The house concert experience or why I love the Internet

Okay, I'll admit, the title is a bit of a stretch, but being the good, old friends that we are, I hope you will bear with me as I recount my recent initiation with the house concert experience and coincidentally relate a little folderol in the cannon of my come-on-the-Internet-isn't-that-bad arguments.  I promise by the time this post wraps up, all the dots will have been connected...in a round about way at least, and isn't that just the way we like it?  But, I get ahead of myself.

To start, or rather, jump back, to the beginning, I went to my first house concert about a month ago and it was every bit as unforgettable as the initiated (myself, now included) claim. In case you're not familiar with the house concert experience,  I'll clarify before we go any further that the moniker is pretty much self explanatory - house concerts are musical performances that take place in someone's home.  On the bill that night was an Australian musician named David Ross Macdonald. You should check out his music if you get the chance (*well meaning and earnest promotional plug: you can download a free EP if you sign up for his mailing list on his website*), I know you're going to like it.  The concert took place in a lovely, old home in the Fernwood area of Victoria, which is the city's equivalent to our favourite bario, Wortley Village.

Now, where to start with the stellar details? Oh yes, they have yet to begin! You, being every bit the music lover that I am, can well imagine the joy of listening to music well played in an intimate setting. It's slightly akin to those times you and I would sit in your apartment passing your guitar back and forth while warbling to each other's musical stylings, only with music of a much higher calibre (at least where my input was concerned as you are, of course, a fantastic musician). Yes, it's like listening to a friend tell stories and give an amazing musical performance, except you've most likely never met the musician before and, as with my experience, may also be newly acquainted with the homeowner. But still and all, the illusion of familiarity is pretty darn convincing. I was hooked, and you know how hard it is for me to get carried away where music is concerned.

And this is where my little tarradiddle, as the case may prove to be, comes back around to my original suggestion. Being a newcomer to this city, there's no way I would have been drawn into an event like this had it not been for the Internet.  On a semi-related note,  I stumbled across an interesting article, The punter is the star on these nights out, in the Independant about  'immersion experiences'.  It would appear, at least from my back-water point of view, that the popularity of the grassroots participatory experience is on the rise.  I suppose we could extrapolate as to how these things might be advertised without the use of the Internet - printing press perhaps? 

If you'd like to learn more about house concerts by the way, I came across a great resource on a site produced by a musician named Bob Bossin. Though I've learned that the related logistics - ticket prices, split of the proceeds, concession arrangements, etc. - can vary based on the artist's agreement with the homeowner, the basic idea is that arrangements are kept pretty simple and most or all of the proceeds raised go to the musician, just as it should be.

Gobsmacked, I tell you!

The fantastic John Mann (Spirit of the West) 

house concert I attended just this past weekend.

The Other UVic LipDub Project

UVic lipdub, choreography practice
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

In the eight plus years I've worked in higher ed I've come across a fair number of instances where I've been pleasantly taken aback at the lengths students will go to in the name of school spirit.  I'm not talking about the gewgaw of costumed athletics fans cheering in the stands at football games and the donning of extreme hair styles during orientation week, I'm referring to the undertaking of projects of such momentous and lofty scope as to make me wonder how the students involved a) didn't consider the improbability of success; b) came up with the idea in the first place; c) managed to find time to do their homework; and d) all of the above (sorry about that, I couldn't resist).

If such displays of school spirit are any indication of how much the students involved love the institution they attend, then going by what took place on filming day for the UVic lipdub project this past weekend, it's fair to say that I haven't come across any students who love their university as much as the students at UVic - and I'm not just saying that because I work there and I'm supposed to say stuff like that.  Come on, you know me...

