Saint John reached

[Me in front of the Longest Covered Bridge in the World, in Hartland, NB]

So, we have reached Saint John, NB! This is officially our fifth time zone (after BC, Alta/Sask, Man, Ont/QC). If I could smell anything, I would probably smell the unresting sea.

[Besides driving heroically, Dave elected to make an extraordinary fashion statement today]

It was a long road: 12 hours door to door, probably our longest of the Tour. The cold has hit me full force; Dave magnanimously took the lion's share of the driving, and moreover during my stint he read aloud from Barbara Tuchman history of the 14th century. But I am dosing myself with OJ, and frankly a bit of stuffiness rather pales in comparison to the Black Death.

[Dave getting footage of sunset over the St. John River]

As to performance tomorrow, I am hoping for the best. Many times I've noticed that my use of "song tones" in the performance of the poem (which gives each line a melodic contour, emphasising meaning and metrical structure) has the additional benefit of allowing me to project my voice no matter what shape my throat is in (and it is often fairly wrecked at the end of an hour-long show). Hopefully this will also deal with any sinus issue tomorrow evening.

[Onstage in front of the Regimental Colour of the 78th Frasers yesterday. Who could guess I was about to keel over?]

Re: feeling wrecked, I must say that it's a great pleasure, after the show, to answer questions from the audience about the poem and the Seven Years War, which I always do; and to chat with people after that. But I often find that by then my mouth is simply no longer working! My cheeks seem to go flabby, and the tongue does not obey the brain. No complaints, of course! Perhaps this only strengthens a listener's impression of "divine frenzy" on my part: surely someone as inarticulate as this could not have delivered the poem we just heard? Ah, but yes, the power of the Muse! The Muse, my dear! In fact, post recitationem omnis poeta tristis est.

PofA implicated in commandites?

[a modern peavey; ours is much older, much badder]

Before we hit the road in a few minutes, driving the length of the St. Lawrence in Quebec, I wish as a matter of prudence to make two announcements:

a) we happened to pick up a peavey in an old junk shop here on Thursday. For those who do not know the peavey, it's a logging tool: you put the log between the claw and the main stick, and the claw automatically grips the log as you pull. It is essentially the most brutal instrument Medieval Germany never invented.

b) the report in La Presse is perhaps less alarming than it might seem. The truth is, the poem did not even exist in 1998, and in any case I have submitted multiple drafts of earlier versions of the poem to the Gomery Inquiry. But I felt particular consternation, as I stopped for a beer in St. Henri on Tuesday (prior to being photographed by Christian Fleury), to read sentences like these:

Dans son témoignage devant la commission Gomery, le 17 mars dernier, Bernard Thiboutot, fondateur de Commando Communications, avait souligné avoir embauché quelques firmes de consultants en 1998 pour une stratégie de mise en valeur des plaines d'Abraham.

. . . .

Or, a révélé M. Bastien il y a quelques jours, le mandat de 10 000 $ accordé par M. Thiboutot n'avait rien à voir avec les plaines d'Abraham.

. . . .

«Je n'ai jamais fait de contrat pour les plaines d'Abraham. M. Thiboutot m'avait appelé pour avoir des fiches d'information sur les régions du Québec», a précisé M. Bastien, qui est actuellement chef de cabinet du ministre de la Justice Yvon Marcoux.

In other words, with the populace as peevish as it is these days, it never hurts to own one's own peavey.

Farewell to Montreal (catch-up)

Farewell to . . . ? What the . . . ?

Yes, we are about to leave Montreal tomorrow morning, heading to Saint John, NB. I just took a Tylenol PM, so I may fall headfirst on the keys before this post is done; but let's back it up a little.

We left Toronto feeling great, after the successful performance at Fort York described below. Never did the road from Toronto to Ottawa -- well known to both Dave and me since we could drive -- seem shorter! It was a happy homecoming. On Sunday we had the Ottawa performance, in the afternoon at the theatre in the Public Library.

[taking questions after the Ottawa show]

The show went quite well indeed, I may say: a good-sized audience of 55, and I was pumped up. Not only was the show on Mother's Day (with our dear mother in attendance), but it was also the 60th anniversary of VE Day. Very nice to see many friends in the audience; Christina Leadlay took a number of pictures of the show, and will be writing it up in Embassy magazine.

