Word of the Week - Tetrachromat

Tetrachromat - a woman who sees four distinct ranges of colour rather than the normal three.

The retinas of most people's eyes contain three types of cone cells which act as receptors for blue, green, and red wavelengths of light. The brain combines information it receives from each type of cone to process perceptions of colour. Each of these receptors can generally pick up 100 gradations of colour, so the average human is able to distinguish between 1 million distinctive hues. (100 shades of blue x 100 shades of green times 100 shades of red = 1,000,000 possibilities!)

Tetrachromats, however, are rather special. In addition to the standard cone cells -- red, blue, and green -- tetrachromats possess a fourth type of cone cell that reacts to wavelengths between red and green. The addition of the fourth cone permits tetrachromats to distinguish between shades that appear the same to non-tetrachromats. In fact, they may be able to distinguish between up to 100 million distinctive hues. (100 shades of blue x 100 shades of green x 100 shades of red x 100 shades of "tan" = 100,000,000,000 possibilities.)

There seems to be disagreement as to the distribution of tetrachromacy in the human population. Earlier this week, a guest on the local CBC morning show said that tetrachromacy was limited to 3% of women. However, I have also read that some scientists believe that as many as 50% of women and 8% of men carry four types of photoreceptor cells.

The more interesting question is whether or not any humans possess brains (or optic nerves, at least) which are wired to deal with 100 million different colour gradations, but that is opening a can of worms that I don't want to deal with.

Even more interesting is the existence of pentachromats in the natural world -- creatures such as pigeons and butterflies whose retinas contain five different types of colour receptors. However, the word of the week is tetrachromat, so I think I'll end here.

My Own 49 from North of the 49th Parallel

Well, it took a while, but I have finally finished my personal list of favourite Canadian songs. Given the great music that comes out of Canada, it is probably not surprising that my list is considerably different than the one selected by the CBC Radio 2 listeners. In fact, only seven of the songs that made it to their list made it on mine. (They're the ones in bold.)

• Adam's Rib - Melanie Doane
• Algoma Central 69 - Stompin' Tom Connors
• American Woman - Guess Who
• Back to Me - Kathleen Edwards
• Back to You - Bryan Adams
• Bank Accounts - Sarah Slean
• The Call to Dance - Leahy
• Calling All Angels - Jane Siberry & k.d. lang
• A Case of You - Joni Mitchell
• Claire - Rheostatics
• Coldest Night of the Year - Bruce Cockburn
• Come Home Lately - Painting Daisies
• Crabbuckit - K-OS
• Edgar - Jean LeLoup
• Feeling Reserved - War Party
• Four Strong Winds - Ian & Sylvia
• Gold Dust - Under the Moss
• Grow Up and Blow Away - Metric
• Hallelujah - k.d. lang
• Hello, Timebomb - Matthew Good Band
• Helpless - Neil Young
• High School Confidential - Rough Trade
• Hoobale - K'Naan
• A Horse in the Country - Cowboy Junkies
• Hundredth Meridian - Tragically Hip
• I Will - Blue Rodeo
• Just Came Back - Colin James
• King of the Heap - The Odds
• The Littlest Birds - Be Good Tanyas
• Mum's the Word - Spirit of the West
• My Definition - Dream Warriors
• Napoleon Sheds His Skin - Red Rider
• Ole Buffalo - Bourne and MacLeod
• One Day in Your Life - 54:40
• Possession - Sarah McLaughlin
• Pour un Instant - Harmonium
• Rolling of the Sea - Irish Descendents
• A Sailor Courted a Farmer's Daughter - Figgy Duff
• Sleepless - Jann Arden
• Sleepy Maggie - Ashley MacIsaac
• Somewhere Down the Crazy River - Robbie Robertson
• Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
• Tiny Fish for Japan - Stan Rogers
• Underwhelmed - Sloan
• Uniform Grey - Sarah Harmer
• The Weight - The Band
• When I Can Read My Titles Clear - Quartette
• The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
• You Ought to Know - Alanis Morrissette

One major difference between the lists lies in the genres of music included. The Radio 2 list includes classical, jazz, and a smattering of French selections. Since I don't listen much to these genres, it is probably not a surprise that there are no classical, no jazz, and only two French songs on my list. (Interestingly enough, Pour un Instant by Harmonium was one of the seven common selections, though.)

