Spriggsblog

Spriggsblog Goes To The Book Shop

2012-01-24T12:14:00.001-05:00

Quotation Of The Day: Steve Jobs -- Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.

And so, on Saturday, i needed something to read and was wandering aimlessly around a local book shop and came across this:




Now, i've never used a Mac in my life, but i'm fascinated by the early days of computers and he seemed like an interesting dude (and besides, it was on sale) and i have to say, "woot!"

I'm only up to page 100, but it's a fascinating and compelling read.

Mr Jobs wasn't a brilliant engineer -- and he could sometimes be a very abrasive person. But it was his partner Steve Wozniak -- who was a brilliant engineer -- who invented the personal computer. I didn't know that. I supposed that it was Bill Gates, or someone at Microsoft. Wrong again!

Mr Jobs was, however, brilliant at marketing. The alliance of Jobs & Wozniak appears to have been one of those brilliant synergistic partnerships that only arise once in a decade, like Lennon & McCartney or, um, Graham Linehan & Arthur Matthews.

The book is highly recommended.

Now THIS Is What I Call Music!

2012-01-17T18:00:00.000-05:00

Rory Gallagher -- the best blues-rock guitarist of all time, ever.

Spriggsblog Goes To The Book Shop

2012-01-13T17:35:00.000-05:00

Quotation of the day: Judy Collins -- My father always promised us / that we would live in France / and we'd go boating on the Seine / and i would learn to dance

I have just finished reading Judy Collins' memoirs, "Sweet Judy Blue Eyes: My Life In Music."

Now, i'm well aware that i'm a dinosaur when it comes to music; my regular reader may not know who Judy Collins is.

She was a folk singer whose heyday was in the sixties and she made what i think are three of the greatest American folk music albums of all time: "Judy Collins 5th Album," "In My Life," and "Wildflowers."

She was also very beautiful: those amazing amethyst eyes. Stephen Stills wrote "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes" (recorded by Crosby, Stills & Nash) about her.

Her memoirs are interesting enough. It was an enjoyable read, but strangely unsatisfying.

For one thing, although she's a good writer, there's no magic to her prose. It's easy to read but not compelling (if, in fact, she actually wrote it herself). And it's full of factual errors: Jacques Brel was not French (he was Belgian), The Byrds first hit single was not "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (it was "Mr Tambourine Man').

She's very forthright about her alcoholism and all of her lovers (male and female; she preferred men). But the book virtually ends in the early 80's, which is when she ultimately kicked the booze and which is also when her music became terribly schmaltzy (co-inky-dink?) and i really rather lost interest in her work. The years since then are skipped through in about twenty pages. I would have been interested.

She performed here in Stratford last year. I didn't go, i found out about the concert too late, which is a shame, i would have loved to have seen her, just for the sake of the music she once excelled at -- and she is an icon, after all! I checked her website (www.judycollins.com) and no repeat Stratford performances are scheduled. Well, she's seventy years old now, i suppose i can allow her a less grueling tour schedule.

Hill Street Blues

2012-01-10T17:44:00.000-05:00

Quotation of the day: Rick Kuba (attrib.) -- The Internet is television for people who like to read.

I feel old.

One of my favourite television series from the 80's was "Hill Street Blues." It really did revolutionize television. It may seem a bit lame now, but it was the first TV cop show that embraced the gritty reality of life in the urban wasteland, where the cops didn't all have perfect hair and had foibles and weaknesses instead.

I've been watching it a lot lately, and i loved all of the cast, i became emotionally involved in all of their lives (like, perhaps, my mum did with the cast of "Coronation Street") (and "HSB" was soap opera too, no mistake, with its recurring characters and overlapping episodes and continuing stories). I can rarely watch an episode without being on the verge of tears over something (wuss that i am).

But i mentioned the program to Josh, the bartender at my pub, a few weeks ago and ... he'd never heard of it.

Oh, i do feel old....

Album Of The Year, 2011

2012-01-04T20:49:00.001-05:00

Quotation Of The Day: Ian Anderson -- Too old to rock 'n' roll, too young to die

There's really no question.

I bought some really good CDs this year. Honourable mentions go to many: "Chickenfoot III," Black Country Communion's "2," Florence + The Machine's "Ceremonials," "New Blood" by Peter Gabriel, "PNO GTR VOX" by Peter Hammill, "So Beautiful Or So What" by Paul Simon, "Endgame" by Rise Against, and "A Grounding In Numbers" by Van der Graaf Generator are all great albums (most of them by a bunch of old farts).

The runner-up is (drum roll)....

A sublime meditation on the subject of winter.

But the winner is:

Seether was a Major Musical Discovery for me in 2011. "Holding Onto Strings Better Left To Fray" (daft title!) is a CD without a crap track on it (and how rare are those these days!). I'd been vaguely aware of the band ere now, but am now investigating their entire back catalogue, and have loved everything i've found.

This is a joyful noise in what is apparently called the "post-grunge" genre. Well, what do i know about genres, i don't grasp them very well. I just love Seether to pieces, i want to have its babies :o)

Year-End Wrap-Up (Almost Done)

2012-01-03T19:55:00.001-05:00

Quotation of the day: J.R.R. Tolkein -- In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.

OK, today's post will be about songs. Individual songs that rocked my world this year, and there were many.

I loved, in no particular order:

"Unkind' By Sloan
"Roads Ahead" by Big Sugar
"Cowboy Song" by Seether
"I Don't Know" by The Sheepdogs
"Whistle Blower" by The Arkells
"These Days" by Foo Fighters

But, song of the year, that's a toughie, and i am torn.

Torn between two possibles, and i'm having an attack of the vapours, trying to choose.

OK, well, i think that, without question, the most entertaining song of the year was "Tonight" by Seether and you can view the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCzdecygpmg&ob=av2e

But i think that the most important song of 2011 was Rise Against's "Make It Stop (September's Children)" and it's here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP4clbHc4Xg&ob=av2e

It's (of all things) a protest song. It's also a very angry song. It deals with the subject of high school bullying, and as i have a very dear friend whose son was the subject of some torment by his classmates recently, i know how shattering this can be.

So Rise Against gets the nod.

Spriggsblog Goes To The Library

2011-12-29T18:51:00.000-05:00

Quotation Of The Day: Anthony Powell -- Books do furnish a room

This being part the next in our year end wrap-up, and today we deal with this year's books.

As i said earlier, i'm a list freak, and i keep track of what i read. Here's the 2011 bunch:

Jan.10: Ian Rankin – The Complaints
Jan. 15: Roberston Cochrane –The Way We Word
Jan. 22: Robert Barnard – A City OfStrangers
Jan. 29: Alex Games – Balderdash And Piffle

Feb.5: Ian Rankin – Knots & Crosses
Feb. 20: Ian Rankin –Fleshmarket Close
Feb. 27: Robert Barnard – A Scandal InBelgravia

Mar.8: Michael Hall & Brian Proffitt – The Joy Of Linux
Mar.18: P.G. Wodehouse – Full Moon

Mar. 25: Ian Rankin – Hide &Seek

Apr.2: Ian Rankin – Let It Bleed
Apr. 11: Robert Barnard –Touched By The Dead
Apr. 26: Kingsley Amis – The Old Devils

May1: Julian Barnes – Pulse
May 12: Ian Rankin – Watchman
May20: Nick Hornby – Slam
May 26: Isaac Asimov, Terry Carr &Martin H. Greenberg – 100 Great Fantasy Short Short Stories
May31: Julian Barnes – Flaubert's Parrot

Jun.5: Ian Rankin – Tooth And Nail
Jun. 16: Ian Rankin – AQuestion Of Blood
Jun. 28: Graeme Thomson – Under The Ivy: TheLife And Music Of Kate Bush

Jul.7: Nicolas Freeling – Not As Far As Velma
Jul. 10: AnthonyBurgess – One Hand Clapping
Jul.21: Ian Rankin – DeadSouls
Jul. 28: Bruce Chatwin – The Songlines

Aug.16: Emilio Raggi, Keir Thomas, Trevor Parsons, Andy Channelle &Sander van Vugt
– Beginning Ubuntu Linux
Aug. 27: IanRankin – Black & Blue

Sept. 6: Ian Rankin – MortalCauses
Sept. 16: Ian Rankin – Doors Open
Sept. 26: MartinMyers – The Assignment

Oct.9: Nancy Edmonds Hansen – How You Can Make $25,000 A Year Writing (No Matter Where You Live)
Oct. 17: Nicolas Freeling – ADwarf Kingdom
Oct. 28: Ian Rankin – The Impossible Dead
Oct.29: Terry Deary – Horrible Histories: Stratford-Upon-Avon

Nov.12: Ian Rankin – The Naming Of The Dead
Nov. 20: Ian Rankin –Strip Jack
Nov. 22: Michael Ondaatje – The Collected Works OfBilly The Kid
Nov. 26: Julian Barnes – The Sense Of An Ending

Dec.11: Northrop Frye – The Great Code: The Bible &Literature
Dec. 14: Lin Carter – Tolkien: A Look Behind TheLord Of The Rings

Now, a lot of these were books that i read for the second or third time. Of the new ones, the perceptive reader will note that i've been on an Ian Rankin binge. He's been writing since the 80's but i only discovered him a few years ago and i've been grabbing up everything i can. Unfortunately, this has lead to a problem: i've read so many of his books in such a short time, i sometimes can't remember which was which.

Another favourite writer is Julian Barnes (www.julianbarnes.com). I've read three of his books this year -- an oldie but goodie ("Flaubert's Parrot") and two new ones, "Pulse" and "The Sense Of An Ending."

And this year's winner is:

To quote the review in The Globe & Mail: it's "a meditation on memory and the way the past is reconstructed to suit the needs of the present." It also won this year's Man Booker prize so someone, at least, agrees with me (first time for everything).

Spriggsblog Goes To The Movies

2011-12-27T11:19:00.000-05:00

Quotation Of The Day: Billy Wilder -- An actor entering through the door, you've got nothing. But if he enters through the window, you've got a situation.

This being part 2 of my year-end wrap-up, this edition dealing with the movies (or more accurately, the DVDs) i have watched this year.

Well, i'm a bit of a list freak, and i've kept track of everything i saw:

Jan.11: 48 Hours

Feb.8: Taxi Driver

Feb.12: The Replacement Killers

Feb.15: Sherlock Holmes And The Secret Weapon

Feb.27: Goodfellas

Mar.2: Heaven

Mar.9: Salt

Mar.22: The Net

Mar.30: 25^thHour

Apr.12: The Ghost Writer

Apr.13: Green Zone

Apr.22: The Bourne Ultimatum

Apr.23: The Bourne Supremacy

Apr.24: The Bourne Identity (yes, i know i watched them in reverse order)

Apr.26: Leaving Las Vegas

Apr.27: Smilla's Sense Of Snow

May1: The Adjustment Bureau

May2: Romy And Michelle's High School Reunion

May12: Eastern Promises

May23: La Femme Nikita

May24: Mean Streets

May25: The Taking Of Pelham 1 2 3

June21: Duck Soup

July19: Get Shorty

July20: Salt

July21: The Adjustment Bureau

Aug.9: Inglourious Basterds

Aug.17: Adoration
Aug. 24: Independence Day

Oct.10: Sleuth

Oct.11: Blow

Oct.24: Source Code

Oct.25: Candyman

Oct.28: Frantic

Now, i love films, but what a dismal record since October! There have been just so few evenings when i seem to have had the requisite two (or more) hours to spare, so i've been watching episodes of television series (on DVD), things like Father Ted, The Big Bang Theory (thanks, Jen!), Hill Street Blues and The Rockford Files. Also, you'll notice that most of the above are older movies, most of them i've watched two or three (or more) times.

And i won't keep you in suspense, i know you're dying to know what was my favourite new film of the year.

Grabbing the top spot is (ta-daaa) "The Adjustment Bureau" (Matt Damon, Emily Blunt). But a very close second is "Source Code" (Jake Gyllenhall, Vera Farmiga).

Which kinda sorta leaves "Salt" in 3rd place, as it was (i think) the only other "new" film i saw in 2011. And it was all right, lotsa action and very entertaining. But there was something ... like when the character played by Angelina Jolie watches her husband be murdered and does nothing.

Th-th-that's all folks!

Year-End Wrap-Up, Part 1

2011-12-26T12:41:00.000-05:00

Quote of the day: Richard Thompson -- We sing Hallelujah / at the turning of the year.

Right, well i haven't written anything in a bit -- primarily because, until Christmas Eve, i hadn't had a day off in ten days -- something i'm a bit angry about, actually. But it's over and done. And i had a super Christmas; i hope that you, my regular reader, had a great one, too.

I suppose it's not too early to start by "best of 2011" lists, but i'll start slowly -- with my favourite folk music CDs.

1. June Tabor & The Oysterband -- "Ragged Kingdom"

2. Bruce Guthro -- "Celtic Crossing"

3. June Tabor - "Ashore"

And special mention must go to "Another Christmas Present From The Albion Band." But as it's live recording from 1986, i don't think i can include it.

And that's my top 3. I don't buy a lot of folk music albums, although i love it. But most of the performers i grew up with, are either no longer active, or are shadows of their former selves

Today Is The Tuesday I Should Have Had Last Tuesday

2011-12-13T11:59:00.001-05:00

Quotation of the day: Woody Allen -- She wore a short skirt and a tight sweater and her figure described a set of parabolas that could cause cardiac arrest in a yak.

Time constraints seem to have resulted in me only posting to this modest li'l blog o' mine on my day off, which, most weeks, is Tuesday, but there was no post last Tuesday. Why (i hear you ask)?

First, last Monday, i started to feel the symptoms of a cold; by Tuesday it was full-blown and i spent the day coughing and sneezing (with eyes and nose streaming). Poetic justice, really: i was talking to someone at the pub last week about the 'flu shot -- i said i'd never had one and boasted that i hadn't had so much as a cold in about ten years (a fact i attributed to my healthy lifestyle: i drink and smoke too much and try to avoid fresh fruit & vegetables). Three days later, aaaa-CHOOOO! Sniff, koff.

But that's not the only reason there was no new posting last week. I had computer problems all day. Again! Good grief, i love computers when they work, but i seem to have so many problems with mine.

It began in the morning, when i discovered that i couldn't send any email. I did some Googling, tweaked some settings, disabled my firewall, even power-cycled my modem. Nothing. Then i tried disabling my anti-virus and re-booting and ... Windows wouldn't load! It loaded my wallpaper, but nothing else, no desktop icons or Start Menu, just the wallpaper. I thought at first that Windows was lost altogether, but after five minutes, my screen saver kicked in so i knew that i still had an operating system, just no way to use it.

