Friday Night, Party Night?

Hot weather, the Bomber game and going to the cottage are all reasons why there was a small crowd during the first show. Those excuses didn't hold up as the attendance recovered for the second and third show aided in part by bus tours. The second show had two buses that totally almost 100 spectators and the usually sparse third show was boosted by another bus full of seniors from the States.
Highlights and observations from night 6:

• Similar schedule to last night with the exception of Aurora replacing Kaede for dance. Karate performed their final night and Stacey hosted the festivities. I must admit Sumi and I have lucked out with such competent and skilled emcees. It sure makes our jobs easier and with young under-30 hosts (Stacy, Jesse and Marli last year) that can carry the emcee load for future Folklorama's.
• The film crew from Travel Manitoba made their presence felt. A photographer moved from the front of the stage to the back and even on the stage to get some flash close-up shots of Hinode Taiko. It would be interesting to see the footage they shot, but I don't know if we'll ever have a chance to see it.
• The second and final night of the late show karaoke party closed out the evening. There seemed to be more volunteers (and performers) from our Pavilion than actual visitors taking their turn at the mike. Almost like the volunteer party without the free beer, or as Stacey said, "liquid courage".

Saturday is the last night for the Japan Pavilion and it will be a welcome relief to have a day off on Sunday. The last night also means the volunteer party, so I might not have the energy to post immediately after Saturday's show, because I hear that Rock Band will be the featured form as entertainment and the beer is gratis. If that's the case, I'll get the posting up Sunday or Monday. This may include my wrap-up with more photos and stories from the past week. Stay tuned and please leave your comments and thoughts about the week.

Dance, Dance And More Dance!

The last three nights of Folklorama are traditionally the strongest nights for attendance and sure enough Thursday night's shows were the best attended so far. Two full houses (for the 1st two shows) aided by a couple of bus tours, helped push the totals closer to previous years and with Friday and Saturday to come, it should be a successful year (I am unofficially speculating so don't get excited yet!).

Highlights and observations for night 5:

• A film/video crew were present for the first two shows. I can't confirm this, but I heard they were filming a personal profile on Hinode drummer Sheila. A mobile camera as well as a tripod camera, followed her backstage and strictly focused on her during her performance with Hinode. I'm not sure what this will be used for, but I'm betting it's one of those profiles on people's "double" life, a mild-mannered executive during the day and a crazed Japanese drummer at night. I'll see what I can find out.
• There was a lot of pink tonight! The Kaede dance group performed 3 pieces per show, one more than usual because Shayna was taking the night off, she'll return on Saturday.
• Yuki tonight had two dancers accompanying him on stage. Alex was joined by Stephanie Okabe, last year's adult ambassador, to provide Yuki with double dancers behind him. I'll post a clear picture tomorrow as proof, because all photos of the trio were blurry tonight.
• Keiko S-H did a splendid job emceeing tonight, her smooth delivery and confident stage presence is always a joy to watch. She's always welcome to emcee at Folklorama!

During Friday's late show, a video company hired by Travel Manitoba will visit our Pavilion. The video crew will follow a tour group on their motorcoach, as well as inside the Pavilions they visit. This video, travelogue if you will, is going to be used for promotion, sales and education for Travel Manitoba. Sounds exciting...not!

Late Night Wednesday

I didn't get home until after midnight because of the Wednesday late-night party hour tonight, so I'll have to leave you with an abbreviated version because fatigue may play a big role tomorrow at work.

