Saturday, January 22, 2005: Jiggity Jig

From the flight...

2:00 am by Toronto time. We are over the Yukon right about now. Still an hour and a half away from Anchorage.

This flight is on a Boeing 747. I clearly who ever purchases planes for airlines doesn’t do a lot of flying. If they did they did there would be no Airbus’ planes on long haul routes. THIS is plane. Its big, its comfortable, and it doesn’t rattle around like it’s about to come apart. Chuck Heston would agree…

I got into Bangkok at 11:00 am. Sandy and Kaboom were waiting for me at the Terminal. It was so nice to step out into the sunshine and warmth. Kaboom drove us back to the Redoubt.

As Dad would have said, "Home again home again jiggity jig...."

Sandy gave away about 60 percent of my t-shirts to her Sister's hospital as they needed "Farang" size clothing for the European Tsnami victims.

Friday, January 21, 2005: Flight Cancelled

I met up with Andrew Roth for breakfast at the Moon today. Afterwards I had to zip down to Chris' to drop some stuff off, then I did a bit of last minute shopping for Sandy. I grabbed some lunch at the Pho Restaurant then headed back up to Chez Moon to pack and so forth.

I hung out at the Moon from about 5:30 pm until 7:00 pm. Chris, Justin M, and Maury stopped by to see me off. Sandy M and Igram also hung out. Then I headed back over to Chez Moon, changed and waited for the airport limo to show up.

I got to the airport at about 8:30 pm to discover that my flight to Hong Kong had been cancelled. Apparently the plane had an engine problem and was stuck in Anchorage Alaska. The flight is rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon. I took another airport limo back to Chez Moon.

Thursday, January 20, 2005: Almost Over

Well my trip is pretty much over. Just like that. Tomorrow is all that is left... So it goes.

Today I went over to Chris' for a while. We rumaged around in the storage zone of his apartment building where some of my stuff is in safe keeping. I grabbed a few items to bring back including some old tapes and a journal from 1978.

This afternoon I went over to Wendy and Steve's for a while. Stella was there as was Nathan and some of his friends. I could only stay about an hour then I had to rush off to get some things ready for tomorrow.

Tonight I went over to Justin & Kim's. Justin and I made noise which was actually far more Snowmelterish than anything we've done since I've been back. He got some especially great tones out of using the E-bow Bruce gave me for Christmas on his Bass.

Sandy called me from Bangkok today. She wanted to know when I landed. The travel agent had told her I would land Saturday morning at 10:00 am. I pointed out that would be impossible if my flight left at 11:30 pm Friday from Toronto. Due to the international date line that would mean I'd land an hour before I left.

Wednesday, January 19, 2005: Oakville and Back

I spent Monday and Tuesday in Oakville. By Monday night I was pretty sickly with all the usual effects and was reminded fully of the Doctors orders. I took my last chlorquinine and drank a lot of tonic water and fell asleep at about 9:00 pm Monday night.

Tuesday I woke up at around 11:00 am. I was still feeling weak so I sort of just lazed about. Jayne took Alexa to the dentist and when they came back later Alexa was all doped up from having 5 teeth extracted. She was drooling spit and blood into a kleenex for several hours until her freezing wore off. I spent the afternoon with them watching "Harry Potter 3" which I must say was a strange movie.

Today I left Oakville in the morning. Will had caught some kind of stomach flu so he'd been barfing all night which was unfortunate. I took a taxi to the GO Station since Jayne couldn't leave him.

This afternoon I met DJ Dan at the GFM for a bite. Chris came by as well. I'd left some discs at his place Saturday so he dropped them off to me. One of them was a mix CD I'd made for Dan.

This evening I went to Richard F's condo down town. I had dinner with him and his wife which was great. I hung out there until 10:00 pm then went back up to the Moon for a tea while Jerry mopped up and Dana closed.

Monday, January 17, 2005: Moody Monday

Far far too much Guiness last night. I will regret it. I already regret it.

Today I took the GO Train out to Oakville for another visit with Jayne, Paul and the kids.

My last week in Canada begins.

From my journal;

last week begins. Maybe I shouldn’t rush it all aways. Maybe I should savor what I can before it ends. What do I really feel? I don’t know. I already feel far away. Like this is another dream and I’ll wake up shortly. 1999 was such a great year. All I had and I think I knew it too.

