Oh Dear

The Dears were quite incredible last night. I didn't know anything about them until this week. They're from Montreal. The singer/guitarist is married to one of the keyboardists. They're a very attractive looking band. There was a lot of variety in their songs and the atmosphere they created was astounding. I recall one of their songs from JJJ.

I'm leaving Toronto today. First off is a quick stop at Niagra falls and then a nasty 13hr bus ride to Chicago. I'm dipping into the US to go south of the Great Lakes before heading north to Winnipeg.

When I was planning this cross-country jaunt I drew a map of Canada and plotted all the cities. Below the Canada/US border I drew a skull & crossbones, H-bomb, gun and syringe to remind myself to stay out! Well I changed my mind. It's going to feel weird going back into the US.

And how appropriate that I drew a gun on my map. I was sitting at a bar in Toronto the other night and got to talking to this guy who had just been released from prison in Atlanta and was kicked back into Canada by the authorities. He'd served time for conspiracy to traffic in guns and narcotics. He was only a few years older than me and admitted that he'd done something really dumb and that the whole thing shook him up big time. So I asked him all about prison and he had a lot to say. All things considered, he is an incredibly lucky guy to have served his short sentence and is young enough to start all over again in Canada where he doesn't have a criminal record. It would be an absolute tragedy if he reoffended.

MG

Toronto

Staying at Tristan's place near little India in Toronto, Ontario, has been a welcome respite from hostels and tedious bus trips. We've been hanging out, drinking coffee and watching old Sonic Youth videos.

Tristan's packing for his voyage to eastern Europe so I spent yesterday strolling through the down area and waterfront. Toronto is not as immediately captivating as Montreal for the tourist. Tristan insists that it's an awesome place to live and after glancing at the telephone-book like weekly street press I can see what he means. There's tonnes going on here. Also, the city is a real melting pot of cultures unlike mono-French Montreal. Toronto is the economic powerhouse of Canada and a very significant Nth American centre. Lonely Planet tells me that 50% of the US population is within a day's drive of Toronto(!).

Negotiating the concrete jungle was mildly depressing yesterday, although a certain 'essence' reminds that that I'm still in Canada. I don't feel as on edge as I was in London, NY or LA where I felt like fleeing to an ashram after a couple of days! Still, I'm quite jealous of Mutsumi, my travelling companion in the Martimes who is still hiking around northern Quebec. All I've got ahead of me for the next couple of weeks is more big cities. Oh well, that was my plan and I'm sticking with it.

My most serious vice is starting to overwhelm me - books (nobody calls me Mr Excitement). Cool book stores draw me in like neocons to an SUV and I'm still loading up with tommes that are a crushing weight on my slender shoulders when I strap on my pack. Tristan and I went to this big literary festival at Toronto's Queens' Park on Sunday. Tristan's just finished his training in librarianship so it looks like he may become my 'dealer' one day. I've told him to not be surpirsed if I show up to his place of work one day, disshevelled, 5 day growth, needing my 'hit'...His housemate Mickey has a big pile of books by the Beat writers. It's probably dangerous for a homeless, overeducated boy to start reading Bukowski...nah!

Last night I got to meet members of 'The Dears' who are currently the biggest indie band in Canada. These guys are huge - on the cover of NME in Britain, handpicked by Morrisey to tour with him etc. I rolled out of bet this morning and saw them being interviewed on MTV. Mickey is a musician and has been friends with them for awhile. They're playing Toronto tonight. I didn't really chat with any of them but just nursed a beer silently while Mickey was given a crash course in dos and don't on tour.

MG

On the Ipod: Sonic Youth 'Rather Ripped'

These boots are made for workin'

I love my boots.

Before I started working the Stampede they told me I needed steel-capped boots. 'It's the law ' they told me. So I shopped around and bought a cheap pair from Walmart. It's just for a couple of weeks I thought. They just didn't feel quite right though so I returned them and got another pair. Again, the boots weren't fitting properly. I realised they'd sold me two different sized boots so I returned them and took my business elsewhere.

Finally a shop assistant helped me get the perfect boot for me. 'You have wide feet' she insisted. 'You need these ones.' She could have sold me the super expensive brand but instead she actually gave it some thought and narrowed down the right product in a sea of leather and lace on the shop floor.

These boots are the best thing I have ever bought. They're like a hybrid of a steel-cap work boot and a hiking boot. I've done a lot of work and hiking around Canada the past few months and not once have my boots given me the slightest pinch. They're heaven. I feel like I can take on the world in these walking machines. And they look cool too. When I get back to Alberta I'm going to buy two more pairs and store them somewhere so I can keep wearing these things for many, many years to come.

So I went back to that shop twice to thank the girl who helped me but I couldn't find her.

I love my boots. Put me to work baby. Put me to work.

