The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - Sunday, December 12, 2010

Boy I like the sound of that title, it actually gets me kinda excited just reading it cause it sounds so fancy and impressive. Oh I realize some of you Canadian folks out there may have some disdain with some of your main broadcasting systems, Lord knows we have issues with several of ours here in the States too but for me personally, it's a very new, exciting thing to explore because it wasnt until this past Friday afternoon that I actually saw for the first time in my life, clips of a coupla programs on the CBC. Yep, I was at work on my 1st job and one of the clients in our main living room area was flicking the channels on the tv set when I tooka second, glanced over and mumbled to myself "Oh, she's got the Food Network on." But, when I got up and handed her mail to her I said to her "Millie, that's not the Food Network at all" to which she responded "Well, it is if you live in friggin Canada." I laughed and said "My Dear, what do you mean?" and she said "Didnt you see the call letters? That's from some channel in Canada." So I merely exclaimed "Oh, interesting" and went back to my office to grab some more inventory forms, which I began diligently filling out as I peeked over at the tv set. I gotta admit - I liked what I saw.

Keep in mind, this is the 1st time that I have ever ever watched Canadian television in my entire life, but I really did getta kick outta the two programs that I saw bits-n-pieces of. The first one was what appeared to be a talk-based or food-based gay show called "Steven & Chris"and on this particular episode they had some guest bartender on who demonstrated how to make 3 mixed drinks all at once and it was actually very entertaining and just downright kewl! I thought to myself "Wow, I know Canada is much better and further advanced on gay rights than America but a gay tv show on during the afternoon hours!?! I love it!!!" Of course, maybe some of the Canadian folks know the show I am talking about it and consider it a frumpy mess but I thought it was kinda neat. I think the closest we have to something like over here would be "The Nate Berkus Show" aside from the LOGO Channel, of course.

The second show I saw little parts of was indeed a cooking show and though I dont remember the name of the young woman who hosted it, I believe it was called "Best Recipes Ever" or something to that effect. That day she was demonstrating on how to make a great Carrot Cake recipe and I was genuinely impressed with the recipe, though I would have to leave out the Pecans which the recipe called for due to my diverticulitis. Sucha bummer cause I think Pecans (one of my most favorite nuts of all time) would taste totally righteous inside a Carrot Cake recipe. 

But what stood out even more for me were the way the ingredients were displayed on the show itself - get this, things like baking soda and cream cheese were displayed in non-descriptive, non-brand-name looking packaging - just the name of the ingredient on the outside of the box and that was it. I thought that was kinda interesting because in most food shows here in the States, the majority of the cooks & chefs show us the tv viewers the ingredients in containers, no packaging whatsoever, though every now-n-then you will hear one of the more renowned Food Network personallities state that they prefer this-or-that brand of this-or-that product. But getting back to the Canadian cooking show I saw, I just thought it was kinda cute, especially how the host said more than once "..and you'll wanna use real Canadian cream cheese too because it''s so rich-n-creamy, and so versatile in the kitchen that you'll always wanna be well-stocked up on it, hmmm..." I laughed and said to myself "Oh Sister, I hope nobody in Philadelphia is watching this program! I hear they're really proud of their creamed cheese!" It was fun, it really was.

Actually, that aspect of the cooking program got me to thinking - they don't have all the brands of products over in Canada that we have here in the States and vice-versa. Oh, that's notta problem for me because I think the majority of the generic food products out there are just as good if not better than the tons of brand-name products we have over here in the States. Be that as it may, I can see where it would be somewhat of an adjustment, as well as a learning experience, for someone moving from here to over there and assimilating product-wise. As an example, there are a few products here in the States that I swear by, that are brand-name that I dont know if they are even available over there, such as Arm & Hammer baking soda, Clabber Girl baking powder and Campbell's Soups. Even cookware too. The brand I saw advertised on that Canadian cooking show was called "Trudeau" brand which is totally kewl, but does that mean if one could only afford something like T-Fal here in the States that there is a Canadian equivalent to that? I'm more than certain there is but dont get me wrong, I'm not the least bit stressed out or flabbergasted by any of this, I'm merely discussing it via simple observations for I find it all very interesting, though again, I'm sure some of my Canadian friends out there might find it rather boring that I'm even writing about it!

Also, with the latter program, the cooking show, I noticed that all the colors looked so much brighter and vibrant via whatever type of camera-lense they were using to film the show with. I'm sure there's a legitimate explanation as to exactly what that was but I certainly dont know it, I never did get much into technical stuff. Oh and I dont mean more brighter and more vibrant because it was a high-definition tv program, but in the sense that you woulda thought some tv camera crew member said to him/herself "Hey, let's amplify the colors up a bit like it's 1963 all over again, okay??" It really was different.

So maybe later this evening, or tomorrow when I go back to work, I plan to watch more of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's tv programming because I think it's very interesting. Or maybe it's not. The majority of my Canadian friends here online rarely talk about their television shows over there but I just always assumed that that's because like myself, they are always on their computers instead! Regardless of the reasoning, if there are any interesting shows worth checking out over there, please dont anyone hesitate to drop me a line and let me know what's worth checking out and what's not, okay? Dont forget, I'm in the Eastern Standard time zone over here and oh yeah, do you guys have any programs about ocean liners or cruise ships over there, like we have on the Discovery and A & E networks over here? I know some of you might even be laughing right now and saying "Damn Spice, you need to getta life" but hey, I think it's fun checking out new things, or at least things I am totally uneducated about (I heard that last comment in the back row too...! ). Whether over there in Canada or here in the States, as always, thank you for reading.

Posted via email from Luctor Et Emergo