November 11, 2021 – Remembrance Day

The Remembrance Day Ceremony has played a major role in Remembrance since 1931. Every year, at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, we gather in memorial parks, community halls, workplaces, schools and homes to stand in honour of all who have fallen.

Remembrance Day is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in the line of duty. Following a tradition inaugurated by King George V in 1919, the day is also marked by war remembrances in many non-Commonwealth countries. 

Why do we wear poppies?

The reason poppies are used to remember those who have given their lives in battle is because they are the flowers which grew on the battlefields after World War One ended.  Records from that time indicate how thick Poppies grew over the graves of soldiers in the area of Flanders, France. Fields that had been barren before battle exploded with the blood-red flowers after the fighting ended. During the tremendous bombardments of the war, the chalk soils became rich in lime from rubble, allowing the poppies to thrive. When the war ended, the lime was quickly absorbed and the poppies began to disappear again.

The person who first introduced the Poppy to Canada and the Commonwealth was Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae of Guelph, Ontario, a Canadian Medical Officer during the First World War. John McCrae penned the Poem “In Flanders Fields” on a scrap of paper in May, 1915 on the day following the death of a fellow soldier. Little did he know then that those 13 lines would become enshrined in the hearts and minds of all who would wear them. McCrae’s poem was published in Punch Magazine in December of that same year.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae
~ May 3, 1915

Ever since then, the poppies have come to be a symbol of remembering not just those who gave their lives in World War One, but all those who have died on behalf of their country.

The money raised from these donations is used to help servicemen and women who are still alive, whose lives have been changed by the wars that they fought in.

The money helps veterans who may need to find new jobs or somewhere to live, or any other support they may need.

It is also used to help those who have lost loved ones because of wars.

Today, the Poppy is worn each year during the Remembrance period to honour Canada’s Fallen. The Legion also encourages the wearing of a Poppy for the funeral of a Veteran and for any commemorative event honouring fallen Veterans. It is not inappropriate to wear a Poppy during other times to commemorate Fallen Veterans and it is an individual’s choice to do so, as long as it’s worn appropriately.

November 9, 2021 – Nat King Cole

Nathaniel Adams Coles, born March 17^th, 1919, known professionally as Nat King Cole, was an American singer, jazz pianist, and actor. He recorded over 100 songs that became hits on the pop charts. Cole also acted in films and on television and performed on Broadway. He was the first African-American man to host an American television series. He was also the father of singer-songwriter Natalie Cole.

Nathaniel Adams Coles was born in Montgomery, Alabama, on March 17, 1919. He had three brothers: Eddie, Ike and Freddy, and a half-sister, Joyce Coles. Each of the Cole brothers pursued careers in music. When Nat King Cole was four years old, the family moved to Chicago, Illinois, where his father, Edward Coles, became a Baptist minister.

Cole learned to play the organ from his mother, Perlina Coles, the church organist. His first performance was “Yes! We Have No Bananas” at the age of four.

He began formal lessons at 12, learning jazz, gospel, and classical music on piano “from Johann Sebastian Bach to Sergei Rachmaninoff”. As a youth, he joined the news delivery boys’ “Bud Billiken Club” band for The Chicago Defender.

The Cole family then moved to the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, where he participated in Walter Dyett’s music program at DuSable High School, and in his evenings, would sneak out of the house to visit clubs, sitting outside to hear Louis Armstrong, Earl Hines, and Jimmie Noone.

When he was 15, Cole dropped out of high school to pursue a music career. After his brother Eddie, a bassist, came home from touring with Noble Sissle (an American composer), they came together and recorded two singles for Decca Records in 1936 as Eddie Cole’s Swingsters.

Cole recorded “Sweet Lorraine” in 1940, and it became his first hit. According to legend, his career as a vocalist started when a drunken bar patron demanded that he sing the song. Cole said that this fabricated story sounded good, so he didn’t argue with it. In fact, there was a customer one night who demanded that he sing, but because it was a song Cole didn’t know, he sang “Sweet Lorraine” instead. As people heard Cole’s vocal talent, they requested more vocal songs, and he obliged.

In 1946, the band broadcasted the King Cole Trio Time, a 15-minute radio program. This was the first radio program to be sponsored by a black musician. 

