Going on a Bieber hunt - 4

So, just before her plane took off Jeannette texted me to say that there's someone that looks like Carly Rae Jepsen on her plane - so while I don't really know what this person looks like maybe with Jeannette's help I'll actually manage to have a Juno sighting.

Kind of bummed that if it's going to happen it won't be for Bieber.  It definitely would have been cool to see a flock of Beliebers.

Going on a Bieber hunt - 1

So as some of you may know, this is Junos week in Regina.  I gather that the whole event will be capped off with an awards gala on Sunday night (though, to be perfectly honest, I'm a little fuzzy about the scheduling and am less than motivated to head to their website to figure it all out).

What this means for me and all of my fellow celebrity hunters is that we may get a chance to see Canadian music Royalty in person.  This process may be slightly confounded for me as I don't think that there are too many Canadian music hotshots that I might actually be able to identify, and I suspect that of those that I might be able to identify only a sliver might actually make the trip to Regina.

Though I can't say I've ever really listened to his music, I am pretty sure that I'll be able to recognize J. Bieber - so I'm really hoping that I may get to see him.

Actually, I'm kind of thinking that I may want to ramp my Bieber hunt up by heading to the airport for one of the Toronto flights tonight, you know, to maybe see his monkey in person.  Let's just hope that by being a Belieber I'll ensure that J. Biebs flies commercial rather than charter/privately.

Because Jeannette's coming back from a work trip on what I hope will be J. Biebs flight I'll probably pick her up too.  Do you think that once she lands she'll text me any deets about celebrities on the plane so I can be mentally prepared?

Oh, and can anyone even confirm that Bieber is actually even coming to Regina?  I keep hearing his name mentioned but don't have any real deets.  Anyway, hopefully my trip to the airport won't be for naught.

Two hot vids you won't want to miss

Of course taking photos from my window seat wasn't quite enough to occupy me on my flight from Winnipeg to Ottawa.  I also had the time to take a few quick time-lapse clips.

In the first clip, if you are careful, you can see a few hundred/thousand of the fields that I flew above.

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In the second clip you might be able to sense that as we head East it is quickly becoming darker as we head into the night.

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I don't know how this won't end up being North America's response to the overwhelming virality of Gangnam Style.

Doing the tourist thing

As you may recall, earlier this week I made my way to the daily Changing the Guard ceremony on Parliament Hill.

Despite the fact that the aforementioned event is incredibly well known but still super boring, on Friday I talked Jeannette into attending another similarly well-known event - the RCMP's Musical Ride - hoping it would be a little more exciting (and because we were going to be attending the special Sunset Ceremony version of the event I was pretty sure it would be).

As soon as we arrived, which was a few minutes before the event was scheduled to start, we were able to catch the tail end of the pre-show riding competition.  Had I known that this was to take place before the start-time I would have made a point of arriving much earlier than we did.

We were incredibly surprised to learn that the show was to be kicked off with a parachuting demonstration team - the SkyHawks (a group I hadn't even heard about until they were jumping out of a plane overhead).

Thanks to brightly coloured parachutes it was pretty easy to follower the performers as they descended. As they descended the performers engaged in various formations and manoeuvres.

I was generally surprised to see how much the performers were in contact with one another with their parachutes out as part of their formations.

In some cases they didn't separate from one another until they were only moments away from landing.  And they did these things so nonchalantly that it was almost easy to forget that they were putting their lives on the line for the sake of our entertainment.  It was really kind of weird.

Anyway, the presence of a parachuting team was definitely an pleasant surprise and immediately made this event about 100 times more exciting than the Changing of the Guard ceremony.

 

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After the paratroopers we were treated to a pipe band and some dancing.  Unfortunately because they didn't have enough pipers (at least this is my diagnosis) the band wasn't quite as loud as I thought it should have been (what's the point of a pipe band if it's not loud enough to feel?).

