O'Canada

[Songbird]

So last night I plop in season 1-2 of The Kids in the Hall, and laugh till 4 in the a.m. while reconnecting with the show.

The whole Canadian perspective is so different from America's, and I was trying to tap into our northern neighbor's national psyche trying to peg something that I couldn't quite do. It seems there's a carefree, laid-back freedom up there. I mean, one skit where Bruce McCullough plays a pompadour-wearing banker sitting at the bar stool screeding about his life -- dropping F-bombs so beautifully -- before the lights go rave-a-delic and he starts dancing and dropping more F-bombs ... you just can't do that **** on American TV.

The show is brilliant on many levels.

So I guess I proffer a question to the fine SportsJournalists.com canuckers: What is it about your country that's great, and why? And what's your truest feelings about us down here, most of whom couldn't differentiate Medicine Hat from Manitoba on a map even if we were told exactly where to look?

I really want to understand the Canadian outlook on life.

 

[JR]

"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" versus "Peace, order, and good government".

 

[Flash]

This is one that shall require some thought, Xan.

However, I will first let you know that I am one of many who has the Maple Leaf inked on her body.

On a side note, have you seen any Chicken Lady skits yet?

 

[slappy4428]

This is one that shall require some thought, Xan.

However, I will first let you know that I am one of many who has the Maple Leaf inked on her body.

Send you a dollar for the pic....

 

[JR]

This is one that shall require some thought, Xan.

Yup.

Canadians have written hundreds of books about what it means to be Canadian.

That in itself tells you something.

 

[BRoth]

So last night I plop in season 1-2 of The Kids in the Hall, and laugh till 4 in the a.m. while reconnecting with the show.

The whole Canadian perspective is so different from America's, and I was trying to tap into our northern neighbor's national psyche trying to peg something that I couldn't quite do. It seems there's a carefree, laid-back freedom up there. I mean, one skit where Bruce McCullough plays a pompadour-wearing banker sitting at the bar stool screeding about his life -- dropping F-bombs so beautifully -- before the lights go rave-a-delic and he starts dancing and dropping more F-bombs ... you just can't do that **** on American TV.

The show is brilliant on many levels.

So I guess I proffer a question to the fine SportsJournalists.com canuckers: What is it about your country that's great, and why? And what's your truest feelings about us down here, most of whom couldn't differentiate Medicine Hat from Manitoba on a map even if we were told exactly where to look?

I really want to understand the Canadian outlook on life.

Quick threadjack ... it's really too bad that McCullough is going down fast with the sinking ship that is Carpoolers. I guess America has ruined something good from Canada?

 

[Songbird]

This is one that shall require some thought, Xan.

Yup.

Canadians have written hundreds of books about what it means to be Canadian.

That in itself tells you something.

Have you seen the movie "Hollywood North" with Matthew Modine? About movie-making in Canada. Kinda cool, strange, but worth a viewing.

 

[Flash]

This is one that shall require some thought, Xan.

However, I will first let you know that I am one of many who has the Maple Leaf inked on her body.

Send you a dollar for the pic....

You owe me a dollar.

 

[slappy4428]

This is one that shall require some thought, Xan.

However, I will first let you know that I am one of many who has the Maple Leaf inked on her body.

Send you a dollar for the pic....

You owe me a dollar.

PM me your paypal address.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Sister Flash,

That was so worth it. I'll send a dollar and even make it Canadian currency.

All my tattoos -- save my Haida piece -- are Hibernian (harp, line from Yeats, Celtic cross) rather than Canadian.

YHS, etc

 

[Sam Mills 51]

"Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" versus "Peace, order, and good government".

Works for me. I KNEW there was something I liked about the good folks up North.

 

[friend of the friendless]

Sirs, Madames,

The Canadian (actually, more or less an Ontario thing) humour thing (Kids in the Hall, SCTV, Lorne Michaels and SNL types, Jim Carrey) has something to do with being able to watch Buffalo television growing up. What I don't understand is why the only funny Buffaloanian (Lucille Ball) came along before television.

