youth are awesome.com

Go beyond the paper maché volcano!

It’s not too late to start! With just under 50 days until the 49th annual CYSF, now is a good time to get researching, if you haven’t already.

The Calgary Youth Science Fair is an amazing opportunity for students grades 5 – 12 to explore a specific scientific interest to its fullest. Every year, almost 1000 students participate from schools all over Calgary, sharing their knowledge and competing for awards.

This will be my 6th year entering the science fair and I can personally vouch for what an amazing experience the CYSF is.

Did you know that science fair projects don’t have to be just experiments? They can be innovation and research too (I’ve done a research project every year up until now–I finally started my first experiment!). There are loads of project categories to choose from, as well–from social sciences to food studies (you thought I was going to say “from engineering to computer sciences,” didn’t you? ).

The deadline to register your project is February 10th!–NOTE: your school must have pre-registered in the fall. And if they didn’t? Talk to your science coordinator about registering for next year–it’s never too early to start next year’s project

So check out the site (click here!), talk to your science coordinator/teacher and work that log book!! I should probably add that you better get your hands on a 5′ x 8′ trifold. Yep, you read that right: five feet by eight feet. They’re such a beautiful thing. If you don’t have a spare sitting around the house (NO, you cannot have mine!), contact Science Is… to order one–look under “Odds & Ends”.

Not participating this year? Be sure to come on the Saturday morning (March 20, 9 – 11:30am) at the Big4 on the Stampede Grounds to check out all the amazing entries from CYSF 2010. With no admission charge, who can resist such an invitation?

Stay tuned, March 18, when I will post my project table location–come and say hi on March 20! See you then ♥

The mission of the Calgary Youth Science Fair Society is “to promote an appreciation for scientific principles and method in the youth of Calgary by means of an annual science competition”.

If you have turned on the television lately you probably heard about the recent earthquakes in Haiti and about all the love that has been sent their way.  Nearly 80% of the population has been living under the poverty line, and since these quakes things haven’t gotten much better, but a group of local Calgary musicians are hoping to do their part.  On Tuesday, February 2nd, there will be a bunch of local musicians sharing their talent at 3 local Starbucks locations in Calgary.  Each location will have different artists, so bring your spare change (dig deep under your couch and car seats) to give to a very worthy cause.  All donations will be given to Samaritan’s Purse to donate supplies to Haiti such as water filters and food.  And get this, the whole event has been organized by one of Calgary’s own awesome youth and some of the artists playing aren’t out of high school just yet either!  The Sounds of Love will be happening at the following three locations, featuring the following artists, on Tuesday, February 2nd:

Sundance Starbucks
6:15-8:30
Alyssa Beth
Velvet Elvis
Tanner Steed/Carson Stewart
Kayla Block/Alex McInnes

Shawnessy Starbucks
6:45-9:30
David Clake
Connor Grant
Kevin Borst/Nicole
Graham Cook/Duncan Rae
Mark Klassen

Shawnessy Chapters Starbucks
7:15-9:30
Caitlin Heide w/guest
Erin Bonsol
Matt Dyck
Betti White
John Hamm
Andrew Clark

Some last minute points…

♥ If you choose to donate a cheque, please make it out to Samaritan’s Purse
♥ Please note: Starbucks is in no way endorsing, funding, or hosting this event, they are just kindly allowing us to use their coffee houses as a venue…

The life cycle of chewing gum is generally as follows: processing -> packaging -> sale -> consumption -> spitting out into the garbage -> life in the landfill.

On rare occasions, in the hands of the right people, such as Jason Kroenwald of Ancaster, Ontario (he now resides in Toronto) this life cycle is changed. Gum that passes through his hands (but usually not his mouth – with a dedicated chewing team, he doesn’t chew the gum unless he has to) follows a post-chew-pattern more closely represented by this:  becoming an art supply -> being turned into a work of art -> being sold and displayed for eternity (or something close to it). In 1996, Kroenwald created his first “Gum Blondes” portrait out of pre-chewed gum.

