a willing king virgin fool........

Oh well, a week of outdoors fun & games turned into a week of suffering but i read a coupleof books, listened to a backlog of new CD's & most enjoyably watched The Wicker Man (Director's Cut) which i bought recently & hadn't seen since my old VHS copy bit the dust a few years ago.

It's a great film, beautifully shot, scripted & acted & the old fashioned grainy film only adds to the underlying strangeness of the story - you can shove all your modern CGI bollocks, for me films like this (i.e. A Warning To The Curious / The Signalman) convey more dramatic tension than a years worth of hollywood dross.

The underlying tale is establishment (prissy, uptight christianity) vs. anti-establishment (hippy, free love paganism) - but you can factor in any contrasting belief system here & the story remains the same. Who wins in the end - well you'll have to watch the film.

The film was shot mostly on the west coast of Scotland & there is an excellent guide to locations within the film here.

Finally the soundtrack is stunning, I got my hands on Nuada by Candidate recently - an album inspired by the film. Again hunt it down, it's a gem & the music created by this highly under-rated band on this & other albums ( I particularly like Under The Skylon) deserves a wider audience.

unbelievable....

first week off in 5 months & i have spent most of it in bed with something close to bird flu

harumphhhh!

all over the map..........

i have been tracing my family tree off & on for a while now, with both my parents no longer about, i never really knew much about my family history beyond grandparents - so thanks to all the census sites now about, i have traced back so far to the early nineteenth century

it's fair to say that the wanderlust that has brought me here to Canada is evident in my forefathers - my dad's side of the family is all over the map - Ireland (I wish I knew where), Lancashire, Staffordshire, Leicestershire, Gloucestershire & in recent times Durham feature

my mum's side is much more resolutely London - although she was born on an RAF base in South Wales during the war - both sides of the River Thames feature with Camberwell, Peckham, New Cross representing the south east!

i was born in Gloucestershire, brought up in Wiltshire & Brighton, went to college in Manchester, lived in Liverpool immediately after graduating & latterly lived in SE London for quite a few years - no wonder i'm confused

i like to think this broad base has enabled me to travel & adapt to new places with ease - i remember once travelling in Idaho, we met a family in a bar in a little hick town one evening, after talking for a while i asked one of them where else they had travelled in this fair world - i was startled when she replied she'd been to Moscow once, i commented about how exotic that was for an American & she looked at me rather strange

we drove through Moscow the next day - 30 miles up the road from where we had been staying

two more tracks for the Rocky Mountain Radio tonight

in proud celebration of my Irish ancestory i am putting up a track by Planxty - recorded in 1973, the self titled album is full of wonderful, exhilirating Irish music - the usual smattering of Republican songs, teary eyed laments & breathtaking reels - the album is a joy. I have actually selected one of the reels - a disturbing song about a beggar, who invited into the farmer's house, deflowers the (seemingly willing) farmers daughter! - not sure it would pass muster with the PC police these days, but the playing is breathtaking, epsecially the closing minute or so.

i have by way of contrast selected another song by Sandy Denny's Fotheringay, from 1971 - another trad. song (of Scottish origin I think) - this tells the tale of a reluctant soldier & his heartbroken wife in 1800 - as he is drafted & sent off via Portsmouth to fight against Napoleon in Egypt - a sadder song you would struggle to hear, especially with the beautiful voice of Sandy Denny telling the tale.

it's strange to think that 140 years after this song was set, my grandfather himself would be in Egypt fighting a war

Planxty - The Jolly Beggar Reel (1973)

Fotheringay - Banks of the Nile (1971)

no bear cull in canmore...........

great news from the provincial government this week, the grizzly bear hunt is not going ahead this season & not for the next two either

the "sportsmen" will have to find something else to kill, because the bears are now protected & hopefully in 3 years time they will become permanently listed as a threatened species

i just cannot see the sense or the pleasure in shooting such an intelligent creature & with numbers in the protected zone estimated to be as low as 53 (previous guesses had put the number closer to 700!), allowing the slaughter of these animals for "fun" would be crazy

so for the bears, waking up soon, it's a safer world in some ways this year - that's not to say there won't be unfortunate bear/human encounters this year, and thats why the Bearsmart program being introduced is such a good thing

it's refreshing for once to see a decision come out in favour of the environment & it's wildlife

Mountain View Country (just west of Cochrane, AB) 

neither here nor there..........

Red Deer today, about halfway up the Highway between Calgary & Edmonton - kind of neither here, nor indeed there.......

