Slonik’s Neighbors

"Duty, Service, Sacrifice" (RCMP Print)

nobody@vox.com(Strive2Be) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 20:41:55 -0700

Fallen Members of the RCMP, by Silvia Pecota. This limited edition commemorative print was created exclusively for National Post in memory of Const. Peter Christopher Schiemann, Const. Anthony Fitzgerald Orion Gordon, Const. Lionide Nicholas Johnston, Const. Brock Warren Myrol (the fallen four)....ambushed and gunned down in Mayerthorpe, Alberta, Canada in March, 2005.

This print was digitally created combining photography with painting and is printed on archival, fine art water colour paper.
They are numbered and signed by artist Silvia Pecota .
Each print is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity.
Print size 11" x 14"
$80/print plus applicable taxes and shipping and handling.
Proceeds from the sale of the prints will go directly to help support The Fallen RCMP Family Fund

In response to the overwhelming support for the Fallen Members of the RCMP, this limited edition of 500 will include a charity edition of 5000.

TO ORDER:
National Post
1-866-568-6979.
email: postprints@nationalpost.com

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Sunday's Music From the 60's and 70's

nobody@vox.com(Strive2Be) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:24:49 -0700

Helen Reddy, 1975

Helen Reddy: I Am Woman (Live) 1975

HELEN REDDY IN CONCERT was recorded live on June 8, 1975 in the United Kingdom and sees her perform her #1 worldwide hit song, "I Am Woman". Released in 1972.

Lyrics:

I am woman, hear me roar
In numbers too big to ignore
And I know too much to go back and pretend
'Cuse I've heard it all before
And I've been down there on the floor
No one's ever gonna keep me down again

Chorus:
Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to, I can do anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman

You can bend but never break me
'Cause it only serves to make me
More determined to achieve my final goal
And I come back even stronger
Not a novice any longer
'Cause you've deepened the conviction in my soul

Chorus

I am woman watch me grow
See me standing toe to toe
As I spread my lovin' arms across the land
But I'm still an embryo
With a long long way to go
Until I make my brother understand

Oh yes I am wise
But it's wisdom born of pain
Yes, I've paid the price
But look how much I gained
If I have to I can face anything
I am strong (strong)
I am invincible (invincible)
I am woman
Oh, I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong

(fade)
I am woman
I am invincible
I am strong
I am woman

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Costanza

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:45:29 -0700

07/06/2008 16:42:30 ♥ written by vu ()

Costanza - Silence

Costanza

Tour Dates

07/13/08 Eboli (Salerno/Naples), Italy
07/18/08 Arezzo Wave - Livorno, Italy
08/09/08 Carpi/Modena, Italy
08/29/08 Burning Man - Black Rock City, Nevada

Discography

[2003] Tricky: Vulnernable

[2006] zerOKilled

[2008] Sonic Diary

See Also

Portishead

http://weheartmus...

Portishead, the band that helped pioneer trip-hop, is back with their new studio album, Third, d...

Costanza Francavilla, or simply known as Costanza is an Italian singer, has a full length album out on July 8^th called Sonic Diary. After putting the album in to listen, I instantly think of electronica and trip hop, but with a dreampop quality, as her singing style is often breathy, sexy, and deamlike.

Looking at the very impressive/see-through press material, it looks like her music's been licensed out to a variety of television shows (CSI, L Word) and movies (.45, starring everyone's favorite Milla Jovovich). It doesn't surprise me, as this type of electronica music (think Moby) works well as background music.

However, I think the one thing people might know her from is her collaboration with British electronic artist, Tricky (and, sure, you might know him from another Jovovich film, The Fifth Element).

Apparently, Costanza who was a fan at one of his show gave Tricky's drummer a three-track demo CD and that was passed onto Tricky, who absolutely loved it. So all the songs on his Vulnerable album in 2003 featured Costanza's vocals with two songs co-written by her ("Stay" and "What is Wrong").

Tricky - Dear God

XTC - Dear God

One of the most bizarre and interesting song from their collaboration is their cover of XTC's "Dear God". I wouldn't go so far as to pronounce their version equal or better than the original grand epic song in three and a half minutes, but I will have to admit that it's "different". I think if I didn't know about XTC, I would really love Tricky and Costanza's version. (Side note: their cover of The Cure's "Love Cats" is better).

