Canada Archives - Page 5 of 6 - Ramblin' with Roger

Getting Around and Getting Along in Canada

Most of the bicyclists were not wearing helmets, which I think is crazy, but such is the confidence he pedalists have in their drivers.

I don’t want to say that everyone we saw in Canada was nicer than the folks in the United States. A couple of the folks at the first hotel were, let’s say, indifferent. And the very first person we dealt with on the subway was clearly frustrated that we didn’t understand her incomprehensible instructions.

By and large, however, I found it a joy to be in Canada, especially Toronto. Other subway workers in the big city were quite helpful, and even complete strangers initiated contact to assist us when we looked confused.

Once we got the hang of it, we found the Toronto subway to be quite usable. Reasonably clean, mostly on time – except for that delay on the way to the zoo – and the riders were not openly hostile, as I’ve experienced in more than a few major American cities.

The bus trip to the zoo was actually fun, with people generally compliant with the signs to move back. We were near three high school girls from the suburbs who were native Chinese speakers but were studying English words for some major comprehensive test, perhaps the SATs.

Apparently driving out of Toronto in the afternoon is OK until about 3:30 pm, except on Friday afternoons in the summer, which is when we departed at 2 pm and got into a major traffic slowdown east of the city. That’s why, I suppose, the highway has all of those LED road signs imploring people to Try Mass Transit, or Use Mass Transit. And when a merged lane sign shows up, the drivers were generally quite content to let a driver in, taking turns.

In Toronto, I’ve never seen so many people riding bicycles in North America in my life. And unlike in Albany, NY, the drivers weren’t hostile to them. Most of the bicyclists were not wearing helmets, which I think is crazy, but such is the confidence the pedalists have in their drivers.

Oh, and cars yield to pedestrians – what’s THAT all about? I was practically in shock when cars stopped at the intersection and waited for the people to cross the street, even folks who were not at the intersection before the auto was. This would never happen in Albany. The one sign of impatience is when the drivers ARE making their right turns, either with the light or especially right on red, they will usually have one or two drivers turn after the light is red. So don’t step off the curb right away.

I even liked a lot of Canadian television, the little we saw, generally in the morning and evening. There was some morning show that gave a lot more of what I consider REAL news than the US equivalents do after the first half-hour. One segment was about homelessness in Canada, and the host showed real concern. Oh, and my wife got to see a performance by one of her two favorite singers, Diana Krall.

My favorite moment in Toronto: we were at the Ontario Science Centre. We bought a one-use camera for the Daughter, which was reasonably priced, BTW. She proceeded to misplace it. When I finally noticed this, I contacted the nearest employee and asked what I could do. He said, “Wait here,” walked over to the Lost and Found and in a few minutes, brought the camera to me. Usually, in such situations in the past, at best, an employee would direct me to the Lost and Found, where the camera might or might not have been returned. This outcome was, as they say, way cool.

So I was quite surprised in reading a comment to this blogpost by Arthur about the most livable cities. One of his LOCs stated: “I hope Toronto is not in the top ten! I was transferred here 6 months ago and as someone who has traveled all over and lived in South Africa, Australia, DC, LA, etc – I can tell you Toronto is not in the top ten!! Angriest people in North America, expensive, horrible weather. 6 months to go if I can make it.” (It’s #4, BTW.)

Now I did not live there. It was only four days. But there was a point, walking by the Royal Ontario Museum on our second day there when I said to my wife: “I think I could live here,” assuming that we had employment, etc. Good mass transit, bikes, educational capital, intellectual stimulation, massive multiculturalism; there were plenty of places we DIDN’T get a chance to see. And there are angrier people in lots of US cities I’ve been to, starting with Albany, NY.
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Heather Morris’ Staples Canada Back To School Commercial. Heather Morris, from the TV show Glee, is not from Canada, BTW.

Vacation Day 3: Toronto

The thing that bugged me the most was the vending machine; it indicated that beverages were $1 each, a real bargain, but I got only 50 cents back from my Tooney, the $2 coin.

