Bryan Crosby Dot Ca

I beat the crap out of my old Bianchi this winter.  After several months of winter riding I have no brakes that work, a busted front derailleur that barely shifts and the rear derailleur is completely stuck…meaning I’m constantly pedaling in high gear.  I rode for awhile with a braking system that hardly worked, but figured today was good a day as any to stop playing with my life.  So back the Bianchi is on its way back to its maker…Kingston’s Yellow Bike Action.

They guys at Yellow Bikes are replacing the entire gear system on my bike and revamping the brake system…cannibalized parts of course…but I don’t need the latest disc brakes for running around Kingston.

Yellow Bike Guy:  “You know, this isn’t just a small repair…it could take awhile and cost a bit”

Bryan:  “Oh…how long?  How much?”

Yellow Bike Guy:  “Probably Friday and should be about $50 dollars total”.

When I lived in Victoria I took the bike I was riding at the time into a shop for a basic tune up…which essentially accounted for nothing more than replacement of brake cables…which probably didn’t need to be replaced…I think they might have thrown in some chain oil…  All for $100…and it took me about 5 days to get my bike back.

Yellow Bikes is such a great Kingston resource.

Technorati Tags: bianchi, bikes, cycling, Kingston, repair, yellow bike action

Tags: bianchi, bikes, cycling, Kingston, repair, yellow bike action

The Kingston Canadian Film Festival screened Lixin Fan’s Last Train Home this past Sunday afternoon.

While the train and station scenes brilliantly visualize the annual railway struggle, the film is more about the shaky situation of the migrant worker family in 21st century China.  From the richest Shanghai families down to the poorest migrants, China is a country where society hasn’t caught up with and adjusted to the insane development. 

The film follows a real rural family from Sichuan province through a time frame of about three years.  Like many migrants, the parents are working textiles somewhere in Guangdong earning cash for their family, with their two children being raised by their grandmother on their family farm in Sichuan.  Family reunions are limited to a visit at New Years.  The eldest child, Qiu (18) is of the rural variety of the post-Tiananmen generation or after-eighty generation.   More materialistic and more individualistic regarding her situation, she harbors quite an dislike of her parents, whom she feels have abandoned her in favor of work in the city.  This culminates in a very, very intense family fight on New Year’s visit.  Qiu drops of out of school and works textiles in an atypical 3rd tier city, opting to naively live an existence similar to her parents.

Her family turns their hopes to the the 13 year old son, Yang, of whom they dream will enter university although his 5th place marks are not encouraging for his parents.

Probably the most disheartening item of the movie was the constant belief that this education would provide the route to better life.  As a general policy, I certainly believe this, however, I can’t help but look at the phenomenon of the Ant Tribe.  The hundreds of thousands of new university graduates that eek out an urban existence very similar to the factory workers profiled in the film.  It is as if there is no way out.  Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle came to mind a few times during the film in the sense of the never-ending optimism expressed by the characters in spite of their situation.  If anyone has a right to blame a system, it is surely these people…yet the blame is often directed at themselves, usually for not “working hard enough”. 

Mr. Fan’s CCTV background became quite apparent when he referred to to China’s migrant/farmer population as ‘backward” in an interview with CBC’s Jian Ghomeshi a few weeks ago.  One may claim semantics, but that phrase is para-official (along the same lines as splittist and harmonious) among media elites on the Mainland…still, as someone who had recently heard Mr. Fan speak mentioned to me via FB, he appeared somewhat disconnected from the subject he was exploring.

That said though, it’s a great film and pulls out the often over-looked affects of rapid development on family structures in post-1979 China.  

The film was shot over a few years with the craziest rail station scenes having been shot during the 2008 ice storm that shut down most of southern China.  It’s probably important to keep that mind.   As chaotic a train station is during that time of year, it’s not usually that bad.  

