Work Table Rehab

STAGG LAND

Duelling Gas Cans?

Searching for Mister Anchovy

different kinds of drums - to a beat of a different drummer
50's poems - I got a 6 and a 12 pack too...I drink 50 and I don't drink Blue
dennis weaver earthship - who knew?
weltmeister accordion - any accordion is a good accordion
vibrandoneon - is the new Johnny Cash finger
scrubby dynatones - for the polkaholics in the crowd
cleveland accordion museum - forget the rock 'n roll hall of fame, baby
"friendly giant" theme - is it true he played it live each day?
patychky - Polish soul food
Charlie McCoy - sure can blow that harmonica

PS The painting is a small diptych called Mister Anchovy's Bad Dream, painted in 1996. I still enjoy this oddball little picture a lot!

BBQ

Although it is still cold outdoors, it's sunny today and spring is in the air. This morning I set up the bbq for slow smoking (we use charcoal and a green egg smoker) and put on half a brisket. It's been slowly smoking all day. Meanwhile, I made some whole wheat buns, and prepared a batch of cole slaw. Dinner will be brisket sandwiches with raw onion and tomato and coleslaw. Oh, and a beer.

CBC Radio Orchestra RIP

The CBC has announced the de-commissioning of the CBC Radio Orchestra after a 70 year run. I heard some folks on the radio talking about how an artistic treasure is being killed off without mercy. Apparently the CBC orchestra is one of the last of the radio orchestras. I guess it is the end of an era for radio. The move is being made to save money.

I really don't know much about the orchestra, not enough to have an opinion at least. What do you think? Is it a dinosaur that should be buried, or is it an artistic nugget that should be saved?

Fiddlesticks

From time to time I go back and watch this video. It never ceases to fascinate me. It features Dewey Balfa on fiddle and his nephew Todd Balfa. I may have posted this before, I'm not sure. It doesn't matter though - watch it again.

a new small painting

I'm working on a group of small paintings and one good-sized work. The little paintings are informing the bigger one, and the bunch of them have been simmering away for some time. I've been avoiding them lately, but tonight I went in there, and there they were, with the same problems, as I left them, compelling me find a way through.

I admire painters who can conceive of their image, paint it up and be done with it. I'm not like that at all. My painting has always been a lot more anxious than that. I have to test and try and build up ideas and contradictions. From time to time I will look at some of my older paintings and wonder how it was I got there, settled there, as if they were painted by someone else, or perhaps by me in another time.


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I was thinking about the painter Frances Bacon today. Here are a few things he had to say about painting:
"You could say that I have no inspiration, that I only need to paint".
"Before I start painting I have a slightly ambiguous feeling: happiness is a special excitement because unhappiness is always possible a moment later"
"I should have been, I don’t know, a con-man, a robber or a prostitute. But it was vanity that made me choose painting, vanity and chance."
"When I paint I am ageless, I just have the pleasure or the difficulty of painting".
"The job of the artist is always to deepen the mystery."

Hey, look what I found.....

I'd first like to say to my American friends that I wasn't looking for this. I mean, I didn't intend to make fun of you folks by posting Rick Mercer's Talking with Americans here at mister anchovy's. But there it was, right in front of me and I just couldn't resist. You'll realize right away that this clip is a little dated - from back when dubya was just a Governor. I know that today, none of my American friends would be fooled by Mr. Mercer's clever ploys to make Americans look silly.

Are you from Canada.....do you play hockey?

Well, it's that time of year Torontonians fear....time for the Leafs to start thinking about golf. Let's celebrate with Jughead and The Hockey Song:
.

I can't tell you how many times my friends and saw these guys play, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. We'd order up a pitcher of "50" and a plate of nachos over at Sneaky Dees and listen to Lopes and the boys play everything from Ace of Spades to the Wreck of the Old 97.

battery

It turns out the problem with the car was just the battery. It was the original battery and needed replacing. Back in business.

