June 23, 2006	15:21
I can't believe I'm so slow with the updates. This has been the best couple of days yet! On Wednesday, we trekked back to the Guilin train station for an overnight train to Shenzhen. This one was, hands down, the longest train journey yet; sixteen hours from start to finish! What made it more entertaining was our scattered out placement on the train. The bulk of our contingency was in the "western" car, which contained eleven Dutchmen (all on the bottom bunks!), and another group of Euros. Allison and I had the carriage o' fun, with a mammoth of a Chinese tour group, complete with bright yellow hats and all of the typical Chinese pleasantries, including spitting, speaking at ear-splitting volumes, and the pot-bellied men rolling up their shirts. Thankfully, they emptied out the carriage at Guangzhou. The border crossing is indeed weird for a train traveller. We arrived in Shenzhen, and followed the signs that said "Hong Kong" on them. You essentially cross the street and enter another building, which has a Chinese Customs area upstairs, not unlike an airport. We were cleared to leave China, got our passports stamped, walked over a bridge into what looked like a heavily cordoned-off prison, and promptly got in the line at Hong Kong Customs. After another stamp in the old passport, we were in. Coming into Kowloon on the KRC, it was raining quite heavily. Not to be stopped by adverse weather (and, besides, I hadn't showered in two days), we headed towards the Star Ferry, which goes from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island. After that, a double-decker bus and a tram ride took us atop Victoria Peak, which is directly behind the Hong Kong skyline. Looking at the other side of the island, it's hard to fahtom that you're in one of the world's alpha cities; the tropical landscape blankets nearly all of the back side of the island. We watched the sunset (from a McDonald's, sadly), and headed for our last night's dinner at Chongking Mansion. It was such a bittersweet occasion. I'd really grown to love my little group. And, although not everyone left the city today, it's still sad that a fair chunk of the group is gone. Luckily, the group that drinks is still in town. Speaking of which, we went over to Lan Kwai Fong, which is a bar district on Hong Kong Island, last night, and went to a place called The Keg. The walls were adorned with Summit Series posters, NHL team banners, and a whole bunch of Canucks stuff. They even had a UBC jersey, and a Manitoba Moose jersey. No shit! They also had the gigantic glasses of Hoegaarden for 55HKD, which struck me as relatively decent. Today was relaxed. After exploring Kowloon for a bit, I went to the Hong Kong Museum of Art. One display was the Biennial, which is a yearly showcase of local modern art. There was a thought-provoking set of video montages of serene moments in Hong Kong. My personal favourite piece was "Finding Sleep", which was an illustrated book about how to get a good night's sleep. It made the argument that good sleep depends on a fish in your psyche; said fish only comes out in a period of deep sleep. Other than that, I'm out for sushi. Oh, how I've missed eating Japanese food!

June 20, 2006	17:34
It is far too hot to move in this town. It's well over 30 degrees, and the humidity has to be up around 100%. Totally brutal. Let us rewind. Yesterday was supposed to be my day of reckoning: the day upon which I would overcome my fears, and finally learn how to ride a goddamned bicycle. I was given a mountain bike, and told ot try it out while everyone else got themselves ready for the bike ride. After twenty minutes of frustrating attempts that brought me to tears, I found I was unable to even get both feet onto the pedals. Definitely never trying that again! Instead, I went on a four-hour walk around the area. It was cloudy during the majority of the adventure, so it was nice. I also found a hole-in-the-wall internet café, and got some university-related things out of the way. The rest of the day was leisurely, as the sun came out, and I wanted no part of it. I read a whole lot (War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges), and also came up with a good idea to keep the site active. Once I come crashing down to reality, I'm going to expand the External section to be more interesting, with recommended reading lists, important political and social websites, and, obviously, some musical recommendations. There's another thing to add to my huge backlog of things to come at n1a.com... Last night, we bused into Yangshuo, which isn't too far from Chaolong. After checking in, we hopped in some taxi vans bound for a small riverside dock. All fourteen of us embarked on a longboat, which we definitely put past the load limit. An hour later, we'd arrived at the tiny village of Liugong. It was still light enough outside for some photography, so a handful of us ventured around the village before coming back to the dock-side restaurant for a bite to eat. Despite some pretty foreign-looking dishes, it may have been the best-tasting and most well-presented dinner yet. The drive back into town was wonderful. It was pitch black, but there was a spectacular lightning storm going on in the distance, and there were fireflies everywhere. It was surreal. Back in town, a bunch of us headed to the bar, and I had my first alcoholic beverage that wasn't beer in three weeks. Awesome. The power just went out. Today, I wandered aimlessly all over town, as I usually do. I also 'watched' the Oilers game, which was particularly crushing. It was, quite literally, too hot to do anything, and I don't think I've ever sweat as much as I have today. I'm going to go out, where there's light. Overnight train to Shenzhen tomorrow. The end is nigh!

June 18, 2006	22:17
Gosh. Getting here was a trial. I woke up at 4, and was able to catch the second half of the Italy/USA match in the World Cup. We met up at 5.30, and high-tailed it to the airport for an early flight to Guilin. It turned out that waking up at four was completely unnecessary; our 7.30 flight didn't leave until 9.45. Oh well! I got a lot of reading done, which is always a good thing (especially considering I brought four books!). We bused it into Chaolong, which is a little village outside of Yangshuo. This area is far more tropical; we're kind of out in the jungle with immense varieties of insects that I've never seen or heard of before. Each bed here has mosquito netting, even! Yeah. We had a cooking school tonight, which was really neat. Hopefully, I can incorporate some into my dismal supply of dishes that I can make. Off to play pool, drink beer, and watch the Australia game.

June 17, 2006	19:40
I'm definitely not updating as much as I normally do on this trip. I'm pretty sure that this is a good sign. The day after I last wrote, I went on a huge hike with a handful of others in Songpan. On the way up to the top, there were a couple of tiny farming villages that we passed through. One of them had a small Buddhist temple next to a relatively rustic graveyard. I managed to get a handful of fabulous shots. We carried on to the top of the mountain, which had a temple that I'm pretty sure didn't pre-date the Ming Dynasty. Regardless, it was a fabulous view, and that's a hike's best reward. Or maybe the best reward was the beer we had once we got back into town... As for yesterday, it was pretty endless, but nonetheless, amusing. We piled onto the bus at 7.30 for a drive that was advertised as ten hours. One of our rest stops was at a lake surrounded by some jagged, but lushly green, mountains. All around, there were yaks with white fur (or is it hair? My yak terminology isn't up to snuff) dolled up with fluorescent pink pom-poms on their horns. A couple of people had their photos taken upon a yak, and hilarity ensued. Around 17.30, we were told that Chengdu was "close." After twenty minutes of driving through the eerily Silicon Valley-esque area of town, our bus driver decided he was lost. Armed with the address of the hotel, the secondary driver hopped in a cab, and a wild goose chase through the busy streets of Chengdu ensued. We lost the cab a couple of times, but every time we got a little worried, an arm would shoot out of the shotgun window of the cab, keeping us on track. By nearly 19.00 (almost twelve hours later!), we were at the hotel, and not-too-reluctantly bidding farewell to our hot pink bus. I woke up a little late today. We were supposed to meet at 07.30. I woke up when my phone rang at 07.35. Shit. I ran downstairs, got a round of applause for waking up, and hopped on the bus. The morning activities consisted of going to see the pandas, which were absolutely adorable. Lunch was at an awesome vegetarian place for Buddhist monks that wanted to eat meat without breaking vegetarianism. The fish (which, I believe, was made out of mashed potatoes) was quite nice. Finally, as of this moment, I'm watching the sunset and a bunch of people dance in a square in the middle of the city. The sun is down, and it's still blistering hot and humid. There's a distinct laid-back attitude to Chengdu, which reminds me in a certain way of San Francisco. Then again, I can tolerate the weather in San Francisco in mid-June. 07.30 flight to Guilin tomorrow, which means meeting in the lobby at 05.30. Joy. Oh, and, on top of that, I will finally learn how to ride a bike tomorrow. It's about time, right?

June 14, 2006	16:05
The number of the day: 3890. That's the highest point, in metres, that we've reached on this trip. We were driving from Tangkor this morning on some really high mountain passes. It even snowed! That's the first time I've ever been in a snow storm in June. A couple of nights ago, we did a homestay in a village whose name I do not know, though it was directly after the time in Taksanglhamo. After a bit (understatement) of a hike up to the top of a muddy mountain, we stumbled upon the farming village that would become our home for 24 hours. The family had an adorable dog outside to welcome us to their cozy little abode. The upstairs bit we stayed in had one of those Asian tables with the raised seats on which one sits cross-legged. A bunch of us stayed in, as the weather wasn't great, drank tea, and talked about books and politics. Dinner was fixed for us on fabulously fluorescent pink plates. The remainder of the evening was filled with beer, frustrating Scrabble matches (paradigm!), and an intense few rounds of bullshit. All in all, a great day hanging out with my relatively new friends. Yesterday, we drove up to Tangkor, which is, quite literally, a one-street town. We passed some time at the local boarding school. I practiced my kung fu skills, and played basketball with the kids, while the others performed their stupid human tricks, and played pattycake. That night, this guy named Yonten Gonpo, whom is actually a Music and English teacher at aforementioned boarding school, did a little show for us at the hotel that night. He played a few songs on his damye (sp?), I played a few songs on his guitar, and Yonten wrapped it up with a couple songs on the guitar. A bunch of people went to bed, but a few of us schmoozed with some beer and that guitar. I even got brave (or is it stupid?) and sang some Weakerthans. And today? Just the fun, but incredibly slow, drive into Songpan. After we got a bite to eat, I did the email/look at the dismal state of the Oilers/talk to a friend and the girlfriend thing for a while, and took a mini stroll around town for a bit. I'll get out and explore Songpan more tomorrow, as we're here two nights.

June 11, 2006	13:21
What's the difference between yogurt and the United States? One has culture, and the other is a country in North America. Yesterday was mainly a travel day, with a couple of hours at the Labrang Monastery before we left town. The road we travelled on was far nicer than the one that took us to Labrang; it was paved! It took us through more of the Tibetan countryside. It's a beautiful thing to see miles upon miles of green, rolling hills with no parts fenced off. The nomad lifestyle is a thing of admiration. It's such an extreme climate, and their faces and hands are so weathered, but, to them, that's life, and that is a beautiful thing. We got into Taksanglhamo (otherwise known as Langmusi in Chinese) last night around 18.30, and headed to this place called Leisha's Restaurant, which we've been told has incredibl(y large)e yak burgers. Apparently, only five people have finished the big one in one sitting. A bunch of us had the small one, and even that took a fair amount of effort to finish. Today, we went to Leisha's for breakfast; nothing beats a chocolate pancake for breakfast! We also got these huge chocolate chip cookies and a watermelon for lunch on our hike. Speaking of which, we're taking an extended breather. We're sitting in a grassy little valley. Some people are scaling some hills, and some of us have just been hanging out with a woman herding her goats, horses, and yaks. She even brought back her two children to play and visit. It's been nice. I'm in serious sports withdrawal, though. The Oilers played this morning, and I'm a little concerned. Poland and Sweden are also causing me grief in the World Cup right now. Back to revelling in the scenery. Cheers.

