Dance Post ...

So You Think You Can Dance is always a hit in the summer mostly because of timing and its one of the better TV talent shows - don't get me wrong it still has its corny story montages, bad one-liners, and off the cuff judges' comments. But at the end of the day the dancing is really good and the show was one of the first to bring light to one least publicized art forms. This season has some added excitement with a change in format, only took the top 10, and the addition of the "All-Stars". Unfortunately there has been lots of injuries but here, like many, is my favorite dance so far - even though Alex got voted off because he was hurt. Apparently none of the codes or links work for a good version of the dance expect this one (just watch quality ones youTube if need be).

Predicted top 3:
1. Kent
2. Lauren
3. Robbie

"When your soul dances your feet can just follow." MM
Mich

"Joy, Joy, Joy" Alegria

Went to see Cirque du Soleil - Alegria at the MTS center and all I can say is wow. I have been wanting to see any Cirque show ever since I saw those documentaries on CBC on how the athlete/artist live and work when they are a part of the show (yeah I think I'm the only one who watch them, probably why they didn't last too long, but I enjoyed them haha). Anyways I finally get why they are so popular around the world. You get a traditional circus feel with the combination of really cool technology and amazing athletes/artisit that anyone can respect, appreciate and be enthralled by. It's no wonder they have some of the longest running shows in the business. If you get a chance go, see it! And it's worth the extra money for really good seats (that will be next time for me haha).

"Cirque du Soleil is not a show its an experience that means something different to everyone."
Mich

Summer Concert Series Continued ...

It's Drizzy! Went to the Drake concert Wednesday night and it was really well done. You can tell that he puts a lot of thought into his performances and his music. Although the show was a little on the short side it was packed with exciting songs, great music by his band and an all around entertaining performance. I know I may be basis because I was a huge Degrassi fan and I'm a sucker for Canadian artists but this guy is/going to be making moves whether people like him or not, mainly because he loves what he is doing. This documentary is pretty interesting ...


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"I was only trying to get ahead. But the spotlight makes you nervous." AG
Mich

The Place in my Dreams ...

(Travel Date: July 8th to 11th)

Next stop was a place with sights and people so familiar, yet it felt so different. Maybe it's the whole decision making that was accompanying me but it brought a comforting calm to the unknown. Getting to spend 4 days at my family cottage was perfect and the weather was exactly was I was hoping for :). Thinking about it now, The Cottage is one of my favorite places in the world, like you know when you have those dreams about everyone you know or want to meet or care about, being all in one place at the same time - this is where it happens for me haha. But I haven't even really shared it with any of my friends - it is a trek from home as you can see in the map and going to university out of province doesn't help the cause but if anyone wants to make the trip I would gladly share haha. I mean having great food, family, weather and warm swimming water can happen anywhere but this is my preferred spot! Maybe its the memories and the nostalgic feel. Not too mention I always get in a good book read or two :). Maybe one day you will join me haha. Some pictures I took ....






"A cottage is a resting place for the mind, a recharging venue for the soul, and the best place to read a book."
Mich

'Every night it's fireworks' ... in Hali!

(Travel Date: June 30th to July 6th)

Next stop on my summer adventures I found myself in Halifax, NS. Got a full 6 days to catch up with some friends from high school and a few childhood friends. The trip was way beyond what I could have imagined considering I did absolutely no planning - just bought the ticket when I found out about the chance to catch-up with more than one friend in a fun city - which can be a rarity!

Some of the trip highlights include:

A really fun bar 'The Lower Deck" two nights in a row to start the trip haha!


Saw the Canada Day Fire Works from the pier in Halifax.

Saw my old basketball club Transway play in Eastern Canadian Club championships. My old coach, Mr. Nurse, was coaching were nothing has seemed to change haha. And the 'Only reds on championship Sundays' was out in full affect as they breezed to a gold medal!

"The Original 5" made dinner and had a fun night out!

With new 'gang' member and surfing guide Missy, we enjoyed a day at the beach and went on my first surf experience.

