My Dad died when I was 14 and I've been thinking about him a lot lately. I'm not sure if this is the place for this, but I wanted to write something for him.
I wish you had known me as an adult. I wish I could have seen something of me in you and maybe you would have seen something of you in me.
I wish you could have known my Wife and met your Grandaughter. I would have loved to hear her call you Granddad.
I wish we could have gone for a pint. Sat outside at the pub at the bottom of the hill in Gorebridge on a sunny day.
I wish we could have played more golf and I wish I could have seen your face when I finally beat you for the first time.
I wish I could have picked you up and driven you somewhere.
I wish you could have stayed at my house. Sat on the porch in the summer and watched the world go by.
I wish I could have shared more with you. Sent you CDs of the music I'd been listening to and played you some of my songs.
I miss you Dad.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Magical Massey Hall
Yesterday I picked up Neil Young live at Massey Hall, 1971.
When I bought it Mike (of Mike's Music on the Danforth) told me that he realised that Massey Hall has a sound all of it's own and he's right. Massey Hall, as I have said before on this blog, is a truly wonderful place. It has all kinds of pillars and seating obstructions, the gallery has uncomfortable, cramped bench seating and yet the sound is simply amazing.
On this album, recorded just before the release of Harvest, Neil plays an acoustic guitar and a piano. What really gets me is that introduces the "new" songs and then plays what would become classics like Old Man, A Man Needs a Maid and Heart of Gold. To have been at that show and heard those songs for the first time must have been an incredible experience.
Neil had already moved to the states when he recorded this record but you can tell the Canadian connection is still strong. Any mention of Canada raises cheers from the audience. Neil tells stories and explains the songs as he restlessly picks his guitar between songs.
I can't recommend this one enough. Next up for us at Massey Hall is Damien Rice on May 18th and if Damien fancies releasing a live album sometime soon, it might be the perfect night for recording one.
When I bought it Mike (of Mike's Music on the Danforth) told me that he realised that Massey Hall has a sound all of it's own and he's right. Massey Hall, as I have said before on this blog, is a truly wonderful place. It has all kinds of pillars and seating obstructions, the gallery has uncomfortable, cramped bench seating and yet the sound is simply amazing.
On this album, recorded just before the release of Harvest, Neil plays an acoustic guitar and a piano. What really gets me is that introduces the "new" songs and then plays what would become classics like Old Man, A Man Needs a Maid and Heart of Gold. To have been at that show and heard those songs for the first time must have been an incredible experience.
Neil had already moved to the states when he recorded this record but you can tell the Canadian connection is still strong. Any mention of Canada raises cheers from the audience. Neil tells stories and explains the songs as he restlessly picks his guitar between songs.
I can't recommend this one enough. Next up for us at Massey Hall is Damien Rice on May 18th and if Damien fancies releasing a live album sometime soon, it might be the perfect night for recording one.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
A slow start.....but it's getting better
So I've been waiting and waiting and waiting for 2007 to get going musically. Sure there have been some great discoveries so far this year, but most of it is 2006 stuff that I missed and went back to.
However finally there are some 2007 releases worth mentioning.
1st up (and album of the year so far) - Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat
This is a solo album from one of the Arab Strap guys, but it's unexpectadly upbeat in everything apart from the lyrics. Songs like "We are all going to die" and "Death Love Depression Death" don't leave you expecting a good time but some of these tunes are out right pop music. My favourite track is the closer "Superhero Songwriters" which is like a demented 7 minute Bond theme tune sung in his thick Falkirk accent. If it's not the final track on my album of the year this year, I will be very suprised.
Next, and a bit more mainstream is The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
It took me a while to get into the first Arcade Fire record and it was the same here. I really prefer them when they are on the lighter side of things ("Keep the car running" and "Antichrist Television Blues" are my 2 favourite tracks here), but overall it's a great 2nd album and I do love good Canadian music.
Patty Griffin - "Children Running Through"
This is a lovely album from a great songwriter. A little bit folk, a little bit country and a little bit rock'n'roll.
I'm sure there are more to come.
However finally there are some 2007 releases worth mentioning.
1st up (and album of the year so far) - Malcolm Middleton - A Brighter Beat
This is a solo album from one of the Arab Strap guys, but it's unexpectadly upbeat in everything apart from the lyrics. Songs like "We are all going to die" and "Death Love Depression Death" don't leave you expecting a good time but some of these tunes are out right pop music. My favourite track is the closer "Superhero Songwriters" which is like a demented 7 minute Bond theme tune sung in his thick Falkirk accent. If it's not the final track on my album of the year this year, I will be very suprised.
Next, and a bit more mainstream is The Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
It took me a while to get into the first Arcade Fire record and it was the same here. I really prefer them when they are on the lighter side of things ("Keep the car running" and "Antichrist Television Blues" are my 2 favourite tracks here), but overall it's a great 2nd album and I do love good Canadian music.
Patty Griffin - "Children Running Through"
This is a lovely album from a great songwriter. A little bit folk, a little bit country and a little bit rock'n'roll.
