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Loafing with intent

January 6, 2020 in Life as we know it | Permalink

“Review your work. You will find, if you are honest, that 90% of the trouble is traceable to loafing.”

Ford Frick

It has become my habit at this time of the year to post two missives: one in which I look back over the year just ended/ending and one in which I look forward to the year ahead. If I draw a comparison to the equivalent exercise from the previous new year then it is possible to gain some perspective as to the progress that has – or has not – been made over the preceding twelve months.

Without further ado…

Last year I outlined our plans for 2019 thus:

  • The Girl was going to take a brief break in Mexico during January, to recharge her batteries with a little sun-filled R & R.
  • I would not be able to accompany her because I was just starting my third term teaching computer literacy to post-secondary students. I was open to the prospect of teaching two terms – the Winter (‘Spring’ to us optimistic Brits) and Fall (Michaelmas to ‘public school’ types) terms during the year.
  • The main event of the year would be our first trip back to the UK since moving to Canada, which would take place during May and June, followed by a little recuperative diversion to the Greek islands for afters.
  • The Girl was going to step back somewhat from her current job – dropping from four days a week to three – instead putting more of her time into her new venture.
  • I was hopeful that I would be able to mount a theatrical production in the autumn and that I would also have time to expand my music making endeavours.
  • We naturally hoped that we would have a good year – a good summer – and that we would spend much time with friends and dear ones enjoying this beautiful corner of the world.

How did we get on?

Well – the trip to Europe was undoubtedly the highlight of the year. It was lovely to see everyone again and indeed to enjoy re-unions with those whom I (in particular) had not seen for decades. I wrote extensively about the trip in these pages at the time – as well as uploading many, many photographs of the expedition – so I will not repeat myself here. Should such things tickle your fancy there are several month’s worth of postings about the trip starting in mid-May.

On our return to Victoria The Girl duly reduced her days at the coalface and – having earlier in the year most successfully finished her studies (‘hooray’ for The Girl!) – set about getting her new concern on the road. Good progress has been made but – as is ever the way with these things – it all takes longer than one expects. This year’s intentions will doubtless feature further thoughts along these lines.

I duly completed my fourth term teaching just before Christmas, a task to which was added some student project supervision during the spring. Seems that College are at the moment still keen to avail themselves of my services, so more of that also in the new year’s aims.

I did not get to stage my play! Not for want of trying… I put a fair bit of effort into rewrites and setting up a website and suchlike – and then set out to try to find some eager souls who might be persuaded to apply their time and talent to the enterprise. At that point things faltered. I met a good number of interesting folk and pursued a fair number of leads – but at the end of the day found myself cast-less and unable to proceed. It is clearly just not the right time for this particular project to happen and I must thus be patient.

My musical efforts – on the other hand – went from strength to strength and I found myself unable to stop writing songs. No sooner that I had finished recording one than another idea popped into my head. I was greatly assisted in these efforts by the Chanteuse of whom I wrote back in April. Our recording efforts continued apace throughout the year and will – I am sure – also feature strongly in the prospects for the new decade. We were finally able to get some of our creations online and thus available for any who wish to investigate further. They may be found on Bandcamp at:

https://anamdanu.bandcamp.com

Do sign up as a follower on our Bandcamp site if you would like to be informed of new developments as they occur.

The alert reader may have noticed a lack of anything boat-related in last year’s summary. The good ship Dignity suffered the in-dignity of having her main canopy split by the weight of snow upon it in the weather that featured strongly in my February postings. I suffered the indignity of trying and failing throughout the year to get a replacement made – or indeed to recover my deposit from the bounders who failed miserably so to do. I would name and shame them but I suspect that, if they have not already gone out of business, it is a matter of but a short while until they do. Hopefully a new canopy will be forthcoming this month from another source.

We had – as ever – many other wonderful days and experiences throughout the year and we continue to thoroughly enjoy living in this lovely place. It has been difficult – even in this Eden – to avoid one’s mood being affected by the troubles and tribulations that are being experienced in so many parts of the world right now. We can only hope and pray that the new decade will put the old one to shame – in these respects in particular – and that a new, more generous, caring and considerate consensus may eventually emerge.

