blog post Canada: A land of crappy music and bears?

Hey! 

Oh that map is funny! Come on! If you really want to take it apart I think labeling Africa as More War, India as Call Centres, and Australia as racists is way more offensive. But really who cares. 

Anyways I don't know what Canada should be known for. It's a big and complex place. 

Morning Grant!  That map is very wrong and irked me to look at.  Canada should be known for having some of the best music in the world.  I am surprised Bjork is labelled for Iceland.  They must know a bit about music!

I finf the map funny more than anything. I mean, we all know Canadian music is aces, but who are the Canadian artists known best in the world; Nickelback? Beebs? Celine Dion? They've got a point.

@GRANT

You are missing a "what" in the first sentence of your blog post!

yer welcome!

(repeating from the subject line)

Didn't Craig once say that Canada was known for maple syrup and socialized medicine?  Well, can't argue with that, can you?

Great music and not BEERS, sorry we've gone over this, but its not your fault - its your laws, THEY limit the strength of your beers by over taxing them and placing them in an inappropriate tax burden. 

But for Canada, I think of course, great music, cold weather, and hum - oh being one of the great havens during that experiment with prohibition, yeah the one that made thugs millions, the other great haven, the east coast -i.e. the real McCoy - coined from....anybody? Trivia thirsty thursday

more Nickleback fall out

Where I come from BEERS and BEARS are often pronoinced the same way...

Occupy Basement.. i could get behind that.

Grant, I CANNOT leave the basement, because music.cbc's audio will not play on my computer.

Basement Bloggers - The whole map does not show in Grants post in the basement!  Time to come up stairs so you can see the whole thing... :)

The basement rocks. New site is way too corporate. is this some uppermanagement push to steal radio 3 listeners? Have they at least acknowledged that they built this because of radio 3. You should ask for a raise.

hooooooly,  the map is way way off. I will defend canada the best i can from down here in ATL. just give me your beer

1) I'm offended you think you can just suppress fashion fight club!

2) shirt croc-ing.  did that photo of Christine's show your feet?

3) was it Ra Mcguire? he wrote a book too ya know?

R3 is playing Trooper and the commercial radio station in my office is playing Library Voices.

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE!?

WHAT SHOULD CANADA BE KNOWN FOR?

Good music, Beutiful countryside, Wonderful people, Great beer and of course POUTINE!

On that map I'd have put "Open-mindedness & leading the cultural vanguard"

It's true in so many artistic and creativel areas, including literature (Margaret Atwood, Margaret Laurence, Paul Quarrington, Robertson Davies, and Timothy Findley); acting and theater (Leslie Nielsen, Gordon Pinsent, Donald Sutherland, Colm Fiore, Sarah Polley); to music (from Leonard Cohen and Neil Young to the Rheostatics, Stompin' Tom, and all the current indie artists, female and male, that we know so well and love so much.  

I have to hand it to the map, they've got the super model part right in SA.

The first time I saw that map it was labeled The Fratboy View of the World, or something like that.

@PhilipST (9:10) Under actors you forgot Bill Shatner!

I'd also like to add that I saw this map somewhere else labeled as "Map of the World According to Americans."  I think that of sheds a different light on the insult!

They're stealing the radio 3 model. They are jealous of the success of the blog are sucking the fun out of the community.

@ Grant  re: Basement

I saw yesterday in a twitter picture from Christine + Balls that you were sitting in front of a computer on the R3 basement page!

Coincidentally, SO happy the update comments button is finally up in the parlour :)

Unfortunatley everything I think Canada is great for, and should be known for, is slowly being eroded away....

(ie. values)

hooooooly, I will leave for lunch now, see you in about 200 posts

TO to LA!! Long time... how goes it?

@MikeV Maybe stealing isn't the right word but they are taking from a station they never paid any attention to until the site and community surprised them with it's success. I doubt that the same programmers are working on this project.

@ my.Transient.reality  [48] 

Yes!  That changes the entire map's perspetive!  We should locate the original source, but Ill bet you are right on that one.

Delayed: Priestess!! I'm going to see them next week! Woo! With Barnburner!!

@TOtoLA:

what kind?

@burgessjackie re #52 you saw no such thing!

@TO to LA...

Um... the term "doctor" should never be put in quotation marks!!!!

 my.Transient.reality: "Map of the World According to Americans." Unfortunately, speaking as a Yank, it makes sense that would come from the States.

I'm still in the basement. Haven't had enough time upstairs yet to have learned my way around, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon.  

@Garnt - what if it's to imply something.  Like, "hey baby let's play 'Doctor'?"

WHAT SHOULD CANADA BE KNOWN FOR?

The natural beauty that pervades the 90+% of our unspoilt surface area; the rich cultural tapestries to be found our major cities; and/or the unique history and heritage that defines our smaller, more rurual communities. Take your pick. 