After we left Niagara Falls, NY for the last time, we crossed the Rainbow Bridge, paid our $3.25, then had to deal with Canadian customs. After looking at our passports, the fellow asked:
“Where are you going?” Toronto and Peterborough for a total of six days.
“Business or pleasure?” Pleasure.
“Are you carrying any weapons?” No.
“Do you own any weapons?” No.
And that was pretty much it. We did wonder, though: if we owned weapons, but were not carrying them, what would the outcome have been?

We had directions to Toronto, but the signage was very helpful, and we actually just followed the QEW highway signs until we got to the city.
No problems, either, with the metric stuff, either.

We just multiplied by 0.6 for the kilometers per hour to the miles per hour; 40 kph=24 mph, 100 kph=60 mph. We bought no gasoline/petrol in Canada since the $1.18 to $1.25 per liter meant almost $1 more per gallon than in the U.S.
The temperature quick rule of thumb, at least for positive temperatures Celsius, was to double it and add about 28 to get the Fahrenheit reading. Yeah, I know it’s really multiplying by 9/5 and adding 32, but who wants to multiply by 9/5s, anyway? All I really wanted to know was on a relative scale. 30F is cold, and 30C is hot, as one of the American folks in Peterborough later said.
The one conversion I did find trickier is when I saw in the news that 64 mm of rain fell somewhere; I had to actually calculate that 2.54 cm =1 inch, 25.4 mm=1 inch, so 64 mm is about 2.5 inches.

We got to our hotel, in the heart of Toronto. Here’s a piece of business: parking was some $23 per night extra at the hotel. But the street parking, while about a third less, felt far less secure. One needed a room key to get to the parking under the hotel.

The hotel itself seems to be one of those places that was higher end at one point in its life, but which is now a Best Western. The promise of “luxury” dining was false, with indifferent service, though the waiter was nicer on our second visit to its restaurant; the air conditioning was sufficient to cool the window curtains, but not the room, and there was mildew I cleaned off the showerhead. Oddly, the thing that bugged me the most was the vending machine; it indicated that beverages were $1 each, a real bargain, but I got only 50 cents back from my Tooney, the $2 coin. (The one-dollar coin is the Loonie, named for the bird featured on it.)

The upside is that it was quite convenient for getting around town. In any case, we didn’t go to Toronto to stay in the hotel; we went to see the city.

OH! CANADA!

I’ve always wanted to see Toronto, so that’s on the agenda.

AS I may have mentioned, in a couple months, we’re going to be making a visit to Canada. Essentially, we’re going to circumnavigate Lake Ontario. Still not sure what the route will be. Initially, we thought we’d start by going northwest, visiting my wife’s alma mater of St. Lawrence University, then go north into Canada, head west, then south, then back east into the U.S.. But lately, we’ve considered start going west through New York, and enter Canada at Niagara Falls.

We all have passports, including the Daughter. One doesn’t NEED a passport to go Canada from the US; one could get an enhanced driver’s license or non-driver’s ID, or similar products. BUT one day we might want to fly somewhere in Canada or Mexico, and the alternate products are only good for traveling by land or sea, not by air.

We’ll see the Falls, of course; it’ll be the Daughter’s first time. I’ve always wanted to see Toronto, so that’s on the agenda; ideally, we’d see a Blue Jays game. More than one person has suggested staying outside the city proper, and use the mass transit. One of my coworkers highly recommended the Peterborough lift lock. We’d see Carol’s college on the return trip.

Hey, Canadians, especially you folks in southeastern Ontario! Anywhere else we ought to go that wouldn’t take us too far out of the way?

The Top 100 Canadian Albums, part 2

had a roommate named Mark in the early 1980s who was in desperate need of money. So I bought about 50 albums off him at $2 a pop; at least five of them were Bruce Cockburn LPs.

