Relief for Haiti

Dear Friends and Family,

You may have heard that Haiti has recently experienced a devastating earthquake that affected the capital city, Port-au-Prince on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010. The earthquake measured 7.0 and has devastated the country. Major landmarks including the Presidential Palace, the Cathedral, the National Assembly, and the UN headquarters are all reported to have been affected. According to the International Red Cross there may be as many as 100,000 deaths and over 3 million people affected by the earthquake. This earthquake is particularly devastating, as Haitians already have limited access to basic resources including shelter, food, healthcare, and education.

We, Alysha and Jenny, are appealing to our friends and family to help support those who are is dire need. As many of you know, Haiti is dear to our hearts. While living in Haiti, we learned much about the world including its inequalities and injustices. We also learned about love and hope. It is with love and hope that we ask for everyone to act as global citizens and support the cause. Any amount, $5, $10, $20 or more, can add up to a lot. So, if you feel compelled to give, we encourage you to do so. We suggest MSF (Doctors Without Borders), www.msf.ca.

MSF is a non-profit humanitarian organization, that provides medical assistance, and has been working in Haiti since 1991. In this current crisis, they have already treated 800 people with injures, despite large obstacles such as replacing their damaged facilities with temporary clinics. MSF expects around 70 more international medical staff to arrive shortly, and to open a 100 bed hospital, with an inflatable surgical unit (2 operating theatres) and 7 hospitalization tents. The main public surgical hospital has been damaged severely by the earthquake and is currently not operating.

Please consider,

Jenny Shaw &

Alysha McFadden

The Neverending Story

About a week after we settled into our new apartment, we borrowed The Neverending Story from the library. After the climax of the film, the Childlike Empress tells our hero, Sebastian, that he must rebuild Fantasia by making a wish, any wish he wants. He decides on riding Falkor (the good luck dragon who looks like a giant dog) through the land of Fantasia and through the street’s of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Not that we were incredibly homesick, but this was quite heartwarming. What would we choose to do, if we had to rebuild Fantasia? Not incredibly original, but hey, we miss our old pets.

When Dawson City Dreamt of Us

If you are ever travelling through the Yukon, Dawson City is a must. It’s weird and hypnotic. Time stops and begins intermittently, or so it seems. The sidewalks are still made of wood planks, the houses are kept in their original gold rush style, and dog mushers and trappers still frequent the pubs. With its Arctic Circle proxy, the summers are flooded in near eternal sunshine, while winters ebb to darkness.

We took a trip there in the fall, at the same time we visited Tombstone. We visited the cabins of Robert Service and Jack London (actually, half of it only remains while the other half sits somewhere in California). Edward returned later to help with some of the Olympic Torch Relay coverage. While walking his boss' dog, Smokie, along the Yukon River one morning, he was transfixed by the passing slush ice.

Watch fullscreen.

"I could film that stuff all day," his boss later told him. "I wouldn't mind doing a whole show on it, y'know? It's always different."

Later, Edward had this surreal experience, while walking Smokie down a really wide street towards the public school. “I was wearing my huge down parka, thick gloves, and my -75 °C (-103 °F) boots. The fur of my hood shrouded my periphery. The snow crunched beneath my feet. My suit made movement slow, but comfortable. I called out for Smokie to come back, and then it hit me: a vision of being stretched across the page of an old picture book, while it was being read by my elementary school librarian. The essence of northern living seemed manifested in that moment, the ques of which I gathered from school books, museum field trips, and cultural CBC segments. I had stepped into the page. Time had slowed down. And even if I was just playing the part, it felt good to be northern.”

Clay Cliffs

One of our favourite spots in Whitehorse is on top the clay cliffs, right above Alexander and 8th Ave. From here you can see Downtown, the Yukon River, and the opposing bank rising into Grey Mountain. An even better sight, on a windy day, are the ravens. These clever birds take advantage of the up-wind, that bends over the bluffs and magnifies the effect of their limited wingspan. If you stand on the crest, the ravens fly so close that you feel as though you can stretch your hand and touch them.

To see better picture, visit our Vimeo page.