Nicolas' Travels

Ottawa take 2

2010-04-30T21:24:00.001-05:00

Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy.

I am annoyed.

Travelling!

2009-06-22T08:29:00.002-05:00

Life has been busy lately. Chris Langan, Midwest Fleadh, repeated trips to good ol' D-town...

Wednesday (Marking being firmly out of my first quarter century) I fly to Dublin, Ireland with Miss Perkins for a too-short vacation. Dublin, Castlecomer, Kilrush, Scattery Island, and Galway will be visited.

Whoo!

Irish music type

2009-03-16T10:13:00.003-05:00

"I'm not a fiddle type, I'm an irish music type, I just play the fiddle. It's weird how big of a difference it is. If someone said "You can only play irish music on ___ instrument from now on" I'd be perfectly happy." - B. P. Gidley

That's from a chat after the aforementioned celtic jam and referring to the teaching of some fiddle types today by Master Gidley. It's a good point and great way of putting it.

I'm an irish music type. I just play the uilleann pipes.

March? How did that happen?

2009-03-16T09:39:00.002-05:00

Some updates:

I do not have regulators yet. I do however have an amazing and lovely new B chanter. It's real shiny! Seven (7) keys, plus the stop key. Eventually it will have moose antler as mounts, but for now is stuck with holly wood. The old B chanter went off to its new home in Utah. Happy travels, applebee!

I should be getting my D regulators this week. I'm not holding my breath, because I want them to be perfect, and I've discovered not bugging or pressuring your pipemakers is the way to get that!

The B set will be starting production soon, I think. The ebony pieces are around, but may end up being replaced with slightly smaller ebony pieces.

Alison and I are going to Ireland June 24th until July 6th. I guess it's a birthday present for me, sort of! We don't have any particularly set plans, so if you want us to come visit we will.

I think somehow I've achieved "respected musician" status around here. Either that or just "doesn't show up often so it's great to see him when he does" status. I went to a Celtic Jam Session yesterday afternoon, and it was everything that name applies. Several guitars, several bodhrans, and a couple people playing sheet music. No really irish music except what I was playing, although many irish tunes were played. Lots of Cape Breton, east-coast and old timey stuff though. It's very interesting to hear the Foxhunter's Reel played in a very east-coast way. Different tune altogether that way! And in A, so there is that.

Ok enough rambling.

First Tune

2008-12-06T14:05:00.002-05:00

I'm getting regulators in January for my concert pitch set. I need recommendations for the first tune I should play on my set with my new regulators?

Realistically, I won't be able to play them well (or at all) right away, so the first tune should be something pretty slow that I can sort of hit the regs at random in... And it should be a tune I know.

More importantly, I'm getting my B set in March(ish). I will have January, February, and March to practise regs. There's a good chance that my March I'll have some ability. So, what should be my first tune on the flat set?

Go on, give me suggestions!

Irish music, redux...

2008-11-18T18:23:00.003-05:00

We are at a stage where actually what is current in traditional music is depleted in terms of its musical richness, I would feel. We have defined things and thus other possibilities cease to exist.
--- Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh - http://thejmi.com/article/661

That article is a must read for traditional musicians. There are some amazing points he makes. But a word of warning! Before you read the article, you really must know that Caoimhin has not glossed over his learning of the language, so to speak. Listen to him play, then listen to Patrick Kelly, Denis Murphy, Padraig O'Keefe, Paddy Cronin, and all the other old fiddlers that he's studied in incredibly minute detail.

I say this because otherwise you may read the article and think he is talking about something like Davy Spillane's Moving Hearts, "Lord of the Dance" or Solas. He is definitely not. You must understand that Caoimhin knows well the difference between what is part of the tradition and what is not. Enough warning.

I just reread this article because JMI has opened its archive to all and sundry. I just reread it after reading an article by Hammy Hamilton where he presents research done showing that irish traditional music (folk music of ireland, etc, from now on just irish music) isn't really as popular as might be believed. All of this has got me thinking (again) about irish music, and my own version of it, and wondering about things yet again.

Those of you (is anyone reading this?) who know me well probably know that the last year has been both great and horrible for my music. Both incredibly uplifting and very depressing. Unfortunately, this past weekend was another blow to my faith in irish musicians (read: people that play irish music). All this adds up to some deep ponderings.

I love listening to the old players. The recordings of Denis Murphy, Julia Clifford and Paddy Cronin have been on my mind much in the last year. Tommy Reck, Seamus Ennis, Willie Clancy, these three have never been too far from my ears. There are loads of other old players that I love listening to. Why do I love them?? A lot of recordings are hard to listen to, because of the recording quality. As one local flute player said about Paddy Fahey "that’s one nasty fiddle recording! LOL". Yet I can't stop lisening to it! And I want to be able to explain what is so great about these recordings, why I love listening, why I don't hear the "nasty" quality.

When I listen to the playing of Willie Clancy, what I hear and what really excites me are all the things he didn’t do, but you hear them. You hear everything he could have done, the cloud of possibility. Whereas when you hear most people playing traditional music today, you only hear the one thing they did do.
--- Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh - http://thejmi.com/article/661

Caoimhin's quote above is an important part of it. I usually end up telling people that the tuning "system" or sensibility was very different to the old players, but that doesn't usually seem to get the full import across. It's not just the tuning, although that's definitely part of it. It's this sense of possibility that definitely seems to be missing, or deliberately avoided. Lots of modern music seems to be very limited or proscribed. An example of this is the Kane Sisters and Paddy Fahey. Don't take this as negative, because I've listened loads to the Kane Sisters, and I find their music very nice and enjoyable. But, Paddy Fahey is something else entirely. His way of playing tunes is so different from theirs, even though they got a lot of tunes from him. Lots of "in-between" notes, lots of playing in a way that presents these possibilities, without defining what the music is. Without saying "this tune is in this key and this one only". Willie Clancy's piping is the example Caoimhin used in the article, and I wouldn't dare to disagree with him, since he's right. When I listen to Willie, I get so excited, and it moves me in a wonderful way. There's such joy and sadness and emotion, but overall an incredible sense of wildness in his playing.

Why don't I feel this way with most modern players? Primarily "session players" too, I guess. Is it just Sturgeon's Law at work? Are we just blessed (or cursed) with only recordings of the best older players? Did all the comparable musicians of the ones that don't excite me from ages past get lost by the wayside? There are very few old recordings that don't excite me at least a little, and there were tons of musicians recorded! More than you'd think from online forums. But maybe Sturgeon's Law was in effect, and if so, I'm not sure whether I should be happy because there are some modern players that I find as exciting, or sad because it seems like proportionally there are so much fewer than there were in the early 1900s!

At any rate, none of this helps with how I will explain the beauty to people that don't get it. I would like to be able to explain this beauty very much, because I feel like people around here are very out of touch with it. Maybe I am out of touch though?

It seems that people around here do not search out good irish music. It seems like the musicians for the most part are content to play very limited music and don't explore these old players, don't study irish music in any serious detail. I am in a weird limbo right now. I'm not content to play the same old tunes in the same old way, but I also don't feel like I'm able to do justice to the music or play like I hear in my head. I feel limited in most sessions, but I also feel like I'm limiting, too. I am definitely not happy participating in open "celtic" sessions, where Quebecois, Scottish, Breton, and Old Time get equal footing, but that's more a matter of a preference of which style I want to play, and an understanding that since I have so far to go with Irish music, there's no doubt I'd be butchering the rest.

On the other hand I'm lucky to be able to play semi-regularly with several very wonderful people and fantastic musicans, and sometimes we get to make very amazing music together.

So I guess this brings up another question: Where do I go from here and how do I get there?

Kerry Fiddling

2008-10-10T11:56:00.001-05:00

In my recent obsession with polkas, I'd almost forgot how much I love slides.

But this helps me remember. Amazing!

I need a new car

2008-09-18T09:36:00.001-05:00

I'm down to the Toyota Corolla and the Mazda3 Sport. Both 2009.

Which should I get?

Band name

2008-06-05T21:44:00.005-05:00

Brandon, Karli and I have formed a band. We are playing at the mill race festival in Cambridge under the temporary name of "Farewell to Erin".

However, we are trying to come up with a better, permanent name for our little merry band.

The top two picks are:

Soup of Good Drink

and

Down in the Park

However some other suggestions are:
One Bottle More
Money in Both Pockets (or alternatively Money in Both Pockets (but not in mine))
I Have No Money
Ride a Mile
The Crooked Road

We need your opinions.

If you have suggestions that are better than these, please let me know!

Pizza

2008-05-08T10:57:00.003-05:00

I forgot to add: the pizza was good. I enjoyed it. Especially with the wine.

I even made naan again the following friday, last week. I made a wrap, and then made a cheese thing the next day... ok, I just rolled out some naan dough and baked it with cheese on top. tasty!

There was some leftover stuff that my Dad ate on the Sunday. It passed his approval, so it must be good!

The proud owner of a rolling pin

2008-04-29T20:50:00.003-05:00

Don't buy cheap corkscrews, they break in the cork. I'm also the owner of a new corkscrew and half a bottle of wine (well, come one, what'd you expect?)

The naan was alright after an extra night in the fridge, but crusty on top. Note to self: remember to cover the bowl next time. I made a pizza with it for tomorrow (easy supper!) and a "sandwich" which due to my dreadful inability to judge how thin naan needs to be, had no top... (Editors note: the dough was rolled out into two cookie sheets. The pizza dough should be fine, but the division of dough was not precisely equal. One batch of naan might be ok in the future, especially if rolled out a lot thinner.) I used tziki sauce that I made from very inexact instructions from my sister in law, but it turned out fine, so that was ok. I fried onions and portabella mushrooms and put it on both the pizza and the naanwich. I chopped up tomatos, red peppers and lettuce and put the first two on both and just the lettuce on the naanwich. There was some spaghetti sauce, cheese and garlic involved in the pizza, too. I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow.

I like experimenting!

I also bought molasses so I can finally make ginger snap cookies... Maybe tomorrow! Probably not though.

Naan and Curry

2008-04-28T20:30:00.002-05:00

So I went all out and made myself a feast for supper. Naan and veggie curry.

The naan (and a recipe for corn curry that I didn't use) recipe came from the eminent Chiffboard. It was pretty tasty and I enjoyed watching the dough rise and then punching it down. Like how life used to be for me... Take that dough. Take that.

The only problem with the naan is that the recipe maker said that a teflon coated pan won't do, and that one should use a cast-iron griddle. Well, I have one, a grilled cheese pan that my sister bought me. It's awful for grilled cheese btw. You just have two burnt pieces of bread and unmelted cheese. It's also not that good for naan, as it's really too small. I guess I could have made smaller naan. But of course the biggest problem is that I don't own a rolling pin. So rolling out the naan was challenging...

The veggie curry... Well...

Ok, it was pretty sweet, actually. Too sweet. Note to self: make sure you read the directions right. 1/4 cup does *not* equal 1/4 teaspoon. So I had sweet and spicy curry. It's not too horrible, but is a bit weird. I also think I burned the sauce. But it turned out ok, so I'm happy.

Interestingly, the recipe did *not* call for the curry spice I own.

At least the curry looked like curry. It was a bit runny, I guess... But all in all, a good experiment.

As an aside... Is it ok to not cook all the naan dough? Cause I'm too tired! I have most of it (say more than 3/4) left in a bowl in my fridge. I guess I'll just let it rise more and then beat it down again. Maybe bake a loaf in the oven, because I'm too lazy and frustrated to cook the tiny amount that I can in the frying pan I have... Or else I'll use the teflon covered pan.

