Been A While

What's been happening since the last blog update? TONS!

The Duke was rocking with Kevin Coates on October 13, Elvis in Parry Sound was a sweet play and a long ride home on the 14th, and the Alysha video shoot was a Milli Vanilli marathon of hour after hour of faking the same song - it was many nights before the tune left my head.

The big mother/brother birthday party came and went so fast, but I think we really surprised them both on the 21st of October.

Molly's on the 27th with Kevin was a good time - some skinny drunk kid told me how well he was doing with the ladies because of his "guns" - then he'd pose. Hilarious.

Edleweis - 10 years of Elvis for me - was on the 28th. The 30th was Doriano Poloni's last gig - though I'm sure he'll be kicking around from time to time.

Had last weekend off, but battled the flu off and on all week. Another big birthday party at the mansion - everyone loves the elevator and chocolate fountain - and now the next crazy week starts again.

Report cards this week. Sandra goes off to the States for a girl's weekend and I play Waterloo, Huntsville and Kitchener Friday to Sunday.

Fixed the computer a while back and now I can't update the website, so bear with this old ludite.

Cheers!

nod

What's up? Turkey?

Another interesting pic.
Doesn't the guy in the corner look like John Lennon's son, Julian? Thanks Kevin for being my Yoko Ono...

The weather was good this weekend which was a nice change. I played two shows at the Rocton World's Fair - which was rather crowded due to the sun. Too bad I we couldn't get to the cottage, but that's just as well as Sandra has been killer sick all weekend. We both have being trading the colds back and forth and I hope I can stay healthy.

Big weekend coming up. Kevin Coates and I play at the Duke in Waterloo Friday, Steve Kabakos and the "Elvis" troop play Perry Sound on Saturday night, and Sunday is the big Alysha Brooke video shoot - hopefully for play on CMT. The laundry involved in getting my wardrobe ready alone will be a daunting task...


Here's a recent pic from our new photographer and old buddy "Irish" Mike Streeter who will be at the shoot, as well.



Hope everyone had a good Turkey Day and enjoy the leftovers!

nod

Here's a pic

Kevin and I at Molly's last weekend.

Up to 4

You can read it below - the first person to leave a message.

Now Ray, Sandra, Kevin's Mom and a guy name Franco read my blog.

Isn't that amazing?

nod

School Days, Fool Days

The Isle of Nod is a busy land these days. All the projects to do as fall approaches, the gigs and now the "day job".

Here's a picture of one of my more exciting classes - as you can see!



Kevin and I have had a good run of shows. Our newest place - ironically much larger than are usual haunts, much busier, and less paying - is a mad house. The Fox and Fiddle Waterloo is an interesting place to watch humanity.

Jammed at the Boathouse last night on bass and sax - that was fun.

Sandra's birthday is on Saturday. 35! Other round numbers on the horizon are 65 and 40 from other close family member who do not wish to be named (right Mom? Dave?).

Fun!

September on the Isle of Nod

So....an update. It's official, three people have admitted to checking out this blog - Kevin's Mom, Sandra, and Ray Smith (who looks at it late at night when he is really bored). Be brave...step forward and let me know if you're reading this!

Gigs:
CNE - with Stephen Kabakos and the Elvis band, minus the horns - the usual - the CNE never changes, it seems. Our stage was smaller and the PA worse than ever before. We've been playing there for 6 or 7 years and every year it gets a little worse.

Milton Steam Era - small crowd, but a good show. Post activities at the pub and watching Ray sing Kareoke.

Horse Ranch/Hotrods - cold, wet day. Yuch. Again, weak PA. Oh well...

Molly Blooms' - Kevin and I worked the room well - some new tunes with loops - a little quiet for University being back, but then there are tons of university pub events the first weeks

Corporate Gig on Friday - cancelled, but we're getting paid anyway, so that's alright. Bought an engagement ring and saw a band at Rude Native and Kevin at the Duke instead

Kevin and I have our first gig ever at the Fox and Fiddle Friday, should be fun. The place is always packed.

