Write, write, write!

For those of you who don't know, tomorrow is human rights day. It is a world wide event where people write letters to the leaders of countries where people have been injustly prisoned. For instance there was a man in China who was imprisoned for 10 years for writing an email. I think that this is a big problem and I encourage everyone who reads my blog and people you know to write to leaders of countries to try to solve this problem. Here is a link to the website that has all the information: http://www.amnesty.ca/writeathon/index.php.

Tomorrow I will report on how my day went of writing letters!

Garneau 2007 Winter Concert

Last night was the 2007 Garneau Winter Concert. It was alot different from past years becasue usually we do a play or something and each class does a scene. This year the Calgary School of Samba came for the whole week to teach us Samba dancing. Samba dancing is a type of dance in Brazil that they dance most in the carnival season. Each grade did a different style of dance. The grade 5/6's theme was freedom and we danced to the Makulele which is a warrior dance. The dance incorporated parts of working in sugar cane fields and war dances. It was very hard for everyone to get the dance memorized though as we only had one week. I only had 3 days because I was in Coquiltam the other 2. The practices started off rocky but in the end I think the performance was as good as we could have made it.

Also part of the Calgary School of Samba coming meant that a drumming teacer would come and teach us drumming. We each got to choose our percussion instrument but because I was 2 days late I didn't get my choice. I was stuck with the mighty - mighty triangle. Each section of instruments got a different part during the Funky Samba Groove and my part, along with two of my other friends, was to go cha - cha - cha cha cha cha cha. Others with humougous bass drums and me with the triangle, I felt smaller I guess - but it was still fun! We all did the drumming part after our dance of freedom!

Before the drumming and the dancing though the choir sang. Last year I wasn't in the choir but this year I decided I would. We sang three songs at the very beginning of the concert. Sleep Little One, Winter Troika Ride and Winter Fantasy. I think the choir was very fun and I enjoyed all the songs. My mom afterwards said that she though we just got better and better. She also though that the last song sounded the hardest though even though it was the easiest:)

So all in all it was a very fun night. Unfortunately though my mom only took one picture of the choir! And that's all! But anyway we might try to gather some pictures from other parents so there will (hopefully) be pictures to come!

Vancouver Olympic Mascots Released

The mascots for the 2010 Olympic mascots were released last week. There are three of them - all very interesting but I still have some questions about the mascots and the Olympic games but first lets see what the mascots are.

Quatchi - is a Sasquatch who comes from the mysterious forests of Canada. He really likes hockey and wants to be a world famous goalie. Quatchi is shy and clumsy but loves to go to new places and meet new friends.

Miga - is a sea bear who lives in the ocean out past Vancouver Island near Tofino, British Columbia. Sea bears are part killer whale and part bear. Miga is part Kermode bear, a rare white bear that only lives in British Columbia.

Sumi - is a animal spirit. He lives in the mountains and like many Canadians he is drawn from many different backgrounds. He has the hat of an orca whale, the wings of a thunder bird and the legs of a black bear. He is also the mascot for the Paralympic games.

Now I have a stuffed version of each of these mascots and what suprised me was that first of all the 2010 Olympic mascots came out in 2007. Kind of strange. Also the stuffies were made in China. I know them being made in China would be cheaper but if it's fro the Olympic games in Canada why would they be made in China. Also there has been some controversy over the whole Olympic games. Someone said in response to my "Send a Letter to Your City Council Today!" post that "The problem with "anti idling" bylaws, is that they become a way for local official to legally harass homeless people.It is a bad idea.You'll see a lot more ideas as we get closer to the Olympics." I don't understand the part about how anti - idling bylaws can become away for local official to legally harrass homeless people. I do understand though how it can become a problem around the Olympics and I don't agree wuth that. The part of the local officials legally harassing homeless people. I heard that in Vancouver they are kicking some of the homeless people out of downtown to "clean up the place." I also think that we will start to be seeing a lot more downsides to the Olympics in the coming years.

I guess we'll just have to find out. As for the mascots being made in China I think that something like this has to be a uniquely Canadian item that isn't made in China and possibly in a sweatshop where people are being treated poorly. That's just my opinion.

Ridin' the Pineapple Express

The pineapple express could be a very large freight train that carries pineapples that goes from one place to the next without stopping. Or it could be a passenger train that you'd have to pay with a pineapple for addmisions that went from one place to the next without stopping. But it's neither of those. The pineapple express that I'm talking aobut is a type of weather system. The name is called pineapple express becasue it's a weather system that is carried from places like Hawaii where they grow pineapples. The weather that is in the pineapple express is very warm weather but has lots of rain. The pineapple express came through Vancouver today and we got tons of rain! Right now it's 13 degrees outside and still raining!

I took Wilma for a walk today and we got soaked. It wasn't raining at first but when it started raining Wilma wanted to go right back! But of course I made her walk another 10 minutes!

