May 15, 2025 • 39 mins
On this week's 5 Random Questions is Manisha Solomon, host & producer of the Archery Parent Podcast.
Manisha's topics include what makes her mad at birthdays, why you should celebrate dumb accomplishments, and more. Let's jump in!
Answering the questions this week: Manisha Solomon
Manisha is an Archery Mom, cyclist (gravel, particularly), and the host & producer of the Archery Parent Podcast. She has one dog named Milo, a Border Collie/Australian Shepherd mix who is the least herding herding dog you will ever meet.
@ArcheryParentPodcast on Instagram
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
If it were to happen nowadays,the scathing look of death that would
be sent towards the personthat thought it was a good idea.
Everybody would know.
Hi, and welcome to 5 RandoQuestions, the show where every question
is an adventure. I'm yourhost, Danny Brown, and each week
(00:21):
I'll be asking my guests fivequestions created by a random question
generator. The guest has noidea what the questions are and neither
do I, which means this couldgo either way. So sit back, relax,
and let's dive into thisweek's episode. Today's guest is
Manisha Solomon. Manisha is anarchery mom, cyclist (gravel in particular),
(00:41):
and the host and producer ofthe Archery Parent Podcast. She has
one dog named Milo, a bordercollie stroke Australian shepherd
mix, who, according toManisha, is the least herding, herding
dog you will ever meet. So,Manisha, welcome to 5 Rando Questions.
Thank you, Danny. I'm happy tobe here.
You're very welcome. And Ihave to say, this is the first time,
(01:02):
like my. We've got two kids,two teens, and they're very into
competitive sports. My son'sinto soccer, my daughter's into competitive
cheer. So my wife is alwaysknown as the soccer mom or the cheer
mom, but I've never comeacross an archer mom, which is very
cool when I saw that comethrough. And obviously you get a
podcast. So how did that come about?
Thank you. Yes, we archerymoms are far and few between because
(01:24):
archery is fairly limited. Theaccessibility is limited. It's not
like soccer fields orbasketball or even cheer, for example,
where there are fields orgymnasiums or clubs that are willing
to create a community. And so,yes, being an archery mom is different.
(01:45):
My son started archery in2014, sort of informally. And then
when the Pan Am Games came toToronto in 2020. Sorry, in 2015,
the spark was lit and fromthere he became a competitive archer
and is now on the Canadiannational recurve team for the men's
(02:07):
team. So it's been quite aclimb. And he is. He does represent
Canada in internationalevents. For 2024, he was an alternate
for the Canadian men's recurveteam for the Olympics.
That is very cool. I've everknown one other archer like a proper
(02:29):
archer, not watching TV ormovies or anything in my life. And
that's going back to when Iwas in Scotland as probably a mid
20 year old. And my friend whoworked at the local record store,
he was heavily into archer. Alittle bit older though, so it's
cool to see your son get intoan early age and Was it just an interest
that he saw on TV or at anevent or when he was. That got him
(02:51):
into it?
He has always been a dirt,mud, sticks kind of kid. And so he
used to make his own sort ofbow and arrows out of sticks. And
eventually he went intoprimitive skills and was a sort of
survival, survival wildernessinstructor. And archery just came
(03:12):
into that and has gripped him.And it is a passion and an.
Obsession for him that is verycool. And I do have to ask, before
we get into your randomquestions, which I'm looking forward
to, I do have to ask, Gam,have you seen the Hunger Games movies
with Jennifer Lawrence?
I have seen not all of them, honest.
(03:33):
Have you seen her use her bowand arrow?
Yes.
Her archery. What's her formlike? How do you feel? Her form is
as Katniss.
So what is interesting withKatniss, with the training that went
into the Hunger Games,especially the first one, an American
archer who at the time waspart of the US Olympic team. Her
(03:54):
name is Katuna Lorig. Her. Shewas actually hired or contracted
to be the assistant to teachJennifer Lawrence how to shoot. So
from what I hear her, her formand her skill is the most accurate.
However, you know, her, her itis still for a movie, right? So they
(04:18):
have a little bit of drama.They have a few different ways to
make it more exciting. But,yeah, it's not bad. I'll say.
Okay. So definitely it's morethan a possible attempt. It's a good
representation, hopefully, ofproper archery.
Yeah, it's not bad. Yeah.
All right. Well, speaking ofnot bad, ideally, and hopefully we
(04:41):
don't have any bad questionsfor you today. And so far, nobody's
come up with bad questions inall previous episodes. So keeping
this flow going. So, Manisha,are you ready for this episode's
five random questions?
I am.
Perfect. Let me just bring upthe random question generator and
we'll see what pops up. Okay.I feel. Well, it's not a bad one
(05:04):
to start it off. So, Manisha,question number one. What is one
of the great values thatguides your life?
I have a few, but one iseveryone has something to teach and
everyone has something tolearn. That. That's a pretty major
(05:26):
one for me. I go into lifethinking that I don't know everything.
Although, you know, as apodcaster, we're always supposed
to position ourselves as theexpert. However, even with archery,
my son has been in the archeryworld since 2014. I've been a mom,
an archery mom in the worldsince then. So just over 11 years.
(05:48):
But there is still so muchthat I have to learn.
And I can imagine, becauseobviously you've got your podcast
that it's about, you know, thearchery world, and it's not really
about what's kind of cool.It's not about archery per se. It's
about all the stuff around thearchery world that you showed about.
And I'm guessing each guestthat comes on that you mentioned,
(06:08):
you know, we don't knoweverything, have brought something
that maybe you've learned as acomplete out of the weird ballpark
that you never knew beforehanduntil that particular guest appeared.
Yes, and that's why I havethem on, especially when it comes
to technical aspects orequipment. That's not my thing. My
thing is the support of myarcher and the community. So having
(06:31):
other people on just makesthe. Makes the circle full. Right.
And is there anything thatyour son, either when he was first
learning and really gettinginto archery, or since obviously
he started to, you know, do itmore professionally, if you like,
into what he's doing now inthe Canadian scene that surprised,
(06:53):
maybe surprised you, becauseyou wouldn't have expected that coming
from your son, knowing himlike you do as his mum.
Well, my son has an incredibleability to absorb information and
organize it and present it insuch a way that that is really proves
(07:14):
what an amazing teacher,instructor, provider of information.
And I'm not really surprisedabout that. But what surprises me
is the amount of informationthat he just has in his brain. He
can answer questions that arejust shocking. And the detail and
(07:36):
the love that he relays withthis information astounds me every
single time.
It's. I feel that must be. Howold is your son, if you don't mind
me asking?
He's 25, actually.
25. So I feel that must be. Imean, as I mentioned, we've got two
teen kids, so a little bityounger, but I do feel that must
be, like, a skill that kidshave to just surprise us. Our son,
(07:58):
he loves soccer. It's why he'sgot a competitive player. And he's
grown up much like your son inthe last 10 years, just ensconced
in soccer, much like your sonis with archery. And the knowledge
that he just pumps out, he'llforget to brush his teeth, he'll
forget to, you know, do thechores that he knows he should be
doing each day. But if you askhim some random fact that he has
(08:20):
no right in knowing because ofhis age and because it was done years
before he was born, he willpull out. And it just. It blows my
mind where that comes from 100%.
I totally understand, I canrelate to. I understand that bafflement
that you experience as well.
(08:40):
Well, it's like you say, we'realways here to learn. And I feel
kids because, well, certainlystill they get to a certain age,
maybe they'll lose a littlebit of not naivety, but a little
bit of innocence about theworld after a certain age. I'm not
sure. I guess it dependsobviously on, you know, the person.
