September 18, 2011
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If the 27th Street blog looks strange…

…over the next hour or so, it’s just me messing around its appearance.  Most bloggers find a format or a template or a look they like and stick with it without giving it another thought. Unfortunately my restless imagination gets in the way and from time to time I like to change things up. The new normal will be ready to go a little later.

UPDATE: OK, I’ve changed the way 27th Street looks, adopting the WordPress “Twenty Eleven” theme and made a number of adjustments, including creating a new banner. As usual, I’ll be changing up the banner from time to time. I hope you all like the new appearance.

UPDATE again: Problems with the theme I set up viewed on some computers. Back to the drawing board. I’m now using “Twenty Ten” which is fine, but I’m still not 100% happy with it. I may yet mess around with my blog yet again. Thanks for your patience.

September 16, 2011
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Music and Kids #accordion

I had the great pleasure of performing for two groups of kids at an early learning centre this morning. The kids, kindergarten age and younger, love the music and have a chance to play along. I bring a variety of percussion instruments along, from my big old bass drum to tamborines and shakers and guiros and washboards and castonets. Always, there are a few kids who have a real feel for the music and a great natural sense of rhythm. There was one boy today who did a great job on the bass drum and on the washboard, and one little girl started a whole group of kids dancing.

I play folk music from all kinds of different cultures, from hornpipes to polkas, a couple corridinhos, a waltz or two and even a Basque tune. Strangely enough, they all seem to fit together just fine coming from my accordion. Today I played my Guerrini triple row diatonic button accordion. It is a three voice instrument which gives me quite a variety of sound to mess around with.

Sometimes, with all those kids playing percussion (and various rhythms going on at once), it’s a challenge to concentrate on getting the tune out right, but that’s part of the fun. A big thanks go out to  my blog pal Radmila for arranging things.

September 15, 2011
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Mushrooms

I headed out for the enchanted mushroom forest this morning, along with my buddies Memphis and Ellie Mae. I didn’t find a lot of mushrooms today though.

This is a meager sample of Hypsizygus ulmarius, the so-called Elm Oyster. I say so-called because in Ontario, I’ve only found them on maple trees. I expected to find some better samples for dinner, but nope, this was it.

These are Lycoperdon pyriforme, the Pear-shaped puffball, known in some circles as the “wolf-fart” puffball. These are edibles. The ones in this photo are in various stages of maturity. I should have taken more photos, including close-ups. You can see though, that some of them are a dun colour. These are already in full maturity. If you plan to eat these, pick only the immature ones that are all white. Everywhere you read about the little puffballs, you’ll find a warning to cut them in half to be sure they are in fact puffballs and not immature poisonous amanitas. Never mind that you won’t find amanitas growing on a dead tree – I always take that precaution because the cost of eating deadly amanitas is way too high. In another area of the forest, I found number of samples of another variety of small puffball, known as the gem-studded puffball, Lycoperdon perlatum.

In just one spot near the trail, I came across a bunch of Aborted Entoloma at the base of a stump. These are edibles, and I can say that they’re pretty good. However, they are just so strange, I don’t find them all that appetizing. I expected to also find loads of honey mushrooms nearby, but only found a few.

We enjoyed a great hike on some excellent trails through a forest that has a great deal of variety. And as a bonus for the dogs, we hiked to a big pool in the river where they had a lengthy swim.

September 14, 2011
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Soldier’s Joy

Soldier’s Joy is an old tune that has been performed in every way imaginable and recorded countless times. It’s one I enjoy playing on my triple row button accordion. Here’s some interesting versions I found on YouTube.

This version makes me want to have a couple beers, immediately if not sooner.

Here’s a tasty version by the Crawdad Wranglers

And on clawhammer banjo…

Around here, I’ll use almost any excuse to feature Doc Watson