The Continuing Saga...

Alrighty – where was I? Oh yeah – the campfire sessions…

After returning from our triumphant ESCAPE FROM SKYLON (Rated R) we sat down to talk about our next recording move. Carrie wanted to do an acoustic version of one of our tunes for the SUPER SECRET HIDDEN TRACK. (And I’m keepin’ it super secret for now… Unless, of course, you happen to get me drunk and I TELL you…) Anyway – we decided on a track and Darryl came up with the idea of actually recording it around the campfire! WOO! We had joked around about recording by the fire for the past couple of weeks – hey – why not make it a reality!

So, with our decision made, Darryl started hauling all of his equipment down to the lake. Well, not ALL of his equipment – three mics, stands, cables, cords, etc. His snake (recording cable) was 150 ft. long so it actually made it all the way down to the lake from inside his studio! COOL! He got everything all situated and Carrie, Greg and I took our places for what was to become a VERY entertaining evening. LATE evening, I might add… I don’t think we even got things rolling until around 11:00…

While Darryl was dialing in all of the specifics, we set upon warming up, drinking beer, posing for video footage for Tracy – all of the important things one does before a campfire recording session. We also came up with our own, VERY SPECIAL version of Bob and Doug McKenzie’s “Take Off.” (As we had earlier in the day created a special ‘alert call’ if any of us became lost while at the falls… GoooOooGookookookookookookooooo – GoooOooGookookookookookookoo! Umm, none of us actually got lost, but we did A LOT of practicing, just in case. You just never know when it could happen to YOU. Be prepared.) ANYway – we took our new ‘alert call’ and Greg came up with some lovely blue-grassy guitar magic and I threw in some creative clapping and stomping and we were on our way! We used our new theme EVERY chance we got. I think everyone was very impressed. I know WE were… And I’m sure the neighbors were diggin’ on it. Okay, maybe it was just us diggin’ on it... Whatever. Details.

I also did my own special version of “I’m So Ronery” – which is from the ‘Team America’ movie. Now, at this point in time I didn’t realize that Tracy was filming. I thought she was just drinkin’ a beer… Ummm… Nope. She got the whole, ridiculous thing on tape. With close up shots and everything. GREAT! I look like a moron… But hey – at least I committed. It was definitely a ‘single tear’ sorta moment…

So, everything was good to go and we began the recording. It was SO cool! We had a great fire going, the crickets were chirping, the muskrat was cruisin’ by the shore… BUT WHERE WAS THE FREAKIN’ DUCK!?!??! Crap. This duck had been terrorizing the shores for WEEKS! Every time we’d be having a deep, world-changing conversation out by the fire, the damn duck would inevitably chime in. I really wish I could recreate the sound of the duck – it was CLASSIC. It sounded like an old, disgruntled man who’d been playing poker and smoking cigars since he was five. However, we were very surprised to learn it was actually a LADY duck makin’ all the racket. And well, that’s why we decided to call her the ‘Nagging Duck.’ (At least that was MY name for her…) So basically, now imagine an old, crotchety woman who’s been nagging her disgruntled, poker-playing-and-smoking-cigars-since-he-was-five husband and you’ve got the sound of the duck! (Quuuaaack, quuuaaaack, quuuaaaaak…) Every time we’d be having some great conversation and we’d stop for a second, that’s what we’d hear. “Quuuaaack, quuuaaaack, quuuaaaaak…” Perfectly on cue – RIGHT after we’d stop talking. The damn duck was totally heckling us!! Whatever. Stupid duck.

Yeah, so ANYway – we were doing a recording by the campfire and it just wasn’t gonna be authentic without the damn duck, but SHE WASN’T THERE! What?! Was she like, off negotiating with her agent or something? On a smoke break? Off nagging her husband? Whatever the case, it just wasn’t right. I think Darryl’s gonna have to go back later on and record some duck sounds… I’m just sayin’. :)

After we resigned ourselves to continuing on without the she-duck, we forged ahead with our recording. Everything was sounding SO good – WOO! However, Darryl just wasn’t completely happy. He said that the actual recording of our voices and Greg’s guitar sounded great, but well, there just wasn’t enough CRACKLE happenin’ with the fire! So, off the Luv Ma’Cheen set to build a better fire…

After Darryl finished adding MANY dry branches to the fire, we started in on another take of the song. Now, we were trying to do a tender, mellow version of this particular song – with a bit of a 'haunted' vibe… And that’s where we were headed…. Until Darryl’s fire masterpiece TOTALLY started to rage towards the heavens! (By the way, we also have some AWESOME footage of Darryl “Stoking the *(#&$(&($ fire!!!” Complete with theme song and Jimmy Hendrix maneuvering… GOOD STUFF!)

Yeah, so we’re sitting there, trying to create this beautiful, haunting vibe and this fire is about ready to jump out of the pit and take on the entire back yard! ACK! Well, and it was also absolutely hilarious. We tried SO hard to not laugh, but it just wasn’t workin’. I don’t know HOW many takes we screwed up because we started laughing. It’s hard to get going again on something serious when you’ve been uncontrollably laughing… Try it. And yes, Tracy got ALL of this on video. We watched the footage later that night and the laughter returned with a VENGEANCE!

