Baffinblog

Musical interlude

2010-01-14T23:45:00.002-05:00

Sometimes, I play music.
Tomorrow (Friday), I play at the bar in the Nova hotel.
A little while ago, I recorded some songs. You can hear a couple of them here: www.myspace.com/brandonquigleymusic

One week left in the north!

Prorogued

2010-01-07T20:54:00.003-05:00

School was prorogued today because of the crazy high winds that threatened to blow away my apartment (particularly the plumbing and heating), so I spent my time writing this:

Stephen Harper
Office of the Prime Minister
80 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A2

cc: Leona Aglukkaq, MP, Nunavut
Linda Duncan, MP, Edmonton-Strathcona

Dear Mr. Harper,

I recently heard that you’re planning to prorogue parliament, effectively taking 5 weeks of paid vacation from the job you and 307 other Members of Parliament were hired to do. What a great idea! I’ve often thought that Canadians deserved more than a measly 2 week minimum. I expect you’ll be extending this vacation time to everyone else in Canada shortly.

This turn of events is especially interesting to me personally, as I recently resigned my job as of January 22, and instead of heading back to work on Monday, January 25th (the same day Parliament was scheduled to resume), I will be moving to Edmonton to be with my partner who took a job there in September. Just as Canadians were anticipating your government’s answers to questions about the pertinent issues of the day (the economy, torture in Afghanistan, climate change commitments, whether you should be taking naked pictures of people at airports, etc.), I was anticipating with excitement looking for work, and the challenge and opportunity that come with a new job and a new chapter in my life.

But you have helped me realize that there is more to life than the daily grind of going to work. People have already started asking me if I’ve found work in Edmonton yet; now I’ll explain that I’m waiting until March so that I can follow your lead and focus on talking to fellow Canadians (probably in cafés and bars), and doing important work on issues like international diplomacy (I’ve booked a trip to Mexico for 11 days in February). Perhaps I too could assist as a citizen by helping out when the world’s eyes are focused on Canada during the Winter Olympics - I’m a recreational curler, so if you could get me tickets to the gold medal games for the men’s and women’s tournaments, it would really help the important work I’m doing for the good of the country.

Of course, right now the big difference between you and me, Mr. Harper, is that you and all your fellow MPs are getting paid your full salary during this period. I’m sure this is merely an oversight on your part that you’ll quickly want to rectify in the interest of fairness. I’ve calculated the a reimbursement of 5 weeks of pay based on my current salary; please see the attached invoice, and forward payment to the Edmonton address below at your earliest convenience.

Radio

2009-11-04T21:26:00.003-05:00

Hey, Iqalummiut! If you're looking for some ear candy tomorrow between 5:30 and 6:30, why not turn your radios to CFRT, 107.3, and listen to my new radio show, "Lost Highway" (or "Route Perdue," since it's the francophone community radio station). Playing the finest roots - country - folk - weirdness, in this town at the very least. For that matter, why not listen every Thursday.

One year

2009-10-18T01:14:00.001-04:00

Well, it’s been a year since I last posted on this here ol’ blog, so I think you can say it’s been fairly inactive. But I hate to leave this little piece of the internet in the state it was in. When I last posted, well, that was definitely one of the low points in my life. Luckily, things are incredibly, hugely better these days.

My big news is that I’m leaving the North as of January. Well, heading just barely south of 60 to Alberta, continuing my legacy of living in places least likely to be occupied by a once proud Torontonian.

During my over two years here (really? that long?!), I’ve met several amazing people, many of whom have been unbelievably kind and welcoming. They’ve tried to find me jobs, places to live, and just generally put themselves out with no expectation of anything in return. Some of them have left, some are still here, but I will never forget any of them; these are people who restore my often deeply shaken faith in humanity. (One of these amazing people is the reason I’m going to Edmonton.)

There are also people in this town who have treated me worse than I’ve ever been treated, who have lied and gossiped and been really hurtful. I guess what I’m saying is, Iqaluit is a small town where everything often seems bigger, both the good and the bad. I hope the people I leave behind, not to mention future Iqalummiut, understand this, and take care of each other instead of tearing each other down. It’s an island, so we’re all stuck here together, plus it’s cold and dark alot. If there’s one lesson I have to pass along it’s this: play nice.

One big plus of the past year is that it’s allowed my throw myself into my artistic projects (visual, musical, etc.) more than ever before. So stay tuned for some sort of internet presence devoted to these creative endeavors.

Bye.

2008-10-17T19:54:00.002-04:00

So, it looks like I'm gonna have to be leaving the blogosphere indefinitely. Sorry for the abruptness. I won't get into why, but you can ask her.

In 3 days...

2008-10-11T15:05:00.004-04:00

Holy crap, it's the final days of the federal election... it seems like just yesterday that Harpoon forgot his fixed-election date "rule" (Rules are apparently only for other people), and set us upon this path of daily-tracking polls, flatulent political commentators, long-winded speeches, and leaders visiting Iqaluit to hold community events (featuring, of course, long winded speeches).

Anyway, in keeping with the ongoing musical political commentary on this blog:

Although I think Rick Mercer has lost alot of his edge in recent years, he is still occasionally hilariously right on:

But remember, politics isn't just hilarious, it's also about, like, issues and stuff:

Oh, and by the way, there'll be a full moon on election day, furthering my paranoia.

Weekend caribou bones

2008-10-07T22:31:00.009-04:00

Towards the end of Federal road, there's a very nice road that goes uphill and through almost nowhere. If I had a car it would be a handy way to get out of town, but I have no car, and thus I walk past electrical lines...

and look down on the edges of civilization below.

To the tundra!
Where caribou once roamed,

and obligatory inukshuks* stand.

*TM Vancouver 2010

Signs of the Apocalypse, Part 3.

2008-10-06T21:44:00.004-04:00

This is quickly turning into a regular Monday event.

So, economic turmoil hit the Canadian economy in a big way today. There's nothing that puts your own life problems into perspective like global economic collapse. I just listened to the latest This American Life podcast, which helped me understand just how screwed we all are. Although I could have just read the top 10 headlines at Report on Business, including:

TD to raise rates on mortgages, home equity loans

Why markets are diving, why credit is drying up

Developers struggle to secure financing

Scotiabank projects recession in Canada, U.S.

Loonie slides to 18-month low

On a more positive note, a more positive headline points out that "Out of Panic Come Great Long-term Opportunities." And if there's any sector of the economy that deserves to be taken down a peg, it's the oil sands.

Seriously though, I'm sure we have nothing to worry about... we'll probably all be swallowed by a black hole from deep underneath Switzerland first.

Have a great week!!!

Further signs of impending apocalypse

2008-09-29T15:25:00.005-04:00

1.) The Report on Business section of the Globe and Mail the other day has an interview with noted economist... Margaret Atwood??? Things are even more mixed up in the financial world than we thought.

2.) Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse for Stephane Dion. (Advisory: link features graphic depiction of a Liberal man kiss. Don't click if you just ate.)

3.) You know who would absolutely, never ever let Bob Rae kiss him? (I mean, other than 99% of the population.) Paul Newman. Anybody want to rent The Hustler (one of my favourite movies) and play pool? I don't know about you, but I'm going to need to do alot of manly things to recover from #2.

P.S. - Thanks to the Baffinblog research team for uncovering some of those important, if disturbing, links.

Silence.

2008-09-29T00:46:00.005-04:00

I was really enjoying getting back on top of blog posts, but you’ll notice that’s died down all of a sudden. I’ve had a bunch of things I wanted to put up on ye olde blog, but I’ve been sort of dissuaded from writing anything. Despite my best intentions, I’ve stumbled into a few pitfalls in stuff I’ve put out into the internet universe lately.

Some of you may have noticed that I took down a blog post from last weekend (and I know people noticed, because my site traffic tripled that particular day). I wrote a bunch of stuff about how I was feeling about my life in Iqaluit lately. I meant what I wrote in that post, but combined with small town gossiping, unrelated third parties were hurt who really didn’t deserve it. Gossips, please keep it to a dull roar.

Secondly, well, you can read this and come to your own conclusions. I hope it’s not controversial to say that it’s no fun to be bullied and have your job threatened for expressing an opinion (or for doing Google searches). Please keep the flame wars to a dull roar.

So in conclusion, if you’re visiting this particular corner of the internet, please refrain from bullying, threats, and mean gossip. I’m really doing my best not to hurt anybody, so please return the favour. Thank you. If anyone needs me, I’ll be curled up in my bed trying to deal with this damned insomnia I’ve had for the past week.

(Hopefully this post doesn't upset anyone, or else I may have to give this blog a break for a while.)

Apocalyptic weekend

2008-09-21T11:35:00.008-04:00

Yesterday it was snowing and the wind was blowing like it wanted to rip your head off. Something was clearly not right with the universe. Then, when I walked out of my apartment, I saw this:

Perhaps the weather meant that God was angry (the good god who wants us to take care of poor people and stuff, that is, not the one that hates gays), because Stephen Harper had arrived. So, two out of four horsemen of the apocalypse so far this weekend, and it's not over yet.

As I walked by the cadet hall where the Conservateurs were doing whatever it is Conservateurs do, I imagined that inside, everyone was singing this song, and it made me feel better:

Check out more videos here.

