Youth Are Awesome, commonly referred to as YAA, is a blog written by youth for youth.
YAA provides the youth of Calgary a place to amplify their voices and perspectives on what is happening around them.
Youth Are Awesome is a program of Youth Central.
Any views or opinions expressed on this blog belong solely to the author and do not represent those of people or organizations that the blog may be associated with, unless explicitly stated. All content is for informational purposes only.
Some of you might remember my couple of blogs last school year regarding the Calgary Youth Science Fair (CYSF). For those of you who have forgotten, don’t know, never saw it, or think you aren’t into science (you silly pickle), NO WORRIES!! Here’s all the info…plus more đ !
First is ‘more’:
The Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge is a national, biotechnology-focused science competition that exposes high school and CEGEP students to career possibilities and reveals the breadth of endeavour that makes up the bio-economy.
The Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge provides high school students with an opportunity one step above basic science fair research projects–they match you up with a professional who is doing research in the area you are interested. Or maybe you know someone or did some research and found someone who is willing to be your mentor–that’s cool too! On the SABC website, you will find a guidline of everything that has to go into your detailed proposal (or click here cuz I’m nice ;)). If you’re going to participate in the SABC, you better get on it!! The deadline for proposal submission is October 29, 2010. The Calgary regional competition will take place on April 19, 2011. Check the website for details on the regional competition in your area.
One thing that is great about the SABC is that you can use the same project for the Calgary Youth Science Fair (or your local regional science fair) and along to Canada-Wide! Bet that made your life a whole lot less crazy, eh đ
As for the Calgary Youth Science Fair, you don’t have to do the SABC first.
LESS THAN 160 DAYS!!!!
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.” Every year almost 1,000 students from schools in and around Calgary gather to take part in Canada’s largest science fair.
The CYSF is open to all students grades 5 – 12, however, their school MUST REGISTER by October 31, 2010!!! (click here for registration info). So go find your science teacher/coordinator and make sure they have signed your school up!! Even if you think you’re the only one interested in participating, make sure they do it (my school did for me, even though I was the only one last year!). The date of the CYSF is March 16-19, 2011. Also, this will be the 50th annual CYSF!! If you can only do it once, I would make sure you do it this year!! (I know I am ;))
So: what can you take away from this information? Science is AWESOME!! DUH! ~what else were you expecting? đ
IMPORTANT DATES TO PUT ON THE CALENDAR:
October 29, 2010: SABC ~ Proposal submission deadline.
October 31, 2010: CYSF ~ School registration deadline.
Last Sunday, I was looking for buy a new cell phone ornament but I could not find anything I wanted. So I decide to make it myself! I found a nice and easy method to make a cute cell phone ornament using felt.
If you are a Calgarian involved with classical music in any way, youâve probably heard of the dashing young Polish-Calgarian pianist Jan Lisiecki. At the young age of fifteen, he is already making a name for himself on the international stage as a musical sensation. Having performed as a soloist with world renowned orchestras like the Sinfonia Varsovia more than forty times, the stage is Janâs second home. Recently, Iâve had the amazing fortune of attending one of his concerts celebrating the 200th birthday of Chopin with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra at the Epcor Centre. It was an excellent concert showcasing the dynamic compositions of Chopin. Thanks so much to Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra for giving us front row seats!
The 200th birthday of Chopin is an event celebrated all the way around the world, from the grand concert halls of Vienna to humble piano recitals of local piano teachers. Jan, who had the privilege of opening internationally the Year of Chopin on Jan. 1, 2010 at Chopinâs birthplace in Zelazowa Wala, now brings the festivities back home to Calgary.
On Sept. 7, the band Interpol released their newest album, and a self-titled one at that. A departure from their classic style, Interpol is a provocative and moody album. An airy, ethereal voice from lead singer Paul Banks, combined with a raw guitar sound from Daniel Kessler, backed by the haunting synths of Carlos Dengler and meted out to the pace of Sam Fogarino’s sparse drums creates and album that can be described as tense. It’s definitely not an album you can rock out to, nor is it ideal for easy listening. However, it is a good album to sit down and purposefully listen to. Take a peek at the music video for the album’s most popular song, Barricade, as well as my personal favourite, Lights.
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Good? Bad? Just not your style? Tell us what you think in the comments!
The iTunes link for the album is here, and here’s their website.
If you havenât read my previous blog post about the background story of the Hunger Games trilogy, please do so here.
âCould you survive on your own, in the wild, with every one out to make sure you don’t live to see the morning?â
This book is the first part of the hunger games trilogy. It is supposedly based on The Most Dangerous Game (which is a great short story) and it contains extreme violence along with deep emotions making it a perfect book for both guys and girls.
Basically, this book starts around the 74th Hunger Games. We follow Katniss Everdeen, a teenage girl/illegal hunter who becomes a tribute (contestant in the hunger games). Katniss considers this as a death sentence since the chances of her winning (surviving) are extremely low. But sheâs confronted death face-to-face before and survived. Now she must survive once more, against all odds in an arena with 23 other tributes trying to kill her. With death at every corner, it will take a true miracle for her to live.
