2008 in Review...

Well....it's that time of year again.

What's happened, what is happening, what will happen...enquiring minds want to know, and some out there visiting the Isle might be vaguely interested. Ha!

Well, musically, it was quite an adventurous year! Alysha Brooke decided to cut down/eliminate live performance, so that project ran out. New ones sprang up, like Swamp Donkey, featuring Luke from the Alysha band. 50 Effing Fingers sprung up, an ill-fated all star band featuring 3 lead guitar players that had some fine musical moments. I recently started playing more sax (yeah!) with Gavin Knight and the Rhythm Resurgence, playing lead tenor and many of the solos. I recorded an album with Andrew Butcher, playing bass and sax - it should be very cool when completed. I recorded a track for Rik Emmett's upcoming CD, playing about 8 sax tracks (alto and tenor). The Charity Brown project continues, with studio work coming. And the duo stuff with the eternal Kevin Coates continues - must be around 10 years or so, soon!

School was normal and writing was slower than expected.

Winter was too much snow, but the March Break was a blast, hanging out with family and friends and meeting my half brother in Florida. He rocks, of course. What do you expect?

Stacey and I did some local travel in the Spring. Summer was great. Stacey and I chilled at some cottages (Keane and Featherstone) and much fun was had!

Well, I did sprain my ankle, but forget that nonsense. I was still able to adventure through Halifax in August (collage bellow!)

Most of you likely know that Stacey had some health problems after that trip, so that consumed a lot of time in the Fall, but as the New Year comes, she is doing better. By this time next year it should all be over and behind us!

So that's what has happened and is happening. What next?

Will our unfocused author finally record the CD he's been working on? Will he finally finish the novel he has been working on? Will he publish more stories? Will bands he works with fold or become world famous? Will he travel to Florida or Mexico in March? Will he get another van in the spring, or something else? How will summer be spent this year? Will Stacey and he go on a cruise at the end of next year? Will he get a new Mac with a Pro Tools Suite? A new suit? Grow his hair back? Gote? Start recording Kevin Coates' long awaited new CD? These are all possible....keep visiting the Isle of Nod to find out the next chapter in this almost exciting procession of events!

Happy Christmas and Mighty New Year to you all! Nod

Halifax Collage

"Farewell to Nova Scotia..."

...and to summer, I guess. Though who knows, the way the planet is behaving these days.

The summer draws nigh and all of us hated teachers (by day) must soon face the 3 1+ hours of workshop a day with 30+attendees who by and large don't want to be there. (Want the job?) Plus the research, planning, marking, meetings, clubs, extra curriculars, parent dealings, and a$$hole adults etc. that come with the fun. (I prefer the students) Lol - perhaps I'm growing sadistic with age, but I'm looking forward to it!

Great events: Lane and Jess, and Ed and Lisa, - two of the greatest couples the planet has ever produced, and some of my best friends on any planet - had offspring this summer. And for a brief moment I am hopeful for our collective gene pool.

Musical events: Recording with Rik Emmett and Charity Brown continue. Gigs with the venerable Kevin Coates begin bi-weekly in September, The Swamp Donkeys sporatically, Fifty Fingers if we're lucky, and other entities horizon-ally.

Summer has been great. By way of work, I fixed the driveway, had the gable ends painted, put in a new boiler and did all the usual summer stuff around the house. Some redecorating, but much still to do. (Don't ask about the front lawn garden.) Wasega and South Hampton cottages were great to hang at. Especially fun was a week in Halifax. We saw well over a score of bands, lots of local flora and fauna, and the best seafood in the country. It will be hard to eat out in Ontario after NS. Even the low end places put our restaurants to shame. And the air is clean; unless you leave Southern Ontario (which I love, don't get me wrong) you don't know how clean air can be.

Fall approaches with two season's wisdom behind it. Challenges arise but perspective dulls their teeth and though life is not ideal in all ways right now, I'm somehow very very happy. I hope you are, too, if you're reading this.

Nova Scotia, Halifax Pics!

Have a great FALL!

Nod

July-around in the sun all day?

Booo....bad pun...
Isle of Nod is a good place for a tan these days - even with all the rain.

Lots of cottaging has left me brown and relaxed, despite a pesky sprained right ankle. This has forced me to put a lot of house projects on hold until my leg is better. Forced rest sounds nice, but it's a bit frustrating.

Rehearsals with Alysha Brooke and fairly new trio, Swamp Donkey, are in the category of music happenings. But far more mind blowing, I did a session on saxes last week for the Man, the God, the Legend, RIK EMMITT's next CD. That was rather mind blowing - he's amazing on gtr and vocals...hasn't missed a step since the days I worshipped him in TRIUMPH. I'm excited to see how the song turns out!










