2016 Was A Year Of Travel & Jumping!

The Checkerboard Guy had a busy travel year in 2016 - Here's a list of the places I made it to traveling with my performances and some of the places I jumped:

• Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
• Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada
• Seattle, Washington, USA
• Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
• The Pacific Ocean
• Hilo, Hawaii, USA
• Nagasaki, Japan
• Yokohama, Japan
• Busan, South Korea
• Fukuoka, Japan
• Kobe, Japan
• Kagoshima, Japan
• Keelung, Taiwan
• Kaohsiung, Tiawan
• Ketchikan, Alaska, USA
• Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Canada
• Lawrence, Kansas, USA
• Dundas, Ontario, Canada
• Kochi, Japan
• Otaru, Japan
• Hakodate, Japan
• Aomori, Japan
• Kingston, Ontario, Canada
• Kushiro, Japan
• St John's, Newfoundland, Canada
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Gothenberg, Sweden
• Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
• Nagoya, Japan
• Irving, Texas, USA
• Korsakov, Russia
• Greensboro, Vermont, USA
• Oranjestad, Aruba
• Bonaire
• St. Georges, Grenada
• Roseau, Dominica
• St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands
• Grand Turk, Turk and Caicos
• Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA
• Havre, Montana, USA
• St. Johns, Antigua
• Bridgetown, Barbados
• Castries, Saint Lucia
• Nevis, St. Kitts
• Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, USA

The Latest 'Story from the Pitch'

Back in the Fall of 2011, I co-founded the Busker Hall of Fame with legendary Street Performing Icon - Robert Nelson, The Butterfly Man. At the time, my primary goal was to get Robert to host a Podcast that we ended up calling 'Stories from the Pitch' - a pitch begin the stage that a street performer plays on. In the year's since then we've collected a bunch of biographical interviews and short stories in an attempt to create a living oral history about the Street Performance World and many of the crazy characters who populate this community. 

On July 28, 2016, I sat down with Magic Brian and Glenn Singer and was interviewed for the Podcast and this recording was just released on December 15th. It was a bit weird to be interviewed for a project that I helped start, but a pretty big honour to be included amongst such an amazing cast of crazies that we've captured to date. You can check out my interview and all of the other 'Stories from the Pitch' on the Busker Hall of Fame website.

When I'm Not Juggling, I'm Brewing!

I don't think my wife and kids had any idea that brewing beer would become such a huge passion for me when they got me a 'brew-your-own-beer' kit for Father's Day back in 2015. That first batch got me hooked and I went from doing 'extract' batches to full blown 'all-grain' brews in a matter of months experimenting with just about every style I'd ever tried and many that I only learned about after I started brewing. 

Things took off even further in 2016 when I decided to grow my own hops (that's part of this year's crop in the image above) which are quickly being used in the various beers that I continue to brew. It's part mad-science project, part creative-outlet and entirely delicious!

Because I'm all about creating themes when I undertake creative projects, I've started a signature series of brews dedicated to performer friends. There the 'Heavy Magic Imperial IPA' for my buddy Magic Brian, Minnie Maniac Coconut Blonde in honour of hula-hooping maven Toni Smith and the latest brew to come out of Checkerhead Brewing is an Irish Red Ale spiced with Habanero Peppers in tribute to The Circus Firemen. 

Got a hankering for some CBG Ales? Well then swing by for a tasting and while you're quenching your thirst remember to review the brew on the social media app Untappd!