Last SRSS Blogaroo of 2010... December 22 Re-cap and the usual diversions and rah rah propaganda

Speaking of smiley faced... King Dinosaur had a good analogy to watching the Legion of Flying Monkeys Horn Orchestra... He laid it down as smiley face/sad face that keeps flipping every few minutes. Apparently and older English gentleman was standing beside KD taking in the show for about five minutes and then turned shook his head said "Utterly regrettable, absolutely terrible!" and then walked out the door and around the same time a local music journalist was telling me "I love these guys, this is insane". It all has to do with perspective. For sure a little horn jam goes a long way, but then again so few bands have anything relevant to say, some bands can play, and some bands play. I like the LFM horn orchestra... I like the concept, the words to the songs and the grand spirit in which they are presented. I like the interaction, the freedom, the art in the horns, the fact that old English "proper" folk are irritated by it and the fact that there are their are no horns playing with me anymore.



then they did a Christmas song:



For the 21 Tandem Repeats representation I grabbed Steve (drummer for LFM) and JLS (sound man)... and we laid down a set which I thought went pretty good. Reminds me of an interesting point and so why not a digression? Lucky or not? Am I lucky? I feel very fortunate to play with great people such as Steve and JLS. Let's research the word Lucky.

luck·y (lk)
adj. luck·i·er, luck·i·est
1. Having or attended by good luck. See Synonyms at happy.
2. Occurring by chance; fortuitous.
3. Believed to bring good luck: hoped to draw a lucky number.

To me Lucky is like finding a $20 bill on the sidewalk... your eyes bulge out of your head and you immediately fall on it feigning a stroke and then jam the bill in your pocket and carry on, perhaps stopping to get some ice for the new goose egg on your fore head. I have a little bit of a chip on my shoulder with the world lucky, but being a spiritual man (in terms of omens and jinxes) i don't want to appear on the wrong side of the fence when the great decision makers decide to exercise their wrath.

I should write a song about lucky... like the hockey player that puts on a hard fore check and the puck pops up in the crease for them to "bang one home" and the guy who never bothered to fore check once in his life calls the other player lucky... but the guy who scored the goal doesn't give a shit what you call it as long as the red light goes on.

I guess if somebody calls you lucky it means you are living the good life, so don't go changing, and if you detect a little sense of bitterness in the one calling you lucky just remember that that is something that that person has to live with.

in the end it's all just memories:
digital ones at that
what can i say? I'm just a wishing machine.



Last show of the year

we have C-dub from Calgary and Super Robertson from Vancouver as far as i know but things at the SRSS are subject to change... maybe i"ll get lucky and have a band tomorrow, or maybe I'll get lucky and have a chance to run over a few more complicated numbers as a solo artist.

Happy Holiday folks... and don't go changin', I won't.

SR

BTW i Noticed that some guy named Super Robinson is on some poster for the show tomorrow... quick tip from a borderline illiterate OK.  There is this thing called Google Search... you can find who you need there... and then you can copy and paste the name of the person and then put it on your poster... It's amazing... you're going to love it!  And ladies and Gentlemen that's why you tune in to the SRSS blog... you get real advice for this real world.

December 15 Re-Cap... some sissy gibbering and another shameless plug for the next show.

Super Robertson and Tiny Tim Overdrive together at last... Yes it was another king hell night at the Super Robertson Supper show last week for sure.  The Canucks posted an overtime victory... and the SRSS went into overtime as well with a fine set by the Gizbah himself.  Mind you we only went into overtime because the sound man had to attend a pre game ceremony honouring  the Super Robertson Supper Show greats from 2007 and hence was late getting up from ice level.

Tiny Tim Overdrive are a really fun band and they brought half the city with them.  They play awesome cover songs with ukuleles... as you may or may not know I do have a reasonable paranoia of posting cover songs on youtube.   My general policy is to record what I can and process what I can after asking artists if they want me to record and post their music... and then, after the fact when it is posted I can delete or alter things to make everybody happy. 

It's funny, I bought this digital recorder to save me time but it seems like now everything is bizarre with the whole process.. I tend to be working out of Quicktime making all kinds of files some of them acceptable and others not so much, and I'll be a monkey's uncle to know which is which.  My cousin reminds me of the time I declared that "computers will be the downfall of society" as a friendly jab to point out all the damn time i do spend on a shithole computer... point taken and point still made I say.

Anyhoo it's late and I can attempt to process no more video at this time so we will have to wish you all the best for the holiday season and serve notice that the Legion Of Flying Monkeys Horn Orchestra is set honk their hearts out at the SRSS on Wednesday December 22 as part of the Railway staff people kind of Christmas party. ( **** production note... I wonder what an autotune pedal would sound like on one of those horns).  Then I will set up a bastard version of 21 Tandem Repeats after the LFM to play a quick slick set as a bridge into the later evening.

I do feel bad for only getting the one video done for the show and the blog... my commitment to caring about the show and the blog of the show is rather bizarre I would say... there could be a form of mental illness that I have.  It's just a little free show!

Not that i always take good advise but here are 2 good reasons I should never be out too late:

December 8 Re-Cap ukulele bands and royalty from back east

Tannis Slimmon and Lewis Melville came in and played a perfect supper show.  All cylinders were operating and the crisp passing play of musical melody warmed the hearts of all of those Canadian kids out in the audience. If you missed the show you missed a real Gem of an hour... worth every penny of it's free.

Speaking of pennies I hear the Mint is considering stopping making them... they are worth a cent but cost a cent and a half to make and nobody gives a shit about them.  Sure.  i should probably stick to Supper Show material and not delve into politics... I believe people want to hear me talk about the Supper Show... because hey, I have won the annual SRSS "Observant Kingpin" award on 3 separate occasions.  I Understand SRSS's and my opinion that  "those rich, self serving, conveniently religious,  fundamentalist quacks that run the joint" aren't going to spend the money they save on stamping pennies in a manner in which I approve of.

OK check this:





I feel better now.  I knew the call of the Sandhill Crane, but for once in my life I just shut the fuck up and let somebody else take us down the path... which was a smart move by myself... and considering I had just nailed a rooster and hit a pileated woodpecker at perhaps an inopportune moment, I was already over the line if you know what I mean.  The first time i saw a Sandhill Crane was over Thanksgiving weekend up at Tiny marsh... or in a farmers field by Tiny Marsh to be exact. It's near Elmville Ontario in Simcoe county.  Three of them came flying in and at first I thought  I was looking at Canada geese but as they got closer and closer they became bigger and bigger.  One last fact: Tiny Township is next to Tay township and the two townships are named after dogs of some English royal couple.

*** Hey Super Steve (super steve has no sound on his computer)... that last paragraph had to do with the song that was played by Tannis and Lewis... The crowd was called to make animal sounds and then in mid song Lewis Broke it down with a sandhill crane call... you would have been proud of me.

Where was I?

I'll have to admit, was a bit nervous going down... I was walking in there straight faced  and saying OK Lewis Melville your playing with me.  Lewis Melville: Cell Biologist, Multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and producer who was born in Saskatchewan, immediately accepted that as the best idea available and we started the show:





Then i smartly go the hell out of dodge and let the people play:





Tell me that's not fantastic.