So obviously we have no snow anymore. Between the rain and the warmth the only thing left of my grand snow chair is a measly island of snow amid bright green grass. Yes - it's still green! I bet in Edmonton it's still brown. I also heard that Edmonton got snow today and it was cold. Lucky BCians!

Snow - In Coquitlam?

For the past two days in Coquitlam it's been snow, snow and more snow. What more amazing is that this aprt of BC hardly ever gets any snow. I talked to our neighbour and he said that there hasn't been this much snow since he moved here three years ago. Big, fluffy flakes of the snow pounded down. I have never seen such big snow flakes.

The first day it snowed - December first there was still a lot but only a couple inches. Right away in the morning we went in to the hot tub. Fun, fun, fun! We went on wintry walks through the forest right outside our door. Today ever MORE snow came over night and it's still coming! There is now almost a foot of snow! We tried to shovel our driveway and sidewalk but the snow was coming too fast. But more snow means more fun. We first made a gigantic snow ball which was big than me if I were to crouch in to a ball. I then carved it into a snow chair! Brrrrrrrrrrr. It was cold. And cold calls for... hot chocolate! Now we are just hanging around the house watching the snow fall down. Right now we are getting ready to set up the Christmas tree. I know you might be thinking - set up the Christmas tree? It's only December. But I really wanted to set up the Christmas tree while I was here so we are!

All in all a very fun weekend! Stay tuned for pictures of my snowy weekend! I gotta go set up the tree now!

Send a Letter to Your City Council Today!

My poll has said that indeed we should ask our municipal government to introduce an anti-idling bylaw. My poll has just closed with the results to the question "Do you think that your municipal government should make a bylaw against idling?" as:

Yes - 34 85%
No - 5 12%
Undecided - 1 2%

So I'm asking you to please send a letter to your city council asking them to introduce an anti - idling bylaw as soon as possible. I'm getting on it right away for the Edmonton City Council.

I've also added another poll on the side to look and vote on. By the way - as there is no archives for the polls I will post something about each poll after they have closed.

Send a letter to your city council today

From Radio to Television

It all started out with a little radio interview at 3:oo PM. All the kids in my class said "oh, no one listens to CBC at 3:00 PM anyway." But then the husband of Marta Gold my interviewer for the Edmonton Journal saw my blog and recognized me from my CBC interview. And then I became in five newspapers. First the Edmonton Journal and then the National Post found out. Also - I don't just call myself "elementary school student and newspaper publisher." (See National Post article) Then the Victoria Times Colonist found out and the Regina Leader Post and the Vancouver Province.

What does this mean? Is it good bad? Sure publicity is good for the newspaper and my blog. And of course it's just plain cool to be on CBC and in five newspapers. You can even see it going up for the blog on my Google Analytics account. I think it's good because I can make my ideas public to the public. Not many kids and probably not even many adults even get to do that. I consider myself very lucky.

Oh yeah - I still haven't mentioned Global Television. Yep TELEVISION. They phoned me on Tuesday and said they wanted an interview on Thursday. They wanted to see me at home and at school. So it's all over now and it was very exciting. They came for about an hour and a half even. So for those of you in Edmonton the interview will be on Global Television at 6:00 PM on
Monday.

From radio to television. How about that for an eleven year old eh?

Handball Tournament

I've heard of a story about how my great-opa was saved from certain death by a sport called handball. Now many people now don't know what handball is. You're probably thinking that handball is like Racket Ball but with your hands not a racket. Well - it's not.

It's a team sport. It could be described as a mix between basketball and hockey, or basketball or soccer. Two teams play against each other with a with a fairly small ball that you pass between your team mates and try to score. You can only take three steps with the ball though and you can't enter the goalies crease. It sounds fairly simple and it is but it's still hard to play.

Anyway, on Saturday I went to a handball tournament at the University with the school. There were about 6 different schools there. The challenge though was that for many of the schools this was their second time at the tournament but for my school this was their first time. There were three teams for my school and each team was guaranteed three games. The first team I played had obviously been coming to the tournament for many years. They were the "jumping team" we named them because of their humongous, almost impossible to block, jump shots on goal. We lost 2 - 12. The second team we played was also very good. The "grabbing team" we named them because of one girl on the team who always grabbed the ball from our team. We lost 1 - 7. Our third game we played (the "fast team" because of their one fast runner who streamed from one side of the court to the other) was also very hard. But after all our other games we had definitely improved. I scored a goal. We lost 2 - 6. Not bad.

Now you may be thinking. "Oh - you must be bummed as you lost all your games." But no - I'm not bummed. I had a great time and learned a lot. In the end the second team for my school made it to the quarter finals. They lost to the "grabbing team." Too bad but still good for our first year at the tournament.

By the way on the side there is a slide-show of photos from the tournament.

