Imagine for me please........you are a young, dynamic, world travelling, independent, creative jewellery designer. Now, try to also imagine, that you have just been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, told that you are basically incurable.
What would you do?
Would you lay down and die? Or would you fight?
Would you follow every order your doctor gave you unquestioningly, or would you demand second opinions and seek alternative healing options?
What if you found a place that addressed every aspect of healing, a place where the people helped your soul as much as they helped your body? What if you found a place that helped you beat the odds and recover?
Do you think you would be inspired by that experience, to design a thing of beauty in order to share / show your support and appreciation towards the people who helped you to become a survivor rather than a statistic?
Susan Fiedler was inspired by her experience, and she was moved to take action. Susan (from Soul Flower, a socially conscious jewelry company ), designed a stunning sterling silver bracelet, and with it she speaks for anyone who's life has been touched by the dreaded 'C' word, she speaks to anyone who feels like saying, Fuck Cancer.
So instead, I ask you to please go visit the websites linked here, to read this story of healing, hope and survival. And because you care, because you are so stylish ( no rubber bracelets for you), I want to let you all know how you can get your own Fuck Cancer bracelet .
$50 of the sale of each F* Cancer bracelet is donated directly to InspireHealth, Canada’s foremost not-for-profit integrative cancer care centre. You will receive a charitable tax receipt for your donation in the mail. On behalf of the patients, staff and volunteers of InspireHealth, thank you!
With love................... Rachael Chatoor:
(Rach is an admirer of Susan Fiedler and an ambassador for the F*ck Cancer bracelet.)
As many of you know, one of my hobbies is shooting/editing home videos and sharing them on You Tube. I do have the opportunity to attend some exciting events behind the scenes quite frequently, and last fall, I took some footage of my pal Kelly Brock while she was at the rehearsals for the BCCMA awards show, which I then edited into a video for her.
To be honest, I was inspired and also grateful to have something more interesting than myself to film and edit for a change. And as I was chatting to Kelly about it one day, we started to consider how lucky we are that we get to do the things we do. That is when we got the notion that it would be fun to do more behind the scenes videos (lol, with all of our free time.......), which is how the idea for a second You Tube channel was born, and how Kelly became my co-host.
LOVERBOY-PART 1: Backstage at LOVERBOY with the Lovergirls (featuring local songbird, Catherine St Germain)
LOVERBOY- PART 2: Behind the scenes with LOVERBOY music video.
A quick congratulations to the band, who will be inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame this year at the 2009 Juno awards show, to be held in Vancouver B.C. at the end of March.
LOVERBOY- PART 3: After the show w/ LOVERBOY Mike Reno
Mike is a monster talent, with vocals that will knock your socks off. He is also a very funny, and down to earth guy. For more in depth info on Mike, check out this link to Much Music's where are you at baby? with Mike Reno. (link to Much Music's Where are you at?)
My apologies for the sound crapping out, my camera is the size of a deck of cards, the little built in mic didn't like the monster sound system at the House of Blues/Commodore Ballroom.
Thanks as always to Dee Lippingwell for providing pictures that I could use for running the closing credits over. I love her work, some of my best ever onstage photos come from Dee. It was a pleasure to be on this side of the stage with you Dee, and thanks especially for taking this shot and sending it to me!
One Week ago, I played for the advanced screening of a Canadian Feature film called ONE WEEK. Coincidence? No, I am just cheesy, and wanted to blog about this today so that I could say that.
Anyhow, I was invited by the people who hosted the screening, the First Weekend Club, to play some songs during the wine reception, prior to the showing of the Movie. I was delighted to be asked and was happy to participate.
It was a gorgeous location, in a private screening theatre called District 319, one of the most beautiful venues I have had the pleasure to visit. The reception room was very sparse and clean with natural stone, wood, and earth tones mixed with a modern and sleek styling. It featured a sitting area and bar with a glass wall overlooking the theatre. The theatre itself was everything you would expect from an exclusive screening room (see pic). (BTW, here is the Canada Screens review of the night, including a review of moi! )
The reason we all were there, was to help promote the film ONE WEEK. The main character, Ben Tyler (Joshua Jackson from Dawsons Creek) was just diagnosed with a terminal illness. He should be in a hospital. He should be with his doting fiancee (Liane Balaban) and family. He should be dealing with the news. But instead, all he wants, is to go on a road trip - on a motorcycle no less. In search of a profound experience, he rides from Toronto to Tofino, stopping at landmarks that are both iconic and idiosyncratic on his quest to find meaning in his life and for a chance to really live, even for just "One Week".