MG

Billy Bragg

I just saw Billy Bragg play a typically storming set here in Montreal. What an inspriration. Tonight's show was just him and his electric guitar. Billy Bragg is an English singer-songwriter who came to prominance as a protest singer during the Thatcherite years. He's heavily influenced by the folk song writing traditions as passed on through America's Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan.

It's incredible how a middle aged man with a cockney accent, basic chord progressions and no accompaniment can keep an audience rivited. It's all in the honest, powerful songwriting. I'd seen him play in Canberra about in 2001 with a full band behind him. I think that just Billy and his guitar is more affecting. His in-between song banter is hilarious as well. He's serious about his politics but doesn't preach too much.

He played a number of newies and two encores, the second of which featured almost all the classics off the first record like 'New England' and 'To Have and to Have not'. The first encore contained one of the Woody Guthrie, 'Mermaid Ave' tracks. It was disappointing not to hear arguably his best - 'Levi Stubbs Tears.'

One treat was his interpretation of an old Leadbelly Song called 'Bourgeois Blues'. Leadbelly was an African American artist who was first discovered writing songs in prison. He wrote 'Bourgeois Blues' after playing a show in the 1930s in Washington DC when he had to go across the border to find a place to sleep because there were no hotels where black people were allowed in DC at the time.

The main message Billy was sending us tonight was that we all have to get out there and *engage* with life if we want to make this world a better place. It doesn't matter how small our role is. The enemy is not conservatism or capitalism as such, but rather cynicism. If we sit by and let things happen, the negativity of others will keep things headed downhill.

So really, it's not what you do out there in the trenches each day that's important, but rather how you do it.

Viva la revolution.

"Just because you're better than me
doesn't mean that I'm lazy.
Just because you're going forward
doesn't meant that I'm going backwards"

- Billy Bragg

MG

Le Royale with Cheese

Montreal, Quebec. If I had been drugged, bound & gagged in another city and regained consciousness in the Alternative Backpackers in old Monteal, stumbled outside and attempted to orient myself, it would have taken me half a day to realise I was actually in Canada. This city is so different from all the other Canadian cities I have been in - especially Calgary. It's not until you see a Canadian post box or buy a coffee with a loonie that you realise you're in Nth America.

Monteal is just like being in Europe. Everyone speaks French and all the signs and menus are in French. I even saw a guy with a black and white striped shirt riding a bike with a long french stick in his front cart (not gottee or beret though). Old Monteal has cobbled streets and some remarkable old buildings including the Notre Dame cathedral. I keep running into cool looking book stores which I soon discover contain French language books only. It's still relatively warm in this part of the country - cloudy and 17 degrees today.

I really love this city. Its feels remarkably laid back for a spralling mass of 3.4 million people. Everyone is well dressed and they don't seem to be in a mad rush to get anywhere. Even your favourite scruffy backpacker is making an effort to do his hair and wear a decent shirt (much unlike when I visited Singapore years ago and proudly wore a torn & faded old Billabong shirt and sneakers while while strolling through all the plastic-looking consumers). I feel like I want to look nice here. I just get the feeling that people here are onto something. It's like they just get on with their lives without running ragged and making others' lives miserable in the race for the great American dream. They seem a tad smug about it too but not as pretentious as I'd imagined.

I've met with Tristan, my old friend from Canberra. We went to the same high school but he was a couple of years below me. We're both big alternative music fans and we've managed to score a couple of tickets to see Billy Bragg tonight!!!! I can't wait. This morning we went to the contemporary art museam. I was seriously impressed with a contemporary german painter named Neo Rauch.

We just had a massive and cheap lunch at the Spanish club. Why did we go there you ask? Well my cousin in Calgary has a Spanish partner, Jose, who lived here about 30yrs ago. Whenever he comes back he goes to the Spanish club. Anyway, he's a cool guy and he suggested I pop in for a feed if I was in Montreal. I think I will have to make this a tradition - track down the Spanish club in every big city I travel to thoughout the world for the rest of my life.

MG

Get shucked

After three lazy days spent at Andy's guest house we drove back to Charlottetown for our last day on PEI. Andy was cool enough to show us around and take us to lunch at his sister's place. We stumbled upon a seafood festival down by the marina which was a lot of fun. It was held in a big tent which was eearily reminiscent of the Nashville North tent where I worked the Calgary Stampede. After paying for entry, the punters wander around, drink beer and enjoy samples of seafood chowder while live bands and fiddle players keep the vibe local with unique east coast atlantic tunes. Unfortunately we missed the judging of the best seafood as well as the 'shucking' competition which is quite chaotic I've been told.