The lipdub phenomenon and 'the other UVic'

The libdub phenomenon has been glee-ly weaving it's way around the Internet for a number of years.  The 'official' lipdub site reports that the first lipdub production was filmed at Hochschule Furtwangen University in Germany and lists charming slightly-lost-in-translation advice on how to produce your own lipdub video. A good number of higher ed institutions around the world have answered the site's call to 'Join it!' by developing and broadcasting lipdub videos to varying degrees of success.  In Canada, perhaps the most successful example is the L'Université du Québec à Montréal's 'I gotta feeling' video' that has currently received almost 7 million hits on YouTube.

In May of 2010, a lipdub video was produced by UVic, not the University of Victoria, in Victoria British Columbia, but the less-abbreviated Universitat de Vic in Spain. Reports on the web suggested the video had most people (including Perez Hilton, I kid you not) believing it had been produced at the Canadian UVic. Being the socially sensitive, humble, west coast institution it is, the general response at the University of Victoria was to an extent, one of slight moral confusion. The Spanish version received fairly positive accolades world wide - and rightly so - but while I think it's fair to say many members of the University of Victoria community appreciated the unintentional praise received by way of the success of the other UVic, the truth of the matter was, the video fell short of accurately reflecting the true spirit of the community and environment to be found at Canada's UVic. In short, some felt that our own UVic could do better.

The University of Victoria (UVic) lipdub project

The following exert is taken from the UVic lipdub news release posted on the official UVic lipdub website.  Visit the website to view information on the amazing accomplishments of the group of UVic students who organized the project.

When Shawn Slavin, a University of Victoria undergrad, saw UVIC Spain’s video, he decided that his UVic (“the real UVic”) should and could do bigger and better. Slavin’s project is shooting for a Guinness record by hopefully inspiring over 3,000 members of the community to sing, dance, and perform on UVic’s campus on Saturday, September 25. Slavin says, “I also hope this project unites the university community in a way I’ve never seen before. This is an opportunity to make a name for both UVic and the city of Victoria.” Read more.

It's 9 am on a Saturday, I'm tired, my head hurts and I'm learning choreography to a Michael Buble song.

Thus it came to be that I woke up at 6am on Saturday, September 25, 2010 to head down to campus for filming day, participating simply as an extra in the big dance number to be featured at the end of the video. As weekends usually go for me, it didn't start out as one of the best of morning experiences.  I posted the above status update to Facebook soon after I reported for registration to my assigned classroom.

Gladly, I soon realized that no attention to detail had been spared, including the provision of coffee and breakfast and the understanding that most participants would require additional instruction if they were to master the choreography developed for the video (I meant to practice more, honest I did). By the time our group, last name ending with the letter P, made our way over to the UVic fountain at 9am for the shooting to begin excitement was high and all seemed clear that we were going to go for it...big time!

Filming of the big finale wrapped up around noon and with it, my brief participation in the UVic lipdub project came to an end. I headed home with a new appreciation of the talent and earnest dedication to be found in UVic's student population. The experience was by far the most overt demonstration of school spirit I have ever witnessed, manifested in the core group of students who pulled it all together and the 900 or so UVic community members who followed their lead. Congrats to Shawn Slavin and team, and thank you for an amazing experience.

Can't wait to see the video! It's going to be awesome (way better than that other UVic lipdub)!

My UVic Lipdub Flickr Photoset

I love your music, but do I really care about your new t-shirt?: A letter from a fan to a musican I follow on Twitter

I recently had the opportunity to meet a musician I'm now following on Twitter.  I'm fascinated by the impact the Internet is having on the music industry and was very interested in hearing about the grassroots marketing techniques musicians are using these days. Our conversations made me think about how  I use the web as a music listener/purchaser, what I like and what I don't like and how I behave online.  With the purpose of it maybe being helpful I wrote a little piece about it.

