November 23, 2008





Paul and Danielle are at the Grey Cup this Sunday night. The Grey Cup is the Canadian Football League's Super Bowl. Believe it or not, it's older than the Super Bowl. Many of the players are from US schools. It's strange watching the game (on the Canadian version of ESPN) as everything is in French and English -- including the introductions. For sports fans, there's more information at www.cflgreycup.ca.

What's new for the Pisani family is hearing the Canadian National Anthem at sporting events. We love Wikipedia -- here's some information about the Anthem --

Oh Canada is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Honourable Théodore Robitaille, for the 1880 St. Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony. Calixa Lavallée wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The text was originally only in French.

An English translation of the lyric did not appear until 1906, and it was two more years before Robert Stanley Weir penned an English version, which is not a translation of the French. Weir's words have been revised twice, taking their present form in 1980, but the French lyrics remain unaltered. "O Canada" was not officially Canada's national anthem until 1980, when it was signed into law on July 1 as part of that year's Canada Day celebrations.

English
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

French
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

We'll post photos from the game tomorrow!

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