Oktober and the Case of the Insane Schedule

As the old adage claims, "time flies when you're having fun." No truer words could describe the last few weeks in Reims.

Classes are in full swing. We have had no fewer than 6 different professors, teaching a variety of subjects, and assigning group and individual assignments. School work picked up, as did my work for the Hay Group and my newest employer, a film studio out of Paris and Bordeaux. I've been trying to pack it all in, along with the standard 1 night minimum per week of partying. This is what I imagined happening before I came here, and it's been a blast figuring out how to work it all into these short 24-hour days we have.

Some important notes:

A little over two weeks ago, 5 days after my last post, was my birthday. I was surprised in my apartment at 0:01 by a group of my colleagues, who brought a bottle of Taittinger champagne to help celebrate the first day of my 25th year of life. We had class the next morning, but that was not important to anyone. It was a touching gesture, and so much fun. After class on the 17th, we continued the party in my apartment, then in a garden outside a different residence. The celebrations spanned more than 24 hours, including the time in between parties. I couldn't have asked for a better day. And the fun didn't stop there.

Some of the IM LUX alumni, back living in Reims, have consistently been throwing parties on a weekly basis, at a house halfway between the student rez and downtown. With several different student groups (current and past IM LUX, exchange students, etc.) mingling and dancing and drinking, the result is pretty fantastic. I will miss those particular alumni when they go off to find work in other cities or countries.

I've also had time over the last few weeks to reflect on some of the things that happened last time I was here, how adapting to the town has been different, and how many things have essentially stayed the same. The bank is still a nightmare to deal with, but the new tram can get you there in half the time the buses used to take. The internet is still mostly slow and choppy, but I can nonetheless keep up with TV shows, movies, and of course, people back home, as needed. The phone plan I have this time is way better than it was before; shame I don't require it for a minimum of an hour a day to call someone in Canada like I did last time, my plan almost feels like overkill now.

Interestingly enough, I don't think I'm really learning anything different or working on more difficult assignments, there are just more of them being assigned simultaneously, since this program does not schedule classes in 3-week modules with one assignment and one exam each. Instead, the French half of the program is split into two halves, where each half has 5 or 6 classes, each with an assignment, and most with an exam. All exams are written in a 2-day period in October, rather than at the end of each class. Then in November we start again, going until one week before Christmas, at which point we write more exams.

Another thing I'm doing at least as much as last time is travelling. The difference is, I'm going to Paris a lot (actually, I'm going to Rennes next weekend to visit some old friends, which will be awesome) rather than visiting new countries. This is actually not a bad thing, although I do wish I could see Finland or Ireland or something, but it will have to wait. The tuition bill is a lot higher this time, so come December, I will feel very poor, indeed. We'll see how much travelling I do once I move to Milan.

I am really getting into the groove here. I have enjoyed getting to know my classmates and re-acquainting myself with this town I am calling home for the second time. Unfortunately, it will be a very temporary stay. I am already only 10 weeks away from moving out of this apartment into a very new city. Here's hoping the hard work here pays off and the change doesn't come too hard or too fast. It's going to be an interesting transition, certainly a lot of fun, so I will try to stay focused on schoolwork and real work so that I can better enjoy the second half of this journey.

I look forward to visiting San Siro, preferably when Inter is playing. I look forward to seeing Blind Guardian live in concert in May. I look forward to eating Italian food nearly everyday. I look forward to the possibility of having air conditioning. I look forward to seeing more of my friends and family from around Europe. All in good time.

A friendly introduction

Good Evening,

I have just returned from a night on Place d'Erlon. The IM LUX group has concluded 3 days of introductory activities, where everyone in the program (all 41 of us) got to learn about the school, the cities we'll be living in, and about each other. We have visited champagne houses, surrounding towns where grapes are grown, participated in team-building activities, and generally had a good time. Fun note: less than 20% of students in the program are male. How's that for a statistic?

Anyway, here's a quick summary of some of the activities we've enjoyed over the last few days:

Wednesday, Day 1, was primarily an administrative day. Various people presented the different aspects of the program, and we were introduced to some our professors and alumni from last's year inaugural IM LUX class. We visited Champagne Taittinger, one of my top 2 favourite champagne houses, and enjoyed a nice lunch at the university. One of the alumni held a small party at his conveniently-located and spacious apartment, so we got to have a little late-night fun.

On Thursday, we joined forces with the MIM (Master's of Int'l Management) group, which is about half the size of our crew, to learn more about the school in general. We also had some team-building activities, which included building a structure which could protect and egg from a 3-metre drop, and creating a percussion ensemble, with full performance in front of a small audience. By the end of the day, I'd personally met 90% of my classmates, and a few MIM students, memorizing roughly 50% of the names. Somewhat of a challenge there, considering the variety of backgrounds, but hey, that's half the fun.

Friday was our trip to Épernay and Hautvillers, two towns just outside of Reims which house many of the most important vines and producers in the region of Champagne. In the morning, we visited the Mercier cellars, now owned by LVMH, and followed that up with a lunch at La Ferme des Presles, a beautiful country property where a woman in her 60s prepared a delicious lunch for about 80 students. Épernay is a beautiful town with incredible vistas. The lunch we had was delicious as well, and included foie gras, so you know I was happy. Following lunch, we drove to Hautvillers for a scavenger hunt. Divided into groups, we crossed the town looking for clues to solve a puzzle and win a prize. My group didn't win, but it was fun. I kind of wish we'd just had free time there; all the focusing on the map and the questions that were part of the game took away from attention that could have been paid to the rolling hills covered in vines, the half-century-old buildings and the parts of the town that the scavenger hunt led us to discover in the first place. A map and 2 hours of walking time would have been enough to appreciate the small town, without any added distractions.

After all the running around, we returned to Reims. I made dinner and then went downtown, where I was joined by about half of my classmates (those who were not too tired) for an evening drink or two (or five, whatever).

All seems to be going well. I am feeling lucky to be in a country I love, in a city I like, studying something that is interesting and useful, surrounded by intelligent, fun and frankly beautiful people. But enough of this introspective sentimental shit. Go check out some pictures on Facebook, where they are presently proving slightly easier to upload.

