This was my first experience of a paralympic sporting event and it was quite emotional. It’s too easy to say “I can’t” and these athletes prove that you can, if you put your mind to the task. There was lots of opportunity to try some of the adaptive sports equipment including the biathlon gun for the visually impaired – operated by sound rather than sight. I missed every time!
Colette Bourgonje was the first Canadian Paralympic medalist of the 2010 Games with a silver in the sitting 10k race.
Playing in Whistler’s Village Square, Redeye Empire is a rock-reggae band from Vancouver, British Columbia. Rock, Pop, Reggae and Ska… Redeye Empire blends the best elements of Jack Johnson, 311 and Sublime. Killer musicians with a wicked vibe. Check out their music too.
I’m not sure of the correct spelling but this guy, Bassekou Koyate and his band were fantastic. Part of the Cultural Olympiad during the Vancouver 2010 Paralympic Games this free concert would have been well worth paying from.
“Bassekou Kouyate was born in a village called Garana, almost 40 miles from Segu, in the remote countryside on the banks of the Niger River. He was raised in a traditional musical environment, his mother a praise singer and his father and brothers exceptional ngoni players. Bassekou moved to Bamako when he was 19 years old where he met the young Toumani Diabate. By the late 1980s Bassekou was part of Toumani’s trio and they recorded their first albums together, ‘Songhai’ and ‘Djelika’. Bassekou married the singer Ami Sacko (the so-called “Tina Turner of Mali”) and they have been in high demand for the traditional Sunday wedding parties that happen in the streets of Bamako. Bassekou has now he has put together his own band, Ngoni ba (meaning “the big ngoni”), Mali’s first ngoni quartet”.
All I know is that the music was fun, lively and fantastic to watch. The crowd went crazy. More photos here.
Bassekou Kouyate - "It's not a guitar"