After a series of crappy shows, it was good to end our Western stint on a good night.
Edmonton was great.
First of all, after all our time out west, there were more people we knew here than anywhere else. Amy, Brenton, Caleb, Sarah, Chris, Chris - it was awesome to see so many familiar faces.
Our show was a lot of fun.
When nobody's enjoying your show, its really hard for you to enjoy the show too. So for the first time in a couple days, we played to a crowd who enjoyed our music so we had a really good time on stage.
Edmonton, you were fun.
After the show we came back tour our friend Chris' house - who we know thanks to the good graces of Halifax Locals and the Internet - had a few more drinks, and eventually went to bed around 4:30am.
The next couple of days bring lots of driving, but not lots of shows.
Today is sunday, we're in Alberta, and by thursday night we'll be New Brunswick.
We're driving to Medicine Hat today to stay with some friends, then tomorrow we're driving to Winnipeg to stay with some more friends. Tuesday we'll drive to Thunder Bay for our show. Wednesday we're heading to Ottawa to stay with Kandace and Matt, then we're hitting the road for Fredericton on Thursday.
I am excited to get back home.
Nov 30, 2008
Nov 29, 2008
photos v. 2
uploaded them to le facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/editpicture.php?success=1#/album.php?aid=183599&id=503355104
http://www.facebook.com/editpicture.php?success=1#/album.php?aid=183599&id=503355104
Kelowna + Canmore
Kelowna is a nice town. Unfortunately, they're not huge rock n' roll fans. Aside from Grant Macdonald being there, the night was a complete bust. The bar didn't enforce a cover, so we made no money, not that it mattered because no one was there anyway. Anybody who was in the bar basically left as soon as we started playing. Kelowna 1, Sleepless Nights 0.
It was good to see Grant though. That guy is as fucking fun as he was the last time I saw him - which was about 7 years ago.
Friday morning we hit the road for Canmore - which meant another snowy trek through the mountains. The weather actually wasn't terrible - a couple of snow patches here and there, but I think now that we're clear of mountains, we're lucky to say we didn't have any major incidents. We did, however, see a huge ram walking along the highway. That was extremely cool.
Canmore is a super nice town. Sort of like Jasper, but more down to earth and less rich. Its a small little mountain town, so you're surrounded by big behemoth rockies on all sides, it really is quite beautiful. Nothing can describe the gloriousness of this aspect of mother nature. Planet earth, you amaze me.
Our show was at a place called the Canmore hotel, which is actually more of a hostel than a hotel. The rooms upstairs from the bar were small little one-double-bed dealies with a sink and a dresser. The place is super old (our friends in the Details told us it's haunted) and it looks like what was once a boarding house or something. Pinky and I have been reading a bunch of Charles Bukowski - these rooms reminded me exactly of the kind of places Bukowski describes in his books. I could just picture a mean old slum lord coming to knock on our door, asking for the $2.75 rent for the week. Needless to say, it was an interesting place.
The show was decent. It was a step up from the past two nights where we basically played to nobody, but it still wasn't glamorous. A couple people were into it, dancing and the like - and we actually sold a couple CDs.
The highlight of the night for me was getting to hang out with my cousin Marcel who I haven't seen it at least five plus years. He's still as fun as he used to be. Considering he and his girlfriend Jennifer had to drive like 12 hours to get to Canmore just to to see us play, it was really great to hang out with him again. He's one of those cousins I wish was just around all the time.
Staying in hotels/hostels is a good/bad idea for us. When we can leave our gear in the bar, and go to sleep right upstairs - you know that the night is probably going to be a write off for us. Especially when the bar gives us a two-four of beer, and people keep buying you Jagr shots. It was indeed a pretty good night.
Today we got up, ate breakfast, and drove to Edmonton. On the way I read a story that Pinky's been writing about our tour - and I gotta say it's pretty good. I'm trying to convince him to make a little novel so we can sell it on our merch table in the future. The guy's got talent.
We were just talking about tonight's show, and how we hope it's going to be a step up from all our other shows since Victoria - and we realized that there might actually be a half-dozen people we know from back home who will be here.