Highlights and observations for night 4:

• Yuki Imagawa made his Folklorama debut with a modern Japanese pop song complete with accompanying dancer, Alex Allen. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, Yuki showcased an impressive powerful set of pipes that captivated the audience and the ballet-like dance visuals by Alex gave the piece a modern twist.
• Shaw TV paid the Pavilion a visit and taped portions from the first show. When host Joanne Kelly was searching for an interview, the only clear choice was the "Face of Folklorama" herself, Sumi. Stay tuned to Shaw-TV (crap, I have MTS-TV) as every year they broadcast segments from Folklorama and their website (which has taken down last year's videos recently) will eventually post the videos. When it's available I'll post it here.
• Connie Tamoto (from Global) hosted and as usual was an excellent emcee. We're lucky to have someone as skilled as her from within our community.
• Late night party ran from about 10:30 until 11:35 and was a moderate success. The only advertising for this late night event was in the program book and since we haven't hosted a late night show in years, the fear was that we wouldn't have anyone there. We had a small number of left-overs from the 9:45 show, but it wasn't just the volunteers that participated in the karaoke. Spread the word for Friday night!
• I've been hearing whispers and rumours that we will not be participating in Folklorama next year. I've been asked that by many people and a few have been very upset by what their hearing. I hear this negative talk every year during Folklorama week and I don't know if it's just one person that's spreading their displeasure or opinion or if there's any basis to these claims. I remember a couple of year's ago someone was saying we wouldn't have a Pavilion because taiko wasn't going to be in town. This in fact was false and no one from Hinode ever said they couldn't participate. I'm not saying we will or will not be in Folklorama next year (We could probably use a break), it's not for me to say right now, but I am saying the Pavilion is not the place to discuss the future. It's been a great week so far and let's enjoy it and keep it fun. If any volunteers, performers or coordinators are reading this and have any strong feelings about next year, please leave your comments and opinions here! We'll discuss this at greater length after Folklorama.
  

The weeks more than half over now, but there's still lots to see and hear. I'm already looking forward to sleeping in on Sunday...sigh.

Another Successful Night!

An appearance by the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, the honourable John Harvard, highlighted day three of Folklorama at the Japanese Pavilion. The crowds are continuing to grow and the bus tours are arriving in droves, yet a comfortable feeling of "being in control" is being felt by many of the volunteers. From an entertainment standpoint everything is running smoothly and the performers are relaxed and having fun, we couldn't ask for anything more.

Highlights and observations from night 3:

• Karate returned to the Pavilion after taking a hiatus last year. Good to have the variety, because everybody loves to watch more traditional hand to hand combat.
• Jesse debuted his first full night of emceeing for the Pavilion, as last year he shared an evening with Stacey. Jesse's charismatic-style is perfectly suited to this event, he loves to charm the audience with his somewhat sincere, yet always engaging wit and if there's a stage, Jesse will entertain.
• Stay tuned on Wednesday when the Pavilion will stay open later for their first of two nights for a late night party. If you like karaoke be sure to stick around immediately following the 9:45 show (10:30) as Jesse will host this event until about 11:45, hopefully there is enough audience members to the make this entertaining. Part 2 will be on Friday night, so tell your friends!
• It was the first night for the Kaede dancers, mainly the older group. When is Carol going to get better copies of her songs? She still uses cassettes that sound like they have been played over and over and over...you get the idea. The tape hiss is getting so bad, it literary sounds like an old scratched up 78 from the 40's. I could have sworn someone put them on CD a few years ago. The best thing would be to find the original source and copy it directly to disc or digital file (will need lots of noise-reduction done to it).
• Tonight was the last night for Kenji, one of our singers. It was also Keiko Saito-Hanssen's last night as one of the Aurora dancers this year and possibly for a while. I heard she might be taking a break from dancing, but I'll believe it when I see it. Keiko has been a solid performer for Aurora through the years and first got acquainted with her back when the Pavilion was held at the Cultural Centre. She is back on stage Thursday night as the emcee of the main stage show.

Wednesday should be exciting as Yuki (I'm not sure what his last name is...anyone know?) makes his first appearance as a singer and as I mentioned earlier, late night karaoke. I think it'll be a good time to try one of those Folklorama beers!