Now, if you thought "Dear God" was weird, the very original electronica take on Fugazi's "Promises" and Johnny Cash's "God's Gonna Cut You Down" must be heard to be believed. The way she sings "promises are shit", with her Italian accent, it doesn't sound bad or naughty at all.

Other songs I thought were interesting is the opening song, "Just Another Alien". Not so much a song, but a series of questions that she was probably asked when she was applying to live and work in the USA. The Italian song, "I Tuoi Occhi Sono Pieni Di Sale" (featuring Riccardo Sinigallia) was also interesting, it made me want to learn Italian. I did use babelfish and it tells me that the title translate to something like "Your Eyes Are Full Of [knowledge?]", so I'm assuming it's a personal/love song?

The one song that I think everyone will really enjoy is "Silence". This is such a dreamtronica song, full of child-like and innocent singing on a very lush music background. I feel like the song belongs to a soundtrack to a movie.

Fans of electronica lounge music, made famous by such compilations such as OM: Chilled and Lounge Experience series, should really enjoy this. These songs are perfect for either laying around the house or at a small party, really good for any occasion.

It looks like she'll be playing a few dates in Italy with Marco Messina. If you aren't lucky enough to live in Italy, her album Sonic Diary is out this Tuesday. For convience, you can actually get high quality MP3 from Amazon right now.

PS, Usually we just have one or two releases on Tuesday that I need to do coverage on. So I normally check on Sunday and work on the review that very day or, at the latest, on that Tuesday. I thought I was sitting pretty as I've already taken care of two releases already that was meant for July 7^th (Connected) and 8^th (Matt Keating), but we still have these that's being release this week: Wire's Object 47, The Coke Dares' Feelin' Up, Son Ambulance's Someone Else's Deja Vu, Patti Smith/Kevin Shield's The Coral Sea, and Costanza's Sonic Diary. If I have missed anything, please accept my apologies and contact me right away.

Links: costanza.tv myspace.com/costanzafrancavilla

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Sunday morning trapping: The Humbling

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 09:06:42 -0700

Well, after doing so well, catching three kittens in 10 minutes a week and a half ago, this morning, at one of my colonies, two of us were out there to trap three kittens, and after an hour, came up with bupkiss. No resting on laurels here.

We did clap eyes on two of them, here's a picture of one of them looking at the trap, all "I don't think so."

Eastern tan&white

These guys are five weeks old. One other poked his/her nose out from under that piece of fence, but after the first ten minutes, they disappeared, and we didn't see anything more of them, or any of the half-dozen adult cats, who usually show up when we're trapping. Despite all our efforts to coordinate non-feeding with the people in the two buildings this little piece of alley is between, I think the cats still weren't hungry.

Came back home and put a tote bag with some of my trapping kit on the kitchen counter for a bit. Went back to the kitchen a little bit later to find my cats had torn into the bag of catnip we've sometimes used for bait, and scattered it all over the counter and kitchen floor. Bills and receipts I had on the counter had green slobber on them, and if you think I had trouble keeping my cats off the counter before, oh, man. Even though I've wiped the counter and floor down, you know they're going to keep going up there looking for catnip.

I didn't get a photo of that little mess, but I did get this photo yesterday after I did the kitten photo shoot on my bed. I think the message here is "We're ready for our closeups."

My guys

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Americana, Part 2

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 04:29:26 -0700

07/06/2008 06:23:26 ♥ written by vu ()

Harry Chapin - The Mayor of Candor Lied

Harry Chapin

Harry Chapin - Dreams Go By

Harry Chapin

Get ready for another collection of Americana/Folk music. Where we last left off, I was talking about "The Boss".

With this entry, I thought I'd talk about one of my favorite American folk/protest singer: Harry Chapin. I discovered him in the 7^th grade, while driving in the passenger seat with Mr Schemling to Yosemite National Park.

We were listening to Mister Mister and Harry Chapin. I loved the songs I heard so much that he made cassette tapes of some of his more famous songs like "Taxi" and "Cats in the Cradle".