Sandy would say “Don’t think too much”.

Sunday, January 16, 2005: More Cake

Last night I went over to my friend Jaime’s tonight for dinner with her family. I hadn’t met her Husband Nilton before. Her daughter Maya was two when I left Canada so it was strange to see her as a kid instead of a baby. It was a nice visit with good food and conversation.

Afterwards I took the TTC over to Chris’ and we goofed around recording on my 4 track until about 1:00 am while Robin watched some ancient Godzilla movie (“Toy tanks seem to be ineffective, Sir!”)

Today I had brunch at the Moon then went back over to Chez Moon and slept for a few hours. I did my laundry and checked my email then went back to the GFM at around 2:30 pm for a tea.

Later this afternoon I went over to Steve and Wendy’s for a visit. Nathan was around so we watched some of Frank Zappa’s “Baby Snakes” on DVD. It was strange to see such a young Adrian Belew. Stella was also there.

I got a big surprise in that I got ANOTHER Birthday cake. Wendy and Stella came in with it all lit up with candles. That is 3 for this year which certainly makes up for the lack of Birthday cakes over the 2002, 2003 period.

Tonight I meet Jeremy B at the Cameron House to see Kevin Quain play.

Friday, January 14, 2005: Nathan Plays

I met Andrew Roth for Breakfast today. I ran into him on my first day back but only managed to meet up with him today. It’s freezing again. So much for the plus 18 C.

I met Richard F at Pho at around 12:30 pm then we walked over to HMV to see if the Nash the Slash CD I’d ordered before Christmas had arrived… And wouldn’t you know it; it had just come in that morning.

I picked up Lappy this afternoon. It would seem the problem is actually to do with the mother-board. I was another $ 145… I will try not to think about how little it would have cost me to fix it at Pantip.

Tonight Chris and I went down to the Big Bop at Bathurst and Queen. Nathan Wallace’s band was playing at the Cathedral which is on the main floor of the Big Bop. The last time I saw Nathan he was still a kid. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the band but I was impressed. The oldest of them is 20 and they were all great players. Nathan though has turned out to be an outstanding drummer. He reminded Chris and I of our old drummer from Wisehammer.

Thursday, January 13, 2005: Art Haus & Back

Tuesday I went out to the Art Haus to visit GRH. She was under the weather when I got there with some sort of post-Wedding Show affliction. Damiel was taking care of Angel-Blue so I hung out with them until GRH felt well enough to emerge. We had a great pasta dinner then once Angel-Blue was asleep we sat and talked until late.

Yesterday GRH was feeling better so we headed into town as she had to drop off a print. We had a coffee then headed back to the Art Haus. The weather was bizarre. It was freezing rain when we left and by the time we were back it was just raining. GRH made a turkey dinner which was amazing.

I came back into Toronto this morning and by the time I got to the Moon the temperature was up to 15 degrees ABOVE zero. I checked in on Lappy and I can pick it up tomorrow. It started whizzing this afternoon as the temperature rose up to about 18 C.

I headed over to Justin M’s to make noise. He’s picked up a digital 8 track recorder so we recorded some stuff on that. I stayed until about 10:00 pm then headed off. The temperature was dropping so by the time I got back to the Moon it was snowing pretty hard. It was some what dead there but I had a tea and hung out.

Monday, January 10, 2005: Unhappy Mac-Nam

I had sort of a bad feeling about Lappy being at PCUSEless so this morning at 9:00 am I went and extracted it… and just in time. They were just about to wipe the hard drive and reinstall Windows… without asking me or warning me. All my backed up photos and MRS4 files would have been lost. Maury had advised me to take Lappy to a place he’s used a few times so I did that after I had breakfast. Mr. Fixit is going to back up my files then reinstall Windows.

Sunday, January 9, 2005: Kevin Quain Show

I went to the Moon for Brunch this morning. I made sure that I got there early enough to miss the crush of people who arrive at around 11:30 am. That mob yesterday sort of freaked me out. After I had eaten I headed down to the Bridal Show and was there until it closed at around 5:00 pm. During the course of the day DJ Dan made a rare surprise appearance.