But I do feel that whilethey've got that really wide open
(09:00):
sponge like, you know, skillto take so much information and we
should really encourage thatto come out with them.
Definitely.
So I feel that was a nice oneto, to get in there. And as you say,
I completely, 100% agree. Weall need to be good listeners and
teachers as much as, you know,educators. So let's have a look and
see what question number twobrings up. I like this one. This
(09:25):
is, this is going to tell me alittle bit more about you, Manisha.
So question number two. Whatwas your best birthday?
I, in 2024, just turned 50 andI chose to go to New York City. I
have been many times. It is acity that I really love. I love experiencing
it. I love being there. Iguess as a monumental birthday, it
(09:51):
was a good one. I am someonewho does enjoy birthdays. I'm not
afraid to tell people my age.I'm not afraid to tell people when
my birthday is it. You knowwhat, I'm actually going to say that
any birthday is a goodbirthday. And it's just what I learn
(10:14):
from the previous decade.Going into the next decade. I think
the 40s were amazing and goinginto the 50s, I'm so looking forward
to it. So maybe when I turned50 last year, that was the best one
because it just brings forwardnewness and a confidence that just
(10:36):
comes with age and life. Andthat is what excites me about, about
birthdays. So I don't have onein particular, but just the fact
of a birthday is a good one.
Do you think it's because Iknow getting older myself, obviously
your mindset changes and howyou view maybe parts of life or parts
of the world or the worldaround you, as opposed to how you
(10:58):
did 10 years ago, 20 yearsago, etc. Do you think there's maybe
like a tipping point of an agein general where not like the light
switch gets flicked on orflicked off or whatever, but you
tend to just make thatrealization that, oh, I'm actually
looking at things verydifferently now.
I, I don't think so, not formyself, for other people. I mean
(11:21):
I know somebody who I thinkshe turned 28 four times. She was
turning 30, but she didn'twant to admit that. Whether she has
changed her perspective onthat now, I'm not really sure. But
I have always been someone whopeople may be underestimated because
(11:42):
I do tend to not and this isgoing to sound weird, but I tend
to not look my age. So Ialways would tell people that I'm
a year older in the sense ofso I'm 50. But I'm going to be telling
people this year that I'mgoing to be turning 51. It's just
something that I've alwaysdone. So I've always looked forward
to turning whatever age andbeing older. I there was never a
(12:07):
moment of a trigger ofchanging a life perspective or paradigm
for me.
And you, I mean you mentionedthat you enjoy birthdays and you
don't mind people knowing whenit's your birthday, etc. Have you
had surprise birthdays forother monumental occasions like maybe
your 40th or 30th? Or is thatsomething that people don't do because
it's not you alreadycelebrating? You're very open about
(12:30):
celebrating.
I despise birthday surprises.I despise surprises of any sort.
And I, I believe it was when Iturned 16, I think my mother had
a birthday party for meunexpectedly with my friends. Everybody
(12:52):
held it as a secret. Itinfuriated me and I, I absolutely
hate surprise birthdays.
Would you walk out at all?Would you still stay and just unhappily
go ahead with it?
If it were to happen nowadays,the scathing look of death that would
(13:13):
be sent towards the personthat thought it was a good idea,
everybody would know that itwas not. So I would probably placate
the situation, but there wouldprobably be words later, definitely
be consequences.
And I guess I mean normallybecause normally like surprise parties
(13:33):
are as you mentioned formilestone one. So 16, 18, 21, I guess
30, 40, 50, maybe 60, 65, I'mnot sure. So I guess like you say,
if people know, even if theydidn't know you as a teen when you
turn 16, if they tried sayonly 30 or 40 and they knew then
and it's going to be, I'dimagine roughly the same crowd, the
same community, the samecircle of friends, family, etc that
(13:54):
see other birthdays like yousay, they'd know, you know what,
we better not do that becausesomeone is going to be hurt.
Well, and that to me bafflesme is if you don't know that somebody
you care about really does notlike birthday surprises. Or if you
know that and you still do it,that is a huge breakdown in communication
(14:18):
and trust that I am not cool with.
No, I hear you. I am. I thinkI've only had one surprise party.
My wife organized that for mefor my 40th, and that was cool. I
didn't mind it at all. I'donly been in Canada. I'm gonna say
three, four years maybe. @that time we'd gone to Niagara Falls
and then she'd behind thescenes organized something for her
(14:39):
mom and friends, et cetera. Sothat was a nice surprise. But I feel,
especially as you get older,just the fright of it might just
sort of do something that Idon't want to happen at that time.
Yes, there's that too.
Well, we will certainly tryand keep the surprises to a minimum
here, but. Okay, so there yougo. If you're trying to organize
(15:00):
something as a surprise forManisha, top tip, don't. Just don't.
Don't do it. Let's have a lookthen at question number three. Oh,
I like this one because itkind of flips the script a little
bit on accomplishments. So,Manisha, question number three. What
dumb accomplishment are youmost proud of?
(15:22):
That's an interesting one.What dumb accomplishment? I don't
know if I have a dumbaccomplishment. I guess there are
accomplishments that I feelvery proud of that other people think
that are dumb. So, forexample, as a cyclist, it's very
(15:43):
common for me to just go outon my bike and cycle 150 or 160km
in one go. A lot of peoplethink that's just appalling or crazy
or dumb, I guess. But for me,I don't know. I don't know. That's
(16:05):
a good question.
It is. I do like it because asyou say, it does kind of flip it
a bit. Right. Because normallywe like to talk about our accomplishments
and recognize that it'sinteresting. You mention about the
cyclame, one of my previousguests, who I believe you know as
well, actually Toronto, Mike.Mike's Boone. He's obviously an avid
cyclist. He's always posting,you know, pictures on Instagram,
(16:26):
et cetera, of the areas he'svisiting in Toronto and he'll think
nothing of jumping on his bikeand, you know, as you mentioned,
go 60, 100 kilometers andthen, you know, that's his. That's
normal. Whereas, you know, anon biking person. I'm going to say
that because that's a politeway of saying extremely unfit person
like me. If I hear thatdistance, I'm thinking that would
(16:49):
be a distance to drive asopposed to, you know, psycho. I just,
yeah, I can't, I don't thinkit's dumb. I just can't wrap my head
around that distance. On a bike.
Yeah. And even when I, I do.So, for example, I live in Niagara
and I rode my bike to theBurlington Pier, which, and back,
which is when you're drivingdown the QEW over the skyway. It,
(17:14):
it really does resonate howfar that is, especially when you're
going back in the same day.So, yeah, it is even for me sometimes
a little shocking that I, thatmy body can do these things.
And for the listeners thatdon't know that distance. I used
to live in Burlington funenough before we moved up to, to
where we are now and we'd goto Niagara, man. It's not, it's like
(17:35):
maybe an hour, just under anhour in the car, but as you see on
the bike, it's a, I couldimagine a completely different ride.
And the skyway that Manishamentioned, there is a bridge that
leads into. Yeah, it's intoHamilton from Burlington. Hamilton's
a city in southeasternOntario, southeastern, southwest.
(17:57):
The, the skyway is on the westside of Lake Ontario that divides
the lake itself from the portof Hamilton. So it goes over that
and there is a lower bridgeand that's where you would ride your
bike. But from St. Catharinesto the Burlington Pier, which is
downtown near Spencer Smithpark, it is close to 70km. But because
(18:25):
you're on the road, that's asthe bird flies on the road. You know,
depending on your route, youcould go up to about 70 or 80 kilometers
one way. And then of course,some of us.
Choose to ride back in thesame day. And I know my friend over
in Chicago, she's a verycompetitive cyclist and she swears
(18:45):
by the cycling pants that shehas that has extra padding for your,
your bum area.
