One Eyed Crow

Lists

2011-12-06T14:16:00.000-08:00

At this time of year, all the 'best of' lists start to appear. There's no way for those lists not to be frustrating - always someone amazing is overlooked, and of course we all think our favorite obscure album of the year should most DEFINITELY be there. I just took a look at CBC Radio 2's Top 50 Artists of 2011 and while it's not too bad, there are a few glaring omissions.(No PJ Harvey, but RHCP's are included? Really, CBC?)

Missing on the Canadian side:

Destroyer
Oh Susanna
The Deep Dark Woods

On the "International" Side:

Gillian Welch and David Rawlings
PJ Harvey
Ry Cooder
Emmylou Harris
Laura Marling
Nick Lowe
Bon Iver
Nick Jaina
Jayhawks
Dawes
tUnEyArDs
Lana Del Rey
Bjork
The Unthanks
Tom Waits
Kate Bush

(I'm sure I'm forgetting someone...)

Sometimes I just want to storm on down to CBC Radio and shake up their playlist a little. I get that the morning and afternoon shows need to appeal to a broad swath of the population, but I'm often bored by what gets played over and over again (sorry CBC...true confessions here.) Here's hoping that Tom Power's new gig as host of R2 Morning means he'll be slipping in a little something different now and then. In the meantime, I'm inspired to throw together a little playlist of some of my favorite songs of 2011 from artists who aren't on CBC's list. No links - sorry; no time! But go find some of this stuff. And don't just stream it, BUY IT. It's worth it. Happy Holidays everyone!

The Unthanks - Gan to the Kye
Laura Marling - The Muse
Emmylou Harris - Darlin' Kate
PJ Harvey - The Words That Maketh Murder
Ana Egge - Hole in Your Halo
The Deep Dark Woods - Sugar Mama
Gillian Welch - Hard Times
Ry Cooder - John Lee Hooker for President
Nick Lowe - House for Sale
Kate Bush - Among Angels
Real Ones - Saskatoon
Marry Waterson/Oliver Knight - The Loosened Arrow
Thea Gilmore/Sandy Denny - Glistening Bay
Dawes - Moon In the Water
Alexi Murdoch - Slow Revolution
Steve Earle - Lonely Are the Free
Jayhawks - She Walks in So Many Ways
Bon Iver - Calgary
Emmylou Harris - My Name is Emmett Till
Nick Jaina - Ortolan (feat. Myshkin)
Oh Susanna - See What Promises Can Bring
David Francey - Grateful
Nathan Salsburg - The False True Love
The Abramson Singers - Jack of Diamonds (unreleased...ssshhhh!)

Feist

2011-10-28T10:57:00.000-07:00

It seems like it's hard to find the time to listen to entire albums from start to finish these days - more and more it's all about the individual song, totally excised from its context. We shuffle around Youtube, Rdio, we flit about from song to song, artist to artist; we cut wide, not deep. But as far as I can tell, musicians making albums are still thinking about the album as a whole, still grappling with what songs to put in what order, still making that subtle statement, sending that subtle message. I heard Feist interviewed by Buck 65 a couple of weeks back. When he asked her about the lead single from the album, "How Come You Never Go There" she expressed how hard it was for her to see that song plucked from it's context, sent out into the world to represent the rest of the album: "I would have chosen the first song on the record, 'cos that's the beginning..." I made a little promise to Feist and to myself right then and there that I would NOT listen piecemeal to "Metals" - I'm gonna take my time with it, listen to it from start to finish. She put the time and the care into making something that's a whole; I'm gonna pay mind to that and listen the old fashioned way - from start to finish. I've got a date with the album this Sunday morning. Looking forward to it.

Watch Feist's interview with CBC's Rich Terfry - aka Buck 65 -
here

Questions Raised

2011-09-27T10:38:00.000-07:00

Last night I caught the last half of a documentary about Van Gogh on the Knowledge Network. Of course, Van Gogh was largely self-taught, and it's common knowledge that he learned his craft by copying and 'interpreting' other works (Millet, Delacroix, Hiroshige, etc). He copied one of his most famous works, 'Sorrow', from a 'how to draw' textbook! Copying is important - any artist knows that. Wasn't it Picasso who said 'Good artists borrow, great artists steal'?

I've always been interested in and intrigued by the folk tradition. I'm less interested in the supposedly 'original' and 'new' than I am in the ways that something old can get recontextualized and thus made 'new' again. I appreciate the process of weaving together. I think that's an art in itself - and in our postmodern world it seems like it's impossible to actually create anything 'original.' It's an old, worn-out conversation, this one.

So I was surprised just now to read this article in the New York Times - "Questions Raised About Dylan Show at Gagosian" in which the "Dylanologists" are all up in arms about whether or not he copied some of his pictures from photographs. Just as they were up in arms when it was discovered that some of his lyrics bore an uncanny resemblance to the works of a 19th century Civil War poet.

It seems the "Dylanologists" have been on high alert ever since Newport 1965. Perhaps its time they started working on their own songs, their own art, their own tapestries. Bob Dylan has done more for our cultural universe than nearly any other artist or musician I can think of. We owe him gratitude, not petty, nearsighted, silly accusations!

No Depression

2011-09-19T23:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything here, friends. What can I say? School, life, and twitter took over. Also, since my last post, my mother has been blogging enough for the both of us.
Anyway. My apologies. I've been meaning to post this interview my friend Doug conducted with me a few months ago for No Depression magazine. It's all lies, of course, but it sure makes a good story!
You can find Part One here
And Part Two here.
Enjoy!

Deb Hirkala

2010-08-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

I met Deb Hirkala about 20 years ago, when I was a fledgling songwriter, living in the West Kootenays and honing my craft in treeplanting camps and folk festival parking lot jam sessions. She had a big house in Nelson, a baby boy, and a talent that seemed to encompass all aspects of the 'back to the land' lifestyle I espoused at the time. She had a beautiful garden, she could spin wool, she was an accomplished woodworker, and she knew her way around an herbal apothecary. She was also a new mom, and had a big, rambling house on Stanley and Hall Mines in Nelson, BC, where she hosted epic potlucks and all-night music parties. I still remember the first time I heard her sing, one late night around the treeplanting camp woodstove in the East Kootenays. She picked up a guitar and poured her soul into The Bodeans' "Looking For Me Somewhere" and Lucinda Williams' "Sidewalks of the City." Outside that little cookshack, the stars faded into morning, and I felt my world had been changed forever. I'd never heard a voice that made me feel so much like I was being wrapped in the softest velvet, entirely comforted, pieced together, made whole. Fast forward a few years: another kid, a few more treeplanting summers, and Deb's writing her own songs now, and each one she plays me is better than the last. The way I saw it, there was not much choice - the songs had to get recorded. She gathered some local musicians (so much talent in the Kootenays), we set up shop in a cabin in the Slocan Valley, and got to work laying down some tracks, very much 'on the fly' - a vocals-in-the-stairwell, mandolin-in-the-kitchen type thing. As the project expanded, we knew we'd have to find ourselves a 'real' studio, so we decamped to the East shore of Kootenay Lake, where we'd found a very fine recording studio, and we set to work. The simple little demo project turned into a full-blown album - how could it not? We had fine musicians, top-notch gear, a skilled engineer, and a friend who believed in the project as much as I did acting as benefactor. Eventually, I had to return to Vancouver, and brought the project with me to 'add a few finishing touches' a la the great Paul Rigby (Neko Case's guitarist extraordinaire), renowned violinist Jesse Zubot, and Doug and the Slugs' keys king Simon Kendall. Finally, more than 2 years after we began, we were ready to release the record. And then I moved to New York. And Deb moved to Victoria, and went back to school. Life took over, and, other than putting the album up on CD Baby and Deb playing a few scattered shows around Victoria, the album never saw the light of day. As in, no one really heard it. 1000 cds, in boxes, languished in Deb's garage. Friends and family got copies, and a few radio DJs, but nothing really happened. Life took over.

And then the other day, I was on a long drive, and I was digging through the car for a CD to play. I pulled out Deb's album, and stuck it in the cd player. I listened to it twice, and felt that same excitement again that I felt when I heard her sing the Bodeans all those years ago, coupled with an immense pride at my own production, all the musicians who had contributed so much, and all the memories of the exciting and rewarding time we had recording the album. And I thought to myself, 'This album is REALLY GOOD.' and I thought to myself, this album should be heard. It should not just languish in obscurity, after all that work, after all that heart and soul. I stand behind this record, and I believe in Deb, and I'm proud of what we accomplished together. It was a long road, and it wasn't without its bumpy bits (like all worthwhile creative projects), but it's a good thing, it's a complete thing, and it means a lot to me that we did this together.