Canada is a festival mad-country during summer. Everywhere I go I see posters for Fringe Festivals, Jazz Festivals, Folk Festivals, Film Festival, BBQ cook-up Festivals, Seafood Festivals...I guess it's because once winter hits, it's just 'stay-the-hell-indoors festival' in most regions (at least it will be for me during winter in Edmonton!). I really think Canadians make the most of the outdoors far more than us Aussies. Yes, Australia is a sport-mad country but most of us lounge about and watch it, not play it. Canadians are running about everywhere. It makes me regretful of summers past back home that I wasted in idle indoors pursuits. Not being a 'sporty guy' ain't no excuse.

From PEI, Mutsumi and I bussed to the adjacent atlantic province of New Brunswick. I'm in the public library of the capital city Fredrickton (abusing the internet privileges and being eyed off by the security lady...). Fredrickton is another small city of about 40,000. It's so peaceful here and the people are incredibly chilled compared to the westerners. I wonder if that Micheal Moore film where he interviewed Canadians who never lock their doors was filmed partly in these parts? It's 'Nice Canada' with a capital N. Even the punks hangin' out on the street politely gave us directions to the hostel and the officer in a patrol car gazed lazily at me, probably thinking, 'do something kid; jaywalk or something; can you swear?'

There hasn't been much to do here besides wander the streets and check out the book stores. The art gallery was a real treat though because they had a couple of huge Salvador Dali paintings.

Mutsumi headed to Quebec this morning and I'm killing time before an 8:00pm bus headed to Montreal. I'll arrive next day 'round 6:00am.

I can't wait for the thrill of Montreal. I'm meeting up with an old friend from Canberra tomorrow and we're going to hang in Montreal a few days before busing to Toronto where he flys out for Europe on the 29th.

MG

PEI

It's fairly obvious to me that huge numbers of people are working in areas that just don't suit their temperaments. I'm searching in earnest for a public service vocation that's more dynamic than the spirit-crushing desk-bound work I'm used to. Then there's the old lady that 'welcomed' myself and my travelling companion Muksumi into her B&B at Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island the other night. Upon arriving she roughly informed us that the room we thought we'd reserved didn't exist and all she has left was an apartment next door, which would be more expensive. After we hauled our bags to the apartment we were rudely accused of being 'blind' because we couldn't find the right room. "No we're *not* blind. I think we'll go elsewhere" I steadfastly informed her (and through herclean effort held back adding "you black-hearted old cow.")

The business of inviting exhausted backpackers into your home seems like an odd line of work for somebody who may not exactly like people (and it reminds me of a tour guide I had once on an Australian outback adventure who creeped out all the foreigners; they'd keep coming up to me and asking why he was so mean to them!) Muksumi had a similar situation at the first B&B she stayed at on PEI a few days before, so in a town of only 32,000 you've gotta wonder if this is an accurate cross section of the people...

It don't think it is. Prince Edward Island, my latest stopover in Atlantic Canada was generally awesome and the people were laid back and friendly. PEI is the smallest province in Canada, accessible by the lengthy Confederation Bridge (12km long), which is the longest bridge in the world to straddle water that's frozen in winter. It's hard to picture this idylic and currently warm atlantic paradise, in the midst of a blustery and snowy winter. The capital Charlottetown is the birth place of Canada's federation. I visited Province House where the founding fathers did their thing at the conference of 1864 and I was blown away by the beauty St Dunstan's Basilica church. There are no old gothic-styled buildings like this one in Western Canada.

My first day on the island was quite emasculating(?). I'd stayed the night before in a nice old lady's B&B with lots of 'frilly things'. I then spent the day driving a hire car to Cavendish with some Japanese girls to see the house that LM Montgomery, author of 'Anne of Green Gables', grew up and wrote her works in (apparantly 'Anne of Green Gables' is very popular in Japan and I spotted whole bus loads of Japanese girls around central PEI). "What am I doing?" I thought. "I should be back in Halifax, knocking back beers with some old sea dogs in a grimey seaside pub!? This is too...quaint for an angry young man!"

I spent the afternoon brooding at the wheel while the girls giggled and had a grand time in the back seat, until we finally came upon a seaside B&B to spend the night. It turned out to be such a fabulous place that we stay two extra nights. For the first time in a very long time I pretty-much just relaxed (guilt-free), went biking, took photos and stolled along the red sandy secluded beaches. I devoured a biography of Robert Kennedy and an old Canadian junior high text book on Engish history. The best part is that we'd arrived right at the tail end of the holiday season so rooms were cheap and there were no nasty consumers anywhere!

I must come back to that guest house one day. If I'm ever going to write the 'great Australian novel' it's going to be at Andy's Guest House, PEI, Canada, staring out into the North Atlantic, a loooong way from home.

MG

7 historical figures I'd like to invite to dinner...

I came up with this list while staring into the North Atlantic from Prince Edward Island, Canada:

Rene Guenon (spirit)
Voltaire (thought)
Dostoyevsky (literature)
Thomas Henry Huxley (science)
Neil Young (song)
Mahatma Ghandi (leadership)
Timothy Leary (counterculture)

Did you know...?

