Sizzling Saskatoon Show

By the time we got back from Regina, showered, played some Ween songs on the guitar/keyboard, and printed a little sign redirecting fans from the Odeon to Louis (see left), it was time to head down to O'Shea's, the spot of the fan meet-up. First to arrive on the scene was Mike "Fuman" Bru, who flew in from Winnipeg to hang out with us tonight. Sporting a vintage red Frank Black and the Catholics t-shirt, the three of us enjoyed some fine Canadian beer until John showed up and joined us at the table. From there, Mike (Speedy M), and his lady friend Charlene (which is, coincidentally, the name of my car according to Brian), and the table was getting a bit crowded – only to be burst wide open by the arrival of the Edmonton contingent, Dan "Crispy Water" and 2 of his friends, Cody and Kevin. With all the meet-up folks there, more drinks and some pub food was consumed, while laughs, stories and anecdotes filled the room.

After paying the bill, we made a quick field trip across the street to the Odeon, the initial place the show was scheduled for. We had decided to make a sign to hang on the door in case people still showed up there (the venue was changed at the last minute). So we took yesterday's featured pic of FB and the podcasters, added some text and viola! We showed off our shiny (literally, it was photo paper) new poster and then headed across town to Louis'.

Once at the venue, I ran off to find Billy Block to get things organized for the meet 'n' greet. It didn't take long and Brian and I went on the bus to set up our gear to record the festivities. On board was the band, and we chatted for a few minutes, which included Brian sheepishly hiding in the corner after FB remarked that he had gotten a haircut since New York in August and congratulated him on his engagement. En route to pick up the others, we passed Duane Jarvis practicing backstage – and Brian embarrassed himself [a theme of the night] by mistaking Duane's Gibson Blueshawk for a Gibson Nighthawk.

We got the bus set up, and went and grabbed the crew, which now included Kirby and his fiancé, as well as Speedy Mike's religious studies professor who was picked up serendipitously by the crowd en route to the bus (coincidentally, she teaches about "I've Been Tired" – but more on that later). As we walked in, we were greeted by FB, EDF, and Billy Block, as well as some nice Stuff Smith music (Brian had talked to FB about it on the bus before – FB addressed Brian as a "jazzbo" to the bus crew) and some mood lighting. As the fans entered, FB greeted everyone by asking their name and shaking their hand. FB then proceeded to offer everyone aboard a beer, Pelligrino, coke, or piece of fruit. The consummate host, he insisted that we all sit and he would stand and entertain us. He gave the eager fans a view of a bunk on the bus too. On tour, this is equivalent to being taken into his home and being shown the bedroom. Brian and I were not the only ones floored by this hospitality.

FB, EDF, and Billy also helped us understand the "rules of the bus" - there are only two:

1) No solid waste in the bathroom
2) Always sleep with your feet facing the driver, in case of a short stop (he cited Gloria Estefan breaking her neck in a tour bus for not doing just that).

After some pleasantries, the real hard-nosed Q&A began. Brian was first to speak up, asking why his MOG (formerly www.mog.com/frank_black) site was pulled down. FB explained that when you sign up, you choose whether or not you want to receive email from other users. To quote FB, he wanted to "be a citizen like everybody else" and decided to let people email him. Well, let's say the emails got... intense and numerous. "Why haven't you emailed me back?!" That sort of thing. He did say that he enjoyed it and may re-start at some point, but with the email function turned off.

At this point (maybe – a lot of this runs together), Mike's religious studies prof asked about FB's reference of the Song of Solomon in "I've Been Tired." Google this or have SpeedyM explain it to you, it's actually really interesting. FB gave a long, interesting answer, which basically boils down to:

a) He doesn't remember specifically referencing it, but he doesn't rule it out in the slightest;

b) He is extraordinarily modest about his songwriting ("They're just words thrown together");

c) He is not anti-religion like many people are, but is (and tries to be) respectful of people's beliefs – he also made a really interesting point about people rejecting more Judeo/Christian religions in the West, but having a fascination with Eastern religions, and wonders how Eastern kids rebel against Buddhism or
Confucianism.