Blame it on the moon

2008-09-18T21:53:00.004-04:00

I just realized that it was a full moon on Monday, which partially explains why my week has been so messed up. The last full moon, there were a couple of days when I just felt totally weird and couldn't accomplish anything... then I realized it was a full moon, and it all made sense somehow. I never really noticed the cycles of the moon before I moved up here... working with young children last year, I definitely noticed something going on around full moons. Maybe it's the very high tides in Iqaluit (second highest in Canada, I'm told).

There's clearly only one solution: Blow up the moon.

Wheels fall off

2008-09-16T19:56:00.004-04:00

I may never write anything positive on this blog again... after yesterday's post, everything's gone pear-shaped. I slept about 2 hours last night and can't eat - I think I'm getting sick, I'm totally stressed out all of a sudden, and I'm just generally feeling pretty gloomy.

To top it off, but I've been drinking out of this exact yellow Nalgene water bottle for a while. Next stop, heart disease.

Crispy carpets, fancy handouts, and bums.

2008-09-15T18:32:00.005-04:00

I managed to cram about as many people as possible into my apartment on Saturday. Thanks to all that made it a good time. I still don't have a vacuum cleaner, however, so my carpet's a little crusty, because sweeping it with a broom doesn't quite cut it.

Today threatened to go off the rails in class, since my fancy handout I spent a couple of hours on last night wouldn't print. My students, however, continue to be suspiciously awesome, and all went well. I'm certain they're plotting something.

I'm off for a beer in a bit. If you're hanging out at home, why not virtually moon Stephen Harper? C'mon... you know you want to!

Too much election, in only one week.

2008-09-12T21:28:00.006-04:00

I got slightly immersed in election junkie mode since the write was dropped, but had to take a break mid-week... the negativity of politics got to me. Heck, I can't even avoid it by just reading the usual northern blogs.

Anyway, because I will spend an inordinate and unhealthy amount of time at news websites (eg: www.globeandmail.com/politics, http://election.rabble.ca/, democraticspace.com/blog/ to name a few), you may run into some political commentary on this one as well.

The problem with following election news closely is that engaging discussions of issues quickly turns into lazy hacks hurling cheap insults at the national leaders and their parties, jumping all over campaign "gaffes," and hyping meaningless polls that swing wildly beyond their supposed 3% margin of error.

It sure can be depressing, but remember, depending on where you live in Canada, you have at least 100% more choice than Americans do in their upcoming elections. And if that's not enough for you, I'd recommend running a Ficus tree as a write-in candidate.

So, in the interest of positive political discourse, I've decided to try to say some positive things about all the party leaders and their parties.... (that way later on I can hurl cheap insults, complain about my possible choices, and be a lazy hack for the rest of the election.)

Liberals/Stephane Dion: He's probably my favourite Liberal leader since I've been old enough to vote. I mean, sure, that's compared to a man who was senile for at least his last 2 terms, and a mean spirited, wealthy industrialist, but still. Good for Dion for making the environment an issue in this campaign, and if nerdiness was the only criterea for being prime minister, he would totally win a majority!

NDP/Jack Layton: Well, so far I like most of the NDP campaign; they've called for a moratorium on the oil sands, really focusing on the environment, and they've come out swinging against Harper. Also, as a trivia note, I just found out that the NDP is the only party committed candidates in all 308 ridings. And I think if you vote for Layton, you get a free moustache ride... hey, why are you going?

Green Party/Elizabeth May: Well, she managed to get in the debate without having ever elected a member of parliament... mostly because she's less of a jerk than the other party leaders. The Green party platform is mostly pretty good... and I just found out that it includes a minimum 3 weeks of vacation, and a 35 hour work week, which are great ideas. Also, they really like trains. And margaritas.

Conservatives/Stephen Harper: Um, er, something positive? Let me think about this for a second... uh... errr.... blue is an okay colour. And the Conservatives haven't yet come up with a budget any more stupidly right wing as most of the Liberal budgets before them.

Wow, I even managed to say 2 nice things about the conservatives! See how easy that was?

Reconnecting with the land

2008-09-08T22:27:00.009-04:00

Since I've been back, I've hiked around Sylvia Grinnell Park a couple of times, getting reacquainted with this crazy treeless landscape I'm surrounded by. Here are a few things that caught my eye:

Rocks!

Rocks forming an Inukshuk!

Bones!
Fall Colours! Who needs maple trees, when you have tundra?

Waterfalls!

Work Life/Home Life

2008-09-07T12:40:00.008-04:00

Northwestel came through, finally, with my internet service, so I can get this blog rolling again.

First off: survived my first week of art teaching. It went, I have to say, remarkably well. My students are working ahead of where I thought they'd be after 4 days (well, the ones who have shown up semi-regularly), and I suspect they may actually be learning something. And I haven't had to freak out yet, either by yelling at kids or sobbing quietly to myself after classes are over. Not even close! Let's hope this keeps up.

I've also spent alot of time in my new apartment, which feels incredibly opulent, not because it's anything other than an average 1-bedroom apartment, but because it's all mine. It makes me extra-happy to come home to. Here, let me show you around. Don't mind the mess. This is the living room:If you have GN supplied furniture, you may have the same couch and chair.
Now we go towards the kitchen...
If you come over, this is where we can sit and have a tea.
While we're sitting, we can look out at the planes at the airport, and see the sun going down, which might look a little like this:

Return to the north

2008-08-30T12:30:00.003-04:00

Hey folks!

Sorry about the silence lately. It seemed silly to post on Baffinblog when I wasn't on Baffin island. But now I'm back, and I've escaped the hustle and bustle of down south, to the, well, even more hustle and bustle of Iqaluit; at least in terms of how much work I have to do to get ready for classes on Tuesday in my new art room, not to mention settling into a new apartment (which is awesome).
This morning I tried to hit some house sales, because although my apartment is furnished, I have very little in the way of other things, especially kitchen stuff. Unfortunately, 10am is aparently not early enough to get the good stuff. I managed to buy coasters with windmills on them, a skipping rope, a jar of pickles for $2, and a PS2 game (even though I currently have no TV). In other words, totally impractical things I don't need at all. So, if you have any extra stuff to sell, let me know. Useful is better, but if the above list is any indication, I apparently will buy any old crap you have lying around.
Anyway, I've gotta get some more work done. If you're in Iqaluit, I'll probably run into you on a street corner before long (if I haven't already).

People

2008-07-23T22:27:00.005-04:00

You know what's weird about Toronto?

There's all these people around... I see so many of them when I walk down the street, and yet... I don't know any of them, and they don't say hi to me! Not even the children (of which there are very few). What gives?

Oh, wait, I guess that's what most people call "normal." But it sure is weird after living in Iqaluit.

One year in the north

2008-07-08T18:07:00.005-04:00

Well, I've made it. On July 2nd of last year, I arrived in Iqaluit, and although I'm excited to head "down south" tomorrow, I'm also pretty happy I've made it through a year here - a cold, dark arctic winter; my first year of teaching; my first time owning a motor-vehicle (a snowmobile) - a year of many changes and new experiences. I'd be lying if I said that everything went according to plan... there have been alot of challenges living up here. But I'm looking forward to sticking around next year, to my new job at the high school, to my new apartment in town, to a full season of snowmobiling, and to whatever the heck else northern life brings me in the next year.

I'm also looking forward to catching a fish... I went out today for a last chance before getting out of town for the summer, and I had a char on my line until it managed to free itself a few feet from shore... aaaargh! And as with most of the fish that get away, he was, of course, enormous (well, at least a foot long anyway).

The other day, as if to dramatically end my first year in Nunavut, I was walking by 4-corners to find the Kamotiq in the midst of being demolished. It was sad to see the last igloo-shaped building in town come down. I figured this picture was a good was to say so-long for the summer:

Of Circuses

2008-06-29T18:25:00.005-04:00

The past couple weeks, I've had my head down, busy volunteering with Alianait and attending the multitude of Alianait events, and with writing report cards on the way to the end of school (my last day was Friday). I can't even believe I made it to the end of the school year; I'm sort of still in a daze of disbelief.

My life feels like a circus, especially since I've attended a couple of circuses - the Fibonacci Project was a great show last Sunday, and Artcirq on Tuesday was pretty cool too. In fact, all the Alianait events so far have exceeded my expectations, I'd say. The opening concert was a long night of eclectic music from all over, Monday night brought this amazing frenetic Quebecois folk band to the Francophone to ring in St. Jean Baptiste Day, Wednesday I heard cool stories from Dave Bidini and Michael Kusugak, Friday Dave Bidini played some songs at the Nova bar... phew! And those are just my evenings this past week.

Oh, and last Sunday I also swung by the Nunavut Arts and Crafts festival, where I played some songs, and participated in a Printmaking workshop done by Andrew Qappik. I also purchased a print by an artist named Veronique Nirlungayuk. Here's the print I made along with and the one I bought:

On the Road to Nowhere with Robertson Davies

2008-06-18T21:47:00.007-04:00

On Monday, I took advantage of a recently discovered teaching perk - the Discretionary Day. Which is basically an extra, random day off of my choosing. Luckily, it was beautiful, so I took a short walk out on the tundra.

