The OFFICIAL Unofficial Achewood Message Board
Trivial Pursuits => Wild Card => Topic started by: jough on December 26, 2005, 04:17:30 pm
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Happy Boxing Day everyone!
Lace up those gloves and Go The Distance in the ring with someone you love today.
And don't forget the TRUE reason for this holiday: Muhammad Ali's birthday.
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And don't forget the TRUE reason for this holiday: Muhammad Ali's birthday.
He's the reason for the season.
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A reminder in case it saves someone else a trip: Boxing Day is a Post Office holiday in the US this year. Arrrrgh.
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A reminder in case it saves someone else a trip: Boxing Day is a Post Office holiday in the US this year. Arrrrgh.
Yeah, I'm really disgusted by all the things that are closed today. I can't get hold of anyone at the phone company (my land line is down), and there is no one here at work but me and two other postdocs.
Maybe I should take those as a sign to spend Boxing Day at home, cut off from the outside world.
With booze.
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I'm spending Boxing Day investing my heart and soul into data and flinging it off across the Internet in the desperate hope that it may allow me to achieve my dreams.
(... man, at this point I should totally change my under-the-avatar text to read "APPLYING FOR GRADUATE SCHOOLS; NO LONGER ENTIRELY WELL.")
Tomorrow, though -- oh boy. I do love the 27th, our family's traditional "Spend Christmas Money / Buy Forgotten Gifts / Go And Get the Ink Tags Removed Because the Seasonal Help Forgot" day.
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I learned on Christmas Eve that my dad once gave Muhammed Ali a physical. Also, my grandfather did some medical work on his dad way back when, so apparently we've got some papers squirreled away somewhere that are signed "Cassius Clay."
I like how my dad has actually done cool stuff (shoved a finger up Muhammed Ali's ass, saved the life of a man bleeding out after he was run over by a train) but forgets to tell anyone.
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A reminder in case it saves someone else a trip: Boxing Day is a Post Office holiday in the US this year. Arrrrgh.
Yeah, fuck*ng banks too.
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"Shove a finger up Muhammed Ali's Ass" sounds like one of those Japanese pseudo heavy metal bandnames.
...
Just sayin is all.
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Gah.
Boxing day has been celebrated in Canada for over 200 years dude - it came over with the Brits as part of colonialism, and as far back as my memory goes there's been sales for the day and week following Christmas. You know we're a country right, not some heathens who just quaintly copy what Americans do? I know you're just being silly, but come on man, your post is insulting - if you were referring to Africans instead of Canadians you would be called on being racist for this, but since I am the nice little Canadian girl that I am, I will simply assume you were not previously educated on this. Calling Canada the 51st through 61st is hurtful - it ignores the fact that we have hundreds of years of history and culture, and also, it implies that you do not know that we have 10 provences and 3 territories. Come on dude. Come ooooooon!
I have the understanding that celebrating Boxing Day in the States, or at least calling your post-holiday sales as "Boxing Day/week" sales is a relatively new tradition to you, and I know that when I was little and we spent a couple of Christmases in the States (the Dakotas) that no one there had heard of Boxing Day, and even remember seeing news stories about 10 years ago talking about how the celebrating and observance of Boxing Day was spreading to the U.S. from Canada. I'm not sure if you U.S. folks actually celebrate Boxing Day - i.e., help the poor, make donations, go visiting, or if it's just a commercial thing, but my buddy living in Minneapolis tells me that at least in his experience this year the day isn't really marked like it is in Canada, but is more of a relatively new consumerism driven thing. Wikipedia seems to refer to this indirectly:
From Wikipedia:
In both the United States (where the term "Boxing Day" is not used and is in fact unfamiliar to most) and Canada (where, as previously mentioned Boxing Day is observed as a holiday), Boxing Day is the day when many retail stores sell their products at discounted rates.
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Oh yeah, like Canadia is a real country. Canuck please.
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I think this might be another topic that might have to go Into The Bag of Holding. Let's all just...take a moment.
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No fighting.
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Who's fighting?
I think Smells misunderstood what 'dan wrote. I don't think he was saying that Canadia stole Boxing Day from us as much as they've inhabited the spirit of American consumerism with week-long sales and much shopping.
Unless *I've* misunderstood Smells and she's really saying that Canadians were consumer whores 200 years ago and not just recently?
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So I wasn't supposed to put on the sixteen ounce gloves and punch people in the face last week??
dammit.
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Oh folks, please don't take things so seriously. I'm hoping that Asherdan was joking - I sort of figured he was. When I wrote that some people would call it racist, I should have been more clear myself - I meant that people more PC than me (and when it comes to Canada, we are all about the pollitically correct) would say that, not that I think or belive it- it goes along the same line that I know feminsits who think the term "Mailman" is sexist. It was stupid to use the word "racist," and Ash, I'm really sorry - that was wrong of me to go there. I should have explained myself better. There isn't much content in your post, and I suppose because most of my posts are so wordy I expect everyone to be fully articulate in all of their expressions - you probably just needed to explain youself better. (And naturally I get that Jough is just being the delightful shit disturber that he is - after all, he did feign shock at one point that even though I'm Aboriginal I can read, and I still flirt with him like a cat in heat, so you know, it's all in how you say it.)
I will continue to call anyone on broad generalizations, because as we all know, it's all about education people! Also, people here have previously called me out when I hint at any anti-American sentiment, and it's been a non-issue. I love my country, and I just want everyone, not just Ash, to keep in mind that I'm not going to let any Canada bashing slip by unnoted. Why can Homer Simpson get away with calling Canada "American Junior?" Because everyone accepts that the character is an idiot. Why can't Asherdan slip by me when he's calling Canada the "51st through 61st states?" Because I know that he's smarter than Homer Simpson. Way smarter.
