Linlithgow

Hello there! Long time no see. Yes, I know. I haven't called or written and you thought perhaps I'd just forgotten about you. Wrong you are. As per the last post, life has been a tad on the busy side since January. And when it hasn't been busy, it's been full of too much listening to/reading about music or watching of Flight of the Conchords. But I will slowly attempt to dig myself out of the backlog of photos and stories that I would love to share with you! So if you're ready to hop into a time machine with me, we'll wizz* through the past few months of adventuring around Europe. Enjoy!


Linlithgow Palace (map)
January 25, 2009

The first trip after Garrett left was to Linlithgow, a town not too far west of Edinburgh. The major site of the town are the ruins of Linlithgow Palace, a former royal palace set beautifully on a loch (lake) surrounded by a large peel (park). Historic Scotland can tell you much more about the history so I'll just share a few photos.

This is the tower of St. Michael's Parish Church, which sits right at the entrance of the palace ruins. The metallic spiky-ness is a strange contrast to the dull stone worn down through the ages, but I quite like it.

The palace is roofless but there are actually parts of the property where you can slope up winding stairs and get lost in a labyrinth of palace rooms. The bulk of it is just a set of walls though :) Here is one example: some passages behind the great hall that were used by servants as a path to the kitchen.




The most beautiful part of the palace today is probably the massive King's Fountain in the courtyard, still very much intact. Apparently wine flowed through the pipes in the days of Bonnie Prince Charlie. It was recently restored and now flows (with water) at summertime. I suggest clicking the photo to see a bigger version, which still doesn't do justice to the very detailed carvings.

Photos have been up on Facebook for a while and I've also put them up on Flickr. I think I'll start doing this for all of my photos. Facebook is a great place to share photos because it's easy for people to browse and comment, but the quality is absolutely rubbish when compared to Flickr. I'll try posting links to both and you can decide where you would like to browse.

*The use of the term "wizz" does not imply that this catch-up process will be speedy. It will happen though, I promise.

Spring! Update!

Life has been a little bit crazy lately with travels to three different countries happening in the past four weeks. It all gets a little crazier on Friday when I set off for Croatia with my sister for eight days of adventuring. After that, we meet up with the parents in London for a few days before heading back to Edinburgh where we all cram into my tiny wee flat. Should be good fun.

Since the above will be immediately followed with a paper and exams, I don't know when the next blog post will go up. So I thought it would be good to share some links to photo albums from trips I've done this semester but haven't gotten around to writing about. Hopefully these will give you a good glimpse of what I've been lucky to see before I sit down and properly talk about the details.

Linlithgow (Jan 25): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2191037&id=90402206&l=5b5c8c9854

Paris (Feb 25-Mar 1): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2196205&id=90402206&l=0d2a5c95ef

Wales (Mar 13-15): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2196365&id=90402206&l=3ef2449daf

Amsterdam & Utrecht (Mar 20-22): http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2197350&id=90402206&l=83ebf80a65

And hey, if you're feeling bogged down by exams or stressful work or papers or that global crisis thing (or the effects of that other global crisis thing), don't forget that it's now officially spring. Why not grab some sun and take a breather? :)

Highlands Roadtrip

Scottish Highlands (map, see the yellow placemarks)
January 6-9, 2009

Having spent a few days in Orkney, Garrett and I hired a car and set off to explore the Highlands of Scotland. We started off heading north west towards a ferry to the Isle of Skye, drove off Skye and travelled north to Inverness before coming back south to Edinburgh.

Day One - 6 Jan 2009

When undertaking any trip that involves driving long distances on unfamiliar roads, it is inevitable that there will be obstacles and at least one instance of just being plain lost. It is probably a good thing that the bulk of these nasty things happened to us on day one. Starting the trip like this meant that we had nowhere to go but up. Note to future self: maps are good to have. If driving through a city that lacks not only a major highway but, more importantly, signs telling you which road is which and where it goes, maps are really good to have. And although a map of all of Scotland is really useful, this utility drops significantly when using it to navigate Edinburgh. Future self is laughing because this allegedly obvious point was not realized by self of January 2009. So... getting out of Edinburgh took slightly longer than expected. When we finally got out, we made our way to Falkirk. This small city between Edinburgh and Stirling was our first planned stop because of the Falkirk Wheel. A marvel of modern engineering, this giant wheel is used to get boats from one canal into another by lifting them into the air and onto an aqueduct. Finding our way to this sight was not helped by the confusing signs but by the very useful tourist map posted on a placard in an ASDA parking lot. (Thank you, Wal-Mart?) Unfortunately, the wheel was closed for a month of maintenance so we didn't see it in action, but it's not difficult to imagine what it might be like.

