return to Iqaluit

When we first arrived in Iqaluit, we had a five-hour layover before we had to get back on the plane to Yellowknife via Rankin Inlet. The new airport hadn't opened yet and the old one was still a short walk to downtown, so we decided to take the opportunity to do a little walking tour of town.

sightseeing

I was in Iqaluit first on a layover, and then back again a few days later for work. What really clinched Iqaluit as a city for me, was not the Francophone Centre or the mosque, but the opening of the brand new Aquatic Centre. It was like a spaceship that had landed in a Western movie. It's huge, ultra-modern, and even has a water slide! I went for the really nice gym, and I went pretty much every day.

I also got to play a few games with the local ultimate frisbee scene at Iqaluit's Glorious League of Ultimate (I.G.L.U.). My favourite Arctic frisbee team will always be Cambridge Bay's, but the Iqaluit players are a fun group of folks and I'd love to play with them again.

Gloria the tourist (I was actually visiting the Law Society)

I also took my opportunity there to eat Arctic char whenever I could.

Eggs benedict with Arctic char

but also lots of Chinese food at the Navigator Inn, of course

My colleague took me for a drive around town, because she's sweet like that. I got to ride around in her truck with her adorable kids. This was a treat, not just because I got to hang out with her kids, but because, as I mentioned, you can see a lot more of Iqaluit with a vehicle, including some of the breathtaking rocky and mountainous tundra landscape.

 hanging out at Apex Beach

  

the old Hudson's Bay Company store in Apex

Apex beach

  

awesome road trip buddies

It was so nice to have a chance to get back to Iqaluit, and to have a chance to return to Nunavut, the land that I have not stopped thinking about ever since I left.

Qulliq lighting ceremony

 

Iqaluit Composting and Zero Waste

I've been working on a really cool art project lately with Ottawa-based artist Mailyne Briggs, who has been documenting her fascinating journey through the Zero Waste philosphy. The idea is to try to reduce one's garbage output to almost zero. It involves significant lifestyle changes (like not buying things that come in disposable plastic wrapping), but if we all became a little more conscious about waste reduction, you can only imagine the significant impact it would have on our landfills and the environment in general.

This Sunday, at Winston Square in Westboro, we're going to be doing a very unique art installation where Mailyne will be creating a work of art out of all of the garbage she's produced since she adopted the Zero Waste concept in February - apparently she can fit it all in a jar. While she's doing this, I'll be performing music to accompany her, using my synths and my loop pedal to create a soundscape.

I'll also be wearing this dress, custom-designed for me for this event by Ottawa fashion designer Brandi Tweed of Sabrina Jade Modeling.

The music I'll be playing are pieces that I composed for this event, all along the theme of waste reduction. One of the tracks features an interview I did with Iqaluit resident Jim Little, who has been running one of the only composting programs in Nunavut for years. Finding True North wrote a great feature about him a while back, and setting his interview to dance music was a lot of fun.

You can check out some of the tracks I'll be playing here:

Anyway, if this interests you and you're in Ottawa, come see this cool performance!

Winston Square Live Painting Art Performance

Sunday, July 12, 2015 from 1-2PM

Winstone Avenue, Ottawa, ON

Event details

Cafe Europa

Cambridge Bay has Cafe Europa, which is an ongoing fundraiser held at Kiilinik High School to help raise money to send high school students on a trip to Europe to learn about European history. Every Friday morning, the students bring in baked goods that they sell  along with coffee, and you can sit down at the table they set up in the hall and enjoy your treats while talking to other folks from around town.  Just like at a Starbucks! It starts around 8AM and ends when the school day and work day starts, so you can grab a coffee and a muffin right before you head to the office. Once in a while, if we're lucky, Mason will come in with his espresso machine and make lattes.

It's a good opportunity to socialize with other folks in Cambridge Bay, especially the teachers. There are limited social opportunities in a place with no bars or malls, so this is how we meet new folks in town and catch up with each other on the latest gossip. And it goes towards a great cause, allowing the students in Cambridge Bay to have an experience of a lifetime overseas.

Cafe Europa happens on Friday mornings from 8:00AM to approximately 9AM at Kiilinik High School.

The docks in winter

I went for a walk one bright, sunny but still cold afternoon. I headed down to the docks to enjoy the view of the frozen Arctic ocean in winter time.

Last week had been a tough week for the community of Cambridge Bay. We were hit with the three day blizzard. The post office has also remained closed all week.  With the post office and the convenience store forced to stay closed due to a break in, we could not receive or send mail, nor did we have a place to buy basic supplies like Tylenol after the grocery stores closed at 7PM.

So for me, it was nice to get out of the house after the blizzard and enjoy the sunny weather, out on the ice.

It's not obvious where the ocean is in the winter time when everything is frozen. You could easily mistake the frozen ocean as more land.  But the sight of the ships and boats frozen in the ice is unmistakable, and a very beautiful sight to see.  The larger majestic ships like the Martin Bergmann looked frozen not just in the ice but in time as well.

more boats parked at ht dock, waiting for the spring thaw

I also came across a patch of ice with shells from fireworks that had been set off.

In other news, a newspaper from Greenland, the Arctic Journal, recently published my piece about Cambridge Bay's blizzard last week! You can read it here.

Food bank fundraiser - coffeehouse in Cambridge Bay

On Saturday, we held a fundraiser for the food bank.  We've done it before. We hold a bake sale in the community hall, where people can come in and enjoy yummy treats while listening to live music.  We usually play a few songs, but we make it an open mic so anyone in town can come on stage and display their talents.

This time, the regular organizer had to pull out because of a family medical issue, so Christine and I ended up taking over so that the event could still happen. I was worried for a while because I'm not as experienced in bringing the community together and rounding up volunteers, but luckily it went well. We had volunteers come in to help set things up and sell the baked goods, and people came in to bring their donations of baked goods.  It felt like the whole turn showed up to the event. We sold out of our baked goods completely. People also brought in non-perishable goods to donate directly to the food bank. Some people came by just to donate cash for the food bank, without even buying anything. We were able to raise quite a bit of money for the food bank.

Vicki's fancy coffee

We also sold hot dogs and chili (in a KFC container)

playing with our guest musician Talia Magsagak

The little girls loved our cover of a song from Frozen

 

A performance by local musician Ashley Otokiak, who is blind

It was really touching to see the generosity of folks in Cambridge Bay, especially after incidents that happened last week involving vandalism of local businesses. I feel really proud to be part of this kind and caring community.

I recently published a piece on CBC about how we can start addressing the food insecurity issue in Nunavut.  Supporting the local infrastructures that already exist to help needy families, like the food bank, is one great start. Of course, we need to do more than just donate to the food bank, like addressing the root causes, but it felt good to have a chance to contribute to the community.