Tag Archives: pamela’s picks

WWII – Liberation Of The Netherlands

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WWII Liberation netherlands

 

This year on May 5 marks 70 years since the Netherlands were liberated in WWII. This has a personal connection to me since one of my mother’s older cousins was one of the Canadian soldiers who participated in this. Canada has a special connection to the Netherlands not only because of this but also because the Dutch Royal family stayed here during the war and Princess Margriet was born here in 1943. And it’s because of this tie that we have the Tulip Festival each year in Ottawa which was inspired by a gift of 100,000 tulips from Queen Wilhelmina in thanks for giving  her family refuge. There are not many veterans of this time left so it is particularly important to hear their recollections and give thanks to them and to the ones who sacrificed their lives to rid the world of an evil regime.

If you’d like to learn more about this historical event you may want to read the book On To Victory: the Canadian liberation of the Netherlands, March 23-May 5, 1945 by Mark Zuehlke  or watch the DVD Liberation Of Holland.

 

 

 

Pamela’s Picks: Back To The Future

Back To The Future

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year marks thirtieth anniversary of the movie Back To The Future, starring Michael J Fox, which was released in 1985. A time travel story in which teenager Marty McFly, the youngest child in a dysfunctional family, accidentally finds himself stranded (via a really unusual car) in 1955 and needs to help get his parents (who are complete opposites in personality) together romantically in order for him to be born and therefore return to his own time. After many mishaps, Marty finally accomplishes this and is able to go ‘back to the future’ but finds his family changed out of all recognition. But is the change positive or negative? Watch Back To The Future and find out!

Pamela’s Picks: The Sound Of Music

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Sound Of Music

This year marks fifty years since the debut of one of my favorite movies The Sound Of Music in 1965. Based on the book The Story of The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Von Trapp this is an adaptation of her life story of a postulant nun who is sent to be the governess to the seven children of Captain Von Trapp in 1930s Austria. She brings music into their lives and eventually she and the Captain fall in love and get married. After the  Anschluss, because they do not agree with Nazi beliefs, and after winning first prize in a music festival, they flee across the mountains to Switzerland. It is interesting to compare the differences between the events in the book and the movie. For instance the real family was already musical long before Maria joined it and the Captain was not a martinet as he was portrayed in the movie. Maria married the Captain around a decade before they had to leave Austria and they later had two daughters and one son together who do not appear in the film. The family left Austria for Italy not Switzerland, by train not by foot. But learning these things does not take away anything from enjoying the movie. Sadly, the last surviving original von Trapp child, Maria (Louisa in the movie) died just last year. But the family’s legacy lives on in the books and movies that feature them.