I was lucky enough to catch the film. I wish to tell you all.......this is an excellent, touching, thoughtful, funny, engaging movie. I truly hope you will go and see it THIS weekend.
One Week is a Canadian film that deserves to be seen and recognized, but in order to do that, it needs support, here is why..........................
What you may not know, is that the current system makes it very difficult for Canadian films to succeed. The bottom line counts. Theatre owners will extend a film's release only if the first weekend box office is strong.
In other words a film simply won’t last through to its second weekend if it doesn’t have a strong enough audience on opening weekend. No matter how great a film may be it will get kicked out of the theatre if people don’t show up to see it within those first three critical days.
Now think about the films you’ve seen. Either there has been so much advertising you just HAD to see it, or it is the film that people have been talking about for weeks… In other words, there has been time for word-of-mouth to travel…
Imagine this scenario: You see a great film on a Friday, a Canadian film, you tell your friends and they get excited to see it the next weekend, and it has vanished… This happens all the time because the ‘first-weekend’ wasn’t strong. You wonder how that can happen as it was such a great film. Canadian films struggle to find screen space, and when they finally do, their may only be two or three weeks to promote it.
And with marginal marketing dollars, Canadian films just don’t stand out next to all the noise made by our American friends. Think about the latest Spiderman movie. We heard about that movie on the radio, on TV, saw trailers (that probably cost more to make the most Canadian films) saw bill boards and bus shelters and interviews and on and on all dedicated to promoting the film several months in advance of its release.
Even the release date (May 4th) was known by everyone well before it opened. How can Canadian films compete? The answer is through word of mouth and by getting as many people as possible to see a film on its opening weekend.
Does it seem wrong to you that Canadian films get pulled so easily?
It seems wrong to me, and obviously so, to the First Weekend Club, who work tirelessly to promote Canadian films and keep them in the theaters.
I am assured by FWC Executive director, the stunningly lovely Anita Adams , that the FWC only promotes what they deem to be worthy films. The FWC do not promote every single Canadian show that is released, they can't possibly, but they do work endlessly to bring attention to the films that are truly deserving of a wide audience, and having seen this film, I understand why they wish to promote it.
Please don't let this one fall through the cracks people. Your attendance can make a difference!
Canadians, we need to support our film community, we need to go see this film, I ask you to tell your friends to go see this film, before it gets pulled from the theatres.
And here is the film trailer............. to entice you..........;)
Also, many thanks as well to Dean Busher, who did photography for the event. Dean is a great photographer in this city, if you are looking for a professional photographer I invite you to visit his website.
Sunday dinner at Moms, we spent the whole time with the new puppies. The decision has still not been made on which dog the family will keep.
All six puppies are spoken for and all are male. They all are going to families with children, families whom we know well. We are not breeders, so don't be asking me for puppies, our bitch will be fixed after this one litter. We let all of our bitches have a single litter, and then we spay them. For my entire life, we have lived with dogs and the experience of raising a litter of baby animals is something I am thrilled to share with my children, and with you.
One of the many different shows I work on is an Abba tribute, called Abbacadabra, for a company called Mooncoin Productions. The power couple behind Mooncoin, Jonas Falle and Jeanette OKeefe, are two of the finest human beings I have ever had the privilege of knowing, and I am extremely proud to be a part of their talent pool.
If anything is to be said by me, about the concept of the law of attraction, it is that I believe in it wholeheartedly. I first noticed Jeanette O'Keefe about a year ago, when she and I both joined a facebook group called Positive Fabulous Women.
Jeanette's attitude in her posts on the groups wall, made so much sense to me, that I felt to check her out. I was very impressed with her website . It is a slick, fun, sparkly, showy, perfect web home for her company, full of bright photos and professionally shot videos of fully produced soft seat theatre scale productions, complete with dancers, choreography and costumes.
I recall thinking, wow, what a LOT of work. I didn't have a clue how you get to that point, and was quite terrified to even try. I didn't even have a website at the time, I was quite content to just plod along and work in my duo. (the seed that day was planted however, and it was only a matter of time before I started to see more for myself as far as performing goes.)
