April 13, 2011
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Now Look What he’s done…

Everything was fine. My alter ego invented me, I started the blog, and everything was going along as it should. Then Mister Fancy-Pants opens a Twitter account of all things. But fine, I put up with that. Now I find out he’s gone and opened a facebook account too. I thought he had more intestinal fortitude than that, after all those tough words about wanting to be the last man standing not on facebook. And does he ask me to be his facebook friend? No! He says, listen, you’re just a character, blah, blah, blah. Maybe so, but I’m his character and the least he can do is be my friend. Sheeeesh.

April 11, 2011
comments 9

3 cats a-playin’

You should have no problem spotting the three cats at play in this photo. Can you name them too?

In the foreground is an excellent early season example of Amanita chipbowlius, a toadstool indigenous to the Long Branch area of Southern Ontario.

April 11, 2011
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I won’t forget today….

Your train song of the day for a Monday is Fast Train performed by the late Solomon Burke. I think this one was written by Van Morrison.

I mentioned a few posts ago that I was having problems embedding videos on WordPress. Previously I had to click the add video button, but that stopped working. Now I see that I can copy and paste the share code directly and it works.

April 10, 2011
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Downtown Train

I know you were waiting for a train song of the day yesterday and I failed you. My apologies. Let’s enjoy Tom Waits singing Downtown Train. This comes from Mr. Waits’ record, Rain Dogs, from 1985. This tune has been covered by a few people and was popularized by Rod Stewart, who did what I consider to be an insipid version in 1989. Stick to the Waits version on this one. Old Tom won’t lead you astray. Rain Dogs still stands up as a great recording. If you missed it first time around, go check it out.

 

April 10, 2011
comments 3

Birds by the lake – cats at home

One of the delightful experiences living here in Long Branch is the rich bird life. When spring arrives, one of the first things I notice around here is the abundance of bird songs and cries. This morning I took the dogs out for their first walk of the day over to the water filtration plant and Sam Smith Park. There were several distinct layers of sound – birds out over the lake, on the spit, in the trees, on the ground. Nobody was about, just me and the dogs and the birds. It was a magical moment.

We arrived back home to the sobering discovery that one of our cats failed to keep his breakfast down. The was without a doubt Shadow. If he eats too fast or too much, the result is the same every time. I keep a spiral bound book of tunes I’m playing or learning or want to learn on the button accordion, and this was sitting on the desk beside the computer. Of all the places Shadow could choose, he vomited on The Broken Reed Polka. After yesterday’s heart-breaking accordion accident, this simply added insult to injury. Maybe this is some kind of omen?

Both my GCF diatonic boxes are out of the house right now. The Guerrini is in the shop for repair and my Corona II is out on loan to my student. I’ve started to learn the chromatic accordion, but I haven’t been putting as much time in with it as I should, mostly because I’ve been learning some new tunes on the GCF, as I’m thinking about doing some busking again soon. I guess now is a good time to bear down and really start getting used to the fingering for the C-system.

 

April 9, 2011
comments 5

They don’t make plastic like they used to…

Or, a bad day if you like button accordions

This morning I was practicing button accordion, as I wrote in my previous post. When I stopped, I placed it on the desk as I’ve done a thousand times. I don’t know what happened exactly. Maybe the shoulder strap was caught underneath the accordion. Maybe part of it was on a couple music books on the desk. I stepped away from the accordion and it toppled. I turned to try to grab it but had no chance. My beautiful Guerrini triple row button accordion fell to the floor with a thud.

This accordion has a plastic grill with an eagle on it that took the brunt of the fall. Several pieces were broken off the grill. Nothing else seems to be damaged. I played it and it plays OK. This afternoon I took it in to Rudy and Chris over at Musical Instruments of Canada to see what they can do with it. They can’t simply order a new grill because sadly, Guerrini has closed its doors. They’re going to see if it’s possible to fix it up with a patch. At the same time, they’ll examine it for any other damage.

If it can be repaired, I suppose it will have a battle scar, but I think I’m OK with that. In any case, I can’t replace the accordion. If the grill can’t be replaced, I guess I’ll remove it. The grill is decorative but it also protects the mechanism from dust and damage, so I don’t want to remove it. I should have a better idea what can be done sometime next week.

April 9, 2011
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Sunny Day, Busy Day

Lots to do around the house today. My button accordion student will be here soon for his weekly lesson. Meanwhile I have twenty minutes or so to practice a couple new songs I’m learning – a jig called Come Haste to the Wedding and a lovely little polka called The Broken Reed Polka.

We have a fellow coming by later this morning to install a sink and bring water into Tuffy P’s studio, and someone else to do some duct cleaning. I have to assemble a futon frame upstairs in the music room. There’s also plenty of yard clean-up to do. I’m planning at least one new garden this year – a raised garden for a few veggies. I’ll have to get to that soon.

Our demented old cat Delia is obsessively walking back and forth in front of my computer screen as I type. She can entertain herself for some time pushing my buttons by doing this. In the last year or so, she’s become quite obsessive and more affectionate than she ever has been.

Tonight we’re going to see Swimming for the Shore at the Assembly Hall over at the Humber College campus down the street. This play debuted a decade ago and has been updated for this new production. It’s based on all sorts of stories about the history of our community. I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

April 8, 2011
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Countdown to mushrooms?

The warmer weather has got me thinking about foraging for wild mushrooms. It’s only a matter of weeks until the morels make an appearance in Southern Ontario. I should say elusive morels because last year I was spectacularly unsuccessful in my quest for morels for dinner. I found lots of oysters, more than my share of chanterelles, plenty of hedgehogs (both kinds). I found boletes of various varieties, buckets of lobsters, some tasty milk caps and even a cauliflower. But morels? I only found one, and it wasn’t for lack of trying.

This year, I hope to do better on the morel front. It kind of reminds me of the time I started fly fishing on Silver Creek in Central Idaho. I thought I’d never catch one of those trout. Then slowly over two or three trips I started to get the hang of it.

Salvelinas tells me they’re finding morels now in southern Pennsylvania. As the season progresses, they’ll make an appearance further and further north. I wonder if there is any kind of measurable co-relation between the emergence of the Hendrickson mayfly, Ephemerella subvaria, and the fruiting of morels? It seems that hear in the east, they appear at approximately the same time. My notes over time may shed some light on this.