acting chops

it wasn't really lying ... as much as just using my ability to hang part of a sentence in the air...

Last night driving thru little lawless gallery town, I passed a police cruiser. I wasn't speeding. My stickers are up to date on my plates. My lights are working. And yet, the cruiser pulled out and followed me to the house. I was parking on the side of the country road when he pulled up beside me.
I rolled down my window.

"Hello L.Bo"
uh, hello?

"I know your name... know how I know that?"
uh, I'm not sure...

"I ran your plates"
(at this point I'm trying to figure out what's going on, I squint thru the snowflakes to see if it's an officer I know, maybe one of the guys from high school, or one from work?)

"I ran your plates and you forgot to renew your license on your birthday"
But!! I renewed my stickers on my birthday.... *

"yes, but you also needed to renew your license"
They didn't mention that at the office....

"I just wanted to give you a heads up, if you were pulled over for anything, it'd be a $350 fine... have a good night, and don't forget to get your license on Monday"

oh.
ok....
thank you so much!**

*I actually noticed the other day, but forgot to go on Friday when they were open. I don't drive my car often enough to think of these things...

**at that point I ran in the house laughing to tell the story to the girls at the PJ party hosted by two of my favourite men.

Canada's next top Lame-o

yup, this confirms it.

I'm the LAMEST person I know.

Tonight was one of those lovely nights, pulling me out of a funk that's taken over the past few days. Brisk air, sun shining down, dinner with dear friends, and a concert.

Not just any concert.

The lovely Martyn Joseph was in town.

I love this guy's music. It's from just the right spot.

here... have a video. (ok two).

So, I've had the privilege of seeing him in concert several times. The first time was out at the gallery- in the middle of '08's worst snowstorm. This summer he played at the festival- and I ran into him around the campfire a few times- he played my Uke (and put me to shame).

so of course, what's the first thing I say to him when I see him at the show tonight? (let's preface this with- I've just been greeted with "oh! hello beauty") (that would be Martyn's version of knowing he knows me from somewhere) (I'll take it)

yes, of course, I embarrass myself by saying "so, did you pick up a ukulele for yourself when you got home?"

and then... further it later with....

Singing harmonies as loud as I can- like I'm lost in church... and then he wanders out into the audience with his guitar and sits down beside me... I forget the words and stop singing.

yup.

ok.

awesome.

I think I'll go to sleep now.

Art art

a perfect moment.

a few tears of joy.

steam of coffee.

beautiful lyrics.

soft couch.

giggles from the other room.

laughter to the other side.

kind words.

heartfelt statement.

old friends.

new friends.

the sounds of creating.

the smell of cooking.

morning voice crooning.

where the bungalows roam....

Another snow storm.....
Another concert at the gallery...

I'm seeing a trend.

So last night I was REALLY really really looking forward to that concert. I (small case) love Jim Bryson... as in, if he's near by, I'll go see him... maybe even on my own. Last night was part of his forever ongoing release concerts for his most recent CD (also available on vinyl... too funny)

In all honesty... I didn't even "small case love" the concert. And that's a first for something held at the gallery... for me anyway.

But, see I liked the music, I even liked the other artist's music.. I just didn't really like HER. She kinda ruined it for me. She had this - I don't know - bipolar attitude about the evening that just left me confused, and pulled the life out of the non-music portions of the evening. One minute saying how she loved the laid back attitude of the space... and the next out rightly complaining that we were an unresponsive audience (not really true, she just thought she was really sarcastically funny... and every joke sort of died.. because, well, it wasn't a joke, more of a comment with raised inflection at the end to make it sound like a question.) Then there was this weird unprofessional attitude ownership of the space, yelling at the host over the mic to get things for her... it just left me uneasy.

Jim himself was quirky as usual, but low key... But I didn't care. Because I "small case love" Jim Bryson.

Using the Buddy System

Once the Buddy System has been called, it's in effect for the rest of the evening.


There are some days when I just wish I had a recorder with me to keep track of all the items that really do need to be saved on the interwebs for all to read about.

"If you'd killed him, you'd be out by now" NurseDude said to Bethsheff during her 25 wedding anniversary concert/party... It was such a great night, so many lovely people came out to celebrate with the Sheff family! Music and food topped off the company (in perfect reflection of the Sheff household). Beth's wedding dress hung on display, and Manda Manda had re-created the kissing ball wreath that the Sheffs had stood under in their wedding photos.
Always a party at the Gallery :)

