In the true spirit of Christmas Shopping, Walmart stores across Canada have decided to offer 24 hour service to customers. Select stores will be open 24 hours everyday of the week, offering more opportunities for us to buy cheap goods for our loved ones.

Here in Newfoundland, the select stores that will be offering extended hours during the Christmas Season are:
Carbonear - GOFF AVE & COLUMBUS DRIVE
Clarenville - MANITOBA DRIVE & BALBO DRIVE
Gander - COOPER BOULEVARD & ROE AVENUE
Grand Falls-Windsor - CROMER AVE. & HARRIS AVE.
St. John’s - KENMOUNT RD & BIFURCATION RD

Find other Canadian non-stop Walmart 24 shopping stores locations here.

Hopefully the increased hours will decrease congestion at doors and entrances.

(Ok. Was that last sentence distasteful? Too soon?)

Deputy Mayor Ron Ellsworth said while he felt uneasy about city council’s decision, he agrees that the $1-million cost would put too much strain on its $170-million budget.

This is truly a bummer  because I have not been able to bring myself to throwing my tins, bottles, plastics and papers away. I’ve been collecting them in clear plastic bags waiting for rides to the recycling areas, which don’t come often.

This is probably going to be a big bummer for Cathy Parsons too - whose job it is to field all the recycling and  environmental questions for the government. I met Cathy last year during the St. John’s Women’s film festival, where she told me the best worm composting story ever.

She tells me she gets a lot of awfully angry people  on the phone line when she tells them there is no recycling program in town. They like to take their frustrations out on her - because obviously Cathy has “all the power” and therefore it’s her fault. Now she will likely get two more years of abuse.

More sad but true recycling facts to make my green-conscious heart weep:

• The provincial government recently announced it would not be able to keep its promise to shut down 25 garbage incinerators before the end of the year.

• We still dump raw sewage into the harbour - though I can see the new sewage plant being built from my upstairs window. Pretty.
• St. John’s and Regina are the only two provincial capitals that do not have recycling programs in place.

PS. Don’t talk to me about throwing food waste into the garbage either. I feel so guilty about it, it’s sick. I am seriously considering vermi-composting, but suffer a huge setback every time I find a slug under my desk.

By the way, if you haven’t seen the video, you should check out Cathy’s story about her first weekend home with her new vermi-composting worms. And stay tuned for the next installment of worm composting with Cathy - we’ll be making a new video as soon as I can get it together. (Getting it together always takes longer than you think, don’t it.)

Recycling Programs in St. John’s

You can take your recyclables to a centre.

Green depots:
Green depots are set up throughout the province to collect used beverage containers only. I missed this point the first time and showed up with cans and bottles and all kinds of other goodies I have been used to recycling in Ontario. Alas the depots only accept goods for which they can receive cash for.

They will give you a refund of 5¢ per non-alcoholic beverage container and 10¢ per alcoholic item:

• Aluminum cans - soft drinks, beer, juice, flavoured drinks
• Drink boxes - juice, milkshakes
• Plastic and glass bottles - soft drinks, water, juice, flavoured drinks, liquor bottles, imported beer
• Steel cans - juice

Here is a link with the list of Green Depot locations.

On the list are Ever Green Recycling Depots, a nonprofit agency that operates four depots in St. John’s.
While evergreen accepts newsprint at the Blackmarsh Road and Elizabeth Avenue locations, they stopped collecting white paper and cardboards earlier in the year as they were denied government money to help out with that aspect of their business that was losing money for them. The government said no since they were instituting their own plan, and recommended we driving our paper to Mount Pearl or CBS. What a joke.

Here is the list of what you can recycle at Ever Green.

• Sort 1 - Aluminum Cans
• Sort 2 - Glass
• Sort 3 - Clear Plastic
• Sort 4 - Coloured Glass
• Sort 5 - Green Plastic
• Sort 6 - Plastic Other
• Sort 8 - Steel Cans
• Sort 9 - Gable Tops
• Sort 11 - Drink Boxes
• Sort 12 - Transplastics
• Sort 13 - Blue Plastic
• Sort 20 - Clear Glass
• Sort 21 - Green Glass
• Sort 22 - Brown Glass
• Sort 23 - Plastic Clear
• Sort 24 - Plastic Colour
• Sort 26 - Beer Bottles

What are transplastics? This recycling business is not easy.

Household Hazardous Waste
You have to be careful about how you dump your old paints, and other chemicals. Down the toilet isn’t great for the harbour, and consequently, us.

• For the 2008 HHW Collection Program Schedule, click here.
• For Accepted Household Hazardous Waste, click here.

How to recycle old tires.

Pay for pick up
Atlantic Blue Recycling Limited (709) 726-2583
Atlantic Blue Recycling Limited is a private business operating in the St. John’s Region that does provide a curbside collection service. The company processes all materials collected.

