Calgary Folk Club Showcases Canadians

Indian City

No big surprise, it was another great night for live music, with acts from my hometown of Winnipeg, and a singer/songwriter out of rural Alberta. 

Great new discoveries, and if you click on the link to my Calgary Herald blog this morning, you'll get to see the review of the show, and have access to their own sites, as well as the interview and podcasts I held with Vince Fontaine & Matt Patershuk before the show.

Click here to view that!

Here's a few more pics from the night:

Later!

Chicken Noodle Soup

I have recently looked very hard at the anatomy of a chicken, and I have had no luck with discovering what a chicken's "noodle" might be.

Why do we eat something that is clearly a fabrication of marketers?

Have a good Friday, y'all...

Later!

Hi Ho, Silver Dollar!

The Canadian dollar (loonies, appropriately named most times) is currently plummeting, right in time for winter and the recurring Canadian desire to GET THE HELL OUT OF CANADA!!!

Ahem, my apologies - I'm not sure what came over me there...

What I hoped to relay was that right about the time that we might like to take a vacation to a warmer climate, before our 4.5 foot tall cars are covered in 14.5 feet of snow, our currency is about as valuable as a metal washer with a hole punched in the middle. Even if we held up a 7-11, we couldn't procure enough cash from the till to make the gas purchase to get there worth the while.

It is a scenario that seems to unfold every few years. Once, ever so briefly, our dollar was worth more than our well-off neighbours to the south of us. It still pretty much traded at par for some reason, but technically, it was worth more.

Now, a dollar here will buy you a Kraft noodle or two, certainly not the entire lavish dinner promised on grocery store shelves.

All we can do is wait it out, it will climb once again.

I just have to hope my igloo has enough seal meat to get me through the hard, unforgiving Canadian winter...

Later!!

This Weekend, Live Canadian Folk Music!

Indian City

Visit the Calgary Herald blogs today to read my preview and interviews with Vince Fontaine (Indian City) and Matt Patershuk. Based on our chats, it's going to be another amazing evening of music at the Calgary Folk Club!

Visit this link to read the piece!

Matt Patershuk

Enjoy!

Later...

Start Spreading The News

Before you begin to polish your shoes or boots, spread a newspaper along the floor, so as not to stain your carpet or linoleum.

You may also substitute a large strip of wax paper, an unrolled length of wrapping paper, your husband's bowling shirt, a map of the city of Toronto, a large flattened cardboard box, a small non-religious shroud, several metres of tattered fabric, an old raincoat, a dishtowel you would otherwise use while camping, a length of unattached wooden board, or a decommissioned ironing board.

If you use your imagination, there may be even more options.

Happy polishing!

Later...

A Tale As Old As Time...

Courtesy Liffey Players Drama Society

Persecution. Stigma. Different rules for men and for women - Liffey Players Drama Society offers a gut-punch in their latest production, and you cannot leave without feeling the effect of the slug.

My review is here. If you're in the Calgary area, it's a must-see...

Later...

Moving Into Recovery Mode...

Well, the tooth extraction saga is steering towards the conclusion - pretty good by all respects. Considering the extensiveness of the surgery, I am finally starting to feel like all the parts are where they need to be to head towards long-term recovery.

The first while, I was bleeding like a soda fountain. It took 4 tea bags to help clot the wound, they recommend two before you are suggested to call the on-call surgeon. Which we did - twice!

Then we had the dangling participle - a clump of raw meat that I really felt should have been stitched to something above it. The first night, it did shrink, and yesterday it just came off - so all I can feel right now in the abyss is stitches and a blechy taste. Which is what I believe is normal at this stage.

It will be FOUR weeks before I can start to have solid food again! FOUR weeks!!!
I'll be gumming more pasta this month than an octogenarian Italian in a long-term care home....

Today, I'm going to quit icing the cheek, and try to wean myself off the pain killers. I'll miss those furry little Wiffles that hung around chatting with me during the last couple of days, but if I do feel like I need one or two, you can be damned sure I will help myself.

For now, I think the worst is over....

Later!!!

Chicken Scratch

(posted by weekend guest blogger Charlie Chicken...)

Ahhh....

Hello Mr Fox??

My, what lovely eyes ya got...

Kin ya tell me who ya see fer an optomotrist??

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Ah wuz juss about ta head back ta mah coop, so...see yah!!

This right - stay right there and growl...thass a good boy...

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Hey - look over there!!

It's a rabbit!!!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Adios, fur-face, ah'm outta hear!!!

Cluck fer now!

Make way!!! Chicken on that run!!!! 

Bonus Post! My Latest REM Column...

Just noticed that my latest REM column is now live here.

Enjoy!

Later!!

The Tooth, The Hole Tooth, And Whatever Else Is Connected To The Tooth...

I'm goin' down today. Under sedation, for my emergency oral surgery.

I'm hoping this resolves a recurring infection that keep coming back year after year, and this last time, nastier than ever.

Of course, I could have had extensive restoration work, and spent between $5-8,000.00 to have a 50/50 chance of success, only to have it yanked in the end anyway. Not being able to use that as collateral with my bank, or rent out the restored tooth to miniature tenants, I opted to bring in the pliers and whiskey instead.