After the Show was over I headed up to Dundas and met Chris at the Pho Restaurant. We ate and then went over to his place to listen to music and hang out until about 8:00 pm when we headed down to The Cameron House to see Kevin Quain and the Mad Bastards. Jerology showed up and we enjoyed an excellent Mad Bastard Sunday Night Show. The line up was slightly different from the last time I was at a show back in 2000 but the spirit of the event was the same. Chris didn’t stay for the second set but Jerology did and afterwards we went for Chinese on Spadina. A truly great evening. I got back to Chez Moon rather late.

Saturday, January 8, 2005: Bridal Show

It has been exactly five years since I was last at a Bridal Show. I've never gone as a bride or a groom or anything but I have worked many of them at GRH's wedding photography booth. So I went in today to help her out at the one being held at the Metro Convention Centre. Of all the things that have freaked me out about being back HERE I was actually surprised at how much the Bridal Show didn’t freak me out. It was actually sort of comforting, but I’m not sure why. There were all the familiar faces including Rod my old boss from Maximum Music DJ Services.

I stayed at the show until about 5:00 pm then headed back up to the Annex to see Corin Raymond play at the Tranzac Club from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. Corin had no idea I was going to be there so it was fun to surprise him. Chris showed up and we grabbed a seat and watched him play. Justin and some friends also showed up a little ways into the gig.
After the show Chris and I walked in the freezing cold over to our old most visited Italian Restaurant which we simply call “Ralf’s”. There we had heaping portions of ravioli in meat sauce. We hung out for a bit then I headed back to Chez Moon.

Thursday, January 6, 2005: Lappy Dies

I slept from 11:00 pm last night until 1:30 pm today. I woke a few times over the course of the night, once when Sandy phoned me from Bangkok.

Today lappy melted down. I wouldn’t boot, instead it just perpetually loaded Windows. I took it into PCUSED for them to have a look at. I suspect it is a virus. For $ 85 an hour I hope it’s a simple solution.

Tonight I went over to Justin’s. We’ve only been able to schedule small pockets of time to record together so the focus has been on just recording a bunch of bed tracks for later manipulation and mutation. Afterwards I took the Annette bus back to Dupont and Bathurst.

Wednesday, January 5, 2005: Back To YYZ

In order to be at the Edmonton Airport no later than 9:00 am we had to leave at 7:00 am. Rob drove me in and Zach came along for the ride. It was dark when we left but the drive was good with no snow or unexpected delays. Once we got the airport I got out while Rob and Zach parked. I had to get in line for the check in and I was glad I had got there a little early as there was a bit of a line up. After I had checked in I found Rob and Zach and we grabbed some breakfast at a café in the airport. I went through security afterwards and waited for my flight.

Because of some weird scheduling I had to fly to Calgary first then on to Toronto. The flight down was in this little Dash 8 plane and I had the misfortune of sitting in front of some jabber-jaw lady who yacked the entire 50 minute flight. Her annoying voice could be heard above the din of the turbo props and even my head phones couldn’t block it out. I was really glad to get off the plane in Calgary. Walking across the tarmac from the plane to the terminal in – 20 C was refreshing.

The flight from Calgary to Toronto passed mostly over the USA. There was some major storm front hitting Chicago and we were sort of bumping about riding on it or just a head of it. We landed in Toronto at around 6:00 pm and disembarked. I normally don’t check luggage but I had this time due to the size of the plane to Calgary. This meant I had to stand and wait for my little suitcase to roll off. It never did. In the end I spotted in on another carousel and it was apparent that Air Canada sent it to Toronto on an entirely different flight than mine. It had probably been sitting there for an hour while I stood waiting for it to roll off. I went over and grabbed it then got a car down to Chez Moon.

Tuesday, January 4, 2005: Last Run

I slept poorly again last night. I don’t seem to sleep well in Canada except for after a run. I got up at around 8:00 am and had a tea. I puttered about until 10:30 am when I went for my run. It was really cold but I went anyways. I will miss running here and I will miss the beauty of the winter.

Afterwards I showered then had some chilli then promptly fell asleep to “Faultline”. I woke up at 1:30 pm when Val came by. I went over to the Homestead and hung out there. Anne was already over hanging out with Rob.