It's funny - I found out last week that Greenwich Market is under threat from developers who want to turn it into an office complex or somesuch nonsense. Spitalfields Market in East London, one of my favourite places in the City was also facing the same peril the last time i heard. We have so much history in our buildings, yet all the time faceless town planners & their corporate cohorts are thinking up novel ways to turn them into glass fronted offices for Chartered Accounting Companies & the like.

On the other hand over here, there is no history, (well apart from thousands of years of native history but no one ever mentions that) - so if a building is over 100 years old, there will be signposts from hundreds of kilometers away proclaiming "Historic Building Ahead" - I even drove past a farmyard barn today, which had "Built in 1924!!" proudly plastered all over it - I half suspect that even old coffin dodgers who hang around too long on the local park bench, will end up with blue plaques & Historic Site status about their person.

I do like the old station wagons & farm trucks that you see often round here, people seem to preserve them as antiques & park them at the front of their ranches out in the back country - they look dramatic in a kind of rustic way. Not sure it would work with your old Bedford Van though back home - one day I am going to photograph some of these relics (and probably get shot by an irate redneck at the same time for tresspassin' on his homestead).

Two tunes for the radio player today, both from a really good Box Set I picked up off e-bay recently. The Harvest Festival Box Set compiles the best recordings released on Harvest, the "progressive music" label that had it's heyday from about 1968 to 1980 - as i have said before Prog is a four letter word, thanks to ridiculous, overblown orchestral mini-rock operas & the like pumped out bythe likes of Rick Wakeman, Mike Oldfield, Genesis & other such truly tiresome bands - however beneath the surface there was a whole canyon of interesting left-field music, some folk, some psychedelia, some heavy rock and some just plain fried - Harvest was one of the labels putting out such music when flares & tank tops were de rigeur.

The Move - Do Ya (1972)

Michael Chapman - It Didn't Work Out (1969)

an eventful few days.............

well i took a trip over to Saskatchewan this week to visit a few clients, i flew into a very cold, snowy Saskatoon on Thursday morning & rented a 4x4 to get me safely! around this snowbound province

Saskatoon seemed like quite a picturesque town, with bridges crossing the frozen river at various points & a hip(ish) little strech of shops, bars & cafes on Broadway - it was friggin' freezing mind you so opportunities to explore were limited & anyway I had a 4 hour drive east to Yorkton to consider after i had done my work

see route here

about halfway into that cross-province journey i pulled off the main highway with the intention of stopping to eat a bit of lunch & have a short a rest from the fairly monotonous drive, which offered few scenic highlights other than a flat landscape muffled by deep, white snow

as the snow covered road i pulled onto seemed quite narrow i thought i better pull over slightly in case anything like a tractor came past - BIG MISTAKE - the car suddenly lurched off the road & into a deep, snow filled ditch & there got itself well & truly stuck, four wheel drive/off road type thing or not - all i could do was spin the wheels & throw up big chunks of mud, grass & snow

swallowing my pride i called 411 (directory services) and asked for a nearby garage, and sure enough i was put in touch with the local towing company - 20 minutes later a tow truck driven by the obligatory baseball becapped old guy turned up, him no doubt thinking to himself what the bejesus is this idiot doing?! Then amazingly with his battered up old tow truck he was able to winch me & modern, shiny new 4x4 out of our sorry predicament - he then charged me a few bucks for the privilige & no doubt drove off laughing to himself - oh well , lesson learned!!

the rest of the trip was happily uneventful, but i would have to say that Saskatchewan is not going to set any pulses racing for sight see-ers - the words, flat, white & dull summed up the route i drove pretty succinctly

yesterday we had the pleasure of strapping my 16 month old daughter into her first pair of skis - she took to it immediately & had a whale of a time slippin' and slidin' round the piste - in fact she did wail when it was time to take them off & leave

pictures here - password is my surname (lower case)

last night was a bit of a blur, booze, booze & more booze in Bannf - where i met the proprietor of the local sex shop, she told me in great detail about her range - which was nice. To make matters worse though I had a 7.30am start this morning to get over to Sunshine for a days snowboarding with the gang, it was good fun though - very cold, but the snow was perfect , really quick & plenty of terrain to explore - i am now absolutely knackered though & the week hasn't begun

other stuff - Charlton defended doggedly & dourly to earn a point at Anfield, certainly not pretty or good to watch but a good result & 4 points off the European Champions this season - nice - great to see the odd plastic scouser moaning over on Netaddicks

i have only just, 6 years too late discovered what a good comedy series Black Books was - watched the whole of the 1st season on DVD recently - i should have known it was good with Graham Linehan involved, he of Father Ted - have aso been downloading & watching The IT Crowd recently - similar kind of humour & better than a lot of the stuff that passes for comedy these days

music wise - well The Broken Family Band album has been played pretty much non-stop this last week but to keep the mp3 blog going here are a couple of other songs i'm currently enjoying

the ramones - let's dance (live in LA 1976) - classic punk rock from Da Bruddas

fotheringay - the way i feel (1970) - Byrds inspired British folk rock from a short lived cult group featuring the immense talents of Sandy Denny

Oops! 

