headlong into 2006............

well it's twenty to eight in the evening on New Years Eve & we are going out soon to the downtown Canmore New Years Eve party, live bands are promised & fireworks - promises to be good

back in London they are already several hours into 2006 & over in Sydney it's probably lunchtime - hope the hangover is OK Rob!

i struck out again into the wilds of the Rockies today, crossed the border into British Columbia & then crossed the continetal divide a little further down Highway 93

stopping a few times for photos & exploratory hikes it was a pleasant afternoon, but the sting in the tail was a flat tyre on Highway 1 on the way back - luckily I'm covered under my Audi protection thingy & was able to call out roadside assistance. changing a tyre on the wafer thin hard shoulder, with huge road trains whistling past at breakneck speed is not for the faint hearted.

time i think to post up my track of the year on this top 26 countdown.

here is a band i have slavishly followed for a few years now, in my book they are the best band on the planet right now but seem to be hugely under appreciated in their native America and worshipped back in the UK (just look at Uncut for proof of this)

i had the pleasure of recieving an advance copy through a good mate at Faber & Faber of the new, debut novel - The Motel Life - by Willy Vlautin the lead singer / songwriter with Portland, Oregon based band Richmond Fonatine. Like his songs, the book wove a wonderful but desperately sad tale of broken down, out of luck, fucked up but lovable characters - i read the final few pages as i flew home one night crossing the snow capped mountains & it brought tears to my eyes

as well as writing this book Willy & the band released another epic album - The Fitzgerald - this year, reading like a graphic novel & again full of sad tales, beat up characters and tales from the flip side of the American dream

one song in particular leapt at me & haunted me for days, even now it's desolate narrative has no joy, no redemption but is ultimately a subtle way of underlining that bond between father & son & the incalcubable sense of impending loss that lingers in any relationship

god this is bleak for new years eve, i better get out & watch those fireworks & hug my wife & daughter

No.1 Richmond Fontaine - Incident at Conklin Creek

Happy New Year.

slip, slidin' away.....................

i have been churning my way through the billions of "best of 2005" album lists onthe web - amazing how nearly every Top 10 list i have seen has been a re-jig of the same 10 or so albums! Sufjan Stevens, New Pornographers, Arcade Fire, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Wolf Parade, Spoon etc etc etc

these are obviously the "in" bands at the moment but you'd think with so many relesases & so much music available to everyone on the 'net these days that the choices for people's top 10's would be really, really diverse - this is not the case!

i still ache from my first proper cross country ski-ing work out last night, i am a self confessed star on a snowboard - backwards, sideways any which way on the gnarliest of terrain & I can control that board with my eyes closed -BUT put me on two skinny little skis & point me down the gentlest slope imaginable & i'm all over the place - i embarrasingly slid off the trail last night & about 40 yards into the car park before finally crashing to the ground in an undignified heap

more practise required methinks

I am now at No.2 in my end of year favourite tracks & this song divides the BCR household - i love it but it sends my wife & daughter into a deep sleep mode after the 2nd minute

Espers hardly seem to exist out there in mp3 blog-land although an honourable mention to Shake Your Fist who have played tracks of their's recently & there is indeed some argument to be had (yet again!) as to whether this is a 2004 or 2005 track, I am including it in my 2005 list because it was released (possibly re-released) in the UK on Wichita in 2005 - oh well i suppose these are the top 26 tunes i heard in 2005 for the first time!!

they of course fit in nicely with this super trendy psyche folk thang that is going on at the moment, and i love the way this gentle, pastoral song is overtaken by a judddering spacemen 3 esque breakdown about 2/3rds of the way through before the folk takes over again at the end

play loud!

No. 2 Espers - Byss & Abyss

perfect smiles in a town called Malice.............

well I'm hooked, hooked i tell ya & i'm only about 2 years behind the times but i love Deadwood

sure it's a soap opera with a grimy collar & a filthy mouth but the writing's good, the characters strong & the tension is ratcheted up at times to sweaty palm point

what puzzles me though is how in a town without sanitation, with a doctor relying on herbs for his medicine & more rags wearing ruffians & ne'er do wells than you could shake a stick at - just how does every inhabitant in this cess pit of a town have a perfect set of dazzling white teeth?!!

well it's top 3 time in my tracks of the year & at No.3 I have chosen a song by Gravenhurst - i kept hearing good things about this band but it wasn't until i bought their "Fire In Distant Buildings" LP that i realised what all the hype was about

the second track on this album in particular burrowed it's way into my conscience & this I have chosen for my No.3 track of the year

hear for yourself on my radio player to your left

No.3 Gravenhurst - Velvet Cell

staying in the tracks for now......

i did something new today, cross country skiing & it was certainly fun - hard work & given that i haven't worn a pair of skis in probably the best part of 8 years I think i did OK. we live a few minutes walk from the Nordic Centre in Canmore so this will become a regular thing i bet - it'll improve my fitness no end as it really is a good upper body & legs workout - also if we get more snow it'll avail opportunities to explore the area

after lunch we headed out along Highway 1A & stopped near Seebe to make the journey by foot to the base of Mount Yamnuska - it was a beautiful afternoon & there was hardly a soul to be seen in the surrounding wilderness - i love the fact that from Canmore you can be in the middle of nowhere surrounded by such natural beauty within a very short time

we did the same yesterday, took the road up to Spray Lakes & struck out into the snowy landscape, a vigorous Boxing Day & post Christmas Day hike for sure

i was feeling a bit tired after getting up at 5.30am on Boxing Day morning to watch Charlton unluckily lose to the referee in their game with Arsenal - oh well 7 losses in 8 games surely it can't get any worse????!!!!!

we watched a good film on Christmas Day night - The Assassination of Richard Nixon - despite it's similarity in parts to Taxi Driver it was a quietly understated & somewhat depressing film & i like Sean Penn's work (& ethics) more each time - definitely recommended if you come across it in your local Movie Rental store (the DVD not Sean's ethics)

so without further waffle we go to the Blue Canadian Rockies end of year countdown

at No.4 we have The Super Furry Animals who released an immensely enjoyable LP this year in Love Kraft .In addition Pete Fowler the man behind the Furry's artwork compiled & released a fantastic compilation of oddball psych antiquities in The Sound of Monsterism Island

to make my Super Furry year complete one of my last London gig's before heading out here was the boy's themselves at Brixton Academy in which they treated us to new songs from Love Kraft & the usual assortment of classics - to add to this they arrived & left the stage in spacesuits, driving a moon buggy - not normally my kind of rock theatrics but it works for them!

Ohio Heat has an insanely catchy riff running throughout it & soundtracked my last few weeks in the London metropolis - I love it.

