Last week we said goodbye to not only a friend but, the first friend we made up here.
Jaime was our resource when we were planning this journey. She became a guide for us as we planned and finally,after we got here she became our friend. A friend we would've liked to have spent more time with but, a friend nonetheless.
I thought it be appropriate that we say goodbye on our blog since it was Jaime's blog that convinced us to make this journey. When we arrived she was nice enough to welcome us over some wings and a few drinks. Since then we've curled with Jaime, played badminton, and I'm sure we've frustrated her with our up and downs while we've adjusted during our first year up here.
Jaime has found love and is pursuing it no matter where the journey leads her. She's brave and we wish her nothing but the best in her next steps. We'll miss her and we thank her for all her help.
Good luck Jaime.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Alianait Arts Festival 2010
This was one of the best moments I've had being in Iqaluit.
Kyle & I were invited to play this years Alianait Arts Festival. When the invitation came in I immediately felt honoured to be asked to contribute to the event. I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not but, Iqaluit has an incredible amount of talent. Seriously. The spectrum and depth of the talent up here is unlike anything I've ever seen. Every single artist or act is completely different yet equally engaging. Anywhere you look you have these great people who get great support from anyone and everyone in town. Artists share camaraderie instead of competing against one another. We buy each others records, we listen to each others songs, we communicated and collaborate; it's never ending.
Ever since I got here and started up friendships with some of the musicians, all I heard about was "Alianait". When you first step off the plane, it just sounds like another word you don't know how to say nor do you understand but, as time went by it became both more familiar and intriguing. So, when I got the e-mail with the invitation I was instantly stoked.
I think us getting involved was mostly due to Karen MacKenzie. Without gushing over how talented she is and how much I love her album "Wind Don't Blow" as well as her song "Wind Don't Blow", I'll just let you all discover her for yourself and send her the biggest THANK YOU KAREN ever given.
Kyle and I worked diligently on new and original material and we were very happy with our results. We practiced until we lost our voices and played until our hands were sore. We opened the Friday Night "Sound Fusion" stage with as much energy as we could and we couldn't have been happier with the reception. We even ended up filling in some extra time before the Headliner "Kodiak" since they were late getting to their time-slot. It was such a surreal experience.
Not in a decade had I been on a stage singing my own music; it was such a rush. We got so many compliments on the energy and the fun nature of the performance. We only played 20 minutes but we ended up signing autographs on kids shirts and doing interviews with News North. Autographs!!!! . . . like, I haven't signed an autograph in my whole life, let alone enough signatures to necessitate pluralising the word "autograph". It was just SO amazing.
The festival itself is so well organized. The entire team are all dedicated individuals who have out in the time and effort to make this a great great event. The Tent is majestic, the music is eclectic, and the whole event is just amazing. If or when you come to Iqaluit, make sure you are here for Alianait. It's this festival that gets your feet wet from the talent pool we have up here. It's a perfect blend of styles that you're guaranteed to enjoy.
Thank you Heather Daley . . .Thank you Karen . . . Thank you Alianait . . . Thank you Iqaluit.
Kyle & I were invited to play this years Alianait Arts Festival. When the invitation came in I immediately felt honoured to be asked to contribute to the event. I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not but, Iqaluit has an incredible amount of talent. Seriously. The spectrum and depth of the talent up here is unlike anything I've ever seen. Every single artist or act is completely different yet equally engaging. Anywhere you look you have these great people who get great support from anyone and everyone in town. Artists share camaraderie instead of competing against one another. We buy each others records, we listen to each others songs, we communicated and collaborate; it's never ending.
Ever since I got here and started up friendships with some of the musicians, all I heard about was "Alianait". When you first step off the plane, it just sounds like another word you don't know how to say nor do you understand but, as time went by it became both more familiar and intriguing. So, when I got the e-mail with the invitation I was instantly stoked.
I think us getting involved was mostly due to Karen MacKenzie. Without gushing over how talented she is and how much I love her album "Wind Don't Blow" as well as her song "Wind Don't Blow", I'll just let you all discover her for yourself and send her the biggest THANK YOU KAREN ever given.