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Altamont at 50

December 5, 2019 in Life as we know it | Permalink

I remember just how startled I was when I first watched the Maysles brothers’ 1970 documentary on the Rolling Stones 1969 tour of the USA – ‘Gimme Shelter‘ – the which culminated on December 6th of that year with the hubristic free concert at the Altamont Speedway outside San Francisco. I don’t remember exactly when it was that I saw the movie for the first time, but I have watched it many times since.

Now – I never was a great fan of the Stones, though I do get a little of what the fuss is all about. I have only seen them live once – pre-millennium at the old Wembley Stadium in London. I recall being fascinated by Jagger’s ability to control an audience but otherwise being generally somewhat under-whelmed. The best thing they did that day was a cover of ‘Like a Rolling Stone‘.

I do think – however – that ‘Gimme Shelter‘ is a classic song and would be up there on my all-time best list.

I can’t deny that there is a fascination with that particular period in their – and our – history. I have read pretty much all that there is to read on Altamont – from Stanley Booth, Joel Selvin, Saul Austerlitz et al. There has for a long time now been much talk about the event being the antithesis of Woodstock – the end of the 60s – the death of the hippie dream and suchlike, but the main thing that I get from the inevitable golden-anniversary musings is that no-one is really at all clear as to the true meaning – should there be one – of this peripeteia.

I have a fascination for those turning points of history, regardless of the age from which they hail. They are frequently associated (probably understandably) with some form of a loss of innocence – though, given our long and ignominious history, how we as a species can yet manage to hang on to any shred of innocence is beyond me.

Fifty years – seems a good time to reflect on all such that has occurred.

Fifty years?! Where did that go?

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Synchronicity?

November 27, 2019 in Life as we know it | Permalink

Wednesday mornings (for another week at least) find me up at crack of dawn (literally!) getting ready to wend my way in to the College for an early lecture.

Even at the height of summer my thought processes do not run very rapidly such an antisocial time of day. In the winter – when it is still dark as I stumble into the shower and fumble with the controls to turn the hot water on full – I barely register as a life form.

It follows – ergo – that nothing much of any import passes through my mind at this point. Thus is was this morning that my usual befuddled musings on the state of the world were unexpectedly leavened somewhat by the sudden thought that – unlike other recent years – at least in this one we have not suffered a relentless tide of deaths amongst the great and the good (or celebrities at the very least).

On arrival at the college and having a few minutes before my lecture I checked the BBC news headlines. Amongst the top stories were announcements of the following deaths:

  • Gary Rhodes – one of the first of the TV celebrity chefs, who influenced many that followed. Gary was the cousin (I think) of a friend of a friend and I met him once at a party. He seemed pleasant enough and he was very tall…
  • Clive James – Australian who made the UK his home – writer, program maker and TV critic for The Observer newspaper in the UK. We loved Clive’s dry wit and brilliant way with words and he was a fixture in our younger days.
  • Jonathan Miller – satirist, writer, opera director, medical consultant and polymath. He was one of the four great names that came out of the Footlights review – ‘Beyond the Fringe’ – back in the 60s, along with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Alan Bennett (who is now the only survivor). Jonathan was alumnus of the final school at which I worked and the new theatre there is named for him. Back in the 80s at some point he came to the college of the University of London at which I then worked to give a talk on a book that he had recently published on re-interpreting Shakespeare. It was called ‘Subsequent Performances’ and I still have my copy. He spoke brilliantly without notes for forty five minutes and then did as long again answering questions – also without notes and also quite brilliantly!

These souls will all be sadly missed and yet more figures from our younger and formative days are now no more.

So – that thought of mine in the shower… Synchronicity or what? – (probably ‘or what’!).

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Train in the distance

November 23, 2019 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

“Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance
Everybody thinks it’s true”

Paul Simon

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidIf it is a Saturday night late in November then there is a good chance that it is time once again for…

…Barney Bentall’s ‘Cariboo Express’ at the Mary Winspear!

Thus it was this weekend just passed.