After bagging Stirling Castle and Wallace Monument (read: driving past them on the motorway), we made a beeline for Glen Coe. I saw this beautiful glen in November but wanted to go again and spend a bit more time lingering and soaking in the stark beauty. Travelling in January in Scotland meant that the sun was not on our side. By the time we got to Rannoch Moor, just east of Glen Coe, it was clear that we wouldn't make it. On the plus side, we pulled over and got to walk around a very eerie marshland for a few minutes. The landscape was completely devoid of colour and it was hard to tell where land ended and water began.

It was so eerie that even our little Vauxhall Corsa got scared. So scared that she didn't want to start up again. Problem. The sun was completely out of sight at this point and we were at least 10 km from the nearest town. Problem. Thank God for mobile phones because it turns out the problem was a very straightforward "locked steering wheel," as the Enterprise guy told us on the phone.

Back on the road, we headed straight for the hostel in Fort William, got dinner at a nearby family restaurant/bar called The Lochy, and called it a very early night.


Day Two - 7 Jan 2009

Ready to make a fresh start on day two, we woke up at a very early 5 a.m. and set off soon after. On our way to Mallaig to catch the ferry to Skye (the reason for our brutally early wake up), we decided to stop at the Glenfinnan Monument. This structure marks the spot where Bonnie Prince Charlie first gathered the clans and raised his father's standard. Sitting at the end of Loch Shiel with mountains on either side, it paints a very impressive image that is automatically associated with the Highlands. Unfortunately, we saw none of this. Given that it was around 6 in the morning, we resorted to simply feeling the imposing presence of the monument and spotting some lights glistening across the loch. To imagine what we could have seen, I refer you to the beautiful photography of Neil Coffey, a fellow PhotoSoc member: http://www.neilcoffey.co.uk/photo_2949759.html.

The rest of the drive to Mallaig was winding and wonderful, despite the pre-dawn conditions, and even included several deer literally in our headlights on the road! I can only imagine how beautiful the journey would be to do when one can actually see further than 10 feet in front of the car! We got on the ferry sans problèmes and travelled "over the sea to Skye," arriving in Armadale.

The first big stop on Skye was an impromptu event that lasted over an hour! Driving past the Eas a' Bhradain Waterfall (Waterfall of the Salmon), we had to pull over and jump out for some photos. Having borrowed a tripod from PhotoSoc, we had some fun experimenting with long exposure to get some soft effects on the water. Garrett also shot this panorama which we later stitched together. Too bad my big hat is in the way!

Starving at this point, we rushed to Portree and enjoyed the aforementioned fish and chips after some beach scavenging at the Harbour. One of my favourite souvenirs was picked up from the scavenging: a chunk broken off a glass bottle. We deduced from the "BARR" inscription on the bottom and the piece of "GLASGOW" on the side that, at some point in the past, it must have contained the bright orange Irn-Bru ("Scotland's other National Drink").

After lunch, we made our way north to Lealt Falls, which we found upon hearing the sound of water plummeting. Here are the waterfalls with the hills of the Trotternish ridge in the distance.

Travelling further north, we reached Mealt Falls and Kilt Rock - 200 feet high cliffs that truly do plunge straight down. This is where we met The Rodney. Don't ask why he is called such a foolish thing, but just take a look at the photo and try to spot him. (Hint: he's that teeny white blob above the waterfalls that looks like a lunatic sheep standing on the edge of a cliff. That is, in fact, exactly what he is.)

After witnessing such madness, we hopped back in the Corsa and turned south. One of the things we were hoping to see was the Old Man of Storr. After a 30-minute hike that brought us up into the clouds, we were rewarded with... clouds. There was so much mist that even while standing at the base of the 50 metre high rock, we could barely make out the shape. Perhaps another trip on sunnier days is in order.

Dinner was had at a pub in Broadford (with an excellent background sountrack of Most Extreme Challenge) before driving back to southern tip of Skye for our hostel.

Day Three - 8 Jan 2009

Thursday was a total lie-in compared to Wednesday's early morning. It started well with the ponies owned by the hostel owners who were decently friendly and smelled like pony.

We set off for the Skye Bridge and drove over the Kyle of Lochalsh off the lovely Isle of Skye. After some breakfast, we made a stop at the Eileen Donan Castle. Unfortunately closed for renovations, we were still able to have a walk around one of Scotland's most famous castles.