How I use the Internet as a music listener/purchaser

Here’s a rundown of the music sites I use, why I use them and what I like about them. Though I know there’s a lot of additional sites and services out there, and I’ve tried out more than the ones I’ve listed, these are the ones I’ve continued to use.

twitter.com

Generally I don’t actively seek out musicians to follow on Twitter. The musicians I follow are mainly ones who have contacted or followed me first. If I see a new band or musician is following me on Twitter I’ll check out their feed and if their feed looks interesting I might check out their music on last.fm or myspace.  I like feeds that include reflections on tours (thoughts on countries visited and venues played in), info on upcoming projects, and some creative writing is nice. If I like the music, I’ll follow the musician, and I have followed up on tweets I’ve received to download music and purchase merchandise. That said, I think there’s a little luck involved with Twitter. It’s kind of touch and go as to whether I’ll actually see everything (or even anything) a band or musican posts. I heard a good tip when I attended SXSWi this year, which was to tweet important items multiple times (the specific suggestion was three times). The second and third tweets are to catch any followers who may have missed the message the first time around. 

myspace.com

I’m going to guess I’m not your typical MySpace user.  For one thing, I don’t participate in the myspace community.  I only use it to access music by musicians I’ve never heard of before, and last.fm is kind of taking over in this category. I most often use it to check out new bands, especially local bands, who are opening at concerts I’m going to.

last.fm

Again, I’m not a typical last.fm user as I don’t actively participate in the community, but I use last.fm a lot to check out new bands I’ve never heard of before and, to a small extent to check into bands I notice other last.fm users suggest.

facebook.com/iLike

I first hear about a fair number of concerts that I attend through iLike on Facebook.

facbook.com fan pages

I come across the majority of info I hear about about upcoming concerts, new releases, merchandise and special offers through Facebook’s fan pages. Most of the music and merchandise purchases I’ve made have started with a Facebook post. Of course, I don’t think I’d be too keen if all the info a band posted on FB had to do with ways I can spend money.  I like reading about projects, reflections on current events, checking out photos of concerts, and news items.

blip.fm

I use blip.fm a lot to learn about new music from other users who like the same bands I do. It’s where I get the majority of tips on new bands to check out - in fact, I’d estimate at least 75% of the new bands I heard about this year were suggested to me by blip.fm DJs.

CBC Radio 3  (radio3.cbc.ca)

I love the CBC Radio 3 site. If the other music sites I participated in offered a Canadian only area, that would probably suffice, but as it is, Radio 3 is the only source I’ve come across that provides in-depth info on what’s new and happening in the Canadian music scene.  As the majority of concerts I attend are in Canada, that’s important to me.

Band sites I use regularly

I can see how it’s necessary to have a site to provide resources for media and a store, but to be honest, there aren’t a lot of band sites out there that I’ve found have warranted more than a very occasional visit (once or twice a year).  All the information about concerts, new releases and special offers I’ve ever followed up on have come from the sites and services listed above.  That’s not to say I don’t think it’s important to post this information on a site, I just think there’s more exposure to be had from posting this information elsewhere.  There are two exceptions, I will frequently return to the two sites listed below.  Great Lake Swimmers because they update their site frequently (very frequently) with news and announcements (more than a monthly basis) and Billy Bragg because he’s an amazing man-of-the-people and I’m fascinated by what he’s doing with social media (heavy on the ‘social’ aspect’, with ‘media’ only an aside).

greatlakeswimmers.com
billybragg.co.uk

All the way east: Wot we does in Trinity, Newfoundland, Part 2

Buildings in Trinity, Newfoundland
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Coffee at the Mercantile

If you’re craving a coffee and some conversation Ian’s is the place to go. I would hazard that, on any given day, it’s safe to say every person in Trinity - locals, townies and people who ‘come from away’ alike - will stop by Ian’s at some point during the day. If the beverages, baked goods, sandwiches or cool coffee-culture inspired souvenirs aren’t enough to tempt you, the town’s only public access to the internet may seal the deal (I’ve also been told the library provides internet access, but with four visits to Trinity under my belt I have yet to see the library open).

