Beauties in the World

I read the email invitation from the fundraising committee for Friday night, April 27, 2012. I scanned the email very quickly and these words stood out:  “Wine”, “Art”, “Craft” and “fun”. I told myself, “This is going to be fun. I’ll get to know new people and have fun.”  On the night of the “Wind and Art” party, I had a hard time deciding what to wear! After all, it was a Wine and Art Party! I was excited. When I got there, Angie, the lady of the house greeted me with open arms. I saw some of the guests in the kitchen and soon was informed that everybody was in the basement and has already started working. As I headed downstairs I realized this was not a fancy art and wine show with women walking in their expensive gowns holding their wine glasses and critiquing art!! I saw a very organized basement full of arts and crafts stuff. I saw a table with people busy at work. We got to work. Some already were painting chimineas. We were all assigned different tasks.

As the evening progressed, I was thinking quietly about these people sitting around the table on a Friday night and volunteering their time for a great cause. They were part of the fundraising committee who have been actively meeting regularly every week and for months had put their skills, abilities and connections to work to solicit donations in the community towards “WINE, DINE, & SHOWTIME” which is Sexual Assault Centre London’s yearly fundraising event.  They had volunteered their time walking door to door, asking for donations. And here they were painting, cutting, knotting, and labelling. They could be anywhere to have fun but they chose to be there to complete the task and they were doing it while having fun. 

The basement was filled with laughter, jokes, personal stories, and just pure joy. 

I truly felt honoured to be in their company. I shared some of my personal stories and how I miss my family. And a few of them together said “We are your family now”. I had teary eyes and felt so much love and affection from these people that up to that night I only had seen their names in my emails or briefly had met. I was indeed fortunate to have met everyone that night.

 I shared with them my dilemma of choosing the right outfit that night and they all started laughing. It was pretty funny, come to think of it! Soon they started teasing me about that. We shared food and more personal stories. It was a beautiful night and we got lots done while having fun. I carry my camera everywhere with me and as I was taking their pictures I knew I had to do something to recognize their work. These women don’t expect to get anything in return. They are volunteers. But I just wanted to do something for them as they deserved to get recognition for their hard work. Without them there would be no “WINE, DINE & SHOW TIME” event!

The next day, some of us met again in the afternoon to show support for the Derby girls who were raising funds for Sexual Assault Centre London (SACL). The first thing they said when they saw me was “Did you know what to wear today? We were there from 5:30 to sometime after 9:00 pm then headed out to apk live  to celebrate with the Roller Derby girls. It was another wonderful day spent with beautiful people.

 Next Friday night I was there again. The night was filled with fun, food, laughter and I was grateful that Angie had opened up her heart and her home to us, being such a gracious wonderful hostess as well as volunteering her time.
 

The event took place on May 25, 2012. Everyone was assigned a position. Here there were again but not just as guests sitting down and enjoying themselves, but rather hard at work trying to keep everything together. They did work super hard that night and I noticed how they faced challenges that came their way with grace, kindness, and professionalism. I saw them also having fun. I also witnessed moments of triumph and sense of pride when they hugged or high-fived each other. I saw eyes making connections, smiling, nodding, and expressing relief that all their hard work paid off. I have never seen a better group than SACL’s fundraising team. What they did was the impossible. They not only made it possible, they did it with sincere love and passion that is very hard and rare to find anywhere else.   

Photos by Mike Maloney/London Community 

I made a video for our volunteers to capture the importance of their work, the priceless value that they bring to SACL and to give them recognition. I would have loved to see them being recognized at the gala but the program was already full. They did get recognition at the gala when they played the video. I was so proud of them and it made me really happy to watch and hear the reaction of all the guests when they watched the video.

I also met someone else that night.  He was another volunteer who was in charge of audio/visual for our event. When I met him, he was sitting on the floor preparing balloons with the rest of the team. 

It was very easy to get along with him. He was calm, reserved, and very smart! I have to thank him here and acknowledging that without him I would not have been able to do my part! I don’t wear a watch. As stage manager you have to know what time it is to be able to follow the program. So, I was at his side constantly asking what time it was. And soon I guess he figured why I was there and started pointing to the program and the time showing where we were. I am ever grateful for my time keeper! You rocked that night and thank you!
 

Photos by Mike Maloney/London Community 

The group has met two times after the event to discuss feedback, results, and most importantly, to celebrate their success and to validate the importance of the work they do. 

