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CBC
2 hours ago
- CBC
#TheMoment Katy Perry was surprised by a fan from Medicine Hat
Braiden Palumbo tells The National about the moment pop star Katy Perry called him up on stage and asked him about his hometown of Medicine Hat, Alta. — which she'd never heard of — during a concert in Vancouver.


CTV News
8 hours ago
- CTV News
Tom Lehrer, song satirist and mathematician, dies at 97
Musician Tom Lehrer sits beside the piano in his house in Santa Cruz, Calif., on April 21, 2000. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File) LOS ANGELES — Tom Lehrer, the popular and erudite song satirist who lampooned marriage, politics, racism and the Cold War, then largely abandoned his music career to return to teaching math at Harvard and other universities, has died. He was 97. Longtime friend David Herder said Lehrer died Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He did not specify a cause of death. Lehrer had remained on the math faculty of the University of California at Santa Cruz well into his late 70s. In 2020, he even turned away from his own copyright, granting the public permission to use his lyrics in any format without any fee in return. A Harvard prodigy (he had earned a math degree from the institution at age 18), Lehrer soon turned his very sharp mind to old traditions and current events. His songs included 'Poisoning Pigeons in the Park,' 'The Old Dope Peddler' (set to a tune reminiscent of 'The Old Lamplighter'), 'Be Prepared' (in which he mocked the Boy Scouts) and 'The Vatican Rag,' in which Lehrer, an atheist, poked at the rites and ceremonies of the Roman Catholic Church. (Sample lyrics: 'Get down on your knees, fiddle with your rosaries. Bow your head with great respect, and genuflect, genuflect, genuflect.') Accompanying himself on piano, he performed the songs in a colorful style reminiscent of such musical heroes as Gilbert and Sullivan and Stephen Sondheim, the latter a lifelong friend. Lehrer was often likened to such contemporaries as Allen Sherman and Stan Freberg for his comic riffs on culture and politics and he was cited by Randy Newman and 'Weird Al' Jankovic among others as an influence. He mocked the forms of music he didn't like (modern folk songs, rock 'n' roll and modern jazz), laughed at the threat of nuclear annihilation and denounced discrimination. But he attacked in such an erudite, even polite, manner that almost no one objected. 'Tom Lehrer is the most brilliant song satirist ever recorded,' musicologist Barry Hansen once said. Hansen co-produced the 2000 boxed set of Lehrer's songs, 'The Remains of Tom Lehrer,' and had featured Lehrer's music for decades on his syndicated 'Dr. Demento' radio show. Lehrer's body of work was actually quite small, amounting to about three dozen songs. 'When I got a funny idea for a song, I wrote it. And if I didn't, I didn't,' Lehrer told The Associated Press in 2000 during a rare interview. 'I wasn't like a real writer who would sit down and put a piece of paper in the typewriter. And when I quit writing, I just quit. ... It wasn't like I had writer's block.' He'd gotten into performing accidentally when he began to compose songs in the early 1950s to amuse his friends. Soon he was performing them at coffeehouses around Cambridge, Massachusetts, while he remained at Harvard to teach and obtain a master's degree in math. He cut his first record in 1953, 'Songs by Tom Lehrer,' which included 'I Wanna Go Back to Dixie,' lampooning the attitudes of the Old South, and the 'Fight Fiercely, Harvard,' suggesting how a prissy Harvard blueblood might sing a football fight song. After a two-year stint in the Army, Lehrer began to perform concerts of his material in venues around the world. In 1959, he released another LP called 'More of Tom Lehrer' and a live recording called 'An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer,' nominated for a Grammy for best comedy performance (musical) in 1960. But around the same time, he largely quit touring and returned to teaching math, though he did some writing and performing on the side. Lehrer said he was never comfortable appearing in public. 'I enjoyed it up to a point,' he told The AP in 2000. 'But to me, going out and performing the concert every night when it was all available on record would be like a novelist going out and reading his novel every night.' He did produce a political satire song each week for the 1964 television show 'That Was the Week That Was,' a groundbreaking topical comedy show that anticipated 'Saturday Night Live' a decade later. He released the songs the following year in an album titled 'That Was the Year That Was.' The material included 'Who's Next?' that ponders which government will be the next to get the nuclear bomb ... perhaps Alabama? (He didn't need to tell his listeners that it was a bastion of segregation at the time.) 'Pollution' takes a look at the then-new concept that perhaps rivers and lakes should be cleaned up. He also wrote songs for the 1970s educational children's show 'The Electric Company.' He told AP in 2000 that hearing from people who had benefited from them gave him far more satisfaction than praise for any of his satirical works. His songs were revived in the 1980 musical revue 'Tomfoolery' and he made a rare public appearance in London in 1998 at a celebration honoring that musical's producer, Cameron Mackintosh. Lehrer was born in 1928, in New York City, the son of a successful necktie designer. He recalled an idyllic childhood on Manhattan's Upper West Side that included attending Broadway shows with his family and walking through Central Park day or night. After skipping two grades in school, he entered Harvard at 15 and, after receiving his master's degree, he spent several years unsuccessfully pursuing a doctorate. 