Radiohead{s}

Hey, ok.
So here is the latest exciting news!
Kayla is *sniff* leaving us today to go on vacation to... Ontario!! As her birthday is coming up, we piggy-backed a dinner she was having with a few of her friends (we were invited, actually) and had an awesome time with our (not so) secret birthday card of awesomeness and her wearing giant moose antlers. It was very amusing. Not to mention that some of the... older... members of our team were, well, causing a little bit of mischief with some ice. I have decided that the next time Bill and Rick are sitting at a table together, Cathy will need to separate them, lol.

It was also a pretty exciting day at the dugout with quite a bit of action. I'm not sure if I can really go into the details, but suffice to say there were some very amusing developments on Friday's break-in here at the Dugout. The fifth break-in so far. I don't believe anything was taken, but it was still an irritation.

I, sadly, was removed from most of the action because I was doing some work at home with Lukas on the various video projects we have on the go. The exciting thing for us, however, was that we got to voice track for Kaos. As in, Lukas and I did the entire afternoon show AND the top 7 @ 7. We had so much fun doing that!!! I can see why it takes a certain personality to has radio though; it is kind of hard to just jump in on the breaks and get the song/ artist names right on th first try. It was sweet though.

Tomorrow should be exciting as well... we have a graffiti clean up on the go... though this is merely the warmup to next Saturday's city-wide cleanup event. And, I have to be honest here, things are tensing up a little as we get closer to August and the interPLAY festival. Luckily, we get to chill for a bit in Edmonton this weekend, an event I know the girls at least are stoked for.

- Mike

Anime-ted Conversation

I was really encouraged today when Bill came to fetch me in the Staff Room. Why would that be encouraging, you ask? Well, as much as everyone loves Bill, it wasn't his presence that warmed the cockles of my heart – it was the message he carried: "Domenic's here for you." Domenic happens to be a crazy fun, 13 year old lad that I met precisely a week ago. Last week had been the time of the Art Elective; and last Thursday was actually the day that Leah was in charge of the Art Elective (teaching people how to make stellar bracelets). However, that happened to be the first day of the entire week that I'd had anyone come and draw with me. Let me take you back…

I was wandering rather aimlessly, that Thursday morning, when I saw Sarah drawing and talking with a boy at the Art Table. "Sweet!" I thought to myself. "I need to get in on this deal!" The boy was Domenic. I recognized him as the boy I'd seen the day before talking to Adam and Leah near the Basketball Court. Domenic, Sarah and I drew for a little bit and then Sarah was called away to go do Ink Speaks stuff. Domenic and I weren't talking for long before we discovered with no little excitement that Domenic and I both watch anime, and happen to have almost all of the same favourite shows: InuYasha, Naruto, Avatar: The Last Airbender, (he doesn't like One Piece but he respects that I'm in love with it), Full Metal Alchemist and Pokemon (some of which I've seen, but only the Old School episodes). Needless to say, we were pretty much insta-friends from that moment on. We chatted, drew, laughed, and discussed the finer points of various anime episodes in glorious detail. Our conversation was also spiced with more serious topics. Domenic told me all about how he used to bully people, until one day he realized that the people he was bullying were just like him.

The next day (Friday), Domenic showed up at the Dugout again – this time he brought a friend: a boy named Mitchell, with a Nintendo DS permanently fixed to his hand. So, today, when Bill tapped my shoulder and announced that Domenic was looking for me, it brought a smile to my face. I found him outside the Staff Room door and he quickly informed me that Mitchell would also be making a reappearance and I certainly hope that the pair of them make many more appearances in the future.

Melody

Image by FlamingText.com

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Sun, Ink

Amanda and I have been going out to different locations every day to engage people and do some tattoo stories, but it has been pretty stressful at times. We have a hard time finding people who have the time and and willing to talk to us, but they are getting done slowly. It helps that Jay is now also doing stories. We have definitely met some interesting people, both with many tattoos and some with only one. Yesterday, we talk to Lauren, a reporter who interviewed us and then we talked to her about her single tattoo as well. She is actually quite interested in knowing when I am getting my tattoo, which will hopefully be within the next week or so! I am super excited, but also pretty scared. But I think it will help my connection with people because they see that I do have something in common with them. I have felt like a fraud because I do Tattoo Stories but don't even have one myself. So that is pretty much where I am at right now: tying to stay on top of transcribing while figuring out how I am going to fit my own tattooing appointment in with it all. AND I am doing electives again next week.

