A Kathryn-A-Day Retrospective

 At the end of the year I did a quick name search in our photos and found that I have nearly 365 photos of Kathryn from the past year and thought I'd share a few from earlier trips that didn't get proper coverage at the time. Since we're still covering it at the moment, none of them are from the galapagos either.

This picture is from the beach Sechelt on the sunshine coast of BC with a weird purple seastar we found at low tide. That was part of a very nice trip with my parents along the coast to the north west of Vancouver.

 The old wall of Quebec City is studded with cannons and mortars as castle walls so often are, and since their days of potential violence are over, its great to see them put to use for recreation and fun. Below, Kathryn is relaxing and giving a quick shout out to Doctor Strangelove.

 While it is true that I love getting pictures of her patting statues noses, it is equally true that she's great fun to photograph wearing any sort of over-sized hat. The Ottawa War museum had a number of displays where you could try on different hats and helmets from the previous generations of our soldiers, and this pith helmet helped cast a bit of light on a very powerful but grim museum.

Looking through all my photos to pick this handful has shown me how tricky it is to pick my favorites and that I'll have another busy year ahead of me getting even better ones of her in 2012.

Walruses

 We enjoy aquariums wherever we go and Quebec City happens to have one that boasts walruses, a creature neither of us had seen and both of us really wanted to. There are two subspecies: the Atlantic and Pacific. Though both breeds were on display there, I would honestly be hard-pressed to tell them apart.

 Not only were they visible in their tank, but there was a pretty fun walrus show to be seen as well. Since walruses are largely blobs with flippers, their trainers communicate encouragement and praise to them through high fives, which I found delightful. Aside from just being neat to see out of the water, the show had them rolling on their backs and sides and blowing kisses which let us see a pretty full range of motion.

 As any Jurassic Park fan knows, the T-Rex in the film was part walrus call and the show featured a selection of walrus vocalizations including that trademark roar.

As keen-eyed readers may have noticed, these walruses lack tusks. Since they are mostly used to forage in the mud and haul out on ice, neither of which are done in aquariums, their tusks had been removed a few years ago to prevent injuries between the animals and reduce damage to their enclosure. They also all had red eyes as the chlorine in the water irritates them and people have yet to find a balance between comfort and cleanliness in their tanks.

Quebec City Walls

 Canada lacks castles in general. This is a fact we can all agree on. However, Quebec City does do a very fine job indeed of creating the feel of Europe with its stone wall around the Oldtown. While not truly a castle, it is still studded with towers and covered in cannons so I think it should be given a pass all the same.

 Believe it or not, there was a debate in the 50s about removing the wall, but luckily that idea fell to the wayside and since the 70s there has been a resurgence of pride in its maintenance. This section of the wall close to the parliament buildings was particularly striking in its evening lighting display.

 Given that the entirety of the Quebec City Oldtown is a UNESCO Heritage Site and that the few buildings that aren't historically fascinating are also jam-packed with delicious creperies, I more got the feeling that the wall was holding in the greatness and culture of the old city rather than its earlier purposes of keeping out the brits or the yanks.

Truly an incredible place to visit and highly recommended to one and all.

East Coast Whales

 Rounding out our little Whale Week here, we quickly pop back to the Saint Lawrence for a few quick pictures of the whales we saw on the East Coast this summer. Starting off with biggest of the lot, Fin Whales are the second largest animals in the world (just shy of the Blue Whale which we were too early to see). They aren't as flashy as orcas or as acrobatic as humpbacks, but they are enormous and breathtaking to see in real life. The little picture below really doesn't do them justice.

 Measuring in at a smaller 7m compared to the 20m of the Fin, the Minke Whale is another baleen whale common to the Saint Lawrence. They were often found in company of the Fins, and on our first morning out there was a sizeable mixed pod of both species feeding on plankton and small fish. Though they look similar in photos without context for scale, the Minke tends to hunch its back up more as seen below, compared to the submarine-style breaths of the fin.

 The most troublesome and elusive of the Tadoussac whales was certainly the Beluga. While we did see them on both of our outings, they were very shy and hard to predict. Though Kathryn got a few shakey video clips of them, I was totally unable to get anything useable. We've have constant access to them at the aquarium anyways, so of the three it was most acceptable to miss out on them, but it would have been nice to have a closer encouter given some stories I have heard of them in the region.