Each “Gum Blonde” is made entirely of chewing gum pressed onto a plywood backing. A variety of flavors are used with any colour blending occuring in the chewing process and all colours coming solely from the colouring of the gum. While Kroenwald uses multiple brands, he states that Trident is his favourite texture-wise (aspiring gum artists – take note!).

With no further ado, here are some of his works of art, with more displayed on his website here.

For more “Where It’s Art: Please Do Not Taste the Artwork” – Click here!

The Olympics are starting in less than a month, and to get everyone feeling extra patriotic, I thought I’d let you know about a cool contest that is going on.

Monopoly (one of my favourite games) is launching a new Canadian Edition (thus replacing the old one) of the game, and there’s a contest going on right now where you can vote for the Canadian cities you want to see make it on the board!

There are 22 cities in all, and right now, Calgary is in 3rd place!  Yay!  You can vote for up to 3 cities a day, and if your favourite cities in Canada (as small or as big a city as you’d like) aren’t listed, you can add them and vote up a storm!

After reviewing the list, there a bunch of cities in the top 20 that really surprised me, and I was shocked that others weren’t in the top 20 (like – as of right now – Vancouver, speaking of the Olympics)

You have 25 days left to vote.

The other day a friend and I were discussing about dreams and whether if you die in your dream, do you die in reality? This got me more interested in the topic and thankfully after some ‘googling’ and research, the answer is no! (Phew)
Dreams have been around for quite some time; at least as long as human beings have been around. Everyone dreams and they dream every night. One third of our lives are spent sleeping, and we have approximately 4-7 dreams a night that each lasts at least 10 minutes..Wow these dreams add up in a life time! Below are just some quick awesome facts regarding dreams:

~Regardless of sight, blind people dream too but instead of images they have vibrant dreams involving other senses.

~Ever had one of those days when you know you dreamt of something the previous night but can’t seem to remember? Well don’t worry this is common since 90% of the dreams are forgotten upon awakening for 10 minutes.

~Men tend to dream more about their own gender and women dream equally of both genders.

~Our minds do not invent new faces therefore we only dream of who we know. So the random stranger, who gave you that big million dollar check in your dream last night, may actually not be someone random after all.

~Not everyone dream in colour; 12% of people who have vision dream in black and white.

~It is impossible to dream and snore at the same time. (This may explain why my Dad does not dream often.)

~Humans are not the only ones who dream; animals dream as well.

We established that everyone dreams, but are their deeper meanings to them? Some common types of dreams are the ‘falling’ and ‘flying’ dreams.

Falling dreams usually involve the odd sensation of your stomach doing ‘flip-flops’ and ends with being awakened with a sudden twitch. These kinds of dreams often indicate:

unresolved fears, anxieties, instabilities or insecurities.Which represents a loss of control, or feelings of helplessness.

Flying dreams are unusual dreams to interpret since it is very broad thus can mean many things. The ones that have you soaring through the sky like Peter Pan often means you are in control of your life. On the flip side, difficulties controlling and staying in the air may represent lack of power, and an inability to control personal situations.

Make sure to take advantage of the exam break and get those extra hours of sleep. Sweet dreams! =)

Since 2007, there has been a high percent of honeybee hive die-offs (30-70%) occurring in US and parts of Canada.  This syndrome is called Colony Collapse Disorder or Honeybee Depopulation Syndrome.  European beekeepers have observed a similar phenomena in Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and initial reports have also come in from Switzerland and Germany, albeit to a lesser degree, while the Northern Ireland Assembly received reports of a decline greater than 50%.  This means that more than 50% of the honeybees who went out foraging have not returned to their hive, making the hive vulnerable to attacks of hive pests.

The actual cause of Colony Collapse Disorder is not yet confirmed, but some possible causes are malnutrition, immunodeficiency, toxic chemicals such as pesticide and antibiotics, and climate change.