The pipe band was followed by the only dud portion of the show, a Canadian boy band performing a few of their songs.  Not only did these guys not really fit the tone of the acts that had preceded them, or that were to follow, but they were seemingly unknown to just about everyone in the audience.  Despite the fact that these guys were really giving it there all, they just couldn't get the crowd to shake of their apathy (and to be fair to the crowd - I don't think any of us knew we would be in for a boy band).

Anyway, we were then on to the proper Musical Ride portion of the show.  As expected, the horses and riders seamlessly formed and transformed patterns for about 40 minutes.

Just a few minutes into the show I noticed that something that appeared to be a Mountie hat was in the performance area.  A few moments later I was able to spot the source of the hat, one of the riders was now without his famous headgear.

Despite the fact that the hat was resting in the performance area for most of the performance, I don't think it was stepped on by a horse a single time.  I just happened to be near the rider when the hat was returned and it seemed to be in perfect condition (and to think that all throughout the show I was wondering who would be responsible for paying for a replacement hat).  That the horses were able to avoid the had while continuing their routine is pretty impressive.

My only real complaint about the whole event (aside from the presence of an inappropriately booked boy band) is that the seating area isn't sufficiently large or well organized.  Firstly, the seating area just wasn't large enough to allow everyone to have a view of the performance area.  The embankments that they have created need to be elevated by at least a few feet.  If they had any extra money I would recommend that they then install bleachers so that people wouldn't have to bring chairs an so that everyone would be seated at the same level.  Presently too many people end up standing, and this forces other people to stand.  If everyone had a seat the the same height much of this could be avoided.

Secondly, despite the fact that the viewing area isn't huge, there are a number of items that obstruct views from large portions of the viewing area.  Given that this is a permanent performance venue there is no excuse for these obstructions.  These obstructions further constrain viewing options in a viewing facility that is already too small.

Anyway, complaints aside, if you are into seeing horses and riders perform a pattern making routine this event may be for you.  If you are ever in a situation  where you can attend either the Musical Ride or the Changing of the Guard my vote would definitely be to attend the former rather than the latter.

A Few Quick Notes 558

-On Thursday we received about 10-12 centimetres of snow in just a few hours.



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By yesterday afternoon/evening the snow was almost completely gone and it was almost 10.

Though Environment Canada is suggesting that it is currently about 1 in the region, I don't believe this. The continuing formation of ice suggests to me that it is at least below freezing and that it has been for a while.

Anyway, temperatures and conditions have definitely been yo-yoing recently and it is less than fun.

-Tonight Jeannette and I will be attending an Old Man Luedecke concert in Windsor.  The question on everyone's mind surely is whether or not he will perform the crowd favourite Joy of Cooking?




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-I think I will be making some leek and potato soup shortly.  Much to my surprise, we were able to buy both leeks and potatoes at our local farmer's market.

A Bunny Watson moment

This past weekend Jeannette took it upon herself to watch the three Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies.  Though I am not a fan of these movies, I did end up catching a few minutes here and there.

After watching the movies Jeannette and I were both quite taken with the similarities between the Lord of the Rings story and the Harry Potter story/books.

Of course, this discussion reminded me of the Radiolab piece from a few years ago about Wagner's Ring Cycle. While this piece is mostly about the Ring Cycle, they do discuss some of the similarities between Wagner's work and Tolkien's.



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This piece, like most of Radiolab's output, is easy to access and informative.

Campaign Event Recap 2

As I mentioned earlier today, Neil and I were thinking about going to the Green Party's Halifax 'Rally for Democracy' to see what Elizabeth May had to say. As planned, we did manage to make it to the event.

Much to my surprise, the event was actually quite well attended. On stage May suggested that it may have been the largest election event to have yet taken place in Halifax this campaign. While this may be true, I think that the Liberal event last weekend may have given this event a run for its money.