There were other songs that I loved, of course. The epic "The Mayor of Candor Lied", original appeared on On the Road to Kingdom Come (1976). I have never seen that CD, but I eventually got the song from a 3-disc box set called Story of a Life.

It may have impacted me different when I was younger, but I have always imagined it to make a great movie: two love-torn lovers, a blackmail, and "a deal made in hell". There is a twist in the song, so you must listen to this all the way to the end when you find out why Coleen never returned from holiday.

Martyn Joseph later covered this song on his 1999 album, Far From Silent, which I didn't like it too much. He made a clumsy attempt at changing the lyrics at the end...

Incidentally, I was listening to some of his songs, you know, for old time's sake. In my modest collection of 70 Chapin songs, I have noticed that I often liked his live versions much better than the studio version. They are usually full of interaction and often the lyrics were changed. Check out the opening track "Dreams Goes By" from his Greatest Stories Live, it would've been amazing to see him live.

MATT KEATING
mattkeating.com ♥ myspace.com

Matt Keating - Louisiana

When I first saw that this was a two-disc release (23 tracks) for Quixotic, I must confess, I was a little overwelm. After I gave the first disc a listen, it went down really easy. Many of the songs are standard length (3 or 4 minutes), and they seem to be to be heartland rock. Although his biography would also lists him as "urban, indie rock".

However, this quote from producer Gary Maurer really sums it up:

The thing that really reaches me about Matt is that he is a true believer in the power of folk and popular music much like Bruce Springsteen or [Bob] Dylan. The music I'm most attracted to has an immediate emotional impact on me. Not that Matt isn't a crafty songwriter -- because he is -- but he writes from a very personal perspective which is very appealing to me.

- Gary Maurer

Reading on why Quixotic was split into two discs, Keating wanted to bring back the album concept. Think of "Disc 1" as "Side A" and you get the idea. Each side/CD is about fifty minutes of music (the album in its entirety is about an hour) and each side is design to play like a musical journey - with its mix of songs to keep you interested, to the slow and quiet song to end one side and ease you to the flipside.

Many of the songs on his Quixotic seems to be about travelling and locations ("St. Cloud", "Louisiana", "Runaway Clown", "Now We're Home", "Road to Ruin", "Romeoville", "Valhalla Waltz", etc), you get the impression that Keating's been around. I believe he's refering to St Cloud, Minnesota, you can grab the free MP3 song from his website. I thought "Louisiana" was the best song on Side A, I especially love hearing this rocking music with its heartbreaking lyrics and its catchy chorus: "here in looooo-wee-zee-anna".

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like Side B is about relationship ("Do You Want (To Not Be Lonely with Me)", "Before My Wife Gets Home", "Love Ain't"). Great songs, check out "As Much as You Can Bear" and "Love Ain't", these two songs really stood out for me.

Before you know, the short violin/piano piece of "Valhalla Waltz" indicates the journey is about to end and the slow-paced, acoustic "Book of Changes" closes the album.

Quixotic will be officially released July 7^th, you can buy it directly from indiekazoo.com or the usual places (amazon, iTunes).

It looks like he'll be doing a tour to support the album, so see him if you can:

07/10/08 The Living Room New York
07/12/08 Coffee East Easton, Maryland
07/13/08 The Tin Angel Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
07/14/08 The Galaxy Hut Arlington, Virginia
07/17/08 The Pour House Raleigh, North Carolina
07/19/08 The Bluebird Cafe Nashville, Tennessee
07/25/08 Horseshoe Chicago
07/26/08 Magdlaenas Tea House East Lansing, Michigan
08/12/08 The Cinema Bar Los Angeles, California
08/21/08 Comet Tavern Seattle, Washington
09/05/08 Village Tavern Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin
09/13/08 Common Grounds Lexington, Kentucky
09/14/08 The Milestone Charlotte, North Carolina
09/15/08 The Cave Chapel Hill, North Carolina
09/19/08 Housing Works New York
09/24/08 Frequency Madison, Wisconsin
09/28/08 Club Cafe Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

ABIGAIL WASHBURN
abigailwashburn.com ♥ myspace.com

Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet - Sugar & Pie

Abigail Washburn wants you to know that she's a "banjo pickin' girl" on "Banjo Pickin' Girl", what sounds like a different take on a traditional song. There's plenty of banjo picking on this album, but this time she has an orchestra, The Sparrow Quartet (Bela Fleck, Ben Sollee, Casey Driessen), to back her up.