Staying in the north after peak oil

2008-06-08T00:31:00.005-04:00

Since I made the decision to stick around the north for the indeterminate future, I've been reflecting alot on what the future will hold up here. One of my main concerns about sticking around in this town is how large my environmental footprint has become. Although I don't own a car and walk everywhere I go, almost all the food I eat is flown in (at least until the local greenhouse can feed me, or I catch a Char), and all the electricity in town comes from diesel generation. This is all pretty hard to ignore when you're at ground zero for climate change.

Even ignoring my guilty, lefty, green bleeding-heart, with oil at $135 a barrel (and $200 a barrel oil a possibility in the future), it's going to cost the government and everyone else alot more to live up here, and it makes me wonder how sustainable all of our futures will be.

Anyway, these are some of the things I think about when I contemplate the future of the North, in particluar with me in it.

On a more positive note, I hope to do alot of positive things as an art teacher that I might never get the chance to do down south (more on that later). And I love that I can walk everywhere here... although if I ever get lazy and buy a vehicle while I'm up here (besides my non-enviro-friendly snowmobile), I'm looking at electric scooters, or even electric atvs! How cool would one of those be?* I'll bet I can rig one up to run on solar...

*If the battery doesn't die really fast, which it probably will in the cold winters, as my more practical-minded brother pointed out.

Buying art in Iqaluit

2008-06-05T21:45:00.004-04:00

These are recent pieces I purchased while drinking beer or eating Chinese food (which is how most art gets purchased in Iqaluit).

I should also point out that there are some excellent drawings from Cape Dorset at the museum here in town - I encourage local folks to check it out.

Spinning

2008-05-27T22:59:00.002-04:00

It's been a while since my last post, since my life has been spinning in many different directions lately, with almost constant sunlight, latin dance parties, and counting down to summer (23 school days left).

Most noteworthy, however, is that I've been offered the position of Art Teacher at the high school here in Iqaluit. Which is just about the best teaching job I could have possibly hoped for. So, after much uncertainty, it looks like I'll be returning to my skidoo after the summer's over, and possibly sticking around the arctic and this dirty old town for a little while.

Idiotarod

2008-05-14T20:38:00.005-04:00

Not long ago, there were some dogsled races in town. There was one that went to Kimmirut, and I think there was something as part of Toonik Tyme. I felt special for living somewhere that had dogsled races... but now I realize I never needed to come so far. Thanks to Torontoist, I found out that some people in Toronto wished they could be in a dogsled race, except, lacking snow and dogs, changed some key elements (sleds = shopping carts; dogs=people), threw in some silly outfits... and so, the Idiotarod was born. It has the best slogan ever: "Prepare for Awesome." I am currently demanding that people I know in Toronto create a team in my honour. Possibly while dressed up as team Bill Cosby:p.s. - If anyone's interested in making this happen in Iqaluit over the warmer months, well, let's just say I'm always prepared for awesome.

Woof!

2008-05-11T16:33:00.003-04:00

Taken on the skidoo trail, on the last trip of the season, last weekend. Today, my machine was put up on wood at its summer home. There's already way less snow... the thaw is fast and furious, not to mention incredibly soggy.

W/ Guitar

2008-05-06T22:33:00.003-04:00

Thanks to Inflatable Elvis for taking these photos of me at the Iqaluit Music Society coffeehouse on Saturday.

A beer on Friday

2008-04-25T19:09:00.005-04:00

I haven't quite got around yet to my one-time plans of brewing my own beer up here, although I have run into some people in town that do. It makes alot of sense when you otherwise have to fly up your choice of brew. I may have to resurrect the idea after I recently ran across a review of this book - Fermenting Revolution - which posits that drinking and making your own beer can help save the world. Sounds like something I can get on board with. Check out the author's Beer Activist blog for some interesting reading , or another website I came across on the subject: Brew Like A Monk.
(Warning to beer-drinking Northerners: some of these sites feature delicious-sounding microbrews unavailable in Canada, much less in our land of canned Labatt Ice)

Cheers.

Uphill Snowmobile Races

2008-04-21T15:24:00.011-04:00

No, I didn't enter. I don't think I'm at the point yet where I can hang off the side of my skidoo while I go around turns like these guys did. These pics are from Friday.

Igloo building competition

2008-04-20T14:27:00.008-04:00

Motoneige

2008-04-15T20:15:00.011-04:00

Since the weather's gotten nicer over the past few weeks, the desire to get a snowmobile has increased exponentially. A week ago, I went to see a very reasonably priced (cheap) one, and with this week off I couldn't wait any longer: on Friday I became the proud owner of a 2001 Arctic Cat. Living up here without one, it just seemed like I was missing out on too much.

On Sunday, I broke in my new machine with an ice fishing trip.

Here's me on my tough new machine (notice the stitches on the hood that makes it look like my skidoo has been in a fight):On the trail with David and Stephanie:
Preparing the holes and jigging with our minnows:

After many hours of quiet, some excitement!

Success! David and his Char.

Team Shattered Dreams

2008-04-14T10:11:00.006-04:00

Shortly after arriving in town, I decided that if I was going to live in the arctic, I should join a curling team. Unfortunately, when the season began, I still had a shift at the public library on Thursday nights that prevented me from joining my teammates at the rink. Seeing "Team Quigley" written on the league schedule in my absence, Stephanie and Curtis began referring to themselves as "Team Shattered Dreams."

Luckily, I cut back at the library, and along with the addition of Chris (aka Inflatable Elvis), our dreams of curling were resurrected. Two weekends ago, we played in the final Bonspiel of the year, excited to show how much we'd improved throughout the curling season. Unfortunately, we lost all 3 games we played. But that didn't dampen the fact that it was a really fun season of curling, and a great introduction to the game for me. In honour of my year at the Iqaluit Curling Club, I give you the curling rock anthem: The Team Shattered Dreams Theme Song.

(Special thanks to Kate Nova for the use of some of her photography.)

Back in Blog

2008-04-14T09:41:00.004-04:00

Okay, I realize this has been a quiet blog as of late. Any chance of catching up on posting was derailed by a week in which the children went mad, including swearing, obscene gestures, climbing on rooftops, and threats of beatings (perpetrated by the children, not me.) Actually, that was just one kid, and that was only last Monday, but it should give you an idea of what my week was like.

Luckily, after experiencing some of the worst that the teaching profession can dish out, I now get to enjoy one of the benefits: Spring Break. This week is Toonik Tyme, Iqaluit's spring festival, so there's lots going on around town. And the weather has turned sunny and warm(er). Stay tuned for regular reports, pictures from my new camera, and adventures on my exciting new toy.

Best Concerts

2008-03-24T15:15:00.003-04:00

Townie Bastard recently asked some dangerous questions, which may threaten a mass exodus from the territory: What is the best concert you've ever seen? and, what was the first concert you went to?

Dangerous because, besides the White Stripes just before I got to town, there's a decided lack of bands who come through Iqaluit. And thinking of concerts may make some of us long for the south.

Kate Nova tagged me in this bloodsport, so here are my responses:

First Concert.
If you don't count Sharon, Lois and Braham when I was, like, six, I guess my first concert would have been Beck at the Opera House, when he was touring Mellow Gold, and people suspected he would be a one-hit wonder with "Loser." I didn't go to too many concerts in High School, since I didn't have many friends who liked the same "weird" music I did, but I managed to win free tickets listening to CFNY, and thus was able to convince someone to go with me.

Best Concert
I'm going to have some sub-categories here, because, damn, when I think about it, I've seen a whole bunch of really good shows that I can't help but mention. But if I have to settle on one show, I have to pick seeing Built to Spill, with Lonesome Crowded West - era Modest Mouse opening, playing at a club (whose name I don't remember) in London, England. I spent my last University-summer in London, and saw a lot of great shows (Godspeed You Black Emperor in an old gothic church, Man or Astroman on Canada Day after drinking all afternoon at the Maple Leaf Pub), but this show stands out, because it's the only time I've seen Built to Spill, a great band who almost never tour (I think they played Toronto for the first time about a year ago), and it turned me on to Modest Mouse (who I saw again in London at a small club later that summer). I was so into that show that, caught up in the moment in a half-joking and half-earnest-rockfan way, I shouted out "Rock Power." Much to the embarrassment of those around me.

However, there are many other concerts that are worth mentioning, so I'm gonna make up some sub-categories for best concert.

Weirdest concert moments.
During Ryan Adams' show at Lee's Palace while touring Gold, none other than Elton John came on stage during the encore. Apparently he's a fan. Other than that, it wasn't that memorable a show - although Adams' sit down solo acoustic show touring for his first solo album Heartbreaker was one of the best solo acoustic shows I've ever seen.
Runner up for weirdness would be when I lucked into catching Neko Case playing at the notorious Toronto after-hours boozecan the Matador. In attendance were many drunken folks there more to procure mickeys from the guy with a hockey bag full of booze than for the performance. Hilarity and great music ensued. Some of that show can be heard on her live album, The Tigers Have Spoken.

Loudest, rockingest rock show
Hands down, this award goes to McLusky, an underappreciated Welsh band who I saw at the Horseshoe a couple of times. The first time I saw them play, the bass player, a tall, lanky red-head with a beard, wore a turquoise jump suit with a cape. My ears were bleeding with rock and roll joy by the end of the show. You should find their album McLusky Do Dallas and take your shirt off and rock out. (Actually, maybe you can keep your shirt on.) McLusky also win the award for best album titles (such as The Difference Between Me and You is that I'm Not on Fire, and My Pain and Sadness is more Sad and Painful that Yours)

Best show to dance like it's the 60's at.
Sharon Jones at the Dap-Kings. Seen 'em twice, the best being at a sweaty Horseshoe Tavern.

