Canada Day!

[JRM]

The clock is striking midnight in the Atlantic Provinces (except in Newfoundland -- they always need a head start ).

Happy Canada Day to my compatriots at home and around the world. Tell us your plans -- how will you celebrate? What does being Canadian mean to you?

[rasb]

Re: Canada Day!

The clock is striking midnight in the Atlantic Provinces (except in Newfoundland -- they always need a head start ).

Happy Canada Day to my compatriots at home and around the world. Tell us your plans -- how will you celebrate? What does being Canadian mean to you?

Hey JRM,
Canada Day doesn't strike the "Best Coast" for another 3 hours, so I will snooze in the day. No huge plans for tomorrow, just quietly being thankful for living in the best Country in the World
Are you able to access MacLean's Magazine down there? The current edition is a Canada Day double issue, with some nice little articles on why it's good to be a Canadian.
Just for a tease....
The cover says that Canadians:
* live longer than the Swedes
* eat better than the French
* have more TV's than the Japanese
* are wealthier than the Americans
* have had more lovers than the Italians
But the really good stuff is inside...
Have a good day, eh...

[mojo]

Happy C Day to all my fellow hosers!

I just got back from visting Ottawa and Toronto. I feel more Canadian when I am back there for some reason. 8-)

I think TO is a great example of many of Canada's best traits- we are a tolerant, moderate, polite,diverse, and outward looking country.

For me being Canadian means embracing all those things. We understand and value the idea that sometimes the good of all comes before the good of ourselves. I have yet to meet a Canadian that would abolish our medical system, for example. Improve it? Yes of course. Do away with the idea that all deserve access to good care -never!
Being Canadian also means "getting" that other countries, cultures and ways of life are not wrong, or inferior just different. (with notable exceptions of course). We take the middle road and find it suits us and works pretty well on most issues.

I love that gay people can marry ( has anyone's lives been adversely affected one iota with this basic human right being implemented? :roll: ) that we keep church firmly separated from state and that most people would never consider owning a handgun for protection!

We have some major problems and things I am deeply ashamed of but I would not live anywhere else in the world.


We celebrate by having an early track practice,(our athletes must go downtown and join the crowds) phoning our kids who are scattered across the country, and having wild sockeye salmon for dinner with local veggies on the side!
Then I will plunk my butt in front of CBC (love it) and watch the celebrations across this great, beautiful land!

PS-loved that issue of Maclean's...trying not to feel to smug...... :wink:

[rasb]

Mojo, if you feel a little smug-ness coming on, just remind yourself that you are Canadian, and that is not permitted in our Country.
JRM, You've got me all inspired, with your ex.pat. Nationalistic fervour.
So, I've got some ol Stompin' Tom playing, specifically his "A Proud Canadian" disk, which he calls, "the eternal glowing residue of a patriot's burning passion for his land, its people, and their way of life". That's cool.
Later I'm going to find something with Jim Carrey or Kiefer Sutherland, or more likely Kim Cattrall or Pamela Anderson's :wink: yes, I said 's.
Meanwhile, off to the pub. for some lunch, and a good Canadian brew...

[gh]

11 "famous" ex-pats share their feelings (led by Rick Moranis)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/opini ... daday.html

[SQUACKEE]

A good friend just sent me a lovely box set of Neil Young music for my birthday and Neil's Canadian and i celebrate my free gift, so, yeah, go CANADAH.

[guru]

Neil Young? Give me Pauly baby! :P


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_cmmCRVs38

[cullman]

Neil Young? Give me Pauly baby! :P


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_cmmCRVs38

Can't get enuff of Pauly baby...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SylWhDDx-ns

Happy Canader Day!

c(anadian)man 8-)

[JRM]

11 "famous" ex-pats share their feelings (led by Rick Moranis)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/opini ... daday.html

Fun read! I am sitting here contemplating all things Canuck with doses of:

- Sleeman's Brewery variety pack and a few Seagram's coolers (imported from Edmonton this past May)
- Smarties, Coffee Crisp, and Aero bars
- Stompin' Tom (thanks, rasb!), Figgy Duff, and Canadian iTunes fare
- some streaming coverage of Canada Day celebrations from up north
- On the menu for dinner: poutine with St. Hubert's sauce and authentic Alberta curds

I am sadly missing the Tim Hortons coffee.

As for the NY Times article linked in by gh, I believe I lived down the hall from Tim Long in residence at U of T. I know one of my classmates (class of 9T3) went on to become a Simpsons writer/producer.

