Ecuadorian Feast #1

I held my first fundraising dinner for my trip to Ecuador on Wednesday with much success! We only invited about 8 people but everyone was very generous and I raised $250 after one evening! I am now well on my way to raising the $3500 that is needed to pay for the trip. I just want to thank everyone who came to my dinner once again for your generous donations!
I served a three coarse meal, all of which turned out very well. The meal started off with a plantain soup and corn bread, plantains are a very popular food to cook with in Ecuador. Next I served black beans with rice, which is a very common dish throughout Latin America. To finish off I served an Ecuadorian-style lemon curd with vanilla ice cream (I'm not so sure if the ice cream is all that Ecuadorian but the lemon curd sure is!)

I was asked numerous times for the recipes to these dishes, particularly for the plantain soup and the lemon curd. So for all those people who asked, here you go!

Plantain Soup (Serves 4) -

• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 celery rib, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 -4 1/2 cups stock/broth
• 2 green plantains, peeled, quartered lengthwise & thinly sliced
• 1 bunch cilantro, stemmed and finely chopped
• 1/2-1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 bay leaf
• salt & pepper

Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat.

Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic.

Cook, uncovered for 3-4 minutes until onions are soft but not brown.

Add stock/broth and bring to boil over high heat.

Add plantains, cilantro, cumin and bay leaf.

Season with salt a pepper.

Return to boil.

Reduce to medium-low and simmer, uncovered for 40-50 minutes or until plantains are very tender.

Remove and discard bay leaf.

Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree until smooth.

Return pureed mixture to pan.

If soup is too thick add more stock/broth.

Season with more salt/cumin if desired.

Lemon Curd (Serves 8) -

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup lemon juice, fresh
• 3 egg yolks
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 lemon, zest of
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

Mix the cornstarch in the water.

Put all the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Pour from the blender and into a saucepan and cook over a low heat until it thickens.

I will be holding one (possibly two more dinners) to fundraise for my trip in the new year.

Good luck with the recipes!

127 Hours... What Would You Do?

Last night at the Garneau Theatre I saw what is definitely one of the best movies that I've seen this year. 127 Hours starring James Franco tells the true story of Aron Ralston, the mountain climber who was trapped for 127 hours while hiking in Utah. In the end Ralston had to cut off his arm in order to escape the boulder that was trapping him in the canyon. The move was extremely realistic (I noticed this after watching a few interviews with Aron Ralston himself) and quite terrifying at some parts.

Directed by Danny Boyle, the same guy who directed the multiple award winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours is bound to be a success. Also similar to Slumdog Millionaire, this film's score was composed by A.R. Rahman and was also pretty amazing.

What was so interesting about this movie was that the whole audience knew going into it that he would eventually cut off his arm. However, when the time for that came, the audience still let out an audible gasp. In an interview about the movie, Aron Ralston said that he didn't want the film to be a horror story and to give people nightmares, but for it to be more of an inspiring movie. Well I think 127 Hours did just that, with many thanks to the acting of James Franco.

Also similar to Slumdog Millionaire, this movie is currently only playing at the Garneau here in Edmonton (Slumdog also started out only at the Garneau). But I predict that, just like Danny Boyle's previous film, 127 Hours will become an enormous hit and will soon be playing at theatres around Edmonton! Though it was very nice to see this film at the beautiful Garneau Theatre...

This movie was definitely a 5 out of 5 for me, and probably one of the best movies that I've ever seen. However the thing that I kept thinking throughout the movie and even after it was over, was what would I do in that situation?

I'm Eating a Cookie!

Alberta Health Services President and Chief Executive Officer Stephen Duckett made Alberta proud on Friday. After an important meeting to discuss the state of Alberta health care was asked questions by the media but repeatedly responded with "I'm eating a cookie!" You really have to watch the video to see how crazy it is...



Stephen Duckett was brought here to work with Alberta Health Services all the way from Australia and is being paid big bucks too! But for what... so that he can talk about his cookie? There is something seriously wrong with that picture...

Live Review: Dan Mangan at Myer Horowitz Theatre

Vancouver folk rocker Dan Mangan was in Edmonton on Tuesday night playing a sold-out show at the Myer Horowitz Theatre. He was performing on his “Peculiar Travel Suggestion Tour” during which he will be performing in the four western provinces. I was introduced to Dan Mangan’s music relatively recently, but I am already a huge fan and he definitely didn’t disappoint when I first saw him live!

