Five Alarm Funk

These guys rocked!

12 guys from Vancouver showed up at the Central Bar & Grill and showed sleepy ol' Victoria how to party. They brought drums, guitars, sax and horns - and they used these weapons to control the sold-out venue. With the lead-drummer keeping the beat going, one instrument after another would take turns with the solos. Occaisonally two musicians would take turns trying to one-up the other. They were as funky as advertised, though they inspired some highly questionable dancing from a fairly inebriated crowd.

If Five Alarm Funk swings through your town, we highly recommend checking them out.

Everybody having a good time?

Vancouver Visits Victoria

Last Friday we went to check out a Vancouver 'funktronica' band at Steamer's Pub. "Themasses," pronounced 'the masses' not 'them asses,' are a typical four-piece with guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. They were billed as live house music a la "The New Deal," and they were similar though the constant guitar soloing certainly differentiated the acts. The guitar player served as the frontman although it was clear that the organist was bringing most of the energy and driving the direction of the music. Cam thought some of the guitar solos curious, some were not very dancey or funky they were almost 70's prog rock. Perhaps with the right drugs it might have made more sense. It was a good show, though we ducked out early because our vigorous training schedule has up running early Saturday mornings.

Themasses in action.

Oooooooh, trippy.

Saturday afternoon we went to check out the East Van Specials play at Oak Bay Arena. They were part of a massive hockey tournament being held at every arena in greater Victoria. The Specials went down early, but worked hard and settled for a 9-3 loss. One forward line played particularly well, finishing a +1 despite the lopsided score. The right winger on that line, James Rowe, scored a gritty Ryan Smyth-style goal halfway through the second period.

# 70 James Rowe.

Of course, the camera died before we could capture Cam's cousin James's goal celebration.

Craigdarroch Castle

Last weekend's adventure did not take us far from home. We set our sights on Craigdarroch Castle. The Castle has quite the history, starting as home to the super rich Dunsmuir family in the 1890's. Since that time, Craigdarroch has seen many changes and many tenants, including serving as a military hospital, a college and home to the Conservatory of Music. Since 1979 the Castle been maintained as a Museum.

Crank that bass!

A picture of the smoking room. Please note the Hookah in the display plaque.

View from the tower.
The hills in the distance are Mount Douglas, left, and Mount Tolmie, right.

Sun, snow and a Castle... a rare day in Victoria.

Classic Rock, 90's Rock, New Rock . . . ROCK95!!!

We went to see the Tragically Hip play last Sunday at the superbly named Save On Foods Memorial Centre. We're not sure what foods they were memorializing but they must have been delicious.

The Sadies opened the show and opened it well. Even though much of the crowd was still filing in the early-comers were rewarded and showed their appreciation. The Sadies bounced between surf guitar, bluegrass fiddling and straight up rock-and-roll and were impressive at each. They were a little wooden and were dwarfed by the large stage behind them, but musically they were fantastic and we'll definitely be exploring their catalogue.

Ths Sadies from far away.

The Hip started with The Lonely End of the Rink off the new album. The new album is pretty solid but it didn't seem like the crowd got behind any of the new numbers, perhaps just unfamialarity. When they followed that up with New Orleans Is Sinking the audience picked it up, everyone started screaming, that was what they were there for. It was pretty cool to hear a lot of these tunes live after hearing them millions of times growing up. Downie got screechy in some parts, and the band wandered a bit in their little jams but they were exciting all the way through. There were only a few songs we didn't know, and Cam was really happy that they played Wheat Kings. It's always fun to be in a crowd of hundreds when everyone is singing the same song.

The Hip from far away.

Our first Christmas away from home

Our latest adventure took us "up island" for the first time to Mount Washington and the Comox Valley. We spent Christmas in style at the Crown Isle Resort in Courtenay.

A tub with a view.

We tried to go skiing on Christmas Eve, only to discover that a rain storm in Courtenay means a blizzard on Mt. Washington. Wisely, we decided our novice skills would be no match for the mountain and retreated to the warmth of our hotel.

Conditions at Mt. Washington.

To help us get over our aborted ski attempt we indulged in a family tradition shared by both our families and opened one present for Christmas Eve.

Thanks James!

Christmas morning we opened the rest of our presents (we were spoiled), before embarking on our second attempt at a ski-day. The previous day's snowfall left the hills deep in powder providing a soft cushion for Cam's many falls. We had a blast and with lift tickets left over from the day before we went back the next Saturday.

Trees after the storm.

Our return trip brought some Sunshine to the hills and more confidence in our skiing abilities. We brought the camera up with us not fearing we would destroy it.

Cam on the 'Reverse Traverse'.

Brenda at the top of the 'Hawk'.

The scenery up there is pretty breath-taking (much like the altitude). We will definitely be making another trip back. Happy New Year!