The next stretch of driving took us past beautiful landscapes of mountains and lochs...

...and beautiful cloud formations with the sun breaking through to light up Loch Ness.

This scene kept us company the entire drive along the very long Loch Ness up to Urquhart Castle. It was nice to casually wander around the castle after the rushed visit I had last November and we enjoyed watching the clouds to see if the rays would ever catch up to the castle. They didn't.

Finishing up at Urquhart, we set off for our final destination of the day. Once again, the city roads were determined to get in our way. This time, it wasn't for lack of maps but the sheer ridiculousness of the roads in Inverness - one way this way that leads to only a one way this other way which leads to a closed road that forces you to break the law just to get out of an impossible cycle! Luckily, we found overnight parking in a city lot not far from the hostel. And this hostel, Eastgate Backpackers, was like a trip in itself. Complete with a crazy-eyed German manager who must have been a rock star in his younger days, the hostel had these wicked paintings on the doors and in the rooms representing different countries and depicting stereotypical images from those countries. After wandering around Inverness for a while, we called it a night in the China room under the watchful eye of a Bob Marley in Jamaica painting telling us not to worry.


Day Four - 9 Jan 2009

Waking up to find our tasty treat of orange popsicles had melted in the hostel's faulty freezer :( we set off for the final day of our wee trip. Things picked up immediately with the next few hours spent in Leakey's Second Hand Bookshop. Located in an old church, it looked as though the bookshelves were climbing on top of each other, scrambling to reach up to the heavens. Not only were there books for sale but original prints and maps, many over 100 years old. Needless to say, we certainly lost track of time - but it was amazing wandering around and flipping through dusty pages just to see what we might stumble upon.

Tearing ourselves away from Leakey's with a 19th century Logic textbook and a few gifts in hand, we hopped in the Corsa and took off for the last stop of the trip: Culloden Moor. When I went in November, we didn't go into the exhibition centre at all... and for good reason! There is so much information in there, one could easily spend a day perusing the artefacts and playing with the interactive maps. After 90 minutes and realizing we were only a 1/4 finished, we made way for a tour of the battlefield with an enthusiastic historian and enjoyed the sunset from atop the roof of the centre.

Then, for the last time, we started up the Corsa and began the three hour drive back to Edinburgh (during which I ensured that all conversation was in song form for more than an hour, much to Garrett's dismay).

Overall, the trip was great fun and very memorable - even the little bumps along the way. Hiring a car was the best decision we made as it provided unmeasurable freedom and opened the doors to some of the funnest moments of the trip.

Many more photos (as if that were possible!) at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2188236&id=90402206&l=bfb04.

Orkney

Before starting, I thought I would mention the very Halifax-y February I had - seeing both Share and Jenn Grant live and getting Rose Cousins' latest album in the mail. (Furiously looking forward to Rose's upcoming album, which Garrett's sister pre-ordered for me for Christmas - thanks Liv!) Share put on a really good show at The Bowery, just a block from my flat. Jenn, who played after Kevin Hearn of BNL fame, was fantastic. They played at a little pub in Leith and it felt like we were all sitting around in a living room; there was even some audience sing along action on Jenn's Sailing by Silver Ships. Quite the opposite end of the spectrum from the show (audio) she had played just two weeks before. Who knew I'd have to come to Edinburgh to get so much East Coast goodness! (Quelques photos from Jenn's show at http://flickr.com/photos/44821698@N00/sets/72157614719600627)


Orkney (map)
January 2-5, 2009

After a few days hanging out in Edinburgh, Garrett and I hopped a tiny plane and flew up to the Orkney Islands, an archipelago just north of mainland UK. There are some things that can be said about travelling to a relatively remote region the day after New Year's.

It's an awful idea. The 1/3 full plane complete with depressed stewardess start the journey with this feeling. And apparently people need two days to recover from the new year celebrations. As a result, things are closed on January 2. Things that are kind of important like car rental companies and bus companies and restaurants. Brutal.

BUT... it's also a fantastic idea. No cars to hire or buses to transport means that you turn to a tour company to get you around. You meet a friendly tour guide (whose wife is Canadian!) and get to see things you may not have seen otherwise. No restaurants means you get to go to a full-sized grocery store (unlike our tiny Tesco in Edinburgh) and cook a delicious dinner of Orkney beef... mmm!

We arrived in Kirkwall and received the most beautiful welcome ever:

Walking about the 7000-person town that day felt more like being in a ghost town with nary a soul around and all the stores literally barricaded shut.

