Of Flat Land and Epic Battles

Hey everybody!

Just for those who are wondering (because I get asked about 200 times daily) my name is actually Hammer and I do indeed have two of the best parents ever. DJ thought I was insane (inside joke – see The Whole Nine Yards) when I told him how excited I was to come to Manitoba. Ever since we first heard we were going there I couldn’t wait to see flat land. Being from Newfoundland, finding any sort of land that isn’t riddled with rocks and hills is a pretty hard thing to come by. Lucky for me there’s plenty of it. When we’re on the road, as some of you may or may not know, Christian, DJ, Bryan and I like to be really cool and mature by playing with toy swords that we made ourselves while in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia. But one day while battling in Wanipigow, Manitoba two of the girls, Laura and Nicole decided to join in. They battled each other using mine and Christian’s long swords and it was the most epic and hilarious battle ever. Laura took on the form of Xena warrior princess, horrifying high pitched screaming and all. But it was no match for Nicole who took on the form of a shark mixed with a t-rex…I know, scary right?

I cant believe this half of the tour is already half way done, it feels like we just started! Where have these past two and a half weeks gone? Must have been having too much fun battling, enjoying the scenery, playing shows for all you and even getting to meet some of you!

Thanks Manitoba, you’ve been amazing and will for sure be missed, you’ve made this tour an unforgettable experience!

Hammer

Team 2 is back on the road!

It’s a beautiful evening for driving, as the sun is setting over the tree tops of northern Michigan and we cruise west on US Highway 2. Team 2 is a little under half way through the two thousand and some odd kilometer trip from our home base in Hamilton, ON to the prairie province of Manitoba, where we begin a five week tour through Central Canada.

There are nine of us making this great voyage together. Rachelle, an LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) road team veteran who joined up with our team for our eastern tour is now back in Hamilton, where she’ll be looking after the dorm (and making sure Team 1 doesn’t make a mess when they get back :P). DJ is pumpin’ tunes from his iPod while he drives and by the rhythms he’s beating on the steering wheel, I’d say it’s a hardcore breakdown. Meagan is reading some Harry Potter; when a new Potter book comes out, I usually lose my wife for a day or two, but luckily she’s already read this one before. Christian is doing some writing; staring with great focus and determination at his laptop monitor. All three students (Bryan, Laura, and Melissa) are acting very studious at the moment, reading this month’s assigned book “Not For Sale” by David Batstone and working on their book reports. Hammer is also staring with great focus and determination at his laptop monitor, but he’s playing a video game, “Diablo” to be precise. And Nicole is not with us, but will be meeting up with us in Winnipeg tomorrow afternoon.

I feel incredibly fortunate to be on this bus right now, to be a part of LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)’s Think Day tours. I’ve seen small glimpses of the huge impact that our message is having in the lives of students across this country. It’s a message that I believe can resonate with every student who hears it, and not because our teams are stacked with professionally trained speakers or high profile celebrities. Those who have been a part of our tours over the past 9 or so years all share something even more powerful: brokenness, hurt and pain. You see, in a society where those things are considered weakness, we see them as great strength. We have all made mistakes and we have all experienced times of great trial or suffering. While most would much rather burry the scars of their past and put on their best face for the world, we have seen the incredible disarming power of honesty and vulnerability, the healing and hope that can come when brave individuals give up on the masquerade and share their stories. There are seven such brave individuals sitting with me in this bus right now, and I am proud to call them friends.

After four years of travelling with LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) teams across this beautiful country, I am sad to say that this will be my last tour. Meagan and I will still be involved with LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute), but it’s time to pass on the torch  to someone else and settle down (our backs are sore and our hair is either going grey or falling out, not an exaggeration in the least). Night has fallen on Highway 2, but tomorrow brings another day of adventure and purpose for our team. Though you may not be travelling with one of our teams and speaking in front of thousands of Canadian students, I hope that you too will find the strength to share your own story with those around you. You may never know the life and hope that it can bring.