Most electric concert.
The Weakerthans at a free outdoor show at Harbourfront in T.O., where you could turn around while the band was playing and see lightning out over Lake Ontario.

Bands that I've seen a few times and are always great.
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (and his current band, Heavy Trash), Magnetic Fields, Wilco (and Jeff Tweedy solo at Trinity St. Paul's church), Luna, Yo La Tengo, Chixdiggit (most fun punk rock band on the planet), not to mention those countless small shows by local performers in bars throughout Toronto.

Non-human roommate

2008-03-21T15:26:00.002-04:00

Atlas the English Bulldog and I watched a bunch of episodes of the Dog Whisperer last night to herald the long weekend. Although, if you're a dog, I suppose every day is a long weekend.

Unexciting Updates

2008-03-15T11:47:00.005-04:00

Well, this past week I've been knocked on my ass by this flu-like virus that's been going around town and lasts forever. That might have led to more frequent updates on my blog, detailing the extensive playing of Civilization IV and playing Scrabble against myself (I'm reading a great book about competitive Scrabble players called Word Freak) that I've been up to lately. Except I just moved back into my place after house-sitting for the past month or so, and the wireless internet wasn't working to get access in my room. Luckily, yesterday, my fourth day off work this week (which is unheard of for me!), I gave myself a two-hour crash course on wireless networking and - voila! - I'm back on the interweb.

Speaking of technology, I forgot to mention that I received my new computer a few weeks ago - a shiny white MacBook; isn't she beautiful?

Most other happenings you can read about on other people's blogs. There's a tattoo artist staying at my house (who does great work, btw) who gave Kate Nova a new tattoo. I went to a party last weekend and Inflatable Elvis took a picture of me with cop shades. And, you can learn the big curling news in town through Townie Bastard. Speaking of curling, I've been throwing some pretty good rocks skipping my team lately, which makes me really happy to say. I really dig curling. Stay tuned to find out how well (or not) we do in the playoffs and upcoming bonspiel at the end of the month.

A walk along Frobisher Bay

2008-03-05T17:39:00.008-05:00

Among my birthday gifts was a new digital camera, so I decided to take a short walk on Sunday along the beach before it got too cold. I couldn't believe I hadn't been down there since the winter began... the chunks of ice that rise up because of the tides are amazing. I will definitely be going on longer adventures out on the land soon. There's been a dearth of pictures on my blog recently, so here's a bunch:

The tides of the bay:

A mountain of tidal ice:
A crack in the ice marks the shoreline (I think):
Rock meets ice:

Land meets sea:

Swims with the fishes

2008-03-03T19:30:00.005-05:00

Over the past few weeks, I've been house-sitting a really nice 2 bedroom apartment with a great view of Frobisher Bay. My main responsibility here has been taking care of the fish. I was a bit worried about this initially, because a whole bunch died just before I began my fish-sitting duties... I think there were about 16 of them back in January. When I started taking care of them, there were three, and I'm happy to report these same 3 hardy survivors are still swimming happily around their bright blue tank.

It's nice to have pets to come home to, even if they are just fish. It's way more interesting to watch them swim around than I ever thought possible.

In other fish-related news, I baked a delicious Arctic Char in a lemon dill cream sauce last night.

thirty-something-or-other

2008-02-20T22:48:00.004-05:00

At least when you're 30, you can imagine that you're just barely 30... sort of an extension of your 20's, where the number is just a technicality. But in a few hours, I'll be 30+1. In other words, pretty solidly and unavoidably a thirtysomething.

I've lately thought of birthdays as a sort of personal New Year... a fresh start where I can get a better perspective on things in my life. Which is kind of what I'm looking for these days, as I start thinking about things like how long I'm going to stay up here, what my next teaching job is going to be, etc. Along with wishing for the cold to subside - it's been flirting with minus 50 with the windchill the last couple of days, and days above minus 30 seem a distant memory. I bought travel books at the library booksale about Trinidad & Tobago and Costa Rica, not because I'm planning a trip to those places really soon, but just so I could read about warm places.

As I go to bed on birthday eve, I'm getting an early present outside my window - a full lunar-eclipse, which looks really cool, especially with wisps of northern lights underneath it.
And tomorrow, I'll get to do one of my newest favourite things, since curling is on Thursday nights. And afterwards, out for a few drinks at the Nova bar. If you live in Iqaluit, hope to see you there. If you're reading this and you don't live here... I probably wish you were here.

Life, and its opposite

2008-02-17T16:09:00.002-05:00

There are various happy, interesting things I could blog about, and likely will soon. My life, I realize, is generally quite good, and I feel fortunate for it.

But I found out on Friday that a child at my school died. That fact has cast a pall over everything else. And there's not much to say about it other than it's pretty awful.

I am Dave Seville

2008-02-12T20:51:00.001-05:00

The other day the kids at my school were let loose at the local movie theatre to watch "Alvin and The Chipmunks." While I was sitting there watching the film with about 4 classes of kids, I had a surpristing epiphany: I was, in fact, watching the story of my recent life (albeit with more special effects).

In the film, an unsuspecting, childless, creative-minded man finds his life invaded by small, unusual creatures who sometimes sing, but mostly spend their time terrorizing the man and making his life difficult. Some of the creatures are really intelligent, but mostly they're full of attitude and like eating alot. Over the course of the film, the man comes to warm to these small creatures, and accepts them as a dysfunctional but loving adoptive family.

Six months ago, I was looking for a job in teaching after getting my Bachelor of Education with a specialty in Intermediate/Senior levels - in other words, the complete opposite of the little chipmunks I've spent the past months hanging out with, first at a daycare, then an elementary school. I had no real experience with children before that, and they frequently seem as unusual to me as talking, singing, dancing chipmunks. But, without sounding like too much of a pushover, I have gotten more hugs, hellos, and high-fives in the past 6 months than in about the past 6 years of my life.

Week 2 of the School with No School

2008-02-07T15:23:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm approaching my second week of working out of the Parish Hall, which is where I've been placed, along with 5 or so other teachers and 3 classes worth of Grade 1's and 2's, since the school building we'd normally be during the day was declared unfit for, well, breathing.

My normal job(s) of teaching ESL and tutoring reading have been replaced with basically helping out a regular classroom teacher keep their class going, which isn't as easy without as many resources and with a less than ideal set up (if you've ever heard the noise a classroom full of elementary school kids can make, multiply it by 3 to get an idea of the audio environment I work in these days). Luckily, we told the kids we have invisible walls... and enough of them believe us to keep things relatively under control. Actually, the kids have been great about the upheaval in their lives. Plus, last Friday, we got to go sledding on a big hill out past the new arena, and this morning we went skating (not such bad things to get paid for doing - go teaching!).

Occasionally, we have to pack up our makeshift classrooms at the end of the school day to make room for other community events happening at the hall. Right after the school closed down, before we turned the hall into a triple-classroom, the teaching staff were meeting - a meeting that ended early when a coffin was pushed into the room for an afternoon funeral. I left before they opened the coffin, but a few squeamish teachers told me their story of hightailing it out of there pretty quickly when they did. So, hopefully there'll be no mid-week funerals while the kids are still around.

The school is being cleaned pretty thoroughly right now, with all of the rooms being emptied and scrubbed before everything, lastly humans, are moved back in. This should all be done by March.

One of the best things about work lately has been running into my old ESL students at the bus or wherever... and they're just sweetness and light, and actually seem to miss me. Maybe when I'm back in their regular classrooms, they'll all do their work, and treat me with respect, and things will be way better!

I'd better not hold my breath, though.

La Musica

2008-02-03T11:53:00.000-05:00

I ended up playing a couple of songs at the Music Society coffeehouse last Saturday, which were well received. I say "ended up," because I was on-call to sub for other musicians throughout the evening, and went on second-last. I'm also playing a couple of songs at a "Musical Tea" at the French School at 2pm this afternoon, for those in town.

When the school building takes sick days

2008-01-24T22:16:00.000-05:00

So far in 2008, I should be thoroughly back into teaching after a much-needed holiday over Christmas and New Years. However, at my school, I've barely had any classes to teach. The first week back started with a day that was deemed too cold for school, and ended with frozen pipes that shut us down for an afternoon and a morning. The second week was broken up by a two-day professional development workshop for teachers, and as soon as we were back last Friday, a strange smell shut us down that afternoon. You'd think that smell would have been dealt with last weekend... nope. It came back on Monday stronger than ever. Tuesday morning, more of the same, but this time we tried to stay open. By the end of the day, I had a brutal headache and a burning throat, along with much of the rest of the staff. The school has been closed since yesterday (Wednesday), when they finally figured out there was mold in the building.

Long story short, we should be 3 weeks of classes into 2008, but instead we've had only about 6 very sporadic days of class. I will admit, it's been a very relaxed transition back into work, but I'm about ready to get back at it. The plan is to have classes on Monday no matter what, although we won't know for sure until tomorrow if these classes will actually be at the school, or scattered around town.

Take my finance minister.... please.

