I’ve been arranging some cross-Canada radio interviews in the weeks leading up to the year’s most important book-buying season, with Will Ferguson for his new book, a memoir called BEYOND BELFAST.  He’s chatted about his 560-Mile Walk Across Nothern Ireland on Sore Feet with radio hosts in Saskatoon (NewsTalk 650), St. John’s (CBC Weekend Arts Magazine), London (Newstalk 1290 CJBK), Hamilton (AM 900 CHML),  and Whitehorse (CBC Midday Cafe).

It’s a great read and really is the perfect gift for someone with Irish blood or anyone who likes travel stories.

Published by Penguin

El público comprador de libros es un segmento muy reducido de cualquier sociedad. Pero es un segmento en extremo influyente, y esa fue la clave del desastre. Esa clase de personas, lo que el autor Robertson Davies llamaba la «clerecía», incluía a aquellos que leían libros por placer. No a los críticos profesionales ni a los intelectuales ni a los estudiantes que leían porque tenían que leer, sino más bien a la gente que leía libros como fin en sí mismo: los verdaderos lectores. La clerecía es el elemento crucial de cualquier cambio social, y eso es algo que cualquier déspota con éxito sabe. La idea de que una turbulenta masa de campesinos subvierta el orden social es un mito; las auténticas revoluciones empiezan con la clerecía. Sólo después de que el viejo orden haya empezado a desmoronarse aparecen las masas, horcas en mano, dispuestas a atribuirse el mérito. «La muchedumbre airada» es una entidad reactiva, en todos los sentidos de la palabra. No, es la gente que lee libros la que instiga los cambios en la sociedad, para bien o para mal.

Si ara teniu curiositat per saber en què consisteix aquest desastre provocat per la sospitosa raça (en vies d’extinció, afortunadament) dels lectors per plaer, només heu d’aconseguir un exemplar de Happiness™, del novel·lista canadenc Will Ferguson, i començar a llegir. El trobareu a Emecé, amb traducció de Carlos Millá.

(Va, us donaré una pista: imagineu-vos un món en el què Jorge Bucay, Paulo Coelho, James “Deu Revelacions” Redfield i el senyor que va escriure Sopa de pollo para el alma es posessin d’acord per escriure el llibre d’autoajuda definitiu. Un llibre d’autoajuda que funcionés de veritat.  Un llibre d’autoajuda tan aterridorament efectiu que sumís la humanitat sencera en un continu estupor new age de felicitat i autorrealització. Brrr, oi?)   

A friend sent me a link today to a hilarious article in the Toronto Globe and Mail on the writing process, specifically the perils of being on deadline. 

Heaven knows I desperately needed a laugh, as I’m a week and a half away from turning in my latest novel.  Anyone, anywhere, who’s ever been on deadline knows exactly what this means.  It means I’ve barely been out of my pajamas for days.  It means a steady diet of cereal and pizza and Junior Mints.  It means ignoring your spouse, your dog, your children, your friends.  It means leaping out of bed in the middle of the night in a cold sweat because you just got an idea for fixing that pesky plot hole at the end of chapter seven, an idea that might be brilliant or might be rubbish but either way you’d better write it down immediately or you’ll forget it.

Will Ferguson riffs brilliantly on deadline fever in “How’s the Book Going?”  I laughed out loud at what he had to say about procrastination, and loved his description of the annoying habit that books have of “stubbornly and — it must be said — ungratefully” refusing to write themselves.  And I also appreciated the timely reminder of Douglas Adams’ (of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” fame) immortal quote :  “I love deadlines.  I love the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.”

(Adams, it’s worth noting, was so notoriously bad at meeting deadlines that his editor used to have to literally move in with him for a couple of weeks to get him to finish a book.) 

Thank you, Will Ferguson.  You were just the boost I needed.  Back to work here…

Si da Hokkaido a Okinawa è uno dei viaggi dei miei sogni che prima o poi farò, non a piedi come in “The Road to Sata” di  Alan Booth o in autostop come Will Ferguson in “Autostop con Buddah” ma in treno con molta calma.

Ma tutto questo cosa centra con l’aritcolo di oggi? Assolutamente nulla, se non fosse che le due notizie che vi riporto provengono dagli antipodi del Giappone.

La prima da Hokkaido. Infatti la Abashiri ha presentato ieri la sua nuova birra…blu.

Già alla vista sembra più dissetante, e visto il caldo afoso di questi  giorni, l’idea sembra azzeccatissima. Ma come viene ottenuto il colore azzurrino che ricorda molto il gelato al “puffo”? Per fortuna non con additivi chimici ma aggiungendo la “Spirulina” un integratore la cui base è un alga che nasce nei laghi ricchissima di vitamina B12 e a dire di molti un toccasana per il controllo del diabete. Non so quanto sia buona però sicuramente è da provare.

Se siete curiosi potete vedere il sito ufficiale QUI .

E ora  facciamo un salto virtuale verso sud nella stupenda Okinawa.

Questa in realtà non è proprio una news, vi volevo parlare dell’acquario di Okinawa, conosciuto in tutto il mondo per la seconda vasca di acqua salata più grande al mondo, e per il fatto che contiene due esemplari di squali balena ( anche quello di Osaka che visiteremo con i ragazzi del Tour ne contiene 1 stupendo ).

Ho voluto condividere con voi questo video stupendo di  Jon Ranwlison che riesci a riproporre l’atmosfera e il feeling che si prova visitando l’acquario, chi c’è stato capisce di cosa parlo.

Anche in questo casao vi lascio link diretto al sito: http://www.kaiyouhaku.com/en/

Buon Agosto a  tutti, e grazie perchè nel mese di Luglio abbiamo taccato il top di visite da quando abbiamo aperto il sito!