Opening for Dan were two bands; The Crackling and The Burning Hell. The Crackling is a new project created by three people who also play in Dan Mangan’s band. The lead singer plays the drums in Mangan’s band so during The Crackling’s concert he switched it around and brought out Dan Mangan to play drums for him. And from my seat, he sounded pretty good!

The Burning Hell was quite different musically, and was in fact very comedic. During the show lead singer Mathias Kom said that they had once been compared to Moxy Fruvous. I would agree but would also say that they were similar to Geoff Berner but with a ukulele instead of an accordion.

Going into Dan Mangan’s performance my friend had said that she wanted to hear three songs of his; "Sold," "Basket" and "Robots". Well, Dan Mangan must have read our minds as he played all three of those songs and many more excellent tunes. He played an inspiring live show that included some great trumpet playing and an awesome acoustic performance of "So Much for Everyone" at the end of his show.


What I liked about this concert was that each of the three musical acts got everybody in the audience participating. Each one of them had the spectators singing along in at least one song, whether it was just a few words or a whole chorus. For me the best part was when Dan Mangan played his song "Robots" and had a whole bunch of people from the audience come up on stage to play, sing and dance with him. Then of course the whole audience also sang along to the chorus of “robots need love too.”

Another thing that I noticed was that each band talked about how welcoming Edmonton is for performers and musicians. Dan Mangan spoke fondly of his last time performing in Edmonton at the Haven Social Club while he was sick with the flu. However he said that even though he had the flu, he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else! I know that all bands probably feel obliged to compliment the city that they are performing in, but these three bands seemed like they really meant it!

What really struck me while watching Dan Mangan on stage was that he really does seem nice, nice, very nice. So I think that he is definitely very deserving of all the popularity that he is getting. Last time he performed in Edmonton he played at the Haven Social Club, this time he played a sold out show at the Myer Horowitz, so where will he be performing next? Well, I’ll tell you one thing, I couldn’t think of a nicer guy to be playing a full house at the Winspear.

That article was also posted on SEE Magazine's GigBytes blog. Here are some links to songs that I talked about in the article: Sold, Basket, Robots and So Much for Everyone.

Iceland's Emotional Landscapes

Just a short video with some photographs and video footage that I took on my trip to Iceland during the summer. Iceland was amazing, and snorkelling in between the continents at Silfra was probably the coolest thing that I've ever done!

Iceland's Emotional Landscapes from Isaac Wurmann on Vimeo.

The video is set to the music of Icelandic musician Bjork, who is definitely the most well known Icelander that there is. She is a musician who I have really been liking these past few months!

Stars' Halloween Performance @ The Winspear

This year hundreds of people spent their Halloween at the Winspear, and for a very good reason! Indie rock band Stars from Montreal were in town last night and put on a very good show for all those who were willing to give up partying on All Hallows’ Eve. Opening for Stars was the also Montreal-based band Young Galaxy.

I had not previously heard of Young Galaxy, but I liked what I heard last night! Throughout the concert Stephen Ramsay (lead guitarist and vocals) constantly reminded the audience that “even though we’re in a nice theatre, this is still supposed to be a rock concert!”

And rock out they did! All members of the band seemed very into the music, including Edmonton-raised bassist Stephen Kamp and lead vocalist Catherine McCandless who actually broke her tambourine during the performance. Although they tried to come across as a more rock influenced band, my favourite song of their performance was their slower and more melodious song entitled “Firestruck”.

After the intermission came the act that everyone was waiting for. At the beginning of Young Galaxy’s performance the “shoebox” shaped Winspear was nowhere near full, but throughout the opening act more people started to come in and by the time intermission came around the Winspear was packed with people! It surprised me that there was such a large turnout on Halloween night, but I guess those Stars fans are dedicated!

Lead vocalists Torquil Campbell and Amy Millan burst onto the stage at the start of their performance. They immediately began throwing roses into the crowd and yelling at everyone to get onto their feet – now that’s an entrance.

Throughout the rest of the concert the crowd stayed on their feet and the band members kept throwing roses at the audience. It gave the concert a much more intimate feel, like we were on the same level as the band and we weren’t just sitting down passively listening. I think that it takes a great band to be able to achieve that feeling.

From my point of view in the audience I could tell that there were many people in the crowd with me who really know Stars’ music very well. Apparently Amy Millan could also tell this because near the beginning of the performance she remarked that “it feels like you’ve been with us for a very long time.” Because of this long relationship that so many people have had with the band the crowd was really involved. During songs like “Take Me To The Riot” and “Dead Hearts” the whole crowd was singing along.

