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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 13, 2013 21:13:23 GMT -8
After years of starting my daily walk from my front door, I decided to change it up - I crossed the street! It's amazing what a difference 10 yards makes in changing one's perspective of things. There are philosophical lessons to be gleaned from this - I'm sure of it.
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Post by Joyce on Jul 15, 2013 19:17:24 GMT -8
As fans of the Winter Olympics, I think most of us were aware of the Kevin Pearce accident before Vancouver. He has a documentary film out that debuted at the recent Sundance Film Festival - The Crash Reel. I looked for the film without success and fortunately for me, it premiered on HBO tonight! Watching it now!
Fascinating film that I would recommend. For my taste I would have preferred a bit more editing, and the chronology of his snowboard career at the beginning was a bit frenzied - but most is superb. Such an extraordinary and intelligent family, his brother David is unbelievable, and his parents are a dream. It is such a realistic and honest portrait of Kevin's journey with his TBI. His family seemed very comfortable with cameras around, and the family dinners were so intimate. Quite a bit of Shawn White footage as he and Kevin were friends from a young age.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 15, 2013 22:30:56 GMT -8
I don't subscribe to HBO  but I've been very interested in Kevin's story. This is one of those cases where I'm inclined to say that "things happen for a reason". Kevin's greatest accomplishment may not have been winning a medal in the Olympics, but in inspiring others to persevere in the face of incredible adversity. |
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Post by Joyce on Jul 16, 2013 2:20:19 GMT -8
Try and look for it on Netflix Lori, you will appreciate the "issues" it brings up. Kevin is still on his journey and while we see a very content and articulate young man, there are still many residual problems to deal with. The Shawn White parts were very telling! Don't want to give too much away. His cousin was involved in the production of the film, and Kevin and his Mom are doing some promotion - they were on the NBC Evening News yesterday.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 16, 2013 13:41:10 GMT -8
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Post by Joyce on Jul 16, 2013 18:29:36 GMT -8
I don't have Netflix either but thought everyone else did!! LOL!
Thanks for the link to that great article - Kevin was quite eloquent in describing the "Reality/Perception" challenges that face the brain injured. The whole film was of a similar depth and tone. The Pearce Family is such an exception to the rule, so much class and dignity in their approach to what life throws at them. I want you to meet this family Lori!! Hope this film comes to you in some way as it did for me! Going to buy that "brain bowl".
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 16, 2013 21:27:32 GMT -8
In re-reading this article, the very title itself is inspiring. We're so conditioned to say, "The Rise and Fall" of (whatever). I love that it's called "The Fall and Rise" - very appropriate.
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Post by Joyce on Jul 17, 2013 2:11:58 GMT -8
General Non-Skating Chat
Everyone who has seen the film has fallen in love with Kevin's brother David - who says "I don't have Downs Syndrome, I have Up Syndrome!" The films' most poignant moments usually involved David.
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Post by mtnme on Jul 17, 2013 17:41:22 GMT -8
Here's another article from Outside Magazine on Kevin. "In her latest documentary, The Crash Reel, which airs on HBO in July, two-time Academy Award nominee Lucy Walker opens a door into the life of former pro snowboarder Kevin Pearce as he recovers from traumatic brain injury (TBI). Think of it as the rise, fall, and brutally slow reinvention of a sweet kid who could be your son, nephew, brother, or best Frend (as Pearce’s crew referred to one another). If you can watch it without tearing up, you’re a harder man than I."Read the rest here: www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/media/film/Head-Shot-Life-After-a-Brain-Trauma-Caught-on-Film.html?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=facebookpost After the fall: Pearce in 2011 Photo: Andrew Hetherington Here's another article from last year from Outside Magazine: Thursday, May 05, 2011 Some Reassembly Required (Gotta love the title) "Five days before the 2010 Olympic snowboarding trials, Kevin Pearce slammed his head on a rock-hard wall of halfpipe, suffering severe brain trauma that flipped the script of his life. A return to competition is out of the question--he's had to relearn how to walk and talk--but that's not enough to keep him off the mountain." Read the rest here: www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/athletes/Some-Reassembly-Required.htmlAnd here's a facebook page on Kevin that has some earlier articles. (I was following one on FB by his family, but it seems to have disappeared) www.facebook.com/pages/Kevin-Pearce/67481367688 |
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Post by Joyce on Jul 18, 2013 8:29:16 GMT -8
Thanks Michelle for these articles, the "Outside" writers did a great job! I have taken care of patients like Kevin in our Neuro ICU - and I really think we have the easier job as compared to the family members and rehab staff that come after us!
