October 30 - November 5, 2023 | |
In this issue...
• What's in a name? Saskatchewan lacrosse team considers choosing "Horny" as the name of its mascot.
• Canadians get stamp honouring actor Donald Sutherland
• By the numbers X 10 + 1
• NHL backtracks on ban on profiling social causes
• Cher releases her very first Christmas album since hitting the Billboard charts in 1965
• Daylight time ends on Sunday, November 5
• Wear a poppy to honour Canadian veterans
• Looking for meat pies for Christmas or an autumn treat? The Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club can fix you up!
• Next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Trivia Night: Monday, November 27
• Halloween is nearly here!
• A great Christmas gift! Acadian mugs with family names - dozens of options!
• Before you go: 7 things you may have missed last week!
... and trivia, quotes, community events and more!
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What's in a name? Saskatchewan lacrosse team considers choosing "Horny" as the name of its mascot.
Oh don't you just hate these cutesy PR campaigns where some offensive or provocative name is suggested for a mascot? It never ends well... ever! Just have yourselves a good ol' locker room chuckle and move on to serious suggestions.
A Saskatchewan lacrosse team is contemplating naming its new mascot "Horny" - you know, because it has horns. Can't you just hear teenage boys everywhere snickering because they don't think anyone else gets it?
Article excerpt: "The search is on for a mascot name for the Saskatchewan Rush and it’s down to two choices, one of which is too controversial according to a marketing expert.
The lacrosse team recently unveiled a new bison logo and took to social media for help naming its new mascot with an online vote leaving 'Horny' and 'Rowdy' locked in a near-tie, according to the team.
University of Saskatchewan marketing professor David Williams says one of those names could be a liability for the team.
'Horny is just self-explanatory and it will work in the short term, but it’s going to be a derogatory image,' Williams said.
Williams says the sexual connotation of the name Horny is inappropriate for a sports team that encourages families to attend and might send a mascot to schools and other children’s venues.
'As we’ve learned from Regina, it may have worked years ago but it won’t work in this day and age,' Williams said, referring to the 'Experience Regina' marketing blunder earlier this year."
Hopefully, someone will come to their senses before opting for "Horny". It's just inappropriate and unprofessional.
Read: Sask. Rush consider "Horny" for mascot name.
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Canadians get stamp honouring actor Donald Sutherland
Canadian acting legend Donald Sutherland has been honoured by Canada Post with his own stamp.
"Donald Sutherland, celebrated star of stage and screen, is not short on accolades.
But on a list that includes an honorary Oscar, a companionship of the Order of Canada and a couple of Golden Globes, the latest addition - a stamp bearing his profile, unveiled Thursday - feels different, he said by phone.
'It's the biggest thing to me,' he said from his home in Quebec's Eastern Townships. 'I kept saying: 'I'm a Canadian and now I'm a Canadian stamp. God damn. This is really something.' I think just now when I said it, all the hair stood up on my arms. But it is cold in here.'
It is so poignant, the 88-year-old said, because stamps were vital to his early life.
He was born in New Brunswick before moving to Nova Scotia in his teenage years, but left the Maritimes for higher education - first at the University of Toronto and later in England - where he pursued his passion for acting.
'The only thing that connects you, at that time in the late '40s, early '50s, was a letter in the post,' he said. 'They became... the thread in the fabric that bound my family together. It was incredibly important to us. A long-distance telephone call cost money.'"
The stamps are now available in books of 10.
Read: Canadian actor Donald Sutherland honoured with new Canada Post stamp. Related: Stamp celebrates the achievements of Donald Sutherland, a Canadian screen legend.
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NHL backtracks on ban on profiling social causes
So the NHL decided to ban cause-driven accoutrements during practices. Why? Who cares? They're practices, not games. If the team was OK with it, who cares? Again, professional sports caving to prejudice.
Article excerpt: "The NHL has rescinded its ban on players using stick tape to support social causes, including rainbow-coloured Pride tape.
The league said in a statement Tuesday that players will have the option to represent social causes with stick tape throughout the season.
The decision, which the NHL said came after consultation with the NHL Players' Association and the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition, made no mention of jerseys and other equipment.
The league sent out a memo to teams earlier this month that reiterated a ban on altering on-ice gear for warm-ups and official team practices to reflect theme nights.
