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To the guy who practises random acts of kindness

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I hereby announce the winner of this years “Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty” award is R. JACKSON the proud owner of Prestige Glass International!

Ok everyone … please calm down and take your computer seats!

It wasn’t hard to come to this decision. You see … Earlier this month I was ill and we thought it might have been a heart problem that had plagued me a few years ago. You might have heard about this on my wife’s blog You are in my World Now. During the short period of time that I was ill, I’m better now, I found out that one of the greatest keyboardist in Rock history, no it’s not Robert even though he is an accomplished keyboardist in his own right, Rick Wakeman, is playing a concert this Sunday at the Danforth Music Hall here in Toronto.

The prices for these tickets were quite pricey and at the moment I couldn’t afford them. The concert might even be sold out by now too.

Now this is where Robert comes in. He was searching for information about the Rick Wakeman concert and he came across the post on my wife’s blog that discussed how much I wanted to go to the concert. He read it and then replied:

I just realized that Chris is ill, by looking at this site a little closer. The spare ticket to Rick Wakeman is yours for free.

Now that is the reason why he is this years recipient! The man went way out of his way to provide me with music that will sooth my ill heart!

At the beginning of this post I mentioned that Robert has a company called Prestige Glass International. Well I took a moment to visit his company site and his company makes some very cool stuff that you should check out.

My favorite pieces are under “Canadiana” Inukshuks (in-ook-shook) and Vases & Bowls. The Vases & Bowls remind me of some of the ones that my relatives make in Ireland.

I don’t think that I told you about my family roots, but we are from Waterford Ireland. Yes, the place that makes the world famous Waterford Crystal. As luck would have it, I still have 2 cousins that do the glass blowing and cutting at the plant. Too bad they weren’t there when we were doing the tour of the factory a few years ago.

Since my cousins weren’t at the Waterford factory when we visited we did a tour of the plant with the regular tourists. While watching some guys do their work on their benches I kept asking the the tour guide some detailed questions about cutting and the tools they used. After a while he kept wondering why I had many questions I told them that I was a goldsmith and diamond setter. I also said that during the tour we saw some pictures of our cousins through out the plant. He then laughed and said “Oh ya, they did say some of their cousins were going to show up some time.”

At this point we were nearing the end of the tour and he said why don’t we hang out and talk to the boys on the floor, and that’s what we did. After being introduced to them the tour guide told them who we were and they said “Do you want to take a crack at it?” and I said “Why not!”

So cheers to this years recipient! Maybe he’ll let me take a crack at glass blowing behind his bench.

Keep on Jammin’




Fellow Brantford guy does well

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A great friend of the Power family’s son Jessie, is truly the apple of his father’s eye. In a recent article about Jesse from the Brantford Expositor this past Thursday, July 19, 2007, pretty much sums up the bright future ahead for this Brantford Musician. I really wish him the best of luck!

I fondly remember many stories about this man’s son and his guitar playing ability. I recall many stories about him doing the things that kids do over the years but never ever met the guy. He, along with his father, was a player whom I had always wanted to jam with but never had the time to do so. I hope that I can jam with him now that he is a star in the making, LOL!

I just checked out Jesse’s Myspace and LiveVideo and found it quite refreshing. He is just an honest guy doing a honest man’s gig in my home city of Brantford! I hope that this is not his Last Song!

Keep on Jammin’ Jesse

Who needs coffee to wake up in the morning

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Well kidz I woke up this morning, thank God for that, and was surfing and collecting e-mail at breakfast when a nice women started to rapidly knock on our front door. Looking at her she could have been easily mistaken for one of those Jehovah Witness people, but she had a look of concern in her eyes.

I got up off the couch and opened the door. She immediately started to talk about the next door neighbour’s hydro wire making strange buzzing sounds and the smell of burning wood in the air. She dragged me outside and I soon realized why she had that look in her eyes.

A branch the neighbour’s tree was hanging precariously on the upper tier of the hydro pole. We could smell burning wood in the air and see some leaves on the branch starting to smoke and then just suddenly went out. Wooo, that was close.

As the threat subsided I thanked her and she went on her merry way. I then went inside our home to explain to my wife what had just happened. We both agreed that I should take pictures to have just in case something happened later for insurance purposes. She said that she would also contact the City and the power (Hydro) company to inform them of the incident. So at this point I went back outside to see if everything was still ok.