JP

p.s. Here’s a funny moment from our past tour we haven’t told you about yet: Some of the girls on our team really enjoy cooking for our team, so one evening while we were staying in a church, we went grocery shopping to get all the ingredients for Rachelle’s broccoli cheddar soup. While some were making other preparations for the soup, one team member, who will remain anonymous to prevent lifelong harassment, was asked to wash the broccoli. Alright, fine, it was Hammer (sorry dude). Anyway, after washing the nutritiously rich vegetable, Hammer handed it over to be chopped up and added to the soup. When supper was ready, Team 2 gathered in this church kitchen for a delicious meal lovingly prepared by Rachelle and some others. The first number of spoon-fulls were quite good, but within about five minutes of everyone digging in, hesitant whispers began to fill the air. We began taking a closer look at the soup. Small grey flecks that at first glance appeared to be pepper or pieces of the broccoli were now in question. As they came into focus, we began to notice many such flecks, numerous within each team member’s bowl, some very small, some much larger…and then we saw the legs. That was where the meal and appetite ended for most of the team that night, thanks to a special recipe that we now lovingly call BBS (Broccoli Bug Soup). Let me know if you want the recipe!

Team 1’s Awesome Adventures!

What could be cooler than visiting the town of Banff and spending an evening in the Hot Springs? How about hitting up one of the biggest malls in North America, West Edmonton Mall? Or maybe snowboarding the mountains of Whistler?… let us pause here for a moment of silence as I reminisce carving through the ‘pow’, as us seasoned snowboarders call it… Man, that was unreal!! Shall we continue? How about whale watching off the islands of British Columbia? Which actually turned into a 4 meter high swell and wave boat ride through crazy pacific ocean coast! Unreal! Did I mention we met Joshua Jackson, aka Pacey from Dawson‘s Creek? These are just some of the many adventures we’ve had thus far on our west coast tour with the LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) team and The Ocean Buried. 

It’s been an unreal adventure for myself, not just because of the adventures, but for many reasons.

First let’s talk about billets. What is a billet? As the dictionary would define it, “a lodging for a soldier, student, etc., as in a private home or nonmilitary public building.” As I would define it, amazing people who willingly sacrifice their family’s privacy by opening up their home to us and providing amazing home cooked meals, which are a sweet relief from random McDonald’s and Subway stops, and who also turn out to be some of the coolest and generous people you’ll ever meet. Why do they do this? Because they believe… they believe in our purpose, which is the second reason this tour has been an unreal adventure.

I remember growing up questioning whether I’d ever do anything of significance. Through life situations and my own stupidity, I often questioned if I could make any difference in this world and often doubted my ability to do so. I’ve soon come around all that because of decisions I’ve made in my life and have been able to be apart of some really cool things reaching out to a lot of people, one of which has been this tour with LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) where our purpose has been to bring a message of purpose, no pun intended, to hundreds of students, letting them know they are valuable and able. Now that’s been pretty cool, and has definitely been an adventure. I remember the first show I was a part of. I believe it was a packed show with approximately 500 students in attendance. It was exhilarating being able to tell all these students they were created with purpose by sharing my own story of perseverance. Talk about the biggest high you’ve ever had. Look out LSD here comes the power to empower, Lol. No, not funny? Okay, I may be lame but nonetheless it was awesome. My favourite part has definitely been our Think Global workshops. I love this for multiple reasons. One, I get to educate some young minds and I don’t even have a teaching degree! Talk about your biggest loop hole ever! I totally worked the system, lol. Okay I didn’t. Second, I get to speak about global issues such as hunger and slavery and open the eyes of many students. Thirdly, it’s usually a little more informal and I get to be as serious as I want and as lame as I want all at once.

The last and final reason this has been an unreal adventure is because of the team. Let’s just say our team gels almost too well. The Ocean Buried… awesome! Such a good group of guys and talk about hilarious! Furthermore, they’re a sick band and have some big hearts. Students… Killer! It’s cool to work along side Kelsey and Adrian; to laugh with them and laugh at them… jk. Nah, seriously, they rock and work really hard, and I believe, if they choose too, could make a real impact beyond what they have already done. The other leaders… well they’re okay… lol. Actually, they’re a good back bone. Its good to know there is someone to turn to on the road when you just need to vent, and I’m pretty sure anyone of these 9 peeps would be more than willing to lend an ear if I, or anyone, needed one.

