Escaping London

As previously mentioned, I used this weekend to get some much-needed time off from being in London. I mean, I've been here a week, so I obviously needed a break.

So, off I trotted to Hamilton, Ontario, which is one of my favo(u)rite cities in the world. This is Hamilton:


At first glance, Hamilton might seem just as lame as London, but this is not the case. London is a lame rich town filled with lame rich people and approximately eight gazillion girls in tiny dresses carrying Coach purses and getting wasted every night.* Hamilton, on the other hand, is like what would happen if Detroit and Cleveland had a Canadian baby. I realize that probably doesn't sound very awesome to you, but I happen to think there's merit in a city that's not afraid to be dirty and kind of ghetto. Going to a city like Hamilton is like stepping into reality. I dig that.

Plus, Hamilton is the birthplace of the Canadian punk movement, and has maintained a vibrant and veritably kick-ass music scene ever since. The only musician I know from London is Basia Bulat and she is a snooze-fest (OK, Caribou is from London too, and he's totally great, but he lives in the real London now. You know, the one in England, so I don't think he counts). Hamilton, however, is home to Electroluminescent, A Northern Chorus (who, sadly, no longer exist), and one of my personal favorite bands, The Rest, whom I went to go see on Saturday.

The Rest, I think, don't get near enough credit for being as awesome as they are. They are on the up-and-up, though, as evidenced by this video they did for La Blogotheque:

The Rest - Modern Time Travel - A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.

The show itself was pretty great, if a little short (it was part of a festival. You know how that goes). They played a lot of their new stuff, which was exciting. Every time The Rest put an album out it's way better than the last, so, needless to say, I'm looking forward to the next one. Also, they waited to start until after the Hockey game was over so that 15 lesbians, my uncle and I (aka the entire audience) could cheer on the Hawks (GO HAWKS!!!). I can't speak for the lesbians, but my uncle and I appreciated the gesture.

The Rest:

My uncle:


Awesome!

*Just because I own tiny dresses and Coach purses (and enjoy getting wasted) does not mean I want to live in a society dedicated to these things.

How Awesome London Is: Part 1

This is London:


As you can see, it is an awesome city surrounded by awesome farms, most of which belong or have belonged to awesome people I am related to. This is not particularly surprising, as most of the old London families are related (particularly the Catholic ones, because there are fewer of us). Luckily for me, my mum's parents are from Newfoundland and Ireland, so I am not completely inbred.

I haven't lived in London since I was five and my family moved to Battle Creek, Michigan, which is even awesomer than London. In Battle Creek, all us cool kids would go hang out in the Toys 'R' Us parking lot at night because it was the only thing to do. Yep, pretty awesome.

Here are some facts about London that my parents told me as a child:

- Frederick Banting discovered insulin here. (NOTE: This is not actually true. He discovered insulin in Toronto, which is, in fact, an entirely different city. Pretty close though.)

- Basketball was invented here. (NOTE: This is not actually true. It was invented in Massachusetts. James Naismith, the guy who invented it WAS from Ontario, but he was from a suburb of Ottawa, which is, in fact, an entirely different city. Pretty close though.)

- Michael J. Fox used to spend his summers here and hang out with my mum. (NOTE: This is not even remotely close to true.)

As you can see, my parents had to lie to me as a child to make our home town sound cooler, which was totally superfluous because London is super awesome.

Tomorrow I am going to celebrate the awesomeness of London by leaving it to go to see a band I like (see video) in Hamilton, which is, in fact, an entirely different city.


Awesome!