Blog

Songwriting and Mixed Tapes Tuesday, January 26, 2010  Over the Christmas Holidays, I went with the family to the local library. I wasn't sure if Santa was going to bring me any good books to read, so I grabbed a handful from the feature display near the check out counter. All of the books I signed out were about Rock and Roll. I can't say that I've been an avid fan of this genre in the past. The only book I can remember liking was Great Jones Street by Don Dililo. And I do recommend it. The books that I...

The Best Gift I Ever Got Thursday, January 7, 2010  Without a doubt, the best Christmas Gift I ever received was a Yamaha Portatone Keyboard. I want to go give it a hug right now. I have always wanted to play the piano ( I'm not sure that I always wanted to learn how to play the piano. I just wanted to be able to play the piano). And my lovely wife risked the peace and harmony of our household by presenting me that keyboard. I love it.  And I've been trying to learn how to play the keyboards ever since....

The Best Gift You Ever Got Sunday, January 3, 2010  Some time during this past year, our family was sitting around the dinner table and somebody asked the question: What was the best gift you ever got? I knew what mine was right away. But I'm not going to talk about it right now. I'm going to talk about it in a few days. The second best gift I ever got was something so special, that I have thought about it all of my adult days. When I was very little, my dad had a workshop in the basement of...

The Twelve Days Of Christmas Friday, January 1, 2010 Merry Christmas! And to all a Happy New Year! I have titled this entry the Twelve Days Of Christmas because I want to manipulate the passage of time a little. The approach of Christmas came so quickly and it was such a busy time that the anticipation that I usually savour got a little misplaced this year. It doesn't help when the marketing gurus eliminate Christmas from their calenders. Once upon a time the sequence of events was something like this: Christmas shopping, Christmas, Boxing Day, New Years. But now, Boxing...

Mid-Winter Message Monday, February 23, 2009  With February coming to a close, I have a friend who is already planning the spring fishing trip. I imagine him in a dark smokey room, hunched over a table with a map of Ontario on it. Just like an admiral planning naval strategy, I can see him pushing around little canoes instead of  little aircraft carriers, formulating a plan to cover as much territory as possible in the time alloted us. I can't wait to go trout fishing! This mid-winter anticipation is so very sweet. When I was a kid, just about this time of...