tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193422522024-03-12T17:38:52.040-07:00When in Doubt, TwirlA blog about the sensual delights of my life, wine, dance, music, food... and the list goes on...Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-41975015696346500482011-03-07T22:11:00.000-08:002011-03-07T22:19:34.464-08:00Legado Muñoz - Garnacha (2009)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Legado Muñoz</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Garnacha</span><br />Vino de Tierra de Castilla - Bodegas Muñoz - Noblejas, Toledo, España (2009)<br /><br />Smooth and silky. First breath is of sweet hillside jasmine. On the tongue, there is a sharp fruit forward meeting, followed by a mellow velvety violet edge. Lovely.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-79638069579546411472011-01-04T16:45:00.000-08:002011-01-05T11:37:32.099-08:00Señorío de los Llanos - Crianza (2006)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Señorío de los Llanos</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Valdepeñas - Crianza</span><br />Denomin. de Origen, Bodega los Llanos (2006)<br /><br />A good basic table wine that did not disapoint. Built on a Tempranillo, it shares its slightly acidic character.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-31167822812544337882011-01-04T16:31:00.000-08:002011-01-04T16:39:14.579-08:00Monasterio de las Viñas - Garnacha, Tempranillo (2009)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Monasterio de las Viñas</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Garnacha, Tempranillo</span> <br />Campo de Cariñena, Aragón, Spain (2009)<br /><br />Robust, nascent character with slightly higher acidity. This wine has a lovely purple to red colour, reminiscent of a fine velvet. Its bold fruit captured the sentiments of the evening well.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-57286157065795179842011-01-04T16:24:00.000-08:002011-01-04T16:44:23.148-08:00Raimat - Abadia (2006)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Raimat</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Abadia - Crianza</span><br />Codorníu Winery, Penedès, Spain (2006)<br /><br />Loads of blackberry, cherry, and licorice. This wine is simply devine (even better is the 2005 vintage!). <br /><br />Its medium to full heavy weight paired very nicely with our ragu. This wine has a lovely rich red colour and a smooth finish. It is more concentrated compared to other Riojas I have tasted.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-79792063198467307642010-03-15T03:41:00.000-07:002010-03-15T03:45:11.720-07:00Conde de Caralt - Vendemia Seleccionada (2008)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Conde de Caralt</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Vendemia Seleccionada - Tempranillo, Garnacha & Monastrel</span><br />Catalunya, Spain (2008)<br /><br />Nice blend! Lightweight, fruity, and aromatic. Not too acidic after decanting.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-36195437674095854682010-03-15T03:38:00.000-07:002010-03-15T03:41:31.784-07:00Don Simon - Tempranillo (2009?)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Don Simon</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Tempranillo (Seleccion)</span><br />Tierra de Castilla, Spain (2009?)<br /><br />Fruity and aromatic, this tempranillo was a nice little wine. Easy, smooth, and tasty.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-70977452280374391182010-03-08T07:55:00.000-08:002010-03-08T09:08:49.821-08:00Solepeñas - Tinto (2009?)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Feliz Solis - Solepeñas</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Tinto - Vino de Mesa</span><br />Andalucia, Spain (2009?)<br /><br />A little table wine picked up at the grocery store. I was not expecting mucho, but how I underestimated table wines in gereneral in Spain. Even the inexpensive ones are worth mentioning! This one is a traditionally made table wine and has the typical dark red colour and medium bodies red-fruit. In particular a little grenadine. It went well with fish, cheese, and salad.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-38527679754359963092010-03-03T10:36:00.000-08:002010-03-03T10:42:19.516-08:00Campo Viejo - Tempranillo (2009?)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Campo Viejo</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Tempranillo, Rioja (Denominacion de Origen Controlado)</span><br />Logrono, Spain (2009?)<br /><br />Undated bottle of wine I picked up at the grocery store in Jerez de la Frontera. Worth every Euro I spent on it, and more! Rich, ruby red wine with great legs. Dry and fruity it paired very well with a local goat cheese.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-29154322086132081492010-02-11T23:58:00.000-08:002010-02-12T00:04:03.648-08:00Domaine Drouhin - Pinot Noir (2006)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Domaine Drouhin</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Pinot Noir</span><br />Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA (2006)<br /><br />Sharp nose after pouring that soon mellowed out into a lovely combination of cherry and sassafras. It continued to be bright, lush, and round, exactly as was anticipated. Very lovely and very easy to love.