Week 9 & 10

More and more of the same up here- we have had some beautiul weather, some wild storms,some COLD days, a lightning strike here in Wells, the occasional grizzly sighting, mosquitos the size of horseflies, horseflies the size of ground squirrels, and ground squirrels so fat you would swear they are baby grizzlies... Just a recap of some significant events...

Last Tuesday we had the second Wells cabaret here in town which was full of more sketches, a cowboy song based on brokeback mountain, and I sang the song "Dear Boss" while wrapped in bandages... This past Tuesday was another cabaret, this one COMPLETELY sold out- Kate did a character piece, and we both did an infomercial, both of which were very well received... We've also been rehearsing MACBETH- Kate as a blind witch, and myself as a mild-mannered psychopathic right hand man of Macbeth...

It's been a couple of weeks of surprise and expected visitors. Kate's friend Ross, who was in her acting class in Victoria, appeared at our door one night. He was in town with a firefighting crew and was a terrific surprise- we shared war stories- him of grizzlies and fires, us of tourists and stage coaches. A few days later we ran into the parents of Kate's best friend in elementary school on the streets of Barkerville, and Wednesday night Kate's sister Jessica and her boyfriend Daryl came into town- we were expecting them, of course, and it was great to see them! They came into town and watched us in our daily antics, and we had a terrific day off Thursday, spending most of the day basking in the sun and swimming. Then Kate's parents (Tom & Trudy) and two friends of their family, Ann & Vic came up, and we all had a great supper around the campfire, including another delicious MEAT CAKE as well as vegetable packets and sticks wrapped in Bisquick. Jess & Daryl left on Saturday morning, and Tom & Trudy take off on Monday morning.

The park has been pretty steadily busy, with big groups for our tours, lots of foreigners, and flocks of kids roaming the streets, terrorized by us, and terrorizing us in equal turns! We're starting to get a little loopy- switching roles, ad libbing ad nauseum, and just plain breaking down when things get absurd... The crowning moment thus far was when were doing our PIRATES OF PENZANCE finale out in the street in the pouring rain, and someone dropped a golf ball-sized jawbreaker off one of the balconies. Never one to pass up a body part, I immediately declared it as the eyeball of the Pirate King, and things just went downhill from there, ending with both the audience and us weeping with laughter as the sky opened up with a torrential downpour. Bodes well for time to come!

Hope everyone had a good July- drop us a line any time- it's always good to hear from the outside world!

More soon...
Tyler & Kate

Week 8...

It's actually been a pretty quiet past week here in the wilderness. After the huge RV Caravan left town, things reverted back to normal, with relatively uneventful days... There were some fun extracurricular activities, however, foremost being this summer's first SUNSET CABARET! A showcase of many of the Barkerville's performers, it was an action packed evening of songs & sketches. Kate and I performed "Bury the Hatchet" (HUGE thanks to Sarah Peters), with Kate singing and me playing my box-bass. A big hit. Other acts included a sketch where
Gollum goes on date, and a song about the pine beetle infestation up here... Great fun. We have also begun rehearsal for MACBETH, which we will perform in Mid-August. The cast is comprised entirely of Barkerville folks, and should be great. It's my first crack at Shakespeare since college, and I'm looking forward to it! The director, Tim Sutherland, has worked a lot here in Canada (most recently Old Trout's FAMOUS PUPPET DEATH SCENES), and I think will be a real treat to work with. Other than that, Kate and I headed into Quesnel and caught a late showing of TRANSFORMERS, which is totally ridiculous, and did our bi-weekly shopping extravaganza- best discovery: a butcher shop that sells bison for the same price as beef- awesome! It's been HOT the last few days, and yesterday we went to a great local swimming hole, which I know we will frequent all summer...

Thanks to everybody who's been emailing us- it's so great to hear from all of you!
Tyler & Kate

Week #6-7: Canada Day & Bears, Oh my!

It's been 10 days since our last post, and with good reason- we've had an action-packed
time here in the Great True North!

Friday, 6/22
After another day of tours and rehearsals, Kate headed back down to Vancouver for Saturday & Sunday to attend a good friend's wedding. I had another pretty normal day in the park, although it was the official "last day of the school season," meaning that after today, we won't have any more buses in the parking lot, delivering masses of children who charge through the doors to the first candy store, buy $50 worth of candy (including jawbreakers the size of tennis balls) and then spend the day rampaging through the park. As it is the last day, the park is FULL of kids, including a group of sixth grade girls who I threaten with smallpox inoculations every time I see them, who then run away, only to find me again to repeat the whole process. Near the end of the day Jacqueline (Madame Bendixon) tells them that they should get some laudanum from me. They have no idea what it is, so I explain, and they follow me around for the next hour, yelling at each other, trying to explain to me who Paris Hilton is (I'm convinced that she's a famous French midget) and what a school bus looks like. That night we have a big party in celebration of the school season being over, including a barbeque, bonfire, and a huge croquet match.

Saturday, June 23
Tours during the day, and a games night at the house of Jacqueline, Stu, and Chris. We play Assassin, some bizarre game where you have to guess adverbs, and another round of Celebrity. Great fun. The highlight of the evening is when Larry, the blacksmith has to "seductively" drink a cup of coffee. It's really an excellent group of actor/performer/artisans here in town.