You'll probably also notice that there is more folk music on my list (seven out of forty-nine) including an obscure track about Billy Miner by a Vancouver-area folk group called Under the Moss. Eighteen of the songs on my list feature female vocalists, including three by artists named Sarah.

You may also have noticed that a lot of the popular acts in Canadian music did not make the list. The females on the list do not include Anne Murray, Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne, or Shania Twain. The alternative groups do not include the Watchmen, Arcade Fire, Our Lady Peace, or Ron Sexsmith. Nor will you find heroes of headbanging hosers like BTO (whom I enjoy), or Trooper, or Rush (whom I don't).

When I was putting this list together, I tried to avoid multiple listings for an artist (or else Bruce Cockburn would have had a quarter of the available spots), but I was only partially successful. Robbie Robertson shows up twice: once as a solo artist and once as a member of The Band. Similarly, k.d. lang shows up once as a solo artist and once as a member of a duet. (And I suppose one could say Leonard Cohen shows up twice two: once as a singer and once as the songwriter who penned Hallelujah. He may not be singing, but you can hear him in that song no matter who sings it.)

All in all, it's a very personal list. You might even say it is a bit idiosyncratic. Just the same, it was a lot of fun coming up with the list and I just might do it for another category.

Revealed: 49 from North of the 49th

A few weeks ago I wrote about a contest that CBC Radio 2 was putting on to come up with a play list of songs for Barak Obama. They announced the winners last week and presumably an MP3 player with the 49 tunes is on its way to the President.

The final list is an interesting mix, even if "I Lost My Baby" didn't make the cut:

Affairs of the Heart – Marian Mozetich
American Woman – The Guess Who
Barber: Violin Concerto – James Ehnes
Bobcaygeon – The Tragically Hip
Bost Sides Now – Joni Mitchell
Brother (Watching) – Shad
Canada’s Really Big – Arrogant Worms
The Canadian Dream - Sam Roberts
Canadian Railroad Trilogy - Gordon Lightfoot
A Case of You - Joni Mitchell
Closer to the Heart – Rush
Dégénération - Mes Aïeux
Democracy - Leonard Cohen
Departure Bay - Diana Krall
Évangéline - Marie-Jo Thério
Four Strong Winds - Ian & Sylvia
Goin' Up a Yonder - Measha Brueggergosman
Goldberg Variations - Glenn Gould
Hallelujah - k.d. lang
Helpless- Neil Young
The Hockey Song - Stompin' Tom Connors
Home - Michael Bublé
Hymn to Freedom - Oscar Peterson Trio
If I Had $1,000,000 - Barenaked Ladies
J'ai quitté mon île - Daniel Lavoie
Jolie Louise - Daniel Lanois
La complainte du phoque en Alaska - Beau Dommage
Mario Takes a Walk - Jesse Cook
Mon pays - Gilles Vigneault
Montréal -40C – Malajube
Northwest Passage - Stan Rogers
One Great City! - The Weakerthans
Ordinary Day - Great Big Sea
Oublie-pas - Karkwa
Place St. Henri (from Canadiana Suite) - Oscar Peterson Trio
Pour un instant – Harmonium
Quand les hommes vivront d'amour - Raymond Lévesque
Rebellion (Lies) - Arcade Fire
Rêver mieux - Daniel Bélanger
Rise Again - The Rankin Family
Rise Up - Parachute Club
Rockin' in the Free World - Neil Young
Suzanne - Leonard Cohen
Swingin' Shepherd Blues - Moe Koffman
Universal Soldier - Buffy Sainte-Marie
We'll Gather Lilacs - Ben Heppner
Wheat Kings - The Tragically Hip
Wondering Where the Lions Are - Bruce Cockburn


To be honest, there are a lot of songs that wouldn't make it on my list. Come to think of it, that sounds like a good idea for a future post. I think I'll take the next couple of days to come up with my own play list of 49 songs from north of the 49th. In the meantime, check out some of the songs on the "official" list.

Another Electrion for Obama

CBC2 is running an interesting contest this month linking Canadian musical culture and incoming US president and noted music fan Barack Obama. The idea is for listeners to select the "top 49" songs that define us from north of the 49th parallel.

The first week of the contest, which ended this past Friday, was a general call for suggestions. In the second phase, which starts tomorrow and runs until this Friday, listeners will get to vote from the short list of 100 songs that was drawn from all the suggestions. Presumably, the final 49 will be loaded onto an MP3 player to be presented to the new president when he visits Canada.

Some of the local talk radio shows are having fun mocking the contest, but I rather like the premise. I know I am biased, being a Canadian and a fan of Canadian music, but I think the contest is an interesting examination of how we define ourselves through music and I'm looking forward to seeing the short list tomorrow.

And in a matter of shameless self-promotion, if you happen to check out the short list and see "I Lost My Baby" by Jean LeLoup, please vote for it. That's the song I suggested and I'd love to see it on Obama's play list.

It Ain't MY Second Anthem

Much has been made of the recent acquisition of "The Hockey Song" by the CTV network. The song had been used as the theme music for CBC's Hockey Night in Canada, but that network was unwilling to pay the $3 million that the owner was seeking. CTV, on the other hand, was willing to pay for a song that has been associated with its rival for some four decades.

Personally, I couldn't care less about who owns the rights to the song. I was, however, somewhat surprised to discover that many Canadians consider it to be "Canada's second anthem". Of all the songs that could fit that billing, I would never have picked "The Hockey Song". Stan Rogers' "Northwest Passage", maybe. Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds", perhaps. But "The Hockey Song"? NEVER!

Saturday Night Music

I have had a musical evening.

From 7:00 til 9:00 I listened to Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap on CBC Radio 1. This week's show was the third in a series profiling songs that got stuck at number two on the charts. In addition to playing the second-place song, Bachman played the song that kept it out of the number one slot. The show covered the early 1970s so Bachman was able to play two of his own number one hits, or rather three, since No Sugar Tonight was the B side of The Guess Who's American Woman single. (The other single, by the way, was Bachman Turner Overdrive's You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet.)

After 9:00, I listened to music and worked compiling my database of music recordings. This evening I worked primarily on listing folk, blues, and world music CDs. It gave me a chance to listen to several west African albums that I had not heard in quite some time

Shilling for Naomi Klein

Yesterday morning I was listening to CBC One and I heard an interview with Naomi Klein, who has just published her third book. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism is a look at how so-called "neo-liberal" economic policies such as privatization of government services, clear cut social spending, and free trade have been implemented in countries as diverse as Chile, Russia, and Iraq. It is also a look at how neo-liberal policies are tied to deliberate strategies to destabilize the cultures of the economies being transformed.

I have not read the book yet, but I can guess that the neo-liberal (i.e. radical right wing) apologists will complain that Klein's arguments are either too far fetched, too simplistic, or too reminiscent of the paranoid conspiracy theories that drove The X-Files into the ground. That doesn't mean she is necessarily wrong in her argument that proponents of bully capitalism (my phrase, not hers) manufacture and encourage the undermining of foreign social structures and the destruction of national economies.

These arguments are not, of course, entirely new ground for Klein. A few years ago she wrote a very interesting article in Harpers that examined some of the same ground. If you are interested, you can find that article by clicking on the following link: http://www.harpers.org/archive/2004/09/0080197.

Afghanada Renewed

I was just checking out Joe Mahoney's blog (http://assortednonsense.com/) and I discovered, to my delight, that Afghanada has been renewed for another season. (Sorry for not checking it out earlier, Joe, but I've been busy getting prepared for Africa.)

