> What do Ellen and Madonna have in common? Well according to Ancestry.ca, the two superstars are not only related, they are also CANADIAN!!!!
According to the press release, family history experts at Ancestry uncovered that the two entertainment giants are related through a common 10th great-grandfather – a Frenchman named Martin Aucoin. In the early 1600s, Aucoin’s daughters Jeanne and Michele left their native country of France to settle in Nova Scotia, where both Madonna and Ellen’s families remained for several generations.
It makes no mention of when the families stopped using their last names.
DeGeneres’s family left Canada in the late 1700s when her 5th great-grandfather Joseph Martin relocated to Louisiana. It wasn’t until the late 1870s that Madonna’s 2nd great-grandmother Emilie Daniel left Quebec and crossed the “Borderline” to Michigan, where the singer herself calls home.
Now that Ellen and Madonna know that they are related, how excited are you for their first Christmas together. To be a sexually-confused fly on that wall……
I actually did my own consultation with Ancestry.ca last week and will be sharing with you what I found out really, really soon! Sadly, my suspicions that I’m secretly related to Mandy Moore have been proven to be false. Stay tuned!
I’m going to be flat-out honest with you: never take advice about your children from bloggers. We’re a weird group of people that screen all our phone calls, but will happily answer every tweet, poke, DM and instant message. We clearly don’t have the social capacity to handle our own lives, let alone those of people who still wear diapers. (And yes, there’s probably a large group of bloggers who still wear diapers. However, I am not one of them.)
But one nugget of wisdom I feel qualified to bestow upon those fortunate enough to have little people that look like them is movie advice. Specifically good movie advice.
This weekend we celebrate Easter. It seems that everyone will have a bunch of time off, which means you’ll be stuck with these short people for longer than usual. Your first assumption will be to crack open a bottle of wine, drive to the video store, rent some movies and then enjoy the night. (You might want to change up that order.)
Either way, when you end up renting (or buying on-demand or whatever is “cool” these days), you’ll be stuck with two distinct and very different kids movies: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel or Fantastic Mr. Fox.
The two movies couldn’t be more opposite: Alvin grossed $219-million at the box office, while Mr. Fox grossed only $20-million despite being nominated for an Oscar. Fantastic Mr. Fox also features Hollywood A-listers including George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Bill Murray. On the other hand, the Chipmunks are voiced by Justin Long and Jesse McCartney. (Who? Exactly.)
On paper, your kids will love Alvin and the Chipmunks 2. There isn’t much substance, but gosh-darn it those chipmunks are cute, and besides what kid doesn’t love a good high-pitched musical? But if they insist on watching Alvin, why not show them the far superior The Chipmunk Adventure from 1987? (I’m going to give you a moment to deal with the massive flashback you were just dealt.) I’ve loved it ever since Columbia House delivered it right to my door when I was a kid.
If your kids are turned off by traditional animation, then definitely try Fantastic Mr. Fox. I first saw it four months ago, yet my memories of the movie still make me smile. It’s smart, clever, beautiful and (just as importantly) appropriate for adults. By that, I mean you won’t feel stupid watching it and neither will your kids.
If Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakwal is the easy choice for your family, I guarantee that Fantastic Mr. Fox is the right one. Trust me. Plus, you’ll sleep better at night without the chipmunks voices in your head, anyway.
> McDonald’s Canada is launching some brand new sandwiches today and it isn’t even my birthday! (Which is on May 10th, just a general FYI.)
They are called the McMini sandwiches (naturally.) And although I’ve always thought it was weird when people call things you eat “cute”, this may be the exception.
While I’m excited about the McMini’s, is anyone else continually disappointed and frustrated with McDonalds refusing to bring the McLobster to Western Canada!!!! We aren’t all McRib eaters out here!
> Here is something I never thought I’d say: The Banff World Television Festival keeps getting cooler and cooler!
The super buzz-worthy festival has just added television uber-producer, Nigel Lythgoe to this year’s line-up.
He is going to be receiving the Award of Excellence. Lythgoe will also be a keynote speaker where he will share his international experience and expertise within the industry.
If you live under a rock and have no idea who Lythgoe is, you can thank him for shows like: “So You Think You Can Dance“, as well as “Survivor“(UK) and the ever popular “American Idol!“
Festival attendees can also look forward to shmoozing with William Shatner and Ricky Gervais, who will both be receiving awards.
