Mark Steyn: Severe Winter Storm

Opinion Journal ^ | 02/20/04 | Mark Steyn

[Pokey78]

Conan O'Brien finds Anglophone Canadians can't take a joke about Francophone ones.

W.C. Fields said never work with children or animals. That goes double if the animal's a hand puppet. So when Conan O'Brien's sidekick, Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, visits Quebec and characterizes the natives as obnoxious, dull and mostly homosexual, and rent-a-quote Canadian Members of Parliament are asked for their reaction, the best response is: "Sorry, I'm a little tied up today. Why not try Miss Piggy or Lamb Chop?"

[alwaysconservative]

Thanks so much for the ping! There are too many priceless gems to find just one.

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

Triumph kills me..."I keed! I keed!"

[Tax-chick]

That's the way a mature, confident society deals with such provocations--with cheap jokes and extensive lists of "Famous French Poofs"--not the reflexive cringe that cries "racism" and calls for "hate crimes" investigations.

If everyone who's not as brilliant as Mark Steyn would just shut up, what a quiet world it would be! (Those who appreciate Steyn would be allowed to say "Oh, wow!" or the equivalent, and exchange favorite quotes.)

[Allan]

Mark Steyn no longer writes for the National Post. He is too good for Canada.

[Allan]

Mark Steyn was born in Canada
educated in Great Britain
and currently lives in New Hampshire.

[TexasNative2000]

Just for the record, Canadians are not humorless. We're humourless, OK?

Whether commentary or humor, Steyn is genius.

[maica]

Instead of falling into po-faced whining like the Toronto Star, Britain's Sun ran a picture of two Frenchmen carrying those dinky little male purses they're partial to over there, under the headline: "They Don't Call It Gay Paree For Nothing." Instead of huffing and puffing about "racist filth" like Canadian Members of Parliament, one British MP attempted to introduce the following motion: "This House does not fancy elderly French women." That's the way a mature, confident society deals with such provocations--with cheap jokes and extensive lists of "Famous French Poofs"--not the reflexive cringe that cries "racism" and calls for "hate crimes" investigations.


*****

Steyn is the absolute champoin of putting ideas into words.

I suggest that ridicule is the way to beat the pompous Kerry and the smarmy (Brit word) Edwards.

GWB understands this extremely well.
Remember "The Look" at the final Bush/Gore debate.

[Brian Allen]

Thanks for the pings, Pokes -- Hernamo.

Muchos gracias.

And Good Morning -- B A

[Gritty]

Thanks for beating Quidnunc to the article this morning, Pokey78, even if you did have to get up "early".

There's a lesson here, both for the European Union and an increasingly Hispanicized U.S.: Gags are one of the great pillars of a common culture, but they're one of the first things to get lost in translation--and if you can't share a joke, it's hard to have a shared culture.

Steyn sees things most of us sometimes do, but that we aren't perceptive enough to isolate. Here is one of them.

[knighthawk]

Ping

[manic4organic]

Bump for later reading

[mondonico]

"the problem with the moral high ground of the rue des Pussies is that it's a cul de sac."

Probably one of the best vulgar French/English jokes written.

[chiller]

Just for the record, Canadians are not humorless. We're humourless, OK?

I almost missed that one. LOL

[irv]

Four prime ministers from Quebec have run Canada for 34 of the past 36 years ... at least Iraq's Shiites had the excuse that they were living in a dictatorship.

When you can't make a joke without the feds coming after you, it is a dictatorship, which is really hispoint, more or less.

[Warhammer]

Is this clip of Triumph on the web anywhere? Anyone got a link?

[Tolik]

He would have to keep his mouth shut. He is too recognizable. And Lazamataz posted his pictures, it's not him :) )

[Tolik]

FAQs  http://www.steynonline.com/index2.cfm?edit_id=32

 

Q: When can I read Mark’s columns each week?

