Best Music Event of the Season?

Beginning on Friday evening, September 7th, 2007, and continuing on Saturday the 8th, and into Sunday the 9th, is a great blues and jazz music festival in Port Credit (QEW west to Hurontario Street/Hwy. 10 south to the Lakeshore). http://www.southsideshuffle.com/
I've gone out to these for a few years now, and have always enjoyed the various kinds of bands and solo performers that are posted all along the Lakeshore (which is closed to vehicle traffic on the Saturday) from Hwy. 10 west to the Credit River. This year, it looks like I'll have to also buy a weekend ticket, as Buddy Guy is playing on Saturday night at one of the main stages, and both the Downchild Blues Band and the Powder Blues Band are also going to have mini-concerts over the weekend. "Lighthouse" is playing on Sunday there as well - a real "blast-from-the-past", as they put on a show at U. of T.'s Scarborough College in the Meeting Place area in my first year there...great little show! (Although they may have changed a bit, unlike me, since that was 1971!!). Port Credit is a wonderful place to wander around and visit nice shops, restaurants, and bars at any time during the summer. It's at its best, I think, during this event. (p.s. I may have been tricked into going in to a few bars last year by Brian M. and Mark J.) Good times!

URGENT!! Public Service Announcement:

OK, it's maybe not exactly urgent, but it is something that I think you all need to know!

1. I drink Corona in the summertime - very cold...with a little slice of lime.
It costs $39.95 for a case of 24 bottles (330ml. size)
I've recently tried "Brava", which is $26.40 for a case of 24 (341ml.size)

http://www.lakeportbrewing.ca/site1/sub/s_op_brava.php

To my uneducated taste-buds, the Brava, with the requisite slice of lime, served very cold, tastes as good...maybe even better than the Corona! Plus it's cheaper and it's made in Canada.


2. At the L.C.B.O. I can buy Heineken in those 330ml. cans for $13.05 per six-pack. That's 1980 ml of beer.
I can alternatively buy 6 single cans of Heineken in 500 ml. cans for $2.35 each can ( $14.10 for six) That's 3000 ml. of beer.

So that's 1020 ml. more beer (three x 330ml. cans worth) for an extra $1.05 !!!
Too much math? Sorry...just trust me...buy the bigger cans of either Heineken or Pilsner Urquell.

Govern yourselves accordingly...and don't drink and drive.
Happy Summer!

Motown in the Falls

We went to the "new" Casino in Niagara Falls with my brother and sister-in-law to see "the Magic of Motown" in the Avalon Ballroom. We stayed in the Embassy Suites hotel in a nice room with a very good view of the Falls.

A great venue for a band like this: not-too-big, with no bad seats that we could see. We were in the second row, stage left!

This band was very tight, with the three remaining members of the band still pulling their weight - specially Bob Babbitt, the bass player. The people they've added to fill in the roster are all excellent, too. The two lead singers - a guy and gal - were outstanding, easily covering all of our favourite songs by Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson, Martha Reeves, the Four Tops, etc.

Half-way through the show they brought out one of the original Supremes, Mary Wilson, who looked and sounded terrific (she's 63!!!), and who led the band in a wonderful 7 to 10 (?) song set of classic Supremes songs !

We did some shopping the next morning around the outlets, etc., then took a very nice drive out along the "River Road" from the bottom of Clifton Hill towards Niagara-on-the-Lake, where we did some people-watching, and shopping in the Greaves Jams store, as well as the bakery, and the fudge shoppe. We had another excellent lunch at the Angel Inn (Guinness Beef & Onion Pie for Fran, and Bangers'n'Mash for me - both perfect).

All-in-all, a very satisfactory trip, and one we can recommend to everyone!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Funk_Brothers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtvBdgyDH8U&mode=related&search=

http://www.standingintheshadowsofmotown.com/index.htm

http://www.standingintheshadowsofmotown.com/funksbio.htm

Samples (audio only, unfortunately...go get the DVD!) from the DVD:
http://www.standingintheshadowsofmotown.com/soundtrack.htm

Great pub-food at the Olde Angel Inn: http://www.angel-inn.com/

Mary Wilson (of the Supremes) http://www.paradiseartists.com/artists/mary_wilson/index.html

Amy Winehouse in Rolling Stone

The June issue of Rolling Stone has a good piece on my favourite singer: http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/amy_winehouse_back_in_black_rehab_married_soul_beehive_diva/page/1

Savannah and Charleston

Just returned from our week down south at Hilton Head Island. Had a very nice time with our family (Fran's sisters, their husbands and kids). Fran and I also visited Savannah, Georgia which we really loved : http://www.savannah-visit.com/tour.asp We also went up to Charleston, South Carolina: http://www.charlestoncvb.com/visitors/tripplanner/seedo_attractions.html?type=1&category=2&sub_category=12 We plan to return to spend more time in Savannah and Charleston, but would also consider returning to Hilton Head, which was very beautiful in its own way...and would be a real golfer's paradise, I think.

Hilton Head Island

We're heading off (by car) to Hilton Head Island with the family (Fran's side) on Friday for a week! Looking forward to it...this http://www.resortquest.com/portal/page?_pageid=795,1079217&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL&pmsSource=Legacy&complexID=46394&placeID=108&submitPage=null is the link to the place we've rented. I'll let you know how it was once we get back.

Cowbell

One of my favourite SNL skits. "I gotta fever...and the only prescription... is more cowbell!"
Click here: http://www.ojaiwan.net/audio/cowbell.wmv