The most inspiring face of the 2010 Winter Olympics will be missing from the World Figure Skating Championships this year.
Joannie Rochette, who had the world on her side as she competed just days after her mother died suddenly in Vancouver of a heart attack, has decided to opt out of the World Championships, where she won the silver medal last year.
Rochette said grieving over her mother’s passing has left her without enough time to prepare mentally and physically for the competition, which is being held in Turin, Italy.
“That means I’m not prepared either emotionally or physically to skate well at these championships and challenge for the podium,” Rochette said in a statement Monday, publishing by CTV.ca. “Whenever I compete I want to give my best to the fans and to respect my competitive nature of the sport.
“I just would not be able to do that for either the fans or myself next week.”
Rochette had wanted to perform in a made-for-TV figure skating special, but the International Skating Union would sanction her for performing in an exhibition instead of the World Championships, according to her agent.
Whether or not his new movie, “She’s Out of My League,” is any good, this week’s Canadian of the Week honors go to Jay Baruchel.
The Ottawa native who grew up in Canada gets the chance to head up his own comedy after a few rounds of playing in the supporting cast in recent hits like “Knocked Up,” “Tropic Thunder” and “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.” He starred in the short-lived Judd Apatow TV comedy “Undeclared.”
Baruchel is a proud Canadian who has a tattoo of a red maple leaf on his chest. It was featured in “Knocked Up,” in which he played the friend of a Vancouver native who was living in the U.S. illegally.
The trailer (below) for “She’s Out of My League” looks like it follows the general recent rom-com trend. It has the look and feel of an Apatow film, but Apatow is nowhere to be found in the credits.
In the movie, Baruchel plays a shlubby airport security guy who finds a beautiful girl’s cell phone and she goes out with him to thank him. His friends can’t believe it and comedy ensues.
I’m reserving judgment until hearing more and seeing what the buzz is like, but it sounds like a fun weekend comedy.
Check this out: On the third day of the third Olympics ever held in Canada, 33 years (and seven months) after the Olympic cauldron was first lit in the Great White North, Canada won its third medal of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
And this one was gold.
The big story at the 2010 Winter Olympics has been the question of whether Canada would be able to — for the first time — win a gold medal on Canadian soil. It didn’t happen when Canada first hosted the Summer Olympics in Montreal in 1976, and it didn’t happen when the Winter Olympics came to Calgary in 1988.
But with a blistering 23.17-second time and a 26.76 score from the judges in the men’s moguls, 22-year-old Quebec native Alexandre Bilodeau made it happen, and there was immediately no doubt about who’d be named Canadian of the Week.
In the spirit of Martin Luther King Day on Monday, this week’s Canadian Heritage Minute takes a look at a Canadian activist who took a non-violent approach to forcing change and encouraging his people to co-exist with those in power.
Etienne Parent was a journalist early in his life and he used the power of the pen to make his case be heard for the French-Canadians in Lower Canada, which eventually became Quebec.
Even though some of his fellow Canadiens at times considered him a traitor, Parent was jailed by the English governor, and he continued to run his newspaper, Le Canadien, from prison.
This week’s Heritage Minute takes a look at the significance of Parent’s work in those years and how it influenced Quebec’s revolution years later.
Heritage Minutes are 60-second short films that are shown in between some TV shows in Canada — and they’re amazing. We’re planning to bring you a “Heritage Minute” every Thursday on COTW.
After tearing up the charts and scoring huge with “My Heart Will Go On,” Celine closed the decade with a five-year regular show in Las Vegas, which was — pardon the obvious pun — where she really hit the jackpot.
All told, the Times estimated Celine made nearly $748 million over this millennium’s first 10 years, besting Kenny Chesney ($742 million) and Dave Matthews Band ($737.4 million).
The Beatles ($627.3 million)
U2 ($609.7 million)
Toby Keith ($591.9 million)
Bruce Springsteen ($588.3 million)
The Rolling Stones ($569.6 million)
Tim McGraw ($550.7 million)
Britney Spears ($494.3 million)
In case you missed it, the Order of Canada honorees were announced this week and Governor General Michaelle Jean included NHL legend Mario Lemieux of Montreal, film director Ivan Reitman of Toronto, and folk rocker Neil Young of Winnipeg among the 57 honorees for the year,
All three men were given the honor of Officer of the Order of Canada, one of the country’s highest civilian honors which recognizes “a lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to community and service to the nation.”