And then of course I made everybody finish the show with me... Notice Fire-Man, who had just come in from outside to discuss an issue with Ed.





And Tomorrow on December 15 2010 we have the Tiny Tim Overdrive:





As well as Super Robertson and a man called Ian.
this guy:

December 1 re cap and December 8 promo blast and perhaps a rage on technology

Before i lose my mind let me start by saying we have a wonderful show for you tomorrow night on December 8 2010. From Guelph Ontario the Super Robertson Supper Show is proud to host the first stop on her western canadian tour: Tannis Slimmon who will be joined by Lewis Melville who is a Guelph, Ontario multi-instrumentalist (guitars, banjo, pedal steel, bass, mandolin), composer, and producer. He is also the man that has a Rheostatics album named in his honour... that would be the album Melville I believe.

I always like it when the SRSS gets to host touring acts: Ruth Minnikin, Jen Militia, Owen Steel, Khristian Mizzi, Tiger Prawn... to name a few. They seem to be some of the better shows... some new blood from out of town who are happy as a pig in shit to just have a gig to play. It is one of the things that i really like about doing the SRSS... a chanced to help people out and present some cool music to people who didn't know what was about to hit them.

What happened last week: I think i recall a Mason Raymond hat trick to power the Canucks to victory.

Some stuff happened on stage to:









Well probably not the best idea for me to go off on technology rage at this point in time... what purpose would that serve? The bottom line is that everything human is hopelessly screwed in order to fall in line with the mighty dollar. Now if you are smart enough or work hard enough or are lucky enough you can get yourself enough money and in fact insulate yourself from this reality... for a while... did i just start a rage? I guess i did.

I love my parents and they are great people and they worked hard all of their lives to provide me with the best of everything so that i could go out into the world and "succeed". Which i guess i did, somehow... some days i feel like the character in that Talking Head's song "Once in a lifetime". Anyhoo i just finished a record this weekend and i have been very pleased about what happened... i was so happy i mentioned it to my parents who then reminded me about "that thing" with the simple question "Do you make any money doing that?"... And i go from euphoria to mid life crisis... what happens when men hit their mid life crisis... do they buy a convertable and drive to Las Vegas? Even as a middle aged man i can't fit in anywhere.

SRSS Movember 24th re-cap

Let me tell you a story... another one about "The Pike" AKA Super Steve. If you recall he was given that name because he likes to stay in the reeds (the back of the room) out of the "pressure zone" (Where one might be called to the stage).

When i came into the club, Super Steve was up by the side bar having a fine dinner and the lovely bartender Shannon said "Steve you should go and sing with the choir"... to which Steve replied "I don't sing"... But yet it was around the time we did "ride em high" and then "Let it be" that the old pike was taking to the choir like a flatfish but yet once hooked there was no fight. His baratone voice was gaining confidence as the night went on...

There were some other folks that got sucked into the sing along, which i guess is the idea...

On Wednesday December 1st we have the Cameron Dilworth and Jesse Mathison Supper Show as they finish up their 2nd year of doing the SRSS on the first Wednesday of the month.

Movember 17 re-cap

First night with the new Zoom Q3:



I had big plans to try to get some company to sponsor me to get the use of a camera for this purpose. Sometimes it seems like a thousand miles of space between what i do and what i mean to do but that's the way we roll around here. What do you think of the quality? If anything it saves me time... like a lot of it... the old me had to load the tape footage into the computer in real time before i was able to cut it up... and there was increasing amount of errors most likely due to the fact that computers are designed to force you into the latest products by decreasing the support of older models. This fact enrages me to no end, but being a martyr at the expense of your own diminished free time is silly.

In the end it's all just memory... would you care to discuss that? ****

Quizz- Tell me where that quote is from and win a free copy of the upcoming 21 Tandem Repeats CD "One little dream".


Back to last week... Angela had to leave the stage suddenly so her band kicked into some grooves so i hit "It's just a touch of pepper":



And then JLS and SR kept the party going with a few numbers one of them being the latest SR Jones song The Choice of Voters.

Then we wrapped it up with a mash up... the audience determined that the subject be sex and globalization.



This Wednesday Movember 24th we have Queen Anna and the SRSS Choir also know as the Local Vocals Choir. Show from 7-8:30PM... band plays classic songs and all are welcome to sing... lyric sheets provided.

Movember 10th re-Cap

Last week Shawn Killaly, Super Robertson, JLS, Chris Johnson, Fire-Man and the audience of poets put on a show to a full house... It was a double poem moment night, and if you don't know what that means i can no longer help you... how does the saying go... you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink?  For the record "poem moment" is when the audience writes a poem by passing around a sheet of paper and the group has to preform it over improv grooves.

For the most part the show consisted of  Shawn and I running through the set that was written on a coffee filter so that we would have proper preparation for our recording session that happened over the last weekend.  Would you go into a studio without any rehearsal?  We essentially did, which i believe worked in our favour and i'll blood any bastard that say's otherwise...  To be perfectly honest i believe not being a band in the traditional sense  is the way to roll for a guy like myself, and doing the Super Robertson Supper show for years has trained me well to understand the elements needed... a lot of philosophy for sure but i just remembered something i have to do.

On Movember 17 the SRSS special guest is  Angela Latham and apparently she is up for some improv... so lets get some poets noses down and do this right.

Did you ever hear my poem about noses?

People who put their nose in things that break noses
end up with broken noses


A little bone Scarborough wisdom for you all... now i have to get me some free tickets...

Hot damn another week us upon us... Last week re-cap

                        It was The Jesse Mathison Birthday bash as the young bastard only turned 30.

 

Caleb Stull,  kingpin of the band Parlour Steps was there to play a few fine tunes

                                                    Jesse and Cameron sang along

                                    Ben Mahoney played with a king hell drummer Robert Linton

                                                   Robert Linton also plays in Parlour Steps

 Ben Mahoney wore sandals much like Jasper did when he was teaching Lisa Simpson's class for some reason and was warning the class about the things one could do to deserve a "Paddling" and one of them was "looking at my sandals".

 There is Ben but the damn light wasn't on him i tried to fix it but it didn't stay...  now i know  how Snapshot and Moustache man feel.

                                  Mule and Chris Scum enjoy some Smash / Greg Pohl banter

          And this is the elusive Greg Pohl in town on an entomology conference... He was telling an animated story and i thought the flash was ruining pictures so this is what happened.  Smash with pro facial hair as well.


I was given the business for a bit about my last minute, 11th hour supper show notifications and i had big plans but here we are at 12:23 am in the morning of the night of the next supper show.  In a perfect world things would be different, but lets face it the world is far from perfect, and its imperfection is a thing that can bring great joy and entertainment if you look at it from the right angle.

TODAY... November 10th Shawn Killaly and I are rehearsing for a rapidly approaching studio session...  I am about to test a few of my theories about how to make a good recording and it has to do with taking the old 4 track mentality into a place with greater clarity and more options than a 4 track recorder.

I heard they had a space program when you sing they can't hear there's no air
Sometimes i think i kind of like that place other time i think that I'm already there
-They Might Be Giants

October 28 re-cap

It was the Queen Anna and the local Vocals choir doing band night at the Super Robertson Supper Show on this night... Super Steve was slowly digesting the fact that his team was going down to defeat in the World Series, and it would be Stan in fact that would take home the hundred big ones. There was some slight hand wringing and a few whispers of faint hope, but as a veteran sports fan you know when a good team gets the hammer it's a bad omen.