Today

...my car battery crapped out. Maybe this was because I was sitting in the car with the motor off, listening to the radio outside Tuffy P's workplace, waiting for her to finish up. Ok, the lights were on and I didn't realize it. In any case I sapped the battery dry. Two tries at getting a boost were unsuccessful. Fortunately my CAA membership gets me free tows and so I had it hauled up to my mechanic's place. I consider myself very lucky to be navigating this world with an excellent mechanic and an excellent dentist, both very desirable and hard to find. My mechanic was still there when we arrived with my car in tow - and was kind enough to give me a lift home. Hopefully, there is nothing seriously wrong with the car.....

Making a diatonic accordion

The Weltmeister Accordion Factory

The Cleveland Accordion Museum

Golfing coincidence

My apologies for being lax in my promised postings. I may have to change from Sundays for my contributions as I keep running out of time near the end of the weekend. No, it is not because I have been playing golf, either :)

Tired of being a golf widow, my first wife took up the game and wound up playing with me on a country course one day. I hit my drive way off into the rough, behind a barn. She came over to take a look, surveyed the situation, and suggested that if I opened both barn doors I could hit my ball straight through the barn to the green.

This seemed to be an excellent idea, I complimented her for her suggestion, then opened the doors and stepped up to the ball. I swung and made great contact. Unfortunately, the ball was off line, careened off the door frame, hit the wife in the head and killed her.

Years went by, and I finally remarried. This time I married a fellow golfer. Incredibly, the same situation occurred. I was in the rough behind the same barn. My new wife took a look at my ball and the lie. She suggested that I could make the green if he opened both barn doors and hit through the barn.

"No way," I replied. "I can't do that."

"Why not?" she asked.

I responded, "The last time I did that something terrible happened."

"What?" she asked.

I answered, "I got a double bogey."

The Bank Job

I like heist movies. The bank job is a splendid example of the form from England. It comes complete with a motley crew of robbers, a sordid royal angle, secret agents, corrupt and not so corrupt cops, and best of all, politicians who like to get tied up and whipped by hookers. The whole business is suitably complex and well played to make for some top rate entertainment.

I don't keep up with actors and directors much these days (Hitchcock is dead, you say?), and this one stars a bunch of them whose names I don't know, but all of them did a fine job.

On the Anchovy Heist-o-meter, The Bank Job gets a heaping bucket of salties, just the way I like it.

Tennessee Stud

Doc Watson and Jack Lawrence:


Johnny Cash:


Porter Wagoner (this one is on here for Porter's outfit alone!)


The time I heard a recording of this tune, I was a teenager, and the performance was by Ramblin Jack Elliott. I thought that performance held up as the best I heard until Johnny Cash recorded it on American Recordings. I hadn't heard Doc Watson do this one until I was surfing around YouTube. Mr. Watson can make magic with any song. I love the way he plays the guitar.

Even in the Boonies: Gay-bashing in the Mountains

Earlier this month, March 6th - 9th, the local ski hill hosted it's first ever gay pride ski weekend.

Yesterday, while at the gym, I happened to be reading through one of our local papers, which unfortunately doesn't have a web site (it's owned by CanWest Global and the site has been "under construction" for nearly two years now), and was startled to read that there is an RCMP hate crime investigation in progress as a result of some anti-gay signage that went up around that time, and the destruction of a banner on main street advertising the event. The newspaper article also said that there was a small protest by a local religious group during the weekend.

I was really surprised to hear this, not because I don't think there aren't any bigots around here, but because they mustn't have made much of an impact since the newpaper article was the first I'd heard of anything negative about that weekend. I saw no anti-gay posters and I wasn't aware that any religious group had held a protest. I have no idea who this religious group was, but as far as I'm aware, we only have three active churches in town (Catholic, United, and JW), whereas Trail (10km down the hill) has everything under the sun.

It's a shame, but I hope it doesn't deter this event from being held again next year, because I think it's a very cool idea.

City Beat

The Mayor is going to China to drum up business.

Zosia

Zosia may be my favourite polka. I think the best version was recorded live by Scrubby and the Dynatones back in the 80s.

Here is Scrubby and Larry Trojak reunited at the Lamm Post Pavilion for the Broadway Grill Reunion - Buffalo, NY. Those boys can still squeeze out a mean polka.

