Bowyer’s Bite-size Blogettes

Bowyer’s Bite-size Blogettes

Alex Bowyer  //  A British thirtysomething living in Montréal, Canada, with interests in people & society, technology, science fiction, films, travel and getting the best out of life.

Can also be found blogging at alexbowyer.blogspot.com and tweeting as @alexbfree.

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Nov 9 / 8:50pm

My first swim in Canada

I'm a keen swimmer. But that doesn't mean the same thing in North America as it does in the UK, or even to everyone back home, so I better explain - I love to go to the swimming pool, cruise up and down at my own pace and let my mind wander. If I'm feeling particularly indulgant I might even relax in the jacuzzi (spa/hottub) or steam room afterwards. I'm not a competitive swimmer and have no interest in lap times or personal bests. For me, it's a pleasant thing to do that has the happy side effect of giving me some regular exercise.

Which is why it's really sad that I haven't been swimming in Montréal since I moved here 9 months ago. The thing is, in Canada, it's not so easy to just "go swimming". In the UK, the normal way to go swimming is to turn up at a public pool, at pretty much any time you like (save for a few swimming classes or women only sessions when it is not available), pay a few pounds admission, and go swimming.

In Canada, it doesn't work like that. Almost every pool (including the numerous "public" pools provided by the city), require memberships fees - usually around $50 (£30) a month, plus a similar joining fee, after which you can have general access at most hours. If you want to keep yourself "unaligned" to any particular pool, then you can come during the pool's "public" hours.. Typically 1-3 hours each day are assigned as open to all (all Montréal residents that is). And during that time it's free to swim. The catch? These "free" hours are not particularly convenient. At the downtown YMCA where we went today, the free hours are 2.30pm-4pm and 8.30pm-10pm. ie no use at all if you want to swim (a) before work, (b) at lunchtime or (c) after work. Canada, your swimming system sucks!

To read some more about my first swim in Canada you can read the full post here.

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Filed under  //  canada   montreal   swimming  

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Oct 4 / 11:03am

Just how empty is Canada?

via statcan.gc.ca

I recently discovered this map showing which parts of Canada are inhabited. Ecumene means "inhabited earth". The green parts are the main inhabited parts of Canada, the red parts are small pockets of civilization outside the main areas, and the grey and white areas are completely uninhabited! I think it's an incredible visualization of nature's dominance over man in Canadian land use. If you'd like to read more about this, you can read my blog post exploring just how inaccessible much of Canada's wilderness is.

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Filed under  //  canada   civilization   land-use   population   travel  

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Jul 31 / 8:54pm

I know you want to be Canadian :-)

via youtube.com

Just came across this amusing video which Canadian singer Julia Bentley did with Andrew Gunadie to celebrate Canada Day earlier this month. It's silly but fun! Check out the lyrics:

Yeah I know that you wanna be Canadian, please
Even if in winter things tend to freeze
We've got the world monopoly on trees
And our country's bordered by three different seas

Yeah I know that you wanna be Canadian, please
We invented the zipper, we've got expertise
We made insulin to combat disease
Yeah I know that you wanna be Canadian, please

CHORUS
Brits have got the monarchy
The US has the money
But I know that you wanna be Canadian

The French have got the wine and cheese
Koalas chill with the Aussies
But I know that you wanna be Canadian

Et si ce n'était pas assez
On a deux langues officielles:
L'anglais et le français
Ooh la la

Yeah I know that you wanna be Canadian, please
Where else do you find mounted police
Or go to the hospital and not pay fees
Yeah I know that you wanna be Canadian, please

And when freshwater is in high demand
We've got the world's largest supply on hand
So you know that we could make a pretty good friend
But it's even better if you can be...

CHORUS

So you're thinking to yourself,
"How do I live in this beautiful country?"
Well we've got some steps for you to follow...

STEP 1: Lose the gun
STEP 2: Buy a canoe
STEP 3: Live multiculturally
STEP 4: You're ready, there is no more!

We got beavers, caribou and moose
We got buffalos, bears, and Canadian goose
And we're sorry about Celine Dion
But she did do that good song for James Cameron...

CHORUS
Brits have got the monarchy
The US has the money
But I know that you wanna be Canadian

The French have got the wine and cheese
Koalas chill with the Aussies
But I know that you wanna be Canadian

The Greek chilled out with Socrates
Can't build a wall like the Chinese
But I know that you wanna be Canadian

In Kenya they have safaris
We've missed lots of other countries
But I know that you wanna be Canadian

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Filed under  //  canada   funny   mounties   music   video  

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Jul 15 / 9:42pm

Canadian mobile phones = extortion & blackmail

Every time I get my phone bill I am shocked by how much they rip you off here in Canada.

Even though US & Canada are essentially the same network (both +1 country code) you still get charged ridiculous roaming charges for using your Canadian phone in the US - $1.20 a minute for an incoming call! And $1.25 a text message.

But it's not just when you go abroad. Month to month I get charged an additional $30 a month on top of my plan for data. And if you want international text messages they're extra too? Paper bills? it'll cost you? Being able to use make cheap calls from 5pm instead of 7pm? That's extra too.

And I have to pay $3 a month for the privilege of being able to use call forwarding (which I need to be able to use an alternative voicemail service to theirs - which is crap but costs $10!

The worst thing of all though, is that they purposefully surpress incoming caller information (ie the number that is calling you) and don't display it unless you pay the $10 for voicemail + caller display.

The information is already there (as any European will tell you), they must have actually invented technology to surpress it to extort more money out of you.

I call that blackmail!

And I think I'm going to have to pay it because not knowing who's calling is a real inconvenience e.g. in meetings - you don't know if it's important - so you have to take it every time. 

Grr.

     
Click here to download:
Canadian_mobile_phones_extorti.zip (406 KB)

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Filed under  //  canada   mobile-phones   money   telephony  

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Jun 1 / 9:10pm

Brand new buses in Montréal

It seems a lot of money is being invested in public transport in Montréal at the moment. Not just the roll-out of hundreds of pickup stations for Bixi (the community bike scheme) across the city, but 300 new STM buses as well. I got to try one out tonight when we were catching the 535 at Guy Concordia. There was an STM official who stopped the queue boarding the 535, flagged it on its way, and beckoned up a brand new bus which was approaching behind, which we all boarded. I think we may have been literally the first paying passengers to board, it was completely spotless and everything was shiny and clean. I don't think I've been in any city where they invest as much in public transport - and not only is there a really good network, it runs on time too. I can catch the 51 to Snowdon metro from the end of our road every 6 minutes at peak times, and the timetables are so accurate that I can plan journeys down to the minute even when changing from bus to metro to bus and back again. Enjoying the public transport lifestyle very much, and it seems to be helping me lose weight as well.

   
Click here to download:
Brand_new_buses_in_Montreal.zip (1393 KB)

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Filed under  //  bus   canada   society   transport  

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Jun 1 / 8:09pm

Québec local music promotion

On Sunday evening we rented a car from Communauto (a great alternative to owning a car in Montréal). I noticed that each Communauto car comes with a Québec-government sponsored CD of local emerging bands & musicians. There were actually some really good tunes on there. Just thought it was interesting, there seems to be a strong trend of supporting anything local here. Which is fine.. just not something you always see.

     
Click here to download:
Quebec_local_music_promotion.zip (2168 KB)

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Filed under  //  canada   local   music  

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