Is it just me or does it seem that anyone who really wants to see the Calgary Stampede already lives in Alberta so why does CBC bother the rest of us by broadcasting it nationally? I would far rather see the Winnipeg Folk Festival on CBC even if it is only a tape delay.

At Sunday supper yesterday, my mother-in-law informed me that she saw someone named Dave Clement, at the Winnipeg Folk Festival,on CTV's lunchtime news broadcast. Her description of the person and the comments he made sounded like a good fit. The TV station had also posted his name on the screen while the interviewed him. They also mentioned he was an entertainer but I don't know if they mentioned his band.

Unfortunately it was too late for me to get to see it on the CTV website. I would enjoy and appreciate it if anyone had managed to find a link or to make a copy.

The Winnipeg Folk Festival's 2009 Wednesday night show was awesome.

First Act: Lovell Sisters - They have a nice bluegrass sound and did some great covers. The only song I knew was their own didn't do much for me but they have talent. They reminded me a bit of Acoustically Inclined.

First Break: Amelia Curran East Coast folkie... surprisingly good for the few songs she got to play.

Second Act: Martha Wainwright - sorta folk. I liked her and would want to her more of her recordings. I think I would prefer her with a band (a bit like Jane Siberry that way). My wife thought she was the weakest link tonight.

Second Break: Bahamas - Alt folk from Ontario. I enjoyed his solo electric guitar/vocalist mini set as well.

Third Act: Elvis Costello - Obviously the man most people had come to hear. I don't know his music well and found the first four or five songs to be so so but he kept building. He performed a new song (not yet recorded) which really worked for me. I was just getting into his music when he called the Lovell Sisters (see First Act) onstage to join him and his backup band (the Imposters). Wow! Just Wow! This was where Awesome entered the room because they were fabulous together. Apparently the sisters had rehearsed several songs with Elvis and the Imposters. I am not certain but I think they were all off his new album.

Fourth Act: Elvis Costello's Encore - after the 7th or 8th song I decided this encore qualified as a set on its own. I lost track of how many songs were in the encore. It may have been as high as ten (that is correct 10). The Lovell Sisters stayed up for the first couple of songs of the encore. Did I mention that I enjoyed the show.

I really hope someone recorded this show.

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edited to fix typo on tags

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Second edit to add the set list according to the Winnipeg Sun

Elvis Costello Set List

Accidents Will Happen

Mystery Dance

(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea

You Belong to Me

I Hope You're Happy Now

Man Out of Time

Motel Matches

Suit of Lights

Complicated Shadows

Condemned Man

Blame it On Cain

Sleep of the Just

Brilliant Mistake

Radio Sweetheart / Jackie Wilson Said (I'm in Heaven When You Smile)

Femme Fatale

American Without Tears

The Crooked Line

Sulphur to Sugarcane

Mystery Train

Encore:

The Scarlet Tide

Watching the Detectives

Alison / Tracks of My Tears / Tears of a Clown

(The Angels Want to Wear My) Red Shoes

Radio, Radio

Pump it Up

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding

Apparently there were only seven songs in the encore... it just seemed like more.

According to Sons of Maxwell.... United Breaks Guitars!

Warning... Country Western Music

I am hoping you have a terrific 4th of July.

Robert Pasternak has asked his friends to direct people to his newest product.

Eye Chew Booklets


Enjoy!

I find it interesting that the Iranian Government has started blaming Britain for it current problem.

Are they going to follow Galtieri's example in an effort to distract their public and distract attention from questions of their government's legitimacy? If so who would they attack and where? Does the why really matter in this situation?

The Winnipeg Art Gallery Studio's Adult Student Art Show starts with a reception on July 9th 7-9 pm. The show runs from July 9th - 30th. The studio building is just south of the main Winnipeg Art Gallery Building.

I have a single piece in the show that I originally posted here on Feb 27th. It is the first of the three shown.

Does everyone on my f-list sleep in?

I don't know what got patched this morning but 27% of the way through the update my new pc (3 yr old) stopped in it's tracks. Rebooting gave me a menu of options but none of them seem to be successful as they all lead back to the blue screen with the following error code...

