ABA Entertainment Presents…THE BAZAAR…A night filled with showcases by some of Canada’s best dancers and choreographers. Come and enjoy this display of art in motion. Dance as it was meant to be!
Doors 9:30pm
19+
Advance $15 at OIP dance studios/190 Richmond Street East 2nd floor
Nathaniel David Smith was named after his late uncle, David Paek, who died an untimely and tragic death last March 19th. His death has been a profound personal loss for his close family and friends and continues to be a daily struggle for those closest to him, especially his wife, Eileen and his parents that he left behind.
As we celebrate the birth of Nathaniel’s initiation into Christian life, we remember David and the happiness and love that he brought into our lives. Although Nathaniel never got the chance to meet David in person, we hope to instil what we think are some of David’s most distinguishing qualities in Nathaniel: strength, patience, initiative, self-respect, loyalty, and a sense of humour. As Godparents of his only son, Brendan, we promise to be there for him whenever he needs us and help Eileen raise him the way he intended.
David: It has been almost 1 year since we saw you alive & full of life. We miss and love you and wish you were here celebrating with us. You will forever be in our hearts, our thoughts and our prayers. Now and Always.
It’s not very often you see a masterful speech. Yes Obama speaks well, but he speaks like royalty. He speaks as if he’s said his speech a thousand times.
The best man at Joel’s wedding, Manny, delivered a different style of speech. It was a sincere speech given directly to Gail and Joel and 200 people just happened to be there. He had complete command of the audience and his message. It’s ironic because when I asked him about his speech before the wedding he said that his speech was serious and “not that funny”. He was half wrong. He took everyone through a slew of emotions.
Some particularly funny moments (paraphrased) which might not make sense to you if you weren’t there:
This is the best man job ever….(after realization) ewww!
Gail’s minions
That skinny, skinny body
Gail just appeared
Joel is easy to please. Shave his head and buy him new clothes and he’s happy.
No one will have me (pulls down his sunglasses as he looks for any takers).
In any case, whatever I write here or even if you watch the speech below, it won’t do any justice to witnessing the speech live.
We wanted to do something extra special for Gail + Joel’s wedding. As Manny, the best man, put it, we wanted to do something “worthy of Joel’. There were rumblings of a music video, but I initially didn’t want any part of that. There’s just too much work and time was ticking. I originally wanted to do “auditions for a wedding DJ”. How do you find a DJ for the wedding of a DJ? To me this seemed achievable and effective at the same time.
During a late night discussion, “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel was brought up. We used that song for our warm ups from our breakdancing and beatbox performing days. It was a staple in 5th Element’s pre-performance rituals. We never saw the video before, but once we did, we were sold. I was sold.
We used the same basic concept and took the favorite elements and put our own twist on it.
I felt it was important we make sure this is a video for gail + joel and not just a music video that glorifies the people involved. That’s why there’s a recurring theme of Joel as an inspiration and Gail as wonderful and essential.
Shooting at Vanier was also essential for the emotional effect. We thought that we may be able to sweet talk the principal into letting us film, but he was initially very wary of it. He thought it was a strange request and it was. He suggested we get a permit and so we did. So much for alumni hook ups, but at least we were not bothered during shooting.
Of course, our main goal was to show how much we appreciate Gail + Joel. In other words our main goal was Goel (GailJOEL). We happened to have fun at the same time.
Dan 8:55 pm on February 15, 2010 Permalink
That’s pretty funny!