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Globe and Mail
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Globe and Mail
The summer job that put actor Tantoo Cardinal at the heart of a tiny Alberta town
After a school year away in the big city, a teenaged Tantoo Cardinal returned home to the tiny hamlet of Anzac, Alta., and fell into a summer job at the town's only store. In this latest instalment of The Globe's 'How I Spent My Summer' series, the legendary Dances with Wolves and Legends of the Fall actor and activist shares how she learned that some gigs are worth well more than the money – even at a buck an hour. I'm from Anzac, Alberta. It's just an hour southeast of Fort McMurray on the highway now, but this was 1966 before the road went in. Fort McMurray was just starting to be known as a boom town. I was 16. A year before that, I'd essentially left the Anzac community to go to high school in Edmonton, but now I was back home for the summer. I never had to look for a job in Anzac, but I always had one: I babysat, I dug potatoes on farms, I filled in at the Fort McMurray hospital answering phones for my sister-aunt – she's my grandmother's baby, nine years older than me, and I was raised by my grandmother, so that's how she became my 'sister-aunt.' I spent most of my free time hanging around the Anzac store. Anzac was a very small community and it had only one store, Willow Lake Mercantile, for everything: Groceries, clothes, supplies. We sold rope and oil for lamps and gas, eventually. Things that are useful for rural people, and we either had what they wanted or we didn't. Once a week, the train would go through from Edmonton to Fort McMurray, and that was pretty much our lifeline for outside merchandise. We got what we got. I didn't apply or anything to work at the store, because I wasn't that kind of person. But since I was there hanging around all the time anyhow, the manager would give me things to do. I'd tally up people's goods, I'd straighten things up, I'd sweep the floor and stock the shelves. Whatever had to be done. This wasn't a city store with a staff. Sometimes I'd be there all by myself managing the whole place. The summer that Joshua Jackson realized he wasn't a morning person They paid me like a dollar an hour, I think, which was better than before, when I did the same job for free. My family had briefly been keepers of the store, but other people manage it now. It was nice to earn a little bit of money, but I didn't need or buy much and wasn't all that into money anyhow. At 16, I had no sense of the value of time. The job was just something to do and I didn't mind doing it. There was nothing to love or hate about the job, I was just kind of doing life. I knew I wouldn't be there forever – it was just what I was doing right now to get by. I think this mentality helped me survive in the world of acting for a long time. Money wasn't the prominent reward; the prominent reward was being around people you wanted to be around. We counted once and Anzac only had 99 people. If someone new got off the train, it was a big deal. If we didn't know them at all, we'd call them 'beatniks,' but usually we'd find out they were connected to the community somehow and then we knew them too. I wasn't much of a salesperson because I wasn't very talkative, but I was a really good listener. With the road going in, there were so many major changes occurring all around. People from Fort McMurray would soon have access to our lake, and there was all this dust in the air from people driving in and leaving their trash around. There was this sense that things were changing and it wasn't gonna be just us anymore. It felt like the walls were coming down around this little world we had going on. This was all so different from my new life in Edmonton, which had been a bit of a culture shock, because I didn't know anybody. If you were friendly with somebody, they looked at you like there was something wrong with you and ignored you. Here, I knew everyone and had known most all of them all my life, which I recognized was very special but wouldn't last. As told to Rosemary Counter
Otago Daily Times
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Bain's dedication, hours devoted to pipes recognised
Alexandra and Districts Pipe Band Drum Major Ken Bain, of Millers Flat, leads the band at the head of the Blossom Festival parade. Mr Bain has been made a life member of the pipe band. PHOTO: JULIE ASHER Joining a pipe band might have been a dream come true but the band was equally fortunate when Ken Bain turned up for practice at the Alexandra and Districts Pipe Band for the first time. This month Mr Bain was made a life member of the band, recognising his dedication and countless hours devoted to the pipes. Mr Bain, of Millers Flat, began playing the pipes as a young lad growing up in the Teviot Valley. In 1954, neighbour Arthur Frame, of Dumbarton, brought then 13-year-old Ken a silver-and-ivory mounted set of pipes from a trip to Scotland. Tutoring from Charlie Sutherland, at Ettrick, and then Alan Porteous while attending Otago Boys' High School set him on his musical path. Ken Bain playing the pipes in 2008. PHOTO: SUPPLIED However, farming and raising a family meant the pipes were put away for many years. It was not until Mr Bain and his late wife, Dawn, retired from their farm to Millers Flat that he began playing again. After tutoring from Roxburgh's kilted pharmacist, Alistair Forbes, who plays outside his shop every Friday afternoon, Mr Bain joined the Alexandra and Districts Pipe Band in 2002. "It was a dream come true," he said. For the next 23 years Mr Bain drove to Alexandra every week for band practice and spent many more hours travelling to perform. "I wore out a car with the travel," he quipped. Taking up the pipes again was hard as it was more difficult to memorise the music when he was older, he said. Presenting the life membership, pipe band secretary Barbara Blackler said Mr Bain was always ready with a joke or funny yarn. He was an enthusiastic member and always keen to put up his hand and be involved in a performance whether for the blossom festival, Anzac parades, fundraising or community events. Nominated drum major in 2021, a position he still holds, Mr Bain was also president in 2009-11. Mr Bain had always been very supportive of new members and had a vision for the future of the band, especially involving young people, Mrs Blackler said. He was also responsible for her holding the role as secretary. After so many years of driving an hour and a-half every week for practice Mr Bain now heads up the road every second week. "I've never been a great piper but I love it."
