“Harry Potter”…I believe that just about sums up life at the moment for many of us! With the midnight screening coming up just three nights from now, there’s much to do in order to be prepared.  I myself will be hosting a Harry Potter marathon during the day; we will be running films four through seven (part one).  After that we will all head to the theatre, in full costume of course!
I thought I could present to all of you some ideas if you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed by the few days left.

Recipes:

Butterbeer:

-Whipping cream

-Root beer

Pour a small amount of whipping cream into the bottom of a glass and pour the root beer over it.  Try to make the whipping cream foam on top.

Licorice wands:

-Black licorice

-White chocolate

Cut small pieced of licorice and dip the ends in melted white chocolate.  You may also decorate the ends with sprinkles if you like.

Cauldron cakes (1):

-Two bite brownies

-Think black licorice

Cut small sticks of black licorice and push them into the brownies to form handles

Cauldron cakes (2):

-Brownies

-Green icing

Cut brownies into circles, and ice with a green icing.  You may add other decorations into the icing (potion) if you so chose.

Costumes:

Bellatrix:

Wear a low cut black tank top, preferably slightly patterned.  On the bottom wear a long black skirt, with a wide leather belt over top, other fabrics will serve as well.  Black lace glovettes and teased hair will complete her dark maniac look.

Tonks:

Wear a long black leather jacket undone over a gray shirt with some lace at the top. Wear either ripped tights or striped black pants, and black combat boots.  Tonks’ signature pieces are a thin black leather necklace with five small bells, and black leather studded gloves.

Hogwarts student:

To keep it simple wear a dress shirt, a grey (black will suffice) sweater, skirt, and knee socks, and a tie in your preferred house’s colours. Simple and easy to throw together at the last minute!

Well, there are some ideas for all you Potter fanatics in need of some advice…I hope you find it helpful.

3 DAYS LEFT!

Last weekend I raised the Canadian flag at Hands Across the Border. Hands Across the Border is an annual event that celebrates the ongoing friendship between Canada and the United States. This event takes place at the Peace Arch, which was built in 1921 to commemorate the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. The inscription along the interior of the arch reads, “May these gates never be closed.”

The day’s celebrations begin well before the main event.  Guides and Scouts from both countries begin arriving at 8 o’clock…thus commence the trading! Tents are set up across the field, with boys and girls of all ages trading everything from crafts to crests.  At 1 o’clock 144 flags are carried down the street.  These flags represent all countries in WAGGGS, except for the home country of Canada. Behind the flags are the Mounties and Border Guards, followed by Laura, two Boy Scouts, and myself, the four chosen to raise the flag.  Behind us is the body of the parade, where patrols from BC walk together to show their support the continuing peace.  This group meets up with its American counterpart, and the doubled parade marches through the Peace Arch together.  As they pass the stage the different units and patrols are announced.  After this, the serious portion of the event begins with the raising of the national flags.

My role was to help my friend Laura, who was chosen to raise our national flag.  I feel that I can speak for the both of us were incredibly nervous! I held the tail of the flag, as it was raised…and raised without a flaw!  Afterwards, the national anthems were sung, speeches were made, and the veterans were remembered.

With that, the official portion of the day came to a close, but the celebrations continued into the late afternoon.

Hands Across the Border 2011 was a very powerful and moving event, and I look forward to attending it in years to come!

Who here's seen the ‘90s TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Heard of it? Read the comic books? Shame on those of you that didn't answer yes to at least one of the above!

Here's on overview of the different seasons for those who don't know it yet…

Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an American TV series that aired from March 1997 to May 2003.  It was written and directed by Joss Whedon. The show follows the life of Buffy Summers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) who is latest in the line of Vampire Slayers.  Slayers are called to battle against vampires, demons, and creatures of darkness.  The Slayer is guided by her Watcher, Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head), and has a group of close friends who aid in her work.  Willow, Xander, Cordelia, and Oz nicknamed themselves the “Scooby Gang”. Each season focuses on a specific idea or enemy that Buffy and her friends must conquer.

Season one begins when Buffy moves to Sunnydale as a result of being expelled from her old school after burning down a gym full of vampires.  At Sunnydale High, Buffy tries to escape her Slayer duties but is reminded of them by Giles. It is learned that the library of the high school lies above the Hellmouth, a portal to the daemon and supernatural world. The season focuses on The Master, an ancient and powerful vampire who attempts to break free from the spells holding him to take over Sunnydale.