No.4 Super Furry Animals - Ohio Heat

This is a picture I took this afternoon of Mount Yamnuska to the north west of Highway 1A near Seebe. 

do you want a bear or moose on that?...........

man have i felt tired today! all this travelling about has finally brought me down & I'm in need of a few days of just doing nuthin' - but i also badly want to get up the ski hills this weekend & ride, ride, ride

i did some last minute Xmas shopping today, i shop well under pressure & some good choices were made - i mean Canmore is not exactly Oxford Street or Bluewater but it has enough shops to keep you interested - if you are in the market for anything bearing images of moose or bears this is the place to come

weirdest thing i saw was a mini golf game which you seemingly play whilst sitting on the lavatory - i want to make it clear I didn't buy it, but if i was back in England I would know some people who would appreciate this kind of thing - hello Bernie!


rightio as i'm so goddam cream crackered without further ado it's top 5 time in the Blue Canadian Rockies songs of the year

i absolutely love The Broken Family Band - these guys are geniuses (or is that genii - who cares)

hailing from Cambridge, UK they play witty, acerbic & just plain awesome country music. now this might sound corny coming from East Anglia as opposed to Tennessee, but far from it - they put most americana bands totally to shame & their live concerts are a joy - they often play in London so i really recommend that you get out and see them at the next opportunity

this year they released Cold Water Songs - which could easily have contributed at least another 2 or 3 songs in my top 5 but i have chosen Devil in the Details which is a beautifully bittersweet song

No. 5 The Broken Family Band - Devil in the Details

I'm dreaming of a brown christmas........

What a pleasure it was to listen to the dulcet tones of Beefy, Bumble & even dare I say R.G.D Willis this evening - yes I have discovered that, with precisely Zero more games to go on this tour , England v Pakistan is available on PPV over here! Oh well I fully expect the England v India games to be shown as there is a huge Indian population in Canada. So with Father Ted on nightly, (there's even a Father Ted-athon on New Years Day), regular showings of Charlton's dismal efforts on a weekend morning & now Freddy Flintoff live & direct - I am a happy man.

Calgary is experiencing one of it's regular chinooks at the moment & down in the City folks will be preparing for a brown christmas with any snow long since melted, up here in the mounatins we will have snow on the ground on the 25th - but in the 2 months we have now been here it has only seriously snowed twice & even then it wasn't that much. Worrying for the ski resorts i guess as the only snow is coming from the snow cannons, which is great if you enjoy ski-ing on pulverised ice.

I was delighted to see the plans for drilling in the Alaskan wilderness defeated for the time being - however you just know that when those bastards get the $$ signs in their sights they won't rest until that oil is being pumped out of the ground & the money is lining their filthy pockets.

The No. 6 track in my end of year list comes from the Calexico/Iron & Wine joint LP released in the summer - here we have two great bands, although quite different stylistically, fusing together into a seamless & joyous one. Calexico have always been a favoutrite of mine & I have seen them many, many times aroudn London & even once in Chicago. Iron & Wine I know a little less about - or rather I haven't lsitened to them as much, because I still enjoy & admire Sam Beam's work.

The track here is one of the uplifting numbers from the album.

No.6 Calexico/Iron & Wine - A History of Lovers

fuck the wildlife give me OIL..........

I was amazed to read this morning that the controversial US plans for oil exploration & drilling in an Alaskan National Park are closer to reality. It seems weasel minded politicians in the US House of Representatives used a Military Expenditure bill & the need to fund the opccupation of Iraq, as an excuse to pass the bill.

This remote Alaskan refuge shelters caribou and migratory birds in the summer and a polar bear nursery in the winter - yet the insatiable need for oil, in part to help fuel the grotesque gas guzzlers driven over here is threatening this fragile ecosystem.

I just shake my head in sadness what kind of world will my daughter be living in, in 20 years time?

I was also stunned to here a presenter on a Canadian radio show tonight moaning about the "do gooder's" who try to dissuade drink drivers from (obviously) drinking & driving! His argument seemed to be that with no public transport over here at night, a lack of taxi's & cold weather - people have little choice but TO drink & drive! He stated it was unfair to expect people to curtail their alcohol consumption at the work's Xmas party as this is a once a year celebration & he quizzed a "Doctor" about ways to "sober up" quickly after boozing & before driving home! Amazing stuff.............

At No. 7 in my tracks of the year we have a most English record, which for me at times recalls bands like East Village, The Times, Felt & even Saint Etienne. The Clientele released a gem of an LP in Strange Geometry which took me back to the heyday of Sarah Records

Amongst all the delicately strummed guitars, wistful lyrics & understated tunes on the album was this track - "Losing Haringey" - which tells the story of an evening stroll in the rubbish strewn, fried chicken peddling, muggy North London streets that are so familiar to some of us. A strange & captivating story with a truly psychedelic denouement.

No 7. The Clientele - Losing Haringey

green is the colour..........

yaletown in vancouver is a really hip little area, it's packed with funky bars & restaurants - with the pacific ocean always within earshot if you listen hard enough - we had a nice evening here in heatwave-esque temperatures (i swear it got to +7C at one stage)

vancouver is awash with political posters on display in people's houses - it seems to be mainly a Liberal or NDP kind of town with the Consevative's posters few & far between - as an outsider it's hard to get too excited - we can't vote & even if we could i haven't a clue who i'd vote for - there is a strong Green party out here & in light of the recent & sadly quite evident news about global warming I'd probably plump for them


at no. 8 in the Top 26 is another Canadian band, Stars are a new band to these ears although i know they've been around a while - i love this Lush type track & the rest of the album is equally strong - if yopu know your music you will know that Canada is at the forefront of a lot that's hip & trendy at the moment - Stars aren't getting as much publicity as compatriots like The Aracade Fire & Broken Social Scene but in my book they are better than these bands & if there is any justice in this world 2006 will deliver a higher profile to this special band

No.8 Stars - Ageless Beauty

the big R is on the horizon...........

another shocking defeat for Charlton on Saturday, this time humped by Wigan & I am afraid to say that I think it's time for Curbs to move on - for his sake as much as ours - i am not sure who we have out there to replace him but it's a big old world & there must be someone who can organise & motivate this team better than Mr. C - as we lurch from one inept showing to amother suddenly the big R is not unthinkable

it's not so much the defeats, it's the pitiful way we are playing - one striker up front, hoping against hope to sit back, soak up pressure & snatch a breakaway goal - well given that our defence has more holes than a string vest - some hope

it all seems a long way away & truth be told, I am not missing it - the dire football we play & the boring predicatbility of the Chelsea Premier League means i feel my Saturday's are more productively spent up here in the mountains

talking of which i went for a long old hike on Saturday round Quarry Lake, through the snow & the still, silent back woods - i wanted to take some pictures but it was so cold that my batteries wouldn't work - still it was a beautiful day with not a cloud in the sky & the snow really was deep, crisp & even

so below we have a couple more of my tunes of the year

at No.10 we have former Varnaline & Space Needle frontman Anders Parker - with a Spacemen 3 type title for the track, "Don't Worry Honey Everythings Gonna Be Alright"

at No. 9 - the wonderfully talented Steven Adams (more from him later) with his solo project, The Singing Adams.

I won't write too much about either track, you be the judge - they are both on the radio player at the top right hand corner of this page! Enjoy!


No. 9 The Singing Adams - Minus Nines

No. 10 Anders Parker - Don't Worry Honey, Everythings Gonna Be Alright

a warning to the curious...............

i note that the BBC are showing a week of ghost stories on BBC4 in the next week

i implore you, if you are reading this in the UK to tune in and watch "A Warning To The Curious" at 11.20pm on Tuesday 20th - even if you are not in the UK it's easily available on DVD

this film made in the early 70's & based on the classic M.R James tale is easily the most creepy, spine chilling thing i have ever seen, shot on an impossibly low budget 0n the eerie, empty Norfolk coast - it will stick with you for a long time

easily superior to any vastly budgeted Hollywood thriller, this beautifully constructed & shot film is perfect for a dark winter's night & a good old fashioned SCARE!!

