Italian Girl in Algiers
Vancouver Opera
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
January 26, 29. 31 and February 2nd 2008

An Italian girl in a Muslim harem?  A Korean soprano wife singing in Italian to her German-Canadian bass husband?  Opera is so very multicultural, and Vancouver Opera's new production of Rossini's "Italian Girl in Algiers" is a delight!

Can you imagine anything crazier than one of the opera's stars, Randall Jakobsh playing Mustafa, dancing around "naked" behind a towel, or being "powdered" by his servants while singing to a beautiful Rossini score?

I have always loved Rossini's music.  Many generations have grown up identifying Rossini's "William Tell Overture" as "The Lone Ranger Theme" - the musicality burned into our brains.  The Italian Girl in Algiers also has many memorable passages that dusted off my early memories of listening to one of the essential classical music collections - Rossini Overtures.

Vancouver Opera's new production of "Italian Girl In Algiers" originally presented in 1813, is now set during the roaring '20's, a time of mad-cap comedy described as Emily Earhart meets the Marx Brothers.  This sets the stage for the audience to accept the absurd comedic plots and situations that are to come, and all accompanied by a gorgeous Rossini musical score.

Now imagine sitting in the audience, when a 1920's bi-plane flies over your head, then sputters, crash landing on stage of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.  It actually happens... and the audience claps enthusiastically!

The opera opens with a super huge gigantic book on stage, that opens up to reveal the set design - the palace of the Governor of Algiers.  Just like a bedtime story,  the message is this: don't take this opera seriously... sit back and enjoy the story.

The Governor Mustafa has grown tired of  his wife Elvira, and thinks that an exotic Italian girl will bring him happiness.  He decides to send his wife off with Lindoro, an Italian slave at his court captured only 3 months earlier by Mustafa's pirates.  Suddenly, an airplane crashes, Isabella is looking for her lost love Lindoro.  The pirates take this "Italian Girl" to Mustafa who is instantly infatuated with Isabella, who is shocked to see her beloved Lindoro, who is supposedly being married off to Elvira, who is still in love with Mustafa. This is a comedy of love infatuations and a battle of the sexes begins.  Oh... and then there is Taddeo, the would-be Italian suitor of Isabella, during Lindor's absence. He accompanied Isabella in her search for Lindoro... what a stand up guy! Not!

Soprano Sandra Piques Eddy is perfect as a Katherine Hepburnish, pants wearing, independent woman named Isabella looking for her lost love Lindora, played by lyric tenor John Tessier, who was captured by pirates. Their voices are wonderful.  But despite this ensemble cast, Eddy clearly shines the brightest, as she loves her role as an Isabella who can tame men with a look or a wave.

Randall Jakobsh plays Mustafa, the governor of Algiers, who is instantly smitten by the vivaciously exotic Isabella. This is his debut performance with the Vancouver Opera, and his first appearance as Mustafa.  It's a perfect fit, and expect Jakobsh to be getting calls from around the world for this Rossini play as he brings so much life into a this hilarious role.

Sookhyung Park, plays Elvira the Governor's wife that he is handing her over to Lindora, to make way for this new "Italian Girl" to be added to his harem.  The Korean born Park, balances both her anger and love for Mustafa, and learns from Isabella what it takes to properly "train a husband."

Rounding out the cast is Hugh Russell as Taddeo, who brings additional comic relief.  Mustafa wants to impress Isabella, and so he names Taddeo as Grand Kaimakan (a lieutenant position amongst his followers).  Taddeo meanwhile does everything he can to thwart Mustafa's advances on Isabella.

But who is Randall Jakobsh, and why should BC opera goers be proud of him?

Imagine a younger, sexier, slimmer Ben Heppner singing Bass - and born and rasied in Vernon BC.  This is Randall.

If there ever was a role made for Randall Jakobsh to demonstrate his abilities, this might be it.  It allows Randall to be charming and sexy, but this also pushes him in his first bufo-comedy role.  He shared with me that this is the hardest role he has ever done, and he was quite anxious about his Vancouver Opera debut when I talked with him on Boxing Day in Vernon. 

