The Long Road

Here’s Ben live on KCRW, Morning Becomes Eclectic, March 24, 2006. Great version. Thanks to Kwaya Na Kisser for the link. And thanks to Grant over at Potting Along for pointing me to Kwaya Na Kisser - a great music blog. If you act fast, you can download this entire set (including a good interview with Ben) there.

Download Better Way

Last night we had a rare treat. We caught the first of a several live shows that we plan to see over the coming months. Playing at the Ashcroft Opera House in beautiful downtown Ashcroft BC, was an older, more refined, Barney Bentall. This was an intimate acoustic show for 100 people in a tiny, revitalized theatre. Now I know what you’re saying…”Barney Bentall? Why?”. But honestly, it was awesome to hear an artist who has been out of the mainstream, public eye for sometime now (he’s taken up ranching in the area) and has gained insight into life, and his music. He’s matured. Old favs were played in a stipped down, mostly slowed down format, and new poignant tunes were played and debuted. It was truly a great show. It had a wonderful, personal feel - in fact when Vanessa (up from Victoria for the weekend) returned from the washroom during intermission, she found that Barney had stolen her seat (next to Michelle) and was chatting and enjoying a piece of cake. Bottom line? We left with that euphoric feeling - the one you get after seeing something special.

Well, better late than never… Thanks goes out to Rory and Sarah for hosting us in Revelstoke for Easter. Was great to catch up with them and Jacqui and Glenn too. Had some great turkey too!!!

Apparently not much! After replacing the tap and drain system on our bathroom sink, and feeling pretty proud of myself for such a pro job, I soon found myself all wet! Doh! Stupid hard-to-work-with-pedestal sink! Hmmmm. Well, I had to do the drain assembly again, and this time we’re good to go. It looked so easy…

’nuff said.

April 24 Update It’s here. We got it. It went what seems like halfway around the world, but our MP3 player is back. Now to charge it and see if they actually repaired it…

April 21 Update. Well the madness continues. Looks like our package has entered Canada once again. But not before going to Redmond, then to Richmond BC, back to Redmond and back to Richmond again. Apparently last night it left Richmond, but that’s all I know at this point. It is heading toward us yet? Back to New York perhaps? Who is to say? Time will tell…. Later, April 21 Well I missed the delivery! Of course after all of that fuss, we weren’t here for the first delivery attempt. Won’t be another one until monday. You can see if it is sucessful here

RICHMOND, BC, CA 04/20/2006 11:00 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
04/20/2006 3:17 P.M. IMPORT SCAN
04/20/2006 11:18 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
REDMOND, WA, US 04/20/2006 6:10 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
RICHMOND, BC, CA 04/20/2006 3:40 A.M. RELEASED BY CLEARING AGENCY. NOW IN-TRANSIT FOR DELIVERY
REDMOND, WA, US 04/20/2006 3:31 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
REDMOND, WA, US 04/19/2006 9:29 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN

Well our Creative Zen MP3 player did a very bad thing and broke down. It was sent off to the folks at Creative Labs in Stillwater, Oklahoma US of A for repair. Which they did. Then it gets interesting. Below is what I found when I checked the UPS website to track the return of my package. I’m most curious as to why it actually entered Canada (Richmond), only to be whisked away to New York! At least it made its way back west, spending time in Spokane today. Last word is that it did indeed leave the Spoke today… Is the official UPS song… “Destination Anywhere… East or West, I don’t care!” Hope not!

SPOKANE, WA, US 04/19/2006 2:59 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
04/19/2006 3:48 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
NEW STANTON, PA, US 04/14/2006 3:24 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
04/14/2006 12:02 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
E. SYRACUSE, NY, US 04/14/2006 3:47 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
RICHMOND, BC, CA 04/13/2006 7:22 A.M.
COMMERCE CITY, CO, US 04/10/2006 6:34 P.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
SALINA, KS, US 04/10/2006 10:12 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
04/10/2006 8:25 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK, US 04/10/2006 3:45 A.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
04/10/2006 12:07 A.M. ARRIVAL SCAN
STILLWATER, OK, US 04/07/2006 9:25 P.M. DEPARTURE SCAN
04/07/2006 8:04 P.M. ORIGIN SCAN

Well, I thought I was done blogging for the night, but no, I’m all excited and must share. I’ve known for a few weeks now that Bruce Springsteen has a new album called We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions coming out in a few days. I just heard it. I have to say that it is gonna be stunning. Those of you who are fans, like me, are getting less and less excited about Springsteen releases (Rob, this means you), but this is different. This is a barn party. It totally sounds fun. It is comprised completely of Pete Seeger songs played by Bruce and a backing band 17 strong recorded live with absolutely no rehearsal or overdubing. Anyway, you are gonna like it! Don’t believe me? Well you can hear it streamed for free until April 20 at Clear Channel Music. Do yourself a favour and go there now!

