Toronto to Perth

While we're out here, we had to hit a Maple Festival. It seems to be a staple for Ontario and Quebec this time of year, just not in the areas we've been in up to this point. So I had to make a point of getting to Perth's Festival of the Maples, the last festival I could find. And sandwiched between Toronto and Ottawa, Perth seemed like a good place to stop and try to find some small-town life off what one might think is the busiest route in Canada.

We ended up out here last night, and found a motel. There are a few bed and breakfasts, but anything affordable on our budget is booked or closed this weekend. This morning we headed down to the festival, the bulk of which runs along the main street. Besides the various maple producers, they've got booths for Green Party and some local social causes. We ended up talking to Jackie Seaton, a potter who creates and donates stoneware bowls to the Empty Bowls program to promote awareness of hunger and child poverty in the community. www.emptybowls.ca You can buy a bowl of gourmet soup and take the bowl home, and money goes towards the Perth Food Bank. It's a nice example of people putting their talents to good use.

So after getting some footage of Ukrainian dancers, Scottish pipers, crowds of people, and a quick lesson in tapping maple trees, we're going to try to make our way back to Toronto, where we've left our packs with Lyle, Neil's second cousin, and then on to Hamilton. There is no bus running today though, so wish us luck . . .

Ottawa to Toronto

Ottawa was over too quick. It was great to see Heather again, and here's hoping she comes back out west sometime before the fall, or we end up out east again by some miracle. But we had to keep moving on as the song goes. On to the centre of the world.

Toronto has always been something of an enigma for me. As a Vancouverite, I'm caught up in the anti-Toronto debate (hell, as a Canadian from somewhere other than TO I'm caught up in that debate . . .) I'd been there once as a kid, so it didn't really count, and I couldn't form any opinion on personal experience. And now having spent a few days, I wish I could stay longer. It's actually a cool city.

Yes, I'll give you that it's crawling with businessmen and women, and it's loud and busy and a lot like any other big city when you're standing on some street corner staring up at a maze of skyscrapers, taxis flying around, and people rushing by. But it's not dirty like New York, not really insane like London. I guess it's not yet so big as to overcome itself. It's just big for Canada. And you can take a wander down to the waterfront and suddenly it's all nice and peaceful. There's even an island with regular ferry service if you really want to get away from it all. Not that we made it that far. We took a quick break, checked out the view, and headed back into the fray.

Three days in any city or town is really not enough to do it justice. So attempting to do TO in that time felt ludicrous. Or worse, pointless. But we ended up exploring a sub-culture with wide-reaching influences. A sub-culture that touches celebrities, bikers, carnies, students, grandparents - even the endless businesspeople. We ended up in a tatoo parlor, where one of Neil's relatives works. We even got to film one lucky guy getting tattooed. I've never been one for tattoos or piercing - I had my ears done as a kid, and that was as much pain as I needed to inflict on myself. But after a day in there, I might have been convinced if I coulda figured out what design to get done. And the interviews were awesome. We even got a former mermaid who'd travelled with a carnival one summer.

And we also made a quick stop at the CBC to interview one of the executive producers. Arnold Amber has won three Geminis, is president of the CBC branch of the Canadian Media Guild, and Director of The Newspaper Guild Canada. Not only cause I'm hoping to try to sell the documentary to the CBC at some point, but mainly because I'm interested in media in a wider scope. This guy is part of the backbone of all media in Canada, and I wanted to know his opinion on how people are getting their news, what news they're getting, where it's coming from. It wasn't the usual interview, so I'm not too sure yet how it's going to fit in, but hopefully we'll find time to be self-reflective at some point.

Montreal to Ottawa

Well, we're back hanging out with Heather in Ottawa. Montreal was a bit of a bust, but with the rest of the footage we've got in Quebec, I can't feel too bad. Besides, Montreal always shows up in Canadian documentaries, I want more off the beaten path. So, yeah, that's why I'm in Ottawa again. Right . . .

