J'ai trait une vache! Or, Ottawa!

Ages ago, when my friend Canada Justine (girlfriend of former roomie Canada Steve) was in Philly for a conference, we started chatting about one of our mutual favorite (Canadian) musicians, and how a new record was out, how lives shows were so awesome, etc.  In the course of that, I said something along the lines of, "If he's playing at Bluesfest, I'm coming up to go to the show with you."

Of course, the list of musicians playing Bluesfest pops up, and guess who is playing the main stage a couple days after the early July holidays?  City and Colour.  So I start looking for airplane tickets...

Luckily for me, something intriguing popped up at work, which didn't necessarily require a visit to Ottawa, but which certainly was helped by a visit to Ottawa.  In short, some art showed up and I had questions about the artist's materials and techniques.  The artist was Canadian and was represented in all the major Canadian museums.  The National Gallery of Canada had some written references on the artist, and a couple speedy emails to Supervisors Greg's wife, the Lovely Anne, and I was set to visit the conservation labs at the Library and Archives Canada.  

So my visit was justified!  I had to do some research, close my Canadian bank account (like Mitt Romney, I too had an overseas bank account - but that's where the resemblence ends), and go to an awesome show at a massive outdoor venue with a friend!  Yay Canada!

First stop: the library at the National Gallery.  I was a little confused how to get into the library as a regular patron: as an intern, we had a clever little back door we could use.  And we were allowed to wander directly down into the compact shelving to browse.  But it all worked out!

How delightful.  Stuck to the back of the paper towel dispenser in the bathroom off the stair-ramp at the Gallery.  People: when you visit the Gallery, the bathroom to go to is the one off the stair-ramp, right at the middle.  There is never a line and it's always tidy.

The old roomies only had green tea.  Since I require stronger stuff in order to function, I hiked it down to the Loblaws to pick up some Tetley.  Note: now in Canada the British Blend has become Tetley BOLD.  It's a nouvelle allure.  Canada's a Commonwealth Nation after all.  Colonies are out, as it British Blend.  BOLD is in.

Even though the States have long since thrown off the Yoke of the Oppressor, our strong Tetley continues to be called British Blend.  This is nonsense: we should have Tetley BOLD south of the 49th parallel as well!

Anyway, the art research went even better than hoped-for.  And the concert was fabulous.  It was perfect weather for an outdoor show.

We sang along with Dallas (which is how Justine refers to the singer/songwriter of City and Colour, like they're besties).

My flip flop broke on the way out afterwards, so I had to ride the bus home looking like that drunk girl, even though I wasn't remotely drunk.  I ended up taking both off and walking barefoot back from the bus stop to the International House of Pancakes.  Which is something I would contemplate only in Canada, as it is so very clean there!  

Justine and I ate crumpets back at the house and recapped the show to a friendly but ultimately uninterested Canada Steve.  Oh well!

Trying New Things: Tea

Number one tea: Tetley.

I buy like two 80-bag boxes of Tetley every three months or so, and it requires a special trip to a slightly more-inconvenient grocery story, because the number one Tetley Tea is the British Blend.  (My life is soooo hard!  First world problems - wah wah wah.)  The tea bags are round, have more tea in them, and are even better at brewing darker and are thusly more effective at staining your teeth.

The corner convenience grocery by my apartment doesn't have any form of Tetley, so the other day I decided to branch out, but cautiously, with PG Tips.  PG Tips has a ridiculously awesome name, and is apparently England's number one tea.  Truth - I have actually heard/read of real-life English people drinking it, though when I was in England it was Tetley for me every morning!

Anyway, the PG Tips is good.  It will be my number-two tea.  Emergency run-out-of-number-one-tea or take-to-work tea.

So imagine my surprise when I did a little internet tea-stalking and discovered that the people that make PG Tips are also responsible for Lipton!

Ugh - Lipton.  Why is America okay with Lipton?  So bland, so weak, so nasty.  The tea of conferences - offered by those who only drink coffee, usually with water heated in a coffee pot, so it come pre-sullied with a nasty burnt coffee flavor.  The only thing a cup of Lipton is good for is watering plants: it's so gross.  You might as well just steep a cup of random sticks and leaves that you found in the park.

Interesting side-note.  Tetley British Blend was easy to find in Ottawa.  Once British people get to Canada, they become 250% more British than they were back in the home country, so they need the British Blend to survive in North America, even after they've become Canadian citizens.

There was a second British tea that was all-over Ottawa: Ty-phoo.  I never purchased any Ty-phoo, because the name is too close to Ty-phoid, and it made me think that either a) the tea was only good if you were sick, or b) the tea would infect you.  I did drink some Ty-phoo, and it was okay.  I didn't get Ty-phoid, but then I think my vaccination for that is still good.

Disclaimer: this is all my opinion, clearly.  You might totally love Lipton.  Whatever.

PMG Reception: Vodka Luge

Since Supervisor Greg was heavily involved in the PMG Winter Meeting planning, it meant that there would be all sorts of tasty things to eat, most likely in a lovely venue.

True!  The reception was in the newly remodeled wing of the Canadian Museum of Nature.

The table decorations were also glorious (Rachel's photos, not mine).

The highlight of the reception was the vodka luge, which was sponsored by two conservators in private practice.

