GoGo Bonkers! Blog

Aeriosa Dance Society

gogo bonkers — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:11:24 +0000

As a parent of 3, I remember that Wendee and I were always looking for things that we could do as a family. Family values are very important to Gogo Bonkers and so we’ve made it our commitment to keep families informed about creative ideas and events that can help keep families entertained and engaged.

I decided to do a Google search of events happening in and around the Vancouver area and came across a pretty amazing event that is actually happening in Burnaby tomorrow night (June 20, 2013) at the Shadbolt Centre.

Aeriosa Dance Society

I’d like to introduce the Aeriosa Dance Society. I think this show is going to be incredible. Aeriosa flourishes under the artistic direction of Julia Taffe, a dancer, choreographer, and ACMG certified Rock Guide.

I believe that Arts & Culture is a crucial element to creating healthy communities and Dance should never be left out of this equation. I first became interested in dance after attending a number of performances by Ballet BC. I was amazed at the physical fitness levels that the dancers were performing at as well as the creativity that went into keeping the performances engaging and interesting.

Please visit the following website to read more about the importance of dance in culture:

http://www.coreofculture.org/index.html

The Aeriosa Dance Society will dazzle you with their unique brand of aerial dancing and acrobatics on the sides of buildings. Tickets are very reasonably priced (not much more than the cost of a movie), and well worth it. $15 tickets support local arts and culture and I’m excited to attend this event myself. Hope to see some families out tomorrow night. If you recognize me, feel free to come and say ‘hello’.

And don’t forget, if you haven’t already, to leave your name and email address in the box to the right of this post. When it comes to free kids songs and videos online, Gogo Bonkers is where it’s at. Whether you’re searching for groovy songs for your kid or kids on Youtube or you just happen to be hanging out on Facebook or Twitter, be sure to share the link to our free kids songs with your family, friends and children. Did I mention the free kid songs? Oh ya, I just did. Go get ‘em by filling in the form on the right! Kids songs! Kids videos! Long live free kids songs and videos for children!

The Making of Willy The Walnut

gogo bonkers — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 13:54:31 +0000

Willy The Walnut

A number of years ago, Iain & I came up with this idea to create a series of characters we started calling the Bonker Buddies. The Bonker Buddies were originally supposed an A-Z group of sorts and each character would have their own song. Between the two of us, we probably created 20-30 such characters. Our initial idea was to create short little ‘Mr Men’ style storybooks for kids and each book would include a CD of the song.

Penelope Peanut

Well, here we are about 6 or 7 years later and many of those characters have come to life in our live show as well as many of our videos that you may or may not have seen. Onc such character that we never brought forth to our fans was Willy The Walnut. Since launching our new Monthly Subscription Program, we have promised to release one new music video every month. Although a music video for both Fishing For Garbage and Brown Potato are in the works, the production needs of those particular songs were too large for an April 1st release, so Iain and I decided to bring Willy The Walnut back to life once again in the form of a music video for you and your kids to enjoy.

The Nutcracker

And don’t forget. If you haven’t already, click on the Subscribe button to the right. By becoming a monthly subscriber, not only are you funding Gogo Bonkers to create new content every month, but you will also receive that content in the form of 2 new songs and 2 new videos every single month that you remain a subscriber. The 1st of every month is ‘Bonk Day’. Become a Gogo Bonkers monthly subscriber today and receive an instant album download as well as access to our back catalogue of content. Just click on the ‘Subscribe’ button to the right!

Kids songs. Free kids songs. Kids videos. Family Entertainment!

Trev on set with Willy

Gogo Bonkers for Vision with Action

gogo bonkers — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 14:23:18 +0000

I recently heard this great quote.

To be perfectly honest, Gogo Bonkers has been living in somewhat of a dreamworld for the past eight and a half years. Don’t get me wrong. Iain and I have had a complete blast concocting our own zany brand of children’s entertainment. We’ve been together for nearly a decade now and have created an entire world of characters and songs that we are very proud of. We’ve performed in front of thousands of children and parents all over BC, have been nominated for a Western Canadian Music Award, and become short filmmakers in our own right.