M.R James - A Warning To The Curious

hordes of hoodies..........

no post yetserday as I was up in Edmonton and while i was there i popped into the West Edmonton Mall

this place claims to be the world's largest indoor shopping centre but i was less than impressed - i suppose we are a bit spoilt having had Bluewater on our doorsteps in recent years but this mall was a little bit tired & shabby - fine if you want to choose from endless shops selling tacky shell suits, hideous porcelain dolls & "mystical" dragon ornaments but sadly lacking in any real class

it kind of reminded me of a small town English shopping centre (let's say in Doncaster for example) circa 1991

the best shops are in my humble opinion always to be found in the downtown shopping areas, for example 17th Avenue SW in Calgary or Whyte Street/Old Strathcona in Edmonton - although I haven't had a chance to visit this area yet

one positive thingabout the place though was a near absence of chavs, of course there was a smattering of sad, shell suited, rope chain, baseball behatted plebs but not the hordes of hoodies up to no good that you find in every British precinct

driving back yesterday into Canmore, down Hwy 1, we were treated to the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen, the sky above the mountains was literally crimson & the clouds streaked across the sky captured the different shades of the setting sun's rays - it was awe inspiring, even though it was -10C I stopped near a First Nation's Indian Reserve & took a couple of pictures I'll post them up later

briefly I'll waffle about Nos. 12 & 11 in my festive countdown

at No.12 we have the good, old Teenage Fanclub - probably my favourite band ever, if i was marooned on a desert island & could only take one record with me "Songs From Northern Britain" would probably be that choice - they released another stand out LP this summer, Man Made & the great & good from the Greenwich scene were there to see them - It's All In My Mind kicked off that show & kick's off the LP & is my choice for No.12

Neil Young has been around for ever, he's a Canadian as well which right now is cool in my book - he survived a near fatal brain condition in April & after recovering released Prairie Wind his umpteenth album - all in all it's a pleasing set of songs, very inward looking & you get the feeling he is winding down, accepting old age & looking back at a chequered past - I love Neil, he's undoubtedly put out some crap in the past but he's also penned & sung some amazing songs

far from home is my pick for No. 11 & indeed it finds Neil in wistful mood, thinking about that final trip back home to the prairie's

No 11. Neil Young - Far From Home

No. 12 Teenage Fanclub - It's All In my Mind

come with me to a place no eyes have ever seen.....

it's an absolutely glorious day in Canmore today, the sun is shining brightly on the mounatins, which themselves are dusted in snow - I'm off to Edmonton real soon so not much to talk about today

at No. 13 in this years "Festive 26" is an old, old track re-released this year

ian brown seems to have risen from the ashes of the legendary Stone Roses & carved out a solo career of ever improving quality, i was & am a massive Roses fan - saw them live from their early pre-first LP days & that debut LP would easily sit in my top 3 albums of all times

so imagine my delight & suprise to hear Brown's version of Where's Angels Play on the B-side of one his single's this year - in all honesty this version neither improves or detracts from the original, it's just great to hear this song again

No 13. Ian Brown - Where Angels' Play

do two wrongs make a right?..........

it was strange last night going to bed after watching coverage of the upcoming execution of gang leader Tookie Williams, the guy was still alive as i drifted off to sleep & by morning he was gone after a, by all accounts, difficult execution

my instinct as a liberal kind of guy is that any state approved murder is wrong, and in this case there seems to be some debate as to his guilt or otherwise - however on the other hand I would find it hard to argue against sending cold-blooded murderer's such as Ian Huntley, Anthony Walker's killers & the guys who killed the policewoman in Bradford the other week, off to the chamber

ultimately i suppose if you take a life deliberately & you live in a place where the punishment for that crime is death - you have little in the way of arguments against the punishment you will recieve BUT and it's a big but - you are then reliant on the courts & justice system identifying the guilty & freeing the innocent - in the UK we have a chequered history of punishing the wrong guys & therein lies the problem with capital punishment.

i missed yesterdays Top 26 post so today is a double header

first up we have the only song in the list not actually released this year - it's a 2004 track but i include it in tribute to Hideaki Sekiguchi aka Bass Wolf, bassist with legendary Japanese rock monsters Guitar Wolf - Bass Wolf died of heart failure this spring at the age of just 38. Guitar Wolf, like Om, are an acquired taste but they often blow you away with the sheer untamed brutality of their music - screaming banshees would be put to shame by the wail these guys create & yet it is so right - in an age of bland, manufactured "corporate punk" doled out at the kids we need something like this to remind us that music is not about $$$$ but is a state of mind - Bass Wolf R.I.P

next we have The Reigning Sound out of Memphis, TN who produced a quite brilliant garage rock inspired LP in 2004 (Too Much Guitar) & then followed it up this year with Home for Orphans which veered off down a country lane & contained some impeccable alt.country - it's rare for a band to be accomplished at such different genres but these guys manage it & I love "Find Me Now"

No. 14 The Reigning Sound - Find Me Now

No. 15 Guitar Wolf - Jet 13

good drunk, bad drunk.........

the flight back from Toronto to Calgary this afternoon was spoilt by this absolute twat of a bloke who couldn't handle his drink, he was removed from his seat next to the emergency exit by the air hostesses & made to sit at the back because he was so drunk - he then proceeded to scream & shout & argue with the girls - they were absolutely brilliant, totally professional in the way they dealt with this nutter & told him in no uncertain terms that anymore fuss & the plane would land at the nearest airport & he'd be facing jail & a $20,000 fee for the emergency landing

he still continued to sit there & mutter until we landed, i have to admit that i would have had no hesitation in punching the living daylights out of him if he'd got violent with the girls - (he was only a puny little weed of a bloke - tee hee!) - and threatened our safety in any way whatsoever

happily there were a whole host of mean looking cops waiting for him a Calgary & I guess that'll be his last Air Canada flight

landing in Calgary we were suprised to be greeted by a glorious spring afternoon, the sun was shining, the snow long since melted & the drive back home was pleasant in that it felt like we were going home - this feeling of still being here on holiday is wearing off

so to matters music & today's entry in the Festive 26 is by a band I have only recently discovered, Halfway are that rarest of rare things - an Aussie band that are actually good! Actually as I flippantly write that i start to recall loads of other good bands from down under so that statement is probably a bit harsh

Drunk Again has the usual ingredients that light up the smile on our faces, booze sodden lyrics, weeping pedal steel & that dusty old twang we know & love. So some consolation here for our freinds down under, they may have been whipped in the Ashes during the summer but they have here a mighty, fine band....