Broadway, downtown Saskatoon 

Typical Saskatchewan Landscape 

food, glorious food..........

it's been one of those days today to hunker down & keep warm, a blizzard blowing all day has reduced the view from our house to little more than a white swirling fog

amazingly there are people out there still jogging & doing all the usual fitness freak stuff that goes on here in Canmore - i have noticed my fitness improve no end in the 4 months we have been here

playing soccer weekly at this altitude definitely helps & once you get into good food habits, the poor diet trap that is so easily fallen into at first can be avoided

there are some gems out here in terms of food & drink & in 4 months these are the best of the best so far

pizzas - The Rocky Mountain Flatbread Co - hands down, the best pizza we have eaten anywhere, even Italy itself

beer - The Grizzly Paw - nice centrally located bar, elevated beyond the ordinary by its range of fantastic home brewed beers

bread - Urban Baker in Calgary - I know my bread (it's my job after all) & this is a beautiful artisan baker, especially the Tuscan Bread - the best I have tasted anywhere in the world

meats - i don't really trust meat out here - the same principles of organic, drug free meat that thrive in the UK - seem to be ignored over here but Valbella Meats in Canmore produces a wide range of fine, continental charcuterie

coffee - Beamers Coffee Shop in Canmore produces excellent & highly addictive latte's amongst many other coffees

chocolate - Le Chocolatier in Canmore is a fine, artisan chocolate producer - using real Belgian chocolate to produce exquisite products

there is i'm afraid a lot of mediocre, additive filled junk food out here - but dig around a little & there is also some damn fine fayre too!

all fucked up on the booze & the drugs!

i've said it before & i'll say it again - The Broken Family Band are the best goddam band in the UK at the moment! i have just taken delivery of their new album Balls & it is chuffin' marvellous! there is not a weak track on there & they seriously rock live, if you don't stand there with a big grin on your face throughout the set, there is no hope!

Track 4 - "the booze & the drugs " is worth the price of the LP alone.

a trip to the grotto..........

i'm currently halfway through John Peel's semi-autobiography - Margrave of the Marshes - it's very sad because his contribution suddenly ends midway through the book, he's obvioulsy just died, & his wife's memories of him take over. a massive shame because JP must have had some incredible stories to tell.

he certainly had a big influence on me, i listened pretty regularly between say 1987 & 1992 - and then intermittenly afterwards - i even briefly met him once, when he was DJ-ing at Manchester University & he played a request for me - after i joined the queue of students asking him for the latest smash by The Flatmates, The Darling Buds, The Wedding Present or whoever was fashionable in the indie-schmindie world at the time

i think the last time i listened to him was one dark, stormy night as i drove through the wilds of Yorkshire - his voice the equivalent of a warm cup of cocoa but the music a mix of joyous African guitar bands, death metal & probably a modern day Flatmates type schmindie band in session

a genius & despite there being many great internet radio stations out there now - WFMU & KCRW to name but two, nobody comes close to the man.

it was finally a bit warmer today & the thermometer even broke through the freezing barrier this afternoon & climbed to +1C !! We went for a walk up to Grotto Canyon - which is basically a towering canyon with a frozen river (at this time of year) running through it, it was very picturesque but the frozen water was treacherous & at times we were emulating the Olympic speed skaters from the Olympics during our walk back down & out - not the most comfortable experience with a 25lb baby strapped to your back

it's about time i put some fresh tunes on the radio player - i have been listening a lot recently to No Roses by Shirley Collins - Collins was a Hastings born folk singer, who made a number of essential albums in the late 60's early 70's - she married one of the guys, Ashley Hutchings, who founded Fairport Convention.

