Lethbridge Show at Henotic

The show at Henotic went swell. We definitely brought the rock more than we have before. Ev's banjo was missing in action, so we both played electrified.

It's nice to know I can fly into town and play a show with a full band without the fuss of things like practicing.

Shotgun Jimmie and B.A. Johnston were gentlemen to behold. They are doing a video tour blog. Here's an episode with a snippet of my set.

Rocktober

After a longish hiatus from playing music it seems I've found myself with a bunch of shows this October.

This Thursday, October 1st I'm opening for Calgary friends Lucid 44 and Halifax's Klarka Weinwurm. This goes down at Gus' Pub in Halifax. All of the members of my old band Grandfather Fire and the Holy Mourning will be in attendance, so a Gramps tune may find it's way into my set. Expect magic not conceived since Micheal J Fox took to the stage at the end of Back to the Future 1.

I'm heading West to Calgary just in time to play a show in Lethbridge on Wednesday, the 7th opening for B.A. Johnston and Shotgun Jimmie. I'll be accompanied by Evan van Reekum on his fancy new Rickenbacker and Space Echo.

Then I play a matinee show on Sunday, October 18th at Dan Northfield's new pub, Local 510 with Halifax buddy Jon Mckiel.

Finally, I finish the month with a show at the Marquee Room with Fox Opera on the Thursday, the 29th. I'm going to put together a band for this show. Should be fun.

So, to recap:

Thursday, October 1st
Gus' Pub - Halifax, NS
Lucid 44, Klarka Weinwurm

Wednesday, October 7th
Henotic (The Old No1 Firehall) - Lethbridge, AB
BA Johnston, Shotgun Jimmie

Sunday, October 18th
Matinee show at Local 510 - Calgary, AB
Jon Mckiel

Thursday, October 29th
Marquee Room - Calgary, AB
Fox Opera and Guests

Trans

Tonight, I took a walk up past the house where I grew up. Wow, that sounds like a dusty, old sentence.

I grew up across the street and over a little hill from the Trans Canada Highway as it cuts it's way through Calgary. I remember the week they built the concrete acoustic retaining wall at the top of the hill. Us kids played with our little green plastic army guys in the giant (to a 6 year old) holes they bored in the ground for the posts. We built an elaborate network of bunkers for our men until the holes themselves became bunkers for each of us to hide out in. On the last day before they filled them in, we could see the workers coming, working their way towards our holes. I remember thinking they would never think of filling our bunkers with concrete after they see what we made them into....

Later, as a teenager, I would spend many nights sitting on top of that wall with friends. It's where I had my first "smoke", a dark brown cardboard Crispy Crunch tray with dried grass rolled into an unholy pesticide cocktail by my friend James. We would sit up there dreaming of all the places we would go on that highway once we got our licenses.

Every Morning, I Get Up

My walk to and from work takes me a half an hour depending on my path. I hate the feeling I get when I sense that I'm repeating myself, so I do my best to create a different route every day. Just when I think I've worn out the possible combinations I duck down some street that changes my course and I've created a new experience.

On the days I wake up in a sour mood, I always walk the same path. Straight up to the Citadel and across town. On the really good days, I walk along the ocean.

I often imagine the people I come across on the street dancing to the music on my ipod. Skater jocks arm in arm with financial advisers. That guy spreading salt on the icy sidewalk slow dancing with that sketched out addict. That whole clump of people on Barrington Street waiting for the bus all of a sudden burst into a chorus line.

Halifax really is a beautiful town. I often get the sense that I've dreamed of this place in the past and I think after we've left, it will haunt my dreams for a long time to come.

The Butcher is Getting Ready for Some Choice Cuts

I'm thinking it's time to get some blood on the table. Stay tuned for some new and semi-regular posts.

Greenwash Gang

Here's my bro's entry in the Edmonton 24 Hour Film Fest. He's the one in the middle in the back seat. They won best director.

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

Holy shit, what's happening to me?

I hope Kallen doesn't read this, but I just listened to an entire Ani Difranco album...and I enjoyed most of it. Actually enjoyed it!

I guess I now have something in common with all those girls who thought maybe, just maybe they were a lesbian.

PS.

My mom will be confused now and will ask my brother who Ani Difranco is....

Gainfully Employed

I start a new job tomorrow and I'm very excited. I'll be doing carpentry work for a company (http://halforbes.com) that primarily does restorations on Victorian era houses and buildings.

This is a great opportunity to be doing the kind of wood work I like to do on a daily basis. No stinky bathroom renos here. This will be my first nine to five job since I left the radio station and I'm looking forward to the structure it will give my day to day livin'. Did I mention I'm really excited??