36 Hours in Reims

Good Evening,

I have arrived in the town of Reims, France, and am so ready to start this Master's degree. Here's a recap of what's happened so far:

- Got picked up at the airport, with 4 other people and all our luggage, by a man with a large Mercedes van. Sitting in the back seat of this van, next to my own luggage, was more comfortable than sitting in my seat on the plane. The drive from Charles de Gaulle Airport to the student residence at the Reims Management School is about 2 hours.

- Got my apartment. It's nice enough, about 260 sq. ft., with a kitchenette and private washroom. My room this time has an actual shower stall, rather than a bathtub and a shower wand thing. Bonus points for this room!

- The room is also on the first floor of the building. Way off to one end, granted, so there's not much foot traffic by my door, but I do frequently hear the elevator. Also, my view is of a tree and a road, which is not overly pleasant. The main difficulty there is that there are more bugs and people on ground level than on the 6th floor (where I was last time), so keeping the window and/or curtain open all the time is not practical.

- Opened a bank account at my favourite French bank. This is important for literally every single other administrative process I will have while I'm here, because everything here requires a bank account number.

- Looked for a good phone plan. Found one, but need to wait until all my bank info is processed to actually sign up.

- Bought a 6-pack of Kriek (cherry beer) for less than 60 cents per bottle. Fuck ya! Also bought some other food.

- Unpacked 75% of my clothing. This took about 3 hours.

- Ate a baguette, an apple, some barley (Ebly!), merguez sausage, and an almond-salted-caramel single-serving ice cream. Drank a bottle of Kriek.

- Watched several episodes of Whose Line to pass the time when I wasn't walking around town or unpacking.

- Slept 7 hours. Woke up at 5 a.m., unpacked some more, figured out how to operate the big steel blinds on my window, made the room pitch black. Went to sleep for another 7 hours. Woke up around 1 p.m.

- Got WiFi in the apartment. This took about 24 hours from the time I got my apartment. It's OK, though, because I got to go see the girl who works in the residence office for the second time in as many days. Tomorrow I'll try to go 3-for-3.

- Had the toilet repaired, since it had stopped working after less than 36 hours. Also had the repairman fix the shower, which did not work properly to begin with. The residence maintenance guy is really nice and very efficient. I should ask him if he wants to go for a beer sometime.

- Figured out the new tram/bus system. Basically, it works like this: if you take a tram, you will get to where you want to go. If you take a bus, you will not. They cost the same amount, but the tram runs more frequently, and is slightly faster.

- Took some nighttime pictures of Reims. Here's what I've got so far, including the apartment:

My front door.

Hallway with dining table, covered in non-dining things.

My view.

 

Window, book shelf (for clothing) and desk.

"Kitchen". Also, some furniture I'm not sure how to use yet.

Bedroom.

Bathroom with actual shower stall.

NEOMA Business School, Campus 1

Le Crédit Lyonnais and side view of the cathedral.

Closer side view. I actually forgot to take the front.

The theatre.

Fountain, Place d'Erlon.

Restaurant and apartment building with cool lighting.

One of the originals: Les 3 Brasseurs, Place d'Erlon.

Angel on a tower, Place d'Erlon.

The new tram, leaving the station in front of the university.
The hedges are grape vines. Everything here is grape vines.

Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines. Not my school, but nice building.

Will be back with more as the week continues to unfold. Stay tuned!

The Final Countdown

Good Evening Folks,

You might be thinking that it's a little early to be calling this the "Final Countdown", and it kind of is, but here I am anyway, writing about my last month in Ottawa.

It is August. It feels like October, weather-wise. The music festivals have long since wrapped up. Life in Stittsville is more or less what it always was: pleasant but imperfect. I suppose life in my apartment was about the same, generally speaking. Nothing really happens in August, although work is a little busier than usual.

Speaking of which, Hay Group has hired my replacement. I think she will be a good fit with the Ottawa Office. I was given 3 weeks to teach her everything I know and still get all my client work done. So far, so good. Need to add a trip to Bite in there for good measure.

Only two weeks until my flight. I am getting nervous about the enormous expense of this endeavor where tuition fees are concerned. Tuition ruins everything. Having a job in France and in Italy is pretty much a requirement at this point. That's not a bad thing, really, but it will take more getting used to than the standard "life in Reims" or "life in Milan" that I would have had to deal with anyway.

The next few weeks are filled with work, activities, good-byes, and packing suitcases. Should be interesting. Can't wait.

Toronto / Barrie, July 2014 - Let's Play Ball!

July is coming to a close, and boy has some fun stuff happened since Bluesfest! Well, not a lot, but I did have one really cool weekend.

This past Friday, I went for a drive to Toronto, to visit my grandmother, aunt, uncle and cousins who live there. We had a big family dinner, and it was fun catching up with everybody, for what might be the last time before my big trip.

Saturday, Mom and I went to see the Blue Jays at the Skydome (a.k.a. the Rogers Centre)! It was awesome! The Jays won their game (against the Texas Rangers), and I got a souvenir soda cup, featuring pitcher Mark Buerhle. I also got some pretty cool pictures of the stadium.

After the game, we drove to Barrie to visit my sister, who is currently stationed at CFB Borden, not too far from the big city. We picked her up, went for dinner at the Crazy Fox (which was quite good, by the way; try the sweet potato ravioli, or the bruschetta with goat cheese, or pretty much anything else). After that, we went to our hotel, all of us ready to crash from our respective long days of baseball/driving/flag raising/parades/etc.

The only respectable hotel for a reasonable price in the Barrie area is the Hampton, so we stayed there. For some reason, an entire wedding party was staying in our hallway, so we didn't sleep much. So much for that (I would like to make an aside here to say that this was possibly the worst night of sleep I've had in recent memory, and it wasn't even just the loud folks on our floor).

Anyway, the next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel, then went to walk around beautiful historic downtown Barrie. About an hour later, having seen the entire waterfront and most of the main drag, we decided to have lunch at SkyBank, which is like SkyBar, but the building used to be a bank. Essentially, it's meant as a night club, but during the day, you can eat lunch on the roof. The food was decent and I enjoyed the cocktail I had (sweet and fruity, of course).

