Quietly Busy

Still busy as a beaver. Thought I'd add this link for you - the kids did a concert the other night in Lunenburg - at the old Lunenburg Academy (National Historic Site).

Slow Cooking Cover features two of my boys - Jon on Bass (left) and Chris plays Lead Guitar (right).

Merry Christmas all!

Back Again

Wow, I've been away a long time and didn't even know it. Time has a way of slipping through the fingers. You can't hold it. You can't claim it. You can't even manufacture it. I've always struggled with that. I don't think that I over-commit. I just agree to take on a lot of stuff. No regrets.

Fall has really settled in now that it is November. Not my favourite month - but one of those transitional months here in the Maritimes - part fall, part winter....mostly just uncomfortable. November is like a wasteland...grey/brown. The land lays bare waiting for snow. Waiting to sleep.

Running is on hold. I've got issues with my left hip that bothers me right down to the ankle. I need to get crunched at the chiropractor but have been waiting for it to clear. Feels like a pinched nerve or something. I think it happened during some touch football back in September. It's naggy.

I'm walking to and from work...about 4-5K each way. Not too difficult at all - in fact, I love the time alone and appreciate the buffer between home/work and work/home. It gives me a chance to breathe.

Bottom line is that I'm still a busy beaver. I've got lots of irons in the fire which I won't discuss here and now. Life is good, the kids and V are great. No flu. No problems. All the best you guys.

Take care. I'll be back soon.

CBC Radio 2 Song Quest Update

I've been flirting with Word Press trying to build a case for Carter's Beach, Nova Scotia. Ah, it's a long story. I got wrapped up in the Great Canadian Song Quest with CBC Radio 2. You can read the whole story if you go back a couple posts.

Anyhow, my photo of Sam on the Carter's Beach (he's carrying the green pail) has drawn a lot of interest from across Canada...North America, even. Last week, Lily in Toronto phoned to interview Sam and I about our favourite beach and the CBC Podcast is available here. We're in Episode II...you may want to listen to Episode I to add a bit of perspective.

Anyhow - I'm having lots of fun. It's been very cool for Sam (age 9) to be involved too, seems how he's in the picture and all.

Chris' guitar is complete. It's home, sleeping in the case right now. I've got a few photos to show you with my next entry...maybe even a video clip. Hold tight.

Take care.

Chris' Acoustic Guitar

Chris started building this guitar back in March. It's nearly finished now and it sure is pretty. Sides and back are cherry, spruce top, mahogany neck, etc. As unique and beautiful as he is.

Here are a few pics of it for you. Just about 4 hours left to go...apparently. Strings need to be strung, etc.

Thank God for men like Paul Casey and Grep Pelkey for inviting a 14 year old into something grand. Truly, an amazing gift.

Slow Cooking Cover Gem

Well, I'm just throwing stuff out there in fits and spurts these days. Here's a little video of the kids at the Mug & Anchor Pub in Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. Full house and a little sample of some home cooked goodness from Chris, Jon, Daniel, Claire and Matt. Slow Cooking Cover.

Moby Dick in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

I dropped a couple kids off at the skateboard park in Lunenburg the other night. Come to discover...the new moive, Moby Dick is being filmed right now in Lunenburg and Shelburne here in Nova Scotia. Snapped a couple pics the other night. Stars Ethan Hawke among others.




Dig that cool green screen? Must have been a break in the action 'cause one of the deck hands was grappling a plastic water bottle. They probably didn't have them in the old days right?

I wandered down to the Bluenose II berth. Here she is:

What's Goin' On Eh?

First, I think I'm injured. I've got this tightness all up and down my left leg from the hip to my ankle. I haven't run for a week or so. I've been walking to work instead of running hoping to stretch things out. I'm fine. It doesn't bug me that much. I've had this same type of 'injury' (if that's what it is) before and it fades in time.

Wow, where do I begin? There is so much happening right now. Chris and Jonathan have been invited back to Cape Breton to play during Celtic Colours. They'll showcase twice in one day...at 3pm and later at 11:30pm on the Festival Stage - sort of an after-hours thing that turns into a major jam. Three cool things about this festival: (1) It's the largest Celtic gathering in North America. (2) Cape Breton was been selected the #1 island destination in North America by Conde Naste. (3) I get to go.