Now (you the gentle reader may say to yourself) this is not the first time that these pages have contained an enthusiastic paean to the cavalcade that is the Express on its annual charity fundraising outing (in this case for the eminently worthy cause of the Sidney Food Bank). Is he mayhap running out of things on which to pontificate?

The thing is this… over the last year or so we have attended any number of musical soirées of one sort or another and, much as I have enjoyed them, I have frankly begun to wonder if I am getting too old for this sort of thing. The problem is that I am no longer very tolerant of poor sound quality or (and in particular) of sound pressure levels that are excessive. In other words – I don’t these days care for music that is too loud.

It is true that I possess a very expensive and most effective pair of ear protectors and they do work well – but they inevitably distance one somewhat from the immediacy of the occasion. Barney himself visited the Mary Winspear a while back with his original band – the ‘Legendary Hearts’ – and whilst they were a lot of fun they also were too damned loud!

But then – just when I begin to despair – along comes the ‘Cariboo Express’ again for their three night residency. Lo and behold the sound is perfect – a full but acceptable level and well mixed. The band – all eleven or twelve of them (I lose count) are having a ball and the audience is a-lovin’ it. Feet are a-tapping. Punters are aching to get up and dance. Clapping and singing along are the order of the day and everybody has a whale of a time.

In short – my faith is restored.

So – long may the Express keep running.

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

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Skerryvore

October 27, 2019 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

It seems to be a fact of our autumnal (fall) lives that a general busy-ness and an excess of external stimuli cause us to have to scramble around to fit everything in. In my case this manifests itself in my falling behind in the updating of this virtual journal.

Sooooo…

Way back near the start of October we not only celebrated the Kickass Canada Girl’s birthday (for which I should have posted at the time what I believe is known as a ‘shout-out’) but we also scurried hot-foot to the McPherson theatre in Victoria to see Scottish Celtic rock band – Skerryvore.

As is the way nowadays we had seen this gig publicised way back at the start of the summer. Not having been previously aware of them we were immediately taken with the recordings that we located on the Interwebnet and rapidly purchased their most recent release. We were further intrigued by the fact that VIP tickets were also on sale for the concert in October, the which included a pre-concert whisky tasting hosted by members of the band, at which tales would be told and songs sung. Naturally we signed up forthwith.

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid

I am – these days – greatly enjoying re-discovering my Celtic roots and culture. It has always been an important part of my personal mythology but coming to Canada – where for understandable reasons such a heritage is brought into even sharper focus for the descendants of those who emigrated long ago – it seems particularly relevant and timely.

Needless to say we greatly enjoyed the tasting and the tales and the concert itself was great fun. Skerryvore – though new to us – have been plying their trade to considerable response for some fifteen years now and they know what they are doing. They have more than one excellent songwriter on the team and they know their pipes, fiddles and whistles as well as the usual gamut of electric instrumentation. They also know how to whip up a veritable storm of Celtic fervour and they had the audience clapping and dancing just as much as the jobsworths (booo!) employed by the McPherson would allow.

Do check the band out at their website – https://skerryvore.com/. I notice therefrom that having returned to the UK from their extensive Northern American tour they are spending much of November plying their trade around the UK before heading off to Europe. Should good Celtic rock be at all be your thing check them out, go to see them and – should you get a chance to chat (they are very friendly!) – tell them you were recommended by a couple of expats in Victoria BC!

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Anam Danu

October 1, 2019 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

At the start of September I posted a missive to these humble jottings, the subject of which was just what a busy time of year it was.

That was no word of a lie and proceedings have indeed involved a fair degree of frenzy since then.

That posting contained a list of promises – or threats, depending on your point of view – of further screeds on a whole range of topics… the Fringe… the new academic year… the re-decorations in our basement… Brexit!… etc, etc

As a man eager to be thought of as someone who keeps his word I have indeed since posted on all of these subjects…

…bar one!

I have been dropping hints for a while now that I consider it high time that the music that the Chanteuse (with whom I am working and to whom I have previously referred in these pages) and I are creating should cease merely to be written about but to become reality in the form of being available for download from the InterWebNet.

I am now happy and excited to announce that this has indeed come to pass.