We then drove Frankie back to her work camp. Seeing the main part of the base (rather than just the entrance), I realized that it reminded me of the segregation camps in District 9. Anyway, she only has a few weeks left there, then she'll be home for good. No more cadet business for her.

The drive home was long, due in part to the fact that there was cottage country traffic, and also because it was raining, and everything always takes longer in the rain. Mom and I stopped for what turned out to be a delicious late dinner at the Fall River restaurant in Perth. Excellent spot, if you're ever driving by. Their Caesar and Smoked Arctic Char salads (2 different salads) were both delicious, and their Death by Chocolate dark truffle cake was to die for (sorry). Next time we stop in, we will make sure to have more time, and maybe order some of the signature entrées, all of which looked fantastic.

We slept soundly Sunday night. Monday was Mom's birthday! So we celebrated once I got home from work. Awesome long weekend all around.

Bluesfest Days 9 & 10 - The Lion Snoops Tonight, She Said

Bluesfest wrapped up some some pretty interesting shows. On Saturday, Bob Saget came to bring a certain immaturity and levity to the early evening crowd. Mr. Saget is a funny guy. Nothing about his humour is clean or respectful or appropriate, and that's the best part. He tells stories, sings songs, and shares with his audience his seeming endless string of tasteless jokes. It's brilliant. I even got a pretty good picture of him, since I was standing nice and close!

After Bob Saget, Deltron 3030 came to start off the hip-hop-flavoured part of the evening's program. D3030 are basically what would happen of the Gorillaz met Coolio and had their lyrics written by an IT guy. It's actually pretty good. They have an old-school DJ who loves to use the classic turntables (no Macs with software doing all the work) and some pretty awesome guys up front rapping about viruses and robots and such. They closed with Clint Eastwood (remember what I said about the Gorillaz?) and that would just pure awesome. I have made a point to look up their music and enjoy it in studio recording format.

After Deltron 3030, AWOLNATION took to the main stage, so I left and went to find Little Freddie King, a 70-something year-old blues guy from the Southern States. As with many similar artists, he and his band were very talented, providing a nice reprieve from the more modern and hip goings-on at the main stage. He also seemed to be enjoying himself, so I did, too.

When he wrapped up, I made my way to another show which promised "post-apocalyptic gypsy punk". Intrigued, I made my way to the River to see Nostalghia. Bad decision. "Post-Apocalyptic" was pretty accurate (or maybe just "apocalyptic"). Punk, ya, I can see that. I guess the "gypsy" part is because one person on stage had an electric cello. Well then. That was awful.

After 3 minutes I headed over to watch Childish Gambino, who is apparently a character named Troy on a show called Community, played by Donald Glover. Not Danny Glover, mind you, that would have been hilarious. He was ok, and provided nice background rap music for a conversation I was having with a friend of mine. Then, the world took a collective puff from their enormous joint.

Snoop Dogg (a.k.a. Snoop Lion) was the main performer for the night, and yes, he can perform. He put on great show, mixing classic Snoop hits with more recent collaborations and even covers of Tupac and Biggie Smalls. It wasn't bad at all, and the crowd where I was seemed a bit tamer than they were for Queens otSA or Cypress Hill, which was good. Snoop, wearing his Erik Karlsson Ottawa Senators Heritage away jersey, urged everyone in the crowd to lay back, smoke a joint, relax, and have fun. Well, standing in a crowd of over 20,000, watching the man himself up on that stage, I can assure you that I did at least one of those 4 things. An enjoyable conclusion to the evening.

Sunday was the final day of Bluesfest, and there was only one concert that really interested me. That was Collective Soul. More on them later. First up, the World Cup Final!

Germany played Argentina in what can only be described as a fairly average clash of soccer titans, with only one goal between them during the entire game, but a few great chances on both sides. I went to Bite to watch, and had a great feast of a dinner, ensuring that I would not need the services of the good folks at the Bluesfest concession stands.

I went over to LeBreton a little early, giving myself time to meet up with some friends and watch some shows that were more just background for me, including Sam Roberts. He has become more serious about his music-making and performing in the last 10 years or so. This makes his show less about enjoying the music and young talent on the stage, and more about just listening to some people performing songs you've either heard on the radio for the last 10 years, or have never heard at all. Not unexpectedly, his show was underwhelming, The real show came afterward.

Collective Soul! Aaaahhhh! I finally got to see this show live! And it was awesome! With a new album to promote, the band performed 4 new songs, which were mostly quite good, and brought out some classic tunes, which were also very good. There is a lot of talent in that band, and they put it on display quite well. The whole show really came together nicely, and it was a lot of fun to watch. Good on you, Collective Soul. I look forward to your new album!

Bluesfest Days 7 & 8: Some Interesting Juxtaposition

Thursday was a day I planning to arrive home at a reasonable time. After all, the Procol Harum playing with the NAC Orchestra at 7, Blondie playing at 8, and nothing of particular interest following the octogenarian rock star. Well doesn't festival season just enjoy proving me wrong all the damn time.

First off, Procol Harum was awesome. I mean, what a show. The songwriting prowess of Gary Brooker, the talent of his band mates, and the orchestra + choir backing them up, just a sublime show. Of course they played Conquistador and A Whiter Shade of Pale, and they played quite a few other songs as well. It was a wonderful show, and I'm glad I had a chance to see it live. It was actually in the middle of A Whiter Shade of Pale that my evening manage to improve even further.

I had the opportunity to meet up with someone I had only met about two weeks prior, through one of my colleagues at Hay Group. Since I don't actually have her permission to publish anything about her on the internet, I'll just call her "D". D is a student at Queen's who loves music. She sings, plays piano, and was really excited when I proposed that we catch a concert together at Bluesfest.While she does not acknowledge that anything of value was produced between The Beatles' last album and the 1980's, which I informed her on more than one occasion is in fact an inversion of the truth, she did prove to be rather good company for an evening on LeBreton Flats.

