Category: Music

Spoon-billed sandpiper chicks, family visit, other

These English birds are critically endangered.  However if you watch this video, the only thing that will be endangered is your ability to survive the cute.

Family visit went really well.  Me happy. We laughed, we bonded, we toured the garden.  As far as we’re concerned if Katie’s beau makes her happy (which seems evident “I’m gaining weight… I know I’m happy”  BF: “Well there’s always that gym membership you paid for and don’t use”) and they speak to each other lovingly and respectfully (which so far they do) nobody is going to complain.  They are now living together, and candidly I am very happy about it.  (“Don’t the young people marry these days?” I remember Grandma saying).

Saw Keith yesterday.  His response to a five minute long rant by the business owner where he worked was “I quit”.  I hasten to add that it was a five minute rant that combined racism and misogyny in such a toxic stew that he felt compelled to leave. (“If he had kept his comments confined to my shortcomings with respect to this customer transaction I could have sucked it up. But telling me that we should stop serving customers of a particular ethnicity?  blecchh.”) I am VERY proud of him.  He’s off finding other work now, and reaffirming old ties with previous employers.

On the ferry trip outbound to my folks’ place I sang and played Otto on the uppermost deck for a while, and three people thanked me afterwards, including somebody specifically calling out the Tapioca Song (and she ASSUMED I WROTE IT.  SCORE!)  But what really did me in was the little  girl in the pale pink dress who scooched up next to me and was trying to sing harmony along with me under her breath.  I wanted to pick her up and stick her in my pocket, but I’ll just have to content myself with noting one of the more beautiful memories of the last while.

 

Friday teh 13th o noes.

Today the horror of the landlord’s minion coming to pressure wash the back deck, which will probably disassemble, it’s so rickety (or at least parts of it are).

Last night the horror of the evil across the street black and white cat whom I narrowly missed ejecting from the house. He came in and started fighting with Eddy, who has taken to guarding the cat door with Margot sitting about three metres back from him. Margot is showing signs of developing a healthier regard for her skin than has been evident previously.

Saw Brave yesterday with the kids and Katie’s beau, who was much distracted by the transmission on his month old car crapping out. I really enjoyed it. Lovely animation with some awesome sight gags.

Had a fucking uninspired and oversalted meal at Ihop yesterday, but Tamara’s company more than made up for it. We caught up (it’s been AGES since I saw her, like 10 years or something equally ludicrous) and LAUGHED our faces off. She looks radiant with health and enthusiasm and that is a special privilege to be around.

Too hot to bake today so I’ll go off and do other business related things, god knows there’s a list a mile long. I’ve already practiced and I’m just finishing up the instrument case for Otto so it will be ready tomorrow. I need to find some upholstery tacks.

Lunch happened dinner didn’t.

Thank you LTGW for a superb lunch and the even more amazing and gratitude inducing pep talk afterwards.  You da man, I loves you, blah blah blah woof woof.

On another subject entirely….

After many years of sober consideration, aided by being up Too Fracking Early, I have come to the conclusion I should no longer use LOL.  Instead, this serves as a public notice that if you have amused me with your ideas and posts and pix and whatnot, I will in future being SVQ – Snickering Very Quietly.

Today, Lunch with Tamara, movie with the kids.  Me happy!

Long and McQuade solved my closure problems!  For twenty bucks I got 10 feet of 2 inch gluebacked black velcro.  Also more straps, guitar cleaner, and OF COURSE I FORGOT TO GET A HEADSTOCK TUNER, the one thing I actually NEEDED from the store. Estupido, muy estupido.

Lovely to talk to Tammy (different Tammy) this morning.  She saw Gaudi’s Holy Family in Barcelona, happy sigh.

 

Various

Work continues on the instrument case.  I cleaned watch parts yesterday and handcrafted 5 steampunkins from modelling clay.  Who knows when it will be cool enough to actually bake them. We did a shop and I found out that the MacStation wants 200 DOLLARS to replace the battery in the MacBook.  I just about seized having checked prices on line for a third of that.  Jeff was quietly unsparing in his mockery, but dang.

Housefilk at Tom and Peggy’s yesterday – to my amazement nobody had heard Lady Miss B’s “It’s Just so Nice When Someone Knows Your Name,” which in my opinion is a filk follower for “Slimfast and Methadone” which is my meditation on the vagaries of fame – although I would have to say that “Nice” is funnier by a wide margin.  So I sang it and Tom snagged a copy of the lead sheet.  Denise and Nikki as always WANTED TO SING ROUNDS.  So gosh darn it, we did.   They also had a tune about a cow and a dragon, and an Eric Bogle song about the ruination of the English language which convulsed all present with laughter and admiration (Silly Slang Song, PDF from Ericbogle.net), and a perfectly vile little number entitled “If I had a Penis” which was also hilarious.  And we all brought something to the table, Keith even sang Willie Boy and K., Shad’s daughter, sang one tune and played Zelda music on the ocarina, which is only going to make sense to a gamer.  Paul had to skate off early to work but it was good to see him as it was the first time since the funeral. Keith and K. had both gone to FanExpo so they traded pics on their respective camera phones (it’s always good when the kids get along). Shad as always cued up lots of Echo’s Children tunes (K singing along, as it was ‘the soundtrack of her childhood’) and Tom tried to stay awake and noodled (Tom is working six days at his new / old/ recycled business).  We did a little bluegrass too.  And of course, EVERYTHING goes better with bass.  Tom and Peggy whomped up awesome food and I am a better person for it.

