in the key of life

Our lives eb and flow along with the heft of our keychains. My keys illustrate how life has changed over the past 20 years or so. In the early 2000s, I added my Calgary house keys and my parents’ condo keys. My employer added another one. It was to my office in a local heritage building. The old-fashioned key opened a big oak door. Job eliminated. Key is gone. The passing of my elderly parents added more condo keys – storage lockers, mailbox plus their car keys. Condo is sold. Keys are gone. Only ones left are to their ‘95 Lincoln which hopefully will be sold soon along with the keys. One key that was removed, then reappeared, is to my gym locker padlock. New gym membership. That key may be temporary, a COVID barometer as it were.

i smell an alberta rat

No, I don’t believe that Alberta is absolutely rat free, but I do buy into the myth. I know we have far fewer Norway rats than any place else. Back in the 1980s I went for a ride along with the Alberta Rat Patrol for CBC Radio, Edmonton. I travelled to the Saskatchewan border and remember passing a cattle feedlot. The rat patroller says to me: “There’s no doubt about it. There are rats there.” He also went into graphic detail about how farmers deal with an infestation. “They gather in a group with shotguns, hook a tail pipe-hose to the grain silo. It fills with exhaust. Rats come running out and they pick them off.” One of my favourite podcasts triggered this memory. Decoder Ring. Here’s a link to the rat episode. If you live in Alberta and you see a rat, rat him out here.   

my day in emergency

One minute I’m walking the dogs. Next thing, my face is smashed against a concrete step; I tripped. Blood everywhere. Kind passersby calls 911. I’m in an ambulance heading for emerg with a stop to drop off the dogs. Paramedics are dog lovers. Asked me if they could snap a shot of the pups in the ambulance. Sure!  No lights or sirens. I’m not dying. Serious cuts to the face and maybe a head injury. Fourteen stiches and a CT scan to check my skull and brain. There’s nothing broken or bleeding inside. Nurses and doctors are great. Room next to me, there’s a guy swearing and shouting at them. I hear he’s a drug abuser. I try to be extra nice to staff because he’s extra ornery. I’m home with a smashed face. They say men make plans and God laughs. I got in a knife fight. That’s gonna be my story.  

flying v – the final chapter

It’s finished. December 2020, I took delivery of a Solo Gear guitar kit – Flying V - all the parts. Like a model airplane but instead of a plane, a full-size guitar. I figured it would be fun to build with the help of my friend Kevin Gullion of The New Vintage. There were delays - COVID19; he got busy; I got busy. In recent weeks, we finally finished painting. That left assembly. Kev did the wiring. That was tough. I put on tuning pegs. That’s the easiest job. Truth be told, with all the add-ons and upgrades I probably could have bought one cheaper, but it was fun to learn, and I ended up with a cool guitar in the end.     

truth and reconciliation and music

When it comes to truth and reconciliation, you can help Indigenous youth at-risk through ArtsCan Circle. Its a great way to support music education for kids. My connection to ArtsCan is through my friend Mike Stevens. He inspired its creation. Mike is the best harmonica player in the world – specialty is bluegrass and blues. He lives in Sarnia, Ontario but it all started when he visited Gander NF 20 years ago, on his way to perform in Europe. He was introduced to some kids who were sniffing gasoline. He played music for them, gave them harmonicas, and vowed to return to give them music lessons. He did, and it resulted two decades of music education for thousands of kids in dozens of Indigenous communities across North America. Mike tells the story in a TedX talk. There’s also a film documentary A Walk in My Dream. You can donate money here or musical instruments here.

clothes make the man

For the first time since I was 13, I don't own a suit – a formal sport coat and trousers. I always had one or two as I grew up, including during my CBC years but not for work. I dressed shleppy there. Being a radio producer meant behind the scenes. Jeans were fine. During my later years in communications at a post secondary, I felt I needed to up my image at the office. I wore a jacket and tie though it wasn’t mandatory. I bet coworkers thought it was a boomer thing. It wasn’t. I just felt like classing it up. I bought made-to-measure business attire and I paid extra for the fat guy size. Since leaving that job, I’ve been freelancing. Back to jeans. I gave away all my fat guy suits. Now I need one for a wedding. Off the rack here I come.