All in all, the whales of the east were just not as showy as the displays we had on the West Coast and we were certainly spoiled more by the kindness of our friends in Telegraph Cove than the more brusque guides we had in the Tadoussac area.

Hybride

 For anyone that has never visited a vfx facility, they are typically identical to any other tedious desk-based workplace. Most of them are unremarkable buildings in semi-industrial areas with nondescript interiors and rows of computers in dark windowless rooms. Hybride in Piedmont kicked things off a little differently by being in a giant house. Since the town itself only has a few thousand inhabitants, the downtown and industrial areas are different from what you'd get in a bigger city, so they've grown in a single building, expanding as they needed.

 As a result of expansions over time, the interior was pretty neat too, with a veritable labyrinth of stairways and walkways running around a few large open atriums. In typical vfx house style the walls are covered with movie posters from past projects, the ratio of quality shows to shameful shows at most places seems to be around 1:3.

 And whats this? A dull windowless room full of computers? Well 2 out of 3 isn't bad I guess... While the rest of the facility from the kitchen to the grounds felt a little different from most other companies, at the end of the day it was nearly the same work environment as anywhere else.

Schwartz's Deli

While we were passing through Montreal, we made a point of taking a quick jaunt to Schwartz's Deli for a smoked meat sandwich. Schwartz's is a Montreal institution with a constant lineup for dine in and take away, a wall of celebrity photos and a poster from the Schwartz's Musical they apparently made a few years back.
Once you're inside you are typically seated wherever there's room, with different groups of people often sharing the same table since every chair is a precious commodity there. We lucked out and were able to sit at the counter to watch the food being prepared and to have a bit more room to ourselves.
Montreal smoked meat is certainly tasty and the pickles they have alongside were nearly large enough to keep Kathryn happy. I find it a bit more rare than I typically go for, but as a once every decade or so treat it is pretty great stuff.

Quebec Archaeology

Quebec had a few neat archaeological surprises for us. First off there was a display in Montreal which alternated between Indiana Jones props and actual artifacts, juxtaposing the films against the real science. We couldn't take pictures inside because of copyright and nonsense like that, but suffice to say that movie props only look good on film and look a bit chitzy in real life, while artifacts still look impressive under closer scrutiny. Luckily enough this display was only in Montreal for a few months and that was its only North American stop before going to Europe and Japan, so we really timed it well given that it opened the week before we arrived.
On the more traditional approach, the Archeo Topo near Tadoussac was a very nice and modern museum with a collection of first nations and early settlement artifacts along with a large selection of taxidermied animals. As we were there in the middle of the week and had the courtesy to bring our own archaeologist, the fellow running the place was very helpful and let Kathryn poke through some of the cabinets. The displays themselves were quite good and he was eager to provide us with booklets of English translations.
We also had a poke around the area itself as the chap in the Archeo Topo had mentioned a few spots nearby that he had found stone tools. The mosquitoes were quite bad and I'm not much help from telling stone tools from stones, so we didn't turn up anything in our quick search, but it was a fun attempt all the same.

White Water Rafting

During our stay in Piedmont, my friend Anne organized a white water rafting trip with a bunch of people from work and ourselves. Anne, Yves, Kathryn and myself should all be recognizable to you after the intro to everyone, and the two fellows sitting behind Kathryn and I were Paul (left) and Ben (right) who are also Winnipeggers by origin who also happened to be out where the work was. The other people in the boat were a pair of sisters we had never met before and our guide who was very nice and got us all through intact.
The rapids we went over were Class 3 and 4 out of a potential 6 classes, so they were choppy without being dangerous. At one point we hit one funny and everyone on the left side of the boat went over the edge while everyone on the right was tossed across into their recently vacated seats. Even hurtling into churning waters unexpectedly, Kathryn is having the time of her life. The rafting company is very prepared with people throwing lines to anyone that falls in and rounding up gear so theres no danger in a tumble.
You likely all noticed that those pictures were clearly taken from shore by a photographer as both of us are in them, but I did also have my pocket waterproof camera with me just for fun and got a few pictures of people in the water at the end of things along with a little video.
The water was actually quite nice and warm once you were in it, but it was a slightly overcast and chilly day, so we were certainly glad we took Annes advice and rented half wetsuits from the company. So to anyone out there thinking of giving this nonsense a shot I would strongly recommend doing the same to stay a little warmer and enjoy yourself more .