YARGH why does it keep double posting for me...the basement wants me out!

the web team needs to start subtly sabotaging the basement, rendering it unusable and forcing people out.

@kirkofdoom - Why do you try to hurt us basement dwellers so?

Nice Black Mountain/Pink Mountaintops set.

Just because you live upstairs, doesn't make you better than us.

Follow-up to #83 for Tandy Sean -- just 'cause I hate it when people talk about a link, but don't offer it up, here you go: A Message to the R3 Community (from Steve Pratt).

I would say in Canada we have more freedom than the US. We have universal healthcare, same sex marriage, much more accessible post-secondary university...I could go on. 

We also have amazing Canadian music, amazing beer, poutine, hockey, and a huge diverse country.

I agree with doug the canuck. Loving this set. :D

@ The Basement -

I came upstairs! It is so neat and tidy! When I go back to the basement, it's all like drawn with crayons - though up here it is a bit "corporate".

- and the show images aren't cropped.

bad music? Yeah thats because most people outside of this country only know about Nickleback, the biebs and all that other ...uhm ...crap?

I think Canada has some of the best music to offer the world! Thankfully some great bands (R3 bands in particular) have been able to expose their talents around the world. EX: Hollerado toured around Asia and South America. Thats pretty damn awesome! And hey isn't Dan Mangan touring europe now/soon? I'm glad that these bands can show what Canada is really made of!

Also, stereotype us all you want, we do love our hockey! And we live in one of the most beautiful and diverse places in the whole world. We should be proud of that!

The map of Canada should just have "Sorry" on it

I'm curious where that map came from, because Americans frickin' LOVE Nickleback and the Biebs... 

@marie_curious what's that?! YES, I've crossed over!!! I have emerged from the basement! The comments are numbered! I can now do my job!

@TheRadioHead wait, there are cool kids amongst us? well, seeing as I'm on the new site I suppose I'm hanging out with the band geeks...just like in high school.

WHAT SHOULD CANADA BE KNOWN FOR?

Srs. business answer: the word "bootstraps" isn't a part of our national discourse. 

Joke answer: Twitch City! 

I wish there was only one browser that existed. There are no comment numbers in Firefox. :(

@maattt try clicking a cbcmusic link and then 'Back' to refresh the page, they're not updating QUITE perfectly for me either.

@Grant: Great! More room on the basement wagon for the rest of us!

I'm all for new things. I will admit I will miss the old site, but only because that's the site where I fell in love with R3. Change is inevitable. I will admit I toggle between the two, only for the time being because I want to know what song is playing. I trust that bugs will be fixed and we will have a track list and not weird comment sorting and the like soon. I am re-reading that email from Steve..and I can't wait till things even out. 

:)

the thing about the map is, anyone who takes it seriously, i don't want them coming here.

also, it always rains in vancouver.

those who find out for themselves may be pleasantly surprised.

This new site is working WAY better for me than the old one (although I miss the look and feel of the old hang). I'm using an old mac system 10.3.9 here at FUNNYBOOKS and it was almost impossible for me to post from the basement.

Checking in. Hello everyone. Here for an hour.

the stills

:(

eight and a half is pretty cool, but i still miss them.

Swiss Chalet sauce is puke in a bowl....

Never heard of pountang - we liken it to something else down south

TO to LA I've been lobbying Lays forever to bring that flavour to America.  They keep introducing abominations against mankind like the late night burger flavour Doritos, Gross, but they won't bring the best potato chip flavour across the border.  Sucks.

Why am i even trying to blog today... (errors galore on every post)

Well, you can't really blame the author if all he listens to is main stream music. It is fairly grim (minus the recent success of Arcade Fire)- Celine Dion, the Biebs, Nickleback, Avril Lavinge. Not really a stellar list. Too bad it is so mis-leading.

@new listeners

<----- please have a look at our listener map and think about adding yourself

thank you

You can make good poutine outside Québec.

All you need are fresh curds, great fries and brown sauce. Sure, you have to have the knowhow, but hey, it's not crêpes Suzette.

@EP re #115 a metaphor for "the basement"?! aka TandySean's argument with the rest of CBC?!

The comment numbers don't appear when you click Update Comments?

I have this book called the Visual Miscellaneum which is quite interesting.  I've found an online version of a map in it.  Unfortunately it is very Euro focused - the one in the book is a bit different.  Canada had the most single parents and the US had the most serial killers from what I remember!

Grant, the numbers of 'new' entries do indeed disappear at refreshing (with the button), but reappear when you post.

There's a small lettering size change too. They know about that but, at least it's been mentioned all morning (Ontario morning).

Ottawa has some pretty good poutine places. Yes, the little Ma and PA shops are the best place to get them! Or smokes  poutine on Dalhousie st. Pulled poutine = incredible

So is it kind of like chili cheese fries? I'll have to put this on my list of things to try when i head north...

