MetaFilter posts tagged with Canadian

"Did I make it? Is everybody pleased?"

mrducts — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 12:52:25 -0800

"Did I make it? Is everybody pleased?" (SLYT)

Possibly the most controversial National Film Board film of all time.

dunkadunc — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:06:27 -0800

Norman McLaren's 1952 short film [Youtube version] Neighbours uses live actors in a stop-motion film, to great effect.
McLaren created the soundtrack by scratching the edge of the film, which was then read by the projector.

MétaFiltre!

Shepherd — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:21:54 -0800

The Canadian Government’s Translation Bureau recently made its French/English/Spanish technical terminology database, Termium, free to access after over a decade as a subscription-based service. While off-the-cuff translations are often available from free services like BabelFish, Termium focuses on technical terminology such as scientific, medical and legal terms. Of equal interest to the core service are other tools like The Canadian Style, the government’s official rules for how to write "Canadian" (an odd hybrid of British and American styles), HyperGrammar 2, a series of educational grammar modules developed for self-directed learning, and Word Tailoring, an attempt to create a translation database for idiomatic French words and expressions that don't necessarily offer a single literal translation. There are also a wealth of French-language tools for learning grammar, improving your writing style, and seeking alternate terms for common verbs and expressions. Also worthy of note is the always-free Grand Dictionnaire, the product of the Quebec government's Office de la langue française, which is far less robust than Termium but has a stronger focus on "proper" language for Quebec. And, if you're struggling to improve your French writing skills, Bon Patron is a (frequently slow-loading) Java-powered tool that will check your French spelling and grammar and offer correction suggestions in real time.

How William Shatner Changed the World (and Ballet)

rumbles — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:31:47 -0800

Canadian actor William Shatner continues to diversify his cultural contributions in two recent documentaries making the rounds on the film festival circuit entitled: How William Shatner Changed the World (youtube trailer) and William Shatner's Gonzo Ballet (youtube clip).

Louie Palu is a Canadian Photojournalist.

chunking express — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 11:57:23 -0800

Louie Palu is a Canadian Photojournalist. His series, Goodbye, Guantánamo, is up for some big awards.

5BX: When wishing is not good enough

rongorongo — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:52:27 -0800

Bill Orban developed the "Five Basic Exercises" or 5BX program for the Royal Canadian Air force in the late 50s. Apart from the primary aim of getting people into shape it was designed to be simple to perform, to work on all the body, to require nothing in terms of special equipment or large spaces, to accommodate enough progression to cater for reformed couch potato and budding athlete alike and to fit into a time slot of 11 minutes including warm up. [Women, for whatever reason, were prescribed 10 exercises in 12 minutes with XBX]. The book of the exercises was translated into 13 languages and sold 23 million copies around the world before falling into obscurity in the 80s. Because so many people did these exercises over several decades there is quite a lot of medical research published on their effectiveness. Sports Science and litigation have moved on since the 50s so there are now some caveats about the detailed method for performing some of the exercises. Jon Walker incorporates a simplified version of the program into "The Hacker's Diet".

Hark, A Vagrant!

flatluigi — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 08:40:06 -0800

Kate Beaton, Historical Cartoonist

If you like modern music, you'll probably like Nardwuar.

christhelongtimelurker — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 16:40:59 -0800

Nardwuar the Human Serviette is an interesting, abrasive and knowledgeable music journalist. Many of his interviews are on film and posted to youtube. Previously on metafilter. Warning: single link to a youtube user. Brevity is a virtue? I don't know if this is FPP material but I've wasted maybe 4 or 5 hours watching his videos over the past few days so if you are anything like me, you might enjoy them. And worst case situation, you might waste 10 seconds glancing at the post and deciding its dumb. Also, its a single

Steroids Saved My So Called Life?

