Visiting Saltspring Island: A BC paradise – but please… don't tell anyone!
I visited Saltspring Island 10 days ago, and didn't take a camera nor
wrote a word about it yet…. not because it wasn't worthy – but
because it pretty well left me speechless, and I have wanted to let it
sink in, savour it repeatedly, and absorb it completely.
Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat 2005 summary:
We really achieved a lot this year!
The summer dragon boat paddling season is finally
over. We started paddling in April and finished paddling in
September on
Labour Day weekend, with a wrap up dinner with surprise gifts for all
paddlers attending!. And during these past nine months from February to October we made lots of new
friends, welcomed old friends, and had soooooo much fun!
Not only did we paddle dragon boats, but we carved our own wooden
dragon heads and tails from cedar, put a dragon boat in Vancouver's St.
Patrick's Day Parade, got featured on national television, developed a
reputation as a “real fun” team, hosted parties at The Roxy, made lots
of dragon boat team friends, and raced for medals in every race we
entered.
* Dragon Boat head and tail carving
at the Roundhouse Community Centre and filmed for CBC local news in
February, and featured at ADBF Dragon's Den tent + Sea Vancouver
Festival at Maritime Museum/Kits Point site.
* Dragon Boat float in the Vancouver St. Patrick's Day parade – featuring
special guests City Councillor Ellen Woodsworth and CBC radio
host/reporter Margaret Gallagher in March
* Taking highschool kids from Quebec out for a dragon boat lesson and mini-races
* ADBF regatta in May
* David Lam Award for Best Multicultural Team @ Alcan Dragon Boat Festival in June
* CBC Newsworld national TV spot @ ADBF
* Rec D finals for medals @ ADBF
* Sea Vancouver Festival regatta Saturday & Sunday
* Rec finals for Harrison DB races
* Bronze medals for Taiwanese DB races
*
Hosting after-race parties at The Roxy following ADBF and Taiwanese
races + 3-in-1 parties at the Roxy/Doolin's & The Cellar – always
giving FREE tickets to out-of-town teams from San Francisco, Portland,
Calgary, Tacoma…
* + we helped out a lot of other teams such as Chilliwack Pirates,
Tacoma Destiny Dragons, Scaly Justice, The Eh? Team, and especially….
Concord Pacific Flying Dragons winning Gold medals in San Francisco –
Yeah Kristine, Dan and Pam!!!!
* and…. got great compliments on our team-shirts!
* wrap-up dinner on October 2
Did I forget anything? A lot of teams have trouble doing just one or two of the above listed events….
Running a dragon boat team, is similar to owning a motorboat or a
sailboat. It is still a boat on the ocean that is like a hole – you
keep putting money into… but you love it just the same.
Coach Bob Brinson & I really were very very pleased with this year's team. Okay,
we often say each year is the best yet… but the 2005 version was
really special on many many levels. Kristine, Gail, Peggy, Dave Samis
and Deb,have been with the team through many of its different
incarnations, and Craig, Kristine, Dave Montrose, and Dave Samis have
been with me on novice, recreation and competitive teams, as well as
paddling with me on many other teams. We do have something special…
we recognize it, and we give thanks to you all.
The GHFC dragon boat team is something I have nurtured since 2002, and
the GHFC dinner since 1998. Managing, organizing and coaching both is
challenging, and I am thankful for having Bob coach it this year, and
supporting the team as steersperson in the previous years. This year I
gave Coach Bob a nice honorarium, something I have never been able to give
myself for coaching past years. But this year was a stronger year for
fundraising with a good GHFC dinner of 600 people, and $1000 from the
Roxy, + some fundraising parties at the Roxy throughout the year.
Many people have asked for off-season activities for physical
exercise… Here's an idea: a different event each month. Indoor
Rockclimbing, roller hockey, floor hocky, volleyball, badminton,
waterslides… just something fun, and social – this will also aid in
planning for next year's dragon boat team and GHFC fundraiser dinner.
