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Sunday, February 27, 2005

the winter festival

The winter festival in our town only lasts a weekend, but it is alot of fun. There is a little bit for everyone if you can stand the cold.

Friday evening opened with a short but really great display of fireworks. After the fireworks, they showed a movie, outdoors projected on a huge wall of snow. people sat on bales of hay to watch Jimmy Neutron. Later they had a small music concert out of doors also.

Yesterday and today were activity based.

There were plenty of fun things for everyone... including snowmobile rides, sliding, you could even take a ride in a horse drawn wagon.



There was plenty of free maple syrup taffy.. and it was delicious as you can see
(in case anyone is wondering, yes.. I did get permission to take this cutie's pic):



There was a snowman building competition where you had to build a 'traditional snowman'.

One guy simply said: Screw the traditional one.. I'm making this. Of course he didn't win but it was a favorite amongst the kids.




and the fabulous snow sculptures (ah... art, that's free, that is ephemeral, that didn't cost 26 million dollars (oooh..perhaps someone should tell Christo!) and that everyone can come to see and enjoy together.

Friday, February 25, 2005

fireworks

Tonight I went to the opening of our town's winter festival to try and get a few pictures of the fireworks. Of course it's winter and we are going to freeze our butt off, but who cares! The display is not huge but since you are very close it doesn't matter .. it is so awesome.. probably better than the hugest displays that you have to watch from across a river or miles away.

Here is my preferred pic of the evening. This is not zoomed in.. what you see is what was really in front of my eyes.. that's how close we were. I love the silhouette of the people in the foreground.



Tomorrow if the weather isn't too crazy cold, I'm going to try and get shots of the guys that will be carving snow sculptures.

Monday, February 21, 2005

just a little note

... to say sometimes things happen that make you feel pretty darn good about yourself. :-)

Saturday, February 19, 2005

First Time

There is a Atom A hockey tournament in town this weekend. There are more than 50 teams participating. Most of the kids are about 10 years old.

I went this evening and brought along my camera. This is the first time I have ever taken any type of sports photographs. Although not great, I did manage to get a few shots that I really like. I found it difficult to get good focus because the kids are moving around so quickly from one end of the rink to the other.

Here are my favorites of the evening:

I have several shots of goals..but most of the time you couldn't really see the puck because of all the players in front of the goalie. Here is one where we can plainly see the puck.


This is a save that I really like because we see the puck and the great movement in his body.


Another save... this time by a member of our town's team.


And here is the St-Hubert Restaurant mascot that was more than willing to pose for me several times in the evening. I have many shots of him.. kissing fans.. playing with kids.. this one is a pose just for me.. while the Zamboni is cleaning the ice.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Coming home from practice

The place where I go to practice is not very far from where I live; probably about a 10 minute walk. Tonight on my way home while walking down one of the streets, all of the streetlights on that street went out. It got very dark all at once and felt very freaky. I guess I felt a little secure in the fact that I was in a small town, not that nothing ever happens here, just less of it, I suppose.

It got me thinking of when I lived in Montreal and how often I had moments where I was scared because I was either being followed by some jerk that thought being a smartass would get him somewhere or being constantly stared at while doing my wash at the laundramat. I don't know where some men got the impression that walking 10 paces behind you while you are scared out of your wits or following beside you in a car would make him attractive to any female, let alone me.

I've had a few incidents that were especially scary to me. One was when I worked for a jewellery company that was on the 6h floor. Since the company actually manufactured the jewellery (there was always alot of gold, diamonds, precious stones and of course cash) you had to enter one door, then be buzzed in through the second.. and again buzzed in through the third.

I remember it was winter and I was going down the long corridor toward our entrance and I could see a guy walking in a weird manner in front of me. He was wearing dark clothing, a dark tuque and he was swaying side to side as he advanced down the corridor. At first I thought perhaps he was handicapped because he wasn't walking at a normal pace.. until he turned to face me. He had his manhood in his hand (it was limp, by the way) and shaking it back and forth.

I had always heard this type of pervert was basically really harmless and that they enjoyed exposing themselves but that they never actually did anything. Well, this one did.. he lunged at me and grabbed my breasts.. Of course, I screamed and pushed him off of me. He ran. I ran to our entrance .. got in between the first 2 doors but had to be buzzed in through the next 2 before being able to tell someone what happened. Well, by the time they started to look for the guy, he was long gone.

