Queen’s Park
Now that the dust has settled in the 41st general election in Ontario, let’s look at the results:
Today, June 6th 2014, marks the 70th Anniversary of Canada’s involvement in the D-Day landings in Normandy France.
On June 6th 1944, members of the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division and the 2nd Canadian Armoured Brigade, with the help of the Royal Canadian Navy and the British Marines, landed on the beach code named JUNO in the early morning.
The Canadians had some of the best results on the first day of fighting. Canadians were dealt with 359 dead, 574 wounded, and 47 captured on the first day of fighting.
Let us not forget the sacrifices made that day, and throughout the war, to fight for the freedoms we enjoy today.
The Stanley Cup.
We are now set for the finals of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs with the New York Rangers (Champions of the Eastern Conference) vs. the Los Angeles Kings (Champions of the Western Conference.)
The Rangers are making their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals since 1994, when they on the Stanley Cup after a 54 year drought. The Kings are making their second appearance in the finals in the last three years. They won the Cup back in 2012 and this is their third appearance in the finals since joining the league in 1967. Continue reading
Queen of United Kingdom (as well as Canada, Australia, and other Commonwealth realms) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Today, May 19th 2014, is Victoria Day in Canada. This is a public holiday for most of us.
While many consider Victoria Day to be the ‘unofficial’ start of summer, it is actually to celebrate the first Monarch of the Dominion of Canada, Queen Victoria whose birthday was May 24th. It is also the official Canadian birthday of our current Monarch Queen Elizabeth II (whose actually birthday is in April.)
Queen Victoria was born on May 24th, 1819 and would come to the throne of the United Kingdom on June 20th, 1837 when she ascended the throne on the death of her uncle King William IV. At the time Canada was still made up of several British colonies, so she was reigning over parts of Canada in her capacity of Queen of the United Kingdom. Continue reading
The Stanley Cup.
The NHL’s Eastern and Western Conference Semi-finals have now concluded and we are ready for the Conference Finals to begin tonight.
This is the first time since the 1979 playoffs that three Original Six teams have qualified for the Conference finals. Two of those three teams, Montreal and New York, were involved and would meet up for Stanley Cup. This year those two teams face off for the
As such, let’s take a look at the match-ups: Continue reading
The Stanley Cup.
We have now finished the first round of the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs and have seen eight teams eliminated from postseason action.
Tonight, the Conference Semi-Finals in the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs with the Montreal Canadiens hosting the defending Eastern Conference Champions the Boston Bruins.
Let’s take a look at the match-ups: Continue reading
Last night I attended a performance of Roger Crane’s The Last Confession starring David Suchet as Cardinal Benelli. The performance also starred Sam Perks (Father Lorenzi), Phillip Craig (the Confessor), David Ferry (Monsignor Magee), Richard O’Callaghan (Cardinal Albino Luciani/Pope John Paul I), Nigel Bennett (Cardinal Villot), Stuart Milligan (Bishop Marcinkus), Donald Douglas (Pope Paul VI), and Bernard Lloyd (Cardinal Felici.)
The production is directed by Jonathan Church, the set designer is William Dudley, the lighting director is Peter Mumford, and the costume designer is Fotini Dimoli. Continue reading
The 2013-2014 NHL regular season has come to an end. 16 of the 30 teams have qualified for the playoffs.
The following match-ups are now set: Continue reading
Director Peter Sellars, whose Tristan und Isolde for the COC last season was a huge success, has returned to Toronto for a production of Handel’s Hercules. The production stars Eric Owens as Hercules, Alice Coote as Dejanira (Hercules’ wife), Richard Croft as Hyllus (their son), Lucy Crowe as Iole, David Daniels as Lichas, and was conducted by Harry Bicket.
The singing in this production is simply wonderful. Alice Coote was simply wonderful as Dejanira. Eric Owen’s Hercules was moving (especially during Hercules’ death scene where Owens had to sing on his back) and made it obvious how few lines the character really has as I really wanted to hear more from him. Continue reading
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