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Entries in The Free Press (4)

Saturday
Apr172010

Two Headlights

Sorry we haven't been able to send more footage and live broadcasts from down south here (or maybe that's for the best.)  That was our intention after we discovered the technology on the way down a few days ago.  The problem is that the hotel we're staying in has "balls" internet (and Alex Oliveira quote) and we haven't been able to find the bandwidth to get to you good folks.  We did manage a brief broadcast last night @ 2 am from an ATM bank shelter (of course I'm serioius) and it looked as sketchy as can be (and felt even more so, particularly when three cop cars when screaming past us).  Of course, that was after we walked into a nicer hotel and snuck around the darkness of it's really fancy and really expensive conference rooms looking for a wired connection.  Had we really wanted to we could have stolen all the Gideon's video gear (and bibles), but we're good Canadian boys and we opted instead to just keep searching for internet.  Alas...

Today brought new fun and excitement.  The rain and humidity vanished and the temperature dropped 10-12 degrees.  As such, it's pretty damned brisk outside (and that's where we're playing!)  If anyone's ever wondered what it's like to play an outdoor rock and roll show at Snow Jam or Winterlude or Carnivale I can probably tell you in a few hours.  We're looking at similar conditions because the hard way just seems to be The Free Press way.

I'm not complaining.  Please don't think that.  I'm not even complaining about the van which broke down as Alex was trying to (again) fix the tail light wiring for the trailer.  This time he somehow managed to blow a fuse while repairing the lights.  He replaced the fuse and had to take it to a mechanic.  The mechanic said that we had probably effed the computer in the van.  You know, the brain of the car.  The thing that controls the brake lights, the fuel gauge, the turning signals, the odometer, the hazards.  So, unless a miracle happens tonight or tomorrow morning, we'll be driving home with head lights (at least there's two of them...currently anyway), winning smiles and the best of intentions.  I wasn't kidding about The Free Press Way. :)

So, say your prayers for us, think warm thoughts and keep your house lights on if we're driving past.  With all apologies to the Earth, every bit will help tomorrow.  Hopefully we'll come to you live from the van sometime tomorrow afternoon or evening.  Dig it. 

 

Wednesday
Nov112009

Montreal is for Lovers

Lovers of pizza, pepsi and churches.  They’ve got me on 2 out of 3.
Thanks to the miracle of wi-fi, we’re sitting and writing in a Pizza Hut in Montreal.  It’s handily located across from a big, beautiful church and Urgel Bourgie’s funeral home.  We’re waiting for some greasy, delicious fuel (as we have another 8 hours of driving yet today).  We had planned to be in Edmundston, NB before midnight but life rarely makes accommodations for rock and roll indie bands.  In fact it usually seems to go out of its way to make life “interesting” for outfits like ours.  
The problem today was that the 401 was closed just past Kingston.  Seriously.  The Trans-Canada highway was closed because a large truck (full of pulp), hit a car, hit a bridge, sliced in half, caught fire and slid to a halt blocking all three lanes.  As a precaution (probably a good one since a truck that’s on fire and full of paper would provide some combustability) the RCMP shut down the 401 and we spent an hour with some fellow Canadians wondering what in the name of the baby Jesus was going on.
  
We may have dwelled on this before, but here’s the problem with touring Canada; it’s too christing big.  If you cut through the USA (odd that one has to leave our country in order to cross it faster) you can shave some time off your trip and go from Victoria, BC to St. John’s, NF in only 3 days and 7 hours (yes, 79 hours.)  It’s roughly 7471 km.  There’s many ways to say this, but that’s too far.  It’s just over 8170 football fields.  8-1-7-0!!! Brett Favre’s got a good arm, but I’m not sure he could make the hail mary on that field.  Now we’re only going from Toronto, ON to Halifax NS (a measly 1782 km).  That’s only 1948 football fields but it still feels like a lot.  Anyone want to do wind sprints on that surface?  I’ll pass.
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Writing from the hotel in Edmundston now.  As is our usual style, we’re two hours late and checking in during the wee hours of the morning.  Typically we storm into a room, turn on all the lights, plug in all manner of computers, phones, climate analysis equipment and begin to wind down.  This consists of watching dumb videos (ie Christopher Walken reading the lyrics to “Pokerface”, reading, checking emails and writing some blogs.)  Tonight we have successfully managed to use every outlet in a rather nice hotel room (we will be issuing a formal apology to David Suzuki in a later post).  Everyone is resting peacefully as I write this.  Let’s call it the calm before the storm.  Tomorrow night, Halifax!
Tuesday
Sep012009

2 Amps

We made a lot of friends at this years NXNE but at the top of the heap is a great guy named Chris Penney.  He's the brains and heart behind Amped Up Tv which is a great site for music lovers.  It's a collection of acoustic performances, interviews and live footage from bands you probably haven't heard of but should make a point to do so.

A couple of the acoustic performances we did for the Amped Up TV gang at NXNE are below.  The first is a track from the record and the second is a newer tune that we hope to include on an EP that's tentatively slated for an early winter release.  Enjoy and be sure to check out Amped Up TV when you get some time!

National Pride (Acoustic for Amped Up TV)

Rosedale (Acoustic for Amped Up TV)