IN FLANDERS FIELDS

In Flanders Fields is a poem written by a Canadian, John McCrae. He wrote it during the World War in 1915.  He was sad when he wrote it. He wrote it after a close friend died in the war. John McCrae never returned from the war. He died of pneumonia in France. It was 1918 and the last year of war.

John McCrae wrote the poem by the grave of his friend. His friend and hundreds of other Canadian soldiers are buried in the cemetery, Flanders Fields, in France. He begins the poem,

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow 

Between the crosses, row on row

 I learned In Flanders Fields in school as a young girl. My mother learned it in school as a young girl and my daughter did too. It is a famous poem read for Remembrance Day.

Now you will learn more about Remembrance Day

• First, go to search in the right margin.
• Type the words, Remembrance Day.
• Then choose "Scavenger Hunt".
• Finally, find the answers to the questions.

Music Monday: Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day  is  a song by a Canadian singer and song writer,  Bryan Adams.  Remembrance Day is a memorial day that is observed on the eleventh day on the eleventh month at the eleventh hour or November 11th at 11:00 a.m.


Enjoy the song and try the quiz. Don't forget to "see how you did".

Monday Music: Michael Buble'

The Juno Awards are coming to Toronto in March! The Juno's are the Canadian music awards. Michael Buble' ("booblay") was at the Juno's last year. He has won multiple Juno Awards.

Last year, he won

• Pop Album of the Year
• Single of the Year - Haven't Met You Yet
• Album of the Year - Crazy Love
• Juno Fan Choice Award

Last year, he was nominated for

• Artist of the Year
• Songwriter of the year

Here is Michael Buble' 's song, Haven't Met You Yet. He is singing it at the Juno Awards, 2010.

Here are the words for Haven't Met You Yet. You can listen to the song and follow the words.

Related Posts:

• Music Monday: Junos
• Music Monday: Feist

Mayor Hazel and Rick Mercer

Mayor Hazel is the oldest mayor I know. She has been the mayor of Mississauga since the late seventies. Mississauga is the city to the west of Metropolitan Toronto while Scarborough is on the east side. Next Monday is the Toronto elections. Hazel McCallion is hoping to get reelected for mayor. In 2006, Hazel won 92% of the vote.

Rick Mercer is from the television program, Rick Mercer Report. He interviews Mayor Hazel on television on February 26, 2009. In 2009, Hazel McCallion was 88 years old. Watch her play hockey, go bowling and star in a music video. I think Rick Mercer and Mayor Hazel have a lot of fun together. Enjoy their time together.

Watch the video again. This is an interview, so Rick Mercer asks lots of questions. Here are some of the questions. Listen to Mayor Hazel's answers.

1. You have been elected two or three times?

2. How do you stay in office for 31 years?

3. Your debt is?

4. How many mayors have bobble heads?

5. Have you ever been injured? What happened to the truck?

6. Are you someone who doesn't campaign or someone who never stops campaigning?

7. What is this? (He is looking at a miniature city.)

8. Why haven't you retired?

9. What is your approval rating? (She talks about votes.)

10. Any regrets?

30 Years Ago in History:Terry Fox

April 12, 1980, a 21 year old university student started his run across Canada. Terry Fox had lost a leg to cancer and was determined to run a marathon a day on his one good leg. According to CR24, his goal was to raise 1 million dollars for cancer research, but he later changed that goal to 24 million which represented one dollar from each Canadian. Unfortunately for Terry, he never completed his run. He started in the east coast and his popularity grew as he ran through many towns and cities. By the time he reached Toronto, thousands of supporters met him at city hall, but he never made it out of Ontario. The return of his cancer, forced him to return to his home in British Columbia. In memory of Terry Fox, people all over the world participate in the Marathon of Hope.

To mark the 30th anniversary of his run, the Fox family are meeting in St John's where his marathon began. Hopefully, the Terry Fox Marathon will continue until a cure for cancer is found. Here is a news report that tells Terry's story. Since 1980, Terry Fox has helped raise over 500 million dollars for cancer.

Music Monday: Irish Folk

The harp and Celtic harp music is part of Irish history. The harp was on the old flag of Ireland, but now it only remains as a symbol on the Irish Guinness beer. With St Patrick's Day coming on March 17th, it's time to be Irish again. Everyone is Irish on St. Patricks Day!