Why is this at all important?  Well, many agricultural crops worldwide are pollinated by bees, and the disappearance of bees will initiate a series environmental issues.  Fortunately, many scientists are working hard to find out and eliminate factors that could be causing Honeybee Depopulation Syndrome. Plus, there is something simple you can do: plant flowers in your garden.

The best type of flower to plant for helping population of honeybee is the sunflower, and there is an organization, The Great Sunflower Project, that distributes seeds of sunflowers for free.  By planting flowers in your garden, you are helping make sure that honeybees are getting enough nutrition to repopulate and stay alive.

In addition to planting your own flowers during summer season, you can also encourage your member of Parliament to increase public funding on honeybee research.

If you have any good ideas about how you can help out the honeybees, you’re welcome to comment.

Learn even more about colony collapse disorder and how you can help on HowStuffWorks.com.

When I saw the trailer for “The Book of Eli” the first thought that came across my mind was Fallout 3: The Movie.  I’m not trying to be funny, I literally thought that they were making a movie based in the “Fallout 3″ universe.  After seeing Avatar, I’ve had enough of movies with cliché plots and lame scripts, and I thought this new film would be the same.  But it only took 2 minutes for my friends to convince me to go watch it with them.   

I must say, I was wrong. The Book of Eli involves deep characters, a strong plot, and plenty of action.  I should have remembered that if Denzel Washington stars in a movie, the movie will be great.

The film takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting. The world has just suffered some nuclear war, our civilization has been destroyed, but remnants of it have been left behind.  With no governing force in this cruel world, gangs and warlords roam free and the average humans have been reduced to scavengers.

Basically, a character with amazing skills in combat and survival has been traveling America for 30 years, with the goal to bring some special book west.  Unfortunately he comes across a warlord who has been looking for this book for just as long.

This is a very dark film that deals with many sides of a possible post-apocalyptic world.  The great acting along with the realistic edge makes this a great film.  I would give this film 4 out of 5.  Sorry kids, this film is rated 14a.

Don’t touch that dial! There’s more bread art coming up. Well actually, since this bread art is two-dimensional, perhaps you will have to change the dial to do some shading…

The Bread Art Project was created when the Grain Foods Foundation and Ted Allen, host on the Food Network, partnered up with Feeding America to help fight hunger.  Consumers can create bread art by uploading a photo to the site and converting it to toast, or, they can use a blank piece of bread as a canvas for their bread art.  Either way, the Grain Foods Foundation pledged to donate $1 (which can provide 7 meals for 4 bags of food) for every design uploaded, to a maximum of $50 000, towards Feeding America.  To find out more, create your own art, and view other submissions, go to the Bread Art Project’s website.  And if you upload your photo, you might be toast!

I don’t know many people who hate sweets, but it seems that we sometimes have sugar cravings and don’t know why.  One view is that sweets are associated with fun, happiness, or celebration.  If you win a basketball game, you could celebrate with ice-cream.  Some people have sugar cravings because it is a routine or habit.  Maybe you go to the movies and always get Twizzlers or just always eat dessert after dinner.  It’s important to also know that too much sugar can be really detrimental to your body and mental state. Take a look at some of its negative effects below:

* Sugar can contribute to hyperactivity, anxiety, depression, concentration difficulties, and crankiness.
* Sugar contributes to a weakened defense against bacterial infection.
* Sugar can cause kidney damage and increase the risk of coronary heart disease.
* Sugar interferes with absorption of calcium and magnesium.
* Sugar can promote tooth decay.
* Sugar can speed the aging process, causing wrinkles and grey hair.
* Sugar can increase total cholesterol and contribute to weight gain and obesity.
* Sugar can contribute to diabetes and osteoporosis.
* Sugar can cause a decrease in insulin sensitivity.
* Sugar can cause cardiovascular disease and hypertension
* Sugar causes food allergies and contribute to eczema in children.
* Sugar can overstress the pancreas, causing damage.
* Sugar can cause liver cells to divide, increasing the size of the liver
* Sugar can  increase the amount of fat in the liver.
* Sugar can increase kidney size and produce pathological changes in the kidney.
* Sugar can increase the body’s fluid retention.
* Sugar can cause hormonal imbalance.
* Sugar can cause headaches, including migraines.
* Sugar can cause an increase in delta, alpha and theta brain waves, which can alter the mind’s ability to think clearly.
* Sugar can increase blood platelet adhesiveness which increases risk of blood clots and strokes.