Anyway, I found her in the crowd about 3 songs before Procol Harum finished, and we made our way to a different stage to watch Blondie. This is an artist with about 2 or 3 recognizable songs, who hit her prime probably about 35 years ago. She is not young. Her name should be changed to "Whitie", to match the transition her hair has undergone. She looked like she needed a Personal Care Assistant on stage with her. She barely moved around the stage at all, and her voice wasn't what it used to be. After 3 or 4 songs, D and I left to go exploring.

Basically, LeBreton Flats isn't actually that interesting, except when it is filled with stages, food stands, casino games, and alcohol. Well, we had all of those things at our disposal, so we walked around and tried to see everything we could see. All this while waiting for the band she really came to see: The Band Perry.

First of all, The Band Perry annoyed me as soon as the lineup was announced back in March, because I thought two different groups named "The Band" and "Perry" were performing. The Band is friggin' awesome. The Band Perry is kind of a young, country rock sort of group and is composed of 3 siblings (I would compare them to Nickel Creek, except Nickel Creek has better songwriting and is more of a bluegrass band). The Perry gang is accompanied by 3 or 4 other musicians who provide backup on drums, bass, and whatever else. Their music is not particularly appealing; it is, after all, a mix of pop rock and country. The show they put on, however, is pretty exciting. The lead singer, the sister of the family, has all kinds of stage presence and personality, and damn, can she sing. I mean, she has a sort of country drawl and does those annoying voice things that you only hear in specific kinds of cringeworthy music, but hey, she and her brothers are talented. Credit where credit is due. Awesome show by The Band (Perry).

Friday brought a different sort of entertainment. The evening opened with Slash, feat. Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators. These guys combined styles of Guns & Roses, Ozzy Osbourne, and whatever other hair metal / hard rock bands from that period you can think of. They were pretty good, showcasing the talents of each member, although I have to admit they weren't overly impressive. I guess Slash is a legendary guitarist, but it didn't really show with this performance. None of the songs was particularly complex or anything. Paradise City and Sweet Child of Mine (2 GnR tracks they played) are iconic, but nothing truly special. What I did discover, however, what that if Myles Kennedy had been the vocalist for GnR, they might have been a better band. Guy's got some serious chops.

Anyway, after that show, I went over to the River Stage to catch John Németh (not to be confused with Joe Namath). Mr. Németh is a blues guy from Memphis, TN, who loves to sing and play his harmonica. His friend, Percy Wiggins, was also there, singing along to a few of the tunes, and the backing band was quite good. The music style was pretty simple blues, and generally pretty light (lots of ballads, not too many heavy riffs or soloing). Again, though, not too impressive. Only one show left for the evening, and it was sure to be a good one.

Round out my Friday were the Bare Naked Ladies, a Canadian band I have listened to since I was a kid. Well, I did listen to them. They sort of lost me when they released the double-album BLAM (Barenaked Ladies Are Me / Barenaked Ladies Are Men) back when I was about to graduate high school (sometime between 2003's Everything to Everyone, which was quite good, and now). I hadn't seen them live for a while, and I knew they had some new material since I last paid attention to them, including the theme from The Big Bang Theory. Well, they played that. They played other new stuff from their 2013 album, and their upcoming EP. They played 2 or 3 songs from arguably their best album, Gordon. They are entertainers. They are talented musicians. But they really fell short for this show. They started playing covers of things near the end of their set, and it felt forced. They had been messing around throughout the show, playing parodied snippets of their own songs, or other songs, but when they went full-on into covers, they lost me again. It was like they were tired of their own material. Maybe they felt they'd lost their audience after performing If I Had $1,000,000. They seem to have lost their relevance, and that is really sad to me. They never took themselves too seriously, even though they were writing and recording amazing music. That was their gift to their audience. Not so anymore, it seems. Their new material was hit and miss (to be fair, mostly hit, but still, somewhat disappointing). It was a pretty forgettable show, and an anticlimactic end to the evening. I went home truly disappointed for the first time this Bluesfest.

Bluesfest Days 5 & 6: Of Sticks, Queens, Foreigners and Killers

As I mentioned earlier, Monday was a day off, so this story resumes on Tuesday, July 8th.

Tuesday was probably the day with the best overall lineup, from my perspective. I arrived half an hour before Styx were meant to take the stage. Unfortunately, Tuesday will also go down in history as one of Ottawa's wettest nights ever. It rained like crazy from about 6 o'clock on. Styx did eventually play, 30 minutes later than they were meant to, but whatever, it's Styx! They went through some classics, and some songs I didn't really recognize. The lineup was pretty impressive as far as having original members goes, though former frontman Dennis deYoung was missing. The rest of the group did a pretty good job, then handed the baton off to the next band.

Queens of the Stone Age are not a band I listen to often. Their music is a little heavier, in every perceivable way, than what I normally like. So I was not surprised when this show did nothing for me. It did seem to please the droves of smokers and heavy drinkers that surrounded me during the set. The only song I actually recognized (No One Knows) was the second one in, and in hindsight, I should have left immediately following that song to claim a good spot at the main stage for the final show for the evening. But I didn't. Oh well.

The third and final act of Tuesday's extravaganza was Foreigner. These guys really gave it their all and put on a spectacle. What a treat to see a band, who I had not really been overly excited about, give their audience such an amazing show. I recognized more songs than I thought I would, which was nice, and the band just played extremely well. Songwriter Mick Jones even joined them on stage, despite recent health issues, and busted out a few rockin' tunes. This was easily the best performance of the night.

Wednesday brought a slightly different mix of music styles, with a slightly different crowd. Not surprisingly, Cypress Hill were not very good, and the young men and women in my immediate vicinity were imbeciles. Moving on.

The Killers were the main act for Day 6. They were awesome. They played songs spanning most of their repertoire, the lead singer's stage presence was undeniable, and the crowd was definitely into it. Hell, I don't listen to a lot of Killers music, but I had a blast. Their style of indie rock really suits the group well, who seem to have enough talent keep the music (and therefore the show) interesting, and have fun while doing it, which really shows in the way they perform. An excellent live show from a band I need to listen to a more often from now on.

