Burning Ears for Wednesday
Return of the slaving ship Amistad, and declining university enrolment. It’s an eclectic day for Metro online, with full links apres jump. LOVE THAT BOATfrom New BrunswickThe CanadaEast site, an umbrella collecting Irving’s NB newspapers, reports on the trip the replica of Amistad is taking. The original boat “sparked a slave revolt” in the 1800s…
Touring Green- Blog 34: Winnipeg to Kenora (June 25-26)
I was fortunate again today as, out of something unfortunate, something great happened. First, I must say.. that I am now HALF WAY!!!!! Second, check out some awesome Geese: Third, here’s the story of the day: So, yeah, as I was saying, out of something unfortunate, came some awesome. I blew a tube and, successfully…
Touring Green – Blog 33: Winnipeg (June 23-24)
While huge, strobe-light-ish lightning storms continued to hit and the temperature soured to high 30s with the humidity; Winnipeg was still just the rest I needed before a great show with The Paperbacks and The Details and, it was just the home welcoming I needed on Sunday from staying with a good friend; to re-energize…
Touring Green – Blog 32: Portage La Prairie to Winnipeg (June 22)
Today was the first day that the wind hampered my plans to get into Winnipeg with enough time to do a short radio show before doing an in-store performance. Not a very long-distance day but the wind was certainly letting me know who was boss with its tornadoes and storms and such constantly creating crazy…
Burning Ears for Tuesday
I was on a one-day vacation yesterday, but am back with exciting news of planes and boats crashing. A plane and a boat. And they didn’t crash so much as — well, you’ll see after the jump. THAT SINKING FEELINGfrom Corner Brook, Nfld.Clearwater Seafoods ran into a bit of trouble on the other side of…
Touring Green – Blog 31: Brandon to Portage La Prairie (June 21)
Well, as I mentioned before my camera was broken (hence no photos or video blogs for the past week!). Maybe that was a good thing as, on the hi-way you’re always running into sticks and bits of tires and squiggly bits of discarded rope or bungee (usually think nothing of it); today was no exception…
Touring Green – Blog 30: Moosomin to Brandon (June 20)
So, today was an adventure as I popped my first tube today (which was quickly followed by the popping of my second tube). I knew this day would come. In fact, I bartered, in my head, during the mountains, saying “please, don’t pop a tube until at least the prairies”. But, was I ready for…
Touring Green – Blog 29: Wolseley to Moosomin (June 19)
So, as I have mentioned, there was a bit of slump for a couple days as I was biking through the prairies with a hard wind on my face and not so ideal whether. I was describing this period to friends as being like “that point in a Romantic Comedy where everything is going wrong…
Touring Green – Blog 28: Regina to Wolseley (June 18)
I was lucky enough to stay with a Country singer/guitar player named Perry Acron and the slump of previous few days was beginning to lift. Some Air was exactly was I needed as I pulled out of Wolseley. One of my favourite bands, and maybe the reason I got so interested in making music myself…
Touring Green – Blog 27: Craik to Regina (June 17)
So, as I mentioned the real “hard part” of the tour started June 16 and then started to max out by today. I biked all-day in the pouring rain (not to mention the uncomfortable level of the rain, it also completely soaked my camera and made it non-functional!). This is also right around the point…
Touring Green – Blog 26: Saskatoon to Craik (June 16)
So today I understood how much it can suck to have the wind directly aimed at you all day. The speedometer, which, if you remember, broke in Borden, could not tell me my exact speed but, I figured, I was going about half the speed I normally bike at because of the wind. Today marked…
Touring Green – Blog 25: Saskatoon (June 15)
The Saskatoon show was great as I got to see some familiar faces of Rebekah Higgs and her bandmates and also, new friend, Ryan Boldt was playing sans the rest of his great band Deep Dark Woods. Amigo’s is a great venue too where good indie-music and Mexican flows like a flowy curtain. “Today is…
Touring Green – Blog 24: Borden to Saskatoon (June 14)
Luckily, I was able to catch a lift from the kind people at Sargent’s Farm back to the road as my tires were not strong enough for the off-roading that mountain bikes could handle. In the process, however, I managed to lose the speedometer capabilities (note: this is foreshadowing for later events). A short bike…
Touring Green – Blog 23: North Battleford to Borden (June 13)
So, either I’m psychic or I’m writing this blog a little delayed but this was the only day of the prairie biking where I had the wind at my back (which was unfortunate as I chose to go west to east to use the trade-winds to my advantage)! Today was filled with easy biking and…
Burning Ears for Friday
In good news, Atlanta’s Journal-Constitution likes our Black Cultural Centre. The bad news includes rotten toothpaste and bad labour practises. Full links apres jump. TOURING THE FUTUREfrom AtlantaUsing the internet as a time machine, the Journal-Constitution daily paper has an article on its site today that claims to be published on Sunday, June 24. That…
Restored ristorante
It turns out that more is happening at Milano’s Ristorante than meets the eye. Not only has the Chebucto Road restaurant undergone extensive renovations, it also has a new co-owner. Tom Hickey, entrepreneur superstar about town, has joined forces with Source Security CEO / restauranteur / dreamboat Ron Lovett as joint owner of the popular…
And… Scene
Isn’t it nice to work together? Noyes Records (Lornevale) and No Scene Records (Halifax) certainly think so. The two local indie labels are joining forces to present two days of joint roster showcases at the Khyber this weekend. The Saturday show features The Establishment, Tomcat Combat, Joyless Streets, Medium Mood, Jon McKiel and Boy For…
Atlantic-wha?
