Marc Martel's Queen Audition

I've been seeing so many questions since all of this has blown up.  As of this point the views just passed 1 million.  How are you feeling about all of this?  Does this mean Downhere is done?  What's going to happen to your upcoming tour dates?

When Marc sent me the link to this contest I replied with "Tell me you are doing this!"  So I am totally supportive of this whole adventure.  After spending the last 10+ years together, 9 of those in a 15 passenger van, we all know each other quite well.  Any success that one of us has is shared by all of us.   So many of us have known Marc was capable of this for such a long time, it was just a question of when an opportunity like this would come along.  

As for what happens next . . . God only knows.  Downhere has no intentions of stopping.  In fact, our Called To Love tour is about to kick off on October 1st.  We're touring with our good friends Jason Gray and Aaron Shust which will be a blast.  Then we're pretty booked up till after New Year's so we're about to head into a busy season.  Likely a busier season than we originally anticipated but it should be fun!   Time to hold on!

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Presenting The Chicken Coop

Over the past few years I've been reading books about becoming self sufficient like this one by John Seymour. I like the idea of being a better steward of what I have and this book really connected with me. I don't really have the kind of property that's ideal for living the total self sufficient philosophy but there are things that are possible even in a small urban environment.

Composting and gardening are a couple of easy things to start with. For those of you who know me, you know how much I dig composting! We have three separate composting bins/piles in our yard and a compost thermometer to monitor the temperature of our pile. We've also had some success with our gardens and berry patches in the last couple of years so that is all coming along.

I've also been on a beekeeping kick since reading John Seymour. Not actually doing it but reading lots and lots about it. My plan is to build a few hives between now and spring and hopefully get some bees come late spring. Yes, I would like to be your beekeeper! Everyone needs one you know?

Another thing that had interested me is keeping chickens for the sake of having fresh eggs everyday. I like the economics of it and I like the stewardship of it. So this summer my project was to build a coop and get some chickens! I started designing my coop by hand and going through all the different designs I saw on backyardchickens.com. Then a friend recommended I try out Google SketchUp to design my coop. It's a free 3D AutoCAD type of program. This way I could essentially build the coop without cutting any wood and figure out exactly what I wanted to do. With some free time during a summer camp we were at I designed the coop! A screen shot is below.

The plan for the roof is to become a strawberry garden too. I didn't take the time to make it look like one in SketchUp.

This took more hours than I expected but I was geeking out with it and having fun so the time went by quickly. I was designing the coop based on some free lumber I knew I had access to which is why it ended up being somewhat of a tank of a coop. Below are some pictures of the process which also took a while. You see part of the deal here is that I have no history in woodworking and felt like I needed to impress my wife with my abilities. I made her a box when we were dating which was quite terrible. It was time to make up for it!

The boys could not get enough of this door. I was tempted to remove it so they would stop opening it every time they walked by. It was a temptation they just could not resist. I admit, it is pretty cool!

And here it is, the finished product with our first two chickens in it! Big Boss Lady and DeChick! They should start laying eggs in October. The roof is flipped over for the winter. I didn't see any point in starting a garden this late in the year so that will happen next spring.

And now we are at capacity with four chickens. The newest two, Isa and Babs are supposed to be old enough to be laying but so far . . .

. . . only one of them has laid. Yes, this is proudly our first egg thanks to Babs!

So there you have it! That's been summer around the Lavender backyard. I've discovered that my coop has already inspired one person to build a new coop and another to build one labour day weekend!! I love that! Maybe you want to keep a couple of chickens too??

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Books, Books, Books

One of the great things about travelling so much is the amount of idle time I have waiting at airports, sitting on planes and just travelling in general which enables me to read a lot. And one of the main reasons I set up this blogwas to keep track of what I read and learn so here we go!

Ever since I got into reading Stephen Lawhead, my interest in history has definitely increased. Lawhead is an historical fiction writer which is a genre I hadn't been interested in in the past. Reading his stories though take me right into historical Britain or Scandinavia or wherever hehappens to be writing about. I know nothing of the history of these places or their culturesand it is so fascinating to me to see how Lawhead puts them all together. All this to say, I have been on somewhat of a history journey lately. (Is it a history or an history? Article confusion!)