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-76991566117900452912010-02-05T22:11:00.000-08:002010-03-03T10:39:26.294-08:00Concha y Toro - Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc (2005)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Concha y Toro</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, Private Reserve</span><br />Do. Maule Valley, Chile (2004)<br /><br />Rich golden colour and very bold sweetness to the nose after pouring. The first sip is like smooth liquid amber, like a succulent, sweet and juicy fruit dipped in honey. It burned the insides of my stomach and my mouth begged for more. Full-bodied, sugary, and complex - good late harvest consequence.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-19255234542295606652009-12-16T22:06:00.000-08:002009-12-16T22:15:01.953-08:00Domaine de Villeneuve - Chateauneuf-du-Pape (2004)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Domaine de Villeneuve</span> "Les Vieilles Vignes"<br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Chateauneuf-du-Pape</span> (Appellation Chateauneuf-du-Pape contrôlée)<br />Domaine de Villeneuve, Route de Courthezon, Orange, France (2004)<br /><br />Full strawberry nose on opening this bottle - divine! Full, robust, great legs, and great longevity. Complex layering of fruit, earth notes, and slight spice, this wine is definitely reflective of the price tag ($$).<br /><br />We enjoyed it this evening with boeuf bourgignon, artichoke risotto, cheese, and salad. <br /><br />I was saving this wine for a special occasion, and I am very glad I did. It was worth the wait, and the investment.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-72766635646796774022009-11-20T08:45:00.000-08:002009-11-20T09:00:02.817-08:00Coron- Beaujolais nouveau (2009)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Coron Père et Fils</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Beaujolais nouveau</span><br />Nuits St-Georges (Côte d'Or), France (2009)<br /><br />This year's Beaujolais nouveau was released yesterday, an event many have been anticipating for weeks... or in some cases, since the Beaujolais nouveau (2008) ran out last November.<br /><br />This year's vintage is rich and red in colour. The signature Beaujolais nouveau trait of banana can be detected immediately, at first whiff. The wine is light and sparkly to the tongue, and as it rests light apple and ruby red fruits are detectable. In comparison, the 2009 has less banana, but more fruit than the 2008.<br /><br />Quite enjoyable!Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-44135715699377223602009-10-27T18:08:00.000-07:002009-10-27T18:12:15.159-07:00McWilliams - Cabernet Sauvignon (2006)<span style="font-weight:bold;">McWilliams</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Cabernet Sauvignon</span><br />Hanwood Estate, South Eastern Australia, 2006<br /><br />I found this wine to be lightweight throughout. I chose it to accompany a homemade chili, and it did not overwhelm nor did it get overwhelmed. Lots of blackcurrant, with a hint of vanilla and an easy oak finish.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-78580979476292648312009-10-26T05:53:00.000-07:002009-10-26T05:58:48.615-07:00Las Moras - Tannat (2006)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Las Moras Reserve</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Tannat</span><br />San Juan, Argentina, 2006<br /><br />It starts lightly, with lots of fruit, and eases into a sweet, silky, and woody, but slightly spicy finish.<br />A subtle but deep wine. Tannat is a new grape on the scene and I am enjoying discovering it more. In this wine, I loved the balance between woody and fruity.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-51114618092721198042009-07-04T19:50:00.000-07:002009-07-04T19:55:48.614-07:00Joie Rosé (2008)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Joie Farm</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Rosé</span><br />Naramata, BC, 2008<br /><br />A lovely, crisp, and refreshing rosé from the Naramata bench in British Columbia. This wine is well-balanced, not too acidic, with a clean fruit finish. Old-world stylings in the blending make it an easy and not too complex wine to pair.<br />One of my favorite wines this summer.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-7587306954699219722009-06-09T22:16:00.000-07:002009-06-09T22:22:20.647-07:00Château Aydie - Tannat (2005)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Château Aydie</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Tannat</span><br />Vignobles Laplace, Madiran, France (2005)<br /><br />Dry start that quickly evolves into a dark sensuous fruit. This Tannat has all the character and elegance of the grape, with the slight French zing. Best decanted and let to breathe for the best body.