Just as well though the crowd was able to be quiet and really enjoy the nice acoustic performances such as the song “Ageless Beauty” which feature Amy Millan on vocals and Evan Cranley on acoustic guitar.

Upon reflection it seems very fitting that Stars’ concert was on Halloween. Their newest album is called The Five Ghosts and numerous songs of theirs have somewhat Halloween-ish titles. For example “Dead Hearts” and “I Died So I Could Haunt You.” While my friends in Grade 9 and from my Junior High school were out trick or treating I can’t think of any other place that I would rather have been on October 31^st.

That article was also posted on SEE Magazine's Gig Bytes blog. Here are some links to some of the songs that I talked about in the article: Firestruck, Take Me to the Riot, Ageless Beauty (acoustic) and Dead Hearts.

Here We Go Again...

Earlier this week a large group of ducks landed in a Syncrude tailings pond in Northern Alberta. Does this story sound familiar? Well it should... the exact same thing happened in 2008. What's even worse is that this year's duck-landing happened just days after Syncrude was fined over 3 million dollars for the previous duck-landing. Syncrude has recently stated that 350 birds have now died after landing on the Mildred Lake tailings pond on Monday night.

What is even more astounding is that this event has happened less than a month after Prime Minister Stephen Harper criticized NDP MP Linda Duncan, saying that she was trying to shut down Alberta's economy by suggesting that we slow down development in the oil sands. Well maybe that seems like a better idea now, doesn't it Harper?
So if this keeps going on like it has been of late, how long will it take for people to realize that perhaps this is not the best idea? What more needs to happen to convince people that maybe searching for more environmentally friendly sources of energy are better for us in the long run? I guess for now though we'll just have to wait around until the next batch of ducks are killed in our quest for oil in the tar sands.
For more info check out http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/299493. Or you can just listen to the radio or watch the TV because hopefully we will soon be hearing about how Syncrude will be punished for their second round of duck killing.

First Snow!

It was the first day of snow here in Edmonton today. I was hoping that the weather might hold out until November and after Halloween, but I guess that just wasn't meant to be. It sure was fun to bike to school this morning though! I think I'll try and bike through the winter... but I guess we'll see how that goes. Biking home from school was pretty nice though, it wasn't too cold but everything was coated with a nice layer of white. Some of the leaves were even still on the trees!

According to Todd Babiak, the snow is good for you, really! http://tinyurl.com/289l3yd I guess it might feel good after you've spent a year in snowless north-western France!

Well I guess that's what you get for living in Edmonton... Welcome back winter!

Ecuador!!!

It's official! I will be going to Ecuador next summer to volunteer with Free the Children with my friend Zoë. During our 18 day trip we will be helping to build a school in the Chimborazo province. Before that though we will spend a few day exploring old Quito and taking a quick visit up to the Equator. At the end of our trip we will be spending a few days at a retreat in the Amazon rain forest.

Free the Children is an organization that was started by Craig Kielburger in 1995, when Craig was only 12 years old. The aim of FTC is not only to provide education for children in developing countries but to also involve children in their efforts to do so. There are also trips for youth to Kenya, Arizona/Mexico, India and China.

Our trip leaves on August 10, 2011 from Montreal, and I can't wait! I'm not sure how I am going to get through this year knowing that during the summer I will finally be going on this trip that I have been wanting to go on for so many years?!
The trip is pretty pricy though, about $3500, so I have a lot of fundraising to do. Zoë and I will be hosting a few dinners throughout the year to raise money for the trip and I also have a couple of part time jobs that will pay for a fair amount of the trip. All the work will definitely be worth it though, it's gonna be the trip of a lifetime!

Blogging Around the World

Have you ever thought about leaving everything at home and travelling around the world for a year? Well some family friends of mine are doing just that. They started off their trip in Iceland before going to England and then exploring Europe before visiting India, Egypt, the Middle East, Turkey and the Baltic states.

To read more about their travels and to learn about life on the road please check out a blog written by Sam, who's my age: http://samaaway.blogspot.com/. Sam's blog provides a unique perspective that shows what it's like to travel the world as a teenager. He posts great stories from his trip and some great pictures!

Interview with New Orleanian John Boutte

I'm finally getting around to putting this amazing interview with John Boutte on my blog! It was probably the best interview that I've ever done and John Boutte also told me that I was the best interviewer that he's ever had. He was also a great interviewee which made for a great interview! Hopefully this with also be posted on SEE Magazine's Gig Bytes blog shortly.