Any advice?

Shoggoth Bread

2008-04-23T15:26:00.002-05:00

I'm really tempted by Steph's and Sol's recent excursions into Shoggoth custodiality. (Yes, I'm aware I pretty much invented the word "custodiality".)

I'm really interested in making shoggoth bread (or at least having my own shoggoth in the fridge) for a few reasons. I like the idea of owning part of a creature that is many years old, and has spawned a number of times and hence lives in many locations. I like naming my food. I like eating living things. I'm sure it would be tasty. I like cooking things, and I especially like trying out new things to cook.

I'm a bit worried about being a custodian because of other reasons. The important one is that I always feel like I have no time to cook really nice dishes. The last time consuming thing I made was chocolate chip cookies. It took an hour and a half. I ate two and went to bed... Sometimes I really don't like working.

I think if I get a shoggoth starter, I'll call him George, although I'm sure Alison's monkey won't like that.

St Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T11:54:00.002-05:00

Well, St. Patrick's Day is upon us. I'm not playing anywhere, and I think that might be a good thing.

I'm not sure that Patrick would be happy to have a festival of drinking named after him, and I think in some ways it's a shame that there is so much "irish" music played in pubs, bars, and restaurants all over. Especially since this is one of the few times people will be exposed to irish music, and they'll come away thinking Danny Boy and the Fields of Athenry are the height of irish musical culture...

Ah well, as my friend Sligo Phil would say, do you know where to find all the irish on St. Patrick's Day? In an English Pub.

I think I'll go get myself another pint of Tetley's Ale.

Travelling, Music, Radio, Irony

2008-02-11T12:17:00.000-05:00

Travelling is fun. I get to do a lot of it. But always always always the best travelling is the 4-5 hour drive down the 401 to find Love at the Endings.

And the worst is the drive home.

Made worse this time by leaving a really nice session with good players, fun tunes, and the Girl I left Behind me. And the cold. And the cold that killed my tape player. So no music on the way home, other than the radio.

For your information, the radio sucks. Driving out of Windsor it seemed like very station was either a country and western station or a christian station (with such hits as "there's a tsunami on the west coast cause all the gays live there".... or words to that effect... I did not stay on *that* station). Except for the not-s0-rare cass of the Christan Country and Western stations.

It really disappointed me when I turned on CBC radio 2 (after an hour of driving in silence, broken only by the many tunes running through my head) to find out they were playing Mary Bergin in concert from Nova Scotia! The one time they have really amazing irish music playing, and I miss 90% of it!

Also, for your information, the man who wrote the traditional song "When a Man's in Love he feels no Cold" never lived in Canada.

Well, here I am back at work in Maple Leaf country, and My Love is in America, but luckily she's old enough that no one can say My Love is But a Lassie Yet. I feel like the Lonesome Bush, even though I'm surrounded by people, feel like I'm Out on the Ocean, drowing of thirst...

But:

Time flies like the wind
and fruit flies like bananas.

Enough rambling....

Detroit Rock City

2008-02-10T15:14:00.000-05:00

Or rather Detroit Irish Traditional Music city...

Ok, I have nothing to write but bad puns.... sooooo....

Actually, I'm sitting here with my girlfriend looking over my shoulder watching me type (on her laptop). It's not helping Alison!!!!!

I love you!

Reavy Tunes

2008-01-21T15:03:00.000-05:00

Thanks to my friend Sol, I have recordings of all of Ed Reavy's tunes. As his son says at the beginning of the recording, any session of irish traditional music in the world will include a Reavy tune at some point.

So I have a list of tunes to learn (and ones I've already started learning).

Learning (or Learned, more or less):
Blessings of Silver
Red Tom of the Hills*
Lane to the Glen
Love at the Endings

To learn:
Memory of Coleman
Hughie's Cap
Hunter's House
Maudabawn Chapel
Whistler of Rosslea*

What others should I add?

Edit (to learn):
Lad O'Beirne's Hornpipe (Sol's suggestion, and now Steph too)
Dances at Kinvara (mine from listening to it)
Hornpipes:
Gypsy's Return
Jigs:
Castleblaney Piper
Bearded Fiddler
Glen Fiddler

From Steph:
Reels:
The Shoemaker's Daughter
The Wild Swans at Coole*
The Letterkenny Blacksmith
Brian Quinn's
The House of Hamill
Never Was Piping So Gay
Fisherman's Island (Brandon recommended too)
The Cuilcagh Mountains
The Way to Shercock
Brefni O'Reilly
Chapel Gate
Molly on the Shore
John Roarty's
Jigs:
The Swans Among the Rushes
And he has a fine setting of the Irish Washerwoman as well
Hornpipes:
Quinn of Armagh
The Lone Bush
The Doctor's Cross
The Road to Drum

* These tunes are featured on the Kane sisters recordings, but seemed to have quite a few important notes substantially altered from Ed's original versions.

coffee porter, hot chocolate, cheesy love songs

2008-01-05T02:23:00.000-05:00

It's 2:23 AM, I'm hopped on too much tea, coffee porter, hot chocolate, and cheesy love songs.

I'm chatting with my girl via the ontrarveb. I'm happy, and sad, and wired. It's a strange feeling. I don't want the feeling to go away.

In a perfect world

Leaving wouldn't have to happen,
Only it does, and it can be
Very hard. But it's ok, or
Else being happy would have nothing to distinguish it.

You may disagree, but I think it's
Only from sadness that we can appreciate the good things in life.
Unless you know loneliness

And sadness, how can you truly know
Love?
It's a great feeling.
So nice, so warm.
Onwards to the future, hopefully
Not without you.

Going nowhere fast

2007-12-31T22:25:00.000-05:00

Livejournal has some nice things, like you can list your mood and what you're listening to. So I'm going to put that here:

Mood: happy, very happy.
Music: Alison playing fiddle in B

It's been a good year. Finished school forever, started on my career, went to oklahome, missouri, illinois, and other points american, went to Ireland for the first time (and alone) and saw the countryside and the people and heard the music, found friends, said goodbye, met my girlfriend (again), corrupted her (which is why she's playing in B), travelled to Detroit way too much but also not enough, discovered I'm happy, finally, and just generally had a blast.

Last year this time I was (for want of anything better) in Niagara Falls with my sisters and their friends. Tonight I'm in love in Toronto with my love and playing tunes, enjoying the food, drink and company, and having a blast.

Life is good. Very good.

Happy New Year and I hope the next is as good as the last!

Stuff and things

2007-12-22T23:28:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back home. (That's Toronto).

I'm off again tomorrow.

That's about all.

Windsor and Detroit!

2007-12-14T16:31:00.000-05:00

My girlie was up for the weekend last weekend to come to my christmas party with me (the party that started it all!). My boss jokingly (or so I thought) asked me if I wanted to work at Windsor Airport this week. I enthusiastically said "Of Course!".

Monday was sad, saying goodbye and all. But then my boss called and asked me again if I wanted to go to Windsor. So monday night found me in Farminton Hills, saying hello again, and I've been there all week. Getting up at 7 is tough, but it's easier when someone else wakes up and makes me tea...

And coming "home" is fantastic.

And it's 4:30 and I'm not about to face the prospect of a 5 hour drive... I'm already here!!!!!

More travel... more ... more.... sigh....

2007-11-23T18:39:00.001-05:00

I am writing this missive from the confines of the Chili's in Calgary Airport, after a day (well, really, a couple hours) spent at Saskatoon Airport, this morning. I spent as much time sitting by my gate waiting for my flight as I did working this morning, I think. Certainly the time spent waiting in both Saskatoon and Calgary will add up to be far more. Which is just fantastic, as far as I'm concerned. There's nothing I like more than travelling to new terminal buildings, experiencing the exotic culture of the airports in far-off places, seeing the wonderful sights of the countryside from 40000 feet.

It certainly sounds impressive when I tell all my classmates that in the past two months I've travelled to Gatineau, QC, St. John's, NF, Montreal, QC, Calgary AB, Edmonton AB, Winnipeg, MB, Vancouver BC, Ft. St. John, BC, Saskatoon, SK, and Detroit. But really the only fun I've had (other than the zoo and Lunasa in Calgary) were had in Detroit. Lots of fun, yes, but still. I've seen (the terminals in) many different places in Canada, and other than learning a handful of nice facts and gaining a touch more experience, I don't feel like I've really accomplished all that much.

I found out yesterday that a friend has a friend in Saskatoon. Had I known that, I'd probably have stayed over with her, if possible, and had a couple tunes or something. Flown back tomorrow and missed the insanity that is Rider's fans travelling to Toronto for the Grey Cup. I must be the only person travelling to Toronto that isn't wearing green.

I don't mind the travelling so much, I guess, but it is stressful. I've got it down to a science, getting through security. And I have the perfect sized suitcase to keep everything as carry-on.

About the only place I want to travel now, is Amergris Cay. Preferably in January or February.
I can't complain too much though. Last week I had the most money I've ever had. Ever. Then I paid the credit card bill... and have another next week... But still!! Most. Money. Ever.

Plus I've discovered the joy of random, unexpected gifts. Not receiving, giving. Flowers are wonderful things. And the internet is a great tool.

Right, that's enough rambling for now.

Travelling up!

2007-11-12T21:07:00.000-05:00

Lots of interesting things going on, which maybe I'll post about someday...

This conversation, in play format (a la WOW) from the elevator ride up with my laundry:

Fellow on Floor 10: "What number are you?"
Me: "19. Thanks."
Fellow on Floor 10: "Ugh, I've got two more of these waters to bring in."
Me: "Oh, that sucks"
Fellow on Floor 10: "I like to drink a lot of water."
Me: "Oh, yeah, I guess that's supposed to be good for you."
Fellow on Floor 10: "I like to drink it especially when drinking."
Me: "..."
Fellow on Floor 10: "I like to drink rum."

He's a lovely chap.

Ok, the things you've been waiting for...

2007-10-19T17:46:00.000-05:00

Right, so for the record, I did not look at a certain person's blog before writing any of these posts today. So this is all a bit random.

So what have I been up to outside of work you ask? Driving to detroit, every other weekend so far. Three times anyway. And another coming up soon.

Then there was the one day that I got sent to Windsor for a Wednesday site visit. Yeah, I went to detroit Tuesday night and slept over.

Of course there was also the great weekend when she came up herself to Toronto. That was a lot of fun.

We went to the Thursday session and were welcomed quite warmly there. (Only the second or maybe third time I've sat on the stage. It's ok.) It was Pat's night to host, but I went over there last night and Kelly, Pat's wife, and a fine piper, was asking me a bit about her... So word gets around I guess! We visited the CN Tower, Canada's National Symbol of Compensation. ("Yeah? Yeah America? Well... well, who cares if you've got a big army, our 'tower' is bigger than yours! Hah!! In your face America!!") We had a really nice date to the ROM and out to eat. In between we even had thanksgiving dinner with my parents and my brother and his wife. It was a great weekend. Other highlights include Father Ted. Oh yeah, gotta love Father Ted!

Then there was the sad goodbye on Tuesday morning. But followed later that day by the peculiar happiness only a work trip that coincidentally lets me go to Detroit can bring. So happy hellos that night! Of course, then there was the sad goodbye again the next day. And another happy hello on Friday. And another sad goodbye on Sunday. That once was the worst. It was an emotional rollercoaster.