Crash Reel has a FB page - with a link to a great interview with the director - Lucy Walker. She makes documentary films and as I love documentaries, I will be looking for more of her work. She seems to be quite special and the perfect person to tell Kevin's story.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 21, 2013 23:52:06 GMT -8
A gentle RAIN in SoCal. In July! Transformer exploded behind our house, probably as 'shocked' (pun intended) as I was about the precipitation... the lights flickered and I had to restart the TV. No doubt there are dozens of motorists who tried to beat that left turn signal on an oil-slicked road that hasn't seen rain in months - finding themselves facing East when they wanted to go West and thinking WTH? I can't help but chuckle at the fallout from this 'extreme' weather event...
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 29, 2013 20:00:33 GMT -8
I'm 'collecting' some things to post - I hope I'll get to it tomorrow. We've been traveling...
It started out as a weekend trip to SFO to see old friends (which we did). The original plan was to go home today - but 1300 miles later, I'm sitting in Vernal UT where Larry is subbing as a coach for our town's team in the Regional Baseball Tournament. We rolled into town with a couple hours to spare - beat Central Cal 5-2, play Arizona tomorrow.
In our mad dash here from SFO, we took The Loneliest Road in America, and crashed last night in Ely, NV at the historic Nevada Hotel - 'cool little one-horse town with rooms in the hotel that fit the period. We stayed in the Jimmy Stewart room - he and other notables such as Lyndon Johnson, Stephen King, Ingrid Bergman and many other celebrities have stayed there in the past.
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Jul 31, 2013 20:36:04 GMT -8
It's been a crazy (and wonderful) week of baseball at the Pacific Southwest Regionals in Utah. We beat the Northern California team 5-2 on Monday, then last night we beat Arizona (15-3) in a game that started at 10:15pm, and didn't end 'till after midnight! We beat Southern Utah today, 10-0, which means that we've LOCKED UP FIRST PLACE in our pool! We have a game tomorrow against one of the weaker teams - though we'll be playing to win tomorrow, our next big challenge (that could determine our future) will be a semifinal game on Saturday against #2 in the other pool - the winner plays a second game on Saturday for the championship. Sorry - I'm distracted! Not much time for posting ST news, but I'll get caught up soon!  I thought I'd have a lot of 'downtime' this week, but because Larry's one of the coaches I always get caught up in listening to them talk 'apres-game' (over a few beers, of course). The strategy, the game scouting, the back-stories... I LOVE IT, and I never tire of it. We're in an area of Utah with a heavy history of dinosaur archeology - so Dino-MITE!!! |
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 3, 2013 14:02:48 GMT -8
There are 3 flags still flying at the baseball field - and one of them is OURS! We said "Aloha" to Hawaii in a 10-9 nail biter! We play for the championship at 5pm this afternoon - against either Arizona or Northern California. (At this point in the AZ-CA game it looks like it may be an All-Cali final!)
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Post by Laura (Lori) on Aug 5, 2013 10:54:34 GMT -8
It's been a crazy couple of days - our Championship game against NorCal started out really tight. They started their best pitcher. We scored first, 1-0 after 1 inning (we left the bases loaded - missed opportunities). They tied it up in the 2nd. After 3 innings, we led 4-3. In the 4th inning, they brought in a new pitcher - we liked him better, and went up 7-3 (again, missing some runs by leaving the bases loaded). In the 5th, they used yet another pitcher. We started off with a home run and never stopped hitting. We won 13-3 by the 'mercy rule', and earned our ticket to the World Series! Never underestimate the value of 'scouting'. We knew that NorCal's pitcher loved to throw high fastballs. Hawaii lost to them because they couldn't hit 'em, and couldn't lay off 'em. We used that info to our advantage in both games... against Hawaii, we threw lots of high fastballs - and against NorCal, we told our batters to lay off of anything high. NorCal's pitcher threw a slew of 'em, but we weren't 'biting'. He walked us over and over - we wore him out... and thankfully, they weren't as 'deep' in pitching as we were! We're finally home - Los Angeles - San Francisco - Vernal, UT - Los Angeles - 2600 miles of driving - 11 days - 6 states (including 2 as 'tourists'). Now we have a dilemma - the World Series is in North Dakota, August 17-24. Guess what is also happening that week - August 22-25?  |
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but I've been very interested in Kevin's story. This is one of those cases where I'm inclined to say that "things happen for a reason". Kevin's greatest accomplishment may not have been winning a medal in the Olympics, but in inspiring others to persevere in the face of incredible adversity.
