Bowling for Dollars

Do you remember the really budget tv game show "bowling for dollars"?  And it was 5 pin bowling too. . .  And I believe they got $1 for every point. . .  Yeah!

I played tennis with my boss Tim last night.  He managed to pull out a 6-4 7-5 victory, but it was getting pretty close in the 2nd set (I was trying to outlast the sun, but I dropped serve at 5 all. . .)

I did a rough mix of that David Ash song and showed it to a couple of people; which is always a tense and horrible experience.   But the responses have been pretty good, and I think the direction of the album will remain; songs built up from drum loops and bass-lines.

I heard from Kyra from Kyra and Tully, and I think I'll be playing a few gigs at the end of the month with them -- I'll post the shows when it's all confirmed and stuff.

News as it happens. . .

Drunk in Thunder Bay

Sienna's working at the hospital tonight, so Peja and I are holding down the fort.  Well, I'm holding down the fort -- Peja's sleeping through the thunder and the rain.

The girls hung out with the inlaws today, so I got a bunch of time in the studio.  I'm working on finishing off a tune called "David Ash", which is about meeting this big native canadian dude while walking around Thunder Bay with Sienna trying to figure out how to get married.  We were sitting on a park bench, pretty down, because I think we had just found out that you can't just go and sign some forms and be married, but that you have to have a service and jump through some hoops first.  So, we're sitting there, really worried about how it was all going to turn out.  And a couple of homeless people walked by and kept asking us if we were waiting for this soup kitchen to open (we had just spent a month in the woods, so we weren't at our most dapper), and then this huge guy, drunk as hell, sits down beside me on the bench and introduced himself.  I remember him shaking my hand, and my hand just disappeared into his, and he squeezed -- enough to let me know that he was in charge.  He made me promise him that I would remember him, and remember his advice that I should "See the fucking world!"  It was funny, because after 2 months of tree-planting in 2 countries, all I wanted to do was go home with my girl.

I got the rhythm guitar and bass parts (or most of the bass. . .  the last chorus might change) down, and I have to decide whether I'm going to re-record the drums, or just keep the loop that's running through the song.  It's a 2 bar loop -- from an exercise I gave one of my students one day.

Oh, hey, basketball season is approaching!  First game is Sept 14th!  All I need now is a team. . .

Wedding Rock

We got back yesterday from a 3 day adventure in Almonte/Ottawa.  Former Barn Flyz, and Radical Dudez co-founder Brent was getting married, and the mid-era Dudez again played our wedding set.  It was good times, and the wedding was beautiful, and the food was awesome.

We stayed with some friends in Ottawa on Friday night, and got a chance before the wedding Saturday to go music store / record shop / yarn store (Sienna) / Toy Store (Peja) shopping.  We found out that Songbird Music's Ottawa location got sold off to some of it's employees, and so did not go down the drain with the bankruptcy of the Toronto location.  It's called Spaceman Music now and at the former drum department is now Dave's Drum Shop.  We checked out lots of great gear that I somehow resisted.  Peja was very well behaved and careful.  Sienna spilled a cup of water on a $1500 drum kit. . .

After the wedding, we camped out in the Bride's parent's backyard with a lot of the wedding party.  It was good times, and considering we went to bed at 2 am, Peja was very human and slept well.  Some friends came back to K-town with us and we went to the park and played frisbee.

A great long weekend.  Thanks to so many great friends for playing with Peja -- that little girl is so loved.

Turtle Pool

Peja and I rocked the turtle pool today.

Somehow I managed to get wetter than her.  

The pool is about 4' across and I put about 6" of water in it.  We don't actually fit in it, sitting, at the same time.  It's alright, Peja prefers to sit on the edge and just wet her feet -- my mother's genes, I guess.

But it works.

Not quite the same as a lake, but the same post-"swim" evaporation stuff keeps you cool for about an hour.

The neighbors behind us have a pretty deluxe aboveground pool. . .  The trick, is to remember in the off-season to befriend them, because it's really to obvious if you follow "what a lovely pussy-willow hedgerow" with "so, how's the water on this blisteringly hot day?"

I don't put a lot of links on this blog, but since I sometimes post comics, this is kind of appropriate, maybe. . .   Have you read Garfield minus Garfield?  I was a huge garfield fan when I was younger -- it's got that Archie Comic appeal, where the jokes never change, and when you're a kid and nothing makes sense, garfield would always be hungry.  And Garfield minus Garfield has the same familiarity to me now.

September is bringing some very large changes to my life, and it seems to be running at me while I'm dragging my feet towards it.

Speaking of which, someone's stirring upstairs.  She's going to love school.  Damn it.

Drop Shots

Peja is dancing to Janet Jackson.  I can't really figure out why we own that cd. . .  It's a mystery. . .

Working in the studio has continued to be really productive and generally good times.  I think there are at least foundations for about 5 songs, which is a good start.  I did a version of "Sunday Clothes" with a drum loop, some bass, and a bit of organ -- Sienna and Peja were here while I was working (generally they're out of the house), and Sienna got to learn the joy/pain of hearing stuff 100 times while recording.  "Jay, uh, I like the song, and it was fine for the first ten times, but after that. . ."  Thankfully, I got sick of doing overdubs before she came up and demanded that I stop -- another marriage-testing moment averted.

Studio work is such an asshole thing -- you need everyone else to be quiet while you are loud and repetitive and repetitive and loud and repetitive.

I played Tennis with my boss Tim after work on Monday.  It was a classic battle of skill versus hustle.  I'll kill myself to get to a drop shot, and then hit it back softly to the middle of the court, where my opponent lobs it over my head, and I'm racing back to the baseline to somehow hit it backwards over my head, again softly to the middle of the court. . .   But I got some good advice from Tim during the game, and even managed to go up a break in the 2nd set -- Tim got serious and pulled out a 6-4 set (6-3 in the first).  It was very good times, and the courts out in the township were new and perfect.  There was a huge outdoor public pool next door with three diving boards (one was a sweet 3 metre springboard), and next to that was a deluxe basketball set-up with about 8 nets and good pavement. . .  I love downtown, but we've got to play some catch-up on the facilities.

I'm thinking maybe a Fall E.P.  . . .  All I have to do is sell like 60 more Songs for my Seaweed Girl before then. . . .   Uh. . .