No Roses is a much loved work of hers - the two tracks i have put up are quite different stylistically - the first track - The Murder of Maria Martin - telling the story of a ne'er do well condemned to hang upon a tree for murdering rather than marrying his girl - the song contains both an unintentional reference to a fairly famous British Soccer club & I guess the inspiration for the name of an excellent contemporary British folk group....

the second one - The Little Gypsy Girl - could be seen by the musically challenged (!) as rather corny in a fiddle-dee/morris dancer manner, but me & my 16 month old daughter absolutely love it & after a few listens I defy anyone not to hum it every now & again! The problem with folk music is that it is seen by many as at best, twee. I blame The Two Ronnies - who sent up the genre ad nauseum in the 70s. Yet this music is our heritage & while it is OK to love the traditional music from other nations (Celtic, Bluegrass, Cuban etc etc etc) - our musical heritage is frowned upon - however the stories told in these old songs are a direct insight into the long-forgotten lives of ordinary men & women from our fayre land. Open you ears...........

more medals for canmore.............

suddenly i am seeing coyotes everywhere i look, there was even one foolish mutt running down the grass strip that divides the traffic on the Trans Canada Highway this afternoon - he was a sure fire bet to end up as crow food I'm afraid - maybe it's a sign of spring, but these little dogs are everywhere

there was also a herd of elk faffing around on the highway yesterday morning just past Lac Des Arcs, whats gotten into the darn critters round here?

maybe it's the heavy snowfall we've been having - you can see the first real snow of the winter all over Canmore on the webcam - it's sure pretty but also makes driving a lottery - i was flashed by a red light camera in Canmore tonight, but only cos the car skidded about 15 metres & past the red light after i braked as the lights changed

just time as well to gloat over Canmore's new gold medallist Chandra Crawford, who won a gold in the Women's Cross Country Sprint on Tuesday - that makes it one gold & one silver from our little town's intrepid Olympians - i really am looking forward to the homecoming party/parade...........i was in Aviemore for the celebrations in 2002 when Scottish skier Alain Baxter came home with Britain's first ever alpine skiing medal, the poor bloke losing it shortly afterwards over some obscure doping controversy.

photos online.........

those of you that know me & know my surname can access photos of us in Canmore

simply visit this site & input my surname as a password - all in lower case

flying to V again.......

off on one of my regular jaunts to Vancouver tomorrow, looking forward to this trip in the summer when the weather is good - our friends have just started work on a second restaurant out there - in Kitsilano - promises to be a fun place when it's opened

everyone you meet seems keen to extoll the virtues of their home town - we've bee urged to go to Winnipeg & Montreal in recent days

are they telling the truth or will we end up in the Canadian equivalent of Milton Keynes? only time will tell..........

four days off............

well it' s the end of a much needed 4 day break, and back to work tomorrow with a couple of busy weeks involving trips to Vancouver, Edmonton & Manitoba

friday was a corker of a day, despite temperatures close to -30C which caused excruciating pain in my ungloved fingers while i secured my snowboard to the car's roofrack - a day up on the mountain at Lake Louise was better than expected - it was quiet, not a cloud in the sky & with about 16 layers of clothing on i didn't feel the cold at all

i also saw the stupidest thing i have ever seen in years of doing winter sports type stuff - on the men's world cup downhill piste, two dickhead snowboarders were sunbathing in the middle of the slope! Hidden by a dip they were invisible to anyone coming down the slope & as this was a double black diamond piste it was pretty much vertical - they were extremely lucky not to have their heads split in two by skiers/boarders hurtling down that slope - luckily i took a line slightly to the left of them or i would (a) have killed them & probably (b) killed myself - unbelievable

that night we had plans to go & see a couple of bands at the Canmore Hotel, but instead stayed on at our friends house party which was really rather nice - as usual everyone gathered in the kitchen & as we left it was just starting to get raucous

saturday i managed to beat my record for cross country skiing, doing two laps of the Banff trail in record time - i love this sport, it burns 600 calories per hour & is officially the most cardiovascular challenging sport there is - knackering but you can feel the flab burning off - i'm still rubbish though & haven't mastered skiing out of the tracks (i do the classic version where you stay in pre-cut tracks)

sunday involved a walk round town & then friends round for dinner - all very civilised & good to see our 15 month old daughter really interacting & playing with other kids - something i don't see much

and yet more walks today & lunch with more friends in the Drake Inn, which again was a civilised & child dominated affair - as it was a holiday, Alberta Family Day, it was pretty busy in town a foretaste of the summer, when Canmore heaves we are told

to top all this off, Charlton are in the FA Cup Quarter finals with a decent home draw against Middlesborough - ironic in that my dad was a life long Boro fan & my cousin still has a season ticket up there - shame i won't be at The Valley for the game, hopefully it will be a better affair than the capitulation to Bolton in our last Quarter Final a few years back

i will definitely come across for the Cup Final in May should we make it & should i get my hands on a ticket! let's wait & see...........