Loreena McKennitt is a Canadian singer who is famous for her Celtic music. She is from Scottish and Irish roots. Here she sings, "She Moved Through The Fair". The words for this song follow the video.


Loreena McKennitt She Moved Through the fair by paradixman

My love said to me,
My mother won't mind
And my father won't slight you
For your lack of kine"
And she stepped away from me
And this she did say:
It will not be long, love,
Till our wedding day"

She stepped away from me
And she moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there
And she turned her way homeward
With one star awake
As the swans in the evening
Move over the lake

Why he dreamt it last night,
That my true love came in
So softly she entered
Her feet made no din
She came close beside me
And this she did say
It will not be long, love,
'Til our wedding day

The Avatar Director at the Academy Awards

Photo of James Cameron by jurveston, Flickr

Okay. So the Academy Awards are for American movies, but a few Canadians make it to the red carpet. For example, James Cameron is the director of the great movie, Avatar.

Did you know Cameron's understanding of avatars come from his love of the underworld? After, Cameron completed the movie, Titanic, he became involved in researching the real Titanic ship. To see around the sunken ship, the Titanic, mechanical movie cameras or avatars were made and they moved around the ship. Cameron felt like he was there exploring the ship even though he was far away. In Avatar, the main character, Jake, has an avatar. His is a ten foot tall blue skinned man who is half human and half alien. This avatar helps Jake explore the planet, Pandora.

If you would like to see more about Avatar, check out an earlier blog called Wanna be Wednesday 1/13/2010

Another Academy Award movie, Star Trek, is part of a post from 2009. The original Captain Kirk was played by a Canadian actor, William Shatner. If you would like to see a short interview with William Shatner and see a preview of the Star Trek movie, take a look at Wanna be Wednesday 6/3.

......and just to end totally off topic. When is Meryl Streep going to win another Academy Award?

Canada Gets 14 Golds

I wanted to present a look back at the Vancouver Olympics 2010 via a video, but the Canadian Broadcasting Station, CTV, 'owns' all the best moments. Here's the best I could do which is a link to OlympicsCTV. This video shows some of the greatest moments and the collective energy felt by all Canadians. Press here

The final gold metal was from the Canadian Hockey Team. Hockey is our national sport, so it was important to Canadians to win this final gold. The arena was one big mass of red as so many fans dressed in their Canadian colour or wore their favourite hockey players sweater to cheer on Team Canada..... a tie breaker that ended in overtime. What a storybook ending!

Then the closing ceremonies brought the Vancouver 2010 Olympics to an end. The ceremonies showcased some of our most popular celebrities. It was fun to see Canadians make fun of themselves. Yes, we have the beaver, moose, mounties, maple leaves and yes, we tend to be polite and say sorry a lot. Did you see how many Canadian Olympic participants apologized for not winning a medal? Yes we say ,"I'm sorry" a lot, but we also say, "Thank you". So, thanks for blessing Canada with so many healthy determined young athletes. May we all strive in our own ways to be the best at what we do.

....and celebrate those moments.

Street Party Photographs, February 28, 2010: (bottom)Downtown Toronto by Scorlirk and (top) Downtown Vancouver by Ecstaticist,Flickr



Related Posts:

Who lit the flame at the 2010 Olympics?

Wanna Be Wednesday 6/3

Juno Awards 2009

Tim Hortons

Music Monday: The Olympic Song

Who is the singer?

Nikki Yanofsky was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1894. She's a jazz-pop singer who has her first album coming out soon. She sang Oh, Canada, our national anthem, at the opening ceremonies for the 2010 Olympics.

Whose in the video?

Past medal winners and this year's hopefuls.

Where did the song come from?

Steven Moccio is a Toronto composer and has written songs for Celine Dion and Josh Groban. According to the Globe and Mail, Maccio composed the song about four years ago after Vancouver won the Olympic Games. The lyrics were added by Allan Frew from the band, Glass Tigers. It's called I Believe or in French, J'Imagine.

What's it about?

The lyrics or words are at the bottom of this video. It's about believing in yourself and your abilities and I think a bit of team spirit is there too.