Arizona Coyotes defenceman Travis Dermott was the first player to defy the order on Pride tape when he sported it on his stick over the weekend.
Dr. Kristopher Wells, the co-founder of Pride Tape, a leading manufacturer of rainbow-coloured tape, thanked Dermott on social media Tuesday following the NHL's backpedal.
'We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Travis Dermott,' Wells posted to X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. 'It was his courage that helped to break the ban.'
'Change doesn't happen without the support of allies!'
The move against rainbow-coloured tape came after the league received widespread criticism last season when a handful of players opted out of wearing Pride-themed jerseys in support of the 2SLGBTQ+ community."
Now, with that said, considering it's just for practices, players who don't want to feature cause-driven items shouldn't be forced to.
Read: NHL rescinds ban on rainbow-coloured, other stick tape supporting social causes.
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Cher releases her very first Christmas album since hitting the Billboard charts in 1965
What took her so long? She first hit the charts nearly 50 yeas ago, but Cher has never put out a Christmas album - until now, that is! Last week, she released her first-ever holiday entitled simply "Christmas".
Article excerpt: "There isn't much Cher hasn't done in her career. She's achieved EGOT status (sic), she's the only artist to have a No. 1 song in each of the past six decades - heck, she's got her own gelato business, Cherlato. But a Christmas album? That's new territory.
So, why now?
'I just didn't want to do one,' she told The Associated Press. 'I didn't know how I was going to make it a ‘Cher Christmas album.''
The secret, of course, was to lean into the incredible eclecticism of her career, all while avoiding the sleepy, saccharine pitfalls of a Silent Night-heavy holiday release.
Her first new album in five years, the appropriately titled 'Christmas,' releases Friday. In some ways, it required Cher to find her voice again. She hadn't sang since a March 12, 2020, performance in Oklahoma City was canceled when a Utah Jazz basketball player tested positive for the coronavirus.
So she called up her vocal teacher, 'Adrienne Angel, who's 96, who came out and hung with me and we worked every day.'
'And then I went to the mic and I was able to sing,' she says. 'I have very young vocal cords.'"
(Please note: Despite what's reported in the article, Cher has not achieved EGOT status - meaning that she's won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. In fact, she hasn't (yet) won a Tony. This is a sloppy mistake by the Canadian Press, which is usually extremely reliable.)
I've only listened to a couple of songs so far, but I think you'll really enjoy the up-tempo country rock duet with Cyndi Lauper called Put A Little Holiday In Your Heart. I really like it!
Read: There isn't much Cher hasn't done in her career. A Christmas album is new territory, though.
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Daylight time ends on Sunday, November 5
It's time to turn the clocks back again! Daylight time ends at 2 a.m. on Sunday, November 5. Before you go to bed on Saturday, November 4, turn your clocks back one hour. While most connected electronics do so automatically, you may to manually turn back a number of devices.
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Wear a poppy to honour Canadian veterans
Poppies are now available across Canada for wearing in honour of our country's veterans. Contrary to popular belief, poppies are not actually sold; however, donations are gratefully accepted for the Poppy Fund which directly supports Canada’s veterans and their families in need. Click here to read the Royal Legion's page on poppy etiquette. Wearing your poppy properly shows respect to veterans.
Related:
• Poppy scam calls on the rise as Remembrance Day approaches
(Photo courtesy of the Royal Canadian Legion.)
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Looking for meat pies for Christmas or an autumn treat? The Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club can fix you up!
I'm pleased to announce the latest fundraiser for the Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club, of which I'm a member.
Christmas is coming! Time to stock up on meat pies for the holidays or just for the cooler fall and winter nights on the way. $15 each
These 8" pies are locally made in Southeastern New Brunswick. Ingredients: chicken, wheat, eggs, carrots, peas and onions. Sales close on Sunday, November 12. The pies arrive (frozen) about two weeks later. Cooking instructions: Bake at 350F for 60-70 minutes.
By supporting the Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club, you're helping us support our community projects. Most recently, we've supported Krista Richard's Community Sports Program, Habitat for Humanity, Summer Children's Breakfast Program, Ronald McDonald Family Room at The Moncton Hospital, Harvest House Atlantic, Junior Achievement New Brunswick, the Antler Breakfast, Project Linus - Moncton Chapter and much more!
