Rick's Last Gift

Today wasn't an easy day, as Sylvia and I joined hundreds of other mourners to mark the passing of our friend and colleague Rick Miller. But there were a couple of silver linings:  Kevin Taft delivered a stirring and heartfelt eulogy with grace and strength, reminding us of many of the good times we shared with Rick and his contributions to his community. And Rick's passing brought together friends I haven't seen for months, or in some cases, years. While my time at the Official Opposition wrapped up with perhaps more stress than I've ever experienced, it remains one of the singular experiences of my life. Seeing all those people again - David Kincade, Mildred Richardson, Jackie Foord, Tyler Mudrey, Avril McCalla, Kieran LeBlanc, Bruce Miller, Maurice Tougas, John Santos, Susie Sykes, Carmen Remenda, Laurie Blakeman, Glen Rollans, Brian Leadbetter, Kim Dewar, Tanara McLean, Jeanette Boman, Andrew Fisher, Jonathan Huckabee, Raj Sherman, Jack Flaherty and others I probably missed in the huge crowd - well, it reminded me of all the exciting times that kept me in that place for so long.

It reminds me of the closing lines of one of my favourite films, Big Trouble in Little China:

"We really shook the pillars of heaven, didn't we, Wang?"
"No horseshit, Jack."
"No horseshit."

It was an honour to help Rick and my other friends at the Alberta Liberal Caucus shake a few earthly pillars back in the day. I hope Rick has slung a hammock between a couple of heaven's pillars, and is even now enjoying a cigar, a drink and the company of his departed loved ones. Thanks for being an important part of one of the most fulfilling times of my life, Rick.

Rest in Peace, Rick Miller

This morning former Edmonton-Rutherford MLA Rick Miller - also a former boss of mine, a loving husband and father, and a good friend to Sylvia and me - lost his battle with cancer. He was a hero in many ways.

Shortly after I started working at the Alberta Liberal Caucus in 2006 - then Alberta's Official Opposition - Rick rappelled down the side of the Sutton Place Hotel in a Batman costume to raise money for charity. This was the sort of thing he did. As an MLA and the Official Opposition Finance Critic, Rick was always incredibly busy, but he made time to help not only his constituents and his caucus, but people he'd never meet.

Rick loved being an MLA. You could sense it emanating from every fiber of his being. He loved talking to Albertans on the doorsteps, welcoming them to the Legislature and serving as a voice and an advocate for the vulnerable and disenfranchised. Rick was in politics for the right reasons; it was because of people like him that I was drawn to work for the Alberta Liberals in the first place.

And Rick loved Sylvia, which of course endeared him to me even more. His kindness and respect shone through whenever we were together, whether at political events like open houses or just hanging out at the Legislature Annex.

I felt terrible when Rick lost his seat during the 2008 election. But it wasn't long before Rick became the caucus' new Chief of Staff, and he filled that role with the same kindness and consideration as he did as an MLA. He treated the staff like family.

Rick was a lot like your favourite uncle. If it was time to relax and kick back with a beer (metaphorical, in my case), he was a great guy to hang around with. And if trouble was brewing, you wanted him on your side.

Rick had a rich life beyond politics, too. He loved hang gliding, and had seriously offered to take Sylvia riding tandem with him one day. And although it never happened, I loved Rick for making that offer. She would have been so excited and joyful to be up there with him, soaring in the clouds.

During Rick's illness he made sure to spend as much time as possible with his friends and family. I'm immensely grateful that Sylvia and I had a chance this spring to spend an hour or so with Rick, just enjoying a coffee at Tim Horton's. And thanks to Andrew Fisher, I saw Rick one last time, on May 31, just a couple of days before starting my new job. He looked healthier and happier and I allowed myself to hope for a miracle.

It wasn't to be.

When I left politics in 2012, I was burned out, depressed and cynical. The stress of the job, the frustration of our failures took a toll on me. Rick's passing, and more importantly his life, reminds me that our time on Earth is too short to give in or give up. Rick Miller fought the good fight in the face of personal tragedy and repeated disappointments at the ballot box. More importantly, he took good care of the people he loved - and there was a lot of love in his heart.

Rest in peace, Rick. You earned it.

Requiem for Erewhon

Some days it's hard to be human.

Last night I mentioned my friend Rick's serious illness; Sylvia and I missed a tribute to him because of an important condo meeting. At that meeting we learned that one of our neighbours died the night before, a sweet little old woman who baked us cookies. I'd wondered why there were ambulances and a fire truck with lights flashing outside our door that night, but my mind simply wouldn't make the obvious connection; I thought they must have been caught up in some kind of drill.