Kyle and I worked diligently on new and original material and we were very happy with our results. We practiced until we lost our voices and played until our hands were sore. We opened the Friday Night "Sound Fusion" stage with as much energy as we could and we couldn't have been happier with the reception. We even ended up filling in some extra time before the Headliner "Kodiak" since they were late getting to their time-slot. It was such a surreal experience.
Not in a decade had I been on a stage singing my own music; it was such a rush. We got so many compliments on the energy and the fun nature of the performance. We only played 20 minutes but we ended up signing autographs on kids shirts and doing interviews with News North. Autographs!!!! . . . like, I haven't signed an autograph in my whole life, let alone enough signatures to necessitate pluralising the word "autograph". It was just SO amazing.
The festival itself is so well organized. The entire team are all dedicated individuals who have out in the time and effort to make this a great great event. The Tent is majestic, the music is eclectic, and the whole event is just amazing. If or when you come to Iqaluit, make sure you are here for Alianait. It's this festival that gets your feet wet from the talent pool we have up here. It's a perfect blend of styles that you're guaranteed to enjoy.
Thank you Heather Daley . . .Thank you Karen . . . Thank you Alianait . . . Thank you Iqaluit.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
GOODBYE WATERS' EDGE
It was . . . . an experience.
I don't believe in public slander and there's never any real reason for burning bridges so, I'll just say this: I left on my own terms and I have no regrets.
It'll cost you at least two drinks if you want the rest.
I'm lucky enough to be joining Canada Post here in Iqaluit as a Full-Time Assistant the day after my Birthday and I couldn't be more excited. For the first time in 12 years I'll have a day job and weekends off. What do people do on Friday Nights anyways? . . .
In all honesty, this is a move I made for Steph and for a more secure and dependant future. The lifestyle is different and something she can count on a little more. I'm excited because it's a federal position and I'll actually be home to spend time with her. I can't tell you how many nights we've spent where the only time we saw eachother was when we'd come home from different shifts and found eachother sleeping. I'm normal . . . and grown up now. Oh boy.
My short term goal is to try and change Townie Bastard's opinion of the Post Office by the end of 2010.
Wish me luck!
I don't believe in public slander and there's never any real reason for burning bridges so, I'll just say this: I left on my own terms and I have no regrets.
It'll cost you at least two drinks if you want the rest.
I'm lucky enough to be joining Canada Post here in Iqaluit as a Full-Time Assistant the day after my Birthday and I couldn't be more excited. For the first time in 12 years I'll have a day job and weekends off. What do people do on Friday Nights anyways? . . .
In all honesty, this is a move I made for Steph and for a more secure and dependant future. The lifestyle is different and something she can count on a little more. I'm excited because it's a federal position and I'll actually be home to spend time with her. I can't tell you how many nights we've spent where the only time we saw eachother was when we'd come home from different shifts and found eachother sleeping. I'm normal . . . and grown up now. Oh boy.
My short term goal is to try and change Townie Bastard's opinion of the Post Office by the end of 2010.
Wish me luck!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
19 Hours of Sun
You don't believe it until you see it.
Lately, the sun has barely been setting. Even when it seems like dusk you can still see the lighter shade of blue peer out from the horizon. The sun goes down to that level around 10 pm but rises again by 2am. Now, if you were a plant this would be your vacation spot but, I'm one of those people who has trouble sleeping as it is.
Either way, it's quite amazing to experience. All the pictures you see of people who take daylight photos at 3am are completely true. If you should ever make it up here, be prepared to wake up suddenly and think you've slept 2 days away. Wind your watches, change the batteries in your clocks, because lately I don't know what time is what time.
Lately, the sun has barely been setting. Even when it seems like dusk you can still see the lighter shade of blue peer out from the horizon. The sun goes down to that level around 10 pm but rises again by 2am. Now, if you were a plant this would be your vacation spot but, I'm one of those people who has trouble sleeping as it is.
Either way, it's quite amazing to experience. All the pictures you see of people who take daylight photos at 3am are completely true. If you should ever make it up here, be prepared to wake up suddenly and think you've slept 2 days away. Wind your watches, change the batteries in your clocks, because lately I don't know what time is what time.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Has it really been 8 Months?
It all flew by. . .