June 10, 2006	00:45
Every minute I spend here just further emphasizes my newly-discovered love for Tibet. Today, we simply drove into the nearby hills, visited a monastery, and stopped for lunch in a remote village. And it may have been the best day I've had since I started in September. We visited the Tsewey (sp?) Monastery outside of town first. After exploring the temples, the monks challenged us to a game of basketball, which was loads of fun. I'm pretty sure we got destroyed, but it's kind of fun to be able to say that I played some basketball with some Tibetan monks. We stopped for lunch at this tiny walled village that I never caught the name of. We climbed atop the city wall, and a whole bunch of local children followed us up. We shared our food, and they were all fascinated by our stuff, from sunglasses to cameras, and even my iPod. Apparently, these kids really dig Lemon Jelly and The 101. They all even accompanied us on our hike, putting together flower tiaras for Pip and taking photos with us and of eachother. One among us said she took a great shot of me walking down the mountain, hand-in-hand with a couple of local kids. I can't wait to see it. Other than that, not too much went on today, though I'm still in awe with the Tibetan landscape and the nomads. It's neat to see, every once in a while, a Tibetan on a motorcycle just travelling about the countryside. It's truly beautiful. I'm going to head back to watching some World Cup football. Germany is up 2:1 on Costa Rica, which is eerily close. Hopefully, the result holds.

June 9, 2006	09:13
I think I've fallen in love. We got into Labrang (Chinese name: Xiahe) yesterday afternoon, and were promptly greeted by the Tibetan hotel staff. They certainly are beautiful people here. Some of the young women, all dressed up in their traditional robes and their hair braided down to their lower back, have the warmest, most beautiful faces I've ever seen. We walked the kora yesterday, which is just a walk around the monastery just up the road, lined with hundreds upon hundreds of prayer wheels that people will walk by and spin. It took us over an hour to complete the walk, and we only spun the prayer wheels for about five minutes. The town itself is beautiful. It's pretty small; somewhere in the vicinity of 30,000 and 50,000. All around the town are these magnificent pine-tree covered mountains, and just a certain sense of peaceful mystique. Our bus ride yesterday was pretty entertaining, despite some really bumpy and windy mountain passes. We came within an inch of hitting a truck, played frisbee at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, and stopped for a noodle soup lunch in Linxia. One of the most beautiful drives I've ever been on. Anyhow, I'm not sure what it is we're doing today, but I've got to get going.

June 8, 2006	07:45
After another overnight train ride, we find ourselves in Lanzhou, though only briefly. We're just stopping for a bite to eat, and then hopping on the bus for the bulk of the day. And immense amounts of worrying about the Oilers. I got up to a little bit of shopping yesterday. I picked up this awesomely sexy black silk shirt. It kind of makes me look like Hugh Heffner (sp?), only a couple of years younger. We'll see if it has the same pimptastic effect on me. Bus time.

June 7, 2006	12:37
Yesterday was pretty solid, I must say. After we checked in and brushed our collective teeth (not all of the rooms were ready), we wandered around town for a couple of hours. The definite highlight was the Muslim Quarter. We stopped for these gigantic noodle bowls at a neat little restaurant that we ended up going back to for a hot pot dinner. The afternoon was taken up by heading out to see the Terra Cotta Warriors, which I found to be vastly overrated. I guess I'm just more of a city and culture kind of a traveller, as opposed to one that's interested in extraordinary archaeological discoveries. Oh well. At least I got to chill out on the bus and listen to The Weakerthans. Like I said, we had a hot pot dinner, which is essentially just cooking skewers of random stuff in either a flavoured broth or a really spicy one. I think we all ate far too much, and maybe even drank a little too much. Undaunted by our bursting stomachs, we headed down to "coffee and bar street", which is just as advertised. We sat out on the street, and drank until the wee hours of the morning with the British (and one of the Americans) among the group. This morning's activities were relatively scarce in number. I explored the so-called 'culture street', which is a long street filled with local artisans selling paintings, carvings, and musical instruments, and just walked aimlessly. Pretty low-key. Overnight train to Lanzhou tonight, and a big bus ride to Xiahe tomorrow.

June 6, 2006	08:15
We're actually about a half hour outside of Xi'an, but we're close enough. The overnight train's been fun. The station was absolutely packed to the rafters with people, and hotter than outside. We got on our 21.03, had a couple of beers, and shared some stories about what we've seen in our lifetimes. We hopped on the Beijing subway yesterday morning, bound for Tiananmen Square. Despite what our local guide mentioned about the Square, the only thing I could picture was tanks. After obligatory photos of military personnel and group photos with the portrait of Mao, we went into the Forbidden City. I found the city strangely desolate (minus the throngs of people in nearly every section you entered), save for the courtyard we found, as well as the totally stunning garden at the end. After that, we made a huge bicycle rickshaw convoy and rode around some local hutongs (alleys). There was this one big upper-class home converted to low-cost housing. We visited this one woman, and she answered our questions about her life and family. And she made us tea! How nice of her. Went for noodle bowl lunches that were absolutely incredible, and taxi'd it back to the train station area. An odd little situation at the internet café ensued afterwards; four guys in plain clothes walk in, tap a guy on the shoulder, and haul him out handcuffed. That was a little worrying. Anyhow, we're here. Time to explore.

June 4, 2006	23:41
What a busy day! As you can plainly see, I was up way too early this morning. At 7.30, we hopped on a bus for our first group non-dinner outing. We drove out to Mutianyu, which is a town at the outskirts of the Great Wall of China. Most of us hiked up to the Wall, and subsequently to Tower 20, which is the farthest accessible tower from where we got onto the Wall. It was quite the trek up to the top, but amazingly satisfying to get up to the top of. The trek back down was definitely the highlight, though. There's a toboggan run along a track that winds down the mountain. It would have been far more fun carrying a beer and having a guaranteed empty track. Back in town, I grabbed four (!) pork buns for dinner, because they were so amazingly delicious. Evening entertainment was an acrobat show in the Chaoyang district. There were some pretty fantastic displays, including a finale with twelve girls all getting onto one bicycle. After that, a whole bunch of us went down to the night market. One part of it has a big, long row of food vendors, selling kebabs of beef, pork, octopus, and other fun things. The more interesting foods included scorpions, testicles (of what, I am unsure), snake meat and skin, seahorses, silkworms, and sea urchin. Feeling relatively adventurous, I got some snake meat. It had the consistency of calamari, but a better taste to it. Pretty spicy, actually, the way it was prepared. I really enjoyed it! Tomorrow? Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, and an overnight train to Xi'an.

June 4, 2006	05:08
I'm up pretty early again, so I'll just recap the rest of yesterday. I found this neat little hutong (alley, essentially, with local shops hawking their wares, be they food, phone cards, or fake silk), but, again, I had no clue how I got there. It was pretty funky, though. On the way, a girl was writing characters on the sidewalk in white chalk. When I passed by her the first time, she had written maybe eight lines, and had a couple of spectators here and there. A few hours later, I passed by again after my hutong excursion. By that time, she had written about fifty lines, and had her work completely engulfed by people. If only I could have read it... I met my new friends last night. Unsurprisingly, I'm the youngest, but I think every age range between late teens and early fifties is represented, which is pretty cool. Also unsurprisingly, I'm the only Canadian; along with a couple from Phoenix, we make up the North American contingency. There's also an amazingly kind and super-talkative couple from Australia, and a British girl teaching English in Shanghai that I'm getting along swimmingly with. We all went for dinner last night, and ordered Peking duck (amongst other things). God, was it ever amazing. It's essentially pure fat, but I could probably use it. They even deep fried the head and put it on the plate. Cute!

June 3, 2006	08:53
This certainly is an odd feeling. I've never been so far from Vancouver in my life. And what a mysterious place to end up. I landed yesterday afternoon, after eleven hours in the air. As I was walking towards customs, a bunch of people were running around, trying to find the Korean Air desk. Shortly afterwards, a bunch of people wielding camera and audio equipment. Yes, I once again had found myself caught up with The Amazing Race. Go figure. I'd heard about an illicit taxi service that exists in Beijing. Funny enough, I'm positive I got a ride from it, and subsequently got ripped off by it (a taxi to the train station shouldn't cost Y400, should it?). I did arrive in once piece, though. I experienced issues at the meeting point hotel, though. I hadn't been marked down on any of the trips that were meeting at the hotel. The guy working for the tour company (whom is also from Vancouver...small world!) got it all sorted out, I went upstairs, and went to bed by 18.30. There really is a first time for everything... I got up incredibly early (05.30), and went out to finally get my first taste of China. Beijing is an odd, yet totally fascinating city. There's areas where you feel like you're in one of Europe's premier metropolises (minus the Chinese signage), areas where you can really see the impacts of the Soviet Union and communism (see: overuse of the colour red, drab apartment facades as far as the eye can see), areas where you'd swear capitalism is more prevalent here than in New York, and areas where it feels like you're in a UNICEF infomercial. I'd tell you where I've walked today, but I honestly have no clue myself. I just know I've seen a good chunk of my surrounding area. At some point soon, I'm going to head back and get some internet time in, as well as meet everyone that I'll be spending the next few weeks with. And tomorrow (I believe), we're heading out to the Great Wall of China.

May 27, 2006	02:33
I lied. Four of us randomly decided to drive up to Edmonton. The decision came after the Oilers' Game Six victory against the Sharks. The excitement factor of a non-Toronto-based team advancing to a Conference final was too much to handle. So, on Wednesday night, I piled into a car with three other friends, and we drove thirteen hours to Edmonton. After a handful of singalongs, rest stop antics, rain, sleet, snow, and dealing with the realisation that we had witnessed sunset AND sunrise before we'd gotten to Janice's doorstep, we were in Edmonton on a Thursday morning. It may have been the most hysterical thirteen hours from the past year. After a nap, we started off Thursday with zero expectations. Even though we were desperately trying to get tickets via Ticketmaster, I don't think anyone actually expected to get into the building. Undaunted, we headed to Rexall two hours before faceoff. The first scalper we asked (ninety minutes 'til faceoff) wanted $500 each for last row nosebleeds, so we ducked into a bar across the street from the rink for a little while. Twenty minutes before the game? 300 bucks each. Hardly a deal, but a little easier on our respectively empty bank accounts. Despite the fact that the Oilers got absolutely thumped, it was still worth the price of admission, even for the second period alone. Whyte Avenue after the game was still fun, though. We found a neat, affordable place called The Attic. We hung out with some locals, played some billiards, received free drinks from a bartender from Ladner, and eventually walked the long walk home. Today was just full of vices; gambling, and a load of bars. Oh, and Jaryt and I watched High Fidelity. Sweet. Homeward bound tomorrow afternoon.

