Last Sunday the Toronto Transit Commission had yet another service interruption, complete with shuttle busses and detours. That didn’t deter me from going to The Black Swan at 154 Danforth Avenue in the late afternoon for yet another concert from yet another fine group of Toronto based musicians. The bill included Mark Ripp and the heymacs, who were making their first public appearance ever, apparently, although their excellent videos are a staple of my timeline.
Openers…….
Today is a bright but chilly October day. (great opening line huh?) Then there’s Snoopy’s book opening….“It was a dark and stormy night.” Okay, how about “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” (Tales of Two Cities – Charles Dickens) Or, “It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” (Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen) THAT was a different time….most definitely. Then there’s, “It was the afternoon of my eighty-first birthday and I was in bed with my catamite when Ali announced that the archbishop had come to see me.” (Earthly Powers – Anthony Burgess). I can’t even begin to imagine explaining that one. How about, “I write this sitting at the kitchen sink”. (Capture the Castle – Dodie Smith). That’s sure to grab attention…..and apparently it did. “It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs and I don’t know what I was doing in New York.” (The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath). Confused, frustrated, a chronic depressive, Plath committed suicide by sticking her head in a gas oven at the very young age of 30, leaving behind two young children. “You’ve no choice, look back.” (The Story of Hansel and Gretel – Louise Murphy) We must learn from the past. “It was a bright cold day in April and the clocks were striking thirteen.” (1984 – George Orwell) Canada’s pants would do well to pay attention. Apparently they’re not paying attention to Hansel or Gretel.
I first met Fergus Hambleton in person while I was performing with my trio, Graye featuring Todd Miller and Lawrie Ingles, at a small club on Yonge Street in Toronto called Rocky Raccoons. It was a mid-week jam night and we were going to do a few songs when I looked up and Fergus was sitting in the front row taking in what can only be described as a “loose” performance of one of my original songs.
Yessirreee….it’s that time once again. My dawgs are barking, my body’s aching and wondering what the hell I’m doing to it. Ahhhh….CMW. It’s been such a busy four days and the party hasn’t even started yet.
Sometimes it seems like you can’t throw a rock in this city without hitting a musician. (And if you’re throwing a beer, the musician in the crowd will be the one to catch it.)
Originally posted April 16th, 2012 and Updated, December 18th, 2012. Thanks for your patience…Part 3 of Segarini: Stockton, Daring-Do, and Cruising the Miracle Mile, Living American Graffiti and Pacific Avenue, will be up (finally), this coming weekend. Nadia’s latest column will be up later this afternoon.
=0=
Last April….
I had to drag my sorry ass down to the nearest RBC last night to deposit some money (collected from my roommates and I here at the DeMilo Arms) so that when Hydro Ontario sucks their tithe out of the account Monday morning, there’s actually enough in there to insure heat and light for the next little while. Not only heat and light, but how would I be able to use the blender to make banana daiquiris without their damn electricity? I really must teach the kitties to run on the little kitty treadmills to charge the generator so we can get off the grid…according to my calculations, we only need another 1411 kitties (and kitty treadmills) to be totally self-sufficient.
I had to drag my sorry ass down to the nearest RBC last night to deposit some money (collected from my roommates and I here at the DeMilo Arms) so that when Hydro Ontario sucks their tithe out of the account Monday morning, there’s actually enough in there to insure heat and light for the next little while. Not only heat and light, but how would I be able to use the blender to make banana daiquiris without their damn electricity? I really must teach the kitties to run on the little kitty treadmills to charge the generator so we can get off the grid…according to my calculations, we only need another 1411 kitties (and kitty treadmills) to be totally self-sufficient.
Bullseye Records of Canada
Segarini: Don't Believe a Word I Say 