Another was on the eve of moving to a new apartment. I lived in a semi-basement apartment and my phone was disconnected and my landlords were gone to Italy for their vacation. I lived in a furnished apartment and everything was boxed up and ready for when my brother would come in the morning with a friend to move me.

Around 2 in the morning ... someone starts knocking and yelling at my door. "Let me in"... he was obviously drunk... and at the wrong building. I lived in a section that had several duplexes and triplexes and they were basically identical. This guy thought his girlfriend lived here.. and was pounding on my door demanding I let him in. I didn't know what to do.. I kept yelling... "you are at the wrong place!".. but he wasn't listening.. and I was not going to open my door for anything.

Remember now, that my phone is no longer in service and this guy can make as much ruckus as he wants because my landlords are away. I start shoving boxes of heavy books toward the door.. piling stuff up to make sure he can't get in.... for a moment I think he is gone.. but then the pounding starts again.. at my the windows.. he's banging on them.. yelling.. "let me in!" I cried and I trembled and sat in a corner with my arms hugging my knees until he eventually left. You'd have thought that a neighbor would have called the police but no.. nobody wanted to get involved.

A friend of mine, Dan, goes out in the city at night and takes photographs in not so friendly places. He's taken shots at night at railway tracks as well as in the alley behind a seedy bar. He gets some pretty great shots. I would never do that.. not alone. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a guy and just go where you want, when you want to and not be intimidated by anyone.

Monday, February 14, 2005

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Last night's concert

Last Night's concert went well.. We got there early, waited a long time for our sound check because there were several different musicians that were playing there that night and they all had to get up a do a bit of their pieces for the sound and lights guy.

The evening went well.. James was in a pretty good mood and very relaxed. If this concert would have been a few years ago.. he would have been extremely nervous and very short tempered. 2 years ago, he fell off a ladder from the second story of his house and almost killed himself. Since then, his whole attitude has changed and he seems to be able to digest stress a little better.


Remember I told you about the girl with the magical voice.. this is her:

Roxane singing her duo with Vincent:



I told you it was pretty formal!! :-)

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Tonight I went out to take some pictures in the industrial park.



It was very cold and I couldn't stay for long because my hands were freezing. I took a few pics and came home and played around with them... now they are psychedelic! :-P



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Someone called me today to do a photo manipulation. She wants me to take her ex-boyfriend out of a picture. I told I would do it... but I have no idea what to charge ... what's the going rate to get rid of a memory?

Saturday, February 12, 2005

getting ready

I was just looking over our schedule for this year. Besides normal weekly rehearsals , we start stage rehearsals in June, have an intensive 8 days in August, a couple of weekends in September, October plus a full week at the end of October before doing our actual shows in November. This is besides all the work when we start building and painting sets and making props.

Tonight's concert is just the tip of the iceberg... a way to entice our audience. We show up.. do a few songs and then announce the title of the production (Les Jardins d'Ève - The Gardens of Eve).


I'm just about to get ready for tonight. It is going to be pretty fancy. Little black dress, red accessory, hair up, curls... lots of brouhaha. It sort of makes me laugh because it is far from what I will look like when the show actually starts. I know that I will be playing a medieval peasant and will probably be running around in my bare feet (which I love, by the way) looking like I haven't washed in a week wearing something laced very tightly that will push my breasts up to my neck.

Wednesday, February 09, 2005

tonight's rehearsal

If it were not for the fact that we have a concert on Saturday, I probably wouldn't have gone to rehearsal tonight. Although I'm feeling better, I'm not quite ready to sing. The last practice before a concert is always the most crucial though, last minute changes, stress on nuances etc., so I decided to go anyway. I'm very glad I went even though I wasn't in tiptop shape.... I always feel energized after our practices and it probably was the best thing I could do.

Many people in the choir were just like me and had a touch of the bug. It's going around and seems like so many of us were on the verge of coughing up a lung. Usually, James is extremely strict about chewing gum while singing.. first of all you can't articulate and second.. well.. you just might choke. Tonight, he was very tolerant. Most of us were chewing "Alpine Gum". It's like gum mixed with cough syrup. It actually pretty awful. The texture is too soft and it tastes pretty medicinal but at least it keeps the throat from drying out.