So i plugged my network cable in to my laptop and did yet more Googling (coughing and sneezing all the while). I found a few possibilities, but nothing worked. "Why," i cried in despair, "do my computer probs seem to be unique in the history of personal computers? Why?!?" And i added a superfluous "aaaah-CHOOO!"

Finally, it occurred to me (with no help from Google) that maybe Windows Explorer had crashed when i re-booted earlier, so i decided to re-boot again, this time into "Safe Mode With Command Prompt." At the prompt i ran "explorer.exe" and Eureka! (as Archimedes said). Windows loaded. Whew! I'd just spent a fair chunk of the hard-earned on this compooter at the repair shop a few weeks ago, maybe i could avoid further expense.

It seems that i had two different problems, then, instead of (the premise i'd spent most of the morning working on) just one. Whilst in safe mode, i ran an anti-virus scan, an anti-spyware scan, i defragged, i deleted temp files, all this diagnostic shit that one does on a regular basis (when one remembers). And re-booted.

It worked! Hurrah! But .. i still couldn't send email. GRRRRRRRRRRR!

I plugged the network cable back into the desktop and went to visit Mr Google yet again. A couple of ideas came up: i uninstalled and then re-installed both my firewall and anti-virus software. Still no ability to send email, and then i discovered something else.

I use Thunderbird as my email client, Avast as my a/v program. I went to an Avast forum and learned that Avast and Thunderbird are traditionally in conflict, something to do with the way each handles security settings. I disabled Avast's email scanner and ... it worked. I could send email again and all was right in the world.

But it was now almost 7 p.m. I'd spent over twelve hours on it (and used an entire box of Kleenex), so i was in no mood.

And that's Emily Blunt to my left there. She has absolutely no relevance to this post, i just wanted to cheer myself up :o) Today, i'm having a good day.

English As She Is Spoke (Even)

2011-11-29T17:32:00.000-05:00

I've noticed a rather bad habit creeping into my speech lately, and it is the use of the adjective "even" where no adjective is or should be required.

For example, i find myself saying things like "i didn't even notice that" (instead of "i didn't notice that") or "i didn't even reply to that email" instead of "i didn't reply."

Christ, you'd think i learnt English through a correspondence school or somefing.

The Rock's Electric Lunch

2011-11-29T17:24:00.000-05:00

Quote Of The Day: Cat Stevens --Music makes you cry

Well, so, i listened to 94.9 The Rock's Electric lunch today (as i am wont to do on my day off)...

Vanessa wasn't working, perhaps she's finally gone on maternity leave, i dunno. It was Lee Eckley (sp?) (a new guy) instead. He seems ok, but he's not Vanessa....

Anyway, here's the playlist:

Pink Floyd – Comfortably numb

Saga – Scratching the surface

Guns 'n' Roses – November rain

Crowbar – Oh what a feelin'

The Romantics – What I like about you

April Wine – You could have been alady

Green Day – When i come around

The Beatles – Here comes the sun

Elvis Costello – Alison

Harlequin – Thinking of you

George Thorogood – Who do you love

The Headpins – Don't it make you feel

My Wars With Technology, Part 564 + Vanessa Murphy

2011-11-22T13:02:00.000-05:00

Quotation Of The Day: Carrie P. Snow -- Technology... is a queer thing. It brings you great gifts with one hand, and it stabs you in the back with the other.

And so, a week or so ago, my DVD player died. It simply would no longer play any discs i inserted. Occasionally, i would get a "bad disc" message, but usually i just got a big fat nothing. So, that evening, i was in the mood for dinner 'n' a movie, and so i dug out one of my old videotapes, slid it into the VCR and ... it wasn't working either, grrr. What, i said to myself as i smashed my head against the wall, are the chances of both of these FREDs ("f*****g ridiculous electronic devices) dying on the same day?!?!?

(In retrospect, i now think it's probable that the VCR had gone belly-up some time ago; i just hadn't tried to use it in a while....)

And so, after a week of fruitless searching through troubleshooting forums (fora?) on the Internet (and also incidentally, fruitless searching for the player's users' manual), yesterday, i gritted my teeth, dusted the cobwebs from my wallet, and bought a new Toshiba SD5300 DVD player (oh, look, there's its picture:

And i was pleasantly surprised to find how inexpensive they are nowadays. It was a little more than half of what i paid for my last one, a couple of years ago....

Now i just have to figure out how to set it up -- which if course i won't do if i spend my entire day off drinking beer with my butt parked in front of the compooter (as i am wont to do la la).

Now, veering tangentially from that subject, on to something more organic -- Vanessa Murphy ;o)

As it's my day off, i of course listened to Nasty Nessa's "Electric Lunch" on 94.9 The Rock. Here's today's playlist:

Elton John - Rocket Man
Rush - Time Stands Still
Phil Collins - In The Air Tonight
Steve Earle - Copperhead Road
April Wine - Roller
The Black Crowes - She Talks To Angels
Metallica - Master Of Puppets
DeFault - Live A Lie
Rick Derringer - Rock 'n' Roll Hoochie Koo
Theory Of A Deadman - Bitch Came Back (great band, great song!)
The Who - Pinball Wizard
Bryan Adams - Kids Wanna Rock.

Is it any wonder i love this station?

(Incidentally, Vanessa is about 10 months pregnant at the moment, so she could disappear at any time. Whatever, then, shall i do?)

Seether

2011-11-19T18:45:00.000-05:00

I can't contain myself. I just bought the new CD by Seether (www.seether.com) "Holding Onto String Better Left To Fray" (daft title!) and it's without a doubt the best album i've bought all year.

They seem to have been around for a while but, to my knowledge, i'd never heard them until recently, when (my favourite radio station) 94.9 The Rock started playing a couple of tracks from this CD, "Country Song" and "Tonight" and here's the video for the latter: http://www.vevo.com/watch/seether/tonight/USWV41100046

Album of the year 2011 (unless the forthcoming Kate Bush CD is "Hounds Of Love II" LOL

Vanessa Murphy II

2011-11-15T13:25:00.000-05:00

Quotation Of The Day: David Frost -- He's turned his life around. He used to be depressed and miserable. Now he's miserable and depressed.

Hey, everyone. I know i haven't been keeping this up, but i must try to keep my oar in. This blogging business.

It's not that i've had nothing to write about; i'm aching to vent about my crappy work situation, which is deteriorating rapidly and is really dragging me down these days. But i've heard too many reports of bloggers writing (and Facebook posters posting) about how much they hate their jobs and winding up in heaps of trouble at the orifice, er, office....

So, i'm just going to do a repeat of last Tuesday's post, and list the songs Vanessa Murphy played on today's edition of The Rock Electric Lunch:

Queen -- Bohemian Rhapsody
Rush -- New World Man
Scorpions -- No One Like You
Against Me! -- Thrash Unreal
Five Man Electrical Band -- Signs (i hate this song!)
Heart -- Crazy On You
Aerosmith -- Angel
Van Morrison -- Brown Eyed Girl
Rev Theory -- Hell Yeah
Led Zeppelin -- Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
Bruce Springsteen -- Born To Run
Colin James -- Voodoo Thing.

Too bad about the Five Man Electrical Band, but generally i love this station!

Vanessa Murphy

2011-11-08T18:41:00.000-05:00

I was listening to Vanessa Murphy on my favourite radio station today www.therock.fm -- she's funny, i like her, but i don't get to listen to her very often. She's on during the day, and i'm at work..

Except on Tuesdays.

Every day, she does the "Electric Lunch" and here's today's playlist:

The Who - Won't Get Fooled Again
Honeymoon Suite - Feel It Again
Pink Floyd - Young Lust
Jet - She's A Genius
Max Webster - Let Go The Line
Hollowick - There Goes Another One
Krome - TMZ
The Rolling Stones - Doo Doo Doo Doo (Heartbreaker)
Ozzy Osbourne - No More Tears
The Fixx - One Things Leads To Another
The Tea Party - Heaven Coming Down
Led Zeppelin - Immigrant Song
Bryan Adams - Somebody

Is it any wonder i love this radio station?

My Love / Hate Affair With Computers, Part 195

2011-10-29T18:55:00.000-04:00

Quote of the day: William Shakespeare -- O, woe is me, To have seen what i have seen, see what i see!

So, after all of the hassle of two weeks ago, on Wednesday morning my e-mail client, Thunderbird, decided to stop working. I could no longer send or receive e-mail.

I awoke at my usual time (which is 4.30 a.m., kids: i lead a monkish life). I checked my overnight messages and all was well -- the usual 30+ offers of Cialis -- but at around 5 a.m. all went a-gley ("a-gley" being the Scotch word for "kerflooey"), when i tried to write a message. Nuffink happened. (Apart from an error message, "connection to SMTP server failed, check your connections and try again" or something like that.)

Huh? I tried to send again. Same error message. So i clicked on "get mail." Same error message. What the hell happened to Thunderbird between 4.30 and 5.00 on Wednesday morning?

On Wednesday evening, when i returned from my job at Justin Bieber's favourite restaurant (he loves my cooking) i spent half an hour or so playing with settings, until i was able to receive, at last! 30 + offers for Cialis, and cheaper than the last 30, woo hoo! But i was still unable to send (mope, grope).

On Thursday morning, frustrated as bejaysus, i effed around, Googled like a maniac and haphazardly played with my settings and ... eureka.

Seems that on Wednesday morning Thunderbird updated itself and reset everything. All (all?) i had to do was revert to all of my previous settings and everything was hunky-dory.

I hate that, i hate it, when something on my computer changes without my knowledge or permission. It happened yesterday, too, now that i think about it. When i returned home from The Little Shop Of Horrors, i booted up and ... my wallpaper had disappeared. I use Manet's "At The Folies Bergere," one of my favourite paintings. Oh, look, there it is there:

What i had instead was a boring blue screen (not the dreaded BCOD, i hasten to add!).

Stoopd compooters!!!!!!!!

The Adventures Of A Linux Newbie, Part 2

2011-10-23T17:18:00.000-04:00

Oh, dearie me.

I got my desktop PC back from the shop on Tuesday, and it's so nice to have it again, after two weeks or more of struggling to learn Linux on my laptop.

I'd noticed, after two weeks on the laptop, a significant slowdown in its speed. What would you do in Windoze? Defrag, run a registry cleaner and delete the temp files, right? Uh, uh, not with Linux.

First of all, it doesn't store its files in a fragmented way, so defragging would be unnecessary. Secondly, it doesn't use a registry. But i found a way to remove the temp files.

So much in Linux requires the use of the Terminal (the equivalent of running Command Prompts in Windoze). To clear temp files i had to open the terminal and enter "sudo apt-get clean" (without quotes). Hey, it worked well, but i had to Google for that information, as none of my Linux help menus seem to work.... ("Sudo" stands for "super user," i.e., adminstrator, and something else. In my case it's probably "d'oh!")

Ah, well, it's been a learning experience, this Linux lark, and i really believe that when one stops learning, one may as well lay down and die. I shall persevere with it. But it's so nice to have the desktop back, large screen monitor, and a keyboard i can use (i was friggin useless on the laptop's touchpad, fortunately i had a spare USB mouse lying around...)

Ofra Haza Part 2

2011-10-08T17:43:00.000-04:00

I wrote about Ofra Haza (Yemeni singer) a week or so ago.

She died from AIDS, tragically young, and (as my anonymous correspondent tells me) not because she was infected by her manager. That must be an urban legend or somefing, it's what i had been lead to believe. Wrong again!

I've been listening to her music a lot this past week or so. Her music speaks to me.

Try this:

The Adventures Of A Linux Newbie

2011-10-07T18:14:00.002-04:00

Happy Garbanzo Bean Day, everyone!

Well, apparently it is, at least according to Pearls Before Swine:

So much for frivolity.

Although i've been throughly enjoying learning about Linux via the forced usage of my Linux laptop since my Windows desktop went belly-up last week (and i honestly do believe that when you stop learning you may as well curl up and die), there's still so much i can't do.

I've downloaded .zip files and even though i have unrar (the Linux unzipper) i can't figure out how to extract them, just to use one example.

But i think that what is frustrating me more than anything, is the way the system changes itself without my knowledge.

For example, my default language is English (obviously) but sometimes, and for no apparent reason, this changes itself to Multilingual. A phrase like "i don't understand," becomes (in Multilingual) Èi donèt understandÈ

This happens with odd regularity.

And another thing. This morning, i couldn't get the laptop's keyboard to work.

I couldnèt, i mean, couldn't, recall spilling my beer into it or anything, so i investigated my keyboard settings.

Evidently there's a setting with which only accepts keystrokes if the key is held down for a few seconds. I didn't default to this, i didn't know it existed until today. Linux has a mind of its own.....

So do i, of course.

I'm taking 8 days holidays, starting October 18th. I was originally calling it "medical leave" (because some of the people i work with make me sick), but i've now changed that, to "psychiatric leave" (because it's all driving me doolally).

Stoopid Compooters!

2011-10-04T12:45:00.001-04:00

My desktop computer is now comatose (i'm writing this on my laptop). It's not a hard drive failure, but instead, a power supply problem. It's not the power cord -- i've tried three different ones -- the machine is simply getting no juice.Now, i really hate to have to open up the case and mess about in the innards. I'm no good at it, for one thing. Back in the days of Windows 95 and 56k internal modems, i needed to replace a modem and shorted out two before i successfully, er, succeeded.

Plus i looked in my old PC repair textbook and the section on power supply and it all went whooooosh! way over my head.

So, until i can afford to take the desktop into the shop (next week) i'm now forced to do everything on the laptop, which has presented another set of prebloms. Problems too.

As my regular reader will know, i bought the laptop in February, with the express intention of formatting the hard drive to remove everything Microsofty, and installing Linux. (I have an installation CD from Ubuntu.)

Linux appealed to my inner geek and i thought it would be fun to learn about.

Unfortunately, one thing and another, you know how it goes, i never really applied myself to learning this totally foreign operating system. But now that i'm dependent upon it i feel like someone who is being taught to swim by being flung into the deep end. I'm floundering.

For example, it took me four days (four!) to figure out how to listen to my online radio station (www.therock.fm). For another, i download Linux software and then don't know how to run it. For a third, i've downloaded zipped files that won't unzip (even though i have an un-zipper).

I'd like to rip some music to the laptop. The Linux audio extracting program is called Soundjuicer. Can i get it to work? No. And clicking on Soundjuicer Help opens up ... nothing.

On the bright side, though, at least i now have a decent radio station to listen to as i give myself eyestrain peering at the laptop's comparatively small screen....