Does anyone really understand Atlantica? I mean, honestly. For all the window-breaking and paint-bombing over the past week, who among us has a clear picture of what Atlantica proposes? What did last weekend’s conference actually accomplish? John Jacobs has spent quite a bit of time struggling with such questions. Along with Scott Sinclair, Jacobs was…
Noodle no-no
Liz Feltham made a pretty strong case for giving the Noodle Nook a miss (“Noodle all wet,” June 7). I was a little disappointed, however, that she failed to call the readers’ attention to what I think is the number one reason to pass on the Nook’s noodles: the absurdly racist caricature that passes for…
Still chasing the truth
To the editor, Regarding Terry Godwin’s letter accusing Lezlie Lowe of portraying Amy Lee Collins’s mom in a bad light (“Chasing the truth,” June 14), I disagree. First of all, Godwin pointed out that the difference between Amy’s mother not believing her and allowing molestation to continue “is huge.” Huh? If I went to either…
It starts at home
To the editor, Carsten Knox’s article “A matter of principle” (June7) about Wade Smith was a great read and I hope to see more sincere discussion on this. There is so much to say but keeping it brief, I agree with Patrick Kakembo. Cocooning or quarantining issues in visibly impoverished communities, where a great number…
FREE WILL ASTROLOGY
Break the silence and keep it broken, Aries, says Rob Brezsny.
SAVAGE LOVE
Dan Savage details the ins and outings of herpes and the GOP.
The 17-Tonne Challenge
By now everyone has heard about global warming, and all but a few deluded denialists and oil company shills accept the overwhelming scientific consensus that it is a real threat to the future of the planet. The rest of us seem to dodge around the problem. We think somebody will invent a miracle technology that…
Brooooooooce!
What does it mean to die hard? Does it mean, say, taking a long time to die? Dying a very complicated death? Or do you go out with a big bang, maybe? Like driving your car into a helicopter? Here’s a dude who would know what it means: John McClane, Bruce Willis’ evergreen character of…
Act accordingly
If you want to understand the brouhaha over equalization and the Atlantic Accord, just visit a local supermarket. There you’ll find shelves stacked with brightly coloured boxes, bottles and cans trucked all the way from Toronto. Crackers and cheese from Don Mills, pickles and jams from Markham and baby food from North York. Upper Canada,…
All decked out
“I just remember walking across the field because I knew it was imminent,” says Jacquie Thillaye, the president of the Halifax Skate Park Coalition. It was late October in 2006 and though the official opening of the Halifax Skate Park had been pushed to June 2007, due to a delayed construction schedule, everyone knew the…
Mid-way
“We were there for hours. No cell phone. No nothing.” Aaron Wolff is remembering the time when his band, The End, blew two tires on their tour van and ended up rolling to a halt somewhere along Highway 10—the endless southern stretch of highway trailing from Santa Monica, California, to Jacksonville, Florida. Based on his…
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer/Nancy Drew
Nineteen ninety-nine—the last really great movie summer—had pop culture looking forward. The best movies (The Matrix, South Park, Eyes Wide Shut, The Iron Giant) were sometimes transcendent. Blockbusters like Deep Blue Sea and The Sixth Sense were fulfilling. And the fatally hyped The Phantom Menace and The Blair Witch Project were still worthwhile and unmissable.…
