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Doug Sanders has a terrific column about the Canada of 1967, or the so-called golden age of my country. This quote really made me think:

“For right-wing writers like David Frum, 1967 marks the end of the old, self-sufficient Canada and the start of the state-controlled, high-tax, welfare-dependent nanny state, the working woman and the liberated homosexual, the rise of easy divorce and birth control. It was in 1967 that the Canada and Quebec medicare programs sprang fully to life, that our unemployment-insurance system (called Manpower in those days) became a full-fledged assistance plan, that our banks became protected with deposit insurance and, most gallingly, that the federal-provincial Canada Assistance Plan was created, launching the modern welfare state.”

It’s odd to me to think of the Canada before the 60’s - a country still largely controlled or influenced by Britain and populated by Europeans, a country of only two major political parties (Conservatives and Liberals), a country that discriminated against Asians, East Indians, Aboriginals, Germans, and Italians.

My Canada is the country of Medicare, of peacekeepers, of strong and resilient social justice for all citizens; of beavers, maple leaves, and moose; of countless innovators in sports, technology, and the arts (hockey, the telephone and insulin, comedians abound); of mountains, prairies, and the tundra. This is the Canada I am proud to call my home.

I wonder, today, what my Canada is becoming, just as the people of the 40’s pondered the same thing in the 1960’s. Sure, we are a multicultural society, but is there too much immigration without enough assimilation? Are citizens becoming more conservative in the 21st century, with many questions surrounding war, health care, human rights, and the environment? Is my Canada a country slowly dying, or is it bound for a strong evolution in the coming years?

We all have a part to play in the country we live in. There is nothing wrong with patriotism or nationalism as long as we remember we are above all things human together on this Earth. With that in mind, enjoy today with your friends, family and fellow citizens, and celebrate living in such a wonderful country.

Here’s two great clips that symbolize Canada to me. The first is a great little cartoon that used to play on TV all the time for me as a child, made by the National Film Board of Canada. The second was a slideshow I made two years ago for Socials class on Canadian Pride. Enjoy :)

Thanks Jordan for the tag. This is my first time participating in one of these tag games.

• Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.
• Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.
• Players should tag eight other people and notify them that they have been tagged.

1. I am a closet Disney geek. I collect all the animated features and some other special historical content on DVD.
2. I droppped out of regular high school in Grade 10. I’ve flip flopped several times between going back and staying out. I’m currently still on schedule to graduate on time, and am taking courses through online school.
3. I always have trouble completing or continuing projects that I start. Thankfully, I’ve still kept up this blog reasonably well, so that may be changing.
4. My parents have been separated since I was 8. I still hop between Cloverdale and Burnaby every week. Google Maps is your friend if you don’t know Greater Vancouver.
5. I listen to jazz and classical quite a bit. I just never put that info in my web profiles under “Music” because I’d feel like a nerd. More info can be found on my last.fm.
6. I am incredibly shy. I try to avoid phone calls as much as possible, and have a hard time approaching strangers. I dislike Skyping online friends for this same reason. So nag me until I do it - it’s good for me.
7. I am generally a nice person - everyone seems to get along with or like me. It’s karma baby. But watch out, because I can hold really bad grudges, especially when it’s to my benefit. I’ve had one for almost 8 years now with a person I see everyday. This means not recognizing their presence at all.
8. I am gay. If you didn’t know that already, it’s cause it has yet to come up. Which is the way I like it. Because, it’s only one small part of my personality. I’m not ashamed, it’s just not necessary to flaunt it. Except during Pride ;)

I tag:

• Arthus Erea
• Michael Yurechko
• Stephen Rees
• Pierre Lourens
• Gordon Price
• Christian Long
• Chris Tindal
• Wesley Fryer

3 teens, 2 urban design whizzes, 2 education whizzes, and 1 politico.

“Hot Rod“, starring Andy Samberg, was shot last summer a block away from my house. I got to meet Andy and Jorma Taccone, which was quite the rush (pictures here). They also rented our boat for a few scenes. From early reviews, it seems like it’ll be a good movie, although it requires a certain taste of humour. You can view the trailer below. It’s set for release August 3rd.

