Showing posts with label Canadian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canadian. Show all posts

Tuesday, 12 September 2017

Real Man Travels



Sitting around a campfire telling stories is where the first notions of broadcasting our manly stories on the interwebs first occurred. My cheeks hurt as I laughed at another story, I blurted out "We should write a book! Or something like that". I tried to sell the guys on the idea. I knew that we each had our own unique way of telling a story and I knew that people would connect with all of us. The idea was heard but no motion was passed and the night carried on, but the idea never left my head.

In September of 2012 I decided to get the idea out of my head and turn it into something I could build on. I dreamt  up the name Real Man Travels, and from there I decided to write and share stories about my past travels and life experiences.

In June 2013, after a few months of proving the idea of a blog not to be a crazy one, I caught a bit of success and it snowballed into Scott, Ed and Sam deciding to join in on the adventure. After we joined forces we became unstoppable and today on September 12, 2017 we will celebrate our 5 year Manniversary.

I'm not sure what's in our future but I am sure that it will be fun.  Cheers to the next 5 years.

Thanks to everyone for following along with our 150 of our favourite Canadian things.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Saturday, 26 August 2017

Beattie's Vodka



The Beattie Family runs their vodka distillery on the same land they have been farming for over 100 years in Alliston, Ontario. Known as Ontario's first farm crafted potato vodka, Beattie's Vodka is unlike any other vodka that I have ever tried, it is silky on the tongue, finishes smoothly and tastes absolutely amazing by itself or with a little splash of cranberry juice.

Why potatoes? The potatoes offer a traditional source of starch which helps to start crafting a classic vodka. Used for centuries in the production of spirits throughout Europe, potatoes produce a most excellent vodka yet requires unique attention to the crafting process. Unlike grain based starch sources, the potato does not release its starches and sugars easily. The results speak for themselves, Beattie's vodka crafting techniques produce one of the most unique vodkas you will ever have tasted.

Fun Fact: For every bottle of Beattie's Vodka sold a portion of sales goes back in to the Beattie's hometown community of Alliston. They have handpicked a few of their favourite local charities and have no plans to ever stop giving back. 

150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Friday, 25 August 2017

Canadian Money



100 Dollar BillThe 100-dollar note was put into circulation through major banks in November 2011, made of a durable polymer instead of the traditional paper notes. The notes are dominantly brown in colour; the front design on the note features former prime minister Sir Robert Borden and the design on the back depicts the discovery of insulin.

50 Dollar Bill  - The 50-dollar note is predominantly red in colour and is printed on polymer. The front features a portrait of former Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King and the back depicts a research icebreaker from the Canadian Coast Guard,  Amundsen.

20 Dollar Bill The 20-dollar bank is predominantly green in colour and is prrinted on polymer. The front features Queen Elizabeth II and the Vimy Ridge memorial is displayed on the back. 

10 Dollar Bill -The current 2017 ten-dollar note is to commemorate 150 years of our confederacy dominantly purple in colour. The Front of the note features Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir George-Étienne Cartier, Agnes Macphail and James Gladstone –  four parliamentarians that played significant roles in Canada’s history. The back of the note tells the story of Canada’s landscapes with images from coast to coast.

5 Dollar Bill - The five-Canadian dollar note, is predominantly blue.The bill features a portrait of Canada's seventh prime minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier on the front; the back features an astronaut working with Dextre attached to the Canadarm2.


photo from vancitybuzz.com
ToonieThe Canadian two-dollar coin, commonly called the toonie, is the most valuable of the Canadian coins. The toonie is a bimetallic coin which on the reverse side bears an image of a polar bear. The flip side, like all other current Canadian circulation coins, has a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.

Loonie - The Canadian one dollar coin, commonly called the loonie, is a gold-coloured one-dollar coin introduced in 1987. It bears images of a common loon, a bird which is common and well known in Canada

Quarter - Short for quarter dollar this coin usually features a Caribou on it's face.

Dime - In Canada, a dime is a coin worth ten cents. The front displays a representation of the Bluenose, a famous Canadian schooner

NickelThe Canadian five-cent coin, commonly called a nickelhad been introduced in 1858 as a small, thin sterling silver coin, that was colloquially known as a "fish scale," not a nickel. Since 1937 the nickel has proudly showcased a beaver sitting on a rock.


photo from mtlblog.com
Fun Fact: To Commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada, The 2017 Toonie's design is titled 'Dance of the Spirits', and shows a pair of paddlers dwarfed by a night sky alive with the ever-shifting movement of the Aurora Borealis. Thanks to the addition of luminescent material in the ink covering the Aurora, the coin glows in the dark.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Thursday, 24 August 2017

Canadian Fishing TV Shows


I cannot recall anything more relaxing than waking up at a respectable time on Saturday morning grabbing a coffee and sitting down to watch a couple hours of fishing shows in the television. I mean if you can't get out on the water you might as well watch someone else enjoying it

Canadian Sportfishing - Airing for over 3 decades with Fishing Technician host Italo Labignan, Canadian Sportfishing continues to set the standard with our unique show format that educates and entertains viewers both young and old alike.