Night Two...5 Days Left

The crowds returned in large numbers to the Japan Pavilion on day two, I'm guessing half of Winnipeg must have returned from the lake because there was a line of people waiting outside the front doors already at 5:30pm when I arrived. The first two shows enjoyed near capacity crowds and I expect them to grow in numbers as the week goes on. The show was similar to the previous night with the exception of different dances performed by the Aurora dancers.

Highlights and observations from night 2:

• Judo replaced Kendo for tonight's martial art. The group consisted of younger members, I think the highest rank belt on stage (besides Wayne) was a orange. I personally believe the audience is warming to the martial arts segment and by giving them 10 minutes before the main show it enables the rest of the show to flow nicely. Two years ago the martial arts segment was rushed to squeeze them into the main show and only allow them 5 or 6 minutes.
• Monday saw the return of Shig to the stage, not as a member of Hinode taiko, but as the evening's emcee. His calm easy-going banter was a pleasant surprise as this was his Folklorama MC debut. Notice how the entertainment coordinator's roped their relatives (including their fathers) into this job, I guess the talent runs in the family.
• Kenji's singing performance included 3 dancers behind him, Mitch was joined this time by Sumi and Keiko and when they're dancing on stage you hardly notice the singer. Visually this adds so much depth to the piece.

Tuesday will be an important night as the Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba, John Harvard is scheduled to pay our Pavilion a visit, as well as CITY-TV...should tuned.

First Night Jitters? No Problem,

Before the first night of Folklorama is always stressful and uncertain, will the stage be finished, will the performers be confused, will the show run longer than the allotted time slot, will an audience show up? All these things are legitimately concerns, but every year everything comes together and runs smoothly as it did last night. The performances on stage were top notch and well rehearsed and the show itself, which we formatted differently from last year, seemed to run without any glitches. The one thing that was noticeable was the smaller than average crowds for all three shows. The disadvantage of hosting a Pavilion on the first week is that the crowds are small early in the week because of the long weekend, but they gradually grow toward the end of the week. The second week is traditionally more successful financially because of the momentum carried from the first week via word of mouth and media reports and reviews.
Some highlights and observations from Night 1:

• The martial arts groups will perform 15 minutes before each main stage show, the first night was the Manitoba Kendo Club. It was especially cute to see some of the younger (kids) members bashing each other with the kendo sticks and their little screaming voices from under those large helmets. This year we are back with all three MA groups, judo, karate and kendo.
• For the first time in many years, we have three different singers that will perform throughout the week. Kenji Miyamoto was accompanied by his daughter Mitsuko who provided some interpretive dancing in the background. Kenji drew loud appreciative applause after each performance and you can tell he really enjoys performing on stage. Shayna Paulicelli for the fourth straight year is back and as I've said in the past she's a natural and a born performer. A powerful new song that combines Japanese and English lyrics will be a crowd pleaser all week. She is scheduled to perform for all but two nights. A third singer Yuki performs mid week on.
  
• I didn't notice this before, but look closely at the photo with the taiko drummers against the back wall. They are standing on little risers that can be adjusted for height...thought that was kind of cool.

Overall a good night, maybe a little tweaking here and there, but should be a good week as long as the air conditioning holds out. In case your wondering about other aspects of the Pavilion I probably won't go there, I'm writing this from the point of view of a entertainment coordinator. I'll try to keep each day brief as it's hard to write something every night as well as working a 9-5 job, last year I stayed up late a minimum of 2 or 3 hours to write after coming home after 11pm. Thank you civic holiday!

A Little Pre-Folklorama Ramble

This year's Folklorama motto, "How far will you go?" can be interpreted, oh so many ways. It can be used to describe an unique approach, pushing the limits and maybe going to extreme measures. I doubt this is the case because Folklorama always plays it safe, Pavilions are not allowed to make political statements nor are they allowed to tread in controversial subject matter despite the historical significance (such as the internment of Japanese-Canadians by the Canadian Government) and for Folklorama to push it's limits means trying to attract a younger demographic by holding late-night parties (booze-fest) at select Pavilions since many view Folklorama as a seniors bus tour-type of event.