Ahead: more music. Ray's latest Zepplin band plays Boston Manor on Friday. Wedding on Sunday. Lane's birthday on Saturday - including the annual fish smoking. Maybe a trip out East in August - we'll have to see. New boiler coming. That's about it. Here are some summer pics for your consumption.
Keaner and I, Wasega





My nephew and niece, Dan and Sam. Far too cool...










The Keane clan.








My latest 'stalker'... ;-)






That's it for now from the Isle of Nod. Happy summer, all!

Nod

Hyeh! Hot tub! (say in a James Brown-esque voice)

Summer is here and the Isle of Nod is a joyous place to be!

So far, golfing, canoing on the Grand, hot tubbing, working around the house, extra naps, playing music, and writing. Can't complain about that.
Kevin and I are still playing a good bit and have two gigs next weekend (The Duke and a Lesbian Wedding) before our summer hiatus. Lowlight (as opposed to highlight) was when the massive young red haired giant of a young man requested "Hello" by Lionel Richie for his birthday (yes, we played it). I finished my parts on the Andrew Butcher CD, playing saxes on the weekend. The album is going to be something special, if early speculation may be permitted.
Heading up to the cottage on Sunday to get away, spend some time with my bro's family, and all that next week. Should be a blast! Thinking about a trip somewhere in August - we'll have to see how that goes...
More of the novel has been completed. I'll try to post another chapter on the website soon.
Not everthing can be perfect on the Isle, though. Computer problems may force me to splurge on that long overdue computer (a Mac this time, I think), while pricing a new boiler (think the price of a regular furnace x 4 ) has me quaking in my bank account. Always work to do on the old house, too. Ah well...
Here's a couple of pics of summer fun so far!




Jessica, Lane and their little Sophie, with Stacey.





Canoing down the Grand.



If I don't see you/you don't stop by the Isle of Nod, have a great summer!
Nod

In the studio w/Butcher

Last weekend I spent in Studio the Andrew Butcher Project!!!

Andrew 'the Rock Star' Butcher


"Don't tell Mike!!!"



Recording the whole album....(bass lines)





"So, you sang with Axel and Boston and now symphony orcherstras? Now you can help with the bass lines....ummm...I'm good with that!"




This CD is going to be mighty fine music - you'll want to check this blues/rock/prog/r&B/delta/rockablilly/bluesey stuff....

Sweet.

D

Can't You Smell It????

That's right, that's the smell that sailed a thousand...dreams. Summer is coming! A few months - what could you do with that? The mind boggles, churns, turns - so many things you want to do.
Of course, the last weeks before my holiday are the toughest of the year - write exams, mark summative projects (the biggest of the semester), accept as many late projects from the last few months as students want, without any penalty (thanks Dalton - can I turn in my taxes a couple of years late for free? Or how about my report cards - can I do them next fall? People who read this blog...can you ignore deadlines?...okay, I'll leave it for another blog. Or maybe not. A record number of my students passed the fallacious [if it sounds dangerously like felicio, that's apt] literacy test - is it an election year yet? If not, maybe next year's will be even easier to pass!) And of course the school administration is more and more political - screw the teachers, as long as the press is good for the school.
But there have been many good points: My grade 9 academic team held their own against grade 10 academic "Reach for the Top" teams. The Coffee House was an artistic triumph, despite the hurdles hurled against us from students and 'so called' adults alike. Personally, I created and introduced a novel that has never been taught in Canada before - and the kids really liked it, surprise surprise. I lead a first year teacher through a pair of courses - poor lass. I also taught Brave New World instead of the crusty oldy "Gatsby" - way more resonant in our current world of Conditioning and such...
So the summer...
I have three main goals...and I think I'd best narrow it to two. There are always things to do around the house, and that will be one main job. (Maybe a new - gulp - boiler....donations accepted for this 5 digit expense!) A little work on each room, work outside...always ways to improve it all...
Number 2 is working on the novel. I'd like to do this and I've been encouraged by those who have read the prelude (on my webpage), including students who are very enthused about the premise. Of course, if I don't hit that, short stories always await to be worked on...
Number 3 is the home studio. I need a new computer (my old PC is dying) and a bigass MAC with a protools suite (for recording music) has always been my dream. The last years I've always been in the red, but I always wanted to buy this. I can certainly do so now, so maybe I will and start recording the album I've been working on for 20 years. I'm not sure if all 40-50 60+ songs can make the first album, but it's past time I got them down for some kind of consumption...