YoBananaBoy — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 17:02:34 -0800

Steroids Saved My Life. Enjoy watching ten episodes of a pasty, skinny Canadian gain 20+ pounds of muscle, a luxurious tan, a website and a new chemical habit.

Venetian Flair

Christ, what an asshole — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:38:12 -0800

The Most Serene Republic, quite possibly the most underrated of all the acts on the Arts & Crafts label, create music in a similar vein to fellow Canadian indie rockers Arcade Fire, Stars, and Broken Social Scene. Experience their explosive, big-band, polyphonic, experimental flair by listening to their 3 releases in full: Underwater Cinematographer (2005), Phages EP (2006), and Population (2007). A few video music videos as well: The Men Who Live Upstairs, Oh God, Content Always Was My Favourite

Bow Before the Almighty Cloud

MiltonRandKalman — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 12:41:22 -0800

Dot Matrix Revolution Animators Superbrothers release their follow-up to their 1st pixel animation, Children of the Clone. Also check out their illustrations on flickr. {via Laughing Squid}

Julie, Don't Go!

Shepherd — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:18:23 -0800

While England had the Two Ronnies (earlier today), Canada had, more or less simultaneously, its own hit comedy duo in Wayne and Shuster. Johnny Wayne was the manic engine and Frank Shuster the perpetual straight man, and even if they weren't to your taste, you have to admit they never underestimated their audience -- with sketches like Shakespearean Baseball, (full versions on YouTube, in 1950s and 1970s flavours!) Rinse The Blood off My Toga (excerpt), and Frontier Psychiatrist (the latter being the sample base for a surprising hit by Melbourne-based band The Avalanches) combining the sciences, classical literature, pop culture and ancient history simultaneously. They were not, of course, above the hoary old comedy clichés, either, including golf, airline travel, and well, feature-length Star Trek parodies. Most Canadians between the age of 30 and 40 will fondly recall a weekly sitcom (which largely converted their radio hits to video), especially the closing theme, but those in a slightly older bracket may recognize the duo as the all-time most-seen guests on the Ed Sullivan Show. Some of it is dated, to say the least, but the duo made an almost incalculable difference in the Canadian psyche -- they single-handedly turned Canadians from the blandly polite folks up north into the too-smart-for-school crack-ups, and spawned a lineage that led to SCTV and the Kids in the Hall and other, lesser-known Canadian comedy groups like The Frantics (whose 4 On The Floor show was a single-season diamond of comedy brilliance, including Mr. Friendly and Canuck icon Mr. Canoehead (incidentally, the bleeped word is "Mormons", which was bleeped out of every airing after the first one)) and current groups like The Irrelevant Show.

Canadian Brass

Upton O'Good — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:12:59 -0800

The brass quintet Canadian Brass is both venerable--it's been around 38 years--and prolific--its discography is as long as your arm. While they often play classical arrangements, they also mix in jazz and blues, along with a complement of showmanship and humor. (Also, they play Flight of the Bumblebee on the tuba.) [Mouseover for titles.]

Sabar Toubab

mike3k — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:35:25 -0800

Ashley Maher is a Canadian singer living in Santa Monica, but her music comes straight from Senegal. She also dances a mean sabar (YouTube link).

Shameless Magazine.

chunking express — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 09:20:42 -0800

Shameless Magazine. An independent magazine for teenage girls. From the about page:

Shameless is Canada’s independent voice for smart, strong, sassy young women. It’s a fresh alternative to typical teen magazines, for girls who know there’s more to life than makeup and diet tips. Packed with articles about arts, culture and current events, Shameless reaches out to readers who are often ignored by mainstream media: freethinkers, queer youth, young women of colour, punk rockers, feminists, intellectuals, artists, activists — people just like you! We tackle teen life with wit and wisdom. Proudly independent, Shameless is a grassroots magazine produced by a team of volunteer staff members, with content guided by a teen advisory board.

