ABBA to AC/DC and Everything Intertwined

Eating the Dinosaur is a book that I know I will re-read at least a couple of times. I would love to give you a sense of what the book is about, but I'm still trying to sort it out myself. I guess I would say that it is a series of essays by Chuck Klosterman revolving around media and introspection.

I think.

I read this over two flights and was very sad when I reached the last page. I can't think of the last book I read that was not dominated by conversations. ( other than technical books ) The writing style is relaxed and conversational, which is one of the main reasons I enjoyed it so much.

You have to appreciate an author who writes extensive sections about football, but gives you explicit permission to skip them. I didn't and I was not the worse for it.

Jon should read this immediately when I loan it to him, but Mom should pass.

America take heed

And obviously by 'America' I mean my mom, brother and any of the other 2 or 3 people that read this.

Montreal is kicking our collective butt in general bicycle awesomeness.

I was able to ride between three different parks in Montreal on a bike without ever leaving the confines of a dedicated bike lane which, I might add was as large as a full car lane.



When you had to cross an intersection there was no way that the cars would not know you were coming.



Even the crossing lights had little bike lights along with the walky person light. You gotta love that.

I saw literally hundreds of bikes while I was in the city. Mountain bikes, commuter bikes, fixies, cross bikes, recumbents, department store bikes and high end race bikes. There were velo themed restaurants and bars along the bike paths and city sponsored racks to lock your bike to everywhere you looked.



Even when you did ride on the actual streets next to the cars people respected you as a vehicle with a right to be on the road. It was both fun and challenging to ride alongside the cars and weave in and out around the obstacles and open car doors.

Starting and stopping at the intersections was also good fun. I got pretty good at trying to balance the bike and not put my foot down while waiting for the light to change and being first off the brakes.

I won't lie though... I did get completely smoked by an old lady on a recumbent bike. She said something in French as she rode by me, but I'm not sure what it was. I'll have to look up "manger mon croissant!" I like to think it was something encouraging.

Fire works for me

Saturday evening I was treated to a fantastic fireworks show although I have to admit that I still have no idea what it was in celebration of. One of the hotel staff told me that there was a deck on the 11th floor that would overlook the bridge where the show was, and that it would start at 10pm. As an added bonus there was also a good view of the Just For Laughs festival that was being held nearby.



I had checked out the view earlier in the day and got to see a guy fired out of a cannon in the festival. I would have gotten a picture of it, but I don't know how to say "Hey, we are about to fire a guy out of a cannon!" in French, so it was just by coincidence that I even saw it.

I headed back up just before 10 and was surprised to see that there were only a handful of other people on the deck. The show started right at 10 and lasted for a full half hour.



This photo in no way shows the magnitude of the show, but it was the only really good exposure I got that didn't look the the photo had been taken just after I dropped the camera. Suffice it to say that you had to be there, and it was fantastic.

ça et là

Blame Google if that does not translate right.

Saturday I decided that I should take a drive North to Quebec City to see the oldest city in North America. I drove for an hour until I got to this:



I am supposed to be in one of the 3 closed lanes on the left.

I had already enjoyed enough Montreal traffic the day before, so I decided to turn around and abandon the car for good and get back on a bike. The underground parking garage at the hotel was apparently dug by gophers with a sense of humor, but it strikes fear into my heart every time I try to get in or out of it. Most attempts require at least three cars to coordinate a ballet of reversing and cursing at the same time. This however, was my crowning achievement:



I know it does not look like much, but that is the end result of an 11 point turn and one slight bump.

Half an hour later I was back on a bike and all the happier. I rode down Rue Sherbrooke in the middle of Saturday traffic and was amazed at how the drivers all watched out for cyclists like they were supposed to be on the road. I did however get almost knocked over by a crazy old guy in the park who was swinging his backpack at cyclists. He must have been from the states.



One of the parks I rode to had a 'Speed Date a Dog' thing going on for the SPCA.



The other park had hippies on a slackline.

Bixi Fix

Montreal is by far and away the most bicycle friendly city I have ever been in, so Friday night I decided to rent a bike and check out the city. When I was in Barcelona I saw people riding bikes that you could rent, but I never took the time to figure out how the system worked. The company is called Bixi and they have a fantastic system for renting bikes.



You put in your credit card and a hold of $238 is put on as a deposit. Then you pay by the hour you use the bikes. You get a code to unlock a bike of your choice and then you can return it to any Bixi station. It is a really neat system.



The Bixi bike is a wonderful thing. It has a built in basket, fenders, headlights and taillights ( both work off power from pedaling ) three speeds and internal brakes. It is a very well made bike and fun to ride.

Three Flights to Canada

In trying to save my employer some hard earned cash on a business trip to Montreal, it was suggested that I fly into Vermont from Minnesota which also included a layover in New York and a two hour drive from Vermont to my final destination. I have only been to Vermont a couple of times ( I think ) and welcome the chance to travel somewhere new so it all sounded good to me.

My 7am flight out of Minneapolis was pretty uneventful for me, but my fellow passengers may have stories of a guy snoring. I am beyond worrying about these things and just let nature take its course. The layover in New York was much more interesting with two celebrity sightings in the Sky Club - first up was Montel Williams. That was more of a 'huh' than anything. Then I saw ( Reverend ) Run from Run DMC, which actually has some story telling weight to it. He was decked out in a fine Adidas track suit and seemed to be a nice fella. I didn't bother trying to shake his hand as I know all of about 3 Run DMC songs and never watched his reality show so I hardly qualify as a fan.

The flight to Vermont was short and hot. Not sure why the plane was so warm, but I was most pleased to get off when we landed. Burlington the town was small and pleasant, but the drive North to Canada is gorgeous. I wish I had taken the time to stop for some photos, but I was already running an hour late due to a delay at JFK.

Once I was north of the Canadian border things got farmy real quick. The farmland was like a storybook with barns and silos and nice folks on tractors waving at the city boy. I really liked the snowmobile crossing signs too. From what I am told the farmland folks don't speak much English at all, unlike in the city.

About 95 miles from Burlington I got into the outskirts of Montreal and promptly stopped due to traffic. It took me over an hour to make it the last 8 or 10 miles, and I can honestly say that the Montreal drivers are not a pleasant bunch. They take their driving seriously. The last mile was in downtown Montreal trying to get to Rue Sherbrooke and the Hilton Garden Inn. My GPS was going crazy in the shadows of all the buildings, telling me to turn around, then go straight again a minute later.

Don't Let's Start

This is the worst part
Could believe for all the world
That you're my precious URL?

That totally rhymes, and I think I am going to fire up the Blerg again on my next trip.

So there.