Here's the title track from Deb Hirkala's album "Somebody Somewhere." You can buy it on
iTunes, if you like it. I highly recommend it!

Listen to more on Deb's myspace.

Susan Enan

2010-07-20T23:05:00.000-07:00

I spent the past couple of days on the road with my dear friend Susan Enan. Besides being one of my favourite people, Susan happens to be one of my favourite musicians and songwriters, and she's currently in the middle of a coast-to-coast North American tour in support of her wonderful new album 'Plainsong.' Because she's so lovely, she is making the journey in the most beautiful, DIY, community-building, positive manner: every show is a house concert. It's backyards, kitchens, and livingrooms, folks - up close and personal. Susan intends to tour the entire world this way. No promoters, no clubs, no dodgy dives (and no expensive tickets!) - just a woman, her guitar, and the urge to share her music. She's calling the tour 'Bring On The Song' (after her song 'Bring on the Wonder,' which you may have heard on the TV show 'Bones'). She's also video blogging the entire tour. You want Susan Enan to play in your living room? Find her on Facebook, Myspace, or Twitter, and send her a request.
I'm so inspired by Susan and her incredible commitment to her music, her career, and her fans. She's a beaut. Check out her album, if you haven't already, and then call your friends, and get a concert happening!

Tour Dates and tickets at www.susanenan.com

www.twitter.com/susanenan
www.myspace.com/susanenan

Not Even She Could Save Him

2010-07-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

I am so totally looking forward to seeing Calexico this weekend at the folk fest. I have immense love, admiration, and respect for the wonderful Joey Burns, John Convertino, and cohorts - what great musicians they are, what great human beings too.

Also looking forward to seeing Melbourne, Australia's Luluc, whom I've just discovered. Gorgeous stuff.

Oh The Lushness

2010-07-06T13:47:00.001-07:00

In February I mixed in mulch and manure, and put the first seeds in. I planted throughout March, April, and most of May. And then I went away. And 5 weeks later I returned to a blessed bounty. Thank you, garden, for doing well, even as I neglected you entirely. Soon I will be heading back to the NE (heatwave, ugh), and leaving my garden will be the hardest part. How can I leave you, when you love me so well?

2010-07-02T22:12:00.000-07:00

New York City Is A Place I Been

2010-06-24T10:03:00.001-07:00

It's very good to be back in New York after long long months of rain in Vancouver. It's been a challenge to 'pick up the pace' but after a few days I feel myself coming back to life...who knows what is best? The slower, more human pace of a city like Vancouver, or the frenetic human drama of Brooklyn? I suppose we adapt to where we are. I've long considered myself a 'country girl,' as my creative dreaming self thrives in fields and farms, but socially and intellectually it's easy to feel stagnant. I spent a few days upstate this past weekend, doing lovely things like kayaking, picking cherries, baking pie, playing music, and having long, easy, mellow talks about things that seem to matter more the countless dramas of city life. I love small towns, but there can be a frightening small-mindedness there too. I suppose that there is beauty everywhere, and there is sorrow everywhere, and it all looks different, depending how the heart perceives.

Rest in Peace

2010-05-27T00:01:00.000-07:00

Adrienne Seay 1950-2010

Her partner Ernie tells me she loved Eva Cassidy...Auntie Adrienne, I'll see you on the other side...

Calling All Angels

2010-05-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

Santa Maria, Santa Teresa, Santa Anna, Santa Susannah
Santa Cecilia, Santa Copelia, Santa Domenica, Mary Angelica
Frater Achad, Frater Pietro, Julianus, Petronilla
Santa, Santos, Miroslaw, Vladimir
and all the rest

a man is placed upon the steps, a baby cries
and high above the church bells start to ring
and as the heaviness the body oh the heaviness settles in
somewhere you can hear a mother sing

then it's one foot then the other as you step out onto the road
how much weight? how much weight?
then it's how long? and how far?
and how many times before it's too late?

calling all angels
calling all angels
walk me through this one
don't leave me alone
calling all angels
calling all angels
we're cryin' and we're hurtin'
and we're not sure why...

and every day you gaze upon the sunset
with such love and intensity
it's almost...it's almost as if
if you could only crack the code
then you'd finally understand what this all means

but if you could...do you think you would
trade in all the pain and suffering?
ah, but then you'd miss
the beauty of the light upon this earth
and the sweetness of the leaving

calling all angels
calling all angels
walk me through this one
don't leave me alone
callin' all angels
callin' all angels
we're tryin'
we're hopin'
we're hurtin'
we're lovin'
we're cryin'
we're callin'
'cause we're not sure how this goes

- Jane Siberry

Adrienne

2010-05-10T15:31:00.000-07:00

I believe that when we die, our loved ones who have gone before are waiting for us. My aunt Adrienne, down in Georgia, is on the journey now away from earthly existence to one of spirit. We had a nice conversation this afternoon, and she told me that her mother, my grandmother, had just visited (she died many years ago). They come to us when we are getting ready to go, and they guide us on our journey. Adrienne, I know you and Everl will be a strong force together. I hope there are pianos there, so that you get to do some playing. I'll listen closely, and I hope you'll come see me now and then. I can see your face so clearly now - your big beautiful Bardach smile and your bright bright eyes. I love you Aunt Adrienne. I hope your passage is peaceful and beautiful.

Piety & Desire

2010-03-25T23:29:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Gill Landry just released his new record, "Piety & Desire" (I had the honor and pleasure of singing on a few tracks). Just got my copy in the mail and I can't stop listening. Gill's got one of those lonesome heartbreak voices, but not in that sweet old country cadillac way, more in that deep swampy bayou way (he's from Louisiana!) - P & D is a beautiful tribute to the great city of New Orleans, where Gill lived for many years, playing music on the street. That's where I met him, back when I lived on North Rampart and Sister in the 9th ward, 1998/99. I can vouch for every single word on this album being the gospel truth. Gill's now playing banjo and dobro in Old Crow Medicine Show. You can find Piety & Desire on their website. Great record, Gill.

Margaret Moth

2010-03-23T13:16:00.000-07:00

via 2or3things

margaret moth: 08-21-51 to 03-21-10

courageous, inspiring, fearless, beautiful woman.
may she rest in peace.

Candahar

2010-02-24T10:21:00.000-08:00

So I went to the "pub" with my friends Julie and Anne-Marie. Candahar is easily the best bar in town - I only wish it were sticking around! It's the kind of place where you walk in, and instantly feel at 'home': you want to take off your coat and stay a while. A good long while. There are no giant plasma screens blaring sports at you, just a tiny little 1970's tv up high in the corner, tuned to a horse race. No strangers, either - instantly the whole bar got into hilarious conversation when the Irish bartender started flirting with Julie, and in a flap of excitement knocked my freshly pulled pint to the floor (the glass, remarkably, didn't break). The place is tiny, with only a few stools and two tables - so you're forced to share. Perhaps it's something about drinking in the afternoon, or the Olympics, but the stories just seemed to flow (like the beer!). We shared a table with a chatty couple, and when they left, another woman sat down, and within 10 seconds we were filling her in on Julie's latest relationship drama. I felt like I was back in NY, where the neighbourhood pub still survives (I'm thinking of 68 Jay Street bar in DUMBO), and people regularly forge friendships and community over happy hour pints. This is unusual behaviour in Vancouver. I wish Candahar was here to stay!

Irish Pub™

2010-02-23T10:26:00.001-08:00

There's something so typically Canadian about this: Candahar Bar Recreates Irish Pub Experience
Here in Vancouver, otherwise known as "No Fun City" our "[locii] of social interaction" has to be packaged and sold to us as "Art". Because 90% of our bars and clubs tend to have a shelf life of less than 5 years (hardly long enough to build up a patina of age on the wooden bar, not to mention a bevy of "regulars" familiar with each other's life stories), and due to highly restrictive zoning bylaws there's hardly such thing as a neighbourhood pub - we have to stage it. Don't get me wrong - in some ways, it's a great idea; I'm not opposed to it, I'm all for bringing people together - but it rankles me because we can't seem to have an "authentic" experience of our own anymore, one that's woven over time into the fabric of the city. I mean, how can we, when those threads we try to weave are constantly being ripped out, tossed away, replaced by newer, shinier, ever-costlier ones? No, our "locus for social interaction" has to be funded by the government and "Culturally Justified" by calling it "Art" or "Installation" or part of the "Cultural Olympiad".
I haven't been there yet, but for the sake of research I am heading down to Granville Island this afternoon to have a pint(wait - an "Irish" pub with no Guinness??) and see what all the fuss is about. I will report back.

