Pat Blythe – Technology vexations…..and a tune or two

This will be a very short column this week. I am facing serious technological challenges and limitations. To call the past few days frustrating is an extreme understatement! Being without my third arm (or second brain) is akin to a floundering fish gasping for water. In my case, I’m gasping for my laptop. I am lost and bereft without it, and the tiny screen of my phone doesn’t cut it. It sounds ridiculous I know, but when absolutely EVERYTHING we do is dependent on technology, when we don’t have access to it, it become a crisis of world proportions.

Pat Blythe – Where do we go from here? ……and music

Throughout the past two years we’ve all tried to predict, guess, envisage, calculate, even hope what the future of music will be, once we are no longer struggling and fighting this global pandemic. We have been living in a world that seems surreal…..like a bad dream you wish you could wake up from, just by rubbing your eyes. That anything like this could happen in the 21^st century seems rather absurd and unbelievable. Thing is…..it did. We are not impervious, but we are arrogant in thinking that we are. Lately, events have proven that we still have a long way to go. There remains, in all parts of the world, a whole level of uneducated obtuseness that exists even after we’ve heard from Archimedes, Aristotle, Galileo, Isaac Newton, Einstein, Stephen Hawking and their ilk. Baby…..we have a looooong way to go.

Pat Blythe – Indie Week…..Julian Taylor….podcasting……and music

I’m missing the live music, the clubs…..but most of all the people. It’s been two years now since I’ve trolled Toronto’s club scene, traveled with the ONES show and visited the many stages of the various festivals in Ontario. I loved it all….every second of it! I met some of the most incredible people, heard some fantastic music, and was honoured to a part of a scene I had been away from for so long. I made new friends (and lost a few), learned new skills, and was gifted with the opportunity to write this column…..it was a whirlwind six years. Then Covid decided to rain on our parade. The Pandemic Interviews allowed me to stay connected to many of the musicians I met during those five years.

Pat Blythe- Catch up…..Christmas kiboshed…..and music

This week’s column is a bit of a mish mash. It’s been six weeks since my last writing and so much has happened (or not happened)! Where to begin?? Let’s see….another variant tanking Christmas and New Year’s Eve for so many of us; a giant roast turkey all dressed up with nowhere to go; dating my couch; a quiet but lovely New Year’s Eve; Christmas decorations still hanging about, and the storage bins to put away; the closing of “indoor damn near everything”; back to dating my couch, but now we’ve got a threesome going with the fridge…..yep, so much has happened!

Pat Blythe – England, a surprise…..and Christmas music

I’m supposed to be writing a column today (Tuesday). I almost forgot. Not because I don’t like writing (I love it), I’m in the middle of a swarm of projects, and it currently looks like Christmas exploded all over my house. As well, getting back into my former world of telecom is akin to performing the Highland Sword Dance which involves finesse, footwork and a delicate balance, making sure you don’t touch the swords. Now that it’s “end of year” for most businesses, the almost palpable whoosh of calendars rapidly opening has generated a ripple effect creating a tsunami of meetings and conference calls. “Man the decks…..it’s everyone for themselves!”

Pat Blythe – Today’s column is brought to you by……and music

That one just popped into my head as I’ve just finished posting this week’s podcast.  I’m now 36 podcasts in, 36 conversations, 36 artist voices, 1,100 downloads, 29 followers and over 3,000 “listens”. People from all over the world including Australia, Europe, UAE, South America, the U.S. and Canada have been tuning in.  The purpose was to check in with local artists. As a neophyte podcaster, I had no expectations. Ten downloads made me happy to know someone was listening. Even though I’m still small potatoes, it’s like the little engine that could….it keeps growing by leaps and bounds. Still a guppy in the ocean of podcasts; but folks ARE listening and the music is being shared.

Pat Blythe – The productive years…..and “bewitching” music

I came across an article, Between 65 and Death, a couple of years ago, and for some reason kept it. Now that I’ve very recently earned this distinctive “honour” of attaining this magical number (and a government pension), the article popped up again when I was searching for something else. I’m not going to quote the entire piece here, but looking back at those 65 years, man I did a lot!!! A very rich life, full of ups and downs (and some of those ups were worth a whole passel of downs), was crammed into those years. Would I change a thing? In all honesty there are one or two things I’d like to go back and tweak. Do I have regrets? Nope! Well, maybe one…..I never have managed to meet Roger Taylor….yet!

Pat Blythe – Remembering a life……and music

It’s been a flurry of activity over the past couple of weeks. Thanksgiving was wonderful! I finally had my boys and their wives over dinner…..first time in a very long time. Of course, loads of leftovers which made their way to new homes. Homemade turkey soup dealt with most of the remains. Working on a new podcast project, which is finally gaining some legs (at least up to the knees anyway), and hopefully next week’s meeting will bring it to hip level. Garden work and spending time with friends make up the balance.

Pat Blythe – Will we ever learn? Kensington punks……and music

As I write this, today is the 21^st day of September in the year 2021…..twenty-one years into the 21^st century already! If we take a hard look back in the history books, has humankind really and truly changed? Are we more civilized, more intelligent, more advanced, more knowledgeable (or better at using the knowledge we have accumulated); more accepting, more just…..? I’m not so sure. Appearances can be deceiving!

Pat Blythe – Hello September…..music news…..and music

September…..the beginning of my favourite time of year. There’s something so crisp and refreshing…..a newness spring doesn’t possess. New jobs, new schools, new grades, new homes, new lives…..September to me has always meant “beginning”. Maybe because it’s the month of my birth, or maybe it’s all the fall colours and brightness of the air, but I always feel inspired and invigorated in the comfortable cool months of fall. Of course, all things pumpkin spice doesn’t hurt either!