Pat Blythe – SING! Toronto, Jeff Jones Trio and …Music!

I am still in awe of what happens every time I step out the door whether it’s for a walk, head to a club, meet a friend for a meal, hop in the vehicle and drive….somewhere, photograph a festival, have a random conversation with someone you just met…..something totally unexpected invariably transpires, something I was totally unprepared for. Whether I’m learning it or experiencing it at least it’s consistent. Standing back and studying the broader picture I find there are a hundred million large and teeny tiny connections, that, as the universe unfolds and does its thing, links us all together. Whether it’s a person, a concert, a band, a type of music, an experience, a friend of a friend, we are all our own “six degrees of separation”. I find it all rather fascinating……and I’m still in awe.

Roxanne Tellier: – Smarm and Self-Righteousness Rule 2013

History will not be kind to the memory of 2013. It was a year of meanness and spite from people in power, and a deepening of resentment towards politicians, as the ever present surveillance and social media exposed every little thing people never wanted known. As they say, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing … a lot of knowledge is Facebook.

JAIMIE VERNON – The Best 2013 I’ve Ever Had

Our editor-in-chief, Bob Segarini, mandated a year end 2013 ‘Best and Worst’ list from the Don’t Believe A Word I Say scribes for this week. For me lists like this are an eternal yawn. I mean do you really, truly care what someone else thinks about stuff – particularly when we’ve all lived through the same year as everyone else?

JAIMIE VERNON – DEATH BECOMES US

It’s been 48 hours since the legend that was Nelson Mandela passed. Or rather, the extraordinary human being that gave us a legend for the ages. The Earth is now orphaned by the loss of the father of freedom.

The three great milestones of “HOPE” (and I’m not talking about the Obamahope) in my lifetime have been the collapse of the Soviet Union, the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, and the release of Nelson Mandela from a South African jail after spending more than a 1/4 of his life behind bars.