March 29, 2006
Filed under: Neyir's Posts — Neyir @ 8:09 am Comments 6
There is a debate raging here in Scotland which goes something like this; Scotland does not have a national anthem which for the uninitiated probably seems no big deal - I AM NOT SAYING THAT!!!!!!- but outsiders often think, well isn’t Scotland part of the UK? Don’t they just use God save the Queen or whatever the English use? Well yes and no.
Firstly many a Scot does not want to be considered part of the UK and the idea of siniging about anyone saving the Queen is well… The real ssue arrises however, as all good arguements do here over sport. Scotland being a nation in its own right (at least that is how I understand it, you Political Science types can weigh in if you want) is often in the position in various sports related events of needing its own anthem. This is currently in sharp relief due to the recent Common Wealth Games and made even more poignant by the fact that the Scots did so well and kept winning things. Do you see the issue here? One by one Scottish athletes mount the podium and each time the ‘working’ anthem is played it becomes a bigger issue back in Scotland.
‘Scotland the Brave’ was used for the Commonwealth Games but at matches, Rugby and the like ‘Flower of Scotland’ is the music of choice. However Scotland’s first minister has now declared that there ought to be a debate (incidentally he favours the tune ‘Highland Cathedral’) So in that spirit I started to tell the Ladies I work with about the origins of the Canadian Anthem, you see I thought there had been a contest and…or was that for the flag?
So here it is;
The occasion was the “Congres national des Canadiens-Francais” in1880, initially there was going to be a competition but as they wanted the first performance on *gulp* St. Jean-Baptist Day (June 24) they eventually ran out of time. So in January the committe had the Lieutenant General of Quebec nominate Calixa Lavalle to write a tune and some judge dude Judge Routhier to write the lyrics. Rumour has it that when Lavallee finally got the tune down he was in such a hurry to show the Lieutenant Governor that he forgot to sign the manuscript! Fabulous except that those initial lyrics were in french, not very ‘inclusive’, so here is where the whole competition bit comes in. Believe it or not there were eventually at least 5 versions in English before we got to the one that Canadians know, love and sing with such gusto. Acutally the one we use is by Robert Stanley Weir, lawyer and at the time ‘Recorder of the City of Montreal’. Weir did not win the competition, in fact he did not even enter it. Rather his version was published in 1927 in the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation - whatever that is. So there we have it, of course there had to be some direct involvement by Ottawa so the official English version includes alterations recommended in 1968 by a Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons. The French lyrics remain unaltered.
Whew, that was complicated. I vote that the Scots just have a committee figure it all out.. oh wait is that how they ended up with the Scottish Parliament….
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
March 22, 2006
Filed under: It Grinds my Gears — David @ 5:08 am Comments 11
Smokers!
All buses in Edinburgh (and probably most of the western world) are smoke free. This means you are not allowed to smoke. So today when step on the bus which takes me from George Square to the Kings Buildings, There is an employee of the Bus company standing on the bus smoking. I sit down and say to him
“Dude, What are you doing smoking on the bus?” (These are my exact words)
His reply, “Don’t worry mate, I’m just talking to my friend here” (his friend being the driver who he is about to take over for).
My reply, “So If I am talking to the bus driver, I can smoke as well? Please take it off the bus” (my exact words, but add some sarcasm).
He then refers to me as a homosexual and gets off the bus.
NOW can you see why smokers really grind my gears?
The other thing I hate is when I am waiting for the bus in a bus shelter and some one come into the shelter and lights up a smoke right next to me. Next thing you know I am smelling like I have smoked a cigarette and I have to put up with that smell for the rest of the day.
I have a cousin who used to carry a zippo in his pocket so that he could always offer a light to a woman who is about to light a cigarette. I ask you, Why would you want to date someone who needs to smoke? It is gross, unhealthy and is just nasty.
I can not wait until sunday when the no smoking ban (in public places) comes into effect this Sunday!!!! Let us all show our solidarity in this and go to the pub sunday and NOT smoke!
