I am sure that Oprah's life is cool and all, and she gets to go to lots of places as a VIP.Today though it was my turn.  I was a VIP at a celebration in Ilderton, Ontario for Olympic Champions Tessa Virtue and hometown hero Scott Moir.  It was a remarkable afternoon and evening.

Ilderton is a village not far from London, Ontario and boasts a population of about 1,400, and the celebration included a parade on the main drag, a presentation in the arena and then a community celebration on the fairgrounds.   I was told that there was not a business in this small town that had not participated in some way by either donating money, services or time. 

Sadly I missed the parade but was delighted to be part of the packed house on hand in the arena for the special presentations.

What made them special was the "love in the room".  There wasn't anyone who had been a part of their journey who wasn't acknowledged.  Coaches Paul MacIntosh, Suzanne Killing, Becky Babb and John Briscoe were singled out as the ones who gave this team their foundation.  Marina Zueva and Igor Shpillband along with Jonny Johns were given credit as the ones who had brought them to Olympic greatness. 

All around me, stories of a young Tessa and Scott and "where were you when you first saw them?". Valerie Jones Bartlett, herself a Canadian champion remembers being the technical director for the Western Ontario Section and coming to see them for the first time.  Paul MacIntosh asked them to perform their number and when they finished she recalls with a laugh Scott saying: "Mr Mac, there was a beat in there that I didn't use."   I reminisced with biggest brother Danny that I saw Tessa and Scott for the first time in Ilderton when I was there with Ice Nightmare for a show about 11 years ago.  I remember  watching them through the curtain and saying to Danny that as much as I thought he was a great dancer, baby brother Scott was going to be nipping at his heels pretty soon.  Even then their talent was huge.

Family, friends and Skate Canada were acknowledged but the night  really belonged to the people of Ilderton. 

So many groups that had played a part in the Tessa and Scott story were represented: from Scott's school - The Oxbow Public School choir, dressed in red t-shirts that said "Oxbow Believed" with the Olympic rings and 2010 on them, sang O Canada as well as the Olympic song Believe.   Scott's grandfather made a presentation to the two as part of the Canadian Legion - it was very touching. There were the young winners from the town's Olympic poster contest who were called up and got their picture taken with the Champions. The four parents: Alma and Joe Moir and Kate and Jim Virtue got up and the dads had the chance to speak.  I had to laugh when Jim said that 15 years ago the Virtue girls, Jordan and Tessa were going to skate in Ilderton over the summer as a break from gymnastics. He said it was for fun. "They weren't going to compete" Jim said with a chuckle.  That didn't last long.

Everywhere you looked you could see the pride on people's faces and through it all Tessa and Scott smiled and were gracious and humble.  It was a personal celebration in very different ways for all concerned with everyone getting to relive the moment  they knew these two had become Olympic champions.  Seeing their performances on 2 large screens was a great way to relive Vancouver. Spontaneously, the crowd was on its' feet cheering the replay of the free dance and singing O Canada along with Scott and Tessa on the podium.  Some moments never get old.

It felt like an occasion from a bygone era in the nicest possible way. An era where families stuck together and neighbours were there to help. 

Oprah - you missed a great party!

Lats night, I was the PA announcer at BMO Field in Toronto for the final game of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship.  The game was between Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

As the winning team, Toronto FC gets to go on an compete in the Champions League Series of CONCACAF.  I know we are supposed to be on top of the "whole soccer thing" with the impending FIFA World Cup taking centre stage in South Africa starting next week.  The truth of the matter is, distracted as usual, I don't really have all of my soccer tools lined up in my head and will wait for CBC's Brenda Irving to get to South Africa and stat de-mystifying it for me (and lots of you!)

Here's the deal - I am thrilled to be able to announce soccer in Toronto from time to time, having cut my "announcing" teeth at the FIFA U-20 Men's World Cup, but there are aspects that I still find mysterious.

For instance:  Why do the goal keepers have to wear different outfits from the rest of the guys?  It wouldn't be so bad if they had at least one colour that at least matched their team mates uniforms.  I find it confusing.

I also want to know if they have to get the giant-sized gloves, necessary for catching the ball, at an "Athletic, Long and Lean but with HUGE Hands" men's store?

