Saskatoon frenzy (it's a)

I wrote a song for Saskatoon recently (debuted at the end of this video).

And apparently Saskatoon is delighted.

A local on this CBC News TV broadcast calls the song 'pretty catchy.'

Global Saskatoon broadcast says 'Saskatoon Sensation' does a 'good job.'

Article covering it on CTV News.

And a delighted Saskatoon is a delighted Robert.

Finding the Saskatoon Sensation [video]

Ever since reading about Timbuktu in Dr Seuss' 'Hop on Pop' as a kid, I've concocted all sorts of wild visions of what places are like based on the sound of their names. The more unusual, the more magical the skyline I envisioned. Of course, it rarely works out that way -- Tahlequah isn't all that different from Fort Smith -- but it did help fill hours in the back of a station wagon on family road trips. I'd ignore the 'Annie' soundtrack my sister played and disect the road atlas, pouncing on places like Okefenokee, Truth or Consequences and Chevy Chase and wonder what they really looked like.

One place I found towards the back of the atlas always resonated with me most: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Just saying it aloud sounded like a toy train wobbling across a cobblestone bridge, guarded by bunnies. Nothing else really compares. It even won my recent poll for most 'tunefully suggestive' city name:

Some songwriters have noticed its rhythmic nomenclature over the years, including songs like Sonny James' fun 'A Little Bit South of Saskatoon,' Johnny Cash's 'The Girl in Saskatoon,' and the Guess Who's 'Running Back to Saskatoon' -- which Pearl Jam tried to do as well.

But did locals ever chip in on the lyrics, I wondered? I mean, in travel we say that locals make for great experiences, but can locals make great lyrics?

So when I was there recently (to create a video for Lonely Planet/Canada Tourism), I carved away a precious day to find out. I met with a pierced t-shirt maker, a curling vet, a indie rocker, a high-end bass-guitar maker and Canada's 'Craziest Mayor' -- to ask how they summed up the 'Saskatoon sensation.' I took their answers for lyrics, then made up a song. (It's debuted at the end of the video.)

Pearl Jam, if you cover it, go ahead. I won't sue.


By the way, a note on how Saskatoon got its name. In the 1880s, John Lake, of the Temperance Colonization Society of Toronto, founded Saskatoon because his notoriously by-the-book home town back east was just too sinful. (Alcohol and prostitution would soon follow though, and Lake himself would be found guilty of corruption.)

Regardless, on a sunny day in 1883, Lake named the new settlement for the local juicy berries he so enjoyed to snack on. Good choice, but a wrong one. Apparently saskatoon berries weren't in season at the name's chosen hour, and chokecherries were. Should the name really be Chokecherry, Saskatchewan?

It's not a bad name. But I'm not sure it deserves a song.

Full Mounthe: My Days as a RCMP Cadet

A few months ago the Royal Canadian Mounted Police - Depot Division (Regina, Saskatchewan) invited me to spend a couple nights and a (full) day training as a "mountie." It's a rare opportunity. Apparently only five civilians before me had had the chance -- and I was apparently the only one to get a regulation moustache.

This Lonely Planet video sums up the misunderstood Canadian icon. It's no longer just blokes in red serge jackets, Stetson hats atop horses. The red serge, in face, is rarely worn -- only for occasions like graduation -- and horses were phased out of training in 1966.

At first glimpse, in the mess hall with Troop 5 (the most junior of the troops there), I had to ask one cadet, 'Do you ever look around and say, wow, I'm here with a bunch of COPS?' He admitted he did.

I certainly felt that way waking up at 4am to prep for the morning parade.

Photo of the Day: Regina's RCMP Depot

Every mountie in Canada comes through Regina, Saskatchewan -- home to the RCMP Depot, a training facility in place since 1885. Last week I served as a 'cadet for a day.' Marched for 6:30am inspection, learned how to remove people from cars (using ears, pain points) or putting them in (with a memorable groin toss). I got a regulation Mountie haircut & moustache, drove an advanced track, learned I have 14% body fat in fitness class ('that's better than average'), ate light meals at the mess hall, and met people from all over Canada.

In one troop, they joked I was the 'token moustache.' Proud to be.

It was exhausting. But an unreal experience. More on it soon.

What is a Mountie?

Follow my mountie exploits this week at #MountieLand

I don't remember when I first heard of mounties, or wanted one of their red serge tunics and carefully pressed, flat-brim Stetson hats. It was definitely before Canada Day when I was 9. That's when my gerbil Steve bit my finger, I bled, I fainted, then flew to Calgary for a family vacation to Banff and Jasper. I never got the hat.

Today I'm off to Regina, Saskatchewan to make a Lonely Planet video on how one becomes a mountie. From the inside. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police "Depot" has trained mounties there since the late 1800s. Recently I asked about joining as a cadet for a '24-hour immersion.' And they surprisingly agreed. One official told me, 'They WON'T go easy on you.'

Uh-oh.

Meanwhile, a few things to consider about mounties:

1. They may be mounties, but they don't mount horses in Regina. Horse riding hasn't been part of the six-month training since 1966.
2. Women are mounties too. Since 1974.
3. Americans were once mounties. In the early 20th century, most mounties were recruited from elsewhere -- chiefly England but also the US. Canadians took over after the Depression. And now you have to be a Canadian citizen to qualify.
4. Mounties aren't for show. They're Canada's full municipal and federal police, akin to 'Canada's equivalent to the FBI,' per the New York Times.
5. Mounties still wear the red serge tunic and Stetson (yay!), but only in special occasions, like the daily 'Noon Parade' in Regina, at graduation.
6. Dudley Do-Right was invented by a couple blokes from Berkeley, California, and animated in Mexico. And, yes, it IS the same voice behind Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle and Dudley (Bill Scott).
   

So I go. Very scared. Stayed tuned for more.