2006/2007

so it's all over for 12 months & today is back to work day - i mean i was working last week, but the phones/e-mail were deader than an ex-Iraqi president, so this is really back to life, back to reality

christmas was good, it cannot fail to be when you have an excited 2 year old who is getting to grips with her first proper notions of what it's all about & this year, now that we know so many people in the valley - there was no shortage of parties to attend

i also burnt way more calories than i consumed, thanks to snowboard sessions at Lake Louise, Nakiska & Sunshine - add to that a bit of x-country skiing & snowshoeing - it was all good

in fact the snowshoeing was great fun, we went up to Spray Lakes & struck out into the forest, apart from the occasional dog sled, it was just us, the trees, the mountains, the snow & a burning sun - bliss

so that was it, NYE was a quiet one - i had burnt myself out at Sunshine with a full-on day on the slopes & so we chilled out at a friend's party & watched some fireworks - a contrast to some of the London NYE parties for sure

my 2006 picks..........

No.10 HOWLIN' RAIN - HOWLIN' RAIN
No. 9 THE BROKEN FAMILY BAND - BALLS

No. 8 THE BLACK ANGELS - PASSOVER
No. 7 CUT CHEMIST - THE AUDIENCE IS LISTENING
No. 6 HOT CHIP - THE WARNING
No. 5 BELLE & SEBASTIAN - THE LIFE PURSUIT
No. 4 VETIVER - TO FIND ME GONE
No. 3 MIDLAKE - THE TRIALS OF VON OCCUPANTHER
No. 2 THE TYDE - THREE'S CO
No. 1 ESPERS - ESPERS II


Top Ten Tracks - jeez this was hard - here is my current selection,
this will have changed by tomorrow

No 10. GRUFF RHYS & LISA JEN - candylion

No 9. HOWLIN RAIN - death prayer in heavens orchard

No 8. ESPERS - dead queen
No 7. VETIVER - been so long
No 6. THE EARLY YEARS - so far gone
No 5. HOT CHIP - boy from school
No 4. THE TYDE - brock landers
No 3. DAVE ALVIN - california bloodlines
No 2. MIDLAKE - roscoe
No 1. BELLE & SEBASTIAN - another sunny day

Top 5 Reissues - no problem with no. 1 here.......

No. 5 JOHN PHILLIPS - the wolf king of LA
No 4. JESUS & MARY CHAIN - entire back catalogue remastered
No 3. JOHN CALE - paris 1919
No 2. JOHNNY CASH - live at Folsom Prison
No 1. GRAM PARSONS - the complete reprise sessions

Top Book - shamefully i have read less than 10 books this year - some
of them have taken me months but i enjoyed these two:

John Peel - Margrave of the Marshes
Naomi Duguid - Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the
Great Subcontinent

Top Movie - hmmmm we don't have a cinema so bit tricky this one:

obvious choice - Borat.............but most enjoyable in a melancholy way
Be Here to Love Me - the story of Townes Van Zandt

Best dvd i watched - Two Lane Blacktop

SoCal in the spring...........

we've decided to head down to Palm Springs in March for a week

never been to that part of the world & the aim is to book into a small, independant hotel - ( tho' it looks like it'll be a bit tough finding a child friendly one) - from where we can do our own thing

a lot of the hotel's have a fifties vibe about them which fits perfectly with a bit of a B-Movie phase I have been going through - Invasion of The Body Snatchers rules!!!

now the radio blog is up again i can share some tracks from bands i have been listening to

So Far Gone (also a terrific Teenage Fanclub track) is from the latest album by The Early Years - they are a London band, much akin to the likes of Spacemen 3, Sonic Boom & Spiritualised all of whom i saw, loved & adored in equal measure in my indie-kid days

actually on reflecton i think i am still in my indie-kid days

surely by now is houlda developed an affection for Simply Red, Michael Bolton & Keane?!?!