Oh, yes.
Because I feel like even justme biking down the street, I would
feel sore, you know, after 10minutes biking. But obviously you're
wearing proper gear and properpad and etc. So it's, it's not quite
as uncomfortable. It'sobviously a lot of work, but at least
(19:06):
the comfort factor is a bit better.
And you know, a lot of thoseof us who consider ourselves cyclists
and a long distance cyclist,we are not necessarily people that
have comfy seats. We have sortof aerodynamic or we have high performance
seats. So they're not cushy inany way. So you know, there is discomfort
(19:28):
that happens on these longtrips and yet we still choose to
do it.
And you mentioned obviouslywhen I was introducing you at the
start of the episode there,you've mentioned that you're particularly
a gravel cyclist. So what'sthe difference between say a gravel
cyclist and someone that doeslike road cycling or road biking
etc. And any other kind of cycle?
(19:49):
Yes. So it is actually a typeof bike. So my evolution of cycling
for many, many years I was amountain biker. For many, many years
I did triathlon. For manyyears I did road cycling and now
sort of graduated into gravelwhich a gravel bike looks closer
(20:10):
to a road bike because it willhave the, the rounded handlebars
opposed to the straight of amountain bike. But the structure
of the bike is actually gearedto. You could go on the same trails
as mountain biking. It is alighter bike. Quite often they're
swifter, if I'll use thatterminology. And so gravel is more,
(20:35):
you know, those railway,former railway trails that have been
naturalized. Or you could useit on the road. You can use it. It's
a very multi disciplinarybike. It's much more versatile than
say a mountain bike withthicker tires or a road bike with
thinner tires. So it is reallysomething that you can sort of conquest
(20:57):
all if you will.
You're right because I, I'maware of like you say like the mountain
bikes and you that they'resuch rough terrain, off road beasts
at times I watch a lot ofTikTok. I don't watch a lot of tiktoks.
I watch it when I'm bored andI scroll and I've got nothing else
to do and. But often I seethese, these GoPro first person viewpoints
of people on dirt bikes ormountain bikes, sorry going down
(21:21):
these really narrow, superfast, you know, through trees and
everything. Do you dosomething similar to that at times
with you off roading?
Not with ramps or like thecyclocross. I'm not into that. I
do enjoy not being injured mymountain bike days, you know, I was
definitely no fear and wouldnot really jump off things but I
(21:46):
had no fear for the type ofterrain. But now, you know, as you
get older, you don't reallywant to get hurt because it takes
a lot longer to heal from.
(23:02):
I hear you. I get hurt justwake up in the morning and get out
of bed. So I hear you. Navish.I'm all for that. So there you go.
Dumb accomplishment. Not quiteas dumb as, you know, dumb would
suggest. But I do like that.And as I say, kudos to anybody that
can go more than 10km on abike and not be out of breath and
tired. So 100% kudos to youthere, Manisha. So let's have a look
(23:26):
then at question number four.And this kind of ties back actually
to the early question or thefirst question we had to open up
the episode. So questionnumber four, Manisha, when was the
last time you changed youropinion about something major?
So with the upcoming Ontarioelection or federal election. Actually
(23:51):
I did ch I did change my mindon who I'm going to vote for because
although I am have been for avery long time a supporter of a particular
party, I decided to change whoI'm going to vote for. Which is for
me it matters a lot. Voting isvery important to me and changing
(24:18):
my mind on who I am going tovote for after voting this way for
a very long time. Yeah, is isdifferent. I it, there's a little
bit of emotion behind it, butI think that yeah, I'm doing it for
the purposes that I feel necessary.
(24:38):
It's interesting. I mean it'san interesting time in Canada and
the world I guess at theminute with everything that's going
on. But with our electioncoming up this year, we just had
one as you mentioned inOntario and now we've got the federal
one coming too. Do you evervote and you don't have to obviously
I completely respect yourprivacy when it comes to who and
why you vote, et cetera. Doyou ever vote strategically to keep
(24:58):
another party out? It mightnot be the vote you want to cast,
but that person has the bestchance to keep in the opposition
that you really don't want toget any power out of there.
So I, I am votingstrategically this year for this
vote, this election and.
I'm wondering how much the andI don't want to get too political.
(25:19):
This show is definitely not apolitical podcast and I rarely, you
know, talk politics. It popsup now and again like it just has
here. And that's all good butI'm wondering if the the current
situation with the U.S.administration, not the U.S. but
the U.S. administration, justto keep it crystal clear, has changed
(25:40):
a lot of minds as well as topeople that might have voted one
way previously but now won'tbecause they see one party as being
maybe the best place to standup more for Canadians interests.
I'm not sure how you feel onthat at all.
I believe that yes, that ishappening. I am someone that travels
into the US Quite A number oftimes per year. And I am hearing
(26:04):
from people, and I do have asignificant community. It is an archery
community that I travel for.It's very, very interesting to be
part of that community ofAmericans who are choosing to voice
their opinions to me aboutvarious things. And, yes, it is affecting
(26:26):
everybody across the board.
It will be interesting to see.And I feel we could probably put
a pin in that one. Icompletely understand and fully support
your. You know, you're keepingthat nice close to your chest, and
I would probably do the same.So let's move on. We're doing well
here. Let's move on toquestion number five. Okay, this
(26:48):
cannot be the one that yourpodcast is about. So, anyway, question
number five. Manisha, whattalent will you show off in a talent
show?
I can whistle reallyaccurately to songs. It's just something
even as a young person orhumming, like hum or whistle, that.
(27:10):
That's a weird, strangetalent. I guess I used to be many,
many years ago a singer, and Iwas part of a choir that actually
traveled around parts of theworld and music, although I cannot
sing anymore. Whistling. Yeah,you can put on a song that I know,
(27:33):
and I would actually be ableto, like, hit the high notes. Whistling.
It's weird.
And when you're whistling,because I know, like, some people
have got very different waysto whistle. My wife, I've got. I'm
a. I'm going to say astereotypical Brit. If you think
of British people, you think,okay, you've got bad food, bad teeth.
And I would say yes to both.So when I whistle, I can certainly
(27:56):
whistle without doing the Oshape. I can just sort of, as I'm
speaking now, my mouth waslike this shape, like rectangular.
I can just blow her throughand make a whistle that way. Is that
something when you'rewhistling, do you get the full on?
I'm going to get the big Ocoming here, the big. Oh, my mouth
shape and get that notes outthat way or.
Yeah, I guess so. I neverreally thought of it. What I cannot
(28:18):
do. Although I do boast aboutmy song whistling rather than lyrics
singing. I wish I could do youknow when people, like, whistle to
call out for somebody and it'sreally loud and it's vibrant, I cannot
do that. So I can. I canwhistle to a song, but not. Not anything
(28:40):
like that. No. Yeah, I guess.Yeah. Because it's all in. In the
physiology of how you whistleto be able to hit the different notes.
Right.
What's. It's funny. It's likeI always think of The. The Whistle
While youe Work. You know,song from the Snow White and Assume
Dwarf movie. That's the onethat I. I immediately think of when
you mention whistling. Ithought, oh, whistle while you work,
(29:01):
you know, so it's a. Youmentioned there that you can't do
like the. The call in one. Isit like a different. Because it's
not a tune or a song. Is itlike a different mindset or approach
then that?
No, I don't think I actuallyknow the process. I don't know. But
I think it's so cool whenpeople can do that. Not the fact
that they're actually callingsomebody, because that's always weird
(29:22):
too, but the fact that theycan do it and it's loud. I. I don't
know. I think it's a skill.
