 sj |
||
|
||
Talking To Americans
|
|
|
Subject: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,Rick Mercer Date: 31 Mar 01 - 01:16 PM Want to see how stupid Americans really are? Watch my special, "Talking To Americans," Sunday night at 9:00, 9:30 here at home, on CBC-TV. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Amos Date: 31 Mar 01 - 01:20 PM Well, mate, those of us who live over here are quite aware that there are stupid people among us. Do you have some special reason for thinking this is an inherent aspect of our national character, as distinguished from being an attribute of any human population greater than 1 (or perhaps you haven't experienced any)? Or are you just being a smartass jerkoff whose mouth is bigger than his brain? Regards, A |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Peg Date: 31 Mar 01 - 01:34 PM merci beaucoup, Amos. Slainte.
|
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: mousethief Date: 31 Mar 01 - 01:42 PM All Americans are stupid jerks and all Canadians are arrogant assholes, I've been told. Don't tell me I was told wrong? Alex |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 31 Mar 01 - 01:45 PM Dear Rick Mercer : I have enjoyed much of your work, especially at 22 Minutes. However, I find your 22 Minutes' segments entitled "Talking To Americans" not only childish and distasteful, but, more often than not, obviously contrived and poorly edited. You would be wise to drop this... this... ok, I'll say it, utter fucking nonsense which alienates not just the Yanks, but any and all Canadians with two clues. I must add, though, on the other side of the coin, the segment with Bush during the campaign was priceless because it was not contrived nor childish, but, rather, showed how ignorant the new president really is. Maybe we could do a show entitled, "Talking to Rick's Newfie Buddies" ? Give 'er up, bye - she's just nare funny ! ashamedgnu from New Brunswick |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: mousethief Date: 31 Mar 01 - 01:48 PM Nothing like stirring up cross-border rivalries. Maybe he's trying to start a war? Not sure what that would accomplish, though. If I recall, the last war between us (The Pig War, mid 1800s, between Washington and B.C.) ended it something of a draw. Alex |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,leeneia Date: 31 Mar 01 - 01:52 PM Yes, Alex, you were told wrong. Rick: I guess I am stupid, because I find your post most confusing. When you say watch your show "here" do you mean in your country (whatever that may be)? When you say "9, 9:30" do you mean 9 or 9:30? Is that your time? If so, what zone are you broadcasting from? And what is CBC-TV? I haven't had a TV in my home since 1958, so I am not hep to the jive re TV. (If you hang around folkies much, you will find that not bothering with TV is quite common.) Well, gotta run. It's too nice a day to waste on people like you. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: mousethief Date: 31 Mar 01 - 01:57 PM Boy, we've been insulted by the best, it seems. Hey, gnu, if it's any consolation, you don't seem like an arrogant asshole at all, and I'm willing to disbelieve what I was told simply on your evidence! Alex |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 31 Mar 01 - 01:58 PM Then we're still ahead. Careful, or we'll piss in your water. I'm serious. If you don't stop courting the PQ, we'll have no recourse but to separate THEIR ass and take back the water resources that will eventually feed the eastern seaboard of the US... the largest civil engineering project the world has ever seen is underway and has been for a lot of years. You may have seen it in Ahhnold's movie where the german guy steals a whack of gold and transports it through the water supply tunnels. This system will eventually be fed from northern Quebec... er, Old Quebec. gnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: mousethief Date: 31 Mar 01 - 02:00 PM Who was that to, Gnu? I'm not courting Quebec. And y'all shit in my water, well, the citizens of Victoria, BC do. Which really hacks us off here in Washington State. So we try to steal all your fish. Heck, maybe the Pig War never really ended. But I'll still say to anybody who listens that Vancouver, BC is the most beautiful city in the world. Alex |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 31 Mar 01 - 02:03 PM mousethief said.... Hey, gnu, if it's any consolation, you don't seem like an arrogant asshole at all, and I'm willing to disbelieve what I was told simply on your evidence! Hey... watch it ! Widen your sample size before you do any analytical stats. They're all around us, Yanks and Canucks both. Keep looking over your shoulder ! warygnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 02:12 PM Rick, Doesn't look like your show is getting any rave reviews yet, but the show hasn't even aired. I think those of us who haven't seen this special should reserve judgement. I don't watch TV much, but I will try to tape it. I still like going to the movies and Sunday night I will be watching "O Brother, Where Art Thou" for the second time. Good luck Rick. wdyat12 |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Joe Offer Date: 31 Mar 01 - 02:14 PM Yeah, Alex, it is a wonderful town - but last time I was in Vancouver, I went to Mass and the priest gave his sermon and talked mostly about Americans. Is that all they talk about up there? -Joe Offer- |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 31 Mar 01 - 02:29 PM Alex... that was to Yanks in general. Your political leaders are courting the PQ's, Parti Quebecois, who have just won another election in La Belle Province and have vowed, AGAIN, to separate. Not two clues twixt the lot. But politics is politics, you know. Whoever can separate the big Q from Canada will be rich beyond their wildest dreams over the water rights alone. IF... IF .... IF they can leave without fulfilling the agreement they signed when they entered confederation, which is to relinquish Ungava and Prince Rupert's Land. Anyway, it's a political type thread topic and it's extremely upsetting to every single Canadian, PQ's with no brains included, so that's the end of my discussing it. 'Cept to say that Jacques Parizeau said there would be a fight if Canada tried to redraw Quebec's borders and I agree with him... he jus' don't know what kinda fight he's in for. The last time they they tried that crap, in 1973, they had the barrel of a gun shoved WAY UP THEIR COLLECTIVE ASSES. tryingtocalmdowngnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Big Mick Date: 31 Mar 01 - 02:33 PM See.......where I come from........even though we are just iigggnereant........Canadians are also Americans.......but then we are taught to be literal.....ya know......words have meaning and all that........ But, at any rate, this poor child has a day job as a flamer. This is a simple attempt to stir up a viewership by insulting us and thereby creating an audience. I would suggest that, instead of playing into this poor creatures snare that you just boycott his show.........shouldn't be hard, there are only........what?........maybe 35 TV's in all of Canada anyway.........right?. Now settle down, I was just kidding......why, some of my best friends are Canadians...........LOL. Ignore this obvious attempt to get some free publicity. Mick |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 31 Mar 01 - 02:43 PM Big Mick... you got that right. I think Rick Mercer, Greg Thomey, Cathy Jones and THE extremely talented and well respected Mary Walsh ( the cast of 22 Minutes - one of the best Canuck comedy shows ) are the best. But Mercer's piss poor attempt at fame with this awful stench should be avoided at all costs. I wouldn't even boycott it; I'll just pretend it never happened and hope it dies faster than a dead thread. gnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: flattop Date: 31 Mar 01 - 02:49 PM Perhaps we should not assume that GUEST,Rick Mercer is the real Rick Mercer. This sounds more like an ill considered publicity stunt, perhaps by someone at Slater Street Films in Halifax to get the show ratings up. When Rick was interviewed on CBC Radio yesterday, he had a lot more grace. This show is a collection of pieces where Rick asks Americans questions about Canada, usually made-up nonsensical questions. He admitted that Americans had little reason to learn about Canada. We Canadians have lots of reasons that I won't spell out to learn about the country on our borders with ten times our population, with economic and military clout, with a president who steals elections and who at times appears to be short a few IQ points. Mercer didn't call Americans stupid on the radio. Instead he indicated that the joke revolved around American's urge to help when they knew nothing about Canada. He indicated that he had to exclude Americans who knew about Canada. His skill in manipulating people with his fast talking Newfie banter was part of the game. He also chuckled at how Canadians know too much about the U.S. That too may be funny. The 9:00, 9:30 thing - Newfoundland has a half-assed time zone that is ½ hour out of whack with the rest of humanity. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 02:56 PM As an ignorant American, I am learning a lot about Canadian politics from this thread. Keep it up guys! wdyat12 |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Hollowfox Date: 31 Mar 01 - 02:58 PM I wonder why Rick chose to post his little advert on the Mudcat? It's not folk-oriented. Most of the Mudcat population can't get CBC-TV (much as I'd like to). I suppose I should be flattered that he'd think this USA-based site is such a high-class joint that he'd want our viewership. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST Date: 31 Mar 01 - 02:59 PM Dont' talk to them, just love them. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Jeri Date: 31 Mar 01 - 03:05 PM Everybody who thinks that was really Rick coming here to plug his show, raise your hands. OK - I've got a great deal for you on a really cool bridge... |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,Jean Poutine Date: 31 Mar 01 - 03:06 PM Apparently, it is not ony Americans who are ignorant when it comes to things Canadian. Some Canadians show that they're just as ignorant. Consider Gnu, who said, "Alex... that was to Yanks in general. Your political leaders are courting the PQ's, Parti Quebecois, who have just won another election in La Belle Province and have vowed, AGAIN, to separate." Just won another election? They won the election in 1998. Quebec is closer to the next election than to the one Gnu thinks the Parti Quebecois "just won."
