livin' in america ... unh!

Canton, NY, USA | 3,289 miles

well folks, yesterday afternoon we finally bid adieu to the land of the maple leaf
and crossed the saint laurence river, into new york state, and the u.s. of a! it has been a long, hilly, and very wet past 2 weeks, and i must say i am very pleased to be back in my native land, and less than a week from the end of our journey. that being said, there are a few certain sweet indulgences and simple canadian pleasures that i will miss. consider this then, in no particular order, my own biased little tribute to the province of ontario, and nation-state of canada.


everybody deserves music

i originally intended to make an extensive post regarding this earlier, but didn't get to it. somewhere in north dakota, we acquired what is sometimes known as a 'ghetto blaster', that is to say a large 1980s-early 90s radio cassette deck. i bought it a pawn shop selling mainly rifles and farming equipment, run by old libertarian guy with a perfectly preserved 'perot in '92' campaign sign hanging behind the counter. it seems in this case 'redneck blaster' makes a lot more sense.

anyhow, this setup has provided countless hours of glorious and joyful fm enjoyment, and, aside from unmercifully destroying our best tapes (tracy chapman, and heartbreakingly, "USA Party Mix - Canadian Edition") has made many miles drift past. through north dakota, minnesota, the fm dials were dominated by in order: country, classic rock, and 'faith-based' jams. canada, however, has offered a more diverse selection. in addition to the mellow, non-threatening (and largely non-interesting) npr-wannabe CBC radio, there were the usual classic rock stations with animal mascots (aka "the fox/cougar/bear/beaver!"); the odd college/independent stations; and a glorious selection of quebecois french-language programming.

some of the highlights include an interview with the u.s. ambassador to canada
(who had a strong southern accent) on CBC, during which the host quizzed him important knowledge such as 'what is poutine?', following which they played James Brown's "Living in America" and invited people to call in if they knew which "Rocky" film the song was from...

-------> Part II coming soon!