I. I know someone where welive, actually, we're like surrounded.
And you'd be similar to.Imagine being in a Yagra, surrounded
by, you know, water, nature,etc. And there's a neighbour. I'm
gonna say. I'm gonna sayneighbor. He's about 15, 20 minutes
(29:44):
away because it's like a ruralvillage we live in. But he's classed
as a neighbor. But he likes toconverse with the birds. And he can
also almost imitate to a Teach bird song or each bird that
appears. So you spring coming,you know what to expect. Spring disappears
and like the hummingbirds arestarting to go away and like other
birds are coming in, so you'llstart talking to them and it's cool
(30:05):
to see, you know, I'm superjealous, like you mentioned earlier,
you know. I don't know, isthat something you'd want to do or
are you more than happy withthe whistling of the tunes that you
have?
Yeah, it's just sort of mything. I. I'm, you know. Yeah, it's
just my thing. I'm not doingit for anyone or it's just me connecting
(30:26):
to the music.
Well, if you're up for it, ifyou. Because I know we. We met in
person last year actually, inCalgary at the POD Summit event.
And if you're up for it, Imean, if we. If you're going again
this year or a future eventthat we're at at the same time. My
party trick, not party trickas such, is playing any tune as long
as you know it with a pencilagainst my teeth. So I get the pencil
(30:49):
and I play it with my fingersand play the tune with my fingers
on this pencil. So if you wantto do a duet, we can do that as A
sort of icebreaker trick atour networking event or something.
Oh, that'd be funny. Okay,listeners, you hear it here first.
Danny and I, we're going onthe road. Our first gig will be at
YYC Pod Summit or Pod Summit.YYC coming up in. What is it, September?
(31:11):
I think it's September. Yeah,yeah. Third week September over in
Calgary and Alberta, Canada.
Okay, so I'll do themarketing, you do the merch.
Yeah, sounds good. We'll getTim. Tim, the founder. He can get
on that as well. Get some likeMIA in there.
Yes, that's funny.
Awesome. Well, Manisha, wehave survived. We. You've done all
the hard work. You've survivedthe five random questions. Hot seat.
(31:33):
As is only fair for everyguest because I put you on a spot
for the last 30, 35 minutes orso, it is now your turn to put me
in a hot seat and throw yourrandom question at me.
So, Dani, one of the questionsthat I often ask for as a resource
for parents because my podcastis the archery Parent podcast. One
(31:54):
question that I ask manypeople, whether it be a coach, archers
themselves, or archeryparents, is if there is one thing
that you could tell anotherparent. So I'm saying this because
you've got two athletes inyour home, so you've got a cheer
athlete and you've got asoccer athlete. If there was one
(32:14):
thing that you could tellanother parent whose child is interested
in going into one of thosesports, what would you tell that
parent as a sort of a heads up?
Mm. I mean, the obvious one issay goodbye to family vacations because
all your money will go intoyour child's sport. That'd be the
(32:36):
obvious one right off. I don'tknow what the Archer rewards like
for competitions and traveland events etc, but yeah, I would
say. And my wife, she's theone that travels the most with her
kids for their events, etc. Soshe knows exactly how much goes into
paying for hotels, paying forequipment, paying for xyz. So I would
(32:59):
say that the obvious one wouldbe the cost is something. But I guess
because that's the obviousone, you want to sort of try offer
a different one as well. And Iwould say just get ready for them
to be super, superindependent. Obviously it depends
what age your kids go into thesport and when they start it. And
(33:20):
obviously your. Your. Your sonwas a teen when he started. Our kids
were a bit younger, mydaughter less so. My son definitely
younger when he started. Butas far as competitive, they were
both very close to beingteens. And we've seen the change
in them over the last two,three years when they've really been
at the competitive level,which is great, but it's also not
so great because as a parent,you want to be that person they come
(33:42):
to and they'll still come toyou. But now it's generally for,
hey dad, can I have 20 bucks?Because I'm going to do this or,
you know, I want to hang outwith the pool or whatever with my
friends, I need to get somedrinks. So yeah, I would say one
is the obvious, one is thecost, it's like crazy amount of money
that you spend. But thesecond, yeah, just get ready for
not being as needed by yourchild as much. I don't know if that
(34:04):
was the same for you with your son.
Same. So with archery wetravel all over Canada, all over
the US and now my son istraveling to Korea and Turkey and
Colombia and Spain, so. Soyes, those expenses just get a wee
bit higher. And archery has asignificant amount of equipment.
(34:28):
And when you're a highperformance athlete on the competitive
stage internationally, youneed to carry two to three of everything.
That is a lot of money and youneed to hope that all of your equipment
gets to the venue.
I could imagine, and I wouldalso imagine as well because of it
being such a very specificskill set. Does your son use arrows
(34:51):
that are tailored to hispreference as opposed to not just
like arrows that you'd buy atCostco, but that's a ridiculous example.
But I would imagine he usescustom tailored arrows as well as
his actual bow, which would behard to replace and couldn't do easily
if something happened to themmid transit.
What is amazing. So just torefer to the arrows, the arrows are
(35:12):
Easton X10 performance arrowswhich cost approximately $120 each.
And most arrow, most air.Sorry, most archers will carry at
least two dozen, sometimesthree dozen with them. So that is
a small fortune in itself. Butyes, one of the things when traveling,
(35:33):
because international athletesdo carry two of each to mitigate
the potential for loss or wellin quotation marks, a redirection
of equipment, at times onearcher will take one other archer's
half of their equipment sothat it is hopeful that it won't,
(35:56):
you know, if you do lose some,some of it, or it's temporary, temporarily
lost, at least you have abackup. So everyone usually carries
a backup bow. But even that,it's just investment over investment.
And yes, for what you weresaying about family vacations, yes,
there are archery relatedfamily vacations. A lot of families
(36:18):
because we're travelingaround, we'll try to tack on a day
or two and make it into avacation where everybody shows up.
But four of those days arearchery tournaments, which you know
can be quite boring for somepeople. But yes, having a non archery
related holiday is very rarefor sure.
(36:40):
Yeah, well I hear you. Icompletely hear you on that and that
was a cool question. I'vedefinitely not been asked that before
and I do appreciate thequestion. And Manisha, so again,
I really appreciated gettingyour answers to this episode's questions.
For anybody that wants tolearn more about Manisha, your archery
podcast, what goes into lifebehind the scenes and in and around
(37:00):
the podcast and you know,seeing that obviously you and your
sons involved in and yourguests and your community, where's
the best place that they cancatch up with you online, listen
to the podcast, et cetera.
Thank you. So the archeryParent podcast is what archery parents
need to know to best supporttheir archers. Our episodes can be
found at archeryparentpodcast,Ca or wherever you get your podcasts.
(37:26):
And we have a lot of greatcontent in video version on Instagram,
but but we are also on Bluesky threads and even TikTok which
is really fascinating to beon. I've been uploading a lot of
video there and this responsehas been great and for such a niche.
(37:46):
So not only is it an archerypodcast, it's a podcast by an archery
mom for other archery parents,which is pretty much the nichiest
of niche that you can hit. Andthe response has just been fantastic.
So I'm very, very pleased withthe way it's been going. And we just
started uploading our episodesto YouTube as well. So we're just
(38:10):
trying to get around to alittle bit of everywhere.
And I will be sure to leaveall these links in the show notes
as usual. So whatever podcastapp you're listening on, be sure
to check the show notes outand that will link straight through
to Manisha and everywhere youcan find her online. Maybe not everywhere,
but all the important placesfor the archery podcast in Manisha's
like podcast there. So again,Rachel, thank you for appearing on
(38:33):
today's five Random Questions.
Thank you so much for havingme on, Danny.