2010-02-12T09:13:00.000-08:00

Taking a look over this blog, I've decided it's a little lacking in visual stimulation. I mean, photographs are nice and all, but I think I need to start peppering this space with more "art" - that is, paintings. drawings. Or at least, pictures of paintings and drawings. And possibly images of other "art" - perhaps a little inspired pottery here, perhaps a bit of folk art there. Some of this art will be my own, some I'll be gently lifting from others. I'm craving a little non-verbal stimulation. All this schoolwork, all these words, words, words...enough already!
Here is a picture I made a few years ago. It's very "primitive", as you can see.

The Starry Messenger

2010-02-08T07:15:00.000-08:00

Galileo's drawings of Jupiter and "stars" or moons in
Sidereus Nuncius

2010-02-07T20:15:00.001-08:00

"Self-understanding is not as important as living from the soul"
- Thomas Moore, Original Self, Living with Paradox and Originality

Milestone

2010-02-02T22:57:00.000-08:00

Folks, I'm sorry I've been lame on the blogging front. I'll get back at it soon. Just haven't had space in my brain for it (I'm doing a full course load this semester, ugh).
Anyhow, I just noticed that my blog has been viewed 1000 times! I don't know how I feel about this. It's nice. I also feel sorta exposed. Naked. People actually look at this thing, people from places like Monrovia, Indiana, and New Delhi, India. Hi there! Hello! Are you a nice person? What do you like about my blog? What is your biggest dream? Do you like the music of Kate McGarrigle? Have you read Lydia Peelle's book of short stories? Have you travelled over to any of the other blogs I have listed here? Are you having a good day? Did you get enough sleep last night? Can you see the stars from where you are? Do you know that Kathryn Williams has a new album coming out very soon?
Do you eat porridge? Have you ever caught a fish?

Kate McGarrigle, 1946-2010

2010-01-19T11:07:00.001-08:00

Kate McGarrigle died the evening of January 18th, 2010. What a huge, huge loss. My heart goes out to all of Kate's family and loved ones.

Kate McGarrigle, 1946-2010

www.mcgarrigles.com/

2010-01-18T12:09:00.000-08:00

I am thoroughly sick of the Vancouver rain. Enough of the soggy slog! I'd so much rather have cold, snow, blue sky, brilliant shadows, colours than this wet, grey soup, day in and day out.

Lhasa de Sela

2010-01-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

I blogged about Lhasa's new album back in April and have been listening to it (and her other two albums) ever since. I didn't know she was sick, and was floored to hear the news via CBC radio a few days ago that Lhasa died on New Year's Day of breast cancer. I feel such a huge sense of loss - I did not know her personally, but her music has been with me since La Llorona (a magical, magical album!) - I consider her to be one of the greatest talents ever to grace this planet. Her passing is so hard to believe. God bless Lhasa, and God bless her family in what must be an incredibly difficult time. Lhasa, you will be deeply, deeply missed by all who knew you and loved you. Thank you for all you gave us.
Her Songs Like Her Life Went Everywhere
At The Feet of the Unseen

Small is Beautiful

2009-12-17T12:04:00.000-08:00

I read E.F. Schumacher's "Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered" for the first time many years ago. I got into it again last year, and, well, no surprise - Schumacher's ideas are profoundly relevant today. He contrasts "Buddhist Economics" (based on the notion of "Right Livelihood") with the economic model that is prevalent today. Modern economics measures the ‘standard of living’ in terms of annual consumption - making the assumption that the man who consumes more is better off than the man who consumes less. Goods, then, are considered more important than people, and consumption more important than creative activity. The very idea of ‘work’ in modern society is as a sort of necessary evil, to be reduced to a minimum in the name of efficiency and cost-productiveness from the pov of the employer. As employees, the idea of ‘work’ has been reduced to an often soul-destroying, meaningless sacrifice one makes in order to support oneself and one’s family. Goods are produced piece-meal, and shipped to foreign lands for use by unknown peoples. There is little, if any, meaning or sense of purpose connected to this kind of labour. The Buddhist, on the other hand, has a very different view of the function of work - one that considers the enhancement of human character. Work, according to Schumacher, has at least 3 functions in the Buddhist perspective - to ‘give man a chance to utilize and develop his faculties’; to ‘overcome his ego-centredness by joining with other people in a common task’, and to ‘bring forth the goods and services needed for a becoming existence’. The Buddhist is aware that ‘work and leisure are complementary parts of the same living process and cannot be separated without destroying the joy of work and the bliss of leisure.’ Work urges and enables man to produce the best he is capable of, it enlivens and nourishes. Buddhist economics places people and creativity and well-being in the centre, not material goods and maximum consumption in the name of ‘economic growth’. The effort needed to sustain ‘maximum consumption’ is great, the payoff in terms of human satisfaction and well-being is minimal, and the cost to our planet’s health and well being is no longer acceptable. EF Schumacher's Lecture on Buddhist Economics

Love and Innocence

2009-12-02T12:18:00.000-08:00

Won't you come with me, I will be waiting
'cross the river called the Tennessee
The summer sun is low, the moon is waning
I know how bad you wanna wander free

When we were kids it was so easy -
our sense of things wasn't so astute.
One thing i'll say for those long ago days -
if nothing else, we sure were cute

Love and innocence
what becomes of it?
Love and innocence -
where does it go?

Heart to heart, hand in hand
Clear as a mountain stream
All that love and innocence -
was it just a dream?

Love and innocence
What becomes of it
Love and innocence -
Where does it go?

Love and innocence
What becomes of it
Love and innocence -
I wanna know

- for Erin

2009-11-26T08:04:00.001-08:00

Athens, NY. Photo courtesy of PM.

Mayer Kirshenblatt, RIP

2009-11-23T14:15:00.000-08:00

Kirshenblatt, Mayer (1916-2009)
Portrait of Jadwiga, November 1992
Acrylic on canvas
24 x 30 in.

Kirshenblatt, Mayer (1916-2009)
Blessing the First Rays of the Sun,
circa 1993
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 40 in.

From The Museum of Family History
with thanks to Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett

Pitseolak Dreams

2009-11-19T22:51:00.001-08:00

A couple of years ago I had a dream in which I was walking in a mountain valley that looked like the Slocan Valley. I came upon a bear and a caribou (elk?). They were both grazing and ignored my presence. I don't think there was a bird in the dream but when I woke up I drew this picture. When it was done, I thought how much it looked like an Inuit drawing or print. I love Inuit art for its elegance and beauty, and for the stories it tells.

When my dad died he left behind a small collection of Inuit soapstone carvings, given to him, I believe, by artists he knew. From that collection I inherited a small, heavy black soapstone amulet, with facial tattoos (facial tattooing used to be common practice in Inuit culture). The piece is signed on the bottom 'Josie Pappy, E 9 861'. I pick it up now and then and hold its weight in my hands and wonder who Josie Pappy is or was, and if my dad knew her (him). A few minutes ago I was holding the sculpture and the word "Pitseolak" came into my head, loud and clear. I spoke it out loud and repeated it a few times and then the memory came - my parents had a wonderful book that I loved, entitled, simply (if I remember correctly) - "Pitseolak". Pitseolak was an Inuit artist, from Cape Dorset - a printmaker - I was obsessed with that book when I was a child and used to pore over the magical images for hours. And I loved the sound of the word: Pitseolak! I used to repeat it under my breath, like an incantation. I wonder whatever happened to that book? Here are some images I found on the internet of Pitseolak's beautiful work. I would really like to find that book. I would like to see more of this art. I would like to send my appreciation and gratitude for this art to the people who made it. It made a huge impression on me as a child - it fed my dreams, and clearly is still resonating. Amazing how the goose-bird in the first photo here looks SO MUCH like the goose-bird I drew after my dream. Kind of trippy. Pitseolak Ashoona

2009-11-17T21:20:00.000-08:00

marc gagnon is a montreal-based artist and a dear friend. i am a big fan of his work. he is also a very talented musician.

