Music Made in Manitoba

Winnipeg has a booming music scene. Talent on talent on talent. Arguably some of the greatest musicians have come out of our beautiful city. See: The Guess Who and Fred Penner (seriously I adore Fred Penner, he made my love of sandwiches cool). 

Today, I am going to introduce you to my 5 favorite Winnipeg artists. If you're new to the city or a long-time resident, you need to give all of them a listen. 

If you're not from the city give them a listen anyway and expand their fanbase because they 100% deserve it! 

So without further ado, here are the Top 5 (as deemed by me) Best Acts in Winnipeg Today:

5. Nic Dyson

THE FEELS. Every time I listen to Nic, my heart goes out to him. You can actually feel his emotions in his songs. And then I start to feel those emotions. It's crazy. He's also proof that you should never stop following your dreams. You can do anything. He inspires me. Just try and watch him sing I Miss You and not shed a tear yourself. I see big things in this boy's future. BIG THINGS. 

4. Royal Canoe

Coming in at number four we have Royal Canoe. Recently discovered thanks to Ace Burpee, I cannot stop listening to them. Their video for Bathtubs just speaks to me in the weirdest, best way possible. I haven't seen them live but I hear it's a good time. I'm putting it on my list of things to do in 2014. 

3. Andrew Mitchell Music

Am I allowed to put a friend on the list? Whoops, I just did. Andrew Mitchell is one super talented dude. He works really hard at it too and that's pretty inspiring. I've never met anyone (other than me) who wakes up at 3 am, has an idea, and starts writing it down immediately. That's dedication. Because ya know, sleep is usually important. I'm off topic. The point is, he's good. And ladies he's single.

2. The Treble Band

These guys are big news. So don't tell me you've never heard of them. And if you haven't then you need to get to clicking and listening because ehrmagerd so good. I have also never seen them live but that is another thing on my list of things to do. I've maybe creeped on them once or twice at a TMTTP show and by creeped I mean passed them and was like "oh that's The Treble, cool". Anyway, I'm getting off topic. They're really good and it reminds me yet again how lucky I am to live in this city. I'm pretty sure one of them is a teacher and how cool would that be to be his student? Pretty cool if you ask me. I need to stop saying cool so much. 

1. Take Me To The Pilot

I may be biased. Actually I am 100% biased because my friend Jon is the drummer. But that doesn't mean they aren't the best thing to come out of Winnipeg since Winnie the Pooh (which is really high on my list of amazing things Winnipeg has given the world). Their pop vibe and foot-tapping, head bobbing, sing-at-the-top-of-your-lungs inducing melodies make them easily number one on this list. Also, ladies, they aren't bad on the eyes if ya know what I mean. 50% of them are single but you'll probably have to fight off their screaming fan girls to get to them so good luck with that. They just came back from touring Western Canada so I'm not sure when you can catch them live but I'm sure (hoping) they'll be performing in early 2014. I also heard rumors of a new album coming, so anyway, enough rambling, listen to their beautiful holiday track. 

So there you have. My Top 5. I hope you enjoy them. Anyone you think I should add to my list? Let me know, I love hearing from you!

Cancer Doesn't Care

I made a promise yesterday that I would post about Winnipeg music today.

I lied. 

Something extremely important and dear to me came up and I'm gonna need to postpone that other post to make way for this one instead.

I'm going to need everyone to take 2 minutes out of their day and read this post right here. This girl is an American blogger that I follow and she posted about an organization called The Young and Brave. It's an American non profit dedicated to raising money and awareness for cancer. Focus on the Young. Cancer doesn't care how old you are, how fit or active you are, the price tag on your jeans, what material possession you may own. It strikes whenever and however it wants to and it doesn't discriminate.

This is a cause near and dear to me. I had a cousin lose a leg before he was even a teenager. He was active, fit, no one saw it coming.

Canadians are generous peoples. Winnipeggers do so much for Cancer research and that's something I'm so proud of. So now I'm going to encourage you to go to Cancer Care Foundation MB and see what you can do to help. Cancer doesn't care if you're 20 or 50.

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I also encourage you to visit Children's Wish because they made my cousins dreams come true and kept his spirits high.

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Thank you Winnipeg. I love you.

