Yearly Archives: 2010

Toddish McWong interview on youtube “Bringing Scotland back to the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner”

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“I went to Scotland for my first time ever last month, so I'm bringing a bit of Scotland to the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner this year”

Toddish McWong on Gung Haggis Fat Choy 2010

01:45 –
Yesterday
youtube.com
This year, he's bringing Scotland back. For more information, about the 2010 Gung Haggis Fat Choy: Robbie Burns Chinese New Year dinner, go to www.gunghaggisfatchoy.com.

Here's a short little video that my friend Charlie Cho recorded of me on Sunday night.  I talk about some of the highlights for the upcoming Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner event in Vancouver on January 31st, Sunday.

Gung Haggis Fat Choy referenced for UNBC next lecture about food and interculturalism

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What does it mean if you mix up haggis with Chinese food? 
Anthropologist Dr. Marilyn Iwana presents a lecture: 
Bannock,
Borscht and Sushi: Do These Genes Make Me Look White?

Back in November, I was sent a facebook message from Dr. Marilyn Iwana, asking if she could use the image of me dressed in formal kilt with a Chinese lion mask.  She wrote:

Hi Todd, I'm an academic/poet (of sorts) up here in Prince George,
about to give a “scholars/community cafe” kind of talk on
food/identity/fusion. Would it be possible to use, duly cited, the Gung
Haggis Fat Choy photograph (the kilted lion dancer/piper from your
blog? Thanks very much. Marilyn Iwama

I was intrigued by what kind of talk she would be doing, and how she was involved in cultural fusion.  She wrote back:

It's been exciting and fun to hear about your blurring adventures-at
least the news that makes it online and on radio. Imagine your photo
travelling like that.

Our cafe night is in January, just wrote
the blurb for it and have started turning my mind there. I'm
Cree/Saulteaux/Metis/Mennonite (those HBC Orkney men); my husband's
Okinawan/Japanese and our kids are what they are. We've lived in some
places that have been great for our kind of family (Okinawa and Hawaii
esp.) and food's a huge part of the mix.

Marilyn sounded like my kind of Canadian – very open to recognition and acceptance of  multi-racial heritage, and celebrating it.  I suggested that she could create the first ever Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner in Prince George… even as a private house party.  I have had reports from people who have had private mini-Gung Haggis dinners in the Yukon, Whistler, Ottawa…

Check out the article in the Prince George Citizen:

What's Food Got To Do With It

Written by Bernice Trick
Citizen staff
  
Thursday, 07 January 2010

The next lecture in UNBC’s “Anthropology in our Backyards” series is a
presentation on the cultural significance of food to explore the
relationship between food and identity.
Bannock,
Borscht and Sushi: Do These Genes Make Me Look White? will be presented
by Dr. Marilyn Iwama to look at the ways in which deciding what goes on
the dinner table is being used to define Canadians. She will also be
looking at food as a cultural flash point and stabilizer.
The public is welcome to attend the talk at ArtSpace (above Books and Co.) at 7 p.m. January 12.
“In
the Canada of 2010, grocery chains stock kim chee and naan next to the
perogies and chorizo. “We also attend boundary-blurring festivals, such
as Gung Haggis Fat Choy Day,” says Iwama, who has a PhD in
Interdisciplinary Studies.
“Claiming and recognizing ‘our’ food is
becoming harder and harder. What havoc have immigration, intermarriage
and intercultural adoption wreaked in the kitchen – and does it matter?”
“In
an increasingly diverse society with families piecing together various
culinary and cultural traditions, deciding what will be served has
become increasingly daunting,” said Iwama.
“I suggest that Canadians are not only dining out on our changing society, but also counting on food to define it.”
The
talk is being sponsored by the UNBC Anthropology program in partnership
with Books and Co. with the aim of bringing together researchers and
the general public in exploring issues relevant to northern British
Columbia.
Iwama was born in Nipawin, Sask. of Cree, Saulteaux, Mtis
and Mennonite descent. She has focused her academic interests on the
transformation of culture and the interweaving of indigenous and
Western knowledge. Marilyn and husband, George, who is of Okinawan and
Japanese descent, have three sons.
–btrick@pgcitizen.ca

See full article at
http://www.princegeorgecitizen.com/20100107999924452/local/news/what-39s-food-got-to-do-with-it.html

Kilts Night report for January 7 2010

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KILTS NIGHT for a New Year

2010_Psyche 018Allan McMordie, Todd Wong and Debbie Poon, give a toast on kilts night.

