The Haka

During our post-conference hike, we spent two days in Paradise, where some of the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed. The scenery in the area is truly astounding, but more on that later. The cool thing that happens at U Otago's Physical Education program is that, prior to the start of 2nd year, students are taken on an outdoor experience in Paradise. There, they learn outdoor skills including firelighting, river crossing, tramping (hiking in Kiwi-speak), and teamwork. The other important thing they learn, apart from being comfortable in nature, is Maori history, worldview, approach to health and wellness, etc. It's really quite neat. At the end of each session of camp, the students perform a Maori haka, or song and dance.
Many of us know the Haka from the rugby All-Blacks, but that is just one of many songs, and both men and women can be part of it. As you can see here, the guys REALLY got into it, and it's very powerful to see it in action. Of course, if this was an angry 120 kg All-Black doing this, I'd be off to another continent (and incontinent!) in no time!

Life is Beautiful in Arezzo

The city of Arezzo in the south east part of Tuscany is also the capital of the province of Arezzo. It is now a city of over 100,000, but the historic old part of the city is surrounded by stone walls and filled with churches, piazzas, old shops and historic buildings.

Our Tuscan Flickr

The largest piazza is the Piazza Grande and we stopped here for cafe under the arches of the Vasari loggia. We spent the afternoon wandering the narrow streets and saw the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre, the Fortezza Medicea. At the Piazza Guido Monaco is a statue of Guido Monaco who is an important music theorist and considered the father of modern musical notation.

The boys doing handstands in Piazza Grande

The city is filled with churches. The largest one that is considered the Cathedral of Arezzo is called the Cathedral di San Donato or Il Duomo. The first church was build on a nearby hill where the martyr Donato was beheaded in 363 A.D.. In 1203, Pope Innocent III dictated its transfer inside the city. Construction was begun in 1278 and finished only in 1511. The facade was reconstructed between 1901 and 1914. The church contains a marble alter from 1362 called the Ark of St. Donato.
We also saw the tomb of Pope Gregory X who died in Arezzo on Jan 10, 1276. The stained glass, painted ceilings and side chapels were all very beautiful. We also saw a very ornate carousel in the Piazza Agostino and the nearby church, S. Agostino was small but very welcoming inside.

Arezzo was used as the city in Robert Begnini's 1997 movie "Life is Beautiful" (La Vita e Bella) where the family lived before being sent off to the concentration camp. There were signs at each of the about 7 locations throughout the city that were used in the making of the film.  On the left is they are supposed to be coming out of the opera, but it's actually the steps of Il Duomo on the right. If you haven't seen it, this is a movie that deals with a very difficult period of time showing how a father tried to protect his son from the horrors of the concentration camp.

It wouldn't be Italy without real pizza and espresso, and the real thing on the right is 'molto piccolo!"

Other famous people from Arezzo include Giorgio Vasari, a painter, architect and biographer and recently, Daniele Bennati, a cyclist with the Radio Shack team. In the summer, there is an annual jousting festival where there are many people dressed in medieval costumes and live jousting competitions.

 The old and very ornate carousel on the left, the ruins of the Roman amphitheatre on the right.

To Filos Mas Yiannis

Yiannis Koutedakis is the Chair of the Sports Science department at the U Thessaly. Definitely your larger than life and very entertaining Greek! Yiannis was also Andreas's advisor during his undergraduate degree, and sent him off to the world for his graduate studies and then brought him back to Trikala. My last week in Greece, we went over to his house for dinner with his family. The food was great and Yiannis provided excellent dinner theatre in the bargain!

Saying Yiannis likes to collect is like saying ducks like water. Vintage is the critical word when it comes to describing his many collecting passions. He has an enormous collection of vintage radios of every type and style imaginable. Yiannis has even more bikes than I do, and they are all of the classic variety like the one here. All the parts are as original as possible. Some he rides and others have never rolled more than a few metres.

Another of the big prizes is his classic jukebox, which he likes to blasts at high volume. Transistors are far too modern and high tech, this one uses valves! Quite the eclectic collection of 45s, from Beatles to Greek to ABBA to Black Sabbath!

Next up on the collection front are antique books. One of his prizes is this collection of Charles Darwin second edition prints of such classics as The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man.

Yiannis in his younger days from the University of Wolverhampton, where Andreas also did his first M.Sc. degree. Rowing was his sport, and on the right is a medal from Seoul Olympics in 1988.

