Pat Blythe – We’re engaged!….films….a cruise….and music

NEWS FLASH!!!! ….and I’m so excited. Elated…..ecstatic actually. I’ve been buzzing around flashing “the picture”. So many congratulations on FB. You know that little dance you do in one spot while laughing and squealing….the five-year-old in you busting out….well that’s what I’ve been doing. Yesiree…..I am welcoming another daughter into the family. Thom finally popped the question over the weekend while away with his lady love, in the middles of the St. Lawrence River (on an island) and #isaidoui is now trending. It took Chris six years to propose….it took Thom three. A slight improvement (grin).

The centrepiece of the ring is my birthstone, a blue sapphire and a gift from Chris for my 40^th birthday. Its original setting was a ring made specially to “lock in” with my wedding band. Now it begins its journey as a family heirloom. I am a bit verklempt.

Pat Blythe – CMW: Not Quite a Wrap …and Music!

I am incredibly late in starting this column. Like…..super super late. It’s been so busy during the past three weeks there’s barely been time to think. There is so much I want to share but not all of today. Suffice to say this will be my CMW “not quite a wrap”. Arriving back in Toronto from London I dove right into the nightlife of Toronto…..and of course some cruising and schmoozing (and jujube nibbling) at CMW central, The Sheraton Centre. Daytime activities are easy to manoeuvre but co-ordinating your CMW nightlife…..that’s a whole different game.

Pat Blythe – The Mariposa Experience….Part Three…..Eddie Bullen….a Hootenanny and More…..

It’s been a busy Tuesday. It’s the last day with my daughter Colleen. A cappuccino and croissant at Zane’s, the local bakery, and then she’s off to catch her 1:30pm train back to Ottawa after a five-day stay here. At the end of the month it’s back to Thailand for her until summer next year. Later, at precisely 4pm it was tea time.  I enjoyed the company of a friend over for a “British” tea of Welsh cakes, crumpets and Yorkshire Red. What is it about sharing a cuppa….the comfortable, companionable feeling you get whilst draining your second or third cup (or pot) and having a lovely chat. It’s oh so……..British…….and oh so relaxing. It’s the best way to catch up or get to know someone. Will that be one lump or two…….?

Pat Blythe – The Blushing Brides and Smooth Jazz

Holy summer!!! The weather is simply gorgeous. Warm and sunny….Mother Nature has apparently had a relapse or she’s feeling a bit guilty about the rather insipid summer we just…..I don’t know…..experienced?  Let’s see…..what else…..day-to-day shit you don’t need to hear about but I will say this, the homemade grape jelly IS AWESOME!!!! Made from my own concord grapes, the vines are now 20 years old. Every year it’s a battle between me and the urban wildlife. Just who plucks the most grapes? The ones left behind or dropped from the vines eventually ferment, providing the neighbourhood with a little late night comical relief as the raccoons waltz about, stumbling and bumbling until they flop over in a deep slumber. The following night is unusually quiet as they nurse their hangovers.

Pat Blythe – It’s March, it’s Music, it’s Mayhem…..

What in tarnation is going on with the world?! Just which planet is in retrograde this month??? We have Orange Man spewing idiocies south of the 49th; supposed Russian collusion in the White House; Samsung (one of South Korea’s largest companies and Apple’s biggest competition) working the PR (and denial) machine as their chief-cook-and-bottle-washer Lee Jae-yong is about to be indicted for bribery, embezzlement and corruption along with four more Samsung executives; a right cock-up at the Oscars; an extremely temperamental and indecisive Mother Nature here in Ontario (shorts and sandals one day, snow the next); friends falling like bowling pins to a rather nasty flu/cold bug creeping around, (and this one comes back to haunt you if you’re not careful); an accused abuser wins a Best Actor Oscar.

Pat Blythe – Jazz and Around Town

It’s so quiet in the house you can almost hear it…..the quiet I mean. The steady tick of the clock, the occasional gurgle of the hot water radiator and the hum of complete stillness. The outside world seems so far away, almost non-existent. As I sit typing this it’s like I’m on the inside looking out….a rather surreal feeling….like one of those movie scenes where the person is standing still  and everything else is whizzing and swirling by at record speed. Watching and waiting. A sense of calm yet anticipatory. Of what I don’t know.

Pat Blythe – Ginger Ale, Fat As Fuck and Freeman Dre…how’s that for a headline?

Enjoying today (Tuesday). Playing hooky from the computer for a while. 27 degrees out! and last time I checked the date it was mid-October. No coat, no sweater, no closed-toed shoes….wonderful. The cold will arrive soon enough so enjoy these gorgeous days while you can.

Pat Blythe – Wednesday, June 29….

Well, this weekly “journal” style of writing has been thoroughly enjoyable and I love bringing everyone along to the clubs and festivals with me and my trusty camera. It’s 6am on a Wednesday morning and I’m back to the beginning of this column. The original beginning sucked. Seal has just finished playing Kiss From A Rose and Journey has just begun. I pick up my new vehicle this morning and then enjoy a repast with my son Aarron this afternoon. A new day has begun all bright and shiny with the sun beginning its daily trip across the amazing shade of blue we call the sky. I sit here and wonder what the next 24 hours will bring. It’s always full of lovely surprises. ….and here’s another….Barry White is next and then Steppenwolf blasting through my speaker soooo….on with the week. I wonder what will be playing when I finish this column?