New Orleans has long been known for its music and festivals and is often referred to as the “most unique” city in the United States. Unfortunately, this distinctive city has also experienced more than its fair share of disasters in the past few years. At the Edmonton FolkFest this year, New Orleans native John Boutté played for his first time at Edmonton’s festival, and I had the chance to talk with him about his music as well as his interesting birthplace.

“New Orleans is such a beautiful musical city, we’ve got jazz of course, but we also dance the bamboula, we have the French Opera House, we have Spanish influence, classical music, marching band music and gospel of course. So the whole amalgamation of these sounds is just kind of like a backdrop, it’s like the highway, you can always hear it passing,” Boutté spoke fondly of his hometown during an interview at the FolkFest.

In the past five years, New Orleans has been hit hard by many disasters. The 2005 hurricane season was particularly difficult for the city with Hurricane Katrina striking the city in August and Hurricane Rita postponing restoration of the city when it hit in September of the same year. More recently, the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico affected the city when oil washed up on wildlife refuges and seafood grounds on the Louisiana coast.

However through all these disasters, the people of New Orleans still keep coming back home, “I think we have no other choice,” explains Boutté, “there’s no room for us anywhere else, where are we going to go? I don’t think that anybody from New Orleans wants to live in Kansas, I mean Kansas is okay, but New Orleans is the centre of the universe... for me.” After Katrina, John Boutté was one of the first musicians to come back. “The Katrina event, I’d like to call it... it just really made me appreciate what we had, because sometimes you have things but you don’t appreciate it until it’s almost gone.”

In the case of two of the worst disasters that New Orleans has experienced over the past five years, people have been blaming the government. “I think that we always like to point the finger at the government, but we are the government. We’re the ones who put them in office.” John Boutté also explained to me that he has a “large scepticism” towards larger organizations like the government or the church. “Katrina was a ‘SNAFU’, people out there know what that means, that’s a ‘situation normal all f***ed up.’”

Even though he says he is sceptical of large organizations such as religion, one event that effected Boutté’s music was singing in the church choir while he was in the military. “I was trying to improve my social status from ‘very poor’ to just ‘slightly poor.’ And it really opened up my repertoire to more gospel music.” he told me as his explanation for why he had joined the military. “It’s not for everyone though, especially not for people who just want to shoot somebody.”

John Boutté has been playing music since he was quite young, starting with the cornet when he was eight years old. When asked what made him want to become musical he replied laughingly, “It’s like asking me why am I black, I can’t help it! I was born with this feeling to make music ever since I was a kid.” One story he remembers was that when he was a kid, he would sing the same songs over and over and over again, just to annoy his siblings. “It would drive my sisters and brothers up the wall,” he explained to me, “and I realized, ‘Wow! There’s something to this, I’ve got power in this voice!’”

I too have been playing music since I was around his age, and after every interview at the FolkFest this summer I asked for some words of advice. I did the same with John Boutté because I definitely wanted to hear what he might have to say. John spent a day with Stevie Wonder when he was younger, and so he gave me some advice that Stevie had given him years earlier. “He said these two words that were very befuddling at first. He said ‘patience’ and ‘determination.’” And those are two words that I will remember in the years ahead as I explore the world of music and as I continue playing my own music.

Brown Doesn't Mind Joni Mitchell Comparisons

At this year's Edmonton folk festival, I will be writing regular updates from the festival for SEE’s Gig Bytes Blog. I will also have an article published in next week’s SEE Magazine. This article is cross posted from SEE's Gig Bytes Blog...

Emerging artist Colleen Brown performed for her first time at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival this year. Since her second album released in 2008 she has been growing more popular with the help of many radio personnel including Rich Terfry (a.k.a. Buck 65). I first heard Colleen play at the Winspear opening for Hawksley Workman at his Edmonton concert. She was amazing, and I was very excited to hear that she would be at the FolkFest!

Performing at the Winspear, she spoke about how she used to work in the box office there. She was ecstatic about playing there herself and one could see that she was genuinely happy. “That was really amazing for me,” she told me in an interview earlier on today, “and I have to say, I don’t think that I’ll ever experience that again.”

Brown has grown enormously in popularity over the past couple of years, and now is being compared to the likes of Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot. “I really like both Joni and Gordon,” Colleen explained, “but I do make my own music and I want to be recognized as an artist in my own right. But when somebody says you sound like Joni Mitchell you say ‘thank you, very much.’”

