Canadian Days: How I Missed Out On Meeting The High Dials

One thing I am passionate about is music. I love rock music, and I collect at least one new album a month. But since I'm from a small out-of-the-way city I rarely have a chance to hear live music, and seeing one of my favorite bands on stage is even rarer. But since Toronto is a major metropolis that wields an enormous cultural influence in Canada I had plenty of opportunities to see my favorite bands. One such opportunity was Canadian Music Week, which is held near the end of winter in Toronto. When I was looking for gigs to go to in Canada I discovered The High Dials, one of my favorite Canadian bands, would be playing at the festival; and what was better was that they'd be playing at the Silver Dollar Club, a club not that far from the hostel.

The Silver Dollar Club was a small venue, and I thought I might have the chance to meet some of the band members. It wasn't an impossibility. At places like The Silver Dollar Club you can walk up to your favorite musicians and have a chat with them. They may be well known in the underground musical community but they aren't so big that they're cut off from the audience, unlike a major touring act, who you won't be meeting in the crowd because they'd get mobbed. When I was in London I met several members of The Church at The Borderline, a small club in the central part of the city. I even got to assist Peter Koppes (one of the guitarists) DJ at an after show party. It was an awesome experience because I got to meet the people who created music I loved, instead of just sitting around somewhere listening to the album. And here was another chance to meet one of my favorite bands.

I got to the club early because I didn't want to miss out on The High Dials. I came so early I had to come back because the person who was taking money wasn't set up yet. So I went across the street to get some coffee, waited a few minutes, and then went back into the club. When I entered the club the first person I saw was Trevor Anderson--lead singer and primary songwriter of the group--with the rest of The High Dials. Here was my chance to meet the man who had penned "War of the Wakening Phantoms," an impressive, eclectic album that I was listening to alot. But I didn't say anything because I figured he was busy getting his gear organized (which usually takes a long time to do) and probably didn't want to be bothered by an awe struck fan.

I had been admitted into the club an hour before the first band was supposed to go on. So I killed time by I sitting on a stool in boredom as I watched a band set up its gear on stage. While I waited Trevor walked up right beside me and ordered a beer at the bar. Here was my second opportunity to introduce myself and tell him how much I liked "War with the Wakening Phantoms." Again, I didn't say anything. Did Trevor really want to be bothered by a fan, especially when he's enjoying a beer? But maybe I was worrying about nothing? After all, it would seem like he would want to meet the fans; the very people who are making his living as a musician possible. Maybe Trevor would be glad to have a chat with me. Still I didn't budge.

Throughout the night this process repeated itself. I'd see Trevor somewhere in club, contemplate introducing myself, and then chicken out. Since I couldn't work up the courage to say anything to him I basically observed him consume beer after beer and overheard snippets of his conversations. Trevor talked about relationships alot, which I assumed were of the romantic kind. While I was observing all this I'd make up excuses why it was potentially inappropriate to talk to him. All sorts of worrisome scenarios would run through my head. Maybe the music was too loud and he wouldn't hear me speaking to him? Maybe the situation would be awkward because he doesn't know me? Maybe he'd think I was too obsessive about their music? Maybe he didn't want to be bothered with? After all, the man is trying to enjoy his beer. He's been drinking alot tonight too. Maybe he'll be too drunk to understand what I'm saying? He's talking to people about relationships. People in rock bands who talk about relationships don't want to be bothered by the trifling concerns of a fan.

Near the end of the gig a woman who was sitting at the bar said something to Trevor, obviously she had been impressed by their show and wanted to greet them. That's all I had to do, but I could never work up the courage to say anything to Trevor, and I walked back to the hostel angry and disappointed with myself. But as I walked on I came to my senses, and realized that what I was getting upset about was ridiculous.

