Georgetown Gordie

My Mrs. and I ventured out to Georgetown ce soir to take in a plugged-in-unplugged intimate and interactive performance of Gordie Sampson. Kudos to Ward on making a good decision to bring him in as part of his summer fest.

The place? Georgetown... much maligned, and, well... I dunno. They may be slowly clawing their way back to respectability out there. Going to school with G-towners, they were the butt of most jokes (like how Father's Day is the most confusing day there), and they proliferated stories of their town's suckiness. I don't think it's ever been contested much in modern times. However... it has had some nice additions in recent years and is growing. The Playhouse has had some work done, and it looks very nice... and the neighbouring gardens are very nice. There's a beach and park down a street I'd never been on all the times I've been to G-town. It's one of those places I instantly love, like Victoria-by-the-sea. A very nice little spot. Also, tonight, we saw a bold silver fox in the gardens during intermission. All of these things make ol' G-town move a few notches up in my books. I shall try to remain neutral about them.

The show? Gordie was great. Just him and his geetar, and some banter in between every tune. He played a wide mix of new, old, covers, and stuff that is his that I can't find. And dammit, those were some of my fave songs of the night. Also, a guy I know, Glen Strickey, got to play some sax with Gordie on a couple tunes. A nice surprise. Also surprising was seeing an internet-first friend from the mainland in our (front) row. Colleen always seems to be 'round where there's good tunes. It's a miracle she can make it to all these shows the way she seems to forget her keys...

As for the "different" tunes... he closed with "Blackbird" (Very nice). A humourous tale, "Grampa's Remedy". "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go". Also, songs called "Montreal" and "Fear of Flying", which I really liked, and hope I can find some day. There may have been a couple more non-album cuts, but those ones stick out right now.

All-in-all a really nice acoustic solo show. I think Gordie's right up there with the Sexsmiths and Cuddys of modern Canadian songwriters. See 'im while you can!

Interesting fact: he's a really good guitar player, especially since when I shook his hand, his fingers felt really little.

It's going to be hot today. Again. (So you may need one of these)

My colour was wrong and
I had turned all cold
I was trapped in a
sack that was sealed with a fold

The air had run out and
so had my luck
I wanted to get out
for I'd had enough

Oh! Something's happening,
the fold's come unstuck!
I'm getting pulled out!
I have won back my luck!

Their hands grabbed my sides,
I was in an embrace!
No, no, I wasn't...
I'd been put in my place!

Their hands held my sides &
pressed me to an edge
If I wasn't frozen
then I would have bled

For they pushed and they pushed
'til I was two parts complete
Then they took both my halves
as something to eat

----------

Beware of the sack and
beware of the cold
Beware of the hands and
beware of the fold

And do not forget
to beware of the sticks,
for once they slice in,
you know you've been licked

Animal Pee

I told you the other day about our kitty-cat's affinity for peeing in a plant. Didn't you read that? Well, here goes, in short. One day, we noticed some dirt spilled out onto the floor from an on-the-floor plant in the bathroom. We wondered if the cat had tried to pee in it and then tried to cover it up. Carolyn confirmed added moisture in the dirt. Some days later, we caught him in the act. He was standing, like a mountain goat on some plant pinnacle, in the pot, peeing right over the side, onto the floor. The pee was a-flowin' on the floor, and he stared at us without emotion as he finished his job. All we could do was laugh. We cleaned it all up, made sure the litter was clean, hoping we'd break a possible habit. A few days later, he did it again. I woke up at 7:45, went into the bathroom, and found dirt on the floor with half-dry pee, and some dirt smudges on the walls where he tried to "clean" his mess. That was it for the plant. It and the pot are on our deck now.
A day or few later, a dog showed up on our step that had only been around maybe 1 or 2 times before. He was a chocolate labrador retriever. Very happy and friendly... overly so, really, kind of like our neighbour's dog which is never at our neighbour's. Anyhoo, I had to close both doors in his face to try and make him think I was gone and that we wanted him to go bye-bye. He stood there, looked around... smelled the pee-plant... and sent a stream of dog piss straight to the centre of the pot. I was rather impressed with the dog's no-look aim.

Ironically, the plant is now turning yellow.

Shirt Collars.