I'm sure there are more to come.
Monday, March 19, 2007
There their ther
I think it's time we revised the English language. It's time we got rid of some of those stupid rules and simplified the whole thing.
What am I talking about?
Let's start with the title of this post. Why is there two different versions of their?
I know it's to distinguish between "Hey you over there!" and "Hey, that's not yours, it's theirs!", but really, doesn't the context of the word tell you all the info you need to know. Lets just make it "ther". Simple
In the same vein, let's talk the ei and ie nonsense. Why does ei in "their" make the sound e? e makes that sound all on it's own, there is no need for the i. And why is it sometimes ie and sometimes ei. The before c rule is just stupid and even if you want to use it, why does the letter c change the use of ie or ei?
For some reason I couldn't spell the word "choir" recentley and I worked out why. The word "choir" should have a q in it. It's definitely a q sound, and yet there is no q? I kept writing quire, but no, for some reason the letters "ch" make a "q" sound when put before "oir".
I no ther will be lots of sticklers out ther for tradition, but onestly, lets think about it. Ther is no reason for it. Lets sit down and make some sensible rools that are easy.
What am I talking about?
Let's start with the title of this post. Why is there two different versions of their?
I know it's to distinguish between "Hey you over there!" and "Hey, that's not yours, it's theirs!", but really, doesn't the context of the word tell you all the info you need to know. Lets just make it "ther". Simple
In the same vein, let's talk the ei and ie nonsense. Why does ei in "their" make the sound e? e makes that sound all on it's own, there is no need for the i. And why is it sometimes ie and sometimes ei. The before c rule is just stupid and even if you want to use it, why does the letter c change the use of ie or ei?
For some reason I couldn't spell the word "choir" recentley and I worked out why. The word "choir" should have a q in it. It's definitely a q sound, and yet there is no q? I kept writing quire, but no, for some reason the letters "ch" make a "q" sound when put before "oir".
I no ther will be lots of sticklers out ther for tradition, but onestly, lets think about it. Ther is no reason for it. Lets sit down and make some sensible rools that are easy.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Getting to know you...
So I've now spent some quality time with the new PC and things have got a whole lot better. I'm still a little pissed that the printer wouldn't connect but we'll buy a new printer (they're pretty cheap really) and move on.
So what's new with Vista?
Well on the face of it, not a whole lot really. It looks pretty much the same as XP with all the icons in the same places and nothing to radically different. One of the coolest things is the way the folder icons look. They are open file folders with enough of the file showing inside to go give you a hint of what's in it. For music, this means when I burn a CD, the media player finds the artwork and leaves the album cover sticking out the file. All cosmetic but still, it actually looks really cool.
The way it handles Media in general is a big improvement. There is a media centre on the start menu which is a one stop shop for all your picture, music and movie needs. You can edit pictures, burn CDs, and even make movies complete with credits and editing effects.
The biggest thing for us really is having a PC that has some speed to it. Our last computer was great - it was cheap and reliable (up until 2 weeks ago) but it was never the Carl Lewis of the PC world. It chugged and hummed it's way through stuff and didn't take to multitasking to well. It also only had 2 usb ports, so I had both a splitter and a USB extension to connect of all of our stuff through. Not a problem anymore as we have ample USB ports and can happily download music and surf the web at the same time! We also have 150Gb more hard drive space than we did before.
So overall I think we are going to be friends.
Hasta la vista baby.
So what's new with Vista?
Well on the face of it, not a whole lot really. It looks pretty much the same as XP with all the icons in the same places and nothing to radically different. One of the coolest things is the way the folder icons look. They are open file folders with enough of the file showing inside to go give you a hint of what's in it. For music, this means when I burn a CD, the media player finds the artwork and leaves the album cover sticking out the file. All cosmetic but still, it actually looks really cool.
The way it handles Media in general is a big improvement. There is a media centre on the start menu which is a one stop shop for all your picture, music and movie needs. You can edit pictures, burn CDs, and even make movies complete with credits and editing effects.
The biggest thing for us really is having a PC that has some speed to it. Our last computer was great - it was cheap and reliable (up until 2 weeks ago) but it was never the Carl Lewis of the PC world. It chugged and hummed it's way through stuff and didn't take to multitasking to well. It also only had 2 usb ports, so I had both a splitter and a USB extension to connect of all of our stuff through. Not a problem anymore as we have ample USB ports and can happily download music and surf the web at the same time! We also have 150Gb more hard drive space than we did before.
So overall I think we are going to be friends.
Hasta la vista baby.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Vista
So our old but much loved PC finally packed it in a couple of weeks ago leaving us looking for options.
We decided it was finally time to get a semi-decent home system and after some advice opted for the Dell Dimension E520. It's a nice silver Dell and we have a new 17 inch LCD monitor which is great.