All of these negative factors don’t mean you should completely stop consuming sugar.  There is not a definite answer to the daily amount of sugar you should consume a day, but 40 grams is the recommended amount.  Forty grams of sugar refers mainly to added sugar, which is anything that is put into foods rather than that in which sugar is naturally occurring, such as in fruit.  For example, ALL sugar in soda would be considered “added,” since the beverage itself is constructed rather than harvested.

Billy The Kid (aka Billy Pettinger) is the most interesting musician you could ever have the opportunity of questioning.  She has so many stories to tell with such an enthusiasm for life.  Billy sat down with us at Calgary vegetarian restaurant, The Coup, to share some stories with us.  On myspace, she has been categorized as “Folk/Roots Music/Acoustic,” but don’t let that fool you – this girl also knows how to  rock out with her band Billy and The Lost Boys.  She is the epitome of Do It Yourself music and if you’re lucky enough, she just might share some of her secrets with you.

Youth Are Awesome: What is the Lost Youth Music Society?

Billy The Kid: To condense the description, it’s a way of giving back.  It’s a recycling centre, fundraising structure.  It’s very limitless. It’s not just a nonprofit charity – it’s a bunch of people.  Some bands from the record label play benefit shows, but it’s mostly a way of life.  It may have a name now, but we’ve always been doing it this way; we don’t just want to focus on one thing, like getting guitars to schools that can’t necessarily afford it.  We play benefit shows because we go, hey here’s a bunch of money, let’s donate it somewhere.  It’s not a huge deal for us to play for 30 minutes.

YAA: Why did you decide to separate yourself from Billy and The Lost Boys and take on the persona “Billy the Kid?”

Billy: I didn’t separate from The Lost Boys.  I’ve always played this type of music – lost cause acoustic piano stuff – and I’ve always played rock and roll stuff.  It happened at that particular time that Raine Maida from Our Lady Peace heard my demos on myspace and liked what he heard, flew to LA, and started making a record.  But while that was happening, I was making a Lost Boys record in my house.  I just released something online only.  I played everything except the drums.  I produced it.  I engineered it.  The Lost Boys were always a band, but it’s always been different members, because I was the songwriter and I loved touring, and it was constantly like, ‘Can you go on tour?’ ‘No,’ ‘Well, sorry, but I really want to do this.  It’s my life.’  And now we’re on our fourth album.  Now I can just make the album and find the guys to tour with, to be in a band with, and be like, we’re not going to break up when it’s hard.  I’ve done this for 15 years and it’s just easier this way.  I have a band in Toronto, Vancouver and Los Angeles, because, why not?  So that’s why I tour by myself.

YAA: If you were a character in Scooby Doo who would you be? (more…)

Looking for some stuff to do this week, but want some options other than going to the mall or the movies (plus something that will cost a little less)?   It’s a good thing that the city you live in has you covered.

There are drop-in programs happening all over Calgary almost every night of the week, which means you don’t have to sign up, you can just show up!  We’re going to fill you in on these wicked activities (which have the added bonus of being 100% FREE) as often as we can so that you know what your options are when you and your friends are trying to figure out what do each week!

In the North:

Did our profile on Michael Jordan have you itching to hit the court?  Stop by Sonics Basketball Drop-In at HD Cartwright School (5500 Dalhart Rd. NW).  You can shoot hoops on Wednesdays from 7-9pm, with other youth ages 12-17 from now until April 21,2010.

Girls!  Ready to meet some new friends or just want find a new place to hang out with your BFFs?  Drop in at Super Girls, a program that runs at the Huntington Hills Superstore (7020 4^th St. NW), for girls’ night every Wednesday (6-8pm) from now until April 21, 2010, for girls 12 – 17 years old.  You’ll get quality time with your friends, and can learn about important topics like nutrition and fitness.