The next day, Saturday, was a bit livelier with Kirkwallians emerging out of their homes for a chilly weekend. Picked up (slightly late) by Michael and his van, we made our way south across the Churchill Barriers off of Mainland Orkney. The Churchill Barriers were built in WWII to protect Royal Navy ships anchored in Scapa Flow after a battleship was sunken by a German U-boat. This is the beautiful view from one of the barriers. Visible is one of Orkney's several wind turbines behind the mast of a blockship used to keep protect the harbour before the barriers were built.

Crossing over four barriers and three islands, we arrived at the Tomb of the Eagles. Discovered by a farmer in 1958 looking for stones to build a fence, this neolithic chambered tomb sits at the top of a cliff. We had to crawl on hands and knees into the tomb that was lit by sunlight - and how cool to stand in a room built thousands of years ago and used for many years after! Not far from the tomb, there is also a Bronze Age Site on the family's land. People are still trying to figure out what exactly this site was - a house? a place of worship? - and it was neat to visit and make our own hypotheses.

Heading back to the mainland, we stopped at the Italian Chapel on the island of Lamb Holm. This structure was amazing put together by Italian prisoners of war (in Orkney to build the Churchill Barriers) using what little material they had: a Nissen hut, plaster board, paint, concrete, and leftover iron. Even the holy water font is made of a giant spring and the lamps are made from old tin cans!

Come late afternoon, our first day with Michael came to an end when he dropped us off in Stromness. Stromness is the second largest town in Orkney and is centred around one main narrow street winding its way past old stone houses and storefronts. Interestingly, this road is only cobblestoned on a strip down the middle - much easier for the horses while the carts cruised along the paved sides.


Sunday saw our second day with Michael and we hit all the highlights of the Neolithic Orkney proclaimed in the tourist brochures.

The first sight was Maeshowe, a chambered cairn and one of the four stops we would make within the "Heart of Neolithic Orkney World Heritage Site". This incredible tomb is seeped in mystery, made only more interesting with features like the alignment of the tomb entrance with the setting winter solstice sun. You can read all about it on the previous link so I won't bore you with the details. I will mention two neat things we learnt on that visit: 1) Maeshowe has one of Europe's best collections of runic inscriptions. Carved by Vikings who had raided the cairn, many of these inscriptions read as simple as "Ottarfila carved these runes" - not so different from a modern-day "Sven was here" in the public toilets. 2) On a recent dig to reroute water seeping through the walls, the archaeologist found a buried coin from 1954. Apparently it's not uncommon for archaeologists to drop recently minted coins in their digs as a calling card of sorts to let future discoverers know when the area was last unearthed. We weren't allowed to take photos inside but there are some nice ones at http://www.maeshowe.co.uk/, along with a live video feed of the Winter Solstice sunset.

Our next two stops were at the nearby stone circles: the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Ring of Brodgar. Once again, I will leave you to explore those two links for details about the history of these ceremonial stone circles. Some neat tidbits:

• Michael mentioned that these two sets of stones may form a Pythagorean triangle with Maeshowe - yay math! - that might be significant for the ceremonies performed involving the sites.
  
• Speaking from the centre of the Stones of Stenness, one's voice will echo and bounce around in the circle. The same might be true for Brodgar but the centre of the circle is filled with heather to stop people from trampling the grass so we couldn't try it.
  
• One of the stones in the Ring of Brodgar was hit with lightening (7 years to the day before I was born!), causing it to crack into two big slabs.
  

The photo to the left is one of the Standing Stones of Stenness and, on the right, Garrett and Michael discuss the Ring of Brodgar.

Finally, we made our way to the first thing that drew us to Orkney: Skara Brae. Walking to the site, one begins a journey back in time, passing marks commemorating major events from the last several thousand years. 5000 years later, we arrive at Skara Brae. This unbelievably well-preserved Neolithic village was uncovered in 1850 when a severe storm ripped through the earth to reveal the stone buildings. It had been protected by the sand covering and, as a result, the village probably isn't so different than it would have been in 3000 BC. The buildings are evidently houses, complete with beds, fireplaces, storage areas, and toilets. To show that humans haven't really come that far in 5000 years, even a sewer system is found weaving under the buildings! And yes it is a real sewer system. There are tunnels connecting all the toilets in the village and twice a year a dam up in the hills is released to thoroughly flush the system out into the North Atlantic.

The last stop before we returned to Kirkwall for the night was the Broch of Gurness. At this site stands an Iron Age broch (or fort) and a pictish farmhouse which overlook Eynhallow Sound, the point above Mainland Orkney where the North Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean. Here's a photo of the shamrock-shaped farmhouse in the foreground and the Broch in the background. Apparently the farmhouse was moved, stone by stone, to its current location from where it was found, buried under rubble.

