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Nash and I head out on this tour with Alex, my pal Diesel's owner and computer whiz. Alex works with Nash for the summer so Nash can learn more about computers and Alex can learn about Nash gear. Things go well when Alex is on board. Babylon is Nash's favorite club in Ottawa, the only nation's capital in the world that's hard to find and harder to get to. All the highway signs in eastern Ontario read in small print: "Ottawa thataway". The Nashferatu Tour continues. We are returning to a club that Nash first played in March and we are anticipating a good crowd. Nosferatu has been well received in Peterborough and Toronto so there's no reason things shouldn't go well in Ottawa. Tom joins us from Cornwall, so now there's Alex, Nash, Tom and I along for the tour. We get into Ottawa on the Tuesday afternoon after a let's-just-make-a-holiday-weekend kinda weekend. They justify it by calling it Lord Simcoe's Weenie Roast Day or something like that. Things are quiet in Ottawa this festive weekend. Too quiet. I take a dump on Parliament Hill, nothing happens. I take a pee in the Rideau Canal. No cops, no tourists no nothing. I take a dump on that same guy's parking lot like I did in March, and all hell breaks loose. In Ottawa, it's smart to stay away from foreign territory where they see us canines as a source of food. Babylon is a very cool club. Nash likes it, I like it, end of story. Adam, the owner is a very laid-back and sincere person. With Luke as the promoter, everything goes well. A new and excited crowd of Nash and silent film fans show up to make it a great evening. They give Nosferatu a standing ovation. At load-out time it begins to pour. The rain never lets up as we pack the equipment and make the one hour drive to our home base at Tom's place in Cornwall. Ottawa is a great city to finally get to, and Babylon is the place to be. Wednesday we relax in Cornwall and tonight we make plans to explore some different clubs in Montreal. The gig planned in Montreal for Thursday has been postponed until a better date can be arranged. Meanwhile, tonight we drive into Montreal to check out other clubs. Nash still likes Jailhouse the best. We scour the downtown area of Montreal. There are humans and dogs everywhere. It's eleven o'clock at night and the humans are still friendly! No fights. The loud words are those of encouragement and camaraderie. A very energenic city without pretense. The french vibe is infectious. Infection everywhere: on my paws, on my derriere, this town is wild! Nash drags me out of some doggie web-cam place and we head back to the quiet life in Cornwall. We spend Thursday doing laundry and playing in the river. This is the mighty St. Lawrence River, reduced to a wide stream by the existence of a large island that is known for its smuggling and native uprisings. It's nice to take in the local scenery on a day off. Digger |