School's back in. The frustrating burocratic crap and lack of reality among the higher ups continues to frustrate. McGinty's plan for every student to succeed includes small "credit recovery" classes, basically one on one with teachers, for students who failed a course last year. So while that teacher works with a half dozen kids for the semester, all the other class sizes go up. The classroom average still looks okay on paper, but we still have tons of classes in the 40+ range. I have over 100 students in 3 classes this semester, and others have it worse. Nothing like punishing the good students...

Enough whining - off to play with Alysha Brooke at the Fergus fair. Where's the sun? Have caught Sandra's cold, so might not be as fun as usual.

Happy Sunday!

nod

Uh-hum

This (previous post) is what happens when you leave your computer unlocked - even at home!

Had a fun gig last night with Alysha at Sherkston - my last one of the year. (Sorry I couldn't go golfing, Kevin.) Just packing up now for a cottage escape until next Tuesday at the CNE with Elvis. Who's th pudgy guy on bass?

I'm reading your blog

and I think you make me look good!

August Update

So, what's been going on so far in August?

I finished my course including a 50 page research/position paper on on the philisophical and practical implications of using popular music in the classroom - fun, eh? I Aced the course, but it ate up a ton of my summer. :-(

Gigs:
Ribfest on the 4th was fun as always - crazy crowd. Tower of Power-esque horn band before was wicked.
I did a 4 day run over the second weekend:
- Gananoque with Elvis was crazy - 8-10000 people. Lots of fun. Lots of driving.
- Acton Leathertown was a bit less ospicious. Playing with a poor sound system is frustrating because no matter how well you play, you know it isn't going to sound as good as it could.
- Stage West - sold out and crazy crowd, great show
- Sherkston - fun show, but again a frustrating sound problem
Kevin and I had a good show at the Duke - crowd was a bit light, but then it is summer
Mohawk playing between races was awesome with Elvis - great crowd, poor sound system/tech

Saw Ray's "Just Zepplin" tribute on Saturday - great show, some wild stuff, highly recommended. Ray sings in the stratisphere, plays harp and drives the ladies crazy!

Seems like I haven't got enough things done around the house this summer. Starting back at regular school work already. Sandra and I are escaping though for 5 days between my next Sherkston gig and the CNE so the cottage will be a good place for some down time before the fall hits. We have lots of plans for this fall and next to work on, so an escape will be good.

Time to get back to work before the vacation. If you have read this, shoot me a comment!

Have a great rest of the summer,
nod

It's not the heat....yadda yadda yadda

Well, another update. What's happening. Even when it's not sunny it's hot, muggy and the air quality sucks...just another summer in sw Ontario.

The gig at Sherkston was fine - becoming routine. There was a decent crowd. Lots of kids. Too much humidity. Sound system problems. The usual.

The hottest gig of the year so far, and maybe one of the hottest of my life, was Saturday at Collingwood. The sound check was screwy - started late because of scheduling problems, and a flash thunderstorm inspired the organizers to let everyone come and watch as we sweat to set up gear and make bad noises until not meant for the audience. The air conditioner was broken and the audience - sold out, so full - were sweating to death. We were about 20 degrees beyond that. And we played longer than we needed to. Gross.

The cottage was fun for a bit, though, and the family gathering for Samantha's birthday was fun.

My course is rapping up earlier than it was supposed to. This is good as I can have a bit of a summer at least. This is bad as I have to do two weeks work by Wednesday midnight. Oh well...

That's the state of the nation - or I mean Island. PLEASE email if you read this. Has anyone read these? Hello? Anyone?

Summer is for melting

Weather has been great!

Cottage trip was a blast. It was fun helping my big bro work on his deck. Saw the Dan and Sam show in action. Lots of long talks around the deck/campfire with my Ma & Pa. Went to the big Dier reunion and saw lots of relatives (too bad I had food poisoning from mussels the night before - Sandra's trying to kill me with the things I love again - never should have signed that insurance form). Lots of great weather and beaching and visitors and stuff...

This Music Teacher Specialist course I'm taking is turning into a pain in the butt. It's easily 3-4 hours of work a day. Hard to get much done around the house between it and the gigs.

Gigs - it was 9hrs for my corperate gig on Monday, but between the weather and the speeches, the organizers were a little off and we only played for half an hour. Weird. But still full pay.

Stay cool!

