Lynda Sez » entertainment

How lucky are we?!

rgdaniel — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 02:33:23 +0000

While some Canadian towns and cities lost their independent bookstores long ago, Owen Sound has at least two actively contributing to the cultural community in lots of different ways. This afternoon, Maryann Thomas, owner of Ginger Press, hosted me to teach a Pasta Workshop. We gathered around the great table in the cafe end of the store and made spelt fettuccine and chocolate ravioli, then ate our creations. It’s the second cooking workshop I’ve done there and I’m already planning the next one, with Maryann’s encouragement.
This evening, Andre and Hazel Lyder of The Downtown Bookstore hosted Bob and several of his musician friends, performing as The Silent Film Ensemble to accompany the classic Nanook of the North. It was a sold out crowd for this terrific show and Andre and Hazel are looking forward to the next presentation. How cool is that?

Great live music after great food

rgdaniel — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 05:25:42 +0000

OK, so it’s snowing, but after a great evening like we’ve had, I don’t care so much. We started off with another meeting of the Curry Club at Mudtown, this time even better than last month’s. The samosas were particularly outstanding. After we ate entirely too much, we headed over to Knox Acoustic Cafe for their final concert of the year, featuring Michael Pickett, a fine blues musician. This was our first visit to the cafe, it definitely won’t be the last.

Promises to keep

rgdaniel — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 20:20:54 +0000

OK, I slacked off from blogging for a couple of days, but I am back on track now. Looking back at the promise to blog every day, I am pleased with the result. I (almost) got into a seamless habit and I enjoyed the whip-cracking addition to the many reasons to do more writing. A bonus I had forgotten about was the increase in comments from readers — thank you all!
Another promise I made (to myself) about the first of September was to start taking advantage of the Bruce Trail practically on my doorstep and do some hiking before the weather makes it unappealing. There may be rain this weekend, but I’m going anyway to the festival of hikes and talks up on the peninsula.

Art is the medium

rgdaniel — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 04:43:03 +0000

Went to an opening tonight at the Tom Thomson Gallery, for two very different artists working in mostly different media, and presented so effectively that you could go from one space to the other and back again, learning more and appreciating more each time. Doug Guildford works with crocheted wire, plaster casts, drawing and printmaking to express forms inspired by intertidal spaces in his native Nova Scotia. Susan Collett does fabulously massive, yet delicate, porcelain pieces as well as prints from tied copper sheets, inspired by, among other things, two trips to China. I’ve been to dozens of press openings at galleries over the years in the big city and even there you were always insulated from creators by layers of benefactors and handlers. Not so in Owen Sound, one of the Cultural Capitals of Canada (2004). The artists were genuinely glad to be there and said so, and you could tell they meant it because you were standing three feet away and could quiz them on it. And parking was free.

Sultans of String

rgdaniel — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 04:28:07 +0000

I almost didn’t go, but a prompt from a Facebook friend this afternoon got me out to a terrific concert at the Courthouse Theatre tonight. It’s a cozy venue I hadn’t experienced so far in this music-mad city and apparently where the Georgian Bay Folk Society hold their events between Summerfolks. The Sultans of String (this evening at least) were three excellent musicians, including guitarist Kevin Laliberte, a musician whose first CD I’ve had for ages. Chris McKhool got amazing sounds from his (five? six? string) violin and Dave Woodhead was outstanding on the bass guitar. All that for $15 and free parking. Gotta love it!

Another Great Summerfolk

rgdaniel — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:25:47 +0000

Had a superb weekend down by the bay soaking up the great music of Summerfolk in mostly perfect weather. This felt like a vacation for me. I saw a few people I knew and Bob came by for a bit on Saturday evening, but it was just great doing my own thing with nobody else to worry about. Managed to support the vendors a bit, too, when I found the perfect case for my new iPod.

Who’s the Doctor?

rgdaniel — Sat, 10 Jun 2006 01:40:50 +0000

I was prepared to be totally disappointed with the new new Doctor Who (David Tennant) because I was thoroughly infatuated with the old new Doctor Who (Christopher Eccleston), but I’m not. He’s every bit as convincingly original as he needs to be and the episodes I have seen so far have given me the retro escapist thrill I am looking for on a Friday night.
We’re trying to ration them, but we watched two this evening. I had to fill in the blanks for Bob on who Sarah Jane Smith was in Episode 3, but he had to point out for me the homage to The Matrix in Episode 2. I guess my pop culture knowledge is pretty selective. By decade, I mean.

OK, Stop Hassling Me

rgdaniel — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 01:22:38 +0000

Enough, already! Apparently there are readers of this blog (at least two) who are disappointed with the frequency of my posts. You’ll be sorry you complained, I warn you.
Where I’d like to be this weekend: the Maker Faire. Whale blimps, spud guns, Lego robots and all kinds of “things that go BOOM!” Woohoo!
My favourite podcast these days turns out to be a Canadian. Soap Detectives delivers to me more or less weekly a delightful slice of vintage radio, usually some flavour of detective mystery. Just the thing to relax me before I fall asleep.
Nifty online find of the day: Vitamin, a web design magazine that is a very tempting distraction, but comes with its own scold message. The first feature is “How to Shut Up and Get to Work!”

OK, Now Back to Business

rgdaniel — Sat, 28 Jan 2006 03:46:25 +0000

We’ve had the blog upgrade and the body refurb, so now it’s back to business. The bathroom reno (x 2) is still in progress, but that’s no excuse. I can’t even legitimately complain about the winter weather, as it’s been more like spring, today at least. Tonight I’m working on the workspace, as prep for writing my new website (yeah, is know, it’s akin to “knitting a cover for my typewriter”) and marvelling at the meaning of what iTunes comes up with when you hit Party Shuffle. Is there hidden meaning to Ladysmith Black Mambazo, followed by Perlman’s version of Vivaldi’s “Winter” and then didgeridoo remixed? Perhaps only after a lot of wine. And I really have to skip over the Trevor Pinnock to get to the FYC. Not too far gone to dance — yay!

The Price is Right

rgdaniel — Wed, 30 Nov 2005 01:12:23 +0000

The always original Jane Siberry now offers “self-determined transactions” at her online store, meaning you can pay nothing or something to download her songs. She explains, “Like many, I’m restless and impatient with living in a world where people are made to feel like shoplifters rather than intelligent peoples with a good sense of balance.”
She describes four choices:
1/ free (gift from Jane)
2/ self-determined (pay now)
3/ self-determined (pay later so you are truly educated in your decision)
4/ standard (today’s going rate is about .99)
As part of the buying process, in case peer behaviour matters to you, you are shown an average payment for the song you select. But Jane doesn’t want anyone to feel pressured. She says, “I am making a choice to work this way and take full responsibility for whatever it may bring to me. You make your own decision and stand by it, too.” Good advice any time.
I just tried a “gift” from Jane and now I’m going back for more, this time making an informed payment to this civilized artist. (The store page takes some time to load, but the wait is worth it.)