Ever since the Danish cartoons drama, Pakistan has banned a number of blog sites, including blogger. The claimed reason for this is to stifle anti-Muslim sentiment. Um, it must just be a coincidence that the restriction also stifles some of the most important portals for educated Pakistanis to express their views (ie dissent). Since I've been in Pakistan I've been using the excellent website PKBlog to circumvent the ban. Good work boys!

Nova Scotia

The Art of Living course yesterday here in Halifax was a very worthwile experience. We were taught the basic principles of yoga and meditation. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar himself addressed a packed house in the evening. He really is inspiring. He finished an advanced degree in science in India by the time he was 17 and then went on to discover the Sudashan Krya breathing techinque that does incredible things for the body when performed consistently. AOL has a lot of success teaching the technique to violent prisoners, many of who mellow out considerably. It's 25 years after he started the organisation and they had a huge gathering of 2.5 million devotees in Banglore early this year. AOL is the largest NGO registered with the UN. Very cool stuff.

Canada exhibits very distinct characters in it various provinces. Nova Scotia in the maritimes is much more laid-back than booming Alberta and the sea breezes blowing into Halifax are a welcome change from me from bustling Calgary. The eastern settlements are older than the west as well so there are lots of cool old buildings. I really like Halifax from what I've seen of it. Halifax would have been a great place to go to uni. There are tonnes of students here and a vibrant arts and music scene. The biggest band to come out of Halifax are the billiant Sloan.

I met some Japanese girls last night in the hostel kitchen and we decided to rent a car today to see some of the small coastal towns of the south shore of Nova Scotia. It was a fun day. First stop was Chester, a small villiage with a history of pirates and rum-smugglers (during the prohibition era in the US, ships from Nova Scotia would transport alcohol into US waters where small boats would take the good and smuggle them onto US soil). Then it was on to Mahone Bay and the world heritage listed site of Ludenburg, a quaint little seaside town. We finished up in the afternoon at a small memorial for Swiss Air flight 111 which crashed into the sea off the coast of Nova Scotia in 1998, killing all 229 on board. I'd never heard of this tragedy before. Apparantly the crew smelt smoke in the cockpit and realised it was coming from the air conditioner system. Shortly thereafter all systems shut down and plane plummeted into the ocean.

Speaking of airlines, Condolleza Rice was in town today to thank the people of Halifax for helping out during Sept 11 (some planes in the air during the emergency were diverted to Nova Scotia). I wish I had actually been in the city today so I could have joined the protest against the war in Afganistan.

One more day in Halifax and then onto Prince Edward Island. I've decided I don't have enough time to get to St Johns in Newfoundland. I'll get there one day.

MG

Be my guru

I began my big cross-Canada trip today with an early morning flight all the way from Calgary to Halifax in the far east. My plan is to bus it all the way back to Edmonton and see as much of the country as I can in 1 1/2 months. So I'll try to get to Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Winnipeg. Money will be tight. Roll-on canned tuna and aventure...!

I'm booked tomorrow to attended a one-day workshop here in Halifax presented by the great Sri Sri Ravi Shankar who is the founder of the Art of Living Foundation which is one of the largest non-profit organisations in the world. A previous work supervisor of mine introduced me the organisation and I did a course of theirs in Canberra some time ago. Sri Sri designed an incredible breathing technique that, used in conjunction with meditation, makes you feel so 'on'. The Art of Living began in India and now teaches this breathing technique to millions of people all over the world and is also engaged in all sorts of charitable activities. To be honest, learning that technique is the best thing i've ever done. I've slacked off recently and lost the technique so tomorrow will be a good chance to get back in the zone as well as meet Sri Sri who is one of the real spritual heavyweights of the planet. There was plenty of half-assed gurus around but this guy is the real deal.

So here's the funny part. I was lining up to hop aboard my flight at Calgary airport when I spotted a familar looking figure: an Indian gentleman with long flowing white robes, long dark hair and beard. 'Holy crap, it's Sri Sri', I thought to myself. I more or less stalked the guy through the terminal and during the flight I umed and ahhed about going up to shake the guy's hand. I mean this is about as close to a real genius/saint kinda guy as I'm ever gonna get right? So we get to Halifax and I spot him waiting to pick up his luggage. I finally pluck up the courage to introduce myself; I say hello, shake his hand and blather something about attending tomorrow's course. And he replies 'I'm not Sri Sir, I'm just one of the Canadian instructors. Sri Sri is on the next plane.' 'Oh', I say embarrassingly, 'I guess I'll see you guys tomorrow', and wander off.

I swear he was the splitting image. Oh well, it was kinda funny I guess.

MG