just a Tuesday afternoon...

As Buddy Miller sings "With God on Our Side" I'm thinking about the meaning behind this Dylan classic.  "If God's on our side, He'll stop the next war."
God gets a lot of stuff dumped on His doorstep, dontcha think.
We get mad at our neighbor, knock his fence down, and kick his cat...and when he retaliates it somehow God's fault.
You're kidding yourself if you don't think the neighbor figures God is on his side too.
He's wondering how come God allowed you to kick his cat.
Why can't we all just get along?
Cuz we're not built that way I guess.
We haven't been gettin' along with our neighbors (or even our brothers) since Cain & Abel.

the winter of our disconnect...

Wow, it's been nearly a month since last I blogged.  So you'd think that I'd have plenty to say.  Well, I've been so distracted by real life that the virtual stuff has taken a back seat.  Has anyone out there checked out 2nd Life?  We're working on a project on 2nd Life at the university.  We'll see.  I know I didn't have much luck navigating the orientation pages, and when I tried out a different virtual world (Videoranch) I was quickly bored.  I'm just not of the 'gamer' school.  Maybe an evening of euchre or cribbage, or even Trivial Pursuit.  
Music-wise, things were pretty slow after Christmas, but they're starting to pick up now.  Ringo Starr's Liverpool 8 is...another Ringo Starr album.  With help from Dave Stewart and Mark Hudson it's musical, but still features Ringo's vocals.  I saw his first All-Starr Band, and had a great time...but can't say I spend much time listening to their live album.
Been listening to some Richard Hawley, and find him mesmerizing.  How'd I miss him for so long?  
Coles Corner and Lady's Bridge, riveting.
Torrent sites have been keeping me busy.  I've been able to download a pile of things that never came out on CD, or at least, were very hard to find.  The complete Richie Furay collection, JD Souther, Carl Wilson's two albums, all items I bought on vinyl...but never saw on CD.
Then there's unreleased material like Dennis Wilson's Bamboo (the followup to Pacific Ocean Blue), Brian Wilson's Sweet Insanity, live Paul McCartney from the Amoeba show, and on and on it goes.  
They have movies too, you can download new films just out in theatres!  
Like Sweeney Todd and Persepolis.
Looking for something to read?  Try Ronnie Wood's autobio Ronnie, 
it's best to read it while you're sipping a Guinness...just for ambiance! 
  

A new year...

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and New Years. We're all back to work, out of holiday mode and with our noses to the grindstone.
Before Christmas I went to see Sweeney Todd with my sons. Excellent adaptation of the play, and I have to say that cutting out a couple of the songs and streamlining it didn't hurt the story. Good performances all 'round and the wonderfully murky cinematography just added to my delight. I've seen three or four different productions of Sweeney Todd, not counting a couple of other versions of the story (by Dibdin Pitt, for one) but I did enjoy Johnny Depp!
Also saw Walk Hard, and thoroughly enjoyed that too. Sorry to hear it's not finding its audience but I laughed and laughed.
I bought the Amazing Journey DVD, that tells the Who story. Excellent. Finally Roger has his say! The Rolling Stone cover to cover DVD-rom is loads of fun to browse through. Every RS magazine for 40 years! Wow!
Can't wait to read Ronnie Wood's autobiography Ronnie. I also scored a copy of his 2-CD Anthology which has one disc of solo material and one of the bands he's been with, the Birds, Creation, Jeff Beck, Faces, Stones, some pretty good bands.
Lots of McCartney around these days. Another special edition of memory almost full this time with a live DVD, a download of Paul's secret concert at Amoeba Records, an A&E TV special from the Olympia. And next...Ringo's new album comes out today...it's a Beatles spectacular.
A new Fretboard Journal with John Scofield on the cover made me go back to listen to John's tribute to Ray Charles CD. Wow! And there's also a big article on Norman and Nancy Blake.
Still listening to Steve Earle's washington square serenade which may be the album of the year for me. Well, not counting Ry's My Name is Buddy. But the two of them have been on my playlist since they came out! Steve also had a TV special on Canada's Bravo which was a raw solo performance of much of the wss album.
Saw a couple interesting videos...Breaking and Entering and Perfume. Slow moving but quite interesting nonetheless. And one last recommendation...read Roddy Doyle's The Deportees, a set of short stories all dealing with immigrants in Ireland. One story is a sequel to The Commitments. See ya!

Happy New Year!

...to all!

and a...

...very Merry Christmas to all!

"for unto us is born this day a child who is Christ the Lord..."

Lucky Peterson...

So they tell me I missed a great show when I didn't go to see Lucky Peterson at the Slye Fox last week.
Dave said this, "Great night, if not a little loud. He was tired but put on a hell of a show. That's my beer he drank..."
And Rich (sitting at the next table) said, "I'm sorry you couldn't make it out, you missed an amazing show. Lucky was having a blast and it showed. For the second set he was joined on stage by a local 14yr prodigy guitar player who blew everyone's minds. Good time had by all."
This is likely the same kid who sizzled on Buddy Guy's axe when I saw him at Hamilton Place.
Where do these kids get the chops?
Practice, practice, practice!

December...

Good morning, faithful reader[s]!
Howdy to Lester.
The newest RYLANDER went out today in the mail. It's the Mavis Staples issue. While I was in Toronto last week I bought the album she did with Lucky Peterson. A tribute to Mahalia Jackson it features Lucky on either piano or organ and Mavis singing spirituals and/or gospel songs. It may not be for everyone but it's a good collection.
Lucky Peterson himself was in town last night, but I missed him. Haven't heard any reports back but a couple of my amigos were there.
The new Levon Helm CD (Dirt Farmer) is earthy and raw, with Levon sounding almost as good as ever, and Larry Campbell playing guitar. The version of Steve Earle's "The Mountain" sounds very Band-like! Amy Helm's backing vocals throughout are lovely.
I found a copy of Yusuf's Cafe Session on DVD, and (although I haven't watched the whole thing) it's a beautifully shot intimate concert of Cat Stevens' favourites and some newer material. Yusuf sounds reinvigorated, and I love his guitar!
It's been very cold here in Ryland the last few days. We had some snow, then rain, then cold, and fortunately the plows got the sewers cleared in time for the freeze or else we'd have been skating down the road.
See you soon!