Travel Blog: Day 14

Has it really only been 2 weeks? It has started to feel like an eternity. A comfortable eternity. I actually just got back Victoria a couple of hours ago.

I travelled to Victoria yesterday with Kevin to commemorate BC Day on the steps of the BC Legislature. What do we call this holiday in Ontario? Simcoe Day? The Civic Holiday? Regardless, this is the 150th anniversary of BC's existence, so there was a huge celebration for the sesquicentennary (sp?). Stephen Harper was present, alongside the BC Premiere. The main impetus for going to Victoria was to see Feist, who was headlining the evening's performances. Sarah McLaughlin and Burt Cummings (The Guess Who) also played during the day.

If you were wondering, yes, Feist is eccentric, if not downright weird. Her performance was quite artsy, and not the best possible selection for this type of crowd, especially since most are only familiar with her one hit. But it was a great night, capped off by NO FIREWORKS! I simply don't understand that. You have this massive celebration on a public holiday, thousands, literally tens of thousands of people are out for this great event, and there were no fireworks. Quite the unclimactic finish to the evening, but a great show none the less.

Oh, and I got to see Devin. Woot! Going back to Victoria on Saturday morning for about 10 days.

Travel Blog: Day 4

July 26

Spent the last 2 days down at the Rexall Edmonton Indy, the only Canadian stop on this year's IRL race schedule.  And what a weekend of racing it has been.  The crowds were great, the weather was great, the on track performances were great.  In today's main event, Paul Tracy, the Thrill from West Hill, finished in 4th, in his first race in the newly unified circuit. Gotta love PT.

Also got to see Frankie Muniz, yes that's right, Malcolm in the Middle, driving in the Atlantic Series. He didn't fare so well, but it was cool to see him zipping around the track at the City Centre Airport.

Tonight we went down to the Capital Ex (formerly Klondike Days) to see the finale concert of the fair.  Dragonette opened (which I missed.... again!), followed by Bedouin Soundclash and the evening was wrapped up by Metric.  They put on a great show in threatening weather (which never materialized, thank God).

Edmonton has billed itself as "Festival City", and I will concur at this point in time.  Not only was the Indy and Capital Ex going on this weekend, but they also have the Taste of Edmonton happening downtown.  With superb public transit specifically adapted for these events, getting to and from everything was simple and not overly time consuming.  Toronto would have managed to totally screw that up (AKA not sending enough buses to the Exhibition... for ANY event that happens there).  Kudos to Edmonton for being such an efficient host.

Travel Blog: Day 2

July 24

Well, my first full day in Edmonton has been quite eventful. Staying with Will & Colleen near the U of A campus again (a giant thank-you to them).  Highlights for the day:

The Bodyworlds exhibit at the Telus World of Science.

First thing to notice is that EVERYTHING in Alberta seems to have serious corporate sponsorship. Torontonians, can you imagine if Bell had the naming rights to the Ontario Science Centre? Regardless, this exhibit was absolutely astounding.  I am glad that I was able to catch it here in Edmonton, as I missed it when it was at the OSC.  The bodies looked fake at times, but the effect is still striking and memorable.  It made me realize how fragile the human body really is, how complicated each of the systems within it are.  They showed full bodies (devoid of skin), as well as different systems, such as the skeleton, nervous system, musculature, intestinal, etc., to demonstrate the different functionalities.  For all the super nerds out there, the process of preparing the bodies (as well as the individual systems or organs) is very very cool. Look it up, it's called plastination, invented by Dr. Gunther von Hagens.  All I can suggest is that you must see this exhibit if it rolls through your city.  The exhibits on the lungs, fetuses, and the pregnant mother are worth the price of admission (almost $30).  They had a mother who was 8 months pregnant when she died.  And the baby is also preserved.  Inside of her.  Quite a moving sight.  No worries about controversies, the mother knew she was going to die, and the baby could not be saved, and donated her body to be plastinated.

MSTRKRFT & Booka Shade:  Concert @ the Starlite Room

Man, what a performance.  Went with Megan Lenz, and saw an absolutely great show.  I hadn't heard of Booka Shade until I got my ticket, and heard them for the first time at the Starlite.  This German duo were amazing, and really had the crowd going.  Unfortunately, Megan didn't get to see MSTRKRFT as she had to go to work the next morning.  And she missed one helluva set.  But the one comment I have for Edmonton's electro/dance scene... jeez, they really don't know how to dance.  Maybe I pre-judge, because I don't know the Toronto electro scene all that much (Montreal's is wicked), but other than a few bright lights, like the one dude who lit it up before the crowds got in, there was a mass of whole uncoordinated and unaware dancers. Jumping and twisting yourself has never qualified as dancing.

Overheard in Edmonton:

"We don't do aisles here"

WTF?

No angus burger?!?!?!?