It can also mean, how many countries (Pavilions) can you see in 2 weeks? I heard a while back that they might bring back the passport pass where you could purchase an all-you-can-see passport for a set amount of $ and you would get each Pavilion's page stamped with a different stamp, sort of like seeing all these different countries. It was a popular idea 10 years ago, but I'm thinking it was too cost worthy for the Folk Art's council to swallow. In the past I remember there was also a Folklorama bus that was free to passport holders that ran a couple of routes from Pavilion to Pavilion. It cut time finding a place to park or if you didn't have a car you didn't have to reply on public transit to find yourself to the Pavilions.

More than likely, "How far will you go" refers to how far will you travel to Winnipeg to see Folklorama (from out-of-town), obviously one of it's major sponsor's Westjet takes delight in this tie-in and other years (maybe this year too, I'm not sure) a contest entrant has received a free flight to anywhere Westjet flies. Yes, the power of the sponsor! I received a list of all the official sponsors that have the exclusive right's to everything from beer, banking institutions, hotel services, soft drinks, and money transfer services...yes, Western Union is the official money transfer service of Folklorama 2008...what the hell? Even at our Pavilion, which is a school the other 358 days in the year, one of the vending machines is covered with paper to cover the fact the machine has "Coke" products inside. All official sponsor signage must be visible in the Pavilion and a two and a half minute CD that again recognizes the sponsors must be played before every show. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with corporate sponsorship, I'm just saying each Pavilion is starting to look like the MTS Centre where the boards, the ice and every inch of the building (including in the bathroom) is plastered with advertising.

How Far Will You Go?

I'm heading up to the cabin on Saturday so I won't be posting for about a week or so. I think the nice weather is still ahead so hopefully I won't have to wear rain gear and fleeces.

Folklorama is coming up and it'll occupy most of my time when I return, so I'll leave you with a clip from the Folklorama commercial that is gracing small screens everywhere. If you're wondering if that's Sumi (in the only speaking role) behind the fan...it is! I laughed my ass off when I first saw this, but boy she does a great job! I think she should pursue some kind of acting career after this. You can see her everywhere, on posters, the cover of the program booklet (pick one up at your local LC), ads in magazines and newspapers and on the back of Winnipeg Transit buses.

If the clip doesn't work, go to the Folklorama website (and click on the "video" in the left column) and ask yourself, "How far will you go?"

The Answer Is No!!

The question is can you freeze a metal Sigg water bottle? As I found out it was a big mistake, even leaving the lid off it the water expanded (not upwards) and split the thin metal on the side. I actually Googled the question and the responses were as "long as the lid is off it would be fine", don't trust everything you read on the internet. Days later I checked the Sigg site and it adviced against freezing their bottles. Oh well, I guess I can't get my money back!

New And Improved! aka: "Sick Puppy Manifesto"

Welcome to the "new" and "improved" site for red eyes!

First of all, I would like to apologize for the lack of posts and updates on this site because there's almost nothing I hate more than non-updated blogs. It's not like nothing exciting has happened in my life, maybe it's been too exciting since I seem to be too busy to write and share all the stupid things I think about while I'm at work or zoning out in front of the computer screen.

Secondly, the title of this post is probably misleading, much like the "new" Tide there's nothing new or different about this blog, but it will seem "new" because I haven't written anything since early Spring and it will be "improved" because I will share all the clever information I have backlogged in my brain. This doesn't mean there won't be any changes, no sir, I have plenty of interesting ideas to make this site worth checking out every day (or two...?). Here is a list of the general ground rules and content I promise to cover over the following months:

