inhalo

And since there is limited concert venues, you have to travel!

Janey

!! the Ford Escape comes in a hybrid version. I've been eyeballing this particular vehicle, waiting for the $5,000 premium to come down.

Charlatan

This is it precisely... plus the fact that we all leave the lights on when we leave a room.


Signing Kyoto aside, I would argue that Canadians are not that different from Americans in their use/waste of energy.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

inhalo

True, however this is one of the worst rated hybrids ever. I wish I could find all of my sources for you.....but I watched a news report just the night before last and the escape is basically considered a BAD prototype that they were forced to market because of import compitition. Another big mistake for Ford. I have owned about five Fords in my life......do yourself a favor and look elsewhere....they can not even make regular cars right!

Ford and GM honestly thought that Americans did not care about the environment and put just about ALL of their assets toward SUVs. With last years sales numbers in.....they realized how behind their thinking was. SUVs are dirt cheap now, and used hybrids are selling for more than their original selling price.

Please don't buy Ford.

Charlatan

This month's issue of Wired had a breakdown on all the available Hybrids on the market... The Escape didn't rate will with them either... fuel efficent to a point but not really when you look at some of other hybrids out there...


I see the hybrid as the answer to emmissions... The hydrogen economy just isn't going to happen soon enough. With more improvements in battery tech I can see Hybrids making another rise in fuel economy.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

CandleInTheDark

From a consumption side, I would agree with you. However our production of energy is far more "green".

__________________
Where there is doubt there is freedom.

Charlatan

That's what I meant... mostly because I don't know how the US generates most of its power.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Janey

bummer. But i like the styling. anyways, the price of hybrids puts it out of my reach. I will prob buy the regular Escape. The only other car i like the styling of (i.e. not over styled, not rounded, and looks like what it is supposed to be) is an old blazer (1990's) or bronco.... (again old)

inhalo

Yeah the styling is what led me to buy so many Fords........they don't look quite the same when they are sitting in your driveway broken.

Bossnass

Alberta has semi-deregulated utilities; and there is a series of wind turbines in southwest Alberta. There is a surcharge for this 'green power'; it costs the end consumer more per kilowatt hour to use electricity from the turbines; even though it is on the same grid that is primarily fed by coal or NG plants. This was also the case prior to deregulation. While there are acedmic efforts (the new Natural Resources and Energy Facility here at the UofA, there has been little provicial effort to become more green, which is understandable when you consider where most revenue for Alberta (and in considerable amounts, federal Canada) comes from.

So our engergy transmission monopolists and our government openly do not support green energy.

On a federal level, there are some energy initatives. "Take the One-ton challenge", aimed at reducing consumption. And on the municipal level, here in Edmonton, there are efforts, such as the CORE program. (Carbondi Oxide Reduction Edmonton).

In the big picture though, I think that the mentality around here is "I can afford to heat my home and drive my truck, so who cares". However, I don't support this frame of mind. With the rising cost of crude and thereby NG, coal generation has stepped up, but current technology in the current plants doesn't agree with Kyoto. I don't know what this means in the short term, but it will become a larger public issue before long.

skier

Wow. I've never known about the CO2RE program. *goes to find stuff out*

edit: thanks a lot for the links

p.s. I would like to see rebate programs for green energy sources,personal or corporate. (solar, water, wind, etc.)

__________________
"Asking a bomb squad if an old bomb is still "real" is not the best thing to do if you want to save it." - denim

Bossnass

http://www.co2re.ca/

and

http://www.climatechange.gc.ca/onetonne/english/

http://www.enmax.com/Energy/FAQs/Ser...ackground+.htm

inhalo

20th Question.

Recommended Camping/Canoeing Trips. I am an avid adventurer who has salivated over the idea of the Boundary Waters for as long as I can remember. Wisconsin is just a hop, skip, and a few hour drive from there. With that distance in mind do you have any recomendations or stories of that area. As the sun get warmer.....all I can think about is my canoe.

Antikarma

Start on Great Slave, and head on up the river. Incredible sites, and I absolutely gaurantee you there is no better fishing in North America. The air is clean, and some of the places you go may have only been seen by a few people in the world before you.

