What’s that, you say? Surprise early snowstorm? Abnormal cold snap? Around this time of year, we start to get the sort of weather that gets us muttering “I don’t see any global warming around HERE.” CBC News has a great article on the difference between climate and weather, and why the phrase “climate change” has replaced the somewhat inaccurate “global warming".

One reason is the effect higher temperatures have on evaporation. More water vapour is going into the air, producing more precipitation. That could be more snow in winter or heavier rainstorms in summer.

Want to see it for yourself? Check out this interactive map showing the effect climate change is having all over the world. And you’ll find more videos and interactive features at CBC’s Climate Change site.

After a ten-year battle, the Cook Inlet beluga whale has at last been listed as an endangered species, meaning steps must be taken to protect its existence and habitat. Under threat of pollution, oil and gas development, ship traffic and climate change, the population has dropped to approximately 375, down from 1300 in the early 1990s. They were recently listed by The Independent as one of the five most endangered whale species.

The Cook Inlet belugas are the southernmost of five beluga populations in Alaska, and live in a distinctly different setting than their northern relatives. According to the Fisheries Service, no similar habitats exist in Alaska or anywhere else in the United States. Learn more about the Cook Inlet beluga whales at the Center for Biological Diversity website.

In May, US Vice President Cheney blocked efforts to protect the critically endangered right whale, as it would require ships to - gasp - slow down near the whales’ calving grounds. Do you suppose he bothers to slow down when driving past kids’ playgrounds, too?) The regulation was finally implemented in October - let’s hope it’s not too late. There are still many threats to the whales’ survival - click here to learn more and sign a petition to protect them.

The most interesting thing on the entire trip back was our stop in Piapot, Saskatchewan (pronounced PYE-a-pot). On the way back from the last tour in June, we’d driven around its half-dozen unpaved streets out of curiousity, and with the vague hope of finding a hotel. It looked like a ghost town from the old west, and we did see a “guesthouse and saloon” but didn’t really know what to make of it, so we kept on. Marcus wanted to come back here someday for a beer, though. So that’s just what we did.

Nothing in the town appeared to be open apart from the saloon, which had a handful of cars in front, most sporting stickers that read “Where the HELL is Piapot?!?” I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I figured it’d be something along the lines of grizzled cowboys staring at us suspiciously like we were circus freaks. Still, I was up for it.

So I was a bit surprised to learn that the Piapot Guesthouse & Saloon is run by a young couple from Calgary, Glenn and Nicole, formerly working in IT and commercial radio. The bar had been closed for two years before they found it - not from lack of business, but for various legal infractions. They bought the building initially as a fun weekend escape for themselves and their friends, and then decided to try out the small-town life and actually open it up again. The grand reopening was only this past May. They’ve put a lot of effort into fixing it up and giving it that Old West feel. It’s decorated with cattle brands and Glenn’s artwork (he is also a professional photographer). They even keep a blog.

We’re definitely going to stay there on one of our next trips. They’re even talking about putting a recording studio into one of the other buildings they bought. Horseback riding nearby, an escape from regular life… it could be quite the experience…

We drove on through Alberta and the mountains, which are as stunning and beautiful as always, and we got gorgeous weather. We stopped for lunch in Field, which is another teeny town but considerably more tourist-oriented, being as it is nestled in the Rockies. The cafe was called Cherchez La Vache, which made me giggle, as a Monty Python fan and all.

And now we’re all back home. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet that I’m home, personally; it feels more like Vancouver is another stop en route. Should take a few days for it to dawn on me that I can settle in again.

All in all, it was a good tour, although mellower than the last one. There weren’t as many hilarious adventures or running jokes. We didn’t even see half as much wildlife. I think the last tour started just as spring was beginning to kick up its crazy heels across Canada, whereas this trip led into calm autumnal solemnity. Plus, we’re more familiar now with more of the towns and venues, and knew what to expect. But that experience led to better shows and crowds overall - which is really what it’s all about!

Our next shows are November 7 at the Media Club in Vancouver and November 8 at Doc Willoughby’s in Kelowna. So we’ll be on the road soon, but it’ll barely register as travel, compared to the past month away. I’ll post a l’il something here just to keep you all informed.

Thanks for reading and following along! I hope it was almost as good as being there. As a parting note for this round of escapades, I’d like to leave you with a new video we made while on the road, for “Through the Spaces". If you’d like to download a higher-quality Quicktime version, you can get it from Vimeo, through this link. We hope you enjoy it!

See you soon,

Kirsten / ARCTIC

Winnipeg was a really fun night and a great end to the tour. We were back at the Cavern, only this time no punks. There were, however, zombies.

Hordes of zombies roaming the streets of Winnipeg looking for brains to eat. Fortunately, that meant we were safe. We added “Zombies welcome” to the sign but they must have found better prospects elsewhere, or else they’d been cured by the time they came to see us.

The Monty Yanks played first, a mix of covers and originals, danceable stuff. We went on around 12:30 and had a really good set, apart from a few feedback issues and one drunken girl who tried to grab the neck of Marcus’s guitar as he was playing. He had to do some pretty quick maneuvers to get away from her, and escaped without missing a note; later in the set a different drunken girl slipped and fell and bumped his pedalboard as he was recording a loop, but he got through it okay.

Other than that the audience was great and appreciative. The bar was bustling and we had a good time, then packed up, went back and opened up a bottle o’ sparkling wine to celebrate the end of the tour.

