Hash House Harriers run #400

I love these guys. I'd be running with them weekly if it were not for the punishing drive to get there and back. I don't think that you can be a member and still take yourself too seriously. I must make the effort!

Here are some images of the 400th run celebrations today that I missed out on.

Working out

I continue to be amazed at the different ways there are to train my body to be resilient to various workloads. Today I split wood for three hours continuously. All by hand of course with my beautiful splitting axe. I also got the tiller through the sopping wet gardens and mowed the grass around the lakes in our yard, but the real fun was splitting the fire wood.

It helped that the sky was a stunning azure. It was the kind of sky you can use as reference for 18% grey. Lovely. It seems a rare treat. I am not sure how it is that I can take so much pleasure from such qualities, but I do.

The bush is full of water. The heavy work is done for the trail to get the truck back in there to pick up the wood, but the ground is still far too wet to think about driving there and the wood isn't all split anyway, but it's coming. Where I stood to swing my axe today the water was a third of the way up my rubber boots. Fun eh?

I enjoy the intensity of splitting wood by hand. It's like running for endurance. It's a slow burn that can be maintained for quite a long time once one is fit to the task. Wet hands have been the limiting factor since the thaw. Once my hands are wet from handling the soaked wood for an hour the skin loses it's ability to adhere to the flesh. After an hour and a half of splitting with wet hands I have blisters and some tenderness around some of my nails. I've been keeping at it so I've been adapting to the work more and more as I push a bit to try and beat the bugs, of which there will be nightmare quantities of this year if it ever warms up. The mozzy hatch has been slow, but the ponds are squirming with the little devils and some were taking flight today.

The low humidity and extreme drying conditions were such a treat today. It made my day to be in the forest with the air so clean and rich for breathing. The trees have finally leafed out so the wind can be heard rustling them and was the perfect sound track for my day. It was dry! The air itself was dry and I was thrilled. How wet do you have to get to appreciate a truly dry day? Personally, I had to get very wet, but that wasn't part of the picture for me today.

Today, simple as I may seem in this, I was able to take two pair of gloves out with me and always have reasonably dry gloves to work with. I'm feeling like I should be shamed somehow about being so excited about it being dry enough to have a change of gloves every half hour or so, but that's just the way I roll I suppose. I would set a wet pair in the sun, propped up and catching some of the breeze and it was a quick drying time today. Yeah!

I was richly fed this morning and adequately hydrated when I went out. I only expected to split for an hour, but because I could keep my hands dry, I was able to split for three hours. I find it very entertaining to train my body to do something and then, when the opportunity arises, see what potential has been building up, waiting in reserve. It's always with kid like glee that I feel my body warm up and the settle into a great long run or like today, the splitting. Apparently one guy with a good axe can split a lot of wood in three hours.

I was careful to take my gloves off when I was pulling stove length pieces out from under water and my hands are certainly feeling used up rather completely tonight, but I had energy to burn today. I haven't been running as much as I have been, but I've been viewing some of the labour I do as training and treating it like work out time instead of what it is, just plain old work. I'm not fitting into any other crew of people that might view working out like this, but that's OK too. Actually I was canned from one forum thread because I was posting to a "workout" thread and it was deemed that things like three hours manning an axe isn't work or providing increased fitness. I posted other more traditional rundays too, but that seemed not to matter. I just won't travel in straight enough lines for many people it seems. I'm hear to testify that it is work and it's pretty much a whole body experience to boot. I hope I'm able to function at a decent level tomorrow because I left it all out there today.

After a lot of re hydration and fueling, I went out to drag the tiller through the mud bogs my wife calls gardens. The drying conditions were so go that I couldn't help myself and at least try and open up the dirt a bit or to get out and beat back some of the mold and moss beginning to grow on the bogs/gardens. I hope it's dry tomorrow too!