major obsession over here at present is the winter olympics & we are extremely proud of Canmore girl Sara Renner who won a silver, (thanks in large part to a kindly Norwegian coach who gave her a replacement ski-pole when hers snapped midway through the race), at the aforementioned Cross Country Skiing. We watch the, it has to be said, mind bogglingly extensive coverage in the evenings every now & again, but i find some sports pretty dull - especially bloody ice skating - if this "sport" is in the winter olympics, why the hell isn't ballroom dancing in the summer version - it's not a sport, in fact most sports which rely on judges awarding marks out of 10 for things like "artistic merit" are questionable in my book

no music today, i am gonna start getting into the habit of writing this blog more often - i have bought a shed load of new stuff & some of these tracks will be ending up on here

cougar alert!..........

This beautiful cougar, easily capable of killing a fully grown adult was photographed using a remotely triggered infra red camera - a few minutes from the Canmore Nordic Centre on Monday 30th January at 6.34pm. It's probably looking at me cross country ski-ing, as this was exactly what i was doing at the time - wildlife officials have warned the likes of me to exercise extreme caution in ski-ing at night with these creatures around!! This was splashed all over the front page of the Canmore Leader this week.

hot, hot, heat........

well considering it's still the first week of February & we should be rights be under 3 feet of snow & shivering at minus fifteen, it was with some bewilderment that i drove around Calgary today with the windows down & the a/c set to cold in the car such was the warmth of the day - whoever told us Canada was cold was having a larf!

i finally got the damn radio thing working, seems my previous web hosting site just decided to delete loads of accounts without telling anyone - nice!

so returning in style here are two live tracks from the wonderful Laura Cantrell - possessor of the purest, sweetest country voice you will hear - she was much championed & beloved by John Peel, which fits in with fact that I am just about to start reading his autobiography.

Larua Cantrell - California Rose (live in Kerry, Ireland 2005)
Laura Cantrell - Two Seconds (live in Kerry, Ireland 2005)

an ill wind blows no good...........

well despite Charlton losing in a most insipid style today at the new home of Spice Boy, Danny Murphy aka Sulky Spice - things aren't too bad

basically i am just happy to be here at all, after a terrifying flight on Tuesday night from Calgary to Vancouver - WestJet is/are a great airline, modern planes, good service & seatback TV's that provide live TV from probably 20+ stations

about halfway into the flight I tuned into a Vancouver news station to be informed of a powerful wind storm going on off the coast of Vancouver itself - this was the headline story & predictably enough there was footage of trees falling over & waves crashing against sea walls

oh! i thought, thats where we'll be in 20 minutes time & landing at the airport involves a flight out over the sea before a turn back into land

well we were not dissapointed, the flight got progressively bumpier, the hostesses dissapeared to strap themsleves into their seats a lot earlier than normal & then the fun started

the plane banked to the right to make it's approach & all hell broke loose, screaming engines, unidentified bangs & thuds & above all the feeling that you were in a metal tube being tossed around by some mysterious giant - i just stared out of the window into the gloom - straining for some sign of land/light & suddenly it was all over - we emerged from the clouds (it was also raining torrentially) & literally flopped onto the runway

the deathly hush that had prevailed amongst the passengers, gave way to relieved & nervous chatter - all in all, a pretty brutal experience

well after that everything else was pretty mundane - 3 days on Vancouver, a horribly early start on Friday (getting up at 4am is not humane) & a pretty good weekend

after a day on the slopes at Norquay today, we hit th epub where they were showing the Super Bowl Final on TV - it was hilarious, 30 seconds of action, 3 minutes of commericals, 30 seconds of action, 3 minutes of commercials, 30 seconds of action, 3 minutes of commercials & so on - what a waste of time

so Charlton may well have lost but at least it's (still) a prper sport & not just one excruciatingly long advertising exercise


ps - not sure whats happened to the Radio Player - its dissapeared!!!

moose in the snow, where do you go?

i've seen a few moose before, but none as near as this lovely old lady who we came across chilling out in the snow in Peter Loughheed Provincial Park - although the picture looks like it was snapped from a few feet away, we were in fact hiding in the trees to avoid disturbing the creature! The photo was shot at the long end of my 300mm lens & out of 50 odd pictures i snapped, only a handful came out anywhere near decent - it was snowing quite hard & the fact that we were in the dark forest & the moose was in the snow didn't really help.

It was all-in-all a bit of an outdoorsy weekend - what with the continued mild weather (the snow above was way up in the mountains), it would have been a shame to waste such a glorious weekend.

