One wonders – revisited

Canada now has seven wonders Seven Wonders? Who could have known? All Seven thanks to a recent oh-so-typical Canadian effort, ignoring the vote of the wildly unfocused masses who inhabit the country, and instead relying on the vagaries of a pop singer, a scribe who so obviously wants to hawk his recent work and a woman who appears to want Canada to accommodate every minority’s right to be recognized and served in its own language.

Good luck with all that.

After much ballyhooing, bullshit and bravado, a poll, which was subsequently ignored in its entirety, inviting ordinary Canadians – whatever the hell they are – to vote in favor of their own piece of ordinary Canada, a myopic panel composed of those three judges ignored the popular vote and decided on the following:

  • Niagara Falls
  • Canoe
  • Igloo
  • Old Quebec City
  • Pier 21 in Halifax
  • Prairie Sky
  • The Rockies

The canoe? What the hell? If you’re looking for tourists, don’t hype a canoe as a wonder. You can see one in any outdoor store. Although, were I a judge with a fiction novel named Canoe Lake, and a more recent effort aimed at explaining Canada to Canadians, I’m not surprised by that outcome.

An igloo? Don’t these melt every spring? Where are you going to travel to see one during the summer, when the ignorant masses are out and about, gobbling up gas and sunshine? I suppose one could go here. The bottom third sort of looks like an igloo.

Prairie sky? Who the hell knows what a prairie sky is, unless you’re Canadian? How about calling it “the sky between Alberta and Ontario, through which you have to drive for days to get somewhere relevant?” Actually, there’s prairie sky in America, Russia, China and many other countries around the world. It’s not unique, it just goes by a different name. This picture appears to be of prairie sky, but it’s actually taken in Montana, so it’s Montana sky.

The Rockies? Well, all right. I’ll grant you that, they’re a natural wonder, like Niagara Falls, and they’re pretty spectacular. The Alps are kind of nice too. So are the mountains in Patagonia.

Christ, no wonder Canadians are so boring.

Unfortunately, the expressions of wrath by the ordinary Canadian in response to the fiasco have been removed from the web site, most likely because their responses were so outspoken (that’s outspoken, not obscene) in their utter and total comtempt for the judges and their choices, so I can’t provide a link.

6 thoughts on “One wonders – revisited”

  1. ahhh, the kindness allowed to those of us who are either blind or unobservant :D. I should’ve noticed the ‘revisited’ too, actually. anyway, thanks for the clarification! x

  2. It’s not your eyes!

    Notice that I “revisited” the post. After doing some digging on the Seven Wonders web site, I couldn’t let it stand as it was, and I didn’t think it was worth another entry. I just modified it and called it revisited. Next time that happens I’ll make it a new entry.

  3. duuuh… I came back to re-read this (re: my last comment, being tired & etc) & now I see all this stuff about the poll & such. now was that all there to begin with – both first & second time I read it! – & I was wildly, blindly oblivious to what it said (even while reading the whole thing twice), somehow?? good lord… maybe I actually need stronger reading glasses after all (or a brighter, more attentive/observant brain :D).

  4. ah, I didn’t realise it was on an actual ‘list’ of Canadian wonders, haha. I read your entry again, but I didn’t catch anything about that – though at the moment it’s 2:57 am so I could easily be half-blind & definitely tired.

    anyway, yes, given that bit of info I can see what you mean regarding the ‘pc’ness of the choices. it does rather figure – Canadians are nothing if not too inclined to go for the most polite, safest way to approach most matters. at least, visibly ;).

    I also did a search for Canoe & had a hard time finding one decent link about our dear little Canoe (though I was looking for ‘Canoe’ as opposed to info about ‘the canoe’). Canoe-the-place tends to be included in all things Salmon Arm/Shuswap, rather than being noteworthy by itself. it *would* surprise me if Canoe-the-place ever made it onto a list of Canadian wonders, actually… it’s just a blink on the road. considering the beach though, at very least it’s noteworthy to me ;).

  5. Well, I must take exception to your canoe, I’m afraid. Do a search for ‘canoe’ and see what you come up with. It doesn’t appear distinctly Canadian, in my opinion. In fact, the canoe was used throughout the Americas, both north and south, which doesn’t make it distinctly anything, other than a common method of transportation.

    Google ‘Bay of Fundy’, on the other hand, and the results are pretty definite. In fact, it specifically comes back with ‘Bay of Fundy – highest tides in the world’. Now that’s something very remarkable – much more remarkable than Pier 21, man-made, unremarkable in construction, interesting to only a few curious Canadians.

    I guess it’s perspective. I’m more inclined to natural wonders, sky notwithstanding. I expected more from those selecting the sites. It’s obvious to me that the judges didn’t want to leave any part of Canada out of the process. I mean really, prairie sky?

    To take it one step further, look at the list. It’s a sop to every region and native ethnicity in the country, to wit, Quebec, the Maritimes, Ontario, the prairie provinces, Alberta, and B.C, not to mention indians and eskimos — or should I say aboriginals and inuit?

    They chose to play to the pc crowd, rather than take the high road and actually choose meaningful occurrences of both geography — as in Niagara Falls and the Rockies — and historic icons. But then, being pc is so typically Canadian these days.

  6. I’ll have you know that the Canoe is so noteworthy it’s even on a map (hopefully I can do html in this, for the links)! I happen to know that the beach beside the Canoe is great too. I’m sure you would enjoy that Canoe yourself, if you haven’t already seen it in your travels.

    I love Montana, by the way, what little I’ve seen of it. I was visiting here though, so most of what I’ve seen is mountain country with tons of trees & annoying deer on the roads, etc, rather than the flat land shown in that picture you linked to.

    and I’m not boring, either, just ‘cos I like the Canadian Canoe & such. well, at least it’s not boring behind my eyes, but that’s only speaking from my brain’s perspective… YMMV :D.

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