Monthly Archives: January 2016

The Band of the Royal Marines is coming to Toronto

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The Band of the Royal Marines

If this doesn’t get your toes tapping, nothing will

The Band of the Royal Marines and the Pipes, Drums and Highland Dancers of the Scots Guards are coming to Toronto on Sunday, January 31, 2016 at Roy Thomson Hall.

“With signature precision marching and a reputation of excellence worldwide, The Band of the Royal Marines regularly performs at Royal Albert Hall, in the Horse Guards Parade in London, and the military tattoo in Basel, Switzerland. A military band with a long tradition of musical distinction, the Royal Marines will lift your spirits and set your toes tapping. This will be a spectacular evening of pageantry and military traditions featuring the haunting sounds of bagpipes and powerful Highland dancing.”

Sounds ace!

All the details are here.

Celebrating three brilliant Brits

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Alan Rickman, 1946-2016

It’s been a really crappy few weeks for losing some brilliant British talent, hasn’t it? The best way we can honour these three gentlemen is to keep on rocking to their music and enjoying their films.

Today we heard that Alan Rickman passed away. Legions of Harry Potter fans will remember him as Professor Snape; Jane Austen fans will recall his part as Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility; and many more — including the Brits in Toronto crew — think that Hans Gruber in Die Hard was one of the best screen villains we’ve seen.

Alan’s full impressive repertoire is here.

Then what can we say about Ian Fraser Kilmister, otherwise known as Lemmy? Only one of the baddest mofos in rock and roll, that’s what. Didn’t seem to give a crap about anything, but hell, what a career he had with Motorhead.

Here’s one of our favourite memories of Lemmy:

And last — but in no way least — David Robert Jones. Or David Bowie.

This bloke seemed to live our life with us, always there with a song that seemed just right for the times. Constantly changing, adapting, innovating. He led and countless musicians since have followed, all inspired by his vision.

The loss of David Bowie was a massive shock this week. But we can all remember the good times he gave us. Here’s a favourite scene of Brits in Toronto where David shows his comedy chops:

 

Celebrate Robbie Burns in Toronto

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This week we be mostly picking Asteraceae

It will be Robbie Burns’ birthday on Monday, January 25 and he’ll be a sprightly 257 years old so if you’d like to celebrate that, here’s two events you may be interested in, plus the top 10 events for Robbie Burns Day 2016 in Toronto.

2016 Burns’ Statue Celebration
January 25 @ 11:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Come one! Come All! For the REAL celebration of the Birthday of Robert Burns! There will be piping, haggis, whisky, neeps, tatties, singing and good cheer!

2016 Burns’ Night Dinner Celebration
January 29 @ 6:30 p.m.-10:00 p.m. | $130.00
Christopher Tait performs Holy Willie’s Prayer
We are greatly looking forward to our annual celebration of Robert Burns on Friday, January 29 at the University Club of Toronto. As well as the traditional piping in and Address to the Haggis and toasts to the Lassies and Laddies, the evening will feature Professor David Wilson who will deliver The Immortal Memory and Christopher Tait for our entertainment as “Robert Burns Live.”

Both events are organized by the St. Andrew’s Society of Toronto and a big thank ye and nae problem to The British Canadian Chamber of Trade and Commerce for the heads-up.

Brits in Toronto First Annual Survey

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Survey says …

And … we’re back! Hope you are all having a great new year so far. Weather’s not been too bad, which is a bonus.

It’s time for the Brits in Toronto First Annual Survey. Completely anonymous, answer all questions, or a few, long answers, or one word — any feedback you can give us would be brilliant and help plan for 2016 content.

We spend literally hours a week putting this blog together, so want to ensure it’s time well spent and our readers enjoy, learn — and get a laugh or two — from the content we cover.

Thank you in advance, please pass to other Brits in Toronto you may know, and we really appreciate it!