Canadian Days: Rue Morgue Night

When I was in Toronto one thing I always looked forward to was Rue Morgue Night at the Bloor Cinema. Rue Morgue is Canada's premiere horror magazine, and every month they would have a special showcase which involved showing a horror film. It was always interesting and it was a highly anticipated event. Each time I went I had to wait in a long line in the bitter cold just to get in, and I got the impression people typically waited out there for a long time just to experience a Rue Morgue Night. Also, since Rue Morgue was a horror magazine people would express themselves in all sorts of peculiar ways. You might be standing behind someone dressed as a zombie with fake blood dripping down their mouth. Or you might be standing behind someone dressed in drag. I guess in some ways going to a Rue Morgue Night was like going to a Rocky Horror Picture Show. After a hard day of work it was a good excuse for alot of people to indulge in weirdness, which I'm sure kept their sanity.

The first time I went to a Rue Morgue Night they were have a screening of "Phantasm"--the weirdest horror movie I have ever seen. And they were billing this as a special event since it was not only an established classic, but also because people would get to see it on the original grainy film. And not only did you get to see it on the original grainy film there was going to be a question and answer session with one of the actors (Reggie Bannister). When I saw this being advertised on a flyer I thought is this experience really going to out do watching it on DVD? I thought about not going because I'd seen Phantasm, and not only had I seen it but I'd seen it on superior DVD picture quality. But since I had nothing to do in Toronto that night I decided to head down to the Bloor Cinema, and experience "Phantasm" in all its original grainy quality.

When I got there and sat down in the theater they kept telling us we were in for a treat. We were going to see "Phantasm"--the established classic--on the big screen and on the original film. Somebody did mention that the film was old; it had been sitting around since the late-70s, which implied we would really be getting an authentic grainy experience. Then came the big event, what everyone had been waiting for: experiencing a grainy "Phantasm." During the movie people kept laughing because they thought the movie was funny. Somebody once said horror is close to comedy because the stuff that happens in it is just plain ridiculous. The premise of "Phantasm" is an evil alien comes to earth, who takes the form of a evil looking tall man, and turns people and corpses into evil little beings that look like the Jawas in Star Wars. The Jawa-looking-things then run around indulging in all sorts of evil stuff: stalking people, biting them, trying to kill them, freaking them out and in general creating chaos. But there is another reason why people laughed so much through out the movie. The movie is plagued by bad dialogue and sometimes bad acting. "Phantasm" is one of those movies that's good because of its cheesiness, and sometimes cheesiness can be a good thing because it can make a movie more entertaining.

The next movie I watched at Rue Morgue Night was "Fido," a Canadian zombie comedy. Before the start of the movie Rue Morgue held a zombie costume contest. Some people who had shown up looking like zombies were hand picked to come to the stage, and whoever looked the most undead won the prize. Then we watched "Fido." "Fido" took place in an alternate world, much like the universe of George Romero's zombie films, where the dead come back to life and prey upon the living by eating them. It was a worldwide epidemic, and in Canada people were able to fend off the zombies and lived in a sheltered city. Also, people learned how to domesticate the zombies. Once they put a specialized collar on them a zombie was rendered impassive, and these zombies would be kept as pets or used for domestic chores. The movie was like "Lassie" meets "Land of the Dead," or "Leave It to Beaver" meets "Land of the Dead." The entire movie was about a boy's relationship with his pet zombie. He kept telling the zombie to go fetch and to do all sorts of other ridiculous stuff. Also, all the living characters had a 1950s mentality; everyone was complacent, and everyone believed problems--especially the zombie problem--could be dealt with in a clean and efficient manner, which was hilarious considering death was a big part of the movie. Also, families were concerned with "keeping up with the Jones." If another family saw that the Jones had a zombie then they had to have a zombie so they would enjoy the prestige of having a zombie.