Upon going outside to take a few pictures of the branch in question, another branch caught on fire. After the shock wore off, I had this vision in my mind of the whole damn tree catching on fire followed by our neighbour’s house soon after. Did I tell you that we are in a semi-detached home right beside said neighbour?

I then ran over to the neighbors to try and get them out of their home. After telling them to get out I walked back to the sidewalk and all of a sudden there was this HUGE BANG sound followed by little shards of cement and little burning leaves flying through the air. Who needs coffee to wake up in the morning when a BIG BANG can do the same at the fraction of the cost.

I wish someone had caught my body and facial expression at that moment on tape! I bet that I looked like one of those people in a wild west movie being told to dance while the local drunk at the saloon peppers the floor below their feet with bullets. I felt like I nearly jumped out of my skin. That would have been hilarious to see.

Next thing I know, half the neighbourhood was beside me asking me what happened and saying that their power is out. My wife was now on the cell phone, hanging out our front door while talking to 911 and the fire people. She then gave me the phone and I was talking to a woman. I told her quickly what had happened and she said that the fire fighters and police were on their way. Just as she said that, they were flying down the street and right in front of me. Boy, now that is service!

So all is well in our neck of the woods and now I can get back to my morning coffee.

Keep on Jammin’

Guitars made out of recycled material

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You’ve got to read this story!

This guy, Lenny Piroth-Robert, makes guitars out of discarded cigar boxes. Have you ever heard of such a thing? He uses the empty cigar boxes to make the body of the guitar. it takes him about 8 weeks to make a guitar and they are apparently selling like mad on the internet.

I’ve got to check this guy out! Oh, did I mention he’s Canadian? Yeah, he’s working out Montreal. Check out his site – Daddy Mojo Custom Cigar Box Guitars. You’ve got to see the guitars. I want one! Hey, they sell for $175 to $375, I think I can talk the wife into that.

Best Canadian band that you never heard

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Well this is a follow-up post from my last one.

Most music lovers in Ontario in the 80’s, were exposed to and grew up with some of the most extraordinary musical talents. But the ones that were

I bet that these guys would have done well for themselves in the European market. Bands of that era especially Saga, which had a huge cult following in Germany, shows that it can be done! Some of them tended to just peter off a bit in their later stages of the European introduction.

I just thought that I would introduce to you all, to an eye opening Canadian talent that changed my view of how to play in a uniquely Canadian way. Some of you I highly recommend you listen to this a couple of times, to really appreciate it. The guys are truly showing us here their advanced interpretations of just how to play their music to us here. Imagine the guys who influenced them!

I would just killed to play this song live with the old Pylis band. Our keyboardist Tony could play anything on those damn black boxes of his! The guy is just way too modest for this world (you got that Tony?).

So without further adieu … Ladies and Gentlemen … FM!!!

Oh, BTW, Nash is the guy in the bandages.

This little ditty is of them during their Gary Neuman period. There is a great hint of Roxy Music and Yes in there to tantalize your musical ear as well.

Keep on Jammin’

The Band is mostly Canadian eh?

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I’ll bet my life that most non-Canadians did not know that THE BAND was made up of mostly Canadians. They hail from the same neck of the woods that I came from. The History of “The Band’s” connection with Ontario is well documented. I am originally from Brantford and it happens to be in the middle of the area from which they all originated. Must be something in the water?

Well to tell you the truth, I didn’t realize this until a couple of years ago.

I had heard stories of one of them, Robbie Robertson being from Canada, but as far as I knew, they were the biggest and best in the world in my opinion, and I figured they must have been from some other place in Canada.

Check it out:

Robbie Robertson, is from Toronto but spent a lot of his younger years in the Six Nations reserve. I use to go there a fare amount and had friends from that area. It’s not far from Brantford.

Rick Danko lived in Simcoe. My family went to the Simcoe Winter Lights Festival regularly. They put on this great Christmas light show near the downtown part. There is great park and it has a small river running through it and the best time to go is when it is snowing heavily! You will think that you are at the North Pole, really great little town.

Richard Manuel is from Stratford. This is quite the quiet town. It’s around the Kitchener-Waterloo (which had it’s name changed from Berlin, during World War II) and is now known for the Stratford Festival. This is a Shakespearean festival that every kid from the southern Ontario area went to see many times throughout their childhood. The theater is a must to see if you enjoy great acting and visual effects.

