Salty Canuck
Nov. 29th, 2004 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jawnbcYesterday it was 38C here in Sydney (at the beach; it was the low 40s inland). Today will be the same, with tomorrow's beachfront temperature to hit 42C. That's 108F folks--ttoo friggin hot. We made the best of it though: we toddled over to Bronte Beach, where the waves were ripping shore break--total ass-kickers--and had a whale of a time. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
querrelle learned the hard way about how important it is to tie your speedo really tightly in the big surf. Ass-beatin' aside, the water--the waves, the coolness, the clarity--was grand in every respect. We lingered on the beach until after 17h00.
Meanwhile, over on the CBC site they're finishing up a poll to pick the Greatest Canadian of All Time. Currently the top 3 are:
Tommy Douglas who brought socialized medicare to Saskatchewan and then the rest of Canada: he was also the first socialist government leader in North America. You probably have heard of one of his grandsons, Kiefer Sutherland? We Canucks love our medical system (problematic as it can be), so this isn't entirely a surprise.
Terry Fox was a young athlete who lost most of his leg to bone cancer. He became involved in paralympic sports (basketball and marathoning), and decided to run across Canada (NF to BC) to raise "one $ for every Canadian" for cancer research. Effectively he ran a marathon every single day. Sadly his cancer mestastized to his lungs, and he had to end his run just over half through. But his goal--$24 millionfor 24 million Canadians--was reached mere weeks before he died. Every year Terry Fox Runs around the world raise more $$ for cancer research. He's a veritable legend in Canada--deservingly so--and was always a safe bet for the top 3.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau arguably was the architect of Canada the Modern nation. He made bilingualism in Federal jurisdictions the law, reacted resolutely when internal terrorism made a brief appearance, decriminalized homosexuality, and brought the Canadian Constitution home from Britain. But most importantly to me, he brought in (with Jean Chrétien his Justice Minister) the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It's a visionary statement of what a society can seek to attain. And what it doesn't cover specifically (like gay rights) can be "read into" it, making it a dynamic document as well.
My vote is for Trudeau. While he wasn't always on the mark (he ran up huge debts in implementing his social redesign of Canadian society), he made the country what it is. Without Trudeau there'd be no just society, less bilingualism, no same-sex marriage, no Aboriginal title. Canada made me, and he made that Canada.
querrelle learned the hard way about how important it is to tie your speedo really tightly in the big surf. Ass-beatin' aside, the water--the waves, the coolness, the clarity--was grand in every respect. We lingered on the beach until after 17h00.Meanwhile, over on the CBC site they're finishing up a poll to pick the Greatest Canadian of All Time. Currently the top 3 are:
Tommy Douglas who brought socialized medicare to Saskatchewan and then the rest of Canada: he was also the first socialist government leader in North America. You probably have heard of one of his grandsons, Kiefer Sutherland? We Canucks love our medical system (problematic as it can be), so this isn't entirely a surprise.
Terry Fox was a young athlete who lost most of his leg to bone cancer. He became involved in paralympic sports (basketball and marathoning), and decided to run across Canada (NF to BC) to raise "one $ for every Canadian" for cancer research. Effectively he ran a marathon every single day. Sadly his cancer mestastized to his lungs, and he had to end his run just over half through. But his goal--$24 millionfor 24 million Canadians--was reached mere weeks before he died. Every year Terry Fox Runs around the world raise more $$ for cancer research. He's a veritable legend in Canada--deservingly so--and was always a safe bet for the top 3.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau arguably was the architect of Canada the Modern nation. He made bilingualism in Federal jurisdictions the law, reacted resolutely when internal terrorism made a brief appearance, decriminalized homosexuality, and brought the Canadian Constitution home from Britain. But most importantly to me, he brought in (with Jean Chrétien his Justice Minister) the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It's a visionary statement of what a society can seek to attain. And what it doesn't cover specifically (like gay rights) can be "read into" it, making it a dynamic document as well.
My vote is for Trudeau. While he wasn't always on the mark (he ran up huge debts in implementing his social redesign of Canadian society), he made the country what it is. Without Trudeau there'd be no just society, less bilingualism, no same-sex marriage, no Aboriginal title. Canada made me, and he made that Canada.
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Date: 2004-11-28 02:46 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2004-11-29 08:41 am (UTC)One has to admit he was very cosmo.
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Date: 2004-11-28 07:39 pm (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2004-11-28 09:00 pm (UTC)HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!
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Date: 2004-11-29 01:48 am (UTC)While you guys are going to the beach it is freezing over here *cold*.
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Date: 2004-11-29 03:25 am (UTC)Mijn beste nederlandse mens is Maggie McNeal
ik zee ijn staar! Amsterdaaaam Amsterdaaaaam
:)
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Date: 2004-11-29 05:51 am (UTC)And what about Edsilia Rombley?? She rawks!!!
Cool icon! :D