Side note: I should mention at this point, as a follow-up to the complaint I made in my first Bluesfest post, that the organizers did figure out a much better way to run the entry in the park, but the sound issues still seem to elude some of the technical staff. Sound has been hit and miss on the main stage (The Killers and Foreigner were definite hits, while Journey and Barenaked Ladies, the latter set to appear in my next post, were misses). The Claridge Stage doesn't seem to have any real issues, other than dealing with distance (there are no secondary speakers behind the sound stage, that I know of), and the River Stage has mostly improved since Gary Clark, Jr, but the Bell Stage still lacks something. As tomorrow is the last day, I will have one last chance to determine whether the sound problem ever really got fixed or not.

Bluesfest Days 3 & 4 - It's Fun Getting Into Trouble

So, the first weekend of Bluesfest was not particularly exciting. Saturday was Lady Gaga day, and also included a number of other acts I was not interested in seeing. It also happened to be my dad's birthday, which is way more fun anyway. We went whitewater rafting way west of Ottawa in Foresters Falls. It was awesome. Might go again this summer.

Sunday was not overly interesting either, on reflection. I did go to Bluesfest, but was somewhat underwhelmed by what should have been a significantly better lineup (given that it's a weekend and all). I made it downtown in time to see Vintage Trouble, a band that takes the title for Best Discovery - Local Bands for this year's entire festival season (probably 2nd best discovery overall, after Bonobo). These guys dress like it's the 20's, and play a mixture of blues and rock which is just killer. The frontman brings all kinds of energy and really gets the crowd involved. The drums, bass and guitar all do their parts to bring the music together and make it as awesome as it is. I even got to meet the band afterward, which made the experience that much better. Good on you, Vintage Trouble. May you continue to impress audiences for years to come.

After VT came something called Mac Demarco. This is some 23-year-old kid with a following and I really don't know how he got it. He's not particularly attractive, and not particularly talented, at least not compared to pretty much every other act I've seen this year. So what gives? Anyway, I left about halfway through his show to go wandering.

I decided to find a quiet spot to wait until St. Vincent, but then it started to rain. Very light, and very sparse, but enough for me to say "you know what? not worth it." So I left, and proceeded to download the album Ms. Vincent is promoting during this tour. Didn't really miss anything as it turns out.

Monday was a day off (from the festival, not from work), which was good, because the last 6 consecutive days of Bluesfest were all going to be very late nights.

Bluesfest Days 1 & 2: No Rest, Just Blues

Well, Bluesfest got off to a great start on Thursday. Only two days after JazzFest ended. Have I mentioned that I like June/July in Ottawa?

Day 1 had a less-than-promising lineup overall, but the side stage (River) featured some pretty awesome talent. I don't remember the name of the very first band I saw, they were more just background music for my dinner, but they were pretty good. Kind of bluesy and interesting, getting the people ready for the later shows.

The second performer was Beth Hart. I had not heard of this woman before Thursday, and I kind of wish I had. She has collaborated with Joe Bonamassa, B.B. King's former protege, and has released a number of solo albums as well. She is a talented singer and keyboardist who brings a soulful Sass Jordan-like style of heavy blues rock, with a voice not quite unlike Serena Ryder. I'm always thought that Serena Ryder's voice and music were like Adele, if Adele had more spine. If that is true, then Beth Hart is like Serena Ryder, only with more balls (figuratively, of course). Spine and balls. Excellent music, great show.

Last but certainly not least, the River Stage closed out the first night of Bluesfest with Gary Clark, Jr. I've been listening to Mr. Clark for a while now, and I love his music. He is versatile, showing great skill and passion for blues, R&B, soul and rock. He was unfortunately down a member for this show, but he managed with just a drummer and bassist (and Clark on guitar). His voice is so good, even live, it is at times mesmerizing. You can kind of forget where you are and what you're doing, just getting lost in the music. He is an incredibly talented artist with a bright future ahead.

The second night bought a slightly different flavour than the first. Darius Rucker, former frontman of Hootie & the Blowfish, played the secondary main stage, with Journey following on the main stage. Meanwhile, Silkken Laumann, Bonobo and Sly & Robbie graced the River Stage, showing off a mixture of electronic, disco, ambience, reggae and other styles. I caught the last bit of Silken Laumann, and all of Bonobo. Bonobo was certainly the more impressive of the two acts, and as it turns out, I really don't mind electronic music when it is recorded/looped/played live. Shades of Nicolas Repac from last year, except where Nicolas is one man, Bonobo had a team of 5 working with him. It worked well and I enjoyed the show.

I left the River stage before Sly & Robbie to catch Journey, and it was about as you'd expect. 3 aging band members and one new singer, who is actually a Filipino karaoke champion (or something). He did a decent job of it, but Journey isn't really in my top 50 favourite bands, and the sound wasn't really great (more on that in a bit). The guy's voice matched Steve Perry pretty well, and they played all of my favourite (read: top 3) songs, as well as others. Can't really complain much. Wait, yes I can.

One note (read: complaint) from these first two nights: As always, it takes a few days to make sure that the stage setup and the sound actually work properly. On day 1, getting into LeBreton Flats for the festival was nothing short of a nightmare, a real chore, as it were. Luckily they seemed to have solved this problem on day 2. The other problem was the sound. As loud as Gary Clark's sound crew tried to make him (without distorting the sound), Blake Shelton's act on the main stage could easily be heard from anywhere within a 1/2-km radius. Clark noticed and commented as well. Not in a rude way, just sort of a "hey, not all my songs are really loud, could I try to fit in a softer one, please?" (paraphrased). They crowd in front of him began chanting for the other stage to lower their sound. It didn't work. Surprisingly, on the second night, it was Journey's sound that was not loud enough. They removed some of the side speakers from the main stage and lowered the volume on the main speakers, opting to use the secondary speakers (about 50m from the stage) instead. This was an unhelpful setup, since the main speakers are directional, and all pointed the same way (in a vertical array!). It reminded me a bit of Jazzfest, where you had to be within a certain distance and at a certain angle to get the right sound quality and volume to actually appreciate the music. Tonight will be my 3rd attempt, and I will be back at the River Stage, so I hope they've figured it out. Otherwise, I'm going to have Lady Antebellum drowning out St. Vincent.