Rising Tide Theatre

I like to take in at least one production put on by Rising Tide Theatre every time we visit Newfoundland. The company focuses on plays that are distinctly east coast and often by and about characters and people who have lived or are living in the area. It’s a great way to immerse yourself in the local history, culture and dialect. Some of the productions are held outdoors, including the company’s staple the, ‘Town Pageant’ that explains the history of Trinity (my guess is it won’t be your cup of tea, but there are plenty other offerings, and I think at least one or two that might perk your interest). There is a dinner theatre production offered each Saturday evening during the theatre season - also probably not your cup of tea (I’m guessing there won’t be much in the way of vegetarian options for diners, it being all about the seafood here), but I thought I’d mention it anyway.


Photo trekking around town

Trinity is arguably the most photogenic of the collection of small villages dotting the shores of Newfoundland’s Bonavista Peninsula. Just about every typical east coast image you can imagine can be found here in beautifully restored technicolor glory - with of course, a few weather worn examples preserved for the sake of authenticity. Brightly coloured clap-board homes, root-cellar doors peering out from grassy fields, freshly painted wooden fishing boats lined up in the harbour, an old lighthouse and fort on the other side of the bay, lines of crisp, clean laundry flapping in the wind. Get the picture? ;) It’s a photographer’s paradise I tell you! Oh, excuse me - it’s a photographer’s paradise, dat’s wot I says!


Jigging for cod

This summer we got to go cod jigging with 82 year old Boyd in the boat he built. It was made of wood and Boyd used a traditional hand line (I cheated a little and used a rod). We caught 10 cod between us which will be dried and salted to be consumed in the winter. How cool is that?

View my Newfoundland, Canada photo set on Flickr

All the way east: Wot we does in Trinity, Newfoundland, Part 1

Buildings in Trinity, Newfoundland
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Hiking up Gun Hill

For ‘people from away’ who are used to a regular exercise routine, the closest thing to a local gym in Trinity is a hike up Gun Hill. It’s a great way to work off all that hearty, though perhaps not ‘heart smart’, Newfoundland fare, pork scrunchions, fish and chips, fish and brewis, steamed pudding with brown sauce, and the town looks lovely from the summit. There are many interesting reminders of the town’s history to be discovered along the way. Not the least of which being the ‘guns’ - abandoned cannons left on the hillside after the war of 1812. Yes, I said the war of 1812. One of the town’s oldest cemeteries is located about half-way to the summit. Our friend, Eric’s, great-great-great-great-great grandfather - a Norwegian sailor who jumped ship off the shore of Trinity in the 1700’s, swam to shore and decided to stay - is buried there.

Beach combing

On a good day, within a few moment’s beach combing on any one of the town’s many beaches one can find a handful of clay pipe stems , pieces of pottery (one piece I found was date-stamped 1849!), black beach glass that I’ve been told is from seltzer bottles, mixed among more common beach finds like sun-bleached urchin shells and anemones.

Sea of Whales whale watching tour

Chris Prince owns and operates the Sea of Whales whale watching tour company based in Trinity, and his tours are fabulous. Why are they fabulous? Well, first off his boat rocks - it’s the most awesome zodiac I’ve ever seen. Secondly, along with the many species of whales, dolphins, puffins and eagles that can be viewed along the shores of Trinity Bay are some pretty impressive sea caves and waterfalls AND, if you go in the spring and early summer, you can view icebergs that have floated into the bay from the Arctic. Chris will even take you close enough to the icebergs to pick ‘popsicles’ out of the water so you can suck on the most pristine water on the planet. When there are icebergs to be seen, if you ask nicely, Chris will take you out in the early morning or at sunset when they glow an unreal turquoise blue in the slanted sunlight. Thirdly, Chris is super friendly and his wife packs great snacks and meals for Chris to share with his fellow sailors. The chicken salad sandwiches are particularly tasty and there are even vegetarian options.

