Time to boost a specific local business and go back (…I mean, not really, I only ever had one and I won it, fun story actually) to buying porn DVDs.

“And I suggest you let that Ontarioiate” has officially been welcomed into my lexicon, and I wait anxiously for an excuse to use it.

Edit: agree with them though, fuck everyone who voted Ford back in.

The real question is do they start using ounces for amounts equal to or over 28 grams?

What I think is even funnier, as someone who moved around the country a lot, is it’s often thought of as a regional thing when it’s actually ubiquitous.

In Victoria BC, it’s called a Langford Dinner Jacket. But if you’re a blue-collar working class Canadian anywhere in the country, it’s more likely than not you own or have owned one of these (which is good, 'cause they’re a good warm layer).

Nope, St. Albert. They make the cheese curds typically used by the fine men and women who operate the grease shacks in the Ottawa Valley.

I think my ban from Quebec for calling St. Hubert Quebec’s answer to Swiss Chalet expires soon.

Every day, I say a prayer of thanks to St. Albert for living in their delivery radius.

It’s kinda warm in Osaka, so I forgive them for not donning our national formal attire.

I am sad that I missed the trend where kombucha was stocked at a bunch of bars (or so I’m lead to believe). Non-alcoholic beer is getting better all the time, but the bar that stocks a good, strong tasting ginger kombucha would get my business. Love that shit.

…makes a note to try and connect his local haunt with the kombucha brewery 15 minutes down the road, as it sort of fits the vibe they are going for these days anyway

Dunrobin Distillery makes some good gin as well, though the Earl Grey gin is a novelty imo.

The Niagara region in ON and Okanagan region in BC produce some good stuff, or so I’m told. More a beer and whiskey guy myself.

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My two cents: Imagine you’re writing a polite (or not) note to your neighbour about something they or one of their family members is doing that is causing harm to your neighbourhood.

State what you don’t like, why you don’t like it and implications, preferred paths forward, and outcome you’d like to see. If you know what your ‘neighbour’ campaigned on/the rhetoric they used, particularly if you voted for them, you can reference that (for example, “The Elbows Up movement united Canadians at a time of great uncertainty. It is incredibly discouraging to watch our representatives drop their guard against US interests with no regard for, and active hostility to, the interests of Canadians.” or whatever).

If you want, you can close with the suggestion that should you feel they are not adequately advancing your interests as a constituent, they will not have your support in the next election. Taking from the neighbour analogy, think “If you don’t shape up, we’ll take this to the HOA (your fellow constituents) and kick your ass out.”

How much good does this all ultimately do? Depends on who you ask, really. But as a Canadian you have the right to express your opinions and concerns to those who represent you in government - so say what you want heard. No matter the impact, it’s better than silence.

Thing is, a lot of information about the current state of political affairs is blasting through all channels. Some people just want to use Lemmy to shitpost, hang out in CasualConversation, or look a funnies from Stamets.

I think that’s a fair use case, and doesn’t necessarily mean someone who does this is sticking their head in the sand about the current political order going to shit.

Axe the ass

Similar dream I have for Ottawa - you give Chebucto Community Net a nice chunk of change to set up and maintain the infrastructure.

Been many, many years, but if the kind of person who worked/volunteered for CCN hasn’t changed doubtless someone would be interested and have the skills.

Good choices so far! A few other ideas:

-Museum of Science and Tech is an obvious kid-favourite.

-One I don’t see mentioned as often is the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum at the Experimental Farm. Haven’t actually been in the museum myself, but they do have live animals as it’s a working farm, and I did see kids getting a kick out of that. It’s also across the road from the Fletcher Wildlife Garden, which connects to Dow’s Lake/The Arboretum if the kids have energy and patience enough for a little hike.

-Unless you really want to do a full river/canal boat tour (which admittedly is a good time), if you want to give the kids an ‘on the river’ experience you can take a water taxi from the locks to the Museum of History.

-For a less structured day/period, Mooney’s Bay has what I believe is the biggest public playground in Canada. You can also toss the kids in the water if it’s really hot (depending on water quality and comfort level). Keep an eye out as there may also be festivals going on depending on when you come (all pretty kid friendly as I remember them). Edit: Can also take them to see the Hog’s Back falls while you’re there, it’s close by.

-House of Targ, like 2-3 blocks south of Lansdowne, has all-ages family freeplay on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 8:00 PM. Bunch of pinball machines and arcade cabinets. Have seen elementary age kids having a grand time there when I’ve showed up early for a band/adults only freeplay.

-Depending on scheduling and available time, the Mayfair Theatre has a Saturday Morning Cartoons program, with cereal and people in PJs, once and a while. People and their kids seem to love it. Bookmark their website and watch for advance tickets, it sells out FAST.

-We have a baseball team - the Ottawa Titans [edit: NOT Giants]! They play at the old Lynx stadium on Conventry. If the kids like baseball/sitting in stands drinking soda and cheering on something they don’t understand, they may enjoy it. Also have soccer and football at Lansdowne.

-If you want to get the kids into nature, Gatineau Park is a no-brainer.

-Vincent Massey Park is nice as well.

Might add some others as I think of them.

You poor son of a bitch.

(Kidding, I like it here. Let me know if you want any recommendations!)

If it’s any consolation (I had a ‘what exactly constitutes a counterculture in 21st century Canada’ moment a while back, and eventually, unhappily, landed on the same conclusion), it means that a lot of the progressive values that used to be considered countercultural are now mainstream. Generally a good thing, I think.

Granted, many of those have been coopted and watered down to the point that they don’t constitute a legitimate threat to established power - or at least, that impression exists - so that’s not great.

That said, a counterculture is never a monolith. Just a personal project while the world burns, but I kinda want to revisit that rabbit hole a bit now that I’m writing this.

There’s enough worry about Canadian sovereignty and enough people who aren’t maple MAGA idiots/grifters but don’t immediately ignore what Trump says that, if they don’t think about precedent that much, this could swing.

I don’t really know or care what Trump’s intent was, even while I have some guesses, but I do know it’s being used as a talking point in the Conservative propaganda machine. “Lol, you think Carney’s going to defend our interests, but Trump just endorsed him. Hope you like being the 51st state. If carney wins, Canada loses. WEF, Ghislaine photo, Axe the Tax, etc.” The gambit is that all of this convinces more undecideds to vote Conservative than Conservative voters to vote Liberal (or NDP, or Green, or Bloq, but you get my point).

You and I, and I hope enough others, see through this particular tactic. But coupled with points like “Carney said he’d get rid of the carbon tax and GST on homes - those were PPs ideas”, there’s enough going on that I could see people getting swung. No one is truly immune to propaganda, and the machine do be churning.

Former Post Millenial writer - shocker.