For 2006, I would like to see 2 GHFC dragon boat teams. One for
beginners, and One for experienced paddlers – mix them all up, and have
double the fun we had this year.
Join the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team by calling me – Todd
Wong at 604-987-7124 or e-mail gunghaggis
@ yahoo.ca
I visited the Kogawa Homestead site on 64th Avenue tonight…
There are the tell tale signs that plans for development are
planned. There are paint markings on the sidewalk and street
marked “W” and “S”- I assume for Water and Sewer.
The house is quaint looking with a white picket fence on 64th
Ave. There are houses next to it and across the street that
are new. I am surprised that this little house is still standing,
when the many of the same era houses have long since been bulldozed in
favor of newer houses.
But, an application for demolition is expected soon. An inquiry
by an architectural firm to City Hall was made two weeks ago, prompting
the revitalization of the “Save the Kogawa Homestead” committee.
This simple house, is the only “publicly known” house that was
confiscated by the Canadian Government during WW2, after Canadian born
citizens of Japanese descent were sent to internment camps as “enemy
aliens.” Last week, I talked with Reiko at the Japanese Canadian National Museum,
and she said this was the only house that is identifed with known
cultural value. There are many houses that were confiscated and
later
sold at cheap prices as the “owners” were not expected to return.
But this house is special. Joy Kogawa wrote about it in her novel
Obasan, and subsequent children's version Naomi's Road. She
left the house at age 6, to be re-located at a camp in Slocan BC.
And forever after, the house represented a time of happiness, and the
best home she lived in, as the family was forced to live in chicken
coops, shacks, and other housing. Joy became an active part of
the Redress for Japanese-Canadian Internees. She recieved the
Order of Canada.
Obasan became one of the most celebrated Canadian novels, and was
ranked the 11th most influential Canadian novel by Quill and
Quire. Roy Miki calls it the most significant Canadian novel of
the last 20 years. The Vancouver Opera, commissioned a opera
based on Naomi's Road. Obasan was chosen as the 2005 selection
for Vancouver Public Library's award winning One Book One Vancouver
program.
Please sign the petition to preserve the Kogawa Homestead. Click on the white banner – this will forward you to an on-line petition.
Donations can be made in care of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation
Jessica Cheung as Naomi – Vancouver Opera's Naomi's Road
Scotland wants to recruit Scottish-Canadians to “Come Ye Back” not matter how ancient the link
I found the following article in today's issue of the National Post.
The paper featured a front-page picture of nine prominent Canadians
with Scottish connections, such as musicians Natalie McMaster,
Asheley McIssac, actress Neve Campbell, Prime Miniser Paul Martin, and deputy Conservative Party leader Peter McKay.
TOUR WILL TARGET SCOTS LIVING IN CANADA
RECRUITMENT DRIVE
By RANDY BOSWELL
Scotland's top politician will use a tour of Canada this month to
target millions of Canadians of Scottish ancestry with an invitation to
“return home” and reverse the centuries-old, westward flow of wealth
and talent across the North Atlantic.
The recruitment drive by Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell, not
yet officially announced but revealed in British news reports,
coincides with the inauguration of a Scottish investment office in
Toronto and an aggressive effort by the semi-autonomous state to end a
crippling brain drain and bolster its economic fortunes.
“Scotland is an ideal place to live, learn and work,” said Lorna Jack,
head of the Americas branch of Scottish Development International. “We
are bringing this message to interested parties and expats across North
America and beyond.”
The campaign, to “win back” Scottish expatriates, as well as Canadians
with more distant links to the “auld” country, includes an
Edinburgh-backed research project at B.C.'s Simon Fraser University,
which is compiling a detailed profile of this country’s
Scottish-Canadian population.
“It is not just about the locations and incomes of Scottish-Canadians,
but about the history and culture of the Scots in Canada,” Harry
McGrath, the Glasgow-born co-ordinator of Simon Fraser's Centre for
Scottish Studies, told CanWest News Service by e-mail. “It is part of a
general effort to link modern Scotland to, and inform it about, its
diaspora which, in my opinion, is long overdue.”