Almost as soon as we arrived at the event we spotted May. She appeared to be giving an interview to a TV-based media outlet. This interview seemed to go on for quite some time, much longer than I might have expected.

While this aforementioned interview was ongoing a banjo player was entertaining the masses.

This guy played for quite a while. It was really a nice touch. Actually, shortly after listening to the music for a while I realized that something like this was missing from the Liberal rally, and they really should had someone providing a little bit of pre-rally entertainment to keep the crowd up-beat and motivated for the talks to come. Though a small, gesture, having this performance was really great.

Eventually, a few speakers came to the stage to talk about the Green Party and issues that they have been facing. I think the third speaker was the candidate in our Halifax riding, Michael Dewar. Dewar gave a full-bodied address and was quite a bit more animated that the other speakers.

After speaking for a few minutes Dewar introduced May, who, as promised, spoke primarily about issues relating to Canadian democracy and the upcoming televised debates instead of traditional Green Party topics (though a few references to such issues did slip in).



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I was particularly pleased to hear a few of her comments about the role the media has been playing in this election and that they have been complicit in facilitating some of the questionable practices of parties when it comes to having overly controlled campaign events. Sadly, as she noted, this isn't an issue that is likely to get much play in the national media.

Anyway, though the rally wasn't quite over, we decided to leave shortly after May finished speaking.

A Few Quick Notes 513

-Today was a pretty standard winter's day - warmer while the sun was shining and cold in the evening. Not surprisingly, the official record, as recorded by Environment Canada, doesn't seem to reflect the reality of todays ups and downs.

-It seems that Roll Up the Rim to Win has started again. Apparently, though I would never have guessed it, the competition is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Anyway, I am off to a disappointing 0 for 1 start.

-I have started searching the library's catalogue to find the books that I will need to prepare for my upcoming comprehensive exam. This have not gotten off to an auspicious start. Two of the four books that I have searched for are not held but the library but will need to be brought in from other universities in the region. Sadly, this rate of success isn't a surprise.

-Peter and I enjoyed tonight's Old Man Luedecke show. It is possible that this will be the final show of this concert series that I will attend, though I guess there is some chance that I might go to Amelia Curran/City and Colour show on Friday.

-I guess I should get back to locating/requesting library books. Maybe, if I am lucky, I will even get to start reading one of the articles I printed earlier this evening.

-It would be really great if Neil took a few minutes to throw up a post or two. The margin by which I am winning is starting to become a little embarrassing.

Score
Cameron 53
Neil 0

Don't (Rawlins) Cross me

As I approached this evening's Rawlins Cross concert I heard the band lay into Colleen, the song that I think of when I think of Rawlins Cross. I made it into the concert area proper to catch the end of the song.



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Almost immediately thereafter I was treated to a rendition of Wild Rose, another of the Rawlins Cross songs that reminds me of my childhood.



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Much to my surprise, Sean Panting (AKA Walter) was performing with the band. Though for much of the concert he was just performing away, he eventually really started throwing his body into it and rocking out.



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Though my mother suggested that I go back stage and talk to Ian McKinnon (and re-introduce myself) I opted to just leave after the show. Trying to wangle my way backstage didn't seem particularly wise or something that was likely to succeed.

Anyway, tomorrow night I will be heading back to Parade Square for Old Man Luedecke's concert, the last concert of this series that I will be attending.

Score
Cameron 51
Neil 0

A Few Quick Notes 512

-Today seems to have been a pretty bland, though cold, day so far. Apparently we may even be in for a few flurries this evening.

-I spend a few hours yesterday and today transcribing, unfortunately, I am not really out of it. I just can quite seem to concentrate. Of course, in this state it didn't take me long to get to animated gifs.



-Later this evening I am hoping to catch some of the free Rawlins Cross show at the Grand Parade. As I will likely be going by myself I am not sure if I will go for the entire show. As an early investor in the band I do feel somewhat compelled to see at least some of the show.

