The Friday Five - January 7, 2011

After a couple of weeks of missing my Friday update, I am pleased to be back on the iPod shuffle for the inaugural edition of 2011.

Your Creation – Souljah Fyah, Souljah Fyah

A mainstay on the Edmonton music scene, this locally grown reggae extravaganza are nationally recognized for good reason: they’re fantastic.  I’ve seen them play live in town more than a few times, but the one that sticks out is when I went to see them with my ex-sister-in-law.  It was the first time we had gone out together on our own, but we both had a thing for music more than the rest of the family, so it was a good gig-watching match.  The lead singer of the band, Janaya “Sista J” Ellis, was full blown pregnant at the time…up there on stage singing and jamming away with this huge belly out in front of her.  I remember it was around Christmas time; we had gone up to the merch table to buy CD’s and the band had run out.  So they created a sign up list for those that wanted one sent to them.  We both signed up and plunked down our ten bucks.  The next week, trudging through the quiet snow of the Holiday Season, there was Sista J coming to my house to hand deliver a signed copy of the CD.  Merry Chrsitmas.   

Criminal – Eminem, The Marshall Mathers LP

I’ll spare you the history lesson on our white boy rapper.  I gotta be honest…for years I just couldn’t take the guy seriously.  Being an avoider of radio and all things like that, I had never actually heard any of his music until he was about 3 or 4 albums deep.  But while I had friends at the time who were into him, I just could not get over 1. His name (M&M?  Are you kidding me?) 2.his hair (I think dudes that bleach their hair blonde..well, you know) 3. White-boy rapper.  Similar to my stance on the Beastie Boys at the time, we were fresh off fiascos like Vanilla Ice and other jokes.  I thought Mr. Mathers was just another one of “those”.  Not the first time I was wrong.

Love Buzz – Nirvana, Bleach

I guess this could be considered the only single that was released from this album, which is Nirvana’s first.  As the story goes, Cobain felt pressured to write songs that fit into Seattle’s emerging “grunge” scene, which the record label was favoring.  Subsequently, Kurt didn’t really like the songs much and apparently wrote most of the lyrics for the songs the night before recording them.  Listening to them now, it’s pretty evident that he was pissed off while writing them.  It’s kind of a slow and heavy album, but it in the annals of time still a good one.

Jolene – The White Stripes, Under Great White Northern Lights

This is a live cover of the Dolly Parton classic.  Terrific song.  Julie’s best friend is named Jolene, who now lives in Chicago.  Somehow she brings a real elegance to the name and makes it seem as much of a timeless classic as Ruby.  I think under normal circumstances, it might be considered the Billy Bob of female monikers, but not in her case.  When Julie and I were in New Orleans, we were talking to a dude on the street who had a puppy; when Julie heard the puppy’s name was Jolene, she was elated!  During this past summer when our pal was back here visiting, we were all having a great time over some beers at the Empress.  In the half-drunken conversation, Julie and I promised that if we ever had a daughter, we would name her Jolene.  Well, we just found out a few weeks ago that we’re pregnant.  Hhmmm…Jolene, huh?  What middle name goes well with that?

Don’t Explain – Cat Power, Jukebox

This is from the second album of cover songs that Cat Power has released.  It’s originally a Billie Holiday song, but has been much covered in the past by the likes of Nina Simone, Etta James & Diana Ross.  Cat brings her simple and sparse sound to it and does pretty well, especially in the vein of leaving it jazz…for my money, at least.  I’m not a huge fan of hers, but I keep thinking I have to give her more of a shot and listen to a wider breadth of her stuff.  It has, however, given me the affirmation that it’s “okay” to make an album of covers.  Thank God.     

New York, New York! (Part 1 - NYE)

I am still smiling from ear to ear over the combo Christmas/ 4oth Birthday gift Julie presented me with a couple of weeks ago.  We just returned from New York City, where we spent four days and nights over the New Year.  It was unbelievable! 

After arriving in NYC late on Dec. 30^th, we headed to the guesthouse Julie had reserved for us in Grennwich Village.  Gorgeous little place…very quaint and homey.  So much better than a hotel would have been, it was like staying in our own little apartment.  We wandered out into the neighborhood a little bit after getting settled in search of something to eat.  Around the corner from us was the Village Bistro, which was a little pub.  Nice first taste of the city.

On December 31^st we found some brunch and made our way first to Central Park.  Unreal.  Strawberry Fields (and the Dakota, right across the street) was a place I’ve always wanted to visit.  The park is beautiful and it was a nice day, so Julie and I walked around a bit, holding hands and watching families make snowmen. 