The Tragic Tale Of Ofra Haza

2011-09-27T18:01:00.001-04:00

Ofra Haza (1957 - 2000) was a Yemeni singer, one of my favourites, her album "Shaday" is in my personal top 100.

Apparently, her premature death was a result of being infected with AIDS by her sleaze-bag manager.

So beautiful, and so young...

Rise Against

2011-09-24T16:33:00.001-04:00

Quotation Of The Day: Martin Myers -- I'm a terrible cook. I turn perfectly good food into poison. I have many recipes. I can prepare a meal to give you heartburn, nervous indigestion, a gall bladder attack, colitis, ulcers, hyperacidity, gas, cramps, nausea, anything you like.

I just bought the new album by Rise Against, "Endgame." (www.riseagainst.com)

The radio station i listen to every morning (www.therock.fm) has their song "Make It Stop (September's Children)" in heavy rotation these days -- an angry, nay furious rant on the subject of high school bullying and its consequences and it blows me away. Here's the video:

The first few times i heard it, i didn't know it was Rise Against, of whom i'd never heard before. I thought it was DeFault -- the vocalist, Tim McIlrath, sound pretty similar to DeFault's singer Dallas Smith.

This is angry music, folks. But it's also powerful post-grunge activism, and the album may well show up on my "best of 2011" list.

Exploding Head Music

2011-09-17T17:53:00.000-04:00

Quote of the day -- Michael Ondaatje: floating barracuda in the brain

As my regular reader will know, i, for the sins of my previous life, make my living as a cook.

My restaurant, as do most beaneries nowadays, has a satellite muzak feed, and sometimes ours is tuned to the 50's pop music channel. One of the most dire decades in the history of popular music (IMFFHO). Some of it i like, i confess -- Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, i can listen to those dudes all night. But they didn't rule the decade. Instead it was utter horrors like Bobby Vinton, Frankie Avalon, Jimmy Clanton, Neil Sedaka (oh, egregious Neil!) (possibly the smarmiest singer in the history of western civilisation) and, on the distaff side, Annette Funicello, Shelley Fabares, Tami Yuro....

Do you remember the Tim Burton film "Mars Attacks!"? When the Martians hear the music of Slim Whitman, their heads explode. I know the feeling!

GTG and listen to some Hendrix now -- ah, the sixties and seventies -- now that's what i call music!

September 11

2011-09-11T17:26:00.000-04:00

I have no words to describe how i feel today, and i can't even begin to imagine what Americans are going through, on this anniversary of that nightmare. It makes me wish i had a god to comfort me, but i haven't.

I have heavy drinking instead, it numbs the pain.

My Day Off

2011-09-06T17:27:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day: Alan Coren -- I wonder sometimes if manufacturers of foolproof items keep a fool or two on their payroll to test things.

I've discovered the secret to having a great day off. I only get one a week and i have, in the past, made all of these huge plans for it, and am then disappointed when i wind up sitting in front of the computer all day and accomplishing nothing.

So now, i've stopped planning to do anything, and i'm brilliant at it. Well, it's hereditary. When my dear old Dad (r.i.p.) retired, he would often say that he'd finally found something he was good at: doing nothing.

Now if only i could find someone who would pay me to stay home....

Why Don't....

2011-09-01T19:17:00.000-04:00

Why don't supermarkets enforce the 1 - 8 items, cash only rule at the express checkout? Woman in front of me tonight must have had twenty items and paid with a debit card. I had one item. Grrr. I was in a hurry and she was doing my crust in. Did i mention that she had a squalling baby with her? And she was fat. I won't be "friending" her on Facebook, i assure you.

Oh, and in response to all of the none of my readers who have asked for a more recent photograph of me, here's one:

The Psychology Of Smoking

2011-08-31T17:06:00.001-04:00

Quotation of the day --Tom Waits: We're all gonna be just dirt in the ground

I'm a smoker. Not proud of it, wish i'd never started and there's a 60% chance that i'll die of lung cancer. But it's difficult to quit if you're not determined, and self-discipline has never been my strong point. Nicotine being one of the most physically-addictive substances known. But let's examine the psychology. The mind moves in mysterious ways (its wonders to perform).

When i'm sitting at home, with my butt parked in front of the computer (as it usually is), i'll have one going constantly. But at work, i start at stupid o'clock in the morning and usually have my first harry rag (oh, sorry, "harry rag" is Cockney for "cigarette") at around 10 a.m. I don't even start to think about lighting up until maybe 9.45.

When i'm at the boozer, i never go out for a smoke until i've put myself on the outside of my first pint. I don't even think about a smoke until pint #2 arrives. And when i'm on the train to Toronto -- a two-hour trip, smoking forbidden -- thoughts of a ciggie don't even enter my mind until the CN Tower comes in to view through the window. Oh, look, there it is now.

Right well, time for a smoke

Kelsey's II

2011-08-29T19:51:00.001-04:00

And so, after a rough work week -- my work week is Wednesday -- Monday -- i staggered into Kelsey's at around 3:30 on Monday afternoon, looking for a friendly face and sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name (and they're always glad you came).

Now, you have to remember: Kelsey's is a really expensive spot. My beer (to which i am devoted) costs about $1.25 more there, than it does anywhere else in town. But that's okay, if i just wanted to drink economically, i'd drink at home, or brew my own, or drink chrome cleaner or something. No, i go there because (as i may have mentioned) i like the people who work there.

Werrlll... it was a bit of a disappointment, as the barmaid was someone i'd never seen before. She was very good, but not a familiar face. It was all right. It was fine, i just sat there and read my book ("Mortal Causes" by Ian Rankin, if you must know), but i'd been hoping to see some of my favourites, Nicole, Ashley & Maggie.

And just as i was leaving (after my customary two pints) ... Nicole, Ashley & Maggie arrived for the evening shift

Kelsey's

2011-08-02T15:59:00.000-04:00

Quotation Of The Day -- Bruce Chatwin: We watched them go off to bed. They were two people made in heaven for each other. They had been hopelessly in love since the day they met, yet had gradually crept into their shells, glancing away, deliberately, in despair, as if it were too good, never to be, until suddenly the reticence and anguish had melted and what should have been, long ago, now was.

Nothing whatsoever to do with me and Astrid, that quotation. Oh, no, of course not .

Anyway. Anyway. Anyone who reads me regularly will know that my favourite pub in this god-forsaken town is Kelsey's. (www.kelseys.ca). It aspires to be a sports bar and that as you may realise is anathema to me; but i go there because i like the people who work there.

I have, on my flickr page, a series of photos taken from Kelsey's smoking section -- i.e., outside their front door -- at various times of the year. Have a look at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/34806425@N02/sets/72157619393471020/

Here's the most recent:

Working For A Living, Part III

2011-07-24T18:22:00.001-04:00

Quotation of the day: Oscar Wilde --Work is the curse of the drinking classes

You know, i'm normally not happy to be thought of as a member of the human race. Generally, we disgust me. Norway yesterday, Osama bin Laden, Hitler, the list goes on and on, serpentine, threaded throughout history.

Plus, also, too, it's human nature, it seems, to complain when things go badly but to elide when things go well.

So now i'd like to state that things today made me realise why i love what i do for a living.

Yes, yes, i moan about how much i hate it, how i'm employed well beneath my capabilities and education, working really hard for crappy wages in mediaeval working conditions and surrounded by Neanderthals.

Today, though.... Yes, i arrived at work at 7.30 (as per usual). I had a man scheduled at 9:00. He didn't bother to show up at all. I had another scheduled at 10:00. She arrived late but was ill, and went home almost immediately. Another 10:00 person wandered in at 10:30, by which time the kitchen was already seriously behind schedule. Another man showed up at 11:00 expecting to work in the nice, air-conditioned dining room -- we lassoed him and he had to work in Dante's Inferno, i mean, the kitchen.

So, seriously short-handed, seriously behind schedule on virtually everything, we then got seriously busy. But do you know what? We rose to the challenge and bloody hell it was hard work but we did it: all went well. And for me, that feeling of accomplishment is the greatest rush.

(Mind you, if it had gone badly i would have been slashing my wrists but there ya go.)

And so i rewarded myself, and paid a visit to my fave pub, Kelsey's, where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came, and their Sundays seem to run about as smoothly as ours do. There was Nicole (one of my favourite people there) behind the bar in a bit of a daze, a glazed look on her boat, saying how much fun she'd been having with obnoxious customers all day and how she loves going home early on Sundays LOL.

Poor Nicole. Such a beautiful girl deserves better. Shame i'm far too old for her....

R.I.P Amy Winehouse

2011-07-23T17:41:00.000-04:00

Dead at 27. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14262237

Not a surprise, considering the way she lived, but a bummer and a shocking waste of a great talent. I loved her "Back To Black" album.

Although i've seen photographs of her looking wretched, here's the one i'll remember her by:

I Hate A &W!

2011-07-18T19:05:00.000-04:00

No, i shouldn't say that. I go in there for breakfast occasionally and it's fin. Er, i mean, fine. I love the sausage 'n' eggers, they've never let me down.

But, where i live, there are very few places within walking distance that are open past 8 p.m. I often eat my din-dins later, and occasionally -- if i don't wish to wait for a pizza delivery -- A & W is only a two-minute walk away.

But, but, but why do i bother? They almost always screw up my orders. A few months ago (and i wrote about this) i ordered a coupla mozza burgers with flies. I mean fries. I got home and discovered ... no fries.

Last night, i ordered a coupla mozza burgers and an order of fries. It was more expensive than i expected, but that's cool (i said to myself), prices are rising everywhere. When i got home, i found that they'd given me two orders of fries....

A & W has an on-line complaint form. I complain, every time. Do i get a response? Well, of course, never, no. So fuck 'em.

Working For A Living, Part II

2011-07-13T16:15:00.000-04:00

I wrote about this once before, years ago, when i published a dead tree magazine, but it bears repeating as i am often asked the question "when is the best time to go into a restaurant if you want optimal service?" People seem to think that i have inside information or something.

Suppose your beanery of choice operates from 11 a.m. 'til 11 p.m. Going in right at opening time is no good, because the staff are most likely still scrambling to get everything ready, and will be unable to give you the attention you deserve.

Between, say, 11:30 & 1:30 is not a good idea, either, because the lunch service is at its height and the staff are too harried to pay much attention to you. (Unless of course it's a crappy restaurant to which no one ever goes, but then, why would you want to go there?)

OK, then, mid-afternoon. Er, nope. The kitchen staff will be busy getting ready for the dinner service and the servers will be relaxing and smoking and gossiping and won't appreciate the interruption. Sorry.

All right then, how about at dinner time? Well... no. For the same reason that going in at lunchtime is ill-advised: everyone's too busy.

So, later on in the evening, after the dinner rush is over, then? Well, gee, i hate to say this but that's pretty much out of the question too: everyone's tired (some of them will have been there since before 11 a.m.) and they all want to clean up and go home.

So my advice? Go in whenever the hell you wish, but if the server (or, less likely, the cook) <wink> screws up your order, don't get annoyed, accept it. (And this applies especially if you have ordered something that isn't on the menu!)

(I see that there's a movement afoot amongst some of the best chefs -- the refusal to cater to special requests. I agree whole-heartedly even though i'm just a grunt in a chicken joint. The point being, according to the chefs, that they created the dish to perfection to begin with; saying you want extra havarti or no chestnuts indicates that you are a charlatan and you deserve to be tossed out on your arse!)

Working For A Living

2011-07-12T21:01:00.000-04:00

Being musings on the nature of the hospitality industry and its joys and horrors....

In spite of my relative intelligence and education -- in the 99th percentile in the OPSATs (2nd highest in Ontario in English for that year) (my friend Ian scored the highest) -- a B+ in Canadian Studies from York University and the second (or was it third?) highest mark in my college computer course, i chose to enter the restaurant bizness. Unlike most of the people who are in it, who are only in it because they couldn't find anything better, couldn't get a job in the factory, i entered voluntarily. So here i am, underpaid, under-employed, working really hard in lousy conditions (always either too hot or too cold) surrounded by people who behave like they're just down from the trees...

So maybe i'm not so smart after all, and yet, there was a time when i loved it. Not that i'm allowed to use my creativity, working in a franchise as i do nowadays, but that was a part of the original appeal, the art of cooking. And there are still aspects that i love -- as when we get really busy unexpectedly but manage to serve all of the meals smoothly, it's the greatest rush imaginable. (When we get busy unexpectedly and fail to serve smoothly, it's a ginormous bummer though.)

There are people i work with that i like: Rose and Cassie light up my life; Marilyn is one of the few in the kitchen i respect; and i'm always happy to work with Billy & Patty. Most of the waitresses are great lumps but there are a few cute 'n' perky ones (Laura's arse is a work of art, oh, but there's me slipping into "dirty old man" mode again)....

I'm planning to write a pilot for a TV sitcom. Set in a restaurant. It'll be about a gifted but neurotic cook and the zany antics that result from his attempts to deal with surly waitresses, incompetent managers, daft kitchen help and a scuzzy salad girl.... I shall call it "Chicken On Wry." Probably be the biggest thing since "Friends."

Not about me, obviously. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, etc. Besides, if it were about me the cook would be gifted, neurotic and a babe magnet

Black Country Communion

2011-07-05T12:25:00.000-04:00

Quote Of The Day: Wilko Johnson -- The greatest line in rock 'n' roll is, "Awopbopaloobob Awopbamboom." Top that if you can!

I just bought the new CD by Black Country Communion, entitled (uninspiredly) "Black Country Communion 2." Oh, look, there's its cover down there, the pic appeared like magic out of nowhere. In case you hadn't heard, B.C.C. is the latest blues-rock supergroup (and i love blues-rock) -- Glenn Hughes (of Deep Purple), Joe Bonamassa (best blues-rocker guitarist working nowadays) (IMFFHO), Jason Bonham (son of John, of course) and, er, Derek Sherinian (well, every supergroup has someone unknown in it LOL!). (Rick Grech, anyone?) Is it good? Well, yes, it's bloody brilliant. According to the Sunday Mercury (www.sundaymercury.net/) "This is classic rock goes large, an album that lives up to its heritage. It may not be bettered this year." I tend to agree.

Don't believe me? You can download a (free) bootleg of their June 19th performance in Washington here: http://www.filesonic.com/file/1333801601/2011-06-19.rar

Or check 'em out on YouTube.

Canada Day (Was Yesterday)

2011-07-02T18:32:00.000-04:00

But i had to work all day. Here's possibly my favourite Canadian song of all time (sorry, Helen!):

I'm trying to think of a drummer who's better than Neil Peart.... I can think of a few who are as good as, but...?

