Category: Entertainment

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Canada by stereotype

I just have two small anecdotes to recount, both in the “stereotype of Canada” vein.

1) I was just listening to a few more episodes of the CBC Radio 3 podcast, and I must say I loved the concept of their See Vous Play edition. The two co-hosts banter back in forth in English and French, seamlessly switching and never translating their discussion of the latest in hipster Canadian and Québécois music. Only in Canada, and only on the CBC.

2) I went to a show at the Rex on Saturday, and I still really love that place. Yeah, it’s a bit of an older crowd, and it’s jazz – given those two, it should be a stuffy, snotty affair, right? But the musicians played upbeat improvised, solo-stuffed jazz with no dull crooners, the bar was jam-packed with standing room only and the crowd was talking loudly but still really into the music. And the Rex itself is so utterly unpretentious: Labatt 50 signs on the walls, battered wooden tables everywhere, and a television with the hockey game a few feet from the bassist’s head. Lesson to the musicians: keep the crowd’s attention, or you’ll lose out to the hockey game. Lesson to Vancouver jazz bars like the Cellar: loosen up, lose the red tablecloths, and make jazz fun. Damn, I’m glad the Rex’s owners didn’t sell out to the new condo building that now occupies most of the block.

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Angus films

Just a followup on a recent post: Yvonne tells me that Angus Adventures are showing their film in Vancouver this weekend and next (at the Hollywood and Denman Place theatres). I see they’re also coming to Ottawa, Waterloo, Calgary and Edmonton in November (but no Toronto yet). Check out the details of their tour.

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Richard at Burning Man

Giraffe people

My friend Richard just returned from a trip to Burning Man in the Nevada desert. I haven’t heard the stories yet, but Rich is a great photographer and he’s taken some spectacular photos. Check them out on his site. I find it a bit tricky to navigate his pictures, so here are a few tips: the albums are organized from newest to oldest, and the Burning Man pictures start in the folder with this icon:

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Tofino

I’d heard the buzz. Tofino: a kayaker’s heaven, the Canadian surf experience, stunning landscapes. I was perhaps a bit blasé, having already hiked the West Coast Trail and visited the Juan de Fuca trail. But Tofino and the neighbouring Pacific Rim National Park were well worth the while. For those who don’t know, it’s on the west coast of Vancouver Island, on the only real stretch of regular highway that goes out that way. I think the map tells you how geographically isolated it is better than I can.

You need at least three days, since getting from Vancouver to Tofino takes about 7 hours between transit, ferries, renting a car and doing the driving. I took four days, to make it worth the while. I tried to go bodysurfing with a wetsuit, but failed since I didn’t know how to put the gloves and boots correctly, and created too much drag when they filled with water. I spent an afternoon kayaking around Clayoquot Sound and visiting Meares Island. And I took a surfing lesson down at Cox Bay, managing to ride the whitewash within an hour. I got through a few books, and took several pretentious photographs.

My suggestions for other travellers: take a surfing lesson, go kayaking (and take a lesson if you’ve never done it, or if conditions are rough), visit Wickaninnish Restaurant for a coffee, and go to SoBo restaurant in the botanical gardens. I heard some good things about the whale watching and hot springs, but I’d seen a lot of similar stuff already so I skipped them. Rent a car; it’s just too much of a pain getting around otherwise. Food is pricy at most places, so plan on cooking when possible.

See the pictures here, or for the impatient see the slideshow (no captions).