And Jough, Canadians have been consumerist whores since 1670 when the Hudson’s Bay company was founded. ...Or probably way before - you gotta figure some whore somewhere fucked some Chief for a big juicy piece of moose meat. Probably some Cree girl - they're all sluts.*
(* I am of Cree descent, and therefore am allowed to mock Cree women.)***
***(see - it's only okay to mock a particular group of people it you're part of that group. Not if you live next to that group, have friends of that group, are married to a member of that group, etc., etc.)****
****(I'm especially sensitive to things these days because the girl who bullied me so bad in grade 7 that I had to change schools in the middle of the year is now on a major TV show that just premiered tonight, and I had to see her on TV about a dozen times today – in a mother fuck*ng bikini most of the time for god sake- including being interviewed/co-hosting Entertainment Tonight Canada tonight. And a little part of me died. How can I still hate a girl who bullied when I was twelve? I just imagine myself in the Science Lab, in my stupid school uniform, all ready to dissect a worm, only no one wants to be my partner, and she's all sitting there smiling at me from ear to ear, and everyone else is looking over at her to make sure she sees that they're all excluding me. Boo to that. Boo to that.)
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I for one appreciated the education. But I still don't understand what it is. I wouldn't mind living in Vancouver, though, so I guess I should learn. You know, just in case.
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Basically, the tradition of Boxing Day is this: After X-Mas you box up all the things you don't need or that you have in abundance/surplus to give to those who need/have use of the items: If you got a nice new coat, you might donate your old coat to a shelter. If you had a surplus of food, you might donate what you didn't need, or distribute it among friends and neighbors. If you got gifts you did not want, you might just give those away to other people. I usually clean out my food cupboards of any non-perishables that I've accumulated over the year that we don't want and donate them to Winnipeg Harvest, but this year I did it before Christmas. Also, my SO and I were recipients this Boxing Day - my SO's grandma gave us two Hutterite-raised chickens (she live out near a colony) and a bag of home made perogies her 90 year old neighbor made, as well as a half dozen packages of cream cheese. I know in olden days out on the farm, my grandparents told me people did this in a more personal but very respectful and anonymous way - usually you would leave the items on the back or side door step of the person in need. It's basically a day of communal sharing, and the whole consumerist Boxing Day Sale has sort of grown into an exploitative aspect of the idea. Once upon a time stores would put certain traditionally Christmas-like items on sale on the day after Christmas, and that would be when the working class/lower class/serving class families would actually celebrate Christmas - it was a charitable thing: for example the butcher would intentionally sell his turkeys for half price knowing that he'd be selling them to those who couldn't have one on Christmas Day- that sort of thing. It's definitely more about just clearing out the holiday stock now, and the whole spirit of giving/charity is really getting leached away, but I'm sure anyone could make the same sort of argument about Christmas itself too.
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I'm still trying to get my head around the concept of moving south to the Dakotas.
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Yeah, the family trip to Mount Rushmore was just totally confusing to me - we were a family of Canadians, why the hell did my parents force us to drive for days and days to go see the giant heads of former leaders of a neighbouring country? I mean they're big, so it's sort of neat, but not the worth-a-drive-for-days and sleep-in-a-cramped-camper-trailer kind of "neat"... It was boring and stupid all at the same time. I remember before we went I was all excited to see the "Bad Lands" because the name sounded so exciting, and I'd seen some Road Runner Cartoons that made me hope for some Acme style fun. And then learning that "bad" has more than one meaning.
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Yeah, the SO had a really great time going to Drumheller for a dino dig, while my 'rent drove out to see the Bat Boy cave. It was not cool.
In retrospect, I've just grown tired of Canada always being the punchline, you're not the guilty party, it just sort of an over all thing.
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I'll admit to being part of the problem. In high school we used "Canadian" and "Texan" as synonyms for egregious. I apologize for dispariging Canada.
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That's okay Court, I just tend to be really self aware of any comments I make about Americans on the board, and I hope for the same from you folks, that's all.
Anyway, there are still ads for "Held-over Boxing Week Blow out!" sales here, so the whole Boxing Day thing has an oily sheen over it now.
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Fuckin' Canadians. With their clean streets and low crime rates! And their socialized health care! *shakes fist*
I grew up an hour south of the border, in warshington state. You may be able to pull the wool over these other poor saps, but I know, I KNOW what evil lurks in the hearts of men, side show.
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That's okay Court, I just tend to be really self aware of any comments I make about Americans on the board, and I hope for the same from you folks, that's all.
Anyway, there are still ads for "Held-over Boxing Week Blow out!" sales here, so the whole Boxing Day thing has an oily sheen over it now.
To me, what you want to say about America is fine, just don't come down here and blow shit or people up. Not that I feel like I really <live> in America anymore....I kind of feel like an ex-pat in Hawaii sometimes.
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Yeah, I always imagine that Hawaiians and Alaskans must hold a pretty unique view of what being American is all about.
Also, it would be really funny if Canadians tried to wage war on America. Really, really pitifully funny. The most damage would occur when one of our 30+ year old helicopters fails mid-flight and accidentally crashes into some guy's field, damaging his wind barrier. His wind barrier!
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Yeah, I always imagine that Hawaiians and Alaskans must hold a pretty unique view of what being American is all about.
Alaska is a wacky place. Among other things, it had (during my childhood, at least) a thriving independence movement, based entirely on the confluence of crazy survivalists and some vague hope of economic self-sufficiency (from the oil, you see). Then the ringleader of the whole operation disappeared, which kept the conspiracy theorists hopping for months until his body was discovered at his cabin, apparently killed by another crazy-ass survivalist mountain man (oops!). The independence guys may not ever win, but they have made Alaska into a whole other country.