I browsed the site, and I noted that Mooncoin had a number of different shows on offer, an Abba show, an R n B show, a Retro Diva show, a Country show, you name the show, they could provide it, and pull it off to perfection. I looked at a few of their videos, and stopped to really look at one called Kindness Rocks, which is an anti bullying show designed to educate young people on the realities of bullying.
"Through the magical power of music, entertainment, laughter and the sharing of true personal stories, "Kindness ROCKS" spreads the powerful messages of social responsibility, self esteem, empowerment, forgiveness, compassion and individuality. Our goal is to help stop violence and bullying in schools and communities throughout the world by inspiring youth to take kind and positive action on a daily basis and to let them know how important their individual contribution is to the world as a whole. "
I was so impressed with the video I saw and the message they seemed to be sending, that I sent a message (probably long and rambling) to Jeanette, (who at the time was a virtual stranger), and told her how moved I was with her work.
Months later we met in person for the first time, and it was instantly easy to be around her. We talked about how people can constantly strive to make positive connections to one another, we considered synchronicity for a while, and the fascinating notion that there is something inexplicably divine placing people and events in our path, which led us to contemplate and discuss how our choices regarding those events (be them good or bad), are what define our character and leads us to our current situations. etc. etc.
I think the most important thing we learned about each other that day, is that we both love to examine what it means to embrace this crazy journey of being a human. And inherent in both of our natures, is that we would rather prop someone up, than put them down. I walked away from that first meeting, impressed and inspired. It never dawned on me that several months later I would be working for them, but in hindsight it all makes perfect sense.
Fast forward to yesterday, I was invited by Jonas and Jeanette to see one of their Kindness Rocks concerts which was being held at a nearby High school auditorium in honor of Anti Bullying week. This was my first chance to see this concert live, in person, and I have to tell you . I nearly cried throughout the whole thing.
The show started with a smashing rock number, and as I watched my friends up there on stage, I was filled with pride and happiness for how awesome they all were. Once again, I was impressed with Jeanette, her amazing vocals and stage presence, and I sat back to enjoy what I thought was going to be a great musical show.
But it was more than that, SO much more.
After the first song, Jeanette introduced herself to the packed audience of teenagers. Here she was this gorgeous ( and I mean gorgeous ) singer, in a bright costume on an amazing big stage, singing with a smoking hot band, all confident and secure, yet, she begins to tell a story about her experiences growing up.
As they showed a slide on the wall, of her as a child, Jeanette talked about how her family was a little on the unusual side. For instance, her father painted their house in stripes, trimmed their evergreens to look like palm trees, and put crazy yet artistic sculptures in their front yard. To the neighbors, this just made the house look, well, weird. And of course, the way kids would see it, anyone who lives in a house like that must be weird right?
Not helping matters any, Jeanette was a part of a very large family, and she only ever got to wear hand me down clothes that didn't quite fit and had little style. This gave all her school friends yet another reason to single her out as different, and she spent most of her childhood as a loner. Kids were cruel to her in fact. For her birthday party one year, the girls who had been so mean to her, suddenly seemed to have a change of heart, and told her hey, yeah, we will come to your party! So Jeanette, SO excited, went home and told her Mom that she actually had friends coming for her birthday. Together they got her whole house ready, cake, decorations, the works.
And no one showed up.
I cry even as I type this, and I tell you, I was BAWLING when I watched the show. I cried for the little girl who suffered so much, who was beaten and beaten but never lost her fire. I related to her on so many levels, because when I myself went to a new high school, I never really managed to connect they way I had with my old friends at my old high school. I had years where I wandered the halls at lunchtime, trying to look like I was going to be hanging out with someone or doing something interesting, when the truth was, I mostly just went to the library, sat in the drama theatre and read a book, went for a walk and listened to music on my walkman, or skipped out entirely, and went to the stables to hang out with the horses (who I felt, understood me completely).
I wasn't tortured as openly as Jeanette was, I was just mostly ignored, never sought out, and only begrudgingly allowed to stand just outside of the crowd if I did try to include myself. And I did hear the comments once in a while, which confirmed to me that the way I was viewed was not very positive. I remember one girl calling me a beached whale, out loud, in front of the whole classroom, as we watched a video of our swimming class, and I was shown laying by the side of the pool.