In other news, two friends from Boulder stayed over last night, on their way to Elora. I think they were comfortable enough. I hope. It's really too small for more than 1 house guest, my apartment. On the way home from the session, I even got to put on my spare tire for the first time ever!! After a blow-out. Today, my bank account is smaller. But I have 4 new tires (it was time, anyway), and new front brakes. So I guess that's good!

Right, that's all, I guess.

Oh, I might buy a 150+ year old flute.

Memories of Ireland part 11 (I think)

2007-10-19T17:33:00.000-05:00

Riding the bus from Reanairee to Macroom in West Cork with a half dozen retirees on a Thursday morning. This is the only bus that goes between these two villages all week. It travels about twice each way that day.

I think that it's for these lovely old folks to go and get the pension cheques.

On fellow was quite friendly. Said hello (I think) at the post office and chatted with me in Macroom when I ran across him while wandering around.

I think I probably talked to him about a half hour that day, in total. Not a clue of a single thing he said.

That Cork accent is thick!

The broom dance revisited...

2007-10-19T17:30:00.000-05:00

My friend sent me this:

This is Des, the host of a nice session in Hamilton, Ontario. He's a good friend. I went to the session for 4 months almost 3 years ago. I've been sporadically since then. Never, in all this time, did I know he danced, and quite well.

This is the wonders of "Internet". I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry. I'm not sure whether to lie in awe or cringe in horror.

Oh well, it's still a neat little dance!

Strange things happening...

2007-10-19T17:20:00.000-05:00

I was going to write a long post
about the things that have been happening
This month has been quite the most
interesting in some time.

Instead I think I'll simply post
a poem I hope to be enlightening
it is a poem to which I toast
this post of mine:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At night my mind does not much care
If what it thinks is here or there.
It tells me stories it invents
And makes up things that don't make sense.
I don't know why it does this stuff.
The real world seems quite weird enough.

--Bill Watterson

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And yet another
will be posted here below
'cause I can do this:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I did not want to go with them.
Alas, I had no choice.
This was made quite clear to me
In threat'ning tones of voice.

I protested mightily
And scrambled 'cross the floor.
But though I grabbed the furniture,
They dragged me out the door.

In the car, I screamed and moaned.
I cried my red eyes dry.
The window down, I yelled for help
To the people we passed by.

Mom and Dad can make the rules
And certain things forbid,
But I can make them wish that they
Had never had a kid.

--Bill Watterson

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You might recognize the name from Calvin & Hobbes.
He's much better than I am, isn't he?

More Calgary fun

2007-09-26T19:18:00.000-05:00

Writing this in my hotel after day 3 of the conference that sent me out here.

So some highlights. Myself and my mentor/senior electrical project engineer went to Lethbridge to the airport to look around there. That was neat and some nice sights along the way. It's interesting how similar everything looks to Colorado, although the temperature is much colder here.

I went to my first ever Lunasa concert, which was a bit surreal. Sat and talked to a nice old irishman, who's daughter and himself hadn't a clue what Lunasa even was. They were alright, but not worth the money it cost. I did have some moments when I could hardly keep from laughing. The introducer, for instance, a radio host, said something along the lines of: "When I'm looking for good celtic music I'm not looking for the diddlydee, I'm looking for something creative and innovative." Well, my first impulse was to walk out in anger, actually, but meh, I'm lazy. After that I had to keep from laughing at him. I mean, come on, Willie Clancy and Seamus Ennis?? Bobby Casey, Tommy Potts, Ellen Galvin, Johnny Doherty??? All of these guys were diddly-dee to the core. These guys are "it" when it comes to good irish music. And at the same time, they were the most creative and innovative irish musicians ever recorded. You can't say something like that and claim to have any credibility when it comes to knowledge of irish music. It just isn't possible.

Lunasa was ok, kind of creative, but every single set of tunes: "This set comes from our cd '---'". That's not creativity. Creativity is Ennis playing the Silver Spear. Different every time he played it. Lunasa has a bass player. That's not innovation. Innovation is throwing in melodic twists and rhythmic variation like Potts' playing just about anything.

As far as I could hear, Lunasa isn't more creative or innovative, it's simply more accessible. That could be considered a good thing, but then again most pop music is eminently accessible, but people who are knowledgeable about music don't consider most pop music to be good music.

But these are my own opinions, and that's ok, I'm just one person!

I went to the zoo on Sunday. I like zoos. It was neat to come across two separate animals being fed by the zookeepers. There's something touching about watching a cute little animal being fed.

Work is great

2007-09-21T00:30:00.000-05:00

I may have to figure out a way of limiting the publicity of this blog, just because I think I'm going to be working for my company a long time.

I have been to Gatineau, Quebec (twice), St. John's, NFLD, and now am writing this from Calgary, Alberta, all through my company.

What a sweet job I have! Sucks to be you, all my former classmates / desk-bound research assistants...

Yeah, I like it here.

Random Memories of Ireland Part 10

2007-09-01T16:09:00.001-05:00

The broom dance!

It's quite cool.

Random Memories of Ireland Part 9

2007-08-29T08:37:00.000-05:00

I made a reference to a marathon session that I just realized I hadn't actually mentioned previously.

The second (or possibly the) best session I had in Ireland for the whole month was also in B, also at the Willie Clancy Summer School. My teacher for the week's piping classes was Tommy Keane, a very fine piper (who collaborated with the Pogues for an album) and a genuinely nice guy. I think he gave me a lift from where our class was to the main stage place almost every day after class. I gave him some more recordings of Tommy Reck, who we both love listening to. I had actually met him last fall at the East Coast Tionol.

Tommy is married to Jacqueline McCarthy, one of at least three sisters, Bernadette and Marion being the other two. The four of them, plus such luminaries as Mary Bergin, Claire Keville, Bill Haneman, and Charlie Harris, as well as some people nearer my own age, one of the Mulcahey girls, sons and daughters of the various McCarthys, and my friend Una. All of them, the whole lot, playing in B, the best key for irish music, I think. Charlie played on the B row, Jackie has a B concertina, Tommy had his B pipes out (as did I) and his B whistle (again, as did I). Bill played my chanter for a while while I worked at it on the whistle. Annie-Ruth, Bernadette's oldest daughter and I played a great set of tunes on duet whistles. Great fun, sounded like we'd practised it, even though I didn't say more than "Do you know this tune" and started playing the first. I looked at her, she looked at me, and we went right into the next tune, and then the next. Perfect, just perfect.

The tunes were flying, and Tommy's son came and took over his pipes. Tommy came back and stole his daughter's fiddle and played away. That man is great. Claire played Jackie's concertina a bit, and Mary played Tommy's whistle. Una had tuned her harp to play along and it added just the right amount. The clan started at 1, I was told. I didn't start playing until 4 or 5, but I listened from about 2:30. Una, Chevon (Tommy's eldest daughter), Annie-Ruth, and myself closed the place out at about 2:30. 2:30am, that is.

I guess there's a reason "beautiful music" starts with B.

Random music quote

2007-08-23T10:09:00.000-05:00

A few fellows are at the bar, some very fine traditional musicians, and the eminent Paddy Cronin, a fine fiddler, in amongst them. Paddy would be getting into his late 80s by this point.

A band playing at a stage off to the side, this being during a festival and the band having been hired to ensure the tourists get their fill. The accordion player, or lead melody player is thrashing the music to no end. Just a string of notes, blasted away with little or no feeling at all.

After, Paddy goes to the man and says "Ah now, that's great stuff. Keep that up, keep playing that way! Don't change a note. Because there's no money in good music."

Random Memories of Ireland Part Eight

2007-08-23T10:00:00.000-05:00

I'm running out of random memories... Lots of good times though.

I had a nice time listening to Peadar O'Riada and Connie O'Connel playing superfast but very smooth tunes in a pub in Ballyvourney I believe.

Also had a few nice tunes in another pub in West Cork somewhere, with a very funny moment when a fellow tried to sing a song. He was pretty awful. One note, very monotone, and not even the same note throughout (ie he dropped in pitch by the end of the song). My friend was fighting to keep from laughing.

I think this same fellow or his brother was in Miltown. During the marathon B session with the McCarthy clan, some fellow decided to honour us with a song, probably figuring at this point we were all dying for one, having been playing and getting into a great groove with the tunes for a fcw hours now. One note. And not the same note by the end.

Says I, tongue-in-cheek, to my friend Una: "Now, Una, would that be considered 'good'?"

"No. Absolutely not." She replied abruptly and with some vehemance.

"I didn't think so." I said, a twinkle in my eye.

And back to the tunes in both cases, happy that the song was put to rest.

Random Memories of Ireland Part ┌π*2┐

2007-08-10T14:33:00.000-05:00

Another memory from Willie Clancy week:

I ended up at a session out of town in a pub that's been closed for a couple years, listening to a handful of pipers and fiddlers playing in B. One of the pipers there was Seamus Rohan, custodian of a very nice old B set. At one point, due to a sufficient amount of drink, and the taking of a break from playing by Seamus, I asked if I might try the set. He said yes, and I proceeded to play a half dozen tunes on Willie Clancy's old Coyne B set.

I'm not afraid of death anymore. I've been to heaven.

Random Memories of Ireland Part 6

2007-08-10T07:25:00.000-05:00

I just remembered I ran into a friend of a friend at the Willie Clancy Summer school. His name is Marty O'Keefe, and I met him in Pembroke, NY at my friend Steph's house. He's 94. He's a fantastic fiddler and concertina player, and a really funny guy.

I was told he had to be carried off the stage at the fiddle concert, while still playing (they just lifted his chair off stage) because he just wouldn't stop playing.

He remembered me from Pembroke, which is impressive, and he asked me if Steph was dating anyone. I wasn't sure, so I said that, and he replied that if she wasn't, not to worry, he'd date her any time.

My aim is to be as full of energy when I'm 94.

Random Memories of Ireland Part 5

2007-08-08T11:00:00.000-05:00

The first session I went to, the first spot of music I had in all of Ireland was in Dublin at the Cobblestones Pub. I ended up going back there the next two days as well, it was just that good.

It was good even though I can now say completely truthfully that St. Louis has got nothing on Dublin for number of banjos at a session. That first session, there were three. That's right three (3, three?, three!!). That doesn't sound too bad, except there were no more than 12 musicians there (and I'm grudgingly including the banjoists in that count). I got to talking to one of them and he was telling me about how his mate had this great piping version of a tune we had just played, called "The Cook in the Kitchen". I expressed my interest and he went on to say how his mate had got it from Tommy Reck. I had to laugh, as that's where I had got the tune from myself. I then asked him who his mate was, and he said "Barney McKenna."

I had a moment of awe as I recalled this recording. That's right, that's Tommy Reck playing "The Cook in the Kitchen" with none other than banjo master Barney McKenna.

Random Memories of Ireland Part 4

2007-08-08T10:25:00.000-05:00

I had a pint in the highest pub in Ireland, the Top of Coom pub.

It was a pint of Murphy's.

Random memories of Ireland part 3

2007-08-01T18:10:00.001-05:00

My friends in Cork (the erstwhile sligo phil and his wife) said that the nice thing about Ireland is that it's never so cold you'll die and never so warm that you can't have a fire in the hearth at night.

I like that.

Gah it's hot here.