And finally, met up with two of my best friends from grade school "Kat" and "Tuff" and was able to reminisce about the fact we literally spent every weekend with each other from grades 1 to 6 and the 'mischief' we would get in to haha.

All in all it was much a good trip that I'm so glad I got to go on. Just goes to show that living in the moment and taking advantage of unexpected opportunities really pays off :).

"Good friends are like stars. You don't always see them, but you know they are always there." WW

Mich

A Trip Down Memory Land ...

I find myself having already started my summer travel adventures, without even finishing my last few updates from Manitoba. Oh and I just realized that my last blog entry may have read wrong - it was suppose to say my blog entries will almost always be life updates, as it seems like that is all i have time to do. This is further proven by the fact that I made the executive decision to not bring my computer along with me on my travels - one less valuable and electronic to carry and look after ... and maybe the longboard won the coin toss haha.

Anyways to round out some highlights from the last week, I went to two graduation ceremonies. It's that time of year! First started off with a trip to Skownan Reserve to attend their grade 9 farewell night. It was great to see there biggest (9 students) and their most successful (17 sport banders!!!) class yet. Also fun to see how much the kids have grown in only the 4 years I have known them - I'm excited to see what they do in the future because they have the potential to make so much positive change in their community!

Secondly I continued my Northern trek up to Thompson and spent the weekend with my aunt, uncle and cousins. It was my youngest cousins Nicole's graduation, which is still surreal because a part of her will forever be the 6 year kid that would sit at our kitchen table in a soaking wet bathing suit quoting all the 'bad' lines from the movie Home Alone because I let her watch it haha. But it was so cool to see how mature she has gotten over the last couple of years - she played bass twice and spoke during the ceremony, which only confirmed the confidence that she has in herself and the endless talent that she seems to have. And she won two awards which can confirmed I don't just have a family basis of praise haha. The rest of weekend we hung out, read books, when to the lake, had a bonfire, watched a movie and the soccer games, ate and drank!

All in all it was worth the northern expedition and sitting through hours of ceremony formalities to get to see all these young people be excited about what they had accomplished but be eager to move on to all the things that come next.

(And until I get my camera in working order the pictures are going to be few and far between)

"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail" GD

Mich

Vintage Moments

As luck would have it, and my Uncle as usual always providing surprises and unexpected gifts called me at 2:00pm yesterday to ask whether I wanted to go see the Dixie Chicks and The Eagles at 6pm that night!!! So I know what some of you maybe thinking that I'm not a big 'country' fan, but to be honest I have made a few exceptions over time haha. For some reason the Dixie Chicks have made their way into monumental periods in my life and their music means something to me. It was really cool to see them be so passionate about what they do and what they stand for and putting up with everything that comes with it - having a Canadian crowd to encourage is also fun haha. Than The Eagles followed ... well all I can say is thank you Mom and Dad for instilling in me the interest in all types of music - even if my Dad was slightly basis towards rock of the 60's, 70's and early 80's :). Needless to say The Eagles were a favorite listen during Saturday house cleaning or car rides to school in the morning. So getting to experience these guys live, I kind of felt privilege and a part of something - it was really cool!! They haven't lost their touch in performing, not like I can compare to another show of theirs haha, but comparing to concert of younger artist they provide an authenticity that may be lost in some of today's shows. I mean the one-legged hop guitar routine by Don Henley come on! You could know nothing about classical rock and have watched the movie School of Rock once and appreciate that! Anyways all in all I was so happy I got to go and it was something I won't soon forget.

One of many reasons these ladies are pretty inspiring ...

A little comparison ... :)

"When the train rolls by, I'm gonna be ready this time." DC
Mich

What's next??