Thanks for listening to fiveRandom Questions. If you enjoyed
this week's episode, I'd lovefor you to leave a review on the
app you're currently listeningon. And if you know someone else
that would enjoy the show too,be sure to send them this way. It's
very much appreciated. Untilthe next time, keep asking those
questions.
If it were to happen nowadays,the scathing look of death that would
be sent towards the personthat thought it was a good idea.
Everybody would know.
Hi, and welcome to 5 RandoQuestions, the show where every question
is an adventure. I'm yourhost, Danny Brown, and each week
(00:21):
I'll be asking my guests fivequestions created by a random question
generator. The guest has noidea what the questions are and neither
do I, which means this couldgo either way. So sit back, relax,
and let's dive into thisweek's episode. Today's guest is
Manisha Solomon. Manisha is anarchery mom, cyclist (gravel in particular),
(00:41):
and the host and producer ofthe Archery Parent Podcast. She has
one dog named Milo, a bordercollie stroke Australian shepherd
mix, who, according toManisha, is the least herding, herding
dog you will ever meet. So,Manisha, welcome to 5 Rando Questions.
Thank you, Danny. I'm happy tobe here.
You're very welcome. And Ihave to say, this is the first time,
(01:02):
like my. We've got two kids,two teens, and they're very into
competitive sports. My son'sinto soccer, my daughter's into competitive
cheer. So my wife is alwaysknown as the soccer mom or the cheer
mom, but I've never comeacross an archer mom, which is very
cool when I saw that comethrough. And obviously you get a
podcast. So how did that come about?
Thank you. Yes, we archerymoms are far and few between because
(01:24):
archery is fairly limited. Theaccessibility is limited. It's not
like soccer fields orbasketball or even cheer, for example,
where there are fields orgymnasiums or clubs that are willing
to create a community. And so,yes, being an archery mom is different.
(01:45):
My son started archery in2014, sort of informally. And then
when the Pan Am Games came toToronto in 2020. Sorry, in 2015,
the spark was lit and fromthere he became a competitive archer
and is now on the Canadiannational recurve team for the men's
(02:07):
team. So it's been quite aclimb. And he is. He does represent
Canada in internationalevents. For 2024, he was an alternate
for the Canadian men's recurveteam for the Olympics.
That is very cool. I've everknown one other archer like a proper
(02:29):
archer, not watching TV ormovies or anything in my life. And
that's going back to when Iwas in Scotland as probably a mid
20 year old. And my friend whoworked at the local record store,
he was heavily into archer. Alittle bit older though, so it's
cool to see your son get intoan early age and Was it just an interest
that he saw on TV or at anevent or when he was. That got him
(02:51):
into it?
He has always been a dirt,mud, sticks kind of kid. And so he
used to make his own sort ofbow and arrows out of sticks. And
eventually he went intoprimitive skills and was a sort of
survival, survival wildernessinstructor. And archery just came
(03:12):
into that and has gripped him.And it is a passion and an.
Obsession for him that is verycool. And I do have to ask, before
we get into your randomquestions, which I'm looking forward
to, I do have to ask, Gam,have you seen the Hunger Games movies
with Jennifer Lawrence?
I have seen not all of them, honest.
(03:33):
Have you seen her use her bowand arrow?
Yes.
Her archery. What's her formlike? How do you feel? Her form is
as Katniss.
So what is interesting withKatniss, with the training that went
into the Hunger Games,especially the first one, an American
archer who at the time waspart of the US Olympic team. Her
(03:54):
name is Katuna Lorig. Her. Shewas actually hired or contracted
to be the assistant to teachJennifer Lawrence how to shoot. So
from what I hear her, her formand her skill is the most accurate.
However, you know, her, her itis still for a movie, right? So they
(04:18):
have a little bit of drama.They have a few different ways to
make it more exciting. But,yeah, it's not bad. I'll say.
Okay. So definitely it's morethan a possible attempt. It's a good
representation, hopefully, ofproper archery.
Yeah, it's not bad. Yeah.
All right. Well, speaking ofnot bad, ideally, and hopefully we
(04:41):
don't have any bad questionsfor you today. And so far, nobody's
come up with bad questions inall previous episodes. So keeping
this flow going. So, Manisha,are you ready for this episode's
five random questions?
I am.
Perfect. Let me just bring upthe random question generator and
we'll see what pops up. Okay.I feel. Well, it's not a bad one
(05:04):
to start it off. So, Manisha,question number one. What is one
of the great values thatguides your life?
I have a few, but one iseveryone has something to teach and
everyone has something tolearn. That. That's a pretty major
(05:26):
one for me. I go into lifethinking that I don't know everything.
Although, you know, as apodcaster, we're always supposed
to position ourselves as theexpert. However, even with archery,
my son has been in the archeryworld since 2014. I've been a mom,
an archery mom in the worldsince then. So just over 11 years.
(05:48):
But there is still so muchthat I have to learn.
And I can imagine, becauseobviously you've got your podcast
that it's about, you know, thearchery world, and it's not really
about what's kind of cool.It's not about archery per se. It's
about all the stuff around thearchery world that you showed about.
And I'm guessing each guestthat comes on that you mentioned,
(06:08):
you know, we don't knoweverything, have brought something
that maybe you've learned as acomplete out of the weird ballpark
that you never knew beforehanduntil that particular guest appeared.
Yes, and that's why I havethem on, especially when it comes
to technical aspects orequipment. That's not my thing. My
thing is the support of myarcher and the community. So having
(06:31):
other people on just makesthe. Makes the circle full. Right.
And is there anything thatyour son, either when he was first
learning and really gettinginto archery, or since obviously
he started to, you know, do itmore professionally, if you like,
into what he's doing now inthe Canadian scene that surprised,
(06:53):
maybe surprised you, becauseyou wouldn't have expected that coming
from your son, knowing himlike you do as his mum.
Well, my son has an incredibleability to absorb information and
organize it and present it insuch a way that that is really proves
(07:14):
what an amazing teacher,instructor, provider of information.
And I'm not really surprisedabout that. But what surprises me
is the amount of informationthat he just has in his brain. He
can answer questions that arejust shocking. And the detail and
(07:36):
the love that he relays withthis information astounds me every
single time.
It's. I feel that must be. Howold is your son, if you don't mind
me asking?
He's 25, actually.
25. So I feel that must be. Imean, as I mentioned, we've got two
teen kids, so a little bityounger, but I do feel that must
be, like, a skill that kidshave to just surprise us. Our son,
(07:58):
he loves soccer. It's why he'sgot a competitive player. And he's
grown up much like your son inthe last 10 years, just ensconced
in soccer, much like your sonis with archery. And the knowledge
that he just pumps out, he'llforget to brush his teeth, he'll
forget to, you know, do thechores that he knows he should be
doing each day. But if you askhim some random fact that he has
(08:20):
no right in knowing because ofhis age and because it was done years
before he was born, he willpull out. And it just. It blows my
mind where that comes from 100%.
I totally understand, I canrelate to. I understand that bafflement
that you experience as well.
(08:40):
Well, it's like you say, we'realways here to learn. And I feel
kids because, well, certainlystill they get to a certain age,
maybe they'll lose a littlebit of not naivety, but a little
bit of innocence about theworld after a certain age. I'm not
sure. I guess it dependsobviously on, you know, the person.
But I do feel that whilethey've got that really wide open
(09:00):
sponge like, you know, skillto take so much information and we
should really encourage thatto come out with them.
Definitely.
So I feel that was a nice oneto, to get in there. And as you say,
I completely, 100% agree. Weall need to be good listeners and
teachers as much as, you know,educators. So let's have a look and
see what question number twobrings up. I like this one. This
(09:25):
is, this is going to tell me alittle bit more about you, Manisha.
