Weeds, the new Mary-Louise Parker television series, has been running in the U.S. on the Showtime cable channel since August. It premiered here in Canada last week on the Showcase channel. It’s a very compelling show and is worth watching: Parker is excellent, backed by a strong supporting cast; the conceit of the show — newly widowed suburban woman becomes a drug dealer — isn’t as far fetched as you would think, and it’s a useful lens through which to look at middle-class America. Next episode is Wednesday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

[[Johnny]] and [[Steve]] and I started off Sunday with a languid rise to action, leaving the house just before noon to launch an exciting day of shopping, eating and entertainment.

We landed on Ste. Catherine, grabbed coffee and tentative sandwiches at Indigo, and then split into squads so as to equitably distribute the shopping load. As is my wont in Montreal, I went shoe shopping (alas I discovered that shoe design has trended away from my tastes and I came away empty-handed).

We reconvened mid-afternoon for an invigorating coffee, and then split for a final shopping dash. I took this second opportunity to rediscover Metropolitan News (1109 Cypress St.): I’m sad to report that this newsstand has descended into decay and now contains little more than faded piles of old porn magazines and a morbiund collection of newspapers, the most exotic of which was a week-old copy of The Observer. Sigh.

At 5:30 p.m. we headed to Ex Centris for a screening of Good Night, and Good Luck. The film, a docu-drama concerning the coverage by CBS News of the McCarthy hearings, ultimately amounts to little more than a rehashing of the events, and adds little insight or understanding. George Clooney should just stop it with the black and white vanity projects.

It was in our search for a tasty last supper that we ran into real problems. We had a copy of Cheap Thrills: Great Montreal Meals for Under $15 in hand, and Johnny settled us on a place called Coq et Stock on Mont Royal. We made our way down Mont Royal looking for the giant chicken that Johnny was sure he’d seen earlier in the day only to find that it had been replaced by a Starbucks. Unable to take defeat easily, I got on the cell phone and called the number listed in the book; a confused sounding man answered, and when I questioned, in my proto-French, “c’est coq and stock?” he sounded even more confused, perhaps thinking that I was looking for some all-male action. Fortunately Steve was able to jump on the line and determine that there was no Coq to be had.

We ended up at Le Pistou, just up the street, and spent a plesant couple of hours dining on Mediterranean fare that reminded me of our time in France.

Exhausted from our day of shopping, eating and being pummelled by George Clooney’s direction, we made an early night of it watching the tail end of The Towering Inferno in French.

Today it’s back to the Island for Johnny and I on an afternoon jet; Steve is back at the [[CBC]] informing and enlightening Montrealers about local and regional issues.

Brother [[Steve]], who has his finger on the pulse of Montreal culture, scored us tickets to Good Night, and Good Luck — the new George Clooney-directed film about Edward R. Murrow and Senator Joseph McCarthy — for tomorrow night. The screening is part of the Montreal International Festival of Nouveau Cinema, running here in Montreal this week. Full report to follow.

We spent today running about the city in our rented Chevy Cobalt: started off in the crazy chaos of the Saturday morning fashion outlet craze on rue Chabanel, ate lunch at Boulangerie Andalos (the single best sandwich of my life, no exageration; thanks Elias Abboud!), made a quick trip to Ikea, and then drank multiple exotic coffees on St. Denis over an afternoon peppered with shopping for presents for the folks at home.

Tonight it’s a double header of exciting hockey action. I’m still trying to figure out why the “red line” is dashed rather than solid.

We’re here in Montpelier, Vermont. At an Exxon gas station with an attached variety store called “Champlain Farms.” They have free wifi, SSID “champlainfarms.” You rock, Vermont.

We just ate dinner at Rhapsody, a boho hippie vegetarian joint on the main street with dishes like “ginger infused sweet potatoes” and “garlic hinted dilled broccoli.” Now off to Montreal.

[[Johnny]] and I have been at [[Yankee]] all week, meeting with our colleagues and talking about things like “tagging moon phases.” We head off this afternoon up through Vermont back to Montreal where we’ll spend the weekend with brother [[Steve]] before flying back to the Island on Monday morning.

We’re here in the heart of the foliage season, but it has been raining and foggy every day, so we’ve not had much chance to experience it. Somehow soggy leaves looked at through drizzle don’t inspire one to rapture.

On Wednesday night we popped in to Boston to see Johnny’s childhood friend Trevor along with his wife Amy and their new daughter, who is considerably adorable. We had a good dinner with them, and headed back to Peterborough the same night.

Our lodging at the [[Jack Daniels Motor Inn]] has been as clean, plain and welcoming as ever; I’m sad to report that [[Twelve Pine]], my usual breakfast place, is having customer service problems, with two of our three morning visits plagued with “the fruit salad isn’t ready yet” episodes. I’m not ready to condemn them yet because their fruit salad is so tasty, but they need to focus.

More from the Quebec frontier as the weekend rolls out…

Charlottetown bus route #2 starts tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct. 12th). This route runs from downtown out North River Rd. ending up at the West Royalty Industrial Park and stopping at the Atlantic Superstore, Ellen’s Creek Plaza, Maypoint Plaza and the Queens Arms corner along the way.

Something I didn’t realize until I had to type in the entire schedule was that the different routes all intersect at the Confederation Centre of the Arts at the same time, allowing transfers from route to route. So starting tomorrow you could travel from, say, Queen Charlottetown School to Sears by taking route #2 and then route #1.

And starting next week, you could travel from Winsloe Petro Canada to Mel’s Petro Canada in East Royalty by taking route #1 then route #4. The possibilities are endless.

The Interactive Charlottetown Bus Map stands ready to help you get mobile.

Welcome back, cbc.ca/pei — nice to finally have news of home again. We missed you.

With most flights to the outer world routed through [[Montreal]] these days, it’s been a while since I’ve been in the Halifax International Airport. But with a hundred dollar difference between an indirect flight through Halifax and a direct one, I opted for the savings and a return to Halifax.

This airport has been under construction for most of the 13 years we’ve lived in the [[Maritimes]] — right now it’s the Air Canada jazz passageway that leads to the departure area for the Dash 8s, which appears to entail demolishing areas that were only constructed a few years ago. I’m happy to report, though, that there’s free wifi in the Air Canada lounge, which means I don’t have to use the aging IBM PCs in the business centre to get online any longer.

[[Mom]] phoned early this morning to warn that southern New Hampshire, where [[Johnny]] and I will be at the end of a long traveling day, is experiencing the worst flooding in 20 years; the worst-hit area seems to be Keene, which is only 30 minutes from [[Yankee]]. Several Yankee employees live in Keene, including [[Nat Stout]], whose house I visited on primary day last year. I recall Nat’s house being on high ground; I hope all my other Keene colleagues are as fortunate.

Our hotel, the [[Jack Daniels Motor Inn]], is right beside the river in Peterborough, NH; I talked to them this morning by phone, though, and so far the river is bahving itself.

I’m off to [[Montreal]] in a few minutes; rendezvous with [[Johnny]] mid-afternoon for a drive south. I’ll report back from New Hampshire once we arrive.

I’ve updated the interactive bus map to include the schedule for all four routes. Remember that routes 2, 3, and 4 are being rolled out over the next two weeks — they’re not all running yet.

I’m heading south to [[Yankee]] tomorrow, by way of [[Montreal]]. In preparation, I did the usual clean-up of my wallet (nothing like entering the USA with a clean wallet, I say). Here’s what I found: