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An Idiot in the neighbourhood

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When are the items that we put out on the curb, for others who could use them when we do not need them, turn into junkyard garbage? Well this is a story that happened to us today.

While cleaning up our basement today, we were going through items that are (1) still working and (2) ones that we are no longer using. So we then decided that we should put them to good use, by placing them out on the curb for others who may find them useful. Why not, because the item would not be put directly into land fill taking up precious space!

After putting the item, a microwave oven, out on the curb, we were hoping that it would find a good home. Around 15 minutes later, we saw an older man come up to our old microwave, looking it over. We thought that it found a new owner, but instead the old guy brought out a pocket knife and CUT THE ELECTRICAL CORD and then walked away! He just walked away!

After seeing this, I ran outside and started screaming “Hey buddy, why didn’t you take the whole thing?” I said this a couple of times to him, but he just kept walking away faster as I repeated it. What an asshole! He wins tool of the day award.

So my question to you my fine readers is, when does a gift left outside for someone to put to good use become a scrap yard item to be cannibalize, leaving the remaining item useless for others to use?

One pissed off Torontonian!!!!




Simon and Garfunkle back on the road

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Simon and Garfunkel are back out on the road again after all these years. They have dates booked for Australia and New Zealand, but I’m sure their have to look for America in the near distant future, lucky buggards. If you love their music and they are going to be playing anywhere within 500 miles from where you live, then don’t be a fool and miss out on this one!

I had the glorious opportunity to have seen these guys way back in my college days. They played at the now demolished CNE stadium, but the memories will live on in my mind for the rest of my life!

The show was like going to someone’s back yard and they were just a couple of guys who showed up and start playing! We were around 100 feet away from the stage and this atmosphere was like nothing I’ve witnessed before. We had general admission seating and it was more then worth it!

Very young and old, and everything in between was there. It seemed like everyone there was lying on big blankets while eating and drinking out of a cooler. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky and it was around 30 (C). The whole place was so relaxing. It was like I was just hanging out with some Old Friends.

Keep on Jammin’

Bare Naked Ladies-less

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As you may or may not know, Steven Page, one of the founders of the Bare Naked Ladies has now left the band to pursue a solo career. The crazy boy band from Scarborough Ontario is saying good bye to one of the masterminds behind their great success for the past 20 years!

I for one, like his old band. They were lots of fun and full of unbridled enthusiasm on stage. They brought out the kid in you and that really is what makes them a stand out act in today’s copy cat music world.

Steven Page’s first solo attempt (while still with the Bare Naked Ladies) was called The Vanity Project.

I only started to listen to bits and pieces of The Vanity Project while writing this post and it’s not that bad. Hit and Run is played in an open tuning format that has a nice, full feel and sound to it. The one called These Wasted Words reminds me a Toronto band called Needy Fingers. So Young, So Wrong, So Long is the type of song that one takes on a long road trip and Here Today And Yesterday has that incredible Klautu aura about it! I think I might pick it up!

My wife and I always wanted to see BNL live, but never got the chance. I guess they’re another great Canadian act that we never get to experience. Don’t get me wrong, The band The Bare Naked Ladies will still exist without Steven Page and perhaps we’ll see them play someday, but it probably won’t quite be the same. At this time the remaining members of The Barenaked Ladies do not plan on adding a new singer – they’ll continue on as they are and in fact are in the process of getting ready to go on Tour later this year.

Steven and the boys were not there to blow you away playing speed music or had that in your face onstage persona.

Steven Page was the one guy in the band that everyone could relate to. He is the modern day resonance man, and that is what he is about to do again. His next venture will be in the theatrical arena. He is the musical composer for the Thomas Patterson Group, Bartholomew Fair at the Stratford Festival. This appears to be a natural progression for him to follow. I think that he will eventually gravitate towards the stage, not the orchestra pit.

Steven Page’s style of guitar playing is very simple and straight forward and very much to the point. Nothing fancy at all in his approach but, it does the trick. His rhythm guitar playing is his bread and butter while playing in the band, plus he has done the odd little guitar solo here and there.

While reading the Toronto Star at work the other day, I noticed an article about Steven Page. It was about his first public musical exposure to the world since leaving the Bare Naked Ladies (BNL). He will perform as a solo act in the Neil Young tribute show coming up Wednesday, June 10 at Massey Hall here in Toronto. It will be part of this years Luminato festival of arts and creativity. I wonder what he will try and pull off at this gig, it’s anybody’s guess really.

As for Stevens adventure into the world of theatre, I am not sure if it will involve him in front or behind the stage. I can envision him in serious roles, desperately attempting to shake off the type casting of his kid like antics on the musical stage with BNL. I think this will be good for him. It will be an adventure that we will all be watching closely. So best of luck to Steven Page in his future endeavors!

My question to you all is, will he reach the lofty heights in his new career as he did with the Bare Naked Ladies?

Keep on Jammin’

Toronto is 175 years old today

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Today marks the 175th year of the creation of Toronto, Ontario! To some, it is a beacon of hope, multicultural existence and tolerance. To others, Toronto is just a hole in the ground!

So to here’s to my new home town! cheers and many more to come T.O.!

What to do when your bored in your hospital room

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While in my hospital room, being bored out of my head, I was desperately trying to find ways to keep myself amused, this was long after my wife and family had left for home.

The first thing I did kind of got me into some minor trouble with the staff, and rightfully so!

Considering that I work there and know practically everyone in the place, a fair amount of staff dropped in from time to time just to see how I was doing. Later on some of the R.T.’s (Resuscitation Team) visited me in my room, which was around 12:00 (00:00). They were just doing their rounds so when they were about to leave and with nothing else better to do, I just followed them.