Blueberry picking

I wouldn’t really say I’m a fan of blueberry picking, but I am a huge fan of Newfoundland steamed blueberry pudding. Here’s a recipe:

Blueberry pudding

Cream together three tablespoons of sugar and three tablespoons of butter. Add on beaten egg. Add one and a half cups of flour, a dash of salt and two teaspoons of baking powder. Mix with one half cup of milk. Fold in blueberries. Place in steamer and boil for one and half hours. Serve with brown sugar sauce. (Recipe courtesy of Trinity resident, Rosalind Cooleridge taken from her self-published memoir, ‘Sufficiently Blessed’.)


Lunch or dinner at the Dock Marina

The best place to eat in town is, in fact, one of the only places to eat in town - did I mention that Trinity has a year round population of 28? Don’t let the lack of competition fool you, the quality of the food here would make it a standout in a place a hundred thousand times larger (which would put it in the range of a medium-large size Canadian city). Try the fishcakes, made fresh every morning or Trinity Bay scallops, or the fish and chips…in fact, anything on the menu is pretty delicious.

Drinks at Rocky’s

All parties in town wind up at Rocky’s, as did a wedding reception we attended last year. When I remarked at one o’clock in the morning - after the reception had gone on for an epic ten hours - that I was glad last call was coming up as I was about ready to call it a night, one of the locals laughed hysterically. “You guys are so cute (and by ‘guys’, she was grouping me into the category of ‘people from away)! You think last call is at two? Last call is when everyone goes home!” The proprietor, Rocky, is everyone’s friend and has a dandy mustache. ‘Quite the crowd’ at Rocky’s can mean the place is packed to capacity or there are five people hanging out around the bar, it really doesn’t matter. Get the picture?

View my Newfoundland, Canada photo set on Flickr

All the way east: Trinity, Newfoundland

Buildings in Trinity, Newfoundland
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

I arrived in Newfoundland via the red-eye from Victoria yesterday afternoon. You know, I’m a big fan of traveling at night. Overnight flights, train rides, bus trips, even driving through the night. I find night travel quiet and dreamy in all the best ways.

I’ve been looking forward to this trip for weeks, even months, even perhaps fourteen months, starting when we left at the end of our last visit. Trinity is one of those places you miss as soon as you leave, you look forward to returning and then within a few seconds of being back, it’s like you never left. It’s like everything you did in between when you last left and the moment you return suddenly ceased to exist.

We woke up this morning and ate breakfast and left the house with a loose plan to go to stop by the Mercantile to meet up with Baasje’s mother and have coffee, then maybe go for a hike up Gun Hill. Our plans soon changed unexpectedly when we happened to walk by Boyd and Rosalind’s at Pie Corner in time to see Boyd and Tony starting to pull away from the dock in the little wooden fishing boat that 82 year old Boyd built last year.

Drying cod in by the bay in Trinity Newfoundland

A few minutes later, we were in the boat with Boyd and Tony heading out to the narrows beyond the lighthouse to jig for cod. We caught ten fish, mostly small ones and a couple of big whoppers. We’ll probably have one for dinner tomorrow night and Boyd will salt the rest. When we ran into Rosalind upon our return she mentioned the small ones are very tasty salted and that they particularly enjoy them in the winter. After chatting with Rosalind about salt cod and the book she just published - a memoire of her experiences growing up in nearby Trouty called, ‘Sufficiently Blessed’ - we headed up to the house for some supper (which means lunch here). Then we lit a fire and I made some pastry dough and it started to rain. I expect this afternoon we’ll walk to the store at the edge of town to buy bread and cream then Karen and Eric will come by for dinner, after all their guests have checked in at the B&B.

Maybe we’ll go up Gun Hill tomorrow, or the next day. Well, all in due time, dat’s wot I says.

View my Newfoundland, Canada photo set on Flickr

On ‘Billy Bishop Goes to War’ at the Belfry and the 'magic of theatre'

First a little back-story - being the minimalist that I am, you may be surprised to hear that, amongst the ten boxes of belongings we whittled all our worldly possessions down to when we made the move across the country to the west coast, is a box full of theatre programs. They are mostly from The Grand, of course, though a few are from Stratford, The Shaw Festival and a couple from that playhouse in Grand Bend - oh yes, Huron Country (not County) playhouse.