I'll finish the grass cutting tomorrow and then see if I can lift an axe again. I treat it just like running in that I take my warm up extremely slowly. I find this to be one of the most valuable things I've learnt from my running experience. Warming up very slowly seems to prepare me to go to very end of my potential and maybe beyond, more often than not. If I warm up too quickly I lose a lot of pacing consistency. Now I want to train to race again, just for the joy of watching it come together. Or at least I'm getting hungry for it which is good. For now I'll have to be content applying that energy to some long outstanding home projects, like the wood.

The balsam poplar is sweet in the air tonight. Sensual to a fault, and no regrets about that at all.

Went to friends to help celebrate Corny's 50th birthday tonight. It was an old fashioned country folk party. I fit right in for the most part. Maybe that takes training too.

Stringing the Floyd Rose

What a sucker for machines I am. I really don't care what or where, just bring them on. The more persnickety to adjust, conserve, repair or maintain the better. Gear that rankles other peoples nerve ends usually simply serve to engross me. The Floyd Rose floating guitar bridge is in that vein.

I own a worn one, which of course only increases the likelihood of sinking hooks into my curiosity.

I restrung the RG220r tonight for the first time since finalizing the setup on it. I've played several other electric guitars since, which has helped to better understand how the darn thing work. I went with a slightly heavier gauge string to help create a firmer feel for my left hand fretting and was also rewarded with a much improved tone. I don't know that I can quantify it articulately, but it's a stronger tone with more presence.

The strings of choice were D'Addario nickel wound XL EXL 110. It's not a big move, but it sure had a big impact on the setup and sound. I was playing with the idea of moving all the way into a jazz type string that would have taken the high E string from .009" to .012" or more. In putting the .010" strings , compensation springs for the bridge had to be tightened significantly. I would guess that I moved them maybe 5/16". I expect that additional springs would be required to accommodate heavier gauge strings of which Chris supplied me with two, just in case! Thanks again Chris. I didn't expect to have that much change in string pull weight, but there was a huge difference in the compensation required to bring the bridge to a neutral position with these heavier strings. I think it's sounding pretty darn good just now. I like the setup and the new pickups seem to make me want to play it more.

If I was handier with things electrical I'd sure love to split one of those humbuckers out to show me a single poll. I'm not sure I'm brave enough to get back in there and make a mess. I got away with it the first time, but I'm scared now with a heap of more variables to account for to bring more options into play.

I think the compensation springs are being better utilized as they are opened up more. I'm guessing, but they appear to be at some kind of mid way point in their utility and I like that. I still suck at using the tremolo, but at least I can play the thing in close enough tune now, not to offend myself. It's so dramatically different than the acoustic that I can hardly relate to the two as both being guitars. It's been like getting a new instrument entirely. I'm enjoying it more and more all the time. It's different, but I've learned some things with it that are valuable, one of those things being a more conscious sense of touch when fretting strings.

I've been playing with my voice too. I can't imagine all the things I'm oblivious to when I discover such simple gaps in my practice like I've done recently. Coaches in all things are a gift. Unfortunately my voice is more akin to a goose fart than a musical instrument so a voice coach is out of the question. The prize this week was learning to lift my chin up. Normally I'm crouched over my guitar instead of opening up my throat and mouth. Duh. It was fun to hear some improvements on this front. It's allergy season and even when it's not I'm not the clearest voice by any stretch, but I'll take what improvements come my way. I'm working up Kathleen Edwards song, "I make the dough". It's an irresistibly pretty song. I just can't get enough of it.

I tried to talk Snoot into working a lead part into a break on that one, but she's being all sixteenish just now so she'll squirrel away her efforts and I'll have to get along, like I've always done with music at home, alone.

I took the mandolin rental back. I'll miss having one around, but that one was not set up well and proved very difficult to play cleanly. I played another one this week that was very easy on the hands in comparison and that was very welcome. Although it's tempting to gravitate in that direction, I think I'm a word guy more than a player. Shoemaker stick to thy last. Now if I could just remember that truism for more than a nano second at a time.

