A Story In Pictures
““What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.” - Benjamin Franklin, former American President
“We Canadians are not given as a people to great patriotic displays.” - Kim Campbell, former Canadian Prime Minister
“I think on-stage nudity is disgusting, shameful and damaging to all things American. But if I were 22 with a great body, it would be artistic, tasteful, patriotic and a progressive religious experience.” - Shelley Winters
Happy Birthday, North America!!!!!
Canada, born July 1, 1867
United States, born July 4, 1776
[ I apologize my friendlies!! My pal Blogger has decided at this point to quit uploading pictures for me again. I'll try to finish the "story" later in the day.]
In the meantime, in between time......
I would be remiss not to include a link to The Canada Page, with pretty much everything you ever wanted to know about Canada but were afraid to ask, both serious and not-so-serious stuff like such gems as:
Secrets the Canadian Government Doesn't Want You to Know
1) There's an 11th province named "Gertie."
2) Cabinet ministers get unlimited use of the Mountie Musical Ride to impress the cool people who ditched them in high school.
3) Every Thursday in the Senate is Free Buffalo Wings Day.
4) There's actually no such place as "Flin Flon."
5) Pamela Wallin and Dini Petty are actually secret agents whose mission is to keep us distracted with entertaining programming.
6) Government research confirms that you don't always have time for Tim Horton's, after all.
7) They kinda made that whole metric thing up for a laugh.
8) Baby seals taste a lot like chicken -- and with only half the fat!
9) What, you actually bought that "atmospheric distortion" story for the northern lights? Sucker.
10) Locked in the Parliament bell tower since 1993: the real Preston Manning!
Words That Kind Of Sound Like "Canada"
Enchilada
Erik Estrada
Salada
Ramada
Yamaha
Bananarama
Xanadu
Grenada
Chumbawumba
Pina colada!
Little-Known Facts In Canadian History
1) Technically, Rowdy Roddy Piper and Bret "the Hitman" Hart are also famous Canadian historical figures.
2) It's a fact: During the War of 1812, British and Canadian troops marched on Washington and burned down the White House.
3) It's a fact: During the War of 1812, British and Canadian troops marched on Washington and burned down the White House. (Just wanted to repeat that one for the benefit of our neighbours.)
4) First World War -- Canada enters in 1914, the U.S. enters in 1917. Second World War -- Canada enters in 1939, the U.S. enters in 1941. Conclusion: Don't mess with us.
5) July 2, 1867: Sir John A. Macdonald utters those stirring words that will forever be remembered by his fellow Canadians: "Me and the boys did what last night?"
6) When he set up his equipment in St. John's to receive the world's radio signal, Marconi heard the world's first live broadcast of a Great Big Sea contest.
7) Lester Pearson? Prime Minister, diplomat, Nobel Prize winner, world kickboxing champion -- a true Renaissance man.
8) Tragically, Laura Secord was lactose-intolerant.
9) The native guy who first told the British that beaver hats looked good on them was actually just pulling their legs -- fer cryin' out loud, they were hats made from beavers!
10) Secret documents have revealed that it was actually Canada that joined Newfoundland in1949. They just kept the name "Canada" because no one wanted the hassle of ordering new stationery.
Ways Life Would Be Different if Canada Ruled the World
1) American dollar? If we're in a good mood, 32 cents Canadian.
2) New taste sensation at McDonald's: the McPoutine.
3) Guaranteed gold medals for Canada in every Winter Olympic event, dagnabbit!
4) Mapmakers would need to order a heck of a lot more pink, that's for sure.
5) All the top entertainers and news anchors in the States will be Canadian (no, wait, we're doing that already).
6) Federal law requiring more questions about Saskatchewan on Jeopardy!
7) New teen drama series on Fox starring Jason Priestley: Rosedale M4W 1T7.
8) United Nations disputes solved by best-in-three curling shootouts.
9) Non-stop Beachcombers and King of Kensington reruns to show rest of the world that their new Canadian overlords are down-to-earth folks just like them.
10) Three words: more street hockey
HAPPY BIRTHDAY CANADA!!!!!!!!
(and we get another big birthday bash in a few more days!)
[curiosity footnote: I've never seen the Franklin quote in context before. Can anyone tell me, is what I found above the accurate and complete quote? I'd be interested in knowing, because I think it changes the meaning significantly, don't you?]
PEACE.
Happy birthday Canada! Lots of cool tid bits to check out here! Here's a link I threw in a comment on Mackey's blog, but I think you might find if fun too! Click Here
Posted by
Secretly Me |
9:57 a.m.
Great post Rick!!
Our bday is actually tomorrow though...are you just starting your celebrating festivities early??:)
Ilove the "If Canada Ruled the World".
King of Kensington!! I loved that show when I was a kid. When I catch it on tv it makes me feel all warm & fuzzy. My Uncle looks just like Al Waxman:)
Beachcombers......Relic used to scare the crap out of me!
More street hockey!!Woo Hoo!
Posted by
Mackey |
11:04 a.m.
Mel: You just proved what I suspected all along. I'm a Canadian! I got 10 out of 10 on the quiz!
Mackey: I started the post with the date! Are you the kind of reader who just looks at the pictures {smile}?
JJ: uuummmmm.....not as in 'fetish' huh? Just checkin'.
Posted by
Evydense |
11:31 a.m.
Happy birthday Canada! I have memories of being a child in Buffalo, NY, and heading into Canada for parades in the summer... now I'm wondering if maybe that was for Canada Day. I guess I was too young to remember it clearly, but I do have a distinct memory of sitting on a curb, waving a little Canadian flag. I think my mom still has a picture of that somewhere... :)
As to the quote -- a couple corrections, if you'll permit me to pretend I'm smart. :) That quote is actually from Thomas Jefferson, written in a letter that has come to be known as "the tree of liberty" letter. And he was refering to the people's right to stand up against tyranny. He felt that nations, over the course of centuries, would inevitably be subject to tyrants, and it was the right of every citizen to fight for their liberty.
But Benjamin Franklin has some great quotes, too. Such as, "there never was a good war nor a bad peace." However, he was never actually a president -- he probably COULD have been, and he was very involved in politics, but he was never president. He did, however, help to write the Declaration of Independence, and was one of the signers of the Declaration, and also the Constitution.
That's probably enough of an American history lesson for now... :)
Posted by
Lisa |
11:40 a.m.
I don't mean to be rudely pedantic, but Benjamin Franklin was never President of the United States. He died in 1790. The first president, George Washington, took office in 1792.
Posted by
My Daily Struggles |
2:01 p.m.
George Washington became president in 1789. Sorry. I'm all discombobulated.
Posted by
My Daily Struggles |
2:03 p.m.
I am genuinely embarrassed. Full apologies to my American friends for showing my ignorance assigning good old Ben presidential status. But it's interesting to me, Lisa, that you attribute the quote to Jefferson. The quote site that I got it from gave the credit to Franklin, so that's who I did too! I added the bit about the president on my own, so that is definitely my bad!
I have only seen the middle sentence as a stand alone quote before, and I think the "before and after" sentences change the meaning significantly. Maybe I'm misreading it. Thanks for a bit of the historical background, though.
Posted by
Evydense |
6:43 p.m.
Don't worry about the Franklin/president mistake -- I think about half the people in THIS country, think he was president, too! :)
Here's a link to the entire Jefferson letter, so you can read everything in context:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/tj3/writings/brf/jefl64.htm
Hope that helps! :)
Posted by
Lisa |
7:02 p.m.
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