Well, we didn't really do too much last time, so this time we popped in to the parliament buildings and did some filming. Got some nice shots of the city from the clock tower. And got to sit in and watch a bit of halfhearted debating. No cameras allowed there, and I can kinda understand why. They might be afraid that Canadians would see how unimportant these meetings/debates appear to be to our elected officials. We came while a Conservative was going on about things we'd heard a million times during their campaign. Nothing new. The Speaker (who wasn't even the usual Speaker, he was just sitting in) was texting someone on his cell phone. Or playing Snake. And not really listening. Then a Liberal got up and launched into a long, winding speech that tried really heard to make some good points, except it was really badly written, and the woman was not a speechmaker. While she was trying to get her points across, someone went up to the Speaker and they had their own little conversation. No one was listening. To anyone. The speeches had next to nothing to do with what other speeches were about. It seemed completely and totally pointless. Oh, yeah, there was maybe 20 people there all together. Granted we couldn't see the NDP from where we were. But still. It was sad. These people make too much money.

Anyway, after being completely disillusioned by the government, we went to the pub. There I got into a really cool conversation with some students about this film, and Canada and how everything fits together.

Chicoutimi to Montreal

I could have stayed longer in Chicoutimi, but time is pushing us onwards. We interviewed such a range of people - the director of ELFCQ, the French Language and Quebec Culture School at the university, several independent filmmakers at the local film co-op, some hippies smoking joints in the park . . . it was really cool. I would defiantly recommend heading away from the obvious tourist spots of Quebec and heading into lesser travelled areas. Not just Chicoutimi, that was as far as we were able to make it this trip, but farther north, or farther up the river. It is awesome.

We headed for Montreal next, and after a long bus ride, I was not feeling well at all. I'm not too sure what got me, but it probably just boiled down to the nonstop travelling. We got into Montreal, and couldn't get a hold of the guy we were hoping to stay with, and then found a hostel, and then got a hold of the guy. But by that time, I didn't want to do anything but lay down and find a nice state of unconsciousness, and the hostel was only a block or so from the bus station, so we went there. It was kinda scary back there, not the best hostel we've stayed in, but then, most places near the bus station or train station are usually not in the best area and aren't the nicest, cleanest or safest. This did not stop me from falling into that nice state of unconsciousness as soon as my head hit the pillow. So thanks again to Neil, who did guard duty and slept with one eye open, watching the gear.

Montreal has not been the best place to get interviews, either. We had some success at McGill, but it's exam time, so most people are tucked away studying. We didn't get much from the shops we went in, though we did get a couple of people in a sex shop. And really, isn't that quintessentially what Montreal seems to be known for throughout Canada? Sex shops and parties. Maybe if I'd have been in more of a partying mood, we'd have been more successful, but I'm not sure how good the sound would have been anyway . . .

Rivière-du-Loup to Chicoutimi

So I feel kinda dumb today. I'm gonna blame it all on sleep deprivation.

We got up before dawn, got all packed, showered, even ate breakfast, then got outside and waited for the taxi. And waited. And waited. And started freaking out cause the ferry was gonna leave in like 20 minutes, and the taxi we'd ordered the night before still hadn't shown. So I ran inside and called and freaked out in French (thankfully the guy understood English or we'd probably still be in Rivière-du-Loup) and the guy said the taxi would be there soon. Actually, it was pulling up as I stepped out the door. And we made it to the boat with 5 minutes to spare. Except there wasn't anyone around.

We sat inside this little booth for a few minutes, and I was again getting antsy. Then some people walked past towards the boat, and one of them noticed us and motioned towards the boat. So we got our packs back on and headed on board. Still no one around, and the people we'd seen were gone. But at least the boat wasn't gonna leave without us. We settled in and waited. And waited.

It took me half an hour to realize the clock behind the desk was an hour behind the clock on my cell phone. We'd changed time zones between New Brunswick and Quebec, which I'd completely forgotten about. The worst thing was that we'd missed out on an extra hour worth of sleep - something we really could have used. But it was all worth it in the end. While I was staring out at the St. Lawrence bemoaning the fact we were awake, I noticed this white thing that looked kinda like a seal. Again, I blame it on sleep deprivation. It turned out to be a beluga whale, and there were a whole bunch of them. So we ended up with about 20 minutes of whales on tape. Totally awesome.

We ended up in Saint-Siméon before noon, and had hours to kill before the bus showed up. So we decided to walk up to the restaurant. Let me reiterate how much I need to start hiking again. I was hot and sweaty and exhausted to start with. Then we walked an hour uphill with 50+ lb packs. All I wanted to do was sleep by this point. Instead we had a few hours still to kill, so we ate a long leisurely brunch.