I hope so.
It was good to see Grant though. That guy is as fucking fun as he was the last time I saw him - which was about 7 years ago.
Friday morning we hit the road for Canmore - which meant another snowy trek through the mountains. The weather actually wasn't terrible - a couple of snow patches here and there, but I think now that we're clear of mountains, we're lucky to say we didn't have any major incidents. We did, however, see a huge ram walking along the highway. That was extremely cool.
Canmore is a super nice town. Sort of like Jasper, but more down to earth and less rich. Its a small little mountain town, so you're surrounded by big behemoth rockies on all sides, it really is quite beautiful. Nothing can describe the gloriousness of this aspect of mother nature. Planet earth, you amaze me.
Our show was at a place called the Canmore hotel, which is actually more of a hostel than a hotel. The rooms upstairs from the bar were small little one-double-bed dealies with a sink and a dresser. The place is super old (our friends in the Details told us it's haunted) and it looks like what was once a boarding house or something. Pinky and I have been reading a bunch of Charles Bukowski - these rooms reminded me exactly of the kind of places Bukowski describes in his books. I could just picture a mean old slum lord coming to knock on our door, asking for the $2.75 rent for the week. Needless to say, it was an interesting place.
The show was decent. It was a step up from the past two nights where we basically played to nobody, but it still wasn't glamorous. A couple people were into it, dancing and the like - and we actually sold a couple CDs.
The highlight of the night for me was getting to hang out with my cousin Marcel who I haven't seen it at least five plus years. He's still as fun as he used to be. Considering he and his girlfriend Jennifer had to drive like 12 hours to get to Canmore just to to see us play, it was really great to hang out with him again. He's one of those cousins I wish was just around all the time.
Staying in hotels/hostels is a good/bad idea for us. When we can leave our gear in the bar, and go to sleep right upstairs - you know that the night is probably going to be a write off for us. Especially when the bar gives us a two-four of beer, and people keep buying you Jagr shots. It was indeed a pretty good night.
Today we got up, ate breakfast, and drove to Edmonton. On the way I read a story that Pinky's been writing about our tour - and I gotta say it's pretty good. I'm trying to convince him to make a little novel so we can sell it on our merch table in the future. The guy's got talent.
We were just talking about tonight's show, and how we hope it's going to be a step up from all our other shows since Victoria - and we realized that there might actually be a half-dozen people we know from back home who will be here.
I hope so.
Nov 27, 2008
Victoria & Duncan
Well, before we got to Victoria, everyone raved about how nice it was. They weren't kidding. It really is a beautiful spot. We got to Victoria around 11 and went downtown to find something to eat, then we went over the University of Victoria to play three songs live on CFUV and and to do an interview. It went pretty well. We were all shoved into one tiny room, it was pretty tight - but it was ok.
We spent the rest of the afternoon literally doing nothing. I think Pineau and I spent 3 hours at a Starbucks texting our lady friends, drinking hot chocolate and watching tv on our laptops.
While I'm keeping up to date on my favorite shows - The Office & 30 Rock - I am also watching both seasons of this show called Mad Men, and its so good. Great writing, great acting, amazing characters, so good. And it's set in 1960 - what more could you want?
We played at a bar in downtown Victoria called Lucky Bar with a band called The Shores and another band called Rugged Uncle, which features two members of our friends Immaculate Machine.
The show went well - the bar was cool, kind of reminded me of Elwood's in Saint John, NB - and I was surprised at how many people came out for a show on a Tuesday night. As always, the presence of friends from home made me feel better about being so far removed from Halifax. Yesterday was a day that I needed friends like that around. Fiona and her boyfriend came out, not to mention my old Superstore co-workers Derek & Rosalind. So great to see them.
After the show we stayed at our friend Luke's place (of Rugged Uncle and Immaculate Machine), and today he cooked us some sweet breakfast. Thanks Luke.
