Month: July 2006

A Metallica Morning

My musical tastes run the gamut. The sublime includes Gregorian Chants, Baroque music, and ethereal soaring symphonies.

But I was raised in a small town in the BC interior. Metallica is in my blood.

Oh, you may try and deny your Metallica-ness, but you know it’s there. It’s the one that makes you want to drive fast on the 280 between San Mateo and Sand Hill Road. The one that sees you doing the rocker salute and hair-wave when the kids are out. The one that makes do those 10 extra reps at the gym.

I thought Motorhead and AC/DC could soothe the beast.

No hope.

Out comes Kill ‘Em All.

Now, all I need is a very fast car.

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Canada: Community Recreation Centres — Another Reason Canada is Better

In Canada, the norm is to have a community recreation centre, usually with a pool, an arena and a curling rink.

In the parts of the US where we have lived, community pools are almost unheard of. Private fitness clubs are the only places with pools, other than private homes.

This explains why my seven year-old still can’t swim.

While in Victoria, we have been able to enjoy

All of these locations have VERY reasonably priced swim sessions, as well as public lessons and swim teams.

And in Massachusetts and California? Well, I think that if you are privileged enough to live in Sudbury, MA or Palo Alto, CA, you might have access to a public pool.

Oh yeah, how’s that Protestant Work Ethic thing working out for you?

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Canada: Mother

I visited my mother on this trip to Canada.

To some, this would seem like a natural. However, my relationship with my mother has been strained over the years for a number of reason which I won’t get into here.

I was glad that my youngest brother and his family were there as well, or I would have cut and run a lot sooner than we did. This trip reminded me that my brothers are my family, despite the feelings I may have for (or against) my mother.

It’s always your relationship with your parents that make life interesting. They shape you, twist you, bend you, and sometimes break you. For me, the goal has been to try and escape the orbit my mother’s gravity pulls me toward. I see a lot of her in myself, and it scares the hell out of me. I know that I have to work hard to try and be my own person; but the baggage of my upbringing and genetics makes it a hard slog sometimes.

Seeing her reminded me that I have to continue to work, struggle against the pull, escape the potential disaster.

Canada: Final thoughts on an epic trip

This trip home has been an eye-opener. It has reminded me why I want to call myself Canadian, and live in this country.

There is a flow here. A bounce. A knowledge that we are NOT as doomed as the United States is. Canada is not crippled by a devastating and useless war, a moralistic and divisive leadership, or a fatalistic sense of empire.

Even in the middle of nowhere, I knew I was in another place. A place where things get done. Slowly, but they do get done. A place where people all understand that there is a lot more to the world than navel-gazing introspection and misplaced imperialism. The world is a place to celebrate, not conquer.

Canada is home. The United States is the place I reside.

The next five years are going to be very interesting. And I know what side of the 49th Parallel I want to be on.

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Victoria: Back after a marathon

We made it back to Victoria yesterday, after a 14-hour marathon drive across Southern BC. I can’t think of a place I would rather be right now.

Yesterday was a six-summit day.

  • Salmo-Creston | Kootenay Pass (1774m)
  • Nancy Greene (1575m)
  • Paulson (1535m)
  • Anarchist (1233m)
  • Sunday Creek (1284m)
  • Allison Pass (1342m)

By the time we rolled into Hope, Samantha was ranting that she never wanted to see another twisting mountain road again.

Two days to rest, then off to Seattle and back “home”.

Oh, and did I mention that the plunge into Osoyoos still scares the bejeezus out of me?

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BC: Hotel Avoidance Warning — Travelodge Merritt

We stayed at the Travelodge Merritt last night. A word of advice: don’t.

Pillows that were non-existent…errr, wafer-thin.

Ice machines that didn’t work.

Unheated pool (try about 75F — the boys were freezing in 10 minutes).

Breakfast? Sure, as long as you eat it in their cramped and soulless breakfast room, not your room. And selection was Superstore muffins and still-frozen bread.

Staff needs some hospitality

Avoid this place if at all possible. Please.

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