I broke camp early on Sunday morning with a long drive ahead of me from Virginia back to Toronto. I didn’t get far though. A short distance out of Buena Vista, my car started over-heating. Before it got really bad, I turned around and headed… Read More
Regular visitors to this page might be wondering where I’ve been over the past week, since I haven’t been posting. Well, I did a road-trip down to Buena Vista, Virginia (I was told it is pronounced Byoona Vista) for the Rockbridge Mountain Music and Dance… Read More
Back in the 90s I learned Chen Style tai chi first and second forms, and it became something I did daily. Along the way I also learned a couple other forms, including a single sword style, and some push hands, but it was the first… Read More
My friend East Texas Red recommended we watch a show called Peaky Blinders (on Netflix). This was not so long ago, but we’ve already exhausted the 3 seasons available so far. Peaky Blinders is a story about a family of gangsters in post-WWI Birmingham in… Read More
I’ve got this one on the brain…..so now you will too. The McGarrigles performing the Wade Hemsworth’s classic on that fantastic NFB Canada Vignette.
Here’s a tune by Reg Hill from his recording Ottawa Valley Hoedown. It’s called the Buck Fever Rag. Reg Hill was also well known as the fiddle player for Mac Beattie’s Ottawa Valley Melodiers. This is a great tune. I hope you enjoy it as… Read More
The river is the Scioto River in Ohio, but the source for the tune is apparently Burl Hammons from West Virginia. I’ve just learned from a banjo player in Ohio that the river is spelled Scioto and pronounced Sciota, but the tune is pronounced Scioty. … Read More
Some visitors to this little corner of the blog-swamp know that Sheila (AKA Tuffy P around here) and I have a modest collection of artwork by folk artists or outsider artists or self-taught artists – call them what you will. Many these artists come from… Read More
We completed this butterfly mosaic the other night. It has a 19 inch wingspan and is made from broken crockery, ceramic tiles, a wooden bead (on the noggin) and two plastic animals (can you find them?).
27th Street 