Posted on October 7, 2021 under Thursday Tidbits with one comment

 

1. 

From earworms to books

I often sound like a broken record. Of course, most people under the age of 40 have no idea what this means in a literal sense. For the benefit of all my loyal millennial readers out there (all 3 of you), back in the days of vinyl records (which are making a huge comeback), it was not uncommon for the stylus of your record player to hit a groove, causing a phrase to repeat itself incessantly until someone gently lifted the arm and moved it ahead a groove or two. Hell, maybe this is how the term ‘groovy’ was coined!

Last week, I wrote about the soundtrack of my youth listing 25+ of my favourite songs. A few of you sent messages with some of yours. Obviously, there are still a lot of Beatles fans out there. This week, I’m turning the page and will chat briefly about books.

I wish that I could say that I have been a voracious reader my entire life. I would be far wiser today and wouldn’t have wasted so much time watching television. While I have tried (in vain) to live a life of moderation, I am convinced that that’s just not in my DNA. I am a feast or famine kind of guy. To wit, this past summer, as restrictions were lifted back home, I spent some of my hard- earned cash on beer, wine and restaurant meals on a fairly regular basis. It felt so damn good to be able to go to a patio to quaff an ale, have Friday afternoon hors d’oeuvres with my walking partner, or share a nice meal with friends old and new. Now that I’m back in the saddle, I haven’t had any alcohol and there aren’t a whole lot of patio restaurants in the village thereby curbing my appetite for a delicious meal… prepared by someone else.

I have mentioned more than once in this space (cue the broken record) that I have first rate accommodations this year up north. I have an entire house to myself, and it has Sirius radio, excellent internet, and a couple of flat screen TV’s for watching Netflix and Prime. I don’t have cable. At first, I was worried that I would suffer withdrawal pains from not being able to watch sports and news, my two mainstays. I got over this quickly. I am not missing the mind numbing, inane, soul-destroying ads which utterly ruin television as far as I’m concerned. I know it’s a necessary evil or there wouldn’t be any live television but, come on, do TV execs think we’re all morons? Yup. They do and they will continue to force feed us tasteless gruel, as long as we’ll consume it.

In the absence of Kurt Browning spouting the merits of reverse mortgages, I have returned to books. When I get on a roll, I read a lot. Feast. Famine. Presently, biographies are my genre. I just finished Michelle Obama’s excellent book called “Becoming”. It’s quite a story and one that I think most people would enjoy. I have just begun to read Nelson Mandela’s “Conversations With Myself”. He was truly one of the giants of the 20^th century. I have been lugging around Walter Isaacson’s biography of Leonardo Da Vinci. Leonardo was an interesting dude for sure and like many of his works that he didn’t finish, I don’t know if I’ll ever have the energy to complete this book. Let me know what you’re reading these days.

After completing my latest marathon walk last weekend (42km), friends on both coasts expressed their concern about my health. They know about my physical infirmities, but I think deep down, they were more concerned about my mental health. What kind of kook walks for 10 hours with a bad back and a wonky knee? I assured them both that I was no worse for wear. I was a bit sore for a day but that didn’t stop me from showing up to work this past Monday, bright eyed and bushy tailed. Intellectually I know that 70-year-olds probably shouldn’t take part in extreme activities but I’m also aware of how lucky I am to be 70. Many people die long before this. I suppose if we knew when we were going to die, we could plan out our remaining days but with all of life’s uncertainties, my plan is to continue to live full throttle while I’m able.

Last thing. A dear friend from the west coast sent me one of her favourite songs. It forms part of the soundtrack of Four Weddings and a Funeral. “Love is All Around” was originally released by The Troggs of “Wild Thing” fame, back in 1967. The rendition of the song in the movie was performed by a group called Wet Wet Wet. Give it a listen. https://youtu.be/h3gEkwhdXUE It’s a wonderful version. There are some sweet harmonies. Thanks for giving me an earworm all week, IC!

Have an awesome Thanksgiving weekend. And while you’re at it, be thankful.

