Friday Zen – Haitian Fund Raiser and Killer Whales

Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip will perform live on Friday's telethon, along with hip hop act K'naan, and a number of other musical acts.

Canada’s three major networks (admit it – you didn’t know we even had one, did you?) are coming together this evening for a joint fundraiser for Haitian relief. The event will be broadcast one hour before the beginning of the major, worldwide Haitian relief telethon, “Hope for Haiti Now”.

The money raised during the Canadian portion of the telethon will be distributed evenly distributed to 10 Canadian NGOs doing hands on relief work in Haiti, including World Vision Canada, Canadian Red Cross Society, UNICEF Canada, Oxfam Canada and Save the Children Canada. You can also donate online, via this link.

Canada’s homegrown telethon features a pantheon of Canadian stars, including James Cameron, Jason Reitman, William Shatner, Joshua Jackson, Pamela Anderson, Eugene Levy, Sandra Oh, Tom Jackson, Ryan Reynolds, Michael J. Fox, Rachelle Lefevre, Will Arnett, Hugh Dillon and Brent Butt.

Musical acts appearing include Nelly Furtado, Measha Brueggergosman, Justin Bieber, Céline Dion, Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, David Foster, Chantal Kreviazuk, Raine Maida and Simple Plan. Headlining is the seminal Canadian rock band The Tragically Hip.

To me, nothing says ‘zen’ like listening to Gord Downey perform his iconoclastic version of “New Orleans is Sinking”.

Downey likes to use “New Orleans is Sinking” as a sort of blank slate for new material, weaving seemingly random rants, on a variety of topics, into the middle of the song. This version is known by fans as “NOIS – Killerwhaletank”, for reasons which will become obvious once you listen to it.

After Hurrican Katrina, the Hip removed New Orleans is Sinking from their live show play lists. They’ve said that they’re not sure if they’ll ever play it again.