Remembering October

Ok, I am totally jamming out tonight. Alan Cross is on the radio with a listen to the history of ska. For those that are not familiar with ska, it is akin to reggae and rocksteady, but boppier. It is also an older musical form. There is a very distinct off beat and there is almost always a heavy influence in the brass department (trombones and trumpets) as well we saxophone, guitar, bass guitar and drums. Big artists were Desmond Dekker, English Beat, The Specials, Prince Buster, Toots and the Maytals, the Skatalites, Madness, The Clash continuing on up to more recently The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones and No Doubt. There has been several different waves of ska, from the original styles that came out of Jamaica in the 1950s and 60s, to the British Two-Tone Invasion in the 70s with other waves in the 80s and the 90s finally making some headway into the US. I want to share something, but am struggling as to what might work best. I love older ska, which has a certain heavy hand in swing, but grew up with The Specials and English Beat. "Mirror in the Bathroom" was a frequent request at high school dances. I think that I will go back to some of the origins though with a taste of Desmond Dekker, arguably one of the kings of ska that had a wide influence on the music of the day and musicians that fall under other umbrellas from reggae, to punk  with many things in between. Enjoy!

~~~~~
PS. You were right Patti. I went to bed and had another poem running round my head. I will share this one with you and the good folks at OneShot.

October Goodbyes


Her words whipped away
in the October air;
Unseasonably warm for
   this day.

Water fell to Earth
piled high in preparation,
but not quite ready for
   this moment.

A pop and a fizz
slowly saluted you while
tears, words, flowers and lager offered
   this goodbye.

Strength carried her
on unseen wings
into tomorrow's world
   with sorrow.

Gleefully released little ones

scooped clodfuls of dirt up

under parent's watchful eye

   with sweet sadness.

Children's laughter and scrabbling fingers
remembered, responded and rejoiced
filling memory's hole
   with joy.

The wind kissed her limp hair
with soft hands that waved goodbye
to a wife's sagging shoulders
   for eternity.


*Blessed be the children for they go where we fear to tread with innocence and love. Their purity and innocence lighten any moments from birth to death...


  

Naked as We Came

I wrote a poem that I am not sure I like.

I am too tired to fly to Africa tonight.

I cannot seem to get into my photo album to regale you with a new picture of something uber-wonderful to share with you and perhaps be inspired to write about.

I did go visiting some wonderful blogs this evening though (Just about Wednesday and OneShot is up and running already). I came across this post over at my friend C's blog and nodded my head all the way through it (something about everything to say/nothing to say and nowhere to start, so lost). Is the changing of the seasons sucking the life out of our feeble brains? I think not with seeing all the rest of the posts out there.

I shall turn into a pumpkin in approximately 2 minutes though, so regret I have not enough to share.

perhaps I will just share a song with you today. Iron and Wine is a staple for me when I need a musical comforting hug. Enjoy.

The Beauty of Reflection

I am still a little speechless. The Beauty of Reflection; So wonderful on so many levels. The smile on my face and in my heart speaks volumes to me. To give you some idea as to what I am talking about, gaze into the beautiful sunset above. It is a special place for a special someone who has honoured me today. Marilynn at Celebrating a Year has a beautiful retreat space that she had the pleasure to escape to not once, but twice this past summer. From her words and pictures, I understand why it is a piece of heaven for her. She has chosen an image of this place, that is dear to her heart, to honour myself and a few others with some accolades. It was not something that was handed to her with strings attached to pass it along. Not that there is anything wrong with awards of that kind, but she just offered blessings because she felt like it. No voodoo or superstitions to befall anyone here. She was revelling in the community that she has experienced here in the blog-o-sphere and wanted to share and give back. To be included in her list really touched me and made my day. Marilynn always has lovely pictures to admire on a daily basis, as well as some stunning poetry to share. She even graces us with some exquisite mandolin music on occasion, played by her own hand. Wow! People like her push me to challenge myself with new styles and forms of expression.  Her award on just any old ordinary day, just made mine. I  too appreciate all the kindness that have been shown me from some of you brilliant people. So I send out a huge thank you to Marilynn today. I like your corner of the world and am thrilled that you like mine. If you are interested in hearing some of her music check out her my space page and be treating to mandolin AND bandolin playing at its finest. 

~~~~~

Happy Sunday All! 