A: Mark can be read on Monday in The Irish Times, The New York Sun and The Washington Times, Wednesday in The Jerusalem Post, Thursday (for Londoners) or Friday (for the rest of the United Kingdom) in The Spectator, Saturday in The Daily Telegraph, Sunday in The Chicago Sun-Times and The Richmond Times-Dispatch, and most Sundays in The Sunday Telegraph. These columns are linked here as they’re posted at their respective websites. The Spectator does not post Mark’s film column online but we do so here on the Wednesday following print publication. Mark’s monthly theatre column for The New Criterion is usually posted here on the last Thursday of each month – ie, the January column appears at the end of January. Mark's "Post Mortem" column for The Atlantic Monthly is posted in the middle of each month - ie, the February column appears in mid-February. 

Q: How do you pronounce Mark’s name – Stine, Stain or Steen?

A: Mark Stain would be tautological. It’s Stine. The internal rhyme in SteynOnline is an easy way to remember.

Q: What is Mark?

A: Straight.

Q: I meant his nationality.

A: Canadian.

Q: Also his religion.

A: Mark is of Jewish descent, but was baptized a Catholic, confirmed an Anglican, and currently attends a small rural American Baptist Church. As John Podhoretz of The New York Post said, “You’re not Jewish or gay? But you wrote a book on musicals?”

Q: Where does he live?

A: He divides his time between Quebec, New Hampshire and London – though, after his recent trip there, he’s thinking of buying a vacation home in western Iraq. Very reasonable prices.

Q: What did he do before column writing?

A: Mark started as a disc-jockey, and still likes to keep his hand in when the opportunity presents. He’s played country, classical, rock, easy listening over the years. He’s also hosted many other kinds of radio and TV shows, from a BBC talk-show from New York to the live Glyndebourne opera broadcasts on Britain’s Channel 4, and various arts documentaries which still turn up on obscure cable channels at four in the morning.

Q: What does he like to do when he’s not writing columns?

A: Dogsledding.

Q: Is he available?

A: Happily married, with three young children. Would you like to see pictures?

Q: No.

A: Sure?

Q: Yes.

A: Wait a minute, how did the Qs wind up doing the answers and the As doing the questions?

Q: Beats me.

A: There you go again.

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

True story.

My wife and I were eating at the Colonel Barrie Inn, in Barrie MA a few years ago. Studying the luncheon specials, I see there’s a “French Canadian Meat Pie”. When the pretty young waitress arrives we have the following conversation:

PYW: What can I get for you?
LIM: How’s the French Canadian meat pie?
PYW: Very good…
LIM: Is it made with real French Canadians?
PYW: (Not missing a beat) Yup.
LIM: Are they fresh?
PYW: (Not missing a beat) Boss traps ‘em fresh every morning.
LIM: Guess I’m committed then, I’ll go with the French Canadian meat pie.

Oddly enough, my wife watched this entire exchange with growing amusement, didn’t kick me under the table or anything. After we finish PYW returns:

PYW: How was your French Canadian meat pie?
LIM: I distinctly tasted Anglophone.
PYW: Hugn?

If she’dda read this column, she’d would have understood.

[katana]

He noted that he's "half Belgian" so maybe the name is Flemish (dialect of Dutch and therefore akin to Afrikaans). I've always had the impression that he's Jewish but he could of course be "all of the above". In any case, IMHO Mark Steyn (who currently resides in New Hampshire) is the best Canadian export since, well, geez, I dunno, I guess he's just the best!

[finnigan2]

Visit Mark's website at marksteyn.com to see a list of publications that he writes for as well as access to a dozen or so of his most recent articles on a variety of topics from theatre and movie reviews to obituaries and political satire/comments. He is very prolific and a new article is added almost every day and always of a high quality.
There is also a brief biography.
He is still a Canadian citizen with a home and family in Montreal but he splits a great deal of his time between London, England and a ski chalet in New Hampshire.