Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
And hello there, Peter Mansbridge here. You're just moments away from the latest episode of The Bridge. It's Thursday, that means your turn. And can you believe what we're talking about today?
Chapter 2: What superstitions are discussed in this episode?
Superstitions. That's right. Coming right up. Okay, so how did we get around to talking about superstitions today? Well... It was one of those decisions that we decided over last weekend. You know, the agenda's been pretty heavy for the last, well, at least the last year, whether it's elections or fights with Donald Trump or whatever. How about lowering the temperature?
Why don't we just have one week where we can have fun? So the question was, and we primed it by telling you a couple of stories about superstitions of, I mean, we are in the Stanley Cup playoffs, superstitions that some famous hockey players have. Like Bob Yor didn't wear socks. Sidney Crosby won't talk to his mother on game day. Those kind of things. So the idea was, what are your superstitions?
Now, we had a limited time because this is a short week, right? We had a limited time to get your entries. But nevertheless, you sent some in. We're going to get to them, but I want to give you some famous ones too. First of all, Pablo Picasso. Picasso, really hear what his superstition was. He refused to throw away his old clothes, his hair trimmings, or his... Yikes, this is bad.
He refused to throw away his fingernail clippings. All of that out of a deep-seated fear that losing them would mean losing his creative essence. No, really. I don't know, I'll never look at a Picasso the same way. Just wondering whether there are any fingernail clippings in there buried under the paint. Coco Chanel, iconic fashion designer, also lived with a duke in Scotland.
They built a kind of a modern day castle. up in the highlands, not far from where we have our little place that we escape to every once in a while. It's not a castle, but I've been out to where Coco Chanel lived, and it's in ruins now. There's nobody there. It's all boarded up, but it's spectacular, and it's a beautiful part of the highlands.
You know, the hills in the background, there's a little river running in front of it. I've walked the grounds. It's, you know, one can only imagine the place. Now, Coco Chanel was, you know, a story in herself. And if you don't know her story, look it up because it's fascinating. Anyway, she was an iconic fashion designer, right?
She always wore a specific number of pearl strands and strictly refused to launch any of her new collections on a Friday. She wouldn't do that. She wouldn't launch a new show of her clothes, her designs, on a Friday. Alfred Hitchcock, the movie television director, master of suspense. He had an intense phobia of eggs and would completely refuse to eat them or even have them in his presence.
God, I love eggs. Love eggs. Hitchcock didn't. Okay, some more modern ones. Taylor Swift. She's obsessed with the number 13. She weaves it into her career milestones, award seating, and music releases. Keith Richards, Rolling Stones. This is good. This is a good one.
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Chapter 3: How do famous athletes incorporate superstitions into their routines?
I didn't know this, never heard this, and I will never look at Keith Richards in concert the same way again. And I've been to a few Stones concerts, and they're... They're still, like, whatever it is, they're now in their 80s. It's still quite something. Anyway, Keith Richards requires a shepherd's pie at every show. And he fiercely insists that he be the first person to cut into the pie's crust.
Now, tell me you won't look at Keith Richards differently now. A few more sports figures. Serena Williams. She relies on the same pair of socks throughout an entire tournament and makes sure to bounce the ball exactly five times before her very first serve. Okay, like she does wash the socks, right, between each game? Let's hope so. Michael Jordan. Okay, we all remember Michael Jordan.
Incredible NBA career. Legendary athlete would wear his old UNC, University of North Carolina, college practice shorts underneath his official Chicago Bulls uniform for good luck. Really? Now, when you watch those highlights of Bulls games, You look at that differently too.
Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple, was known to walk barefoot around the Apple grounds, company grounds, and consistently wore the same, exact same, black turtleneck and jeans to simplify his routine and embrace mindfulness. Now, this is like the sock story on Serena Williams. Does this mean that he wore the actual same black turtleneck and the same pair of jeans every day?
He must have washed them occasionally. Okay, here's the last one before we get to yours. Harry Truman, okay, former president of the United States. He became president. I guess it would have been April of 1945 when FDR passed away. So Harry Truman was president when the war in Europe ended. Harry Truman was president when the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
He kept horseshoes close at hand. Excuse me. Going so far as to install a horseshoe pitch outside the Oval Office and mount one over his office door for good luck. That used to be a big deal. You used to see horseshoes in a lot of different places. And they was often over a doorway.
Okay.
I don't know. Maybe you still do. I just haven't seen any. But Harry Truman believed in horseshoes. Okay? So there's a little history for you. Okay, we're going to get to yours. As I've said before on more than one occasion... my friend, colleague, and co-author of a number of books, including one that comes out this fall, The Noble Profession. It's a book about teachers.
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Chapter 4: What are some unusual superstitions of famous artists and celebrities?
It's a tribute to teachers, really. And you're going to want it. I showed you on my feed the... Cover, the book cover. It's not coming out until November, so there's no access to the book yet. You can pre-order through the publishers, Simon & Schuster, and we're happy to take your pre-orders on that because there will be a rush on them when they come out in November, right, just before Christmas.
So you want to get your order in early. Hint, hint. Anyway, Mark... who helps me go through these letters every week, sent me a note saying, you know, because it was a short week, we have time. Let me tell you about one of my mother's superstitions. This is Mark's mother. So here's his letter. That's his first letter to your turn. But he has every right to. Why not?
My mother was very superstitious. She must have learned them from her mother, who was born in Eastern Europe in the late 19th century. For example, she always insisted that there be a red ribbon on a baby's carriage and crib to ward off evil spirits. but the nuttiest one had to do with sewing.
If she noticed a loose button on a shirt I was wearing to school, she'd want to sew it tight before I left the house. We'd be in a hurry, so she would do it while I wore the shirt. But she insisted that while she sewed, I had to put my finger in my mouth so she wouldn't sew up my brain. I'd protest that it was crazy. but she wouldn't fix a button unless I complied. Nice.
Rory Richardson writes from Calgary. My superstition is that if I'm thinking about a big game or an election the night before, and I wake up calm and peaceful, it's a sign that my team or the party I voted for is going to lose. Here's hoping for restless nights ahead. Go Habs, go. Well, not first Habs games tonight. It's Carolina. Should be interesting. Constance Menzies.
She's usually in Manitoba, but for some reason she's writing this week from Vancouver Island. Though maybe not a superstition per se, I must have everything in order before I start any project. My desk, kitchen, sink, dishwasher, my car, my laundry, and closet before I dress. My shop kitchen, and so on. Even here in our cottage rental on the ocean. Keeps me sane and organized.
You know, I kind of hinted the other day at what my superstition is. It's funny. It used to be when I was doing the national and big specials, election nights and things like that, the last thing I'd do before I'd leave either my house or my apartment or the hotel I might be in, before I went to the studio...
I would get to the door, open the door, turn around and look back in to the room and try to imagine the room in that moment exactly as I saw it and remembered it so I would see it again when I came back later that night. And for some reason, I felt that gave me good luck. It's a superstition, but it gave me good luck that it would be a good show. And if I forgot...
I might be halfway to the studio, and I turn around, come back, and do it just to maintain that. I did that for years and years and years, and I still do it now when I have a speech. You know, and whether it's in my hometown or whether it's on the road, I still do the same thing in a hotel room. Don't know why. Don't know how it started. It just started. Well, guess who's writing?
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