So question number two. Whatwas your best birthday?
I, in 2024, just turned 50 andI chose to go to New York City. I
have been many times. It is acity that I really love. I love experiencing
it. I love being there. Iguess as a monumental birthday, it
(09:51):
was a good one. I am someonewho does enjoy birthdays. I'm not
afraid to tell people my age.I'm not afraid to tell people when
my birthday is it. You knowwhat, I'm actually going to say that
any birthday is a goodbirthday. And it's just what I learn
(10:14):
from the previous decade.Going into the next decade. I think
the 40s were amazing and goinginto the 50s, I'm so looking forward
to it. So maybe when I turned50 last year, that was the best one
because it just brings forwardnewness and a confidence that just
(10:36):
comes with age and life. Andthat is what excites me about, about
birthdays. So I don't have onein particular, but just the fact
of a birthday is a good one.
Do you think it's because Iknow getting older myself, obviously
your mindset changes and howyou view maybe parts of life or parts
of the world or the worldaround you, as opposed to how you
(10:58):
did 10 years ago, 20 yearsago, etc. Do you think there's maybe
like a tipping point of an agein general where not like the light
switch gets flicked on orflicked off or whatever, but you
tend to just make thatrealization that, oh, I'm actually
looking at things verydifferently now.
I, I don't think so, not formyself, for other people. I mean
(11:21):
I know somebody who I thinkshe turned 28 four times. She was
turning 30, but she didn'twant to admit that. Whether she has
changed her perspective onthat now, I'm not really sure. But
I have always been someone whopeople may be underestimated because
(11:42):
I do tend to not and this isgoing to sound weird, but I tend
to not look my age. So Ialways would tell people that I'm
a year older in the sense ofso I'm 50. But I'm going to be telling
people this year that I'mgoing to be turning 51. It's just
something that I've alwaysdone. So I've always looked forward
to turning whatever age andbeing older. I there was never a
(12:07):
moment of a trigger ofchanging a life perspective or paradigm
for me.
And you, I mean you mentionedthat you enjoy birthdays and you
don't mind people knowing whenit's your birthday, etc. Have you
had surprise birthdays forother monumental occasions like maybe
your 40th or 30th? Or is thatsomething that people don't do because
it's not you alreadycelebrating? You're very open about
(12:30):
celebrating.
I despise birthday surprises.I despise surprises of any sort.
And I, I believe it was when Iturned 16, I think my mother had
a birthday party for meunexpectedly with my friends. Everybody
(12:52):
held it as a secret. Itinfuriated me and I, I absolutely
hate surprise birthdays.
Would you walk out at all?Would you still stay and just unhappily
go ahead with it?
If it were to happen nowadays,the scathing look of death that would
(13:13):
be sent towards the personthat thought it was a good idea,
everybody would know that itwas not. So I would probably placate
the situation, but there wouldprobably be words later, definitely
be consequences.
And I guess I mean normallybecause normally like surprise parties
(13:33):
are as you mentioned formilestone one. So 16, 18, 21, I guess
30, 40, 50, maybe 60, 65, I'mnot sure. So I guess like you say,
if people know, even if theydidn't know you as a teen when you
turn 16, if they tried sayonly 30 or 40 and they knew then
and it's going to be, I'dimagine roughly the same crowd, the
same community, the samecircle of friends, family, etc that
(13:54):
see other birthdays like yousay, they'd know, you know what,
we better not do that becausesomeone is going to be hurt.
Well, and that to me bafflesme is if you don't know that somebody
you care about really does notlike birthday surprises. Or if you
know that and you still do it,that is a huge breakdown in communication
(14:18):
and trust that I am not cool with.
No, I hear you. I am. I thinkI've only had one surprise party.
My wife organized that for mefor my 40th, and that was cool. I
didn't mind it at all. I'donly been in Canada. I'm gonna say
three, four years maybe. @that time we'd gone to Niagara Falls
and then she'd behind thescenes organized something for her
(14:39):
mom and friends, et cetera. Sothat was a nice surprise. But I feel,
especially as you get older,just the fright of it might just
sort of do something that Idon't want to happen at that time.
Yes, there's that too.
Well, we will certainly tryand keep the surprises to a minimum
here, but. Okay, so there yougo. If you're trying to organize
(15:00):
something as a surprise forManisha, top tip, don't. Just don't.
Don't do it. Let's have a lookthen at question number three. Oh,
I like this one because itkind of flips the script a little
bit on accomplishments. So,Manisha, question number three. What
dumb accomplishment are youmost proud of?
(15:22):
That's an interesting one.What dumb accomplishment? I don't
know if I have a dumbaccomplishment. I guess there are
accomplishments that I feelvery proud of that other people think
that are dumb. So, forexample, as a cyclist, it's very
(15:43):
common for me to just go outon my bike and cycle 150 or 160km
in one go. A lot of peoplethink that's just appalling or crazy
or dumb, I guess. But for me,I don't know. I don't know. That's
(16:05):
a good question.
It is. I do like it because asyou say, it does kind of flip it
a bit. Right. Because normallywe like to talk about our accomplishments
and recognize that it'sinteresting. You mention about the
cyclame, one of my previousguests, who I believe you know as
well, actually Toronto, Mike.Mike's Boone. He's obviously an avid
cyclist. He's always posting,you know, pictures on Instagram,
(16:26):
et cetera, of the areas he'svisiting in Toronto and he'll think
nothing of jumping on his bikeand, you know, as you mentioned,
go 60, 100 kilometers andthen, you know, that's his. That's
normal. Whereas, you know, anon biking person. I'm going to say
that because that's a politeway of saying extremely unfit person
like me. If I hear thatdistance, I'm thinking that would
(16:49):
be a distance to drive asopposed to, you know, psycho. I just,
yeah, I can't, I don't thinkit's dumb. I just can't wrap my head
around that distance. On a bike.
Yeah. And even when I, I do.So, for example, I live in Niagara
and I rode my bike to theBurlington Pier, which, and back,
which is when you're drivingdown the QEW over the skyway. It,
(17:14):
it really does resonate howfar that is, especially when you're
going back in the same day.So, yeah, it is even for me sometimes
a little shocking that I, thatmy body can do these things.
And for the listeners thatdon't know that distance. I used
to live in Burlington funenough before we moved up to, to
where we are now and we'd goto Niagara, man. It's not, it's like
(17:35):
maybe an hour, just under anhour in the car, but as you see on
the bike, it's a, I couldimagine a completely different ride.
And the skyway that Manishamentioned, there is a bridge that
leads into. Yeah, it's intoHamilton from Burlington. Hamilton's
a city in southeasternOntario, southeastern, southwest.
(17:57):
The, the skyway is on the westside of Lake Ontario that divides
the lake itself from the portof Hamilton. So it goes over that
and there is a lower bridgeand that's where you would ride your
bike. But from St. Catharinesto the Burlington Pier, which is
downtown near Spencer Smithpark, it is close to 70km. But because
(18:25):
you're on the road, that's asthe bird flies on the road. You know,
depending on your route, youcould go up to about 70 or 80 kilometers
one way. And then of course,some of us.
Choose to ride back in thesame day. And I know my friend over
in Chicago, she's a verycompetitive cyclist and she swears
(18:45):
by the cycling pants that shehas that has extra padding for your,
your bum area.
Oh, yes.
Because I feel like even justme biking down the street, I would
feel sore, you know, after 10minutes biking. But obviously you're
wearing proper gear and properpad and etc. So it's, it's not quite
as uncomfortable. It'sobviously a lot of work, but at least
(19:06):
the comfort factor is a bit better.
