"We live in a world in which we need to share responsibility. It's easy to say "It's not my child, not my community, not my world, not my problem." Then there are those who see the need and respond. I consider those people my heroes."
—Fred Rogers
Note:"Everyone who stops here to read this BLOG Post is obviously interested in Trevor. You are my heroes. Join us. Become involved!"
__Michael Manning
Our wish list:
Musical artists & bands: You must be professional & willing to perform free.
You Must Handle Transportation To and From the Event.
We Need a Venue for the Concert.
Stage, Lighting and Sound is Also Required.
All Admission & Donation Monies at the Event Will Benefit Trevor's Fund.
Once We Have This Assembled, We'll Have a Date for the Show.
What the venue/sponsor receives from us:
Inclusion in All Print Materials with Camera-Ready Logos.
Inclusion in Any Newspaper Articles & on My BLOG Site.
Guest on My Web Feature "THE INTERVIEW".
Mentions Wherever Possible on Radio & Television Appearances.
Helping Trevor Tredaway Beat Cancer.
Peace of Mind: "Being the Difference that Makes the Difference".
Email me at: michaelmanninginfo@gmail.com.
Serious Inquiries Only, Please!
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Trevor Tredaway Fund Citizens Federal Credit Union P.O.Box 51070 Midland, TX 79710 - 17,628 PEOPLE STOPPED HERE IN JULY, 2009
THANKS FOR CARING!
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P.S. : I have visited all of your sites and it was Joy, as always, to catch up with you!
MIDLAND REPORTER TELEGRAM NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ON TREVOR TREDAWAY!
Trevor Tredaway, age 4 with sister Morgan, age 2 - This article ran in The Midland Reporter Telegram newspaperon July 27, 2009. Our Wish Listis located on my NEWS Page. We are going to make "A Concert for Trevor" a reality! www.michaelmanning.tv -
Midland boy resilient against brain tumor, treatments
by Kathleen Thurber Midland Reporter-Telegram
Published: Monday, July 27, 2009 1:12 AM CDT
For 4-year-old Trevor Tredaway, every face is a friendly one.
Whether it's strangers in airports or doctors helping him through his latest round of chemotherapy treatments, the Midland boy's parents said he's yet to meet someone he didn't want to turn into a friend.
"All I can say is he's nothing but love," said his mom Melinda Tredaway. "He is just sweet and loves everybody. He has never met a stranger ever, which is scary at times."
On their recent trip home from his latest Magnetic Resonance Imaging scan in Memphis, he serenaded a group of passers-by as they waited for their plane by singing his favorite country star's most recent hit, "Big Green Tractor."
"He's come through two brain surgeries and he's just so resilient," Tredaway said. "It's harder on us, I think."
Waiting
Heading to the lake this weekend for their first break for family fun since Trevor's MRI, the Tredaways said they're essentially playing the waiting game.
Results of his scan showed the remnants of a tumor removed from his brain in November of 2008 have grown less than 25 percent, which doctors classify as stable, Melinda Tredaway said.
So until his next MRI in September, the family is working to enjoy each day, still uncertain about his future, but grateful he's able to play like any other 4-year-old after his previous treatments left him sick and in pain.
The uncertainty is something with which the Tredaways have become familiar, as they've gone through the process of learning of their son's diagnosis and trying to figure out how to slow the tumor's growth since it was first found in January of 2008.
"Some of the doctors have said he was probably born with it and it was slow growing," Melinda Tredaway said of the brain cancer. "Nobody really has any indication as to why."
The first signs something might be wrong came in October of 2007, when Trevor would cease playing, walk up to his mom and complain his mouth hurt before staring off into space.
After a visit to the pediatrician they were told he likely was suffering from seizures, but were sent to have an MRI test completed just in case.
Looking at their then 2-year-old boy who'd been born healthy and never had any issues, the Tredaways were shocked when they were informed the scan had found a mass on their son's brain. Doctors classified it as an infiltrating astrocytoma and told the family it was inoperable. Trevor also had two tumors on his spine.
Still, they were told it was something they could fight and Trevor started chemotherapy in February, immediately becoming sick because of the treatments and not really yielding any positive results.
So after about three months, Melinda and Todd Tredaway opted for alternative treatment and after research took their son to Scottsdale, Ariz. in hopes of finding a method to shrink the tumor and receiving support of friends and colleagues back home who helped pay for the treatments.
When they tested the effectiveness of the new regiment, though, the Tredaways again saw his tumor had not decreased in size.
By September of 2008, his tumor had grown 5 to 10 percent and doctors again recommended chemotherapy. But, wanting to avoid having to take away any quality of life their son still had by submitting him to the treatments, the family called St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
With the increase of the tumor, Trevor had begun having seizures multiple times a day so while St. Jude staff had thought they could admit him, they were concerned about sending him through a trial in his state.
Instead, they referred the family to a nearby Tennessee hospital to control the seizures.
When doctors looked at Trevor, they told the Tredaways they weren't sure they could eliminate the seizures, but that they'd be able to remove the tumor his parents had been told for so long was inoperable.
They were able to take out 90 to 95 percent of Trevor's brain tumor.
Hope
Trevor's returned for regular MRIs -- including one that showed his disease had progressed -- and has since started chemotherapy treatments at Midland Memorial Hospital every Tuesday, Melinda Tredaway said.
His seizures have stopped and the chemo has yet to make him sick as it did during the last round. His hair has even grown back thickly and Melinda said she has trouble getting him to settle down and come inside, a problem she's just grateful to experience.
"The seizures ... he would throw up , he would lose his bladder, he would drool, collapse and just want to sleep," Melinda Tredaway said. "His quality of life is 100 percent better since the seizures have stopped."
Through their medical journey, she said, they've gained friends with children going through similar circumstances and others who've simply taken an interest in their son and in the fight to make people more aware of the research needed for childhood cancer.
One such friend, Arizona broadcast journalist and musician Michael Manning, has taken up Trevor's cause and is working to plan a Midland fundraiser to help the Tredaways cover medical expenses that have not been covered by insurance during the past few years.
"He wants to meet you and invite you to play with his toys," said Manning. "He's quite a little guy. He's really touched my heart."
Manning, who said he was drawn to the Tredaways in part because of their humility and resistance to being put in the spotlight, is working to organize a benefit concert for Trevor in hopes that locals will join his cause whether that be praying for the child or donating to his treatment costs.
"He has a shot," Manning said of Trevor. "He's made enormous strides."
And while the uncertainty about his future health certainly takes its toll on the family, they said between his weekly treatments Trevor is simply enjoying being a kid -- which is exactly what they want him to continue doing.
"You have to count your blessings," Melinda Tredaway said.
Yesterday afternoon, I was interviewed for an upcoming story in The Midland Reporter-Telegram newspaper about "A Concert for Trevor". If you are new to my BLOG Page, I have written extensively about Trevor Tredaway--a delightful 4 year-old boy who has been battling brain cancer for the past couple of years. Trevor is unforgettable. If you met him, your heart would be filled with Love and Laughter! He is a happy boy who sincerely enjoys meeting people and making new friends.
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Last summer, Trevor spent 8 weeks here in the Scottsdale, Arizona area receiving cancer treatment. Last November 10th, we had a miracle. Surgeons at St. Jude Hospital in Memphis evacuated 95% of Trevor's tumor. However, Trevor still has a long road ahead of him. Two spinal cord tumors and two small cancerous tumors in his brain are being addressed by skillful physicians whose aim is to make Trevor cancer-free.
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My goal is to mobilize the good people of Midland, Texas to help me assemble a fun night of music to raise funds for Trevor's medical expenses. Cancer treatment in America is very expensive. I know this little boy. I've held him and spent hours with his parents and grandparents. This family means so much to me.
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In recent months, I've been privileged to be a member of a team consisting of Marshall Terrill and Bob Caccamo. We have worked--to the best of our individual abilities--to reach out to Trevor from Arizona. When it became apparent to us that a Scottsdale-based fundraiser for Trevor was not feasible, our focus shifted to Midland, Texas where Trevor resides. Direct community involvement on a "grass roots" level in Midland will provide us with the best possible chance of organizing and executing a successful musical concert where local media sources can assist us with a "call to action". Fed Ex Office & Print Centers has agreed to help us design and produce posters once we have a date, a venue and the artists firmed up. Our objectives are: a.) to increase awareness of children with cancer; b.) to raise funds for Trevor's medical expenses and: c.) to achieve these objectives with a fun and unforgettable musical concert event that the people of Midland will enjoy!
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We know that we are living in tough economic times. But we also know that each of us needs an emotional relief from our worries and concerns---for at least one night of fun and music to lift our spirits. Music has the power to help us transcend our worries with a perspective of Hope.
