Chris Isaak and Wicked Game

There is such a large amount of fabulous music out there - I keep tripping over great songs and then get stuck on that artist for a while. I recently heard Chris Isaak on CBC Radio 2 singing his major hit Wicked Game and I was reminded that he has an incredible voice and a great sound.  

According to Wiki, Christopher Joseph "Chris" Isaak  was born June 26, 1956 in California..  He is both a rock musician and an occasional actor.

After the tune played on the radio, the program  host went on to say that the video which accompanied the song was the hotest, sexiest video he had ever seen and  he remembers the video every time he hears the song. Because of the video he thinks of the song as the most romantic he has ever heard. I had to watch the video and I have to agree - I would vote for a guy like Chris Isaak and a romp on the beach and in the ocean any day... LOL

A great day started with fog coming off the water - pretty sights.

I ended up buying his Best of Chris Isaak (Remastered) album and there are some wicked great songs on it.  I listened to it all the way up on my drive to my Collingwood Shangri-La. I thought I would share the video which has resulted in a mellow mood and me waking up humming this morning and is really appropriate for my very mellow day at my Collingwood Shangri-La.



Wicked Game"

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do.
I never dreamed that I'd meet somebody like you.
And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you.

No, I don't want to fall in love (This world is only gonna break your heart)
No, I don't want to fall in love (This world is only gonna break your heart)
With you (This world is only gonna break your heart)

What a wicked game to play, to make me feel this way.
What a wicked thing to do, to let me dream of you.
What a wicked thing to say, you never felt this way.
What a wicked thing to do, to make me dream of you and,

I want to fall in love (This world is only gonna break your heart)
No, I want to fall in love (This world is only gonna break your heart)
With you.

The world was on fire and no one could save me but you.
It's strange what desire will make foolish people do.
I never dreamed that I'd love somebody like you.
And I never dreamed that I'd lose somebody like you,

No, I want to fall in love (This world is only gonna break your heart)
No, I want to fall in love (This world is only gonna break your heart)
With you (This world is only gonna break your heart)
No, I... (This world is only gonna break your heart)
(This world is only gonna break your heart)

Nobody loves no one.

My favourite month is May.  In the month of May things start coming alive in our City. As we move through the month there are more and more weekend activities and the weather moves from cool to absolutely perfect. Well almost perfect. We Torontonians brave the outdoor cafes and patios in 10 degree weather just cuz we can.  By the end of May we get reliable 20 degree weather which is a bit more comfortable to sit out on a patio and sip a beer or a glass of wine.  None the less - by the 2nd weekend in May all respectable outdoor patios have tables outside open even if they have also a few propane heaters at the ready!

From the May Victoria Day holiday (the 3rd Monday in May) through to the September Labour Day holiday there will be 2 or 3 major street festivals and events every weekend not to mention the regular attractions which run through the same period.   It is hard to decide what to do but for sure there is something for everyone's taste and sensibilities. Go here to the Events Toronto site   or here to the City of Toronto Events site if you would like to check into all the events our city has to offer.

Not only do all the outdoor attractions (including restaurant patios) open in May but people start to go out doors in May.   Everyone is busy dusting off (or like me, buying) their bicycles, going to the garden stores and stocking up on seeds and plants and garden furniture and getting ready to enjoy summer.

One activity I have never managed to time properly in previous years was an outing to High Park to see the Cherry Blossoms. Tuesday night last week I slipped over to the park after work - it is not too far from Liberty Village- and joined the thousands of other Torontonians who like me, had been listening to the CBC Morning Show and were told that there was a spectacular display of blossoms this year and that they were at their peak in the next few days.  Blooms last about a week, but not even that long if there is rain so they would not last until the weekend.  The weather was fabulous even at 7 p.m. when I managed to arrive, but I was disappointed that the sun had given way to clouds.  While I did not have the backdrop of blue to show off the blossoms in their best light, none the less, it was an exquisite sight to see so many trees in full blossom and it was worth the effort to see them. 

Maybe next year, I can manage to sneak away from work early and do a picnic dinner in the park, as many who were already at the park when I arrived had done. 