From an international perspective, I think that Americans would instantly regain all their crediblity lost under Bush by voting this man into office. Sure, he’s not the greatest speaker in the world, by he talks from the heart an has a genuinely idealist vision for the States and for the world. Kucinich voted against the War in Iraq, voted against the Patriot Act, and has filed the papers for the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney. Not only that, but his platform stands on many actual bills he has proposed to Congress, covering issues from Universal Healthcare, to a reformed Education system (including new money for early childhood learning). He also seeks to begin the green revolution, including signing the next Kyoto-like treaty, and wants to reconnect the US with the world, because he understands that America is not above all other nations, but an equal, and should abide by international law. I love how he speaks his mind and seems truly happy with his job and empowered by his vision for a better future. Kucinich 2008 baby!

Have you heard of Mike Gravel? Not likely. The former Senator from Alaska, politician between 63-81, has been away from scene for decades, but recently exploded onto the radar again following this week’s Democratic Party debate. Gravel put forth a strong pacifist’s perspective on the War in Iraq, and combatted fiercely against the lack of firm decision making on the part of the front-running Democrats.

Meanwhile, his very grassroots campaign (“We stayed in a $55 motel. I’ll hitchhike to the next debate if I have to.” - Gravel) consists of a strong position against War and the Military Industrial Complex, reformed Veteran Affairs, National Healthcare, a reformed Education system, and reformed Social Security. He also takes a rather questionable libertarian view on government and the tax system, proposing that any American can put forth a bill (National Initiative for Democracy), and to abolish the IRS and Income Tax, replaced by a higher sales tax (Fair Tax) accompanied with a rebate for food, shelter, and clothing. In any case, I do support many of his ideas, and I think he’s a better candidate than Ron Paul.

His YouTube channel is here. Meanwhile, you can also sign a petition to help raise his voice in future debates.

[via Wake Up From Your Slumber]

Home Grown Socialist pointed me towards a fantastic short film by Dove, in a great show of corporate social awareness. Dove continues it’s campaign on “real beauty”, as evidenced in this video:

You know, I went through this stage of self depreciation about my body and looks. From about 13-15, after entering high school, I started to buy all the popular labels, and scold my pudgy nose, high eyebrows, and acne filled face. All I could ever think when I approached the mirror was how ugly my face was.

Nor was I all that nice to my body. I was, and still am, slim and toned. Hey, it’s a nice start. But, back then, it wasn’t enough. Slim = bad. I needed to be buff, and have muscles. There’s more, but let’s leave it at that. I wasn’t happy or appreciative of what I looked like.

I am not sure if everyone ever comes out of that stage or not. There’s of course something to say for those who don’t even try to look nice. Because there is absolutely nothing wrong with a nice haircut or some good fitting clothes. But there’s a line there, where one goes beyond accepting themselves for who they are and doing little improvements, and wrecking their body in an effort to be something else.

I am glad I got over it. I learnt that I am who I am. Nowadays, sure, some people are larger, some have more muscle, and some have better combed hair, but I rarely think “Man, that person is ugly”. I think I’ve come to view each person as their own, and to respect whoever they are, no matter what they look like. Nobody is ugly, nobody is beautiful. We are who we are. We are attracted to who we are attracted to. That’s all there is to it.

And boy am I glad that all those women who took plastic surgery and botox are beginning to see it wasn’t such a great idea after all!

Good on Dove for doing this campaign. We need more of it, especially in middle and high schools.

Got this idea from Metroblogs posting earlier today. Their posting on the Surrey slurs, which were amusing as well, led me to this list on Facebook for BC. Here’s some of my favourites:

•  You can’t tell, is marijuana still illegal?
• You know the only thing dividing China and India is the Fraser River
• You know in Greater Vancouver that West Van, the west side, and the west end are all different places.
• the news has extensive coverage of just how badly people in vancouver can drive in 3 inches of snow
• You are genuinely confused with people that don’t consider “Pirate Packs” to be an integral part of a healthy childhood.
• you know that it’s “Science World”, not the “Telus World of Science”.
• you return by plane and the first things you say is: “I can BREATHE!”
• the three main universities are on an island, peninsula and mountain top
• you know that mt washington isn’t actually in washington
• You know how scary it is to drive next to a loaded logging truck.
• (mostly vancouver) You find yourself giving half hour long explanations on what the skytrain is
• You know you’re in B.C. when you find a bear in your backyard then walk to the Starbucks a few blocks away while you wait for the bear to leave
  102. you know that an “1 1/2 hour ferry” really means 3 hours. Time to get to the ferry, wait for the ferry, get on the ferry, eat in the buffet on the ferry,and then wait for the broken down VW to get off the ferry.