|
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Big Mick Date: 31 Mar 01 - 03:18 PM Dammittaaallll Jeri.........I thought you loved me???????? Shit, everytime I run down a path, you come up with that friggin' common sense thing!!!!! Stoppit willya? But don't underestimate The Mudcat's audience. While I don't think that the audience one would get from our Canadian, and those of us who live close enough to her to get her TV stations, is significant, I do think that we have a large enough audience for a fight to have merit in promotion. (howzat for a sentence........sure hope Mrs. Boeve isn't reading this). Especially in the mind of a promo person. Anyway............get outa my reactionary case, willya??????................LOL. All the best, Mick |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Peter T. Date: 31 Mar 01 - 03:19 PM Oh, ho hum. Americans don't know much about Canada. Canadians are obsessed with Americans. MORE REVELATIONS AT 10. This just in: George W. Bush has no interest in the environment or poor people. STOP THE PRESSES!!!! yours, Peter T. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 31 Mar 01 - 03:22 PM flattop... hear ya loud and clear and sgree with a lot of what you posted, but, still, a lot of these 22 Minutes segemnts were pretty poor. I have always lived by the motto, **** 'em if they can't take a joke, but, again, some of these segments were contrived and childish. So much so that I was embarrased for Rick. BTW, for the benefit of you Yanks, Rick is a very talented writer, comedian and actor who has made me laugh and provoked me to ponder many, many times. It's just this one bit that upsets me. AND it's not just me. Many of my friends are of like mind. BTW BTW, flattop said... We Canadians have lots of reasons that I won't spell out to learn about the country on our borders with ten times our population, with economic and military clout.... Whoa up bucko ! The Commonwealth has a population far more than ten times the population of the US, and has far more economic, military and political clout than the US. Perhaps we tend to learn more about them than they do of us because we have have to do SOMETHING during these damn snowstorms like I'm doing right now. gnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST Date: 31 Mar 01 - 03:23 PM I expect the enviornment will soon be legislated out of existance, so it won't be a problem anymore. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 31 Mar 01 - 03:30 PM Jean.... Even though I am drinking American beer after shovelling another barrage of Canadian snow, I'm drinking it like a true Canuck, fast and furious, thereby clouding my posts. My apologies to all. You are, of course, correct. The PQ did not recently win an election. They just elected a new idiot leader of their party to lead them to separation and domination by corporate America. ignorant&inebriatedgnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 03:33 PM gnu, Hobble around on your crutches again and maybe your good neighbors will shovel you out again. wdyat12 |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 31 Mar 01 - 03:38 PM Well, maybe I should have, because that's what got me into trouble in this thread in the first place. Snowblowed/shovelled my drive and then the neighbour's drive and he bought me a case of Bud Light as a thank you for doing his drive a number of times this winter. And the ructions did begin, and the peelers did arrive.... gnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 03:41 PM American beer seems to make you more aggessive gnu. wdyat12 |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: MarkS Date: 31 Mar 01 - 03:45 PM Don't worry about the Canadians, folks. From what I hear about the rate of population increase in the various Provences, within a couple of decades they will all be speaking French(!)so we will have even more reason to pay no attention to them. But oh, I will miss Creemore Springs beer. Sigh Mark |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 31 Mar 01 - 04:04 PM Buggered if I know or care what all this is about - but it does seem that anytime anybody says anything unkind about "Americans" there are going to be Americans leaping out incandescent with fury.
Why take it so heavy? If there's anything 100 per cent certain in this life, it is that, if you hit the roof when people rub you up the wrong way, there is going to be a queue of people lining up rub you up the wrong way, just to see you hit the roof. Human nature, not even malicious, just human. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 04:08 PM Not just Human Nature Mcgrath, all nature. Kick 'em when their down kinda thing. Birds do it alot. Pecking order and all that. wdyat12 |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 31 Mar 01 - 04:18 PM wdyat12... American, Canadian, Australian, German.... notfussygnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,Bruce O. Date: 31 Mar 01 - 04:24 PM You're pretty late in this game. American bashing was on the Scots-L newsgroup about 2 years ago. [When I go abroad I try to disguise the fact that I'm an American. I've fooled a lot of Americans that way, but probably no one else.] |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 04:25 PM I admit gnu, I have only seen birds in America do this. wdyat12 |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: McGrath of Harlow Date: 31 Mar 01 - 04:33 PM Pecking order? I'd have thought America was rather high in the pecking order.