For my far away friends in the blogsphere, High Park is Toronto's largest public park and it  spans 400 acres (nearly 2 sq km) and features many hiking trails, sports facilities, diverse vegetation, a beautiful lakefront, a small zoo, playgrounds for children, a couple of eateries, greenhouses, and various outdoor venues.  The elevation rises a bit up from the lake shore and the views are spectacular.  It is the place to see Cherry Blossoms or Sakura trees as they are called, in the City of Toronto. The first Japanese Somei-Yoshino Cherry Tree was planted here in 1959 and it was present from the citizens of Tokyo in appreciation of Toronto accepting re-located Japanese-Canadians following the Second World War. The growing collection has been added to over the years thanks to the generosity of more than just a few folks.

The following slide show features the magnificent Sakura Blossoms as well as some of the other spring flowers in bloom at High Park.  I was also able to take some shots from high on the hill overlooking the lake and the large (35 acre)  Grenadier Pond, which is at the western edge of the park.

Long Time No Post - A quick update

Seems like I have taken an extended time away from blogging, but (sadly) it was entirely unplanned.  Just too much on the go these days.  I have been holding back until I get my list of 20 things crossed off from my "Must do before summer" list.  The good news is that I am almost there.  The bad news is that I got 2 new items when last week I ended up buying and putting together some furniture from Ikea which now has to be disassembled and returned and new pieces fetched and a second assembly session scheduled.  Oh well... the place is shaping up nicely!  As you can tell, I have been catching up with, among other things, my feathering the nest tasks.  I am very excited as I have even managed to order my window coverings!

I owe a special thanks to my friend Michael Golland who spent Sunday evening helping me figure out the best placement of furniture and hung some of my Cecily Moon pieces on my walls. He has graciously agreed to create a wonderful piece to hang on the larger empty wall which will be a focal point for the room!

In the meantime, until I get more time to blog, I thought I would check in with folks and post a few pictures and a brief update and a song that grabbed me as I walked home from work tonight. 

Almost got my living room sorted around.

My balcony is at the ready for sunshine and R&R!

My new vehicle!

Practising with my zoom lens

Zoom to the max!  All from my balcony!

Walking home today it seemed such a warm and (near) summer day when I heard this song by Donovan I cast my mind back to days of my youth.  It was fun to listen to the song and remember what life was like back then.

Remember Donovan?  According to Wiki:

Donovan (born Donovan Philips Leitch; 10 May 1946) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Emerging from the British folk scene, he developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelia, and world music. He currently lives with his family in County Cork in Ireland.

It is his birthday today! 

Wiki provides us with some interesting background to the song Sunshine Superman and the period it was written in:

By 1966, Donovan had shed the overt Dylan/Guthrie influences and become one of the first British pop musicians to adopt a flower power image. More importantly, his music was developing and changing rapidly as he immersed himself in jazz, blues, Eastern music, and the new generation of US West Coast bands such as Jefferson Airplane and The Grateful Dead. He was now entering his most creative and original phase as a songwriter and recording artist, working in close collaboration with Mickie Most and especially with arranger, musician, and jazz fan John Cameron.

Their first collaboration was "Sunshine Superman". One of the first overtly psychedelic pop records, it was an innovative and eclectic blend of folk, rock, pop and jazz. The arrangement was augmented by prominent harpsichord and sitar, and set against a funky conga-driven back-beat. It also contained subtle but unmistakable references to LSD – notably, the line, "I could've tripped out easy, but I've changed my ways".

