Vimy’s memory holds fast, 95 years on

Vimy's memory holds fast, 95 years on

monster beats To some, it's the moment Canada became a nation. But you don't have to be Canadian to recognize its importance.Among the crowd of several hundred people marking the 95th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge at the cenotaph in front of Old City Hall on Monday were Hélène de Tienda y de Robert de Lafregeyre and her husband Jérôme.The couple hails from La Cavalerie, a town of about 900 people in southern France. The long last name is due to Jérôme's royal ancestry.Hélène, 62, has multiple sclerosis and uses a wheelchair. Jérôme, 73, is a veteran of the Algerian war of independence. Hélène was in Toronto to celebrate Easter, she said, but as a retired history teacher she felt it was important to attend the ceremony."We both think that we have to cherish the memory of Canadian people who died for Europe's liberty," she said. "It's to pay a tribute."It was a blustery day and the ceremony - which began with "O Canada" and ended with "God Save the Queen" - was in the shade, meaning most onlookers were visibly freezing. But Hélène was quick to point out that the soldiers at Vimy Ridge had to endure much worse than just a frigid wind.

monster headphones The battle, which began the morning of Easter Monday in 1917, was the first time Canada's four divisions came together in a single fighting force. The extensively trained soldiers achieved what the French and British couldn't in the previous two years and captured the ridge using innovative military tactics. Nearly 3,600 Canadians died in the battle and thousands more were wounded.The ceremony also featured a tribute to police horses sent to Europe to join the war effort. Insp. William Wardle of the Toronto Police's mounted unit noted that 81,000 Canadian horses went to Europe, but only 40 came home.Five current Toronto Police horses were present along with "Joey", the life-size horse puppet operated by three actors from the National Theatre production War Horse.In France, Governor General David Johnston's delegation to Vimy included an estimated 5,000 Canadian students who marched two kilometres from the memorial to two cemeteries where some of Canada's war dead are buried.The marching students braved persistent rains, distantly evocative of the snow and sleet Canadian troops slogged through 95 years ago.

beats by dre headphones Johnston said he considers the battle a seminal moment in Canada's transformation from colony to independent nation."We stand on hallowed ground," Johnston told an audience of thousands that included Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney and a number of French and Canadian dignitaries."A place of agonized conflict, a site of appalling loss of life, a vessel of sorrow, a crucible of courage, a hallmark of ingenuity, collaboration and resolve undertaken by men at arms in the cause of peace."There are many ways a wannabe actor or actress can become famous: really act, or be very good looking, or date somebody famous or powerful, or have a good agent ...Then there's always the old get-arrested-for-stalking-Alec-Baldwin route, as tried this weekend by Geneviève Sabourin of Candiac.This lady was, it appears, a unit publicist on the 2002 Eddie Murphy turkey The Adventures of Pluto Nash - about as fragile a claim to being in show biz as one can make. Then she was in a couple of tiny movies, in, as far as I can tell, even tinier parts.Now she's been swamping Baldwin with texts and emails about how much she loves him, says the N.Y. Daily News, and trying to see him. He called the cops Sunday; she's under arrest.Baldwin told the cops they met on the Pluto Nash set - he had a cameo.He's 54. She's 40.

beats by dr dre Gwyneth Paltrow is making her family learn French. But don't worry, she's not moving to Quebec.The Sun, in England, says Gwyn and Chris Martin of Coldplay, her husband, and their kids Apple and Moses, are learning French "just for fun."Paltrow's mother, actress Blythe Danner, said Gwynnie is "doing a film in Spain now, because she's fluent in Spanish. I'm delighted. The children are fluent in Spanish, too, so the whole family is now learning French. Gwyneth is the quickest learner I've ever met."For his 25th birthday, dancer Casper Smart got a customized white Dodge Ram pickup, says People mag. The giver was Jennifer Lopez, whose boy toy Casper is. She's 42.You know how tabloids and gossip mags have so many airport shots of celebs? Turns out it's not always their agents who tip off the paparazzi: In England, a supervisor in charge of "upper class" passengers for Virgin Atlantic, an airline celebs seem to like, has been made to resign "amid claims she leaked confidential flight details of celebrities to one of the world's biggest paparazzi agencies," says The Telegraph.This woman is said to have "routinely" given flight numbers to an agency called Big Pictures. Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, Kate Winslet, Daniel Radcliffe, Madonna, Sienna Miller, Princess Beatrice and Rihanna were snapped this way, all in 2010, British reports say.

dre beats Spotlight couple: TMZ.com spotted wrinkly old Axl Rose and singer Lana Del Rey the other night at the Château Marmont, in Hollywood.You'll recall that she once recorded a song called Axl Rose Husband. The two reportedly left together, in an SUV.He's 50, she's 25.Starlet Amanda Bynes, busted for DUI in West Hollywood the other night, was bailed out and headed straight for a bar, the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel. But it was to meet a hotshot DUI lawyer.Let's take this from the top: Bynes (you loved her in Emma Stone's movie Easy A) spent last Friday night at this month's L.A. club-of-the-decade, Greystone Manor.Driving away in her BMW at 3 a.m., she "attempted to pass to the right" of a police car, says the official report. Worse, she clipped the car. No injuries, but police, err, determined that she was unfit to drive.Bailed out (for $5,000) a few hours later, she went to the Polo Lounge to meet Richard Hutton, says the N.Y. Post, calling him "one of LA's top DUI lawyers."She's 26.With friends like these: The real reason Justin Timberlake is marrying Jessica Biel, I suspect, is so he can get wedding presents from his old bandmates in 'N Sync and from those who knew him in his days on the old Mickey Mouse Club.Take 'N Sync's Lance Bass, who told Us Weekly that "The man has everything, so a nice little toaster will do. Maybe the one that puts a little Mickey Mouse emblem on (the toast). I might do that!"