Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Canada Rocks, updated
I just want to take this opportunity to thank the entire country of Canada. A couple of days ago, I received two inspiring and uplifting messages from the first-ever Canadian to write into my blog. Ever! In light of these recent messages, I want to take this moment to emphasize that Cactuseaters.blogspot is a Canada-friendly zone and let you know that I, too, was offended by the recent Billy Bob Thornton comments. It helps to remember that Billy Bob has also said some peculiar things about the Statue of Liberty and antique shops, among other things. If I ever have the chance to go on a book tour throughout Canada, I promise to never compare your fans to Thanksgiving foodstuffs. By the way, I am soliciting contributions to "stuff you probably don't know about Canada.'' Feel free to send in at any time, and I'll turn it, eventually, into a continually updated column, available only here on Cactuseaters.blogspot
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6 comments:
Woohoo, I'm the first Canadian...yeah EH! :)
Thanks so much Dan, this was a nice post to read, and I'm very honoured to be the first Canadian to post on your blog (even if we don't have much 'gravy' on our mashed potatoes lol..that Billy Bob, he's just too funny)
As soon as more Canadians get wind of your book and read it, I'm sure you'll have many more of us Canucks swinging by here.
Best of luck with your sales in Canada, I'm definately recommending your book to all my travel/adventure-loving friends.
Cheers!
Dana
Just thought I'd add a few fun facts about Canada :)
1.We don't have snow all year-round, nor do we live in Igloos.
2. We do have currency (which is also the dollar), we no longer trade in beaver pelts and gunpowder.
3. Although a large percentage of the country is not overly habitable due to extreme climate conditions (eg: roughly 90% is not suitable for crops), the bulk of our population live in cities not far from the border (Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Vancouver are only an hour or two from the border). So our major cities have similar climates to Detroit, Syracuse and Seattle (see first fact about Canadians not living in igloos lol)
4. A Canadian invented basketball-
Dr James Naismith invented the game in 1891 in Almonte, Ontario.
5. the term 'hoser' (Bob & Doug) is not an insult, rather it means 'good friend' in Canadian :)
Dana -- this is incredible. Keep sending along the fun facts and I will post them straight-up.
In northern Quebec there's a town called Chibougamau, and it is full of French people and it is surrounded by Cree people and I teach English in a high school right smack in the middle of it, and I just finished reading The Cactus Eaters for the second time. Cheers Dan
To Hallichuck -- thank you so much for your comment -- you really cheered me up during a time of pressing deadlines! (I am turning in my second book in just a month and a half, and, by the way, Canadians are featured prominently in two of the chapters. The name of the book is called Under the Stars -- it is a personal history of American camping starting before Henry David Thoreau and continuing into the era of backpacking. Not to give anything away, but in that section, two Canadians stepped in to help me out when i was in a very tight spot during one of the trips.
Your job sounds great -- a book in and of itself. Thanks for reaching out, and for your kind words,
Dan
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