• This site will remain the non-music pursuits in my life, so legal and non-legal mp3's might be hard to find here. If you enjoy your music cool and your concerts hot, check out my live music blog, Teenage Dogs in Trouble.
• I'll continue to post videos when I'm stuck for something to write about. I know personally I can spend hours on YouTube watching Yogi Bear episodes and music videos, so if anyone has any recommendations or requests I'll spread the word. Better yet, if you make a video you want to share with the world, let me know.
• I might resort to the ol' personal blog formula of detailing all the mundane happenings in my life. "What my cat ate, what I watched on TV, what I ate for lunch and who I ate it with...", this sometimes leads to the "too much information" category, so I'll try to stay clear of info that might offend all my close friends (you know who you are), or worse bore them to death.
• More photos! Everyone loves pictures and I rely heavily on the internet for many of my photos, but like many of you I do own a camera, it's automatic and digital so it's foolproof, right?
• Reviews, reviews! I like to watch more than participate so there'll be no shortage of events to watch and criticize. I like to think I'm critical and hate everything, but in reality I'm easily satisfied. If a play or movie entertains me and I don't fall asleep I probably won't slam it. Like most people I have lots and lots of personal biases and things (and people) that bug me...so be warned!
• Winnipeg...I love and hate this city, but I live here so a lot of my content will be from a Winnipegger's point of view. There's a lot that happens in this town, good and bad that I can't keep my mouth shut about. I haven't read many good blogs that have originated from Winnipeg, so pass on any links, it's good to have many POV's from this town.

If you've read something that prompts a comment, please leave one. Whether you agree or are offended, a comment proves that this blog is read by someone and there is nothing sadder than a blog with no readers, much like that tree falling in a forest thing.

The Big Snit

I hadn't seen the Big Snit in years , but it still provides a good laugh or two. This film gained Richard Condie an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short back in 1985. It didn't win, but it solidified Condie as one of Canada's best known animators.
They sure don't make em' like they used to...Enjoy!

Arrgg!!

Starting February 7th, the University Of Manitoba's Gallery 111 will host an exhibit from Winnipeg filmmaker Richard Condie. Condie is best known for his Oscar nominated short animation films, The Big Snit (1985) and La Salla (1996) as well his hilarious, Getting Started from 1979 which rose Condie to prominence. The exhibition, Arrgg!! will display for the first time Condie's animated cels, pencil drawings, dope sheets and other memorabilia. This is a major coup for the gallery as Condie has donated his works for the University's archives and the exhibition will display just a small sampling of his vast contribution.

If you've never seen the Big Snit or Getting Started, I recommend you first watch these classic films. Then when you see the individual cels on display, you'll come to appreciate the painstakingly hard work that goes into making a 10-minute animated feature. These are done "old school", hand painted and without the use of computers along with painted backgrounds by Condie's sister, Sharon. The show runs until March 7th.

CBC Embarrasses Itself Once Again!

When I thought CBC couldn't sink any lower with it's pathetic attempt to gain an audience by making up contest after contest of lame TV (and radio), they goofed big-time during CBC's broadcast of the NHL's annual All-Star game. First some insight, in the last few years CBC has presented all kinds of "contests" in hopes of gaining a younger audience, without having to award any real prizes or rewards. Here's a small sampling of past series and contests:

• The Greatest Canadian- CBC held a online poll to see who the top 50 Canadians of all time were. On TV they dragged this program on week after week eliminating top contestants. The top 10 real life Canadians (Gretzky, Bell, Banting, Cherry, Fox, MacDonald, Trudeau, Suzuki etc..) were represented by CBC advocate personalities (Mary Walsh, Evan Solomon, George Stromo, Rex Murphy etc.) and their in-studio cheering sections. A good example of CBC's self-congratulatory approach to programming. A bad idea to have on-line voting as an annoying Winnipeg DJ made the top 50. This was lame, lame, lame!

• Hockeyville- "The search for the community that best embodies the spirit of hockey and hometown pride". The way this is accomplished is that someone from the community makes a video montage of off-key singing and laughing good-times then submits it to CBC. This is somehow judged against hundreds of other communities then the top teams compete on a multi-week TV game show (much like TGC) where reps compete against each other through stupid in-studio games, singing contests and lots of pleading and begging. how does this embody the spirit of hockey? Pandering and very embarrassing!

