On March 2, 1933, the film King Kong opened at New York’s Radio City Music Hall to rave reviews. Directed and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack, the screenplay by James Ashmore Creelman and Ruth Rose was developed from an idea conceived by Cooper and Edgar Wallace. It stars Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot and Robert Armstrong. It has been ranked by Rotten … Continue reading King Kong’s Film Debut
On February 15, 1965, a new red-and-white maple leaf design was adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner. The flag of Canada, or in French Le drapeau du Canada, often referred to as the Canadian flag, or unofficially as the Maple Leaf and l’Unifolié (French for “the one-leafed”), consists of a red field with a white square at its … Continue reading Canada’s Maple Leaf Flag
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) was formed on February 1, 1920, by the merger of the Royal Northwest Mounted Police (RNWMP), founded in 1873, with the Dominion Police founded in 1868. The former was originally named the North West Mounted Police (NWMP), and was given the Royal prefix by King Edward VII in 1904. Much of the present-day organization’s symbolism has been inherited from … Continue reading Royal Canadian Mounted Police
One of the very few objects from my childhood that I managed to keep (until I moved to Thailand, that is) was a beautiful stocking knitted by one of my grandmothers not long after my little sister was born. Now, I don’t even have a photograph of this stocking (although it seems to make an appearance in a home movie from the time I was … Continue reading A Month of Christmas: The Stocking
Growing up, Christmas was definitely my favorite holiday but it was surpassed by American Thanksgiving once I moved away from home and family seemed to mean so much more. In Thailand, it can be very difficult to get into the holiday spirit due to the heat and the fact that Thais are only familiar with the secular aspects of the season. In my mind, Christmas … Continue reading A Month of Christmas: Horse-Drawn Sleigh
I’m a lifelong music fan and have collected audio (and video) in various formats for almost as long as I have collected stamps. However, I have relatively few music-related stamps. Of those, I believe this stamp released by Canada five years ago is the only one I own featuring musicians that I’ve actually seen in concert being too young to attend concerts by The Beatles … Continue reading Canada’s Rush
In April 2013, Canada Post began an Adopt a Pet campaign using stamps conveying the message that Canadians, when looking for a pet, should first contact their local humane society or SPCA. A humane society is a group that aims to stop human or animal suffering due to cruelty or other reasons. In many countries, the term is used mostly for societies for the prevention of … Continue reading Pet Adoption in Canada
Henri Membertou was the sakmow (Grand Chief) of the Mi’kmaq First Nations tribe situated near Port Royal, site of the first French settlement in Acadia, present-day Nova Scotia, Canada. Originally sakmow of the Kespukwitk district, he was appointed as Grand Chief by the sakmowk of the other six districts. He was born in 1507 in the Mi ‘Kmaq Nation of Acadia. However, Membertou claimed to … Continue reading Membertou of the Mi’kmaq
A Stamp A Day 