I watched the Juno awards last night and I thought it was a fabulous show.
I loved the street party in St John's, and although my favourite band Billy Talent didn't win best single, and Michael Buble is a just a little too mellow for me, I thought he was a classy winner.
“I love you from the west coast to the east, black, white, rich, poor, gay, straight, thanks for the support.”
And although I have to admit that I would probably like Justin Bieber more a lot...if I was fourteen... I think he's a talented and very together Canadian kid.
It's so disgusting and cowardly it almost makes me vomit. It takes a lizard's brain to be homophobic and misogynistic at the same time.
But that's why I hate bullies eh? That's why I write about them all the time even though almost nobody cares.
And that's why I love K'naan, the Somali Canadian artist who closed the show last night with a version of this song of peace, love, diversity, and RESPECT.
Because when I listen to it I believe we can change the world...
Here's to those Canadian artists who even in the dark days of the bully Harper regime are giving us something to be proud about.
I wanted to end the week on a hopeful note, but I also had to say something about Haiti where hope is hard to find. Some progress is being being made, but so much remains to be done. About 185,000 tarpaulins or tents have been handed out, according to U.N. figures released last week, enough to provide shelter to only about 40% of the people in need. The relief effort is lagging even further in the increasingly frantic push to dig a sufficient number of latrines or install portable toilets in the hundreds of camps.
The unsanitary conditions, experts fear, could lead to an explosion of disease when the rains arrive. And the old and the poor are suffering so much. Residents are bathed outdoors with a bucket and try to cover their nakedness. They spend the long, hot afternoons in hospital beds lined up side by side, six to a tent, fanning themselves with pieces of cardboard. They beg for water to drink.
It's hard for me to grasp that kind of suffering. But the look in the eyes of Sébastien who just came back from Haiti, tells me all I need to know. And of course this doesn't help. So this is how I cheered him up today. By telling him about some Canadians who are trying to make sure that the world doesn't forget. And by playing their song over and over again...
When I get older I will be stronger.
From Canada to Haiti with love and HOPE. Have a great weekend everyone...
Oh boy. As you know these days it isn't easy to be a Canadian.
Once we used to wear our maple leaves proudly all over the world to let people know where we came from eh? But now that Stephen Harper has had his way with us, and people all over the world are calling us torture enablers and planet burners, we don't brag about that anymore.
Lest we attract the wrong kind of attention. Or a rock ..... or a doughnut. So you can imagine how happy I am to report that thanks to this awesome Canadian poet, rapper, and musician.
Wooh. What a great song. I've been humming it all day. And soon BILLIONS will. Maybe my hero Nelson Mandela will like it too, and ask the world to give us a second chance. As long as we get rid of the Cons. Hey. Who knew a kid from Mogadishu would save us? Way to go K'naan !!!!