JazzFest Days 11 & 12: A Celtic Tigress and Canada's Birthday

Monday night brought the last big acts JazzFest will see this year. I had the option of checking out the Christian McBride Trio, which would have been awesome, but if I had, I'd have missed the spectacle that was Natalie McMaster, Dinell Leahy, and 4 of their 6 kids!

In case you don't know, Ms. McMaster is a Celtic fiddler from Cape Breton. Dinell Leahy is a fiddler from Ontario. They are married and have 6 children. The musical talent flows like Niagara Falls in that family. Their 8-year-old daughter is better than I will ever be at fiddle. Their 7-year-old son is a crazy tap dancing phenom. Dinell himself played the concert having just recently undergone surgery to repair his Achilles Tendon. Ridiculous!

Anyway, the show was pretty awesome. Natalie seems like the kind of band leader it would be fun to play for. Maybe not quite a Steve Martin, but nonetheless, she puts on a great show, and loves to showcase the many talents of her children and band mates. This shows ranks among the most fun so far this year, for sure. Reminded me of how much I like Celtic music and how I kind of want to head back to the East coast for a quick trip. Maybe soon.

Anyway, the next day was Canada Day. Officially the last day of JazzFest, but there are only free concerts, no one particularly famous, and I had other things on the go. Time to relax, stay away from the crowds, and enjoy some time with my family. Probably get a workout in, cook something exotic, oh, and soccer. What's more Canadian than watching soccer and eating Moroccan food?

Happy 147th, Canada! Looking forward to the next 8 1/2 weeks with you, starting with Bluesfest. Gary Clark Jr. on Thursday the 3rd, y'all.

JazzFest Days 9 & 10: Think, Don't Worry

Apologies for the bad title. It's late and I am not feeling particularly creative.

In what should have been an action-packed JazzFest weekend, I ended up only seeing 3 shows. This is partly because my plans from Saturday included dinner at Bite Burger House. Yum!

I arrived at Confederation Park to a massive crowd. Not unexpected, you see, because Saturday was a full day at JazzFest, and I arrived just in time to see the one and only Aretha Franklin. R-E-S-P-E-C-T, and all that. She can still sing, apparently, though perhaps not quite so well as back in the 70s and 80s. She had help from a band, who seemed talented but a bit disorganized in the way they played around between Aretha's songs. Aretha also took a break or two and let Madeline McFerrin, Bobby's daughter, perform a few tunes. The show was alright, but being stuck at the back of a crowd made it a bit boring. I walked around and took sunset pictures of Confederation Park.

After Aretha came the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble. I was really pumped for this show. It was made even better thanks to Laurence, a girl I met while sitting on a bench in front of City Hall waiting for the gates to open on the side stage. She was more than excited for this show. It was kind of funny seeing someone so enthusiastic about a band that was nowhere near as famous, or potentially as talented, as the main act. But that's where I was wrong.

Hypnotic Brass, a group out of Chicago, put on one hell of a show. It's just a big, loud party. They are like if LMFAO had musical talent. They create an atmosphere that every DJ would aspire to, with the musical chops to back it up. It was certainly the best late-night show of the past 2 years. Laurence seemed to enjoy it too.

Their music is sort of a mix of funk, concert band, (ska?) and rap. It was interesting. These guys have collaborated with Gorillaz and a few other bands, but their solo stuff is pretty great. Big time kudos to Hypnotic Brass for this one.

Sunday brought a whole different type of music, but again, other plans prevented me from heading down early (not that I really wanted to; writing 5 music reviews per day is a bit much). I arrived half an hour before the start of the headlining act: Bobby McFerrin. Mr. McFerrin had wowed me once before, during a performance I attended in Boston, MA. His vocal style, passion for music, and overall showmanship make for a fun evening anytime you see him, and this show was no different. McFerrin brought out his best in Ottawa, and he had a bit of fun with the audience and his band mates in the process. He was the only artist to make full use of his 2-hour time slot, too. Thank you, Mr. McFerrin, for a fun-filled evening.

JazzFest Days 7 & 8: Earth, Wind, Fire, and Mud

Day 7 of Jazzfest, Thursday, was a day where pretty much every person in Ottawa between the ages of 40 and 60 went to see a band they remembered from high school. The starting band for the evening, however, was Myriad3.

This was an interesting band of youths who had slightly more personality than the Kirk MacDonald Quartet, but were, in fact, only 3 people. People were not paying attention and unfortunately, the music fell a bit short. I have no doubt that this group will find their audience, but it was not the people who were there that evening. As for my perspective, well, I was kind of tired of standing there trying to tolerate all the noise and movement around me as I tried to take in the show. I went to get food about 40 minutes into this act.

After my dinner (which, due to a variety of reasons, consisted of a grilled panini and a Booster Juice fruit smoothie), Earth, Wind and Fire came to grace what appeared to be JazzFest's biggest audience of the year so far with their presence. I was kind of stuck near the back, and due to some issues with sound on that stage, the quality and volume were not really adequate to make the experience.

Other than that, I don't see what the big deal is with this band. They have some cool funk going on, but people seem to be way more into them than the band deserves. Maybe I'm just too young, or too spoiled by past performances? Anyway, EWF weren't overly impressive, so again, I left about 40 minutes into the show. That was a good decision, because I'm starting to get tired of the 75-minute bus ride home.

Day 8 ended up being much more fun than the previous 3 days. The evening began with Alexis Baro and his band. Mr. Baro is from Toronto, and he plays the trumpet. His very cool and talented band mates included a sax player (Jay King), a keyboardist, a very solid drummer, and a rockin' bassist. These guys really had people moving, and were the first Canadian act this year to make me want to purchase their CD. I'll work on that over the weekend.

The main act for the evening was Ben Harper with Charlie Musselwhite and a very solid backing blues band. Ben Harper puts on quite the blues show. His rendition of When the Levee Breaks was great, and he showed us exactly why he is playing at Bluesfe...er, JazzFest? Well, whatever, he was awesome, and rounded off the evening nicely. Interestingly, I don't think they showcased their individual talents quite as much as Alexis Baro's band, but that could just be because the music is more simple blues, going right back to its very roots.