Talk commenced a little bit about the new ChRISTMASS album, with FB basically saying it's a gift of sorts to his die-hard fans. He also spoke of a heretofore unspoken rule within the music industry that indie-rock types are not supposed to release records post-November, because the "big guns" put out their records then, and how he was happy to buck the system and release something in the late months. He spoke of the industry like a supermarket – you invent a new kind of salsa that you're sure will be a hit – you try to market it and you realize what a cut-throat industry the salsa business is, and to put your salsa on the shelf, you have to knock someone else's salsa off.

Discussion then shifted slightly to his prolific nature, and how Robert Pollard (ex-Guided by Voices) and FB both share an occasional guitarist, former Catholic Dave Philips. Pollard asked Philips who wrote more complex songs, and Philips said that FB did. However, Pollard is far more prolific – so FB was jokingly saying how he feels now that he has to compete with Pollard's release schedule (6 records this year so far). This brought up the idea of perhaps a Fading Captain (Pollard's label) style boutique label for FB releases, and he said he has thought about it and will continue to.

At this point, FB went around the bus and asked everyone what they did for a living – this is what makes an FB meet and greet so great – he seemed genuinely interested in everyone's lives, not just seeing it as an obligatory exercise in fan relations. Discussion on various jobs (construction mainly, which had a large representation in the bus crew) followed (as well as he and I talking Greek food – FB promised to visit our restaurant next time - but it is probably better that he didn't know about it, as he is on a fast of sorts, and Greek food wouldn't really fit the diet). Then, it was time for FB to play us a song. We requested a new one, and with some EDF prodding, he played "The Water" for us – he took a 2nd take, because he said "I saw the sound of a Volkswagon" and how that makes no sense. It was characteristic of FB that he would start the song again from the top rather than having us patch in the verse, despite the fact that they were on a tight timetable. When you hear this song in Podcast 20, you'll hear the crowd cheer when he gets the line correct the second time, and he made a cheerful expression when he got it right.

A brief photo-session followed with FB posing with everyone for a shot (thanks, Billy, for that wonderful idea), and then we headed inside for the show.

The acoustic set opened with FB joking "I fired my band today" and then jumping into "Los Angeles," which may be the most played FB solo song of his career – that or "Headache" perhaps. "Cactus" followed, which seems to be a favorite of FB's to play acoustic – he plays around with the vocals and the guitar parts quite a bit, transforming it into something far stranger than the Surfer Rosa version. After that, he launched into "Where Is My Mind?" during which he told the crowd "This song is called "Where Is My Mind?" if you don't know" and made a few other wisecracks. "Song of the Shrimp" followed, which was a big hit with me as I hadn't heard it live yet. FB added a few extra "His mama and his poor papa"' stanzas here and there, which made the version quite unique. He finished off the set with the Brian/Dan requested "Two Reelers" (also a highlight) – taking the time between refrains to introduce the band – he introduced Duane and Eric but they didn't arrive on the stage as quickly as he'd been expecting, and so when he didn't see them (they had literally taken one or two steps onto the stage at that point) he joked, "Where the fuck is the band?" Then he and EDF talked on the mic for a minute or so about how EDF had met both Moe and Larry of the Three Stooges when they came to his high school in Los Angeles. "Brushes with legends," he remarked, and I think that all of us in the audience were feeling the exact same way at this point.

Billy was introduced and the band kicked into "Remake/Re-Model." As has been the case this tour, it segued directly into "Living on Soul." A lot of the songs sounded similar to the Regina show we saw the night before, but "The Black Rider," which was acoustic in Regina, rocked full-band style tonight in Saskatoon. "Headache" was initially left off the set list, (apparently done tonight by the band's guitar tech) and FB pondered if the tech thought that since this was the 9th show in a row, FB couldn't hit the high-notes. But, since this was his second time at Louis', he wanted to try it for "our reunion." He did a mighty fine job, even if from where Brian was standing he couldn't tell if he had hit the high notes or not.