Bring a gun for the mosquitoes though. Or a dog as bait.

__________________

"Whoever you are, go out into the evening,
leaving your room, of which you know each bit;
your house is the last before the infinite,
whoever you are."

BigBen

The Frasier river is intense (BC)

The Churchill river system, like the voyageurs used to do (Fur traders) is pretty intense too. Do you like or dislike portages?

There is just soooo much great canoeing up here that asking that question is like asking if there is any good brewries in Germany, any good shopping in LA, any good wines in Bourdeaux.... you get my meaning.

Did you know that in order to be a Canadian citizen, you must build a birch bark canoe and do a class 4 with it? It's true.

Canoeing is like our national anthem, our flag, our hockey, everything rolled into 1.

I did a 15 day canoe trip once. I loved every single day. No, I did not get tired/bored/homesick/sore. It was awesome.

Camping too. We have camp spots here that will take your breath away, but anything that you can drive a 5th wheel to is just parking away from home. Camping, on the other hand, is hard to get to, beautiful, and rugged. I have noticed our provincial and national campgrounds get more and more crowded over the years. There are still fantastic spots IF YOU CANOE IN!!!

We are so spoiled here that what is okay to me is probably heaven to you.

__________________
3.141592654
Hey, if you are impressed with my memorizing pi to 10 digits, you should see the size of my penis.

Charlatan

Oh man! You have just named my favourite outdoor sport... My cottage is nestled in the South Eastern corner of Algonquin Park... Algonquin Park is teeming with canoe well maintained canoe routes...

http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/campcan.html

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

inhalo

21st Question.

FOOD! What are some traditional Canadian meals.......if there is such a thing? I have never heard of any kind of Canadian food other than canadian bacon....which.....well.....isn't.......you guys know. I think the national food of the states is FAST.




Still dreaming about canoes though.......so share those stories.

Janey

As far as I know, the Canadian bacon that Americans are going on about is the sliced ham that you find in egg mcmuffins. To me, Canadian bacon has always been the normal strips of side bacon.

Now for a traditional Canadian meal, let me illustrate with what I cooked last night for dinner: scalloped potatoes, baked maple smoked ham with peaches in a brown sugar sauce, steamed veggies: corn nibblets, sliced zucchini & carrots. dessert was lime jello, that was mixed with cool whip so that it was like a mousse.

tastey eh? and in typical Canadian fashion, i had a bottle of Australian red wine too.

Yakk

When camping, do not lay out a pattern of toilet paper, sprinkle kerosene on it, and then light it afire.

There are some interesting Canadian food quirks.

Vinegar (white) on French Fries.
Poutine
Tortiere
Saskatoon berries
Nanimo bars
Dulse
Raw Arctic Char/Carabou
BBQ Seal

Miss any?

__________________
Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

Charlatan

Ketchup flavoured potato chips.
Salt and Vinegar potato chips.

While poutine, Nanaimo bars and vinegar on fries are wide spread the others are all regional foods. I've never had Saskatoon Berries, Dulse or the others (but did know they exist - thank you CBC radio!).

I would say that we don't have all that different of a diet from what you would find in Wisconsin.

The one thing I will say, is that living in multicultural Toronto I am exposed to cuisines from around the world. The retaurants here are amazing in their diversity. I would say the same is true of say... Sault Ste. Marie or Cochrane.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Janey

We have saskatoon berries growing in our backyard, our neighbour's yard, all over (east toronto). they are very tastey have a sort of vanilla like aftertaste. I think that they are also known as serviceberries. they will be in fruit in about 7 weeks:

links:

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/natio...ry_041115.html

http://www.gov.mb.ca/agriculture/cro.../bld01s00.html

http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.c...=J1ARTJ0007163

BigBen

No, I refuse to allow you to call Saskatoons by any other name. I challenge you to a duel!

Saskatoon Berry Pie is killer. Unbelievable.

We also have that whole "Beaver Tail" thing which is just another name for deep-fried pastry. It was real tasty.