Garth Hudson, is from London Ontario. My sister lived there for a while and I went there the odd time. Nothing really special about this place, but if I went there more often I probably would have found something.

Who says us Canucks are only good at hockey!

keep on Jammin’

The Grand Old Danforth Music Hall

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The Danforth Music Hall is quite the fixture in my neighbourhood. It’s been around since the 1919 and originally called “Allen’s Danforth theatre”.

It had it’s hey day back when Vaudeville acts where all the rage! It changed it’s concept and purpose a number of times and eventually was called the “Century” but kept it’s distinctive beauty intact.

They’ve just renovated this gem on “The Danforth“, known by the locals, and is fully up and running. They have underwent extensive renovations from top to bottom that reflects it original Grandeur. New state of the art sound/lighting system, new seats that are wider (now that’s worth it weight in gold in itself), updated lobby/washrooms and bar area!

This is the kind of jewel that you pass everyday and say to yourself, ” I gotta get in there some day!”. Well, hopefully I will not have to wait that long.

I just went to their site and found a treasure trove of musical talent that is just screaming out to me to go see! Besides, there is tons of parking and seconds away from the subway.

These are a few of my choices that have caught my eye!

Rick Wakeman, the man is a musical genius and machine when it comes to the keyboard (Tony, you gotta see this guy to believe him)

Stephan Stills, now this is a guy you want to go camping with, imagine the sing songs around the fire! (Stevie my favorite brother-in-law, keep this date open)

Rickie Lee Jones, she would be a nice addition to one of my backyard parties. (Jon, will we see you there?)

Just to name a few! My eyes are on Rick Wakeman.

Their site is easy to navigate plus there are some video’s of the artists in their “Events” section, just in case you want to refresh your memory of who they are.

So if your in my neck of the woods, check out this Grand Old Lady and hope to see you there on Aug. 17th/07 when Mr. Wakeman is playing.

Keep on Jammin’

The Perfectionist

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This is another song from Saga that we played in Pylis. The song starts up with an acoustic guitar that then goes into an electric. My Gibson RD Artist fulfilled that dual roll quite admirably I must say.

It wasn’t until recently that I re-visited this song on my Larrivee L-03 acoustic.

The lyrics were just fascinating to listen to and the guitar forms are much more complex then I remembered. As you may or may not know, I’m not a lyricist by any stretch of the imagination. I just pay attention to the level of difficulty of the guitar, the overall structure and emotion that a song provides.

Later on I will start teaching people how I “interpret” how a song is played. So check out this song, and try to pick out all of the guitar progressions and remember them when I start video taping my version.

Keep on Jammin’

United States Flag Store

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My wife and I are proud Canadians and we display our Canadian flag at the front of our house.

It’s kind of interesting that Canadians aren’t quite as interested in displaying their flag as Americans seem to be. Having said that, those of you who are interested in purchasing American Flags should visit the United States Flag Store. Once you visit the flag store you’ll probably be astounded by their wide selection of flags. They don’t just sell US Flags, no, they also sell World flags – as in flags from many countries from across the world.

You purchase just about anything to do with flags at the United States Flag Store, from Outdoor Flagpoles – which includes both residential and corporate flagpoles, as well as pins, patches and badges, car flags, state flags, flag related accessories, and patriotic related items from patriotic decorations to patriotic wear. There’s even a patriotic gift idea section.

I found that the site was very easy to navigate. Just visit the category, listed on the left side of the page, that you’d like to visit and then drill down through the sub categories until you find the flag related item that suits your needs. Most items have thumbnail photos so it’s easy to see what the product really is, plus you’ll find a good description of the item when you click on it’s thumbnail. A few items that I clicked on even brought me to a page that displayed a large image of the item so I was able to take a really good look at the product. united-states-flaghat.gif

I honestly can’t think of any other items that they might add to the site other than perhaps some children related types of flags or patriotic items. There must be some kind of patriotic toys out there, shouldn’t there be?

The prices seem to be quite reasonable and the flags appear to be well made and of high quality from what I can tell by reading descriptions and looking at the images on the site.

If you are looking to purchase a flag for your home, or a flag related item make this site your first stop and I’ll be it will also be your last stop too.

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