I couldn't have asked for a more fitting opportunity. The job market is obviously a lot tighter here than Calgary, so I wasn't expecting to find something even remotely as interesting. Jen and I were out with some of her friends the first week I arrived when I met her friend Scott (http://www.photomunn.com/). He mentioned this company that a friend of his works for and that I should check it out, he heard they were looking for carpenters. With loose directions as to the location of the shop, I set out to find this mysterious wood shop. I found it on my second day of trying and then it took me a week of going back everyday until someone was around I could talk to. Jen was talking about the power of positive thinking and this is a perfect example. I knew this was the job for me and that I was going to get it.

I have a habit of setting too high of expectations and getting burned, so while I'm excited, I'm trying to keep things in perspective.

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It was my Day of Life (Birthday) this weekend and Jen and I went down to Lunenburg to celebrate. Lunenburg was beautiful, not nearly as touristy as I expected. It's a world heritage site, so aside from cars and the odd Crocks wearing tourist, there are few signs of modernity to be found.

It's also where the Bluenose is moored. Apparently they only give out dimes as change because after ordering a coffee I received 40 cents in dimes when a quarter, a nickle, and a dime would have sufficed.






The town before Lunenburg - Mahone Bay was crawling with middle aged white people who all looked like they could be distant relatives, double fisting double-doubles. It was the annual Scarecrow Festival.

The End is Not Near, It's Here - #1

Third week of August in Fernie, BC. Gas supply led Petro Canada cut off deliveries to the Kooteneys.



Remember when you had to line up for 2 hours to get a donut when Krispy Kreme first opened? They had security guards directing traffic. I've never had a Krispy Kreme donut. Does that make me better than you? Perhaps.

Halifax

So far, living in Halifax has been more like a vacation. I don't have any responsibilities yet. Thankfully that will change soon. This is the week to find a job. Beyond Kijiji, I have one semi-solid lead.

I've met a bunch of Jen's friends who are great. Went for drinks with Kincaid Chan and his special lady friend Jessica on Saturday. Kincaid moved out here from Calgary a few years ago for school. I played briefly in his band Venus and Fergus. We talked about jamming together.

I've got a major itch to play in a band again. The songs I'm writing would have so much more power with a rhythm section. That said, Evan and I are in the planning stages of doing some long distance internerd recording for the first Forest/Van Reekum album. We had planned to make a record with my friend Lorrie Matheson in October, but the speedy Halifax move got in the way. So the plan is, I'm going to send Ev the vocal and guitar audio files, then he'll add his banjo/dobro/blues harp/Freemason chants. Should be fun.

Survived my first tropical storm. Is it still tropical when it reaches the Maritimes? It's name was Kyle. Sort of a wuss...

I was out for a walk enjoying the warm, wet winds when out of nowhere the downpour started. I was drenched from head to toe in seconds.

Halifax

I've been here for a week and it's been strange. Mostly good. I never expected everything to fall into place seamlessly and they haven't.

Coming to a new town, knowing hardly a soul has shaken my confidence in a way I couldn't have anticipated. In Calgary, where I have deep relationships with bros and hoes, it is easy to recognize who I am. I need only interact with a friend to see the love in their eyes. Here, everyone is a stranger. I'm a stranger.

Part of me says this is a sign of weakness. I haven't exactly been comforatable in my own skin. That my ego isn't as big (in a good way) as I thought it was.

I'm excited to get past this stage and start to reshape my identity through the eyes of others. It's not about being validated or having my ego artificially inflated. It's about giving to another in order to get that same piece back. You know, day to day living. People to share the burden of the past and the promise of the future with.

I almost left yesterday. I got as far as calling Greyhound to find out how much a ticket to Montreal was. Then I unfucked my self and started thinking clearly. That's where I'm at now. No thinking. Too much time to think this week. Time to find a job and put down some roots. That's the only way to figure out if I should stay.

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The new Damien Jurado album is amazing. Devastating. Full of hope. Melodies that are comforting in their familiarity paired with lyrics that are crushing in their blunt simplicity.

is he still coming around like an injured bird?
needing a nest a place to rest his head
and a song you'll regret

But still you take him, Lord knows I don't want to compete
Still I sleep in the very sheets he's been in

Calgary Friends (AKA Sausage Party)

The last couple weeks before I left, I started to collect head shots of friends. Somehow, I ended up with only one girl in the mix...