With our flight departing Kirkwall on Monday afternoon, we spent the morning exploring St Magnus Cathedral, the most northerly cathedral in the British Isles. Built by Norse residents of Orkney in 1137, there's a definite Viking feel in the massive sandstone building (including parts of the roof I am convinved were designed to look like the inside of a boat).

To end off this massive post, here is a photo from the Kirkwall Airport gift shop. Looking forward to the day when Honesty Baskets are commonplace :)

Many more photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2188234&id=90402206&l=f1d03

Seven Easy Steps to Enjoying Delicious Fish & Chips

Step 1: Locate chippy. (In this case, one attached to The Lower Deck restaurant in Portree Harbour on the Isle of Skye.)

Step 2: Find suitable unloading surface.

Step 3: Unload. Watch steam rise from fresh packets.

Step 4: Soak in how ridiculously delicious the food looks.

Step 5: Locate suitable dining area. (The backseat of a Vauxhall Corsa works swimmingly well.)

Step 6: Locate suitable dining partner. (Garrett works swimmingly well.)

Step 7: Bask in the memory of the amazingly good food just consumed.

Those promised updates from our adventuring in Orkney and around the Highlands are taking a bit longer than expected. Hopefully this will keep your appetites whet while those get cooked up.

Completely unrelated, I thought I would share this great collection of photos by Callie Shell showing a side of Obama we don't often get to see and, in particular, this really beautiful photo:

Of the picture, the photographer says,

It was primary morning in New Hampshire. Barack and Michelle Obama had been campaigning separately all week. In the first few months of 2008 their private time seemed to consist of a few crossover moments in back hallways before rallies. This moment was rare and you could tell they just loved being able to sit together. Jan. 8, 2008.

This photo won first place in the "People in the News: Stories" category of the World Press Photo contest. Well deserved.

The Local's Guide to Edinburgh

No, that is not what this blog post will attempt to be. It is, however, the title of a brilliant little book I picked up when Garrett was here in January. It's packed with recommendations for walks, shops, and other hidden gems in town. But, most importantly, it's got restaurant recommendations! We tried out a few of their listed restaurants and were quite impressed. Eating was our primary activity for the few days Garrett spent with me in Edinburgh. (But honestly, I'm a Winchiu. When is eating not a primary activity? I'm ashamed at the lack of my gastronomical adventuring thus far.)

Some of our favourites:

Monster Mash
For traditional British grub in giant portions, like this ginormous steak pie Garrett enjoyed. Also, the waitress was so friendly, I almost wanted to check her back for a perma-cheerful-robot switch.

Paul's Original Sandwich House (P.O.S.H.)
In New Town, they've got delicious italian meatball subs almost as good as the ones from Pulente's/Molto's (which has sadly closed its location near Carleton in favour of an actual restaurant in Gatineau).

Made in Italy

In the Grassmarket, this restaurant had delicious Italian food at incredibly low prices and very pleasant service. We shared a tasty pizza and topped it off with this dessert, which had heads turning and prompted many more orders for dessert around the restaurant. I can't wait to go back to try their lasagna, which looked amazing.

Other than all the eating, we did do some touristy stuff around town. On the day we arrived (Dec 30), we did a tour of the Scottish Parliament, which was pretty interesting. It focused mainly on the architecture of the building (which is the reason I wanted to do the tour) and emphasized the themes of "nature" and shipbuilding present throughout the building. Sadly, we couldn't take photos inside but here is one of a model of the campus:

We also made it up to Edinburgh Castle...

...rang in the new year on the Salisbury Crags...

...and wandered into the National Library of Scotland to see one of the seven original copies of Tales of Beedle the Bard, handwritten by JK Rowling! Have any of you Harry Potter lovers read the stories yet? Still haven't gotten my hands on the book.

More photos at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2188233&id=90402206&l=55431 and more interesting stories from the Orkney Islands, Skye, and the Highlands to come!