Pictured: Amanda, Alisha, Lisa, Rachel, Hye-Sung, me.

That's trouble.  Supervisor Greg and friends lurk around the luge.

Most of the "young ones" - me, Hye-Sung, Lisa, the peeps who are still students or just out of school - skipped out of the very end of the reception, as Hye-Sung and I had set up a very important visit to our favorite Ottawa all-you-can-eat awesome sushi restaurant.  Priorities: we've got them.

So imagine our surprise upon arriving at the conference venue the next day, seeing the vodka luge sitting outside, on a sculpture/bench.  That implied that somebody took it home and then hauled it to the Library and Archives building early the next morning.  Which is a fabulous thought.  And that somebody: Supervisor Greg, Canadian National Treasure.

A Typical February Day in Canada

Day three in Canada: blizzard.  But nobody really cared, everything went on an usual.

Since the crew at the International House of Pancakes was letting us stay with them, I decided that it would be proper for me to take care of the snow-shoveling, while they were all at work/school.

After the show shoveling, Lisa and I headed to the Rideau Centre for some shopping-mall wandering and then to the Moulin de Provence for Obama Cookies and croissants.

Ice Skating with Lisa and Saori

Lisa and I arrived early to Ottawa, a couple days before the conference, so that I would have time to meet with Supervisor Greg (so we could go over our talk together before we actually gave it for real).  That meant that there was plenty of time for ice skating.

On the Rideau Canal.

Lisa gets ready (her favorite color is red).

All skated-up and ready to go!

What do you eat while you ice skate?  Why Beavertails, of course!

After returning our skates (I had a spectacular Superman-style wipe-out ten yards from the skate return - hateful toe picks) we headed up to Parliament.

(Lisa.)

Two days later, another photo conservation friend - Saori - and I went skating.  The delightful Hye-Sung was invited, but she declined, saying that she wasn't "strong enough" at the moment.

Saori takes off from the skate rental!

Saori is currently a second year grad student at the Buffalo program, so you'd think she'd be used to the cold.  Perhaps, but a concerned friend lent her this gigantic coat!

Of course!  You can't skate on the canal and not eat one of these.  (Anyway, they're better when it's cold out.)

In Which I Return Briefly to Canada. Again.

At the very end of January I found myself headed back to Ottawa, Canada.  Again.

Happily, during this venture into the Great White North I did not end up with a broken car and a trashed computer hard drive.  It certainly was snowy though: there was a little blizzard during the middle of the week.  In case you're wondering - nobody cared.  They just went about their regular business.

 

I and my grad school classmate and fellow photo conservator Lisa stayed with the old roomies at the International House of Pancakes.  Where I took the opportunity of photographing this 'Cake of Angels' that somebody was about to bake.  The French/English boxes never fail to amaze.

Lisa was pretty entranced by the Ketchup flavored potato chips.

 

In all actuality, Lisa and I were in Ottawa to attend our second Winter Meeting of the Photographic Materials Group (PMG)of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC).  Our first experience of the PMG Winter Meeting was two years ago, in Tucson, Arizona.

This time, no longer a student, Former Supervisor Greg and I gave a talk about the big treatment project I completed during my year in Canada, while I was working at the ThinkTank.

 

Because it was the big every-two-years photograph conservation conference, guess who else was in town, come all the way from Paris?


Hye-Sung!

Trapped in Canada

As you may recall, I went to Canada. Not for a year, like last time, but just for a short visit - a conference visit.

The annual meeting of the Canadian Association for Conservation of Cultural Property was held in Ottawa this year. Living in Ottawa and working in conservation, I had heard a fair bit about the special session on public outreach that was planned for the conference, and I was very interested in attending. It also gave me a good reason to go back to Ottawa and hang out with some old friends and colleagues.

A group of Young Conservators, all former or current interns at the ThinkTank, after the conference attendees dinner at the tony Chateau Laurier.

I went to check out the Pop Life show at the National Gallery.

Can you believe that I worked here? (at the National Gallery of Canada)

I had business at the ThinkTank as well. They had just hosted two big workshops (related to the CAC conference) and had their propaganda booth set up outside the staff lunchroom.

Hold up! Who is that wearing the respirator, doing something crazy?

And now for the trials and tribulations:

Crazy stuff always happens whenever Supervisor Greg and I are in the same place. Saturday morning Green Car (my car) died in the parking lot of the ThinkTank - where I was supposed to be giving Supervisor Greg a lift to a garage, where he could pick up his own car. Anyway, as it turned out, Green Car was not driving anywhere on its own power. The Canadian version of AAA was called and Green Car was taken via tow-truck to the garage. Later in the afternoon, during the conference's afternoon break, the diagnosis came. The fuel pump was broken, and I'd be in Canada for at least three more days until Green Car was up-and-running.

That very evening, my Little White Computer died. It made a froze, made a funny clicking sound, and died. I laid on the floor and sulked. The next day I walked it down to the Apple Store in the Rideau Center, where the Geniuses proceeded to confirm my fears. Totally dead. Hard drive failure. Wahhhh.

On the positive side, the car-breakdown gave me a bit of a surprise holiday. I got to visit the National Gallery, go to the movies, hang out with my old roomies, and do a bit of shopping.