Friday, August 04, 2017

The Bourgeon Book

The Bourgeon Book is a product of the renowned local nonprofit Day Eight, and draws on dozens of interviews, poems, and essays by artists that originally appeared in Bourgeon, the organization’s literary magazine. The book was originally published in 2013 to praise from local media and former Kennedy Center president Michael Kaiser. A recent grant from the National Endowment for the Arts has allowed Day Eight to produce an expanded e-book version featuring nearly twice as many essays from painters, dancers, authors, sculptors, and poets across D.C.’s vibrant, multicultural arts community—a community that has never been more necessary or mobilized.

Robert Bettmann—Day Eight founder, general editor of The Bourgeon Book, and Brightwood resident—is an artist himself, and a worthy representative for this city’s creative populace. Robert is available for interviews and can speak with eloquence and expertise to some of most pressing issues facing our city today: What role can artists play in modelling community and solidarity, in D.C. and elsewhere? How can collaboration between local artists serve as a model for greater community mobilization? How will D.C.’s arts scene rise to the occasion as the local creative resistance to an arts- and diversity-averse administration?
While the arts and arts journalism continue to free fall along with the global economy, the model innovated by Bourgeon is clear. Perhaps it is now, as it always was, that the artists will lead the way.” 
                              –from the preface by journalist Leonard Jacobs

Call for proposals

Artists wishing to be considered for an exhibit in the Howard County Arts Council (HCAC) galleries are invited to submit a general exhibit application. The HCAC Exhibits Committee meets quarterly to review applications and select artists for the exhibit space. Artists, ages 18 and older, working in all media and styles including time-based and installation artists, are encouraged to apply either individually or as a group. The Committee also welcomes proposals from curators and organizations.
 
Detailed entry guidelines are available in the Exhibit Opportunities section of the HCAC website at hocoarts.org, for pick-up at the Howard County Center for the Arts, or by mail by calling 410-313-2787 or emailing info@hocoarts.org. The next deadline for submissions is Sunday, October 1, 2017.
 
HCAC manages two galleries at the Howard County Center for the Arts with over 2100 square feet of exhibit space. The HCAC gallery program was established to enhance the public’s appreciation of the visual arts, provide a venue to exhibit the work of local, regional, and national artists in a professional space, and provide leadership in the arts by presenting a broad spectrum of arts in all media from both emerging and established artists.
 
HCAC presents 11-12 exhibits per year of national, regional, and local artists, including two-person, small and large group, juried, curated, and community shows.
 
Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10am-8pm, Saturday 10am-4pm, and Sunday 12-4pm. To learn more about HCAC programs and exhibits, call 410-313-ARTS (2787) or visit hocoarts.org.  

Thursday, August 03, 2017

Save the date: Bootcamp for Artists


Early heads up!


On September 30, from 2-4:30 pm, The Brentwood Arts Exchange and I will be once again hosting my well-known “Bootcamp for Artists” seminar at no cost to the artists.



This seminar is suitable for all visual artists interested in taking their careers to the next level.



Ever wondered how to maximize the attention your work gets from the press, galleries, and museum curators? How to present your work in a professional manner and save money in the process? How to tap into grants, awards and residencies? How to approach a gallery?



Then this is the seminar for you! This program is free, but space is limited to 40 persons, and last year lots of artists were turned away because it filled up so quickly!


As soon as they start taking reservations (and I will announce that soon), I recommend that interested people reserve early, as this seminar always books up very quickly!



This program will be held in MNCPPC’s Brentwood Arts Exchange on the 1st Floor of the Gateway Arts Center, 3901 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, MD 20722, just over the District line on Rhode Island Avenue.



See ya there!