I had learned my lesson regarding travel during New Year’s during trip to Xi’an in 2007 and opted to spend my 2008 holiday out of country, but I still managed to hit huge crowds in the airports and at a rail transfer in Shenzhen.

During that trip in 2007 I barely made it aboard the train and had to be pushed into the car (on account of my backpack).  Bizarrely enough, I actually managed to buy a ticket that had a seat, but it was impossible to access it given the sardine nature of the car…so I just told the conductor to give it to a kid. 

22 hours sitting on/near/under my backpack slammed up against the entrance door in the tiny section between train cars.  Luckily the door never opened.  I was near the washroom facilities which was somewhat of a Catch-22.  Odor-wise…not the greatest spot to be…from an convenience point of view…not bad.  I’ve heard that people will often wear diapers during such trips because they just can’t get to the washroom.

 Being used as a pillow (Xi’an – Nanjing February 2007)

Having some warm brews.  Most people told me they were just happy to get a ticket. (Xi’an – Nanjing February 2007)

My good ole’ pack is so useful (Xi’an – Nanjing February 2007)

Heading home – Shenzhen January 2008

Heading home – Shenzhen Train Station January 2008

Stuck in the airport – Nanjing Lukou International Airport 2008

Technorati Tags: china, chinese new year, guangdong, kingston canadian film festival, last train home, lixin fan, migrant workers, sichuan, train

Tags: china, chinese new year, guangdong, kingston canadian film festival, last train home, lixin fan, migrant workers, sichuan, train

Since it is being compared to Paul Henderson’s 1972 goal (which is an important piece of Canadian history) it seems fitting that I should mention where I was for Sidney Crosby’s massive 2010 gold medal winning overtime goal over Team USA.

@ The Duke – Kingston, Ontario with my friends and colleagues from SURP.

We were a little preemptive with our celebrations when Team USA slammed one passed Luongo to tie it up @ 2/2 with 30 seconds left in regulation time.  That means all that is left is one 20 minute overtime followed by *gasp* a shoot-out.  Dangerous.  Nail-biting.  Our team had two unanswered goals and Team USA was clearly on fire.  I wasn’t confident.

Sidney Crosby…comes out of nowhere.

I’ve never seen a bar explode like that.

In retrospect, the little overtime plot twist added a level of great drama that made the victory even better.

To be honest, that game couldn’t have ended any other way.

I thought the closing ceremonies were quite good, although a little heavy on cheesy Canadiana and Nickelback.  Shatner had a tough crowd, but good to see Michael J. Fox out there – he looks really good all things considered.  I’m sure that the sexy Mountie outfit will be very popular for Halloween 2010 and Alanis…wow…

I was aware that the old Soviet anthem was back in use, but the closing ceremonies was the first time that I had seen all its former glory.  Hmmm…I was half expecting the ole Hammer and Sickle move up the flag pole.

I can’t help but notice how close Sochi is to Chechnya…Vancouver thought they were going to have security issues…

I’ll admit, I was doubtful a week ago, but we managed to kick it into overdrive during the last few days and bag 13  gold and 26 medals which = an improvement on Turin and a successful team.  That said though, I still remain annoyed with Own the Podium.

Only Pyeong Chang, Munich and Annecy (France) are bidding for the 2018 Games.   I predicting a South Korea win.  Pyeong Chang made a bit for 2010 and 2014 and came close both times.   It will have been 20 years since the Winter Olympics were in Asia.  There were quite a few interested cities, including Santiago in Chile and Bursa, Turkey.

Technorati Tags: closing ceremonies, gold medal, hockey, olympics, russia, sidney crosby, soviet union, the iron duke pub, vancouver, vancouver olympic games

Tags: closing ceremonies, gold medal, hockey, olympics, russia, sidney crosby, soviet union, the iron duke pub, vancouver, vancouver olympic games

I’m in a transit planning class and our first assignment has us evaluating an intermodal journey.  This basically means we have to walk, skip and jump our way to another city via the street, public transit and some sort of other non-car mode…then write about what we liked and didn’t.  Grad School is tough (honestly though, I did these assignments because I don’t have to cite anything).

