CBC: Stromboulopoulos Tonight- 'Rick Mercer on Annoying Canadian Stereotypes'

Source:CBC- Rick Mercer talking about Canadian stereotypes, on Strombo Tonight.

Source:The New Democrat 

"On July 1, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight presents a special Canada Day episode. George talks all things Canadian with comedy icon Rick Mercer. Plus, a variety of compelling guests -- including Bradley Cooper, Shaun Majumder, Paul Martin, Russell Peters, Zach Galifianakis, Martin Short, David Suzuki, Rex Murphy, Amy Sedaris and more -- share their thoughts on our great country. Featuring performances by Sloan and The Coppertone. 

* In this clip, political satirist Rick Mercer talks about Canadian stereotypes... and rants about the ones that bug him the most.

For full-length interviews and behind-the-scenes content from George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight, visit Strombo." 

From CBC

I think Canada by in-large is a great beautiful country and if for some reason lets say I was deported from America, perhaps on suspicion of being a German spy or something, I would live in Canada. Canada would be my second choice, even though I’m an Ethnic-German. 

But like America, there’s good and bad in Canada and perhaps not so much bad, but things that even Canadians make fun of about their own country, that other countries can make fun of as well. Similar to Britain, which by in-large is a great country as well, but it is a fairly easy country to make fun.

I love watching Canadian TV and listening to Canadians speak. Why, because they sound so funny to me. Similar to how people talk in the upper Midwest in America and great plains. 

There’s very little if anything I actually like about Representative Michele Bachmann. One thing I do like about her is that she’s leaving the House of Representatives at the end of this Congress. But another thing I like about her is how she talks. She has a thick Minnesota accent and is originally born in Iowa, but I believe raised in Minnesota. I guess after Iowa deported the Bachmann Family and they settled in Minnesota.

But I love listening to Canadians and upper Midwesterners talk. They sound like Canadians the way they say certain things. Like out is oot in Canadian, about is aboot in Canadian and put them together Canadians say oot and aboot quite often. I know this from personal experience and against is agenst in Canadian. 

When I’m watching Canadian TV, I’m always mimicking them and doing my own Canadian accent. Which is a little deeper than my Mid-Atlantic-American accent. I actually sound more like I’m from the Northeast, but that is a different story.

As far as Canadian stereotypes: Canadians are as crazy about hockey, as Americans are crazy about football (let's say) but even more so. Hockey is like what Jesus would be to a Christian-Fundamentalist, where Americans love football the most when it comes to sports, but we have so many other sports we love as well. And we have so many other things to do as well and aren’t so distracted by one sport. Tim Horton’s, obviously, that is like official national restaurant in Canada and perhaps the only national restaurant in Canada.

As far as being polite: I’m probably too big of an asshole to live in Canada and would probably get deported. They are annoyingly nice and friendly, at least to Americans. I couldn’t imagine a Canadian wanting to live in New York, Philadelphia or Washington, Detroit would be another great example, simply for that reason. Yes, they are very passive and neutral, perhaps to a fault and don’t really want much if anything to do with other countries, at least as far as being involved in foreign and military operations. Which is how they qualified for NATO, because most of Europe is the same way.

I’ve always seen Canada as the biggest small country in the world. The second largest country in the world physically, but with only thirty-six-million people. Compared with America which is almost as big as Canada physically and the third largest country in the world physically and has three-hundred and fifteen-million people. I don’t know, maybe sex is not that popular in Canada. Maybe Canadians are required to take boat loads of birth control, or are only allowed to have one child per couple. Maybe because it is so damn cold up in Canada, that Canadians just aren’t the mood most of the year. And are more interested in simply avoiding freezing to death.

Canada is a great big country, but like America there’s plenty to make fun of like all great countries have. Americans are perhaps are more easy to make fun of because there are so many of us and we have it so good in most cases and hate big government and don’t like being told what to do and are so individualistic as a people, that people who are more socialist and collectivist in nature, like Canadians (to use as an example) like to make fun of us. 

But Canada has similar cultural stereotypes that look funny to other countries as well, including America. And part of being friends is making fun of each other, because you the other wouldn’t deliberately hurt you.

Joel Sanderson: James Gunn Interviews Rod Serling in 1970 On TV Writing

Source:Joel Sanderson- James Gunn talking to Rod Serling in 1970.

Source:The New Democrat

I should admit, I’m not a big science fiction fan, especially science fiction of the last 10-15 years. I can watch The Twilight Zone and even Thriller that is now on Me-TV, perhaps the best classic TV network in the business right now. But I can watch Rod Serling and I’m willing to watch just about anything, or anything that he produces and writes. Because science fiction and fantasy are not just those things with him. His shows take you to a different place that you are simply not familiar with and leaves you there for the entire half-hour. Well I guess he gives you a break in between commercials.

