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If you?re finally going to set the bar a little higher, you may as well set it 370 kilometres higher.
That?s the orbit at which the Calgary Stampede?s next parade marshal is currently flying around the earth, Cmdr. Chris Hadfield having accepted an offer to lead this July?s festivities.
?I would be THRILLED to be the Stampede Parade Marshall! A great reason to come back to Earth!? was the tweet literally heard around the world, after Hadfield sent a message from space to Earth?s social media network, saying yes.
It?s a major score for an important city event, so recently troubled by tedious, lack-lustre parade leaders.
Hadfield is a Canadian icon, who happens to be interesting, inspiring and actually relevant to 2013 ? just as he was relevant in 2001, when the then space-shuttle astronaut led the Stampede?s parade for the first time.
He?ll make for an excellent parade marshal, one that impressed parents might actually point out to their children as the astronaut rides by ? and that makes Hadfield a pretty rare commodity among recent parade bosses.
By finally shooting for the stars, the Calgary Stampede has landed a good one ? completing a turn-around started back in 2011 when Man in Motion Rick Hansen was awarded the parade?s helm.
Hansen wasn?t exactly awe-inspiring either, but the wheelchair hero was a massive improvement over the dismal duds that preceded him.
Last year?s choice of Ian Tyson was a slight hiccup ? the singing cowboy looked good on paper as marshall for the Stampede Centennial, but when it came to drumming up excitement, Tyson showed all the enthusiasm of a turnip, mumbling a few tired words about getting his horse ready. Yahoo, indeed.
But if Mr. Four Strong Winds was a bit of letdown, Hadfield promises to be a breath of fresh air.
The retired colonel and former CF-18 pilot, who was the first Canadian to fly an intercept of a Soviet Tupolev Tu-95 ?Bear? bomber, has used his current assignment to bring global attention to the space station, mainly through being really interesting.
The guitar-playing top gun recently led a live orbit-to-Earth video sing-along with thousands of young kids, featuring the Is Somebody Singing? song he co-wrote with Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies.
As well as music, there?s been photographs, a constant stream of fascinating tweets and some awesome experiments ? Hadfield?s video showing what happens when you wring a wet towel in zero gravity went viral and now has 7,325,784 views.
The moustachioed space man has somehow made the coolest job in the solar system seem even cooler, while proving himself a very chill commander under stress.
On Thursday, just as the Stampede was celebrating it?s best marshal in at least a decade, Hadfield was calmly reporting a critical ammonia leak aboard the station, potentially threatening power generation.
?It is a serious situation, but between crew and experts on the ground, it appears to have been stabilized. Tomorrow we find out for certain,? he tweeted Thursday afternoon.
He?d used the same social media channel to accept the Stampede?s offer, having previously tweeted photos of Calgary from space.
Hopefully, the Stampede holds this impressive trajectory for the foreseeable future.
Before Hansen, the Stampede was in a crater when it came to marshals, choosing C-grade reality-show contestants and a string of charisma-challenged semi-celebrities to fill boots once worn by prime ministers, movie stars and monarchs.
Jet and Cord McCoy, both Amazing Race contestants, exhausted their 15-minutes of fame even before leading the show in 2010, while the quartet of fund-raising skateboarders given the honour in 2007 was surely the Stampede scraping the barrel of relevance.
Hadfield is a timely Canadian icon ? and the perfect of example of how high the Stampede must aim, if it really wants to be the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.
michael.platt@sunmedia.ca
On Twitter: @SUNMichaelPlatt?
What do you think of the choice of Commander Chris Hadfield as Stampede parade marshal?
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