Who lit the flame at the 2010 Olympics?

Photo by erieliou, Flickr


Before the opening ceremonies of the 2010
Vancouver Olympics, Canadians were
wondering who would light the flame?
It had to be a great Canadian hero. But we
were all wrong. It was four of our
greatest athletes.



These are Canadians who lit the fire in the stadium:

1. Nancy Greene
2. Steve Nash
3. Catriona Le May Doan
4. Wayne Gretsky

These are their sports:

a) Basketball
b) Downhill skiing
c) Hockey
d) Speed skating

Now, can you match the sport and the superstar?


Look in "comments" below for the answer. Also, for some great photos of the opening ceremonies, press here.

Make it Christmas Day

This song was written by a Canadian singer, Jann Arden. She is one of my favourite singers and song writers. Make it Christmas Day is from her live 2002 album that she sang with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

I love this song, but I'm not sure of the Disney animation in the video. I like the short Christmas scenes. Look for baby Jesus with Mary and the three wise men walking. Also, there are the church windows and bells. The star is called the star of Bethlehem and you will see it on top of the Christmas tree at the end of the video. So, there is some Christmas tradition in the video and the meaning of Christmas is in the song.

Also, under the video, you will see the lyrics or words to the song, Make it Christmas Day. Merry Christmas!




Many years ago on Christmas Day
People came from all around to bow their heads and pray
For on that lonely night a babe was born
God gave us his only son that He may save the world

And He taught us of compassion
He taught us how to love
He taught us to believe in God above

Let know that you are still alive
Raise your hands up to the sky
Get down on your knees and pray
If only for one day
Make it Christmas Day

Jing-a-ling-a-long
Ding Dong Jing-a-long
Jing-a-ling-a-long
Ding Dang Dong
Jing Jing-a-ling
Sing along Jing along
Jing-a-ling-a-long
Ding Dong
Ding Dang Dong

Now we all await the coming eve
I wonder if there is a single a soul who still believes
It's not the flashing glamour of the lights
But only the remembrance of a distant holy night

For He taught us of compassion
And He taught us how to love
He taught us to believe in God above

Let know that you are still alive
Raise your hands up to the sky
Get down on your knees and pray

Let Him know you're still alive
Raise your hands up to the sky
Get down on your knees and pray
If only for one day,
Make it Christmas Day

Jing-a-ling-a-long
Ding Dong Jing-a-long
Jing-a-ling-a-long
Ding Dang Dong
Jing Jing-a-ling
Sing along Jing along
Jing-a-ling-a-long
Ding Dang Dong

Jing Jing-a-ling
Sing along Jing along
Jing-a-ling-a-long
Ding Dang Dong

Jing Jing-a-ling
Sing along Jing along
Jing-a-ling-a-long
Ding Dang Dong

Jing Jing-a-ling
Sing along Jing along
Jing-a-ling-a-long
Ding Dong

Music Monday: Feist

Many popular musicians and actors have performed on the American television show, Sesame Street. It's an educational children's series that has been a favourite for years. The puppets, called muppets, have educated more than one generation of kids. The Canadian singer, Feist, joined the muppets in their 39th season in 2008. She taught children to count and sang with the muppets. Feist sings her song, 1,2,3,4. She uses the same music, but changes the words a bit.




Feist is a Canadian singer-songwriter and was the big winner in 2008 at the Canadian Juno Awards. She won 5 awards including Song of the Year and Album of the Year. Feist's last album was The Reminder in 2007. Leslie Feist was born in 1976 in the one of maritime provinces, Nova Scotia. Both her parents are artists. She later moved west to Calgary and eventually to Toronto. Since the 90s, Feist has been recording pop rock and indie music. Indie music is alternative rock. Indie musicians like to be independent and don't want to create main stream or commercial music.*

Below is one of Feist's songs called My Moon My Man. Under the video is also the words. It is often hard to hear the words to songs, so I have included the lyrics. Songs have verses just like poems have verses. Like poems, the meaning of songs are not always clear. Just enjoy songs. Don't try to analyse every line. I think its a love song.

