Happy Canada Day!

[annathepiper]

In honor of Canada and all my favorite Canadians, here's a big ol' HAPPY CANADA DAY to you folks north of the border. And now, a few words in phrase of Canadians who have made my life a better thing:

Today, courtesy of janetmiles, elfs, and cymrullewes, I have learned that james_nicoll is responsible for this fabulous quote which I had both misquoted and not properly attributed in a recent thread:

"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary."

To which I must say, wow. Marvelously coincidental, James, that you are now on my Friends list too. Consider yourself praised, for lo, that is the most apt observation on the English language I have ever heard!

Let me also praise gerimaple, fellow GBS fan and provider of crash space in the cause of ogling musical Newfoundlanders, as well as being a useful catcher of continuity errors in my work; brightbeak (to whom I owe a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY as well!), who always has kind words; framlingem, on general principle, for being a fellow SF geek, and for recommending the Sharpe books; avalonmissy, for being the creator of one of my favorite GBS fan sites even if she isn't updating it anymore; damara, provider of much wonderful RP during the Vraeyan saga on TM; elfmaid, for being a fellow SF geek and GBS fan; mylildementor and wiredwizard, for liking the Dresden Files; scrunchions, for giving me an Alan With Bouzouki icon, and because I can't have too many GBS fans on my Friends list; and wildcardgal, for being a fellow ogler of The Crowe!

And then there's my off-LJ friend Thomas, who provided me reams of marvelous RP on Star Wars MUSH playing Shenner's love interest, and with whom I have had much wonderful Star Wars geeking. He, along with mamishka, is responsible for making me go buy my first Great Big Sea record, a shining moment in my personal history.

I must also praise Julie Czerneda, who I want to be when I grow up as a writer. And Tanya Huff, who I would also like to be when I grow up as a writer, and who struck me so beautifully by having queer characters in her books and not having their queerness be an Issue, they were just there, and I loved that.

And of course, any post of mine in general praise of Canadians would not be complete without praising the Paperboys, Natalie MacMaster, La Bottine Souriante, the Fables, the Irish Descendants, Captain Tractor, and last but not least, the lovely and talented gentlemen of Great Big Sea, for adding so much musical richness to my existence.

Canada, y'all got a great country up there. Happy birthday to every last one of you!

Comments

[brightbeak.livejournal.com]

actually, if you find yourself in my neck of the woods, you also have another locale at which to park your bags & rest your head, take a shower, etc! :)
and yay, i LOVE canada... i honestly LOVE living here, our politicians are sometimes over the top, and often do things that evoke the "wtf?!" reaction, but for the most part they aren't bad, ya know? after all, we were the 3rd country to see the light and grant full marital rights to those of non-hetero identification! :) :)
wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
and thanks for the belates :)

[annathepiper]

You are most welcome, and should Dara and I ever be in your locale, rest assured we'll be letting you know. :)

I hear tell that C-38 now needs to pass the Senate before it is signed into full law, yes? I'm sure heads are exploding in the neo-conservative contingent down here; Dara's noticed a profound LACK of addressing of this in the monitoring she's been doing lately. Perhaps they are dismayed that there have been no rains of jaguars falling down upon the provinces.

[brightbeak.livejournal.com]

senate approval is quite likely to occur w/ a minimum of fuss, as well as royal assent (the gov-gen signage)... the issue was getting it past the conservative opposition during a time of minority gov't... they didn't want this to be the vote that toppled the gov't, b/c then it would NOT be revisited in any type of expedient manner...
the conservative leader (*SPIT*) has promised to revisit the matter in the fall sitting of parliament, but i doubt he will get far...
and yes, you damn well better let me know, there are sites & sights that MUST BE SEEN/EXPERIENCED locally for a visit to actually *count*

[annathepiper]

Well, I'm down here cheering your PM on. Between you folks and Spain, I've got a double whammy of very, very interesting news to follow--news I'm hoping will have an impact here!

Someday, someday, we will be seeing more of Canada. Just a question of when. :)

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

If it passes Senate, royal assent is a given; the governer-general is a formality and has exercised veto power precisely zero times ever :)

[annathepiper]

Good to know! I suppose there is a certain lack of decorum to pumping your fist and chanting "Do IT, do IT, do IT" in regards to the passing of a bill, but hey, it seems appropriate. ;)

[brightbeak.livejournal.com]

true, and the current GG is more liberal than some have been :)

[damara.livejournal.com]

I like Great Big Sea too! *grins*

Thanks for the Happy Birthday - it's much appreciated!

[annathepiper]

You DO! (And the birthday wish was for brightbeak, but you're welcome to one as well. I've got plenty to spare! Stock up for when your next one rolls around. ;) )

[damara.livejournal.com]

But it's Canada's birthday ... so don't we all get a happy birthday out of it? *wheedles charmingly*

[annathepiper]

*giggle!* Oh right, duh, I got confused. ;) brightbeak got a specific birthday wish 'cause she just had an actual birthday!

And y'all do indeed get a global birthday wish! Here, have a party favor!

[damara.livejournal.com]

Yahoo!

*puts on GBS and dances*

[annathepiper]

Speaking of whom, here, have a link about GBS from brightbeak! It has a title finally for the forthcoming album. And a picture of The Doyle. :D

[damara.livejournal.com]

Oooh, thank you!

A concert July 8 .... *frantically tries to figure out if she can get there....!*

[annathepiper]

You're QUITE welcome! If you manage to make it to that show, ogle Alan twice for me; I'm still expecting to suffer from the Great Big Concert Famine of 2005 for a while longer. ;)

[damara.livejournal.com]

*chuckles*

They were in Barrie for Live 8 today. They sang "Donkey Riding" and "Excursion around the Bay" with only Sean on the Bodhran for accompaniment.

[annathepiper]

*sighs happily* Mmmmm, harmony and bodhran! Did you see them? Did you hear them? Were they musically and visually delicious? :)

[damara.livejournal.com]

Yes, I saw them (on tv). Yes, I heard them, and yes they were. Though Sean needs a haircut. :)

[annathepiper]

Mmmmm, delicious Great Big Sea!

Though, Mr. McCann does seem to need attention to his hair frequently. I will selflessly volunteer.

[framlingem.livejournal.com]

Awww.

*sniffle*

Thank you.

[annathepiper]

You are most welcome. :)

[caligogreywings.livejournal.com]

The part about english stalking other languages down dark alleys is actually an old quote from I don't know where. I've seen it on T-shirts, and am pretty sure it's been around for a bit.

[annathepiper]

It's from james_nicoll, as I mentioned. It's mentioned over on technoshaman's journal as a thing he tossed off on rec.arts.sf.written one day a long time ago, and it's exploded around the net since. It's gotten onto T-shirts without proper attribution, sez elfs. Hence, my specific reason for mentioning it here. :)

[caligogreywings.livejournal.com]

Really? Well, that's certainly interesting to know.

[annathepiper]

Yep, here is the thread where it gets mentioned. :)