I'm sometimes reminded of the Lion in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy taps him on the nose. "What did you do that for?" |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 04:37 PM McGrath, Americans get pecked all the time. Sometimes I wonder if we deserve any respect at all for what we do all over the world. wdyat12 |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,George W. LaBouche Date: 31 Mar 01 - 04:43 PM I think its absolutely despotical that our Canadian brethren should so dispartridge their American friends who live in America. It is inherent that we keep the lines of communication open, for when we stop talking to one another, we no longer communicate. To Mr. McGrath, we Americans are not any more likely to become incandescent when we're picked on than Canadians, and it's a low blow to inseminate that we have poor bladder control. Thank you.
|
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 31 Mar 01 - 04:44 PM Raising the standard of living of many who are less fortunate is a lot of what you Yanks, and we other "developed" nations, do. Whether it is in the strategic interests of the large corporations or not makes not a lot of difference to those who benefit. gnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 31 Mar 01 - 04:47 PM George W. LaBouche.... Don H. ... is that you ? gnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 04:54 PM gnu, I work for General Dynamics. We build state of the art death ships for the United States Navy. General Dynamics is a bottom-line corporation that doesn't care for the children in Iraq or the people who build their profits. I don't know what corporations are like in Canada, but I hope they are not as myopic as General Dynamics. George, See we are all still talking here. wdyat12 |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 31 Mar 01 - 05:04 PM I'm with you, MarkS. Creemore Springs is the best beer I've ever had.
I can name all of the provinces... I keep hoping the Canadian government will think that's a good reason to let me have dual citizenship. That, and the fact that I have a lot of family in Canada. No luck so far. They keep saying I have to have a job and be a useful citizen. (*sigh*) Any of you Mudcat Canucks have connections with the Canadian citizenship people? |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: catspaw49 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 05:13 PM Coming in late here, several items leap to my attention after reading this thread.
1) I don't know Rick Mercer. Spaw |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Jeri Date: 31 Mar 01 - 05:24 PM Spaw, I'm ablsolutely sure I know who posted as George W. If all reasonable US citizens abroad are pretending to not be from the US, that explains why the people who act like idiots look like a majority. That, and the jerks are just louder. Trust me - I've been in situations where I've wanted to crawl under a table. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,tired of flamers Date: 31 Mar 01 - 05:30 PM What a shame. Sure, some will take it in good spirit, but many will be a bit hurt or angry, and think all Canadians are jerks. Of course that's what the little mischief maker(s) who started this thread are after. The TV actor Rick Mercer has nothing to do with this, but it seems to parallel the thread below, regarding intent, and what some of the community think of others here. Sad. I guess it's just been a boring week for a couple of people. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: flattop Date: 31 Mar 01 - 05:44 PM It could still be a publicity stunt. If so, it was effective because it got us talking. Publicity often depends on word of mouth. In the internet age, does word of finger count? |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Ferret Date: 31 Mar 01 - 05:51 PM You can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, when they have tried every thing else. The Canadian's could have had American know-how, French cuisine, British Government. But ended up with American Government. British cuisine, French know-how, All the best Ferret |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Jon Freeman Date: 31 Mar 01 - 06:00 PM I think I'll add a post to get me nearer to winning my bet with myself. My new game here is betting how quickly a certain threads will hit the 100 posts. How about by midnight EST - Mudcat April Fools Day? Jon |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Ferret Date: 31 Mar 01 - 06:10 PM This may help then Jon all the best ferret |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 06:11 PM Jon, Which threads are you betting on? wdyat12 |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: flattop Date: 31 Mar 01 - 06:18 PM A couple I knew went to travel by train threough europe and to visit his relatives in Italy. She didn't speak much Italian. They sewed Canadian flags to their jackets so that they wouldn't be mistaken for Americans. People kept coming up to them saying, 'I'm so glad to find someone who speaks English.' After a couple of days they ripped the flags off their jackets and spoke only Italian. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Peg Date: 31 Mar 01 - 06:27 PM Jon, you crack me up!!! How's life in North Wales? Peg p.s. I think you may win some money... |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 31 Mar 01 - 06:34 PM OK, I see we have a Ferret here now. I just want to say, for the record, this is not the same ferret with whom I got together (and with whom I subsequently broke up) as a result of this thread. Carol |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Jon Freeman Date: 31 Mar 01 - 06:49 PM Wdyatt: threads which contain outrageous or inflammatory remarks or suggestions. Peg, I left North Wales in Feburary and I am now on the East Coast of the UK in Norfolk. Jon |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Peg Date: 31 Mar 01 - 06:55 PM Jon; I didn't know you moved. I hope it is as nice as Llandudno...and that you are happy there.
|
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Jon Freeman Date: 31 Mar 01 - 07:12 PM Thanks Peg. Norfolk is quite different to North Wales - I wouldn't mind betting it is the flattest county in the UK but I like it here. I live near a small seaside town called Cromer and I quite enjoy taking my parent's dog for a walk along the beach around there. Norwich, the city, is about 30 minutes from here and is nice and more importantly, I have found one good folk club and one Irish session there so I'm happy. Jon |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Jeri Date: 31 Mar 01 - 07:27 PM Jon, "We're Norfolk and Good" by the Kippers is on this recording. (Unfortunately, no lyrics are there.) |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: kendall Date: 31 Mar 01 - 07:46 PM When I was touring Scotland, I took a lady friend along. She was trying to buy something, and couldnt get it through her head to just double the stated price. At the time, the pound was worth $1.90. Finally, in frustration, she turned to me and said "How much is that in REAL money?" I wanted to leave her there. This is the kind of crap that gives Americans a bad name. Anyway, I have about a dozen Canadian friends, and whoever this guy is, he will have to work harder than that to make me change my mind about Canadians. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: catspaw49 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 08:11 PM So Kendall....You're saying you already hate Canadians then? Spaw |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: kendall Date: 31 Mar 01 - 10:07 PM Right spaw, I hate all my friends |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: catspaw49 Date: 31 Mar 01 - 10:13 PM That's good Kendall, makes liking your enemies a lot easier. Very forward thinking for an old fart like yourself. I hate you Kendall.......just thought you should know. Sorry that I'm not Canadian. Spaw |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: kendall Date: 31 Mar 01 - 10:43 PM thats ok, you are from Ohio, thats worse. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,Bruce O. Date: 31 Mar 01 - 10:53 PM Catspaw, I don't go abroad to talk to Americans. There's no one I'd like to talk less to there. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Matt_R Date: 31 Mar 01 - 11:03 PM Kendall reminds me of that Oscar Wilde quote about the ass George Bernard Shaw "Shaw is the perfect kind of fellow...he has no enemies, and all his friends hate him." |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: mkebenn Date: 31 Mar 01 - 11:35 PM I don't argue with Canadians, they might stop making Molson's and Sleeman's. Mike |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Matt_R Date: 31 Mar 01 - 11:36 PM HOSERS!! |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 01 Apr 01 - 03:10 AM Ball is our court now Matt R. wdyat12 |