To get back to my story, or rather my back-story, though that box of theatre programs survived, ‘the big purge’, I’m afraid it didn’t make the journey with us to our new home. Instead, it was left behind in the cluttered abyss of my parent’s attic along with our jeweler’s anvil and that awesome set of golf irons I bought at a flea market for $40. Still and all, in that box of theatre programs are two that I, in this moment, wish I had. ‘Why is that?’ you might ask. Well, because tonight I’ll have the pleasure of taking in Billy Bishop Goes to War at Victoria’s Belfry Theatre. Need I say more?

Well, I suppose further details may be in order.

Had I had those programs I would now be placing them in an envelope along with the following note:

To Zachary Gray:

Enclosed are two programs that I would like you to have. They are from the two previous productions of ‘Billy Bishop Goes to War’, that I’ve attended, one in 1985 and one in 1999 both of which featured your father in the role that you performed tonight.

As I worked at the Grand in 1985, I had the pleasure of seeing that particular production numerous times. If my aged memory serves me correctly, on one of the evenings, the crew were unable to raise the curtain due to a technical malfunction. Your father and Eric Peterson were left to perform the entire play in the four feet of stage in front of the curtain. They did a excellent job dealing with the unexpected turn of events, and the audience that night, who were not informed of the circumstances, were left to believe that that was the way the show was always performed. It was the first time I fully understood the extremity of the expression, ‘the show must go on’ and the beginning of my love affair with live theatre.

Thank you so much for your performance this evening. I’m sure your father must be very proud (between you and me, I felt your interpretation of the role of ‘the musician' to be far more memorable*).

Yours truly,…

That’s where I would end my letter of course, but as this is a blog post I will partake in a little self-indulgent rambling (because it seems that’s what blog posts are for). You, in your more acutely tuned sense of theatre esthetic, may have always been aware of this, but it wasn’t until I saw that performance that I realized the significance of live theatre, where every show is different form the last (granted, not as obviously different as that particular performance, but I was a teenager at the time and responded best to exaggerated demonstrations along with excessiveness in general). That, to me, is one half the ‘magic of theatre’,

…the other half being no matter how long the line-up is outside the theatre door at five minutes to show time, the front of house staff always manage to get everyone inside and seated in time for the show to begin on schedule.

Magic, I tell you!

*As you will surmise I am writing this post in advance of my taking in the performance and this remark may not turn out to be factual. I’m going to assume it will be so as in my ‘aged memory’ I will most likely recall the minute details of this production more clearly, at least in the short term.

Sasquatch 2010

Crowd shot of the terrace at the Gorge during the National concert at Sasquatch 2010
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Tips for attending Sasquatch Music Festival