How many drummers does it take to change a lightbulb? Ten. One to change it and nine to point out that Neil Peart could have done it better LOL

And The First Day Of Summer ....

2011-06-21T13:36:00.001-04:00

Quotation of the day: John Sebastian -- Hot town, summer in the city / Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty / Been down, isn't it a pity / Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city

As some of you will know, i (as penance for the sins of my previous life) make my living as a cook. I always work weekends (today -- Tuesday -- is my only day off) and this past Sunday was Father's Day. Traditionally, it's a busier-than-usual Sunday, not as crazy as Mother's Day, but very busy. This year, Sunday -- and Saturday for the matter of that -- were insane. (There was also a ball tournament in town, and i've written before about how much the restaurants here, hate the ball teams http://spriggsblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/working-for-living.html ....)

I left on Sunday feeling utterly shattered, drenched with sweat and miserable. How did i ever get into this schtoopid business, moan groan, poor me, etc. In fact i'm only now starting to feel alive again.

However, Tuesday, the only day i really have to do housework, i'm wasting it with my butt parked in front of the computer.... Oh, i cleaned Cate's litterbox earlier, made breakfast, had a bath, shampooed a rug, but there are so many other things to do and guess what, i ain't doin' nuffink else today. (I tell a lie, i have to do laundry later. I have no more clean work uniforms.)

What i intend to do, after i log off here is (a) have some lunch and (b) watch my favourite Marx Brothers movie

And it's the first day of summer....

Day Off! And A Rave

2011-06-14T14:49:00.001-04:00

Quotation Of The Day: Frank Zappa: Rock journalism is people who can't write, interviewing people who can't talk, in order to provide articles for people who can't read.

Hi, everyone, it's a while since i posted but the last time, i had a rant, now i have a rave. I was bewailing the fact that i couldn't get my paws on a couple of CDs (new albums by Kate Bush and Rory Gallagher). I could have ordered them through amazon.com or some other corporate elephant, but i prefer to go through my friendly local independent dealer, Video + Books And CDs (http://www.videoplusbooks.ca/) They do a super job of finding stuff for me, but it must be frustrating for them, too, when an album is advertised for release at a certain date, and then isn't.

But! I've got them now, hurrah!

And, another victory for the independents: Graeme Thomson's biography of Kate, "Under The Ivy," came out in England last year. When i went to my favourite local book shop, Fanfare Books, to order a copy, i was told that its Canadian distributor had gone out of business. Well, there was much gnashing of what remains of my teeth when i learned that, i can tell ya.

But! again: Fanfare called me last week. The book had a new distributor here in the frozen north, and they had a copy for me. I picked it up on Saturday.

It's been a good week (the trials and tribulations of work notwithstanding). A little expensive, though (but heck, what the hell else do i have to with my hard-earned?).

But then, now, i have to add, today is a sad day here at Spriggs Towers: on this day in 1995, Rory died, of complications following a liver transplant, and in 2009 my beloved cat Watson succumbed, to liver disease. (Amazing, really -- i drink too much and the cat gets liver disease, sigh.)

On a happier note, it's also my sister's birthday today (she'd kill me if i told you how old she is). Rest assured that, although i am in fact drinking to her health today, that's not the only reason....

Day Off! And A Rant.

2011-05-31T16:00:00.001-04:00

Quotation of the day -- Douglas Adams: You have destroyed most of a small galaxy. Please pick your words with greater care.

There, to my left, is a brand-new pic of my dear Cate.

Today, i went to my friendly local CD shop, optimistically expecting that they'd have two albums waiting for me -- the new Kate Bush, and the new Rory Gallagher. I've had them on order for a few weeks, and they were supposed to arrive today.

Wrong again. The release of Kate Bush's "Director's Cut" in Canada has been postponed for the third time, and the Rory Gallagher (a previously-unknown "lost" album) has likewise been delayed.

Now, consider this. The record companies are constantly bewailing the fact that they're losing millions to free file-sharing sites and such. I honestly believe that they are 100% responsible for the troubles they have.

Kate's album almost made #1 in the U.K. charts a couple of weeks ago. She has a huge fan base in North America and this is bound to be a big seller. Record company exec says, "let's not release it yet." Brilliant move, Mr Executive. Meanwhile i already have it as a download (S.K.F., you know who you are!) but ... i want the damn CD!

On to Rory Gallagher. He has a massive fan base in North America -- all of his albums have just been released in newly-remastered versions but ... the release of the "lost" album? Record company exec says, it won't sell as much as Lady GaGa so let's leave it for a bit. Meanwhile, i have already found it as a free download from one of my favourite music blogs (http://zinhof.blog.hr/2011/05/index.html#1629252614) and i could have downloaded it. I didn't, though -- i want the damn CD!

Record company exec. says, "file-sharing is killing the industry!" To which i reply, eff off, you are killing the industry by not releasing what the people want.

Okay, rant over. (And, to ease my pain, i bought the new album by The Strokes, "Angles." Which is pretty good but it's not Kate or Rory...).

Day Off!

2011-05-17T17:21:00.001-04:00

Quotation Of The Day: Emmanuel Kant -- All the interests of my reason, speculative as well as practical, combine in the three following questions: 1. What can I know? 2. What ought I to do? 3. What may I hope?

After a complete and utter bullshit week at work (i'll spare you the sordid details), i finally have a day off. And what, i hear you ask, have i done? Went to the beer store; two loads of laundry; scrubbed Cate's litterbox; started last night's supper dishes....

On a more cerebral level, though....

I bought two new CDs last week, and these are they:

The Paul Simon is really nice. Not as groundbreaking as "Graceland" of course -- that was a once-in-a-lifetime deal --but pretty good for an old geezer. (No, i'm not referring to myself, how dare you). So i listened to that and then to Kate & Anna, and their "new" album is a real treasure.

It's a 3-CD set. Discs 1 & 2 are remastered versions of their first two albums, which are and always have been utter magic, but it's disc 3 that's the draw here: previously-unreleased recordings & demos, which are invariably delightful.

But why, oh why, has their "The Logdriver's Waltz ever been released on CD?

Anyway, after all of that i was in a Rory Gallagher mood and watched disc 1 of the "Live At Montreux" DVD. Funny how, when i'm in a crappy frame of mind, Rory always gives me the energy to keep going. The Beatles have the power to do that, too, but Rory had so much energy himself that it inspires me.

I should probably finish doing last night's supper dishes now, and start on tonight's supper....

Obsession

2011-05-10T19:42:00.000-04:00

www.theadjsutmentbureau.com Did i spell that right? The Adjustment Bureau dot com

It seems that every once in a while, i become obsessed with a movie. This time, it's "The Adjustment Bureau." Here's a link to a featurette: http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3122240281/

Just learned that the official release date for the DVD is June 21st. That's soon! This is a must-buy DVD for me.

www.theadjustmentbureau.com

Can true love prevail when even the angels are opposed? Well, for Emily Blunt.... yes, i'd fight for her, too (for that is she, at the left there).

Sigh

$$$$$$

2011-05-10T13:01:00.000-04:00

As a further to my previous post on the subject, i have just discovered, by the innovative method of checking my AdSense account, that i have actually made $10.80 from this blog in 2 and a half years. Guess i won't be quitting my other job just yet.

Perez Hilton i'm not LOL

Haiku

2011-05-10T12:56:00.000-04:00

Knocks on head
sounds hollow
must be management

Don't Hire Me!

2011-05-09T15:49:00.000-04:00

I came across this the other day and couldn't resist sharing it. I hope the people at http://www.pinetree.net/humor/donthireme.html don't mind!

Things Not To Say at a Job Interview

We've all been interviewed for jobs. And, we've all spent most of those interviews thinking about what not to do. Don't bite your nails. Don't fidget. Don't interrupt. Don't belch. If we did any of the don'ts, we knew we'd disqualify ourselves instantly. But some job applicants go light years beyond this. We surveyed top personnel executives of 100 major American corporations and asked for stories of unusual behavior by job applicants.
The lowlights:

Said he was so well qualified [that] if he didn't get the job, it would prove that the company's management was incompetent.
Stretched out on the floor to fill out the job application.
Brought her large dog to the interview.
Chewed bubble gum and constantly blew bubbles.
Candidate kept giggling through serious interview.
She wore a Walkman and said she could listen to the music and me at the same time.
Balding candidate abruptly excused himself. Returned to office a few minutes later wearing a hairpiece.
Applicant challenged interviewer to arm wrestle.
Asked to see interviewer's resume to see if the personnel executive was qualified to judge the candidate.
Announced she hadn't had lunch and proceeded to eat a hamburger and French fries in the interviewer's office.
Without saying a word, candidate stood up and walked out during the middle of the interview.
Man wore jogging suit to interview for position as financial vice president.
Said if he were hired, he would demonstrate his loyalty by having the corporate logo tattooed on his forearm.
Interrupted to phone his therapist for advice on answering specific interview questions.
Wouldn't get out of the chair until I would hire him. I had to call the police.
When I asked him about his hobbies, he stood up and started tap dancing around my office.
Had a little pinball game and challenged me to play with him.
Bounced up and down on my carpet and told me I must be highly thought of by the company because I was given such a thick carpet.
Took a brush out of my purse, brushed his hair and left.
Pulled out a Polaroid camera and snapped a flash picture of me. Said he collected photos of everyone who interviewed him.
Candidate asked me if I would put on a suit jacket to insure that the offer was formal.
Said he wasn't interested because the position paid too much.
While I was on a long-distance phone call, the applicant took out a copy of Penthouse, and looked through the photos only, stopping longest at the centerfold.
During the interview, an alarm clock went off from the candidate's briefcase. He took it out, shut it off, apologized and said he had to leave for another interview.
A telephone call came in for the job applicant. It was from his wife. His side of the conversation went like this: "Which company? When do I start? What's the salary?" I said, "I assume you're not interested in conducting the interview any further." He promptly responded, "I am as long as you'll pay me more." I didn't hire him, but later found out there was no other job offer. It was a scam to get a higher offer.
An applicant came in wearing only one shoe. She explained that the other shoe was stolen off her foot in the bus.
His attache [case] opened when he picked it up and the contents spilled, revealing ladies' undergarments and assorted makeup and perfume.
He came to the interview with a moped and left it in the reception area. He didn't want it to get stolen, and stated that he would require indoor parking for the moped.
He took off his right shoe and sock, opened a medicated foot powder and dusted it on the foot and in the shoe. While he was putting back the shoe and sock, he mentioned that he had to use the powder four times a day, and this was the time.
Candidate said he really didn't want to get a job, but the unemployment office needed proof that he was looking for one.
He whistled when the interviewer was talking.
Asked who the lovely babe was, pointing to the picture on my desk. When I said it was my wife, he asked if she was home now and wanted my phone number. I called security.
She threw up on my desk, and immediately started asking questions about the job, like nothing had happened.
Pointing to a black case he carried into my office, he said that if he was not hired, the bomb would go off. Disbelieving, I began to state why he would never be hired and that I was going to call the police. He then reached down to the case, flipped a switch and ran. No one was injured, but I did need to get a new desk.
Asked if I wanted some cocaine before starting the interview.

Oh, Demon Alcohol

2011-05-07T19:34:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day: W.C. Fields (attrib.) -- A woman drove me to drink and i never even had the courtesy to thank her.

As anyone who knows me will tell you, i'm a great aficionado of pubs. Not bars, i hate bars, but generally a pub has an atmosphere that, even if i've never set foot in it in my life before, makes me feel at home. Part of this may because, when i was growing up, i spent a lot of time with my uncle and auntie, who ran a pub on the island of Linsisfarne. (I used to feel very much at home in record stores, but they don't really exist anymore, thanks to the record companies....)

I like to go into my two local pubs (Kelsey's & Bentley's) and do so probably once or twice a week (each). I have friends who work there, and i like to see them, but i also like to just enjoy the atmosphere, relax, have a couple of beers (usually two, occasionally more but never fewer) and read my book or newspaper, or take my laptop in and read the e-book i have saved to it. But, why...?

Why oh why do drunks so frequently attach themselves to me like limpets? I'll be standing (or sitting) there trying to read and -- it happens so often -- someone who has had a few already will decide that i must be bored and that i will benefit from his opinions on global warming/politics/Harry Potter.

It's almost -- almost -- enough to make me want to quit drinking; or at least, stop going into pubs....

$$$$$$$$

2011-05-05T17:04:00.000-04:00

Quotation Of The Day -- Spike Milligan: Money can't buy friends but you can get a better class of enemy

See that little gadget i've just installed there, to my left? It's called a page counter. It shows how many people have looked at this blog.

Apparently, since i began, 5889 people have had a look. Or maybe one person has looked 5889 times? But let's say 5889 different people have visited to see what all of the fuss is about. If each of those clicked on only one ad, i would have made, er, let's see (dum-de-dum, + 5, carry the two, divide by the square root of eleventeen) over $58!!! Not bad for 2½ years work....

Ah, well, i do it because i have to, not because i want to la la

Holidays, Part 2 (Sunday)

2011-05-03T11:14:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day -- Ray Davies: Holiday, oh what a lovely day today, i'm oh so glad they sent me away to have this little holiday.

Sunday dawned cool and dank, but that was okay, i wasn't kipping in the park, i stayed at Terry and Ann's, and i couldn't have asked for better accomodation. Terry had recorded a couple of Saturday's football matches on the DVR, and he and i watched Wigan (my team) play Everton (it was 1-1) and then Arsenal (his team) defeat Manchester United, in a game that was very exciting indeed.

But then it was time to say my farewells, and off i wandered into the rain -- and went downtown and bought a new camera. The old one was "NWR" (not worth repairing) (they told me at the shop) and so i bought a cheap one (rank amateur that i am) that is in fact much better than the old, expensive one. 10.1 megapixels, as opposed to 3.2, and with a 4 gigabyte HD card (as opposed to the six or seven 64 megabyte cards i had for the other one). Oh, look, there's a picture of it just over there to the right --------->

But it was a crappy day for taking photographs, pouring with rain by this time and so i went for lunch at, oh, guess where? The Wolf & Firkin.....

On Saturday, at the Wolf, i had mentioned to Julian & Andrea that one possibility for Sunday was a visit to the cinema (for the first time in a decade). (I'm an avid movie-watcher, but not an enthusiastic cinema-goer. The cinemas in Stratford rarely show anything other than moronic movies with a target audience of moronic teenagers.) Anyway, they unaninoi, aman, unanymously they both said that the one to see was "The Adjustment Bureau" (Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Terence Stamp) and so, man of action that i am, i did, not really knowing what to expect, and i loved it. Thanks, J & A!