Got My Head in the Clouds Again

A couple of weekends ago, my friend Greg, his dog Ozzy, and I hiked up Forget Me Not Ridge (not to be confused with Forget Me Not Creek) just Southwest of Bragg Creek.

It was a great day. Good place for a brain scrub, which I needed at the time. My head had felt like it was in the clouds, so actually getting my head in the clouds and taking a look around was a good perspective to notice.

During the week, Greg is a Geologist and on the weekend, he's a tree huger. It was cool to walk past a "sub-alpine fur tree" (he knew the scientific name, but wouldn't say until I prodded) to have Greg point out when they're knocked over by wind or avalanche, the branches will actually adapt and take root in the soil.

Later Bros

With the amount of change I've been experiencing in the past month and all that means for my spinning noggin, you'd think I'd have something interesting to share. No clear anecdotes to appease my ropey thoughts. A nautical knot that starts at the stem of my brain, down to an anchor that can't find berth.

All this is to say, things are good. Great in fact. I'm leaving town and won't be around.

It's not the act of saying "goodbye" that's hard, it's that from this moment on, I've chosen to go another way. To go on without you. Thanks for everything. See you later.

I'm leaving Calgary in 9 days. Just bought a one way ticket to the coast.

When I told my mom, it was as if I had simply mentioned I was going to the store to buy some bread, a jug of milk, and a stick of butter. "When do you leave?" Thursday. "You'll have to ask your dad for a ride to the airport, I'll be out of town".

Not that she isn't supportive, just not one to meddle.

I'm not starting over, I'm keepin' on.

I've worn out the streets in the city that has made me. The city I loved. Calgary is a city with potential, but how long can you keep saying that before you realize it isn't going to reach beyond itself. I'm not a hater on this city. I don't think, like many friends who have moved to Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, etc with the idea that those towns are going to save them, that a rich culture can somehow satisfy and bring true fulfillment. I call bullshit on that one.

This truly is the end of an era. Pete's traveling Australia for a while and likely not returning to Calgary. For now, Dik is staying put on his Couch of Responsibility and Love Seat of Sobriety here in Calgary. There was a time I took these guys for granted. Not anymore. Who knows when we'll be together in the same place again.



Much of who I am is because of these two. My sense of humor (How's the new car runnin'?) comes mostly from them. I think it's going to be a while before I feel funny again. All it takes is a look with these guys. Though, at least I know there are enough people in the world who can appreciate a well timed and executed Lebowski reference.

Mostly though, I'm going to miss the simple times with them. They've seen me through my happiest and darkest times. They've listened through the tears and manic rants. One night, last winter, on the way home from band practice at Marco's old place, I yelled the whole way home (half an hour). Melted down. They listened. I didn't feel any better, but at least they were there and didn't try to say "everything's going to be ok". Of coarse, they knew it would be ok. Great in fact.

Pete and Rich call me "The One With the Biggest Mouth". I think that's mostly because of the nature of our friendship. We're all listeners, but sometimes I feel like I need to fill the empty space...with noise. I hope I've been as good a listener as they have.

Thanks for everything. See you later.

Saltspring Island - Aug 8-11, 2008

So, after visiting Mudge on the long weekend, I went over to the main island to pick up my motorbike at the lutherie school and hang with friends. I took the Greyhound from Nanaimo to Parksville and I hate admitting this, but I took a good hard look at the people sitting around me in light of what happened near Portage earlier this month.

Went for dinner with Stinni and Arlen. Played a game called Horseballs, which has taken the school by storm since I left. It was great to hang with my brief but significant friends. JP said I was looking so happy, which was nice to hear. I remember feeling it.

Arlen and I have loose plans to visit Stinni in Iceland over Christmas. We'll see...


Stinni, Arlen

Stinni



It was hot, so after dinner, I went for a swim


Horseballs!


August was a month of Island hopping. Mudge, Gabriola, Thee Island, and Saltspring. All of them beautiful in different ways and I'd love to call one of them home someday. That is, if I don't get sidetracked by Alaska. Hmmm.

Here are some pics from Joel's palace on Saltspring. Another great weekend.


Joel, Julia, Barrald

Dad takes a nap

Shammy, Barr

Joel, Sham have a snuggle

Me, Sham, John watch Joel dance

Joel dances

Lomie, Jen playing Bomberman on mini-nintendos. John, Sham


Barr rippin' on the Ganges skate park

Dad tending to some house work!


There is no party here.

Barr, Bianca, Sham, John, Lomie walking down the cliff to the ocean



Bianca and I went for a little sea kayaking adventure. Something I've always wanted to do, but never had a chance until now. Rad.