Canadian Personal Finance Place

The NFB web site is a treasure trove of many great old shorts that stand the test of time, and here I present an award winning silly piece of animation that I enjoy every time I watch it.

This hilarious Oscar®-nominated animation is based on the century-old folk song of the same name. Old Mr. Johnson makes increasingly manic attempts to rid himself of a little yellow cat that just won’t stay away… Also won the 1989 Genie Award for best animated short film.

The NFB has a very Canadian perspective on the Great Depression and how things were in Canada at the time.

The talk of riots and how many people were unemployed is a very sobering story to hear, given the current situation the world is in. Seventy two hour work weeks? Profiteering? The Capitalist system must get it’s house in order?

Indeed it does! Our friends at the CRA are working to helpfolks like me who don’t like reading much, by creating some very helpful videos to explain the various rules and tricks to do your Income Tax Returns. Are they really explanatory and useful? I think they are, they don’t go into gory details, but they are still quite useful, and they introduce the topics quite well, and make you aware of things that you might have forgotten about, or maybe didn’t even know.

Yes, I have posted this one before, but it is so good, and so off topic, and given that the Christmas season is upon us (at least the gift giving part of it), enjoy this story of the “wrong” present and a little boys love of hockey.The Sweater is a classic story of Quebecois life, and beloved across Canada.

The short answer from our friends at PBS (and from my own personal experience) is a resounding, NO!

This short video from the PBS Nightly Business report outlines how many students do not understand the costs associated with going to University, or the fact that they can try to get financial help. I must agree with this whole heartedly, given what I have seen at Canadian Universities as well.

Not really on topic about finances specifically, but an interesting talk from Ted about footprint and possessions (and how much money you can save without that stuff).

When I was growing up in the early 70′s a friend of mine stayed up late and watched Don Kirshner’s Rock Concert and saw the group KISS for the first time and got me and a group of friends hooked into their music. I have been in the KISS Army for a while (off and on, there was that whole 80′s punk rock thing, but the less we speak of that, the less my kids cringe with agony).

What the heck does this have to do with money? This short vignette which is an intro for an actual CNN Money piece about Kiss Inc., and the business of Rock n’ Roll (well, KISS really isn’t rock ‘n roll, it’s more spectacle and a bunch of guys older than me milking as much money out of a concept as they can make).

So with the NBA strike you start to wonder, who is really losing money on this deal? I think the players are losing a little, the owners are losing a little more (but they are trying to make a point, so they are to blame for this one), but as pointed out in the short from PBS, it is the small businesses that rely on having a team around that are really losing money.