Santa Claus Parade and My Apologies!

Hi my name is Melissa and I am the WORST. I have neglected this little blog of mine but I will try my darndest to keep this corner of the internet up to date from now on. In the next few days, there will be a new design and posts every day!

I never completed my list of 101 Things to do in Winnipeg but that isn't going to stop me from exploring this beautiful city of mine. Now that the snow has fallen, there are 100 new things for me to do. Recently, I've been hitting up the local music scene. So tomorrow, I will give you a full report on what I've been up to lately. For now, please accept my sincerest apologies.

Today I want to discuss the Santa Claus Parade. In my humble opinion, it is one of the greatest Winnipeg traditions! This year, I was lucky enough to be on a float with my work. Probably the most fun I've had on a Saturday in a loooong time. Seeing the thousands of parents and children line the streets of Portage Ave and Main St. was so heart warming. I didn't get a chance to see many of the other floats, just what was directly in front of me and directly behind me (shout out West Jet for a cute float!). It was well organized, the weather was perfect and the smiles on everyone's faces was almost too much to handle. Enjoy this photo dump from the day.

If you missed the parade, I found this Youtube video you can watch to get an idea.

Number 13: Tinkertown!

This might be cheating, but it's a better alternative than being that creepy adult walking around without children taking pictures. 

So today we're going to throw it back, wayyyy back to 1994. Or 1995. I'm not really sure. It doesn't matter, the point is that Tinkertown was a staple of my childhood. I was lucky enough to have a stay at home mommy that took us to do things all the time. And the majority of those times were spent with my second family who lived a wonderful 3 houses away, the Hornby's. Eric, Lynn and Colin are like brothers and sisters to me and my sis. To this day we remain super close and I have to say it's all thanks to our moms for keeping us so busy together all the time. 

thanks for helping me rock the lion king mom

From the jalopies, to the lady bugs, the roller coaster and the gigantic stinky play-place, some of my favorite memories were spent here. My all time favorite was the carousel though. 

there's my pops, my brutha from anotha mutha and my actual sister

my sista from anotha mista, real sister, second dad, and wee little baby brother (also from another mother)

If you have kids, you would be really smart to take them here. No fuss way to enjoy a day! Plus who doesn't love to let their inner child out, can anyone say Ferris Wheel and cotton candy?

Number 37: Ikea

My favorite place. I honestly wish I had a million dollars (and my own place) so I could buy ALL THE THINGS. Unfortunately for me, I'm still living at home and my room is about as furnished as it's ever going to get. So I had to settle for a dresser and some dvd racks. 

Guess what? I built the dresser all by myself. My mother thought I couldn't do it because, I'll admit, I can be kind of a princess. But I vowed I would use tools and make this little monstrosity myself. Two days and a cramped back later and voilà! 

Call me a master carpenter because this is one beautifully put together piece of furniture. (In reality, I think I put some screws in the wrong place and it shouldn't have taken two days, but please let me revel in this accomplishment). 

to the right is the dvd shelves. love!

Also, nobody will ever convince me that there is anything better than an Ikea cinnamon bun and coffee for $2. Nothing gets better than that!

Number 23: Mexican - Taco Del Mar

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I tried Taco Del Mar for the first time last week. Unfortunately, I can't say that I really enjoyed it. I found it pretty mediocre and a little expensive for what I got. The burrito was kind of bland. I was really looking forward to this place! Looks like I'll have to stay with Burrito Del Rio for now. 

I have only been to Burrito Del Rio once but it was delicious! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures because I'm terrible at remembering to take them. Sorry :( 

Also, I'm fully aware that it's October, which means technically summer is over, but because I got so behind on blogging (I was focused on my other blog just a tad too much) I'm going to be continuing until they come out with a Fall/Winter list!

Number 18: The Whistle Pig Drive-In

This could very possibly be my favorite part about Summer, but that could just be the Transcona girl in me. I have been hitting up this little joint every year since I was a toddler. It's a family tradition. Here you will find the greasiest, yummiest food in the world. My personal favorite is the Whistle Dog. Bacon, cheese, onions, how could you go wrong!?

I seriously recommend this place and try the banquet burger too! The only qualm I have is that this is possibly one of the creepiest things I've seen in awhile.