Every 1st Thursday, we assemble at Doolin's Irish Pub for Kilts Night.  We wear our kilts, and are treated to a free pint of Guinness beer.  We have been meeting at Doolin's since January 1st 2005. 

Kilts Night for us, is a nice social evening for friends, supplemented by great celtic and Canadiana music by the Halifax Wharf Rats – who also throw in their own blend of celtic tinged classic folk and rock music.

My friends Allan and Debbie have been coming to Kilts Night over the past years.  But this night was special for each of us.  I had recently lost my kitty cat to a stroke a few days before.  Debbie had lost her pet ferret on December Solstice Day.  The McMordie's lost their pet cat Lilly back on BC Day weekend.  We gave a toast to them as our good and well-loved animal companions. 

The first time Allan showed up was for the March 2008 Kilts Night – and we just happened to have a Vancouver Sun photographer show up for the article: Vancouver Sun: The next celebration – Toddish McWong helps to spread the word about Tartan Day

2010_Psyche 019

Michelle, flute and keyboard player of the Halfax Wharf Rats, always delights the crowd at Doolin's by walking into the audience while she plays her flute solos.  Smiles abound from kilt wearers Clive, Bruce and Don.  I am setting up a special table for Kilts Night regulars for the Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner.  Bruce came last year and bought tickets from me that night.

Todd Wong goes electric guitar

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Dylan went electric…. Norah Jones has gone electric guitar now… 

Todd Wong shucks his accordion for a red electric guitar

2010_January_Vernon_NewYearsDay 051

It was a friendly music night at the home of Vernon friends, Jeff and Carol.  Just before New Year's Eve on Dec 30, we had gone up for a music night of classic folk and rock tunes.  I had taken my accordion.  It was lots of fun, similar to the musical ceilidh of Christmas and celtic songs at the McMordie household before Christmas back in North Vancouver.

With my accordion we had played some Elvis tunes, blues tunes, folk tunes even classics like Four Strong Winds, Hotel California and Del Shannon's Runaway.  We even sang accapella for Stan Rogers' classic North West Passage.  I also played some celtic accordion tunes from my music books, as one of the musicians had led off on flute with The British Grenadiers.  I also tossed off my standards of Hungarian Dance #5 and O Solo Mio and Tourna A Sorrento. 

But I had left my music stand behind.  So on January 2nd, Deb and I returned to the house and found ourselves at another music night – but without my accordion.  Carol offered me her red electric guitar without even asking if I could play guitar – even before offering me the keyboard in the corner.

Wow!  I hadn't ever played an electric guitar before.  I have my own accoustic guitar that I have strummed occasionally since high school lessons – but never an electric hooked up to an amp, and with a session jam before!

My finger picking was decent and I tried out the chords to House of the Rising Sun.  We played through Annie's Song, as I used to play a lot of John Denver back in the 70's.  But I was hungry for some Johnny Cash music. 

I think we really need to play a version of Ring of Fire, at the 2010 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner since I discovered that Johnny Cash had Scottish ancestry.

2010_January_Vernon_NewYearsDay 053 Carol and Jeff's music house, with special guests Todd and Deb.

My kitty cat PSYCHE has returned to SPIRIT.

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Psyche
kitty cat has returned to SPIRIT.

2008_Dec 005Rest in Peace – June 1993 – January 6, 2010.

Psyche was a great cat and had a grand
life for 16.6 years, looking after me and my parents. 

Her kitten nickname was Psycho-Kitty.  This is because when my friend's 14 year old daughter and I went to
the Burnaby SPCA looking at kittens, she was the one trying to climb
the bars of her cage while loudly mewing.  We quickly named her
“Psycho-Kitty.” 

A few evenings after bringing her home I listened to Lister Sinclair on
the CBC Radio program IDEAS, speak about the Greek Goddess Psyche – the goddess of Soul, who was also the wife of Cupid.  You can't call a kitten “Psycho-Kitty” for the rest of her life!