The main issue with the thing is that it comes with brand spanking new Vista, which on the face of it should be good. Lots of really cool new features and hopefully very easy to use. The problem is that I now have to try and configure all our external devices to work with the new OS and now I find not everything is compatible. The main thing here is our Canon F20 printer. A copier/scanner/printer that's only a couple of years old, but isn't compatible with Vista and Canon has no plans to make it so.
I have to say that really sucks. I'm learning to hate the word "driver" as everytime I plug something into the PC, Vista pops up with "Searching for new driver" message and you've just got to cross your fingers and hope it finds one. I did manage to get the webcam and the digital camera working and I got my ipod and itunes up ok, so not all is lost but I do wish our old PC had lasted just a few months longer so that Vista might have had some of the creases ironed out.
We decided it was finally time to get a semi-decent home system and after some advice opted for the Dell Dimension E520. It's a nice silver Dell and we have a new 17 inch LCD monitor which is great.
The main issue with the thing is that it comes with brand spanking new Vista, which on the face of it should be good. Lots of really cool new features and hopefully very easy to use. The problem is that I now have to try and configure all our external devices to work with the new OS and now I find not everything is compatible. The main thing here is our Canon F20 printer. A copier/scanner/printer that's only a couple of years old, but isn't compatible with Vista and Canon has no plans to make it so.
I have to say that really sucks. I'm learning to hate the word "driver" as everytime I plug something into the PC, Vista pops up with "Searching for new driver" message and you've just got to cross your fingers and hope it finds one. I did manage to get the webcam and the digital camera working and I got my ipod and itunes up ok, so not all is lost but I do wish our old PC had lasted just a few months longer so that Vista might have had some of the creases ironed out.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Tipping
There are somethings that North America just got wrong. There's not much that can be done about it now, it started wrong and it's just going to keep on going, being wrong.
Tipping is one of these things and here is why.
Service should be included whenever it is provided. The staff that are providing that service should be paid properly for their job and a consequence of not providing good enough service will be eventually losing your job. That's how it works for me in my job and that's probably how it works for you.
I can't imagine anybody expecting someone to give me a % of their ticket price, in order for me to provide better service. It's ridiculous when looked at in certain jobs but not in others.
Here's another thing I don't understand. If I go into a bar and order fries and gravy for say $3, I'll give them less than a dollar tip, but if I go in again and get the steak I'll end up tipping alot more. Why? It's excatly the same amount of work to to get the fries as it is to get the steak. If anybody should be paid more it's the chef, but wait, the food costs more so you have to think that's already taken into account.
It get's even crazier when you are tipping cab drivers or barbers who are providing nothing but service. So you are paying for a service and paying a % on top of that to make sure you get good service? Madness.
Now, I tip. I understand that these people get paid less, etc, etc. All I'm saying is that it's wrong and although it never will, it should change.
Tipping is one of these things and here is why.
Service should be included whenever it is provided. The staff that are providing that service should be paid properly for their job and a consequence of not providing good enough service will be eventually losing your job. That's how it works for me in my job and that's probably how it works for you.
I can't imagine anybody expecting someone to give me a % of their ticket price, in order for me to provide better service. It's ridiculous when looked at in certain jobs but not in others.
Here's another thing I don't understand. If I go into a bar and order fries and gravy for say $3, I'll give them less than a dollar tip, but if I go in again and get the steak I'll end up tipping alot more. Why? It's excatly the same amount of work to to get the fries as it is to get the steak. If anybody should be paid more it's the chef, but wait, the food costs more so you have to think that's already taken into account.
It get's even crazier when you are tipping cab drivers or barbers who are providing nothing but service. So you are paying for a service and paying a % on top of that to make sure you get good service? Madness.
Now, I tip. I understand that these people get paid less, etc, etc. All I'm saying is that it's wrong and although it never will, it should change.
Tragically Hip
The Tragically Hip have never really made it outside of Canada. When I 1st started working at Tower Records, somebody was astonished when I had to get help finding their section in the store.
The band are either loved or hated by most Canadians that I've met, however I think that every Canadian has to respect this band. So much of Canadian life is influenced (and how could it not be) by the USA. How tempting must it be for a band to sell out and start trying to write songs for the US market?
Not so the Hip. This is a band that writes loves songs referencing hockey. One of my all time favourite lyrics is:
If there's a goal that everyone remembers it was back in ol' 72
We all squeezed the stick and we all pulled the trigger
And all I remember was sitting beside you
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr
Magical stuff.
The band are either loved or hated by most Canadians that I've met, however I think that every Canadian has to respect this band. So much of Canadian life is influenced (and how could it not be) by the USA. How tempting must it be for a band to sell out and start trying to write songs for the US market?
Not so the Hip. This is a band that writes loves songs referencing hockey. One of my all time favourite lyrics is:
If there's a goal that everyone remembers it was back in ol' 72
We all squeezed the stick and we all pulled the trigger
And all I remember was sitting beside you
You said you didn't give a fuck about hockey
And I never saw someone say that before
You held my hand and we walked home the long way
You were loosening my grip on Bobby Orr
Magical stuff.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
