See how out of touch I am? I didn't even realize they were Canadian.
Canada has been on my travel bucket list for ages, and I’m afraid it will stay there for quite a bit longer.
If and whenever you do, you're more than welcome!
The Maple Leaf Lounge
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See how out of touch I am? I didn't even realize they were Canadian.
If and whenever you do, you're more than welcome!
Funny you should mention that. There has actually been a fair bit of backlash here about the increased powers of interrogation, search, and detention that our government has granted to US customs officers in our own country.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/preclearance-act-federal-government-u-s-border-1.5429662
There you go again with dissing Bonhomme. What did the poor jolly snowman ever do to you??
^ Bonhomme reminds me of the "Jack Frost" movie about a killer snowman.
(Not the one with Michael Keaton, but the one with the guy who played Tosk on DS9.)
On a lighter note: Anyone know when all the renovations at Parliament Hill will be done? I'd love to go back there but not when all the buildings are shut down.
)
As for border preclearance: I hate to see that it's being abused. But I also know that I couldn't make these trips to Canada without it.
Because without border preclearance, not only do you have to go through customs, you also have to go through SECURITY again when you make a connecting flight. That happened to my dad and I a couple of years ago when we flew home from Munich. We connected in Chicago. We had a two and a half hour layover but we still almost missed our flight home, because after customs - yeah, fucking security again. We even had to re-check our bags!
(Not the one with Michael Keaton, but the one with the guy who played Tosk on DS9.)
On a lighter note: Anyone know when all the renovations at Parliament Hill will be done? I'd love to go back there but not when all the buildings are shut down.
)As for border preclearance: I hate to see that it's being abused. But I also know that I couldn't make these trips to Canada without it.
Because without border preclearance, not only do you have to go through customs, you also have to go through SECURITY again when you make a connecting flight. That happened to my dad and I a couple of years ago when we flew home from Munich. We connected in Chicago. We had a two and a half hour layover but we still almost missed our flight home, because after customs - yeah, fucking security again. We even had to re-check our bags!
Yeah, was almost going to mention that, but you beat me to it!
On a lighter note: Anyone know when all the renovations at Parliament Hill will be done? I'd love to go back there but not when all the buildings are shut down.
Dunno, but it seems to be in construction every time I visit these days.
I guess they don't call it "Festival" for nothing....
On a lighter note: Anyone know when all the renovations at Parliament Hill will be done? I'd love to go back there but not when all the buildings are shut down.
I've looked around the government website, and can't find any specific dates. The only thing I could find about this is some news stories from around the time that Centre Block closed (end of 2018/beginning of 2019), which indicated that officials expected it to be closed for at least a decade.
The way government projects go, if we're lucky it will be open again in time for Canada 200...
This happens more often than not. In fact, it's only been recently, as in the last 5-10 years, that productions have started to set things in their actual cities rather than being stand-ins. The big joke being that, cities like Vancouver and Toronto always stood in for something else rather than playing themselves, which has sort of created an inferiority complex in our entertainment industry. You should watch this video:
Most of the time they're set in the real cities is in domestic releases. But the thing is, and this is just a guess, I'd say maybe 90% of our domestic movie releases are often seen at movie festivals, but then put on VOD services where they sit hoping someone will notice them. We actually have very few domestic releases that we'd consider blockbusters. If that sounds harsh, it's actually more accurate than you think.
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I guess they don't call it "Festival" for nothing....
Guess I was lucky to get there when I did, then! (It was back in '16. Apparently, they only give tours to one building at a time, and when I was there, Centre Block was the one.)
Yup Devy is Canadian and probably one of the best (metal) singers that ever lived, Alissa is also great.See how out of touch I am? I didn't even realize they were Canadian.
If I could I would visit Canada.
That is one scary snowman.... I'll guess I won't be visiting your country during winter! 
Don't worry, he only lives in Quebec.