Sounds like I missed a good old fashioned cup tie at The Valley, what puzzles me is how we lose a good 6-8000 fans for these games, it's as if some Charlton fans only turn up to watch Premiership games & don't care about the "insignificant" FA Cup. I remember in the olden days when the FA Cup games almost unfailingly drew the biggest home gates of the season, irrespective of the opposition. I have a funny feeling this will be Charlton's year - perhaps I should book a hotel in Cardiff for May & a return flight home - lets see who the draw provides us with later today.

I've added a new song to the player today, I am loving exploring & listening to some old British Folk Rock at the moment - generally music releeased between let's say 1967 & 1972 including bands/artists like Steeleye Span, Shirley Collins. Pentange/Bert Jansch & of course the Fairport Convention - yes, yes it did all mutate into horrible prog rock nastiness eventually but there is still much that is eclectic, inventive & interesting about the music these people produced in the late sixties & early seventies

Fairport Convention - Autopsy

swing is swung........

well we now have a right wing government in Canada led by Calgarian Steven Harper (eerily reminiscent of many slimy Tories we had in the Uk under Major), but any fears of a George Bush style malaise settling over this beautiful land should be dispelled

in a nutshell the Conservatives won a small minority & any hopes they had of pushing through their right wing agenda will be dashed by the fact that the 3 parties in opposition won't stand for any of that nonsense & could unite to defeat any of the radical crap that Harper may come out with

happily the NDP gained in strength in the elections, and as the most left wing party they will have a lot of power in checking Harper & his cronies - the Liberals (think Blair) will be eager to elect a new leader to replace the bumbling Paul Martin & oust the Conservatives ASAP, whilst the Quebec Bloc will still be smarting over the loss of a whole host of seats to the Conservatives in the Quebec for which they wish independance from the rest of Canada - they will be in no mood to aid Harper

so where does he turn - the answer would seem to be nowhere & unless he can push through & deliver somehow on the policies he has espoused, we'll be facing another election within 24 months - this time he'll be up against a rejuvenated Liberal party, an angry QB & hopefully an ever insurgent NDP - it's just a matter of gritting our teeth & waiting for the current bad smell to dissapear

apologies all round..........

for my regular readers it must have been hell these past few days with no stories about snow, snow & um grizzly bears - topics which seem to pretty much sum up the content of this blog

however in my defence i have been busy, work has been intense for the last few days & even meant a 6 day week last week, still it's a good job & i actually do enjoy what i do - so no complaints

with all work & no play, there's not a lot to report - we bought some Cross Country skis, boots & poles but haven't had a chance to try them out yet

i played the most insanely intense 2 hours of indoor 5-a-side football on Wednesday which at altitude is about as brutal as it gets, my limbs are only just recovering - i also went to my first meeting at the local camera club, which was nice - these guys go out in the summer on field trips to shoot the local wildlife (photographically speaking) & scenery - that'll be fun

talking of shooting wildlife, there is a big debate over here on whether the hunting season for Grizzly bears in Alberta should go ahead, environmentalists claim that the numbers of these bears is dangerously low & that a hunt is further endangering the viability of the species

i suspect the counter argument is that the numbers of bears needs to be controlled & therefore hunting is a good way of doing this

if there is truth in the 2nd statement & the population DOES need to be controlled, well i have no arguments about that - if this is the case, the hunting should be done by professional National Park employees under strict regulation

in this scenario everyone will be happy

- the environmentalists can rest safe in the knowledge that the numbers are being professionally monitored by experts & the cull (if needed) is carried out humanely & for the right reasons

- the hunters won't mind because their concerns over the population expansion, which seems to be the usual argument for a hunt, are being met by a professional cull

- & the bears can take comfort from the fact that the only reason they are being shot dead is for the long term sustainability of the species within the confines of their range - not for the sheer fun of it...............

or am i missing the point?

lurching to the right............