Audacity is the real deal for playing with the learning curve musically. I love it. I need to spring for a microphone or two and stands. Working with a click track or metronome is paying dividends with the timing for lyrics. I'm sure it's doing other good things too, but they escape my notice just now. I feel so white. Rhythm just doesn't come easily to me, but it's fun when it does.

Teen angst

Poor Snoot. She's 16 and is a stellar candidate in the best teen to live with catagory. We attended an open house at some friends new home tonight and Snoot didn't want to attend. The friends have a daughter of similar age, but shares few interests with Snoot, so we didn't balk.

We arrived home late and found that all the grass had been cut and the dog had been bathed. Are we walking on the sunny side of the street here? I believe so.

The bad news is that included in the wide mix of people at this open house was a new German immigrant that was crazy for music and Snoot missed it.

Over the course of the evening I eventually found myself drawn to a guitar and banjo I found upstairs in the new recreational space. This crazy German came bounding up the stairs when he heard me playing and jumped right in with a big grin on his face. I hassled him, he hassled me and then he said I had to come to his place where we would get some more instruments.

Twenty minutes later and after some crazy driving, we were back at the party unloading two sizes of djimbe drums, a sixty some year old tiny acoustic guitar with outstanding resonance. and a newer hollow body electric guitar and amplifier. I'm a stickler for setup so I would have been just as happy spending the time setting up the guitars for intonation and tuning, but for a change of pace I just enjoyed what they had to offer. I got to play with a drummer for the first time. How sweet was that? Very sweet I can tell you. I'm so easy.

This fellow was very supportive and forgiving musically. I've been playing with click tracks and metronomes, but live is better. Enough said.

He appeared to be beside himself with glee that this was all happening and frankly I'm having a tough time getting too much of it myself. I've played for many years, but not with others very often or, until recently, with any significant amount of fun factor.

Playing with people schooled in some of the fundamentals can be very rewarding. Last weekend yielded similar results. I'm happy to find that some of my efforts while playing alone have some relevancy to a broader context in music. It didn't matter what style either of us played, we could both have fun at the same time. He knew a lot of old funky melodies. I feel like aging isn't all bad tonight.

Five gets you ten, Snoot joins us next time. :D

North by East West

I've been hounding the Canadian music scene lately. Getting back into some of the things I had forgotten made me happy once. Kids are wonderful to me in the ways they can teach. Snoot is hounding her own tastes in music and that's so good for me.

This relatively new site about the Canadian Music scene has caught a lot of peoples attention including mine.

This post in particular, didn't bore me for a second. Sometimes I crave things that bite.

lj2blogger

Wow, that was amazing! I bet you never felt a thing. :P 609 posts transferred quite painlessly from my Live Journal account to my new Blogspot blog. Yummy. I love it when things work out. I had no idea that I'd accumulated that number of posts. It was fun to go through the archive and see some of the pieces I'd forgotten.

I post mostly because I enjoy keeping friends and family up to date on life here. I enjoy writing and enjoy the feedback when I get it. Please don't hesitate to heckle me. I'm really enjoying the ease with which this place works. It's going to be fun to try and make it look more like my own, but I can't say as I'm unhappy with the stripped down look. I'm sure I'll get distracted from that sometime soon, but maybe not.

music, friends, kids and cowboys

Ugh. 17C and raining. The earth smells alive finally. The down side is it's allergy season and I can hardly lift my head up from the fatigue it induces. I feel like crawling back into bed.

Some terrific insight into Canadian Broadcasting and the CRTC. People sometimes voice their wonder at how I get my opinions developed so strongly. I read. You should all broaden the horizons too. Some of you do of course and recommendations are always welcome here.

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Pam's big adventure. I'm amazed at her capacity to plan! I am not worthy.