This was Colleen Brown’s first time performing at the Edmonton Folk Festival, but she had gone to the FolkFest before as an audience member. I just can’t imagine how it would be to be a part of the music at the FolkFest after watching the music for so long! However even though she was performing she still was listening to music she informed me. Sarah Harmer, Brandi Carlile, Colin Hay and Levon Helm were her picks for this year’s festival.

Playing music since she was six years old and writing songs since she was twelve, Colleen always thought that she was going to be a musician. “I think I always knew that I was going to be a professional singer, but I just didn’t have any expectations.” And she’s always writing music, sometimes even on the high level bridge! “I find that when I go out walking, that’s the time that I’m most creative.”

“The album sounds like some of the best music you heard on pop radio back in the ‘70s... I love this album,” spoke Rich Terfry, host of CBC Radio 2 Drive, of Colleen Brown’s latest album. This advertising by Rich really does work, Colleen told me. At a concert that she was playing in Toronto there was a considerably larger crowd than other at other concerts all because Terfry had encouraged people to go to it.

Colleen Brown plays the guitar and the piano, just like I do, so at the end of the interview she gave me some pieces of advice. “Do great work and everthing else will fall into place,” some advice that her friend had first given her. She next gave me some colourful advice from her former mentor. Colleen explained how he would get in her face and point his finger at his nose, and then finally he’d tell her, “don’t f*** up!”

Saturday Photos

Workshop with Colleen Brown, Patrick Watson and Basia Bulat.



Working.



After my interview with John Boutte.



Sarah Harmer.



Brandi Carlile.

FolkFest 2010: One Big Old Goofy World!

At this year's Edmonton folk festival, I will be writing regular updates from the festival for SEE’s Gig Bytes Blog. I will also have an article published in next week’s SEE Magazine. This article is cross posted from SEE's Gig Bytes Blog...

Maybe the best thing (and definitely my favourite thing) about folk festivals are the workshops. This is when two or more artists share the stage and perform together. These are great because the artists usually start out playing their separate songs, but by the end of the session, they are almost always playing together. Only at workshops like these would you finds an American folk-rock band on the same stage as two throat singers from Nunavut and an Arabic-Spanish musician from the UK.

These workshops began yesterday afternoon with one called “Big Old Goofy World” on stage 6. Sharing the stage was Tom Russell, Calexico, Natacha Atlas and Tanya Tagaq. This workshop epitomized the whole spirit of the folk fest and by the end everyone was playing together even though many of them had never met each other before!

Joey Burns, lead singer of the Tucson, Arizona band Calexico is great in these workshops. I think that he has even said that they are his favourite part of folk festivals! Two years ago I saw Calexico playing a workshop with The Weakerthans at the Winnipeg FolkFest. That performance was equally as amazing as the workshop yesterday afternoon mainly due to Burns’ ability to muck in with other musicians and create a new sound.

Going into the “Big Old Goofy World” session, I was unsure of how it would work with throat singers Tanya Tagaq and her cousin Celina Kalluk. When they were playing alone it was amazing, it was so unlike anything that I had ever heard before! What was really incredible was how they incorporated throat singing into the songs that other musicians were performing. I was surprised by how great Arabic music sounded with a little bit of Inuit throat singing thrown in!

What’s great about folk festivals is that if you’re not looking forward to a particular artist going into the event, you are still bound to like the music. Sometimes coming out of the festival you’ll even have a new favourite musician! I think that this is all thanks to workshops like this one. Often this is also where the performer’s personality comes out most, which might just make you enjoy their music even more!

See you on the hill!

Friday Night Photos

Workshop with Tanya Tagaq, Tom Russell and Calexico.



Workshop with Lucas Chaisson, Patrick Watson, Kate Reid and The Waifs.



The hill at night.



Calexico.

Sacred FolkFest Traditions; Tarp Running

At this year's Edmonton folk festival, I will be writing regular updates from the festival for SEE’s Gig Bytes Blog. I will also have an article published in next week’s SEE Magazine. This article is cross posted from SEE's Gig Bytes Blog...

The Edmonton FolkFest is about more than just the music, it’s about the whole experience. For me a main part of the experience is the colour lottery, a time when hundreds of people gather in a small, cramped corral. Each person is given a lottery ticket with a performer’s name on it and a number. If your performer is called first, you get to be in the first group to run your tarp. If your performer is the second called, you are in the second group etc. The number on the ticket indicates what number you are in your group.