Since Manda, Ian and Maria had slaved all day getting food ready for the party, I'd sent them down stairs to enjoy, I puttered around the kitchen upstairs trying to clean things up so there wasn't a huge fuss at the end of the evening, it was pretty simple stuff, so I worked merrily away at it, occasionally zipping downstairs to visit or gather up dishes. I knew SOMEWHERE in the gallery there were more dishes hiding. As in... hundreds. But I couldn't find them, so I figured that they had been put into storage. After a near panic trying to wash dishes fast enough so we could put the cake out, I was shown the hiding plates... all was well.
Sort of.
I had erroneously started a conversation with Mr.RovingHands earlier in the evening, well before he had reached his "party peak" and loss of good judgement. The evening had continued on, and Mr.RH decided that he'd come keep me company in the kitchen... after a long and tortured 10 mins of hand and lip dodging while trying to do dishes, I escaped ...though not before hearing such gems as "you've got an emotional problem don't you? I want you to know that I'm here for you to talk out your deep dark secrets... if not now, maybe later baby? I can heal you." and "I am very attracted to this, (trys to caress my nose as I hold a large dirty roasting pan between us) I love your strong roman nose".
Him: "Come and smoke this with me... we click don't we? I knew from the moment we met... didn't you?" (insert me snorting a laugh back)
I: "thanks, but I don't smoke that stuff" (and now I'm scraping old food off plates into the garbage)
Him: "But baby, this isn't tobacco, don't worry, you won't get addicted"
I: (wishing this was some sort of script for a comedy so later with my friends we could laugh some more) "No, really, I'm not into that... ".

Eventually, I've had enough and decide I'd better just get to a safety zone before it goes from really creepy to harassment... I swat the hands away (again) and make a break for the stairs, Mr. RovingHands in close pursuit. I reach the bottom of the stairs, and with a look of panic and a strangled "help" in his direction, Aengus saves the day... steps directly behind me, blocking RovingHands and engages him in some discussion for a few minutes while the Buddy System is activated and all females are forewarned.
The rest of the evening continues in a lovely fashion... and Aengus wins Hero Of The Week status.

oops

ok.. feeling better, and, the "avoid the computer" experiment is over too. All is better with the world.

So much better... that I realise what I forgot to do... I forgot to write about the Hoot... Which is odd, because I'm pretty sure I blogged about it the MINUTE I got home last year... and talked about it incessantly afterwards... This year... it only got the incessant talk-up.

Hootenanny '07 was fantastic! A slightly different line up from last year, but with most of the old crew returning... missing was Oh Suzanna! and a few others.... but the addition of Jim Bryson made up for it....
So what the heck is the Hoot? Like the "good ol'days" music, groups of crazy people outdoing and joining in on each other's music, this is the best explanation I could find for what happened Good Friday night at the Lawless gallery...::

What: Carolyn Mark’s Western Hootenanny Revue. Why: It’s like an alt-country
Muppet Show hosted by a belligerent saloon mistress **

The music jumped and swayed, the people clapped and laughed.. there were kazoos of sorts.. there was yelling and stomping... there was a fawn, a gas mask, a circus, an eggplant, a drum, several guitars, mandolin, a saw, a bass... and people rotated from one to another in the fantastic dance known as the Hoot.

Sigh... 360 odd days to go till next year's.

**stolen from Urban Trendz Mag.

ART

So, if you haven't already heard, there's an art show on Wednesday between 6-9 at the Lawless gallery.

It's free... and... well, it's going to be beautiful. You really should stop by to see this.

too much

Last night I hit the Lawless gallery for a triple mix of Aengus Finnan (yay!) Catherine Maclellan and Tanya Davis. Now, the last time I saw Catherine was at the Oasis, and the sound mix was awful and I was SO distracted by it I had to focus hard on what was being played... but last night, I got to do the board... for all three, so I was quite content.

Anyway, that's not what I wanted to write about!

Two weeks ago, driving the 28 home, I was (as per my usual routine) listening to the Vinyl Cafe on CBC, but it was a little different... instead of the show on the road, Stuart was in the studio, doing a program on "Sad songs". The idea being, that if you hear a really sad song, it'll just make you feel a little better. I agreed, so I kept listening. That was the day that the sun was blinding me all the way home...

A little Leonard was played, and then Stuart said something to the effect of "sometimes a song that sounds happy can be one of the saddest of them all" and launched into the story behind Gene Maclellan's depression and how "Snowbird" reflected him the best of all his songs... The cheery song came on the radio... and while I listened to it and thought about the sadness of the song (and his eventual suicide) I started to get a little weepy... The song ended and Stuart said just a few lines... about Catherine (his daughter) and how she must have been thinking about her dad as she wrote the next song...
That next song was one she wrote about her dad, and there's a line in it about putting his records on to listen to them, when that line was sung I started to cry...
All I could think about was the powerful painful process that is behind song... behind poetry... behind putting your most intimate thought onto paper or playing it out loud.
I thought about who would be listening to the songs, to even just that program that day... what if... what if Catherine were listening to that program? Would she hurt more over hearing the stories and songs played together? Or would it be healing, knowing that others could feel along with her? I resolved then and there that I was NEVER going to write a song down again... something so personal... so... entirely open.. so ... *sigh*
Then a letter was read... a letter about Tanya's new Cd, and a piece was played called Sadness.* By the end I was still so upset by the fact that words are so powerful, but I knew I'd better get a new pen.

.... put down my handkerchief, for a pen with good ink flow and then
put down a new poem and then something insightful..... make it worth my while.

*also listen to "Art"... it just confirms it.

it's true it's true it's true!!!

remember that time?

That time I went to the Hootananny and had so much fun and talked about it for days and days afterwards, and Jenny and I had a thousand inside jokes to our very own for a good long time?

That was a good time.

It's time again for a

Hootananny!