Song of the Day - Bright Eyes - Lua

A simple-sounding song by Bright Eyes. Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes) does a lovely duet of this song with Gillian Welch, but I couldn't find a good video for it.

Oh, and by the way, that word at the end of the first chorus that they edit out.... is "shit"!

Song of the Day - Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat - Lucky

just a fun song.....

Song of the Day - Brett Dennen - Ain't No Reason

Another singer/songwriter, Brett Dennen, singing "Ain't No Reason".

There's an interesting note by Brett in the notes to this video on YouTube.

Song of the Day - The National - Lucky You

This is one of my favourite songs from the band "The National". It's from their 2003 album "Sad Songs for Dirty Lovers.

I didn't really listen to the National, even after I got their CD - it just sat there, on my PC, until one day, I finally gave it a good listen. I got hooked and accumulated their other albums. Their latest is "High Violet" which just came out a couple months ago.

I apologize for the video. It's all I could find online (besides crappy quality live recordings).

Song of the Day - Danny Michel - Sweet Things

Danny Michel is a Canadian singer/songwriter from Ontario.

"Why can't I see the sweet things until they're all gone?"

I'm sensing a bit of a trend in my SOTD's (I'm surely not the first one to use this acronym!). I guess I'll try to make this "Canadian singer/songwriter week"!

My favourite song by Danny is called "I Will Love You for Miles".

Song of the Day - Hawksley Workman - No Beginning No End

Hawksley Workman is from a small town in Ontario, but moved to Toronto for his music career. I finally got a chance to see him live a couple years ago - it was just him on his guitar and a pianist he called "Mr. Lonely".

For some reason, I still think of him as NEW, but his first album was over a decade ago. This song comes from his second album I believe, and it contains one of my favourite Hawksley lines: "Don't dive shallow in deep dark waters".

Song of the Day - Ron Hawkins - Don't Be Long

Ron Hawkins is an indie musician from Toronto. This song is from his lastest CD, called "10 Kinds of Lonely". I've followed his career for 15 years - he's been in different bands, including The Lowest of the Low.

I cover a handful of his songs, including this one!

Song of the Day - Alexi Murdoch - Breathe

A fine guitar player, fine singer, fine songwriter - Alexi Murdoch. He reminds of Nick Drake....

Song of the Day - Josh Ritter - Change of Time

Josh Ritter has been a regular on the sampler CDs that come out monthly Paste Magazine. He's a wonderful singer/songwriter. This is from his new-ish CD.

Song of the Day - Arcade Fire - Neon Bible

I've been on an Arcade Fire kick since their new album came out last week. This song - Neon Bible - is from an older album, and this video is from a 'documentary' about the band from a few years ago. They've all crammed into an elevator to play the song live!

Song of the "Day"? --- Hannah Georgas - The Beat Stuff

I've decided to try to post a song each day. It can be any song that I'm currently listening to, or is stuck in my head. It can be a new song that I've just discovered, or an old favourite (that's right, "favourite" has a U in it!). The only criterion is that the song doesn't suck. I realize that this, of course, is a value judgment, so I need to be more specific: the song doesn't suck to ME!

I realize that I may be over-ambitious here. Ideally, I'd post a song each day here. But I have to be realistic (hence the quotation marks around "Day"). I'll do what I can, with the goal of a song each day!

My first song is by a Canadian woman named Hannah Georgas. I've heard her name before but not heard any of her music, so I had some time this morning and I YouTubed her (can I make a verb out of YouTube?). Anyway, she's from BC, and this song is called "The Beat Stuff".

simple requests

... to wake up one morning when the biggest decision of the day is what to have for breakfast

... to spend a lazy day, sleeping in, strumming my guitar, doodling a little, writing a little, and listening to tunes

... to be moved to tears

... to smile first to break the ice

... to feel healthier than i have in the past few days

... to hop on my bike and just ride

... to help and support those close to me in any way i can

... to write a song that touches someone

... to close my eyes and drift away

... to feel necessary

... to make someone smile

... to love and to be loved

... to be motivated

... to be passionate

... to create something that will last longer than me

... to continue learning

...