E.C. Ball Memorial Album

2009-11-16T12:20:00.000-08:00

My pal Nathan Salsburg from Louisville has put together a wonderful tribute album to the late, great Appalachian singer/guitarist Estil C. Ball, entitled "Face A Frowning World: An E.C. Ball Memorial Album". As a longtime fan of the music of E.C. and his wife Orna, I feel honoured to have been asked to participate - along with the likes of Jan Bell, Jolie Holland, Michael Hurley, Catherine Irwin, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, and many, many other wonderful musicians. Proceeds from the sale of the album will be donated to the Blue Ridge Institute, which documents, preserves, and promotes the folkways of the people living in and around the Blue Ridge Mountains. Find out more about it here. And purchase it here. Enjoy.

Remembrance

2009-11-11T10:24:00.000-08:00

My Grandfather, Léon Terlinden (aka 'Bob'), was a gunner for the R.A.F. in WWII. All he spoke about was the war; he relived it daily for the rest of his life. He wrote a book about it called "Mitrailleurs dans la R.A.F.". I remember seeing him break down and cry when he told the story about his best friend René getting shot down. My Great-Grandfather, Bob's father, was a POW in WWI.

Erin

2009-11-11T03:08:00.000-08:00

My sister Erin made this beautiful drawing - it's my favourite work of hers:

2009-11-10T14:10:00.000-08:00

www.weavingartmuseum.org

Shaman's Coat #2

2009-11-10T10:46:00.001-08:00

The coat is manufactured in the form of a caftan with suede of wild reindeer. The cut, design elements, and pendants symbolize a bird, the main spirit-protector of the shaman, and reflect the view of the universe as consisting of three worlds. The metal pendants on the back and along the breast of the coat indicate helper spirits. The images of birds, including a loon on the rear lap, emphasize the role of birds as the shaman's guide to other worlds. The cross in the area of the shoulder blades symbolizes the four cardinal directions and the center of the universe. The geometric zigzag design delimits the boundaries of the universe. The coat belonged to a powerful shaman who was victorius in many struggles against the spirits.

Evenk.
Eastern Siberia, Yenisei region, Yenisei District, Kas River, a western tributary of the middle Yenisei River, late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Suede of a reindeer; fur of mountain goat, bear, and muskrat; cloth; metals, including copper and iron; seed beads; dye.

Women/Elders/Storytelling: Mythogyny

2009-11-08T11:03:00.001-08:00

I haven't read the book yet, but I'm intrigued by the project - 78 women elders throughout BC (age 55-95) were interviewed and their stories transcribed into 'Mythogyny, The Lives and Times of Women Elders in BC'. ...Says author Joan Barfoot, Mythogyny is, “for anyone who supposes the old days were best, or dreams that old women are quiet creatures with nothing to say, or imagines that women’s equal place in the Canadian world is complete and secure – for all those people, these vivid, wrenching and brave vignettes of real lives are both a brisk corrective and a most timely warning.” Mythogony culminates 18 months of work by scores of elder women volunteers who live throughout BC.
http://canadawomen.blogspot.com/2009/10/mythogyny

Fall

2009-11-06T15:30:00.001-08:00

Charles Rennie Mackintosh

2009-11-04T12:36:00.001-08:00

I've loved Charles Rennie Mackintosh since I discovered his work on my first trip to Glasgow back in 2002. An architect, furniture designer, painter, textile artist, and metalworker, he was very much ahead of his time. Most people associate him with the stylized 'Rose' motif of the Arts and Crafts era - I like this particular piece (a textile from 1915) because it's so completely different from his other work, and so 'modern'.

2009-11-01T12:01:00.000-08:00

livia stein

Feliz Dia de Los Muertos

2009-10-31T14:46:00.001-07:00

I Live Here In A Dream

2009-10-30T10:46:00.000-07:00

Vernacular Architecture

2009-10-29T22:11:00.000-07:00

Playlist

2009-10-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

Indian Queens - Nick Lowe
Dixie - Gill Landry
Long Journey - Michael Hurley
Spencer The Rover - John Martyn
Motel Thin - Jason Eklund
Last Great American Whale - Lou Reed
Leaving Train - Gillian Welch
Hearts and Bones - Paul Simon
Skeletons - Rickie Lee Jones
Harlan - Freakwater
Bobcat Tracks - Critter Fuqua (OCMS)
Ballad of Easy Rider - Kathryn Williams
My Love - Rick Danko/Richard Manuel
Song To The Siren - Elizabeth Fraser
First Day of Fall - Old Man Luedecke
Roses in the Snow - Papa M
Some of These Days/Will You Miss Me - The Devil's Questions
Greatest Friend - The Incredible String Band

Cloud

2009-10-29T08:29:00.001-07:00

lorna simpson

Playlist

2009-10-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

1. Heaven Help This Heart Of Mine - Mildred Bailey
2. Building Heartaches - Willie Nelson
3. Go And Say Goodbye - Buffalo Springfield
4. Hey Babe - Neil Young
5. Storm Comin' - Ana Egge
6. Snowin' On Raton - Townes Van Zandt
7. Level Green Boys - Patti Witten
8. The Messenger - Daniel Lanois
9. I Wish I Were - Martha Wainwright

Foragery

2009-10-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was overcome with a craving for chanterelles in white wine cream sauce. So, rather than head to the local grocery store and pay 9 bucks a pound for the mushrooms, I grabbed a bag and a knife, and, braving torrential rains, headed off to the woods to do a little foraging. After an hour or so of tromping through salmonberry brambles, sidestepping my way up and down steep gullies, and slipping on countless moss-covered logs, I emerged - soaked, muddied, but triumphant - I had more than enough chanterelles for a big ol' chowdown. Once home, I dumped them out (I'd gathered a good pound's worth) on the kitchen table and got to work cleaning and slicing the 'shrooms while my housemate whipped up some puff pastries for the feast.
This is an ambitious but delicious recipe!! Enjoy.

Puff Pastry:
1 c. flour, sifted
7 tbsp butter (unsalted)
1/2 c. grated gruyere cheese (or white cheddar)
1 c. water
1 1/4 tsp salt
5-6 eggs

Pre-heat oven to 375. Melt the butter in a med. saucepan with the water and 3/4 tsp. salt. Bring just to a boil - BUT - make sure the butter melts before the water boils, or the evaporation will change the dough proportions. Remove from heat. Add sifted flour, beat in vigorously with wooden spoon. Continue to beat until the mixture is smooth and pulls away from the side of the pan to form a ball of dough (about a minute). Return the pan to the stove and beat over very low heat to dry out the dough (about 30 seconds). Remove from heat. Add 4 of the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat the fifth egg; add gradually until the dough is shiny and soft (might not need all of the egg). You'll know if enough egg has been added by lifting some of the dough on the wooden spoon held over the saucepan. The dough should fall off the spoon by a count of three. Add 1/2 the grated cheese, stir in, mix well. Using 2 spoons, drop eight 2 1/2 inch mounds of dough onto greased baking sheets - be sure to leave room for the dough to puff as it bakes (don't crowd!). Lightly beat the remaining egg with teh remaining 1/2 tsp salt in a small bowl. Glaze each puff with a pastry brush. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the puffs. Bake until firm and brown - about 30 - 35 mins. Take out of oven; transfer to wire racks. Using a serrated knife, slice the top off each puff and leave to cool (5-10 mins). Next: make the filling! Fill the puffs! Eat!!! MMMMMMMMMMM!!!

Filling: Chanterelle Mushrooms in White Wine Cream Sauce

Fresh chanterelles (they shrink down a lot in cooking, so have enough to fill a med-large bowl)
2 shallots
1-2 cloves garlic
1/2 - 3/4 c. dry white wine (I like pinot grigio)
1 1/2 c. heavy cream (or more, or less, depending on how much you want to make)
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper
butter
optional - cornstarch (for thickening)

Sauté shallots and garlic in butter until transparent. Add mushrooms. Keep stirring. Mushrooms will release a lot of water - strain this off into a small bowl. Keep reducing mushrooms until pan is relatively dry. Add white wine. Stir, let mushrooms soak up wine, add salt and pepper. Lower heat, add cream and parsley. Let simmer and thicken - don't let boil, or cream will curdle. Let thicken to desired consistency (add a pinch of cornstarch if necessary).