The singalong of the night was "I'm Not Dead (I'm in Pittsburgh)" – if FB stepped back from the mic, the crowd could've taken that on
easily. It is great to see FB songs from all over his catalogue getting this amount of fan attention and singalong status; not just Pixies songs, as has been the case at some shows in the past. For a few of the meet and greeters, this was the first time hearing "(Do What You Want) Gynaeshwar," and it did not disappoint. The beginning chords resemble "Something Against You," even if the rest of the song does not in the slightest. We deciphered this song finally last night and our crackpot theory should appear on podcast 20.

"That Burnt Out Rock and Roll" continues to be a defining moment of the set, with FB ripping his vocals out just as intensely as last night in Regina. If it hadn't been so crowded, the room might have collectively stepped back, it was so raw and powerful. "Johnny Barleycorn" was a favorite of Kevin's and really rocked out tonight. It is special when you hear a new FB song take its place among the old standbys that you know you'll be hearing live for years (like "Bullet" for instance), and "Johnny" seems to already be attaining this status.

Another song that probably became an instant classic the moment it was heard was "Nadine". For the first time that we've ever experienced, at the beginning of "Nadine" the crowd spontaneously started clapping along before a note was sung. I'm sure the band could feel the energy from the crowd, and at one point Frank remarked, "Pretty fucking great crowd for a Tuesday night." And then added more slyly, "Is it not a school night? 'Gonna be a lot of people blowing off school tomorrow. I know that scene."

If the crowd was into it, Frank and co. certainly didn't give us a reason to settle down. "Six-Sixty-Six", the song prior, was also an intense, wild rendition, and ended the regular portion of the set with passion. "Sing for Joy," apparently this tour's designated encore (at least most of the time), ended the night on a high note, and the band left for a day off in Edmonton, leaving our fair city behind (many of whom were still humming the chorus of Sing for Joy into the night) – but FB seemed intent to come back. We hope he does.

Post-Script:

Six of the meet and greeters (Brian, Dean, Mike, Dan, Cody, Kevin) met for lunch yesterday and discussed the show that was, along with other various points of interest. It was a great capper to a great show.

-Dean and BrianRead More...

Folkfest

I suddenly find myself with a little free time as the summer winds down, largely thanks to the conclusion of Folkfest. We had been practicing pretty much every night for it, plus of course the event itself took three nights. But that makes it sound bad when in reality it was actually a lot of fun and a great time. This year, we danced something Dimitri dubbed 'Tsigaida' since we mixed the steps from some other dances with Gaida. We also did Partalo, an old classic (except I hyperextended my leg doing a stomp), Zonorathiko (one I pretty much got back on the setlist), and of course my long time favourite, Tsamiko (flips and kicks, woohoo!). There were a few added to my repetoire that have been done before but not by me, like Pentozali (tricky!), Zorba (also classic), and, I believe, Zaiko. And then some that we debuted this year like Fesothervenagas (aka the ferry dance). I'll be happy to never dance that one again. But enough talk about the dances, here's my rundown of the Greek pavilion this year and thoughts on the matter:

Entertainment
The dancing was good this year, in fact I heard from many people that it was better than it had been for years, but I would simply stick to good but not great. I actually felt that we'd done better in previous years and that the show has gone together better before. I think part of this is actually because we didn't really do enough with the crowd either as dancers or with our MC. I do not blame her, she wasn't the original intended MC but filled in with no warning right away. And she certainly did well with no notice, but it could've been better with some preparation and more effort spent getting people visiting into the show. I think that next year we need to have something going on between sets to teach people how to do some of the basic steps like Kalamatiano and Trio-trio.

