Musical Border Crossing

Thu Feb 19 03:02:40 AST 2009

"I like to think that living pacefully side by side and recognizing your
neighbour's culture makes for a better society."
 Marcellin, for many years we have been benn friends and neighbours. That statement explains why! Ditto!!!

> Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2009 19:32:48 -0800
> From: marcellinchiasson at yahoo.ca
> Subject: Re: Musical Border Crossing
> To: cbmusic at locals.ca
> 
> Emily:
> Thank you for your kind comments. I guess our family has loved scottish music for so long that when they asked dad why we liked the music so much, his answer was that we were vacinated with a scottish gramaphone needle.:):):)  As I've said often, where we lived in Belle Cote/Margaree, we went to the the same church, stores, schools, etc as the scottish people as the french lived on the east side on the east side of the Margaree River and the scottish lived on the west side. I would have to agree that many families lost their french language which is a shame. In our family, it was understood that we spoke french in our home but if an english speaking person entered, out of courtesy, we were to speak english.
> The Cheticamp area is working hard to maintain its language and culture but sometimes, over zealous people can turn off people which brands them as radicals. Howver, the older people tell us of the prejudices that existed years ago and some people will say that some of those prejudices subtly still exist today. I like to think that living pacefully side by side and recognizing your neighbour's culture makes for a better society. To me, the more languages a person knows is an advantage even in the economical world. In fact, our two children got immediate enployment after graduating because they were bilingual. In act, they got employment before graduates who had superior academic marks. (I guess I've strayed away from the topic at hand).
> Regards.
> Marcellin Chiasson
>  
>  
> --- On Tue, 2/17/09, E MALCOLM <emily-malcolm at rogers.com> wrote:
> 
> From: E MALCOLM <emily-malcolm at rogers.com>
> Subject: Re: Musical Border Crossing
> To: cbmusic at locals.ca
> Received: Tuesday, February 17, 2009, 2:20 AM
> 
> Oh Marcellin, you are so humble!  I'm sure you are very good at playing the
> fiddle.  You have to be.  You're a French Cape Bretoner.  Can't get
> much better than that.  Since I am half (French, that is) I can say that and
> mean it too.
>  
> Emily
> 
> --- On Mon, 2/16/09, Marcellin Chiasson <marcellinchiasson at yahoo.ca>
> wrote:
> 
> From: Marcellin Chiasson <marcellinchiasson at yahoo.ca>
> Subject: Re: Musical Border Crossing
> To: cbmusic at locals.ca
> Received: Monday, February 16, 2009, 2:40 PM
> 
> Mike (and other Cape Breton Music Lovers)
>  
> I was dumbfounded what the border crossing guards did to Mairi Rnkin and her
> driving companion. I know that tighter boarder regulations have become more
> strict since 9-11.
>  
> l think I may have found some of the reason why Mairi and her fiddle were
> turned back. I bet one of those guards overheard me play the fiddle at some
> Cape
> Breton venue and said "Hey, this instrumention could be dangerous to a
> person's health to have to listen to this", thus the tihtening on the
> reg's for the Cape Breton fiddle. Of course, Mairi would have taken some
> lessons roughly around the same time I did but she soon left me in her dust
> with
> her talents, her personalty and her abilities.. (Smile).
>  
> Seriously, I'll sign any petition in support of our outrage against this
> type of harassment against our pride and joy musicians.What law would she have
> broken to prevent such a wonderful talented person from crossing the border.
> Looks like some guard was on a power trip.
>  
> Macellin Chiasson.
> 
> --- On Fri, 2/13/09, Mike LITTLE <mike.little at ns.sympatico.ca> wrote:
> 
> From: Mike LITTLE <mike.little at ns.sympatico.ca>
> Subject: Musical Border Crossing
> To: cbmusic at locals.ca
> Received: Friday, February 13, 2009, 11:09 PM
> 
> [this info is a blend of two sources]-Not Getting any better!!! worse!
> 
> Mairi Rankin concert at the Skye Theatre in Maine on Sunday was cancelled;
> because she was refused admission at the border because of some stupid
> paperwork irregularities. I think she was also playing at a few house concerts
> too, which will now have to also be cancelled. What a crock! As the cancelled
> concert shows, she surely wasn’t putting anyone else out of work—on the
> contrary, two fine Maine musicians, Don and Cindy Roy, were also on the bill
> with her at the Skye and they now won’t be paid either.
>  Cultural exchanges should be privileged, not penalized!
> 
>  Mairi was interrogated by US guards at the border and turned back, and her
> driving companion was banned for attempting to "smuggle an illegal
> alien" into the country.
> 
> Musicians are regularly hassled at the border crossing by U.S. guards. 
> Canadians welcome U.S. musicians but the US is not interested in Canadian
> musicians.  Even Americans are harrassed when returning to the U.S., often
> because the guards presume musicians might be smuggling drugs.
> 
> I'd like to contact our senators and congressman about returning the
> musician visa process to pre-9/11 status--let me know if you would be
> interested
> in signing on to a petition.
> 
> It used to take 30 days for musicians to get visas after the Canadian
> musician's union verified that the applicant was a bonafide musician, and
> musicians could adjust their itinerary to accommodate additional gigs.  Now it
> takes 4 months to process a visa request (unless you pay a $1000 rush fee,
> which
> doesn't always help), and musicians cannot alter their itinerary.  This, of
> course, favors large entertainment companies which plan major tours far in
> advance and have resources to process the paperwork.
> 
> Sorry to bother some of you about this, but enough people have asked that I
> thought I'd send info to everyone, and save someone the trouble of showing
> up at the cancelled events.
> 
> take care
> Mike & Marg  www.cbchoices.com
> mike.little at ns.sympatico.ca
> cbchoices at gmail.com
> 
> 
> 
> On 24-Dec-08, at 12:11 PM, Will Richardson wrote:
> 
> A very Merry Christmas to everyone from down here in Texas.
> 
> Will Richardson
> Allen, TX
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: cbmusic-bounces at locals.ca [mailto:cbmusic-bounces at locals.ca] On Behalf
> Of Mike LITTLE
> Sent: Wednesday, December 24, 2008 5:50 AM
> To: cbmusic at locals.ca
> Subject: Re: universal season's greetings
> 
> And Season Greetings from the Western Side of Cape Breton Island
> 
> 
> Mike & Marg  www.cbchoices.com
> mike.little at ns.sympatico.ca
> 
> 
> 
> On 24-Dec-08, at 4:47 AM, marcello wrote:
> 
> I would like to spread my best whishes for a Merry Christmas and an
> Happy
> New Year
> to all cbmusic friends!
> 
> Buon Natale e Felice Anno Nuovo da Roma, Italia
> 
> Marcello
> 
> 
> marcello.grillini at enea.it
> 
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