May 12, 2006	20:44
Well, I ended up being put on another flight out of Florida (and, subsequently, Dallas), as mine was two hours late. I actually ended up kind of seeing my aunt and uncle! As I was boarding the Dallas-bound plane, their flight from Nassau was just getting in, and I watched them get off their plane. I also missed seeing them in Dallas by a few minutes. Oh, an odd sighting in the international terminal in Dallas. There was one gate where everyone waiting was a uniformed American soldier. One of the gates listed its' flight as a military charter to Kuwait. Doubly interesting was that I was reading a segment in Chomsky's Hegemony or Survival dealing with Kuwait. Barring a travelling emergency, my next entry will be from Beijing. Au revoir!

May 12, 2006	09:07
I've missed a few days here and there, but it's a little tedious (for the most part) and repetitive to update on life in The Bahamas. We did have one really cool excursion, though! Two days ago, we hopped in a little six-seater airplane bound for North Eleuthera "International" Airport. In reality, it's a room with a runway on a relatively deserted area of Eleuthera Island. From there, we jumped onto this guy's shabby little speedboat, and got off at Harbour Island. If it weren't for the truck bed ride to Coachella, that would have been the oddest little travel day. Harbour Island was really cool, though. It's far less inundated with American culture than Nassau. People drive golf carts instead of cars, and it really does have a village feel to it. Also, the pink sand is amazing. It feels like you're walking on velvet. Highlight of The Bahamas, for sure. I'm going to go get some food or something. I have a five-hour layover here in Fort Lauderdale. Ugh.

May 7, 2006	16:47
It's been a couple of days. Sorry about that. My second day in Carmel was more of the same: loads of art galleries. My favourite was the Hart Gallery, which featured some breathtaking work by Luis Alberto Hernandez. It's amazingly hard to describe, so I'm just going to link you up (hartgallery.com). The paintings are twice as amazing in person, as the gold leaf doesn't show well in the photos. Only problem was the woman there was a bit of a pompous bitch. You get all kinds, I guess. Before my airport shuttle ride, I joined in a martini with Patricia, and soon enough, I had to leave. That was tough. These two are like having an extra set of parents. As we drove away, Trish stood on the front steps waving, and the driver asked me if I was visiting my aunt. I thought about it, and I told him that I wished I was. We got to San Francisco around 21.30; that's a full three hours before my flight to Dallas. Wooooooo. I spent the better part of my wait taking photos and reading Chomsky (Hegemony or Survival, if you're curious). My plane left at 00.40, and I got in at 5.55 Dallas time. I had a five-hour layover in Dallas, so I read a bunch more and drained by iPod's battery by way of Propagandhi. I even talked politics with four people from Louisiana. They were all registered Republicans, and I'm a self-proclaimed socialist, but we ended up agreeing that we all fundamentally want the same things. Other highlights from Dallas/Fort Worth included waking up Danielle. And that was pretty much it. Leaving was relatively envigorating. Other than that, the typical non-Bahamian-in-the-Bahamas lifestyle is going on now. Liquor and sun. Tomorrow ought to be exciting, because we're going to check out the Bacardi distillery. Yay!

May 4, 2006	23:06
Today was nice, I have to say. I forgot to mention that I woke up successfully without my alarm at quarter after six, and got a ride to the bus depot in one of those "limo cabs", or whatever they're called. You know, the black Lincoln sedans with tinted windows. The driver spoke maybe eight words of english. Fun! Rick picked me up from the Salinas bus station, and we headed out for a coffee. We later met up with Patricia, and Rick left us so we could check out a handful of local art galleries. My personal favourite was one featuring the photography of Robert Knight (robertknightgallery.com). We talked with the guy working there for the longest time, and I let him know about my photographic endeavours and my website. I got added to their list of photographers that come into the gallery, which was swell. We ended up checking out five or so more galleries after, and I've come to the conclusion that Carmel is a little bit of an art mecca. Later on, we all went to dinner, had some wine, and talked about life in general. We raced home to watch the Lakers game (they lost), and it was just a swell evening. Travelling and sleeping in airport terminals is fun and all, but nothing beats being welcomed into a home that houses two of the biggest hearts on the planet. I just hope that when I get to their stage in life, I can have the same appreciation for life and love as these two. It's beautiful and inspiring to see. I just wish I'd planned to stay here longer. C'est la vie.

May 4, 2006	09:16
Waking up at six certainly sucks. We're stopped at the depot in Oakland, so I've got some time to kill. Post-coffee yesterday, I headed to Chinatown. It's a pretty fun one to explore, considering how bloody huge it is. It also got me really stoked about going to China, which (this just recently hit me in the face) I leave for in under a month. Oh, and I realised I need one of those long black silk coats. You know, the form-fitting, uh, ladies coats. But seriously, wouldn't I look sexy in one? I later got back into downtown, and checked out probably six modern art galleries along Geary. One was featuring a large collection of photos from Paul McCartney's world tour about four years ago. There was also one with a nice collection of pop art (Warhol, Haring, et cetera). I snagged a ticket to Fame Becomes Me starring Martin Short last night. Tons of sexual innuendo, lots of Short's previous roles (including my favourite, Jiminy Glick), and they even hauled a random guy from the audience into the show. It was also nice that the show included some humour for the Canadians in the building (so, Martin and I). Oh! I met god's prophet before I went for dinner. I was minding my own business, writing some postcards in Union Square while watching a big ballroom dancing lesson, and a hobo sits down next to me and starts telling me about how god chose him. Power to you, buddy, power to you. After that fun experience, I went to a sushi bar that served everything on these cute little chained-together boats in a moat. It was pretty quaint. Anyhow, I'm Salinas-bound now.

May 3, 2006	18:40
The remainder of yesterday was relatively low-key. I went back to get my hoodie, as I was freezing by the time I stepped into the lobby. I found a good seafood place at the Wharf, and had myself some chowder in a bread bowl. Requiring soup for dinner in May in California is certainly a weird feeling. It was really good, though! It was two doors down from the place we stopped for lunch at in October, actually. As the sun was setting, I walked along the water for a little bit and took a handful of photos of street lamps. It turned out to be a successful little venture. Feeling accomplished, I went to the room and got a solid night's sleep. When I woke up this morning, I was excited about heading out to the Golden Gate Bridge to finally get a photo of the thing on a sunny day. Then I opened the blinds. Cloudy, a little fog, and cold. Fabulous. Undaunted, I fuelled up at Ihop and wandered up to the crooked section of Lombard Street. It was pretty hilarious to see fifty people taking the same photo and getting in the way of the cars driving down it. In hindsight, I should have taken a picture of that. One random interjection. I've been thinking about what my photographic style is today, and I came to a handful of conclusions: - Political. I tend to take photos of left-wing bumper stickers and activist graffiti. Today, for instance, someone had written "the police haven't any empathy" on a street sign pole. - Graffiti. I've seen some of the most amazing pieces of graffiti in Prague, London, and San Francisco. I even featured a photo of a Banksy original in London in a shot! - Asian culture. Chinese and Japanese culture totally fascinate me. So do their storefront signs. - Lights. 'nuff said. I then walked through the Presidio, which is the park just south of the Golden Gate Bridge. It was still foggy, but I went for a nice beachside stroll, and eventually got some coffee and mailed a couple of postcards. Eep! I've got to get going. I have tickets to see Fame Becomes Me. It's a musical with Martin Short, and it made its' world debut here in San Francisco a few nights ago. Neat!

May 2, 2006	18:01
It's nice to be doing what I do best again; walking, listening to a good album, creating photographic identities for every place I see. And what a day to be doing it! Not a cloud in the sky, and it's probably 75 degrees outside. Right now, I'm sitting under a huge metal sculpture in a park somewhere around Pier 39. Oh, and I'm listening to Know By Heart by The American Analog Set. It's a pretty fabulous soundtrack to today. I woke up at 6.30, as I had a 9.00 plane to catch. Miraculously, I was bumped up to first class. I'm not too sure how that happened, but one doesn't complain about such strokes of luck. I got in at 10.30, and found a sushi place for lunch at the airport and hopped on the BART. San Francisco definitely has a comfortable subway system. I thought I'd be able to walk from the Powell Street station down to Fisherman's Wharf (which is where I'm staying). Well, it can be done, but not with extra baggage! I gave in and took a cable car down to the Wharf. I got to get the "touristy" thing out of the way before I even got to my temporary adobe! One shower and an internet cafe visit later, I hit the streets. This town is a real clash of cultures; at times, it feels like Europe, and others like China, Washington, or East LA. I walked around the Wharf, down Van Ness, up Market, through the Financial District. I took a pit stop at a pier-side bench and gave Chloe a call. Sometimes it's nice to hear the voice of a friend when you're far from home. After that, I started walking up The Embarcadero, which is a big promenade that runs along all of the piers, and then I stopped here. It's getting a little chilly, so I'm going to get heading.

May 1, 2006	12:55
What a weekend. Yesterday was a real scorcher (Matt told me later on that the forecast called for a high of 105 degrees), and Matt didn't want to see anyone until later in the day, so I hopped on the bus in the AM. I took a different bus from downtown Indio, which dropped me about a mile closer than the one on day one. I didn't even need to ride in someone's truck bed! Not that it wasn't the most hilarious thing to happen all year. The band list: Mates of State Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Metric Minus The Bear Paul Oakenfold (DJ set) Madonna Massive Attack Tool Jazzanova (DJ set) The Scissor Sisters Mates of State were all kinds of adorable. If you're unfamiliar with the band, they're a husband (drums) and wife (keyboards) duo with a repetoire of songs about their marriage. Very cute. Massive Attack were also, as expected, phenomenal and mesmerising, and The Scissor Sisters were definitely more gay than Freddie Mercury. Oh, and Matt met Madonna. How he managed to make that happen is still beyond my comprehension. So, as a whole, Coachella was a downright amazing experience. A couple of highlights will keep this a very memorable weekend. As for today, Matt and I are lounging by the pool, attempting to polish off our bottle of vodka. And tomorrow, Matt flies to Las Vegas for work, and I'm off to San Francisco. It'll be nice to see the Bay Area for once!

