quand il me prend dans ses bras...

such a romantic song, (see title, although i know that's not the title, but everyone should know that one) and saint valentine's day just around the corner (i walk a little faster). i wonder how many song titles i could work into one post. no, i haven't got time (gotta put it in your pocket till i get back!).
lovely day. got a couple of gigs coming up - the private one (sorry, folks) on feb. 20 with the jazz trio, then two on st. paddy's day, where we'll be parading all the irish tunes we know, and talking with an irish accent, nach bhuill? sure, and of course we will, because when i'm not taking after the italian grandfather, i'm after taking after the one from connemara, the west coast of ireland, where all the ponies on my website were that rainy day on the mountaintop.
in that photo,i look like one of those fat people on oprah's list of losers, but it's really just the six woolen sweaters underneath the hastily purchased raincoat that give me such a rotund figure. i'm really just a slip of a thing, and sure, lovely too.
but getting back to the french, and himself putting me in his bras, (such a strange one), - i hope everyone has some love come their way this sunday, and what the hey!, every day.
because what the world needs now....

hogging the ground

one of these days, i'm going to publish the story of when i first moved out of Toronto, and into the wilderness of the Haliburton bush. oh, what a thrill!!!
you know how naive and idealistic all the city-dwellers can be. how they hold such romantic notions about living in the country and eating their own home-made bread, and loving, just loving!! - everything possible about nature.
yeah.
that's before they experience living with black flies, and the joy of covering oneself from head to toe before you can even step outside the door (so much for the great outdoors). and the story i refer to above, which is the ground hogs. yes, very funny creatures in a movie, or charming when they're on a newscast telling you spring is coming. but monsters from HELL when they invade your car, via underneath the hood, and they eat all your car wires: spark plugs, brake linings, and whatever else whets their stupid little appetites.
whoops. went all mentally unpolitically correct there. supposed to love them all, right? sure. you try having to park your car a mile away from your home, at a corner gas station, and then riding home in the pitch black, which you have to (not) see in the country, away from all artificial light, to believe, and all that on your rickety bike, because otherwise they'll eat the new wires you just replaced, and thank god when you drove you didn't fly over the highway ledge with no brakes, and into one of the numerous lakes we are blessed with in Northern Ontario, or worse, smack dab, at high speed (oh not too high because your car is running on the only one out of four cylinders that they didn't eat completely), but still, any speed is dangerous when you run head on into the Canadian Shield - that's rock, cold, hard, granite-type, face-smashing and unforgiving.
so actually, i hate the critters, truth be told, and if the damn thing poked its head out in my vicinity on a february day, or any day, i'd just as soon shoot it, if i had a gun.
i'll tell you another time about the mice.

seeing the light

shouldn't really be taking more time to do this, but it's so much faster at the local library; i must take advantage, mustn't i? and suffer for my art

the art is coming along; working as always on the zootcase show, which, by the way, has its own blog now: zootcase2010, if you're interested, although nothing much up there so far.
we've had the flurry of gigs over the holidays, now looking forward to the valentine's gathering - a house concert with the jazz trio. sorry, it's invitation only.

other than music, not to much to say, except to comment on the horror of the haiti situation, and also on the remarkable resilience of the people, who smile so easily, in spite of all the hardships and poverty. makes you realize we have absolutely NOTHING about which we can complain.
i've been trying a new trick on my own mind, to combat all the bad moods i generate for myself each time something happens that i don't like. i have always muttered a sarcastic "thanks, god" (oh, i know, i've been on the road to hell for a long time). now, i try to make it sincere, and take the time (usually only half a second or so, anyway, when things go wrong), to appreciate that, in fact, my life is pretty good. so thanks, to whatever forces of good are operating out there.

one third of winter down; two more to go, but the days are getting longer in light.

ranting for fun and non-profit

Just got the “Your personal Time-of Use Dashboard is ready” letter from the hydro company. Well, now my life can begin.

God, I wish the company would take all the money for the letters and brochures (in particular the glossy coloured ones), which repeat the same information every mailing, - and oh yeah, the cost of the installation of “smart” meters – and apply those funds to its own damn dashboard. How much would costs of operating be reduced, and how much saving could be passed on to consumers?

Oh silly me. That must be brain damage from the cold that's talking there, since my house temperature is kept far below the 'comfort' zone. Savings would not go to consumers, of course, but, - still – the money could go to a CEO salary or severance package 'savings plan'.

Whoops. Shouldn't have reminded myself. The 'Delivery' and 'Regulatory' Charge. The 'Officers' Retirement', I mean, 'Debt Retirement' Charge. All the little payouts for those greedy little CEO's. Every time I get a bill and see those charges (which are always more than my usage, by the way), I think of that woman (someone say hello to her, if she's not out of the country on her yacht). You know, the one who got six million – that's MILLION – dollars when she left the hydro company. I remember too, the day I worked as a temp for hydro. It happened to be the day after another CEO voted himself a raise. I couldn't tell you the number of irate and upset customers that called that day. And I told each and every one of them they were right; that the salary raise was disgusting; and I suggested they write and complain.

To what avail, however? I'm just dashing my own board, and can't even raise enough heat of anger to eliminate the layers of clothing I must wear indoors. And I do get angry. Every day. Like when the rates are up at dinnertime (thanks for making life more difficult after work). Or when I long for a hot shower and have to wait for the tank to warm up, since I keep it turned off otherwise. And my feet! No basement in this tiny house, so they're like ice all the time. Am I a martyr? No, just a 'serf' of the 2000's. Gotta 'conserf' to pay the bills.

So thanks, hydro companies, for setting up a system that now lets me sit in front of my dial-up computer, so I can waste even more electricity, to be able to see just exactly how limited my life is when I consult your “charts and graphs that show your usage hour by hour, a day at at time”. “Putting you in control”, indeed.

I don't need the dashboard. I know I use heat when I'm desperately cold. I cook when I'm starving and can't wait for “off-peak” hours. And I write letters at a local library hi-speed computer, so my fingers are warm enough to work the keyboard.

happy new year

and there you are! we're already ten years into the millennium of destruction, and who can keep up? the snow is entrenched outside on my sidewalk; i'm freezing and because i'm doing this, i have missed the skating times down by the lake. curses!!!
you see, i'm not very well disposed to the new age and its chains.

but just wanted to say hi, and make sure that my zero followers are all well and happy.

got the gig friday night at gate 403, for whoever is in the toronto area. 9pm. be there if you like music.

she's at the post......she's off!!!

so it's monday, and the dreaded winter season has officially begun with the cursed few flakes - i mean, the gorgeous winter fairyland - outside the window as i type.
i am so looking forward to 400 pounds of clothes; freezing toes and fingers; a nose running totally rampant and coloured like santa's leader of the leash; not to mention ice slicks on the road and impassable streets, and......
never mind. it's too depressing.
i'm inside, and warm, and looking forward to the holiday season, starting with the below-mentioned 'big gig', another one on new year's eve across the street at Allen's - and then in january at gate 403.
i'll post details as the dates get closer.
meanwhile, i should hurry home and get to work on the keyboard.
some fun photos taken last night by morgan for the famous underwear gig.
likewise to be posted later.
a tout a l'heure....

le big gig

just a reminder to anyone tuning in that moi and the gang will be doing our holiday party thing at the Black Swan Tavern in Toronto - Friday Dec. 18; 9pm. lotsa fun and a special celebration of the 'underwear' song, with a chance for you all to take part.
c'mon out