Happy 45th Anniversary

Today is the 45th wedding anniversary of my in-laws, and tonight they had a party at the Holt’s Cafe in downtown Toronto.  A nice time was had by all. 

If you can count back 45 years from 2011, you will get to somewhere in the ’60′s. 1966 to be exact.

So in honour of their 45 years together, I bring you a Saturday version of my Thursday Thirteen, with 13 songs from the 60′s that I think best represents them or their family.  This list is based on the past 11 years that I have known them.

Here gos!

13.  “I’ve Been Loving you too Long (To Stop Now)” by Otis Redding – 45 years… This title says it all.  

12.  “Sweet Caroline” by Neil Diamond – He’s Jewish, we’re Jewish, it’s a really fun song, they can be really fun… It works.

11.  “Uptight (Everything’s Alright)” by Stevie Wonder – I’m just saying. 

10.  “It Was a Very Good Year” by Frank Sinatra

9.  “I Can See for Miles” by The Who – Reminds me of the view of the lake from the cottage window, or the view on the deck watching hte sun rise and set.

8.  “What a Wonderful World” by Louie Armstrong

7.  “These Boots are Made for Walking” by Nancy Sinatra – It’s what I remember best about my MIL.  She always had these boot on.  She also power walks.  So these boots WERE made for walking.  Just not together.

6.  “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone – It’s all about fitting in to your community and helping others as anyone else would. 

5.  “1969″ by the Stooges… Another significant year for other reasons!

4.  “Don’t Worry Baby” by the Beach boys – I’ve heard both of them often say “Don’t worry” about many things.  It’s their style.

3.  ”Wild Thing” by The Troggs – For the couple that pretty much did what they wanted whenever they wanted.

2.  “Mother In Law” by Ernie K. Doe – Because of all the Mother-in-law horror stories, I really lucked out!

1.  “Only the Strong Survive” by Jerry Butler.  Happy Anniversary!!!

Since my musical tastes are rather unique and it was my uncle who didn’t like my musical tastes in the 1980′s so he lent me two records, sent me home to listen, an asked me to tell him what I thought about this “60′s” music.  The bands… The Doors and Led Zepplin.  I have never looked back.  So below, please find a few of many potential candidates for the top 13 most applicable songs that make me think of my inlaws on their 45th anniversary, plus a whole lot of songs I really like!

Honorable mention to:

“Fist City” by Loretta Lynn

“Stand by your man” by Tammy Wynette

“A Whiter Shade of Pale” by Procol Harum (was my Dad’s favourite song). 

“Unchained Melody ” by the Rightous Brothers – Hello… From Dirty Dancing.  What a classic

“Voodoo Child” by Jimi Hendrix.  Nuff said.  One of the best riffs in music, if only Hulk Hogan didn’t steal and tarnish it.

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by The Rolling Stones and VERY true.  You get what you need.

“Manic Depression” by Jimi Hendrix – a true classic!!!

“Whole Lotta Love” by Led Zepplin

“Light My Fire” by the Doors

“Sympathy for the Devil” by The Rolling Stones

“The Kids are Alright” by The Who.

“Dazed and Confused” by Led Zepplin

Pretty much anything by the Beatles – Help!, You can’t buy me love, I am the Walrus, I saw her standing there, a hard days’ night, yesterday, strawberry fields…

and I could go on…

Which songs from the 60′s get you moving, or you would play for your kids?

Thursday Thirteen

Today’s Thursday Thirteen focusses on 13 plain dumb ass band names – mainly gathered from listening to Octane on my XM Radio.

I would have had an easier time pulling this list from the XM Lithium station, however I find there are way too many alternative bands with just plain stupid names. Listening to Octane made it that much more challenging but I’m pretty sure I got a great list!

So sit back and check out this list.  Be prepared to tell me if you agree or disagree and surely, you must know one too…

13. Skillet – oh yes. This was the band name that gave me this idea., Someone thought to name their band after a fucking frying pan. Dumb asses

12. Brother – Huh? Brother?!? Really. Not only is that dumb but lame too. Then again, it could have been…

11. Viva Brother - Ohhhh. Really? WTF is that name?!?

10. Death Cab for Cutie – Seriously, right? Someone signed this band to a label / helped them produce some music. Probably giggling the whole time.

