It is a common criticism of Canadian Nationalism that Canadians pride themselves on what they aren't... i.e. American. During a lecture in Human Geography about culture and what makes Canadians distinct I was reminded of the well-known Molson "I am Canadian" ad-campaign (ended after Molson merged with the American Coors Brewery) and the famous 'rant' played in the 1990's.
Hey, I'm not a lumber jack Or a fur trader And I don't live in an igloo Or eat blubber Or own a dog sled And I don't know Jimmy, Sally or Suzy from Canada Although I'm sure they're really really nice I have a Prime Minister not a President I speak English and French not American And I pronounce it about not "a-boot" I can proudly sew my country's flag on my backpack I believe in peacekeeping not policing Diversity not assimilation And that the beaver is a truly proud and noble animal A toque is a hat a chesterfield is a couch And it is pronounced "zed" not "zee" "zed"! Canada is the 2nd largest landmass! The 1st nation in hockey! And the best part of North America! My name is Joe and I am Canadian!
oh...and let's not forget French-Canadians. Maybe not the best parody...but here it is:
Last night was Pat LePoidevin's CD Release of his new album Blue Tornadoes. I heard him before at Stereophonic 6 at Vogue Cinema, and was excited to hear him again. It is great to be able to such a small venue in such a small town and see a really talented artist like Pat.
THE SEARCHLIGHT BEST CLUB IN CANADA TOP 10 REVEALED! Top Ten, here we go! Over the past week we have collected thousands and thousands of your Searchlight votes along with hundreds of your blog comments narrowing down your favourite live venues in Canada... and now, we slash another 10 venues from our Top 20 to reveal the TOP 10! Aeolian Hall, London ON Amigo’s Cantina, Saskatoon SK Baba’s Lounge, Charlottetown PE Call The Office, London ON The Capital Bar, Fredericton NB George’s Fabulous Roadhouse, Sackville NB The Grad Club, Kingston ON Phog Lounge, Windsor ON Starlight Social Club, Waterloo ON Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ottawa ON
How long has the Club Been Open: It’s been open as a bar in one form or another since the early 1970’s
Why It Should Win Searchlight: Because we are the little town that could.
Five Of The Best Bands That Have Played Your Club: Corb Lund, Roomfull of Blues, Final Fantasy, Watermelon Slim, Eric’s Trip
One Of The Most Memorable Moments: About 2 years ago we decided to raise the stage, and in order to accommodate this we had to remove part of the drop ceiling which held about 50 bags of blow in insulation. We must of missed some, because during one of the shows part of this insulation fell down onto the band and crowd making people think that the roof was coming down. No one seemed to care and they keep on partying and dancing.
A Little-Known Fact About Your Club: The building itself has been around since the early 1900’s it used to be a three story hotel
Your Secret To Success: Our relationship with the university students and the community
What You Would Do To Celebrate If You Win: Would Love to throw a free show with a big name artist.
The Field Museum and the John Wayne Cover Band opened for Pat. They were entertaining but I came to see the main act. It was worth the concert beginning an hour late to hear some of his new songs. Below finally here are some pictures from that night and a full video of George the Polar Bear.
As I mentioned before, some of his music is available on the CBC Radio 3 Website. I'm far too busy and inexperienced to write a quality review, but I expect you'll see one from the phonetic elephant and/or Kellen the Aging Allisonian in the near future if you're interested.
Here's the full version of George the Polar Bear...it's not the best video/sound quality...but I figured I should get a more complete recording, so here it is:
...and here's a shorter recording from Stereophonic in January:
As I've noted a few times Canada has an array of talented musicians. Recently the CBC decided to ask what songs President Obama should listen to in order to understand what Canada is all about. (I pronounce it about, not a boot).
Insert drum roll here! The top 49 pieces of music that make upObama's Playlistare as follows.
The Top 49(Listed by artist):
Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies) Barenaked Ladies - If I Had $1,000,000 Beau Dommage – La complainte du phoque en Alaska Ben Heppner - We’ll Gather Lilacs Bruce Cockburn - Wondering Where the Lions Are Buffy Sainte-Marie - Universal Soldier Daniel Bélanger - Rêver mieux Daniel Lanois - Jolie Louise Daniel Lavoie - J'ai quitté mon île Diana Krall - Departure Bay Gilles Vigneault - Mon pays Glenn Gould - Goldberg Variations Gordon Lightfoot - Canadian Railroad Trilogy Gordon Lightfoot – Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Great Big Sea - Ordinary Day Harmonium - Pour un Instant Ian & Sylvia - Four Strong Winds James Ehnes - Barber Violin Concerto Jesse Cook - Mario Takes a Walk Joni Mitchell - Both Sides Now Joni Mitchell – A Case of You Karkwa - Oublie pas k.d. lang - Hallelujah Leonard Cohen - Democracy Leonard Cohen - Suzanne Malajube - Montréal -40°C Marie-Jo Thério - Évangeline Marjan Mozetich - Affairs of the Heart Measha Brueggergosman - I’m Going Up a Yonder Mes Aïeux - Dégénérations Michael Bublé – Home Moe Koffman - Swingin' Shepherd Blues Neil Young - Rockin' In the Free World Neil Young - Helpless Oscar Peterson Trio - Hymn to Freedom Oscar Peterson – Place St. Henri (from Canadiana Suite) Parachute Club - Rise Up Raymond Lévesque - Quand Les Hommes Vivront D'amour Rush - Closer to the Heart Sam Roberts - The Canadian Dream Shad - Brother (Watching) Stan Rogers - Northwest Passage Stompin' Tom Connors - The Hockey Song The Arrogant Worms Canada's Really Big The Guess Who American Woman The Tragically Hip - Wheat Kings The Tragically Hip - Bobcaygeon The Rankin Family - Rise Again The Weakerthans - One Great City!