On The Radio

Warning: links followed by (audio) indicate that music will start playing as soon as you open the page! Also, apologies to anyone who received my email containing large chunks of this post. Read on; I've got much more to say this time :)

Living alone in my flat can make for some very quiet nights and, with no radio or TV, I depend a lot on the internet to fill the space. CBC has done an amazing job getting excellent Canadian music onto the airwaves with their transformation of Radio 2 and programs like Q, GO!, and DNTO, not to mention the worldwide popularity of Radio 3 (audio) on the interweb. And they've been very smart to make so much of their stuff available for streaming online or downloadable as podcasts. Thanks to the time difference, my evenings are beautifully soundtracked by Radio 2 Drive, where Rich Terfry hosts an excellent mix of music from all over the world and across many genres. If you're stuck in rush hour during, say, a transit strike, this is a surefire way to calm the nerves. Someone send a memo to Kathleen: "Heavy rotation on the CBC" has a whole new meaning. (audio - Yes, that really is Marty McSorley, Paul Coffey, and Jim Cuddy on the ice with Kathleen! (audio - think it's illegal to have so many parentheses?))

So why this random plug for the CBC, you ask? My vote for the band Stars got aired on GO's Top Eight Driving Tunes of All Time show in December. You can listen to the entire 11/29/2008 show streamed at http://www.cbc.ca/go/audio.html#fullshows (where you can find archives from previous shows and excellent mp3s of live performances). The vote for Stars' "Take Me To the Riot" comes in at #7 about 11 minutes into the show, followed by a beautiful request from Torquil (half of the vocals of Stars) himself.

Here are a few more gems in rotation:

- Fuse (http://www.cbc.ca/fuse/)
An innovative show combining two or more artists/bands (often of different genres) to make some live musical magic. The incredibly sweet (audio) Amanda Putz helped conceive and hosted (along with Alan Neal) the program. Sadly, Fuse was cancelled in 2008 but you can relive some memories on their website under "Audio."

- Concerts on Demand (http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/)
Recordings of live concerts by all sorts of musicians. Some favourites:
>>> Buck 65 with Symphony Nova Scotia
>>> Rose Cousins
>>> Zaki Ibrahim
>>> Kathleen Edwards at Bluesfest
>>> New Year's Concert (Jim Bryson, Zaki Ibrahim, Sandro Petti, Jenny Whiteley, Andre Ethier and Catriona Sturton)
>>> Canadian Songbook - Luminato 2008 (Alex Cuba, Luke Doucet, Molly Johnson, Danny Michel, Mikel Rouse, Ron Sexsmith, Nikki Yanofsky, Dan Zanes, Kim Stockwood, and Damhnait Doyle)

- The Nerve: Music & the Human Experience (http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/features/theNerve/)
A six-part series look at the How and Why of music.

- The Age of Persuasion (http://www.cbc.ca/ageofpersuasion)
Terry O'Reilly is back exploring the countless ways marketers permeate your life, from media, art, and language, to politics, religion, and fashion.



I feel compelled here to say a word (or several...) about the attacks against the new Radio 2. I've seen many comments on the Radio 2 blog complaining about the programming change from purely classical music to a wider variety of genres. I agree that it was not too smart of CBC to eliminate the CBC Radio Orchestra but do feel that their new programming better reflects Canada's musical mosaic. I really think that many of these complaints demonstrate true narrow-mindedness. With petitions proclaiming the need to restore "intelligent sensitive programming," I would suggest they take a good listen to what is being played on the New 2 and dare them to accuse the compelling lyrics and beautiful melodies of being unintelligent and insensitive.

One comment in response to Radio 2 Drive read:

"...The people with the technology to stream music from the net are the kind of people who might like your music. How come they don't get to stream it while we fans of the old Two have to suffer in silence or be assaulted by music we hate?"
Posted by: Janet Bickford | November 21, 2008 09:15 PM

I appreciate the euphemism of "people with the technology to stream music" in the place of "stinky young folk," but you certainly don't need a logic textbook to see the extreme flaw in her argument. People from all walks of life can appreciate music from danceable World to European Indie to Country and everything in between.

Another reads:

"What dribble and when combined with the inane comments of the host, it should be not even be allowed to use the CBC call letters. I wonder if the host even graduated from high school. I am embarrassed by this low level of programming."
Posted by: Herc | December 26, 2008 04:37 PM

I understand that people are upset because programs they loved have been cancelled. (Don't think I'm upset that Fuse and Waking Up With A. Putz. and Arrested Development were cancelled? Think again.) That, however, is no reason to stoop to mean-spirited comments that are not helpful in the least. I imagine this person would be one to dismiss an artist like Shad as unintelligent and unsophisticated solely on the basis that he's a rapper, thus missing the great pleasure of hearing a song as powerful as Brother (Watching (audio)). One does not need to have decades of expensive musical training to be capable of creating art that can touch and affect others.