(Even though this is still in the theatres and thus quite a few months away from a DVD release, i found a torrent download for it and am leeching even as we speak. I want to see it again!)

After the film (did i mention that i loved it?) what did i do? It was still raining, so i walked a bit, through The Eaton Centre (i hate shopping malls except as shelter, don't know if i've ever mentioned that) and out again to a pub called The Duke Of Richmond, another nice little boozer i often visit when i'm in the big city. And it was there, in their smoking section (i.e., outside) that i took my one and only Toronto photograph for this visit.

And there it is. Well, i did say that i was a rank amateur LOL.

But then it was time to dash off for the train station, pausing only for some street meat (spicy sausage on a bun) i caught the train with minutes to spare.

So that's that. My semi-annual trip to Toronto in a nutshell or two.

p.s., when i arrived home at Spriggs Towers, i watched "Romy & Michelle's High School Reunion" of course, but also played with the camera a bit. And here's my dear Cate, preparing to attack my case of beer:

Holidays!

2011-05-02T11:49:00.000-04:00

Quotation Of The Day: Billie Holiday: Don`t threaten me with love, baby. Let`s just go walking in the rain.

Yes, i'm on holidays, a five-day mini-vacation and the primary reason is this man here, to the right. My friend Paul, whom i've know for about thirty-five years, celebrated his 65th birthday on Saturday, and i went up to Toronto for the beano (that photo, btw, was taken two years ago, when we went to see Oysterband at Hugh's Room). (Photograph © Eric Thom.)

But this post is going to be a diary of my weekend, so first things first. Saturday was a beautiful day, mild (for April) and sunny. My train arrived at Union Station bang on time (well done, Via Rail!) -- i had arranged to meet Julian & Andrea for lunch at The Wolf & Firkin pub in Elm Street (possibly my favourite Toronto boozer, known affectionately as The Pterodactyl & Firkin LOL, i never fail to pop in at least once on my Toronto visits), but i had my camera with me and wandered around a bit, hoping to take some photographs -- cityscapes, as Toronto really is a beautiful city -- but discovered that the %#!*% camera (which i'd been having trouble with for a while) was as dead as a doornail. No it wasn't the batteries, they were new. It was yet another example of technology failing. Like i haven't had enough of that this year.

With my photographic aspirations in shreds, i wandered in to the HMV superstore on Yonge Street.

Twenty years ago, my trips to Toronto, i would always include about $300 in my budget, with which to buy obscure albums i was unable to get in Stratford. The Internet changed all that, though. Obscure albums i can't buy in Stratford, are now easily obtainable online. This has made my visits to the big city immeasurably cheaper, but i usually drop in to HMV anyway, just to see what's what and what's new. And i bought this:

For $6.00. Yes, i know, don't say it. But i have dual-weaknesses for Lisa Kudrow and Mira Sorvino. Ahem! Sometimes one needs some light relief from all those Bergman films....

So then headed for The Pterodactyl and had an excellent lunch with .... It's funny, or perhaps not. I moved away from Toronto about 26 years ago. So many friends from the old neighbourhood have fallen by the wayside, those who remain are the bestest people and i love them dearly. Anyway, i mentioned that i was thinking of going to the cinema on Sunday, and Julian & Andrea recommended "The Adjustment Bureau." More about that later. 26 years of geographic separation and i feel closer to those two than ever.

After lunch, i walked, and walked, and walked, taking in old neighbourhoods and all of the freaks who were promenading (and Toronto, like any other city of 6,000,000, has its full complement of weirdos and freaks). The traffic was heavy, Carlton Street was virtually a parking lot when i stopped in at a pub called The Spotted Dick to slake my thirst. After a couple of pints there it was time to head north, to Yonge & Eglinton (where i used to live) and to Terry & Ann's house (where i was staying for the night). And from there to Paul's birthday bash.

Oh, my, what a super party it was, too. I'm not an avid party-goer, as you can imagine, considering my incipient Asperger's and so on, but a splendid time was guaranteed for all. The company was excellent -- i saw people i hadn't seen in 10 / 15 / 20 years (and was astonished to notice that so many of them had dyed their hair grey LOL), the food was brilliant and the drink flowed and the conversations were scintillating. (I expect you'll be surprised to learn that i didn't drink too much, i was enjoying the social intercourse far too much -- although, as always at these occasions, some people overdid it, but who am i to criticise, i have been know to overdo it myself.) (Not this time, though.)

Also, oh deary me, Anne E. was there. I had a crush on her 20 years ago and i took one look at her and realised that i still do. And i told her so (thanks to either the courage or stupidity brought on by a couple of late-evening whiskies). My, she looked good. Sigh. Or perhaps i should say "Urk!" Crushes are most undignified in a man of my age. Well, i haven't been able to think of much besides Anne since my return, but, realistically, nothing's going to happen. (Although we did exchange e-mail addresses....)

And that was Saturday. The party broke up relatively early (we geriatrics need our sleep, you know), and i'll write about my Sunday in due course.

Technophobia Again!

2011-04-12T13:57:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day: John Lennon – This is for love i'm doing this. And Art.

Hi, everyone.

My ongoing love / hate affair with technology continues. That new DVD player i bought a few weeks ago has been giving me grief.

Jen at the pub lent me her copy of the DVD of the first season of "The Big Bang Theory" – a series she loves but which i'd never seen. The first time i tried to watch it, the volume kept going from loud to soft to muted altogether. I just figured a plug had come loose somewhere, but had no time to play with it, and watched the the first couple of episodes of the series on my computer instead (well, i just now finished watching the first half and it definitely has its laugh-out-loud moments!), resolving to deal with the problem the next day.

The next evening, i tried to watch an episode of "The Sweeney" (season 2) and it played back with no trouble, but the following evening i decided to press my luck and watch another episode of "The Sweeney" and ... i had the same volume problem -- which convinced me that there was a plug that i hadn't seated properly or had put in the wrong jack (and there are a lot of jacks back there!)

Then, i tried to watch the recent (2010) Roman Polanski film "The Ghost Writer," and all i could get was a loud HUMMMMMM! Grr, grr, i said to myself. I'm not a technician, why is nothing ever plug-and-play compliant?!? So i played with the cords a bit (a bit more, that is), unplugged one and eureka! the sound was perfect and remained so throughout this really rather excellent film.

Album Of The Year 2011? And Other Gnus

2011-04-08T18:19:00.000-04:00

OK, i know, i haven't posted much lately. I've been busy. If you have a paid subscription, you're probably really pissed off (oh, wait, i don't have paid subscriptions). (Which would explain why i haven't been able to pay my 'phone bill yet this month.)

But i am writing tonight with my two cents' worth -- a couple of weeks ago, Mr Postman delivered to me, a CD which may well be my pick for "album of the year, 2011" -- Joe Bonamassa's "Dust Bowl."

For fans of blues-rock (such as like wot i am) this is a must.

OK, obviously it's a bit early to be choosing an album of the year -- it's barely Spring, the streets are mud, i went out this morning without my Winter coat for the first time since October and bloody froze (although it was nice and warm later it was darned chilly at 7 a.m.).

Er, where was i?

Stuff And Nonsense

2011-03-30T12:20:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day -- Robert Louis Stevenson: That house of voluntary bondage ... with its inscrutable recluse.

And so, last week, i bought a new DVD player. The old one died on me. It's a Toshiba SD7300 (oh, look, there's a picture of it)

and it has 1080p Upconversion and REGZA-LINK ® (HDMI CEC) , which would probably impress me more if i knew what they hell they were.

It took me five days (five days!) to figure out how to get it to play DVDs in colour. (It played DVDs from day one, but only in black and white.) Well, i have an older television, which means i have to run an RF modulator betwixt the TV and the DVD player, which means six different plugs, which means, er i don't remember the law of permutations but it means loads of possibilities! But i got it sorted eventually, clever clogs that i am. And the first (and so far only) film i watched?

Enjoyable.

So, finally, it's a day off for me here at Spriggs Towers. I spent the morning doing, or trying to anyway, some serious housework, a task made immeasurably more difficult by the fact that my little Cate insisted on helping (until she became bored and went to sleep underneath the futon). Now i'm just taking a wee break, having a beer, listening to the new Colin James "best of" CD and thinking about having lunch before returning to the domestic slog.

Later, brothers & sisters....

Happy Birthday To Me

2011-03-13T18:55:00.000-04:00

Quote of the day: Bob Hope (on his 82nd birthday) -- I think it's wonderful you could all be here for the forty-third anniversary of my thirty-ninth birthday. We decided not to light the candles this year -- we were afraid Pan-Am would mistake it for a runway.

Today is my birthday.  Many happy returns to me!

Last night we reverted to daylight standard time, and i lost an hour's sleep, and had to be at work at seven o'clock this morning.  I am missing my zeds.  But i put in eight hours' honest labour and then wandered up to Kelsey's for a couple of celebratory pints -- Josh the bartender bought me one of them! -- and it was good.  (So different to my last birthday, which was approximately around about a year ago, when the first thing that happened on the day was that my computer died!) I actually craved a third but i was afraid i'd fall asleep!

The worst thing about reaching my advanced age (and i am now 39 -- although not for the first time!) is the realisation that there is so much i shall never do -- i'll never conquer Everest, or travel to Mars, or master quantum theory.

The best thing is that i have garnered so many Internet friends over the years -- i spent a good hour responding to Facebook greetings just now, and i feel truly blessed.

Hugs, everyone :o)

Dear Diary

2011-03-09T19:11:00.000-05:00

Dear Diary...

Ah, at last, a day off.

3.30 a.m., woke up, got out of bed, dragged a comb.... Well actually, no i didn't. I'm not certain but i don't think i even own a comb. And 3.30 is not an unusual time for me to get up – the early morning with its peace 'n' quiet is my favourite time of the day "The innocence and purity of a new-born day," as The Nice put it.

And i spent about six hours listening to my favourite radio station online, 94.9 The Rock (Craig Robertson mentioned my name on-air, i'm famous in The Rock Nation – as the listeners' club is called) (famous as being the only listener in Stratford, la la) and, unlike a couple of weeks ago, my Internet connection was rock-solid (if you'll excuse the inadvertent pun).

However, once again, i'm spending a part of my leisure time dealing with, or trying to, a compooter problemo: i can't compose e-mails in Thunderbird! When i click on "Write" the message pane shows up all right, but there's no insertion point. Maybe re-booting will solve this...?

Later: it didn't. Grrr..... Now i've just spent a good hour trying to fix this. God, i hate technology (but i'm addicted to it).

Later still: ok, i reverted to an earlier version of Thunderbird, and all now seems back to what we laughingly call "normal" around here.

Breakfast! Sausage, onions and cheese on a kaiser. Magic.

Scrubbed Cate's litterbox. Who sez i'm lazy?

Just had the plumber in – my kitchen tap was starting to spray water all over the place. Well, it's nice that the building manager dealt with the problem so rapidly, i was impressed

Today's playlist:

Kate Rusby – "Make The Light"

Fairport Convention – "Full House"

The Goon Show – "The Phantom Head-Shaver Of Brighton"

Radiohead – "Towering Above The Rest, Vol. 11"

A film: "Salt" (the unrated extended version, of course!)

(and it's super, btw)

Brian Plummer – "No Questions"

Guy Evans – "The Long Hello, Vol. IV"

The Beatles -- "Revolver"

And now it's time for dinner -- a home-made burger and, i'm sorry to say, oven fries. No, but oven fries can be ok, as long as i don't forget they're in the oven that is.

Ian Rankin

2011-03-02T13:45:00.000-05:00

Quote of the day -- Ian Rankin: Her eyes were small, as were nose and mouth. He tried not to think of a hamster, but then she twitched her nose and the picture was complete.

Ian Rankin, born in the Kingdom Of Fife, has been a best-selling author of crime fiction since 1987, primarily but not exclusively thanks to his novels about Detective Inspector John Rebus of the Edinburgh police, but somehow he managed to avoid my radar until relatively recently.

John Rebus is a great music lover and he first swam into my ken through a Rory Gallagher forum i belong to -- he's a Rory fan (preferably on vinyl!) and someone on the forum quoted a relevant quote. And so i began reading Rankin, and started with the final volume in the Rebus series, "Exit Music."

He has very quickly become one of my favourite writers.

Now i can't really say that i'm an aficionado of detective novels. There are many that i like, and i love Sherlock Holmes (particularly in the filmed versions starring Basil Rathbone).

Plus of course there's Nicolas Freeling, one of my favourite writers of all time, ever, who wrote series about Detective Van der Valk and Detective Henri Castang -- but his work is so sublime that it transcends the genre and is literature rather than a "good read."

But this Ian Rankin dude (www.ianrankin.net) -- he's bloody good! Now i have to buy all of his books....

But why is the city of Fife the only city in Britain that's allowed to call itself a "kingdom"?

Brian Plummer -- Again

2011-02-12T17:51:00.000-05:00

Quote of the day: Brian Plummer -- If you can't stand the heat, the kitchen's not the best place to be. / If you can't stand the wheat, stay away from the lone prairie.

That quotation is from Brian's song "Change The World" on the "No Questions" album. This LP is a Canadian classic for sure -- i've been listening to it over and over ever since Troy (Roach) converted my vinyl copy to CD for me last week. (Incomprehensibly, it has never been released on CD.)

So now here it is, available as a free download, thanks to good ol' music historian and archivist me. I've uploaded it as a zipped file to here: http://www.mediafire.com/?dd5ap7dwg9otlwl

You will need some way to unpack it but most people will have WinZip or some other file extractor on their systems, i suppose. (Personally i prefer 7zip -- Google it, it's free.)

Enjoy!

Another Day In Paradise.....

2011-02-09T13:16:00.000-05:00

Oh, sorry, that should have read "Another Day In Computer Hell."

It's my day off, and i've been having a pretty crappy morning, really, thanks to a frightening combination of my own stupidity and Windows Live Mail -- i am really annoyed at Tweedledummy at tech support who thought Outlook Express was corrupted when i had my email probs a few weeks ago, and Tweedledummer who proposed Windows Live Mail as an alternate email client. I hate WLM!

So i downloaded Thunderbird instead but for the life of me couldn't figure out how to configure it to send email. I was able to receive ok, but not send. Does any of this sound familiar?

But, i'm not just another pretty face: I finally configured it so that i could send mail with it, set it as the default and couldn't wait to uninstall WLM -- but before i did so, i imported everything (emails, address book) to Thunderbird.

And then had a heckuva time uninstalling WLM -- bits of it are all over the place, deep inside the system. Even after an allegedly complete uninstall, i could still find traces -- its icon still appeared in my Start menu, for instance. Took about an hour and there's still probably remnants of it polluting my system.