9.   Dum Dum Girls – Enough said!

8.   Passion Pit – Was this not the diner that the kids from Beverly Hills 90125 used to hang out at drinking sodas and talking about being such wholesome rich kids?!?  Oh, that was the Peach Pit… Same crap.

7.   Art of Dying – Is there an art of dying?!?  Sure… Listen to this band.  I might make you want to die.

6.   Duck Sauce – Any band that releases a song – which has become a bit of a hit I must say… On the kids stations – which consists of just music and a voice saying “Barbra Streisand” over and over and over again, must be same Soya sauce.  Or was it Sweet and Sour sauce?!?  Ah, no, it was Duck Sauce…

5.  Madam Adam – Is this band related to Penny with a Penis???  I’m sorry I asked that… I don’t want to know!

4.   Arctic Monkeys – Errr, okay.  Nothing better came to mind here than arctic monekys…Yikes.

3.   10 Years – 10 Years to what?  10 years from what?  I don’t understand.  10 years to make it big, 10 years in jail. or it took 10 years to come up with this dumb ass band name.  Maybe you needed 10 more years than you could call yourselves the Arctic Monkeys… 

2.   Breaking Benjamin – Really?  Breaking Benjamin… In half?  WTF is all I have to say.

1.   Hoobastank - Yeah.  Hoobastank.  Might as well be Hooba-skank for all we know.  I’m sorry here, but a pitiful name is a pitiful name.

So what do you have?!?

Today is June 21st, the First Day of SUMMER!!!

Today, June 21st, is the first day of summer, or specifically, the summer solstice.

So what does this mean to you?

Well, my kids know today is the first day of summer and both are expecting something to “poof” at 1:16pm when summer becomes official. I tried telling then that the word “solstice” comes from Latin and essentially means “Sun-standing”, and that today meant more thousands of years ago then it does today, but they still have questions.

So what information about the first day of summer can you tell your 4 and 6 year olds… Well, try this;

Today is the day – and 1:16pm is the time – when the Earth’s axial tilt is leaning the most towards the sun, resulting in the longest time from sunset to sunrise, or the longest day of the year (and shortest night).

In a little more detail – today, the North Pole tilts directly at the Sun (be prepared to answer questions about poor Santa) and the Sun is at it furthest point from the equator.

What you might not want to tell them;

“Midsummer was thought to be a time of magic, when evil spirits were said to appear. To thwart them, Pagans often wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers. One of the most powerful of them was a plant called ‘chase-devil’, which is known today as St. John’s Wort and still used by modern herbalists as a mood stabilizer.”

Thank you to http://www.chiff.com/a/summer-solstice.htm

You can also explain to them that many, many years ago ancient peoples used to celebrate the magical sun as a recognition of sign of the fertility, involving holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around this day.

So go find a Pagen or Native Canadian / American and ask them how they celebrate this wonderful day and if you’re lucky, you might just get invited to join.

Please do not call your child a “Dumb Ass”

I accidentially called my son a “Dumb Ass” on the weekend.

Not because he opened the back door before the house alarm was disabled, not because he constantly makes his brother cry out, “NO LINUS”, and certainly not because he puts more effort into being a pain in the ass, than being a good kid… I actually don’t know why I called him that, I think it just slipped out.

To be honest – that excuse sucks – “I don’t know”. It’s an excuse I hear from him all the time.

Me: “Linus, why did you try to push your brother off the kitchen stool?”
Linus: “I don’t know”.

Me: “Linus, why did you push that girl at school?”
Linus: “I don’t know”.

Me: “Linus, why did you use a screwdriver and etch your name into your brother’s wall, then blame it on him when you know he can’t write?”
Linus: “I don’t know”.

Well, I know why I called him that and why he frustrates me so much. IT’s because he reminds me too much of me when I was that age – save for the fact that his is smarter and way cuter.

I don’t want him struggling through life being the class clown – with people laughing at him instead of with him – then getting older without having any friends and having people look at you like your a giant loser / idiot / dumb ass day in and day out. It’s hard work!

The main differences I see right away is that this boy has a LOT of confidence and we encourage him to ne his own boy, but he has got to be respectful, which I was, but he is not! That is my only must for him. He must behave and be kind. I expect it from him and we battle over this. His biggest issues to date surround respecting others personal space.

