Pat Bythe – Saying Goodbye…and Music!

A blank page. I’m staring at a blank page. (ok, not anymore). A few words have appeared. It’s not the dearth of things to write about, it’s the overabundance.

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 – Mixed Nuts…..

Laying low for the past several days and finally, the cold has been beaten down. Not too much cavorting around the club circuit this past week. However, there are a few things I’ve had twigging around in the back of my cranium…..

Pat Blythe – A Wedding, A Jam, A Concert (or two) and Indie Week Wrap-up

I’m going to start calling this column Pat’s Diary (nope, too blah), or maybe Zippy’s Musical Journey, or maybe….My Life As A Crazy Lady…..  Welcome to my world of music, pictures, and general mayhem. So we begin another 10 days of zipping (get it haha) around this wonderful city of ours enjoying the nightlife. I’m starting backwards…..

Pat Blythe – Much Music, Pics and Other Stories…..

Baby’s got a new camera!!!! Chris’s camera finally bit the dust….shutter is stuck in the closed position, the “motherboard” is cooked. Ahhh….the digital age. ….and yet, his two 31-year-old “analogue” Nikons are in perfect working order. Complete with two motor drives, three lenses and a flash. Pop in a film canister and away we go. Planned obsolescence? Good question. Same goes for cars, major and minor appliances….just about everything we use today is all run by computer, and yes, computers run out of gas. That brain we call the motherboard, well….she just stops firing on all cylinders, or maybe, shoots off the wrong command. Her synapses aren’t synapsing (so to speak). I then found out today (being Tuesday) that digital cameras actually have an internal “odometer”. There are only so many pics that can (or should) be taken, then….sputter, sputter….you’re shooting on a wing and a prayer. Those aforementioned Nikons? Odometer? I think not. There is truly something to be said for analogue, vinyl, cassettes, 45s, my mom’s wash machine, stuff that was made to last a lifetime…..literally.

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: Keeping the music alive…one “note” at a time

It has indeed been a busy summer for everyone. 2016 has been a peculiar, curious and rather dramatic year. A year of extreme change, upheavals, death, excessive busyness, new connections, sheer stupidity, life transformations and adjustments — nothing has been minor. It’s all been “in our faces”, screaming and shouting at us, begging us to take notice, pleading with us to address whatever is coming at us.  I think many will be glad to see the back end of 2016 and look forward with hope to 2017. No, this is not a ‘year-end’ column, just a bit of reflection on the summer that seemingly whizzed by and all that happened in just that short timeframe.

Pat Blythe – Summertime Blues

We’re back!!!! Tales from the city….clubs, parks and more birthday festivities. Speaking of birthdays, I swear everyone was born between June 1 and September 1. Growing up my birthday was always sort of tagging along at the end….a fall baby. All my friends celebrated anywhere from March through to August but it as especially busy during the summer months.

Pat Blythe – Life and loss…..

I’m trying to figure out where old sod goes to die. Messing around in my backyard over the weekend and I have several rolls of unusable sod that weigh a ton. Leftovers from last year. Small house, small yard still equals “big” work. Gorgeous weather though….dinner on the patio of my local Italian restaurant, Casa di Giorgio, Saturday night. Some of my favourite people work there… Cathy, Christina, Pam and Ted (the owner). Great food and great people!

Pat Blythe – A Few Summer Songs and…Celtic Reggae?

Three Tuesdays in a row!!!! Me, my laptop and “the” column. It’s gonna be another late night…..again.