Continuing with the book The Top 100 Canadian Albums by Bob Mersereau. Not only did I own a fair number of these albums, but many of them also played a significant part in my life, often in a relationship with my significant other (S.O.) at the time.

41.Not Fragile, Bachman-Turner Overdrive (1974)
42.The Best of the Guess Who, The Guess Who (1971) – One of the very few singles – i.e, 45s – I ever bought was Laughing b/w Undun. And then I really got into the group when it started with his heavier sound. And they endeared me forever when the group was invited to sing at the Nixon White House, but requested, apparently by Pat Nixon, not to sing American Woman. But the most intriguing song on the album was one I did not know previously, Hang On to Your Life whose lyrics end with stark spoken text from Psalm 22:
They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion.
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint:
my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels.
My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue cleaveth to my
jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death.
Didn’t quite know what to make of it, but, in my period of questioning my whole belief system at the time, it was quite significant to me.
43.Let it Die, Feist (2004)
44.The Last Waltz, The Band (1978) – Always made me a little sad, this soundtrack of the end of the band. Though they would re-form in part, it was never the same.
45.Night Train, Oscar Peterson Trio (1963) – my father was really into Oscar Peterson, a black jazz pianist. I never knew he was Canadian until I read the book.
46.Down at the Khyber, Joel Plaskett Emergency (2001)
47.Harvest Moon, Neil Young (1992) – The title track was “our song” for the S.O. and me. Remember dancing around the living room to the video. Still makes me cry. And there are other great songs here, such From Hank to Hendrix and One of These Days. Actually, I enjoy this album more than Harvest.
48.Cuts Like a Knife, Bryan Adams (1983)
49.L’Heptade, Harmonium (1976)
50.Teenage Head, Teenage Head (1979)
51.High Class in Borrowed Shoes, Max Webster (1977)
52.Hejira, Joni Mitchell (1976) – Joni getting all jazzy. I was still with her, too, but it didn’t sound like her old stuff, and her fan base was peeved.
53.Bach: The Goldberg Variations, Glenn Gould (1955 and 1982) – I got this only about a decade ago, after I was told, “You MUST own this record.” So I do. But I’m not all that familiar with the 1982 iteration, except what I know from a recent PBS-TV special about Gould’s life.
54.Fogarty’s Cove, Stan Rogers (1977)
55.Wheatfield Soul, The Guess Who (1968) – #2 on the coolest title list.
56.Si on avait besoin d’une cinquième saison, Harmonium (1974)- the author notes that a lot of the French-language albums appeared on the list between #101 and #125.
57.Dancing in the Dragon’s Jaws, Bruce Cockburn (1979) – I had a roommate named Mark in the early 1980s who was in desperate need of money. So I bought about 50 albums off him at $2 a pop; at least five of them were Bruce Cockburn LPs. As the author of the book noted, 13 different Cockburn albums got votes, but this is the only one that reached the top 100. It probably made it because it has the hit, Wondering Where the Lions Are. #9 on the coolest title list.
58.Frantic City, Teenage Head (1980)
59.Hymns of the 49th Parallel, k.d. lang (2004) – A wonderful concept: lang performing the songs of her fellow Canadians, including Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, and Bruce Cockburn. Here’s Cohen’s Hallelujah.
60.Hot Shots, Trooper (1979)