Anyone reading this might think "Boy, you certainly did experience alot in Canada." And I did experience alot in Canada, including Rue Morgue Night. One thing I've learned about the difference between big cities and small ones is all sorts of weirdness can come out in the big city, but not in most small cities. When I was in London sometimes when I didn't have anything to do I'd go down to Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Street because I could see all sorts of weird and interesting things there. One time I saw these guys who looked like The Clash dressed in drag, and I knew there was a biker bar down there too--things I would never see in Danville. Someone from a small city may disdain such things because their not used to it, and because he or she might feel threatened by such activities. But my theory why people do these sorts of things is because it keeps their sanity. In big cities people are subjected to all sorts of stresses people in small cities don't have to worry about. Big cities are pushier, more crowded, and you often have to deal with people who want to beg you for money more, and big cities can become targets for someone to attack. In London a couple of weeks ago somebody tried to blow up a car in Piccadilly Circus--something people in small cities never have to worry about. I see how the accumulated stresses of living in a big city could cause some one to flip. After a hard week it can be a good thing to get away from reality for awhile, and as far as I'm concerned it's best for people to keep their sanity than to lose it.

Canadian Days: How I Made It Out To Niagra Falls

On of the most beautiful things you can experience in Canada--and of existence for that matter--is Niagra Falls. It truly is a great work of nature.

After I decided to go back home I set aside some time to go out to the Falls. Up until then I hadn't done any sightseeing in Canada, largely because I wanted to find a job before I did any, and because I didn't put a priority on it. The first two times I went to Britain I went as a tourist and all I did was sightsee. Sightseeing can be informative and help you understand a culture better, but it's not the same thing as being immersed it. When your a tourist you see the place, but you have limited opportunities to interact with the culture, and I'd rather be immersed in it. That way you can meet people you wouldn't normally meet. I expected to go out to the Falls, see it, and then come back; and that would be the extent of my tourist activities in Canada. But it didn't happen like that.

On a Wednesday morning I groggily woke up, and thought about not going. I was sleepy and I wanted more rest, and I figured since Niagra Falls was a tourist activity it wasn't that important--my rest, however, was. Niagra Falls was just a waterfall, could it really be that exciting? Maybe the experience of the Falls would be like Stonehenge. Alot of tourists want to see Stonehenge when their in Britain, but all that experience amounts to is supposedly looking on in awe at a bunch of rocks in the middle of nowhere. But I decided go to the Falls anyway, despite my skepticism. I'd never been there, and I thought maybe my preconceptions were wrong.

I went with a group of people on the tour, mostly people from hostels in the area. Our itinerary included wine tasting at a winery, a visit to Fort George, a visit to a dam and then Niagra Falls. The winery we stopped at got the tour off to a good start. I have forgotten what the name of the winery was, but it did have a connection to Dan Akroyd, who starred in Ghostbusters (one of my favorite films). Although I rarely drink I took a sip of the wine and it was delicious. It was the best wine I had ever tasted, and I thought about buying a bottle, but the steep price (30 Canadian dollars) prevented me from doing so. So I bought a small bottle instead. Being at Fort George was an interesting experience because it was captured by the Americans in the War of 1812 and then recaptured by the British. As an American I had always rooted for the Americans in the war. But before we got there our tour guide told us he was glad the British took it back because he was Canadian. It doesn't surprise me that he had this attitude. When you travel abroad you encounter different attitudes than what your accustomed to. I always wondered what did the British think about the American Revolution, especially since they lost. But that is a subject I will have to investigate at another time. Then we stopped at an off-shoulder pass on the road which gave us a magnificent view of the river that runs behind Fort George. There was a sign there that said "Niagra Escarpment," one side was in English, the other French. Then it was off to see a dam, and on the other side of the dam was the United States. This was a weird experience. Here I was in a foreign country, and I could walk into the U. S. from where I was at. Far from being an uninteresting tourist experience my day had been interesting so far.

Then we got to Niagra Falls--what we had been waiting for all day--and it certainly wasn't like Stonehenge. It is hard describing what Niagra Falls is like because it is an experience that can not be described in words. Seeing it on television, pictures and reading about it can't do the power and magnificence of the place justice. The best description I can think of is it is what you would expect a giant waterfall to look like in heaven; and only God can make a better waterfall. Our tour guide told us he never got tired of going to Niagra Falls because he was always in awe of it, and I can see why. Going to Niagra Falls was the highlight of a good day, and it was a day that got better with each successive tourist attraction. All these places were unique, and had I not bothered to get out of bed I would have missed out on something. Sometimes tourist attractions can be disappointing, and attractions are often exploited as a way of making money, which can discourage people to go to them. But on this day the experience was worth it.