8 months have felt like 2 weeks. It's like the feeling you get on your last day of vacation but, ours isn't over yet. Life in the north has been a never ending surprise of turns and events that we've come to realise will have an everlasting affect on the both of us.
Getting to know this part of Canada was a risk we'd would take all over again. We call it a risk because when we first decided to take this journey, we were both scared. Our first few months were rocky, isolated, and stressful both individually and as a couple but, when the smoke cleared, we came out better and stronger. This place has that affect on you. Maybe there's something inspiring in the beauty of the white that covers your life most of the year or maybe the people you meet here move you with their experiences. Maybe the never ending dark months and the endless days of sunlight help eliminate the grey areas in your life. Anyway you look at it, Iqaluit will change you.
Friends have come and gone and are still coming and going. We've said goodbye to a few already and we're about to say goodbye to a very important one. The hardest part about being up here is that you miss your old life, old town, and old friends. But, what's even harder is meeting new people and knowing that your relationships or friendships may have an expiry date. It's the bittersweet part of life in the north. I will promise you that some of the people you meet up here are truly inspirational people. The musicians, the journalists, even the people at the Post-Office are great great people. Some of the friends we've made up here will definitely be people we'll know for a very long time. You'd never expect to meet people who fit in so well with you and who you are but, they're up here and it's great.
8 months later Iqaluit was still the right choice. It's been up and down but, we're still up. We miss home, we miss Tim Horton's and we'll always miss High Speed Internet but, we still love it up here. We'd still tell anyone and everyone that it's worth coming.
Thank you Iqaluit.
8 months have felt like 2 weeks. It's like the feeling you get on your last day of vacation but, ours isn't over yet. Life in the north has been a never ending surprise of turns and events that we've come to realise will have an everlasting affect on the both of us.
Getting to know this part of Canada was a risk we'd would take all over again. We call it a risk because when we first decided to take this journey, we were both scared. Our first few months were rocky, isolated, and stressful both individually and as a couple but, when the smoke cleared, we came out better and stronger. This place has that affect on you. Maybe there's something inspiring in the beauty of the white that covers your life most of the year or maybe the people you meet here move you with their experiences. Maybe the never ending dark months and the endless days of sunlight help eliminate the grey areas in your life. Anyway you look at it, Iqaluit will change you.
Friends have come and gone and are still coming and going. We've said goodbye to a few already and we're about to say goodbye to a very important one. The hardest part about being up here is that you miss your old life, old town, and old friends. But, what's even harder is meeting new people and knowing that your relationships or friendships may have an expiry date. It's the bittersweet part of life in the north. I will promise you that some of the people you meet up here are truly inspirational people. The musicians, the journalists, even the people at the Post-Office are great great people. Some of the friends we've made up here will definitely be people we'll know for a very long time. You'd never expect to meet people who fit in so well with you and who you are but, they're up here and it's great.
8 months later Iqaluit was still the right choice. It's been up and down but, we're still up. We miss home, we miss Tim Horton's and we'll always miss High Speed Internet but, we still love it up here. We'd still tell anyone and everyone that it's worth coming.
Thank you Iqaluit.
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Trews - Toonik Tyme
I’ll always remember April 2010 as the time when The Trews came to Iqaluit. There was this buzz around town about it. Everyone you talked to was either up in arms about the cost of the band coming or they didn't care and were just so happy to see a show. Either way, there was a buzz.
The band stayed at the Nova and made an appearance in the pub the night before their much anticipated appearance at the Curling Club. They signed autographs for those who approached and signed T-Shirts, DVD’s, and CD’s for local promotions and charities. Kyle was playing in the pub that night and they happily sung along with what he played. What surprised me the most was that they seemed more amazed to be up here than we did about them coming. As the acting bartender, I fielded a lot of the usual questions you’d get from people who aren’t used to being up here but somehow it came across as charming. The guys genuinely seemed interested about the city and what happens up here. One thing is for sure, they were all proud to have seen this part of the country and they made it clear to me as well as others. True Canadians.
