Warhols!

Jenni over at ThirteenEleven commented recently that I get to go to wonderful exhibitions, and she's right I do. Wherever I'm traveling I try to build in time to see something special and, hopefully, spectacular. Sometimes, though, it just doesn't work out. For example I flew out of Montreal one day before the Warhol Live: Music and dance in Andy Warhol’s work exhibition opened at the Musee des Beaux Arts.
I would have loved to see the portraits of Aretha Franklin, Liza Minelli and Debbie Harry and all the pop art but even more, something that hasn't been shown before, a private collection of album covers Warhol designed, including the iconic Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers.



Other rarities on show will be this video for The Cars as well as films and art installations. It runs through January 18 2009, and during that time, over at the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal there will be another music inspired exhibition, Sympathy for the Devil: Art and Rock and Roll Since 1967.
Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be finding myself back in Montreal that soon. Dommage!

The only way to travel...

Graceland
Originally uploaded by modernemama

I'm never ever getting on another airplane again, even if it's my own personal plane. Memphis to La Guardia took 20 hours, including two terminal changes at Atlanta, two sessions of more than an hour waiting for clearance to leave the gate, after having waited three hours to board the plane and no food or water, I had seriously had enough. All this because of thunderstorms and the fact that they cram too many flights together, so when things get delayed there's a chain reaction.
Yep, and the music and bbq vacation in Tennessee? I think we had fun in Nashville and Memphis, but I need to get some distance from the journey home to be sure.

Here's The Catch

I got a notice from NY State Department of Motor Vehicles the other day reminding me that my driver's license expires on my birthday and I need to renew it. As I don't have a social security number I have to go down to the DMV and wait in line, have my photo taken and pay $50 for a five year renewal. (I know, to Europeans this is a bizarre idea. There you take a test and if you pass you are pronounced competent to drive- unless you have an accident or injury you are set until your crusty old age, and they don't fleece you $50 bucks every few years either).
But, whatever, you do what you have to do. I gather my 6 points of ID necessary to get my new license, plan a trip to the Dept of Social Security to get a letter that states I am a legal alien and an appointment at the hairdresser so I don't look like an alien when they take my photo for the license and then I read the fine print.
As part of the Patriot Act and to ensure the security of the USA I have to have a passport valid for a year; check, and a visa valid for six months. No. No. No. My visa extension was granted for nine months in July. It expires in March 2007. Our immigration lawyer assures us we will have our I 140 approved by February and that will give me my own SS number (which by the way is the same as the Taxpayer Identification Number I was given when I arrived, so the authorities know who I am and where I live and they collect taxes from me every year).
What am I supposed to do between November 25 and sometime in February? Drive on my international license? Stay at home?
If anyone in Congress really thinks that this will prevent illegal aliens from getting to work then they are delusional. It will only encourage people not to get driving licenses or insurance. It won't prevent terrorism it will simply drive people underground and piss off people like me who do everything by the book and still end up being punished.

You don't exist

Is the worst thing about voter rights in this country not that you can't get a voter registration card in Missouri without a birth certificate but that you can be denied a copy of your birth certificate because you were abandoned as a child? Or that you can be refused voter registration even though you have a social security number?
You can't vote but you can pay taxes. Oh yes, I'm sure that's fair.

Real capuccino, Caffe Artigiano

Real capuccino, Caffe Artigiano
Originally uploaded by modernemama.

This is another reason for never leaving Vancouver. There are four branches of Caffe Artigiano serving excellent coffee in downtown Vancouver. A different design every time. And it tastes like coffee, and they serve it in cups, and their scones aren't sweet.
I miss Canada.

They let us back in

We successfully jumped another hurdle and got our passports stamped with the new visa. This one expires on March 9 2007. That's right less than seven months to go. And then we go through the whole process again. Is this a sensible use of US resources I ask myself. It worked out well for the Canadians as we stayed dive days in Vancouver but apart from our $100 (in cash) what did America get? $100 wouldn't pay for the administrative and security costs associated with the process especially with the increased security over the past weeks.
The trip did give us the chance to compare and contrast the immigration departments of Canada and the USA. First off although we arrived in Canada only a couple of days after the latest terrorism plot to blow up planes using liquids, there were no lines at immigration. Every booth was manned and the officers were extremely friendly and cheerful. Because we were there just to get our visa from the US consulate the officer asked us to "Do (me) a favour, take a jog left and check in with Immigration Services". They were also delightful and even appeared interested in our responses about how long we'd been in the US, what we were doing. Everything was completed with a smile.
Returning to the US was the exact opposite. As usual the lines were long and only a third of the booths were manned. People were shouted at because they were not moving fast enough to the correct line and when we got to the immigration officer we were greeted with a snarl. Charming. The questions were the same but the tone of voice suggested that the officer didn't believe a word of it. Our fingerprints were taken (again) and our papers were stamped (again) and returned without any form of greeting or instruction about what to do next.
It was a joy to visit Canada and depressing to reenter the US. It doesn't have to be like this. Good manners should be mandatory and a smile costs nothing but goes a long way to engender goodwill. If the problem is understanding, USCIS should invest in more immigration officers. But I don't believe it's that. I think they are afraid that kindness would be mistaken for weakness. And that theory's not borne out by any psychological study or by history. If their attitude doesn't change, I'm not looking forward to reentering the country again next year.

Vancouver here we come

We have to get our latest visa put in our passports. The last time we were able to send them to somewhere in deepest make work country but now USCIS insists we visit an embassy outside the US. Given a choice of Canada or Mexico we opted for the nearest, Canada. But there were no appointments at Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City or Ottawa. The first available appointment was in Vancouver pretty much immediately. The next was over a month away. Guess which we are going to take? An 8 hour flight across country to get a stamp in a passport. A stamp that expires March 30 2007. Whereupon we will have to go through this performance again.
We have to be at the US embassy at 8 am with our documents, be fingerprinted and if our fingerprints don't match some criminal or terrorist we can collect our newly visa'd passports the next day. The embassy website says to allow three days just in case. I'm unhappy about the whole thing especially as we are leaving the dogs and cats here. I've always wanted to go to British Colombia but the circumstances are stressing me out.
All being well we'll be back in a few days. Oh, and don't even think about burgling the house, we have a pet sitter.