Toronto, Lesbians and Communists

On my way back from that sweet paradise that is my girlfriends arms and the hellish place that is Michigan, I stopped for a few hours in Toronto to visit a friend. We are going to China together. He was just there and so we swapped stories from his trip there, my trip to Brazil, life and some things from way back. He had a friend there who just finished his studies in philosophy, but I don't think that is what we talked about. Toronto is a nice city and it is funny to realize that because all you hear in Montreal is that it is a horrible place with no life, no fun, and clean streets. What I saw is a lot of awesome looking restaurants, people that are really pretty fun and a nightlife that did seem a bit expensive. I really like their tramway.

We went to a weird bar because of a misinterpretation somewhere. We went to a lesbian folk show or something of the kind. Everyone was wearing plaid, hip haircuts, curved shoulders, big glasses. As more and more lesbians kept poring into the front door entrance I felt increasingly out of place as one of only 3 straight guys in the room. The music was odd with a big French horn/piano/drum player mixed with a banjo playing, hick looking little tiny women that sang like a 6 year old. She had a frail and emotional voice and sang things like "our hearts are really awkward". We left immediately after the end of the show and following a joyous discussion on the French porch I left knowing that everything would be fine in China.

Another 6 hours in the bus and I was in Montreal at 7 am. It was cold and rainy, just generally Montreal in the spring. People are not kidding when they complain about the weather here. I went for a great breakfast with my roommate who is just one of those people that is in high demand for coffees and breakfast because she makes them so enjoyable. She says thing like "I feel","I sense", "I apprehend" etc,. She is a great person. Later I had diner with my cousin. We had pork loins. It was very good, and I also watched some hockey with her. I guess I could have stayed longer, but i got nervous and left. My friend was supposed to call me and he hadn't. So I walked through Rosemont on the empty streets for about an hour. When i finally got home he called me and I had to leave the house again.

A mutual friend is a big Communist. I am not so friendly with him actually, but he is a friendly guy. He is from Columbia and my friend fears that he might get killed by right wing militias upon returning to his country. We got there and there weren't so many people. It was in a slightly dirty house in Hochelaga. Beer was 4 for 8$ and we took 2 each. People there were incredibly geeky. I listened to 2 people have a discussion about Star Wars game for like 10 minutes. People were signing these Communist songs like the international, in English and then in German! It made me realize how much you have to live in a different reality to be a Communist in Canada in 2010. It is a religion with rituals, tenets, an unattainable paradise, and all those things.

We left the religious folks and went to Le Cheval Blanc on Ontario. It was half full and the bartenders were playing country music that night, but the right kind of country. I told them they were turning the place into Saint-Hyacinthe. It took them a while to understand me. Then I told them I was from NewBrunswick and suddenly they were like "A c'est ça l'accent"... Il avait de la misère a me placer. There was a girl there with us and she was from Peru. I thought my friend was hitting on her, but then he told me she was a lesbian. So that was that. We had poutine at the Banquise, felt bad about it, hopped a cab, got home fell asleep.

Music of the night: Big in Japan, Tom Waits
LCD Soundstystem: New York I love you but you're Bringing me down