No. 16 Halfway - Drunk Again

and thinking about it, what an apt song after the events earlier today, it's a darn shame that not everyone can handle their drink

man! these eggplants are awesome........

yes the very words above were uttered tonight in a hip little Thai restaurant in downtown Torronno by Canada's newest Canadian, Mr. Peter M

now just 2 days ago our hero would surely have commented that the aubergines he was eating were really rather spiffing, but such is the speed of naturalisation for us Brits to this wonderous country that petrol quickly becomes gas, cash points are ATM's, mobiles are cell phones and anything remotely pleasing is instantly AWESOME!

we had an awesome day tripping round Toronto with a liberal sprinkling of bars & restaurants including quite the most inept display of pool ever seen in a bar in these parts - Paul Newman this was not.

well it's late & I can't be bothered to write reams, so i will get strainght to the point because spiralling in at no 17 in the BCR Top 26. is a quite brilliant tune by UK hip hop wizards The Herbalise.

again this track is taken off an equally good long player called Take London, it has the same smooth lyrical flow & cool as fuck rap skills as a band like let's say, Jurrasic .

it's definitely a top tune & maybe deserving of a higher place in this list, but there's still a load of great stuff to follow - stay tuned folks

no. 17 The Herbaliser - Generals

the secret service comin' at ya.................

i spent yesterday in the company of Canadian Prime Minister, Paul Martin - Paul is up for re-election & is touring Canada touting for votes - so he found himself here in Mississauga at the same hotel as me

actually i say i spent the day with him, i spent the day in the same hotel as him & i could for all i know have shared a lift with him or queued up behind him for the buffet lunch or even stood next to him at the urinals!

unfortunately i would not know him from Adam so i can't say for sure that any of the above events did or didn't happen

however he is obviously an important figure because the hotel was flooded all day with mean looking, dark suited, shades wearing Secret Service guys who eyed you suspiciously even if you dithered between choosing the egg salad or the chicken kievs

in the evening we headed to downtown Toronto for an enjoyable evening meal in a bizzare Cluedo style, it was a dinner mystery murder where you spent the evning in the company of a load of hammy actors in a kind of whodunnit theatrical performance - it was all good fun but my tired mind couldn't follow the plot & i was lost long before it was revealed that the butler did it.

so as a result i neglected to post number 18 & 19 in the BCR Top 26. So without further ado:

No. 18 Black Mountain - No Satisfaction

No. 19 Son Volt - Six String Belief

SonVolt have been around for years of course, ever since the great Uncle Tupelo fractured into Wilco & SV back in the 90's. Jay Farrar has had a hit & miss time since with some top LP's & some patchy one's too. However this years Okemah & The Melody of Riot was generally above par. We saw them live in London in about May & they rocked - obviously in an alt.country way & the track I have selected reflects the pleasure this album & that performance in May has given me this year.

Black Mountain provide an altogether heavierbrand of psyched out rock, they come from Vancouve. No Satisfaction is desrcibed in one review as "nodding gently to the Stones and Velvet Underground" - it's certainly one of the lighter cuts from the disc. A band with a huge amount of potential & evidence that Western Canada has as much to offer as the incredibly hip bands coming from Toronto & Montreal at the moment.

adding the O to besity..........................

we looked around the diner tonight & noticed that practically everyone else in the joint was fat & not just fat but obese....huge waists, quadruple chins & big chubby faces

now don't get me wrong I'm not fattist & if they are happy, so be it but compared to your average European there is a definite girth advantage over here & then we looked at our plates - huge portions, millionsof calories & this was with us just slecting a main course - no appetisers & no desserts

it would be insanely easy to pile on the lb's out here & that is the problem - obtaining food is no problem & in most of the places littering the cities it's not about taste, it's about bulk

of course it's easy to find good restaurants if you are in a city like Toronto but it's even easier to find yourswelf in one of the many, many well designed comfortable chains out here - no doubt tucking into your mountain of ribs & fries with a chocolate, cream & god knows what else chaser

calories are definitely cheap out here

at No. 20 in my tunes of the year is an old man, a legendary figure who played bass in one of the greatest bands to come out of the US in the sixties - Chris Hillman may not be a name known by everyone but he had staying power in the ever changing line up's of The Byrds between, oh i reckon, 64 & 73 - the lifespan of this wonderul group.

well this year Chris released a new LP with a liberal sprinkling of mellow, countrified tunes & i really love the opening track, his re-invention of a Byrds classic - Eight Miles High - his reworking of this song, presents it as if The Byrds had delayed it's original release by a few years & placed it on "Sweetheart of The Rodeo".

No. 20 - Chris Hillman - Eight Miles High

lounging in the T Dot..............

Toronto & it's surrounding suburbs is a huge city - as you fly in it stretches forever & the flight in last night in crystal clear skies was beautiful. We are here for a few days & on Friday a very good friind of mine flies into town to hook up again with his lovely g/friend. We are all going downtown T.Dot on Saturday which will be fun - i have really enjoyed the few visits i have made to this City, it's cosmopolitan, clean, cold & we should get a bit of Xmas shopping done - alternatively we may just spend the day touring the bars of Little Italy/Kensington etc

As internet access is a bit hit & miss I will waste no time with No.21 in my songs of the year. Venerable indie schmindie dance troupe Saint Etienne have always been at the forefront of my musical tastes, year after year they steadily churn out great, under-rated albums & this years "Tales From Turnpike House" is no exception.

Side Streets is an ace track from this LP, as Sarah Cracknell delves into the delights & perils of taking the short cut home. Not an obvious song subject but it works I reckon.

No.21 Saint Etienne - Side Streets

a bit ahead of myself

as i am flying to Toronto tomorrow i may not get a chance to post up No. 22 in the list so here it is a few hours early

coming at you from deepest South East London is the Shortwave Set, whom legend have it scour the local markets & charity shops, (and there are plenty of those in that part of the world), for records & instruments with which to create their thing

this rather lovely beaten up track is a product no doubt of that D_I_Y ethic.

no. 22 - The Shortwave Set - Sling Shot

a transportive series of differentiated verse with sets of solid groove...........

oh dear, oh dear the sudden & not unexpected decline of Charlton Athletic continues - we have ridden our luck early in the season on the back of some hit & run away performances but Curb's persistence with this awful 4-5-1 negativity is costing us dear - we sit back & invite the opposition to attack, our defence is a shambles & we concede soft goals - is it any wonder that, when belatedly we switch to 4-4-2, we end up conceding more while desperately chasing the game

hopeless & I have to say Curbs has never pulled us out of a slump in recent seasons - only the summer break has consistently saved us, so is there any reason why he can do it this time? - the time for a change looms - sentementality or not

i am about to lose most of my Top 26 audience here i fear with No. 23 in my tracks of the year - because here we have 29, (yes 29) minutes of the best stoner rock track this year

Om are formed from the ashes of Sleep, a legendary stoner rock band & "On The Mountain At Dawn" is described by the band themselves as "a transportive series of differentiated verse with sets of solid groove" - the result is an utterley freaked out heavy incantation that rumbles deep into your sub-conscious - once hear never forgotten

so make of it what you will because here we have

No 23. Om - On The Moutain At Dawn

minus 26............

yep minus 26 on the car thermometer as we headed down the Trans Canada to Lake Louise this morning, and it felt every single degree of that ridiculous temperature up on the mountain - still the snow was crisp & the riding free & a fun time was had by all

in at no.24 in the Blue Canadian Rockies baker's double dozen is the standout track from Brighton based hip hop maestro DJ Format, as usual assisted by a load of dope rappers from Canadia