By now everyone's heard of the terrorist attack in Boston, and the bombings that killed dozens in three cities in Iraq. And now we learn that Iran has suffered an 7.8 magnitude earthquake, with hundreds feared dead.

I usually resist commenting on events like these because I feel like I'm just piling on platitudes. But I will offer one thought that always gets me through times of sadness like this: good people all over the world are working hard to make things better.

Thousands of people dedicate their lives to ending heart disease and cancer. This activity goes on every minute of every day, invisible to most of us unless and until we or a loved one get sick.

Thousands of others risk their lives to mediate disputes among the warring tribes of Earth. Still more devote their days and nights to creating desperately needed infrastructure in developing countries. And whenever a crisis strikes, human beings instinctively rush toward the epicentre of disaster to help in any way they can. That's who we are.

Some of us are lost or sick or angry enough to lash out with senseless violence. Some aspects of our technology make it too easy to hurt people, and the temptations of power in combination with that technology have put millions in harm's way. Governments, individuals and organizations are all capable of great evil.

On day like this it's all too easy to surrender to despair or cynicism. But whenever I think of the everyday heroes who give of themselves so others may live, I'm heartened once again. Every day we lose people to tragedy, and those losses wound us forever. But we move forward anyway, struggling to build that better world that always seems just beyond our reach.

One day we'll get there. 

Rick's Roast

A crucial condo board meeting prevented Sylvia and me from attending tonight's Roast for Rick Miller. It's a great sadness for both of us, as we were looking forward to joining our Alberta Liberal friends in honouring the former MLA and ex-Chief of Staff of the Official Opposition. Rick is, of course, in the midst of a battle with cancer, and the event offered not only moral support to Rick and his family, but financial assistance to the cancer charity Movember. If any of my friends were at the event and snapped photos, I hope you'll send me a couple - Sylvia and I would both love to see how everything went. In the meantime, we'll keep sending our very best hopes and wishes out into the universe for Rick. 

Brian and Rick

As I've noted in the past, the only constant in politics is change. This is especially true regarding political staffs. Today we at the Official Opposition said goodbye to outgoing Communications Director Brian Leadbetter (above) and Chief of Staff Rick Miller (below).

I've worked with Rick, in different capacities, since I started working for the Official Opposition back in January 2006. Rick is fair, compassionate, smart and generous, always willing to help others and fight for better government, which he's been doing for many years - long before we met. Rick has moved on so that he can focus his full attention on his campaign to serve once again as the MLA for Edmonton-Rutherford, and I hope that voters this spring take the opportunity to return this fine human being to office. He was a great MLA once, and I hope he will be again.

I've worked with Brian for a little less than a year, but during that short time I've been tremendously impressed with his professionalism, communications instincts, critical thinking, complete fearlessness, and above all, loyalty to his team. Brian was a real joy to work with, and I learned a great deal from his mentor-ship. His new employers are fortunate indeed to have him. Brian is also a great host and the snappiest dresser I've ever encountered, and I'll miss his insights and wry sense of humour.

Both these fine men deserve happiness and fulfillment, and I hope they find it as they begin new journeys. As they say in the movies, gentlemen, it's been a privilege serving with you. Excelsior!

Press Gallery Christmas Party

I'm up late blogging tonight because I just returned from the annual Alberta Legislature Press Gallery Christmas Party. As noted a couple of posts ago, each caucus in the legislature, along with the press gallery, prepares a self-mocking video for the crowd's amusement, and I must say this year's batch of videos was uniformly entertaining, at least for this particular crowd: people who actually pay attention to provincial politics.

Here are some of images of my colleagues, past and present, who attended the event:

Alex and Raj

Kyle and Rick

Marcella, Stephanie, Jonathan and Melissa

Brian and John

Ashley

Teddy and Carmen

Karin, Kyle and John

John's signature gesture

Earl, Brian and John

A good time was had by all! Or so I assume. People laughed at the videos, anyway!

A Capital Effort

Regarding the Edmonton Capitals game from a couple of posts ago, I think my colleague John Santos deserves a shout-out for some truly excellent sports photography, especially since he's never been to a baseball game before. He captured two of the most exciting events of the game - a shattered bat that spun across the field, and the near-brawl that erupted between the Scorpions' Tony Philips and the umpire over a disputed call. I don't like conflict, but the crowd's heckling was pretty entertaining. After Philips was ejected, another Scorpion scored a home run, to which one wag responded sarcastically: "This one's for Tony!"

I want to thank Rick Miller again for organizing this. Sylvia and I really had a wonderful time. Oh, and the Capitals won!

Take a gander at John's excellent photos.