Arigatō – ありがとう

I’m hard on authors.  I rarely geek out on them because I just haven’t found any that really hit hard.  Often like, seldom love.  But I’m crushin kinda hard on this dude.  My brother the English teacher did the thing where his teacher brain goes “Canadian author?  Dark satirist? Chops? Mike’s gotta love it”.  You hate getting pigeonholed too, but hey man.  It’s family.

Mr. Ferguson has won numerous awards (many for this book), and critics love him.  I’m finding Happiness to be a bit different than any other book I’ve read.  Most love his writing style, his intelligence, and his humour.  I find his writing good but not great, fun but not funny.  Yet somehow I just want to shush the city and read it like watching 3 seasons of Arrested Development – all in 36 hours.

(Canadian Edition, 2006)

Will "Fugu-san" Ferguson's travelogue

In the midst of packing and getting my Japanese work permit in order, I managed to fit in some good procrastination time at the bookstore. I originally went looking for Kate Williamson’s A Year in Japan, (they didn’t have it) but was happy to leave instead with a copy of Will Ferguson’s travelogue, Hitching Rides with Buddha—an enthusiastic recommendation from a clerk who had spent three years in Japan through on the JET program.

I haven’t read Ferguson’s other books, but since the phrase “Katima-victim” became part of the average teenaged Canadian lexicon,* I knew about his talent of slithering into and influencing our national identity and was generally curious about his take on Japan.

(* for those of you not from Canada.. Katimavik is an exchange-type program to encourage some healthy nationalism in a geographically and culturally vast country. Anglos learn French and vice-versa. You all live in a big house together and do some kind of volunteer work. Ferguson wrote the book I was a Teenaged Katima-victim about his experiences during the program.)

The basic premise Hitchhiking Rides with Buddha is, yes, a hitchhiking trip — from the southern tip of Japan’s Kyushu Island to the Northern tip of Hokkaido — following the “cherry blossom front,” the progression of sakura blossoms as spring sweeps through Japan. Ferguson had been in the country for several years, spoke pretty good Japanese and had been to countless cherry blossom viewing parties during his stay. The idea for the trip, he writes, came up drunkenly at one particularly raucous blossom-viewing party. This surprises me, but Ferguson claims to be the first person to follow the cherry blossom front, and also the first to hitchhike the length of Japan.

Maybe it’s a Canadian thing, but hitchhiking is a perfectly reasonable way to see the country, especially if you want to talk to locals (in Quebec my boyfriend would occasionally hitchhike to rural towns just to practice his French). As Ferguson suspects, it is also a perfectly reasonable way to get around in Japan, though almost everyone tells him is will be impossible. Apparently the Japanese underestimate their own hospitality and willingness to go out of their way for complete strangers.

From passenger seat and roadside, Ferguson collects anecdotes and characters. He also revisits memories of previous Japanese experiences and throws in a healthy helping of history and guidebook pointers. The book has many a laugh-out-loud moment. Much of the humour comes from contradictions. Japan is a very safe country, his friends and colleagues say, but you can’t hitchhike – it’s not safe! One flustered business-woman, has second thoughts after she pulls over and actually asks Ferguson if he is dangerous. He graciously assures her he is not and the ride turns into lunch. There are the usual regional biases (I don’t like Hokkaido, one driver says, you know what they say about people from a cold climate. I love Hokkaido, say another, you know what they say about people from a cold climate).

It’s amazing what opportunities come your way when you are open to possibility. Whenever possible, Ferguson say “yes,” to suggestions from those he meets (a good lesson for any traveller). It’s a habit that takes him to some pretty interesting places. On one such side trip he ends up on an island with a snooty professor who studies monkeys. Apparently these monkeys wash their potatoes before eating them and are believed to be highly sophisticated. Ferguson didn’t see any potato washing, but did observe the monkeys picking gunk from their bums and flicking it at each other—extreme sophistication, indeed. Of course, his tendency to ride the wave also lands him in more than one bar, getting totally wasted on sake and beer with salary men, with painful consequences the morning after.

The book isn’t all one-liners. Ferguson does stumble into serious territory from time to time, and does so with respect, whether it’s a World War II POW who tells him his life’s story or a wife and mother who has put her dreams on hold for her family.

The thing I liked most about this book was Ferguson’s honesty. I almost feel clichéd in saying that (this is consistently what reviewers have said), but it’s true. I suspect many travelogues have a bad case of selective memory, as the writer (and simultaneously the protagonist) tries to portray him or herself as worldly and well adjusted. Bad experiences appear only when they make a good joke. Ferguson, however, is not afraid to tell you when he’s having a bad day. And while I felt more than a hint of bitterness beneath his dry humour, at least his writing was true to his feelings. While you can find descriptions of temples and markets in any Lonely Planet guidebook, aren’t the highs and lows of travelling an equal part of the experience? Hitching Rides with Buddha gives the reader both.

I took Ferguson’s sometimes negative impressions and stereotypes about Japanese people and culture with a grain of salt. Like the lover who snores, idiosyncrasies can be either endearing or infuriating, depending on how enamored you are with the relationship. Ferguson was clearly getting ready to leave the country.

Jam-packed with facts, history and personal anecdote, this book gave me a pretty good overview of life in Japan, a country I knew very little about before coming here. Ferguson’s wisdom has come to my rescue several times in the past month, most recently when one of my students asked me if we have “Biking” restaurants in Canada. (Biking being the Japanese pronunciation of Viking, referring to an all-you-can-eat buffet. Apparently the Vikings ate a lot…?).

I’m looking forward to volunteering at the Banff-Jasper Relay tomorrow. Last year my friend Nancy and I had a blast holding up SLOW signs, hanging out with racers at the post-race party, and playing tourist on the way home the next day.

This year we get to volunteer at two posts, the N12 transition point at the Endless Chain Ridge Road and N15 at Athabaska Raft. We’ll be driving all Saturday morning to get there,  so last night I did something really important; I packed materials for a new knitting project to work on while Nancy drives.