Spoon into puff pastries and ENJOY. Soooo yummy.

Songs For This Particular Day

2009-10-02T09:46:00.001-07:00

1.Abandoned - Lucinda Williams
2.No More Sad Refrains - Sandy Denny
3.Fool's Gold - Lhasa
4.Do What You Gotta Do - Meg Baird
5.Wish I Had Not Said That - JJ Cale
6.Love's Worse Than Sickness - Texas Gladden
7.Now at Last - Blossom Dearie
8.Winter Winds - Sandy Denny
9.Little Sparrow - Dolly Parton
10.Empty Shell - Cat Power
11.At Home With The Blues - Jake Fussell
12.Lonesome Dove - Almeda Riddle
13.Falcon - Mimi and Richard Farina
14.Love Is A Rose - Neil Young
15.Lover - Jan Bell
16.Sweet Silver Bird - SP

Critter Count

2009-09-29T17:21:00.001-07:00

today i saw a black squirrel daintily washing his tiny hands in a puddle. last night, a big fat skunk waddled right past as i sat on the stoop watching the night come down. millie the cat has to stay in at night, otherwise she will get eaten by the coyotes who roam the neighbourhood. critters critters critters.

Tiny Song

2009-09-03T07:56:00.001-07:00

Lil Black Bear from pm on Vimeo.

Songlist

2009-08-16T22:11:00.000-07:00

1. John Lee Hooker - The Waterfront
2. Paul Kelly - Everything's Turning To White
3. Bettye Lavette - Down to Zero
4. Joan Armatrading - The Weakness in Me
5. Rickie Lee Jones - Running From Mercy
6. Leo Kottke - Corrina Corrina
7. Sandy Denny - The Sea
8. Iris Dement - Easy's Getting Harder Every Day
9. Michael Hurley - Watchin The Show
10.Calexico - Red Blooms
11.Leah Abramson - Fool's Gold
12.McGarrigles - Kitty Come Home
13.Gill Landry - Coal Black Heaven
14. Frank Black - Pan American Highway
15. Kathryn Williams/Neill MacColl - Blue Fields
16.Meg Baird - Do What You Gotta Do
17.Lhasa - Fool's Gold

Mike Seeger

2009-08-15T16:08:00.001-07:00

Mike Seeger August 15,1933 - August 9,2009
http://mikeseeger.info/html/1_sgcov.html
I went to American Banjo Camp in Port Townsend, WA a few years ago. Mike was there as one of the resident teachers. From him I learned how to play Dock Boggs''Sugar Baby' (one of the only actual 'tunes' I know). In a workshop of about 50 people, most of them playing very fancy banjos(I call them 'dentist' banjos), Mike pointed at my humble little Harmony 5 string and said 'now there's a great banjo'. Mike was a champion of the underdog, a connoisseur of folk, a dedicated disseminator of what he called Music from True Vine - the homemade, traditional, organically learned, pre-media-age music that is at the root of everything we call 'American music'. I hope he's teaching all the angels in heaven how to play banjo...

Irv Irving's Great Song

2009-08-14T07:47:00.000-07:00

Some songs seem to defy categorization, seem to elude capture, seem to twist out of your grasp just when you think you've caught them - forever taunting you with a certain intangible 'je ne sais quoi'. Irv Irving's 'East West' is one of those songs for me. Several months ago Irv asked me and the fabulous Deb Sassaver to come into the studio and lay down some vocals on songs for his new album, 'Infamous'. Demos were forwarded along. East West seemed the roughest, with its off-kilter, arbitrary phrasing and not-quite-in-the-pocket timing, and no bass or drums to keep it in line. I thought there was no way we could pull it off - how do you sing to something that drifts like a cloud and never touches down? I guess you just get in there and try. Kinda like breaking a wild pony - except it's the rider who needs to get broke to the pony. Anyway - we did it, and the results are pretty magical. What a song. What a great, weird, elusive song. Check it out on Irv's myspace page. www.myspace.com/irvirving

East West - Irv Irving

Love is a sphinx
or else some elemental force
You could die trying to outsmart it
Or you could let it run its course

I met you in the underground
On the platform facing east
How could I know
I was courting calamity

People like to think
They live every day with grace
You told me that you love me
But i could not see your face

Some people fall in love
Some have a sense of humour
Me I watch the fan spinning shadows
On the ceiling of my little room

You handed me a glass of wine
You put your hand in mine, then
You said 'while some things are truly ageless
Our love is not one of them'

Often I swear I see you in the crowd
When I'm standing on the train
But then every time you disappear
Back someplace deep inside my brain

Ah people, places, come and they go
Yes they have many names
No, your track didn't lead me anywhere
But I'd still take it just the same

Love is a sphinx
Or else some elemental force
You could die trying to outsmart it
Or you could let it run its course

Dr. Dave Ores

2009-08-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

When I first moved to NY, I arrived with 6 months worth of travel health insurance that I had purchased in Canada. Never thought I'd need it, but soon enough, I came down with a mysterious kidney infection and needed to see a Doctor. I chose the clinic at the end of my block in Park Slope. Bad move. The Dr., who spoke pretty poor English, seemed to care little about his job, and only seemed concerned with doling out prescriptions. The clinic was filthy, the wallpaper peeling, the furniture torn, and the behind-bulletproof-glass secretaries looked as though a bullet to the head might be preferable to their daily grind. All in all it was a depressing and daunting experience with the US healthcare system. Then a friend told me about 'Dr. Dave'- a 'people's' physician on the Lower East Side. 'He'll charge you what you can afford to pay, it's ok if you don't have healthcare; he's covered in tattoos' - by the time I needed another clinic visit, my insurance had run out. I called him up. We exchanged details over email, and in 2 days I was in his office. He got straight to the point, no beating around the bush. He seemed genuine and genuinely caring and compassionate and committed to his purpose as healthcare provider, counsellor, social worker, healer. He looked me in the eyes and said 'so what do you do for a living?' I told him, and he said 'Ok. Pay me $___.' This is my kind of Doctor. Old school. Like a country doctor in the city. Pay what you can afford. Last time I saw him he took about 1/2 an hour with me, talking about my history, taking notes, and giving me good, solid advice about how best to take care of my health. This is the way it should be. What a shame that there aren't more independent minded physicians out there like Dr. Dave, not slaves to the insurance companies or pharmaceutical companies. http://www.davidjoresmd.org/

Dr. Dave was on CNN today, talking about the new healthcare coop he founded for restaurant workers - check it out:

Insects are Food

2009-08-05T14:14:00.000-07:00

Several years ago I wrote a kid's song entitled 'Creepy Crawly Stew' - all about eating bugs. My friend Laura Freeman recorded it, and put it on her first kid's record, 'A Baker's Dozen', which of course made me very happy. Last night I met a man named Marc Dennis - a painter (fantastic artist: www.marcdennis.com) who just happens to have a pretty deep interest in Entomophagy - that is, EATING BUGS. Such an abiding interest that he started a website - www.insectsarefood.com - this is a man on a mission. A mission to change the way we think about the kinds of meat we consume, and the political, economic, and ecological consequences of the choices we make around that. Interesting man, interesting cause. Not sure I'm ready to get past the 'yuck factor', but the man might be onto something. Apparently Martha Stewart is calling...

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

More Materialistic, Please

2009-08-03T17:53:00.000-07:00

materialism |məˈti(ə)rēəˌlizəm|
noun
1 a tendency to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.