What about our maple sugar foods? Candies and the like?

I eat a lot of wild meat compared to other nationalities. I don't think other countries kill and eat their fauna with quite the same passion...

I think we take our quisine from the immigrant cultures that are dominant to our different regions. Ukranian food is all over here. I can't get a Donair to save my life. If someone wants to make 20 million bucks, come to Saskatchewan and open a good Donair place.

__________________
3.141592654
Hey, if you are impressed with my memorizing pi to 10 digits, you should see the size of my penis.

Charlatan

It's funny, the donair was big in Ottawa but not so much in Toronto (sure you can get them here but they aren't as ubiquitous). I guess there is a bigger Lebanese community in Ottawa (or Ottawa is smaller and they stick out more than here).

Maple cookies and those pink coconut mashmallow cookies are really big in Quebec...

Vachon cakes: 1/2 Lune/Moon, Billot Logs, etc. They are the Canadian equivalent of Hostess twinkies and the like...

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

Bossnass

Saskatoons are great. Notice how I don't write berry. To me, it is like tuna. No one I know says 'tuna-fish' or 'saskatoon-berries'. Just saskatoons. Also chokecherries. I'll take chokecherry over maple syrup any day. I've had my share of moose and BC salmon.

I've spent some time in Old Quebec; I'm not a fan of sugar pie or maple taffy. Every five years or so I can go for a good poutine. The only place I've had dulse was in newfoundland, and I think the only reason it was palatable was the screech I had been drinking that evening.

As an Alberta boy with a rural upbringing, I have to mention Alberta Beef. I would argue it is the best in the world. I'm not yet a global traveller, but my dad was and my uncle is, they agree. I've never had a prairie oyster, nor do I intend to. I learned to grill a steak as soon as I was as tall as the bbq. I suppose beef is big all over the place, but I don't think it gets better then a summer afternoon with a thick steak, a pot of young potatos with dill and carrots, and a cold beer (Canadian proof).

I'll echo the mulitculturalism (as opposed to american melting pot). Within a 10 minute walk, I can get world class Greek, Lebanese, Italian, French, Schezwan, Cantonese, Japanese/Tepan/Sushi, etc. And a couple pretty good donairs. The 'Taste of Edmonton' festival is a highlight every summer.

As far as traditional food is concerned, much as to be expected, it is a reflection of the pioneer. Stong local Ukrainian heritage. My irish/british grandma used to make some pretty great stew and some amazing yorkshire puddings. My German/French grandma used to make some great strudels and some incredible pastries. My fiance's grandma makes perogies that helped motivate me to propose.

Janey

the first donair that I had was on the left bank of Paris. Of course I had no idea what it was at the time. At least not until I went to university in Kingston, and found a great student hangout called the Donair Shop. good salty food, a lot like a gyros. I see a few shops around TO, but the spelling of Donair is all across the board (donor, danair donare).

I agree that Alta beef is the best. I tried a filet mignon steak at Ruth's Criss in Toronto, and in Tampa, and they don't compare to the alberta beef. Not even close. It's like how our chocolate bars taste better.

Oh yes. Canadian chocolate bars are by far tastier than their watered-down american cousins. Plus i love the coffee crisp and the crispy crunch bars.

Charlatan

Good call on the Chocolate Bars (we don't call them Candy Bars by the way)... I am always running into people at the airport loading up on Canadian chocolate bars that they can't get in the US.

Smarties are the best.

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

inhalo

22nd Question.

FRIDAY, work is almost done, day dreaming bout beer.........so......How do the Canadians let loose. I am looking for drinking traditions, drinking games, local drinks, anything in the realm of Canadian drunkeness.

Bottoms Up!

kramus

Tetley tea. Just kidding (the tagline in an old set of commercials was "only in Canada you say ... pity.") When I was a kid my buddies sometimes went on a road trip to Quebec to buy Brador beer in tallboy cans - some kind of high-test brand I think - not a beer drinker so I really don't recall.