We have a poutine truck.  It is super delicious.  But I never seem to see it out lately.  A bunch of restaurants have it too.  Especially our French-Canadian restaurant, Soleil, in Westwood.

I wonder if Walkers would ever do poutine flavour crisps over here

Now I want poutine...

robin_m: my poutine joint is La Pataterie Hulloise . The Hull Potatoey, if you want.

@kathyjean Me too. I am now wondering how I can get some as there is no place around my work and I don't have a car. haha

@kathyjean & maattt: Same here. It's 9:45am on the West Coast - a strange time to be craving poutine, but here we are.

@benoit

Hull definitely has some of the best poutine's in the capital region! Bob's patate is also really good!

In the Basement spiders and mold are both our companions and food.

Dear Backwater, see here. It's a fair photo for ingredients, of course it's a pretty food shot, and normally there would be more sauce. Probably more curds too.

@kirkofdoom do you SERIOUSLY listen to two radio stations at once, one in each ear?!?! #aclockworkorange

In honor of poutines everywhere, the poutine to my left was the most ill advised thing I've ever ordered.  It was this past summer - on the HOTTEST day ever - my friend and I walked around Old Montreal and stopped at "Montreal Poutine".  I ordered this bad boy with a beer.  This is a poutine with smoked meat on top.  Ridiculously heavy but delicious.  

@Backwater, further to Benoit - you would likely be intoxicated or well on your way as well.  So, you need to be prepared for most of it ending up all over your face/shirt.

@christine NO GOOD! :(

at grant

you were the one yelling at me for not listening to R3! i have it streaming off my phone with one earbud in. but the office radio is right next to me, so I hear that as well. 

I've managed to teach my brain to focus on one or the other, depending on which song I like better.

Ha, I just did my first <add> on the Bright Site!

@124th Street Beat - No problem!

@kirkofdoom - alright! keep doing what you're doing. At least you're getting a crash course on commercial and public radio. Wait - whose host breaks are better?!?!

You'll find a lot of Poutine snobs as you travel down this road.  Everyone knows a better Poutine place than anyone else.  The key is the Cheese Curds.  They HAVE to be from Eastern Quebec and the Have to squeak when you eat them.  A problem in California as I've never seen curds for sale here in the supermarket.

I remember when G-Law interviewed Gene Simmons and he said something along the lines of "Canadians get really worked-up when foreigners accuse them of being boring, but they shouldn't care", and he's right! We should be known as being over-sensitve to ignorant comments made by people who are just trolling the internet looking for a rise out of us!

I travelled for a year after school, and the number of people who would crack wise at our country's expense was huge! However, all you need to say is "We have free healthcare and an okay economy". That usually wins most arguments, or escalates them into an armed standoff. Whatever. Depends on the crowd you're rolling with.   

As a disclaimer to the Stills' excellent explanation of poutine, you CAN eat poutine for breakfast, but just so long as you don't intend to do a lot of movement that day. Poutine makes a difficult task of anything more intense than gesticulating wildly during a heated conversation.  

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!VIVA LA BASEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

at grant -

depends on the host. heh.

I was listening to the Blues Stream while trying to catch up on the posts, but I needed to get back to Grant's Great Musical Mashup.

@Grant and other people in the basement. You have to get used to the new site, sooner or later. You are only making it harder on yourself by hiding in the basement.

whoa.  the basement gets a bit lighter after post 188.  maybe they'll wean us off gradually until it's just a solid white page.

I would like to acknowledge hilarious posts/brilliant ideas. Can we get a "like" button upstairs? for some reason the music won't play for me up there so I'm in the basement.

@Grant: aw yeah! Thanks for making the morning that much more rockin.

@burgessjackie: I'm not sure when it'll happen, but I've been told that it will. 

But honestly the southern draw dialect down south - we would have a hell of a time pronouncing or I should say distinguishing btw poutine and pootang -I can just imagine ordering poutine and getting a weird look as they glance over their shoulder indicating that I in fact just orderd a hooker...yes, I can just see it

Dear Backwater, not poontang, pooteen. You know, what a lot of people think of teens...

Oh hell no!  Pacific Northwest...some of the best beer on the planet!

Grant - I should say that your beer is just fine, but it is DEF not stronger - and yes I would EASILY EASILY win this battle

Hey I just noticed that if you post on the new site, you get a post #. If you are on the old site you get no #.

We can tell!

@Backwater #212, Why is stronger beer better beer? I don't drink beer to get drunk.

Okay Backwater, you MUST try this if you can find it...by far the best brew I've had all winter http://www.vancouverbeerblog.com/?p=2529

To be fair to BB, he's got a good point! Sure, the US has some pretty terrible beer (and it's most of the popular stuff) but micro-brews are HUGE thoughout the states. They are booming all over and more and more new and amazing ones are opening. Two new breweries just opened here in Houston, (which brings us up to 4?) and we have way fewer than most cities!

