Get out the popcorn. It's November.

Oh, those Canadians. What can we do with them? They're so…cutting-edge. They're so…aggressively provocative. They're so…polite about it all. Today, children, they are going to give us all a lesson in ecology. Courtesy of the Great Lakes.

All right, just in case you come from another country and aren't sure where the Great Lakes are, here's the Guide Entry. And here's a handy view from space. Now that that's taken care of, let's get into an environmentalist mood by listening to Joni Mitchell.

Today's Short Subject: Canadian (note how I got that in) singer Joni Mitchell went on holiday to Hawaii in 1970. Guess what spoiled her view at the hotel? Was there really a 'tree museum'? Er, yes, there was, for endangered species. Her resulting hit song, Big Yellow Taxi¹, made people think about what they were doing to the planet. The link is to the animated music video produced by John Wilson for the Sonny and Cher show back in the day. Sonny and Cher were kind of out there. So, Canadians and environmentalism.

Today's Feature Film: 1968's The Rise and Fall of the Great Lakes was not exactly a blockbuster production, but it did make waves. (Ouch. Sorry. I get this way when I talk about Canadian artists.) It's a National Film Board of Canada education production that proved enormously popular, and won a BAFTA award.

The humour is pretty much slapstick. As far as the music goes, well, the Folk Revival has a lot to answer for. Anyway, it's a whole 17 minutes, and you can stand it for that long.

We suspect this film has livened up many a 10th grade biology class. So turn out the lights, sit quietly, and don't throw spitballs. You're going to learn something about our natural heritage and our peculiar neighbours to the North.