It was an acoustic choir band that was perhaps a bit more folky than the amplified version from the month before but there was a good group and good times were had by all. Some people like to sing and i think it's great that they came and had a great time. I was talking with King Dinosaur after the show about the evolution of the Super Robertson Supper Show... he is a man that has been around long enough not to react to changes on a week to week basis... it's all part of the grand scheme of things like when that GM of a hockey team goes into the free agent season but then looks in the mirror, dose a Fonze, and says aaaahh! everything is OK.
Prediction of the night from King Dinosaur... just so we get it in print: The next time the Boston Bruins raise the Stanley Cup the first man to touch it will be Milan Lucic.

In an odd note there were some members from my hockey team that came down to see me play some music, but of course it was Choir sing-a-long night so i told them to grab some sheets and get in on it...  that went over like can i say a Led Zepplin.

Tomorrow Night is a Jesse matheson birthday Bash at the SRSS hosted by Camille Dangworth and Jose Mouthasin.

October 20th re-cap

Rachel Davis started the Super Robertson Supper Show.



21 tandem repeats finished it



Thanks to Snapshot for the video and to the Rachel Davis film crew as well.

I was kind of under the weather and in one of those questioning why i even bother kind of moods, and as a result there were no curtain pulls and such.  The old me never would have tolerated such insolence, but we did all right none the less.  The old old me would have thought it necessary to put up 200 posters on the rainy streets of Vancouver for just such an occasion, so i like the new me just fine.

On October 27 we have Queen Anna and The Supper Show Singers... and you can be a Supper Show singer too if you want, just show up grab a lyric sheet and join in.  Show from 7-8:30PM... last month was a blast so what could possibly go wrong?  Later on our man D. Trevlon will be playing  at the Railway as part of the Vancouver city Limits night... i don't know if you heard but D Trevlon was listed on craigslist as one of the Railway Staffs top picks when they got together for beers to define Vancouver's  best live acts.

October 13th re-cap

Wednesday the 13th, nothing unlucky about this night, 2 fine acts, 2 good hockey games... if i recall correctly it was a fabulous day as well. October kind of day... crisp and sharp... sun not too high but lighting the slight colours in the trees against the blue sky. Next thing you know it was time to feed the kids and get the hell down to the SRSS. Caught some of the Toronto Pittsburgh game at home(Internet streaming) and heard from Super Steve that they held on for the victory when i got to the club. For some bizarre reason there was a little bit of a late start at the SRSS this evening but when it got going Christopher Johnson put on a fine set of solo acoustic singer songwriter tunes... all great Fire-Man agreed, but Fire-Man also thought he should talk more and engage the audience rather than just being excellent at playing and singing music. Next thing you Know Fire-Man is on stage on the other Mic conducting an interview with the said performer in an effort to get the performer to enlighten the audience on the story of his life. It came out that Chris is about to go into a studio to record an album and this show was a chance to "road test", or should i say "SR supper show" test the songs. Shortly thereafter there was about 8 of us on stage 4 doing one part of a symphony, 4 doing the other, and Chris singing the song... then it was time for the LFM.

Old Fat religious White people rule the world, Burn the man (i jumped up and played a horn part), Aliens, a Jam, LFM SRSS theme song #2 were all hit and there were good time had by all. When Fire-Man made the crowd chant "Steve, Steve, Steve..." to encourage a drum solo i went back to hit the can and on the way out i ran into "the mole" and we got talking about song technique, and then i believe the Canucks went on a power play, and then i heard Fire-man calling me and then trying to razz me for watching hockey... but they were doing well and on a roll so i sat back in the reeds and let the show carry on letting my vocal symphony part and horn honking experience be my participation in  the show... i think it's bad form to be up there every time all the time. That's my story for now and I'm stuck in it, but i must say the LFM had a wonderful flute player named Melissa out and she was playing some very cool stuff.

Tomorrow we have Vancouver/Chicago and on the stage we have Rachel L Davis and 21 Tandem Repeats. I believe Rachel L Davis will be a trio, and 21TR will be a trio or a quartet backed by ace drummer Shawn Killaly... depending on who shows up 21TR could easily be more (add a few singers or such).

Be good.

Big night at the SRSS on October 13

Hell last week was one excellent show if i don't say so for Cam and Jesse.   Good crowd, good music, good guest, good awkward comedy... the whole shebang.  And let me tell you if the new imovie wasn't such a useless, loathsome program we would have more video up right about now showcasing last weeks Super Robertson Supper Show.  How does it happen that a company could have a simple great little program with some very useful features, and then in time weed out all the good and concentrate on all the useless, and become suddenly user unfriendly?



Tomorrow, on the 13th  of  October there will be Christopher Johnson solo performance at the Supper Show and The Legion of Flying Monkeys perform at the Super Robertson Supper Show


Which means of course that Super R will be free to watch the Canucks game at the side bar with the Pike,  and as the song goes "the Super Robertson supper show, it's the place where my friends all go, like Super Steve and King Dinosaur with one eye on the show and one eye on the score".

For the record Super Steve last week asked me about the Leafs this year, and i laid down my take on the events (Haven't had a goalie since Belfour, and they got rid of most of the indifference and replaced them with young players eager to prove,  rather than the Leafs classic move to sign overpaid has been, so at least it's not the same old same old...) and i noticed Super Steve started laughing, not in an "at me" kind of way but rather in a way a sports fan recognizes another true fan and their relationship with their native home team.   But alas, i pay taxes in Vancouver, and i have lived here for 17 years and there is always room in my heart for another team that has yet to win a championship in my 40 year old life.  Could be one of the better years in a while for a guy like myself.  It is kind of weird when you think of it, how the idea of the home team, has been diluted by professional sports league marketing.  When was a kid everybody loved the home team, if you showed up to school in a "Mike Bossy" sweater you might risk taking the beats... now it is just natural to wear the merchandise of the team you have chosen to root for as a measure of your loyalty. 

Would the kids today get this:





Hey another video has magically appeared... somehow the auto focus got taken off but Kevin Tuffy is good to listen to none the less:

Coming up next: Haggnm Dangworth and Jose Mouthasson

Haggnm Dangworth and Jose Mouthasson are set to do another one of their patented Supper Shows and word has it that they have Shawn Killaly on drums. I happened to play a show with Shawn on the weekend so i got the scoop. I believe I'll head down and if i get the call I'm a gonna try out my latest number called "Bold Point Road".

Haggnm Dangworth and Jose Mouthasson came down to the Super Robertson Supper Show last week on my urging as i was trying to pad the Local Vocals Choir with more singers, but we had a good turnout so they were free to swill beer in the back...  Fire-Man (my other plant, but a more natural schill) and myself were swilling up front with the lyric sheets and hearts full of love.

Which begs the question... what happened last week?