We work under the name ‘Anam Danu‘. To save the inevitable puzzlement let me offer this elucidation:

“Anam Danu is Irish Gaelic for Soul Goddess of Life. In Irish mythology, she is mother of the earth, the gods, fertility, wisdom, wind and of all the Celtic people.”

The Chanteuse and I both have Celtic origins – she Irish and I a Scot – and the music that we write mixes Celtic influences with those obtained by living in Cascadia.

We have recorded seven (out of an eventual ten) tracks for a collection entitled “Winds of Change“. We have had them professionally mastered by the estimable Brock MacFarlane at CPS Mastering in Vancouver and we have made them available for streaming and download on Bandcamp at the following address:

https://anamdanu.bandcamp.com

Do please have a listen. If you like what you hear do please also pass the word on to anyone that you think might be interested.

Sláinte!

 

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Nor shall my sword sleep

September 12, 2019 in Life as we know it | Permalink

I watched a fascinating program the other night on the ever reliable BBC on the subject of Hubert Parry’s setting of some of the lines from William Blake’s poem – ‘Milton‘ – the which in this form is considerably better known as ‘Jerusalem‘. This great ‘hymn’ – particularly in the stirring arrangement by Edward Elgar – has the power to reach parts that other anthems cannot, to the extent that some demand that it should be adopted as the English national anthem in place of ‘God Save the Queen‘.

Sadly it takes but a few moments of searching on the pernicious InterWebNet to discover that the very rousing qualities with which the piece is imbued can have unfortunate side-effects. It is one thing being moved to feelings of patriotic enthusiasm, but the border between this sort of positive resonance and a considerably less acceptable jingoism is porous in the extreme. It is but a short step to the sort of exceptionalist national ‘pride’ that is indistinguishable from xenophobia – particularly in the light of the ongoing and deadly saga of Br**it!

Those who feel moved to leap to their feet upon hearing the familiar introduction and the opening gambit – “And did those feet…” – chests jutting and bursting with nationalistic fervour regarding the unconquerable nature of the British spirit might care to take a slightly closer look at the mast to which they have chosen to nail their colours.

Back in 2014 I posted two missives to these pages on the subject of that other great national favourite – Sir Cecil Spring Rice and Gustav Holst’s “I Vow to Thee my Country” (with the second part here). Those posts sounded a note of caution regarding the unthinking adoption of the piece as an anthem to patriotism. The hymn is certainly a lament for the fallen but can also be read as a warning of the perils of misguided idealism.

In a similar fashion ‘Jerusalem‘ demands closer study to if we are truly to understand both the work itself and the intentions and motivations of those who created it.

William Blake was a complex character but he was very clearly not a nationalist. He was in fact a revolutionary and – along with other radicals of his age – eagerly endorsed the French revolution. Living through both that other insurgency – the Industrial Revolution – and the Napoleonic wars, Blake was horrified that his ideal of a society of universal peace and love was being corrupted by the ‘dark Satanic mills’ of an industry churning out the weapons of war and that the poor and downtrodden were being used as fodder both for the military and economic machines. ‘Jerusalem‘ is thus clearly actually a revolutionary call to build a better society, rather than a peon of praise for the nation as it was/is.

Hubert Parry was himself a man of liberal views and a moderate outlook. Having set Blake’s words to the now famous theme in 1916 for ‘Fight for Right‘ (a movement that had been formed to reinforce the idea of British cultural values during the Great War) Parry rapidly became disillusioned by the jingoistic tone that that body adopted and withdrew the tune from them. He agreed instead that the rights should be given to the suffragette movement, who held them until women eventually won the right to the vote in 1928, upon which they were passed to the Womens’ Institute. The song was also regularly sung at labour movement rallies. It is only in more recent times that it has taken on its current chauvinistic overtones.

Now – there is no denying the power of the piece to move the soul. In the Elgar arrangement in particular the second verse is so very stirring that for many it is impossible not to be moved to tears and for the hairs to stand upon the back of one’s neck.

That one be moved in body and spirit, however, is no excuse for disengaging the mind! If we be stirred then let us indeed be moved – as Blake intended –  to try to make the world a better place.

