Favourite Canadian Albums of 2010

I'm of the opinion that Canada has some of the best music in the world. The following are my fav. 20 Canadian albums from 2010 made by some of Canada's best musical artists. For those of you expecting Michael Bublé or Justin Bieber, sorry this list just isn't for you.

So here they are from 1 to 20 along with my fav. compilation and live album by Canadian acts. If you want to have a listen, I've included links to myspaces, etc.

1. Wintersleep - New Inheritors
http://www.myspace.com/wintersleep




2. New Pornographers - Together http://www.myspace.com/thenewpornographers
3. Arcade Fire - The Suburbs http://www.myspace.com/arcadefireofficial
4. Wolf Parade - Expo 86 http://www.myspace.com/wolfparade
5. Zeus - Say Us http://www.myspace.com/themusicofzeus
6. The Mohawk Lodge - Crimes http://www.myspace.com/mohawklodge
7. Tokyo Police Club - Champ http://www.myspace.com/tokyopoliceclub
8. Gord Downie and the Country of Miracles - The Grand Bounce http://www.gorddownie.com/mp/index.html
9. Apollo Ghosts - Mount Benson http://www.myspace.com/adrianteacher
10. Yukon Blonde - Yukon Blonde http://www.myspace.com/yukonblondeband
11. The Sadies - Darker Circles http://www.myspace.com/thesadies
12. The Golden Dogs - Coat of Arms http://www.thegoldendogs.com/parts/stream/
13. Jason Collett - Rat a Tat Tat http://www.myspace.com/jasoncollett
14. Hooded Fang - Hooded Fang www.myspace.com/hoodedfang
15. Ketcher Harbour Wolves - Anachronisms www.myspace.com/ketchharbourwolves
16. Boxer the Horse - Would You Please www.myspace.com/boxerthehorse
17. Born Ruffians - Say It www.myspace.com/bornruffians
18. The Acorn - No Ghosts www.myspace.com/theacorn
19. Ghostkeeper - Ghostkeeper www.myspace.com/childrenofthegreatnorthernmuskeg
20. Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record www.myspace.com/brokensocialscene

Top compilation: Thrush Hermit - The Complete Recordings Box Set http://www.myspace.com/thrushhermit

Top live album: The Weakerthans - Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre http://www.myspace.com/theweakerthans

So there you go. Would love to hear what you think.

All the best in 2011 for everyone!

Portuguese Ball Hockey Association is looking for players

We here at canadianinportugal.com like to help out the community whenever we can. We recently received an e-mail from the Toronto-based Portuguese Ball Hockey Association (PBHA) asking us if we'd be so kind as to help them out in their search for players.

The reason they are searching as far away as Portugal is due to the fact that they are in need of players with Portuguese nationality. Although most of the players on the PBHA roster are of Portuguese descendents, most do not possess Portuguese citizenship and thus can not represent Portugal on the National Team and in international play.

So if you think you've got what it takes (and we know there's some of you out there) to wear the Portuguese colours (check them out below), you can get in contact with Fernando de Menezes at fernando_demenezes@rogers.com.

You can also visit the PBHA website at http://www.portugueseballhockey.com/, or check them out on facebook here http://www.facebook.com/The.PBHA.

Exchanging your Driver's license in Portugal

As you may know, if you’re visiting Portugal, you are legally entitled to use your Canadian driver's license to drive.

The famous high-security Ontario Driver's License

However, if you're planning on staying in Portugal for longer than 185 days, you should exchange your Canadian driver's license for a Portuguese driver's license, within the first 185 days of your arrival. Having a Portuguese driver's license has many benefits. For example, many MacDonald's in continental Portugal super-size your menu for free if you have a valid Portuguese driver's license (*please note, this may not be true).

How'd this get here? I am not good with computer

After this brilliant exposé, you're probably itching to exchange your old, tacky Canadian driver's license for a hip, trendy Portuguese driver's license. However, there are a few requirements you must meet before you can apply to exchange your driver’s license:

• You must be of the minimum legal age to drive, according to Portuguese law (18)

• Posses physical and mental aptitude (a tough requirement, I had to cheat on this one)

• Have legal residence in Portugal

• Not serving any probation, inhibition, or any other sentence that interdicts you from having a drivers license.

If you meet all the above requirements, and still want to exchange your Canadian driver’s license for a Portuguese one, it’s actually quite easy.

     • First, you have to fill out a specific form, that can be found at this link.You can find instructions on how to fill it out at this link.  It’s a standard editable PDF, and you must fill it in electronically. It also has to be printed out in high quality since the Institution for Mobility and Terrestrial Transport (the Portuguese equivalent of the Minsitry of Transportation) uses high tech, state of the art digital recognition software to read it.

     • A photocopy of your ID card. The original must be shown when all the documentation is presented.

     • Your original Canadian driver’s license.

     • Two (2) colour passport photos

     • A medical exam, done by the health authority of your residence.

     • A psychological exam if you are planning to drive an ambulance, fire truck, or bus.

     • A declaration from the Canadian authorities that proves the authenticity of your Canadian driver's license, including, date of emission, validity, categories of vehicles that you can drive and any applicable restrictions.

     • Pay the administrative fee of 30€

Once you have all this, you’ll have to take it to the nearest IMTT, which you can find using the tool at this link.

Once there, they'll probably tell you that you've filled in something incorrectly, forgot some important document, or that they don't deal with these sorts of things; in other words, the normal Portuguese bureaucracy typical of public service. Be polite, insist, and they'll end up helping you out.

They'll give you a fancy sheet of paper that is to be used as a temporary driver's license until the real one arrives in the mail. The application can take anywhere from 4 to 8 weeks to be processed, so don't give up hope it doesn't arrive right away.

You too can be the proud owner of one of these beauties!

For more detailed information, please consult the following link:

http://www.imtt.pt/sites/IMTT/Portugues/Condutores/TrocaCartaConducao/OutrasSituacoes/Paginas/OutrasSituacoes.aspx

As always, if you need anything else, feel free to shoot us an email.

Canadians in Portugal is a year old!

I was looking over previous entries from this blog yesterday and noticed that on December 10th of last year, Gabe put up the first post on canadiansinportugal.com.

For those of you who may follow this blog, you may know that up until about six months ago, Gabe was the man behind this project. From what I gather, Gabe had intended to make this blog a bit more of a personal endeavour, recounting his own experiences in Portugal. However, just as identities are never stagnant, so has the face of this blog taken other shapes. In fact, after Gabe's invitation to have me join him on here, that face became two (sort of speak).

Thus far, the blog has been a lot of fun and a great experience for us, and I think we've contributed somewhat in helping to bring a little bit of Canada to Portugal and to Canadians in Portugal. Certainly we're going to keep on doing this and hopefully keep on growing. In fact, we'd love to hear from people out there if you have suggestions, ideas, etc. It would be great to do more in 2011.

Lastly, we want to wish everyone out there A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Ah snow ...

In most parts of Portugal we never see it. In most of Canada seldom do we go without it.

A few years ago we witnessed here in Lisbon a somewhat solid liquid some unfamiliar with 'real snow' would call snow. Ofcourse as soon as it hit the ground it would pretty much disappear. From the windows of our apartments, this is what most of us saw:

Yes the above does look pretty sad, but Portugal does get its fare share of 'serious snow' as well. In fact, snowy Portugal can be quite nice. For example:

Surely these are different scenes from what we have in Canada.

But if in fact you're missing snowy Canada, I offer you these - enjoy: