Thanks to Barb Lang of Virtually Anything for bringing the video to my attention via Facebook.

“I also remember Toronto as a place where I was able to pursue many of my personal interests, ranging from sports to cultural activities. One of my most marking memories (besides participating in the annual climbing of the CN Tower stairs) was the privilege of singing with the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra throughout my entire stay.”

“A given step, however small it may appear to one, may represent a great deal to another. Every hurdle one surpasses makes one grow. I am just glad I was given the opportunity, resources, and support to surpass the hurdles that came my way.”

“Success is a mixture of skills, competence, luck and hard work: with a bit of effort, I believe the world can be at our feet.”

“You can imagine that when you are ten, twelve years old and you’re growing up in a town in Canada and you’re French Canadian and you’re telling everybody “Hey, I’d like to be an astronaut one day.” Then people pat you on the back, smile a little bit and say “Yeah, sure.” And they hope that you’re going to change your mind and find a more down-to-earth job, which is what I did eventually.”

• Born Oct. 20, 1963, Montreal, Quebec.
• Married to Francois Brissette of Montreal, Quebec

The Canadarm was fist launched into space on November 13, 1981 as part of Columbia. During that mission, the Canadarm successfully flexed its muscles and secured its position in the future of space travel.

It was developed by Spar Aerospace with the National Research Council and modelled after the human arm. Otherwise known as a Remote Manipulator System, it could lift 30 tonnes in space while being monitored and operated from the indoor shuttle flight deck.

The Canadarm is about to introduce its new and improved sibling. Back in 1987, when documents were signed between countries to work towards a permanently manned Space Station, Canada agreed to provide a Mobile Servicing System (MSS). The MSS will be an integral part of the Space Station from the beginning, it will be used in the assembly, maintenance and servicing of the Station. In return, Canadians will be able to have full use of the Station and will assist with its management.

Canadian Astronaut Julie Payette will be operating the new arm on its first mission and explains how in the following excerpt from a NASA Preflight Interview:

“This arm flies like an airplane, it’s a six-dimension arm where you can rotate the tip of the arm, so you can translate that tip along the cargo bay of the shuttle and up the stack of the International Space Station. It is an absolute joy to fly. Right after the space walk is complete is when I am timelined in the flight to go on the controls of the Canadarm, as we call it in Canada, or the remote manipulator system. I will use the camera, which is mounted at the end of the tip of the arm, to survey all the targets that are placed on the Space Station, the space vision target. I survey them to see if they’re in good shape, any problems with them, if they’ve been scratched, and if there are bubbles in the material.

The reason why the people from the space vision system program require that very thorough survey of every single target on the Space Station is that each target will be used on the next flight to manipulate and dock pieces of equipment together. When the operator of the arm will be blind with respect to the work site, he won’t be able to see the interface, so the space vision system becomes critical. And because the targets are critical to the operation of the space vision system, we want to make sure they are in good shape before we use them operationally and actually have several tons of equipment coming in contact with the Space Station.”

“The Canadian contribution to the International Space Station, the hardware contribution, is a small piece with respect to the big structure, but an essential one. Actually, the assembly and maintenance of the International Space Station does depend on a new robotic system that we call the Mobile Servicing System. It is a very advanced space robotic system that Canada has designed, and it comes in several pieces. It is a robotic arm, the main pieces, that we call the SSRMS for the space station for the remote manipulator system. And this big arm will sit on a platform that will provide the power and the necessary data and command path for an operator inside the station to control that arm.

On that platform is a mobile MSS Space System, which will then sit on a carrier. It’s basically a moving carrier that will be mounted on rails and be able to move across the length of the Space Station. This is so that the operator inside the space station can position the robot arm at the proper work site from one end of the solar batteries to the other end. That’s called mobile transport and it’s also part of the mobile servicing system. And this will be used with the remote manipulator system, the robotic arm, to move crewmembers around when they have to perform a space walk. It will be used to put big pieces together during the assembly phases, but also to do all kinds of maintenance work: carrying equipment, carrying the orbital removal unit and things that we can change out and then move across the Space Station. It will also be used with its camera to do some inspection and survey. So it’s an essential part of the construction and assembly of the International Space Station.”

She flies jets and competes in triathlons, this being enough of an accomplishment for the average person, she has also been to space and since September 2000, is Chief Astronaut of the Canadian Space Agency.

Her career with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) began in 1992 when she was selected from a group of 5330 applicants to fill one of four positions. She completed basic training and began work with the Mobile Servicing System (MSS) as a technical advisor.

She started training with NASA in 1996 to prepare for her first flight in 1999, the STS-96 Mission. Payette is the eighth Canadian in space, the second Canadian woman and the first to enter the International Space Station and contribute to its assembly.

Her most recent trip into space was in July 2009 when the crew of the Space Shuttle Endeavor traveled to the International Space Station.

Full name is Zalman Yanovsky

Born in Toronto on December 19, 1944

Died just before his 58th birthday (December 14, 2002) of a heart attack.

He and Richardson owned Chez Piggy and Pan Chancho bakery in Kingston, Ontario.

Member of the Kingston Humane Society and regularly made donations. When he passed away his family requested that well wishers donate to the Humane Society in his memory.

The humane society set up the Zal Yanovsky Endowment Fund to help pay for animals food, shelter, medical needs, toys and other expenses, in his honour.

Also did work for literacy and international aid groups.

The Lovin’ Spoonful were responsible for the soundtrack of Woody Allen’s “What’s Up, Tiger Lily?”

Image courtesy of Open Mike with Mike Bullard

Born in Ottawa, Ontario, May 27, 1945.

His last name is pronounced Coe Burn.

Maybe The Poet was used on a Miami Vice episode.

The Bloor Street Viaduct mentioned in Anything Can Happen is a subway/car bridge that crosses high above the Don Valley River and Parkway.

Honorary Chair of Friends of the Earth.

Awarded the Order of Canada in 1983. The Order of Canada is presented to a limited number of Canadians who exemplify the highest qualities of citizenship and whose contributions enrich the lives of their contemporaries.

Attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston but left a couple of years late to move back to Ottawa and play Rock n’ Roll.

Check out the story behind one of the Christmas songs he sang on our Patriotic Patter page

Born March 30, 1968, Charlemagne, Quebec.

Angelil mortgaged his house to finance Celine’s first album.

Won Eurovision song contest in Dublin Ireland in 1988.

Her 2nd English album went platinum 6 times over in Canada.

Has won more than 120 awards in Canada, the USA and Europe.

She loves to golf.

Owns a restaurant chain in Quebec& Ontario, called Nickels. There are plans to expand to the USA.

Celine became involved with the Canadian Cystic Fibrosis Foundation when her 16 year old niece, Karine died from the disease.

Rene and Celine were married in 1994 and suggested guests donate their wedding gifts to Cystic Fibrosis.

Rene-Charles was born to Celine and Rene on January 25, 2001.