1: Materials concerning or characteristic of America, its civilization, or its culture ; broadly : things typical of America
2: American culture

In this series, I’d like to explore various aspect of life in North America. Each topic will be illustrated by a black and white picture.

Beavertails House

Snacks, sodas, take-outs, pastries, desserts, appetizers, food stalls, fast food… you would never go hungry in North America provided you have some spare change in your pocket.

Food is everywhere. It is advertised on TV and on billboards and chances are that there are franchised coffee shops at every corner. Malls have their food courts, gas stations usually sell snack bars, chips and even donuts, vending machines are ubiquitous and yes, there are Mcdonalds inside Wal Mart.

It seems that each daily activity requires a food stop. Three meals a day — are you kidding? I’m hungry, now!

As if constant eating wasn’t bad enough, food is getting fatter and fatter. Nutritional values are appealing. Weird combinations are popular, such as bacon and donut, peanut butter and jelly, fried chicken and pizza — a true nutritionist nightmare. But junk food is cheap and easy to store in the fridge, or conveniently picked up on your way from work. Eating healthy requires choosing fresh ingredients, paying a premium for low fat products and — gasp — cooking.

Fortunately, North America is also a multicultural land and immigrants brought various dishes from home. Going out to eat often means eating Chinese, Italian, Indian, Greek etc. food. Otherwise, feel free to grab some poutine. Do you want some wings and a 20 ounces Coke with that?

Picture: a Beavertails house in the Byward Market, Ottawa

Related posts:

1. Food In Numbers
2. The Food Saga: The Chicken Era
3. Chinese Food (中国菜)

1: Materials concerning or characteristic of America, its civilization, or its culture ; broadly : things typical of America
2: American culture

In this series, I’d like to explore various aspect of life in North America. Each topic will be illustrated by a black and white picture.

Baseball Teeshirts In NY State

Sports. Think of it as a religion. Or at the very least, a national pastime.

Followers speak a weird language: home run, end zone, touchdown, powerplay, and mostly “scooooooore”. Their Gods? MLB (Major League Baseball), NFL (National Football League), NBA (National Baseball Association) and NHL (National Hockey League). Big days of worship include Superbowl Sunday, March Madness, the Stanley Cup or the World Series. Drink beer, eats hot dogs and cheer, cheer and sing along. You are in for a “unique moment in sport history” as ESPN would say.

Americans are unique when it comes to sport. They love it passionately and the country can stop to watch a game. Some worldwide popular sports are almost unknown in the U.S.A (think soccer) while on the other side, the world ignores, let’s say, American Football.

Sports is part of the popular culture. Many English idioms are derived from sport terms: “cover all the bases” ; “hit or miss”; “caught off base”; … “It ain’t over till it’s over!” Kids collect sports cards, families gather to watch a game, many register for fantasy baseball/ hockey/ football online…

Sports can also be a medium through which issues are addressed: gender equity, efforts to combat discrimination… Some athletes used their celebrity to shed light on society’s ills and to promote goodwill among the various communities in the country.

It’s also all about the money: with television network paying millions of dollars for the rights to broadcast sporting events; with players signing huge contracts, with extravagantly expensive commercials, big bucks play the game as well. Sports is also a big source of revenue for schools and university because college sports are followed with a fervor equaling that felt for professional sports!

Nevertheless, sports remains a great unity factor in North America. And after all… it’s fun to watch!

Picture: Teeshirts for sale at Alexandria Bay (NY), 2008

Related posts:

1. 10 Canadian Sports
2. Hockey Night
3. Hockey (2/10)

1: Materials concerning or characteristic of America, its civilization, or its culture ; broadly : things typical of America
2: American culture

In this series, I’d like to explore various aspect of life in North America. Each topic will be illustrated by a black and white picture.

Cold News On A Snowy Day

Freedom of speech is the right to speak freely without censorship or limitations. In the U.S.A, The First Amendment to the Constitution prohibits — among other things — the Congress from making laws that infringe the freedom of speech or the freedom of the press.

Free speech is a major part of the foundation of American society and many stand up to protect the core American values. But the First Amendment also brings up questions: are there limits to the freedom of speech? If a group instill racism, sexism, and homophobia or other questionable views, should it still be protected under the First Amendment?

I first heard of the Westboro Baptist Church after this summer’s bizarre murder in a Greyhound bus in Canada. The Globe and Mail reported at the time that the Church members, from Topeka Kansas, were going to picket the funerals of the kid who was murdered, because he was, I quote, “a fag”.

Obviously, I was curious and researched this church a bit. Turned out they are a bunch of lunatics who condemn: “lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people (LGBT), Roman Catholics, Muslims and Jews, as well as populations supporting the aforementioned groups, including Swedes, Canadians, Irish, British, and Americans”. They have catchy placards proclaiming “God hates fags”, “Thanks for 9/11″, “Thanks for Katrina” or “God hates America”. And they specialized in picketing funerals of all these they think are “fags” (pretty much all of us).

Fortunately, they have been banned from entering Canada for hate speech. In the U.S.A, they are entitled to their views, but may not be protected by the First Amendment because their statements are extreme and outrageous. So far though, there isn’t much to do. A group was formed to shelter and protect the funerals of US soldiers (because of course, “God hates U.S Army soldiers”) from protesters from the WBC and some lawsuits were occasionally filled.

Some would love the Westboro Baptist Church to be sued for hate speeches, while some say (without supporting them) that groups like them may be the ultimate test for the First Amendment and free speech.

I tend to believe John Stuart Mill’s harm principle, which places the following limitation on free expression: “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others.”

Related posts:

1. Picture of the Week: The Evangelists
2. Losing My Religion
3. Welcome To The Jungle

1: Materials concerning or characteristic of America, its civilization, or its culture ; broadly : things typical of America
2: American culture

In this series, I’d like to explore various aspect of life in North America. Each topic will be illustrated by a black and white picture.

A Burst Bubble

Owning a house. The true American dream.

North America is a land of settlers, a place where everything is possible, even buying one’s little piece of heaven. Land and a house on it. Far from expensive Europe or overcrowded Asia. A lot of households make it. Home sweet home.

Some weren’t that lucky this year. Subprime crisis, economic crisis, and the bubble burst. For a while.

Houses already built are waiting for buyers. Rows and rows of them, neatly lined up.

Picture: Ottawa, Neapan area, October 2008.

Related posts:

1. Fast Food, Junk Food (4/10)
2. Sports Nation (3/10)
3. Picture of the Week: Curious Ant