PERSONAL:

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK ON THE INTERNET---MOLLY'S BACK :

Well, the annual pilgrimage out west to visit relatives is over, and I'm back in Winnipeg. It's always nice to drive a section of road that you know sufficiently well to be able to navigate with your eyes half closed half the time. THIS also includes knowing where the RCMP lurk on practically all of #1. Hint...if it's dark they like well lit places. As I said to one of the nephews-in-law back west when asked about "road conditions", "not bad at all, nothing that would slow me down to 110". Actually untrue. The speed limit in Manitoba is 100 km/hr and this did slow me down to 110 a good proportion of the time. But....for the legal beagles out there I merely claim that my speedometer in inaccurate. Only God knows how fast I went, and given the nature of God this is obviously an imaginary number.

Molly is very happy to be back in her cat box, even if she has to work tomorrow morning. I'll be back in full form on this blog tomorrow. Until then, "keep a smile on your face, a song in your heart and definitely don't forget to barf in the shoes of somebody you hate on the morning of Jan 1..

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

ANARCHISM IN IRELAND PART 3- THE BELFAST ANARCHIST BOOKFAIR:

This is the one we missed on our trip to Ireland. A report of the Galway Social Centre will follow in the next few days. But, As I said previously, our planning was poor (or maybe not so considering what was waiting for me workwise when we got back home), and we missed this one. By the time it was happening we had already passed through the bizarreness of the airport in Amsterdam and were on our way to further strangeness in Minneapolis. More on that later as well. Belfast, in any case, was mostly a "jumping off point" for further trips in Ulster. Too bad we missed it, however, as it sounded like it was interesting.

So...in lieu of a first person report here's the report from the website of the Belfast Anarchist Bookfair. A shorter version appears at the A-Infos site.

..................................

Report on the 2nd Belfast Anarchist Bookfair
The Second Belfast Anarchist Bookfair was held on Saturday 6th of September at the Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre. Overall the event was a great success, for Organise! and all those who helped out - providing stalls, giving talks, contributing to discussion (both at meetings and informally), sorting food and making the event great craic.

There were stalls there from Back to Front magazine, Choice Ireland, Glasgow Anarchists, Just Books, Revolutionary Anarcha-Feminist Group, Solidarity Federation, Workers Solidarity Movement, an anarchist fiction author Roslyn Fuller was also selling her recently published book 'Isak'.

The first talk Immigrant Workers and Racism proved to be a bit too early for some and was attended by only half a dozen people(There's an old joke about anarchists and getting up in the morning that I repeated , with modification, on my report of our anarchist bookfair here in Winnipeg last May-look there if you want a chuckle-Molly). Nevertheless Francois from Organise! and Davy from the WSM made some interesting points and the discussion afterwards was productive. The next talk Currents in Working Class Self Organisation: Anarcho-Syndicalism provided a wealth of information on the history of, and different currents, within Anarcho-Syndicalism. This prompted discussion on strategies to build Anarcho-Syndicalist organisations and there was particular interest in the lesser known history and current activity of the FORA, the IWA/AIT affiliate in Argentina.

Despite technical difficulties with the sound the Prison Isn't Working video showing and discussion managed to show some of the films made with the Educational Shakespeare Company and prisoners and former prisoners. There was interest in the work of the ESC and in the stories of former prisoners themselves and we will be having another go at this one as a separate public meeting and film showing in the near future.

The Education Workers Branch of Organise! then hosted a discussion on the numerous issues affecting workers in the education industry and in relation to education generally. Organise! aim at building a broader solidarity network amongst those who work in the education industry and it became clear that there is certainly no lack of struggles and attacks throughout the industry.

Fighting Unions? saw Jason from Organise! and Alan from the WSM outline their respective organisations positions on the Trades Unions. There was also an update from the floor from Socialist Party speaker on the case of Gordon MacNeill, a sacked airport worker who UNITE have been trying to gag following their appalling handling of a dispute that goes back over seven years. At this stage Gordon and the other sacked airport workers have only been consistently supported by the Socialist Party, Organise! and more recently the new WSM Belfast Branch. The debate was mainly focused on differences between the SP and anarchist strategies in relation to the Trades Unions although it was apparent that there was some significant differences between Organise! and the WSM on this issue. A contributor from the floor suggested that we should return to the practice of the IWW of singing our protest, stating that he had been coming to meetings and events like this over the years and never once heard Solidarity Forever. This was taken on-board as a suggestion for next years bookfair.

To round off the days events a raffle was drew and people kept the discussions and craic going in the John Hewitt and the Duke of York. Again Organise! would like to thank everyone who made the event a success particularly the Belfast Unemployed Resource Centre for letting us use the venue and, surprisingly (well we were surprised) the Communist Party of Ireland for advertising the event in their paper. We hope to provide fuller reports of at least some of the meetings over the next few days.

TRAVEL:
STUPID MONUMENTS:


Maybe every city has one- an incredibly stupid monument dedicated to nothing in particular aside from the delusion of an architect that he is oh-so-smart and the further delusions of governmental money dispensers that this shows the "progressive" nature of both themselves and the city in which they reside, as well as somehow, mystically, contributing to "urban renewal". Dublin's O'Connell Street, north of the Liffey River has, in the past few decades, acquired a reputation of sleaze, something that it still seems to have to Molly's eyes despite the best efforts of the (illegitimate ?) city fathers.
In 1966 the IRA decided to blow up the 'Nelson Pillar' that sat at the present site of the 'Monument of Light'. The tribute to Lord nelson did indeed go boom boom, but whether out of incompetence or a desire to avoid neighbourhood damage they did a half-assed job and what was left came to be known as "the stump". The army was called in to finish the job, which they indeed did, with no compunctions about damage to other nearby structures. Ooops !
Meanwhile O'Connell Street continued to acquire more of the Irish equivalent of dollar stores and boarded up buildings, making it seem very much like the average street in downtown Winnipeg. Whattyado? The answer in 1999 was to build a 120 meter high stick into the sky, illuminated at its upper 12 meters at night. How this helps to "unsleaze" a neighbourhood is beyond Molly's limited mind, but who am I to question decisions made at upper class drinking parties ? If X is in a government position to dispense money to Z because Y knows both X and Z, then how can we question such a wise decision ?
In any case this bizarre "improvement" has acquired the usual set of Dublin nicknames. Here are a few:
*The Spike
*The Binge Syringe
*The Stiletto in the Ghetto
*The Nail in the Pale
*The Pin in the Bin
*The Stiffy at the Liffey
*The Erection at the Intersection.
Personally I like the last the best. Keep smiling and see you back in Canada.
Molly

TRAVEL:
LEAVING IRELAND:


We'll be leaving Ireland tomorrow morning at a ridiculously early time -6:00 am- more like the suffering loving nations such as Germany and England than the Irish or us Canadians. Shear unadulterated bleary eyes that won't be smiling. I wonder how many other fools will be at the airport at the same time as we are. More on the trip when Molly gets settled back at home. Also a return to our regular publishing schedule.
Til' then, may the wee folk never bite your butt.
Molly.