And as for the dances, there are a few like the ferry dance that I'd cut out and some old-school ones with skits that should come back - anybody else remember how the senior boys used to light a table on fire with 151 or ouzo or something and dance on it? The intermediate dancers should've finished earlier as well, they had plenty of dances up 'til the last set and when we were younger it was always the seniors closing out the night. I actually heard this from a few people that they felt they couldn't get into it as much with younger kids on the stage that late into the night. This is all the critical stuff I guess, but there were good things worth pointing out, too. The zembekiko this year was one of - no - THE best I'd ever seen. Mostly thanks to a lot of broken plates and Dimitri doing an amazing flip, landing on his knees in front of the ouzo glass, drinking it, throwing the glass away and kicking it from behind his back... all on time and as though it were perfectly choreographed. Amazing. Dress the Greek was alright, but went a little on the long side with the Amazing Race people coming through.

Food
Without a doubt one of the main reasons that people visit us at the Greek pavilion is the food. How could they not? Unfortunately, this was probably the biggest disappointment this year. On the positive side, the pork souvlaki was very nice, and so were the meatballs. I didn't try the chicken souvlaki but heard mixed reviews. And the baklava was very nice, if I may say. But, woefully absent were my personal favourites, and much more rare but traditional Greek dishes like Pastichio and Gemista (stuffed peppers). This in itself was a problem. But aside from the meatballs, which were tasty but rather unoriginal and not especially Greek (they were done sweet and sour, not like Aunt Marina's much more delicious/famous spiced ones), they didn't replace these dishes with anything. On top of this gaping hole in the food lineup were some really poorly done dishes like the Spanakopita (spinach pies) which were try and lacking flavour. I felt embarassed to even be associated with the Greek pavilion when we were charging for these things - didn't we taste test a few before we bought them? And the dolmathes were served cold which is an option but in my opinion not the best way to eat them.

Venue
I personally love the venue - we host it at the Army and Navy hall on 1st Avenue and have done so for years. The venue is small, cozy, and intimate, and reminds me of a Greek tavern. Yes, it's hot. The AC is no match for all of us in the basement, though sometimes I think that the people we rent from turn it off when they rent to us to save money. But the only thing more annoying than a hot venue is people complaining to me that they're never coming back because it was too warm. Give me a bloody break. Try dancing up on stage under the lights and see how warm it is, but we're here every night dancing for you anyway. Try visiting a tavern in Greece and see how high the AC is. Are we so spoiled?? I'm not saying that AC that could keep up wouldn't be welcome, but come on!

That said, plans have been in the works for a new church, though thanks to some surprisingly childish (and really, that word is far too nice for the reprehensible behaviour coming from some of the so-called community leaders) attitudes, I won't hold my breath. Still, I do hope that we can somehow all agree that steps need to be taken to promote a bigger and better Greek community here in the city. And if the church were to go through, one of its features would be a large basement which we could use to host Folkfest with better capacity and of course it would facilitate other uses besides just Folkfest and hopefully would promote more Greek nights.

Conclusion
In spite of the critical look I've taken here, I don't want to come off as negative about the event as a whole. There was room for improvement, there were mistakes, but in the end, I, at least, enjoyed the heck out of it this year. I had a blast dancing, I enjoyed bartending and helping out where I could, and most of all, it was nice to just see all the people out, Greeks and otherwise. There were a lot of Calgarians and others in town for it and it was great to see them all. A highlight of 2006? Quite possibly. So, in that respect, I would like to thank the organizers, the volunteers, and the other dancers, especially those who helped get the show running in the first place.

Next year will go one of two ways. Either it will not happen, and it will be the first time the Greeks haven't had a Folkfest pavilion since Folkfest started, or we will take our mistakes from this year and go all-out to produce what could very well be the best pavilion we've hosted in Folkfest history. That choice will come from the volunteers, the people who put the blood and sweat into making it a reality every year. Yes, recent divisions have created a sect of people who would love to see it fail, but anyone who is truly proud of being Greek, anyone who really hates to have something Greek be anything less than excellent, will get on board with everything they've got to make next year better. Already, 'retired' women talk of coming back to help make the food next year. Already, dancers talk of getting some new and really excellent dances lined up. And already, the seeds are sewn for a successful year in 2007. So here's to a well deserved vacation, a really fun three-day party, and the beginning of a new and better Folkfest next year.