We got to Duncan, BC which is about 45 minutes from Victoria, and loaded into the Duncan Garage Showroom - a really cool venue. It was like a mini-theatre (50 person seating) that was run by this guy named, no kidding, Longevity John. This place was an experience in and of itself. Think small town movie theatre meets native trinket store meets hippie coffee house. This was by far the coolest place we've played on our tour. Never mind the fact that only two people showed up, and that we played a set of songs that we hadn't played in 6+ months - songs like Communication Barrier, Arabian Nights, Everybody's Dancing and Jeff's Guide to TV. It was fun though. I would definitely go back.
We had to get up mega early today (6am) to take the ferry back off Vancouver Island to get to our show in Kelowna, where we are right now, sitting in the bar, hanging out occasionally with our new friend Natalie (the waitress) and waiting to play. This is a nice town.
The trek towards the East continues....
We spent the rest of the afternoon literally doing nothing. I think Pineau and I spent 3 hours at a Starbucks texting our lady friends, drinking hot chocolate and watching tv on our laptops.
While I'm keeping up to date on my favorite shows - The Office & 30 Rock - I am also watching both seasons of this show called Mad Men, and its so good. Great writing, great acting, amazing characters, so good. And it's set in 1960 - what more could you want?
We played at a bar in downtown Victoria called Lucky Bar with a band called The Shores and another band called Rugged Uncle, which features two members of our friends Immaculate Machine.
The show went well - the bar was cool, kind of reminded me of Elwood's in Saint John, NB - and I was surprised at how many people came out for a show on a Tuesday night. As always, the presence of friends from home made me feel better about being so far removed from Halifax. Yesterday was a day that I needed friends like that around. Fiona and her boyfriend came out, not to mention my old Superstore co-workers Derek & Rosalind. So great to see them.
After the show we stayed at our friend Luke's place (of Rugged Uncle and Immaculate Machine), and today he cooked us some sweet breakfast. Thanks Luke.
We got to Duncan, BC which is about 45 minutes from Victoria, and loaded into the Duncan Garage Showroom - a really cool venue. It was like a mini-theatre (50 person seating) that was run by this guy named, no kidding, Longevity John. This place was an experience in and of itself. Think small town movie theatre meets native trinket store meets hippie coffee house. This was by far the coolest place we've played on our tour. Never mind the fact that only two people showed up, and that we played a set of songs that we hadn't played in 6+ months - songs like Communication Barrier, Arabian Nights, Everybody's Dancing and Jeff's Guide to TV. It was fun though. I would definitely go back.
We had to get up mega early today (6am) to take the ferry back off Vancouver Island to get to our show in Kelowna, where we are right now, sitting in the bar, hanging out occasionally with our new friend Natalie (the waitress) and waiting to play. This is a nice town.
The trek towards the East continues....
Nov 26, 2008
Vancouver et. al.
I am so exhausted right now, that my memory is hazy. However, here's what I remember:
After our show in Jasper, we drove for the majority of the day on Saturday to get to Vancouver where we were staying with my wonderful cousin Caroline and her ten year old Santiago, whom I haven't seen in probably 6+ years. Seeing family is one of the best perks of being on the road.
We lazed around for most of the day on Sunday before we loaded into the van and headed to our show in downtown Vancouver. It was a very "unique" place to say the least. We played at this place called Hoko's which was a Japanese sushi/karaoke bar. Yep a sushi/karaoke bar. For a Sunday night, the show was pretty well attended. We played with a band called Love and Mathematics who were from Vancouver, and were pretty cool.
Monday we made our way back down to the downtown core to record 6 songs for CBC Radio 3's "Sessions" series. We loaded into a gorgeous studio in the basement of the building, and spent about 2 and a half hours recording two tracks from our album, "Got Caught," and "Amounts to Nothing" as well as 4 brand new songs - "Going to Canada," "Radio Silence," "Ghost Vibrations," and "Coup d'Etat." We spiced some of them up, added some special intros and outros, etc to make our Session a little unique.
The host, Tariq Hussain, was a great guy. He hung out for the whole recording process. Grant Lawrence from the CBC Radio 3 Podcast also showed up to say hello. That was nice.
Today we left early in the morning to catch the ferry to Vancouver Island and made our way to Victoria. We went to the University of Victoria where we played 3 songs live on the air and did a little interview to hype tonight's show a little bit. Here's to hoping it worked.