A minor note on VE coverage these last two weeks: while often very moving, the various specials on TV could have used a bit more hard fact, IMHO. It is extremely important that we remember our soldiers' sacrifices, but somehow the purpose of the sacrifice was always glossed as "defending freedom," "liberating Europe," etc. This is quite true, but the sacrifices were also for things like: taking the last bridge; cutting the German resupply line; securing the hilltop; etc. Perhaps TV commentators think this sort of thing is boring or somehow requires more knowledge on the part of viewers than they possess; but that's a self-fulfilling logic if there ever was one. I get the impression that the Canadian army never once doubted that it was freeing Holland from brutal tyranny, and that this idea was always a sustaining factor through those last few months; but that idea is easily grasped today. What is more difficult for us, in our peaceful era, to imagine is that a man could be blown to smithereens with the single idea on his mind that he would shortly have to advance across a small field and find cover in the next hedge. Or that this was the last machine-gun nest his company would have to clear out that day. Or what have you. But this is not an opinion blog, so I move on.

Ah yes, Ottawa. Having spent a good deal of time praising other cities, I deserve a few sentences on my hometown. How perfectly Ottawa in the summer expresses my idea of the good life! The cafes are full of people; the food is affordable but well cooked; the conversation is heavily political (as it was in Athens, Rome, 17th century London); no one spends any time whining at the federal government. People are bilingual; no one flinches when you resort to a French expression. It is taken for granted that relaxed civilisation is the foundation of true friendship.

Okay, back to the diary. This Monday I had my only Ottawa school visit, at York Street Elementary -- just a few blocks from our house there. Though it was only one school, I performed it six times in one day: twice in the morning and four times straight in the afternoon (with just enough time to glut my thirst between classrooms). I'm not sure this is the most effective economy of performance, but I was glad I made it; admittedly, the shows were only 20-25 minutes long. Still, by way of endurance epic, this must be some kind of record.

That evening, after a nice farewell dinner at Chez Lucien (terrific pub, I must say), I drove to Montreal; Dave stayed for a couple days as he had a couple eye-doctor appointments to take care of (he had the laser eye surgery a couple of months ago). Rolled onto the Island with "White Rabbit" playing off the iPod; some David Bowie, too, IIRC. How strange to be passing in the car, and visiting on foot, all these places I know so well after so long being unfamiliar with my surroundings!

Yes, we have no passed the 1 month mark in terms of the Tour -- yesterday, in fact. Should have blogged it, but I'm staving off a cold (whence the Tylenol PM; it hasn't kicked in yet). I had two school shows here, on Tuesday at Options II High School in St. Henri, and then on Wednesday at Lower Canada College in NDG. They both went quite well, though I kept to 30 minutes for both. Once again, it was shown that socio-economic status has absolutely zero to do with aesthetic response to epic poetry; not that the LCC students were less interested than the Options II students, but I become more and more aware that Plato was entirely right about the ethical bond between performer and audience. And philosophical ethics of this sort are non-cultural.

Well, maybe the Tylenol is kicking in after all.

[music, passion, and Portuguese soccer are always in fashion here]

In summa: I visited the Copacabana bar on the Main, that perfect establishment, on Tuesday, seeing my old friends Michel and Quinlan, and supped chez Q the following night. All my old friends here now have beautiful and accomplished francophone girlfriends. Dave got in that night too, and we had a pleasant day off yesterday. Woohoo! He is reading about the Spanish Civil War; in between bouts with the ancient Homerist named Aristonicus, I'm reading Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, about the end of the Middle Ages. Much recommended. We've had such pleasure just walking around; the weather has generally been wonderful here (26 on Wednesday), releasing legions of Montreal women onto the streets after a long winter. One formulates a new theory about their collective beauty every time one comes here.

Tonight was the public show in Montreal, at the Stewart Museum on Ile Ste.-Helene (specifically in the Large Powder Arsenal). It went quite well: I started weakly, without much passion, but by the time I reached the deaths of the two characters I was doing my best impersonations yet by quite a bit. It's curious how the feeling of imminent doom prior to performance is crucial. This was the epicentre of Fraser Highlander activity in North America, site of the original garrison: Bruce Bolton of the Stewart Museum was most welcoming and helpful, and I got to meet the OC, a fine gentleman just back from Holland: he had been at Juno Beach. My great aunt Jean was also there.

I have a lot more to write, but I can feel the medicine spreading past my kneecaps. Or is that the effect of reading too much Minority Government Gossip in the papers? Dave and I are working up a Star Wars: Episode III allegory for it all; we note that holding the budget vote on May 19th, which just so happens to be the release date of the final movie, may be the most underhanded parliamentary ploy yet.