Sunshine Superman lyrics
Sunshine came softly through my a-window today
Could've tripped out easy a-but I've a-changed my ways
It'll take time, I know it but in a while
You're gonna be mine, I know it, we'll do it in style
'Cause I made my mind up you're going to be mine

I'll tell you right now
Any trick in the book now, baby, all that I can find
Superman or Green Lantern ain't got a-nothin' on me
I can make like a turtle and dive for your pearls in the sea, yeah!
A you can just sit there a-thinking on your velvet throne
'bout all the rainbows a-you can a-have for your own
'Cause I made my mind up you're going to be mine

I'll tell you right now
Any trick in the book now, baby, all that I can find
Everybody's hustlin' just to have a little scene
When I say we'll be cool I think that you know what I mean
We stood on a beach at sunset, do you remember when?
I know a beach where, baby, a-it never ends
When you've made your mind up forever to be mine

Hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm, hmm
I'll pick up your hand and slowly blow your little mind
'Cause I made my mind up you're going to be mine
I'll tell you right now
Any trick in the book now, baby, all that I can find

Superman or Green Lantern ain't got a-nothin' on me
I can make like a turtle and dive for your pearls in the sea, yeah!
A you-you-you can just sit there a-thinking on your velvet throne
'bout all the rainbows a-you can a-have for your own
When you've made your mind up forever to be mine
I'll pick up your hand and slowly blow your little mind
When you've made your mind up forever to be mine

I'll pick up your hand
I'll pick up your hand
And slowly blow your little mind
(Fading)Blow Your Little Mind

Return from Paradise

Again not a long blog - too much to catch up on this week and tomorrow night I am heading off to my Collingwood Shangri-La!  I thought I could at least share with you some photos of my trip.  I stayed at Melia Las Americas, which is located within the Veradero Golf Course.  Spent a lot of time at the beach, reading and sipping a Pina Colada.

From the Resort's Web site

This is one view from my hotel room. The "Xanadú" Mansion you see on the right is the Club House of the Varadero Golf Club. It was originally constructed in 1930 for French American millionaire Irenee Dupont de Nemours (of the Dupont Chemical Company) who built it as his retirement home. 

Pretty nice to wake up and see the ocean. 

Not that I spent much time in my room, but couldn't ask for a better view.

This is the Dupont Mansion as seen from the beach.

The Beach at Veradero can't be beat.

The water was amazingly blue.

I had a hard time trying to figure out what to do with my days.

A friend of mine preferred poolside.

The catamaran excursion to Cayo Blanco was great fun.

Cayo Blanco white sand paradise

Too soon my vacation was over. 

In a Fog

I am heading off to Cuba for a week of fun in the sun. So no time for a long blog as I have lots to do to get ready for my Monday flight. Spring has definitely sprung this week and last week's freezing temps have retreated throughout the week with promise of a truly spring like 13 degrees Celsius (55 F) today! I wish I had time for a long walk but sadly today no chance and tomorrow forecasts rain.

The warming breezes coming up south over Lake Ontario gave us some interesting fog this week. I snapped the following pics one night as I got home and the fog rolled in over the Lake.

In the space of 20 minutes I saw the fog roll in from the Lake and blanket Liberty Village entirely.

This suggests a post apocalyptic scene.   A bit eerie for sure!

The truth is that Liberty Village is in a construction boom and with the construction cranes rising out of the fog this is never more evident.

As you can see I  am enjoying my new camera and having fun with it as I learn how to use it properly. 

My New Camera - Canon SX220 HS

I bought a new camera today and I am very excited about it. It has some neat technology built in to help with low light and night shots and also has a 14x optical zoom which with the 12 megapixels allows reasonable quality zoom photos from a distance.  I feel like a spy now from my 19th floor balcony!

When the special "hand held night shot assist" is used the camera takes several shots in a burst and somehow arrives at one decent photo - so you can do a longer exposure without a tripod!

Can you spot the areas I have zoomed into below from the pictures above?

It also has a photo burst mode which allows it to shoot like a machine gun -- the idea being that if the figure is in motion you will get good shots of the action. I wish I had this camera at the hockey game last week - I kept missing the players as they had zoomed right out of sight by the time I pushed the camera trigger.

Bella wasn't moving when I took the photos below but I put together a collage of the resulting pictures so you can see the effect.

There is also an indoor low light assist mode which should help my next set of pictures from Hugh's Room be of much superior quality than the last ones.  With all these camera features and full HD movie capture features as well, this is a real treat for me!

It is going to take time to learn all the new features, but since my last camera was a Canon it should not be too difficult as the controls are very similar. 

