Ice Rain – I Wanna Be Sedated
:: A week ago we were living through -35C temperatures in Edmonton. Currently it is -2C, and there is a light rain falling, turning to ice as it hits the ground, making driving a hazardous affair. The east coast is getting hammered with another major winter blizzard. While the temperature never gets that hot in Edmonton in the summer, and while I do wish winter was a bit shorter here, overall it’s tough to complain about the weather in this part of the world. We don’t seem to get the extremes that other regions do. The 1987 tornado that ripped through the east half of Edmonton took 27 lives, but was considered a rarity, an disaster not expected to happen all that often.
I am continuing to rehearse with Hardy Drew and the Nancy Boys. The band knows 10 songs, and is learning two covers. There is much more to learn. I am enjoying it, the challenge of learning original tunes, most of which are very unconventional, featuring mixed time signatures coupled with jamming intervals. A song’s framework is sidestepped for 30-60 seconds while the my guitar, the drums and the bass play, well, whatever. Each time a song with such a component is played, it will sound different as a result. There is much more work to do. It’s a new experience, playing in a three-piece rock band.
I played boggle on Sunday night with Marissa, Melissa, and Sarah. Melissa is a Boggle Queen, and Marissa and Sarah are no slouches. Needless to say, the girls cleaned my clock in every round. Saturday night Marissa and I saw End of the Century, the movie about the seminal 70s NYC punk band, The Ramones. The film is a real eye-opener, highly recommended.
It’s January, and I’m restless for any number of reasons. The year is barely two weeks old, and planning for activities in the summer and fall has already begun. I am also about to agree to do to something that could result in a three-year professional time commitment, to June 2008. More on that at a later date.
