Don’t look at the man behind the curtain, I am the Great and Powerful Oz!
It’s bitterly cold here today, at -23C. I needed a few things from the corner store, which is only three blocks away, but on a day like this, preparation is necessary. Wool hat, gloves, parka … waitaminute, where’s my scarf? Can’t find it, so I do the next best thing: I use a Covid mask.
And it worked really well; on par with if not better than my scarf, I’d say. My face was certainly warm on my walk to and from the store. It’s not a trip I’d make again unless I really had to, but at least if I have to, I know how to stay warm.
Just a little life hack I discovered that I thought I’d share.
Anyone we know?
No, I don’t rise to such lofty levels. 
Free Bird!
Angel of Deeeaaaaath!
You may be right, but Trump has a history of making some big play, declaring victory and then forgetting about it. I suspect that co-president Mush told him this wasn’t good for the stock market.
A word about absentee voting. As a US citizen, living in Canada for 57 years, I still vote in the last precinct I lived in in the US, but only for Federal offices. So the Canadian rules seem similar, @Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela
Do the lawyers here agree with this Globe op-ed opinion? I thought Canada had enterprise laws? (Limited gift link.)
Re: booing of national anthems: in the days/werks leading up to the 1981 separation referendum in Quebec, the Canadian anthem was regularly booed at Nordiques home games. Eventually they simply stopped playing anthems.
An interesting observation - I was at an open mic last night, and a new friend was asking me about my music. I shrugged and said “Well, I write indie-singer/songwriter music that’s coming out of different folk-based artists, I suppose.” He then said “Well, who are your influences?”, to which I said “Oh, Joni Mitchell, Stephen Fearing, Bruce Cockburn, Ron Sexsmith…”.
He then said “Well, I’ve heard of Joni Mitchell, but I don’t know any of those other names.”, which led to me trying to explain who they were.
But it struck me - I was speaking to a New York City based musician, and the only Canadian artist familiar to him was someone who moved down to LA and based her career out of there.
And then I think about the Canadian content regulations of the CRTC, and I think "Yeah, we make fun of them, and we get frustrated by them when a Bryan Adams record isn’t Canadian enough to qualify, but - would worthwhile Canadian artists be getting heard if it weren’t for those regulations? Certainly in the US, Canadian artists aren’t even on the radar!
When I volunteered at the university radio station in the late 80’s, we were always rolling our eyes at the CRTC’s “Can-con” requirements, but looking back on it now, I’m glad it was implemented.
And still are, which I’m quite fine with. No idea how much of a long-lasting trend it will be. I guess it all depends on any other stupid moves prez#shitty might pull next.
Buffy Ste-Marie stripped of Order of Canada.
Cancon came into effect in 1971, and at first, it was … well, painful, to put it nicely. Basically, back then, if you were a garage band, and you made a tape in your garage, and you took it into the local radio station, it would likely get airplay. That’s how starved Canadian stations were for Canadian talent. There’s only so much Gordon Lightfoot, Joni Mitchell, the Guess Who, and Neil Young, you can play, after all.
And so, we got bands like hard-rockin’ Crowbar (“Oh What a Feeling,” with its awkward and untalented vocal interjections and false endings); Gary and Dave who were Canada’s answer to Britain’s Peter and Jeremy; the DeFranco Family, who, like the Jackson Five and the Osmonds, had a prepubescent boy on lead vocal; and Patsy Gallant, who could measure up to any American disco diva. Many “one hit in Canada only” wonders, though.
It was very much a “throw the mud against the wall, and see what sticks” approach. Some broke through the maple barrier: The Stampeders (“Sweet City Woman,” number 8 in the US in 1971) managed, as did the Five Man Electrical Band with “Signs” (number 3 in the US), and Lighthouse (number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100); both in 1971.
And then, there were the “whodathunkits”: R. Dean Taylor (“Indiana Wants Me”), who was technically Canadian but did most of his work in the US counted as Canadian; as, surprisingly, did Heart—after a band member dodged the American draft by moving to Canada, the rest of the band did too. And so an American band, recording and producing and writing lyrics and music in Canada, counts as Cancon.
And you, @Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela , as a Canadian musician and lyricist, can produce and record your music in NYC, and it’s still Canadian for Cancon purposes.
Cancon is complicated, and there have been books and papers written on the subject, mostly involving, “Has Cancon Been a Net Benefit to the Development of Canadian Music?” I’m not going to say one way or the other, because there are many talented Canadians (e.g. our own Le Ministre, but also Bruce Nasmith, Tanglefoot, Paul Brandt, and others) who could use the exposure such artists as Crowbar, and Gary and Dave got, in 1971. But today’s Canadian artists sure as hell deserve it. Love your stuff, @Le_Ministre_de_l_au-dela !
Not really a Cancon story, but just the benefit of exposure…
In the early post-covid times, I went to an outdoor music festival. It had sectioned off zones to keep the audience to small groups, masks were mandatory, porta-potties for each zone, etc. Was really well coordinated.
At the time, there were still travel restrictions, so this three day rock and punk rock festival didn’t have any American or European bands at all. All Canadian lineup, and the first day was all- Québec as well.
It was amazing. Discovered a ton of new artists that I love, bought all the merch to support them, and through them I keep discovering new local/Canadian acts as they tour together or feature in each other’s songs or whatever.
These festivals now have headliners everyone has heard of (at least for the genre) and while I love Pennywise and Bad Religion and Rise Against and all these other American bands, they absolutely overshadow lots of fantastic artists when they headline.
My latest Canadian discovery (of a band that’s been around for a while): The OBGMs, from Toronto.
Heh, much fun airing my bands!
For that, really, I have to be thankful to Cancon. 
I remember the whole Bryan Adams debacle. For those not in the know, the rules looked at 4 factors - Music, Artist, Production, and Lyrics or MAPL. Since Bryan Adams was Canadian, he got a +1 for Artist but the rest was foreign (but not Foreigner, who were also not Canadian).
I just want to register that Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke and his little tech bro helpers are traitorous Trump lickspittles.
To blame anything about this dishonest, deceitful attack on Canadian sovereignty on Trudeau or anything Canada has done is inexcusable. By all means examine the evidence, but if you do you find that the claims about the Canadian border being a significant route for Fentanyl and illegal immigration into the US are bullshit.
I struggle to believe cowardice and willness of so many to not only accept, but jump on the fascist train.
I struggle to find anything more to say about this that would not enter pit territory.
Although I disagree with Shopify’s original response that retaliation will not help, I believe they have since modified their position somewhat. It remains to be seen if Trump will go through with tariffs on steel and aluminum today, or if he is just seeking to sow discord or possibly gain from insider knowledge. The biggest problem against retaliation is that Canada has few economic alternatives, and no political alternatives. Sometimes bullies require pushback. Of course fentanyl was mainly an excuse to declare an emergency.
Though not too impressed to see Shopify selling merchandise most would consider odious and inflammatory.
What are you meaning? I took a quick spin and don’t see anything?