In 1948 Cole purchased a house in the Hancock Park neighbourhood of LA. The Ku Klux Klan which was active in Los Angeles in the 1950’s responded by placing a burning cross on his front lawn. Members of the property owners association told Cole they did not want any “undesirables” moving into the neighbourhood. Cole responded “neither do I and if I see anybody undesirable coming in here, I’ll be the first to complain”

In 1951 Cole came out with the song “Unforgettable”. It was a hit at the time, but was made famous again in 1991 by Cole’s daughter Natalie when modern recording technology was used to reunite father and daughter in a duet. The duet version rose to the top of the pop charts, almost forty years after its original popularity.

On November 5^th, 1956, The Nat ‘King’ Cole Show debuted on NBC. The variety program was one of the first hosted by an African American. The program started at a length of fifteen-minutes but was increased to a half-hour in July 1957. 

Rheingold Beer was a regional sponsor, but a national sponsor was never found. The show was in trouble financially despite efforts by NBC, Harry Belafonte, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Eartha Kitt, Frankie Laine, Peggy Lee, and Mel Tormé. Cole decided to end the program. The last episode aired on December 17, 1957. Commenting on the lack of sponsorship, Cole said shortly after its demise, “Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark.”

Throughout the 1950s, Cole continued to record hits that sold millions throughout the world, such as “Smile”, “Pretend”, “A Blossom Fell”, and “If I May”. 

In 1959, he received a Grammy Award for Best Performance By a “Top 40” Artist for “Midnight Flyer”.

In 1958, Cole went to Havana, Cuba, to record Cole Español, an album sung entirely in Spanish. It was so popular in Latin America and the U.S. that it was followed by two more Spanish-language albums: A Mis Amigos (1959) and More Cole Español (1962).

After the change in musical tastes, Cole’s ballads appealed little to young listeners, despite a successful attempt at rock and roll with “Send for Me”, which peaked at number 6 on the pop chart. Like Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, and Tony Bennett, he found that the pop chart had been taken over by youth-oriented acts.

In January 1964, Cole made one of his final television appearances, on The Jack Benny Program. He was introduced as “the best friend a song ever had” and sang “When I Fall in Love”. Cat Ballou (1965), his final film starring alongside Jane Fonda, was released several months after his death.

Cole had one of his last major hits in 1963, two years before his death, with “Those Lazy-Hazy-Crazy Days of Summer”, which reached number 6 on the Pop chart.

In September 1964, Cole began to lose weight and he experienced back problems. He collapsed with pain after performing at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. In December, he was working in San Francisco when he was finally persuaded by friends to seek medical help. A malignant tumor in an advanced state of growth on his left lung was observed on a chest X-ray. Cole, who had been a heavy cigarette smoker, had lung cancer and was expected to have only months to live. Against his doctors’ wishes, Cole carried on his work and made his final recordings between December 1 and 3 in San Francisco, with an orchestra conducted by Ralph Carmichael. The music was released on the album L-O-V-E shortly before his death. His daughter noted later that he did this to assure the welfare of his family. The album peaked at #4 on the Billboard Albums chart in the spring of 1965.

November 4: AAC, Technology and Connection

How have we stayed connected during the pandemic?

• Twice weekly over zoom (Tuesday and Thursday)
• Class Blog
• Email

What have been the benefits of meeting over zoom?

• Maintain social relationships
• keeping mentally healthy and active
• maintain communication skills
• Avoiding wheel-trans issues
• Travel Time
• Avoiding travelling during bad weather – especially in the cold
• Don’t have to get dressed up for the weather and can stay in PJs
• Making people’s days brighter because they laugh at our technical issue
• It doesn’t matter where you are located in the country/world
• Avoiding COVID/Illnesses
• Personal Care can be done quicker/as needed
• Can still listen/be present while doing other things

What have you disliked about meeting over zoom?

• Technical difficulties
• Miss seeing each other in person (No personal interaction)
• Not being able to use communication device at the same time

What have some of the challenges been?

• Communicating with AAC in person is much easier

What part of this whole experience will we bring with us when we return to in-person classes?

• People can participate over zoom OR in person
• Maintain the class blog
• We’ve learned to be more patient
• Checking in with friends/family
• Continue to use videos in class

What are you looking forward to most for when we return in-person?

• Getting to see everyone again
• Laughing together in person
• Get to go back to the Church
• More hands on activities like baking, art, parties, eating food
• Going on trips

Let’s watch more of Shane and Hannah!