After our show in Jasper, we drove for the majority of the day on Saturday to get to Vancouver where we were staying with my wonderful cousin Caroline and her ten year old Santiago, whom I haven't seen in probably 6+ years. Seeing family is one of the best perks of being on the road.
We lazed around for most of the day on Sunday before we loaded into the van and headed to our show in downtown Vancouver. It was a very "unique" place to say the least. We played at this place called Hoko's which was a Japanese sushi/karaoke bar. Yep a sushi/karaoke bar. For a Sunday night, the show was pretty well attended. We played with a band called Love and Mathematics who were from Vancouver, and were pretty cool.
Monday we made our way back down to the downtown core to record 6 songs for CBC Radio 3's "Sessions" series. We loaded into a gorgeous studio in the basement of the building, and spent about 2 and a half hours recording two tracks from our album, "Got Caught," and "Amounts to Nothing" as well as 4 brand new songs - "Going to Canada," "Radio Silence," "Ghost Vibrations," and "Coup d'Etat." We spiced some of them up, added some special intros and outros, etc to make our Session a little unique.
The host, Tariq Hussain, was a great guy. He hung out for the whole recording process. Grant Lawrence from the CBC Radio 3 Podcast also showed up to say hello. That was nice.
Today we left early in the morning to catch the ferry to Vancouver Island and made our way to Victoria. We went to the University of Victoria where we played 3 songs live on the air and did a little interview to hype tonight's show a little bit. Here's to hoping it worked.
Nov 24, 2008
Sleepless Nights on Zunior.tv
A performance of "Got Caught" from our Toronto show at Sneaky Dee's:
http://www.zunior.tv/2008/11/24/live-sleepless-nights-got-caught/
http://www.zunior.tv/2008/11/24/live-sleepless-nights-got-caught/
Nov 22, 2008
Jasper
First of all, I'm sure everyone says it - but holy god the rocky mountains are amazing. I have never seen anything so grandiose in my entire life. thanks mother nature. it was the first time I took pictures since we left, I will post some in the next couple of days.
So, after driving literally through the mountains on a route called The Icefields we got to Jasper around 8 and loaded in. This is obviously a mega rich town, its a resort town - its focus is on tourists who come here to go skiing. Believe it or not, this is the off season here in Jasper, so were weren't really expecting a whole lot from the show.
We played inside a hotel called the Athabasca Inn - and (if you're from yarmouth you'll get this) it was like playing at the Red Knight on a Saturday night. ie - people were more into dancing to shitty club music than they were listening to us. we tried to have a good time with it though, do stuff that was to only funny us - like, for example, there were tv screens all around the bar, and we got them to play the only DVD we had in the van while we played, which was Death - Live in LA.
We even had a couple hecklers, one asshole in particular who kept telling us to play tragically hip songs and wanting to fight us because we wouldn't. I might be thousands of miles from home, but you can't get more small-town Nova Scotia than that. Being super obsessed with Guns N Roses these days thanks to that Slash biography, the only thing i could think of was "What Would Axl Do?"
Don't get me wrong, there were some nice people here. A table of girls from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick bought us a round of Jager shots, and the bartenders were super nice to us.
Anyways, it was kind of a weird late debaucherous night, since we were staying just upstairs at this place.
Today, we're driving through more mountains to Vancouver. I'm going to venture outside and see what I can see here in Jasper before we have to load out.
BC, here we come.
So, after driving literally through the mountains on a route called The Icefields we got to Jasper around 8 and loaded in. This is obviously a mega rich town, its a resort town - its focus is on tourists who come here to go skiing. Believe it or not, this is the off season here in Jasper, so were weren't really expecting a whole lot from the show.
We played inside a hotel called the Athabasca Inn - and (if you're from yarmouth you'll get this) it was like playing at the Red Knight on a Saturday night. ie - people were more into dancing to shitty club music than they were listening to us. we tried to have a good time with it though, do stuff that was to only funny us - like, for example, there were tv screens all around the bar, and we got them to play the only DVD we had in the van while we played, which was Death - Live in LA.