The boys have been brewing up some new favourites with Slow Cooking Cover. They've booked a Christmas Show for December 15th at the historic Lunenburg Academy - 3rd Floor Theatre. This performance is part of the "Lunenburg Sessions". More details to come. Chris and Jon have played this as a duo in the past. The place will be rocking with the full band.

Chris starting building an acoustic guitar back in March and it's nearly complete - in the spray shop now. It's incredible. Completely personalized according to his (14 year old) exacting standards...fast neck, wild headstock, decal/signature...the works. I"ll post pics when he's got it home.

We've had frost a couple of times. Nothing major. I've had a woodfire a couple nights just to keep the coolness at bay. No jackets yet. The Running Wife has worn a hat, gloves, etc while out running. Not this cat. That's right, I've not been running lately.

This CBC Radio 2 Great Canadian Song Quest has been heating up. Sam (pictured in my photo submission to them) and I were interviewed last night for a CBC podcast. It will be available for download next Monday. I'll post the link. It's funny, Sam and I were on two phones in different parts of the house. We kicked the rest of the family outdoors so it would be somewhat quiet during the interview. Oh man, too funny. Sam (age 9) was pretty shy and quiet on the phone. Who knows how this will turn out. Good times.

So, regarding this contest, I've started a blog about it over here. You can go there when you finish here okay? It's mainly a case for Carter's Beach to be selected as the Nova Scotia location...that should be immortalized in song. There are lots of cool photos that I've been slowly adding. Here's one that was emailed to me. This lady is a real pro...Linda Ross.
She has graciously allowed me to use her images to make the pitch. It all helps.

And you can help too if you like. Go here. Click the big red square to begin. Right dead centre, click on the little map of Nova Scotia...a new screen will appear - top right there is a grey text box. Type in Carter's Beach. That's it. You can do that once a day if you like. It would sure help put Carter's Beach on the map.

So, thanks for coming by. I'll keep you posted.

Great Canadian Song Quest - Need Your Help!

I love music, play a bit...but I'm no songwriter. Too fussy for me. I do love to take pictures and submitted a couple this week for the CBC Radio 2 Great Canadian Song Quest. It's a pretty cool contest.

So far, I've had great feedback on the two pictures I added. I would appreciate your comments and your recommendation. Follow this link to the 'GALLERY' page at CBC Radio 2. Just click on the photo...recommend and/or comment. Much appreciated! It's a national contest. One winner will be chosen from each Province and Territory in Canada. A Canadian songwriter will be selected and commissioned to write about the winning photo/location.

My two pictures are dated September 22nd. Both are sunset shots and have appeared here on this blog. One is of my son Sam on the beach with the green pail...the other shows the dingy on shore with the 3 sailboats anchored in the distance.

And, I've built a support blog here - to provide a bit of background on Carter's Beach with a few additional photos.

Thanks for your support and help with this project.

Explanation II

Anne, you nailed it. Context is everything eh? So, allow me to add some perspective to the photo I loaded on 'Wordless Wednesday'. It's a photo of Slow Cooking Cover with band coach / music teacher. The kids had just won the South Shore Battle of the Bands competition...and Paul had come over to admire the trophy. Can you feel how proud they are? Paul has just been handed this huge trophy and the kids are all waiting for his response. "It's pretty shiny", he says.

This guy has elevated these kids more than he knows. L-R, Paul, Claire, Daniel, Matt, and my two...Chris and Jon.

Here's a little video clip from our local newspaper - a video montage created for the paper by a couple of other talented kids.

Here are a few more pics from the day, last Saturday.






Blessed in Nova Scotia.

Wordless Wednesday

Explanation

I owe you this I think...by way of explanation. The photo I added yesterday is funny on it's own. Jonathan is holding a potato cannon. Have you ever fired a potato cannon? No? Well, we've shot off everything from kiwis to tomatoes to, of course, potatoes.

It's made of different sizes of ABS pipe. You can get instructions all over the internet. Basically, it works like a real gun. You stuff a potato in the barrel end. You screw off the cap at the large end...and spray in a bunch of hairspray and quickly screw the cap back on so none of that explosive goodness escapes. Then, you set the thing in place...and push the BBQ lighter...and the rest is history. It makes a huge bang! And the inserted item flies a very long way. The boys love it.