With friends like these, one lives in pleasant anticipation of what further delights beckon!!!

Blah to rah!

I’ve had a blah couple of days  but that’s all going to change because HOUSEFILK.  You know, the thinks wot make like worth living.

I am learning three new songs, one by the Dandy Warhols, one by Tears for Fears, and one by Lady Miss Banjola.

The hell I do all day?

I completed two steampunk craft projects today (Distressed Cogs handbag and Steam-Bling Parasol (finally used the peel-and-stick copper foil)), got my repaired shoe back from Fluevog, practiced mandolin, hit Dressew for some sequins and some reflective piping, & had many people on E Hastings try to sell me smokes.  It was 18 months ago today I quit smoking, I fervently hope for the last time. Oh, and I saw the Brian Jonestown Massacre/Dandy Warhol doc(ew-drama), Dig.  Courtenay Taylor makes my widdy heart sing.

a little bit of ever’ting

It was a solstice party (1 pagan in attendance, check), a housefilk (whenever two or more of you are gathered together in the name of the typo, amen), a hootenanny (small children running around and massacring harmonicas and tambourines while Tapioca is cooked), a religious/cultural interpersonal therapy session as we sang the hums of our people (Falling Free, Frobisher Bay among others), an impromptu poly gathering (6 people in attendance openly poly, plus lurkers), a-a-a-and a shameless attempt on my part to get everybody to compliment me on my sheer good sense for buying Otto.  Who is a boy, Katie K confirmed it.  She also arrived with a housemate in tow and La Merveilleuse Tillie‘s fraking awesome rosemary infused vodka/vermouth libation, which despite the no drinking rule I tasted cause I had to.  And I ain’t sad to.  I’m glad to.  Still a taste left, if ScaryClown comes over tomorrow I’ll feed him some.  Stayed away from the beer, but Mike left 3 in the fridge, so at least I haz some to offer guests. Day before yesterday I made biscotti, and then shared them out liberally at the party, sending some home with the LET’S SING SONGS ABOUT DEATH (literally her first words when she unpacked the bass) Peggy  and the ever useful and opinionated Tom. Also dispensed biscotti to Mike, who sang The Weight (ah, the piercing harmonies!) and Tomorrow Wendy,  and to Rozo, who spectated with that sleepy and mischievous smile I’ve gotten so fond of.  The glorious and unabridgedly awesome Cindy added that special soupçon of harmonious madness without which no housefilk can be characterized as ‘good’.  Or is housefilk like sex and pizza?  ah, erm.  Anyway, we sang zombie songs (dead people), Frobisher Bay (freezing to death), Tomorrow Wendy (which has lots of death in it), Dead Flowers (roses on your grave), and really really kept the theme of somgs about death on track more or less by accident.  Paul sang Last Page and Cindy sang Runtime Error, Type Mismatch so Lady Miss B was there toooooo. Although regrettably not in person, possibly because I neglected to invite her?  Duh.

I cleaned my house and wrote a song yesterday, and people came over and we laughed and chatted and sang and played.  Success!  My brother has been feeling meh but not enough to crimp fun (he slept in the guest room, but Eddie the wonderkitty kept him company).

Due to overwhelming popular demand (two facebutt friends), I will be setting words to my new song, which is the third I’ve written in the Game of Thrones universe.  My Needle and I, and Funeral March of Lord Tywin (instrumental) were the first two.  This one is called The Maid of Tarth.  Oh Otto, you are demanding instrument, but I will rise to the challenge.  And now I realize that it’s 4 GoT songs, I forgot about Sam the Slayer.  When I get into a Universe I seriously fracking commit.

Now…. how do I keep my house clean enough so I actually throw housefilks more than twice a year? I mean apart from a chartreuse flamethrower and a tank of oxygen….

Dandy Warhols

They performed most, if not all of my fave songs from Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia and it was a great show.  Checking history, we last saw them almost exactly four years ago.  It’s weird going to a show and not drinking.

 

Brief update

I got a good night’s sleep, the proximate cause of Teh Sad is dealt with although the sequelae will continue to reverberate, and I’m going to the Dandy Warhols tonight at the Commodore.  …. after almost ten years of threats I am  writing the script for the first episode of Midnite Moving Co.  I am enjoying Celtx as a scriptwriting tool.  You type like a mofo and it does all the formatting.

Margot and Eddie are getting along better than they ever have.  Sometimes they just look at each other.  Sometimes they jump up for side-by-side scritches.

My FoodSafe cert arrived yesterday.  Board meeting went well.