Bollywood meets Corner Gas

Hmmm ... the CBC announced it is producing a new comedy sitcom called, Little Mosque on the Prairie on its official blog. Does this sound familiar at all?

The series creator, Zarqa Nawaz, hopes that "... by using comedy to disarm people of all races, it will invite them to think outside of their fixed cultural perceptions." Perhaps the CBC is trying to ride the popular CTV sitcom Corner Gas, a truly homegrown show staring series concept creator Brent Butt, who grew up in a prairie small-town. Also, there's Little House on the Prairie which was a very popular series about life on the Western American frontier. I guess Little House on the Prairie was a hit. They have released the series on home video for everyone to re-live the pioneer life.

Does the creation of this new series suggest that Saskatchewan's popularity is still on the rise? Or is that the Canadian television viewing public are looking for more grassroots entertinament?

Looking back, Saskatchewan has produced many talented artists, such as songwriter and painter Joni Mitchell, bands like Northern Pikes and the Waltons, the Regina Five (artists), to name a few. Now Zarqa Nawaz, who has produced more serious films about how Muslims are perceived.

Corner Gas may have put Saskatchewan on the map for humour. People actually want to see the set of Corner Gas, which is set in Rouleau, Saskatchewan - a typical southern Saskatchewan town that has a row of buildings and is located just outside of Regina. Rouleau is a blip on the flat prairie land. Really, not much to see. Most people who say they've been to Saskatchewan say they've flown over it or driven through it or by it. It's not usually a place people choose to spend their hard-earned vacation days. I'm quite mystified how such a show has garnered such keen interest from the Canadian public. (Just a note: apparently there's a person who is hired to be stationed by the set so fans don't go too close to the set.)

Several years ago, Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert spent a few million dollars on an advertising campaign to promote how great it is to live and do business in Saskatchewan. This campaign caused quite the stir. Taxpayers did not want their hard-earned cash going towards what they considered a pointless cause. Who is going to come to a new province, start a new life based on one television ad they saw? It's hard to say (and tangibly measure) if these ads really had any impact on the Saskatchewan economy.

Maybe if enough people can laugh and relate with Saskatchewan folk, they might want to become their neighbours.

Remembrance Day

Today was Remembrance Day. Just watched a You Tube music video posted by Tom on his site about honouring those who have laid their lives for peace. And yesterday, the 60 Minutes journalist Ed Bradley died from cancer in New York. He was 70 years old. I admit, I haven't seen a lot of his work, but what I did see, I admired.

Here are two of Bradley's colleagues reflecting about him.

Sounds like he lived a full life and was one of those people everyone loved.

Teachers

Just finished Frank McCourt's autobiographical book The Teacher Man. It was an interesting insight into a teacher's mind. He was one of those inspirational teachers kids remembered after they've grown up. So many stories of students' lives that affected him. And it shed some light on his own education journey as a Trinity doctoral candidate.

Teachers that stand out in my student career are Mrs. Nichols and Mrs. Morrell. Mrs. Nichols was my Grade 3 teacher who introduced us to the boy wonder detective Encyclopedia Brown who always seemed to crack such challenging cases and C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (when the cartoon version came out). She also recognized I needed a bit of an extra hand in the language side of things (Note: Cantonese was technically my mother tongue ... I've been told I learned my basic English from Sesame Street prior to entering kindergarten). She also was there one who assigned me extra 'homework' to help me improve my comprehension skills. Mrs. Morrell was my Grade 7 Science teacher. The most patient, encouraging and gentle person - ever. She somehow made science interesting. She encouraged me to open up and speak what was on my mind.

In high school, Mr. Kroiter's Social Studies and English classes were always entertaining and educational. He had a good sense of humour and knew how to handle kids. He once transformed the yardstick into the sword Hamlet used. He was hip enough to get the Mel Gibson version of Hamlet, too.

I've been to three universities, too. And there are memorable profs, of course. History Prof. Pitsula had a photographic memory. That or he memorized all his notes and students' faces with flashcards. Never did see him look at a piece of paper while lecturing. While knowledge of Canadian history was impressive, his interest was infectious. To help bring the history to life, he would bring in clips ... such as Tommy Douglas giving a campaign speech. Broadcast 101 ... CBC's Vinyl Cafe host Stuart McLean taught us the basics of radio reporting. He had a wicked sense of humour and was such an inspiration to us green j-school students. 502 Classification of Information Prof Davies made cataloging fun!

These teachers cared about their students and imparted more than just curriculum and book knowledge. Like McCourt, they helped students develop their potential in preparation for a journey called life.