But after watching Jakobsh on stage in not much more than a "towel" while singing in a "bath" while the audience laughed at the unexpected rubber ducky, we can all be assured that Randall's star is rising.  He was calm, and looked to be having fun in his role, even when not singing.  He asked what we thought of his "dancing bear" as he hammed it up on stage singing about his infatuation with the Italian Girl, while his slaves powdered him and washed him "behind the towel."  I had to laugh because when Randall had come over to the house to visit in Vernon, it had been us sitting in the hot tub, and inviting him to come join us.

Our Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner always great for incredible images and memorable moments.  Joe McDonald and Todd Wong perform the "Haggis Rap", Catherine Barr leads a kilted male chorus in a "Toast to the Lassies", celtic band Blackthorn perfrom on stage...

a) Children's lion head mask
b) Host and creator of Gung Haggis Fat Choy - Todd Wong aka "Toddish McWong"
c) Co-host Catherine Barr and Todd auction off bottles of Johnny Walker Red Label scotch
d) All the performers sing O Canada
e) Hot & Sour soup - vegetarian style
f) Ginger crab
g) Blackthorn celtic band
h) Joe McDonald + Jim McWilliams bagpipe the haggis, while Hareesh drums the dohl drum.
i) Hareesh drums for Vancouver mayor Sam Sullivan
j) Joe Mcdonald "raps" and slices the haggis.
k) some of the many tasty and savoury dishes including the haggis lettuce wrap.
l) Grace Chin and Jim Wong-Chu read his poem "Recipe for Tea" - a Gung Haggis favorite
m) Ji-Rong Huang and Todd Wong perform "The Horse Race" on erhu and accordion
n) Catherin Barr poses with her kilted male chorus from the "Toast to the Lassies"

Metro News - Rafe Arnott

Metro News Vancouver posts a story Mixing it up with haggis won tons by Andrea Woo, and a picture by Rafe Arnott.

Andrea and Rafe showed up at Floata Restaurant, as I was up to my eyeballs in challenges as we prepared the 2008 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner for a 5:00 opening.  They were very patient waiting for me to give some direction to our volunteers from the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team, then change into my kilt, and my red vest with chinese dragons. 

Andre is Chinese... and maybe Rafe is Scottish... 

Rafe took an amazing picture with the Scottish flag in the background, and me holding a small Chinese lion head mask.  And... I am sporting a goatee beard and moustache.  One of the few times I have ever had a goattee/moustache and dared to wear it in public.  I think it makes me look more Scottish d'ya ken?

Gung Haggis Fat Choy made it to the CBC Blog and

Check out:

As well as being the time of year when kilted men address a haggis, it is also getting close to the time of year when many people say, "Gung Hei Fat Choy," addressing the Chinese New Year.

Todd Wong does both. He's a Chinese Canadian whose family has been in B.C. since the 19th century. Some years ago he was asked to help out with a Robbie Burns day celebration, and this is what it led to -- a fine example of cross-cultural Canadianism, with the annual celebration of Chinese New Year's AND Robbie Burns day, called Gung Haggis Fat Choy.

Last night, Vancouver Poet Laureate George McWhirter read an incredible poem especially for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy: Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner.  It delves into the rich history of Scots and Chinese Canadians.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy World Poetry Event
7pm Vancouver Public Library
Alice Mackay Room

FREE EVENT

Featuring:

Vancouver poet laureate George McWhirter

Governor Generals Award for Poetry winner Fred Wah,

with other contemporary Scottish-Canadian and Chinese-Canadian poets.

Todd Wong's accordion

Joe McDonald's bagpipe

Rebecca Blair's celtic harp

It was a memorable night - the BEST Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner ever!

There was an incredibly warm vibe full of surprises... and we went and rolled with it.

Who would have expected:

...being greeted by complementary scotch tastings by Johnny Walker - Gold and Green labels?