TRAVEL:
MOLLY HELPS THE LEPRECHAUN FILL HIS POT OF GOLD:


It was a few days ago that we visited Cork, and made the inevitable side trip to Blarney castle and the Blarney Stone. It's actually not such a bad place, less tacky than Galway is in fact, but more on that later.
But speaking of tack....We jump off the bus and the wife immediately gravitates towards the TTTT (Tacky, Trashy Tourist Trinkets). As is her usual Molly spots the nearest bar and heads in that direction. Different inevitable magnets I guess.
Well, I sit down, have the first pint and strike up a conversation with the guy at the stool next to me who is in the serious business of drinking himself drunk, sober, drunk again and sober once more. Many hours left to go. He turns out to be a local, interestingly enough living in the only house that is actually in the Burrough of Blarney (it sits just beyond the dividing line). All others in the village are really in another burrough. Yakkity, yakitty yak. I get the story of the replay of his fight last night, and he shows me his hand as proof. By God the wounds there are actually a perfect arc of human bite wounds. He tells me that he won however.
Well, the guy keeps appearing and disappearing, but it takes me awhile- and a couple more pints- to realize he is actually a leprechaun. Fiiiiiiinally the wife wanders in for her beer. More yakity yak. The guy keeps doing his appearance, disappearance routine. The wife won't believe me when he does a "semi-disappearance" that he is still really there. By this time I can see him almost all the time. The wife, however, is still missing a few points on her blood alcohol content. All this I should emphasize is before I stagger off down the road to get to the Castle and kiss the Blarney Stone. Oh, all you unbelievers !! No wonder you can't see the wee folk.
But let's get to the moral of the story. The wife pulls out some "blarney wishing stone" that she bought over at the pickpockets den disguised as a store. It consists of a simple piece of granite with a token crazy glued to the top. How much did you pay for that ? Six Euros !!!!. This gets Molly's mental calculator working. The poor leprechaun is complaining about the cost of living. Perhaps years ago he made a serious mistake and and bought into IT stocks, He then took whatever was left over and thought he'd play it safe in the money market, traded in what was left of his gold for a pot of American dollars.
Sure wee green fellow says Molly I can help you out here. Your yard has stones, an endless supply of stones. Crazy glue is cheap if you aren't too liberal with it. Get the tokens saying "genuine Blarney stones, direct from Blarney" made in bulk (maybe 2 cents per token). Packaging, with some ridiculous little poem and promise- another nickel each. Put it all together. Manufacturing price less than a dime. Selling price the equivalent of $10 Canadian. 10,000 % profit !!!!!! Even adding in the cost of marketing and the various costs of transport, wholesaling and retailing what you have is the business opportunity of the century.
The poor green fellow could rapidly fill up his pot and start a few more besides. One hopes a)that the words stuck through the various cycles of sobriety and drunkenness and b)he is so kind as to ship one of the pots over. Even a little pot will do. Molly, of course, is such a kind a sweet cat that she needs no repayment, but a little gold never did anyone any harm.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:

ANARCHISM IN IRELAND PART 2- CORK:

We've spent far less time in Cork than in Dublin, and are due to back on the road tomorrow. So this report is far briefer than the last. There is a branch of the WSM here, but we made no contact. Other than that there is no specific anarchist group, though there once was in the recent past. Cork is a city of between 125,000 to 200,000 people depending on how you define the "city". There is a 7,000 student University here, but one local comrade assured me that it has quite a conservative tradition. It does, however, give something of an artsy fartsy feel to sections of the city.

What we did visit was the Cork Autonomous Zone- Barracka Books (sorry no website available). Like most such infoshops across the world it is small and tucked away on a rather inconspicuous side street. Like all the projects here it is plagued with a lack of money and is in constant talk of moving. The fact that it exists at all is a great tribute to the dedication of the comrades who keep it going. On the way to BB we stopped by at the offices of Sinn Fein, and I may say with deep pleasure that BB had a wider selection of literature than Sinn Fein did. I was given to understand that SF makes most of their trade in Republican bric-a-brac. Not that I didn't contribute myself by buying one of their pins. Ah well, I never claimed purity.

But another great and deep pleasure awaited us at BB. Not a single piece of the anarcho-nut literature on the shelves. Not a single one. It gets better. I start to question the staffer, someone who was obviously not new to the movement. Good stuff on the shelves. Their biggest items were local history and anti-globalization material. "Have you ever heard of 'Anarchy Magazine' ?" He had-vaguely, but had never seen a physical copy. It just doesn't register with what people over here are concerned about. My shit eating grin extends from ear to ear. I pick the worst example I can think of, someone that the anarcho-nuts do their best to promote, even sending the bastard to Spain at one point. "Ever heard of John Zerzan ?". Nope he doesn't know him from Adam. The two sides of my shit eating grin cross at the back of my head and come down on opposite shoulders.

This is one place on Earth where all the efforts of the Americans who have done so much to damage anarchism in their own country haven't reached with their exported "anarchist" version of Coca Cola and McDonalds.

The conversation drifts off into what people here are more concerned about. I assure the fellow that Republican politics are hardly a major topic of conversation in Canada. To say the least. Cork has indeed seen some rather significant campaigns, anti-war, ecological (very big here), anti-Bin tax, etc., and it has a lively if small radical community. Quite a pleasant place. Too bad we won't be staying longer.