- Sarah

Officially, this trip is perhaps the most disorienting I have ever been on. In a good way. The days are just so packed with stuff that they all seem to blend together in a massive, oozing, pulsing tangle of memories. Like the day we moved out of Keyano. That day was long enough to feel like two days. And Canada Day was pretty long as well. For the first two full days, I felt was if an entire week had gone by. Same things seems to be happening here. I doesn't help, I suppose, that the sun goes down really, really late. But meh.
So, Tuesday was a Tuesday kind of day. Y' know, the kind of day that is just there. Kids came into the Dugout, we hung out. Had a super long debrief in the evening. Day to day stuff. I spent most of the day coding... finishing the new King's Kids layout and beginning to adapt it for the blog that is accompanying it. That is a bit of a daunting task. I have reams of data to go through, edit, delete, change... all in all, an enjoyable challenge.

Cheers!

- Mike

A new week! A new adventure!

Yesterday I went to the soup kitchen to help at the BBQ. There were a lot of volunteers there and it was cool to see how some of them have built relationships with the regulars who come to the soup kitchen.
In the afternoon I went to the PB* to hang out and talk to people. We met a guy from the Congo who has been in Canada since 2002. It was neat to hear that after high school, he taught primary school in his town for five years because they were really short on teachers and he was a smart guy. We also met another guy with a couple tattoos who couldn't catch his bus (he actually had to run to the next stop before the bus got there). He's only been here since last August and he works as a cook at the hotel and now his friend is teaching him how to DJ.
After supper I was able to talk to a good friend of the team who had just received some really bad news about his brother. He was shaken up about it but was calmer than he had been in the morning. Later that night he sent us a text thanking us for our prayers. It has been really neat this summer to see relationships grow and how many youth we have been able to attract to the center through the summer programs.

- Amanda

*slang for the Provincial Building

I have essentially become a shut in, after a fashion. Ok, maybe that is a little melodramatic, but I have spent a lot of time recently in front of a computer. I spent Monday morning at home helping out Lukas and spending hours trying to find a font online. Have you ever tried to match fonts? As in, you have a font in an image, don't know the name of the font, and then try to find it online? Challenging work. Yet such was the challenge before me as I tried to find the King's Kids font, a quest which as ultimately successful... albeit in a fashion which makes me feel like an idiot. As in, it was the very first font on the very first page in the search...
I suppose I should clarify what exactly I am talking about. On top of all of our street work and various volunteer responsibilities, there is a small group on the team who are busy working away on computer work: documenting the trip in video format, creating graphics for pamphlets and cards as well as designs for the Kaos Cafe at the up-coming InterPlay festival, and in my case, building the new King's Kids Promotions website. So look for that in the beginning for August!

- Mike

Lazy Posting

Ok, here is the latest. Sorry for not updating in forever, things here have been a little hectic lately. For me at least. Either way, lots of cool stuff has happened since the last update. Take for example yesterday. We, being the drama team, performed the Everything Skit (also known as the "Lifehouse skit") in both services at the McMurray Gospel Assembly and the team more or less ran the service last night at Fellowship Baptist Church. On Saturday we learned a little about the oil sand work at the Oil Sands Discovery Center. It was actually a pretty cool space, though a little on the small side. This way we should be able to understand people a little more when they talk about working on site.

Anyways, that is all I have to say for now. I'm going to get on myself about getting back into the rhythm of regular updating, so you should be seeing daily updates again. Here are some perspectives on the week from other team members to keep you sated for now.

- Mike

This week I was leading the soccer electives, but no one showed up. Later in the day thought I was able to convince enough people that it would be fun if they all came and played a game with me. We walked to the closest soccer field just down the road and had a great game of scrimmage. There were about 12 people there aged 10 - 23. It was just so awesome and exciting to see this random mix of people all having a great time running around and they respected and encouraged each other all the time. I don't know how often kids get together to play big games like that, but it seemed like everyone just loved having someone to play with.

I also talked to a girl who wants to quit smoking because she thinks its disgusting and misses her sense of smell. In the past she had managed to quit for about three weeks before starting again. She is cutting back gradually, but it will take a while to quit completely.

It has been awesome to see small differences in everyone we have been building relationships with. Whenever people hang out with us, they seem happy and enjoy just talking to us.

- Amanda

It Rained Today!!!! LIGHTNING!!!!

