Dave turns 60

Dave and me. Photo by Beckett.

A very happy 60th birthday to my dear friend Dave Clement.

The short list I have on my 20 Things I Love About Dave Clement page seems painfully inadequate in terms of capturing this amazing individual.

He's one of the most benevolent, positive people I know; no wonder he is so loved by the filking community.

If you're not familiar with Dave's music, be sure to check out the Dandelion Wine page and listen to some music (Here's an excerpt from Canadian Lady).

So I raise a glass of Dandelion Wine cheer to toast the day...Happy Birthday, Dave!

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feadog, talking edna dolls, and a reading survey

Yay, one of the Feadog whistles I bought on eBay arrived yesterday! I was so excited when it arrived that I ripped the package open right in the lobby of our building and started playing The Swallow Tail, to the amusement of our security guard and another tenant. LOVE the tone, very round and pure. Thanks so much for the recommendation, Ju!

I recently discovered this page for learning tunes. A kind fiddler named Jim recently launched this resource to help in the tune-learning process, including a slow as well as fast recording of each tune. So far the only tune I recognize is Sligo Maid; I notice he plays a slightly different version than the one I learned. I'm trying to play along with his version, figure I might as well get used to variations.

And AUGH! Marty Fabish has pointed out that there is a TALKING EDNA DOLL available on Amazon.com. Description from the manufacturer: "Thinkway introduces real Voice Recognition with the talking Edna doll. She recognizes over 50 unique words and phrases and has multiple responses to each. Ages 4 and up. Includes 2 AAA batteries for "Try Me" demonstration only." Holy toledo, I am *SO* tempted. But do I really NEED a Talking Edna Doll? I could spend my money and time on much more useful things. Like books. Or Feadog penny whistles. Or electroshock therapy.

But dear lord, it's a TALKING EDNA DOLL! (Debbie pauses to slap herself a few times, take a deep breath, and continue with this Blathering in a feeble attempt to retain a shred of what remains of her battered dignity...)

Speaking of books, I'm quite enjoying The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. Love the author's witty and unique way with words ("He laughed like a drain..."). I'm also reading a novel for younger readers called Cart and Cwidder by Diana Wynne Jones.

A SURVEY: When do you do most of your pleasure reading? I used to do it right before going to bed, but I find that these days I tend to fall asleep within a few minutes of getting into bed. So now I have to purposely schedule reading time when I'm actually fully conscious, earlier in the evening. Don't watch much regular tv these days, but I do get in more reading time. I figure it's a worthy trade-off.

Found the following item during my recent Massive Office Purge, something I used in my first fulltime office job. Karma points to the first person who knows what it was used for. Karma points also to the person who comes up with the most creative answer. :-)




Any guesses?

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justinmusic & salmon nicoise

Music for a friend. Click for bigger image.


Happy birthday to my friend Justin, who now lives in Montreal!

I've been cleaning out my office lately and came across a bunch of very old piano pieces I'd written, before I hooked up with Urban Tapestry. Piano was pretty much my only musical outlet back then...I didn't play guitar or harp or much flute or sing.

The piece above is one I wrote for my friend Justin 20 years ago. Y'know, I honestly can't remember if I ever ended up playing this song for him. I was extremely self-conscious about my music back then, wrote a bunch of stuff but rarely performed it for anyone. Except for the silly stuff, that is (yes, Andy, I still have That Song ... BWAHAHA!!).

Anyway, I'll have to remember to take a copy of the song at the top of the page to give to Justin when I see him later today.



Justin. Photo swiped from his Web site.

Had fun with Parki last night. Went to see The Incredibles again, and then had dinner at Frisco's (I think that was the name). My current kneejerk restaurant menu order is Salmon Nicoise. By "kneejerk restaurant menu order," I mean an item on a menu that will immediately supercede all other items for me, that I usually feel compelled to order. Does anyone else out there make menu choices like this, or am I the only obsessed diner?

I used to be obsessed with Creme Caramel and then Creme Brulee...now those are usually too sweet for me (yes, even me).

Hm, I should learn how to actually MAKE a Salmon Nicoise Salad myself. On quick glance, here are some recipes I've found:

- One with canned salmon, which would be quicker/cheaper to make, though doesn't look as appealing as some of the other recipes.

- This one uses salmon filets (which I prefer). And SPINACH, interesting. I'll probably try this one first.

- This recipe has nutrition info: 207 calories per serving, not bad

- One from the BBC but uses 'puy lentils,' whatever the heck those are

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Sligo Maids and fingerpainting

My latest Corel Painter experiment. Click on image for a bigger version and details.