Capitals vs. Scorpions

Once in a while it's nice to socialize with your colleagues outside the workplace, so tonight Official Opposition staff members are enjoying a gorgeous evening of baseball, with patio seating right behind home plate. Thanks to Rick Miller for organizing a great outing! We even saw Jose Canseco take his batting practice!

Currently Scorpions lead 3-2.

Alberta Liberal Caucus Podcast for November 2

Over at the Official Opposition my colleague Tanara McLean has been creating some pretty snappy podcasts for some time now. But she's really outdone herself this week, with an interview with our Chief of Staff, Rick Miller, about the ins and outs of how we choose what to ask in Question Period. And for the first time, she's added the soon-to-be-infamous Puffball Question of the Week. (At the Legislature, when a Tory backbencher asks a really obsequious, easy-to-answer question that highlights the presumed greatness of the government, Opposition MLAs and staff derisively call it a "puffball.") If you listen carefully, you may recognize a familiar voice...

You can listen to the podcast here.

Call Me Out at the Ball Game - The Playoffs

Liberators 19 - Ticket to Slide 23

Liberators 15 - Meatitarians 9

Much to my regret, the Liberators finished the slo-pitch season without me; I missed our two playoff games thanks to meetings with our realtor and a trip to Vancouver (more on that later). The team split its two playoff games, with a close-fought loss against Ticket to Slide and a twilight victory over the Meatitarians, leaving us somewhere in the middle of the pack in the final standings. I'm particularly sorry I missed the Liberators/Ticket to Slide match, since our party leader Dr. David Swann came out to play. By all accounts he's still quite an athlete, and I wish I'd been there to snap some photos!

Despite my mediocre performance throughout this experiment, I'm very glad that Tanara organized our team and gave me the opportunity to get some much-needed exercise. I had a great time, using muscles long-dormant and recalling the ghost of the child inside.

Call Me Out at the Ball Game - Game 6 Redux & Game 7

Fatz With Batz 21, Liberators 1

Sons of Pitches 22, Liberators 13

Last Monday's rain-soaked double header resulted in double defeat for the Liberators! Team Captain Tanara scored our only run against second-ranked Fatz With Batz, and while our effort against Sons of Pitches bore more fruit - including Carmen's first trip across home plate - we still wound up nine runs behind. As a result, we finish the regular season in eighth place (out of ten). Tonight is our first playoff game, being played even as I type - I'm waiting for our realtor to arrive to get some paperwork done on a new home purchase.

Here are a few highlights from the game:

Tanara and Rick prepare for battle on the ball field.

I knew we were in trouble when I saw the intimidating headgear and professionally printed t-shirts of Fatz With Batz.

Andy makes a daring slide into third base.

Carmen smacked a solid single right through the hole between the shortstop and third base to take first.

Speaking of double headers, it's a shame that the folks at DC comics never thought to have the Legion of Substitute Heroes' Double Header play a baseball game. For those unfamiliar with the character, Double Header was rejected by the Legion of Super-Heroes proper because his super power - having two heads - wasn't deemed useful enough for the team. (The two heads also had a tendency to argue.) But the Substitute Heroes readily accepted him.

I wonder how our team would have fared if Double Header had joined us? Somewhere in a parallel universe, it happened...

Call Me Out at the Ball Game - Game 4

Airways Park

Doucheballz 22, Liberators 1

The boys and girls of summer did their best, but only the league mercy rule saved us from a drubbing even more humiliating than the 22-1 pounding we received at Airways Park just south of the old City Centre Airport.

We faced the #2-ranked team, and without question they deserved the victory. They displayed a take-no-prisoners athleticism, though they were good sports about it.

Despite the loss, I'm pretty happy with my own performance this time around - relatively speaking, of course. I managed to halfway field one ball in the outfield, and served a couple of innings as a reasonably competent backcatcher, coming close to catching fly ball that was coming down the inside wall of the backstop. My Hurculean effort even resulted in the loss of my baseball cap!

Rick Miller scored our sole run, brought home by, I believe, Steve of Laurie Blakeman's office. Or it may have been Rick's son Chris who drove in the run - these two are certainly the anchors of the team, in any event.

Kim Dewar managed a solid base hit, as did I, maintaining my average. Twice at bat, one single, one strikeout.

They say winning is always more fun than losing, but I really enjoyed this game. I worked up a sweat, made my muscles ache, caught the ball a few times and reached first base once. That's better than I ever did in grade school!

Call Me Out at the Ball Game - Game 3

Tonight the Liberators gathered on Edmonton's south side to face our next opponents. I was glad to be back on the field after missing the last game, hoping that this time I'd be able to help the team earn victory.