But why, oh, why, did i neglect to check that Thunderbird had imported everything before i uninstalled it?

WLM exported almost everything. Almost. I lost about two weeks' worth of emails -- including a couple of very important ones....

On a happier note, remember how my Linux laptop's keyboard had been set to Canada Multingual which meant that when i hit the apostrophe key, an É would appear, and other such curiosities? Well, i fixed that, thanks to a Ubuntu support forum -- it was really easy to change it to Canada English but as Linux is all new to me, i hadn't a clue where to start. I eagerly await the arrival of the book i ordered last week, Ubuntu Linux For Beginners.

Anyway, none of this is getting the laundry done, so i'll take a break from this nightmare and have some lunch maybe.

I watched this for the umpteenth time last night.

Great film

Brian Plummer

2011-02-05T16:10:00.000-05:00

I just came home from Onsite Technology with my "new" Brian Plummer CD

OMG, I have it! I love this album, and the sound quality is super -- even Troy (Roach) was impressed at how well-preserved the vinyl was -- no scratches whatever -- well, I always tried to look after my vinyl.

He did an online search, too, and agrees with me -- it has never been released on CD. (He also liked the guitar playing on the record.) It ROCKS, man!

I think I'm going to play the CD again, now. I haven't been able to hear it in maybe fifteen years. I am a happy man today. That hasn't happened in a while! Each song is a treasure. The fact that it has never been released on CD is proof positive that the record industry hasn't a clue....

I am so glad I found Troy's shop, and he's such a nice guy. His knowledge of computers is amazing. He was talking to another customer when I arrived, someone who had just bought her first-ever laptop (I gathered) and he was explaining some of its functions to her. I eavesdropped (it's a small shop!) and kept thinking, I didn't know that, I didn't know that, I didn't know THAT!

Onsite Technology

2011-02-03T18:11:00.000-05:00

Quote of the day: Rich Cook -- Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.

OK, i have been having a nightmare of a time with matters digital recently, but credit where it's due: this new laptop of mine, i bought it at a new shop called Onsite Technology (www.onsitetechnology.ca) -- it's in Market Place, just behind city hall, and downstairs with a tiny little doorway so you'd miss it altogether if you didn't know it was there-- and i love the shop! It's owned my a man named Troy Roach -- i'd never met him before last week, but i first heard of him years ago as being a supremo of the local infonistacracy -- a uber-geek, in other words -- i wish i had one-eighth of his knowldege of things computery.

It's a shop that reminds me of my apartment, actually: organised chaos. By which i mean, there's stuff piled everywhere, but he knows exactly where everything is. I was there today after work, as a matter of fact.

He does vinyl to CD conversions and i took in Brian Plummer's "No Questions" album -- a fantabulous album that i don't think has ever been released on CD -- and i've been searching for years. I should have it back on Saturday.

Now to scour my vinyl collection for others....

I Am Going To Shoot Myself

2011-02-02T12:06:00.000-05:00

I could just spit. No, really.

All of these hassles i've been having with my Internet connection lately have really depressed me, solitary loser that i am, spending most of my leisure time online... I called my ISP's tech support last night and explained that my connection zoomed along superbly on my new laptop and they basically said, ok, that means it's your desktop PC that's the problem, and nothing to do with us, so eff off and leave us in peace, gorblimey. Very nice.

I was quite dismayed.

This morning, i couldn't even get on to (my favourite radio station) therock.fm -- the connection kept timing out :o(

And then i had a light bulb moment. Eureka! i said, in English. What would happen if i (temporarily) disabled my firewall? And (man of action that i am) i did, and....

All is now back to normal. That "clunk" you just heard was the sound of my head hitting the desk in frustration.

So i uninstalled the Comodo firewall altogether (Comodo updates itself and evidently a recent update caused all of these problems) and installed Online Armor to replace it -- it seems fine, but a question is raised. Why did i have to solve this problem for myself? Why didn't those people at tech support suggest it in the first place? They make heaps more money than i (a lowly cook) (oh, sorry, rotisserie chef is my new title) do, aren't they supposed to know these things?

Or is it really such an inexact science?

Anyway, GTG, must catch up on about two weeks' worth of work....

Oh, Good Grief....

2011-01-30T18:17:00.000-05:00

My apartment is looking more and more like a cross between Video + Books and a computer warehouse every day.

(Video + Books is the best music and DVD shop in Stratford, btw -- well, they are great for DVDs and CDs, but theyère not really a bookshop....)

Now, why, when i typed theyère there, did an e with an accent appear rather than an apostrophe....

Oh, no, donèt tell me i have to re-map the keyboard....

AAAAArgh!

Technophobia Part x

2011-01-29T20:25:00.000-05:00

So, that's it, there to the left: my new laptop. An IBM ThinkPad 42. And i discovered something interesting. Although the Internet connection on my desktop PC is crap, when i plug the modem in to the laptop's network card, the connection is 100% ok.

So, tech support and i have been barking up the wrong tree, apparently. It's not the modem, or the 'phone line: it's the PC. I'll be giving them a call on Monday....

Anyway, i installed Linux on the laptop, to heckers with Microsoft, who needs 'em -- so that is going to be a learning experience, familiarising myself with a brand-new operating system. I'm having fun with it already.

(I also enjoyed discovering that my two favourite pubs are wi-fi hotspots!)

But, on a serious note, i truly believe that when you stop learning, you may as well curl up and die. No, really. Keep the brain active: it's a muscle and will atrophy if you don't use it. In my job, i have no opportunities to learn new things. Now i have a project!

I have to go now. I was at work at five o'clock this morning....

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

Technophobia Continued

2011-01-26T20:21:00.000-05:00

I must be a masochist: i went out today and bought a new laptop, with wi-fi. I know nothing about wireless -- when i took my computer courses all those years ago, it wasn't very prevalent, and i don't use it at home, so i've never seen a need to learn about it. I will now! (Actually, a new laptop has been in the back of my mind for a while now; my old Windows 98 laptop, while it still works, is pretty much useless for any serious computing, with its 2 gigabyte hard drive and no working modem. The connection probs precipitated the purchase.)

Anyway, i pick the machine up on Friday; i intend to uninstall Windows from it altogether and install Linux, and then hang around wireless hot-spots; but, further, i also intend to hook it up to my modem; if i can connect properly using it, then that will mean that the problems lie with my desktop PC. But if i can't, then that would seem to me to indicate that Bell Canada is, indeed, the culprit.

By hook or by crook, i'll be back!

My Love/Hate Affair With Technology, Part 187

2011-01-26T13:12:00.000-05:00

Someone once said that, the more complex a system becomes, the more that can go wrong.

Last Tuesday, my Internet connection started going up and down like a whore's knickers ... or, like a yo-yo, if you prefer. It had been fine, it just decided to act up, i dunno. On Wednesday morning (my day off) i was trying to listen to online radio (www.therock.fm, of course!) and, between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., the connection failed every five minutes (very disconcerting, as it usually failed in the middle of a song i liked). After that it was fine, but i was so frustrated i called my ISP's tech support (for the umpteenth time)....

(Perhaps a bit of history -- i've had connection problems for a while now, my ISP has replaced my modem a couple of times, and they now think that the problem is with my telephone line -- excess noise or somefing. They actually placed a trouble ticket with Bell Canada for me the last time -- apparently a Bell techie showed up a few weeks later, when i was at work, received no answer and cancelled the ticket, grr.)

So they replaced my modem again and now my connection is ok, but ... i am unable to send e-mails or log on to my accounts at encrypted web pages! I can receive e-mail fine (god knows i'd hate to miss out on all the spam and phishing attempts) and ordinary web pages load ok (if a bit slowly).

So i called tech support again -- twice. Half an hour on the 'phone each time, to no avail, so now i guess we have to place another trouble ticket with Bell Canada.... Things may be back to normal in another few weeks, unless of course the Bell techie shows up when i'm at the shop....

Honestly, this has been so annoying and now, just to make my life even more miserable, both my digital camera and my DVD player's remote control have quit on me (and no, they don't need new batteries).

(signed)

Tearing His Hair Out In Stratford

Ryan Russell 1976 - 2011

2011-01-19T11:18:00.000-05:00

I'm doing something very different today and i don't often write in a serious manner, but this was something that i couldn't leave unmentioned.

On January 12th, Sgt. Ryan Russell of the Toronto police force, husband of Christine and father of Nolan, 2, was trying to stop some dirtbag in a stolen snow plough when said dirtbag ran him over and killed him. (He was the first Toronto police officer to have been slain in the line of duty since, i believe, 2002.)

Yesterday, 13,000 people attended his funeral service at the Toronto Convention Centre -- both civilians and police officers from all over North America.

I'm not quite sure why i'm feeling so much sadness over this; it is many years since i lived in Toronto. Maybe it's more of a respect for the Toronto police in general -- ordinary heroes.

Someone, i forget who, once remarked that one thing that Toronto policemen have in common is their size -- a big and tough buncha dudes for sure (they have to be). But i never had any problems in my (rare) dealings with them -- i treated them with respect (as i would anyone), and they reciprocated.

Here's a pic from yesterday's ceremony:

Rest in peace, Sgt. Ryan.

Snow!

2011-01-05T19:58:00.000-05:00

And that, my friends, was the view from the smoking section (i.e. outside) of my local pub, Kelsey's (http://kelseys.ca/) yesterday. You learn to smoke quickly in this climate!

Year End Wrap-Up, Part 3 -- Film

2011-01-05T14:42:00.000-05:00

Quote of the day: Max Kauffman -- He's very superstitious -- he thinks it's unlucky to walk under a black cat.

As i said, i'm a list freak, i'm also a film freak and here's the list of every DVD i've watched this year:

Jan. 20: Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Jan. 21: District 9

Jan. 26: Threads

Feb. 6: United 93

Feb. 16: Inglourious Basterds

Feb.17: The Hurt Locker

Feb.18: Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince

Mar. 1: The Eagle Has Landed

Mar. 2: American History X

Mar. 3: A Handful Of Dust

Mar. 4: Miss Congeniality

Mar. 14: Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Mar. 18: Firewall

Mar. 30: 2012

Mar. 31: Deconstructing Harry

Apr. 2: Carry On Dick

Apr. 24: The Last Boy Scout

Apr. 29: Monty Python And The Holy Grail

May 3: Lethal Weapon

May 8: Lethal Weapon 2

May 9: Footlight Parade

May 13: Lethal Weapon 3

May 23: Red Cliff

May 24: Thelma and Louise

May 26: Broken Embraces

May 27: Body Of Lies

Jun. 2: Mad Max

Jun. 8: Year Of The Dragon

Jun. 9: Kika

Jun. 10: Last Man Standing

Jun. 20: Die Hard With A Vengeance

Jun. 21: 88 Minutes

Jun. 28: The Enforcer

Jul. 8: Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Jul. 25: Lethal Weapon

Aug. 5: The Road

Aug. 18: Green Zone

Aug. 19: The Rachel Papers

Aug. 26: The Last Boy Scout

Sept. 7: Live Free Or Die Hard

Sept. 13: Pushing Tin

Sept. 14: Love Actually

Sept. 15: Blow-Up

Sept. 16: From Russia With Love

Oct. 17: Fargo

Oct. 20: Analyze That

Oct. 21: Lethal Weapon 2

Nov. 3: Oceans

Nov. 28: Four Weddings And A Funeral

Dec. 7: Robin Hood

Dec. 8: Notes On A Scandal

Dec. 24: The Ninth Gate

Dec. 25: Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Dec. 31: When Harry Met Sally...

And which was my favourite (i hear you ask)? I dunno, maybe "Fargo," i love that film. The problem i have is that i have so little time.... It can sometimes take me four evenings to watch a two hour movie. And i haven't been to an actual cinema since, well, when was the first of the "Lord Of The Rings" films released?

Year End Wrap-Up, Part 2 -- Books

2010-12-28T11:16:00.000-05:00

Quote of the day: John Lennon -- Another year over, a new one just begun

Back in the last century, before i bought my first home computer, i was an avid and omnivorous reader -- i would read at least a book a week. (I had worked with computers in the late 70's and early 80's, but i'd long been out of the bizness.) (The old Nixdorf green screens, remember them?) (Running DOS of course, Windows wasn't even a glint in Bill Gates' eye at that point.) (Yes, i decided to give up good pay and working conditions to become a cook LOL.)

Anyway, where was i? I bought my first computer in, i think, 1999. It ran Windows 95 but Windows 98 had just been released. I remember it clearly: the man in the shop told me that i didn't need 98, as 95 couldn't possibly ever be surpassed. What did i know? I upgraded to 98 perhaps a year later. And as one of my first Internet friends once remarked, "The Internet is TV for people who read." My consumption of books has declined from one per week to one or two per month.

And here's everything i've read this year:

Jan. 11 Anthony Powell – At Lady Molly’s

Jan. 31 Michael Dibdin – Dead Lagoon

Feb. 14 Nick Hornby – Juliet, Naked

Mar. 4: Anthony Powell – Casanova’s Chinese Restaurant

Mar. 18: George MacDonald Fraser – Flashman At The Charge

Apr. 6: Sarah Dunant – The Birth Of Venus

Apr. 22: Ian McEwan – Solar

May 4: Anthony Powell – The Kindly Ones

May 9: Thomas G. Aylesworth – Great Moments Of Television

May 20: Gareth Roberts – Cracker: To Be A Somebody

May 31: Anthony Powell – The Valley Of Bones

Jun. 19: Martin Amis – The Pregnant Widow

Jun. 27: Scott Adams --The Joy Of Work

July 6: Robert Hughes – Culture Of Complaint

July 15: Anthony Powell – The Soldier's Art

Aug. 7: Mikhail Bulgakov – The Master And Margarita
Aug. 17: Martin Amis – The Rachel Papers
Aug. 26: Anthony Powell – The Military Philosophers

Sept. 10: Paul & Beth Garon – Woman With Guitar: Memphis Minnie's Blues
Sept. 21: Anthony Powell – Books Do Furnish A Room

Oct. 3: Brian Payton – The Ice Passage
Oct. 11: Leonore Fleischer – The Fisher King
Oct. 15: P.G. Wodehouse – Bachelors Anonymous

Nov. 6: Margaret Atwood – The Year Of the Flood
Nov. 16: Anthony Powell – Temporary Kings

Dec. 7: Keith Richards – Life
Dec. 18: Anthony Powell – Hearing Secret Harmonies
Dec. 28: Robert Barnard – At Death's Door

(Yes, i'm a list freak, i keep track of stuff like this.)