2008-01-14T17:32:00.000-05:00

I try to avoid writing about anything political on my blog, especially when I have limited computer access, but this story really bugged me.

To summarize, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives wrote a thoughtful and understandably critical report on the Canadian government's economic plans, which outlined different possible economic scenarios for the next few years. Under their most optimistic forecast, due to the Tories recent tax cuts, the Federal government surplus would be gone by 2008-09, and turn into a $2.4 billion dollar deficit by 2009-10.

Now, Jim Flaherty's economic credentials are already well established - when his Ontario Tories were kicked out of office in 2003, they left the province with a multi-billion dollar deficit due to their neo-con tax cutting agenda. However, Flaherty's response to the CCPA report shows that he hasn't learned much...

"...in the autumn we were anticipating some slowing in the Canadian economy, as a result of the quite significant slowing in the U.S. economy," Flaherty told reporters at a Vancouver news conference.
"For that reason, in the fall economic statement on Oct. 30, we made dramatic historic tax reductions — business tax reductions — in Canada," he said.

To paraphrase, Flaherty defends himself and his government by pointing to the exact reason why the government is at risk of going into deficit again... because they're cutting into revenues. In fact, he even brags about the "dramatic historic tax reductions." In other words, as usual, the neo-cons are gambling with our future.

Since conservatives are so fond of wanting to govern like they're running a business, let's imagine one is the president of Widget Canada Co. [WCC]. While anticipating a slowdown in demand for Widgets, CEO Flaherty decides to lower prices, reasoning people will buy more widgets. This may, in fact, lead to a temporary boost in sales, but if the overall widget market is slow, it seems like a risky strategy, that could very likely result in drastically lower profits.

Now, if I was CEO of WCC, I might consider investing in research and development to make widgets more efficiently, or find new markets, such as more environmentally friendly widgets. Although that makes alot of financial sense to me, in our current political climate I guess it makes me a socialist.

Speaking of politics, as far as the U.S. primaries go, Elizabeth Edwards, John Edwards' wife, has the best quote so far: “He seems like a nice charming guy. [Mike Huckabee] doesn't believe in evolution and has some nutty views about what it is we should do about ending violence in our inner city—we should make sure all of our young people are armed. Republicans scare me.”

Hiatus

2008-01-11T15:11:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in my previous post, I'm currently computer-less, after being the victim of a Christmas Day theft (sympathy cards are welcomed). As a result, expect blog posting to be sporadic at best over the next couple of weeks... until I get my new MacBook.

In the meantime, you can find out about my life through other bloggers like Kate Nova, or Bob Izumi Jr and his recent Dance Dance Revolution pictures.

I arrived safely in Iqaluit last Friday - although just barely, since my flight was greeted by a freak snowstorm that shut down half the town and almost sent my plane to Rankin Inlet. Luckily I got off the plane and got to experience the howling winds sub minus 50 degree temperatures - which ended up shutting down schools on Monday. I'm also off work today, because the pipes froze at our school and it's taking some doing, apparently, to get them going again.

Oh, also I have a new place to live, with a sort-of view of the bay, and new roommates, including a mastif. Photos to come... once I get the aforementioned computer, not to mention a digital camera, which is also missing from my life.

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T21:09:00.000-05:00

Phew! My holidays down south have quickly sped up into a whirlwind of activity.

They began with a comedy of errors. My flight into Ottawa on the 23rd was diverted to, of all places, Windsor, where I spent 2 hours on the tarmac, stuck in the plane until we flew back to Ottawa again, 4 hours after our scheduled arrival time. My mom, who drove from Kingston to pick me up, thankfully was still there.

On Christmas day, I had my knapsack stolen out of the backseat of my mom's car - inside the bag was my laptop, my iPod Nano, and my digital camera.... practically every electric gadget I own of any value. Oh, and they got my mom's and my aunt's christmas presents as well, both one-of-a-kind pieces of Inuit art. So, basically, worst Christmas ever. During dinner at my aunt's I drank more wine than usual to chase away the pain. I can deal with the financial loss, since I'm finally making money these days... but I sure wish I had my pictures from my past 6 months in Nunavut back, as well as numerous other irreplaceable files.

Oh well, on the plus side, I guess I'll be buying myself a fancy new MacBook earlier than I expected.

Since then, however, as expected, I've been immersing myself in a flurry of friends, food, and beer. Which continues tonight as I help DJ at the bar 751 on Queen St. West.

I don't believe I fly back on Friday! Time flies! Happy New Year, everyone! May your 2008 be happy, healthy, and free of theft.

Merry Christmas from Nunavut

2007-12-21T19:45:00.000-05:00

Taken last night on the way to curling: the Nunavut Legislature, decorated for Christmas. Notice the cold taking visible form in the top left of the picture.

Today the temperature spiked to around minus 15 degrees, which seemed remarkably warm to me. Imagine how I'll feel when I'm back down south!

Oh, and as for curling, with our regular skip Stephanie out of town for the holidays, I skipped the team for the first time, which was fun. With my, oh, month or so of curling experience we managed to do quite well... no, we didn't win, but we got a couple of points, made a few good shots, and didn't get killed. (And we welcomed Bob Izumi Jr. to our team.)

Oh, and happy winter solstice. Damn, it's dark alot here.

Too many Christmas dinners...

2007-12-19T21:10:00.001-05:00

...lead to some kind of stomach bug which has made my day miserable.
Luckily, my holidays have officially begun, and I head down south in 4 days.
In Toronto, it's around zero right now, which sounds downright balmy compared to the minus 30 (minus 40 plus with the windchill) temperatures we've been having in Iqaluit lately.

Christmas concerts, dinners, and assorted festivities

2007-12-13T21:38:00.000-05:00

Tonight I went to the Christmas concert at my school. And, no, no fights broke out, and it wasn't at all excruciating. In fact, I'm filled with something that feels kinda like pride, especially for the grade 4 class I help with in the mornings, who were great (although I can take no real credit for any of this, since I wasn't responsible for any of the performances). This feeling is taking some getting used to after the feelings of frustration that often pepper my working days. I'm hoping for more of it.

Sick Day

2007-12-05T19:37:00.000-05:00

One of the viruses or whatever that circulates through this town has hit me like a cold wind off Frobisher Bay. I stayed home today. I slept alot, found a blog about a coyote in Wyoming, and turned myself and Kate Nova into elves.

Cold weather, cold beer, and urbanity (or lack thereof)

2007-12-03T21:37:00.001-05:00

Hmm, not to much to report here in the frigid north, other than my usual busy schedule. Today was an unearthly cold - or at least based on my past experience living on earth. I won't dwell on that since people continue to tell me it's going to get even colder. Once I've updated my blog 8 times in one day, you'll know it's gotten cold enough to stop time.

Last week, I went to the legion for the first time ever here in Iqaluit. It smelled of beer and other depressants as soon as I walked in. I'm not sure why I would join for the privilege of spending time in such a cavernous, institutional, windowless place. Unless there was some decent live music (which there was that night, thanks to Kate Nova and others.) Maybe it's just the snobby urbanite in me talking, but generally speaking I'd rather go somewhere like the bar at the new hotel in town, where the bartender remembers people's drink orders.

I received a Lego catalogue in the mail last week, which was exciting. For you Star Wars geeks, you can buy a 3-feet long Millenium Falcon (only $679.99). However, since I'm totally missing civilized cafe culture, I might be more likely to get my hands on a $200 "Cafe Corner," which hopefully includes a French Lego-man waiter whose rudeness is only exceeded by his prompt service. And possibly a tiny Lego espresso machine. Also, if I really want to pretend I'm in Paris, I could also get a $300 Lego model of the Eiffel Tower.

Speaking of urbanity, in 3 weeks I'm heading back down south, to towns with trees, buildings higher than eight stories, and temperatures higher than minus 20. I intend to eat and drink and socialize to great excess, and I'm pretty excited about it.

Bonspiel

2007-11-25T14:38:00.000-05:00

Last Thursday, I finally got Thursday nights off at the library to join the curling team I'd promised to be a part of a couple of months ago. The Thursday league schedule still referred to us as team Quigley, so in my absence my teammates started calling themselves Team Shattered Dreams. Having never curled before, I got a crash course in curling this weekend during the Frobisher Bay Curling Club Bonspiel - during which I played 4 games, or about 8-9 hours of curling in a 24 hour period.

I'm a bit overwhelmed by such an insane amount of curling, but I think I like it. After losing our first game badly, our second game was a tight match which we only lost due to a "burned" rock (one of our players touched a curling stone with their broom, which meant it had to be removed), and a 5mm difference in distance from the centre-circle thing (I'm still working on the lingo). Then, we finally won a game properly, to move us to the Group C final - where we lost, largely due to being kinda tired from so much curling in such a short time. Not that, as a curler with a week's experience, I can really be credited with our team's success - that can mostly go to our skip, Stephanie. But I did go from throwing my rocks wildly and having no idea about judging how fast they were going, to being able to throw them in the vicinity of where I was supposed to. And I think I swept okay, as long as someone told me when to start and stop sweeping.

To top it off, my teammate Curtis along with local blogger Townie Bastard won the grand prize airline tickets.

Stay tuned for more curling adventures.

Mail Call

2007-11-13T21:41:00.000-05:00

One thing that made the past long weekend even more enjoyable was getting a whole bevy of packages in my mail.

