Famed German bass-baritone Siegmund Nimsgern has passed away at 85.
Mr. Nimsgern was born January 14th, 1940 in Sankt Wendel, Saarland, Germany. He made his operatic debut in 1967 in Saarbrücken with the Saarländisches Staatstheater.
He would go on to sing at Covent Garden, La Scala, the Metropolitan Opera, and the Vienna State Opera. Between 1983 and 1986, he sang Wotan at the Bayreuth Festival.
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Former Stanley Cup winning goalie Ken Dryden has passed away. He was 78.
He was born on August 8th, 1947 in Hamilton, Ontario to Murray and Margaret Dryden and grew up in what was then Islington, Ontario.
He would play junior hockey in the Metro Junior B Hockey League and the Metro Toronto Hockey League. He would be drafted in 1964 by the Boston Bruins before being traded to the Montreal Canadiens just days later.
Mr. Dryden would go onto play for the Canadiens from 1971 to 1979, winning six Stanley Cups, five Vezina Trophies, the Calder Memorial Trophy as best rookie, and the Conn Smythe Trophy in 1971.
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I’d like to talk about the National Hockey League (NHL) expanding from 32 to 36 teams.
An expansion of the league would bring in a lot of expansion fees, but potentially a lot of interesting opportunities.
Currently, the NHL consists of the following reams, in the following Conferences and Divisions
Continue readingFamed Canadian actor Graham Greene has passed away at 73.
Born June 22nd, 1952 on the Six Nations Reserve, in Ohsweken, Ontario, he would grow up in Hamilton and worked as a draftsman, civil technologist, steelworker, and rock-band crew member before turning to acting.
Mr. Greene would come to international attention in 1990 as Kicking Bird in Dances With Wolves alongside Kevin Costner. He would Best Supporting Actor nomination for the role at the Academy Awards.
He would go onto star in a number of other movies, including Thunderheart, Maverick, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Green Mile, Skins, Transamerica, Casino Jack, Winter’s Tale, The Shack, and Wind River.
Continue readingMy rose plant in the garden is doing well and has its’ second batch of flowers that have come out, or are in the process of coming out.
Let’s take a look at the plant:
Continue readingThe 2025 Warriors’ Day Parade at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) on August 16th, 2025.
This year’s parade commemorates the 80th Anniversary of the end of World War II (WWII) and the Liberation of the Netherlands.
Members of 32 Brigade (including the 48th Highlanders, the Toronto Scottish (Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother’s Own), and the Royal Regiment of Canada) were joined by Royal Canadian Legion bands, the Toronto Police, Halton Regional Police, Peel Police, and others.
Here are some highlights of the parade:
Continue readingToday, August 10th 2025, marks the 65th Anniversary of the enactment of the Canadian Bill of Rights.
While some basic human rights had already been implied over the years, this was the first legislation specifically applying human rights at the federal level in Canadian history.
Continue readingI was able to get out on the evening of August 8th-9th 2025 and catch a couple pictures of the August Full Moon.
Here are the pictures:
As today is Sir John Graves Simcoe Day in Ontario, I would like to discuss the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada from 1791 to 1796. Of course Upper Canada would later become the Province of Ontario.
Born in Cotterstock, England in 1752, Simcoe would be educated at Eton and spent one year at Oxford. He joined the 35th Regiment of Foot, as an ensign, in 1770. He purchased a captaincy in the 40th Regiment of Foot and was injured in battle during the American Revolution. He was responsible for a successful battle in the battle of Crooked Billet.
He became Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada in 1791 when the British Government created the Province of Upper Canada out of land around the Great Lakes that stayed part of the British Empire after the American Revolution. Simcoe would see to the building of two major roads: Yonge Street (named after Sir George Yonge then the Minister of War), and Dundas Street (named after Henry Dundas, later the 1st Viscount Melville.) Originally built for defensive purposes, later both streets served to help settlement Upper Canada, and as trading routes.
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Famed wrestler Terry Bollea, known professionally as ‘Hulk Hogan‘ has passed away following a cardiac arrest.
He was born Terry Bollea on August 11th, 1953 in Augusta, Georgia to Pietro “Peter” and Ruth V. Bollea.
Hogan began wrestling in 1977, but came to fame in 1983 when he joined (for the second time) with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) – now the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE.) He would go on to win five Heavyweight Championships, one two consecutive Royal Rumble matches, and would headline eight of the first nine Wrestlemania events until in left in 1993 to concentrate on making movies and television. His first title reign would last 1,474 days, including winning his match at Wrestlemania III vs. AndrĂ© the Giant.
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