My moon, my man
So changeable and
Such a lovable lamb to me

My care, my coat
Leave on a high note
There's nowhere to go but on

Heart on my sleeve
Not where it should be
The song's out of key again

My moon's white face
What day and what phase
It's the calendar page again

Take it slow
Take it easy on me
And shed some light
Shed some light on me please
Take it slow
And shed some light
Shed some light on me please

My moon and me
Not as good as we've been
It's the dirtiest clean I know

My care, my coat
Leave on a high note
There's nowhere to go
There's nowhere to go

Take it slow
Take it easy on me
And shed some light
Shed some light on me please
Take it slow
And shed some light
Shed some light on me please

My moon my moon my man
My moon my moon my man
My moon my moon my man
My moon my moon my man



Feist has her own website. To listen to more of Feist's songs press here and then look for 'video' at the top of the page.


*Biography source: Wikipedia



Related Posts:

• Music Monday
• Music Monday: Disney Nature "Earth"
• Music Monday: Susan Boyle
• A Change is Gonna Come

Wanna be Wednesday 6/3

I want to be the prime minister of Canada. That's what William Shatner, a famous Canadian actor says. Here he talks about being the governor general of Canada who is the representative of the Queen of England, and then the top position in the government, the PM or prime minister.

Our present governor general is Michaelle Jean and the prime minister is Steven Harper. His party, the conservatives are the biggest party in Canada and he is the leader of the conservative party. He leads the country because his party has the most politicians elected to parliament. He has been elected for the second time. In Canada, elections are usually every four years. I didn't vote for Harper and the majority of people in the city of Toronto did not vote for him either. I don't think he cares much about Toronto. Other major parties include the liberals and the NDP.






How did William Shatner become famous?

Television. His biggest claim to fame is the star in a science fiction adventure. He was Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise in the T.V. series, Star Trek in the sixties. He has done other series and most recently stars in Boston Legal where he plays a lawyer in his law firm.

Why is Star Trek important?

It started a chain of television programs and movies at the theatre. The latest is an excellent movie called, Star Trek.

Would you like to watch a preview of the movie?

I saw Star Trek and it was really entertaining. This science fiction movie has got a lot of positive reviews. The original character from the sixties television program, Spock, stars in the movie. In the movie trailer or advertisement, you will see two characters with pointed ears, one is the senior Spock and the other is the young Spock character. Spock was second in command and Kirk was the captain of the Starship Enterprise in the original television series. As Spock says, "Live long and prosper."

Music Monday

Did you watch the Juno Awards?

Sunday night, many Canadians watched the Juno Awards in Vancouver, British Columbia. Last year, more than a million television viewers watched our talented singers and musicians on stage. For the 38th Annual Juno Awards, the lighting, the sets and the performances were the best yet. The big names, Nickleback, Sarah McLachlan and Bryan Adams, performed. The duet by Bryan Adams and Kathleen Edwards was awesome! Presenters included multiple Juno Award winners, Buffy Saint-Marie and K.D Lang, Dianna Krall and her husband, Elvis Castello, as well as Michael Buble`.

Who won?

The two big winners were the band, Nickleback from Alberta and Sam Roberts from Montreal, Quebec. Nickleback got three Juno Awards, The Fan Choice Award, Group of the Year and Album of the Year for "Dark Horses". Sam Roberts received two Juno Awards, Artist of the Year and rock Album of the Year for "Love at the End of the World.

Who was the first Canadian artist chosen to sing at the Juno Awards?

Sarah McLachlan. So let's here one of her most popular songs, "In the Arms of an Angel".

Here's some English tips before you listen.

1. Relax and enjoy.
2. Don't try to hear all the words. You'll pick up some repeated phrases.
3. Songs have verses like stories have paragraphs. The repeated verse is called the chorus. Listen carefully and you might hear the chorus.
4. Songs are like poems and they can be difficult to understand. It is not important to understand every phrase
5. You should be able understand the main idea and the mood of the song.
   

What's special about this performance?

Sarah McLachlan sings "In the Arms of an Angel" as a duet. Sarah plays the piano and sings and the American singer, Josh Groban sings the song with her.





So, What is "Angel" about?

The song in about dying and going to heaven. You can listen to it again with the lyrics or words.





Would you like to know about Sarah McLachlan?