November 2: Ron MacLean

• His real name is Ronald Joseph Corbett MacLean.
• He was born on April 12, 1960.
• He is a Canadian sportscaster and works for the CBC and Rogers media.
• He is best known for being the host of hockey night in Canada from 1986 to 2014 and again since 2016.
• He is also a hockey referee.

• He was born in Zweibrucken, West Germany on the Zweibrucken Airbase.
• His father was an officer in the Royal Canadian Air Force and was stationed at the nearby Metz-Frescaty airbase in Metz, France.
• His father Ron MacLean senior was from Sydney Nova Scotia. He married Lila McDonald from Iona Nova Scotia in July 1959.
• His father was working as a communications operator at Station Edmonton and his mother was an air woman/Clerk. She was stationed at the Royal Canadian Air Force in Namao near Edmonton.
• When Ron was 2 years old the family moved back to Canada to Chester, Nova Scotia.
• When he was 4 years old his dad got the call to station at Whitehorse, Yukon with the Royal Canadian Air Force.
• The family then relocated back to Sylvan Lake, Alberta.
• Ron went to high school in Red Deer, Alberta and met his future wife Cari there.

• After high school he planned to go to the University Alberta but at the last minute was asked to fill in for his sick friend at CKRD FM radio station.
• After that he moved from the radio to the TV station of the same name.
• Even though he never went to university there he received an honorary degree from the University Alberta in 2019.

Career

Hockey Night in Canada

• Ron began working on hockey night in Canada in the 1986 to 1987 season.
• He began hosting telecasts in Toronto when Dave Hodge moved to Vancouver.
• Dave Hodge was later suspended and eventually quit because he was protesting a CBC program decision.
• Ron MacLean stepped in and worked his first Stanley Cup final that spring in 1987. He has been the early game host ever since.
• One of his other duties within this job posting was to host Coaches Corner with Don Cherry.

• However, in the 2001 2002 NHL season contract negotiations with the CBC sports Executive Director were not going well.
• Following the advice of his agent Ron threatened to quit CBC. There was a major public outcry of support for Ron which caused the CBC to change their minds and except Ron’s demands.
• He has also been part of the CBC’s Olympics coverage since 1988 and took over as the chief anchor when Brian Williams left to go to CTV/TSN.
• He was the main sportscaster for the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing until his mother died.
• In 1993 Ron served as an ice level reporter for the NBC sports coverage of the NHL All-Star game in Montréal.
• He also hosted CBCs coverage of the Queen’s Plate that year.
• In the 2014 to 2015 NHL season Ron was hired by Rogers media.
• He gave up the host position of hockey night in Canada but kept his role as the host of Coaches Corner and he became an on-location host for the travelling show Hometown Hockey broadcast.
• On June 27, 2016 Rogers announced that Ron would be reinstated as the host of the early games on Hockey Night in Canada beginning the next season.

Awards and Honours

• Ron has received 8 Gemini awards for working with the CBC.
• His first Gemini was in 1992 for best sports broadcaster. He also won this award in 1994, 1997, 1998 and 2001.
• He won Best Host or Interviewer in a sports program or sports cast in 2004 and 2006.
• In 1996 he was inducted into the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame.
• In 2015 he was inducted into the Oakville sports Hall of Fame.
• In 2016 Ron and Don Cherry received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.

• Following the controversy over remarks that Don Cherry made about Remembrance Day and the poppies and his reaction to this, Ron addressed and reflected on the incident during Hockey Night in Canada on November 16, 2019.
• It was the first one without Don Cherry. He also announced that this would be the end of Coaches Corner.

An interesting note is that Ron is the subject of the song called Dear Coaches Corner written by the Canadian punk band called Propagandhi.

Another interesting note is that Ron was able to help save the life of someone that was trying to take their own life by jumping in the Delaware River in Philadelphia to save them.

A song to finish off. Hope you enjoy!

A funny video to enjoy

October 28th – The History of Halloween

It’s creepy and it’s kooky, mysterious and spooky… it’s all together ooky. No, I’m not talking about the Addams Family, I’m talking about Halloween! Although the Addams Family is definitely synonymous of Halloween! So I thought we should start the class off with the theme song from the show!

The Addams Family

So, today we’re talking about Halloween – the wonderful holiday where we can all dress as someone else and eat a bunch of tasty treats.

You may have been celebrating it for years, or maybe not, but regardless you may not know where all the fun traditions come from. Be afraid…. be very afraid as we dive into the haunting history of Halloween!

