New Music

Today I got the soundtrack from "Slumdog Millionaire" very interesting stuff produced by a guy called A. R. Rahman. Also got more music from India Arie: Testimony Volume 2. Haven't yet been able to get Shemekia Copeland's new cd "Never Going Back". Saw her on Letterman the other night, and really liked her...just discovered that she's the daughter of the late great blues guitar guy, Johnny Copeland.

Inexpensive TV Cables, etc.

My brother-in-law uses this place to buy tv and stereo cable for way less than one would have to pay at Best Buy, etc.:

http://www.monoprice.com/home/index.asp

One HDMI cable that I recently bought at Sears for over $100 is only $10 (plus around another $10 shipping) from these guys!! (I couldn't wait to get these cables delivered as I just had to get watching my new TV, but next time...)

Both my brother-in-law and a friend/neighbour have used this site for their techy needs, and both report good quality stuff at ridiculously low prices...just goes to show how much we're getting ripped off by the big retailers on this kind of necessary accessory.

Yes We Can

(Well, I think We Can) This article in the National Post today (January 26, 2009) was pretty interesting to me. I've often thought that things can sometimes get better just by sheer force of will and acting in a positive way to help make things better. I also believe that if the media gets behind positive news and de-emphasises the more negative stuff, maybe people will not be quite as frightened to spend their money and work hard to improve their own livelihood, and thereby improve others in the process. We need strong leadership from all of our leaders, both in the political world and in the business world. Many of the business leaders/bosses are pretty smart guys in whom we have to have some faith to "lead us out of the current darkness and back into the light of prosperity". I know...that's maybe some pretty schmaltzy, overly-simplistic, naive and sentimental stuff. But I really think there's some truth to it. Watching the recent speeches and actions of the new U.S. President, I feel more positive that things can slowly get better. I hope that Canada can put aside its political in-fighting and find a way to help the people jump-start the Canadian economy as well. Work hard, try to stay positive and on target, and trust that we can make it better...

New music: Fall 2008 to Jan 2009

Yikes! Just looking through my iTunes/iPod music, and realized that I've added quite a bit (395 tracks!) of new stuff over the past few months from various sources including the iTunes store, plus another music site, and actually going to HMV and buying some cd's.

If you're interested in learning about these albums, just click on the hi-lited words.

Cassandra Wilson "Loverly" cd; Herbie Hancock "River"; Hiromi "Brain"; Jackie Greene (Jackie Greene is probably the most accessible and popular one of my recent acquisitions for most people) "Giving up the Ghost"; Marcus Miller "Marcus"; Orchestra Baobab "Made in Dakar"; Missy Higgins "Sound of White"; Petula Clark - just a random ten of her hits; Putumayo presents "Nuevo Latino"; Sam Phillips "Don't do anything"; Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings "100 Days"; Al Green "Lay it Down"; Molly Johnson "Lucky"; Solange Knowles "Sol Angel"; Sergio Mendes "Encanto"; Buddy Guy "Skin Deep"; Tony Grey "Chasing Shadows"; Alejandro Escovedo "Real Animal"; Kings of Leon "Only by the Night"; Bob Dylan "Bootleg Volume 8"; TV on the Radio "Dear Science"; Aretha Franklin "I Never loved a Man"; India Arie - selected tracks; Anthony Hamilton - selected tracks.

Cheap Red Wine - "Fuzion"

It's really very good for that "Tuesday-night-at-home-with-the-wife-and-a-pizza" kind of vibe... Yes, it's only $7.45 but don't let that deter you:

FUZION SHIRAZ MALBEC LCBO 83188 750 mL bottle

Price: $ 7.45 Wine, Red Wine, 13.3% Alcohol/Vol.

Sugar Content : 1
Made in: Argentina by: Familia Zuccardi

It's been often sold out in the LCBO in recent weeks leading up to Christmas.

"Chez Scriv" - new house wine

My new favourite inexpensive ($10.10!!) big red:

J.J. MCWILLIAMS SHIRAZ/CABERNET

LCBO 16741 750 ml. bottle

Price: $ 10.10

13.3% Alcohol/Vol.
Sugar Content : 2
Made in: South Australia

LCBO Tasting Note:
Medium ruby red colour; big nose of eucalyptus, black currant and vanilla; dry, medium to full bodied, with lots of juicy fruit flavours; spicy notes on the long finish.

My notes: Great, bold full-bodied red. Excellent value. Great with pizza (but then again, so is tap water or beer or milk or juice....hmmm....maybe it's really just pizza I like, more than the wine? No - I love pizza and I love the "big" red wines).

I found that this is one of those wines that greatly benefits from decanting for at least an hour, and/or pouring into the "Eisch" breathable wine glasses that I've mentioned in another blog entry here...

Duffy

Went to the Phoenix on August 2nd to see Duffy (http://www.iamduffy.com/index2.html) with my wife, my two daughters and my brother and his wife. Duffy came onstage without much introduction at 8:30, and pretty much blew us away with her powerful voice, a cross between Lulu ("To Sir with Love" Lulu, that is) and Dusty Springfield and maybe Petula Clark. When you're in a smaller venue like this, you really feel the bass just sort of pounding you in the chest and right down to your hips...very cool. She only has the one cd, so she sang most of it and added a couple of covers and a "b-side" song to flesh out the show. Great 60's vibe to her music. The show was an hour long, but felt way too short, 'cause we were having such fun listening to the music, and also having a few drinks (very civilized place to see a band, the Phoenix!) Duffy looked very cute in her "K-Mart-style" red & white polka-dot skort-suit thing. Can't dance worth a damn, but knows it, and jokes about it...kind of endearing herself to the crowd while doing so. She comes across as very sweet in her limited stage banter. She's new and unpolished at the moment. It'll be interesting to see how her career turns out - will she be the "Dave Clark Five or Herman's Hermits" to Amy Winehouse's Brit-export gold-standard-bearers the Beatles/Stones, or will she just turn out to be a "Freddy and the Dreamers or Peter & Gordon"? Very good show, with many of my very favourite people to share the experience! Then we went on to a bar across the street from Maple Leaf Gardens, where we met even more of my favourite people (Erin and Tracy and Jay and Luke) for some beer and snacks.