I’m buried in work here this week, but I wanted to take a moment to make a comment about American Thanksgiving. Many people ask me around here if we celebrate Thanksgiving in Canada, in part because of the dominance of the myth that “Thanksgiving” originates with the Pilgrims and that such an occasion wouldn’t have [...]
Just in case you have not been paying attention to Canada over the last couple of days
There seems to be a real chance that Harper’s government could fall over the move by the Conservatives to eliminate public subsidies for political parties, a move which could bankrupt every party but his own. This could mean either another Canadian election or the possibility that the other parties could join together to form a [...]
Canada Reads 2009
Here are the titles for Canada Reads 2009 and the celebrity panelists who will be lobbying for their book to win Canada Reads. The Outlander, by Gil Adamson. Panelist: Nicholas Campbell Fruit, by Brian Francis. Panelist: Jen Sookfong Lee Mercy Among the Children, by David Adams Richards. Panelist: Sarah Slean (Paul’s favourite!) The Fat Woman [...]
Proposition 8
Keith Olbermann’s comment on the passage of Proposition 8 in California is worth watching. In Canada, we’ve seen a major transition over the last decade in terms of how Canadians view this question. In response to court rulings in Canada that saw the marriage laws in Canada as violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, [...]
And the Giller Prize goes to….
Joseph Boyden for his novel Through Black Spruce! What a great win for him. Joseph and I were in touch via e-mail a few weeks ago and he’s agreed to come to UVM to read sometime in the very near future. Congrats, Joseph!
Lest we forget
In Flanders fields the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved, and now we lie In [...]
Three of the many reasons I think it’s cool that Obama will soon be President
1. He collects Spider-man and Conan the Barbarian comics and has talked about being raised on Star Trek (who knew?) 2. He’s uses a Mac (I kind of had a feeling about that one…) 3. The guy’s a great writer Okay, okay. Number 3 is the most important of these, but the other two are [...]
Oops! Government of Canada website goes down
It’s always a bit embarrassing when one’s website goes down, especially when it’s the Government of Canada website. Ouch! Here’s what I saw there just now when I tried to open http://canada.gc.ca (Update 11/10 8:39 PM: after being down for a good part of Monday, the site is finally back up. Yikes!)
Advising for Spring 2009
Fall registration begins for Seniors on Tuesday, November 18, and opens up for everyone else gradually over that week. Make sure to check the UVM Registration schedule to see when you may begin registering for Spring classes. I’m setting aside enough 15 minute appointments over the next week or so to meet with all 40 [...]
Tags: advising
The Palin prank
The prank call to Sarah Palin by two Montreal radio hosts last week has had lots of coverage in the American media. Just this morning the two were on CBS’ “The Early Show” (click here for the video of their appearance on CBS). The Globe and Mail has a more accurate transcript of the call [...]