The Winnipeg of the south

This was a huge moment.  

Illinois is home to another set of family.  Before I left I asked mumsie to send me all the contact info for my fams in the US so I could see them when we stopped in their city and I was really looking forward to chatting with my uncle Oscar in Chicago.  He works for an organization here that advocates for the rights of the hispanic population in the US.  He tells me they are the largest foreign-born population and that all of the hispanic people, including the US-born population, make up 17% of the buying power in the US.  I mostly just listened as he had a lot of really awesome things to say.  We spoke about personal responsibility and how difficult it is to have some people understand that what is bad for one is bad for all, and vise-versa (in the most general of ways).  We talked about the power dynamic in the US and the racial issues here.  He explained to me how he see's his work as a military strategy, although he is not militaristic.  We started talking about how to organize a community and he blew my mind when he said that the biggest obstacle to getting people involved was the absence of a utopia.  People are being told two conflicting ideas about the way life works - first that you need to educate yourself in a prescribed way in order to secure a future (and the huge debt load that comes with it), and second that you need to be content with where you are.  You can achieve the dream if you work hard enough because all of the same opportunities exist for everyone equally, but you should be content with your place in society if you  don't achieve the dream.  Sorry.  These are conflicting ideas and dreams are being crushed under the weight of this conflict.  If people aren't allowed to dream for themselves, to imagine what a utopia looks like for them, then what are we left with?  Here is an interesting thought - what if someones utopia looks like all white people?  Are they allowed to dream that AND express it openly?  The answer to me is yes because at least then there can be a conversation about it.  In our current time there is no way we will all agree with each
other, but if the conversation isn't there then more problems develop.  The lines between us get larger and so do the problems.  He reenforced a lot of ideas about how I want to approach being a part of a community organization, and I'm happy to know that I have a source of support AND information within my own family.  He is inspiring.  I have found a new role-model.  I have been looking for one for a while, someone who lives currently and is engaged in this kind of work.  I'm filled with emotion to know he is within my family.

I just mentioned lines.  Every time I cross the border into the US I am smacked in the face with a sense of urgency and stress, and part of my personal trip is to figure out why that is and work past those feelings because I have the 'us vs. them' mentality when it comes to Canada's relationship to the US.  I started thinking about why that may be.  The media plays a huge role in influencing my thoughts towards a community and it's something I encounter everyday when people discover where I live in Winnipeg.  Turns out I have been manipulated too!  I have never agreed with borders, or sports teams, religions, political systems or anything else that uses it's power to divide people.  These are imaginary lines we create and although they fill people with a sense of pride, the price of that pride is the gross entitlement to feel superior to someone else.  I've always thought that I have it better in Canada, and in many ways I do, but that doesn't make me better then people in the US and it doesn't mean that everyone here is gun-loving, christ-worshipping capitalist working to destroy the world.  This is where the issue of personal responsibility comes in.  If I am not being given the entire picture, if I am only being shown what someone wants to show me, then it is my responsibility, as a member of the global society, to seek of the information I require to develop an opinion on the matter based on as many perspectives as possible.  Otherwise, I am ignorant.  Ignorance leads to conflict and division.  Well, sometimes knowledge can do the same too.  In learning about others, I also learn about myself which in turn gives me strength that I can share with others.  What a wonderful cycle.

Our show in Chicago was pretty great.  I loved how excited my aunt Mayra was to see me play.  My cousins were there too and we had a grand old time.  My great aunt made us so much food.  I love seeing her.  She is a stubborn old woman but we get along because somewhere along the way we became able to speak to each other honestly.  I can tell her when she is being crotchety  and she lets me know when I'm being a dumbass.  I thought we had more time in Chicago, but we had to zip over to the next show in Centralia, IL.  It's a small town and we were to play a benefit concert for a young women who was in a car accident.  Her parents were telling me that the helicopter ride alone was 40, 000$ and that their total bill for her was reaching 100, 000$.  That is completely unreasonable.  It isn't a choice for a parent, I would imagine, but to have to burden yourself with that kind of debt load surely must affect your relationship with the person who needs treatment.  It would take a lot of strength and love to not let it do that.  I was hesitant to play that show because there was no pay and we had no merch to sell, but after thinking about my privilege, I thought I was being a dick and so we put on an awesome show for her and her friends.  We had a wonderful time.

Here are the last two days in pictures.

 I stuck my face in these flowers.  They were the first thing I kissed in Chicago.

 This woman's cheek is where my second kiss landed.  This is my great aunt.  She is the best.

She is the best because she made me a large portion of rice pudding, which is one of my favorite things to eat.  I ate half of it upon arrival.  

 They have a magic garder for a backyard.

 This is Augusta, but cousin's dog.  She was trying to snatch the bell part of the wind chime and it was hilarious.  

 My aunt and Cody.  Cody has never eaten like he has on this trip.

OK.  This guy cannot be putting up photos like this of himself.  He looks like he hasn't slept but he is no Rod Peeler.  

Hey look, here is Oldfolks Home all packed up and ready to play.  It all looks so small when the cables are neatly packed.

 Dear patron of Goose Island, this is not where your glass goes.  The colour of the liquid in the glass changed every few hours.  I feel terrible for the person who has to clean this up.

 This Cody, au naturel.

 Hey look, it's my great aunt again being a boss.

 We went over to my families place for breakfast before leaving for Centralia.  That's my cousin Becky at the head of the table.

 Brennan finds a hammock.

 Karl finds a hammock.

 This is an award my uncle was given for his work in his community.  SUPER PROUD.

 He is cody loading a sleeping bag on this giant dessert.  What a strange thing to do.

 CENTRALIA!  The venue was neat.

 Best stamp award goes to this one.  It's a rainbow.

 The town of Centralia.