<Folkfest 2006 Photos>


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I Say Controller

The other day I went to see Controller, Controller and You Say Party, We Say Die! with Johnny boy at the local university venue. Controller Controller had been here many times before, and perhaps YSPWSD had too, but in any case I'd never seen them. In fact, while I'd heard of them, I'd not actually heard them until a few months ago when I started listening to the CBC Radio 3 Podcast. Speaking of podcasts, I'm actually going to discontinue my own podcast before I get it started, I have enough on my plate already. But I'm still happy to introduce people to bands as requested. The FrankBlack.Net one, incidentally, is going strong. And, speaking of the CBC Podcast, the free single of the week (at least on the Canadian iTunes) is The Old Soul song River of Daughters. I LOVE this song, so go and grab it (free!) before it's too late. I think I'm going to buy their album actually, but I have to go to NewMusicCanada and check them out. Anyway, on with the show!

Well, first the opener. Spotty performance at best. I won't specify his name, mostly because I don't remember, but it was generally a decent beat with a bunch of noise and incongruous elements layered so high on top that King Kong wouldn't have ascended to the top of that pile. There were moments of goodness, but they were almost always ruined. I didn't mind the downbeat "Interpolishness" of his voice, but John was not impressed. There were points where he finished the song and nobody - I mean not a single person - realized he was finished for about 15 seconds after. He was aware of this, of course, but the show must go on. His last song was actually pretty good for the most part, there were parts I genuinely enjoyed. Out of pity I almost went up to him after his set to tell him this, but for the fact that he was on the wrong side of the all-ages boundry and I didn't feel like digging out my ID.

The bad thing was that this was supposed to be The Meligrove Band, who I was actually kind of looking forward to seeing, in spite of their emo look/leanings. I mean, really! Still, I'd heard their song, Planets Conspire, and if I was going to see Controller Controller anyway I certainly wouldn't mind seeing them. Apparently they're not touring now, though. Probably either fighting about which one gets to be 'the moody one' on their next batch of PR photos. OK, maybe I'm being unnecessarily harsh, but you should see some of their press photos.

Next up was YSPWSD, who were excellent. They stole the show, I think, which is not a slight on Controller Controller, but their sound was great and they have a tonne of energy and good riffs. Their music just conveyed itself really well there. They had a DVD recording crew with them too, and I bet that some of the material will find its way in, just a great sound and a good crowd for a Tuesday night. I don't think I'd like them on CD, but I'll definitely see them next time they're live. I suppose I'll try to find a few tracks and see if I want to buy them. I'm listening to Midnight Snack as I write this and quite enjoying it, so who knows.

Finally, Controller Controller. It was the singer's birthday, and YSPWSD came on stage with a big cake, which, if I may say, was delicious. But then, who doesn't like chocolate cake? And moreover, since when do I not like something with sugar? She shared the cake with us which was cool anyway. Their sound wasn't too great, however, prompting John and I to decide they were probably better on CD. But they were energetic, having a good time, and still fun to watch. Given that it was Tuesday night, we didn't hang around for the encore, but I think we were the only ones that left.

Anyway, not much else to say. I'm heading to Vegas next week so I'm sure to have some pictures and stories of disinterest on here when I get back. See you soon.

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Home, Sweetie, Home

Well, I made it home. I woke up in London plenty early for the flight and since I'd used Air Canada's internet check-in, I even had an aisle seat (you can pick your seat assuming the plane's not full already). Just before 1:00 London time, the wheels lifted off and my stay in Europe ended. The movies being shown were Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, which I'd seen, some black and white movie where the guy from Spiderman and Reese Witherspoon enter this TV show (called Pleasantville) and introduce emotion (and therefore colour) to the characters, and Fantastic Four. A pretty good lineup, Pleasantville wasn't as bad as it sounds, and Fantastic Four wasn't as good as it could've been, but I already had heard that so it was good to see it free on a plane.