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In Midland, Texas today, perhaps someone is reading this BLOG. They may be a musician in a band or a solo artist, an Event Planner, a restaurant owner or a Philanthropist who is moved to become "involved". Whoever you are and whatever you do I say: Join us! E-mail me at: michaelmanninginfo@GMail.com. Together, we can create an evening of FUN and MUSIC! The cover charge for admission will directly benefit Trevor's medical expenses. When we do this, you will witness something truly extraordinary. Each of us coming together to make a memory and a miracle. It is the very best way I know to help Trevor. More updates will follow. Meanwhile, stop by Trevors website at: http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/trevortredaway. A special bank account has been established for Trevor's ongoing medical treatment to be well. No denomination that is donated is "too small" (or too large either). Here it is:
Trevor Tredaway Fund Citizens Federal Credit Union P.O.Box 51070 Midland, TX 79710
Note from Michael: This is the busiest part of summer for me. Two book manuscripts are being revised and it is a forgone conclusion that this process will continue well into 2010. Outside of some future magazine stories, I am reducing my work load as much as possible to enjoy the season. We are continuing some technical work on updating my full website through late tomorrow. Today's BLOG (believe it or not) was originally going to be a funny story about Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. However, the puppy post became a priority (no hard feelings, Silvio). In fact, I laughed until my sides hurt, and then at the last minute I felt it was best to hold off on the drama being played out in Italy until I have more time to think it over. I will say this: Silvio himself is laughing! So, we'll see. Either way, have a nice weekend!
Forty years ago today, I was a little kid visiting my Grandmother, Aunt and Uncle in Royal Oak, Michigan. That night, we sat in front of the television set in my Grandmother's small home and listened to Walter Cronkite's coverage of man's first Moon landing! I was seated on the floor. President Kennedy's dream of placing an American on the Moon before the end of the 1960's was realized! Few events have held as much positive impact for America than what we experienced as a nation on July 20, 1969. A number of articles have been making their way through the newspapers over the past week asking what our "next step" in space might be.
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Years later, as a high school freshman, my Science class teacher told us that every 24-hours there is enough scientific research compiled to fill every square inch of our 30 seat classroom from the floor to the ceiling with stacks of two-sided single-spaced typed paper. We were in awe at his statement! This new information will advance us forward, he said, gradually until cures for diseases are discovered. With the same wide-eyed idealism of my youth, today I still believe this amazing fact will only be accelerated by the constructive focus of projects undertaken inside our International Space Station. We also require the design of a safer and better engineered rocket ship and propulsion system to replace our outdated Space Shuttle's. A Salute to the Crew of Apollo 11!
THE INTERVIEW: CONNIE DOUGLAS & SHNNOOGLE! (PART 4 OF 4)
Concluding my visit with the amazing Connie Douglas!
...and Shnnoogle!
Today Connie and I wrap up our amazing visit. She shares with us her very personal commitment from the heart about "the Shnnoogle in each of us" and what we can do to make the world a better place, one act of kindness at a time. It will leave you with an unforgettable emotional impression about what each of us can do to improve our world, beginning within ourselves and our communities. Here's where we ended up:
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Manning: How do you like to work? Do you have 'a backup plan for another backup plan' strategically-speaking?
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Douglas: Right now, I'm just seeing what happens with the hospital. I'm trying to get a feel for: 'What are kids responding to? Where are they getting their energy out of this story?' They obviously were really liking the power cards and, of course I made Shnoogle cookies too.
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Manning: Again, just for the benefit of my readers, this is the Oncology Department where you are working to make a positive difference in the lives of the patients on the ward.
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Douglas: Yes.
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Manning: Is your primary focus on children with cancer?
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Douglas: That's just where I started. It could be any children; it doesn't have to be sick children. It just happens to be that I have an opportunity there because that's where I started when I created Shnnoogle. The hospital knows who I am and it's going to let me enter into their space and share this with those children. I could also see going to local schools and reading to them and talking to them and giving them Shnnoogle cards and getting them to talk about it the next day. I may do that in the Fall. I just believe that if I keep trying and if I keep doing, it will find its way to grow. People will respond to it.
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Manning: Shnnoogle is so new. But are people receptive to it from the children to adults that are in a position to help further it along?
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Douglas: Yes! All of the people at the hospital and some of the parents who saw it are very supportive of this.
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Manning: What joint ventures, if any, do you see as possibilities for others to align themselves with the direction of your work?
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Douglas: I could see Shnoogle going to television--not only teaching children the basic A, B, C's and Math and how to spell. It's teaching them something bigger in life and that's how to get along, how to interact, how to be human, how to be compassionate and better as people as we grow older and not just statistics. It helps us relate to relationships in our future whether it be our husbands, or wives, our brothers or sisters, people of different cultures. That's the light. That's the Shnnoogle in all of us. Of course writing books, interactive games children could play, especially with Krudgel, and who is winning and what are the conflicts. There's a lot of potential. There's Pixar animation. Children who are without their sight could learn with braille or CD's where they could hear the story. Eventually, Shnnoogle puppets could be made where you could touch it and feel it. Shnnoogle is just feeling loved and loving in return. We all do it and are more capable of doing it everyday. The more conscious we are of it, the more we act on it and the world will be a better place.
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Manning: I always ask my Guests if they have any final thoughts they care to leave the reader with?
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Douglas: Just that Shnnoogle is about the light inside of all of us and our capacity to love. There's so much negative stuff going on in the world. But there's also a lot of positive things going on in the world. It's not all beyond our reach. We don't have to count on the government to save us, or for another source to make it better. Because we're all capable. If we all took responsibility for sharing and being kind and loving to our neighbors, to our family, to our friends, we could all be our own heroes to the world. There wouldn't be a need for some big conglomerate or for the government to save us. We're all capable.
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Manning: How are you doing physically?
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Douglas: The MS? I'm feeling pretty good. Sometimes when I get overly fatigued or stressed, I can feel some of my symptoms pick up. So, I'm conscious. It's always a constant reminder for me. You just never know when you're going to be incapacitated or incapable and it just makes me think and appreciate every moment and to work even harder to get Shnnoogle off the ground. Because I don't know if I might wake up one day, and I can't paint again or will have a hard time speaking? So all of this stuff I have inside of me that I want to share, I don't want it to stay locked up inside of me. I would like to be able to get it out there.
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Manning: If somebody is reading this interview right now, and wants to see the project and help you make something happen, how can they become involved?
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Douglas: They can go to the website (http://www.shnnoogletales.com) because everybody has a Shnnoogle story to write in and tell about. Something wonderful somebody has done for another person. We need to become conscious of those things we take for granted.
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Manning: Your website is up and part of it is still evolving.
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Douglas: Yes, we are looking at a number of new ideas. For example, a Shnnoogle Award for some amazing story of good-heartedness that somebody shares with us. People love doing good things! They love being touched by hearing somebody do something nice. You yourself heard about my story and took an interest! We're all just people, no matter where you are. We're setting up a page on the website to send Shnnoogle stories too. But people can write to me on the website.
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(My Thanks to Connie Douglas for making our visit possible).
THE INTERVIEW: CONNIE DOUGLAS & SHNNOOGLE (PART 3 OF 4)
Manning: What would bring you the greatest happiness and fulfillment as an artist with this project?
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Douglas: I would love to see it reach children around the world. I would love to see children identify with Shnnoogle as a positive...you know, there's so much negative going on in the world today. We have to get back in touch with the positive that's inside of all of us and empower a positive movement in society and in children because they are part of our future.
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Manning: Well, Connie you've had a varied career as an artist that continues to flourish. It's quite exciting. I know you're a young mother of two boys, and certainly your focus is compassionately reaching out to children and leaving them with a message of hope. In your view, what are the challenges facing children in today's fast-paced society?
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Douglas: I think there's a lot of lacking of human contact, even with children and their parents. Everybody is just so pushed and rushed to work. There is no stopping and slowing down to really feel what the important things are rushing through life. What inspired me about my friend's son is that the family was very present in the moment in hearing and listening to one another an d not just burying themselves in Ipods and music and faces glued to computers. It's like we have no human contact with touching and feeling and being conscious. We need to love and we need to be loved and we need to do good things with and for one another and not losing touch with each other.
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Manning: With the publishing world being distressed, you've really selected an interesting new platform with Phoenix Children's Hospital to put down roots. That was not your original plan. But how is that coming along?
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Douglas: That's a new experience for me. I found myself getting sad and somewhat depressed over the idea that nothing was happening with the publishing houses and that I was counting on somebody else to help get Shnnoogle out there to make a difference. And I just thought, 'Well, all I can do is what I can do as an individual person'. I started with it in the hospital and I can go to the hospital and I can read the story to the children in the hospital there to some of the children who get stuck there on the wards who don't get out and so forth. I can share with them the thought or the idea of Shnnoogle and share Shnnoogle cards with them and people get excited about that! 'Ooh, what is that Shnnoogle power? and Ooh, what's my Shnnoogle power and Oh, to be loving or giving or forgiving and it was fun to see that they did that.