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-33764954189351571812009-06-02T22:30:00.000-07:002009-06-09T22:23:14.928-07:00Gabarda - Rosado Seco (2006)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Gabarda</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Rosado Seco</span><br />Spain (2006)<br /><br />Dry, crisp, and fruity rosado seco. Ruby red in colour, this rosado mixes the body of a red wine with the lightness and sparkle of a green wine. Pairs very well with salad, fruit, and cheese. Delightful chilled, less-so warm. Perfect for summer.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-8404418544368394602009-05-31T00:12:00.001-07:002009-06-09T22:24:05.344-07:00Brumont - Tannat-Merlot (2005)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Brumont</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Tannat-Merlot</span><br />Vin de pays des côtes de Gascogne, France (2005)<br /><br />Light, full-berried wine. Simple at first encounter, but mellow, warm, and smooth with each additional. The merlot adds much to the body and berry (cherry), but the Tannat, a grape local to the Gascogne region of France, keeps the wine feeling like smooth silk on a warm summer's eve.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-33359014079287060172009-05-26T23:17:00.000-07:002009-06-09T22:25:18.986-07:00Barefoot Cab-Sauv (2007)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Barefoot</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Cabernet-Sauvignon</span><br />California (2007)<br /><br />Lovely mellow and curvy wine. Gold-medal winner at the World Wine Competition (2007), this laid-back west-coast wine is presumptuous enough to challenge the European Cab-Sauv combinations, and come out neck-and-neck.<br /><br />Rich and full bodied Cabernet combines with luscious berry to produce a very easy and pleasant wine to drink with many dishes.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-72412181409268187052009-05-24T22:14:00.000-07:002009-06-09T22:26:03.865-07:00Caracter - Argentina (2008)<span style="font-weight:bold;">Caracter</span><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Chardonnay-Chenin</span><br />Argentina (2008)<br /><br />A surprisingly delectable wine made of equal portions of Chardonnay and Chenin grapes. First impressions were of pear and crisp apple, followed by a hint of herb and tropical fruit.<br /><br />Made in Mendoza region of Argentina, a region more well-known for its full bodied reds, this was a lovely summer delight.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-10143544616849677412009-05-24T22:05:00.000-07:002009-05-24T22:14:29.551-07:00It Has Been a Long Time<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VUlVKzqrbbw/ShopA11FChI/AAAAAAAAAAw/Ilb-33ZX5gU/s1600-h/Old+red+wine+bottle.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 260px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_VUlVKzqrbbw/ShopA11FChI/AAAAAAAAAAw/Ilb-33ZX5gU/s320/Old+red+wine+bottle.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5339625402627590674" /></a><br />It has been a long time since I have posted... Thoughts of Randomness have been competing with the Business of Life... <br /><span style="font-style:italic;">en tout cas</span>, here we are again, in modified form: Reviews of wines, food, and places to go and see will also find their way into these musings of mine - enjoy the journey!Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-1155730623732665552006-08-16T05:16:00.000-07:002009-05-24T21:55:06.250-07:00Wedding WearYou thought you had interesting wedding wear? Check out the latest from John Deere<br />http://www.cbc.ca/photogallery/_world.html?dataPath=/photogallery/world/gallery_20/xml/gallery_20.xmlNomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-1154023916873488242006-07-27T11:09:00.000-07:002009-05-24T21:56:05.854-07:00A Must See Movie This SummerCape Town Gets Bizet<br />A film version of Carmen explores post-apartheid South Africa<br />By Richard Poplak <br />July 27, 2006<br /> <br />“Through surgery we must create order” reads an ominous 1976 South African governmental report on “matters relating to the coloured population group.” Four years later, due to the so-called Surgical Method, entire communities were forcibly removed from their homes and dumped on a piece of ground 30 kilometres from Cape Town, in a barren stretch called the Cape Flats. This place was given a Xhosa name: Khayelitsha, or “new home.” As township violence elsewhere in the country spiraled out of control, hundreds and thousands fled to the Flats, bringing their troubles with them. Shacks were built upon shacks; multicoloured corrugated iron structures bloomed from the hardscrabble streets. When the apartheid regime ended in 1994, the Flats was home to more than half a million people, most without basic services, almost all without hope. Khayelitsha is a scar upon the land, a legacy of the apartheid era that is still, 12 years later, a contusion that refuses to heal.