And here are the guys back in the day.

Friday walk with Tuffy P

Friday walk with Tuffy P

Two boys on the bed

That's Jerry in the status position at the head of the bed and Officer Rossi at the foot of the bed. If you have multiple cats, I'm sure you know the importance of status positions!

The painting on the wall is by Candy Minx.

Paska time

Easter time is paska time. We make two or three batches of it every year and give them to our friends and neighbours. Today we didn't add the braided decorations on top...but I may do that with tomorrow's batch. We felt that for strictly scientific purposes we had to cut into that skinny little one ourselves, just to make sure it's good. It is.

Godzilla vs JBL

Ryerson student NOT expelled for facebook study group

However, he did get a 0 on the assignment and he has a mark on his academic record.

Trees Outside The Academy

Thurston Moore's Trees Outside the Academy album on the Ecstatic Peace label, contains 12 tracks and the pictures and booklet are cool.

1. Frozen GTR
2. The Shape Is In A Trance
3. Honest James
4. Silver Blue
5. FRI/END
6. American Coffin
7. Wonderful Witches+Language Meanies
8. Off Work
9. Never Day
10. Free Noise Among Friends
11. Trees Outside The Academy
12. Thurston is @13

Guests include Samara Lubelski, on violin, Steve Shelley, Gown on guitar, J. Mascis on guitar, Christina Carter lends her voice, John Maloney on drums, and Leslie Keffer with noise.

Thefirst song dives into a rhythmic rhyme reminiscent of The Velvet Underground with it's spooky intro. Don't let it fool you-the stage setting builds into a rock guitar structure. This song reminds me of good times with close friends who were in town to see Madonna as Rather Ripped debuted in the now gone Virgin Store in downtown Chicago. The second song is poetic and reminds me of open spaces and long drives. The lyrics are about music. Normally you have to watch out for songs about songs & music-but the guitar work alone proves to you that this is signature Thurston Moore and he put in his time has has acquired the skills to dwell in this "territory". The third song almost spirals out-but it returns over and over again before the meaningful lyrics hit. The fourth song contains lots of visuals with its vocal sounds as the instruments play along and soar 'n dive with nice embellished effects. The fifth song really gallops along and rocks-the build ups are all well placed in typical margin pushing rhythms and such. The melody is as catchy as the beginning and the ending is all spazz out.Song six is a mystery to me...I do like the ending repeating structure. Song seven is loaded from the get-go with attitude and its screeching hault is very effective. Song eight is all instrumentals reminds me of elctric train sparks and urban environments lit up at evening in skyscraper windows with all of their glory and drama. Song nine drums along with all of its direct poetry and fluttery vibe. Number ten will push limits on square ears! The chord changes alone of song eleven are proof of why this c.d. is named after it. All of the notes that should dance within you, at you, beside you, under you, around you and for you rise and fall in audio beauty. Number twelve is self explanatory.




Related Links:
Laurie's Planet of Sound
Excellent interview with Leslie Keffer
Sonic Youth Official Website
Sonic Youth Wikipedia
Trees Outside The Academy at Amazon

STAGG at Staggland

Arthur C. Clarke, RIP

Science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke has died at 90.

Cachorros Piquantes by Squeezebox Dogs

Our little CD is done. I've started burning copies and printing the artwork and assembling the finished CDs. If anyone is interested in a copy, please email me at misteranchovyATexcite.com. CDs are only 10 Canadianos each.

Cachorros Piquantes is a CD of instrumental squeezebox music from seven countries - Portugal, Colombia, Mexico, Louisiana, Scandinavia, Bahamas and Newfoundland. John Filici and I recorded it gradually over much of 2007 and into 2008. I play button accordions and some percussion; John plays piano accordions, guitar, keyboards and recorder. I picked the songs. John worked out the orchestration.