April 30, 2006	03:28
What a time it's been so far. Let me bring you up to speed. Mom gave Matt and I a ride to the airport bright and early (6.30am!). The flight down was swell, as Westjet is the most entertaining airline around ("for those of you on the right side of the plane, you can get a nice view of Mount Saint Helens, and those of you on the left side of the plane, well, you should have sat on the right side of the plane"). The flight attendants were a little confused, though, by the large amoun tof twenty-somethings on a flight to Palm Springs. Various highlights upon arrival in Palm Springs: - fun grocery store excursion - TWO LITRES OF VODKA FOR TWENTY BUCKS! - hanging out in the pool/hot tub/hotel rooms with four swell kids from Salinas (of all places) - a sort of political and cultural pow-wow with aforementioned kids - a filling dinner at midnight at the local Carrow's, which will surely induce a heart attack by Tuesday Alright. So the main highlight was the heart-stopping price of vodka. Can you blame us for being Canadian? We got up around eight this morning, preparing for what we expected to be a lengthy morning on public transit. The driver of the second bus that we took was a real character. He was a big black man whom was a self-proclaimed pot-smoker. We talked about serial killers, drugs, hockey, and whether or not Halloween exists in Canada. At one point, he even went into a corner store to buy some cookies for a crying baby. It was pretty hysterical. The closest the bus came to Empire Polo Field was a two-mile walk, so Matt and I sucked it up and walked the lonely desert road. After a few minutes, a guy pulled over and told us he'd give us a ride to the show! He even took us to a convenience store so we could get some water. The people of the Coachella valley have hearts of gold, I tell you. Now, onto Coachella. Who I saw on Day One: The New Amsterdams Joey Beltram (DJ set) Wolfmother My Morning Jacket Kanye West Sigur Rós Franz Ferdinand Depeche Mode Daft Punk ("DJ" set) Pleasant surprise? Daft Punk, by far. An awesome continuously-mixed set of their own stuff, while wearing wicked robot helmuts. Honourable mention goes to Kanye West. I really got into his set, which I didn't actually expect to happen. The only disappointing set was Depeche Mode's. I love them to death, but it was all low-energy ballads. Yikes. Getting back was real interesting. We were (read: I was) waving around a "going to Palm Springs?" sign, and eventually someone PS-bound joined up with us. His friend picked us up, and we got back around quarter past three. Yeah, a little late. How we'll get back tomorrow night is unknown. We shall see! Anyway. It's 4.30 right now, and I desperately need shut-eye before Day Two at Coachella.

April 23, 2006	11:23
I'm back in Victoria again. Yeah, I came over twice this week. Other fun things with Julie (plus assorted friends of hers) included a couple of TV marathons, and seeing Latcho Drom, which documents the gradual migration of the gypsies from North Africa, and around Europe into Spain. The interesting part is there is very little dialogue, only song. Now, as for this trip, which lasts a little over 24 hours. I went to a free show at the Canadian College of Performing Arts, which is the school that Alex attends. It was pretty awesome; just a random assortment of songs and scenes from various musicals and plays, from Hamlet to Annie. I think the best part of the day, though, was the walk over to the show. Victoria was a sunny 20 degrees yesterday, and the first real sign of spring around here. After making jello shooters (a sign that I do act my age), we went for dinner at this Jamaican place, which was indeed interesting. But it's a little easier to adjust to Jamaican cuisine when you're relatively used to Bahamian. Post-dinner, I wandered around Chinatown with Alex's dad for a bit, and we went to CCPA's year-end show, On Broadway. It was really high-energy, a little naughty, and a lot of fun to watch. A cast party ensued, and Alex and I crashed at five. Real travelling is coming for me soon! On Friday, Matt and I fly to Palm Springs. Until then...

April 18, 2006	14:19
After a break during which I have gone insane, I'm back to sleeping on people's floors. This time it's Julie's. She's been kind enough to offer her floor for two nights. I got in on the ferry yesterday afternoon, and the weather was infinitely better than back home, which I'm told is a regular occurance in Victoria. Julie and I just hung out, went grocery shopping (read as: we bought snacks and vodka), and went to Boston Pizza with a couple of other people from UVic. After dinner activities included eight or so episodes of Arrested Development (which I now concede is an awesome show), and heading to the movie theatre. We saw Thank You For Smoking, which I had never heard of before, but was hysterical and thought-provoking. It was a satirical biography documentary thing on the main lobbyist for the Academy of Tobacco Studies. The film manages to gain sympathy for the lobbyist of an industry that kills hundreds of thousands of people each year, and promotes the idea that if you argue something the right way, you're never wrong. One of the wittiest comedies I've seen in a while. Even the previews (Little Miss Sunshine, and an animated sci-fi drama with Keanu Reeves) looked awesome. Julie had work today from nine to five, so I came downtown to explore. But imagine my surprise when I found a parking ticket on my dash this morning! 20 bucks. It's not my fault that UVic's parking pass dispensers don't work... I'm going to finish up my chai, wander around Chinatown for a while, and find a place to park for the evening.

March 15, 2006	12:32
We're almost off. I'm sitting next to a nice guy that was just in the Middle East for two months. He told me about how he went skiing in Tehran. Who knew? Our conversation got me thinking about where I'd like to go in the future. I've come up with a brief list of the next handful of nations I'd like to see after this year: Japan. What's not to be fascinated about? The history, the technology, the language, the religion, the countryside, the buildings, and, most importantly, the food. That would be loads of fun. Kazakhstan. An unlikely travel destination, but, from what I've seen from photographs, the planet's eighth largest country has quite a bit to offer. I hope Almaty is awarded the 2014 Winter Olympics. Iceland. I'm sure I've told most of my friends and relatives that I'd like to drive around Iceland one day. We're taking off now. I have no idea when or where I will write again, but you know me. I'll be leaving soon.

March 15, 2006	10:51
As usual, our brief time in Hagen was the highlight of the entire trip. These two families are like having extended family in Germany. I had a shopping excursion, which was very successful. Those that know me know that I'm one of the pickiest shoppers on the planet, and to come out of it with a pair of black pants and a black jacket is a major accomplishment. We also played obscene amounts of N64, had a Weezer singalong while walking down the street at 02.00, and ate giant pancakes. I even got to drive an unnamed person's VW Golf (which could be practically anyone in this country) up and around some really fun, twisty roads. Gorgeous. Speaking of driving, I finally drove the Autobahn last night! I drove about half of the way to Frankfurt in our BMW 525. I averaged about 150km/h most of the way, and I brought it up to 180km/h a couple of times to pass people. Everything I've heard is true; the Autobahn takes far more concentration. The weirdest part is when a speed limit forces everyone down to 100. It feels so slow! I loved it (well, not the slow part), though. Driving will never be the same for me ever again. Our flight leaves in one hour or so, but I can't help being left with the feeling that 31 days away from home isn't enough. Especially considering I probably won't go anywhere for a month. Brutal.

March 13, 2006	09:31
I definitely fell asleep while I was writing that. I didn't think I was that tired. But, on with the story. So. After I got my CD, just as I was walking up to the hotel, a little black Golf pulls in front of the hotel, with three Germans inside. Good timing! They got their car parked, got their stuff settled into my room, and we headed to the room my parents were in, which was on a different floor. Just as we step out of the elevator, mom steps out of one of the other ones. It was swell to have a little family reunion in the hallway. We explored the city together for a little bit, and went for a typical (at least I'd hope it's typical, considering how awesome it was) Belgian breakfast/lunch. I had a Belgian waffle with strawberries, and a massive Hoegaarden. That's a wicked way to begin the day, for sure. Mom and Dad went off in another direction, so the four of us walked quite a bit. We went inside the Cathedral, which was just beautiful. Gothic, and not overly flashy (see: churches in Prague). And the priest started speaking to us in German, though even I could tell that he wasn't very good at it. I guess it's the thought that counts, though. Now, I was under the impression that we were going to spend another night in Brussels last night. But, I guess I was mistaken. We drove to Hagen yesterday afternoon, with a brief pit stop in Mönchengladbach, and a realisation that Carsten has very poor navigational skills. We're staying at Carsten and Caroline's house for two nights, and we drive to Frankfurt the night before we fly home. Home. It's weird to write that word, as I've been away from it so much these days, and I keep on daydreaming about being away from it so much. Is that wrong? I'd like to hope not. But I digress. My fingers don't hurt anymore, so I'm going to go back to playing guitar for the first time in a month.

March 13, 2006	01:30
It's been a few days since I last wrote, so I'll bring you up to speed here. On the 10th, we drove to Brussels. Sadly, the weather was reminiscent of home (read as: really, really awful), so we had a very limited walk that evening. The brief stroll took us to a grouping of alleys that were full of nice little restaurants, which was fabulous enough to go to two nights in a row. The next day, I went out in the morning for a little photographic expedition, and found a great little record store in the process. I picked up Massive Attack's Mezzanine, which I found to be very fitting, as I will be seeing them in 1.5 months.

March 9, 2006	21:19
As I know some will be curious about Death Cab's setlist, here's an incomplete sampling: Marching Bands of Manhattan Soul Meets Body The New Year Expo '86 (it's an awesome feeling to hear a song slightly related to Vancouver when you're 5,000+ miles away from home) The Sound of Settling Summer Skin Photobooth What Sarah Said Transatlanticism A Movie Script Ending I will Follow You Into The Dark Brothers On A Hotel Bed ...and a handful of others I can't remember Ben Gibbard also sang Happy Birthday to a girl in the front row. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen any band do for a fan. Today, we wandered around all over Amsterdam. Breakfast at a little canal-side café consisted of a pannokoek, which was amazing enough to put De Dutch to absolute shame. We then wandered aimlessly, finding a great postcard shop, a life-sized game of chess, and a busker impersonating The Mask. We also chilled out for an hour or so at a little local bar on the edge of the Red Light District, as well as a liquor store that sold Absinthe that was 92% alcohol. Wow. The Red Light District. More than a little awkward, strolling by hundreds of windows with prostitutes in them winking at you, while you're walking down the street with your parents. It's also the first time that I've ever experienced a sense of culture shock in Europe. I can only imagine what that area of town would be like right now. We're headed for Brussels tomorrow, and I can say that without any hesitation. We might even have a couple of Germans join us in a day or two, which is an incredibly exciting development. I'm also pushing for an excursion to the cliffs of Dover, if only for my immensely powerful historical interests. But, we will see.

March 9, 2006	01:34
That was indeed a crazy 24 hours. The initial plan was driving to Berlin, en route to Copenhagen. Mom then suggested we simply drive to Amsterdam instead. After looking it up online, we discovered that Dresden (which Dad and I estimated to be about an hour outside of Prague) was six hours from Amsterdam. It was around this time that I looked up concert listings in Amsterdam. I came to discover that Death Cab For Cutie had a show in Amsterdam on March 8. For those not in the know, I have been the victim of a terrible curse that has remdered me (and Julie, too, for that matter) unable to ever see Death Cab For Cutie live. Now, with a perfect opportunity to end this unfortunate curse, I vouched heavily in favour to push for Holland. We hit the pavement at 9.00, and raced for the German Autobahns. No racing was done, however; on the way to Dresden, we were caught stuck between many semi-trucks on little roads through the Czech countryside. As nice of a drive as it was, we didn't get into Dresden until about noon. Also, I forgot to mention that the German border police pulled us over for fifteen minutes, because that is apparently how long it takes a German to stamp three passports. At least I got another stamp out of the deal, right? Although two hours late, we started making really fabulous progress after a lunch break. I guess it's not too difficult to make up for lost time when you can legally drive at well over 200km/h. Not that we did, though, as we cruised at a paltry 170km/h. Regardless, things were going very well. Until we hit the Dutch border. We didn't get pulled over, but it was already 17.00, and we still had well over 200km left to drive. Not to mention that the doors for the Death Cab show opened up at 20.00, I had no ticket, and the show was most definitely already sold out. Oh, and I had no idea where the venue was. What a great situation! Then, we hit some really bad traffic. At 18.00. About 50km outside of Amsterdam. There was many an instant where we were at an absolute dead stop on the middle of the highway. Eventually, around 19.15, we got into the city, and after some creative driving-on-the-sidewalk manoeuvers, we arrived at the hotel (which, for the record, is amazing). Once we got settled, it was 19.40, so I had to book it to the Melkweg. It wasn't too bad of a walk; 20 minutes, and I was outside trying to find myself a ticket. I took a little "help me, I just drove for nine hours" sign to hold up before I got inside. An incredibly nice Dutch girl sold me an extra at around 20.45. As for the show, it was worth all of the effort. DCFC's setlist was Plans-heavy, but that's not at all surprising. I really could have lived without hearing Transatlanticism, though. Overall, an incredible show. I can hardly keep my eyes open anymore. So, goodnight, folks.