We even had a couple hecklers, one asshole in particular who kept telling us to play tragically hip songs and wanting to fight us because we wouldn't. I might be thousands of miles from home, but you can't get more small-town Nova Scotia than that. Being super obsessed with Guns N Roses these days thanks to that Slash biography, the only thing i could think of was "What Would Axl Do?"
Don't get me wrong, there were some nice people here. A table of girls from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick bought us a round of Jager shots, and the bartenders were super nice to us.
Anyways, it was kind of a weird late debaucherous night, since we were staying just upstairs at this place.
Today, we're driving through more mountains to Vancouver. I'm going to venture outside and see what I can see here in Jasper before we have to load out.
BC, here we come.
Nov 21, 2008
Calgary
After a day of lazing around at Katie's, we went downtown to load into the venue. The show was sponsored by a great beer that you can only get west of Ontario called Steamwhistle, so there was plenty of that to go around, not to mention a free meal. I had a burger made with 100% pure Albertan beef and it was as big as my fist. It was one of the best things I've ever eaten in my whole life. SO GOOD.
The show was pretty great. Like I said, we played with a band from Edmonton called Hot Panda and a band from Toronto called The Bicycles, both of whom get lots of attention out here so the crowd was pretty good. I had a really fun time, and we sold a bunch of stuff so that's good.
As always, its good to have friends around in a strange place, so seeing Katie, Zoanne and Amie was nice. Also, having some girl buy the band tequila shots before we even played was awesome - more so for me since none of the guys in the band can man up to drink tequila shots. Hah. (To be fair, Katie did one with me).
After the show, Katie took us to the 7-Eleven for tacquitos - which were mega yummy - and we came back here to sleep.
Today we're off to Jasper - needless to say I'm pretty excited to see some mountains.
The show was pretty great. Like I said, we played with a band from Edmonton called Hot Panda and a band from Toronto called The Bicycles, both of whom get lots of attention out here so the crowd was pretty good. I had a really fun time, and we sold a bunch of stuff so that's good.
As always, its good to have friends around in a strange place, so seeing Katie, Zoanne and Amie was nice. Also, having some girl buy the band tequila shots before we even played was awesome - more so for me since none of the guys in the band can man up to drink tequila shots. Hah. (To be fair, Katie did one with me).
After the show, Katie took us to the 7-Eleven for tacquitos - which were mega yummy - and we came back here to sleep.
Today we're off to Jasper - needless to say I'm pretty excited to see some mountains.
Nov 20, 2008
Winnipeg + Lethbridge
We had a day to kill in Winnipeg before our show at the Lo Pub, so we went to get the headlights on our van fixed. Turns out the headlight switch was burnt out, so we needed to replace it. Luckily, it cost us less than we anticipated: $166. $166 is still quite a blow to a band on the road, but we were anticipating over $200 so we were in a good mood.
After eating breakfast at a restaurant across from the mechanic's (how convenient), and spending an hour in their waiting room playing video games (the other boys) and doing homework (me), we went back to Kerrie's place and watched some Clone High till it was time to head out to the Lo Pub.
The Lo Pub is a bar inside a newly renovated hostel, so we had a room to stay in while we were there.
Our show was pretty good. The crowd wasn't huge, but come on - it was a Tuesday night, and we had never played in Winnipeg before. So considering the people who were there, we couldn't have asked for more really. We got to see a couple of our friends in The Details, who are super fun to hang out with, so that was cool. One of the guys from Smallman Records even came out to check out our set, which was great because it was probably the best set we've played on tour.
Wednesday morning brought another super drive.
We drove from Winnipeg, MN to Lethbridge, AB which took us about 12 hours. Driving across the prairies was pretty cool. Aside from being really windy and hitting a couple snow squalls here and there, it was quite a sight. I mean, you wouldn't think that 12 hours of driving through flat land would be cool, but when you're driving through Saskatchewan at 9am and you can see the horizon for miles and miles - it's pretty awe inspiring.