That said, I don't know if I'd use Air Canada again for a transatlantic flight. There were no problems, BUT from what I hear almost every other airline in the world (I believe Virgin was first) has personal TV and you can choose the movies, pause, etc. Nevermind looking around the stewardess to try and make out the charactersin a show you don't really want to see anyway. But I suppose I made it home safely and with the only mishap being further damage to my backpack (they broke a zipper) so personal TV's aren't really that important in the scheme of things.

Well, that's not quite true. They also changed my connecting flight from Calgary to Saskatoon. It was supposed to leave at 4:00 leaving me to arrive at 6:05 in Saskatoon. However, I'd not memorized the details and when I got to the gate and saw that the flight was leaving at 6:15, I just remember the 6:05 and thought it sounded right. With the time change, I reasoned, one hour difference, plus a 45 minute flight, that should be about right. Of course, it didn't occur to me until I was on the plane that the time change was an hour in the opposite direction (I seem to have problems with these time zones, don't I?) and too late to alert anyone in Saskatoon that I'd given them the wrong time.

Nevertheless, when we got home (my cousin Gus and his family was on the plane home from Athens as well) everyone was waiting and had eaten so I didn't feel AS bad. And it sure was nice to see everyone again. It IS nice, I should say. Aside from the fact that I wake up inexplicably and uncorrectably by 6 AM everyday, and occasionally am tired by 10 PM, there's not much jet lag to get over. It was a little weird to look on a map and see myself back in North America again, but things really haven't changed much. The restaurant's been renovated (again), there are a few things different around the city (HEL is closing, the College/Circle interchange is coming along and they've started digging for the new cinema) but otherwise, things are seemingly as I left them.

Oh sure, my car wouldn't start (I replaced the battery and it's fine now but I think it's running a little strangely), my old 373 phone number has been given to an old lady (who I feel sorry for this week), my cell phone doesn't exist (I'm going to get a new number today), the cabin is sold, my room was clean, Mariah is twice as tall, Nicole has moved out, and various other bizarre phenomena, but things are still the same.

I've spent the two days here running errands, getting replacement cards, a new license, sorting out papers, bills, and so on, and getting life back in order. I start work again on Monday, and then I will be back to where I was when I left almost exactly 7 months ago.

Now, so far as this site goes. A few things. First of all, I've finally gotten around to picking out my Favourite Photos of 2005. Check them out and please feel free to vote for your favourites so that the best come to the top. Or go through all the photos and pick out your own favourites. You may have noticed I added a link on the left hand side called "Site Feed". If you have a news aggregator, use FireFox, or have any other means of subscribing to feeds, then this may be something for you. It basically lets you know when I update the blog so you don't have to check. In FireFox, if you add it as a Live Bookmark, it will also tell you what the latest 'headline' is.

Which is where I'm going to leave it this time in order for a nice segue into my next post about a site you've probably heard about (it starts with a 'g' and rhymes with 'zoogle'). Meanwhile, I'll be working on getting everything done I said I would, more photos and so on posted, and other more Christmas related stuff. If I don't see you before then, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and all the best. Thank you for sharing this past year with me.Read More...

Be Cool? Just be Good.

I got a call from Jonathan last night, he was going to see Be Cool, which I hadn't really heard of except from him and don't remember seeing a trailer for. I should add that my record at assessing a movie's merits based on its trailer is pretty spotless. In any case, I'd been craving a movie for the last couple weeks, so I went.

The premise of the movie is essentially that John Travolta is trying to get a young lip-synch/dancer's (AKA singer/pop sensation) career launched while at the same time launching his own return to the music business. Not to mention a Honda Insight that, if this was supposed to be some sort of product placement gimmick, failed hilariously. You don't have the character switch from a nice Cadillac to an Insight and expect to wrack up sales in the comparison. It looked like it should have belonged to The Rock's flamboyant and poorly developed character, even if it wasn't painted baby blue.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for environmentally friendly cars and moving away from gas - my next car purchase will be weighted heavily on how clean it is or failing that, on raw speed. But come on! At least try to be subtle. Or better yet, be happy with the millions you're grossing at the box office without the shameless plugs. To be fair, it did provide a comedic element and they did all make fun of it as "Cool van Cool" (AKA Travolta) himself weekly attempts to defend it. Anyway, enough on the car.

