You Better Not Cry, I'm Telling You Why - The Olympic Torch Is Coming To Toooown!

Ok, ok, ok, ok, ok, ok....ok.

Let us just calmly talk about a beloved symbol of amature sport for a second - IT'S COMING TO HAMILTON TOMORROW AND THERE IS GOING TO BE A PARTY AND YOU CAN SEE THE TORCH AND QUATCHI AND YELL AND SING AND BE ENVIRONMENTAL AND LOVE AND JUNK!

Cough.

You may find out alllll of the helpful details here, but I'll also cut and paste some deets ici:

The public are encouraged to come early to Dundurn Castle and check out activities beginning at 4:00 pm provided by sponsors Coca-Cola and RBC. Dundurn Castle will offer free guided tours from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm, and free roaming tours from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm with interpreters stationed throughout the home.

12:00 pm-6:00 pm Free tours of Dundurn Castle

4:00 pm Activities begin at Dundurn National Historic Site

5:30 pm Celebration begins; entertainers include Tom Wilson, John Ellison, Jude Johnson, Hamilton Youth Steel Orchestra and more

6:30 pm Olympic Torch Relay enters Hamilton

3:30 pm-8:00 pm HSR special shuttle from the north side of King Street between Hughson and John to Dundurn Castle


Sooooo, you should probably come to the party, or at least see the torch go by. It may not be back for a good many years. You'll remember it. And if you come to the party you can come and take pictures of me stalking Quatchi.

So Many Flightless Birds, So Little Time

If you're looking for something to do this weekend, might I suggest Wingfest at Pier 8 (that's the part of the bay front/harbour with Williams Coffee Pub).

It boasts:

• a whole lotta wings (and food)
  
• a midway - aka RIDES!
• an art show
• cheap boat cruises
  
• fireworks on Saturday night
• live music - including Henry Strong's current jazz band, The Spoons, Honeymoon Suite and April Wine

It's free to get in until 6pm at which point it'll cost ya a whole two bucks. You should probably check it out. I am.

So You Can Be Prepared

Something You're Going To Want To Do

On November the 1st and 8th, I'm singing with Chorus London in some pretty fantastic concerts.

The concerts are basically the same actually - or at least the music being sung is the same - Orff's Carmina Burana - you can see the first/last movement here - and Ruth Watson Henderson's Voices of Earth. Both concerts will have Chorus London and the Amadeus Choir and a children's choir, along with orchestra.

On Novemeber 1 the concert happens in London at Centennial Hall. On Novermber 8 the concert happens in Toronto at York Minster Park Baptist Church.

A few of the differences will be: the childrens choirs will be different for each city, and I believe the pianists will be different as well. We were told a few weeks ago that Ruth Watson Henderson herself will be one of the pianists for the Toronto date.

I think these will be very hot concerts - 200 voices, amazing music, orchestra, hmmm yes. I'd never heard all of Carmina Burana before I entered the ensemble and it is one crazy b!tch goddess of a piece of music - the rhythm is crazy at times, it's sung in medieval Latin and German. There are even some yiddish words thrown in for good measure. The translations of the lyrics are pretty crazy too. Some highlights:

"If the world were all mine from the sea up to the Rhine, this I would willingly forgo to have the queen of England lie in my arms."

"Some gamble, some drink, some live without discretion. From those who spend their time in gambling, some are stripped bare, some win clothes, some are dressed in sacks; there no-one fears death, but for the wine they throw dice."

"May God grant, may the gods grant, what I have set myself to do, and that is, to unlock the bonds of her virginity."

Voices of Earth draws its lyrics from the Canticles of the Sun and poetry by Archibald Lampman. One of my favourite parts of singing it is the way the two choirs are written. There are many times when one choir is kind of singing the back up vox for the other choir. Sometimes this means that the lyrics get a little skewed. At one point our choir gets to sing "oo-ooooooo grass." And at another "a pool, a pooool, cool." Or another favourite "with joy for Captain fancy at the helm." I want to meet Capt. Fancy.

