Tofino - Day 2

Yesterday was really fun in Tofino. The weather held out pretty well. A little wet, but some sun came out later on in the day while we parked at Schooner Cove and wandered along the shore to Long Beach. The views are stunning!

Then we did a little forestry road exploring (our friends drive 4×4 vehicles) and discovered some dense forest in the wilds behind the town. The trees were so thick that the sun was nearly blotted out and we were in near darkness. 

All the outdoor adventures made us hungry so we hit up the Wildside Grill situated in this cluster of small wooden buildings that house all sorts of neat shops. The New Zealanders popped into the chocolatiers and then we poked around the “Groovy Movie” store for a couple of videos for the evening. We picked out a copy of Where the Buffalo Roam, a film about Hunter S. Thompson, and The Royal Tanembaums. Both great films and we had a blast watching them that night. 

Our cabin overlooks the ocean so after the movies were done we turned out the lights and gazed over the moonlit ocean view outside our front windows. Beautiful! I think Tofino is one of the most amazing places ever.

Now we’re chilling at the cabin after a hearty breakfast and listening to all kinds of cool New Zealand bands. I love meeting people from other parts of the world and being introduced to new music. Not sure what the plan is for today. There’s talk of kayaking and wandering around. Not sure if I’m up for kayaking (what!?! I never miss kayaking!) and we might wander around the townsite for a while and take some more photos.

New Zealand Muppetry

Yesterday we picked up a pair of New Zealanders and headed for Tofino. Along the way we hit up Horn Lake to check out some caves. Ended up in one really cool cave that had a stream flowing through it and a zillion Daddy Longlegs spiders on the roof. 

En route we saw packs of eagles near a wildlife conservation area before Port Alberni. It was weird because there weren’t any signs, just heaps of eagles in the trees. Once we stopped we discovered a pack of raccoons in the tree checking us out. Then a deer wandered by! We had no idea we were in a conservation area until Miranda checked it out on her map. Pretty cool to see so many animals in one spot.

After the zoo it was time for some random side roads for 4×4ing which was fun. Finally we finished up the trek to Tofino and piled into the small cabin we’d rented for the next couple of days. Dave and Amelia showed up for a beer and we learned all sorts of cool things about New Zealand that night. My favorite phrase: “budgie smuggler.” A budgie smuggler is slang for a pair of speedo swimming shorts. 

This morning we made a huge fruit salad and found the one place in the cabin where we could get wireless internet. So now we’re gearing up to check out the area.

I’ve Got My Heart On for Tofino

Tomorrow I leave with a pack of friends for Tofino. Getting out of town for a few days is going to be awesome. We’re not coming back until Tuesday so we’ll have time to sit back and chill out on the wet west coast. The forecast says sun for Sunday and I’m hoping we’ve missed any monsoons.

Last Sunday night I hit the Commodore for the Eagles of Death Metal, who aren’t really as heavy as their name sounds. Great show! Lead singer Jesse “the Devil” Hughes made a big deal out of his superior mustache and even took time out between songs to make a show of grooming it. The band played a solid rock set and hit all my favorite songs so I was pretty happy at the end of it, despite being out late on a work night.

What else? I hit the Agile Vancouver Conference this week. It’s a software developer conference and had a good mix of people. Only a few geeky neck beards were in attendance. Learned loads and our whole team benefited from seeing what other people were doing in their companies. The biggest change was in the conversations our team was having today, after the conference. Much more focus on best practices and getting our development process streamlined using the different techniques we’d discovered.

Now I’m going to pack for Tofino!

Help Me Fight Prostate Cancer!

Last year my Dad contracted cancer and subsequently passed away. He had just retired and was looking forward to several years of travelling, playing golf, and heli-skiing when he got the news. Six months later he was gone.

I heard a statistic yesterday that 2 in 5 Canadians will contract cancer at some point which means that even if I don’t get it then several of my friends and family will.

We’re doing something about it. Movember is a mustache growing charity event during the month of November and some friends and I have formed a Movember team to grow mustaches. Now I’m asking you to donate to the cause!