Speaking of which, in case you're wondering who Charlie Musselwhite is, he played with Muddy Waters. The guy is as much a foundation of 60's blues as you can get, and he's still got it. What a fun show.

JazzFest Days 5 and 6: Rainy Days, Dream Away

On JazzFest Day 5, I was supposed to go see 1 act at the outdoor stage, namely Delbert and the Commotions. It rained quite heavily all way and did not seem to be slowing down by the time the concert was about to happen, so I went home from work instead of heading to the concert. I will be looking up this band to see what I missed.

Wednesday was not much better weather-wise, but the program appeared to be a bit more promising. Kirk MacDonald, the Canadian saxophone legend (apparently - I didn't know we had those) kicked off the evening with some nice background music, allowing me to think about other things not related to jazz. What I mean by this is that the show lacked any substance, and the band lacked any kind of stage presence or personality. The show was frankly boring, and while I do not dispute the talent of those that were on stage, it really just ended up being an internal monologue set to some free jazz. I got annoyed after 45 minutes and nearly left for the evening.

I went to my office to collect my things, and decided to pour myself a tall glass of Amaretto. For those of you who read that and thought "God, he sounds like an alcoholic", welcome to my blog! You must be new! I hope you enjoy reading my other posts!

The rather pleasant experience of the quiet of an empty office floor and some sweet liquor made me decide to go back and catch the main act for the evening, Diane Reeves.

Ms. Reeves is a singer with personality, talent, and a great backing band. She did covers of classic rock songs, put lyrics to jazz pieces, and showed off her chops to some great R&B-ish accompaniment from her band. This show was a lot of fun. I decided to look into more of her music following the show.

The problem at this point is basically what I mentioned when I discussed Hiromi's concert. Where does the festival go from there? And will the weather actually start cooperating so as to not take away from the experience?

Why yes, it did! Days 7 and 8 are next. 

JazzFest Days 3 & 4: Big Time Entertainment, Big Time Talent

Well folks, I may have seen the two best shows of the year.

Jazzfest's third day gave us some rather fun shows. I once again made my way to Confederation for an evening music, starting with the Trio Jérôme Beaulieu. This fairly new French Canadian jazz trio combined some class jazz composition with newer more improvisational concepts. With Jérôme himself leading the way on piano, his friends the drummer and bassist rounded out the pieces they presented very nicely. Some pre-recorded effects were added to help tell some of the stories, the main one being a three-part piece called Man on the Moon.

The next act was Kathleen Edwards, so I went to talk to the guys in the Souvlaki truck, and ate a light snack before the main act.

The main act was none other than Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers (also featuring Edie Brickell)! This was a hell of a show. Steve Martin brought his comedy A-game, the Steep Canyon Rangers were incredibly talented, and the whole show just brought so much fun, entertainment and great music that I even forgot Edie was there (except when she was singing, that's hard to miss). See, the thing is, Steve Martin gets attention for his music on account of his fame as an actor. However, he is an incredibly talented musician, and a great frontman for a live band. The Rangers are stupidly good at what they do; all 6 members (5-string banjo player, double bassist, fiddler, mandolin player, guitarist and percussionist) can play and sing as well as any group I've ever seen, if not better. This show was so good, that I have now become a fan of bluegrass. I didn't think I would find a band other than Nickel Creek that could do it for me in this genre, but these guys were entertaining and had the talent to back it up. The lyrics were smart and funny, and the performers had great chemistry onstage. And then there was Ms. Brickell.

Edie Brickell is a little bit annoying. I wasn't a fan of her before, and she didn't really sell her talent to me here, either. It's unfortunate, in a way, since she did bring a fun dynamic to the group, her voice isn't bad, and she brings a different creative perspective to the songwriting. I just found myself enjoying the music she wasn't a part of more than the songs she sang with the band. She didn't take away from the experience, don't get me wrong. As of Sunday night, this was the show to beat for me this year at Jazzfest. Well, Monday clearly had it in for Sunday, because Monday's show may have done just that.

Hiromi: The Project Trio

Hiromi almost deserves her own entry, but for the sake of efficient use of time (both mine and yours), I'll talk about her here.

Mind. Blown.

Hiromi is an incredibly talented jazz pianist and composer from Japan. She brought with her the other 2 members of her "Trio Project": Simon Philips on drums, and Anthony Jackson on contrabass guitar. They mostly performed works from their latest album, Alive, which has just been released in North America. I got a front row seat thanks to my friend Marshall, who arrived more than an hour before the concert to make sure the whole "general admission" thing didn't hurt our chances of being less than 10 feet away from Hiromi.

Hiromi is a curious performer. She is basically an anime character who plays the piano as well as (or better than) any other pianist I've seen live. She also didn't talk much between songs, or try to sell albums. She and her band came to play, and boy, did they ever. Hiromi also performed one solo piece, her take on I've Got Rhythm, which was jaw-dropping. It's hard to find words to accurately and completely describe the experience of seeing this music live. It's hard enough to describe how good it is just listening to the album, but seeing it there, right in front of me, hearing every note, every detail in the intricate drum patterns, and seeing the facial expressions of both Hiromi and Mr. Jackson as the music flowed from their fingertips was just such a fulfilling experience. It was an outstanding show, rivaling the enjoyment I got from Chucho Valdés last year. Just unbelievably talented musicians, sharing their astonishing gifts with a small studio audience. Crazy.

I don't know if there is a point in going to any more concerts after the last two days, but of course, I will go anyway. I have my pass, and I can't wait to see some of the upcoming acts, including Bobby McFerrin and Natalie McMaster. Stay tuned for more as Jazzfest continues!

JazzFest Days 1 & 2: Concert Reviews

I spent most of the evening of JazzFest's opening night at the NAC, enjoying an unrelated concert. The NAC Pops Orchestra, led by Jack Everly, put on a John Williams-themed show. They pulled out all kinds of classics, like the themes from E.T., Artificial Inelligence, Schindler's List, Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and plenty of other classics. The orchestra captured all the majesty and fine details of Williams' compositions and really put on a great show. As usual, Jack talked too much, and his French sidekick Manon Something didn't help, but that was not unexpected, and the music was excellent.

