I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: MIKE FORD-Canada Needs You volume two (2008).

This is the long awaited follow up to Mike Ford’s first Canada Needs You CD.  Volume Two covers Canada’s history in the 20th Century.

The album is more fun than the first because there are several tracks where Ford uses a stylistically appropriate music to go with the songs: “Talkin’ Ten Lost Years” uses a Woody Guthrie-inspired “talking blues” to go along with the Depression-era lyrics.  “Let’s Mobilize” is done in a great swing style for a 1940s/50s era song.  “Joey Smallwood” uses a near-perfect Johnny Cash style (it may not be time-appropriate since Cash is timeless, but it works great for the song).  “Maurice Richard” is a perfect Dylanesque folk song.  And finally, the pièce de résistance is “Expo 67!” It is so wonderfully Burt Bacharach-y, so perfectly late sixties it gets stuck in your head for days! C’est Magnifique!

The rest of the album, especially the first three songs do not try to match a song style to the time it discusses.  Rather, he sings about Canadian history in a folk/rock style ala Moxy Fruvous (“Creeping Barrage” and “In Winnipeg”) or in a great R&B/girl group style–with actual female singers, not himself in a falsetto (“Tea Party”) or reggae on “I’m Gonna Roam Again.”

The songs are all great.  And, yes, it’s a great way to learn some history (I’ve already Googled Joey Smallwood, just to see who he was.  I’m trying to get all of the lyrics down, but it’s not always easy, especially if you don’t know the details of what he’s singing about.  Which leads to my only gripe.

My gripe is that the disc packaging doesn’t include much information.  And, since he is essentially teaching people about the history of Canada, I’d think that some details should be included in the packaging.  I realize of course, that he says that the he’ll have the information on his website, but since we’re carrying the disc with us (not the website), it’d be nice to have at least a summary like on Volume One.  Because frankly, I don’t know enough about Canadian history to know what he’s talking about on most of the tracks.

The only problem is that as of this writing he hasn’t put the information on his website yet.  D’oh!

[READ: Christmas 2007] So You Want to Be Canadian

I am Canadian.  Okay, I’m not, but I’ve had the beer, and I’ve seen the commercial (hilarious) and I’ve been there several times. I even have Canadian satellite broadcast into my home (long story).  So, I’ve seen Rick Mercer’s Talking to Americans, and I’ve been a fan of Corner Gas long before it was broadcast down here.

Naturally, my wife bought me this book for Christmas last year (so why not wait till Christmastime this year to post about it?).  And not only was it very funny, I even learned a few things about my neighbor’s home and native land.  My only gripe about the book was that in the great Canadian bands section they did not include Moxy Fruvous!

A fun distinction that this book has over some of the other Canadiana books I’ve looked at is its cool collection of illustrations by S. Britt. The opening contents page has some wonderful pictures, but the 2 page spread on pages 12-13 showing a map of Canada is not only educational it is hilarious (Prince Edward Island represented by spuds and Vancouver by a big pot leaf).

The other distinction about this book is that it is a pocket (literally) guide to everything you need to know about the Great White North.  There’s not a lot of discussion (or even really paragraphs).  It’s more lists, fun facts, and compilations of interesting things.  You start with quick facts about the ten provinces; about the British Royalty connection; the Canadian Language (from Eh? to Zed) and much more.

Robertson Screwdriver

The Canadian Culture section is very entertaining.  You get a chart of the movie or TV show  that is set in the US and what area of Canada it was actually filmed in.  You get a list of famous Canadian Hotties (Guys and Gals).  You also get a list of things invented in Canada: basketball, chocolate bar, ginger ale, IMAX, insulin, the Robertson screwdriver (to which I am now a convert after having used one…they kick Phillip’s ass!), and just about anything starting with the prefix “snow” (mobile, blower, plough).

Of course, my favorite part is Beavers & Beer! (and Poutine): Eating and Drinking in Canada.  Some delights:  Butter tart, Nanaimo bar, Beaver Tail, even the Bloody Caesar.

Last but not least is a nice big chapter on Hockey (and Curling).

And what about the authors?  What’s their obsession with Canada?  Well, Kelly loved Canada so much, she married a Canadian (her co-author).  Rob is from Edmonton originally.  Although, curiously, they both live in San Francisco.  Wonder if they get Canadian satellite.

There’s a website for the book, but there’s not much to it.

All in all, this book doesn’t pack as much info as the Ferguson books, but it’s much easier to carry around, and it is a bit more fun.