HOME:
I can go the gym, eat vegetables and not drink beer every single night.

TOUR:
I have an excuse for my morbid obesity. Also, free beer!

HOME:
Friends!

TOUR:
Friends who live far away!

HOME:
I don’t have to talk to creeps in bars every night.

TOUR:
Creeps are funny!

HOME:
I get to read Icanhascheezburger.com every day.

TOUR:
Significantly less LOLCATZ.

So, I guess home wins for now. ‘Cause those cats are really funny. But I can’t wait to tour again soon.

Love, Tiina

Might I also add that this was his birthday? He’s hard to believe.
We had two shows in Toronto, and two visits to CIUT. The first time we played a few songs in their basement studio, and it was fun. Then we went to Sneaky Dee’s for our first show, with the Weirdies, WWI and Goodnight Loving (our last show with those dudes on this tour, they are now in Europe!). As previously mentioned, it was our pal Alan’s birthday, so the drinks were flowing, I got to hang out with my brother too! Our friend Mark set up the show, and was being an all-star promoter. It was a good night. Then the next day we went back to CIUT to do an interview and a guest DJ spot, which was cool, because I got to play all the records I bought on tour. Erica couldn’t come to the interview so we got Jaime to fill in as the mysterious third member. In a twist no one could anticipate, we got to interview Gwar on the air! I guess the DJ was supposed to interview them, and we were there, so you know. It was convenient. It was actually Sleazy P. Martini, long-suffering Gwar manager, that we interviewed. We asked such pressing questions as: “What would be your last meal?” “If you could change one thing about Gwar, what would it be?” and “Do Gwar have any pets?” It was a laugh!
That night we played Mitzi’s Sister with our old pal BA Johnston. Look at him:



My dad made us these matching shirts that he and his gf also wore, but I am an idiot and didn’t take a picture of them! I have it here though, it’s sweet. It’s the picture of us jumping on the Grand Canyon and “The Stolen Minks Splashdown Tour 2008” written on it. What did your dad ever make for you? See! My dad rules. xo Steph

But it sure is nice to be back in Canada, where the essentials are more reasonably priced.

Erica and I both have family in Ottawa – that hasn’t changed. We had literal bro-downs with our brothers and their wives. My Dad and his wife came too, and they bought me some jalapeno poppers and onion rings, and told me I wad the best bass player ever. Hooray for being back in Canada! I certainly did not get that treatment in the States.

We played good ol’ Irene’s with too cool local bands, Garaga and Shanker+Romps.

Here’s S+R, lookin’ cute.

I guess we rocked pretty hard because Erica’s brother noticed this graffiti in the men’s bathroom.

(There’s also some debate about reproductive rights going on there. In the men’s room!)

I don’t know if we’re a better band 10 weeks later, but we’re definitely meaner. And tireder.

Love, Tiina

Chicago really delivered.  Not only did we see King Khan & BBQ on Halloween (see earlier post re: catching a glimpse of KK’s bare butt on the interstate), but we also got to see Marnie Stern play in a little record shop, just down the street from where we played.  (Many thanks to Mike & Mia for finding out about this surprise show.)

The PA bit the dust pretty early on, so you couldn’t hear much of her vocals, but her wacky guitar playing came through just fine.

We played at The Darkroom on a Sunday night. The show was put together by the very lovely Lacey Whittaker, who baked us cookies as a welcome-to-Chicago gift.  Thanks, Lacey!

But listen to me going on and on about the show, when we all know what this blog is really about.  FOOD!

Michael and Mia made the most delicious French toast I have ever tasted.  It had coconut in it, and there was crushed pineapple too.  Have a look at this little bit of heaven:

Later on we went to a heavy metal hamburger joint, where every burger is named after a metal band.  I was torn between a fancy burger involving brandy-soaked pears (named after a band that I’ve never heard of) and this monstrosity, The Slayer:

Yup, there’s actually a burger under there, along with sausages and french fries.  You can’t make it out too clearly because it’s COMPLETELY SMOTHERED IN CHEESE.  I may have doubled my extra tour pounds at this meal.

The kittens were so adorable, it was sometimes hard to leave the apartment because you just wanted to watch them chase the laser pointer all day.  But they obviously had a sinister side, because I woke up one morning to catch one of them about to smother poor sleeping Steph (and steal her soul!)

Just look into those eyes!  He’s all like, “you’ve caught me this time, Drummy, but she’ll be mine next time!”  Needless to say I didn’t get much sleep for the rest of the Chicago stay.

xox, Erica

P.S.:  Yes, they really slept like that.

‘Cause we were in Milwaukee, get it? It seemed hilarious to us, and even funnier that there were three Lavernes and no Shirley, but I think our Maritime humour was lost on the Milwaukians.

Anyway, the show was fun. It was a post-wedding party for two members of The Sugar Stems, who were awesome. But I felt bad when The Sugar Stems almost had to fight an unruly sound guy. Some honeymoon.

I think The Goodnight Loving dressed as “Hollywood starlets in body dysmorphic culture.”

Whoa, TGL. The world can’t handle the truth bombs you’re dropping on them.

Our fellow Canadians, Vancougar, played too! They write awesome, perfect pop songs and enjoy Neil Hamburger. Here’s two of them, with The Goodnight Loving, dressed as Mr. Peanut and a Cheeseburger.

Oh, and we were given an infinite amount of free beer.

I didn’t eat any cheese though. WTF?

xo,
Tiina

Here’s O.K. showing Steph his favourite LOLCATS.

Simone showed us around Pittsburgh, which is a really cool looking place with a shitload of beautiful vacant buildings.  Everyone owns a house in Pittsburgh, because they’re ridiculously devalued. (There’s something like a 50% vacancy rate!)  Simone showed us a three story brick apartment building that the city was trying to unload for $3000.

Here’s some other stuff Pittsburgh had to offer:

Kyle. He set us up with a show and made us a delicious pasta dinner.

Andy. He made us laugh at breakfast (and for the rest of the day) with a story about a red pepper he found in a supermarket parking lot.

A free movie.  We accidentally snuck in to see Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. It was, well, free.

The Heinz Factory.  Pittsburgh is Heinz world HQ!

Snow.  It snowed! Holy christ, was it cold in Pittsburgh.

xox, erica

My friend Mandy lives in Washington and her boyfriend, Spencer (who has his own Wikipedia page) helped us set up this show, which was an all ages/private party affair. It was a good turnout, and I was so happy to spend time with my old bud Mandy! After the show we went to this place called Ben’s Chili Bowl and had half smokes and cheesefries. I guess they call sausages “half smokes” here.

In the morning we had huevos rancheros that Mandy and Spencer made for us. Then we went on a driving tour of all the landmarks you would wish to see in Washington.

Here are some giant buildings filled with rich people.

Here’s the sniper on top of the White House! Way to make a person feel welcome, Washington.

Two notable notes about Washington: 1) Taxation without representation. 2) Chevy Chase is huge here. Like, for real. Caddyshack is projected on giant skyscrapers and he has his own bank and Baptist church and crap like that.

Hiiii-yoooooo!
Steph

A big Halifax crew got together in the morning and wandered around, checking out some clothing stores or whatever. Then we got some burritos and sat on some rocks by the harbour. All of your favourite people were there! Seth, Nancy, Jessica, Rebekah, Laura and Francesca!

Obama-mania was in full swing.

The night before Erica and I saw Jay Reatard. He only played a 20 minute set, so it was kind of an appetizer for the Philly show (which in reality came after NY, but in Blogland, everything is backwards!!!).

We stayed with our friend Kurt, and his little cat can’t sit with her leg in. So she always looks like she’s going to trip you. xo Steph