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.