I am so in love with Florence’s voice and the latest video for their new single “Shake It Out” doesn’t disappoint.  It looks like she’s having so much fun.

On Tuesday Kristin and I went to the Pepsi Throwback party at Revival hosted by Keisha Chante and Casie Stewart.  My first Tweet-Up since TIFF last year.  We stayed long enough to have a couple Pepsi Throwback’s, watch 80′s band The Spoons and say Hi to some friends that I hadn’t seen in ages.  Then it was back to moving in to the new place.  I can’t wait til it’s all done and I’m settled in.

 

 

Here’s a video of the party made by Rannia aka @photojunkie.  Thanks to Casie for the invite.

My brother sent this to me today.  Watch it, read it, share it.

Chapter 14 – WHOA IS ME in India from Oana Dragan on Vimeo.

Many people talk about the rise of India today, yet one sixth of the entire population face many forms of appaling injustices and discrimination (http://www.ncdhr.org.in/ncdhr2/dalits-untouchability/dalits-untouchability). That is part of the reason I was compelled to create this music video. However, I wanted to spread the message in a creative and unique way that is not generally associated with the traditional charity/raising awareness type videos. I wanted to portray these kids as they really are; full of life, full of potential, and just like any other kids I have ever met. Thus, I used elements of our own popular culture so that we could look past the poverty they live in and see them for what they really are, us.

Please note, that although we were working in a Dalit village I cannot confirm that ALL of these kids featured in this video were in fact Dalit. I don’t think it matters because the point is still the same; all kids, regardless of background, deserve to be valued and deserve to have equal access to opportunities.

For more information on Dalits please visit these sites or you can do some research on Google:

http://www.ncdhr.org.in/ncdhr2/dalits-untouchability/dalits-untouchability

http://www.dalitnetwork.org/

For more information on how you can help these kids out by either becoming a volunteer, donating or starting your own fundraiser, please check out the site and read below:

www.golongitude.org

The Association of Relief Volunteers and Longitude were the organizations that I volunteered with. The following is information sent to me by a fellow volunteer at Longitude:

“Since 2005, Longitude has been sending international volunteers to India to work with ARV. The vast majority have taken part in work camps to help build houses. ARV and Longitude also collaborate to run a child’s education initiative, called a Child’s Chance Program. This program was implemented in the Fall of 2009 in 5 villages that ARV already works in, with Chevuru being the first and most successful program.

Based on the living conditions for the people of Chevuru and their isolation to a greater community, many of the village children do very poorly and drop out of school. Often, their parents do no understand the value of an education and place greater importance on domestic chores and agricultural work for an income. Even if a child wanted to learn and succeed in school, there are many factors working against them.

The Child Chance Program seeks to improve this situation by providing more accessibility to education for Chevuru children. Generous donations have allowed ARV to supply a certified teacher to Chevuru to provide 3 hours of after-school tutoring and lessons 6 days a week! And our attendance records have proved that these children want to learn by showing up everyday. In our first year alone, 100% of students improved their grades and/or attendance at school for at least a term. 30 of 35 10th year students passed their exams in order to continue their education to secondary school and college!

These successes will ultimately be the catalyst that lifts these families out of destitute poverty. We are very excited about the positive changes we’ve already seen, and hope for even greater changes to come! Please visit our website to learn more about the program. Make sure to stay involved reading blogs, donating to Child Chance campaigns, and starting your own fundraiser to educate and sponsor these children in their efforts to build a better life.”

I awoke only to find my lungs empty,
And through the night, so it seems I’m not breathing.
And now my dreams are nothing like they were meant to be,
And I’m breaking down, I think I’m breaking down.

And I’m afraid to sleep because of what haunts me,
Such as living with the uncertainty
That I’ll never find the words to say which would completely explain
Just how I’m breaking down

Someone come and, someone come and save my life
Maybe I’ll sleep when I am dead,
But now it’s like the night is taking sides
With all the worries that occupy the back of my mind
Could it be this misery will suffice?

I’ve become a simple souvenir of someone’s kill
And like the sea, I’m constantly changing from calm to ill
Madness fills my heart and soul, as if the great divide could swallow me whole
Oh, how I’m breaking down

Someone come and, someone come and save my life
Maybe I’ll sleep when I am dead,
But now it’s like the night is taking up sides
With all the worries that occupy the back of my mind
Could it be this misery will suffice.

Someone come and, someone come and save my life (x3)

Could it be this misery will suffice.

Climbed up on the rainbow
Just to see if I’d fall off
I’m a frosted lemon coward
And I don’t know how
No don’t know to hold you
Without shaking
No I’m not aware of how
I could possibly love you
Without aching
Yes I give you everything
Yes I give you anything
I gave you everything
Gotta watch myself
I’ve gotta love myself
And take care
And so keep the light on before
Ya hop into bed
Cos, baby, this is the last
Honest look I’ll ever give
I saved up all my sunshine
Just to see you more clear
I’m a little short on solar
And I haven’t given in
No I’m going to hold you anyway
And I’ll do it without shaking
Yes I’ll love you always
And I’ll do it without aching
Yes I’d give you anything
Yes I’d give you anything
I gave you everything
Gotta watch myself
I’ve gotta love myself
And take care
And so keep the light on before
Ya hop into bed
Cos, baby, this is the last
Honest look I’ll ever give
I give you everything
I give you anything
I gave you everything
Gotta watch my self
I’ve gotta love myself
And take care
Yeah
Gave you
I gave you
I gave you everything
So I’ve gotta watch myself
And love myself
And take care
This is your last look
This is your last look
This is your last look
Yeah this is your last look
This is your last look
This is your last look
And so keep the light on before
Ya hop into bed
Cos, baby, this is the last
Honest look I’ll ever give

Winnipeg band Domenica toured with Hail The Villain this summer and they are awesome. Domenica is a female fronted, 4 piece grunge/metal band. Their singer is a girl named Bekki and she kicks ass. I actually bought their album and if you get a chance to see them perform live you should. My favourite song is I Love My Gun and I got a video from their last show of the HTV tour at The Casbah in Hamilton.

Tonight I’ve been re-watching the first season of It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia and this show actually makes me laugh out loud. I’ve only seen the first three seasons, and the Christmas episode which is absolutely ridiculous and hilarios. Im going to watch all 5 seasons and get caught up to the sixth. You have to check it out. Charlie is my favourite character on the show and I like Danny DeVito’s character too. Actually they are all pretty great.