Just one more quick note. Another shining star in my world is a bathroom that is resembling one again. While not completely done, I do have a toilet on the main floor again. And it even seems to flush properly again. Wheee! Life is good. Hope your long weekend brings you all you desire too! Now, at the magical hour of 9:21 I think I will retire. Two late nights with a dear friend has left me too pooped to pop. There are a couple of books that are calling my name, but my pillow threatens with sweet slumber as well. Good night...

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

The Boys are Back

It is just an ordinary day in my world. A Friday. The kids are in bed. I sit on my couch. The dishwasher hums in the background. A friend is coming to join me for the weekend. She will arrive this evening, but right now life is just life. Today has had its ups and downs, same as any other. This song reminded me on so many days that for all the ups and downs that life holds, really it all amounts to a day in passing. It's all your state of mind. 

So today I share a video from one of my favourite bands; Great Big Sea. These boys are from Newfoundland, Canada and are a hell of a lot of fun to see live. I just found out they will be in my home town in a few months for another concert and am sorely tempted to splurge out on tickets again. Anyone want to join me for a night of smiles and bouncing?

You are my SunShine

   There were rays of sunshine amidst the busyness of the day. I took advantage of the lack of rain to plant a few herbs and annuals into the garden this afternoon. As it is supposed to rain tomorrow in my part of the world, it thought that the new plants might be happy to have a big bath tomorrow. I must admit that I hope it does not rain in the morning though. I stuffed the van full of garage sale items to tote out to my aunt's house this morning. The hope is to become fabulously rich by selling my excess wares to the unsuspecting bargain hunters tomorrow. So in honour of a hopefully sunny morning, I thought that I would play a little ditty to help encourage the sunshine to come out and play...

Day 5 - Will it Ever End?

   Ok, I am feeling tired. It is shortly after 4:00 PM and I have knocked off for the day. While I have to admit my living room looks heaps better, I just want it done now! Perhaps a cocktail will perk me up?

   There, that's better! Now where was I? Sip my daiquiri, ahh "turn me loose, turn me loose, turn me loose. I gotta do it my way!" That is what I am doing. Painting my way! I have been listening to to BOB FM this week to keep me company while the work slogs along. Their motto is 80s, 90s and whatever. It amuses me if nothing else (Foreigner, Gowan, Nickleback, Prince, U2 - pretty eclectic). It also helps to give background noise to my brain as it drifts along on the paint fumes. I have attempted conversations on the phone, but find it difficult to stick my tongue out of the side of my mouth, wield a paint brush and think up articulate thoughts in response to friends. Nope, BOB is the perfect background fluff to the single-minded determination to transform my world. If I can convince the girls to let me paint one more day, tomorrow will be even more pertinent to have no distractions. Tomorrow is the hardest day of them all. Tomorrow I have to paint trim. I dread it. Thus far, everything is pretty forgiving. Once I begin the trim though, it is precision work. I am not so good at precision. In words yes, but take away my thesaurus and the world is just good enough. I must try to keep a steady hand. phhauuuughhh. Yuck. I sense the expletives already. I am just about there though. I will persevere and perhaps look forward to a world without paint in it for a moment or two (my bedroom is still on the list of rooms to paint. Colour is picked. Last room to paint). For today,  I close  my dear readers with picks of my progress. Hopefully tomorrow I will step in to the world of cleaning and putting my world back together. That is another days project though.

Be well.

New Music

Well, I am just thrilled to have found some new music, compliments of Blogger. I was browsing through a few sites and found a band that just tickles my fancy. Iron and Wine is acoustic folk I guess. Very melodic and beautiful. It feels like it caresses the soul and makes the heart a little lighter. I am really grooving on it. It fits in with my jazz, blues movement as of late. Very cool.

So I have paint gracing my knuckles this evening. This makes me happy. I am working for a friend again this fall. She makes hand-crafted animal-inspired knick-knack things (clocks, menorahs, Christmas ornaments, etc.). I get to paint messy messy and chat with others. Oh, and get a few bucks at the end of it. A bonus at Christmas time. It gives my brain a break from some of the things it usually gnaws at and this is also a good thing. I find that I come home and don't worry about my usual frets. They are losing their power at the moment and I appreciate that. I hope that the power continues. So looking at my hands and seeing paint lets me know I am moving forward in a positive way. Ahh, lovely.

Hey, there is a smile flitting across my face... Nice :)