I have to admit, coming from a solo sport like figure skating is a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to observing team sports.  In Soccer, everybody is "picking up the ball" (er...kicking the ball) for the common good.  They are relying on each other to do something in tandem that furthers their objective of scoring a goal.

Even in figure skating's team discipline, Synchro Skating, you would never hear them yelling at each other: "Helen, you go and do the twizzles."  After which Helen says: "Melody and Francine, break out in Ina Bauers while we re-group for the Open Block."  Even in Synchronised Skating, the skaters are keeping their sights on their own work, and on doing the same things together and at the same time.

Regardless of the team sport - the goal is the same - to win.

What I will say is the soccer fans in Toronto rock!  I am not sure we would get any figure skating fans in today's day and age, coming to the rink in the pouring rain to watch a competition.  First of all, for some (like my Mom's friends) their knitting would get wet .The fans at BMO Field, to my complete astonishment, showed up in droves -all 15,176 of them!  Now that I think of it.  The fact that beer is for sale during Soccer games might have played a small part in the tenacity of the fans. Hmmm. I wonder.

The other thing that I find a little intimidating is that the fans all seem to know the "songs" and accompanying choreography.  There are so many times during a game where these random groups erupt in music and dance. (Ok - not dance exactly - more like rhythmic shuffling - but still - A+ for effort.)  Where do they learn that stuff?  How did I miss it?  Is it too late for me?  It does look like a lot of fun.

Maybe I will start my own skating songs?  "If you're happy and you're jumping clap you hands" as a start. Or...how about ..."Twinkle, twinkle, little sit spin"?  I know.  it needs work.

My book got finished TODAY!  Just in time.  Starting next week, I will be watching soccer on TV and, privately, start to try and learn some "songs"

My son says Spain is going to win.

I have been spending the better part of this weekend at the Skate Canada Annual general meeting in Toronto promoting my book and generally hanging around.

It has been a great chance to see old friends and make some new ones and along the way get the chance to unearth some very interesting stories.

Take Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir who were on hand as part of the athletes' delegation. In a video created for this event, we got the chance to re-live the tail end of their Olympic Free dance and Scott can be seen saying "thank you very much" as he cradled Tessa in the closing moments of their final pose.  I asked him last night who he was thanking he said: "I was thanking Tessa and the "Big Guy" upstairs." So like Scott; to be unassuming, grateful and cognisant of the fact that although it was 'his" moment, he didn't get there alone.

I also had the chance to have a chat with one of two women who run a company called Carrot Creative - an event company that comes up with themes and decor for corporate events. Tracy and Annette are business partners and are great fun to be around, and in a slow moment, I spoke with Annette about the red streak she had in her hair and whether it was a dye job or hair clip.  She filled me in on the story.  Her 26 year old niece, Eva Markvoort, passed away in March of cystic fibrosis.  She had had a double lung transplant about two years ago and had started to suffer organ rejection about six months ago.  She was on the list for new lungs but time ran out.

Annette told me about the sparkling presence of this young woman and about the many projects in which she was involved in her too short life.  If you get the chance, go to 65redroses.livejournal.com and you can read about Eva's thoughts on living with cystic fibrosis or google Eva Markvoort. She talks about dying her hair red so that she will never "be lost in the shadows."

After she died, Annette and her daughters attended a "life celebration" in Vancouver for Eva and they were all dressed in red.  Annette and her girls were resplendent in red wigs, red tutus and red bodysuits in honour of Eva. It was a powerful and moving tribute to this young woman to have the celebration attended by 1,200 people.

You get the sense of the gratitude that Eva inspired in other people.  Gratitude for the time that she had, the gratitude that was felt by all who knew her and the gratitude that she felt if even one person checked out her website and made the decision to consider organ donation.

In both stories, a subtle reminder that we need to try and remember "it's not all about me."

I was at a book launch last night - kind of a cool thing to be doing on a balmy Thursday evening in Toronto.