Bob Izumi's Real Fishing show -  Having your father initiate the first ever Canadian bass tournament is a good way to get introduced into fishing at a young age. That's what happened to Bob Izumi and  in 1983 at a family picnic, a family member brought up the possibility of him starting a fishing television show. The thought of a television show intrigued him. He filmed a pilot episode, and the rest is history

Fish'n Canada - Angelo Viola and Pete Bowman host one of Canada's longest-running fishing shows, Fish'n Canada travels from coast to coast in search of trophy fishing opportunities.

Going Fishing - The reason for the success of Darryl Chororonzey's popular Going Fishing Television Series? The topics he covered each week on Going Fishing - where to go, what to catch, how to catch them - are the topics that interest our viewers. We even instruct our viewers on how to cook a few.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Monday, 21 August 2017

Letterkenny

Promo photo for Letterkenny
It doesn’t get more Canadian than this: six of the actors who co-star in CraveTV’s Canadian comedy Letterkenny met star and creator Jared Keeso in a beer hockey leagueThe show embellishes Canadian small town life in the town of Letterkenny, dividing the town into 4 different social groups. The Hicks, Skids, Hockey Players and Christians. Put those four groups together and you have  a TV show for Canadians that like to laugh at themselves.


photo from thestar.com

The Hicks have little patience for people who aren't like them, especially the Skids an Hockey players. They generally like to keep to themselves. 

The Hockey Players No one can chirp like a hockey player. They speak exclusively in hockey player slang and are constantly taking the piss out of anyone who crosses their path.


Completely inspired but entirely unmotivated, The Skids are smart but spend their time doing meth and dancing outside the local convenience store. 


There are also The Christians but nobody pays them much mind.


What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Sunday, 20 August 2017

Tofino, British Columbia

Tofino, British Columbia
By martin bell - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=60549990

A popular resort town in the summer, Tofino is Vancouver Island's favorite outdoorsy retreat. It's not surprising that surf fans, families and nature seeking Vancouverites keep coming: packed with activities and blessed with marvelous local beaches, it sits on Clayoquot Sound, where forested mounds rise from roiling, breathtaking waves

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here



Saturday, 19 August 2017

The California Roll

When Hidekazu Tojo emigrated from Japan to Vancouver in 1971, sushi was not on the menu. Most people didn't eat raw fish and thought seaweed belonged in the ocean. In 1974, determined to make sushi appealing to the locals, the chef opted for more palatable fillers, such as cooked crabmeat and avocado. To conceal the offending dried seaweed, he rolled the sushi so the rice was on the outside. Calling it the Inside-Out Roll.
California Rolls
By Alessandro Scotti - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5764637

Tojo's creation became a great success and was eventually dubbed the "California roll." Tojo is still working as a chef and owns his own restaurant, Tojo's, in downtown Vancouver.
Hidekazu Tojo at his restaurant in Vancouver
photo from VancouverSun.com

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here



Friday, 18 August 2017

Mount Logan

Mount Logan is the highest mountain in Canada and the second-highest peak in North America, after Denali. It is also believed to have the largest base circumference of any non-volcanic mountain on Earth.The mountain surprisingly enough is not named after Theodore Logan from Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, it was named after Sir William Edmond Logan, a Canadian geologist and founder of the Geological Survey of Canada. Mount Logan is located within Kluane National Park Reserve in southwestern Yukon, less than 40 kilometres north of the Yukon/Alaska border and is the source of the Hubbard and Logan Glaciers. 
Knife Rige - Mount Logan
By Christian Stangl - https://www.flickr.com/photos/127405808@N06/15116832326/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38608961
Due to active tectonic uplifting, Mount Logan is still rising in height. In May 1992, a Geological Survey of Canada expedition climbed Mount Logan and fixed the current height of 5,959 metres (19,551 ft), including a massif with eleven peaks over 5,000 metres (16,400 ft).