I learned along the way that as soon as you commit something to a recording, you instantly know you can perform it better than that any day of the week. Isn't that the way? I think there are some pretty good tracks, though, and it is representative of the music I enjoy playing. Here's a sample, a Portuguese dance number called Vira de Santa Marta. Curiously, there are two Viras de Santa Marta. I play both of them, but we just recorded the one. Santa Marta is near Porto in the north of Portugal.

mister anchovy's new toy....

This organ has been sitting around at its last home for some time without seeing much action, when moving time came and it was offered to me. How could I turn down an old Hammond organ? The answer is that I couldn't. My friend SC, who happens to be a big guy with a truck and a really good sport, helped me haul it home today.

I don't know what model this is, or how old it is or really anything much about it. It's working, but I'd say it needs a little work. The speaker is making some noise, and, while the keyboard is all working, a couple of the switches don't seem to be functional. I think the first thing to do is to clean it up. I'm betting that the contacts haven't been cleaned in many years, and I'm hoping that a good cleaning will be helpful. As well, I think I'll have to bipass the built-in speaker and connect to some kind of keyboard speaker. I'm not going to try to get a Leslie for it. We just don't have the room right now.

If there are any keyboard experts out there, any advice is appreciated. I don't know that much about organs, and while I play piano accordion, it takes a little getting used to a horizontal keyboard. It doesn't seem right. I think I'm going to have some fun with this.

For those days when....

only a little Tex-Mex will do, here's the Texas Tornados. Augie Meyers plays piano accordion, Flaco Jimenez is on button accordion. The late Doug Sahm is playing the Vox organ, for that extra bit of cheese that makes it all perfect. There are even guitar solos by the late Freddie Fender.


And here are two of the guys from the Tornados, Doug Sahm and Augie Meyers years earlier in The Sir Douglas Quintet. These guys even had go-go dancers.

Memorial to Kevin

Yesterday, Tuffy and I and Tuffy's dad drove out to Peterborough for a memorial for our late cousin Kevin. A number of people spoke about Kevin and their relationship to him, and it was warm and heartfelt, and very emotional.

As well, there was a duo playing guitar and fiddle throughout much of the event, and you know how much I like folk music. They were good players and fun to listen to. We also enjoyed some tasty sandwiches and other goodies, and plenty of conversation. I discovered that an old friend of Kevin's, going back to their teens, is a fellow I used to work with. Small world.

I was even called upon to play a few tunes on my button accordion, which I was very happy to do.

It was good to have the chance to spend some time with family and friends, remembering Kevin, talking about good times and tough times. The family also put together a beautiful book featuring some pieces written by a number of people special to Kevin.

The Postcard Challenge - answers

On the first day, Shemvic nailed half the answer, identifying beautiful Salt Spring Island as the home of Valdy and Randy Bachman. I was thinking of Valdy, but of course both answers are acceptable. However, nobody got the second location and the second musician, and so sorry, no prize.

Both locations are in Canada, and I gave a clue to this when I wrote "mailed in the 70's, eh", using the cliche Canadian eh. I later gave the clue that both locations were surrounded by water. Candy Minx hit upon the idea that one is west coast and one is east coast, when she guessed Valdy and Stan Rogers. However, when I identify Stan Rogers with the east coast, it is with Nova Scotia, and the location is not in Nova Scotia.

You can see a ferry boat in the second picture, but if I used a more up-to-date postcard, you might have seen the Confederation Bridge, which would have been an obvious clue to Prince Edward Island. The musician I was thinking about is Stompin Tom Connors, who was born down there, and as well, wrote his most famous song about Bud the Spud from the Bright Red Mud, goin down the highway flyin...the spuds are big on the back of that rig, they're from Prince Edward Island.

Planning a renovation? Looking for a new house?

This one is up for auction down in Tennessee. It's a tasteful older home, built back in the 20th Century, after the cancellation of the original Star Trek.
Thanks JW

Speaking of Schottisches....

Here's a French one, nicely played on a two-row. Lovely box he's playing too!


And one on fiddle....


From Wikipedia....The Schottische is a partnered country dance, Bohemian in origin, that is two short runs and a hop followed by four turning hop steps: step step step hop, step step step hop, step hop step hop step hop step hop.