Wednesday, August 02, 2017

Opportunity for Artists


DEADLINE TO APPLY: Saturday, September 9, 2017



The 2017 Prince George’s County Juried Exhibition, presented at the Brentwood Arts Exchange
 
Eligibility: Splash: Attitudes and Process is open to all artists 18 and over who live, work, study, or have an art studio in Prince George’s County, MD
 
DEADLINE TO APPLY: Saturday, September 9
 
Featuring a purchase prize awarded by the Prince George’s Arts and Humanities Council
 
Full guidelines and applications online at: m-ncppc.submittable.com
 
Applications will only be accepted online. No other forms of application will be accepted.
 
Splash: Attitudes and Process seeks artworks that embody attitude and style. Attitudes are catalysts for new processes and new ways of making. Creating with style and intention reveals an artist’s point of view. This exhibition celebrates all of those things.
 
Juried by Ginevra Shay, Artistic Director of The Contemporary Museum, Baltimore; Curator of Rose Arcade; Founder of Current Space Community Darkroom and Photo Program.

Tuesday, August 01, 2017

John Aquilino at Artists & Makers

The “Metropolis” series is a new body of work by DMV artist John Aquilino that combines his "interest in cityscapes with my past professional experience as a 3D digital artist. For this series, I’m creating virtual urban scenes working with a computer software program. The design process is enabling me to use technology to express my passion for the urban landscape and to continue exploring the relationships among space, shapes, light, and color."


Opening reception: Friday, August 4, 6 - 9 p.m.

Metropolis: Paintings and Drawings by John Aquilino
August 4 - 30, 2017

Artists and Makers Studios 2 (main gallery)
12276 Wilkins Avenue

Rockville, MD 20852

Monday, July 31, 2017

Artists' Websites: Chirstine Kaiser

Once again, later this year we're trudging to Chicago to participate in the SOFA Art Fair... showcased at that fair, will be work by the DMV's Lori Katz, myself and Illinois artist Christine Kaiser.


See her work here.

Even death dies

 “That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons, even death may die."

      - Stephen King... Revival

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Business of Art Workshop

On Saturday August 12th, Artists & Makers Studios is hosting Wendy Rosen and Carolyn Edlund, who run the Arts Business Institute out of Baltimore for a 2-day ABI workshop at Artists and Makers Studios 2 (Wilkins in Rockville).


Details here.  Register now and get real world help in advancing your art career!!


There is also a expert panel between 11:45 and 12:45, and I'm honored to be part of the panel, along with DMVC uberartist Michael Janis.

9:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. The New Marketplace – Wendy Rosen
10:45 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Creative Marketing – Carolyn Edlund
11:45 a.m. – 12:45 p.m. Lunch – Expert Panel Discussion
12:45 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Pricing for Profit – Wendy Rosen/Carolyn Edlund
2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Sales Strategies for Artists – Carolyn Edlund

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Press Outreach Toolkit

HCDC + Gateway CDC with the support of MSAC are developing a Press Outreach Toolkit that will offer Gateway Arts District stakeholders the ability to access an online, nationwide press/media contact database called Cision.
Mon, Aug 7, 7pmPyramid Atlantic Arts Center
Thur, Aug 17, 7pmGateway Media Arts Lab
Sat, Nov 4 2pmBrentwood Arts Exchange

Friday, July 28, 2017

Save the date!


Thursday, July 27, 2017

Another Campello at auction

This just showed up in the Internets at auction! Check it out here.



"Faerie." c. 1999 Charcoal on Paper by F. Lennox Campello
"Faerie." c. 1999 Charcoal on Paper by F. Lennox Campello

Chesapeake Gallery Call for Entries 2018-2020

Deadline: August 15th, 2017

The Chesapeake Gallery at Harford Community College, located in Bel Air, MD, is excited to invite artists, artist groups and curators working in any medium or format to apply for our 2018-2020 exhibition seasons! Artists and/or curators are responsible for the transportation or shipping of all artwork to and from the Chesapeake Gallery.