And you know, a lot of thoseof us who consider ourselves cyclists
and a long distance cyclist,we are not necessarily people that
have comfy seats. We have sortof aerodynamic or we have high performance
seats. So they're not cushy inany way. So you know, there is discomfort
(19:28):
that happens on these longtrips and yet we still choose to
do it.
And you mentioned obviouslywhen I was introducing you at the
start of the episode there,you've mentioned that you're particularly
a gravel cyclist. So what'sthe difference between say a gravel
cyclist and someone that doeslike road cycling or road biking
etc. And any other kind of cycle?
(19:49):
Yes. So it is actually a typeof bike. So my evolution of cycling
for many, many years I was amountain biker. For many, many years
I did triathlon. For manyyears I did road cycling and now
sort of graduated into gravelwhich a gravel bike looks closer
(20:10):
to a road bike because it willhave the, the rounded handlebars
opposed to the straight of amountain bike. But the structure
of the bike is actually gearedto. You could go on the same trails
as mountain biking. It is alighter bike. Quite often they're
swifter, if I'll use thatterminology. And so gravel is more,
(20:35):
you know, those railway,former railway trails that have been
naturalized. Or you could useit on the road. You can use it. It's
a very multi disciplinarybike. It's much more versatile than
say a mountain bike withthicker tires or a road bike with
thinner tires. So it is reallysomething that you can sort of conquest
(20:57):
all if you will.
You're right because I, I'maware of like you say like the mountain
bikes and you that they'resuch rough terrain, off road beasts
at times I watch a lot ofTikTok. I don't watch a lot of tiktoks.
I watch it when I'm bored andI scroll and I've got nothing else
to do and. But often I seethese, these GoPro first person viewpoints
of people on dirt bikes ormountain bikes, sorry going down
(21:21):
these really narrow, superfast, you know, through trees and
everything. Do you dosomething similar to that at times
with you off roading?
Not with ramps or like thecyclocross. I'm not into that. I
do enjoy not being injured mymountain bike days, you know, I was
definitely no fear and wouldnot really jump off things but I
(21:46):
had no fear for the type ofterrain. But now, you know, as you
get older, you don't reallywant to get hurt because it takes
a lot longer to heal from.
(23:02):
I hear you. I get hurt justwake up in the morning and get out
of bed. So I hear you. Navish.I'm all for that. So there you go.
Dumb accomplishment. Not quiteas dumb as, you know, dumb would
suggest. But I do like that.And as I say, kudos to anybody that
can go more than 10km on abike and not be out of breath and
tired. So 100% kudos to youthere, Manisha. So let's have a look
(23:26):
then at question number four.And this kind of ties back actually
to the early question or thefirst question we had to open up
the episode. So questionnumber four, Manisha, when was the
last time you changed youropinion about something major?
So with the upcoming Ontarioelection or federal election. Actually
(23:51):
I did ch I did change my mindon who I'm going to vote for because
although I am have been for avery long time a supporter of a particular
party, I decided to change whoI'm going to vote for. Which is for
me it matters a lot. Voting isvery important to me and changing
(24:18):
my mind on who I am going tovote for after voting this way for
a very long time. Yeah, is isdifferent. I it, there's a little
bit of emotion behind it, butI think that yeah, I'm doing it for
the purposes that I feel necessary.
(24:38):
It's interesting. I mean it'san interesting time in Canada and
the world I guess at theminute with everything that's going
on. But with our electioncoming up this year, we just had
one as you mentioned inOntario and now we've got the federal
one coming too. Do you evervote and you don't have to obviously
I completely respect yourprivacy when it comes to who and
why you vote, et cetera. Doyou ever vote strategically to keep
(24:58):
another party out? It mightnot be the vote you want to cast,
but that person has the bestchance to keep in the opposition
that you really don't want toget any power out of there.
So I, I am votingstrategically this year for this
vote, this election and.
I'm wondering how much the andI don't want to get too political.
(25:19):
This show is definitely not apolitical podcast and I rarely, you
know, talk politics. It popsup now and again like it just has
here. And that's all good butI'm wondering if the the current
situation with the U.S.administration, not the U.S. but
the U.S. administration, justto keep it crystal clear, has changed
(25:40):
a lot of minds as well as topeople that might have voted one
way previously but now won'tbecause they see one party as being
maybe the best place to standup more for Canadians interests.
I'm not sure how you feel onthat at all.
I believe that yes, that ishappening. I am someone that travels
into the US Quite A number oftimes per year. And I am hearing
(26:04):
from people, and I do have asignificant community. It is an archery
community that I travel for.It's very, very interesting to be
part of that community ofAmericans who are choosing to voice
their opinions to me aboutvarious things. And, yes, it is affecting
(26:26):
everybody across the board.
It will be interesting to see.And I feel we could probably put
a pin in that one. Icompletely understand and fully support
your. You know, you're keepingthat nice close to your chest, and
I would probably do the same.So let's move on. We're doing well
here. Let's move on toquestion number five. Okay, this
(26:48):
cannot be the one that yourpodcast is about. So, anyway, question
number five. Manisha, whattalent will you show off in a talent
show?
I can whistle reallyaccurately to songs. It's just something
even as a young person orhumming, like hum or whistle, that.
(27:10):
That's a weird, strangetalent. I guess I used to be many,
many years ago a singer, and Iwas part of a choir that actually
traveled around parts of theworld and music, although I cannot
sing anymore. Whistling. Yeah,you can put on a song that I know,
(27:33):
and I would actually be ableto, like, hit the high notes. Whistling.
It's weird.
And when you're whistling,because I know, like, some people
have got very different waysto whistle. My wife, I've got. I'm
a. I'm going to say astereotypical Brit. If you think
of British people, you think,okay, you've got bad food, bad teeth.
And I would say yes to both.So when I whistle, I can certainly
(27:56):
whistle without doing the Oshape. I can just sort of, as I'm
speaking now, my mouth waslike this shape, like rectangular.
I can just blow her throughand make a whistle that way. Is that
something when you'rewhistling, do you get the full on?
I'm going to get the big Ocoming here, the big. Oh, my mouth
shape and get that notes outthat way or.
Yeah, I guess so. I neverreally thought of it. What I cannot
(28:18):
do. Although I do boast aboutmy song whistling rather than lyrics
singing. I wish I could do youknow when people, like, whistle to
call out for somebody and it'sreally loud and it's vibrant, I cannot
do that. So I can. I canwhistle to a song, but not. Not anything
(28:40):
like that. No. Yeah, I guess.Yeah. Because it's all in. In the
physiology of how you whistleto be able to hit the different notes.
Right.
What's. It's funny. It's likeI always think of The. The Whistle
While youe Work. You know,song from the Snow White and Assume
Dwarf movie. That's the onethat I. I immediately think of when
you mention whistling. Ithought, oh, whistle while you work,
(29:01):
you know, so it's a. Youmentioned there that you can't do
like the. The call in one. Isit like a different. Because it's
not a tune or a song. Is itlike a different mindset or approach
then that?
No, I don't think I actuallyknow the process. I don't know. But
I think it's so cool whenpeople can do that. Not the fact
that they're actually callingsomebody, because that's always weird
(29:22):
too, but the fact that theycan do it and it's loud. I. I don't
know. I think it's a skill.