Even though Iain and I have been busy engaged with many revenue generating activities over the years, we have yet to make the leap into a full time commitment. I have spent the past year as a fundraiser for international children’s charities such as Plan and Unicef and just recently found out that BC has the 2nd highest child poverty rate

First Call BC 2012 Child Poverty Report Card

in all of Canada. This made me realize that there is a much larger issue going on here and that this issue is accompanied by a much larger opportunity to do something about it.

Recently Gogo Bonkers launched their monthly subscription program. For a small monthly fee, we will send you 2 new Gogo Bonkers songs every single month as well as 2 new videos. As an extra incentive to sign up, we’ve decided to donate 20% of our monthly proceeds to local children’s charities.

So far, we have acquired 4 monthly subscribers. Yay! We will be featuring our first subscribers soon, so please click on the link and subscribe now. In the meantime, Gogo Bonkers is on a mission to feature some local children’s charities that are working towards helping kids get out of poverty. After a quick Google search, I stumbled upon First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition, who publish the BC Child Poverty Report Card referenced above, and became immediately interested in finding out more. So I am off to meet with them to find out their story. I’ll be posting a short video on that adventure soon.

Thanks for reading and don’t forget, Vision without Action just passes the time. Please take action and subscribe to Gogo Bonkers now so that we can continue to bring you quality entertainment the whole family can enjoy while, at the same time, help make a positive difference in the world. Take care and don’t be afraid to reach out and connect with us.

Trev.

Pomme de Terrible’s Potato Planet…..Part 10!!!

gogo bonkers — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 21:13:27 +0000

First of all, Iain and I would like to apologize for the tardiness of Part 10. As many of you know, we were very busy organizing our first annual Shiny Kids Family Festival, which was a complete success, I must say. Much of our time was eaten up writing and rehearsing a brand new Gogo Bonkers Show called ‘Save The Sea‘. We are currently busy recording our new album which goes by the same name so keep your eyes and ears open for new tunes coming your way soon.

With the new summer BC Festival season upon us, we figured it was extremely important that we not completely drop the ball with Pomme de Terrible’s Potato Planet. For those of you who are following and enjoying the series, please be patient with us. It is our intent to get back on our ‘1 new video per week’ schedule starting today.

The Canadian Potato set off for Sturgis North

Last we left off, Pomme de Terrible and The Canadian Potato were both on their way to the Sturgis North Festival to meet their Potato Queen, Lee Aaron.

Will Pomme de Terrible follow CanPot to Sturgis North?

In our latest episode, we meet Chip Hog & Skid Mark, a couple of young, budding musicians who also find themselves on an adventure to Sturgis North. Check out this week’s episode of Pomme de Terrible’s Potato Planet.

Enjoy Part 10 of the ongoing saga of Pomme de Terrible’s Potato Planet. If you like potatoes, you’re going to want to watch this. And please remember to share our videos with anyone whom you think will enjoy them.

Sweetwater 905

gogo bonkers — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 05:20:47 +0000

Well, with summer festivals upon us, Gogo Bonkers will kick off their summer festival touring with Sweetwater 905 in Dawson Creek. The festival happens this weekend, June 15-17 and many of the Gogo Bonkers Gang will be there: Iain, Trev, Mudlee, Olagg the Ogre, Trina the Troll, Molly Mushroom, Heavy Bear, Big Rac, BluStaff, Canadian Potato and perhaps even sneaky Pomme de Terrible.

Set on the sprawling pastoral home of Emilie and Larry Mattson, Sweetwater 905 is a celebration of music, poetry, visual and performance art. Located 1.5 miles west of Rolla, BC 15 miles straight north of Dawson Creek, in the northeastern part of the province, the event brings together a wide range of talent from the community, the province, and beyond.

Eco-Art by Bruce Voyce

gogo bonkers — Tue, 29 May 2012 13:54:30 +0000

Earth Dragon at Cameron Park

About a month ago, Iain, Angela Brown (The Ta-Daa Lady) and I attended an event at the Roundhouse here in Vancouver called ‘The Eco Salon’. Each salon features an environmental artist who presents their work – stimulating discussion around questions such as ‘What does it mean to be an environmental artist?’ and ‘What is the potential for community engaged environmental arts in Vancouver?’

