The Ucluelet Lighthouse

The Canadian Paralympic Committee Invites Canadians To Paralympic Sport Demonstrations During The First-Ever Sports Day In Canada

September 15, 2010 (Ottawa) – September 18th marks the first-ever Sports Day in Canada and the Canadian Paralympic Committee and its members are proud to invite Canadians to experience first-hand various Paralympic sports during hands-on sport demonstrations in Ottawa (ON) and Richmond (BC). With only 3% of people with disabilities physically active, this event will bring attention to the importance of sport in the lives of all Canadians, especially those with a physical disability. In partnership with many sports organizations, Canadians of all ages and abilities will have the unique opportunity to get active and join Paralympians in a wide variety of Paralympic sports while celebrating this national landmark event – Sports Day in Canada – and raising the awareness of the benefits of participating in sport.

WHERE, WHEN & HOW?

Richmond, BC

On September 18th, the public is invited to experience goalball, para-athletics, wheelchair basketball and many other sports alongside Canada’s Paralympians!

In addition, other sport representatives will be onsite to provide instruction to Canadians of all ages and abilities to experience Paralympic sports.

WHERE: Richmond Oval; 6111 River Road, Richmond, BC V7C 0A2

WHEN: September 18, from 11am to 2pm

COST: It’s FREE!

WHO? MEET WITH:
·       5-time Gold medalist in alpine skiing, Lauren Woolstencroft
·       Athletics athlete, Andrea Holmes
·       Wheelchair Basketball players, Richard Peters, Marnie Abbot-Peters and Robert Hedges
·       Wheelchair Curling players, Chris Daw and Darryl Neighbour
·       Boccia player, Alison Kabush
·       Wheelchair Tennis player,  Sarah Hunter
·       Nordic skier, Lou Gibson

Ottawa, ON

As the University of Ottawa Gee-Gees compete against the McMaster Marauders in an exciting homecoming game, Paralympians from athletics, wheelchair basketball, sledge hockey, and many more sports will be on site, demonstrating their sports and teaching Canadians how to play!

WHERE:Lansdowne Park; 1015 Bank St, Ottawa ON, K1S 3W7

WHEN:September 18, from 12 to 4pm

COST: Group tickets are available at a rate of $4 if ordered in advance, or can be purchased on site at a rate of $4 (children) or $12 (adults). To order your tickets, contact Jessica Damery at jdamery@uottawa.ca

WHO? MEET WITH:
·       Sledge Hockey players Jean Labonté, Shawn Matheson, Todd Nicholson and Hervé Lord
·       Nordic skiers Alexei Novikov and Margarita Gorbounova
·       Athletics athletes Jacques Bouchard and Leah Robinson
·       Goalball player Amy Kneebone

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT SPORTS DAY?

Sports Day in Canada is a national celebration of sport, from grassroots to high-performance levels, in communities across Canada. Sports Day in Canada caps off a week of thousands of local sporting events and activities, open houses and try-it days showcasing sport at all levels, and includes a special television broadcast on CBC Sports.

Sports Day in Canada is presented by CBC Sports, ParticipACTION and True Sport and is guided by a committee of national sporting organizations including the Canadian Paralympic Committee (CPC).

To learn more or to search for events in your community, visit www.cbc.ca/sports/sportsday/

(Source: Canadian Paralympic Committee)

Kecak is a form of Balinese music drama, originated in the 1930s and is performed primarily by men. Also known as the Ramayana Monkey Chant, the piece, performed by a circle of 100 or more performers wearing checked cloth around their waists, percussively chanting "cak" and throwing up their arms, depicts a battle from the Ramayana  where the monkey-like Vanara  helped Prince Rama  fight the evil King Ravana. However, Kecak has roots in Sanghyang, a trance-inducing exorcism dance.

Kecak was originally a trance ritual accompanied by male chorus. German painter and musician Walter Spies became deeply interested in the ritual while living in Bali in the 1930s and worked to recreate it into a drama, based on the Hindu Ramayana and including dance, intended to be presented to Western tourist audiences.

