With any luck ...

Sigh,

Once again up here in the North I have run bone dry out of water. Luckily for me though, the poop truck came Sunday while we still had water - at least until I did laundry. Although, I called for water on Friday, as I knew we were running low, the water truck did not appear (although I do see it running around town .... I'm tempted to go chase it down). Fortunately for me, I was able to run over to John's to get a big pot of water so I can at least brush my teeth and have a cup of coffee before I get on my flight tomorrow morning. Don't think the flight attendant would like me without my coffee .... especially if I can't have a shower in the morning.

So, with any luck, the water truck will come tonight .... if not, well.. at least by noon tomorrow I will be checked into a hotel with plenty of water.

And Now For Something Completely Different

ahh... I needed some comical relief this evening .... and started going through the archives of ICanHasCheezburger.com .. here are some of my favorites:






see more crazy cat pics

Oh I'm Leaving, on a Hawker .....

Well.. I'm back off in the air again Tuesday to Iqaluit where I will be supervising two of my students at the Skills Canada Nunavut competition this up coming week.

Not too sure yet if I will be traveling with the laptop .. so the blog might be quiet for the next week ... but I will be back with stories and pictures!

Oh, to any of the Iqaluit readers ... do you know where I can get hockey skates sharpened?

The Truth is Out There

X-Files Movie Official Website

Fox sets date for 'X-Files' sequel, Mulder and Scully set to return to the big screen July 25, 2008

'X-Files' sequel is set for July


This is HUGE news for me. As some of my southern readers know, I am a huge (perhaps obsessed?) X-Files fan ... I lived for the show for nine years. Every Friday (or Sunday when Fox moved the show) night, I was in front of the tv, eyes wide open, glued to the set. And when the series started coming out on DVD's I snagged them up so I could re-watch all 201 episodes in high-resolution, surround-sound glory.

And now, six years after the series ended, nine years since the last X-Files movie, a sequel movie (that has yet to be titled) is being released in theaters July 25, 2008.

Guess where I will be everyone?

Arctic Hip-Hop

On April 19, 2008 at 7 PM Eastern (so 8PM in the Atlantic Provinces) Global TV will be airing a 1 hour feature documentary by Randy Kelly. This will be an in-depth story of BluePrint projects (Social Work through Hiphop) and how traditional Inuit culture is being integrated into hip-hop as Inuit youth find their own voice. It will be an incredibly positive story that follows a number of Inuit youth into their homes.

Capitalizing on the popularity of Hip Hop, social worker and longtime B-boy Stephen Leafloor has brought positive Hip Hop workshops to the north, this time, to the remote Hamlet of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut.

While dancing to the beat, kids are encouraged to blend their rich, ancient culture with a modern one. Between backspins and body-waves, they discuss bullying, body image and suicide. Five days later they emerge not only better dancers, but more confident kids, who have a clearer idea of how to balance their cultural identity with modern times.


Please help spread the word by forwarding this information to your contacts - we want to get all of Nunavut and the rest of Canada tuning in.

Time for Winter to Go ... Far Far Away

Say Goodbye to the Night

The sixth challenge at Nunavut Nonsense is up! Everyone head on over to NN to vote!

Here is a copy of my submission for the "Say Goodbye to the Night" Challenge:

When is the right time to begin learning a second language?

As many of you are quite well aware, I am quite twisted up about the recent educational decisions in New Brunswick ... and the news just keeps getting more interesting as days go by.

Early French immersion program has created a two-tier system: education minister

French immersion supporters jeer N.B. education minister

Saint John rally backs early French immersion

Sackville Protest

CBC Interview from Friday March, 21

French immersion advocate worried about the future of N.B. programs

Early immersion helps literacy: experts

Alright.. here we go

After fighting with Blogger and Wordpress and then again Blogger... the photography site is finally up and going here". I will be gradually uploading the pictures again over the next couple of days in my free time.

Blast from the Past

Way back in September, a group of us crazies decided to do an Arctic Polar Dip .... here's the video for it, as I just found it last night hidden away on a USB key.

I (heart) Mail

Enough said.

Arctic Photography

Hello Everyone ..

Web 2.0, as wonderful as it is.. often throws a curve ball at you. My Northern Photography site has moved yet again, as Wordpress was not a good fit for it (couldn't manage the site as I wanted to). So, it has moved back to blogger, but at a new address (so update your bookmarks!): Arctic Photography.