@backwaterWhat about Fin Du Monde? That is a THICK beer. It is 9%, I believe.

@Garfield - Right on!

If you just want to get hammered, drink Colt 45 or some other crap.

garfield - I love a nice clean lager of low strenth, Im only defending or pointing out that the old joke is not accurate in todays terms

On the beer topic - Deschutes out of Portland and Bend Oregon is in my top 5.

I'd agree with the guy in that the Canadian liquor laws are far more prohibitive for brewers than they are down south.

Also, it was Michael Jackson (the famous beer writer, not the other guy) who shocked the beer world when he said there was no better place to drink beer than America, (assuming you ignore the bud/miller/coors) garbage beers.  They now have close to 2000 craft breweries.  I think lots of Canadian craft beer is as good or better than American, but in terms of variety they have us killed.

Beer - Unibroue "Terrible" is delicious and over 10% I believe.

<----- You CAN make your own poutine. We've done it. Homemade cheese curds!

@canadajames has a point. Micros are growing in the states. Ironically, Utah has some of the best microbrew beer I've tasted in the US. Polygamy Porter? Don't mind if I do.

Oh Canada @ 10:00 -- well, saying it that way comes mostly from away, with people who aren't too close to Québec and French. Around Ottawa, people have heard it said so often that Anglos say "pooteen" --without getting too French-from-France about it! (It's actually somewhere between "in" and 'een".

The Francophones around here mostly go "poutsiine", with that characteristic French-Canadianb "tsii"

@Backwater, dont get me started on a beer debate...stronger vs light beer, bad vs good isn't a thing.

crappy generic beer (Bud vs Molson) all of that sucks.

but you can't just compare microbreweries. both contries do that well...really well.

/@iamRobSmith another good one to try (anyone that is in Van and at the Alibi room... http://www.crannogales.com/site/beers.php) -  Balls was there one night but they were OUT!!! Boo.

@124th Street Beat

PASSPORT PLEASE!!!

#beerdebate Is there such a thing as bad beer?

@laurenelizabeth the best beer in Canada is Phillips Blue Buck in a bottle.

Another strong but DELICIOUS Canadian beer: Unibroue's "Grand Reserve".  10% alcohol, a lovely kind of sweet taste... it was deeeelish.

As a beer nerd I would like to say that Canada has may, fanatstic micro breweries that are producing great, complex beers and there may not be as may per capita as there are in the States (Oregon), but that doesn't mean our beers are inferior.

Grant - have you ever actually had Phillips Longboat - Double Chocolate Porter? That is the BEST beer ever :) (don't get me wrong, I like Blue Buck too)

@Benoit re: McAusland Oatmeal Stout - One of my favourites! Love it! Their Apricot Ale is amazing too. :)

@BackwaterBrewery Look what you started!! Now... do you withdraw your comments, aka Backdown Brewery?!

@Grant- 

I think that we should take our de-throning as a challenge! Fight back by making more, better, beer and then buying it, and selling it in bars so the masses know what goodness is actually out there. 

STEAMWHISTLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HOW DARE YOU: @Geri #253 re Nardwuar He has been one of my closest friends since I was 5 years old!

@Christine --  YES!!! Steamwhistle is another great beer!

@novascotiatim - Agreed. All you have to do is walk into the Beer Store in Ontario and see what the top ten beers are -1) Coors Light, 2) Molson Canadian, 3) Budweiser, 4) Blue, 5) Bud Light, 6) Carling Lager, 7) Keiths, 8) Lakeport Pilsner, 9) Busch,10) Heineken"

In my opinion, there is not one good Canadian beer in that list.

There are good Canadian Craft beers, but go to a BevMo in the States and you will see an incredible variety of excellent American Craft beers.

@Geri I was going to say your toquie post was great until you called Nardwaur a "dick"...what the hell?

Steamwhistle? No thanks.

But, I'm still loving the line of Beau's brews, such as the Lug Tread ale.

@Geri  THANK YOU! I agree 10000000000000%.

I Canuks fan bumps into a fairy and the fairy offers him one wish.

"I would like to live for ever" he asks

"I'm sorry" says the fairy "that is the one wish we are not allowed to give"

"OK,"he says " in that case I want to live until the Leafs win the Stanley Cup"

"Ooooh, you crafty sod"

My favourite beer has to be Railway City's Dead Elephant Ale (St Thomas, ON), but I'm a little biased. I'm also a big fan of St Arnold's Amber (Houston) and the 512 IPA out of Austin.

Steamwhistle is a great everyday beer.  Micro-brews are the way to go, Canada is catching up to the US is this regard but over the last 5 years or so a lot of micro-brews have been popping up north of the border.

