By Janet Blatter.

It's a two hour train ride from Montreal, Canada's cosmopolitan capital to Ottawa, the national capital. Forget the stock images of the Parliament buildings, the Mounties, or the concrete barriers in front of the block long US embassy.

What makes Ottawa unique are the furry critters. There are more beavers, squirrels, bunnies and ground hogs than in any urban capital on the planet. Not to mention the moose! Yup, police trapped two moose who wandered into town in July. One was shot, the other escaped.

Putting national politics into this setting is too bizarre, too surreal, too much like... like... an animation!

Do watch out for moose droppings.

Janet Blatter is a development consultant, currently writing a book (with Mik Casey) on storyboarding for MWP. She has the dubious distinction of having a PhD in cognitive science specializing in how animators solve problems, think about time and space... Dr. J thinks she has the coolest research gig on earth.