There is no application fee or commission on sold work. Please visit the website below for more details on how to apply!

www.harford.edu/chesapeakegallery.aspx (OR) Google Search: Harford Community Chesapeake Gallery; E-mail questions to Brad Blair: bblair@harford.edu

Residency in Mexico

Deadline: July 30, 2017


A FREE artist and writers residency located on Lake Chapala, Mexico. International visual artists, writers, playwrights, photographers, dancers, new media makers and musicians can apply. No Entry Fee. Details: http://bitly.com/2sCtJ9e

Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Application is now open for the VMFA Fellowship Program

Full eligibility criteria, how to apply instructions, and a printable flyer can be found at www.VMFA.museum/fellowships
 
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts Fellowship program is a vital source of funding for the visual arts and art history in Virginia.  VMFA is committed to supporting professional artists and art students who demonstrate exceptional creative ability in their chosen discipline and, as such has awarded nearly $5.5 million to Virginia’s artists since the program’s creation more than 76 years ago.
 
The VMFA Fellowship program was established in 1940 through a generous contribution made by the late John Lee Pratt of Fredericksburg, Virginia.  Offered through VMFA Statewide, Fellowships are still largely funded through the Pratt endowment, and supplemented by gifts from the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation and the J. Warwick McClintic, Jr. Scholarship Fund.  The Fellowship program has a long and established history of supporting Virginia’s artistic talent and has helped to further the careers and studies of many distinguished individuals, including recent recipients Brian Davis of Springfield, Matt Eich of Charlottesville, and Aimee Joyaux of Petersburg.
 
VMFA offers $8,000 awards to professional artists, $6,000 awards to graduate students, and $4,000 awards to undergraduate students.  Applicants may apply in the disciplines of Crafts, Drawing, Film/Video, Mixed Media, New/Emerging Media, Painting, Photography, Printmaking, Sculpture, and Art History (graduate students only).  All applicants must be legal residents of Virginia and student applicants must be enrolled full-time in degree-seeking programs. Applicants’ works are reviewed anonymously by distinguished jurors and awards are made based on artistic merit. 
 
The deadline for Fellowship applications is 5pm Friday, November 3, 2017.

Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Monday, July 24, 2017

The DMV's Darius Frank is the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series Grand Prize Winner!

WHAT: Opening of a special art installation in collaboration with CREATIVE TIME for the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series
WHERE: Dock 5 at Union Market | 1309 5th St. NE, Washington, DC 20002
WHEN: OFFICIAL PUBLIC OPENING: Free & Open to the public daily on July 29-30 from 10AM-6PM RSVP LINK for the public:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/opening-celebration-for-darius-franks-things-i-loved-registration-35576817218



BOMBAY SAPPHIRE® Gin has announced that DC-based emerging artist Darius Frank’s first public art project Darius Frank: Things I Love/d. The exhibition will be free and open to the public at Dock 5 in Union Market in the artist’s hometown of Washington, DC on Saturday, July 29 and Sunday, July 30, 2017 from 12PM to 6PM. 


The project was developed in collaboration with NY-based public art nonprofit Creative Time for the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series, an annual competition committed to discovering the next big name in visual arts. The organization acted as an advisor to Frank on producing a public work of art in a medium that is new to the artist. The exhibition was commissioned as part of 7th Annual BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series national grand prize, which Frank was awarded in December 2016.
ABOUT THINGS I LOVE/D.  
Through a multi-media art installation, Frank looks at the histories, culture, and communities of Washington DC over the past 35 years; a time when Washington DC, like many cities across the country, has experienced rapid change. In a public exhibition that takes both a nostalgic and honest lens towards the past and present, Frank uses individual storytelling and testimonials as a vehicle to give personal texture to things lost and loved by former and current residents of the community. A multi-channel video installation juxtaposes candid and vibrant tales of what each storyteller used to love about "old DC" alongside the things they might appreciate about the "new DC. The resulting stories traverse the changing eras of metropolitan regions, and weave a human narrative of evolution with universal resonance.