@m_C I used to be in that camp. It's not my FAVOURITE drink but I really don't mind a nice white or my new fave lately has been Éphémère... apple and yum. 

@Geri - What about Cuba?

Great summer beer? SPA from Wellington in Guelph, and I'm from BC.  All we do is make fun of Ontario:)

Regina's Bushwakker beer for me!  They take great care and love for their ingredients.  Finely crafted and fresh brewed local beer is the best!

@Geri Sorry as a history geek have to chime in. We didn't win that war. It was a stalemate. Also, I will remind you that Vietnam wasn't exactly a victory for the United States. In fact they pretty much lost that one. 

@marie_curious: I'm with you. I tried a beer once (granted, it was a Molson and my tween palate wasn't exacty refined) and haven't had one since. 

was too hot.

Nardwuar: I don't like his music either. I find his voice super irritating. He's a pretty hilarious guy though. And he's a pro at making people feel awkward.

marie_ and company pond: well, I guess it's bitch pops for you!

8)

Nardwar: Yeah its only the voice that really grinds me.

@geri  Canada was still a British colony in 1812. Also, I'm pretty sure the US government lost the War on Drugs a long time ago...

@EricR  Kudos on linking to Beau's! I was actually grabbing their weblink when I saw your post go up!

@Grant  Did Nardwuar ever get his Red Foxx doll back from Snoop Dogg?

25 years of bad music? ;p

BUT - that was the point of the joke right?

I LOVE NARDUAR!

@KJ: I've only drank one whole bottle of beer ever, and it was an Ephemere.

@Benoit #296: Works for me! Hmmm, Palm Bay. 

@Geri - That was revenge for the Yanks torching our capital (Yorktown at the time, I believe? Toronto? Something like that.)

NOOO! NO SLOWING DOWN! I NEED TO STAY AWAKE AND WORK!!

@Musicsoop re IPA's - I totally agree, although what I find worse is getting a hoppy porter (I'm looking at you USA!!) That's what I don't like about IPAs, the overly hoppy flavour.

 Marie_ @ 303 : explosive BWAHAHAHAHA!

@Geri yes Canadians torched the White House in 1812. I guess the Canucks lost to the Capitals that night.

@robin_m re beer. Oh.

@marie_curious: i'm with you. I hate beer too. tastes like a mouthful of pennies.

Off topic: you know we had to do this.

@Geri Yes the British forces did torch Washington, D.C in the war but that was only one small portion of the war. Also American forces capured York (Toronto) where there was some looting and torching before they left. 

Still at the end of the war neither side gained anything. 

boo..

to the quiet set. bring back the rawk.

(haha)

@novascotiantim - You are definitely right about Texas beer laws, the big 3 breweries have tried to squelch the growth of microbrews through laws here, but it hasn't worked! We still have an amazing selection of local and great tasting beers!

The best part of when I hafta travel to the states for work these days is the great beer you can get down there. And the fact that it costs about half of what it costs up here. The $12 you pay for a 6 pack of good beer here in Ontario is criminal.

Walking into the liquor store in Wichita, and browsing the wall of craft beers that you can buy in singles is lots of fun. Here in Ontario it's gotten much better (but you have to go to the liquor store - the Beer Store sucks IMHO). But it's still not even close to the craft brew revolution in the States.

@dawnh

How dare you?

Just imagine what our beer would be like if we HADN'T torched the White House and Capitol!

I thought it was the British troops who burned the White House.  Maybe India and Australia should get in on this, haha.

I haven't read thru the other comments yet, just heard what Grant said about the beer debate on the blog... Newfoundland definitely has some of the best beers in Canada... but you can only get them here... so no one else gets to partake in the India consumption unless they visit or are brought some. (And India only comes in bottles so it's a pain to travel with... most expensive half case I ever gave someone after trying to fly to ontario with some for a fellow Newf and got hit with over weight baggage charges. learned that lesson.)

@Dawn I like how you said "buddy". Doesn't seem like something you say often. Haha!

Love this Hayden song, what a voice!

Comment numbers! Hot damn!

CANUCKS vs LEAFS

Happening Saturday afternoon. I'm going. I'm insanely excited.

I have a bet with Bob from VancouverIsAwesome.com (he MADE me, and gave me odds). If the Leafs WIN he will post a photo of himself in a Leafs jersey on VIA... If the Leafs lose by more than one goal, I have to post a photo of myself in a MONTREAL jersey.

I like that a Vancouver jersey is not real punishment...

the stakes have never been higher.

Jetset - Monday: Rose Cousins at Hotel Cafe for Sunset Sessions AND Hey Rosetta at Bardot for It's a School Night. Right in the heart of Hollywood. 3 blocks from each other.  Yay!

@rebby i wouldnt know what nfld beer tastes like, balls drank all of the beer she brought! didn't even save one for grant! :)

@Christine - I have had the Crannóg Back Hand of God and love it! I'll try some others though for sure.