Thanks to Yiannis, another reason we truly loved our time in Greece!

ABBA Overload!

Over the holidays, we watched the DVD of "Mamma Mia!" The boys thought bits of it were funny and such, but of course Debbie and I rather enjoy the ABBA songs. With Jacob and myself at home alone this  (Monday) evening, we were walking around La Cambre park in the late afternoon when both of us started getting "Waterloo" stuck in our heads, probably due to the actual original Waterloo town being so close by. Next thing you know, we spent the evening in full ABBA overload mode, listening to the entire ABBA "Gold" greatest hits album and rewatching "Mamma Mia!" I'll put it down to retroactive Swedish music appreciation lessons!

Last Post at Menin Gate

The final stop on our early-December trip through WW1/2 battle sites was Iepers (Iepers is the Flemish name, we might know it better by the French name of Ypres) in the west side of Belgium. There stands Menin Gate at the entrance to the old city. The archway is incredibly impressive, and was built as a WW1 memorial, listing nearly 60,000 missing in action from the Commonwealth military in Belgium. About 7,000 Canadians who were MIA in Belgium are included here, with the ones from France on the Vimy Memorial.

The Last Post Association

The gate is pretty impressive by day, but it's ethereal when lit up at night. It's not flashy or showy, but the gate almost seems to glow from within.

Since 1928, every night at 2000h, the town's fire brigade conducts a "Last Post" ceremony to honour the fallen. It occurs rain or shine, and differs slightly depending on if dignitaries are present and such. The constants are playing the Last Post and also Reveille. The only times the ceremony was cancelled was during the Nazi occupation of Belgium in WW2. Indeed, the very day that Iepers was liberated in WW2 by the Allies, the fire brigade was ready and conducted the ceremony that very evening.

This is a video of the "Reveille" they played at the end of the ceremony

We ended up taking in the Last Post with the Toombes family from near Oxford, UK. We met them earlier that day at the Vimy Memorial, taking the tour of the trenches and tunnels together. They were staying in Iepers for a few days with their daughter and her partner, doing some shopping and taking in the war sites like we were. Michael was involved with the fire department at Oxford, and apparently the brigade there often comes to Iepers for Remembrance Day. Taking in the ceremony was a terrific finish to a fabulous trip.


We were actually incredibly fortunate with the weather the entire 4 days. It rained almost all day Saturday, but the one time it stopped was the 2h we were at Dieppe! And on Monday touring the Normandy beaches, it was absolutely beautiful while we were outdoors at the German and American cemeteries, poured rain while we were driving to and inside Juno Beach, then cleared up afterwards. And it was again beautiful all day outdoors at Vimy and in Iepers. But after we got back into the car after Last Post, it literally began raining hard again as soon as we drove through Menin Gate for home!

Xylophone Xaniness

It's our 100th post on the blog, so let's celebrate with some music!

A few Saturdays ago, we had a beautiful afternoon while the boys were on a playdate with a gymnastics club mate. So Debbie and I had the freedom to wander by ourselves around the downtown area. This street musician was really good!

Rock Church Concert

This is a Picture of the orchestra

Yesterday we went to the Rock Church, for a concert with Japanese music. It was called "Pray For Japan." The acoustics there were very good. The conductor was from Japan and came just for this concert. There was also a guest from Japan and she played the tuba.

The Rock Church in Finnish is called Temppeliaukio Kirkko. It is carved out of solid granite rock and has a large copper domed roof. It was designed by Finnish architects named Timo and Tuomo Suomalainen. There are actually services there but of course they are in Finnish.
I got a nice Finland hat near the Rock Church.

This is a video of the Rock Church, you can see the orchestra, and some big organs.

The copper dome has a diameter of 22m and is lined with copper stripping that would measure 22 km (13 miles) if stretched out. It is supported by reinforced concrete pillars and light enters through 180 skylights. The church can seat 940 people and has excellent acoustics.

Jean Sibelius

Johan Julius Christian Sibelius was born on December 8, 1865. He was born into a Swedish speaking family when Finland was a Grand Duchy of Russia. His parents sent him to a Finnish language school. From age 15, he wanted to be a violin virtuoso.

He was a Finnish composer in the Romantic period. He composed 7 symphonies; each symphony was built on what he learned in the last. Some of his best known compositions were Finlandia, the Karelia Suite, Valse Trieste, the Violin Concerto in D minor, and the Swan of Tuonela. He also wrote music based on the Kalevala. The Kalevala is a poem based on Finnish legends, history, and mythology (with hundreds of pages).

