Clifford
The Big Red Blog

Skydiving

“GET ON YOUR KNEES.” 

These are words you never want to hear from a man behind you. I had been sitting on my butt up to that point, nestled into the young stubbled Australian, his legs on either side of me. It was a confusing, yet also comforting time, knowing that he had done this before. As the plane continued to gain altitude my heart continued to sink deep into my gut. 

The distraction was that we were filming a promotional video for the city of Abbotsford, British Columbia, and our emotional projection was to be that of excitement and euphoria. 

ABBOTSFORWARD: the city’s official community plan. Stay here. Move Here. Build your business and family here. 

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Han was not Solo

Friendship and kindness and serving others will ultimately save the galaxy (I'd stop reading if I was you).

I served at the Abbotsford Food Bank as their Community Development Fella for a few years. It took me a little bit to get over the stigma that went with my name tag. I was the guy who wanted your money and time and also, I wanted your money. I felt like a mafia member walking into the bakery to collect my 'tax'. "No pressure on giving a donation, but I would hate it if anything 'bad' would happen to you and your nice shop here". Not menacing at all. (Note: I never threatened anyone).

To be honest, I did not love my role at first because I was not sure how to get over my sense of 'douchey-ness'. 

But then, watching Star Wars Episode IV: the New Hope, my good pal Han Solo gave me a clue. Seriously.

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Abbotsforward & Buddy Guys Forward

Most of you have never heard of the Buddy Guys. Re-Cap: we pitched a show to the CBC/ComedyCoup and it crushed! (but it did not crush enough to win all the beans.)

Ever since the glory days of working as a crew, Cassiar Mediaworks, Sunee Dhaliwal and I have longed to 'make something happen'... but who would pay for our desire to play.  

Thankfully Adam (Cassiar) had the perfect pitch for the perfect moment for the perfect organization and BOOM!

Abbotsford is GROWING and we wanted to tell newcomers that we are getting ready for them, all the while reminding current citizens that what we have is already great and it's just gonna get better. Abbotsford is moving forward and investors and business owners and home buyers and families and new immigrants should jump on this bicycle built for YOU (Too much cheese? Even so, we have the wineries to match).

Needless to say, our project took off (well, maybe we did need to say it, because who could have known). 

WATCH THE VIDEO NOW

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40 is Funny: Funeral and Fundraiser

My dear friend, Scott Campbell, and I share a birth year, wedding year, several years of touring comedy, and we also share a weird sense of humour. Scott's B-Day is in April and I don't officially turn 40 until November 2nd, BUT, we had a party on June 22 nonetheless. In honour of our history and bond we wanted to celebrate our lives by throwing an epic party & comedy show that could not be done any other way than as a funeral.

That took a dark turn. There's more...

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Valley Vision

May 6th 2015 was a great day.  

From 7:45am - 3:45pm I emcee'd LeaderCast 2016 at the Highstreet Cinemas and heard a lot about visionary leadership from amazing speakers, teachers and business leaders. 

From 7:30pm - 10:00pm I participated and performed in the Fraser Valley Comedy 1 year anniversary show and I saw visionary leadership in action. YO TRIEU, a local coffee rep, has translated his love for comedy into a successful comedy scene and he has dragged me along for ride.

This post is the coupling with what I learned during the day, with what I have seen exemplified through working with YO this past year. 

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Help me Ronda

People often ask me who my favourite comedian is. Ellen is at the top of my list. She is obviously funny, positive, and beyond the delight that she brings to her audience, she also uses her platform to do good. 

People don't ask me what my favorite sport to watch is. That is a good thing, because if they did, I would need to confess that it is MMA. In particular, like millions of others, I have followed the rise, dominance and humiliating fall of Rowdy Ronda Rousey. She boasted, she taunted and she got knocked out hard. As an audience member, I chalked it all up to good entertainment and loved all the nuances of the showmanship. However, as a person, I couldn't help but 'feel' for what she must be experiencing on an emotional level.

In the same way that you are human, athletes and entertainers are also human. "Yeah, well, they chose the spotlight, so we can say whatever we want". Uhm... not sure they chose the spotlight. That said, they did choose a pursuit that required unbelievable discipline and work ethic that led them to ridiculous success and as a by-product they were put in the spotlight because we are desperate to watch and live vicariously through what most of us don't have the courage to attempt or wherewithal to achieve. So, yeah, you are allowed to say whatever you want, but... you get it, right? People. We are all people. With feelings.

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