It's a New Year….  
and a new web address
Welcome to Gunghaggis.com
easier to pronounce, less easy to misspell
More Gung, More Haggis
Less Fat,  Less green vegetables!

Toddish McWong in Edinburgh, Scotland, at photo exhibit This is Who We Are: Scots in Canada, at Scottish Parliament Building (November 30, 2009)

GungHaggisFatChoy :: Main Page

www.gunghaggis.com

Promising More:
of the good things from 2010
– but with more Gung and more Haggis

What to expect at the Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2011 Dinner

More Kilted adventures with Swedish Glogg, with musician friends: Jay MacDonald, Trish & Allan McMordie
My kilted Swedish-Canadian Glogg Christmas Eve

More intimate readings at Historic Joy Kogawa House with author Joy Kogawa
Poetry + Christmas at Kogawa House with George McWhirter, Christine Lowther and Joy Kogawa

14:08  

UK Quiz Show “QI” with host Stephen Fry mentions “Gung Haggis Fat Choy in Vancouver” in episode 11

QI show in UK – cites Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner in Vancouver

More Evelyn Lau!
Mayor's Arts Awards celebrate Evelyn Lau and Alvin Tolentino in Literary and Dance categories!

Evelyn receives ACWW Community Builder Award at Ricepaper 15th Anniversary Dinner
Ricepaper Magazine 15th Anniversary + ACWW Community Builder Awards

More kilted adventures paddling down the Fraser River to the Salish Sea, as I joined the “Paddle for Wild Salmon” in Hope BC, and on the 5th day, we paddled from Musqueam to Jericho Beach
https://www.gunghaggis.com/blog?cmd=search&keywords=%22paddle+for+wild+salmon%22

More Vancouver Mystery adventures

Todd and Deb visit South Okanagan Conservation areas and see a moose!

Visits to conservation and historic sites owned/operated by The Land Conservancy of BC – such as Craigflower School House and Abkhazi Gardens in Victoria, Sooke Pot Holes and Historic Joy Kogawa House

More Kilted travel adventures to Banff and Desolation Sound, as Toddish McWong discovers the Scottish roots of Banff Alberta and other places throughout BC such as Craigellachie BC – site of the Last Spike of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Silver Medal @ 3rd Banff Dragon Boat Races

More History capturing moments, like inaugural BC Hockey Hall of Fame Pioneer Award recipient Larry Kwong, congratulated by inductee Trevor Linden

Larry Kwong receives the inaugural Pioneer Award at the 2010 BC Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

More Dragon Boat races! Gung Haggis team wins 2nd overall in Richmond, and wins steering challenge for free entry for 2011
https://www.gunghaggis.com/blog/_archives/2010/7/17/4581231.html

Re-discovering family ancestry stories of Rev. Chan Yu Tan
https://www.gunghaggis.com/blog/RevChanLegacyProject

More BC Highland Games, by meeting more Chinese in kilts!
https://www.gunghaggis.com/blog/_archives/2010/7/1/4567973.html

Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Featival – Best placing in Rec B ever + Silver Medal in Seniors B race.

More special dinners at Foo's Ho Ho Restaurant with special guests such as authors Judy Fong Bates, Dr. John Jung and actor/activist Elwin Xie
Chinese Laundry Kids @ Friends of Foo's Ho Ho dinner event

BC Book Prizes Gala with host Shelagh Rogers + authors Terry Glavin, Fred Wah, Larissa Lai, Charles Demers + more.  2010 BC Book Prizes: Fred Wah wins Poetry Prize 

Toddish McWong hosted BC Book Prizes Soiree event, and toasted Lt. General Prize for Literary Achievement winner Stan Persky, with publisher Rolf Aurer.  BC Book Prizes Soiree is a friendly, casual but exciting literary event

Adventures exploring 2010 Olympics, as tourist in hometown, and as critic of “non-multicultural Opening and Closing Ceremonies” Vancouver 2010 Olympics

Dragonboats accompanied the Olympic torch bearers (Olympic athletes Kamini Jain and Hugh Fisher), as the torch traveled on False Creek… and I was lead stroke on one of the dragon boats.

Olympic Torch carried on Dragon Boat and Voyageur Canoe on Final Day

Toddish McWong and Bill Saunders, president of Vancouver District Labour Council, with the Burns Check tam, that Todd brought back from the Robbie Burns Cottage in Alloway, Scotland.
2010 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner brings a bit of Scotland back for everybody!

Happy 251st Birthday Rabbie!

SFU Gung Haggis Fat Choy Festival – Dragon Cart Winners are the Wellness Warriors!

Auld Lang Syne is a traditional song sung for New Year's Eve

Here is a version of Auld Lang Syne, sung by CelticKev on youtube.  Celtic Kev states he is performing a version that Robert Burns himself would have performed in his own time, up until he died 21 July 21, 1796. 

• 3:29 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86_tlA9maA0&feature=player_embedded#!
Songs evolve and Robert Burns borrowed many tunes for his poems, and even adapted other folk songs.