To be honest, I first heard of her writing about her celloist, Ben Sollee, but looking at her discography, she was already well-established as a bluegrass/folk banjo musician.

I've been bicycling to work and I put on her latest album, Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet (just released in May) to listen to, and this Chinese song came up that made me stop on the trail. I had to open up my iPod to look at the song title: "Sugar & Pie".

At first I was confused, then I thought maybe it's gaelic or something, it possibly couldn't be Chinese?

I later found out that she actually began her music career playing throughout China, doing a ten plus dates with a group of friends.

She recalls:

The audience was mostly Chinese at the Universities and mainly ex-pats at the bars. We played American folk songs, and original material in both Chinese and English, and it seemed to go over well. At this point, I’m caught between two cultures, but I like being a bridge. I want to keep going to China and living a creative existence. I want to learn more about Chinese folk traditions, so I can integrate them into my music and continue to be a part of the development of a more universal language.

In addition to "Sugar & Pie", I was pleasantly surprise that she has other Chinese songs on the album, "Taiyang Chulai" and "Journey Home".

If you're wondering, she does sing in English, be sure to check out "It Ain't Easy", "Strange Things", and "Kangding Qingge/Old-Timey Dance Party" (it looks like the song is based on a traditional Chinese song, but the lyrics are old-fashion English).

It looks like she is doing a ton of dates, be sure to check out her live to see the marriage of Traditional American music and Chinese folk songs. If she's also playing with The Sparrow Quartet, you should keep an eye out for Ben Sollee, his music have had very positive reponses from W♥M readers.

07/10/08 Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua Bayfield
07/11/08 Winnipeg Folk Festival Winnipeg, Manitoba
07/13/08 Vancouver Island Musicfest Vancouver, British Columbia
07/14/08 Benaroya Hall Seattle, Washington
07/15/08 Aladdin Theatre Portland, Oregon
07/17/08 Boarding House Park Lowell, Massachusetts
07/18/08 Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival with the Sparrow Quartet Ancramdale, New York
07/19/08 Vancouver Folk Festival Vancouver, British Columbia
07/20/08 Vancouver Folk Festival Vancouver, British Columbia
07/26/08 RockyGrass Festival with the Sparrow Quartet Lyons, Colorado
07/27/08 Calgary Folk Music Festival with the Sparrow Quartet Calgary, Alberta
07/28/08 The Myrna Loy Center Helena, Montana
07/29/08 Wilma Theatre Missoula, Montana
07/30/08 Sacajawea Center Salmon, Idaho
08/01/08 Kaslo Bay Park Music Festival Kaslo, British Columbia
08/03/08 Dunegrass and Blues Festival Empire, Michigan
08/08/08 Grand Targhee Bluegrass Fest w/Sparrow Quartet Alta, Wyoming
08/09/08 Edmonton Folk Music Festival with the Sparrow Quartet Edmonton, Alberta
08/10/08 Regina Folk Festival with the Sparrow Quartet Regina, Saskatchewan
08/23/08 San Francisco Music and Arts Festival San Francisco, California
08/29/08 Moe Down Turin, New York
08/31/08 Hookaville Thornville, Ohio
09/11/08 Memorial Hall Chapel Hill, North Carolina
09/13/08 Dominican University PAC River Forest, Illinois
09/14/08 Turner Hall Milwaukee, Wisconsin
09/15/08 Guthrie Theater Proscenium Minneapolis, Minnesota
09/16/08 Barrymore Theatre Madison, Wisconsin
09/17/08 The Music Mill Indianapolis, Indiana
09/19/08 The Ark Ann Arbor, Michigan
09/20/08 Parrish Auditorium Hamilton, Ohio
09/27/08 Dosey Doe The Woodlands, Texas
09/28/08 Austin City Limits Music Festival Austin, Texas
10/01/08 Fisher Center w/Sparrow Quartet Woodstock, New York
10/02/08 Town Crier Cafe Pawling, New York
10/03/08 First Parish Church Cambridge, Massachusetts
10/04/08 Flynn Theatre Burlington, Vermont
10/05/08 The Community Theater Morristown, New Jersey
10/10/08 Portland Art Museum Portland, Oregon
10/17/08 Ferst Center for the Arts Atlanta, Georgia
10/19/08 Lake Eden Arts Festival Black Mountain, North Carolina

