Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 62

Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 62
Hosted Live/Produced/Recorded
by: Andru Valpy, & Natty Somers
Air Date: 01/26/2011 on UMFM 101.5 FM

Download Location: iTunes.
Web: http://wakeupwinnipeg.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wakeupwinnipeg 

Become a FaceBook Fan: http://facebook.com/wakeupwinnipeg
Rebroadcast: 2/02/2011 on CJUM 101.5 UMFM - 6:30 AM







 


On this weeks show we introduced you to City Councilor Gord Steeves who recently put forward a motion to city council to look at the possibility of banning panhandling in the median lanes of city streets.

As you learned in our interview, the suggestion stemmed from a letter that was sent to City Hall from a local tourism group after 1,400 international delegates visited the city of Winnipeg as part of a business conference.

"The comments that we received from the downtown biz were stark. They were horrible. They talked about our city in a very unflattering way downtown based. " - Counc. Gord Steeves. 

It was then that Councilor Steeves started looking at ideas to enhance the vibrancy of our downtown core and decided to put the motion forward before council. The motion was meant as a positive effort to attract residence and businesses to the center of the city as part of ongoing downtown revitalization efforts.

"Regardless of how you feel about this issue, vagrancy really hurts this city. We're in the process of always trying to rebuild and attract people downtown."



"[The ban] deals exclusively with idea of people who are pan-handling in the median boulevard between both lanes of traffic.  It's a practice that is done by people who appear to be pretty able bodied, and otherwise able to function in a normal community. "

But to some Winnipeggers, the idea to ban panhandling was seen as an attack on those who were less fortunate than others. 

"I distinguish it specifically from folks who for whatever reason are sitting on a street corner as people walk by and have their hands out. That's different to me in a lot of different ways, it's a lot less intrusive and generally speaking I think those folks are a little harder done by in terms of their personal circumstances.  But if someone can sit in the middle of traffic for 6 hours in the middle of traffic in the middle of winter, then frankly I think they could be working somewhere and that's my impression". 

The motion is currently being reviewed by City Council and has two hurdles left to climb. First, councilors have to see if this is something that can be done, and if approved, they have to discuss how it will be enforced.

Expect more details at a later date.

Also on this weeks show, we interviewed Nate Terrin and Mike Sanders who were the creators of a new Winnipeg based book "Call / Response". 

The book is a compilation of photographs and concert stories from locals who reflect back on various concerts within Winnipeg over the last 30 years. Specifically, the book discusses and shows the interaction between youth and musicians and the impact music has on the local scene.

During this interview, we learned that talks are in place for volume two which will be announced sometime in the near future.

Proceeds of the book will be going towards the Childrens help phone, a cause Nate has been contributing to for a long period of time.

We look forward to checking out the book launch on February 5th starting with performances at Into The Music, then moving to the West End Cultural Centre, and wrapping up at the Royal Albert. Tickets can be purchased at Into The Music or online at http://ticketworkshop.com.

We'll catch you next week, for an all new episode of Wake Up Winnipeg.

-Av

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 61

Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 61
Hosted Live/Produced/Recorded
by: Andru Valpy, & Natty Somers
Air Date: 01/19/2011 on UMFM 101.5 FM

Download Location: iTunes.
Web: http://wakeupwinnipeg.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wakeupwinnipeg 

Become a FaceBook Fan: http://facebook.com/wakeupwinnipeg
Rebroadcast: 1/26/2011 on CJUM 101.5 UMFM - 6:30 AM





Posted: January 19, 2011
Photo and story by: Andru Valpy

On this weeks show we introduced you to Geoff Thompson and Trevor Lux from Callida, a local band based in Niverville MB. Unfortunately, Drummer John McBride was unable to attend the recording.

I had met Callida back in October of 2010 for an interview for The Aimless & Andy Benefit Show that was thrown at Shannon's Irish Pub. We met this week to catch up on developments since the founding days and were happy to learn that Callida was working on their first full length album.

Geoff Thompson (Front), Trevor Lux (Back) of Callida - Photo By Andru Valpy

After introducing the 2/3rds of Callida that were in studio with us, Trevor and Geoff released a work in progress single called "Here Lies" which comes straight from their basement recording sessions. You can expect more from Callida in the months to come.

Along with our music news, we brought you up to date with local headlines.

I informed you of local city news, including the announcement of a 100,000 dollar surplus in the 2010 year end budget as announced by a report made available to City Council. We also noted that due to disputes with Manitoba Hydro, a ten million dollar dent may be put into the final statement which is to be released mid February. Expect more details at a later date.