INTERNATIONAL ANARCHIST MOVEMENT:
THE WORKERS' SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT-IRELAND:
As is usual when the wife and I travel we try and drop in on the local anarchists, if this is at all possible. Here in Ireland we had the privilege of meeting with and socializing with some of the members of the WSM in Dublin. Here are some preliminary impressions.
1)As in most countries the anarchist movement here is small, smaller in fact than what I expected it to be viewing its activities from the perspective of Canada. This small size is belied by the considerable influence it has through the activities and organizational principles of the WSM. The WSM itself is small, but, if I was to try and "stage it up" to a country the size of Canada, it would mean that we had somewhere between 350 and 410 well organized and dedicated anarchists who were actually active in matters that meant something to ordinary people, not just "fashionistas" more content with a "scene" than with building something relevant to what anarchism actually strives for. We have no such numbers in Canada, and it is a pity. There are certainly thousands, perhaps over 10,000 "anarchists" in Canada, but they are chronically disorganized, and especially as we live right next door to the fulminating heart of all that is crazy in the world, the USA, many are not just unconcerned with "public outreach" but actually do all they can to drive as wide a wedge as possible between anarchism and "the public". Ireland seems mercifully free of this sort of foolishness, or maybe that's just the impression of a brief visitor.
2)Unlike say Spain and Greece, but like most other countries that we have visited, including our own, an ordinary person could easily arrive, stay for years, and never come in contact with anything that might say there was indeed an anarchist movement here in Ireland. But the comparison is unfair. Something like "Infoshops" give a slight visibility (I understand there is one here in Cork that we hope to visit before we leave) as well as in Galway. Brief mini-riots at gatherings of the international ruling class also, despite the illusions of the participants, give even less "visibility". Ordinary people are far less likely to pay any attention to such things than they are to the most minor sporting event. They simply don't touch the average person's concerns and anyways, you always know who will win the game in the end. Police 2200; Black Bloc 0.
But where this is unfair is that the WSM is involved in activities that actually matter and have long term effects on people's lives. Whether these be the unions, community struggles or whatever they are neither flashy "protests" staged more for 10 seconds of TV time nor building a cozy little in group. The WSM was one of the major forces behind the recent rejection of the 'Lisbon Treaty' for instance, and they have long term activity in the campaign to legalize abortion here in Ireland- something that actually matters , unlike say bullshitting about "ending civilization" as is so popular in the USA.
This sort of "visibility" here is indeed more profound than in places such as Canada (even though we're not exactly outstanding there either) where there is a more prominent "scene".
3)One of the most pithy comments that I have heard from a local anarchist here relates to the lack of a long term anarchist tradition in Ireland. It's probable that we "started" earlier in Canada than they did here, especially as anarchist groups were already "well" established when I first became active circa about 1971. Still, as the guy said, (or a paraphrase of it), "when you start from nothing you can build something better because you are building from the ground up". The WSM is incredibly active in popular campaigns here and have a correspondingly larger influence than we do back in Canada. It all goes to show what a difference organization means.
4)I guess I'd better take the time to point the reader to the WSM's website, http://www.wsm.ie , though I emphasize that the WSM is hardly the internet equivalent of a "paper organization". Go there to learn more about their activities.
5)Having seen them at action here in their homeland I can see why their "traveling apostles"to the USA and Canada have been so inspiring of anarchist organization on the North American continent. Unlike many other anarchist or libertarian outfits in NA, some of which I might approve of and some of which I despise, the WSM is not a one man show (or three "theorist" show). The skills that are developed by proper organization are widely diffused amongst the members of their groups, and they are well equipped to develop them elsewhere, even in brief visits.
6)The wife and I had the privilege of sitting in one one of the WSM's meetings as observers. The contrast to far too many "anarchist" meetings in NA is stark. As the wife put it, "they stuck to the point". This was even when matters came up that obviously couldn't be resolved in the time allotted. Tabling the matter was resorted to. The meeting began on time and ended on time. There was a clear agenda.There was a chair who facilitated discussion. It was orderly. They even voted on matters. No bullshit about letting the person with the biggest mouth and the strongest bladder dominate by "consensus" or any other cultish "process" that makes too many meetings in NA such an unendurable pain. The horrible struggle to reinvent the wheel via navel gazing about "process" wasn't visible there. There is a way to make meetings democratic , fair and as productive as possible. It is the "rules of order", Robert's and otherwise, that have been worked out through generations and as just as applicable to anarchist groups as they are to gardening clubs. Not that they have to be slavishly adhered to, but they are a practical model to follow. In the voting there was quite often dissent, and the minority was allowed to exist. This is an important point as consensus and other forms of cultism are actually much more oppressive than the supposed rules of order that they hope to replace by something "better". They attempt to force agreement where no such thing exists by social pressure.
7)Finally, before I close for the evening, I'd like to thank the WSM for the hospitality that they extended to us. This is especially notable as I have been on record for years as merely a "sympathizer" of what has come to be known as "platformism", and my differences have been made very plain. The WSM has 8 points of agreement that you can find at their website. They are certainly not the rigid ideologues that their "anarchist" opponents try to picture them as.
But, of course, I knew that already. It's nice, however, to see it confirmed in front of my own eyes. As to the opponents of such outfits as the WSM on my own continent, well all that I can say is that telling a lie is certainly more of a necessity to someone like a "post-leftist" or a "primitivist" than having a bowel movement is. It's more like having a drink of water. They may be able to get by on one shit a day, but, like water consumption, they usually have to tell several lies a day just to keep their spirits up. Here the spirits are kept up by actually doing something practical.
More on the WSM and anarchism in Ireland later. Time to sign off.
Molly.

TRAVEL:

FATHER MATHEW:

It's amazing what you learn simply by chance. Father Theobald Mathew (1790-1856) was basically the founder of the Temperance Movement here in Ireland. He also played a major role in its development in the USA during travels to that country. There are two statues to him, one on O'Connell St. in Dublin and another here in Cork near St. Patrick's Bridge. The Irish group that he founded in 1838 was the Teetotal Abstinence Society. The word "teetotal" comes from the work of an English anti-alcohol crusader, John Turner, but Mathew's unique contribution to the English language was the term "the pledge". People who signed up to the Irish group, and others that he influenced in the USA, took "the Total Abstinence Pledge", swearing never again to drink. An unexpected side effect was a great influence in the consumption of ether!!!!, far more harmful than alcohol.

Mathew's dedication to sobriety had its darker side as well. During his trips to the USA he was promoted variously by pro-slavery and by Abolitionist groups. While his personal views were anti-slavery the pro-slavery promoters basically could contribute more to his campaign. The end result- he refused to publicly commit himself to Abolitionism, and thereby alienated his Abolitionist allies.

My first thought upon viewing his statue here in Cork was that maybe one day the Church will declare him a saint. In such a case he would be first in line to replace St. Jude as the patron saint of the impossible (though government action has massively changed the drinking patterns here in Ireland recently-but more on that later).

But his record of choosing support for the impossible given by unethical people over support for the possible (Abolition was, after all, achieved) from less prominent but more ethical people may qualify him for another position in the Calender of Saints- the patron saint of fools.

TRAVEL:

THE PRICK WITH THE STICK:

So much to say, and so little time. We leave Dublin tomorrow for 'The

Rebel City' Cork. It's amazing to be in a country where I don't have to automatically spell my last name every time I say it. Dublin is full of monuments, most of them to literary figures. My favourite so far is the Oscar Wilde monument. The "political monuments" in this city are all to enemies of the previous world empire, that of the British. But, as I have said, every monument in this city has its nickname. The monument to writer James Joyce off O'Connell Street pictured here has been affectionately dubbed "the prick with the stick".

Much more later,

Molly

TRAVEL:
MOLLY MALONE:

Molly's visit to the city of Dublin would, of course, not have been complete without seeing the famous statue of her namesake, 'Molly Malone', the heroine of eponymous ballad. The statue was designed by Jeanne Rynhart and erected in 1987 as part of the 1988 millennium of the founding of the City of Dublin. It lays at the top of Grafton Street, near Trinity College.
Whether there actually ever was an historical Molly Malone, let alone the details of her life is an unknown. Many are the legends that have grown up. Some say she was a fish monger by day and a prostitute by night. If so many of her nocturnal customers would have been students from the notoriously ill behaved students of same. Others say that she was one of the few chaste female street vendors of the day (the 17th century). Many have claimed to have found records of her birth and death, but none of these have been verified.
The song Molly Malone has become sort of an unofficial anthem for the City of Dublin. It is sung by sports teams and their fans at sporting events.
The statue itself is a life size bronze with quite a prominent bust, earning it various nicknames such as "the tart with the cart", "the dish with the fish" and "the trollop with the scallops". But really, most of the monuments in Dublin have some sort of rather earthy nickname as well.
A good treatment of the legend, its basis or lack thereof, can be found HERE at Irish Historical Mysteries:Molly Malone. There is a downloadable MP3 of the song HERE. at Raccoons. And, of course, here are the lyrics:..............
...............................
In Dublin's fair city,
where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

"Alive, alive, oh,
Alive, alive, oh",
Crying "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh".