So I’ll end with this oh beautiful blog readers: Tour equals Awesome Adventures which also equals Lives Changed including my own as I aspire to change others. Do you love how I threw in some math for all you math lovers? Do LOVE it?!

Keep it real!

Carl

Hello from the Eastern Tour!

The past couple weeks have been really busy touring all the high school/ Jr high doing our Think Day presentations. Besides staying in amazing billets, we have been visiting some tourist hot spots like Peggy’s Cove, Hopewell rocks, grand falls and old Montreal. I was amazed on how beautiful Peggy’s Cove was! It was a sunny day and windy so the waves were nice and high. We took many pictures and filmed the boy’s medieval battle on the rocks. Because it was so windy and the waves were so high some of my team members got pretty wet.The next spot we hit was Hopewell Rocks they told us that if the tide was high we wouldn’t be able to see beach but lucky for us by the time we arrived tide was down so it was safe to walk around. I was so excited and I couldn’t believe I was there. I was jumping around and dancing with joy. I then realized that if I would have been in that same situation a year ago I wouldn’t have acted this way. Being on the road has made me a more confident person. It has also showed me my values and has helped built a stronger level of respect for myself and those around me (which is very much needed traveling for hours and hours on a bus with 8 other team members).Doing the Think Day presentations has such a strong impact on each of our team members. I run the lights and you think that it would be easy to get distracted during the show but I am inspired by my team member’s personal stories every time I hear them. When my teammates share these heart felt personal experiences it makes me realized my values and wants me to be able to be that voice for those who are voiceless. I have been able to be on stage and speak to the students at a school, let me tell you it is weird to hear your voice for the first time. My leader (Meagan) interviews me about my first semester of School of Leadership in Mexico. I am able to share my experiences of culture sock and living in the shack. It’s good to be able to talk and inform the students about the reality in Mexico through a 19 year old’s perspective.The road has really made me find myself and I am starting to be that person I want to be. One that inspires change!~ Melissa, Eastern Tour / Team #2

Team 2 Hits The Road!

Hello World,

We have embarked on our tour through Eastern Canada. We actually left a few weeks ago now, but wanted to catch you up on how things have been going. Bryan, one of the School of Leadership students on our team, offered his daily journal to give you all an inside glimpse into a typical week on tour with us…who am I kidding, there’s no such thing as a typical week. But here it is, Week 1 of Team 2’s Eastern Tour. Enjoy!

Hey everyone,

Our first adventure has begun.  We have actually set off on our Eastern tour. My best friend Adrian’s team has now left westward as well. 

Last Sunday was Day 1 of our journey.  Mel’s parents and Adam showed up to see us off, and we said goodbye to Adrian and Kelsey, acknowledging shockingly that it will have been the longest time we will have been separated since August.  We pulled out of Hamilton and flew on past Toronto.  From the highway in North York, I swear I saw the CN Tower.  Once in Laura’s hometown of Oshawa, we were warmly greeted by her parents at her home.  I beat JP and DJ at Chess and Queen was blaring in the background.  We ate well with leftovers for the road.  Between Belleville and Kingston, we heard a vibration, so we pulled over to discover that we would be pulled over for a while.  A cop and a mechanic came by, but nothing really got moving until Dave and Sue, old friends of the Earles (our co-founders) arrived to pick up our trailer.  The tow truck failed, but a flat-bed finally succeeded in loading our bus.  In Belleville, we dropped off the bus at a Ford dealership and brought the trailer to their home where we caught the end of the Olympics closing ceremonies, had a beautiful dinner and got to sleep.