*** STOP: 0x00000024 (0x00190203,0x89d83b00,0xc0000102,0x00000000)

I have a had a couple of dirty disk messages over the last two weeks. Crap. I know I should have made a more recent back-up. I suspect the hard drive but I guess I will wait till I can get an expert opinion.

Why could it not have been the 6 yr old pc that I wanted to replace? (I know... someone's law... probably Murphy's... or addendum or some such)

According to some York University scientists a poor mans tower to space can be made with existing technology .

I have decided to look for a copy of Whiskey Galore on DVD as I loved the book and would like to see the movie. When I checked Amazon.ca I nearly dropped. Somehow the idea of paying over $193.00 for 5 old movies is a bit off putting. One of the people there posted they bought a copy at Zellers. Maybe I best start checking the bargain bins.

I know I probably shouldn't have but one of my boys was out of reading material so I suggested he read Protector by Larry Niven (I still had my old paperback from way back when). He complained that he didn't read science fiction, only fantasy for him so I shrugged and left him with the book. He got bored, started reading and couldn't put it down. The only Niven I can still find in my shrunken library is the Convergent Series short stories and Ringworld. He wants to stay in the same universe but I think he will be missing too much if he jumps to Ringworld right away.

I am going to run down to a used book store to look for some of the earlier books. Any recommendations of which books in the series should be read first? He is 13 and is just making the transition from YA to adult books.

Groundwater seepage and our handyman's advice convinced us to get the roof/eaves-through/etc redone. Calling around for quotes resulted in a single response (happily from a roofer with a good rep). After vainly waiting for a couple of weeks to get a quote from any other source we went with we had (a bit high but it was something). When we booked the roofer said it should be three weeks before he could start. Two days later a truck pulls up in my driveway and by the time I get upstairs to look out the window, men are loading shingles onto my roof. They started at 8:30 am and by 3:30 they were essentially done the shingling. Now I am wondering when the eaves-throughs, soffits (don't know proper spelling and spell check didn't help) and facsia will be started.

I was reading a post today that started discussing Canada's Worst Handyman but ended with a discussion of certain varieties of comfort foods. Instead of travellng too far off the hamburger/soup/rice line in that thread I decided to post here about comfort foods that aren't hamburger/soup/starch combos... these does leave off the ever wonderful shepard's pie but leaves room for many other options... tuna/soup/starch has been done as well.

I will start with a dish my sister introduced me to called Spanish Franks... it involves frying wieners that have had a row of small incisions along one side, adding onions, lots of pepper and when all else is cooked... canned tomato soup. This is served with rice or noodles. The incisions in the wieners cause them to curve into semi-segmented crescents... very elegant when you are eight or nine years old.

Another favourite involving canned tomato soup was called liver junk. Bite size morsels of liver are dredged with flour, pan fried and put aside. Then onions, carrots and any other veggies that seem appropriate are cooked in the same pan before combining again with the liver and canned tomato soup (just the stuff in the can... no extra water/milk) and put into the oven to bake. Serve with Kraft Dinner or what ever other starch you wish.

I stumbled across a BBC video from last year titled 'Deepest Ever' living fish found. Anyone who knows my work will understand why I am excited by this film. I am not certain it will do much for anyone else.

We have made it a habit to not answer any long distance calls from numbers we do not recognize. One came today when I was in the shower with a 978 area code. Curiousity made me look up the area code and I found it was Worcester Massachusetts. This was intriguing but further googling showed the number to be a common one for a scam artist offering lower credit card rates.

I can see which bits of my art work are getting looked at and where. Interestingly, after the 787 views of my icon of a chainsaw wielding snowman chasing a spruce tree (which is being viewed at a different bulletin board), my most popular piece, at 188 views, is a rough and unfinished painting of a reclining woman which is being viewed on lj. I know my sister likes it a lot but I was surprised that other people would be viewing it that much. It is still very rough and needs a lot of work. I had seriously considered abandoning it. It was just an art class exercise that doesn't really fit with any of themes I normally work with but with this level of interest I will have to reconsider.