|
Subject: Playing To The Cheep Seats From: Clinton Hammond Date: 01 Apr 01 - 04:07 AM Well, D'UH the REAL rick mercer has NOTHING to do with this thread... LOL!!! 22 Minutes is one of my favorite shows... up there with History Bites, Red Green, and the Clive Anderson version of Who's Line Is It Anyway... And on 22 Minutes, the oft run segment Talking To Americans is possibly my favorite... The dislcaimer at the beginning of 22 Minutes is that it's SATIRE!!! And most satire works how? Though, that's right kiddos, EXADURATION!! Some elements of TTA's are blown WAY out of proportion for the sake of a laugh... Some elements are staged, some are coached... but some just happen... The thing that get's me are the americans who jump up and down and cry 'foul' when they see it... That's the stuff that's so funny it's sad... ;-) |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 01 Apr 01 - 04:15 AM :> Wdyat12 |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: flattop Date: 01 Apr 01 - 09:27 AM A British librarian, from Newcastle on the river what-it's-name, told me that he was often bothered by people when he traveled with his high end photo gear. Too many of them would see his equipment and ask him to take their pictures in front of tourist attractions. He would deliberately chop their heads off in the pictures he took so that they would have a little surprise when they got their film developed. They would probably make their own assumptions and tell others about this stupid British tourist who had tons of equipment but couldn't take a picture. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 01 Apr 01 - 09:47 AM ....does word of finger count? flattop, that's priceless. gnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: flattop Date: 01 Apr 01 - 10:09 AM Thanks gnu. You're a maritimer with a truly sick sense of humour. CarolC told me that you live up the French coast. Where are you located? Contrary to what Carol wrote elsewhere, I have never lived in New Brunswick but I once spent a week in a cabin where the Buctouche River ploughs into the Atlantic. Nice little town Buctouche, great bakery, friendly people, lots of empty coast nearby. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 01 Apr 01 - 10:27 AM Why, thank you. That's the nicest thing anyone said to me all week. The French coast ? Well, I suppose you might call it that, depending on your persuasion. I'm half french and I've never heard it before. Perhaps it's the 3/4 Irish in me. I live near Moncton. gnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Jon Freeman Date: 01 Apr 01 - 10:40 AM gnu, 1/2 + 3/4 = 1 1/4 ???? |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: flattop Date: 01 Apr 01 - 10:45 AM Obviously gnu's a big man who enjoyed math at school. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: flattop Date: 01 Apr 01 - 10:48 AM Gnu, I believe that it was called The French Coast in tourist brochures. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 01 Apr 01 - 11:12 AM Fuzzy theory. I am technically 1/2 French and 1/2 Irish decent, but, culturally, Je get along en francaise et la musique d'Acadie, but I'm more Irish Trad. Thus the 1 1/4. Right on both counts, flattop. Je m'appelle "le grand tete rouge" and I'm an engineer. Although, nowadays, my hair is more of a bald colour. As for the tourist brochures, I bet they don't talk about the new HUUUUUGE new swine factory in Bouctouche. French Coast.... yeah, I like it. Hope it draws lots of tourists. gnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Amergin Date: 01 Apr 01 - 12:21 PM I had a pet Canadian once...I loved that little bastard....I would walk him everyday....play fetch with him......wrestle with him....and play tug of war with him....did just about everything a boy and his Canadian could do.....but one day, we let him out to go potty....and he somehow got loose from our fenced in yard...Well, I went to go let him in, and he was not there.....so feeling a bit frantic, I wandered the streets of Bonners, calling out his name, trying to find him.....Well, I found his broken body lying by the railroad tracks.....He was still alive....With tears streaming down my cheeks, I carried him back to the house and me and mom rushed him to the vet....The vet told us that he would be paralysed for life...and that the kindest thing we could do for him was to put him down....so we gave the consent and went home and buried him in the back yard.... I swore then, I would never have another pet Canadian....though I still remember him fondly...I just don't think I could go through that heartache again... |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 01 Apr 01 - 12:35 PM Think of how HE would feel. He would want you to get another one. Don't punish some poor Canadian who needs a good home just because you feel guilty about him getting loose. His death is not your fault. Let it go and you can love again. Think of all the wonderful memories - would you rather have never known him at all ? sobbinggnu |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Peter T. Date: 01 Apr 01 - 01:22 PM Amergin, you were given bad advice. All Canadians are paralysed for life, it is part of our upbringing, a mixture of cold weather and Calvinism. Your little pet was doing just fine (for a Canadian). Perhaps even something of a crazy extrovert, it sounds to me. yours, Peter T. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: artbrooks Date: 01 Apr 01 - 01:25 PM Most of the Canadians I've met have been pretty nice folks, and so have most of the US citizens. I guess I could add in almost all of the Irish and Brits and even a few of the French. It's a fact that loud obnoxious people stand out where ever they choose to demonstrate the fact that their collective heads are in rectal defilade, and maybe we stand out more in Canada than Canadians stand out in the US is because there are more of us wandering around (except in Winter (October to May) when NOBODY goes to Canada if they can avoid it). Did this thread really start because of a Canadian TELEVISION SHOW? Did a Canadian really say in an earlier post that a neighbor paid him off for driveway clearance with a case of Bud Light?! The vast wasteland is obviously moving north at a breakneck pace. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,Rick Mercer Date: 01 Apr 01 - 01:57 PM Don't forget! Tonight's the night for my special, "Talking To Americans," at 9:00, 9:30 here at home, on CBC-TV. Americans, please remember that the times are Daylight Savings Times, even though it will already be dark by then. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Clinton Hammond Date: 01 Apr 01 - 02:05 PM guest... Rein it in, eh... yer not so funny as you think you're being... |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Bill D Date: 01 Apr 01 - 02:19 PM new census figure show that whatever America is, it is changing rapidly! No one seems to like it, but a whole lot of folks seem to want to come here! Maybe they are intending to make it a better place by making it more Latino/Korean/German/Chinese/Russian/Vietnamese/Hottentot/Eskimo or whatever... we Americans are pretty clever...soon we will be such a mish-mash, that NONE of your stereotypes will fit! |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Clinton Hammond Date: 01 Apr 01 - 02:34 PM Soon you'll be a mish-mash?!?!?! You've always been a mish-mash, no? Isn't that the whole melting pot idea? :-) |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: gnu Date: 01 Apr 01 - 02:43 PM artbrooks said.... Did a Canadian really say in an earlier post that a neighbor paid him off for driveway clearance with a case of Bud Light?! Yeah. That's what I asked for. I LIKE it. I'm having one ( yeah...right...one ) right now, along with some Yankee grown peanuts, while I'm typing on my Yankee keyboard, inputing data into my Yankee computer... you get the idea. I like the Yanks... they make some cool stuff and I can get fresh fruit and veggies all year round as long as I pay whatever the Commonwealth wants for fuel to get them here. Why, they even speak English, sort of, and, if it weren't for their screwed up political system, I'd support some sort of free trade with them. Anyway, as far as the beer goes, it's just Blue with a different label - read the label...it's BLUE - except that Blue doesn't donate to my favourite charity and Bud does. ProudCanadiangnu enjoying Bud Light(s) |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Indy Lass Date: 01 Apr 01 - 03:43 PM He should be able to poke fun at Americans (Rick M.), heck, Jay Leno does it! And some of us just laugh; others watch in horrified disbelief...I for one do believe in the "dumbing down" of Americans today. Look at who 'we' 'voted' for. Our children are raised at the electronic 