The site should be up and running later on today!

Enjoy! And thanks for putting up with all of the changes!

Update: Ok, so blogger thinks that the new site is a "spam" site and has been frozen by the Blogger "spam-bots". Blogger, if you are reading this, it is NOT a SPAM SITE!

Skidooing ... The Movie

Highlights from yesterday's skidoo ride. Featured are Monty,
Nick and Kyle, with commentaries by Petra and Kennie.

Easter Weekend ... Potluck ... Brunch ... Skidooing

Easter weekend festivities started off Saturday night with a great pot-luck over at Nick & April's. OF course, with every pot-luck there is usually an over abundance of pasta dishes (right, you are all nodding with me). Not at this pot-luck. We had chili, sweet and sour meatballs, beef stew, fried rice, deviled eggs, greens, chocolate brownies, chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate and ice cream. We ate, talked, and played Crainium while the boys watched hockey).

Today started off with an amazing Easter Sunday brunch at Alehsa and Petra's (we had more food than what we knew to do with ... as usual - Pancakes, eggs, egg-toasties, potatoes, bacon, bacon, and more bacon, apple and orange juice ... and of course, Starbucks coffee - four pots of Starbucks coffee). We (Alesha, Petra, Nick, April, Monty, Myself, John and Kyle) all enjoyed the Sunday grub and all agreed that Jesus would have approved of our Sunday activities. Darcy, you missed a REALLY good feast! (someone wouldn't get out of bed this morning ;-) )

After the delish brunch, myself, Kyle, Monty, Petra and Nick decided to go for a skidoo ride/adventure. The temperature and weather were beautiful for a skidoo ride - only -15 degrees out, little wind, and the sun was up and a blazzin. Off we all went to grab out gear and we headed out into the tundra at 2:00pm .... and didn't come back until 6:00pm. Four whole hours outside skidooing around ... it only felt like one.

And and adventure it was. We headed out towards King George V Mountain, and went up and around it, through the valleys, up more hills, into more valleys and had just a great time. We took some risks, went flying through the air, got stuck in the snow and had a roaring time. When the "boys" wanted to go a little crazier than what Petra and I felt was sane, we would hop off and take pictures, watch the excitement and soak in the sun; although, had I had a helmet, I would have gone up with them for those more risky rides.

At times it was quite exciting ... and nail biting, especially when going down hill and you notice that all of the sudden it isn't a gentle slope down, but a nice steep slope ... ya just hold on, and lean which ever way your driver leans, or when you discover all of the sudden you are a couple of feet in the air as you went over a nice "jump".

Surprisingly (or amazingly) no one rolled or got thrown off their respective skidoos ... although, yet again, I did have to dive off of mine when Kyle and I got stuck in some deep snow on the hill (it was more of a "I should get off the skidoo shouldn't I moment" than a "oh, crap, we're going over aren't we"). So no worries Mom, no skidoo landed on top of me this time. So, in all of my glory, as I couldn't get my foot over the seat in any dignified way, I dived off into the snow, away from the skidoo. We all had a good laugh, and chalked it up to practice for if and when I would have had to drive off the skidoo.





More skidooing pictures from today.

Arctic Bay, March 21 2008

Têtes à Claques

Yet again, readers, another excellent jem from the Internet.... Têtes à claques. These are short 3 minute French cartoons that are ROFLMAO hilarious.... and even funnier if you understand French.

Le Easy Storing System


Halloween

Your Search Queries Answered

Search Query 1: What to Wear Skidooing

Well that all depends on where you are skidooing.

Up here in the North we layer on the thermal gear like there is no tomorrow. When I head out skidooing, I wear the following: Thermal Socks, thermal wicking socks, thermal long-johns, fleece jogging pants, lined wind-proof ski pants, long-sleeved thermal polar fleece top, thick sweater, Canada Goose Parka, balaclava, hat, face mask, goggles and one rocking warm pair of mittens.

If I was skidooing down south, chances are I would be wearing pretty much the same thing, except for the Canada Goose Jacket ... I would probably just be wearing a normal winter jacket.

Search Query 2: Arctic Bay Nunavut & Light in the Sky

Back on February 18th, all three of us Arctic Bay bloggers reported on some strange lights up in the sky ... here, here, and here. Well, I finally have an answer to what those strange lights were.

