Peterborough trip

Tired and home from the ravages of the wild outdoors on this Sunday 26 September 2010 and I
won't even attempt to think of this day in history.

Took my baby brother Mark up to Peterborough for the Phantasm RolePlaying Gaming convention and decided to tour the sights. Peterborough is one of those places that produced industry and trade for about two hundred years untill economics started to take it's toll. Home to Trent university, Sir Sanford Fleming college, The Canoe Museum, the Lift-Locks, the Quaker
Cereal/Pepsi plant, G.E. lightbulb factory and a waterway that led to a railway that led to trade across Ontario, Canada, and to the u.S. of A. and not just beaver pelts. Really weird is the place has heavy irish roots and heavy african roots that black Irish seems to have originated here about twenty years before New York City. To me the place is a marvel for still having working lift-locks a hundred and some off years after being built. Oh course if I could have aranged a tour of the Quaker plant where many cereals are made and lots of fruit beverages I would probably gone with that. I did see Sir Sanford Fleming College which is on the same grounds as the Peterborough museum which just finished relaunching after an extensive renovation. I
Fleming feels a lot like the portables that used to be at the North West of Humber College.

As if the whole place is waiting to be moved into a larger permanent domicile. Don't let that knock the town to a learning annex feel it has a definate small town vibe like a training ground for bigger things. There is really nothing to do after 4 or 5pm on the weekends unless you want to see a novie or drink at a bar or try to eat at a grill. They even shut down the dancing lights on the Fountain in the reservoir when it's after labour day. Their walk of fame needs a pamphlet or a website to find out who all these so-called "famous" people are. Mind you with all the used book stores gone in Toronto, Peterborough is a goldmine if you are looking for some lost treasure from the 1970's to the 1990's. They also have a number of gaming stores and head shops and cultural stores which is to say it's a lot like a small college town.
They have a nice public library. Only one I found in the entire community. Some nice looking schools and the views are amazing. You want to see the fall leaves change colour you better make sure your camera has a panoramic feature because you will want to see it all. Oh and this is one of the hilliest places I have ever been to so be prepared to climb lots of stairs. That's right the place is highly wheelchair inaccessible so make sure your cane has a good stopper on it because it will get a work out. Mind you once you are in most buildings, the newer ones are very wheelchair complacent and sprawl out. It's just getting into one such place is where you need people to lift your chair. The town is very internet accessible with Wi-Fi just about everywhere and cable lines for fast secure connections.

There is also a seeming abundance of accountants, lawyers, and therapist's office around the town and lots of local art galleries. Well I may be biased you see yesterday was their annual Gay Pride Day and their annual doors open and the end of their Arts week so there was an abundance of the unique or at least artistically balanced. I will also jump up and say most of the art I saw was novice at best striving to be amateur.

Now while I respect the town and would love to hide away in it I realize that eventually I would grow bored to death without my big city amusements, cable TV channels, and freedom to pick a different thing each week. But if driving were no problem and I had a place to stay in the city this would be the place to retire to. Any place that doesn't bat an eye at a bunch of medival type LARPers chasing an open horse drawn carriage at midnight down busy downtown streets past it's greyhound bus station is the place for me to hide out my life.

Quintessentially magical and subtle quiet.
Now I haven't stayed in a hotel for a while and this comfort Inn was pretty darn good. Could use a bigger indoor pool and maybe a TV guide but considering for an extra twenty dollars I could have gotten a Jacuzzi tub in the room nobody is complaining. The all you can eat complimentary breakfast was fantastic with the belgium waffle maker, mini dainish, three pump juice machine, two kinds of eggs (scrambled and poached), hash brown patties, home fries, bagel toaster and choice of real jams and jellies it was very filling. I did not care for their choice of three cereals but then I prefer Rice krispies, Fruit loops, Goatmeal Crunch, or Captain Crunch in the morning not cornflakes, Special K or Rolled Oats and Oatmeal. They also need to make the free newspaper stand more visible and accessible but outside of that colour me impressed. One thing that got me in the room was I am used to actual glasses or mugs when I drink in one of the room but they have replaced that with cellephane wrapped plastic cups. Plastic cups are great for entertaining but I would not want my lips using it to rinse my mouth out in the morning.

The Peterbourgh tourism office relocated to the outside edge of town and closes at 5pm Saturday until Tuesday morning. My guess is unless it's summer time your tourist dollars are
not welcome on the weekend. Shame really as I have stated it's a really nice town.

Phantasm is an annual Role Playing Games gaming convention to capitalize on the fact that there is so much gaming out here just no real organized place to centrally play. They have been around for twenty years and are fairly diversified in their time just seasonal in the playing. Much of the games are either refurbished scenarios from Anime North, Polaris, and FanExpo or they are moderated testing for ad Astra and the previously mentioned conventions.

Still for two days of condensed gaming play and sales this is the place to meet new people, try new games, and get caught up with changes in the industry. Would I go again? Yes I would like to think I would even though it's not my type of gaming of the moment. For example while I like the idea of mixing The Sopranos with Call Of Cthulhu the fact is as He Who must not be Named enters the plane Madness would effect all so it doesn't play my sympathies well enough to get involved. Similar to the idea I don't care how interchangable the tiles are for your board game it's still a board game just with a mixed board. How are you susposed to get into a generic Hero Card game if there is no preview story to enrapture you in their history? Pretty art on a card will not be enough to sell a Generic Hero Card Game just ask Phil Foglio and his XXXphile Fantasy card game which came out gangbusters then crapped out flat after two years. Still if you are looking for some niche game to play this is the place to try before you buy.

Well that's enough for Peterborough and Phantasm and my long drive home in the dark from the
home of Trent University. Need to wind down and get some sleep so I can find out what I
missed in the morning.