I am very happy, as I enjoy listening to radio dramas. When I was a teenager, I used to listen to one of the local radio stations in Vancouver that replayed classic radio programs in the late evening -- you know, dramas like The Shadow or Gunsmoke and comedies like The Jack Benny Show. There is a special quality to radio that is absent in television, and it is nice to see that the CBC is committed to continuing the magic.

CBC's Two Front War in Afghanistan

The CBC is providing people interested in Canada's involvement in Afghanistan with two different approaches to the conflict this week.

The first is, of course, Crazy Eights, is a one hour documentary appearing on CBC Television tonight at 8:00 PM and repeating on CBC Newsworld at 10:00 PM on Saturday. Crazy Eights follows the soldiers of Eight Platoon, C Company, Royal Canadian Regiment for a month as they serve in southern Afghanistan. Eight Platoon, incidentally, has the unfortunate distinction of having suffered the highest casualties of any platoon assigned to Afghanistan.

The second is Afghanada, the half hour draw that airs on CBC Radio One. In previous weeks I would have been hard pressed to decide which program to tune in, but Afghanada is now only heard at 11:30 Friday mornings, so I don't have to choose.

The Other O'Reilly

You hear a lot about broadcaster Bill O'Reilly. People either love him or they hate him. (In the case of Stephen Colbert, they also parody him but that's another story altogether.) As one of the few remaining dinosaurs who possess neither cable nor satellite television, I only get a chance to watch The O'Reilly Factor when I am staying in a hotel. To be honest, I don't pine for the show because one episode pretty well seems the same as every other one.

That is not true for the other O'Reilly, the well-respected voiceover director Terry O'Reilly. O'Reilly and the Art of Persuasion, like its predecessor O'Reilly on Advertising, is another one of the little gems that are hidden throughout the CBC Radio One schedule.

The Art of Persuasion looks at the nature of advertising, with a specific emphasis on how advertisements have an impact on -- or are impacted by -- the culture we live in. For example, yesterday's show included an entertaining look at how male-female relationships were portrayed in ads. (Hint to aspiring commercial writers: if someone has to come off looking stupid in the ad, you had better make it the guy.) As was the case with O'Reilly on Advertising, the host makes his points by looking at actual ads that succeeded spectacularly or failed miserably.

One of the things that I particularly like about The Art of Persuasion is how it stands alone. It doesn't matter whether I listen to the entire show or turn on the radio after the program has already started, it is always informative and thought-provoking. And if I miss an episode, I can wait for it to repeat, because each show is a self-contained unit.

Check it out -- you just might be surprised by what you learn. You can hear O'Reilly and the Art of Persuasion on CBC Radio One on Thursdays from 11:30 AM to noon or Saturdays from 4:00 to 4:30 PM.

(Disclaimer: I am not an employee of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, nor am I affiliated with Terry O'Reilly in any way. I just like the show.)

Aghanada, Intelligence, and Canadian Content

If you've read my earlier posts, then you'll know that I am a big fan of the radio drama Afghanada which airs on CBC One on Thursday nights. The program follows a group of Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

I have enjoyed listening to the series through its entire run, and I will be sad to lose it when the last episode is aired in April. The show does, however, raise a question for which I have no answer: why has CBC One been able to find an audience for Afghanada while CBC Television has not been able to do so for Intelligence.

Intelligence is a gripping drama set in my old home town of Vancouver. It tells the story of professional ganster Jimmy Reardon (played by Da Vinci's Ian Tracy) and the head of Organized Crime Unit, Mary Spaulding (played by wonderful Klea Scott). The scripts are well-written, the acting is great, and the atmosphere is, well, wonderful. So why did the show struggle to find an audience this past season?