We did have a sort of impromptu show the next night, though. We stayed with some friends in Regina, who invited us to play a set of covers. We took turns on different instruments, and even though we got booed off stage a few times, we ended up making 8000 new fans! Wow! If only it was that easy in real life. I’d only played Rock Band once before, and Marcus never, but we did pretty well (professional musicians often do badly at Rock Band and Guitar Hero, because they try to play as if it’s a real instrument). But 8000 new fans? Come on! You’d have to sell out the Commodore Ballroom over eight times for that. Oh well, it’s still a fun game.

We’re driving in Saskatchewan now, and we’re going through an action-packed section of the highway. There is a huge flock of birds, thousands of them, stretched out in patches as far as you can see. I think they’re some kind of tern. They are glorious and spectacular to watch, weaving in and out of patterns. However, they’ve also splattered the van rather nastily, and in the meantime Marcus is having to dodge tumbleweeds that are leaping out haphazardly from the median. Given how sparse and flat the long drive through Saskatchewan can be, it’s kind of nice to have something interesting happening (but not TOO interesting).

That’s all we’ve got for shows, and we’ll be home in a few days. I’ve got some videos I haven’t had a chance to upload, and I’ll be popping those online pretty soon, so stay tuned for those…

I know Sault Ste Marie is affectionately known as the Soo, but I feel weird calling it that. I think I’d need to get to know it better first before I can address it by a nickname.

This was a totally different experience than our last visit. When we played at Loplops in May, it was on a Friday night, and the place was really busy but nobody was paying us much attention; everyone was there to hang out and chat with their friends. This time, it wasn’t as packed, but it seemed like almost everyone who was there was there to see us and listen. It was a fun group, who we could joke around with (Marcus got one girl, who was there for her birthday party, to come up and actually sing herself happy birthday). He started off the night with a few songs solo, since Thursdays are usually more of a singer/songwriter night at Loplops. Stephen, the owner, said we coud do what we liked, though, so we thought we’d do some quiet versions of the songs with the full band. When Marcus asked the crowd if they wanted more slow and easy songs or if we should rock the house, the majority requested that the house be rocked. So we played our songs in their usual styles. I had a good wireless connection and tried incorporating audio from some quality 1950s educational videos, such as “Mind Your Manners” and “What to Do on a Date".

Stephen has opened up another place down the street called “Dish", which is more of a coffeeshop. We didn’t have time this morning to go into town and check it out, but if it’s anything like Loplops it should be good stuff.

It was a pretty long drive to Thunder Bay, dotted with a traditional stop in Wawa (just because it’s fun to say Wawa) and an entirely forgettable lunch somewhere further on that I’ve already forgotten. We stopped at a Tim Horton’s (the only chain food we’ve been allowing ourselves, and I’m sick of it) and saw a bear that had been captured and was to be released in the wild, being towed in a cage. We’ve also got a GPS now, which is mildly entertaining, especially when you mess with the settings like I did on the first day we had it:

In Thunder Bay it looked like there was a banquet about to start at the Apollo. Tina, Sheila’s mother, had put out tableclothes and placemats all over the bar. There was a huge pile of food already waiting for us - perogies and chicken and fried fish and mashed potatoes and green beans and more.

The Apollo has had a bit of a tumultuous history. The building has been in the family for many years, but three years ago the bar itself passed to Sheila’s hands. She clamped down on some of the unsustainble excesses and illegalities that were hurting the place, and there was a tremendous backlash among its former regulars. As a result, there’s been all sorts of unpleasant and untrue rumours spread about it, and it’s taken on a mixed reputation cross-Canada, just based on hearsay.

Among the bands who’ve played there though, there’s a lot of love and goodwill. Sheila feeds us (Tina does the cooking), puts us up, and provides one of the best stages and sound systems that you can find at our level (Alex does the sound). The Apollo is the only place for many miles around that supports independent bands, and when you see how hard they work and how much they sacrifice, you can’t help but admire and appreciate them. Things are turning around for the better; besides us touring bands, there’s beginning to be a new wave of local support, with respect from Lakehead campus radio, and word is starting to get around now that there’s good things going on at the Apollo.

So it was really good to see a decent Friday night crowd out supporting the place. I’d done a brief phone interview on LU Radio the day before, and some people found us through event listings. There was also a small crowd for a local band called the High Dials, who started the evening - sort of a country/jazz blend if you can imagine that. A third band was supposed to play but cancelled.

And it was a really good and fun show, again joking around with the crowd. Marcus found someone in the audience from Yellowknife. Astoundingly, Todd broke the head on his snare drum and had to borrow one from the other band.

We had a brief but solid sleep before getting an early start on the next drive. We need to make it there in time to get to a music store, or else our last show is going to sound a little funny without a snare. Sheila gave us some veggie burgers to take on the road with us, and we had them for lunch in Dryden. We’ve alternated sleeping most of the way; it’s been pretty quiet.

We’re about an hour from Winnipeg and the very last show of this tour. Supposedly there’s no punk bands at the Cavern this time ’round, but a local band called the Monty Yanks. I’m looking forward to the show - I’m ready to burn out my little remaining energy in one blast. It’ll be a few weeks until our next BC shows (November 7 at the Media Club in Vancouver, then November 8 at Doc Willoughby’s in Kelowna) so we’ve got some time to recover….