I'm So Infatuated With This Vintage Love

♪ It's far beyond me; it's high above.
I am so infatuated with this vintage love.
And if she said, "Run away with me."
For sure I'll say, "Let's go.
Throw your bag in the back,
Get your shit packed.
Let's hit the road." ♫

Warren Dean Flandez is a local R&B and soul artist who is about to really make his mark in the music industry.  Born in Yellowknife and eventually settling with his family in Vancouver, Warren got his exposure to R&B, hip hop, and old school soul while visiting family in Virginia Beach.  After moving to Vancouver, Warren took up piano lessons and began singing.   As a teenager, Warren sang in a gospel choir led by Checo Tohomaso.  Checo, a former back up singer and keyboardist to the great Marvin Gaye.  Warren fine tuned his incredible musical talent while in choir, while networking with local producers and artists to work on solo materials and produce demos and perform around the city.
  
Teaming up with Mike Southworth a few years ago, they quickly developed two albums worth of material with a demo finding it's way onto Mitchell Davis' (son of music industry giant, Clive Davis) desk.  Under Davis' management, Warren was given the opportunity to open for the king of soul himself, the late James Brown while on his last tour before passing away.  Warren also supported Joss Stone on her only Canadian date of her "Introducing Joss Stone" tour.  Since then, he had showcase appearances at NXNE and JunoFest which has gotten the attention of audiences both locally and internationally.

Releasing on May 17, 2011, Warren's debut studio album will feature 13 songs, most of which were co-written and co-produced by Warren.  The album features Southworth and key song writing collaborations with Andrea Martin (Toni Braxton, Leona Lewis and En Vogue), and Printz Board (Black Eyed Peas, Fergie, Cassie Davis).  Divine Brown appears in the album in the duet "Ungrateful" (I hope to see more collaborations between those two) and songwriting legend, Diane Warren,  wrote "Superhuman", a ballad so indescribably powerful, it brings tears to my eyes whenever I listen to it.  What woman wouldn't want their love interest serenading them with that track?


Warren doesn't sing soul, he is soul.  He is active in a number of charities ranging from the Canadian Students for Darfur to Canadian Red Cross, to War Child Canada.  Warren is a featured artist for this organization - one that helps children affected by war.


Alright, so that's the bio for Warren.  It can be found, pretty much word for word on his website.  I'm not going to lie, I didn't spend a whole lot of time writing the preamble.  What I really wanted to get into was the music.  Warren has an incredibly unique ability to combine urban music in such a way that it can reach all audiences.  Young people like listening to his fresh beats, 20somethings and 30somethings like the similarities to artists like Boyz II Men, Chico de Barge and Brian McKnight and the old timers like the homages to Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Ella Fitzgerald and The Temptations.  

Warren borrows from so many genres, that you sometimes don't know if you're listening to gospel, R&B, old school soul or hip hop.  Instead of being unfocused, and frenetic, his music is smooth and seamless.  Warren's creamy falsetto and vocal range can take you back to playful memories of your childhood or to intimate moments with your partner. His voice can heal old wounds, or it can help you grieve.  I had the privilege of seeing him perform at the Kay Meek theatre a couple of years ago.  At one point, he sang an unplugged solo while playing the piano.   Prior to singing the song, he had talked about how he had recently lost his grandmother to breast cancer and that this song was for her ("You Were My Life"  You can hear it on his website).  The way he sang that song struck such a powerful chord with everyone there, there wasn't a dry eye in the house.  Even thinking back on it now, I am fighting back tears as it resonated so deeply in us all.  He sings with such emotion, and such passion, that what he is feeling when he's in the moment, is what everyone in the audience was feeling.  When he mourns, we mourn.  When he falls in love, we fall in love.  When his heart is broken, so is ours.  When he is filled with joy, the audience is on their feet celebrating that joy with him.  

May 17th is when his album comes out at HMV.  May 17th is when you should make your way down to the store and buy it.  Yeah, I know.  Who goes to a store to buy albums these days?  There are few artists who are worth actually making that effort, and I promise you, Warren is one of those select few.  




Check out his teaser video for the title track, Vintage Love.