For that matter, why do Canadian networks have such a difficult time creating shows that attract Canadian audiences. Perhaps the answer lies in what Canadians prefer to watch. If you look at the ratings for the week of March 12th to 18th, you find only three Canadian-made programs (marked in red) in the top 10 shows:

1. American Idol (CTV, Tuesday) - 2,742,000
2. Grey's Anatomy (CTV) - 2,700,000
3. American Idol (CTV, Wednesday) - 2,272,000
4. Corner Gas (CTV) - 1,889,000
5. C.S.I. Miami (CTV) - 1,861,000
6. Amazing Race (CTV) - 1,821,000
7. Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader? (Global) - 1,804,000
8. Criminal Minds (CTV) - 1,640,000
9. Hockey Night in Canada Game 1 (CBC) - 1,633,000
10. CTV Evening News (CTV) - 1,612,000
(Source: http://jam.canoe.ca/Television/2007/02/23/3659049-cp.html)

Only one of the Canadian-made shows (Corner Gas) falls into the category of comedy or drama; the other two are sports and news broadcasts. Perhaps surprisingly, only three of the seven remaining American-made shows are dramas; the rest are reality shows (including two evenings of American Idol).

Perhaps the real question is why Canadians prefer US cops and mindless reality shows to comedies and dramas. If CBC Television can crack that mystery, perhaps it will still be here 10 years from now.

The Prince of Kosher Gospel

I was listening to CBC radio yesterday afternoon as I was driving back from a meeting and I heard one of the most interesting and unique guests I have heard in a long time. The hosts of the program Freestyle were interviewing Joshua Nelson, the "prince of Kosher Gospel".

If you have never heard of Kosher Gospel before, don't feel bad -- it's a term that Nelson himself made up. Nelson, you see, is a third generation Black Jew who grew up listening to the great Mahalia Jackson. He combined his love for traditional Black American gospel music with traditional Jewish liturgical prayers to combine Kosher Gospel.

Nelson has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show and is the subject of a 60 minute documentary, Keep On Walking, but intrigued music fans in the Vancouver area this Saturday (February 24th) can see him perform live as part of the Chutzpah! Festival. You can find out more about Nelson -- and the festival -- at http://chutzpahfestival.com/. (And if you do, or if you have seen Nelson perform, be sure to bounce me back a comment.)

Good News on the Afghanada Front

Thanks to the two folks who were kind enough to let me know that Afghanada has been extended an extra 10 episodes. You can even catch up on episodes you missed. Check out the comments on my earlier post for more details.

By the way, the comment from Laurence may sound a bit whiny :o) , but his show - Outfront - is definitely worth checking out. It is a DYI show where ordinary (and often, extraordinary) listeners make their own 15 minute radio programs. You can catch it on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays at approximately 8:45 pm. Content varies day by day, and while not every episode may interest you, the ones that do are likely to knock your socks off.

CBC Radio - The Best Game in Town Tonight

I like to listen to CBC Radio One on Thursday nights because there are several excellent shows on.

Dispatches is on at 7:30. This program showcases documentaries on events happening throughout the world. It is part foreign affairs, part human interest, and 100% impactful. Whether it is a story about Robert Mugabe and the economic meltdown of Zimbabwe or a profile of musicians who are opposing totalitarian regimes, there is always something interesting on Dispatches.

The next show, Global Village, fills the 8:00 to 8:30 slot. GV is about music and musicians from around the world. Listeners become correspondents and file reports from musical events throughout the four corners of the globe. While I prefer the one hour version of Global Village that airs Saturdays at 6:30, the Thursday night version is a nice alternative to mindless television.

The surprise show of this season is Afghanada, a half hour drama that airs at 8:30. Afghanada goes where no television has gone yet -- it follows a squad of Canadian soldiers as they serve a tour of duty in Afghanistan. The show is remarkably frank in its depiction of the violence and contradictions of the mission to Afghanistan. This evening's episode involved a fracas involving the Cape Breton story-teller-cum-soldier Private Manson, a local "terp", and Captain "Crunch" Williams. This episode, like so many of the previous nine, was sad, but perhaps the saddest thing about the show is that it will end in two weeks. Check it out while you can.

And lastly, CBC airs coverage from other public broadcasters from around the world in the hours between 1:00 am and 6:00 am. I don't usually stay up that late, but when I do I really enjoy the grab bag of programming.