Sunday, June 24
More tours and scenes. We're at the point now where we know about every part of the tour, so things often get a bit loosey goosey, which is quite fun. Kate comes back in the evening, this time to stay!

Monday-Tuesday, June 25-26
Rehearsals for Kate, and tours for the rest of us! Monday morning we have our official "Fire Practice", where we learn how to use the fire Extinguishers, and Fire hose- the town burned down once in 1868, and they don't want it to happen again! I finally get my new instrument, the Bogdon Box Bass, in the mail...

Wednesday, June 27
I spend the first of my two days off hammering out the remainder of BABES IN TOYLAND, which has turned into yet another irreverent and bizarre holiday tale, complete with bad puns, an army of AMERICAN FARMER Action Figures, bursts of song, and Eskimo Gypsies. I head into Barkerville at the end of the day to meet Kate for a DELICIOUS Chinese food Birthday Dinner at the Long Duck Tong, Barkerville's spectacular Chinese Restaurant! Special thanks to Mark and Jenny for the Birthday money for the dinner!

Thursday, June 28
As Kate and I have the day off, we sleep in, I spend the late morning finishing up BABES, and then we head into Quesnel (about an hour away) for shopping. We drop a big chunk of change at the grocery store (food here is incredibly expensive), and then hit up the local thrift stores, and discovered some major gold, including: an old fashioned labeler (major jackpot for me), multiple food storage jars, baking equipment, a great old flour bin, and a mysterious loom piece- all at the local recycling depot, which is run by a family of scavengers who live on the side of the dump. Too cool. Then we had a great dinner at a Japanese restaurant in Quesnel (we were both at each others' thorats we were so hungry). The big happenings of the day were on the ride home- we saw 3 moose, including a mama and baby, and then came over a hill to arrive ten feet away from an adolescent grizzly bear, munching dandelions on the side of the road. We sat and watched him for about 5 minutes before continuing on. Even shot some video of him- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s90noXxehng

That night I put together my Bogdon Box Bass- a 2-stringed string bass made out of a cardboard box, and put together with 4 screws, hot glue, and packing tape- a total contraption, but it sounds excellent, has a built in pick-up, and cost around $70! I plan on making my debut performance with it at the first cabaret here in town on July 7

Friday-Saturday, June 29-30
More tours, more rehearsals, and preparation for the big DOMINION DAY (Canada Day) Celebration on Sunday! Friday night we have a "poker night" at the house, and also play a round of Snorta- both are huge amounts of fun.

Sunday, July 1
Canada Day! We get to the park at our usual day, do a morning tour, and then launch into Canada Day festivities. There's a parade through town at noon, and then we street interpreters host 4 hours of games day with the public! A wild and crazy day, to be sure. As the loudest voice on the street, I am MC, and spend the next 4 hours announcing, haranguing, and keeping people entertained as we lead them through a dazzling array of games, including a broad jump, an egg and spoon race, a ladies nail driving contest (the record holder hit it in with 3 hits- they make 'em tough here in the wilderness), men's hammer throw, Mouthful of Crackers then Try to Whistle race (Where we get crackers spit all over our faces by all the kids) peanut toss (where we got to whip handfuls of peanuts at screaming children), egg toss, greasy pole climb (where contestants would try to scale a pole that had been greased up to win a bottle of whiskey) and finally a big Tug-of-war. The park is brimming with about 3400 visitors, which is a HUGE number for such a little place. We finish up games day, change out of costume, rush home, slam some dinner down our throats, and then head back to the park for another 4 hours of dancing at the saloon. The evening is really fun, with lots of folks getting totally hammered and a big fireworks display at the end of the night. We get home totally exhausted, and finally get to bed around 2am.

Monday, July 2
Those of us who have to work the next day look like we've been run over by a truck, but the park is thankfully quiet. We coast through the day with a bit less enthusiasm than normal. I've caught some sort of flu bug that Kate is just getting over, and when we finally get home, we crash early to try to make up some of the sleep from the night before.

Tuesday, July 3
Another relatively quiet day. Kate and I decide on another dinner at "The Duck" in the evening, see the last of the local grizzlies (most have gotten the hints made by the police with pepper spray, air horns, and rubber bullets and moved on) as he strolls across the road and into the campground, and then watch a couple episodes of our new favorite series BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, which Stu has loaned us on DVD.

Wednesday, July 4- HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!
The park is pretty dang busy all day long, as the Canadian "Good Sam Club" is in town- FOUR HUNDRED RVS, occupying every campsite within 50 km. Crazy. In the afternoon, we celebrate the birthday of Marty, one of the stage coach drivers, who's turning 74. He's a classic cowboy- walks bow-legged, big mustache, chews tobacco, swears like a sailor, and is an absolute charmer with the ladies. He's very appreciative of the gesture, and we all enjoy some Six-Minute Chocolate Cake and brownies, whipped up by yours truly. Kate and I spend another evening at home, working on the internet and watching movies.

Thursday, July 5
Our day off! We wake up late, take a walk through town, do some much-needed cleaning, and do some catch-up correspondence.

I'll try to get this back on a more regular basis, but who knows how the wind may blow!
Until the next one-
Tyler & Kate