CBC Memories ...

As a long term and habitual listener of CBC radio I have found the recent retrospective programmes to be a refreshing break from a selection of programming that by and large has become tepid ... There are some notable exceptions to that mediocrity such as AfCanada, Q, Vinyl Cafe, Tapestry, and a few others, but regretably too many of the programmes have become self-indulgent tripe hardly worth the broadcasting band they occupy ...

But as the new year began some familiar voices echoed from the past and reminded me (and ALL of the listeners) what a gift CBC really is to the people of Canada.

Former CBC Host Vicki Gabereau once noted that folks listening to CBC in their vehicles are often left in a posture resembling someone who has just been shot in the head: mouth open, head tilted back against the head rest, and eyes closed in laughter (come on CBC listeners - we've all been there !!! Vicki is SOOOOO right !!!)

This past couple of weeks has taken us back to those moments when we linger in the parking lot or the driveway listening to that last two minutes ... or driving as we wipe tears of laughter from our eyes ...

Highlights this past week included hearing Barbara Frum struggling to interview a farmer about "the god-damned cabbage" ... Stuart McLean and Peter Gzowski discussing the "sleeping" cricket ... and of course the Christmas Eve tradition of Alan Maitland reading "The Shepherd."

This past couple of weeks have helped me appreciate how important CBC is to my life ... but it also made me realize how much I miss the voices of people like Barbara Frum, Alan Maitland, Vicki Gabereau, Arthur Black and of course the distinctive gravelly voice of the late GREAT Peter Gzowski ...

Thanks for the meander CBC ... it's been fun