The performance lasted about an hour and a half. It was amazing to hear so many voices singing “kecak, kecak, kecak” in unison. The dance tells the story of Prince Rama and his rescue of Princess Sita, who has been kidnapped by the evil King of Lanka.

Priest blessing the lantern and dance area.

More than 100 men singing and participating in the Kecak Dance.

More photos available at mariskar on Flickr.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kecak

For my dad’s birthday this year, rather than have a big party, my dad wanted to spend some quality time with the family. With this request in mind, my mom drove down the beautiful Cowichan Bay, on Vancouver Island and booked a whale watching tour with Ocean Ecoventures.

We arrived at the storefront location, which doubles as an art gallery, and were provided with full-body, wind proof, Helly Hansen flotation suits for the day’s adventure. It was the first really hot day of the summer so the need for the suits didn’t seem to make sense, but once we were out and speeding across the water I was grateful to have it.

Once suited up, we made our way down to the zodiac was moored and were given a quick but detailed safety lesson for the trip by Simon Pidcock, owner/operator of Ocean Ecoventures. Before taking off, he took this group shot!

We barely left the harbour when we caught our first glimpse of ocean wildlife. A harbour seal swam by about twenty feet from the boat!

After about a 45 minute boat ride (with gorgeous B.C. views), we arrived to an area where the orcas tend to hang out and play around. Simon told us of all kinds of interesting facts, behaviours and statistics about the whales. He was very knowledgeable and much of the information was astounding!

Whales were not the only wildlife we saw on the trip. After watching and following the orcas for a couple of hours, we headed back to Cowichan Bay. He took us into a kelp bed, where he showed us that kelp is amazingly strong, and that it has an unbelievable growth rate, as well as many benefits to the ocean and its’ creatures. We even took a kelp leaf out of the water and ate it. Yep, it’s edible!

Other creatures we came across were several bald eagles as well as a bald eagle nest, a couple of ospreys and their nest of young, and of course a lot of seals hanging out on the logs.

All in all we had an AMAZING experience! Unreal photographic opportunities! And we were lucky with phenomenal weather!

If you are planning a trip to Vancouver Island and are looking for a fun adventure in the Cowichan Valley, an Ocean Ecoventures Whale Watching tour with Simon Pidcock should definitely be on your itinerary!

A few tips for your trip:

• Bring your best camera and best zoom/telephoto lens for the trip. I was afraid my gear would get wet, so I left it behind, but not a drop of water made it inside the boat! (*kicking myself!*)
• Wear SUNSCREEN! Even on a cloudy day you are susceptible to sunburn.
• Bring sunglasses and a hat to wear while floating around watching the whales.
• Wear closed toed shoes.
• Bring a bottle of water.
• Ask lots of questions, Simon knows his stuff!

For more information about Ocean Ecoventures, visit their website, and follow them on Twitter and Facebook. And be sure to check out some of Simon’s beautiful whale photography on Flickr.

Ocean Ecoventures Whale Watching is located at:
1721 Cowichan Bay Road, Cowichan Bay
Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Local – 250 748 3800
Toll Free – 1 866 748 5333

Have you taken a whale watching tour? Please share your experience in the comments.

The city of Singapore will host the first ever Youth Olympic Games this coming August! Check out the winning bid video that the Singapore Youth Olympic Games 2010 bid team used to woo the International Olympic Committee, and sway their votes in Singapore’s favor against the other short-listed competing city, Moscow.

Watching this has raised my excitement to new levels! It promises to be an amazing inaugural event!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMJCjut7rVE

(source: http://www.singaporeyoutholympicgames.com)

“Everyone – Official Theme Song of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games. Sung by Jessica Mauboy, Steve Appleton, Jody WIlliams, Tabitha Nauser & Sean Kingston.

The music video for “Everyone” was shot entirely in Singapore. The singers were filmed performing the inspiring tune against iconic Singapore backdrop/landmarks like the city skyline, Singapore Flyer, Marina Barrage, and Esplanade. Intercut with montages of young athletes competing in various sports, the music video captures the youths’ unwavering pursuit of excellence and the positivity they exude in chasing their dreams. Through the snippets of these young sportsmen & women’s unrehearsed performances, we share their aspirations and celebrate the human spirit with the youth of the world.”