We started walking around midtown Manhattan afterwards, just getting more comfortable with the city and finding our way around.  It didn’t take long before we realized we were walking down the middle of Times Square by about 2:30pm in the afternoon.  Preparations were being made for the New Year’s Eve celebration that evening and it was a bit of a surreal sight.  Streets being blocked off and cleared, hundred of cops on each corner listening to their Sergeants bark out the evenings orders.  The deeper we walked into the centre, the more we were getting swallowed up by the now gathering crowd.  We realized if we didn’t duck out soon, we might never get out of there at all.

We walked back to the guesthouse and readied ourselves for the evening, then set out on our way to Madison Square Garden for Phish!  I cannot express the excitement and vibration pulsing through me for this show!  We were there early, just cuz.  Once inside, we quickly made friends with our seat neighbors.  Lots of talk about the setlist and guessing as to what we might hear.  Once the show started, it was obvious that Phish was on fire!

As the third set of the night started around 11:45pm, they played a great version of Meatstick.  As the song progressed, they brought out dancers of different ethincities to see the chorus in their represented native tongues.  One by one…African bushmen, buxom Swedish skiers, a Mountie, Mexican mariachi band…they kept on coming one after the other until the stage was filled with a colorful display of United Nations.  By now we noticed that the band was no longer on the stage…..

….from the corner of MSG everyone saw the spotlight on the smoke rising.  There it was, rising to the ceiling loaded with the band members:  a giant hotdog!!  This is a gimmick the pulled once before and in fact, the hotdog was enshrined at the Rock n’ Roll Hall of fame in Cleveland.  I cannot believe I was seeing the hotdog!  They rode that baby along the ceiling tossing what we thought were bottles of mustard into the crowd.  So awesome!!

With everyone onstage now bringing the song down, the countdown clock appeared and the crowd started in.  10!  9!  8!  7!......An explosion of balloons, screams, raised arms and Phish breaking into Auld Lang Syne.  What a moment.  It was everything I could have hoped for it to be. 

The first song they played after ringing in 2011 was After Midnight, a cover of Eric Clapton’s classic.  I still can’t believe I got to see a Phish New year’s Eve show in Madison Square Garden.  Talk about knocking things off of your bucket list: 

1.       Go to New York City

2.       See Phish play a New Year’s Eve  gig

3.       See Phish play MSG

4.       Visit Strawberry Fields

And that was just the first two nights……..how am I ever going to pay Julie back for this experience?  What could she possibly desire to experience in life as much as what she gave me?  How can I ever say enough Thank You’s?  Thank you, Julie.  What you gave me goes so far beyond gift.  It was a life experience that most people will never come close to experiencing.  I love you!     

The Ultimate Gift!

As I'm approaching my 40th Birthday, Julie was talking about planning something special to mark the occassion.  As her secret laptop bwosing and giggles started to increase, she was so excited about these
special plans that she could barely contain herself.  She wanted to spill the beans to me so badly!  She started explaining that she planned the perfect thing, but it was indeed all a bit much.  Therefore, she said, it would have to be my combo Christmas and Birthday gift together.  Uhhhh....OK!!

So yesterday with Christmas upon us came the big reveal.  I am still sitting here with my mouth gaping wide open.  We are going to New York City!!!  To see Phish play their New Year's Eve show!!!  In Madison Square Garden!!!  Are you frickin' kidding me???  I truly don't even know what to say.....




And here's a link to their 2009 NYE in Miami....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ELfNvlcggw&feature=related

I'm leaving for NYC in three days!!!!!

The Friday Five - December 17, 2010

Detlef Schrempf – Band of Horses, Cease To Begin

Here’s a band that Julie introduced me to…and since that time I’ve noticed them getting more and more popular.  We just caught them down at Austin City Limits where they sounded pretty good.  Out of the three albums of theirs that I have, this one is my favorite.  Although they are most definitely nothing close to a country band, there are moments when the melodies evoke that genre, but are somehow put out of place by the instrumentation and vocal style, so that you can’t really recognize the influence until you’re on your third listen through.  There was some changeover in the band during the time of making this album and it somehow comes off more sparse or personal than the other two albums.  It should be noted however, that the subsequent album to this, Infinite Arms released in 2010, has garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album.  If you didn’t know much of them before, I think you’re about to.