It feels like all of these comments are being made with an extreme sense of entitlement and superiority. These arguments are made as though classical music is the only music that deserves to be broadcast by our public broadcaster. I enjoy classical music and have the option of listening to it five hours a day on Radio 2. However, there are vast amounts of incredible music being produced in our country outside of that genre that deserve to be heard. It's called "Your National Music Network," implying a commitment to shine the light on all talented Canadian musicians. The New CBC Radio 2 does just that.

If you have any thoughts/opinions to add on the subject, please feel free to leave a comment.

Dublin

This is the last post from last semester - yes for catching up! Coming soon: stories from two weeks of exploring Scotland with Garrett! (In other more superficial news, I got some brilliant wouldn't-buy-if-they-weren't-on-sale boots and am oh so pleased! :)

Dublin (map)
December 6-8, 2008

For the first weekend of December, I found myself in Dublin with Kristin, Marjorie, and Aurore, the great friends I luckily met on a bus early one fall morning. They went up on Friday but, with a lecture I couldn't miss that day, I decided to go on Saturday morning and come back on Monday.

Our Saturday was primarily spent at the Guinness Storehouse, Dublin's main tourist attraction. The building, located on the 64-acre St. James' Gate Brewery, was redone in 2000 into a brilliant 7-floor museum of sorts where you learn about all things Guinness - the entire production chain from raw ingredients to storage to transportation, its marketing through the years, and general history about the company. Even for someone who doesn't like beer, it was a pretty interesting tour through the building shaped like a pint glass (despite the ridiculous crowds and hilarious Windows errors) and the displays were quite well-done. My favourite part was probably a video from the 1950s showing a cooper in action, speedily making a barrel with the most minimal of tools and experienced hands.

A pint was included with entry, making the ticket price slightly less exorbitant. With not much time and boxes on the qualities-that-make-one-easily-inebriated list, I didn't finish my pint. Actually, none of us did - much to the chagrin of the guy who grabbed our seats as we left.

Here we are from left to right: Aurore, Marjorie, Kristin, me! (Photo stolen from Kristin :)

Our evening's entertainment was covered with dinner, music, and dancing at Legends, the restaurant/bar part of the Arlington Hotel. The food was delicious, the music traditional and charming, and the dancing impressive. The moving painting was a fun addition.

On Sunday, we joined up with a walking tour guided by a history graduate of Trinity College. His Jack Nicholson-like mug attempted to go through the history of Ireland back the past few hundred years in a span of two hours - no small feat. With so much information pouring in and me knowing pretty much nothing about Irish history to start, a lot of it passed right through me.

The highlight on Sunday for me was Oscar Wilde! Travelling with three literature majors, his statue was a definite stop - and am I glad we did it. This statue is, hands down, the most brilliant of brilliant statues out there. The cheeky facial expression, the inviting pose, the colourful smoke-room jacket - all apparently quite appropriate for the type of man he was known to be. Opposite the statue sculpted in 1997 by Danny Osborne, there are two columns covered in his quotes and topped with two impressive sculptures. I wonder, though, why the male sculpture is just a torso while the female one shows an entire body.

After being awed by the wicked statue, we made our way to see the Book of Kells and the Old Library of Trinity College. Sadly, the book was not in display that day (for maintenance) so we only saw a facsimile. The little exhibition about the book did have some neat videos - my favourite one showed the old school book-binding process from start to finish - and just standing in the Old Library surrounded by ancient dusty volumes was quite an experience too.

The girls left that evening and I spent the night strolling around town. Much of the same was done on Monday and I strolled on into a few museums too.

One area that was nice to walk around in was Temple Bar. The cultural hub of Dublin, this area was on the brink of demolition twenty years ago. A bus company had plans to buy it out and build a bus depot but had trouble paying their mortgage. Instead of borrowing massive sums of money that they wouldn't be able to pay off (not a good idea?), they decided to rent out the flats for short periods at low rent. Artists and students flocked to the area and a cultural revival of sorts organically began. The government took note, admirably scrapped the bus depot and, instead, invested money into the area, funding centres for photography, music, film, and theatre.

I had lunch at The Bakery - a delicious savoury pastry (though no bacon or ham!) - and spent the rest of the day at the Photography Gallery, National Photographic Archives, and the National Library of Ireland. (The National Museum of Ireland was closed because it was a Monday - what a bummer!) Quite the cultural day to end off a nice weekend.

I found people were generally more pushy than I've seen in Edinburgh and drivers were slightly insane but, overall, it was a good choice for a last trip of the semester. Lots more photos and commentary to be found in the full album at http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2182660&l=a0f6f&id=90402206.