Steps alternate one foot to the other, hops are only on one foot, so the leader's footwork would be: left right left hop on left, right left right hop on right, step on left hop on left, step on right hop on right, step on left hop on left, step on right hop on right.

In a basic step, the running steps are done in open position (follower on the right side of the leader) and the turning steps are done in closed position; but many many variations exists to play with those positions (including parting during the running steps to slip around a slower couple, or the leader genuflecting during the turning step and letting the follower circle around).

Did you get that.... OK, let's go

One Schottische, one Polka, one Beer

NY Governor's sex scandal

Wow, who knew hookers charged that much money, eh? A guy could buy a mighty fine accordion, and even a bottle or two of really nice scotch for what that character paid for a roll in the hay.

Recording

J completed the mix of the last song and tonight we put them in order and created a master. Next, I'll start making dupes and finish up the artwork. Getting closer....

It's back - The Postcard Challenge

Both these postcards were mailed in the 70's, eh. Each of the places depicted is in some way or another associated with a musician. I'm looking for the names of the two places and the names of the two musicians.

The deadline: Saturday midnight (unless someone gets the correct answers first)
The prize: A digitally produced artwork, made by me, printed out on genuine paper right here at Anchovy World Headquarters, and mailed to your home.

This one isn't easy, but I have faith in my readership....I think there will be a winner.

Good Luck

is there really...

an accordion heaven? It's true, it's here.

Will Ryerson student be expelled.....

for facebook study group? I bet that when push comes to shove, the school will back down on this one. Your thoughts?

Wooly Mammoth Celebration

The Wooly Mammoth. After doing research on YouTube, I discovered Zvex Effects Pedals. Zvex Effects basically is Zachary Vex from Minn.MN. I purchased the pedal at Chicago Music Exchange on Lincoln Ave. in Chicago, Il. In general most music pedals are for electric guitars. This pedal is unlike most...it is THE WOOLY MAMMOTH! The pedal gives the "extra low wool fuzz" sound similar to the Beastie Boys-Sabotage intro. The pedal is a lot of fun. I find it very inspiring. The first knob can, after bass guitar adjustments to volume and tone, control "the effect settings volume" if you desire that set up. The "pinch" knob causes a "freaky radio sound similar to static effect ending" the note with sounds that are different. The overall use of the pedal effect knocks most lows into the sub basement of possibilities. It's been written that the pedal can be used on guitars-but I only experience it through my bass guitar. I recommend the fuzz and beautiful low Wooly Mammoth for bass because guitar guys are usually upfront and its about time for some extra wool on that low end theory.






STAGG

Downchild

Yesterday, I wandered into the kitchen for a snack....Tuffy P was in there, and she had the Downchild Blues Band blasting. I realized I can't remember a time when there was no Downchild Blues Band. It has undergone various incarnations, led by Donnie Walsh, who over the years has come to be Mr. Downchild.

Here's a great video featuring the late Jane Vasey and Peter Appleyard playing a delightful Boogie...


And here's the band featuring the late Hock Walsh, Donnie's brother, who co-founded the band and played with them at different times over the years. I've read that Donnie and The Hock were the inspiration for The Blues Brothers, and this may be true since The Blues Brothers recorded some Downchild material.


Here's today's incarnation of Downchild...


The band has had a number of vocalists over the years. I was hoping to find a video that featured the late Tony Flaim, another excellent addition to the band, who sang with the group for close to a decade.

The name Downchild comes from a song by harp great Sonny Boy Williamson, called Mr. Downchild (take this poor fool's advice, and don't let no one woman, man mistreat you twice).

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

Earlier today, there was a break in the snow action, so I shoveled out the drive and ventured out to the grocery store. By the time I got back, the snow had started coming down full strength again, with no sign of a break.

Motel signs

While I was writing the post below, I thought it would be interesting to look at some different approaches to motel signs....a quick search revealed these and more.

Working at the motel blues....

There is an interesting article in the Globe today about the closing of the Hillcrest motel, one of the last three motels which were still running on the old motel strip around Humber Bay. This article brought back some memories I haven't thought about in some time.

