Pat Blythe – Here comes summer!!

March 30 was the last column I wrote for this site…..the “Canadian edition” and finale of my jazz series. It’s now been six week since DBAWIS was able to publish due to some serious computer issues. There’s a wee bit of catching up to do. Live music is happening again, the camera seems to have found its way back into my life, the whole England move has been sliding sideways, reviewing photographs (not just Chris’s, but mine too) has sent me down several rabbit holes, and life generally, has been pretty busy. So…..let me just dive right in.

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- 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 – 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 – Musings…..thanks…..a few shows…..and music

Is it me, or are the days and weeks running into each other? It feels like I just finished a column and here I am writing another…..albeit late as usual. Today was one of those days where you just seem to bounce from one thing to the next. A 3am bedtime call after spending hours editing today’s podcast, was not conducive to an early morning rise, simply to rush downtown and open my maw for the dentist. Two hours later and I feel like my mouth has received the white glove treatment. Mr. Clean and the Lysol Lady have thoroughly cleaned and sanitized my mouth. Everything is now shipshape and spotless…..just don’t eat. It’s kind of like after your mom cleaned, tidied and dusted the living room. You couldn’t sit anywhere!

Pat Blythe – Chris …and Music

Boy, am I late!!! Soooo late starting this column. Tuesday is my “writing” day, but far too much seemed to get in the way and now it’s 6:15pm and I’m on my third sentence! Good news is I received congratulations from our friends in Ottawa for attaining “senior citizen” status. Not only that, how absolutely thrilled they are to be sending me a monthly stipend of what nobody could live on. I should be grateful I receive anything (and I am), but if that’s what today’s 65-and-up population have to survive on, it’s no wonder we’ve got so many elderly living far below the poverty line. What I am extremely grateful for is that I can still work (when we’re not in the middle of a shitstorm) and continue earning a reasonable living. For how long is anyone’s guess, but this body and brain just keep chugging along.

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 – 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!