They drank us out of Moosehead and were the last ones out of the bar but they were all incredibly kind, generous and fun people to be around. If you didn’t recognize them you’d have thought they were just another group of people that’s how well they fit in after a few hours. I don’t know if it’s legal to have played that many Black Crowes tunes off one iPod in a single night either! I don’t need to fluff anyones feathers or glorify someone because of their pop culture status, but I find it necessary to share the insights I discover. It helps break the prejudice and assumptions that people often carry for people who have status. The entire Trews outfit were nothing short of friendly, fun and respectful people.
When the night of the show came around the Curling Rink was full. Everywhere you looked you saw familiar and excited faces. It was so communal to share that excitement and to all be there holding the same anticipation. Concerts are more quality than quantity in Iqaluit however, this one felt big. Whether you were a fan or not, the accessibility of The Trews music was inescapable; you knew their songs. And it was evident from the second they walked on stage . . .
The lights went out . . . and the speakers rang out the organ intro to The Band’s “Chest Fever”. It was a musical way of saying Here comes the rock”. The band walked on, the crowd screamed and finally the show was here. For the better part of 2 hours the band filled the rink with a jammed packed set of Trews classics. Within the first 30 minutes we heard “Fleeting Trust”, “So She’s Leaving”, “Ready To Go”, and “Poor Ol Broken Hearted Me”. The onslaught seemed relentless but eventually slowed down when the band came a little more forward on stage yet stripped back for an acoustic set. The crowd was overwhelming and ate up everything from the ever-popular “Sing Your Heart Out” to new cuts like “Highway for Heroes”. It wasn’t long before the band plugged back in and performed extended and remixed versions of classic favourites like “Tired of Waiting” and “Yearning”. They even threw in a crowd sing-a-long of “ K’naan’s new Canadian anthem “Wavin’ Flag” just for good measure.
It may have cost $15,000 for the performance fee and it may have meant that the local opening acts played for the love of music (which means FOR FREE) but, it was something special and something that I’ll remember for a long time. When you looked around at the hundreds of faces, there wasn’t one single person in that rink that wasn’t beaming with joy. Not one.
I don’t think it’s in good taste to tell the stories of how drunk the band got after the show or how their drummer “missed his flight” the next morning; you can always ask me in person! This was a great night to be in Iqaluit and a great night to be Canadian.
My first Toonik Tyme was a great one.
And Sean Dalton, if you’re reading this: I hope you finally got home safe and... you’re a $&%#’in Legend!
The band stayed at the Nova and made an appearance in the pub the night before their much anticipated appearance at the Curling Club. They signed autographs for those who approached and signed T-Shirts, DVD’s, and CD’s for local promotions and charities. Kyle was playing in the pub that night and they happily sung along with what he played. What surprised me the most was that they seemed more amazed to be up here than we did about them coming. As the acting bartender, I fielded a lot of the usual questions you’d get from people who aren’t used to being up here but somehow it came across as charming. The guys genuinely seemed interested about the city and what happens up here. One thing is for sure, they were all proud to have seen this part of the country and they made it clear to me as well as others. True Canadians.
They drank us out of Moosehead and were the last ones out of the bar but they were all incredibly kind, generous and fun people to be around. If you didn’t recognize them you’d have thought they were just another group of people that’s how well they fit in after a few hours. I don’t know if it’s legal to have played that many Black Crowes tunes off one iPod in a single night either! I don’t need to fluff anyones feathers or glorify someone because of their pop culture status, but I find it necessary to share the insights I discover. It helps break the prejudice and assumptions that people often carry for people who have status. The entire Trews outfit were nothing short of friendly, fun and respectful people.
When the night of the show came around the Curling Rink was full. Everywhere you looked you saw familiar and excited faces. It was so communal to share that excitement and to all be there holding the same anticipation. Concerts are more quality than quantity in Iqaluit however, this one felt big. Whether you were a fan or not, the accessibility of The Trews music was inescapable; you knew their songs. And it was evident from the second they walked on stage . . .