Canucks vs. Leafs always look forward to sending them home packing:)

It isn't what Country makes the beer, Grant. It's which coast. And that is very obviously the West Coast. I can't say BC makes the best beer because Portland brews are amazing.As far as the map goes, it was clearly done by some angry and slightly stunted person in MS Paint or with a thick marker, so I wouldn't take it seriously. People are always gonna be jealous of Canada.(Also, the player still doesn't show what song is playing on the new site so I am not leaving the basement yet.)

What negative vibes in our blog today. 

@heyraynie, I am a proud Canadian but I wouldn't mind if Cascadia/PNW became its own country.

@Lee You would be negative too if you had all these bears to deal with. 

I'd be so torn! Cascadia is wonderful, but I am so happy to be Canadian. xD

@garf - It was.

@SILVORGOLD: I love this list. Thanks. Tell me more about when/where I can get this Farmery beer from Manitoba.

I'm gonna need some more info on Andrew before I accept that proposal.  Maybe a picture?

Jetset - Part 2: Arkells are playing in my hometown #2, Ithaca, New York, tomorrow night.  Hope some of my homies can go.

@Grant, The single women on here have more sense than to date me!

Re: Radio3 Personals.

You DO realize that all Radio3 personal ads will be filtered through Grant Lawrence's Inbox.

Eligible bachelor in Los Angeles here! I'm 'stepping up', Grant! :)

Gawd I want beer now.

AND sethdallob knows how to fly an airplane, ladies.

@SILVORGOLD: I'm from Winnipeg and now live in BC. What's the pub? I'll stop by next time I'm in town. Gawd, I love Manitoba (yeah, I said it!)

@Canada Janes... I know, eh! Damn.... I want a Grumbler!

Ookpik - Best use of Ookpik in a sentence

the Pub is Luxalune on Osborne. I absolutely love that place, and every time I come by, they tell me what's up with the brewery.. you can just tell that brewing beer is a big interest of theirs, they have excitement in their eyes. It's like me talking about.. well.. beer!

@silvorgold: omlicious. I like that word.

Shadowy men on a a shadowy planet, but the TV version has more bass.

@PST Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet, Canada's best ever instrumental band!

Ahh, Luxalune. I went in December while I was home for the holidays. The ending of the night was a blur but the beer WAS delicious.

@Steph - Haha, yes! "Grumblers" rock!

Phillip ST – Shadowy Men From A Shadowy Planet. The song is called Having and Average Weekend.

Great great band. Mostly instrumental surf rock.

@ Westcrunch Luxalune 734 Osborne Street 

Would rather buy Moosehead than Steamwhistle, not a fan.

I wonder if I can cover the cost of a trip to Canada by bringing beer with me

I feel like a kid on Xmas morning when they have new beer in stock.. beer you CAN'T get at the LC/vendors in MB.

PS - Anyone craving a great pint of Blanche de Chambly, Remington's in Brandon has it on tap!

@Silvorgold 

Not a beer drinker myself but my hubby loves Steamwhistle!

Thanks, GL and @hadaf for the info on Shadowy Men a Shadowy Planet. Great name and great chops. Remember, the preeminent instrumental band in the US was The Ventures, doing surf music, especially? I love that The Sadies channel some of that vibe too.  

Go Library Voices! Also, great chops.

meanwhile, hooooooly, yes, Celine creeps me out

@McS -- did i miss grant pimping you out on a host break?!? hahaha

@Meanwhile - all the cool Americans are here with us cool Canadians.

@rebbey Haha! I think he's trying to set all the R3 ladies up.

The first sip of a Black Horse is like a slap to the face. I love it.

@sethdallob: staying alive is a good goal!

At Christmas, a friend of mine asked me what she should get her friend for Christmas, beer wise. I know friends who like to do mix CDs of CanCon to send to their friends from outside Canada, so I thought a sample of Canada's best beer from each region would be best. This was the list I compiled:

A Canadian Geography Gift Pack - If the person you're buying for is not from Canada, or you want to do something different, I would suggest a Canadian Geography Gift Pack. What this is is simply picking up a selection of beer. You would pick up beer that originates from East Coast, Quebec, Ontario, the Prairies and finally British Columbia. I have done this before and it proved to be a hit. I would suggest a bottle of a beer by Garrison Brewing or Pump House for East Coast; Unibroue, Dieu du Ciel, Les Trois Mousquetaires or McAuslan for Quebec, Flying Monkeys, Muskoka or Beau's for Ontario; Half Pintsor Paddock Wood for the Prairies; and lastly Cannery, Howe Sound, or Tree for British Columbia. This will help show off how awesome the Canadian Beer industry is!

*narrows eyes*

I dont know if I'd trust Grant to set anyone up seeing as he was alone on Valentines.

