I, for one, welcome our American culture overlords - Page 3

rousseau · #41 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 5:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by vid

Long before American-inspired chain restaurants arrived, your people were slaughtering each other, taking each others land, raping and pillaging each others villages. Where are your outcries for those autrocities? Or is that acceptable because they were your own people killing each other?

And you're doing a good enough job of it yourself.

lio45 · #42 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 5:54 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luisito

"La Belle Province" is the best Canadian chain. Both for the food and the name.

By "the food" I'm hoping you mean the calories/price ratio......?

Luisito · #43 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 6:16 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lio45

By "the food" I'm hoping you mean the calories/price ratio......?

I know I know, it's unhealthy but I used to really like their burgers. Some of their locations also served breakfast really early, so I would occasionally stop in there before work at 6:30 am.

Le Petit Quebec and Bbq cote-st-luc were my two other favrotie chains.

kool maudit · #44 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 10:17 AM**

We went from an enthusiastic member of the British Empire to a pissy, resentful member of the American Empire. We have this instinct to place ourselves as a component of a larger thing, and we are not helped by language or culture. That's why Quebec functions as a country in the same manner as most, and Anglo Canada is a kind of adjunct.

kool maudit · #45 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 10:26 AM**

Living outside of Canada has helped me to see Canada as Canada, point finale. When people talk to me about home, they aren't thinking of the US (everyone knows about the US).

Side note: after an 11-hour drive through what was essentially New Brunswick and Eastern Quebec (Höga Kusten=Matapédia), I can state definitively that Sweden is the Canada of Europe.

kool maudit · #46 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 10:28 AM**

It's even weird explaining the NHL, though. "But do you not have a national league?"

"This is it."

"But we are watching Anaheim vs. New York"

kool maudit · #47 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 10:32 AM**

Merry Christmas from parallel universe Canada.

(Its just as cold as the original but with the added bonus of getting dark at 1 p.m.)

Acajack · #48 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 1:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lio45

True, that. One could imagine a poutine chain in Louisiana called Pierre's Quebec Kitchen, but that name wouldn't work here. The point is to sound exotic. (Another plausible example would be a Yukon Bar & Grill in Montana, USA.)

Or...

https://www.mile-end.com.au/#about

megadude · #49 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 2:14 PM**

From a gift basket at work...

It’s (insert random city name) style popcorn! It must be good!

kool maudit · #50 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 2:25 PM**

That these things sound even a little bit legit is testament to the US talent for mythmaking.

If we had a similar gift (and media machine), the October Crisis would be the subject of global fascination and a classic film or two.

kool maudit · #51 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 2:26 PM**

"Care for some 'Regina-style pancakes'?"

"No thank you, I'm good".

JHikka · #52 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 2:27 PM**

I've always been more of a Brampton-style waffle guy myself.

Acajack · #53 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 2:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by kool maudit

It's even weird explaining the NHL, though. "But do you not have a national league?"

"This is it."

"But we are watching Anaheim vs. New York"

B-b-b-b-ut... all of the players are Canadian!

That was true in the past but it's not even close to being true when you look at the rosters of today's Ducks and Rangers squads. Canadians are only a (albeit significant) minority of players on both teams.

And only barely a majority in the NHL overall these days IIRC.

Though the St. Louis Blues team that won the Stanley Cup last year was quite predominantly Canadian in makeup.

SignalHillHiker · #54 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 2:32 PM**

I gave a ride yesterday to a student from Kenya who needed to pick up some things at Walmart. We were chatting about his time in St. John's. He likes it much more than Finland, where he did his bachelor's degree, but he really dislikes the generic North American majority of the city. We were driving through the big box area along Stavanger Drive and he said it was all exactly American.

Given my politics, I'm a little further down the rabbit hole. The presence of Tim Horton's annoys me just as much as Boston Pizza. Also, even though it's a local chain, I do dislike that Mary Brown's has a prime spot on Water Street now. Not sure why but I guess in my ideal world it'd be local one-offs downtown, local chains in the suburbs, and national/international things in the malls.