...that following Catherine Barr's reading of the Selkirk Grace, that the Blackthorn men to spontaneously rise from their seats and lead a song, followed by all the good strong Scotsmen in the audience?

...an erhu/accordion duet with Ji-Rong Huang and Toddish McWong?

... the depth and complexity of Scots and Chinese issues imortalized in a poem by Vancouver Poet Laureate,  George McWhirter?

...Catherine Barr's rap version of the Toast to the Lassies would include a male chorus in kilts including Vancouver councilor Raymond Louie, and MLA Gregor Robertson?

...the creative visuals and story of The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam, with Chinese-Scottish-Irish-Swedish-Austian Hapa-Canadian Ann Marie Fleming?

... The Quickie's snappy words about dating Asian or White Men?

...a Chinese cowboy in the audience?  Where did those cowboys come from?

...the incredible cultural fusion of bagpipes with funky bass lines, and the tabla and dohl drumming of Brave Waves.... Wow - Hareesh really liked drumming for the Mayor!

...then wrap it all up with Blackthorn on stage for "Todd Wong - where's your trousers" and a very warm circle singing of Auld Lange Syne.

Big thank you especially to the good hard and admirable work by:
Carl Schmidt - song technician and Charlie Cho - stage manager.  They pulled it all together and kept it tight - despite the challenges of the room configuration, poor house speaker system, competing with a Chinese New Year dinner in the room beside us, and technical problems for the dvd and screen projection.

Our performers are absolutely incredible, and so were our volunteers from the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.  We couldn't have pulled off last night with out you.  I am impressed and amazed.... and dedicate this coming year to finding grants, sponsorships, events and networking that will highlight your wonderful talents.

The evening was our fundraiser for very worthy organizations in Metro Vancouver - Joy Kogawa House, Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop and Gung Haggis Fat Choy dragon boat team.  These organizations help highlight the Asian-Canadian history of British Columbia, as well as contemporary arts and culture, as well as the integration of multiculturalism and interculturalism in our society.

Next year's Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner will be:

January 25th, Sunday, 2009 - the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Robbie Burns

and we will be holding one of the largest Burns dinners in North America...

oh, and did you know that January 25th is also the Eve of Chinese New Year?

Big big surprises coming up for next year....
organize your table now...

Gung Haggis Fat Choy 10th Anniversary dinner is going to sell out at 400 seats!

We have a limited number of seats left available.
Tickets Tonight stopped sales this afternoon, 24 hours before the event.
Many tickets were sold by the table...

If guests want to purchase tickets at the door, or participate in the silent auction, please bring cash or cheque.

Thank you!

What to expect at the Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2008 Dinner

The Arrival

Arrive Early: 

The doors will open after 5:00 pm, if everything goes well... All tables are reserved, and all tables are placed in the order that they were ordered.

If you bought your tickets through Tickets Tonight, come to the reception marked Will Call - Tickets Tonight

We have placed you at tables in order of your purchase.  Somebody who bought their ticket in December will be at a table closer to the stage then somebody who bought it on the day before the event.  We think this is fair.  If you want to sit close for next year - buy your ticket early.

If you reserved a table, then come to the reception marked Will Call - Reserved Tables.  We will give the organizer the tickets to distribute... or check the guests names off as they arrive

The Bar is open:

We expect a rush just prior to the posted 5:30pm reception time.  This is the time to go to the bar and get your dram of Johnny Walker Red or your order of Guinness beer. - specially brought in for tonight's dinner.  Diageo is the distributor of these fine spirits, and we are pleased they have become a sponsor for our event.

Johnny Walker Red is a favorite at Chinese New Year Dinners because the colour red is considered good luck in Chinese Culture. Johnny Walker Green is a special blend of four single malt whiskies: Talisker, Linkwood, Cragganmore and Caol Ila.  Diageo is donating some bottles of Johnny Walker to raffle/auction off, plus a special gift basket.  Please support our sponsor by purchasing their products at the bar.

