I was in Canadian Tire the day before last with my friend Andrew. We were on a specific mission: to find a pool for my yard. We go the isle where all the outdoor play things are and see a couple of inflatable water slides and some small plastic kiddie pools. Nothing really interesting. Then we saw it. 15′ wide and 3′ deep. The kind of pool that you can, for the most part, actually swim in, and it’s on sale! Ok. Even on sale this thing is $200. Canadian currency. So we phoned my friend Morgan, who was just as excited as us and made plans to pick up a case of beer and meet us in the pool in a couple of hours. So we did it. We paid for the thing, packed into Andrew’s KIA SUV and took it home.

Here’s where reality started to sink in… as we unpacked it and started to unroll it’s magnificent inflatable surface on my lawn a harsh reality came to light. I rent. Not only that, I share the space with my girlfriend, landlord, and his girlfriend. It took up the whole lawn. Seriously, if inflated, the side of the house that Fiona and I live on would be inaccessible. Massive. Colossal. Humongous. Unruly.

Plan B! We’ll put it on Andrew’s lawn, he’s got a fence and everything, it’ll be perfect. A quick phone call to his landlord squashes that idea. No problem, we’ll just return it for a full refund, and buy a 7′ pool. Can you guess what comes next? You betcha, Andrew lost the receipt. Yup, that’s the truth folks. Now we have this astronomical pool and no place to put it. Purgatory. Perdition. Limbo.

The Old Firehall show in Whitehorse with Kim and Fiona has been moved to June 15. Sorry to inconvenience anyone who thought it was yesterday.
We’ll be playing some of Kim’s new songs about the world’s 100 most dangerous things; a selection of cover songs; and some Crash the Car songs.

I don’t even need to explain:
Average Homeboy

I found a bag of green coffee beans while cleaning my freezer the other day. After doing some light research I decided to roast my own batch. Turns out there’s tonnes of methods to choose from: hot air poppers, to oven roasting, rotating drums, to commercial contraptions. In the end I went with the trusty frying pan. I read enough to know that I should listen for a cracking sound. I heard the crack and moved the beans to a tray to cool, they looked kind of light but I figured they would darken as they were sitting. The coffee ended up tinny and weak. More reading. I should listen for the second cracking sound. Back to the drawing board. So I roast another batch, more heat, constant stirring. Except that the stirring is loud enough that I’m not sure if I hear a crack. Not sure if I hear a second crack even. These beans are much darker than the last batch. When you stare at roasting coffee beans for long enough context goes out the window: are these as dark as the beans I buy? Ok. Take them out of the frying pan and put them in the oven at a low heat for a long time, that’s bound to darken them without the risk of burning. Three hours later they’re seemingly no darker. Hmm. I ground that batch this morning, it smells like coffee. Less tinny. Less weak. Not great. I’ll keep you posted.

I’m part of an arts collective called Red Wagon Union. We decided to put together a show called Dark Days and present it at the end of this month at the Old Firehall. Basically the premise is to commission original works by Yukon artists that reflect the darkest days of winter. The show opens on Tuesday, February 24 and closes on Saturday, February 28.

My involvement in this thing doesn’t really fall under the Crash the Car moniker, but you might be interested nevertheless. I’ve made a soundtrack for a stunning film by Joseph Tisiga. Both video and audio are constructed using materials found in the public domain; Kim Barlow has asked me to back her up for a live soundtrack to a short film by Fabienne Tessier, and; Ryan McNally, Graeme Peters, and I have put together an ensemble to present some of Ryan’s new songs. I’m very excited.

If iTunes rubs you the wrong way, They Built Houses Here is also available through western Canada’s independent online music store Kerfmusic