Random Memories of Ireland Part 2

2007-07-31T20:42:00.000-05:00

Dublin was fun. I went to a pub to listen to good irish music, and ended up playing at three sessions there, while talking to a french lady and her granddaughter (in french of course), and translating for a Traveller who used to be on an irish soap opera.

Then I laughed and cried a little at the sight of shops and pubs closed regardless of signs on their doors saying they should be open around the square where the horse trading was going on. Might be because most (all?) of the participants were Travellers. It was 1 or so when I took this photo:

I walked past a Spar (a convenience store common over there) several times with this out front:

That's Ireland I suppose.

Random memories of Ireland part 1

2007-07-31T10:19:00.000-05:00

I played at a wedding near Ennis in County Clare. (Or Inis, as the person who roped/dragged/bribed/nicely asked me to play at the wedding with her, would call it. Inis is Irish for Ennis.)

That was fun, if a bit surreal. The bride was from New Zealand, so needless to say her side of the family was ecstatic to have such an authentic "Irish" wedding. Harp & Uilleann pipes! I didn't screw up, so yay. But yeah, I'd never met them before, and yet the day after I was at the father of the groom's house hanging out with the family. ("Did he say he's canadian? What's he doing playing irish pipes??") It was fun.

Nicolas Brown's Back in Town

2007-07-31T10:09:00.000-05:00

Right, well, I'm back. I just spent a month in Ireland. More on that later, I suppose...

2007-06-26T08:27:00.000-05:00

Oh yeah, geography:

While driving from Port Elgin to Owen Sound for the session, I expressed my confusion as to where counties, regions, and cities are in Ireland. This was while driving with my friend from Dublin. One of the many random pieces of scrap paper was called into service, and a geography lesson ensued. Now I know where Connaught, Galway, Clare, Cork, and some other smaller towns and cities are. Sort of.

St Louis, Oklahoma

2007-06-04T15:37:00.000-05:00

No, I don't need geography lessons (well, I do, actually, more on that later, but not for the states).

I hopped in the car the day after my Last. Exam. Ever. to drive to St Louis for the St Louis Tionol. (For those of you not in "the know" that's a gathering of irish musicians, used to mean just pipers, but nowadays it's open to all and sundry. Even banjos. In St Louis, especially banjos. There were more banjos per capita than I have ever seen in my life.)

St Louis by way of Chicago where I had a lovely session with some nice Chicagoan musicians. (Note to self, email said nice musicians.) I made up the word Chicagoan, I think. And then by way of Route 66, to the best of my abilities. It took a lot longer, but it was a really nice drive. I even got sunburnt. On my left arm only.

The tionol was nice. Got a few nice tunes from Mike Rafferty. (Note to self, learn said nice tunes.) Had a few nice tunes with various friends, acquaintances, strangers, and the like. Met the infamous banana flute, and its owner, of course. Both very nice ladies. (Or was that flute a male flute? hmmm...) Played tunes in the hotel lobby until 4:30am.

After some nice Sunday afternoon tunes with Mickey Dunne, Tim Britton, a very young and very nice piper from west of Oklahoma city, and a few other people, I hopped in the car once again and drove to Pryor Creek, OK.

After some serious bigwig kibbitzing, some multi-million dollar business sche... er... plans made, and other matters of international commerce, the heads of Waldco and Brownian Corporation hit the county. It was really nice to see Oklahoma and all the really cool old sites and interesting places. Nice poodles too, although they didn't really like me that much.

A long drive later, and I was back in Ontario. Stopped for some tea and a couple tunes on a gorgeous little set of union pipes.

That Sunday, a drive back to Port Elgin, where I was to spend the next week getting acquainted with work. That became two weeks, and then four, until I was finally out of that tiny little one-horse town. I did get to fly down to Windsor and Sarnia in the company plane. (single-prop Cessna, not that impressive, but cool nonetheless.)

One day in Toronto, and the next I'm off to St John's, Newfoundland. It was cold. I saw an iceberg. Some day I'll go back and really look around, but it was neat anyway. I'm back in Toronto now, living in Scarborough (and hence dreading the 1h40m trip home.) with a musician friend, and looking forward to more trips to come.

Oh, and I have a B chanter now.

School: No more.

2007-04-28T12:07:00.001-05:00

I'm done. I passed everything.

No more school for me, ever.

New Product from BrownianCorp

2007-03-01T19:55:00.000-05:00

BrownianCorp is completely unaffiliated with WaldCo, so don't go looking for secret ties, they don't exist! Really, SEC guys, stop looking. I've never even been to Oklahoma.

Whatever doesn't kill you* will only make you stronger, so Drink Pasig Super Water.

*Not guarenteed to not kill you

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasig_River

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and umm... Happy St. Valentine's Day...

2007-03-01T19:35:00.000-05:00

Riiiiiight.

It's been a bit...

So, some interesting things:

My sister got hitched. It went well, no shotgun needed. I played, with my almost mint condition sister-in-law, all the ceremony music. That would be uilleann pipes and violin (not fiddle, she's classical!).

I presented my fourth year project (with my team): The one second from the left is a lab instructor, not a team mate.

Our project was Router911... we did fairly well, and most importantly, it's over.

Not too much else interesting until February.

February, you ask? Well, that's when engineers at Waterloo get ringed. It's an engineering thing. Kipling designed it, so if you don't like it, take it up with him. www.ironring.ca

That's all for now!

Life, death, love, music, etc etc etc

2006-12-13T19:51:00.000-05:00

The work term is almost done. I realize I haven't really posted much in the last 4 months. I'm ok with that, really, but it means I've not been sharing some things that perhaps people would possibly be interested in...

The beach is cool. Literally. Very windy. It's still good for walks, but now that I finally have my winter boots, there's no snow.

Life is a bit good and a bit sad. One of my classmates died two weeks ago today. The funeral was on Saturday, and it was very sad. She was a pretty good friend, and I'll certainly miss her.

I had a party, though, so that helped cheer me up a bit. Good food, good friends, good music.

I also got a job offer. Not bad, considering I've only applied to two jobs, and haven't gotten an interview. I'll probably take it, as it's pretty much what I want and where I want. Well, actually, I already accepted, but I asked for a few things... So I'm waiting to hear the verdict.

I finished all my christmas shopping a week and a half ago, and am the only person with presents under the tree. One of them is fuzzy and purrs... I miss my cat.

I successfully switched my order for regulators for my order for a flat set, so I'll only get the latter in 5 or so years instead of 6 or so... I know, that means nothing to all of you.

My plans for vacation in Ireland are well on their way... well, actually, no. But work won't interfere, so that's good!

Hmm... This is why I don't post... Not too much to say. I got new tires.

Good Shtuff

2006-11-16T23:04:00.000-05:00

Here's another video:

Posted By:Caoimhín Ó Raghallaigh

Get this video and more at MySpace.com

Hardanger fiddle and Uilleann pipes, playing particularly tasty irish music.

This is amazing

2006-10-04T19:42:00.000-05:00

To copy Jack, sort of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aF3fW4Nox9U

Home, James

2006-09-30T15:06:00.000-05:00

So I came home to Fergus for the weekend.

Hung out with my no-longer-in-Germany friend. That was good. Going to a ceili later.

There isn't much to tell, really. More walking. It's fun to see the lake every day and see how it's changing as the weather gets worse.

A couple days it was steel blue, grey almost, and you couldn't hardly tell where the water ended and sky started. That was a nice, brisk walk.

Another time, it was sort of warm, right at dusk, and I played my flute on a bench looking out over the water. I got back and it started raining. Then I went over to my friend's house for some tunes, and was made to feel young, hearing all his stories about playing music in Dublin in the 1950s and '60s. It was good, but daunting. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but one thing I really love about this irish music thing is the tradition. The unbroken (or at least discernible) link to times past, people and places in far distant shores and all that.

Not so bad after all

2006-09-13T20:49:00.000-05:00

I think it won't be too bad of a fall after all. At least not until snow comes. Let me explain:

Last night I went up to Owen Sound (riding in a VW van, really old one too, for those who must know these things) with the fellow in town who plays irish music. We went to a nice little pub and had a really nice irish session. Well, mostly irish. There were a couple new tunes that were played, but they were really nice, so it was ok. It was strange, though: two pipers, 4 flute/whistle (well, and /box/pipe) players, two mandolinists, and only one fiddler. Usually fiddlers swamp sessions. It was definitely nice! There were some great musical moments, so that was a plus. I had a blast showing two whistlers how to cheat to play tunes in A instead of in G.

Tomorrow I get to go north of Owen Sound to go surveying.

I like long walks on the beach...

2006-09-11T19:25:00.000-05:00

Well, I do.

I'm living a short 5 minute walk to the beach (of Lake Huron) and I've been making a bit of a habbit of going for a walk before supper. Work, get home, change into walking clothes, go walk the beach for an hour, with a break for some tunes by the lake.

That's about all that's new.

Small Town Fun

2006-09-07T17:50:00.000-05:00

What to do in a small town???

I've started work again. My last Co-op term ever. This time next year I'll hopefully be working at the start of my career.

I'm in Port Elgin, which is a town even smaller (at least during the off-season) than Fergus. I don't know how much travelling there'll be, but we'll see won't we?

The last 8 months seem to have gone by fast, in retrospect, but they sure weren't fast while in 'em.

Some travels of note:

Chris Langan Weekend--> hiking, music, music, music, walking, music, walking, music....

Visiting a friend in Ithaca, NY --> music, hiking, music, music, visiting a pipe maker, music...

Visiting another friend in Batavia, NY --> PETER HORAN!!! (And Gerry Harrington!) ie, music!!

Four weeks after exams before work --> pure bliss (ie, lots of music, and strangely enough, even some hiking). One weekend was the Mill Race, followed by a concert from my friend that I played at. Then came the Goderich Celtic Festival, which was loads of fun. Starting a session and watching it go Quebecois was really cool. Concert by too Scottish bands followed. A weekend off, but a great session and hiking and then having to say goodbye to my friend... sort of mixed feelings. Oh well, someone to visit in Ireland! Weekend after was visiting my sister in Trois Rivieres, with a jaunt to Montreal for La Grande Rencontre ("Des Iles et des Reels"), staying with a week-old friend, and playing while she danced. A family vacation to Ottawa was last weekend.

Good times.

On The Road Again

2006-09-07T12:38:00.000-05:00

I'm working again. I'm in Port Elgin. For all you who just said "Where??", look it up: http://www.maps.google.ca

More later.

Anyone still there?

2006-07-30T21:40:00.000-05:00

Bueller?

Right. Almost there. In four days I will be done my penultimate semester. Ever.

Freedom I can taste thee.

Journey of a different sort

2006-02-10T00:43:00.000-05:00

Heh, I'd pretty much vowed not to use this again. That's easy when you're in school, though. I mean, it's not like I'm journeying anywhere! And nobody wants to hear about studying....

But, I've been chatting with a lovely lass from Reno, and we (somehow) got into talking about the music we listen to. Of course, this involved massive emails of tracks to share. Now, I'm not talking about the traditional stuff I listen to 99% of the time. No, I mean the stuff from my long gone days of teenagedness. That's right, the best of Christian Contempary, and some not quite so contempary.

Third Day, of course, but also the Dingees, FeF, Reliant K, and some of hers. Jennifer Knapp, Jeremy Camp...

Audio Adrenaline was mentioned.

"SING THE HAIRBRUSH SONG"

Oh the memories... oh the fun we had...

