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I'm in love again. Actually, I've been in love for many, many years, but this particular love object is subtle, not flashy, and instead of my usual coup de foudre, it's rather snuck up on me.
I'm talking about Canada, of course. I've actually been in love with Canada since I read all of L.M. Montgomery's Anne books as a child, but a conversation on the Neopets IRC last night brought home to me what a Canada nerd I've turned into. One of the other chatpeople mentioned that she went to Wilfrid Laurier University, and I knew without being told who Wilfrid Laurier was. (Vaguely, I admit, but still!)
Then we got onto Canadian bands (she's seeing the Arrogant Worms next week - envy!) and she hadn't even heard of my favourite Canadian band. And I realised then that we were talking more than just a crush here. I want to be Canadian. I love their climate, their landscape, their music and their attitude. And Lord knows I've never been any kind of a sports fan, but if I had to be, hockey sounds way more fun than any variant of football.
So I'm throwing out this appeal to the Canadians on my f-list. Show me Canadian stuff! Recommend me Canadian books, recipes, music, films and TV! Make me Canadian icons! It's utterly not feasible for me to try and move there, unfortunately, but there have to be things I can do at home that would make me feel more Canadian. Tell me about them!
I'm talking about Canada, of course. I've actually been in love with Canada since I read all of L.M. Montgomery's Anne books as a child, but a conversation on the Neopets IRC last night brought home to me what a Canada nerd I've turned into. One of the other chatpeople mentioned that she went to Wilfrid Laurier University, and I knew without being told who Wilfrid Laurier was. (Vaguely, I admit, but still!)
Then we got onto Canadian bands (she's seeing the Arrogant Worms next week - envy!) and she hadn't even heard of my favourite Canadian band. And I realised then that we were talking more than just a crush here. I want to be Canadian. I love their climate, their landscape, their music and their attitude. And Lord knows I've never been any kind of a sports fan, but if I had to be, hockey sounds way more fun than any variant of football.
So I'm throwing out this appeal to the Canadians on my f-list. Show me Canadian stuff! Recommend me Canadian books, recipes, music, films and TV! Make me Canadian icons! It's utterly not feasible for me to try and move there, unfortunately, but there have to be things I can do at home that would make me feel more Canadian. Tell me about them!
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For music, you should look out for Stan Rogers, at the very least - he's kind of the ultimate Canadian folkie. I don't have any yet, sadly. Also, the crazy crazy Newfies in Great Big Sea - I suspect that you would like their music a lot, if I haven't already pimped them to you. For books, I strongly suspect that you would like Tanya Huff's Blood / Smoke series, which are fun urban fantasy with vampires, and very Canadian. due South, of course, is a good show to watch if you haven't already. Fandom is actually *full* of Canada love; if you read dS fic at all you can probably find lots of other suggestions :)
...it's sort of a Canadian icon? :)
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Stan Rogers - I do have Barrett's Privateers on my playlist, but nothing else of his. I have quite a sizeable Great Big Sea selection. They are very wonderful.
I keep meaning to read Tanya Huff, I'm sure I'll like her. I didn't even know she was Canadian. Thank you!
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I'm actually a character in one of her books - The Better Part Of Valor. (Lieutenant Commander Sibley, the gay fighter pilot with the bad taste in puns and worse taste in men? That's me. :) ) I've known Tanya since I was in high school and she worked at Bakka, a bookstore downtown that specializes in SF and fantasy (and still exists -
Other Canadian SF authors of note are Robert J. Sawyer (
William Gibson and Spider Robinson are also both Canadian, though in both cases they were born in the US and moved here. But we claim them anyway. :) And Cory Doctorow is quite well-regarded, though I haven't read him (I have one of his books but haven't gotten to it yet). You might also like Candas Jane Dorsey, who lives in Calgary (she was at Gaylaxicon last year too :) ).
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Canada's clearly a country with the right climate (social, political, meteorological, whatever) to foster creativity.
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You've really got to see him live to really appreciate him. He's kind of a character. But if you do, you'll be hooked. Then, Fred will lead you to folks like Washboard Hank and Willie P Bennett.
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Not sayin' I have a problem with that, mind.
You'll have to come visit to my little igloo (literally right beside the Yellowhead) some day, hon - I have a guest room and dogs to play with. You of all people could not be said to have fully experienced Canada until you've had a Husky sing you his love song. For you I'd even be happy to go to Captain Tractor gigs (IF you'll let me hide behind you if I run into the guy I dated whose brother's in the band). Meanwhile...
http://www.bluerodeo.com/
http://www.nomeanswhatever.com/
http://www.bigsugar.com/index.php
These guys I'm listening to a lot these days. Neil Osbourne - the voice of my puberty - rawr! I should mention, though, that this is a true Canadian band, meaning the more pot you've smoked the more fully you can appreciate their music:
http://www.5440.com/
Also, shoot me your mailing address at tattytiara@yahoo.ca :)
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I'm waiting to click those links until I have listened to all of
And I think I would qualify on the pot smoking front, too...
