You may have seen advertisements for a new movie coming out this weekend called 'Flyboys.' It's about World War One fighter pilots, and is based on the The Lafayette Escadrille, a mostly American squadron of the French Air Force at the time.

I'm a little wary of the film. The background on its related website sets the stage as follows: "In 1917, prior to the official entry into the war by the United States, the Allied powers of France, England and Italy were on the ropes against the German juggernaut."

Whatever. The movie looks cool, and I've been keen on Great War aces since I was a little kid, so I can't help but be intrigued.

What irks me is the fact that Canada's World War One aces never get any mention. I don't expect Hollywood to do this, but it puzzles me how ignorant Canadians are of their own military history.

Three of the top ten fighter aces in the Great War were Candian (there's actually a four-way tie for eighth place). Only the Germans had as many in the top ten (or eleven, given the tie), and none of the allies--British, French, American, Australian, South African, you name it--had that many. In fact, if you take the total 'kills' of Canada's top three--Billy Bishop, Ray Collishaw and Donald MacLaren--you get 186, which is 27 more than were scored by the entrire Lafayette Escadrille combined. (Note also that Canada's top ace, Billy Bishop, didn't start flying until 1917, the year America entered the war).

How come there's no Canadian movie about these guys? Well, partly because no one in this country knows anything about them, and partly because it would likely just be a low budget piece of pedestrian drivel which would be ignored throughout the world and play in about 10 theatres in Canada, before ending up on the CBC, sandwiched somewhere between 'Pirates of the Carribean XXIII' and 'Girlfriends of Pierre Trudeau.'

Sometimes it's hard work being a Canadian. Always struggling to get your message out in the face of massive apathy and disinterest, both local and international, all the while trying to keep the whole enterprise from splitting up. It's kind of like being in an indie rock band.

The Mule (www.diffmusic.blogspot.com) comes through with a pair of vintage car-window pics of the exterior of Lloyd Gimour's restaurant in Nanaimo. Well done Rob!

I caught a bit of a TV interview with Diana Krall over the weekend. She comes from Nanaimo, and I was filled with glee to find that she got her first regular gig at Lloyd Gilmour's NHL restaurant.

I must have gone past the NHL restaurant about a gazillion times en route from Departure Bay to the Gabriola Ferry. Lloyld Gilmour was a former NHL referee. The outside of his restaurant had these life-size, mannequin-like hockey player figures plastered into the wall, several feet off the ground. There were a handful of them, made to strike ungainly action poses. Some were in Montreal Canadiens attire, others were fitted in Canuck uniforms. When I say Canuck uniforms, I'm talking about the late '70s/early '80s canary yellow jerseys with the 'flying V' on the front; you'd have thought the City of Nanaimo might've had some kind of bylaw prohibiting such an eyesore.

I never went inside the restaurant , but Krall said it was no less over the top, with hockey-themed carpet, tables, walls...the works.

It's not there anymore. Everytime I drive by its former location, I think of it, and kick myself for not snapping a photo when I had the chance.

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Speaking of insane NHL uniforms, what the fuck is going on with the Buffalo Sabres? Remember when they wore those superb U.S. Cavalry-style deep blue sweaters with the crossed sword logo? They insanely switched to some garish Bison head crest a number of years ago. Now they've gone one step further, opting for what I think is supposed to be an even more stylized Buffalo head, but which looks more like a flying squirrel. Why can't these guys ever leave well enough alone?