She was a fishmonger,
And sure 'twas no wonder,
For so were her father and mother before,
And they each wheeled their barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

(chorus)

She died of a fever,
And no one could save her,
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
Now her ghost wheels her barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

TRAVEL:
THE HARP OF BRIAN BORU:
Brian Boru (Brian Borumha) (c 941 to April 23, 1014) was originally King of Munster. He became High King of Ireland by overthrowing the power of the Ui Neill's, and later defeating the Vikings at their Dublin settlement on Good Friday, April 23, 1014. He, and a huge number of the nobility on both sides were killed in the battle, but he became legend after his death.
The reputed "Harp of Brian Boru" became the national symbol of Ireland and is housed in the 'Old Library' at Trinity College which we visited a couple of days ago. More on Trinity College, the Old Library and The Book of Kells later. The problem with 'Brian Boru's Harp is...............it isn't Brian Boru's Harp, despite all the legends that grew up about this item over the centuries. Ah, yet another illusion shattered. The harp, however, is the oldest harp extant in Ireland, dating from the 15th century. It certainly is of fine craftsmanship, and has recently been restored. It makes a beautiful sight in its display case.

TRAVEL:
MOLLY FROM DUBLIN'S FAIR CITY:
Well we made it here to Dublin, at the beginning of our visit to Ireland. This is something like hour 30 without any sleep, so things are rather buzzing. I'm presently cruising the Temple Bar section of town looking for a pint of Guinness that costs less than 4 euros (the cheapest I've found so far). Seems like a really hopping scene, and I understand there's a lot more to the nightlife in other sections of town as well. so much to see. So little time to see it in. This area of town is purulating with internet cafes, and it isn't even the University area.
Dublin is now a city of about 1 1/2 million people, and it seems fairly cosmopolitan, though not to the extent of many Canadian cities. I hope to meet with some of the people from the WSM later this week. More on that, and anarchism in Ireland, as time goes on. Love the cobblestone streets. Have yet to get into the whiskey. As I said, too buzzed.
The trip here was long and tiring, including a seven hour stop over in Minneapolis airport, and a too brief one in Amsterdam.
More later,

PERSONAL:

MOLLY TAKES A VACATION:

That's right folks, Molly is off on one of her jaunts for the next three weeks or so. I've tied up all the loose ends on previous debates on this blog, and I hope to get in a couple more notices here before I head off tomorrow.

I'll only be dropping by this blog occasionally in the next little while, but come sometime in September I promise to be back with a vengeance. Even though this will likely kill what was looking like my beating my previous monthly record for hits (set last August) it's still a welcome break. Every blogger should take one.

Til then, take care readers and I'll try and send as many postcards from far away as I can.

CANADIAN ANARCHISM:

A TALE OF TWO BOOKSTORES:

Few things could be more indicative of the growth of anarchism in Canada, and across the world for that matter, than the proliferation of anarchist bookstores, or "infoshops" as they are sometimes fashionably called, though the term "bookstore" is still much indicative of what they really are, in the past few years. When Molly was a tiny little baby anarchist kitten there were exactly three in Canada. Molly visited them all way back then. Erewhon Books in Edmonton, long a hotbed of anarchism, is long since dead, and is deeply lamented in my opinion.From what I saw it was the best,especially in regards to its selection of children's books. Librarie Alernatif in Montreal, perhaps the oldest of the lot, is now L'Insoumise after some particularly bitter internal battles a few years ago. Spartacus Books in Vancouver ended up burning down, but it has been resurrected near to its old location, an unfortunate choice if you ask me. More on this later, but it depends on who you want to reach. Perhaps it may be good to locate a bookstore downtown but not if you have to run a gauntlet of sleaze to reach it. Vancouver's lower east side has the distinction of being the poorest neighbourhood in Canada, slightly edging out Winnipeg's downtown on this "distinction". Molly can remember the comment of one fellow on a list serve that she belongs to about how he, being from New York, was never afraid to be in any neighbourhood until he walked through Vancouver's east side. It's very true. One of the privileges of travelling outside of Winnipeg is that I will rarely be in any place where you have to keep your guard up as much as you do in some neighbourhoods in this city. Aside, of course, from my annual Christmas pilgrimage to Regina to meet with family in Canada's most violent province. Nothing like a crowd of about 400 junkies around an abandoned city hall-Vancouver- to give you the willies. Seems like I never left Winnipeg, except that it is worse. Molly can walk through this nonsense with her usual "violate my personal space and I'll knife you" attitude, but I can't see how this is productive of reaching the "average person" that anarchism should be trying to reach. Yeah, rents are cheap down in such places, but not that much cheaper than in a more welcoming part of town. I don't ask that anarchists deliberately try to set up shop in some sort of "trendy town", nor that they try to set up shop with deliberation on a major thoroughfare in an ordinary middle working class neighbourhood-which is what I would like to see in the future but not now. I do, however, suspect that there is some sort of perverse "pride" in setting up in places where close to 90% of the population wouldn't want to go.

Anarchist bookstores came and went in the years intervening. Here in Winnipeg there was more than one that flourished and died, until Mondragon settled the matter with what may be the most inviting internal setup in the whole continent. I certainly felt more "at home" drinking wine in the CGT cafeteria way up overlooking downtown Barcelona being as a)the view was much better-beyond belief much better- and b)there was nothing about fashion anarchism about the place. Not a vegan dish to be seen. Merely good food at a cheap price. But Mondragon beats that cafeteria for "ambiance" ten thousand times over.

Nowadays there are anarchist bookstores/infoshops springing up all over the place. Even in the most inhospitable places, Calgary for instance. Saskatoon has one. Toronto has new ones. All of this is part of what may be an often unconscious impulse to give a practical form to the new anarchism, despite the lingering influence of some ideologies in the milieu that deride practicality for one reason or another. This is part of the "institutionalization" of the movement which has gotten over its juvenile phase of believing that there is some sort of revolution around the corner and now knows that there is still huge amounts of educational work to be done. It is realism, and a practical way to put anarchist ideas into reality, a reality that may often be "messy" (ala the dispute over Alternatif/Insoumise) but is still at least "on this planet" as compared to fantasizing about ending civilization, supporting baby terrorists who quickly go rat when caught, or losing fights against the police at various summits. Any "mess" in a bookstore/infoshop is light years less "messy" than the nonsense generated by these lingering failures.

This summer and fall Molly had the privilege of visiting two of the anarchist bookstores in Canada. One, Exile Books in Ottawa, is fairly new. It did, however, have the privilege of national publicity as one of its members hit the news when he got outed for releasing so-called privileged information that he obtained via his position as a minor internet reader for the federal government. As my faulty memory serves me the whole matter was about some environmental position of the Harper government. Full stop here. Molly might be wrong on this, but she won't look it up. Unlike 95% of the population Molly actually paid some attention to the matter. Unlike 99.99% of the population she still has some vague memory of what it was all about. The whole point, at least the political point, of the thing was whether whistleblowers were justified or not, and whether this particular whistleblower was justified. Ask the average person today about this affair, and in the vast,vast majority of cases you will get a puzzled stare. Few would remember as little as Molly does. This is sad but true, and things such as these should give pause to those who have a overblown sense of the importance of any particular moment,event or issue. The best they can be is publicity, and the publicity will be temporary at best. That's the nature of the world that we live in today.

When Molly visited Exile Books (256 Banks St, Ottawa, ON) this summer she had a little difficulty finding it. It sits on a rather depressed street some blocks north of the Parliament Buildings, well away from the trendy area of town. "Depressed" is a relative term, especially from a western Canadian point of view. Molly could hardly spot a boarded up shop in the whole neighbourhood. The area supports a number of Irish pubs, a great distraction to Molly for sure, and it is hard for her to imagine a "depressed" neighbourhood with an Irish pub, though they seem as common as fleas on a dog in Ottawa. The whole area seems like a battleground for how the university crowd is trying to push out some sort of an imitation of a skid row, a skid row that was never "serious" as compared to what we see out here. Molly missed the place on her first pass by. She stopped at one of the pubs, had a couple and came back and found it. The first thing that she saw, besides the fact that Exile Books shared the second floor with some sort of fuck-book shop, was the intimidating set of stairs. No granny ladies with three preschool grandkids is ever going to come up here. The climb was well worth the effort despite the fact that Molly complained to the staffer upon reaching the shop way up the stairs. Molly sometimes likes to bitch. Her comment that the place needed to be on ground level on a corner with doors open on two sides was met with the obvious rejoinder about rent. Very true, and Molly can hardly argue against reality.

The Ottawa comrades have done very well to open this place at all. Every city in Canada, no matter how small, should have one. Their hours of operation were actually more convenient than most such places. Their selection of books was small, though this is understandable given the youth of the place. Their selection of zines was even smaller, though I am sure this will be remedied in future. I was at the shop for almost three hours. Some of this was taken up by the fact that Exile Books, unlike many (almost all ???) such places actually has a public computer available ie it tries to be an "Infoshop" in reality rather than in just name. Not just books, but also other "info" in other media. Something I would recommend highly for other places. Molly got distracted for a considerable amount of time by showing off Molly's Blog to the staffer until another customer finally wandered in. The staff person was very pleasant once we got past the fact that Molly doesn't fit the stereotype of the modern anarchist and how I wasn't (son-of-a-bitch) allowed to take photographs for this blog. Actually we hit it off great. The young woman recovered from the shock of an old fart puffing up their stairs very well, and I can say that if there is one thing that should be a requirement for anybody manning such a place it would be that they could recover from a shock of something unusual as well as she did. There is an important point contained here. Not everyone is as willing as Molly is, especially after she has had a couple of beers, to cross subcultural barriers to make connections. Shake paw, shake paw,shake paw. I enjoy it beyond measure. The general public will be far more reticent. Maybe there can't be "personality tests" for those who work at such public outlets, but that is a shame. The whole point !!!! is to reach others not yet convinced, and very few will approach the matter with as little trepidation as Molly does. Most will be more than slightly nervous and stand-offish. The woman on staff did very well in recovering her balance, and many kudos to her. She is one of the people whom I hope sticks around as she will undoubtedly become a very valuable militant in years to come. I wonder if the other staffers are as good as she was. Exile Books also seems to want to be a lending library and a meeting place. For the life of her Molly couldn't see how you could jam more than 20 people (with crowding) into the facilities available. As for the lending library aspect it may be more an ambition than a realistic project. Too much ambition, and it is no wonder that the larger anarchist events in Ottawa are held elsewhere. Still, a beautiful and apparently good start. Four stars out of five. A very shitty location, but a good book selection and an intelligent staffer.

This fall(October/November) I also visited L'insoumise in Montreal. I have visited this bookstore twice before when it was Librarie Alternatif, and I have to say that this was the first time that I have encountered a truly friendly staffer there. This is despite the fact that we struggled to make ourselves understood across a language barrier, with my bad French and her slightly less bad English. One of the results of the great fights over the ownership/control of Librarie Alternatif was that the bookstore is now much more oriented to a francophone population. This seems to have improved their public presence as at least this staffer actually tried to be really helpful to this hapless anglophone.The conversation shifted back and forth from French to English and back again. Unlike Exile Books L'insoumise is a "specifically" anarchist bookstore, the sort of thing that could only exist today in a place like Montreal with a metropolitan population of close to 3 and 1/2 million. Not that there weren't "general lefty" books available, but the selection was far more specifically anarchist than Exile Books (or anything I have seen in North America for that matter). There was also a far better selection of books in Spanish as compared to anywhere else in Canada. I won't comment on the USA because it has been so many years since I have been there. The selection was hardly "colourful". It seemed rather drab on the shelves. But you don't come into such a bookstore to get grabbed by cover art. The selection was also far better, from an anarchist point of view, that anything that you can see elsewhere in Canada. The neighbourhood (2033 Boulevard St. Laurent) requires that you pass by a tiny,tiny,tiny itsy bit of sleaze that most of us out here in western Canada would hardly recognize as such. The greatest inhibition to reaching the place (0n a ground floor by the way) is a little climb up a rising street. Something a granny lady could do. There is a subway station very close to the bookstore, and Montreal has perhaps the best subway system in North America, or at least in Canada. My major complaint, which also applies to Exile Books by the way, is the almost total absence of books for children. Something that should be considered. Unlike steers anarchists do reproduce, and I think that future bookstores should be both more "child friendly" ie no steep stairs and also carry more material for an increasing number of anarchist parents (or grandparents in my case). Ground floors. Play structures. It's all something to consider for the future. Still...both Exile Books and L'insoumise are great places that I encourage anyone to visit.In both places I was priveged to meet welcoming people despite the fact that I don't pass muster as to my external appearance. This may be the most important point.That's it for Molly's latest travelogue.

To see the bookstores reviewed above on the web go to:

http://www.exilebooks.org/

and

http://linsoumise.entretoise.org/

MONTREAL

HALLOWEEN IN MONTREAL:

This last time around I had the opportunity to visit Montreal at an unusual time. The fall is not the height of the tourist season, to say the least. Streets in Vieux Montreal are far less crowded than they are in the summer, and even if the only outdoor patios that are open have to be heated the experience is enjoyable in its own way. The city seems to be very big on pumpkins, much more so than out here. The ornamental gardens (divided up into vegetable, flower and tree sections actually) behind the Chateau Ramezay was devoted to an exhibition of all things pumpkin, squash, gourd and their near relatives. It was a very interesting fall display at at time when the leaves are falling, the vegetables are harvested and the flowers have gone to seed. It's the sort of thing that other cities should imitate.