we are only a few days away from the Canadian elections it seems that the Conservatives are going to end up with a majority, the Liberals (who currently hold power under Paul Martin) are trailing in the polls, while the NDP are a distant 3rd

one of the attractions in coming out here was the fact that Canada seems to have a healthy disregard politically for the Americans & refused unlike our beloved Mr. Blair to lie down & roll over for Bush & his cronies

well if the Conservatives get in that'll be history, how long before Canadian troops are marching shoulder-to-shoulder with the Brits & the US into Iran, (or wherever Bush's blood lust & need to keep America on a war footing), takes him next

it's a shame, but it seems highly likely that by the end of next week - we'll be back in an American puppet shape, where oil & the big corporations call the shots

to cheer myself up, I'm putting two tunes on the radio player - by a pair of Genes (ho! ho!) - Gene Clark & Gene Parsons, were of course members of The Byrds in the sixties & early seventies. After the Byrds split in '73 both Gene's recorded solo work, Parson's just the one album Kindling in '73, while Clark released quite a few albums of varying quality including the wonderful No Other in '74

both were wonderful artists, whose work was arguably hidden by higher profile ex-Byrds like David Crosby, Gram Parsons & Roger McGuinn - I don't think Kindling is easily available on CD now, but Clarks work certainly is. Both these artists & also another ex-Byrd in Clarence White - who in my book, is easily one of the greatest guitarists to ever grace this world - produced a raft of sublime works - go check them out!

Gene Clark - She Don't Care About Time
Gene Parsons - Willing

extreme driving conditions..........

My decision to buy an Audi Quattro really paid off over the weekend. We enjoyed a glorious drive from the ghost town of Nordegg down through the mountains to Canmore, it started in bright sunshine & mild temperatures & ended in a raging snowstorm and roads nearly a foot deep in snow in places. There were no snow-ploughs in site and no other cars visible either for long stretches of half an hour or more, it was an exhilirating if not risky journey. The Audi 4WD though is a reliable Germanic beast, it stuck to the snow covered roads like glue & got us through to the safety of the ploughed highway beyond Lake Louise.

You can see the route here

During the drive we saw beautiful Long Horn Sheep & plenty of Elk & Deer - with no traffic around these animals were close to the road & pretty oblivious to our presence. It really was a wonderfully scenic drive & until the weather stung us at the end - quite relaxing.

On Saturday we spent the day up Sunshine Mounatin enjoying the powder with a large group of friends, followed by dinner & plenty of beers in The Grizzly Paw in Canmore - another really nice day.

Was a busy week last week, Edmonton on Thursday & Friday - I had the chance to explore Edmonton a bit on Thursday night & despite the fact that it was a cold, January night I liked what i saw, especially the Strathcona district.

This week looks even busier - in fact it's a 6 day week, as we have some work planned on Saturday. It's not all work & no play though as it's indoor football on Wednesday night again, i'm at the Photography club on Tuesday & we'll fit in some X-Country ski-ing too, with our newly bought kit!

Another quick link to a band I'm liking at the moment, after linking to Britain's premier Medieaval Folk Rockers - Circulus last week, I'm urging you to check out their mates The Eighteenth Day of May. It's more of the same really, punk rock came along in '76 & blew all this hippy dippy stuff away, but i welcome it back in 2006 - we've had it up to our eyeballs recently with fake & manufactured punk for the kids - time for the lute, recorder & rag tag bands of hippies to reclaim what the Ramones etc destroyed in the Seventies!

The Eighteenth Day of May

there's snow business.......

like snow business, down it came today in huge great swirling masses - deep and crisp & er, melted (when it warmed up mid afternoon!!)

i met an English girl the other day who asked me what i missed most about back home apart from family & friends, and i had to really think

she'd put me on the spot & all i could blurt out was "ummm, i dunno nothing really"...cos thats the truth, you do come across people here who drone on & on about all the things they are missing from back home - well if that's bleedin' good over there & so bad over here - go back!

just a short blog today as i'm popping out in a minute & i'm not going to post any tunes up

instead make your way to the website below to hear some music by a brilliant London based band called Circulus, swirling (like the snowflakes), English folkadelia at it's crisp, deep even best

Circulus on MySpace

dals, sambals, dosas & The Ramones

just a quiet kinda day today, working hard & enjoying the Spring temperatures in Calgary - followed by episodes 8,9 & 10 of Deadwood season 1

i did pick up a beautiful book today, Mangoes & Curry Leaves it's a lavishly illustrated travelogue & cook-book detailing a couple's trips round India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan & Bengal - beautiful pictures & fantastic recipes

now i'm not one to boast but i can cook, i love food - it's my job after all - and i love trying new things out, there's not much i can't make & i'm a sucker for recipe books, each to their own i guess

i also picked up a photo/coffee table book of an altogether different nature - CBGB and OMFUG : Thirty Years from the Home of Underground Rock- about 7 years ago i achieved a long held desire of mine to visit CBGB's in New York, it was every bit the scuzzy, seedy hole i thought it would be & I cannot for the life of me remember who we saw there, they can't have been that good - this book captures in cool B&W photos the essence & evoloution of this club from the days of the mighty Ramones, via Television, Talking Heads, er Bush (why them cocksuckers? - sorry too much Deadwood there!)) to the modern day likes of The Strokes

going back even further, i have posted up two gems from The Freakbeat Scene

an album released last summer and as you know I am always partial to a bit of sixties fuzzed out rock'n'roll. even my poor little daughter will upon the command to "wig out!", (& accompanied by a stomper from some long forgotten garage band), perform the coolest ever little baby dance.

