Pat Blythe – Musings…..thanks…..a few shows…..and music

Is it me, or are the days and weeks running into each other? It feels like I just finished a column and here I am writing another…..albeit late as usual. Today was one of those days where you just seem to bounce from one thing to the next. A 3am bedtime call after spending hours editing today’s podcast, was not conducive to an early morning rise, simply to rush downtown and open my maw for the dentist. Two hours later and I feel like my mouth has received the white glove treatment. Mr. Clean and the Lysol Lady have thoroughly cleaned and sanitized my mouth. Everything is now shipshape and spotless…..just don’t eat. It’s kind of like after your mom cleaned, tidied and dusted the living room. You couldn’t sit anywhere!

Pat Blythe – ONES, The LaMagna Cartel, Jully Black and …Music!

A Philosophic Moment….

Here we are…..right where we’re supposed to be. Precisely at this spot…..in this instant….this moment in time. Think about it. I’m sitting here typing away. Sometime later today or tomorrow, you’re sitting there reading what I am now typing, while I’m already doing something else. Now, look up and let your eyes roam around. What do you see? I’ll tell you what I see? I see a life that has unfolded and significantly changed over the past five years. I see my kitchen, the twinkle lights, the coffee and tea supplies waiting patiently…. I see my kitchen witch on her broom bringing me luck and the bookcase holding all my cookbooks…..the last thing Chris built for me. I see the sweet potatoes and pears, lounging on their plate until it’s time for the soup pot. I see my drums, piano and guitar……a big comfy couch. I see the home I’ve created and welcomes all who enter. I see my fingers on a keyboard typing inanities and loving every minute of it. How does it make me feel?  Happy! I do indeed love my life and all those who have become a part of it. So, as you read this, stop, wherever you are, at this exact instant (your instant in time), take a moment to look around. What do you see? How do you feel? Be Here Now.

Pat Blythe – Christmas past, NYC, John Harris, N’we Jinan…and Music!

My house looks like Santa barfed up an entire Christmas store. Lights, decorations, bibs and bobs scattered about, the decorating a work in progress and I haven’t even purchased the tree yet! Chris use to chide me on the amount of Christmas paraphernalia I had accumulated over the years so I decided one year to use the minimalist approach. A week before Christmas day Chris asked me when I was going to decorate? Ya can’t win…. So, five containers, an extensive Santa Claus collection and a couple of supplementary boxes heaved up from the basement, I am now sussing and sorting, banging nails, climbing ladders, walking on the counter to get to the top of the cabinets….letting no space go “unChristmased”. Even my musical Charlie Brown Christmas Tree is back in its place of honour.

Roxanne Tellier – Pick a Future…Any Future

When I say that I am a voracious reader, I’m not exaggerating. In any given week I will get through about seven books, a slew of daily newspapers, and a bunch of junky magazines I drag home from the supermarket because I feel too guilty to just read them while standing in line to pay for my groceries.

Roxanne Tellier – Arlene Bishop & The Spirit of Adventure

It’s that time of year, dagnabbit! As many of my favourite network political comedy series go on hiatus until next year, and Keith Olbermann calls it quits on his Youtube Resistance series, it’s harder than ever to find the funny in the funk.

And at this point –  if it didn’t happen and get reported in the last 24 hours, it’s old news anyway.

Rather than spend hours sadly and fruitlessly seeking out something positive on the political front, I’ve decided to turn my powers to good, and bring to your attention some worthy local musical talent.

After all, Christmas is coming, and what better way is there to show your love -and incredibly good taste – than by sharing a delightful, hot off the press, musical slice of Canadiana?

Pat Blythe – The Melodious Stories of Ember Swift

Well….September has arrived!! Sunny, cloudy, sunny and cloudy, rainy, cool, hot, muggy, humid, COLD!, sleep naked, nope…..need socks, air conditioner on, off, on again, dehumidifier in overdrive some days (that was all just June & July). Summer seems to have vanished in a heartbeat without ever having really “arrived”. Now it’s back to school and back to work.

Pat Blythe – The Stories Behind the Songs Part 4….

It’s a miserable, cold, sodden, rainy, pathetically dreary, rather dismal night. Moisture and freezing temperatures will create your very own skating rink on the sidewalk, front lawn and even the roadway. I look out the window and see everything enveloped in ice. Jane Harbury had very kindly invited me down to her Discoveries series at Tranzac tonight but between prior commitments and the weather, my ass is safely ensconced on the couch writing this. I have one artificial hip…..I don’t need two and I’d prefer to keep any modicum of dignity intact.

Pat Blythe – Discoveries and Julian Taylor

The days are getting shorter, the air is cooler…actually downright cold in the evening. Boots, gloves, toques and scarves are appearing and I’ve finally sucked it up and put the heat on. Warm-to-the-feet bathroom floors are just lovely in the morning. Halloween approaches, American Thanksgiving and then (dare I say)…..oh shush…..Christmas!!!!…73 shopping days left folks!!!

Pat Blythe: Solstice, Petty and Beer

The days are just flying by and we’ve already reached the longest day of the year. Now the days start to get just a teeny, tiny bit shorter but we don’t start to notice it until sometime late August….it just kinda creeps up on you. And so the cycle continues. I contend the longest day shouldn’t be until summer is over but that’s a discussion I need to have with Mother Nature and quite, frankly, I think she’s a little pissed with how we’ve been treating Gaia. I’ll hold off for another day

Pat Blythe – Seems Like Only Yesterday….

Jesse Winchester, a performer, singer, song writer, a gentle man who influenced many….a man who’s music touched many and a man who is greatly missed. “Jesse Winchester was so talented a singer and songwriter that Bob Dylan said of him, “You can’t talk about the best songwriters and not include him.” His songs, overflowing with images and emotions from his own life, were recorded by singers such as Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, Joan Baez, Jimmy Buffett, James Taylor and Emmylou Harris.”