Lighted Halloween Pumpkin Jack o Lantern Wearing Covid PPE Mask On Steps

Dressing up in costumes and trick-or-treating are popular Halloween activities, but few probably associate these lighthearted fall traditions with their origins in Samhain (sow-in), a three-day ancient Celtic pagan festival.

For the Celts, who lived during the Iron Age in what is now Ireland, Scotland, the U.K. and other parts of Northern Europe, Samhain (sow-in) (which literally means, in modern Irish, “summer’s end”) marked the end of summer and kicked off the Celtic new year which begins on November 1^st. Ushering in a new year signaled a time of both death and rebirth, something that was doubly symbolic because it coincided with the end of a bountiful harvest season and the beginning of a cold and dark winter season that would present plenty of challenges. During this fire festival, people would celebrate their loved ones who have passed, welcoming them into the new year, and warding off bad spirits from being welcomed too with spooky attire.

On the nights leading up to Samhain (sow-in), the Irish would wear costumes and go door to door singing songs to the dead. Nuts, money, or baked treats called soul cakes were received in exchange. This practice was then adapted by the Christians and renamed All Souls Day. Hence the “treats.”

The “trick” part comes from Bonfire Night, which took place all over England. The Scottish and Irish immigrants then brought this tradition of causing mayhem and pulling pranks to America in the 19^th century, and just like that, Halloween became a recognized holiday!

Bonfire night, also known as Guy Fawkes Night, takes place every year on the 5^th of November. It marks the anniversary of the failure of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605, in which 13 men including Guy Fawkes plotted to blow up the House of Parliament in London. Their plan was foiled and Guy Fawkes was the first to be arrested. In many parts of northern England, the night before Guy Fawkes night is considered to be Mischief Night. It’s a night when older children and teenagers traditionally play pranks on their neighbours. The same tradition is observed on the night before Halloween in some parts of the US and Canada

The costumes were used in many ways, some include warding off evil spirits in order to move forward with a clean slate, to hide among the evil spirits, or as a way to welcome their loved ones who have passed away, into the new year. Because of this, you see so many kinds of costumes, from very spooky to scare away these ghosts and ghouls or fun ones which bring laughter and joy. However when I did look up old photos of costumes from back in the day, a lot of them were definitely very creepy!

GLASTONBURY, ENGLAND – A man representing the Winter King holds a flaming sword as he takes part in a ceremony as they celebrate Samhain at the Glastonbury Dragons Samhain Wild Hunt 2017

Women dressed as a coven of witches line up for a Halloween portrait, circa 1910

Three girls in their masked costumes in the College Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, 1929.

The tradition of carving jack o’ lanterns come from Irish lore. As the story goes, a man named Stingy Jack was trapped by the devil over and over again. When Jack died, his soul was too corrupted to make it to an angelic afterlife. He was gifted a lump of burning coal by the devil which he carried around in a turnip and used to ward off evil spirits. So, before the tradition of pumpkins in America, in Ireland, they used these turnips instead.

In todays day and age, Halloween has become more of a quick holiday, with less and less people creating their own costumes, and more people buying premade ones from Party City. or Spirit Halloween It’s less likely that people are actually celebrating the meaning of Halloween, and more are using it to party and to get some free candy! With Covid and also just a time to be cautious due to strangers possibly tampering with the candy, parents are trying to come up with different and safe ways to trick-or-treat, such as trunk-or-treating where parents will park at their child’s school and the kids will walk from car to car.

October 26: Bill Nye

• Bill Nye is a science educator who is best known for hosting his show called Bill Nye the Science Guy.
• It was an award-winning show educating preteens about science.

Who Is Bill Nye?

• He is an American science educator and a mechanical engineer.
• He graduated from Cornell University and moved to Seattle to work as a mechanical engineer for Boeing.
• He became a comedy show writer and performer and is a successful author.
• He still is a very popular public figure and is very vocal among the science community.

Early Life and Education

• he was born in Washington DC on December 27, 1955. His full name is William Sanford Nye.
• His parents were Jacqueline and Edwin Darby Nye.

• His mother was brilliant in math and science as well. She was recruited to become a code breaker during World War II.
• His father was held captive in a Japanese prisoner of war camp, and he had no electricity for years.
• As a result, he became an expert using a sundial. In later years his son Bill became an expert as well.
• Bill attended a private school called Sidwell Friends School.
• After he graduated, he decided to enroll at Cornell University to study mechanical engineering.
• He earned his Bachelor of Science degree and began his career at the Boeing Company in Seattle.
• He lived in Seattle for many years.
• Bill developed a hydraulic pressure suppressor which is still used in the Boeing 747.