 

Stanley Cup 2011 Playoffs - Round 1 Predictions

No preamble, just predictions.
Eastern Conference:

Washington vs. New York – Washington in 5 April 23rd, Washington wins series in 5

Philadelphia vs. Buffalo – Philadelphia in 6 April 24th, Philadelphia forces game 7

Boston vs. Montreal – Boston in 6

Pittsburgh vs. Tampa Bay – Tampa Bay in 7

Western Conference:

Vancouver vs. Chicago – Vancouver in 6 April 24th, Chicago forces game 7

San Jose vs. LA – San Jose in 7

Detroit vs. Phoenix – Detroit sweep April 20th, Detroit wins series in 4

Anaheim vs. Nashville – Anaheim in 7 April 24th, Nashville wins series in 6

My partner's predictions are here: http://cowmanx.blog.friendster.com/2011/04/2011-playoff-predictions/

Better Know A(n Electoral) District: Vancouver South

I was going to write my own post about why Ujjal Dosanjh is the only vote for the Vancouver South riding but my partner, CoW_mAn - Ba(Hon), a political scientist, has a reputation for writing up great posts for specific districts about the various candidates which sums them up quite nicely. Below is his latest post:

Background (or why should I bother voting?): A recount was ordered for the 2008 election results. Dosanjh led Conservative challenger Wai Young by just 33 votes, which automatically qualified for a judicial recount. After the official recount, Dosanjh’s margin of victory dropped to 22 votes. However, Young appealed the results on the basis that only 28 of 184 ballot boxes were recounted. Dosanjh won by 20 votes after a second full recount in what became the longest recount in Canadian history.

Conservative – Wai Young
The issues section of her website contains exact copies of the issues pages of the Conservative Party website – she clearly doesn’t think for herself or have any specific issues that she thinks are important. And given the way that Harper has shoved the HST down our throats by buying off the BC Liberals with taxpayer dollars I don’t see how completely hanging your hat on the Conservative Party is enough to convince informed people to vote for you. A vote for Wai Young is a vote for Stephen Harper who drops funding for the arts, is a disruptive influence at environmental conferences, shows contempt for the laws the affect him, wants to rename the Canadian Government “The Harper Government” and tries to control and limit the media. If you like art, breathing, freedom, or democracy don’t even think about voting for this empty suit in Harper’s army.

Liberal – Ujjal Dosanjh
Ujjal has a law degree from UBC, he taught ESL at VCC, and he founded the Farm Workers’ Legal Information Service which led to the formation of the Canadian Farm Workers’ Union. He was elected MLA in 1991, re-elected in 1996, held cabinet portfolios as Minister of Government Services, and Minister of Multiculturalism, Human Rights and Sports. In August 1995, he was appointed as the province’s Attorney General. He became Premier in 2000 and was the first Premier to appear in the gay pride parade and before leaving office implemented tax cuts which I personally benefitted from. After losing his bid for re-election he returned to practicing law. In 2004 he won election as MP and was appointed Minister Of Health in the federal cabinet, he was re-elected in 2006 and was appointed National Defence Critic, later becoming the Foreign Affairs critic. I know the man – I’ve met him on several occasions and watched carefully his role in both provincial and federal politics and I can’t think of a time when I found myself in disagreement with him. Particularly as Premier and Health Minister I felt he was passionate about protecting key aspects of the Canadian identity such as universal health care and equality. I find him to be reasonable, rational, well informed, intelligent, and I find his policy stances agreeable. Recently he has been defending health care against Harper’s efforts towards privatization (see Tim Horton’s Health Care).

NDP - Meena Wong
Meena Wong doesn’t have an official website as I am writing this. She only has a LinkedIn profile. She works at Vancouver Coastal Health – her public life has been focused exclusively on the Chinese community. Traditional media is convinced that she isn’t on the ticket as a serious candidate in the riding but rather was nominated to help NDP candidates in OTHER ridings. The argument is that her strong ties in the Chinese community will bring out Chinese voters for the NDP in other ridings. I haven’t seen a single lawn sign or any other public show of support for her in the area. Personally I hate identity politics – don’t vote for someone just because they look and talk like you, vote for someone with good ideas, experience, and integrity (see Ujjal Dosanjh).

Green - Jodie Emery
Not a serious candidate. I think the Greens want this riding to go Liberal after the close call in 2008.

Conclusion
If you care about the Arts, Health Care, Freedom, Responsibility, and Democracy there is only one candidate: Ujjal Dosanjh. In fact as far as I’m concerned he’s the only serious candidate no matter what you care about – he’s the only voice of experience, education, and reason on the ticket.

Cherry blossoms, ftwwtf.

In the cherry blossom's shade/ there's no such thing/ as a stranger. - Kobayashi Issa (1763 - 1828)

I love cherry blossoms. There's nothing that announces spring's arrival quite like them. Seeing them fills me with a sense of hope and new beginnings. The air smells more fresh, the sky more bright, and the grass more green.

I'm waxing poetic, I know, but there's something so joyful about them and in this time of uncertainty, it's good to have these around to remind us of the beauty that still surrounds.

That being said, oh my god, they are trying to kill me! The weather has been rather... bi-polar these past few months, and I think that's affected the pollen levels to a degree. It just came out of no where too. For most of this week, I was fine, and then all of a sudden, my face feels funny, the roof of my mouth scratchy and my eyes itchy and simultaneously dry and watery. Is it possible to have a pollen overdose?