Tonight there was a nice feed of Moose and Deer steak. Jennifer, Todd and Rachel came over after dinner and joined us for coffee. Jenn brought some amazing home made brownies.

Monday, January 3, 2005: Two Third Mark

I had great difficulty waking up today. I’m not sure why. I hung around the Ice Station for most of the morning then went over to the Homestead and saw Bruce. Zach and Rob were outside in the cold fixing the alternator in Carmina’s truck. At around 1:30 pm George showed up and we went in to Drayton for brunch. George is on the afternoon shift at the mill so he didn’t start until later in the day. I had a hot turkey sandwich of course for brunch then we sat and talked. Chris also joined us for a coffee and I showed him some photos from Bangkok which I had neglected to bring with me on Saturday. We loitered around there until about 4:30 pm then headed out. George drove me back over to Bruce’s and came in briefly to say hello to Bruce and goodbye to Anne before heading to work.

Tonight we had a nice dinner over at the Homestead. Rob showed me his Play Station 2 and I tried out the driving game he has on it, which was amusing. I went over to Bruce’s for a bit then walked back over to the Ice Station. I must admit that two minute walk at night is spooky. I’m not sure if I expect Snow Beast to jump out at me or what but it is easy to get freaked out in the space along by the horses before the automatic light comes on by the Ice Station. Tonight though I stopped for a bit to look at the stars. They are absolutely unbelievable here. With the Ice Station light off you can see ALL of them I think. In the cold dry air they seem crisp and clear. It was amazing to look at. But it was freezing and I was getting freaked out by the prospect of Snow Beast so I headed on.

Tomorrow is my last day here. My visit is two thirds over and part of me wishes I was going straight back to Bangkok to see Sandy.

Sunday, January 2, 2005: Jen & Todd's

Today Jen picked me up at around noon and took me into Drayton for lunch with her and her daughter. We went to the same restaurant that George and Betty took Anne and I to during the black out. I had yet another hot turkey sandwich, this being my food of choice for the remaining time I’m here. We ate and talked for ages until Rachel let us know that all this grown up banter was rather boring. From there we headed out and picked up some groceries then drove back over to Jen and Todd’s house. Rachel watched “Survivor” on TV and Jen and I talked while Todd finished painting the inside of their new house.

I stayed for dinner which was salmon steaks and pasta. That was excellent. Then I hung out with them until around 10:00 pm when Jen gave I a ride back over to the Homestead. When I got back Carmina was already asleep since tomorrow is her first day back teaching after the end of Christmas holidays. Bruce, Zach, Anne, Val and Rob had gone to Zach’s Dad Coby’s Church in Rocky Mountain House for a service. I waited up for them to get back which they did at around 1:30 am.

Saturday, January 1, 2005: New Years Day

Today there was a big family gathering over at my Niece Heather and her husband Chris’ house in Drayton. I went over with Carmina and Anne at around 2:30 pm. They live in a nice new place they bought recently with their kids and Chris’ Brother. George and Betty were already there when we arrived. I had only briefly met Chris once before so this was an opportunity to talk to him after I’d been given the grand tour of the house. Val, Rob and Zach showed up a little later as did my other two nieces Michelle and Brenda with their kids. There was food a plenty and I managed to finish off the chili which Brenda wasn’t happy about. I played this weird board game called Cranium with the Nieces, the Great Nieces, Betty and Chris’ Brother. We didn’t actually have the proper rules or no one had bothered to read them until halfway through the game so it was sort of bizarre. Eventually it sort of fizzled out.

Later on Chris took George and I took see where he works in Drayton. His son Joel and Michelle’s son also tagged along with their skate boards. Chris works as a shop foreman in a place that repairs the huge vehicles used in the oil fields and the logging industry. He took us to the current “garage” as well as the newly constructed 4 million dollar one that they will be moving into soon. It was amazing. There was one huge truck with a crane on it that was worth a million bucks. When we got to the newer garage the boys demonstrated their skate board abilities since they had this huge hanger like place to zoom around in. Chris gave us the tour then we headed back to his place. All in all it was an excellent visit and it was good to get a chance to talk to everyone. I got a ride back to Bruce’s from George later on.