Part of McConnell's sales pitch in Canada, according to the Sunday
Herald, will be that Scotland is a dynamic modern nation and “no longer
a land of tartan, haggis and Braveheart.”
And The Sunday Times reported that famous Scots such as actor Sir Sean
Connery and singer Annie Lennox might be called upon to promote
investment and tourism among the children of Scotland's diaspora, all
part of the strategy to “lure descendants of Scottish- emigrants” back
home from Canada.
McGrath noted that before Britain devolved self-governing powers to
Scotland, “there was very little effort being made in this area and
when people left the country, as so many did, they were gone and
forgotten except by those closest to them.”
Last year, in a high-profile convocation address at Nova Scotia’s St.
Francis Xavier University, Scotland's top Catholic cleric, Keith
Patrick Cardinal O'Brien, made an impassioned plea to young
Scottish-Canadians to go back “to the home of your ancestors” –
presumably countering efforts by Nova Scotia to stanch its own brain
drain by convincing graduates to stay in the province.
More than four million Canadians claim some degree of Scottish ethnic
heritage. Canada – which traditionally counted the Scottish among its
four founding “races” along with the French, Irish and English – has a
history filled with influential Scots, including 18th-century explorer
Alexander Mackenzie, Confederation-era Prime Minister Sir John A.
Macdonald and telephone inventor, Alexander Graham Bell.
Among other places, McConnell is taking his “come home” message to the
University of Guelph, in the Ontario city founded by the 19th-century
Scottish industrialist John Galt.
On Oct. 28, McConnell is scheduled to visit the university’s collection
of Scottish archival material, the largest in the world outside of
Scotland.
Graeme Morton, the University of Guelph’s chair of Scottish Studies,
said McConnell's campaign to attract Canadian immigrants “puts the boot
on the other foot” after centuries of Scottish emigration to
Canada. But he said both Canada and Scotland would ultimately
gain from increased movement of workers between the two countries.
“I am sure” echoed McGrath, “that the young people going from here to
there will tell others about the place that they came from. I can only
see benefit for both countries in this kind of exchange.”
I Miss My CBC: Check out the latest on CBC'ers blogs
CBC and their largest union, the Canadian Media Guild are wrapping up
the latest talks finally reaching agreement early Monday morning, after
Parliament imposed talks 10 days ago and told the CMG and CBC not to
finish until a settlement had been reached. Reminds me of
parental dispute solving when I was little.
Check out the latest on blogs by CBC's Tod Maffin who organized the brilliant http://cbcunplugged.blogware.com/blog
that went up when the lock out began.
Check out Shelagh Rogers blogging of her trip across Canada
http://shelaghcaravan.blogspot.com,
as she was determined to continue to meet and greet, and talk with the
Canadians across our country, wondering how far she would get before
the end of the lock out.
I was glad to see so many locked-out CBC'ers at Word on the
Street. Glad to see that their spirits were not daunted.
Glad to see that their personal committment to the community was
intact, and glad to see them take advantage of the huge crowds at the
fair. And just glad to see so many familar faces that I knew, and
sometimes get hugs from.
Joan Athey gave me a big “I Miss my CBC” sticker, that I wore for the
rest of the day. City Councillor Raymond Louie proudly wore one
when I bumped into him. Kathryn Gretzinger gave me an
enthusiastic greeting, saying that the support really means a lot to
them. I saw Adrienne Wong on stage, and talked with Priya Ramu
and Margaret Gallagher at the event. I wasn't there early
enough to see if they had continued the traditional WOTS pancake
breakfast on the CBC courtyard – as it was still roped off.
Anybody I have talked with in the Vancouver arts community, wished the
lockout over ASAP. Max Wyman called it a “terrible waste.”