We here at Canadian of the Week figure if they’re good enough for the Governor General, they’re good enough for us, and we’re therefore proud to bestow the additional honor of Canadian of the Week on all three of them.
Here are their citations from Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean:
Mario Lemieux For his contributions as one of hockey’s most gifted players, as an inspirational role model and mentor, and for supporting charitable initiatives through the Mario Lemieux Foundation.
Ivan Reitman For his contributions as a director and producer, and for his promotion of the Canadian film and television industries.
Neil Young For his contributions as one of Canada’s greatest musical talents whose unique voice and iconic songs have influenced generations of musicians, and for his support of educational and charitable organizations.
It was only a matter of time before The Shat was named Canadian of the Week.
The Montreal native has entertained us in some form or another for more than half a century, and in a revealing and fascinating interview with GQ this month, William Shatner opens our eyes to what makes Shatner SHATNER.
In the article, he opens up about giving in and joining the joke that had become of his career after years of trying to be taken seriously as an actor.
Unsuccessful at shedding the Capt. James T. Kirk aura, Shatner bought into it and embraced the Trekkies, and also developed his own aura in the form of an eccentric and dramatic spoken wordsmith who has taken on Priceline commercials and, more recently, Sarah Palin speeches.
And now, at age 78, Shatner is hotter than ever.
You’ll have to get your hands on a copy of GQ to read the full article, but to hear some audio excerpts of the interview, click here.
A Quebec woman is suing her insurance company after it suspended her sick leave benefits because of pictures she’d posted on Facebook.
Nathalie Blanchard, 29, says she suffers from clinical depression and that Mutalife stopped sending payments after its investigators found photos of her having fun on Facebook. She posted photos from a birthday party at Chippendales and from a vacation on the beach, according to the CBC.
Manulife told the CBC that it would not cancel someone’s benefits based solely upon Facebook photos, but admitted that it does use the site when investigating claims.
A Quebec woman is suing her insurance company after it suspended her sick leave benefits because of pictures she’d posted on Facebook.
Nathalie Blanchard, 29, says she suffers from clinical depression and that Mutalife stopped sending payments after its investigators found photos of her having fun on Facebook. She posted photos from a birthday party at Chippendales and from a vacation on the beach, according to the CBC.
Manulife told the CBC that it would not cancel someone’s benefits based solely upon Facebook photos, but admitted that it does use the site when investigating claims.
For $35 million, Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte became Canada’s first space tourist and spent 11 days in space, wearing a red clown nose to promote saving water.
According to the CBC, Lamliberte, a billionaire from Quebec, hired a Montreal media firm to determine the value of his trip in terms of media coverage, and the firm found that nearly 41,000 reports about Laliberte’s appeared in newspapers and television news outlets around the world. By comparison, there were only 1,812 stories about Canada’s involvement in the war in Afghanistan.
The firm determined that it would have cost Laliberte more than a half a billion dollars to buy the kind of advertising that compared to the amount of media coverage he received around the world, giving him a 1,500 percent return on investment.
Laliberte, an environmental advocate, spent time on a shuttle and at the International Space Station holding events that were designed to raise awareness about the planet’s dwindling water supply.
The most inspiring face of the 2010 Winter Olympics will be missing from the World Figure Skating Championships this year.
In the spirit of Martin Luther King Day on Monday, this week’s Canadian Heritage Minute takes a look at a Canadian activist who took a non-violent approach to forcing change and encouraging his people to co-exist with those in power.
Another day, another Quebecer topping a list.
In case you missed it, the Order of Canada honorees were announced this week and Governor General Michaelle Jean included NHL legend Mario Lemieux of Montreal, film director Ivan Reitman of Toronto, and folk rocker Neil Young of Winnipeg among the 57 honorees for the year,
It was only a matter of time before The Shat was named Canadian of the Week.