But one of the heights of our visit was La Grande Masquerade. This is an annual Halloween street party put on by Loto-Quebec. For three nights this year, on Friday, Sept. 26, Saturday the 27th and Halloween night itself, Wednesday the 31st the streets of Vieux Montreal are crowded with tens of thousands of party-goers, a large proportion of them in costume. Public demonstrations of all things eerie are set up on the Quais- such things as booths for fortune telling, tarot reading, magic, literature,etc.. The event is host to numerous theatrical productions, music concerts and fireworks. If you don't have a costume there are street vendors selling inexpensive flashing. devil horns headset. There is even a Halloween parade featuring some of the best costumed attendees- and not a little parade either. There was also apparently a children's parade as well that Molly didn't get to see. Through the packed crowd one could see the groups hosted by Montreal's Ghost Hunt as they went from place to place seeking the legends of the spirits that haunt the old city. They were met by the ghosts themselves who would tell their stories of woe to the crowd.The buskers that had abandoned the streets at the end of the tourist season were out once more in force on Place St. Jacques. There were indoor events, put on by the beer company Unibroue, that Molly didn't attend.

Vieux Montreal is not a small area, and the entire district was filled with this street party. The weather was unusually clement, even by Montreal standards which are much milder than here in Winnipeg. A good time for all. It's too bad that Lotto Manitoba doesn't see fit to spend some of its ill-gotten gains in a similar way here in Manitoba. Yeah, I know they do a little sponsorship, but nothing on the grand scale that I saw down there. It's also too bad that Halloween, the most fun of all the holidays isn't celebrated with at least an attempt at such a party elsewhere in Canada. Maybe the party wouldn't be as big or have such an appropriate setting as Vieux Montreal, but it would still be a wonderful thing.

LES BIERES DE MONTREAL

TAKE TWO:

Molly has commented on how impressed she was with the microbrewery scene in Montreal, particularly as she comes from an area of the country where beer diversity is pretty sparse. Well, in the interest of the sacred icon of "objectivity" she went a searching for a reference about matters beer that could give at least an impressionistic overview of the Canadian situation. She found it over at the Real Beer.Com site. Real Beer is actually a world guide, but you can find references to the situation in a vast number of countries there, including Canada and all of its provinces and territories, excluding Nunavut. The listings will, of course, be somewhat out of date. The microbrewery and brew pubs scene is fluid, maybe not as fluid as the restaurant industry but fluid nonetheless. Some of the liquids that Molly dived into in her degenerate tour of Montreal's scene are not listed on this site.

But Molly was somewhat surprised by the fact that Quebec is only #3 in the Canadian pantheon. Ontario comes first, with 24 brewpubs, 37 microbreweries and 47 "other" listings. My ignorance may be forgiven. Aside from Ottawa, which I visited earlier this year and where I did find some good artisan beers, Ontario is a giant black blob on Molly's mental map of Canada. Northwest Ontario, which lies close to my home province of Manitoba, is a world away from the main centres of population in the south. To a large extent it is more like Manitoba with more trees, less money and even more depressing-if that is possible. It doesn't contribute to the artisan brew industry in any real way.

What is less forgivable is my ignorance of the fact that BC is # 2 in the Canadian brewing scene(19 brewpubs,30 microbreweries, and 19 "others"). I visited Victoria only last year, and found many good microbreweries and brew pubs. But the fact that the land of lotus eaters (and lotus smokers ?) might be vibrant across the whole province never settled fully into my mind. Perhaps this is because I am a confirmed francophile, and am more than willing to praise Quebec over other provinces without searching out the facts. As to whether Quebec beers are better than those of BC I will leave to more experienced connoisseurs than myself. I liked both. The yeast content of many of the brews that I sampled in Montreal threw me not a whit. The taste was not overpowering. I can't remember this sort of experience in BC.

What was not surprising was that Manitoba ranked second from last amongst Canadian provinces. Only PEI, with perhaps 1/5th the population of Winnipeg ranked lower in total listings. This place is not the centre of the universe in too many ways to count. We do have the highest concentration of dollar stores and payday loan shark outlets of any city that I have ever seen anywhere in the world, but that may not be something to be proud of. It's great if you want to buy cheap Halloween decorations for $1 each, but has little else to recommend it. What did astonish me was how much further ahead Saskatchewan was as compared to Manitoba. Closing in on Alberta as a matter of fact, despite the fact that Alberta has two real cities and Saskatchewan has none. The last time that I disgraced Saskatchewan with my presence, for the marriage of one of my grandnieces last summer, I did find a brew pub in Regina where I spent some happy times. At the time I put it down to yet another example of Saskatchewan's rather pathetic attempts to appear "trendy" and thought little of it. For all I know the place that I visited in Regina is the one and only, and all the others are located in Saskatoon, a city that has always been more pleasant in so many ways than Regina. Yet from what I saw there and what I see on the Real Beer site Saskatchewan is indeed far better than Manitoba in this regard.

Anyways, the microbrewery and brew pub phenonenum is always refreshing anywhere you go. It is the opposition to the standardization and corporate consolidation of far too much of the brewing industry today. Think of the fate of Molson's. It offers an alternative to we epicures that realize our time on earth is brief and want to spend it in pleasure and variety. Go to the Real Beer.Com site for the international listings, as dated as they may be.

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS SAFE TO GO BACK ON THE INTERNET:

SHEEES BACK !!!

MOLLY RETURNS TO WINNIPEG:

We just returned from Montreal this evening, and Molly has about 25 phone calls to return tomorrow morning, along with a few emails. It's going to be a bit hard to get back into the swing of things and cease being a tourist. This was an enjoyable visit, as all the other times that Molly has visited Montreal have been (four times in the last 40 years). Now, Molly hasn't visited every major city in Canada. There's still Toronto, Halifax, Quebec City and St. John NB to go, but of those that she has visited Montreal holds pride of place. Yes...it is more pleasant than either Vancouver or Victoria. It is not as different as St. John's NF, but has the sort of cosmopolitanism that such a place lacks. It is also incredibly safe as compared to our cities out here in the West. Much cleaner in a litter sense as well, even the subway. Montreal, with 3 1/2 million people in its metropolitan area, has tiny itsy bitsy "combat zones" that don't hold a candle to such places as Winnipeg, Edmonton or, worst of all, Vancouver. I also appreciate the fact that I can practice my French down there. Little opportunity here in Winnipeg. Pretty easy to read it. Slightly harder to speak it, but people are almost universally patient with my efforts. Much harder to understand the spoken word which is not the "academic" sort of French that I know. Une autre fois, s'il vous plait, mais plus lentement. It's a good phrase to know.

As far as my limited experience carries Montreal is definitely my favourite Canadian city. It has a history that can only compare to Newfoundland or Quebec City, a history that a person could spend years exploring and still have things yet to see. It has distinct neighbourhoods which, unlike here in Winnipeg, are not defined mostly by crime rates. It has a cultural life, of many different hues, that no other Canadian city can equal.

