Chinese New Year 2013: The Parade in Ottawa Chinatown – S08E26

It was a chilly but wonderful Saturday as the lions and dragon roamed through Ottawa Chinatown for the annual Chinese New Year parade. Also on hand were other drummers and twelve animals from the Chinese zodiac.
This year was unique as it was in conjunction with Winterlude/NCC.
For myself, I was on the cymbals and the tail of the lion. The photo shown had Ottawa mayor, Jim Watson giving the red pocket to the lions under the Chinatown Gateway. It was definitely the popular spot as crowds waited for the lions and dragon to come through the part of Chinatown.

Don’t forget to check some of the photos I took during the parade.
Here’s a short clip via Vine at this link.

Overall, the weather was great and fun watching families and their kids be happy for the occasion. I forgot to mention that the seventh day of Chinese New Year is everyone’s birthday.

Chinese New Year 2013: Lion Dance at T&T – S08E24

Kung Hei Fat Choy!
What a way to start Chinese New Year for 2013 with a lion dance performance at T&T Supermarket, Ottawa location. Although, my lion dance troupe had done a few performances since Thursday leading up to Chinese New Year, it’s been exciting to see people be happy to watch the colourful lions.
It’s been wonderful having two small lions and three big lions for the big occasion.

The performance at T&T was pretty crazy as crowds were getting packed and we performed for about 30 mins around the supermarket. It was quite a frenzy for the guy dressed up as Cai Shen. He was giving out the red enveloped and lots of people were grabbing the red envelopes like hotcakes. That was quite a moment.

There’s one more big performance and it will be on Saturday (Feb. 16) for the New Year Lion Dance Parade.

Don’t forget to check the photos.
Last thing, I have been using Vine and here are a few lion dance related clips to check out.
http://vine.co/v/bvi7aUxUhlD
http://vine.co/v/bve0TJb1Z2X

Happy year of the snake!

The First Lion Dance Performance of 2013 – S08E22

It’s been several years that my lion dance troupe went to Pembroke for Chinese New Years celebration. A bit of a scary story getting to Pembroke was experiencing a slight white out conditions from the blowing snow. It was like a thriller movie and quite scary going through it. It’s funny how my dad was driving quickly during the brief treacherous conditions, one of my family friends who was driving behind text messaged to slow down and not knowing it was my dad who drove.
I know Chinese New Year doesn’t start until February 10th but the Pembroke community did it a week early. As usual, the crowd enjoyed the performance and there was food.

The newest edition to the troupe’s instruments is a slightly small but brightly looking drum. My thought was that it sounds very hollow but over time, the sound should improve from drumming a lot. There will be getting used to the new sound.
It was great to see some of the lion dance crew and will be seeing more of them in the days to come when Chinese New Year arrives.
Don’t forget to check out the photos.

The Rah Rah Interview and a Certain Lion Dance To Begin October – S08E04

Due to the delay in posting an entry, I had to add in the lion dance performance on Wednesday night at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier. Every year, the lion dance troupe performs for the National Day Celebration, which is also called Double Tenth. Celebrating the National Day of the Republic of China, known as Taiwan. Hence, the photo above, as I couldn’t think of anything to add along with Wednesday’s radio show. As usual, there were dignitaries, politicans, and good food. There will be some photos posted on this entry.

Wednesday’s Radio Show for October 2nd
On this edition of WildWorks at CKCU-FM, I aired the interview with one of the members of Rah Rah. The interview was done a few weeks ago and it happened on the night of the Polaris Music Prize Salon at Mercury Lounge (in Ottawa, not the one in New York City). The interview was pretty last minute and the funny part was having to run from place to place getting to the venue where they were performing. Overall, it was a good interview as you will get to listen.
Other parts on the radio show were the Wild 10 Countdown as Jenn Grant is still number one. The blog entry for it is over at this link.
There were a bunch of new music being played as I was also solo hosting for the second week. Played the likes of Julie Doiron, Inlet Sound, Dan Mangan, The Zolas and etc.

Audio/Interview
The October 3rd Radio Show. The playlist is at this link. Press play to listen.

The Rah Rah Interview – Press play to listen or download it.

