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April 2022

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April 24, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

It has been some considerable time since I last gave an update within these pages on the progress of my musical collaboration with The Chanteuse; the which goes by the soubriquet of Anam Danu. In fact, looking back (with some trepidation) at the archives of this blog, I can see that it is longer than I thought since I made any serious reference to such matters. Apart from a brief mention at the turn of the year the last time that I turned in a proper report was back in August of last year – when I celebrated our return to the studio.

High time that I brought things up to date.

Last August I wrote that we had made a good start on putting together a new collection of songs, aiming to record a third ‘album’ to follow on from ‘Winds of Change‘ and ‘Winter Blue and Evergreen‘. Whereas we had indeed made a good start – having at that point penned half a dozen new songs – it has subsequently taken longer than perhaps expected to complete the collection.

It seems that I am currently able to write and produce tracks at a rate of about one a month. For an album we like to have a good ten tracks but in this case I wrote rather more – around fifteen – before we felt that we had the best combination for the new release. We are both quite picky customers and are keen to make this as good as it can be. This should give you some idea as to why these things can take a fair bit of time.

Anyway – we now have our ten tracks and we are currently recording the vocals for the final one.

So – what happens next? Well – this does:

  • We carry out the musical equivalent of snagging – going through everything with a fine tooth-comb and fixing anything with which we are not completely satisfied
  • We instigate the process of getting album artwork designed
  • We do the final mixes for each song – which can involve a number of iterations
  • We solicit feedback from a number of trusted souls – this with the particular aim of:
  • Finalising the running order – which, once done, can lead to the process of:
  • Mastering the album

Once we get to that point we have a ‘finished’ product and we can start work on all the other essential tasks, such as deciding our release strategy. Right now – however – that is looking a little too far ahead.

Our aim is to have our new creation ready to go for the summer!

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Bays Day – 2

April 21, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

Further to my last posting (the hilariously titled Bays Day – 1) and – at the same time – further up the east coast of Vancouver Island from Brentwood Bay…

…is Maple Bay.

Now – the fact that I have not mentioned Maple Bay before within these dribblings is because – though I have read about Maple Bay and looked at pictures of Maple Bay and know where it is – I had not – until this particular Saturday – been to Maple Bay.

Well I have now!

 

Just so you know – Wikipedia says this of Maple Bay:

“Maple Bay is a seaside community located in the Cowichan Valley of southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. A narrow inlet and surrounded by smooth, pebbled beaches, Maple Bay is home to marine activity all year round. Maple Bay is a small town with a population of 2,640.

The sheltered haven of Maple Bay is situated halfway up Sansum Narrows, which separates Vancouver Island from Saltspring Island, the largest and nearest of the southern Gulf Islands.”

Here are some photos…

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidWe lunched at the Shipyard – the pub in the marina – which has a jolly splendid and slightly old-fashioned (in a good way) atmosphere:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidThe marina itself features this fascinating row of float homes. I can see the attraction of living in such a place – though it might be a little damp in winter.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid…or one could live on the hill overlooking the bay.

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

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Bays Day – 1

April 18, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

Ho! Ho! The title of this post is a play on words that probably only works for Canadians – ‘The Bay’ being ‘Hudson’s Bay’ (one of Canada’s best known department stores) and the ‘Bay Days’ being their well known sale days. For the purposes of this post I am referring instead to a day trip that took in two well know (real) bays at the southern end of Vancouver Island.

See what I did there?

We recently took a short drive up island to have lunch with The Girl’s mother and with a dear friend. As is our wont when heading in that direction we started off by taking the Mill Bay ferry from Brentwood Bay, to avoid the alternative but circuitous trek south towards Victoria and then back north over the Malahat Drive.

The sun was shining as we waited for the ferry and I took advantage of the fact to add to my already extensive portfolio of shots of lovely Brentwood Bay. That – of course – means that you get to see more photos…

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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Vancity

April 14, 2022 in Flotsam and Jetsam, Photos | Permalink

My apologies! I have of late been falling down on my blogging duties. I offer as no more than a feeble excuse that things have been in-feasibly and, perhaps, unexpectedly busy of late. The Winter term at College has been building to its climax; we have been entertaining friends from abroad (more of that in a further post) and I have been trying to get a grip on all that is going on in the garden – between bouts of (less-unexpectedly) inclement weather.

I know… poor show all round!

I did promise more on the trip to Vancouver that featured in my last post. I took some photos and, whilst they are not that exciting, I will nonetheless share them with (ie – force them upon) the gentle reader.

As I mentioned in that previous post, the purpose of the visit was for The Girl to attend a conference organised by her First Nation at one of Vancouver’s hotels/conference centres. The event was very well organised and well attended – and clearly yielded extremely positive results.

The business side of things did not, however, prevent The Girl and I getting out on the first evening for a splendid romantic dinner at Cardero’s in Coal Harbour. Whilst The Girl tucked into the scallops I enjoyed a lovely piece of European Sea Bass (not that easy to find on the west coast) and we shared a really rather decent Chablis. Nice atmosphere too:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidOn the Saturday – whilst The Girl was engaged in her sessions – I pretty much stayed in our room, watching the matches of the final weekend of the 2022 Six Nations tournament. Well done to the French on a thoroughly deserved (if also widely predicted) Grand Slam – and the less said about the Scots (who seem to have regressed by about three years!) the better!

This chap – outside our fourteenth floor window – seemed keen to know the scores as well:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidThe trip was a good one – with yet more familial contacts made by The Girl – plus the opportunity to have breakfast with a dear friend who now lives in VanCity. For my part it was actually a pretty good rest to be able to relax in a decent hotel room up in the clouds high above the west end of the city.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson Reid

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Apology

April 3, 2022 in Kickass Canada Girl, Life in BC | Permalink

Last year – in mid-June – I posted a couple of items regarding the appalling discoveries of unmarked graves at a number of the former Residential Schools across Canada. The first of those pieces was an acknowledgement of the terrible discovery at Kamloops. The second was a heartfelt and affecting piece written by The Girl, who has good reason to be extremely well informed on such matters and concerning which she elaborated therein.

A month subsequent to those postings I made further reference in these pages to an overnight visit that we paid to Kamloops, though I did not, for a variety of reasons, elaborate at the time on the purpose of the trip. Since then The Girl has been spending a good deal of her time furthering existing connections with her First Nation, as well as making new ones. Just a few weeks ago we spent a weekend in Vancouver (the which will feature in my next post) so that she could be present at a conference also attended by a number of her cousins. This process is difficult but, I believe, also rewarding for her and and is something that she has wanted to do for a while.

I asked her – naturally – about how she felt regarding the events of this last week at the Vatican, during which the Pope issued an historic first apology for the part that elements of the Catholic Church played in the abuses that took place at the Residential Schools. She told me that it is a start – but that there is much more to be done.

Let us fervently hope for further necessary progress in short order.

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