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Well in that case I'd have to road trip ya through the mountains (and very friendly towns) of BC to Vancouver, too. :D
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The Barenaked Ladies are a great canadian band, one of my favourites. I've seen The Arrogant Worms live a few times - they come to our little town every couple of years to our Midsummer Festival to preform! Dr.Fishy is another good one.
Hmmm, as for Canadian foods...I'd have to say my two favourites are Poutine and anything with maple syrup. Here's a cool article on some authentic foods :)
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BNL: I have a bunch of their songs on my playlist. They are good, very good. They're a little more soft, polished and melodic than I really care for - I tend to like my music a bit harder and darker and rougher - but that's not a criticism, just a personal-taste thing.
However, they win my Laugh Out Loud Award for "Bank Job" - the line about the bankful of nuns cracks me up every time.
Never listened to Dr Fishy yet. I will try and hunt some out. Thank you!
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If you want some good Canadian fiction to read, I recommend Robert J. Sawyer. He's SF, but most of his books are near-future or present day and many are very firmly set in Canada. There'll be a lot of local (SW Ontario) references you probably won't get, but even so he's a great author and very Canadian. Douglas Coupland is another good choice, though he's not SF, I'm afraid. Also Pierre Burton, if you want some good stuff on Canadian history.
As for music... hmmm... what haven't I pimped to you already? Heh. :p Have you heard The Arcade Fire, at all? They're a Montreal based band I've just been getting into, I can send a few tracks if you like... kind of sound like early-80s Pink Floyd melded with The Talking Heads. Another you might like is Barlow, though he unfortunately has only released 1 CD, and I dunno if he'll do another. It's hard to describe, so I'll just upload a couple tracks:
"Walk Away"
"Married By Elvis" (Good Canadian values in this one, too!)
Umm... hmmm, have you heard of Bruce Cockburn? I think you'd like him, very lyrical, folk-rock kinda stuff. Oh, also, I have to send you some Corky and the Juice Pigs... they were a comedy band along the lines of the Worms, did some pretty hilarious stuff:
"Eskimo"
If you want more suggestions, I'm certain I could come up with some. ;) I'll leave you with BNL's very first music video, to "Lovers In A Dangerous Time", from 1991. It's very quintessentially Canadian, at least so far as modern Canada goes, for two reasons. 1) It was funded through a government grant and 2) It's shot in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough. In fact, the street you see from the 1:40 mark to about the 2:10 mark is where my dad (along with Ed Robertson, though 20 years before) grew up. The camera is pretty well set up right in front of my Papa's old house at one point.
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You're already entirely responsible for my Tragically Hip and Arrogant Worms love. I'm terribly grateful. The Arcade Fire sound intriguing - I love Talking Heads a lot, I don't love Pink Floyd all that much... we'll see how that goes.
I've heard of Bruce Cockburn because of you, and the original (is it the original or were BNL first?) of Lovers In A Dangerous Time.
I've never thought poutine sounded nasty. I think it sounds like good solid cold-climate comfort food. Chips with melted cheese and chips with gravy are both moderately common here; I've just never done both at once yet. I'm not sure I fancy it much in the weather we're having right now, mind you. It's WAY too fucking warm. I shall save it for the next cold rainy night.
Thank you! I knew I could count on you for something I hadn't got yet :D
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I've heard of Bruce Cockburn because of you, and the original (is it the original or were BNL first?) of Lovers In A Dangerous Time.
I wasn't sure if I'd told you about him or not. And his was the original Lovers, BNL covered it for a tribute album and it ended up being a big hit for them... their breakout hit, in fact. Here's a random BC song, just 'cause! "The Coldest Night of the Year"
Also, have you heard of the Rheostatics? Or Moxy Fruvous? I think you'd like the both of them.
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Rheostatics, yes, because I have The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald - from you, I think. Moxy Fruvous, not yet.
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Incidentally, I have one Canadian band on my list I didn't get from you - the Headstones. They, with Captain Tractor and The Tragically Hip, make up my Canadian top three. I first discovered them randomly on Limewire while searching for something completely different, fell in love, and only found out they were Canadian the other day.
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Does that make me like the uber-Canadian-rock-nerd???!!!