Canadian Days: Comedy Night at the Pub

Upstairs in a pub a young woman is on stage with a mic in her hand. She has long brown hair, glasses, and is wearing a blue shirt. She looks like a college student, and I figure if she's on stage she's got alot to say, mostly about her lovelife, whether it's about the struggles in it or her frustration of not having one. My hunch is correct too. The next thing I know she shifts body posture and says something about her love experiences that's too revealing for me. I feel a tinge of discomfort. The crowd laughs. I don't because I think the joke is in bad taste. Then she shifts her body posture again, and tells another joke that's even more revealing: "He said I want to c** on your glasses." Nobody in the room laughs, and I think it's the worst joke I have ever heard.

The scene I've just described is from comedy night, which was held every Sunday night at the pub across the street from the hostel I stayed at. I have decided to give it a mention in my blog because of its sheer awfulness. To me there was little that was good about it, except being occasionally amused. Comedy night was open mic--anybody could try their hand at comedy--and the result was poor quality since most people who took the mic were just starting out as comedians.

I only went to comedy night a couple of nights. The first time I went was because a friend suggested we go because we had nothing do. Had I known how bad it was I would have never have gone. But each time I went back I naively hoped it would get better. It never did, and since I was able to observe comedy at its worst I came up with a theory about bad comedy, which is: a bad comic is one that spends too much time joking about their sex life. I have never understood why some comedians found the most intimate experiences in their life to be funny. A comic who spends too much time joking about their sex life is a comic that has run out of creative room. Whenever a comic doesn't have any more good jokes to tell sex--which is a subject alot of people find funny--is often a convenient substitute. Alot of people who went on stage at comedy night had a tendency to talk about sex alot. I remember one guy who said something like"Don't you hate it when your on top and you've got to do all the work." The joke fell on deaf ears.

But one good thing about comedy night was it allowed people to get creative. But even this didn't escape in keeping with the awfulness of the event. Since most people who took the stage were starting out as comedians they were in the process of finding out what worked and what didn't. Few people were "polished comics," so that meant anything went. Somebody might wear a hood over their head, carry around a pail and a water gun and mumble nonsense. I never understood whether this was supposed to be performance art or not, but whatever it was it was just awful. I remember when one of the more polished comics took the stage. He talked about his obsession with weed the entire time, and I consider this to be progress since he didn't focus on sex, although I don't smoke weed. Listening to this guy you'd think he'd smoke weed at breakfast, lunch, dinner and in between. It was as if his idea of heaven was being blissed out in an eternal state of being high. He was only one of two comedians I found to be remotely funny.

Some people reading this may think I am being too harsh on comedy night. After all, it is a harmless event intended to lighten things up, which is the purpose of comedy. But I wasn't the only person who thought comedy night was unbearable. My roommate, Ben, would hang out with us up to a certain point in the pub on Sunday, and then leave as quick as possible whenever comedy night was about to begin. Upon observing this I thought Ben had an impeccable since of timing, and when it came for him to leave I'd leave too. As far as I'm concerned Ben had the right idea--it was the sane thing to do.

Canadian Days: Unique Canadian Things

* This is an earlier blog entry, but I've decided to reprint it since it fits in with the theme of entries about Canada.

Earlier this year I spent some time in Canada, a country I had wanted to visit for a long time. I qualified for a six-month working holiday visa, and stayed in Toronto for three months before coming home. I wasn't able to find employment, unfortunately, but while I was there I discovered that the question "What defines Canada?" is dubious to some Canadians. When I was in Toronto I stayed at a hostel, and one of my roommates was Canadian. When I asked him what made Canada unique he groaned. "Oh, God...," he said with annoyance. Also, I had read Canadians tend to be sensitive to the question. This was reinforced when I saw Douglas Coupland's "Souvenir of Canada," a documentary about what he thinks are things that define the Canadian character. At the beginning of the film Coupland states that he had been thinking about what made Canadians Canadians for a long time--as if it were a perplexing problem. Although I was only in Canada for short time I do believe there are things that are uniquely Canadian. Here are some of them below:

