John Babcock, Canada’s last known First World War veteran, has died. John Babcock was 109 years old. John Babcock was ready to fight in the Great War so we can live in a country where the great national stress is a shootout victory over Switzerland in Olympic men's hockey.
On Friday night at 7pm, CBC, CTV and Global Television will air "Canada for Haiti", a fundraiser to support earthquake relief for Haiti. The one-hour, commercial-free event will also be streamed online at the networks' websites and broadcast on CBC Radio Two. Joining hosts Cheryl Hickey, Ben Mulroney and George
What was Pepsi thinking? That's what I want to know. I work in marketing. I'm shocked Pepsi's "Cheer Nation" campaign got off the drawing board. I totally understand why Pepsi would want to associate their beverage with our national game, that's just smart business sense, but asking us to abandon
On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, Canadians are asked to pause and remember the thousands of men and women who sacrificed their lives fighting for freedom and democracy during the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War, the Afghanistan conflict and
For the life of me, I can't remember who sent me the "Buy Canadian" email this morning. I think it was Mike from Lowville, please correct me if I'm wrong... I got the instant message while balancing four burning issues. I thought it was a valid point and worthy of
As a teen, I played a lot of tennis. I used to follow tennis pretty closely, rooting for John McEnroe then Boris Becker. I always held out hope Canada could develop a top notch mens singles player. We never did. Canada's inability to produce a single excellent men's singles tennis
In 2000, a certain beer company launched an ad entitled "The Rant". You may have seen it. It starred Jeff Douglas as Joe, a proud Canadian with something to say. Here's the ad. On July 1, 2000, I was at Molson Park for an Edgefest when Jeff Douglas actually delivered
Happy Birthday, Canada, you're 142 years young today. Over the past 6.5 years I've written quite a bit about you. All of those posts can be found at http://www.torontomike.com/o_canada/. But here are a few of my favourites, in the order I wrote them. Vimy
McGill University has a great collection of Canadian war posters online. The holdings of the Print Collection in the Rare Books and Special Collections Division include some 250 Canadian posters from the two World Wars. The posters are accessible to researchers who visit the Division's Lande Reading Room; a printed
CBC has unveiled their 49 Canadian Songs for Obama's iPod. These 49 won out over their top 100. I can't really speak to the French songs or the non-pop songs, but they seem to have hit most of the essential tracks from my definitive Cancon list. Still, how does The
I'm a sucker for all these Canadian music features the CBC like to throw at us every few years. The latest is from CBC Radio 2. Starting this morning, CBC Radio 2 is inviting us Canadians to help select the top “49 songs from north of the 49th parallel” that
When they taught us in primary school about our Governor General, they always referred to the position as symbolic and merely a figurehead with no actual power. Canada is, after all, a democratic nation, and the Governor General is merely a tip of the hat to the Queen of England.
Humble posted this today. It's a piece by NBC News on our Highway of Heroes.
Veteran's Affairs Canada provides general statistics about Canada's participation in war, including numbers of casualties. It doesn't include our recent losses in Afghanistan, but the figures are still staggering for a country our size. South Africa War (1899-1902) Approximately 7,000 Canadians served; 267 of them gave their lives.First
Not only am I not an economist, but I'm also not a lawyer. As a non-lawyer, I find myself confused by copyright law. This story says the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee has trademarked the line "With glowing hearts". That's right, they've trademarked a line from "O Canada", our national anthem.
Vegas Geoff just sent this over. I just came across this absolutely fantastic clip of our anthem being butchered during a Las Vegas Posse CFL game. Apparently, the story goes that this singer, Dennis "KC" Parks, had never heard the anthem before, so just tried to wing it. As you
I recently shared the track listing for "Early Canadian Rock: The 60s and 70s, Volume 1" and "Early Canadian Rock: The 60s and 70s, Volume 2". My bud has put together a third volume. Here are the 24 tracks from volume three. (Make Me Do) Anything You Want - A
Happy Birthday, Canada, you're 141 years young today. Over the past 5.5 years I've written quite a bit about you. All of those posts can be found at http://www.torontomike.com/o_canada/. This is a great day to dive in and revisit those red and white entries.
The Google universe effects us all in different ways. I feel a great responsibility to be an authority on subject matter I rank #1 for in Google. Tomorrow is Canada's 141st birthday, so many are Googling best Canadian songs and finding my Top 100 Canadian Songs List. That makes me
Ajax Mike wrote me a note today calling me out for referring to the Hockey Night in Canada theme as our second national anthem. The song, recently bought by CTV, was referred to as "our second national anthem" by yours truly in this recent entry. Ajax Mike has a good
I recently shared the track listing for "Early Canadian Rock: The 60s and 70s". That homemade mix served as a crash course in early Canadian rock, and now my bud has put together a sequel. Here are the 27 tracks from volume two. Big Time Operator - Keith HampshireBorn To
I've got a bud who's been burying me in early Canadian rock these past few months. All good Canadians know "As Years Go By" by Mashmakan or "Oh What A Feeling" by Crowbar, but unless you remember the 60s, how would you know The Beau-Marks, The Ugly Ducklings or Motherlode?
I see at Canadian Thinker that the drought is finally over. 26 years ago, Canadian Shannon Tween was named Playboy's Playmate of the Year. For the first time since, that title belongs to another Canadian. Jayde Nicole, 22, of Port Perry, Ontario, has been named Playboy's 2008 Playmate of the
When I saw No Country For Old Men recently, one of the coming attractions we saw was the trailer for Passchendaele, a Paul Gross film about the 10th Battalion, CEF in the First World War at the Battle of Passchendaele. I thought the trailer was pretty good and I'm looking
YouTube user inklinkinklink wins the Coke. This is Gordie Johnson playing O Canada on his electric double neck guitar prior to last night's game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New Jersey Devils at the ACC.