STEVEN ALVARADO
stevenalvarado.com ♥ myspace.com

Steven Alvarado - Get This Far

One look at Steven Alvarado's cover artwork for Let It Go, an album that was released in April 2008 from Mott Street Records, I thought it was a tribute to Bob Dylan's The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, but completely opposite: without a girl, presumably sadder, a little more modern, and his back to you.

One listen to the album, it definitely feels like good-time American folk rock.

I love the interaction of electric blues guitar fighting against the acoustic guitar on the brilliant opening track, "Get This Far". Even the lyrics seems to be duking it out and full of contradictions: "I'm outta gas, I got no car, I never thought I'd get this far"

Many of these songs are short, but catchy, pop-rock-oriented songs, perfect for the radio. The few exception does stick out, for instance "Nobody Knows", a slow burning depressing song. What Alvarado does best here is give such a descriptive setting:

It's Saturday night, and I'm drinking and thinking about you.
It's cold and it's raining, I'll stop complaining soon.
I cannot help myself, my heart is aching again.

Somebody throw him a lifeline, it sounds to me as if he's committing suicide here!

Fortunately, there's more happier songs makes up for that depressing one. Check out "New York", a song dedicated to Alvarado's friend and poet Aaron Smith. The song lyrics also lends itself to the title, "Let it Go".

Let It Go is out now, you can pick it up directly from CD Baby. He's planning on doing a European tour in and around September 2008, I'll be sure to mention it if I hear anything.

JJ APPLETON
jjappleton.com ♥ myspace.com

JJ Appleton - Today Today Today

I'll tell you right off the bat: I love green packaging.

JJ Appleton's Black & White Matinee comes in a recycled cardboard, down to the soy ink that was used to print the cover.

This short six-track EP was recorded in Finsbury Park, London last year, 2007.

Now, I'm under the impression that Finsbury Park is festival (live music), but listening to all the songs, the sound quality is too good to be live. Maybe he's just that good?

I especially enjoyed the pianos on "Coming Back Alone". The lyrics on "You're Sweet On Him" does get a little repetitive... yeah we get it, "you're sweet on him."

I think the song that you guys will really enjoy is "Today Today Today", it's very easy to get into and it reminds me of The Beatles. Kudos to the songwriters: JJ Appleton & Stephen Lironi

You can catch those two, as well as Ged Lynch on a few selected dates for the month of July:

07/07/08

FYI

07/10/08

07/30/08

I believe you can download all the songs on his website, but I recommend the Earth-friendly packaging for Black & White Matinee. So pick up a physical copy from your favorite CD Baby and, of course, if you wanted higher quality downloads, there's always iTunes.

These articles takes me very long to produce because they are essentially five articles in one, so expect a final Americana article one this week.

Links: www.weheartmusic.com

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The Forms

nobody@vox.com(W♥M) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:34:29 -0700

07/05/2008 19:24:36 ♥ written by derek ( / www.pegritz.com)

The Forms - Knowledge in Hand

The Forms

Seriously, is everyone in New York City in a band? The sheer number of musical acts to come that one city is staggering. However, given the filthy, overcrowded, damnear horrific condition of the Rotten Apple, it only makes sense that so many would turn to music to liberate them from the putrid reality of their surroundings.

The Forms' music is a perfect example of that escape-from-reality sound. The Brooklyn-based quartet of Alex Tween, Matt Walsh, and Brendan and Jackson Kenny have garnered a great deal of positive press for their debut album Icarus and self-titled follow-up--both produced by the legendary Steve Albini himself. For a band that's been together since 2000, their output has been scarce, but always high-quality. In many ways, The Forms sound rather like a cross between Coldplay and prog-rock, producing melodic indie rock in all manner of odd, nonstandard time signatures--which may be somewhat offputting to some listeners, but stick with them: the sound will grow on you. Even if the time-signatures are rather alien to pop music, the melodies are strong and easy to follow.