Jean Sibelius married Aino Järnefeldt and had 6 daughters. He was on the Finnish 100 Mark bill until 2002 when Finland changed from the Mark to the Euro. He died on the 20^th of September 1957.

The Sibelius monument was opened on September 7, 1967. It was made from 600 hollow steel pipes welded together. It weighs 26 tonnes. It was designed by Eila Huiltunen and is located in Sibelius Park in the Töölö district of Helsinki. We can walk there in 5 minutes from where we are staying.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRE6ychlM00&feature=related with scenery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6P3cIJHWjw&feature=related

These links are both to performances of Finlandia. The first has nice scenery of Finland as well.

Happy 144th Canada!

Summer weather arrived here in Vancouver just in time for Canada Day, and also the official start of my sabbatical! Debbie went with Victoria Harrison and a group of hikers on the ferry to Bowen Island and a 17 km hike, while I took the boys down to Canada Place for the Canada Day party. CP is down at the waterfront, and very easy to get to on transit. We first took the bus to Metrotown to stock up on bubble tea, Chinese buns, and egg tarts. From there, we took the skytrain straight down to Waterfront station - easy! On the left the boys are at "The Canadian Mosaic" exhibit. An artist is making a huge Canada flag with portraits of everyday Canadians, about 36,000 or more including us. Look for us in the white part of the flag when it's ready in time for Canada's 150th birthday in 2017!

Lots more pictures of how we spent Canada Day!

The boys and I have been hooked on "The Lazy Song" by Bruno Mars, especially the music video and the chimp dancers. So on the left, they're busting their best hip-hop move. On the right, we're at Canada Place, where they lit up the Olympic Torch for the day. Lots and lots and lots of people out enjoying the great weather and the party. Right as we got there, completely to my surprise we literally bumped into my SFU labmates Sanja Savic-Kallesoe and Klaus Kallesoe! Hi Sanja and Klaus!

At the armed forces tent, a Search and Rescue technician was displaying all of his massive array of equipment. They have to be prepared to operate in almost any condition and any climate. Some of their gear included SCUBA diving gear, parachutes for getting to the incidents, climbing and rappeling gear, snowshoes, and plain old walking! They also had extensive emergency medical kits, and are trained to survive with minimal gear for days at a time. I talked to one SAR Tech about the Arctic study that we did, and he didn't seem too keen on volunteering! On the right is another of our "Handstands around the World" shots, at Canada Place in front of the "Digital Orca." That's 4 handstand shots and counting!

In the convention centre itself, there were several exhibitions. A major one was by Tom Meire (on the left), who made over 100 portraits of famous Canadians. He was inspired by the party in Vancouver after the Canadian hockey win at the Olympics, and decided he wanted to celebrate how much Canada has contributed to the world. The portraits included athletes (Terry Fox, Wayne Gretzky, Donovan Bailey), political figures (Sir John A MacDonald was right next to Louis Riel, who he ordered executed!), musicians (Sarah MacLachlan, Glen Gould, Neil Young), actors (John Candy, Michael J. Fox), scientists (Frederick Banting - discover of insulin, David Suzuki), and lots more. One Canadian we learned about for the first time was Louis Cyr, who was the world's strongest man in the late 1800s. He could lift 500 pounds with a single finger! On the right was an aerial artist who was painting a picture while in the air!

One highlight for me were the two concerts we caught at the main stage at Jack Poole Plaza, where the Olympic Torch is. The setup was beautiful, with the musicians in front of a backdrop of Burrard Inlet and the North Shore mountains behind. The first act (left picture) was "The Irish Descendants" from Newfoundland, and the Gaelic-themed rock was awesome. Their last song they sang unbelievably fast and then sped up from there! The final concert was a blast from my youth, indie act Grapes of Wrath from Kelowna (right picture). They were one of my favourite bands during university days, and I pretty much still know almost every word of every song they played.

Canada Day parade was pretty huge and packed, lasting over 1 h. We took a spot in the 5-deep crowd near the end of the parade route. The boys thought that the Star Wars crew were the best. The coolest part of the parade came at the end, when the last couple of parade members somehow got disconnected from the rest of the parade. This old truck with a live band was one of them, and quickly got surrounded by lots of people dancing in the streets to their music. So they just played on for about 15 minutes before they finally managed to convince the crowd to let them stop!

Lots more pictures of how we spent Canada Day!