__________________
And now to disengage the clutch of the forebrain ...
I'm going with this - if you like artwork visit http://markfineart.ca

Yakk

Some friends of mine who went to school out east (read: maritimes) claim that nothing is a donair like a halifax donair.

__________________
Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

BigBen

The Maritimers Scream "SOOOOCIABLE!" Aned everyone replies the same. Then they all have a good chug out of the pint.

Those BC boys, well, lets just say they don't necessarily get drunk... *wink**wink*

Quebecers love thier food. They eat all the time, really slow and small portions. They love to talk over a plate of something.

Ontarians, they just like to party. The 19 and 20 year old yanks are always crossing the border to go to the bars, so I think it rubs off, that northern US attitude to partying.

And the Prairie Boys.... they only party when their sports teams win. When they do though, hold on Bessie.

The Folks up north (way up there) like the booze, and just hanging out in someones living room can turn into a party if enough people find out. Just try to make it someone else's living room, and not yours and you'll be okay.

Anything I missed, I'll let the others fill in. I have to go party.

Pour moi, I like about 9 or 10 pints of Keiths, followed by a good pita wrap.

__________________
3.141592654
Hey, if you are impressed with my memorizing pi to 10 digits, you should see the size of my penis.

metalgeek

mmm drinks..
Well each region has there own microbrews, so depends on where you are.
Canada wide:
Rye and Coke. Rye is the type of whisky you find up here.
Ceasers: Vodka and Clamato juice. Kinda like a bloody mary, but different.

And speaking of Donairs, thats one thing I can't find here in Taiwan

__________________
The truth is, wherever you choose to be, it's the wrong place.
Chuck Palahniuk , Diary

cellophanedeity

As far as I know, we're immensely proud of our ice wines.

As you cannot drink legally until you're nineteen in Ontario, and I've only been to Quebec once when I was in grade seven, I don't know too much about the drinking scene...

But I figure that not much can beat a good drink and smoke around a bonfire on any clear night.

__________________
who am I to refuse the universe?
-Leonard Cohen, Beautiful Losers

kramus

The simple truth

__________________
And now to disengage the clutch of the forebrain ...
I'm going with this - if you like artwork visit http://markfineart.ca

inhalo

23rd Question.

Canadian inventions........are there any? Throughout my life I have heard of countless inventions that Americans have come up with to aid everyday life. I have never heard of anything Canadian.......or Austrailian, Mexican, Irish, for that matter. So have you guys made anything that changed the world?

HERE IS A FUN FACT......it is common to hear white Americans talking about Canadians while at work. Except they are not refering to you. This name has been adopted by bigots to refer to BLACK PEOPLE without sounding racist. Example "tell those Canadians to pull their pants up and turn that rap music down"

I just thought you should know.

Janey

why is that??? give us the reasoning behind that. Plus how old is this trend?


some Canadian inventions ( i would have to google some for more):

robot arm for the space shuttle (Canadarm)

bowling (5 - pin)

Insulin

the zipper

snowmobiles

Trivial Pursuit game

many things hockey (the mask)

basketball

football (gridiron - actually a co-invention US & canada)

the flight suit (for pressurized flight)

IMAX film technique

Pablum (baby food)

telephone ( special thanks to Scotland for birthing Alexander G. Bell, and the US for funding the research)

Bossnass

Hrm.

James Naismith invented basketball.

Still the most effective bug repellant, Muskol with DEET is a Canadian invention.

Java, the programming language, (java.sun.com) was first written by Gosling, a Canadian.

Bell is credited with the telephone and was arguably Canadian. While Edison is credited with the lightbulb, it was invented by a Canadian working for him, Henry Woodward, and was patented first by Woodward.

The zipper was invented by a Canadian.

The electron microscope certainly helped further science.

Lots of chemical engineering processes; I understand most plastics were developed in Canada. I don't have a source for this, but have been told so by my uncle-in-law who is fairly high up in DOW. It has been echoed by Engineering profs. Other refinery processes too, like kerosene.

Insulin is pretty popular these day. Pacemakers are handy as well.