This history journey took me into the arctic in the last 6 months. It all started with a book I read back in 2009 called The Ice Master. I talked about that in this post. More recently I read Pierre Berton's The Arctic Grail: The Quest For Northwest Passage and the North Pole. This is an exhaustive history of what went on in the arctic during the 1800's. The main storyline being how so much of the western world was occupied withfinding a trading passage through the arctic. One interesting thing that stood out to me was how there seemed to be a belief among many well educated people back then that once you got beyond the pack ice of the arctic - closer to the north pole - there were temperate waters which could easily be travelled. Perhaps even temperate or even tropical land with people living on them. This belief caused many boats and lives to be lost.
This time in history would have been an exciting time to be alive. The Earth hadn't been fully mapped yet so these men were truly exploring the islands of the north arctic. Naming them after people who had helped fund their journey or even after themselves. Not knowing what layahead of them - more ice, temperate waters, land, being the first to discover the northwest passage or the north pole, these trips must have been exhilarating for these men. I enjoyed living vicariously through them for sure. And yes, I did look up adventure trips to the north to see if some of these places were available to visit. Indeed they are and they have now been added to my mental bucket list! I haven't even begun to tell of one of the main characters/explorers of this era, John Franklin. His story alone is worth the read. If you have any interest in history, exploration, the arctic, the British navy or Canadian history I think you would enjoy this book.

The Arctic Grail led me to more Pierre Berton books as I was really enjoying his writing. He is somewhat of a Canadian icon which was another reason I wanted to get acquainted with more of his writing.After spending some time in history I moved on to a book called Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis which I discovered through the Canada Reads program. I read about the author's journey to creating this book and I was hooked there. The story about him writing thestory was so interesting that I wanted to read this book.

Terry Fallis's publishing journey is a cross between a Cinderella story and a DIY show. When his manuscript for his first and very funny book, The Best Laid Plans, was passed over by literary agents, he began podcasting the story, one chapter at time, in 2007. The podcast became so popular that Terry decided to self-publish his manuscript.

Then, on a whim, he submitted his book to the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour. It won! The following week, Terry signed with McClelland & Stewart and the happy ending to this Cinderella story seemed complete.

But there were more glad tidings to come. The Best Laid Plans made it onto the Canada Reads Top 10, and subsequently was selected by Canadian-born CNN broadcaster Ali Velshi for this year's debates.

For one who is not into politics this was a good foray into the life of Canadian politics in Ottawa. Some very funny moments and some rich characters. I'm looking forward to reading his next book which apparently is on the way.

After reading Best Laid Plans I asked a friend for some book recommendations. One suggestion was My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. This story was unlike any other book I had read. It is about a devout Jewish boy named Asher Lev who grows up with an unusual talent in art and his family and community and how they and he deal with this talent. To his father, who is an important man in the community, spending ones life on drawing is of no value and is an embarrassment.The Rabbi however seems to make an allowance for it. The book moved along nicely for a while and I didn't want to put it down until about two thirds of the way through where it just seemed to slow down. It was definitely a book I wouldn't have chosen but I'm glad I read it. It wasn't a foray into unknown history but rather one into an unknown culture which seems to me may be just as valuable.

While reading Asher Lev a new friend suggested reading Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. This is the true story of a man who's determination, tragedy, resilience and redemption are very rare and maybe even unequalled. Here's a quick summary of Louie Zamperini's life. (spoiler alert) He went from a poor thieving immigrant child to a high school track star to an olympic runner who meets Hitler, to enlisting in the war against Japan, to crashing in the Pacific andbeing stuck on a raftfor 30??? days to being captured by the Japanese to becoming a POW and fighting everything that entails, to surviving the POW camps and returning to America. He gets married, is tormented by vivid dreams of his time as a POW, has trouble coping and becomes an alcoholic, becomes abusive to his wife, they almost divorce, the thought of going to Japan and killing one of his POW guards is the only way Louie believes he can get on with his life, Louie's wife gets saved at a Billy Graham crusade and convinces/forces Louie to go. Billy Graham's words reach Louie and he becomes a Christian. Overnight the drinking stops and the dreams stop, he still wants to go to Japan but now to forgive his captor. This is an incredible story and one that will not disappoint you if you pick it up. Highly recommended!