No 24. DJ Format - Another One Of Those Songs

the mist rolling in from the Bow.......

well the thermomemter has crept up to -19 this morning, but with all the snow thats fallen in & around the Bow River valley happily it's locals for free day at Lake Louise tomorrow. my boards waxed, edges tuned & helmet polished - can't wait

then on Sunday we are Cross Country ski-ing for the first time, we have bought baby T an attachment for her new chariot - basically a pair of ski's which attach to the bottom of her buggy so we can tow her along the ski trails - it's gonna be interesting I will post up some piccies

so in at No.25 in the BCR Top 26 is & i have to admit this is a massive suprise to me, The Rolling Stones - they have been cack for years, not since Some Girls in 1978 have they put out an even half listenable album

then kapow! out comes A Bigger Bang this autumn, chock full of tunes taking us back to prime early 70's Stones & it's been throbbing through my amps on a regular basis ever since

pick for me is the opening track, Rough Justice & this is No.25 in the RCR 2005 Hit Parade

No. 25 The Rolling Stones - Rough Justice

crashing in at No. 26.......................................

vancouver is a really, really cool city - i love it if you get the chance go there, mountains, the ocean, masses of great shops, bars, coffee shops & cultures from all over the world

we watched the hockey game as well last night on a TV in a bar near the stadium , i quite like ice hockey - it's fast moving, skillful & has the same kind of feel as football (that's soccer not that long winded stuff they play over here with lots of men with headsets & radio-mics). the canucks won 5-2 & i was glad, i shouldn't admit this as an albertan now but i like the vancouver canucks, they are i am beginning to feel - my team. they were the first canadian hockey team i saw live & that's kind of stuck with me

it's really cold here in canmore tonight, the thermometer outside my window is hovering near -20C, which is the kind of temperature you'll find inside the freezer in your kitchen - despite the perishing cold our postie still does his rounds in a pair of Bermuda shorts, thats postmen for you i suppose

well i have dedided to start my countdown of my songs of the year on Dec 1st with the winner being announced on or just before New Years Eve. The choice is pretty arbitary but i have got it together & kick off proceedings tonight with a track by Danish rockers The Ravonettes

i don't know much about this band i have to admit, they have kind of passed me by a bit but i like this twangy, surfy song from the album they released this summer

so at No. 26 in the Blue Canadian Rockies Tunes of the Year we have

No. 26 The Raveonettes - Love In A Trash Can

all songs will be added to the BCR Radio Player as they are revealed here so hear for your self right here --------------------------------------------------------->

swing low sweet cable car................

it seems that if I had made the choice to go a few km's further down the highway to Lake Louise yesterday instead of Sunshine, I could well have spent the afternoon standed in one of the cable cars - the whole system on the mountain ground to a halt & people were stranded for hours before being rescued in a where eagles dare stylee

i once got in a cable car at whistler and this girl managed to throw up seconds after the ride started, by the end of the 10 minute lift to the top we were literally fighting each other for the tiny window as the smell was devastating - easily one of the longest 10 minutes of my life

i'm going to Lake Louise on Saturday as it's local's free day - better pack an extra bag of Werthers

i'm loving a few new songs at the moment, but none more so than Velvet Cell by Gravenhurst now added to BCR Radio on your right - it reminds me of late 80's My Bloody Valentine - this is in the running for my end of year & not at all much anticipated - Yuletide Dozen (a pointless attempt to emulate John Peel's Festive Fifty with obviously no audience participation & 38 less tracks).

tune of the day Gravenhurst - Velvet Cell

blue canadian rocky radio is up & running..........

well Sunshine was in short supply today at Sunshine but a few inches of powdery snow overnight made for a great days snowboarding - my legs felt good & lasted out 'til 4pm & the lifts closing & then it was a quick dash over to the good old Grizzly Paw to try out their fabulous new Powder Hound Pilsner, I definitely recommend this after a hard days riding

you may have noticed that we've gone all tech' on this site & installed a radio thingamajig to the left of this text - simply click to play or select individual tracks, i'll update it every now & again to keep the playlist fresh

charlton seem to be slipping into freefall, we've got to ditch the crazy 4-5-1 negative tactics & play proper football with 2 strikers up top - but therein is the problem, other than Bent our strikers would be better off out here snowboarding for all the use they are

well thats it for today, pop on a tune from the radio, pour yourself a cool beer or a cup of cocoa & enjoy

tune of the day - Nirvana - Pentecost Hotel

suicide deer from hell...........

freight wagons north of Olds ,AB
(22 November 2005)




i didn't really get a lot of time to look round Edmonton today but the centre sure looked nice - very artsy in places with a smattering of good coffeeshops & nice looking bars/restaurantslooks like i'll be back there again before Xmas so maybe more time to explore

then on the way back to Canmore we got a little lost & ended up in the pitch black on a quintessential Canadian country/mountain road, tall fir/pine trees on either side - terrifying unlit bends & suicidal deer running at you every few hundred yards

i was kinda glad to get back on the well lit Highway 1 after what seemed like forever

tune of the day : Stuck InsideOf Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again - Hugh Cornwell

have you lost your love of life, too much apple pie?

i drove the long straight Highway 2 today from Calgary to Edmonton and for the second evening running we had a spectacular sunset over the mountains in the west - not just a ooh look the sky has gone a bit pink sunset but a fuck me look at those colours man thats unbelievable sunset. i stopped and took a load of pictures & will post some up when i get a chance, the whole sky was salmon pink with fiery clouds underlit by the sinking sun - an unforgettable site

people have been wandering round Calgary & Edmonton in a daze, it was 70+ degrees in Calgary today, you could see people walking round carrying umpteen layers of discarded clothing - even here in Edmonton 300k's to the north of Calgary its positively balmy

it won't last though raging snowstorms are on their way for the weekend, good news for the Bannf ski hills which are in desperate need for refreshemnt

it's the 42nd anniversary of JFK's shooting today, that story has got to be the most interesting, intriguing political saga of the twentieth century - to me it seems obvious that he was bumped off by some kind of extreme right-wing/Mafia related crowd, but maybe i shouldn't say that so publicly - everyone who knew anything about his death met mysterious & sudden ends

tune of teh day - The Wedding Present - Kennedy

oh what big horns you have.........

quiet day today, in fact the highlight was either (a). seeing a sheep with big curly horns at the roadside in Bannf national park or (b). Tabitha not waking up until nearly 9am

as i said a quiet one

we stopped at Johnson Lake in the afternoon & watched people skating on the frozen lake, had a picnic & wandered around a bit

not much happened

then we went home

as i said a quiet one

watched Clerks in the evening, it's just been re-issued on DVD - a classic & very funny film with a sad ending

tune of the day: cemetery gates - the smiths

chocolate & cranberries.......

I bought a Chocolate & Cranberry Sourdough loaf from The Urban Baker in Calgary today, talk about delishusss - the loaf was the colour of cocoa powder & it had more chocolate than your average Cadburys bar - I had to exercise sterling self control not to wolf it down in one. Sometimes the flavours are mish mashed beyond redemption in North American cuisine but this was as good a combination as you could hope for. Not sure what sandwich filling I'd put in it though!

I realise after yesterdays photofest of cool scenery & blue skies that I should redress the balance a bit & list some things that aren't as good over here as in the UK, the list could actually be a really long one but here's some ideas...