I know I should be able to put more names on these inventions. I'm certain I could at one point. All said, I understand that Canada is very well represented, inventions per capita. (At least 1/10 as many inventions as the US, consistantly about 1/10 the population)

As far as other Canadian or Austrailian inventors, many were actually British and didn't recieve credit under the commonwealth. Before the Burne(sp?) agreement which made patent protection international it was rather difficult for a non-american, especially British Loyalist Canadians to get a patent, so they just went back to England and were duly credited there. I can't speak for Mexican or Irish, but neither were very high on the econimic scale from 1750 untill recently, when inventions were booming during the industrial revoltion and following.

Charlatan

I Googled...

Some of these I knew and some I didn't... what is interesting is the number of communications related things... living with such great distances makes neccessity the mother of invention.


Abdominizer ...the infomercial exercise darling invented by Dennis Colonello in 1984

AC Radio Tube ..invented by Edward Samuels Rogers in 1925

Acetylene ...Thomas L. Wilson invented the production process in 1892

Anti-Gravity Suit ...invented by Wilbur Rounding Franks in 1941, a suit for high altitude jet pilots

Chocolate Nut Bar ...Arthur Ganong made the first nickel bar in 1910

Canada Dry Ginger Ale ...invented in 1907 by John A. McLaughlin

Electric Car Heater ...Thomas Ahearn invented the first electric car heater in 1890

Electric Cooking Range ...Thomas Ahearn invented the first in 1882

Electric Light Bulb ...Henry Woodward invented the electric light bulb in 1874 and sold the patent to Thomas Edison

Garbage Bag ...(polyethylene) invented by Harry Wasylyk in 1950

Heart Pacemaker ...invented by Dr. John A. Hopps in 1950

Hydrofoil Boats ...co-invented by Alexander Graham Bell, & Casey Baldwin in 1908

Mcintosh Apple ...invented by John McIntosh in 1796

Music Synthesizer ...invented by Hugh Le Caine in 1945

Newsprint ...invented by Charles Fenerty in 1838

Odometer ...invented by Samuel McKeen in 1854

Paint Roller ...invented by Norman Breakey of Toronto in 1940

Plexiglas ...(Polymerized Methyl Methacrylate) invented by William Chalmers in 1931

Screw Propeller ...a ship's propeller invented by John Patch in 1833

Snowblower ...invented by Arthur Sicard in 1925

Snowmobile ...invented by Joseph-Armand Bombardier in 1922

Standard Time ...invented by Sir Sanford Fleming in 1878

Television ...Reginald A. Fessenden patented a television system in 1927

Television Camera ...invented by F. C. P. Henroteau in 1934

Telephone ..invented by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876

Telephone Handset ...invented by Cyril Duquet in 1878

Undersea Telegraph Cable ...invented by Fredrick Newton Gisborne in 1857

Walkie-Talkie ...invented by Donald L. Hings in 1942

Wireless Radio ...invented by Reginald A. Fessenden in 1900

__________________
"My hands are on fire. Hands are on fire. Ain't got no more time for all you charlatans and liars."
- Old Man Luedecke

kramus

Methinks Canucks tend to quietly create the instruments, and the rest of the world then uses these instruments to make noise

__________________
And now to disengage the clutch of the forebrain ...
I'm going with this - if you like artwork visit http://markfineart.ca

Janey

how about the mighty Butter Tart???

(and the Nanaimo bar)

Ok, this is fascinating. I googled too. there are so many that we missed. Check out this website:

http://www3.sympatico.ca/taniah/Canada/things/

Pictionary?? Yachtzee??? Margarine??? wow. I'm in awe.

inhalo

"tell those Canadians to pull their pants up and turn that rap music down"
I really don't know too much about this. I first heard it about three years ago, when I worked as a forklift operator. The reasoning is, as I stated before, to mask their prejudice. I guess one way to look at it is like this. Blacks have tried to adopt the word nigga to take away the evil of the word nigger. They changed its meaning into something positive for them, theoretically. Well white bigots took a word that has no negativity (Canadians) and are turning it into something negative. Basically it boils down to.....you can't be fired or arrested for calling someone a Canadian.

sick sad world