YHS, etc

 

[JR]

A true Canadian is one who can make love in a canoe without tipping

Pierre Berton

 

[patchs]

I think it's Tim Hortons.
Or is poutine?
Just kidding, my fine Canadian SportsJournalists.commers.
You know how much I love your country.

 

[Mystery_Meat]

I thought maybe this was a Canadian version of O'Charley's, with poutine in place of the buffalo wings.

 

[KP]

Our home and native land

 

[JR]

I think it's Tim Hortons.

You're closer than you think.

Go into any small town and the biggest line-ups at drive-throughs aren't at McDonalds but at Tim's.

Every Tim's parking lot on a Saturday morning is full.

They are the official community centres of Canada.

Hey, a large double-double and an apple fritter is about as good as you can get.

 

[Dan Rydell]

Canada definitely has the better national anthem, in my opinion. I love to hear it.

And Kids in the Hall was so damn great. I gotta get that boxed set.

 

[Flash]

Why I Love Canada
By Flash

Because we rule at hockey!

Seriously, I hate that answer. And I hear it so many times. It is pedestrian and overlooks some of the greatest achievements this country has made as a participant in global society.

Albeit, the things we do well, it's hard to beat us at ... such as hockey. And ... uh ... women's hockey. And ... and ... and ... well ... junior hockey.

But I keed. I keed.

Primarily, as a society, we care. We care about our neighbours to the south, we care about what's happening on the other side of the world and we care about what's happening to our neighbours, next door, next town, next province, other side of the country.

I know that if I'm driving in a rural area of this wonderful country and my car breaks down, that someone is going to stop and help me out. I know that if this same scenario happens in certain areas of this country, like Newfoundland, I will walk up to a house, knock on the door and be fed biscuits and tea until a tow truck arrives.

I know that when global disaster strikes, those same people are going to help whomever is in need -- no matter their language, colour or creed. Take the 9/11 disaster, for example. Ganderites and everyone in the outlying areas opened their doors and let stranded travellers stay with them.

Despite the urbanization of my current city, I can still expect smiles and at least one hello from a stranger when I'm walking down Stephen Avenue.

I drove across the country in 1996 and am hoping to make a round trip next summer. I have seen things of wonderment that others will only see in pictures. There is something so amazing about each province and, when I found it 10 years ago, I was left awestruck. I had no idea. Now I want to do it with a better camera. And take the time to really stop along the way -- rediscovering the things I saw then and discovering more of what is out there.

Like what you ask? The rugged shorelines of Newfoundland, the sandy white beaches of P.E.I., the fog rising over the Bras d'Or Lakes in Nova Scotia, the untouched forest of New Brunswick, the history of Quebec City, the hustle and bustle of Ontario, the golden wheat fields of Saskatchewan, the big sky of Alberta and its Rocky Mountains, and the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. Manitoba remains the only province I have yet to visit. No territories yet, either.

With each of those different settings comes a different personality, too. But you almost have to experience it yourself to believe it. There is also that uncommon ability to laugh at ourselves. And the ability to make others laugh. Our humour is wry, dry and, for the most part, intelligent, making you thing (ref: Rick Mercer).

Our friends to the south? I see you as my brothers and sisters. Maybe you're not as globally aware -- in general terms, of course, because I know my board brethren are informed and intelligent -- and maybe you're not as globally conscious or concerned.

But we often face the same battles. We just have to deal with a lot of the stuff on a smaller scale, because we are one-tenth of your population.

And -- again, speaking generally -- the rampant arrogance is amusingly offset by this nasty little insecurity that nobody likes you.

Y'all just need to chill some ... come down off the high horse ... maybe smoke some of our B.C.-grown weed (although I hear you have some fine growth in Oregon). Have some beer ... we usually keep enough handy to share.

It's almost like you're Webby's uptight neighbour who was telling him how to landscape his yard and fix his house.

Anyway, whether some people like it or not (hi, Hank and Boom!), we're family. We don't always get along but when the chips are down, we fight together.

Cheers!

 

[Dan Rydell]

Nice work, Flash. You folks hiring up there?