Continuing the Fun Asian Heritage Month Theme – S07E39

It was an exciting time on Saturday afternoon for Chinatown Remixed as there were activities happening through out Ottawa Chinatown. There were so many events happening on Saturday, May 12th, it was nice to see a good turnout for Chinatown Remixed. As previously mentioned elsewhere, it was a privilege for CKCU-FM to take part in the event. As the community radio station, it needs to get the exposure from attending various cultural events since the station has other multicultural programs. It was awesome that they were able to set up the tent and get DJ 2 Creamz spinning tunes throughout the afternoon. Since the event has been running for four years, it was the first time to have the Success Lion Dance Troupe participate. It’s my second time to check out the event. Kudos to the organizers for bringing an excellent event to Ottawa Chinatown. A big thanks goes to Chris White of CKCU-FM and DJ 2 Creamz for taking part and being enthusiastic to the event.
I was able to take photos as they are posted up on my Facebook page at WildWorks.
This week’s radio show was the continuation of the Asian Heritage Month theme with playing Canadian bands and musicians with Asian backgrounds. There were new songs from Scary Bear Soundtrack and Hexes & Ohs. Then a classic song by The Acorn as there were past members with Asian roots.
How could I forget about the new Beach House album, Bloom. All I can say that it’s probably one of my favourite albums of 2012.
Prior to that, there was the Wild 10 Countdown and a new number one song this week.
The playlist for the May 16th show is at this link.

Audio/Radio Show
The May 16 Radio Show – Press play to listen.

Chinese New Year 2012 Wrap-up – S07E23

It’s been a hectic week with the Chinese New Year celebrations. On Saturday, there were several performances from Chinese schools to a high-end retail store. The highlight was at Ottawa Chinatown for the Chinese New Year parade. The lions and dragons roamed through the local business in the area. The exciting part was the crowds gathering at the Ottawa Chinatown Gateway. As usual with the parade in Chinatown, loud firecrackers lit up several times.
What was good this year was CKCU-FM taking part in the festivities. They were at the Raw Sugar Cafe as the CKCU hosts and volunteers soaked in the Chinese New Year atmosphere and the gateway being close by. The weather was pretty good as we did not endure cold frigid conditions.
On Sunday, the last full performance was at T&T Supermarket. Instead of using a lion, our lion dance troupe only used a dragon. The occasion at T&T Supermarket was an ambassador coming by and greeting the customers around the store. It was almost chaotic as we were short of people to help out on the dragon. It was a close call and got through the performance and through the crowds of people at the beginning.
Overall, the performances were good and tiring. Let’s hope that the year of the dragon will make it prosperous and lucky for everyone. Check out the photos and there’s one funny photo where I tried to put on the mask of the Dragon.

Photos
School Performances
  
 

The Chinese New Year Parade at Ottawa Chinatown
   

T&T Supermarket on January 29, 2012

Happy Chinese New Year 2012 & Year of the Dragon – S07E22

Happy Chinese New Year, Kung Hei Fat Choi - 恭喜發財
2012 should be shaping to be a great year as it’s the year of the dragon. The dragon brings power and luck for anyone who’s born. There’s a bit of decoration at the CKCU-FM on-air studio with the red envelopes and a cute lion or dragon hanging on the window.
This year’s music theme on my show happens to be songs with “dragon.” It was quite a rush job trying to find certain song names with dragon in it. As usual, Lauren joined for the second year and got immersed with the Chinese New Year culture. The new CKCU Volunteer Coordinator, Chris White came on the show to talk about CKCU’s participation for the Chinese New Year celebration on Ottawa Chinatown for Saturday, January 28th. There will be a lion dance performance and CKCU will be at the Raw Sugar Cafe to join in the festivities. CKCU hosts from China Album and The Mix and others will be at the Raw Sugar Cafe. Drop by and say hi to them.
Another part to this year’s CNY show was bringing some food. There were rice crackers, some New Year food mix and a rice cake. You will see the photos from below and then a few photos from the performance on Monday, January 23rd, the start of Chinese New Year.
The playlist to the show (including the podcast to the first part of  the show) is at this link.
The Wild 10 Countdown summary is posted at this link.

Audio/Podcast
The full January 25th show – Press play to listen.