March 20, 2006
Filed under: Neyir's Posts, Uncategorized — Neyir @ 9:35 am Comments 5
Why yes it is true, once again I am home sick from work - blahhh. Being home sick is such a strange thing because I spend all this time looking about myself and seeing all the things that need to be ‘done’; tidied, sorted, cleaned etc. The thing is though I pretty much will not stay home if I am well enough to do such things because I figure in that case I may as well be doing them at that place that pays me. So instead I spend the day with this internal fight of ‘I really should….’ that generally ends with me starting the task or getting enough done to really cause a mess at which point I realise that I really am too ill for this tom foolery and stop. To David’s credit he does not even raise an eyebrow when he comes home to sick wife and Tornado house.
The other problem with being sick (try not to be shocked here) is that I hate it!!!! It seems like a tear in the otherwise orderly fabric that is my life - illness has not been scheduled, does not have an appointment was not organised for. Furthermore I am not a great patient, well that is not entirely true, I am a frustrated patient. I will not ask for anything that I really can do myself and am even less patient than ususal - I despise asking for help in the first place so if I ask and it is not done immediately I irrationally decide my carer (not always David in his defense) is not up to the task and I attempt to do it myself. Disaster if my aesthetic is out and I am lying on the coach and suddenly decide I can no longer abide the pictures on that wall that are 3 inches too high!
I bet you are all super glad to not be home with me today! Seriously though I envision a day full of knitting and watching DVDs - Buffy anyone?
March 12, 2006
Filed under: David's Posts, Uncategorized — David @ 2:03 pm Comments 2
This is Neyir and Me at Princess Di’s memorial fountain.
Again, Neyir at the Di fountain. We had a black and white theme going that day.
Me looking mysterious in Covent Garden at night.
The poster to the right is advertising a photography exhibit by Bryan Adams.
This is Neyir after her Dessert defeat.
This is me standing on either side of the original “Prime” meridian. There were actually 4 prime meridians at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich.
Filed under: Uncategorized — Neyir @ 12:58 pm Comments 2
I must apologise that it has taken so long to write a post regaling you all with the details of our trip to London. Initially David was holding off for our new site, which took longer than usual and well my excuses are below :-)!
Some of you know that the catalyst for the trip was an audition that I had on the Saturday. Understandably many people assumed this was a vocal audition and to be honest I did not do a lot to disuade anyone of this notion as the acutal audition was for something a little more surreal. We acutally went to London so that I could audition for a television programme - ah yes my brush with fame. It is a decorating show and I had already submitted a DVD and application. The London bit was apparently a ’short list’ audition. I put this in brackets because when I showed up at 9am on Saturday it was to a queue of no fewer than 450 people!!! The short story is that we were made to stand out in the cold for 3 hours and then gradually worked out way up 4 flights of stairs. Eventually we got to the ‘audition’ which consisted of elimination interviews. I was interviewed 3 times (the max) and probably made it to the final 50 or so (30 were being chosen for the orginal filming and over 1000 people applied). Ultimately I was not given a screen test, possibly because I am just too ‘nice’, possibly because at that point I had been there for 10 hours and was no longer ‘interesting’, maybe due to my ‘Canadianess’ regardless I did not ‘make the cut.’ A friend that I met that day who was given a screen test said that it was a lot of ’survivoresque’ type questions such as ‘What underhand tactics are you willing to use to ensure that you win?” - hence my theory about being too nice. I must also say that at no point in the process were there any questions on design, real estate or otherwise - suspicious! Having said all this it was quite a positive experience and I am happy to have met some lovely people and am forever indebted to Katie’s boyfriend Peter for the coffee run and super Karen for the Pizza express run at 3pm!
Of course that only gives you one day!!
Saturday night after the insanity David and I headed to China Town to the restaurant ‘the Crispy Duck’ as recommended by Ashley and then back to our hotel in Nottinghill where I collapsed.
