Yeah To Coffee

This is a photo of Inky, a friends huge fluffy black cat. Her eyes look very spooky in this photo.

I drink only one coffee a day but find it absolutely necessary to wake me up. I had to have fasting blood work taken and finally did it this morning. Phlebotomists aren't on duty till 7am and since I get up at 5:30, I'd kept putting it off. Anyway, I went in this morning and truly, without that cup of coffee, I'm hardly safe on the road. Twice I found I was way over the center line, kind of daydreaming, certainly not awake and alert. Caffeine is magic!

The temperature is eleven today and is going to be thirteen tomorrow. This is so fantastic, especially when the rest of Canada is having very cold weather and huge snowstorms.

Music: Please Wake Me Up and for the last day of this month, November, both by Tom Waits. Both songs have weird sound effects.

For a link, a very cool video about billiards and dominoes.

Wednesday Already?

Finally the spell of being third is broken with a win at trivia last night. Yeah. We blew everyone else out of the water too with a very good score. It's about time.

Does anyone have any idea why Putfile requires you to hit next page so many times?

This will have to be my usual blogging time for the next while, not that I like it at this time of day. I prefer the afternoons.

My car's springs are to the limit with all the supplies I bought for work yesterday. The trunk, back seat, and front passenger seat are all stacked high. I had to refuse to give a friend a ride home last night because I couldn't possibly get him into the car. I don't have a small car and bought my Camry specifically for the size of the trunk.

Music for today: Mountain O' Things by the Duhks and Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall.

A link: Could come in handy during the Christmas season and for my kids who are fending for themselves. The Science of Cooking.

Big, Big News

I should be out taking photos as pickings are slim. That won't be happening for a while so cows will have to do in the meantime. I do have LOTS of great cow photos and I hardly ever put one up. Thank God, some are saying.

I have good news. I don't know when this started but Putfile is now allowing you to download the music files. S and I both tried it (her on her Mac) and encountered the same thing. This is the text shown:

Download File: To download the file "John-Mayer---Waiting-On-The-W-orld-To-Change" you must click the NEXT PAGE link located below until the download link shows.

Status: Your are on page 1 of 10 before the download page. NEXT PAGE

You actually press "next page" ten times then you can download the song. This is fantastic to me. It's kind of weird having to go through the rigamarole of pressing Next Page ten times but you can now download the music.

No one ever comments on anything about the music so I have no idea if the listeners are also the readers or what but I am personally so pleased that the songs can now be downloaded. From the blogging beginning I wanted to share music because I love it so much myself and it literally moves me spiritually. I want it to move other people. I know that it doesn't always transfer that way but if I can have someone feel joy or pleasure from a song that I recommend, I feel further moved.

Another way to think of this is that I've done all the hard work getting this music to you. Take advantage of it. I have no idea if it will last.

For such an auspicious occasion, another version of Besame Mucho is in order. Sending Kisses to Putfile is Mina. I heard this next song on the radio yesterday and really liked it. I knew of Diane Reeves more as a jazz singer before but never heard this song which is not really jazzy but womany, Endangered Species. I love it!

For a link I feel like reiterating my music page but will also add a photograph I liked. Try out the day and night buttons on the top. All photoblogs should have this feature.

Oh my, I'm ready to publish and tried to upload the music and I've been sent to a new page (I hope not ten). This could be disasterous. It also says that all files are automatically removed after 30 days. You now have fair warning. My clicks on the 11th will now be obsolete. It is now called PutStuff. Oh my, I hope this continues to work. All this great news then this "fly in the ointment".

New and Old

There was ice in the pond and in puddles this week but the days have been warm and sunny over all. We have it luckier than the rest of Canada having not seen snow yet like in the Prairies and unlike the West Coast, we can drink out water.

The show at the Confed Center was very good on Friday night. Both musicians are known for their finger picking guitar work but are very different. I especially liked Matt Anderson but he was more of an opener for JP Cormier. They had equal billing but not equal show time.

Work was exhausting yesterday but I walked around outside in the glorious sunshine for a while and the energy that brought was inspiring. It's back to six days a week on Tuesday so I will need all the energy I can get.

Music: A couple by John Mayer, his popular Waiting On the World To Change and Love Song For No One.

