They're baaaaaccccckkkkkkk

The painters that is. It's Saturday morning and the painters are here to finally complete their work. It will be nice to see the finished product whenever they get it done. 

I am patient and they do good work, they have some difficulty when I put parameters on when they can come into the house. It's Saturday morning after all, I try to get a little extra sleep on these morning so I told them not to be here until 9:00 a.m. and I also told them I want them out by 3:00 p.m.

Saturday besides n=being my extra sleep day is also my sit by the fire and read day. With these gents in my living room and kitchen I can do neither. Now, perspective is a wonderful thing. Given what we have been through in the last two weeks a little inconvenience by painters is a minor thing. So, I'll sit here for a while then maybe take my beloved out for breakfast, do some errands and oh yes, enjoy the sunshine. Ah the sunshine, while it is cold out there, the sunshine just makes everything seem brighter.  

So, they are back and the job will be done. In a little more time all this work will be completed, nice!

So here are they are working away in both the hallway and in the kitchen, they will also finish the living room completely, I hope. 

The big reveal for the week of Feb. 23, 2009

It's Friday, it's pouring(where I live) and in 7.25 hours the weekend will arrive. I don't usually count down that much, but I need a break.

OK now back to the music, I had two guesses this week, from two regulars Brad F. and Steve B. Brad answered all the questions correctly, first, so once again, he is our winner. I guess I need to make a road trip to T-Bay to give him his prize, which will not likely happen, the trip that is.

Here are your answers:

The name of the artist: Bob Marley.
The name of the song: Redemption Song.
The name of the album: Uprising.
Will Smith movie: the aptly entitled "I am Legend"

I hope you enjoy this version as much as I have. Having never been a fan of reggae, ska or this type of music, the emotion, pain and hope expressed in the music of Marley that I have listened to this week has blessed me and I will likely go out and purchase some this weekend, we jammin'.



Have an awesome weekend. I plan on a quiet dinner with my beloved at our favourite Italian restaurant this evening(sans Billy Joel although there might be a bit of red and white) and then resting and reading(nothing related to work) for most of the rest of the weekend.

I hope that you have enjoyed the music this month. As I noted earlier, the month of March will be set aside for Irish (or musicians with Irish names)musicians. I promise no Gaelic, I'm not sure how many would undertand. I will try to keep the music to this century. As a start (and as I finish this post), I will leave you with an old Irish blessing.

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face; the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Tuesday Musings (#24)

Welcome to Tuesday and it's the last one in February. So much to say, so little time and space. I didn't ask my daughter permission to write about her, so if this post is gone tomorrow, you will know why.

She just returned from Ecuador on Sunday night. She was there for 10 days working as a camp counsellor (one of her favourite things to do) in a camp for children who regularly reside in a squatters village near the city of Playas in southern Ecuador.

She drove me to work this morning and was telling me about her week and about some of the amazing things she experienced. She began to tell me about saying goodbye and about how difficult that was for her and for others. She said that she developed a deep friendship with another young woman her age over the time she was there and how hard it was for her to leave. She then made a comment about being accepted there and not here.

I began to think about how much that must hurt her. I have learned that I cannot protect my children(even though they are both adults now) from the hurts that people dispense upon them. I cannot change the behaviour of others, I can only try to lead by example and "not return evil for evil" as I have noted about in a previous post about retribution.

It's really tough when children of any age hurt. The realization that sometimes life stinks and people are mean spirited is difficult to swallow particularly when they hide behind the veneer of niceness. Life has many lessons, sometimes we are placed on the hard road to experience the painful side of things. As some wag noted recently, "sometimes you're the fly and sometimes you're the windshield".

When faced with this type of adversity, I hope and pray that my family will respond in the manner that we have been taught to. The "golden rule" has much to say about how we ought to treat others and the responsibility for fair treatment begins with us. In the midst of difficulty a glimmer of "hope" was there for my daughter in the embodiment of an Ecuadorean woman who saw her for who she really is and that's what really matters isn't it? Being real!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Obscure Lyric for the week of Feb.23, 2008

Good Monday morning music fans and welcome to the last installment of the current them of "dead musicians" obscure lyrics. I certainly have enjoyed the music over the past month and am looking forward to moving on to living legends(not a hint). Next month, being the month that holds St. Patrick's day will hopefully include only Irish musicians. That should be fun, there's got to be more than Van the Man and Thin Lizzy right? All the way from Belfast to Dublin in one sentence.

I trust you had a nice weekend. We endured the snow and waited for our daughter Alex to return from Ecuador. She was there on a missions trip working as a camp counsellor with kids who usually live in a squatters village near a city named Playas. It was an amazing and eye opening trip for her, she has been forever changed based on what she saw and experienced.