61.Robbie Robertson, Robbie Robertson (1987) – My good friend in the record business told me this story. She was trying to promote this album to a radio station manager. She says, “It’s Robbie Robertson from The Band, you know The Last Waltz.” No recognition. “Used to back Dylan.” He’d heard of Dylan, but it was still a tough sell. The problem was that he was only about 24 and only knew the music that came out the previous 8-10 years. Very sad commentary on the state of commercial radio at the time. Great album, especially American Roulette.
62.The Trinity Session, Cowboy Junkies (1988) – A well-crafted mix of new and cover songs, such as Lou Reed’s Sweet Jane. I do have to be in the mood to listen to it; otherwise, it’ll put me to sleep.
63.Ron Sexsmith, Ron Sexsmith (1995)
64.Nothingface, Voivod (1989)
65.Come on Over, Shania Twain (1997)
66.Everything I Long For, Hayden (1995)
67.Outskirts, Blue Rodeo (1987)
68.Joyful Rebellion, k-os (2004)
69.Sit Down Young Stranger/If You Could Read My Mind, Gordon Lightfoot (1970)
70.Love Junk, Pursuit of Happiness (1988)
71.Jaune, Jean-Pierre Ferland (1970)
72.Somewhere Outside, The Ugly Ducklings (1966)
73.Electric Jewels, April Wine (1973)
74.Sundown, Gordon Lightfoot (1973) – when some of my friends got rid of their vinyl, they offered them up to me. This is one of them.
75.Left and Leaving, The Weakerthans (2000)
76.Clumsy, Our Lady Peace (1997)
77.Harmonium, Harmonium (1974)
78.Share the Land, The Guess Who (1970)
79.Greatest Hits, Ian & Sylvia (1970)
80.Steppenwolf, Steppenwolf (1968) – First and best Steppenwolf album. Not only does it have Born to Be Wild and The Pusher, but it also contains my favorite political rant, The Ostrich. I discussed this album more fully here.
81.Ladies of the Canyon, Joni Mitchell (1970) – When I was preparing to be in a production of Boys in the Band in Binghamton in 1975, I went to a party with most of the cast. Someone played Side 1 of the LP, and when it was over, another cast member declared it to be “boring,” an assessment I did not share; I mean it has the beautiful For Free on it. Still, I think playing side 2 first might have been more strategic, since it included, in order, Big Yellow Taxi, Woodstock, and The Circle Game.
82.Bud the Spud and Other Favourites, Stompin’ Tom Connors (1969)
83.Shine a Light, The Constantines (2003)
84.Shakespeare My Butt, The Lowest of the Low (1991) – #2 on funniest album title list.
85.Clayton Park, Thrush Hermit (1999)
86.Smeared, Sloan (1992)
87.Living Under June, Jann Arden (1994)
88.The Hissing of Summer Lawns, Joni Mitchell (1975) – This was the transitional album between the commercial Court and Spark and the jazzy Hejira. I was visiting my friend Jon and his S.O. Debby. She was a big fan of Joni but was very disappointed in this album. I said, “Well, then give it to me. I like it.” I think my enthusiasm for her made her keep it to give it another chance. The first song, In France They Kiss on Main Street, might have fit on the previous album. But the next song, The Jungle Line, heavy with African drums – here’s just a snippet – would definitely not. #4 on the coolest album title list.
89.Bad Manors, Crowbar (1971)
90.Official Music, King Biscuit Boy with Crowbar (1970)
91.Lightfoot!, Gordon Lightfoot (1966)
92.Mad Mad World, Tom Cochrane (1991)
93.Rufus Wainwright, Rufus Wainwright (1998)
94.Face to the Gale, Ron Hynes (1997)
95.Hobo’s Taunt, Willie P. Bennett (1977)
96.Cowboyography, Ian Tyson (1986) – #1 on coolest album title list.
97.Favourite Colours, The Sadies (2004)
98.The Way I Feel, Gordon Lightfoot (1967)
99.A Farewell to Kings, Rush (1977)
100.We Were Born in a Flame, Sam Roberts (2004)