March 7, 2006	16:21
The drive to Bratislava was just amazing. Most of the way, we were on a two-lane country road that wound through some little Austrian villages. It was just quaint. It was also eventful crossing the border, as we all got stamps in our passports from the Austrian border guard. The weird thing was it's an exit stamp, so we'll see if it somehow affects our re-entering of Germany tomorrow. Bratislava seems beautiful, but in a very disorganised and dilapidated way. The government buildings and one of the bridges that takes you from the Slovakian border to the heart of Bratislava seem very beautiful and are fabulous examples of their respective architectural eras. But, the rest of the city still seems to be showing signs of its' former Soviet status. We planned on stopping in Bratislava for lunch, but we couldn't find a place (read as: my travelling companions didn't want to get out and look around for a place to eat on foot). So, we ended up stopping at a truck stop diner about fifteen minutes short of the border into the Czech Republic. It wasn't too exciting, except that Slovakia is amazingly cheap. How so, I hear you asking! Well, let me tell you in simple mathematic form: + Lunch for three + Beverages for three + A couple of bags of chips + Some chocolate supplies + Cough drops for mom + Gum = 15 Euros Pretty amazing, eh? The Czech countryside is less exciting than the Slovak countryside. Slovakia, from what we were able to see, is covered in vast forests, while the Czech Republic has lots of rolling hills and farmlands. It's a whole lot similar to driving through Alberta. Finally, Prague! It is, without a doubt, my favourite city on the planet thus far. It's very dark, romantic, and weathered. In fact, I think it's the unrestored black tint that most buildings have in this city that makes it so beautiful. We had a couple of hours to walk around after we arrived in Prague, so we walked across Karlovy Most (Charles' Bridge) and up towards Pražský Hrad (Prague Castle), at which point we turned back and found a little bar that was obviously full of the local crowd. Apparently, the Czechs are also big on Glühwein, which is most excellent news. Today, we walked around town with a local guide. She took us to a couple of synagogues first. One of them, called the Maisel Synagogue, has the names of tens of thousands of Jews that perished during the Holocaust written on the walls. Obviously, this takes up quite a few rooms. Dad and I found a couple of Nowaks listed on the wall, and it made us curious about possible Jewish heritage in our family. The sad part is that we'll probably never really know much about my family name's past. We also walked through Staromìstské Námìstí (Old Town Square), and explored a couple of nearby churches and alleyways. We also watched the Pražský Orloj (Prague Astronomical Clock) perform the "Walk of the Apostles," which is basically just a glorified cuckoo clock. It's a pretty ornate structure, and, if you know what to look for, you can tell what minute, hour, day, month, and astronomical sign it is at any given moment. Pretty impressive, I'd say. Random note: Prague is the best place to watch the snow fall. Other than the tour, which was awfully swell, Mom and I went back to Karlovy Most to do a little bit of shopping. You know, to get rid of some of our Czech Korunas. I bought five incredible cardboard-matted photos, another shot glass for the guys back home, and an Absinthe sampler pack (YES!). These bottles, which are all sampler shot sized and are all different brands) even have Thujone in them. And, as Alex will tell you, Thujone is the essential ingredient in Absinthe. I'm insanely stoked to break into this stuff. We have yet to decide where we'll drive to tomorrow. All we know is it will probably be in eastern Germany. Possible candidates include Dresden, Leipzig, and Berlin.

March 5, 2006	20:52
Today's guided tour was actually really great, I have to say. It was a local guide that drove us around all over Vienna for nearly four hours, and showed us a few places we probably wouldn't have seen either on our own or on some other kind of tour. Also interesting to note was that our guide had an impeccable knowledge base of the Canadian Southwest; he previously lived in Ketchican, Alaska, and made weekly trips into Vancouver. We had many a fun discussion about the Canucks, the Oilers of the 1980's, and Austrian ice hockey. He also told us about the last time before 2005 that the IIHF World Championships were in Vienna, and how he hung out with an amazingly drunk Phil Esposito. The best part was a hungover Team Canada went out on the ice the next day and won their game. If only our current Olympic team was capable of that... Tomorrow, we're leaving Vienna in the morning. We'll drive through Bratislava, just so we can say we've been to Slovakia. We'll probably stop in Slovakia for lunch or a coffee, before we venture into the Czech Republic, and spend a night (or two?) in Prague. Prague is the city that I've been looking forward to the most, so tomorrow ought to be nice. Auf wiedersehn.

March 5, 2006	12:02
Salzburg was a quaint little city. The population is about 145,000, which is relatively tiny for a city that was bidding for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I walked around some of the city's less scenic areas (and walked by about 30 sports bars in 10 minutes...Austrians certainly enjoy their sports betting), and then up and down the river than runs through the more historical areas of town. We went on a (sigh) city bus tour in the morning, which drove us by the main sights and squares, and we also stopped for two photo ops. The first was at someone's summer palace, which was used in the Sound of Music, and the second was a bright yellow castle in the countryside. That's another thing I should mention; that Austria seems to be amazingly proud of two things: - The Sound of Music - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Speaking of Mozart, there's a little museum inside of his apartment that we checked out (very quickly, I might add). Lunch was equally brief, and we hopped in our little roadster of a station wagon, and drove to Vienna. The first thing that I noticed about Vienna is how large it is. Then again, moreso than any other city I've been to, they seem really morally opposed to skycrapers. The only impressively tall building is a gothic cathedral a couple of blocks away from here. It's competing with the church I found in Bristol for the most beautiful building that I've ever seen. Tragically, there's advertising on one of its' towers. That's relatively disheartening. After dinner and a good discussion with Dad in the hotel bar, I went for a walk along a small river and through the Stadtpark. It was still snowing continually (it hasn't stopped since we entered Austria), and was just really magical to be in. Magical enough that I called a couple of friends (though, one had her phone off, and the other took eight thousand attempts to figure out who was calling), though I didn't really feel any better afterwards. As for today, we're doing a (sigh) guided tour of Vienna. At least it isn't in a bus this time.

March 3, 2006	14:50
I just wanted to write a quick message to say "hello, I'm in Liechtenstein!" So, uh, hello, I'm in Liechtenstein. We only stopped for about 45 minutes, as dad had a brief meeting. Mom and I strolled around Vaduz, which is roughly the same size as Cranbrook, by my poor estimate, anyway. We took a handful of photos of nearby houses, and some of the stunning nearby mountains. We're off to Salzburg tonight, which is about 380km away from Vaduz.

March 3, 2006	11:53
Yesterday, we drove into Zürich. It was a nice drive through the mountains, as everything was covered in snow. It started snowing again at one point. Quite heavily, in fact, for the last 80km into the city. The snow followed us all around the remainder of the day, and Zürich was practically under whiteout conditions for a few hours. We got into the city relatively early (13.30), so we had the chance to wander around for a few hours. We explored the "old town" area, looked at churches and bridges, and did a little bit of music shopping (I bought a chillout comp called Green Tea 3, and Miles Davis' Kind Of Blue...they love their lounge and jazz here), and window shopping/drooling at the Sprüngli chocolate shoppe. This morning, dad had a meeting, so mom and I went out for a stroll. We found a pop art gallery (if you're unfamiliar with pop art, then do my friend Grant a favour and check out his take on the genre: wiggz.com), which also had a large collection of 3D cells and comic art. It was pretty awesome. I also found a shirt for Chloé (not at the gallery, though), whom likes to live vicariously through tourist shirt stores that I visit on her behalf. Here's the vauge plan: brief stop in Vaduz, stay the night somewhere in Austria, and spend two nights in Vienna.

March 1, 2006	21:03
Another day has come and gone, and we're still in Montreux. Dad came down with a harsh cold or fly or something, so our drive to Zürich has been postponed for one day. I guess it was a bit of a blessing in disguise, though. It gave all three of us a chance to rest up. We've got a very vague route planned one so far. Tomorrow, to Zürich, where we'll spend the night. Then, onto Vaduz, Liechtenstein, but we don't know about spending the night. On through Austria, to Innsbruck and Vienna. Then, hopefully a stop in Prague. Then through eastern Germany (Dresden or Berlin, perhaps?). Our travel agent will be in Copenhagen quite soon, and we may try and meet up with her if we can. Also on the bubble is a venture into Amsterdam, and we'll wrap it all up with a definite visit to Hagen, and hang out with the Bild and Kinzius families. We fly out of Frankfurt on 15 March. I'm just excited that the road trip part is finally kicking into gear.

February 28, 2006	21:46
I think I've found my favourite bar in the world. It's more like a chill lounge on a cobblestone road on a hill. It's small, colourful, and candlelit. Oh, and I've been listening to some acid jazz on their stereo system the entire time. It's beautiful. It's called Il Baretto, and I now wish we were staying longer. Alas. Today. It was nice and relaxing, but we still got to explore the area surrounding Montreux. We walked along the lake for a little bit, and I bought a few postcards to write some friends with. We found a creperie, and stopped in for a lunch break. My crepe had some pureed apples and caramel in it, which is a pretty wonderful way to start the day. Mom had and even better start, though. Hers had some Grand Marnier in it. Talk about starting early! One more interruption about this fabulous little bar. Once I finished the previous paragraph, the bartender came over to talk with me. We talked about Montreux, and how it's an incredibly artistic little town. He suggested I come back here in July sometime, as the jazz festival is on during that month. It didn't take much to convince me, either! Montreux is just a beautiful little place, and all of the people I've encountered have just been beyond kind towards me. I love it. Maybe someday I'll end up back here. We'll see where life takes me. Back to what happened today. After our walk, we headed back to the hotel, where my parents took a little siesta. I wrote a postcard, and wandered around a little. Switzerland strikes me as the middle ground between modern North American ways and conveniences, and the old European traditions. On the same block, you can find a breathtaking cathedral from the 1500's and an Esso station. It's fast becoming one of my favourite countries for it's elegant and unobtrusive way of combining the best of both worlds. After the parentals awoke from their slumber and we had a pit stop at toe hotel bar, we hopped in our vehicle (a BMW 525...the perfect vehicle to spend sixteen days in), and drove aimlessly. We stopped very briefly in Villeneuve (I had to, uh, use the facilities), and drove on highway A11, which is a tiny and winding road that travels through the mountains around Aigle. Breathtakingly scenic as it was, it seemed like it was absolute hell to drive, and Dad understandably turned back after about 15 minutes. We stopped at the bottom of the mountain in the town of Aigle, and explored the area surrounding the wine museum. Disappointingly, the museum was closed, but we (mom and myself) still got some fabulous photos of the area, and what lengths (and terrains) the Swiss will go to in order to have a vineyard. After the drive back into Montreux, we stopped for dinner, which was very Germanic-Swiss, as opposed to the French-speaking area that we're currently staying in. Damned good, though, and getting us used to the artery-clogging cuisine we'll soon be bombarded with in Austria and Germany. One thing worth nothing! It snowed tonight! Quite heavily while I walked to the corner store, and heavier yet while I wandered around in search of a lounge like this. Sadly, it doesn't seem to have stuck to anything but the plants and trees. Anyhow, this has been a really fun and chilled out evening, and it's actually taken me a (spread out) two-hour time period to write this. Yeah. I love this place.