Ah, The Hunger Games, perhaps one of the deepest books Iâve ever read; so much symbolism, so much emotion. And enough violence to satisfy all the readers looking for a thrill. I dream of writing an essay on this book for English, with such strong themes the thesis statement would be so easy.
Bottom Line: fantastically written, deep, emotional, yet fast paced and action packed. This is the reason I love reading, this is what a young adult novels should be like. Iâve got nothing bad to say about this book. Oh, by the way, this book is better than The Most Dangerous Game. I give it a 5/5
A very fun video that my teacher showed to my class one day. It’s hard to see things that you aren’t looking for. Like when you’re reading a story. You aren’t looking for grammar mistakes, so you don’t see them. They are much easier to find when you are analyzing each sentence closely.
Sunday, Oct. 10 was 10-10-10. This is because the day fell on the 10th day, of the 10th month, and the year 2010. Not only is this date significant because it involves all 10s, but an interesting fact is that there are 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays of this month! This does not happen often. It is exciting that we are alive to witness it!
10-10-10 is widely known as a global day of doing. This is the day where people all over the world take ionic or small actions in steps to help reduce the amount of carbon emission on Earth! Plan your 10-10-10 event and help make it possible for next year, or follow the steps of others and have your own 10-10-10 carbon-reducing Sundays! You can do something big such as gathering a group to cycle around the city for a day (instead of driving), planting hundreds of trees around the city or something small such as eating low-carbon lunches!
For examples of what people did all over the world watch this video:
On Saturday, Sept. 25, we celebrated the Epcor Centre 25th anniversary. The Epcor Centre is often called the “cultural beacon” and “heartbeat” of Calgary. What aspect of Calgary appealed most to the Tchaidze? According to the pianist, “It’s very quiet here. I can work here quietly.” The tranquility and the generous space provided to the growth and appreciation of the arts in Calgary shone.
Right after the remarkable concert, WeiJia (a delightful fellow blogger) and I had the incredible chance to catch up and conduct an interview with the incredible pianist. Naturally excited and nervous at the privilege of interviewing such an awe-inspiring artist, Georgy’s calm demeanor and quiet but assured voice put me at ease. Donning a sombre brown sweater and pale blue collar shirt, the modest and down-to-earth pianist’s answers expressed his passion for music, quickly constructed with effortlessness, considering the rush he was in to catch a flight.
Originally hailing from St. Petersburg, Russia, Georgy Tchazide began studies of piano at the tender age of seven, picking it up largely because his brother had been learning to play piano two years before him.
Here in Calgary we are only one week from election day! Next Monday, hundreds of thousands of Calgarians will head to the polls and select a leader at a critical time in Calgary’s history. Not only are we faced with a major financial deficit, numerous issues plague our city infrastructure ranging from transportation to urban sprawl.
A map of the proposed controversial airport tunnel. Note that it connects NE Calgary with NW Calgary as well. http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/news/photos/2009/ 11/10/cgy-map-airport-tunnel.jpg
As reported by most current polls, Ric McIver leads with 31 per cent of the vote. Barb Higgins is second with 28 per cent, and Nenshi is third with 16 per cent.  All of the remaining candidates have less than than three percent of the vote. Finally, an alarming 16 per cent of the people polled are still undecided.  These numbers were published just recently in the Calgary Herald at http://www.calgaryherald.com. Considering these numbers, there is a great deal of uncertainly on who will be the next Calgary mayor.  Accounting for the undecided percentage and the inherent sampling error, Higgins can easily win the election and even Nenshi has a considerable chance.
For those unfamiliar with the candidates, a brief introduction will be given. Ric McIver is currently an alderman and has the most experience in City Council. His rise to fame was due to his public and vocal criticism of the policies and actions taken by the previous City Council headed by the current mayor, Dave Bronconnier. Barb Higgins is a former news anchor for CTV News Calgary and probably has the least experience within the political sciences. However, her name is known in many households and she does know about the city. Naheed Nenshi is a Harvard graduate and is currently a professor at Mount Royal University. As an affable and enthusiastic man, Nenshi has led or participated in a great number of philanthropic organizations throughout the city and has steadily gained recognition through his campaign.
All three candidates have significant similarities within their platforms. All three vow to reduce city hall spending and improve auditing. They promise initial tax hikes and then a tax freeze. However, the  election so far has been divided on some details of these platforms and on a couple of other key issues.
The first issue would be the budget. A projected 6.7 per cent increase in property taxes is needed to sustain current services due to the economic recession. However, cuts will have to be made and the question really does come down to where. Furthermore, disagreements exist about the root of the problem. Some suggest the recession is at fault but some candidates say that irresponsible and wasteful spending brought us here.