Modern science fiction are in many cases horror movies and in too many cases horrible movies. (Pun intended) That the sci-fi channel shows and involve people in their late teens early twenties, about college age people. A group of friends getting together in the middle of nowhere for the weekend and running into something awful or evil. And that generally is the second half of the movie. The first half of the movie looks like a soap opera and even a tabloid soap opera. And then they get to the scary stuff, which in some cases is fairly entertaining.

Rod Serling was so much more than that and if was around today, young people especially young adults wouldn’t get him. Because they are so into tabloid and soap opera related programming, that is all they know and are familiar with. With Serling is pure fiction and science fiction for the entire show. He gives his audiences a chance to escape their reality and see a world they are not familiar with. And learn about things they are simply not familiar with. And he is the master of this genre.
Source:Joel Sanderson

The Mike Wallace Interview: Rod Serling (1959)

Source:The New Democrat

Rod Serling is obviously famous for The Twilight Zone and that he created it and he created Thriller as well and several other shows. But what I believe is his mark on Hollywood is that he gave millions of Americans the ability and freedom to look at a world that is completely different from their reality. To escape their reality and to see a world that did not exist, to sort of paraphrase The Twilight Zone and even Knight Rider from the 1980s. To stretch people’s imagination and give people the chance to dream.

To me at least watching The Twilight Zone is like having a crazy dream that even adults can remember weeks later if not even longer than that. And in many cases a bad dream if not worst than that and when that half-hour is over, you wake up from the dream. The person or subject in that show comes back down to Earth to see that they are back to where they belong. And the viewers of that episode come back to Earth as well and return to the reality. The Twilight Zone was the ultimate break or escape from realty for millions of Americans.
Source:Cineview

I Married a Woman (1958) Starring Diana Dors & George Gobel

Source:The New Democrat

I'm going to try to write this post without sounding sexist as a man, but I think especially with this day and age that will be difficult and at the very least it come off as politically incorrect, at least the political correctness Left in America. But this movie you have a women at home who thinks her husband doesn't pay enough attention to her. Played by the hot, sexy baby-face adorable Diana Dors and her idea of marriage seems to be what she sees from John Wayne in his last movie where he's spoiling his wife and giving her all sorts of gifts.

She's married to a man named Micky played by the tiny, but very funny George Gobel. They make a really adorable couple, because Diana is taller than George, but has a baby's face and her husband almost looks like a little boy next to her. Shorter and smaller than his wife. Mickey is a very busy New York advertising executive with a very big account he's working on a a tight deadline to get it done and works for a boss who only sees the green picture. The money and doesn't want to hear about what his top adman by being going through at home.

Mickey loves Janice and Janice loves Mickey, but Janice believes that Mickey doesn't pay her enough attention. And sees marriage based on what she sees from Hollywood. So Mickey is left with a wife at home who already believes she doesn't give her enough attention. And an overbearing boss at work who is putting the future of the company in the lap of Mickey. Telling him "if you don't come through, all of these people who work here are going to be out of jobs and everything else". And Mickey has to figure out how to balance these new pressure together. A wife who thinks he doesn't love her enough and an overbearing boss who is putting the future of the company in his hands.

The New Republic: Elaine Teng: Congress Blocks Washington-DC Marijuana Legalization

Source:The New Democrat

I’ve lost count how many times Republicans and so-called Conservatives talk about the need for federalism, state and local control, but that as long as states and locals governing what the way they approve. Doing things that they approve of. And of course they are going to make the exception that Washington is the nation’s capital and that the Federal Government, including Congress has a role in their affairs, because Washington receives federal aide to conduct it’s city business. But Washington is still a city, a local city with their own government. Their voters legally approved marijuana legalization and they have the right to enforce that.

Now big fat Uncle Sam who apparently doesn’t have enough to do like minding their own business and managing the affairs and business of the Federal Government, should figure out how to govern themselves and make their own big fat government work. Before they try to run someone’s else’s government and manage their affairs. It’s no secret why the U.S. Congress has approval rating somewhere around ten-percent that the Republican Party is going to own in the next Congress now controlling both the House and Senate. Because they are bunch of incompetent assholes, who see compromise as a sin and don’t know how to work with people who don’t always agree with them.

It is a good thing that out Founding Fathers, our founding Liberal set up our Federal Republic with our federal system. Perhaps they were physic and knew that big government statists in the future may try to run the entire country from Washington DC and treat the individual states like children and tell them that Uncle Sammy knows what is best for them and what they can and can’t do and how to govern themselves. If we did have a unitary system and not a federal system, and Washington State along with Colorado and now Washington DC passed their own marijuana legalization laws, big government statists in the Republican Party would try to throw out those laws as well.