The lights and objects that were seen in Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet, and Mary's River was a meteorite that broke up on re-entry. It's main impact area is believed to have been east of Devon Island in Baffin Bay.

Sunset: Planet Earth

Today, the Sun crosses the celestial equator heading north at 0548 UT. Known as the equinox, the geocentric astronomical event marks the first day of spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the south. Equinox means equal night and with the Sun on the celestial equator, Earth dwellers will experience nearly 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness. Of course, for those in the north, the days will grow longer with the Sun marching higher in the sky as summer approaches. To celebrate the equinox, consider this colorful view of the setting Sun. Recorded last June from the International Space Station, the Sun's limb still peeks above the distant horizon as seen from Earth orbit. Clouds appear in silhouette as the sunlight is reddened by dust in the dense lower atmosphere. Molecules in the more tenuous upper atmosphere are preferentially scattering blue light.

For more Astronomy Pictures of the Day, check out the NASA APOD Archive

Now, this is cool

Although I live in the Arctic, today's news comes from the Antarctic:

Rainbow Iceberg in the Antarctic

The Death of French Immersion Education in New Brunswick

A couple of weeks ago, I reported on New Brunswick's plans to "change" the French Immersion program across NB. Although I may no longer live in New Brunswick, nor teach in New Brunswick (though someday I might return), this issue still strikes a cord with me.

Well.. today, the FI program as I know it, has been axed. No longer will parents be able to enroll their children in early French Immersion, nor will students receive too much French education before grade 5 when ALL students will be required to participate in the "Intensive French Immersion" program.

NB Teachers, Parents Cope With Loss of French Immersion Program

Parents say 'Non' to NB French Plan

NB Students won't begin French until Grade 5

French Report may Revive Divisions

Parents Unsure Where to Enroll Students

And the report that caused all of this ruckus ....


Located, at my alma mater, Univerisy of New Brunswick, is the Second Language Research Institute of Canada, and they have some reactions and comments to the report on the state of French Immersion in New Brunswick, as well as a report on the problems with this report.

Letter to Premier Graham from J.Dicks, Director of L2RIC

Open letter to Minister Lamrock from University Consortium

Association canadienne des professeurs d'immersion L'ACPI dénonce les mesures envisagées par le ministre de l'Éducation du Nouveau-Brunswick, Kelly Lamrock Open letter put out by recognized researchers across the country and ACPI/CAIT that argues the research-based points in favour of Early French Immersion.

Canadian Parents for French New Brunswick

Ok, who sent the cold and the wind to Arctic Bay

For the last several days, the weather up here has been rather nice (-15 to -20 degrees with NO wind!) ... so I've been able to go spend more time outside running / walking ... but that was all taken away from me this morning when I woke up to -35 and a fierce wind .... and it's still -35 with a fierce wind. Who ever sent this weather this way .... I'm going to find you and send it back :-)

I want my warm temps again!

Wonder who has it worse....

Up here in the North we get to deal with 13 weeks of darkness, temperatures that dip down into the -60's, and an endless supply of Kraft Dinner (well... maybe this isn't so bad - lol)

But down south, the snow just keeps falling, and falling, and falling.




Need a shovel anyone? I've got two.


Update: Seems to be a little bit of a discussion going on about where exactly these pictures originate from. I received them in an email from a family member... yet others think they come from Labrador .... who knows... all I know is that I'm glad I'm not dealing with that snow.

APTN Coverage of the Arctic Winter Games

Hello readers .....

Kent Driscoll is keeping a live blog of the Arctic Winter Games up in Yellowknife. Check in there for up to date coverage of the Games including pictures, video and audio.

Notes from the Underground

For those that know me from down South, you all know how I enjoy my music (my mother is nodding her head while pointing towards the two HUGE rubbermaid bins I left with her filled with CDs) while everyone else is pointing towards the massive hard drive array that I have that currently stores the rest of my music. Well, I would like to pass on a musical jem to all of you .... and the story that leads me to this ramble.

