Cold Day, Warm Hearts

It was a chilly Saturday Morning but not too bad considering it is November after all. I was worried about the effects of cold weather… red and runny noses, off color skin tones… as I walked through O’Dell Park looking for the requested fall colors that are hard to come by this time of year. All worries melted away after meeting Lauren and Matt! I was instantly warmed by their genuine love for each other and I absolutely loved the way the laughed together. And I mean LAUGHED! The kind of laugh that brings a smile to anyone who is near enough to listen.

It was a pleasure to spend a little time with them in a “mini” engagement session. The time may have been short but the photos are beautiful! As are the people in them.

Philharmonic Society, Montreal, 1847

Montreal Weekly Pilot

24 December 1847

Philharmonic Society-  There is certainly no want of musical talent in Montreal, and to cultivate and render attractive that talent requires only the determined action and personal influence of a few of our leading amateurs.  We had the pleasure, during the last winter, to be present at one or two private musical soirees given by one of our accomplished military officers, who is well known for his attachment and devotion to the divine art, and particularly for his successful efforts in the department of choral music.  We were highly gratified at the exhibition we then witnessed, both in the vocal and instrumental efforts, and with the execution and taste of the various performers.

Can it be possible, we would ask, in a city like Montreal, blessed with the advantages of wealth, rich in refinement, and distinguished for its love of the fine arts, that there does not exist at the present a single musical association, fostered by public patronage, and in which professional merit can be adequately compensated for its labours and acquirements?  There is scarcely a town or city in England, or even in the United States, without its Philharmonic Society, its musical Fund Hall, and its Gentleman’s Glee club.

It would really seem that the selfish representatives of ancient Adam desire to banish all recollections of that celestial refinement which in the divine harmony of paradise, once charmed the ear of their great prototype, and have found higher gratifications in the rude sports of the chase, the field games of athletic exercise, and that skilful dexterity which figures on the indurated bosom of a frozen river.  Thistle clubs, curling clubs, cricket clubs, trotting clubs, Masonic lodges, and IOOF’s, and other associations, furnish abundant matter for the enjoyments of the Lords of the land.  What resources of rational entertainment, however, have they provided for the gentler sex, who are necessarily excluded from such assemblies, and whose susceptible are more readily opened to the refined cultivation of taste and feeling?  The body it is true may occasionally be made to throw off its natural tendency to supineness and immobility in a ball room; but the mind in its wonderful predominance over matter, seeks for purer sources of happiness in those pleasurable emotions inspired by the sublime and the beautiful.

It can hardly be doubted that if a few influential gentlemen of Montreal were to propose a meeting for the purpose of establishing a Philharmonic Society, it could be easily accomplished.  Our enterprising fellow citizen MJ Hays, Esq., could doubtless be induced to make arrangements in his splendid establishment, now being completed, for a spacious and appropriate Music Hall: the price of membership could readily be fixed; officers chosen, and our accomplished amateurs could soon be embodied in a “Corps Musicale;” and we should have more agreeable “overtures” than those offered by our good friends Compain and Dolly- at least in the early part of the evenings.

If the accomplished officer of whom we have already spoken will proposed the matter to a few of his friends, we shall soon have a meeting, and at least be able to “sound” the public feeling, and endeavour to raise it to “concert pitch.”

Today's Moron: Steven Rheault-Kihara

As all you smart-type people know, the first rule of international diplomacy is this: Always have a tuxedo close at hand for last-minute gala receptions. I know this from watching spy movies.

The second rule is this: If you’re going to bad-mouth your boss on Facebook, don’t leave your account set to “Public.” I know this because it just happened.

Steven Rheault-Kihara is the guy who broke the second rule. Canada’s public relations attache to Thailand, who works out of the Canadian Embassy in Bangkok, was just outed as a serial bad-mouther when, for some reason, his Facebook Wall stopped being For Your Eyes Only.

Readers around the world got a look inside Rheault-Kihara’s private life in a big way, reading as he lambasted the Thai government — not something you want to do when you’re a PR guy in their country — and described his need to party. This wasn’t confined to his friends. Everybody could read it. And when they did, they found things like this:

• On his boss, Prime Minister Stephen Harper: “As much as I think he’s a terrible leader, I thought that Stephen Harper gave a good show last night.” (Harper had just performed on an Ottawa stage with Yo-Yo Ma.)
• On Harper and his then-rival, the leader of the Liberal Party: “If you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose between (Stephen) Harper or (Stephane) Dion as PM, my answer is simple: Pull the trigger, please.” (Canada was facing the possibility of a snap election.
• On the media: “Quoting from an audit report is the laziest form of journalism, but then again, no-one ever accused Greg Weston of being a journalist.” (He’s wrong; everyone knows this crap I do is the laziest form of journalism. Sheesh.)

When are people going to learn how to control their online presence? This kind of thing happens to people all the time, but rarely with this level of political WTFness. There has been no word from Harper’s people as to what he thinks of all this, but our PM does not suffer fools gladly; I suspect Rheault-Kihara might be looking for work tomorrow. Well, at least he has a tux.