Summer plans....well, working around the house (can't really 'rest' for more that a day or so), some quality time up at the cottage, and perhaps a trip farther afield...we'll see how that goes.

Recent stuff: I finished a stint in the winter with the legendary Charity Brown - CD to be recorded soon. Just last weekend I recorded the bass tracks for Andrew Butcher's debut CD...watch this guy! Kevin and I keep playing every other week in KW and occassionally for weddings and corperate stuff. Alysha Brooke is slowing down, but the gtr player, Luke (Settlers Creek), and I are assembling a 3 piece to take over the world.

That's all the news that's fit to print. If you want to hear the juicey details of my personal life (which is quickly growing idealic), you'll have to email me. But, to sum it all up, I feel like I'm entering one of the happiest times of my life at the tender age of....never mind.

Drop by any time, friends!

Nod

I know, I know - long time no update

It's always easier getting these things out in the summer, somehow. ;-)

The Isle of Nod continues to bloom, even in this seemingly unending winter. Here's all the news that is fit to print.

MUSIC: Kevin Coates and I continue to play bi-weekly, with occassional extra gigs here and there with The Interesting People. The Charity Brown project is ramping up for a month of Thursday shows. The Butcher studio project is on hold for now, as seems to be '50 Fingers' - though you can look them up on MySpace under '50 effing fingers', I believe. The Alysha Brooke band continues to perform a couple shows a month. Fun For Donkey remains on hiatus. My buddy Ed Paton just released his second CD under the project name Redux - very cool ambient jazz/latin influenced mellow house music. I highly recommend it!

WRITING: A little slow right now, though I've worked on a few things sporatically.

SCHOOL: While the political idiocy continues, we few, the proud - those that actually give a damn - trudge on. (I'm sure another rant will appear at some point.) My Reach For the Top team, comprised entirely of grade 9's, is holding their own against other schools and their gr 9 & 10 teams. I'm currently writing new curriculum material for all three of my classes - crazy. New novels, though (at least for me): Anthem, Brave New World, and one never taught before, to my knowlege, in these parts - The Last Book in the Universe. At the same time, I'm pseudo-mentoring a brand new teacher through 2 courses.

THINGS SOCIAL: My friends Jessica and Lane just had a child - congrats! Lots of fun with family and friends, old and new, down in Florida for the March Break. Basically still trying to get into trouble whenever possible.

Summer must be coming - I can finally see the top of the 7' magnolia tree beside my lane way.

For all the masses of fans of the Isle of Nod (yes, both of you), have a great spring!

NOD

I know, I know...slow getting the blogs out...

But here's a pic of Kevin and I and my new favourite shirt - bonus marks if you can guess where the quote is from!

New Years' Rambles and Reflections

Well, Isle of Nod readers (both of you), another year is done and it is customary at this time to pause, reflect, look back, and look forward as one year ends (according to our random and illogical calendar) and another begins.

Reflection on the past year. Well, let's see:

More playing music than I expected.
More studio work than I expected.
Less gigs than last year (about half at around 45)
More writing fiction than last year, though less than planned.
More socializing than expected.
Healthier bank account than last year.
Less weddings than expected.
More car pooling than last year.
Not as much travel as last year.
More new friends than expected.
More work at school than the previous year.
Less furniture and small appliances than last year.
More sitings of nature than last year.
More fun than expected.
While there were ups and downs, overall it ended up that it was a great year.

The recap: regular gigs with Kevin Coates, various gigs and studio work with Alysha Brooke, Studio Preparations with Andrew Butcher, Studio Preparations and live work with Charity Brown, Studio Work with Doug Maceachern; more senior classes at the day gig and the usual activities, new curriculum developement; travel to Victoria, BC, the cottage at Wasaga; lots of good hanging out with friends and family throughout and particularly at the end of the year.

New Year's resolutions/looking forward:

I was going to resolve not to procrastinate so much in the new year, but I put it off.
But seriously, we live in Canada and January/February are the coldest, least sunlight, hurt-your-back-shovelingest, nastiest, worst months. Why would we make taxing resolutions to change diet, excercise, or alter our lives in a stressful way during this time of year? That makes no sense. So I resolve not to make any resolutions until July, when the weather is better, the sun stays longer, and I have more time to focus on....whatever.

Well, that is the state of the nation on the Isle of Nod. Wishing all my faithful readers (both of you) a Happy and successful new year,

Nod

Kevin and I - appearing every two weeks, Fridays