It’s a Red Light, Stupid!

There is a disturbing trend here in Vancouver and I feel compelled to issue a PSA about it.

It’s about people running red lights, particularly on a left turn.

The other day a girlfriend and I were driving to pick up my kid from daycare, and we were waiting for the light to go green so that we could turn left. Well, the light turned but there were four cars still turning left from perpendicular traffic. Seriously, the light turned red and FOUR. CARS. TURNED. after it turned. What the hell is that?! Has everyone completely forgotten the rules? Is it not common knowledge that you don’t enter the intersection to turn left, if there’s another car in front of you waiting to do the same? Does it not make sense that that this rule is in place specifically to prevent you from turning after a red and potentially getting into/causing an accident?

Now, before I get too up on my high horse, I’m going to admit that I’ve done this time to time. I’m in a bit of a rush, I’ve been stuck at that light for a few cycles, no one yields on the amber light and I’m forced to turn after the red, or I’m irritated that the car in front of me didn’t take the half dozen chances he had (seriously, what is that? There are some people who just will not turn until the light is amber or even red, regardless of how clear the turn is. It drives me batty!) so I’ll take the turn even though I know damn well that I’m not in the right to do so. It’s selfish, and not just a little unsafe.

Having said that, stop turning after the damn red!! It’s the same as running a red light, and just as illegal. There are red light cameras cropping up everywhere and one day I swear the intersection turned into a rave for a few seconds because of all the flashes from so many cars turning after the red.

That’s it. I’m done.

Oh by the way, British Columbians: the fine for failing to yield on a red light while making a left turn is $167 and will put 2 points on your license. So the next time you prepare to turn after the red, ask yourself if getting to where you have to be 2 minutes sooner than if you had waited worth the risk a $167 ticket?

PS: Are you as well versed on driving rules as you think you are? Take this practice test from ICBC to find out.

Earth Hour 2011

This weekend marks the 5^th annual Earth Hour. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Earth Hour, here is a quite blurb on that it’s about: Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights and other electrical appliances for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Earth Hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights.^[1] Following Sydney's lead, many other cities around the world adopted the event in 2008.^[2][3] Earth Hour 2011 will take place on March 26, 2011 from 8:30p.m. to 9:30p.m., at participants' respective local time. _{Wiki Source}

I want to encourage everyone to participate in this wherever possible. My family has been doing this for a few years now and it’s pretty cool. The first year we did it, our young son was still awake for it, so we grabbed our crank lights and read him a Tintin book. Last year, a Canuck’s game was on, so we cheated and watched that but we made sure everything else was turned off. There isn’t a game scheduled for this Saturday, so not too sure what we’re going to do, but whatever we do, we’re likely going sans electricity for that hour.

There are some things I wanted to mention, though: those of you who are participating in Earth Hour, using your phone/laptop/tablet to go online during that hour to say that you’re participating is silly. Just don’t do that. I mean, what’s the point in participating in Earth Hour if you’re using your electronics during that hour? Last year, after we booted up our respective internet connected devices following the hour, we saw dozens of tweets and Facebook statuses of people boasting about this, and I just had to smack my forehead and chuckle at the absurdity of it all.

Another thing to keep in mind is vampire power. No, I am not talking about glittering night-walkers; I’m talking about your electronics that are plugged in. Even on standby, they are drawing power. Sure it’s minute compared to when they’re in use, but do you really need to have your toaster plugged in during Earth Hour? Do you anticipate a Pop-Tart emergency during that hour? No? Then unplug the damn thing. That goes for chargers, electric razors, microwaves, computers, TVs. Whatever you can (conveniently) unplug, just do it. When the hour is over, I challenge you to read about how much energy was saved in your city for that hour. The numbers may surprise you! One town in BC had their energy consumption go down 7 percent! Seven percent! Yeah sure, Burns Lake isn’t exactly a bustling metropolis, but the town really took Earth Hour seriously, and that ought to be celebrated.

To my fellow British Columbians: over the past two years, participation has gone down. Let’s turn that trend around, shall we? Vancouver was just declared the greenest city in Canada. How about we celebrate that title with gusto this Earth Hour?

If you think there’s just no way you can have fun without the use of electricity (OMG, an hour with no power on a Saturday!!), guess again. There are plenty of things to go and do! Go for a starlit walk; have a candlelit bubble bath, or dinner; play poker or read a book by candlelight; share a few drinks in your backyard with some friends; go snipe hunting with your kid and the list goes on and on. There are plenty of online articles about what you can do during Earth Hour. Sure, some of them are somewhat cheesy but one person’s mold is another person’s bleu cheese (mmm, cheese!).

Also, consider this article about things to do to prepare for Earth Hour (check out the cool photo of New York!).