The bus took us to Chicoutimi by way of Tadoussac. It is absolutely gorgeous in that area. We had the opportunity to get out and explore a bit when we changed buses. There's a park that overlooks the town and the river and the mountains across. It's a view to die for. I'll have to figure out how to post the video online at some point. Absolutely amazing.

The journey through the mountains to Chicoutimi was beautiful as well. It actually reminded me of travelling through BC with the trees and mountains. It's amazing how parts of Canada can look so similar to each other and be so far apart.

Upon arriving in Chicoutimi, we hadn't exercised enough, it seems, cause we decided to walk to the university where Jonathan's place is. We're crashing at his place tonight - another guy we've met on couchsurfing.com. Again, it's all uphill to get to the university. I must admit though: I love Chicoutimi - beautiful scenery, beautiful river, beautiful people. We were trudging uphill and a guy pulled over on the other side of the road in the middle of traffic and called to us in English to see if we wanted a ride. Man, I don't know who you are, but you restored my energy that day. I would have gladly taken him up on the offer, but we were a block from the campus by that point. And I'd just spotted a karaoke bar. And we still had about 4 hours to kill before Jonathon got out of his class. Yeah, today was all about killing time. So we thanked the guy but declined his wonderful offer, and instead opted for cheap drinks and cheaper poutine. Tomorrow we'll do some work - today's all about getting where we need to go without completely killing ourselves.

Fredericton to Rivière-du-Loup

We left the Maritimes today and made it back into Quebec. In some ways, the trip didn’t feel quite complete - we didn't see the Bay of Fundy, missed Magnetic Hill, didn't see the little fishing villages or the rocky shores. However, the people we met were amazing, and the interviews were awesome. So really my problem is that sometimes I start thinking like a tourist and not like a filmmaker. In the end, our main reason for doing all this wasn't to see the highlights, but get some kind of understanding of what the place is all about. And I think we got close to that.

And the good sign is that I'm not stressed right now (which is surprising for me). It could be because I'm still slightly hung-over and crashing off sugar and cake from last night's party at Ewan's, but I'd like to think it's cause I'm excited about the footage we've gotten. I can start to see how it fits together. Here's hoping it looks the same when we get to the editing . . .

I have one last observation - there was a huge amount of public works going on in New Brunswick. Maybe it's just that time of year starting up, but we seemed to pass a lot today. Two bridges being built, a team repairing or rewiring or re-something some telephone poles, a crew putting up a whole bunch of reflective fencing along the road. For whatever reason, that comes to mind.

We got in to Rivière-du-Loup and decided to walk up to the hostel. Up being the operative word. I don't mind all the time spent on the bus, but I am really gonna have to do some hiking when I get back home. We lugged our packs up a big hill, then kinda wandered in what we hoped was the right direction as the sun vanished. We met a couple people along the way, and through our broken French, managed to find out we were heading the right way. And finally made it here, where we discovered we have to take the 8 am ferry if we're gonna catch the bus to Chicoutimi. As we're only going to get about 5 hours sleep, I'm gonna crash.

Halifax to Fredericton

Well, we said goodbye to Nova Scotia. But we got to see Ewan again. He's awesome, and he arranged to get us two games to film. In our eternal struggle to find unique people across the country, we are now going to film and interview gamers. And not just any gamers, these guys are into LARP (live action role playing). This will be new for me, I've only been around the table-top type.

But first a day to regroup and repack (our extra stuff was sitting right where we'd left it - I think I was kinda hoping it would vanish. Well, maybe not the tapes, but really, I don't think we're gonna need snow pants anymore. I hope.)

I also got the chance to finally update a bunch of these posts, though it will probably be a bit before this one makes it on the blog. It'll be nice when it's finally all up to date.

Friday night we got to hang out with some Werewolf gamers and film them playing. We left the mic adapter behind, so interviews were out of the question, but people were fairly busy playing anyway. I still have a hard time interrupting people if they're doing something to bug them for an interview.

