Dan's shoes helping Haiti

Dan.JPGDan Widdowson is part of the breakfast radio team on Sydney’s 103.2 but he’s probably best known around the rest of the country as being one of the hosts of Channel Seven’s Saturday Disney from 2000 until the beginning of last year.

Dan and I were part of the team that traveled with Compassion Australia to Haiti and the Dominican Republic in April this year.

Dan’s smelly old Converse shoes weren’t looking too good back in April and they’ve completely fallen apart now – but that won’t stop Dan from finding a new use for them.

He joined me on the phone from Sydney this morning on 98.5 Sonshine FM.

Dan tells the story of his old favourites.

So here’s how it began. My wife announced that I was no longer to wear my favorite pair of shoes. Just like that, my most loved item of clothing I have ever owned was to be thrown out! After begging and pleading for a good ten minutes, I convinced her to let me have a “Good-bye shoe day.”

It was on this “Good-bye shoe day”, October 9th, that I realized I did not have the courage or will power to throw the shoes out… so whilst on air I tore them to pieces in a loving farewell moment. It was at that very moment that the smell hit, to call it, “heaps bad” would be an understatement. It was truly rotten.

The next obvious step was to place the stinky broken shoes in Rays office. Ray didn’t find this very funny. Fair enough. However, once he got past that angry outburst and the vein in his forehead died down, he suggested I auction off the shoes to raise funds for a cause that is close to all our hearts here at the station… children in Haiti.

So now my shoes are on ebay and you are welcome to bid. They’d make a great… umm… you could use them for… er… ok, they’re useless, but you can help the beautiful children in Haiti by bidding!

So, if you want to help some children in Haiti and grab yourself some old smelly shoes, just head to Dan’s eBay listing for the shoes and get bidding. At the time of posting the bid was $516.

If you want to hear us reminiscing about our trip to Haiti as well as talking about the shoes, just click play on the audio player at the bottom of this post.

[audio:http://mpegmedia.sonshinefm.ws/feeds/MOR171008_1108.mp3]

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Cinderella on Ice

Cinderella.jpgAmazing.

It’s hard to find the words to describe the Imperial Ice Stars production of Cinderella on Ice. The athleticism, strength and skill of the skaters is beyond incredible.

Pauline and I saw the show on Wednesday evening and were thrilled by the performance. I had seen their Swan Lake on Ice a couple of years ago and so I knew some of what to expect but there were still plenty of surprises.

You can get a small taste of the show by watching this video.

While I have trouble even standing up in a pair of ice skates, these performers just keep adding to the degree of difficulty with their perfect triple flips, triple toe loops, double axels, death spirals, camel spins, Bielmanns, triple throw axels, awe-inspiring aerial gymnastics and their performance specialty of incredible lifts and lift sequences, as part of their unique style of theatre on ice.

I guess we should expect greatness from such a company with the Imperial Ice Stars boasting 25 World, European and National Championship skaters who between them have won over 200 competition medals.

The Imperial Ice Stars is comprised of the cream of Russian skating talent, the majority having been coached and schooled by Russia’s leading coaches, and some from as early as 4 years of age.

Their amazing feats are made even more spectacular by the fact that their ‘ice rink’ is only the size of a theatre stage.

More than two million people across five continents have been swept to their feet by The Imperial Ice Stars’ adrenaline-infused performances. The Imperial Ice Stars have performed at many of the world’s most prestigious venues, from Sadler’s Wells in London’s West End to the Esplanade Theatre in Singapore, and from Montreal’s Place des Arts to Moscow’s Red Square.

The Imperial Ice Stars specialise in performing theatrical ice skating in the intimacy of the theatre. Synonymous with innovation in the skating world, The Imperial Ice Stars are renowned for their daring on the ice and unique style of story-telling.

Cinderella on Ice, their third production, continues to break new ground in the genre of ice dancing. Stunning skating feats, some only seen in Olympic arenas and some never seen before, are performed within the confines of a frozen theatre stage, including breathtaking high speed throws and incredible lifts and lift sequences.

If you ever get the opportunity to see any performances by the Imperial Ice Stars I suggest you grab that opportunity with both hands.



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