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Happy Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day

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Ok this is way out there but Happy Bubble Wrap(B.W.) Appreciation Day!

Ah come on, everybody loves B.W! You have to admit that at least once in your life you saw a piece of B.W. just sitting there in front of ya, looking right back saying, Ah come on over here and get a little fix! Nobody’s watching.

Many years ago I ran a Computer VAR warehouse when the company was first starting up. I was looking for an in to this company so I took it and ran with it. Anyway, we had tons of bubble kicking around the place. We had it in large long rolls, small pouches for RAM and loose pieces everywhere. When things got a hint stressful, bang, bang could be heard throughout the warehouse. It also helps to stop smoking … I heard that somewhere.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Adk7pcR8004

So for some of you out there that might require a little bit of a B.W. popping fix, then this link is for you!

Keep on Popping!




Kitty Rock guitarist

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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’

Austin City Limits moving to new location

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So the longest-running music series in American television history, Austin City Limits (ACL) is getting quite the upgrade and a new larger studio. The Moody Foundation of Galveston has donated a large sum of money to ACL for new HD production equipment and to boost seating from 320 to 2,750. Through their donation the Foundation gains the naming rights to the theatre to be called the Moody Theatre

Ok, I get it, they might want to upgrade/replace the old studio by how are they going to replace that feel that you get with a smaller much more intimate venue?

Not that I’m against the advancement of music halls but why don’t the designers work with what they have? Don’t they have the expertise and technology to do it correctly?

I’ve been a huge fan of ACL’s for so many years now that I can’t remember the first time I’ve ever seen it. The bands that they had were amazing. The complete listings of bands that have performed must be HUGE. Just check out some of the line ups that have been there on the Rolling Stone website, there’s no way you can read them all!

So check what I consider the best show ever to grace the stage at the famous Austin City Limits stage!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Cc-EoybFY

Keep on Jammin’

Merry Christmas Everyone!

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Well it’s that time of the year again kids. We all sit around talk, eat and socialize with one another. Some may go forth to spread the good cheers with family (some may even run the other way), friends or even plain strangers! I just hope that yours is full of great memories.

Have a Merry Christmas Everyone!

Have a Merry Christmas Everyone!

Us, we’re sitting around at home cleaning up, getting some fantastic food prepared to head off to my folks home for a little X-mas dinner and just being plain thankful for what we have, especially our health.

So have a safe and Merry Christmas with all your loved ones!

Keep on Jammin’ everyone!


Damn Life is Good!

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The other day my favorite nurse that I work with at the hospital introduced me to this really cool line of clothing called Life is Good. The clothing comes with some fantastic sayings printed on them.

Most of the items on this site are generally intriguing, but the one’s that interest me the most are the guitar or music related products on the site. If your looking for some distinctive gifts to give someone then I think this is something to take a better look at.

The Life is Good company is based in the US, but has outlets in Canada as well. My friend tells me that any time she travels to the US, she is always aware of the location nearest her destination so she can do some window shopping.

The company carries everything from hats/caps, big cotton sweaters all the way to some cute doggy accessories. A couple of years ago we picked up this great coat for our dog Midnight that reminded us of something that Edith Bunker would wear going to church with good ol’ Archie. Man did that thing turn some heads when we took her for a walk in our neighbourhood! I only wished that they had some of their doggy cloths that came with some of the guitar or music sayings on them.

My favorite one is this sweater that says “Remember the Music is not in the guitar”. It has this stick man figure on it (BTW, Stickman is my old nickname) playing an acoustic guitar while sitting down. Don’t ya get it, the music is in the musician not the guitar? They also carry some neat embroidered Caps as well. Check out the Guitar Tree and Jake Campfire, their hilarious man!

Has any one out there been to one of Life is Good outlets? Tell me what you think is the craziest saying they have!

Keep on Jammin’

Centennial Stage construction at the CNE

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I was watching a news story a couple of months ago about vintage videos, both from private and official video collections, from some of the past CNE (Canadian National Exhibition) years. The people who run the CNE thought that they had something special here and they wanted to share it with the rest of the world. They weren’t quite to sure how to achieve this, but they eventually decided to put it up on Youtube so that everyone could enjoy the CNE archive films.

I just watched quite a few of the CNE videos and I have to say that some of these clips brought back a flood of fantastic memories of past visits to CNE or The EX as most of us locals call it.

My favorite video of the entire collection was the one that showed the making of the main portable stage at Exhibition Stadium. Up until watching the video that I have, BTW included at the end of this post, I never knew the actual name of this stage. They call it the Centennial Stage.

This stage supported some of the greatest acts of the 20th century! The Who, Pick Floyd, The Police, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, John Cougar Mellencamp (ha, I finally had the chance to say his old name out loud!) and Simon and Garfunkel just to name a few. The best show that I have witnessed there, from a pure sound point of view, was Pick Floyd in 1987? They went all quadraphonic on us at that show, very trippy!!!

So I hope that the video below brings back some great memories for you if you had the chance to visit this stage or the Toronto CNE in the past.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f34Wd1VLDwg

Keep on Jammin’

Guitar Hero pays homage to RUSH’s 2112 album

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The video game Guitar Hero, from Activision, is paying tribute to our very own RUSH’s 2112 album! It will be coming out this September in the Warriors of Rock Guitar Hero video series.

