my favorite Canadian things

Andrew Jacobs here,

When in Rome, do as the Romans.  And when in Canada (or, in this case, when hijacked by two guys from Canada), do as the Canadians.  So here's a list of my favorite Canadian things and reasons why.  Speaking of which, I was one of the thousands (millions?) of Americans who seriously considered moving to Canada when George W. Bush was elected President in 2004.  And someday, I just might do it.

my favorite Canadian band - Loverboy

Whenever I think of completely and utterly delicious musical ear candy, the first thing that pops into my mind is Loverboy.  All 5 of their studio albums released in the 1980s are pure pop bliss from start to finish.  Hell, even their 6th studio album (titled VI, natch) released in 1997 was pretty darn good.  I'll be doing another post on my mid 1990s love affair with Loverboy later this week.


my favorite Canadian record producer - Bob Ezrin

The 3 KISS albums that Ezrin has produced have forever cemented his position as my favorite Canadian record producer.  And mark my words, sometime soon, I'll listen to Pink Floyd's The Wall and all the Ezrin-produced Alice Cooper albums as well.


my favorite Canadian actor - Dan Aykroyd

I absolutely grew up on Dan Aykroyd movies.  Ghostbusters, Trading Places, Neighbors, Doctor Detroit, Spies Like Us, Driving Miss Daisy, etc. etc. etc.  Rumor has it that Aykroyd stole the absolutely beautiful actress Donna Dixon from Paul Stanley during the making of Doctor Detroit (cue "I Stole Your Love" at this point).  If that's true, he gets even more cool points with me.


my favorite Canadian funnyman - a tie between Dan Aykroyd and Mike Myers

In the same way that Aykroyd was a staple of my teenage years, Myers was a staple of my 20s.  Saturday Night Live, the Austin Powers movies and the first Wayne's World never cease to make me hurt myself laughing.  I even enjoy the Shrek movies that I've seen.


my favorite Canadian game show host - Alex Trebek

Trebek is not just my favorite Canadian game show host, he's my favorite game show host PERIOD.  Because of both my parents and my wife, I've literally been watching Jeopardy (also my favorite game show) every day for as long as I can remember.  And, of course, I have no intentions of stopping.


my favorite Canadian podcaster - Cassius Morris

Morris hosts the excellent Creatures Of The Net and ThatReporterKid Speaks podcasts and he has made a number of appearances on the great PodKISSt and others as well.  And he's BARELY 14 years old.  Take that, Justin Bieber!


my favorite Canadian podcaster funnymen - Des Shaw, Adam J. Smith and Lee Conrad

a.k.a. the powerful, attractive and HIGH-larious gentlemen behind Kisstory Science Theatre.  Their spot on impressions of Gene, Paul, Ace, Peter and ALF must be heard to be believed.