Officially done school, at least for a while, as of last Saturday morning (were I felt slightly abused my numbers but lets not go there), so I have a new form of free time. For some reason things to occupy my time just appear at the end of the day when I have already done them and my check list of things to do is still full - either with unfinished tasks or task that came about that day. This would be referred to a alternating harmonic series - in calculus terms - and yes I just made that reference haha. But none the less it is a way better feeling knowing I can do some of the more exciting to do items, such as longboarding, read a book in the sun, or go to a concert, without the guilt of school trying to creep in and ruin it. So for now I hope to get back to some interesting blogs about random stuff I'm up to and hopefully start to figure out my plan for next year. This is a bit of transition summer for me, as I'm not playing at U of M next year and my life won't be centered around Friday and Saturday game nights, it's time to do some self discovery and see life after bison basketball - yeah I don't think that is going to be 100% possible, that was me just trying to sound philosophical - don't think it worked haha. Anyways keep you posted ...


"No news is good news sometimes!"
Mich

The Missing Skits ....

When trying to finalize the video in time for the wind-up, as usual doing it right down to the wire, I forgot two skits. Unfortunately or Fortunately for them they were a bit left out of the self-humiliation and ego checking haha. I'm posting them mostly so the girls stop asking for them and so they can see them. And iDVD update is I got one to work so we should be done mass production in no time! Enjoy them ....

Lauren's Skit from Michele Hynes on Vimeo.

Vanessa's Skit from Michele Hynes on Vimeo.

If people want to see more of these skits (there are 22), the team will have a copy of it so they can watch them whenever, but if others are interested in seeing more let me know!

"I got a fever! And the only prescription is more Cowbell!" SNL
Mich

Books, Boarding, and No Boredom

I can't believe it has almost been a month since I last posted. Apparently times flies when you aren't paying attention to it. Here's a really quick recap of everything that has highlighted the last 3 weeks:

- I finished another course, glad to have microbiology over and done with!

- We had our last JRB tournament, where we finally played age appropriate in the US (AAU tourney), so although we had some tough games we played hard. We came second in every game and 4th in our pool haha.

- I have officially started a new obsession with long boarding. I'm still really bad at it but I love just going out for rides and trying to just stay on the board (using both feet is my new goal haha). It is definitely therapeutic for my transition from playing university sport and basketball running my life, so I'm just enjoying the simplicity of my novice skills haha.

- I have started to try and plan my life for next year but it seems like I'm just getting more options added to the possible equations so I'm just focusing on finishing this last course (calculus for engineering 2 - which can consume my brain in the most confusing way that if i don't focus on it my head may explode - so it's a win win haha).

- And finally, I have been working diligently on trying to get our Bison Basketball Wind-Up video finalized. Whitney, Mubo, Eric and myself put in some countless hours to make this video funnier than last year. Which I think overall was a success! I'm just in the process of trying to get this massive iMovie video into iDVD so that it can be shared for years to come, but I'm having some technical difficulties at the moment (I'll keep you posted girls ... be patience haha). I'm hoping to post some of the videos but unfortunately if you don't know some of the people we are 'reenacting' the humor can be lost on you but you never know! Whit and Mubo could both be on the SNL cast if there current career plans don't work out so there is potential to make everyone laugh :).

Well that's the update for now ... hopefully get back to posting a little more often. Oh and did I mention how much I'm loving summer - yeah the amount of rain we have had it not fun but it makes studying easier and that much more appreciative of the sunny days!

"Don't it make you scared to know that life is more than who we are?" GD
Mich

Heli Ya!!!

So this past weekend I had my last JRB Big Country training weekend out in Boissevain, MB (our sweet t-shirt design above). We had been out here before (in previous post) so in typical stereotypical fashion I thought that we really couldn't see anything more exciting than the giant turtle and the wilderness inn but oh was I wrong! After a full Saturday of training we headed over to the house we were staying at (luckily/unfortunately we didn't stay at the wilderness inn haha) had some dinner than told we are being taken on a tour of the area. Again not trying to influence your thoughts about the prairies but it's usually far between 'tour land marks' - so this tour comment seemed questionable.
So we begin to drive through the town and we shortly arrive at a dirt path that has a cement pad and a shed ahead and thats it! Going through my mind at this point "Ok that was short but I'm sure there is something … " than I get distracted and begin to point out that "hey there is the town millionaire (I had been previously told about this guy) riding around in his helicopter - no big deal haha". As we stop in front of this cement pad the helicopter is flying right at us - "so cool" …. the light bulb went off - WE ARE GOING ON A HELICOPTER TOUR OF THE AREA!!! It was unreal and so cool to experience. I love the feeling of flying but this was a whole new level! You could see everything around you during flight it was unbelievable. Some pictures of the views and my excitement haha …







Again this weekend provided another example of how lucky I am to get to connect with amazing people who have provided me with these opportunities that just refresh my perspective, ignite my soul and remind me to be grateful everyday - oh and did I mention that I get to be around basketball while I'm at it?

