Taddle Creek's blog

Taddle Creek received a surprising amount of press during its time on the road. The one question that got asked the most, but press and readers alike, was, “What are you trying to achieve with this tour?” If you’ve been with the magazine for a while now, you may have noticed Taddle Creek’s main reason for doing things is just for the hell of it. Taddle Creek wanted to undertake a North American tour to coincide with its Out-of-Towner issue so it could say it had undertaken a tour of North America for its Out-of-Towner issue. Mission accomplished. That was really all there was to it. Sure, some promotion was had, a (very!) few magazines were sold, but nothing to equal the cost of the tour. From a practical and financial standpoint, it was a very foolish thing to do. Thankfully, that wasn’t a consideration. But Taddle Creek got to meet some new writers and make some new friends and see some new places, so cost be damned. The magazine had fun, and that’s usually the only reason it does anything. That said: never gonna tour again.

The magazine also learned one very important thing: it hates blogging.

Taddle Creek has already thanked everyone post-by-post and to try and do so again would only lead to exclusion, so a blanket thank you to everyone who read, took part, hosted, and came out. The magazine had a great time and hopes to see all its Out-of-Towner friends again soon.

The Taddle Creek tour wrapped up on Wednesday, December 8th, right where it began, in Toronto. The final tour stop/launch of the winter issue took place at the Cameron House, 408 Queen Street West, a longtime favourite of the magazine’s. The evening had disaster potential written all over it, starting with the fact that the booker seemingly forgot it booked Taddle Creek and asked the magazine at the last minute if it could hold its launch in the front room instead of the back. The front is a much nicer room, but less conducive to what Taddle Creek has planned. Arriving an hour early to set up achieved little except finding out that a band was playing right up until the magazine’s event, so time to test out all the visual and audio tricks the magazine had planned was scant. The live video feed with Peter Josselyn, founder of the Saint John Society for the Preservation of Horse Troughs and Drinking Fountains (the final Out-of-Towner event), had to be projected on a wall covered in art, but the packed crowd loved it nonetheless. Moving on to the new issue, fine readings were given by Jessica Westhead and Adrienne Weiss, and the evening closed with a door-prize draw by the Halbot 3000, Hal Neidzviecki's futuristic counterpart. (The main door prize was art donated by Blair McLean, featured in the new issue.) Some hanging around after, then a sad after-party at the Horseshoe. It was better than it sounds. It was actually a pretty excellent launch.

“Momentum” is, of course, Taddle Creek’s middle name, which is why it can afford to leave a gap of three months between tour dates and still draw a crowd. And that is exactly what happened when the magazine landed in Montreal on Saturday, November 6th, for what would be the final out-of-town stop of the tour.

Montreal needs no introduction, and yet: Established in 1832, it is Canada’s second-largest city, with a non-metro population of more than one-and-a-half million. Despite being overtaken in size by Toronto and losing its baseball team, it still managed to undo its amalgamation and have better systems of bike lanes and rentals. Montreal also happens to be one of Taddle Creek’s all-time favourite cities, and it visits as often as it can. Montreal and Saint John are the only cities on the tour Taddle Creek would say it knows well. Which, when taken with the fact that the editor studied, and passed, seven years’ worth of French, is ironic considering he can’t string together a single sentence in the language.

It was an intense summer, but the hardest part of the Taddle Creek Travelling Series of Happenings is over, with all of the east and west coat dates completed. The magazine is now working on booking the final planned stops of Montreal and New York before its triumphant return to Toronto for the combined tour wrap party and Christmas launch.

Aside from Saint John and Portland (the only city Taddle Creek hadn’t visited before), the magazine unfortunately didn’t get to spend much time in its tour cities. But every city was lovely and everyone Taddle Creek met was friendly and welcoming. Speaking of friends, so many people helped out along the way that Taddle Creek simply must thank them by name, and apologize if anyone has been left out.