February 27, 2006	10:37
It's been far too long since I wrote, so I'll sum up everything quickly before I discuss yesterday. Hockey: two semifinals (Sweden beat the Czechs 7-3, the Russians lost to Finland 4-0), and the Bronze Medal Game (Czechs beat Russia 3-0). Time spent not watching hockey (aka. going to the bar): we went to a new place after the semifinals. The burgers were godly. We met a guy that looked like Jesus-gone-cowboy-gone-hockey fan. The weirdest part about his Iginla jersey was the part where he told us he's from Kitchener. I also met two swell ladies in Habs jerseys; one from Montréal, one from Ireland. Go figure. Brian and I closed the bar with them at 4.30. Me being on TV: on EuroSport for the Swedish semifinal. Saw that on the tube in the aforementioned bar Now, as for yesterday, it was pretty miraculous. Most importantly, Sweden won the Gold Medal, and it was spectacular to be inside the arena for that. Right after the game was over, Mats Sundin skated over into the corner that we were sitting in and motioned for me to come down. It turned out he wanted my flag! I gave it to him, and Sundin, Axelsson, Zetterberg, and Lundqvist carried it around on the ice. It was the flag the team held up in their team photo after they were awarded their medals, and we found a picture of Lundqvist holding it up in today's USA Today. The only bad thing is I never got it back! I watched it go into the dressing room. After a couple of minutes, Sweden's Mika Hannula came out with a few of his sticks in hand, and gave an obviously used one to me! That's not a bad souvenir, I'd say. After the game, we took the stick to the hotel, grabbed some food, and headed to the Closing Ceremonies. It was quite the spectacle, for sure: the theme was the Italian Carnevale, and had all sorts of weird and fascinating acrobatic performances, overwhelming pyrotechnics, and a fireworks display that could win the Celebration of Light. Interestingly, a man ran onto the stage during a speech by the Mayor of Turin, and yelled something relatively inaudible (save for "Torino!" at the end) into the microphone. He got taken down by security pretty quickly, though, and most in the crowd seemed to forget the incident pretty quickly. Another occurance of group hunger struck us around 11 at night, so we went to the newly-nicknamed "spaghetti place" for the third time, because nothing beats being served a plate of pasta within 15 seconds of sitting down. All four of us want to marry this woman. Onto today, which, sadly, is going pretty fucking awfully. It started when I had to wake up at five. That's never an enjoyable activity. All the while I'm getting ready to go, I'm being hurried along because someone forgot to tell me until 6.30 that our train was scheduled to leave at 7.00, not 7.30, as I originally thought. One of the people at the hotel was kind enough to give us a ride to Porta Nuova station, at least, so we didn't miss our train. The train ride was alright. It was extremely foggy, and thus not really anything to write home about. It at least gave me some time to consider how I can fill the rest of my time this year. More on that another time. Once we got into Milan for our 3.5 hour layover, things started to turn sour. After I grabbed a postcard to write Jaryt (the lady at the tobacco shop that I bought all of my postcards at gave me an extra stamp), I walked over towards a stairwell to sit down on and write. Five feet away from my prospective resting point, a man taps me on the shoulder and starts speaking in Italian. I turn away, because it seemed to me like he was asking for a cigarette. I understood one word he said, though: Polizia. This man in plain clothes whips a badge out of his pocket and seizes my passport, and escorts us off "to talk to the boy." So, five minutes into Milan, and I'm the subject of police interrogation. According to the man, their narcotics dog took quite a liking to me. So I got searched, as well as my bag, and they said goodbye. It was still relatively humiliating to be singled out like that, when the dog was nowhere near me. Later on, I have to go to the washroom. Oh, and pay toilets are all the rage in Italy. 0.70 Euros isn't too bad, so I'm not choked. I walk back to the place we're sitting (the only one in the station, at the absolute opposite end of the place), and after a couple of moments, I'm starting to feel a tad thirsty. I remembered seeing a vending machine right across from the entrance to the washroom, so I head over. Fanta's 1.20, and I've got 1.06. I walk back, get 20 cents from Dad, and walk back over. The last coin I put in the machine (the borrowed 20 cent piece) gets eaten. Great. I take my Euro back and go read the paper with Dad. Minutes later, my nose starts to bleed pretty harshly. It was bad enough that four napkins wasn't enough, and that I needed to wash my hands afterwards. Which I remembered is going to cost me 0.70 cents. There goes the rest of that one Euro I had. Hopefully, the train ride to Geneva is a little easier on me. Hopefully.

February 24, 2006	01:41
Yesterday was crazy. We woke up with tickets to the wrong games, and Brian found some available online for the Esposizioni games. We picked those up, and one of the security guards outside of the ticket office (the official one for these Olympics, mind you..and the other security guards told us that we weren't "authorised to re-sell" the tickets) followed us around the corner and told us he'd help us move the tickets, if he could. This was at 13.30 or so. Feeling relatively accomplished, we stopped for lunch. The security guards, as well as this guy Jeff (he found our Gold Medal Match tickets), called us a handful of times, but, much to our dismay,could not help us out. By the time we left, it was 15.00, and our game started at 16.30. Also of note, security lines usually take at least 20 minutes, and transit time to each arena is between 20 and 30 minutes from the Porta Nuova train station. We decided to hop in a taxi, drive to Palasport Olimpico, and sell the tickets to scalpers. We got completely ripped off (50% of face value), but we got the job done. Accomplished, though slightly strained in the wallet region, our cab driver took us to the rink about a half an hour before the opening faceoff. As for the hockey, it was half and half. Sweden destroyed Switzerland, but it was a pretty boring game, and Mattias Ohlund cracked a couple of ribs. A win is a win, though. The Canada game was definitely exciting. Lots of action. The crowd was absolutely electric. I had my picture taken with Melissa Hollingsworth (Canadian speed skater, won a Bronze here in Torino) and her medal. Pavel Bure and Eric Staal walked by me (at seperate times, of course). Sadly, another 2-0 loss. So, despite our insanity-filled day, it was all in vain. It's just a shame we lost in the Quarters, so there's no more Canadian games at all. There's always 2010, at least. Obviously, we went to the bar afterwards to drown our sorrows. And hey, we had something to celebrate! According to Steve, it was Dad's 29th birthday. Lucky him. We all stayed late, but I left "early" (02.30) to take random night-time photos. I also talked with Kate, and we're kicking around ideas for a road trip to the Rockies. Or California. We're not too sure just yet. Now, onto hockey! It was pretty low-key. I woke up at 14.30, and I only woke Dad up because our shower is noisy. The four of us wandered around for a while, and went to the Egyptian Museum. There were a couple of really cool rooms, including one that was really dark with a large amount of mirrors, and had spotlights on a bunch of huge stone carvings and statues. I took a whole load of photos inside there. We strolled around the little alleys and whatnot for a while, and got a little lost at one point. We regrouped, and found the Museum of the Holy Shroud. For the non-religious types/the uninformed, the shroud is the blanket that Jesus was wrapped in after he was crucified, and, unusually enough, a somewhat clear imprint of his body and facial expression remain on the cloth. The video was pretty heavy stuff, analysing the injuries he sustained in relatively gruesome yet scientific detail. Slightly mortifying, if you ask me. After that, we went for dinner. Brian ordered a one litre mug of Coke. Twice. It was pretty amazing to watch. Everyone else wanted an early night, so they went to bed. I wrote a postcard and went for a walk. And now, I'm going to head to bed. Men's semifinal tomorrow!

February 22, 2006	01:52
Sorry about that. A hell of a finish tonight. Russia won 5-4 in a game that was pretty much a "last shot wins" kind of a third period. Absolutely crazy. Back to that Gold Medal Game. The absence of the United States really detracted from the atmosphere, because, let's face it: there isn't a better general sporting rivalry than Canada and the States. It was still great to be there, and to see all of the hardware handed out to the women's teams. We hoped the women's victory would spark the men's team, and sure enough... Canada played the Czech Republic today, and jumped out to a huge 3-0 lead in the first period. Pronger's cannon of a shot was the hardest I've ever seen; I don't think anyone was actually able to see the puck in mid-air. It took the crowd a good second or two to notice that it was in the back of the net. On with the essential name dropping, all of which occured yesterday: Teemu Selanne: he was shopping in the Nike store, and we all shook hands and congratulated him on kicking our country's ass. Kelly Hrudey: thumbs up while walking down the street. Marty Turco: he was in front of us in the beer line before the Gold Medal Game. Got a whole load of it, but unsure if it was all for himself. He was understandably pissed off about not getting the start today, but, to be fair, Brodeur stood on his head today. We mentioned to Turco that we're from Vancouver, and he mentioned that Bertuzzi thinks he knows how to beat Marty. Marty's not so sure of that. In other news, we did some shopping today. I picked up a keychain and a sweet Juventus toque (yellow, white, and black, with a black and white pom pom on the top). I also wrote a postcard to Sam from the steps of a church. I just hope all of these things make it home. As for tomorrow, we're kind of fucked. The two games at Palasport that we have tickets for? Finland and the United States, and Czech Republic versus Slovakia. That's great hockey and all, but I'd much rather see Canadian and Swedish victories tomorrow. I guess we'll see...

February 21, 2006	22:03
Relatively uneventful day yesterday, save for the hockey game. Canada and the Sta...er, I mean Sweden for the Women's Gold Medal. There were probably a thousand empty seats due to the fact that the Swedes beat the States. Okay, game time. USA and Russia. Third period.

