Winnipeg or Saskatoon???

Each Summer I take a vacation to somewhere I've never been before. This year, I narrowed it down to Winnipeg & Saskatoon. To decide, I need underground information on these places. I'd like to know the underground scene of each city: hotels for 20$/night, eateries with meals for under $5, radical bookstores, coffeehouses with live poetry readings, used CD shops, & bars where the underground bands play. I'd appreciate any info from those who live there.

They are both unmitigated shitholes of the lowest and most odiferous order. If drug/alcohol abuse/racist police/unimaginable poverty/child prostitution and crime rates approaching the worst ghettoes extant are your thing just flip a coin!

So when DOES your Bloc Quebecois membership card expire, Sam?

I live in Saskatoon, but not sure how much I could actually help you... I'm not sure of any places of the top of my head that have rooms under 20 bucks or eateries with meals under 5... McNally Robinson likely would have live poetry, there are tramps stores that sell used cd's, or at least used to, and not sure about underground bands.

Where are you coming from?

I spent a few days in Saskatoon last summer. Didn't have much time to visit, but here are some hints:

-We stayed at the university. I don't remember how much it was, but I'd guess there are not many places cheaper than that. -Good, large, and cheap meals can be had at the Chinese (Szechuan?) restaurant a few blocks away from Lydia's, on the opposite side of the street. -Lydia's has good beer. -Western Honey Wheat beer is real good brew.

Have fun,

i also live in saskatoon, but happen to know a lot about the underground music scene.

since ive never had to stay in a hotel, i dont have any idea whats cheap.

there are some restaraunts that can be pretty cheap, like at jerry's food emporium they have a special every week day which comes to 6 dollars i think.

now for music, and bars, it depends on what you want to see.

lydias has a lot of folky type stuff there, amigos usually has more wuss-rock bands there, the wash n slosh (the laundromat/bar/chinese food restaraunt) has mostly metal bands, buds on broadway has blues bands, and theres also the jazz bassment, which is a non-profit organization, and is all-ages AND liscensed, which has jazz at least once a week during their season, and is also the most popular place in the city to rent out for local and independant touring bands. most of the local punk/hardcore/ and traditionally DIY types of music tend to play there on a weekly basis as well.

most of these places are all very close to each other (wash n slosh and lydias are on the same street, amigos is one block over, the bassment just across the bridg)

theres a lot of other places and i could go into more detail if you