I've noticed something this year. It kind of started this spring from what I can tell. It's kind of been like the singing of whos... it started in low, then started to grow, and has continued to do so. It baffles me, really. What is it exactly? Guys wearing their shirt collars (usually golf shirts) upright. This was not really all that cool when it was around when I was younger. I think it's the equivalent of pulling your gym socks up to your knees, along with the bottoms of your gym pants, creating some sort of "ghetto knickers" look. Let's hope THAT doesn't come back. But back to the collars.

Who started this again? And why? It makes you look like a doofus trying too hard to look cool. Are any girls fooled by this? Discuss.

Wow... two years already. Two years since my Mrs. and I tied the knot (loves ya, C!). A marital fetus, yet, I know... but the time does seem to fly. In honour of the day, here's the "setlist" of our wedding. We made our own wedding CDs and put them on blanks that look like vinyl. Kinda cool. We listened to them while driving to Summerside today. So, here they are!

Notable things of the day:

I like car warranties. I like that I had a new strut put on my car, and I got my car washed, all for nothing. Centennial Honda is great. If only Charlottetown's Honda dealership had all the same people there...
I just hope I can get a CD I bought today and left in the courtesy car back. Is it ironic that it was a used copy of Aimee Mann's "I'm With Stupid"? Definitely more ironic than Alanis' idea of irony anyway.

Ever see an ad for that mushroom swiss burger at DQ? In the name of everything that's holy, don't eat it. I thought it looked good. It was like... a pretty regular blob of beef, topped with greasy mayonnaise mixed with mushroom juice. No mushrooms that I felt (I dared not look after tasting it)... just juice. When it dripped on its wrapper it looked like pigeon crap. I usually find something good in everything. In this, there was nothing. I left DQ feeling unimpressed and nauseous, wishing I'd had a regular good ol' DQ burger.

This bad meal was fixed by a great lupper (lunch+supper) at the Preserve Company in New Glasgow. Nice place, with good prices and good food. A nice dill & veggie wrap balanced out the grease in the ol' gut. It came with a few chips and salsa. The salsa was peach salsa, which was excellent. Both desserts were also fab, and well priced, both under $4!

Finally... do remember to clean your cat's litter regularly should you have one. Our cat's got a bit too full for his liking this morning, I think. My wife found him in the bathroom, precariously perched like a mountain goat inside of a small potted floor plant. It's only about 6-8 inches in diamter, so he fit in, but the super-soaker pee-stream didn't. He did well to go to the bathroom, I guess... but to stand in a plant and pee on the floor was too funny. I liked how when we found him, he just looked at us, unflinchingly, and kept peeing. He peed a lot! I had no idea he drank that much water. He must be sneaking more pawfuls from the toilet than we see.

It's been a long time since I lived at home. Me mudder has been after me for ages to clean out the stuff in the old room I slept in (my brother can keep his stuff there... he lives "away" now). Anyway... it's dusty in there, dirty, and there's lots of stuff. Stuff like everything from artifacts of old relationships to my old Transformers.

Anyhoo... I started cleaning it one day last week, and was pleasantly surprised. Firstly, I found my old GameBoy! The original! Complete with games, case, and adapter. I thought I'd lost it ages ago, so that was cool. Also, years ago, in the PEI Yellow Pages was an advertisement. I always thought it was funny... like how the laundromat behind Dairy Queen used to be called the "KKK Coin Laundry". KKK? Sheet laundering? So obvious, and so funny. Eventually they renamed it the "Triple K Coin Laundry". Not as bad I guess. At any rate, this ad was similar in its unintentional humour, so I cut it out years ago... and found it again! Enjoy!

I'm an indecisive person. I'm also a bit of a perfectionist. These two things are kind of what has helped to keep me from making a blog. They're not the only things, however.

I like to read a few people's blogs, because I like what they have to say or show. I feel kind of conceited putting a blog of my own up on the web. I've done different web pages, but this is just mostly my words, right? I mean... why do I think that people will want to hear what I have to say? What makes me think that I'm so guano-hot that people will actually want to read my blog? Well... I don't know.

I have a lot to offer in terms of thoughts, opinions, humour... but do people want it? What's the best way to present it? I'm not sure. I guess this will always be a work in sporadic progress (I haven't decided how often to post yet... I'd like a schedule, but don't want to be constrained by it).

I have some plans for this blog... things to say, things to share. I'm pretty sure folks will like it. But will those people find me? Who knows...

I just hope that those in my life who have told me I should write books were onto something... time to start practicing!