I'm grateful to live in Canada
mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
MaxE wrote:
mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
Seeing the dumpster fire that is the United States at this moment, I'm glad to have been born north of the 49th. I just wish my online friends could move here, most of them are stuck stateside.
Well you live in Alberta, not much difference as I understand it.I've been to America and despite our similarities we're surprisingly different.
A couple of other topics that have come up in this. I don't enjoy most American attempts to make fun of Canadian accents, however it works if it's done well. How I Met Your Mother had a bit where they drugged Barney and somehow spirited him to Canada where he woke up in a Coffee Shop and the actors all spoke with exaggerated Canadian accents. Here is another clip along the same lines but not as good. I can't find the one I'm thinking of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfWapt1ylYY. In the US we make jokes about people with exaggerated Minnesota or Maine accents. Sadly, you don't really meet anyone nowadays who talks like this. An exaggerated Baltimore accent is also really funny to somebody familiar with Baltimore. My cousin who used to work for the CNR had the sort of Canadian accent people think of when they make this sort of parody, but it seems as though this sort of extreme accent is dying out.
As for Canadian movies, I haven't seen many feature-length Canadian movies that I can recall. I remember an animated one about some zoo animals that escape. It just had this one "in joke" where the geese say "Bob's your uncle" which is supposed to be a Canadian expression although it's my understanding it's actually British.
I would have more to say about Canadian TV shows, so many of them hope to attract an American audience so of course they won't do anything go offend Americans. Some of them (I'll give Love It Or List It as one example) start filming in the US once getting some traction. One time I was sort of offended was, a show called Food Factory came out with a version intended for American audiences called "Food Factory USA" and it seemed that the level of humor was lowered to a much zanier level with more flashing lights and people jumping around like crazed monkeys, in an apparent attempt to "dumb it down" for Americans (at least that was my impression). I suppose if I were to watch all 2000 episodes of Corner Gas I would definitely encounter some subtle and not-so-subtle digs at the US as this is a show not really intended for Americans.
Literature is a different topic. I read a lot of Science Fiction and it seems there is an unusually large number of Canadian SF authors given the size of the population. One of the most famous, Robert J. Sawyer, seems to have a favorable impression of the US, but OTOH you have examples like a story I read recently in Analog by somebody named Susan Pieters who went out of her way to include a disagreeable and stereotypically American character in the story who did nothing really to advance the plot, it was just a way for that author to let the reader know how she feels about America.
mr_bigmouth_502
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TW1ZTY wrote:
mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
TW1ZTY wrote:
The way Canadians look down on Americans is why I will never want to move there. I dislike anybody who tries to make another country feel inferior. If anyone is going to criticize a country it should be their own country.
I love America's people, I just hate the country itself. It's a f****d up place. So is Canada to be honest, but at least we're not as f****d up.
See I'm the polar opposite. I like the country itself, I just don't like the majority of the people here and I especially don't like our government.
America is a beautiful place and we're better off than some other countries for sure, but the government itself is pretty corrupt and incompetent and only a handful of Americans seem to realize this. And the American people's ignorance and arrogance is the worst.
I didn't mean the physical country; I've been there and it's nice, but as a country with all its history of violence and racism and its screwed up government I can't stand it. So we're not totally on opposite sides.
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XFilesGeek wrote:
A few weeks ago I watched a commercial for a "furniture and gun store" where you could come pick out a new couch for the family, and load-up on ammo on your way out.
I remember thinking that I really wish I lived in a place where crap like this isn't considered normal.
Do you live in Alberta?
I remember thinking that I really wish I lived in a place where crap like this isn't considered normal.
mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
TW1ZTY wrote:
mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
TW1ZTY wrote:
The way Canadians look down on Americans is why I will never want to move there. I dislike anybody who tries to make another country feel inferior. If anyone is going to criticize a country it should be their own country.
I love America's people, I just hate the country itself. It's a f****d up place. So is Canada to be honest, but at least we're not as f****d up.
See I'm the polar opposite. I like the country itself, I just don't like the majority of the people here and I especially don't like our government.
America is a beautiful place and we're better off than some other countries for sure, but the government itself is pretty corrupt and incompetent and only a handful of Americans seem to realize this. And the American people's ignorance and arrogance is the worst.
I didn't mean the physical country; I've been there and it's nice, but as a country with all its history of violence and racism and its screwed up government I can't stand it. So we're not totally on opposite sides.
Yeah it gets very Game of Thrones here.
In a way I feel like we are King's Landing.
Tollorin
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mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
Wolfram87 wrote:
On the topic of dumpster-fires, I hear your head honcho is in a bit of hot water as well?