ABOUT ARTIST DARIUS FRANK
Darius Frank (b. 1987, Bethesda, Maryland) is a Washington, DC-based artist whose work explores human connection and expression. Through his practice, Frank seeks to contribute to a greater representation of black Americans in contemporary spaces. Primarily focused on figurative painting and illustration, Frank celebrates the individuality of his subjects while illuminating a shared, universal humanity. He received a BFA in Graphic Design from the Art Institute of Washington in 2009, and his work has been exhibited at Art Basel, Miami; Artloft, Washington DC; Big Chief, Washington DC; and Artomatic, Arlington, VA. Frank is the winner of the 2017 BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series Grand Prize, and the resulting exhibition, Things I Love/d, will be his first large-scale public exhibition.

ABOUT THE BOMBAY SAPPHIRE ARTISAN SERIESLaunched in 2010, the Artisan Series is an annual arts competition committed to discovering the best emerging visual artists. Over the past seven years, the Artisan Series has received more than 26,700 submissions from emerging artists across North America and has precipitated hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales for artists over the program’s history.   

“Developing my first-ever solo exhibition in my hometown has been a dream come true,” says artist Darius Frank. “Before winning the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series, I never imagined I’d have the opportunity to debut a work of art on a national scale, and collaborating with BOMBAY SAPPHIRE and Creative Time pushed my creativity to new boundaries. Allowing my neighbors to become storytellers through this exhibition is a message that I look forward to showing the rest of the country. I hope that this incredible opportunity can inspire other emerging artists to take a chance and get involved with this program that truly fosters talent.” 

BOMBAY SAPPHIRE VP, Brand Managing Director Tom Swift adds, “Our goal for the BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series has always been to champion artistry by reinterpreting how it can be experienced, and we look forward to catapulting the competition to even greater heights through this collaboration. We are excited to see Darius’s vision come to life, and we’re proud to be a part of such a tremendous moment in the career of a talented emerging artist.”

The BOMBAY SAPPHIRE Artisan Series fosters the talents of emerging artists through a nationwide search for the best up-and-coming names in visual arts.  Each year, thousands of artists are invited to enter the competition by creating and submitting a piece of inspired, original artwork online and then move on to regional gallery events across North America. The works of 14 artists are selected from the gallery events – with cities including New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Miami, Chicago, Atlanta, Austin, New Orleans, Detroit, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Philadelphia – while two additional finalists are determined online via popular vote. These sixteen artists move on to the finale in December at the SCOPE MIAMI BEACH ART Show where the Grand Finale and First Prize winners are announced by an esteemed panel of judges and People’s Choice winner is selected by the event attendees.

Sunday, July 23, 2017

Brewski-ng

Lenny Campello with a pitcher of Garrison Beer in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Saturday, July 22, 2017

Humorous Art Call

If you or anyone you know is making work relating to humor in the DMV, in any medium or configuration, please contact Spencer.

He is  planning a show in October! send your website or images to: spencer@smithcenter.org   - More details to follow. 

I'm rooting for Ellen (Jing) Xu

From Hamiltonian:

Hamiltonian Artists is proud to announce five new, distinguished 2017 Hamiltonian Fellows to join our existing group of artists.  We are pleased to introduce:
The 2017 Hamiltonian Fellows were selected from a competitive pool of 158 very talented artists. The External Review Panel, comprised of six art professionals, evaluated every application and gathered to discuss each artist based on criteria regarding artistic merit and relevance to today's art world.  We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the panelists for their generosity and enthusiastic support of this endeavor:
  • Sarah Workneh, Co-director of Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture
  • Justin Plakas, artist and educator
  • Billy Friebele, artist, educator and Hamiltonian alumnus
  • Clara D'Alba, curator
  • Blair Murphy, curator and Managing Director at DC Arts Center
  • Carlyn Thomas, Director at Terrault Contemporary 
Artwork by all five new fellows will be on view in the debut group exhibition new.now., opening at Hamiltonian Gallery on Saturday, September 23 from 7-9 pm.   

