in toronto we give endless thanks to joshua van tassel for finding us in the airport and guiding us to his home where sarah b fed us wankakes. thank you to mark truscott for hosting us at test, where we showed up late for our own reading because we're so glam, and to dave dyment and the staff at the mercer union. we were treated royally by people outside of the toronto avant-garde community, who fed us and ensured that we were well-stocked with reading materials. incredible kindness of others is what has kept us going for the whole trip: it's what happens when you're broke. good thing we're so damn likeable.

heathrow the horrible.

grilled cheese, cheeseburger, fries, onion rings, and real milkshakes. that's right. add milkshakes to the list of british failures.

dfb quizzes sb on his coach house knowledge. thanks to nicky drumbolis for so many words and excitement. we have no photo of you - i guess you get to keep your soul. we also neglected to capture john barlow, with whom we had tasty pints.

community.

marshall hryciuk and karen sohne make wicked perogies. we are grateful for their kindness and warmth and their heckles at the test reading.

gustave morin, shape-shifter.

mark laliberte's home is about to be crushed to build condos.

(you think i'm nice! i think you're nice!)

for jow lindsay, who is always running out, and who we missed in north america. thanks for looking after henry and doris.

photos of the interior and the current installation - instant coffee - coming soon.

yt communication spirit.

by eileen wennekers, our other toronto host to whom we bow down graciously.

co-habitant of eileen: lazer.

it took over an hour to cross the border while we listened to obese border guards discuss their elk-hunting experiences in saskatchewan. it must be made known that the same crossing on the way back to toronto took ten minutes. anyway, we were delighted to find the already-landed sophie robinson waiting with matt chambers at the bus station, and proceeded to stuff ourselves as soon as possible within the cozy confines of a very fine diner indeed. our reading at rustbelt books was graced by a fantastic performance by ric royer, to whom we still owe a pack of yt books (sorry, they're coming!) and photos of that will be up soon. we are very very grateful to matt and kevin and mike basinski for all their hard work.

drinks with all the presidents of the usa in a very special and patriotic pub involved some bad food but truly exciting and energetic company in the buffalo scene. these people like to wrestle. they also make an incredible amount of books and magazines, all beautiful to touch and look at. i say 'they' because everyone seems to be doing something. the buzz of the place was refreshing and we are very grateful to have been invited into such bustle and enthusiasm.

the magazine launch the next night featured readings by contributors from pilot, damn the caesars, and p-queue, where the adam mickiewicz library was utterly packed with poetry fans swilling booze. we thank karen mac cormack and steve mccaffery for a lovely visit amongst beautiful ancient books in their home the next day.

buffalo beware.

kai fierle-hedrick joins us for a pre-Pilot launch dinner at the anchor. next night she and her mother donna made us very welcome in east aurora. thank you!

tough love from nervous mum.

thanks to matt chambers for incredible patience and generosity.

sophie vs. kevin.

thursty.

richard owens, on the lookout for women poets, and making beautiful letterpress werx. we are fond of his DAMN THE CAESARS and encourage you get your copies immediately.

poets and puns.

where buffalos first got their wings. the famous anchor bar.

kevin thurston confirms he is both romantic and delicious. thank you for feeding us.

next stop, providence, rhode island. a mercury pulls up in front of the chambers' residence, overflowing with keyboards, guitar, kitchen utensils, clothing, books, posters, recording gear, fine suits, and joshua strauss at the wheel with john The Gentleman in navigator's position. there's always room for three more and their earthly possessions. this leg of the trip was far too short and we all suffered from too much interstate. josh got us back to buffalo bus station with time to spare, and for this we are very thankful and wish we could have hung around with him and john some more. fine musicians, wicked performers, good company.

lunch in seneca falls. piss stop in the women's rights national park. we didn't see any women in there. someone must be poaching them.

"amerika, land of dreams." - sophie robinson, daily refrain.

the home of jUStin! katKO is all pink all the time. the new plantarchy, in the werx.

post-performance at firehouse13. more to come on this soon, but may it be known that joshua strauss and The Gentleman put on an absolutely stunning whirlwind of art.

josh and sean.

john, sean, josh.

exhausted+delerious=glamour

big thanks to derek beaulieu for a warm reception in his home. great to see familiar faces and the great mass of publications mushrooming in calgary. we scored a copy of natalie w's Thumbscrews and are deeply scarred. beautiful book. as you can see, the mountains are already carpeted in dandruff. calgary, corporate whorehouse, is pretty and gold-leafed.