February 20, 2006	01:16
Alright. Where was I? So, after all of that mess, we got on the bus to head on over to Palasport Olimpico for the game between Suomi and Ceska Republika. Much to our dismay, the bus was packed with chanting and screaming Swiss guys. We didn't have to stay on that bus for long, thankfully. The next bus was more fun; we hung out with a group of Slovakians that were just as shocked about our loss as we were. And they shared some moonshine with us. Slovakian #1: Want some? It's special "99%" water. Dad: No, thanks. Slovakian #2: Hey, didn't Canada lose to the Swiss? Slovakian #1: Want some? Dad: Please. The Czech/Finn game was really entertaining. We talked with a guy from Riga for a while, which was a bunch of fun. The greatest part was Jarkko Ruutu's hit on Jagr. Sure, it was dirty, but you've gotta love a guy with the courage to step up and toss one of the game's best players into the boards like that. On the train afterwards, I met a girl from Delta, and her boyfriend from New Brunswick. They invited us to come to the pub with them, so one stop after they got off, we hopped off the bus to go party with some fellow Canadians. A good time was had by all, and I met tons of awesome people from all over the country. I even got the email address of the Delta girl, so I made a new friend. Now, considering the fact that we got back at around four in the morning after far too many drinks, I declared today "give the liver a break" day. I actually came straight back to the hotel after the game tonight 'cos I wasn't up for an evening of barhopping with the guys. We laid relatively low today. Left the room at one, went for lunch, and went to our bus stop. It started to snow, and it was just awe-inspiring to see all of this stunning old architecture behind huge, white snowflakes. It was almost romantic in a way (in my head, at least), so I tossed on some Weakerthans and slipped into a momentary lapse of missing home. It didn't last for long, though. First game of the day today was Sverige and the United States, in which the Swedes squeaked by, 2-1. Dad and I were the only people cheering for Sweden in our entire section, and cheering against the crowd is always a great feeling. Oh, and it seems I gave Torino Espozioni an unfair first evaluation. We walked around the back entrance, which has a massive fountain outside of it, and, in the snow, it was just magical to look at. Back to hockey. Reluctantly, anyway. The Finns shut us out, 2-0, and now I'm relatively worried. I at least met another swell person. A girl from Ottawa ended up sitting right behind a man with a large, orange afro, and had to find another empty seat. She robbed the seat next to me, which was actually part of the "guests of honour" section, so we ended up talking to some people there with Team Finland, and she got a photo with Jason Spezza. The people you meet here... Women's gold medal game tomorrow night!

February 19, 2006	16:41
I've got a good twenty minutes before the Sverige and United States game starts, so... Yesterday was the first game for us at Torino Espozioni. It's kind of like the arena in Ogden; massively primitive, but totally European. We saw Canada play Suisse, and I still can't believe what I saw. 2-0 for the Swiss. It's not that Canada played poorly (49 shots, including a shot advantage of 24-1 in the third), it's just that Martin Gerber was a hero. It was incredible to watch, and Swiss fans were going absolutely nuts. After the game, I lost Dad for about a half of an hour. The staff were incredibly unhelpful, and the police wanted to arrest me. Then a couple of volunteers helped me out, and called his cell for me (mine ran out of minutes). I actually saw one of them on the way inside to this game, and we shook hands and said hello. I haven't seen the English girl that helped me find him, though. The game's about to start, so I'll write more later.

February 17, 2006	18:18
Today was one of two days off here in Torino, and it was pretty swell. The best part was the one where I slept in until noon. We went to lunchm and downed a bottle of wine and some wicked Italian cuisine. Dad had to head back to the hotel to get some work done, so I ventured out on my own for the afternoon. A sunny winter day in Torino is one of the most beautiful things you'll ever see. I was doubting the location of the games before we got here, but they certainly picked a winner in Torino. I stopped in at Piazza Carlo Emmanuelle II to sit in the sun and write a postcard. I also went for a walk along the Po River, went to Piazza Gran Madre, and found the Vancouver 2010 village. It was a beautiful walk all around. I went to an Olympic souvenir store to get a couple of posters for my room. I had to wait a good 15 minutes to be helped, because the staff of eight couldn't communicate with a couple of Slovakians. The staff spoke Italian, English, French, Spanish, and German, while the Slovaks spoke only their native tongue. The lady that helped me laughed with me about it afterwards. She asked where I was from, and she said that she checked out the 2010 village, and thinks Vancouver looks "amazing." It's not everyday when people from across the globe that you meet in northern Italy are telling you how excited they are to see your hometown on the world stage. That's about it for now.

February 17, 2006	01:29
First of all, let me tell you about that Latvia game last night. Dad didn't believe me when I said that the Latvians are the greatest fans in hockey. They're loud, they can drink every other hockey nation under the table, and they're the most supportive and happy-go-lucky bunch of people that I've ever seen. These people fought for so much as a country, and now they're just proud to be themselves wherever they go. Besides, their President (a woman!) was at the game, and it really motivated the team and the crowd. How wicked is that? The game was great. It was a 3-3 draw, but for the Latvians, it felt like Olympic gold. I swear we saw some of them filing out of the bar this afternoon... Speaking of this afternoon, we finally got a chance to explore the city. Kind of. We only had about a half hour's worth of exploration time, but it was nice and sunny outside, so I was able to take some great pictures. We stopped in for lunch at some Chinese place for lunch. Dad ordered some red wine, and I ordered a beer. What Dad got was a bottle of local red, and I got a bottle of Tsingtao that was the same size of Dad's bottle of wine. Nice! The food was equally great to boot. Definitely going to head back there before we leave. First game of the day was Sweden and Russia, which I really don't want to talk about at all. Russia won 5-0. After that was the Canada and Germany game. You know, the one that Carsten bet my Mom money on? Yeah, he lost his 25 bucks. Canada won 5-1, in a highly convincing fashion. That game was full of meeting fun people; a random German man wearing a Canadian flag, a couple of girls from Nanaimo that borowed Dad's phone, a father-and-son duo from Calgary (complete with Calgary Flames attire). Those guys (well, the father...the son was about 12) were fun. We talked about the NHL, made fun of a Leafs fan for getting turned away at the gate (it never gets old), and talked about how weird it felt to cheer for Iginla and Bertuzzi at the same time. We ended up sitting next to a couple from Denver, and this is an actual conversation excerpt: Me: You've gotta watch for Bertuzzi. He was all over the place yesterday against Italy. Man from Denver: Isn't he the one that broke Steve Moore's neck? Guy on Canadian National Rugby team, in Row 5: Well, that was unfortunate, but... It was all in the delivery. I guess you had to be there. Oh, and also, we sat next to and chatted with TSN's James Duthie, and Catriona Le May Doan (former Canadian Olympic speed skater) stepped on my foot and apologised profusely. Nice! To close it off, we went to the spectators lounge (read as: party tent) after to watch some fellow Canadians party. No schmoozing was done on my part, though, 'cos nothing is weirder than partying in front of family. I swear the girl that wasn't wearing a shirt was 16, though. Yikes. Yeah, just a normal day at the Winter Olympics...

February 15, 2006	16:30
Canada's off to a great start, albeit a little slow. The first period was amazingly close, and the Italians had the game tied at 1-1 for a couple of intense moments. The Italian fans were loads of fun, and were chanting and cheering their team on the entire game, and probably enjoyed their first 25 stunning minutes of play. Palasport Olimpico is even more beautiful than it looks on television. For those that are wondering, the seats are clear plastic, which looks amazing when the arena is relatively empty. Everything is very sleek and modern, and is in a great location: next door to the Olympic Stadium. We're going to attempt to watch the closing ceremonies there in a couple of weeks. It's also relatively easy to get around here. A couple of blocks away, there's a bus stop. Take the number 4 line tram (yes, streetcars...I didn't think any country in the world still used them seriously as public transit), and after twenty minutes, we're outside the stadium. Pretty nicely done. As for yesterday, we really didn't do much. We walked up Via Garbialdi, which is a big shopping street here in Turin that terminates at the Medals Plaza. Everything is pretty conveniently located for us, too. The Sponsors Village is across the street, and everything we need (read as: postcards, gelato, and liquor) is really close by. We're going to play around with our new Italian cell phone, and head off to tonight's game with Latvija and the United States. And, on a closing note, I would like to state that my dad's Italian isn't making much progress. No matter how many times we enter a restaurant or a store, he still doesn't know what to do when the sign on the door says "spirenge". I will keep you abreast of any developments.

February 14, 2006	12:49
This has been a pretty star-studded day, and we're not even in Turin yet. We shared a plane with Jarkko Ruutu, Sami Salo, and Miikko Koivu, and, because I have no shame, I got them to sign my boarding pass. Also, Jim Hughson of Canucks broadcasting fame was in the international terminal in Vancouver. I haven't seen him since, though. Oh, and I think part of the Kazakh and Russian men's teams are on my flight now. Crazy.

February 7, 2006	20:59
I'm on the plane, on my way to Vancouver. Dad was pleasantly surprised to see me join him for the flight home. He's up in business class, and I'm in good old row 34, third from the back. Nice. The CBC newscast on the plane just now added to my political fire today. I saw the headline "Haiti election" and frantically stopped listening to Rage Against The Machine to listen. I missed the profile of one of the candidates, but I caught the part in which Aristide was referred to as the sole reason for Haiti's problems (precisely why he had such amazing support among Haitians, right?). Oh, and that Canadian forces had assisted in forming a "just" police force. Yeah, I'm sure. Whatever happened to the idea of impartial press? Six days until Turin, folks.

February 7, 2006	14:28
I'm pretty furious right now. I just walked by Parliament. There was one old man and a woman standing by the water fountain out front. They've ben there every day with anti-abortion signs, which I can tolerate, as it's not such a sensitive issue for me. One of their signs today, though, really pissed me off. "The only gay marriage is the one between a man and a woman." They also had a bunch of fundamentalist propaganda that they were trying (and failing) to hand out. Disgusting. Are we reverting to the dark ages, when Canada wasn't one of the more forward-thinking nations of the world, but rather making the United States under, oh, let's say Reagan, look like a bunch of left-wing whistleblowers? Surely I can't be the only one worried about this sudden conservatist movement. The status of gay marriage was a sense of pride; it made me excited and proud about my citizenship and this country's future. And now? Parliament Hill is covered, inside and out, with people aimed towards maintaining the marriage of church and state. Is it any surprise that I'm listening to Propagandhi right now? I think I'm going to go snag another record before I head out of Ottawa.

February 7, 2006	11:55
Yesterday was relatively leisurely (eventually). I started out walking along the Rideau Canal, which was again closed. After a while of walking into the wind (which felt like -20, according to the idiot box), I was unable to take anymore, so I stumbled into an internet café. This was around 2.30, and, just for kicks, I checked to see if there were tickets to the game available. Sure enough, one amazing seat behind the Penguins bench. I grabbed some Halal food before I took the bus to the Corel Centre. Halal food in Ottawa is like Japanese food in Vancouver, or Indian food in London. Damn good stuff. I couldn't believe my eyes when I sat down in my seat. I was in the second row directly behind the hallway that the Penguins walk out of. Marc-Andre Fleury certainly made a game of it for a while. Pittsburgh jumped out to an early lead, and Fleury turned away 17 of 18 shots in the first. He also made some saves that would make Pavel Bure sweat. The Senators won 5-2. On the bus ride home, Dad gave me a call to offer some play-by-play from the Vancouver/Columbus game. By the time I got off the bus, it was 4-0 for the good guys. I thought I'd get the chance to watch the game at Don Cherry's, but they close at 11 on Monday nights. Lame! So I went back to the internet café to listen to the game online. At one point, Columbus got stopped on a breakaway, and I joked to my dad that this was the start of the comeback. Sadly, I called it. Columbus made it 4-3 in the third, but the Canucks got another one before we left. I see Vancouver held on, 7-4. On a non-hockey related note (a rarity these days, I know), I began planning a trip to China with Jared. It looks like we'll be gone from June 1 - 25, starting in Beijing, travelling through Tibet, and down to Hong Kong. Matt and I are also attempting to nail down details to go to Coachella, and I also need to talk with Brett about going to San José to take part in a home-and-home series with the Sharks. Not to mention I leave for a month in six days. Crazy times, children. Crazy times. Tonight will be pretty fun. I'm connecting via Toronto, and so does my dad. The best part is he has no idea that I'm on his flight home, so it should be a good surprise. Oh, and I found that I'm addicted to this coffee shop. Whenever I come back, I'll have to stop by for another visit.