That explains it. I'm really not into metal. Not my scene
Yup Devy is Canadian and probably one of the best (metal) singers that ever lived, Alissa is also great.
If I could I would visit Canada.
That explains it. I'm really not into metal. Not my scene
That is one scary snowman.... I'll guess I won't be visiting your country during winter!
"Ici pour le Festival, oui?"
Devin's music doesn't really fit in any catagory, it goes between ambient, metal, country-ish, rock, prog and so on, yes, some of it is indeed heavy but it is much more than that.
Ok, I can understand that. Canada's actually very varied that way, with lots of music that defies being categorized. One of my favourite bands, The Duhks would be technically classified as world-music, but they're a fusion of so many different things. Country, Bluegrass, Cajun, Pop, Rock, etc.
They've done a killer version of Pink Floyd's Whole Lotta Love:
These two songs are from their latest album, going from beautiful ballad tinged with Banjo, to a Motown style song.
All the people I know in the (Vancouver) entertainment industry don't have an inferiority complex, rather they're happy as hell to collect their rather sizable paychecks
All the people I know in the (Vancouver) entertainment industry don't have an inferiority complex, rather they're happy as hell to collect their rather sizable paychecks
Well, I kind of meant in general, in how Canada tends to be represented. There was a blog I used to follow for a number of years written by a writer in the industry and he'd often talk about some of these things. It was really interesting.
I was quite pleased when watching Continuum to find that Vancouver was actually *Vancouver*!
Bonhomme is really quite friendly... the whole "Eater of Souls" thing really is just an internet joke. 99.9983% of the people who encounter him walk away completely unmurdered and with their souls intact.
Don't worry, he only lives in Quebec.
And not just the province, but specifically Quebec City. You can wander around the rest of the province without needing to worry about running into him at all!
I'll guess I won't be visiting your country during winter!
... and as much as I hate to admit it, this really is actually a sensible precaution just in general, even without considering the possibility of killer snowmen.
Not entirely my type of music but nice.. anyway.. a bit of Devin Townsend.
Devin Townsend Project - Stormbending (live)
Devin Townsend Project -Kingdom (album version)
I assume it isn't your type of music but you have to admit that he has an incredible voice.
I decided not to post something with Alissa in it.. melodic death metal isn't for everyone..
Yeah, he does have a good voice. I love concerts because you can see the true passions and talents emerge. One of my favourite bands used to record their albums to sound more like live shows rather than vice-versa, well their early ones anyway.
Bonhomme is really quite friendly... the whole "Eater of Souls" thing really is just an internet joke. 99.9983% of the people who encounter him walk away completely unmurdered and with their souls intact.
If the remake of Logan's Run ever makes it out of development hell, they should use Bonhomme instead of Box.
I do have a question about Quebec City...now of course, being the clueless tourist that I am, I speak almost no French. But I never have a problem in Montréal, everything I need to look at is labelled in English as well as French and everybody I've ever spoken to also speaks English. Is Quebec City like that as well? I heard that it isn't quite as English-friendly as Montréal is. That's not true, is it?
I will preface this by saying I don't live in Quebec, and am in fact an anglo-Canadian who hasn't really had to speak French regularly since high school. I have been to Montréal, but have never been to QC. So my reply will be based on my own impressions, without firsthand knowledge. If anyone from la belle province would like to step in and provide a definitive answer, please feel free.
But based on what I have heard, and picked up second-hand, yes, that is generally true... Montréal is pretty much the most anglo-friendly city in the province, so by definition, any other location would be less anglo-friendly. That doesn't mean it is impossible for an English-speaker to get by, of course. According to this page, people working in the tourism industry will likely speak English, so I'm guessing you would be fine.
As someone who loves history, I would probably really enjoy seeing Quebec City... I just don't generally travel much.
(I have heard second-hand stories about some smaller communities in Quebec being somewhat hostile towards English-speakers, but those seem to usually be people retelling stories from back when separatism was a lot more popular, so I don't know if this would still be the case these days.)
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