I'll let you know how that worked out for me....

Later!!

Irish Play Set For The Weekend

The fine folks at Liffey Players Drama Society are set to open their production of Eclipsed, by Irish playwright Patricia Burke Brogan Saturday night. On the surface, it looks like pretty heavy material, but I understand there are some light moments as well.

Here's my conversation with the director - click here!

Enjoy!

Almost the weekend!!

Later...

Ch-ch-ch-changes

What is it they say?

Change is inevitable, especially if you pay with a really large bill??

Looks like change is in they wind yet again. Not quite sure what that's going to look like, but I think I'm just going to be proactive and start the process on my own. I've recently revived a site that I had started and abandoned, but I think I'm going to start using that particular one for specific writing I'll be doing. Hopefully that will make site visitors have a more consistent experience when they land, expecting one thing and finding another.

Cryptic?

Sorry - until all the cards are played in this hand, it is a bit of a solitaire game...

Later!!!

PreSale Announcement - Warm Up Your Credit Cards!!

Some big concert news for Calgary - a chance to see a major Canadian artist in an intimate, solo acoustic setting at the Cowboys Dance Hall.

Alt rocker Matthew Good is set to announce tickets for his upcoming performance there November 25th. I hope to have more info, and perhaps something even more exciting soon. 

I last saw Mr. Good live at the Alberta Flood Aid concert, where he performed a short but stellar set (read my brief recap here).

StubHub is set to announce the line up for its Next Stage concert series later this morning (10:00 AM EDT), but I wanted to give you all the heads up early. There are shows scheduled in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. StubHub is bringing Matthew Good here to Calgary for a solo acoustic set at Cowboys Dance Hall on Nov. 25. 

Here's the release:

STUBHUB TAKES MUSIC TO THE “NEXT STAGE” BRINGING A THREE-DATE CONCERT SERIES TO CANADA SHOWCASING POPULAR CANADIAN MUSICIANS

Tickets Available Thursday, 10/30, for Shows Featuring USS (Ubiquitous Synergy Seeker) in Toronto and Matthew Good in Calgary and Vancouver at the end of November

CALGARY, AB (October 28, 2014) – StubHub, today announced a continuation of its highly successful music initiative – StubHub’s Next Stage Concert Series – to discover and support emerging artists while giving exclusive access to the true music fan.  

Next Stage will debut in Canada at the end of November.  The three-date concert series will showcase Canadian musicians in intimate venues, featuring USS in Toronto, ON, on November 17th at the Mod Club and a solo acoustic show with Matthew Good in Calgary, AB, on November 25th at Cowboys Dance Hall and in Vancouver, BC, on November 27th at RIO Theatre.  

Tickets are on-sale this Thursday, October 30 for all three shows for only $30 each at www.stubhub.com at 10 a.m. in each respective time zone. 

This is going to be a great night, and it's hard to get into Cowboys even without an act like Good to see. 

Act fast!!

Later!!

There's A Kind Of Hush...

The kind of "hush!" that librarians used to use when you got too noisy in the hallowed halls of the library.

There's also a kind of hush that your mother may have used. There may have been any number of reasons for that one...

We cannot forget about the hush that makes some puppies very, very quiet...

I don't think it's politically correct anymore to say "hush yo mouth" - but that technically could just fall under the mother-husher category.

So, there are kinds of hush. Probably many more than my own examples...

Later!

Chicken Scratch

(posted by weekend guest blogger Charlie Chicken...)

Mah fellow chickinz...

Ah first wanna start by thankin' olive yew fer attendin' this sold-out event ah'm hostin'.

Ah hope that yew kin take away even juss a few purls ah wisdom from this event!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!  

Thang Q...Thang Q...

Please holl yer applause...

Now, ah will begin mah presentation on that "Superiority Uv Tha Male Chicken" now...

Hey!

Sit back down!!

COME BACK HEER!!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

AH GOTS THINGS TA SAY!!!!!!!!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

GET BACK HERE!!!

Aww, cluck me...

Cluck fer now...

Calgary Folk Club: Dala & Tom Phillips

Way late to get out to another commmitment.

Please click here for my review

Later!

Tonight - Calgary Folk Club - Roots & Harmonies!

Sorry, you've been bombarded by this already if you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, but such is the world of social media...

Check out my Calgary Herald blog today, for details on tonight's show at The Calgary Folk Club!

Later!!

The Cat's In The Cradle

And oddly enough, the baby's curled up on a rug in front of the fireplace.

This doesn't seem to be right....

Later!

Until The Twelfth Of Never

And that's a long, long time.

Longer even than the Eleventh and Tenth of Never. But not quite a long as the Thirteenth of Never.

Feels like it during Daylight Savings Time though...

Later!!

Heavingly Evening.

On the plus side, I did sleep for a few hours last night.

On the less plus side, I awoke to extended physical illness, otherwise known in polite circles as "heaving".

Sweating like a yak right now. However, surgery set for next week, and I believe my meds are finally kicking in.

(Hope you've had your breakfast before you read this post...)

Later.