Buy Your Raffle Tickets:

Please buy raffle tickets... this is how we generate our fundraising.  We purposely keep our admission costs low to $60 for advance regular seats so that they are affordable and the dinner can be attended by more people.  Children's tickets are subsidized so that we can include them in the audience and be an inclusive family for the evening. We have some great door and raffle prizes lined up.  Lots of books (being the writers we are), gift certificates and theatre tickets + other surprises.

Click here to see some of the prizes

FREE Subscription for Ricepaper Magazine:

Everybody is eligible for a subscription to RicePaper Magazine, (except children). This is our thank you gift to you for attending our dinner. And to add value ($20) to your ticket. Pretty good deal, eh? Rice Paper Magazine is Canada's best journal about Asian Canadian arts and culture, published by Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop,

Kogawa House 1944?

This dinner is the primary fundraising event for:

The Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dragon Boat team continues to promote multiculturalism through dragon boat paddling events, and puts a dragon boat float each year in the Vancouver St. Patrick's Day Parade. 

Since 2001, Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop, has been a partner in this remarkable dinner event.  ACWW are the publishers of RicePaper Magazine.

Save Kogawa House committee joined our family of recipients in 2006, during the campaign to save Joy Kogawa's childhood home from demolition.  The Land Conservancy stepped in to fundraise in 2005 and purchase Kogawa House in 2006 and turn it into a National literary landmark and treasure for all Canadians. Now that the newly registered Historic Joy Kogawa House Society is registered, more money is still needed to restore it to the 1942 qualities when Joy and her family were forced to leave it, as well as create an endowment for future programming.

Please support our missions of supporting and developing emerging writers, organizing reading events, creating a literary and historical landmark in Vancouver,  and to spread multiculturalism through dragon boat paddling!

The FOOD

This year haggis dim sum appetizers will again be on a long buffet table - available at 5:30 pm.  This is going to be culinarily exciting.  We have featured deep-fried haggis won ton since 2004. Last year we introduced haggis pork dumplings (su-mei).  Don't worry - there is also vegetarian spring rolls and shrimp dumplings (haw gow).

Soon after 6:00 pm the dinner formalities begin. People are seated, and the Piping in of the musicians and hosts begins.  We will lead a singalong of Scotland the Brave and give a good welcome to our guests, and have the calling of the clans - all the reserved tables and large parties of 10.  This is a tradition at many Scottish cailles (kay-lees), or gatherings.

If you want to eat, you have to sing for your supper! (which should appear by 6:30 pm).

From then on... a new dish will appear every 10 to 15 minutes - quickly followed by one of our co-hosts introducing a poet or musical performer.  Serving 40 tables within 5 minutes, might not work completely, so please be patient.  We will encourage our guests and especially the waiters to be quiet while the performers are on stage. Then for the 5 minute intermissions, everybody can talk and make noise before they have to be quiet for the performers again.

The Performances

Expect the unexpected:  This year's dinner event is full of surprises. Even I don't know what is going to happen.  The idea is to recreate the spontaneity of the very first dinner for 16 people back in 1998 - but with 400 guests.  For that dinner, each guest was asked to bring a song or a poem to share. 

We will alternate singalongs, poetry reading, musical performance, movie excerpt, mini theatrical reading, along with a 10 course Chinese banquet dinner.

I don't want to give anything away right now as I prefer the evening to unfold with a sense of surprise and wonderment.  But let it be known that we have an incredible array of talent for the evening. 

Todd Wong, aka Toddish McWong will be the host for the evening.

Joe McDonald and his celtic-fusion band Brave Waves is again our "house band." We always delight in having Joe and his bagpipes.  This year Joe and the band will deliver a Canadian music with a multicultural twist.

This year, Joe and Todd think they have perfected their rap version of Burns' immortal poem "Addres to a Haggis" and performed it LIVE on CBC Newsworld on Robbie Burns Day.  Last year they released an MP3 version produced by No Luck Club's Trevor Chan, which aired on CBC Radio One, CBC Radio Canada International and BBC Radio Scotland.