I cried as I watched the Kindness Rocks show, I recalled those feelings of not quite fitting in, not knowing how to put myself out there, wondering what was wrong with me, why didn't I get it, what was I missing? I wondered why couldn't I talk to people about the things they were talking about? I just didn't get anything that seemed to be 'cool', wasn't in the loop. And I cried for all the children sitting in that audience right then, the ones who knew and felt exactly the feelings Jeanette was sharing with them, and I suddenly KNEW why Jeanette was driven to create such a show.
And it wasn't just Jeanette, every artist on that stage came out and told their story, be they the victim or the bully. Yes the people who acted as bullies spoke too, because they all suffered as well, they later regretted their bullying ways, and carry it with them to this day. It's almost worse to be the bully, because it is the bully who has the character flaw, and once you realize that about yourself, it is tough on the soul. I am not guessing at this, I know this, because I also can recall some kids in my elementary school whom I teased right along with all the other kids. I know how crappy it feels to be the bully too. What I think is important here, is that both sides of the story were represented in this show, and all events were told without judgment.
This wasn't even just about one day of shows either. Jonas and Jeanette came and worked with the high school drama class for a few weeks prior to the event, and the kids developed a skit which addressed how hurtful rumors get started. They performed the skit for their peers during the show, and not only that, the two dancers in the show, also came for several weeks prior, and worked with the school dance club on a number they all performed onstage with the band.
Now, tell me that is not inspiring to kids?
These are people that strive to make a difference folks. These are the people I admire.
I looked around at the audience full of teenagers, most wearing pink for anti-bullying day, and was hopeful that those kids would see their future in this group of people on stage that had struggled as teenagers themselves, but who became successful and confident adults anyways. I was hopeful the kids would be able to see past the hell we know as high school, and leave their fears and worries behind them, replacing them with strength and purpose because 'if these people who were just like me can believe in themselves, then maybe I can'.
I was inspired because of the person Jeanette is, that she has not become a mean, spiteful, bitter, woman, but instead became a dynamic and beautiful performer, and a deeply sincere person who puts out only kindness and good energy into the world, despite how it treated her as a child. Jeanette is a clever survivor, and only surrounds herself with positive people now. If you are not on a purposeful path or if you are not positive by nature, you wont get a job with her company. I have always been proud to know the people behind the Mooncoin team, to be considered talented enough to work in their shows, but after today, I am also honored, to think they also consider me a friend, because I can see how valuable it is to them.
I leave you with this final suggestion. If you are a parent of a child anywhere in the Lower Mainland, (or anywhere in the world for that matter, because Mooncoin does tour worldwide) I strongly encourage you to find a way to get this incredible production to your school.
Your children deserve it.
With love and hugs to you........... Rachael. xoxo
I was playing with my band at Lulu's lounge in the the River Rock Casino, and it was just one of those great nights where everything was feeling groovy, I was singing well, and my band was in top form. I was so glad to be there and I was just having a great time doing my job.
After the first set, on my break, a fellow named Jim came up to me to tell me that he and the group of guys and girls he was sitting with, were really enjoying the band as well as my vocals and performance, and he said that after hearing just a few songs, a bunch of them had decided they were going stay for the night to watch the band. He complimented me and all my guys so highly, I was very touched.
We chatted a while longer and then Jim let me know that he was in fact, the production manager for Blondie, who were in town for a concert at the River Rock show theatre the next night. Jim said he was there with the crew ( as well as a number of band members who floated in and out of the venue throughout the night). I was invited over to meet them and join them all for a beverage.
Once again I was complimented on my vocals and I was so very, very humbled by the warmth and sincerity they all showed. I visited with them on my breaks after that, and a few of us closed down the bar after the gig (which I rarely ever do). What a fun, warm group of people.
I was invited to come see the show the next night, but I had a gig out in Mission (darn), so instead I was told I would be welcome to come to the rehearsal the next day, which was an even COOOLER experience, because I was able to actually go onstage before the rehearsal to take pictures of the set, chat with the crew, and witness all the activity backstage, as they prepared for the band to arrive.
