October 15, 2003
Canoe-dling. Montreal canoes, that is. Captain Heinrichs kindly sent along a report on the boat that made Canada great. Well, the boat that made fur-trading what it was, anyway, and which has been lovingly and accurately recreated. I also enjoyed the glimpse into certain aspects of Canuck popular culture - I must confess ignorance of the principals mentioned therein, though:

Stompin' Tom Connors sang that "Big Joe Mufferaw paddled into Mattawa all the way from Ottawa in just one day."

Alas, the writer, of dubious surname, opines immediately that "[t]his is doubtful".

Still. I wonder if bear fat stinks. Does the spruce gum take the edge off?

UPDATE: Speaking of canoes, Annoying Old Guy provided a link in the comments about racing concrete canoes. (Note the contestants from Montreal!) I put it up here since I've turned off html in the comments until I get around to messing with the anti-spam plugins. Sorry about that.

UPDATE II: And get yer Stompin' Tom right here.


Posted by Moira Breen at October 15, 2003 02:17 PM
Comments

Have you seen the concrete canoe races? http://www.news.uiuc.edu/news/01/0416civil.html

(I can't do a real link because you've sanitized them away).

Posted by: Annoying Old Guy on October 15, 2003

Well, Stompin' Tom Connors can be found here: http://www.stompintom.com/

What the story didn't get into were the interesting bits, which they have yet to experience: meals of salt pork and beans (lots of beans), for example. Or the importance of pemmican.

Cheers

Posted by: J.M. Heinrichs on October 15, 2003

Mmmmm. Peeeemmican.

Posted by: Moira on October 16, 2003

Big Joe Mufferaw (aka Mufferaw Joe): Legendary hero of the Ottawa Valley, based on the real life of lumberjack-strongman-boxer Joseph Montferrand (1802-64). Sort of a French-Canadian Paul Bunyan.

Alas, the canoeing feet described is, in fact, impossible.

Posted by: BruceR on October 23, 2003

Feet? I thought they used paddles.

Posted by: Moira on October 24, 2003

You people quibble about bagatelles but I can't locate any bear fat down here. How am I supposed to complete my canoe? I tried a mix of heavy gear oil and SPF 50 sunscreen but it didn't work. Neither did a warm slurry of sawdust and lard. Yet if not bear fat I need something, as the effects of sea water on unprotected papier mache' aren't pretty.

P.S. I understand that Stompin' Tom Connors has announced his retirement to Naples, FL.

Posted by: McFly on October 25, 2003

Don't be so lazy, McFly. There be bears in Florida. Bears contain bear grease.

But an SPF 50 with a high enough concentration of zinc oxied really ought to work.

Posted by: Moira on October 26, 2003

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