Geek Moment of Joy!

[curiouswombat]

I have one of those programmes about Alaskan airlines on TV - sort of as background as I do something else - and I heard them talk about being in Gimli, Manitoba.

I thought I must have misheard - but no - both S2C and I looked it up and Yay! There really is a place called Gimli in Manitoba.

Comments

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

Interesting! And apparently they have the largest concentration of people of Icelandic ancestry outside of Iceland. Might be a fun place to visit!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I thought it looked interesting, too. If you ever do go you will have to take lots of pictures and report back! They have a film festival, too - I wonder if they ever showed Lord of the rings?

[shirebound]

I wonder if they realize how special they are?

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Especially as there doesn't seem to be anywhere called Legolas! So score one to Gimli, I think.

[slaymesoftly.livejournal.com]

LOL I wonder if it's on the side of a mountain?

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It seems to be on the shore-line of Lake Winnipeg - so sadly unlikely to have a suitable dwarf-friendly mountain :)

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

It's in Manitoba. I don't think there are a lot of mountains in that province!

[cairistiona7.livejournal.com]

What fun!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

And one up for the dwarves - nowhere in Canada called Legolas that I can spot!

[spikesdeb.livejournal.com]

Brilliant! What colour hood does it wear ;p

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Probably a white snow-cap one! It was -9C when I looked at their website last night.

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

There must be a crazy tour in this. Perhaps a list of character placenames could be drawn up to be ticked off.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

You know that could be quite fun. I wonder where else exists that would fit in? There are a lot of branches of Rohan but I don't think they'd count!

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

This could work out quite expensive...

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It seems as if you could do an entire world trip just visiting places called Rivendell. But Aragorn gets three results all in the Philippines... and Bilbo brings you to Bilbao as Google Earth seems to think it must be a typo!

[bogwitch.livejournal.com]

I think you would just have to choose the most interesting ones.

[affreca.livejournal.com]

I've only heard about Gimli in relation to my favorite air not-a-tragedy, the Gimli (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8w5LqlTwbhs) Glider. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Yes - I read about that last night when I looked the town up - fascinating, and very, very, well done.

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

With a Lake Friendly (most un-dwarflike) and defective septic toilets!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

I was fascinated by that home page, too - I think the official home pages often give you an interesting glimpse of real life in their area!

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

I was curious and looked it up-- there's a nearby town called "Bifrost". That can't possibly be a coincidence!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

The area was, apparently, originally settled by Icelanders - which would explain the names - Gimli the dwarf was probably named for someone in one of the Icelandic sagas in the first place!

[meaghann.livejournal.com]

speaking, as I think, the only Canadian here, Gimli and of course other dwarves, would have loved Manitoba. The Canadian Shield is very dwarf friendly, rocky and there are mountains in Manitoba, just not very tall ones. The best feature for dwarves is all the rock underground. There are hundreds of caves in the province.

Also: The Rural Municipality of Bifrost is located in Manitoba’s Interlake region, and includes small communities of Morweena, Vidir and Hnausa. The Town of Arborg and the Village of Riverton lie within the boundaries of the rural municipality of Bifrost.

So even more Tolkien-esque names for you :)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Oh - thank you! It looks like a fascinating area - about which, I must admit, I previously knew nothing. And some of those names are very Tolkienesque - I must remember them in case I need them sometime.

[x19narya90x.livejournal.com]

Whee! This made me happy :D

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It was a real 'smile' moment - which it was my absolute pleasure to share!

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Ooh... pretty icon...

Sorry, got distracted there! And yes - finding out about Gimli in Manitoba is one of those little things that make me smile.

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Oooh.... is it from a bigger picture somewhere? I would love to see it more clearly.

[engarian.livejournal.com]

How marvelous!

- Erulisse (one L)

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

It was one of those small moments of joy!

[bojojoti.livejournal.com]

Saw this and thought of you:

http://cheezburger.com/6939258880

[curiouswombat.livejournal.com]

Thank you - he seems to be one of life's genuinely nice guys.