Sky Blue Sky – Wilco, Sky Blue Sky

One of my favorite albums right now…I’ve had it in the 6 disc changer of my car for about 4 months now and whenever I change the music up, I always seem to leave this one in the cartridge.  I know everyone else that rides with me must be sick of hearing it by now, but whatevs.  This is a lovely, if typical Wilco track…a well written and versed song.  Tweedy singing over the acoustic arpeggio of his guitar carry the tune.  Since I’ve learned a couple of tunes form this band to add to my own arsenal of guitar songs to play, this is actually on my list for one of the next songs I want to learn.

See That My Grave Is Kept Clean – Mavis Staples, Lightning In a Bottle Soundtrack

Back in around 2005 or so, I read an article about this move, Lightning In a Bottle, playing only for a weekend at the Citadel Theatre.  It sounded like something I might be into, so I went to check it out…and I came out of there a happy man!  It’s a history of the blues with an all-star concert spattered throughout the documentary.  As you hear stories recounted by B.B. King and Buddy Guy about their influences and humble southern beginnings, you learn about the Delta and about where the blues came from.  You’re introduced to folks like Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown and David “Honeyboy” Edwards.  During the concert, modern performers are brought in the emulate their heroes, so you get to see the likes of Macy Gray, Angelique Kidjo, John Fogerty, Bonnie Raitt and Steven Tyler interact with backstage with their idols.  Fantastic movie and fantastic soundtrack. 

Don’t get Me Wrong – The Pretenders, Greatest Hits

The Pretenders are one of those groups I grew up that were just kind of  always there.  Good solid stuff.  But I had never in my life bought a Pretenders album.  I have no idea why.  It was kind of like growing up with Tom Petty…same thing.  Anyway, from time to time I’d hear Ms. Hynde singing somewhere and think, “Jesus..they really are a good band.”  So, just a couple of months ago I bought this album of Hits.  This is the kind of stuff that are becoming American classics for me.  Just good ol’ straight ahead rock n’ roll.  I’ve got to listen to more of this kind of stuff.

And It Spread – The Avett Brothers, I and Love and You

My new favorite darlings.  How do you explain this fellas?  They were playing the Folk Music festival circuit last summer in addition to some of the bigger festivals like Bonnaroo.  But I’d be hard pressed to describe them to someone as a folk band.  I mean, yeah…there’s banjos and acoustics guitars and maybe someone evens pulls out a washboard to scrape once in a while.  But they can also scream…and they do.  Like punk rockers punishing a song for being to tuneful, they let loose with their youth and let you have it from time to time.  Another fantastic album in my collection; perhaps if I can manage to pull Wilco out of my car, I’ll replace it with this for a four month run.

Backyard Dreams

After weeks of talking about it, researching my options and then finally making a decision on how I was going to set about accomplishing it, the day finally arrived yesterday for me to set my plan into action.  I made a backyard skating rink!

I’m actually making it for the use of my five-year-old daughter, Ruby.  She enjoys skating quite a bit, as do most Canadians but as bad as it sounds, sometimes it can be hard to find the time to do it as often as we like.  But I’ve got to be honest….I haven’t been this giddy about a little project for as long as I can remember.  And hell, it’s not really even big enough for me to anything on it, as far as picking up speed or practicing my stick handling goes, anyway. 

Maybe it goes back to the childhood dreams or something of that nature.  I mean, I certainly didn’t have a backyard rink as a kid, nor did anybody I knew.  That was something for millionaires, wasn’t it?  In the eyes of a child it sure was.  Might as well have asked for a tennis court or polo field.  I always envied the thought of those farm kids you heard about, the ones that had frozen ponds and whatnot on their property where they skated every single day.  The Canadian Dream, all right.

Although I didn’t have a pond installed in the yard, I think it’s gonna turn out okay.  First, I had to pick the spot.  The lot our house is on presented a few options, but really I knew where I wanted to put it from day one.  The backyard immediately behind the house to which the backyard opens onto is primarily laid in bricks and patio stones.  Except for this one patch of grass, kind of in the middle of it all, off to the left hand side.  I have no idea what the real purpose of it was, as we just bought the house last year.  My thought is that it had been a garden plot for the previous old lady owner where she could cultivate some veggies amongst her cement haven back there.  The grass was simply the product of letting it having get overgrown for a couple of years. 

Anyway, the spot was ideal…mere feet from the back door flat, rectangular, surrounded by trees, completely fenced all around and able to be viewed from any window on that side of the house.  The idea is that even when we’re making supper in the evening for 30-40 minutes, Ruby can strap on the blades and go for a twirl on a moment’s notice without all the hassle of a two hour endeavor to the community league rink.  So, as I waited for it to get cold, I planned my rink…and this is what I’ve got so far.