The Top 100 Canadian Albums

Blue, Joni Mitchell (1971) – Just about a perfect album. Even she admits, “there’s hardly a dishonest note in the vocals.”

One of my birthday presents was the book The Top 100 Canadian Albums by Bob Mersereau. He got about 600 Canadian musicians, broadcasters, retailers, roadies, instrument makers, festival operators and more to vote for their top 10 albums. In the intro to his revised edition, he notes the complaints. “Where was Anne Murray? The New Pornographers? Hank Snow?” There were also complaints about regional or language bias.

Mixed in with the stories were others compiling best-of lists, by geography (Manitoba, Quebec, e.g.), genre (blues), and other breakdowns. A guy named Terry O’Reilly even developed a list of Top Ten Funniest and Coolest Album Titles, some of which will be noted.

What I realized is that, not only did I own a fair number of these albums, many of them played a significant part of my life, often in a relationship with my significant other (S.O.) at the time.

1.Harvest, Neil Young (1972) -This was an album from my college days, but it’s not my favorite Neil album. I thought Alabama was too much like Southern Man from After the Gold Rush, and the strings on A Man Needs a Maid were pretentious. Neil’s own ambivalence about his commercial success with the album and the single from it, Heart of Gold, plays into my feelings as well. But there are some great songs here, most notably The Needle and the Damage Done.
2.Blue, Joni Mitchell (1971) – Just about a perfect album. Even she admits, “there’s hardly a dishonest note in the vocals.” From All I Want to A Case of You (covered by, among others, fellow Canadian Diana Krall), to the melancholy seasonal classic, River (covered much later by James Taylor, a one-time beau). I had a very good friend who has since died who knew lots about music and was a big Joni fan, yet she inexplicably failed to hear the Jingle Bells variation in this song; strange.
3.After the Gold Rush, Neil Young (1970) – Probably my favorite Neil album, though I, like the author, believes that Southern Man just doesn’t fit thematically. It had the Top 40 hit Only Love Can Break Your Heart. But my favorite is the minor hit When You Dance I Can Really Love, which I recall dancing to with my college S.O. in my dorm room. Another standout is Oh Lonesome Me; you can’t really appreciate the quality of the melancholy cover until you hear the jaunty Don Gibson original.
4.Music From Big Pink, The Band (1968) – I’m sure I didn’t hear this album until after hearing the Band’s eponymous second album. So this one always felt a little more raw, less polished. Still, it had great songs such as the Dylan-penned or co-penned Tears of Rage, This Wheel’s on Fire, and I Shall Be Released. Chest Fever, which I heard first covered by Three Dog Night, is also here. The best known song may be The Weight, which appears in the movie Easy Rider, but not on the soundtrack, for contractual reasons. My college S.O. lived in Bearsville for a time and took me by Big Pink at least once. #8 on the coolest title list.
5.Fully Completely, The Tragically Hip (1992)
6.Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette (1995) – This was, in my mind, the breakup album for me and my S. O. at the time. Although Ironic bugged me, because it was mostly coincidental, not ironic, I listened to it quite a bit at the time.
7.The Band, The Band (1969) – Now this is my favorite The Band album, quite possibly top 20 island records. Turned onto this in high school by a friend I’ve known since kindergarten. Rag Mama Rag and Up on Cripple Creek were minor hits but The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down was probably best known, in part because of the Joan Baez cover. My favorite song though, is the last, King Harvest (Has Surely Come).
8.Funeral, Arcade Fire (2004) – hmm. This list was compiled before Neon Bible (2007), and Best Album Grammy winner The Suburbs (2010) were released; wonder where they would fare in a newer iteration of this list? BTW, I just ordered The Suburbs with a gift certificate I got for my birthday.
9.Moving Pictures, Rush (1981) – never owned any Rush. Yeah, I know it’s a sin. The only Geddy Lee I have is him singing “take off to the great white north” on a Bob & Doug McKenzie album.
10.American Woman, The Guess Who (1970)