If you would like to hear some higher quality recordings, you can go to Sarah McLachlan's web site. Her latest album is "Closer, The Best of Sarah McLachlan". You can learn more about Sarah there and enjoy some of her songs. It has music, photos and her biography. Press to go to other music by Sarah McLachlan.




Did you like this post? Press subscribe on the right side bar and get lots more.


Related Post:

• Juno Awards 2009
• Music Monday: Disney Nature "Earth"
• Music Monday: Susan Boyle
• A Change is Gonna Come

Juno Awards 2009

The Juno Awards 2009 is coming! This is the annual music awards for Canadian musicians. The Awards will be live on CTV March 29th. At that time, you'll be able to see many of Canada's top music performers. Some will perform songs, so it should be an entertaining night.

Russel Peters was the host for the 2008 Juno Awards in Calagary and he is returning this year to be the host of the show in Vancouver, British Columbia. According to CTV, 4 million watched Peters host the Juno Awards 2008. He's a comedian and will add more humour to the night. He was born in Brampton, Ontario. He says he and his family are "Anglo-Indian" which means his family are Indians from India. These Indians originally learned English when the British occupied India. Here's an example of Russel Peters's cultural humour
.
The nominees or musicians who have been chosen as possible winners were announced early February. There is a beautiful photo gallery of our favourite Canadians. Have a look at some of the nominees for the 2009 Junos.

May your days be merry and bright,

And may all your Christmases be white.

Those words are taken from a traditional Christmas song, White Christmas. Christmas songs and Christmas carols are popular this time of year. Do you know the traditional Christmas carol, Jingle Bells? My favourite is The Christmas Song sung by Nat King Cole because my father loved it and sang it. My son, Nathan,likes to sing Hallelujah which was written by a Canadian singer/ song writer, Leonard Cohen. Another Canadian singer, Katie Lang, sings a current version and has helped to make this older song popular again. According to the Toronto Star, a recent version of Hallelujah hit number one in the British song charts. A popular older version hit number two and Cohen's version made number forty six. Not bad for an old song, but the holidays have people follow tradition and we look to fond memories from our childhood or our children's youth.

So, turn on your radios and get a flavour of the holiday tradition. If you turn on CHFI, 98.1, on Christmas Eve, you will catch Erin Davis's Christmas party. Her daughter and my son will be singing a Christmas carol together. Also, turn on your TV to catch some of those holiday movie classics. Three of my favourites are It's a Wonderful Life from 1946 with the actor, Jimmy Stewart and his angel, and A Christmas Carol with the character, Scrooge, and White Christmas where Bing Crosby sings White Christmas.

Finally, I'd like to leave you with a song sung by an older Bing Crosby and David Bowie. The song is Little Drummer Boy. It sends a message of peace for us all. May you have peace this holiday and find time to spend a moment with someone you love.

Tim Hortons

I couldn't resist this video. Have you ever tried to order a coffee? How do you like your coffee? Black? Double, double? Regular? Now, try going to Starbucks. It gets more diffucult to know what to order. Okay, so what is a tall? Ordering a coffee takes on new meaning,doesn't it? According to a Star Bucks's employee, you can order a small, tall, grande (pronounced granday) or venti ( pronounced vahntee). In French, vent means twenty and a venti is twenty ounces. The company doesn't want you to order the smallest size which is the small. The small is not on the menu board and if you ask for a small, the clerk will correct you and suggest a tall. Are you still confused?

Okay, so now you are thinking why is this blog called Tim Hortons? Well, that's because there are so many Tim Hortons in Canada and there are so many Canadians who love Tim Horton's coffee. Tim Horton was a real Canadian hockey star. He started his career as a Maple Leaf hockey player in Toronto. He was still playing hockey in his early forties when he was killed in a car crash February, 1974. His widow eventually sold the coffee franchise, but Canadians continue to line up at the nearest Tim Hortons. There is even a Tim Hortons for the Canadian soldiers in Afghanastan. They requested one because they wanted to feel like they were at home. The next video is a Tim Horton's commercial that takes place in Scotland.






After watching this commercial, can you think of a food or drink that is very popular in your home country? Why do you think it is so popular? Can you get it here?