Stage piano, upright bass, slide guitar, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, accordion and banjo and 15-20 singers doing "You ain't going nowwhere", "those were the days", "ring of fire", "come together", "What a way to go", "nine pound hammer", 'angle from Montgomery", "las Mananitas" and "killing the blues". Our faithful Choir leader, Queen Anna, had lyric sheets ready to go for all and i believe we had a blast. The latest feature of the Super Robertson Supper Show on the last Wednesday of the month from 7:00-8:30 PM.

OK

that's it for this blog today... unless you want to hear a story about pike fishing and nude swimming north of Cochrane Ontario, years ago.

So Super Steve,

there was some Junior Ranger Jamboree happening when i was 17, which of course is the age one would be if one were a junior ranger, as was I.  Of course that was a long time ago, when i was much lighter and a lot less defeated... but as the saying goes, "you can't change the bed you are in, so you may as well just get use to stubbin' in it". Now i am just confused.. blogging is a jackass sport...

Somehow i ended up in a pickup truck with a few people, rather than the big van with most of the Junior Rangers, and i believe we stopped by a typical norther Ontario lake (beautiful stuff) and then we tried 5 casts each in search of the monster Pike, or tasty pickerel. On around cast 3 i snagged a log with one of my "flatfish", an orange lure with hooks all over it that could snag anything.

                                                     Mine was like the one on the bottom:

I'll always remember being at the Racicots cottage and trying to walk through the woods to the lake with a flatfish on my rod... it hooks everything... trees, leaves and then you will get one hook in your finger trying to free it from leaves and then you will get hooked again trying to unhook yourself... next thing you know it is in your sisters hair and all hell has broken out.

So by around the third cast, as the story was going, i snag a log, and I'm down to my last few flatfish, and i think there is good fishing where I'm going and boats (canoe it would be) so you can get away from the loggy shoreline.  Clearly you can see that i need that flatfish.... so i have to get it... so i have to go swimming and then the logical problem... do i want wet underwear in the truck for the next portion of the ride... clearly not... I'll have to go naked.  Just to clarify one issue here... i was not worried about being naked but the debate was more over "did i want my exposed male member wriggling around in the reeds where the pike with their serious fucking teeth are ready to attack

I figured i could man it up, and did of course.. BTW the fish in the photo came out of the Congo River (as a natural scientist i needed to make that clear) but when you are naked in the lake out under water  digging your flatfish out from a log and into your finger that is the visual image you keep thinking you see out of the corner of your eye.  At least it keeps your mind off leeches and beaver fever bacterium...

So i got my lure back and all i needed was to dry off so i needed to be in the sun, and to get to the point,  i ended up standing naked on a poll that supported a guard rail of the highway because it was the easiest on the feet, could keep the feet dry, was in the sun, could pass the drying time with some balancing exercises, could keep the feet away from annoying dirt... you get the picture right... all solid good ideas... so of course i was trying to sun the area between my legs when a ministry truck drove by with the head of the Junior Ranger Program, a big wig MP from Ottawa, and a few other bureaucrats... all on their way to the Junior Ranger gathering.

I don't think they really understood what was going on, and i too had my first opportunity to learn about the effects of being naked with regard to your career development.  In my heart i don't believe that that alone was the reason for the cancellation of the Junior Ranger Program... they wanted to cancel it, they just needed an excuse.

September 22 re-cap

Long day of harvesting and curing hops, (keep an ear out in another blog, if you know what i mean, to find out how our hero ended up reeking like a brewery with scratches and puffy red irritation on most of his epithelial cells as he picked up his daughter from the local school... and of course now every one rams into the school so we can be all packed in like sardines to do some sniffing and administer some skin exams... is it paranoia or do i sense an effort to form a further opinion of the ragged jagged side burned father?).

But that was then and this is now, and we have a show to review and another to promote and it's 11:44pm and the blueberry wheat beer has been bottled and the hops are a drying... what the hell, did i just sneak back off topic.

Vocal and drum LFM songs were for sure working... you could hear the words and singers were a bit calmer being exposed (or careful) and as a result we dialed in some nice harmonies, and by hearing the words carefully presented, the quality of the wordsmithing was more on show to appreciate.

We had a nice Bass drum horn jam... i played the bass and that's why i capitalized bass there... either that or my illiteracy is so obscene that i need to make up stories to work harder to try to cure myself from this wretched disease.

Then JLS and Steve and SR lay ed down a fine version of "One little Dream", and then we discussed the direction of the next number with the audience and ended up going with a version of 98 BOB, and had a whole gamete of singers including the SRSS stalwart land of Deborah who held down the soprano region of our new choir... that was super fun... i started the old countdown from 98 down (98 bottles of beer on the wall) at the end and i think we got to about 80 before we ended it in a drunken slur.


The Jason Harder played a few numbers, and original and a cover and he was joined by steve on drums and a few horn players honking away with enthusiasm... have to admit i was at the back of the bar tinting my fingers just delighted that there was no horn when i had the guitar in my hands... all i ever needed was a decoy guitar player :).  Jason and crew did well and all seemed to enjoy it and it was enjoyable to watch... reminds me of the joke that went on when Roadbed was in it's prime, and we had this thing, this battle for superiority, a friendly one... i believe the official bio read "Roadbed are required by special pact to inspire each other with displays of creativity"... anyhoo somebody would have this idea and the others would look down at the vulnerable and say "that's a great idea for your solo project".

and then we hit a couple more tunes of the LFM and closed down the show, it was a great audience, i had a blast and i thought it was unique and bold and brilliant.



Next week you should all come on down to the SR Supper Show because we are about to start a new chapter... also this chapter starts at 7pm and goes to 8:30 PM.

it is Local Vocals:
our leader Anna Baignoche, backed by Simon Kendal, Steve Dawson and Travis Bernhardt and the Local Vocals choir  are going to run through some classic songs and have the words printed out so that we can all sing along.

it is a chance for this choir to get out and sing in a bar:




the plan is to do this on the last Wednesday of every month... this is the first one... feel free to support and embrace this venture, and get your sing on.

who loves ya!

September 15th re-cap

I Just installed a calender in my browser and it seems to have installed other things and with that news comes an immediate rage that may in fact produce some minor health problems for our hero.
Reminds me about one of the good elements of the Super Robertson Supper Show... just a free show for people to come and check out or be part of, free of some marketing web.  Perhaps i should have somebody stand at the door and say "welcome to the show...  now the show is free but I'll just ask you to fill out this 9 page form with most of your vital tracking information for our statistics base, and by simply filling out the form you will be entered to win a set of razor-tooth steak knives"... i just figured something out, i think... that's how you get the right information out of the consumer... you promise the chance of a gift and with that hope the consumer puts down the right information.