I finally got my hockey helmet that, in a new record of ineptitude for Canada Post, took exactly a month to get here. I inaugurated it at Broomball by taking a tumble directly onto my elbow on my second shift that sent me home to put ice on it, and which is still swollen.

I also got a care package from my mom, which are always filled with consumable goodness not available in this frontier town.

Last, but certainly not least, I got a couple of books I've wanted to get for a while, but had a hard time finding in Canada: "A Parrot in the Pepper Tree" and "The Almond Blossom Appreciation Society" by Chris Stewart. These are the second and third books written by Stewart about his life as a British ex-pat on a farm in the Alpujarras in Andalucia, Spain. His first book, "Driving Over Lemons," I recently re-read in an effort to add some warmth to the barren, chilliness of my current environment. I've actually already read "A Parrot in the Pepper Tree;" it was in a trailer in Portugal I was staying in for 4 weeks back in 2004. I had just finished a 3 week stint wwoofing in the exact area of Spain Stewart lives in and writes about, and he describes the magic of the place perfectly. Once I found out he'd just released a third book, I had to have it, and almost paid to have it shipped from Amazon in the UK. Then, I discovered that Monro's Books, an independent bookstore in Victoria, had some copies available of both books, with very reasonable shipping. So now, not only do I have a couple of books about my favourite warm place in the world, I have the consumer satisfaction of supporting a small independent bookstore instead of a multinational corporation (or, for that matter, Heather Reisman).

Energy

2007-11-11T13:59:00.000-05:00

Everyday, I get alot of positive energy sent my way. I teach about a hundred kids each afternoon, and throughout the day they give me high-fives and friendly hellos. There are a lot of great people I've met in this town, who have helped me out as a newcomer to Iqaluit.

But, especially lately, I feel surrounded by alot of negative energy. Often, the kids at the school tease and bully each other and, obviously, give teachers like me a hard time. The lesson-planning and other teacher prep work I do is pretty stressful sometimes, but nothing compared to the emotional drain I've felt at the end of the day during the second-half of this week. And, for all the people I've met who know my name, no one (except for Kate Nova) knows me as well as my friends and family, who sometimes seem far away way down in Ontario. In a more abstract way, I think everyone around here feels sadness about the tragedy in nearby Kimmirut.

On a more positive note, however, I'm in the middle of a long-weekend since Nunavut very sensibly gives people a stat-holiday for Remembrance Day. Time which I'm going to use in part to prep for teaching. But mostly to chill out and surround myself with as much positive energy as possible. Although I am supposed to play Risk later, which is often a recipe for bitter, bitter global enemies. Unless I win, and all my enemies shall be vanquished.

More darkness, more cold, more everything

2007-11-06T20:58:00.000-05:00

Soooo... there has been nothing much besides silence on this blog lately. That's because there has been a multitude of activity in my life: my ever-changing dayjob mornings, my whirlwind afternoons in 5 different classrooms each day, plus my other two jobs I keep on showing up at just in case I become sane. I would like to blog. I would like to call friends back home. I would like to do many things I don't have time to do, because I'm trying to be an okay teacher and an okay human being, all at the same time.

And I'm trying to do this with ever lessening sunlight to guide my path; since the time change on Sunday, the sun sets at around 3:00 and the days are only getting shorter. Monday, it was minus 30 with the windchill, and days with single-digit negative temperatures may be behind me for a while.

Luckily, I got my winter boots in the mail on Friday. They are big and puffy and warm and use a drawstring instead of laces, which is brilliant. I also got a thermos which keeps the coffee from my stovetop espresso maker piping hot all morning, even after the chilly walk to work. These are the simple pleasures I cling to amid the cold and dark. That, and I get a long weekend in 3 days.

Here's a view of the early twilight outside my window:

Halloweekend

2007-10-28T21:57:00.000-04:00

I attended a pair of Saturday night Halloween parties last night. Check out more pictures over on Kate Nova's blog. I was able to make the transformation into a Mormon missionary frighteningly easily. No offence intended to actual Mormons - although if I happen to offend Republican mormon presidential candidate Mitt Romney, that would be fun, but mostly because he's a Republican. If I had planned better in advance, I could have ordered some Mitt Gear, my favourite being a novelty foam baseball mitt. "Great for Kids and Adults!" Because nothing is scarier than Republicans, especially waving foam mitts.

increasing darkness, snow, and children

2007-10-25T21:28:00.001-04:00

My week has been a hectic one. I started a new job on Monday, which I almost didn't start due to a police-check mix-up. My afternoons consist of a whirlwind of visiting classrooms with children who, at their worst moments, have climbed on top of their desks, climbed under their teacher's desk, sworn at me, worn laundry hampers on their head, and hit me in the face with said laundry hamper. Having said all that, mostly things have been going really well. Honest. I haven't planned any serious work yet, so we've mostly just played math-related games. Hopefully I can continue being the guy who visits the inuktitut classrooms and does fun stuff, with an increasingly focused plan to teach a full slate of math and English skills.

Hopefully, I will be able to keep a positive outlook as it gets dark earlier and earlier. It's already looking pretty gloomy by 5pm. I'm told we lose 50 minutes of daily light each week.

Also, it appears as though the snow has settled in as a long-term resident. My blog header shows the view from my window from a few days ago. My big red parka has became my new companion. Photos of me hidden behind my furry hood to follow.

Not quite Cape Dorset

2007-10-20T18:59:00.000-04:00

Today I checked out the Cape Dorset print collection, which started showing in town. There was some amazing stuff! Like this:

Job List

2007-10-20T18:17:00.001-04:00

For those keeping score.

Previously:
1.) Daycare (weekdays)
2.) Library (2 weekdays + Saturday afternoon)
3.) Tutoring prisoners (volunteer, once a week)

Currently:
1.) Reading tutor at elementary school (weekday mornings)
2.) ESL Math teacher at elementary school (weekday afternoons)
3.) Library (2 weekdays + Saturday afternoon, although I'll probably drop a shift soon)
4.) Adult ESL teacher at college (one evening a week)

So, it looks like that Education degree is of some use after all.

Sealskin

2007-10-11T22:04:00.000-04:00

Outside of the library last week, whenever I looked out the windows onto the beach, I would see a group of ravens crowding around a white lump. On the weekend I went out to investigate, and found a dead seal, mostly intact, except for its head and bottom flippers. I'm not sure what happened to this guy, since I'm pretty sure hunters here are pretty good about using the whole seal, especially the meat and skin of the body. Maybe it died of natural causes. It was still pretty sad to see this particular seal washed up on the beach.

I thought of this seal yesterday, when I tried on a pair of sealskin mitts which still smelled like the sea. I realized that my friend lying on the beach wouldn't even have the dignity of the job of keeping someone's hands toasty warm.

Inuit hunters used to sprinkle snow into the mouth of seals they had recently killed, believing that it would ensure the spirit of the seal would not go thirsty. I'm told they don't really do that any more, which I think is a shame.

But maybe that's just because I'm a qallunaat.

Ontario: yours to discover

2007-10-09T22:42:00.000-04:00

Hey, all of a sudden it's the Ontario election. And here I am in Nunavut, where it is emphatically NOT 30 degrees. But I have been paying some attention.

Thankfully, John Tory has managed to do for the Tories through his misstep on funding for religious schools, what Mike Harris and his years of financial mismanagement, corruption, and hatred of all things good and decent couldn't quite completely do (which is why Tory tried to position himself as the 'anti-Mike Harris'), and eliminate the party from contention.

This is probably going to lead to a majority for Dalton McGuinty's Liberals that they don't really deserve. I don't really dislike McGuinty that much - like most people, his total lack of charisma and android-like demeanor make me feel very little about him. Which I think may be the new key to success in politics - the politician as Nowhere Man. But, dude, that health premium sucks. Not to mention the promises to close the coal fired generating plants in, uh 2007, um, 2014, er, eventually.

Earlier in the campaign, there was the possiblity of a minority government - that's definitely what the NDP were counting on with their 6 priorities, that seem to be written as a list of demands in a minority situation. The Ontario Green platform is actually worth a look - it actually has some decent details - I particularly like their transportation plan, for instance. But, since the NDP is running on a green platform to use renewable power instead of nuclear and coal, invest in transit, etc, I'm not to sure the Green Party has much more to offer environmentally, or otherwise, especially when their leader describes himself as "fiscally conservative". Fiscal conservatism, as mentioned above, brought a $6 million deficit to a province during a booming economy.

But none of my opinions matter much, since the Liberals will get to do whatever they want for the next 4 years. With 40% of the vote. Which is why the only vote that really counts on election day is for Mixed Member Proportional (MMP). Go to Vote for MMP for more info. (You could also go to the sad excuse for an opposing MMP website.) There's also this blog that is largely devoted to the subject, and is worth a read. Sadly, like most of the parties I vote for, MMP likely won't win either, because it's gotten no publicity, so people don't understand what it is, and McGuinty has set it up to fail with a 60% threshold for it to win. Sigh.

Turkey Day, now with actual turkey

2007-10-08T15:53:00.000-04:00

What a long time vegetarian looks like trying to help his girlfriend carve a turkey:

Broomball

2007-10-07T10:17:00.000-04:00

Ever since I arrived in Iqaluit, I've heard about Broomball. Almost every male I've met in this town plays it. I've never had any contact with this sport until arriving here. Yesterday, I gave it a try. Let me give a primer to those who know nothing about broomball (which was me until a few months ago).