So there you have it, folks. Discuss, debate, celebrate as you will!
I've been experimenting with the Google StreetView and came across a somewhat familiar image...the sign for the border to Canada in Calais, Maine. I have a similar picture I took the night I came to Mount Allison. It's pretty interesting that as time passes personal photos are being outdone by commercial companies. I would hope that sometime this service will be available in Canada, as it is in most populated areas in the US, and parts of Austrailia, Japan, and Europe.
One Canadian specialty I haven't had in a while is Poutine. You can get it from a few places in town...but it's generally not as good as I remember Harvey's to be. Here's a little snippet from the CBC back when Poutine was just becoming popular:
There is a secret Canadians whisper to each other when no foreigners are in the room. It is a fledgling secret, passed on like a rumour. But it represents nothing less than the emergence of a distinctly Canadian culture.
They are whispering: "Hey, dude, I’m hungry, let’s go have some poutine."
Not so long ago it was pretty difficult to define Canada’s national identity. Suggested definitions were usually based on exclusions, trying to reveal what we are by listing what we’re not.
Central to this type of definition was the inevitable claim that we are not American, combined sometimes with vague assertions about how pleasant we all are to each other, even the people we don’t like very much.
The core of this inability to positively define ourselves was a lack of concrete cultural artifacts. Food, for example, plays a key role in defining a nation’s culture. Can you imagine Italy without pasta and pizza, India without curry or China without chicken balls?
Fear not. Canada now can join the old and well-established cultures of the world. It has poutine – a unique dish made of French fries, cheese and gravy that evolved in Canada as a response to the cultural and environmental qualities of Canadian life.
The father of poutine is a Quebecois named Fernand Lachance. Now 80, Lachance first had his great idea in 1957 at his small restaurant in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. At first he was offering only fries and cheese curds mixed together in a plastic bag as a take-out specialty. Then one day, a local truck driver placed an order for the messy specialty and a side of gravy. Once Lachance gave him the order, the truck driver dumped the gravy into the bag, sat down at a table, cut the bag open and began to eat. Poutine was born.
The word poutine comes originally from la poutina of Southern France, which was derived from the English word pudding. The word first appeared in Canada in Acadian cuisine, where a dish of mashed potatoes, pork and spiced sauce is called poutines rapees. Roughly translated, the word poutine means "stuff stuck in a mess of other stuff which is also quite saucy."
Today poutine is available in some of Canada finest restaurants. The Ritz-Carlton constructs its poutine out of goat cheese, rendered duck skin and Yukon gold potatoes. One serving costs $24.
During the past few years, poutine has even become available in Canada from large multi-national outlets like McDonalds and Burger King.
Charlene Lo of Weber Shandrick Worldwide, the public relations company representing McDonalds Canada, says the chain is constantly searching for "specialty dishes" to introduce into national markets.
"With poutine, McDonalds did a market test in Quebec lasting nearly 10 years. Once that was determined to be successful, the decision to carry the product nationally rests with the individual franchise," Lo says.
Poutine has been picked up by franchises all across the nation. And why not, it’s a hit.
McDonalds franchises in Kamloops began selling poutine in September 2001. Anna Meyers, assistant manager of the Aberdeen McDonalds, can’t believe how well it’s selling.
"People love it, since it’s gotten cold we’re going through two pots of gravy a day," said Meyers. "At first people were a little reluctant, but now, for some customers, we have to use a special carton to give them larger portions. The regular size just isn’t big enough. … I haven’t seen anything like that with our other products."
The secret to assembling a high-level poutine? "Make sure your gravy is hot and your cheese curds are thawed, that’s the secret to making it right," Meyers says.
Still, not everyone is a poutine fan. Stephanie Koch, who works at the McDonalds in Valleyview, thinks poutine is both foreign and repellant.
"It’s gross," Koch says. "I don’t know why people eat it. It’s so fatty."
She’s right about the fatty part. According to one scale, a medium-size serving of poutine can contain more than 20 grams of fat and 450 calories. Over the course of several servings, those stats are going to add up to a lot of extra insulation, which is useful when you live in a place where the temperature drops to -30 Celsius in the winter.
Having a national identity based on nothing more than a shared dislike of the United States and being pleasant never really did seem like a solid plan. But now, thanks to Quebecois visionary and national hero Fernand Lachance, we have the first tangible (and edible) evidence of our emerging national identity.
And, as a bonus unique to cultures in advanced free market economies, the new icon of our nationality is available for eat-in or take-out.
Another note about my blog from Student Bloggers. Check them out for links and some of the best posts from student bloggers from the US, Canada, and a few other countries.
The snow might be starting to thaw from the East Coast’s big storm this week, but student bloggers in New Mexico and Canada are still in winter wonderlands. Check out the wicked winter pictures. [JakeCast; Geoff at Mount Allison]
This is a personal weblog. The opinions expressed here are my own and not necessarily those of Mount Allison University. For official University policy visit their website.
Insert drum roll here! The top 49 pieces of music that make up