The Music Machine Returns.............

after much fiddlin' about - it's back & i can share some favourite tunes

i love this version of Blues Run The Game by obscure 60's US folkie Jackson C Frank

and of course you can't go wrong with Donovan

more to come, but don't fret it ain't all folk

so cold it hurts.......

by jove it's cold

cold as in i think my eyeball's might be freezing

cold as in getting into the warm, from being outside, really hurts

cold as in don't touch any bare metal with ungloved hands or else

it's -35C to be precise, in reality it's only -25 - but the wind chill man, the wind chill

so all this lovely talcum powder like snow that is falling is going to waste as only the extremely brave & the foolish are venturing outside let alone up a ski hill

and there's more to come, a whole weeks worth of bone chillin' cold

those warm summer's evenings are a mere dream, now we are in the depths of winter

brown water....

it's terrible

i haven't written anything here for aeons - it's not like i'm always crazy busy - i just forget

i am in Vancouver, heavy, heavy storms have turned the water in the reservoirs a murky shade of brown & a murky shade of brown is what you get when you turn the taps on

the city is without clean drinking water & subsequently sales of bottled water are at an all time high - it's all a bit surreal & makes you realise just how precious the stuff is & how much we take it for granted

the ironic thing of course is that this, being Vancouver, is accompanied by an almost constant downpour of fresh water from the leaden skies

it's all too much & i look forward to getting back to Calgary & Canmore tomorrow where life in the deep freeze is much more straightforward

i urge you to listen to John The Wolfking of LA by John Phillips - it's just been reissued, i have been a fan for years of this early 70's masterpiece - now it's back for all to hear

a talented guy who waste a lot of his life on drugs but was also married to one of the most beautiful women in the history of popular music in my humblest of humble opinions

home from home....

well i am just back after 2 weeks in the UK, it was a bit strange to be "home" after a whole year away - but in reality nothing had really changed

the roads were still clogged with far too much traffic, things in London were still horribly expensive & Charlton were still losing

things i noticed

- just how many people wear suits, it's very informal here in Canada - hardly anyone wears a suit but back home everyone was suited & booted

- how much better public transport is in England, it's non-existent over here barring air travel

- how fashions had changed, everyone in 80's style long jumpers & belts, skinny jeans, boots etc, i do like this season's look - over here fashion is more dictated by weather, with the onset of snow this morning - it's hats, gloves, scarves & big coats

- Poles everywhere, London is the new Warsaw - but even in the little towns, East European accents are everywhere to be heard

- food, we ate at some great pubs & enjoyed a proper old-school curry - food in general in the UK is better than Canada - although we know most of the best, secret places to visit over here

- pace of life - London is mad, mad, mad - especially rush hour, i had kind of forgotten that aspect of things - it is definitely more chilled over here

so great to be back, to see some very dear friends & family - but back home now & back to the grindstone in the run up to Xmas

nice.

Widnes 1990.......

i was reading an article today about The Stone Roses & their famous gig at Spike Island in May 1990 - it brought the memories flooding back, i was a mere slip of a lad back then living in one of the most run down areas Manchester has to offer, carefree & totally hooked on the Stone Roses

they were the soundtrack to my late teens & we'd got on board the bandwagon pretty much before it left the station, big fans pre-debut LP & first seeing them in front of a few dozen people at a club called Legends underneath the Rugby League ground in Warrington, one dark, dank night in '88

fast forward a couple of years & the band were super nova, it's hard to describe just how massive they had become in Manchester by the time Spike Island rolled round, forget the Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, James etc etc - The Stone Roses fired up the whole late 80's Manchester craze, they were streets ahead of Oasis but unfortunately unlike their plodding succesors, they succumbed to a blizzard of drugs & in-fighting

Sunday 27th May 1990 for me is a haze, chemically imbalanced i dont actually recall that much - just hazy flashes of the band on stage, a giant globe beach ball bouncing around in the crowd, fireworks & of course 16 or so perfect pop songs

it seems a long time ago & a different world, but i was there - in the days before V2 festivals & the like, this was about a northern band with attitude, and 30,000 or so kids witnessing a legendary group at the all too brief pinnacle of their powers

R.E.S.P.E.C.T

Good old Hugo - loved the speech today at the UN.

Viva Hugo. Viva Venezuela.