(source: YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/singapore2010)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHrnaGJ8ckg

The Tinhorn Creek Winery had a very cool event last night, at the CBC building on Georgia Street in Vancouver.

Think speed dating… only instead of talking to a random stranger, you are tasting random wines, hidden in paper bags and trying to guess what it is that you are drinking! At the end of the evening, the bottles were revealed by wine maker Sandra Oldfield, and those who guess correctly were entered in a draw for prizes.

The event was called: Wine Tasting With a Social Twist. As in social media twist! There were big-screen tv’s posting current tweets about the event for all to see and respond to. Very cool!

A big thank you to Rebecca Bolwitt of Miss604.com for the opportunity to attend this event via the tickets I won on her blog! And thank you to Sandra Oldfield of Tinhorn Creek Winery for making such delicious wine!

Awesome event! Awesome people! AWESOME WINE!!!

(More photos of the event on Flickr!)

I am excited to be photographing a charity event for the Jewels for a Cause  at the Hollyburn Country Club in West Vancouver on May 27th!

Jewels for A Cause was started by Teri-Ann Donaldson and Jennifer Rainnie eight years ago with a mission to bring our community together for a mutual cause to enhance the lives of women and children. It began as a very grass roots way for friends to get together, drink wine, buy jewelry and donate the proceeds to charity. The event has grown each year and has now become a very large gathering with over a dozen jewelers and artists showcasing their work. Last year approximately 200 women attended the event and they raised $5,000 for the year’s charity of choice – KidSport – in honor of Wendy Ladner-Beaudry.

KidSport helps provide support to children in order to remove financial barriers that prevent them from playing organized sport. For more information, please visit www.kidsportcanada.ca.

In addition to KidSport, Jewels for a Cause has also supported the BC Cancer Foundation, Make A Wish Foundation, YMCA Camp Elphastone, on the Sunshine Coast and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada. These ladies have always felt strongly about donating their profit each year to a charity which supports or aids women and or children.

Featured Artists / Designers at This Year’s Event:

• Everything Under the Sun
• Judith Stewart Jewelry
• Joanna Baxter Design
• Amanda Vogler
• Christy Feaver
• Andrea Waines
• Clutch Jewels
• Lizzie Alexandra
• Faded Elegance
• Its Posh
• Soulflower
• Girly Girls

The event will be sponsored by Barefoot Wine, has an entry fee of $10, payable by cash or cheque (there will be an ATM machine available but sorry, no credit), and will be held at:

Hollyburn Country Club
950 Cross Creek Road
West Vancouver

So please come join us for a great cause next Thursday night, May 27th at 7pm, enjoy a glass of wine and buy some jewelry by these amazing artists, and support a good cause!

My trip to Texas in March was last minute and unexpected. I was meant to travel there with a friend and assist on a wedding shoot, until said friend had a car accident and I was suddenly the primary shooter for a couple that I had never met or even spoken to before arriving in Texas!

I arrived at the Austin airport and walked outside to warm, sunny weather. It felt so good after the cold, wet weather we were having in Vancouver! Both the bride and groom were very easy-going people and we became fast friends. They graciously welcomed me into their home, fed me, toured me around Austin, took me out for Amy’s ice cream and some tasty Texas BBQ. They were amazing hosts, especially considering they were about to get married and had a lot of other things on their minds!

On day three, we drove from Austin to Houston. I wasn’t sure what I expected from Texas, having never been before, but it was a beautiful drive with very pretty landscapes and wild flowers on the sides of the freeway.

What blew me away the most on the drive (being from tame Vancouver and all), was the freeway overpasses when we entered Houston. There were eight of them layered at some points! I couldn’t believe how high these things were built! Honestly, it was a bit freaky to be driving on one of the higher ones.