When I was in highschool and when I started university, I worked summers at one of those motels, The Universal. It was the last motel west on the strip. Directly to the west of it was John Ducks Tavern, which like the Universal, is long gone.

In the early 80s, the motel I worked at was well kept, but still old. Out front, there were two fiberglass horses, as I recall. Inside the office, there was a fantastic old sofa, that was plastic encased gold glitter. Today, we would call it vintage. There was also an old-school switchboard system. All the rooms had phones, but to phone out, the guests has to call the office and give the person at the desk the number. The desk clerk would then open a line by plugging in two cables and "dial" the number. Even in the early 80s, this was a magnificent relic of days past.

My job became "afternoon guy". I worked something like 4:00 to midnight. Once the owners of the place and the maids had all gone home, I was it, and my job was to do everything. The goal was to try to rent all the rooms every night, but not to rent rooms to anyone who was going to trash the place. This wasn't easy. The first rule was not to rent to anyone who didn't come in a car, and to avoid local people. The guests we wanted were people visiting town. They were the safest.

A lot of our customers were travelers from the United States, looking for a reasonable place to crash. Although even then the place seemed to me like it had just emerged from another time, we filled more times than we didn't.

I had an unspoken deal with a local pizza joint. I always recommended this place to anyone who asked. They were happy to drop off a free one for me from time-to-time. It was a good deal all around, and their pizza was excellent.

One of my strongest memories from that time, was going out behind the motel to clean the pool, and seeing dozens of garter snakes in the grass by the lake. I have never before or since seen that many snakes in one place at one time. It was kind of creepy. I have no idea what was going on. Maybe it was a snake convention. A week later, I saw none.

Even when I was there, the developers had started buying up the old motels for condos. The strip later became pretty seedy. I recall driving along there just a few years after I worked there and seeing hookers plying their trade along Lakeshore. There was little of that going on when I worked down there. The owners of the motels were trying to keep them up as well as they could. Today, there are some newish condos built where motels once were. There are walking and bicycle trails out on what I think was lake back when I worked down there. The trails are nice to bicycle along now, but the area feels very artificial to me.

The strip of Lakeshore that hosted the motels was and is a strange bit of Toronto, because it is separated from the city by the Gardiner Expressway / Queen Elizabeth Way combination. South of the Expressway, there is only a narrow strip of land and then Lake Ontario. Just up the street from the Universal, you could walk through a tunnel and access the street car at Humber Loop, really the only transit link to the whole motel stretch. To the west, past the Palace Pier condo complex, is the Humber River, and west from there, the road spills onto what I guess is the main stretch of Lakeshore Blvd. To the east is Mimico and Longbranch (I never quite understood how those boundaries worked and which was which), and some very interesting neighbourhoods.

Oh boy, more snow......

Here it is, mid-March, and we're having another snowstorm. The snow started late afternoon yesterday and it snowed lightly but steadily all night. I stuck my head out this morning and took this picture on our front porch. Since then, the snow has picked up. I'm looking out the window right now, thinking I'm glad I'm not trying to drive anywhere in this mess. One report I heard suggested we were going to enjoy 36 hours of snow and up to 30 cm. Can't wait.

Searching, Searching, Searching

...and the best ya come up with is mister anchovy's. Har!

cabbage rolls newfoundland - needs no words
hollywood's stagg underground - your one-stop shop
Howlin john - RIP old friend
snow removal vacation toronto - and we're getting more tomorrow
blog blues john hammond - sometimes I get the blog blues
angola prison pictures - must be the rodeo
Rolling Cabbage Rolls - I can't do it like mom could
history of los Embajadores Vallenatos - cumbia cumbia cumbia
Lego Zombies - excellent name for an accordion band
recipes from the neeleys - baby took a limo to memphis
the musical box cameras allowed? massey hall - yep
cabbage, anchovy - what were they thinking?
lego chess - this one keeps coming back
MISTER WANKER - now, now
vibrandoneon - is just a fancy melodica
managers test lion king - throw who to the lions
mylodica - is a wooden melodica
black mountain rag - sounds so sweet
nazaré - has a lovely beach
stagg drums - send secret messages

Recording

We recorded the last tune for our wee CD project tonight. It's a fast Cajun waltz, but we're not playing exactly Cajun-like. I play the melody on my old Hohner and J accompanies on piano accordion, recorded with the two instruments playing together. We had planned to add triangle, but our triangle player wasn't available. Next time, we'll figure out the order for the songs.