Little Psyche was a great animal companion for me.  I had recently separated from my wife, so I gave everything to this new female for whom I was her world.  We lived in a shared house beside Burnaby Lake, on GVRD property next to the Wildlife Refuge Centre.  We also lived with John and Arlene, a dog named Bodhi (after the tree that Buddha meditated under), a black spaniel named Chelsea, a big white cat named Spike, and a small Burnese cat named Cleo.  Spike, Bodhi and Chelsea were great with little Psyche.  She would chase after them, and they would put up with her.  Spike would swat the energetic kitten away, and she would come running back and tackle his tale… only to be swatted away again. 

Burnaby Lake was a great place to grow up.  We would sit on steps in the summer and listen to all the insects.  She would chase them and be wide eyed just watching them fly past.

Every night for our “going to bed ritual” – Psyche would climb the first few steps of the landing, then climb out on the railing.  I would come along and bend down, so she could climb onto my shoulder.  Then she would balance across my shoulders, as we would walk up the stairs to our bedroom.  We lived at the Burnaby Lake house for five years until 1998, when I moved to the North Shore to be with my parents.

Psyche quickly became part of the family with my parents.  Dad would feed her extra treats, while Mom would always shoo her out of the kitchen.  Psyche became an adept mouser, and loved all the room in the big house with all the rooms and crawl spaces downstairs to play hide & seek.  She also liked going outside and exploring the fern garden in the back, as well as Mom's flower and rhododendron garden in the front.  Our bed-time ritual would continue – but in different direction.  She would come and tap me while I was working late on the computer to say “Come to bed now!”

She was an excellent mouser, and would bring mice to my room, but somehow lose control of them, as they scurried underneath the bed or cabinets.  It was these times her nick name would be changed to “Stupid Cat” or usually “Goofy Cat.”  One time while we lived in Burnaby, she brought a young squirrel into my bedroom and let it loose under the bed.

Sometimes I would find her waiting for me if I came home late.  During summer months, she would be sitting at the bridge deck to the house, or at the edge of the driveway.  She always came over to say hello.  If I had been away for a few days, she would pretend to ignore me by sitting nearby, but not approach me.  I had to make it up to her.  She had me trained to bring her treats if she greeted me at the door!

Psyche kitty hair has
accompanied my travels over the years to Beijing, Scotland and the Grand Canyon. She made friends easily and she was loved by many.


WHAT HAPPENED TO PSYCHE:



Psyche had a stroke about 9pm last night… affecting her front right leg and
balance…  I first noticed when she climbed off my lap and sort of
rolled over… She gimpily tried to walk out of the front room…
before I could stop her – then she tumbled down 4 steps to the next
level. 

I
brought her to the front room for observation and she lay down and
rested.  A little while later, she again tried to walk down the steps –
but I stopped her before she could fall again.  I took her to the
litter box, and she had trouble standing up.  She was favoring her
front right leg and she kept losing her balance.

Mom
drove us to Emergency Animal Hospital in Kitsilano.  Deb met us there. 
The young vet diagnosed my suspicions – stroke.  They also diagnosed a
hyper-thyroid condition.  They recommended overnight observation and
I-V for hydration and other tests. 

Instead,
I took her home and cuddled and petted her all night – She was happy
and she purred. She just wanted to be close to me, like when she was a
little kitten.  Then, whenever she slept on my bed, she often curled up
against my neck.  If I ever rolled away, she always had to have at
least her paw touching me. 

By
the morning, she had lost use of her back legs, and had problems
rolling over.  Dad drove us to a friend's Animal Clinic on the North
Shore.  On the way, Psyche reached out with her paws and wanted to hug
with me.

At the clinic, a wiser older vet discussed all the complications of her situation.  Psyche was put to rest.

Peace and Blessings, Todd

Toddish McWong goes to Vernon BC and meets Betty McChan and Dan McHuang.

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Toddish McWong goes to Vernon BC and meets Betty McChan and Dan McHuang.


2010_January_Vernon_NewYearsDay 036Toddish McWong meets Betty McChan:  Todd wears the Ancient Fraser Hunting Tartan – the first kilt he ever wore, while Betty wears her father's jacket made from the Chan plaid.

I come to Vernon at Christmas time with my girlfriend and we spend lots of time with her parents and their friends.  Soon after my arrival on December 26th, Bill (my girlfriend's father) tells me that he met a Chinese guy from the Kelowna Pipe Band – that I have to meet.  It turns out that the Kelowna Pipe Band played with the Okanagan Symphony, and the Chinese guy playing the drums stuck out sooo much, that Bill had to go talk to him.  In the next few days, Dan Huang and I will play lots of telephone tag.

