The Ugly Canada Thread

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stupidity

D-O-U-C-H-B-A-G
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Originally Posted by O-tacular

Can't believe no one posted this yet.

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So much ugly on one frame it's like watching Videodrome.

I am dumber for having seen that.


O'leering

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whatanasshole.com

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by rousseau

Montreal and Toronto have a lot going on in the streets, as you'd expect. Probably not of the European quantity or calibre, but still, the vibe is up there. I remember when the Peruvian folk troupes were all the rage. They seemed to be everywhere, poncho-clad, tootling on their whistles and flutes. But not so much these days.

Other cities may do this too but I know Montreal holds auditions for buskers who want to perform in or near the métro.

There are designated spots to perform (shown by a sign with a harp symbol) and even a contest where you can pick your favourite performers, who then get choice spots. I think they are called Les Étoiles du Métro or something.

[O-tacular]

Even that blowhard Charles Adler doesn't like Kevin O'Leary.

[O-tacular]

Remember those stupid Devil Sticks from the 90's? I remember seeing people busking with those stupid things back in the day.

[esquire]

^ I wouldn't complain if every busker in town suddenly disappeared. Except for the middle aged Chinese guys who play the erhu... they're the only ones I'll ever drop a buck or two in the case for.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^^Haha. I think people still do, but then we're about thirty years behind everyone here.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Other cities may do this too but I know Montreal holds auditions for buskers who want to perform in or near the métro.

There are designated spots to perform (shown by a sign with a harp symbol) and even a contest where you can pick your favourite performers, who then get choice spots. I think they are called Les Étoiles du Métro or something.

That seems to be common in large cities. We have a Busker's Festival every summer where the locations they're allowed to perform downtown are regulated, but it's the usual free for all the rest of the time.

The buskers for the festival are generally visitors from the mainland and Europe, so they're usually good. A lot more acrobatics and the like as opposed to singing.

But the rest of the year, it's just this:

Spring by R C, on Flickr

Spring by R C, on Flickr

Or, if you're lucky, this:



Rousseau would hate it, clearly, but I enjoy what they play - unless it actually was GBS, of course.

[kwoldtimer]

The only place in K-W to find regular buskers would be at the farmers markets. In general, most people here seem slightly puzzled/offended by the idea that they would give money to somebody busking (ie. we're cheap). I don't know whether they still do it, but back in the day the radio stations used to remind people to bring loonies to the Waterloo Busker Festival!

[Acajack]

A fond memory of mine is on my first trip to Paris, having buskers performing in the métro and RER cars as they were moving. Usually the performance was preceded by a short speech about preferring to perform for us instead of simply begging (l'art versus la mendicité).

[esquire]

^ I don't remember seeing many buskers in Paris... by contrast, NYC seems to have multiple "performers" on every subway train in Manhattan.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ I don't remember seeing many buskers in Paris... by contrast, NYC seems to have multiple "performers" on every subway train in Manhattan.

There is just something about a girl with an accordeon singing Édith Piaf that makes my heart go pitter-patter.

[SignalHillHiker]

Originally Posted by Acajack

There is just something about a girl with an accordeon singing Édith Piaf that makes my heart go pitter-patter.

I wish our accordion-playing buskers were playing Edith Piaf.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by Acajack

There is just something about a girl with an accordeon singing Édith Piaf that makes my heart go pitter-patter.

Je suis complètement d'accord

[kwoldtimer]

When it happens on the train itself, I feel that I've left the first world and gone to the second. The captive audience thing doesn't work for me at all

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Acajack

A fond memory of mine is on my first trip to Paris, having buskers performing in the métro and RER cars as they were moving. Usually the performance was preceded by a short speech about preferring to perform for us instead of simply begging (l'art versus la mendicité).

Every time I got on the Paris metro/RER, they were there, passing through the cars. Quite endemic on the Circumvesuviana railway line between Naples and Sorrento.

still much better than the ubiquitious gypsy tricks, for which Paris is perhaps the worst place for.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

When it happens on the train itself, I feel that I've left the first world and gone to the second.

I totally get that, but OTOH there is a certain "organic humanity" in stuff like that, that I find at least a teeny bit heartening. In opposition to how antiseptic and bleached so much of the world has become.

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Mr. Wonderful calls contestant a fucking asshole.
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From Human Being to Narcissistic Asshole: The Kevin O'Leering Story
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boohoohoo. wouldn't scrape the gum off the floor. Oh, the humanity...