MetaFilter posts tagged with canada

Something Awful Forum Hilariously Hijacks CBC Anthem Contest

dbarefoot — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 00:30:11 -0800

Something awful in a new CBC anthem. The CBC's Hockey Night in Canada is one of the highest-rated programs on Canadian television. It's something of a national shrine to our beloved sport. For the past 40-odd years, it's had a distinctive theme which most Canadians could hum. After something of a fiasco, the CBC lost the rights to the theme. They're running a contest to replace the venerated theme. A Something Awful forum user composed a truly dreadful entry ("mostly comprised of cat and sheep sounds, baby cries, and gunshots/explosions"), and got the community to 'vote it up' on the Anthem contest site. You really need to hear the awfulness to truly appreciate it. The SA commmunity has responded, and now it's the most viewed, top rated, and most commented-on submission on the site. There's a Facebook group and a spectacularly bad animated version on YouTube.

Guantanamo Release

gman — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 08:20:56 -0800

Al Jazeera cameraman and Guantanamo detainee Sami al-Haj was released after 6.5 years. Meanwhile, an interrogation video of current Guantanamo resident, now 21 year old Canadian Omar Khadr, has also been released. Previously.

stavrosthewonderchicken's home is dying

gen — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:05:40 -0800

Canadian expatriate (and Metafilter member) stavrosthewonderchicken has a detailed and depressing look at the impact of the mountain pine beetle in Northern British Columbia, where a perfect storm of "forest fire suppression, clearcutting (and subsequent replanting), [and] global warming" has led to the destruction of over 130,000 square kilometers of forest.

City of Montréal drops charges against graffiti artist... and then hires him

rssaddict — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:34:27 -0800

Montreal Graffiti/Street artist Roadsworth, who was arrested in 2005 and faced up to 250 000$ in fines, is back on the streets, this time with a permit and a commission. Interestingly, the title of the new piece (which stretches across multiple intersections on downtown Sainte-Catherine street) is "Défense d'Afficher", which means "No Postering". It seems as though he's commenting on the role of art and advertisement in public space, but maybe that's just my take. Thoughts? For a more in-depth discussion, read the Torontoist's article on graffiti), and for more examples, check out Vandalist, the same blog's photostream of T.O. street art, Streetsy, a great photoblog showing off various street art from around the world, and, of course, Flickr's STREETART pool.

Melt it down and make it into a coat hanger.

illiad — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:16:44 -0800

Canada allows for legal abortions, thanks to Dr. Henry Morgentaler, who yesterday received the Order of Canada. He was instrumental in the fight against the abortion provision in the Criminal Code of Canada; the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that said provision was unconstitutional, as it violated a woman's right under section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to "security of person." Morgantaler served time in prison for his trouble but was eventually acquitted. That he received the Order of Canada has of course enraged anti-abortion groups, and has deeply annoyed some pundits.

It's Spock's illusions I recall

bicyclefish — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:20:56 -0800

Leonard Nimoy ruins Joni Mitchell. Johnny Cash redeems Gordon Lightfoot. The Donnas render Men Without Hats ever so slightly less ridiculous. The CBC assembles a list of great (and sub-great) covers of Canadian songs. And a happy Canada Day to you.

CDN military to gays: Join us!

SSinVan — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 14:47:17 -0800

Canadian military to gays: Join us! They're even setting up recruiting booths at Gay Pride events (when they are allowed) Note that CBC moderators deleted some of the comments on that first link, but you get a hunch on what they said from the other comments. You may also have heard about two gay soldiers who wed on a military base.

Killing The Indian In The Child

chuckdarwin — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 08:39:51 -0800

Canada has apologised for forcing more than 100,000 aboriginal children to attend state-funded Christian boarding schools aimed at assimilating them. Controversial former Minister Kevin Annett has written two books on the subject of residential school abuse in Canada [Hidden from History: The Canadian Holocaust and Love and Death in the Valley]. Unrepentant - Kevin Annett and Canada's Genocide reveals Canada’s darkest secret - that the Canadian residential school system, the Christian churches along with state authorities implemented a policy of genocide against Canada's native population. Related: Deliver Us From Evil

Air India 182

netbros — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 07:21:01 -0800

On June 22, 1985, Air India flight 182 left Montreal en route to Delhi with 329 passengers aboard, most of them Canadian. Four hours later, an explosion in the baggage compartment destroyed the plane, killing all on board. Premiering tonight on CBC television, this documentary (trailer) recounts the final hours, days and weeks before the plane disappeared off Irish radar screens. It reveals the story of how Canada’s first major counter-terrorism operation failed to thwart the conspiracy and details the errors that resulted in the world’s most lethal act of aviation terrorism before Sept. 11. (previously on MetaFilter) The producers have also created a site.

Paddling with Polar Bears

cabingirl — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 14:24:09 -0800

In 1930, Eric Sevareid and Walter Port embarked on a wild adventure when they launched a canoe at Fort Snelling on the Minnesota River and paddled over 2200 miles north to Hudson Bay. Sevareid later documented their story in the book Canoeing with the Cree. The book has since served as inspiration for young adventurers. Two such men, Colton Witte and Sean Bloomfield, departed on their own trek on April 28, 2008. The pair made it to Hudson Bay on June 17, 2008, in only 49 days. They aren’t the only ones to follow in Sevareid’s and Port’s footsteps – Scott Miller and Todd Foster made the same journey in 2005.