We made our way to the mother of the bride’s home and from there the ladies headed to a nail salon where every chair in the place was filled with family and friends of the bride for mani/pedis. This is where the photography began (after my pedicure of course!)

After a lovely afternoon getting pampered, we headed to the wedding rehearsal at the Houston Junior League and ran through the ceremony for the following day, then off to check into the hotel for a relaxing evening before the next day’s festivities.

The next day, up early, over to the mother of the bride’s home again to prepare for the big day. Hair! Makeup! Dress! Photos!!!

Then off to the Junior League for the noon ceremony. The bride looked gorgeous! Her dress suited her perfectly, as did her hair and makeup, and the flowers were unbelievably beautiful! The Jewish ceremony was perfect, as was the luncheon that followed. It was truly a beautiful wedding, and it was so nice to see such a happy couple.

After the celebration ended I headed back to the hotel to download the images and take a nap! Surprisingly, the new Mr. and Mrs. made plans for a sushi dinner with me, rather than spending their wedding night doing what newlyweds do… Despite my insisting that they should celebrate their nuptials without me, they insisted.

The next day we headed back to Austin and as it was my last day in Texas, they insisted on getting some Rudy’s BBQ and took me out to the creek on the green belt for a picnic. It was PERFECT! Sunny, tasty food, great company, on the creek, nothing could have been better!

I’d like to thank Shawn and Lori for their incredible hospitality and the honour and opportunity to shoot their wedding photos! It was an unexpected, pleasant surprise and I feel that I have left Texas with new friends for life! I’m so happy to have met them both and I wish them all the best in their life together. I look forward to another visit to Austin to catch up with them and to see more of that wonderful city! I can see why it tops many people’s favourite cities list!

My arrival in Denpasar, Bali was very smooth. Having sat in the first row of the plane in my upgraded business class seat (woohoo!), I was one of the first people off and into the visa payment lineup.

So I showed my passport, paid my $25USD, listened to some British woman complain that they did not take credit cards (which she would know, had she done her homework…) and then proceeded to a second lineup for customs and entry into Bali, Indonesia. This didn’t take long, they looked at my passport, took my visa receipt and waved me through. Easy peasy! Next I picked up my luggage, which was already set aside and waiting for me beside the luggage carousel, and I was on my way!

My ride was waiting for me when I exited the airport and I was in the car in minutes and immersed into busy Denpasar traffic. There were more motorcycles and scooters than I’ve ever seen! and people just seem to drive where they please with a loose understanding that they should stick to the left side of the road! (Yes, they drive British style here…) Every time we passed another vehicle, the driver would honk the horn, letting them know we were there. It was very fast paced and honestly, a bit scary…

On the drive, it started to rain. HARD! Like crazy-out-of-nowhere-rain! It was difficult to see anything out of the front windshield at times and we had to slow the car right down to about 30 km/h. I felt sorry for those people out there on their scooters and motorcycles, but the weather didn’t seem to phase them at all.

Although I was very tired after my almost 27 hours of traveling so far, I tried my hardest to keep my eyes open to see what I could on our approximately 3 hour drive to Lovina on the north side of the island, where I am staying.

The coolest thing I saw on the way was MONKEYS!!!! They were just kinda hanging out on the side of a winding road, playing and eating. There were several vehicles of tourists stopped on the side of the road for a closer look. I was told that if given the chance, these sneaky little buggers will steal whatever they can from you and your vehicle!

My main impression from the ride was that driving in Bali is not at the top of my to-do list! For starters, they drive on the left side of the road here. This messed with my head a few times when driving into oncoming traffic on the left side of the road! I must have had at least 18 heart attacks during the ride from the airport to our destination! However, outside of Denpasar, things did calm down somewhat and I think that I may potentially rent a scooter in Lovina after a few more days of getting used to things and acclimatizing to the rules of the road…

And there you have it! Three blog posts later and I’m at my final destination: a gorgeous home in Lovina, which I will tell you all about in an upcoming post!

For more information on Bali and the neighbouring island on Lombok, I recommend the Lonely Planet guide.