Over the next few days, my girlfriend and I celebrate Christmas with her parents.  We visit with their friends.  We go for walks in Kalamalka Park with the doggies.  We celebrate with two of our best friends in Vancouver who come up on December 28 to celebrate New Year's with us… and her birthday.  

2010_January_Vernon_NewYearsDay 083Todd and Deb walk the dogs in Kalamalka Park

Our friend Randall, an opera singer, comes to visit.  We talk about music, opera, and living in Europe.  The next night we visit some other musical friends and have a singalong – we play classic rock and folk songs.  Good thing I brought my accordion.   

My friend Craig and I go skiing at Silver Star.  We take it easy because it's the first day of the skiing season for both of us.  I share that when I was in grades 5, 6, and 7 – my parents brought me and my brother to learn to ski by taking us out of school for a week in February.  We ski green and blue runs + one black diamond run called Chaos.  We meet a Scottish woman, who is amazed that I organize the largest Burns Supper in Vancouver.  She asks me to recite something by Burns.  I launch into a very fast version of the first verse of “Address to a Haggis.”  She laughs in enjoyment.

On New Year's Eve, I receive a phone call from somebody at CBC Radio, for “On the Coast”.  They want to ask me questions about Auld Lang Syne, because it is originally a Scottish tradition – and apparently I am an expert in “All Things Scottish” (their words).  Luckily it's about things I know such as the lyrics are attributed to Scottish poet Robert Burns, and when to join and cross hands with people in a circle while singing Auld Lang Syne.  I add in that Hogmanay (Scottish New Year) is a lot like Chinese New Year because people make a lot of noise to scare off bad ghosts or spirits, and both Chinese and Scottish people want to pay off their debts before the new year begins.  Oh… and they also like to eat and drink a lot, and visit friends.

After 7 days, I
finally see and talk to some Chinese-Canadian people. And… they both have
Scottish connections. 

2010_January_Vernon_NewYearsDay 039 Some of Betty's newsclippings when she was 10 years old and a Highland Dance champion!

Betty Chan is a former Highland Dance champion,
teacher and judge!  We actually met a few years before, when she had emailed me about the Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner, and came to attend the 2006 dinner. 

It's a great meeting, as Betty tells us stories about her Highland Dance competitions when she was a child of 10.  In the late 1950's and early 1960's, she was a champion Highland Dancer.  She taught Highland Dancing for a number of years, and even became a member of the judge's panel of the Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing. She has since retired.  Back
around 2002, at the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum and Archives, I
first saw an archival issue of Chinatown News with a picture of Betty.

Betty was so good, that there were many media stories written about her.  Even a “Chan plaid” was made up for her.  When Betty went to show us the “Chan plaid” she brought out her father's jacket which he had made in Hong Kong.  She insisted that I try it on.  It's a good fit, and an honour to be wearing it.  Her father Ernest Chan was the first Chinese Canadian to receive the Order of Canada. Betty tells me that I look dashing in her father's Chan plaid jacket!  Wow!

The other guests arrive with extra won ton wrappers.  We fold some pork won tons, we sit down at the table… and after 7 days in Vernon, I finally have
some Chinese food as Betty served us a wonderful won ton soup!  It has bbq pork, water chestnut, siu choy – my girlfriend says is “absolutely fabulous” and “out of this world!”

2010_January_Vernon_NewYearsDay 047 Todd Wong, Dan Huang and Dan's wife Allison who plays bagpipes!

Dan Huang is drum sergeant of the Kelowna Pipe Band.  After days of telephone tag, we had set up a meeting.  Dan shared how he started playing in a pipeband- because his wife played the pipes, and the band was short of drummers – so he gave it a try, having grown up playing violin, piano and other instruments.  The band kilt is the only one he wears, and many people ask to have a picture taken with him, because the sight of an Asian guy in a kilt playing drums in a pipe band is quite unique in the Okanagan.  

And…. it turns out that Dan and I are actually related.  His maternal cousins are my paternal cousins.  So we are not actually related, as we don't share a common ancestor.  But, he brought a picture of his ancestors circa 1940.  Dan showed me his great-grandfather, his 6 wives, then pointed out the 1st born child (his mother) and the 2nd born son standing beside his young wife – who was my dad's oldest sister!  What a small world!