What if the spiritual is found in the material? If we deny the 'material' for the sake of the 'spiritual' (as religious traditions have had us do for thousands of years), do we not experience a sort of dissociation - a disconnect from our bodies, our physical reality, our planet, that has led, ultimately, to destruction and degradation of our physical world, our earth, our connected physical and spiritual selves? More and more 'efficient' technologies create less relationship between humans and our daily realities, our creations, our tasks, our responsibilities, the consequences of our actions. I am drawn to the handmade, the handcrafted, the slow, the organic, because I am very sensitive to how lost and adrift I feel without that connection - I love to know where my food comes from, I love to know who made my clothes, who made my guitar (or at least who may have owned it before me); I want to know the stories behind the objects I surround myself with. In this way, I feel the objects in my life create, in a sense, a grand altar. I have a relationship with these objects, and it grounds me to what's real, it makes me notice, it opens a natural space of awareness and connection. Life feels more meaningful if I can look around and say 'My sister made that painting' and 'this guitar was made by my friend Ed', 'my teacher made this bowl', or 'this typewriter was my grandfather's'. When I wear the handstitched skirt my friend Natalie gave me, I feel incredibly grounded, beautiful, and connected to not just the woman who made it, but to women throughout time who have stitched and sewn and made beautiful things, practical things. This feeling of connection is getting harder and harder to come by in an carefully marketed era of planned obsolescence; a culture of cheap and disposable. I feel so blessed to have friends in my life who say 'no' to this on a daily basis, who create beauty and infuse the world with an alternative to the death culture - who don't just hide from the world, but who embrace the opportunity to contribute in meaningful ways to the earth community - economically, socially, spiritually, creatively, and yes, materially. I think of E.F. Schumacher's 'Buddhist Economics' - for him, "Economics without Buddhism, i.e., without spiritual, human and ecological values, is like sex without love." Consumerism without awareness, without attention - same thing. Isn't it so much more meaningful, more socially responsible, more 'spiritual', to connect deeply with the people, places, animals, and objects we have and bring into in our lives, here and now? Perhaps this is the antidote to the restless, endless 'hungry ghost' mentality that most of us have fallen into in today's consumer society. One lovingly handmade skirt, so beautiful and so well made that it will last a lifetime, or 20 cheap, poorly made, toxic, sweatshop-laboured skirts that fall apart the first time worn? It doesn't have to be this way...
Jennifer Van der Meer writes about the community of women entrepreneurs/artists who call themselves 'Bureau of Friends':
"Essentially Bureau of Friends seems to be cultivating the idea that as consumers, we are not materialistic enough. As a new departure they ask us to pay more attention to how things are made, and to have greater emotional attachment to the clothes and objects in our lives. “For us, this is the pursuit of a beauty that endures and enriches. The Friends understand this as the very stuff that defines quality. For us, quality is authenticity. It is a future-forward focus and eco-smart thinking. It’s handcrafted, locally supportive, and globally aware. First and foremost—it is beautiful, delicious, and relevant.” http://www.bureauoffriends.com

NY Times Book Review 'Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing'

2009-08-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/books/review/Russo-t.html

Lydia Peelle

2009-07-26T18:20:00.000-07:00

Very excited about Lydia Peelle's collection of short stories, "Reasons for and Advantages of Breathing", released on Harper Collins earlier this week! Lydia is a dear friend and a wonderful, gifted writer. Her stories are rich and slow and southern and deep...this collection is her debut, and it is very, very fine - I want to read each story again and again (and I have)... I have come to care about the characters as though they are family, or secret parts of my self towards whom I feel immensely tender. Check out the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xAJ85GcCEA

and then go buy the book at your local seller. Yay Lydia!!!

Heroine

2009-07-01T15:42:00.000-07:00

One of the heroines in my life is the wonderful Natalie Chanin (Alabama Chanin) - I am so in awe of her talent and skills as an artist, an entrepreneur, a mother, a designer, a teacher, and an all around gigantically beautiful soul. I have been thinking of her so much as I struggle to find a new direction for myself in life - she is a huge role model for me, as a woman who has created something positive for herself and others while putting soul and beauty into the world. Here is a picture of her with her gorgeous daughter Maggie. www.alabamachanin.com

Ferron

2009-06-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

I had the immense pleasure of accompanying Ferron this past weekend at Toronto Pride. Not only is Ferron one of the greatest songwriters living and working today, but she's also just a fantastic human being. The show was beset by bad sound and technical difficulties galore and an obnoxious pumping disco beat from the beer gardens next to the stage - so we barely got through our 1/2 hour set - but somehow it was still magic. Ferron. Check her out. www.ferrononline.com

Bioethique Organic Skin Care

2009-06-29T11:25:00.001-07:00

I LOVE Bioethique. One of the world's first (and only) Third-Party Certified Organic skin-care lines, lovingly created by Claudine Michaud in Vancouver BC. The 'organic' skin-care and cosmetics industry in North America is woefully unregulated (your natural skin-care product might say 'organic', but without a certification logo, this can still mean it is laden with harmful chemicals, because NO ONE IS CHECKING.) This is why Claudine chose to have her product certified by one of Europe's strictest organic certification agencies, 'Natur et Progres'. N & P's very stringent certification standards ensure that NO harmful chemicals are used at any step of the production process, from the growing, to the harvesting, to the manufacturing to the packaging of the product. The ingredients are all the highest quality - the oils are all first cold-press, the botanicals are pure, and there are zero chemicals. It's a lovely feeling to know that what I'm putting on my skin is totally safe, natural, and made with such care and integrity. Check out their website. Buy their products. Support this amazing company!! www.bioethiqueorganic.com

Today's Quote

2009-06-24T23:42:00.000-07:00

"With so many pasts and futures making claims on us, it's hard to know which way to turn."
- Alexander Wilson

Florida, We Hardly Knew Ye

2009-05-03T19:04:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post a few more pics from the lovely time we had in Del Ray. Erin, Kate, and I met up with Eric Bear Ludwig, a friend of Erin's from OCAD (and a West Palm Beach local). Lucky for us he had 4 kayaks, and was eager to take us out on a daytrip along the Intracoastal Waterway, where we found a dead stingray (Eric removed its stinger - what a nasty little weapon...we thought of poor old Steve Irwin). The T-bird belongs to the sweet fellow we met at Dada's restaurant (Peterpaul! You rock!). Eric picked us some coconuts and showed us how he cracks 'em open (those were some conveniently located pipes) - I miss Florida! What a beautiful, mysterious place - one I've ignorantly shortshrifted for far too long:

Sometimes I Wish We Were An Egret

2009-04-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

AHH, Florida...sun, sand, surf...and pelicans!! Erin and I got up before sunrise and headed to the Wakodahatchee Wetlands to witness the waking of the birds - I don't think I've ever seen so many incredible birds in my entire life - egrets, herons, moorhens, blackbirds, spoonbills, ibis, anhingas, cormorants...the list goes on. AND we saw three alligators - big 'uns. What magic, what wonder...what a place we inhabit. We are lucky to be here, on this earth. Very sad that we seem so bent on destroying it. http://www.pbcgov.com/waterutilities/wakodahatchee/

2009-04-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

My sister emailed me this morning - "I'm in Florida!" - I was so envious, I booked a flight immediately...here's how I spent my afternoon...

Nashville Skyline

2009-04-25T07:07:00.000-07:00

It's the 40th (!) anniversary of Bob Dylan's 'Nashville Skyline' album - possibly my most consistent fave Dylan record. To celebrate, John Kruth has organized a tribute concert at Le Poisson Rouge on Bleecker Street here in NYC. I'm practicing my butt off so that I don't embarrass John and everyone else!! Show at 7:30 - come on out and celebrate with us. 40 years!!

Lhasa De Sela

2009-04-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

The amazingly beautiful Lhasa has a new (eponymous) album out! Her first record, 1998's 'La Llorona' has remained one of my all-time favourite albums - so I'm quite excited to sit down with this one and sink in. Favourite tracks so far: 'Fool's Gold', 'A Fish On Land'. Beautiful. She is an inspiration. www.lhasadesela.com

How They've Grown!

2009-04-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

Those little baby chicks I posted about back in March are gettin' all growed up...Lydia sent me this photo today - I feel proud...

Feasting

2009-04-22T15:09:00.001-07:00

On the table tonight:

Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and Walnuts
Stewed Lamb marinated in rosemary, mint, black pepper and thyme
Lemon-Zucchini Quinoa
Steamed Broccoli Rabe with butter

mmmmmmmm

Songs I Love Today

2009-04-22T14:48:00.000-07:00

Like A Songbird That Has Fallen - Reeltime Travelers
Custer County All Souls Day - Martha Scanlan
Solo - Sandy Denny
Next Time Around - Sandy Denny
Wish I Had Not Said That - JJ Cale
Down To Zero - Bettye Lavette
Lift Him Up - Old Crow Medicine Show
Pour It On, Dock - Old Crow Medicine Show
James River Blues - Old Crow Medicine Show
Carmelita - Dwight Yoakam wi Flaco Jiminez
Fell Down Fast - Kathryn Williams
The Chorus In The Underground - Great Lake Swimmers
Spencer The Rover - John Martyn
In My Hands - Tony Scherr
Saro - Sam Amidon
Indian Queens - Nick Lowe
Buckskin Stallion - Townes Van Zandt
A New Day - Mary Margaret O'Hara
You Got To Find Me - Michael Hurley
Robbin' Banks - Unholy Modal Rounders
Blue-Eyed Jane - Bob Dylan

Poem of the Day

2009-04-20T10:23:00.000-07:00

One Parting

Why did he write to her,
"I can't live with you"?
And why did she write to him,
"I can't live without you"?
For he went west, she went east,
And they both lived.