P.S. After an outpouring of demand (one person), I plan to do a live music Pillow Talk show on FB on Thanksgiving Monday at 7:00 EST (8:00 AST/4:00 PST). Sure to cause indigestion after a turkey dinner!

Posted on September 30, 2021 under Thursday Tidbits with 3 comments

 

Dust off those old vinyls

(Photo credit: Shelley Carroll)

Warning: This post is guaranteed to give you an earworm. If you don’t know what an earworm is, you’ll know by the end of the day when you start humming some of these tunes repeatedly.

What is your absolute favourite song of all time? That’s a tough one. I happen to love music from many eras and many genres but, as a child of the 60s, my bias is obvious. I can’t remember a day in my life when I didn’t listen to music. Even when I’m not actively listening to the radio or Youtube, I always seem to have a tune rattling around my brain.

I was having supper with friends the other evening and California Dreamin’ was playing in the background. It may not be my all- time favorite song, but it is certainly on the list. “All the leaves are brown, and the sky is gray.” When I got home, I started to scratch out a list of some other notables that formed the soundtrack of my teenage years and my early 20s. Here are a few more that you might remember. Maybe you can share a memory of one of these songs or one of your favs.

How many of these do you know?

“When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me…” Let it Be – The Beatles.

“Well I’m a runnin down the road trying to loosen my load…” Take it Easy – The Eagles

“R.E.S.P.E.C.T…”  Respect. Aretha Franklin

“You, who are on the road, must have a code, that you can live by…” Teach Your Children – CSNY

“We skipped the light fandango, turned cartwheels cross the floor…” Whiter Shade of Pale – Procol Harum

“Those schoolgirl days, of telling tales and biting nails are gone…” To Sir With Love – Lulu

“I’ll tip my hat to the new constitution, take a bow for the new revolution…” Won’t Get Fooled Again – The Who

“When you’re weary, feeling small…” Bridge Over Troubled Waters – Simon and Garfunkel

“Rows and flows of Angel hair, and ice cream castles in the air…” Both Sides Now – Judy Collins

“Almost heaven, West Virginia…” Country Roads – John Denver

“I’ve seen fire and I’ve seen rain…” Fire and Rain – James Taylor

“Stayed in bed all mornin’ just to pass the time, there’s something wrong here, there can be no denyin’…” It’s Too Late – Carole King

“Left a good job in the city, workin for the man every night and day…” Proud Mary – Creedence Clearwater Revival

“Hey, have you ever tried, really reaching out for the other side…” Make it With You – Bread

“Strumming my pain with his fingers, singing my life with his words…” Killing Me Softly – Roberta Flack

“Long ago, and oh so far away, I fell in love with you before the second show…” Superstar – The Carpenters

“Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter…” Here Comes The Sun – The Beatles

“I wanna live, I wanna give, I’ve been a miner for a heart of gold…” Heart of Gold – Neil Young

“Memories, light the corners of my eyes…” The Way We Were – Barbra Streisand

“Sometimes in our lives, we all have pain, we all have sorrow…” Lean on Me – Bill Withers

“Don’t you feel it growin’ day by day, people getting’ ready for the news…” Listen to the Music – The Doobie Brothers

“Nobody gonna take my car, I’m gonna race it to the ground…” Highway Star – Deep Purple

Ooh, I heard it through the grapevine, not much longer would you be mine…” I Heard it Through the Grapevine – Marvin Gaye

“I pulled into Nazareth, was feelin’ about half past dead…” The Weight – The Band.

“What would you do if I sang out of tune…” With a Little Help From My Friends – Joe Cocker

My personal all- time favourite? Man, that’s really tough but I think I’ll have to go with this one:

“Remember to let her into your heart, then you can start to make it better…”

Last waltz. Parish Center. 1968.

Every guy’s dream… to get the final dance with that someone special.

“Hey Jude”

Three Beatles tunes on the list you say? I could have had 25!

Have a great weekend.

P.S. Don’t forget to send me your #1 pick!

P.P.S. As you can tell, I “mailed it in” today!!!