<br /><br />In the midst of this teeming, roiling mess, we find the film U-Carmen eKhayelitsha, the winner of the Golden Bear at the 2005 Berlin Film Festival. Director Mark Dornford-May and his Dimpho Di Kopane theatre company have wrenched Georges Bizet’s 19th-century opera staple from the safety of the concert hall and dumped it into the grit of a shantytown. For the uninitiated few, Bizet’s opera tells the tale of a fiery Spanish cigarette girl who ignites the male tinder around her to explosive effect. Brooding prison guard Jose, promised to another woman, is drawn to the titular anti-heroine. When he is passed over for a dashing matador, things take a slide towards the nasty.<br /><br />Opera-to-film adaptation aficionados — a decidedly small niche — will find much to ponder in this production, not least of which is the omission of Bizet’s “greatest hit”: Toreador Song. Indeed, the film prompts the question: how much can you bend an opera before it breaks?<br /><br />Dornford-May, a British ex-pat now based in the Cape, has long been an opera bender. In 2000, after cutting his teeth at the popular London-based Broomhill Opera, he was asked to start an all-black opera outfit in South Africa. The results have been, for the most part, spectacular. Culling Dimpho Di Kopane’s 32 performers from thousands of township and rural hopefuls, he has amassed a formidable troupe. Before it was envisioned as a film, U-Carmen eKhayelitsha was developed as a stage opera in Cape Town and then travelled to London and beyond. Reviews were uniformly ecstatic.<br /><br />When the U-Carmen crew buzzed through Toronto for a series of performances at the Elgin Theatre in 2003, I was lucky to catch a show. The performance bustled with plus-sized performers singing with plus-sized voices, all whipping the tale along at a furious pace. The libretto, translated into Xhosa — with its mellifluous clicks and clucks, the linguistic equivalent of driving a sports car with the handbrake on — worked with nary a hitch. This iteration of Carmen (played by Pauline Malefane) was more slattern than sultry, more sassy than subtle. With furious gravitational impetus, she and Jongi (Andile Tshoni) — the renamed Jose character — were drawn to one another like a planet dashing into its moon.<br /><br />The film, sadly, is nowhere near as successful. But as far as experiments go, it’s fascinating. Dornford-May is not yet a filmmaker; his mise en scène is awkward, his pacing drags, his staging is klutzy. He doesn’t have the chops to reconcile the clamour of township life with the burnished elegance of Bizet’s score. The verité-style photography, although excellent in depicting a township “city symphony,” feels silly in the context of an opera adaptation. The effect is like characters in a documentary breaking into song, backed by a full orchestra. The standard European instrumentation also feels odd — why did Dornford-May and musical director Charles Hazelwood choose not to include some indigenous touches? There are two films here, and they don’t coalesce.<br /><br />There is, however, one compelling reason to see this film: Pauline Malefane’s interpretation of opera’s infamous femme fatale is a thrill ride. This is not a Carmen you’ll see on the cover of a woman’s fashion magazine any time soon. She’s heavy and sweaty, her face acne-scarred, her eyes like slate, her hair straightened far too often. But there is a strange Asiatic beauty about her; her sexuality feels dangerous. When she says, “If you love me, you’d best beware,” she means it. Her voice, too, is steely, unrefined yet somehow gorgeous. It’s an astonishingly brave performance, and it is a credit to Dornford-May that he did not compromise on casting his stage company in the film. These are not, by movie-making standards, conventionally beautiful people — they look hard and battle-worn. They look like the people of Khayelitsha.<br /><br />That’s where this Carmen mines its tragedy. Malefane’s Carmen is brazen because she has to be. When she agrees to trade sex with Jongi’s commander for freedom, we understand the notion of her body as a commodity: in Khayelitsha, you sell what you have. Her decisions — and her ice-cold heart — are the product of an environment that consumes the weak. But, as she learns all too late, it consumes the strong as well. Khayelitsha does not bother with such Darwinian distinctions.<br /><br />In the film, a series of expository flashbacks tell us that Carmen and Jongi are both originally from rural areas. They, like so many black South Africans, were drawn to urban life because rural life had nothing to offer. The city, of course, could offer little more. During apartheid, South Africa’s blacks were forbidden from living in urban areas by the Group Areas Act, which gave rise to places like Khayelitsha on the periphery of cities. Today, economic circumstances still keep the bulk of the black population in the townships. Thus, Carmen and Jongi’s destructive attraction serves as a stirring metaphor for the brutality of the apartheid era. Drawn to the flicker of bright lights, hundreds of thousands of souls were destroyed.<br /><br />Dornford-May has bent Bizet’s great opera, and occasionally he breaks it. But U-Carmen eKhayelitsha remains a powerful portrait of life in South Africa’s townships. Like Tsotsi, last year’s Academy Award winner for best foreign film, it allows us a glimpse into the legacy of one of the 20th century’s more ignominious regimes.