Unlike many The Forms focus first and foremost on songwriting, not on musical virtuosity, and this is apparent througout their self-tilted second album. "Knowledge in Hand" opens the album with a defining statement of the band's somewhat psychedelic, largely distortion-free sound, with a groovy layering of piano and guitars to back up a powerful lead vocal. "Bones" and "Blue Whale" are both stirling examples of shimmery pop-rock that recalls the glory days of 4AD while featuring a distinctly modern sound (mainly created by Albini's clean and no-nonsense production, which hasn't changed much since the 1980s, though it now clearly partakes of modern studio technology). At 3:50 long, "Blue Whale" is the longest song on the record, with most of the other tracks measuring only three minutes in length. This musical economy actually serves the band's melody-driven quality well, as there is no sonic "filler"--like extended guitar solos or bridges--in any of their songs.

However, this brevity also works against the music, in some cases. Many songs do not end, but simply fade out after the three-minute-mark as if the band just doesn't know how to bring them to a conclusion, so they just keep playing while Albini pulls the master mix fader down to zero. I wonder just how well this stuff translates live: if you can't figure out how to end a song, what do you do after the final verse is sung--just quit playing? And though none of the developed tracks themselves have any musical filler, there are two tracks, "Borges" and "Blue Whale (outro)" that, at less than a minute long each (the latter is only seventeen seconds long), seem to serve no purpose whatsoever on the record. They're not even sketches of songs. Quite frankly, I think they're simply studio outtakes the band decided to throw on the album just for the hell of it.

Nonetheless, The Forms is a very good listening experience whose etherial chords and atmospheric vocals will certainly open up a gateway in your mind to a prettier place. If your reality is bleak and crummy as any Brooklyn street, The Forms will gladly take you along to a much better realm.

Sadly, they have no live dates listed.

Links: theforms.org myspace.com/forms

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Overdue kitten pix

nobody@vox.com(Laurie) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 15:04:43 -0700

These are the three kittens who were rescued a week ago Thursday, and have been living in my bathroom since then. They're 8 weeks old.

Here they were moments after rescue:

Kittendoodz

And here are their beauty shots, taken today:

Butterscotch

Chocolate chip

Fluffernutter

When I was taking that last one, I didn't even notice he'd crossed his paws so sweetly. This was their first time in the bedroom, for the photo session, and it was hard to get them looking anything but saucer-eyed and scared.

Tomorrow morning, I'm trapping again for three more kittens (5 weeks old) that are now out of the nest at one of the colonies I help with, but they won't be staying with me. If we're successful and I get good photos, I'll post some.

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Mayerthorpe Memorial (CANADA) marks event that was 'a monstrous insult to all that is good'

nobody@vox.com(Strive2Be) — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 18:04:55 -0700

RCMP March To Monument

Police march to the monument honouring constables Brock Myrol, Peter Schiemann, Leo Johnston and Anthony Gordon prior to the unveiling of the Fallen Four Memorial Park, in Mayerthorpe, Alberta on Friday July 4, 2008. The officers were ambushed on March 3, 2005 by James Roszko on a farm near Mayerthorpe, Alberta, Canada.

Sarah McLachlan: I Will Remember You

MAYERTHORPE, Alberta, Canada - Family and friends of four murdered Mounties wept and watched silently in awe as the people of a small rural Alberta farm town unveiled life-sized bronze statues of their loved ones Friday.

Gleaming under a bright prairie sun, the statues stand in a circle back to back, each constable in full dress uniform, facing out proudly toward those who have mourned their loss every single day since March 3, 2005. In the centre is a bronze-capped obelisk surrounded by doves.

Const. Peter Schiemann is snapping a salute. Const. Anthony Gordon stands proudly at ease. Const. Leo Johnston is at attention. Const. Brock Myrol is standing easy.

Brock's parents, Colleen and Keith Myrol, peered at the likeness of their son in wonder.

"I cried because I thought he is still standing on guard for Canada," Colleen Myrol said.

"It is very good positive energy from the town of Mayerthorpe. Today we will celebrate what good Canadians have done. We have seen the best of the best here today."

