Ruminations on a trip to Canada

[Cartooniverse]

I spent most of last week in Canada. Thunder Bay is a beautiful little town that is perched on the rim of absofuckinglutely nothing to the north. ( This comes from the nice lady at Frank's Laundromat. :D ). Apparently between Thundery Bay and Hudson's Bay to the north are bear, moose and black flies the size of a 1959 Volkswagen.

The town is sweet and clean, the people friendly and inviting. Stagehands can be the surliest folks on earth, but the stagehands in Thunder Bay were fun and professional and inviting. What a treat to visit that place.

I missed seeing a few moose that our tour coach apparently sped by. Pity, that. The tiny hamlet of Porquois Junction ( Just outside of Iriquois Falls ) was filled with fairly drunken music fans. We worked a venue that is an ice hockey rink for most of the year. ( Based on how darned far north we were, I suspect that there is a lot more hockey than live music at this place ! ).

I've never been groped when working in a crowd, but my god I was that night. It's amusing and unnerving and ultimately somewhat distasteful. I knew I was being groped by beer and a woman, not by a woman. ( she was no lady. trust me. :eek: )

Ottowa is just so pretty. Pity we didn't have a day off, I would have loved to have explored the place.

I get to see London and Windsor in the coming week or so. Can't wait. What a lovely place !!

Cartooniverse

[Larry Mudd]

Ottowa is just so pretty.*I will pass on the opportunity to make a lame joke that plays on a Canadian stereotype*

I'm glad you had a good time, man. I enjoyed my stay in Thunder Bay, too.

Of course, I was very drunk at the time.

[Cartooniverse]

That was you ??

[Polycarp]

I'm just enjoying the vision of Cartooniverse doing a karaoke cover of Neil Young's "Helpless": "There is a town in north Ontario...." :D

[Sunspace]

When you pass through Sault Ste. Marie, say hi to my sister, eh? :)

[Cartooniverse]

I'm just enjoying the vision of Cartooniverse doing a karaoke cover of Neil Young's "Helpless": "There is a town in north Ontario...." :D


My god. He is prescient !!!! We watched "The Last Waltz" on the tour bus one evening. There was Neil Young, singing that song. Heh. Heh heh. You're watching me, aren't you? :eek:

( I do a fair Neil Young, and would in fact karaoke that tune given a half a chance and a half pint )

Sunspace, we got stopped cold at the border in that town. The power blew out last week, but the Border Crossing has it's own genny ( of course ). Seems our driver had a history of felony convictions for things like gun possession, etc. It looked like a lovely little town. That was the Sault St. Marie you were referring to, wasn't it ?

I head back tomorrow, and cross into Canada on Saturday morning for a Saturday night show in Windsor, then on to London, then out again. Can't wait. :)

[Leaffan]

So Cartooniverse, you're a stand-up comic, I presume?

[Rysdad]

Back in my travel agent days I was awarded a free roundtrip from Minneapolis to Thunder Bay on Bearskin Airlines, $100 Canadian dollars, and free ski lift passes.

In January.

I never left the hotel. It was -20 degrees when I got there. I gave the lift passes to some Canadians I met at the hotel bar as well as drinking up the hundred bucks with them.

Best as I can recall, Thunder Bay is friendly, but blurry.

[Northern Piper]

You're from the Twin Cities of Hypothermia and Frostbite, and you let a little -20 weather bother you?!?