she loves these tracks, i hope you do too.......

the blue stars - I can take it

shel naylor - one fine day

there's something big under the bed...........

highly enjoyable reading my mate Rob's diary of his new life in Australia he has also just moved from London half way, (or actually most of the way in his case), across the world

well Rob took his wife Maria for a trip into the Australian wilderness & ended up being pursued everywhere he went by the not inconsequential Huntsman spider

poor old Rob & Maria - i wouldn't want to find one of those under my bed at night, which is exactly what they did on seemingly every place they stayed

to make Rob feel better when he reads this, i can happily inform him that there are absolutely no big spiders in this part of the Rocky Mountains - nor are there any snakes to really worry about

all we have are Grizzly Bears, Cougars, Wolves and the maddest of the lot according to all the guidebooks & knowledgable locals - the rutting elks who can do unimaginable things with those horns

the most danger you were in from wildlife back in London, was probably being nibbled by a fox, nipped by a rat or catching something from those disgusting pigeons

well big news in these parts is the return of the snow, although the huge dumpster of a snowstorm that threatened never delivered, still once again, as Pete Doherty might say - it sure is great to see all that white stuff lying about

my tunes of the day on the radio player come from Canadian, The High Dials - coming at you out of Winnipeg they play what you might call Mod Soul - i think they are a mighty fine band & i urge you to check out Rainbow Quartz their record label, which promotes all manner of tuneful, retro bands

The High Dials - Desiderata
The High Dials - My Heart is Black

gas comes first again...........

the Canadian government today announced that it will allow oil & gas companies to operate in 156,000 hectares of our coastal waters today - slap bang in the middle of sensitive Beluga whale habitat

well i'm sure there will be parties going on tonight in swanky restaurants all over the US & Canada as slimy oil & gas execs salivate at the prospect of more money, more riches & ever bigger bonuses

it's incredible, really incredible - on one hand we have the ever present warning of global warming & habitat destruction while on the other we have what at most must be small handful of people about to get really rich on the back of destroying the habitat of these poor creatures & pumping out yet more gas for the criminally inefficient wastage that you seen on this continent every day

i hope they rot in hell

spring is sprung.............

when i get up in the morning & look out of our front bedroom window the view never ceases to amaze me - 3 towering snow capped mountains & the pink glow of the rising sun reflecting off the clouds - it's a mythical prehistorical scene & we feel so lucky to be living in such a gorgeous place

not that I haven't served my time in, how shall i say, the less glamorous locales of England - I won't name any names t protect the innocent & easily offended - suffice to say I have spent time in some of the less salubrious parts of Manchester & Liverpool

on Monday, i drove down to Nakiska - a smallish ski hill in Kananaskis country - it was a glorious drive in bright warm sunshine & only the absence of any visible signs of wildlife reminded me it was a midwinters day & not the height of spring

the ski area itself was not much to write home about - 6 lifts, a couple of dozen small runs on beginner terrain - but worst of all - ice. ice with a frosting of sugary snow on top & me being a lazy so & so, my edges were about as sharo as a sackful of wet mice

there is a backcountry awareness day in Banff pretty soon & we have joined the Canmore Alpine club so hopefully i will soon be leaving lifts & groomed runs behind me & once again getting out into the back country & the real stuff - thats if this beautiful spring we are having right now ever decides to revert back to winter

i'm going to post up some random tunes this month, just some stuff i am currently digging or random cool tunes from the past which might catch your fancy

today is the turn of a great old slice of rock'n'roll cheddar played by powerhouse counter-culture rockers The MC5 - i have always liked the '5 & indeed the various sideshoots that the group sprung in the early to mid seventies after they split- especially Sonics Rendezvous Band who flittered across the radar for a few years

i watched the DVD (Sonic Revolution) the other day of their reunion concert in London a few years ago, a gig which for some insane reason i didn't go to - taking the place of lead singer Rob Tyner were various rock "icons" including Lemmy in unfeasibly tight pants & horrendoud white cowboy boots, Ian Astbury of The Cult & Dave Vanian of The Danmed

MC5 - Tutti Frutti

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 --------------------------------------------------------->