the pod bay door

.: Today was the warmest day of the year so far in Edmonton, and it felt like summer has finally arrived. I have a number of trips upcoming, beginning with one to Madison WI on Sunday, to visit a couple good friends. I’ll first spend some time with Jude, and then another friend, Lenny. I’ve never been to Madison before, but have it on good authority from a friend who studied at U Wisconsin at Madison that it is a great city. I may also take a quick side with Jude to see a band in Milwaukee. And while in Wisconsin, I hope to pick up one of these and bring it home to Canada, where like HBO, the Amazon Kindle, and the iPhone, it is not available for purchase.

Following my return, my parents will be visiting for a few days in early June. I’ll be in Seattle from 14-19 June for my annual library conference. I return to Edmonton on the 19th, and the next day on the 20th, fly to NYC for five days to see one, and perhaps two of the shows on the 2008 Steely Dan tour. I already have a ticket for the show on the 21st at the Beacon Theatre, and will follow that by attending an after-party at The Bitter End, featuring some of the SD Band musicians (Jon Herington, Jeff Young).

I’m planning to do a mini-tour with a local singer, Carrie Hryniw. I’ve played three shows with her already, and we are planning to hook up to play shows in Regina, Brandon and Winnipeg before I drive back to Edmonton afterwards.

Then the Steely Dan summer continues. I fly to Chicago on 15 July to see them perform at The Chicago Theatre, and return on the 17th. My friend in Madison, Jude, will meet me in Chicago to see the show there. Finally, I’ll return to Seattle to see two more SD shows on 30/31 July, when they perform at the Chateau Ste Michelle Winery in Woodinville WA.

Why so many Steely Dan shows? Why spend all that money? Well, first of all, life is short, and Steely Dan wil always be my favorite band of all-time, after The Beatles. So with each year they tour, and this is the third year in a row they have decided to tour, one never knows if it will be their last tour. I’ve seen five shows this decade, in 2000, 2003, 2006, and two shows last year at The Beacon in NYC, and have enjoyed them all. It’s such a treat to see a band perform as good as this one, knowing in advance I wil be familiar with all the tunes.

Since the early 90s, I’ve subscribed to a Steely Dan fandom newsletter, called the Dandom Digest. As a result, I’ve become familiar with and made friends with a number of fellow Dandom subscribers, and met many of them at the previous shows. So when I attend the shows in NYC and Seattle, I will see many of them again, and because I am a known quantity among the Danfen, so to speak, I am assured entrance to the after-party at the Bitter End. Sweet. 🙂

What are your plans for the summer?

.: Taras forwarded me a link to a post by Tim Lucas, on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the release date (06 April 1968) of 2001: A Space Odyssey, my all-time favorite film. I didn’t see it when it was released in April 1968, it wasn’t on my radar for some reason. I did see it in December that year, at the King’s Theatre on Portage Avenue in Winnipeg, with my friend Alan Dyer. In his post, Lucas captures the brilliance of this ground-breaking movie, why it is and will remain Kubrick‘s masterpiece, and one of the most important motion pictures of all time. Arthur C Clarke, who wrote the novel and co-authored the screenplay with Kubrick, passed away in March, just before the 40th anniversary of 2001’s release. 2001 introduced me to Clarke’s writing, which I have read and enjoyed for many decades.

As Lucas says about 2001, “It is what it is.”

.: I’m finishing a trip that saw me fly to San Francisco on Saturday, 23 March 2008, and then to Victoria on Thursday, 27 March 2008. The trip to San Fran involved attending a couple of committee meetings at the Materials Research Society symposium, but also allowed me to see, for the first time ever, Bob Mould perform a heavy electric show with a full band. He played tunes from his solo records, from Sugar, and from Hüsker Dü. I loved every minute of it, totally worth it to stay an extra day to see one of my musical heroes.

This was the second time I made the trip to San Fran to participate in the MRS meeting, and after the event in 2007, I flew to Victoria to visit some old friends from Winnipeg who now live here. I’ve followed the same agenda this time, visiting one friend for two nights, and the other friends for the remaining two nights. I’ll be back in Edmonton tomorrow.

.: Recently Steve Jobs was quoted saying that most people don’t read anymore:

“It doesn’t matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don’t read anymore,” he said. “Forty percent of the people in the U.S. read one book or less last year. The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don’t read anymore.”

