crows to burnaby

To the lady who paused at a stop sign at Commercial Drive today long enough to shout at me, "I know it's not my place, but on a hot day like this that dog should be at home!", I would like to say the following:

1. That's exactly where we were going. (I did get to say that before you drove off, but I doubt you were listening.)
2. My dog cannot use the toilet. Wouldn't it be more cruel not to walk him?
3. Hypothetically speaking, what if it was really hot inside my apartment?
4. So you're offering us a lift home then? Mind some dog hair on your car seats?
5. No, it really isn't your place.

Well, I don't know how many of you are still checking in here after that lengthy hiatus, but I seem to be back, in some way or another anyway. I was doing some pretty heavy-duty blogging over on ARCTIC's site. If you'd like to read that, here's a sort of table of contents:

1. Vancouver tour launch
2. Kelowna
3. Regina
4. Winnipeg and Thunder Bay
5. Sault Ste Marie
6. A few days off
7. Guelph
8. Toronto
9. Montreal and Waterloo
10. Hamilton
11. Peterborough
12. Ottawa and Oshawa
13. Windsor
14. Northern Ontario wanderings
15. Thunder Bay return
16. Calgary
17. On supporting local businesses
18. Kelowna and home

I'm back in Vancouver now and adjusting to normal life. I'm in danger of acquiring what I like to call Post-Ecstatic Stress Syndrome - the big crash that comes after a highly anticipated, fun and exciting event. I'm already heavily into booking the next tour, so hopefully that'll help ease me down. Plus I can enjoy the little things about being back, like having a greater selection of clothing to wear, and not having to dig them out from the bottom of a suitcase in the trunk of a car.

I really had a great time on the road. I never would have thought, years ago, that I'd do so well being constantly in transit, with interrupted sleep and naps in the front passenger seat of a car, and so on. And I guess it'll be a little harder in the fall and winter, when the weather is harsh (though the weather seemed to be pretty miserable everywhere we went this time anyway) and there are more colds going around. But it was a pretty comfortable thing, and I'm ready for more.

I also had the most awesome reunion with Dexter (the best dog in the world) today. He was staying with some friends who absolutely love him and have been doting on him non-stop, and I half expected him to be disappointed to have me come and take him home. But when he saw me he launched himself at me with sheer wholehearted joy, and proceed to race up and down the hallway, running at me full tilt and leaping into my arms, then taking off down the hallway and flying at me again. It was the most dizzying display of giddiness and happiness and it made me feel really great to be his person.

So that's where I'm at.

You'll be pleased to know that in May I'll be blogging reliably... just not here. May 10 is the start of our tour, with a kickoff here in Vancouver, and I'll be writing updates from the road (time and internet access permitting, of course) over on ARCTIC's tour blog.

So where are we going, anyway? Here's the current list:

May 10: Wired Monk, Vancouver, BC
May 13: The Gaslight, Regina, SK
May 14: Mondragon, Winnipeg, MB
May 15: The Apollo, Thunder Bay, ON
May 16: Loplop’s, Sault Ste Marie, ON
May 17: Tranzac, Toronto, ON (Marcus Martin solo)
May 20: Albion Hotel, Guelph, ON
May 21: The Boat, Toronto, ON
May 22: Bar St. Laurent 2, Montreal, QC
May 25: Circus Room, Kitchener, ON
May 26: The Casbah, Hamilton, ON
May 28: The Spill, Peterborough, ON
May 29: Black Sheep Inn, Wakefield (near Ottawa), QC
May 30: The Atria, Oshawa, ON
May 31: Phog Lounge, Windsor, ON
Jun 4: The Cavern, Winnipeg, MB
Jun 6: The Stetson, Calgary, AB
Jun 7: Grateful Fed, Kelowna, BC

That's 18 shows, plus we're playing live on CiTR on May 1 (you can listen online at 10 PM PST) and on CKMS (Waterloo) on May 19 (3 PM EST).

See what I've been distracted now?

Hard to believe it's just a few weeks away now. I'm pretty much done with show booking, but still have to finish making new t-shirts, posters, and submitting the shows to event listings here & there. At least I can relax knowing that I will probably not be called upon to a) drive, or b) cook during our time on the road, mostly because neither of the guys entirely trust me with either task.

If you're on Facebook and this trip interests you at all, or if you think you can make it to a show, please join our Facebook event page. I'd like that.

Also, if you have friends in some of these cities who you think would enjoy the band, please please drop them a line or blog about us. At this stage, you really can't underestimate what it still means to catch the ear of a few more people. And it's just more fun for us and then it's better for everybody.

I'm really, really, really excited. This is what I want to be doing, after all.

These are the sorts of things you might experience in the Commercial Drive area.

I was walking to the bus the other day when I noticed a man with a coathanger fishing his way into a truck. I had a rush of adrenalin, wondering if I should call the cops, or confront him, or avoid him, or what. Then after a moment, I realized his manner was strangely casual - not casual in an efficient car-thief way, but just unbothered and easy. Plus the fact that he was about 60 with a ZZ Top style beard tipped me off that maybe this actually was his truck.

He drove off, very very slowly, a while after I'd passed him by; a few days later I did spot the truck back in the same location. It's just how he gets in.

Yesterday I noticed a guy carrying groceries in one hand and fiddling near his mouth with the other. I assumed he was smoking, but didn't see any smoke; I thought maybe he was chewing his fingernails or something. As I passed him I could hear him humming and then trying chords out on his harmonica. Not what I was expecting, and a far nicer discovery.

I noticed a few signs today while out & about.

One, in the window of a vitamin store on Pender, said simply "BUY 2 GET 1".

The other was a pair of signs in front of a gym around Commercial. One said "$24.99/month", and was next to a special promotional offer: "3 months $99".

I ain't buying.