I’ll pack my running shoes, and we are bringing the bikes again this year too. Hopefully the weather on Sunday will be warmer than it was last year and we’ll get in a ride or even a brick (that’s triathlese for ride and run). I’m packing my red mitts and warm stuff, as we’re planning to camp and the night time lows will likely dip to freezing.

Training Note: Last night I ran a pleasant 8k by the river with the 10k group. Liesbeth is now back on Thursdays, and we had a great chat as we ran. It was Davey’s birthday, so we sang him a song and shared hugs.

Jason and I even took a little time to have a small race management meeting in preparation for the Robert Hamilton Memorial Race set for July 12. I’m really looking forward to the new start/finish location at the south end of Shaganappi this year. Registrations are open, and the earlybird fee is only available until June 21. Send me a note if you’d like to volunteer.

I’m reading Will Ferguson’s book, “Beauty Tips from Moosejaw”, in which he quotes Historian Arthur Lower, “Canada is a canoe route”, but as he mulls it over later in the book Will says “Canada is more than a canoe route. Canada is a road trip.  And like any road trip worthy of the name, it is ultimately about freedom in it’s purest form.”

I am very blessed to have the freedom to do all these activities I write about. I’m going to enjoy every minute of this weekend.

“ Ogni primavera, un’ondata di fiori investe il Giappone. Parte dalle Okinawa e si riversa da un’isola all’altra fino al continente. Esplode a Capo Sata e si sposta verso nord, su e giù per le alture, fino alla punta estrema della lontana Hokkaido, dove si disperde e cade nel mare settentrionale. (….)
Lo chiamano Sakura Zensen, il “fronte dei  fiori di ciliegio” e ne monitorano l’avanzata con uno zelo che normalmente è riservata solo agli eserciti in marcia. Ogni sera i telegiornali forniscono un rapporto sull’avanzata  , con mappe dettagliate che mostrano le prime linee, le linee secondarie e la percentuale di fiori in ogni singola area. (…)
Non esiste altro luogo al mondo in cui la primavera arrivi con tanta teatralità quanto in Giappone. Quando sbocciano, i fiori di ciliegio colpiscono come un uragano. Ciliegi nodosi, che passano inosservati per gran parte dell’anno, fioriscono in un baleno come fontane che si accendono all’improvviso. (…)
Poi, alla stessa velocità con la quale sono arrivati, i fiori di ciliegio si disperdono. Cadono come coriandoli, e al loro passaggio lasciano il posto alla scintillante calura estiva e ai suoi toni verde scuro, allo squallore umido della stagione delle piogge, ai tifoni di fine agosto. Al culmine della fioritura e della bellezza i sakura durano solo pochi giorni.
Si dice che, durante la loro breve esplosione, i fiori di ciliegio rappresentino l’estetica della bellezza commovente e fugace : effimeri e delicati nel loro passaggio. “

Will Ferguson – “Autostop con Buddha”

SOUNDTRACK: MIKE FORD-Canada Needs You volume two (2008).

This is the long awaited follow up to Mike Ford’s first Canada Needs You CD.  Volume Two covers Canada’s history in the 20th Century.

The album is more fun than the first because there are several tracks where Ford uses a stylistically appropriate music to go with the songs: “Talkin’ Ten Lost Years” uses a Woody Guthrie-inspired “talking blues” to go along with the Depression-era lyrics.  “Let’s Mobilize” is done in a great swing style for a 1940s/50s era song.  “Joey Smallwood” uses a near-perfect Johnny Cash style (it may not be time-appropriate since Cash is timeless, but it works great for the song).  “Maurice Richard” is a perfect Dylanesque folk song.  And finally, the pièce de résistance is “Expo 67!” It is so wonderfully Burt Bacharach-y, so perfectly late sixties it gets stuck in your head for days! C’est Magnifique!

The rest of the album, especially the first three songs do not try to match a song style to the time it discusses.  Rather, he sings about Canadian history in a folk/rock style ala Moxy Fruvous (“Creeping Barrage” and “In Winnipeg”) or in a great R&B/girl group style–with actual female singers, not himself in a falsetto (“Tea Party”) or reggae on “I’m Gonna Roam Again.”

The songs are all great.  And, yes, it’s a great way to learn some history (I’ve already Googled Joey Smallwood, just to see who he was.  I’m trying to get all of the lyrics down, but it’s not always easy, especially if you don’t know the details of what he’s singing about.  Which leads to my only gripe.

My gripe is that the disc packaging doesn’t include much information.  And, since he is essentially teaching people about the history of Canada, I’d think that some details should be included in the packaging.  I realize of course, that he says that the he’ll have the information on his website, but since we’re carrying the disc with us (not the website), it’d be nice to have at least a summary like on Volume One.  Because frankly, I don’t know enough about Canadian history to know what he’s talking about on most of the tracks.

The only problem is that as of this writing he hasn’t put the information on his website yet.  D’oh!

[READ: Christmas 2007] So You Want to Be Canadian

I am Canadian.  Okay, I’m not, but I’ve had the beer, and I’ve seen the commercial (hilarious) and I’ve been there several times. I even have Canadian satellite broadcast into my home (long story).  So, I’ve seen Rick Mercer’s Talking to Americans, and I’ve been a fan of Corner Gas long before it was broadcast down here.

Naturally, my wife bought me this book for Christmas last year (so why not wait till Christmastime this year to post about it?).  And not only was it very funny, I even learned a few things about my neighbor’s home and native land.  My only gripe about the book was that in the great Canadian bands section they did not include Moxy Fruvous!

A fun distinction that this book has over some of the other Canadiana books I’ve looked at is its cool collection of illustrations by S. Britt. The opening contents page has some wonderful pictures, but the 2 page spread on pages 12-13 showing a map of Canada is not only educational it is hilarious (Prince Edward Island represented by spuds and Vancouver by a big pot leaf).