1. Showing up late Friday night is not as great an idea as you'd think.  Sure we avoided the Saturday Memorial Day weekend traffic, but the backlog of people arriving a day before the festival more than made up for any time we gained. We arrived at the highway exit just before midnight and it took 4 hours to go the last 5km to the campground entrance.  We were pitching our tent as the sun rose over the Columbia River at 5am.
2. Try to arrive at the gates to the concert grounds before 10am.  The entire campground seems to make a mass exodus to the gates between 10am and noon.  Arriving at the gate just before 10am can make the difference between waiting 10 minutes in line and waiting an hour in line.  If you think waiting an hour in line sounds bad now, wait until you're in the middle of it and you hear your favourite band launch into their set on the other side of the fence.
3. The showers are quietest in the evening.  If you can tear yourself away from the concert grounds before the shows wrap up, chances are you'll find the showers completely empty. Of course this means you're going to miss a headlining act, but these are the sacrifices we have to consider when going three days in a row without flush toilets and not many sinks and showers for thousands of people.
4. Concert goers are only allowed to bring one small sealed water bottle into the concert area. Once you've finished up that bottle you're left with the options of refilling it at one of the water stations, conveniently situated with the 'Honey Buckets', or purchasing water at $4 a bottle.  The smartest folks I saw brought water in collapsible water hydration packs, like the kind you bring along on a backpacking trip.
5. Judging by the conversations I overheard, it seems the benefits of reserving a 'premium' campsite are well worth the additional costs.  Upon our arrival I ignorantly lamented the conditions of our premium campsite until campers who had upgraded from the 'standard' sites began to pitch tents around us.  I can only image what they must have encountered to be so relieved to move camp in the middle of the night to an open field with a few scattered groupings of Honey Buckets and one communal sink at each 'rest area'.  [Shudder]
6. Next year I think we're going to consider giving the even-more-premium 'terrace' campground a try.  There were only a small number of sites in the terrace area, but I expect enough facilities for all AND campers were served free coffee and doughnuts in the morning.  That said, one does have to weigh the cost of spending twice as much for a better patch of grass to sleep on.
7. There's not a lot of running water around in the camping areas or the concert grounds.  For the sake of your health you might want to consider biting the environmental bullet and loading up on wet wipes.  Hand sanitizer is also a good idea.
8. Don't forget to arrive at the gate to the concert grounds prepared to spend the whole day and ready for any kind of weather.  You'll be asked to pay extra for 'in and out privileges' if you need to go back to your campsite and, personally, I think $10 is a lot of money to spend to grab a jacket. 
9. In 2010 there wasn't any wireless access at the Gorge (quelle horreur!), at least not that I encountered, and I did ask at the information booths.  A couple of the display booths had computers with internet access for concert goers to use.
10. Try the chicken chow mein.  As concert food goes, it's pretty okay.
    
    And above all... 
11. Have a fabulous time!  No matter what you have to put up with to be there, the musicians are going to make it well worth the experience.

View my Sasquatch photo set on flickr.

Pacific Coast Highway Road Trip, Day 5 - San Francisco, CA

Union Square, San Francisco
Originally uploaded by theotherlondon

Okay, I'll admit it.  I have perhaps, and just as of late, mind you, grossly underestimated the appeal of urban America.  I'm sure you will forgive me as I believe I am fair in professing that I am not alone in this mis-judgement. But still and all, I concede that I've had my share of recent love-affairs with the metropolises of the good ol' US of A (God bless her!) - Boston, Austin, San Francisco.  Fully aware of the unfashionable nature of such entanglements I tried to resist!  I truly did!

In my Canadian-esque interpretation of what makes a city fabulous I tend to measure the appeal of a city against the standard set by the most fabulous city on the planet, Montreal.  Specifically, Montreal during the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal.  I feel sorry for people who have never experienced the awesomeness of Montreal's Jazz Fest, but I digress.

Lack of jazz festivity aside, it's stellar details all the way for San Francisco. Firstly, 'if you're going to San Francisco' (sorry, I couldn't resist), be sure to stay at the Hotel Carlton on Sutter Street.  I'd guess it's not everyone's cup of tea, but you are going to love it, as we sure did.  It's reasonably priced, the staff are lovely, the location is excellent and the complimentary wine and cheese served in the lobby before dinner hour comes complete with entertainment featuring the musical stylings of the concierge.  How perfect is that?  Yes, look out, Montreal.

As we unfortunately, only had a day and a half to spend in San Francisco (but we will definitely be back), we barely had time to scratch the surface of the myriad of attractions and distractions the city has to offer.  With some effort, we managed to cram in most of the not-to-be-missed touristy engagements - a stroll on Golden Gate Bridge, a ride on a street car, a visit to Lombard Street, Alcatraz, dinner at Fisherman's Wharf (which we were warned by a local to by-pass), a walk through China Town, window shopping in Union Square, taking in a view of the city from Twin Peaks, and browsing the shelves at City Lights Bookshop.  We also ate a two spots featured on 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives', Grubsteak and the Golden Coffee Shop.  Whew!

View my West Coast Road Trip Flickr set.