'I spent many, many years satisfying all the requirements, as many years as possible, and I started on the thesis,' he once said. 'But I just wanted to be a grad student, it's a wonderful life. That's what I wanted to be, and unfortunately, you can't be a Ph.D. and a grad student at the same time.' He began to teach part-time at Santa Cruz in the 1970s, mainly to escape the harsh New England winters. From time to time, he acknowledged, a student would enroll in one of his classes based on knowledge of his songs. 'But it's a real math class,' he said at the time. 'I don't do any funny theorems. So those people go away pretty quickly.' Former Associated Press writer John Rogers contributed to this story. Rogers retired from The AP in 2021. Gillian Flaccus, The Associated Press


CTV News
11 hours ago
- CTV News
Indigenous teams still in it to win it on Amazing Race Canada
The race is on! From hockey shootouts and chiseling ice sculptures, to roping tests and cracking riddles, the 11 teams on the 11th season of The Amazing Race Canada 2025 have been faced with many challenges—and it's just the beginning. On July 8, the series kicked off in Edmonton at the Commonwealth Stadium where the 2024 race winners were crowned. Three of the teams are comprised of six Indigenous people who come from communities across Canada. 'I think over the course of the series, we've seen more and more Indigenous teams on the show,' said Mark Lysakowski, co-chief content officer and executive producer. 'I think when the community sees 'Oh, I can go on the show and do well,' you think 'this can be for me'.' Grace Dove and Joe Syme are siblings from Prince George, BC, who are not afraid of being on screen. Grace has received the Canadian Screen Award nomination as an actress and has filled roles on The Revenant, Alaska Daily and How it Ends. amazing race canada Joe Syme and Grace Dove are siblings from Prince George, B.C., competing in season 11 of The Amazing Race Canada. (The Amazing Race Canada) Married couple Skylene and Blair Gladue, also known as 'Superfan Magoo' from Edmonton, hope their time on the show inspires Indigenous people by demonstrating strength, joy and perseverance despite being faced with difficulties. Superfan Magoo Amazing Race promo Skylene and Blair Gladue, also known as Superfan Magoo, on Season 11 of Amazing Race Canada. (Credit: Amazing Race Canada) The last Indigenous team, known as the Rebeccas, consists of Rebecca Merasty from Meadow Lake, Sask., and Rebecca Watt from Wrigley, N.W.T. The best friend duo are currently roommates in Vancouver. Their determination to win the race pays tribute to those who have played a pivotal role in shaping them into the woman they've become, they say. 'We were both raised in smaller communities and raised in the bush. I think, just that in itself, shaped us to who we are today,' said Watt. 'We're both very strong and very resilient individuals that honestly aren't scared of anything.' Watt describes Merasty as the more athletic one, but she too enjoys an active lifestyle with regular activities. 'Rebecca is more of an athlete than I am,' said Watt. 'I like to hike. I play whatever sports and do anything to get my body moving.' But no matter who is more athletic, the duo has been killing it. Amazing Race - The Rebeccas Best friends and roommates, Rebecca Merasty and Rebecca Watt, are competing on Season 11 of the Amazing Race Canada. 'The experience overall, honestly, is a once in a lifetime. I'm so grateful for the opportunity and to be able to do the entire time with my best friend,' Watt said. 'We had the best time. I couldn't have asked for a better person.' Each and every morning, the Rebeccas pray 'for a good day.' 'And to thank the Creator and (ask for the) backing of our ancestors and everybody that came before us. You know, to just push us through and get us to that next level, that next leg,' Watt explained. She is a strategic lead for mental wellness, and owner of the company Auntie's Insights. She works with youth through mental health and substance programming. The business was established in response to a gap for Indigenous youth in cities who were missing out on essential advice from aunties in the community. 'There was a gap just in a lot of the knowledge and teachings in terms of harm reduction and prevention education for youth under 12,' Watt said. The Rebeccas are hoping their participation in The Amazing Race Canada will encourage younger generations to embrace new experiences. 'It was so important for us to get out there and represent, not just Indigenous people and Indigenous women, but also just be that representation we didn't have as kids,' she said. From rugged coasts and busy cities, the remainder of the season will see contestants move across the country. 'My philosophy of this show is, yes there's tourism in every place we go, but I don't always want to show tourism… With everything that's happening in the world geopolitically and how people are traveling less, I think our show is a great show that lets people say 'hey there is still a whole massive country to explore',' Lysakowski said. One of the highlights will be when the contestants travel to the third coast—the Arctic Ocean. Watch The Amazing Race Canada Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CTV, and the CTV app, and streaming next day on Crave. By Crystal Local Journalism Initiative Reporter,