Not to get too far off topic here but i happened to meet a cell phone shill the other day who tried to sell me a cell phone and i replied "i hate cell phones, just the word puts me into a dark rage where i start punching people... in fact my rage medication hasn't been working too well lately", and after that i was free to carry on.

what happened last week:





Now the Pike has no sound on his computer, and he is a big SRSS blog reader... so what do we say about that?  I have been in this Choir for a while and we sing this song

when you were born you cried and the world rejoiced
live your life so that when you die people cry and you rejoice

Kabir (1440-1518)

Trying to shit together some things that would be simple for us to deal with i threw some chords under the melody and tried to wing it... it has the philosophical element that the Super R tries to bring to the table in his songwriting.

and then we did a version of everything:



Pike has heard that song many times at the SRSS:

at the edge of everything i feel great inside nothing collides
and only headstrong are the winds in the north
Toronto is my place of birth and that will never change
evaluation of my worth
should always stay the same
if at the edge of everything
i am betrayed inside something collides
must more than headstrong be the winds in the north

Speaking of betrayed, this fucking new blog system has failed me severely as i was on a roll and the damn thing did something bizarre and i hit the space bar and then i was back at another page and a lot of clear wisdom was not saved

And then Pockets layed down some truth:



the unfortunate thing that happened was that i just failed to fully rewind the tape so we got shut off at this point in the show.  I was preparing the camera (battery charge and rewind) all while trying to feed 3 kids 40 minutes before the SRSS was set to start and the cables that run from the camera to the wall were out in a region where a kid could bring a camera crashing to the ground so i moved it and thought i had rewound it but i didn't... taping your show and playing it is never a great combo, and i have had issues in the past, issues over the mental state of the whole process but i think with what i am trying to do here i can justify it from time to time.  The unfortunate part about the tape run out was that we started the meditation and apparently it was one of the funniest things to happen on the SRSS stage since Earl Johnstonerbreath did a burlesque act in 2005, and i say this because a few members of the audience were actually literally rolling around on the floor exclaiming things like "this is so funny!"

It's too bad because Pockets was really on a roll that night, and then after Mo put on a fine clinic herself, and then we had Sim up... you get the picture.

In the end it's all just memories, memory is cheap... or is it tape or flash?

For tomorrow we have Super Robertson and a paired down version of the Legion of Flying Monkeys Horn Orchestra, I tried to call Andrew Parker back from his Vacation overseas for the occasion, but for some reason he never got back to me... i blame the telecommunications company.

I'm going to bring a bass and a guitar and a few songs to do with ace drummer Steve of the LFM, i have agreed to help with a round of one of the three part LFM songs, and I'll keep my head up and try to stay sharp and out of the way of errant horn notes.

As Fire-Man would say... life is good man, we don't know how good we have it.

I also went to the bank today to do a simple thing... sign a paper, but after sitting in an office of an incompetent fool for 20 minutes i just got up an walked out saying i just don't care enough, i though this should be easy but obviously it is not so i will go now, and the fool followed me out apologizing all the way... so i might have that story... the good news being that if you are completely incompetent then rest assured there is a job for you at the bank, a place where they nurture idiocy.

what was the date last week re-cap

I use to have one of those things on my "dashboard" that would have a calendar  so i could just look and figure out the date (i think it was the 8th) and then carry on with the old blogaroo, but now i don't and i might have a stroke trying to figure out how to insert it with this new "magic mouse" (which itself does all kinds of strange things that might actually be good for efficiency if you were one of those people who likes to know how to run their computer properly).  Me and computers  will never really see eye to eye but that's OK... i like not being able to figure out how to do something simple... i just come up with a different way around the problem... keeps me fresh and thinking.  Sometimes this can be great, and other times it can be a rather disturbing... my version of hell... me in a room with 1000 computers and 1000 printers and none of them have the software to communicate with each other and i have to write a coherent book and print it out before i am allowed to change out of some raw wild sheep wool underwear.

OK lets say last week was the 8th and i know it was because i found a calendar online but not before Google calendars tried to make me create an account.  What happened?


Started on time, full band, great sound had some highlight moments for sure. On drums we had the solid grooves of slick, so automatically the show was worth coming to, on the bass we had Fingers Johnston, and on electric guitar Mr. Willingdon Black... i made some crack to 'deuce" about him coming back to the show now that Willingdon Black was back but the truth is he has been at the SRSS a few times in the last little while... any chance to work the name  Willingdon Black into the resivoir  is one of the key subplots of my existence... as a side comedy note i invited WB out to the choir that i have been singing in and he came out and immediatly got put into a group to meet and greet and talk about why they are there, and there was some confusion because apparently some people were calling super robertson "mark" for some reason and then it seemed odd in a "funny" kind of way.


we had out  Fire-Man who read a story about why he is a failed artist on the North Shore... reminds me of this conversation:



then he blew some horn over some improve lounge stylings  and it was all good.


Tomorrow: wedneaday September 15th.

we have Cognac Robertson and the blue shirt band with Chris Hixon on computer generated drums, and Mo on vocals and other unconfirmed players at this point... our guest just canceled due to work related problems but i have no fear... as long as I'm in cotton underwear and there ain't no fucking printers in the house we are all good.

Cognac Robertson and the blue shirt band: last time:




Word to the bird is the "The Furniture" is playing the Railway later that night... which might mean Blue shirt band stalwart JLS will be there with electric guitar, probably doing sound as well and perhaps juggling flaming bowling pins.





since bio's are so fun from the band bio generator :




A history of modern global icons: Cognac Robertson and the blue shirt band

Originally from the savannahs of Vancouver, Cognac Robertson and the blue shirt band broke into the modern global scene in 2008 with their debut album, "Doucereux". The band's latest album, "Terroir" (a taste of), blends cognac Robertson's vibrant melodies with a visceral groove trio to generate undeniable good times. With standout tracks like "they don't call me Cognac Robertson because it sounds good," the music of Cognac Robertson and the blue shirt band appeals to the average guy and the non-average guy alike.

September 1 and a few other points

Well well last week it was Jose Mouthason and Ham Dangworth and i can not fucking believe what happened... absolutely flabbergasted and i don't flabbergast easily... perhaps i was a little flabbered the other night at the poker game when some folks were trying to make some jokes about using a male member to penetrate an orifice that needed no penetration what so ever... boys just want to have fun i guess.

Still... i have a hard time believing what  actually got pulled off at the Supper show this evening... in fact it is so insane I'm not even going to mention it because you probably wouldn't believe me.  There is now 2 kinds of people in the world today... those that saw the Super Robertson Supper Show on September 1 2010, and those that didn't... and that's the way it's going to roll.  Have no fear... if you are one if the silly fools that missed the free show on this evening,  you my friends are in the majority...  and that's is what ultimately makes people feel comfortable.  There is close to 7 billion people on this earth and there was  not even a million people at the SRSS on September 1 2010, as a matter of fact i would bet that there were less then 10 thousand... even a thousand would be a high estimate, probably less than a hundred if you want to get down to the nitty gritty... OK so we round up to 100 people at the SRSS on September 1 2010, and there are 7 billion people on the earth (rounded up as well for fairness sake).  Since a Billion is TEN MILLION times more than a hundred, it looks like we are looking at 70 million x more people didn't see the show than saw it and i don't think it  got recorded.. the only thing i do know for sure is that i just killed that SOB mosquito that has been pestering me since i started the simple math operation earlier in the paragraph, if you want to round up and call it a paragraph.


  It's done we move on... where the hell was I
Tomorrow we take a page from the old school Super Robertson Supper Show...  1 King Hell Drummer by the name of Slick, one King hell bass player who's personal publicist told me i could go with  "Fingers Johnston", and a rumored possible appearance of the legendary, the great, often imitated yet never duplicated, Jack of all Lords... Willingdon Black!