But enought about Linus…

In general, feel it IS better to be a dumb ass than a smart ass, right?!?

So who else is a dumb ass… Let me tell you who. The woman in the Tim Horton’s drive-through who parked on the other side of the path and walked over to the microphone to place her very LONG, complicated coffee / lunch order. If she really wanted to walk, and order something that crazy, she should have gone inside. It’s called a drive-through, not a drive in, park, get out, order and hold up everyone else-through… dumb ass.

Then again, when she went to pick up and pay for her food, she parked far enough to the side that she had to again get out of her car to grab her food and pay, but close enough that when she opened her door she smashed it up against the brick wall. Ouch. Dumb ass indeed.

And then there was a family a Home Depot… I was there to get a key for our house for our nanny who lost hers. While there I saw they had some beautiful raspberry and grape plants that were huge, on sale, and already flowering so I picked up 6 of them.

They are heavy.

I went to the checkout line and witnessed this exchange;

An elderly woman who appeared to have severe athritis was in line with a potted flower and 2 bags of soil.

A very tall, pretty woman walked over to her with a packet of seeds in her hand and asked the woman if she would mind, if she went ahead of her.

The elderly woman agreed.

Then once in line, this womans father rolled up with his trolly full of plants and soil and together they explained to the elderly woman that they were together.

The elderly woman was frustrated but let them go ahead, the whole time I was behind the elderly woman holding 6 heavy plants.

Man these people took forever. The cashier was in training and once they were finally checked out, this family – now 4 of them – needed help getting their stuff to their car. So after much debate (I would have said, take your fucking plants to your fucking car and get the fuck out of here – or something like that), the son went and got their car and did what I have never seen anyone do before…

He backed his SUV up over the sidewalk, in between the aisles of plants and right up to the exit of the garden centre so that neither he, nor anyone else could get out.

Then he opened the trunk and sat inside while they waited for someone to come put their stuff inside.

After a good 5 minutes, the father grabbed the stuff and tossed it inside, but then the entire family went back inside the store.

Dumbfounded, we all stood outside realizing that no one could escape the garden centre until the truck was moved and the new cashier was going to shit his pants because now the elderly woman needed help getting those bags of soil to her car.

Finally someone much more senior showed up, saw the car, freaked out that it was there, then proceeded to walky-talky the store to have it removed.

By that time, but the woman and Ihave managed to wiggle though the plants area and escaprre for light, fresh air and food and water.

That, my friends, makes this family a family of dumb-asses.

Agree?

It’s the Wednesday sensory post at Urban Daddy’s blog. Come touch, hear, taste, see and smell.

Today’s post at this urban daddy’s blog covers the five senses; touch, taste, sight, smell and hearing.  Originally my 5 included touching and feeling, lol, but I wised up when editing this post.  So please, have a read and let me know your thoughts, whether you agree or disagree.

 

And we’re off…

 

Can you smell that?

It smell like an election is coming to the province of Ontario.  To no ones surprise, the Liberal party is in fear that voters here might give them the same treatment that the Federal Liberals received so Premier Dalton McGuinty is throwing out the campaign promises left, right and… well, centre.  After 7 years in power and numerous taxes – and George Smitherman, the Liberals are promising to cut perks to MPP’s to the tune of $15,000 per year, and promising to refund passengers of GO Transit if the train / bus is more than 20 minutes late.  The NDP are countering with a pledge to remove the $45 fee for having a fire truck show up.

Can you hear that?

It sounds like choking and it was the Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo who has been talking the talking but his play has not been walking the walk… For his sake I’m sure all Vancouver fans were hoping for a shut out tonight and a Stanley Cup to go with his Olympic gold medal, but sadly the shut out came to Bruins goalie Tim Thomas and now questions about Luongo’s play, his comments and his value to the Canucks in light of his play and Cory Shneiders’s play will be a hot topic throughout the summer.

For me, personally, I was pulling for the Bruins (predicted a 4-0 win!) because I don’t like Raffi Torres, Aaron Rome, Burrows or Kessler and the whole lot of diving I have seen. It’s the same reason I detest the Philadelphia Flyers. Teams like that cannot win playing goon hockey because it signals to the rest of the league that it works. That is bad for hockey. Plus, any team that is being built for the future by the Toronto Maple Leafs and that eliminated the Flyers AND Montreal Canadians is great to me!  Canadians on the Bruins want to win it for Horton… Nathan and Tim.