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Manning: Since this is a BLOG site and not television, Connie, please explain the Shnnoogle Power Cards and what this concept is that you've introduced to the kids.
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Douglas: The Shnnoogle power cards is almost like a Fortune Cookie. Some people will think of this as Angel Cards that some of the shops sell. On the back of these cards are positive attributes of a human being. Love and Kindness, Bravery, Joyfulness, Inspiration, Inspiring, Kind, Fun--it's the different positive things we're all capable of. I've arranged all of the words in English and in Spanish on the backs. I've got an array of different positive attributes. So, it could be being Compassionate...
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Manning: ...And if for example, I was a child who picked up a card that said 'Brave', what would I have to do? Would I be given an assignment or how does this work?
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Douglas:Unfortunately at the hospital, if I go back the following day, I might not see the same children. What I would like to see done is at the school room at the hospital is for children to pick up a card and then take it for twenty-four hours to be Compassionate, or to be Thankful, or to be Extra Loving or to be Kind and then come back the next day and talk about the previous twenty-four hours of extending yourself and how did this affect your life?
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Manning: What age range are we talking about with the children and the Shnnoogle Power Cards?
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Douglas: They could be anywhere from 3 or 4 to 11. It's something I've just started at the hospital, so this is a learning curve for me too. When they pick a card, I'll ask them: 'What did you get? Do you know what that means? Go and do that. See if you can do that for a day and see how it affects your day'.
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Manning: So here I am interviewing you right after you've had your first dry run--so to speak. How was it?
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Douglas: A little nerve wracking, actually! (laughter). It was positive. The kids got into the story. They wanted to know what happened to the Baby Bunny and they really liked the Shnnoogle cards. Scott is my assistant on this project and he had a Shnnoogle blanket made for me, so we put the Shnnoogle blanket down. It's a five foot by seven foot blanket he made for me. So, we put the Shnnoogle blanket down and we told the kids: 'Okay, come sit around the Shnnoogle blanket, the Magic Shnnoogle blanket' and they all got excited and sat around the edge. First, I ask the kids if they've ever seen a Shnnoogle or if they know what a Shnnoogle is?' One kid said 'Yes!' And I said, 'Well, you probably all have it, you just don't know it'. I talk to them a little bit about Krudgel, the opposite of a Shnnoogle. He's the fear and doubt side of us who makes us horrid or selfish or mean to one another.
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Manning: This is so timely. I've been blogging to my readers about the fact that everything in the world is fast, it's frenetic, nobody has time for anyone or anything.
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Douglas: Right. It's like an illness.
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Manning: It is! That's exactly how I see it--an illness! You know, one of the pet peeves I wrote a newspaper Op/Ed article about concerns people who don't bother to return phone calls. I am by my own admission a sensitive person. I return calls. I do write follow up notes. I will send a card in long hand. But that's really becoming a lost art. How do you balance your work with the need to remain physically healthy as well? It seems to me a wonderful tonic to make you feel better and for being just genuinely positive. And children are perceptive about if you are genuine and who you are...
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Douglas: ...Whether you are shallow...
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Manning: ...How do you keep your batteries charged?
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Douglas: It's interesting, because I find the more I do it, the more that I am positive and friendly with somebody in the grocery store or the person bagging my groceries. Earlier today, I was out buying sugared Ginger and I asked my woman checking my groceries, 'Have you ever tried this?' She said, 'No, but I've always wanted to.' So, I said 'Here. Have one!' Some people may think that I'm a little bit strange possibly, but I find that the more I reach out and the more that I do something kind, it feels good and it brings out the kindness in others and that's nice to see.
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Manning: But if that isn't forthcoming, how do you handle it? I guess you just have to not own it?
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Douglas: Yeah, I can't do something with the expectation that some body's going to do something back for me. It's kind of like the movie Pay It Forward. Maybe it doesn't come back to me personally from that person. But maybe I've fractured a shell, maybe a hair line fracture and it's got to start somewhere? The that fracture can grow a little bit bigger and maybe somewhere down the road they may do something kind for somebody else.
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Manning: How do you handle set-backs? And I ask that because trying to get books published is lengthy and it's expensive, it's demanding it's draining. You wait and wait. There's a lot of rejection. How do you handle it?
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Douglas: I just believe in what I'm doing so much. I just believe that it's needed out there. The world needs more positive reinforcement and I look at Shnnoogle and anybody who see'sShnnoogle just thinks, 'Oh, my God!' They fall in love with him and they want a stuffed Shnnoogle. It feels good and I see that and I think, 'People are all the same whether it's you in a broadcasting booth or playing guitar, or a child I'm reading a story to, or brokers or clients and so on and everybody gets happy over this. They're no different'. Publishers are no different. People working in publishing houses...we're all just human beings. We all have children. We all see the hard that are going on right now and the lack of compassion and how caught up the world is and people want to be back in touch with what matters because there's an emptiness. There's something missing. Our humanity and our society has been pushed aside, and driven over top of and it's who we are as people that makes us human. I've often thought, 'If Oprah (Winfrey) would just look at this!' Oprah is just another human being like you or me. She's just in a position where people will look at her and if she got behind something it would take off. It's her position where she's at. But she's no different than you or I.
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Connie concludes her amazing visit with me tomorrow!
THE INTERVIEW: CONNIE DOUGLAS & SHNNOOGLE! (PART 2 OF 4)
Connie & Obvious Shnnoogle Fan!
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Book 1 in the series: Feeling Your Shnnoogle!
Connie's Second Book...
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Douglas: Angie is the character. I darkened her hair because I thought more people of different cultures would be able to relate to than the perfect little blond girl. I changed my canvases and the more I worked on my canvases, the better my health got. I mean daily, weekly, I was consistently getting better. The stronger I got the more direction I got. By the time they did the spinal tap on me, I was feeling pretty darned good and that was about a month or two into it (the diagnosis). The spinal tap set me back and really sort of set my symptoms off worse.
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Manning: Very invasive...
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Douglas: Yeah, it was very invasive. Anyway, Shnnoogle wasn't originally part of the package--the little character Shnnoogle. All I knew was that I was writing a story about people helping one another, thinking of how the Nurse, the Mother Bunny in the story is very much like parents who must come to the hospital just feeling devastated--'I can't help my child, I just can't fix this. I need help'. And then one by one, different people come in and play their part. Everybody shares their Shnnoogle or their light through love and helps out. Together they are able to accomplish something that one person cannot. When I finished the canvasses and the story I thought, 'What is this about? What can I name this? What can I call this?' And I thought, 'There isn't a single word that puts that into perspective'. I had just finished reading the Harry Potter series. She makes her own words. That moment, my dog jumped on the bed and I said "Mocha must want her morning Shnnoogles". There it was....
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Manning: ...Ah, the breakthrough where it all begins to come together!...
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Douglas:...because it was loving and hugging and attention, affection and self worth--that's really what it is!
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Manning: Self esteem! Very powerful! And I think a very loving tale you just shared.
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Douglas: That's where the word 'Shnnoogle' came from and I knew that 'Shnnoogle' was our light side--the positive part in all of us that we really need to share to be compassionate and have empathy. Then I thought, 'How can I illustrate the light?' I started seeing this little character. This is originally my first Shnnoogle drawing (shows me her artist rendering of a small white character). And then from there Shnnoogle gains size and so on...
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Manning: Okay, so originally there was just the girl and her name is...
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Douglas:...Angie.
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Manning:...and she's the girl with the eyeglasses and the hair. How did she come about? Was the character of "Angie" inspired by somebody you saw or knew?
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Douglas: Well, originally, as I said, she was a little blond girl and I had taken the basic idea of a little blond girl from a another story I had done with another friend of mine. Angie probably came about because of me! She has a scarf in her hair as I often wear, and I wear glasses to read and then I painted the brace on her leg--largely the one I had when I was affected by the MS, I had a lot of weakness in one leg and I couldn't walk a straight line without holding onto somebody to keep me guided. So, I think when people say, 'You know, Angie looks like you', she probably is!
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Manning: Ha! (laughing) I never made that connection until this second! Just glancing down now at your book, I do see what you are saying. (mutual laughter) She's looks like a fun-loving character, and I can see now how the "Shnnoogle Squad" really came together. What was the single driving influence in your life as a kid and later as an adult?
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Douglas:I would say that my father was a driving influence. He was a really good man. He was a really good person who used to philosophize to all of us kids. Sometimes, we would stay up late talking at night about the bigger picture--about caring for others, doing things, about how a truly selfless person is someone who would do good things for other people, because when you do good things for other people, you're also helping yourself. But I think I was a sensitive kid from the time I was little. I was the one who was always saving ants drowning in the bath tub (laughter). My cat would catch a lizard and bite off his tail and I would be the one to get a band aid and tape it back on.
