Earlier this week, hearing about CBC budget cuts and the last taping of George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, I felt sad. I took it personally. The CBC has done so much for me, from being the major factor in my becoming a Habs fan (seriously, enough with the Leafs broadcasts being default! They're so boring I relearned French just to be able to watch a different team on Saturday nights), to getting me a husband and changing my entire life.
For real. I am not exaggerating. I met Jody because of Calum Shanlin, who I got to know because of George Stroumboulopoulos, whose radio show I was enjoying because of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
I first saw George on MuchMusic when I lived in Canada, way WAY back in the day, so when I saw that he had a show called The Hour on CBC, I had to watch.* And I kept watching. I even went to a taping of the show in Vancouver. He's hands down the best interviewer anywhere, but he's also a giant music nerd (which is a compliment coming from me). So when he mentioned he also had a show on CBC Radio 2, I started tuning in.
A couple of years ago, George started bringing a Scottish guy on the radio show, and each week he'd talk about 3 bands from one country. I was enjoying the segments and had just entered the Twitterverse, so when George said "You can follow @calumshanlin on Twitter," I did.
And because I'll talk to anyone if I have something to say, I talked to Calum (most people call him Shanlin, I use either name, at random) and he immediately replied with a snark level that made me say, "Yep. I could be friends with this guy."
Later, after we'd continued speaking for a while, hockey got locked out, and the only sport that seemed to be on TV was English Premier League football. Desperate for something athletic to watch, I asked the Tweety what team to follow. Shanlin said something rude about the EPL and told me to follow Aberdeen in the Scottish Premiership instead. I've rarely been led astray by a Scotsman -- at least not in a bad way -- and I've never regretted having the Scotland rugby team break my heart for the past 15 years, so I took his advice and gave Aberdeen a try.
And I got hooked. And Calum moved temporarily back to Scotland. Which was how he happened to be in Peebles with Jody watching Aberdeen play Ross County, while I was attending the game at Pittodrie.
I wasn't there, but I've been told that because he was tweeting at me, Shanlin explained to Jody who I was, and how he'd been responsible for me becoming an Aberdeen fan. He may just be trying to butter me up, but my darling fiance claims that his reaction was "She's fucking hot! And a Dons fan! A must follow."
A couple of days later when Shanlin and I went to see our favourite band, he told me Jody was a friend of his who was worth talking to, so I did. And have continued to do so every day since.
So that's how I found my other half. And that's why I'm writing this at Heathrow, very sleep deprived and waiting for my onward flight to Edinburgh, where I now spend a large amount of my time, and will eventually live full time. My life is completely different, and better, now... and if you trace it all back, it starts with the CBC.
Yeah, I think I have good reason to feel personally connected to a broadcaster. Thanks, CBC. Let me know if I can ever do anything for you, K?
*About the only perks of living in Seattle are its proximity to Canada and availability of the CBC on cable.