(love you Jill)

@iamRobSmith #426, what about us uncool Europeans?

@carrieg, trade you http://www.camradurham.org.uk

http://www.jackrussellbrewing.com/

So if you come visit and don't like all of the wine in our foothill wine country, there is a carbonated alternative.  Ask Suckamc, Rebbey, Balls and KristiArbo.  They've all been there.  Doing the best for my guests.

Thanks, TB3. My 15-year old son has been loving Kids in the Hall for the past few months, and we've wondered about the theme music. Dave Foley is great, so deadpan, as are all the Kids. Scott Thompson recently did a podcast with Danko Jones.

The problem with beer is that people treat beer like beer. Beer is so much more than the golden lagers of the 70s. Beer flavours are so.. unique now days. There's beers that taste like honey and maple syrup, beers that taste like dark chocolate, and even one beer that tastes like chipotle peppers.

I cook with beer and it REALLY compliments my dishes. One easy one is using a bottle of beer as a replacement of water and yeast for homemade pizza dough.

I'm doing the same thing right now, but a different spin - I'm allowed to have ONE beer per day and only ONE beer per day.. so I have to carefully choose what.

Thankfully in my case, I picked up a 12 of Unibroue Somellier pack, every beer in that case is a delight, as long as it's refrigerated correctly (room temp bottle? it'll foam like a gyser).

Great set, Grant!

THat's because there's several distribution networks there. In Manitoba we have one network and it's controlled by the LC. Okay, sure, you CAN order in some St Ambroise Oatmeal stout (amazing stout), but you have to do a minimum order of 24 bottles, and that will cost $72 before tax/deposit. Not worth your time. In Alberta you have beer boutiques dedicated to beer snobs, they get in anything/everything!

thanks c-janes!

@sethdallob Thanks! I knit those squirrels!

Mm, maple stout. I tried that at Bitter in Vancouver a few weeks back. Delicious! (Bitter is a beer tasting room here that I frequent. So fantastic.) They have this Milk Porter that I'm in love with and you can only get there. Beer needs more respect. It has just as many flavours and tastes as wine, after all.

If you treat all beer like Budwiser, you'll be disappointed.

Hey! Did anyone mention Trailer Park Boy's!!! Sorta-kinda goes with the beer thing - dosen't it? Maybe???

Canada has the best comedie(a)ns in the world! (SCTV!)

One of my favourite new beers is this one Galt Knife Old Style Lager. It is what I imagine our Canadian Beers were really like before factory brewing practices crept in. In case you don't know, many if not all of the big Factory beers, are brewed not from malted barley, but from what are known as adjuncts. These include corn syrup, rice syrup. The reason for this? Cost. The big breweries found they could substitute syrups from other grains for part of the the malted barley and break it down, remove the haze and make something that approaches the original (in their opinion), for a cheaper cost. Beers like Budweiser contain a good percentage of rice and wheat. In Germany beers have had to be brewed according to purity laws that limited the ingredients to Malted Barley, Hops, Yeast and Water.

Going beyond this there are excellent Wheat Beers, Rye Beers and other specialty grains. But not the factory beers in my opinion.

BTW... Love the new site. Was able to go back seemlessly to older posts to write down all those beer names. Couldn't have done that from the basement. Maybe it was a specific problem for me and my un-updated mac.

@Basemnt Dwellers: Come with us upstairs! Don't you remember what happened to the people on the poseidon adventure that decided to stay in the ballroom?

<--- @ McS 1 pic up, looking for more, after conference call ends...

Regina Bands...WHOA WHOA WHOA. I LOVE Library Voices, a lot. But Rah Rah is amazing as well.

Yeah, LV and Rah Rah tie for best ,aybe.

@evensteven I really want to, but the player isn't working in the ancient internet explorer browser I'm using at work (I can't update it) so I'm staying here in the interest of adding stuff to playlists and seeing what's what. I'm sure they'll fix it soon!Crannog's Backhand of God is my fabourite beer of all time. So amazing.

@tagish I know Regina can compete with that (per capita wise).  I know of 5 just off hand and at least 1 pub more who plans on getting into it in the near future.  And we have about 100k-150k less people than Victoria.

@nvp good idea!

EW. Grant!

Speaking of "jet setting" beer - My parents brought back a sample of beers from Honduras, all beer not available in Canada, can't wait to try them.

PS Grant: Everyone else I know who loves Blue Buck absolutely dislike it, but beer tastes are like music tastes - vary by person to person!

There are many Crystal Bays, i think....

I feel like I'm on an awkward R3 chaperoned date. I don't know if I can do blog hook ups. 

Yep, North Lake Tahoe, right on the border with California.  Speaking of beautiful country...