Update Downdate

Haven't been on for a bit, so here's the update.
Friday's gig at the Duke was good. Light crowd at the end. Like the last Molly's gig. Like my gig at Sherkston on Tuesday. Maybe I should start wearing deoderant.
Played with a new drummer on Tuesday. Great guy. Funny. Like Bam-Bam, Jethro and the "Where's my Car" guys all rolled into one. Cool young guy, to be sure. He looks like a surfer - plays in shorts and bare feet - except for the John Deer hat.
School is DONE! Not much else needs to be said...
Golfed yesterday - I was great on the 1st 9. Better than some of the "althetes" in the group. Fell out of the cart on the back 9 though. Don't ask. Played gtr for some Irish folks until the wee hours that night. Too fun.
Sandra and I head to the cottage next week to relax, work on Dave's deck, and generally escape. Yahoo!
My summer course started on Monday. Lots of work. Lots of keener 1st or 3rd year teachers. Too many assignments.
To my knowledge, Kevin, Kevin's mom and Sandra are the only people who have read the BLOG. If you have, let me know!

Happy Birthday, Canada, ya big lug.

Midweek Madness, Music, Mayhem

Well, it's crazy time. People always laugh and say "almost done - must be nice" to teachers in June, but any teacher worth their salt is going slightly insane at this time of year. The system is set up "end of semester heavy" so the biggest mark load/work load/stress load is the last weeks of a semester, so June doesn't make teachers smile - July does. For example, I have the two largest academic classes in the school, English (which is the most marking-intensive subject, time-wise). For "summative evaluation" that means I have 75 creative projects to mark - if they only take 10 minutes, that's over 12 hours marking. I have 75 speeches - but they're in class. And, I have 75 x 5 x 2pages of journals to read and mark (that's 750 pages x 250 words which is...oh I can't do math.) Then I get to mark exams that I have just finished making. That doesn't cover my third class of "challenging" students. Enough whining. (Though it is therapeutic...)
Kevin and I played Thursday and Friday night and all went smoothly. We were our regular well oiled machine, though the Friday at the university pub was lightly attended - students gone home. Saturday at the Edelweiss with Elvis was the usual - been doing it almost 10 years now. Video shoot was cancelled Sunday - needed the rest anyway.
Just marking and marking this week - rehearsed with a new drummer with Alysha last night. He was young and funny - should be fun to perform with. This weekend is no playing (rare!) and a few dinner/family parties...and of course marking.
Wednesday was bad drivers day. I've never seen more speeding, unsignaling lane weavers. I'm talking full on 3 lane horizontal diving without a blink. It wasn't a full moon or anything...I guess some days are just like that. A few times I was sure someone was going to buy it. (see traffic rant below for more on this topic)
Keep the greasy side down!
nod

More Musical Mayhem

Only played Saturday - which was good as I got to spend some time at home. Sandra and I did some things around the house and went over to the "Pride" picnic to hear some caterwalling and eat some mystery meat.
Saturday was a bit of an adventure. Alysha played at Hot Rods in Milton. No one there seemed to know a band had been hired. There was no soundman and the PA was not set up. We had to improvise and managed, though the sound was still rough. There were a ton of line dancers from 25 to 75 years of age. They lined danced in the first set and a half, but obviously just wanted us to finish our last sets so they could hear the blaring, badly balanced canned tunes. Country meets techno - is that what people want? No accounting for taste, I guess. After I went to the Ivy to see if Ray was there - it was still early. 3MDM was playing - I used to sub in for them on occasion a few years back. It was the bass player's birthday (he's really a gtr player) and he was having a pint or a few, so I sat in for the last set. It was a fun jam, too be sure. The talented, but slightly infamous, lead singer let the bass player sing a tune. While the lead singer was out, there was an altercation with a rude/intoxicated audience member and the lead singer fled before the police arrived. 3MDM finished the night with me on bass and the bassist/gtr player singing. Adventure!
3 gigs and a video shoot from Thursday to Sunday this weekend - should be more adventurous times!