Rheault-Kihara has yet to acknowledge what has happened, and I expect there will be something along the lines of “My Facebook represents my private life, not my public life, yada yada yada.” That doesn’t wash here. If you want privacy, if you want to be able to express your opinions about politics and politicians, fine. Don’t go into public service. And if you do, keep your trap shut. This is a lesson he has learned far too late.

In related news, I just sent my C.V. to the Canadian Embassy in Thailand.

Invent The Future

BC Hydro Power Smart’s Invent the Future is an idea contest. Ideas for conserving energy. Ideas for producing sustainable energy. Ideas for a sustainable product or even adopting a sustainable lifestyle change.

I’ve decided to keep my video really simple and hope to give its viewers a great idea of how we can conserve energy in an outstanding way. Please visit the contest page and don’t hesitate to vote even if it’s not my entry. Thank you.

Taiwan offer Free Tourist Tours for Transiting Travellers

Stop over’s and transit time in Airports can often be one of the major pitfalls of International travel.

 

Picture this: You have just been on an 11 hour flight and you now have to wait 6 hours in a sterile, cold, unfriendly and busy International Airport Terminal. You are then faced with another 12 hours or so of flying time before you touch down wearily at your destination. Transit is not all that terrible when you are on your way to a country and your fun filled holiday, but it’s a whole other story on the way back. You are dreaming of your own bed but the wait continues to drag on, will you ever see your beloved pillow again?

 

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport is combating this problem with the Transit Tourist program. The Taiwan Tourism Bureau offers FREE half day tours from the Airport on either the cultural route or the City route. This allows travellers to get out for 4-5 hours and enjoy the sites of Taiwan. This is especially good in an airport such as Taiwan Toayuan as it really is a big, sterile, quiet and lonely airport.

 

I was lucky enough to arrive at 6.30am on February 12th 2007, so with what felt like a hangover and 12 hours until my flight left, I was not looking forward to the day. Luckily I bumped into some other weary travellers and we all headed to the tourism desk which we had been notified about on the plane. There were 6 of us there and we quickly formed a bond and chose to do a cultural tour of the city in the morning, this meant that we could get back to the Airport by lunchtime and then travel all together by shuttle to the central Taipei. This way we got the best of both tours.

 

I was so thankful to have something to do for the day and to have met such a unique and interesting bunch of people to spend the time with. A Greek/ Aussie guy named Zoran, A Canadian girl living in Oz named Sarah (Nugs), A Japanese/ Australian whose name evades me and Tony and Nick from Newcastle. We clicked right away and spent the journey to the temple and ancient city chatting about our trips to date.

 

The cultural tour was definitely worth braving the wet and foggy morning for. The ancient city was fascinating with intricately designed buildings containing little businesses that had been running for many years. We really got a great peek into the Taiwanese culture. The guide was brilliant as well. He was knowledgeable, animated and very open to questions. We had 3 hours to stroll around the old city, temple, morning market and small art museum. I was so fascinated by the culture and really was disappointed now that I only had a short day here. Taiwan is onto something with there little taste tester tourist trips. Marketing 101 – free samples!

 

After shopping, seeing the sights and being stunned by some of the Taiwanese customs- including having a live fish on hooks at your stall to show just how fresh your produce is, we boarded the bus and headed back to the airport. Our now tight knit group then jumped on the city shuttle to head to the famous Taipei 101! How lucky are we to have such a fun filled day with only 10 hours to spare!

 

We arrived at the incredible Taipei 101 and decided lunch was probably the best option first and as the tallest tower in the world also doubles as a shopping centre, we were able to find a rather large food court to satisfy our appetites. Choosing lunch was interesting….. and finding almost an entire chicken in Sarahs soup was an experience, but overall the food was delicious and the choice unfathomable. Great Asian flavours and at wonderfully low prices.

 

We decided to walk through the many levels of shops that we could never afford to purchase things from and amused ourselves with the many gadgets and products on offer. It was then time for the tallest tower in the world, Taipei 101! Once you reach the top you are greeted with both indoor and outdoor viewing decks which offer amazing views over what appears to be the entire island that is the tiny Taiwan. There was also a museum inside containing strange and unusual coloured lights – we didn’t know the purpose of it but it was fun to explore. Photos were in abundance and many oohs and ahs were spoken. It’s definitely a sight to be seen and one to cross off the old traveller list.

 

We got back to the airport around 8pm as we were all rather tired from our Big Day Out. Happy to realise once we had checked in that we had most certainly made the right decision in having a day out as the Airport was so quiet , sterile and un-welcoming.

 

Of all the airports to have to spend the day in- Taiwan’s International Airport is the best. What a great idea to help tourists on their long journeys and to entice them back to this beautiful and interesting country. If you have the option, choose Taiwan as your international stop-over, all you need is a day to have a fantastic taste of Taiwan!

 

You can take advantage of the Free Half-Day Tour for Transit Passengers offered by the Tourism Bureau. The Presidential Office Building, the Taipei 101 Mall, and several other places of interest are included in the tour. You may register at the Arrival Lobby Tourist Service Center.

