Egbert Souse always insisted that there was an accent grave over the e, but it’s clear that he meant an accent aigu.
Douwe Egberts, the Dutch coffee and tea merchandiser, was founded in Joure by Egbert Douwes as De Witte Os (“the White Ox”). It is now owned by Sara Lee Corp.
The ox is the second sign of the Chinese zodiac.
The next year of the ox, according to the Gregorian calendar, will be from 12 February 2021 until 31 January 2022.
Oxbow lakes (images) and meander scars (images) are formed by rivers on large plains as the rivers, over the years, follows different paths across the plain. This picture was taken from the International Space Station in 2010 of the Rio Negro’s broad flood plain.
The Australian version of an oxbow lake is a billabong.
Hugh Jackman attended the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts of Edith Cowan University in Perth, Western Australia, graduating in 1994. On the night of his final Academy graduation performance, he received a phone call offering him a role on Correlli. As Jackman puts it: I was technically unemployed for thirteen seconds.
Cool, all those years ago as a kid when we sang Waltzing Matilda in choir, billabong is in that song and I never knew that! Thanks!
In play:
Richard Ira “Dick” Bong (September 24, 1920 – August 6, 1945) is the United States’ highest-scoring air ace, having shot down at least 40 Japanese aircraft during World War II. He was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) and a recipient of the Medal of Honor. All of his aerial victories were in the P-38 Lightning fighter aircraft.
ETA: Ninja’d by Annie (that’s now TWICE in the last 20 minutes!) :D, so hers is in play:
Hugh Jackman was born in Sydney, where also model Elle Macpherson and singer Rick Springfield were also born.
There is a Sidney and a Sydney in Canada, both of which are major ferry ports connecting Canada with its two most populous offshore islands. They are over 6,000 kilometers apart.
Sidney, British Columbia, is about a 35-mile drive south from Chemainus, British Columbia. Both are on Vancouver Island.
Sydney, Nova Scotia, is about a 250-mile drive east from Halifax, Nova Scotia.
ETA: You can drive from Sidney to Sydney. The fastest route is about 4,000 miles and mostly through the northern USA on I-90 and I-94.
There are two provinces in Canada whose largest cities have nearly the same name. St. John’s, Newfoundland, is always spelled with the abbreviation St., and accented on the John’s syllable. Saint John, New Brunswick, is always spelled out Saint, which is the accented syllable.
New/Nouveau Brunswick, not Quebec, is the only officially bilingual province of Canada.
Fredricton is the capital of New Brunswick is the site of the Christ Church Cathedral, with stained glass imported from the UK.
Canada is the only country in the world whose airports all have a 3-letter code beginning with the same letter. All Canada’s airport codes begin with the letter Y, such as YFC for Fredericton, YSJ for Saint John and YYT for St. John’s.
The title of Rush’s instrumental piece “YYZ” refers to their happiness at being on a flight home to Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) after a long road trip. They usually play it with Neal Peart getting a long drum solo. The piece’s introduction, played in a time signature of 5/4, repeatedly renders “Y-Y-Z” in Morse Code using various musical arrangements.
“YYZ” as an airport code is pronounced “wye-wye-zed” because it is Canada. Only Americans would call it “wye-wye-zee”.
Ernie Hudson played Winston Zedmore, aka The Black Ghostbuster.
Hudson automobiles were sold in the USA from 1909 to 1957. Unlike Plymouth, Cadillac, de Soto, etc, they were not named for a well-known American historical entity, but for Joseph L. Hudson, the founder of the car company. He also founded Hudson’s department stores, which are still in existence under that name in the Detroit area.
The Bay, the current name for the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson Bay, is the oldest continuously operating corporation in North America. It was founded by Royal Charter granted by King Charles II of England in 1670.
The furthest point north on the Australian mainland is Cape York. It was named on 21 August 1770 by Captain James Cook, in honour of Prince Edward, Duke of York and Albany, brother of King George III.
The distance from Cape York to PNG is about 150km.