Dumb-ass Trucks & SUV's - I'm tired of seeing ridiculous gas guzzling SUV's & Trucks, usually the size of army tanks - cruising through the City streets. You hear about the ice caps melting & then see some baseball be-capped, slack jawed chav driving one of these things & all faith in humanity is lost. Why? Why? Why?

Radio - god the radio over here sucks, if I hear Billy Joel, REO Speedwagon or Huey Lewis one more time I will buy a SUV. Daytime radio is stuck in a timewarp where Bonnie Tyler is cutting edge & the DJ's probably look to The Hairy Cornflake for inspiration.

Sport - Ice Hockey is just about OK, but American Football & Basketball - aaaaaaaarggggghhhhhhhhh!! I do miss Radio 5 Live & Sky Sports (even though you can get both on the internet)

Coffee - I have yet to have a really good coffee from a coffee shop here in Alberta, Vancouver no problems - but over here they seem upset if you don't dump half a tonne of sickly hazlenut or vanilla syrup into a freshly brewed latte.

I'm sure I can rectify the above & (a). understand why it is you need a truck the size of a double decker bus to get your groceries on a weekend (b). learn to appreciate the finer points of Men At Work's back catalogue (c). enjoy the 5 minutes of action & 6 hours of analysis that seems to be a "Football" game & (d). savour the flavour of hazlenuts & sugar, sugar & more sugar with my morning coffee.

Or maybe not. Who knows.

Tune of the day - Gravenhurst - Cities Beneath the Sea

party pictures are here....

but to protect the innocent on;y those who know me can see the pictures

drop me a mail & I'll pass on the web address

have fun

in the blue canadian rockies website.......

don't get too excited, it's the very crappiest of efforts with dreaweaver but at least i have got some photos up now of Canmore

most of them are taken from our house, from the front, side & back windows & the rest were taken on a sunny Saturday morning walk into town

enjoy & let me know what you think

to follow very soon will be the leaving party pictures - finally!

tunes of the day

the paramounts - you've got what i want
the troggs - evil woman
bob seger - two plus two is on my mind

down on the street.......

this is our street, we are on the left as you look down the street towards Ha Ling Peak - it was about -6 when I took this but it's warmed up considerably since then - in fact today we reached about +5

balmy 

man do I ache.......

2 hours of indoor soccer tonight, an hour in the gym last night, a massive trek to the Nordic Centre on Sunday pushing a stroller through the snow & a good session on the slopes on Saturday - muscles I didn't even know I had are aching - all good I guess, as fitness comes quickly at these higher altitudes

fitness is one thing you could discount for the contestants on TV's "Barbecue Challenge" tonight - as some real lardy monsters competed in a televised cook off to produce the best barbecue. this must be some kind of regular show but it had me hooked as these guys cooked a small farms worth of meat using all kinds of ridiculous chemicals, fancy gadgets & copious amounts of sweat which appeared to be dropping from their meaty brows right onto the meat - no wonder one judge thought the chicken was salty - yuk!

well england lost the cricket - i abandoned hope after watching courtesy of sportingstreams.com us collapse to 104-6 - i hope it's not a slippery slope but messrs flintoff & pietersen need to learn the art of buckling down & chasing totals patiently

i finally got round to buying a coffee grinder & percolator today, the house smells of coffee & i love it - i know its bad for you but i drink gallons of the stuff & kicking horse coffee here rules man!

tune of the day - devils is in the details - broken family band

such is life......

as we walked up the road today to the Nordic Centre, a fluffy little chipmunk type creature bound across the road to greet us - realsing we had no food to offer it turned it's back & made it's way back towards the trees only to be flattened by a passing truck!

oh dear.

totd - 84 Pontiac Dream - Boards of Canada

ice, rocks & more ice...........

it was an icy kind of day today, my car was covered in a thick layer of ice when I lurched out bleary eyed into a cold Canmore morning.

the road from Canmore down to Lake Louise was little more than an elongated ice rink making driving a nerve wracking affair especially with huge trucks sweeping past on the other side of the two lane highway you negotiate just before you get to the resort

finally Lake Louise ski hill was little more than a thin covering of snow & yep ice - with a liberal dusting of board grinding rocks, all in all not ideal conditions for the first ride of the season but i stuck it out for a few hours before a combination of tired legs & one rock grind too many sent me scurrying for the warmth of my car & the slide back home

tomorrow we plan to check out the possibilities of a bit of cross country ski-ing up at the Nordic Centre, which is a few minutes from our house - i have never X Country Ski-ed before so it should be interesting, all i know is that teh skis are very slender compared to downhill skis & it looks like hard work

Canadian TV is poor, really poor - we watched a decades old edition of Blackadder tonight - it was the best thing on! The one where Blackadder has his Puritan relatives round for dinner at the same time as a drinking competion with Lord Melchot, to squeeze the show into a 30 minute slot & accomodate at least 10 minutes of commercials during this half hour the programme was savagely cut - i reckon the pesky programmes over here are a real nuisance for the advertisers

oddest thing they are tring to sell at the moment is a kitchen worktop appliance cookbook, where some loopy old guy is trying to sell you a cookbook for making gourmet food without using the oven or the microwave, hence you get chilli con carne cooked in your kettle & pizzas made in a toaster - why? surely if you are in a kicthen & you've got electricity you would use the oven to make your pizza & the hob to heat through your chilli???

on the music front i have just ordered the ne walbum by The Singing Adams - this is the guy from the brilliant Broken Family Band going solo for a bit, i've heard a few tracks & I love it

totd: Joy Division - Ice Age

far below the country rolls like a mighty boiling sea..

we hit it at about 12,000 feet & for the next few minutes it was cling on to your seats time as we descended through the infamous Rocky Mountain turbulence - despite knowing & hearing all the time that turbulence is no threat to an aircrafts safety, it's a pretty horrible experience & something I'll have to get used to as it seems I will be on a plane pretty much every week

it's rememberance day today & i dedicate this blog to the memory of my Great Uncle who perished in 1915 during the slaughter in France - here in Western Canada we get a day off to remember the fallen & it's certainly well observed in terms of TV covergae & local services

tune of the day - sunflower river blues - john fahey

walking down the trans-Canada highway, I was talking to a firefly.......

well, one year ago tomorrow little T entered this world, it was quite possibly the worst day of my life as she clung on for dear life on a life support machine after a traumatic birth, it wasn't until about 6 weeks later after a spell in intensive care & the all clear from her brain scan that we were able to relax & enjoy the sheer pleasure that a little baby brings - she is absolutely fine now, i think the mountain air is doing her a world of good - she is perplexed by the snow though - we took her up to Lake Louise on Sunday & she was as quiet as a mouse as we wheeled her round the lake in tempertaures of 6 below freezing - poor thing

the ambience of this beautiful scenic spot was somewhat spoilt by 3 busloads of Japanese tourists who came tumbling out of their coaches & spent 20 minutes photographing & videoing everything that moved - most hilarious of all was a Micheal Jackson lookalike in long black coat & fedora hat who struggled through the snow in thigh high black leather boots with six inch spiked heels!!

