Taken by the obviously talented Rannie Turingan as part of a series of portraits at the Zap Your PRAM conference at Dalvay-by-the-Sea in October of 2008.
The Music of Zap Your PRAM
Posted by on Tuesday, October 21, 2008 in - 1 comment
At our Zap Your PRAM conference ended up being great for many reason. The people, the location, and for me at least, the music.
Our opening evening include a performance by Tim Chaisson and his accompanist Tian Wigmore. Tim played a combination original songs, well-chosen covers (Jill Barber ftw), traditional east-coast music (fiddle and mandolin, omgftw), and a remarkable aside on piano.
Tim has been writing songs with Joel Plaskett and Gordie Johnson for a new album they’ll be recording this winter. Their influence is a great compliment to his natural talent.
Part way through the set, Tim said he was going to play a song on the piano. I looked around to see if they had brought a keyboard, but there was none to be found. The only keyboard was an old piano that lives in the lobby at Dalvay-by-the-Sea behind my seat. Tim excused his way through some of our chairs, sat down in front of the old piano and told us about Neil Gow, a Scottish composer from the 1700’s.
Tim played Gow’s “...Lament for the Death of his Second Wife” (which was apparently actually a lament for the death of his second wife). It was remarkable. Here’s an absurdly low quality video clip that will at least serve to show my proximity to the piano:
The next day lacked a live musical performance, but was not lacking for music. Brad Turcotte (aka BradSucks) walked us through the idea stage, writing, recording, release, and after-life of a song. I still have Dirtbag stuck in my head.
On Saturday, local singer-songwriter John Connolly performed some original songs, a few covers, then channelled the ghost (even though he’s still alive) of Stompin’ Tom Connors. He even took a request for a Bruce Cockburn song.
Great music for a great weekend. Also see my friend Stephen’s more general overview of the conference. Thanks to Nick Burka for the photos.
Zap Your PRAM 2008 In Progress
Posted by on Thursday, October 16, 2008 in - leave a comment
If you need me, I’ll be Zapping my PRAM this weekend. Awesome.
The island nation of Iceland is for sale on eBay - I bet the shipping will be a killer.
Posted by on Friday, October 10, 2008 - 3 comments
If ever a product was to be recalled before it was actually for sale, this would be it: Playskool's Kota the Triceratops.
Posted by on Thursday, October 9, 2008 - 2 comments
X-ray art for your next flight.
Posted by on Friday, October 3, 2008 - 1 comment
Joshua Allen Harris' Inflatable Bag Monsters - very cool.
Posted by on Saturday, September 27, 2008 - leave a comment
Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene - powerful (creepy?) video enhancement technique.
Posted by on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 - 2 comments
How Not to Renew Your Expired Credit Card
Posted by on Monday, September 22, 2008 - 9 comments
- Receive new card in the mail
- Call to activate new card
- Decline up-sold insurance three times while “waiting for the activation to go through”
- Place both old and new cards on the table
- Pick up the new card and put it in the shredder
Piven from 'Entourage' wins another Emmy - Well deserved. His “Ari Gold” character is one of the best on TV
Posted by on Sunday, September 21, 2008 - leave a comment