South east view of Mount Logan
Temperatures are extremely low on and near Mount Logan. On the 5,000 m high plateau, air temperature hovers around −45 °C in the winter and reaches near freezing in summer with the median temperature for the year around −27 °C. Minimal snow melt leads to a significant ice cap, reaching almost 300 metres in certain spots.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Wednesday, 16 August 2017

Prince Edward Island National Park

Prince Edward Island National Park stretches out over 65 kilometres of shoreline, made up of beaches, red sandstone cliffs and rolling sand dunes on the North Shore of Prince Edward Island, just 24 kilometres away from the Birthplace of our Confederation in Charlottetown.
Cavendish Beach
By Loganwhite6 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=59629646
Sweeping, sandy beaches draw crowds of day-trippers and campers throughout the summer. If the scenery seems storybook-perfect, there’s good reason. The park is also home a 19th-century farmhouse that was immortalized in the novel Anne of Green Gables, now one of Canada’s most popular heritage places.




What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here



Tuesday, 15 August 2017

The Raccoons


The Canadian animated television show The Raccoons was centered around Bert Raccoon and married roomates Ralph and Melissa Raccoon. The shows mostly involved the trio's efforts against the industrialist forces of greedy aardvark millionaire Cyril Sneer, who usually tried to destroy the forest for a quick buck. However, the Raccoons would always save the forest from Cyril's evil plots, with help from their forest friends including Schaeffer, a gentle sheepdog; Cedric, Cyril's college graduate son; and Sophia Tutu, Cedric's girlfriend.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Sunday, 13 August 2017

The Igloo Church

Possibly the Northwest Territories most iconic, most photographed structure, the Our Lady of Victory church in downtown Inuvik. Also known as the Igloo Church, it is a bleach-white cylinder capped by a silvery dome, imitating the Inuvialuit snow-houses of old and is truly unlike any other church on earth.

Our Lady of Victory Church
By Adam Jones, Ph.D. - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27739723

The round or igloo shape was chosen to mitigate possible structural damage that might be caused by frost heave. Its unique structural system, "a dome within a dome", further protects the church with a foundation consisting of a bowl-shaped concrete slab on a gravel bed atop the permafrost and, in the building itself, an intricate system of wooden arches to support the load.

Interior of Our Lady of Victory Church
By Adam Jones, Ph.D. - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=27739723

Designed by Brother Maurice Larocque, a Catholic missionary to the Arctic who had previously been a carpenter, designed the church despite a lack of any formal architectural training, sketching it on two sheets of plywood that are prominently displayed in the building's upper storeys. Construction was started in the late 1950s  and completed by a group of volunteers in 1960. The church was then rebuilt in 2005. A trip north of the Artic Circle would no be complete without a photo in front of the Igloo Church.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Saturday, 12 August 2017

Cream Soda

James William Black of Berwick, Nova Scotia was granted a U.S. patent on December 8, 1885, and a Canadian patent on July 5, 1886, for "ice-cream soda". Black's ice-cream soda, contained whipped egg whites, sugar, lime juice, lemons, citric acid, flavouring, and bicarbonate of soda, was a concentrated syrup that could be reconstituted into a bubbly or fizzy beverage by adding ordinary ice water.

Modern day Canadian cream soda is not really vanilla-flavored in the same way that American cream soda is; instead, it’s an intensely sweet, almost cotton-candy-type flavour. The most popular cream soda in Canada is produced by Crush and is mostly pink, except in Quebec and Newfoundland and Nova Scotia where it is sold clear. 



What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Wednesday, 9 August 2017

Bret "The Hitman" Hart

My brother and I used to turn my parent's basement into a WWF wrestling ring. Often we would take turns pretending to be different wrestling characters, and for safety we used beanbag chairs to absorb the off-the-top-rope impact. When we would select which wrestler we'd want to be for the match, my go-to would almost always be Canadian born Bret "the Hitman" Hart.

photo from profightdb.com

Bret Sergeant Hart is a a member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler. A major international draw within professional wrestling, he has been credited with changing the perception of mainstream North-American professional wrestling in the early 1990s by bringing technical in-ring performance to the fore. Hart is widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time. He retired in 2000 and was inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame in 2006 

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Tuesday, 8 August 2017

The Skydome

One stadium in Toronto has hosted The Blue Jays, The Raptors, The Buffalo Bills and Toronto Argonauts, as well as many concerts and plenty of main events. It is now known as the Rogers Centre, (especially to those who are born after the 92-93 World Series) but if you are or were a fan from 1989 to 2005, it will forever remain the Skydome.

The Dome, just as it is opening.


Fun Fact 1: The highest attendance for the Dome came from Wrestlemania 18 in 2002 with 68, 237 people.

Fun Fact 2: The venue was noted for being the first stadium to have a fully retractable motorized roof, as well as for the 348-room hotel attached to it, with 70 rooms overlooking the field.