To donate, you can either click this link https://www.movember.com/ca/donate/donate-details.php?action=sponsorlink&rego=1810296&country=ca and donate online using your credit card or a PayPal account.

Alternatively, you can write a cheque payable to the “Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada”, referencing my Registration Number 1810296 and mailing it to:

Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada
Attn: Movember
145 Front Street East
Suite 306
Toronto Ontario M5A 1E3

We’ll get some pictures of this fine ’stache up in early December so everyone can see how I stack up next to Burt Reynolds and Tom Selleck.

Thanks for your support!

I am Iron Man!

I nearly forgot about the bizarre thing we witnessed last night! This guy was running around the Frog dressed in an Iron Man costume and when he left, he decided he was going to climb up the fire esape of the building across the street. He made it all the way up and then climbed up onto the roof! Eventually he made it back down without incident and did a backflip on the sidewalk to celebrate his accomplishment.

This was the most ridiculous thing we saw last night.

What Would Jebus Do?

Saw a great little play last night called Jesus Christ: The Lost Years which fictionalized Jesus’s life between the ages of 13 and 30. Turns out he made it into outer space and did all kinds of cool stuff! Reilly and Miranda are into the independent theatre scene which is great because I love seeing cool plays put on by small theatre companies. Last night’s production was put on by Monster Theatre who I think are a gem in the indie theatre world.

So with the religious studies under our belt we retired to the Black Frog for a couple of beers and some chatter. Nothing too crazy to report from there other than to say they play the best music of any place I’ve been. Ever. The dude who runs the joint plugs his IPod into the PA and throws it on shuffle. His IPod is almost an exact duplicate of my music library with all sorts of great indie rock stuff like Frank Black, Built To Spill, Band of Horses, the Supersuckers, Eagles of Death Metal, Queens of the Stone Age, the Breeders, and so on. You *never* hear this music anywhere else.

Not sure about the rest of this weekend. We’re hitting up the Alibi Room for breakfast on Sunday. Today I’m getting my hair chopped and renewing my insurance. Sunday night the Eagles of Death Metal are going to rock the Commodore and I’m looking forward to finally seeing them.

Oh, and Green River is playing the Showbox in Seattle on Nov 29 as part of the Supersuckers 20th anniversary performance. I’ve got to make a decision about going down there that weekend for the show. I’m always in for spending time in Seattle and given that Green River is unlikely to do any more shows then I’d better take advantage of the chance to see them again.

Who are Green River you ask? It’s the band that the guys in Pearl Jam and Mudhoney formed in the mid-80’s and are widely acknowleged as the first “grunge” band. Out of the band’s breakup in 1988 came Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone. Mother Love Bone managed to get one album out before the singer died of a heroin overdose which led to the remaining members forming Pearl Jam.

So seeing Green River is a piece of rock history for me. It’s also great to see some of the Pearl Jam guys in a small venue instead of the stadiums they usually play. More importantly, the show I saw at the Sub Pop 20th anniversary festival this summer was one of the best shows I’ve seen. Now that these guys are all seasoned musicians they can take these songs and play them far better than they could back when they were a bunch of young punks in the 80’s. As one reviewer noted, “if they were that good back then, they never would have broken up.”

Final decision on the Green River show will be made before Sunday night. I’m pretty sure I’m going to go though.

I Saw the Rabbit and He Frightened Me

Just returned from the Frightened Rabbit show at the Media Club. Amazing band! I’m so glad I got to see them. The crowd was really into them too and the band was quite impressed with the response they got. This was their first trip to Vancouver and hopefully they’ll be here a few more times. 

The drummer was an unshaven monster who pounded the heck out of his kit. I’m surprised he didn’t break a bunch of sticks. I got a couple of good ideas from his style although I’ll have to learn to play much better so I can duplicate them. 

Their guitarist looked like John A. Macdonald as a young hipster. I didn’t see him drink any gin though so I suspect they aren’t related.  

Otherwise today’s been a good, busy day. I got my vote on for the provincial by-election in our riding. We also had a fun jam tonight with the band. My drumming was a little shaky for the first hour but I managed to kinda pull it together for the latter half. 