My mind isn't what it should be these days. For some reason I had been thinking it was over 20 years since I last attended a sf/f con with the exception of 2 hours at Keycon two years ago. Some mental arithmetic got me remembering that my last full convention was probably 1993, a year before the Winnipeg in '94 Worldcon (although I did walk a breif walk through non-badged areas at the worldcon in '94 to say "h"i to some friends on my way home from work).

Keycon, for me, traditionally was an excuse to hang out with old friends, chat and cuddle, with the slight chance of meeting interesting new people. It is has been off my agenda for many years for several reasons not the least of which is my marrying a mundane who did not have a lot of interest in conventions. I had also found that I no longer read sf&f, preferring mysteries, non-fiction and the historical fiction of Patrick O'Brien. I doubt I have read a dozen sf&f novels in the intervening years between cons (although a conversation this weekend did lead me top pick up and read a copy of Black Company by Glen Cook). This year proved to be no exception to my past practices except I no longer cuddle as I am happily married and wish to remain that way.

The number of Daves in certain generations is still a thing of wonder. This weekend I chatted with Daves Simmonds, Brough, May and even Clement, though ever so briefly as filkers seem to be in a different time zone than me. I will have to go visit  decadentdave  at his house later this week. It has been too long. Brough and May were mostly in the Bre-Axe lounge though they did join myself and the Simmonds family for a crowded supper at Tavern United (a booth for six should not be used for ten).

Space in our house is rather limited due to the permanent state of renovation (14 months and counting) so although The dealers room had an eclectic and sometimes interesting variety of items for sale, nothing that caught my fancy sufficiently to earn place of pride in our manse.

The art show was a mixed event for me. There were a couple of artists whose works I enjoyed but as I am producing my own artwork these days, I really don't have space for anyone else's creations. Perhaps when I sell/give away some more pieces this will change. I was very disappointed at the number of pieces that looked like someone had been playing with photoshop and mistook it for art. There were also a large number of pieces that were just prints including a tiny print of a piece I had once commissioned and owned (I will have to ask Pasternak about that one). In some cases I can understand doing this to a certain extent, still, when someone is an art guest of honour, I would expect to see at least one original piece on display.Perhaps there was one but I didn't see it.

I was very happy to see sharonthearies  new pieces in the art show. Although I am not a fan of the art genre she works in I do recognize her talent and how her work is maturing. Selling seven pieces at the art show is a great achievement. I wish her much success in the future.

I was sorry the Robert Pasternak was unable to attend. I had tried contacting him before the convention and a couple of times during the convention but we kept missing each other. I know that between his full time job and his, now very limited free time, it is difficult to get away. Obviously it is getting to be time for coffee and doughnuts again.

Saturday supper involved co-ordinating my wife and kids with the Simmonds family. We ended up at Earl's on Main near the Forks. It is one of Winnipegs more popular eating establishments in the downtown. During the summer the patio is awash with business people on expense accounts eating, watching and being watched. It is a pleasant though very noisy place. Even on a quiet Victoria day weekend it was packed inside. No one is outside as the weather was better suited to early April than late May.

Photos of Grand Beach in the weekend paper showed very think ice blown up on the beach rendering it unusable by the hearty Victoria Day campers. In my youth it was normal, may still be, for hordes of drunken teens and university students to pack Grand Beach every long weekend starting with Victoria Day and ending with Labour day. The lake might be a bit cold but it was still warm enough to swim. This hasn't been the case for a few years IIRC. The oceans may be getting warmer but the center of the continent is getting colder and wetter (this is personal and anecdotal... I am not trying to start an argument here).

I didn't attend the convention on Sunday partly as I didn't want to abandon my family for 3 days in a row and as we had company coming over for Sunday supper and on Monday for the afternoon and there was an enormous amount of cleaning and tidying that needed to be done. I enjoyed the convention and I think my boys are now the right age for the gaming. One is a big movie/anime buff and I think he would be happy just from that aspect alone though he may have trouble with the crowds and the chaos. The other loves gaming and seems a natural for it. My wife does like to visit with people more than I do though her tolerance for some behaviours is lower. I suppose I will have to wait till next year to see if we all attend or not.