So...yes I enjoyed it as usual. More on the trip later. Back to my regular blogging soon.

LES BIERES DE MONTREAL:

Once more Molly is in Montreal, and as usual she tours the local bars. There's a lot more to be told about this city and this visit, but that will have to wait until later. One thing that is obvious to an occasional visitor is the variety of microbrewery beers available here as compared to other locations in Canada. Truly remarkable actually. Once you get over the fact that filtration is NOT an accepted process, and that most beers will contain a certain turbidity due to the yeast the experience is quite enjoyable. There is a variety of taste that is unavailable elsewhere in Canada. But my time here at the internet cafe is running short. Time to sign off and head to the DIRA.

a Montreal,

Molly

ANARCHIST MOUNTAIN:

YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS AN "ANARCHIST MOUNTAIN":

Molly forgets exactly where she first heard the term. Perhaps it was while listening to a radio report on forest fires in BC. In any case there is indeed an 'Anarchist Mountain' in the southern part of the Okanagan Valley in southeastern BC (see the above map), near the town of Osoyoos. From the shores of Lake Osoyoos, reportedly the warmest lake in Canada, you can bicycle (or even walk) the six kilometers to 'Anarchist Lookout' to look down upon the Okanagan Valley below. Go a further 11 kms along Highway #3 to Lamont Road (or 18 kms to High Road Trail) and you come to the hiking/cross country skying/mountain biking trail that defines 'Anarchist Mountain' itself. It will take you about 2 hours to negotiate the trail on a bike. For further information on this 4 stars out of five path go to http://www.trailpeak.com/index.jsp?cat=bike-mt&con=trail&val=815 .

Anarchist "Mountain" isn't actually much of a mountain. Even though it affords excellent views of the valley below it only rises to 1491 meters (4892 feet) according to Bivouac.com, the Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia. The actual crow's flight distance east of Osoyoos is only 9km. Before the "mountain" acquired its present name it was known as 'Larch Tree Hill". If you want a detailed map of the area consult http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/bcgn-bin/bcg10?name=1498 .

The Osoyoos area likes to style itself as the "only true desert in Canada". This may or may not be an overstatement as Molly has certainly seen other areas in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and other parts of the BC interior that could qualify for this name from at least a visual inspection. Perhaps the claim is true from a purely annual rainfall way of looking at things(less than 20cm per year), but Molly is uncertain how the other areas she has seen compare to this number. Something to look up in the future, or for somebody to comment on here. The Oysoyoos area is a northern extension of the great Sonoran Desert. The name of the town is from the local Inkaneep (a branch of the Okanagan Salish Nation) dialect, and it means "where the water narrows" or "sandbar across". The area was a traditional place to trap spawning salmon. For almost 50 years Osoyoos was on the north/south fur trade route. later it became an entry point for cattle drives that were the supply source for gold miners in the Cariboo. The railway line finally reached the town in 1944, and since then it has become a fruit growing area. Osoyoos boasts the only banana plantation in Canada. At this time of year you can buy plums, apples and grapes from the harvest there.

The town of Osoyoos has 4,963 residents, and according to their brag boasts the "best small town museum in Canada", the Osoyoos Museum that has buildings that date from 1891. There are orchards that offer wine tours in the vicinity as well as many other attractions. For a rundown see http://www.britishcolumbia.com/regions/towns/?townID=3441. There is also the Federal Ecological Reserve in the area that attempts to preserve the original desert environment of the locality. This reserve is home to many animal and plant species found nowhere else in Canada.

The name of Anarchist Mountain derives from an early settler Richard G. Sidley for whom the "almost town" of Sidley is also named. He was an Irishman from Ontario who spent some years prospecting for gold before settling down in the area in 1885(some sources say 1889) to try his hand at ranching and farming. His brother was apparently a Professor of English at McGill University. He took a homestead at the forks of Nine Mile Creek, almost at the 49th parallel, and eventually farmed or ranched about 2,000 acres in both BC and across the border in land leased from an Indian Reserve in Washington State. Sidley opened the first post office in the area, and also became the first Customs' Officer and Justice of the Peace in the area. He was later "relieved" of his official posts because of his political views. Stories vary about whether Sidley named the mountain himself or whether it was named after him and his politics. The mind boggles over the thought of an anarchist Customs' Officer and judge. If you want to read more about Sidley and the early history of this district go to the article at Vanishing British Columbia or to the Okanagan Historical Society's report on the early settlements. Meanwhile put this location down along with Barcelona on your anarchist tourist package.

