the pod bay door

.: After my brief trip to San Francisco, I flew to Victoria where I spent a few days visiting friends, including Tony, and my high school friends Barry and Liz. It was a relaxing time, and I spent a lot of time resting when not doing activities with my friends. I’ve uploaded a few photos from the trip, with more to come.

After my return from the trip, the band worked hard in rehearsal for a gig on 29 April 2007 at a local venue called On The Rocks. We played well and were quite tight, considering this was only the third gig we’d played, and the first this year. Pictures from the gig are here. The following Saturday, Amelia and I played a one set gig at a venue in St Albert for what was called Celtic Pub Night. I wasn’t feeling too good that night, and by Sunday night I was battling a sore throat. The sore throat morphed into a chest cold, and then into an uncomfortable flu. Needless to say, I missed work for a week and one day before returning the following Tuesday. As of this writing I’m still fighting residual coughing. In the midst of this, I did see my physician, who confirmed that I had one of the flu strains making its way through the city, and that it would take 2-3 weeks to clear itself from my weakened system. I’m hoping by next weekend I’ll be completely clear of it.

June promises to be a very busy month. I’ll be in Denver from 02-07 June, attending the SLA Conference, and then in NYC from 09-18 June. Denver is work-related, NYC is vacation time only. In NYC on 11 June, I’ll see Steely Dan play on their Heavy Rollers Tour at the Beacon Theatre with my friend Lisa, and the next night it’s Lily Allen at The Roseland Ballroom, with my friend Noella. Other NYC events are still being planned. When I return, I am speaking (albeit briefly) at the 5th Annual Canadian E-Learning Conference as part of a panel called Library Access & E-Learning.

This past weekend I drove to Lethbridge, where I visited my friends Robert and Mary and their two daughters, Tigana and Kasia. On Saturday, I drove to Sunburst MT to attend the high school graduation ceremony of the daughter of my good friend Sharon. Afterwards, I drove to Shelby MT where I bought six boxes of Rice Chex and Corn Chex cereal at the local Albertson’s. Yes it’s true, I would do such a thing because I really do like those cereals, and no, we can’t buy them in Canada. Call it a weakness. Returning to Lethbridge (about one hour from the Canada/US border), I stayed for another day, and on Sunday, Robert and Mary and the girls and I walked all of about 90 seconds from their home to Brad and Jacqui’s place, the next block over from Robert’s place. (Background: Brad and I lived on the same floor in residence in 1976-78 at the U of Alberta, and I met Robert around the same time. In the period from late 1987-1989, Robert, Brad and I were members of the committee that organized ConText’89, the now-legendary sf conference at which (what is now known as) SF Canada was formed, and at which the first issue of On Spec was launched.) We all had a great visit, and after Mary took the girls home to bed, the rest of us, including Brad and Jacqui’s son Sean, watched Children of Men. Monday morning I drove back to Edmonton, including having to drive through a snowstorm just north of Calgary.

Good night, and good luck.

.: I’m in San Francisco until Tuesday Wednesday morning. Yesterday I rode the cable car to Fisherman’s Wharf. Pictures are here. The cable car ride is an event in itself. On the return trip, I played rock/papers/scissors with a little Chinese girl who along with her sister and two brothers laughed their heads off every time she would win a round. It was a great day. As for the title above, if you loved SCTV and Sid Dithers, you know what it means.

The Onion now has its own television news channel! Imagine – we’ll never have to read again.

Onion News Network Promo

In other goings-on, there are a number of forthcoming trips for which I am slowly preparing. On April 07 I will fly to San Francisco to attend a meeting at this conference. Afterwards I will spend a few days in Victoria to visit friends before returning to Edmonton. In May I will be in Lethbridge for the long weekend, with a day trip to Sunburst MT to attend my friend’s daughter’s high school graduation. On June 02 I’m off to Denver to attend this conference, returning on June 07. On June 09, I’m off to NYC for nine days, this time using a Steely Dan concert on June 11 at The Beacon Theatre as the ostensible excuse for what I think will be my 15th visit to the Big Apple. Beyond this assortment of jaunts, I don’t have any other firm plans for summer vacation at this time.

.: I am in my third year of being an In-School Mentor for Big Brothers Big Sisters Edmonton & Area. In December 2006, the Litte Brother I had been mentoring moved out of Edmonton, and after consulting with my Match Caseworker, I was assigned to a new student, a Little Sister, whom I will call C. At our first mentoring session, I taught C how to spell her name in American Sign Language. Afterwards, Jessica, C’s teacher, suggested I teach her how to sign a poem about spring, so for the past few weeks, C and I have been practicing a poem called March:

The March wind blows winter away
And sweeps the streets from day to day
March brings surprises, first the day’s hot
Then it starts snowing, likely as not
Hurry, March wind, hurry along
We like to hear you sing your song.

The process has been very rewarding for me. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed teaching C a wee bit of ASL, and doing so has given me the time to refresh my ASL skills, which have diminished over the years. Anyway, after learning and practicing the poem for a few weeks, C was prepared to sign the poem for her classmates with my help. On Tuesday, the “big day”, Jessica introduced me to the students (who are already familiar with me because they see me every week and I have assisted in the class before), and explained that I am C’s mentor, and that I had taught her how to sign a poem about spring. C and I stood at the front of the class, I thanked them for inviting me to be there, and showed them how to sign “Hi”. Then I read the poem to them so that they would be familiar with it before C signed it. Finally, I read the poem slowly while C signed it (she did a great job, btw), and we all clapped at the end.

Then came the surprise. C’s teacher, Jessica, asked if I would teach the class the first two lines of the poem! I said sure, and for the next ten minutes, I was teaching a class of Grade 4 students! I had a blast, it was so much fun! C and I showed them each sign, and then together we all signed the first line, and then the second line, and finally, both lines one after the other. The students loved it, and Jessica asked me if I would show them how to sign the third and fourth lines next week, to which I responded, “Of course, I’d love to!” All in all, very cool. 🙂

.: What’s up with the Finns? Why are they so cranky? Who cares? These videos are hilarious, and the school children’s song is even better knowing that the class, from the Poikkilaakso Elementary School in Helsinki, wrote the lyrics themselves. The chorus is brilliant. But I think what makes it so funny is that none of the children ever smiles – how could they record this without cracking up? They all look so serious singing these lyrics, and it just makes the video even funnier. Plus, each line of the lyrics doesn’t necessarily fit into the rhythm of the song compared to the previous line but still works somehow, which for me as a musician, just increases the hilarity of the entire production. God bless the music teacher who put this together. Who wants to start a complaints choir? WHY must we take it so easy? I want to learn how to play this song. Can someone teach me how to sing in Finnish?

Then you can enjoy a group of Finnish adults singing out their collective woes. Helsingin Valituskuoro, otherwise known as the Helsinki Complaints Choir.

I didn’t realize there are other such choirs, including:

• Beschwerdechor Wilhelmsburg (Hamburg Complaints Choir)
• Complaints Choir of Birmingham
• St Petersburg Complaints Choir (Russia)