Day 2, instead of presenting in Ottawa, as per the plan, we hung around, waiting for the bus to be repaired, watching Titanic and playing pool, until JP, DJ and I decided to make things quicker by driving out to Kingston in Dave’s truck to pick up a new wheel and hub which we brought back.  In forty-five minutes it was fixed and we could be on our way.  We had dinner at Wendy’s in Kingston, and spent the night in a pastor’s vacant house in Cornwall, the most Eastern city in Ontario.  Good news:  The school in Ottawa will be revisited!

Day 3, we packed up the whole lot of food that the pastor left for us and drove the very short distance to the school in Cornwall, where the local police department was having us put on three different shows for all the local schools.  After the first one, we had lunch, and then did the last two, each one better than the last, except for some wireless microphone difficulties…  We drove back to Kingston again to stay at Ashley’s house.  He is the LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) media/marketing manager.  It was Ryan Wood and his family, the current LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) boss of everything, who came with our bus and Rachelle.  We transferred our things into the new, larger bus and went to sleep, glad to have Rachelle join our ranks, making us ten:  JP, Meagan, Christian, DJ, Hammer, Laura, Melissa, Rachelle, Nicole, and myself, Bryan.

Day 4, in the morning, some of us cleaned up the bus to ready it for our voyage.  We left, and picked up some groceries.  On our way east, we picnicked in the bus.  We arrived in Quebec, my first time.  It is really strange to be in a French-speaking land!  It is new for me.  We got some free coffees from McDonald’s and drove on through the old and new sights of Montreal.  We stopped near Trois-Rivieres for dinner at A&W, and then had our first tastes of the show 24, which would lead to a regrettable consuming addiction for us.  In Quebec City, we stopped at a McDonald’s, where we met with an old English-speaking LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)r-turned Quebecois.  We drove on through the night. I was slated for the duty of talking to JP through the night while he drove.  Just after we crossed into New Brunswick, JP and I got to sleep while Meagan took over driving. 

Day 5, we awoke just beyond Fredericton.  Once in Moncton, JP picked up breakfast groceries.  From then on, DJ did the driving.  A few episodes of 24 later, we were through Antigonish and the bulk of Nova Scotia and into Cape Breton on the Northeast tip of the province, to Sydney Mines.  We ate some local fish and chips and then arrived at our billets, a pastor family.  The band and I got the overflow billet at the house of some guys from their church.

Day 6.  It seems that Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are currently under a freakish grip of snowfall that is uncharacteristic of the region for this time of year.  Anyway, this morning I awoke with a migraine, possibly due to the change in barometric pressure.  We got to our first school in Florence.  The students were quiet, but appreciative and the show went great.  We packed up quick and moved it over to the next school in North Sydney.  We picnicked in the bus before we loaded in.  Our billets sat in for this awesome show, and we went home to have dinner at their house back in Sydney Mines.  That night, we went to a get-together in town, where we experienced small-town Cape Breton fellowship and a little step-set dancing.

 Day 7, us guys slept in a little at our billet, and played a little N64 on their big-screen TV and enjoyed a pancake breakfast.  We met up with the rest of our crew and went into town.  Most of us went shopping at the local second-hand store, but JP and I walked around the harbour, contemplating the economy of the region.  I tasted the Atlantic Ocean for fun, and then JP and I took our speculation to research.  We stopped into Blue Star Traders and chatted with the owner.  It seems that the areas core industries of old, coal mining, farming and fishing have long gone, and so general desperation has dominated the area.  People rely on EI and turn to crime to get by in some cases.  It seems that this regrettable phenomenon is increasingly common in Eastern Canada.  After lunch at a local burger stand, our resident local teenager, Britney, showed us the way to an old WWII barracks on the coast cliffs.  We had a blast, climbing the lookout tower, exploring the underbellies of a rotating gun mount, exploring the barracks rooms, spelunking in a well and, for me, seeing the open Atlantic for the first time.  That night we watched 24, had chili, and relaxed for the night.