Yep, this was a journey... down memory lane.

Last Session in Boulder

2005-12-20T21:19:00.000-05:00

Sunday night was my last session in Boulder, Colorado. We played some good tunes. We had fun. We cried a little, but we went home, knowing (hoping?) that this was only "Farewell" not "Good-bye".

They signed a card, and gave me a photo, and a vest to remember Sunday nights at Conor O'Neil's.

And they asked me to give another recitation (like my tribute last week) or to play a jig. So I did both. I told Seamus Ennis' story about a competition between two pipers and played the tune that won the competition, a tune inspired by a lark in the dawn sky, The Lark's March.

I sat and listened to a good friend play What a Wonderful World ala Tony McManus, and I thought to myself, "Yes, what a wonderful world."

That I can meet such good friends, many of whom I've only ever met in a slightly dark pub on Sunday nights, playing a music originally from a small, mostly unimportant island in the northern atlantic, is pretty inconceivable. That this bar is on the other side of the continent, and nearly twice as far from that island, as my home, only adds to the sheer incredibility.

Farewell, Boulder. Until we meet again.

YIPPPEEEEEE!

2005-12-20T10:13:00.000-05:00

Last night, I got a call on GoogleTalk from my mom. At 10:30 my time. That's WAY past her bed time.

I said hello she said hello, and then my sister from Australia said hello!!!! MY SISTER IS IN ONTARIO!!!

I get to see her for christmas and I'm way too excited.... I also get to meet her boyfriend.

What a great Christmas this will be.

A Week in Review

2005-12-17T00:55:00.000-05:00

It's been a pretty good week. I'll start by listing what happened, and then elucidate...

1) Sunday night: Farewell party

2) Monday night Christmas Party

3) Tuesday: slow day at work due to recovery from aformentioned christmas party

4) Wednesday: house session

5) Thursday: piping, laundry

6) Tonight: Work farewell party

So the Session on Sunday I already talked about, but I will mention a couple of other salient points. I had a couple drinks bought for me by an appreciative audience. It went way too late... and yet, not late enough. Music, Guiness, Tullamore Dew.... such fun.

Monday night was amazing. We got picked up at work at about 4 (I think), by a stretch Hummer. Yes, that's right, a stretch Hummer. In the heart of left-wing, enviromentally friendly, hippy capital Boulder, we got picked up by the epitomy of wastefulness, the icon of excessive consumerism, multiplied by one hundred, a huge STRETCH HUMMER!!!

As if that wasn't enough, it was filled with apple juice. That's "apple juice" for my ESQ friends.

From Boulder, we went to downtown Denver (I think. The "apple juice" made things a bit hazy, combined with my absolute lack of knowledge of Colorado geography) to a seafood restaurant. At least, it seems like that's all they had. We ordered a double selection of all the appetizers (well, our boss did... it was a work christmas party after all). Many of us also had chowder. Very good food!! I had an oyster (from the shell) for the first time that I can remember. Well, I sort of remember it...

Immediately afterwards we went to the already started Ottawa Senators vs Denver Avalanche hockey game. Not all the seats were together, so I headed to my seat with three others, where we sat TWO ROWS AWAY!!! (from the ice) I think I finally understand why so many people like sports. It's so much more enjoyable with a little lubrication. Of course, that still doesn't explain why my brother likes sports...

The ride home was amusing. It involved a stop at a bowling alley. And a stretch Hummer trying to turn on very narrow streets. I would say that without a doubt, this was the best christmas party I've ever been to, and likely will remain as one of the best for a very long time to come... unless they can top it next year!

Tuesday... I don't think I want to remember Tuesday. At work by 8 (ok, 8:30, and I still beat my boss). I think I started getting productive after lunch (and more than one coffee). But I'm probably deluding myself. I probably really didn't get productive until Wednesday.

Wednesday night I went to a piper's house in Longmont, played tunes with him and another piper, a banjo and a fiddle player. Not bad, and some good discussions happening.

Thursday I finally did laundry. So much for Tuesday being anything but a recouperation.

I just got back from the farewell party for a couple who are leaving for Washington DC. I'm rather amazed that this is even coherent. I love my bosses!

What a great company.

Farewell to Boulder

2005-12-13T23:29:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was quite interesting. Besides the lack of hot water.... or well, maybe due in part to that as well.

Saturday I was invited to use a friend's shower. After we had a few tunes in her kitchen. Best place for music in my opinion.

After supper at the bastion of American pop/hick culture (oh sorry, sis, the other bastion) IHOP, yeah that's right, I ate at IHOP, we headed to a contra-dance. It's like line-dancing, but the band playing had a piper. So we stuck around afterwards and had more tunes. Up on Sunday and back to my watering hole (er.. the shower) and then off to the Small Circle Slow Session. It was interesting. Haven't been missing much, anyway. However, instead of heading back home for a hair cut (going on four months now) we went to another piper's house and had more tunes. Great stuff!!

After watching my piper friend ride her horse for a bit, we headed to the Boulder session for some food and tunes. It was a sad night. One of the fiddlers is headed off to california for the winter, so it was a farewell of sorts. It's also my second last one, so that was weighing on my head. I've made some great friends.

So, in honour of the session, and Sunday nights spent in a pub, I wrote and recited the following tribute to music by the mountains:

The week starts off slow, Monday mornings and all
Work, eat, sleep, repeat five times.

Weekend comes, and a promise of fun
And Sunday is here again.
Hop on the bus, and head downtown
Seven, seven thirty, and people are there

I grab a pint, strap on the pipes, tune the drones, if I can hear them
It starts off gently, concertina, guitar, maybe a fiddle or two. The pipes of course. The twang of the mandolin adds a pleasing hue. A couple of jigs, reels, maybe a polka, too.

Our fingers get warmed up, and tune after tune comes streaming out. Another player joins the fray, a banjo perhaps, or even a flute, or one or two more fiddles. Bodhrans drive our reels on, and guitars add a chord or nine…

The whistle, (the whistles?) soar above, the fiddles hold the fort and the mandolins play on.

Then we stop, a singer sings a song, a lovely, sad, beautiful, song.

But that doesn’t bring us down, we rebound, more reels, more jigs, more tunes are played. The foxhunters, in A, the Dminor reels, the crazy cool jig.

I listen a lot, but encourage the music with a yelp, and a whoop, and a nod. I play a tune for you, maybe not my best, but you all smile, and give that encouragement right back.

The night grows late, the session gets smaller, and younger, but the music keeps going. The pipes duet. Cunla gets sung. The fiddlers play another set. Fries are ordered, delivered and devoured, and the music keeps coming, still strong, still amazingly fun. Then it’s over. We all get up, pack up, and head for home. Another session, come, and gone, but still with us. The memories live on.

I will always remember fondly the Sunday nights in Boulder. Reels in A that should be in G. Jigs from Italy, Chicago, and elsewhere shared for all. A group of friends, I never would have met, sitting at home in front of the TV. A home away from home. An escape.

I’ll remember the fiddlers, the guitarists, the mandolinists, and the banjo player driving me on, every time I play the Humours of Tulla. I’ll remember the tunes we have played, and friends I have made. I’ll remember you all, on the cold Sunday nights in Canada. And I’ll play a tune, and you’ll all be there too.
Saying goodbye is never easy, it’s never fun. So I’m saying farewell, until we meet again.

Hot Water

2005-12-13T18:49:00.000-05:00

I love hot water. The best part of my day (hyperbole alert) is waking up and taking a nice hot shower.

This is why I am extremely upset that ever since Thursday night there has been no hot water at my apartment.

No showers, no clean dishes, no... Well, actually that's about all I use it for.

SNOW!!

2005-12-09T23:45:00.000-05:00

It's been COLD here in Boulder.

And I was on top of two roofs on Tueday while it was cooling and snowing. Cold, icy and very windy roofs.

Fun.

Irish Traditional Music

2005-12-01T23:45:00.000-05:00

I'm sure that many of my friends, and probably my family, too, want to know why exactly I am so in love with this somewhat obscure style of music.

Here's part of the reason. And it's a big part. In case all the clues aren't enough, I am that Canadian she talks about.

She's made some good points. At the root of my pleasure is this meeting of friends. It isn't just the music, although the music is amazing in and of itself. It's hanging out. It's sharing something private, personal and, dare I say, intimate. Two jigs we've been playing I taught her. They come from my pipe teacher back home. Every time I play them, I think of him, and remember sitting in his kitchen, with turf burning, a pint of Guinness at hand, or sitting in his living room, with a fire in the fireplace. But I know he got them from a record of another piper. This record was made back in the '70s, and that piper got them from another piper who died around 1945, and recorded only shortly before. And I'm sure he got them from his teacher... There's a history you don't get listening to Broken Social Scene (that's for you Jack).

But it's also not just a performance music. It's very much participatory. Sure, you have to get good, you have to practise, but you can also just hang out and make music. You don't have to perform, or be in a band, or be arranged. You sit down at a table or counter and play a reel with a friend.

And every tune you play has a story. It has a memory attached. It's a link to a different time, a different place. It's an unbroken lineage of music that links you to an entire other world.

There is certain pleasure in meeting new people, and joy in passing on a jig to a new friend. There is joy in being taught a new tune and in playing it for your old friends. And telling the story of where it came from.

Ginger Snap, Peanut Butter

2005-12-01T23:43:00.000-05:00

Cookies are so tasty!

I made a third batch of cookies tonight. Ginger snap again. Peanut Butter on Tuesday night and Ginger snap last week...

I made 'em a little smaller, so I have plenty. Lucky, too, because I over-cooked the last 14 by accident.

I was fine until SHE came!!

2005-11-27T15:37:00.000-05:00

To all of you out there: Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Let it be known that the 24th of November is the PROPER time for Thanksgiving. None of this before hallowe'en stuff! This way, laws can be passed forbidding Christmas decorations until after Thanksgiving, which would mean no decorations before hallowe'en (grr...).

Actually, other than providing a valid start date for pre-christmas mania, the American date really doesn't make much sense. How many places have just finished the harvest, as in the tale told about this holiday?

Then again, the reasons for the Canadian thanksgiving being completely unrelated to harvest time and Pilgrims, neither holiday really makes much sense.

At any rate, this holiday was really great for one reason only: My sister came to visit! She showed up Wednesday night in Denver (at the airport) where I met her after a 1.75 hour bus ride (DIA is only 40 mins from my apartment by car). We drove home, stopping at a Super Target (pronounced tar-jay ironically. The irony is because it's the "fancy" version of Walmart. And fancy stores usually have french names. It's really just pronounced like the thing you shoot arrows at. I'm going to continue my sentence now.), and eating at some bar-type establishment. Mmm wings and shrimp. We stopped at Target to get a lefse rolling pin, or, failing that, a regular rolling pin. Unfortunately, even though the Safeway grocery stores sell lefse, Target does not in fact sell lefse rolling pins. My illustrious sister, it being after midnight by her clock, went to sleep fairly quickly upon arrival.

The next day (thanksgiving) I awoke to find my sister admiring and photographing the view outside my window. Much of the day was given over to lefse making and eventually to lefse eating. As well as a turkey dinner for two from Wild Oats Markets (a "natural/organic foods" grocery store). Wild Oats markets is very big here, in areas in California, and in BC near Vancouver. In case all those clues didn't help, there were a LOT of hippies inside. Very different. We actually bought stuff to make a pumpkin pie (whole wheat pie shells, can you believe it?) and some "natural" dark chocolate. (I worked at a health food warehouse, so I have no respect at all for the claims of companies to provide "natural", "health" or "organic" foods.) Upon arrival home, we discovered that heating the "pre-cooked" turkey would take an hour. This worked out surprisingly well, and we eneded up having a nice Thanksgiving meal in front of the TV watching Alexander.