<br /><br />Township life is, thankfully, changing. South Africa’s current African National Congress government is pumping billions of dollars into infrastructure and housing in problem areas. In Soweto, real estate is suddenly a hot commodity, and Bimmers and bling are as likely a sight as shoeless street urchins. A byproduct of this economic rebirth is the emergence of a cultural renewal — clubs and galleries and theatres are springing up where there were once only shacks and squalid drinking holes. Perhaps, in the near future, we can expect a Soweto or Khayelitsha opera house. If so, with U-Carmen, Dornford-May and his talented company have provided a stirring opening movement in what could become a powerful aria: music as balm, opera as hope.<br /><br />U-Carmen eKhayelitsha opens July 28 in Toronto.<br /><br />Richard Poplak is a Toronto-based writer. His first book, Ja, No, Man!: Growing Up White in Apartheid-Era South Africa, will be published by Penguin in 2007.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-1154010705671209252006-07-27T07:29:00.000-07:002009-05-24T21:55:06.250-07:00Barenaked in LabradorReality TV lands Barenaked Ladies guitarist in Labrador<br /><br />Wednesday, July 26, 2006<br />www.cbc.ca<br /><br />Ed Robertson of the Canadian band Barenaked Ladies will be in Labrador this week to record several episodes of a reality TV show that will debut this fall on the Outdoor Life Network.<br /><br />The show, Ed's Up, will follow the adventures of singer-guitarist Robertson as he travels to rural parts of Canada to work at unusual jobs.<br /> <br />So far, Robertson has changed railroad ties in northern Ontario and worked as a ranch hand in Alberta.<br /><br />Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies will be working at a sawmill and building a bridge in Labrador for his reality TV show.<br />In Labrador, Robertson will experience two jobs. First, he will work at a sawmill in the small community of Northwest River. Then, he will help to build a bridge across the Churchill River.<br />Ed's Up producer Craig Fleming said that although the show focuses on unusual jobs, nothing is fictionalized.<br /><br />"We're not inventing jobs, or cheating, or faking anything," said Fleming.<br /><br />"These are jobs that real people really do across Canada and we want to see Ed do them."<br /><br />Fleming said that working on the show has been exciting for everyone involved, including Robertson.<br /><br />"He is a real Canadian in love with Canada and, like all of us on this job, this is a dream come true," said Fleming.<br /><br />"Going across Canada and meeting these people that do these real salt-of-the-earth jobs is really inspiring for all of us."<br /><br />Labrador's inclusion in the show is welcome news to Leander Baikie, who works for the Central Labrador Economic Development Board.<br /><br />He hopes the show's viewers will want to experience Labrador for themselves.<br /><br />"In times of scarce resources for marketing and advertising our tourism initiatives of Labrador, this sort of becomes essentially free advertising for Labrador," said Baikie.<br /><br />Ed's Up is expected to film 13 episodes this summer. It will premiere on the Outdoor Life Network this November.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19342252.post-1149783343755155182006-06-08T09:12:00.000-07:002009-05-24T21:55:06.250-07:00Go Grannies!<strong>Granny Brigade honoured by Canada's top soldier</strong> <br />www.cbc.ca Jun 8 2006<br /><br /><strong>Gen. Rick Hillier, the chief of Canada's defence staff, presented a special award to a special brigade on Wednesday — the Granny Brigade! </strong><br /><br /> <br />Granny Brigade founder Gladys Osmond was honoured with a Medallion for Distinguished Service. <br />For years now the small group of women in rural Newfoundland have been doing their part to boost the morale of Canadian soldiers serving overseas.<br /><br />Gladys Osmond is the founder of the brigade. One wall of her Springdale home is full of thank you notes from Canadian soldiers stationed around the world.<br /><br />She writes letters to Armed Forces personnel in the field.<br /><br />"I write about what's happening in Springdale, if the birds are singing," she said.<br /><br />The idea started when Canadian soldiers went to Bosnia as part the UN peacekeeping mission in 1991.<br /><br />Since then it's grown to be big — very big. Last year, the Granny Brigade sent over 10,000 letters.<br /><br />The soldiers write back, thanking the grannies for the contact from home. Some of the soldiers have even stopped by to visit.<br /><br />So in honour of all that work over the years, the man at the top of Canada's military came to Springdale to tell Osmond and her Granny Brigade how much it all means.<br /><br />She may not be a soldier, said Hillier, but all those letters over all these years earned Osmond a medal from her country.<br /><br />Osmond says she didn't do it for the praise. The medal, the Medallion for Distinguished Service, is nice, but tomorrow it's back to work on the letters.Nomadandreahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06294695374733041445noreply@blogger.com0