"Who has more fun than us?" JD
Mich

"To Write Love On Her Arms"

Another cool find at Ron Jon's was a really interesting brand that was selling clothing, mostly graphic tee's, for a really cool cause. Check out the website and let me what you think, pretty interesting concept and thought it was a pretty inspiring idea.
Here is a video of one of their current campaigns.



"The vision is we actually believe what we are doing" JT
Mich

Riding on the Ocean ...

As previously mentioned I was able to get some solid shopping in when I was down in Florida. Little did I know heading into the trip, because my typical pre-trip research was not done due to exams, there was a hidden gem waiting down the road from my hotel. For anyone that knows anything about surfing - I didn't - the famous Ron Jon's Surf shop was waiting for me! The building alone blew my mind, than you walk in and see a massive amounts of skate and surf boards and all the fixings to go alone with it ... Awesome haha!!!


This is were I found my new baby - my longboard (I know what most of you are thinking, long boarding in Winnipeg is not possible due to lack of hills, which is partly true but I still have fun). I have been waiting awhile for this purchase and I couldn't have asked for a better deal, board, or memorable buy. I pretty much have not gone a day without going for a cruise so it was well worth the wait and the money! Here are some pics …

Needless to say after being in the costal Florida environment for a week, my care-free and adventurous side wanted to sign up for the 3 month long surf school and live on the beach … but as it turns out I returned to Winnipeg … for now …. haha.

"You can't stop the waves or wind but you can learn to roll with them"
Mich

Faith, Trust & Pixie Dust

Sorry for the delay in the "Wedding Post" I guess it has been a busier two weeks than anticipated ….
Fortunately for me I was able to get a week in between my last exam and the first day of summer session to have a nice trip down to Florida! The occasion was for my brother's wedding (yes my twin brother! - which was more official than my last birthday to confirm that I'm becoming an adult …….. maybe haha). My dad and I headed down early to help with any left over 'arrangements', which was basically our excuse for going for a full week :). My brother, Sean, now lives in Cocoa Beach Florida which is right by Port Canaveral and Orlando, not to mention with the Kennedy Space Center in the background. Needless to say he is not missing the snow in the winter and the mosquitoes in the summer, but I have to say (to make me feel better) he is having to 'adjust to the heat' - right?!? Anyways, the wedding was on the beach right outside our hotel which was a 5 minute walk from their house, so everything was in one spot. 'Our multi-nation living' family was able to be there for a full 4 days together which was one of the best parts, seeing how we haven't been together since last Christmas! And my Aunt, Uncle and Gran came down too, so it was a really fun time - not one cocktail hour was missed! haah . The wedding was right on the beach with a non-traditional ceremony that was very perfect for Sean's new family :) and everyone looked beautiful.





After all the wedding festivities I definitely made sure to get some solid beach and shopping time! ... no Disneyland or amusement park though :( .... All in all it was a great wedding and I'm so happy for my brother and the new journey he is starting with Suzanne - and Emma and Cassy.

"I can open your eyes, take you wonder by wonder" Ad
Mich

Wind-Up 2010 Trailer 2

Here you go ladies - editing is killing me - no need for ab workout this week haha. Sorry for those of you who can't fully understand the concept of this hilariousness but Whitney and Mubo are doing such a good job of capturing the essence of how our team shows love by making fun of everything you do and making sure you have only enough confidence to get by until you do something else to be made fun of. Let me know what you think ...

Wind-up 2010 Trailer 2 from Michele Hynes on Vimeo.

"Make sure life is worth smiling and laughing at when it flashes before your eyes" MH
Mich