Rock Stars Unite

8 am. Yellowknife Wal-Mart. I'm supposed to be buying, in order:

Hot Wheels for the boy
Clothes for the baby
Diapers for the baby

I got all three done, then I saw Rock Band for the X-Box 360. Ever hear of Guitar HEro, well this is Guitar Hero times 4. You play along to a colour coded music chart while music - surprisingly good music - plays. The set I got comes with drums, microphone and guitar, I need to buy another controller to play bass.

I won't be trying the vocals again anytime soon... I tried to sing Blitzkreg Bop" by The Ramones, and I could keep a pitch there..... then I got cocky and tried "In Bloom" by Nirvana....

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE's the one
who likes all our pretty songs"

The baby got scared.

I saw four different people with Rock Band sets getting on to the plane in Nunavut... but I assume most of those were for children. As the boy put it, "The Hot Wheels are for me, Rock Band is for everyone."

So, here are some videos from our first performance. First off, Iqaluit blogger Inflatable Elvis and the boy rock out "Say it Ain't So" by Weezer. Listen close and you can hear the Weezer.


I called him from the cab on the way to the airport...
"Yeah, I got Rock Band for the 360, so you may want to clear you schedule tonight..."

It would hardly be fair if I didn't include my own video... here are The Boy and KOTN on "In Bloom" by Nirvana.... check out his solo, impressive stuff:



We need someone who can keep an even pitch on non-Ramones songs... Kate Nova, I'm looking your way. The Boy already named our Band, "The Other Guys", leading us all to scratch our heads and wonder why there isn't already a band called "The Other Guys"

I also downloaded 4 songs by The Police for the game, I can do it on guitar, but I am worried about those Stewart Copeland drum bits...

Nice to be home.

It is a small, small, North

In my few days here in Yellowknife, I have run into The Mayor of Iqaluit (who gave me pins and let me hitch rides on the VIP shuttle), Joanne from the CBC (looking like Castro in her bad-ass hat) and a former reporter who has jumped the fence to communications on her way to Cam Bay to learn some more. Small north.

Now go click on the AWG blog.... 15 per cent of my visitors to that site stay for more than an hour.... that is somethign else.

Also, I'm on the tube again tonight, covering one-foot high kick. That sport should be in the Olympics.

Coming live on the TV

This is a big moment for Nunavut's blogging community.... or at least for this little part of it.

Tonight on APTN National News, tune in to watch me talk about my AWG blog on air.

6:30 Eastern. Tune in.

They airbrushed my face

Have you ever seen the inside of REM's Eponymous album? A photo of a very young Michael Stipe, and written across the top, "They Airbrushed My Face".

They sort of did the same thing to me:

AWG blog

This is the Arctic Winter Games blog. I got started on Saturday by going to the airport to meet a few of the kids as they boarded their charter.

There will be a link on the APTN page, some sort of redirect, but it will end up right here.

And to you guys in Arctic Bay, I got you covered. I interviewed the entire Arctic Games team at once, I just have to edit it and post it. For now, check out the kid on the luggage belt, he gives an honest answer.

Forget my Olympic status

I'm going pro.

Next week, all the northern bureaus of APTN National News will be going to the Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife. That means five reporters and three camera operators.

That left me wondering how to best cover the games. Then I thought, why not blog them. I have a digital camera which does short videos, internet access, and expereince at using this damnable thing, why not combine it into a running account of my time at the games?

I pitched the idea, it was met with acceptance, and I will be providing running online coverage of the Arctic Winter Games in Yellowknife. We only get a few minutes a night for this on the program, we might as well have a place for the stuff we can't use.

I'm excited, this is the direction journalism is heading in -- multi-platform, non-traditional, Internet ready -- and I'm thrilled that I work for a company that is willing to embrace the idea of doing this.

I'll post a link here, but you heard it here first. I have given up my Olympic status, I'm officially a professional blogger.... for the next week at least.

And I have pros working on layout for me... it is nice to have support.

See you in YK, I'll be the guy constantly working with a digital camera, making obscene threats about the speed of my Internet conenction. No rest for the wicked, or the ones who pitch good ideas ;0

--Kent

Breaking News

BEfore the end of business today, I will have an announcement on this site. I'm not going to spill the beans yet, but it includes:

Northern Blogging
My employment
A rarely tried way of covering something
Sports
A trip
Me working my ass off

Welcome to the future kids, I'm in it.