The Maple Leaf Rag

Last week I added a couple of videos by The Tragically Hip, 'Poets' and 'Ahead by a Century'. I really like their music a lot, they are Canadian and their music makes you think. They have a song called 'Wheat Kings' which I really love but I can't find a good video of it. When I do I will post it and write a blog entry about it. 

Today I changed the videos completely. First we have Peter Bjorn and John singing 'Young Folks', a bright, cheerful song that's fun to listen to and the video is fun to watch. 

Next I have BNL, The Bare Naked Ladies singing 'Lovers in a Dangerous Time'. The song is cool, great lyrics but the video, to me, is superb. Why? Because it is shot in and around my neighbourhood right here in Scarborough, Ontario, CANADA. The film is kind of grainy and quite dated but it's still my 'hood'. Middle class houses and middle class values in the east end of Toronto. Things have changed since the video was shot and now the  area is the most ethnically diverse city in the world. Pretty cool!

Lastly, I put a video of Neil Young. He's singing 'Old Man' from a concert at Massey Hall here in Toronto. A lovely song by a truly talented artist. 

This morning I went to one of the local 'thrift' shops. These are stores that sell used items that people donate. Bascially it's like a huge 'garage sale' or 'boot sale'. Here in Canada we have garage sales where we sell things that we don't need anymore. In Britain, they have boot sales which are the same thing. There is another name for them in Britain but I forget what it is. 

My only purchases today were 15 record albums. I'm sure some of you know what these are but for those who don't, I will explain it to you. Before CDs and before cassette tapes, musicians used to release their music on large vinyl 'records' that were played on turntables. The large ones play at 33 rpm (revolutions per minute) and the smaller ones play at 45 rpm. 

Today, I 'scored' some real good copies of my favourite lps. An lp is a long playing record.  Scored means 'found' but it has an excitement to it. So today I 'scored' a perfect copy of Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits. I also picked up a copy of Steely Dan's 'AJA' album, which I already have several copies of, but this one is a 'Limited Edition'. It's on coloured vinyl. Usually the records are black but his one is red and is transparent. I have several Disney albums that have artwork on them but his Aja album is my first coloured rock album.

For those who are interested in technology, the records have a single grove from the outside edge to the center. When you put a needle on a turntable into that groove, the needle wavers back and forth and creates electrical (analog) fluctuations which are made into sound waves by an amplifier. Actually a preamp feeds the signal into an amplifier but maybe this is too technical. 

It's still Friday and I had to share this with everyone! I'm off to play my records now. I can also record the music from these records on my computer and make MP3s out of them. They sound pretty good actually!

Well, I tried to integrate and English lesson into my blog but it didn't seem to go over that well. I got the fewest number of comments on it this month so I'll drop the lesson part and continue with my simple blog. 

Ah, and that phrase at the top, too much information, is what you say when someone else tells you  something that is a bit too personal. Your face turns red and you say, "To much information!" See how I can let a lesson creep in and you don't even know it?

It's baseball time here in North America. Colorado is playing Boston in the World Series. I don't know why there are no Japanese teams here for the 'World' Series but you know how Americans are. You don't want to make them upset, they might invade your country.

The air is definitely getting colder, the leaves are past their peak and now the trees are starting to look very bare. Soon there will be a big storm with wind and rain and all of the leaves will finally be gone.

The air in the evening around my area smells of woodsmoke since many people in my 'sub-division' have fireplaces. Our houses were built in the Fifties and many of them had beautiful fireplaces in the living room. We use ours all winter, when it isn't too cold. If it gets too cold then the smoke will be drawn into the house when the furnace or central heating unit cuts in.

Have a great weekend everyone!