Thursday, July 20, 2017

The curious case of Porter Airlines

The Lyft driver arrived a few minutes early, and I was glad, since I am one of those worry worts who's always at the airport two hours early. Since this flight was an international flight... well to Canada anyway, but America' s hat is still an international flight... and because D.C. area traffic is always a challenging variable, I was aiming for a three hour window to Dulles.

We arrived there in plenty of time, and the ride also offered Anderson and I the opportunity to study the massive concrete bunkers being built for the Metro extension to the airport. 

"Won't the Metro trains smash into those wooden fences?", asked Anderson pointing out the temporary fences on the elevated platforms. Once I pointed out to him that they were not permanent, he observed that in the future he could brag that he saw the Metro extension being built,  maybe when they were "falling apart (in the future)."

With this dark foretelling in the air, we breezed through airport security and headed to our gate. Our flights were on Porter Airlines, a Canadian company, and one which was new to me. The flight was scheduled to depart at 2pm, and thus we had over two hours to lounge around in iPad crack house. 

About an hour into the wait, a Porter flight crew arrived. At first I thought that they were our flight crew, but quickly discovered (they sat around us, so I could hear their conversations) that they were a crew which was being returned to Canada, and were thus flying as passengers.

Porter Airlines flight attendants are a throwback to 1960s stewardesses. Not only in appearance, but also in demeanor. The little round, cocked pillbox hat, always at a rakish angle, a pleasant visual surprise.

But this was a full flight, and it was clear (from the conversation) that the four crew members had consumed the last open seats, but were one seat short. As departure time approached, the begging began for someone to trade their seat for a $300 (soon to be escalated to $400) voucher and a ticket on the next flight at 4pm something.

No one bit and no one accepted the offer. From listening to the returning crew conversations, I think that what happened was that this returning crew was being sent home early as they were needed in Toronto to fill in for another crew. But this flight was almost full, and Porter was one seat short. 

The passengers, as usual, were a diverse group, with a lot of Canadians clearly returning home, a lot of Muslim families (women in hijabs, men in western clothes), and  a lot of American tourists. I say tourists because I suspect that nearly all of the Clinton voters who threatened to move to Canada if Trump won are either already there making trouble for Trudeau, or reneged on their self-exile promises.

But no one took the offer.

As 2pm passed, the offer turned into a threat to having to kick someone off the flight. An intrepid ticket holder pointed out that, because this was an international flight, the kicked out person would be owed $1000 dollars - "US not Canadian," noted the sudden sea lawyer.

I don't know how this issue was resolved, but eventually we were loaded into the Bombardier Q400, a handsome Canadian-built prop plane, and at around 2:30 or so, we began to taxi to the departure runway. 

15-20 minutes later, we were still in taxi mode, when the pilot announced that we were going to be waiting for a few minutes because a storm was approaching. As the temperature outside was in the high 90s, and the air conditioning in these Bombardiers apparently doesn't kick in unless the engines are full on, it was really super hot while we waited.

Soon the pilot announced the real bad news: all flights had been grounded due to the weather, and he had to turn the engines off to save gas. "We missed our escape window," I thought, thinking of the 30 or 40 minutes wasted trying to find the Porter crew one last seat.

Over three hours later, and two engine starts and stops to cool off the broiling plane, we began the trek back to the terminal. "The company," noted the pilot," feels that in view of the weather, it is best to return and wait it out at the terminal."

As we approached the terminal, another 10 minutes expired in our precious time window to make our connection in Toronto (we were heading to Halifax), but with a sigh of relief... three things happened.

First, the pilot noted the bad news that there were no open gates available to disembark; and I wondered why that wasn't coordinated before he started heading back to the terminal and lost his place in the departure line. Then he announced the good news that we had been given clearance to take off! The mysteries of 21st century travel decision-making gather another set of examples.