We have a fucking set list!

the reoccurring hurrah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pT9u0QE5LwM

One Little dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGRb3VdHnuo

Wishing Machine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlICSjyT-PQ

Hey Rock's livingroom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3703Pik3Mo

Everything
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IRtWhu2WVc

Fuse lit bombs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC4ybDsD4jM

The last honey and toast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zdz8WzB7-YU


Bent
Nice Bucket
On Frozen Pond
Nothing was heard

Which gives us enough of a base where we should be able to avoid those awkward moments where our fearless leader stands on stage like a jackass who has been grazing on a field of catnip all day humming and hawing about what to play and then decides, due to one of those strong flashes of misguided energy, mistaken as as sign from the OMEN gods, to make a ridiculous call and take the band down analogous to some wartime anti-aircraft  itchy trigger finger missile base that makes a mistake and writes it off as friendly fire.  That's why we have protocol ... protocol in this instance meaning 11 titles written on a piece of paper that we can go to if what we are trying to do starts to loose it's focus... and i have a few ideas about "art based experimental deviations" but there is no point in going over that now for i wouldn't want to spook anybody over anything now... actually i shouldn't say anybody or anything when what i actually am talking about is the very real spirit energy of artistic creation... the golden rule is to never talk about something before you try to create it if you are going to use your wits and skills to to create it live... you don't want to force the wrong potential direction on the piece... your job is to find the direction and ride it cleanly to a destination that makes sense in a reasonable amount of time.  Just to be clear.. if you are a n architect building a major dwelling you would most defiantly want to talk about it before you start to create it... this makes very good sense.

So come on down and if you want and if you think you can help us deliver the show then step on up... you got the set list, lets do it people.   Special note: if you are hindering and not helping we would have to remove you from your position... remember "sweater guy"... some dude in a sweater who i allowed to get up on the Mic and try some shit, but then he stayed on the mic loudly and very seriously threatening and being rude and stuff like that... we are no into that... if you want a part I can give you a part, but i need you to do the part not some rouge estimation of the part with a never ending ad lib part... unless of course the never ending ad lib part is pure gold, but that is rarely the case... just saying.

lets do it!

SR

August 25th re-cap

Another great turn out for the SRSS on this night, and it was my Australian friends Khristian Mizzi,  Frank Pearce and Jess Moussi representing Khristian Mizzi & the Sirens who played the lions share of the evening.  We had another late start due to a delinquent JLS and there was a festival (international pop overthrow) after the show so we were a bit cramped, but it didn't stop the good times.  I ran through a few tunes and then had my buddy Simian Special up for a tune we call "Bill Von Bacon Tell" about a guy who has left the city to pan for gold in Williams creek.  There was a gold rush there like a century ago, and you get the odd prospector who finds a good chunk of gold there from time to time.  I did some gold panning one time and the thing i took away from it was how cold your hands get trying to pan gold out of a glacial fed Canadian river.  Anyhoo the song is written in a way that parallels some fool trying to pan their music with some fool trying to strike it rich in the deserted mountains of the B.C interior. When we hit the words right i think it's great... even when we miss them Sim's vocals carry the load and the crowd is always happy.

Khristian, Frank and Jess then took the stage and played a great set and Pete pointed out that you could see the tendons firing in Khristian's fore-arm as he finger picked his guitar.  Ahh the power of the human body so dexterous when trained properly.

It was a great night and i stayed a while at the bar knowing full well that Fire-man, Sharon and Smokey were doing the swim and i had filled my commitment to  have members of the SRSS go swimming in the ocean for the July/August months.  When they go swimming in the ocean there is never any issues... they shut out paranoia and embrace the path of least resistance.  Sometimes you get a better story if you buy into paranoia and let it to power your stride against the current... i guess in a way,  they do that in life (meant as a compliment)... and so swimming in dogfish infested waters and challenging the human hypothermic response  is just casual recreation.

I guess it's Cam and Jesse tomorrow although i thought i saw in an email that Cam is in Europe.. time is the hunter.. i never get press releases from anybody... actually that's not true, Smash Supper Shows always come with a good press release... and a few emails to boot, and the LFM even makes it's own FB page and promotes heavily. That's one of the great things about being the SRSS kingpin... there are so many great people that come and add so many unique things to the show and they often come in waves and my job is to just find a spot for them to let their creations/concepts fly.

Be good, be fair, try hard, don't give up, and all that other crap... sorry i have nothing else.

August 18th re-cap

There was a full house for this weeks SRSS, a perfect evening on a number of levels.. but no Super Steve... aka the Pike. The Pike likes to lay low in the reeds and watch the action and the Pike can get a little flippy when he is coerced into Monkey Cult participation. As Captain Lou Albano's character Frankie the Fixer said in the movie wise guys "I'm a little too well known down there", one can almost see the gears turning in the pikes head... "even if I'm in the back that crafty cult leader will know I'm there and perhaps call me up to chant some repetitious quasi religious rantings... and I'll have to do it... say isn't there a Mariners game i need to see"

The Pike knows what time it is... all the others in the room had to chant, cheer and sing... because it is of course, an interactive orchestra. The sound man was late but when we got rolling it was sounding crisp and smart... do note that the Legion of Flying Monkeys Horn Orchestra was just described in words as "crisp"... no turning back now... could have used the word "Organic". i remember trying to describe Knockin' Dog as Organic sounding in like 1996... i was more shocked by shilling back then so it left a rather strong impression on me. The way i live now is more "it don't matter, nobody is listening anyway"... as a matter of fact the bio/ one sheet for the last 21 tandem Repeats release was generated by a mock online band bio generator

Perhaps we need a Super Roberson Supper Show Bio:

Since forming in the Railway Club of Vancouver, Super Robertson Supper Show climbed to the top of the the indie rock scene in 2004 with their debut album, Live @ the SRSS part one. The band's latest album, live at the SRSS part 47, fuses Earl Johnstonerbreaths unabashed hooks with shoe-gazing Brit-Pop to slap together some seriously inspired crowd pleasers. With standout tracks like "King Super Robertson," don't be surprised if you find Super Robertson Supper Show at the top of the indie rock charts and beyond.

Where the hell was I...

Hailing from the Daily Grind coffee house in Vancouver, The legion of Flying Monkeys Horn Orchestra rose to the top of the folk scene in 2008 with their debut album, Help Help. The band's latest album, Aliens, unites Fire-Man's insightful intonation with pastoral orchestral accompaniments to produce simply stunning music. With standout tracks like "the means of production garden tea Party theme song", the music of The legion of Flying Monkeys Horn Orchestra appeals to folk fans and non-folk fans alike.


and..

Hailing from the smokey bars outside of Vancouver, Super Steve found himself at the top of the the blues scene in 1975 with his debut album, what happened. The band's latest album, Super R is king, weaves Super Steve's gut-wrenching lyrics with roadhouse slide guitar to churn out their most sincere work to date. With standout tracks like "I love the Super Robertson Supper Show," already certified platinum in Europe, Super Steve can count on loads of future success.