Posted on September 23, 2021 under Thursday Tidbits with 3 comments

Seriously?

 

“Can it be that it was all so simple then,

Or has time rewritten every line.”

The Way We Were – Barbara Streisand

Please bring back the wringer washer!

I rarely start off a Thursday Tidbits with such an esoteric subject as the merits of the modern washing machine, but it’s been a long week at school. You can tell. I’m talking about washing machines.

As I step out of the shower each morning, I stare at the washer and dryer directly across from me in the bathroom. I am used to doing my own laundry, so it didn’t take me too long to figure out this baby. I have to admit that the manufacturers and marketers of wash machines have come up with an endless number of possibilities for doing your wash. If you ask me, it is a buffet of buttons, bubbles and bullshit. Come on, does it really matter in the end if you use the active wear setting, the jeans setting or towels and sheets? In the end, it’s just a round tub filled with water and detergent going around in circles (something like the author of this piece).I find this agitating. It makes my head spin.

The old wringer washers were so practical. You could wash every stitch of clothing using the same water more than once. And when it wasn’t in use, you could put your baby sister or baby brother inside the drum and wheel them around the living room. The good old days. I always seem to cycle back to them.

Lord thundrin’ jaysus. I was running in the hallways of the school earlier this week. Kids aren’t allowed to run but 70-year-olds can do whatever they please. Ok. I wasn’t running but I was moving quickly. It had been a dreary day, cloudy, wet and cold. I heard what sounded like a sonic boom. “Len, there’s thunder and lightning.” This in itself isn’t particularly unusual but, it was also snowing. I must admit that I had never witnessed this combination before. Thundersnow is a rare winter storm (hm…it’s not winter yet) event that occurs when thunder and lightning happen during a snowstorm. According to legend, this is the harbinger of a heavy snowfall.

I’m not a counter of steps or distance. Monday was a particularly zany day for this secretary/all-purpose guy at the school. You see, this summer, there was a major construction renovation going on in the school. This included our large industrial kitchen. In order to do all of this work, everything in the kitchen (everything except the kitchen sink!) was brought to the gym. This was a very good solution for the construction worker as the kitchen was across the hall from the gym. However, there were construction delays leaving the gym unusable since the start of school. On Monday, I agreed to coordinate the gargantuan task of moving everything out of the gym so that classes could resume. One small problem is that the kitchen is still not ready to go so we had to find a few empty classrooms to put all this stuff.

Now let it be known that I was a hands-on foreman. I enlisted the help of some teachers and students, but I did my fair share of lifting and moving. Later that night my back was severely pissed off at me for trying to be a hero. This was the same day as “THUNDERSNOW”. By the time I got home at suppertime, I was whipped. Just for the hell of it, I decided to see how far I had walked at the school that day: 12.5 kilometers and 21,542 steps. The good news is that all of this activity, combined with a healthier lifestyle (the summer was a bit of a write off) has resulted in a loss of 7 pounds.

I am proud of all my children. They all work hard and have a sense of social justice. They are good parents and good people. They call things as they see them, and they possess a good sense of humour.

I don’t think Pete, Ellie and Margaret would mind me giving a special shout out to their sister, Betsy today. She had a very busy summer working for the NDP party of Nova Scotia in the provincial election. She put in an extraordinary number of hours. The ink was barely dry from the election results when she agreed to be the banner carrier for the NDP federally in Central Nova. The riding (it’s massive in geographical terms) was held for almost 4 decades by Conservatives Elmer and Peter Mackay and for the past several years by Liberal Sean Fraser. In other words, it has been barren ground for the NDP. This did not stop her from campaigning hard and having a very respectable result. I think that Betsy gets her significant energy from her grandmothers. Well done, Betsy!

After reading this disjointed piece, you probably think I’m all washed up, something normally reserved for my GE wash machine!

Have a great weekend.

P.S. Thanks to Shelley Carroll for the co-write on Monday. We had fun and it brought back a lot of memories for hard core fans of the Montreal Expos.