So last week we got our election results. We're going forward with Justin Trudeau as our Prime Minister, winning with a minority government, and Marwan Tabbara, also of the Liberal Party, representing the riding in my area. I said I'd like to keep this blog politically neutral, so I won't go into my perspective on this turnout. I don't think any voters got exactly what they wanted this time around though, haha. Trudeau lost the popular vote and his majority government, and Scheer lost the election. NDP and the Peoples' Party both took hits. The Greens got an extra seat, so maybe they're the only ones celebrating. The attitude of the nation right now is kind of like, let's keep doing what we were doing before, but with less enthusiasm.
Since the election, my girlfriend had her convocation and we also celebrated her birthday. I got her flowers and chocolates and a gift, and I made dinner. Dinner involved the use of my charcoal barbecue, and I intended this to be its' last meal before being replaced. This intention was confirmed when, after picking the last piece of food off the grill, the whole thing collapsed, dropping burning coals everywhere. At least I got to demonstrate my attitude during a crisis for my girlfriend, which turns out to be an incredibly calm, borderline apathetic attitude. I just picked up the coals with my tongs, dropped them in a bucket and poured water on them until they were submerged.
I like that the barbecue managed to complete the meal before collapsing. Like it held on just long enough for a final performance. Really used that thing to its fullest extent.
Convocation was interesting. They modified the Canadian anthem. Instead of saying "In all thy sons command" they said "In all of our command". I've heard talk of modifying some of the lyrics, I know other controvesial lines are "Our home and native land" (some of my aboriginal friends think "Our home on Native land" would be more honest) and "God keep our land" (non-Christians sometimes feel this isn't representative of our religious diversity), but I'd never heard an actual modified version until that day.
...Actually, after doing some research, it looks like the anthem was officially modified in 2018. This is our authentic version at this time.
Two of the most influential people at The Working Centre were receiving their doctorates. The Working Centre is an organization focused on employment, inclusion, and community that has a number of different branches. Extend-a-Family is deeply connected with them, and I have spoken face-to-face with one of the people receiving their doctorates. As they made their speech, I felt very much like I hadn't left my organization.
Another person that was graduating was someone that I vaguely remembered as making waves back in the day. He was a gay student who wanted to bring his boyfriend to prom at a Catholic school. the school denied him, so he took them to court and won. I think it's this guy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hall_v_Durham_Catholic_School_Board
They made a movie about him too:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prom_Queen:_The_Marc_Hall_Story
There was someone who graduated posthumously, which means that even though they passed away, they still received their degree. I'm not certain the circumstances that lead to this conclusion. I can make assumptions, but I simply found it interesting that such an arrangement is possible.
As the graduates were marching out, they played an orchestral version of the Star Wars theme. This reminds me of when, as I was graduating from HSF and marching out, they played an orchestral version of Lady Gaga's Bad Romance. I wonder if it's some kind of tradition to make a fancy version of some pop culture piece as graduates are walking out.
After the ceremony, we went for lunch at a local diner that my girlfriend has fond memories of. The next day, I had dinner with her family celebrating both her birthday and her brother's, which are spaced pretty closely together.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
ooh, making notes on the anthem changes. Indy has a team in USL, the second-tier soccer league down here, as does Ottawa, so once a year we get to hear both US and Canadian anthems.
ReplyDeleteSince Indy hasn't had a major-league hockey team since 1979, and Vancouver no longer has an NBA team, the only other time this happens is when the Raptors come to town, so the front office wasn't really that prepared for Indy's first season in the NASL, another second-tier league that has since folded. (Unrelated to the old first-tier league that was around decades ago.) So the first time Ottawa played here, our front office must have basically handed sheet music to the anthem singer and said "oh, do this one too." She ... did not know the anthem.
They did a recorded version the next match against a Canadian opponent, and eventually figured out the timing to make sure the singers were prepared in plenty of time. These days, it gets a proper performance, as it should.
I like the suggestion of "Our home on Native land", since that also applies on this side of the white man's border. I'll do that next time.