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Taste of the Danforth 2011

August 7, 2011 by Chris

We decided to check out the Taste of the Danforth this year and it was … well, busy as usual. The weather was fantastic! It drizzled a little bit during the visit which brought out that high humidity that I love so much. The sounds, smells and overall atmosphere is quite intoxicating to take in, in such a short period of time.

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’




Filed Under: Culture, Entertainment, General, Great Bands, Home and Lifestyle, Music, Musicians, Recreation, Toronto, Toronto Bands Tagged With: culture, festival, food, greek, Music, taste of the danforth 2011, the danforth

Happy Saint Paddy’s Day!

March 17, 2011 by Chris

Happy St Paddy’s day everyone! I came across this appropriate video to help kick off one of my favorite days of the year!

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!)


Filed Under: General Tagged With: 2011, ireland, luck of the irish, Saint patrick, st. paddy's day, st. patrick

Kitty Rock guitarist

January 19, 2011 by Chris

For all those who like to Rock … we salute you! This one kitty band sure has a lot going for it. The look and attitude are there, all that’s missing is a few more. The only thing that this Rocker is probably addicted to is cat nip!

Rock and Roll Kitty

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

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Entertainment, General, Humor, Music, Recreation Tagged With: cat, funny humor, guitarist, humour, kitty, little rocker, rock and roll, small rocker

The Rockin’ Roll Bagpipes

May 9, 2010 by Chris

Today’s bagpipe’s are a perfect pitch for the aggressive rock scene. Think about it, they were played during war time to help charge solders into battle with their heart thumping electrifying tone. The emotional effect that the bagpipe has on most of us seems like it would work well in the aggressive music world. Have you ever heard bagpipes played live? For me, it elevates my blood pressure to the point that, it is forewarning me that something special is about to take place.

“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.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aiil6xW9Lb0The Swiss Death Metal Group Eluveitie

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’

Filed Under: General Tagged With: aggressive music, bagpipes, band, Canadian, celtic punk, Real McKenzies, white stripes, yeah yeah yeahs

Pie in the Sky Studios

May 5, 2010 by Chris

I ran into the owners of the Pie in the Sky Studios and I must say their good people. I told them that I drive by their studio all the time and have always wondered what it is that they do there. I wrote down the website but of coarse I lost it or never got around to going there. After seeing it, I was very amazed at what they produce there, right down the street from our home!

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’

Filed Under: Entertainment, General, Toronto Tagged With: 397 Donlands Ave., band video, Main Studio, making, Pie in the Sky Studios, recording, sound stage, Video

River Boat music?

April 30, 2010 by Chris

Now this a river boat (guitar) that I’d love to take for a spin around Toronto’s waterfront! I bet that this is what David Wilcox was thinking of when he made that great tune of his called River Boat Fantasy.

river boat guitar

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

Filed Under: Culture, Entertainment, General, Humor, Toronto Tagged With: funny, gift, Humor, humour, unique gift

The Electric Guitar Lighter

April 5, 2010 by Chris

These guys in Japan have come up with the coolest looking electric guitar lighter ever! The detail on this thing is fabulous to look at. The one overall feel that this guitar has is a hypnotic one. It’s the same effect, to me anyways, like watching a bonfire while camping. It’s also like looking at one of those boats that are built in a glass bottle and wondering to yourself how do they get that thing in there? (BTW, how in the hell do they get them in there?!).

Electric Guitar Lighter

Electric guitar lighter

electric guitar lighter

electric guitar lighter

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’

Filed Under: Entertainment, General, Humor, Recreation Tagged With: birthday gift, electric guitar, electric guitar lighters, fathers day gifts, funny, gifts, guitar, guitar lighter, Humor, humour, lighters, presents

Simon and Garfunkle in Toronto

March 15, 2010 by Chris

Simon and Garfunkel are going to be playing May 12th, 2010 in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre and I hope to be there! These guys have produced so many great memorable tunes that it’s not funny! Do you plan to go and see them on their up coming tour?

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’

Filed Under: Concerts, Entertainment, General, Great Bands, Music, Musical influences, Musicians, Playing Styles, Recreation, Songs to play, The early Years, Video Tagged With: 60s icons, Art Garfunkel, bands, bandstand, cne, concert, finger picking, Paul Simon, Scarborough Fair, Simon and Garfunkel

I got a Match PIK for a birthday present

August 7, 2009 by Chris

I recently received a belated birthday present from a volunteer at our hospital.

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?”.

matchpik

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’

Filed Under: General, Guitar Equipment, My experiences, Toronto Tagged With: .88 mm guitar pciks, accessories, birthday gifts, gift, gifts, gifts for guitarists, guitar accessories, guitar gifts, Jim Dunlop guitar picks, jim dunlop USA, Match Pik

Tortured ex-smoker writes folk song

June 7, 2009 by Chris

The trials and tribulations of either a reformed smoker or a work in progress one! I know I can relate to this guy because quitting smoking is probably the hardest thing you could do!

Song of pain

Keep on Jammin’

Filed Under: Entertainment, General, Humor Tagged With: funny, funny_pictures, Humor, humour, pictures, quitting_smoking

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