Link: A way to hear new music, not quite like Pandora but kind of neat.....Musicovery

Fire and Ice

This is the collage of the school house fire I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.
It looks very hot.

Very heavy frost overnight last night. It didn't get above zero till about ten am.

I took this photo at 9:23. It looks very cold.

I'm very excited to be going to see some live music tomorrow night. A couple of musicians are playing at the Confederation Center Theater, a nice, soft seat venue. I saw one of them, JP Cormier there in February during the ECMA's. The other, blues guy Matt Andersen, we tried and tried to get in to see at that time but he was always sold out. Speaking of February and live music, I found out last night that Van is playing in Calgary on the 27th of February. I called my daughter immediately but for some reason she's not as excited as I would be. She is suggesting that I come visit her at that time. I just might.

I had my walk today but had several stops so didn't really get a long cardio session happening. It is quite nice, warm and sunny after the cold night with the heavy frost. The Island beauty will release endorphins even if your walk is not so fast or prolonged so I'm feeling pretty sweet.

Music: One of the many live versions of Moondance by Van Morrison is always in order. Today's photos are of fire and ice. I have no such song but I do have Fire and Rain by James Taylor, a great oldie, in my opinion.

For a link I have a great photographer who photographs Burning Man and sorts the photos into categories. I've always been extemely interested in Burning Man and would love to go sometime so I like this site. I have the photo a day page of the official Burning Man site on my blogroll so visit it every day. Those photos are from many photographers. Today's is very cool.

Who Do You See?

Went to visit a friend today. His crystal ball is rigged up so that there is a face in it. Cool, eh? Got some other photos of it as well. I'll go a mile (or 50 km) for a photo challenge. A Leather-Bound Book was the subject in Jorj.org this week. This is my entry.

Came third at trivia last night with a large mixed team. We inherited one guy who had 12 show up for his team. We came third last night, Saturday and last Tuesday. Awful position, third times three!

Saturday, my start-back day for work is looming so near. Six days of hard work a week is so daunting right now.

Music: Reasons Why (trying to figure out that third times three) by Nickle Creek with it's lovely harmonies is first and the lovely song, Caledonia by Mary Black is second simply because I drove through Caledonia this morning.

I've already given two links this post. Enough, don't you think?

Blue Skies

Still trying to get all my music onto disc. I'm up to the I's and just finished Irma Thomas. I think I probably should have an external hard drive instead of all this work. I need a computer friend to manage that however, so for now it's burn and burn.

No walk today. A brisk north wind and temperatures of 2 Celcius will keep walkers and runners in unless they're super dedicated, which I am not.

The new beta Blogger is working out rather well other than the complicated signing in sessions that have to be used EACH TIME you want to blog. As a whole it seems to be quicker for uploading the photo and for final publishing.

A piece of news on the radio all day is a woman warning everyone to store potting soil outdoors because it can catch fire spontaneously. The fire marshall agrees and says it is because of the fertilizer in potting soil. I have some indoors so will be moving it out to the barn at least. Interesting!

Music today: Word of the passing of old blues singer, Ruth Brown. Here she is in Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean. One burned today is Grace Potter and the Nocturnal's live version of Skinny Woman.

For a link here are two pages featuring artist's Rene Magritte and Willem de Kooning.

It's Monday Already

With 4.5 Celcius, we're back to late fall temperatures. There is even talk of flurries around midnight. I won't stay awake to check. Still planning the walks but it won't be as pleasant.

Just got a phone call about someone finding a cat. I'll be checking it out in a few minutes. I've given up hope but still follow all leads....just in case. Clarkie!!!!!!

The American Thanksgiving celebration was wonderful with twenty-two around the huge table. There were two turkeys, a ham and everything to go with them. The desserts were to die for and after eating them we all felt that to die for might not just be an expression. Everyone was really stuffed and happy, full of good cheer and family and friendship.....wonderful indeed!

Music today: Giver by Patrick Watson and Get Up Stand Up by John Lee Hooker and Richie Havens.

For a link, something fun for a Monday, The Indian Shankar Drum Machine.