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I've been playing guitar a lot lately. I regard "a lot" as at least two hours a day. Snoot is forcing me to be far more intentional about my practice time which is nothing but good. Biff seems always to get so exasperated with my efforts with music. I suppose it's because I don't play songs he knows, but it could also be from the fact that I resist structure. Maybe not resist, but certainly have some challenges in colouring inside the lines, if you know what I mean.

Learning some more structure to improve my capacity to improvise has been fun. Snoot and I went out to friends on Friday night for a good meal and a long jam session. We played for five or six hours. They had a wide variety of instruments and we took three guitars and an amplifier. Playing with a cello and keyboard was a lot of fun. I love it when my gut is moved by sound.

They had mics for vocals and no end of other toys to throw into the mix. I took the opportunity to throw as many different combination's together as I could think to meld. Chris and Brenda are young and unpretentiously welcoming of any music. They create a very comfortable environment for learning. Snoot was a bit intimidated irrespective of the high tolerance levels, but she played strongly anyway. She didn't sing much of the work she's been accumulating recently. We didn't get home until very late.

Chris's hand made electric was a fun beast. He is quite well versed in the various parameters of electric guitars so I peppered him relentlessly with my questions and learnt more about how these things work. Mine is so delicate in it's fretting that I'm forever smearing strings sharp. It would be OK if I couldn't hear it, but I've been playing enough over the last few months that my ear is more picky than it used to be. One of his guitars had a fretboard that was "scalloped." That means that ones fretting fingers (all puns legal?) never aim to touch the fretboard, but only to bring the string down to contact the fret and make a clean sound.

A very light touch is required for modifications like the scalloped fretboard where the fingerboard has been carved away between the frets. Scale length matters, as does the gauge of the strings. I have light strings on just now where the lightest is .009" and the heaviest is .042". I was pushing these guys all over the place. I'm looking forward to trying some strings more suited for jazz that will be in the .012" range. The tone should be richer from the heavier strings too.

I had no idea the degree to which scale length plays a role in the feel of the guitar. My electric has a scale length of 25.5" and when I picked up a Gibson copy I felt much more at home with it's 24.75" scale length. I think the biggest benefit from the whole evening was gathering some perspective on just how lightly one can fret my electric. It's such a different game than the acoustic.

I love my acoustic and we've been playing together for eleven years now. She's still coming into her own. One of my favourite things about this particular acoustic is that you can hit it hard and not over drive it. If I hit it as hard as I can with a 1mm pick it's not going to be complaining. What is contradictory, for me, between the acoustic and electric is that the harder I play the acoustic the harder I have to hang onto the fretting, where as with the electric if I want it to be louder I move a potentiometer. It's messing with my muscle memory! It' fun like crazy though.

Rhea and her brood were over on Saturday for a bonfire and weenie roast. There were five of them I think. It was difficult to keep up to speed with everything. I was tired and some of the kids were fast! I got in early with the two budding teen girls when I found out they'd had some guitar at school. I set the electric up in the summer kitchen, showed them how it worked and how to put it down safely and left them to it. I would venture a guess they ended up spending about 2.5 hours playing that day. By the end, K, had improved markedly so I introduced her to two simple chords on the mandolin and proceeded improvise a melody on guitar while she played. She went on and on and on. I couldn't really tell whether she was enjoying herself or not because she had her head down and her hair was in the way. I got the message loud and clearly when she finally came up for air with a face splitting grin. What sweet reward kids are if we look to the sunny side of life. She'll never be the same I'm sure. She understood that what she was experiencing was music and that it would be impossible to get too much of that good feeling. It was written all over her. I love those gifts.

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Mighty was home for the weekend. She's doing so well. She even ran with me! Not only ran, but in the last half mile she thought she needed to pick up the pace. We ended up running a tempo pace that I'd guess was somewhere in the +nine minute mile range. I didn't know she could do that! Apparently they have real coaches for her rugby team this year so good on them all for stepping up. Mighty also got the call to be trained up to be a jumper which has her all jazzed up about playing again. I think she's dumped about 20 pounds over the winter which has got to help with the energy required to play with gusto. I'm still eating pecan pie and wondering why I'm not getting any lighter.