The grass plot measured 17’2” long and 11’3” wide.  I didn’t want to put the boards right up against the border of patio stones, just in case the ice expanded while it froze and thus pushing on the stones, leaving me a brick laying project come Spring.  So, I checked out the local Totem and found the wood planks I wanted (10x2’s) came in almost perfect lengths…so I brought home two 16 footers and two 10 footers.  16X10 will be a perfect sized rink.

So after work yesterday (Tuesday night), I rushed home, change d into the ol’ work clothes, gathered the equipment I would need and set to it.  After packing down some of the snow that had already fallen to make it a little more evenly flat, I put my boards together.  In hindsight, and something I will keep in mind for next year, you should really set the boards up before the snow comes.  Even an inch or two of uneven ground can make a fairly significant difference when it comes time to filling it with water.  Having it as level as possible is key. 

Next up was to install a liner.  Yes, you can make a rink by simply spraying the ground enough times, but trust me, it is a much longer and arduous task.  Not to mention all the frickin’ water you waste as it is unable to be contained within the boards and seeps into the ground.  A liner is most definitely the way to go.  I went and bought a tarp at Canadian Tire that measured 15x20 to give me a couple of extra feet on all sides.  I laid the tarp liner inside the frame and had enough left over to just pull it over the boards and tuck it underneath.  No staples required, which will help the tarp last longer, plus no having to remove the little buggars during takedown.  You can tell by the picture, it was snowing the whole time as I was building this.  How fitting!

After getting the tarp laid, it was simply a matter of filling it up with water.  I had read that you don’t want to be effin’ around with a frozen hose, etc. in the cold outside, so what I took this big red tub that we normally use to fill with ice and beer for summer parties and coiled my hose up in it, leaving each end hanging out for easy use.  All I gotta do is unscrew the hose, pick it up and carry it inside the house for storage in the laundry room.  Just as easy to take back outside for my subsequent floods.

Now, after having filled it up and even as I write this, we have had a huge dump of snow.  I don’t even know how many centimeters, but it’s been a lot.  When I woke up this morning, the entire thing has just about been completely covered with last night’s snowfall.  So truth is, I don’t even know how the water froze yet!  Whatever the result, it’s no big deal…I have another flood planned and then I want to go over it with my homemade zamboni for a nice, clean finish.  But I’m dying to give it it’s first shovel and see what I’ve got underneath!

More updates on my backyard rink to come……

Love Trumps Greed

Yesterday afternoon, the updates of my online social timeline started filling up with chants of “Go, Sue go!”  Another friend had updated their facebook status to read, “Things are HAPPENING!”.  This could only mean one thing:  The Empress.

A few months ago, I wrote about the unseemly things that had taken place at my local pub.  Feel free to refresh yourself by reading that post here:  http://brianfurman.blogspot.com/2010/09/empress-new-clothes.html

Well, yesterday as I kept checking to see what was going on, I learned that our friend Sue was in court.  I didn’t even know that she planned on taking that tact.  With the support she’s been getting since everything was going down, I wish we all had a chance to chip in on her lawyer fees for her and take the day off work to attend the court.  Anyway, although I have no idea what the actual case was built and centered around (something to the effect of wrongful dismissal, I would think), word came down around 3:30pm from Sue’s own profile page; “We won!!  I get possession of my bar on December 20^th!” 

I am so happy right now I don’t even know what to say!  But it comes on so many fronts.  First of all let’s just say, I get my pub back!  This was my community that was taken away from me.  Although my neighborhood presents with a few opportunities to see my friends out and about from time to time, it just hasn’t been the same.  I need to sit down with my pals and visit and bullshit and have a couple of beers.  Having said that, the absence of being there over the last while has really slimmed down my belly!  It’s almost incredible.  The timing is terrific, not only because all I wanted for Christmas was The Empress, but because my 40^th birthday is coming up next month and we were having a problem deciding where to gather with pals for celebrating.

But most of all, I’m so, so very happy for Sue and those closest to her.  Something stinky had come in to ruin what she had going on in life.  Her friends all rallied around her and gave her strength.  She fought back against what wasn’t right….and she won.  She fucking won!

I am so happy that I was able to witness this community based and driven action against Mr. Money.  A similar thing actually happened to me back in 2002.  I was a partner in a business with friends.  The company was called groupsales.com and we were living our dream as self-employed entrepreneurs working in sports marketing.  I remember having the faith in our idea and how it felt to actually quit our regular paying jobs in order to walk through the office doors of the space we just banded together to lease.  It was incredible.  We had been operating for about a year and half when it happened.  It wasn’t exactly a huge money maker at the beginning, as few businesses are when first getting them off the ground.  But the three of us managed to take salaries a little over $30K each….enough to pay our bills and enjoy working for ourselves.  We were featured on a local TV show, highlighting our business venture.  Things were okay.