There was also cake at the SRSS last week to celebrate the genesis of CT and JLS, but for most of us it was all about the cake. I got it from Fratelli Authentic Italian Baking and it was on sale because it was a day old, but as the old saying goes "a day old fratelli's cake still stomps the balls off the the rest". Maybe that's a new saying... perhaps i should trademark it and send it to "Cake people new York new York".

what is happening with this blog? Hot damn we are losing focus, and i still haven't got to the swim that i thought i wasn't going on because it was cold that day and we had cake and a party in the bar... but then as i was leaving some fool tried to call me a sissy so i had to redeem myself, but i had no bike so i had to resort to doing a cannonball off the dock by the Olympic village but the only problem was that the tide was down and i cut my leg on a rock and had trouble getting out of the water and then it occurred to me that i was in the ocean with a cut... not a big one, but blood was dripping from me and the dock was a long way up, and i was naked and some people came to hang out on the dock so i had to lay low in the water bleeding and then all hell broke loose... i think a fucking pike tried to bite me, which scared the shit out of the couple above me and caused a whole wave of confusion and sudden alarm down by "Canada's great sustainable community".

I read this book called Monster of God, and it was about alpha predators, and one of the things i took away is that those who live in sustainable communities (mud huts by the river) take the greatest hits when it comes to attacks from alpha predators... say crocodiles.  Well lets just say that our sustainable communities don't offer the same support to one of their citizens when they are attacked by a mud shark/ocean pike.  yea go ahead an laugh Did you know that? Yes, pike do go into the ocean - as long as it is brackish enough... believe me it was brackish.  rather than help they call the fucking police on me... but not even the real police... some useless security guard who doesn't even have a weapon to fire into the dark waters where i was pointing as the menace regathered for a second wave of attacks.



Tomorrow Khristian Mizzi  returns with his art bus festival tour that started here a few months ago... then they are going down to burning man... if you need a ride it might work.

These guys are king hell, from Australia came to Canada to check it out bought a short bus sold tickets to cover gas and insurance (rides across Canada) and toured the country playing music.  If you can't get behind that boo to you.





and as a final note we went late and were very slow getting our stuff off the stage... lets not get complacent team we need to be the gold standard... it is our destiny... lets play 7:30-8:30 keep it pro lean and mean.

August 11 re-cap

Hot damn it's late and my memory has been shafted by a hockey playoff victory and the requisite beers that followed.  Luckily i managed to tape the show and it was one King hell show if i don't say so myself... luckily in the way that i can post a video and the video can do the speaking, and i can go on about the lesson from the swim.



we hit the swim, a nice little group and there was a female presence which was most excellent because she did the right things like bringing hot tea and emergency blankets to lie on so we could sit and muse and around that time there were 2 fires on the beach and we were tempted to go join in... but we had tea and blankets and the woman logic reminded us that everything was good where we were. Right right... there was a lot less chance for regret if we stayed where we were... i was initially thinking in terms of personalities that i might not want to have to overcome should i impose myself on a party. Soon the cops came and shut down the fires and we watched from a nice safe distance very happy that we were not one of the people around the fire when the party was busted.

Next week or tomorrow for that matter we have "The legion of Flying Monkeys Horn Orchestra", and even better there will be Cake. A double birthday celebration for 2 unsung SRSS heroes... 1)JLS (soundman and multi-instrumentalist) and 2)CT (stalwart who minds children every wednesday night so that this can happen).

Swimming is always an option, and i have been reminded that perhaps if i tried to sell it more like a wonderful experience and less like a dangerous shark ridden hypothermia blast i might get more takers... sales was never my strong suit... I'm very proud of that.

get in touch with me if you think we need a limo to take us from the club to the water... could be a good option.

i have no idea what this blogasroo is about... it's choppey

So somebody made me a new poster for the Super Robertson Supper Show... guess who?  I'll give you a hint... he makes horns and plays in the Legion of Flying Monkeys Horn Orchestra.  That's right it's Fire-Man... I like it... not sure about the "blasphemies" concept as i see my self a more of a simple songwriter who's songs try to be about being a better person living in a better world, but as they say, nobody is listening anyway.

So i sent some posters to the printer and we will have those bad boys down to the club like tomorrow to join the collection of stellar Simian Special posters.

I remember when i use to spend a lot of my time "postering"... my efforts were legendary.. what a waste of fucking time... i have met people that saw my posters for years and never made it out to a show... this is back in the old days when i would cover Vancouver with 750 posters myself and all i got was a dental bill to fix some chipped teeth from biting tape.  In my head i saw it as a process to prepare for the show... practice is a better one.

Having posters in the club is a different animal all together... they are not getting rained on, nor is the person putting up the posters... they stay up because they are where they should be, which means printing in colour is worthwhile.  A poster can then be viewed and enjoyed by a patron who might need a moment to muse about it over some beers. 

Shit where was i... aren't i here to shit together a glowing review of last weeks show and then try to get all you chicken shit land lovers to come down to the show tomorrow for some early drinking and then a naked ocean swim out at 3rd beach  to cap off the evening and remind yourself that it is summer and you are alive.

I actually missed last weeks swim (due to a hockey game our team won 7-0), but Fire-Man and Sharon kept the summer tradition alive and had a lovely little swim that went without incident, so i am told. Of course i had to get the swim report... what kind of a jackass blogger would i be if i didn't get the swim report... if i am going to bark on about how important it is to go swimming naked in the cold dark ocean as a matter of some applied principle then i have to get the report.  that is one of the problems with those guys... they are natural night ocean swimmers, so there is no problem,  no fear...

So it was a Cam and Jesse supper show and Jesse's Mom was there and so was CC sit-down, and SRSS inspirational man award winner Dave Parchumchuck... actually there was a nice crowd and the boys were on that night... cam was singing exceptionally well was what i had written in my notes.  The boys invited Ogden Hammerstein up to play some music and added some gargle water harmonies to a supersimian song titled "bob style"... Odgen was kind enough to give the audience a choice of 3 songs and they went for that one, i believe because it was presented as a song about a guy who gets hammered in a bar and falls in love with a waitress and he strikes out goes home wakes up his wife club footing around the house and then goes tr try to write a novel...  yea we all been there they said.

Tomorrow we have Cognac Robertson and the blue shirt boys featuring JLS on guitar and Shawn Killaly on Drums... we may or may not have more.  I have a call and answer song to do so it would help if there were people there, but as i said earlier in an email... i couldn't draw a crowd if i was a fire hydrant in a city blaze.  i say that in jest for the record, don't want old Super Steve reading this tomorrow feeling sorry for old Robertson, cause Robertson is doing A OK... Robertson will do what he does and you can take it or leave it... it's not a bet, more like an offering... that said i predict an old school ball stomping at the SRSS tomorrow... come for the music supper and spirits and then do the swim... soon it will be November and we will be looking back to that night when we went swimming after the SRSS.

Swimming after the SRSS... could be a good song title... by the way we are going to do our version of "Double Rainbow" tomorrow and I'll be taping the bastard.

July 28 re-cap

It was time to get out the damn drum kit... no more of this acoustic night shit... not that there is anything wrong with acoustic nights, it's just that we haven't seen the drum kit in a while.