Toronto Skyline During Earth hour

Kuala Lumpur's Petronas Twin Towers During Earth Hour

Sydney Skyline During Earth Hour

No idea.. Montreal? It's pretty though!

The Clock Tower (Big Ben's inside the tower) During Earth Hour

Mario Marathon 4

If you’re like me, you grew up cutting your gaming teeth on Super Mario Bros. and its successors, Super Mario Bros. 2, Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World and Super Mario 64. You probably went over to your friend’s house when s/he got the most recent game or most recent platform or had friends come over to your place. I bet you, like me, played SMB3 during the wee hours of the night at a super low volume so as not to wake up your parents. When Game Genie came out, you of course had to try it out. Maybe you loved it (I did) or maybe you didn’t like that it made things too easy.

When Super Mario 64 came out, did you love it? Hate it? Or never play it?

Did you buy your Wii before you got the New Super Mario Bros.Wii? Did you count the days until it was release, like we did in our house? Or did you buy the Wii specifically for the New Super Mario Bros? How many times have you played Super Mario Sunshine only to rage quit?

Have you taught your children to play Mario games? What game did you start them off with? We have been teaching our 3 year old to play Super Mario Bros.

How many great memories do you have playing Super Mario Bros. games?

Now, thinking back on life as a kid, were you ever have admitted in a hospital? Did you have to stay over night? Did you have to stay longer? How scary was it, not having your family with you, maybe not fully understanding why you were there, or perhaps understanding completely? Maybe this wasn’t you, but your brother, sister, cousin, niece, nephew, friend, student. How helpless did you feel, watching them in their hospital bed and not being able to make things better and make time go by faster? How much easier would it have been for you if you (or your loved one) had something to occupy your time while you were there?

Well, in comes Child’s Play Charity. “Child's Play is a charitable organization founded by the authors of the popular computer and video games-based webcomic Penny Arcade that organizes worldwide toy drives to children's hospitals. Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins founded Child's Play in 2003 to improve the lives of sick children by donating toys and games to hospitals worldwide…Through Child's Play, donors have sent almost nine million dollars in toys, games and books to children's hospitals all over the world “

There are lots of organizations that fully support the efforts and in turn, many individuals (or non-corporate groups) who see the value of this charity. One such group is the guys from the Mario Marathon. They are three guys from the Mid-West who give up days of sleep to play games from the Super Mario Bros. series. They started back in 2008 and have been growing in popularity and success ever since. Every year, usually around the last weekend of June, Brian, John and Chris (and their friends) will take off a chunk of days from work and their family and try to play as many Mario games, while streaming the footage online, for as long as donations keep rolling in and 100% of all proceeds will go to the Child’s Play charity.

Saying these guys are computer savvy is totally underselling their technical abilities as they have written codes for widgets, headers, donation counters, picture in picture streaming and so much more. They have set up donation levels (are you a Princess donor or a Mario donor?) and have come up with a geometric equation that dictates the number of levels played on the games for the amount of money donated. Away from the computer, they get crafty. I mean, literally crafty. In the past, they have replicated a FLUUD, a propeller helmet, and a couple of stop motion shorts. This year, they have already outdone themselves with their craftiness.

One of the (many) success of this particular gaming marathon is their viewer interaction. My family discovered via Twitter, as did many of the loyal followers of the marathon. They encourage fan art submissions, suggestions on contests, tweeting to the Mario Marathon guys, and/or participating on the live chat through their U-Stream feed. Last year they had a couple of celebrity interviews (internet mainstays, Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day) and were even featured on a local news segment; all of this was live tweeted.

Over the years they have raised $125,408 collectively and things are just going to go up from there. Already (and, remember, the marathon hasn’t even started!) $1484.93 has been raised, and they have unlocked 344 goals.

This year, the marathon is set for June 24^th, 2011 (12PM EST, I believe) so please make sure you set that on your calendar and pop in that weekend from time to time. Look for me, @cndn_hippo, to be tweeting like a madwoman as I cheer on these heroes: Brian "Shirt Guy" Brinegar, John "Couch Guy" Groth and Chris "Slouch Guy" Deckard.

PS: It’s worth noting that they are all fathers and are giving up time with their wives and children as they do this. Their families all deserve to be recognized and cheered for their generosity and most certainly their patience! Particularly Brian’s wife, as the marathon is held at their house. It’s not easy to give up sleep and a weekend with your husband and child, and not only does she do this, she even plays some levels from time to time. You rock, Mrs. Shirt Guy!!

PPS: It’s also worth noting that friends of the show, @funnelfiasco, @diamondawg42, @jedediaj, and many others give up a lot of their time to support the Mario Marathon guys by live tweeting, being moderators of the chat, dancing!, playing the occasional level and providing us with some Jed Time stories. You are all superstars in my eyes.

Click the link to view the official Mario Marathon 4 Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iq0oWGkYRo