Broomball is played on ice with shoes. If this sounds absurd, wait 'til you see the special shoes developed for this purpose. These shoes first seem pretty brilliant, when you step out onto the ice and it feels as if it's spongy and soft beneath your feet. But when you try to move with any speed, the reality of shoes on ice hits you - ice is slippery, it's impossible to stop on, and is hard when you fall on it. Apparently, new shoes make a big difference. However, I'd say it's hard to avoid the laws of physics.

Broomball doesn't use brooms. Well, they call them brooms, but they're really short sticks with rubber bits at the ends that look best suited to smacking people in the ass. Maybe once broomballers used real brooms, in the early days before the special shoes were developed.

Broomball is played with a ball. They're about the size of a cantaloupe, and look like balls played with by young children. Except that they're smacked around by strange sticks, brandished by fully grown adults trying not to fall down.

Photos will follow. Probably of me flailing around on the ice with my pads falling off, trying to use my "broom" usefully. Thankfully, we wear helmets.

p.s. - in my broomball research, I discovered a broomball team in Illinois called - I'm not making this up - The Blazing Ptarmigans.

Accidental modern art, part 3: on the beach

2007-10-03T07:58:00.000-04:00

Mornings

2007-09-30T13:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday morning, I listened to the new Weakerthans album repeatedly (thanks Bob!) Songs about curling, bus drivers, and the second album in a row with a song from the perspective of a cat. It's like John K. Sampson knows exactly what's going on in my life, and what I've been thinking about. Since I don't have my dependable Toronto record stores around, I've really been lacking music, which probably leads me to obsess over this record even more than usual.

Today, my morning is stretching into the afternoon as I drink my second cup of coffee at 1:30 to get the cobwebs from last night out of my head.

I'm currently trying to get a wireless router working, with limited success. If anyone knows anything about getting a wireless network set up, let me know.

Bones, part 3: Bones with stones

2007-09-27T21:55:00.000-04:00

Library Book Sale Madness

2007-09-23T11:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the social event of the weekend: the Public Library Booksale.
As a staff member, I got first pick, although as Kate Nova's and Bob Izumi Jr's lists show, I missed out on a lot of good ones. I did try to hold back; after all, there are tons of good books to borrow from the library, rather than being saddled with a heavy pile of books. I think the sale was especially good since people move in and out of this town so often.
My list:
National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mammals of North America (Almost brand new!)
Common Plants of Nunavut
Better Homes and Gardens Meatless Main Dishes
Low-Fat Vegetarian Cookbook
Bonsai
Quotations from Chairman Mao
Neither Here Nor There: Travels in Europe, by Bill Bryson
The Cider House Rules, by John Irving
Catch 22, by Joseph Heller
The Indian Lawyer, by James Welch
Oars, Sails and Steam: A Picture Book of Ships, by Edwin Tunis
Star Gazing, Comet Tracking and Sky Mapping, by Melvin Berger
Icebergs, by Roma Gans, Illustrated by Bobri (a kids' book published in 1964, purchased for its awesome 60's-style illustrations)

Bones, part 2

2007-09-22T11:39:00.000-04:00

This edition of the Bones of Iqaluit is brought to you by the federal riding of Outremont in Montreal, where only the carcass is left of the decimated Liberal candidate, after being soundly skinned and gutted by the NDP's Thomas Mulcair earlier this week.*

Speaking of politics, here's a video of Jack Layton hanging out on Baffin Island a few weeks ago.

*Metaphorically.

Snow Daze

2007-09-18T22:24:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, it snowed. It had kinda sorta snowed last week, but this past weekend it snowed properly, with big white blowing flakes. On Sunday, I was looking out over Frobisher Bay, and felt like something was different... it took me a little while to realize that the white across the bay wasn't entirely clouds - the hills were snow covered! If you look carefully, you can see them in the photo above. This morning, there was actual snow on the ground (or, as one of the kids at daycare put it, there were "snowmans" outside).

So far, I forget most days that I live in the arctic. That is beginning to change.

Kung Fu Fridays

2007-09-16T21:34:00.000-04:00

I used to semi-regularly attend "Kung Fu Fridays" at the Royal Cinema on College Street in Toronto, where weird and wonderful Kung Fu movies were screened. It sadly ended a couple of years ago.

I'm currently trying to keep the spirit alive here in Iqaluit, in a sense. I've started taking Taekwon-Do classes, and my first one was on Friday. I'm a long way from kicking much ass, since I can barely figure out which direction my limbs are supposed to go, and my flexibility is pretty limited. I started learning how to kick someone on top of their head, which was cool, except that for now my leg only goes high enough to kick the heads of midgets. And, really, that would probably go against the Taekwon-Do oath:
I shall observe the tenets of Taekwon-Do:
Courtesy, Integrity, Perseverance, Self-control, Indomitable spirit
I shall respect the instructor and seniors
I shall never misuse Taekwon-Do
I shall be a champion of freedom and justice
I shall build a more peaceful world

After class, I came home and watched Magnificent Butcher, a Kung Fu Fridays-worthy film I bought in Chinatown in Toronto before coming up here. It features a fight with caligraphy brushes, a drunken chicken, a villain named Crazy Cat who meows while fighting, and stars Sammo Hung.

Saturday, we had people over. Kate Nova made a video.

The Dewey Decimal System is alive and well

2007-09-09T18:47:00.000-04:00

If there is nothing else in Iqaluit, there are lots of jobs. Somehow, I managed to stumble into a second one. I found out that the local public library was desperate for staff, so I've started working there - just on Saturdays, and a couple of days during the week. It's kind of an ideal second job - low stress, but intellectually stimulating enough to keep me interested. It's a good complement to working at the daycare, where a complete sentence is a major accomplishment for most of the kids.

This past weekend, I attended Mass Registration, where all the clubs/groups/classes/volunteer organizations gather in one room for one day to fill the calendars of Iqalummiut for the year. Which means I'm probably not going to be bored any time soon.

Narwhal or just a big fish?

2007-09-06T11:46:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago, I took a picture of this cool Narwhal sculpture behind the Nunavut legislative building, which I walk past every day on my way to work:
Now, however, with the recent theft of its tusk, it's just a big fish:

Sick day

2007-09-04T16:26:00.000-04:00

Got a virus from one of the little petri dishes I work with. Been battling it all long-weekend. Called in sick today. Not much blog-worthy happening. Currently making soup.

The Bones of Iqaluit

2007-08-28T21:57:00.001-04:00

Over the summer, I've come across many stray animal bones in town. Over the next while, I'll be posting some of them.

The Call of the Caribou

2007-08-24T19:04:00.000-04:00

"Caribou are usually quiet, but they may give a loud snort. Herds of snorting caribou may sound like pigs. Especially vocal are the bands of cows and new-born calves, constantly communicating with each other."

In the past week, I've eaten caribou twice: in steak and stew form. This consumption of red meat has emphatically ended my years of vegetarianism. It's been a slippery slope lately. I went to wing night a couple of weeks ago, and, well, did what one does at wing night (besides drink lots of beer) and ate wings. I also ate an arctic char a couple of weeks after I arrived, along with a number of other fishy friends since then - none of which were caught by me, despite my efforts.

Considering the resources used to ship fresh vegetables up here, I don't feel all that bad switching to more local sources for food. (If you ignore the chicken wings.) I would like to take a moment to thank the caribou of the north for helping to fill my belly lately.

Also this week, I learned that caribou taste better when you shoot them while they're calm, rather than when they're running, such as when they're chased by a skidoo. Apparently, the acid builds up when they're running and it ends up affecting the taste of the meat.

I have as of yet, however, not put this knowledge to the test.

Accidental modern art, part 2

2007-08-20T22:19:00.001-04:00

I'm on a road to nowhere

2007-08-19T19:13:00.000-04:00

Last night, I went camping along The Road to Nowhere. I don't think I've mentioned this road on my blog before. There are undoubtedly many roads in the world that lead nowhere, but few have a street sign proclaiming that fact. Truth be told, there is a quarry along the road, but not much else other than lots of tundra, and a river, and many fine spots for arctic summer camping.

At night, I witnessed the northern lights for the first time as they smeared themselves across the night sky. Pretty wild.

Today, I got to use a nail gun while helping out at the habitat for humanity build in town. Last time I volunteered there, I got to operate the saw. I'll probably go back next weekend, and see what cool construction toy they let me play with next. Ahem, I mean, operate responsibly.

New things

2007-08-12T20:32:00.001-04:00

Well, I survived my first week at the daycare, with only a few aching muscles and a sore back from interacting with my new preschool friends.

This was a busy week, because in addition to a new job, I also started volunteering as a tutor at the prison. This tutoring is a requirement for the online ESL teaching course I've been taking - for which I also had to finish two big assignments this week.

Phew! I've had a good weekend to refresh myself. Yesterday I went to a gospel concert, which featured a grab-bag of musical performances, including one by a group featuring the hot girlfriend herself, Kate Nova. She played my mandolin, which turns out to be a highly exotic instrument here in Iqaluit - a bunch of people asked what it was.I had a full night yesterday of drinking and eating and general Saturday night revelry. Today, unfortunately, fishing plans were scuttled yet again by more rain, which has been a recurring theme over the past few weeks.

