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| Subject: Canada's contribution to the world | |
Author: Mister Non-Canuck | [ Next Thread |
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] Date Posted: 19:53:38 11/20/04 Sat Avril Lavigne Celine Dion Pamela Anderson John Candy Shania Twain Keanu Reeves OOOOOOOOH haven't you done well? Apart from Steppenwolf and Marshall McLuhan, both of whom are long gone from the public eye, you haven't had the greatest of impacts, have you? Look at Australia and hang your heads in shame: a country much smaller that manages to punch far above its weight, instead of a nation torn apart by cultural infighting and whose children have to head south to New York and Los Angeles to get anywhere. Homer Simpson was right when he called Canada a "loser country" - you lot would be better off migrating to Republican states in the U.S. and winning an election for the Democrats in four years. Then maybe America would be moderate enough to join the FC. [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| [> Subject: Anyone who sees Homer Simpson as a source of wisdom is a very sad case indeed | |
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Author: Ian (Australia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 20:02:23 11/20/04 Sat [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> Subject: Actually | |
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Author: Mister Non-Canuck [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 20:07:20 11/20/04 Sat The Simpsons qualifies as one of the most intelligently-written, most insightful commentaries on western contemporary society in existence. Admittedly, the show isn't what it used to be in the glory days. But consider this - there are more Ivy League and Oxbridge degree-holders writing each episode than there are in the whole British cabinet. It isn't a stupid show. Homer Simpson is an idiot, but that's the idea - he is meant to be a pastiche of everything that is wrong with the white American male of the late 20th and early 21s century. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: Well, there you have it then | |
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Author: Ian (Australia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 20:36:49 11/20/04 Sat So, "Homer Simpson is an idiot, ... a pastiche of everything that is wrong with the white American male". By your own logic, then, the opinion that Canada is a loser country must be part of what is wrong the white American male. And yet you agree with him. Which makes you ... Oops. (The unpleasant squelching sound you hear is Mr. Non-Canuck disappearing up a small hole in the back of his own trousers.) [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: What? | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 12:47:16 11/21/04 Sun Are you seriously suggesting that you expect the British cabinet to contain people who are as well educated as facetious American cartoonists? Have you visited Britain lately? Frankly, I would be impressed if some of the cabinet had heard of Oxford, Cambridge or Harvard, let alone studied there. And enough with the Canadian-bashing, already. Were you bitten by a Canadian as a child or something? Also, I suggest a little more research before making ill-informed comparisons between Canada and the United States of America. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> Subject: Indeed the Simpsosn is clever, as they show when they praised Canada in that episode... | |
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Author: Owain (UK) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 21:18:17 11/20/04 Sat I agree Simpsons is a smart program. Ever seen the episode where marge leads a group of kids dressed as native americans doing community work, while milhouse's dad does the same only with the kids dressed as 19th century ameircan soldiers. At the end of the show theres a big fight. They realise fighting is worng and that sailor dude says sumin along the lines of "lets just sing a nice song together, not our national anthem, a tribute to violence. No, lets sing a good brotherly, heart warming song, like the Canadian national anthem". And so they all sing the Canadian Anthem, all joining hands in a big group in the shape of the Canadian maple leaf. God save Canada. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> Subject: Mister Non-Canuck | |
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Author: Brent (Canada) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 00:20:38 11/21/04 Sun I really should not take the bait, but here goes Homer Simpson is an homage to creator Matt Groening's father, also named Homer, who hails from the great American city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. So the shots at Canada are ironic...you understand irony, don't you? Thus, Matt Groening joins the list of Americans with Canadian parentage who have contributed to your popular culture: Thomas Alva Edison The Warner Bros. Louis B. Mayer - MGM (grew up in Halifax, NS) Madonna (the Plains of Abraham are named after one of her ancestors) Walt Disney Of course, you seem to neglect people like: *Mary Pickford ("America's Sweetheart, or Gladys Smith of Toronto) *Glenn Ford *Walter Huston (father of John Huston, grandfather of Angelica) *Donald Sutherland and son, Kiefer *Lorne Greene *John Kenneth Galbraith (Economist, US Ambassador to India) *Robert Mundell (Nobel Laureate - inventor of the Euro) *Sir Sandford Fleming - inventor of Greenwich Mean Time and time zones * Alice Munro * Michael Onndatje (sp.?) - wrote "The English Patient" * James Naismith - inventor of basketball * Lorne Michaels - creator of Saturday Night Live, and virtually every talented person who ever came out of that show You diabetic? then thank Sir Frederick Banting. Actually, if every talented Canadian, or their children, who ever moved to the United States actually stayed on our side of the border and denied you the benefit of their genius, the United States would today be a nation of people living like Amish farmers all begging to get into the promised land north of the 49th! [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: such a shame | |
