Gigs Gigs Gigs

So, you take division street north for a while, turn left, left, right at westport, keep going past highway 7 until Elphin, then take a left at the flashing light, and the festival is behind the Elf-Inn Express Chip Wagon. . .

Busy weekend -- up to Elphin tomorrow to rock out with Kyra and Tully -- sharing the stage with some pretty awesome acts like Sarah Harmer and Luther Wright. . . Then out to Wolfe Island on Sunday for a benefit concert.

July 14th (not 15th as I've said elsewhere), in Inverary (also North on Division), I'm going to play 3 songs to open the Kyra and Tully / Lady Racers show. Should be rad.

The Wilson Room, for those who ask, is in the downtown Library, and it's a really cool big room with awesome acoustics. And The Barn Flyz will be there on July 28th, along with Kyra and Tully and with Grady Kelneck opening the show.

I've probably mentioned all that stuff before, but I thought I'd put it all together in one big post.

Rehearsals with the Flyz start this week -- anyone remember how City-Lights goes?

Poster. . .

The Wilson Room

July 28th, The Wilson Room (KFPL), at 2:30, Jay and the Barn Flyz, plus guests to be confirmed soon, will be playing the rock and roll and folk music.

Man, it's taken me way too long to book this, but it's here now, and it's going to be rad!

I'm trying to track down the Flyz, so if you've seen them, let them know.

Jay.

The Race. . .

Quick mention -- awesome Skeleton Park Music Festival. Sienna sold out of her rad knit creations and Peja and I cruised around seeing music and lots of great friends. I've almost forgiven them for not letting me in; next year, my friends, next year.

Posters around town have my name with Kyra and Tully and The Lady Racers, which is pretty cool.

On my way to work on Thursday, I pulled the E-bike out of the driveway in front of a cube truck. We passed each other a few times up the Concession Street hill, and again on the slow downhill towards the railway tracks on Bath. I tried to catch his eye for a "hey, lookatme, I'm keeping up with traffic!" smile, but to no avail. Bath opens up after Value Village, and the cube truck flew passed me doing about 80, and the race seemed over. . . But I helped out the motor and killed myself up the hill towards the busy lights at Gardeners Road. I passed the truck for the last time at Days Road (he was turning left), and I turned into work, having kept up with traffic (at least the big slow cube truck part of it) the whole way out. $0.03 commute, same time, fresh air, why don't you ride one?

Post-Party-Post

Thanks to everyone who came out for Peja's party -- she was very very happy to see so many of her friends. The potluck was a huge success with lots and lots of awesome food and tons of little people running around. I wish we could think of an excuse to have one every weekend.

I spent the day in the studio yesterday, trying to record new stuff, or old stuff, or anything really. . . I'm not supposed to be in the studio right now, not until the album breaks even, but I've snuck in a couple of times, with disappointing results each time. Maybe I'll take Peja upstairs and record her singing something -- I think that's allowed.

The Skeleton Park Festival is this weekend -- Sienna will be there selling her knit toys and other awesome crafty stuff. I don't know how they manage to put on the festival without charging admission, but it's so rad. If you're looking for something to do on Saturday, you've got to go check it out. Skeleton Park (McBurney Park) is 3 blocks north of Princess street on Clergy Street. I'll see you there!

Take care,

Jay.

"How long have you been taking lessons?"

Went to the Dorian School of Music recital on Saturday night -- my kids did their absolute best, which was pretty cool to see. Congrats to them -- you guys are rad.

My folks headed back to Muskoka this morning, after spending the weekend celebrating father's day and Peja's 3rd (a little early). It was my 4th and my dad's 30th. We got Peja to ask them over and over to move to K-town (sorry T), but time will tell. I love the idea of someone asking Peja where her grandparents live, and her just pointing and saying "a few blocks that way".

Blogger is running slow, and my letters are appearing long after I type them, which makes my frequent revisions a bit maddening, so I'll cut this short.

Take care,

Jay.

Elphin-Bound. . .

Alright, so I think it's kind of official or whatever, pending whatever acts of god, but it looks like I'll be playing bass with Kyra and Tully at this years Elphin Roots festival, like, for real 'n stuff. It's a pretty great honour for me, playing an instrument that I love to play. I've been learning the 17 Kyra and Tully tunes, which has been really fun and a great way to deconstruct some of the songwriting I really admire.

Quick note, Congrats Kev! Kev and I almost killed each-other (well, I'm assuming. . . I know I almost killed him anyway) on an epic 18 day driving-fest across the country and back in 2001 or thereabouts. That was the trip that reminded me that I hated where my life was and set me on a new path. But Kev just had his 2nd baby girl, which is pretty damned awesome. How this dufus gets to live with 3 beautiful girls, I'll never know.

Adam, get the hell off the sidewalk. You're going to kill some poor old lady. Although, I do strongly endorse the yelling horn. So you're 1 for 2. Also, you made my website for free. . . Hmmmm. . .