You can email me at brian@briancormier.com if you'd like to buy one or more meat pies. E-transfer is the best payment option, but other arrangements can be made. Please note that pickup is in the Greater Moncton area!
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Next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Trivia Night: Monday, November 27
The next Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club Trivia Night will be held at St. Louis Bar & Grill, 1405 Mountain Road, in Moncton on Monday, November 27, beginning at 6:30 p.m. $10 per person (cash only). Click here for the Facebook event listing.
Participants may play as teams or individuals. The winning team gets 50% of the door receipts as their prize.
It is strongly suggested that participants arrive by 5:15-5:30 p.m. for a seat. Trivia begins at 6:30-6:45 p.m. Everyone welcome!
Please note that restaurant reservations are NOT available for this event. First come, first served. Limited seating of approximately 50 guests.
Participants may bring an optional non-perishable food item (box of granola bars, Kraft Dinner, cereal, etc.) for distribution at Krista Richard's Community Sports Program events, of which the Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club is a sponsor. Any donations will be gratefully received and provided to Krista for distribution to her program participants (school-aged children from Moncton-area schools).
Since Rotary Trivia Nights began in 2016, the Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club has donated nearly $20,000 to Hospice SENB, Atlantic Wellness, Karing Kitchen, Ray of Hope Kitchen, Salvus Clinic, The Humanity Project, BGC Moncton (Moncton Boys & Girls Club), Junior Achievement New Brunswick, Project Linus - Moncton Chapter, and Krista Richard's Community Sports Program, among others. During the last Rotary Trivia Nights season (September 2022 to May 2023), more than $6,000 was raised.
The Greater Moncton Sunrise Rotary Club gratefully acknowledges the kind and generous sponsorship of its restaurant partner, St. Louis Bar & Grill.
See you on November 27! Click here for a larger version of the event poster shown above.
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A great Christmas gift! Acadian mugs with family names - dozens of options!
New from Acadistuff: Acadian flag mugs with family names. Dozens of options available! Shipping is included in all prices. Tax extra.
• 11-oz. mug: Click here
• 15-oz. mug: Click here
Don't see your family name there? Contact me via email to have it added.
These mugs have been shipped all over North America!
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Trivia: Did you know?
Mortuusequusphobia: By breaking down the word, it sounds like you'd actually be afraid of dead horses, but no... you're actually deathly petrified of ketchup.
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Quotes of note
• 1. "May you live all the days of your life."
- Jonathan Swift, author (1667-1745) (see photo)
• 2. "I fear the day when the technos decide that paper books are obsolete and we are reading from PC screens and iPods and ebooks, and we never again experience the little rush of opening a new book and cracking the spine and smelling the print and diving deep into the thoughts of the writer."
- Suzanne Somers
• 3. "You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly - that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp."
- Anne Lamott
• 4. "True forgiveness is when you can say, 'Thank you for that experience.'"
- Oprah Winfrey
• 5. "Get busy living or get busy dying."
- Stephen King
• 6. "I wear my mistakes like badges of honor, and I celebrate them."
- Amy Schumer
• 7. "After about 15 years I finally figured out that she's always right. So surprisingly we just stopped fighting after that."
- Barack Obama
• 8. "A man can sleep around, no questions asked, but if a woman makes 19 or 20 mistakes she's a tramp."
- Joan Rivers
• 9. "No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible."
- George Burns
• 10. "Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?"
- George Carlin
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Greater Moncton Walking Group
On Tuesday, October 31, the Greater Moncton Walking Group is at Centennial Park, meeting in the parking lot on St. George Boulevard.
In November, the group moves to the Irishtown Nature Park, meeting in the parking lot.
The group meets for walks every Tuesday and Thursday at 8:30 a.m. New participants are always welcome! For more information, please contact Wayne Harrigan at 506-386-2187 or via email.
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About this newsletter
Brian Cormier's Weekly Update is distributed weekly from September to June via email to more than 500 subscribers in addition to many others who access it online. If you're reading this newsletter online and want to subscribe, please email me, fill out the subscription form on my website, or subscribe via the "Join Our Email List" button at the top of the newsletter (if you're viewing this in a browser.) This newsletter is not published in July and August and on holidays.
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