After posting the blog I realized that I had not included a picture of my new camera - and in fact it might be interesting to show my old and new Canon cameras side by side. So I got my BlackBerry out and snapped a few different views of both cameras.

April is Poetry Month and the Toronto Poetry Slam

I have a great excuse to blog about poetry a lot during the next month. My regular visitors know that I have shared a fair bit of poetry over the years, but I fear my regular visitors are getting a bit tired of me pulling a Pablo Neruda out of the grab bag as often as I do.  So for something completely different I decided to focus on spoken word poetry and bring to everyone's attention the Toronto Poetry Slam. 

Spoken Word or Slam Poetry
From Wiki:

Spoken word is used as a musical or entertainment term, referring to works or performances that consist solely or mostly of one person speaking as if naturally. Musically, this is distinct from rapping, as rapping incorporates rhythm and sometimes melody, whereas spoken word is more akin to narration or speaking as the person would in conversation...

Allan Ginsberg

Probably the earliest well  known spoken word poet in North America is Allan Ginsberg, who was a Beat Generation poet who vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression, well known for his poem "Howl", which was originally written as a performance piece. When it was first performed it was considered obscene because of its references to illicit drugs and sexuality and a well publicized trial ensued.   The poem is interesting with its many beat generation 1950s cultural/historical references.

The opening lines give you a sense of the poem and you can go to the text of the poem here if you want to have a read - it is extremely long.

I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by
madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at
dawn looking for an angry fix,
angel headed hipsters burning for the ancient
heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the
machinery of night,

I have a blog in the making (actually started 2 years ago!) about Jack Kerouac, who is the best known Beat Generation poet and writer, perhaps I will mange to finish and post that this year.  :(

The Toronto Poetry Slam

The Toronto Poetry Slam  is a monthly spoken word competition, where the judges vote on each poem presented.   The winners of the monthly competitions are entered in the semi final competitions held in March and the annual grand slam winner is decided at the end of April.  The TPS is held at the Drake Hotel Underground, except for the Grand Slam which because of the audience size is held at Hugh's Room.  I just might toddle off to hear some of Toronto's best at this April event.


From the Toronto Poetry Slam website:

TPS is presented by Toronto Poetry Project, a collective of ten poets who also produce BAM! Toronto Youth Slam and niche slams such as the Geek Slam, Story Slam and the Haiku Deathmatch. We believe in democratization of art, truth and the old proverb, "The points are not the point, the poetry is the point.".

Blue Jay's Season Opener - Spring is Here!
Image by Getty Images via @daylife
As a segue to the next poem, last night was the season opener of the Toronto Blue Jay' Baseball team.  I wonder if any of our sports teams are going to give Toronto fans reason to celebrate this year.  The TBJ team has been just as disappointing as our hockey, bball and soccer teams have been of late, I am afraid.  Not sure if we are expecting any better from the Blue Jays this year - but it was great to see the expectant optimism as fans strolled toward the stadium baseball gloves in hand.  I work across the street from the Roger's Center - our domed stadium.  Last night as I walked home, I felt like a fish swimming up stream as everyone was heading to watch the game.


This spoken word poem by Mark Larsen, a New York poet, provides some food for thought.  Where would you want your ashes cast after you die?  Who will be the one to do this for you?

7th Inning Stretch

By Mark Larsen

You're not gone yet, but when you are, I will sprinkle
your ashes over softball fields in Central Park.
Do you remember telling me that's what you wanted?
We sat on a bench, father and son
keeping score on a Saturday afternoon.
Someone hit a shot so far over the left fielder's head
that it rolled to a stop at your feet.
You picked it up and threw it back into the game.
I realized then you did not throw a ball that well.
I could probably throw a ball farther, and harder, than you.
An inning later you turned to me and said,
"When I die I want them to sprinkle my ashes over these fields."
The 'them' you referred to will be me.
I've never had to sprinkle ashes before.
I wonder how you do it.
Perhaps it's a bit like adding salt to soup,
or barbecue sauce to ribs - no recipes.
I'll bend down,
pick up some infield dirt, taste it,
and know I have just enough of you in the ground.

Mark Larsen can be contacted at marklar@aol.com.