On Saturday and Sunday the colour lottery starts at 7 in the morning, which means that you have to wake up at 6 after staying out until 12:30 am at Gallagher Park. For many people, this probably sounds crazy... and you know what? They’re probably right, it is pretty crazy, but it’s worth it! It’s worth it if after spending half an hour in close quarters with other caffeine fuelled folk festers your performer is called first.

For my family and friends, the colour lottery has become a tradition. After the lottery on Saturday and Sunday morning we go for breakfast at the nearby Humpty’s. The coffee there is pretty bad, but you’ve got to stick to tradition! After breakfast all of us (usually ranging between 6 and 12 people) return to the hill to watch the tarp run. It may not sound like much, but the tarp run is way more exciting than the Stanley Cup playoffs or the FIFA World Cup!

If we get first colour then our tarp runner gets to be bagpiped down the hill to place our tarp. This moment may be the most exciting part of the FolkFest. Our whole group stands at the top of the hill craning our necks to try and see where our tarp runner placed the tarp, the anticipation is sometimes too much! Our group takes tarp running so seriously that we call our runner “Tarparanjuat: The Tarp Runner”, based off of the movie “Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner”. She even has a t-shirt with the name printed on it!

This year I’ve noticed that many things have changed surrounding the tarp run. The security especially seems way tighter; they wouldn’t even let us cheer on Tarparanjuat! Our group of regular FolkFest-goers fear that this will now affect the performance of our tarp runner because she won’t be able hear us cheering for her. It won’t matter today though because we got first colour at the lottery!

See you on the hill!

Thursday Night Photos

Patrick Watson.





Gord Downie.



Ben Harper.





G'Night everybody and I'll see you on the hill tomorrow!

FolkFest 2010, Day 1: Thursday Night Main Stage a Must-See

At this year's Edmonton folk festival, I will be writing regular updates from the festival for SEE’s Gig Bytes Blog. I will also have an article published in next week’s SEE Magazine. This article is cross posted from SEE's Gig Bytes Blog...

Of all the main stage line-ups at this year’s Folk Festival, tonight’s is by far the one that I am most looking forward to. Four very respected performers will play the main stage tonight.

Opening up the festival will be Patrick Watson, followed by Canadian icon Gord Downie. Next performing will be English folk singer Kate Rusby, and to finish the night off, former Wednesday night headliner Ben Harper will perform.

California-born, Quebec-raised Patrick Watson is probably the artist that I am most looking forward to seeing at this year’s festival. I first heard of Patrick Watson in 2007 when his album Close to Paradise won the 2007 Polaris Prize. He has since come “into the light” for me again after I saw a video on YouTube of him playing a great duet with Lhasa.

Watson's 2009 album Wooden Arms was also a finalist for that year’s Polaris Prize. Perhaps my favourite song of Watson’s is on off of Close to Paradise called The Great Escape, which I tried to learn on piano.

Gord Downie is a Canadian icon, and his band The Tragically Hip is one of the most famous Canadian bands ever. The Hip has received 14 Juno Awards over the years and was inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame as well as the Canadian Music Hall of Fame.

I think that the reason The Tragically Hip has become so famous is because Gord Downie’s lyrics really resonate with Canadians. He uses real Canadian stories in his songs, and because of this my mom swears that the song Wheat Kings is about my great-grandfather who was the chief commissioner of the Canadian Wheat Board (minus being a killer of course).

Kate Rusby is an artist that I am not very familiar with. The only time that I have really heard her name is when it has been mentioned in the media, so I'm excited about hearing her for the first time today.

Rusby was born into a musical family and learned to play the guitar, fiddle and piano at a young age. She's quite well known among folk fans in Britain and has won 4 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards.

To finish off Day 1 of the festival I feel that Ben Harper’s performance is sort of a gift. Harper (not to be confused with Stephen) was originally going to play the Wednesday night show, but has been moved to Thursday night.

One of the reasons Ben Harper gets so much respect is because of the sheer amount of activism he does: he participated in Vote for Change and contributed his song "Oppression" for the CD For the Lady in 2004. He is part of No Nukes Group and participated in Songs for Tibet in 2008. And besides all this he is also a 2 time Grammy Award winner!

Tonight’s main stage performance is bound to be something special. Sharing the stage will be a Polaris Prize winner, a Juno Award winner, a BBC Radio 2 Award winner and a Grammy Award winner! So for all those attending the folk fest tonight, you are in for a treat.

See you on the hill!

No Sweat!

Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I was excited about buying shoes. I was at a store called "The Shoe Doctor" in the awesome community of Wolseley, Winnipeg, a store where they sell different brands of shoes that aren't Nike or Adidas etc. One of the brands of shoes that they sell is called "No Sweat", which is an organization that makes "100% union made apparel" which includes shoes. "No Sweat" also makes other clothes such as t-shirts, sweaters etc.



I bought a pair of black, converse-style shoes that are 100% union made in Indonesia. This means that "No Sweat" employs people who desperately need these jobs and who will be treated fairly. This means no child labour and no 16 hours work days.

To learn more about "No Sweat" visit their website: http://www.nosweatapparel.com/index.html

Another interesting shoe brand that I found at "The Shoe Doctor" was "Oliberté", which, similar to "No Sweat" fairly employs people in developing countries, for "Oliberté" they mostly employ people in Ethiopia. "Oliberté" is a bit more expensive than "No Sweat" and unlike "No Sweat", they only make shoes. The shoes that they do make though are made from premium leather from Ethiopia and rubber from Liberia.

To learn more about "Oliberté" visit their website: http://www.oliberte.com/home/

The reason why these two companies are able to do such great things is because they do not spend money on advertising, and so they encourage people to spread the word. By writing this, I hope that someone will go out and but a pair of "No Sweat" or "Oliberté" shoes that really will make a difference in the world.

The Interesting Politics of Iceland

Reykjavik, the capital city of Iceland recently had a municipal election in May of this year. A new political party that was running to be elected was the Best Party, whose original goal was to satirize Icelandic politics. The party's platform consisted of things like "free swimming for everyone and free towels", "free bus rides and dental services for children and the poor" and to "listen more to women and old people." Well low and behold, the Best Party won the latest municipal election in Iceland's capital city, and now comedian Jon Gnarr is the mayor of Reykjavik.

Here's the campaign video for the Best Party, featuring the song "The Best" by Tina Turner:



If only Canadian politics were this interesting!!!

To learn more about the Best Party, visit their website: http://bestiflokkurinn.is/. Warning: it is in Icelandic!

I will be visiting Iceland for one week at the end of this month, and I am getting extremely excited about my trip! I will soon write a post about all the things that I hope to do in Iceland, and about more interesting things in Iceland's capital city of Reykjavik such as the world's best hot dog stand!

G20 Protests Continue

In Toronto there are still many protests taking place even though the G20 summit ended two weeks ago. This time though, they are not simply protesting topics that would be talked about at the summit, but how the police responded towards protesters during the weekend of the summit in Toronto. Yesterday (Saturday), around 1,200 marched from Queen's Park to the Toronto Convention Centre to protest how the police and the Canadian government is handling the aftermath of the G20. It's not just rowdy protesters who are angry though, Shanaaz Gokool, the head of Amnesty International Toronto thinks that more needs to be done in handling reviews and investigations into the police. Over 1,000 arrests were made during the G20, which makes that weekend the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.

I've posted some things regarding the G20 and my feelings about it on Facebook and I've gotten many responses saying that the police presence was completely necessary. And I agree. The police presence was completely necessary, but the way that the police acted, was completely unnecessary. There are many videos on YouTube circulating of violent arrests made by the police, but there was one video that really caught my eye:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Heb9BXjYcII

This short 31 second video shows a large group of protesters singing O Canada in front of a large group of police. Near the end of the song, they sit down, clearly showing that they are peaceful. As the song ends, police charge the crowd, shoving them back and pushing many people over. Could they not have simply said "please, move?"

Canada is not a police state, but from looking at some videos posted during the G20 in Toronto, that was kind of hard to tell.

I also understand that there were some violent protests that happened during the G20 where police cars were actually set on fire, and yes, those are the people who the police should be arresting and spraying tear gas on. But the people yelling "we are peaceful, how 'bout you?!" should not be arrested just for expressing your opinion. In connection with my class video project that I made on human rights, I think that many human rights were violated two weekends ago. Mainly by the police towards the protesters and I think that something like that is unacceptable in our society.

My New Obsession...

I am in the midst of exams right now, so I’m very busy, but I want to share this amazing song with you!

Last week on CBC Radio 2 I heard a song by poet Shane Koyczan. He recited his poem We Are More at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Opening Ceremonies and is now my favourite poet!

I am obsessed with his song This is My Voice which isn’t the same poem that I heard on CBC, but is off the same CD and I think is better!

I hope that you like it as much as I do!

