Yesterday (but this waking period) saw a viewing of the film Super 8 by PDR and Kiiip. The general consensus was that it was a very good movie and we were pleased. PDR would go so far as to say it gets Five out of Six Pieces of Reviewing System cake. As far as I know Kiiip has no comparative reviewing system in which he has reviewed the film.

Awwww yeah. This is the real stuff right here.

This time we’ve got the story of how a guy called James, nay, Smith (You’d think that they wouldn’t use the take where they messed up his name on the first try) went to America and invented basketball, apparently as a way to entertain all the moustachioed dudes with suspenders. Right on. As I’ve mentioned before, all I really want from these Parts of My Heritage is for them to be embedded into my brain so that I can reference them throughout my life. Well, we’ve got referencability coming out all over the place in this one. “But I need these baskets back,” alone is but several other lines are suitably memorable. Oh, and also the music is pretty sweet. Plus, basketball apparently had tackling and a vastly more comical form of dribbling? I totally approve, pretty much all around.

This one goes all the way. A classic that totally deserves Five out of Six Pieces of PDR’s Reviewing System Cake. But who is the dude watching Peach Basket guy retrieve the ball?

Half of this Canadian Propaganda Commercial is about a child freezing to death! Canada!

This one depicts a town that has too many sick people and not enough space to save them, right? So they all work together to make a hospital that provides its services for free. That’s nice. Although this Heritage Minute has none of the extreme quotability that I love for things for, it is about one of my favorite things about Canada, the free healthcare. That’s important in a country where kids freeze to death on a regular basis.

I also like the two guys who point out that since they’re the best builders in town, they can build a hospital. Of this, I approve. These aren’t two guys saying “we can build this hospital cheaper than anyone else in town,” because that would be insane. Who would want to live in a society where hospitals, or anything for that matter, was built by the people who can do it the cheapest? But anyway, I think I’m going to try to turn “We built the best barn, so we’ll build the hospital!” into something I can work into discussions. Hey, if I can fit “Oh Sire, until the end of time” into everyday conversation on a regular basis, I can do this.

But because that quote is not yet at the forefront of our culture, I can only give this one Three out of Six Pieces of PDR’s Reviewing System Cake. It’s a rare case where I actually like the thing the Heritage Minute is about more than I like the Heritage Minute itself.

So there’s this professor who hates television So Much that he decides that the medium used to relay information is more important than the information relayed. Using this revelation that the “Medium is the Message” the professor decides that the content must be the audience. Becoming aware of the audience, he then breaks the forth wall to ramble at us with his crazy ideas. And I guess this guy is Canadian. Or else he wouldn’t be a Part of our Heritage now would he?

What? I saw this commercial dozens of times as a youth and I have no idea (zero actual idea) what the crazy professor is going on about. I’m sure that the idea that “the medium is the message” has some sort of meaning to people who have had it better explained, but it is not conveyed to me in this piece. It just sounds like he is “television is bad for you because the method used to educate and entertain someone is important and television is a bad method.”

I just don’t get it.

This one is weak. I can only give it One and a Half out of Six Pieces of PDR’s Reviewing System Cake because I only understand about 25% of what is going on in this one.

I don’t care what anybody else thinks, Mounties look awesome in the red outfits.

This time we’re looking at Superintendent Sam Steele, in action. He’s confronted with some American jerk comes along looking to make some quick monies in the Gold Rush and he is bringing some guns and gambling equipment into our fair nation with him. But see, Sam Steele, he’s the type of guy who does his job and does it without guns. Sam Steele uses his authority and his alliteration to get by. And by gum it works.

Aside from the line I’ve used incorrectly in the title and “Why didn’t I shoot him?” I guess there isn’t a lot of fun-to-quote lines, but hey it’s got a dapper moustachioed cop using peaceful tactics to keep his nation right. I like that. I like this one. I’m gonna go with Four and a Half Pieces of PDR’s Reviewing System Cake. Meanwhile, I don’t know a single other thing about Superintendent Sam Steele. I bet Wikipedia has a page. Maybe I ought to check it out.