Many of my friends can attest that I had .... er have this little habit of just going into Music World or HMV, staring at the wall of new releases (or sometimes the sales rack) and closing my eyes, and grabbing what ever my hand nabbed off of the shelf. For the most part (99% of the time) I've fallen in love with my selection and have become a fan, purchasing either all subsequent albums, or everything that lead to the album that I fell in love with (imagine if you will, Kennie at HMV while they have the 2 for 30$ or 3 for 50$ sale on of all the Pink Floyd albums, or Nine Inch Nails, or Tragically Hip or Moby or Ani DiFranco ..... yes, I do have a wild music taste).

On this particular evening (or afternoon ... can't quite remember, but I do remember who was there with me when I made this purchase and who the sales person was...), following my ritual of looking at all of the new releases and looking for one that "spoke" to me, I nabbed up Sarah Slean's first major label release Night Bugs. And was I ever amazed. This album was just fabulous. It has everything. Uplifting songs that you could just bounce around to (or dance to), brooding songs about love lost and forgotten, and instrumental tracks that touched your soul. From there I was hooked ... and on subsequent album release days, I was there at HMV, purchasing the next musical jem ... Day One. Yet again, it was another album that just clicked with my musical side.

This brings me to today's release of The Baroness, Slean's third major label release (I downloaded it early this morning when my pre-order came available online - hehe!). Like Night Bugs and Day One, Slean has produced another fabulous album filled with wonderful piano solos, string accompaniment, lyrics, and her haunting (yet soothing-jazzy-blues) voice. The Baroness has a great mix of "up beat", mellow and emotional-dark songs following in the footsteps of Night Bugs and Day One.

All I can say is check it out (you can listen to 30 second clips on iTunes) ... and just maybe you might find yourself adding to your music collection.

Update: I just got an email regarding this post asking me "Who does Sarah Slean's music resemble". Well, emailer, Sarah Slean is what I consider a "less edgy pre-The Beekeeper Tori Amos crossed with Pre-Afterglow Sarah McLachlan with a touch of Post-Metric Emily Haines and a splash of Merrick".

Arctic Winter Games

Right now, the Arctic Winter Games are being held in Yellowknife and we have several of our youth competing at this years games. At the Winter Games not only are "modern" games played (basketball, indoor hockey, badminton, snowboarding and speed skating), but also traditional games as well (Arctic (Inuit) games, Dene games, dog mushing, arctic sports and snowshoeing).

The Arctic Games are not just played by those living in the Northern regions of North America (Alaska, NTW, Yukon, Nunavut, Northern Alberta and Nunavik), but also played by those living in the Northern regions of Russia, Greenland and Saami).

You can find out more about the sports and games played at the AWG here, information about all of the countries / regions involved and you can also find out the current medal standings on the site as well.

Photo's of the Arctic Winter Games:
Flickr Site put up by the AWG Youth Photographers thanks for finding this Phil!

CBC North's Coverage of the AWG

King George V Mountain in the Morning

How I love the beginning glow of the sun in the morning.

Time Change ... Sun Change

Sigh, I lost an hour this weekend. I really needed that extra hour. And time changes have played with our minds here at school all day as most of the clocks here are still telling the wrong time (got to love it when the kids think it's lunch time and it's not). And with the time change, we also got a change in our sun hours. No longer am I walking to school in the light (it's now an early dawn again) ... but at least I get to walk home while the sun is still up over the mountains that surround us here.

This weekend the weather was rather nice (-23 and sunny for most of the weekend).. and what did I do? I stayed inside for the most part vegetating in front of the tube watching X-Files. So much for a productive weekend eh? Oh well, every now and then one just has to sit back and vegetate.

Acadieman

Although I am way up here in the North, good ol'NB animation (Acadieman!) has made it's way up here to me in the Arctic. There is a very small group of us "French" folks up here and did we ever have a hoot watching this the other night.


Acadieman au Call Center


Acadie Man a la Beach

Now for those of you who are now sitting here wondering what on Earth Kennie has posted up here... let me explain. New Brunswick has some distinct populations: the Anglophones, the Francophones, and the Acadiens. Acadieman is le first superhero Acadien. And, just as there are distinct populations, we have some pretty distinct languages too: English, French, and Chiac (Chiacophone). Chiac? You serious Kennie? Yes I am.

What exactly is Chiac? Chiac, is a dialect of Acadian French heavily mixed with English. It is spoken as the native and dominant language of most Acadians in southeast New Brunswick, especially among youth, near Moncton, Memramcook and Shediac.

This is an excellent example of Chiac, that I examined way back when I was doing a course on Acadien Linguistics.