Lastly, using my cell phone I noticed that the airline's website noted that our connecting flight had been also delayed as Porter tried to make time for connecting passengers to arrive. "The company," once again noted the pilot, "is fully aware that there are a lot of you making connections!", he reassured us.

Another precious 15 million minutes passed as we made our way back to the runway, having lost our place in line, and finally became airborne. The irony of the case of the kicked out passenger doesn't escape me. He/she was now probably on the runway line, just a few minutes behind us, with a voucher of either $400 or $1000 bucks in hand -  if the airport lounge sea lawyer was correct.

Once airborne, Porter's wonderful throwback status is confirmed when the crew starts passing out free snacks, free drinks, free wine in real glasses, and free Canadian beer, an awesome Steam Whistle Premium Pilsner!

We landed in Toronto at Billy Bishop Airport - a cool, over the water landing, and because of the connecting flight's own delay, making the connection was still a possibility. Hope hung thick in the air.

But the plane stops before it reaches the terminal and the pilot comes on again. "Folks," he says in that voice that all pilots on the planet seem to share, "we're gonna have to wait a few minutes while they make a gate available to us, as they're all full."

40 minutes later, we deplane. We actually descend down a ladder and walk to the terminal gate, and I wonder why we needed an "open" gate... since we landed near a gate and then walked to it. Couldn't two planes, properly spaced, share a gate, since he passengers are walking to it on the ground? but who's gonna argue with Airport logic.

And then we zipped through Canadian customs, and walked and walked to our domestic gate, hope still alive. As we had cleared customs, I had informed Anderson that we were now "officially" in Canada. He misunderstood my meaning and runs back to the other side of customs, and yells: "Now I'm back in the USA!" The customs officers give him a dirty look and shoo him away.

Arrival to the security area for local flights reveals the fact that we had missed our flight. "Took off about 8 minutes ago," we were advised. All those minutes, in hindsight wasted on the taxi runways of Dulles, and then waiting to deplane in Toronto, have come back to bite us in the ass.

Somehow, by accident, I managed to jump the rapidly growing line of disgruntled passengers waiting for the airport Porter staff to assist them. "You've been booked in the 10 am flight tomorrow," advised the nice and very, very young Porter lad assisting us. "Can you put us in a hotel?", I asked. He picked up the phone and began to talk to someone whose job is clearly to say no.

"It was weather related," he advised. We were on our own, Porter was under no obligation to pay for a room, or assist in any way.

Finding the exit was not an intuitive task, and we decided and then followed signs simply marked "Toronto"  (not "airport exit") and walked and escalated what seemed miles of electric stairs and moving platforms, where Anderson wanted to race me as they were pretty empty of people for some odd reason. 

I don't trust free airport WiFi and thus I turned on my own WiFi jet pack and begin to search for a hotel room. A few minutes later, an alarmed text message comes across my WiFi jet pack: I have just exceeded $50 of data usage! We quickly also discovered that this weekend there's some sort of Grand Prix race in he city, and thousands of racing fans have booked most hotel rooms; and things begin to look bleak.

With the assistance of an outfit called Airport Accommodations, who first informs me that all the discounted rates for stranded passengers have been booked already, I grab the first available room - about $200 at the Comfort Hotel Downtown and grimace as I turn my jet pack back on to book an Uber, as there's no Lyft in Toronto.

Billy Bishop Airport is a very cool small airport, and in spite of the seemingly endless miles of moving walkways (there's a tunnel between the airport entrance building and the departure areas), once you get your bearings, quite manageable. The entrance is literally in the city and you can essentially walk out the airport building, cross the street and have a kabob or a pizza or check into a hotel... if any rooms were available, that is.

20 minutes later, in a nice ride through this most beautiful and architecturally eclectic city, we arrive at 23 Charles Street East. The Uber driver has free candy and gum and bottled water in his car, so Anderson naturally loves him!

Five stars!

