Barris Beat

Send in the lip synchers

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Beyonce sort of singing the “Star-Spangled Banner.” Photo Spin.com

Monday’s inauguration of the U.S. president seemed quite a success. Barak Obama had come from behind to win the November election. He had survived the fiscal cliff debacle. Now all he had to do was put his hand on a Bible and repeat the oath of office to begin his second term. And unlike the flub of the oath line during the 2008 inauguration, it seemed to go flawlessly. Then, Kristin duBois, a master sergeant from the U.S. Marine Band, spilled the beans.

“We all know Beyonce can sing,” she told ABC News, “We all know the Marine Corps can play (the anthem.) We do not know why she decided to go with the pre-recorded music.”

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Barris Beat

Idle voice no more

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Elmer Ghostkeeper lived the “Idle No More” philosophy before it was official. Photo by Cliff Skarstedt.

It’s about 30 years ago now that I met Elmer. Born in 1947, he was about my age. Like me he’d grown up searching for a place in the world to make a difference. He’d gone to elementary school in the Canadian North, to college to become an engineer and to university to study anthropology and political science. In the 1960s, he poked around Europe hoping to figure things out. Then he found his calling.

“My dad had taken sick and nearly died,” he said. “I decided it was time I returned home to get to know my parents.”

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News

Tour of Cold War era submarine HMCS Ojibwa

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Checking out the damaged port side of HMCS Ojibwa. Prior to its transport from Halifax to Port Burwell, Ont., the Royal Canadian Navy conducted shock tests on Ojibwa’s hull; despite the heavy indentation, her hull withstood the concussion.

On Saturday, Jan. 12, 2013, Ted Barris received an advance tour of the Cold War era Royal Canadian Navy submarine HMCS Ojibwa. He is a member of the Project Ojibwa Honorary Board which in 2012 assisted in the salvage and transport of the sub from Halifax to Port Burwell, Ontario, on Lake Erie.

 

News

Barris receives Diamond Jubilee Medal

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Ted Barris received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton. Photograph by Quenby Massey.

During an awards ceremony at the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum on Oct. 14, 2012, Sen. Joseph Day presented Ted Barris with a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. The announcement issued with the award said, in part, “the medal is a visible and tangible way to recognize outstanding Canadians … who have built and continue to build this caring society and country through their service and achievements.”

Barris was nominated for the award by the Air Force Association of Canada. (more…)

Barris Beat

Credit from a mentor

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Ned Powers, as editor of the Star-Phoenix, taught that people and community make the best stories. Photo courtesy Thistledown Press.

January was particularly cold in 1972, the year I arrived in Saskatoon. On average it was minus-30 that month. Nonetheless, that was the month I made an important career-altering phone call. For the previous three years I had worked feverishly as a student at Ryerson training myself to become a gainfully employed broadcaster. I had landed my first post-diploma job in Saskatoon, working in educational TV. But, to stretch my writing skills (and make a few extra bucks), I had also pitched a few ideas to the Saskatoon city newspaper, The Star-Phoenix.

“We’ll give you a try,” the pleasant voice on the other end of the phone said. “Cover the University of Saskatchewan appearance of Mitch Ryder. We’ll see how it goes.”

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Events

Pursuits group in Midland features Barris talk on Vimy

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Ted Barris speaking in Orillia at the Stephen Leacock Festival.

“Pursuits,” a non-profit group based in Midland, Ontario, will feature a visit from Ted Barris on April 8, 2013. Ted Barris has been invited to deliver one of his most sought-after talks – his recounting of the “Victory at Vimy.” It’s a unique telling of the famous WWI battle at Vimy Ridge, that, he says, gave birth to Canada’s nationhood. Barris will offer insights and images gleaned from some of the individual accounts – old interviews, memoirs, letters and diaries of the Canadian Corps troops – he assembled in the research/writing of his book “Victory at Vimy: Canada Comes of Age, April 9-12, 1917.”Copies of a number of Ted’s books will be on hand for sale and autographing.

When: 6:30 p.m., Monday, April 8, 2013.

Where: Midland Public Library, Midland, Ontario

Contact: Jennifer Lawton, 705-245-0202, jennyhillstudio@gmail.com

Events

Barris brings Great Escape story to Beaverton 100 Years event

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As part of its fall 2013 program, entitled “Beaverton 100 Years, 100 Stories,” Ted Barris speak at the Brock Township Public Library in Beaverton, Ontario, on Thursday, October 24, 2013. For this special occasion, Ted brings a talk and visual presentation about his brand new book, The Great Escape: A Canadian Story. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Hollywood blockbuster movie The Great Escape, (with Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, etc.). But as Ted will demonstrate from his book, the most famous WWII POW escape was not a story of British heroes and Yankee know-how. The Great Escape was very much a story of Canadian leadership and courage. It’s more exciting than the Hollywood movie. And it’s all true!.

When: 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 24, 2013.

Where: Beaverton Public Library, Beaverton, Ontario.

Contact: Vicki Bruce, 705-426-9283, vickibruce@brocklibraries.ca

Barris Beat

Getting involved

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Columbine High School shooting survivor, Craig Scott, talks about the cultural issue facing his generation of 20-somethngs. Photo Reading Eagle.

The other night after my teammates and I finished our hockey game up at the arena, several of us changed and gathered at the bar for a Christmas drink. It’s that once-a-year moment when most of us, who have little to do with each other except share Sunday night adult recreational hockey, sit down in the lead up to Dec. 25. We hadn’t been sitting more than a few minutes when the talk shifted to the topic that’s been on everybody’s mind all week.

“Unbelievable, eh, that shooting in Connecticut,” one of the guys said.

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Barris Beat

Lost art of listening

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Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, during the Arab Spring revolution, when a dictator had to listen or else. Photo SourceFed.com

About a year ago, I was invited to speak to the Writers’ Community of York Region. As the date of the talk approached – last Sunday, Dec. 9 – I began to prepare my presentation. Normally, for these kinds of talks, I rely on my collection of personal anecdotes, remembrances and war stories – literally and figuratively – to get me through the event. Then, I remembered why I had been invited.

“This is a group of writers,” the speaking convenor had said. “So they’ll be interested in your research and writing… You might want to address the challenges of being a journalist and non-fiction writer.”

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Barris Beat

It takes a musical village

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Whitney Ross-Barris headlined Toronto’s Lula Lounge, Dec. 5, launching her first jazz CD, “Everybody’s Here.”

It might have been the night she opened in the musical “Oliver” as the character Fagin and sang, “You have to pick a pocket or two.” Then again, it could have happened when she played the White Rabbit in “Alice in Wonderland.” They were both staged when our daughter attended public school. On one of those occasions she asked us for some last minute advice.

“Imagine I’m at the back of the auditorium, Whitney,” I said to her. “And sing out, so I can hear you from there.”

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