Blonde And Blue (http://download.yousendit.com/2C008D1F31F2F14B)
Tiny Teddy (http://download.yousendit.com/FC25896C7B4A62B1) (I REALLY REALLY LOVE this one)
Unsound (http://download.yousendit.com/AD0127895041992E)
Not unlike a raspier, faster Tragically Hip, I think. I love them.
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You've already covered GBS, BNL and Arcade Fire, but here are Mr Beebarf's music recommendations, as he's the real Canadian. He has a bunch of obscure stuff as well, but as he's drifting off to sleep, these are the obvious ones:
Hot Hot Heat
Bruce Cockburn
Bruce Guthro (now working with Runrig, but his solo stuff is good)
Gordon Lightfoot
if you find out you like Stomping Tom Connors, Mr Beebarf will have no respect for you, but he's like the Canuck Johnny Cash, apparently!
Leonard Cohen
Joni Mitchell
He's not really in Canadian literature, that's more my bag, so here are my recommendations:
Alice Munro - the most beautiful short stories!
Margaret Atwood - she has a great sense of place
Robertson Davies - not one of my faves, but one of Mr Beebarf's
Mordecai Richler - another one of Mr Beebarf's
Douglas Coupland - not that the books tend to be set in Canada, though.
The Museum Guard by Howard Norman is set in Nova Scotia and I liked it.The Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly is set in southern Ontario.
I'm sure there's more, but I'm in a brain fog at the moment.
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The Frantics
The Kids in the Hall
The Angst-tones - West coast jazz comedy, who did a Sound of Music covers, apparently. And they're all male. Hmmm, must be something to do with long winter nights...
ohhhh! I have a maple syrup recipe book you can have - it's from Vermont, but that's near enough, eh?
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Recipe books are utterly wasted on me. I never cook, and when I do I'm constitutionally incapable of sticking to recipes. I love the sound of it, but realistically it would just sit in my house and become clutter. *sigh*
I ought to be decluttering as well. Can't for the life of me work up the impetus to start.
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The only ones in that list I haven't heard are Bruce Guthro and Stomping Tom Connors. And I do like Johnny Cash when he wasn't being sappy, so I may have to forfeit Mr Beebarf's respect.
Thank you!
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afterwards, we can divorce amicably and i'll move to the caribbean, ok?
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If you want to be more Canadian spend as much time as possible talking about and complaining about the weather.
xx
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As for TV, many of Showcase's original series are fantastic, especially Trailer Park Boys and Kenny vs. Spenny. The CBC has had a few lucky strikes over there years as well, such as The Newsroom, This is Wonderland, and 22 Minutes when they're on their game. I hear good things about Intelligence also. Just avoid Air Farce like the plague and you'll be fine.
Regarding Hockey, there's always room for more Canucks fans. Down with Toronto!
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On the land of the red, white and...um... well, the Jays and the Leafs are sort of blue?
When you're talking about the Worms, make sure you don;t forget about ( and not only for the name! {G}), Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie. The Toronto Song and The War of 1812 are often attributed to the Worms in error. Both bands are shiny.
Other things that you should cultivate. It is imperative that evey other sentence ends in ' eh?'. In Canada, eh is not in fact poor diction or lazy linguistics, but in fact a compulsory element of comprehension. As in... ' I's snowing out, eh?'. Second, you must start to wear a ' took'. Now technically, the spelling is togue, but that's just the technical. I spent my first few winters here with people asking where my took was ( of course, I was in short sleeves while it was -30 wind chills). It took some time before I identified the reference to a form of knitted pull on tee-cosy type hat. Get a took.
For the hockey thing, you have to be either Canadian or from Toronto. To come from Toronto, you have to scream GO-LEAFS! at the top of your voice all season while they lose every game, while telling all your friends how they're going to win the Stanly Cup this year. As the last game of regular season finishes and they...um... didn't, you tell everybody how it was the manager, the weather, a terrorist plot... but NEXT YEAR...
If you're Canadian, you watch hockey, you play hockey and you comment witheringly about the idiots in Toronto. Of course, you don't do that just with respect to hockey, it can be applied to any subject.
Of course, remember there are in fact only two seasons in Canada. Hockey season and... um... the other one.
Things that Canada keeps secret:
Some of the most amazing wine I have ever tasted comes from the Niagara Escarpment.
Ice Wine is... not for diabetics. {G}.
Cheese. you would not _believe_ the cheeses I can get here. 14 year old Canadian cheddar is an experience on its own.
You can add maple syrup to almost anything. Including beer.
The geographic area of Ontario alone is 4 times the size of the entire UK. At the same time, in 2005 the population of all of Canada was just over half that of the UK. Translation - our full bits are nearly empty and our empty bits are big.
If you want I could put together some Worms and some of Mr Rogers and send it to the pigeons.
CC
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Canada poll
I saw this and thought of you.