 

Terminal I: Morning tour: bus leaves at 7:45 a.m. and returns to the airport before 1 p.m.* Afternoon tour: bus leaves at 1:45 p.m. and returns to the airport before 6:30 p.m.*

 

Terminal II: Morning tour: bus leaves at 7:30 a.m. and returns to the airport before 1 p.m.* Afternoon tour: bus leaves at 1:30 p.m. and returns to the airport before 6:30 p.m.* *Actual return time to terminal may vary according to traffic conditions.

 

For information at the airport go to: http://www.taoyuanairport.gov.tw/english/about/item_e_e.jsp?itemid=6

 

For information on Travel in Taiwan visit the Tourism Bureau website: http://eng.taiwan.net.tw/m1.aspx?sNo=0000236

 

Toronto x Jay-Z x Drake

So on Saturday, I went to the Jay-Z concert at the Air Canada Centre. And I forgot the camera in the car. Fail.

Anyways..

In the middle of the performance, Jay-Z brought out October’s Toronto’s Very own, Drake, to perform his song “Successful”. Everybody saw it coming, but it turned out way more epic than expected.

Jay doesn’t play the hypeman role for just anybody.

Shouts to Kardinal who Jay-Z pointed out was somewhere in the crowd at the end of his show (I thought it was funny, at least)

ALSO, here’s the Official video for Empire State Of Mind. Looks like Hov’s got another one. Shouts to World Star Hip Hop!

*another thing to note is that Lil Mama is noticeably absent from the official video..

‘THAT PEDOPHILE THING’

Hung-over like a mongrel three-legged dog with no tail – I stumbled into ‘Crazy Kim’ English language school wondering what I had committed myself to the night before.

I’d been drinking at ‘Crazy Kim Bar’ in Nha Trang, a coastal holiday town in Vietnam. Now, 7 hours later I was the official beginner’s English teacher. Walking into the classroom the 30 plus students – aged between five and 50 years old were just as surprised to see me, as I was nervous and unsure what to do.

The regular Vietnamese teacher then handed me a thick book and said .. ‘just work from the text, write the exercises on the blackboard – don’t worry, they can’t understand you. It’s a beginner’s class .. they don’t understand English’. So, I was on safe ground!

The free English language school was established by a tough, confident woman with a flirtatious smile named Kimmy Le. Aka: ‘Crazy Kim’. Ever the businesswoman, attempting to teach the class how to read an English menu .. she yelled: ‘Make sure you teach them about the Government and restaurant taxes!’

Her story is one of survival, passion and smarts.

As a teenager she and her older brother fled Communist Vietnam onboard a wooden boat packed with fellow escapees. After three months at sea – the Le’s found dry land, refugee status and safety in Holland. A University education led to meeting a boy, a short marriage in Canada and a new passport.

It was past mid-night .. we sat chatting at the Bar when Kim said: ‘… I did it because of that pedophile thing!!!’. It didn’t need explaining.

Now in possession of a Canadian passport and no longer married Kim returned to Vietnam and started teaching Information Technology at the Nha Trang University. What caught her attention were the children living on the beach – selling what they could, sometimes themselves in order to get enough money to buy food.

According to Kim – her lunch times were spent at the beach, warning boys and girls about the men who gave them money for sex. It was one woman’s personal war on pedophiles. 

She soon quit teaching – and brought a rundown bar around the corner from a ‘woman holding a baby who was desperate to sell’, according to Crazy Kim – ‘She wanted four million dong .. I talked her down to 2 and a half million dong’  .. so began her career as bar owner and anti-pedophile campaigner. 

English classes were taught to the street kids inside the bar. ‘I slept on the pool table for a month and had a shower installed in the toilet’ .. Kim remembers: ‘.. I started playing music and the place became packed’. Outgrowing her beginnings – the now Crazy Kim Bar has a dance floor, three bars, a garden area and two classrooms.

“Hands off the kids” is her motto – as she rides around Nha Trang on her pink motorbike nicknamed the ‘PEDOPHILE BUSTER’.

But, I’m quickly reminded it’s still Vietnam and the old ways still exist. A police officer came in demanding to see the staff list. One new staff member wasn’t on the list – a fine, it was then decided the music was too loud and the lights too low. The police officer demanded $100 US – a sort of on the spot fine to clear up the breaches.

By now the dozen female Dutch students in Vietnam to experience the culture decided with the European dance hits no longer playing, it was time to go and so followed the five Aussies blokes who had been gazing the girls. With the western dollars gone home, Crazy Kim stood her ground and refused to pay. The police officer left empty handed, we stayed and drank, no music and with the lights a little brighter.

The lights shone on a trophy wall of sorts at the entrance to the Crazy Kim Bar. Photographs and headshots of the children Kim had saved, the people who had helped and a brief outline of Crazy Kim’s story.

‘People want me to write a book and make a movie about my life’ she said. I asked what she would do with the money and without hesitation Crazy Kim answered: ‘.. I’d build a new English school for the kids’.

If Crazy Kim is willing to accept a hung-over mongrel three legged dog with no tail .. she’ll have no shortage finding teachers.