And Saturday we got all we could hope for. NERO runs a fantasy LARP game over the Easter long weekend at an acreage. They were having tournament type jousting when we arrived, and we filmed a bit of that, and interviews with some of the players. We also got an interview with the reverend who put the game on and owns the land. Then Neil decided he's gone through enough withdrawals, and headed over to the NPC (non-player character) shed to get a costume and weapon. If people show up and want to play just for a session, they can be NPCs, usually minions of a villain or other lesser enemies that get killed off in a fight. Which is what happened to Neil, he played a mummy and got killed off in the battle. But it was fun, and when 25 people step out of the forest like it's the 15th century where they came from is awesome. Actually, I think I'd like to see something like this set up back home. And we also got a group interview with a couple of paladins, a few dark elves, and a bunch of assorted fighters.

And Ewan got some more awesome interviews for us. We spoke to two women who'd been living on the streets in Vancouver, and their perceptions of the cops and the situation. And we got to interview another friend, Sarah, who was really cool. She also makes a mean cheesecake. She came over for dinner, and then we had desert, and then we got drunk and made a huge giraffe/pig creature out of pink balloons. It was a lot of fun, really great night. And there were a bunch of other people who ended up coming over, but I totally can't remember their names now. Ewan, help me out :)

Ferries and buses to Halifax

After a night of attempting to sleep on the ferry and a 7 hour bus ride, we are in Halifax. The extra days in Newfoundland have bitten into our time in Nova Scotia unfortunately. We'd been hoping to stop again on Cape Breton Island to see Werner, but we ran out of time. And we won't be able to make it to Peggy's Cove. But we've seen a lot of stuff off the beaten path, which I think is more important.

And we've gotten some cool interviews in Halifax. We started with the mayor, who spent much of the time poking fun at Neil. I'm no more of a morning person than Neil is, but apparently Neil showed it more that day. But the mayor quite impressed me, he seems pretty cool, has a bunch of editorial cartoons about him spread out under glass on a table in his office. He also picked up some litter while we were outside doing his interview. He was more formal than the mayor of Bonavista, though.

And we also got to interview the guy who started the Propeller brewery, and got to tour the place. Neil's been going on about Propeller since we got to Nova Scotia, and I must admit their London Porter is really, really good. So in a land of Alexander Keith's, we stuck with the better tasting truly Canadian. (Alexander Keith's is actually owned by Labatt, which is owned by Interbrew, a Blegian brewer. Yeah, you try and list as many national Canadian-owned companies as you can.)

Anyway, we stayed with couchsurfers Breagh and Nathan, who let us take over their living room for a couple of nights. They were really cool, but pretty busy at the time. But they pointed us toward a great breakfast place run by an interesting Greek family. Cool place, good food. And a coffee shop we kept meaning to check out, but didn't get the chance.

And we met another couchsurfer, Robert, who gave us a great interview about life, the world and everything. I wish we could have stayed longer, but we had to catch the bus, and in the end we were waiting at the wrong bus stop anyway. Finally after watching buses go by in every direction but ours, we wandered over to another bus, and got enlightened. So we were really late getting back.

Bonavista and heading for Nova Scotia

Well, we came to Bonavista thinking we'd stay a night, and take the taxi back the next day, and be on the ferry for Nova Scotia that night. Yeah, right. We ended up three nights, cause this place is just too beautiful. I'm consoling myself that I'll be back here again someday.

The bed and breakfast we're in is a five minute walk to the ocean, and a 15 minute walk to the lighthouse. We first figured we couldn't leave til we saw that, hence the first extra night. So we headed out there in the morning. It was like the backdrop to my fantasy script. Huge waves crashing against black slabs of rock, little windswept islands. At one point we could see huge needles of rock jutting up from the ocean further down the coast, almost lost in the spray and fog. I'll have to post pictures here when I finally get home. It was spectacular. It's the first thing to remind me of the northern coast of the Outer Hebrides in Scotland.

Anyway, as we were heading back to town, a couple asked us if we wanted a lift. They took us on a tour to the waterfall and cave, some nearby villages, and the town. Then Ray mentioned he could take us all along the peninsula to Trinity the next day if we'd still be around. We couldn't pass that up, hence another extra night.

That night we met up with the guys we'd met on the taxi. Did some interviews with their friends, and drank, and hung out, and had a lot of fun. And I actually won a game of pool, which does not happen often.

So the next day we ended up with Ray and his wife again, and got to see the villages along the coast. Trinity was beautiful. I'd heard about a theatrical troupe run by Donna Butt, who was awarded the Order of Canada for keeping the culture alive. She wasn't around unfortunately, but again, I gotta come back.