The hotel in under construction... "This is a spooky place," notes Anderson as we make our way to room 703. It is not that bad actually... and there seems to be an interesting decor idea aimed at using bare plywood as a decor focus - on purpose! The furniture in the room, the shelves, the tables... but I also notice the nice walk-in shower and the rainfall water faucet.

We leave our luggage in the room, chat a little on the phone (95 cents a minute) with a very alarmed mom waiting for us in Halifax, and head out into downtown Toronto, past 9pm, to get dinner. 

The giant TV in the room hasn't gone unnoticed, and Anderson asks if we can bring our food back to the room and watch TV while we eat. The little guy has been a trooper through the day's saga, and so I agree, hoping that his mom will never find out, and yet fully knowing that he'll rat me out as soon as we get back with her in Halifax.

A wonderful two or three blocks of a gritty neighborhood greets us - ethnic, tiny restaurants of all ancestries dot the streets, a cigar shop boasting that they specialize in Cubans, a Hemp shop... tons of hipsters trying to look like seedy characters and beautifully adding visual spice to the area, impossibly slim-as-rifles young girls doing selfies in front of the Biscuit Lane sign in front of our hotel entrance, and a few hookers here and there.

My mouth waters at the ethnic restaurant offerings... but we need quick and fast and take out... so we end up at... sigh... Popeye's.

Anderson gets nuggets and Mac 'n Cheese as a side. I get chicken wraps and coleslaw.... I let him fill his included drink with Sprite, hoping that he doesn't rat me out for that as well... but he will.

On the walk back I convince him that the only reason that I let him have Sprite is if he doesn't give me any grief over taking a shower. To my surprise, he agrees; there will not be war over a shower tonight.

Back in the room, we discover that there isn't a single kid show at 10pm, and the smart TV's YouTube channel is too difficult to navigate with the remote control, and so we quit attempting boobtoobing while we eat. He also doesn't really like the Popeye's chicken nuggets because they're "covered in granola." I point out to him that it is not granola, but the battle is lost immediately.

I grimace as I log on to the hotel's free WiFi, fully knowing that millions of viruses and malware may be lurking in the RF, and we FaceTime with the still very alarmed mom - after all, Anderson has been under my tutelage now for nearly three days!

The shower goes unexpectedly easy; he loves the rainfall and demands and gets more shower time.

Afterwards, I use the hotel surprisingly nice minty lotion to rub his back and legs and arms... good trick for putting a kid to sleep. We unpack his "guys", which he meticulously counts, and he hits the sack. He reverts to being a little boy in a strange city and strange bed, and asks me to "snuggle with him a little," which I do. A nanosecond later he's asleep.

Outside, loud drunks are clearly having an open door party in the next room, and I push away the temptation to join them... and the partying goes on until three am or so, but, once he's asleep, nothing disturbs Anderson short of a small nuclear device going off nearby. I don't really mind the partying noises, other than some guy with a disturbing cough that would eventually keep me awake; he really should get that checked.

I shower in the glorious rain shower and once again grimace as I re-join the hotel's free WiFi (did I say earlier that these are generally a breeding ground for Malware?) and schedule an Uber for 7am the next morning. The flight is at 10am, but the hotel's Russian-accented check-in girl has planted fear in my heart about getting to the airport in less than an hour. "With all the people leaving the city for the weekend," she advises, "and with all the race fans..."  I wonder why the weekend exodus wouldn't be a Friday start like everywhere else, but her warning resonates in my pedantic, "never be late for anything" Navy training.

I sleep haphazardly, jealous of Anderson's deep sleep, and wake up half an hour before the alarm - another Navy trait. 

Shit, shower and shave (still in Navy mode here); wake up the little guy; He brushes his teeth, and I get him packed and dressed in record time. Just before we leave the room, I ask him to go pee one last time, but he says he's good, and we are downstairs and ready for Freddy by 6:55am, which is when Anderson tells me that he needs to use the bathroom.