The V.O.E (as I've taken to calling it in my head because I don't have anyone to talk to such choral matters about) is something you'll want to take in for a variety of reasons

1. it's Canadian - the composer and the poetry (Archie L is from Morpeth, ON)
2. it's rarely performed due to the whole 2 choir, plus childrens choir, plus orchestra/double piano thing
3. you can't just go out and buy a cd of it - there are no commercial recordings available
4. it was written in 1991 - which means you can't be sick of it yet
5. it is a big challenge to sing - from the unfamiliarity with it, to the fact that it changes time signatures about 1,538 times, or the insane rhythms, or maybe the sharp text painting
   

Basically you need to come to this concert and you have 2 chances to do it. I've linked both choir's websites in the post - and you can get tickets from the 'home' choir for each date. I have a small mitt full of tickets for the London date. Let me know if you want one/some/all/a punch in the face.

Oh, yeah, siiiiigh and one last reason why you may want to come to this concert.... double sigh... this, cough, will... ugh... be (I can do this), my first, siiiiiiiiiigh, concert as... deep breath... a soprano (of the 2nd variety). There, I said it. So you'd better come.

(ps - if you call for tix in London, mention my name - i'm required to sell a certain number)

Slowly

I began to make my return to life this week. It was/is exhausting. I had to pick and choose what I had the energy for. And when I wasn't expending energy I was lying down somewhere. For the most part I'm getting much better. I can breath out of my nose 90% of the time. Most coughing is for maintenance (unless I get riled up - which you know, never happens to me as I am very calm and am rarely excitable).

I went back to singing this week. Which may admittedly might have been a bit early. But tonight is my final choir concert as an undergrad and I am in a quartet for a motet and well, as I have said a few times this week - that I will be cold, dead and in the ground before I don't sing in the concert. You don't become the longest standing concert choir member ever by letting a little pneumonia get to you. Heck no. The singing hasn't been too bad. My voice sounds bad afterwards - which I'm guessing is just pure fatigue, but I can sing, and sing pretty well. It is still hard to breath - so I've had to break things up a little more than usual. Ha ha, I went to my voice lesson yesterday and tried an aria that I have to sing at the recital on Monday - holding the sustained notes and trying to get enough air in for them made me dizzy! It was crazy.

Rest assured that I know I am crazy to do what I'm going to do over the next 24hrs. I know I'll regret parts of it as I spend the rest of the weekend in bed. But I know I would regret so much more not singing in this concert (the line up is SO good and so are the singers!). My parents are currently on their way here. So I will have lunch with them and hang for a bit. Then they will do a couple things they need to take care of - I will lay down for a bit and then make myself pretty for the concert. We have a call time of 5:30, but since I am crazy and responsible, I will be there at 5. We have a rehearsal for an hour and then half an hour break (where I will find a couch to crash on) and then we get robed and do final preps. The concert will be a couple of hours with intermission. And then I'm gonna rely on the Holy Spirit to keep giving me energy so that I can celebrate afterwards with both family and friends. Finally Saturday morning my parents and I will keep our tradition of going to the Egg & I and doing a bit of shopping. Apres ca, I will crash.

So you can see that I've healed enough to be able to push. I take that as a victory. Last week I couldn't push. And really, I don't have anything scheduled after my parents leave on Saturday until Monday's voice recital. I'm golden. Right?

Choir Tour

Its that time of year again..... Choir Tour Time!!

I thought that you might like to come to a concert or two. Thusly I will post when and where said concerts are (side note, i don't know the actual locations of all of these churches, you're on your own there). Awww.

We will be singing a blend of pieces from the upcoming 25 Anthems for 25 Years concert and our Christmas concert. Some pieces may include: the first movement from Handel's Coronation Anthem #2 - The King Shall Rejoice, For God Commanded Angels To Watch Over You by Felix Mendelssohn (and sometimes Brahms), Antonio Lotti's Crucifixus, C.V Standford's Beati Quorum Via, the Robert's spiritual He Has The Power!, a Dale Grotenhuis favourite Blessed Be the Name of the Lord and much, much more!

Saturday, February 16
Quebec City, PQ
Saint Charles Garnier Church
8pm

Sunday, February 17
Quebec City, PQ
Saint Charles Garnier Church
part of the morning service, 9:30am

Montreal, PQ
Knox-Crescent-Kensington & First Presbyterian Church
6225 Godfrey Avenue in Montreal
7:30pm

Monday, February 18
Brockville, ON
Bethel Christian Reformed Church
117 Windsor Drive Brockville
7:30pm

Addison, ON
Heritage Community School
7463 County Rd 28; Addison
9:30am

Tuesday, February 19
Belleville, ON
St. Andrew's Presbyterian
Corner of Church St.& Pinnacle, Belleville
7:30pm

Wednesday, February 20
Barrie, ON
Trinity Anglican Church
7:30pm

FYI

You should know that Church in the Box is this Sunday night, in the Redeemer auditorium at 7pm. This month's theme is Christ the Foundation/Brother, the offering is for World Wide Christian Schools. The speaker is a woman that I have known for a very long time, who I think has a very dynamic story to tell of the power and tenacity of God. The speaker is me.