This weeks song was written by a legend. I suppose that's redundant as most deceased musicians of some renown are considered legends. Oh well this one was an interesting person too. Unfortunately this musician passed away at the young age of 36. The song below is not obscure at all, and is considered one of this artists hits. Apparently, or is it a legend, it was the last song that the artist played live.  

Here are the lyrics:

But my hand was made strong

By the hand of the almighty

We forward in this generation triumphantly

won't you help to sing these songs of of freedom

I would like to know the following:

The name of the artist:

The name of the song:

The name of the album it was released on:

What Will Smith movie ends with this song:

Have a great week, February is almost over, March along with the Lion and the Hare are coming as is St. Patrick's day, it will be time for Cead Mille Failte to spring soon. And, no, I haven't forgotten about the koolaid, that will come when my re-programming is completed.

The big reveal for the week of Feb. 16, 2009

Good morning music fans, Friday is here. Aww Friday a lovely word, a word that means so much to so many. I'm glad it's here today. Well the weather outside is still frightful and yet spring is inching towards us little by little. Soon it will be March, then April and well you get the picture, I hope.

Only one guess this week, and it was completely correct. Brad F got all the answers correct. If you were alive in the 70's as Brad, myself and a lot of you were you would have heard this musician and whether at a party, in a parked car, on the radio or elsewhere. The songs by this musician would have meant much to you. In addition he (oops spoiler) wrote some great songs about some characters in Philly (Leroy Brown comes to mind).

This weeks answers:

The writer/singer: Jim Croce
The name of the song: Dreaming again
What caused his demise: a plane crash
The bandmate: Maury Meuhleisen



Have a great week, enjoy the rest from the daily toil. Take time to dream with someone you love. Take time to enjoy a simple or a fancy meal with that special someone. Take time just for you. Take time to dream. Take time to be thankful for the people in your life who build you up and hold you up when things are going wrong, I am certainly going to do that this weekend.

If a little dreaming is dangerous, the cure for it is not to dream less but to dream more, to dream all the time

When is "an eye for an eye" too much?

I have read with interest and disgust the story of the Iranian woman who was scarred for life by a man who claimed he "loved" her. In yet another despicable attack on a woman, this "man" chose to disfigure her because she refused his advances. How bad can the world be when this happens to defenceless people?

And yet, it turns worse. In a literal application of the adage "an eye for an eye" this woman wants the court to rule in her favour (he confessed and has been in jail since two weeks after the attack) and pour acid into his eyes. She says it is not out of revenge, but rather so that it never happens to another person. Look at the somewhat more rational U.S. and the states that have death penalties, does this stop murder? I would respectfully suggest that possibility of being put to death does not prevent murder.

When are we going to return to a better adage like, love your enemies or pray for those who hurt you or how about do not return evil for evil and how about turning the other cheek. Aye, but there's the rub, those attributes are not valued. Only "blood money" and retribution will work to resolve this. Where in the world are we going? Wherever it is, we are going fast and I want off this train.

Tuesday Musings (#23) on a Wednesday

Hello Wednesday, Tuesday's gone.

When I was in high school back in the early 70's there was a song with the refrain "and you know who your friends are by looking in their eyes". Some DJ in St. Catharines used that song to end his show at 10:00 p.m. weeknights. How I remember this stuff amazes me and it leads me to this weeks musing.

It is not from the eyes that friendship is demonstrated, but rather from the actions and love of people that demonstrates friendship. If that sentence makes any sense then I am doing well right now.

Once again, our family has been blessed with a difficult situation. A friend wrote that "she is saddened that we have to endure more tragedy than most". I won't go into details here at this point, suffice it to say that we have a challenging situation on our hands. It is in this time of need that we discover that our faith carries us over and through the worst obstacles and real friends come to our aid in ways that cannot be numbered or described.

In those days when I feel that I have few if any friends, I need to remember these days when so many come to be with us, pray with us, cry with us, laugh with us and give of their time and resources sacrificially to assist us in our time of need.
Thanks so much for being there.

"Happy Wednesday Everyone"

Obscure musical Lyric for the week of Feb.16, 2008

Hi there, it's Tuesday morning, sorry I was out of town for the weekend (and due to circumstances beyond my control) could not get the blog done yesterday. So, here it is. Following the theme for the month, the write is sadly no longer with us. The songs were story songs, ballads and love songs. Given that we have just celebrated (some of us) Valentines day, I thought I would add a love song to the blog today.