A busy one-month anniversary

2007-08-07T20:51:00.001-04:00

I celebrated my one-month anniversary in Iqaluit on Thursday by getting a job at a day care. Today was my first day.

About an hour after coming into work this morning, one of the kids was asked "what are your hands for?"* He answered, emphatically, "for pie!"

I think I'm going to get along fine with that kind of attitude.

*This is a frequent question. Hint: they're not for hitting. Also, teeth are for eating, not for biting. Remember, kids.

New White Stripes Video in Iqaluit

2007-08-01T09:24:00.000-04:00

Hey, I've been to those red and white buildings - they're the old Hudson's Bay buildings down the road in Apex. And I think I'm gonna go fishing near that cemetery tomorrow. Cool!

Invasion of cats!

2007-07-30T16:45:00.000-04:00

Over the past couple of days, I seem to have been stumbling across stuff to do with cats all over the place.

The other day, on CBC radio, I heard about Oscar the cat. Oscar lives at a nursing home in Providence, Rhode Island, and can apparently sense when people are going to die. He regularly curls up next to patients a few hours before they pass away. For a harbinger of death, he's incredibly adorable.

I also stumbled upon this site of pictures taken by a "CatCam" hung around the neck of Mr. Lee the feline. It takes shots randomly throughout his day.

I'm not sure if this is frightening or hilarious - a little bit of both, I think. Those tiny, cute kittens look terrified - as they should be. No doubt, the next legislation Harper introduces will endeavour to help the homeless by feeding them those kittens. (Sorry, that's going a bit too far - Harper clearly doesn't care that much about poor people.)

Luckily, as far as I know, despite all of these cat-related phenomena, no cats have been struck by lightning recently. The same, however, can't be said for caribou.

Anyway, here's a picture of Minty, one of my brother's cats, who I miss terribly (although I can't say I miss her shedding).

My Simpsons avatar

2007-07-29T11:24:00.000-04:00

The new Simpsons movie isn't playing in Iqaluit, but that didn't stop me from making myself a Simpsons avatar.

Foggy summer

2007-07-25T16:26:00.000-04:00

The fog and cold this week have been hanging onto Frobisher Bay this week like the swarms of giant Nunavut mosquitos on my exposed skin. The forecast isn't calling for sun or temperatures above 10 degrees for the forecastable future. The last nice day we had was Parks Day on Saturday, which was fun. You can check out Kate Nova's great photos here. I ate bannock from the bannock-making competition, took a geology walk, listened to throat-singing (super cool!), and watched inuit games, such as the high-kick:Saturday night I got to hang out by a campfire with fellow members of the Iqaluit Rank Amateur Fishing Society (IRAFS). The interesting thing about campfires up here is that you scavenge for scrap wood in town, instead of for twigs in the forest - since there are no forests - so the fire was made up largely of old two-by-fours with nails in them. It looked like this:Speaking of fishing, I did make it out again on Sunday to fish, but it was cold and windy, and once again the only bites I had were getting my lure snagged on the rocks. We have found a new fishing spot, which is pretty nice. Here's some photos from about a week and a half ago:

Accidental modern art

2007-07-20T21:47:00.002-04:00

The other day I took a walk along the industrial road that I can see from my apartment, and leads to the prison. Not exactly a touristy route, but I did find some neat industrial waste, including this big, twisted bit of metal that looked like a modern art sculpture. I liked it so much, I took a picture of it from different angles:

From sunshine to fog

2007-07-20T18:40:00.000-04:00

Well, it reached a balmy 18 degrees here in Iqaluit this week. Unfortunately, it's now turned colder and grey - last night a fog rolled in off Frobisher Bay. The good news is that the ice has completely left the bay - it's been gone for about a week now. I took these pictures last week:
Notice the sealift boats and barges:Compare those images to the pictures I took 2 weeks ago, not long after I'd arrived in town.

My mail now has a home

2007-07-16T20:40:00.000-04:00

The other day, after a week of waiting, the good people at Canada Post granted me a Post Office Box of my very own. For those who don't know, there are no real street addresses here. Having street names at all is fairly new to Nunavummiut. Buildings are referred to by their house number (which makes finding anything really hard). So, a P.O. Box is essential. For today's blog post, we take you on a trip to my P.O. Box.

Here's the front of the Post Office. Inside it's very nice, with clocks telling you the time in London, Iqaluit, and Los Angeles - you know, the important cities of the world. Inside, there's a nice red lobby filled with P.O. boxes. However, that's not where my P.O. box is.
To get to my P.O. Box, you need to go to the addition they built just for P.O. boxes around the side of the building. It is considerably less pleasant, but I guess when you're new to a frontier town, you should be happy to have a place for your mail at all.There it is! At last! My hard-earned Post Office Box! Isn't she beautiful? So what are you waiting for? Send me goodies to: P.O. Box 11033, Iqaluit, NU, X0A 1H0*.

*Oh, the 1H0 also marks me as a newcomer, as most people in town have an 0H0 postal code.

News from the south

2007-07-13T11:29:00.000-04:00

Although the clouds rolled in over Frobisher Bay yesterday, I'm still pretty happy to be up north. In part because there seems to be alot of bad news coming from down south.

Sadly, Honest Ed Mirvish passed away. His funeral is today. If someone would like to send me up a porcelain Elvis bust from Honest Ed's in his honour, I think Ed would approve.

Not only that, beer is being tampered with!* I'm outraged! Although, to be honest, I would kill for a Stella. Or anything that's not in a can and not Labatt Ice or Coors - which is about all you can get up here.

*Note: I love that the article linked to above felt the need to provide the pronunciation of Artois: (AR'-twah)

Happy Belated Nunavut Day

2007-07-12T19:58:00.000-04:00

I almost forgot to mention - Monday was Nunavut Day. I got a collapsible plastic fishing hat and some sealskin key chains that were being given out by the government of Nunavut. I just missed, out, however, on the cotton fishing hats with the mosquito netting, which would have been a major score. I also missed out on partaking of the muskox burgers being served by the premier and the "country food" feast, featuring raw shrimp, arctic char and seal. But it was cool to hang out amongst it all, and I did manage to take this picture of what I believe is the seal waiting outside of the cadet hall to have its skin removed in order to join the feast (either that or it's the parts of the seal that aren't eaten all wrapped up):Also, general rocking out ensued:

Arctic Sun

2007-07-12T13:08:00.000-04:00

We're having a beautiful week here in Iqaluit (note: if you want to say Iqaluit like an Inuk, pronounce it "Ik-al-oo-eet", not "Ik-al-uh-it"), with bright sunshine filling the seemingly never-ending sky. Sunday, i got a chance to go fishing for Arctic Char. Despite my years of vegetarianism, I believe the fish could smell my blood-lust for their fishy deliciousness, and refused to be caught. But there's nothing wrong with spending hours by the waterfalls of the Sylvia Grinnell river, at the territorial park near town.

As we walked to the river, chunks of ice sit on top of a field of smooth round rocks, like spaceships that just landed:The landscape there was amazing:
Kate Nova casts her line:Finally, here's the obligatory shot of an inukshuk:

On the town

2007-07-08T13:19:00.000-04:00

My first week in Iqaluit has consisted of spending a few hours each day doing work for my ESL teaching course, drinking tea, and going out around town for walks and errands. On Thursday, I went for a walk around town that took me along the waterfront, which is a cool assortment of old boats and metal storage containers. Frobisher Bay, right now, is basically a giant field of broken ice; although in the distance you can see some big ships lingering, as if anticipating the clearing of the final chunks of ice so that they can get closer to shore.

Anyway, for those back home (aka "down south") who might be wondering what it's like up here, the green building on the left is where I live:This is the sign on the road into town from the airport; notice the Inuktitut writing on the speed-limit sign:
This husky, I believe, is thinking "yum, fresh Torontonian!"
This is the Iqaluit waterfront. Or should I say "ice-front"?There's Iqaluit, there behind the chunks of ice:...and from above:

Rocket to the Moon

2007-07-05T21:32:00.000-04:00

On Monday, after taking off from Ottawa airport, the plane went above the clouds and, eventually, land appears below. At first, there's so much water, and the land such a light translucent gray, I think we're above water with icy patches. But soon I realize, yes, it is land - land that's barren and sprawling, woven with lakes and rivers, where not a speck of road or building or human is to be seen throughout the flight.

More and larger patches of brilliant white snow appear as I go further north. The undulating patches of white almost look as though they're alive.

Surprisingly quickly, we've left the land, left northern Quebec, and are over water as the plane approaches Nunavut. The ice is broken up in crystalline shards. It looks like a starry cosmos below - it's amazing. There's less and less ice, though, as we go further out to sea; soon only little lines of bright white specks follow the currents. Then, just the open sea of the Hudson Strait.

Then, I'm there: Baffin Island.
It looks like this (at least, from the plane):

And finally, if you look closely in the middle, there it is - Iqaluit, my new home:I've spent the last couple of days getting settled: having my eyes pop out of my head looking at prices at the grocery store; getting on the waiting list for a P.O. Box, and going for walks around town. I took some pretty decent pictures yesterday as I walked near the waterfront; I'll post those later today or tomorrow. This weekend, I'm supposed to go camping, which should be great! Stay tuned.