It was for Fraser Sutherland's latest book (his 14th!) called "The Philosophy of as If".  It was a poetry book. Settle down. I can hear you giggling from there. Pj at a poetry launch/reading??!!  I would have thought the same thing but it really was quite wonderful. In the same way that going for a "local" dinner in a foreign country can be a once in a lifetime experience.  Although you don't really understand what's going on - if you can find a way to "just go with it" you can have a great time.  Just make eye contact with "the locals", smile a lot and murmur "thank you" and touch your heart a lot to show your sincerity. One warning, you have to make sure to not ask too many questions . Invariably, when you ask a question, someone is going to answer it and that can only lead to trouble. What I mean by that is that every group/nationality/family or even club has its' own traditions and language and it seems normal to them.  If you are not in your own world, other people's languages and customs can seem a little strange.  That goes double for situations where you share a language in common, or at least you think you do, but not traditions.

I was trying to go for something pseudo-intellectual looking in my outfit  so I would "blend".  I could not have been further off the mark.  There were women in "smart" outfits (my grandmother's word) and women in "eco-chic" outfits and women who were just plain chic.  I am sure the women in the room were saying what is that perspiring woman doing wearing a turtleneck in May? Sigh. I even tried to go for that casual unaffected "toss my hair into a chignon with a comb" look only to have two great big hanks of limp hair fall out on either side of my face. Sigh.  I am not going to even comment about the horror of being at the front of the room, seated beside the author and not being able to refresh my lip gloss - I have small lips - and I am not sure without it you could even be sure I was speaking and I was the MC!

I did my best to not offend.  I tried to pretend I don't watch TV. I had my friend Paul give me names of serious authors so when I was asked what I was reading, I was going to be able to say something other than Jackie Collins, Jilly Cooper and People magazine.  When someone used a word I didn't know or made reference to a "serious work" I nodded and went to my default "Ah!" or occasionall "mmmhm." (For the record - they work in any language and any country - have used them all over the place!)

As much as I considered last night an adventure and the chance to be in a different place with different people - which was fun for me - I often wonder about people landing in my skating world for the first time.  How strange it must be to land in the midst of mostly diminutive, powerful, athletic young people moving around backstage together like a bunch of rare, exotic and beautiful birds.  A normal view from the window in my world.

It has been a busy weekend for me.  My mother and I were guests at the Stars on Ice Show in Toronto on Friday night which was outstanding. On Saturday, my daughter Caroline took me out for a birthday dinner and to see a concert by her favourite band.  My problem is that I know she has two favourote bands:  Great Big Sea and Barenaked Ladies and because I couldn't remember which one it was I referred to the show as either the Great Big Naked Ladies or the Bare Naked Sea...in any event...turns out it was Barenaked Ladies - a new and revamped version - kind of like Stars on Ice; also new and re-vamped this year.

Let's go through all the things that the two shows shared in common: Both shows were in hockey arenas.  Both featured OUTSTANDING Canadian talent. Both shows had lots of pink-ish lighting. Both sets of performers seemed to have practiced a lot. Both casts featured an adorable, personable and yet follicly-challenged man (Kurt in SOI and Tyler in BNL).  Both shows featured solo performances which were a great way for everyone else to take a break. Both shows had their fair share of audience members talking, standing up and sitting down all over the place during the performance. Honestly,  does no one know how to hold on til the end for a pee break any longer? Two people, one sorta thuggy looking  guy and his moll, insisted on arriving to their seats and disturbing me during the final number in the first half of the SOI show...Madonna for heaven's sake was the thread tying the number together...is there nothing sacred any longer?? Just know it caused me to have to unleash my very best "Meryl Streep as the disapproving Nun in Doubt" glare at said offenders. 

When it was all said and done though, both  shows had very happy fans (myself included) leaving the rink at the end of the evening.

So where do they differ? In some very key areas:

First of all at the beginning of the BNL show there was a guy dressed in black playing the tambourine - just some random dude - and then after a bit he was gone.  I am pretty sure in the SOI experience, we didn't misplace any performers.  SOI was full of interesting choreography AND music but  BNL's choreography was restricted to some of the musicians jumping up and down. As with the misguided concept of "leggings as pants",  said "choreography" doesn't really count.  BNL had roadies come out and re-tool everything for the guys after the opening act and SOI only had a zamboni.

There didn't appear to be any real chance of falling during the solos for BNL which of course reduced the number of possible bruises/injuries for the guys. I am thinking that from my vantage point on the outside:  music looks like more fun to do in performance and skating looks like more fun to watch.

The biggest difference?  The sequin count.

A spilt decision on 2 great shows.