Last time we were together, we shared that it wasn’t just about fundraising and donations. It was about a group of people developing such strong bond and relationship that we can call ourselves “family”.  People who worked in that group were sincere and the love was portrayed through their hard work and the success they brought to the event.  Fundraising is not an easy task. 

I personally have never been involved with fundraising. But witnessing how much work and time it requires and the amount of energy spent, I salute these volunteers and am very proud to have been part of their work for a couple of hours. I would love to and be more than happy to participate and volunteer my time with any projects or any other volunteer work that each of them may have. I would not hesitate to give them my time as they gave their time to SACL. Life goes on, people move on, but I will never forget the love you gave me and how warmly you received me. Rest assured that what you’ll get back from me is pure love, affection, gratitude and sense of humbleness. I sincerely love all of you and will keep you in my heart wherever life takes me. Gratitude. 

Photo by: Ruthless Images

Special Thank you to Sue and Linda for their great leadership and motivating the team. You are amazing and you did a wonderful job with your "Dream Team"!

You are the beauty in the world!

 The only regret that I have is not remembering to have a group photo of all of you on the night of the gala!!!

An Evening with Yanni

The year was 1994 and Yanni was pretty much everywhere. I got to know him through Yanni Live at the Acropolis.

 

Who is Yanni? He is a Greek composer, pianist, and keyboardist. His genre of music is labelled as contemporary classical or contemporary instrumental and new age. But Yanni himself does not like the idea of assigning labels to his music. He told his audience at the JLC that the music he composes is about lessons learned throughout his life.  You probably have heard Yanni’s compositions during televised Olympic Games and other sports events.

As someone who listens to all kinds of music from around the world, this was a great night to appreciate other cultures and world music. Yanni has travelled around the world extensively and in between his performance he shared small stories with his audience and that was a great way to know him better as person and not just a musician. The audience applauded him when he said “One World, One People”. His concert leaves the audience with that experience of multicultural music from around the world having experienced a taste of Greek, Latin American, Middle Eastern, Oriental, and add to the pile classical and rock! His concert offers something for everyone.

I believe an important piece for me is the romanticism of his music which gives it that intense and emotional feeling closing my eyes and believing there is nothing in the world but the beautiful music I'm hearing.

  

Yanni’s concert is unique in a way that he gives the spotlight to each of his band members for an opportunity to shine while playing their solos. Without his band we would not be able to experience the world music at its best. They were talented musicians in their own ways. I was impressed and enjoyed each individual performance.  

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The solo drum act by Charlie Adam was outstanding. His performance was phenomenal, leaving the audience wanting more.

Alexander Zhiroff’s Cello performance was magical. I was glad to have been there listening to the heavenly pieces being played by him.

And Yanni’s vocalists Lauren Jelencovich’s performance of Nightingale was “stunning”!

Photo by: Matthew Levin / source: Lauren Jelencovich Facebook

I have been to many concerts and each artist, band or group brings their own unique quality, characteristic and music. Yes, I have been to Muse’s concerts and you can’t compare their light effects with Yanni’s. But as an open minded person, I take into consideration that Yanni is not trying to be like other super popular bands. And I appreciate the fact that Yanni has remained true to his music and the way he delivers his music to the audience. As a regular concert goer and someone who respects and cherishes music from around the world, I wouldn’t want to see Yanni becoming a copy of other artists. It is fair to say if you know yourself and you know that you do not like certain kind of music, then it is best to not go to those concerts. Then you don’t have to write or critique them negatively.  

Despite his phenomenal success performing around the world and having more than 35 platinum and gold albums under his belt, I believe Yanni’s music is well-received and known more around the world than here in North America. The audience at the JLC, which included lots of Greek supporters of Yanni participated well by dancing, singing, whistling, applauding, and standing ovations. There was lots of “I LOVE YOU YANNI” being shouted too. Overall, a great night to enjoy his beautiful music and I’m really fortunate to have been able to go and had a lovely experience.

Source: http://www.youtube.com/user/SatoxD

I would like to take this opportunity to thank John Labatt Centre (JLC) for reaching out to the community and donating tickets to non-profit organizations. It is a wonderful way to spread and share goodness. 

