I've been waiting for a few years for The Hip to come back to my neck of the woods. I'm not generally one to fawn over celebrity news, but the announcement of Gord's terminal brain cancer this morning hit me like a ton of bricks. I was introduced to their music in university (I was coming from bands like Megadeth and Iron Maiden) by my residence hall mates, and they've been a quintessential part of my "Canadian-ness" since then; more-so as an ex-pat. I'm deeply saddened by the news, and my best thoughts and wishes go out to Gord, his family, and the band.

Maybe time for you to visit their neck of the woods this summer instead. Limited time offer, like most things.

I have family in both the Vancouver area and GTA, so it's not out of the realm of possibility. Budget and prior plans preclude travelling back to Ontario this summer, though. Lets see what they post for their farewell tour dates.

free accomodation if needed (or desired or useful..) here in Ottawa, 2hrs from Kingston.

That's a most gracious offer. Free accommodation is always appreciated and useful. Logistically, we usually conjoin our Ontario trips with visits to in-laws, who are in Pittsburgh. They have an extra vehicle, so we borrow that and make the drive up to visit my brother in Toronto. It would be nice to come back to Ottawa for a visit -- I was just telling my kids the other day that I'd love to take them to the Canada Day celebration in Ottawa some time.