To be fair, the movie was not without its comedic moments. Sin's posse was a constant source of amusement, like a puffer fish inflating itself to intimidate other fish. Vince Vaughn was funny at times but overstayed his welcome. The Rock did about as well as The Rock could ever do with a name like The Rock. The movie and cast all took a few jabs at themselves as well, which were probably my favourite part. And though there was a genuine attempt to make the plot look like something more than the tired career launch movies of yore, it fell short. Travolta devises a convoluted scheme wherein he managed to pay off label TLM's $300k debt, sign Sin as producer, eliminate rival "Nicky", hook up with his dead-friend's wife/TLM record exec (Uma Thurman), and turn the Russians that are after him. We see it all happen, and it is clever in its own overblown way, if you discount the fact that it's outrageous and never ONCE do we see how it is that Travolta has the foggiest clue what's going on, why there's a dead Russian in his room, what the fate of his hitman was, or anything else. Unless he somehow gets a newspaper from the future that's able to read minds, bug offices, and take the dog for a walk, I don't see any way that he would have accumulated the information needed to devise anything remotely this clever.

In the end, we paid $6 to see the movie because the film was scratched and it's doubtable it was worth that. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't good. And certainly not cool. I'd give it a 2/5.

[Listening to: Beulah - Yoko]

Jan 24 - Statutory Holly Day

Brrr. It's cold out there, and windier than the north shore of Hawaii. Thanks to the wind, the roads are completely drifted over, and thanks to the ice underneath, if you don't already have forward momentum (i.e. you get stuck), you're stuck. I pulled the car out of the garage and with the headlights bright, got a good look at what lay ahead. The snow drifts were higher than the clearance of my car in places. I thought about taking my dad's SUV to pack down a path, or staying home and clearing the driveway before going to work (I already regret not doing this), but instead I decided to charge forward with my car.

I made it through the drifts in the driveway, which I knew would be larger than anything I saw on the roads since there's no traffic to pack them down, and thought I was home free. Getting through the drifts was a lot of fun, sort of like skidooing. Grasswood road continued the ride. With the snow pulling at the car and the ice underneath giving no traction whatsoever, I was on the verge of losing control of the back of my car several times and was all over the road trying to get through. This was also fun.

Then I got to Grasswood. A semi was stuck on the turn to the service road. That should've been a warning. Another semi got in front of me and took the turn REALLLLLY slow. So I had to pretty much come to a stop behind him and then I was done for. Stuck in snow that was much less deep than the driveway because of the semi.

A guy in a car who also wanted to get through came out to help me and the semi driver also came but I just couldn't get any traction. Another guy driving by in his truck stopped to help push, and we spent 15 minutes trying to clear the area enough and get my car going. Obviously we finally did and the rest of the trip to work was uneventful. The worst part of getting stuck is not actually being stuck, nor embarassment over it, it's getting out. See, once you get out, when the roads still are as drifted as they were, there's no stopping (unless you want to get stuck again). So you can't really get out and thank everyone for their help, you just sorta drive off feeling like a jackass for the better part of the day. Not that anyone reads this anyway, but just to make myself feel a little better, thank-you to the good samaritans that helped me outside Saskatoon that cold and windy morning of Jan 21, 2005.

Now, if it's any consolation, the worst has not yet come, according to a recent report. It turns out that the worst day of the year is supposed to be Jan 24. Which should be about right, given that it's a Monday and this is likely going to be a busy weekend with little to no sleep to say the least. There should really be a long weekend in January since after New Year's, there's not another holiday until Easter. We have enough things to celebrate here in Canada that we could make excuses for another long weekend or two. Like young pretty girls named Holly.

Fun links for the day:

What I Wished I'd Known In Highschool - An interesting if a bit rambling look at life and success.
Drums - How to play "rock and roll"... using a keyboard.