• Canada Reads- is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by CBC radio. During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series of five programs. At the end of each episode, the panelists vote one title "off the island" until only one book remains. This book is then billed as the book that all of Canada should read. elieve it or not this has been ongoing since 2002. To stay in tuned with a younger audience, CBC has had a range of personalities and celebrities such as Jim Cuddy (2x), John K Samson (2x), Scott Thompson, Steve Page (2x), Megan Fellows and Kim Campbell. Did these people actually read the book? At least this one has some merit and plays well with the intellectual crowd that tunes into CBC.

• Test The Nation- "Canada's IQ test" Hosted by Wendy Mesley (there was a time when I actually took her seriously), this stupid excuse to air crap is disguised as a play along at home contest to compare yourselves with the in-studio teams of stereotypes. Again an idiot celebrity advocate for teams (sections of the studio audience divided into 8 or 10 groups) represented different professions or personalities such as bloggers, crossword puzzlers, celebrity lookalikes, flight crew, college fratboys, chefs, tattoo artists, mayors, fitness instructors, blondes, brunettes..you get the idea. A series of questions and problems are asked and after each segment of the test an update of the results are tabulated in real-time. This drags on for 2 hours, in the end we find out what type of person is the smartest..very scientific! It's unbelievable how silly this show is, it was so successful the first couple times it was on, I think it's going to be on more frequently. Believe it or not most of the celebrities have some connection with CBC.
  

• Hockey Song Challenge-Make a video singing Stompin Tom's, The Hockey Song to win a trip to Winkler, Toronto and Ottawa for Hockey Day In Canada. Another video contest where a majority of the entrants will submit irritating footage of cute hockey playing children mumbling off-key and looking generally confused. I saw a clip preview of some of the entrants and we were also treated to people singing into spoons (and hockey sticks), bad guitar playing singers, groups of old men standing around outdoor rinks and endless amount of montages of blurry shaky dark images, don't people know how to edit? I might have entered if you were able to submit an original hockey song...I'm sick of that song!

This brings me to 2008 all-star game, CBC was to broadcast the winning Hockey Song video between the 2nd and 3rd periods of the game. It had been hyped on commercials for weeks leading up to this game for the BIG announcement. Ron Maclean announced the winner was the Twin City Harmonizers and they played the video. The video was kid's on an outdoor rink one by one singing a line from the song, could this be anymore boring and predictable, this is entertainment? Actually this wasn't the winner, when the video was finished Maclean said the 3rd place video was shown by mistake and there was no time to play the 1st place one, talk about being shafted! The 3rd placers must of thought they won and the 1st placers lost their moment of national TV glory because the incompetent CBC is too stupid to care or take notice. (Here is the real 1st place video...hmmm... it seems to be the HNIC theme they are humming at the beginning...old guys singing...this is really the 1st place video? Wow, should have entered!)

It may not matter to the execs at the Mother-corp, but fans should be worried. I remember years ago when CBC would cut off overtime playoff games because of time commitments to reruns of Tommy Hunter that they deemed more important. I think now CBC realizes that the only program that has a dedicated audience or real viewer ship is hockey, not sitcoms, dramas or arts programs, though I enjoyed the Dragon's Den. Since the CBC builds it's whole television schedule around the NHL season (the summer is all reruns and movies), it should stick to what it does best...if that's possible.

Happy New Year! Russian-Style

This game from the Russian-Super league would make even Don Cherry proud. On January 8th, 2008, the Ak Bars vs Traktor combined for an amazing 378 minutes in penalties on the play.

As you know, I'm not an advocate for violence or fights in general, but a good hockey brawl is always good for the soul. I haven't seen a full out bench clearing brawl like this in a long time (except for those 8 year olds in Ontario).

Sorry for the long hiatus between posts, you know how it is, Christmas and holidays always means less time on the computer. Oh well, every things back to normal again and in 2008 I promise more updates and more frivolous news stories.