Saturday 9 June 2007

My night with David



I was supposed to post this yester night, but just couldn't, went to this random party. Ok, before anyone starts putting ideas in their head. The title shouldn't be taken directly. I'm just trying to be an attention seeker . Wondering if anyone knows David Suzuki (writer, broadcaster, environmental activist). Anyway, you might have come in contact with any of his works if you study in Canada. Well, it was an honour to listen to the 4th most important person in Canada speak. The guy was 71, and was still very active. The night which I expected to be filled with environmental talk, was exciting. I expected to hear about global warming, ozone depletion and stuff like that. But, I went to the centre where the show was being held. I got two free little tree plants, which I left at the ticket stand. Went into the very huge auditorium. I almost went 360 degrees round hoping to see anyone I know. Finally, I found someone I know. She was sitting with her friend. I was happy to see them, and she offered me to seat with them. I agreed to that and in a few minutes three girls walk up to the stage. They sang folk music which sounded like country(not a fan of that). After their rendition, a guy came out on stage. He talked about when he first met David Suzuki and how he was blown away by his speech. My friend and I went to the front seats so we could have a very good view. Then, David Suzuki smartly walks up to the stage. Everyone stood up to give him a standing ovation. He jokingly said that the audience shouldn't do that yet, but after his speech. He said he was going to talk more about his personal life, wich some people really didn't like. He started the speech by talking about his background living as a Canadian japanese boy with parents who were of Japanese descent but where born in Canada. He talked about the struggles they faced for not being white. They had to move from camps to another, lost their property, lived very poorly. Slides of his early life where shown. He made me laugh my head off when he told the joke of him reaching puberty. According to him he was so horny and wanted a girlfriend desperately. But, his father wanted him to get a Japanese girl, but David said there were only 10 Japanese girls in the camp and three were his sisters. His father recommended chinese, but David couln't get a Chinese girl. His fahter also recommended a Native American(red Indian) girl, but that couldn't work since the natives stayed in another reserve. His father told him to get a black girl then, but there was only one black girl, which David was sure didn't like him. Then his dad recommended a Jewish girl and didn't want any white english girl. But finally he got married to an asian woman (chinese I think). Soon, he "knocked her up"lol. He went on to talk about how he was an assistant professor and was so engrossed in his work, that his marriage crumbled. He shared complete custody of his children. After narrating on his family, he talked about his show "nature of things" . Also, he spoke on how he met his second wife. This time she was a white woman who made him make a good speech. After dating and everything, he got married to her. They both were actively involved in protesting against environmental degradation. They went to Brazil, where the natives were fighting against logging of the amazon trees. He narrated the story of how the natives had gathered to protest against logging and where told by the leader of the loggers that they were going to cut the trees and destroy their houses, but money would be given to them. One of the protesters who was native on hearing this, rebuked the native men as not being warriors they claim they were. She was so angry that she slapped the leader with a machet. The soldiers who were there suddenly corked their guns and aimed at everyone. David Suzuki said he was extremely petrified. After all the fiasco, the native people won and the trees which existed even before Columbus arrived the new world were saved. The woman in particular was wanted and was going to be killed. And it wasn't an issue to kill a native Indian in Brazil at that time. After much delibrations by David Suzuki and his crew, the woman and her children were takken to Canada, where they were promised that a plane will be hired to take them back to their home. The native woman and David Suzuki's family formed a bond together. It was the relationship between these families that inspired David Suzuki's daughter to set up a foundation called ECO (environmental childrens association). Severn Suzuki, David's daughter, through her foundation raised 14,000$ and these were just 13-14 year old children. Here is a clip on her speech in rio de janerio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g8cmWZOX8Q . It was very thought provoking. David Suzuki's speech was hilarious, yet, he spoke about his personal life infusing it with issues on the environment.




in the hippie phase of his life. lol GUYS LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS. ANY

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good thing u had fun. Though i dont know David Suzuki, its obvious that he's done quite a lot of positive things.

Lol, @ ur comment on my blog, so u have a horrible voice, wait till u hear mine................am sure its horribler(if there's a word like that ), hehehe. Jst make sure u participate by voting or sth. It shld be good fun.

Naijadude said...

Well I am quite jealous I havent listened to that man talk. I read about him, as I know he's quite a genius. I think he was nominated for the Nobel Prize, unfortunately homeboy didnt win , ooh well!

Do u live in Vancouver? mah bad, I havent been much active on blogger thats why U didnt see my brakelight on ur blog, yeah I bookmarked you, shld be coming here often!!

How are u enjoying the summer so far?

Anonymous said...

Good post dude.

Mamarita said...

I love David Suzuki, I've heard him speak on TV and I had a teacher in high school who was seriously obsessed with him. She's British Canadian and she talked to me about 2 things while I was in high school, David Suzuki and Nigeria. She loved them both almost equally :)

Anonymous said...

david suzuki is a genius
severn is absolutely gorgeous. i wish i knew the suzuki's in person, just watching their television programs and reading their articles is so inspiring.