Don Schiemann, Peter's father, was speechless as his son's statue was unveiled. Surrounded by a crowd of relatives who were in Alberta for a family wedding, the Schiemanns just stared up at the 400-kilogram statue as a crowd of more than 1,000 townspeople, police and dignitaries applauded.

"I hadn't seen the statue before so I didn't know what to expect. The way that they have him saluting - it was perfect," Schiemann said later.

"Some people might look at it as if it is a memorial to death. I hope it is a memorial to service and to sacrifice."

The young officers were ambushed by James Roszko on his property during an investigation into a stolen parts and marijuana grow operation. Roszko later shot himself.

Juergen Preugschas, the leader of a community group that worked for three years on the $1.8-million memorial park, said the violent crime put Mayerthorpe on the world map for all the wrong reasons.

But he said people in the small town northwest of Edmonton refused to be defined by such a tragedy and quickly got to work.

RCMP Sorrowful Salute

Once word of the plan to honour the officers became public, donations began coming in from across Canada. There was money from governments and school children, private businesses and 4-H clubs, police officers and concerned citizens.

The statues have helped people channel their grief and transformed something ugly into something beautiful.

"This national memorial, created out of love and respect, does not stand in a national centre, but in the tiny but proud and determined rural little town of Mayerthorpe, Alta.," Preugschas said.

"This park belongs to every person who has a beloved peace officer lay down their life for the citizens of this country. It belongs to every grieving individual who needs to know that the rest of the country does care."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper called the murder of the four Mounties a "monstrous insult to all that is good and decent."

Harper said such violence is especially out of place in a peaceful, close-knit rural community that exemplifies Canadian values the way Mayerthorpe does.

The prime minister praised the spirit of the community.

"Other people in other places might have exploded in rage, or sunk into despair. But not Mayerthorpe," Harper said.

"Everyone associated with this terrible event has conducted themselves with grace, dignity and purpose. Your courage and resiliency have been an inspiration to all Canadians."

Margaret Thibault, one of the driving forces behind the Mayerthorpe Fallen Four Memorial Society, choked up with emotion when she named each of the four dead officers as the statues were unveiled.

A resident of the town for 31 years, Thibault, who once worked at the town RCMP detachment, knew some of the fallen Mounties personally.

The dedication of the memorial park should help people move on from their grief, she said.

"It is not enough just to survive. Today we show it is possible to prevail," she said.

"It is possible to feel that pain, but then build something that helps celebrate the good memories of Peter, Leo, Anthony, Brock and their brothers and sisters that stand shoulder to shoulder with them."

RCMP Life-Sized Bronze Statues

In turning tragedy into 'goodness,' the tiny community of Mayerthorpe, Alta., unveiled four life-sized bronze statues in a new memorial park dedicated to the Mounties gunned down in 2005.

Creating the statues has been a labour of love for sculptors Don and Shirley Begg and their staff at Studio West in Cochrane, Alta. They toiled under tight security to ensure the public didn't see their work until the unveiling.

The Beggs consulted closely with each Mountie's family to ensure his statue is as lifelike and accurate as possible, right down to the inscriptions on the uniform buttons.

Working from photographs, the sculptors slowly built frames for each statue, then fleshed them out in clay, nimbly using their fingers to capture the likeness and character of each man. The mothers were consulted to ensure they got it right before the final moulds were made and the bronze poured.

Kelly Johnston, Leo's widow, trembled with emotion as she spoke of her loss after his statue was unveiled.

Johnston has been locked in a bitter legal battle with her in-laws over her husband's remains - she wants them moved to RCMP headquarters in Regina, but they say moving the remains from his grave in their home community of Lac La Biche would go against his wishes and beliefs as a Metis.

The parents, Grace and Ron Johnston, were at the ceremony, but declined to speak to reporters.

Kelly Johnston said words such as disaster, tragedy, horrific and horrendous cannot even begin to describe the pain she has felt since her soulmate died on that cold March day.

"My world went black. Colour is slowly, slowly, slowly filtering in. Something like this is a nice start. It is a beginning," she said.

"The community came together and supported all of us that day. And it's nice to see the community coming together again today and saying 'Look, we are starting again anew, and this is what we are doing for you."'

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