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Author: Owain (UK) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 11:11:17 11/21/04 Sun Its a shame those great Canadians didnt have the patriostism and streangth of character to stay above the 49th. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> Subject: I wish you wouldn't insult migrants, Owain | |
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Author: Ian (Australia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 15:13:19 11/21/04 Sun British society itself was built out of waves of migration, going way, way, way back beyond the Normans, the Vikings, the Angles, Jutes and Saxons and the Celts. If our ancestors had not migrated, we would all be sitting around a lake somewhere in the East African rift valley. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> Subject: Yep | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 15:18:28 11/21/04 Sun I agree. The free movement of so many different peoples is one of the things which not only makes the British world what it is, but also makes it something of which we can be proud. Think of the countries which have not been subject to migration, either in or out... Tibet (although thankfully the Chinese have now brought things like medicine and wheels to the country), Bhutan, much of the Arab world... these places are culturally poorer for their ethnic stagnation: small-minded, insular, backwards. The British global outlook and tradition of tolerance, of which we should all be proud, is largely a result of the movements of people. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> [> [> Subject: What about Canada' stand in both World Wars - at least we were there for the entire war | |
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Author: Jim (Canada) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 15:56:55 11/21/04 Sun [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> Subject: Canada's image in the world | |
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Author: Jim (Canada) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 15:55:40 11/21/04 Sun At least Canada is not the number one hated country in the world, like an unmentioned neighbour! We have pretty good relations with every nation on this planet. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: Hm. | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 20:37:56 11/21/04 Sun I'm sure that a certain North American neighbour of Canada, which, of course, shall remain nameless, is in fact the most unpopular country in the world. I think maybe Iran, Cambodia, North Korea, and even France have their moments. Ask any non-American where they would prefer to live: Tenessee or Teheran. Even the most bigotted Frenchman with a deeply ingrained phobia of Anglo-Saxons would probably go for Tenessee. And in any case, we can do diplomatic mathematics. Britain, Eastern Europe, India, and the various unfortunate countries in Africa who have had the fortune of billions of dollars' worth of food falling on them from out of American aid aeroplanes, have favourable opinions about the USA. Who has a favourable opinion of France? Algerians, perhaps? Or the crew of the New Zealand Rainbow Warrior? [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> Subject: France was pretty nice when I visited... | |
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Author: Roberdin [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 21:07:42 11/21/04 Sun [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> Subject: It rains a lot, though. | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 23:40:04 11/21/04 Sun And I can recommend to you the following game. Go and sit in a cafe in St Germain, either on the Boulevard or just off it, because here there will be plenty of foreign visitors. I can recommend the one opposite the Restaurant Lipp. Order a caraffe of pastis, some water and some ice in separate glasses, and an empty glass so that you can mix the above things to taste. This will gain the confidance of the French-culture-snob waiter. Now, sit there with a leetle book and pretend to read it. Listen to the waiter as he deals with other English-speaking people. I bet you that, when asked a question in French, he will reply in English, as if to say, "Do not massacre my beautiful language with your atrocious accent." If asked a question in English, he will say, "J'suis desole, mais je n'parle pas anglais." It gets the blighers most disliked. The irony is that they relpy in English even to Germans who try to speak French - an unconscious acknowledgement, perhaps, of linguistic reality. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: Ed, very good summation of the French | |
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Author: Michael J. Smith (Canada) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 04:48:16 11/25/04 Thu I lived in Paris for three years and know of what you speak. Yet, we go back because the experience far and away transcends their shortcomings as a people. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> [> Subject: As the chap said... | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 17:14:51 11/25/04 Thu ... France would be a fine country without all the French people. I believe that this is actually a quote from a Frenchman! [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> Subject: They still call the French the 'white fathers' in Tunisia, for some reason. Do many people really hate any country? | |