 

 

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Technology? Bah!

August 12, 2019 in Flotsam and Jetsam | Permalink

So…

Yesterday I posted an item enthusing about Vancouver band – ‘The Fugitives‘ – who we saw live last week at Brentwood Bay.

I included in my post a link to a YouTube clip of a live performance of the band’s excellent track – ‘No Words‘ – with a strong recommendation to the gentle reader to view same. I also included a link to the band’s website.

Both of these links were automatically rendered in a satisfactory manner on the blog itself – the latter as a hyperlink and the former – rather pleasingly – as an embedded YouTube clip.

Rather elegant I thought…

However – for those who read these posts by email digest – whereas the hyperlink appeared in its usual manner the YouTube clip simply did not feature at all, rendering my reference thereto particularly pointless.

My apologies to email readers. If you follow this link you will find the video to which I referred.

Second time lucky!

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The Fugitives

August 11, 2019 in Life in BC | Permalink

…and talking of the Brentwood bay ‘Music in the Park’ (see last post)…

One of the things that has impressed us most since our arrival in Greater Victoria is the strength, variety and high standard of the local music scene. These posts have already been sprinkled generously with glowing reports of musical experiences that we have enjoyed hereabouts.

Our local ‘Music in the Park’ has played a healthy role in the provision of such new experiences, which – considering that it is an entirely free event that runs weekly throughout July and August each year – is a truly wonderful blessing. Yet again we acknowledge that we are extremely lucky folks.

The gentle reader – being no slouch – will by now have figured out that I am about to wax lyrical concerning some new musical ‘combo’ hitherforeto unknown outside these parts…

…and he or she would not be wrong!

On Wednesday a couple of weeks back I observed that that night’s entertainment was to be provided by an outfit called ‘The Fugitives’. The InterWebNet informed me that they are:

“…a Canadian Folk music group formed in 2004 in Vancouver….

…Fans and critics find the group difficult to classify—they have been categorized as slam folk, folk hop, and spoken word cabaret. The Georgia Straight called The Fugitives “wildly talented spoken-word artists”.“

This all sounded interesting, as did the description of their last album as being:

“…an album of dedications – the majority of which were written for people the band has never said a word to.”

Eager now to hear this fascinating music I followed a link to a live recording of their song – ‘No Words‘ – dedicated after his death to Leonard Cohen. This proved to be a mighty song and I was instantly hooked. In the belief that others might feel the same I do recommend having a look. Listen all the way through…

If the vocal breakout doesn’t send shivers up your spine then I fear for your medical condition!

It hardly need be said that the group – playing as a four piece that night – were excellent and that their harmony work was exceptional. The two leaders  – Adrian Glynn and Brendan McLeod – are both gifted songwriters and I for one was grateful all over again for having been introduced to another as yet unknown (to me, anyway!) talent.

Should the gentle reader also be interested here be their website:

https://www.fugitives.ca/

Enjoy!

 

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Meanwhile…

August 7, 2019 in Life in BC, Photos | Permalink

…back at the ranch!

Well – I have posted a good number of missives since we returned to Canada in June – most of which concerned our recent trip to Europe. As a result I have been somewhat guilty of late of neglecting to keep the gentle reader up to date with the summer’s going on here at the southern end of Vancouver Island.

Time to catch up!

Weather-wise this has been a mixed summer thus far. There have been good days and there have been overcast, chilly days. There has not been much rain, however, so the garden has needed help.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidI really liked this ‘end of the rainbow’…

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidNothing has deterred us from lunching at ‘The Farmer’s Daughter’ – where they do a splendid plate of charcuterie and a decent variety of wine flights:

Photo by Andy Dawson Reid…or indeed from walking in Centennial Park:

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidWe have also been regular attendees – as ever – at the Brentwood Bay ‘Music in the Park’ on Wednesday evenings and – though the temperatures have occasionally been on the nippy side and the winds blustered more than strictly necessary – we have enjoyed ourselves.

Photo by Andy Dawson ReidPhoto by Andy Dawson ReidNote the detail from above. No sense in wasting good spinning time!

It’s a West Coast thing…

 

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