the pod bay door

.: Those who have known me for years and who are aware of my musical tastes (like my brother Chris and friends Derryl and Taras) also know that one of my favorite bands at any time is Buffalo Tom of Boston.  I first heard Buff Tom when I bought the No Alternative album in the early 90s.  The song “For All To See” is on that record, and when I heard it for the first time, I was hooked on BT for life.  I had to hear more, and have been a loyal fan ever since that first listening.

Bill Janovitz is the guitarist and “El Capitan” of BT.  In addition to the BT catalogue, he has also released two solo albums, an album called Fireworks on TV with his group, Bill Janovitz and Crown Victoria, and an album with Chris Toppin under the name Show People.  The entire body of his work to date is a creative and unique mix of sounds and styles and always feels like the real thing – raw, honest music from the heart, tunes that get stuck in your head for days.

I mention all of this because I want to direct your attention to Bill’s blog, The Life and Times of Bill Janovitz, Part Time Man of Rock, and his new and ongoing project, Cover of the Week, in which Bill has been recording some of his favorite cover tunes and posting them to his site for his fans to enjoy and download.  In the first CotW, posted on 29 November 2008, Bill writes:

“I am undertaking an ambitious task, that is to record a cover song every week and offer it up here for your enjoyment, criticism, suggestions, tears, or laughter. I just feel like covering some of my favorite songs. The idea is an informal little pastime. I will not be fussing around with these. I just want to post some songs that I sit around the house playing.”

Whether or not you are aware of Bill and his many musical projects, please take the time to check out his Cover(s) of the Week.  Each tune is downloadable from his site, and as he adds more, he is creating a new and unique set of songs for those his of fans fortunate enough to have found his blog!  This is a rare treat from a creative bandleader and songwriter whose musical talents and work ethic I respect and admire greatly and try to emulate in my own musical life.  What he is doing is also inspring.  As an added bonus, each song is usually accompanied by an articulate and very interesting back story.

So thanks Bill, and to my friends who read this blog, please check Bill’s site and listen to his readings from a very interesting and expanding set of great cover tunes.  Oh, and my favorite CotW so far is #5, Bill’s version of In A Misty Morning, from Gene Clark‘s second solo album, Roadmaster.  Clark was one of the founding members of The Byrds.

.: Heather Gallay and I “met” a couple years ago when she responded to a post I had written about Lost.  I recently reconnected with her via FaceBook, and discovered she is quite an amazing photographer.  Please check out her site, eyeFlashes, and click on “Open Gallery” to see a wide selection of her work.  Spend time with “Cream of the Crop” to see what Heather considers to be her best photos.  Some breathtaking stuff there.

.: I’ve been back at work for a week, and have spent most of the time plowing through the personal archives and papers of Chester D Cuthbert, the legendary Winnipeg book collector.  His archives (letters, notes, booklists, etc) were obtained along with his book, fanzine and pulp magazine collection last October by MPOW, the University of Alberta Libraries.  Chester’s personal archives (and the books, zines, etc.) will be added to the University of Alberta’s collection, and I am creating the Finding Aid for them, to help future researchers who wish to access his papers.  It has been fascinating and a rare privilege to sift through the many letters Chester exchanged with his many contacts over the decades, stretching back to the 1930s.  Among his correspondents were many important names in the sf publishing field, including William F Nolan, August Derleth, Donald A Wollheim, and Forrest J Ackerman.

.: As seen and noted in the movies and television, a number of mentions of my beloved home town of Winnipeg, Manitoba:

And don’t forget Winnipeg director Guy Maddin’s movie about Winnipeg, My Winnipeg.

.: First, a Happy Birthday wish to my wonderful Mom, who is 76 years young today.  Happy Birthday, MOM!  Love you lots!

I last wrote from Boston in late November.  After attending meetings at a symposium there, I took the train from Boston to Providence RI on Wednesday, 03 December 2008, to spend time with my friends, Susan and David, who moved there in January.  While there, we saw a couple movies, ate at some fine restaurants, and spent time downtown on 06 December, which was the first evening of Christmas activities there.  While strolling about, we wandered into Bowl and Board and into the middle of a Big Nazo singalong:

More on BIG NAZO: “BIG NAZO is an international performance group of visual artists, puppet performers, and masked musicians who unite to create bizarre and hilarious larger-than-life sized characters, environments, and spectacles.  Later, while continuing our stroll, we walked past the Big Nazo HQ, which was open to the public.  While there, I had my head crushed by a beautiful RISD student named Heather, and I modeled one of the alien puppet heads.

Speaking of RISD (Rhode Island School of Design), we also spent time at the RISD Museum of Art, seeing the Chihuly at RISD exhibition, featuring many of the glass creations of Dale Chihuly.  I took a few photos of some of his amazing creations while we were there. 