G20 Police Presence to Exceed Vancouver Olympics

At the G20 Summit in Toronto this year a "small army" is being brought in to protect the leaders of the world's 20 most powerful countries from rowdy protesters. However, this protection seems to have backfired as now more people are protesting because of the high security in downtown Toronto! A three meter high, 3.3 kilometer long fence with ring the convention centre in downtown Toronto and anyone who lives or works inside the fenced off area will have to enter through security checkpoints.
“This is Toronto and not Tiananmen Square,”activist Greg Thomas said speaking to a group of protesters, “We are asking if body bags are included in that billion-dollar security package.”
Another expense that has been causing quite the uproar is a 1.9 million dollar fake lake that will be built inside the convention centre. This lake is being built so that the leaders of the G20 countries can experience Canada in the safety of the air conditioned convention centre without having to go outside into the crazy streets of Toronto and the terribly dangerous country of Canada. Isn't Ontario called "lake country" or something like that, according the the wikipedia article about Ontario, that province has over 250, 000 lakes!!! So is it really necessary to build an expensive man-made lake when there are thousands of free lakes all around you?
All in all, I think that the G20 summit in Toronto is a bit outrageous. All I can say is that I'm glad that I went to Toronto two weeks ago, before all this craziness started, and that I was able to see the CN Tower without having to go through a security checkpoint!

My Experience Doing the Barefoot Challenge

I have so far survived the challenge this year, but it's still not over! I still have to go and see my physiotherapist tonight in barefeet.

The rest of the day was quite successful though, a whole bunch of other people from my school also went barefoot for the challenge! To start the day off, I rode my bike to school with barefeet, which was actually quite challenging. The bike pedals were digging into my feet and the bumpy roads of Edmonton didn't really help. School wasn't much of a challenge in barefeet, since we pretty much just sit there all day... gym was a different story though. We had gym outside today and running outside on the rocky, bumpy ground was kind of hard on the feet. The grass was nice though, and once you got used to it, it was fine. However, at lunch I definitely saw the negative side effects of going barefoot. A classmate of mine accidentally slammed a door into my foot and now I have a big blood blister on my big toe. It doesn't actually hurt that much... but it's just kinda gross!

After getting the blood blister, I saw how much going barefoot can effect someones life. For the people who can't afford shoes, this can actually be quite dangerous, especially in the environment that they may be living in!

I felt that through this challenge people were educated about the lives of people living in poorer, developing countries. After doing this challenge, I hope that many other teens will realize how lucky they are just to have the basic necessities like shoes.

Barefoot Challenge 2010

This year I have successfully convinced my principal to let me go barefoot for Bilaal Rajan's barefoot challenge. I am going barefoot for one day, today, to raise poverty awareness.
Today is also International Children's Day and Bilaal Rajan is encouraging as many people as he can to kick of their shoes to feel what it's like to not be able to afford shoes.

I printed off a poster for the challenge and then pinned it onto my back before getting ready to bike to school barefoot!
I will be adding more information after school about how my day going barefoot went and felt like, so stay tuned!
For more information about Bilaal Rajan's barefoot challenge, visit http://makingchangenow.com/

2010 Edmonton Folk Fest Line Up Released!

I just got back from my first news conference ever, the media conference to release this year's line up for the Edmonton Folk Music Festival.
Edmonton Folk Fest producer Terry Wickham had a lot to say regarding this year's festival. Some artists playing this year's festival include Calexico, Gord Downie, Sarah Harmer, Ben Harper, The Waifs and Patrick Watson. Wickham announced this Ben Harper would actually be playing Thursday night on the mainstage, instead of playing the Wednesday night benefit concert. This is because he (Terry Wickham) didn't think that Ben Harper could bring the 10, 000 people that they hoped to attract to the Wednesday night concert. Instead, Wickham is searching for a bigger artist to play Wednesday night, though he thinks that the Wednesday night concert this year just wont work out.
Terry Wickham also stated that he thinks that this year's festival will have one of it's strongest World Music section yet! Some World artists include Aterciopelados from Columbia, Debashish Bhattacharya from India, Te Vaka from a Samoa, Cook Islands, New Zealand and Tuvalu and, Aurelio Martinez from Honduras.
Another thing new to this year's festival will be street performers entertaining people while they wait in line to get into the festival. This was announced at the press conference as well and a few specific performers were mentioned. I think that this will be a great addition to the festival as waiting in line for hours can get a bit boring!
Now I've got to go back to school, but I will try to post more information when I get home. For more information about this year's festival, visit efmf.ab.ca.