The lights went out . . . and the speakers rang out the organ intro to The Band’s “Chest Fever”. It was a musical way of saying Here comes the rock”. The band walked on, the crowd screamed and finally the show was here. For the better part of 2 hours the band filled the rink with a jammed packed set of Trews classics. Within the first 30 minutes we heard “Fleeting Trust”, “So She’s Leaving”, “Ready To Go”, and “Poor Ol Broken Hearted Me”. The onslaught seemed relentless but eventually slowed down when the band came a little more forward on stage yet stripped back for an acoustic set. The crowd was overwhelming and ate up everything from the ever-popular “Sing Your Heart Out” to new cuts like “Highway for Heroes”. It wasn’t long before the band plugged back in and performed extended and remixed versions of classic favourites like “Tired of Waiting” and “Yearning”. They even threw in a crowd sing-a-long of “ K’naan’s new Canadian anthem “Wavin’ Flag” just for good measure.
It may have cost $15,000 for the performance fee and it may have meant that the local opening acts played for the love of music (which means FOR FREE) but, it was something special and something that I’ll remember for a long time. When you looked around at the hundreds of faces, there wasn’t one single person in that rink that wasn’t beaming with joy. Not one.
I don’t think it’s in good taste to tell the stories of how drunk the band got after the show or how their drummer “missed his flight” the next morning; you can always ask me in person! This was a great night to be in Iqaluit and a great night to be Canadian.
My first Toonik Tyme was a great one.
And Sean Dalton, if you’re reading this: I hope you finally got home safe and... you’re a $&%#’in Legend!
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Muddy North
The warm front is finally here.
It brought a little ash with it but we're not about to complain.
Everywhere you go now you need your rubber boots. Iqaluit feels more like a city of slush than it does a city of the north. "Soaker" is a common phrase in our house lately and with the melting snow comes falling ice. I don't mean little pieces of snow or icicles, I mean body sized chunks of ice. Last week a piece nearly crushed me; I ended up taking pics of the debris left behind me. If I hadn't have been reaching for my keys, I probably would've been crushed. Seriously.
But now that the ice on the roof is gone, there's only the snow left. These falling chunks of compacted snow have become our new source of entertainment. Every half hour or so we hear what sounds like a falling human being from our roof. The cats jump, a shadow flies by, and a loud WHOOSH grabs our attention. It's nice enough to leave the windows open lately so we've been doing so and when we're really lucky, a body hits the open window and we all get the living daylights scared out of us.
I'll try and tone down the dramatics here but, a part of me thought we'd never see warm weather again. The cold and the snow has just become so common and routine for us. With all the melting and mud, I actually felt surprised to see it. I think it had set in that the warm fronts where going to be short but, I think a part of me had finally become okay with them never coming. I think I might miss the snow once it goes. I know Steph won't!
Since my blogging has become sparse at best, there's actually a lot to write about. Steph's brother Brian has moved in with us and has adjusted to working in the north well. It's nice having another guy around. We males like to consume large amounts of chips and play copious amounts of video games in packs so, Jordan is happy.
It brought a little ash with it but we're not about to complain.
Everywhere you go now you need your rubber boots. Iqaluit feels more like a city of slush than it does a city of the north. "Soaker" is a common phrase in our house lately and with the melting snow comes falling ice. I don't mean little pieces of snow or icicles, I mean body sized chunks of ice. Last week a piece nearly crushed me; I ended up taking pics of the debris left behind me. If I hadn't have been reaching for my keys, I probably would've been crushed. Seriously.
But now that the ice on the roof is gone, there's only the snow left. These falling chunks of compacted snow have become our new source of entertainment. Every half hour or so we hear what sounds like a falling human being from our roof. The cats jump, a shadow flies by, and a loud WHOOSH grabs our attention. It's nice enough to leave the windows open lately so we've been doing so and when we're really lucky, a body hits the open window and we all get the living daylights scared out of us.
I'll try and tone down the dramatics here but, a part of me thought we'd never see warm weather again. The cold and the snow has just become so common and routine for us. With all the melting and mud, I actually felt surprised to see it. I think it had set in that the warm fronts where going to be short but, I think a part of me had finally become okay with them never coming. I think I might miss the snow once it goes. I know Steph won't!
Since my blogging has become sparse at best, there's actually a lot to write about. Steph's brother Brian has moved in with us and has adjusted to working in the north well. It's nice having another guy around. We males like to consume large amounts of chips and play copious amounts of video games in packs so, Jordan is happy.
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