Can you see that?

 I see Canada Post employees walking the picket line and frustration that this has dragged on. Shouldn’t Canada Post sit down with the union and realistically spell out the future? Let those who have walked the routes for years retire in peace and just curb the future hiring. If postal service is declining and an issue is the starting wage being $26/hr, up from $23/hr, then don’t hire more workers. Problem solved. I actually like, and respect postal workers. Say what you will, they do the job and are friendly. Iron it out!

Can you taste that?

It’s a bunch of lefties swallowing their words.  I think during the G20 summit in Toronto, when a mob broke out and started destroying the city, setting police cars on fire and causing chaos in this cit, the cry from the left was that the police (and the “man”) we squashing the constitutional rights of these protestors.  Free speech, right to assembly, right to destroy police cars, yadda yadda yadda,  I had that battle and now here we are in Vancouver and the hoodlums have taken to the street and have, are seen bouncing on police cars and being shitheads.  Yes, alcohol is a factor, but no one is criticizing the police for their use of tear gas in dispersing this crowd. 

Can you feel that?

That is what effort and success feel like.  Chris Bosh, LeBron James and the Miami Heat do have that feeling, nor do the Vancouver Canucks – he Ryan Kessler, that comment about winning and becoming a “legend”… yeah, not.  I also feel satisfaction knowing that I have stepped up my exercise for 26 consecutive days now while taking part of the Global Corporate Challenge (GCC).  My team is doing great, and personally, I feel the need to walk as much as possible – as the team leader – to set an example and setup expectations with the walkers on my team.  I’m averaging almost 20,000 steps per day and now that my team has fallen to second for our company in North America, I feel compelled to walk even more to get us back on top.  That other team surely cannot keep up that pace every day… Can they?

I’m in the top 10% of the participants for steps (and 3 of my team members are averaging more steps – one has lost 15lbs so far too) and my team sits at 921st in the world out of 18,137.  Seeing these statistics and seeing the weight loss, feeling my clothes getting a little looser makes me want to walk that much more!  Go team.

#700th post! Pissing off anyone and everyone one item at a time.

I seem to have a lot on my mind lately and not much of a chance to talk about it here… Until now.

For those of you who have told me that you read my blog, I say thank you and for those of you who think I am funnier on my blog than in person I say 2 things; 1) Thank you and 2) You don’t know me that well  .  My oldest boy, whom I refer to as Linus because he loves his blankie (4 blankies) started a silly friend’s club in his school.  Oh yes.  I was actually quite proud of him.  Like father, like son. 

So here are my thoughts.  Feel free to comment – agree, disagree – add some items, call me names, I don’t care.  Knock yourself out. 