Friday Again

I don't want this wonderful weather to end!!! It won't be so easy to take the glorious walks to the beach if it is colder, windier or full of snow. Each walk this week has been one hour twenty minutes with about fifteen minutes cooling down on the beach. I feel so good when I get home and would like it to continue. Work begins again in one week so it would great to have the upcoming week be nice enough to get an endorphin store.

The house smells great with ribs slow-cooking for a girl's night tomorrow. I'm having left over roast beef for supper but now I want ribs. I'm doing a vegetable dish for a gathering I'm attending on Sunday. That will be the end of my socializing till after Christmas with the heavy work schedule coming up......back to six days a week.

Music today: Sand by Damien Rice for the beach theme the last few days and one that's not related to the theme at all but a great song if you like world music is Mamadiyel by Daby Balde. It's definitely African and had African percussion but great fiddling that is not African makes this a very interesting song, in my opinion.

Fifteen Strange Coincidences is interesting as well.

Warm Again

No Horizon

The endorphins were out in full force today. I'd love to know if speed of walking increases the number of endorphins or not. The beach was so nice. The sea smell hit me at least five minutes before I could see water and stays in my memory now. I wish I could photograph smells.

I had company today for lunch and after Oprah, both unexpected but welcome. Isolation is so easy and something to guard against but.....it's so easy.

Got invitations to two different art show openings from two friends about to show. One is on Tuesday so I will attend for sure. It's hard to have shows this time of year in this province with such a small population. I'll be sure to buy something from them both.

Music today: Here's another Iris Dement. You've heard me wax poetic about her song, Our Town, though I like someone elses version better than hers. This one, a slow ballad, is Easy's Gettin' Harder Every Day. I saw The Duhks (pronounced Ducks) in 03, the first year they were together, I think, and loved their energy. Here's a cut from this Winnipeg band, Down to the River, and in my case today, Down to the Beach.

The Link: I need quotations sometimes. A good source is Wikiquote.

Magical, Magical

s
What a day....and it's going to get warmer for Thursday and Friday. The normal daytime temp for this time of year is 3 or 4 degrees and it was 18 degrees this afternoon. I managed to get two walks in today, the second one being to the beach. It is such a magical place to be. I took my shoes off, rolled up my pants, and waded a bit. The ground was cold but the water wasn't bad.

Blogger Beta is giving me problems as I somehow knew it would. I can only get in through my e-mail, not the normal way. I so need a geeky friend.

We were a mixed team of part MacADNski, part Victoria Bar Clams and Chris, a friend who really doesn't have a team and plays on different ones every week. We came third, with the Brain Waves coming first after a perfect second round.

One musical selection today is the funky, Nothing But the Water by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. I'm not sure how to categorize the second choice, Afternoon Delight by the Starlight Vocal Band. I know this afternoon at the beach was an afternoon delight and that's why I've chosen the song. I could never be a music blogger.

Speaking of music bloggers........ I visit about forty music blogs a week and I visit two daily. This is one of them, Keep the Coffee Coming.

Birds On a Wire

I switched over to the new blogger beta. The only difference I see is the ability to tag or lable posts. I'm not sure what drag and drop features they have. I always drag and drop my link. Ha...the only day I didn't, I got it wrong...com instead of .ca.

We are expecting warmer and warmer temperatures over the next few days with a high of twenty possible for Friday. Is that fantastic or what! Winter could take a vacation this year as far as I'm concerned. It's hard to get out walking in the snowstorms or deep freezes we so often get. Would like a couple of snowshoeing days though.

Trivia tonight. We still have a pitcher of beer from two weeks ago cause we forgot about it the first part of the evening. We are most likely going to be part of the Brainwaves again so will be Brainskis once again.

Music: My brother sent this song today thinking it would be good to post. Well it is when you've been talking about trivia. Games People Play by Joe South is an oldie but goody. Some music from a Leonard Cohen tribute....Tonight Will Be Fine By Teddy Thompson. I have a lot of the cuts from this....love the Leonard!

Link: All things Leonard Cohen. Really a lot of stuff to look through.

Mixing It Up

My Granddaughter

Opening up today, I see they want everyone to sign over to the new beta version of Blogger. I think I'll wait a few days. I need some geek help. My geek friend moved to Calgary a few weeks before my daughter. He probably has a phone and I can find his number but he's not into blogging.