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Manning: Were you drawing as a kid, always?
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Douglas: Yes. I loved to draw from the time I was young and I used to create little critters like this butterfly and spiders with top hats and shoes. I loved to draw animals and I would also draw children on swings, children running around trees. And I love to draw horses and animals. By the time I reached high school, the Art teacher saw that I had talent and they shipped me off to a specific school--a composite high school (similar to American trade or vocational schools) for half-days in grades 11 and 12. That's really where it began for me.
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Manning: I know all too well as a media person just how difficult both the media and publishing worlds can be to a deserving artist who has a message to share. Tell us about the path you've chosen to get your message out to the world and what that message is.
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Douglas: Well, I would have liked to get Shnnoogle published, and I did get an agent who got it off to places like Simon & Schuster and Random House and they did take an interest in it immediately; they loved the illustrations and they loved the concept. But they asked for changes over a period of eighteen months to two years and I made those changes for them. Back and forth and back and forth. Then the last word that my agent heard from both publishers, due to the state of the economy there were many layoffs sweeping through the publishing houses. Not knowing the future of books, they were holding off indefinitely and not committing to new projects. In fact, they were cutting back production of children's books by seventy percent. There was Shnnoogle just sitting on a shelf and unable to reach out. It's about empowering children to realize the magic they have in their own sellves and making one by one--we can all make the world a better place.
THE INTERVIEW: CONNIE DOUGLAS & SHNNOOGLE! (PART 1 OF 4)
My Special Guest: Connie Douglas
Meet Shnnoogle!
andKrudgel... -
Connie Douglas is a Scottsdale-based artist who happens to be a dear friend of mine. Her ever-present smile is a clue to her sweet soul and lovely personality. No wonder children in Phoenix Children's Hospital gravitate to her. She is a breath of fresh air with her philosophy that we must all slow down and acknowledge the positive people in our life who are all around us. Connie's passion for life is evident in a series of books she has written and illustrated with the character "Shnnoogle". This leads us to ask "What is Shnnoogle?" "In as few words as possible", says Connie, "Giving, caring, sharing, patience, perseverance, etc. “Traits”, ALL, within our power. We each are given two choices in life. We can choose to express that of 'our Shnnoogle, Love and Kindness' or it’s antithesis, 'Krudgel, our Fear and Doubt.” Through reading the series Shnnoogle Tales, children can discover the joys and hardships, based purely on whichever trait they choose to feed most. A child learns that THEIR OWN power, be it positive or negative, is capable of growing ever stronger when shared. Essential to the character of Shnnoogle is "making the world a better place, one act of kindness at a time".
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Connie was born in San Pedro, California where remained until the age of 14. She discovered her love and passion for illustrating early on as a child and delighted in what she calls "unique and whimsical creations" borne of a sensitivity for children and a healthy does of positive humor. Connie's Canadian-born father wanted to relocate their family back to a quieter environment where there was less crime and fewer negative influences in the public schools. Connie lived in Alberta, Canada for the next 20 years studying Art in high school and eventually enrolling in Grant MacEwan College where she earned a degree in Environmental and Graphic Design. Her next step was to design her own line of greeting cards called "Serendipity's by Connie", along with the popular and enduring comic strip, "Zooter" which appeared in newspapers and magazines in Alberta. Wishing to expand her repertoire as a fine art painter Connie began creating compelling Native American spiritual works that were represented by Grassland Galleries and Clear Water Publishing. Her extensive wall murals and Fresco paintings for a number of notable clients in the United States eventually led her to Phoenix, Arizona where she was inspired to create the Shnnoogle book series after witnessing a friend's child fighting a life-threatening illness. A mother of two sons, this event moved Connie after seeing the love and kindness shared between her friend's son, his family and the kindness of friends. We pick up our visit with a casual question.
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Manning: Connie, you have a fascinating journey to share that ultimately leads to working directly with children who are patients at Phoenix Children's Hospital. Tell us how this came about?
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Douglas: I went through a divorce and throughout that period of time, I couldn't paint with all of that going on. So, that's when I went back to school. My father passed away during this period where I was going to school and my mother started wintering down here (in Phoenix, Arizona) and my sister was down here going to school. I thought, 'It's so cold in Canada. I don't want to live my life in this kind of cold', so I moved to Arizona and worked a series of small jobs. My younger son wanted to come live with me and by this time I was divorced. One of my clients had a son that inspired me to create Shnnoogle. He was in remission from a cancerous brain tumor and when I worked in their home-- he was an only child, Steven was 11 years-old at the time. This kid was so full of life and was so positive and living each moment, wanting to play ball, singing the National Anthem and his parents were so cognizant of not taking any moment for granted. There was a lot of listening and hearing one another and just living every moment with their son. I was just so impressed that when I left their home, I thought 'Wow! These people really got what matters'. They didn't have a choice to think about a future. They never knew how the future was going to turn out. I thought of all of the other people an how awful it would be because I have two sons myself--to go through that experience. I wanted to do something for the hospital that helped Steven and his family and that was Phoenix Children's Hospital.
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Manning: That was really the foundation you chose to build out your dream of "making the world a better place, one act of kindness at a time" --as your materials state?
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Douglas: Yes. I approached them about doing something to cheer up their space with some artwork that would touch others. I didn't know what I was going to do. When I showed them my portfolio, they were Gun-ho on having me do something. We agreed on the hospital Radiology Waiting Room because that was the a very depressing and difficult place for kids to be--not knowing what the outcome was. That was in January of 2005. The Arizona Republic came out with an article.
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Manning: July 26, 2006.
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Douglas: Yes, it was 2005 when I approached the hospital. I didn't know what I was going to do. I was going on a trip to Europe and so I told the hospital that when I returned, work would always be slow for me in the summer and that I would like to paint some murals for them. My first night in Switzerland, a girlfriend had suggested that I take along a pen and a pad of paper. She said, "I have a feeling some things are going to come to you". I said, I said, 'No. I don't want to think about work, I don't want to write anything'. And that night, I woke up seeing these pictures (shows me her book), seeing this Bunny on the back of this Tortoise and you know, getting the whole story and I'm thinking, 'This is it! This is it, isn't it? This is what I'm supposed to do for the (Phoenix Children's) Hospital'. And I started sketching.
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Manning: And that was the beginning for you. You had the Phoenix Children's Hospital on your mind while in Switzerland?
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Douglas: (laughing) I did! I felt like, 'Oh, I have to go to sleep, but no. I've got to do this'. And so, I started sketching right away. Then when I returned home, I started working on drawings. It was interesting because I started doing all water colored paintings to show the hospital what I would be doing. Instead of doing just sketches, I found myself doing these detailed sketches and I was working for hours. My husband asked me 'Why are you doing this?' I said 'I don't know, it's just something that I feel that I need to do'. I came up with ten paintings. I was actually going to paint these murals on the walls of the hospital . That was the idea--mural work. Ken Lewis was the guy I was working with at the hospital at the time and he looked at my work and said, 'Oh, my God. You can't do these on the walls because they're always remodeling and tearing things apart. They're just going to get rolled over, or somethings going to happen to them. We need to put these on canvas'.
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Manning: Oh! That sounds expensive.
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Douglas: Well, you know that's true. It is! I said, 'I can't afford to put them on canvas', you know? Because to take them and then to print onto canvas and then I would over-paint them would cost around fifteen-hundred-dollars to do. I found a printer in Pennsylvania and the hospital said, 'No. We'll cover this cost for you'.
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Manning: That's when it's nice to catch a break.
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Douglas: Yeah! I had it printed on a canvas, but them I wanted to over-paint the prints because I wanted them to feel like originals. So, I had them all lined up in my kitchen and dining room to paint and I got so inundated with mural work, that I would just go home and found myself working night and day--long days and climbing ladders. And as I was doing this--this would be August of 2005, I just kept thinking 'I don't want to be here. I don't want to be doing this'. I just wanted to do the stuff for the hospital and I felt like I was never going to be able to do this because I'm so busy with work.
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Manning: You were so in-demand with the mural painting.