Entertainment Career

• Bill got his start in comedy after he won a Steve Martin look-alike contest.

He worked as an engineer in the daytime and the standup comic by night.

He eventually quit his day job and became a comedy writer and performer on the show called Almost Live. He earned his nickname the Science Guy on this show.

• Bill Nye the Science Guy was an educational program that aired from September 10, 1993, to June 20, 1998.
• There were 100 episodes that focused on a specific topic which made them very valuable resources for teaching science in schools. In its five-year run the show won 19 Emmy awards. Bill Nye also received 7 Emmys for his writing, performing and producing of the show.
• After the Science Guy ended, he worked on different shows that included The Eyes of Nye which was a show directed at an older audience and the Planet Green Network’s Stuff Happens program.

• he also posted the 100 Greatest Discoveries Show and started to appear in videos for several attractions at Walt Disney World and the Epcot Centre. He was even in one with Ellen DeGeneres.
• Bill also was on TV when he played a science teacher in a Disney movie and when he was on the television crime drama called Numb3ers.
• He was on Larry King several times talking about global warming which is his favourite subject and he also spoke about space exploration.
• In 2013 Bill joined the cast of celebrity contestants on the popular show Dancing with the Stars.

• in 2017 Bill did the Netflix show Bill Nye Saves the World. The show explored science topics that affected people’s everyday lives and included celebrities in the discussions.

Science and Space

• Bill Nye is a working scientist.
• In the early 2000’s he was helping develop sundials that Were Actually Used in the Mars Exploration Rover Missions.

• from 2005 to 2010 Bill served as VP and then second executive director of the Planetary Society. This was one of the largest space interest groups in the world.
• Bill has said that he is concerned about people having a lack of scientific knowledge and wants to help teach the use of reason when examining controversial and extraordinary claims.
• For several years Bill served as the Frank H.T Rhodes visiting professor at Cornell University.
• He holds honorary doctorate degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Goucher College and Johns Hopkins.

And now a funny Halloween video!

October 21: Shane Burcaw

Source: https://www.laughingatmynightmare.com/about-us

In 2011, a kid named Shane Burcaw from Bethlehem, PA started a humorous blog to tell his life story of living with a disease that made his muscles waste away as he grew older. 

First, we strive to make the world a happier place by teaching children across the country methods for overcoming adversity. We provide schools with tools and presentations that increase kindness, empathy, and positivity by showing kids that we are all different and we all have challenges that are best solved by working together! 

​

Shane and his cousin Sarah

At the same time, we work to improve the quality of life for people living with muscular dystrophy by providing free adaptive and medical equipment to people in need! We aim to give devices and technology that helps our clients live healthier, more comfortable, and more productive lives.

The blog blew up, achieving HALF A MILLION followers (a number that still grows to this day). Shane realized how badly people needed humor in their lives, so he set out with his cousin Sarah (top picture) to create a company that could help people laugh more and help others living with the same disease. 

​Since the founding of Laughing At My Nightmare, Shane has gone on to start a viral YouTube channel with his wife, Hannah (Aylward) Burcaw. The channel is called Squirmy and Grubs. Shane’s disability plays a huge role in their relationship, but not in the way that most people expect. 

Shane and Hannah on their wedding day

Source: https://www.squirmyandgrubs.com/

Shane Burcaw and Hannah Aylward run a successful YouTube channel called Squirmy and Grubs, which currently has over 800,000 subscribers and 100,000,000+ views. Shane is the award-winning author of three books, and together they are working on a fourth. In all their work, they combine information and humor to educate people about disability. They have been featured on media outlets like The Today Show, Insider, and Bloomberg, and speak to their audiences about ableism, accessibility, and relationships.

Shane and Hannah

October 19: David Suzuki

• David Suzuki’s real name is David Takayoshi Suzuki.
• He was born on March 24, 1936 and is a Canadian scholar, science broadcaster and an environmental activist.
• He successfully earned a PhD in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961 and was a professor in the genetics Department at the University of British Columbia from 1963 until he retired in 2001.
• Since the mid-1970s Suzuki is very well known for his television and radio series documentaries and books about nature and the environment.
• He is well-known also for narrating the popular and longtime running CBC television science program called the nature of things. It is seen in over 40 countries.

