... with CANADA. Yes, the whole country. This Valentine's day found me spending most of the day at the National Art gallery in Ottawa after walking through heavy snowfall. I swear that some of the snowflakes that fell on my jacket looked , well, just like the exact geometric shape of a snowflake (in minature). It was wonderful. I caught a free tour of the standing exhibition and spend most of the afternoon checking out Canadian art, Quebec historical art and Inuit (Eskimo) art, which were all impressive collections before rounding out with my old stomping grounds Monet, Renoir and Van Gogh. One of my favourite Inuit works was called "The Woman who Killed a Bear with a Mitten". I tell you, those Inuit girls must be tough.
Afterwards, I met Phillipa from Nova Scota for dinner and then on to the Canadian Improvisational (Improv) games at the National Arts Centre. I was excited about my first viewing of Canadian professional theatre. It seems I might need to wait awhile yet. I hadn't done my research properly. It turned out to be a regional schools competition. Once we got over the surprise we had a terrific time. I had forgotten how much energy teenage actors have and they were overall very talented. For the uninitiated, improv acting involves making up a scene on the spot with only certain "clues" or indicators. One of the best involved a team being presented with the themes of "ädoption" and "uncertain". They made up a whole comedy sketch based on the idea of a kid being adopted into the Cirque du Soleil "family" and being required to perform a tightrope routine. The kids also took a stab at Winnipeg, the Maritimes and Saskatoon areas of Canada, much the same as we would pick on people from Darwin or Tasmania.
Afterwards, Phillipa and I went to a Scottish pub which was surprisingly unpopulated, boasting the largest selection of whiskey I've ever seen and all the staff wore kilts. Dedication seeing as though none of them had knees worth showing. There were two guys playing who were very talented, Shawn and Andreas, playing guitar- if you're in Ottawa, catch them Wednesdays at the Highlander pub and they played a range of music from originals about combi vans to Van Morrison and Johnny Cash. After my second scotch I told them I had falled in love with Canada and was unexpectedly treated to a group hug by them and Phillipa. I don't think that qualifies me for residency but it was really nice.
On the way home in the snow, I treated (suffered) Phillipa to a rendition of New Zealand's favourite song, "Slice of Heaven" (remember Footrot Flats or google it if you don't). She even joined me in on the chorus, "Öh love shines o-ver my horizon, she's a slice of heaven (slice of heaven) Oh moonlight o-ver my horizon she's a -slice of heaven- bah da da dooda, bah da da dooda, bah da da dooda, da da dah da".
In turn, she taught me to fall flat on my back onto 2 feet of fresh snow on the pavement and make my first snow angel by waving my arms. She even did it with me. It's the equivalent of going to school on the first day and finding a new friend to share your lunch with, which goes to show you are never too old or too responsible for silly stuff. Either that or Nova Scotians can't hold their Scotch. Just kidding Phillipa and thanks for the lend of your laptop to write this post.
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