i picked up my car today, a brand new Audi Quattro - not the most fuel efficient I admit but the deal was very good & it's a safe car for transporting little T around these wintery mountains

so I love Neil Young's new album, check it out if you haven't already, even more suprisingly I like the new Rolling Stones LP & I have never said that before - partly because the last time they released a decent one, I was a mere slip of a lad - I also dig new LP's by Richard Hawley & The Reigning Sound

well thats about it, I had a great night last Thursday with the wonderful Sabs - we sat OUTSIDE & ate a spot of dinner, OUTSIDE in November in Toronto - the world has gone mad I tell ya...

my tune of the day for little T
my girl - otis redding

just a quickie.........

busy, busy week in Toronto - and I am about to spend an evening downtown with a friend of mine who lives here

back in Canmore tomorrow evening & looking forward to the weekend, i think we'll go and explore a little bit, if the weather is good

totd - cortez the killer - neil young

there's a galaxy of emptiness tonight.....

well this is a first, i am writing todays [its sunday night] blog on a westjet boeing 737 enroute from calgary to toronto - flying westjet is certainly different to yr usual airline. the captain comes out of the cockpit before tke off, inroduces himself and tells a bunch of lame jokes - the cabin crew lark around and the whole thing is very laid back

this weekend was a short one, didnt get in from vancouver until 9 on friday night and was out the door heading for the airport again at 3 this afternoon - still its only because of my induction phase with the new job

its a beautiful night, not a cloud in the sky - not long into the flight we are heading east, over alberta following highway 1 towards saskatchewan

so only time yesterday to play with my lovely daughter and have lunch with N. we went to the good old grizzly paw of course

at this point a big thanks is in order to barnie, rav, jeff, matt and riscardo for the tankard that arrived in the post last week - i love you all

we are now high over sasketchwan - the vastness of the plains evident in the fact that the lights of little towns appear totally isolated - like the lights of ocean liners twinkling in a sea of darkness

well tapping away on this palm pilot is getting tiring - so i am gonna settle back and read my new book, ive also got a load of new tunes from napster to go to listen to - my tune of the day comes from one of these

t.o.t.d
don't worry honey, everythings gonna be alright - anders parker

these bears suck..............

i saw my first Grizzly Bears yesterday afternoon

admittedly they were behind an electric fence at the top of Grouse Mountain in Vancouver but still they were magnificent beasts, although quite what they made of some obnoxious kid next to us shouting to his dad "hey these bears suck lets go & see some wolves" is hard to tell

i have been very busy this week & have been all over this great City, perhaps the saddest part is the area around Hastings Street where the drug addicks, hookers & other misfortunates are gathered in their hundreds - Hastings is truly Skid Row & the sad folks in this part of town don't obviously fit into Vancouver's tag as the world's no.1 city to live in

vancouver is a real mix, loads of chinese immigrants mingle with a sizeable Punjabi population & the usual ragtag mix of Europeans - the scenery is stunning, the house prices escalating & the weather by Candian standards positively balmy

we have been to some fabulous bakeries, coffee shops & two beautiful supermarkets - whole foods & urban fare - it's a food lovers paradise

tune of the day (in honour of a great band who just split) where did our loving go - alfie

way out west...

the flight from Calgary to Vancouver is beautiful, especially if it is undertaken on a clear day - the views this morning of the Rockies was simply breathtaking. eventually you head down to the coast & out into the Pacific Ocean before looping back in on yourself to land at Vancouver airport, there can be few better journeys to start a working week

it was a long day today though, up at 5.30am & back here to my hotel room at 10pm but the people we have met have been unfailingly nice & dinner at Tomatoe Joe's downtown was memorable for the stunningly beautiful waitresses they employ in an ill disguised attempt to pull in the male business crowd - suprisingly the food was good too

tune - banshee beat - animal collective

sipping pilsners in the sun.......

we drove around Canmore today & it's a much bigger place than meets the eye - there is allsorts of housing here from luxury $1m+ mansions to a downtown trailer park, everything, even the trailer park seems to be neat & tidy - all in all a total contrast to the grafiti ridden Soth London burbs we have moved here from

found time to stop by the Grizzly Paw which is a great brew pub, the weather was really sunny & warm & we basked on the sun terrace sipping cool Pilsners! from snowstorms to sunbathing weather in 48 hours! my tipple - a pint of Randy Goat Pilsner, most appreciated on a scorching! afternoon

tomorrow i am off to Vancouver for a week, i've been there before & it's a lovely city - this time it's for work & it's gonna be interesting as it's my first week

good to see Charlton win again, i watched the game on the net & we were lucky to come out of the first half just a goal down, great second half though & five straight away wins is absolutely staggering - take Premier League purchasers Chelski out of the equation & it would be a great competition this year as everyone is taking points off each other

i watched a bit of the MLS Soccer play-offs last night, these semi-final games wer eplayed in seemingly empty stadiums with Grid Iron markings obscuring the pitch, a strange affair but a few familiar faces on display not least past CAFC nemisis Youri Djorkaeff who now plays for Metrostars

there's talk of a Canadian MLS franchise next season with either Vancouver or Toronto looking likely to win a place in North America's Professional Soccer league.

tune of the day - Ghost in a Spitfire - Peter Bruntnell

hello sunshine, come into my life...

just had to record this glorious morning, the picture is taken from our front deck

off to Calgary again in a minute

tune of the day :
hello sunshine - super furry animals 

let it snow..........

oh yes, it started with a few flurries & has grown to a steady rate - the snow has arrived in Canmore

i think the local ski-hills are already blessed with a good base up in the Alpine so the opening day at one of our our nearest mountainsl - Lake Louise - on November 11th will be (a). brilliant but (b). crowded as the 11th is also a bank holiday here


i played football or should i say soccer last night, it was 5-a-side in the local high school gym & it was knackering, 2 hours solid at 100mph from start to finish - predictably a few Brits, a smattering of Japanese & Aussies & the rest Canadians. probably a good summary of the local population in general

our container full of furniture should arrive any minute, it's going to be fun to see just how much of our electrical stuff actually works due to the totally different voltage & electricity over here - everything is full of hidden costs we are discovering

had TV installed last night, it's mainly crap of course but there is a lot of UK stuff available - endless Coronation Street but bizarrely Teletubbies is overdubbed by American voices which makes it even more annoying

tune of the day
novocaine - richmond fontaine

all you joggers going round and round...