-Carl Sandburg, from "Honey and Salt"

Photo of the day

2009-04-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

Finn Slough, BC

Goldsworthy

2009-04-19T06:39:00.001-07:00

Damn, I love Andy Goldsworthy...

Caw

2009-04-18T19:22:00.000-07:00

I changed the name of this blog. That Raven thing wasn't cutting it. I'm much more a Crow lady than a Raven lady anyhow. I once witnessed a Crow funeral. A bunch of crows (a murder?) had gathered round a fallen comrade (cawmrade?) in the grass across the street from my house. I happened to come upon it while walking home one afternoon - it was a very solemn scene, and by the way they all looked at me I knew I had entered into forbidden territory...the secret realm of Crow. I backed away slowly and tried to forget what I'd witnessed. A short while later I was attacked by a crow while walking in a nearby park. I don't know if that incident bore any connection to the funeral incident or not.

Great Lake Swimmers!

2009-04-18T09:18:00.000-07:00

Last night the Great Lake Swimmers were in town from Toronto. They played the Bowery Ballroom, right around the corner from me. I first heard them about 3 years ago - Rich at Nettwerk Records handed me an advance copy of 'Ongiara', I took it home, put it on, and fell in love. I sent them a fan email immediately, begging them to let me play mandolin with them sometime. Shortly after that, they came through Vancouver - I met them backstage at Richards on Richards and we bonded over ukuleles. Saw them a couple more times on the West Coast, whenever they'd come through, but finally got the chance to join them onstage at the Calgary Folk Fest last summer - we did one of those workshop thingys together. Tony and I sang 'Too Far Gone' and then we did a great grand finale of 'Ambulance Blues' along with Julie Doiron and Basia Bulat (you wish you'd been there...it really was epic). GLS showed up in NYC in January and my little dream of playing mandolin with them at last came true at the Mercury Lounge... last night I had the good fortune to join them again. Erik and Tony and I practiced the songs in the stairwell backstage and again during soundcheck - and though I'm not the world's greatest mandolin player I think I did okay! Before the show we got Cuban food from the takeout place on Elizabeth Street and sat on my rooftop eating and drinking wine and watching the stars. Arrived back at the venue in time to catch a few of Larkin Grimm's great and weird songs, sorry to have missed Kate Maki...
I love you, Great Lake Swimmers! Come back soon!!!

Susan Boyle

2009-04-17T06:13:00.000-07:00

Like the rest of the world, I have fallen in love with Susan Boyle. If my memory serves correctly, Susan used to come to the Be Good Tanyas shows in the UK and wait by the stage door for us to pull up for soundcheck - she'd have her little autograph book out for us to sign - it was a long time ago, so I could be wrong - if it wasn't her, she has a lookalike...you go, Susan! Take on the world and crack our hard hearts open. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

I heart NY

2009-04-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

My dear friend Christy came to visit NY for her first time - all the way from Edgewood, BC! She brought down one of her beautiful frames to give to Natalie Chanin and we spent a day sewing at the Firehouse on E. 11th (thank you Natalie!). We walked the Brooklyn Bridge (Christy made some new friends), went for dimsum (there were more people in the dimsum restaurant than live in all of Edgewood), split a massive pastrami at Katz's, hung out at 68 Jay, cruised Soho, the West Village, Little Italy, and Chinatown. Halfway to MOMA on Christy's last day we decided to turn around and go for creme brulee donuts at the Doughnut Plant instead (good call). Hopefully soon she'll post to youtube the video I took of her busking in Times Square...!! I miss you Christy...think of me when you're roaming those fields...

Flying Dream

2009-04-05T07:08:00.000-07:00

Last night I dreamed I turned into a great bird. Two of my friends were with me - we lifted off from the shore of a lake and soared out high over the water - it was the most incredible feeling to feel those powerful wings pushing the air, to feel totally at ease and in command. I had no idea I could do this! What a joyous revelation! Flying is fun...

Monbiot on G20

2009-04-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

From George Monbiot's blog on the Guardian website - quite astute:

Here is the text of the G20 communique, in compressed form.

"We, the Leaders of the Group of Twenty, will use every cent we don't possess to rescue corporate capitalism from its contradictions and set the world economy back onto the path of unsustainable growth. We have already spent trillions of dollars of your money on bailing out the banks, so that they can be returned to their proper functions of fleecing the poor and wrecking the Earth's living systems. Now we're going to spend another $1.1 trillion. As an exemplary punishment for their long record of promoting crises, we will give the IMF and the World Bank even more of your money. These actions constitute the greatest mobilisation of resources to support global financial flows in modern times.

Oh - and we nearly forgot. We must do something about the environment. We don't have any definite plans as yet, but we'll think of something in due course."

The G20's strategy for solving the financial and economic crisis, in other words, is detailed, innovative, fully costed and of vast scale and ambition. Its plans for solving the environmental crisis are brief, vague and uncosted. The environmental clauses - which contradict almost everything that goes before - have been tacked onto the end of the communique as an afterthought. No new money has been set aside. No new ideas are proposed; just the usual wishful thinking: let's call the whole package green and hope for the best.

So much for the pledge, expressed in different forms by most of the governments present at the talks, to put the environment at the heart of decision-making. Though the economy is merely a measure of our engagement with the environment; though, as most of the leaders acknowledge, continued prosperity is impossible without sustainability, the communique shows that the environment still comes last. No expense is spared in saving the banks. Every expense is spared in saving the biosphere.

This suggests to me that our leaders have learnt nothing from the financial crisis. It was caused by allowing powerful agents (the banks) to exploit a common resource (the global economy) without proper control or regulation. Governments deployed a form of magical thinking: that the boom would go on forever, that a bunch of predatory psychopaths would regulate themselves, that profits, dividends and share prices could grow indefinitely even though they bore no relation to actual value.

They treat the environmental crisis the same way. Climate breakdown, peak oil and resource depletion will all dwarf the current financial crisis, in both financial and humanitarian terms. But, just as they did with the banks, the G20 leaders appear to have decided to deal with these problems only when they have to - in other words, when it's too late. They persuade themselves that getting the economy back to where it was - infinite growth on a finite planet - can somehow be reconciled with the pledge "to address the threat of irreversible climate change".

Next time this magical thinking fails, there'll be no chance of a bail-out.

Mississippi John Hurt

2009-03-28T07:17:00.000-07:00

Listening to MJH this morning...aah. What a sweet soul he was:

Neko!!

2009-03-27T15:52:00.000-07:00

Yes, yes, yes!! Good job, girl, boys, girls. What a great record.

Bicycle Liberation

2009-03-27T06:11:00.000-07:00

The other day I had to go downtown to the big Federal building in order to put in my application for a Social Security card - I rode my (rather ratty-looking) bike down there, and was locking it up to a post in front of the main entrance when 3 security guards started shouting and yelling and running towards me - 'You can't leave your bike here - we'll have it removed!' - 'What??' 'You can't lock your bike there!' 'Really?' (looking around, seeing no bike racks anywhere) - 'Where should I put it?' They all shrugged and pointed off in various directions - 'Somewhere else - you just can't leave it here. Go around the corner.' I sighed and walked my bike around the corner and found another post to chain it to. Again - shouting and yelling - another security guard! 'Ma'am - you can't leave your bike there! This is federal property!' (So?) Eventually, I found somewhere, a couple of blocks away from the 'federal property', and locked my bike up to a signpost. Walked back to the big federal building thinking to myself, 'Wouldn't it be wonderful if 'federal property' included bike racks - if the 'feds' encouraged people to ride their bikes - wouldn't that be a show of real leadership...?
Inside the building, under the watchful eye of President Obama's photograph, I had to take off shoes, coat, belt, bag, put it all through x-ray ('just like at the airport, except I'm not going anywhere fun!' I joked to the security guy, who didn't crack a smile), and walk through a metal detector before heading up to the 31st floor. America sure is different than Canada...

