Edmonton Home and Garden Show Begins March 24, 2011

Location:
Northlands, Edmonton EXPO Centre

7515-118 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB

 Dates and Hours:


Thursday, March 24: 4pm - 9pm Friday, March 25: 12noon - 9pm Saturday, March 26: 10am - 9pm Sunday, March 27: 10am - 5pm

CNN LIsts Edmonton's Ice on Whyte Festival Among the Top Ten Ice Carving Festivals in the World!

CNN Lists Edmonton's Ice on Whyte Festival Among the Top Ten Ice Carving Festivals in the World!

Check out the above link for photos of the top ten ice carving festivals in the world, of which Edmonton is one!!

Winterlights Festival Edmonton - Upcoming Event "Common Ground"

Where in the World Are You?  Featuring the city of
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.  Keeping the fun in winter with:

COMMON GROUND


February 4th and 5th, 2011

Fri 6pm-8pm, Sat 11am-8pm

Giovanni Caboto Park (95 street and 108 A Avenue)

Welcome to Common Ground, a new mid-winter festival that brings people together through music, light, stories, and old-fashioned winter fun. Common Ground features the cultural communities that represent the McCauley neighbourhood coming together to share arts and crafts, heritage, games, and activities.

Visit a Heritage Camp with six traditional shelters, take in some African drumming and music, enjoy Italian food and costumes, and be awed by the Asian New Year display.

Friday evening's program includes the opening ceremonies and a lantern parade, a traditional blessing, the lighting of fires, cultural entertainment and special guests, all reflecting the vitality of the inner city.

On Saturday, Giovanni Caboto Park becomes a fun-filled winter festival site with dance, music, poetry, sledding, and roving performers. Everyone can get in on the action by testing their skills at the Snowshoe Hare Hop, a fun tribute to Canada's winter history and wildlife. 

Schedule

Friday: Opening Ceremonies
6 pm – 8 pm

• Lantern Parade
• Blessing of Event, Honour Song
• VIP and Guests Welcome
• Lion Dance, Canadian Ging Wu Kung Fu Martial Arts
• Music
• Italian Appennini Dancers

Saturday: Festival Fun

11:00 am – 8:00 pm

• Heritage Camp - songs, story, and visiting
• Family Fun – sledding, roving performers, warm fires and free hot chocolate!
• African Tent - tea, drumming, and special guests
• Snow Show Hare Hop – try out snowshoes
• Chinese Lanterns – celebrating the Lunar New Year
• Share the Warmth – bring a mitten or take a mitten

5:30 pm
• Community Feast – a free feast of Chinese, Italian, African and Aboriginal food

I'm joining Simply Stacie with a world wide blog hop Where in the World Are You Wednesday.  Also co-hosting this meme is Just Married With Coupons.  This week's theme is unusual events in your area.  Anyone for a snow shoe hop?

Ice on Whyte Festival Starts Today

Ice on Whyte Festival in Old Strathcona begins today.  At 85 Avenue and 104 Street, come on over and see the Castle, animals, and ice slide all constructed of ice.  Sculptors from all over come to Edmonton to participate in this event.  Check out their Facebook page for details and photos.

January 13 - 23, 2011

Weekdays: 2 pm - 10 pm

Weekends: 10 am - 10 pm

Admission: $5.00/adult, $2.50/children 2 - 12

The above photos are a portion of the current display at the festival.

photos for this post are courtesy of world wide web

Karate Kid 2010

Director: Harold Zwart

Produced by Will and Jada Pinkett Smith

Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P Henson, Wen Wen Han,  Zhenwei Wang
Released in theatre: 2010  Now available on DVD and BluRay
Running Time: 140 mins
Rated: PG
Filmed in Beijing, China

Karate Kid opens with Dre (Jaden Smith) looking over his newly vacant bedroom, the growth chart on the wall that also marks the death of his father and the upcoming move to China.  Dre's mom, Sherry Parker (Taraji P. Henson), is transferred to China for a job in the automotive industry, so she and Dre pack up their household and fly some 6000 miles away, to find a new life in China.

The transistion is difficult for Dre as he enters the school system with uniform day and very few who speak English.  He meets a pretty girl,  Mei Ying, a fellow student and violinist.  They share a mutual attraction but Cheng, the school bully, takes offense to this and, through karate, determines to put Dre in his place.  After Dre comes home with a black eye, he finds ways to avoid Cheng and his gang.  However, that lasts only so long when one day the gang corners Dre in an alley and beat him up.  To the rescue comes Mr. Han, the Parker's building maintenance man, taking on all the boys and defeating them in fantastic manner. At Dre's request, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan) reluctantly teaches Dre the art of karate which takes them to a tournament where Dre must face his enemy. 

I was waiting for the literal "wax on, wax off" which never came but one could easily imagine it as part of young Dre's training.  Jackie Chan, still as flexible and as much a person to be reckoned with as ever, plays his role as mentor and friend admirably.  Young Jaden Smith, son of Will Smith (both starred in The Pursuit of Happiness), is an incredible up and coming young actor.  Several times throughout the movie I noted the likeness between father and son.  They share similar expressions, mannerisms, and the ability to tell a story that draws the audience in. 

At first I was like many critics, asking why we need another Karate Kid (original 1984).  It was all a little overdone in the 80's with the sequels.  But this new version has crediblity and great acting skill that carries it into 2010 and beyond.  If there is one thing I didn't like about this rendition, it was the intimate relationship between Dre and Mei Ying.  It is not unheard of for children of 12 to develop attractions for the opposite sex but for a movie aimed at children perhaps 10 and up, the kissing scene was too much. 

All in all, I liked this version just as much as the original.  Rated 4.5/5