Definition of Canada

I heard a great description of Canada tonight on the Radio (CBC) program Ideas:

"Canada is the bumblebee of nations - it's a physical impossibility, but it flies"

It was said by this guy:

Roy MacGregor has spent thirty years travelling and writing about Canada. "You'd think I'd know something," he says. "I don't. I still don't understand how it works." In the 2006 Dalton Camp Lecture in Journalism, he describes some of his experiences and reflects on the "Journalism Personality"— something he says cannot be taught — and the privilege and practice of journalism.

Gotta have one?

Can't remember how I found this link, but the accessories for cell phones that are available are astounding....

check this one out.

The funny thing is - I remember USING one of these big "Bricks"!!

Showing my age, I guess.

hehehe - check out the "Hands Free" model as well....

The Magic Flute

Went to Preview Night tonight and saw the RWB's The Magic Flute, with orchestra and vocals. The concert was great. My two favourite songs - the Papageno/Papagena duet and the Queen's Aria - were sung wonderfully. Had a great surprise of seeing the name of someone from U of M in the program that I knew, and had taken courses with.

UPDATE

There's a review - somewhat subdued - from the Winnipeg Free Press. I agree with the reviewer about the plot being hard to understand.... that's why the opera is called a confusing one. I think she expected the plot to be simplified or something by the introduction of the dancing. I found the opposite.

I still enjoyed it, though.

Spanish dancing!

Thanks to Dave for taking pictures of us as we danced our third (!) recital in 2 days. Here's the link to the pictures:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/budlong/tags/spanish/

enjoy!

Remembrance Day 2006

yes, I know it was months ago....

but I was directed to the following link and thought it was such a great online record of a rather unique ceremony we have here in Winnipeg. (TIP - view it as a slide show)

Hope you find it as thought provoking as I.

hollywood bashing

Now for the great confession....

I watch CBC. I listen to CBC.

Those who know me, this is not new. Often I disagree with their viewpoints, but I like thier desire to have direct answers to their questions. Rex Murphy is a commentator I don't always agree with, but I enjoy hearing how he puts language to good use - without resorting to playground - or question period - language.

Here's his rant on Hollywood and the way it treats Christianity - and I must say......

Thank you, Rex.

Shrove Tuesday

It's Shrove Tuesday - Pancake suppers for all....

At choir today, the directors decided to treat the boys to a pancake supper. During the break, they took the 15 members of the choir (small group) to the fellowship hall in the church they rehearse in and sat them down.

You would swear that none of the parents feed their sons - plates were piled high with pancakes, sausages, syrup and, of course, ice cream. The boys had to sing for their supper, though - they sang some of their repetoire for the people there.

Then they had the opportunity to hear the "Raging Grannies" sing. They kept the beat with thier feet, tried to sing (hard when you don't know the words to the songs that were written well before you were born), and had a great time!

Just a regular night at Boys Choir!

Dad missed it all - he had his own rehearsal..... :-(

STAR CHILD

Just returned from the concert hall. The Winnipeg Boys Choir (Nathanael is a member) sang with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra tonight. They sang StarChild, a piece written in 1977 which involves a huge number of musicians, arranged in a very interesting way. The boys were joined in the vocal parts by Prairie Voices. The choirs did a great job, the orchestra sounded great.

This was one of the concerts connected to the New Music Festival here in Winnipeg. All the music is contemporary, sometimes they get the composers to come and introduce the work as well.

Incredible choir....

Here's a choir from Winnipeg. It's our division's honour choir. They sound incredible!!

My Van is airbourne.....

Got a call from our mechanic today....

First of all - the history. Our van has been leaking Transmission fluid - rather copiously. In our van, the transmission fluid also feeds the power steering, so the steering became an arm workout everytime you started to turn the wheel. Needless to say, backing out of our parking space in the new back yard was fun.
Called our mechanic, who told us to drive as little as possible, get rides and use transit. If we had to drive, we would need to top up the fluid before we left. This we did for a week, as we didn't have the cash to pay for the repair.
Payday came, so we can pay for the repair. The mechanic got the van on Friday (feb 2) and picked up the parts required. He put the van up on the vehicle lift (he runs a shop out of his backyard - the shop is his garage) and completed the repair. Then he tried to lower the van.....

The lift doesn't work.

So he called us. He needs a part for his lift - and he can't get it until Thursday.

So my van is fixed, he's paid, but.... I have no van.

And it's -35C outside.

Now - I'm not mad at this guy - he's just trying to make a living, and he always does his best by me. It's just too bad I'm the guy that has to wait an extra week. On the good side..... I'm not paying for gas!