• Poutine (Fries covered in gravy and cheese)
  


• French and English are official languages in Canada
  


• It has a French speaking province (Quebec)
  


• Canada is sparsely populated
  


• Alot of Canada is wilderness
  


• Most people in Toronto are polite
  


• The seasons tend to exist in the extremes
  


• Most Canadians live within 200 miles of the Canadian/U.S. border
  


• Canada is the second largest country in the world
  


• Alot of movies and television shows are filmed in Canada, particularly in Toronto and Vancouver
  


• Timothy's Coffee, Tim Hortons and Second Coffee
  


• Hockey
  


• David Cronenberg
  


• The Tragically Hip
  


• The pervasiveness of the term "eh"
  


• The CN Tower

There's no doubt the list can be extended beyond this, but since I was only in Canada for a short time my knowledge of the country is limited. But I wonder why some Canadians consider the question "What defines Canada" to be dubious. If I were asked what defines the United States a number of things immediately come to mind: it's the world's only great power, it exerts an enormous amount of cultural influence, it likes to innovate, it's a big country, it's a very religious nation, etc. The list of things that define the U. S. seem endless. But it might be because Canada shares a common culture with the U. S. I know there are things about Canada that are peculiar to Canada (like poutine), but I know if most Americans went to Toronto--which is Canada's cultural center--they would say its no different than the U. S. Since the U. S. is the only great power in the world and historically has been a huge innovator all the western nations are bound to be influenced by it, especially Canada since it shares a border with it. But ironically this attitude--being sensitive to the question of what defines Canada--may be another thing that is uniquely Canadian.

Canadian Days: Canadian Politeness

One of the most enjoyable aspects about Toronto is the city's politeness. Wherever you go in Toronto you're likely to encounter a friendly, courteous person; and it is noticeable to Americans. When I was at the university a teacher told me people in Toronto were polite. And when I was staying at the hostel two American girls agreed with me that most people there were polite, and they reacted as if this was one of the more peculiar aspects of the city. I even met someone from the United States who moved to Toronto because of the city's courteous nature. He and his wife decided Toronto was a good place to raise a family, so they packed their bags and headed north.

But the widespread politeness doesn't rub off well with all Americans. When the same teacher was talking about Canada in class a girl shrugged her shoulders and said the Canadians were "so glee." The reason I think she said this is because she is accustomed to people being more aggressive with each other. And the United States does have a reputation for being a stressful nation from some people's perspective. When I was in Canada somebody told me she couldn't live in the U. S. because of what she perceived was a more stressful lifestyle.

In my opinion the U. S. can be pushier than Toronto. For example, when I had to wait to get my coffee at a Starbucks in Toronto somebody on staff gladly gave me a card to get a free drink. They had gotten the orders confused and there was a slight delay with my order, so they thought they'd make it up to me by allowing me to get a free drink. But when I was in the same situation at a Starbucks in the U. S. the person on staff who was fixing drinks got annoyed, and she certainly didn't give me a card to get a free drink. But my theory why the U. S. can be a pushier place is because of several reasons:

1. The U. S. has the awesome responsibility of being the only world-power in the world, which inevitably creates stress in the culture.

2. The U. S. has a long-standing culture war. Some people believe the nation is as ideologically divided as it was during the Civil War. In "Culture Wars," a book by James Davison Hunter, he argued the contemporary culture war is waged by the orthodox and progressives who do not see eye-to-eye when it comes to morality.

3. It has often been noted that ever since the 1960s Americans have gotten more cynical, especially about the government.

4. American culture is extroverted by nature. Americans value discussion and there's nothing we believe that can not be discussed, but this often creates irresolvable conflict between people on opposite sides of the culture war (e. g. Ann Coulter vs. Jesse Jackson).