• He also tends to criticize governments for not protecting the environment as much as they should.
• He cofounded the David Suzuki foundation in 1990 in an effort to reverse global climate change. He said, “the goal is to find ways for society to live in balance with the natural world that does sustain us.”
• The foundation priorities are oceans and sustainable fishing, climate change and clean energy sustainability.
• The foundation also works to help protect the oceans from large oil spills such as the large oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
• He also has served as a director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association from 1982 to 1987.
• In 2004 Suzuki was ranked fifth on the list of final nominees for the greatest Canadian of all time.
• In 2009 Suzuki was awarded the Right Livelihood Award. This award is awarded to honour and support people offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today.
• In 2011 his book entitled The Legacy one the Nautilus book award.
• He is also a companion of the Order of Canada.

Early Life

• David has a twin sister named Marcy at as well as to other siblings Geraldine (also known as Aiko) and Dawn. His parents names are Setsu Nakamura and Kaoru Carr Suzuki.
• They were born in Vancouver British Columbia where their parents were born as well.
• His maternal and paternal grandparents emigrated to Canada from Japan at the beginning of the 20^th century.
• His family suffered internment in British Columbia during the second world war until the war ended in 1945. Internment means his family was forcibly relocated as a way of maintaining national security.
• After the war Suzuki’s family like many other Japanese Canadians were forced to move east of the Rockies. They moved to Etobicoke, Leamington and then to London Ontario.
• David remembers his father as a person that piqued his interest in nature.

Academic Career

• in 1958 David received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Amherst College in Massachusetts where he developed an interest in the study of genetics.
• In 1961 he received his Dr. of philosophy degree in zoology from the University of Chicago.
• He worked from 1961 to 1962 at Oak Ridge National laboratory.
• From 1962 to 1963 he was an assistant professor at the University of Alberta
• He was a professor in the genetics Department at the University of British Columbia for almost 40 years spanning from 1963 until he retired in 2001.

Broadcasting Career

• His career started in 1970 in television when he starred in the children’s show Suzuki on Science.
• in 1974 he founded the radio program Quirks and Quarks which he also hosted from 1975 to 1979.
• During the 1970s he also hosted science magazine which was a weekly program geared to adults.
• Since 1979 David has hosted the TV show the nature of things which is on CBC.
• He hopes to create an interest in the natural world, show threats to human well-being and wildlife habitat and to present alternatives for humans to achieve a more sustainable society.

Climate Change and Activism

• In recent years Suzuki has become a very vocal spokesperson on global climate change.
• In February 2008 he was responsible for urging McGill University students to speak out against politicians who don’t act on climate change.
• Suzuki has a strong belief that climate change is a very real and important problem that many scientists now agree that human activity is responsible.

Even his children have gotten involved in describing the real threat of climate change and its effect on the environment around us.

Now for some music and a funny video to end such a serious topic.

CLIMATE CHANGE

So for this week, Caroline has requested that we speak on the topic of Climate Change. This is a very important topic and one that is coming up in the media a lot as of late due to the catastrophic weather events that have been taking place around the world. Now, for today I’m just going to speak about the basics of climate change. However, for next week, I will delve into more detail about what’s truly going on in the world today due to climate change.

Now to begin, I want to bring up a few examples of strange weather occurrences that we have seen recently around the world:

• In Madrid-which is the capitol of Spain, they experienced record breaking levels of snow in the first few weeks of 2021. It was the most snow they’ve experienced in 50 years, and caused 1.2 billion dollars’ worth of damage.
• In February of 2021, Texans experienced a substantial amount of snow as well, which was extremely abnormal. When you think of Texas, I don’t think any of us could really say that you think of snow! It’s right above Mexico, and to the right of Arizona and New Mexico, so it’s a HOT area. In some parts of the state, the temperature plummeted to -13℃ and most of the state went without power for some time leaving many vulnerable people in extremely cold conditions.
• Wildfires across Greece and Italy due to heatwaves
• Fiji was hit by two Cyclones within the time span of one month
• Dust storms in China which caused hazardous air quality
• Flooding in Germany
• And so many more events globally

Weather changes are different than climate change, however they go hand in hand. Climate change is the progress of long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns in a place. Climate change may cause weather patterns to be less predictable, and has been connected with other damaging weather events such as more frequent and more intense hurricanes, floods, downpours, and winter storms.