Marya Gadison at the Vancovuer Public Library, said it was so hard to
get news out. Many arts organizations really missed the way CBC
Radio supports the arts, and has a loyal following. When I was on
Saltspring Island last week, it was bittersweet hearing so many
bookstores tuned into CBC Radio.
Mike Dangeli: New works for September
Mike Dangeli is a wonderful new friend I met while carving our Gung
Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat head and tail. Mike specializes in
the art of his First Nations heritage drawn from Nisga’a, Tlinget
and Tsimshian Nation Check out his new works below – or pictures
of us carving together on www.klorker.com with carver Eric Neighbor.
or see him featured on the Alaska Native Artists website.
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Check out my photos dangeli_northwind has invited you to view a photo album on Yahoo! Photos Greetings, September found me working on a few pieces for two new clients and sharing with them the process of creation. I am sharing their excitement of witnessing the creation of a Killerwhale mask and a 16” Drum. I have also found myself experimenting with Maquettes, “Forming a spiritual alliance” was inspired by old Halaayt masks and a conversations with friends from back home. It was exciting working with bone again and am looking forward to the next piece. So until then…thanks for letting me share my work with you and see you next month…Mike
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Today we have a Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team wrap up dinner at
Pink Pearl Restaurant on East Hastings St – just west of Clark Drive.
We will be showing DVD videos of the team featured in CBC Newsworld
this year at the Alcan Dragon Boat Festival, and from last year's
Thalassa dragon boat documentary filmed for French Public Television.
Newcomers welcome,
Dinner time is 5pm.
For more information
call me at 604*987*7124
Todd
UBC Day of the Longboat – Full contact voyageur canoe bumper car race mayhem
If you walked along Jericho Beach this weekend and spotted voyageur
canoes and wondered what was going on, and then ran into the
crowds of paddlers at the Jericho Paddling and Sailing Centre.
You discovered the UBC Recreation program that has expanded to almost
160 teams: from people who have only been in a canoe once before… to
seasoned dragon boat paddlers hunting for post-dragon boat bragging
rights.
It's not an event for the weak of heart, as the 2 kilometre races are 4 times as long as a 500m dragon boat race.
Check out the ongoing hot tub parties – a necessity for re-warming the
body after falling in the ocean, or running through the waves as a
designated team runner must jump in and out of the boat to shore
grabbing a traffic cone or banging a gong at the race finish.
Many of the UBC teams are brand new, young and inexperienced canoeists,
paddling out of time, slowly and for the sheer fun of experience.
The dragon boat paddlers in Sunday's communty division are seasoned
veterans of many years and races throughout the summer, demonstrating
precision timing and technique and regularly posting the fastest times
of the races.
Last year was my first time participating, as I joined up with Tacoma's
Destiny Dragons, gathering many Vancouver area paddlers to join in
cross-border friendship. This year, I became team photographer
due to a shoulder injury. But we had core Gung Haggis team
paddlers paddling, as we have a good friendship with the Tacoma Dragon
Boat Association and have joined them for events in Tacoma, Seattle,
and Vancouver over the past few years. Coach Clem is an
ex-patriate Canadian from Alberta, and balances the team on
participation and fun. It's always a pleasure to join this crew.
I shot pictures for Gung Haggis paddlers Kristine and Dave, who also
paddled last year with us, as we won the Men's Division. Pictures
coming up later…
Naomi's Road: Pulls the heart in all the right places and directions
Vancouver Opera's first Opera in the Schools Commission is superb!
Two
children are left in the care of an aunt, when their father is sent
away from them, after their mother leaves the country to look after her
sick grandmother. And the “holiday” they are told they have just
boarded a train for is actually going to be a re-location camp for the
next 3 years of their life. They will be called “enemy aliens,”
called racial slurs, and they may never see their real home
again.
This is all
great stuff for school children to learn about bullying, Canadian
history, the importance of family, and how to make friends. Oh…
and it has been turned into an opera.