• Doorland - I honestly don’t know much about this company other than the fact that we have one of their magnificent doors on out front door and the fucking thing doesn;t work properly at all.  It sticks opening nad shutting, wakes the kids as it grinds and the lock doesn’t work properly.  I expect that you get kinks like that with a new house, but what really frosts my ass is the numerous times I’ve called them and emailed them, and the builder has done the same, but they just don’t feel like it’s worth their while to come fix it.  They don’t return calls, then stall, give attitude and finally made an appointment to come fix it.  Only time will tell.  Didn’t they think this horrible service would come back to bite them in the ass?  I think companies get too big sometimes and forget they are around because of customers.  Make them happy and make lots of money, but piss them off and once word gets around your customers are off to your competitors
• Kiddie Proofers - I waited 3 months to get a gate up in the house to keep our toddler, Berry, from falling down the stairs and it was a tough choice between butchering it myself or paying several hundred dollars to have professionals do it.  So I reached out to Kiddie Proofers and in doing so, found a local company with reasonable prices, super great service, a friendly efficient service specialist and an overall positive experience. 
• The Baskin Robbins on Eglinton Avenue in between Allen Road and Bathurst Street in Toronto.  We’re coming up on 8 months now and I’m still waiting to hear back from the owner of this store as to why they served old gooey ice cream, and then charged me $0.75 to use their debit machine.  I know for a fact that merchant providers frown upon merchants charging extra for use of debit and some even threaten to pull their services if this occurs.  They do it because of the cost of taking a debit transaction and I guess they don’t feel that they make enough when the transaction is less than $10.00, but let me tell you this, merchants… It’s called the cost of doing business!  If  the owner told me there was going to be a charge – since I had cash – I would have either paid in cash, or left the store.  Instead I paid it, then sent the bill to Baskin Robbins HQ with a complaint, the freezers in there were also REALLY loud, and was assured that the owner would reach out to me to apologize and return my money.  Still waiting!  so now on a hot day, we walk on by that store and spend our money elsewhere.
• Booster juice – Dufferin and Steeles.  Great location, also with wonderful staff and I will tell you why.  A couple weeks ago I took all three kids there while my wife ran into Loblaws and we all got the strawberry smoothie.  Sure, Stewie wanted raspberry – he’s always the difficult one – and yes I told him that his strawberry one was really raspberry, but when he tried to climb up to the top of the spinny chair his drink hit the floor.  We proceeded to clean it up and I was able to salvage just over half the drink, but the guy in the store would have none of that.  He insisted on cleaning it up and replaced Stewie’s “raspberry” drink and even gave me a new cup so I could give the drink to Berry.   We will go back often.
• Let me tell you all what happened to my sunglasses last week… I decided to chase Linus home with Berry in her stroller and in doing so watched with horror as my sunglasses slipped out of the stroller and right under my feet.  When I finally stopped they were in 5 pieces and across 5 sidewalk squares.  #$%%$#$%.
• Why, in the Stanley Cup finals are Canuck fans even worrying about the Toronto Maple Leaf fans or about anything to do with the City of Toronto?  Jealousy?  Are they giddy with excitement that they will go somewhere (potentially) that the Leafs may never go again?  Or is there more to it.  Maybe Canuck fans look at the Bruins and see Tomas Kabarle, Tukka Rask, Tyler Seguin and the 1st round draft pick this year and feel that the Bruins are very much the American version of the Leafs, except with talent.  Maybe Canuck fans are pissed that the B’s also play at TD Banknorth stadium (TD for Toronto Dominion Bank).  I’m not sure, but I fear that if the Canucks win the cup, instead of being happy that their team won, or that a Canadian team won, they will want to throw it in the faces of Toronto hockey fans.  Well guess what, Canuckleheads… I know the Leafs suck.  No need to rub it in.  Oh, and go B’s go!  I prefer my hockey teams to not resemble soccer teams (see: diving) and Raffi Torres reminds me of Sean Avery.
• Have you ever been to the Wychwood Barns?  We went there with friends on Saturday morning for the farmers market and it was great!  The food for sale was fantastic, the fair trade coffee was delicious and there was a ton of stuff for the kids to do.  Can’t wait to go back.  I was kind of hoping to see our City Councillor Joe Mihevc there so I could speak to him about being so darn left-leaning all the time.  Surely even he knows sometimes the right is, well, right.  And I want to know why the streets in our area are in such a poor state…  Maybe next time.   
• The Food Network show called “Dinner Party Wars” is one of the dumbest shows I have ever seen.  UGH.  Granted the Food Network has come a long way since the days of Emeril Lagasse, but still… BAM… This show is a wasted filler.  I’d love to see some local community class information and more discussion around how to cook better.
• Teaopia at Hillcrest mall.  Fantastic!  I walked in there because I was looking for some new, flavoured black teas and left with Amaretto Cherry, Strawberry Shortcake and Bourbon Vanilla.  No pressure to buy.  The sales help allowed me to smell the flavours without compromising the stock and she explained everything I would need to know about making an amazing cup of tea. 
• That’s about all I’ve got right now.  Honourable mention goes to the Dallas Mavericks who did the NBA a huge favour by wiping out the Miami Heat in 6 games to win the NBA Championship.  It was awesome seeing James with that stunned look of his, Dwayne Wade looking all pissed off and Chris Bosh crying like a little baby.  I watched all the games and had more interest in that then the NHL championship.  Too bad the NBA will be on strike / in a lockout soon because paying players hundreds of millions of dollars to opt out of their contracts and sign with other teams is stupid and needs to be changed.

So where have you experienced great or shitty service with your family?  Spill the goods.

Wordless Wednesday – What is it?

“Daddy, I think I have a loose tooth” and whose thong is that?

So about 3 or 4 weeks ago, 4 1/2 year old Stewie says to me, “Daddy, I think I have a loose tooth”.

