About Me

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Delta, British Columbia, Canada
I took very early retirement from teaching in '06 and did some traveling in Europe and the UK before settling down to do some private tutoring. As a voracious reader, I have many books waiting in line for me to read. Tell me I shouldn't read something, and I will. I'm a happy, optimistic person and I love to travel and through that believe that life can be a continuous learning experience. I'm looking forward to traveling more some day. I enjoy walking, cycling, water aerobics & and sports like tennis, volleyball, and fastpitch/baseball. I'm just getting into photography as a hobby and I'm enjoying learning all the bits and bobs of my digital camera. My family is everything to me and I'm delighted to be the mother of two girls and the Gramma of a boy and a girl. I may be a Gramma, but I'm at heart just a girl who wants to have fun.

Friday, July 05, 2013

Z is for ZANY


Since both Canada and the United States of America have just celebrated their birthdays, I thought I'd tell you some zany things about my homeland. When most people think of Canada, they think hockey, bacon, hockey, maple syrup, hockey, beer, and oh, did I mention hockey?  Well, once you get past the stereotypes of beer and hockey, you find out just how diverse Canada is....and weird and zany!

1. In Dawson City, Yukon, there's a "Sourtoe Cocktail Club." For just $10 (Cdn) you can join the club and have a shot of whiskey.  Easy peasy, right?  Not so quick!  There has to be a pickled human toe in the drink!  The club's motto?  "You can drink it fast, you can drink it slow - but the lips have gotta touch the toe!"  Zany, huh?

2. Apparently, we eat more macaroni and cheese than any other nation on earth.  At least we don't usually eat human toes!

3. The only walled city left in the USA or Canada is Quebec City.  The signs can tell unwanted visitors to keep out in French and in English!

4.  Remember when Canada won the Olympic Gold Hockey in 2010 and beat the USA in overtime?  It's not really a zany fact, but I thought I'd mention it anyway!

5.  Canada has more donut shops per capita than the USA...except they're simply called Tim Horton's. And we LOVE to eat donut holes!

6.  IMAX was created in Canada.  That means all those high-priced tickets are because of us.  Sorry.

7.  Canada ranks first in the use of the internet.  We all need something to do during the hockey intermissions, so this shouldn't be too surprising.

8.  Canada is made up of 6 different time zones.  And in each time zone, the Vancouver Canucks have never won it, except way back in 1914/1915 when the team was called the Vancouver Millionaires. By the way, no sour toes, oops - I mean grapes, to the Boston Bruins for winning the cup this year!

9.  Coffee Crisp chocolate bars are a Canadian creation and are rare in the USA.  We love to eat our Coffee Crisps near American tourists really really slowly, pretending like it's the most amazing thing in the world!

10. The "Ogopogo" is BC's favourite mythological creature.  Apparently, it got its name from a British song from 1924 called The Ogo-Pogo: The Funny FoxTrot.  According to the lyrics, the Ogopogo loves to play a banjo that can charm other animals.  Also, its mother was an earwig and its father was a whale.  The mating ritual sounds like it'd be pretty zany!
I know we Canadians have a reputation for being conservative and veddy veddy polite, but all in all, we can be a pretty zany bunch!  Happy 146th Birthday, Canada!

Thanks to the zesty Mrs. Nesbitt, the creator of ABC Wednesday, and to the zealous Roger, our administrator for their zany efforts at keeping the fun going.  A new round starts next week, so please encourage your friends, families, and even total strangers to try us out. Just remind them to read and follow the rules and guidelines on our home page!  By the way, how do I look modelling casual clothes on the cover of the "StylZ" magazine?  How many Zs can you see?

25 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

Tim Horton's are in western NY too. My wife fell in love when we ere in Niagara Falls.

anthonynorth said...

Enjoyed that. And it seems you might beat my own Loch Ness Monster with a lake creature that plays hockey :-)

Reader Wil said...

How inventive you are to send in this zany post. My eldest grandson, tye one in the header, is called Zayne, but he knows what zany means.
Very nice, Leslie!
Have a great week.
Wil, ABCW Team.

MERYL JAFFE, PhD - parent, psychologist, teacher, author... said...

Love it! Here's to Canada!

photowannabe said...

Love Canada and all there is to see and do.
I think you did a great job of describing it.
Well done for the final letter of ABC Wednesday.

Carver said...

Fun post and zany is a great Z word.

Ann said...

Well I didn't think there were any people who ate more macaroni and cheese than my grandchildren!!!! Great facts to know--especially the hockey.
Ann

Hildred said...

Here's to being Zany if it involves macaroni and cheese!

After sixty some years I have stopped looking for Ogopogo, but have met people who claim to have seen him/her

Unknown said...

Love these facts - especially about the candy bars!

Gemma Wiseman said...

Love this zany perspective of Canada. Surprised about the macaroni and cheese story! When I visited Canada years ago, the very first eating out breakfast I had was at Tim Horton's! Great variety of choices and a beautiful light and bright place in Saskatchewan.

K V V S MURTHY said...

Enjoyed your post.Have a nice day!

-Murthy,ABCW Team

Anonymous said...

great post again.

Gerald (SK14) said...

well honestly I never associated hockey with Canada - I thought lacrosse was their game - if I think of Canada I think of the ice-roads to Prudhoe Bay, the wheatfields of Saskatchewan, the rockies around Calgary, Niagara Falls and Vancourver Island - but I've never been.

Unknown said...

I like Canadians, because they still have some of the politeness of the Europeans, only they are not so rigid:) But ... I never could live there, now my blood runs thin from living too long in California, lol!

Hazel said...

Cool info. The Ogopogo reminds me of the Loch Ness. I usually associate Canada with Anne Shirley of Green Gables, one of my fave books and films.

Hazel

MaR said...

Enjoyed reading all these facts :) Should visit one day.

Joy said...

Oh you Zany Candadians! Macaroni cheese must be your Scottish heritage, its always on the menu up there and also always with chips or should I say fries.

Martha said...

Yes, Tim Horton's has made their way south, but I still prefer Dunkin Donuts. (oops)
Our favorite Canadian Candy bar is the Aero Bar, but we like the mint ones and they're a little harder to find.

ChrisJ said...

Wow, has Canada changed since I lived there -- except for the hockey!

Along These Lines ... said...

I chose zany, too,...great minds....

Lise said...

Pickled toes? That is more than zany...enough to keep me from drinking, that's for sure!

Liz Hinds said...

That was fascinating!

I love macaroni cheese but don't think I'd want to taste toe!

Gattina said...

Thanks to you I learned a new word and intresting things about Canada. I had never heard the word "zany" !

Anne in Oxfordshire said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anne in Oxfordshire said...

My aunty lives in Toronto and when I went to Montreal , they flew up to see me. She RAVED about Tim Horton's , she said I had never lived .. not sure what it is all about . We eat Macaroni Cheese here too , but I think I had it about two years ago or something like that . LOL

Just a question Leslie, you said the only walled city in the USA or Canada is Quebec , why do you say USA too,, as Quebec is in Canada. Little bit of confusion in my British head LOL As for the Loch Ness Monster ,, mmmm now that is Zany , take care xox