The second issue would be transportation and especially the airport tunnel. In a team of financial stress, candidates have different priorities on where the money should be spend, how much should be spent in improving or maintaining transportation and what it should be spend on. Possible construction projects like the airport tunnel, the Southeast LRT, the ring road and the West LRT are all contentious issues.
The third and probably biggest issue would be the audit and oversight. The consensus between the three candidates is that spending at city hall is very wasteful and irresponsible. Reports have exposed the sloppiness of city contracts and the lack of watchdogs on the whole process. However, the exact degree of oversight and who should be auditing are questions that need to be answered.
As  an attempt at neutrality I will not present the interrupted platforms of the candidates here. Not only do the candidates have extremely complex models and plans that are open to interpretation, they will oftentimes change those platforms. For the sake of accuracy, I urge you to search for their platforms by yourself and decide on the feasibility and practicality of the platforms presented by each candidates.
I’m similar to many teens who love to watch MTV. What’s not to like? It provides entertainment and comedy! Last year or so they released a really cool television about a group of Canadian guys; Duncan, Dave, Ben, and Jonnie, who made a bucket list and plan to finish one thing on that list each episode. As amazing as it already sounds they also help one person they randomly encounter and help them finish what they want to do before they die!
As corny as the show may sound, it gets you hooked from episode one. The guys attempted such things as helping deliver a baby, ask out Megan Fox, enter a krump competition, play basketball with Obama, attend a party at the Playboy mansion, etc. They have also helped others by getting a school their first computer, helping find long-lost parents, and helping a child find her parents grave.
Watching this show will make you want to get up and finish something you wanted to do your whole life but never got around to do so. New episodes are released every Monday on MTV at 10:30/9:30c, you can also watch every episode on www.mtv.ca.
So maybe it’s not possible to pick and choose the funniest jokes in the world, but there did happen to be some scientists who made a study of it. They named these jokes as some of the most hilarious ones they could have found.
(Note that I only included four as the rest have questionable content.)
I failed my driverâs test. The guy asked me âwhat do you do at a red light?â I said, “I donât know⌠look around, listen to the radio⌔ (Bill Braudis).
Stock photo
China has a population of a billion people. One billion. That means even if youâre a one in a million kind of guy, there are still a thousand others exactly like you. (A. Whitney Brown)
Stuffed deer heads on walls are bad enough, but itâs worse when you see them wearing dark glasses, having streamers around their necks and a hat on their antlers. Because then you know they were enjoying themselves at a party when they were shot. (Ellen Degeneres)
Two campers are hiking in the woods when one is bitten on the rear end by a rattlesnake. âIâll go into town for a doctor,â the other says. He runs ten miles to a small town and finds the townâs only doctor, who is delivering a baby. âI canât leave,â the doctor says. “But hereâs what to do. Take a knife, cut a little X where the bite is, suck out the poison and spit it on the ground.â The guy ruins back to his friend, who is in agony. âWhat did the doctor say?â the victim asks. âHe says youâre gonna die.â
Mario Andretti has retired from race car driving. Thatâs a good thing. Heâs getting old. He ran his entire last race with his left blinker on. (Jon Stewart)
After 12 years of therapy my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes… He said, âNo hablo ingles.â (Ronnie Shakes)
I took driver’s ed this week. Or at least, I took my in-class sessions with a teacher and books and corny movies. All my friends told me it was boring, but I’ve really come to appreciate it. I took my course with A Driving, and have found the classes very useful. However, the classes have also converted me- I’ve become a stickler for road laws and defensive driving. Whereas before I didn’t really pay attention to the road, I now find myself suffering from “backseat driver” syndrome- constantly nagging at the driver and criticizing their driving.
“You’re supposed to wait until all ten of the pedestrian’s toes are on the other end of the sidewalk before you drive! It’s an $800 fine if you don’t!”
“Look left, then right, then left again before entering the intersection.”
“You’re speeding!”
I am no longer blissfully ignorant. Furthermore, I’ve become concerned about other drivers on the road. Today, my driver’s education teacher mentioned a new study of Albertan drivers that was in the news.
The study, released October 5th by the Schulich School of Engineering at the UofC, revealed that out of 2,394 Albertans surveyed, nearly 89% failed a basic road test. As my driver’s ed teacher said, “that’s scary.”
The questions ranged from “what does a solid white line mean?” to recognizing “bicycle crossing ahead” signs. The survey concluded that Albertans just weren’t driving properly. As a resut, I’m afraid of the teenage boys that like to race, but I’m also concerned about the middle aged business people rushing to work and cutting corners.
While it scares me, it also frustrates me. New drivers like myself work hard to earn the privilege of driving, but the vast majority of Albertans on the road have to do very little to maintain that privilege. Hopefully the Alberta Motor Association will take the study into consideration and implement some of the researchers’ suggestions, which included refresher courses and online educational games.
Yes, Where’s Waldo. Where’s Waldo has been one of my favourite childhood books. I remember back in the day, when we would all gather around, and team up to find him! I would love to share my childhood experience with you! Find WALDO!
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