Since the lobby is under construction, there's no bathroom, and thus the nice man at the desk gives our room keys back and we trek back to our room, where the little guy does his business and we're back waiting for Uber in no time.

The hotel has apples, and muffins, and yogurt and some bars at a breakfast bar, and I stock up for the flight as the little guy scarfs up a muffin.

Uber arrives, nice man from India with a cross hanging from his rear view mirror. He tells me that when his wife was about due, they drove to the US so that his son could be born in the US and be a dual citizen. The kid is now a sophomore at university and studying Math. I heave an internal sigh of relief, as we really need more American math majors.

In spite of the hotel clerk's warning, there is no traffic, and we arrive at the empty airport two and a half hours before the flight. We had been issued new boarding passes the night before and thus we head directly to the security check, which is blissfully empty. We load all of the carry on stuff onto the conveyor belts, take the iPads out, remove all contents from pockets, and since in Canada the boarding pass check is apparently done there, we hand the security lady our boarding passes; she scans them and it beeps red.

Oh, oh.

She directs me to run back to the Airlines ticket check-in counter and tell them.... since it is still deserted, and since the counter is about 20 feet from the check point, she tells me to leave all the stuff on the belt, leave Anderson there, and go get new boarding passes.

"I will keep an eye on him," she says in a Russian accent, and I notice that her name is Irina.

I run back to the counter... by now some passengers are beginning to trickle in... but I explain the situation and jump to the head of the line. After some conversations between two airline agents, they issue me new tickets and I run back to Irina at the security check.

I hand the security lady the new passes; she scans them in... and they beep red again. By now there are 3-4 people, and their carry-ons... behind us, waiting for the luggage and scanning to get through the security check point.

The puzzled security lady then abandons her station and runs, with my tickets, to the airline counter. I apologize to the people waiting behind us, and it becomes clear to me why the TSA does this part "ahead" of this conveyor belt X-ray part.

Irina returns with new tickets; they scan green, and everyone is happy; she rocks!

When we get to our gate, to my surprise, I discover that Porter Airlines has a very nice waiting lounge, fully equipped with free bottled water, espresso, latte, regular coffee, etc., Walker's Scottish pure butter shortbread, and granola! And real dishes and coffee cups with saucers! The seats are comfortable and padded, and electrical outlets are all over the place, and there are several cleaners constantly picking up coffee cups, dishes and cleaning up.

Porter gets some props back.

I also discover that there are multiple flights earlier than our 10 o'clock flight heading to Halifax. Since we're there two hours early, I inquire to see if the nice airline lady can get Anderson and I on an earlier flight. She looks, but tells me that none of the flights have two available seats.

I sigh, but have to listen to her logic, and walk away. Subsequently, flight after flight departs for Halifax, and I notice a curious and repeating thing: in every departing flight,  as the plane, visible from the waiting lounge, gets loaded with passengers, there are calls for multiple passengers who have not boarded.

"... this is your last call," warn the loudspeakers, "plane doors are about to close." After the second occurrence of this, I approach the airline lady once again, and ask if my son and I can board the plane instead of the missing passenger, since there are empty seats now, and leave in the earlier flight.

Some airline logic dictates no, and flight after flight leaves on time with missing passengers and empty seats while we wait for our 10 o'clock flight.

Our flight, of course, leaves late... but Porter Airlines has free beer and wine. Anderson could care less, he's in iPad heaven, and I've packed plenty of good things for him to chow down on. Seated in front of us is a mother, traveling alone with three children of varying ages and dispositions, and I marvel at her kid-handling skills. Whoever you were, Canadian super mom, I tip my hat to you.

There's a stop in Montreal, or was it Ottawa? no change of planes, but we have to move seats, and thus we relocate two rows behind... airline logic again.


The flight to Halifax is without incident, we scarf up the free snacks, juices and beer, and we finally arrive, a day late and around $400 less, to one of the most beautiful places on the planet.