Ask the Bluenoser

[DaveC]

Nova Scotia, Canada...born and raised and blue to the core.

Ask anything.

Give'r.

 

[deep]

Don't you feel you owe America a great debt?


You guys have been riding on our coat tails since about,
forever.

 

[DaveC]

No.

Next question.

 

[U2democrat]

What does it mean to be a bluenoser?

 

[trevster2k]

Hey Dave, send U2democrat a dime

 

[DaveC]

A Bluenoser is anyone who either lives in Nova Scotia or was born here. It's slang.

The reason for this is because there is a town on the South Shore called Lunenburg, which is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. During the 1800's and early 1900's it was a huge fishing village, and everything from small rowboats (called Dorys on the coast - that's where the name of the fish in Finding Nemo comes from) up to schooners, which were two-masted ships with lots of sails and crews of about 20. The Bluenose was one of these schooners that was built in Lunenburg.

She did some fishing at first, until her Captain, one Angus McNeil (I think that's his last name), decided to enter her in some races, which Bluenose easily won. She actually won every single race she entered and was declared the fastest ship in the World on numerous occasions. She raced for about a dozen years and retired undefeated in the early 20's (1921 I think).

After that, because of her speed she was purchased by a shipping company and used as a cargo ship. She ran into a reef off the coast of Haiti in 1929 and sunk.

In the late 60s-early 70s, the Oland's Brewery (who brews Alexander Keith's and Oland Export) decided to build an exact replica as a promotion tool. They built it at the same shipyard in Lunenburg, using the same blueprints and even some of the same builders that built the original Bluenose (although those men were in their 70's by then). They used the Bluenose II in a few ads, then sold her to the province for $1 who has taken care of her ever since. Now she mostly does tours of Halifax Harbour and Lunenburg-Halifax by sea under sail and promotional stops for the province. No more racing.

The Canadian government put the Bluenose on the .10 cent coin and that image of the Bluenose under full sail making a bank turn has become associated with Nova Scotia itself, and now Nova Scotians are nicknamed Bluenosers.

 

[indra]

I guess a bluenoser is better than a brown-noser....


So...did you ever buy condoms in that store again?

 

[DaveC]

Nope. If I've ever had to since then I've gone to a little drug store downtown near school. It's a mom and pop place, they're very good about that type of thing.

 

[A_Wanderer]

Favourite Beer?

 

[DaveC]

Depends.

Favorite lager? Molson Canadian.
Favorite pilsener? Labatt Blue.
Favorite pale ale? Alexander Keith's.
Favorite cream ale? Sleeman Cream.
Favorite brown ale? Sleeman Honey Brown.
Favorite chestnut ale? Old Conkerwood.
Favorite stout? Guinness.

 

[trevster2k]

Ah Dave, you still drink the baby beer.

Well, that is what I call Canadian and Blue. First beers everyone drinks until they move on to a different label.

The other beers are good choices though.

 

[verte76]

What's your ancestry? I know many Nova Scotians are of Scottish Highlander descent because of the huge immigration after the infamous Clearings in the old country. How about you?

 

[phanan]

No question to ask. Just a statement.

Nova Scotia is beautiful. I have a cousin who lives up there. She lives in Kingsport, a very tiny town on the Midas Basin. I've taken the ferry from Portland, Maine to Yarmouth, NS several times when I've gone to visit.

On one of my trips up there, we took a few days to travel to Cape Breton Island, and during the summer, it is one of the most spectacular views of our planet.

At least I think so, anyway.

 

[U2Kitten]

I know an old lady from Nova Scotia and she tells some great legends of ghosts, shipwrecks and stuff like that. Got any stories? (Even if you don't believe in them yourself)

 

[DaveC]

Ah Dave, you still drink the baby beer.

Well, that is what I call Canadian and Blue. First beers everyone drinks until they move on to a different label.

The other beers are good choices though.

I avoid Blue like the plague. The only time I'll drink it is if someone else buys it for me. It's not as bad as Moosehead though.

Originally posted by verte76
What's your ancestry? I know many Nova Scotians are of Scottish Highlander descent because of the huge immigration after the infamous Clearings in the old country. How about you?

100% Irish. My grandparents on my mother's side both came from Malahide and on my father's side they both came from Cork.

Originally posted by phanan
Nova Scotia is beautiful. I have a cousin who lives up there. She lives in Kingsport, a very tiny town on the Midas Basin. I've taken the ferry from Portland, Maine to Yarmouth, NS several times when I've gone to visit.

Kingsport?!??!???! My grandfather used to have a cottage along the shoreline there up until he died 6 years ago. I loved that little town. Absolutely beautiful.

Originally posted by U2Kitten
I know an old lady from Nova Scotia and she tells some great legends of ghosts, shipwrecks and stuff like that. Got any stories? (Even if you don't believe in them yourself)

I've got a couple ghost ship stories; most of them center around Mahone Bay. I can't type one out now (got an exam in 10 minutes) but I can do one later if you want me to.

 

[DaveC]