Besides the 32km walk and reseach work during the day, Boo is working the bar on the weekend slinging beer and mixing drinks in the metropolis of Val Marie. Her first night was pretty profitable as I understand it. She's always been a great tip generator. One guy apparently was hounding her a bit too closely and made some crack about the lemons that were printed on her t-shirt. In the style that makes me proud, she wrangled that into a big tip too by coming back to him with "I don't think so. This ain't my first rodeo, cowboy." and walked on. She does prefer to have fun that one.

Snoot is all done with Peter Pan and is now onto participating in track. Today she's off to a meet in Winkler to try and make the cut for the provincial meet in the 100m and the 4 x 100 Jr. girls catagory. The senior girls stole one of their junior stars, which will make that four seconds in the 4 x 100 tough to make up.

PU is lively again now as spring is doing more than just threatening to drive flower beds and gardens to life. The shop garden is almost all hand turned and PU is sleeping well. I'll be surprised if she's on time for dinner as she's got to pass a greenhouse she likes on the way home. We've been enjoying each other.

I'm behind in my correspondence, but atoning for those sins here I hope. I'm trying to cut a swath through the paying work to shut down the shop for a few days and try my hand at some wood work. Mighty helped throw some ideas around last weekend. I'd like nothing more than to just drop the ball on my other obligations, but I can never bring myself to do that. I'm just so slow! Two clocks remain and it's only Wednesday!

The trail to the wood pile is moving along at an encouraging pace. It looks like so little is done there, but the man hours involved are crazy when one works without machinery. Tractors and bulldozers sure are quick, but they don't leave as friendly a walk way either. It feels like gardening more and more as the changes become more visible. The smell of the split wood in the spring air is fantastic. Acrid and potent. No smell of the balsam yet. Maybe I just need to check one more time. It's wonderful to be outside here as things burst into life.

One clock will be done shortly and the parts for the other are likely waiting at the post office. I wonder if Snoot needs to go fishing soon? I know I do.

b&c music night with Snoot

I'm knackered, but what a great weekend. Meite's home, Bonnie's away, but calls often enough to keep us entertained. Boo had her first experience slinging beer on a Friday "wind" night filled to the rafters with cowboys.
She's not shy or easily put off by brutes. One guy was getting a little frisky and asked if squeezing lemons was in her job description. She snapped back telling him that this wasn't her first rodeo cowboy and he'd have to pick up the pace some. She made a boat load of tips that first night.

14 hour days apparently take some thing out of you though.

Friday Snoot and I were out to dinner with some musical friends. Brenda made a very tasty meal of pork roast and backed spuds there were very nicer. I brought some fresh baked cheese bread and some wine.

The music room had a lot of choices for instruments. We had access to a good keyboard, cello, Unukalhai. several acoustic guitars and several electrics. One fave was a Telecaster. There was a hand made electric that was pretty sweet too and one that had a scalloped fret board. I struggle with a light touch so that was a challenging one. Microphones and amplifiers all over the place too! We played ourselves out by 1:30 and I had to get home and to bed. We'll be back.

It was nice to play with some folks that are less focues on a cover song and more interested in what key we are playing in so they can play along in their own style and particular contribution. I had a huge amount of fun.

I've run out of gas. Have to sleep. Lots still needs writing.

Counting prairie dogs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gofcabS0q4g

Co-worker of Boo's made this funny little clip about the type of work they do for the Park.

JP Hoe

I get these feelings and I'm trying to honour them more often these days. They hardly ever lie to me and I've avoided them since I sobered up in the spring of 1990. Now that I've moved onto a more diverse "recovery" it's a whole lot more fun.