My trip is from the doorstep of my suite, to transit route #2, on to the Kingston Bus Depot with a final deposit at Toronto Pearson International Airport.  Only the walking and transit portion I actually field tested today, with the 3.5 hour trip to the airport assessed through memories of past expeditions to that destination.

So what does this have to do with Starbucks? There is one a couple of stops beyond the Bus Depot.  Heading all the way out to the boondocks of transit route #2 just to ‘see what it is like’ is not the most thrilling experience.  Have you ever been on route 2?  If you have, you’ll know what I mean.  Usually when I need to ride #2 up north I end up being on the receiving end of a conversation with an “interesting” person. 

One could argue that having coffee alone at Starbucks isn’t that thrilling either.  But they offer 2 hours of free wi-fi now.  To someone like me, without home internet, this is worth riding the #2.

…maybe not worth the Division/401 power centre though located near the end of the #2 route.  Unfortunately, the Starbucks located right in the middle of this jungle.   

Everything about the the Division Street/Highway 401 power centre is designed to reduce a pedestrian to the status of a whack-a-mole…endlessly dodging the never-ending traffic…all alone without any back-up.  “Hostile” doesn’t even come close, although I think Gardiners Road does.  After being spat out of the bus into a mountain of slush/mud paste piled up on the transit stop one then has the option of visiting a half-dead strip mall, numerous drive-thru’s, or a couple of giant box stores all separated by bizarrely disconnected parking lot system full of stressed out 401 drivers.  To assist you in all of this is a painfully incomplete sidewalk system.  

To be fair, this power center is targeting the 401 highway traffic and last I checked there were not too many people taking a Sunday walk down the 401.  However, it seems like the planners had a pow-wow and said “Ok team, what we are trying to do here is create a place exclusive of Kingston.  We don’t want anyone from Kingston coming here and if they do, they are never going to want to come back”.

The fact that there is actually a transit route running through this mess is rather amusing.  This space is so bad for people without motorized wheels, so terribly bad that the transit route should be removed in the interests of public health.  You can’t have people wandering around a space like this unless they are carrying their own air-bags. 

That brings me to the Starbucks.  It’s not your average Starbucks, in the sense that it is free-standing and has a giant 50ft-high sign broadcasting itself onto the 401.  It is also the only Starbucks I’ve visited that I had a hard time finding and getting to, the main entrance.  Normally a business is interested in attracting customers into their establishment.  Not here, where the axiom is “keep everyone outside in their cars”.  This Starbucks likes to emphasis it’s drive-thru*…so much in fact that site planning wizards arranged the drive-thru lane to wrap around the front of the building, pushing the walk-in entrance to the back of the building.  “Relaxxxxxx…people don’t walk” was the driving ideology here.   It’s not even connected the sidewalk running down Division Street, leaving one to walk down a heavy traffic street just to get in.  When I entered the wide-eyed barista asked me if I had actually walked here. I said yes, and I mentioned that I had heard that you get a free coffee if you arrive alive.   Well, she didn’t really ask that…but it seemed like it would have been an appropriate question providing the nonsense I had to navigate through for a basic cup of coffee.  If there are Starbucks customer loyalty awards, I should get the gold.

It’s quite a nice store inside.

The summer view on Google Street View provides proof that there is actually a sidewalk connecting the Starbucks to the greater community.  Still, the place remains very freaky to walk through.   Winter, however, is a completely different story. 

*The concept of a drive-thru the ultimate in North American laziness and public isolation brought on by an addiction to their car seats.  In many cases, there are usually more people at the drive-thru than in the actual restaurant.

Technorati Tags: bus, coffee, highway 401, Kingston, pedestrian, space, starbucks, travel, urban planning

Tags: bus, coffee, highway 401, Kingston, pedestrian, space, starbucks, travel, urban planning

Day 10 and we stand in 5th place with 8 medals…even South Korea is ahead.