Banff, AB

there's not much to interest anyone other than hungry, souvenir hunting tourists in Banff - if you are looking for humorous tee-shirts or small bears in Mountie uniforms you can't go wrong

it is very, very much a tourist town, it is however surrounded by stunning scenery & on a sunny Sunday afternoon your eye is constantly drawn to the snow capped peaks & the amazing blue waters of the River Bow

even though i only live 25 minutes away by car, this was only the second time this year i have stopped for a look around the shops & notwithstanding the possible need to buy bears in Mountie outfits for disliked relatives at Xmas, it'll probably be my last

on the way home i nipped up the potholed, dirt road that takes you above the Spray Lakes Reservoir to take a few pictures - now my car with it's fancy 4WD makes effortless work of this steep, winding, rutted road & I admit my speed was a little higher than it should have been

so i apologise to the old guy who had for some reason pulled over & stopped on the side of the road, (in the area that states "No Stopping - Avalanche Danger") - how was i to know he had his window wound down & was taking a photo from his car window as i came round the corner swooshed past him, through a lake of a muddy puddle & soaked him & the inside of his car - ooops - sorry Grandpa!!!

a newt's eye view

I

if you were a newt paddling eastwards down the River Bow through Canmore this afternoon, this was what you would have seen.......nice eh?

Sunday morning snapshot

The snow clouds have lifted & its a glorious September morning again, there's a big melt on & I had to capture the scene from our bedroom window - a few days ago, the mountains were bare.


I'm off to Banff now, to take a few more pictures.

a reminder

on a cold, snowy day it's nice to recall a bit of sun - our local swimming pool just a few weeks back

a jammy situation

well it was a good night in the Rose & Crown last night, too good in fact & it was struggle to get up this morning

it will be even harder in a few hours time when i have to drag myself out of bed at 5.30am to watch Charlton live on the TV - now there's commitment for you, the question is should i go back to bed afterwards of concede defeat & just stay up as though a 5.30 start on a Saturday morning is perfectly fine - hmm decisions, decisions

whats the worst thing you can spill in a car? well i managed to smash a huge jar of jam in my trunk (boot!) yesterday afternoon, i guess there are worse things - but what a pain cleaning that up - the spare tyre is now officially glued into place with apricot based confiture, god help me if i get a flat in the next few days - as i scraped the sticky mess out it was falling all over the sidewalk (ha!) & up my driveway, really bad news when there are hungry bears everywhere - it took ages to clean up, not helped by the slush & snow & my car has a sickly jammy fragrance to it

i drove to Innisfail today, the weather was attrocious & everywhere just looked dank & depressing - unusual for Alberta which seems to be sunny 90% of the time - a real Fall feeling abounds, but its due to warm up again rapidly after Sunday - not that it matters, i have a few days next week in Vancouver & i know it will be all fine & dandy over there

so thats about it, another week whizzes by, 11 months we have been here now & it only seems like yesterday that we were heading down the Trans Canada Highway from the airport to Canmore for the very first time

three inches...

of snow today, the street looks like a scene from a Xmas card - it's the 14th September

just off out to the pub for a few beers with my good mate JG

it's quiet at the moment with Nicky & Tabby back in the UK, i'm rattling round this big old house like a pea in a drum

i'll be back soon enough, two weeks today I'll have a pocketful of pounds & pence, driving on the other side of the road & looking for the nearest good Indian restaurant

yes that's one thing i miss over here - a decent curry

memories.......

with the nation in the grip of 9/11 reminiscing i guess i should just say that i was at home in Greenwich, London on that fateful day - i remember looking out of the windows every few minutes to see if Canary Wharf was under attack - it wasn't

i recall we had fish & chips that evening, too shocked to cook & in need of comfort food - it was all too much - no matter what despicable politics were behind it all

and now we have movies, TV "Docu Dramas" & all sorts of what some say is "cashing in" going on - i haven't & will not watch these things, people's lives obliterated turned into entertainment

on a cheerier note the good weather continues, it was +30 in Calgary today, amazingly they are calling for just +1 on Friday!!!! Must be some cold front rolling in...........

