Video post!

I've been trying to upload my videos of the boys doing the haka. It takes so long that I can only do one in the time I write all my other e-mails and things. I published the post today anyway. You have to scroll down to November 11 and the post is just called haka. There are still a couple more videos, but they'll come in the next few days.

I'm off to see the sights!

Cass

Haka.

Here's a good one for you.

Haka is a type of traditional Maori dance. It involves a lot of chanting, quick movements and changes in position and posture. They are performed for a lot of reasons: ceremonial, communication, amusement, war. The most famous haka is the one that the All Blacks, New Zealand's national rugby team, perform at the beginning of all of their matches. This tradition started in 1884 when the first NZ rugby team toured New South Wales, Australia. The NZ teams have been using the same haka since 1906. It's called Ka Mate (which means I die, in English. It tells the story of

Maori:

Leader:
Ringa pakia!
Uma tiraha!
Turi whatia!
Hope whai ake!
Waewae takahia kia kino!

Leader: Ka mate, ka mate
Team: Ka ora' Ka ora'
Leader: Ka mate, ka mate
Team: Ka ora Ka ora "
All: Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru
Nāna i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā
Upane... Upane
Upane Kaupane"
Whiti te rā,!
Hī!

Loose English Translation:

Slap the hands against the thighs!
Puff out the chest.
Bend the knees!
Let the hip follow!
Stamp the feet as hard as you can!

'I die, I die,
'I live, 'I live,
'I die, 'I die
'I live, 'I live,
This is the hairy man
Who caused the sun to shine again for me
Up the ladder, Up the ladder
Up to the top
The sun shines!
Rise!

The boys in New Zealand all learn different hakas at school. Martin, the oldest one here at the farm I've been staying at, has been practicing his haka a lot. His little brother, Chance, has caught right on and has been practicing alongside. This afternoon Chance was sleepy and didn't really want to do the haka for me, but we worked some things out and I let him take about 100 pictures of me and the cat so that he would let me make a clip of the haka.

It was a rainy afternoon, so we had to stay on the small back porch. Martin drew the bear on the chalkboard as a background element for the movie. He would also like to say 'hi' to my Mom whom he chatted with on the phone the other day.

Once we cheered up Chance (he's three and was sleepy because we had went over to a neighbour's house for dinner the night before and he was up late), he pulled it together and did a really good job.



A couple outtakes.

Chance forgets the words, my camera runs out of space.

Martin decides that professionalism involves holding your breath and convincing your little brother to follow along.

More Please.

I was thinking, after this morning, about items or activities that would make interesting stop motion videos. I thought it would be really neat to look up some plant growing themed clips. Here are some of the best ones I found tonight.

I wish I had set up a camera in the greenhouse over the last few years. It would have been so cool to be able to watch my years of work produce alvar plants for restoration in 1 minute flat.

Part of my attraction to these little videos are the soundtracks. I really appreciate it when people pick beautiful music to go along with their creation.

This next series is quite cool. Celery: The Movie is my least favourite.

Stop Motion Craft.

I spent some time today watching stop animation on YouTube. I like the crafty ones the best. Here are a couple of the best examples I found today. The first one is how to make a felt bunny. At the end, a bunch of different bunnies are shown. I really like how the creator makes the embroidery letters.

This second animation is quite clever. The mole is made from fabric and thread. I really like making little creatures like this one to have around the house. There's a neat science-y twist at the end of this one.

And, a morbid tale of a giant button attacking a town of mini buttons. You'll just have to watch this one. It's a bit sad, actually. Great character development though.

Finally, a clip I've been meaning to bring here for awhile. Actually, this brings me to an entire story I've been meaning to tell here. This is an interpretation of one of my favourite Edward Gorey tales from childhood. Last summer Bronwen and I went to see a special exhibit at the Toronto Public Library. I came across this book and I had forgotten all about it (where did it go?). Somehow, I managed to forget about it again until recently when I joined an Edward Gorey swap on Ravelry and was thinking about some of his work. This time, though, I couldn't remember the name of the book so I couldn't find it anywhere. I e-mailed the librarians at the Osbourne Children's Collection at the TPL and they got back to me the next day with the title. Since then I've been checking out all sorts of media inspired by Edward Gorey's work. This is my favourite creation of "An Inanimate Tragedy".