I'll honestly admit, I haven't been paying attention. What has Justin gotten himself into this time?
I guess it must be the scandal involving SNC Lavalin; something about Trudeau wanting to give SNC Lavalin, the company, some amnesty for their corruptions, and thus save the company, while still pursuing the heads of the company.
It's a very current procedure outside of Canada, apparently, and some of the politicians criticizing the decision would probably have done the same thing; if there are pragmatic at least.
As it's a Montreal company, it of course allow for Quebec bashing.
MaxE wrote:
As for Canadian movies, I haven't seen many feature-length Canadian movies that I can recall. I remember an animated one about some zoo animals that escape. It just had this one "in joke" where the geese say "Bob's your uncle" which is supposed to be a Canadian expression although it's my understanding it's actually British.
Worthy Canadian movies are french-Canadian ones; it's in Quebec that there is a real cinema industry.
I suggest Bon Cop, Bad Cop.
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mr_bigmouth_502
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MaxE wrote:
XFilesGeek wrote:
A few weeks ago I watched a commercial for a "furniture and gun store" where you could come pick out a new couch for the family, and load-up on ammo on your way out.
I remember thinking that I really wish I lived in a place where crap like this isn't considered normal.
Do you live in Alberta?I remember thinking that I really wish I lived in a place where crap like this isn't considered normal.
That would be absolutely absurd even by Alberta standards. We may be the most "Americanized" province, but we're not THAT far gone.
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TW1ZTY wrote:
mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
TW1ZTY wrote:
The way Canadians look down on Americans is why I will never want to move there. I dislike anybody who tries to make another country feel inferior. If anyone is going to criticize a country it should be their own country.
I love America's people, I just hate the country itself. It's a f****d up place. So is Canada to be honest, but at least we're not as f****d up.
See I'm the polar opposite. I like the country itself, I just don't like the majority of the people here and I especially don't like our government.
America is a beautiful place and we're better off than some other countries for sure, but the government itself is pretty corrupt and incompetent and only a handful of Americans seem to realize this. And the American people's ignorance and arrogance is the worst.
TW1ZTY, you sum it up perfectly. I whole heartedly concur.
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TW1ZTY wrote:
mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:
TW1ZTY wrote:
The way Canadians look down on Americans is why I will never want to move there. I dislike anybody who tries to make another country feel inferior. If anyone is going to criticize a country it should be their own country.
I love America's people, I just hate the country itself. It's a f****d up place. So is Canada to be honest, but at least we're not as f****d up.
See I'm the polar opposite. I like the country itself, I just don't like the majority of the people here and I especially don't like our government.
America is a beautiful place and we're better off than some other countries for sure, but the government itself is pretty corrupt and incompetent and only a handful of Americans seem to realize this. And the American people's ignorance and arrogance is the worst.
TW1ZTY, you sum it up perfectly. I whole heartedly concur.
The_Face_of_Boo
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TW1ZTY wrote:
... America is a beautiful place and we're better off than some other countries for sure, but the government itself is pretty corrupt and incompetent and only a handful of Americans seem to realize this. And the American people's ignorance and arrogance is the worst.
On these points, TW1ZTY and I are in complete agreement.
The_Face_of_Boo wrote:
TW1ZTY wrote:
The_Face_of_Boo wrote:
Funny First World bickering...
I still can't find a silver sink to match my golden toilet.
The thread would have made more sense if it was like "I am grateful to live in Canada, and not in Yemen" - but he picked on the US? Like really?
A lot of people are very unhappy with the US right now. I completely understand that, but I personally don't like it when people from other countries put us or ANY country down.
It's kind of like Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany. It's feels very unfair to me whenever people in those countries are labeled as "evil" just because of the corrupt things their government did. I mean today Germany is a very different place and yet people can't forgive and let go of what they did during World War 2.
I fear that the same thing is going to happen to the USA with all the bad s**t that we keep doing that people are now finding out about, but I guess we'll be bringing it on ourselves.
lostonearth35
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lostonearth35 wrote:
Just like Americans to be arguing with us lostonearth35 and telling us what to do. We're really sick of it.
@The_Face_of_Boo this is exactly what it's about. @lostonearth35 thanks for providing this demonstration.
MaxE wrote:
XFilesGeek wrote:
A few weeks ago I watched a commercial for a "furniture and gun store" where you could come pick out a new couch for the family, and load-up on ammo on your way out.
I remember thinking that I really wish I lived in a place where crap like this isn't considered normal.
Do you live in Alberta?I remember thinking that I really wish I lived in a place where crap like this isn't considered normal.
Nope. Arkansas.
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