You'll notice i read a lot of Anthony Powell -- all volumes in his 12-volume set "A Dance To The Music Of Time," a classic of 20th century literature -- read for a second time at the suggestion of my beloved Astrid. (I started it last October!) She also told me that there was a BBC series devoted to the books, of which i had not previously been aware, and i've just started watching the DVDs.

And what, i hear you ask, was my favourite book this year? Brian Payton's "The Ice Passage" came close -- in fact i wrote about it on this very blog at the time i read it -- but ultimately i have to say that my favourite book was:

A fascinating and enthralling read, "co-written" with James Fox. I wonder how much of it Keef wrote himself?

Christmas -- Fail

2010-12-26T14:13:00.000-05:00

Quote of the day: Benjamin Franklin -- I didn't fail the test, I just found 100 ways to do it wrong

I confess, i failed Christmas this year. Not sure what went wrong. It didn't fail me, but i failed it.

Normally, it's my favourite day of the year, a day of meditation and spiritual uplift, but for some reason that didn't happen this time, and i'm wondering why...? (I'm also wondering why my font keeps changing....)

Possibly because the preceding week at work had been such a nightmare and i wasn't feeling all that sanguine towards mankind in general. Possibly because, instead of watching a festive film in the afternoon i instead watched the devastating finale of "Between The Lines." And also possibly because, as i mentioned in my previous post, i didn't listen to "Messiah" in the morning!

It was an okay day, though -- i mustn't complain. I managed to sink a few glasses of my favourite bevvy
(oh, look! there's its picture!) and in the evening i stuffed myself stupid with turkey and ham and smashed potatoes and peas and gravy and then, apple crumble and ice cream. I mean, count yer blessings and all that. Most of the people on this poor old planet don't have food on their tables. Heck, a lot of them don't even have tables....

And in the evening i watched "Who Framed Roger Rabbit"....

So it could have been a lot worse.

And we're getting ready for the end of the year wrap-up, so we begin with music.

Here are my favourite 15 CDs of 2010 (in no particular order):

Terje Rypdal -- Crime Scene
Slash -- Slash
Buddy Guy -- Living Proof
Peter Hammill -- Thin Air
Billy Talent -- III
Jeff Beck -- Emotion And Commotion
Florence & The Machine -- Lungs
Joe Bonamassa -- Black Rock
Keane -- Night Train
Sarah Fimm -- Karma Phala
Robert Plant -- Band Of Joy
Rory Gallagher -- The Beat Club Sessions
Richard Thompson -- Dream Attic
The Albion Band -- Natural And Wild
John Jones -- Rising Road.

(Once upon a time i would buy maybe 100 CDs a year; i think i bought about 35 in 2010!)

Get Up! (Christmas Morning Diary)

2010-12-25T11:52:00.000-05:00

Quote Of The Day: Jay Leno -- The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn't for any religious reasons. They couldn't find three wise men and a virgin.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I hope Santa was good to you all.

My Christmas Day is starting off in fairly traditional fashion, with the spiced rum 'n' eggnog and cashews breakfast. I skipped listening to Handel's "Messiah" this year, though -- i listened to it every Christmas morning for years but to be honest, a couple of years ago i realised that i found a lot of it -- and it lasts well over two hours! -- really tedious. A work of genius, no doubt, but life's too short.

I have, however, listened to my favourite Christmas album of all time, "A Christmas Present From The Albion Band"

and it seems to just get better and better every year.

Right, well, i'm off now to listen to The Goon Show, "A Christmas Carol (with custard)," another favourite and another tradition. I may write more later, depending upon how compos mentis i am.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like....

2010-12-19T17:23:00.000-05:00

Quote of the day: John Lennon -- War is over (if you want it)

Oh, i know, i haven't posted much lately. It's the 21st century disease, lack of time. But that should change soon, with the year end wrap-ups in the offing and now that all of the Christmas preps are complete.

And yes, i'm starting to feel the spirit

Sandra & Peter gave me a Christmas centrepiece today-- a floral thing of lilies, pine needles, butterflies (all made out of green, white & gold fabric) and beads and a candle in the middle -- it looks quite Celtic! I must get a photo of it. I have it sitting atop one of my old computers (the only place i had space) and Catieboo is fascinated by it. In fact i had the candle lit but had to blow it out -- she was investigating it and i was afraid she'd singe her nose. I also (finally) got the Christmas lights up and some of them are blinky ones, and she's fascinated by those, too.

And i'm now listening to one of the Marillion Christmas CDs. Yes, it's the most wonderful time of the year -- hey, that's make a good title for a song ;o)

Customer Service Part 2

2010-11-24T14:12:00.000-05:00

Quotation of the day: John Lennon --Our society is run by insane people for insane objectives. I think we're being run by maniacs for maniacal ends and I think I'm liable to be put away as insane for expressing that. That's what's insane about it.

It's time for a consumer revolution.

Small, independent companies in general, seem very good at customer service -- i guess they have to be, in order to survive -- and when they're good, they are really good. (See my last post.)

It's the big corporations that treat their customers like dirt. The answer? Avoid the big corporations as much as possible. I'm not afraid to name names and i, for one, will never buy a burger from A & W again, and will never buy anything from Maple Leaf Foods: i received crap service from them both recently, and complained each time, but my complaints fell on deaf ears.

OK, fine, i just won't give them any more of my hard-earned.

Customer Service

2010-11-11T18:33:00.000-05:00

Quotation of the day: S.J. Perelman -- Love is not the dying moan of a distant violin -- it is the triumphant twang of a bedspring.

I think we might all be forgiven for thinking that "customer service" is a dying art. We have become accustomed to being treated like dirt by the people whose wages we pay. To some extent it's our own fault, of course -- mega-corporations treat we lowly customers with contempt and we put up with it.

So i am delighted to report that it still exists.

A couple of weeks ago, i ordered Dave Swarbrick's new CD, "Raison d'etre," from www.cduniverse.com, and it arrived yesterday. Except it didn't. What arrived was a "Raison d'etre" jewel case and a CD labelled "Raison d'etre." But what was on the disc was actually Swarb's 1978 album "Lift The Lid And Listen" (which i already have). (Don't worry if you've never heard of Mr Swarbrick -- he's an English folk fiddler, not exactly viral on YouTube, but i've been a fan since the 60s).

I wrote to customer service @ cduniverse, not really expecting any satisfaction but ... they've been in touch with me twice in the past hour, full of apology both times (although obviously it's not their fault, but a cock-up at the manufacturer's) -- first for a clarification of the problem, and then with instructions for the return and replacement of the disc.

So ... credit where credit is due: well done CDUniverse!

The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

2010-11-10T12:17:00.000-05:00

Today is the 35th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald (and thanks to Craig & Rita of www.therock.fm for reminding me), and if this song isn't a Canadian classic, i don't know what is...

http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/edmund-fitzgerald-36/

I'm not a Canadian by birth, of course, but i have embraced this land. I took Canadian Studies at university, gorblimey!

This country has a massive inferiority complex, thanks to living right next door to the colossus that is the U.S.A. I talk to the natives and the impression i get is that they think that Canadian books, films, music and history are all really dull. They couldn't be more wrong.

Canadian history is just as exciting as American history -- although you'd never guess it from the way it's taught in schools here, and -- i don't really want to start ranting, but the arts (or, The Arts) in Canada are (oh god i hate this term, i only use it cos i'm too tired to think of one that's preferable) "world class."

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It... Oh, Shut Up

2010-11-05T18:28:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day: Sinclair Lewis --Winter is not a season, it’s an occupation.

We had the first snow of the season here today. I was outside having my first cigarette break of the morning at around 8.30 when it started. And it snowed -- not heavily, but steadily -- for most of the day. It all melted as soon as it hit the ground, but it's here.

Future posts to this blog may well be influenced by the fact that i'm going to be cold for the next six months :o(

Spriggsblog Goes To The Movies

2010-11-04T18:24:00.000-04:00

Quotation Of The Day: Van Morrison -- I'm nothing but a stranger in this world

I watched the DVD of "Oceans" last night, and it was brilliant.

It's a documentary, distributed in North America by the Disney
Corporation, but was actually made in France, and it's a gorgeous study of oceans and ocean life. Unforgettable scenes of dolphins stampeding, cormorants dive-bombing sardines, men swimming beside sharks, and film of the unbelievable creatures who live on the sea floor (in one instance, swimming around a shopping cart!). My only complaint was about the narration -- by Pierce Brosnan and presumably added by the Disney folks and thus "dumbed down." It was discursive at best and incoherent at worst.

But never mind, it's a feast for the eyes!

And, speaking of feasts, here's one for the ears:

I am, even as we speak, listening to Van Morrison's album "Astral Weeks." If this isn't art, i don't know what is....

Carpe Diem!

2010-11-03T16:52:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day: Fran Lebowitz -- Very few people possess true artistic ability. It is therefore both unseemly and unproductive to irritate the situation by making an effort. If you have a burning, restless urge to write or paint, simply eat something sweet and the feeling will pass.

It's my diem off today and carpe it i certainly did! Life is to be embraced, i always say. No, really, i do. I know several people who have promised to punch me in the throat the next time i say it, they're so fed up hearing it.

So here's how i seized it: got up at 3 a.m., listened to the radio (94.9 The Rock, of course) until around 9, had a bath, went out for breakfast, listened to last Sunday's episode of "The Beatles Universe" (at www.streamingoldies.com), and then listened to CDs by The Mississippi Sheiks, J.B. Hutto, and Robert Wyatt. Then i did last night's dishes and a load of laundry and watched two (2!) episodes of the second series of "Between The Lines." Oh, look! There's the National Portrait Gallery's portrait of Francesca Annis, who's a recurring character in series two....

I have raved about this before, suggesting that it was the best police drama ever, but i have changed my opinion. I now think it was the best television programme ever. I was crying real tears at the end of the second episode i watched today -- you don't get that with "Friends" ....

...Not With A Bang

2010-10-26T16:21:00.000-04:00

Quote of the day: T.S Eliot -- This is the way the world ends,
Not with a bang but a whimper.

So that's the end of the holiday, ruined completely by the fact

that my Internet connection was down for most of the day

I started to listen to The Beatles Universe -- a great radio

program that airs on 94.9 The Rock every Sunday morning but the

connection went down after fifteen minutes, and stayed down. FAIL

Here was the playlist for the day:

Walter Trout, No More Fish Jokes
Mark Knopfler, Shangri-la
Wazmo Nariz, Things Aren't Right

And i watched yet another episode of "Between The Lines."

And that's the end of a holiday

Day 6, Part Two

2010-10-23T17:15:00.000-04:00

I've been reading this book (to my left there), Margaret Atwood's latest, all week, and i'm having a real problem with it. I used to love her work, she began life as a poet and her first few novels had the poet's gift for le mot juste. Now she just seems verbose.

I'm having a great deal of trouble absorbing what i'm reading, it's very disappointing, it's as though she aspires to be Canada's answer to Marcel Proust but without the gift for detail.

Anyway, i did, as promised, watch another episode of "Between The Lines," such a powerful one ("Manoeuvre 11" it was called) that i was weeping real tears at one point. (The child dies.) (Ha, ha, now i've ruined it for you.) And then i watched (most of) disc 2 of the 4-disc deluxe expanded extended exploded edition of "The Return Of The King." Fabulous stuff. Literally!

And now i'm doing laundry (no, really) and listening to Bruce Springsteen's CD "Magic."

Vacation Diary, Day 6

2010-10-23T13:44:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day: Earl Wilson -- A vacation is what you take when you can no longer take what you've been taking.

This may be difficult to believe, but i've actually been productive today (shock, horror).

I am, as i'm sure you're all aware, a huge fan of Rory Gallagher -- the best blues-rock guitarist ever. I'm also a member of an Internet discussion group devoted to him, The-Loop (named after one of his tunes). For the past six months, i've been running a weekly series on The-Loop called "The Roots Of Rory," in which i will upload a song by one of the people (usually early blues singers) who influenced him. But this week, because i had the time, i tried something different....

This week's song was "Tobacco Road," which was written by John D. Loudermilk, but which was a top ten hit for The Nashville Teens in 1964 (long before i was born, of course!) (ahem...). Rory never officially recorded it, but sometimes, in concert, he would interpolate it into his own song, "Seems To Me." So what i have just done, is, i put together a .zip file of four versions of the song: Loudermilk's original, The Nashville Teens' version, plus two (bootleg) versions of Rory's Seems To Me" -- one with, and one without the "Tobacco Road" interpolation. If you're at all interested, you can download the file (it's 19 MB) here: http://www.mediafire.com/?gf8cn747c0sps4z

Normally, i wouldn't have the time to organise something so relatively complicated (especially as i had misfiled one of the CDs i needed and it took me a while to find it).

Otherwise, today's playlist has been:

Kathy Mattea, "Roses"
Peter Hammill, "In A Foreign Town"
Rush, "Retrospective II" (sorry, Helen!)

And i'm just about to watch yet another episode of "Between The Lines" -- love that program so much...

More later, i expect

Vacation Diary, Day 5

2010-10-22T17:37:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day: Camille Paglia -- Leaving sex to the feminists is like letting your dog vacation at the taxidermist.

Beer and clamato juice for breakfast -- well it is the most important meal of the day!

I watched "Lethal Weapon 2" last night. Oh! There's its picture to the right, how did that get there? Just sheer entertainment, nothing profound, but one can't -- or, at least, i can't -- watch Kubrick, Antonioni, Almodóvar or even Ridley Scott every day....

Well, i did a bit of cleaning, scrubbing 'n' scouring in my kitchen today but i wasn't able to get terribly enthusiastic about it

Here's today's playlist:

I listened to the radio (94.9 The Rock) til 11 o'clock or so, then:
Roy Wood, "Starting Up"
Jeff Beck, "You Had It Coming"
Paula Cole, "Ithaca" (her new one)
The Move, "Message From The Country" -- such a brilliant album that is!
Kathy Mattea, Roses
Then i watched "Between The Lines" (series 2 episode 5) but then:

Right, ABBA, and this may well be my favourite ABBA song and these harmonies break my spine. These are the voices of angels, this is what i want to hear when i die and go to heaven.

Course, with my luck i'll probably die and go to Sebringville or something

Vacation Diary, Day 4, Part 2

2010-10-21T18:20:00.000-04:00

Today's Playlist:

The Beatles: "With The Beatles (alternate version)" (a --ssh! -- bootleg)
The Small Faces: "Itchycoo Park: The Best Of The Small Faces"
"The Best Of Roxy Music"
Robert Nighthawk, "Live On Maxwell Street"
Marillion, "Marbles"
Mike Oldfield, "Songs Of Distant Earth."