The other distinction about this book is that it is a pocket (literally) guide to everything you need to know about the Great White North.  There’s not a lot of discussion (or even really paragraphs).  It’s more lists, fun facts, and compilations of interesting things.  You start with quick facts about the ten provinces; about the British Royalty connection; the Canadian Language (from Eh? to Zed) and much more.

Robertson Screwdriver

The Canadian Culture section is very entertaining.  You get a chart of the movie or TV show  that is set in the US and what area of Canada it was actually filmed in.  You get a list of famous Canadian Hotties (Guys and Gals).  You also get a list of things invented in Canada: basketball, chocolate bar, ginger ale, IMAX, insulin, the Robertson screwdriver (to which I am now a convert after having used one…they kick Phillip’s ass!), and just about anything starting with the prefix “snow” (mobile, blower, plough).

Of course, my favorite part is Beavers & Beer! (and Poutine): Eating and Drinking in Canada.  Some delights:  Butter tart, Nanaimo bar, Beaver Tail, even the Bloody Caesar.

Last but not least is a nice big chapter on Hockey (and Curling).

And what about the authors?  What’s their obsession with Canada?  Well, Kelly loved Canada so much, she married a Canadian (her co-author).  Rob is from Edmonton originally.  Although, curiously, they both live in San Francisco.  Wonder if they get Canadian satellite.

There’s a website for the book, but there’s not much to it.

All in all, this book doesn’t pack as much info as the Ferguson books, but it’s much easier to carry around, and it is a bit more fun.

SOUNDTRACK: MIKE FORD-Canada Needs You (Volume 1) (2005).

Volume 2 of this series has just come out, but I haven’t received it yet, so I’ll start with Vol. 1

I discovered this series because I love Moxy Fruvous, and any member of the mighty Moxy is worth checking out solo.  Mike Ford has a wonderful voice, a great knack for songwriting and an ability to do multiple genres in one setting.  Couple that with the history of Canada and it’s win-win!  Volume One covers Canada pre-1905, with Volume Two covering up to the present.

I admit to not knowing very much about the song topics on the disc, which is fine, as I learned something new.  And, much like with the two Ferguson books, Mike Ford clearly loves Canada, and is willing to celebrate it without hiding any flaws that might be found.  Which is as it should be for an album or book of this nature: Don’t hide the warts; celebrate the whole picture.

Musically, the disc is as varied as the subject matter.  “I’m Gonna Roam” is a folk song done in a rap style. “Turn Them Oot” is a sea shantyesque sing-along about the Family Compact (and what a great rabble-rouser it is).  The most rocking song, “Sir John A (You’re OK)” is sort of a mock metal song (it’s as metal as a folkie can get…with a chorus from a Grade 7 class).  Imagine rocking the line “RESIDUAL POWERS!”

There’s even a song that sounds as if it was recorded on an old wax cylinder (“Canada Needs You”).  I like this song especially because it is a satire of early 20th century Canadian government attempts to get people to move to Canada (much like the Go West Young Man of the US).  A little snippet of lyrics:

There’s an abundance of everything in Western Canada
Where it’s never ever (hardly ever) cold
And the streets are paved with gold
And you grow rutabegas bigger than a loaf of bread
tomatoes bigger than a horse’s head
There’s milk and honey and a kitchen sink
There’s never any bugs or drought and the farts don’t stink

Some other topics include: a young Native woman who inspired her people (“Thanadelthur”); the voyageurs–with canoe sounds (“Les Voyageurs”); the fact and fiction of the treasure buried on Oak Island, Nova Scotia (“The Oak Island Mystery”); and the importance of Canadian women (“A Woman Works Twice as Hard”).

Perhaps the most fun song on the disc (for style and content) is “I’ve Been Everywhere” in which Ford lists thousands of Canadian towns at superfast speed.  Great good fun. Moncton, Moncton, Moncton, Moncton.

All the lyrics are available in PDF here.  And facts and background info about the songs are available here.  With all of these resources, you’re bound to learn something new about Canada!

[READ: September 2008] How to Be a Canadian

Now this is what I expecting from Why I Hate Canadians–a funny, tongue in cheek look at Canada and all of its quirks.  I got this book on the same trip as Why I Hate Canadians, and since I just read that one, I figured, why not keep it going.  So this book is co-written by Will and his brother Ian Ferguson (apparently there are Fergusons littered across the US and Canada, as their services are called upon throughout the book).  And, hard to tell if this is true, but based on the previous book, Ian must be the funny one in the family, as this book is very funny indeed.

However, it is especially funny if you have just read Why I Hate Canadians because that book gives you the basis for much of the humor in this book.  I imagine that if you are a Canadian, you know most of the stuff that is joked about in this book.  On the other hand, as an American, I know there is a ton of American history that I don’t know, so there are probably many Canadians who are unfamiliar with their history as well.  If so, these two books together provide a decent understanding of (one family’s opinion of) Canada and its past and also give you a lot to laugh about.  What’s interesting is that there is some overlap of information, so even though the book is funny, you learn some things too (or if you read Why I Hate Canadians, the information is reinforced).

The opening sets the tone right away: How to Find Canada on a Map* *(map not included).  The chapter is broken down into many useful facets:  Government, Economy (“The main product manufactured in Canada is snow”).  Currency (“Two loonies= about 50 cents U.S.”)  [Ah, how naive that seems now when as of today: September 22, 2008, two loonies equals $1.94 U.S.].  National Anthem (“The theme song from Hockey Night in Canada has more resonance among Canadians than any other piece of music”).

The book is broken down into many short chapters, and each chapter has a summary at the end where you can see if you learned anything.  Despite the humorous tone, there is a ton of factual (or at least opinion-al) information about Canada.  A personal favorite is the History section.  They begin:

Canadian history is incredibly boring.  For example: In the 1600s the French settlers waged  a frontier guerrilla war against the Iroquois Confederacy, and later when the English move din, a vast imperial conflict ranged from Newfoundland to the frozen shores of Hudson Bay….

and on for a densely packed page of exciting battles.