Bryan

1 week down, many adventurous weeks to go! Stay tuned. -JP

Breaking Boundaries

Breaking Boundaries; a line that roots to many different causes of conflict. What are boundaries? Sometimes they guidelines set up to protect us from harmful situations. Other times and the context I am talking about, they are things that are built up within society preventing us from things that could actually be a positive experience. They are walls that we even build up within ourselves, where we tell ourselves that we can’t do something when really if we set our minds to it we could do things that we never thought imaginable.This past week, the School of Leadership students took a break from the road tour and headed to Parkview High School. While there, we sat in their leadership class, helped at the lunch program and tutored in the different classes throughout the afternoon. When sitting in the morning leadership class, we got to know the students quite well, they had already become a family but they welcomed us quickly into the clan. These students showed me the true meaning of perseverance. Some of their stories that they were willing to share with the group were things that some of us could not imagine happening to us in a lifetime, and here it is a norm for these teenagers. You see, this school is located in one of the roughest neighbourhoods in Canada.Yet, these leadership students chose to go to school, they choose to get out of bed and get an education. They aren’t handed a lunch and sent merily to school, they choose to be there. They persevere through the struggles of their life and still choose to do something positive, they choose to speak for those who can’t speak up, they choose to be leaders in their school. I thought back to my own high school experience, where a lot of people would just skip school because they didn’t feel like going to class. My time at this school really put things into perspective for me, if these students can get up and go to school with all the struggles that they have, why shouldn’t I be able to get my work done on-time?Which brings me back to these boundaries. I always tell myself that I can’t or that its okay to be lazy sometimes, I was building up these walls and day by day the walls are slowly diminishing because of these leaders showing me meaning of true perseverance.A special thanks to the student’s teacher. He really believes in the students and is making such an impact at the school.~ Laura, A School of Leadership Student

Keys, Pens, and Paperclips

They are only the elite, specially selected few.They parade across our stage brandishing their weapons of choice. These are no ordinary instruments of torture, unusually, they are in the form of a broom, hockey stick, and a severed pool noodle. These ‘creme of the crop’ are showing us their rock and roll moves like never before (literally, I don’t think any of them have ever done this before!). They head bang as in the days of their youth, and while doing so there are generally three items that come spilling from their pockets.Keys, pens, and paperclips.Once in a while there will be an unlucky individual who flings their glasses inadvertently across that glossy hardwood floor not caring a bit, because they need to rock harder than their students did. They will let nothing stand in the way of their ETERNAL GLORY!  For that is what they will receive if they can rock harder than a bunch of high school wussies!These are the teachers who have bravely sacrificed eyesight and dignity alike to participate in our “school of Rock” and no matter how many teachers we see on stage we are always shocked at how well they perform!Canada has some of the most amazing teachers, many of which end up on our stage and its their students who choose them because they know that these are the teachers who know how to have fun. These are the teachers who are trusted and liked by their students. They are the elite only because of the dedication to their students, dedication that is clearly seen when they rock out no holds bar to make sure their students get a laugh! we congratulate you teachers who are chosen for our air band rock off because you are the teachers who care for their students. We did not preselect you, you were chosen by the students you teach. In fact its almost as if you selected yourselves. How you ask? By being there for your students, approachable, and friendly. You selected  yourselves when you decided to love kids and not just teach them. Our country is full of teachers and administratorswho love their students, who only want the best for them and their futures. A lot of the time you are the elite, the specially selected few, who will humbly rock out with us, and for some reason you are always carrying in those magnanimous pockets of yours:Keys, Pens, and Paperclips

Elle is on the Road with Team 2!

