This Saturday, July 16, I’ll be playing some old time clawhammer banjo at the Sam Smith Park Farmer’s Market between 10:00 AM and noon. The market is located by the skating trail in the park. If you’re driving, enter the park by going south from Kipling and Lakeshore. You can’t miss it. Parking is available in the park.
If you’re out at the market Saturday morning, stop by and say hi.
I love the way Éric Gagné plays that box….
I started the day by sitting down at the side of the house with a hot-pressed paper block and some pencils to do a drawing.
After drawing-time, I spent a couple hours removing garlic mustard from the forested area at the back of our yard. It’s invasive, and unless we make an effort to rid ourselves of it, the stuff is likely to complete the invasion by abducting us and taking us to its home planet. I removed a lot of garlic mustard today. I know the war is just beginning though, because this nasty weed spreads like the Dickens. Battle stations drawn.
Tuffy P had the day off work today, and we decided to go for a bike ride this afternoon. It was perfect by the lake, not too hot, not too cool.
Tuffy P on the go
The Alaskan Laundry by Brendan Jones is your basic quest story. It’s about a young woman from Philadelphia who is going through some personal struggles, which culminate in a big fight with her father, during which he kicks her out of the house. She decides to get as far away from that situation as possible, and leaves her father (and the family bakery business) and her boyfriend behind when she packs her bag and heads north to Alaska to find herself.
In terms of the story, the main character Tara goes through all kinds of ordeals along the way, meets a bunch of people, and toughens up a lot as she masters various difficult jobs in the commercial fishing industry.
I liked the story and the various oddball characters, but I think what makes this novel successful is the way the author brought remote Alaska to life for me. I felt like I was there, in the hatchery, in the processor and out on the water. I could really visualize the characters and I learned a lot about how the fish we eat get from the ocean to our table. I could feel the lure of the sea, the chance for some fast money in exchange for very hard work, when the fish are in and the season is open.
Recommended.
Here is Jimmy Lee Robinson with and unusual and hypnotic twist….
Tuffy P posting today- I went with my good friend CN to see this year’s Garden Tour organized by the Niagara-on-the-Lake Horticultural Society. 12 gardens were part of this year’s tour. We had a great day – beautiful sunshine! Lots of great blooms and veggies to enjoy throughout the day. Here are some photos to enjoy. Hats off to the organizers of this year’s tour.
Here’s another fiddle tune, this one from Western Canada. It’s Patti Kusturok, one of the best fiddlers in the country. Here she is with some friends, including Calvin Vollrath, another of our best fiddlers, playing Little Burnt Potato as part of her 365 Days of Fiddle Tunes.
This is a tune that came up a couple times when I was at Midwest Banjo Camp. I don’t know if it is a Canadian tune but I think many people, myself included, think it is – maybe because of this version by the late great Graham Townsend.
It’s about time we had some accordion music around this joint. Here’s Kevin DesRosiers…
Tuffy P is home today, and suggested we catch The Secret Life of Pets early this afternoon. Although I’m not usually gaga for animated films, I was more than happy to find an escape from the harsh reality of violence and hate we awoke to this morning, on hearing about the killings of police last night in Dallas as well as the killings by police in other locations.
The Secret Life of Pets turned out to be perfect escapism, charming, funny and suspenseful. There was actually a lot of violence in the film, but it was the kind of cartoon violence which the protagonists shook off as quickly as it happened.
The film had pet owners laughing with recognition as it animated the behaviours of our furry friends, which we know so well. It also had some lengthy chases (note to self, don’t let your pets drive) which reminded me of the grand choreographed chases of the last Mad Max film.
The Secret Life adventure occurs while all the pet owners are away at work. It’s sparked by a new pet in the hood – Max’s human Katie brings home a new dog, a stray named Duke, a giant brown dog who reminded me so much of our goofy Newf Georgie. The two dogs find themselves loose in New York City, leading to all kinds of delightful chaos.
Fun story, great animation, perfect music, a wonderful cast of voice actors. This film is loads of fun.
Recommended (it might be too intense for younger kids).
27th Street 