I was attached to heart monitor that allows patients to roam free throughout the hospital, so I took advantage of it. Besides, if anything were to happen to me, these ladies would be the ones to be with!

We went around here and there chatting away, visiting other floors and talking to other staff on the night shift. This diversion allowed me to change my focus on other things like, what I was in there for.  This REALLY HELPED A LOT and I thank them for it! After 45 minutes we went back to my ward. Upon arriving the nurses there just had this look on their faces. Kinda pissed but, they knew it was me and only gave it to me with one barrel, if you know what I mean.

Now it was around 01:30 and I was back in my little room. My mind was racing, scanning the room desperately looking for anything interesting to get into. I soon found a newspaper called 24 hours right beside my bed and started leafing through it. Since there was nothing really interesting going on musically in the Arts and Entertainment section, I eventually directed my attention to this one installment called Almost Toronto, a 5 part series. It was the Monday Feb. 2nd 2009 edition on page 3.

The article caught my interest because it was all about what Toronto would have looked like if the city had chosen other projects to help define it’s distinct architectural footprint. In this piece, it talked about a book that was called Toronto Pending. The author talked about some of Toronto’s Mega Projects, neat original renderings of these projects as well as public spaces that never made it past the city council.Now this is something that I wanted to learn more about.

So I then slide out to the nurse’s desk, took over a computer and started searching for this book. After locating the book’s site, I started investigating the whole site, leaving no link unclicked! To be honest with ya, it was very simple in it’s layout with fabulous pic’s and incite full facts. Just glaring at some of these revolutionary ideas for the future of our city, I feel that it would have made it an even more exciting place to live!

So that is what I did to keep my sanity during my first night there … not very exciting was it!

Keep on Jammin’

Canada’s second national anthem

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There was a song, not so long ago, that was considered Canada’s unofficial national anthem. Today sadly though, it has now been almost erased from memory. The song was called The Maple Leaf forever!

But who was behind this great forgotten anthem, where did he make it, what was the history behind the song and most important to me, where did he live?

This is a story of how I just happened to bump into the tree that dropped one of it’s leafs on this man’s shoulder, which in turn, helped him pen the song The Maple Leaf Forever!

When I was young, I recall hearing this song that was often hummed at my grandparents house. I can’t remember much of what it was all about, but I do have fond memories of it. Ones that made me feel comfortable, relaxed and that gave me a sense of being at home.

Later on in life, I heard this song being played in an instrumental version mostly on history/documentary shows. It was even played at a Toronto Maple Leafs game in the glorious Maple Leaf Gardens! If memory serves me correctly, there were no words that ever accompanied it.

Then a couple of years ago while going to a local gardening shop with my wife in the Greenwood and Queen St. E. part of town, we found no street parking nearby our local gardening center, damn! So I had to look for a place to park on one of the side streets. When I finally found a spot, I got out and across the street there was a small house, with people walking in and out of this tiny, but quaint little it home. After closer inspection, I noticed a City Historical Plaque out in front of it, attached to this majestic Maple Leaf tree on front lawn. Upon going over to see it, I thought to myself, hey why not, let’s check it out!

The Plaque that was on the Tree

Alexander Muir
1830 -1906
Principal of nearby Leslieville Public School who was inspired to write Canada’s national song “The Maple Leaf Forever” by the falling leaves of this sturdy maple tree.
Erected by
The Orange Lodge of British America

So now I found myself inside doing a small tour of this home and reading some of the literature that was there. It basically was about Alexander Muir and this song called The Maple Lead Forever.

At first I didn’t connect this song that was playing through a small stereo in the parlor, with the memory of that song that I had listened to as a kid. It all of a sudden hit me that, this was the home, that had THE TREE that dropped one of it’s leafs, onto the man, who had created Canada’s unofficial second national Anthem called The Maple Leaf Forever, huh! Imagine that, someone else who lived in my neighbourhood that was part of Canadian Musical History! The eastern part of the city of Toronto, especially East York, really ROCKS!

After realizing that I had left my wife at the garden store now for quite some time now, I quickly picked up as many brochures as I could and off I went.

Keep on Jammin’ in the east End!

Songs Of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour Live at Massey Hall

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David Byrne appeared in concert at Toronto’s Massey Hall on October 30, 2008 in his “Songs Of David Byrne and Brian Eno Tour”. The concert was in honour of the duo’s first album in 27 years, Everything That Happens Will Happen Today (in stores Nov. 25), and brought seven musicians (some who danced) and three dancers (some who played instruments) along with him.

My old high school friend Carl Wilson, a writer for the Globe and Mail did a review of the show!

He is a music critic for the Globe and Mail, Slate and other media outlets in Toronto. If you ever get the opportunity to meet Carl, maybe while taking in a show that he is writing about somewhere, ask him what he thought about a song we did together live called “Peanut Butter”!

His article was the only reference that led me to this show. I think his piece in the Globe and Mail described it rather nicely!

David Byrne (Talking Heads), is just fantastic to listen to, especially live! Life During War Time as well as Psycho Killer on Stop Making Sense, is David at his musical best. I LOVE playing Life During War Time on acoustic guitar for my brother, I mainly play what the keyboardist is doing, maybe that’s why so many guitar players are looking at me strangely when I play this with them.

Brian Eno (Roxy Music) simply needs no introduction. Everything he touches turns to musical gold! What else can you say about the guy! Same Old Scene, from Flesh and Blood is the one masterpiece that needs to played at 11 on your volume control! Thanks Ken, Allan and Tony and lets not forget Tim M., for bringing him to my attention, oh about 30 years ago!

I’ve never seen either one of these guys live, that’s my loss. So who out there has seen these troubadour’s live? Are they worth the price of admission?

Keep on Jammin’

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’

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