Mardi Gras Drunk Thread [2-12-10] Fuck V Day, Take a V Card

Some female advice since I saw your rant about this too....you need to find the balance between confident and cocky. Maybe that is what the inferior dude has over you. Granted, this is all based on what I am getting from your online persona so I am clearly equipped to give you this advice.

 

Every newspaper story from the international press covering the upcoming Olympics made sure to mention it was held in meek and humble Canada, not known for its outward patriotism and so forth. Combine 20 million dollars, a mandate to boast, and a venue that defines unwarranted self-importance, and that's what you get.

What pissed me off most was that neck-bearded poet. Started off childish and irritating and devolved into nonsensical. What thinking person actually takes time to point out in poem and in front of an international audience that we're not American? Know who else isn't American? Every other damn country in the world.

 

My buddies and I made the ceremony into a drinking game. Every time there was a stereotypical Canada moment or a patriotic Canada moment, we drank.

We were shitfaced within 5 minutes.

 

Well that's just plain cheating. That's like watching the Beijing olympics and drinking every time the government pulled a woman out of the ceremonies for not being pretty enough. Or faking a birth certificate for the sake of winning just one more medal. Or beating up a journalist.

Crown Royal made the point of not being able to live up to the Chinese opening ceremonies. All things considered, I'm glad of that.

 

I was watching the opening ceremonies last night, got drunk and baked, and bought "Cool Runnings" off Amazon.

I hope it's not as bad as I remember.

 

Honestly, what can be expected of any other host country after this? It's all going to look like crap. The Chinese put on what was arguably the most raw, incredible human spectacle ever performed on that scale in the modern era.

You know what you'd need to top Beijing 2008? Spaceships. You would need spaceships to put an oxygen bubble around the stadium, and then lift the whole thing into orbit as the Sun comes over the horizon and bathes the dark side of the Earth in the light of a new day. Performance on terra firma isn't going to cut it anymore.

 

Of course the Chinese are going to have the best opening ceremonies.

If Canada was 30 times larger in population and had a history of vioating human rights, there's no limit to what could be done.

Shit, first the pyramids, then the Olympics.

Slavery gets shit done.

 

Don't forget their near endless supply of child labor.

 

As a visible performance, it was top notch. As for it being tainted as far as I'm concerned, China getting the Olympics is human rights getting the shaft. And by taint, I literally mean the space between the testicles and asshole.

 

Well the only way you could deny that performance was absolutely stunning was if that performance were put on in a Western country and you were Chinese.

Know what else irritated me about the games being in China? All the people I know whose parents are Chinese wouldn't shut the fuck up about how wonderfully awesome the olympics were. I know this isn't much a place for politics, but these same people firmly believe that Tibet "is, was, and always will be a part of China". I am always wary of jingoism and nationalism.

Also, where was Queen Elizabeth last night? She's our head of state, the least she could have done was been there to provide some quiet dignity to the ceremonies.

Also also, do you mean that human rights was getting shafted in the taint? Harsh.

 

She probably fell asleep in front of the Golf Channel or something else that's useless. How old IS she, anyway? Even her son's mistress is a senior citizen.

Much like religion, I hope people wake up to monarchies some day and realize they're threading beads with no knot on the string.

 

I still don't get that whole "head of state" thing. I mean, I get it. Political and economic autonomy, etc., etc. So if she's just a figurehead, what's the point? Tradition? Why? She's a British queen. You people are French, Inuit, Haitian, and a thousand other things, just like us. The fuck good is she to you? Same goes for Aussies, by the way.

What's the national sentiment about this? I realize it probably doesn't matter too much to most of you, but the whole idea kind of skeeves me out. I'm not trying to be insulting, but it'd piss me off something terrible to have to swear allegiance to a crown that lives a thousand miles away, even if it was only "ceremonial".

 

A complicated question. The national sentiment on the subject changes by the week, but I think it tilts largely towards not giving a shit and republicanism. Prince Charles has done a lot of damage to the chances of Canada remaining a constitutional monarchy. As for the question of being French, Inuit, etc., I think the grammar of your question is misguided. They're not French; they were conquered by the England and the victorious general simply allowed the Quebecers to maintain their language and religion (Catholicism). If he hadn't done that, French would probably be on a par with Gaelic in Canada today. But don't let any Quebecer hear you say that. As for each other nationality, well, so is England. It might be irrational, but it's not uniquely irrational.

For the most part, the only real aspect that the Queen plays for the typical citizen is that she insists on appearing on all of our money. In other quarters of society, the role is still that of a traditional figurehead, but with much greater significance. Specifically, in the military; all officers still have a Queen's commission, pushups are done on a regular basis "for the Queen", the Queen nominally pays each person's salary on a monthly basis, each regiment's Colours are known as the Queen's Colours, toasts are made to the Queen at every mess dinner, members of the royal family are the Colonels-in-Chief of a lot of regiments, the Royal Newfoundland Regiment is the "Royal" Newfoundland Regiment because the King afforded them the honour after Beaumont Hamel. And so forth. Being a part of the Commonwealth and sharing in various traditions, linguistic idioms, and even various technical terminology, has considerable value to a lot of people. I count myself as one of them, but at the same time, I know that the idea of an unelected heritable monarchy who must be in communion with the Church of England, and is its head, is absolutely fucking ridiculous. And the idea that they get to live with the utmost of privelege largely at the taxpayer's expense would offend me much more if I were British and actually paying for it.

 

The royal family has pretty much nothing to do with us. Yeah, she's on our technicolour money and we have a govonor general, but we don't "swear allegiance" to her or anything, ever.

And stop thinkg we're bilgual just because almost 20% of Canada is French. Why they were saying the french announcements first was fucking beyond me. Who in the hell are we afraid of offending? It was in VANCOUVER. If anything, half the ceremony should be in Chinese.

 

You're welcome to the whole lot of them as far as I'm concerned. Have your PM PM my PM and we'll see what we can get rolling.

In other news, I'm watching Scrubs, and Ted with longish hair is Anthony Kiedis.

 

Dude, it's in your Oath of Allegiance.

I just meant that you're a really diverse nation, and your monarch is a Windsor. That makes her a lot of things, but she sure as shit isn't Canadian. That was my only point.

 

Hmm. Wouldn't know. Most people I know don't even know the oath of allegiance. We don't treat it like you do the Pledge. We just get wasted, play this song and sing the chorus really loud:



..honestly, it should be our national anthem.

 

The oath of allegiance...

Is not said by a typical citizen under most circumstances. If you join the army or take on certain types of government work, you will say it. Beyond those contexts I have never, ever, heard it said.

As for the diversity thing, well, our Governor-General is Haitian, if that helps anything. Well, actually, she's Canadian, but she was born in Haiti. An important distinction. Outside of direct immigrants, a lot of this "diversity" thing would calm the hell down if people born in Canada would start considering themselves Canadian. Rather than being like those morons on Jersey Shore calling themselves Italian, or people whose parents/grandparents were born in China yet claim to be extremely proud of, and love, said country.

 

I'm currently drinking at home by myself waiting for my husband to drag his ass home so we can go to the bar. We were supposed to be there at 7 for a friends 21st birthday. Since we're also eating dinner there and I'm starving, I wish he'd hurry the fuck up and get home. Oh well, at this rate I'll save some money by being drunk before we make it to the bar.