It is written about the author that "this person delivered their songs with such sincerity that you believed them and that they engaged us in a natural rapport." The singer died at the very young age of 30 in 1973. The song was released as part of an album in 1973 that also included one of the artists greatest hits which went to number one in the charts.

Here are the lyrics:

that you were here with me

lyin' by my side so soft and warm

and we talked a while and shared a smile

then we shared the dawn

I would like to know the following:

The writer/singer:

The name of the song:

What caused the singers demise:

The other band member:

Have a great week, enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. The snow is returning and if you believe the rodent there are now only four weeks of winter left. I will try to send out some hints on Wednesday.

The big reveal for the week of Feb. 9, 2009

Good morning music fans. I'm listening to someone by the name of Chris Tomlin right now on my ipod and he's singing Hallelujah, which is how I feel about this being Friday. Not to mention that Monday is family day and I have the day off with my beloved. Woo Hoo.

I received a few guesses this week and a correction(thanks Scott G.) apparently the Phoenix Coyotes don't use this song any more when they score a goal, apparently they have "imbibed the koolaid" and have added some form of horn to celebrate their few goals, oh well their loss, or maybe they forgot to pay the royalties to the estate of the deceased. Kinda makes you want to go hmmmm.

Here are your answers:

The name of the song: Werewolves in London.
The writer(s) Warren Zevon (the singer), LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel.
The name of the album: Excitable Boy
What caused the singers early passing: Mesothelioma (a rare form of cancer) which also killed Steve McQueen.




Two people wrote with the correct answers within 11 minutes of each other, so based on that we have two winners this week. Deb M. and Scott G. congrats, the cheque is in the mail. Not really, but it sounds good, doesn't it?

It's almost the weekend and it's a long one. I am so ready for this one, finally I have a reason to thank the Fiberal Government of Ontario. Have a great weekend, especially since it's a long one and enjoy Valentines Day if you have someone to share it with. The next weeks blog will be updated on Monday, I have a few ideas for next week already.

Have fun, enjoy the sunshine and if you can't be with the one you love, wait til they get home, there's way too much of that going on (with no apologies to CSNY). It's my blog and I can say what I want.

"I hope you don't mind that I put into words, how wonderful life is now you're in the world"

Tuesday Musings (#22)

Good morning and Happy Tuesday.

I have so much floating around in my head, I'm not sure which item to try and tackle this morning. I heard an amazing message on Good and Evil on Sunday that continues to reverberate through my head, I sang at a memorial concert on Saturday evening and had so much fun and sang with amazing singers and instrumentalists (all of which should be heretofore referred to as musicians). I have multiple personal frustrations lined up to be dealt with and I'm still in training(which has multiple personal frustrations of it's own).

It's none of that this week, Valentines day is coming soon, in four days to be exact. I have been heard to exclaim: "why is it just the men who are expected to do something on Valentines day?" It's really just a joke, because my beloved always does something to make me feel special on Valentines and other days too.

I tried to remind about 80 men at a breakfast (that's another idea for a Tuesday Musing, more on that later) on Saturday morning about Valentines day and I hope they remember. It's a day to remind the one that we treasure most on this earth that we would die for them, that we would give ourselves up for them, some would say that we would take a bullet for them(you get the idea right?).

It's high time that we (I'm speaking to men at this time, but the reverse can be true also) look at our wives as the treasure that they are. They have walked beside us for many years and put up with our stuff (insert your own examples) and they still love us. Why? I believe that the capacity to love and be loved is so inherent in the spirit of my beloved that she cannot do anything but love me. In spite of my many faults, she loves me. Just writing those words embarrasses me as I know there are many more ways that I can and should show love to her.

Valentines is coming, I won't decry it as being over commercialized, I'll look to it as an opportunity to demonstrate my love for my beloved. I'll tell her, I'll show her and I'll be with her and we will do whatever our hearts want to do. Looking at Valentines day, I am excited for the things that I can do to demonstrate my love to the person who said "I do" almost 28 years ago. I will repeat the refrain to the song I wrote for her a few years ago: "I am yours always in Love"

Happy Tuesday Everyone

Obscure musical Lyric for the week of Feb.9/09

Good afternoon music fans. It's a little hairy these days and I have been unable to get this done until now and it's already past noon. At least it's not past midnight. I'm continuing on the members of the deceased musicians group for this week. I hope you like my choice.

The song was released in 1978 as a 7" single. It was released on the appropriately named Asylum records. It was produced by Jackson Browne and had some pretty awesome players on the album like, Mick Fleetwood and John McVie. When the Phoenix Coyotes score a goal, a feat in itself, this song is played.

Lately he's been overheard in Mayfair.