Some other fun sections include How to Insult Canadians (with regional insults for cross-country offenses), How to Drive Like a Canadian (with regional insults for cross country-offenses).  You get the general sense of what’s going on here, right?

But in case you don’t, the chapter subtitles really tell you about the humor of the book: Learning the Language: How to Talk Like a Canadian.  (Basically, Americans can’t say “Eh?” correctly).  Leisure Activities: How to Watch TV Like a Canadian (“I only watch the CBC” the American equivalent is people who say “I don’t watch TV, except for the History Channel” [which is a total pet peeve of mine as if somehow The History Channel is "better" than other channels...these are the same people who say they only read nonfiction, as if you can't learn a lot about life from fiction].  Beer: How to drink like a Canadian (with a really fascinating and funny introduction to the differences between English, American and Canadian beer….Canadian beer isn’t that much stronger (it is measured differently) but it does taste better.)  Progressive Conservatives, Responsible Government and Other Oxymororns: How to Rule Like a Canadian (which covers a lot of the grievances from Why I Hate Canadians but in a much much funnier way).

And then of course, there’s the end: The Quiz: You May Already Be a Canadian!: Take the Quiz and Find Out.  This is a fun and more than slightly ridiculous quiz, in which the multiple choice options are as funny as the questions.

What’s great about the book overall is the sense of pride that the authors take in being Canadian.  And yet their pride comes across in their ability to mock not only Canada’s foibles but also its proudest moments.  It’s a really great book if you’d like to learn a thing or two about the Great White North.  Although there’s no mention of “hoser” anywhere.

SOUNDTRACK: THE NEW ODDS-Cheerleader (2008).

Craig Northey, singer of the Odds has written some great songs by himself and with a slew of other projects.  But most notably, he did the theme songs (opening and closing) for Corner Gas.  At last, “My Happy Place” the Closing Credits song has now been released on this disc by The New Odds.  (The Opening Credits song “Not a Lot Goin On” is available on the disc that Northey made with Jesse Valenzuela, cleverly titled Northey Valenzuela.  I mention Corner Gas aside from the fact that it’s a great show, because I mention it in the book write up below as well.  But back to the Odds.

The Odds had a minor hit in 1993 with “Heterosexual Man” (which we all thought was hilarious).  I didn’t really think much about them until my friend Amber from Vancouver sent me a tape of Bedbugs.  I was surprised how much I liked it and how, although the band was funny, they weren’t a novelty act at all.

I’ve enjoyed the Odds very much since then, they’ve appeared on a number of soundtracks, and released four solid albums, especially 1996’s Nest.

The New Odds are, as you might guess, the Odds, only new.  3 of the 4 original members are back, and aside from updating their sound to the twenty-first century, the band isn’t radically different. They play what used to be called college music, but which really is more or less alternative or even just rock music.

As with previous Northey output, the lyrics are witty and clever, with some wordplay in evidence.  There’s a pretty diverse collection of sounds on the record, yet they all stay within the range of alternative guitar pop.  One or two songs rock harder than the others, “Leaders of the Undersea World” sounds like a dose of heavy metal in comparison to the rest of the record.  “Write it in Lightning” is also a pretty good song, and “I Can’t Get You Off” has a wonderfully catchy hook to it.

Northey’s voice is easily described as inoffensive, and the music is catchy but not stick-in-your-head catchy.  It’s not a ringing endorsement, but it’s also not a put-down.  Like meat and potatoes, it’s a good staple to any alternative fans’ collection.

[READ: August 28, 2008] Why I Hate Canadians

I bought this book several years ago, probably in 2000, when I was visiting Montreal.  I remember being very excited to visit Chapters and to see what kind of books they had that weren’t available down south.  I was especially interested in the humor section as I had just started watching Mike Bullard, and I knew he wasn’t available in the States.  I found Bullard’s book as well as two books about Canada by the Fergusons. Why it took me 8 years to read them, I don’t know.

This book is listed as a humour book; the copyright page has it listed as 1. Canada-Humor 2. Canadian wit and humor (English).  But the thing is that the book isn’t very funny.   Even with an outrageous title like that, it’s not very funny.  It is however, a fantastic introduction to the history of Canada written in a style that is (yes) funnier than your average textbook.

DIGRESSION: I will state that I realize that Will Ferguson has a perspective, and quite often he’s very vocal about his perspective.  Most good history is written with an acknowledged bias–trying to hide your bias makes for dull (or hypocritical) history.  So, Ferguson’s history of Canada may not be Accurate, (especially if you are a Quebecois) and of course, I’d be interested to hear from those who disagree with him; however, to an American who is not well versed in the history of Canada, it was pretty enlightening.

So, the basic set up of the book is that Ferguson, after getting involved in many Uplifting Canadian Youth Activities [Katimavik (which sounds pretty awesome), Canada World Youth & Project Megapole (no link available). decides to leave Canada for Asia.  He is gone for five years and on his return he feels that nothing has really changed in Canada.  And the title comes from his reckoning that Canada the country is fantastic but that Canadians don't appreciate (or perhaps don't even deserve) such a great country.

The first Part concerns what he was like as a youth (idealistic, a citizen of the world) and how quickly reality changed that.

But in Part Two, Ferguson gets into the history of his home and native land.  He begins by discussing the Voyageurs and Habitants (trappers and lumberjacks) who formed the backbone of non-Native Canada (more on Natives later).  He also discusses Loyalists and other Losers.  Now, as a U.S. fellow, I thought I knew a lot about history below the 49th parallel.  [It's also interesting to think of how or two countries see 54-40 in such opposing terms].  I never knew that the “losers” of the American Revolution (people loyal to Britain) were more or less forced out of the Americas and into Canada, and that they basically formed the backbone of English speaking Canada and its ties to Britain.  Why didn’t I know that?  Is it left out of U.S history because, like our maps, if you go northwest through New York, you just disappear?  Anyhow, that was a pretty fascinating history lesson for me.