Eastern Buddies

We had time to visit a great group of people out east this summer. Anne and Yves were co-workers of mine in Winnipeg back in the Frantic Films days and they lived just up the highway from us in Piedmont. It was Anne that hooked me up with my gig out there and it was great fun seeing them both. They also have awesome cats. Swarms of awesome cats.
Natasha and Jason were kind enough to put a roof over our head in Ottawa. Jason is another ex-Frantic employee and he's been doing quite well at a game/database design company out there. They were real troopers about showing us around town and helping us get oriented for all our museum/landmark/transit needs, going above and beyond the call for putting up with people on Canada Day.
Carrie and Eugene are living in Montreal now but were also down for Canada Day with us. Eugene continued the theme of ex-Frantic employees on the trip and he's now cranking out excellent 3d models for Ubisoft.
Alex, Beatrice and Susan broke the ex-Frantic Films connection for the trip. Alex is an old friend who once ran the gaming group that Kathryn and I originally met through so he's certainly a big part of our history. Having a baby, we didn't get as much of his and Susan's time as some of our other friends, but we fit in time for a really nice visit and breakfast.All in all it was awesome to catch up with old friends and see them all doing so well in their own walks of life out east.

The Royal War Goat

Quick Quiz: Which country in the world has a Royal War Goat that lives in a castle?
Before heading out to Quebec City I would have likely said Bulgaria or Kazakhstan or some weird far flung country other than my own. I would have been grievously wrong.
The Citadel in Quebec City has an elaborate changing of the guard ceremony every day in the summer involving dozens of highly trained military men marching up and down the square to a brass band. And a goat. The goats name is Batisse and it is apparently the offspring of the original royal goat given to the 22nd Regiment as a mascot by the Queen. Because when you have everything in the world you go a bit weird and start handing out ungulates to the territories.
The changing of the guard ceremony itself is pretty full-on with lots of marching and checking weapons. The guard group that has been defending the citadel is inspected and then the group replacing them are examined equally thoroughly. All under the scrutiny of the goat.

Piedmont/Saint Sauveur

The majority of our trip out east was spent in the two neighboring towns of Piedmont and Saint Sauveur which flow together closely enough that you can walk between them. Of the two, Saint Sauveur is larger with an off-season population of 10000 or so while Piedmont has around 2000 year round inhabitants. Below is a picture of the restaurant district of Saint Sauveur.
The Catholic church had a strong influence in Quebec for a long time and though its popularity is waining these days it still has a large presence and nearly every tiny town boasts an enormous church of some sort. The picture below shows the main church of Saint Sauveur which you can see poking out of the top of the picture above as well.
Rounding out this entry, this is the little condo that the company put us up in. Our room was at the very right end in the middle and the lower left of the picture shows our blue rental car. This was house and home to us for a month or so and made for a very nice getaway spot.
We were there in the off season as these condos are typically rented out for skiers in the winter so we didn't find occassion to use the fireplace inside.

Busy Spring

As anyone who has tried to check this blog in the last 5 weeks or so has been well aware, Kathryn and I have had a very busy spring with very few updates. The day after I finished OT work on my last Vancouver film project, my parents arrived in town and we all went up to the Sunshine Coast of BC which is accessibly only by ferry. We had a very pleasant week up there relaxing by the sea and taking walks in the forest.
A few days later we flew to Saint Sauveur which is a small town in the Laurentians where I had a short term work contract. While the money was a bonus, the real reason to take the job was to have a chance to explore Quebec and catch up with some friends. We lived in the countryside for about a month with the occassional day trip to Montreal and then spent a week going up the coast to Quebec City and Tadoussac afterwards.
Finally, since Canada Day is one of our favorite holidays and we have wanted to spend it in Ottawa for some time, we tacked on a quick visit out there to see some friends and take in the festivities. The royal newlyweds were in town as well which didn't really interest us, but certainly ratcheted up the crowds and craziness to make for a very memorable trip.
There will be lots more pictures and rambling about all three of these destinations in the coming months, but this at least offers a quick explanation for our overlong absence and gives you all an idea of what we have to share in the coming weeks.