You better stay away from him, he'll rip your lungs out Jim.

Huh, I'd like to meet his tailor.

Sounds rather macabre, doesn't it?

I would like to know the following:

The name of the song:

The writers of the song (not just the singer):

The name of the album it was released on:

What caused the singers early demise:

Have a great week, me I'm clearly not drinking any Koolaid. I'm just trying to make it through these few days without getting bitten by the bug and without tearing into anyone. I think I need to visit my sister who lives downm the 401 a little west of here. She is certainly the Queen of her family and has bridged many gaps. Yes, there are many obscure references there for you to rip through.

The big reveal for the week of Feb 2, 2009

Good afternoon music fans and welcome to Friday afternoon. Sorry this is so late in being posted I have been in training for most of the week for me new job. I'll post about that when I have more time, not sure how much I will say, however, there will certainly be a reference to Koolaid at some point.

"and now for something completely different"

The results for this weeks trivia are as follows:

The name of the song: While my guitar gently weeps.
The writer of the song: George Harrison.
Who played lead guitar on the original recording: Eric Clapton.
The Canadian who covered it: Jeff Healey.
Who sang BGV's on the Canadian recording: George Harrison and others.

Steve B. got almost all the answers, he even got the one I forgot to ask. I guess I owe you a coffee or something. Here is a nice version of Harrison playing the song from a concert that also included Ringo, Jeff Lynne, Phil Collins and Eric Clapton (playing a Les Paul?).



Have a great weekend. If you have the time come to Elmira to visit with me and some of my friends as we remember a friend who passed away April 3, 2008.

For more info go to http://www.onacoldwintersnight.blogspot.com/

Music even in the most awful places must not offend the ear, but give pleasure, that is music must always remain music.

Tuesday Musings (#21)

Good Tuesday morning and the snow is back, the rodent saw it's shadow and winter will last another 6 weeks. When I think about it, 6 weeks isn't really that long, is it? So, enough of the whining, I'm going to enjoy the last grasp of winter, it'll be Valentines soon and that's always a special time, then family day(a new holiday), soon enough it will be March and that brings St. Patrick's day and then before I know it April will be here along with my wedding anniversary.

April also brings the anniversary of the death of a friend. Next Saturday night, Feb.7/09 would have been her birthday. To celebrate her life and to hold a memorial concert to serve others, a friend has chosen 25 songs to sing and play and I have the privilege to sing a few solos and some in an ensemble. Check it out at:

http://www.onacoldwintersnight.blogspot.com/

This promises to be quite an eclectic evening, with songs from all areas of interest (no country I think), some very different, daring and interesting choices. These songs are sure to please, encourage and move us from the anger of loss to the peace that passes all understanding.

Please come and help us remember our friend and support some worthwhile services that assist those troubled by violence in the home. If you need any further info about this event, please e-mail or call me.

Happy Tuesday everyone

Obscure Musical Lyric for the week of February 2/09

Good morning music fans. This week is the 5oth anniversary of "the day the music died". That being the early and tragic death of Buddy Holly, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson and Ritchie Valens and pilot Roger Peterson in a plane crash on February 3, 1959. So, for the month of February I will use only songs written , recorded or sung by musicians that are no longer with us. I'll try to stay in the last 50 years or so with my references.

Don McLean in his awesome 1971 song: "American Pie" appears to decry the loss of the music he loved although there are many versions of explanations as to what the song actually means. I hope you enjoy this little foray into music made famous by some amazing musicians who are gone on before us. Thanks again to Peter McM. for his inspiration for this month.

here are this weeks lyrics:

I don't know how you were diverted

You were perverted too

I don't know how you were inverted

No one alerted you

Here are some hints: The song is based on the I Ching, the writer (of the song, not the I Ching) died in November 2001. The song has been covered by many musicians, interestingly also by a Canadian who is also deceased. The song was released as part of an album with his band mates on November 22, 1968, just 33 years before he passed away. The Canadian cover musician passed away March 2, 2008 and covered the song in an album released in 1990.

Some questions:

Who wrote the song:

Who played lead guitar in the original recording:

Who is the Canadian cover musician:

Who sang background vocals on the Canadian recording:

Have a great week, this is a week of significant change for me (and for some of my colleagues) as I (we) begin transitioning to new jobs. If I can I'll send out some hints during some breaks in training. I'm not really all that happy about it, however the change was a unilateral decision and I might as well go with it, the alternative (not working) isn't very palatable.

It's groundhog day, not that I put much faith in a rodent, winter will be over when it's over. It's also the day after the Super Bowl, which was a pretty good game, although I was pulling for the underdogs, who almost won it.