Then an event in my life changed the landscape.  I had a great aunt that passed and much to my astonishment, she left me a bit of money.  Not millions or anything, but enough to alter my life in a way that offered me a security that perhaps were just weren’t feeling at the time.  After a couple of months, by two business partners called a meeting with me and said they had been discussing some ideas about how things were going.  They said that my new inheritance changed the landscape a bit, as far as our commitment to making the business an overall success.  They presented to me this idea: although we were all three equal partners and all drew the same salary, I was no longer in the need to draw as much out of the company and in the spirit of it’s overall strength, I should cut my salary in half to $15,000 a year, let them increase their a little to $35,000 a year each, with the remaining savings staying within the company coffers.  Uhhh…what? 

Well, they said, I didn’t need the draw as much as them now and in order to prove my commitment to making the business a long term success, I should sacrifice my salary.  Now, it’s not that I don’t believe in sacrifice, but I do believe that three equal partners should make a three-way commitment.  I guess the other thing was that they approached me with a bit of aggression.  Almost like they were trying to bully me into it a bit.  I suppose the long hours and tight salaries had been taking their toll over the past more than dozen months. 

In any case, I refused.  I explained that the nest egg I was left with was my personal business.  I was going to sock it away for buying a house, or for getting married someday….we were supposed to be equal.  I certainly wasn't going to be made the bitch.  When I came into work the next morning, my key didn’t work. 

Those fucking little pricks.  Are you kidding me?  Both of their cars were out front already.  What the hell was going on?  I called the office number from my cell and they answered it on speakerphone.  “Yeah, we decided last night that the two of us can take on your workload.  We can get by without you, so now we’ll just split your salary between the two of us.  You didn’t want to take the cut, so we’ll make YOU the cut.  That’s 66% against your 33%....you’re outvoted.”  And that was it.  Constructively dismissed.

Now, because we were new and weren’t exactly the type of business to acquire assets, the buyout process was a short one.  Sure, I probably could’ve turned it around and used my money to buy them out, if pushed in the courts.  But what the hell for?  So I could do this business all by myself?  I was pissed off that guys I counted as amongst my closest friends would do something like this to me.  We’ve all heard stories about how business can wreck friendships.  After a bit of back and forth haggling, I took my paltry buyout cheque and the three of us have never talked again. 

That business was replaceable, though.  It still operates today, but as a side gig to their full-time jobs.  At least, that’s what I’ve come to understand.  That’s fine.  They can fucking have it.  But Sue’s business was a little different than ours.  Her stakes were exponentially larger than mine.  And she fought for it.  I couldn’t be prouder.  I am also a little proud of how our community stood up for her.  She drew strength from it and in the end, it feels good to have been part of something where we stood up for what we believed in.  And it turns out with Sue winning her back yesterday, that we were all right.  It feels good to give the middle finger to the people than tried to ransack her. 

Sue gets possession on Monday, December 20^th.  I’ll see everyone there.  And I’ll call in sick on Tuesday.       

Behind closed doors

Uhhmmm...can "men" write about such things as decorating?  I mean, personally, not professionally.  Well, whatever.  Fuck ya' if you don't like it.  Getting things done on the house is something that's always on our mind, but recently we've kind of resolved to make a priority out of a couple of projects.  One of those projects is my music room....or man's den.

Julie has this really rad retro sixies couch, which is the centrepiece that the room is kind of going to revolve around.  One thing I think I've decided is that I'm going to make use of the closet as part of the room, rather than as a blasted closet.  Rather than have wasted space with bifold doors forever closed on it, I'm going to do something a little more useful with it.  What...I do not know yet.  But I do have a couple ideas.

Now, these pictures are just to plant the seed for you...rest assured it won't be like either of these.  Just wanted to give you an idea of the kinds of things a person can do with a closet.  I'm thinking more about putting the organ in there with shelves built in above and around it.  I dunno.....we'll have to see.

First things first....paint.  Then floors.  Think I've found the color swatches.  Now I have to make a decision on floors.  It's tough, man.  There's a lot of options.  Right now the room is right down to the cement, so I'm game for anything.  Nothing to rip out or cover up.  I think I'll post again on the floor ideas and let y'all in on what I'm thinking.  But for now I just wanted to claim:

CLOSET SPACE!!!!