This was going to be a whack o' tunes but since I could only find two of them, it's but a tap. Anyway, since I've been back from vacation I've been listening to CHOQ, which is a French-language station here in TO (there's not much to their website, so I'm not including a link). Not only are the commercials only on the hour (and only a few of them at that), I'm hearing the most interesting music.
First, a bit of fun with Camping St-Germaine by Cowboys Fringants. Not the best quality video, but still fun. They seem like the French-Canadian version of rockabilly.
Thank you CM, more tomorrow. The wiki piece tells us that their name means 'Frisky Cowboys' which is HILARIOUS.
I had an unusual, for an American, experience Saturday in Ontario. A person who looked like anybody else asked if I spoke French, in French. He had very little English. Canada is, surprisingly enough, different. Whenever I visit Denis, who lives on the Vermont-Quebec border, I see all these Vermonters, whether of French background or not, speaking only English and no other language, even in towns like Derby Line, VT-Stanstead, QC, which shares a library and opera house (the line goes through the middle of that, and other buildings in the twin villages-they share stuff). Americans don't pay attention to other languages mostly, and there are all those French people a stone's throw away to the north. Of course, I forgot the Spanish and Greek I took in high school immediately, but the missus worked in Italy and France and remains fluent, so I have a tour guide.
6 comments:
My mother once had to call a fella in Quebec City named Fred Murray. She spoke English, assuming he did as well. Turned out he didn't.
I heard on CBC a couple of weeks ago that Derby Line and Stanstead are under huge pressure from both governments to extricate themselves from each other, Gary. There's been talk of DHS ordering a fence. I'm not sure what would happen to the library and opera house, though.
Les Breastfeeders are quite a good Quebec band, as well. :-D
Gord, there are houses and apt. buildings where the line goes through the middle of the structure, also people's back yard may be in another country and there are streets that go back and forth. I love it and think it a wonderful example of are international cooperation. There are many people, including my parents, who think the border should be far stricter, but I disagree, why not be friendly unless there is a real problem? God, you people are Canadians, thefriendliest on earth!
There are places in Saskatchewan where the only thing that marks the border is something similar to a highway guard rail. THAT freaks out the security nuts.
And this is where I get to throw in the fact that Saskatchewan has no natural borders. They just drew lines on the map.
I have heard that figuring out the border line across the top of NY and Vermont involved a few different adjustments, therefore the buildings that manage to be in 2 countries at once.
Things like the Niagara River, Sta Lawrence, heck, even Lake Ontario are pretty solid border material.
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