For the uninitiated, 2112 isn’t your average rock album. It’s about the fallout from a galaxy-wide war in the year 2062, which ended with an oppressive organization, known as the Red Star of the Solar Federation, in charge. The federation exerts its influence over cultural matters through their conduits, the Priests of the Temple of Syrinx. But things begin to change for the better in the year 2112, after a rebellious man discovers a guitar in a cave and proceeds to rock out. Essentially, it’s the plot of Footloose, but with a bunch of spacey, Ayn Rand philosophy thrown in. CBC News

Even though I hear that Guitar Hero has used some of Rush’s tunes in other issues, this years homage to them is special to me. I remember listening to this album when it first came out to today. I figured out every little riff that i could. Man that was a awesome concept album! I know I’ve talked before about my dislike for this game due to the lack of guitar skills needed to play this thing, and I still hold those views, but I must admit I might check out my nephew’s copy of it when it comes out! Hear that AJ, what are ya waiting for!

Keep on Jammin’

Last night at Sarah’s Acoustic Afternoon was a blast!

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Too bad that I didn’t play! I couldn’t play because of this very nagging ear infection that I have been going through the past little while. It’s like being under water and it makes it hard to concentrate on what your playing. Oh well, there’s always next weekend’s Acoustic Afternoon!

I did get down there yesterday afternoon around 5 PM to see an old bass guitar player hero from the past, the great Doug F. His bass chops back in the day was a true inspiration for me as a very young guitar player growing up in Brantford and attending St. Pius X Church.

He was one of those intimidating musicians, in my mind due to my young age at that time, that just had a certain air to him. At first he made me feel not worthy to play in front of because he was so good! I’m sure that most of us out there has had a similar experience when we first start playing?! After getting to know him years later, I quickly found this not to be true at all.

We all sat out on the patio at Sarah’s and the weather could not have been better. Oh ya, some team from Spain won some kinda game? We chatted there for a while and then we decided to head off to our place to sit in our backyard for some more fun in the sun. Our very overly friendly Greek neighbour Nick had his whole clan over again and he asked us over to join them for some great food, (damn those Greek people know how to BBQ) and drinks. After leaving there with around 2-3 days of diners, we came back to our place.

I brought out the my trusty Larrivee and played some background music to go with our conversation. It was perfect!

So that was my day in paradise my with wife and an old guitar hero!

Keep on Jammin’ Doug!

My next live gig is at Sarah’s Cafe on Danforth Ave.

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I’ll be performing on Sunday July 11th at Sarah’s Cafe Bar which is located at 1426 Danforth Avenue, Toronto. I normally don’t announce where I play but this is unique venue to play. It’s an open mike event with a crowd that is quite musically educated. It’s full of singer song writers that mostly entertain the audience with their own original works of art. The audience just sits back and respectfully admires the performers. Now this is a crowd that I am looking for!

This event is called Acoustic Afternoon and is run by a well known local music lover/performer/promoter named Dan McLean Jr. This is not the only show that he runs in Toronto. He also runs gigs for local musician’s like Emerging Artists at Free Times Café at 320 College St on the last Wednesday of every month, The Legendary Horseshoe Tavern at 370 Queen St W and of coarse the one at Sarah’s.

While at Sarah’s last Sunday I met this guy sitting at the bar named Jason. If you have a moment, check out some of his Pod Cast shows that are available on his site. Anyway, Jason told me that he had just played on stage a minute ago. He said that he just recently started attending some shows and was going up on stage to try out some of his new material and said that the crowd is just amazing!

So if you’ve got a minute to spare this coming Sunday then head off to Sarah’s Cafe Bar and kick back for some fantastic local talent! Hell, maybe I’ll get my crowbar out to pry open my wallet and buy ya a beverage or two, cheers!

Keep on Jammin’

Scarborough 16th Vintage Guitar Festival

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Canada’s 16th Vintage Guitar Show is a great event to check out some nice vintage guitars. It will be held Saturday June 26th 1:00 to 8:00pm to Sunday June 27th from 11:00am to 5:00pm. This guitar festival is located at Scarborough Community Center 3600 Kingston Road (at Markham Road) Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. See Map for details. The price of admission is a reasonable $10.00 at the door.

I just came back from this year’s show, my first ever I might add, and I liked what I saw. The main vendor and it’s driving force behind the gathering of like minded individuals is Tundra Music. They were the largest both there by far. The amount of guitars on display was breath taking. My favorites were

  • 1969 Gold Top Les Paul for $20,000
  • a nice well used 1936 Martin acoustic for $25,000
  • a beautiful 1957 Fender Strat, the price for this one I didn’t get. Damn I wish I had more dollars the cents!

I went to the show just for the fun of it and to be around some vintage guitars. To be amongst other guitar enthusiasts is a great feeling. There was no special effects anywhere on the floor just straight forward rock and roll guitars.

The one smaller but very experienced vendor that I liked was Terry Gallie. He had some great guitars on display for us at the this years show. He may of had a much limited variety to view then Tundra Music but it was his intensity that was infectious. His company is called Atomic Age Vintage and you can get a hold of him at (416) 423-4617 or e-mail him directly at atomic@bell.net to see what he has in store for you.

Another merchant was K.S. Sound from Schooner Cove Nova Scotia. He had some interesting guitars for sale and was very friendly and helpful to talk to. This is just a hobby for him at this point but he plans to jump in with both feet when he retires later on this year. I’ll have to go back next year to see how he is doing with his new venture.

Then there was this other small both that was showcasing his personal collection for guitars. He is from Hamilton but I didn’t get his name due to so many wandering around him trying to inquire about his stock at the show.

In a future post I’ll put some pic’s up for all of you to see exactly what I saw at Canada’s 16th Vintage Guitar Show. So if your in Toronto this weekend, NO PROTESTER’s PLEASE, then stop on by to take in this years show. I’m more then sure there is something at the festival for everyone!

Keep on Jammin’

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