Whether it’s centre, labour, coulour, theatre or metre, Canadian language is being threatened by globalism. The exchange of ideas and knowledge is an incredible commodity but is it necessary to lose our identity in that exchange? Are our “ou’s” and “re’s” as important as maple leaves, beavers and beer or should we buckle and spell these words like an American simply because it’s already built into computer dictionaries?
Supergirl Laura Vandervoort signed her MapleLeafForever Stamp…ages ago! But hey, even though it predated this blog, it’s still cool.
This Large Letter postcard highlighting Toronto's key landmarks feature three of E.J. Lennox's designs c1954.
Prospect Point, Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC c1929.
On Wednesday (October 5, 2011) Canadian actress Jewel Staite of Firefly, Stargate: Atlantis and Wonderfalls (Yes, and other stuff too) was in Valhalla with her friend Chelan Simmons! Jewel very graciously signed the back of CanadianCultureThing postcards #0097 which features a MapleLeafForever stamp of Jewel on the back. The Chelan Simmons stamp is in the next batch so we’ll just have to hope she comes back! Continue reading
In the early 20th century Sir Wilfred Laurier, one of our longest serving Prime Ministers, famously announced: “The twentieth century shall be the century of Canada. . . . For the next hundred years, Canada shall be the star towards which all men who love progress and freedom shall come.” Whether you feel that Laurier was on the mark or not, at the time of this renowned speech in 1904, Canadians were very optimistic about the future. Continue reading
Really, in defense of Rob Ford, (Toronto’s temporary mayor), he can’t be expected to be present at the Gay Pride Parade because he has a prior and immovable engagement shackled to that particular weekend. Unfortunately, when he won the Toronto mayoral race to this journalists bewilderment, he hadn’t counted on the Gay Pride Parade falling on the same weekend as his “family weekend”. This has been a Ford-Family-Trip-to-the-Cottage tradition dating back to 2010 and he has been looking forward to it all week. When asked why he wasn’t going to attend the parade the sort-of mayor responded in a nervous, sweaty and guilty-looking way: “One day at a time.”
Spoiler Alert: If you haven’t seen Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and really want to be surprised, bookmark this article and read it later.
Scott Pilgrim vs The World is a 2010 film based on the 6-part Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series by Canadian Graphic Novelist Bryan Lee O’Malley of London, Ontario. Directed Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead![""](http://www.assoc-amazon.ca/e/ir?t=canadiancom03-20&l=as2&o=15&a=B00067TVHU")
The film sets the scene with screen copy that reads: “Not so long ago…In the mysterious land…of Toronto, Canada…Scott Pilgrim was dating a high schooler.”
When I think of the noble beaver, I think of him like one of our founders. I think of how he and his kin built this great nation one dam lodge after another. Planning out our waterways while commingling with it’s fellow future-Canadians, the Moose and Goose, the Salmon, Loon and Caribou. The great beaver deciding one day, while gnawing down a sap-oozing tree as he built the Parliament buildings, that a leaf should be the symbol for this great tree-covered nation. These proud Beavers would name the country Can-ada because the word Can’t wasn’t in a beavers vocabulary!
Since 2004 we have been creating some great postcards, notecards, mugs and magnets featuring awesome nostalgic Canadiana. CanadianCultureThing set out to explain visually what Canada was and is. We wanted to remind Canadians how amazing we are as a people. It seemed that it was more likely that a Canadian would have one of Lewis W. Hine‘s photographs of the construction of the Empire State Building in 1931 hanging on their wall than similar photos of the Canada Life Building in 1931! We wanted to change that. Continue reading
