Here’s some tunes by Andy DeJarlis, the great Métis fiddler from Manitoba. He was born in 1914 and passed in 1975. DeJarlis was known on Winnipeg Radio for performances with The Red River Mates. Later he lived in Vancouver and in Montreal and performed on Don Messer’s Jubilee as Andy DeJarlis and the Early Settlers.
The Red River Jig
The Surveyor’s Reel
and one more for good measure, The Caribou Reel…
Here’s another from Mac Beattie and his Ottawa Valley Melodiers…
White had a fantastic territory on the bottom left but trouble was brewing above. I poked at his large centre group and exposed the heartbreaking false eye in the middle of the shape. With just one eye, the whole group collapsed and White resigned the game.
We’ve been watching Detectorists on Netflix. For those who have not heard of this show, it’s a British comedy show about two guys and their friends in a metal detecting club in a rural community in England. I enjoy the gentle, dry humour in this show, and as someone with more than his fair share of nerdy, arcane hobbies, I love these characters and their obsession. Many times I’ve found myself laughing out loud, and I suppose it’s the laugh of recognition.
These characters say they are interested in unearthing historical artifacts but all admit they really want to find treasure. Mostly they find buttons and pop tops and the occasional musket-ball, and often they find nothing at all – but they are convinced somewhere in the county lies the treasure of a Saxon king.
The show focuses on the interplay between the two main characters, Lance and Andy and their lives and relationships. After watching a season of the show, I feel like they’re old friends.
Highly recommended.
Here’s another Mac Beattie tune, the Lake Dore Waltz. Lake Dore is north of Eganville in the Ottawa Valley in Ontario. Many of Mac Beattie’s tunes were about places and people in the Ottawa Valley.
I’ve been sharing some old Mac Beattie tunes here and they’re so wonderful I’d like to continue for a while. Here’s Madawaska Valley, from 1969.
Here’s another from Mac Beattie and his Ottawa Valley Melodiers: The Log Driver’s Song. TIMBER!!!
There’s an article this morning in The Toronto Star about a company in the US offering employees an opportunity to get microchipped. I’m not even making this up.
Back before I stepped out of the work-a-day world, I was in a job which required that I be reachable anytime in the unlikely event that I be needed in an emergency. No problem, I carried a smartphone. Boss could text if she needed me and I’d respond. But even in jobs which require contact with employees outside of regular working hours, there still needs to be some separation from The Mothership. There is a line, and these folks in Wisconsin have found it and happily skipped across.
According to the article the company is expecting 50 of its employees to sign up and have a microchip implanted into their hands. What’s wrong with these people? The company claims the chips have no GPS capability. Well if they say so it must be true, right? I’m sure this company only has the well-being, and of course the privacy, of its employees in mind, right?
Some might say you can’t stand in the way of progress. This kind of technology is harmless. It’s the way of the future. For my part I refuse to be a barcode, or as Patrick McGoohan used to say, “I am not a number. I am a free man!”
Here’s Mac Beattie and the Ottawa Valley Melodiers…
I would have loved to have seen this band live!
Today I made Blueberry Shortbread bars.
As with the scones yesterday, I learned to make these from a video on Food Wishes, which is a great resource. I’m pretty good at cooking but I don’t have so much experience baking so I usually need some kind of recipe or instructions to avoid disaster when I try baking.
It turned out these were really easy. I learned about cutting up very cold butter and and working it in with one of those pastry gadgets. It seems pretty much foolproof. These have a lovely texture and they’re a perfect summer treat.
27th Street 