I for one, place the blame squarely on these fellows. It is one thing to excessively fund the team, but it is something else to arrogantly predict them to win a huge chunk of the medals.  I haven’t heard of other countries smugly making such claims.  I surmise that they are most likely far more confident than we are.  The USA, German, Norway…they know their teams kick ass…even without funding and they probably don’t feel the need to shove that down the throats of the world.

Not only has this strategy set themselves up for a never-ending stream of international ridicule should they fail (which is what is happening) but it places an extra heavy layer of hype and pressure on an already over pressurized team. 

I have to admit though, there is a small piece of me that is slightly annoyed at team performance given the massive amounts of cash thrown at them.  Taken on a per-capita medal basis, 2010 is presently a very expensive Olympics for Canada.

Luge death, opening ceremony malfunctions, medal fiascos, security breaches, a near loss in hockey to the Swiss and  a deadly cross-country ski track (I didn’t know there was such a thing)…

Go Canada?

Technorati Tags: 2010, medals, olympic games, own the podium, sports, vancouver

Tags: 2010, medals, olympic games, own the podium, sports, vancouver

One of the perks of winning some kind of Olympic hardware in Canada is a lifelong membership with either CBC or CTV as…well…a face on their coverage team.  Jean-Luc Brassard showed up during the CTV interview with Alexandre Bilodeau musing of days past (read: man, I wish I was allowed to have big air like that back in the day) and wondering if he’s going to still have a job in 2014. 

If Canada cleans up the gold medals this year and continues own with their sustainable ‘own-the-podium’ program, this might spell doom for usual given migration from gold medal champ to sports commentator.  With a continuous and growing number of gold medalists to harvest, CTV/CBC will have the option of getting picky.  Back in the day, it didn’t even take a gold medal win…good ole’ Steve Podborski got the golden handshake with just a bronze medal in 1980 (to be fair, he was the first North American to ever place at an Olympics).      

I would say that the sport of moguls sure as evolved somewhat since it debuted as a medal even @ Lillehammer in 1994.  You don’t see too many twister-twister-spreads these days.

(his run is @ the 2:50 mark…complete with a giant spread eagle)

Jean-luc still kicks ass though – I think his time was just as fast as Bilodeaus’

* I tried to find a direct link to the Bilodeaus’ gold medal run, but the IOC has been viciously ripping down any unsanctioned YouTube-type renderings.  You’ll have to go here and scroll down the ‘must-see’ category.  His first jump with the back-double full was awesome. Must see if you haven’t yet.

* direct link here

Technorati Tags: alexandre bilodeau, ctv, freestyle, gold medal, jean-luc brassard, moguls, olympics, twister-twister spread, vancouver olympic games

Tags: alexandre bilodeau, ctv, freestyle, gold medal, jean-luc brassard, moguls, olympics, twister-twister spread, vancouver olympic games

Some bizarre scenes from the pre-shows running up to the opening ceremonies included MuchMusic making its first and probably last appearance in a supporting role to CTV’s Olympic media juggernaut.  VJ’s, hot tubs and bikinis?  Body shots?  As a TV segment just before the Opening Ceremonies?  Oh my…

Showing the luge crash???  Bad taste.

Off to the show.

I could have swore the opening snowboarder was former Alpine Olympian turned Whistler ski bum Rob Boyd.

Rather phallic looking totem poles…

We say Z?  Oh boy…talk about an inside joke that only Canadian viewers would understand.  Could have left that one out. I think there was a missed opportunity with that poem.  If a new understanding of Canada was the goal, one should avoid stereotype references.

Switching over to NBC during the athlete entrance was interesting.  NBC operated a graphic map which would centre on the  USA and then zoom out to the relevant country situating it nicely in the minds of our neighbours to the south.  