11.Songs of Leonard Cohen, Leonard Cohen (1967) – Don’t own, but I do have a number of albums covering his songs, especially Judy Collins: Suzanne, Sisters of Mercy (also covered by the duet of Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris), and my favorite Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye (also covered by Roberta Flack).
12.Reckless, Bryan Adams (1984) – and no Bryan Adams in my collection
13.Five Days in July, Blue Rodeo (1993) – I do own an earlier Blue Rodeo album, but nothing from this list.
14.Twice Removed, Sloan (1994)
15.Up to Here, The Tragically Hip (1989)
16.Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, Neil Young with Crazy Horse (1969) – It has one of my favorite Neil songs ever, the handclap-driven Cinnamon Girl, which I played repeatedly in college, and those two nine-minute-plus songs, Down by the River and Cowgirl in the Sand.
17.2112, Rush (1976)
18.Court and Spark, Joni Mitchell (1974) – Commercially, the height of Joni’s popularity. She recorded this album with Tom Scott and the L.A. Express. In August of 1974, my college S.O., my friend Uthaclena and his S.O at the time drove from New Paltz to Saratoga to see Joni and the L.A. Express; let’s say that the trip was NOT a good time. After my S.O. and I broke up, the song Help Me helped doom a rebound relationship. And still, I love this album. From the plaintive Free Man in Paris to the rocker Raised on Robbery to the goofy Lambert, Hendricks & Ross tune Twisted, featuring Cheech & Chong.
19.Whale Music, Rheostatics (1992) – don’t know.
20.Acadie, Daniel Lanois (1989)> Now this is a fine album by a guy who’s been the producer for U2, Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris (Wrecking Ball), and Peter Gabriel (So), among others. The songs are in both French and English, occasionally even on the same track. I’d say it was in the folk genre except that it would be far too limiting. My favorite song is The Maker. The last song, Amazing Grace, features vocals by Aaron Neville.
21.Day for Night, The Tragically Hip (1994)
22.Rust Never Sleeps, Neil Young & Crazy Horse (1979). For whatever reason, after the first four solo albums, I stopped buying Neil records – save for the greatest hits package, Decade. And while there are a number of good songs, notably Pocahontas, it’s the first and last related songs that sold me. #7 coolest title.
23.Gord’s Gold, Gordon Lightfoot (1975) – I’m sure I had had this Gordon album at some point, but apparently not anymore.
24.You Were Here, Sarah Harmer (2000)
25.Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, Sarah McLachlan (1993) – #3 on the coolest title list.
26.Road Apples, The Tragically Hip (1991) – every July 1, Canada Day, I play this album. Why this one? Because I so associate it with Canada, and other Canadians I’d play on their birthdays.
27.Gordon, Barenaked Ladies (1992) – I have the greatest hits, but not this collection.
28.You Forgot it in People, Broken Social Scene (2002)
29.I’m Your Man, Leonard Cohen (1988)
30.Tonight’s the Night, Neil Young (1975)
31.Decade, Neil Young (1977) – Initially, I wondered about this essentially greatest hits, which covers his Buffalo Springfield and CSNY periods, as well as the solo stuff. But it does have music that at that point had not been released on any album, or at all. Among my favorite songs are the last two, the previously unreleased Campaigner — “even Richard Nixon has got soul” and a previously unreleased version of Long May You Run, which namechecks the Beach Boys’ Caroline, No.
32.Miss America, Mary Margaret O’Hara (1988)
33.Surfacing, Sarah McLachlan (1997) – This is one of those album where I heard the airplay of the singles, notably Building a Mystery, liked it, bought it.
34.One Chord to Another, Sloan (1996)
35.Songs of Love and Hate, Leonard Cohen (1971)
36.Cyborgs Revisited, Simply Saucer (1989)
37.Ingenue, k.d. lang (1992) – This album was very important in the relationship between me and my S.O at the time. I knew k.d. lang from her days as a country artist, even had/have the LP Angel with a Lariat on vinyl. So I’m telling S.O about the new k.d. album, that she’s singing that song Constant Craving that seemed to be constantly on the radio. Something clicked, and suddenly, she bought and read about all things lang. The album also features Miss Chatelaine and my personal favorite, Season of Hollow Soul. Breaking up, the division of the lang music was one of the greatest points of dispute.
38.Melville, Rheostatics (1991)
39.Love Tara, Eric’s Trip (1993)
40.On the Beach, Neil Young (1974)

This is getting long; the other 60 next week.