Gifted Typist

Originally posted on GT couple of years back.
“Heroes” by David Bowie is one of my fave tunes of all time.
It is a song about two lovers who meet at the Berlin Wall beneath an exchange of Cold War bullets.
They know their relationship is doomed because they are from opposite sides of the wall, yet they [...]

See my Herald column here.
Last year, the band Sons of Maxwell sat on a United Airways plane and watched as baggage handlers destroyed their $3500 guitar.
When they sought compensation through customer service, they were stonewalled. Over and over again.
How many of us know that feeling.
So the band got even.
They wrote and produced a brilliant little [...]

See my Herald column here.
Now that he’s dead, we’ll be seeing a lot more of Michael Jackson.
Just like Marilyn and Elvis who are bigger in death that life.
These mega-celebrities are like the undead, ghosts of tortured souls who walk amongst the living for years and years after they’ve gone.
We’ll see Michael’s ghost in supermarket tabloids. [...]

… and like Princess Diana, we’ll probably remember where we were when we heard the news of the King of Pop’s death.
There are similarities: both were staging a come-back, both were global celebrities and both died too soon.
And everyone was shocked.
Of course, Jacko was deeply troubled and far more *out there* than Diana ever was.
But [...]

Tomorrow tickets go on sale for Sir Paul McCartney’s outdoor concert just down the road from me.
I’m debating whether I can be bothered to get the $125 tickets.
I love the Beatles and like Macca well enough. His Wings stuff was sort of fun back in the ’70s.
I’m not one of those Canadians who got all [...]

I was invited, last minute, to see Il Divo last night. For free.
Il Divo is the male quartet envisaged and assembled by American Idol judge Simon Cowell. They tour the world thrilling audiences – mostly female and” of a certain age.”
I went in with an open mind. I was expecting a “three tenors” experience. It [...]

Go to my Herald column here.
I watched her three times singing I Dreamed a Dream on YouTube.
The first time I was moved close to tears. She sang like an angel.
The second time my toes curled under with embarrassment. The scorn heaped upon her was sickening.
The third time I felt sad for how nasty people have [...]

The singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith was playing at a local restaurant the other night and I was lucky enough to be in the audience.
Just before the show, I decided to ring the little typists at home to check on them.
I walked into a back room and started dialing my mobile. There were a few people in [...]

… and at 63, Neil Young ain’t old.
This was one of those concerts where you hardly knew where to direct your awe.
Was it the fact that this 63-year old was bent over an electric guitar, face pinched in concentration, ripping out chords and tunes that went straight into your bones?
Or was it that Youngesque cat-whine [...]

This would be part of Beth’s Big Wicked Online Pageant. I’ve broken rulz here. I’m supposed to post a cute kid pic of me in a halloween costume. OK, no I wasn’t exactly a child here. Sadly there are no pictures of me as a child dressed up. In fact, this wasn’t even Halloween. And [...]

There’s New York City. And then there’s Lenny Kravitz.
Both of these are high-rise, high-wire, high-octane acts that are hard to follow. And I was lucky enough to do both in one weekend!
I’m still out of breath, trying to sort through it all.
I’ll get to Lenny first.
I knew he was good. I like his songs. I [...]

But there was no Emergency.
Joel Plaskett was on stage Monday night at a new restaurant in town, and I was lucky enough to get a great seat. It was less a concert and more like being invited into his living room for a performance for friends and family. Joel is a hometown boy.
We ate a [...]

Randy would have said he could sing the phonebook.
Paula would have said she loved him for who he is.
Simon would have said he had bad song choices.
All I can say is thank god there was no American Idol back in ‘63 when Dylan started out.
I was late after attending the Grade Six Band concert, which [...]

Tonight the music planets have lined up and choices must be made.
What should I do*:
- attend the Grade Six First Year Band concert featuring one of the little typists on clarinet
- attend Bob Dylan concert
- watch the America Idol final
*With some fast footwork and the use of technology, I should manage all three.

Waking up this morning to news of Jeff Healey’s death was like getting mugged and whacked over the head with a 2 x 4. I still have the stars circling over my head. I feel sick about it.
This amazing blues and jazz musician and musicologist died from cancer at 41. I didn’t even know [...]