Toronto show - du succes

[view from our Toronto hotel room]

I am just about to leave for Montreal, as there's a school show there tomorrow morning. But how could I fail to try and describe the last few days?

The performance at Fort York, on Friday in Toronto, was (if I may say) a huge success. A correspondent mentioned a while back that I seem to say that of most shows; but there's a logical explanation which doesn't involve self-boosterism. Basically, our standards are rising! At the beginning of the Tour, a successful performance involved few missed lines, an attentive audience, no technical breakdown, and sincere applause. Nowadays, it means flawless meter, spellbound listeners, complete video and sound, and a sustained ovatio. That, modesty completely aside, does describe the Toronto public performance.

[Getting ready for the Toronto show]

In fact, the audience was particularly appreciative -- which meant all the more in light of its constitution. The whole of the "Epic Tour Team" was there, for starters: Annie Forget, Alison Faulknor, and Rudyard Griffiths (as well as Dave and myself, of course); Prof. Jonathan Burgess, eminent Homer scholar, and Prof. Alison Keith, both of U of T Classics; numerous luminaries of the Toronto literary scene; my cousin Madeleine and her family; many old friends of mine; a number of Fraser Highlanders of the York Garrison (including Mjr. John Stirling, OC, who gave a great historical introduction).

[Mjr John Stirling introducing the poem, prior to the introduction by Rudyard Griffiths]

The audience size was quite large, for word had been spread by print and radio: about 65 in the audience, bringing the total number of listeners at public shows over the 200 mark. The venue was acoustically perfect: though I was wearing two wireless mics (one for the documentary video, one for the CityTV camera, which was recording the show), I was performing in my natural voice, and the Highlanders at the back heard every word.

[Performing at Fort York; in back row are Highlanders; CityTV cameraman at rear]

They later gave an impressive display of musketry outside, loading and firing authentic Brown Bess muskets; one remarked that he could fire 3 rounds a minute, which is excellent even by 18th century standards. They let me fire a round; what a huge explosion those things make! I have to admit I blinked hard when it went off. One old friend of mine, Madhava Enros - a talented photographer - took some fine pictures of the event, posted and described on his elegant blog. You can see me about to fire the musket in one of the shots!

Ah yes, I was interviewed by CityTV for the Books program, which should be airing soon; I sat atop one of the walls of Fort York with the CN Tower in the background.

[Sitting atop the wall being interviewed for CityTV]

I had meant to include in this post a description of the Ottawa shows -- the public one was a big hit, the school shows today were intense, 6 in one day! -- but we are about to head off to a farewell dinner with our dear parents. (It was particularly great to do the public performance here yesterday on Mother's Day, with my mother in the audience; and on VE Day, with commemoration in the air.) Farewell -- because I head off to Montreal tonight! Yes indeed, the pace is intense; Ion had nothing on me.

2 more radio interviews

Am about to post a description of the last few days, but I thought I'd throw in a couple of audio files: these are two interviews which just aired over the last 48 hours. The audio quality is not quite 100%, as Dave was recording them off the car radio en route to various places, with his mp3 player. (We will write away for official CBC tapes at some point.)

The first is a segment from that wonderfully creative radio program Bunny Watson, hosted by Bill Richardson. I talked to Bill in Vancouver as the tour was beginning (on the first day, in fact). This aired on Saturday at 7pm and on Sunday at 4pm on CBC (Radios 1 and 2 respectively). The episode was about itinerant performers: I am by no means the only travelling artist on the Trans-Canada this spring!

Bunny Watson Interview.mp3

The second was done live this afternoon on the local Eastern Ontario CBC afternoon program All in a Day, hosted by Brent Bambury. What a great guy. You'll see(/hear) that I've gotten a bit more at ease with studio speech during the last month!

All in a Day Interview.mp3

We did not, unfortunately, manage to tape the interview in French which aired on Friday in Toronto, on Les arts et les autres, where I talked to Alain Godbout. Listeners have told me I sounded quite good, but who believes them? Where, one wonders, is the digital proof? We shall hopefully get our hands on an official CBC tape soon; meanwhile, I may have another interview en francais coming up in Monckton, NB.

Must blog but cannot

Am too short of time to blog properly -- about the great success of the Toronto show, the happy homecoming in Ottawa -- but will do so soon; the Ottawa show starts in just an hour and half! We are out the door. The Bunny Watson show in which I feature was aired yesterday at 7pm, and will be on the air again today at 4pm EST. (There should be a streaming audio link at the show site, if you're interested in listening in!). I was also interviewed for TV in TO, and will try to put that up when it appears. Must run!