I very much enjoyed reading all your answers to my instrumental music poll in my Livejournal message board and Blatherchat, especially your individual approaches to vocal vs instrumental music. Really, REALLY wish we all lived closer together...think of the fun instrumental jams and ensembles we could have!

Speaking of music, looks like I finally slugged The Sligo Maid into submission. Learning Drowsy Maggie now. The big interval leaps back and forth make it a challenge, but I actually do recognize this tune so I'm excited about learning it. According to the comments about the song in thesession.org, sounds like this tune is supposed to go pretty fast.

I figure I'm playing ALL the tunes way too slow right now, but plan to gradually speed them up and add some twiddles as I get to know them better. Sure wish I knew someone in Toronto who was learning these tunes at the same time; it would be fun to be playing them with someone. Anyway, I'm up my seventh tune in five days. The first three were pretty straightforward since I already knew how to play them from sheet music. Now I'm getting into uncharted territory so it's going to be slower. But still fun. :-)

I'm continuing to experiment with Corel Painter and my Wacom Artpad. I will never be pro at this (though I have had the occasional person want to pay for me for my doodles, which always is a shock), but I get SO much satisfaction out of doodling. For me, it's the equivalent of fingerpainting as a child, except with not nearly as much mess to clean up after.

In addition to photos, I'm going to be gradually uploading some of my experiments to my Flickr page, if you're interested.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

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poll: instrumental music

Me and Beckett at OVFF. Photo by Allison. Some of you have already seen this pic on Allison's LJ but I liked it so much I wanted to re-post it.


Interesting to see all the feedback from you slow and fast readers out there.

Still stuck on learning "The Sligo Maid" on penny whistle. The tune isn't as intuitive (at least for me) as the others so I'm having more trouble getting it stuck in my head. Halfway through, though.

So great to be learning new music. I'd forgotten how much I enjoy purely instrumental music; I usually focus so much on Urban Tapestry songs. I find both equally satisfying, but in different ways. I'm learning the tunes by first reading the music and listening to the tape (can't wait for my CDs to arrive, which will make repeated practice and listening much easier!) until I know the tune, then practising without the music, relying more on playing by ear. Seems to be working well. I might try this with some Urban Tapestry stuff to see if I can't get some of our repertoire memorized, we'll see.

Also looking forward to sitting in on some live sessions (I saw your Blatherchat post, David, and would love to go to a pub session with you sometime!) but am impatiently waiting for this nagging cold to go away first.




Doing "Math" with Rand & Adam at our OVFF kids' concert. Adam did the illustration.

Photo by Paul Kwinn on Allison's camera.


I know I just posted a poll but can't resist posting another one because I'm curious: How many of you play purely instrumental music for fun? Either piano or whistle or other instruments? Also, how many of you enjoy LISTENING to purely instrumental music, classical or more modern?


I enjoy both. I used to listen to classical much more in the past, especially when I was working on my ARCT in Piano (I practised 2-3 hours every day, can you believe it?). My favourites: Rachmaninoff, Chopin, Debussy, Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Mendelssohn. I tended to focus on listening to music that featured piano, and would sometimes try to learn the ones I liked the most on my own.

After my brother died, it took me a while before I could play piano at all without crying. Jim loved playing so much.




Jodi, Allison and I performing "The Lady" at the Pegasus Nominees' Concert.
Photo by Anthony Creech. I'm still wearing my "New to Filk? Talk to Me?"
volunteer shirt from the Mad Hatter's Tea Party.
Egads, that t-shirt makes me look like a bloated tomato.


When I'm writing fiction, I find I can't listen to anything with words, or even any instrumental music that's too attention-grabbing for whatever reason (like the Lord of the Rings soundtrack, or a Bach fugue I've played in the past). I either listen to silence, one of the albums produced by our friends Dan and Gord Gibson at Solitudes, or an Italian progressive rock CD given to me by Parki.

In another life (a life where I had acres more time to do everything I've always wanted to do), I would LOVE to do regular instrumental ensemble work with other musicians. Y'know, sightread through sheet music just for the heck of it. Perhaps occasionally perform in public, but mainly just do it for fun.

Playing on my own is enjoyable, but I've always gotten so much more of a rush making music with other people. It's one reason I feel so very lucky to have discovered the filking community, and to be part of Urban Tapestry.




Our kids' concert at OVFF. From left to right:
Jodi, Allison, me, Rand & Adam.
Photo by Paul Kwinn on Allison's camera.

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