Pat Blythe – Openings, Bands and Music…Playing Catch-Up….

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.

Pat Blythe – Chloe Doucet, Melody Maker, Against The Wind, and pics…….

Originally I wasn’t going to be producing a column today. However, feeling better than expected, at least at this particular moment, I shall attempt to put something together. Had a wee bit of surgery yesterday (Monday) and sister Chrissie is here making sure I don’t do anything I’m not supposed to…..well at least she’s trying.

Pat Blythe – The Stories Behind the Songs Part 4….

It’s a miserable, cold, sodden, rainy, pathetically dreary, rather dismal night. Moisture and freezing temperatures will create your very own skating rink on the sidewalk, front lawn and even the roadway. I look out the window and see everything enveloped in ice. Jane Harbury had very kindly invited me down to her Discoveries series at Tranzac tonight but between prior commitments and the weather, my ass is safely ensconced on the couch writing this. I have one artificial hip…..I don’t need two and I’d prefer to keep any modicum of dignity intact.

Pat Blythe: Keeping The Music Alive…Part Two

Good morning!! It’s Tuesday which means this must be “writing day”. It’s catch-up time once again. A myriad of events and happenings over the past few weeks this column might be longer than usual just so I can bring you all up-to-date. …..and of course all those lovely pictures (she says tongue-in-cheek). I’ll just take a minute to figure out where I left off……

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 – Music Mania….

Deadlines. I don’t think I’d get anything done if it weren’t for deadlines….artificial or otherwise. I’m one of those that have a tendency to back one’s self into a corner which forces said person to address shit and just DO IT! Tuesday afternoon and already my head is swimming with so much information, events and “stuff”….past, present and future.

Pat Blythe Goes to a GIG and Other Stuff

 

I’m staring at a blank page….my mind is a million miles away. Not sure what today’s column will turn out like. Focusing is increasingly difficult with a plethora of things running through my mind. The synapses are firing off so fast I’m in a spin. So much happening recently at such a rapid fire pace. Externally I have two laptops on the go, Amy Winehouse (Wake Up Alone) playing in the background and a good friend who needs help from a system that is so totally broken and letting her down. Amy sure sets the mood. Internally, how quickly can someone go from elation to shear “pissoffedness“? Answer….about a nano second. How do you scream at a blank page on a screen?

Pat Blythe – I’m Dancing on the Head of a Pin….

You know those days when you feel like someone slipped a happy pill into your morning java. Today (Monday) is one of those days. Walking down University Ave. in Toronto with the sun trying desperately to penetrate the clouds…..and just about making it. I’m listening to tunes with my headphones on and fighting to keep my feet from breaking into a dance. “There goes a crazy lady!” So, walking to the beat will have to do. (Note to all drummers….if your meter is off, I’ll find it) First up was “When The Lights Are Out” by Slade, followed by “Dressed in the Dark” by Bob Segarini (there seems to be theme here)….then Sophie B. Hawkins “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover”. Jeez! Give a girl a break. Finally, on the streetcar “Tomorrow”, by the Research Turtles came on. It’s just a wonderful, poppy, toe-tapping, dancing, feel-good song and I had that one repeat several times.