 Dinner time with Brennan and his excitement for eating things.

 Dinner time with these two and their pouty faces.  Poor puppies.

 They share a dessert, but not without some serious conflict over the composition of the fried ice cream and who gets what portion of it.  I made them share it as a team building exercise.

 This is a thing.

 This building is a faker.

 This is a tower full of bells.  We thought it would be neat to walk to it.  Turns out it was open for tours!!!!!!!!!

 The biggest bell is 11,000 lbs .  That is super impressive.

 Some of the smaller bells.

 Centralia at dusk.

 The bell master.

 A reject bell.

 

This guy was skating around with his dog.  It was so awesome.


















Turns out we're invited to a baby shower at the place we're staying at in St. Louis.  The guys from Clockwork have put us up and their parents are being super amazing.  THERE IS SO MUCH PULLED PORK HERE.  Expect to see many pictures of dirty shirts as I am my mothers son.

Fundy and the not so fun

I am the tallest tree and I stand alone.

I'm sitting an 15 minute drive from the border in the US.  I was not aware that I would have a need to find a broker to get my merch over the border and if we want to make it to our show tonight, we're left with few options.  After my rage subsided, I decided it might be a good idea to fire off the events of the last few days for you all to read about.  Ready?

We had Friday off, which is not the best day not to play a show on tour, but such is the situations encountered by a band looking to attract the attention of strangers in a distant land.  We were having breakfast in Moncton when Brennan suggested we visit the Bay of Fundy.  I thought it was a great plan, so we quickly got our business settled and went out.  The day was hot and humid I was feeling like I got no sleep.  We were all in better spirits though as the show the previous night well received by the audience and we sold some merch.  This tour has been one of the poorest in production of cash I have ever been on.  Usually the door/merch sales are enough to keep the trip afloat, but it's almost like every day is a constant test of my will to follow this path.  Every day there is a new obstacle and all the frustrations that come with it.  They are constant and it is exhausting.  A drive out to see the ocean is always good for me, so we went.

It was beautiful.  We didn't have a ton of time in the park, but the time we spent there was so reinvigorating.  We ate some fresh seafood, climbed some rocks.  We decided we weren't a band anymore, but an adventure team.  An adventure team that plays music to bartenders and other bands.  I'm smiling right now because that isn't the case all the time.  The situation I'm currently in is getting to me.  So this adventure team saw the ocean and evaded it's grasp when high tide was almost upon us.  We saw a lighthouse and lots of beautiful cliffs.  Then we drove back to Saint John to hang with Nick and Susan of In Dreams.  They were hosting us that night.  I was too tired and feeling on the verge of sickness to join the city adventure they had planned for us, but I heard the others had a great time.  I had a great sleep.

We were to drive to Fredericton for what was to be the best show of the east coast.  We got a late start to the day.  I had Vanna's oil changed.  I had a great conversation with person of interest in Winnipeg.  I drove back, everyone got ready, then we headed to Irvin Nature Park.  The Irvin's are a powerful family out here.  The destroy the land then claim to be it's saviour by naming small chunks of land after themselves.  Classy.  The beach was nice, the water was a little warmer.  I picked some pretty rocks that always look better when wet, but a little buffing and they'll sparkle.  Nick and Susan left to go get ready for the show, and we decided to adventure.  When in nature, this band is like a pack of childwolves.  We are suddenly more able and quick to climb or slide down paths that may not be paths.  We climbed to the top of the peak, then made an almost vertical climb down to get to the rocks below.  That was the goal, travel to the end, then go past it because that's where the good stuff is.  It was totally worth it.  These kinds of things are bringing the band closer together and giving me time to pause from the struggle the tour has been.  It's costing me more in gas, but I am happier for it.  I needed this after the way I've been feeling the past few days.

Then the show in Fredericton happened.  We were excited for this one because I didn't have to do sound for all of the other bands and show was promoted.  We were tired from the days adventure, but we were optimistic.  Then the crowd started showing up.  They weren't our audience.  There was a bar directly above where we were playing that was pumping top 40's and to get up there you had to walk by the stage.  I have never seen so many people not care about live, original music.  We might as well have not been there.  It was the hardest show to play as I watched people come in and walk right by us to get upstairs.  They weren't our crowd, I knew that, but it was disheartening.  We left the venue feeling tired and with little money to see us to the next stop.  Having had only 4 hours of sleep so we can get to Manhattan on time, and now with these merch/border issues, the show hardly seems worth it.  BUT, silver lining, there was a small group of young people who came to chat with us after everything was over.  One of the women was celebrating her birthday so I gave her a copy of the album.  We all signed it and she was very grateful.

PICTURES.  There are a lot.

 This guy and his sighs.

 This guy and his poses.

 This thing and it's beauty.  It's a lookout tower before you get into Fundy Park.

 Vanna White just chillin.

 A photo shoot of the guys Titanic-ing.

 The results.

 The lighthouse.

 At the ocean floor.

 In the town of Alma.

 EAT.

 Oh ya.  Cody had to miss his graduation day for this tour so I threw him a surprise party with cupcakes and this awesome diploma made from toilet paper.  Spring break!

 The first time I have ever seen a snuggie worn in real life, made only realer by the fact that a guy that looks like a metal head is wearing it.

 You can buy houses like this in Saint John for 75,000$.  The whole thing.

 Irvin Park.

 I love this feeling.

 Susan and Nick walking on the beach.

 Best of friends!

 One of the many rocks we made it to at the ocean.

 The climb back up was steep and sandy.  There nothing to grab on to, but it was totally worth it.

 Oh ya, we play music.  Here are weird pictures before sound check.

   I am a tree.  I am stronger then the situations that blow against me.  I will figure it all out.













Time to get a plan in place to get some merch into the US.  Wish me luck.