When the band members did arrive, most of them recognized me and told me that I did a great job the night before. It impressed me a great deal that they took the time to acknowledge a little minnow such as myself, because really, the way it was all set up there on that big stage, those guys could have easily never crossed my path or spoken to me at all (and it wouldn't have been rude in any way, its just so busy back there), so the fact that any of them took a minute to say hello, was really very special to me.
So, anyhow, without further adieu, here are some pics from the day!
This is myself and Road manager for Blondie Jim Roese.
Not only is Jim is the road production manager for Blondie, he also plays bass in an amazing band called Redlock, who are currently in studio recording.
Of course, I had to shoot a pic of this.............
See the cool backdrop? ( yep, that is me standing there....)
Blondie are hitting the road to sold-out performances across the U.S. and Europe, for the band's "Parallel Lines 30th Anniversary Tour." (click link for tour dates and venue info)
Just a note of interest to add,...... Blondie's album, 'PARALLEL LINES' was reissued by Capitol/EMI, in an expanded 30TH anniversary edition. For more info, you can find a link to purchase the CD here.
Backstage was filled to capacity with dozens road cases FULL of gear and music equipment.
Rick, the uber-cool drum tech for the band, tells me that he writes the set lists on the snare drum skin before every show. I thought that was a pretty neat idea, and I had to take a pic. This is the set list from the last show, before he changed it out for a new skin.
The guitar tech Grady was a super nice guy with a great sense of humor. Grady has a very busy job taking care of these gorgeous instruments for Chris Stein (guitar), Leigh Foxx (bass), and Paul Carbonara (guitar)~! All of these guys are just so excellent at what they do, I am a big fan of guitar players in general, and there were no dissappointments while watching these talented players do their thing. I had a chance to talk to Leigh for a quick moment backstage, and I really got a good vibe from him, he seemed like a really nice guy, and man, what a solid bass player. I really thought he was great.
This was perhaps the neatest thing I have ever seen. Debbie has a computer monitor set up which displays lyrics if she wants to see them, she can scroll around and find any song she wants at the click of a button. Jim was the one who set Debbie up with this handy rig and I think its pure genius, it looks far cleaner and classier than pieces of paper taped to the floor (which is how we minnows do it)!
A shot of the backstage monitor sound board. I had to take this pic, both because the board is impressive, but also, if you look there on the laptop, it is logged into a page on my website (we were listening/watching a couple of my vids and songs).
Once the band started rehearsals, I went up to the main soundboard to watch. I was so touched and humbled to be there that I actually got teary on a number of occassions. The band were going over songs and tightening everything up and I just loved watching the process, loved seeing exactly how a monster band worked it all out together with such incredible professionalism and camaraderie. I wished I was up there doing BGs, but they had it covered.....LOL. Speaking of background vocals, some were provided by the keyboard player Matt Katz-Bohen , who is truly a phenomenal player, and I really enjoyed watching him play.
Everyone on that stage was just amazing, and Deborah Harry had me utterly mesmerised. Her voice is as gorgeous as ever, so rich and textured in the low range, and spot on when she was hitting the big notes. I absorbed every second of it, and found it to be so very inspiring to think that I was hearing in person, the voice that was a big part of the musical tapestry of my youth.
( Yes I sure did have the Parallel lines CD's and I practically wore out the grooves on the record)
I was able to meet Debbie briefly afterwards, and I told her how inspired I was by her. She graciously shook my hand and gave me a lovely smile, and I couldn't help but notice how beautiful she is. Her skin is like porcelain, and her features, well you know what she looks like, she is gorgeous. Even wearing no make up, dressed in her comfy clothes, she was stunning, and there is just something about her energy that is very, very special and impossible not to pick up on.
I swear it was a day and moment that I will never forget.
After the rehearsal I was saying good-byes, and while I was supposed to just take picture of gear and the venue, Jim suggested we try for one last photo op!
I was wildly impressed with Clem Burke drummer and one of the co-founding members of Blondie. Clem is one of those guys that is not only a wicked drummer but a great showman, and he does all those nifty tricks that audiences love to see like throwing his sticks up into the stratosphere and catching it without missing a beat. There is never a dull moment when you are watching Clem play drums.
By the way, if you click on any of the band members names that are underlined in this post, you will find more bio and info for all them.