There were several musicians accompanying us tonight. Two female soloists were there also. Éliane, who gives us vocal coaching and Roxanne. Éliane has a pretty voice and a strong voice but Roxanne has a voice that is just so incredibly beautiful that it is literally stunning. Last week I laughed about James singing a duo with Vincent... James sang Roxanne's part. Well.. tonight Roxanne was there to sing her part and I swear .. shivers up my thighs.. up my arms.. up my neck. This girl has first-class pipes. She has that special ingredient that can't be taught.. it comes from inside. A wonderful timbre and so much soul. I guess you could tell by my face how it affected me because after she told me, "It is so fun watching your face while I sing".. Now I hope it was fun because she could tell how much I enjoyed it and not fun.. "haha" you look like an idiot! with that dumb look on your face! :-D

We are only singing 6 songs in this concert. A few from our upcoming production and a few favorites of the crowd... including for Valentine's day: "Depuis le premier jour" a song by Isabelle Boulay.

The evening will be split into 3 sessions. We sing one song in the 1st session.. then nothing in the second and 5 in a row in the third. It is going to be a very long day. We need to be there at 4:00 to have a run-through at 4:30.. sound checks etc., Concert only starts at 7:30. We won't be out of there before 10:30 or 11:00. It will be fun though! :)


Monday, February 07, 2005

It got a hold of me

Well, as much as I tried to avoid it, the cold I was trying to avoid got it's grippe(sic) on me. I felt too awful to go get (as Cyn suggested) Zinc tablets but took another friend's suggestion of a hot bowl of chicken soup.. and went to bed.

I spent the weekend under covers and when awake watching the tube. I do remember watching 'School of Rock' but not much else.

This morning I woke up groggy, achy and feeling very ucky and dirty. I felt like someone who had been binge drinking in a bar.. got into a brawl, got spit at and thrown into the gutter and left there for the night. I looked that way too. After a long hot shower I'm feeling a little more human, don't look very hot but at least I smell good.

Friday, February 04, 2005

the bug!

Sylvain has had a bad cold for a week now. I have been trying desperately not to catch it... I DO NOT want to be sick.

Today, I started to feel scratching in my throat and shivery and goosebumpy! I'm not a happy camper :-(

If anyone has any magic they can send to prevent this from happening.. I beg of you.. send it now!

Wednesday, February 02, 2005

tonight's rehearsals

Tonights rehearsals went well. We stayed a half hour later than usual, but it is true what they say: when you are having fun, time flies. It is really starting to look like something. We have a long way to go but we can already see the parts starting to fit together. It is quite exciting.

Tonight, we had a few musicians in to work with us instead of just the piano. It was pretty wild for awhile because we were so pumped up listening to the music that the first time around we heard it, everyone was entering in the wrong places.

Progressively we will have more and more music to work around instead of the "ucky" midi files that were given to us if we want to practice at home. They are really horrible... someone has to learn about sound fonts and how good even computer music can sound.

There is nothing, though, that can compare to live music. There is a part where Suzanne plays a synthesizer to mimic computer-games style music and Sylviu is playing the alto violin at the same time. Everyone was just mesmerized, it was so beautiful.

Éliane was there to do her solo.. and there was a duo to be done by Luc and Roxanne. Well, neither Luc nor Roxanne could be there so Vincent sang Luc's part and James, our musical director sang her part. The song is supposed to be romantic but was so funny. Vincent has long hair but wears it up in a ponytail very high on his head like a samurai, he has several piercings and has a beard and James has shorter hair but also has a beard and was singing falsetto .. which sounded pretty horrible let me tell you. Ah!... It was great fun! :)

Happy Groundhog Day!

Tuesday, February 01, 2005

at the park.

Where was I tonight around 10 p.m.? Taking a walk in the park and taking pictures. It the first time in weeks that the cold has broken enough to bring the camera out. -40 is not the best thing for a digital camera.

Anyways.. here's are a few pictures. It's a lovely park and only about 5 minutes from where I live. I didn't have a tripod because I didn't want to schlep it in the snow and besides I have a feeling the feet would have sunk into the snow anyways... so the photos are not as sharp as they could be considering how dark it was.