Well, perhaps we are becoming communists. After studying closely the much adopted Five Year Plan of the Russians and Chinese (and others), we have decided to embark on our own. Yes, today we planted a pear tree in the yard. And yes, we don’t expect it to bear fruit until five years of care and close attention have passed. But the cool thing is that it is a freak of nature! Yes, we did plant Frankenfruit! Our one little tree has five varieties of pears, each maturing at different times. Pretty cool. No, this is not really a GMO - it was done with old school technology… grafting! Mmmmmmm.

So, I now declare Kevin and Michelle’s first Fruiting Five Year Plan officially underway!

Not really in the Easter spirit I admit, and you’ve probably seen it on your email already, but hey, it’s funny.
We are off to Revelstoke to enjoy the hospitality of some old friends Rory and Sarah whom we met in Fort St. James (and rented their house for a year while they travelled the world), and the company of other old friends Jacqui and Glenn also of FSJ (now Victoria). Then we return to round out the weekend with some skiing! The last days of the season are upon us. We will enjoy the slopes with Kath and Simon, up from the lower mainland. Somewhere along the line we’ll rustle up some turkey too!!

Spring has certainly sprung in the Loops, and we have been out enjoying it - planning the yard, watering the grass, pruning the crazy bush we have in the corner of the yard… eating BBQ. Ah, the good life. We are really excited to be raising our own veggies for the first time ever (we’re “branching” out - have only grown herbs in the past), and as you can see in the picture, we TOTALLY know what we’re doing! Hey Mich, how deep do those seeds go?

Well, today is a happy day! Mich has been planning a new bike purchase for a while now. Today it became reality! I guess we should say thank you to the Government of BC and their signing bonus campain. It’s like The Brick over there in Victoria. I’m surprised she didn’t get a free flat screen TV. But I digress. Mich is all smiles… until she thinks about getting back into shape. Me, I’m in shape! Pear shape. Doh!

Well, the new effort from Ben Harper is in heavy rotation at our house, and in our car. It’s a cool ecclectic collection, packaged as a double disc - one of quieter accoustic stuff, the other with the full band at their best. I can’t get enough of the first single “Better Way” (which will be performed live on The Late Show with David Letterman Wednesday night if you are interested). Anyway, check it out, I think you’ll like it!

Michelle and I have long enjoyed BH’s music. I think he is one of the more interesting and diverse musicians out there these days, not sticking to any formula or even genre. You might find reggae, folk, soul, jazz, rock and funk songs all on one album. Nice.

A BIG happy birthday goes out to our sister Michelle Niebergall today! So nice that it rests this year on a Sunday - you can kick back and enjoy the day! I’m sure Kev will make you breaky in bed, provide you with hourly foot massages, allow a little afternoon nap (you are getting older right?), make tea, and basically cater to your every whim today. I mean, hey, you only have one birthday a year right? Anyway, hope you have a great B-day sister!

Well, don’t mess with Millie Mung! She seems to be rather steamed with me for my failure to realize that yes, she too rules! I don’t wanna get in the way of those claws! Here is an excerpt from her heated comments on my post “Chris Loewen Rules!”.

Why isn’t MILLIE MUNG RULES up there? Seeing that it was ME who saw the ad, and MY idea to call you guys, I think I deserve some much needed props.

It would appear that the old adage is true: “Behind every guy that rules, is a gal who rules way more”… or something like that. Millie, I’m sorry. You Rule!!!

You all know that I just LOVE Star Wars stuff.

For some reason that I can’t explain right now, my earlier post T’was Three Months after Christmas is not accepting comments. I’m looking into it. Until I can fix it, here are a few comments on it. Via email from Darren Brown:

Saw the blog .. having a great great laugh. “Dig” poetry is a new genre. Would have emailed earlier but you know how busy the holiday season is. cheers darren

…and via the comments on Chris Lowen Rules!, here’s one from Adrian Conradi:

Great poem for that “turtle egg” Defieux. We can almost smell the fudge in our office every time he walks in.