Owen Sound and Crazy Sounds

The week thus far....
On the weekend I played for the first time in Owen Sound at the Roxy Theatre. It was pretty much sold out. The crowd was a little quiet (for a Saturday), but they got into it by the end. It was really fun to hang out with my relatives after the show - I don't get to see them as much as I'd like with my schedule. As they say, 'a good time was had by all'.
Sandra came home from visiting her sister in Ottawa on Monday. Played as host bassist for the Jam at the Boathouse with Kris Myles on Tuesday - man the heat was crazy. No air there. Some fine musicians sat in, though. Last night rehearsed with Alysha before Saturday's big show in Milton - if you're going, the show will be crowded into the main bar/dance floor area as the big room has a leaky ceiling. After the rehearsal went to the Boathouse to check out the spoken word night. There were some mind blowing performers there and it was a blast even though I was tired. Tonight is the Coffee House at my school - too bad the air is broken. Heat wave number one of 2006, I guess. Drop me a note if you read this!

Midweek Update

Well, it's midweek. The weekend was not the greatest long weekend for weather - Sandra and I were in Pike's Bay checking out her parent's new cottage. Was nice and relaxing, though the traffic/driving was not my favourite part (see Traffic Rant). Tonight I planted a few trees (spruce, tamarack, etc.) that we pillaged from the deer meadow they have in their back yard. We saw a big porcupine, had a bit of a campfire Saturday...fun for all!

Last night I got a call to play a Jam and the Boathouse - 3 blocks from my house. I played with Kris Myles, a talented local singer/songwriter in the pop/folk/rock vein. There were many jammers of various quality doing originals and covers. We had R&B, Country, Rock, everything. Interesting time and not too late a night - think I'll do it again next week as they've asked me if I could.

This weekend, Sandra's off to visit her sister in Ottawa - I'm a bachelor for 4-5 days. I'm off to Owen Sound with Elvis and hope to hear some relatives hooting and hollering from the crowd - that'll be fun!

I'm not sure if anyone but Kevin's mom has read any of this, so if you ARE reading this, respond here, or at the Isle of Nod (www3.sympatico.ca/donfeatherstone) or email me (donfeatherstone@hotmail.com).

Cheers!

Traffic Rant #1

Having been forced by both jobs to travel hours and hours a week by automobile, I have been known to rant and rage about drivers who shouldn't be driving. As someone who does not like to travel in the first place (though I like getting there), here is a list of pet peeves. I'm sure it won't be my last. (Maybe this blog thing has therapeutic value, so I rave on...)

1. drivers who change lanes without signaling - idiots
2. drivers who weave/dodge in and out of lanes in heavy traffic - it's obvious everyone would like to get there faster - they screw themselves up more often than not - it's not a video game - nintendo idiots
3. drivers who see you signaling a lane change and charge to make it impossible for you to do - competitive idiots
4. police cars on the 400hwys doing 95km during rush hour - no one will dare pass them and they create a bottleneck - swinish idiots
5. construction during rush hour - why not give these guys a break during these times? safer and easier for traffic - foreman idiots

Anyway, this list is truly just the beginning. I'm sure this blog will singlehandedly change the way the world drives. Until one day everyone will just get the @##$% out of my way and let me get where I'm going. ;-)

School Rant #1

School is a pain in the butt these days. After setting up a teaching environment in a less than ideal class situation (and spending some of my own money to do this), my ever-wise administrator has decided to move me (and my neighbours). "If it aint broke don't fix it" comes to mind. Add to that that I've started/run the new "Writers' Guild" student writers programme, taken over the Intermediate Quiz team, have two academic English classes well over 35 students (and the inherent marking), and I'm a bit burned out and ready for summer. What to hear more of this often maligned teacher-whining? When summer starts I'm taking a university course through Western that will ensure I only get a couple weeks off this summer. From my day job, that is. (Plug: check the Isle of Nod for schedule of music - pop by and see me! www3.sympatico.ca/donfeatherstone)

This Weekend

What a weeked.

I played for a hundred drunk and unclad students near UW Friday and then played for older wedding goers over the course of 3 shows yesterday. It's Sunday, and as usual I have not lived up to the expectation of a home owner - whatever.

I've decided my life has three quadrants right now - funny, my math sucks too. heh

They are: playing music, teaching, and my home.

Mother's day was nice. But I'm tired - burned out.

hello

I'm trying to see if this "blog thang" is right for me.

I had a semi-blog update on my webpage, but no one seemed to ever read it except for Kevin's mom. Not that that's not all cool, I'm trying to see if this all is easier.

nod