I went on to the JazzFest area following the NAC concert, hoping to catch the tail end of what had been dubbed "Bollywood Night" at Ottawa Jazzfest. The only remaining act was an Indian-American DJ named Rekha, who attempted to combine Bollywood music with American hip hop, which sometimes worked, and sometimes didn't. I would have stayed longer were I not attempting to catch a bus to Stittsville that night, but I'm not sure hearing more of that music would have made it better. An unfortunate start to the concert season, in a way, but it's my own fault for missing all the other acts. My real first night was the next night.

Day 2 of Jazzfest brought 2 pretty good acts. I had the pleasure of seeing Lorraine Klassen, a South African artist who combines traditional African dance music with elements of jazz and other afro-styles. It was a very fun show, and the music had people dancing. Highly enjoyable.

Next up was Ron Sexsmith, who I only listened to because he was in between Lorraine and the act I was there to see, and I kind of wish I hadn't. Imagine Gordon Lightfoot, but with less talent. Basically the kind of music he and his band played.

The 3rd and final act (at least for me) was Colin James. Not much I can write about him that I haven't already, seeing as I've seen him live at least 3 times, but damn that guy can sing and play guitar. He plays very few songs I wouldn't want/expect to hear, and misses very few that I hope for going in. Top notch Canadian blues act. Check him out if you're not familiar with the name; I promise you'll find something you like about him, no matter what music you're normally into.

And All That Jazz

Hey, it's almost the end of June! And boy, do I have a few things to talk about.

1) The San Jose Sharks once again failed to meet expectations in the playoffs. I look forward to next year when I have to watch games starting at 4 a.m. to find out the same thing.

2) Bite Burger House: Remember the restaurant I talked about in my last post? Well, I've been there about 20 times since it opened, and it's still awesome. I've met Bettina & Glen, the co-owners, as well as Scott, Jaime, and several other people whose names escape me but who always recognize me when I walk in. I've also sampled everything on the menu at least once, which means that Glen and his team in the kitchen have to keep coming up with new stuff. So far, they've been up to the challenge, and everything is truly fantastic there. I still highly recommend it. I will be a regular there for as long as I can, and I've been told to expect a heck of a party before I leave for France.

3) I've applied for my long-term student visa! My paperwork with the Italian embassy came through, my accommodation in France is confirmed, and now I just need a visa. I expect to have it by the end of July.

4) The World Cup is on! A heartfelt "Allez les Bleus" for the French national team, and of course a very loud and gesticulating "Forza Azzuri" for my Italian brethren. It's been exciting so far, and I look forward to seeing what the Round of 16 has is store.

5) It's concert season! JazzFest began last Friday, and runs until Canada Day. It will be almost immediately followed by Bluesfest in July, so I've basically got 23 straight days of concerts to go to. Ottawa isn't so bad during the first half of summer.

Speaking of concerts, I'm going to be posting reviews and pictures here, as I have in previous years. Pictures will take longer than reviews, so I appreciate your patience. I plan on fully resurrecting the blog this summer, and keeping it going throughout my time in Europe. Can't wait for some new adventures in Champagne and Milano!

Bite This! A restaurant review (and other stories)

Well, folks, it has once again been a long time since my last post. It has been equally long since my last vacation. Here's a recap of everything that's happened since August:

My Birthday, Hallowe'en, Christmas, New Year's. This last event is noteworthy in that it was the first time since Jan 1 2009 that I actually celebrated the New Year in Ottawa. No matter, it was quite fun nonetheless.

The New Year 2014 inspired me to do some crazy things. Like apply for a double Master's program in France and Italy.  Like sign up for a Wine & Spirit Education Trust course, with the goal of drinking my way to a certificate in wine knowledge. Like go see Yes for the second time in 6 months, in 2 different cities.

Some pretty cool things have happened (or are going to happen), and what with JazzFest and BluesFest on the way, this summer is sure to be interesting. For now, though, I'd like to write about something else. My WSET teacher has just opened a restaurant in the ByWard Market, and it is fantastic.

The restaurant is called Bite Burger House. It serves homemade burgers, homemade fries, craft beer, and some of the best wine around. The burgers and buns are among the best available in any restaurant, and seeing as they've capped the price on their most expensive entrée at $17, you're not paying through the nose, especially given the quality of the ingredients, the preparation, and the service.

Their soft opening was tonight, and their official opening day is tomorrow, Thursday April 10th, 2014. The offerings at the soft opening were understandably smaller than they will be once fully open, but the 4 or 5 varieties of sliders that were circulated around the room were excellent. Spicy ketchup, spicy mayo, bacon, pulled pork, ribeye steak burgers....and that was just a taste. The fries were excellent as well, though I'm more into the wine and the burgers than the fries.

The wine. Right. 3 Rieslings on offer tonight, though only one, Tawse's "Limestone", is permanently on the wine list. Good thing, too, cause it was my favourite of the 3. The rest of the wine list is pretty impressive, too, sporting an Ontario Gewurztraminer, a Pinot Gris, a Pecorino, and lots of reds I never got to in my 1 1/2-hour stay this evening. They also have lots of craft beer - Kichessippi, Flying Monkeys, and Ashton taking up most of the menu space - and some interesting cocktails and alcoholic milkshakes. It's the kind of place you can go to often without running out of options, combinations, and patience. The atmosphere is right, the decor is modern and sophisticated yet fun and relaxed (and it wasn't quite finished when I got there - more work for tomorrow morning I suspect). I cannot fault Bite for anything, at least not tonight.

I am very excited for Rob Nellis, my teacher and the manager/bartender/sommelier of Bite Burger House. I am even more excited for the people of Ottawa. We finally have a place that sells great burgers, great beer, great wine, great service, and great atmosphere, all at once. It's everything a restaurant needs to be, at a price that shouldn't scare most folks away. All it needs is a dartboard.