I just came back from signing up for Socials 11 and Biology 11 at my online school. Yes, they do have an actual building. When I asked to add them to my course load, I was politely handed two stacks of stapled sheets. The secretary then proceeded to tell me she could not sign me up until I completed these exams, which are just to “judge where I am”. Okay, fine. I did one for Math about two months ago. It had six easy questions. That was acceptable. This, as I found out, was not.

I opened up the sheets: Essay after essay, question after question. There was literally 10 pages back to back with work to fill out. I bet it would’ve taken anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour, each package (remember I had two). While not specifically covering any particular topic in the coursework, these were basically mini provincial exams. While I don’t really have that much against the controversial provincial exams themselves (in terms of their content), considering this “entrance exam” didn’t count for anything, it was more than useless. It was just an absolute waste of my time.

Furthermore, consider this fact.  Socials 11 is a required class to graduate. While they say I will not be accepted into the class until I complete the entrance exam, how in the world is that legal? It isn’t and the whole concept is contradictory. It’s not like I have to take entrance exams in regular high school. The closest thing there are those stupid “what’s your name, what’s your phone number” lists that teachers make you fill out during the first class, despite the fact that all that information is easily available downstairs in the office! But I digress.

These entrance exams are an utter waste of time, not just for me, but for the teacher too! Why should I, or the teacher, complete/mark this long mini-exam that has barely anything to do with the coursework and doesn’t at all count for marks. It’s just plain stupid. And that is why I gave up past the first page and just started scribbling in letters and words on every line. Even that 5 minutes was far too much to spent on something so ridiculous.

Luckily, I brought the case up with my principal when he was signing some paperwork for my passport. He completely understood what I say saying. Apparently, to combat funding issues surrounded with the huge number of people who are signing up for online summer school but not following through, they had to make things a bit harder for you to sign up. Just a few more hoops… So when my school submitted a short entrance test to the Ministry, they replied with “it is not enough”. And so when end up with what we now have, a mini provincial exam that is counterproductive for every participant.

Thankfully, my principal, the smart man he is, quickly scanned through my papers, agreed with me on the absurdity of the entrance exams, and filled out the rest of the forms, bypassing any potentially nosy rule-abiding secretaries.

It’s insane knowing that in this day and age of the poor state of education, the government believes in adding more bureaucracy to the process. It’s a thickheaded idea, and the opposite of what we should be doing to improve schools.

So, my grandparents are planning a trip to Spain during the summer, and invited me along. Unfortunately, I don’t really have the money, despite how grand the trip sounds to be… le sigh. Anyways, I was doing some online travel planning for them to compare prices on flights and such. One of the great things about Europe is the fabulous extensive rail network. Surprisingly, it’s very cheap as well! There’s a fantastic website set up with pictures and videos of travel on high speed rail in Europe; it just begs you to visit!

This, among many other things, is a terrific example of how progressive Europe is. Over here on the west coast of Canada, and certainly around the States, we have absolutely nothing like the rail network in Europe. I can only dream of the day when I could go from Vancouver to Seattle in a snap, and for cheap. And if California’s plan ever got passed, I could very likely go from Vancouver to San Francisco or Los Angeles in a few hours. Talk does happen from time to time  about building some lines, but nothing ever develops. Unfortunately, nowadays, we are just stuck with either planes, cars or buses, none of which are as relaxing, attractive, or cheap as high speed trains are. Ah, Europeans…

Made here. I love number 7 the best.

1. Paul became extinct in England in 1486!
2. A rhinoceros horn is made from compacted Paul.
3. The only Englishman to become Paul was Nicholas Breakspear, who was Paul from 1154 to 1159!
4. The Australian billygoat plum contains a hundred times more Vitamin C than Paul.
5. Paul has often been found swimming miles from shore in the Indian Ocean.
6. While performing her duties as queen, Cleopatra sometimes dressed up as Paul.
7. Paul can’t drink - he absorbs water from his surroundings by osmosis.
8. It’s bad luck to put Paul on a bed.
9. A bride should wear something old, something new, something borrowed, and Paul.
10. Only one person in two billion will live to be Paul!