Unbroken was read while I took a break in reading Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina. I didn't know what to expect except for a very long book when I picked up this one. I'm half way through Anna as I write this but it has had some of the most beautiful writing in it I have ever read. A chapter on cutting down hay with a scythe in the Russian countryside with the peasants was so vivid and surprisingly moving. I had to earmark it to go back and read again later. This is my first experience with Russian literature and culture and so far I am really enjoying it. There is a lot I don't understand as I read so I'm glad there will be no test but I'm still greatly enjoying the depth of the characters and the complexity of the story. Maybe I will be on to War and Peace next. I don't know, that looks really long!

Below are all of the books I can remember reading in the past few months although I feel like I am missing one or two. You'll see the reference to fly fishing. I took out three or four books on fly fishing which may be a future hobby. Turns out I live next to some of the best fly fishing in Ontario so why not?

If you have any recommendations based on what you see here or know of me please pass them along!

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand
Fly Fishing - various books and authors
My Name Is Asher Lev - Chaim Potok
The Best Laid Plans - Terry Fallis
The Battle Of Lake Erie - Pierre Berton
Attack On Montreal - Pierre Berton
The Ice Passage - Brian Payton
The Search For The Arctic Grail and the North Pole - Pierre Berton

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Blog hijacked!

Here we are! The reason why Glenn doesn’t blog so much anymore! Aren’t we a handsome family and a good reason to live life away from the computer?

Yes, Glenn’s wife here. I just spent a good thirty minutes writing this so I’m hoping Glenn will let me keep this posted up on his blog. If not, I suppose I’ll have to put it on mine!

Ode to Glenn

He is my sunshine and my encourager. He brings adventure and fun to my life. He is curious and always on the go, getting into something new, full of ideas and dreams. There’s music, composting, bees, gardening, reading, running, and most newly added, fishing and chickens. Being a great father and husband means having to set some “me time” aside, and, much like blogging, running has definitely slipped back in the priorities lately. Don't worry, babe, you'll be running another marathon in the blink of an eye, and no doubt training our boys for other such feats.

He is a loving, fun Dad to our three boys, bringing them that same adventure and fun he brings to my life.

He perseveres, at times to my irritation, but hey, if he hadn’t been so perseverant, maybe we wouldn’t have ended up together. And THAT, my friends, would be a tragedy. (Our first-born definitely received that perseverance gene!)

Glenn is such a likeable guy. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone on this earth who doesn’t like him.I mean that! And I REALLY like him! He’s easy going and can lighten up a moment when it is much needed. And he pretty much likes everybody, so, chances are, he likes you!

Other things I like about Glenn: He is my navigator. He figures things out. He is kind and helpful. He honors me. He is a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on. He’s stable. He’s the glue. He is cuddly and passed that along to our second-born. I look forward to watching our third-born grow to see which of Glenn’s qualities he has.

Though Glenn has much to do with the reason I haven’t felt well rested in the last year, he is also the reason why I feel well rested today. And the reason why there is a placenta in my freezer.

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Stagnant? No Way!

Wow, I really have let this blog die a little bit. Sorry about that to anyone who actually reads it. Since part of why I created this blog was to prevent stagnation I'll give you a quick update on what I've been doing to continue growing. My blog may have stagnated slightly but that may be because I've been so busy trying to prevent personal stagnation.

Professionally, there has been much going on! With Downhere, my full time rock band gig, growth has

come in

a couple of different forms. We've got a new touring timeline plan that I'm excited to see for the new year which will give us more time with our growing families. This came about after a good many months of being away too long from our wives and kids. We often forget how important it is to just sit down with each other and say how's everybody doing? We also had an opportunity to again work with performance coach Tom Jackson on a few songs. Those few songs have really made our set more interesting for the

audience and has brought the songs new life for us to play.

My side project Hark The Herons has had a couple of cool developments lately as well. We've heard that one of our songs (New Start To Start) has been playing regularly at H&M stores seemingly across Europe. At least in Paris and Vienna for sure. We've also started to rehearse the tunes as a two piece which is causing reason for major growth. I'm enjoying spending a bunch

of time learning how to be more proficient on the accordion and the banjo. The banjo is a very fun instrument and the accordion is heavy. OK, the accordion is also fun, but man it gets heavy!

I've actually also had the privilege of seeing two live shows this year which I always feel like I learn a lot from. Back in the early Spring I saw Muse and this fall it was Sufjan Stevens. Very cool shows both times for hugely different reasons.