Real Time With Bill Maher: 'Bernie Sanders- Standing Up For Socialist Values'

Source:Mary Benoet- U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (Democratic Socialist, Socialist Republic of Vermont) on Real Time With Bill Maher, in 2008.

Source:The New Democrat 

"Bernie Sanders on Real Time with Bill Maher 2008. This video was recorded while Barack Obama was initially running for president, YEARS AGO. Bernie Sander's message remains consistent through the years."  

From Mary Benoet

At risk of sounding simplistic: there's a reason why we live on a planet with somewhere around a hundred-eighty countries or so and not live on a planet with no countries, but with one huge central authority in charge, because we have different populations, people's, cultures, values and everything else all over the planet. And what works in one country or even in a block of countries, might not work somewhere else with a completely different economy, with different resources, responsibilities, threats, populations and everything else.

My point is that U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and his supporters (the social democratic-left in America) have a tendency to say:"This is how it's done in Europe with government doing so much for their people and everything else. It seems to work there and their people love it. Which is why should adopt that economic system here and do it the European way." Apparently unaware, or ignoring the obvious facts that Europe and the states there are completely different societies. That for one thing don't even have to worry about their own national defense, because America is responsible for it.

Americans tend to be rugged, individualist, free, wanting to be able to make their own decisions and live their own lives. And in a lot of cases hate to have to take any public or even private charity. And when they do, they tend to see that as some type of failure and have let themselves and their families down. 

Europe is the complete opposite of of America in a political cultural sense and if anything love taking public assistance from their government and would riot if the government were to cut their public assistance. And freak out about having to to pay for their own childcare out of their pocket and not taxes and actually have to take responsibility for themselves. And this is just an example of the culture differences.

Americans figured out a long time ago (well most of us did, our Socialists are still late to this dance, or still at the door, or not even there yet, perhaps sitting out the dance that there's a limit to what we want government to do for us) that instead we want to be free as possible to take care of us as much as possible. And then if we run into financial trouble, like being out of a job and just lost our savings as part of that result, then we would want to be able to take public assistance in the short-term until we can get ourselves back on our feet. With a good job that gives us the freedom to do those things.

That's the main difference from a liberal democracy, a liberal society, the free society that the American Founding Fathers (the Founding Liberals) wanted to create for America. And in the last two-hundred plus years we've worked as a country to improve our society so as many Americans as possible have that freedom to manage their own lives and Europe. Which is the opposite of that where they want to be taxed to the point where no one is completely free to take care of themselves. Because they believe when they move as a national unit, they move better with no one being too rich or poor and moving together.

So when Bernie Sanders Social Democrats (or Democratic Socialists) say that: "Europe does it this way, so should we." they are comparing Massachusetts with Texas. What is done in Massachusetts, is not wanted in Texas and vice-versa. Both states have figured out an economic system and government that works for them. But that doesn't mean it will work for everyone in the country. 

Americans like being able to have the freedom to make their own decisions and you need your money in order to do that. Europeans at least in a lot of cases see that as selfish or materialistic and would freak out and even riot if their government's forced them to take responsibility over their own lives. Just some of the differences between America and Europe.

Monty Clift Online: The Misfits (1961) Marilyn Monroe's Last Film

Source:The New Democrat

Similar to River of No Return, The Misfits is a very entertaining and good movie, but certainly not a great movie. The writing is pretty cheesy even for the 1950s and early 1960s and especially for a movie that is an action/western movie. But is has a good plot and a great cast. With two women that are essentially drifters, at least in Marilyn Monroe's case who is just recently divorced and not knowing where she is going from there. And they meet two cowboys in a diner played by Clark Gable and Eli Wallach and find that they have things in common and decide to get together.

Marilyn Monroe's character doesn't have a place to stay and the Clark Gable character invites her to stay with him as a guest at her ranch and she more than keeps herself busy there and does a lot of work on the cabin really, a small cabin on a decent size lot of property. And Clarks's partner in the movie played by Eli Wallach tells him that there are available horses up to be rounded up, brought back and sold, but they need another man to do the job. And they take the girls played by Marilyn and Thelma Ritter to a rodeo to find their man and that is where they get Montgomery Clift character to help them out.

Marilyn as usual is as sweet and adorable as can be and plays someone who wouldn't step on nat if if you gave her a thousand-dollars to do so. Clark Gable plays a veteran cowboy who is exactly that living the cowboy lifestyle and making his living rounding up horses and cattle. Eli Wallach plays a very similar character as Clark and Montgomery Clift plays a drifting cowboy along for the ride just looking for work. Thelma Ritter plays Marilyn's friend and tries to worn her about cowboys and how they live. Marilyn being somewhat lost, just looking to find her way and to be useful.