I. I know someone where welive, actually, we're like surrounded.
And you'd be similar to.Imagine being in a Yagra, surrounded
by, you know, water, nature,etc. And there's a neighbour. I'm
gonna say. I'm gonna sayneighbor. He's about 15, 20 minutes
(29:44):
away because it's like a ruralvillage we live in. But he's classed
as a neighbor. But he likes toconverse with the birds. And he can
also almost imitate to a Teach bird song or each bird that
appears. So you spring coming,you know what to expect. Spring disappears
and like the hummingbirds arestarting to go away and like other
birds are coming in, so you'llstart talking to them and it's cool
(30:05):
to see, you know, I'm superjealous, like you mentioned earlier,
you know. I don't know, isthat something you'd want to do or
are you more than happy withthe whistling of the tunes that you
have?
Yeah, it's just sort of mything. I. I'm, you know. Yeah, it's
just my thing. I'm not doingit for anyone or it's just me connecting
(30:26):
to the music.
Well, if you're up for it, ifyou. Because I know we. We met in
person last year actually, inCalgary at the POD Summit event.
And if you're up for it, Imean, if we. If you're going again
this year or a future eventthat we're at at the same time. My
party trick, not party trickas such, is playing any tune as long
as you know it with a pencilagainst my teeth. So I get the pencil
(30:49):
and I play it with my fingersand play the tune with my fingers
on this pencil. So if you wantto do a duet, we can do that as A
sort of icebreaker trick atour networking event or something.
Oh, that'd be funny. Okay,listeners, you hear it here first.
Danny and I, we're going onthe road. Our first gig will be at
YYC Pod Summit or Pod Summit.YYC coming up in. What is it, September?
(31:11):
I think it's September. Yeah,yeah. Third week September over in
Calgary and Alberta, Canada.
Okay, so I'll do themarketing, you do the merch.
Yeah, sounds good. We'll getTim. Tim, the founder. He can get
on that as well. Get some likeMIA in there.
Yes, that's funny.
Awesome. Well, Manisha, wehave survived. We. You've done all
the hard work. You've survivedthe five random questions. Hot seat.
(31:33):
As is only fair for everyguest because I put you on a spot
for the last 30, 35 minutes orso, it is now your turn to put me
in a hot seat and throw yourrandom question at me.
So, Dani, one of the questionsthat I often ask for as a resource
for parents because my podcastis the archery Parent podcast. One
(31:54):
question that I ask manypeople, whether it be a coach, archers
themselves, or archeryparents, is if there is one thing
that you could tell anotherparent. So I'm saying this because
you've got two athletes inyour home, so you've got a cheer
athlete and you've got asoccer athlete. If there was one
(32:14):
thing that you could tellanother parent whose child is interested
in going into one of thosesports, what would you tell that
parent as a sort of a heads up?
Mm. I mean, the obvious one issay goodbye to family vacations because
all your money will go intoyour child's sport. That'd be the
(32:36):
obvious one right off. I don'tknow what the Archer rewards like
for competitions and traveland events etc, but yeah, I would
say. And my wife, she's theone that travels the most with her
kids for their events, etc. Soshe knows exactly how much goes into
paying for hotels, paying forequipment, paying for xyz. So I would
(32:59):
say that the obvious one wouldbe the cost is something. But I guess
because that's the obviousone, you want to sort of try offer
a different one as well. And Iwould say just get ready for them
to be super, superindependent. Obviously it depends
what age your kids go into thesport and when they start it. And
(33:20):
obviously your. Your. Your sonwas a teen when he started. Our kids
were a bit younger, mydaughter less so. My son definitely
younger when he started. Butas far as competitive, they were
both very close to beingteens. And we've seen the change
in them over the last two,three years when they've really been
at the competitive level,which is great, but it's also not
so great because as a parent,you want to be that person they come
(33:42):
to and they'll still come toyou. But now it's generally for,
hey dad, can I have 20 bucks?Because I'm going to do this or,
you know, I want to hang outwith the pool or whatever with my
friends, I need to get somedrinks. So yeah, I would say one
is the obvious, one is thecost, it's like crazy amount of money
that you spend. But thesecond, yeah, just get ready for
not being as needed by yourchild as much. I don't know if that
(34:04):
was the same for you with your son.
Same. So with archery wetravel all over Canada, all over
the US and now my son istraveling to Korea and Turkey and
Colombia and Spain, so. Soyes, those expenses just get a wee
bit higher. And archery has asignificant amount of equipment.
(34:28):
And when you're a highperformance athlete on the competitive
stage internationally, youneed to carry two to three of everything.
That is a lot of money and youneed to hope that all of your equipment
gets to the venue.
I could imagine, and I wouldalso imagine as well because of it
being such a very specificskill set. Does your son use arrows
(34:51):
that are tailored to hispreference as opposed to not just
like arrows that you'd buy atCostco, but that's a ridiculous example.
But I would imagine he usescustom tailored arrows as well as
his actual bow, which would behard to replace and couldn't do easily
if something happened to themmid transit.
What is amazing. So just torefer to the arrows, the arrows are
(35:12):
Easton X10 performance arrowswhich cost approximately $120 each.
And most arrow, most air.Sorry, most archers will carry at
least two dozen, sometimesthree dozen with them. So that is
a small fortune in itself. Butyes, one of the things when traveling,
(35:33):
because international athletesdo carry two of each to mitigate
the potential for loss or wellin quotation marks, a redirection
of equipment, at times onearcher will take one other archer's
half of their equipment sothat it is hopeful that it won't,
(35:56):
you know, if you do lose some,some of it, or it's temporary, temporarily
lost, at least you have abackup. So everyone usually carries
a backup bow. But even that,it's just investment over investment.
And yes, for what you weresaying about family vacations, yes,
there are archery relatedfamily vacations. A lot of families
(36:18):
because we're travelingaround, we'll try to tack on a day
or two and make it into avacation where everybody shows up.
But four of those days arearchery tournaments, which you know
can be quite boring for somepeople. But yes, having a non archery
related holiday is very rarefor sure.
(36:40):
Yeah, well I hear you. Icompletely hear you on that and that
was a cool question. I'vedefinitely not been asked that before
and I do appreciate thequestion. And Manisha, so again,
I really appreciated gettingyour answers to this episode's questions.
For anybody that wants tolearn more about Manisha, your archery
podcast, what goes into lifebehind the scenes and in and around
(37:00):
the podcast and you know,seeing that obviously you and your
sons involved in and yourguests and your community, where's
the best place that they cancatch up with you online, listen
to the podcast, et cetera.
Thank you. So the archeryParent podcast is what archery parents
need to know to best supporttheir archers. Our episodes can be
found at archeryparentpodcast,Ca or wherever you get your podcasts.
(37:26):
And we have a lot of greatcontent in video version on Instagram,
but but we are also on Bluesky threads and even TikTok which
is really fascinating to beon. I've been uploading a lot of
video there and this responsehas been great and for such a niche.
(37:46):
So not only is it an archerypodcast, it's a podcast by an archery
mom for other archery parents,which is pretty much the nichiest
of niche that you can hit. Andthe response has just been fantastic.
So I'm very, very pleased withthe way it's been going. And we just
started uploading our episodesto YouTube as well. So we're just
(38:10):
trying to get around to alittle bit of everywhere.
And I will be sure to leaveall these links in the show notes
as usual. So whatever podcastapp you're listening on, be sure
to check the show notes outand that will link straight through
to Manisha and everywhere youcan find her online. Maybe not everywhere,
but all the important placesfor the archery podcast in Manisha's
like podcast there. So again,Rachel, thank you for appearing on
(38:33):
today's five Random Questions.
Thank you so much for havingme on, Danny.
Thanks for listening to fiveRandom Questions. If you enjoyed
this week's episode, I'd lovefor you to leave a review on the
app you're currently listeningon. And if you know someone else
that would enjoy the show too,be sure to send them this way. It's
very much appreciated. Untilthe next time, keep asking those
questions.
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