The second season is filled with relationships.  Two new vampires, Spike and Drusilla come to Sunnydale, set on destroying Buffy. Relationships develop between Xander and Cordelia, and Willow and Oz. Willow becomes involved in witchcraft, and Oz is revealed to be a werewolf. Buffy and Angel grow closer, but after sleeping together Angel loses his soul returning him to his prior state as Angelus, a sadistic killer. He torments the “Scooby Gang” and kills Giles’ girlfriend Jenny Calendar. The moment before Buffy kills him, Willow returns his soul.  This shatters her, and she leaves Sunnydale to attempt a new life in Los Angeles.

In season three Buffy returns to Sunnydale and Angel is resurrected. Giles is fired from the Watcher’s Council for developing fatherly feelings for Buffy. This leads to Buffy quitting the council and working as a lone Slayer. Sunnydale mayor, Richard Wilkins, plans to ascend (become a giant snake daemon) on Graduation Day. The new Slayer, Faith, who was sent after Kendra’s death, switches sides to work alongside the mayor. After a fight with Buffy, she lands in a coma, and the entire graduation class defeats mayor Wilkins by blowing up Sunnydale High.

In season four, Buffy and Willow enroll at UC Sunnydale and Xander starts dating Anya, a former vengeance daemon. The Initiative, a top-secret military installation, plants a microchip in Spike’s head, which prevents him from harming humans. He then begins to fight alongside the “Scooby Gang”. Through Riley Finn, a member of the Initiative and Buffy’s boyfriend, the Initiative’s sinister plans are revealed when a daemon/human/computer hybrid secret project escapes and wreaks havoc on the town.

In season five Dawn appears.  She is Buffy’s younger sister, and though she was never present in the series before, the characters treat her as though she has always been there. An exiled hell-God, Glory, searches for the “Key” which will allow her to return to her Hell dimension.  However, this process would unleash hell on Earth. The Key is revealed to be Dawn. Spike realizes that he loves Buffy and continues to help her. Buffy’s mother dies of a brain aneurysm, Xander proposes to Anya, and Glory realizes that Dawn is the Key. Buffy sacrifices her own life to save Dawn's and prevent the portal to the Hell dimensions from opening.

When Buffy’s friends resurrect her at the beginning of season six, they think that they have saved her from Hell.  However, Buffy was actually in Heaven and falls into a deep depression due to being forced back to Earth. Giles returns to England so that Buffy won’t rely on him, and Buffy begins an abusive relationship with Spike. When Xander leaves Anya at the altar, she reverts to her daemon state, and Willow becomes addicted to magic, causing her girlfriend Tara to temporarily leave her. The Trio, led by Warren Mears attempt to kill Buffy and take over Sunnydale. Warren splits from the group and, in an attempt to kill Buffy, he kills Tara. Willow is forced under the influence of dark magic and kills Warren. When Giles tries to infuse her with light magic, Willow attempts to destroy the world to end everyone’s suffering.  Spike tries to get a daemon to remove his chip so he can give Buffy “what she deserves,” but the daemon returns Spike’s soul.

In season seven, the First Evil begins to hunt down and kill inactive potential Slayers. It also raises an army of ancient powerful Turok-Han vampires.  Some potential Slayers take refuge in Buffy’s house. Faith also moves in and works alongside Buffy to fight the First Evil. Nearly all humans flee Sunnydale when the Hellmouth becomes more active. In the finale the Scooby Gang enter the Hellmouth.  Willow casts a spell, which activates all of the Potential Slayers. An amulet given to Buffy by Angel, and worn by Spike, channels the power of the sun.  This kills all of the vampires in the Hellmouth and incinerates Spike.  The Hellmouth collapses, taking all of Sunnydale with it.  Buffy, the Scooby Gang, and the other survivors escape in a school bus.

The series reached between four and six million viewers during its original airings and is ranked #2 on "Empire’s 50 greatest TV Shows of All Time."  It was also nominated for Emmy and Golden Globe awards, winning a total of three Emmys.

Going to Tofino, BC has been a tradition in my family since long before I was born. I first went when I was only 11 years old and we stayed at Ocean Village, a small group of cottages along Mackenzie Beach.  Now we always stay at Middle Beach Lodge every Spring Break, a beautiful but simple resort overlooking both Mackenzie and Middle Beach.  Though I love both places in their own way, Middle Beach is by far the more relaxing as it has a cozy lodge with a fireplace, not to mention baked goodies throughout the day!

Another major highlight of our annual trip is the surfing. I began taking lessons five years ago with a local school called Surf Sister. At first I wasn't very good but after seven lessons I'm finally getting the hang of it  This last trip I managed to catch nearly every wave and I even went for some larger green waves!