Great light snows.  Nelly and Bryan lookin’ good.  Ohhh…Hallelujah?  Good voice, not the best song choice.

Hydraulic failure, well, that is what you get when you let a pod of whales swim through your mechanics. As we concluded at our Olympic Potluck last night…3 out of 4… and you know, in Canada…that ain’t bad.

Rumor has it that immediately after the mechanical fiasco, Gordon Campbell’s head exploded and VANOC CEO John Furlong was last seen being eaten by a giant spirit bear.  The loss of top leadership resulted in a complete breakdown of VANOC torch management and decision-making.  With Catriona Le May Doan frozen in disbelief at the strange absence of her pillar, Rick Hansen bound by his wheels, Steve Nash smiling with fear and Nancy Greene screaming that Senators don’t run anything there was only one person left to take the Olympic Flame…

Quick!  Do something Wayne!

No self-respecting Canadian would ever attempt to steal the torch from the Great One. Not even the most bitter, cynical protestor…it would be safe with #99.  Only Gretzky would be able to run the rainy public gauntlet to the outdoor cauldron.

And it was so.

VANOC, notoriously infamous for it’s top heavy, micro-management,   Goebbels-style control of all things Olympics.  VANOC, with a billion dollar security budget…15,000 troops, police and private security operators decided to take a little risk…and freakin’ let loose.  I think they just got tripped out by their own massive light and hologram show.  

Awesome…

I think it was, by far, the best part of the Opening Ceremonies.  It took the opening ceremony playbook of  exclusivity, wrapped in around a doobie-like torch, doused it in seal oil and lit it on fire.  Polish and production be dammed.  Maybe it was planned, but approach and execution was completely adhoc.  From Gretzky stuck in the exit doorway at BC Place, to the pick-up truck, to zero crowd control and hastily erected police blockades.  Even the video cameras didn’t have time to set up proper angles. 

People just poured into the route, right up to the torch.  Brilliantly raw, in-your-face Olympic.  I can’t think of anywhere else that an opening ceremony could have closed like this. 

Nice show.

Technorati Tags: canada, media, olympic torch, olympics, opening ceremonies, sports, vancouver, wayne gretzky

Tags: canada, media, olympic torch, olympics, opening ceremonies, sports, vancouver, wayne gretzky

I spent the last two days bombing around Quebec’s Mont Tremblant ski resort.  I wanted to get the Eastern Canadian ski experience while I’m still out east and get a coffee mug to prove it.

Tremblant is an IntraWest instant resort-in-a-can, with the standard pedestrian village,  hot spring spa, tubing, skating and over-priced food stuffs.  

Snow conditions were very good, although some of the terrain became very slick in the late afternoon.  I’m told that Tremblant is usually like that.  Hard ice (not surprisingly) is quite difficult to cut across and I definitely felt my Western weakness and instability when navigating through some blue ice patches.  

Tremblant has the largest number of good skiers I’ve ever seen on a mountain.  All hills have their share of good skiers, and in the case of Western hills, they usually cluster around the alpine bowl and other steep areas.  In the case of Tremblant, they are all over the mountain, 80% know how to carve an arc and hold a bump…and there are lots of them.  I credit the strong racing program at Tremblant, the multi-generational nature of skiing culture in the area, and the hard snow conditions.  I also could argue that the limited terrain options on the mountain has everyone slicing corduroy at a young age.  Boarders, however, are a minority

Despite terrain limitations, it’s a good hill and left me with a fairly decent  impression of Eastern skiing, but I think that two days is enough on the trail system.  Run design is really good where a combination of long verticals and wide cuts creates excellent cruising trails.  The hill could use about an extra foot of snow to cover up the numerous rocks, roots and stumps that are very common throughout moguled and gladed areas.  My skis sure were not happy about those.   