As of yet, no word from Defieux. Though troubling word on the Blogsphere is that after the Christmas non-delivery fiasco he has rapidly spriralled downward into a dark funk. This is evident in his recent post What’s Kevin Building in There? The tone and scope of this disturbing post is a radical departure from his usual jovial posting style. If you see Blake, please give him a hug.

Thanks to Grant over at Potting Along for his mention of The Long Road. I’ve enjoyed Grant’s blog for some time now. He’s got some great links, downloads and quirky stuff to check out. He’s now promising too, on this, the eve of completion of his UBC Masters degree, to be much more active on his blog. Here here!

You can always link to Potting Along via our slowly growing blogroll…

‘Twas three months after Christmas, when in Kai Fa Qu
Blake Defieux’s waist had expanded an inch, maybe two;
For back in December, treats were snail-mailed with care
To send our best wishes to all of you over there;

Their friends were nestled all snug in their beds,
While China Post worked to move all the cards that’d been sent;
To Blake in one box, to save them a buck,
When late it arrived, he couldn’t believe his good luck.

In addition to cards there was candy and baking,
That Michelle toiled for hours in planning and making.
To Sandy, ran Blake, quick as a flash,
And said “Looky, oh looky, this is quite a stash!”

“They’re all on vacation, the mail is so slow
If we ate all the treats, well, they’d never know.”
“Well,” said Sandy, ”A nice treat has appeared”,
But to eat them ourselves wouldn’t be quite right dear.”

But we sent him an email and he read it out quick,
“Everyone’s gone, so eating baking’s no trick.”
More rapid than eagles his hunger it came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and ate treats by name:

“Now, Twizzler! now, Cookie! now, Dainty I’ll take!
On, Cupcake! on, Candy Cane! on, Christmas Cake!
I’ll eat in the family room, I’ll eat in the hall!
Now eat away! eat away! eat away all!”

As dry leaves that before spring still do fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky;
So do the weeks, nay months, how they flew,
And now, well it’s Spring, well past April Fools.

And so, in a twinkling, you might hear at school
The prancing and pawing of Blakey Defieux.
As he draws to your mailbox, slinking around,
Or maybe your desk, dropping a card without a sound.

He’ll be dressed in loose clothing from his head to his foot,
To hide his big belly, where your treats were all put;
A bundle of cards he’ll have flung on his back,
There’s more than his marking this week in his pack.

His eyes–how they shift! His approach – oh, how wary!
His cheeks like roses, his embarrassment very!
His droll little mouth’ll be drawn up like a bow,
‘Cause he knows Darren Brown, o’er the top will he go;

But Blakey Defieux’s a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I hear this, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon he’ll fix his small wrong, he’ll put it to bed;

He’ll speak not a word, but go straight to his work,
And deliver all the cards; though he feels like a jerk,
For he had forgotten them in his office for months,
Eaten the sweets, then not thought of them once;

He’ll then spring to his taxi, give the driver a whistle,
And away will he fly like the down of a thistle.
But you’ll hear him exclaim, ere he squeals out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night.”

Check out the streaming video here of a Hornby Island nest. Apparently the man who set up this high quality feed has watched this nest from the ground for about 14 years. Now he is in tight and so are you! There are two eggs in there, yet to hatch. The vid is very smooth and clear, though you need a fast connection. When you get to the site, click on “Launch in Windows Media Player 9″. Enjoy.

Special thanks goes out to Blake Defieux, owner and operator of “Now You See Us” for his inclusion of a link to The Long Road on his Blog. You rule dude! The rest of you can visit Blake’s Blog at the above link, or find the address in the “Links” secion of this site.

Well I must say we really are having a wonderful visit with Bev and Gerry. Though it would seem that when they get together with Mich the Wolf Blass tends to come out. Mmmmmmm, Wolf Blass. Yummy. Needless to say we are having a great time!

Well the insurance company said we needed stairs. And Michelle’s parents Bev and Gerry were coming to visit. So I though… Hmmmmmmm. The “one hour” job turned into more of a “project” including removing sod, and placing bark mulch, but in the end Gerry proved his worth and we now have great stairs off the end of the deck. AND we added 7 1/2 inches to the length of the deck! That much more to tan on I say! So a big thanks goes out to Ger for his big effort! Of course he did take a 45 minute nap in the middle of it all…