But it couldn’t compare to The Cold War on Ice. Non-Canadians and Non Soviet people probably don’t know too much about this cold war (although hockey devotees surely do).  For my fellow Americans, I’ll summarize: Canada, considered by Canadians to be the best hockey country in the world, decided to play 8 games against the Soviet Union: 4 in Canada, 4 in Russia.  Canada was expected (by Canadians) to sweep.  Imagine their shock to find themselves down 3 games to 1 (with 1 tie) after 5 games.  The last three games, played in Russia, all came down to 6-5 victories with all three winning goals being scored by Paul Henderson.  (Games 6 & 7 went to OT and the last game…the defining moment…was won with 34 seconds left).  My recap has removed all of the drama, all of the passion, all of the excitement, because I couldn’t possibly do it justice.  But, reading Ferguson’s recap was riveting.  And I rather wish I had seen it….  It seems to compare to the U.S. beating the Soviet Union in the 1980 Olympics in hockey–a moment I saw and which thrilled my 11 year old self with unimaginable pride, so I can just imagine what that felt like for a country who loves hockey.

If you’d rather not read about this hockey series then please, watch the Corner Gas episode “The Good Old Table Hockey Game” which replays the highlights of the series in a table hockey match between Brent and Karen.  It almost compares to the real thing, eh Canada?

But back to the book.  One of Ferguson’s main complaints about Canadians is that their commonly agreed upon characteristic is that they are “nice.”  He feels that that’s pretty lame–although he does point out that it is sort of assumed that they are nice compared to Americans, which, how hard is that?  He is able to narrow down the day that Canadians became “nice:” November 16, 1976, the day after the Parti Quebecois was elected.  Why?  Because “Canadians decided…that a party sworn to destroying the nation would be allowed to hold public office.”  An interesting theory.  And, he says that this act of niceness pushed Canada into a position of being too tolerant globally.

The middle of the book summarizes his critiques of Canadians: Hating America, yet wanting its attention;  refusing to acknowledge the abuse it has doled out to the First Nations (because Canadians are nice, so they couldn’t have done that); an over reliance on the British Queen (who is anachronistic to begin with); and of course the Quebec separatists.  This is a pretty brutal part of the book, but it is also the funniest, so it’s got that going for it.

Part Four concerns Canadian myths (like being able to make love in a canoe); the truth about their national symbol, the Beaver (it is not honest and noble); an inordinate pride in the Rocky Mountains (how can you be proud about something that you had nothing to do with); and the mall-ification of Canada (see: Sudbury).

The end of the book brings a hopeful yet impractical tone.  Ferguson is greatly moved by the idealism of a production by The Spirit of a Nation Company. And he essentially realizes that being nice isn’t really that bad (well, he doesn’t say that but you get that sense).

So, overall, this book is a short but dense history of Canada…bright spots and blemishes included.  And really, its point is that Canada has a lot to be proud of, not just being nice.  I am surprised by how much I learned from this “funny” book (of course, I learn more from The Daily Show than TV News).  But I was also surprised by how unfunny it was.  Don’t go into this book expecting laughs (they come in the follow up book: How to Be a Canadian) but you will gain quite a lot of information.  Okay, and a few laughs as well, see I can be nice, too.

Un ami d’un ami m’a fait une suggestion livre récemment; Hitching rides with Buddha. Rien à voir avec le Bouddhisme ou la spiritualité. Pour annoncer le printemps au Japon, une vague de fleur balaie le pays du Sud au Nord. Ça débute à Okinawa et puis ça remonte tranquillement les principales îles qui composent le Japon. Le phénomène qui revient chaque printemps, sans faute, se nomme Sakura Zensen ou « Cherry Blossom Front ». Le soir, aux nouvelles, un rapport est émis sur l’avancement du front et le pourcentage d’éclosion des fleurs est communiqué. Des arbres, qui durant toute l’année ne ressemblent à presque rien, se mettent soudainement à produire une quantité phénoménale de fleurs roses.

Ceci coïncide avec la fin de l’hiver, la fin des classes et la fin de l’année fiscale (business cycle). Paraît-il que c’est un temps complètement fou de l’année : examens, rapports de production, budgets, fermeture des comptes… tout ça au mois de mars. C’est à ce moment de l’année que le pays enregistre le plus de morts par surmenage (karoshi)! Et puis en avril, le Cherry Blossom arrive. Les gens passent au mode plaisir; les cravates volent, le saké coule et les haiku (chansons) sont entendus partout sous les fleurs.

L’auteur, l’humoriste canadien Will Ferguson, alors instituteur d’anglais là-bas, décide de partir à l’aventure et de traverser le pays sur toute sa longueur en faisant du pouce en suivant le rythme du Cherry Blossom. Il commence au Sud du Japon et remonte tranquillement le pays jusqu’à sa destination finale Cape Soya, le point le plus au Nord du pays (son voyage correspond à la distance séparant Montréal et Miami… sur le pouce, faut vouloir!).

C’est raconté avec humour et ça permet d’en apprendre beaucoup sur la culture nippone, sur son histoire et sur tous les contrastes qui caractérisent ses habitants. Chaque fois qu’un automobiliste s’arrête pour embarquer W. Ferguson, le même dialogue revient :

« Qu’est-ce que vous faites? »

« Je traverse le pays en suivant le Sakura Zensen. »

« Sur le pouce?! »

« Oui… le Japon est un pays sécuritaire, non? »

« Oh oui, très sécuritaire. »

« Alors pourquoi ne pas le faire sur le pouce? »

« Parce que le Japon est un pays dangereux… personne n’arrêtera pour vous prendre. »

« Mais vous venez tout juste de me prendre… »

Pour d’autres livres par W. Ferguson, visitez son site web.