I'll leave you today with one of my favourite photos taken last semester - a bird sitting atop a Temple Bar sign.

When not sleeping in castles...

…brought to you by the letter C!

Note: this post was written in early December and is obviously dated, but I thought I'd put it up in any case since my internet wouldn't let me when I wrote it. It probably contains far more detail than you'll care to know but at least my mom will be happy :) I've also just put up an album containing some miscellaneous photos from the first semester - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2186826&l=15975&id=90402206.

People have been asking about what life has been like for me in Edinburgh outside of the weekend trips, so I've put together this post to share a bit about what keeps me busy when I'm not sleeping in a castle or taking photos of them.

Classes
Yes, these do exist. Being that university is what brought me on this adventure, I suppose it does feature as quite a big part of life these days. The norm here is three classes each semester with 2-3 hours of lecture time per class each week plus weekly or bi-weekly tutorials. That's a lot of numbers so I'll sum it up as: 8 hours of class time a week! Compared to the 15-20 hours that most (BA) students in Canada have, you would think this equals lots of free time. In theory this is true, but, much of that time is taken up by readings and work to keep up with lectures and tutorials. I don't want to generalize the comparison to Canada vs. UK because there are so many other factors (home university, program, personal study style) and I've heard lots of people say they've felt the opposite.

That said, my classes have been enjoyable so the required work isn't necessarily a bad thing. A first year Human Geography class has been my favourite - studying many things that I'm genuinely interested in always makes class work easier. The second year Organisation Studies has met my expectations and as much a psychology class as it is a business class. My only economics class is Topics in Economic Analysis and has its moments of being both interesting and very dull, often the case with economics classes.

Clubs
With well over 200 clubs and societies at the university, there's something for pretty much everyone from lovers of juggling to avid Perfidious Albion-ers. I've opted for two societies thus far - ChillOut and Photography. No, the ChillOut Society does not consist of lying around on shag carpets drinking hot chocolate and listening to Zero 7 (though that would be pretty sweet). What it does consist of is great massage classes and I took their 6-week beginner class as well as a one-day Indian Head Massage class. Both were great to learn some new skills, meet nice people, and get a relaxing massage! I've only just started with PhotoSoc but their once-a-week meetings are often guest speakers who come to talk about some aspect of photography. On Tuesday, there was a fellow student who told us all about pinhole photography - very cool stuff. Imagine having your camera exposed for six months!

Edinburgh's own Camera Obscura

City
So after the school work and societies, there is still lots of time to explore the city. (Perhaps a blog post brought to us by the sound 's'?) Living in the middle of a UNESCO World Heritage Centre has its benefits. With winding alleys and buildings seeped in history every way you look, just wandering around Old Town provides hours of entertainment. There are also many world class museums and galleries with free entry that I definitely haven't taken advantage of.

Another beautiful feature of Edinburgh is the massive park smack in the middle of the city! Holyrood Park is always great for a stroll about and offers some of the best views of the city. Here are some photos from a few jaunts up Arthur's Seat and the Salisbury Crags (more here).

The gentle stroll up Arthur's Seat.


This panorama is a snippet of the view of the city from the Salisbury Crags.

On one outing, I walked around the Scottish Parliament - a very controversial building that's been slagged for its unique design and blown-up costs (which totalled £414.4m, about 10 times the initial guesstimates). Lots of people complain about the modern architecture, especially when compared to some of the ancient buildings around Old Town. Personally, I'm a fan. With no educated commentary to add, I will simply say that I think it's pretty and am very much looking forward to doing a tour to learn about the finer details (green roofs and material primarily sourced from within Scotland!).


Cooking
With a father who can cook up a storm in minutes using whatever is found in the fridge, I've been lucky enough to have a steady stream of nutritious and delicious food entering my stomach without having to flex a single culinary muscle. That has obviously changed since September and I'm happy to report that I have not been living out of cans and pizza boxes. I've been sticking to pretty simply things and like to cook larger batches that will feed me for a few meals. (Tip: poaching an entire chicken can keep one person fed for a good chunk of the week. Thanks for the recipe, brother!) While the food that comes out of my microwave/oven/grill (yes, all three in one unit!) or off of my two little burners may not be as tasty as going out to eat or the make-brain-think-substance-is-delicious flavourings often found in packaged stuff, spending time on carefully selecting and preparing definitely makes me appreciate my food.

Overall, the city is a beautiful place to live. Not so big that you feel overwhelmed but not so small that it's lacking in things to do. And for a city of this size, Edinburgh is disgustingly rich in things to do and see... lucky for me!