As discussed, The MS Paddle-wheel Queen and MS Paddle-wheel Princess are both being appraised for sale from long time owner and operator Steve Hawchuk. Hawchuk made this announcement earlier in the week, leaving the future of the company and future "funk boat" events un-decided. According to a report from CBC Radio, Hawchuk hopes to have a young person carry on in his spirt by purchasing the two boats.

We touched on our thoughts on the Golden Globe Awards in which host Ricky Gervais went missing for an hour and a half.

And finally, On the lighter side of things, we announced the words that are to be banished in 2011 as determined by Lake Superior State University.

We are still looking for nominations for "The People In Your Neighborhood" in which we hope to interview those making a difference in your community. For more information, contact info(at)wakeupwinnipeg.com.

We will see you next Wednesday at 6:30 AM for a repeat of this show, and expect an all new episode at 6:00PM on 101.5 UMFM.

-Av

Track Listings for today's show:

1) Callida - Here Lies.
2) Circa Survive - Wish You Were Here.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Wake Up Winnipeg Gets Its Own Blog!

For immediate release:

January 15th
2011
Wake Up Winnipeg Gets Its Own Blog!

Local show host and producer Andru Valpy announced today that with the start of its third season, Wake Up Winnipeg would move to become its own entity and differentiate itself from The Aimless & Andy Show.

"With 2 successful seasons of Wake Up Winnipeg behind us, we feel it important to seperate ourselves from The Aimless & Andy Show to allow for proper growth and devlopment of our show" - States producer and host Andru Valpy.

"Though Wake Up Winnipeg will continue to be a division of Aimless & Andy Productions, our articles, pictures and stories will now be moved to their own web-pages in an effort to create and grow it's own brand awareness".

With this announcement, Wake Up Winnipeg re-designed it's web-page found at http://wakeupwinnipeg.com/ and has started to re-locate archived entries from the Aimless & Andy blog to a separate blog located at http://wakeupwinnipeg.blogspot.com/.

Wake Up Winnipeg also launched it's own Facebook Fanpage to encourage growth and presence in the online community.

Wake Up Winnipeg kicked off Season 3 in its new time slot on UMFM on Wednesday January 12th 2011 at 6:00pm on 101.5 FM and will continue to be repeated at 6:30 AM on Wednesday mornings. It was during this episode that a new co-host named Natty Somers will join the weekly news program.

The Wake Up Winnipeg twitter profile is still available at http://twitter.com/wakeupwinnipeg.

For additional information, news tips, or story ideas, fans are encouraged to visit http://wakeupwinnipeg.com/ or contact our show hosts at info(at)wakeupwinnipeg(dot)com.


-30-


Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Wake Up Winnipeg - Episode 60

Wake Up Winnipeg's - Episode 60
Hosted Live/Produced/Recorded
by: Andru Valpy, & Natty Somers
Air Date: 01/12/2011 on UMFM 101.5 FM

Download Location: iTunes.
Web: http://wakeupwinnipeg.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wakeupwinnipeg 

Become a FaceBook Fan: http://facebook.com/wakeupwinnipeg
Rebroadcast: 1/19/2011 on CJUM 101.5 UMFM - 6:30 AM





Posted: January 12, 2011
Photo and story by: Andru Valpy


After a brief hiatus, we are back and ready to attack the airwaves in an effort to wake you up to events, news and topics of interest within our city and outside the perimeter.

On Episode 60, I introduced my new co-host "Natty" who has replaced the long standing "king of co-hosts" Paul (host of Drifter in the Dark on UMFM)
.

Natty will bring her artistic talent and knowledge of the city to the Wake up Winnipeg team, while maintaining the standards that you have come to love from our show.

On tonight's episode we talked about upcoming events in the city and included a track from "The Liptonians" who are playing at the WECC on February the 6th.

We also eased you into upcoming stories that we are working diligently on for this season, including our upcoming visits with Mayor Sam Katz, Councillors Gord Steeves and Jenny Gerbasi in which we will discuss the current state of the city, and their plans for a future Winnipeg.


As stated on today's show, The Filthy Animals have had run into problems with a local radio station while attempting to promote singles from their newly released CD. In episode 61 we will be talking to Jeff Bromley from the group to discuss our investigate report which you can read by clicking here.

LOCAL HIP-HOP GROUP TAKES THEIR STORY TO THE STREETS.
By Andru Valpy - read more by clicking here.




Being that we were on holidays since October, we caught you up on stories you may have missed

Finally, we announced that we will be seeking submissions for an upcoming segment entitled "The People In Your Neighbourhood". If you would like to nominate or suggest a leader in our community who makes a difference on a daily basis, please feel free to e-mail us at info(at)wakeupwinnipeg(dot)com.

Please be sure to include your contact information and the reason why you nominated the individual.


If you missed today's episode, you can catch us next Wednesday morning at 6:30am on 101.5 UMFM.

Thanks for listening,
-Av


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