Having a rather lazy day. I'd forgotten that today was a government holiday and had planned to do some work/work. Most places are closed because of Remembrance Day falling on a Saturday. Retail stores were closed on Saturday so must be open today.

I did prune one of my trees today that has an insect. I found out yesterday that my blue spruce has a pine borer. The tree has had problems since it came to grow here and I thought it was doing better but now this insect has damaged it further. Hopefully it will recover.

Music: It's been nice to listen to some male vocalists. I've been listening to so many females in the past ten days making the five cd's for the Women's Festival. I have Mose Allison, Greg Brown and Bill Morrissey together in one folder because they are influences on one another, have all played together and are similar to my ears. I have songs from them all on the music page and am playing that folder right now. Here's one singing about the other....Greg Brown doing Mose Allison Played Here.

Yesterday the CBC had a special on Bob Dylan or as I say to my oldest son, The Bob. Three guests sang his praises and each picked their musical choice for the show. The last one picked Not Dark Yet which is one of my top three Dylan songs. I love Dylan, you know I do, but Greg Brown's version is even better in my opinion. I already have this up so am linking it here. Gives me an extra song to post today so from the same folder here is a short one, Everybody's Crying Mercy by Mose Allison.

Link: I've been following the first Painting a Day Blogger for the last couple of years. He is listed on the side. Many have followed in his footsteps and there is what I guess you would call an aggregator listing several sites that feature A Painting a Day. I check it every day in my blogroll then check out individual paintings. Enjoy, if you like paintings. If you can afford to buy them, enjoy them even more.

Cigarettes?

It's four o'clock and I've had to turn on the light. Dark comes earlier and it's been overcast and has started to rain. I had a nice afternoon with company. My friend smokes so we spent a lot of time outdoors which was both brisk and crisp. It is ten months today since I quit smoking. I still don't mind people smoking around me. It doesn't tempt me. I'm pretty sure I have it beat. I still get a bit edgy at times and I know a cdigarette would take that feeling away. Those are my hardest times...those edgy feelings and knowing how easy it would be to take them away.

Music: Nervous Tic by Andrew Bird and Nicotine by Ani DeFranco.

Link: I may have linked this when I wrote a post about Van a while back but not since I started putting a daily link up. YouTube fans already know how to find these things but here are some videos of live Van Morrison. These are all put up by one person and there are many more by other people. I could watch them for hours.

Statistics For the Month

A few photos of last night's wonderful retrospective. Everyone, I can say with assurance, had a great time and wants the festival to continue. They'll have to do something about that is what we say. It was fun seeing everyone searching out photos of themselves in the displays of women's fest memorabilia and in the magazine Common Ground and seeing the changes in all of us through the twenty-four years this event covered. A great, successful event. Whew!!!!

Music stats today cause it's the 11th of the month.

• These four songs would have disappeared without my click. Mannish Boy by Muddy Waters. Hold On by Neko Case. Johnny Cash's version of Four Strong Winds and Yes We Can Can by the Pointer Sisters.
  
• Getting 20 hits: Katie Melua's great version of Blues in the Night, Bob Dylan's, Buckets of Rain, and Dos Gardenias by Marie Rita Mariano.
• With 22 hits: Sunshine on a Rainy Day by Zoe, Kate Rusby's version of Our Town, that great song, Joy, by Bettye LaVette.
• Leonard's own version of Dance Me To the End of Love got 24 hits this month.
• For several months in a row, Quisas, Quisas, Quisas, did well. It got 30 plays this month.
  
• Back Home to Me by Sophie Milman got 32 hits.
  
• The hilarious Pussy Cat Song got 34 plays.
  
• The Kris Kristopherson/Steve Earl version of Sunday Morning Coming Down got played 38 times this month. Hope those weren't just on Sunday mornings.
• This is totally bizarre for the second month in a row. Don't Lie by the Black Eyed Peas got 410 hits this month. It has now been played from my page 694 times. I'd guess someone has it bookmarked. It was played 234 times last month.

No music or links today. The clicking/statistics took long enough.