I still have to find out more about them since they don’t have a web site (what!)  I think this might have to be the way for me to go, since I don’t have a car. Anyone in the downtown area want to share this with me?

Stay tuned for a province wide party….

“We do plan to mark this momentous occasion,” Premier Danny Williams’s spokeswoman, Elizabeth Matthews, said.

Newfoundland actually came off equalization last April 1, a year earlier than expected.

The sad part is that we still have have-not provinces, with my former province Ontario now joining the have nots. I feel like I skipped out on friend just when they were down on their luck. But it’s not so Ontario, so don’t be so glum chum. I skipped out on you not because of the economy but because I needed to heed the call of the puffins…and because Newfoundlanders are the nicest people in the world.

Ok. For that you CAN feel a bit glum.

Weird thing is Canada has more have-not provinces than have provinces. The have-nots are Ontario, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Manitoba and even Quebec (ouch - I didn’t know that.)  That means only Alberta, British Columbia,  Saskatchewan and Newfoundland are the “haves.”

Doesn’t seem right.

Here’s more fascinating info re: the equalization program.

The federal government will funnel $347 million in equalization payments to Ontario next year. Of course, as the premier noted, that’s mostly its own money that the province funnels to the feds, that gets reshuffled back.

Quebec will receive the most in equalization payments, collecting $8.3 billion, while Manitoba will get $2.1 billion, New Brunswick will get $1.7 billion, Nova Scotia $1.6 billion and Prince Edward Island $340 million.

As for Newfoundland’s term in the  “have” group is forecasted to continue to 2009-10, according to figures issued by the federal Department of Finance.

Remember people, the list isn’t forever. Like everything else in the world, it changes. Let’s all get together and try and make it a world where there is no have-not column, ok? And where everyone is the nicest the people in the world.

He has been out on a cross-country hockey tour to promote the third season of Rent-A-Goalie and has
has been keeping a diary this week in The National Post. His appreciation for Red Deer appeared October 29th, where he writes about how amazed he was at the 500 plus turnout that showed up for a hockey game between the Rent-A-Goalie team and the Deer Lake Red Wings. He also mentions Deer Lake on the 28th and 30th.

Rent-A-Goalie airs Mondays at 9:30 p. m. on Showcase. The second season of the show received six Gemini award nominations, including one for best comedy series.

Read Christopher Bolton’s diary here.

This nifty Calendar is another free Google application. If you have a Google Calendar set up loaded with Newfoundland event, let us know and I will add it to the Hello Newfoundland Events and Kitchen Parties Calendar.

You can also check the city of St. John’s Events Calendar.

I have been popping into various events at this year’s “The Rock Can Roll Festival” - on right now ( October 23 - 26.) Liz Pickard (Liz Band and Liz Solo) and the team have done a swell job of bringing in artists, musicians and some digital muckrakers to talk about their work. And the work is inspiring - especially for digital media peeps like me.

One thing that is definitely striking me is how many musicians are now dabbling in creating their own music videos or short films - some of it especially to accompany their music. If there were going to be something new in the music scene, I’d say this is it - the marriage of visuals to the performance.

What’s cool about it is that in this artist-centred business model now - you CAN do this. The price of the tools is now within reach. You can hire some media artists to do it for you, or you can do it yourself, like Bob Wiseman and Danny Keating are. Of course, the the two really like filmmaking - so that helps.

Bob Wiseman made some interesting points - he’s been making videos to accompany his stage shows during his performances. He says it serves a few purposes. It sets him apart from the kajillion other musicians out there, and that’s good - because there ARE a kajillion musicians out there and getting attention is difficult. The second thing that is good is that when performing, the video projections on stage actually make people stop and stare and listen. It’s something different. He is also interacting with the videos - they aren’t just background, so it’s part of the show - and it is funny.

The third good thing about his videos is they allow him to tour solo. Being in a band is tough. Being the band leader is even tougher - you have to take care of the people in your band. You have to make sure there is ample money for all, and foods and bed setc. You have to take care of them emotionally too - because you are the leader and asked them out.

Bob said this - which supposedly was echoed in earlier workshops - it’s better to be friends with the people in your band than choosing them for their musicianship. It’s a “tough gig” being in bands.

So touring alone with a projector, laptop and collapsible screen has become a viable option for Wiseman. He toured Europe last year this way opening for Feist.

I have to run now - The Rock Can Roll Festival evenings are filled with numerous shows in 4 different venues.

Danny Keating Info here.

Liz Solo and Liz band

Hope to see some of you tonight and don’t miss out tomorrow’s closing show for The Rock Can Roll Festival with Bob Wiseman’s digital show and The Subtitles at The Ship.