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Douglas: Yes. It was demanding. We had a guy working for us and I was bringing in all this work to keep him employed so he could take care of his family of five kids. I had torn feelings that I had to bring in all this work and take care of his family, and wanting to work with the hospital. Then I started to lose my balance on the ladder, and almost fell off a scaffold, started to lose control of my right hand, I couldn't hold a straight line anymore with a paintbrush--I didn't know what was going on. I thought that maybe I've got a nerve pinched in my neck because I was doing a lot of ceiling work. I went to see a doctor and had X-Rays taken along with an MRI and meanwhile, I was getting progressively worse. I'd have to catch the wall walking down the hallway. So, I knew something was not right and I was getting real weak. The test results came back and I learned that I had MS (Multiple Sclerosis). That was, of course upsetting, and my doctor didn't know how bad it was or how bad it was going to get. He set me up for a spinal tap to confirm it and the results came back positive. Meanwhile, I couldn't work anymore. I just couldn't do my wall work, but fortunately there was enough work to carry my crews through at that time. And I just stayed at home and I painted. I just focused on these painting. As I was losing control of my right hand and trying to train my left hand to paint, I was losing my ability to speak. It was difficult for me; I couldn't enunciate words and say what my thoughts were. I had a lot going on in my head but I couldn't express it. At that point I thought, 'I might not get better'. Some people get MS and they're like, one year of two years, they're dead. So, I thought, the most important thing to me is that I've got to do something in this life that can touch others and that I needed to get this done and I wanted to get this story (Shnnoogle children's story) out there to make a difference. I thought my life would feel almost wasted if I couldn't do that. Then I started working on the canvases, and originally as the Shnnoogle story came to me, the little girl (in the story) was a little blond girl. She was fair-skinned and she didn't wear glasses, and she didn't have a brace on her leg. I started to understand what these kids must feel like at the hospital, sort of the fear of not knowing what the future is and how long their time might be.
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Manning: You could definitely empathize with them.
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Douglas: Yes! I felt like, 'I'm talking to kids who weren't perfect', and nobody's perfect! We all have things that we're stumbling over in life. So, I painted a little brace on her leg, and I put glasses on her.
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Manning: This is the character in the Shnnoogle book?
"You are in the front row. A bony Arabian mare stands so close you can see the scars on her flanks, and the terror in her eyes. Three men on horseback swoop down on the mare, chasing her with swinging lariats, until she's galloping 25 miles an hour. Each time the mare races round the ring, a fourth man aims a rope at the mare's forelegs. The goal: to topple her to the ground, and win points.This mare has already been lassoed several times - those scars you saw were rope burns that carved away inches of her flesh. But this time the mare won't get up again. She crashes head over heels, breaks her leg, and is euthanized." AmbujaRosen, Independent Journalist
Today Arizona Governor Jan Brewer has an opportunity to take an important stand on principle by signing into law Senate Bill 1115 that will render the cruel practice of "horse tripping" illegal. Phoenix CouncilwomanThelda Williams says she considers the activity "barbaric".
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Horse tripping is the practice of roping the front or hind legs of a galloping horse -- causing it to trip or lose its balance and come crashing to the ground -- for the purposes of entertainment or sport. This cruel and inhumane activity is practiced in 3 of the 9 events held in the charreada, or Mexican-style rodeo. The tripping is intentional, and points are awarded for dropping the horse. Horse tripping is an under-ground activity similar to dog fighting or cockfighting. "Few horses survive and it usually results in broken legs, internal damage, and death", said Williams who once supervised the Maricopa Sheriff's Offices Animal Cruelty Unit. In a bi-partisan effort, Senator Jonathan Paton, R-Tucson and Rep. KyrstenSinema, D-Phoenix have sponsored State Bill 1115. "This sounded odd and I didn't realize it went on in Arizona", Paton said. "I felt like it was something that needed to be fixed. I don't like to watch animals killed for sport". Horse Rescues have rescued many wonderful horses whose injuries from this malicious abuse led to massive medical complications requiring euthanizing the horses. From the inception of this BLOG Page, readers are familiar with my passionate stand against this cruelty and I urge Governor Brewer to demonstrate her leadership and compassion in signing this bill into law immediately.
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The bill would also apply to ponies, mules and donkeys. To be clear, this legislation excludes horse racing, training, bran ding or traditional rodeo sports such as steer roping or bulldogging. Violators who knowingly trip these animals for sport could be charged with a Class 1 misdemeanor, which is punishable by two days in jail and a $1,000 fine (a soft sentence that needs to be made tougher).
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A second animal-welfare measure was packaged along with S1115. That bill was introduced by Rep. Nancy Young Wright, D-Tucson. It would give county officials the authority to inspect privately owned dog kennels anytime once a written complaint is filed. The bill recently cleared the Legislature. In my view, horses are beautiful creatures of God's making. They are very spiritual in nature, and have been responsible for helping to industrialize America. In addition to their majestic beauty and popularity at nationwide horse shows and competitive events, horses assist disabled adults and children at Therapeutic Horsemanship's. One local organization that I support is listed on the right hand column of this BLOG Page, Camelot Therapeutic Horsemanship. The anniversary of my Cousin's passing later this month was mentioned in a phone conversation I had with her mother (my Aunt) yesterday. I know if my Cousin were still with us, she would be very interested in the outcome of this bill. I will be waiting and watching for news today.
"I feel the Statue of Liberty represents global unity, a sign that our world must unify. I don't think people's hardships are over when they come to America, but I still think that it is a beacon of hope. Even in a difficult economy and in a war, still the dream and ideology it represents is beyond words"
-Barbara McLean
Atlanta, Georgia
Good Morning! I can remember my teachers as far back as junior high school telling we kids that the crown atop the Statue of Liberty in New York was closed off to the public over structural concerns. However, a child's recollection--make that an adults recollection as a child--can be mistaken. The statue was closed to the public after the terrorist attacks against the United States of September 11, 2001. The base of the Statue and the Observation Deck were reopened in 2004, but the crown remained closed. This was due to concerns of The National Park Service over the narrow, double-helix staircases which were not designed for a safe evacuation in the event of an emergency. Moreover, the staircases did not comply with fire and building codes. I'm happy to share with you that positive, new changes have been made! For example, new handrails have been installed and only 30 people per hour can climb the stairs leading to the crown. Better yet, a Park Ranger guides the tourists along the way.
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In May 1982, President Ronald Reagan appointed Lee Iaccoca to head up the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation to raise funds for the renovation and preservation of the Statue of Liberty. Lee continues to serve on the board of the foundation. A word here about Lee: he's my kind of no-nonsense, maverick businessman. Most of you will remember Lee for his magnificent turnaround of the original Chrysler Corporation in the early 1980's along with then Chief Financial Officer Gerald Greenwald. Jerry later led United Airlines to prominence. Ironically, Chrysler went to hell in a hand basket after Lee's tenure and in my opinion, the same can be said for United Airlines after Gerald Greenwald left as Chief Executive Officer. Thank God Lee is still a board member of the Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation because, frankly, there aren't many leaders left in the business world with Lee's vision and common sense! But I digress.
Here we have an inside view of the crown and some of the 25 windows offering a view of the Manhattan skyline. The statue is 305 feet tall to the tip of it's raised torch. It was designed to commemorate the 1876 centennial of the Declaration of Independence. The statue can be accessed with 354 steps from bottom to top. Who among us here in the United States remembers a tale of their immigrant parents or grandparents as I do? Like my Dad, most immigrants to America arrived with few possessions and little money. My 89 year-young Aunt still has the suitcase my Dad arrived with. I'm told he had very little clothing inside of that suitcase. But as I mentioned in an earlier BLOG, my Dad told me how awesome it was for him to see the Statue of Liberty from the ship he was sailing on from Eastern Europe to New York. Someday, I will visit the Statue of Liberty and climb those stairs in memory of my Dad and his brother (my late Uncle). They would surely be excited for me!
"Being able to perceive the world through her eyes, from Liberty's crown - I just feel it's so important to maintain the opportunity to literally be a part of liberty."
Back when I was Director of Marketing and Promotions in broadcasting, I held a second job title as Public Affairs Director. On select Saturdays, colleagues from competing radio and television stations and I would meet for breakfast at a hotel for what became known as "ascertainment meetings". Although these meetings no longer take place in today's broadcasting environment, we would spend approximately 90 minutes listening to a variety of speakers representing non-profit organizations. Each representative had 10 minutes to "make their case" about why their organization should receive free air time in the form of Public Service Announcements (PSA's) to promote their work in the community. At these meetings, I often noticed my colleagues looking anguished at the prospect of having to choose one worthy non-profit organization at the exclusion of others that were equally important. I managed to avoid this scenario by using the proverbial "wide paint brush" to commit my station's ascertainment focus on "women and children's health issues". This strategy allowed me to provide air time to the largest number of non-profit health-related organizations as long as I could establish a tie to the health and well being of women and children. Having served on non-profit boards, I was usually well informed about the specific health care issues facing our country. However, one of the most shocking facts that troubles me today is that heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. Below are three women who are survivors of heart disease and stroke. They are also supporters of the American Heart Association's campaign to fight heart disease.