The featured artist last night was Bruce Voyce who earned, in my opinion, his credibility by displaying a deep passion for both art and gardening. Bruce kicked off the evening with a quick discussion about the history of pop culture and the way in which it celebrated mass consumption. He talked about the artist Jeff Koons and how the insincerity of his artform seemed to somehow become what was knows a ‘pop art’.

Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons

Bruce touched down on many topics but the one line that stands out most in my mind is this:

The Medium is the Message.

He spoke about how advertisers are now starting to use art and poetry next to commercial advertising as a tool to draw consumers toward, ultimately, the ad and not the art itself. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Bruce say that he wants his art ‘to be out there with the wind and the rain’. Which it is!

Bruce has many Eco-Sculptures in and around Vancouver/Burnaby. Most notable are the two Tancho Cranes which can be seen in Burnaby Mountain Park.

Tancho Cranes Eco Sculpture-Burnaby Mountain Park

Bruce reiterated Iain and I’s opinion about attachment to nature and that, if it is to occur and become a lifelong passion, it must be instilled at a very young age. He believes that eco-art should be much more prevalent in urban settings because it creates a sense of possibility.

Though an avid home gardener, Bruce himself does not do the planting of his sculptures. He builds the sculptures and the planting is done by both gardeners and members of the public. What I love about this process is that it creates a piece of art that is truly collaborative and organic. It also allows for the sculptures to morph and change through the years due to the fact that different seeds can be planted within the framework of the sculptures, lending different colours and textures to the look and feel of the art.

Not to mention that Mother Earth herself becomes involved in these artistic creations. Wind, rain, and sun interact with the plants that spring forth from the sculptures not to mention an entire host of creatures from the insect world. Meals on Wheels features a dragster which doubles as a vegetable garden that children can interact with and plant seeds in.

In conclusion, Bruce was very optimistic about the future of art and technology and spoke of a time when our world will be full of ‘hybrid systems that sustain each other’ thereby proving the transformative power of art.

Check out Bruce’s website at:

www.brucevoyce.com

Pomme de Terrible’s Potato Planet…Part 6

gogo bonkers — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 19:09:31 +0000

Well, with the holidays now behind us, it’s time to look toward the future and, even though Pomme de Terrible seems to have had his plans thwarted by the Canadian Potato, we still believe him to be sneaking about our local neighbourhoods. Please keep an eye out for him and, whatever you do, don’t eat any of his potatoes. He’s up to no good, that’s for sure.

Enjoy Part 6 of the ongoing saga of Pomme de Terrible’s Potato Planet. If you like potatoes, you’re going to want to watch this. And please remember to share our videos with anyone whom you think will enjoy them.

Trev gets his seeds back from greedy PDT!!

Pomme de Terrible’s Potato Planet…Part 5!!!

gogo bonkers — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 17:38:05 +0000

Well, as you know, The Canadian Potato has caught Pomme de Terrible inside his magic potato staff, but the question is, will Pomme de Terrible give Trevor his potato seeds back? Find out on the latest episode of Pomme de Terrible’s Potato Planet!

A Canadian Standoff!!

Pomme de Terrible’s Potato Planet…Part 4!!!

gogo bonkers — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 20:56:26 +0000

Well, we finally have some good news. While Mudlee and Seafree have been busy writing and recording new kids songs for their upcoming album of sea songs, The Canadian Potato has managed to trap Pomme de Terrible inside his magic potato staff. If you haven’t seen our brand new series of YouTube videos that are appropriate for people of all ages, children, adults, and teens alike, then it is about time you checked them out. Pomme de Terrible is a force not to be taken lightly.

PDT is caught red handed with Trevor's potato seeds!

Pomme de Terrible’s Potato Planet…Part 3!!!

gogo bonkers — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:41:42 +0000

Who is Pomme de Terrible? And why has he stolen Trevor’s potato seeds? All Trev wanted to do was plant some potatoes in his own back yard. What exactly does Pomme de Terrible have against back yard gardening. Tune in as Gogo Bonkers, makers of fine and funny youtube videos and kids songs (not to mention free kids songs) bring you Episode 3 of Pomme de Terrible’s Potato Planet.

Can The Canadian Potato stop Pomme de Terrible?