Chu pas su mes stamps ou su le welfare,
chu pas un pêcheur de coques,
chu pas analphabet ni illettré.

Y'a pas de fromage su mes poutines,
pi ma poutine et pas un président russe.

E'je vie pas dans une p'tite shack en bois.
E'je vas pas au travail su la 20, su la 40 ou su la "401"...
E'je prend le chemin du Fond d'la Baie,
le chemin d'la côte ou le vieux Shediac road.

J'ai pas de besoin d'une bavette ou des outils compliqués pour manger
mon lobster,
J' le rouve moi-même,
j'le mange avec du bread frais pi d'la Coke!

J'écoute pas Patrick Bruel, Pierre Lalonde ni Nana Mouskouri.
La vrai musique, à l'é faite par 1755, Bois-Joli, Zachary pi Daniel à Ola!
E'je shop pas aux Galleries de la Capitale ou ni au Centre Eaton
Mais à la Champlain Place pi su Home Hardware.

E'Je parle pas le québequois ou le français de France.
Chu trilingue - e'je parle le chiac, le francais pi l'anglais.
E'je dis Co-congne pas Co-cagne!
J'ai ma propre univarsité pi mon propre drapeau!
Mes héros s'appellont Antoinine, Ti-Louis pi Roméo!
Chu fier de ma langue, mon heritage pi ma culture!
Worriez pas vos brains même si on peut sortir le gars de l'Acadie on sort pas
l'acadien du gars!
Le Grou Tyme c'est le 15 aout!
Pas le 24 juin ou le 14 juillet!

I am Canadian et Acadien en même temps!
En Acadie la Sagouine à son propre pays,
Bouctouche à sa dune et on à notre propre étoile!

Je m'apelle Réjean à Freddy à Aquilla à Maxime à Jude et
I AM ACADIEN!

Originally written by Jules à Hector à Eric à Cyprien à Cyprien


So there you have it, a crash course in Chiac. And if anyone affiliated with Rogers is reading this, I'm trying to get my hands on La complete second saison d'Acadieman ...

Now, allez-y regardez some Acadieman!

Kennie, the Northern-Trooper

The wind has picked up here again in Arctic Bay, making it really fun to walk outside - especially at night. So to prevent the dreaded eye-ball freeze you gotta wear your "northern-trooper" gear (or maybe your northern-darth-vader gear, or heck, maybe your Red vs. Blue Gear too .....)




And, does anyone know if the human eye-ball actually can freeze if you're outside too long (and you're still alive). I can see a human eye freezing, ya know, if you're no longer amongst the warm-blooded) .... just curious ..... this is what happens when it's late at night, and you can't sleep because you had one too many cups-o-coffee.

Sea-Lift Order Planning Time

Hello all of my fellow Northerners!

That time of year has come again where we all have to start planning out our next sea lift. Well, I need to know who you all use for your sea-lift as I am very disappointed with this years from the Marché (Grocery Store) that I used last year. Many things that I need to purchase (no-ifs-ands-or-buts) are not available on the sea-lift order this year (hun? why on Earth wouldn't they be??!!).

So, who do you all use? As I am starting to "shop" around.

Sun, sun, sun.

Up here above the 72 line, we are now getting about 9+ hours of light per day. It is now light out when I walk to school in the morning (8:00am) ... and light when I walk home (4:30pm) .... and still light enough to walk outside without a flashlight in the evening (6:00pm). So, from about 8:00am to 6:00pm we have "working daylight" ... and the sun can be seen up over the mountains around 9:20am in the morning, and then it disappears again behind the mountains on the other side of town around 3:30).

All of this extra daylight makes Kennie one happy camper.

Yummy ... PB & Chocolate Chip Cookies

Today was my weekly cookie making time (as I love to have cookies with lunch at school) .....
and this is a dummy-proof (or Kennie-proof) cookie mix too, as we all know my record for cooking things.

So what you need

1 cup of Peanut-Butter (smooth or chunky)
1 cup of White Sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp of Vanilla
1/2 bag of chocolate chips

Mix it all together in a bowl. Create small dough balls and place on an un-greased cookie sheet.
Cook at 350 degrees for 7-10 minutes, or until golden-brown.

Ice Rainbows

Couple of pictures of a rainbow that formed in the sky out in the bay.