A Discussion on Food Security in an Era of Climate Change and Conflict – S11E19

The discussion on food has always been an important topic in the developing and developed world. On Friday, I had the opportunity to check an event hosted by the University of Ottawa’s Centre for International Policy Studies. CBC Radio 2 and Hockey Night In Canada’s George Stroumboulopoulos was in conversation with the Executive Director of the World Food Programme, Ertharin Cousin.

The discussion on food security ranged from how the WFP helps give aid to countries in dire need. Developed nations like Canada try to assist in giving aid to war-torn countries or countries devastated by natural disasters. People like us get affected and try help out as possible to give aid and support.

Aside from his hosting duties and a love of music, Strombo is a WFP ambassador and a huge advocate for food security. It’s good to show the importance of food security as developing countries don’t have the opportunity of getting resources and getting people healthy.

Ms. Ertharin was amazing and explained the packed crowd about what the WFP does and giving insight about the need to fight the hunger from countries in crisis.
If you’re interested to know more about the WFP, here’s their mission statement.

It was an informative event and learning about organizations like the World Food Programme can make the difference to help save lives from countries in need.

You can check out the photos over at Flickr by clicking HERE.

The 2016 Lunar New Year Parade in Ottawa Chinatown – S11E18

It was a very cold Sunday afternoon as we paraded down Ottawa Chinatown for the annual Lunar New Year Parade. We returned to do the parade after a year’s absence due to a schedule conflict.
As usual, the lions and dragon as well as animals in costumes and the monkey walked down Ottawa Chinatown to celebrate Lunar New Year and the year of the Monkey.

It was a fun time going down the streets. For this year, I took on the photography and we had enough people helping out and alternate each role.

This weekend couldn’t come at a bad time as temperatures hit -40C with the windchill on Saturday. Sunday was still cold but was not as bad as Saturday.
It was fine to brave the cold and still good to see people come out to see the parade.

You can check the photos below and you can check on Flickr by clicking HERE.

Some Vinyl Listening – S11E17

This week saw the release of two new music albums. One from Basia Bulat and the other being the return of You Say Party. 2016 sees some fantastic releases from Canadian musicians and bands and what not better to go through these two album. I had the opportunity to listen to the albums on vinyls.

Good Advice by Basia Bulat
Released on February 12th, Good Advice is her fourth studio album and the unique part to this album was that it’s produced Jim James of My Morning Jacket. For those that don’t know, being a fan of The Strombo Show, Bulat was on George Stroumboulopoulos’ radio show in 2014 and she made a mention of My Morning Jacket being one of her favourite bands. Not knowing her soon-to-be album at that time had inklings of Jim James producing.

With her new album, the theme running through each tracks go through heartbreak and breakup. Bulat’s last album, Tall Tall Shadow went through loss and sorrow. This album is entirely different. The first half of the album sounds fast pace and no slow melodies in the form of a ballad. The latter half of the album is more relaxed.

One song that felt strong is Let Me In. You can hear the emotion and the heartbreak of the song. It’s like being locked out of the door and trying to get back in.

The song, The Garden slightly reminded me of a song from her 2010 album, Heart of My Own. That song being The Shore. When listening to The Garden, it’s reminding me of walking into a big garden whereas The Shore reminded me walking to a beach or some place that’s near water.

Overall, Good Advice totally delivers and a terrific outing for Bulat.

Chinese New Year 2016 – S11E16

Happy Chinese New Year, Kung Hei Fat Choy. It’s the year of the Monkey for 2016 and as usual, with the start of the new year, there’s always the lion dance performance.

This year, we had a performance at Shaw Centre on Monday morning. The event was for the Loblaw NKO 2016. The NKO standing for National Kick Off. As T&T Supermarket is owned by Loblaw Companies, it’s fitting with the lion dance to coincide with Chinese New Year. After the performance, I had the opportunity to try out some samples from vendors. Well known brands from Pepsi, Lays and Coca-Cola just to name a few. I tried out Ginger Pepsi and wow, it was pretty intense with the ginger taste.
You can check out the photos from below.

Another performance we did was at SurveyMonkey in downtown Ottawa. It’s fitting with the year of the Monkey and bring a nice surprise for the employees at the online survey company to celebrate the festivities.

Since it’s the first day of Chinese New Year, there will be several more lion dance performances for this week. Loads of fun and craziness.

A Senator’s Lunar New Year Celebration – S11E15

On Tuesday night, my lion dance troupe had the opportunity to perform for Senator Thanh Hai Ngo’s Lunar New Year celebration. It was held at the Sir John A. Macdonald Building across from the West Block of Parliament Hill.

Chinese/Lunar New Year doesn’t start until February 8th. In a way, it’s considered the unofficial kick off to the festivities. It’s also the Year of the Monkey.

It was a nice event as there were some current politicians and senators mingling around. There was another event next to the building, which is the former Bank of Montreal. It was good to see some political figures around.
The photo posted above was after the lion dance performance and Conservative MP, Alice Wong was doing a bit of drumming. It was a fun night to say the least.

You can check the photos over at Flickr by clicking HERE.