Skating Through Sackville

If you have been following the news lately (or have even just looked out your window), you have probably noticed that the weather is pretty wacky out there these days. All of Canada was hit last week with a huge Arctic cold front. Mt. Allison and Sackville was no exception to the trend. It has been freezing here! We have had temperatures as low as -25 degrees Celsius. Nevertheless, we always get through it and before you know it, it has passed. Last night though it snowed again like crazy. I thought it was so beautiful and refreshing. But then it started to rain early this morning and with the cold temperatures, everything is freezing over fast. So basically the whole campus is a big skating rink! It's a fantastic mixture of terror and fun.

Anyway, it has been a pretty insane busy week. Jason and I finished our auditions for the workshop of our musical. In the end we had a great turnout and some fantastic talent. The show has been cast and we have started rehearsals. It is a really great group of students. They are very energetic and genuinelky excited about the project, which is awesome!

Things are also moving ahead with the opera I am in. We are doing Henry Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas. Our director, Paul, came in and has started to do some staging and blocking. I also have started to get my costume fitted and it's really cool. I get this whole Greek/Roman robe thing with a cloak and other fancy features.

All through the week we had the Stereophonic Festival happening at venues around town. This is an annual music festival that serves as a fundraiser for CHMA 106.9 FM, which is Mt. Allison's radio station. We had some really great indie bands come in from the Maritimes to play. There was an evening of local talent at the campus Pub, which I played. The show went really well for everyone involved. We had a great turnout and people were very responsive to the music. The final and biggest show is tomorrow night at George's Roadhouse. The show is Plants and Animals, and Wintersleep. It is going to be amazing! We are very lucky to be getting those two bands coming to Sackville, since they are pretty big now. Nevertheless, Sackville always seems to have a way of getting these groups in.

On the note of the radio station, I have officialy started up my radio show again, which feels great! I do a weekly radio show on CHMA called "In Your Face with Landon Braverman." I do it every Sunday afternoon. It's basically an hour of indie rock music that I pick. With the move into the new Student Centre building last semester, the radio station was not officially on the air, so I haven't done my show since the last academic year, which was back in April 2008! It really did feel nice to get back on the air. Yesterday I had a very special guest, who was none other than Mt. Allison University President, Dr. Robert Campbell. It always surprises people to hear that he is actually an avid rock fan and aficionado, epsecially on the subject of British music. So he comes on my show every few weeks and shares his new music finds. It is always a lot of fun!

Feel free to learn more about the show by joining my Facebook group for it. Just search: In Your Face Radio.

There was lots more that happened last week, including an amazing fundraiser concert that I emceed and performed at. Nevertheless, I am not going to write about it all because I would be typing forever. The point is, even in the second week of classes, there is never a dull moment here at Mt. Allison or in Sackville!

I have recently had high school students email me with questions about MTA, since they are thinking about applying. Thank you very much for sending them. Please feel free to email me if you have any questions about anything MTA or university related.

Anyway, I have to walk/skate to my next class - bye for now!

Landon

lsbraverman@mta.ca