Happy Canada Day!

Lucky us to live in the best country in the world!

So celebrate big today, and take good care of Canada all year.

Remember when I was “The Canadian Explorer“?  I used to get so nervous about today, like how Santa probably feels on Xmas – you better produce.

3 years, 80 episodes and 000s of blog posts celebrating the best country because I feel it doesn’t get celebrated enough.

Here’s the intro to the show, circa 2007.

And here’s the site – TheCanadianExplorer.com

Good luck finding anything, I can’t and I own the thing.

But if you’re willing to dig, there’s a ton of gold, and the videos use an editing style that’s only now coming into vogue.

You’ll learn lots of facts, like how our national crest contains a unicorn.

I can spout stuff like that for days.

Or if you’ll really feeling to love Canada today, FF to 0:51 and reaffirm your Oath of Citizenship.

Have a great night tonight, hope you have fireworks!

 

 

Oh Canada

It’s Canada Day! 

Years ago, I’d be pretty stressed around now, feeling the pressure to come up with a dazzling video, having called my show, ‘The Canadian Explorer’.

This one was spent out-of-country in Budapest, with a group of Canadian auto journalists, which is why I Instagrammed the dinner table reservation card.

Some previous years included: going to Ottawa one year; another year my cycling team won a race ; then one time I attended a citizenship swearing-in ceremony.

I asked the gentleman to take me through the Canada-oath.
Do it too – FF to 0:50, takes 11 seconds

Ep # 28/80 – “Exploring Canada Day” – aired 2009 (original post)

THE OATH – I affirm, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance, to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada, and fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen.

If you say, “but Keri, what’s this Queen stuff?“, my thinking is: life’s pretty good in Canada right, so she can’t be all that bad, and sure it’s a bit antiquated, but of all the things we could focus on improving (homelessness / drug abuse / etc), let’s get fired up about that first.

It’s just, Canada is Shangri-la, and that needs to be protected, and if you live here you won the life lottery, so there’s a responsibility to do so.  I love that we’re a quietly awesome yet humble group, but maybe a touch more celerbating would be good.

Remember when we simultaneously threw the “Party Olympics”, while winning the most Gold medals ever in a Games?  Oh Canada.

(original post)

 

Cheers to You this Friday Night

Been busy juggling the usual blog stuff; yesterday was writing, today was production stuff; email, spread-sheets, phone, and Life Admin. Tonight is video editing; I have 3 half-finished ones.

Once I get the video to the loosly-put-together stage, I wish I could hand it off, someone else would polish the audio, make all the micro-adjustments that are sooo boooring.

Below are photos from the week. Sunday morning I’m at a conference, then Sunday night we’re off on an adventure.

xo Keri

 

Have a good Pride weekend.

Holy engineering in this flower.

Had a Lincoln MKZ this week, and wait till you see the weirdo gear shift method.

Around the track with professional race car driver, Alex Tagliani.

Have this on video. It was at Honda’s annual ‘Manual Driving School‘.

I took Niki with me; so proud of her here.

The next day, she did my hair.  Thank you, Brennen Demelo Studios

Finally made it to my inaugural 2013 summer patio beer, commemorated with this weird photo.

The end.

Once around the park and home, James.

 

Now THAT was a Canada Day Weekend

My first one off since 3 years! I’ve worked them all because… I was The Canadian Explorer.

And not gonna lie, the lack of pressure this weekend was fantastic.  I used to explain it like – this is likely how Santa feels on the 25th.

This weekend I did very Canadian things… I went to a BBQ, drank beer and laughed my guts out, watched the fireworks, spent time out of a city in nature, designed my weekend around traffic times, and put my feet up Sunday night on my porch.

Speaking of traffic, get THIS – I heard the traffic Sunday night into Toronto was backed up to…. Napanee O M G (that’s 200km-ish).

Did you know our Coat of Arms has a unicorn?! A UNICORN!

That’s our motto at the bottom, in Latin: A mari usque ad mare – From Sea to Sea

Of course I own one of these.

And lots of things like this:

I went to Ottawa in 2008.

A decade before I was also in Ottawa for Canada Day.

I’d borrowed this guy’s bike to get downtown, but he’d lost his bike lock key, and I had to drag it through the dense crowds.

So if you had your shins taken out by a pedal around this time, that would’ve been me and sorry about that.

To be clear, Episode #80 is … still undone.  Oh I know.  Guarenteed it bugs me more than it bugs you, it’s like this lead ball that hangs back left over my head always.  But.  It’s just……

I’ve sat down one thousand times to edit it, and I physically cannot. It’s my swan song.  It’s summing up 3 years of my life into 8 minutes.  It’s re-editing footage I’ve already spent tens of hours looking at.

I could use an editing helper.  I have it completely storyboarded, look.  My website needs a serious overhaul too, it’s just… to properly close up my show is a couple hundred hours I don’t have right now, it’s so daunting when I think about it.

Leave it with me, it WILL get done.  And I have a little celebration party coming together in my head for when it’s done, and you’re invited.

Viva las KeriCDN and The Canadian Explorer!

Renew Your Oath to Canada

Fast forward to 0:50, it takes only 11 seconds.

Yup, got chocked up there at the end, eh!

But really, it’d be weird if I didn’t; I did dedicate 3 years and 15 000 hours of my life to celebrating Canada.  You bet I used a heart wipe!

Here’s the Oath:

I affirm, that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance, to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada, and fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen.

This was filmed in Harbourfront at a swearing-in-you’re-now-a-citizen ceremony, and if you’ve never been to one, go. It will make you proud of your country. At this one there were 60 new citizens representing 20 different countries.

The oath is a little off in the video because I kinda accosted them at the end of the ceremony; thanks for being great fellas.

Both gentlemen are recipients of the ‘Order of Canada’ – the highest civilian achievement, with only 165 permitted to be in existence at any given time.

I’ve seen one up close here. I’ve made no secret I’d like to have one, too.  I would wear it everywhere.

Love you Canada, thanks for being the best country in which to live! xo Keri