I had a fairly close encounter with a tree somewhere in the glades.  Actually, close encounter is kind of an understatement.  I bear-hugged this tree, bounced off it like a rubber ball hitting a wall and slid a good 15 metres down the hill before realizing what happened.  In my whole life of skiing, I’ve  been sucked into tree-wells, smacked branches, face-planted, yard-saled, landed in open creeks and fallen down rock faces…but I’ve never hit a tree.

I’m quite confident in the trees and know how to move through them, yet snow-snakes attack the best of us and that was what sent into a juvenile maple tree.  I wasn’t moving fast at at all.   My up-hill ski hit a hidden root, knocking it off and causing me to pivot sharply on  my downhill ski.  With one ski off and no balance, the pivot acted somewhat like a sling shot and blasted me counter-clockwise directly into the tree below, which promptly threw me back  down the hill like a rag doll.  I consider myself very lucky.  My upper body took most of the hit, avoiding my face but the shock vibrated up through my helmet and into my head where I probably suffered a mild concussion. 

I now fully appreciate the danger of trees.  I didn’t hit the tree that hard, the force being nothing more than the momentum from the pivot, but it totally knocked the wind right out of me.  If someone hits a tree at even at moderate speed…it’s death.   

I took a 40 minute break after that, but was back at the moguls a run or two later.  Battered ego more than anything, especially after I just said to my friend “just follow me” :-p

Technorati Tags: canada, laurentians, mont tremblant, mountains, quebec, skiing, travel

Tags: canada, laurentians, mont tremblant, mountains, quebec, skiing, travel

Yeah, it has been out for awhile, but in my ignorance I had no idea its saturation level into some countries, notably the USA, Japan, Australia and Europe.  I’m quite impressed. 

I’m going to use Cape Vincent as an example of some of the places Street View has documented.  Cape Vincent is in the US, just south of Kingston.  Some friends and I cycled there in October via Wolfe Island.  Cape Vincent is quite rural and while not really in the middle of nowhere, it probably won’t make the any 1000 places to see before you die lists (although it is a nice, quaint example of rural America…apparently wealthy too, I might add).

Canadian street penetration remains very limited.  However, if US rural coverage is any indication, in a few years one will be able to drive the Alaska Highway without ever stepping into a vehicle. 

Street View Greenland would be cool too.

Technorati Tags: google, google street view, maps, travel

Tags: google, google street view, maps, travel

My colleague and I gave our final presentation about Fudan University and the China exchange at noon today. I’ve never been sad after a presentation.  Usually I’m ecstatic.

In some ways, this presentation could represent the end of my China adventures…and I’m quite sad about that.  Standing up in front of the dozen or so interested SURP students, I couldn’t help but think “Man, you folks have no idea how jealous and envious I am”.  Experiencing China for the first time, perhaps going abroad for the first time, or even just going abroad for another round.  I want to be you!

Obviously there is an element of never-say-never and the fog of life tends to cast an interesting shroud over the future,  but I’m not seeing too many opportunities for international adventures in the next coming years.  There are other things I’m looking forward to, and there are also important things I’ve been neglecting in Canada, but travelling, seeing new things, and strapping on the complete freedom of a backpack was such an important part of the past years and (I could smugly argue, myself) that it…well…sucks that it could be over.

There is just something about an international life…I don’t think it is a good good long-term choice…but man…they are unique and exciting.

Looking forward to debt, meaningless research filled with academic bureaucracy,  property payments, owning a car (ouch), general administration nonsense (fill out this, fill out that, ask permission here, ask permission there), cubicles, short-holidays, loss of mobility, 9-5, credit, discussing investments/RRSP’s while wanting to drive an ice axe into my head,  commutes, zoning by-laws…

Real life?

There are equally annoying things about life abroad too and a plethora of good reasons for being in Canada…but I don’t think I’ve ever been this nostalgic…I usually never get nostalgic.

Technorati Tags: career, china, fudan university, future, life, personal, presentation, rat race

Tags: career, china, fudan university, future, life, personal, presentation, rat race