Which everyone knows is actually in Toronto.

I was surprised and a bit excited to discover that the centre of the universe is apparently located in Saanich on Vancouver Island. Having persuaded Karli to do a U-turn to investigate, I was then more than a little disturbed to find out that it was closed.

- Sid

P.S. I was going to just stop there and leave this as one of those mystery postings, but in this case, the story behind this sign actually deserves a little more attention.  

The Centre of the Universe is - or more accurately was - the educational facility of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, located on Observatory Hill in Saanich.  Sadly, the Centre was closed in 2013 following budget cuts, but the National Research Council has subsequently licensed the Centre of the Universe building to the Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory, a local Saanich non-profit group that wants to restore public programming at the Observatory, as well as re-open the Centre of the Universe.  For more information, visit the FDAO website or take a look at their Facebook page.

Much thanks to Kevin Farris at the National Research Council for the information on the FDAO!

Rocket Man.*

"I really think this concert will be out of this world."

Victoria Symphony Orchestra conductor Guiseppe Pietraroia

"And then I left earth.  I like saying that.  Because I can."

Colonel Chris Hadfield

Saturday night in Victoria, and we're ready for our night out at the Symphony with ex-astronaut Chris Hadfield.  After a quick but delicious dinner at Foo Asian Street Food, Karli and I cross the street and pick up our Rocket Man tickets from the box office at the Royal Theatre.

The attendees waiting in the lobby represent the full range of clothing options, from suit and tie to jeans and a Mouseketeer t-shirt.  The audience also includes one person actually dressed as Colonel Hadfield, complete with pompadour, fake moustache and NASA jacket - a sort of hipster Hadfield, if you will.**  My lovely companion is attractively (and thematically) clad in nebula-patterned pants and spiral galaxy earrings - I've broken under the pressure of conformity and opted for blazer and jeans.

Our seats are a bit back from the stage - the consequence of waiting a little too long to decide to make the trip to Vancouver Island to see Commander Hadfield.  Regardless, they're centrally placed and we have a good field of view, so no real reason to complain.

The programme for the evening is very much in the line that I expected:  movie themes mixed with selections from Hadfield's album, Space Sessions: Songs from a Tin Can. The orchestra opens with Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra - better known to most people as the theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey, followed by the Mars movement from Gustav Holst's Planets suite, after which the guest of honour steps onto the stage.

Hadfield is no Beyoncé, but he's an experienced performer and story-teller, and his style lends itself well to his folk-influenced songs. And, to be honest, I didn't expect his show to be quite so funny.  In fact, I find myself wondering if he had hired professional help to massage his delivery, but finally decided that it was just natural talent coming to the forefront.  After all, his guitar has a Space Invaders strap, which indicates to me that he's not taking things too seriously.

His description of the process behind his recording of David Bowie's Space Oddity and the video which he shot on the International Space Station is hilarious - and, frankly, quite a bit different than the way it's described in his book.

 

There is also a very effective bit of business where the conductor announces that the orchestra will be performing excerpts from the various Star Trek themes next, and expresses his regrets that there is no one there who could deliver the iconic opening voiceover...perhaps someone who had commanded in space...maybe a Canadian...at which point Hadfield pops out from stage left and waves his hand to get the conductor's attention. 

His reading of "Space...the final frontier..." is impressive, and afterwards he talks about his affection for the series, commenting that "...Star Trek gave me permission to imagine things that didn't exist."  I hope that the producers of the new Star Trek series were paying attention, having Chris Hadfield make an appearance would be a great idea, as well as continuing the tradition of astronaut cameos in the franchise.

However, there are serious moments to the show. During an unexpected question period, Hadfield delivers an impassioned speech regarding the evolution of space exploration, from its roots as an expression of political power to the collaborative process that led to the International Space Station: 

"It took a long time to evolve past planting a flag, into what we should be doing as a species...the greatest legacy of space travel is that it brought us together...the ISS is irrevocable evidence of what we can do when we do things right."

The show ends with an unscripted moment.  An audience member interrupts Hadfield's closing speech by shouting that there is a five year old astronaut there with a question.  The commander acknowledges that a five year old astronaut deserves to be answered, and asks what the young explorer's question is.

A tremulous voice replies, "Will you sign my book?" ***

A  wave of laughter sweeps over the audience, and the boy is escorted backstage and then brought out onto the stage, where Hadfield signs his book, after wryly observing, "Step one of becoming an astronaut - having the guts."

If you'd like to see Commander Hadfield yourself - and I strongly recommend that you do - look for him in his upcoming Canada 150 tour in May.  He'll also be returning to Vancouver to perform with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on October 6th and 7th of this year.  Look for us there - space pants may well make a followup appearance.

- Sid

* It's taken over ten years, but I knew I would eventually use this as the title to a blog posting.

** Credit where credit is due - the term "hipster Hadfield" was contributed by Karli Thomas.

*** Hadfield is somewhat of a Renaissance man. In addition to his autobiographical An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth and You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes, his collected photos of Earth from the ISS, Hadfield has also published a children's book, The Darkest Dark. 

A Geek's Walking Tour of Downtown Victoria

 

Rather than just charging over to Vancouver Island to see Chris Hadfield perform and then heading back again on the same day, Karli and I decided that it would be fun to have some time to wander around Victoria on the Saturday - neither one of us had the opportunity to do any sightseeing there for several years.

 The man himself.  You know, sooner or later people are going to have to start using a different picture of Chris Hadfield, although, to be fair, it is the first image that pops up if you Google™ him.  Maybe a wider selection of media shots on your web site, Commander?

 

I'm constantly amazed by the degree to which geek culture has insinuated itself into everyday life.  In addition to the usual offerings of brightly coloured cooking utensils and semi-inspirational wall plaques, home decor store Paboom surprisingly features Minion Green Lantern and Totoro pillows, along with Star Wars tourist posters for local attractions. I feel that Minion tchotchkes have become fairly common, but isn't Totoro a bit obscure for the general public?

We also paid a visit to Munro's Books, the excellent independent bookstore which is centrally located in Victoria's downtown core.  As always, their selection did not disappoint, and I walked away with about eighty bucks worth of reading material: a paperback collection of short fiction by Terry Pratchett - A Blink of the Screen, a long overdue copy of Pulitzer-prize winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe (based mainly on the title, to be honest) and an extravagant hardcover copy of collected Ursula K. Le Guin non-fiction, Words Are My Matter, which is nominated for a Hugo Award this year.

"Essential" gear - this is actually from the Friday night, and I'm a bit sorry that we didn't get back to Dragon Impact when they were open in order to find out if you could actually buy some kind of standardized package for dealing with the walking dead.  Based on the quantity of sharpened metal on display in the shop windows, I doubt that the package would include anything really practical, like a good pair of running shoes.

Speaking of which, isn't it a bit ironic to use a famous hobbit surname for a shoe store?  (Because, after all, hobbits never wear shoes.) *

However, the star of the day has to be the Little Shop of Strange, located near the entrance to Market Square at 566 Johnson Street.  If you're looking for a weird but wonderful (not to say strange) selection of music, local art, and taxidermy, this is your spot - where else could you buy a reasonably priced and beautifully made actual Plague Rat?

 

- Sid

* Purists will cite the Stoors, one of the three breeds of hobbits, who wore boots in muddy weather.