Despite all the bustle, the St. John’s harbour is still a popular place to take a leisurely stroll, especially on a warm October Sunday.

Strollers aren’t the only visitors to the harbour. The big boats come too. Here is Le Grand Bleu. The yacht is one of the 10 largest in the world and was reputedly given to Eugene Shvidler by friend Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich in 2006.

She was docked in the St. John’s harbour the end of September and early October, and rumour has it, she came there to host Elton John who was performing at Mile One Stadium.

I’m not going to display all her statistics, as a Google search will do that, but yup - that’s a 74-foot sailboat on deck. The other side of the deck is for the 67-foot speedboat. Usually there is a helicopter on board too.

Here’s a nice note to this otherwise ostentatious display of wealth. Le Grand Bleu is the first private yacht to receive an Environmental Protection Notation from Lloyd’s, certifying that she complies with stringent voluntary guidelines to control pollution.

To see a bit more of Le Grand Bleu, here is a video I made as BABS!, a videographer for moovy.ca, a site geared towards creating a strong filmmaking community in Newfoundland. BABS! is their emerging filmmakers poster child.

Le Grand Bleu appears at around the 2 minute mark.

Crystal Head Vodka is a new luxury vodka in a very cool bottle that has been getting a bit of buzz thanks to a weird Youtube video starring Dan Aykroyd. And thanks to the comment left below by Andrew of Crystal Head, it’s available right now in the NL liquor stores!

The video at first was believed to be a promotional video for Ghostbusters 3 or the Indiana Jones DVD release as it opens up with Aykroyd talking about his fascination with

“the invisible world - a world which can help us get through life if we know how to draw upon its power. A world serving positive projections wherein you use your own personal mental and spiritual abilities to believe and subsequently make true the things that you want to happen for yourself. Also, healing, miracles, the presences of spirits and being once living and now gone in to another life, but who continue to intrude into our waking consciousness by for instance haunting people or places…”

Yup - it’ s not your typical commercial, or viral video. It’s not even funny.

You have to wait to get about half way through the video to hear Dan start talking about this joy - this vodka made in pure and clean Newfoundland and bottled in a clear skull.

But it’s for real and Dan Aykroyd who has recently been making some fine wines in the Niagara region, has now expanded to spirits, and he has chosen to make his first in Newfoundland.

What makes Crystal Head vodka so special is that it is quadrupled distilled and filtered three times through charcoal followed by triple filtration over Herkimer crystals - or diamonds - as they say in the video.

Designed by John Alexander and manufactured by Bruni Glass of Italy, the design of the bottle celebrates the mysterious legend of the 13 Crystal Heads found around the world and mentioned in the last Indiana Jones Movie. The 13 Crystal Heads are believed to be of ancient powerful origin by some, or a Victorian archeaological hoax by others. In the video Aykroyd claims they contain vast knowledge and even “enlightenment” and are believed to house radiant psychic energy, which has magical powers and healing properties.

“We now have a replica to connect us to the message of the crystal heads purpose on earth - the enlightnment of human kind to the spiritual awakening. “

Man, I wish I had heard of this before I started all that meditation stuff.

The vodka ain’t cheap - it’s being sold for about $50 US a head. There are some web sites allowing you to buy it in the States, though they don’t ship to all of them.

I can’t find out where to get then in Canada or here on the rock. The Crystal Head Vodka website is pretty slim for content at the moment. It has the Dan Aykroyd 8 min video on it - no Contact us, No info other than the video. Nothin.

Still - the video is a pretty nice ad for Newfoundland.

The event, the first of its kind in Canada takes place Friday October 17, 5pm at the Majestic Theatre (not Masonic Temple as stated in the programme) and will feature feature founder Judith Keenan and myself and Rachel Peters as directors.

More reasons not to miss it. There are some amazing films in the line-up, books which inspired the films in the film program will be available for sale. There will be snacks!

My mockumentary This Hour Has Seven Decades, which is based on the memoir by Patrick Watson opens the screening program.

Rachel Peters’ beautiful animated work Nagasaki Circus is in the program too. Who is Rachel? She is my PFD buddy - PFD being Post Festival Depression. Learn about how to kick it here.

Paul Quarrington’s film Pavane based on his book The Ravine premieres too.

The films have been selected by Festival Founder Judith Keenan and Programmer Paul Quarrington in consultation with illustrious Film Advisors Robert Lantos, Sarah Polley, Nino Ricci, Gary Thomas and Anne Collins.

From September to November 2008, Moving Stories will screen at public events hosted by film and literature festivals across North America. Hosts include St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival, Ottawa International Writers Festival; Winnipeg International Writers Festival; WordFest: Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival; Vancouver International Writers Festival and Pages Books & Music (Toronto) “This Is Not A Reading Series.”