So we get to Lethbridge, and we play at this place called The Slice (who gave us some sweet pizza). We had no idea what to expect, it was a Wednesday night after all, but the show turned out GREAT! The crowd seemed pretty into us, and the band who played after us - Carpenter (who are from Vancouver, BC) were awesome. A full-fledged rock n roll band complete with high-kicks and songs in G. Super nice guys too, we might actually hang out with them in Calgary when they stroll through for their show in Canmore tonight.
Speaking of Calgary, that's where we are right now. We are staying at our friend Kate's house who was kind enough to put us up after we drove here from Lethbridge at 2am. We are playing at Broken City tonight with Hot Panda and The Bicycles so it should be a good show. I'm excited to see the girls in Kilbourne, I hope they can make it out.
After eating breakfast at a restaurant across from the mechanic's (how convenient), and spending an hour in their waiting room playing video games (the other boys) and doing homework (me), we went back to Kerrie's place and watched some Clone High till it was time to head out to the Lo Pub.
The Lo Pub is a bar inside a newly renovated hostel, so we had a room to stay in while we were there.
Our show was pretty good. The crowd wasn't huge, but come on - it was a Tuesday night, and we had never played in Winnipeg before. So considering the people who were there, we couldn't have asked for more really. We got to see a couple of our friends in The Details, who are super fun to hang out with, so that was cool. One of the guys from Smallman Records even came out to check out our set, which was great because it was probably the best set we've played on tour.
Wednesday morning brought another super drive.
We drove from Winnipeg, MN to Lethbridge, AB which took us about 12 hours. Driving across the prairies was pretty cool. Aside from being really windy and hitting a couple snow squalls here and there, it was quite a sight. I mean, you wouldn't think that 12 hours of driving through flat land would be cool, but when you're driving through Saskatchewan at 9am and you can see the horizon for miles and miles - it's pretty awe inspiring.
So we get to Lethbridge, and we play at this place called The Slice (who gave us some sweet pizza). We had no idea what to expect, it was a Wednesday night after all, but the show turned out GREAT! The crowd seemed pretty into us, and the band who played after us - Carpenter (who are from Vancouver, BC) were awesome. A full-fledged rock n roll band complete with high-kicks and songs in G. Super nice guys too, we might actually hang out with them in Calgary when they stroll through for their show in Canmore tonight.
Speaking of Calgary, that's where we are right now. We are staying at our friend Kate's house who was kind enough to put us up after we drove here from Lethbridge at 2am. We are playing at Broken City tonight with Hot Panda and The Bicycles so it should be a good show. I'm excited to see the girls in Kilbourne, I hope they can make it out.
Nov 17, 2008
Driving....
Ontario has to got to be the biggest friggen province on the face of the planet.
After our misgivings with directions, and our stay in a motel on Saturday night. We drove as far North as we could Sunday night (which turned out to be this place called Terrace Bay), and we spent the night in another motel and took off early this morning for Winnipeg.
After another 12 hours of driving, a speeding ticket in Kenora, ON, and lots of classic rock, we finally got to Manitoba.
I have been reading a lot in the van. Mostly all non-academic reading, which is a welcome change of pace.
I've plowed through Charles Bukowski's Ham On Rye as well as Chuck Palahniuk's Survivor.
Right now I'm reading what is sure to become one the best "must reads" in rock n roll literature, Slash - the autobiography of the guitar player from Guns N Roses. So far, so awesome.
So tomorrow, we are taking the van somewhere to get our lights checked out and hopefully get them fixed, then we have a show here in Winnipeg at a place called Lo Pub.
This town seems to very old and I like the architecture a lot - it reminds me of Ottawa in a way.
We got added to a bill in Lethbridge the next day, which means that after our show in the 'Peg, we'll be hitting the road early the next morning. However, that puts us only about an hour outside of Calgary, where our show is on Thursday.
Look out West Coast, here we are!
After our misgivings with directions, and our stay in a motel on Saturday night. We drove as far North as we could Sunday night (which turned out to be this place called Terrace Bay), and we spent the night in another motel and took off early this morning for Winnipeg.
After another 12 hours of driving, a speeding ticket in Kenora, ON, and lots of classic rock, we finally got to Manitoba.
I have been reading a lot in the van. Mostly all non-academic reading, which is a welcome change of pace.
