matt? She probably had the most comfortable footwear out of anyone in the house, so that just shows off her sneaky brilliance.
  
  
• Why do my favourites never survive the first rose ceremony? This is like Sarah from last season all over again. What a travesty.
  
  
• Alicia the ballerina also didn’t receive a rose. I’m surprised by that.
  
  
• It seems to be a good group, though. But maybe they should consider letting me hand out one rose during every premiere episode.
  
  
• My favourites after tonight are: Saneh, Serena P., Abigail, Bri, Rachael, and MJ.

That’s all for tonight. The previews show that more women arrive in a future episode, so that’ll be dramatic.

Thanks for reading!

Did you watch the show? Do you have any thoughts? Who are your favourites?

Share Your Blog 2021

When I moved into residence for my first year of university, they said, “the walls don’t make the experience, the people do.” They were right. I think if you apply that sentiment anywhere in life, it holds true.

People need people.

When it comes to WordPress, the blog layouts don’t make the experience, the bloggers do.

With that in mind, I’d like to welcome you to the 3rd annual Share Your Blog event. Please help yourself to refreshments at the back. No one leaves until all the food is gone. I don’t make the rules.

The purpose of this event is to grow your community, by meeting new bloggers and discovering new blogs. Maybe it’s just me, but having this event at the beginning of the year reinvigorates my desire to write.

It creates an energy between bloggers and I feel like we’re at our best when we’re feeding off one another. It’s a domino effect. At least, that’s my theory as to why a lot of us get writer’s block at the same time.

My other theory is that August is a boring month that lulls our inspiration to sleep.

Anyway, to participate in this blog sharing event, all I’m asking you to do is the following:

1. Introduce yourself in the comments section below

2. Tell us the name of your blog and what you write about

3. Share a link to your blog (home page, most recent post, or a post you like)

Feel free to say as much, or as little, as you want.

And then throughout the day, or coming days, come back to this post and check out the other comments. Say hi to the people you don’t know. Mingle, I guess. If you remember how to do that.

If you so choose, feel free to spread the word of this event on your blog.

I think we all have our own blogging community, so why not bring them all together? This isn’t one of those gatherings we must keep to 10 people or less. I checked.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

If you need me, I’ll be wandering around, occasionally frequently glancing at the kitchen doors to see when new items are being brought out.

Have fun and happy sharing!