Sure, I think to myself, there is no way at that age you have a loose tooth.  You just want to be like your brother…  So I reach into his mouth, he points to the bottom row of teeth, and I grab 2 or 3 of them and perform the wiggle check on them all at the same time so I can assure him there are none that are loose.  Satisfied, he moves on and being Stewie, he understands nothing can be loose – and now he really believes it.

Fast forward to just over a week ago, when Stewie blurts this out while watching TV with his brother; “Daddy, I think I lost a tooth”.

(Hey, I just noticed that the word ”Brother” is really ”Bother” with a “r” - maybe they are meant to be pains in the ass to each other…)

So I walk over to Stewie, he opens his mouth and he’s sticking his tongue through a space in the bottom of his teeth where a tooth once was.  The tooth?  No where to be found.

So off he went to write a letter to the tooth fairy to explain what happened with that tooth and it was that note that got him $5.00 and a reply note from the tooth fairy – which told him to keep up the good work brushing his teeth.  He was so happy he carried the letter with him for days and he read it over and over again… Cutie.

He then took the $5.00, and $2.00 that I had given him earlier in the week and he used it all when he was at the park with his mummy, nanny, brother and sister when he bought them all ice cream from the ice cream truck. 

What a little man.

 

And one last Stewie story…

Last week he came with me to Linus’ t-ball game under the promise that he would play in the park and not hang off my arm the entire game as he had each time he came to a game.  I was helping to coach, so having him there was a bot of a distraction to say the least.  He promised to go to the park.  Needless to say, he didn’t,  and instead hung off my left arm, holding my hand for most of the game (such a cutie!!!)  So while we’re standing watching the game, Stewie looks over at the woman sitting with her legs crossed and part of her thong showing. 

I notice he’s staring at her thong looking confused.

“What’s that daddy? He asked.

“What does it look like?” I asked

“A whale’s tail” he  shot back.  “Why does that woman have a whale coming out of her underwear?”

Worrying that she might hear this conversation we head over to the field, but the questions continue; “Is that a whale?  Will it bite her?  Why is she wearing it?  Is it wet?” and so on and so on.  So to remember this conversation, I snapped a picture of said thong and sent it to my wife with a note attached about a whale tail.

She didn’t reply – she was tutoring, saw the picture and wisely ignored it. 

The game went on, the woman got up and walked away with her kid after spending what seemed like every minute checking her ass and pulling down her shirt to cover her underwear, each time drawing the attention of Stewie who was looking, I’m sure, for the whale to come out.

What was funny was when Linus came to the plate, cracked a hit up the third base line, trotted down to first, then noticed this woman walking away and yelling to me, “Daddy, that’s my teacher!” 

DOH!

I quickly deleted the picture I had taken.

Oops.

67th Anniversary of D-Day – Canada’s role in the liberation of Europe.

Today, June 6th, is the 67th anniversary of the greatest seaborne invasion in history as Canada took part in the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany.  Canada’s role on this D-Day: to take one of the five designated beaches where Allied forces were to land.  The Americans had Utah and Omaha beaches in the west, then came the British at Gold beach, the Canadians landed at Juno Beach and finally the British arrived at Sword beach all across a stretch of about 80 kilometres of mostly flat, sandy beach along the Normandy coast in France.

The bombardment of the beaches began at 6 a.m.  Two hours later, the German defences at Juno Beach had been shattered and Canada had established the beachhead.

The victory was a turning point in World War II and led to the liberation of Europe and the defeat of Nazi Germany.

Fourteen thousand young Canadians stormed Juno Beach on his day.  The fighting they endured was fierce and frightening and the  price they paid was high, costing 340 Canadian lives, wounding 574 more.

Unfortunately I did not learn about this in school, neither did my wife.  Instead we learned the best life lesson about D-day in a rather unique way.  We travelled to Normandy as part of our honeymoon. 

For those of you who are new readers of my blog, my wife and I took 5 weeks honeymoon, flew into Paris, France then rented a car and drove up to Normandy, then around the entire country, ending in Paris for the last 3 days.  It was a wonderful trip, looking back at what we saw and where we went.  We stayed in a lot of bed and breakfasts all over the country and enjoyed the countryside and the locals.  Outside of Paris, life in France was wonderful.  Sunflowers, lavender, wheat, mushrooms, and a very small car called a Twingo (which we named Twinga). 