Acajack · #55 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 2:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by megadude

From a gift basket at work...

It’s (insert random city name) style popcorn! It must be good!

Though in fairness caramel + cheese does appear to be a legit popcorn flavouring that originated in Chicago apparently.

suburbanite · #56 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 3:49 PM**

I've always thought of that as Chicago-style popcorn, something you would get with a Chicago hot dog at a Cubs game or something.

How Boston Pizza has survived, terrible misnomer or not, is amazing to me. It has to be the worst food out of any of those shitty chains. All I can think about is the commercial for a "perogy pizza" that always plays during hockey games.

Ya this looks real appetizing...

Acajack · #57 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 3:50 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by SignalHillHiker

I gave a ride yesterday to a student from Kenya who needed to pick up some things at Walmart. We were chatting about his time in St. John's. He likes it much more than Finland, where he did his bachelor's degree, but he really dislikes the generic North American majority of the city. We were driving through the big box area along Stavanger Drive and he said it was all exactly American.
.

In my lifetime I've accompanied travellers from overseas throughout Ontario and Quebec, and on a few occasions coming into to Toronto on the 401 where it's a gazillion lanes wide and you've scores of tall buildings within view, I've had people say "this is what imagined the USA would look like".

(Yes, these were generally people who'd never been to the US.)

esquire · #58 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 3:52 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by suburbanite

I've always thought of that as Chicago-style popcorn, something you would get with a Chicago hot dog at a Cubs game or something.

How Boston Pizza has survived, terrible misnomer or not, is amazing to me. It has to be the worst food out of any of those shitty chains. All I can think about is the commercial for a "perogy pizza" that always plays during hockey games.

Ya this looks real appetizing...

Don't knock it 'til you've rocked it... I'm not a BP fan by any stretch but on the rare occasions when I do eat there, I find that the Perogy Pizza delivers. And strangely, they seem to have a monopoly on it.

drew · #59 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 3:55 PM**

Yeah, the Perogy pizza is good.

Boston Pizza - pizza is OK. At least they make the dough in house.

The rest of the menu...

megadude · #60 Posted **Dec 23, 2019, 3:57 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Though in fairness caramel + cheese does appear to be a legit popcorn flavouring that originated in Chicago apparently.

Good point. I should add that I didn't bother to check the authenticity of such a thing, but what stands out to me is the marketing gimmick aspect. It could have been labelled simply as caramel and cheese popcorn but due to human nature we might have dismissed it for having those two seemingly mismatched ingredients together.

I don't think many people other than popcorn aficionados know of a Chicago style, but it sounds cool because Chicago is a cool city so slap that on the package. I'd like to think it doesn't sway me but I am human so who knows.

In terms of actual sounds of a word, Montana's certainly sounds better than Alberta's. Pacino's character wouldn't be as cool and memorable if he was named Tony Alberta in Scarface. Or this Latin rapper dude named French Montana was called French Alberta. Alberta is close to the name of the fat housekeeper in Two and a Half Men TV show (Berta).

To me, the best sounding names for provinces or cities in Canada that would be recognizable and add cool, class or charm factor through the actual sound of it or association with it are Yukon, Vancouver, Whistler, Kelowna, Banff, Calgary, Niagara, Oakville, Montreal, Westmount, Quebec, Halifax and Charlottetown and PEI. Though the two suburbs I mentioned wouldn't register nationally.

Then there's areas or regions that would have the same effect but again might not be instantly recognized nationally like Muskoka, Laurentians, Labrador and Cape Breton for example.

Names like Victoria (someone's name), Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Hamilton (too generic), Brampton, Mississauga, Toronto, Ottawa, Moncton, Fredericton, St. John, and St. John's just don't sound like unique or nice words to me.