Fast track to the wide world

Isaac Wurmann may well be the only writer on blogspot.com who lists his occupation as "elementary school student and newspaper publisher."
The 11-year-old Edmonton boy has been putting out his own quarterly newspaper, Die Zeitung, (German for The Newspaper) for about two years. About 20 or 30 friends and family members subscribe, mostly via e-mail.
Much of Die Zeitung details the life of a typical kid his age. Isaac writes about his travels to Disneyland, the Badlands and to Germany, a family trip that inspired the name for his paper. He also writes book, movie and music reviews, ghost stories and puzzles.
What is most surprising about the paper isn't the quality of his writing, photos or design -- all very good -- or even the sheer volume of work put into each edition - huge - but rather, the amount of politics and opinion on display.
In recent issues, Isaac has tackled Canada's Kyoto commitments and the Throne Speech. He's evaluated Stephane Dion's leadership potential. And he's derided Stephen Harper after his minions answered Isaac's heartfelt letter of concern about the environment with a letter about the Clean Air Act and an autographed picture of the PM.
"But as I say in the story above, in the Clean Air Act there is nothing to do with big greenhouse gas emitters," Isaac wrote disparagingly in his July issue, at the tender age of 10. "So I guess if you want to have a picture of Stephen Harper, just write him a letter. Is this how he is 'Getting things done, for all of us'? Because everybody needs a signed picture of Stephen Harper in their office or home. Right?"
Isaac realizes some of his interests are not those of a typical kid. His blog includes links to Stop Sweatshop Abuse, Free the Children, the Rick Mercer Report and The UN World Food Program.
"My family talks about politics more with their kids than most families," Isaac says simply, adding, "I just like it because I understand it more than most kids."
His is a political family to be sure. His dad, Roy Thorpe, has a political science degree and has taken Isaac door-knocking for the NDP. His grandmother, Sharon Wurmann, is a Raging Granny in Winnipeg. His great-grandfather, William McNamara, was a Liberal senator in the 1970s.
"Isaac has always been interested in the world out there and his mark on it," says his mother, Kirsten Wurmann, who is credited as Die Zeitung's production assistant.
Last spring, she introduced him to the climate-change documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, "and seriously, it changed his life. He heard Al Gore's message that we need to spread the word."
For Earth Day at his school, Isaac set up a classroom committee to raise money to plant trees, organized a litter clean-up, prepared a PowerPoint presentation and showed it to the whole school. For Christmas, he has organized a class committee to raise money for World Vision.
"I've certainly been impressed with how very sure of himself he is and sure of his ideas," says Beth Devries, his Grade 5 and 6 teacher at Garneau Elementary. "He has strong opinions for a kid his age, but they're well supported."
His enthusiasm and maturity have won over many adults.
When he asked for a media pass to the Calgary Folk Festival this summer, he got one. When he asked for interviews with musicians, he got several, including time with Dallas Green of City and Colour and British folk band Chumbawamba. Last month when the Weakerthans played Edmonton, he got an interview with singer John K. Samson, along with the singer's personal e-mail address, he adds proudly.
He asked prominent people about their favourite books as kids and received replies from Alberta Liberal Leader Kevin Taft, lawyer and former federal NDP candidate Linda Duncan and several childrens' book authors. Premier Ed Stelmach's assistant e-mailed him back, asking for his home mailing address before sending him a response, which he never received. "That is kind of stupid, don't you think?" he wrote in his July issue.
"It kind of blows me away a little bit," says mom Kirsten of Isaac's success. "Everyone just has been so supportive to him and that really encourages him."
Isaac knows his political passions aren't always shared, or even understood, by his classmates. When he was trying to engage them in raising money for an Earth Day project, one child asked to join his "baking club," he recounts with some annoyance.
But in many ways, he's just like "a regular kid," he says. He swims for the Penguins swim club, takes piano lessons and reads Harry Potter. His tastes in TV runs to The Office, Corner Gas and Pushing Daisies. His musical tastes -- the Weakerthans, Cold Play -- are closer to his parents' than his contemporaries'. He owns a Game Boy, but says he plays it only a couple of times a year. He likes the computer, but only for writing in his blog, compiling his newspaper and checking his e-mail.
"My best friend, I don't really think he's any bit like me at all. He really likes video games and he has a PS2 and a PSP and he plays indoor soccer," says Isaac. But the two share an interest in books and movies, he adds.
Isaac has no firm plans for the future, though he's toyed with the idea of writing or becoming a politician.
His teacher, Beth Devries, has no doubt he'll find his niche. "I think he'll be a leader, he'll be a visionary of some kind. He'll be absolutely successful in whatever he chooses to do."
mgold@thejournal.canwest.com
Read Isaac's blog at istw.blogspot.com

Yes, that is an article about me in the Edmonton Journal. I did not just write it up by myself. If you want to see the original article visit my article at the Edmonton Journal.

Fun fun!!

Computers are About Murdering you in a Lake

Last night I posted this quote at 9:45 PM. Probably lots of you were wondering what I meant by all this.

Well, I was watching the Dunder-Miflin Infinity episode of The Office last night. In the very end Michael said "Computers are About Murdering you in a Lake" because his GPS told him to turn right into Lake Scranton.

Fun-ny!!