...

...

iPod app

I'm lying in bed this morning, listening to the rain falling hard against my window. I just downloaded this app that will hopefully allow me to blog from my iPod touch. So this is my little test entry.

I just heard a crash of thunder in the distance and it's really muggy in my room here. I don't want to get out of bed!

But I suppose i should.....

It looks like this iPod blog text has passed!

resurrection

so here i am again, in the middle of summer, resurrecting my blogspot blog.

summer has been going well. it has been rather hot, and i've been on my bikes a lot, since march! with the 3-day race in september, i've got motivation to stay in shape.

this will be just a short note, not to see if anyone is out there, but just to see if this blog engine is working...

let this be a warning to you blogspot.... if you are, in any way, unreliable, i'll quit you in a heartbeat! i've already set up an account on wordpress, so consider this to be a warning!

O

let the spring begin!

The winter Olympics are over, finally. 2 weeks seems a long time, yet it also seems like it goes by quickly. Memories of gold medals and other such accomplishments will slowly fade from our memories, much like way the snow melts into the grass. Canada really got into the games - people are talking about the hockey final, and other accomplishments. It seems everyone knows someone who knew someone who used to live next door to the uncle of so-and-so at the Olympics. I didn't know anyone, but apparently, the gold-medal winning ice-dance pair from Canada used to train at a facility not far from where I live. I'm not sure how many degrees of separation that makes it...

I felt proud to be a Canadian, but I can't get the thought out of my mind about the cost of the games. Billions, I'm sure. It's lovely to see countries coming together like this, but the truth is, it's a rich-person's interest. of all the billions of dollars spent on the Olympics, I can't help but wonder how even a fraction of this could be used to help rehabilitate a place like Haiti, or countless other places around the world that in need of some kind of aid. I'm trying not to be cynical here. I did enjoy the games. I just wish the extravagance could somehow be put to a productive use.

One final note about the games... someone sent me a link from a newspaper in the US. The writer has some... well... interesting ... things to say about the Vancouver Winter Olympics. I realize he's trying to cause a stir. I'll say no more, just post this:

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/02/28/2003874/in-these-olympics-canadians-only.html

O

there is no stage 5

my favourite canadian author - Paul Quarrington - died last week at the age of 56. he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer last May, and was given a year to live. i saw an interview with him after the diagnosis - he knew it was bad, and he said matter-of-factly: there is no stage 5. rather than lie in bed and wait to die, he followed his passions. not only was he a writer (novels, nonfiction, screenplays), he was a musician. he organized a tour for his band and recorded an album with them. then he started a new book.

i was lucky enough to meet him twice. first at a book festival 8 or 9 years ago. i thought i was going to hear him read from his latest book, but instead, he stood on stage with a guitar and sang songs about fishing. later, at the book signing, i pulled out two of my fave Quarrington novels and asked him to sign them. he wrote little notes - even doodled a small picture in my books, which i pulled off the shelf upon learning of his death. i'll re-read these at some point. i also gave him a copy of a book in which a short story i wrote was published. it's a collection of poetry and prose about ice hockey - which i knew was a passion of his. he flipped through the book, and seemed thankful for the freebie.

his writing is clever and witty, without pretense; when i read his books, i always think that if i became a writer, i'd like to write in a similar way. i'm going to recommend two novels. my favourite of his is one called "Home Game", which is about circus freaks who live on the outskirts of a town. one of the local churches wants to get rid of the circus, and they all decide that they'll play a game of baseball - the church against the circus - if the church wins, they leave. if the circus wins, they get to stay. the second novel is called "Whale Music", and it was later made into a film. it's about a reclusive former rock star (a la brian wilson) who lives by the ocean. he spends his time in his basement studio writing music for whales. a wonderful film and novel.

rip PQ

resurrection

just a little test blog. i thought about adding to my old blog, but then i thought perhaps a new blog is in order. so here it is! more to come....!