Black Mountain Rag

I've been thinking about trying to learn some fiddle tunes on the triple row diatonic accordion, something I really haven't messed about with much before. I play a couple Cajun pieces that would often be played with fiddle and the single row Cajun accordion together, but that isn't quite the same thing. Today, I was surfing around on youtube and came across this delighful video featuring Doc Watson talking about learning fiddle tunes on the guitar, then showing us just how it's done. I have a real soft spot for Doc Watson. I hope you all enjoy this one.

Oldies But Goodies

Here are a couple of very old shots taken of Rossland in January, 1932. My thanks to Mr. J. Albo of the Rossland Curling Association for allowing me to borrow the photos and scan them into my computer.

The first picture was taken right downtown, with Mount Roberts in the background. If you look closely to the lower right of the mountain and just visible above left of the rather enormous snowbank, you can just make out the Silver Star Mine buildings, which are no longer there.


These pictures were obviously taken before we had skookum snow removal like we do now, including a couple of graders and a duo of large snowblowers similar to this nice yellow beast.
A little noisy, but efficient. We no longer have humungous snowbanks like those hanging out downtown.

This second photo was taken from the top of Columbia Ave. near the hospital, which has been closed many years now and has been renovated into some fancy condos. (Personally, I wouldn't buy a condo that had once been part of a hospital...A little creepy. I spent time in that hospital when I was seven and had my appendix out. My mother also had her appendix out there.)


Again, Mount Roberts predominates, Record Ridge just to the left and you can just see the peak of Old Glory to the right.

Tonight

We're off to see Steve Earle at Massey Hall

Catching up

We lost our cousin Kevin on the weekend. I was very fond of Kevin, a fellow who walked a difficult path through life, but kept his humour and his love for his family intact throughout. He died at his brother's house, in an environment a million times better than any hospital, surrounded by the people who loved him best. Kevin was just 55.

__________________________________________________________


Saturday night, we attended the Snow Ball, the gala fundraiser for Casey House. For those who don't know, Casey House is the AIDS hospice in Toronto founded by June Callwood,twenty years ago. Although these many years later, AIDS patients are living longer and better, sadly we don't have a cure yet for this terrible disease.

___________________________________________________________


Early this morning, I heard the news that Jeff Healey died, at the young age of 41, of cancer. Mr. Healey was a brilliant musician, a guitar player, and also a trumpet player. He made his mark as a rockin blues musician, but in my view really came into his own as a jazz musician, playing the jazz of the 1920s. He will also be remembered for the radio series he did about 20s jazz - fantastic show.

The Rules of Bureaucracy

1. Preserve thyself.

2. It is easier to fix the blame than to fix the problem.

3. A penny saved is an oversight.

4. Information deteriorates upward.

5. The first 90% of the task takes 90% of the time; the last 10% takes the other 90%.

6. Experience is what you get just after you need it.

7. For any given large, complex, hard-to-understand, expensive problem, there exists at least one short, simple, easy, cheap wrong answer.

8. Anything that can be changed will be, until time runs out.

9. To err is human; to shrug is civil service.

10. There's never enough time to do it right, but there's always enough time to do it over.

Cougar pictures

Our cats secretly wish they looked like these.

via The Presurfer, home of interesting stuff.

Buddy Miles RIP

Drummer Buddy Miles died on Tuesday at age 60. Mr. Miles played with Jimi Hendrix's Band of Gypsies from 1969 until Hendrix died in 1970. He was very well recorded as a sideman for many blues and rock performers over the years. Several years ago, Tuffy P and enjoyed his live band at Buddy Guy's Legends in Chicago. It was a fabulous show of tough blues.