All in all, I think we were out there recording for a couple of hours. We did a couple of other songs as well – just to get our fire’s worth. :) We were all pretty STOKED at the outcome of it all. We think Darryl should do a ‘Campfire Sessions’ compilation CD with all of the bands that he records at his studio. I think that’d be pretty cool… And Tracy could get cool video footage and it could go on the CD – WOO! As long as they don’t include me doing “I’m So Ronery.” I’m just sayin’…

After we got everything all cleared up, we doused the fire and headed inside. We still had some choice Carnivale watching to do! It was at this time that it really started to hit me that I had to LEAVE Toronto in about 5 hours… CRAP! I was starting to get really sad… Oh, and I hadn’t even begun to pack yet. Tee Hee! I just neeeeeeever learn... Hey – but in my defense, I KNEW I wasn’t going to sleep that night and I totally know exactly how long it takes me to pack up my stuff. SO THERE. :)P Anyway – Carrie busted out the rest of the Knob Creek and we had a round of farewell shots. (Note on the Knob Creek: Carrie and Greg were kind enough to give me a bottle of Knob Creek for my birthday. HOWEVER – one night, I wasn’t feeling very well and I went to bed early. (*gasp*) When I woke up in the morning, there was like an INCH or so left in the bottle! SOMEbody drank my whiskey! I’m not namin’ names (Carrie, Greg, Darryl, Tracy), but SOMEbody drank my whiskey!! Dorks. Oh well – I woulda shared it with them ANYway… I just like to give them a hard time… heh heh heh…)

We sat around the living room, each in our respective chairs and watched the final two episodes of Carnivale. It was great! And very sad… And great! And very sad… Sigh… There were certain aspects of home I was looking forward to, but I was also terribly sad to be leaving what had quickly become like my second family. It sucks to say goodbye to your family… And it REALLY sucked to think about saying goodbye to one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Hands down. Sigh… But I guess all good things must come to an end… Or how else will you ever truly appreciate just HOW good they were? (Quuuaaack, quuuaaaack, quuuaaaaak…)

After we wrapped up with Carnivale, Tracy entertained us with the footage from Niagara Falls and the Campfire Recordings. VERY entertaining, indeed… And then, well then, I had to go and FINALLY get to packing. It was at this time that the rest of the household went off to bed… For 2 1/2 hours… ;)

When we got into the car to take off for the airport, everyone was reeeeaaallllyyyy tired. And maybe just a LITTLE bit hung-over. I, however, am happy to say that I wasn’t. Hung-over, that is. I was TOTALLY tired… Anyway, when I think back on it now, I’m really glad that we were all so tired and out of it. This basically helped me to not be a TOTAL baby when they dropped me off at the airport. Okay, so maybe some tears were shed, but not the full-on waterworks that I KNOW I am capable of… HA! But man, I gotta tell ya – that was one, tough goodbye. In the grand scheme of things, however, I’m not worried. I know that I’ll be back. There’s just no other way… Besides – Darryl and I never got to host a geeky, Sci-Fi night! And well, that is CLEARLY an important thing…

The rest of the day was spent with what has now become the misery of flying. I used to LOVE flying. I was such a geek about it that I’d just go hang out at the airport and watch the planes… And I ALWAYS volunteered to go pick up friends and family… However, my love has definitely faded. It’s just so sad what the airline experience has become. Granted, I understand the need for many of the precautions, but the joy and adventure of the process has completely been sucked dry. That and the majority of my flight experiences over the last several years have been a NIGHTMARE. ACK! Cancelled flights, lost luggage, incompetent customer service, etc. However, I will say that America West totally represented. They were always on time, polite, clean and comfortable. I’d definitely fly that airline in the future… American Airlines and United on the other hand, SUCK. So there. Ooo – and I’m also tired of always flying alone. From now on, I’m bringing my full, rockstar entourage. HA!

ANYhoo – got back into to town later that afternoon and the lovely Jane Brown picked me up at the airport. Thanks, Jane! She kindly helped me shuttle my luggage to the car and AWAY from the freakin’ airport we went. WOO!!

It was strange to be back in town. It wasn’t like I was gone for that long, but it seemed what had been accomplished while I was away fit into WAY more than 18 days. It really was a profound, life-altering experience and it was just strange to be back at home, quickly approaching my return to the everyday life.

But uhhh, I guess my ‘everyday life’ isn’t so bad! Tee Hee… The next night, I got together with Paul, Leslie and Jane and had a VERY entertaining (and enlightening) evening. All of which I will tell you about in my NEXT update! Gotta get some work done… :)

Hope ya’ll are havin’ a good one! Much love to all! And a special ‘group hug’ to my family in the Big TOE! YAY!

XOXOXO

The REAL Jordache ™
Vibra Girl ™
Daynal ™
Lady D ™
Dirty D ™
CH ™
Dayna ™ (What kind of a boring name is THAT?!)