Trans Canada Trek Towards

Part 6 of 9

Quebec is a world in a and of itself. Their history in Canada is something to really be proud of, I think, not only for the French, but also for the rest of Anglophone Canada. Unless you've been there, there is no possible way you can understand the extent of their pride in their province. Pictures may say a thousand words, but they don't express the emotions or the pas- sions of the people who live there. How many countries in the world these days can boast of two nation- alities that have lived together under one government peacefully for so long? Sure, there have been squabbles, but any family has those.

Our first night in Quebec, we camped just outside Quebec City in Pont Rouge, so we could visit the city early the next day. We decided that we would take the trip around the Gaspé Peninsula, as we may not get the chance to do so for a long time. Quebec City was great,

especially the old part. We weren't |

really sure if anything would be open as it was a Sunday, but most things were. What a difference from Ottawa. We stopped at an informa- tion booth and I got a booklet with a self-guided walking tour of the city, but we didn't have time to do all of it — we wanted to continue into Gaspé by the end of the day. So we went and saw the Citadel, a huge star-shaped fortress that the British built when they defeated the French in 1759. The Citadel was completed in 1831. It cost $5- for students to get in, so we went. I fig- ured it was one of those historical things one has to see. We saw the changing of the guard inside; it is one of the only active British mili- tary forts that uses French as it's

.:page [18] October 29, 2003:.

main language.

Then they gave us a guided tour — we weren't allowed to explore on our own. That took about an hour, and it was a very ff interesting tour. We head- ff ed for the Gaspé | Peninsula that afternoon. As we were driving . along the St Lawrence River, I noticed that the farms were in long skinny strips, like they used to have a long time ago so that all the farm- ers could have access to the river for irrigation. I doubt that each strip was individu- ally owned like it once was, but there were still signs of the old ways with really long furrows, maybe twice as long as a regular field and twice as narrow with short hedges in between. I felt like I was stepping back in time on the Gaspé. The next day we drove to the town of Gaspé and had lunch. We saw a lot more of the little pic- turesque fishing towns. We figured. this would be a great place to write the great Canadian novel. We got out of the car and took some pic- tures of some little Inukshuks that some people had made. They were very good — we had seen lots of them through Ontario, but the rocks here cleave at right angles, so it makes straighter and better Inukshuks. I also found a cool piece of mudstone with ripple marks in it.

UPEI: Quebec

It is very fragile, though, so we had to carefully wrap it in a towel and place it between boxes in the back.

That night we camped near a lighthouse, which would have been cool if it was actually work- ing. They only use it for emergen- cies. When we were looking for a place to stay, we stopped across the road from this place to see if it looked all right. The woman who worked there across the street was waving us over cheerily, so how. could we say no? When I went to get some firewood, I told the man at the desk that the campground is very beautiful, and he said proudly that he had built it all himself and did all the gardening. It was a very nice spot. That night we saw the aurora borealis, plus lots of satel- lites and falling stars. The next day we crossed the border into New Brunswick. _

Jane's Addiction Returns With Strays

Strays is Jane's Addiction third album— their first in thirteen years, but I must admit, I never really heard of them before this. Consisting of lead singer, Perry Farrell, bassist, Chris Chaney, gui- tarist Dave Navarro(aka Mr. Carmen Electra) and drummer Steve Perkins, Jane's Addiction came out with two albums in the late 80's and early 90's and are best known for the song, ‘Been Caught Stealing.’

They headlined the original Lollaplooza in 1991 and then promptly called it quits afterwards. But, who remembers that? Hell, I can't remember what happened five minutes ago. ( I think I might have a problem...) Fast forward twelve years, the lads have regrouped, and are back on tour to promote Strays. Their first single, ‘Just Because’ was all over Much Music the latter half of the summer and | couldn't get it out of my head. (I still can't.) Curious, about the album, I bought the bullet.and picked it up, hoping it wouldn't stink— it doesn't. Strays is melodic, funky and heavy, some- times all at the same time. From the moment Farrell yells, "Here we go!" at the beginning of ‘True Nature' it is full steam ahead. The band sounds tight, especially Navarro whose guitar soars on songs like ‘Price I Pay,'‘Hypersonic,' and ‘Just Because.' The album also has a way of switching gears: at times it's bluesy, as in ‘Wrong Girl,' and then funky with ‘Super Hero.' The only time the band real- ly slows down is ‘Everybody's Friend,' an

-acoustic song, which is one of the better

tracks on the album.

The more I listen to Strays, the more it grows on me; I can't compare it to other Jane Addiction records ‘cause I haven't heard any of their other material. What I do know is, this album is strong, from start to finish and it rocks! So if you have some extra change kicking around and are looking for some new music, new Jane's Addiction might be the cure to what ails ya. hs