The essence of music comes from the dew dripping off of a rainbow, wetting the unicorn’s hooves, deep within the clarity of the sun. It blinds every heart to pursue the truth of new beginnings. Now let me ask you a question: did that make any sense to you? It makes life changing sense…hope your life is changed even before reading this blog!!!Music is an incredible way to communicate a message. We are so pumped to be given the chance to do that through LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute). Elle started with that desire, to use music as a way to reach out. With vocalist Danielle (that’s me), guitarists Graham and Brendan, bassist Justin, and drummer Darryl, all of us have stories to tell through the music we play. With the recent release of our debut album entitled “Light of You,” the band has been working hard to pull everything together so we could hit the road for this four month tour with LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute).Elle first started with Graham and myself about 2 years ago. We began writing and creating our sound. From start to finish, the album took around one year to complete and it was an incredible experience. We recorded in a studio called the Night Deposit in Calgary, Alberta. It was there that our pop rock sound was solidified and we were all very excited about how the album turned out. Now that it’s released, we’re working hard on the road!Our tour began with LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) at the beginning of February and my have we been having a crazy time! We arrived in Hamilton with a bang! Everyone on the team came down with some weird sicknesses. Darryl is originally from South Africa and he was definitely a frozen little guy; he got incredibly sick. Honestly, one night he started throwing up and it sounded like he was hacking out a small animal. Graham dropped something heavy on his foot and broke his toe. I came down with some kind of skin reaction to bugs or some environmental toxin!! Justin was deathly ill, making noises that would unnerve anybody.It was a hilarious couple weeks. Honestly though, going into the schools and seeing how the students react to our music and our message makes all our sick (not the cool “sick”) experiences worth it. Everything that comes with touring is all worth it when you see things like emails telling us how what we do changed their lives. Those emails and those conversations would cause anyone to be moved with passion to move forward with their dreams.We are so excited for the future of where we will go with this. Every song on our album has a purpose to affect people in positive ways: to make them think, to give perspective, to give hope. We love what we do, and we love that we have an opportunity to do what we love with LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute).Daniellewww.ellesmusic.com

Nikki’s Canadian Travels…

So we have been on the road for just about two months, and let me tell you it has been quite the experience. We have had an incredible time so far! 

Canada is about a million times more beautiful than I could have ever expected and the funny thing is that I live in Canada. Our team has been touring the east coast and my favourite place by far has been Newfoundland. The northern part of Newfoundland is not like anywhere else I have ever been, especially with no cell phone service for three weeks. Everyone there is so welcoming and friendly all of the time, even though it is almost impossible to understand their accents. The point is that we have made so many amazing memories and friends. We have had the chance to meet a lot exciting people that have opened their homes to us, including a very sweet man who happens to keep dead squirrels in his freezer.  It amazes me how kind people are and how willing they are to offer us a place to sleep and a fridge to eat out of.  Between the ten of us that is A LOT of groceries.

  It seems like the bus is becoming a lot like home, only my home doesn’t smell as much like feet and farts.  It’s all part of the experience : ) Our group is becoming more like a family everyday. The first part of tour has been completely amazing, and we are so lucky to have been able to spend it with our friends from New Zealand, All Left Out and Mama Gem. It is sad to say goodbye, but also exciting because there are a lot more fun times to be had on our gorgeous yellow school bus. I have been more than lucky to start this adventure with LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) and am so excited about everything that I see with a new perspective.  I know this experience is helping me to learn what I want to do with the rest of my life.

Nikki ~ School of Leadership Student

Welcome to Corporate Saturday!!! A new band joining our Tour.

LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) would like to welcome Corporate Saturday to our Think Day tour. They will be joining Team 2 on their tour across Canada.Over the past three years, Corporate Saturday has worked hard to establish themselves in their hometown of Windsor, Ontario, and they are now looking to do the same across the country while touring with LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)!  They recently released their first full-length album entitled, “Looking at the Same Stars” and won The “Best Young Songwriters” award at the 2008 Toronto Independent Music Awards. Corporate Saturday’s current line up consists of Rob on drums, Brendan on guitar, Austen on vocals and the newest member, Bobby, on bass.  Together they form a tight knit musical family with the common goal of making good music and spreading a positive message. Being inspired by the LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) presentation early in high school, the band later decided to apply for a position. After three years of hard work and practice , Corporate Saturday is ready to hit the road for the first time with LiveDifferent (formerly Absolute)!

For more information and to hear a couple songs visit, www.myspace.com/corporatesaturdayLiveDifferent (formerly Absolute) sadly says good bye to All Left Out and wishes them luck on their UK and Japan tour in the up in coming months. You guys ROCK!