February 5, 2006	23:33
I think I twisted my ankle. Again. But regardless, today was a whole lot better than yesterday. It started off a little slow. The Canal was closed again today, so I didn't leave until 12.30. I grabbed some lunch, and just started walking down Sussex Drive, to the Prime Minister's residence. I ended up turning off of Sussex and promptly getting lost. I walked by twenty embassies or so, and some of them seemed really fitting. For instance: Sweden: directly upstairs from a bar United States: a military fortress France: dark, sleek, modern United Kingdom: ancient little house Dominican Republic: modest, pastels Norway: big ski lodge on a hill Saudi Arabia: eerie, expensive looking Iraq: looks like a grow-op; broken gate, back door was wide open On my way back into town, it started snowing and the wind really picked up, so I stopped in at the Carisse Studio Café (the place I went to yesterday) and I ended up having a great conversation with the owners for a couple hours. One of the owners, Jean-Marc Carisse, was the official photography of the office of the Prime Minister during the Trudeau and Chretien years. I ended up getting his coffeetable book, which he signed, and I talked to them about my travels and photography, so they're going to check out the site. After that, I was feeling a lot better about this trip. I went to rest the feet/call home/watch the first quarter of the Super Bowl, and, because it's so addicting, I went for sushi across the street again. A trip to the internet café made me realise how busy I'm going to be when I get home. Will I have time to sleep? Stay tuned. Oh, I went for a photography excursion tonight. All of the ice carvings are finished, so I took some photos of them. And some long exposure pictures of the street. It was pretty successful, I have to say. Sens game tomorrow! It's sold out, but I'm going to make sure I've got some cash on hand.

February 5, 2006	00:17
And, once again, the Canal is closed. According to tinght's news, it will also be close tomorrow. The day started off well enough. There was a pancake breakfast going on outside of City Hall, and the best part was it was free. At least something's gone my way here... I wandered over to Gatineau to buy some Southern Comfort (Tyler's drinking habits are influencing mine), and simply explored the Québec side of the river. I found a beautiful park, and some neat old buildings. I also went to the Museum of Civilisations, and promptly remembered why I don't like museums. There was a neat exhibit about the history of ice skating, though. I stumbled upon a great little coffeeshop pretty much across the street from the American Embassy (which, by the way, is a hugely intimidating fortress). They have a nice collection of political and musical photography. It was pretty swanky. Awesome cheesecake, too. After that, I explored the Bywater Market area, which is full of some neat stores, restaurants, and, tragically, a slough of swell looking pubs. Soon enough... I decided to head on over to where all of the ice carving was going on, and part way there, it started hailing. Yes, hail. I called Chloé, but that just made me wish I was at home even more, which was just what I was looking for, really. After it started raining really heavily, I headed back here, to my hotel room, where I am cold, wet, lonely, and relatively miserable. Let's hope for a better finish to this week...

February 4, 2006	00:25
Alright, now I've got some time to talk. So, after the phone call, I went to the Korean restaurant across the street from the hotel. It was pretty swell, even though lunch leaned towards being Japanese. A regrouping session led me to go with an artful afternoon. First up was the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, which was pretty small. Only two rooms of exhibits, but both of which had some great shots. My favourite was a grouping of "collages" of pictures from the photographer's trip to Iceland. He'd gone two different times, taken shots of the same places, photoshopped them together, and pixelated various portions of the images. Really neat. After that, I went over to the National Gallery of Canada, which is a mammoth of a building. I got there two hours before closing, and left five minuets after. The highlight was a temporary exhibit called Blinded By Science. It had one piece called H2O, which was just a dark room with a laser shining through a droplet of water, and some amazing laboratory photography. At some point, you have to get in touch with home, so I called dad, mom, and Jaryt, the latter of which lives to see Aerosmith in April. Despite the rain, I headed down to where all the ice sculptures were being carved, and took a couple shots, as some were already finished. Around the corner, I went to watch Tom Cochrane play, which wasn't too bad. I found an internet café, and got re-excited about Coachella. Tool, Sigur Rós, Carl Cos, Coheed, Depeche Mode, The New Amsterdams, and Franz Ferdinand are good enough, but I didn't notice until tonight that Daft Punk will be there. Which fucking rocks. Matt is ordering tickets tomorrow. Nice! Most importantly, I went to Don Cherry's to watch the Canucks play the Flames. Oh wait, I mean rip the Flames apart. Yes! Good way to end a day. Tomorrow? Attempt two to skate.

February 3, 2006	22:55
Today was slightly frustrating. Instead of snowy weather and ice skating, it was filled with rain and art galleries. The forecast had called for near freezing and flurries, but I woke up thinking I was in Vancouver. So obviously, the Canal was covered in puddles, and unfit to skate on. The upside was that it started snowing a couple hours ago, and the weather channel is calling for snow every day until I leave. So, hopefully that works for me tomorrow. As for today, it's been pretty eventful. I found an awesome record store, and picked up Hüsker Dü's Zen Arcade on wax. Then Chloé called to tell me that the rain was karma calling. I'll finish this off later. Canucks game is back on.

February 2, 2006	18:01
So. Much. Walking. The pain in my legs resembles the day where I practically circled Madrid on foot. Twice. In the same day. We landed in Ottawa around 10 in the morning. They've got a really nice airport. Really sleek and modern looking, which is kind of funny when you realise that most of their flights are to Toronto, Halifax, and Iqaluit. Go figure. So I took a cab to my hotel (yeah, Econolodge!), and noticed that I can have some fun meals while I'm here (Korean, Indian, Vietnamese, and East African...all within two blocks). I also got to the hotel at 11; a full three hours before check-in time. The guy was nice, and said it was slow today, so the room was ready. I promptly headed out. At noon. So yeah, a pretty full day. I wandered around Bank Street, Confederation Boulevard (ironically, on the Québec side, the road is covered in Bloc Quebecois posters). I would also like to mention that I explored Gatineau (not Hull), and only found a liquor store, which I guess is great news. I also took 90ish photos. How I ended up doing that (along with walking nearly 10km) is beyond me. All I know is that my feet are absolutely killing me. And considering I'm going for a 14km skate tomorrow, I probably ought to go get some sleep. I'm (kind of) functioning on under an hour right now, and this is taking great personal effort to stay awake. Off to the hotel I go!

February 2, 2006	07:20
Three hour layovers suck. Equally as much as being sick while on the move. The evening started with about three martinis in quick succession, which fueled a big discussion about socialism, and how I have the aura of a musician. The ride to the airport was pretty fun, too. We brought Shanny (my 10-year old cocker spaniel, for the uninformed), and listened to a mixtape I made for Patricia that contains a bunch of songs that remind me of all the places I've seen this year. Inside the airport was relatively eventful, too. I'd never used one of those self check-in machines before, and Chloé gave me a call, so I talked to her until I hopped on the plane. I just want to let you know that this was interesting mainly because I barely noticed the plane taking off and landing. That was kind of weird. I killed some time like most people would; by taking pictures of escalators and directional signs, and getting a veggie omelette. Oh, and I texted Julie back and forth for a little while. Does that girl ever sleep? I'm going to go take more pictures of waiting areas.

January 29, 2006	13:12
This was my brief outing to Victoria. It was nice to hang out with Alex again, and we had some fun. First, we went to see a film at Victoria's indepdendent film fest. It was called Lie With Me, and was definitely the most sexually-charged film I've ever seen. It's about a girl that's addicted to sex, and refuses to believe in love. She then finds it, and bad things happen. It was really well done, and wasn't just glorified pornography. After that, we found a record store and I bought some goodies. I found a rare BT promo 12" for Love Peace and Grease, a Deep Dish 12" for The Future of the Future (Stay Gold), and a Moby 12" with a few mixes of Run On and the radio version of Honey. Pretty stoked about my finds. Dinner was swell. We went to a German place with a couple of Alex's friends from school. Alex and I both ordered this huge sampler plate that I couldn't even finish. It was damn good, though. We're going to go there when Alex is 19, because they sell beer by the boot. Yes, by the boot. It's an amazing amount of beer, let me tell you. We went cruising around Oak Bay last night, and again this morning before I left, and I'm pretty envious. Oak Bay is what White Rock used to be; a beautiful area on the ocean, untouched by corporate bullshit. Oh, and a lot of old people. We drove out to this lookout point to take some photos and walk along the seawall. It was pretty gorgeous. Well, save for the part where, as soon as I parked, over 100 pigeons surrounded the car. Scary. Anyhow, I'm on the ferry, headed back home. And I'm going to Ottawa in a couple of days. Busy, busy, busy.

January 27, 2006	13:15
If there was one trip I was hoping I wouldn't make tihs year, this was it. Yesterday was my great grandmother's funeral. She was 97 years old. The most humbling (is that the word I'm looking for?) part of the entire day was that I was one of the six pallbearers. The great grandchildren that were men did the honours. It was great to get the chance to honour her memory like that, but still heartbreaking that she's gone. I found it a little odd that I only almost cried once. Before the friends of Bab's showed up, the casket was open for viewing for the family. It was difficult to see her lying there, and I was nearly bawling when Granny turned to me to mention how peacefully her mother was sleeping. It wasn't a completely downer of a trip, though. Cousin Brian got to drive a limosuine after the graveside service, and polishing off enough wine to float a boat with the men of the family is always tons of fun. And Jared and I got a chance to take some photos of some wine glasses and eachother's cameras. It should be a fun time when Jared comes over in April for a few days. I'm really looking forward to that.

January 19, 2006	00:41
Well, this is it. The dying hours of my trip. As usual (or maybe not as usual), I don't really want to leave. In fact, I wish I'd gotten a way longer train pass, so I could've seen Glasgow, Liverpool, and the hole in the wall town that's right by Stonehenge. Some other time, perhaps. I had a bit of a shopping excursion today. I bought a shirt for Chloé (though, she'd already given me money for it), a huge sushi takeaway dinner, and a couple of records (a Stereophonics 7", and Violator on LP). And I ended up spending only £10 more than I'd physically brought over with me. I went from the 15th through now on only £80. That's not too bad, considering how much I drank (and ate, but mostly drank), and how many stamps and postcards I had to get. The train journey was pretty long today, and the weather wasn't so hot, either. I took a train from Exmouth to Exeter St. Dav