Ce Ce Mason suffered a heart attack at 31
Ce Ce Mason is a mother of two young daughters, and co-owner of Weddings and the City, where she is a wedding planner. Two weeks after celebrating her 31st birthday in March, 2005 Ce Ce and her business partner Kristin were having their weekly meeting to discuss upcoming events. Ce Ce mentioned that her chest hurt, but brushed it off to just being stressed out. Later that day, as she was driving, one of her arms began to tingle and she felt a bit disoriented. She went to an urgent care clinic, where doctors couldn't confirm what was wrong but thought it had to do with her heart. They called for an ambulance and Ce Ce was rushed to the hospital where her blood work confirmed that she was having a heart attack. Because she paid attention to her symptoms and sought medical attention, Ce Ce reduced the potential damage to her heart. If she had waited until the next day to seek medical help, it could have proved fatal. On the advice of her doctor, she changed her stress level, began eating a healthy diet and enrolled in a cardiac fitness program, determined to prevent another heart attack. By sharing her story, Ce Ce is helping to debunk the perception that a heart attack is a man's disease.
Melissa Oliver suffered a heart attack at 35
Melissa Oliver has to be the youngest bank vice president I have ever read about. At age 35, the Indianapolis native and mother of an 18-month old toddler had it all: marriage, family and her career. Standing just 5' 1" and weighing 118 pounds, she ran marathons and competed in triathlons. In fact, she had been athletic her entire life. Then during a February, 2004 conference call in her office she felt pain and pressure in the middle of her chest. Eager to get through the conference call she took "some aspirin and a couple of Rolaids" thinking she was suffering from indigestion. After the conference call, she telephoned her doctor and was scheduled for an EKG. Pictures of her heart revealed that she had suffered a heart attack as the result of an undetected congenital heart defect aggravated by high blood pressure. Worse, her cardiologist said that she could be headed straight towards another attack. "I thought I was going for my morning workout and then would be back at the office as usual. Instead, I ended up in the hospital that night and in surgery the next day." After stents were implanted, Oliver is today happy, healthy and living well. Her message to women? Listen to your body. Learn the warning signs of a heart attack and have regular medical check-ups.
Heart Attack Warning Signs
Chest discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
Discomfort in other areas of the upper body. Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
Other signs may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.
Cindy McCain suffered a stroke at 50
"When I had a stroke at age 50, I learned the hard way that while our intentions are well-placed, we are going about it all wrong. As mothers, wives, daughters and sisters, the best thing we can do for our families is take care of ourselves. We owe it to everyone we care about to take our own heart health seriously". McCain had high blood pressure—the primary cause for strokes—and she wouldn't take her medicine, thinking that, at 49, she was too young to need it. "It was a hell of a lesson to learn," she said. McCain had just returned to Phoenix from an international trip and was having lunch with friends when she suffered a stroke that put her in intensive care for two weeks. She radically changed her diet, resting and exercising. "Right after I had the stroke, I was just lying there and I couldn't communicate, I couldn't talk, and I hadn't been able to say goodbye to my family. I was sure I was going to die. I could mumble, but I couldn't form words. I could hear it in my head, but I couldn't get it to come out.'' Her message to women: "We need to get regular check-ups and know the warning signs so that we can continue to be the amazing women we are for many years to come."
Stroke Warning Signs
Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
Sudden, severe headache with no known cause.
Immediately call 9-1-1 or the emergency medical services (EMS) number so an ambulance (ideally with advanced life support) can be sent for you. Also, check the time so you'll know when the first symptoms appeared. It's very important to take immediate action. If given within three hours of the start of symptoms, a clot-busting drug called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) can reduce long-term disability for the most common type of stroke. tPA is the only FDA-approved medication for the treatment of stroke within three hours of stroke symptom onset.
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The heart is a very forgiving organ. By not smoking, avoiding fried foods and starting an exercise program women can add years to their lives. Here's a great place for more information: http://www.goredforwomen.org/index.aspx
For those of you who've never seen this film clip, it is widely regarded throughout the world as the best car chase ever filmed from the Steve McQueen movie Bullitt. Even 41-years later, it holds up. Stunt driver Bill Hickman and actor Paul Genge portray two mafia hit men who are following Lt. Frank Bullitt (McQueen), a plainclothes San Francisco Police detective to determine where he has hidden a witness they've shot but failed to kill. McQueen "turns the tables" on the duo and winds up pursuing them to determine their identities.
Interestingly, Hickman was a close friend of actor James Dean. He was following Dean's Porche Spyder on the way to a car race in Salinas, California on September 30, 1955 when Dean and his passenger Rolf Wuetherich tragically collided with an oncoming car at the intersection of Highway 41 at 466 in Paso Robles, California. Just minutes after the accident, Hickman and Hollywood celebrity photographer Sanford Roth arrived at the crash scene in Dean's Ford station wagon pulling the sports car's flatbed trailer. Hickman rushed to pull Dean from the twisted wreckage of his car when Dean died in his arms. Wuetherich survived the accident but died 26-years later in a 1981 car crash.
Bill Hickman's career as a stunt driver in films began in 1948. Among his best know work besides Bullitt (1968) was Walt Disney's The Love Bug (1969), driving a Pontiac Le Mans for actor Gene Hackman in The French Connection (1971), and in The Seven Ups (1973) where he is pursued in a Pontiac Grand Ville by fellow stunt driver Jerry Summers driving a Pontiac Ventura for actor Roy Schieder. Bill handled all of his own driving in films, including Bullitt where he drove the Black 1968 Dodge Charger. Bill died in February, 1988.
Actor Paul Genge (riding in the passenger seat with Hickman ) who plays the role of the gunman, began his training in East-Coast theater before his debut in 1936 on Broadway in "Hamlet" opposite Olivia de Havilland and Leslie Howard. Genge came to Hollywood in 1958 and appeared in many television series such as The Twilight Zone and films such as The FBI Story,North by Northwest (1959), and The Sandpiper (1965). Paul died in May, 1988 just three months after Bill Hickman.
Steve McQueen shared the driving of the Green 1968 Ford Mustang GT Fastback in Bullitt with stunt drivers Bud Ekins and Carey Loftin. Ekins, who doubled for McQueen in the daring motorcycle jump in The Great Escape is behind the wheel of the Mustang during the high speed airborne jump sequence. He is also the motorcyclist who lays down his bike as Hickman and McQueen swerve to miss him on the Guadelupe Canyon Highway. The chase was filmed over 22 city blocks and took two weeks to complete. Bullitt is considered a groundbreaking film for McQueens' insistence to shoot on location. I have watched this clip well over 100 times in recent years, and I must admit--I enjoy the dubbed in sound of the Mustang GT, since I owned one, restored it and sold it. Also included here is the tense scene after the chase with character actors Simon Oakland and Norman Fell. Here is a perfect example of what McQueen could convey on the "big screen" with a mere facial expression. So, turn up the sound, sit down, buckle your seat belt, and have fun!
We all enjoy a romantic getaway to a Resort & Spa...
Yesterday's BLOG post was long. But I felt that I owed each of you who stop here an explanation about the lapse in time between updates on Trevor Tredaway's Fundraising project. I hope that the one thing you were able to take away from that posting was not a tale of woe, but rather a Determination we have here in Scottsdale to see this project through to success. We are not easily discouraged. In the meantime, I wanted to share a more specific snapshot of what is happening here in Phoenix.
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Foreclosure proceedings have been initiated against seven of the most beautiful and luxurious Resorts & Spa's here in The Valley. Ion Data, a real estate research firm located in nearby Mesa, Arizona reports that the number of major liens against resorts who spent the bulk of 2008 renovating their properties has more than doubled over the past 24 months. Worse yet, the experts who track the Travel & Leisure industry say that we are only in the very early stages of this downturn in Greater Phoenix. Usually a magnet for vacationers, the General Manager of a local television station who met with me two weeks ago hit the nail on the head when he described Phoenix as "a very transient luxury market". The statistics don't lie either.