everyone out here seems to be exercise mad, you can guarantee that you will see within moments of leaving your house joggers, cyclists, rollerbladers & loads of roller skiers - i thought all North Americans were supposed to be obese, doughnut munching, coke swilling porkers - somebody needs to tell the locals round here

roller skiing looks like good fun & also great exercise, i am definitely gonna give it a go when i get a moment - i might even carry it on if we ever return to London, it would surely raise a few eyebrows if you skied past the stationery traffic on Trafalgar Road in SE10 on a Saturday afternoon

we spent the day in Calgary sorting out customs clearance for our goods, opening bank accounts & generally faffing about

at first sight it's not a very inspiring city but i guess we did spend a lot fo our time in the banking quarter, i guess almost anywhere after London will be a poor relation in terms of cultural diversity, the real joy i think will be discovering Calgary's alternative underbelly (if it has one) - i.e good bars, clothes shops, record stores, book stores etc

after a couple of days absence my tune of the day is travel mountains by espers

view from the back deck

i just stepped out onto our back deck to snap the sun rising & shining on the mountain behind us

thats all pretty much fresh snow from the last couple of days 

from banff bridge

i haven't had much time to take pictures, but here is a good one from Saturday taken from a bridge in downtown Banff 

ethics v desire

i'm doing something i haven't done for a very long time, and i hate it

choosing a car

what i know about cars you could write on the back of a postage stamp (do people still use postage stamps?). basically i need something capable of plowing through canadian winters and a car with a cassette player so i can use my i-pod on the road - it has to get me from here to places like Edmonton, Vancouver & beyond on a regular basis for work

i'm certain i don't want a gas guzzling beast that will contribute to the decimation of the lovely environment we now live in, there are lots of smart looking cars over here & the comfort factor, looks and on-board luxuries do appeal

HOWEVER

i am being unusually sensible & opting i think for a plain old VW (again), with a ridiculously low fuel consumption rating, it may not be that stylish but at least i can drive it with a bit of my conscience intact


off to Calgary tomorrow, our container of worldy goods has survived it's epic journey over the ocean & across 75% of Canada by rail, now only the customs men stand between me & my collection of Cd's & old music magazines!

a quick update

very brief as i'm posting this from an internet cafe in downtown Canmore & we get cable internet installed at home tomorrow, so i'll post more detail then.

but basically

9 hour flight was brilliant, sparkling new Thomas Cook plane with an immaculately behaved baby in tow - we breezed into Calgary bang on time. immediately noticeable that it was a few degrees cooler than London, but the sky was cobalt blue & we could see the Rockies shimmering in the distance

1 hour later we were in our new home, a beautiful place with views of mounatins from front, side & back & again in spotless condition

just a few days exploring so far - Canmore, Banff & Calagary but we have merely scratched the surface, as a lot of time has been spent sorting out credit cards, ISP's , social security numbers etc etc etc

the drive yesterday morning in brilliant sunshine from Canmore to Banff was breathtaking in it's beauty & if I end up commuting from Canmore to Calgary quite a lot, i won't grumble, I'll just think back to the joys of the M25

more soon...........

pps - have found a great pub to watch the Charlton - Fulham game live tomorrow, it'll KO over here at 1pm - come on you Addicks!

packing blues

didn't go to Brighton in the end, thats now on for tomorrow - instead spent all day unpacking our suitcases & then repacking trying to cut down on the stuff we are taking. local charity shops, various family & friends are being showered with surplus gifts. some unsuspecting people have found themselves on the recieving end of vintage cuban rum, full bottles of undrunk spirits & enough books to stock a small bookshop in the Cotswolds

tune of the day - East Village - Circles

8 years....

left our house in Greenwich today almost 8 years to the day that we moved in, it's going to be rented for at least a year while we decide if we want to stay in Canada - despite the momentous life changing experiences we've had in the place, it was with a strangely detatched feeling that i closed the front door & drove off, moving around a lot as a kid I've never been that sentimental about homes.......what is for sure is we're definitely gonna need an additional 757 following us out to Calgary on Thursday, just to take the luggage we seem to be taking

i have to say thanks to The Hawley's Pete & D-Day & also Angus at this juncture for superb Compilation CDs they put together & gave to me as leaving presents - i enjoy making & giving these kind of things, some inspired tracks on both which will be turning up on my tune's of the day in the very near future

i have actually been listening a lot recently to mp3s & torrents, linked through largehearted boy
he's even got the good taste to nominate The Clientele's 'Strange Geometry' as one of his current favourite albums - a great London-centric album, reminds me a lot of old Heavnly band East Village

so a few days in Sussex before Thursday's flight - tomorrow I'm going to Brighton to say goodbye to brothers & sisters, i better make the most of being near the sea as Calgary is well inland - i've always been used to being near the sea, even in Greenwich it's only a short drive to Whitstable, Seasalter & the wonderful Sportsman pub

today's tune - Aint Got No Home - Clarence 'Frogman' Henry

no time for regrets (yet).......

the sun is shining uncomfortably brightly in Greenwich this morning & we have a house full of stuff that needs packing up & shipping down to Kent - theres no food in the house as the cupboards & fridge were cleared

all in all not ideal hangover conditions, especially after gallons of of Staropramen (with Sambucca chasers)!

it was a wonderful night last night, a sizeable gathering of our brilliant friends descended on the lovely Vanbrugh Tavern for our leaving do - i laughed so much all evening, i didn't have time to feel regret at the prospect of possibly not seeing some of these guys for months if not years - that'll come in the next few days i'm sure...

i took my camera along with a 1gb memory card, it was full when i got back thanks to the efforts of several photographers, will post the best up soon

so we move out of this house tomorrow after precisely 8 years, its been a good investment & a great home but you have to move on at some stage

while i type i'm listening to Ohio Heat - Super Furry Animals

october in greenwich

seems to be warmer than usual at the moment, i had lunch in the beer garden of The Greenwich Union with a good friend of mine who can't make tomorrow night

james is the lead singer of a really good local band, The Low Sparks - they should be much bigger & it makes you wonder why they aren't when you see some of the crap passing as NME favourites at the moment.

after i left James I had one last saunter round Greenwich town centre, the Friday market was in full swing & the students were out in force - I do love this place, I wonder how much I'll miss it?

afterwards it was down to Lewisham to get some new contact lenses, Lewisham is a strange place - some lovely Victorianhouses, a dull shopping centre & a constant underscore of violence & menace

i've noticed more of those yellow police signs recently in our neighbourhood people being mugged & attacked

last day at work today & lots of telephoned goodbyes, two weeks off now & with the stuff to do & the big move i think I'll be going back to work for a holiday

i'm listening to as i type.......
nick drake
hazey jane I
time has told me
unreleased demos and studio outtakes collection

exchange rate woes

bloody typical.

in the week before we are about to move, the Canadian $ just goes from strength to strength against the British pound. $2:£1 at present, when i was last out there in early 2004 it was $2.50:£1.

this obviously makes a big dent in your savings & most of the hastle in moving from one country to another seems to be created by managing pensions, savings & income....

saying goodbye.......

until we get to Canmore this blog will be infrequent, mainly 'cos I'm so darn busy at the moment, have been saying goodby to old friends & relatives this week, as well as visiting newcastle for work.
next week i have a work leaving do & on the weekend a big final farewel to a multitude of friends at The Vanbrugh Tavern in Greenwich

until then a week of final packing, saying goodbye & looking forward to that 9 hour plane journey with my 11 month old daughter

getting close

so in 3 weeks time we move to canmore in alberta. lots to organise & think about. we'll be leaving greenwich behind, & leaving london has made me think about some of the things i'll miss apart from friends & family. they include, and this list is so random, in no particular order of importance

charlton athletic
twinnings lady grey tea -actually i'm sure i can get this in canada
the spitz
the hawley arms
greenwich park
the broken family band - come & play calgary one day chaps please!

likewise there are things i'll be glad to leave behind

chavs
greenwich council
middle england
braying toffs
crap pubs

i'm sure canmore is no nirvana, but if you always do whatyou've always done, you'll always get what you've always got

or something