Help me pick a band name!

Which is better: "the acorn thieves" or "following pan"?

Camping in style

When we're hitchhiking, sometimes we'll get stuck in the middle of nowhere at dusk.  We packed a lot of camping stuff to make that sort of thing manageable: when you have a camp stove and a small grocery store in your bags, it starts to sound like fun to hike into the woods, find a clearing, and put up camp for the night.  This trip, we've packed a bunch more stuff, and we're really camping in style.  We'll cook up some lentils and sausage (with onions and garlic), fire up the hookah, and watch a movie under the stars.  In cities, we're always crashing on someone's couch, and we don't want to be rude or messy, so we can't really relax too much.  In the forest, we'll make as much noise as we want, as late as we want, and sleep in til whenever we want, and it feels more like home than some houses that we stay in.  :)

Of course, those pleasures wear thin after three nights (we just hitched across the worst stretch of Canada) and you just want to take a shower and be free of the godforsaken mosquitos.

Awesome hitchhiking ride

The other day, we got a ride from a dude that took us to Niagara falls and gave me a ride in the sidecar of his '65 BMW motorcycle.

Thanks, Bill!

We also drove through Ontario's wine country, and passed Wayne Gretzky's vineyard.  I hear he makes... (puts on sunglasses)... ice wine.

Small-time celebrity

On Wednesday we played a show at an awesome little bar called Moonshine out in Oakville, an hour out of Toronto.  Everyone said such nice things about us, and was so friendly, and bought us so many beers.  A really good guitarist said my style reminded him of Johnny Buckland from Coldplay.  Someone else said one song was "so fucking Jefferson Airplane".  A table of people told Kat that she sounded like someone famous, then asked who she sounded like.  We named some random vocalists and they shouted yes! to each one.  It's so much fun when people like your music :)

I also have to write a little blurb about how awesome that bar is.  It's run by this guy named John, who is a songwriter himself.  He runs the bar because he loves to hear people come in and play the songs they poured their heart into, and he brings in performers and a crowd 7 nights a week.  The bartenders are also wicked musicians, and the jam session after the show was awesome.  John, the crew, and all the patrons are all friendly as hell, too.  And they built this community in what seems to be a suburb city, which has gotta be tough.  Plus, they organize all these cool events like camping trip/concert hybrids.  Can't say enough nice things about those guys.

Canada sucks for beer

Beware, those of you that are considering going to Canada one day: there are arcane nanny laws about alcohol, and it's a big problem.  You can't buy beer from grocery stores; you can't buy a six-pack at all after 10; and you can't buy beer on sale, ever.  Yes, that's right; it's illegal to sell beer cheap.  The cops will bust you for it.

(Things are somewhat less ridiculous in Quebec.  Not much less.  I pay $10 under the counter to an arabic man for a 6-pack of PBR at 12:30 one night.  I felt like I was buying heroin.)