Honey, honey

2009-03-25T16:00:00.001-07:00

Got this nice big jar of raw honey at the Union Square Farmer's Market here in New York. So raw that I found a bee's leg trapped in it...

Sam's Blue-Green Smoothie

2009-03-25T06:38:00.000-07:00

1 banana
1 cup blueberries (I like the frozen wild ones)
1 large handful baby romaine leaves
rice milk and/or soy milk and/or almond/hemp/oat milk
1 tbsp flax oil
1 tsp turmeric

Blend in blender until smooth. Drink up. Yum!

Thanks, Jackson

2009-03-23T09:15:00.000-07:00

These Days - Jackson Browne

Well I've been out walking
I don't do that much talking these days
These days--
These days I seem to think a lot
About the things that I forgot to do
For you
And all the times I had the chance to

And I had a lover
It's so hard to risk another these days
These days--
Now if I seem to be afraid
To live the life I have made in song
Well its just that I've been losing so long

I'll keep on moving
Things are bound to be improving these days
These days--
These days I sit on corner stones
And count the time in quarter tones to ten, my friend
Don't confront me with my failures
I have not forgotten them

I Highly Recommend

2009-03-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

One thing I love about being in school is that I'm forced to read books I normally wouldn't pick up, or if I did pick up, wouldn't necessarily read in-depth. I'm currently devouring 'Heat -How To Stop The Planet From Burning' by George Monbiot - it's a brilliant commentary on and exploration of the climate crisis/global warming - the truths, the lies, the myths, the facts, and the possible solutions all carefully laid out and clearly explained. Monbiot proposes that we can actually meet the necessary 90% (deadline 2030) cut in carbon emissions without losing our comfort and security (aka going back to the Pleistocene) - I don't think anyone has put together such a comprehensive and easily understood study of the problems we are facing. Read it, y'all. It's good.

Chickens

2009-03-20T08:06:00.000-07:00

While I was in Nashville visiting Lydia, a very special delivery came in the mail - 25 baby chicks! Yes, the USPS sends chicks in the mail - 14 of them were the ones Lydia ordered for the backyard chicken coop, and 11 were bigger, fluffier ones put in the box to act as 'packing peanuts'. Two of the chicks had not done so well on the journey and arrived unable to properly use their legs - Lydia fashioned splints from bandaids and apparently these two are now thriving.

Smell/Memory/Nostalgia

2009-03-19T08:55:00.000-07:00

Last night I cooked salmon for dinner. This morning I was yanking the garbage bag out of the bin to take downstairs and caught a whiff of the salmon skin (it went in the trash as I have no dog or cat to treat) - I was instantly transported to coastal BC - a wild and windy day with scattering grey clouds and churning ocean and walking along the shore and the blowing rain and spray and the smell of the sea and all its living and dying things tossed upon the sand...

Living in NYC is great and grand but there are times I get homesick - mostly for the connection with nature, for the wilderness and its unpredictability and wonder, the feeling of a wild and buffeting wind, bare feet on soil and sand and stone and moss, the incredibly complex fresh and decaying smells of forest, the cold cold river on a hot summer day, the little kingfisher who lives near my favourite swimming hole, the screech of bald eagle...
and of course, the sense that over that rise, that hill, that mountain, there are no people. i remember mushroom picking in the woods, and never running into a soul all day. That kind of space and solitude and silence has always been medicine for me.

But NYC, this world of man, has its own wonders, its own charms, and I love feeling a part of this human drama in such an intense way. It's rewarding and challenging and I feel blessed to be here...I'll just need to make salmon a regular part of my diet...

Beautiful

2009-03-19T06:34:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JZS1fLK4DYM

Ancestral Imagery

2009-03-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd post these beautiful photos of my grandmother, Evelyn, and two of her siblings, Rigmor and Norman. Rigmor looks like my sister Erin, Evelyn looks like me, and Norman like my brother Roger. Only wish I had a bow like that for my hair...and the homemade dresses are pretty cute too. I love the way Rigmor's hand is half in pocket. And Norman's hat and clown collar are precious.

north vancouver, bc

2009-03-16T15:13:00.000-07:00

'home' was somewhere in behind those trees, nestled on the lower slope of mountainside:

Photo of the day

2009-03-16T06:12:00.000-07:00

I love this photo - it reminds me of home.

Paulette's Poem

2009-03-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

My auntie Paulette just sent this to me...nice one, Paulette!

In Communion with a Spider

Little spider, little spider,

Crawling on the wall,

What's your hurry, lofty spider?

Careful not to fall!

Little spider, scary spider,

Scurry to your nest!

Little spider, hairy spider,

Unexpected guest!

Won't you, spider, shy and quiet,

Join me as I dine?

Do you need a special diet

Or will bread be fine?

Gentle creature on the floor,

I'm hoping you don't bite!

But if you are poisonous, just

Stay well out of sight!

Some say 'Squish it!' others wish it

Would not cause a fright;

Sit beside me, worthy spider,

You are a delight!

Gracious spider, noble spider,

Do you care for wine?

Every night I dine alone:

Please,

Be my Valentine!

c. 2008 by Paulette Terlinden Popp

Thelonius Monk's Advice

2009-03-15T08:32:00.000-07:00

Highway Halo

2009-03-15T07:59:00.000-07:00

I love this song. Written by my dear friend Ketch Secor. Gives me some of that wondrous magical timeless feeling of being on the road in the south maybe somewhere between Arkansas and New Orleans in the late spring when change is on the horizon and you feel it, but don't know it...

Highway Halo c. K. Secor

Driving rain,

Narrow shoulder

Breakdown lane

Marching forward

Goin' where I do not know

One eye on the open road

Steppin' out in the great unknown

With a highway halo.

Shaky faith

Lily Kimball

Patron saint,

Travelling minstrel

Let her dusty wings unfold

Forgive her bad luck soul

put her in a purple robe

And a highway halo.

Passing train,

sound like silver

Broken chain

shine like gold

Fortune's just a painted stone

Goin' where them hobos roam

Crown king of a jungle throne

With a highway halo.

Goin' where it suits my soul

can't you hear my big wheels roll

You can light up the darkest road

With a beam of eternal glow

And a highway halo.

Shaman's Coat

2009-03-10T11:35:00.000-07:00

Tulip trees, sewing, south

2009-03-09T20:43:00.000-07:00

Drove up to Nashville from Florence this morning with Jennifer and her 4 beautiful kids - Adam, Robert, Isabella, and Liliana. I've been in Florence for a few days staying with my friend Natalie and her 3 year old daughter Maggie (sooo precious) - Natalie invited me to come down and take part in one of her weekend sewing workshops - it's been a whirlwind couple of weeks, starting with NY Fashion Week and the incredible showing of the Alabama Chanin 'Songbirds' line...continuing on to Nashville, where several of us 'songbirds' were photographed wearing Natalie's incredible creations, and then on down to Florence where I sat for 2 days sewing and chatting (aka 'stitching and bitching') with a dozen or so women from all corners of the USA...it was a wonderful weekend and I'm so happy and honoured to have been able to take part! Thank you Natalie and Maggie. On the drive up to Nashville today Jennifer was talking about 'tulip trees' - I'd never heard of them before - she described them as having purple/white flowers that look like tulips - magnolias? She calls them tulip trees - later today I went for a walk with Lydia here in East Nashville and saw the most beautiful magnolia tree in bloom (first one of the year - it's spring!), and yes, it looked just like tulips on a tree. I think 'tulip tree' sounds much more poetic than 'magnolia'...

Red, White, and You. Yes, You.

2009-03-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

I have just become a US 'Permanent Resident' (as of two days ago), having successfully made my claim as an 'Alien of Extraordinary Ability'. I write this from Florence, Alabama, where the blossoms are on the trees, little green leaves are starting to burst forth, and the air is humid and sticky, if still cut with a chill. I like the States. I have to kiss my free Canadian healthcare goodbye (that's just a little frightening) - but the apprehension is tempered with a newfound sense of opportunity and adventure that is balm to my Sagittarian nature.

We'll see where it all leads. For now - the future is wide open...