What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Sunday, 30 July 2017

Moose

Photo By Bell Ronald L,

Moose are the largest of all the deer species. Males are immediately recognizable by their huge antlers, which can spread 6 feet from end to end and are used to fight off other moose that try to steal his girl during mating season. Moose have long faces and muzzles that dangle over their chins. A flap of skin known as a bell sways beneath each moose's throat. 

Rutt and Tuke from the Disney movie Brother Bear, voiced by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas
 or otherwise known as the Canadian comedy icons The Mckenzie Brothers.

Moose are at home in the water and, despite their staggering bulk, are good swimmers. They have been seen paddling several miles at a time, and will even submerge completely, staying under for 30 seconds or more. Moose are similarly nimble on land. They can run up to 35 miles an hour over short distances, and trot steadily at 20 miles an hour. If you have seen a moose in the wild, count yourself lucky some people wait 33 years to see the illusive moose. (at least that is how long I waited)


What are 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here



Tuesday, 25 July 2017

Poutine

In a small town in rural Quebec in the 1950's a hero was made. With the simple act of adding cheese curds to their french fries and gravy, this mysterious person created an entire food group for future Canadians.

Glorious Poutine
By Yuri Long from Arlington, VA, USA - road_trip-9349.jpg, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=19029778

While several have laid claim to being the creator, the one thing we can all agree on is it was an excellent idea. Just make sure they use gravy hot enough to melt your cheese curds or you will experience the real Canadian struggle.


What is 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Saturday, 22 July 2017

Elijah McCoy

Ever wonder where the saying "The real McCoy" comes from? Canadian inventor Elijah McCoy's automatic lubricating system out preformed the competition by such a large margin that railroad engineers would be sure to avoid imitators by requesting "The real McCoy" system.

By Rights Held by: Ypsilanti Historical Society - Copyright: Creative Commons (Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike), CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=55717775

Born free in Ontario to parents who escaped slavery by way of the Underground Railroad. McCoy would go on to hold 57 patents, including the folding ironing board and the lawn sprinkler.


What is 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Friday, 21 July 2017

The Montreal Bagel


The Montreal bagel, is a extraordinary variety of handmade and wood-fired baked bagel. In contrast to the New York-style bagel, the Montreal bagel is smaller, thinner, sweeter and denser, with a larger hole, and is always baked in a wood-fired oven. It contains maltegg, and no salt and is boiled in honey-sweetened water before being baked. There are two predominant varieties: poppy seed, or sesame seed. In some Montreal establishments like St.Viateur Bagel Shop and Fairmount Bagel, bagels are still produced by hand and baked in full view of the patrons hungry onlooking eyes. 


By Photo by M. Rehemtulla - http://www.flickr.com/photos/quoimedia/5219448319/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12732073

Like the similarly shaped New York bagel, it was brought to North America by Jewish immigrants from Poland and other Eastern European countries; the differences in texture and taste reflect the style of the particular area in Poland in which the immigrant bakers learned their trade.


What is 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Tuesday, 18 July 2017

The Red Green Show

Red Green DVD Home Screen

The Red Green show is about a handyman who tries to find shortcuts to most of his projects, trusting most of his work to duct tape, which he calls "the handyman's secret weapon." In one episode, he tried to duct tape the Ontario-Quebec border as a potential solution to Quebec separatism. The show's basic concept was that of a cable TV show, taped in part on a hand-held camera by Red's nephew Harold.

The Red Green Show Promo 

Red attempted to demonstrate creative and often humorous ways to tackle relatively common tasks in Handyman Corner, such as taking out the trash or making use of derelict cars, or to create something extravagant out of whatever he could get his hands on. Memorable examples include a jetpack made from two propane tanks, a hybrid car from recycled golf carts and satellite dishes, and a kiddie ride made from a bar stool attached to the agitator of a washing machine.The segment customarily concluded with the aphorism: "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy'' or "Remember, I'm pulling for you. We're all in this together."
The show usually concluded with Red giving a message to his wife, Bernice (usually a double entendre), and delivering his signature piece of life advice in the form of a hockey metaphor: "Keep your stick on the ice." 




What is 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here

Monday, 17 July 2017

Kraft Dinner


No Canadian Childhood is complete without the delicious bright orange cheese sauce of KD also known as Kraft Dinner. When it comes to the consumption of boxed mac and cheese, Canadians eat a whopping 55 per cent more of it a year than Americans do. Out of the 7 million boxes sold weekly around the world, Canadians purchase 1.7 million of them!




What is 150 of our favourite Canadian things? Read about it here