So, by way of explanation...Jonathan had inhaled a little too much hairspray and was in the middle of launching an explosive sneeze...the look is priceless.

Wow. Wasn't that enlightening?

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Two Post Day

Yeah, because I can't just add photos once a week and be done with it. In my opinion, a blog is not a blog without some words mixed in. After all, I've got something to say too.

So, two posts in one day...with more photos just because I can. I'm even going to add a video for you:



If, for some reason, you cannot view the video...here's the url: Slow Cooking Cover at The Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival Chris is on the right playing lead guitar...Jon is 2nd from the left on the big black bass.

Alright, so I'm still busy. Running to and from work is getting easier. I hope to soon take the long way home depending on what time I can afford. School starts next week. Nobody really wants to go. I don't blame them.

Chris is still building his guitar. It's a thing of beauty...working on the neck right now and should have it together and complete by Christmas. He started working on it in March. That's a lot of hours. He's working with some gifted, precise guys on this...I say take as long as it takes.

Chris and Jon have been jamming hard and long on guitars lately. Jon, as far as I can tell, can play anything at all. I'm his father...but I can tell these things. They've taken to the blues these days. I really should catch some of it on video. Mind boggling solos, slides, etc.

Hurricane Bill came and washed the humidity away. Lots of wind and rain...major mess along the coast. Devastating really. Lots of erosion and mess. I could not believe the hundreds of giant lobster claws washed up on shore. Bill raked the ocean floor...ravaged it. No exaggeration, these lobster claws were as big as oven mitts. I didn't have my camera with me to take pics. Here are a few other recent photos from a trip to Carter's Beach in Port Mouton, Nova Scotia...part of the same set as the previous photos...the Wordless Wednesday pics.




Thanks for coming by.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Reunions, Weddings and Festivals

I’m still running to and from work everyday, rain and shine. I have to tell you that I prefer the rainy days because the temp is right. I hate running in the heat. Blah. So, 30 more miles this week and it’s getting easier and more enjoyable. I’m a good runner if I’m distracted. I go nuts if there’s nothing to think about. I guess that’s why the iPod came in handy back in the old days. Maybe I’ll dig out the 1st Edition Shuffle and take it for a spin again. My boys jeer me as ‘old school’ – my 11 year old, Jonathan, just bought an iPhone with his gig money. I am old school.

Oh yes, there have been gigs. Many, many summer gigs for Chris and Jon…and the larger band, Slow Cooking Cover. The kids are hot and there’s lots of buzz around. Here are a few pics from the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival. They played, under perfect conditions, last Sunday afternoon at the Lunenburg Bandstand. It was great, really great stuff. Here are some random pics from the day:

The drummer’s dad has posted some great little videos on Facebook. Sign up as my "Facebook Friend" and you can link through to see if you like. Next gig is September 12th at the Mug and Anchor Pub in Mahone Bay.

As a duo, Chris and Jon have been doing very well…playing out 3 or 4 times a week. They got home one night at 4:30am…with their mother of course. They’d been out at an after-hours party (post Folk Harbour Festival) playing their little butts off. The real music shows up at the after-hour parties dudes. I’m just saying. Some of the pics above show C & J playing for MacKinnon Dance - a group of talented Highland Dancers.

Yeah, and Victoria and I attended a cool wedding at Hubbard’s Barn. There’s a weekly Farmer’s Market held here and the odd special event. The grounds are beautiful. At any rate, it was a Scottish wedding ad Eilidh (the bride and pronounced A-lee) is as Scottish as they come. She’s Jon’s fiddle teacher and a real doll. The groom is Chris’ teacher – Paul Buchanan. He’s also their band coach and truly one of the nicest guys around. Together, they make beautiful music with Flat Fifth and as a duo. We’ve all become good friends. Eilidh’s brother is Ruaridh Campbell…(pronounced rury or rory) (his website) He’s over the top incredible. When he and his sister…and the rest of the Scots jumped in it was free-wheeling, crazed joy for me. So, here are a few wedding pics and random pics of men in kilts and musicians going for it. What amazing fun - even the Scottish country dancing was nuts. Loved it all.


Lastly, an update on V’s family reunion. Big fun as always. Here are a few pics. Yes, there was more music. It’s non-stop guys.
Take care.