The ballad “Old Long Syne” printed in 1711 by James Watson.  Burns was born in January 25, 1759 – a full 48 years after Watson printed his ballad. 

In 1788, Robert Burns composed his version of “Auld Lang Syne” based on words “took down from an old man” and set to the tune of a traditional folk song (Roud # 6294), when Burns would have been 29 years old.

Wikipedia Auld_Lang_Syne writes”

Robert Burns sent a copy of the original song to the Scots Musical Museum with the remark, “The following song, an old song, of the olden times, and which has never been in print, nor even in manuscript until I took it down from an old man”.^[5]
Some of the lyrics were indeed “collected” rather than composed by the
poet; the ballad “Old Long Syne” printed in 1711 by James Watson shows
considerable similarity in the first verse and the chorus to Burns'
later poem,^[4]
and is almost certainly derived from the same “old song”. It is a fair
supposition to attribute the rest of the poem to Burns himself.^[5]

There is some doubt as to whether the melody used today is the same
one Burns originally intended, but it is widely used in Scotland and in
the rest of the world.^[6]

In 1855, different words were written for the Auld Lang Syne tune by
Albert Laighton and titled, “Song of the Old Folks.” This song was
included in the tunebook, Father Kemp's Old Folks Concert Tunes published in Boston, Massachusetts in 1860. ^[7]

Singing the song on Hogmanay or New Year's Eve very quickly became a Scots custom
that soon spread to other parts of the British Isles. As Scots (and
other Britons) emigrated around the world, they took the song with them.

Canadian band leader Guy Lombardo
is often credited with popularising the use of the song at New Year’s
celebrations in America, through his annual broadcasts on radio and
television, beginning in 1929. The song became his trademark. In
addition to his live broadcasts, Lombardo recorded the song more than
once. His first recording was in 1939. A later recording on 29 September
1947 was issued as a single by Decca Records as catalog #24260.^[8]

See Auld Lang Syne on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne

Torch light parade, Fireworks, tube sliding celebrate New Year's Eve at Silver Star Mountain

Todd at Tube Town @ Silver Star Mountain….

Every Christmas season I travel to Vernon BC with my girlfriend to visit her parents.  We usually arrive on Boxing Day, or Christmas Day, or whenever is convenient.  This year I drove up on Dec 29, in time to enjoy the snow covered hills for dog walks in Kalamalka Park.  We are right beside the park, and sometimes we never go into the town of Vernon.  The air is colder and drier than in Vancouver.  There is a light snowfall covering the ground.  But I am glad I haven't had to shovel snow like I did 2 years ago during the big dump.  Unfortunately

For the past few years we have been attending the fireworks display at Silver Star Mountain.  Last year the mountain was socked in by fog and the fireworks were muted by veils of cloudy fog.  Not so this year!  Torch bearing skiers could be easily viewed coming down the mountains.  Over 200 skiers took part, led by ski school instructors and ski patrollers.  It costs $5 for public skiers to participate.  Even children participate too!  They come down the mountain first. 

Torch light parade on the mountain – click for video

Click for Video of torch light ski parade

Deb watches the fireworks dressed up very warmly in the -12 C weather.

Fireworks display – click for Video

After the skiers have finished their torch light run and are all assembled together, and find their family and friends, the fireworks start up. 

After the fireworks is a mass exodus to the parking lots, restaurants, bars, cabins and hotel suites.  Last year we had dinner reservations at The Den.  As usual all the bars and pubs and most of the restaurants are all sold out for private parties. 

Owner of Bugaboos Cafe takes our order for hot chocolate with Bailey's, cream puff, snowy tree waffe sticks, bear claw caramel, cashew nut & chocolate treats.

But we walked into Bugaboos restaurant and tried out some of their Christmas treats. 

waffle snowy trees

Bear Claws: cashew nuts for claws, white chocholate for Polar Bears, Dark chocolate for Black Bears, Milk chocolate for Grizzly Bears.

Our original plan was to go ice skating, as the rink was open until 10pm.   But it was soooo cooooold this New Year's Eve night.  -13 degrees Celsius said the thermometer.  We had earlier talked to the head of the ski school, who said the evening had warmed up nicely for the Torch Light Ski to about -10 degrees, after starting in the morning with -14 on the mountain.

We looked at the outdoor ice rink, with people playing ice hockey and skating around the large outdoor rink.

People warm themselves up by the outdoor fire, outside the Snow Hut cafeteria for the ice rink and Tube Town.

Deb had an inspirational moment and asked me if I wanted to try out the tube rides.  We had never ever done this at Silver Star before.  I plunked down my money, and we attached out tickets.  We walked over to the harness tow, and we each grabbed a tube along the way.  Green for Deb and red for Todd.

Deb gets pulled up the lift while riding backwards on the tube.

Tube riders hold hands or each other's feet to stay together for the ride down, and the attendant gives the riders a good spin, as they push them down the slope!  Yippee!!!

See all my Dec 31st 2010 Silver Star Torchlight & Fireworks pictures here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53803790@N00/sets/72157625597023427/