Thanks to all the talent: John Barger, Nicole Dixon, Peter Norman, Ryan Turner, Jesse Patrick Ferguson, Rebecca Geleyn, Mark Jarman, Jason Kieffer, Robert Moore, Ian MacEachern (who attended through his photos, if not in person), Michael Christie, Christine Delea, Catherine McGuire, Peter Darbyshire, and Marguerite Pigeon. Thanks also to those who were supposed to read but couldn’t make it in the end. The magazine hopes to see you soon.

A big thank you to the venues and their owners, staff, and managers: Mary Ann and the Company House, Janet and Micah and Westminster Books, Peter and the Happinez Wine Bar, Alex and the staff of the White Eagle (sorry again), and Leo and the Brickhouse.

And the rest, thanks for the help, advice, and support: Bethany Horne, Shannon Merrifield, Cliff Turner, Peter Josselyn, Laura Tobias, Ken Tobias, Alpine, Julius Pizza, Amy Jones, Melanie Redman, Jo Prescott, the PT Cruiser, and the Taddle Creek GPS-enabled iPhone.

A mere twelve hours after the indefinable success that was the Portland show, Taddle Creek and Mike Christie, accompanied by the Mike Christie family, Cedar and baby August, started the not-too-long drive to Vancouver. Aside from nearly being detained at the border when Mike told the guard that he and the editor “met on-line,” it was an enjoyable and uneventful journey, featuring quick views of the Space Needle and the Boeing plant, and no real traffic until the outskirts of Vancouver.

Vancouver, incorporated in 1886, is, of course, Canada’s third-largest city, with a population of nearly 600,000 (and a metro population of more than two million). It is home to Stanley Park and the one-time home of Expo Ernie and Expo 86, which the editor’s parents attended without him. It is also known for having the largest number of Taddle Creek readers outside of Toronto.

Twitter was abuzz about the event all day, with many bizarre offers coming in to show Taddle Creek the town. The magazine was looking very forward to this stop on the tour. Aside from an expectedly large crowd, it was also the first stop in which all the talent were Taddle Creek contributors: Mike Christie (the second author to read at two stops, assuming you include Portland), Marguerite Pigeon, and Peter Darbyshire (the third author to read at two stops). (Lee Henderson was again unable to attend due to family issues, but his wife, Anu, was there to represent.) The Brickhouse is a fine establishment in the up-and-coming neighbourhood of Strathcona, and a sizable crowd did indeed turn out, second only to the Saint John event. Readings were top-notch, and the evening extended late.

Taddle Creek landed in Portland, Oregon, on Saturday, July 31st, a couple of days ahead of what would be the magazine’s first-ever out-of-country event, so it took some time out to see the sights. Incorporated in 1851 and with a current population of just over 500,000, Portland is considered by many to be an extremely livable city, and Taddle Creek must say it agrees. Portland is home to a very inviting and accessible waterfront, a seemingly excellent transit system, and what appears to be a vibrant arts scene. Bike lanes are plenty, cars stop for pedestrians, and the population seems generally friendly. Portland also contains the famous Powell’s Books, along with several smaller alternative bookstores, such as Reading Frenzy. The Portland Art Museum has a fine collection of native art, and seems very comic friendly; Taddle Creek was fortunate to see not only all the original pages of R. Crumb’s recent Genesis adaptation, but also got to sit in on a Q. & A. session with Joe Stacco. The little-known Portlandia statue is not to be missed, and the taste of Voodoo Doughnut is matched only by its excellent spelling ability. Unfortunately, the variety of street food is matched by a staggering number of street people, which is the one, albeit large, black mark on an otherwise amazing city.

It’s true what the rock stars say: you never get to see the cities you visit when you’re on the road. The magazine will have to return for longer stays in Halifax and Fredericton at some point.