But it wasn't meant to be. By the end of the first inning, we were down 7-1, and managed to score only once more during the entire game for a final score of 16-2. Strangely enough, I felt like our fielding overall was pretty good; we held them scoreless for several innings, but they had another seven-run inning late in the game to put it away.

At bat, I struck out once and hit a single between third and fourth (Addendum: this should have read "second and third" - this just shows how little I know about sports - thanks Andrea!) at my second and final at-bat, but another runner was tagged out before I could advance any further.

On the plus side, I'm not nearly as sore today as I was after the first game, so perhaps my muscles are getting accustomed to being used again.

Here are some highlights from the game. As always, click to embiggen:

Catcher Lisa stretches before the game. Always a wise move.

Neil hit a solid single midway through the game.

Rick Miller wields his bat with incredible finesse.

Team Captain Tanara examines the batting order. Given tonight's result, it may need some revision.

Call Me Out at the Ball Game - Game 1

Tonight the Liberators took the field for the first game of our slo-pitch season! For the first couple of innings I stayed behind home plate as catcher. Actually managed to catch a few pitches and return them to Tanara's glove. Not bad. Well, bad, but you know...I'm at the scary end of the bell curve for this sort of thing.

We were outmatched by the other team, seen here looking on with confidence as I react in stunned disbelief. I'm not sure of the exact score, but I think they beat us by a dozen runs or so.

However, on a personal level, I was as surprised as anyone when I managed to connect with the ball all three times I tried. I hit two singles, and the third was a drive between second and third that was caught by the opposing shortstop. So two out of three...I guess that's a batting average of .666! Pretty good for someone that hasn't played baseball since junior high school.

Laurie Blakeman, Deputy Leader of the Official Opposition, came out to cheer us on.

Avril and Kim cheer on the team.

Running to first base. I think it's been a while since my feet left the earth.

Chief of Staff Rick Miller was an able third baseman.

Rick's son Chris Miller was one of our more gifted players. Here he scores a run, fleet as the wind.

Communications Director Neil Mackie hit a solid shot into the infield, but didn't quite have the legs to make it to first before being tagged.

We didn't bring home a victory this time, but I think everyone had fun. And I got a little exercise, with the bumps, bruises and grass stains to show for it.

Call Me Out at the Ball Game - First Practice

My colleague Tanara at the Official Opposition has organized an Alberta Liberal slo-pitch team - the Liberators. Desperate for some exercise, I signed up, despite my legendary lack of prowess at sports. Late this afternoon, we practiced together for the first time.

The very act of buying a ball glove a couple of ours before the practice was in itself enough to make me feel younger. I found myself looking forward to finding out if I could still catch or hit a ball.

I'm happy to say that the answer is: yes, barely. After some batting practice (during which I took a header into the grass and earned my first bloody wound and first grass stain), we organized a trial game.

I took up a position behind home plate, and actually managed to catch a couple of pitches and toss them back to the pitcher - Tanara again - somewhere in the vicinity of her glove. That's Avril, one of our researchers, at bat.

My first at bat was a qualified success. Our receptionist and pitcher Lisa hit in the shoulder and I took my base. A couple more hits from our team, and I found myself rounding home plate. First run of the season! If only this game counted.

(During one memorable game back in the 70s, I took no less than three bases thanks to errant pitches: two to the groin and one to the butt. This was fastball, too. It really wasn't worth it. I remember the pitcher's tears of remorse, and I still feel bad for him.)

Getting on base was satisfying, but I really wanted to see how far I could hit the ball - or if I could even hit it at all. My second at-bat would tell the tale.

Crack! A solid hit that pounded the ball between second and third. I launched myself toward first base!

Sadly, I was tagged out at first. My third at bat was an anticlimax; I struck out cleanly.

Tomorrow night we'll play for real for the first time. Practice was a lot of fun; I imagine the real thing will be even more satisfying, win or lose. Once in a while, it's good to use my body for something other than carrying my brain around. I'm sore all over, but it's a righteous pain, well-earned. I'm grateful that Tanara took the initiative to organize our team.

Here are a couple more shots of our other team members in action:

Team Captain Tanara McLean at third base, just before scoring a run.

Lisa Bowers not only brought all the balls, bats and bases, she's also a very good pitcher (I was the only player she hit) and batter. We will be unstoppable!

Rick Miller smacks a triple! I think it was a triple. He's my boss, so let's say it's a triple.

OUCH! Kim Dewar is struck by a flung ball at home plate! You can see the mark it left on her left upper thigh. The ball is just about to fall out of frame. Dramatic action in the closing moments of the game!