In the South:

Are your Tuesday nights wide open?  Perfect!  Stop by the Riverbend Youth Drop-In for a ton of wicked activities for youth ages 12 -17 from 4:30-6pm at the Riverbend Community Association – you’re sure to have a good time and meet new people!  The Drop-In program runs every Tuesday from now until May 11, 2010.

Start enjoying all that your city has to offer!

The last time I had a nightmare, it wasn’t about bread.  I wouldn’t think that it was so strange if meat appeared murderous, but gruesome grains?  Be warned: the following bread may give you nightmares.

And now that you have sufficient reason to think twice about heading to the kitchen alone for a midnight snack – relax.  Your bread could be as lovely as the loaves below (though now it might be too pretty to eat…).

So this is America. They must be out of their minds. – Ringo Starr

Welcome to Part 4 of my series on the history of The Beatles.

In the year 1964, the British Invasion hit and artists from Great Britain became popular in the United States.  The movement was first started by The Beatles (of course!).  This is also one of the most significant developments in The Beatles’ success.

Upon arriving John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on February 7th, 1964, the Beatles were greeted by a crowd of over three thousand.  Two days later, they gave their first live performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.  Over 40% of the United States population watched the show that night. The invasion had began.

On February 11th, four days after their arrival, The Beatles gave their first concert in United States at the Washington Coliseum, followed by another one the next day in Carnegie Hall in NYC.  Extremely well received, The Beatles established their reputation in the United States.

Over the course of the year, The Beatles toured internationally, returning to the United States in August.  Once again, this month long tour attracted tens of thousands of fans to their performances from San Francisco to New York.

Amongst their hectic schedule that year, The Beatles also released their third and fourth studio albums, A Hard Day’s Night and Beatles for Sale.  These two albums contained new inventive music from the “ringing guitar” sound of Harrison’s Rickenbacker, to deeper lyrics by Lennon and McCartney.  Both albums are great successes with songs staying in the top charts for weeks such as Can’t Buy Me Love.  The Beatles were establishing their reputation world wide and were slowly maturing as a band with its own melody and lyrics, and new originality.

Here’s A Hard Day’s Night by the Beatles!

I love music and listen to the radio frequently. Sometimes, don’t you feel that the songs we hear all the time become a bit repetitive? Sometimes we buy a song and listen to it so much until we need something new. I love hearing a remix of my favorite song on the radio. It’s like having a song you like transformed to be something knew for your ears. Listen to the original and the remix of a these two songs. The first is Breathe In by Frou Frou and the second is Poker Face by Lady Gaga.

Breath In (The Original) [Left] – Breath In (The Remix) [Right]

Poker Face (The Orginal) [Left] – Poker Face (The Remix) [Right]

Do you like a remix of a song better? Do you just find them an insult to the original? What are you’re thoughts?

If you want a neat place to get some great new music and don’t want to spend a lot of money, check out NoiseTrade.com.  We introduced you to NoiseTrade a little while back, and we love it so much, we want to give you some more info on this wicked site.

It’s free.  Every single song in their library is free, and the only catch is that you’ve never heard of any of the artists before.

These artists are what people call “indie” musicians, which means they’re not signed to a record label, and they can do what they want with their music – including giving it away for free.  After sampling the album with the built-in widget and deciding you like it, you can help the artist out in two ways.

You can either pay what you want to the artist, with no amount too big or too small, or you can tell your friends.  To do this, you put in the emails of five of your friends that you think might like the music, and NoiseTrade will send them an email telling them about the artist with a link to the site.  They don’t have to do anything, not even read the email, for you to get your music.  Once the emails have been sent off, you get a download link, and you’ve got your music!

I’ve downloaded a few albums from NoiseTrade, and the only downside is importing the songs into my iTunes library.  Depending on what music you get, you may or may not have to rename all the songs so that they don’t look like this: 05_song_name.mp3. 

Enjoy!