Bushism

growabrain — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 20:50:33 -0800

I'm a Railroad (YT) pure Bush gibberish, from the same folks that gave you "Top Ten Signs Your Country May Be Going Fascist", And FDR Rant. (More inside. NSFW for language & juvenility)

A Fingerprint-Protected Social Network for Girls

dbarefoot — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:47:39 -0800

Some fancy security for 6 to 14-year-old girls Anne's Diary is a Canadian social network for 6 to 14-year-old girls (I read about it on the CBC's Spark blog). It has two interesting security features to fend off child molesters and the like. To sign up for the service, kids need to get a non-parental adult professional as a 'sponsor' who validates their identity and age (much like applying for a passport). Secondly, you get a USB fingerprint scanner with your initial package, and I gather the kids use this to log in to the service. And yes, that's Anne with an 'e'. No Prince Edward Island gable was ever this secure. Actually, there's one other cool feature that I like: "each Christmas the child will be sent a physical copy of their Diary with all of their entries included in it." I also wonder what their exit strategy is for girls who turn 15. Do they get summarily booted off the service? Is there another network (besides, you know, Facebook) that they graduate too?

Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare

Alec — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 18:12:29 -0800

Canadian Adaptations of Shakespeare is ‘the first research project of its kind anywhere in the world devoted to the systematic exploration and documentation of the ways in which Shakespeare has been adapted into a national, multicultural theatrical practice.’ It’s a really impressive collection of scholarly resources, great multimedia (including Wayne & Schuster’s Rinse the Blood off my Toga), the Romeo & Juliet Interactive Folio, Canadian Shakespeareans in Space, and ‘Speare: The Literacy Arcade Game.

Wait a minute: your mom pays you to give her backrubs?

Turtles all the way down — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 14:31:21 -0800

What's the deal with Jews and Chinese food? Just one gem from Jesse Brown, a legendary and entertaining contributor to CBC radio, print, and other media. Here's another one. Okay, one more. Did I mention he's the 121st Greatest Canadian of all Time?

Open Medicine Journal

furtive — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 09:22:26 -0800

The inaugural edition of Open Medicine, a peer-reviewed, independent, open-access medical journal is now available online. The online medical journal launched in the aftermath of a rift last year between some editors and the publisher of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Among the first interesting articles? a review of studies which suggests that health outcomes may be superior in patients cared for in Canada versus the United States (but differences are not consistent), even though spending is higher south of the border.

Big Mountain

Pollomacho — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 21:29:44 -0800

How can one bit actor have hundreds of millions, perhaps over a billion adoring fans and yet be a virtual unknown in his native land? Ask Mark Rowswell, aka DaShan. In 1988, Rowswell won a scholarship to study Chinese at the prestigious Peking University. More than twenty years later he has one of the most recognizable faces in China. He's been awarded and investigated for his work in film, on stage, in television, in commercials and for charity. So just who the heck is he?

Made in Canada

dobbs — Thu, 28 Sep 2006 20:22:41 -0800

The Canadian Design Resource - from Beavertail rockers to Broomball shoes.

I wonder if a new NEP is also being considered?

Mitheral — Fri, 09 Dec 2005 06:56:02 -0800

Future handgun ban? Despite reassurances made during passage of C-68 that registration would not lead to confiscation, Paul Martin is promising to enable provinces to ban handguns if elected this January.

Canadians urge Parliament to hold hearings on relations with E.T. civilizations

airguitar — Tue, 29 Nov 2005 10:27:30 -0800

“Time is on the side of open disclosure that there are ethical Extraterrestrial civilizations visiting Earth. Our Canadian government needs to openly address these important issues of the possible deployment of weapons in outer war plans against ethical ET societies.”
via

Special Delivery

Smart Dalek — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 05:58:42 -0800

Still going: jazz pianist Oscar Peterson celebrated his 80th birthday on Monday, with a rare treat. The veteran jazz musician is the first living Canadian to be honored with a commemorative postage stamp.