I recently made a post asking readers to share their opinion on Canada, within the framework of ‘Being Canadian mean not being American’. So far the responses have been excellent, and I want to thank everyone for the time and effort in making their comments. I recommend checking out the comments, and feel free to leave your own, I’d love to read what you have to say on the topic.

Without meaning to minimize the contributions, I think I can sum-up the entries by saying that the general consensus is that Canadians do define themselves to a large extent as not being American. As fellow Canadian, Paulmct from Bloggin’ Off, points out, much of this attitude stems from the Loyalists moving to the future Canadian territories after the American revolution, to avoid further persecution. This is a fair point, and I’ve written a little about it one of my early posts at Canadian Fermentation called United North America: Part 1.

Somehow, I had forgotten to write a Part 2. Typical.

In Part 1 I talk about the organization, United North America (see link in side bar). Basically this is a fringe organization which seeks to ‘repatriate’ Canada into the American fold. Now, personally, I’m all for dismantling borders while creating a greater sense of community between all peoples of the world, but I can’t support the idea that Canada should return to America, as if Canada is a sub-species of that country.

Daranee from The Implied Observer, a Seattlite, made this comment, “You are right that to a certain extent Canada is defined by what makes it different than America – at least to Americans, because that is what we will notice. I think of Canada as a quirky alternate universe to America”

Americans do see Canada as (thank you Homer Simpson) ‘America Junior’. Personally I don’t take offense to this, our cultures are very similar. Yet, at the same time, this also minimizes Canada’s contribution to the North American culture as it exists. I believe that for a country with a relatively low population that Canada has, we have contributed a great deal to North American culture.

I recently purchased the book, Why I Hate Canadians, by Will Ferguson. Ferguson is the same authour who wrote Canadian History for Dummies. The book is a collection of essays Ferguson wrote when he returned to Canada fafter living in Japan for five years. Although Ferguson has no problems explaining what he doesn’t like about Canada and Canadians, the title is mostly ironic, and Ferguson is a patriot of his country, and, I think, proudly so.

The chapter titled Loyalists and Other Losers discusses the American Revolution and how the aftermath of that war affected Canada. He takes a very scathing look at the Patriots, and makes some interesting points that the Loyalists were just as Loyal to the idea of freedom as the Patriots were, but they didn’t agree with the Patriot concept of freedom.

The Loyalists were the minority, and included minority groups, as well as farmers and craftsmen–basically normal people and not the aristocrats who are commonly associated with Loyalists– who didn’t see a good reason to violently rise up against one oppressor and replace it with another. When the war was over repercussions were severe. The Loyalists had no choice but to look for somewhere else to live. Many of them moved north to the territories that would eventually become Canada.

Canada is the land of second chances. We are people who have avoided conflict as much as possible and although we may be slow to change, we are in constant, resolute movement towards change. Canadians just like to do things in their own time and prefer not to make a big fuss about it. We search for consensus and try to please everyone – which Americans would say is a silly way to run a country, but it has worked, and it has worked well enough for long enough.

What Ferguson’s essay made clear to me is that the folks at United North American are wrong. They promote the theory that Canadians are Americans separated by a border because most of early Canadian settlement was by Loyalists from American territories. I found it hard to argue with this logic.

Now, though, I would argue that Canadians are actually the true inheritors of European settlement while Americans are the mutated offspring of violent revolution. Canada has developed naturally whereas American evolution was forced. Revolutionists are the insolent offspring from the true North Americans, and not the other way around.

For a long time I’ve been sitting on the fence, mulling over their proposition and have come to the conclusion that it is misguided and wrong. If anything, America should come back into the Canadian fold. Canada is the true inheritor of the North American, European legacy. As Ferguson states, “Americans are just Canadians in a hurry”.

Ferguson reasonably sums up major differences between American and Canadian philosophies, “As the heirs of the Loyalists, we are a society not founded on ideology, noble or otherwise, but on principles of fair play and on the notion that whatever the issue and whatever the problem, taking up arms should be the last resort, not the first. These two world views–one ideological and the other pragmatic, one American and the other Canadian–exist today as opposing sides of a border that is as subtle and profound as these distinctions.”

I think this is a fair place to begin as well as end.

“American bombers had spared the castle. They needed it as a reference point for their bombers. Turn right at the castle and you were soon over Osaka’s shipyards. Turn left and you would be over Hiroshima” Hokkaido Highway Blues pg 154

This is one of the most unusual travel books I’ve ever come across, written by a Canadian teacher of English as a second language, who decides to follow the appearance of the cherry blossom by hitchhiking from one end of Japan to the other. I haven’t yet finished, but can’t resist sharing a couple of hilarious excerpts from the book.

‘Another combination that gives me trouble is “human” (ningen) and “carrot” (ninjin) which once caused a lot of puzzled looks during a speech I gave in Tokyo on the merits of internationalization, when I passionately declared that “I am a carrot. You are a carrot. We are all carrots. As long as we always remember our common carrotness, we will be fine.”

On another occasion I scared a little girl by telling her that my favorite nighttime snack was raw humans and dip.’

You can probably imagine the fit of runny-nosed giggles I experienced when reading that on a plane recently. Another snorter is this:

‘Here I was, folding and refolding my maps, trying to figure out my next move, and this nattering gnat of a man was trying to engage me in a dialogue about my income. He spoke what I call Random English, dictated more by the abrupt firing of synapses than by anything approximating a plan.

“Foreigners can’t eat pickled plums,” he said. “And you are very racist. In America, you treat the blacks bad just because they aren’t as intelligent as other people.” (How do you respond to something like that?) “And you killed all of the Indians.”

I sighed. “There are still Indians in North America.”

“No there isn’t. I saw a show on NHK. You killed them all.”

At this point I decided to simply ignore him in the hope he would just shut up and go away. Or burst into flames and run screaming from the building. Either would have been fine.’

