Dew,
Mr Dressup’s beloved wife was the puppeteer for casey & finnegan. She died (cancer IIRC) and he retired the puppets out of respect for her.
Well, that’s really sad. Someone said that they weren’t on anymore and I wondered why. It’s sweet that he retired the puppets.
Thanks for the info.
BTW, I’ll take Canadian childrens’ shows over American ones, anyday. (That goes for music, too.)
D’ohh!
Sunspace is correct; there were 5, not 4 teams in the NHL in 1917–I’d overlooked the Bulldogs…
The hideous mutant Paul Anka wrote the theme for the “Tonight Show.” Johnny Carson added the ‘sting’ at the end, which means he shares songwriting residuals with Anka.
Right, Sunspace, Alexander G Bell made the first long-distance phone call from Paris, Ontario to Brantford (to his parents’ home). He was a such a good son…
Also correct, Sunspace on Sir Sanford Fleming, Billy Bishop (72 credited victories: only the Red Baron shot down more, with 80) and Grey Owl.
The oldest brewery in Canada is Molson, which began operating in 1786. “An Honest Brew Makes Its Own Friends.”
According to last December’s Economist and the increasingly incoherent emails from my pals out there the biggest export is that most theraputic of herbs cannabis indica…
Nobody’s forcing anyone to do anything. But we’re not just talking about people who refuse to learn a language that 90% of their province speaks. Nor just about people who are proud of their ignorance, as though it’s a point of pride not to have a particular skill. No, we’re talking about people who do these two things, and ALSO get mad at people for addressing them in the majority language of the province in which they live!
I mean, really. You wouldn’t move to Madrid and get huffy because you were served in Spanish. Would you? I hope not?
I mean, there’s a difference of being proud that you do speak English, and being proud that you don’t speak French.
As an English Quebecer, I find it incredibly insulting that ignorance and stubbornness should be thought a part of my cultural and linguistic heritage. I am very proud of the effort, cultural exchange, and tolerance I possess with regard to the French language and Quebecois culture. I can’t see why anyone would be proud of remaining intentionally ignorant of those things.
Cmon Matt, I have worked with the public for years, and I cant even count the number of times I greeted someone in english (the predominate language here in NB - despite the bilingual -ness of the province) only to have them tell me off in french, not NB french either, Quebec french. So I apologize and serve them in french, only to have them cut me off mid sentence and speak english to me.
French is a hard language to learn. All the books, tv and internet I see is all in english… if they dont learn it in school, its darn hard to learn. english otoh, is everywhere, I doubt (cant proove it) there are tht many french in quebec that dont know some english.
Maybe the attitude you refer to is generated by the fact that they are embarassed NOT to know some french.
Just a thought.
Last I checked no he isn’t.
I think its sweet he retired them too. I saw him live once when he was in Edmonton.
The answer is yes there was. He was a hockey player who together with Dave Thomas the founder of Wendy’s founded a donut and coffee shop franchise, which was later purchased by a man named Ron Joyce, after Tim Horton died.
I could go on and on… as I work for Tim Hortons, but instead I will leave you with a trivia question…
** What Canadian city has the largest number of Tim Horton stores per capita? **
free cyber donuts and coffee hand delivered by me to the person who knows this, and kelli… you DO NOT qualify because I know you know the answer!!
Damn.
matt_mcl,
I have got to agree on this one with Kelli. I have also always worked with the public in the service industry and I have never met a more rude group of people than french Quebecers…and just to claitify, I do not mean all!
New Brunswick may be a bilingual province, but the entire provice is not french speaking. We have areas where french is predominant, such as Shediac, Bathurst and Miramichi. We also have areas that area predominantly English like Sussex, Saint Andrews and Riverview. I am from Moncton and I can say that yes, 90% of people in my hometown probably do speak some french…but the surrounding ares are a completely different story.
For being a bilingual province, answer this one for me…
Why is it the french speaking population expect english people to be able to serve them in their language, but if an english speaking person wants the same from a french " server " why are they not able to be served in good english??
Most Tim Hortons per capita? At a wild gues, I’d say… Edmonton. Why? I’m not sure.
Oh Canadian guy?? I was watching the Braves get their behinds beaten tonight by the Expos, and I couldn’t help but notice how neatly the Canadians were dressed, something rarely seen here in Atlanta, when one sees the fans by way of the tv cameras. Do ya’ll dress up to go to the games, or just more civilized than your neighbors in the States??? 
And what is your point? That attitude is as annoying in francophones as it is in anglophones, hispanophones, lusophones, germanophones, and telephones. That doesn’t change the fact that it’s really fucking dumb to be proud of one’s ignorance.
For what it’s worth, I’ve never had a French person tell me off for having addressed them in English. Then again, nobody was rude to me when I was in Paris, so maybe it’s just my charming personality.
What’s the deal with curling?
although i agree that its a bad idea to ask “natives” about their linguistic peculiarities (they dont count if youre fully aware of them, right? :-), i have on occasion noticed the tendancy of Canadians (i speak specifically of Eastern Township’s Quebeckers, btw) to use the word “eh” in the place of "what?"or “pardon me?”. i know i say it all the time and clients at work have commented on it being “so Canadian”.
as for the stubbornness of people refusing to learn French…i agree its not the most logical reaction, but i think i understand it in light of the political linguistic situation. placed in an environment where french is so dominant, and english is so frowned upon, its a bit like taking a rebellious stand to say that you "refuse"to learn french. the language situation here IS unfair and unbalanced, and is taken to extremes by the government itself sometimes…theres actually a language police! it is illegal to open up a business and advertise in english and not in french in Quebec, regardless of the environment youre in, or the clientelle youre trying to attract. so people do what they can to point out that they are unhappy with the current language laws.
besides…montreal is as anglophone as it is francophone nowadays anyways…which i guess is what started the whole problem to begin with… 
Mnemosyne, for one thing, your statement about businesses is partially incorrect; businesses which deal with Anglophone culture can advertise and publicize in English (e.g. Montreal Gazette, Mirror, Centaur Theatre, Westmount Library, McGill University).
More broadly though - do you know what Montreal would look like if we didn’t have those laws? Toronto. Frankly, if I wanted to live in a city that looks like Toronto, I’d move there.
The language police are poorly run, have chips on their shoulders, and are overzealous. But I understand and agree with the basis of the laws they are meant to be enforcing.
er…
I thought BCs largest export was pot… and snowboarders…
no wait…
snowboarders are their biggest import… yayaya, that’s it… export pot, import riders…
dewt
I thought it was Mr Dressup’s wife who died in a car accident - she was walking along the street and a car came up on the sidewalk and drove her into a building? I thought he was still alive.
The Friendly Giant, on the other hand, died just last month of cancer. Last year, he was made a member of the Order of Canada, but because he was so sick, Governor General LeBlanc made a special trip to the Giant’s farm to invest him.
Oddly enough, both the Giant and Mr. Dressup are imports from the U.S. - they started there, but had their shows picked up by the CBC and moved here.
I thought it was Mr Dressup’s wife who died in a car accident - she was walking along the street and a car came up on the sidewalk and drove her into a building? I thought he was still alive.
The Friendly Giant, on the other hand, died just last month of cancer. Last year, he was made a member of the Order of Canada, but because he was so sick, Governor General LeBlanc made a special trip to the Giant’s farm to invest him.
Oddly enough, both the Giant and Mr. Dressup are imports from the U.S. - they started there, but had their shows picked up by the CBC and moved here.