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Consider the fact that last month, our hotel occupancy rates were down 45 percent! Now, that is actually 17 percent lower than this same time last year when the economy was blowing and going--so to speak. When lenders foreclose on a property, jobs are lost--including architects and interior designers. I have known several of the latter who carried a considerable swagger throughout 2008 and behaved as if they were invulnerable rock stars. Today, they are neither. What happened? Basically, short-term construction loans came due just as the recession in the United States deepened. The towering and troubling question for even front line resort managers who continue to smile broadly and maintain that "It's business as usual" is this: Who is going to buy these troubled properties? The market for hotel deals is absolutely awful. Much if not all of this can be placed at the feet of the credit crisis, where lenders are now increasing the terms for commercial properties while demanding more equity. As I see it, the war in Iraq is costing the United States billions of dollars (regardless of where you happen to stand on the issue; it costs a lot). Oil and gas speculators flipped tracts of oil producing properties that artificially inflated crude oil prices (and gas at over $4 a gallon at the gas pump). Then government regulators removed the partition that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt installed to prevent banks from selling securities and security houses from selling banking services. These are the facts without political partisanship. We have now have a mess on our hands! The current economic environment will take literally years to mend, according to Robert Hayward, principal with the Phoenix hospitality consulting and research firm of Warnick & Co. Into this hostile environment, my small team and I have been attempting to circumvent these ugly storm cells much like pilots do when flying a commercial aircraft. We are rethinking Trevor's event on many fronts to ultimately do whatever makes sense? We are not afraid of taking a sobering look at making changes to overcome the obstacles. We are open to fresh thinking and new ideas even if they don't come from us. There can be no ego attached to helping a child in need and I can tell you that each of us "checked our ego's at the door" a long time ago. Make no doubt about it. We are sincere and driven. Most of all: Will our outstretched hands be met with others in the Midland, Texas where Trevor lives as opposed to Phoenix? At the end of the day, I believe that they will. To me, a sick child is a sick child regardless of where he or she happens to live. However, public perception can be very narrow. If the perception is "Why are we supporting an event to benefit a child in another city?", then the answer may lie in assembling components of a fun-filled event in Trevor's hometown. Perhaps there, access to hearts and souls more empathic about a child in their own community who people are familiar with will allow us our best chance at success. We are not afraid of new ideas or change. We will deliberately embrace whatever adaptation is needed to make this event a success. By success, I mean three things: 1.) To raise public awareness of pediatric brain cancer; 2.) To raise funds to help resolve Trevors' considerable medical costs; 3.) To accomplish these objectives with a fun event that involves music and celebrates life--an event that can be duplicated time and again. These are the considerations we are facing. In the meantime, we welcome all positive thoughts and prayers. There is a precious little boy at the heart of this story who deserves nothing less.
"Hope everyone's 4th of July was spectacular! We have been in and out of town for the past few weeks, so I have not been able to upate. We do leave tomorrow to go to Memphis for the upcoming MRI. It can only be good. I previously mentioned the decrease in pain since starting the new supplements. Now, his hair has started coming back in. He never lost it all; it just got really thin and sparse. He is just good!I have a lot to update, but need to finish packing. There are a few new pictures. I will update as soon as we get the MRI results. Thanks for your prayers!"
Melinda
(Trevor's Mother)
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-TOKYO (Nikkei)-- The Nikkei Stock Average closed 0.34% lower at 9647.79 on Tuesday....
(The Associated Press)
Many of you have asked how Trevor's Fundraiser is coming along. I have not updated, because from a public relations standpoint, when there is little to report, the rule of thumb is to remain silent until there is a major development. Nevertheless, my Blog readers--all of you whom I love deserve some human explanation of what has been taking place "behind the scenes" in our quest to raise both public awareness and funds for Trevor and his battle with cancer. Here's how I would summarize where we've been and where we are today.
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Last November, I had an event partner who was employed with a national theme restaurant chain where international rock stars perform mini-concerts. I'll leave their name out of it. In my first strategic meeting, I managed to present a wonderful plan to her that involved a dinner concert, the need for a major rock artist who would donate their performance fee, a venue, staging, a sound and lighting system, I addressed insurance issues, strategic event personnel and a logistics plan for executing the event. For the benefit of those of you who don't reside here, Phoenix is considered a "very transient, luxury marketplace" according to a friend of mine who is a General Manager of a television station. With the economy not yet showing signs of the deep recession we are currently mired in, last November, my event partner who is a happily married mother of three looked me squarely in the eyes after my impassioned 10-minute presentation with flip charts and figures concluded and said "I want to do this. But we have to think bigger than a local artist or we'll never raise the funds Trevor needs. I'll need to secure approval from our corporate headquarters. But I so get this, and I'm on board!" As it turned out, my former event partner had a son facing open heart surgery in mid December, 2008 and she didn't need to be told about what parents go through to raise funds for children battling brain cancer. She knew all about lemonade stands, garage sales, homes being sold, neighborhood barbeque's and credit cards filled to their limits. Before we adjourned our meeting, I proposed a basic plan for all press releases to be jointly coordinated through her restaurant chain on their letterhead with our names as contacts. We had a local television reporter who was on board with us too and the restaurant venue would set up a professional stage with both a Klipsch public address system and terrific lighting. We had four major contacts to procure a musical artist, and we would meet again in mid January after the excitement of the Christmas Holiday Season had quieted down and her son recovered from surgery (which he did, Thank God). We were on a roll and our minds were in synch; we were definitely "on the same page". Then the unthinkable happened.
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We set up a meeting for mid-January. By then "Live Nation" and a contact we had at the L.A. Music Awards Show would be dialed-in. Barely a week out from our meeting, I received an e-mail that despite her setting a sales record that exceeded THREE HUNDRED PERCENT above her sales goal, she was laid off. Within 60 seconds I saw our entire project collapse. It took me two hours to absorb what had happened. I called her at home to see what I could do to network her as soon as possible into another job. We were both in shock. The layoff simply made no sense. The project was not continued by her former General Manager whom I spoke with two weeks later. He rambled on nervously about liability since so much money would be passing hands from the cafe to Trevor's special bank account. I told him that two suitable non-profit organizations would be available to satisfy all legal requirements of any funds raised and transferred to Trevor's special bank account (minus expenses for food and beverages). In years past, while in broadcast management, I always allowed an additional thirty-percent of my total vent budget for "Miscellaneous Items", in other words, last minute emergencies that were unforeseen and raised their ugly head. My phone conversation with the General Manager was a complete waste of time and the project was clearly at a stand still. It was time to start over.
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A good friend of mine who is a Vice Mayor of a nearby city and another friend of mine who handles Public Relations both offered to step in and help me after I explained the challenge of getting Trevor's fundraiser back on the table. We held several meetings and many more individually with retail store owners, Resort & Spa owners, an entrepreneur with a nine-piece power-rock group with a horn section on a retainer--you name it! I even met with Jim Lane, the Mayor of Scottsdale and spoke with three agents of major recording artists. By now it was May, 2009. We three communicated by e-mail, talked on the telephone, and worked old contacts.
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One businessman I reached out to said it all: "Michael, ordinarily I would ask you to stop by my office and I'd cut you a check to underwrite all of your costs for production. But my business is literally dying and I'm staring down a large black hole on a daily basis and struggling to find a way to keep all of my employees on the payroll. We're in the red, and you couldn't have picked a worse time in history to stage such an ambitious project. I'm so sorry. But I can't do it. Our numbers are down forty-six percent. It's shocking!", he said in an exasperated tone. To adapt, we revised our numbers to half of the original goal. Then we cut the numbers back again by a full third. One of our friends raised $20,000.00 for another worthy cause, but ended up $15,000.00 in the negative after expenses which he paid from his own pocket. We couldn't imagine such a nightmare!
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Next, I told the guys working with me to throw all ideas out on the table and that I didn't care who had the best idea; if a Wine Tasting event, or a dinner made more sense, I said, "Let's re-think what we can do. All options are on the table". Throughout this period, I stayed in touch with Melinda and continued to monitor what was happening with Trevor's health. His determination is a miracle and so are his current circumstances. But in Scottsdale, Arizona the strategic problem is an obvious one. Because Trevor resides in Texas, even in a strong economy, we are discovering that unilaterally across the country unless a child lives in your locale, you are "swimming upstream" in terms of marshaling financial and logistical resources to execute any event of any significant scale or scope. The unemployment rates here are staggering and the Travel and Leisure market in Phoenix is among the Top 5 hardest hit in the United States. In the Sunday Arizona Republic newspaper Business Section, I was stunned to see the pending foreclosure list of well known resorts--many that were under renovation throughout 2008. They are now in arrears on mortgages from the additional renovation debt from roughly $70 million to $95 million! So here's where we are this morning:
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The entire economic world has changed. Every market from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nikkei in Japan has been dealt severe body blows. Entire industry's from telecommunications, insurance and the automobile manufacturing sectors have been bailed out and subordinated to a nationalized status. Foreclosures and joblessness is rampant. My sources at a local business college who knew of my project for Trevor advised me to hold out for the Third Quarter of 2009. Within 60 days of that phone call, they revised their forecast to the Third Quarter of 2010 before we would see measurable progress of an economic recovery beginning to take place.
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Yesterday morning, I received a call from a newspaper reporter in Midland, Texas. I advised her that it was apparent to my team and I that Trevor's event would need to take place in Midland where he lives. Yes, Trevor was a part of the Scottsdale community for a short time, but he resides in a community where we now have to reach out to local resources in Texas with far more empathy and emotional connectedness to a 4 year-old little boy struggling with cancer than a "transient, luxury market" like Phoenix could provide. One of our team members cautioned that we should wait until January of 2010 to judge the strength of the economy for reasonableness. So, as of this morning, Trevor's fundraising project remains alive, albeit, as a scaled down, regional event. The message from the three of us here in Scottsdale (11 hours away by car) to Trevor in Midland, Texas is this: "We are not easily discouraged and we are not 'throwing in the towel'. We are in a state of re-assessing where people's hearts and minds are at such a terrible economic time.