5. Americans work alot, and this adds to the stress we already experience.

I am sure there are some Americans who will take offense with me since I stated the U. S. is a pushier place than Toronto. But what I am saying is often expressed by older generations of Americans. I've noticed they are more likely to complain that the value of courteousness has eroded, and almost every young American has been subjected to hearing about this, often to their annoyance. My own dad sometimes tells me "people are crazy nowadays." Also, out of all the places in the world--including every city I've been to in the U. S.--I have never been anywhere where politeness was as widespread as it is in Toronto. The people of Toronto have achieved something special that alot of places strive for but never fully attain, which is something I hope I can go back and experience again.

Canadian Days: For Love of Drinking

A favorite past time at the hostel was drinking alcohol. After a hard day of doing whatever one did during the day--whether it was studying hard at the university or lounging around--my friends looked forward to having a few drinks to relax, especially on the weekends. On a weekend night, since many people didn't want to brave the harsh winter night, the common room would be saturated in alcohol consumption. Alcoholic beverages would be strewn all over the place, people would be indulging in drinking games and whoever got drunk usually babbled nonsense (and might not have remembered it later).

I only had two drinks while I was in Toronto because I rarely drink, so I got to see how alcohol affected my friends behavior, which was often funny. One friend that comes to mind is my roommate Billy. Billy spent alot of time in the evening drinking alcohol with a buddy from Denmark. Drinking would start around 5 PM and usually didn't stop until sometime in the morning, and as can be expected both eventually got painful hangovers. One time after a night of drinking Billy came back to the room drunk. He loudly staggered into bed, and then spent several minutes groaning and twisting and turning around. It sounded like he was drowning or choking on something and was about to die. Eventually it was too much for him, and he got up, ran out in to the hall and threw up. Me and my two other roommates woke up, and when Billy returned he informed us "If anybody asks I've got the 24 hour flu."

Another friend that comes to mind was another roommate, Freddy. Freddy was Irish, in his late 20s, and probably could out drink anyone in the hostel. Freddy's alcohol tolerance level was so high he could drink an entire six pack and still not be drunk. There were several times when Freddy would be drinking his fourth or fifth beer with ease, while someone else would be getting inebriated on their second. I remember one time when another roommate of mine, who was English, had a couple of drinks and started babbling to me about how he had been hearing American accents his entire life, and that only he was the only normal sounding person in the universe. It is unlikely Freddy would ever say such a thing after a few beers. His alcohol tolerance level is so high it would be hard for him to get drunk, even after finishing a six pack.

Then there were the issues some of them had with Canadian and U. S. drinking laws. Most of my friends were European, and the U. S. has more stringent drinking laws compared to many European nations. One night a friend demanded that I tell him why the legal drinking age in the U. S. was 21. I didn't know, but I told him I supported keeping the legal drinking age at 21 because most Americans drive. I wouldn't be surprised if the teenage accident rate went up if it were lowered. I could tell from his reaction that was not the answer he wanted to hear. He persisted in asking me why was it set at 21. I guess he wanted to know why wasn't it lower like in Britain, which is where he was from.

But the pinnacle of all the indulgence were the drinking games my friends would play. Usually whenever they didn't have anything to do on the weekend they'd organize several mugs in a circle on a table with one mug in the middle. Then they'd try flipping a coin into a mug. I don't know the exact rules but I think each mug represented how much you could drink if you flipped a coin into it. They could spend hours doing this, and I wouldn't be surprised if many of them got drunk from playing these games. I say this was the pinnacle of all the indulgence because it was truly drinking just for the sake of it. It is hard for me to imagine how they could have taken the experience of alcohol consumption any further.

But it doesn't surprise me that my friends loved alcohol. Most people in the hostel were European, and probably had been accustomed to being around alcohol for most of their lives. To them it was a way of relaxing after a hard day. Also, most people who stay at hostels are young, and my experiences at college taught me that young adults typically like drinking, sometimes too much. I on the other hand stood in stark contrast to my friends when it came to drinking, and surprisingly this may be a reflection of cultural differences. In the U. S. there are few pubs--which are places to eat food and drink--and my parents don't have a fondness for drinking. So I have never been accustomed to drinking alcohol. And like my parents I prefer clean living, meaning no alcohol--or as little of it as possible--no smoking or drugs, and I want to keep it that way.