I've also taken on teaching trumpet lessons at a local arts focussed high school. I love doing this since I need to make sure I'm on top of things in order to teach. It's definitely a fulfilling thing to do!

Then in the reading department I've really jumped into the historical fiction world of Stephen Lawhead and I'm loving it! Below is a list of most of the books I've read during the past yearish.

By Stephen Lawhead - In the order I read them.

Byzantium **still my favorite**

The King Raven Series - Hood, Scarlet, Tuck

Patrick, Son Of Ireland

Song Of Albion Series - The Paradise War, The Silver Hand, The Endless Knot

The Pendragon Cycle series - Taliesin, Merlin

From other writers:

On Writing Well - William Zinsser

Keeping The Bees - Laurence Packer

The Concise Guide To Self Sufficiency -John Seymour

The Magicians Nephew - C.S. Lewis

Lyrics, Writing Better Words For Your Songs - Rikky Rooksby

Currently:

Writing Better Lyrics - Pat Pattison

The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis

Arthur - Stephen Lawhead (once I find a copy)

Some great books in there for sure. I can see how they are shaping my thoughts when I see all the titles here in front of me. Reading, it's a good thing!!

That should pull my blog somewhat out of stagnancy.

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The Glorieta Baldy Challenge - Take 2

About this time last year I wrote this post about a run up a mountain I did. Well we are back in the same location this year in New Mexico and I figured I needed to try and better my time. I've been asking around if there's any place where records are kept of previous runs but it seems hard to find. I did talk to a fellow runner who ran it back in the 70's in about 2:20. So if you've run Baldy or want to I'd love for you to leave a comment here with your time so we can keep a record of it. The challenge is to start behind the old firehall, write your name in the hikers book there when you leave and when you return. A break at the top to enjoy the view can be subtracted from your time. I took about 15 minutes up there before heading back down today.

It's a fun challenge to run at 7500+ feet when you're used to living pretty close to sea level. That's part of the draw for me I think. I say run but honestly going up I walked nearly as much as I ran since it is so steep. I plugged my watch in and downloaded all the data and thought it would be cool to share. So below is a screen shot of what my Garmin tells me I did. You can see graphs of the elevation, pace and heart rate changes. Looks like I started out too hard by looking at my heart rate. Will need to fix that next year!

You can see all of the stats across the top of the screen shot. My finishing time was 2:17:52! Better than last year. Can't ask for much more. Although I'll want to beat it again next year.

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Old Downhere Photos

I must say there are some real gems here. I decided to put my old Washburn 6-string bass up for sale on ebay and during the process I thought it would be fun to see if I could find some old pictures of me playing it. We certainly have come a long way!!!








And for good measure and to say goodbye here's a pic of the old bass. I'll miss ya buddy!

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Hark The Herons Is Born

About a year and a half ago I started collaborating with an old friend on some of the songs she had written and on some songs I had written. Our first writing session went so well we decided to get together again. Well that process has repeated itself many times over the past year and eventually turned into recording sessions. We realized we had the makings of a band/group/artist or something anyway so we thought we should name this thing. Naming a music group proves to be a difficult task, you want something clever, memorable, meaningful, available online, etc. After some time we came up with the name Hark The Herons. We live in Cambridge Ontario where the centrepiece to the city is the Grand River. It's curious how many times you can drive over the river and not really notice the beauty of it but when you slow down, stop and sit for a while or go for a walk, you'll start to notice things like the majestic herons. We liked how Hark the Herons sounded somewhat like a call to slow down and not miss the beauty of what's right beside us. We ended up writing a song called Slow Down that speaks to this exact thing.

Well the songs are recorded and we're putting the final touches on the artwork right now. We expect the album to be available in itunes and amazon and all the other online sources by May. Here's how the cover turned out. We love it!

For a preview of the songs, we decided to post some of them on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/harktheherons

They typically end up there eventually so why not be the first ones to post them? And why not something slightly better than just an album cover. So we've been working on camera shots with no camera movement that fit in with the music and the whole idea of Hark The Herons. We've got three songs posted now and will continue to post over the coming weeks. Take a listen, let me know what you think!



Bend, Break
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rOYamT6_98





Canadian Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvDDBX3Rzc4





Rich Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uw67aJ9FoS0

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