The Chinese New Year show aired on CKCU-FM – Press play to listen

Photos
 

From Chinese New Year Lion Dance Performances
  

Blame It on SOPA and a Certain Lion – S07E21

Do I really need to blame anything that happen on Wednesday? It was certainly a crazy day as so many things happened with a morning lion dance to enduring morning traffic and certain websites going down due to an online protest. I didn’t get too highly involved because of the hectic morning and of course, the radio show. I am in support against SOPA because I post materials on my blog and I do worry about getting in trouble because of copyright laws and other factors.
Aside from that, I could bring a blame on the Chinese lion because I had to delay part of my radio/podcast show. The live radio show was a farewell to a favourite TV show, Chuck. Although, the series finale airs on January 27, 2012, it got pushed up a week because of the Chinese New Year themed show. The songs I picked were my favourites and people who are not familiar with Chuck would be surprised that certain Canadian indie bands were played on the show. There was a segment from an unaired interview with In-Flight Safety, which was recorded in the Summer of 2010. It was with the front man of the band, John Mullane as we chatted about their song being used on NBC’s Chuck.
Hope you enjoy this week’s shows. After the farewell to Chuck edition, it’s The Wild 10 Countdown as there are a couple of new entries.
Before you listen to the audio, the playlist from the January 18th show is at this link. The Wild 10 Countdown summary is over at this link.
Exciting news! The WildWorks Station is on the shortlist for the 2011 Canadian Weblog Awards nomination. The blog is in the category for Best Weblog About Music. It’s nice to get support from friends as they were happy that I got on the shortlist. Thanks!

Audio/Interview
The January 18th Show – Press play to listen.

The January 19th Show (The Wild 10 Countdown) – Press play to listen.

The Short Chat about Chuck with John Mullane of In-Flight Safety (Recorded back in 2010)

A Nice Saturday at the Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival – S06E43

For the first time in awhile, there was no rain at the Ottawa Dragon Boat Race Festival. It was just a nice sunny day and I thought it would be a very hot but the winds helped cool the climate. Enough weather talk, it’s always a privilege to perform at the Dragon Boat Race Festival. As usual, it’s always good to have Max Keeping introduce our lion dance troupe and for the first time, Carol Anne Meehan, was the co-MC with Keeping. I think she enjoyed the lion dance performance.
Prior to performing, I had a good walk around at the festival (in Mooney’s Bay Park) and to my amazement, it was packed with a lot of people walking around checking out the vendors.
Since 1993, the festival has really changed a lot with bringing charitable organizations to the forefront and I think for the past few years, they’ve added the concert series and unfortunately, I did not get to see Jim Bryson perform because I had my dad around and I didn’t want to wait until 4pm. At least I got to see Spartacat (The Ottawa Senators mascot) after concluding the lion dance performance. Aside from that, I got a free deodorant at the festival.
Overall, kudos to the board of directors and staff of the Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival for making the event fun, passionate and successful.
Don’t forget to check out the photos from the lion dance performance.

Photos
   

The Post Chinese New Years Craziness – S06E23

The year of the rabbit for Chinese New Year has wrapped up. OK, I couldn’t think of a good entry to coincide February 16th’s radio show. I did mention that I wrapped up whatever I had done for Chinese New Year. The photo above was a performance at uOttawa on Sunday as there was a karaoke event held by the Chinese students association from the university. Another thing is that February is starting to go by quickly.
This week’s show was basically playing various new indie music from North America to the UK. I am still on a music interview drought due to the lion dance performances and hanging out on The New Midnight Jamz with cupcakes on hand. I also brought back the theme song to Being Erica as the opener for the second hour/live show because I was excited that the show is returning for a fourth season. It’s been awhile that I haven’t used the song as I was unsure about the show’s status.
Of the songs played on the show, I am still hooked on Rill Rill by Sleigh Bells & I Follow Rivers by Lykke Li.
Arcade Fire is making the rounds as they won several music awards. It was conspicuous that I stopped playing Arcade Fire on my show as I had played them non-stop. Congratulations to the band as they made The Suburbs an excellent album in 2010.
Enjoy!
Uh-oh, I’m starting to forget about February 20th. It means something and I’m not going to elaborate further.

You can check the playlist at this link.
The Wild 10 Countdown entry for February 16 is at this link.

Audio
Press play to listen to the radio show.