Home from the Horseshoe ... what , no gig tonight ? The weather blew plans out the window but we think everyone made it to where ever they were going . Not much was moving sunday and that was a good thing after the after party . Ever chat with Mary Margaret O' Hara ? Delightful . Some people made it out on early flights . How did they even get up ? Others made no attempt to get to Pearson at all .
And some of us drove straight through , 20 hours ; down the blue and white 401 to Kingston and Cornwall , past Reals truckstop and on to Montreal . Thankfully going against the traffic on the 40 . We motor under the St. Lawrence , and up to Quebec in darkness . Adjusting the leather jacket at the small of yer back and covering the glaring lunacy of the stereo lights with a scarf draped over the dash. Radio Australia . It's dark and cold betwixt Cubano and Edmunston. But also peacefull . It is the crest of the journey and it's all down home from here . Northern New Brunswick may feel like home but it's still 8 or so hours to the MacDonald Bridge . No traffic here , though , just snaking wisps of blowing snow in the dull headlights and the dark shoulders of the wooded hills under the cold bright night . Mezmerizing . Leaning forward on the wheel , yer eyes constantly rebooting for moose , maybe deer , the windshield fluid soothes like industrial visine . It's quiet now , the others are dozing .
We follow a giant star or planet that doesn't move all the way to Halifax and are kept busy making up new wishes for the many shooting stars along the way . Silently smoking .

Thurs. , Fri ., Saturday ; Phil's sitting in the corner . He's hoping to go fly fishing down in Chile . But for now , he's tieing flies in the corner . There's a snowstorm on the horizon and now that soundcheck is done most don't know whether to venture out or just stick around . There's love in the air but most people are definately near the ground . Re-charging the unchargable . Defying the critics and sipping tea . Bill and Joel are off to Capsule , Pete's having a beer with Buck( whose awesome secret fly-in was a real show stopper ), and Chris is admiring his new snare drum . Soundman , Steve ' Snickers ' Smith is clog dancing with all that nervous energy of his . I'm nearly shattered . Last night was a bit of a blur . A great dinner was put on for the whole party by club owner and generous host Jeff Cohen and his wife Tara . A good east coast girl. The Chateauneuf de pape went down a little too well and we , at least I , arrived with a belly full of jungle juice . A real rocking show by all accounts . Sorry for the hole in the wall .
Two Hours Traffic are opening tonight.
Once more into the breach and that'll be six .

Friday ; McGetts ...say no more . Also , Mr. Chill heated things up nicely with the sax and harp .It were a proper airing of Ashtray Rock for the all ages . Great to see Mike Campbell and Jordie Morgan bring a bit of class to the whole debauch .

Thursday ; La De Da : Infinite thanks to Gord Downie and Sarah Harmer and Bill Plaskett. Delicate to near destruction . Not one but two Brennan brothers and a nice bit of brass from Doug Friesen . A great night .

Wednesday , Horseshoe : Thanks to openers ,The Spades , for the rock . It 'twas another full house there to join the Down at The Khyber revue at the Shoe . Hot and heavy it was, with Gordie Johnson riding the 12 string on 2nd set numbers such as Face of theEarth , and Nothing More to Say to You . Where does he get that tone...?

But for this correspondent it had to be the appearance of our old bandmate , Sloan's , Andrew Scott , whom rocked the tubs through the first -ever performance of Heart to Heart with Lionel followed by a bittersweet rendition of the star-crossed and out of tune True Love Rules .

Tonight is La De Da , and it's another sellout for the old madam of Queen street . Get there early so as not to miss Pete Elkas and the Elkaholics, crooning through a smooth soulful glass of rum punch . Look for more Sonic Johnsonianisms and Joel's dad , Bill Plaskett . Also , a special trip from the Hip , the uniquely personable , Gord Downie , with his ode , 'Christmastime in Toronto ' . We learned it at soundcheck and it's positively frigging festivus .

Tuesday , Down at The Khyber ; Hot ,hot ,hot in that ol club . Nice one to Major Grange ,tasty Kinks cover .

Monday , Horseshoe ;  and the week is off and running , tumbling and a rollin' . In Need of Medical Attention had a nice gathering of folks to help resuscitate some beautiful old tunes from the overlooked gem . Thanks to Tara S' Appart for the duets with Joel and the intangible charm . Also , a big ta for Tyler Messick and the museum pieces . Tonight it's nite 2 and Down at The Khyber . Bring yer pith helmets .

HORSESHOE , TORONTO ; Four days to go and SIX nights of middle class debauchery . One album at a time .
The band has been rehearsing like never before and fully expect to almost know nearly every tune in the catalogue by monday ( In Need of Medical Attention ) . Many tunes have not been played in a looong time ... and some have NEVER BEEN PERFORMED LIVE BEFORE ... OR SINCE .
Also we gonna be having guests . Every night . Anyone is possible ( except maybe anyone having portrayed/betrayed Bob Dylan in I'm Not There ) . C'mon Cate , make an exception for us .
So , we will see you there , at least once right ? There will be a full banquet of merch including every album /cd/dvd/ in the JP and JPE canon , including David Alfred Marsh's new 3 song EP , as yet untitled . And unprinted come to think of it . We remain hopeful.
See you soon .

Fredericton this friday ; see ya's there .