Super Robertson, Christoper Johnson and JLS the destroyer held down the fort as the trio for the night doing songs from the Robertson, Johnson and Fire-Man songbook and making up a few as they went... it was rough and edgy but remember that is what we were looking for... it was time to step outside the box and challenge ourselves, try to do something a little different.  hell even some people came down to see the show... Dan brought some people and they had supper... Brian brought Dan a few years ago and they come from time to time and it was Mule who brought Brian a few years before that... so it looks like we might have that thing happening:



cross pollinate that with this:




Did i mention we had "hand carved jazz horn" and story time... that's right Fire-Man was there honking "Myhorn" one of his original horns that he cut in half and folded to make transportation easier. I was going to do that play where CIBC totally fucks up on the RRSP payments and then continues to make the same mistakes over and over again completely un-aware of anything that happened before and each time calling me a different name but doing it in a manner that would suggest were were bosom buddies... But in a stunning turn of events i lost my fucking mind and tried to re-cap the shopping trip to Superstore with the kids, but for some reason witty words were eluding me on stage... and Fire-man is always good to honk on, which worked out well, at this time... later i got on to a thing about sharks, hopes dreams and wanting to be important, and after the show people wanted to talk sharks with me, so they were listening.  Then we did dish pig and JLS the destroyer really ripped it up on guitar... it was a good finish.

Then it was swim time... after some mild drinking of course... a few pitchers of beer and some shark antidotes make for very pleasant night time swimming if you like that kind of fear...  damn fireworks were blasting which worked out well because you can't see them from third beach which means nobody was there but Fire-man and I... the only problem was that Fire-Man was in the water first and then started ridiculing me about getting into the water... which made the water seem colder than it actually was... then he started blathering on about some "mammalian face response", and that i was meant to be in the water, which i suddenly had to disagree with... i have lungs and lack a dorsal fin or a blowhole (perhaps I'm leaving myself open for a zinger with that blowhole comment)... so the mammalian face response is that you put your face in the cold water and you body feels warmer than it actually is... probably induces some form of vascular dilation to conserve body heat... and then probably some neurotoxin to help with the "you are warm" lie.

Tomorrow we have Cameron Dilworth and Jesse Matheson... i may show as "Odgen Hammerstein" ... i guess we will see.

July 21 re-cap

musically the SRSS went pretty well but we were late starting and it seems that people would rather be out in the sun that come to the SRSS on days like last week, which you can't really blame them... got me thinking... should the supper show even happen in the summer? why stack greater odds against yourself... but then maybe one needs to see things from another angle.


None the less Stephen King had a man on stand-up bass and they sounded fine... i was suffering from "SSSD" (supper show stress disorder), but managed to lay down a set and it was a distinctive honour to have Land of Deborah up to sing "Blue skies"

Remember i had called the swim out at third beach after the show... well i went and did it, and it was King Hell. Unfortunately there was only me... the closest i got to an offer was one of the bartenders who lives near Jericho and she told me to flash a light her way and she would flick her light on back to say "yo have a good swim". Then i pressed her about her husband and to drag him out but apparently he won't go into water when it's dark... then i smelt paranoia and pressed harder. You see i had been working myself up into a fine shark paranoia all day in preparation for the swim... and it was odd because a couple times that day people i know, out of the blue, without prompting mentioned that there are no sharks in the water here... which is clearly a foolish statement. The scientific term is "accidental migrant" and it is used to describe an animal that has strayed from a geographical location where it is expected to be to a geographical location where it is not expected to be... and following that bone logic the animal... or alpha predator for that matter is going to be hungry after the journey. This is totally clear to any straight thinker out there... oceans have no boundaries and considering all of the intense pollution and stressing factors that are going on in the ocean habitat as a whole it is completely reasonable that there are confused, lost and irritable sharks out there looking to settle the score.

Apparently these people aren't the kind of people who like to challenge their late night ocean paranoia's, like say myself... who after quaffing a few pints and having a few laughs set out on the journey... it was firecracker night so everybody was leaving the beach, and biking thought the crowds was kind of annoying but i was going out to the more secluded 3rd beach located in Stanley Park... a good little ride but by the time you get there you are in the frame of mind to strip down and swim... it was fantastic... i just floated on my back sculling looking at the trees and had a few moments where i weighed the magnitude of life and how lucky i was to be there and living it.

So swim again tomorrow... you should come... i remember being on Mayne island one time and a friend jumped into the water and was looking back at me as i cowered over the idea of the cold north pacific... and he told me "it's just what your body needs" when he said it i thought it was bullshit but when i did take the plunge i had to agree.

July 14 Re-cap

There was The Land of Deborah and Super Robertson and JLS... JLS was originally the sound man for the evening, but as per SRSS protocol "when in doubt pry the sound man up on stage to play lead guitar and then lead the final number of the night" which happened on this night to be a number about fathers, our destiny, and of course PARANOIA.

It wouldn't be like SR to not play the paranoia card when it is time for a little improvisation... which is rather a re-hashing of some of the great stories in which a certain Robertson elder takes paranoia to provincial heights all while JLS lays down a foundation clinic of groove and melody.

there was a small but courteous audience that wore faces with smiles and then we swilled beer and watched a girl band who's mother was in attendance... this i know because i was talking to her about her daughters band... she was very proud and i remembered that note i found in my stuff my mother saved for me... it was a note that was written by my father, my wife (who was not my wife at the time), and a friend...

the note was written in SAMOO'S pub during a festival called Localpalooza like a decade ago... it was so loud in there nobody could talk so they wrote notes to each other to communicate.

Dad- can we leave after Knockin' Dog, i have suffered enough ear damage already
CT- good idea
Mike- you don't know ear damage until you hear Knockin' Dog

My parents are troopers... i think my dad helped carry the mutant double neck guitar into the gig.

anyhoo

Stephen King is coming down on July 21 and SR will make something happen on his end.

anybody up to biking to second beach for some late night swimming after the show?

summertime will end when it's over, but now is the time to swim.

June 23 re-cap

It was a king hell night for sure and it started with S Robertson running over 3 songs
"Nothing was heard"- a protest song about how we as a society never listen to logic and as a result gladly suffer disasters.

"Famous Person"- a funny little song that looks at the concept of fame and plays with it's context as our hero delivers an autobiographical number

"Disappear"- a Canadian classic song by Super Robertson and Simian Special

Then Genny Trigo took the stage and demonstrated her brilliance with a classical guitar and great voice and some south American classic folk songs. She can really stop the patrons in their tracks as they head in the door and then send some of their party to get drinks as others find a good seat. We call it the GT special... Genny Trigo starts singing and then people just appear out of know where with looks of intrigue on their happy faces.


Then Genny and Super got up together and played some fine versions of some songs they put together last year.

"the last honey and toast"- a song for the bees, but it is a bit sad, as it can be for things that aren't money

"Moustache man"- an ode to a photographer friend

"4 FEATHERS"- inspired by the book of RUMI

"Rage hero episode #37"- a song about how our hero tries in vain to solve a problem with a shoddy makeshift security device that ends up blowing up in his face

"one little dream"- a song about having the courage to do what you need to do to follow your path, and the confidence that that path will lead you to where you want to be.

All in all it was a fine SRSS and some of the folks that were there expressed that they quite enjoyed the evening, and pointed out a number of songs that they enjoyed.

that's all we really need

On June 30 we have the Gentle Infidels
On July 7 it is the Camille Dangworth and Jose Mouthason supper show
On July 14 it would be The Land Of Deborah and the return of S Robertson

show's on supper seekers