Bikes

Watched a woman fly through a stop sign on a bike, almost get hit by a car, ditch the bike, and the car drove off. Me and Peja (in her bike trailer) stopped, and I got the lady and her bike off the road. Alright, so flying through a stop-sign is a pretty fucking (sorry mom) stupid thing to do on a bike (who's in this car that doesn't stop?), but it got worse. Now, first, it was an Ebike, which pissed me off, and second, she had a cast on her right foot. A walking cast, but not a riding cast - since those don't exist. I asked her how far she was from home, to see how big of a situation it was (she was claiming to be in great pain), and she responded "I'm not going home right now", got on her Ebike, and rode off.

The other Ebike I've seen around town is riding up and down the sidewalks (I believe it's a geared motor, they have more torque), which is pretty insane considering the weight and speed an Ebike can reach. Would you let someone drive a dirt-bike or a vespa down the sidewalk? An Ebike is lighter than a gas bike, but it's also nearly silent, so you don't hear it coming. The extra weight of the battery and motor (35lbs) also makes it a lot harder to maneuver. There's really no reason for anyone to be riding a bike on the sidewalk, but when you can do 40 km/h, and you're a 180lb man on a 50 lb bike, it's pretty insane.

New dangers seem so much worse than old ones.

I breathe the smog, dodge the cars, but this entry complains about people using a fantastic new form of transportation that I strongly support.

Rain rain rain rain rain rain rain

It's official -- the Ebike works in the rain.

It was coming down like a bastard (sorry mom) when I left for the music school yesterday. It reminded me of a couple of times I got caught up the lake in a big storm -- the rain felt more like spray, stinging and blinding. But I'm not complaining -- it was pretty fun; like being a little kid again. I had rain-gear on, so aside from my face, I was keeping pretty dry. The lights were helping me out, and I made it there in 20 minutes.

It's funny, parts of the bike are so laughably cheap -- the fuse box holder has broken about 50 times, but at the same time, because it's so simple, fixing it just involves jamming the wires back into the box, knowing they'll make contact somewhere. The parts that really matter; the motor, and the controller, are both totally sealed, and everything else just has to hang on.

Hey, remember that comic? I'm not sure what happened to that. The band got together, so that was the thing for a while, and then the Kyra and Tully thing. . . I'm starting to feel a glare coming from my drawing stuff, on the top shelf of the bookcase, slowly buried under waves of clean-ups.

Rain Barrel and The Uncle Jim Ebike

Everything I Need. . .

Is it raining out? Maybe. . . hard to tell. . . I'm watching the leaves. . . I could tell if I had my glasses on -- they were a big hit, and then I got the Ebike and stopped driving the car. Oh, I think it's raining.

T and D-town came down for a short visit -- Peja was gifted, pizza was eaten, and ceiling fans were advertised. Tara just told me of a big storm heading East from Windsor -- the real Barn Flyz'll will be happy, the crops are thirsty.

Peja just walked over with a large plastic bag, pulled out 2 tupperwares, 1 cup, 1 plate, and then walked away saying "you've got everything you need". Hmmmm. . .

Rehearsals should start again this week (actually, they should've started last week, but "someone" forgot) with Kyra and Tully. We're playing the Elphin Roots Festival (I don't have the link handy, but that's why God invented Google) in the near future, so I guess I should get my brush-hands back.

Oh, there's the first thunder clap -- "Giants!" yells Peja. Well, I guess going to the park is probably over.

Today's Lyrics:

The girl I love
loves 4-track
tape hiss
and vocal cracks

End of Today's Lyrics.

Quick shout-out to the long-lost Christopher James Martin Scott, who's birthday is in the summer, and since it was 90 out today, I must imagine it is soon. Happy birthday buddy!

Take care,

Jay.

No More Purple Bike. . .

I'll get a picture up soon, maybe with some more details and stuff, but I switched the Ebike motor over to my Uncle Jim's old bike. As much as I liked rocking the purple girls' bike at 40 km/h, this bike fits me better, and it's a bit lighter and better designed, leading to a better top speed, better acceleration, and the throttle actually fits properly, so I don't have to have it resting on the front brake lever. Also, when I have to lift it, it's a lot nicer having the horizontal bar of a men's bike, as opposed to the sloping women's bike design.

Sienna and I are talking about switching our electricity to this service that effectively buys enough wind power to make up for you use -- which would mean that I'd be biking to work on wind power. It's around 3 extra cents a kilowatt hour.

I really want to sell the car. It's just a big fat mountain of hypocrisy sitting in my tent-garage. Anyone want to buy a low miles '95 Ford Contour?

Music news -- new rehearsals with Kyra and Tully are starting up next week, in preparation for the Elphin Roots festival at the end of the month, and a gig at the Inverary Playhouse. I'll be playing a few songs to open that show, which will also feature the Lady Racers -- a band I saw last year at the Wolfe Island Music Festival; they're cool.

Peja wants to go to the park. I want to eat lunch. The battle begins.