Yes, there were some hiccups like getting extremely sick the last 3 days in Paris, both of us spending each and every second in the hotel hoping to feel better, and my exploits with a manual car.  I realized you can’t push a car over 100km/hr in 3rd gear.  Who knew?  It was also on this trip that I introduced my wife to camembert with fresh tomatoes on a baguette, something we still enjoy - on this past weekend for example.  Top this off with marinated mushrooms and it’s something you cannot beat for flavour.

So what does this have to do with D-day.

Well, as I mentioned our first stop was Normandy to the north-west of Paris.  It was sunny on the drive up there, however, as we settled into the region, it quickly clouded over and started to drizzle.  It was fitting weather as we experienced a piece of history that neither of us understood at that time. 

The beach and water leading up to the beach in Normandy is filled with markers and monuments reflecting the points where the allied forces landed in their attempt to remove the Nazi’s from France and put an end to World War II.  It’s an eerie site.  Then very close to the beach is a giant cemetery.  Row after row of crosses indicating where a Canadian, American or British soldier died.  There was, to the best of my knowledge, a Canadian cemetery and in that cemetery there were some grave markers with Stars of David on them reflecting where a Jewish soldier died.   As is custom, we picked up some stones and placed them on those headstones.  I believe that is done to show others that someone came to visit these people, and if I remember correctly there were more than 30, but less than 50 Jewish Canadian soldiers who died at Juno beach. 

As we were putting the final stones on the graves we noticed another couple wandering around the cemetery.  The rest of this story is a little sketchy because I do not exactly remember what happened from here – and I checked with my wife, but I remember chatting with them and finding out they were locals who upon finding out we were Canadian thanked us very much for saving their country.  That I was able to verify with my wife.  It was 10 years ago, or 57 years after the invasion.

I remember being choked up standing in the cold rain in the middle of a cemetery, with Canadian soldiers who died so far away from home and who are laid to rest in a foreign country.  They died freeing the French from Nazi rule.  We can to see Normandy, we saw the beaches where the allied forced landed and we saw the carnage that remains.  We also saw the soldiers who perished and some locals who were happy to see us.  It was quite surreal.

After that we decided to read up on D-day and to learn a little bit about Canadian history that far too often gets ignored.  Sure it seems that our military is still using equipment from 67 years ago, but not enough attention and respect are paid to our armed forces who risked their lives to assist others – both here in Canada and abroad.  It’s a thankless task.  Imagine if there was a socialist government in Canada at that time?  France would be part of Germany.

So with that, I wish to take a second this D-day to encourage each and every one of you to google either “Normandy”, “D-Day”, “Juno Beach”, “Canada in WWII” or anything relating to Canada’s presence in France and be proud to be Canadian (if you are), or proud of the fact that the Americans, Brits and Canucks came to help out.

It is with great sadness that I mark this anniversary of D-day as I recall standing in a cemetery in the middle of a cold, wet, almost empty beach proud as heck to be a Canadian!

Thursday Thirteen – a little late.

Guest blogger Elliott Hurst, CEO of interactive music technology company Supernova (www.supernova.com) strikes again with a surprise Thursday thirteen.

Here is @supernovelliott

 

As the owner of a growing business, we frequently talk about how to not only build the business, but build the brand of the business as well.  A brand is a promise.  A brand is something that the customer has certain expectations of, and above all, trust.  So it got me thinking of great brands to emulate and take notes from.  And being a proud Canadian, I thought I’d start with Canadian brands.  Brands that are uniquely Canadian.

Top 13 Canadian Corporate brands (not including individuals ie Wayne Gretzky).  What / Who would make your list?

In no order:

1. Tim Hortons
2. Blackberry (RIM)
3. Canadian Tire
4. Toronto Maple Leafs / Montreal Canadiens pick one or both
5. Cirque du Soliel
6. Lululemon
7. TD / RBC pick one or both
8. Roots
9. Air Canada
10. Rogers
11. Muchmusic
12. Molson Canadian / Labatt Blue pick one or both
13. Shoppers Drug Mart

Making this list was not as easy at it appears.  Originally I had Just for Laughs in my list as well as Supernova but removed them for other, better know brands.

 

So?