'busom' of our society which is controlled by companies who try to sell our children carbonated sugar water, a product so inexpensive to produce that they can buy expensive ad time on TV constantly...American children know less about Canadians than Canadian children know about Canada. We (hubby and I)went to the U. of Waterloo for grad school and know a little about how Canadians view Americans and I can say that most of the people in grad school with us who were Canadian now have major jobs in government and international relations. Can't say that about American aquaintances... |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Indy Lass Date: 01 Apr 01 - 03:47 PM ooops -that should read 'Canadian children know about Americans'... sorta proves my point :/ |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Amergin Date: 01 Apr 01 - 03:47 PM What I find really sad is that folks from other nations know more about our history than we do... |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Lyrical Lady Date: 01 Apr 01 - 03:53 PM Recently, I celebrated a friend's birthday at a tea house. Of course, we had to have our tea leaves read! I was told that the next man in my life would be an 'American'. Mousethief...who ever told you that all American's are stupid jerks just has to be wrong! LL ... a very 'friendly and polite' Canadian. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Clinton Hammond Date: 02 Apr 01 - 01:47 AM Well... -I- watched the show and it was killer funny! ;-) |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 02 Apr 01 - 02:13 AM Well I'm satisfied. I didn't get to see the show (don't get the CBC, unfortunately), but this thread contains one of the most beautiful sights in the world... two Maritimers sharing a bit of humour. (*sigh*) |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Lyrical Lady Date: 02 Apr 01 - 03:14 AM Yes Clinton ... it was ...Do you think Prime Minister Jean Poutin will agree? LL |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: flattop Date: 02 Apr 01 - 06:38 AM Peter has a good point, a Canadian stiffy needs to be put out of his misery. Amerigin seems to have acted with best intentions. He done his American heritage proud although the American Rifle Association may whine over a missed opportunity. The part that troubles me is the Canadian heading outside the fence when Amerigin let him out to do potty. The Canadian must have been ill. A healthy, sociable Canadian would have headed for his Amerigin's room. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: flattop Date: 02 Apr 01 - 06:42 AM I think I confused two post - it's early - so shoot me. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Dave the Gnome Date: 02 Apr 01 - 09:12 AM What's all the fuss? Americans, Canadians, Mexicans? All the same aren't they? Dave the Gnome |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Peg Date: 02 Apr 01 - 09:29 AM We're all human beings, yes. But not everyone thinks that way, Dave. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Dave the Gnome Date: 02 Apr 01 - 09:38 AM Cheers Peg - I was hoping to insult quite a few people before someone spotted that! Well done anyway. Dave the Gnome |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Mike Regenstreif Date: 02 Apr 01 - 08:51 PM I watched the show and much of it was pretty funny. However, the levels of complete ignorance exhibited by George W. Bush and Al Gore, who were both filmed as candidates for president, and the governors of Arkansas and Michigan (Michigan is a border state), was both sad and scary. Mike Regenstreif |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Burke Date: 02 Apr 01 - 08:59 PM Jon, You lost. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Jon Freeman Date: 02 Apr 01 - 09:54 PM Burke, I felt pretty sure I would loose (although betting with myself, I also won). Being serious for a second, not that I really care (and I post plenty of my own nonsense, and one persons nonsense is another's enjoyment, etc.) I guess the point I was trying to make was that in MC, an opening post such as the start of this was guaranteed to reach 100, the only debate was how quickly. Jon |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Rollo Date: 02 Apr 01 - 10:25 PM ... America... wait, this does ring a bell... Oh yes... isn't it that part of the world we used to shove all them trouble makers into, after the unlucky 1848 revolution? But otherwise quite uninteresting. They divide it into three parts, I guess. One of them is this wilderness in the north inhabited by eskimos and french-speaking lumberjacks. Alaska or something like that. The second part is this troublemaker country which pollutes the world with chewing gum and bad sit-coms. And tries to breakdown our export industries, of course. Ahm... Hollywood! Yes, that was the name. And the third one is... AH... I remember now... Peperoni Land. where they allways have revolutions and all the illegal houshold hands from the second country are brought back to when they are pregnant from their bosses. Oh I nearly forgot... The Sunshine Village For Senior Nazi Leaders down south. Very important nowadays, since they support our cocaine markets. Three,nay, FOUR good reasons to be european. *GGG* Don't worry, lads, here in the old world we can't stand our neighbors, either! No reason to start war for pigs, expecially not when Foot and Mouth Diesease is abroad... *GGGGG* |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: wdyat12 Date: 03 Apr 01 - 03:17 AM Most American effort in my city hurts someone else in the world. I am a part of this American scheme. I work for General Dynamics. They hurt people, even the people that build their profits. Nader was correct. Bath Iron Works, in Bath Maine, used to do commercial work when I signed on. That was 20 years before General Dynamics took over the company. Yes, I am having a mid-career crisis. Yes, I have joined the Peace Action Committee in their protests in front of "Mahogany Row." That is just not enough. I have become a union activist not just for the people that work at BIW, but for the people all over the world that we effect. Rick Mercer, You want to talk to an American? Talk to me. I have a story to tell you. Peter Woodruff AKA wdyat12
|
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,petr Date: 03 Apr 01 - 03:31 PM Rick Mercer (I think hes a great comedian) got bis comeuppance when about year ago he was awarded some prize (some tv thing) and Alexa McDonough the leader of the NDP party crashed the event and started interviewing Rick and asking embarrassing questions. Rick was completeley nonplussed. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Clinton Hammond Date: 03 Apr 01 - 05:18 PM yes Peg... we're all human beings... and as soon as we all sart ACTING like humans, we can all be treated like humans... |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: mousethief Date: 03 Apr 01 - 05:22 PM You've got that backwards, Clinton. As soon as you treat people like humans, they are more likely to act like humans. Alex |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,Tom Cattermole North vancouver BC Date: 07 Jan 04 - 02:34 PM Re: Talking to Americans, If the shoe fits wear it. If the truth hurts bare it and if the face in the television screen looks familiar - ha-ha! |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: jimmyt Date: 07 Jan 04 - 03:18 PM Joe Clone, perhaps moving this out of music, but instead of to BS, how about the toilet where this kind of attitude belongs? |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Clinton Hammond Date: 07 Jan 04 - 03:20 PM "how about the toilet where this kind of attitude belongs?" Says who? Says YOU? Tough! |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 07 Jan 04 - 05:11 PM Talking to Americans is very funny. Rick Mercer is very, very funny. This Hour Has 22 Minutes is also very, very funny. Any comedy show created by, and with a cast entirely made up of Newfoundlanders couldn't possibly be anything but extremely funny. Canadians are the funniest people in the world, and Newfoundlanders are the funniest Canadians. (Although not all Newfoundlanders consider themselves Canadian). I know these things because I'm married to a Newfoundlander. Interestning how things turn out. Having said all of that, it's pretty obvious to someone from the US (like me) that a lot of "Talking to Americans" is pretty contrived and the people are set up to look much stupider than they probably are. Personally I don't have a problem with that. US Americans do that sort of thing to other US Americans on TV all the time. And Canadians do it to other Canadians, too. My only complaint about This Hour Has 22 Minutes these days it that Mary Walsh is no longer on the show. She's a brilliant comedienne. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: LadyJean Date: 07 Jan 04 - 11:29 PM Right, a few of us in the U.S. (Though not me.) saw "Talking to Americans" and got the message we get from such programs, "They all hate us." This leads to the popular philosophy, "Why should we care what they think, they all hate us." Which leads to people supporting George W. Bush. I stopped believing in the inherent virtue of all Canadians when I started telling them about my housemate from Newfoundland. People who didn't know him assumed he was a bum, because he was a "Newf". "He isn't a Canadian, he's a Newf." Somebody actually said that! |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 08 Jan 04 - 02:47 PM I'm not quite sure I got what you are saying, LadyJean, but "Talking to Americans" is/was made by Rick Mercer, who is a Newfoundlander himself. Newfoundland is an amazing place with a very interesting history. It was its own country, and not a part of Canada, until 1949. My father-in-law doesn't consider himself Canadian because he was born before Newfoundland became a part of Canada. My husband, who was born and raised in Newfoundland after Confederation, is proudly Canadian. I've met quite a few Newfoundlanders since I married JtS. All of the ones I've met have great respect for the US and for US Americans. I've not yet met anyone from Newfoundland who hates, or even disrespects US Americans. My father-in-law tells me that before Newfoundland became a part of Canada, when Newfoundlanders left the island looking for work, mostly they went to the US, most particularly New England (especially Boston). Also, the US put three military bases on the island and not only gave Newfoundlanders jobs, but also paid them twice what the other employers on the island would pay. As a result, many Newfoundlanders wanted their island to become a part of the US instead of Canada when the choice was made. But in the end, Canada got Newfoundland, which meant that the people who left the island looking for work then had to go to other parts of Canada. This created an influx of Newfoundlanders into other parts of Canada in much greater numbers than before. I think this probably created a situation much the same as in the US when large numbers of people were immigrating to the US from places like Ireland, Italy, and Poland. And we know the results of that: stereotypes and derogatory jokes told at the expense of these groups of people. I've never met a Newfoundlander who fits the stereotype that seems to be prevalent about them in Canada. The Newfoundlanders I know are some of the most intelligent and industrious people I've ever met. But it helps to understand Newfoundland humor as well. Everybody is fair game, and the best Newfie jokes are told by Newfoundlanders themselves. I will also say that I've never met a Canadian from other provinces besides Newfoundland and Labrador who hates US Americans. I've been very warmly recieved by pretty much all of the people I've met while in Canada. I feel just as at home in Canada as I do in the US. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: jimmyt Date: 08 Jan 04 - 03:06 PM I would agree with what you said about Canadians being very friendly and not hating Americans also, Carol. I have made many trips up there and have found the people to be very helpful, friendly and funny. It is only here in the forum that I have heard the antiAmerican sentament from Canadians. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: dianavan Date: 09 Jan 04 - 03:03 AM Since I was born in the U.S. and I am a Canadian citizen too, I have to add my two cents. I've been here for almost 30 years (no we were not draft dodgers). Yes, I am angry with my neighbors to the south where the culture of oppression is alive and well. The apathy of those left behing is physically apparent. According to my children, Americans are all too fat! To be fair, I realize that America is very public and is in everyone's face. When that is your nature, you leave yourself wide open to criticism. So America... you are big, bold and brassy. You are also loud and ignorant. You are all out of poetry. You need a facelift and a major diet. You need to learn to share and take turns. You are such cowards that you will sacrifice your personal freedom out of fear. You are afraid because you believe the lies of a man you didn't even elect. You roll over like a dead dog. You submit to fingerprinting. You are manipulated by criminals. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: beadie Date: 09 Jan 04 - 11:07 AM Speaking as an American, I believe that our collective smarts are variable depending on the circumstance. That is to say, the relative proportion of us who demonstrate monumental stupidity is either greater or lesser as a function of the importance of the subject under debate at the moment or the decision that is to be made. This is most evident during election time (witness the 2000 debacle) and has been a source of material for pundits, comics, and students of human folly for decades. One of my favorite observations on this phenomenon is attributed to H. L. Menckenm who reportedly said: "Nobody ever went broke because he bet against the intelligence of the American public." |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,Martin Gibson Date: 09 Jan 04 - 11:37 AM dianavan Please don't come back. I see why their are mad cows in Canada. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 09 Jan 04 - 11:48 AM dianavan, your behavior reminds me more of the kinds of people you're criticizing than anything else. Your generalizations make you sound more ignorant than enlightened. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,Martin Gibson Date: 09 Jan 04 - 11:55 AM Is dianavan a mad cow? |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 09 Jan 04 - 12:00 PM Canadians are wonderful people for the most part, Martin Gibson. But we must keep in mind that dianavan is a US American who became a Canadian. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,heric Date: 09 Jan 04 - 12:01 PM ha! out of poetry. I love it. She sounds very sensible to me, all in all. Not at all smug like a caricatured canuck. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 09 Jan 04 - 12:04 PM Easy for you to say, heric. You're a Canadian who became a US American. ;-) |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,heric Date: 09 Jan 04 - 12:10 PM au contraire you whatever-you-are. I am a fifth generation Vancouverite who was born to be an American. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 09 Jan 04 - 12:12 PM ;-) |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Don Firth Date: 09 Jan 04 - 02:20 PM Quando omni flunkus moritati. Don Firth |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,heric Date: 09 Jan 04 - 02:32 PM Trans corpus meum mortuum |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: artbrooks Date: 09 Jan 04 - 03:06 PM Canus corpore transmuto |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: freda underhill Date: 10 Jan 04 - 01:56 AM "Te audire non possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure." |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: dianavan Date: 10 Jan 04 - 01:57 AM I didn't realize enlightenment was a criteria for this discussion or I wouldn't have joined. The last mad cow was found in Washington State. My behaviour is not open for discussion since it is not something you can observe. I can criticize and over generalize the traits of Canadians and U.S. Americans since I am a little of both. Actually I can say what I want about Natives, Danes, Indonesians and Jews, as well, since I am a bit of all that too. My friends call me an American Hybrid. Yes, I am disappointed by the lack of protest these days. I thought I had passed the torch but maybe you dropped it on the way to the store. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: freda underhill Date: 10 Jan 04 - 02:21 AM hi dianavan my latin wisdom means "I can't hear you, I have a banana in my ear!" best wishes the not particularly enlightened f.underhill |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 10 Jan 04 - 10:48 AM I didn't realize enlightenment was a criteria for this discussion or I wouldn't have joined. Oooohhhh... Cut to the quick! I give up, dianavan! You win. You're way to smart for me! |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,Martin Gibson Date: 10 Jan 04 - 02:14 PM Yes, the last mad cow was found to be in Washington state. It was determined to be from Canada origin. dianavan, You can talk about whatever you want and so can I. Your behavior is open for discussion because it can be observed here by your anti-American comments. As for being an American hybrid, OK that's fine. You owe it to America for your rich and diverse heritage. What store are you referring to? Is there a problem you have with going to a store? Grocery store? Drug store? Wal-Mart? If you are happy in Canada over America, maybe we are all better off. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Don Firth Date: 10 Jan 04 - 04:54 PM I have close relatives who live in Canada and I could very happily live in Canada myself. If the Shrub wins the next election (or otherwise retains the White House) and things go the way I'm afraid they could, I might give serious consideration to moving north. But then . . . when was the last time you went out for Canadian food. . . ? (. . . but I can change . . . if I have to. . . .) Don Firth |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: artbrooks Date: 10 Jan 04 - 06:38 PM If a person begins with news media comments (and we all know how reliable they are at all times) about residents of the US (aka 'Americans'), expands that to include all of the 292,287,454 people who live there (which can be refuted by observing any of the many protests that take place every day), and then reduce it to the rediculous extreme by using the 'data' thereby derived to insult US Mudcatters. Sounds reasonable to me. So, according to dianavan, "America is very public and is in everyone's face. When that is your nature, you leave yourself wide open to criticism. So America... you are big, bold and brassy. You are also loud and ignorant. You are all out of poetry. You need a facelift and a major diet. You need to learn to share and take turns. You are such cowards that you will sacrifice your personal freedom out of fear. You are afraid because you believe the lies of a man you didn't even elect. You roll over like a dead dog. You submit to fingerprinting. You are manipulated by criminals." Everyone is entitled to an opinion, of course, regardless of what it is. Each of these comments, taken individually, is erroneous of course, but taken as a whole they are similar to those made by many expats I know, from many places. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: NH Dave Date: 10 Jan 04 - 07:16 PM Peter T. remarked, "Oh, ho hum. Americans don't know much about Canada." Sorry, Peter, many of us "Americans" don't know much about the USA either. One of our local magazines gets great mileage about the various verbal gaffes some of make from time to time. We hear stories about asking postal folks how much extra postage is needed to send a letter to Alasks OR Green Bay, Wis. Others of us get very disturbed that people in Mexico or Central America don't readily speak English, after all they are only an hour by air from New York! Those of us from the more rural areas find great humor in the odd things city folks say in all seriousness. NY Twit: Does this road go through to Jacksonville? ( a perfectly normal request if it wasn't said with such a haughty manner) Local resident: It always has. Second Local Resident: Did you tell her about the bridge being out/the big rock in the center of the road about 100 yerds down the road? Local Resident: Nope, She didn't ask me about that. Hellacious clang from down the road. Local Resident: Guess I better get the tractor out, she hit the rock/bridge dead center with her oil pan. NY Twit: Why didn't you tell me about this rock/bridge? Local Resident: You didn't ask me about that. Having said all this, most all of the Canadians I have met here or in Canada seem to be really nice folks who are unfailingly polite, no matter how stupid I seem to get from time to time. They also seem to be much better educated too. Dave |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Amos Date: 10 Jan 04 - 07:23 PM Actually, I agree with almost everything Dianavan says with the major exception that she addresses her remarks to the entire nation, which cannot be accurate or even seem to intend to be. She seems to be pointing her remarks largely at the profile of the US portrayed on media TV which is pretty wild aim, IMNSHO. A |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: artbrooks Date: 10 Jan 04 - 07:41 PM Amos, you said what I intended to say much more clearly. Thank you. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Ebbie Date: 10 Jan 04 - 08:32 PM NH Dave, you say: " ...Mexico or Central America- after all they are only an hour by air from New York!" Just what kind of a plane do you have on that east coast?? |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: dianavan Date: 10 Jan 04 - 11:31 PM O.K., I confess - I was venting. Even if I am disappointed in the apathy of most Americans, it doesn't mean I hate them (me). I grew up there! Most of my family is still there. Canadians view the U.S. with dread because they know that what is happening there now, will arrive in Canada in about 10 years. Canada is always in fear of being swallowed by the big guy down south but... believe me, Canada is not the land of milk and honey. We're just a little more laid back and take care of the environment a little better. Other than that, there's not much difference. Hey America, if you can't show us how to stand up to tyranny, who can? Maybe we should be learning more about those folks in Georgia (Russia - that is). |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Amos Date: 11 Jan 04 - 12:26 AM We heat up slowly, duckie -- it is part of our basic tolerance to withold judgement a slong as we comfortably can. When the top lows off, though, we often comprise an unstoppable force. Or so we fancy ourselves. A |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,Frank Hamilton Date: 11 Jan 04 - 07:41 PM Last time I looked I saw that most Americans originally came from some place else. I like the diversity and this goes to the minds of Americans. Thank goodness we don't all agree. I would hate to live in a country where all of it's citizens thought alike. Frank |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 11 Jan 04 - 09:35 PM It's easy to snipe from the sidelines, dianavan. It's a hell of a lot harder to stay and try to make a difference. You're not in a position to criticize anyone. Moving to Canada is the easy way out. I know. I've thought about doing just that many, many times. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: dianavan Date: 11 Jan 04 - 11:01 PM Well Carol, I don't think moving to Canada with a Vet suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome is exactly the easy way out. Especially when you consider we emigrated on a 26" boat with a 6 month old baby and a German Sheppard in a snow storm. Chopping wood and hauling water aint easy either. Maybe you should move to Canada. It builds character and certainly broadens your perspective. Actually, there are some things I miss about the U.S. Mostly I really miss the Afro-American culture. I also miss taverns with no cover and good bands (maybe this is a thing of the past) but most of all I miss men who are not afraid to talk to women. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 11 Jan 04 - 11:13 PM Well, since there are plenty of us who stayed in the US and had to deal with pretty much the same thing as you, and we have to take responsibility for whoever becomes president of the US and take shit from people like you, I stand by my assertion. Btw, I once had a Vietnam Vet husband with PTSD, and I had to chop wood and walk about a quarter of a mile from the road to my house in two feet of snow in sub-zero F temperatures, and haul water, with a three month old baby, etc, etc, etc while living in the US. It's not a uniquely Canadian experience. Moving to Canada would be the easy way out for me, but I stay because I feel responsible for what happens in this country. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Amos Date: 11 Jan 04 - 11:59 PM Dianavan -- I presume you mean a 26-foot boat, rather than a 26-inch one. Tribulations can only go so far, after all... A |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: mg Date: 12 Jan 04 - 12:35 AM and we just did show the world how to stand up to tyranny. mg |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 12 Jan 04 - 01:17 AM Forgot to mention, dianavan, since my paternal grandfather, my husband, and all of my in-laws are Canadian, not to mention my many many great aunts and uncles and cousins of all sorts, and I spend as much time there as I possibly can, I think I'm not entirely ignorant about Canadians, or about Canada. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Cluin Date: 12 Jan 04 - 01:32 AM What a lot of poop churned up by a 3 year old thread started by some imposter (with his own cheap axe to grind), posing as a Canadian comedian who had an amusing show back then consisting of a collection of bits culled from "This Hour has 22 Minutes". Nobody with a brain thought it was a real (or even important) representation of anything except a comedy bit. It was funny for Canadians and most Americans wouldn't have gotten the humour because they wouldn't have recognized the bulk of the references. No reason they should have; they centred around Canadian issues and people. Lighten up, folks! Canadians aren't smarter than Americans (although we ARE funnier ;) ). We have far more in common than we do in contrast. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 12 Jan 04 - 02:18 AM But you have better schools and a better education system, Cluin, and that's a fact. Mary Garvey, some of us believe the US governemt is the one that's spreading tyranny. I think much of the world is trying, desperately, to show us how to stand up to tyranny. I think we may be starting to catch on, though. At least I hope we are. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,heric Date: 12 Jan 04 - 01:50 PM Thread swept away: Canadians do NOT take better care of the environment. It's a subject that gets my blood pressure up, and I should leave it alone. It's just easy to be misled because the population pressure is not as great. (Mousethief wasn't kidding about Victorian turds floating by his house, supra.) On the subject of men being brave enough to speak to women: I remember well this young handsome buck who came back to the mill after a vacation in the states telling me that he was going back soon and that I needed to go, with this quote: "The women will TALK to you, I'm not shittin ya!" |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: dianavan Date: 12 Jan 04 - 09:05 PM Amos, it was 26' not 26" (typo). Carol C, I don't get it. Why do you feel responsible for what happens in the U.S.? I was born and raised there but I do not feel responsible for a nation that I inherited by birth. I have never, however, denounced my citizenship. On the other hand, my Canadian citizenship was hard-earned and I choose to do what I can to achieve peace in the world from a country where nationalism is practically non-existent. You're right about Victoria's raw sewage. Its a crime. We're working on it. As far as the stress on the environment...its the Americans that want our hydro electricity, natural gas, water, wood and fish. Yet we see no effort to reduce consumption. Don, are you confusing Canadian food for English food? In Vancouver, you can eat food from every country in the world from high end to the low end (which happens to be MacDonalds, TacoTime and Colonel Sanders). I have never had such a selection of quality food! Organic, free range, wild and home grown, too. Think I'll go snack on some cold-smoked salmon. I wonder if there is any beer left? Speaking of beer... |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: CarolC Date: 12 Jan 04 - 10:30 PM Carol C, I don't get it. Why do you feel responsible for what happens in the U.S.? There are many ways of making a difference in how this country does things that require being a resident here and being a voter. If all of the people of conscience leave this country, who will be left to do these things? When I leave Canada to return to the US, I feel a deep pang in my gut. I hate leaving Canada. But I was born in the US, and I'm in a position to try to make a difference for that reason. And what I have learned about myself is that I can't just run away at this point in the history of the world. The stakes are just too high. Plus my son lives in this country, and I want to try to help make it a better place for him. Interestingly, it will be very easy for me to get my Canadian citizenship. By virtue of being married to a Canadian, I'll automatically be eligible in a little less than two years from now. I'm very much looking forward to that, but I'll not renounce my US citizenship. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Metchosin Date: 13 Jan 04 - 12:23 PM Oh dear, I feel the urge to defend Victoria from misinformation again, although it really doesn't deserve it. Canada's record for environmental stewardship is on the whole, abysmal. Heric, mousethief wasn't exactly correct, more likely the turds floating by him are his own or Vancouver's and didn't come from Victoria. As reprehensible as it's track record is, Victoria shits primarily in its own nest and because of tidal action in the area of the outfall, little if anything ends up in Puget Sound according to studies done by The University of Washington's School of Oceanography. As I once pointed out to mousethief, who was fond of dumping on Victoria for the pollution in Puget Sound, the following information points to sources closer to home, that can't handle effluent capacity when it rains. It was current for the time period of his posts: "In an average year, Metro and Seattle have discharged about 2.8 billion gallons of raw sewage, untreated storm water and industrial effluents from about 110 CSOs in the Seattle area." "The discharges from CSOs frequently contain large amounts of fecal coliform bacteria, nutrients, suspended solids, and sometimes toxicants. Sediment samples around the Denny Way CSO in Seattle showed highly elevated concentrations of heavy metals and organic toxicants. Metro has since capped those sediments. The biota around the CSO was harmed by the discharge, and the area is closed to swimming due to high concentrations of fecal coliform." Also "According to the Washington State Department of Ecology, more than 2 million of the 4.5 million gallons of used oil discarded in Washington ends up each year in Puget Sound. Vancouver also, seems quick to condemn Victoria, yet is the worst polluter in the PNW and discharges almost twice the amount of raw sewage into Georgia Strait through it's antiquated system of CSO's, than is dumped by Victoria into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The fact is nobody is doing an acceptable job regarding the problem, but everyone is looking for scapegoats instead of solutions. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Don Firth Date: 13 Jan 04 - 01:06 PM dianavan, I understand where Carol is coming from. On the principle that "evil triumphs when good men [and women] do nothing," if all the decent, caring people fled the country to find havens elsewhere, who would be left to oppose the creeping tyranny taking place here? And how long would it be before it grows to the point where you have to deal with it yet again? And dianavan, just a point: I live in Seattle, and during the past sixty-some years, I've been to Vancouver several dozen times. I've also been to Victoria. And to Toronto. And I've visited my sister and her husband who live in Kingston. And my son currently lives and works in Ottawa. Regarding the comment about Canadian food, that was a joke. I first heard it from a Canadian. Once again—it was a joke. (Come to think of it, I have a big slab of smoked salmon, and beer in the fridge. Thanks for reminding me.) Don Firth |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,heric Date: 13 Jan 04 - 02:39 PM Thanks, metchosin. I hadn't a clue about Vancouver's system. I have raw Mexican turds floating past my house, but I refrain from comment because when the rare rainfall hitshere, the surface runoff produces pollution of incomparable degree, for a while. We all have work to do, everywhere. (I'll let y'all change the subject.) |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Metchosin Date: 13 Jan 04 - 08:30 PM One solution, that my father-in-law suggested years ago, was an individual septic tank, financed by property taxes, that was then hooked to the sewer system. Effectively, each household would be attending to it's own primary sewage treatment. All that would have been required would have been periodic solid waste removal from the tanks, as in rural areas and that material then to be sterilized for fertilizer and the primarily treated liquid effluent could then have been addressed by a secondary treatment plant for the collective outflow. Could have paid for itself in less that 10 years and the fertilizer sales would have made a substantial financial contribution to the system's long term maintenance. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Cluin Date: 13 Jan 04 - 08:51 PM Over 6.3 billion people on this planet, and growing... That's a lotta jobby, innit? |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: Metchosin Date: 13 Jan 04 - 09:00 PM Yup, where there's folk, there's mire. |
|
Subject: RE: Talking To Americans From: GUEST,rhythmpants Date: 02 Sep 04 - 04:09 PM I have lived my entire 40years in a border town and man it seems like the truth hurts (eh?) Realizing that sometimes geographic locations can share certain attributes does't make you racist guys. Americans for the most part don't know much about other countries cuz "they don't care!!!"- simple- they have a self sufficient attitude and as far as "not so smart" was George Bush elected as President?, Arnold frickin Schwartzawhatever is a Governor???? You couldn't write a movie that bad!!! If it walks like a duck................. |
| Share Thread: |
