This past weekend it was one of a lot of spontaneity.  Which is great under certain circumstances.  These circumstances were such circumstances.

On Friday, I suggested to Margie that we visit Montreal on Saturday. She was uncertain, but I certainly was ok with that.  I told her I was just planning a day visit.

She called me late Saturday morning and left a message on my cell, wondering if I had left yet.  Actually, I hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet.  So all was cool and we took the fun but scenically-boring drive to Montreal.

We had lunch at a Subway just into Quebec.  Turns out their signs and menus are in French.  We were both a bit embarrassed and opted to just speak English to the employees.  I think we gotta actively work on our French.

As we drove into Montreal, I remembered what it was like to be driving in metropolis again.  The big ramp bridges, windy highways, people driving fast who knew how to merge lanes (in Ottawa they are very poor at this skill).  It really surprised me how much I missed that in Ottawa… I’m still a big city person deep down.

We checked out Lydia and Christina’s place and hung out there for a short bit as they made and boiled and ate dumplings for lunch.  A nice place they have there… except for all the falling-apartness and unshielded skylighting.  And the non-flushing toilet.  But these are all things that can be fixed by the landlord, easily.  The character of the house was really evident.

Just down the road is where Andy and Loni live, so we decided to drop in.  Man, their place is great also!  Them Montreal properties are really neat.  But parking seems to be totally insane for residents.  Dahlia seems to be growing and the whole time we were there she kept staring at me and smiling.  Those things can make you smile for weeks. (oh, Dahlia is 7 months old, heh)
We went down to Mont-Royal via the Metro and pretty much walked along whatever the name of that old street is.  The girls all window shopped, went into stores, looked at merch, while I was content just following along and taking artistic film photos.  There’s something about being in a different environment that makes you look all around.

At some fragrance and soap store, Tara and Dorrie joined us.  So the posse turned into a very female affair as there were five of them and one of me.  I was still content with following along and taking artistic film photos.

We all stepped into a trendy shoe and clothing store (no pun intended) since there seemed to be a sale on boots that many of them were searching for.  Hm… boot shopping with girls three times within 2 months already (once with Carter and Mandy and Mandy’s mom, once with my sister, and now in Montreal) I hope this doesn’t become a trend.  After about 20-30 minutes of them trying on boots and figuring calf-sizes and determining what size of sunglasses is too big, people bought stuff and I thought we were ready to go.  That is, until Margie found a zip-up hoodie that she thought would be great for me.  At first I did not respond well to the suggestion — I was not intending on buying clothing in downtown Montreal with other people upon their tastes and requests — this after Lydia had said earlier that she wished she had a brother who she could pick out clothing for.  (No, I don’t mean I freaked out, but in general I was just “mmm…. I don’t think so”)  And then all five of them started going “yeah that would look great!” and “try it on!” and “I think you need something like this”.

At that point, I realized that at least I should heed some of this collective agreement and try it on, look in the mirror with it on, and strongly consider buying it… seems like if they all agreed that I would look good in it (or that it would look good on me) then there might be something more than just the “dress up the lone guy” excitement.  Needless to say, I somehow justified it and bought it and now I kind of am liking it.  It is warm and it is stylish.  It has cool designs on it and pockets, and the shoulders do not have seams right on the top, and the hood has some fake furry stuff (not on the edge of the hood, but inside).  And then the final justification that many of you females are seeking is that the original price on it was $109 and I bought it for the low low sale price of $30.  Say no more.

Back in Ottawa on Sunday, I went to church service, and slowly had lunch before I went skating on the Rideau Canal for the first time in my life.  This is something that is truly unique.  I think everybody should do this before they die.  Well, it was actually the first time I’ve skated on a natural body of water, so that might add to it.  The light was great, the temperature was at about 0C, and the skating was actually pretty smooth.  I got some shots on film that I want to see soon.

There were lots of families with children and parents towing their infants in sleds and couples with speed skates.  Beavertails and hot beverages were sold in chalets at certain spots along the canal, and many people were pretty happy.  I realized that I would like to bring my future kids here.  I want them to learn how to skate before they learn how to walk.  And then pull them as they sleep on a sled when they get too tired after 1 km.  That’s how it should be.

And then I went to the baptism service of three students from Campus for Christ at Carleton and uOttawa.  That was fun and very encouraging, they were all so excited and the mom and bro of the two girls even came from Peterborough to witness the event.

But what was funny was at Elgin Street Diner, one of the students asked me if I ever would get an earring.  When I responded with a firm and vehement “no”, she said “oh that’s a relief, because I thought of you with an earring because you’re wearing that hoodie”.   It was the new hoodie that I bought in Montreal, haha…

From the National Capital Commission website: The Rideau Canal Skateway is open for skaters between Somerset Street and Bank Street Bridge. The ice conditions are good. Skaters are urged to be cautious and to respect the signs and erected barricades.

Woot!

Last Thursday I went to a concert at a nightclub to see the amazing turntablist Kid Koala.  Unfortunately the doors opened at 10pm and Kid Koala only started spinning at midnight.  I stayed until about 1:30 or 2am.  He was amazing.  Somehow he managed to keep the floor pretty hyped and moving even though it was an amazingly complex set.  This DJ manages to play amazing beats for the dance floor, while still churning out some unbelievably skilled moves on 3 turntables.  I pretty much stood there the whole night watching in amazement.  If I understood more about turntablism I think I would have been even more awed.  A neat thing is in this day and age of Final Scratch (the age of digital vinyl scratching, where you don’t have to ever switch plates anymore, you can store your whole collection on a Mac and scratch virtually anything you want from the hard disk) Kid Koala still sticks with the old-school vinyl.  No samplers, no effects racks, just two (or three) turntables and a mixer.

I would liken this talent to John Mayer, who can totally throw down some mad licks effortlessly, and still make melodic music that the general public enjoys.  Except Kid Koala is on the very edge of new music, pushing the limits.  John Mayer’s music is still mad crazy, but he uses a mainstream instrument (electric guitar) with history-steeped tone (blues, etc).

So that night also set a trend that I can’t knock off.  I haven’t been able to really sleep earlier than 2am for the past 4 days.  I’m kind of tired, but my body doesn’t really want to hit the hay.  Although when my head hits the pillow, I’m totally out really quickly.  It’s just brutal when I realize that the rest of the world still runs on normal daylight time.

Here’s my first video made in Motion. Apparently with a few clicks you really can make some intense stuff. Keyframe animation, wow.