Day 2, Dawson City

I slept in a bit this morning. I think its due, I mean I did stay up until 1:30 last night and my body is still adjusting to the time change and amount of daylight. Not too much to report today. I finished grocery shopping at the larger grocery market - The General Store. I'd thought maybe they'd have some general goods, like a pipe for tobacco (plus pipe tobacco...), but really its just a slightly larger grocery store. They had told me that things would be higher cost up here and to not be surprised, but really it's not too much more. To buy approximately what I would usually buy at home for 2 -3 weeks (or more depending on the product) of groceries was about $150 Canadian, which is about $147 USD. So its a little more, but not by a whole lot...Fortunately like I'd said they are providing me with a per diem plus reimbursing me for shipping costs and baggage fees, so with all of that I should be more than ok. I do intend to eat out on occasion so I can see what the food is like and meet some people while I'm at it. With that in mind I ventured into the shops and hotels that are the 'downtown' of Dawson. While walking it started drizzling, which is not an uncommon occurrence here, it seems to drizzle, then be sunny, repeat. Also I saw my residency mate Andrew sitting on the steps of the Downtown Hotel. I chatted with him for a bit and then being hungry asked if had eaten inside or if they even served food (in the bar portion that is), and he didn't know. So I ventured in. The interior is a mix of old west/klondike meets Soulard. Nice enough with the bar and restaurant area up a few steps from the entry/pool table/big screen area. There was just one person sitting at the bar and a bartender. I sat down and asked if they served food and immediately endeared myself to both present by saying I'd be glad to guess what they had on the menu...catching sass of course from the bartender. Since I guessed chicken salad and it wasn't on the menu she thought it best for me to see a menu. Needless to say I figured out pretty quickly that one shouldn't have a thin skin to make it for any time in Dawson. If you can't handle a good ribbing then I advise not eating in a bar in Dawson!! For the next couple of hours we chatted away and poked fun when it seemed applicable and talked about the city, and tourist, and the water gun that the bartender kept behind the bar (high powered with multiple rotating nozzles mind you!!), and why you don't ring a bell in a bar in Dawson (it means you have to buy everyone including the bartender a round!!), and politics (mostly of bar-tending in Dawson), the fact that Dawson has the most alcohol imbibed and homosexuals per capita in Canada (though with 1,800 people they probably rank tops in a lot per capita in Canada - I failed to mention that being from St. Louis apparently makes me a murderer, per capita!!), how Dawson is still a frontier town and why, bad jokes (That's Nice...), good jokes (That's Nice...), shared a cigarette, and about how I'm alright and can come back anytime. I'll be sure to visit Cindy and Bob anytime at the Downtown Hotel!!

After that I wandered a bit in the streets to get my bearing on where and what things were. All of the buildings are real (no fake fronts or props), but some have signage or small displays in the window that are historical or touristy, yet the business is completely different on the inside or not a public shop - so it can be deceptive.

Seeing this I made my way back to the residency to do some e-mail and blogging, charge batteries, etc. Andrew and I were slated to meet with some of the staff and committee of the KIAC at about 5 for drinks at Bombay Peggys. We did so and met a modest group of folks that rotated in and out of the group for a couple of hours and a few drinks. I've taken to drinking Yukon Gold Beer, which seems like they're standard gold ale up here, but better is than Bud Light or PBR. I plan to venture out drink wise, so we'll so what we find.

Being hungry, Andrew and I made our way back to the residency to collaborate on cooking burgers. He had frozen patties and sourdough buns from the local bakery, I had tomatoes, lettuce, bacon, and cheddar cheese. It was an impromptu collaboration (he was already planning to cook burgers), but went well and was delicious!! While cleaning up we talked and got better acquainted about what we make, where we come from, etc. We also listened to the CBC or Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Its a bit like public radio, but CBC 1 is all talk and CBC 2 is music (which apparently very few people really like despite a recent change in formatting). There was (a repeat I'm told) program on where an author was philosophizing about the role and history of ice hockey in the Canadian cultural and social mindset.   Holy Crap!!! I'd never heard anything like it (and being a hockey fan fucking loved it!!).

Once cleaned up a rested for a minute or two and made a battle plan for the evening. I decided to go back to the confluence to shoot video at 10 p.m. (midnight Central Time) for a piece. I would need to return just before midnight (Dawson Time) to shoot again from the same exact spot and perspective (I used a system of rocks to mark where the tripod stood, and kept notes on which part of the tripod faced which direction, F-stop and aperture settings, etc.) Finishing up the 10 p.m. set I decided to walk back to the residency to unload my CF card for the later shoot. On the way back I noticed several construction sites where large piles of rock were laid out. I'd been working with an idea about depicting rock piles as the loess of human-glacial activities. This seemed the perfect time and place to start documenting that!! I had to find a way in to a fenced in construction site to get shots one particularly impressive pile. This was physically easy enough, though I was a little wary of someone getting upset about my being in there since there were tools and opens pits hanging around. And oh yeah, even though it was about 11 p.m. it was still basically twilight!! Here are a few pics, I haven't really done any editing:

Feel free to critique, like I said I just shot them last night and was thinking I might do some re-shooting. I did have to be back at the confluence just before midnight, so had to scoot at a certain point to make that happen. I've also located a few other piles in and around the city for shooting.