Friday started, not too early, with a hike up the foothills mountain. Or one of the mountains anyway. We started out along the trail and quickly realized that even though there was snow in some places, it was still summer like in weather. Or maybe late Spring. There were birds chirping, squirrels scurrying, and absolutely stunning views all around.
After the hike, we walked around the Pearl Street mall, in downtown Boulder. It was alright, but the views were definitely stranger. A short afternoon session followed our turkey sandwiches, in which it was realized that 1) this is the first time I've seen my sister in over 4 months and 2) this is the first time my sister has seen or heard my pipes in person, ever!

We watched our second movie (SW Ep. 3) with a dinner of leftover turkey. And more lefse.

Saturday was a big day. We wer up at 6 and on the road by 7 to go to Breckenridge. That's right, I went skiing (my sister went snowboarding) in Colorado. It was great. Very tiring, but I only fell 4 times! 3 times on the first run (and the first was spectacular) 1 on the second, and after that I didn't fall. I think we figured that even though I only went up half as much as my sister, I skied about the same distance. Lots of back and forth across the run! Even with me "taking it easy", I'm still extremely sore today.

This morning, my sister left. I'm starting to feel a little bit homesick, which is funny, since I haven't felt homesick at all until my sister came. Only another month, and I'll be seeing her and my parents (and a whole bunch of relatives) for Christmas.

Two quick postscripts:
1) The RTD bus system in Boulder is really cool. Besides the free bus pass if you work full-time downtown, the buses are painted and have cool names (not just numbers!) like Dash, Bound, Bolt, Jump, Hop, and a few others. I ride the Skip home from work everyday:

2) On our way to Breckenridge yesterday, we went through a tunnel, before which we were over two miles up. That's over eleven thousand feet above sea level.

Speaking of receipes

2005-11-19T14:56:00.000-05:00

If you ever have a question about what the heck something in a receipe is, or you want to substitute items, or you have a general question about cooking go here.

I'm going to cook....

2005-11-19T14:50:00.000-05:00

Scary, isn't it?

I'm about to head out to get groceries to make cookies, a salad, and lefse.

The cookies are fine, except I think I'll substitute margarine (or maybe butter) for shortening.

The salad is going to be very strange. Reading the receipe (given by a friend) I thought first: "red wine vinegar? I'll use it for this and have a bottle kicking around forever." So my friend told me to substitute balsamic vinegar which is useful for bread dipping, frying vegetables, and other things. Then I looked at the receipe again and thought "What the heck is prepared mustard?" Well, it turns out, that's just a fancy name for regular old hot dog mustard. More or less...

Lefse... mmmmm lefse....

My sister's coming on Wednesday, so on Turkey Day (ie American thanksgiving), we're going to make lefse. 10 lbs of potatoes, here we come!

Why I love Canada

2005-11-17T15:45:00.000-05:00

"Discrimination in the playroom will not be tolerated."

Where'd they go?

2005-11-17T14:48:00.000-05:00

I looked out my window and it took me a minute: The mountains are gone.

It's snowing yet again. And it's big, fluffy snow. Doesn't look like it's staying, but it's snowing hard enough that I can't see the mountains (which are within 10 miles... so visibility is low).

Let it snow, let is snow let it snow

2005-11-15T21:13:00.000-05:00

As the title no doubt suggests, it snowed yesterday. It was really more surprising than anything, because it was quite fall-like right until yesterday: warm weather, colourful leaves, deer walking along the sidewalk in front of you...

But, nonetheless, upon leaving work shortly prior to 6pm, I discovered that the first taste of winter was upon us. Standing outside at the bus stop, with the snow falling gently down, and the sound of a lone saxophonist lofting down the street, I couldn't help but think "Christmas is almost here."

Beautiful.

About that deer: The poor guy must have been quite bewildered. Last I saw, he had made it to a field and was headed sort of out of town. I hope he made it.

Beauty: It's all around

2005-11-08T23:11:00.000-05:00

Ever had a week that was so insanely busy you had no time to think?

I'm on day 9 of what could very well turn into a 13-day week. That's 13 days in a row with no time off. Actually, It is definitely going to be at least a 12-day week. So if I end up working both Saturday and Sunday this weekend, it will in fact become a 19-day week... at which point I may revolt.

Let me explain: Last Monday I groggily awoke (mmm... Guinness and whiskey) after a very good session to what I thought would be a normal (ie 50+ hour) week. No Problem!, I say, and go merrily about my CAD work. Monday night I hung out with some folk from Cornerstone, amd the rest of the week passed in amazing rapidity. Friday at 6:30 pm (yes, still at work) I discover that I will not be getting Saturday and Sunday off, as was originally thought. So I go home, and sleep, and wake up at 5:15am (a far cry from 10, which was my plan), wait around until 6:30am, and then head to Denver for a day of site mapping. Sunday wasn't so bad. I awoke at 7:15, and headed back to Denver for another day of site mapping. I got a bit of sun both days. I doubt it will match Dan's, but I think I might get a bit of a tan!

Sunday night I grabbed my chance at relaxation, and headed to the Boulder session. Beautiful music. I listened to a guitar player mess around with Tony McManus' version of What a Wonderful World. I listened to some rocking reels, jigs, slipg jis and more, and played along with quite a few.

I actually talked to my bosses there, to discover that I would be going back to Denver for some more site mapping the next morning. Ok, no big deal.

When my site mapping partner showed up Monday at 8:30am, he said "Pack a bag." So I did. We drove down to Colorado Springs and mapped many sites. (How many? Quite a few... no I'm not going to count) Among them was one site right up in the mountains, at the end of a very narrow dirt road along the edge of the mountain. I took a few pictures, which didn't really turn out, since it was dark by the time we finished. (If going up was scary...)

The next day we did three more sites, the last of which presented more opportunities for amateur photography.

After the last, we headed north towards Denver, to stop in Castle Rock at the Castle Pines Golf Course (torture for my partner) to map a monopole. Upon arrival, we discovered that the pole hadn't quite been built yet... no mapping for us. Unfortunately the golf course was closed, so we took a look around and I snapped some more shots before getting back on the road.

Now for my EE friends:
1) Remember, you can't spell geek without EE.

2) The antenna course we're taking this winter will prepare us for this:

And lastly, because I think batteries are cool:

Piping and Love

2005-10-29T00:02:00.000-05:00

Talking with a friend tonight made me realize a few things.

1) I've been piping for almost exactly one month less than I've been single, which leads me to believe that to be good, you have to be single. Also, it helps to have that extra money.

2) Pipes don't hold grudges.

3) Loneliness does not in fact preclude an ability to play laments well. In fact, being lonely is no guarentee of any musical ability whatsoever. It does however lend itself well to practising every night of the week.

4) I suppose I love my pipes... that's about as good as it gets.

Apartment Blues

2005-10-25T22:57:00.000-05:00

So, following the fiasco of coming home to an untouched apartment, I came home Saturday night to discover nothing had changed from Wednesday. Still.

The owner's friend came over Sunday afternoon and worked away at it. He finished my bathroom and got the other bedroom painted. That's it until the owner comes back to finish the rest. However, in another effort to placate me, I got cake from his girlfriend and a phone for the apartment. Now I just need a phone line...

mmmm.... chocolate cake.

So, to date I have received 1 phone, 1 chocolate cake, and 4 bottles of beer. Not enough for a party, but it'll do.

A Glimpse of Heaven

2005-10-23T18:17:00.000-05:00

To paraphrase someone: "Heaven is a room full of uilleann pipers playing tunes together. Hell is the same room with the same pipers and the same tunes, but everybody's pipes are slightly out of tune from each other."

The thing about hell is that you can still get a glimpse of heaven...

Yesterday was amazing. For the grand total of $50 I got: one (1) reed adjusted to play very well in Colorado (all it took was two quick scrapes), one (1) completely new reed that plays very well in Colorado, one (1) afternoon of technique instruction and critique, one (1) daunting experience of playing a recital on the pipes in front of a room full of knowledgeable people (that is, knowledgeable regarding Irish Traditional Music), and two (2) hours of great music.

Saturday was a tionol (that's Irish Gaelic for a piper's gathering) followed by a concert and session, and featuring Mr. Pat Sky. Pat is amazing. He took time in the morning (the reed workshop) to take a listen to everybody's pipes and attempt to adjust their reeds to proper playing. Like I said above, it took him two minutes (at most) and two scrapes to bring one of mine to life. Then he demonstrated how to make a reed. Since I was standing next to him when he said he would do that, I jumped on the opportunity to ask him to make one using my spare staple (the base, or starting point, of the reed). He agreed, and after he finished I had a brand new (albeit slightly hard) reed.

After lunch we all sat in a circle and he taught us technique. I won't go into this much because it won't make sense to a non-piper. To the pipers: reverse cran, tight triplets, and some nifty cut and popping on high E.

After supper, I (and two others) were asked to open the concert. I agreed (why, oh why did I agree?) so at about 7:45 I was introduced and given the award for longest distance travelled (Ontario to Colorado... not bad). I played Coppers and Brass and then royally screwed up the Rambling Pitchfork. Like my pipe teacher says: never play I Buried My Wife and the Rambling Pitchfork in the same day. To redeem myself I played the Holly Bush, the Virginia, and the Galtee Rangers. I think I did alright.

We were treated after the recitals to a fiddler who played quite differently than I'm used to. It was fun.

Then, the main attraction: Pat Sky on a C "flat set" interspersed with some hilarious stories of Seamus Ennis. Pat Sky (who should know) called Ennis the greatest Piper of the last 100 years. If you ever doubted Seamus Ennis' virtuosity, after listening to Pat talk, there is no way you could continue.

The session after was good. I'm glad I got a ride home.

Friday nights in Boulder, CO

2005-10-22T00:05:00.000-05:00

This week has gone by quickly... It probably doesn't hurt that my average time at work was about 9.5 hours and my average time out of the apartment (ie work + travel) was about 11 hours.

Here's a challenge for you: find as many cell-phone towers as you can on your way to work. Depending on where you are, I bet there's another 15% you didn't find.

The company I'm working for has firmly started it's big project. This project is a subcontract that ultimately comes from Cingular Wireless (I think) and is mainly an ugrade of antennas to the new UMTS type. It's interesting and just a little daunting to realize how ubiquitous cell-phone towers are, which is of course necessary given how ubiquitous cell-phones are. If you want more information on cell-phones, cell-phone towers, antennas, and how they all work, I strongly recommend taking Electrical Engineering, specifically 3A and 3B, and more specifically, ECE 370 and the antenna course I have this winter. Failing that, check out howstuffworks.com.

This week has been a struggle. I fixed up my flute, which was a bit of a struggle finding leaky pads. My pipes seem to be working as well as can be expected for an Ontario reed in Colorado. However, the big struggle was no cable. That's right. I get four channels. And nothing clear. I'd like to say I've been reading more, but I really haven't. I've actually been working so late that I eat supper, fiddle with the rabbit's ears, play a tune or two on the flute and head to bed.

