Memory is perplexing, and unfair. I can’t remember the funniest thing my kids did just last week but I can recall countless inane moments from thirty years ago in vivid detail. I’d much rather have gloriously detailed memories of my children’s lives than the pointless goings-on of a grade five geography class back in 1983, […]
My Life is a Song #101
This has been an odd summer, mostly because it has actually been a summer. Not that Calgary is renowned for its summers, but last year we had near perpetual spring. And not the “yay, winter is over and the tulips are blooming” kind of spring but rather the “dear god, when will this rain end” […]
My Life Is A Song #100
There was a time when today was earmarked for a momentous post. My Life is a Song turns 100 today. And while this series won’t be joining Toronto Rocks, Q107’s Top 10 at 10, or VH1’s Classic Albums in the annals of awesome music shows, making a weekly appearance for nearly two consecutive years is […]
My Life Is A Song #99
By the latter half of the Nineties, life had drastically changed for me. I had reached the quarter century mark, my schooling was entirely finished, I had a job, and I was living in a new city in a new province thousands of kilometres from “home”. I was an adult. I was certainly enjoying my […]
My Life Is A Song #97
Fame is fleeting. More often, it is completely absent. This is especially true of my family. It is likely true of most of your families as well. When presented with such dearth of familial fame, it is not uncommon to bask in the secondary glow exuding from those around us who have been blessed with […]
My Life Is A Song #95
I went to a small town, K-8, elementary school. I shared a class with pretty much the same 25 kids every year. In the upper years, I can’t remember in which it started, we did class gift exchanges at Christmas. We’d each draw a name from a hat and give whichever classmate we pulled a […]
My Life Is A Song #93
The year 2010 was a big one for our family. My wife was on maternity leave with our son and the job I had expected to work at during this time had evaporated due to the lingering aftereffects of the 2008 economic meltdown combined with the cratering of natural gas prices. So, you know, kind […]
My Life Is A Song #92
One night, long before children, even before marriage, though I was either engaged already or definitely common-law in the eyes of the government, I had trouble falling sleeping. These brief bouts with insomnia occur a handful of times each year. Usually they happen when something worrisome is on my mind and I can’t shut down […]
My Life Is A Song #89
Is there anything better than cock rock bands channeling their inner classical musician? Sure, The Beatles did the whole strings section thing and made rock music dignified, but when a cheesy hard rock band does it the results are truly magical. Giggle-worthy, yes, but magical. Now, if that band happens to be a relatively obscure […]
My Life Is A Song #75
I’ve harped more than a few times in these pages that my access to rock and pop music was delayed a few years. When it finally did come, I obviously had some catching up to do. Furthermore, it likely meant I became aware of historically monumental music differently than many of you. That all being […]