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Author: Nick (UK) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 21:45:26 11/21/04 Sun [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: Not necessarily... | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 11:59:04 11/22/04 Mon ... but it is possible to experience an extreme dislike for a country or a culture. Hatred is perhaps too strong a word. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: America seems to be widely hated... and the Russians and Germans in other parts | |
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Author: A [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 17:19:20 11/22/04 Mon [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> Subject: yeah | |
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Author: Kevin [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 02:33:21 11/23/04 Tue Yes yes, we're that kid in class you love to despise. But hey, we've always been hated, or looked at as evil, greedy, basterds. Now people, countries just seem to express it more than ever, since it seems to be the popular thing to do. It seems that a lot of the time though, with international affairs, you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: Quite a few Americans are interested in this site | |
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Author: Jim (Canada) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 03:54:51 11/23/04 Tue You are not alone here, Kevin. Quite a few Americans are interested in this Society. I am going through the new registrations and there are number from the US. There are also more Canadians and lots more Brits. I will update everyone tomorrow. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: Not always | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 10:28:29 11/23/04 Tue Until the twentieth century, it was Britain which the Europeans et al loved to hate. Picasso used to do satirical doodles in his notebooks which were basically grotesque characatures of British politicians, soldiers etc. THe point is that people always hate the guy at the top. France in the 17th Century, Britain in the 18th and 19th, America today - it is hatred born of envy and frustration. Don't take it too seriously. But you're right about being damned if you do and if you don't... Traditionally, te beatniks in Portland used to protest at the US's policy of proping up brutal dictatorships in Latin America and elsewhere because it suited American interests; now they are protesting at the US's policy of removing brutal dictatorships on the grounds that it is none of America's business to intervene! There's no pleasing some people. [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: Kevin... | |
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Author: Brent (Canada) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 19:26:55 11/24/04 Wed If you were offended by my remarks, I am truly sorry. It must be admitted, though, that while everyone here is genuinely supportive of one another, it should not be expected that anyone should openly accept the kind of slagging that Mr. Non-Canuck engaged in. It wasn't so much an anti-American tirade, as it was "I'm not going to sit idly by while my country is denigrated." It would be best if we all engaged in a level of civility, and for my failing, I apologize... [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> Subject: on the contrary | |
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Author: Kevin [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 07:41:42 11/25/04 Thu Hey, it's alright bud. I didn't take your remarks in an offensive tone. Plus, if someone had made the same remarks that Mr. non-Canuck made, than I would feel the need to strike back. We all have those moments where we can't take trash talk sitting down. If anything, good job. Ok, so the little comment about the 49th went a little above and beyond, and you could have left the conversation feeling that you've out smarted Non-Canuck, but we'll let it slide. Just always remember to make your comment and be the bigger man. oh and a side note to Ed. Are you sure you drop the "e" in "Je" when saying "j' suis desole". I always thought you only drop the "e" when the word following has "a", "e", "i","o", or "u". Please correct if I am wrong. Thanks [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: Abbreviations... | |
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Author: Ed Harris (Venezia) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 10:22:42 11/25/04 Thu Well, not in writing. I was just trying to convey the sloppy pronunciation of Parisian French! If you can, get hold of a song by Boris Vian called "J'suis Snob"... funniest French song ever, and in it Monsieur Vian puts on exactly the kind of accent I'm talking about... [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> [> Subject: Kevin...point taken...thanks | |
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Author: Brent (Canada) [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 15:06:01 11/25/04 Thu [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |
| [> Subject: welcome. and Ed, I deffinitely have to go looking for that song now | |
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Author: kevin [ Edit | View ] |
Date Posted: 16:22:30 11/25/04 Thu [ Post a Reply to This Message ] |