I've plowed through Charles Bukowski's Ham On Rye as well as Chuck Palahniuk's Survivor.
Right now I'm reading what is sure to become one the best "must reads" in rock n roll literature, Slash - the autobiography of the guitar player from Guns N Roses. So far, so awesome.
So tomorrow, we are taking the van somewhere to get our lights checked out and hopefully get them fixed, then we have a show here in Winnipeg at a place called Lo Pub.
This town seems to very old and I like the architecture a lot - it reminds me of Ottawa in a way.
We got added to a bill in Lethbridge the next day, which means that after our show in the 'Peg, we'll be hitting the road early the next morning. However, that puts us only about an hour outside of Calgary, where our show is on Thursday.
Look out West Coast, here we are!
Nov 15, 2008
uhmmm...Toronto?
Ok, so today was by far a weird day. We've learned three important things about TomTom - our relationship is currently on the rocks with her.
Rule #1 - Don't Always Trust TomTom:
Sometimes, she switches her ideas in the middle of the city, and really confuses you.
Rule #2 - Always Check TomTom's Maps:
as we left Toronto today, we set the course for Winnipeg - and picked the "fastest route" option. We drove in the rain for about 2 hours, and saw that we were passing St. Catherines. A mix of our own knowledge and the geographic genius of my friend Becky (whom I was texting at the time) led us to believe we were heading to SOUTHERN Ontario, instead of NORTHERN Ontario. We looked at TomTom's map and the route was plotted to go through the US. Needless to say, we can't go through the US because we don't have Visas, so we drove about 2 hours in the wrong direction.
On top of that, we found out yesterday that the lights on Betty White (our van) aren't really working that well. The daylight lights come on, and the blinkers no problem - but we can't switch them to nighttime and the bright lights will come on, but won't stay on. So, until we can get this fixed (we spent the better part of the day looking for someone to fix it, but all the places were too busy) we are trying to restrict our night driving.
That being said, we decided our best option would be to stay in a cheap motel for the night, get up at sunrise, and start making the drive to Winnipeg - this time through Canada.
Rule #3 - Never Trust The Data:
En route to find a hotel, TomTom gave us several options of those nearest to us: a Comfort Inn, A Travel Lodge, A Holiday Inn Express and Krazy Krust Patties. Well it's not difficult to assume that the first place we checked was Krazy Krust Patties. It was in fact a Lebanese Bakery and not a hotel. Funny times though.
***
So here we are in a motel between Toronto and Barrie, using free Internet, drinking some big beers we bought in Quebec, watching Talladega Nice (about to watch the new Office) and getting ready for bed so we can get up at 5am to hit the road for Winnipeg!
Rule #1 - Don't Always Trust TomTom:
Sometimes, she switches her ideas in the middle of the city, and really confuses you.
Rule #2 - Always Check TomTom's Maps:
as we left Toronto today, we set the course for Winnipeg - and picked the "fastest route" option. We drove in the rain for about 2 hours, and saw that we were passing St. Catherines. A mix of our own knowledge and the geographic genius of my friend Becky (whom I was texting at the time) led us to believe we were heading to SOUTHERN Ontario, instead of NORTHERN Ontario. We looked at TomTom's map and the route was plotted to go through the US. Needless to say, we can't go through the US because we don't have Visas, so we drove about 2 hours in the wrong direction.
On top of that, we found out yesterday that the lights on Betty White (our van) aren't really working that well. The daylight lights come on, and the blinkers no problem - but we can't switch them to nighttime and the bright lights will come on, but won't stay on. So, until we can get this fixed (we spent the better part of the day looking for someone to fix it, but all the places were too busy) we are trying to restrict our night driving.
That being said, we decided our best option would be to stay in a cheap motel for the night, get up at sunrise, and start making the drive to Winnipeg - this time through Canada.
Rule #3 - Never Trust The Data:
En route to find a hotel, TomTom gave us several options of those nearest to us: a Comfort Inn, A Travel Lodge, A Holiday Inn Express and Krazy Krust Patties. Well it's not difficult to assume that the first place we checked was Krazy Krust Patties. It was in fact a Lebanese Bakery and not a hotel. Funny times though.
