The theatre is plush, high-ranking and named after the Queen. I don’t know the name of the play but C does. C brings me to the theatre when I go. I undergo a pleasant transformation when I go to the theatre. I wear a tie, black shoes and a sports coat. At first it was difficult, “not my style.”
Over the loudspeaker, a disembodied voice announces that the Stampede has made some big changes this year. Calf roping is now “tie-down roping” and the wild horse race has become the “Stampede horse race.” The wild horse race comes straight out of the early days of rodeo, and some say it is more dangerous than bull riding. Sixteen unbroken horses are released into the ring and forty-eight cowboys go after them in teams of three men each.
In Geist 9 we announced the Honorary Canadian Awards so that readers could speak their minds, statistically, about Canadians and non-Canadians who have distinguished themselves in one way or the other. We invited readers to vote by mail, phone, fax and courier, and some 300 of you did.
When Geist first approached me with the idea of speaking here, I made it known that of all the things I ever wanted to be when I grew up, being an after-dinner speaker was very low on the list. They took this seriously and called me up a few days later to say that they had taken care of the problem by arranging for me to give most of my talk before dinner, which was not quite what I was getting at, but there’s not much I wouldn’t do for Geist.
For certified Canadians, the correct pronunciation of Geist is as follows: GE as in Jeeze, I as in incovenient, S as in stop (now banned in favour of Arret), T as in termite or terminal illness.
How Do I Know I’m Canadian? 1. When I go to a party with people from another country, no one expects me to be interesting. 2. I know all the words to my national anthem, except the French ones, and the tune is not that hard.
It is proposed that: in the interest of fostering better understanding of the Canadian identity throughout the world, The Geist Foundation sponsorthe Honorary Canadian Awards Program (HOCAP)by identifying and rewarding non-citizenswho “act in a manner befitting a Canadian.”
Last month we had a visit from Elizabeth Anderson, who hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota, where she is a graduate student at the state university. Her field of study is Canada, and she also writes about Canada for Utne Reader. We wanted immediately to know what there is about Canada that might constitute an object of study.