These unexpected weather patterns can make it difficult to maintain and grow crops in regions that rely on farming because expected temperature and rainfall levels can no longer be relied on. Due to this, we are seeing rising food shortages and lack of resources to amend these concerns. An example of this would be the tremendous amount of flooding that has been occurring in different regions of China. The population relies greatly on rice fields, as well as the whole world. China is responsible for 1/3^rd of all of the rice eaten globally and it is the most consumed food in China itself. To harvest the rice, you actually have to drain the flooded fields (normally farmers themselves would flood them for the rice to grow), however, due to the flooding due to weather, this is not possible in some areas as there is nowhere for the water to go.

In colder areas, we are seeing rises in temperatures which has caused ice sheets and glaciers to begin melting which is contributing to rising sea levels. With the rising levels we are now seeing the results of damaged coastlines, increased chances of flooding and erosion.

Now, let’s watch a brief video on climate change:

The culprit for a vast majority of the changes that we are seeing are actually human activities, like burning fossil fuels like natural gas, oil and coal. We burn these materials to make things, products we use in day to day life, our houses, cars, our clothing, shoes, bags, and all of the luxuries we use as well, the gas needed to run our cars, everything. We as a society are now so focused on selling products, making profit and enjoying luxuries, so the idea of cutting any of this out is unimaginable. We as consumers will continue to buy these products and the people in charge and who are at fault for continuing the burning of these materials will not stop, because they see the amount of money they are making. To reduce the emissions, means to lose millions and millions of dollars. However, burning these materials releases what are called greenhouse gases into Earth’s Atmosphere. When in the atmosphere, these gases trap heat from the sun causing our planets temperatures to rise.

It’s normal for our earths weather conditions to change over time, this has always happened, but in slow progression. However, in today’s day and age, the human influenced climate change is causing this to occur at a much faster rate.

The Cop26 climate summit starts in Glasgow, UK, on the 31st of October and all the big-polluting countries must deliver tougher pledges to cut emissions to keep the goal of 1.5C within reach. Research published on Monday showed that children born today would experience many times more extreme heatwaves and other climate disasters over their lifetimes than their grandparents, even if countries fulfill their cut

We will end today’s class with a few more videos on climate change, which includes one from Bill Nye, who is of course everyone’s favourite. And then next week we can discuss things that we can do to help reduce our own carbon footprints, as well as what industries have to do to reduce their own, as they are the change we must see to make any serious progress.

And lastly, I think a movie day soon would be wonderful and I have a film in mind. It’s not exactly about climate change, but it follow a major issue that contribute to it. I’m not sure if any of you have seen it yet, but even if you have I myself have viewed it a couple times now, its that good! It’s called Seaspiracy and it’s a documentary on Netflix that came out this year! It focuses on the impact that fishing and pollution is causing to our oceans and it truly opens your eyes. So, lets watch a trailer now for the film, and you guys can let me know if you’re interested!

October 12: The History of Orange Shirt Day

• Orange Shirt Day happens every year on September 30. It is a way to honour all the indigenous children that attended residential schools in Canada.
• It also is an important way to educate and remember the tragedy of residential schools and the cruel circumstances that indigenous children had to experience.
• Sadly approximately 150,000 indigenous children from all across the country from the years 1828 – 1996 were taken away from their homes, stripped of their spoken language, families and their own culture by these church run schools.
• It was an attempt to assimilate them to our culture in Canada.

Why Is Orange Shirt Day in September?

• Orange Shirt Day falls on September 30 because it is the time of the year when children were taken away to attend residential schools.
• Some children were lucky enough to come home for the summer whereas other children stayed at the school all year.
• The colour Orange was chosen because of the experience that one residential school survivor named Phyllis Webstad went through.

The story goes like this:

“Phyllis was only six years old when she was sent to St. Joseph’s Mission residential school in British Columbia from 1973 to 1974. Her grandmother had taken her to the store and bought her a brand-new shiny Orange shirt to wear to school. Phyllis was so excited to wear it to school. However, when she arrived, she was stripped of her clothing and never saw her Orange shirt again. She was neglected, abused and made to feel like she didn’t matter. She was not allowed to go home for 300 sleeps. She recalls that every child there was crying to go home, but no one at the school truly cared for them. They were made to feel alone, worthless, and like no one would save them. Phyllis says that the colour Orange now reminds her of that time in her life when her feelings didn’t matter.”

A now for a funny video 🙂