You should come.

You Should Probably Come To This...

(side note, you may here this a lot over the next 6 weeks - actually check the links - there is good stuff coming up)

So yeah, you should come to this. I'll be there.

CITB

(Talking like a robot) Earthlings, Church in the Box is this Sunday at 7pm in the Redeemer Auditorium. The current scheduled speaker is Urban Promises' Colin McCartney. The offering will be going to the Sierra Leone Literacy Project. You should come.

End transmission.

Do You Have Testicles? (This is not a dirty question, its just a body part people.)

Do you have testicles, attend Redeemer University College (i can't wait for this sentence to come up in a Google search!), can carry a tune in a bucket, sing in a not super low fashion? If you answered yes to these questions then the Redeemer University College Concert Choir needs YOU!

[insert picture of Dr T looking like Uncle Sam and pointing at you, here]

For real though, if you're a male RUC stud(ent) and you have ever thought about joining the choir, this is the time for you. We need tenors. We are so desperate that I, Laura Stewart, a mezzo-soprano am singing first tenor. So you see the need here.

Some reasons/benefits to joining the choir:

1. so man lovely ladies
2. some pretty cool dudes
3. a tight knit community that will support you in prayer and in deed
4. singing music that could change your heart for the better
5. singing music that could make you cry (see #4)
6. travel - we go on tour
7. becoming a waaaay better musician
8. so much laughing
9. Chris and Rebecca Teeuwsen
10. Soup and Buns - everywhere we go and they are always great
11. a chance to learn other languages - we sing in Latin, French, German, Spanish...
    
12. a chance to star in tour videos
13. friendships that will last for the rest of your life
14. alumni choir
15. any time we sing Handel you get an ab work out
16. corporate worship in many different styles
17. being a shiny jewel in the Redeemer crown - we sing for anything they want to look and sound good
18. a chance to make soprano jokes
19. singing with an orchestra will knock much more than your socks off
20. you get to see me at least 3 times a week!

Seriously - there is 20 reasons why you and your tenor self should be contacting Dr. Teeuwsen right now!

Ok. Go. I'll see you in 125G!

I Think The Stress Might Be Getting To Me

This week is a little busy for me (which is why i'm blogging for dinner - obvi). After finishing my philosophy paper on Friday and attending Craig's memorial service, I get to move to this week's tasks - pack and move my entire apartment by Wednesday, write the take home exam for the philosophy course and pack to go NYC for the weekend (i know your heart aches for that one). That amongst the hustle and bustle of working, baseball, and everyday errands is keeping me hoping.

Rest assured, NYC and the use of Chelsea's parents beautiful camera will result in in-trip blogging. Oh yes.

Fun, Fun, Fun!

Little Johnny is playing in Hamilton this Friday, Friday, Friday, June 29th.

The game takes place at 7:30pm at Bernie Arbour Stadium, admission is 5$ or really smooth talking (ask Rob and Gayle about that one).

Celebrities like Dan Postma and Laura Stewart will be there.

Blog stalkers, this a great time for you to tear yourself away from your computers and come mingle with real people. 2nd floor at 777 this applies to you!

Last week's game boasted the tossing of 2 Hamilton managers and one Hamilton pitcher; Kitchener stealing home; a baby in a Red Sox outfit; prizes for the best dancer; a lot of peanuts and a great night of ball!

"So if you're in the area and you must be in the area because this isn't a very powerful radio station, c'mon down to the ball park and bring the kiddies with ya." (4 points if you name the quote)

You Should Probably Do This So I Don't Have To Hurt You

You see this guy?


He's my big/little brother.

He belongs to these guys:



Where he is a:



This Friday June 22 and the following Friday June 29, John and the Kitchener Panthers will be playing here in l'Hammer against the Hamilton Thunderbirds. Each game starts at 7:30 and are at Bernie Arbour Stadium. Directions and more information can be found here.

I'm going to be there, John's going to be there, so really, what else do you need?

Do it.

I Know What You're Doing

Thursday night at 8:10pm our famed softball team will be playing for the championship at Victoria Park in Hamilton. You should go, its going to be awesome!