Saturday we walked up Portabello Road which was 2 blocks from our hotel and then took the tube over to Camden Market where David bought a fabulous fleece lined sweater and we had lunch from the amazing food market. Then we headed down to the National Gallery, of course took pictures of Canada House (unfortunately closed) and proceeded on to the museum cafe. All I have to say is that if you are in London go to the National Gallery cafe and order the sticky toffee ice cream!!!!! I was in heaven and it was not even my dessert! Kudos to David for letting me have any as it was so yummy. I must also tell you that at the museum I had my first ever dessert defeat. That’s right folks, I was not able to finish my dessert, Treacle tart with cream - it was just too much!!! Mmm though I am getting hungry now… After I layed on a bench for awhile to recover we perused the more modern bits of the gallery - if you go look at more than Van Gogh’s Sunflowers which is all that some people were doing! Honestly!! More walking ensued and we found ourselves at Covent Garden, picture taking and window shopping later we found ourselves at Belgo. Mmmmm, this is a Belgian restaurant that serves beautiful mussles accompanied by rye bread (so good we brought a loaf home) and the biggest beer selection I have ever seen. Oh yeah and a killer waffle topped with cinnamon ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate sauce….I think I will just go get a snack!
Monday we left our bags at the hotel and wandered along to Hyde Park, visited the Diana memorial, quite dissapointing really, then went along to Buckingham, swung past Westminster Abbey and St Pauls and finally ended up at the Tate Modern (aka Neyir’s artistic heaven). We had a fabulous lunch at the cafe (see a museum food theme here?) and then wandered two of the new exhibit themes before heading back to the hotel for bags and on to the airport.
All in all a fab weekend. Thank you for all you reading - hope you can still see straight!
March 11, 2006
Filed under: David's Posts — David @ 8:48 am Comments 4
Shhhhhhh….. I’m becoming a predestinationist.
It was bound to happen.
March 9, 2006
Filed under: Uncategorized — Neyir @ 6:19 am Comments 1
Today at work I looked out the window (apparently something I have not been doing much lately) and was shocked to see a beautiful display of Crocus blooming in the garden circle in our square. I stopped dead in my tracks and thought (actually I think I said out loud – as I am quite a self-talker) ‘when did that happen!’ The next thought was what a metaphor for my life at the moment; I am so busy doing all these ‘things’ that have to be done that I am missing many of my favourite things. I suppose this is my way of saying sorry for not having posted in so long!!!! So you may ask what have I been up to?
Back in September I was promoted at work but this did not go into effect until December. I am now co-ordinating courses which is fun but definitely more work. Just as I was getting ready to ‘launch’ my first two courses one of my colleagues had a serious illness followed by a death in her family. She has been off for a month and I have been doing both our jobs! Eeeeeeek, sorry to all of you in Edinburgh who have been suffering my lack of energy, sleep and zest for life and to all of you who have sent emails to which I have not yet replied. During this I was also getting singing applications off, trying to learn new music and of course zipping down to London - Post to follow. Oh and through the generosity of our Landlords I bought a new couch!!!! Not the prettiest of all time but actually comfortable and now clean! Picture? Hopefully. Add to this a host of social events; planning a girlfriend’s baby shower, various dinners including Shrove Tuesday and David and I starting a new job at our church it has been a busy time.
So that is me, or at least the short version. By Saturday I promise a full London post complete with pictures and hopefully coloured text - have not figured that out yet!!!!
March 4, 2006
Filed under: Uncategorized — David @ 5:18 am Comments 1
We’re back in so many ways.
First, we are back from London. London was fantastic. I got to stand in two places at once, went to camden town, and saw some really cool things. The only thing I didn’t do is get a new pair of docs. Ah well, maybe some time soon I will. Expect a post about our London trip to follow soon.
Secondly, we are now at a new Address, urminsky.ca. I hope you like the new look and feel, as well as the Canadian Theme to it all.
Thirdly, I am back on a roll at school. Some of my research has been working out really nicely and I am getting some cool results.
That’s all for now.
Let us know what you think of the new look and the new URL!
Don’t forget to update any links you have to our site with the new URL.