So here it is, Friday night. I've just watched the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, alone. I've just played my pipes and satisfied myself that I have one reed working well enough to not be embarrassed, but not well enough to impress anyone. I've finished a local microbrewery's offering. Not bad, but I was eating pizza... And I'm now sitting in my apartment, chatting to some musicians from as far away as Singapore, and anticipating tomorrow's workshop with Pat Sky, an "American treasure" (this from C&F) and treasury of Irish Musical knowledge of lore.

As they say in Ireland: Mille Failte (a thousand welcomes)!

One Flute, Two Flute

2005-10-18T21:27:00.000-05:00

To paraphrase Dr. Suess:

One Flute,
Two Flute,
Old Flutes,
New Flute

Ok, I'm not a poet.

However, I believe I am slightly capable at fixing up old flutes. From this:

To this:

And finally, I attached the above to the outer sleeve of the tuning slide. After a little bit of oiling, I have a second flute. And it plays very nicely.

Gainesville revisited

2005-10-18T21:08:00.000-05:00

Earlier I mentioned a trip to Gainesville, FL. I headed up there on a sunny Sunday morning to have some tunes with a couple of pipers. I got there at noon or so and met the generous John Maze.

"Piper's?", you're probably wondering: I mentioned the uilleann pipes before. For those who don't know what they are, look here.

Briefly, there are more kinds of bagpipes than just the scottish ones you see marching around in parades. These are one of them.

Shortly after I arrived, the infamous Joseph E. Smith of moderate reknown joined us.

We tried out each other's pipes, played tunes, had subs and talked. A good day.

Now I want a flat set.

Back in town

2005-10-18T20:35:00.000-05:00

I finished my stint in Sarasota, and no, I didn't go to the beach one last time.

It so happened that my flight from Sarasota was delayed, so I didn't rush to get to the airport at all. However, it meant that I had very little time to switch flights in Atlanta. Thankfully my flight wasn't slow. I got into Boulder at 11:oopm or so. After hopping on the bus, I arrived in Boulder at aproximately 12:15 (I think). Of course, the bus stops are not very close to my apartment, so after a 15 minute walk while pulling a suitcase, carrying a pipecase and wearing a backpack, I arrived home to find that never mind the 4.5 week emptiness of the apartment, the kitchen and bathroom were not completed, or in fact even started. Ah well...

I was quite pleased to find out Saturday afternoon that my pipes were playing well after the switch in locations. I was much less pleased to find out Sunday at the session that this was because it takes a day or so for pipes to acclimitise. I listened quite a bit. Getting down there was fun. It was my third time taking the bus (but my first not direct to or from the airport). I've been taking it all week (so two days... I guess it just seems longer) and it's working out alright.

It's nice being back at BCI. I'm definitely busier, which means that I don't need to drink anywhere near as much coffee.

I'm off to a piper's gathering on Saturday. Hopefully I'll have working reeds by then...

Boulderbound

2005-10-14T09:03:00.000-05:00

I'm finally getting back to Boulder!

This is my last post from Sarasota, FL, my last day in Sarasota, FL, and my last chance to go to the beach. I won't be going to the beach.

4.5 weeks in FL vs 2 in Colorado (so far).

I will be working on a pretty cool project involving many cell-phone towers across Colorado, CAD, and some sort of analysis programs.

Adios, Sarasota.

Completely Superfluous

2005-10-13T08:55:00.000-05:00

Yep. This post is completely superfluous. In fact, I am writing it just because Jack added my site feed to his RSS reader. Hi Jack.

Tremors 4

2005-10-12T14:12:00.000-05:00

I discovered last night that Tremors was so popular that they made 4 (four) of them. Either that or they just made one sequel and called it Tremors 4.

It's as bad as the original, but it's set as a western, making it only the second sci-fi western I've ever seen. Since I only saw bits of the last 45 mins, I'm still trying to decide if it's better or worse than Wild Wild West.

Work in Sarasota

2005-10-11T11:18:00.000-05:00

Due to a request from my soeur bilingue (well, one of them anyway), I will now tell you about how my work is going.

First, I am still in Sarasota. I thought I'd be leaving two weeks ago. Then I thought I'd be leaving last Friday. Now I think I'll be leaving this Friday. Next week, who knows?

I have offically been working for Global Signal longer than for BCI (the latter being the company that hired me for my co-op term and the former being the client I was sent to Sarasota to help for two... er, I guess 4.5, weeks). Not just longer, but more than twice as long.

I sit in a cubicle farm. I print, organize, hole-punch, and file document packages. Occasionally I eat cake for somebody's birthday. I have been watching way too much TV. Sarasota isn't a super "happening" place. I do, however, practise quite a bit.

On the plus side, I drove up to Gainesville yesterday. More on that later.

I also decided, shortly prior to reading a friend's posting about visiting a shooting range, to buy a pistol case. And I even have something to put in it. Alas for my gun-totting friends (I don't really have any) it isn't actually a pistol.

I have bought four books since I have been here. I don't read them much, because in my hotel room, the TV is right at the foot of the bed. Resistance to temptation is either not my strong suit or is futile. However, I can add H. G. Wells' The Island of Dr. Moreau to my "have read" list.

I don't actually have a "have read" list. I should make one. Then again, maybe not.

By the way, the Sci-Fi channel enjoys broadcasting Tremors on Saturday afternoon. It's a very funny movie. It's not supposed to be.

The general point of this post, then, is: Work is pretty boring. Unfortunately, so is Sarasota.

Ah well, at least it's warm.

The Big Cheese

2005-10-11T09:52:00.000-05:00

I'm glad the lockout with CBC is over. Now we can get back to enjoying newsworthy articles such as this.

Mmmm, salty cheese.

What I love about the internet

2005-10-05T10:27:00.000-05:00

Anybody can expound about anything, even if no one knows how much they actually know.

One place I particularly like (although my reasons have changed quite) is http://chiffboard.mati.ca I enjoy it now, mostly for the sheer delicious absurdity. Where else can you get some completely ignorant newcomer ask the difference between "tin-" and "penny-" whistles (there isn't any), but you can also get an answer by an equally new (and presumably equally ignorant) poster: http://chiffboard.mati.ca/viewtopic.php?t=33051

I'll copy some of it for posterity:
From Celtic983, regarding which whistles are most popular:

Each have their own distinct sound, from a breathy clark (that take more air) to a loud but trad Feadog. It really boils down to what you prefer. Although it is a little more expensive, I really recomend Jerry Freeman's Tweaked Mellow Dog. That is what my mother started with a few months ago, and she has to keep a sharp eye on it, cause I am always grabbing it up and playing it. It sorta just plays it self. Again though, there is nothing wrong with starting with a $6 Sweetone or similiar.

There are some items in particualr that show the ignorance of this poster:
1) breathy, air-hogging clark vs trad but loud Feadog: First of all, the Clarke Original (note proper spelling... it's not a text message after all) doesn't really take that much air. Compare it especially to instruments such as the trumpet, sax, or alphorn. Second, the Clarke is older and hence arguably more traditional than a Feadog, which employs a plastic-injection molded head. I don't imagine they had those in 1783. Thirdly, a Feadog is not loud. It's not even moderately loud.

2) whistles that play themselves. Really? Wow, I want that whistle!! (Sarcasm alert) I mean, really, this is preposterous! Some poor sap is going to buy one, and cry about how they can't get the second octave, and how hard it is, and who will be to blame? The guy who said it plays itself.

3) "Again though, there is nothing wrong with starting with a $6 Sweetone or similiar." On the surface, this seems like a reasonable statement. It helps that it's partly true. After all, the vast majority of professional musicians who play whistle use a cheap plastic headed version. However, think about this: Why on earth would he feel that he needed to not just say this, but to repeat it? Why would it ever be wrong to start with a cheap whistle? This brings to light the meme that things that are more expensive are automatically better. And this is frequently not the case with whistles. (And many other things). Lastly, the bit that most people won't even catch is "starting". As if it's assumed that of course after you play for a month and are amazing (a little bit of sarcasm here) you will need to move up to a better whistle. The cheap ones are only to start on, after all. It's not like you can be world-class with a cheap whistle. Now, scroll up a bit. That's right. Professional, world-class, amazing whistlers use cheap whistles.

And this is the absurdity that gets posted every day. A guy who has been playing whistle for three months starts making and selling flutes. A whistle maker who has a nice looking whistle is looking for somebody to make sound clips for his website because he can't play them! (Dare I ask how he can make them so they play well, if he can't make them play well?)

Luckily, these things are cheap. Even the most expensive, most "professional" whistles are still cheaper than a really cheap beginner trumpet. And much cheaper than a recorder, the closest instrument to a whistle that's played classically. But the same thing is happening with flutes (so called "simple-system" flutes, not classical Boehm flutes) and to a large extent with uilleann pipes. This is a problem. A cheap set of pipes is more expensive than an expensive, professional trumpet. What can you do? After all, "on the internet, no one knows you're a dog."

So with a little bit of time and a tiny bit of money you too can have a website offering your self-proclaimed best-in-the-world items for sale around the globe. And if you're stuck in Nigeria with a fortune you can't use, well, email North America. Somebody will be willing to help. It's just that easy.

Now, I have some great real estate in Florida and some spectacular bridges in Wisconsin, if you're interested...

Relatives

2005-10-04T07:52:00.000-05:00

Relatives are great. You may not get to see them every day, but when you are near, they always make time to have you over.

I drove from Sarasota to Miami on Saturday morning and visited my uncle, aunt, and two cousins who live there. It was quite a bit of fun to see them, as it's been almost two years since the last time. We didn't do all that much, which was good. I was yawning by about 7:00 pm Saturday evening. I've been watching a lot of TV and movies the last couple of weeks, there not being too much to do in Sarasota, but even so, it's amazing how much more enjoyable watching a movie is when you're with family.

Sunday was pretty nice. I went to church with them. I think I really like Luthernism.

Erik (my cousin) showed me Halo on the X-Box and of course he beat me very badly. Then he got my uncle to play with us, and he beat both of us very badly. Of course I was hooked, so Uncle Ken and myself went at it, and he beat me very badly, too! But, all's well that ends well, and I managed to get a one point win right before I went home on Monday.

Yes, it was a great weekend.

One word of warning: Never forget to fill up your gas tank before a ~75 mile gap of gas stations. It makes for a nerve-wrecking trip. I'm glad the empty line isn't really the empty line.

Art

2005-09-24T20:04:00.000-05:00

I've been reading an interesting book recently. It's called Stealing The Mona Lisa: What Art Stops us from Seeing. The author uses the central theme of the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre in the early 1900s as a metaphor and source for discussing what we see in art and its purpose. He theorizes that art is an effort to simultaneously mask the unknowable and to give a point from which we can start to know the unknowable.

I haven't finished the book yet, and it definitely hasn't been an easy read. He is great at explaining his terms, and the language isn't challenging, but the concepts are so new, so esoteric, and complicated enough, that the difficulty has becoming grasping exactly what he means.

It was suiting, then, that today I went and walked through the Ringling Museum down here in Sarasota. For those of you who are starting to scratch your head in recognition of the name, I'll give you a hint: The Greatest Show in the World. This would be a museum of art and a museum of the history of the circus. So it was great seeing all the exhibits of the circus, and equally great to walk through and look at the paintings. Trying to apply some of the points from Stealing the Mona Lisa and looking at art in this new light was also pretty fun.

I definitely think I'll be rereading this book.

