Happy Anniversary CBC!

Today the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation celebrates 75 years.

I think I've probably been a listener since I was born. (Right Dad?)

It's so full of nostalgia for me...

Hearing names like Peter Gzowski, David Suzuki, Alan Maitland, Michael Enright, Barbara Budd, Danny Finkleman, Bob McDonald, Shelagh Rogers and hearing those familiar radio theme songs almost instantly puts me at ease. I remember hearing As It Happens practically every single night during supper. Saturday mornings, just open the garage door to get your bike to hear the geeky (but loveable) voice of Quirks and Quarks explaining some scientific phenomenon. Summer saturday nights on the veranda at the cottage held the take-you-back-in-time-feeling while Finkleman's 45's played over the little transistor radio in the happy glow of the patio lanterns. And Christmas Eve. If you had the right timing, you'd be sitting in the backseat of the station wagon, cruising up and down streets, taking in the christmas lights while Alan Maitland's strong, even voice totally captured you (even though you'd already heard it many times over many Christmases) in the story of The Shepard. Even down to the daily beeping, silence and tone that signals the 12 noon makes me feel everything is...right.

However inadvertently I grew up listening it,

I now love the CBC and as I get older, I only love it more.

I've added must hear shows like The Current, DNTO and Wiretap as I became an adult and now even Don (an avid pop radio listener) is happy -even eager?- to hear some interesting story or documentary or current issue being discussed.

I'm not saying it's a perfect thing, as my dad says, it's a love/hate relationship with the CBC, this proven by the fact that my eye rolling skills are still very well practiced. There definitely are still a couple of shows I'll turn off. But I'll just say that when we were in the US for a month doing something like 10, 000 miles of driving (no exaggeration), I was ever so relieved to realize that the satellite radio in our car had CBC as one of them. Un-sensationalized news from Canada on the hour, familiar shows and voices ... I was one happy passenger.

So thank you government of Canada, for funding and supporting something so useful-a place where education takes place and (attempted) un-biased information can be heard, opinions shared, polite discussion and debate happens and best of all... no ridiculous commercials pounded into your head. I look forward to another 75 years and the passing on of good radio to generations to come.