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I asked the newspaper reporter to consider my ten-minute synopsis as a "call to action" for musicians and a venue in Midland to step forward to contact me. There is a wonderful concept that runs through my mind. It regards the night I saw Guy Clark, Joe Ely, John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett in concert in 2007. They took the stage with no Set List and one-by-one we never knew as the audience what we about to hear! But it was fun. Times like the ones we are currently suffering through can humble a person. At this point, if three local musicians would join me with acoustic guitars for an "Up Close and Personal" concert that could possibly lead to a series of fun get-togethers for Trevor's community, that would clearly be a far cry from what Patty and I originally had in mind back in November, 2008. You see, back then we lived in a different world. I think we're just now coming to grips with that reality. But come hell or high water, this dream will not fade away. We refuse to allow that.
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We refuse to acknowledge defeat--only victory. And we will continue to step back and rest from time to time in order to remain clear headed and fresh with ideas. In the meantime, the most important person in all of this is Trevor. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers for safe travel back to Memphis for his MRI, for the news to be encouraging for his Mom and Dad and his little 2 year-old sister Morgan. And if you have enough room in your prayers, there are three of us here in Scottsdale who need to catch a break to make an emotional connection with people that is at once fun and unforgettable so we can raise funds for Trevor's ongoing medical treatments and honor all the laughter and joy he brings to everyone he meets. Or world needs Trevor's sweet laughter and goodness more than ever. That's the latest from here. We're "still in the game" and I wouldn't bet against us.
Michael
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Tomorrow I promise a shorter follow up on what we are experiencing here in the Phoenix economy. I'm certain it's not too different than your towns and cities. See you then!
You are looking at the last Pontiac that will ever be produced: The Solstice. General Motors' "restructuring" (which some analysts say isn't extensive enough) has resulted in the parent company shedding the Pontiac brand (Oldsmobile was discontinued officially on April 29, 2004) and keeping only GMC, Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac brands. Approximately 1,100 units will be produced before production ceases at the end of this month.
When a brash, young John DeLorean took over as chief of GM's Pontiac Motor Division, he introduced the 1964 GTO, fourteen years after GM's Oldsmobile Rocket 88 V-8 became the undisputed first "muscle car" ever to be built. The GTO (which stands for Gran Turismo Omologato, that's Italian for "Grand Touring" in case you're curious) was a sexy, sporty set of wheels that defined Pontiac as the athletic, sport-design driven division of General Motors.
Here was a design with verve, heralded as a leap forward into the exciting 1960's.
In 1966, two GTO's were heavily modified by designer Dean Jeffries for the pop-rock band television show "The Monkees". The original model followed the band to Australia and wound up in Puerto Rico (don't ask me how). Eventually, it was restored and sold down the street from me in Scottsdale, Arizona at Barrett-Jackson Auctions for $360,000. It currently resides in New York State with a new owner. The second car was used for the car show touring circuit.
By 1965, the GTO took on a new look with vertical headlamps and other styling changes.
Under DeLorean's direction, the 1968 Pontiac Trans Am debuted. So much for a shortened history of a car brand founded in 1926. If Oldsmobile lost it's vision and took five years to shudder (GM had to spend millions buying out Olds dealerships) and the Buick remained "the poor man's Cadillac", when was Chevrolet's last exciting car other than the venerable Corvette manufactured? Granted, GM still makes quality SUV's along with solid pickup trucks. Still, the question remains. How was Pontiac allowed to "go to hell in a hand basket"?
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Looking back, DeLorean's arrival at Pontiac was heralded as a new era, and it was! DeLorean brought to the table a true design engineer who had cut his teeth at Packard before joining GM. Under his leadership, Pontiac continued to make big block engines. In fact, DeLorean is credited with the idea of offering the GTO with a dealer option package that included a 389 cubic inch engine rated at 325 or 348 horsepower. He then split off Tempest and LeMans automobiles to focus on the GTO. He also oversaw the introduction of a completely new overhead camshaft 6-cylinder engine in the Tempest, and in an industry first, plastic grilles on several models. By 1968, the Grand Prix convertible was produced (in limited number) with Ram Air induction and a return to horizontal designed headlights with a new G-body construction that accentuated the long hood/short deck look of a intermediate-sized personal-luxury car to compete with the Buick Riviera and the Ford Thunderbird at a lower price. Dealers shipped 112,000 units in 1969, or four times the number of cars sold the previous year! And I mention all of this detail to make a point. Pontiac had first-class designers and stylists.
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For instance, the GTO "Judge" (used by Paul Newman in the film "Slap Shot") came equipped with a 400 cubic inch high performance engine. Unfortunately, John DeLorean would leave his post at Pontiac Motor Division for a promotion to to General Manager of GM's Chevrolet division. He was Detroit's "Golden Boy" executive, but his move to Chevrolet left him suffering through management bungling against his counsel with such ill-conceived projects as the Chevrolet Vega, and ultimately he did the unthinkable. He left to start his own car company, eager to take along lessons he learned about design, production and styling. DeLorean, the man who resolved Packard's transmission woes, created a factory in Dublin, Ireland where assembly line workers could stand underneath the cars and not hunch all day long in a "pit" as they did in Detroit assembling undercarriages of automobiles. DeLorean and his staff were innovators and entrepreneurs. They were Master Craftsmen. We no longer have Master Craftsmen today.
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Even while seated in my SUV at a stoplight, I can look around me and see every vehicle from a Ford, Hyundai, KIA, Toyota, Saturn, GMC or Mercury looking every bit as exciting in design (or lack of it) as a homogenized refrigerator on wheels. Today, we have exciting Ford Mustangs in the "Bullitt", Cobra, GT and two Shelby models. We have the still-exciting Chevrolet Corvette and on the large SUV front, the Cadillac Escalade and CTS automobile. The Chrysler Crossfire and aforementioned Pontiac Solstice were similar in body lines. But inasmuch as we have cannibalized our manufacturing through exporting, we've also suffered from a bankruptcy of designers who have boldness and verve. Today Hummer, Land Rover and Jaguar have been sold. The fate of Volvo and Saab are pending. Add Audi, Bentley and Aston Martin to the mix and you have car companies without a real market in the United States, which is why the U.S. held units have been sold off to new owners. Simply put, we live in a commodity-driven marketplace.
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Granted, we do have better braking systems, safety devices with multiple air bag deployment in the event of a crash, and the elimination of such heavy manual maintenance items as repacking wheel bearings, addressing grease fitings and adjusting pesky carburetors. The interior seats are better and technology has led to improvements in ergonomics. Why then is Pontiac disappearing? Many say they never "adapted". Here's how I see the issue.
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We need to get back to designs that are every bit as bold and exciting as the transition of automobiles from the late 1950's to the 1960's. Computer Automated Design (CAD) has tremendous limitations compared to clay modeling studios when designing concept cars. Pontiac isn't alone in having been deprived of good designers. But now one of the best names in the industry will be consigned to the scrap heap. Picking the brand back up and ridding themselves of Buick as a mid-course correction would be more intelligent for General Motors.
We Bloggers lost our sweet friend Karen whom all of you in Blogland knew best as "Cosmic Crayola". My dear friend Sondra ("Golfwidow's Ministry of Silly Walks") had been posting about Karen's health recently as the two girls were close friends. I can't remember now exactly how I came to blog with Cosmic (although I wouldn't be surprised if it was through Sondra's Blog). Regrettably, I never met Karen in-person, but she was one of those special people who made me feel as if I knew her well. We exchanged e-mails on and off, and I wept at the news of her passing because I enjoyed her very much. Karen was always very kind and thoughtful to me and truth be told, Kindness matters to me more than ever in this often selfish, cold, impersonal, busy and crazy world of ours. My sincere thoughts and prayers are with Karen and her family.
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Not my studio, but you get the idea...
Very soon, I will welcome a new Guest on my feature "THE INTERVIEW". We audio taped our appearance here in Phoenix at her home last weekend. After the taping, I was watching cable television during my workout, and saw a public service message featuring Mary Tyler Moore who asked the question: "What does Hope mean to you?" My Special Guest tackles that question with some special work she is doing with children and I think your heart will be touched with a wink and a smile. That's all for today.
Yesterday morning over coffee, I sifted through a book I had written in the late 1990's. I've been revising it and it's hard work. It's very hard. But I leafed through it and carefully selected fragments I felt were appropriate to help me segue on this BLOG Page from writing about the end of a lovely person's life, to moving forward with dignity and grace. That effort became this post. It isn't anything great. But it was simply the best I could do.
Basically, I'm a Public Relations Consultant with a background in Broadcast News. I've worked as a Reporter and Anchor with PBS, ABC, CBS & NBC affiliates and in Cable Television. I'm active in Radio & Television Commercials, Guest Speaking engagements and I enjoy writing, music and sports.