I tried to return home on 08 Dec, but had to spend the night at a Days Inn in Minneapolis, because my flight from Providence was late arriving in Mpls due to a snow storm.

On 25 Dec, I spent 5 hours in the Edmonton Intl Airport, waiting for a flight to Winnipeg.  My arrival was to be a surprise for my Mom, but by mid-day, when it became clear I wouldn’t make it to WInnipeg until the early evening, my Dad had to tell her what was going on.  Still, I was able to spend four days in Winnipeg visiting my parents, as well as a few other good friends.  I’ll post pictures soon.

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year!

.: I am in Boston.  On the flight from Minneapolis to Boston, I was sitting next to a Rhodes scholar.  We had a nice conversation about physics and string theory!  I arrived here earlier this evening, ostensibly to attend meetings at the Materials Research Society Symposia on Tuesday, 03 December. I sit on two advisory boards, and the MRS flies a number of librarians to the symposia to attend these meetings, and we given rooms in the Westin Copley. My room this time is the biggest hotel room I’ve ever stayed in – corner room, large king-size bed, and two huge windows looking out in two directions, including a spectacular 27th-floor view of the Charles River.

I like to take advantage of such “business” trips, and stretch out my stay a bit longer. I have no set plans to do anything in particular while I’m here, so tomorrow I’ll probably wander around and see what’s up in downtown Boston. On Wednesday morning, I’ll grab a train to Providence, and spend a few days with my friends David Stern and Susan Miller.

The weather in Boston is cool, around 5C.

YouTube Contest Challenges Users To Make A ‘Good’ Video

.: When I last wrote, I was 15 minutes away from turning the magical 5-5. That day (28 June 2008) coincided with our (sometimes) annual cul-de-sac bbq. One of the activities included face-painting, and I was “painted” with a reminder of my special day. Later in the day, a number of the locals who are musicians got together for a jam, and on one song, we invited some of the children to join us on “I Walk The Line”. Here I review the chorus with some of The Groovy Girls, Emily, Liberty and Mia.

A few days later, I went on a tour with a local musician, Carrie Hryniw, in support of her new album, Finding Grace. (Please consider buying a copy via the CD Baby web site.) This was the first tour for me ever, since I started playing guitar in October 1966. Carrie had played a few solo shows in Saskatchewan, and I met up with her on 01 July 2008 in North Battleford. Her partner and daughter continued on to Edmonton, and we drove to Brandon, where we spent the night with my friend Cathy. The next night we played to a small crowd at a delightful cafe and shop called Lady of the Lake. Following the show, we drove to Winnipeg and stayed for three nights at my parents’ home. On 03 July 2008 we performed for another wee but very supportive crowd at The Academy Food Drinks and Music in Osborne Village in Winnipeg. The support came mostly from friends and relatives. 🙂

The next night Carrie and I performed at a house concert in Oakbank MB. The hosts were friends of mine, Doug and Barb Z. Barb and I went to high school together, and they were thrilled to host a house concert for us on the tour. It turned out to be the best night of the tour in many ways – not only did we do well in terms of ticket sales (always important on a tour to defray costs), but Carrie also sold many CDs after the show, we had a great party afterwards with lots of good food and drink and conversation, and both Carrie and I were overwhelmed by the incredible support shows by my friends, relatives, and friends of Doug and Barb who also attended the show. In the crowd were my parents, two of my aunties, my cousins Vickie and Christina and their dad Ross, a number of high school friends and their spouses, and the aforementioned friends of Barb and Doug, including their son. Barb even surprised us by ordering a Jeanne’s cake!

Carrie has uploaded a few videos from the concert in Oakbank.  In addition to the video of Need You Tonight, you can also watch us perform Went Away, Sand Castle, and Perfect Love.  Following the Oakbank show, we played a show in Wadena SK before returning home to Edmonton.

I flew to Chicago on 15 October 2008 to see another Steely Dan show, this time at the legendary Chicago Theatre.  I met up with my friend Jude, who drove down from Madison WI, and we saw the show together.  I thought the Chicago show was even better than the two shows I saw in NYC in June.  The day after the show, Jude and I hung out in Chicago.  After taking a ride on a sailboat on Lake Michigan, we took the light rail transit to visit an old friend of mine, Curtis Ruptash.  In the early 90s, I played in a couple local bands with Curtis.  I enjoyed the whirlwind 48 hour trip to Chicago, and was especially impressed with the light rail service from the airport.  It was a $2 trip into the city from O’Hare.  Having light rail transit to and from a city’s airport is such a no-brainer, it’s astonishing that most other cities do not offer it.

And soon afterwards, summer was over.