Day Two With No Title

My brother sent this photo to me today. This is the building I went to elementary school in almost fifty years ago. It was burned in a controlled fire as it had been a condemned building for a few years. I love the photo. My sister sent some too that are more firey. How do you spell that? I'm going to try to make a collage of hers but it will take a while as I have to save them all first, etc and I actually need to get away from the computer. STEP AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER! I've been here all day with playlists, e-mail, and various other things. I'ts been pouring all day so I don't feel guilty about not walking but still..........

I have one playlist left to burn. I'm listening to it now and this is the song playing.....# 807 by Pieta Brown. Today's other cut is from a band I've played a bit of on here. I like them and they're doing an oldie in this cut. Down By The Riverside by Ollabelle.

Link: A game I play from time to time to keep the old brain sharp. Geosense is a fabulous geography game that also teaches you geography because the more you play it the more your brain remembers and retains the locations on the map. It's also fun to have two people take turns of games if you like competition because you learn locations by watching another play.

Titleless Today

My Boy and His Boy

We are going to have a couple of rainy days. Good excuse for holing up with playlists and lots of music to fill them. The dance ones take the longest because you have to dance them through to make sure they flow properly in the dance. Hard to explain but they take a LOT longer than regular listening cd's. We have an hour and a half segment where we are mingling, with free food and wine. We next have the wonderful cabaret and retrospective planned, then the dance.

We had three more team members show up last night and a loner from the team we played with the previous two weeks. Our team name is The MacADNskis and the other team is the Brain Waves. For the last two weeks we were the Brainskis. Last night we were MacAdnskiWave. Complicated but oh so much fun. We didn't place in the Remembrance Day/War trivia but had a great time catching up with our winter team members.

I'm listening to great music. Is that a surprise? I've been concentrating and working with women performers and I'll feature one. The other is from an old and true, from my point of view. Bob Dylan with a live version of Desolation Row for my son.....and grandson if he's sitting beside him. Lady Marmalade is an old 70's song by Patti LaBelle. I have that old version on album, tape and cd. Today shares a version by Christine Aguilara, Lil Kim, Mya and Pink. I have both on the dance playlists as they dance equally well.

Link: Was it yesterday that I linked to a photographer because I like his photos of ducks? I've had this photo bookmarked for a while. I've never explored the website any further than this photo but maybe I will now. Anyway I LOVE this duck photo.

For Da Birds

I'm feeling exceptionally lazy today and managed only the basic chores and a bit of outdoor work. With my normal high energy level it's perfectly ok to have a lazy day now and then. The cats were outside with me and were communing with the birds. It's so cool to have trained cats. I worked very hard on them the first couple of years and it's all paid off as I don't worry about them catching the birds that I've invited for supper.....the bird's supper, not the cats'.

Musical selections today are for the birds. This little Be Good Tanya's song, The Littlest Birds, became famous when it was featured in a Gap commercial. A Bird's Song by Ingrid Michaelson is a nice relaxing number, my kind of music today.

For a linkI've chosen Van der Woning Photography. He may be listed in my regular links, I'm not sure. He is a canadian photographer that I've had bookmarked for years because he takes really great photos of ducks. He has lots of categories other than "swimmers" so check him out.

Respect

You knew I'd have a bird picture up today. The cats are enthralled with the birdfeeders. They usually sleep away most of the day but were on window duty all morning.

The endorphens were roiling through my body after my walk today. I think the faster I go, the more that are released. It could be all in the head but the smile on my face is welcome no matter the source. Yesterday I didn't make it to the beach but had a two hour dance workout. That will make your endorphens smile too.

I had a meeting scheduled here for ten this morning. The person couldn't make it but didn't bother to call till quarter to twelve. That pisses me off more than almost anything. My time wasn't my own all morning and the person who neglected to call just doesn't recognize the importance of that.

Still working on playlists for the Festival. Respect Yourself by The Staple Singers is on one you can be assured and is on the music page today. Bloody Motherfucking Asshole is a strong sentiment to the person who didn't call beforehand to cancel the meeting but as a song by Martha Wainwright, it's a great choice.

For a link: On 09 October, the link was Rules For Being Human. Today, Guidelines For Cats. I'm not sure if my cats have read this but they certainly follow many of the guidelines listed.

Don't Worry, Be Happy

This morning I found my prescription glasses that have been lost over six months. What a relief! When something like that is lost it's always a little bit present in the back of your mind. I've now freed up some space in those packed file cabinets up there. I'm not really a worrier because I learned long ago that worrying truly is a waste of time and emotion but the lost glasses have kind of been nagging at me.