After a few more days of drinking Alpine and eating Julius Pizza, Taddle Creek handed in the keys to the PT Cruiser and headed back to Toronto, leaving Jason Kieffer behind to eat donairs with Peter for a while longer. Now, after a delightfully tiring week of downtime, the magazine is ready to fly to Portland for its first-ever U.S. happening, at the White Eagle, on Monday, August 2nd, followed by a show at Vancouver’s Brickhouse on August 3rd.

Once the western leg of the tour is completed, Taddle Creek will relay some more tales from the road.

The editor was commenting to an old friend all week at how he was able to walk around his former home town for days and not see anyone he knew. So imagine Taddle Creek’s surprise when it randomly ran into noted Toronto-based cartoonist Jason Kieffer on Germain Street the day of the July 22nd Saint John happening, just an hour after his plane landed. The magazine showed Jason some of the sights, including the old favourites Loyalist City Coins and Backstreet Records, then prepped for the night’s big show at Happinez Wine Bar. (For the record, Saint John is Canada's first incorporated city, currently celebrating its 225th, the former capital of the province, and its largest city, with a population of 68,000.)

Two local friends of the magazine, Shannon Merrifield (co-owner of Handworks Gallery) and Peter Josselyn helped get the word out about tonight’s event, and apparently nearly sixty people attended, which was even more shocking for the fact that the editor didn’t know most of them (of course), though two two-time Taddle Creek cover stars, Laura and Ken Tobias, were in attendance. 

After a one-day break, it was back into the PT Cruiser for the one-and-a-half hour drive to Fredericton, New Brunswick’s capital city, with a population of fifty thousand. The magazine arrived with little time to spare, heading straight to Westminster Books, where tonight’s reading was to be held. Westminster has a wide selection, including a large kids book section. It’s a large store for a small town, which was nice to see. The store employee Micah O’Donnell saw to the magazine’s needs, and a crowd of about fifteen eventually arrived, requiring a few more chairs than planned.

On the bill were the official Taddle Creek Out-of-Towner Jesse Patrick Ferguson, with Mark Jarman and Rebecca Geleyn. Another very strong evening of readings, with a night of sales about equal to that of Halifax. After the readings, the talent and some of the audience retired to a nearby bar behind Reid’s, an excellent newsstand and a proud (?) carrier of Taddle Creek. As Taddle Creek was not staying over, it called it an early night and headed back to Saint John for the final stop of the tour’s east coast leg.

Taddle Creek landed in Saint John, New Brunswick, hometown of the editor, on Sunday, July 18, Saint John serving as the magazine’s base for the Maritime portion of the tour. The next day, in a rented PT Cruiser that was to serve as the Taddle Creek Mobile 4 for this leg, the magazine headed out on the four-and-a-half-hour drive to Halifax. Incorporated in 1841, Halifax is the capital of Nova Scotia and the largest city in Atlantic Canada, with a population of more than 280,000. 

Taddle Creek arrived with a bit of time to spare and, with the on-line (but, sadly, not in-person) help of the former/future Halifax resident and the once-and-always-Taddle-Creek-Twitter-crush Bethany Horne, saw a few key literary sights, including Strange Adventures Comic Book Shop (highly recommended), and JWD Books, home of the “Hardcover” book section. The Propeller Brewing Company was pretty cool too.

Zach Wells, who was on the maybe list to read this evening, was unable to make the show due to work commitments, and Kim Dawn, a one-time Taddle Creek Out-of-Towner, was in a minor car accident a few days prior—unhurt, but not feeling up to reading, which was a shame because Taddle Creek was looking forward to finally meeting her in person. Thanks to the above-and-beyond help of Mr. Peter Norman, two last minute (read: same day) authors were secured, for a final lineup of: Nicole Dixon, a former Journey Prize long-lister; John Barger, a poet and university instructor; Ryan Turner, author of the short story collection What We’re Made Of; and the aforementioned Peter Norman, whose poem “Freight” appears in the Out-of-Towner issue.