[mojo]

Bud the Spud ROCKS!!!!

Neil Young's "Helpless" brings tears to my eyes.

I just watched about 45 minutes of Tom the other night.

He is so damn Canadian it puts the rest of us to shame. 8-)

JRM you would be extremely jealous. We could see the Timmy's right across the street from the stadium while at the track.

Everyone kept sending me over to get their double doubles.

I don't have one anywhere near where I live which it turns out may be a very good thing.

And I am now reading everything I can aboot our Olympic hockey team....July is NOT too early to begin obsessing...is it?

[mojo]

11 "famous" ex-pats share their feelings (led by Rick Moranis)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/opini ... daday.html

What a great article!

Have I mentioned that Pamela lived right behind us when she was ateen and only Pamela not Pamela's.


This was my fav passage from that article:


I miss the snow. Yes, I know the United States gets snow, but to my Canadian eye, American snow is like American health care: sporadic, unreliable and distributed unevenly among the population. In my hometown, Exeter, in the heart of Ontario’s snow belt, punishing squalls were a fact of life from November through mid-April. One time, 39 inches fell on the town in three days — and school wasn’t even canceled. And it wasn’t just the quantity of snow — it’s the speed with which it arrived.

When I was a child, it wasn’t unusual for my 15-minute walk home from school to begin under clear skies and end in a blizzard. I remember once, when I was 8 years old, stumbling into my house, my hair covered in powder and my eyelashes frozen together, and screaming, “Why do we live here?!” My mother took my face in her warm hands and said, “Because it’s where people love you.”

At the time, that struck me as the lamest statement ever uttered by a human being. But today, as I sit under the California sun, it only strikes me as halfway lame, and maybe even less than that.

Of course I grew up in Vancouver..... :lol:

[JRM]

JRM you would be extremely jealous. We could see the Timmy's right across the street from the stadium while at the track.

Everyone kept sending me over to get their double doubles.

I know that location well! A good spot to get a coffee before getting on the subway.

Actually, the plethora of Tim's in downtown Toronto is a surprisingly recent phenomenon. When I was in my freshman year at U of T, a friend of mine (visiting from Fredericton) and I went in search of Tim Horton's locations. The closest to campus was about 5 km away! The second closest was at the eastern-most end of the Bloor-Danforth subway line.

Whenever I fly up to Canada, though, the very first thing I do is scout out the Tim Horton's kiosk. It's also the very last thing I do before flying out, as well. I get an extra large and try to save it the entire flight. That way, I get to enjoy sipping authentic Tim's coffee while heading home on the LA freeways.

[mojo]

I am not sure when Timmy's came out west but I did not visit a TH until maybe 9 years ago. It wasn't that long ago that the city of Vancouver did not have a single one.

Downtown Victoria just got its first one and it is out of the way.

Victorians love their independent cafes and organic fair trade coffee.
I love both high and low brow.

But just think we have stood in the same store..... 8-) 8-)



Truth be told when we got to the TO airport and only had access to TH I admit it was hard to eat the food. I ODed on Timmy's??? Take away my passport!

[rasb]

11 "famous" ex-pats share their feelings (led by Rick Moranis)

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/01/opini ... daday.html

Thanks for posting that, gh. --- very good read. And Happy Canuck Day to you, and I think you have relatives up here too....somewhere off of Highway 3... :wink:

[rasb]

For some who are mildly curious about this Canada Day thing, but not so curious as to reach for your google-button, here's the buzz....

On July 1st, 1867, the Dominion of Canada was created. British North American colonies of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Upper and Lower Canada (which became Ontario and Quebec) were united as a Nation.
Additions took place as follows - Manitoba and the Northwest Territories in 1870, British Columbia in 1871, Prince Edward Island in 1873, all the Arctic Islands in 1880, the Yukon was carved out of the NWT in 1898, Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905, Newfoundland (which is now Newfoundland and Labrador) in 1949, Nunavut was carved out of the NWT in 1999.
I hope I didn't miss anybody.....thanks Wiki, I wasn't actually there for all that...
So the 10 provinces and 3 territories of Canada constitute the 2nd largest Nation, by area.
July 1st was originally celebrated as Dominion Day, but with many changes around issues of the Flag, the Anthem, Sovereignty from Britain, repatriating the Constitution, etc., etc.......it became Canada Day, eh...