The rest of that particular page has me in stitches. Will update this post once I’ve finished this side-splitting appraisal of the life of an outsider in Japan, on the most un-Japanese of journeys to follow the very Japanese cherry blossom as it bursts into flower all over the country.

Bare to hurtige til inspiration:

Gord Hotchkiss skriver i Mediaposts nyhedsbrev Search Insider om at stille spørgsmålet hvorfor – igen og igen. Og derigennem få et svar, som er mere basalt og dermed mere brugbart. Du kan læse nyhedsbrevet her.

Og så vil jeg gerne lige skrive lidt om en en bog jeg længe har haft lyst til at anbefale. Nemlig forfatteren Will Fergusons bog Happiness TM. Hvis du er faldet over ordene “Gone Fishing” i den senere tid vil det give mening efter denne bog. Her udgiver en forlagsmedarbejder en selvhjælpsbog, der rent faktisk virker. Og efter kort tid er hele verden lykkelig. Og det er slet ikke fedt. I Will Fergusons verden altså.

En voyant cette page sur la floraison des cerisiers au Japon et de tous les gadgets qui accompagnent cet événement, j’ai repensé à un très bon récit de voyage (une de mes lectures favorites, entre les romans): Hokkaido highway blues de Will Ferguson. Ce dernier est un enseignant canadien qui travaille au Japon et suite à un pari entre collègues, il décide de suivre la floraison des sakura depuis le cap Sata tout au sud du pays jusqu’au cap Soya au nord. Et pour compliquer la chose, il décide de faire le voyage en faisant de l’auto-stop, ce qui n’est pas vraiment courant au Japon. Suivent donc ses nombreuses aventures, souvent hilarantes.
Si je fais un jour un top 10 des récits de voyage, ce livre aura certainement une place assez élevée dans le classement ! Ce sera pour quand j’aurai une bibliothèque (bientôt, bientôt, j’attends le devis du menuisier) et que je pourrai ranger tous mes livres qui traînent depuis 2 ans en piles par terre.

Més biblioteques a la literatura, en aquest cas la que es descriu al llibre de Will Ferguson, Felicitat, en traducció de Jordi Cussà (Barcelona: Columna, 2002). No és una biblioteca modèlica en cap sentit, ni ho és tampoc la bibliotecària que se n’ocupa; no n’abunden, per sort, però encara n’hi ha alguna (i algun) que s’hi podria veure reflectida.

L’orgull de Paradise Flats era la biblioteca. Construïda durant els dies gloriosos del poble, abans que les mines de sal fessin fallida, la biblioteca —amb la seva cúpula presumida i el sostre de coure verd— era el centre de la comunitat. [...] La biblioteca s’havia convertit en una mena de marca registrada de la ciutadania (p. 338)[...]

La biblioteca, orgullosa, construïda en marès a finals de l’època victoriana, continuava sent l’edifici més impactant del comtat, malgrat que el que una hora havia estat la seva gran plaça hagués quedat reduït a un magre pegat d’herba mig seca al voltant d’una font que feia anys que no havia vist ni una gota d’aigua. [...] Però la construcció encara avui en dia, després de tants anys, resultava esplèndida.

A dins, hi havia pols i obscuritat, i en contrast amb el sol encegador de l’exterior, es notava, si no frescor, almenys una certa absència de calor. La bibliotecària, una dona alta de llavis prims, amb un aire infernal que l’envoltava, estava amagada darrere una pila de llibres vells i van haver de cridar-la.
— Hola? Hi ha algú aquí?
Res de res. Podien veure-la, ajupida, fingint no sentir-los, confiant que tornarien a marxar.
— Disculpi que la molestem però voldríem saber…
— La biblioteca està tancada —va intervenir la dona.
— El cartell de fora deia «obert».
— Sempre diu el mateix —va etzibar ella—. Però no té cap importància perquè està tancada de totes maneres. Només obrim al matí; ho sap tothom. (p. 345-346)

[...]

— No, estem buscant aquest home i hem pensat que potser vostè ens podria ajudar. M’imagino que deu venir molt sovint a la biblioteca.
— Ah, sí, i tant —va respondre ella, amb la veu espessa de desaprovació—. Gairebé cada dia. Agafa un llibre i després un altre, desordenant-m’ho tot, i va passejant per sota els sol tots els llibres haguts i per haver empenyent-los fins a casa seva amb aquell tronat carret d’anar a comprar que té [...]. Ha tornat una pilade llibres, tots passats de termini, amb aquells horribles gargots que sol fer als marges. L’he avisat més d’una vegada que no guixi els meus llibres però es limita a respondre «Per què? Ningú més no els llegeix, en aquest coi de poble». (p. 347)

[...]

El senyor Ètica va mirar els munts de llibres, els prestatges disposats en tres pisos i les escales amb rodes velles, rovellades i encallades. L’olor de ranci i de florit penetrava l’aire. L’edifici sencer es notava carregat de paraules i amb la profunditat de les idees. No era tant una biblioteca com un dipòsit d’obres perdudes.
— No hem afegit res nou des dels anys vint —va remarcar la biblotecària amb una quantitat indeterminada d’orgull mal entès—. La majoria d’aquests llibres vénen de la compra inicial de la ciutat el 1894, en ple apogeu. Han vingut estudiosos de la universitat de Phoenix per fer el catàleg de la nostra col·lecció. [...] Són massa valuosos per llegir-los, saben? Molts són edicions originals. Alguns valen milers de dòlars. Milers de dòlars, ara comptin. (p. 347-348)

[...]

— Digui’m —va preguntar-li Edwin quan ja es giraven per marxar—, vostè ha sentit parlar mai d’un llibre titulat El que vaig aprendre a la muntanya.
— Jo no llegeixo mai —va respondre ella amb convicció—. Llegir és per a gent intel·lectualment ociosa. (p. 350)