And that night we ended up interviewing one of the most successful people in the town, who's about to open an elderly home. We also got to interview the mayor, which was awesome. She had a lot to say about everything from tourism to sealhunting.

And today we've left Bonavista, heading for Halifax. We have an hour taxi ride to the highway, then about a 12 hour bus ride to the ferry. But they have movies! We've watched Miss Congeniality 2 twice and the Wedding Planner twice. No, not the one with Adam Sandler, the one with JLo. No, she can't act, and she really doesn't help a 12 hour bus ride . . .

St. John's and the taxi ride to Bonavista

We kinda picked the wrong time to be in St. John's to get the fisherman's perspective on camera. About a month ago Paul and Heather did their thing about the seal hunt on Larry King Live, and now the sealing season is about to go onto high gear. Most of the boats have already left - it apparently takes over 24 hrs to get out to the areas where they actually hunt. Anyway, of the boats that were still around, we got lots of cold stares when we went too close with the camera. Which I can't blame them for, there's a big protest planned for this Saturday, and protesters have already been getting in the way of the fishing boats, and it's a dangerous job without the excess people in the way. Though we did manage to get an interview with one guy on the boat he was working on. We told him what we tell everyone - he could talk about whatever he wanted to, if he wanted to mention the seals, cool, if not, cool. So when he talked about fishing, he mentioned seals as just part of the industry. Very down to earth, very reasonable. Not some mad, wild-eyed, crazed basher of fluffy things. Just a guy who actually has a job in his own province. Which is more than can be said for most people in Newfoundland.

We took a taxi to Bonavista yesterday and when it broke down on the way, we met a couple of guys from the area. Actually, the breaking down part was kinda funny. I figured in four months of travelling, something like that would have to happen sooner or later. First the guy was late picking everyone up (it's a regular taxi service that leaves St. John's everyday at about 1, or in this case, 2). About an hour out of St. John's, the driver mentioned he'd been having some problems with the alternator, but he was sure it would be fine. About an hour after that, the van died while attempting to chug vainly up a small hill. So while we waited for the other van to come give us a boost, I interviewed one of the guys by the side of the road. He was really cool. Had a rather cynical outlook, but then he has to go to the other side of the country in order to find work that will pay enough so he can come back home and spend time here. He's one of many heading out to the boomtown of Fort McMurray. And yet, Newfoundland is sitting on its own deposits of black gold and natural energy, but it's not able to reap the same rewards because of bad business and politics. It seems a premier made the bizarre decision to sell off the natural gas (or some other natural resource - I must watch the interview again) to Quebec, who in turn is apparently selling it to the States. Quebec is making a crapload, Newfoundland made a lump sum back in the 70s or whenever this happened, which probably seemed good at the time, but now looks like the cat’s breakfast. And the deal still holds today, they have another decade or something before the allotted time finally passes and Newfoundland gets back their own resource. This post is probably gonna change when I finally get around to watching the interview again. I've probably got the details wrong, but the gist of it is there.

On the upside - tourism should absolutely boom out here. Everyone in Canada should just get up and jump on a bus or a plane or get in their car and come to Newfoundland. It is so gorgeous, I can't believe it. The rocky beaches, the black cliffs, and the waves crashing against them, and the gusting winds . . . I can't do it justice. It feels like you're standing on the edge of the world looking out at infinity. It's like the most rugged tips of the Western Isles of Scotland. I love it, I want to move here. We were only supposed to stay one night, but we didn't catch the taxi back this morning, so we're here another night. Just can't leave. I can see why people keep coming back.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention - before we left St. John's we headed over to the curling rink, cause the 2006 Olympic Gold Medalist team calls it home. We were talking to the manager, trying to get an interview and see if there was any slim chance the team was in town, when Jamie Korab, the team's lead, walked in the door. So we rushed him, and pinned him down and he agreed to do a quick interview :) That was really cool. Almost makes me want to start curling actually. That seems like another way we're the oddball of the Canadian family, Vancouver has curling rinks, but they seem to be hidden, and no one acknowledges them, or the fact that the sport exists. Yet I went to Saskatoon and got stuck watching the Scott Tournament of Hearts, and then the BC team wipes the ice with everyone else. Why aren't we aware of this stuff? Sigh.