The Banff World Television Festival takes place June 13-16, 2010!
> Remember that CTV show Instant Star? The show starred Alexz Johnson, as the winner of an American Idol-type reality show.
Well even though the show was cancelled years ago, Johnson is still making music, including her new album Voodoo, which comes out today. From what I can can tell, the new songs on her myspace page are a huge change in direction for Johnson. And I’ll admit it, I even have some of her earlier music on my Ipod. Where she used to be comfortable doing easy pop songs, Alexz’s new stuff is very modern-loungy with a nice mix of jazz.
Check out the video for the first single, Trip Around The World. It was released back in February, but this is the first time I’ve heard it. That can’t be a good sign.
Have you seen this video of AHL coach Jim Playfair losing his shit??
It’s pretty classic.
Since I don’t care to know anything about Playfair and I’m still not convinced that the AHL is even a real thing, I’ve been trying to imagine what the hell he is possibly so upset about.
Here is what I’ve come up with so far:
Ugly Betty’s cancellation.
Bought a new jacket and it shrunk after his roommate put it in the dryer instead of getting it dry-cleaned.
Hates how easily hockey sticks break and he feels his frustration would be best expressed in demonstration form.
Annoyed that you can never find coca-cola products in hockey rinks.
Obviously, most of these ideas are assumptions and yes, I’m annoyed about most of these things too. But let’s just all remember, it is just a hockey game. Worse yet, an AHL hockey game.
In case you are wondering, that is TWO posts this week about sports!!?!?! It is like I’m TSN over here or something!
> Now that we know the dates for the western leg of the Lilith Fair concert, we are also starting to get a better idea of some of the acts that will be performing.
Calgary and Edmonton (June 27th and June, 2010)
Kate Mill-Heidke
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Erykah Badu
Colbie Caillat
Ash Koley
Frazey Ford
Sheryl Crow
Sugarland
Sarah McLachlan
Vancouver (July 1st, 2010)
Pretty much the same as above, but take out Ash Koley and replace her with Marina and The Diamond.
Sadly, all three cities will be missing out on other performers like Brandi Carlile, Chantal Kreviazuk, Cat Power, Kate Nash, Corinne Bailey Rae, Gossip,Lights Indigo Girls. Norah Jones, Sara Bareilles and Metric.
Tickets for all the shows go on sale on April 1st!
Don’t worry, I answered ‘no’ to both of these questions too.
Luckily, Laura Newcombe had no trouble spelling the five-letter word and ending up winning the final round of this year’s Canwest Canspell National Spelling Bee. Shockingly enough, this is her second year in a row winning. (If Laura or anyone who knows Laura is reading this, can I pay you/her to edit my blog?)
Some of the other words she had to spelled included: finlandization, sondage, cyanide, and logomachy. My spellcheck couldn’t even recognize two of those words (no snide comments about my spellcheck please)!
Newcombe won the championship over Scott Xiao, age 11, of Burnaby, B.C. He was elminated when he spelled NOMENCY, with an ‘a’ not an ‘e’. Loser.
Final note: Not that I’m one to talk, but I love how the above picture of this year’s finalists does absolutely nothing towards making spelling bees look cool. Ahh nerds, you gotta love ‘em.
> How desperate are you to have your wedding paid for? Evidently Vancouver couple Jeff and Melissa were very, very desperate. In order to have their wedding paid for, they gave over complete control of their wedding plans to the notoriously insane Virgin Radio listeners and this past weekend, they celebrated their nuptials with feathers and flippers.
The contest was launched over a month ago and in the weeks leading up to the big day, radio listeners voted on every detail on the wedding. By the time the wedding happened on Friday, it was like no other I have ever heard of.
Here is a list of some of the stuff that went down:
Melissa arrived at her wedding on the back of a garbage truck.
Walked down the aisle in a scuba suit and a Lady Gaga headdress.
Instead of “Here Comes The Bride”, Melissa heard the Star Wars Imperial March.
The groom wore a chicken suit.
Their wedding was officiated by CTV’s Tamara Taggart. (She also co-hosted Regis and Kelly late last year.)
Then the Barenaked Ladies showed up at their reception and gave a surprise performance!
Needless to say, no one will ever forget that wedding. No matter how hard they might try.
Congrats are in order for Quebec’s George St.Pierre, who also goes by the nickname GSP. This weekend, he retained the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight belt event at Wrestlemania or something like that.