Vancouver Opera has turned to the children's version of the award winning novel Obasan by Joy Kogawa for it's second-ever original commission, designed for their Vancouver Opera in Schools program.
Naomi's Road revolves around the upheaval of a 9 year old girl's life,
as she and her older brother are removed from their home in Vancouver,
and sent to a re-location camp in Slocan, located in BC's Interior.
Limited by a
45-minute time frame, the creative team of composer Ramona Leungen with
librettist Ann Hodges were challenged to bring alive a dark time in
Canada's history, but make it palatable and relatable for 21st century
school children. They have succeeded in spades! Naomi's
Road conveys the story without oversimplifying it. The music is
acessible and emotional, with soaring melodies and lovely ensemble work.
I attended the
Saturday afternoon performance following the previous evening's World
Premiere. A question period followed the short but lively
performance during which adults in the audience wanted the opera
extended by an hour, and children wanted to know how the actors could
change costumes so fast playing multiple roles.
Young soprano
Jessica Cheung stands out. Her projection portraying a 9 year old
is amazing. She is completely believable, with little nuances
that enhance her character. When I remarked to Jessica after the
performance about “another costume change” into very chic and hip
street clothes, she remarked “So people don't think I really am a
little girl.
Composer Ramona
Luengen, says of Jessica, “We were so thrilled to find her. She
brings so much vitality and spark. We just wanted to keep
her. Where else are you going to find a twenty year old that can
play a 10 year old… and sing?!?!”
Sam Chung does a
good turn as Stephen, Naomi's older brother. He initially plays a
shy reserved child who becomes emotionally volatile as he discovers
that the “holiday” really isn't a holiday and becomes cynical about
many things related to the internment. Sam does a good job
evolving Stephen's emotional maturity compressing three years into 45
minutes.
Gina Oh and Sung
Taek Chung both take on multiple roles, playing Mother, Obasan &
Mitzi and Father, Rough Lock Bill, Trainmaster and Bully,
respectively. They create characters complete and separate from
the roles they shed with a change of clothes. Seeing Gina go from
loving mother to reserved aunt to childish Mitzi within 30 minutes is
remarkable. I particularly liked how Sung played doting father,
then later reappeared as Rough Lock Bill – a First Nations Character in
Slocan who befriends the children, gives Stephen a flute and helps
demonstrate racial acceptance and unconditional friendship.
During the
Q&A, a question was asked about the role played by Joy Kogawa,
author of Naomi's Road children's book. Luengen described
attending a reading by Kogawa 2 years ago, in the Kogawa childhood home
(now threatened by demolition – see www.kogawa.homestead.com),
which she describes as magical. Anne Hodges said that Joy gave
them complete reign over the story and never said to take or leave
anything out, nor questioned what they did. “She was like a
benevolent and peaceful spirit that permeated what we did, and always
seemed to be in town whenever we needed her.”
When I told
music director Leslie Uyeda that I had tears in my eyes when the
children were in the train scene, she replied, “You're the third person
who has said that… that scene is so emotionally charged, especially
when they are separated from their father. It is so
iconographic. It's in all the pictures,” she commented about the
photographs showing Japanese-Canadians at the train station waving to
family members being sent to different camps, and used on the cover of
the book Obasan.
If this is only
the 2nd-ever commission by the Vancouver Opera (the first was 1994's
The Architect), I can only eagerly anticipate the next one, and hope
that it will be soon. Maybe they will pick another
Vancouver-based story such as the Komagata Maru incident that affected
the South Asian community, or an issue from Chinese-Canadian history,
similar to the opera Iron Road, that is yet to show in Vancouver.
Kudos for the
Vancouver Opera's Naomi's Road. I foresee a long life for it,
touring BC's schools and beyond. Glad I wasn't sitting on a
gymnasium floor for 45 minutes… but I think the kids will definitely
enjoy it!
Please sign the petition to preserve the Kogawa Homestead. Click on the white banner – this will forward you to an on-line petition.
Donations can be made in care of the Vancouver Heritage Foundation