Greetings from Ottawa. I’m here for the folk festival with Lis, and now the first day is ending. Once we got here, it was very fun. Getting here was rather unfun, although it didn’t start out that way.
We left Chicago about 8:30 or 9 on Thursday morning. We figured we’d arrive around 10 PM local time, the drive being about 12 hours. To make a long story short, we arrived at 3:00 AM local time, five hours late. Some of that time was consumed by stopping in Toronto for food. We drove into the west end of town and looked for someplace that would take credit cards (alas, the falafel place that looked so good was cash-only, and we didn’t have any Canadian money), was actually open, and somewhat affordable. We ended up eating at an English pub, which was fine. They had some kind of scotch there made at a distillery that just burned down, and Lis was really excited because they were only charging $6.25 Cdn for a shot, which for something that won’t exist for ten years at least (that’s how long the stuff has to age I guess, once they’re rebuilt the distillery) is cheap.
Anyway, after we ate, and were driving out of town, I rolled my window down a couple inches. Within seconds, I noticed the window continuing to slide down. Lis was playing a trick on me, I thought, so I looked over at her. No, she was just driving, not fiddling with the control. Hm. Again, long story short, the window was broken, and broken in the completely down position. When you’re in Canada a long way from home on a super-humid night with about 280 kilometers to drive before you reach your hotel, that’s really bad. It would be bad enough even if it’s doesn’t start to thunderstorm. Ugh. After driving around trying to find an open service station, a police officer, anything helpful, we settled on shutting a sheet in the door to keep the wind out, and off we went.
Within an hour, the rain started. Fortunately it was light, so the window part wasn’t a big problem. Driving a long distance at night in the rain, though, just sucks. So we got to our hotel, finally, at 3. We arranged for a late checkout (1 PM), and slept like the dead until just before then.
The festival has been really nice so far. We’re being treated very well even though we’re small potatoes compared to the headliners like Arlo Guthrie, Spearhead, Judy Collins, and others. We’re playing on the main stage right before Arlo. Maybe if I see him I can ask him how he feels about the Jibjab results. (The “This Land Is Your Land” flash thing — turns out the song has been in the public domain for about 12 years now, so it’s totally fine — I’d give you a URL to reference that, but the internet access here is pay-for, kind of slow, and I only have an hour).
Our performer passes give us pretty much full access to everything here, so we got to hang out on the side of the stage during Spearhead’s headlining performance this evening, which was cool. They’re a good band, very socially-conscious of course, with great energy and stage presence, and the folk-festival-appropriate message of peace and love. Michael Franti talked about travelling to Baghdad and talking to US soldiers there, and made a crack about how he looked for Canadian soldiers, but couldn’t seem to find them anywhere, to big applause from nearly entirely Canadian audience.
I’m looking forward to seeing what the rest of the festival will be like, what our workshops and five minutes of main stage time will be like. I haven’t done anything like this since the Concord Jazz Festival back in California, which was fun, but a bit weird at times. At least here they already know about us, are expecting us to play, and are generally prepared for it.
My friends Stephanie and Morgan may, right now, have a newborn baby. They were supposed to induce labor today, a few days earlier than her due date. I’m very curious, but a little afraid to call. It seems weird and impolite to call and say “Well?!” I’ll be patient, and wish them well.
Note to family members who want to call inhabitants of Guam. MCI charges domestic rates for calls to Guam, unlike the card I normally use, so you can pay something like 3 cents per minute. That’s what I did buying a card at Costco, but I believe MinutePass is an MCI subsidiary, and their cards are the same as mine, except you don’t have to be a buyer’s club member.