Today's music can see to that with I Ain't Gonna Worry My Life Away by bluesy, Merry Clayton and Dylan's song, I Shall be Released covered live by Neil Young, Sarah McLachlan and Phish.

I have a friend coming for dinner. I should be out picking apples for a dessert of some kind but it is cold and so much easier to stay indoors. What I really should do is leave a note on the door and walk to the beach. I don't worry much but I sure have my share of feeling guilty of things like procrastination or laziness.

An exciting thing today, I am cleaning the cobwebs off the birdfeeders and filling them. I wasn't able to feed the birds after Clarke came to live here. The girls will be very happy to get to watch birds again and the birds will have their old feeding station back.

The link today: A mapping system that I found a while ago that lets you see the world in different categories than just geography. It is a very, very interesting site.

Remembrance

Just got back from a drive in the country. My camera batteries ran out after one photo of my friend's dog so got no photos of the leafless landscape. It was very pretty today with a very low ceiling of big fluffy clouds.

Still laughing thinking of the really fun Women's Fest meeting last night. The committee consists of parts of two generations of organizers. Our "second generation" is known for having more fun than sense at out meetings. A member of the "first generation" is a professional facilitator and she had quite a time keeping us under control.......but we sure had a great time. Less than a week now till the event. It's going to be wonderful. I have to do some playlists and make a few phone calls to performers and my part will be done. I'll sit back and enjoy after that.

Music: Part of the celebration next week will include a tribute to women from the community who have passed on. To the Fallen by Ruthie Foster makes me think of remembrance. We are using another song but this one would be appropriate too. Since I'm working on an upbeat
playlist and this is playing right now and remembrance is the theme, Thinking of You by Sister Sledge will do.

Link: All things or a lot of things, anyway, Bob Dylan.

Blogger was down for most of the day. I lost my post earlier. It's a pain, pain, pain, I tell you.

No Time Left

Thought about going to the beach for the daily walk today....until I got outside. Its very cold and windy, not beach weather at all! Was trying on clothing yesterday and have gained weight already since stopping work so I may be having two or three walks per day. I'm sure as heck not giving up eating. It weird having been thin my whole life to have my whole body change after giving up smoking ten months ago. Healthier, I guess.....

Music: Another of my thirteen versions of A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke who I believe is the writer of the song but I'm not positive of that. It's a great song whomever wrote it. Another song that I have a lot of versions of is Baby It's Cold Outside, a song appropriate for today. Here's a version by James Taylor and I believe, Natalie Cole. I'll check that fact out and also who wrote A Change is Gonna Come.

No time for a link today. The phone hasn't stopped since I started this post.

November

Of course, last night was fun. The photo above is a member of our combined team (no one from ours showed up) wearing his costume and a hat from our witchy team. I tried to show you but blogger is screwing up, that he came as Casey from Mister Dressup, who all Canadians know and love. Trivia was very hard and we had a pretty low score but came second. With the time change, it felt like after midnight when I got home and I actually slept till quarter to seven this morning.

It's November, statistically the month when most deaths occur. I've lost several people in November, including my grandfather when I was 18. Here in northern North America, you can understand why. The weather is windy and unforgivingly so. One memory is of my oldest son playing tenor sax during an outdoor Remembrance Day Service. During the band's piece, even though they'd all, realizing the state of the weather, clipped their sheet music down, a piece of sheet music flew off a stand and plastered itself across my son's face. It stayed there for several long moments till the wind let it go.....until the next gust.

Music: Just a couple of selections I'm listening to at the moment from the playlist I made when I sat down....like I do every day. Not part of any theme. Ritchie Havens doing a fine version of a great song, Streets of Philadelphia. Hard to choose between the two latin- jazz numbers up there but I'll go with Insensatez by Martirio and Jerry Gonzales.

The link: A weekly visit to the music blogroll is Jefitoblog. He does a regular Idiots Guide to......with an ever-changing cast. On January 31, 2006, he did Tom Waits. I saved it. Hmmm, perhaps I should be playing Tom Waits....and about a theme......oh heck, it's November already.