The Voice Of Reason

I was walking up a short block downtown today, from the back end of the Delta Barrington where i'd gone to get a coffee up to the entrance on the corner of Duke and Barrington, into the little shopping area where i was going to get my hair done. I spotted this inside a doorway.

There were and probably still are little short films that were aired on Canadian television that reenacted little bits of history. There was one about a family trying to escape wild brushfires, one about an immigrant couple that were building a cabin made out of sods on the Prairies. Then there was the one that the phrase in the above photo will bring back to most of us. In actual fact, the phrase didn't actually use the word "peach" but everyone knows what it means. Every Canadian, that is, and i was amused to see it graffitied on a door frame/wall.

It refers to the invention of basketball by a Canadian who, according to legend, used peach baskets for the ball to be aimed at. But because the baskets had bottoms, it took some time to climb up and fish the ball out of it so he came up with the idea of cutting the bottom out of the baskets. The caretaker of the property grumbled "I need these baskets back!" Through the cut is the Youtube of the original vignette.
( Baskets! )

Somone's got a red face today. Apparently a toll free help line for lobster fishermen inquiring about financial assistance actually connected them to a phone sex service! Oops!!! Seems two digits of the proper phone number were transposed in the advertising that went out from the Federal government! *snork*

Earlier this year, a school in New Brunswick banned the daily playing of the national anthem and the principal was actually threatened by a parent for it. The Nova Scotia government subsequently asked all it's schools to ensure the anthem was played and the local school board is going to review it's policy for that this week, just to cover all the bases in case there are parents that object to the anthem. There should be an "opt out" policy for students whose parents don't like the idea. One of the reasons the anthem is going to be played is to help promote better citizenship and it seems to me that there shouldn't be an opt out option. You're in this country, and if the anthem is played, you should respect that, no matter where you are from. That goes for any country you're visiting, i'd say. Even if you don't know the words to the anthem, you stand and give it the respect it deserves. A national anthem is important to a country, they pretty much all have one. Some of them have more religious overtones than others, so there might be objections to that, i suppose, but the point is, it's a song to represent the country. Canada's official version does mention "God" once and it's changed since i was a kid. That phrase used to say "O Canada, Glorious and free" but they decided there were too many "O Canadas" in there so took one out.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee

I rather like our anthem. It's not difficult to sing, it's got simple lyrics and isn't that complex. It sounds lovely with a full brass band with the drum roll at the start and just before the "God keep our land" bit, where it rouses up to a big finish. I like our flag, too. Also simple but very easily recognizable. And it really is true that when you are overseas, when someone realizes you're Canadian and not American, quite often they smile and seem to be a bit more tolerant when you can't speak their language or are doing typically touristy things like asking for directions or using the wrong spoon or something. I've had it happen to me. And don't be pointing out that because i come from North America i could be called an American! Citizens from the United States have taken "American" for their own and that's an end to it. It's funny, if you are from any other country in North, Central or South America, nobody is inclined to think of you as American, only if you're from Canada.

Someone from the UK on irc argued the point with me once. I forget if they were from England or Scotland, one of the two but I forget which now. When i referred to him as European, he strongly objected. Why? Your country is part of Europe. He saw my point. I won the argument. Just like Canada prefers to be identified as a country, not part of a continent for it's identity, so do the British and Irish, too, I think. They are usually known and referred to in the same way, by nationality rather than continentally. I like being Canadian, it's a pretty damn good country to be from.

I rest my case. :)