We live about a 15 minute walk away, but it seems to take much longer due to the fact that some 1.3 million people who show up every year to the Taste of the Danforth, were right in front of us. If you ever get the opportunity to visit the festival, I highly recommend going … unless you hate crowds and good food!

This year we came armed with a decent sized back pack to put some of the zillion or so delicacies that we were bombard with from every direction in, to take home with us for later consumption. Greek food (obviously), Ethiopian, Taiwanese, Japanese, Irish, British, the Islands, Mexican, to name only a few, food stands are everywhere. Calories as far as the eyes can see. We bought a little bit of food to taste as we walked along the 3 km stretch of closed off roadway and then as I said bought a little bit more to stuff in my backpack to eat today!

The journey lasted around 3.5 hours. The dogs they aren’t a barkin’ all that much but as for my wife’s … It was just plain fantastic to get out of the ‘olde house for a while and finally enjoy some of the spectacular local events that are held in the little city of Toronto.

I’ve got some pic’s on the camera phone that I’ll upload sometime soon but I can’t find that damn USB connector. Am I the only one in the world to loose that thing from time to time?

Keep on Jammin’

dink’s song: Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Bruce Cockburn, Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Chaim Tannenbaum from a. lanken on Vimeo.

Dink’s Song

I found this video from this neat video site called Vimeo.

Beannacht Lá Fhéile Pádraig (Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!)

Don’t ya just love the mini Marshall Amp, the hairdo and that wild look in killer Kitty’s eyes!

Keep on Jammin’

“Celtic punk and folk-tinged hardcore band from the South Side of Chicago.” Fans, Bawinkel says, are “stoked”: “As soon as the bagpiper walks out on stage, the crowd just flips out.” Tobin Bawinkel, Professional Piper

Yes, bagpipes are back, albeit somewhat changed from it’s original inception. The bagpipe renaissance came from Scotland, where acts began to spice up their sound. Lately creative new bands like the White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have incorporated them into their tunes. The modern pipers have brought us their unique interpretation of classic tunes on YouTube with a real neat spin in unexpected musical settings. For example putting them into everything from traditional carols to songs like Thunderstruck from AC/DC.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aiil6xW9Lb0

When exploring this latest evolution in the bagpipes, I realize that alternative piping is not a huge scene yet but one that should be investigated a little further. A band called Real McKenzie’s helps in the push for the new Celtic punk sound. They take the familiar Scottish chant and elevates the experience many notches.

Then there are acts out there that even consider the bagpipes everything from, dare I say, bluesy all the way to progressive bagpipe-jazz-aboriginal-fusion?

Now the last thing that I want to bring up is, do you know that someone has invented an electronic bagpipe? I know that this would be a fabulous addition for a favorite local band called Wilton Said to look into. What do you think Wilton?

No matter what your perception of the bagpipes, there certainly has been a bit of a resurgence in this classic instrument as of late that will eventually pass by you in some musical form in the near future. I’m not sure if this means that Lady Gaga might take a shine to this instrument but hey, never say never!

So are there any pipers out there that want to put their two cents in here? If you think that your style on piping is great then send us a link to your site to further investigate and open us up to the new world of piping to all.

Keep on Jammin’

Pie in the Sky has two locations. Their Main Studio is Studio One that is an old converted movie theatre house at 397 Donlands Ave. at O’Connor Dr. in Toronto(East York) that they broke into two separate studios. Studio One is 50′ by 50 while Studio Two is 65′ x 30′, descent sizes I’d say. Studio Two is located at 43 Laird Dr. north of Moore Ave.

The main studio is custom built and is run by people with on-set experience. The staff are pack rats (I’ve never met a pack rat that I didn’t like!) and have lots of stuff in the basement you may need. The Studio rental rates appear reasonable and they also have some great professional gear that you can rent at what seems like decent prices. I think this would be a fantastic venue to video tape any music video.

So has anyone out there used Pie in the sky Studios? I’d love to hear about it! If you do try out this company, tell them Chris sent ya!

Keep on Jammin’

Keep on Jammin’ (just watch out for those buoys)

It looks like a classic old B.C. Rich guitar that was quite popular in the 80′s with all those big hair bands of the time. It comes complete with genuine imitation strings, pick ups, control numbers, you own electric guitar lighter stand and what closely resembles a Floyd Rose double locking system with fine tuners!

I think that it would be a hilariously funny gag gift for any guitar player! If your into it, then check out the link or look at a similar electric guitar lighter at Amazon! I have never dealt with this company before so I can’t attest to how good their services are.

Keep on Jammin’

I remember seeing these guys in the late 80′s at the old CNE bandstand and I’ll never forget it. We had concert seating which was like a free for all at the front of the stage. We brought a small blanket and some beverages, if memory serves me correctly. Our piece of the turf was center-right of the stage about 30 feet away.

The place was full of people sprawling out where ever they could with blankets, pick nick baskets full of food and wine. I was totally surprised to see little kids as young as 2-3 years running around everywhere! It had a nice small town fair feel to it.

The best part of that show for me was when they performed Scarborough Fair. For many year I’ve attempted to play this song and it turned out fine but this was the time to see it done right!

Before the song began, I noticed Paul Simon was practicing the beginning of it, so I asked this guy beside us if I could use his binoculars. I watched every single movement of his fingers and I found out that I was doing it ok except for a few parts. When I got home all I did was play the hell out of that song and I finally have it perfect!

So that was my favorite part of the show. Does anyone out there have a neat Simon and Garfunkel moment that they’d like to share with the rest of us?

Keep on Jammin’

She came up to me in my work area and told me to close my eyes and hold out my hand. I thought it was a joke and I thought it would be nice to be at the butt end of one for a change, so I did what I was told. She then dropped what seemed to feel like a piece of cardboard in my hand and excitedly opened my eyes! What I found was what looked like a match pack, but the wording on it said Match Pik?

At that time, everyone around me was looking at me including Connie and they were all smiling. I thought wow, a pack of matches, how nice?! She then said “Happy Birthday Chris!”. I followed up with “Oh, you shouldn’t have!”.

Upon further examination of this bright red pack of matches that I just accepted as a birthday gift, I saw the words “Jim Dunlop USA” near the bottom of it. At this point I was thinking to myself “What the hell is this?”.

Looking back at Connie, she was laughing at this point and said “Open it!” When I did, I found six .88 mm grey guitar picks inside! What a fabulous gift! I’ve never seen anything quite like this before so I gave her a little hug and we all had a laugh at my expense.

Keep on Jammin’

Keep on Jammin’