Blackthorn, the celtic music band, is really looking forward to the cultural fusion mix that Gung Haggis Fat Choy.  Vocalist/flautist Michelle Carlisle really loved the taste-testing dinner and played a duet of Loch Lomand with host Todd Wong on his accordion, for Shaw TV's The Express with Sukhi Ghuman.

Vancouver Poet Laureate George McWhirter really appreciates the energy that Gung Haggis Fat Choy brings to Vancouver, and we are honoured he is our featured author.  Born in Ireland, his family ancestors travelled back and forth between Scotland and Ireland.  George has written a poem especially for the occasion of our 10th Anniversary.

The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam by film maker Ann Marie Fleming features a cinematic retelling about her great great grandfather magician.  Fleming is a new board member for Asian Canadian Writers' Workshop - a recipient for this increasingly famous fundraiser dinner.



Generations: The Chan Legacy is a CBC documentary - which features Todd Wong and his Gung Haggis Fat Choy creation.  Wong is a 5th generation descendant of Rev. Chan Yu Tan who arrived in Canada in 1896.

Catherine Barr, media columnist is going to introduce a Burns dinner tradition never before presented at a Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner.  Watch out for a Toast to the Lassies and Rebuttal, like you've never seen or heard before.  Definitely YouTube worthy.

A sneak preview of The Quickie, a new play by emerging playwright Grace Chin.  Burns so loved the ladies.  But do Asian ladies prefer Chinese guys or White guys?

The Quickie cast:

Poetry by Robbie Burns and Chinese Canadian poets.  What will it be?  We often like to read "Recipe for Tea" - a poem by Jim Wong-Chu, about the trading of tea from Southern China to Scotland

Our non-traditional reading of the "Address to the Haggis" is always a crowd pleaser.  But this year, audience members might be reading a different Burns poem to tie their tongues around the gaelic tinged words.  Will it be "A Man's A Man for All That," "To a Mouse," My Luv is Like a Red Red Rose," or maybe even "Tam O-Shanter?"

I hand-pick members of the audience to join us on stage to read a verse.  Past participants have included former federal Multicultural Secretary of State Raymond Chow, Qayqayt (New Westminster) First Nations Chief Rhonda Larrabee, , a descendent of Robert the Bruce, a doctor from White Horse, a UBC student from Scotland, somebody doing a vocal impression of Sean Connery.

Who will it be for 2008?  We leave it up until the evening to decide.

The evening will wrap up somewhere between 9:00 and 9:30 pm, with the singing of Auld Lang Syne - with a verse in Mandarin Chinese. Then we will socialize further until 10pm.  People will leave with smiles on their faces and say to each other, "Very Canadian,"  "Only in Vancouver could something like this happen," or "I'm telling my friends."

Todd Wong and Joe McDonald will appear today, January 25th
LIVE on CBC Newsworld at:

12:45pm PST.
(not broadcast later for PST- as previously thought)

This means Todd and Joe will be either the Vancouver Public Library South Plaza or in the CBC studio.

Todd is bringing a haggis... and doing an interview.
Joe McDonald will step in and they will do a rap version of Robbie Burns immortal poem "Address to a Haggis" - 60 second short version 2 verses.

The full 3 minute version is dowloadable on MP3
click here
Gung HAGGIS RAP Choy - Robbie Burns Address to a Haggis set to rap music

This year's dinner will be a mix of announced performers, traditional singalongs, surprise guests, documentary movie excerpts + sneak preview of a brand new Asian Canadian theatre play + lots of raffle prizes.

To recognize our 10th anniversary... we are trying to recreate the spontaneity of the very first dinner for 16 people back in 1998 - but with 400 guests.  For that dinner, each guest was asked to bring a song or a poem to share.  We will alternate singalongs, poetry reading, musical performance, movie excerpt, mini theatrical reading, along with a 10 course Chinese banquet dinner.

Please read below for descriptions of 2008 performers, and planned events.

Media Alert

January 25th, 2008

Gung Haggis Fat Choy!
Chinese-Scots-Canadians deep-fry Robbie Burns and lettuce rap the haggis.