Timothy Egan responded to Jobs today in his 21 Febuary 2008 NYTimes blog, Outposts, in a most eloquent and humourous fashion, reminding us (yet again) how important the act of reading is:

Reading is something else, an engagement of the imagination with life experience. It’s fad-resistant, precisely because human beings are hard-wired for story, and intrinsically curious. Reading is not about product.

Exactly right, Mr Egan, thank you. I am not a fast reader, and at times in years past have gone months without reading a book. This does not mean I wasn’t reading during those times, it just wasn’t books, more likely magazines, newspapers, journals. More recently, I’ve found myself reading fiction again, after a 5-7 year period where I had read but two novels. But my reading of books has been ongoing and steady, and very enjoyable. I use Library Thing to keep track of my reading habits.

Reading is mind exercise, be it fiction, non-fiction, poetry, graphic novel, whatever. When I am immersed in a good book, I not only take great satisfaction and enjoyment from the experience, I also marvel at the creativity and originality of the author, wondering how much time and effort it took to do the research as well as simply being amazed at such an imagination.  Indeed – stretching one’s imagination and expanding the boundaries of one’s mind – what can be better?

.: We are a few weeks into 2008, and I think the year could evolve into one in which I treat myself to a few new toys. Earlier this month, I began by buying myself a new guitar, specifically a RainSong OM1000. RainSongs are guitars made from graphite only, no wood involved. RainSongs have a unique sound to be sure, but are also impervious to temperature and humidity change. The creators describe the RainSong guitar as having “the crystal detail, warmth and volume of the classic carbon sound.” I’m not sure exactly what “the carbon sound” is, but I like the guitar. It is certainly lighter than the wood acoustic guitars I own, and the sound might be described as brighter than a traditional acoustic guitar. The OM1000 has a body depth of about 4.125 inches, smaller that what I am used to playing, but which was something I wanted in a new guitar. I first became aware of the RainSongs when I went to the Mandolin Bros store on Staten Island in October 2001 and played one in the shop. At the time, RainSongs were manufactured in Hawaii, but the company relocated to Woodinville WA in 2001.

I’m looking forward to playing my new guitar – it’s the first acoustic guitar I’ve purchased since 1989. I’m also looking forward to using it in upcoming live performances. I can’t explain what motivated or moved me to buy a new guitar now. I was in Avenue Guitars in early January, the chief guitar shop I have frequented for decades, where two models were on sale. I took each one home for a workout, and chose the OM1000. It felt like the right thing to do, and so far I’m happy with the decision. It’s like a late Christmas present to myself. 🙂

.: Welcome to 2008. First, a Happy Birthday to my Mom, who celebrated 75 years on Dec 31 – Happy Birthday, Mom! 🙂

On December 29th, I drove to Calgary in the afternoon to attend a showcase performance by Anita Athavale. It was a memorable show, and reinforced my thinking that she is one of the most original and inventive talents to emerge from Alberta in years. We are discussing performing together when she is able to land a gig in Edmonton. My brother Chris and his g/f attended with me, and we all thoroughly enjoyed Anita’s performance.

I have previously waxed eloquent about Anita Athavale. I discovered her first album some years ago while wandering through CJSR, the University of Alberta student radio station. Her first album is a sparse, stripped down offering with minimal instrumentation, and plays like a well constructed demo recording. In 2007, I found the video for her song, South Pacific, and was blown away by the song itself – great opening riff, a chorus with a hook that draws you in and ends with a searing vocal each time – and I knew I had to have her new album, In The Noise, as soon as possible. So I bought two copies, and have been playing it in the car for six months. We began chatting on MySpace and Facebook, and this led to my offering to be a second guitar for her when she came to Edmonton, if she needed an extra musician. When I heard she had a showcase performance in Calgary on Dec 29 (not really a concert per se, but a performance to “showcase” her talents for industry professionals), I decided that I had to go. Needless to say it was the right decision. Again I’ll say, if you are looking for original music from a great local Alberta artist, try Anita Athavale’s In The Noise.

I want to wish all who read and visit my site a very Happy New Year – all the best to all of you in 2008. I hope you have a year that is rewarding, joyous, and peaceful.