August Long-2009 Sunshine Coast

This long weekend was one of the best weekends that I have had in a long time. I was invited by my girlfriend and her family to their family’s cabin about a hour away from Sechelt. This was the first time that I have ever been to the Sunshine Coast and I had amazing time.

My girlfriend Taryn and I began our adventure Thursday evening when we drove up with Taryn’s two younger brothers, Nick and Paul and also her older brother and his girlfriend Kyle and Carrie. We left at 7pm to catch our 830 reservation ferry, a good thing too because the ferry terminal was already full of anticipating travelers hoping to catch a ferry that evening.

The boat ride over was truly beautiful. Taryn and I sat there outside with the wind blowing freely threw our hair as we watched the sun slowly fall behind the coastline, the whole sky lit up with a color that I have never before seen, a powerful purple that covered the entire night sky that mirrored off the calm ocean water. All I could see was purple with what seemed to be these floating islands.

We arrived at the cabin around 11 that evening. It was pitch black all around and the only thing that I could see was warm blanket of stars covering the evening sky, a breathtaking view that us city dwellers rarely get to enjoy. I sat on that porch for a long time, just sitting there taking it all in.

The next morning I awoke to a smell that I have not been able to relate too in a very long time, the wilderness. As I opened the outside room door to go to the cabin for a coffee, there I saw for the first time their private lake that I have heard hundreds of stories about. A powerful site to see anytime of the day let alone when you open your bedroom door first thing in the morning.

As I entered the door to the dear head and antler decorated cabin to get my morning coffee, there before me at the front of the cabin was a full wall of windows over looking a glistening lake with mountain peeks as the background. Well, I stood there in amazement thinking, “This is going to be the best weekend yet!” Really, how could it not be fun? There we had kayaks, ATV’s, BB Guns with great company and my ever caring girlfriend.

I won’t get into anything too detailed over all the events of the weekend but I will give you a good taste. Whether in the warm lake with the 30+ degree sun or cooling off speeding down an old dirt trail on an ATV, the elements were at their prime. The days were completely free of any troubles or an agenda of any sorts. I spent a lot of the time with the guys running around having BB gun wars on the side of a mountain, nothing really too much to worry about as we all had protective eye wear on and used 12oz BB’s with the occasional 20oz snuck in.

The nights were filled with family and friends sitting around engaged in conversation and playing games as a group such as the very interesting game of cranium that we played. Other nights as the girls all talked in the living room, the guys would sit at the kitchen table playing crib as the youngster watched on picking up on the rules of the game so that they could play us the next morning.

All in all it was a weekend that soon won’t be forgotten. Even now, every time I hear a Jack Johnson song play, I have an instant flash back of lying on the dock with Jack playing in the background. This was a weekend that was dooly needed. I recommend that you leave your comments of your long weekend or even the best weekend you’ve had.

A Day To Remember For All To Enjoy

What a week we all have had! Let’s see, umm there was Canada Day, the Vancouver Jazz Festival and the unfortunate announcement of the passing of Michael Jackson. I know that there has been a huge amount of publicity on MJ and in no way am I trying to ride the wave of his passing, but more of away pay respects to a legend, an icon and a family man who has left 3 beautiful children behind.

The passing of Michael Jackson was a day that none of us will soon forget for years to come. As I sat here watching the news, reading the headlines online. I sat there trying to piece together the reality that the King of Pop will never again entertain us live again, who always setting the standard with new dance moves, or being drawn to the latest headlines on the news because of something that “Wacko Jacko” was accused of. I’m not here to judge him or call him strange because quite frankly Al Sharpton said it best (among many wonderful things said at his memorial) to Michael’s kids, “Your father was not strange, he did strange things”. Let us all remember who MJ is and not the things that he was accused of doing. He was a true Superstar that loved to entertain and will always set the stage for generations to come.

Here at VanMusic we have been putting together a list of names for an International Music Day http://www.vanmusic.ca/musicday but have always been confused on what day we should have it on. Well we have finally come together on some possible days; we think that it should somehow involve the passing of Michael Jackson. When he passed, the internet social networking sites stopped, on his memorial, the internet social networking sites stopped. It’s reported that over a billion people watched the memorial of Michael Jackson. Wow, one person has made the World stop, think about it, that’s about 1/6 of the population of the world and they all stopped what they were doing to paid their respect to the self proclaimed and world wide excepted King of Pop.

Don’t you think that we should all have a day to stop and think about what music has really done for the people of the world? Here is your time to Be A Part Of History and sign this petition to make a World Wide Music Day, a day that we can respect music and what it has done for us also pay tribute an Icon Of Music. http://www.vanmusic.ca/musicday

We will all miss MJ know matter what he did off stage, we are not the one to judge, but know matter what he did we will all remember his songs, his legend and most of all his dance moves.

Car Free Day In Vancouver

Car Free Day in Vancouver is one of the better festivals to attend and support. This year it was on June 14 2009 at 5 locations in Vancouver. Like every year it was a lot of fun and a great turnout. There is something for everyone to take home with them; I bought a Pan Flute for myself.

Just walking down the streets, as far as the eye could see were all these different venues/organizations/stores with thousands of people walking, dancing and enjoying the smells of a car free zone. I spent hours checking out all the vendors from different areas of the world and what they have to share. Just getting to play with the different tools of music from around the world was what I spent most of my time on, but certainly not all of it.

Car Free Day is a festival and like all festivals there was live music in every direction at every car-free location. With so many different styles of music, it was hard not to dance and share together the happiness that music provided each and every one of us.

Well after partying on the streets all day it was finally time for the after party. There were 7 of us all wearing ponchos made out of handkerchiefs and a hat of our choice. Everyone knew when we got there because we busted in with a conga line. That was a hit, we had the whole dance floor join, but who really turns down a conga line?

The days activities were filled with dancing, laughing and having a hell of a time. It was a very successful festival and everyone can’t wait to do it all over again. Hey what can I say, when is the next Car Free Day?