10th Annual Toddish McWong's Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner features special guests and surprises... like the anticipation of Vancouver councilor Raymond Louie wearing a kilt!  Mc Louie and McWong will start off Robbie Burns Day by a joint appearance on Rock 101's Bro Jake Show.

January 27th, 2008
5:00 reception, 6:00 dinner
Floata Seafood Restaurant
#400 - 180 Keefer St.
Vancouver Chinatown.

"This is shaping up to the best Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner yet!" states bagpiper Joe McDonald, who has piped in the haggis for 8 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners beginning in 2001.  Joe and organizer Todd Wong will be featured on CBC Newsworld's 6pm tv broadcast to the nation on January 25th, when they will perform a short rap version Robbie Burns' immortal poem - Address to a Haggis.  McDonald and his cross-cultural fusion band Brave Waves provide a sonic setting for many of the evening's singalongs.


Gung Haggis Fat Choy is a dinner like no other.  Jam-packed with cross-cultural references to the Scottish and Chinese pioneer history of British Columbia, it feeds its audience a cultural-fusion cuisine of deep-fried haggis wun tun and lettuce wrap in a 10 course Chinese banquet.  It looks forward to the future of Chinese-Scottish-Canadian mixed DNA, and present-time Hapa-Canadian culture of mixed ethnicity.

Vancouver poet Laureate George McWhirter has written a special poem for the event.  He unveiled it at the Tuesday night rehearsal dinner to a very pleased private audience.



Blackthorn, the celtic music band, is really looking forward to the cultural fusion mix that Gung Haggis Fat Choy.  Vocalist/flautist Michelle Carlisle really loved the taste-testing dinner and played a duet of Loch Lomand with host Todd Wong on his accordion, for Shaw TV's The Express with Sukhi Ghuman.



















For more information
Call Todd Wong
h: 604-987-7124
c: 778-846-7090
email: gunghaggisfatchoy.com
www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com

Here are the latest media appearance and stories about Gung Haggis Fat Choy:

Friday January 25
Bro Jake Show Classic Rock 101 FM
with Vancouver City councilor Raymond Louie - some time between 7:30am and 8:45am

Friday January 25
The Express on SHAW TV - channel 4
Interviews and footage from the taste-testing rehearsal
at 10am, 11am, 11:30am, 2pm, 3pm

January 25
TIME CHANGE
CBC News World 12:45pm PST
CBC TV 26 - Todd Wong interview + Haggis Rap by Todd & Joe McDonald

Georgia Straight - Straight Choices - Jan 24
King of Culture - page 19

Vancouver Sun - January 23
On the burner - Mia Stainsby,
Gung Haggis Fat Choy: This Scottish-Chinese-Canadian tri-brid event celebrates its 10th year

Georgia Straight - Blog  - Jan 16
I will wear a kilt to Robbie Burns dinner, Coun. Raymond McLouie

Haggis haggis everywhere! 

Here are the latest media stories about Gung Haggis Fat Choy, as Todd appears on Rock 101's Bro Jake Show, Shaw TV's The Express and CBC Newsworld + Georgia Straight.

Tomorrow I am on the Bro Jake Show with Vancouver City councilor Raymond Louie - some time between 7:30am and 8:45 Classic Rock 101 FM

The Express on SHAW TV - channel 4
Friday January 25 - Robbie Burns Day
at 10am, 11am, 11:30am, 2pm, 3pm

- good shots of Michelle Carlisle from Blackthorn
- Todd playing accordion
- lots of food - with Catherine Barr, Charlie Cho, George McWhirter, Deb Martin and Leanne Riding.

January 25
CBC News World somewhere between 5pm and 6:30pm
CBC TV 26 - Todd Wong interview + Haggis Rap by Todd & Joe McDonald

+ Georgia Straight - Straight Choices - Jan 24
King of Culture - page 19

Georgia Straight - Blog  - Jan 16
I will wear a kilt’ to Robbie Burns dinner, Coun. Raymond McLouie ...