Canmore United lost in the final of the end of season Bow Valley League Tournament, disappointing but the tournament was pretty meaningless & the real trophy, The BVSL League Championship was handed over to us, halfway during the day's proceedings. I played all 5 games yesterday, from 10.30am to 7pm - knackered isn't strong enough to describe my physical state at the moment & we have to do it all again in Cochrane this coming weekend, with an even bigger tournament and tougher schedule - better get the thermal gloves ready for this one

of bears and cabers....

the 3rd night of 3 in Toronto on a little work jaunt, i am back on Westjet to Calgary first thing tomorrow morning

it's a short week, after another public holiday on Monday - we seem to get one a month - i'm definitely not complaining

the weekend just gone was scorching, we went to the Canmore Highland Games on Sunday - lots of dubiously connected "Scots" larging it up - but it was fun & I finally got to see someone tossing a caber- i can tick that off my ambitions in life list

the week before Canmore United won the Bow Valley Soccer League - it's been a pleasure playing for this multinational team, with great lads pulling together to win this hotly contested title - shame the Championship winning party is when i am back in the UK

i also found time to cycle the rugged Rundle trail from Banff to Canmore, we were well aware of the dangers of running into bears but luckily they were nowhere to be seen - maybe they were tossing cabers too, some of those hairy Scotsman were suspiciously bear like in appearance come to think of it

a bear.......

finally got to see my first Grizzly bear on Saturday morning, as we drove down Highway 40,(roughly where the green arrow points, for a hike into the mountains

there he was, sitting on the edge of the forest, his coat shining in the fierce sun & looking rather sleepy

we turned the car around for a second look but he was gone, dissapeared into the vast forested wilderness that the highway cuts through

the hike up at the Highwood Pass was strenous as we climbed several hundred metres in elevation, but at the the top a series of cascading waterfalls offered some respite from the heat

all good fun & wholesome exercise

the following day i starred for Canmore United in our 7-1 demolition of Caribou in the Bow Valley League, actually i saw stars as a nasty clash of heads forced me off dazed & confused shortly into the 2nd half - it was odd, i kind of felt OK but my head was swimming & i couldn't walk for a while - needless to say my head hurt for the rest of the day but i hope to be fit for our final game of the season on Sunday, a win guarantees us the league title

bloody Brazilians....

I am on the Island for a couple of days, as ever it's a lovely place & the weather is good - i flew into Comox today from, Calgary - a route that took us over the Coastal Mountain ranges of BC in pristine blue skies

then a pleasant drive down from Comox, via Nanaimo to Victoria with a few work stops on the way

which brings me here to a hotel in downtown Victoria, temporary home to the Brazilian National Swimming Team competing in the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships & currently running riot in the hotel, worryingly close to my bedtime

i'll have to go & shout at them - maybe I'll remind them of their dismal World Cup

on second thoughts, as an Englishman I better put the stones down or my glasshouse will be well & truly broken

so what is Portuguese for "SHUT DA FUCK UP!!!"

sunset over the mountains....

this summer seems to have lasted for ever, it's another lovely evening & i am sat in the lounge of our new home with a beautiful view of the sun setting over the mountains - the few wispy clouds slowly reddening as darkness nears

the new house has brought with it nothing but hassle & expense in terms of actually buying it - thanks to an idiotic buyer of our UK house turning out not to have the money to fulfill the deal, she so happily entered into & an estate agent redefining the boundaries of incompetence - but enough - we are here now & on a balmy August evening that's all that matters

recent weekends have been spent at festivals

the Calgary folk festival was headlined by Kris Kristofferson - a true legend, but also a legend who refused to leave the stage & was still playing after about 3 hours by which time our initial spell bound attentiveness had succumbed to weary, cold boredom

the weather was gorgeous - hot, dry & with much lighter evenings over here - it was a truly wondrous day - my 21mo old daughters first festival & an experience that spilled over from the cool bands playing (the great Son Volt, Robbie Fulks, Dave Alvin) into the craft stalls, ethnic food vendors & of course he beer tent/garden - not a chav in sight

the following weekend was our very own Canmore folk festival, a smaller, more family oriented affair - but again, perfect weather & lots to do outside of the music, including a small enclosure filled with tiny sheep, goats & pigs which the kids could stroke - i never knew pig's had such wet, slimy noses

so back in the Uk for 2 weeks hols at the end of September - really looking forward to it - hopefully all this stuff about the planes & security will have calmed down

out here in sleepy, balmy Canmore it seems a long way away