Tired now. Going to bed. G’night all.

Steeped in History

Bob Dylan was amazing! Not only was it a great performance by a crack band but there was an sense of witnessing a part of music history. Bob’s voice was as gravelly as ever and it’s hard to understand much of what he says but that’s part of his charm.

His band was stellar. The drummer nailed everything and made me feel like I haven’t scratched the surface of that talent yet. The guitarists were all decked out in grey suits and hats reminiscent of the Blues Brothers. They were top-notch talent too.

What I enjoyed most was how most of the songs were done with a bluesy shuffle beat behind them. Completely different than his recorded versions.

After Dylan we met up with Reilly and the gang for a bite at Denny’s where I discovered they have a “rockstar” menu featuring dishes marketed by different bands. The marketing worked because I ordered the “Heart on a Plate” meal that had been tied to the Eagles of Death Metal’s new album, Heart On. We’re seeing the EODM next weekend so it seemed appropriate. Heart on a Plate was a bit ridiculous though. A mountain of heart shaped pancakes slathered in whipped cream and strawberry sauce showed up and I only managed to plow through half the stack.

Yesterday we wandered down to Kits Beach for the Thrill the World event that a couple of our friends were participating in. Thrill the World is an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the most people simultaneously doing Michael Jackson’s Thriller dance. At the beach there were several dozen people decked out in zombie makeup doing the choreographed Thriller dance. Kinda crazy!

Reilly and the crew were out with all their fancy cameras and you can see Reilly’s pictures here:

http://flickr.com/photos/reillyphoto/sets/72157608358065882/

It was kinda funny to see us doing the paparazzi thing for our friends in their zombie outfits.

Last night we got together at R&M’s to do some dinner and drink some Granville Island Winter Ale. The Winter is one of the finest beers ever brewed! It’s got a vanilla flavor that makes it taste unlike any beer I’ve ever had. I should start having them for breakfast. They’re that good.

I’m Going to See Bob Dylan!

Fortune smiles on me today because a co-worker and I are going to see Bob Dylan tonight!

What is Your Life!?!

Sunday night Josh and I attended the Henry Rollins spoken word performance. Rollins is the singer from the 80’s punk act Black Flag as well as his Rollins Band which was started after Black Flag broke up. Now he’s more about political action, travelling, and doing his spoken word thing.

There were many funny things about his performance but I found his travelling stories to be the most interesting. Henry’s made a point of going to all those places that have been getting news headlines lately such as Syria and Pakistan so he can see what’s going on for himself. The whole thing made me want to get up an travel again and I’m sure it’s going to be a bigger part of my life in the years ahead.

The weekend was laid back. I went out on Saturday for Toy Camera Day where a pack of us took our cheap plastic cameras and shot all kinds of cool things. Afterward we rendezvoused at the Black Frog for some beers and food.

Last Wednesday we got together for a band practice at the newly-renovated Crying Sky. It’s the cheapest jam space in town and just changed ownership. Instead of a grungy, cluttered, front room that reeks of pot smoke and stale beer, there’s an open layout with hardwood floor and shelves to organize rental gear. They cleaned out the hallways which used to be a maze of broken down amplifiers and beat up drum parts. The rooms, which had the filthiest floors imaginable, have been carpeted although the walls still feature the holes that were punched in them over the past few years. So it’s come up a ways since the spring when we last rented a room.

Tomorrow we’re jamming again it looks like. There’s a couple of new songs to try out and we’re starting to get the older songs back into shape too. Hopefully we’ll be able to do some shows in the new year.

I’ve been picking up tickets to all sorts of cool shows coming up. Here’s a list if anyone’s interested in joining:

Wed, Oct 29 - Frightened Rabbit / Spinto Band @ The Media Club
Sun, Nov 2 - Eagles of Death Metal @ The Commodore
Sat, Dec 6 - Blitzen Trapper @ The Media Club

Our friends have been getting heavily into the Frightened Rabbit so we’ll head to the Media Club early to catch their opening for The Spinto Band, who I know nothing about.