-Jeannette and I are likely to have homemade pizzas for dinner tonight. As usual, my will be cheese and tomato free.

-We are still pumping out pitches at Doyle Pitches, though I am starting to think that the Telegram story on the site may not materialize. It has now been a few weeks and I have heard nothing back from the reporter who conducted the interview. The fact that the CBC refused to allow people to comment on our stuff probably really dealt the fatal blow to this story.

-I guess I should try to do at least a little more work before dinner.

Score
Cameron 50
Neil 0

A Great Big Sea of People in Halifax

Great Big Sea, Newfoundland's premiere celtic/traditional pop band, performed a free show in Halifax. Jeannette and I stopped by for a few songs on our way to our Ultimate game.

While we didn't have the best view of the stage (that there thousands of people there before us was much of our problem in this department), we were eventually able to see a few crowd surfers.



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As you can see, these weren't the world's best crowd surfers.

And in case you were wondering, I think that it is pretty safe to say that the Great Big Sea show had a larger number of attendees than the Joel Plaskett or Hey Rosetta! shows of a few days ago.

Score
Cameron 46
Neil 0

A Modicum of Success

Regular readers will know that earlier today I organized a flash mob for tonight's Canada Games' Hey Rosetta! show.

Basically I choreographed a dance move and then posted a how-to video:



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As the concert progressed I kept my eye on the crowd and watched for flare-ups of the flash mob dancers. Not surprisingly, given my massive YouTube influence, I was almost immediately able to observe people taking part in the flash mob dance moves.

Then, near the end of the show, I was super excited to see that one of the band members even started leading the audience in the flash mob dance moves. I was so excited to see the dance being done by so many people that I kind of muffed the camera work (I was slow to turn it on and then I didn't do a good job of operating the camera). Nonetheless, I was able to catch the tail end of the most notable iteration of the flash mob.



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It was incredibly exciting to have such success with my first flash mob.

Score
Cameron 43
Neil 0

Halifax Flash Mob: Take 2

Ok everybody, at tonight's Canada Games' Hey Rosetta show we are going to out do the Joel Plaskett flash mob thing by a mile. I know I am just making this thing public kind of last minute, but I have faith that we can pull this thing together in no time.

So to get down to business: I have choreographed a sweet move for all of us in the know to do at the end of each song. It is going to look totally awesome. Oh, and it has an awesome name: The Tim.

Check out this video so that you can learn the sweet move needed to be part of this grassroots celebratory movement. Don't worry, I have faith that you will all be able to quickly master The Tim without too much trouble.



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And our flash mob is all improv and stuff. If you want to take your hands and do The Tim above your head that is totally cool. Actually, you can do this move wherever you want and that is totally cool, you can still be part of our flash mob.

Remember, it is important that you all spread the word - we only have a few hours left before the show is to start. If we want this to be as awesome as I know it can be we need everyone to see the video and learn the move before the show (of course if you are at the show and know the people next to you haven't seen the video feel free to teach them The Tim on the spot.)

Ok people, enough blathering, lets go get the word out and make this a night to remember.

Score
Cameron 42
Neil 0

A Few Quick Notes 509

-We experienced something of a temperature drop today. When I woke up this morning it wasn't far away from zero and it is now -11. At times throughout the day we even had the pleasure of catching a few flurries.

-Though I didn't plan on it, I did manage to hear a little of tonight's Sloan show. For better or worse, I was only able to hear somewhat muffled music only when I had my window open and only when the wind temporarily died down. Consequently, I didn't get as much out of tonight's show as I did last night's show.

Much to my surprise, my video of last night's attempted 'flash mob' now has more than 800 views. I am a little surprised that it has become such a popular video, though it does seem to be one of the view videos to have yet been uploaded of the event.

-Tomorrow night Peter and I will be going to see St. John's band Hey Rosetta! I feel a little embarrassed that when you consider how long they have been around and that I went to high school with the frontman that I have never seen these guys perform and that my the first show of theirs that I will see is a free show. I guess better late than never, or something like that.