Raymond Louie will be kilted for Gung Haggis Fat Choy

News Flash...
Raymond McLouie and Toddish McWong will appear on the Bro Jake Show on Rock 101.
January 25th, Robbie Burns Day
somewhere between 7:30 and 8:45am

The rumours are true.  Vancouver city councilor Raymond Louie will be seen in attire other than his dapper suits. Raymond has supported Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinners in the past, bringing his family to the 2006 dinner featuring children's entertainers Rick Scott and Harry Wong.

‘I will wear a kilt’ to Robbie Burns dinner, Coun. Raymond McLouie promises Gung Haggis Fat Choy organizer Todd Wong

Vancouver has a large Scottish diaspora.  There is a Scottish Cultural Studies program at Simon Fraser University, also home to one of the best bagpipe bands in the world.  There is a stature of Robbie Burns in Stanley Park.  There are TWO Robbie Burns dinners in Vancouver Chinatown... the 45+ year old tradition by the Chinatown Lions Club which is a traditional Burns type supper... and of course the wild and wacky Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner, created by yours truly - Toddish McWong

It is this latter dinner that is considered a "Friend of Scotland" and posted on the web page article A Thistle Wrapped in Maple Leaves.

Sometimes I get invited to Scottish events by the British Consulate in Vancouver.  Here is the First Minister's 2008 message for Burns Night, sent to me from Russell Walker:

This month we are celebrating Scotland's national bard, Rabbie Burns. All over Scotland, and the world, people are organising Burns Suppers and ceilidhs celebrating the poet with a supper of haggis, neeps and tatties.

Burns Night brings all of Scotland's cultures together to celebrate our country's national poet, beloved songwriter and cultural ambassador. The range of Burns' work is vast. Writing in the late eighteenth century, he dealt with major themes of his day such as politics and the role of the Kirk; as well as the eternal questions of love, social justice and nationhood.

The Scotland of Burns' day owed him much. Burns not only helped to restore Scots' pride and confidence in the nation. He also did his best to support the Scots language when it was under threat. Published in 1786, the 'Kilmarnock volume' – or Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish dialect – contained some of Burns' best work and it was a timely boost for Scotland's language and culture.

Modern Scots also owe a debt to Rabbie Burns. As one of our nation's greatest figures, he embodies many of our distinctive qualities: compassion, humanity and a passion for learning – as well as a sharp wit and an urge to question conventional wisdom. When we honour Rabbie Burns, we don't simply remember a great poet and songwriter. We also pay homage to a man of enduring vision and values; a Scot who showed us our uniqueness and our huge potential.

The celebration of our national Bard doesn't end at our shores. Events will be held across the world. From St Andrews to St Petersburg, Burns is celebrated in every corner of the globe. The Bard's universality is shown by the number of events today, remembering him with a dram of whisky, Burns Supper, and recital of his inspiring poetry.

This year, Burns Night will also close Scotland's first ever Winter Festival. Looking back to the wonderful events we have held for St Andrew's Day and Hogmanay, the Winter Festival has been a huge success for our nation. I am greatly looking forward to the celebrations in years to come and to our Homecoming 2009 celebrations –www.homecomingscotland.com.

Here's to Burns, his enduring legacy, his pride in our nation and his inspiration for our Homecoming celebrations – for auld lang syne.

Yours for Scotland
Alex Salmond MP MSP, First Minister of Scotland
 

Russell Walker

International Networks - "Global Friends of Scotland"
Europe, External Affairs and Culture
 Scottish Government
   5 Cadogan St
     Glasgow
     G2 6AT
    Scotland

 +44 (0) 141 242 5791

 Read our features on modern Scotland at

www.scotland.org

www.scotland-now.com

www.friendsofscotland.gov.uk

Yesterday was the deadline... CBC Radio 690 AM had put its big guns special projects Sheila Peacock and programs director Joan Andersen to the task to drum up 1000 letters of support for its application to move to FM.  For the past  two weeks, CBC Radio One has not only been asking its listeners to write letters to CRTC, but also personally phone calling and e-mailing its "friends in the community."

I was contacted by Sheila Peacock and wrote: