Live8 Blogger Documentarians

Dr. Charles, a physician in the USA and phenomenal writer, is attending Live8 in Philly. He's already got one post up with pictures from Friday Night's venue.

Kim of Bacon and Ehs has descended on Barrie, Ontario, about an hour north of Toronto, with hubby in tow, to enjoy Live8's lineup. She'll have photos and words about her experience when she returns home.

My niece is attending Live8 in Barrie too, since she lives there. I'll try to get a hold of her for the "young person's perspective" (she's 18) once the concert is over.

While there's been much complaining in Canada about the lineup for Barrie, I have to say, I'm enjoying these acts. Better than I thought it would be. So far, Sam Roberts, Bryan Adams, Tom Cochrane (who knew Life is a Highway was inspired by poverty in Africa?) have been awesome. I can't wait for Jann Arden and The Tragically Hip. I have no idea why Sarah McLachlan is NOT appearing in Barrie but rather in Philly.

Thanks to illness and just being too used to comforts of home, I wasn't up for the outdoor party in the park. But the online and tv content makes it all moot anyway! Interesting that not one American network is televising this so far (as of 1pm EDT in Canada). Canada has CTV airing it live with well-coordinated clips from other locations too. I just watched Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg on tv. Loved seeing Annie Lennox in London via online simulcast. She was introduced by Brad Pitt...be still my little heart (lol). Nothing better than seeing a great looking guy speak on something he cares about. Will Smith appeared in Philly and I watched that online too.

So despite being safe and comfortable at home, I can enjoy all of this along with everyone else attending. My only beef is that the online simulcast is a little off in announcing who will be appearing next in each location. For instance, by the time they ran a text banner announcing Destiny's Child coming up, they were done. And Brian Wilson performed some old Beach Boys tunes in Berlin, yet nothing announced that. I just happened to be tuned to Berlin online so I caught it.

Now about this poverty thing and the pressure on Canada .... Geldof says he applies the most pressure to Canada because if Canada doesn't step up, the USA will keep slacking off. In other words, we're supposed to succumb to pressure to make the guys next door feel bad. Yea, that's always worked real well for us in the past. While I agree with the One Campaign, I also strongly believe that help and caring should begin at home.

• when Canada can afford to restore our healthcare to the quality it had before the Conservatives ruled or better,
  
• when Canada can afford to get our own kids off the street, educated, fed, into safe homes
• when Canada can improve support for single parents and even married parents struggling to house, feed and educate themselves and their kids
  

AFTER we accomplish that and if we have money left over, yes send it off to wherever it's needed. Sacrificing the aid and societal awareness for one country's children over another country's children only perpetuates a vicious circle.

Help should begin at home. If you can keep your own house in order and well looked after, THEN you can reach out, not before.

I'm all for getting Canada's house in order. But we have years of mistakes to fix first. We've got a new government, some serious problems, and not enough money.

Thanks to Live8 for the awareness, the concerts, the incredible efforts of so many people. I just don't want us to forget ourselves in the process.

G8 Summit is July 6th in Scotland. It will be interesting to see if they comment on Live8 and whether the ONE campaign gets any attention.

You can sign the One Campaign Declaration, regardless of what country you're in - ONE campaign

For information on what you can do in your own country - http://one.org/Thanks.aspx?type=1

For information on why Africa has so much poverty, how they handle aid, and how you can help - http://www.africaeconomist.com/

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