I love music and I've been immersing myself in Canadian and locally Manatoban born music this winter. Rich Terfry at CBC radio 2 on his Drive program at 15:00 Central time is a big source of the energy in this direction. He's my man, my fave, he's the shit as they say.

I went to see the travelling Emm Gryner tonight. JP Hoe, a local boy started us off this evening. What a bomb he is. He's got that wonderful mixture of intelligence, self deprecation, wit, style and talent that is so very welcome after my long drive into the city.

Mmmm I'm hitting my stride.

Both Mighty and I are jacked up about the prospects of seeing him again. He was joyous and wasn't cheap in sharing the sweet vibes. I had a great time and can't wait to see him again. I'd definately go out of my way to enjoy his company again.

Edit:
Very much to my liking. He's headed west. Three mp3s for download. He's posted the ones I want not throw aways. The closer I look the better I like J.P.. What's with the "richards" thing?

From: http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendId=16249161

http://drop.io/jphoedownlo

Password: trulyrichards


http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/cod/concerts/20080913jphoe

Boo logged 32km today on foot.
She says the hills are giving her ideas about hiking in the mountains. She thrives on abuse that kid. She called the other day from up a tree in town somewhere. Apparently her partner wasn't quite prepared to suffer like she was. There were storm clouds and Boo's pace was daunting by the sounds of it.

She threatened to send crocus images. We'll see.



Edit:
Here's a map of the area. I'm not sure where she's working just now. She starts her days in Val Marie

Face recognition

Via Ty
http://shorterlink.org/5237 I'd be curious to know how others fare on this. I went recognition 104% and temporal memory 84% Love the curve ball to beat the 100%!

Chicken egg with no shell

Sometimes the older hens will struggle to make shells. When they lay one without a shell it's very hard on the birds. They often die soon after laying one like this.

There is no shell at all on this egg. Only the flexible membrane holds the contents together. I set eggs to hatch today so I had the egg candling light out and back lit this shot with it. I have no idea which one laid this egg and everyone appears in tip top condition just now. We have a glut of eggs.

Peter Pan

Everyone was tired tonight, with the exception of Captain Hook. Heather has boundless energy and carried the night for most of the cast tonight. Over all it has been a lot of fun through the three performances and I'm happy to have been there for all three of them.

The images are horrid. I apologize.





crop...





Peter Pan and Captain Hook

Another large one

Another big chunk of a thousand bucks. I got fed up with PU having to head downstairs at night, but this gear isn't cheap. It works so I suppose things could be worse.


Snore guard

guitar fingers / another tiny egg

Mandolin and guitar were in heavy rotation this week. I'm not sure that's altogether a good thing, but it's done.


There is plenty of dead callous there to drive needles through.





Tiny spring eggs are endearing no?

Vets, autobody and appliances

Disaster recovery is eating away at our summer resources. Sure with money grew on trees. The slippery slope began to show itself with a disastrous encounter with a veterinarian and a wholly botched spaying of Rose. Blood was sprayed. She's OK now, but there were ten days or so where it was down right ugly everywhere we looked. That was one large one to bail out of that mess.

Next up was PU having cracked up her car. There was no part of the accident that wasn't clearly her fault so MPI really took it to her. The gift that keeps on giving. I don't suppose we'll be done with that until she has to renew her license. I don't know what the hell we pay premiums for. What a racket. We had some extra work done on the body while it was in and there went another large one.

The other day I opened the door to the oven and something went bang. It do so in a "you've had what was yours to have and that time has now passed" kind of noise. I'm like my Dad in this way. I can make a silk purse out of a sows ear. I can stretch a repair with the best of them. It's genetic I'm sure. I don't like to have that as my gift to the world, but there it is and I've come to terms with most of it. That admission hasn't stopped me taking an unbalanced pleasure when Dad tells me I'm too fussy or that my standards are too high.

