All things Canadian- Corner Gas

Late last year my friend Chris in Winnipeg started raving to me about Corner Gas. Like Tim Hortons coffee shops (a franchise which is seems to be more common than MacDonalds here) he could not quite believe I hadn't heard of Canada's No.1 TV program, which is a sitcom.

Now the Canadians are not big on watching TV unless it's the hockey being played live, and they are watching it in their local bar on the big screen and eating chicken wings with their own (pretty crappy) beer. I know this because especially since moving to Calgary and the Calgary Flames were on their winning streak which got them into the playoffs (semi-final rounds), I have been watching telly under the same circumstances.

However, I managed to find out in December last year that Corner Gas was screened on Australian TV- SBS (the foreign language channel) on a Friday evening and watched an episode. This cracked me up more for the fact that the Aussies were showing it on the foreign language channel (Corner Gas is in English) than anything else. The show itself did not grab me immediately.

Corner Gas is the name of a petrol station on a corner in the fictional village of Dog River in Saskatchewan. There is the gas station, a cafe, a pub, a police station, the mayor's office and not much else to support the neighbouring farming community. The whole idea of the show is that it is character-driven by all the funny day to day stuff that happens in a small town. You wouldn't think that there would be enough material to support one episode let alone 4 seasons of this show. Well it is still growing strong and amazingly has the support of the nation. Literally, the current sitting Prime Minister, Stephen Harper had a cameo at the end of the last season, weighing into the debate in one storyline on the show whether Dog River should build a Big Prairie Dog or a Big Gofer to draw tourism to the fictional town.

One of the things that amuses me the most is that with the popularity of the show, the province of Saskatchewan has been raised.

Back home many individual states get dumped on for being boring but if you think about it, in Aust every State and Territory has a beach (ACT has Jarvis Bay for those smarties playing at home), and usually something "interesting" about it.

South Australia has wine regions and sharks, QLD the Barrier Reef and island honeymoons, NT has Ayers Rock and crocodiles, WA has diamonds, emeralds, iron ore and Margaret River wines, Tasmania has cycling and forests and apple cider and King Island cream, NSW has Sydney, Byron Bay, Hunter Valley and Griffith wine and Lightening Ridge opals, Victoria has Melbourne, the Dandenongs, more wine and the Great Ocean Road.

Saskatchewan has fields. Lots of them. Flat, bread-basket country. No trees, no beach, no hills, no mountains and a landspace bigger than Sweden. Amongst Canadians it was (maybe still is) the country's joke in terms of the dullest place imaginable to live. Having a successful comedy about the place has been sweet revenge for the province of Saskatchewan.

So, I have since watched to the end of Season 3 on DVD and Laura and I have become a pretty big fans too. After The Simpsons, it is the funniest and cleverest show I've seen, suitable for anyone to watch. I hope it comes back to Australian TV so you can see what I'm talking about. Watch out on SBS for season 2.

In the meantime, Laura and I are planning a weekend trip to Rolleau, the village where the show is set with a stay in Regina, one of the big towns in the province. We'll be Thelma and Louising it on the Trans- Canada highway. There is something a little odd about a Texan and an Aussie being big fans of a Canadian show, but good humour is universal.

Of course I can't tell you when we're going, because it's the blog.

Check out http://www.cornergas.com/

In the meantime, here are the lyrics that open the show.


You could tell me that your dog ran away,
Then you tell me that it took three days.

I've heard every joke,
I've heard every word you say

You think there's not a lot goin' on,
Look closer and you're so wrong

That's why you can stay so long
When there's not a lot goin' on

All things Canadian- Buckleys- the mean cure for colds

I have a nasty, nasty cold. In the icy depths of Winnipeg's Winter, where the ice storms howl and the snow machines go bump in the night I previously learned the ancient treatment for colds introduced by the Canadians- Buckleys cough mixture.

Buckleys. A word that strikes fear into the hearts of Canadian schoolchildren. It could be the advertising. Their website actually says,

Let the people who love you give you comfort. We're here to make you better.

Which is really a nice way of saying their product tastes like 4 day old Cream of chicken soup mixed with anti-freeze. Without the chicken. I have seen a Swiss girl who has been deported from two different countries shake violently in Ottawa after taking a dose administered by a Vancouver bloke (who spent a lot of time smoking his greens, but knew the right remedy for colds).

I first was given this stuff in Winnipeg when I was coming down with a cold. I remember Chris looking at me like I was going to explode. I didn't and didn't shame my mother or my nation by making a fuss either.

Active ingredients

267 mg potassium bicarbonate
153mg ammonium carbonate
22mg menthol
2.2 mg camphor
Sugar free, Alcohol free (fun free)

The descriptor doesn't improve in French either.

Buckleys. It tastes rotten but does the job. Buckleys. Only pansies hold their nose when taking the dose. Go hard or go home.