Special thanks go to Rick who not only gave me the old drum skin that he changed out of Clem's snare drum, but he asked the band to sign it for me. I was also given this drumstick which was made specifically for Clem ( with his signature on it ), and the nifty official Paul Carbonara guitar pick (pictured in the photo at the top) with his name and BLONDIE, printed on it.
And of course thanks to Jim who came to chat with me in the first place, and who was my host for the day at the rehearsal. I had such a fun time, and I thank you truly!
Finally to all of you reading, no matter where you are in the world, I encourage you to grab the new CD and watch for this 30th Anniversary tour to come to your town. The band is smoking hot, and Debbie Harry, well what can I say, if you get the chance to see her perform live, she is going to blow you away!
Does it worry anyone else out there, that you or someone you love, may not make it home tonight?
Over the last month in Vancouver, there have been 6 deaths by gunfire. Some of those incidents involved people who were targeted in gang related hits, while others were innocent victims, either caught in the cross fire, or mis-identified as a gang member. No where seems to be safe, nothing is sacred. You could be sitting at a stop light, parked at a shopping mall, or driving along the street, and be caught in a hail of gunfire. That is our reality today. I used to think that as long as I stayed away from shady people, this sort of thing would never touch my life, clearly, this is no longer the case.
Yesterday, a Mother was driving down the street with her 4 year old in the car, and was fatally shot as she drove down the street.
Did you really read that people? She was fatally shot in front of her son.
Excuse me, I have to breathe for a second................
I could talk about bad parenting all day long and blame it for the gang problem in this city, but it's too late for that really. The problem is here, now, and we can't ignore it. Part of the bigger picture involves our lame-pansy-ass justice system that we operate under. So what if they throw officers at the problem? Even if these hoodlums get caught for a crime, they barely do any time. Do something bad in this city, and the slap is so weak, you may as well have been given a nice little vacation with 3 squares thrown in.
By comparison, I think back to when I used to live in the Middle East. I felt safer there, oddly enough. I could leave my purse on a park bench overnight, and it would still be there in the morning. If you get caught stealing there, you could lose your hand. Its darn good motivation to walk the straight line if you ask me. I really don't know exactly what we do to punish criminals in this city, but clearly its not enough.
And while I am discussing this, lets talk a little about why the gangs are operating in the first place OK? Forgive me because I really don't follow these things very closely usually, but I gather they make their money largely off of drugs, correct?
Here is what I don't understand about all this gang nonsense, why they are allowed to operate at all?
I know they weren't given 'permission' to operate, but they are basically left alone and allowed to operate (in my opinion), because the Govt. is inexplicably acting like the trading of drugs is not a business that is actually going on. Even though we all know it is. These gangs have no competition, no overhead and no responsibility to the government, so the profits are huge, and they monopolize the market. No wonder its become a matter of life and death.
And the Gov't lets these hoodlums have this monopoly. Too afraid of letting us take responsibility for ourselves. So instead of digging into the pockets of the drug lords and requiring them pay taxes for their business like the rest of us, the Govt. throws money and resources (police and justice system) at a losing battle.
What a waste, when there is clearly bountiful money resource right there. Legalization would devalue the very product that the gangs are in business selling. Making their product less lucrative, would make it less life threatening. I would just love to see what would happen if the Govt. would just choke the crooks cash flow by legalizing their Enterprise and requiring them to comply with licenses, paperwork and tax forms.
Did anyone notice that no one is shooting anyone over vodka or smokes?
Bleeding hearts try to make it so difficult for the Gov't to legalize drugs, yet people can legally choose to kill themselves with cigarettes and alcohol, and that makes a pile of money for our govt. Why don't all those people who don't want anyone to have any responsibility for themselves, GET that?
People are going to do what they want to do, no matter how the Govt restricts them or tries to take our personal responsibilities away. If they suddenly make crack legal, it wont make it attractive to me. I am not going to be wandering down to pharmacy to pick some up for a Friday night. The dollars earned in collected taxes could go to education, as well as helping with the treatment and recovery of the relatively few who do encounter problems. Quite frankly, I think we NEED to take responsibility for ourselves.
I do have compassion for people who are struggling with addiction, but quite honestly, I would rather let a drug addict kill himself with drugs he can legally buy at the pharmacy, than have a gang member kill me,......... or someone in my family.