green flying v

Flying V sessions 5 + 6. Where does the time go? Summer holidays and life in general put my V guitar on hold. We’re now in the home stretch. I have made two recent visits to my friend Kevin’s workshop. Kevin makes The New Vintage brand guitars. Painting and sanding have been happening. I picked a satin military style green which will look great next to the tortoise shell pickguard. We sprayed, waited, and sprayed, and repeated. A week later I came back to sand with fancy 800 grit paper. We resumed the spray and wait thing, this time with clear coat. It looks smooth and fancy. Kevin used some tricks to cover some flaws. It’s not perfect but it will have mojo. We have more treatments planned for the body, then assembly. Stay tuned.   

papers please

Before 9/11 they would wave in the CBC News vans at the Detroit border. We often crossed to cover stories. One day, post 9/11, I was with a TV crew, and we were stopped at the US border. No big deal. Our ID was okayed at immigration but then “your next step is customs.” “What?” It turns out they wanted an account of all the gear in the van. “Where’s your ‘carnet’?” None of us knew what that was. Nobody had ever been asked. We turned back to Canada missing our story. After that, every CBC van in Windsor had a carnet to show at the border. This isn’t only a 9/11 story; this is a vaccine passport story. We didn’t need one before. We do now, so it’s time to have one.  

canada day

After the discovery of unmarked graves of hundreds of Indigenous children, many people are calling for cancelling Canada Day celebrations on our national birthday, at least for this year. Some suggest we do away with the holiday altogether. Here’s an alternative. We might think about treating it more like the Jewish New Year. During the high holidays, Jewish people gather with family and celebrate what they hope will be the beginning of a new sweet year, but they also reflect on the past, atone for wrongdoings, and promise to do better next year. That’s the perfect Canada Day for me. Celebrate the good things about the country, reflect on past and present injustices, and come up with ways of fixing what’s broken, and work on doing better.

flying v guitar prep

Flying V guitar session No. 4. My kit is closer to being a guitar. Kevin, of New Vintage Custom Guitars, said the next step is to mock-up the guitar to make sure everything fits. Before that, the new pickguard needed to be cut. That was all Kev. He’s highly skilled around band and scroll saws. He traced it and expertly cut it out, plus other bits, from the tortoise shell material. It’s multi-ply plastic. No tortoise was harmed. We then mounted most of the parts and drilled holes where the strings will pass through the body. It all fits together. Perfect. It almost looks like the guitar it’s going to be, except for the colour. After a couple of weeks off, the painting will begin.  

sanding the v guitar

Body before and after sanding and scrap of painted mahogany.

Will the sanding ever end? Session No. 3 on the Flying V kit involved a palm sized power sander to flatten wood plugs on the body. Two holes remain for the bridge. Now you can’t feel the plugs. You can see them, but they’ll be hidden when the guitar is finished. Kevin, of TNV Custom Guitars, tells me the body came with grain sealer so the next step was to sand the body – 400, then 1200 grit sandpaper to make it smooth for painting. I pushed the paper all over the V to make it smooth. It will eventually be army green. We tested paint on a scrap of mahogany. Next session, we’ll spray clear coat on the scrap to make sure it’ll work and mock up the guitar before we paint the body.

flying v guitar update

Sanding the Flying V headstock and neck.

Session No. 2 on the Flying V kit. Two vaccines for Kevin and me so we’re up close and personal. Sanding and more sanding to make sure the neck is smooth, 200 grit, 400 grit, 1200 grit. Also, touch ups plugging tiny nicks in the wood so they become invisible. One special job is rounding off the top of the headstock. (see photo) Guitar kits come with angular headstocks to avoid a Gibson lawsuit. A minute on the sander and it has that classic V look. We are going a little rogue on the design. Changing the bridge and making a custom pickguard so some plugged holes on the body were required. Glued in some wood. It has to set. Ready for session three – sanding the body.  

Check out Kevin’s custom guitar website - The New Vintage

my flying v

Guitar builder Kevin helping me assemble my Flying V.

