I woke up this morning and for some odd reason the first thing that came to my mind was how Canada is different from (read "better than") the United States. So in the spirit of fun, since it is the Canada Day long weekend, here are some of my half-baked insights.
We have Tim Horton's. Everywhere. Let me give you some current facts about Tim Horton's.
"Tim Hortons has supplanted McDonald's as Canada's largest food service operator; it has nearly twice as many Canadian outlets as McDonald's, and its system-wide sales surpassed those of McDonald's Canadian operations in 2002. The chain accounted for 22.6% of all fast food industry revenues in Canada in 2005. Tim Hortons commands 76% of the Canadian market for baked goods (based on the number of customers served) and holds 62% of the Canadian coffee market (compared to Starbucks, in the number two position, at 7%)."
Let's address that final statistic. Tim Hortons 62, Starbucks 7. Our coffee shop is also named after record-breaking NHL star Tim Horton who died tragically in an alcohol related car accident on Feb 21, 1974.
Starbucks is named after a Battlestar Galactica character with really bad hair.
On to celebrities. Canada has given the world comedians Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, and Dan Akroyd. America has given us Pauly Shore. Canada has given the world James Cameron, creator of The Terminator. America has given us director James Sargent, creator of Jaws 4: The Revenge, a film hailed as one of the worst films ever made. It also won the award for "Worst Special Effects" due to "Bruce", the painfully obvious small rubber shark model who roared. I am not making that up. In the movie the shark roars. Like some kind of aquatic lion.
Roars. Out loud. In the air.
Sigh.
Jack Bauer, America's darling anti-terrorist superhero? Played by Canadian actor Kiefer Sutherland. His tremendously hot daughter Kim Bauer? Played by Canadian vixen Elisha Cuthbert.
But perhaps the most powerful and frightening evidence of Canada's superiority comes in the form of James Tiberius Kirk. That's right, Mr. "I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am." was brought to life by Canadian thespian William Shatner.
And for those who still aren't convinced. Two words.
Wayne Gretzky
Number 99... a.k.a "The Great One". The greatest hockey player who ever lived.
And the truly scary part? I haven't even scraped the surface.
Awesome.
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4 comments:
Um, Sir Fuhringer, you forgot to mention that Canada also gave us the star of "Family Ties" and "Back to the Future 1, 2 and 3", Michael J. Fox. Oh, and did I mention that Canada also gave the world pop stars like Alanis Morrissette and R&B artists Deborah Cox and Tamia? Oh, let's not forget game show hosts like Alex Trebek, Monty Hall and Jim Perry.
You're right anonymous! And there's so many more. And I didn't even have space to get into the subject of beer.
another one:
EUGENE LEVY!!
...and the rest of the SCTV gang.
As I was reading this, I was thinking - "Teddy better mention Kirk". You could have also put in James Doohan (aka Scotty) who was born in Vancouver.
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