ramblings from an airplane

wrote this last week while preparing to land in Minneapolis in a plane, on my way to Wisconsin...

Out my window.  Bright.  Almost blinding, the reflection from the snow-covered ground, far far below.  How is it that land came to be parceled out in such neat, square-shaped  packages?  I mean, I know how, really, it just seems odd to have taken so much of the country and divided it up.  The natives would have never thought of land so geometrically.

The plane is banking hard left, now.  Some 50 miles from Minneapolis, I believe.  The pilot announced that we may have to circle above for a bit due to heavy air traffic.  I suppose I should be able to see my home state, my final destination (Wisconsin) while circling above the Twin Cities.  In a few hours I will touch down in Milwaukee.  Not exactly the "pearl of the midwest", but no Toledo, either.  Tomorrow: Madison.

Ottawa

We take a two-lane highway from Toronto to Ottawa rather than the big "interstate-like" one, and it was a beautiful drive. It felt very much like driving through northern Wisconsin. We pulled over at this rest area next to a lake and I snapped a few photos to show how much it looks like any northwoods lake.

Our gig in Ottawa was pretty good, and pretty uneventful. We played at a Soviet-enthusiast bar owned by a Russian expatriate called the Avant-Garde Bar. It was pretty standard as far as Tuesday nights go, which usually means quiet and laid back. Our couchsurfing host Rene couldn't have been more fun and welcoming, and hung out before, during and after our gig. He has a fine knowledge of Quebec beers!

Parliament! We had to see the "capitol" of Canada before moving on. A truly magnificent building.

THE tour photo. Conquerors of Canada! Evaders of the Border Patrol! Criminals.

Mounty!

Ottawa lies on the banks of the Ottawa River (go figure), which separates Ontario from Quebec. Across the river in Quebec is the city of Gatineau. This is looking upstream at more of Ottawa.

Airfare Tips?

So I spent the better part of my day hunting around online for a deal on airline tickets to Los Angeles in October. I will be flying from Madison, Wisconsin out to California to visit my brother, who moved there at the beginning of this year. I ended up getting what I consider to be a pretty darn good deal to fly roundtrip out there, $240. I thought that I would compile a list of the few things I've learned about purchasing airfare, little tips and such, and invite people to add to it. Please leave a comment if you've got some great insider info, or a good story, or whatever.

What (little) I know:

* It seems that all of the travel websites (Expedia, Travelocity, Orbitz, etc.) are usually around the same price. Most of the time its only the difference of a dollar or so.

* The worst days to fly are on a Friday or Sunday when everyone else wants to fly out so as maximize weekends.

* The best days to fly are on early weekdays or on Saturdays. Most people don't want to waste the middle of their weekend flying, so if you are willing to do so (as I was in this case), its usually a better deal.

* This one is only useful for Wisconsin locals, but if you live in the southern part of the state as I do, Madison is generally more expensive to fly out of than Milwaukee, Rockford, or Chicago. HOWEVER, it seems that Madison has some good deals lately, as that is where I am flying out of to go to California, and when compared to Milwaukee there was only a $10-15 difference. If you are flying out of the country, you might as well just go to O'Hare in Chicago. The bus ride from Madison is $25 and takes you right to the airport, hassle free, and its usually still cheaper than the Madison airport.

* These days, try not to check any luggage if you can since you have to pay for it. On my recent flights both to Europe and Alaska I was able to carry on a guitar AND a backpack (I'm talking a mid-sized backpacking pack with an internal frame).

* I think that there are some companies, such as Southwest Airlines, that do not book through sites like Expedia, and do provide good deals on their own. I briefly searched earlier today for a list of airlines that don't use travel websites to sell tickets, and could not find one, but that would be extremely useful.

I think thats all I can think of for now, but please feel free to make your own suggestions and correct me or provide your own tips!

New Album - Recording Tomorrow Night in Madison

For you Madison folks/Wisconsin folks/anyone else that felt like making a road trip this Friday, the live recording, full band show that was scheduled this Friday for the Cafe Montmartre is now being held at the Brink Lounge due to the unfortunate closing of the previous venue. The show will start at 9pm, and will be recorded for the new album, "John Statz & the Cheap Shots" , which will feature almost entirely new material. The cover charge is $8, and also playing are Chicago's fantastic Cameron McGill & What Army, and my good pal Jeremiah Nelson with his band, the Shifty Switches. Hope you can make it out!

Thanks to Rich Albertoni for the great article in the July 10th, 2009 edition of the Isthmus! Here is an excerpt:

"Since returning to the Madison area in 2006, Statz has built one of the most rigorous tour schedules of any Madison musician. This year, he'll be on the road at out-of-state destinations for more than four months. Later this summer, he'll embark on a four-week tour of Canada and the northeastern United States.

A double major in music and history at UW-Oshkosh, Statz frequently uses historical themes in his songwriting. With song titles like "Best Girl of '16" and "Letters from Southeast Asia," Statz sometimes takes on the persona of a war soldier in his compositions."

Read the whole article and interview here.