So Wednesday we started electives for the kids which run out of the Dugout. I only had two guitars and need one myself so I could only teach one at a time. Not that there was a huge amount of interest or anything. I taught one lesson in the morning and one in the afternoon for about an hour and a half each with breaks and stuff. Making kids who have never played before play for long amounts of time is sooo not fun because those poor kids with their callousless fingers can`t handle the pain. I don't know if that sentence makes any sense, but oh well. I only do guitar lessons once during each music week so that won't be a big issue. The rest of the time I am doing drama. No kids have shown up for the morning session yet today but we will see about the afternoon. Amanda and I, being the awesome team that we are for Ink Speaks, are co-running the drama elective. Actually we spend most of Wednesday transcribing (when we were running electives) so we have definitely spent a lot of time together over the last week.

SO that is pretty much it so far. I am pretty boring these last few days. Just sit in my room in a dark corner, concentrate on my breathing, draw on myself in permanent marker... sometimes people will come and sit a plate of food in front of me and I may or may not eat it... I braid and unbraid the front pieces of my hair... Not much to my life really...

(Yes, that is an entirely last paragraph is a lie...)

- Sarah

I am starting to really get used to the schedules now and was able to hit the streets and get some tattoo stories done for the first time. All in all a good day I'd say.

- Jay

Hello people of the world! So, I totally could write about yesterday, but... I think that seeing as this is my first week here, I should probably talk about first impressions. Which were awesome!!!! I had an awesomely unique opportunity to see Fort McMurray that the others were denied. Mostly because I got to fly up here. And I mean, even with some of the negative things you hear about Fort Mac, seeing it from the air - with the sun pseudo-setting over a vast expanse of trees separated by a rift in the earth - well; it kind of disperses any negativity and makes a really, really good first impression. The other good first impressions-ness was that you can buy Coca-cola in glass bottles, lol. No, there are some really cool people here that I have met so far - Kayla as one example - and some really cool people that I hope to meet. Clowning around on Canada Day for 8 hours was also cool, as an aside. L-O-L.

Anyways, on to yesterday... we - Hannah, Jay and I - went to clean up "Humpty Dumpty", so named because it is by the Humpty Dumpty chip factory or something like that. Essentially, some heavy lifting and quick cleaning of a tonne of garbage. It was hot, but it was fun.

Oh! Quick story as an aside. I get to Keyano and I have like a bottle of water or something. And then I spend the next 10 minutes looking for a recycling bin. Which was apparently crazy of me because they don't recycle here. Go figure, eh?

PS. Today is America's birthday... and also Ailin's !!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

- Mike

Canada Day MADNESS!!!!

We interrupt this broadcast for a special news bulletin from Mike:

So, I have now been appointed as blogmaster and we are kicking Sarah out. lol, what goes around...

Three days, and I already think that Fort McMurray rox. I'm excited for the summer.
Just thought I would throw that in.

We now return to your normal Canada Day broadcast:

Yesterday was Canada day and we had lots of fun!!! I had the opportunity with nine others to be clowns in the parade. We walked and skipped behind the Kaos cruiser, giving candy to the kids. At noon we were at the Borealis Park around the dugout. Some of us dressed as clowns and others helped with the BB. We had lots of fun meeting the kids and making them smile. It was a great day to celebrate with the community of Fort McMurray.
-Ailin
So I was the creepiest clown ever, but it was actually pretty funny. Vivian from the Baptist church brought her face paint, which she has for doing dramas when she was in OM. It was cool, she did my face, Sarah and Sam's and it looked cool. We all started with a completely white face and the design went on top. Sarah had flowers and Sam had some weird geometric shapes but mine was like, stereotypical clown. I had the red smile, rosy red cheeks and actually some orange eyebrows and a red nose :o) It was exciting and fun. There were nine clowns.
Fort McMurray has some pretty insane festivities and FRED PENNER CAME!!! THAT'S RIGHT!! I SAW FRED PENNER LIVE!!! :D:D:D It was actually so amazing! :o) We then had drama where we did The Rock and The Lifehouse skit. I got uberly thrown about, and if you've ever seen the drama you'll understand how much the main character gets beat up. I was she and Adam enjoyed throwing me at the ground. It was actually pretty awesome looking and apparently really effective. There were a lot of positive comments surrounding it and apparently we're doing it again for some churches so that's pretty awesome. Overall, a great day.
-Seana