Tiesto

❤ Tiesto❤

It was July 7, 2011 when I saw a tweet from @JLC informing the world that Tiesto is coming to John Labbatt Centre in  London! I literally screamed and brought my hands to my face with an unbelievable shock that ran through me. You see, having JLC in our city is a big deal. I have driven to Toronto many times to see U2, Muse, ColdPlay, The Killers, and much more. But since JLC is here I have been enjoying this privilege without the cost of travelling and I get home in 10 minutes afterwards! I could not believe Tiesto had chosen London as his only stop in Ontario!

Surprisingly, I did not purchase my ticket right away for some reason! Then, for a short period of time, I hoped to be chosen as a JLC Reviewer but that did not happen since I don’t have many followers from London to nominate me! The morning of the concert, I bought my VIP ticket, and the whole day I was just pre-occupied by the thought of the concert that night. Going to concerts is a big deal for me regardless of who is performing.  The only time I allow myself to waste time in getting ready and occupy myself with makeup and my wardrobe is before going to any concerts. Otherwise, I’m a low maintenance girl with five minutes prep time required to get out the door.

Although I have been to many concerts of various magnitudes, I had never been in VIP sections till that night and I probably won’t bother with it again in the future. You see, the people who were non-VIPs were standing on the floor closer to the stage than VIP people. And for someone like me who dances like a maniac non-stop and doesn’t need to go back and forth for drinks and what not, the $26.00 or $36.00 ticket price would have sufficed.  As you go to more and more concerts, you learn what works for you and what doesn’t.

I always buy my favourite artists t-shirt, get my drink, show my ticket and go in. The gentlemen at the entrance to VIP section was trying to detangle lanyards and was so cute trying to do his best, but I teased him and turned it into a competition between him and the other lady at his side and said let’s see who can give me my lanyard and of course she won. Girl Power.

I got there around 8:30 and danced my feet off till 12:30! I could not stay till the end as I did not have painkillers to help me dance for a few more hours O_0!!

Going to concerts for me is about being with others and sharing the same excitement and feelings. I love watching people. My experience of going to a concert is all the small interactions that take place between me and the rest of the world. 

There was a tall handsome guy who was blocking my view, so I tapped him on his shoulder and with a big smile and hand movement told him I couldn’t see.  In return, he gave me a huge smile and moved to the other corner with his girlfriend and continued to dance with enthusiasm like no other. Or there was the couple who was making out X-RATEDLY and the couple beside me were telling me with the look in their eyes that they need to get a room. YES. People who were dressed completely were half naked midway through the concert. 

And the moments that I kept straightening my arms to let the cute boys know that that’s my personal spaceJ. The most fun part for me was toward the end of the night. I moved away from VIP and found a nice seat to get some rest. I started noticing that this concert, despite the name of it “CollegeInvasionTour” had people from all walks of life dancing. Each individual was enjoying themselves with lots of spaces between them unlike the front that you could elbow someone from each direction. I smiled as I watched them reading their faces how they did not have the care in the world and were lost in the music. And that’s when Adagio was played! 

I got off my seat and danced again without a care as well. When a random dude grabbed my hand I twirled and danced with him, filled with joy, and then let go and just danced around the arena taking pictures. I asked some people if I could take their picture and they said yes. Then I dance around the very dedicated employee who was trying so hard to focus on his job and I was taking my picture with him saying I’ll blog it and he just enthusiastically smiled.

As for Porter Robinson, I had not listened to him till that night and I am a big fan now. I danced non-stop and was able to get some very nice photos of him despite my low quality camera. 

I don’t need to tell you how amazing both Tiesto and Porter Robinson were that night. The only thing I can say is that I am so glad to have had the opportunity to listen to their work LIVE and dance to it. After Muse this is my 2^nd favourite concert of all time.

I am a big fan of the JLC and am on the look out for their upcoming concerts. It is up to music fans to provide feedback and let the JLC know who we want to see and hear. Chris Campbell and his team have done an amazing job so far in bringing magical moments to many of us at the JLC. This is an interesting article about the John Labatt Centre.

“For me going to a concert isn't just about the artist, it's about the culture, the common thread that brings strangers together” – 

BellaBehold

I should clarify that I don't expect to be JLC reviewer! NOT AT ALL! I am an avid concert goer and if I like to see any of my favourite artists I make sure to get my ticket! CHEERS!

Photos: All the photos posted are taken by my camera.