Back in December 2020 I blogged about my first guitar building project – a Flying V. A couple of COVID-19 waves and two vaccines later, I finally started the build with help from my friend Kevin of The New Vintage Custom Guitars. We laid out the pieces and decided what more we need, like paint and upgraded parts. Next, Kevin said “work on the neck.” I now know what it means to crown, file, and polish frets. This is my first attempt, with guidance from the master. The green tape is to protect the fretboard. Next, I’m off to buy some upgrades, new electronics and material to make a new pickguard. Next, comes sanding on the opposite side of the neck.  

chickens and eggs

Why pay a $3.00 CAD premium for a dozen eggs? Chalk it up to a childhood memory of an elementary school field trip to a farm; specifically, a visit to the massive chicken house. There were thousands of birds, row upon row of tiny cages, three chickens in each. “There are only supposed to be two” we were told. “Don’t tell anybody.” Conveyor belts sweep away the eggs. I remember thinking it was horrible. Cramped in cages, never seeing the sun, to live and die like this. Fast forward to a recent trip to the grocery story. Yes, I’ll pay double for a dozen just to let the chickens run free. Call it a guilt tax.  

warren zevon

Warren Zevon should be remembered as more than a one hit wonder, but he is best known for his one huge hit Werewolves of London. The American singer songwriter, who died in 2003, left us 15 LPs filled with heartbreak, sentimentality, violence, and even hockey. A good place to start is a compilation ironically (but not really) called Genius but, for my money, his classic 1976 self titled album is the real masterpiece. I am not a record collector, more an accumulator. But, when it comes to Zevon, I am a completist. Pictured here is a single with two versions of Werewolves, the original and a cover by the Flamin’ Groovies. I ordered this from Sweden. I’m a happy fanboy.  

i have a stick

Most mornings I head to the off-leash park nearby with my two mutts. They don’t play fetch. Mostly they sniff bums and BB, the Chihuahua cross, picks fights with bigger dogs. And, unlike others, mine are not enamoured with sticks. Lately I’ve been paying attention to dogs with sticks, particularly the ones proudly brandishing them as they walk next to their humans. Often the sticks are larger than the dogs. They look so proud. “I have a stick. I am walking with it. It is mine!” It got me thinking. What would it take for people to be that proud and happy with something so simple? We want stuff – money, fame, success, sex. Sometimes all it takes is a good solid stick.

under the covers

I love covers – when artists record new versions of songs popularized by other musicians. No doubt some are bad, but many are wonderful. The best ones reimagine songs in surprising ways. My favourite example is Britney Spears’ Oops I Did It Again covered by English folk rock pioneer and guitar god Richard Thompson. There are also tribute records such as this one of John Denver songs. My fave is Some Days are Diamonds. by Amos Lee. Then there are singer songwriters who record entire albums of their favourite songs by others. Two to check out are Molly Tuttle’s ”… but I’d rather be with you” and Frampton Forgets the Words, a record of instrumental covers by Peter Frampton.      

I have a playlist of originals and covers on Spotify. Have a listen.

vaccine

I sit in a small office while the appraiser looks at my late mother’s jewellery. I suspect some is valuable, some is not. I hope he tells me more. He does. I wear a mask the whole time. He takes his off. We sit across a desk less than a metre apart. He’s nice enough until I ask, “did you get the vaccine?” “No, my family is prone to blood clots” and he mumbles something else. I stiffen. It dawns on me, he’s an anti vaxxer and masker. How many people visit him every day? How many does he breathe on and breathe on him? Could he spread it to me? Apparently, he doesn’t care. I had my first shot of AstraZeneca so if I get the virus, it will likely be mild, I hope. I’m never going back that’s for sure.  

my aussie tenor

I have never been to Jupiter Creek, Australia, but I own the guitar, a tenor guitar. I bought it about 10 years ago on Ebay. One of the attractions was the large Australian penny embedded in the body. I’ve always been intrigued by tenors – four strings, sometimes tuned like the high four of a six-string but there are many tunings. Vintage ones are expensive and rare, like the Gibson played by Neko Case. The one I bought was relatively cheap. I recently had it cleaned and set up. It plays like a charm. I finally learned its origin story. It was handmade by Rob Dick which makes me love it even more. If memory serves, the seller said it was the first tenor Rob made. I wish I could ask him.  

amp in my pocket

It may not look like it, but this is a guitar amp, a Fender Mustang Micro. You plug it into your instrument, attach headphones, the kind with a cord, and play. There’s more. The four switches on the side provide a plethora of tones – classic amp characteristics plus effects such as distortion and tremolo. It’s tiny. It fits in your pocket. Am I impressed? You bet. I had a Pavlov’s dog response when I saw a demo on YouTube. I began to salivate and ran out and bought one. Fender didn’t pay me to write this. They got to me through their influencers. Fender and their competitors typically distribute free stuff to content hungry YouTubers. In turn, they spew forth generally positive endorsements. In this case, well deserved.