The reality is that I'm just like him in being able to squeeze the last drop of fight out of almost any machinery, including appliances. I differ in many ways from him, but the oven door was a joint project and that's rare indeed and a result of zazen. :*) On my part at least.

I bought this stove several years ago and we cook a lot. We cook a meal at the slightest provocation. We don't buy a lot of canned goods. We're focused on raw materials. We're the type of people that know how to make butter from goat milk. For Easter weekend we had a house full again. The ham was big enough the top was interfering with the top element inside the oven. We cook, OK? We make pasta, we've roasted coffee. It goes on. We're foodies without the caché. Tonight it's a sauce for brocolli, but I digress.

I bought the stove used from a fantasitc appliance repair place called Bain's. They are expert at the phone fix. I once tore the washing machine apart to replace the drive shaft. That required the removal of the basket and some major surgery and they got me the right parts and told me things I didn't know enough to ask. Go Bain's!

A number of years after we bought this stove initially, the springs to help the door return gave out and Dad and Mum happened to be out on tour so Dad was a great help in reworking the worn door. With the lathe and mill handy we rebuilt it well and it's done a good service ever since. When it let go the other day with a great note of finality the hinge pins on both sides let go dropping the entire weight of the door onto the floor. I should weigh the door. It's surprisingly heavy without the help of the springs that act to counter balance it.

So we're in for a new stove and it's time. I've worn out elements on the stove top and the large one on the front right is gimped up in the socket from huge loads during canning last year. My good wife has some good horse power, but she's rough on tools. :D Yes I smile. I come from a place where I thought that all was sacrificed for the "things" and as with everything, balance is a good thing. I think I've found a little. Mum and Dad's place is like a refuge in the storm when I go out there. Everything gets put away and everything is treated with the respect that only people who value the "repair" can appreciate. I always look forward to being there for this comfort and more of course.

To make a long story shorter, there goes another large one.

Then there is the rebate money that we'll be missing out on if the money isn't spent on the basement insolation job. Gads... there's some juggling going on and that's where our summer travel money is going. Bah!
Fight!

Peter Pan

Snoot proved she had done her home work for the school production of Peter Pan last night. Only two more performances to sit through! Aren't I just the doting parent!

It's amazing how many members of the staff were involved. It's a cultural event that is roundly ignored within the community, but the staff are on board at least. The sets were fantastic. Lots of high contrast simple and effective props. The music, sound effects and most of the production elements were really well done. The script was a little hacked up and disjointed, but it's not like "Pan" is a very straight line anyway. The kids were generally very well invested in what they had bit off, which was great.

A few of the players showed great promise for future productions. It looks like there are several new kids available with some acting skill. That's exciting. Mr. K. was loose and confident before the show. Having Heather and Snoot on board when both knew most of the lines for all the parts, must have helped settle the nerves.

I hope they manage to slow it down a bit tonight though. They rifled through their lines to the point of being ridiculous last night. I think they were finished up nearly 15 minutes ahead of schedule. The casting was terrific and Mr. K. let the limelight pigs have at it. It was fun to watch.

film making contest

http://ow.ly/5top Any takers? I think we've got some film buffs around there somewhere.

Wish you were here

I have every reason to be happy living with a teen.

I had great seats in grade ten to see Pink Floyd perform their Dark Side of the Moon tour date in Vancouver in the early 70's.

I recently got a copy of a David Gilmour concert series from 2001 and 2002. I was reminded that it was a great time for music when the Floyd were on their game.

I'm not stuck in a particular period of music in my preferences, but with lyrics like these it's worth noting the quality of the song writing again. When I walked into the guest house and my 15 year old was working out the lead line to Wish You Were Here, I was charmed. Apples falling close to the tree? It's comforting to know some of them were worth picking up. More likely this is Bruce's fault. ;^)


So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell,
blue skies from pain.
Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
And did they get you to trade your heroes for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange a walk on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have you found? The same old fears.
Wish you were here.