My intention was to write an epic post, but after getting home and realizing how exhausted I was, realizing that I shot over 650 images (+250 on my iPod), and realizing that I didn't have near the time I'd need to organize this right now, consider this a teaser for posts to come.
As I've done numerous times before, I drove to Regina for the long weekend to celebrate Canada Day and relive a few pieces of nostalgia in the city I attended film school. My friend Tyler is moving to Ontario in a few months, and as far as close film school friends and former College West buddies are concerned, he's the last one still there. It means Regina, with the exception of Wendy and Darwin, will no longer be the social hub it once was for me.
I'm going to need a bit of time to digest everything now, but that was a really fun weekend. Frankly, I don't know if we could have forced anymore nostalgia without enrolling in summer school classes.
Just a short drive outside of the city, surrounded by the cliffs of the South Saskatchewan River valley, Echo Dale is Medicine Hat's answer to what to do on hot summer days. The giant man-made lake is well kept through the warm months, and then drained as the temperature drops. The secluded nature of the park makes the location seem special for those who go out of their way to check it out. That's not to say it doesn't get busy, but the evening I was there we almost had the place to ourselves. Who could complain about that? It's a really beautiful spot to pass the time with friends and relax.
There are a lot of fascinating things about this country that often get overlooked, but in honour of Canada's 145th birthday, here are ten random, cool, interesting, and rather noteworthy facts about the place I call home.
1. Our famous Maple Leaf Flag was adopted on February 15, 1965. Although, red and white have been the official national colours since 1921, and the maple leaf has been an emblem of the country since the 18th century.
2. Canada set a new world record for the most gold medals ever won by a single country in the Winter Olympics in 2010 (in Vancouver) with 14.
3. Canada is almost 41 times larger than the UK, but at 34 million people is only about half as populated.
4. The oldest program in Canadian broadcasting history is Hockey Night In Canada. It first was on the radio in 1931, and in the Fall of 1952 the first TV hockey game was broadcast nationally on CBC.
5. Contrary to popular belief, Canada does not own or control the north pole. Technically, no country has sovereign rights there.
6. Almost half of the 5 million people living in Toronto were not born in Canada, making it more diverse than Miami, Los Angeles, or New York.
7. Although first performed in 1880, 'O Canada' was not officially adopted as the national anthem until 1980.
8. Newfoundland was the first part of North America to be explored by Europeans (the Vikings), but it was the last to become a province in 1949.
9. The Canadian film and television industry is worth two billion dollars annually (1.3 billion domestic production, 700 million foreign).
10. It's no secret that Canada is large, it's the second biggest country in the world at nearly 10 million square kilometres. A cool fact is that if you're standing on the east coast of Newfoundland, you're closer to Ireland than you are to Saskatchewan.