***
So here we are in a motel between Toronto and Barrie, using free Internet, drinking some big beers we bought in Quebec, watching Talladega Nice (about to watch the new Office) and getting ready for bed so we can get up at 5am to hit the road for Winnipeg!
Toronto
Our show in Toronto was probably better than our last two shows combined. We played at Sneaky Dees with a band from Toronto called Proof of Ghosts - and two of the guys in the band worked at the bar, so the crowd was out. Not to mention, we got to play with the illustrious Wax Mannequin, so that was cool.
Again, seeing friends like Kendall, Jo, Claudia, and Peter G was awesome.
We're in for a huge journey in the next couple of days. Our show in Timmins, ON got cancelled so we're heading straight to Winnipeg.
OH! I forgot to mention the newest addition to our band. Her name is TomTom, she is stern, and British, and extremely accurate. She is also a GPS.
Anyways, according to her, Winnipeg is about 32 hours away - so we have some travelling to do. Our show there isn't until Tuesday, so we've got some time.
I also forgot to mention in the last blog, in the list of awesome things that are happening, we got a demo recording grant from Factor! Very excited to get down to recording a new album with some government money when we get home.
So anyways, correspondence in the next few days might be limited because we'll be making the huge drive to Winnipeg. Wish us luck.
Again, seeing friends like Kendall, Jo, Claudia, and Peter G was awesome.
We're in for a huge journey in the next couple of days. Our show in Timmins, ON got cancelled so we're heading straight to Winnipeg.
OH! I forgot to mention the newest addition to our band. Her name is TomTom, she is stern, and British, and extremely accurate. She is also a GPS.
Anyways, according to her, Winnipeg is about 32 hours away - so we have some travelling to do. Our show there isn't until Tuesday, so we've got some time.
I also forgot to mention in the last blog, in the list of awesome things that are happening, we got a demo recording grant from Factor! Very excited to get down to recording a new album with some government money when we get home.
So anyways, correspondence in the next few days might be limited because we'll be making the huge drive to Winnipeg. Wish us luck.
Nov 14, 2008
Ottawa + Hamilton
Well the shows haven't been magnificent to date. Both our Ottawa show and our Hamilton show had an audience of about 15-20 people. But both shows brought out friends, which is one of the great things about traveling the country.
However, the best things are happening to us.
First, gas prices are RIDICULOUSLY low! Yesterday we filled up at a station where gas was 79.8!!!! It used to cost us between $100 and $125 to fill up the tank, we've been filling up the van for about $75 to $85 dollars. This is amazing for a band who is driving across the country. We figured that for every 3 tanks, we are actually saving one full tank of gas based on how much we used to spend.
Second, last night in Hamilton after our show, our friend nick was able to get us in to see Priestess for free! You might recognize them from GUITAR HERO.
Finally, we were able to score a CBC Radio 3 Session, which means we'll be recording 6 songs out in Vancouver for CBC Radio 3.
Tonight we play in Toronto, and it should be pretty good. We're playing with Wax Mannequin, and we have a bunch of friends there now - so it should be ok.
To think, in like 3 days, we'll be in Manitoba. Awesome.
However, the best things are happening to us.
First, gas prices are RIDICULOUSLY low! Yesterday we filled up at a station where gas was 79.8!!!! It used to cost us between $100 and $125 to fill up the tank, we've been filling up the van for about $75 to $85 dollars. This is amazing for a band who is driving across the country. We figured that for every 3 tanks, we are actually saving one full tank of gas based on how much we used to spend.
Second, last night in Hamilton after our show, our friend nick was able to get us in to see Priestess for free! You might recognize them from GUITAR HERO.
Finally, we were able to score a CBC Radio 3 Session, which means we'll be recording 6 songs out in Vancouver for CBC Radio 3.
Tonight we play in Toronto, and it should be pretty good. We're playing with Wax Mannequin, and we have a bunch of friends there now - so it should be ok.
To think, in like 3 days, we'll be in Manitoba. Awesome.
Nov 11, 2008
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