Music

2005-09-23T14:13:00.000-05:00

I just read Jack Lucas' post about a new music listening plan, and it got me thinking about music. Actually, that's not fair. What it really did was get me motivated to write about my thoughts on music. (That, and the fact that I started this blog today)

There are some things that should be said first. Specifically, you should know: 1) my music interests; 2) my music background; and, 3) my relationship to Jack.

Let's start at the end. Jack is a good friend, or at least a friend, who I worked with over two summers. During that time, he, Matt and I had many discussion about a large variety of things, including, but not limited to, music of all sorts. One memorable discussion was a debate of labels. For instance, what is "classical music"? I don't remember what we ended up settling on, or indeed the over-all point of the discussion, but I know that many of the points discussed have been assimilated into my view of what music is. (Matt's opinion of a certain music teacher's distinction between valid music and, wel, all the rest, is there, in memory) Jack was also responsible for introducing me to many new genres, bands, and opinions. Views on music, and what it is.

My music background has several very important milestones (and at least one on-ramp, to belabour the metaphor). The road trip (What?!? It's a good metaphor) started very early on. Basically, I listened to what my parents listend to. Isn't that how most of us start out? It was a good many years before anything else was brought into the house. Which means of course, that for the most part, we weren't a soundscape family. Let me explain that. I've gotten the impression (strengthened by things like the above-mentioned article) that a large majority of people these days have music constantly playing. There is always some sound in the background, as if they simply cannot live without it. Or as if they are scared that with silence they will be forced to listen to their own thoughts. More on this some other day. Now, our family definitely had music going. My mother in particular was (and is) a big fan of quiet background music while working, cleaning, cooking, and so forth. But my childhood was largely spent without this musical intrusion. It's important to note that my life was not without music. But a vast majority of that music was created by me. Playing with lego? Well, the knights would go about their business, but it was all set to a broadway style musical, complete with solos, travelling music, and interspersed textual explanations. And when I wasn't bursting forth in juvenile song, I whistled. So much that ALL of my siblings would tell me to stop. Nothing more irritating than a whistler, eh? All that freely improvised noise, lack of structure, and the high-pitched strident tones that cut through everything.... Ok, I can understand the irritation.

Lest you think my mom was the only culprit of background music, my dad played his music as well. Unfortunately, they share many tastes in music, so it wasn't always distinguishable as to who put that tape on. Mostly, they listened to Christian worship music. Subsequently, I listened, too. And I did like it. And I still do. After all, most of it was the same as we heard every Sunday morning. Some of it definitely reeked of simplicity and Christian cliches. Let me just say that Christian cliches are no better than regular cliches. So, while I do like some of it, I no longer like all of it. My dad also listened and continues to listen to a lot of jazz, however mostly, his taste centres around what I will (out of kindness) call easy listening jazz. Luckily, they also have a small collection of older records of classical (not the correct, but rather the agreed upon, term for the music of about 1600 to about 1900, but which continues through to today) and of jazz. Some very good stuff there, so my early years were not spent focussed entirely on one genre.

Several milestones in my musical career started with piano lessons in Grade 2. Here is where I discovered 1) I am not a big fan of forced practise and 2) how to read sheet music. I started music classes in Grade 7, where I had to choose an instrument to devote at least two years of my life to. I chose the French Horn. Something about 9 metres of brass, I guess...

Jazz class, dabbling in Trumpet, which ended with me purchasing a Trumpet in lieu of the much more expensive French Horn upon graduating high school, and Air Cadet summer music camp all happened. It was at the last that I discovered a simple little instrument called a tinwhistle. And it was this last that led to the devotion to a very un-simple instrument called the uilleann pipes. (9 metres of brass? No. Ebony and Brass? Oh yeah.)

My interests in music are quite extensive. Briefly: 1) I listen to the aforementioned Christian Worship Music; 2) Irish Traditional Music; 3) Jazz, of all kinds; 4) Classical (more eloaborately: Baroque, Classical, Romantic, Impressionistic, Expressionistic, Surreal, Neo-Classical, Neo-Baroque, and basically anything with an orchestra); and, 5) Rock (think of this term as similar to Classical, and realize I mean anything that was "pop" in the last 60 years.)

Got the background? Good.

The author referenced in Jack's post talks about an overdose of music. Jack's response? 13 albums, and ONLY 13 albums, for an entire month. But will that really be all? What about all the wallpaper music? What about the stuff in the restaurant, or the stuff in the WalMart, or the crap playing while the bank's got you on hold? Will these count?

I imagine they won't, which brings me to the point: What is listening? How do we define the action of listening to music? Does listening include any time there is music in the background? What about all the times you've walked somewhere, waited for someone, or studied with earphones inserted and some album playing, and when it stops, you realize "Wow, I don't rememeber any of that"? Do you count the "Easy Listening Classics" played to aid in falling to sleep?

Or, is listening when you stop, literally floored, in front of the stereo, as Mick and Caomhin play through Kitty Lie Over, shocked, astounded, amazed that such lyrical, such simple, and yet such absolutely beautiful music is playing in your house? Surprised into listening, really, when all you were planning on doing was having one ear cocked while breakfast was being cooked.

Do you have to enjoy it? Or is true listening really the act of intellectual stimulation Nick Southall was talking about, the act he condemned because he was no longer enjoying the music?

And then of course, there's the bigger problem: what is music? I know quite a few people who would never react the way I did to Kitty Lie Over. Does that make it any less? I don't like rap. Does that mean it isn't music?

What a waste, all of the people who walk through life with earphones attached. It's a waste, because all they hear is preprogrammed sound, old news, stuff that they've heard before, or that isn't any different than the last CD they put on. It's a waste, because they miss out on the world around them, living in a bubble of their own making, a cage that they don't even realize. How many of them know the sound of birds singing? Or squirrels telling each other "Watch out: cat!"? Or the million and one things that happen to make the world what it is, a beautiful, wonderful, musical place?

What a nuissance, the soundtrack to our lives, music that plays in stores, designed to offend no one, and subsequently please no one either. Imagine, if you can, a world where our popular entertainment isn't driven by the lowest common denominator, what the polls say will sell the best, or a cheap commercialized version of the latest new sound? Nick Southall had some great points, though. Especially concerning the points about overconsumption.

So what do we do? Do we pick 13 albums to listen to for a month, in the hopes of coming to know them intimately? Do we say nuts to the whole music industry, and listen to nothing but old field recordings of traditional irish music, knowing that this way, no huge corporations are gaining anything? Or do we go to the local pub, where a guy from down the street is playing with some of his buddies. Nothing great, but he's a really nice guy, and what the heck, why not?

How about listening to 3 (yep three) albums for an entire month? Sound rough? It probably does... but instead of listening to a ton of cds or downloaded mp3s, why not head out and find some local talent? Make an effort to spend your CD money on a concert, or as a tip for a busker. Spend more time enjoying the sounds around you, more time spent not listening, more time to think your own thoughts and to enjoy the music of silence.

There is a drive these days to "simplify one's life". Why not start with your music?

A mass email

2005-09-23T12:34:00.000-05:00

Ok, for those of you who are reading this because you want to know what life is like in Boulder, I am posting a mass email I sent to friends and family. Enjoy!

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Hello everyone!

First and foremost, please forward this to anyone I missed who would want to know about the high life.

Life is going alright. Definitely interesting anyway. I started work pretty much as soon as I showed up last Tuesday right off the airplane. But that was because my place wasn't ready, so I was staying at my bosses's house for the night (all the way until friday morning actually.) So I worked for the afternoon (after getting up at 4:30am, flying to Denver and arriving there at about 11ish (that is, 11ish Mountain time, which is more like 1ish Eastern), getting to Boulder at 12ish and eating lunch for about a half hour) until around 6 or so. Needless to say it was a very long day (bed at 10 is really bed at 12, after all). I worked Wednesday and Thursday because the place I was moving in to wasn't ready until Friday. It was supposed to be ready first thing Friday morning, but instead, I ended up killing time (buying silverware and getting a bank account) until 3, and then sitting and reading while MORE packing was happening around me until the Fridge was finally clean and I could go and get groceries, which I did, after which, the guy finally left around 7 or 8 ish. So not a great first day off. Oh well, I did absolutely nothing on Saturday and Monday, so that was good.

Well, not quite I guess. One of the strange things (if you cook that is) is realizing at a new place how much stuff you need to buy not to eat, but just to make the stuff you will eat. Like salt and pepper, bbq sauce, mustard, andso on, but also like pots and pans, and the big utensils: spoons, spatulas, flippers, tongs, and dish towels and oven mitts. It all adds up! So, I think I will be eating a lot of peanut butter and jam sandwiches in the weeks to come! I went a purchased all of these things that I had missed on Friday (more or less because I didn't have a clear idea of things I needed). More things that I took for granted at home: Oil (Very important if you want anything besides microwaved or boiled potatoes, or if you like eggs that don't stick to the pan), plastic bags (huge!), and most important: plastic wrap... I love plastic wrap! Is there anything it can't do?

Thankfully, the company will reimburse me for some of the the permanent stuff, because the apartment will be a place for other workers to live while they are in the area (a week or two at a time). This is good, because the bathrooms are pretty bare... I bought two bath mats... but if someone stays and forgets a towel... they will be living a very wet week.

Work is slow at the moment (slow as in I'm only working about 8 and a half hours instead of 10 every day). It will get busy soon. There is one really big contract coming up, so I will be seeing a lot of Colorado then. From Cell-phone towers too... As if I wasn't high enough already. But, their regular work is also continuing, so there is a good chance I will be seeing quite a bit of the rest of the country as well.

Interesting luck: There was a crew down in New Orleans two weeks ago (or so). They obviously left before the storm, but since they were originally planning on returning to Denver, before going home to East Coast Canada, they left their rental car at the aiport. So I went and picked that up Thursday afternoon, and had the use of it for the weekend. This was great, because the closest Target (Zellers equivalent) is not withing walking OR biking distance. This was also useful in driving to Erie (relax, there's an Erie, CO) on Sunday night to catch a ride to Ft Collins for a very fun irish session. Great musicians. But I missed the Hornpipes, Polkas, Airs, and yes, even the songs. To paraphrase: "Man shall not live on Jigs and Reels alone..."
My pipes are holding up (funny, I almost forgot to add this section). They are a bit wonky, but surprisingly I have two reeds that more or less work. More updates (and maybe sound files?) as time and desire permit.

Very cool thing about Boulder: It is one of the (if not the only) cities in North America where you can get a free (yes free, as in $0.00) buspass if you work downtown. It also has extensive bike and walking trails. I am sure we can all think of at least one person who would be in heaven in a city as green (er, enviromentally aware) as this! Unfortunately the lady that adds companies to the list is off on vacation, so I may be riding my bike a fair bit this week. (Oh yeah, I should maybe mention that the wife half of the boss team lent me her bike to use this fall... naw, it's not important, I don't need to mention it)

I have a laptop to use now. So email me! I don't have a phone, so you can't call me.

Talk to you soon,
Nicolas Brown3A Electrical Engineering

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Of course, I likely won't "talk" to you any time soon, but writing is fun... sort of.

Blogs

2005-09-23T10:10:00.000-05:00

The problem with having a blog is that I think they are pretty silly.

So this will be an interesting experiment.

In the mean time....

Travels

2005-09-23T07:53:00.000-05:00

Hi.

I've been travelling.

I'm not in Colorado anymore.

I'm in Sarasota. (That's in Florida)

Right.

N.