THE ROADS OF OTTAWA:
Besides the comparison of Ottawa's and Winnipeg's drinking water quality (referred to previously on this blog) which came out all in favour of Ottawa Molly noticed another aspect of life in Canada's capital that is far better than that in Winnipeg. Here as well it may be natural advantage rather than deliberate public policy that accounts for some of the difference. The contrast between the amount of road repair going on at any given time when the ground is not frozen in Winnipeg as opposed to Ottawa is astounding. Not that Ottawa lacks "road work", but it generally appears to be construction rather than playing "catch-up" in repair of streets that rapidly deteriorate. There was one long term closed-for-contruction road, Bank St., that Molly had to negotiate around. I assume that this was some sort of upgrade as the parts that were open seemed much better than the average Winnipeg street. But, like Winnipeg, there often seemed to be no obvious plan to what the City of Ottawa was doing there. Molly saw none of the tearing apart of entire streets for repair that is a common site in Winnipeg. The City of Ottawa also seemed to have planned some repairs to one major thoroughfare to happen in the dead of night even though Molly could see nothing wrong with the road as it was. Perhaps this was good planning of a proactive nature, and the defects they were to repair were below the level of detectability of someone from a prairie city.
Now, Molly is not a city planner, and perhaps this is the reason why she cannot see the rationale for the common City of Winnipeg practice of chipping out a series of two foot deep pits on a street and then seemingly losing interest for a period varying from days to months. There are hundreds of these pits across the city. I have little clue as to what the plan for them is. Is it sewer and water line repair ? Is it some wierd way of resurfacing a road ? Whatever it is for why dig a hole and then walk away ? Why not finish a job once started ? Parts of the Bank St. project looked like this. Holes dug and then nothing happens. No obvious work going on. I admit that we were only in Ottawa for a little over a week, and it's entirely possible that the next crew for the next stage could show up faster than is the custom in parts of Winnipeg. Molly is hardly the only Winnipeg citizen who has complaints about this bad habit on the part of the City. Perhaps it is an argument for the sort of workers' control over regular maintenance that anarchists advocate. Proper coordination between different work crews is very likely to be better achieved by communication amongst the workers themselves rather than by adherance to some sort of overarching "plan" that makes no sense if looked at from anything but a bureaucratic perspective.
But Ottawa undoubtably has a natural advantage being as bedrock down there is a lot closer to the surface than it is out here. All prairie cities suffer from the plague of potholes that grow under the snow and blossom forth with the coming of spring. The two worst items are undoubtably Winnipeg and Regina, both of which are built on land that in part should be natural swamp-thereby benefitting water conservation. As an ex-inmate of Regina I am willing to testify that Winnipeg is far worse in this regard. The potholes range from tiny little 1 inch dips to gigantic street collapses that go six feet down and stretch 50 feet. Winnipeg has far more of the latter than Regina does. So much so that it's a wonder that more cats, small dogs and children don't go forever missing here. Unlike Regina Winnipeg did have, and still has to a lesser extent, a real reason for existing other than government and the corruption involved in same. Regina was chosen as the capital of the then NWT as a result of competition between rival gangs of land speculators. The thugs around then Leftenant Governor Dewdney and the more powerful thugs around the CPR gave Regina its present form. The capital was declared out west on what is now "Dewdney Ave." on waste land picked up for a song, but downtown was declared miles away on land held by the CPR.
Winnipeg's natural situation at the confluence of two rivers that were navigable is a much more intelligent place for a city, even if flooding is an ever present danger. But it still suffers from the fact that it is built on prairie gumbo. Things sink here, just as they do in Regina, and an eternal cycle of repair becomes inevitable. Ottawa lacks this beautiful natural attraction so it is no wonder that driving on its roads takes nowhere near the presense of mind that it does out here on the prairies. What it lacks in "awareness traps", however, it may make up for in the twisting, turning, curving total irrationality of the layouts of its streets. Now, any city that grows naturally rather than according to "plan" may share this little driving obstacle. Molly's difficulty in driving in Ottawa was compounded by the fact that, unlike out here on the prairies, they seem to have little regard for natural directions in Ottawa. Streets cross streets rather than avenues. Streets can run both east and west as well as the western customary way of north and south. That is understating the case. Winnipeg, being as it is built on a river is quite different from the "grid-plan" of prairie towns, but with a little adjustment you can get used to the idea that say "going north on Henderson" is really going north north east and going north on McPhillips is really going north west. Molly is still frustrated by people who grew up in this city who have NO conception of natural directions- even when she tries to get through to them that the sun rises in the east and sets in the west and that south is towards the USA and north is towards the North Pole. Molly has immense difficulty in getting through to some people that their only references of "right and left" are totally dependent on what direction you are coming from in the first place. Pretty simple to me, but quite imcomprehensible to a large number of people who live here. But...there is at least some hope here. In Ottawa there is no such hope. Like a cat in British Common Law "a street will wander where it will" down there.
But Ottawa has one other gigantic advantage over Winnipeg in terms of road planning. They actualy have real bicycle paths, real fucking bicycle paths that even go across bridges. Unlike in Winnipeg where the existing bicycle paths are almost solely amusement parks built on waste land and going nowhere- a sop to the granola crunchers without any benefit for the majority of the population who might want cheap transportation. You have no idea of how pleasant this is unless, like Molly, you have spent almost a quarter century at a job where driving is a major part of each day. The taxi drivers, the bus drivers, the truck drivers, the couriers and Molly of this city have never ending complaints about the idiots who ride bikes in this city, particularily in winter. Fine if you want to challenge fate and a double loaded semi, but leave us out of your suicidal tendencies or your arrogance. We actually really, sincerely, truly, absolutely don't want to kill you. What seriously pisses Molly off is when the granola crunchers venture out of "hippy heaven" (the Wolseley area where good hippies go when they die) and put their fashionable politics ahead of the safety of their children by tooling (tools indeed !) around on very dangerous streets with their kids in either baskets or kid trolleys. People are frequently run down here in the car theft capital of Canada for sheer fun, and the people who drive their own cars are often little better. Once more consult the truck,bus,courier drivers and not just Molly. Molly's only act of aggression towards the bike riders is deliberately hogging the curve so they can't speed past and blindside either me or the people in front of me. Bike riders aren't supposed to do this, but they often think it is their right to do this. Lots of agro from them to poor little Molly. Less agro however than when I hog two lanes and drive slow to pass them, thereby aggravating the speed demons behind me. Those drivers are really pissed off. Now, Molly would never admit to having ever broken a law in her life. She always obeys the speed limits to the letter. But many, many professional drivers less restricted by the law see a 60km/hr zone and know they can go 70 without ever being stopped by the police unless there is a campaign on. Similarily for red light cameras with different numbers. But suppose Molly was one of these bad, bad people who are 500% better than the "average driver" in this city, and some idiot was tailgating her because 10kms over the speed limit was too "slow" for them. When Molly would do the "car equivalent" of hogging the curb by deliberately slowing down to the speed limit these people are just as pissed off as the bike riders are. Hey fucks, I'm helping to preserve your life. Show a little gratitude. Left wing bicycle aggression and right wing SUV aggression: it's all the same to those of us who make their living by driving. Your politics and intentions don't count.
Molly is actually of the opinion that it should be legal to ride your bicycle on the sidewalk. She is unaware of any incident in human history when anyone was ever killed by being run down by a bicycle. Perhaps she is just ignorant. She is,however, very aware of the frequent serious injuries and often deaths when idiot drivers run down bicycle riders in this city. It may be better in places that are not car theft capitals, but not by much. Molly noticed that the drivers in Ottawa were much more polite than here in Winnipeg, and they were quite tolerant when she did indeed, really, truly, absolutely, without a doubt drive the speed limit because she had no idea of where she was going. They also used signal lights, an action which, by popular convention, is frowned upon in Winnipeg and is usually an invitation to speed up so that "you don't get my lane you son of a bitch". Actually most of the drivers there really, truly, absolutely, without a doubt obeyed the speed limit. Molly was the fastest item on the 417 out to the Diefenbunker. How I love divided highways and a clear path ahead.
But...the bicycle paths. Both Molly's jaw and the jaw of the wife were agape. Jesus Christ, you could fit a small car in the width that the bicycle riders were allowed. No sweating bullets and checking what you can hit on the left behind you if some dumb bugger(drunk or sober) weaves out of his one foot of pedalling space. And how many paths, how many paths. it eliminates at least one major stress from driving. Christ, I've died and gone to civilization. Especially across the bridges that are one of the major sweat events here in Winnipeg if a bicycle rider is either stupid or arrogant enough to challenge traffic here.
Now, Molly is totally aware that residents of Ottawa may think that there should be more bicycle routes, but they should be aware of just how advanced they are in comparison to most other Canadian cities. It's something to be proud of. Molly is all in favour of both better bicycle routes and-much more importantly- better public transit like she has seen in European cities. Molly makes her living by driving,however, and any decent city will still have cars. Molly,however, "hates" driving when she is not working. She's getting a bit on in years, and she knows the elitism of trendy lefties who concentrate on bicycle issues while ignoring public transport for those who can barely walk let alone peddle. Let alone people down in the economic scale who don't have time to waste. Ottawa has a LRT system, but it pretty much serves the bureaucratic elite. Molly has blogged before about how much she loved the subways of Prague, and she thinks that this is an example that larger Canadian cities should follow. Ottawa, as a very spread out city, would be a great location for a real subway system. It presently is a shining example of how to accomodate bicycles on public streets, as least in comparison to other Canadian cities. It could do more, but it is still many steps ahead of Winnipeg.