Oh, and i watched another episode of series 2 of Between The Lines this afternoon -- these DVDs have never been released in Canada but i now have all three series in digital format. We have our sources (he says mysteriously.) (I have most of series 2 & 3 on videotapes taken from the TV broadcasts 15 years ago, but the quality is awful. I don't think i'd ever seen any of series 1 until just recently.) (When it ran on TVOntario originally, they had to re-name it Inside The Line, because they already had a series called Between The Lines.)

Best police drama ever (IMFFHO)

I didn't do much else today, though. Downloaded a really neat little app that will allegedly allow me to convert .m4a files to .mp3, but i haven't tested it yet. Went to The Beer Store for lunch (i got take-out LOL). Um, er, otherwise it's just been a delightfully lazy day.

Vacation Diary, Days 3 & 4

2010-10-21T14:32:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day: Ray Davies -- Thank heaven for this holiday, holiday / I'm leaving insecurity behind me. / The environmental pressures got me down, / i don't need no sedatives to pull me round, / i don't need no sleeping pills to help me sleep sound.

Yay, Toronto, and the day began with a good laugh. I had to pass my place of employment on my way to the train station and obviously the person who was doing my job in my absence, hadn't arrived: he has the key to the place and two staff members and a repairman were standing outside waiting to get in. Two staff members who annoy me hugely, btw. If it hadn't been for the repairman i would have called down a torrential downpour upon them, but, alas, it was a beautiful morning, not a cloud in the wossname, and besides i don't have that much influence with the weather gods. (I certainly wasn't going to let them in, though!)

But then i got to the train station and learned that the train was going to be late. In fact, when we arrived, eventually, at Union Station, i had to go straight to my lunch date at the Wolf & Firkin pub with Julian, Gloria, Paul & Imogen -- basically the only friends i'm still in touch with from when i lived in Toronto 25 years ago. And lunch lasted a very civilised two hours.

I had the Chef's Mac and Cheese -- which was very good but really wasn't much more than macaroni and cheese with a couple of slices of bacon on top, plus garlic bread. Oh, but the Wolf and Firkin is a really nice pub, i always visit it when i'm in the big city.

And then, and then, everyone else had to go back to work and Imogen and i went for a walk, and we wound up on the patio of The Black Bull -- Toronto's oldest pub (first built in 1833, although the original building burned down at some point so it's not Toronto's oldest continually operating boozer). (I think that honour goes to The Wheatsheaf.)

It was a perfect day for sitting on a patio -- quite mild, not a cloud in the sky. Absolutely brilliant.

But then we had to split up and i looked at my watch and, oh shit! I had only a couple of hours before the train home. Where had the day gone????

Well, it was, perhaps, Prometheus who said "tempus tends to fugit when you're having fun." Well, maybe not Prometheus, but one of those classical lit. chaps -- maybe Paul McCartney...

And so, i headed east to Sherbourne Street, hoping maybe to find my friend Barbara's shop--she only just opened and i'd love to see it, but wasn't sure of the address, but gave up on that (i should have persevered -- i have since learned that it's only a little further east). But then had to reverse course and head west for the train home. (Ultimately I would have found her shop but then said, hi, well bye GTG catch a train). I had hoped to spend some time browsing through book and CD shops -- and i did, with an air of desperation, but had to leave each one without making any purchases. No time left.

Well, i did in fact have time for one more pint, in a pub called The Sherlock Holmes in The Esplanade -- it was horrible and noisy -- grabbed some street meat from a vendor (sausage on a bun) and made the train home with minutes to spare.

And that, as they say, was that.

So, overall, a very good visit, but not all i had hoped it would be.

Vacation Diary, Day Two

2010-10-19T10:20:00.000-04:00

Quote of the day: P.G. Wodehouse -- It must have been about one in the afternoon when i woke. I was feeling more or less like something the Pure Food Committee had rejected

Well, P.G. notwithstanding, i awoke at about 4 a.m. -- my usual time, or thereabouts.

Having a very lazy day, too: i started to clean my kitchen but rapidly lost interest. Went to Kelsey's for lunch, fish 'n' chips and a pint (yes, just one pint) came home and had a nap. Otherwise i've just been growing more and more frustrated over the fact that my Internet connection has been up and down like a yo-yo all bloody day -- why the hell can't they fix this? The problem has existed for a while and i've complained many a time, had my modem replaced thrice, and now my ISP is blaming the phone line (and has allegedly placed a trouble ticket with Bell Canada, but they've done nothing AFAIK).

Here's today's playlist:
Martin Carthy & Dave Swarbrick, "Skin And Bone"
J.B. Hutto & The Hawks, "Masters of Modern Blues Vol 4"
Rob Hyman, "Largo"
Rory Gallagher, "The Beat Club Sessions"
Jimi Hendrix, "Axis Bold As Love"
Wazmo Nariz, "Things Aren't Right"
Howard Jones, "Ordinary Heroes."

Home-made burritos & store bought macaroni salad for my din-dins tonight....

Not As Domestic As I Thought (Vacation Diary, Day One, Part Two)

2010-10-18T19:33:00.000-04:00

No, i didn't get the damn laundry done. Stop nagging. Jeez. I got last night's supper dishes done, that must count for something. Here's Cate, weighing in:

Also listened to "Greatest Hits" by The Psychedelic Furs and "Henry The Human Fly" by Richard Thompson.

I think i'll go out now for some yummy KFC .... No, no, sorry, that was a joke, and a rather vulgar one at that.

Vacation Diary, Day One

2010-10-18T15:34:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day: J.B. Priestley -- A good holiday is one spent among people whose notion of time is vaguer than yours.

Ah, at last, my long-awaited (and much-needed) week off. And it's starting off very well indeed. I'd be happier if it were about twenty degrees warmer, but at least there's no precipitation.... Also i've been up since 3 a.m., but that's not that unusual.

I watched one of my favourite films last night -- i've seen it umpteen times now, and it gets better with each viewing.

And now, thus far, i've had a very productive morning. I went down to the Splatford train station and finally managed to buy my ticket for Toronto on Wednesday, third attempt in four days, third time lucky: when i went down there on Friday and Saturday, the ticket wicket was closed -- a great shame because if i'd bought the ticket on Friday or Saturday i'd have been eligible for an early bird 40% discount. Oh, well. Here's the station (that's not me in the pic):

And then i had my hair cut, which i've been wanting to do for about a month, did some groceries and had a lazy late breakfast (two Sausage 'n' Eggers from A & W to be precise) (probably the only thing they serve that i find edible).

And now, although i'll probably toddle off to the beer store later on, the only thing i have left to do today, is laundry (i'm so domestic). Dolce far niente!

And today's playlist?

Started off listening (online) to my favourite radio station, 94.9 The Rock (www.therock.fm) but when i switched to albums it was:

The Albion Band, "Natural and wild"
The John Kirkpatrick Band, "Force Of Habit"
Robert Nighthawk, "Live On Maxwell Street"
Genesis. "Brush Back Your Hair" (disc 2) (a bootleg)
Plus some bootlegged Beatles and Kate Bush stuff (oh, christ, don't tell the DRMA, i'll have the computer confiscated!).

And now, i'm going to watch another episode of "Between The Lines" -- the best TV police drama ever.

More later.

Happy Birthday, John Lennon

2010-10-09T17:08:00.000-04:00

Today, October 9th, would have been John's 70th birthday. Even though he was assassinated thirty years ago, he remains an inspiration. Enjoy the video.

Nectarine

2010-10-08T12:57:00.000-04:00

Oh, wow, clock this:

It's Australian, or Strine (as it's pronounced) and it's by GB3, of whom i'd never heard until today. Marvellous!

Northwest Passage

2010-09-25T15:00:00.000-04:00

I've become fascinated by Canada's arctic recently, for some unknown reason -- and in particular the tragic tale of the Franklin expedition. I'm reading Brian Payton's "The Ice Passage" atm, which is probably the best non-fiction book i've read this year -- it's not exactly about Franklin, but is instead about the voyage of the HMS Investigator -- which set sail four years after HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, Franklin's ships, to both search for traces of the lost ships and find the passage.

Extraordinarilygripping.

www.brianpayton.com

It's Been A Great Week (For New Music)

2010-09-22T18:24:00.000-04:00

Yes, i have bought three superb CDs in less than a week, and these are they. (Them?)

The music industry may be dying, but music is alive and well. Or, to quote Buffy Ste. Marie, "god is alive, magic is afoot."

Make No Bones

2010-09-19T19:50:00.000-04:00

Yet another John Kirkpatrick CD arrived in the mail, "Make No Bones."

In a previous posting, i wrote about his CD "Dance Of The Demon Daffodils" and how much i enjoyed it. This is even better. "D Of The DD" is entirely solo accordeon music, but "MNB" has vocals (and he's a very good singer) and accompanying musicians.

Highly recommended to anyone who loves English folk music.

Spriggsblog Goes To The Movies

2010-09-19T17:38:00.000-04:00

Quote of the day: Winston Churchill -- If you are going through hell, keep going.

Nothing much to write about atm -- i am not going through hell these days, in fact i've just been relaxing and watching some DVDs.

These, for example (and this was just this week).

A Walk In The Park (I Took One)

2010-09-01T16:00:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day: Woody Allen -- Life is divided into the horrible and the miserable.

Whew, it's hot. Yesterday was the hottest August 31st on record -- it reached 33° C., and today it was 29° at 10:00 a.m.. I thought it might be a tad cooler in the park and so went for a stroll. Well, it wasn't, but i took some pictures. Oh, look, there's one just above me there. That shows the mighty Avon River as it approaches the Waterloo Street Bridge and way off in the background is Stratford's tallest building. No, really.

Anyone interested can see the rest of the set at http://www.flickr.com/photos/34806425@N02/sets/72157624732135167/

Isn't it one of the wonders of digital photography, though? In the olden times, you took your pictures and then took a roll of film to the drug store to be processed. A week later, you'd get it back and discover that none of them had come out as well as you had hoped. Nowadays, you discover immediately, that none of them had turned out as well as you hoped. Instant ingratification!

Working For A Living

2010-08-22T15:03:00.000-04:00

Quotation of the day: Oscar Wilde -- Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.

As you probably know, i -- for my sins -- make my living as a cook. I've been doing it for a long time, in lots of different eateries, from greasy spoons to high-class French restaurants to my current job at a chicken joint. I used to like it. In fact i still like it, but i've reached the point where it's all so easy it's not like work at all and a certain je ne sais quoi has set in. Not boredom, certainly (i don't really understand the concept of boredom), but it isn't really fun any more. It used to be.

But! Yesterday, i was reminded why i do love doing what i do.

Apparently there's a baseball tournament in town this weekend. I discovered this when two teams showed up at the chicken joint fifteen minutes before opening time. My morning heart attack. And then, fifteen minutes later, another team arrived. To make it worse, the other cook arrived looking a fetching shade of green -- so hungover he could barely stand up. He gave it a good college try but he couldn't make it, he had to go home.

So there we were: the place was almost full at 11:30, most of the waitresses don't start 'til noon; Saturdays haven't been that busy lately so i didn't have an excessive amount of chicken in the ovens, and the kitchen was short-staffed. It was a great laxative.

But do you know what? We pulled it off. Sometimes i amaze even myself la la. It was hard work, i admit (nothing wrong with that, of course) and we all were drenched with sweat when it was over, but, running on pure adrenalin and with each of my hands doing the work of two, we did it.

And ... it is the most satisfying feeling in the world

A Message To The Music Industry

2010-08-17T16:23:00.000-04:00

From Rolling Stone magazine. 'Nuff said

Just As I Always Suspected

2010-08-15T11:06:00.000-04:00

Music History 101

2010-08-06T17:42:00.000-04:00

At my work, we have a satellite muzak feed, usually tuned to an AOR channel but occasionally management, in its infinite wisdom, shifts it to the 60's channel. Whoever progammes this channel, though, needs a lesson in remedial music history. I was there, i know this.

In music history, the sixties did NOT run from 1961 to 1970. The sixties didn't really begin until 1963, when Elvis Presley went into the army (and that was when The Fifties ended) and The Beatles exploded onto the scene -- and that was when the 60's began.

But our programmer seems quite oblivious to this; thus we get horrors like Bobby Rydell, Frankie Avalon and Neil Sedaka (the latter being possibly the smarmiest singer it has ever been my misfortune to be subjected to) (and whose song "Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen" is close to being a paean to statutory rape) (not that i expect anyone in 1963 understood that) sandwiched between The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Hollies and The Byrds.

It's a truly painful experience....

Spriggsblog Goes To The Movies

2010-08-06T17:33:00.000-04:00

Has anyone seen John Hillcoat's post-apocalyptic nightmare vision "The Road" -- Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron?

I watched it last night and although it's not exactly what you'd call light entertainment -- it's unremittingly bleak -- it's quite brilliant. Viggo Mortensen is superb and although normally i detest child actors, young Master Smit-McPhee, as his son, is very good. The supporting cast -- Charlize, Robert Duvall, Guy Pearce -- all have very small parts; this film belongs to Viggo & Kodi, and they shine (in a film where there is no sunshine).

Very highly recommended.

The Dance Of The Demon Daffodils

2010-08-02T15:16:00.000-04:00

I ordered this CD about ten days ago and it just arrived in my mailbox on Friday. John Kirkpatrick is an English accordeonist who has played on some of my all-time favourite albums by the likes of The Albion Band and Steeleye Span -- purveyors of traditional English folk-rock (one of my favourite types of music). But this is very different -- it's solo squeezebox music. Very nice, but not to everyone's taste, perhaps. (But, as Barbara remarked to me recently, if we all liked the same thing there'd be a world-wide shortage of haggis LOL -- and, as John K. himself sang on an earlier solo album, "here's your harp, welcome to heaven; here's your accordeon, welcome to hell.")

Herman J. Theijsmeijer, R.I.P.

2010-07-30T19:33:00.000-04:00

I am very sad tonight.

I took my little Cate-cat in to the Avon Pet Hospital yesterday for her annual shots and check-up (she's A-1 -- although i can't believe it's a year since i adopted her) and learned that Dr Theijsmeijer -- my vet for over twenty years and through six cats -- had passed away in June, of pancreatic cancer. That is he, to the left, there. It was ... a helluva shock. He was such a good man and there aren't so many of those around these days that we can afford to lose one (which could explain the tears welling up in my eyes as i type this). I only just saw him, in April maybe, at the beer store. (Yes, me at the beer store, that's stretching credulity innit.) But he seemed perfectly fine.

He was a little eccentric, maybe -- but that made me like him even more.

The new vet, Dr Maal (sp?) seems really nice, but she's not Herman