ABC News
01-06-2025
- Health
- ABC News
New research shows bullying a main factor behind self-harm thoughts for people with Tourette syndrome
WARNING: This story contains content about bullying and suicidal ideation. When Nita Ryan's son Anzac was just 10 years old, she heard him say the words every parent dreads — and a nation-first study has found the experience is alarmingly common. "Anzac came to his teacher and us and told us at one point that he did not want to be here anymore," Ms Ryan said. "He just wanted his tics to stop." Anzac, 11, lives with Tourette syndrome, a neurological condition which causes involuntary movements and vocalisations, known as tics. A new report by the Kids Research Institute Australia and the University of New South Wales found one in two children with a tic-related disorder have thought about ending their life. The rates of attempted suicide in children and adults with the condition are five times the national average. The Impact for Tourette's research project found bullying, discrimination and a lack of understanding were some of the main contributing factors to emotional distress. Anzac lives with at least 20 different tics and recently had to move schools after "severe" bullying led him to an overwhelming sense of helplessness. "[It was] horrific. A 10-year-old should never have to feel that. A 10-year-old shouldn't know what that is," his mum Ms Ryan said. "We had a few incidents where he was actually followed to our car to get picked up and he was pushed and hit." The move was the best decision the family made, but now in grade six, Anzac is worried about the future. "I don't feel teased at my school right now … I feel like when I go to high school I might be left out or in a lot of trouble," Anzac said. "Staying with my family makes me feel safe and nothing can happen to me. "[At school] it's hard to feel safe and it's hard to learn sometimes. "It's like a curse and it's a severe condition that isn't fixable." About 1 per cent of children live with Tourette syndrome in Australia and along with the social stigma, the healthcare sector is also lagging. The report evaluated systemic issues across the healthcare, education, employment and mental health sectors and found challenges across the board. It made seven recommendations to the industries to improve the treatment and management of Tourette syndrome. Senior research fellow and report co-author, Dr Melissa Licari , said one of the key recommendations was to establish a national clinical guideline for diagnosis and treatment. "After they're diagnosed, there's no services available in terms of providing the therapies and treatments that they need and also the support that they might need in the community as well," Dr Licari said. "There also needs to be training and resources available for healthcare professions, for educators and also employees." Despite being severe and common, Tourette syndrome has not garnered the same attention as other disorders. Ms Ryan said Anzac also has an autism spectrum disorder and said the difference in response to the diagnosis was astounding. "When he was diagnosed with autism, we were given all of this information … here is all of the specialists that can help you, here's all of the therapies that can help you," she said. The research also found only one in 20 people have access to NDIS funding and on his third attempt of medication, Anzac's medical bills have added up. "Everything we do, we have to do privately and pay," Ms Ryan said. "It's extremely hard, especially if he's crying in pain. You can't do anything. There's nothing anyone can do."
The Age
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Age
Pâté twice in a day: What a dietitian thinks of this food regime
This story is part of the June 1 edition of Sunday Life. See all 14 stories. Gideon Obarzanek is a choreographer and director. The 58-year-old shares his day on a plate. 7am Tea with milk in bed looking out the window and checking overnight news and emails. 8am Breakfast is a double espresso with oat milk. Homemade muesli with Greek yoghurt, oat milk, freshly cut yellow grapefruit and persimmon. 1pm Lunch is liverwurst with dill pickles on two pieces of seeded sourdough toast. Tea with milk and one homemade Anzac biscuit. 5.30pm One non-alcoholic beer, one glass of white wine, cheese, pate, pickled fennel and crackers. 7pm Dinner tonight is roast lamb shoulder, roast potatoes and carrots. Plus a Greek salad and two glasses of red wine. 10pm Before heading to bed I have a non-caffeine herbal tea and a piece of homemade pear and ginger cake. Dr Joanna McMillan says
Sydney Morning Herald
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Sydney Morning Herald
Pâté twice in a day: What a dietitian thinks of this food regime
This story is part of the June 1 edition of Sunday Life. See all 14 stories. Gideon Obarzanek is a choreographer and director. The 58-year-old shares his day on a plate. 7am Tea with milk in bed looking out the window and checking overnight news and emails. 8am Breakfast is a double espresso with oat milk. Homemade muesli with Greek yoghurt, oat milk, freshly cut yellow grapefruit and persimmon. 1pm Lunch is liverwurst with dill pickles on two pieces of seeded sourdough toast. Tea with milk and one homemade Anzac biscuit. 5.30pm One non-alcoholic beer, one glass of white wine, cheese, pate, pickled fennel and crackers. 7pm Dinner tonight is roast lamb shoulder, roast potatoes and carrots. Plus a Greek salad and two glasses of red wine. 10pm Before heading to bed I have a non-caffeine herbal tea and a piece of homemade pear and ginger cake. Dr Joanna McMillan says
