Bring on the Little Kids!

Last week the U of L officially broke ground on the lastest addition to the campus – construction has begun on the new Daycare Facility here. This is a pretty big deal considering that this push for on campus daycare has taken nearly five full years to come to fruition.

Ground was broken by student leaders, senior level administrators, members of the Daycare Action Committee (DAC), and the outside service provider for the daycare facility. For many of the students present this opening was a large victory as the movement to bring daycare onto campus began as a grass roots movement. DAC was formed with the support of faculty and staff here at the U of L, but largely was made up of students. Their study on the need for daycare on campus was the prime spring board that got this issue moving along in the upper levels of administration. You can find many of their studies here.

All of those who worked so hard to bring this service to campus, congratulations – here’s to 2010, when the facility will officially open its doors for service.

Cheers,

Eric
VP Internal

bands! + songwriters!

The last batch of artists!

We saw a great deal of talent at the COCA conference in Ottawa this past week. Here are some shots from the last showcase:

Day 4:

Kobo Town – From some very deep roots, “Kobo Town” brought a great performance. With traditional reggae styles as well as some worldly influences these guys had a great sound. I was very impressed with these guys.

The Salads – The hardest performance of the entire conference. They definitely played their genre and showed their own personality in their short set.

The Johnstones – Oh Ska music, you will always hold a small place in my heart. These guys were both entertaining and ridiculous at the same time. But they sure got the crowd going and their energy definitely made a huge impact on me. A bit silly, but very fun.

Nadine Medawar – It seem very hard for a softer sound like Nadine’s to translate to the COCA atmosphere. She played well and her band did their thing, but I am afraid she got lost in the crowd a bit. Still, very well done.

Sweet Thing – A male vocal lead, who does nothing but sing?! Well done sir, well done! “Sweet Thing” was the best of the night for me and while at times the lead singer seemed a bit over the top, there has to be something said for an guy to go up there and sing as well as he did and do nothing else.

Day 5:

Day 5 saw the Singer Songwriter showcase, and it was very worth while. We were very lucky to see the likes of Craig Cardiff, Lesley Pike, Jessica Rhyne, Robyn Dell’Unto, Casey Desmond, and Colin Munroe. All of these artists showed a great deal of passion as they really tried to present exactly what they had to offer for us with their music. It was a great way to cap off the musical showcases that had been abundant throughout the entire conference.

And so with that, COCA 08 comes to a close for its musical portion. I will be posting later on the organization itself and how it has affected me in my job at the ULSU.

Cheers,

Eric
VP Internal

more bands!

Ok, in case you can’t tell, my camera is very poor at getting everything right when it comes to taking pictures. Sometimes the shots look great, and sometimes the shots look poor, so dearest bands, if your picture looks crappy I apologize. I tried to pick your best shot. But I digress;

We just saw the strongest showcase of the conference. Don’t get me wrong; the variety/lecture showcase we had in the afternoon that featured the likes of Darrin Rose (comedian) Jason Escape (escape artist) Daniel Packard (speaker) Cory Johnson (speaker) and Garbage! The Revolution (documentary) was great for our programming. But these bands were just a great night; they have been the capstone event at COCA as far as I can see.

Day 3:

Hey Ocean – What a preforming band! They had a great flow from song to song in such a short set (you only get 20 mins each at COCA. Yuck!) They brought out some new instruments for an indie band, including the flute and a few different percussion lines. A knock out performance!

hey rosetta! – You have to respect a band that puts strings in their set. My picture does not show it well, but “hey rosetta!” features two string instruments. On a purely personal note, I love hearing strings mixed into pop and folk music. These guys did very well.

God Made Me Funky – Wow. If there was a party band that would kill every show they played, then “God Made Me Funky” would be it. The crowds at COCA have been moderate at best, but all of a sudden those funk notes hit the air and people were just having too much fun. They brought the room to life. Arms went from folded to pumping fists and clapping in the air. As I said, wow.

Will Currie and the Country French – I am not to sure about these guys. Will Currie (I assume is the front man) on the piano and lead vocals was great. He made the show more enjoyable for me. I am just not sure about the rest of the band. They seem fresh and full of life, but not really sure about a larger show. Maybe nerves got the best of them; still well done all around.

The Coast – <insert Jenn Prosser screaming like a teenage girl over the Backstreet Boys circa mid 90’s> These guys did alright. Reportedly (since I am a bit ill-informed here) their original EP is much better than the content they played for us off their new album. Still, new or old content, they sounded a bit off. Who knows maybe the sound guy just didn’t know what to do. I still enjoyed these guys, but they weren’t the best we have seen for the conference.

Once again folks, these are just my opinions on the bands we have seen at COCA 08 in Ottawa. Jenn and I are having a blast, but it is very late, and I am very tired. Until tomorrow (when Jenn attempts to kill me for giving “The Coast” a less than absolutely stellar review)…

Cheers,

Eric
VP Internal