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 – Celebrating Anniversaries……and music

Well….I have three anniversaries this month. As of this writing on February 15, thirty-six years ago today, I married my sweetie. First wedding (and reception) ever held in Sparkles. For those of you old enough to remember, Sparkles was THE de rigueur lounge, club and disco in Toronto at that time. I have no idea what possessed me to book the place for a wedding! Maybe availability, maybe because it was an “all-in-one” since there was a restaurant below that would cater….who knows? Cost of the wedding, including food and non-alcoholic beverages, $1,350 for 65 people. One thing I’ll never forget…..the best man wanting to begin a speech with, “today, Chris got married in a place higher than he is”.

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 – 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 – It’s a Love Revolution Down on Main Street…..and music

I’m loving September. Warm(ish) days with cool nights are just perfect. Grape jelly made, herbs harvested, spaghetti sauce jarred (soup is next), podcast published and now it’s column time! In between all that is photo editing, cross stitching and a few telecom projects. Running around at Mariposa and Summerfolk; meeting new people and listening to new music during Canadian Music Week and Indie Week; dodging bodies, running into my friends and hearing more new music at the clubs…..I’ve missed it all. Fingers crossed we have some semblance of normal next year.

Pat Blythe – Festivals, Photos and Fun…..

With so many projects on the go and unplanned opportunities popping up rather unexpectedly sometimes simply disappearing for a while, just evaporating into thin air, seems wonderfully appealing and rather peaceful. Inventing a new life is not easy but one plows on, dealing with the twists, turns, distractions and challenges life offers us. The people and music make it all worthwhile. I am truly thankful for the life I’ve had and for the life I’m living now.

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: This, That and the Other….

I have been in a quandary about what I am going to write about for today’s column. The past week, and especially the weekend, have disappeared in a flash, everything just jumbled together, one thing overlapping the other. Now here it is Tuesday night and I’ve started this piece four times!

Pat Blythe: Synchronicity….

Life happens (or maybe it occurs), either way my plans for today’s column were short circuited by a few happenstance events that tumbled into each other this past weekend. A visit, a text, a ticket, a song and two remarkable performances by two gifted artists. One who is just beginning on his journey and another who’s journey began over 50 years ago. This is the blues.