Stephenville to St. John's

We'd left Werner in the pub Friday night, and assumed he was still sleeping when we got up Saturday morning. Considering we were up at 8 and had to be at the bus stop at 10, I'd hope most people on vacation would still be asleep. We'd decided to try our luck hitchhiking from Deer Lake. (Actually I think I'd finally driven Neil crazy, and he'd reluctantly agreed. It must be hard being the sherpa - he's there keeping me sane, but no one's keeping him sane . . .)

So about noon the bus pulled in to Deer Lake for the lunch stop. Deer Lake appeared to consist of two buildings - a bas station/restaurant on one side of the highway, and a motel on the other. Oh yeah, and a big statue of a moose. Where the "Deer" and "Lake" parts fit in, I'm not too sure. But, it did appear to be the transport hub James said it was. Most of the traffic seemed to pull in there.

So while the rest of the bus went in for burgers and fries, we sauntered up to a couple of truckers (the only truckers) who were standing next to their rigs. When we asked about getting a ride towards St. John's, they told us they weren't heading in that direction. Not seeing any other option - besides pestering people in the restaurant (which really isn't an option when you're really faced with it) we headed out to the road.

I should mention that we had huge packs. Not as huge as they'd been before we dropped stuff off in Fredericton, but we were still carrying hobbits on our backs. So as cars flew past, if the drivers did acknowledge us, it was usually with a shrug or motion to show they had no room for us. Or with a wave. Thanks. That helped. And then the bus pulled out, the lunch break over, and the driver laughed at us. That was a bad sign. We'd been out there a half hour, not long, but long enough to start to think about how long we were actually gonna stand out there before we went over to the motel and booked a room for the night. And then we started joking that maybe Werner would get tired of Stephenville and head to St. John's, and suddenly a familiar looking car drove by, slowed down and stopped. As we floundered over there with our packs, Werner got out and popped open the trunk. And we continued our trip.

We'd been hoping to make it to Gander cause a guy had offered us a place to crash through couchsurfing.com (check out this website!!). We thought we'd make it there around 5 or so. Werner got us there over an hour earlier, passing the bus, most of the people who's driven past us, and the two truckers who's said they weren't going our way. Grrr. Hitchhiking in Newfoundland is not as easy and accommodating as we'd been told. Anyway, we grabbed a bite to eat in Gander, but Werner was ready to press on to St. John's, so we figured we'd take the ride and hit Gander on the way back.

The landscape of Newfoundland is amazing. It blew my mind coming in to Port-aux-Basques. The route past Stephenville was nice, though not spectacular, but Corner Brook looked beautiful. This little city hugging the mountains and the bay - I wish we could have gotten out and checked it out, but we were on the bus at that point. The long road from Deer Lake to Gander and beyond was pretty, but then we hit Terra Nova National Park, which was beautiful, and I think it was there, with the sun going down, that we saw our first Newfoundland moose. Werner slowed down, and I scrambled to get my camera going, and then we noticed it wasn't moving, and then we noticed it was one of those big provincial signs that look like moose and say "watch for moose." Anyway, we felt like idiots, but it was pretty funny at the time.

Anyway, the highway started climbing around there, or had been climbing, and then we came onto the Avalon Peninsula. The mountains weren't huge, even compared to those on the north side of Newfoundland, but the landscape was awesome. It was really dark by this point, which might have had something to do with it. There weren't any trees, just open spaces with rocky patches and dark lakes, and it looked like the backdrop to a fantasy film come to life. I have got to go back there and go hiking.

Anyway, we came into St. John's and found a B&B and then found the pubs. George Street rocked. You could stand in the middle of the street and hear rock music from one pub, a fiddler in another, country down the way, dance music from the second floor on the corner. And people spilling onto the street, which is ok, cause it's all closed to traffic. It was really like a huge party. We ended up in Trapper John's - home of the St. John's Screech-In which we didn't try last night, but watched. Something we'll have to get into before we go. Anyway, we listened to Gregg Bolger all night. He's part of the band Fuse (fuseonline.ca) but was doing a solo show that night. So far, we haven't heard any "traditional" music here, but the rock is awesome.

Anyway, today we are taking a much needed break. Part of that includes AFI’s 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award to George Lucas. I got sucked in by William Shatner's intro and the dancing stormtroopers. You have to watch it to believe it.