@TheIceman -- I lived just about 10min from the Grand River Brewery  when it opened a few years ago.  Started driving over there to buy their brews by the growler... still have a few (empty) growlers in my basement as a reminder to make the trip back to Cambridge sometime for a fill-up!  Good stuff... good guys makin' it.

mcfflyer  do it

And when I post that, now I see the post #s. Some weird new behaviour.

I remember writing ad copy for The Crystal Bay Club and Casino when I was working at KTRT in Truckee, California.  1400 on your AM dial.

Lee - What's an AM Dial?

at Grant - can I make a request for Sweet Water?

Someone just came in to my workplace looking for a guy that wasn't here. The guy that came in? Matt Rose from The Matinée.

Small world.

@Grant -- are you saying gomez is boring live? saw em at rifflandia, first i had even heard of them, and thought they were pretty good....

Okay I think I spotted it.

Programmers - after posting, comment #s appear, but Update Comments, makes them disappear!

@MusicSoop/Lee - What's a dial? ;)

BEER RECIPE

Poutine, made with beer. BEST. had it when I was 16 and  in quebec, haven't ever forgotten about it haha

@silvorgold:

you sir are a riot.   love the brewstories!

Yes - post numbers disappear once you hit update comments.

@Lee_Mcfflyer - Why do you say that?

The 2nd greatest Canadian instrumental band of ALL TIME??? Remember The Esquires?

Bale of hay, not bottle.. obviously. But from now on I should call bad beer "a bottle of hay"

ZOOT ALOORS IS BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love Al Tuck's voice! 

Tanya Davis! LOVE!

Back!

Had to take my four legged friend out for a walk. 

R3's @ Matinee this weekend?

Your bear?

@dawn.h

Acorn Crepes (my title!)

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup whole milk

1 cup beer (preferably a lager or wheat/weiss beer) I use Kichesippi Natural Blonde or Blanche de Chambly

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 pinch sea salt

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon of powdered sugar

zest of one orange

1. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk and beer. Gradually whisk in flour, cinnamon, vanilla, powdered sugar, and orange zest. 2. Add the salt and oil, then whisk the batter vigorously for 3 to 5 minutes, so all is thoroughly incorporated. 3. Let the batter sit overnight. 4. Heat a 10 inch non-stick crepe pan over medium heat. Brush it with butter, and when it's hot but not smoking, pour a 1/3 cup of batter into the center of the skillet, and rotate it so the batter covers the bottom of the pan in a thin layer. 5. Cook the crepe until it is just golden on one side, 1 to 2 minutes, turn it and cook until it is golden on the other side, about 30 seconds. 6. Transfer to a plate, cover with aluminum foil and keep warm in a preheated oven at 70 degrees Celcius. 7. Continue until all of the batter is used. 8. Roll up the crepes, and serve with maple syrup, nutella or preserves. 9. Watch your roommates do your dishes for the rest of the day 'cause they're so blissed out.



@westcrunch

Yes, you do! Get back here!

@binsy, #526, I was thinking beaver

@dawn.h, how do you "lightly beat" eggs, no hitting with a closed hand and no kicking?

Agreed, GREAT SET

@zoot: it is nice to see/hear from you again!

@Silvorgold, oh yes he does!

And it is nice to see/hear you too! Contrats on the major slim-down.

Teen Daze - haven't heard this in awhile.  makes me feel so nostalgic... i miss the summer!

@Lee I haven't notices, and I'm RARELY in a nasty mood...so dont say EVERYONE :p

just sayin'.  The Basement Rules.

@jdurley how dare you point that out?!

Welcome back, Grant! I saved your seat.

@Lee, what makes you think I am in a nasty mood?

@binsy, but they are amazing damn builders

@ Garf, nice to see you, my friend!

@Cathy, Your Highness, let me congratulate you officially as our R3 Fan Of The Year! 

& A fistbump towards Russ, too! Well earned, you'll reign with benevolence and aquinimity, I'm sure!

etymology: eh-pis-ka-pale-i-an: episcopalian 

guess it's time to play 'fixed' by stars?

Grant: "Bye Bye Montreal. We'll send that out to......"

Me: "WestCrunch"

maybe Mangan was kinda right yesterday.

you need a cohost grant. and a news looker-upper.

Episcopals - Are the American verison of the Anglican Church.

Nice, Christine.

I guess we know who would be perfect for the new cohost job

@Backwater Brewery shall we arranged another international exchange of fluids, my friend?

@nvp never a problem my friend!

Grant, I was looking for Margie's comment among the blog posts, but now realize it's an email. Could you ask her if it could be shared more widely? It was marvelously eoloquent. Kudos and thanks to her. Goosebumps stuff. Said as a Yank, not a Canadian, a North American human being.   

I still think the best R3 bumper sticker slogan I've heard yet is "My other car is a Shaggin' Wagon" (in reference to our Former Fan of the Year Lee Hower's rockin' 1968 motorhome. Sasquatch appearance soon! (the music fest, not Lee)