On James Cook's first voyage to explore the unknown south, one of the crewmembers was the first to describe surfing, then called he'enalu in Hawaiian.  Later Augustin Kramer recorded it in print along with other European residents and visitors who saw Samoans surfing on planks and canoe hulls. It has also been confirmed that surfing was done in Tonga. However, when missionaries from Scotland and Germany arrived, they all but dissipated Polynesian traditions including surfing. A small number of Hawaiians continued to practice and craft boards. These Hawaiians considered surfing to be a large part of their culture, greater than an activity, sport, or a career. It became a part of their religion as they prayed to the gods that the waves would be full and that they would have the strength to surf the great waves.  The most skilled surfers were often upper class chiefs and warriors, and many of their surfing spots remain today including Kahalu'u Bay and Holualoa Bay.

In 1907 surfing was brought to North America from Hawaii when George Freeth was brought to California for the opening of the Los Angeles-Redondo-Hutington railroad.  His name was given to the now renowned surfing beach, Huntington Beach. Since then, surfing in North America has evolved into the highly competitive sport and career that we know it as today.

This year's Tofino trip was a bit different than the previous, as I passed on the wonderful art of surfing to one of my dear friends, who also happens to be in Guiding.

So here's my question to you:

Do you have any traditional trips or events that your family does on spring break? 

And my challenge to you is to try to pass on those challenges to a friend, because I can tell you from experience that it sure is fun!

Program selection is in, one payment has been sent off, fundraising events have started...you guessed it, I'm talking about SOAR 2011!

This year’s SOAR [Spirit of Adventure Rendez Vous] is located in Agassiz, BC, and is sure to live up to its predecessors!  Like all other years, a wide variety of activities are available: active recreation, crafts, environment, fine arts, and service.  For those of us who are lucky enough, there are also the Ranger out-trips!

This years out-trips include white water rafting and river kayaking, which were my first two choices.  I really hope that I get one of them!  The other program choice that has me sitting on the edge of my chair is active recreation: rappelling.  I've done a lot of climbing in the past, and I've always wanted to try it in the other direction! As I'm sure you can tell I'm a bit of a daredevil type of person, but not to worry if you aren't, there are so many other options for SOAR that everyone is sure to have an amazing time.

Enough about this SOAR, let's talk about the last one: Parksville '07. That was the first SOAR that I attended, and did it ever live up to its expectations!  I remember that I wasn't 100% happy with the program I got, as only two of them were my top choices, but when I got there I realized that no matter what your program is you're bound to have a great time.

My favourite memories of SOAR '07?

Well the first isn't exactly a happy memory, nor a sad one.  In fact I'm not sure how to classify it.  The night before we were loaded onto the buses to head off to Parksville was the night that the seventh and final Harry Potter book came out.  Now being a die-hard fan I was devastated when my parents wouldn't let me spend the night at Vandusen Gardens celebrating.  They wouldn't even let me see the book until after camp because they thought that it would get ruined there.  As if!  I'm more than a bit paranoid about my books, and Harry Potter 7 has enough priority for me to guard it with my life!  Anyways, there I was on the morning of SOAR, Potterless.  All the girls were carrying their copies onto the bus with them, making me more than a bit cheezed off.  Thankfully one of the girls in our tent let me read her copy once she finished it.

As for my other memories, I'll say one that was not so great, and then one of my best memories.  I'll start with my not so great memory. Apparently I didn't drink enough water during SOAR: well who can blame me, I was so busy having fun!  Anyways, on the last night I was brutally sick.  We'd already taken the tents down, and were camping in our sleeping bags on a tarp, at least most people were camping, I spent the whole night running back and forth between my site and the port-a-potties.  I finally got to sleep around 6 a.m., and when I woke up I had a family of earwigs in my sleeping bag! Needless to say having them crawling all over me was a bit disconcerting! I now run every time I see one!  After that I spent 2 hours in the first aid tent sipping on orange Gatorade to regain my strength.  All in all, probably the worst night of my life, and I haven't been able to drink orange Gatorade since!

The great memory is of trading all my crests with girls from across the globe.  I'm a bit of a crest shark, so I stocked up on crests before heading out to make sure that I could maximize my haul.  I spent all of the money that I brought with me on the official SOAR crests, and spent all of my free time (after finishing Harry Potter of course) on trading crests.  My favourite is a crest that I got from a Japanese Ranger. It's white, with a pale pink Sakura tree.  I forget what it says, but it's so beautiful!

Despite the ups and downs of the past SOAR, it still ranks number one in my camping experiences.  I sure hope that this coming SOAR will live up to my huge expectations!

So here's my question for you:

What is your best and worst memories of past SOARs, or any other big camps that you have been to?

and

What are you most looking forward to for SOAR 2011?

See you there!