-Earlier this evening, while poking around on the internet, I happened to find a newly released short film starring a good friend of Neil's, Andrew. What I found particularly amazing about my discovery is that not only did I happen upon Andrew's YouTube channel today, but today was the day he posted this film. If you wan to see it can be found below.



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Oh, and this film was directed by Republic of Doyle's Des.

-It seems that the Humber West by-election has lead to the election of the PC candidate.

Score
Cameron 41
Neil 0

A Halifax flash mob?

A few days ago it was reported that at tonight's Canada Games free Joel Plaskett concert there would be a 'flash mob' dance. Instructional videos were even available online.



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Of course, at least to Jeannette and me, the fact that the event was so planned and publicized seemed to undermine the 'flash' component of the event.

Anyway, while at the concert this evening I was curious to see how this whole thing would play out. It seems that in the end few people actually performed the dance during the show.

If you are interested you can see for yourself below.



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Oh, and that is Premier Darrell Dexter at the beginning of the video. He made a brief appearance before the headlining act took the stage and then participated in the end of the song before the 'flash mob' dance.

Score
Cameron 38
Neil 0

Lasers and laws

Like children's portraits in the 80's, the Black Eyed Peas have lasers.



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This summer when I mentioned this fact to a cousin of mine who works in lighting business in the US she was shocked to hear what the Black Eyed Peas had done in Halifax. Apparently in the US you can't just shoot high powered lasers into the sky. All such lasers have to be aimed at definite end points. Apparently the concern is shooting a pilot in the eye, or something like that. Anyway, apparently the nearby air force base didn't have too many problems as I don't recall hearing about any accidents the next day.

If you are wondering why this is going up now and was not posted when filmed the answer is laziness. I forgot to post it and just happened across it this afternoon as I was deleting old video files from my computer.

Score
Cameron 11
Neil 0

Maybe I do have what it takes to be a pop star

A few minutes ago Jeannette drew my attention to some Britney Spears footage/audio in which one can hear her singing without the intermediation of auto-tune. I am not starting to think that this whole pop star thing may not really be that far out of my reach (though I guess I will have to work on the hot bod/dancing thing)



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Video of the century?

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And the follow-up as re-made with humans.



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I may have scooped Chinafax on this post, but she may still have something to say on the matter.

Working for the Weekend

As Loverboy, in their classic song Working for the Weekend, suggests, I have been working for the weekend. Based on the upbeat nature of the song I would have imagined that working for the weekend would have been more fun that taking it off and relaxing, turns out that is not the case. Working for the weekend is a real bummer, it doesn't even feel like much of a weekend.

On the other hand, it does feel good to know that I cranked out quite a bit of school-related reading.

Not too surprising

CBC is now reporting that a number of companies who provided services for concerts on the Halifax Common this summer haven't been paid. At least one of the companies quoted has indicated that they are owed a substantial sum of money (though exactly what that sum is was unstated).

After having viewed one of these shows from outside of the concert area, I can't say that I am surprised that funds are not flowing freely. Not only did it appear that not many people paid to attend the show, at least one seems to have made it in for free by hopping the fence.



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Also, after the concert it was reported that at some point during the final act the gates were opened and non-paying members of the public allowed to attend for free.

Anyway, when all of this is taken together with the fact that the acts were likely guaranteed a certain fee I don't see how the concert promoters couldn't have done anything but lose their shirts on this show.

And though at least one of the unpaid companies has indicated that they are confident they will eventually be paid, that they have participated in a story about not being paid seems to suggest at least some apprehension about whether or not they will receive payment. Maybe the aggressive action is aimed at encouraging such a payment? Anyway, whatever the case may be, I suspect that at least one party won't be making as much money as they expected on backs of Weezer and the Black Eyed Peas.