Happy Canada Day to all the Canadians (and wanna-be-Canadians, and people-living-in-Canada-who-get-a-day-off) out there.

Here in the UK, we do not get time off for Canada Day – perhaps not unexpectedly – but your intrepid blogger has taken the day off, anyways. Though never one to be overly celebratory regarding the birth of the nation when living in Canada, since arriving in London I have gone out of my way to make sure I celebrate my Canadian-ness every year on July 1st.

Every year, the location is the same — Trafalgar Square, where we celebrate with a mix of odd Canadian music (this year: Canadian throat singing), musical acts waning in popularity (this year: Blue Rodeo), and things that don’t quite fit the Canadian theme (this year: Yoga).

Throw in some low-quality poutine and Sleeman beer, and we have ourselves a party.

We are on a four year run of good Canada Day weather, so fingers crossed that the unpredictable British weather behaves itself once more today. We will be there, rain or shine.

We now leave you with photos from last year’s festivities:

All photo by Mr. Topp, taken on July 1, 2010, at Trafalgar Square, London. Published under a Creative Commons license.

Everything that you wanted to know about the World Poutine Eating Championships, but were afraid to ask.

(A sinkhole in Guatemala City, by the Guatemalan government)

Writers — or potential writers — in the United States appear to have a choice to make. Do they want to keep the copyright on what they right, or receive medical care?

A word of wisdom to American soldiers in Iraq: If you get shot, make sure that you keep track of all your stuff following your injury. Failure to do so could result in hefty fines.