A place for the discussion of all things not closely related to the sport and its competitive side. (Locked down several times a year during the major championships)
mojo wrote:Can't you name three famous (and for you taf no athletes, singers or movie stars! ) Canucks?
you mean besides you, gh and MJD?!
well, the obvious ones are (non-athletes, but singers/actors DO count!)
Pierre Trudeau (and wacky wife) Shania Celine Jim Carrey Alex Trebek Anne Murray Peter Jennings William Shatner! Alanis Morrisette
I would consider only about half of these people to be famous on their own in Canada. Anne Murray and possible Celine Dion were originally home-grown talent who became successful domestically (Trudeau, sure, but political figures don't really count). Alanis Morrisette was famous for having green goo dumped on her head ("You Can't Do That On Television"), and tried an unsuccessful pop sound before an agent shifted her toward the Jagged Little Pill angst sound. This is what I was implying in my earlier post. Most "famous" Canadians are famous because their careers took off only after moving to (or becoming majorly marketed in) the US.
I think of all the professions, acting/film is the least likely to produce recognizable faces beyond the border. My personal choice for the most "famous" Canadian (non-US marketed) actor is Gordon Pinsent. The most likely profession to produce local talent is the music industry, followed closely by literature. However, even the music industry is somewhat of a grey area, because the artists are marketed to a US audience (although Gordon Lightfoot, Barenaked Ladies, Nickelback, etc..., were successful at home before branching out).
This isn't to say there is no Canadian talent. Far from it, actually. It only speaks volumes about the dependence on American media culture.
mojo wrote:Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Rohinton Mistry, Michael Ondaatje . We have many wonderful authors. Gone are the days where reading Canadian Lit was something you only did under duress at school.
Yeah, as I was saying, I can't think of any famous authors.
mojo wrote:Alice Munro, Margaret Atwood, Rohinton Mistry, Michael Ondaatje .
We have many wonderful authors. Gone are the days where reading Canadian Lit was something you only did under duress at school.
Also Margaret Lawrence, Lucy Maud Montgomery (Anne of Green Gables), Robertson Davies, and Mordecai Richler, to name a few more. More recent literary talent includes sci-fi authors Robert J. Sawyer and William Gibson, who revived/reformulated the "cyberpunk" genre with "Neuromancer".
Yeah, as I was saying, I can't think of any famous authors.
C'mon, Taffy! At least Alice Munro must ring a bell!
Saul Bellow?! - Chicagoian through and through! He may have been been born in Canada, but his literary influences are USA. As far as Munro goes, while I have heard of her short stories, I doubt I 've ever read her, and I know I've never taught her work. Sorry.
tafnut wrote:Saul Bellow?! - Chicagoian through and through! He may have been been born in Canada, but his literary influences are USA. As far as Munro goes, while I have heard of her short stories, I doubt I 've ever read her, and I know I've never taught her work. Sorry.
Taf 'The Philistine TOE' nut
Perhaps you're right, taf. He may have been a Chicagoan.
MJD wrote:And that's why you get things like fox hunting-the whole gene pool dispersion thing.
You're confusing the normal folks with the aristrocrats. The fact is the class system is still so strong in the UK that I'm not sure I have ever spoken to an aristocrat. I did nearly get run down by one when out for a run at the same time as the hunt. "Get orf the path!" was what I heard as I jumped for the ditch ( a little melodrama i actually just moved aside).
They have a different school system, hang out with 'their own' at university and party I know not where. They then go on to highly paid jobs in the city (aka nepotism) and regularly marry their second cousin (that's your inbreeding part). As far as I know the gene pool for the rest of us is in pretty good shape.
Daisy wrote:As far as I know the gene pool for the rest of us is in pretty good shape.
I should hope so! With all the Jutes, Angles, Saxons, Normans, Bretons, Celts, Nords, Swedes, Danes, etc. in your last 2000 years, you guys are as much mongrels as we are!
Man, I am REALLY glad to hear that Paul Shaffer is not American - he creeps me out - he looks like a turtle without his shell! He is, however, the best sycophant since Ed McMahon.
If this thing does end up in war, I predict the over and under is 2 weeks and I'll take the over - winter's coming and we won't have enough woolie long johns - it'll drag out till spring when we'll lose interest and move on to other stuff. If there was ever a nation with ADD/ADHD, it's us!
I don't know what's funnier about that article. The fact that Minutemen are patrolling the Canadian border (they're doing the same in Washington state), or the name of the group protesting their actions -- the Raging Grannies.
Also, I don't think the minutemen should be allowed to co-opt the title "Civil Defense". That's reserved for 1950s cold-war, nuclear doomsday mania. I just watched a bunch of the old public Civil Defense films which I found on DVD. Great stuff! "Duck and Cover" is by far the best, though. For those who have never seen this classic piece of Americana Paranoia, check out the review and the film:
Daisy wrote:As far as I know the gene pool for the rest of us is in pretty good shape.
I should hope so! With all the Jutes, Angles, Saxons, Normans, Bretons, Celts, Nords, Swedes, Danes, etc. in your last 2000 years, you guys are as much mongrels as we are!
apart from the celts, i believe all he rest are all just varieties of "germans", so i don't think there is that much mongrelisation ( all those invaders were genetically pretty much the same )
from brittanica, i remember reading all the germanic tribes migrated from southern scandanavia ~ 3000y ago, into central/western europe
strictly i suppose, they are probably mostly all scandanavian descendants ( "german" is probably only a relevant demarcation in terms of their different languages/dialects )
Wayne Chung TONIGHT! [athletes were not fair game, cuz we can name quite a few tracksters!]
Thanks for putting that song in my head...
Also, I don't think politicians should count either. Of course, if those Canucks did things the good ol' California way, Wayne Gretzky would *be* one too -- the Great One Prime Minister, anyone? Popularity and star-struckness before qualifications!
