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Brilliance

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Jorge

Quotable Quotes

Every once in a while a friend writes something that just catches my eye. This gem is too good to keep to myself, so I’m writing it here in hopes that you follow the link to some very entertaining writing…


Real life is mostly outtakes.
– NotYetaWino


Filed under: Friends, Ponderings | Tagged: , , , | 2 Comments »

Do You Like Good Music – Reprise

Posted on February 24, 2009 by Jorge

Elaboration

I posted this entry a few days ago. It was woefully short, but I wanted to get something out and I didn’t have much time. In my opinion, Pamela‘s music probably speaks volumes more to people than my entire blog, and probably doesn’t need publicity to do well, but I figured I’d publish something short for the purpose of earmarking the subject for a more lengthy post at a later date.

And here we are.

It’s not really a plug, so much as it is me just talking about a good friend that I’m very proud of. Well, maybe it’s also slightly pluggish.



In the Olden Days

I met Pamela in high school. We got along fairly well due to the fact that we both had a strange sense of humour and shared some likes and dislikes.

I was always in awe of Pamela’s musical ability. For a lithe gal she has a huge voice. It never failed to blow me away. On top of that, she played the guitar very well. I was in awe. On top of all of that, Pamela was always willing to share her gift with others.

Our high school had a chapel which was not used all that often. With the exception of being used as a spare classroom from time to time, the chapel was usually available for people to hang out in. The acoustics were nice, so practicing guitar in the space was a no-brainer.

Pamela would teach me how to play chords and tunes on the guitar. She taught me a number of songs, but the two are permanently etched in my memory are Stairway to Heaven and More than Words. Whether this is a good thing or not is still up for debate.

We were also in a play together (Bye Bye Birdie). Pamela played Kim and I played Conrad. It was certainly a lot of fun. Pamela made performing on stage much easier because for all of her ability she was not pretentious in the slightest. She would treat you as an equal, no matter how tone-deaf or horrible you were.

After we graduated, Pamela was someone that I always kept in touch with.



Hennessey

After a few years, I went to see Pamela play in Ottawa with a newly-formed band called Hennessey. They had some catchy tunes and played well together. I remember it was in a crowded pub in Ottawa and I enjoyed every minute. Good, honest music is always the best kind.

I’ve actually lost count of how many times I’ve made it out to see Hennessey play. I know it was quite a lot. I’d make sure to see them whenever they played in Toronto.

While all of Pamela’s covers with the band during this time were great, her versions of Big Yellow Taxi and Carey by Joni Mitchell rank among my favourite covers of all time.

My highlight of her Hennessey days was when she asked me to be in a music video called The Fifty Most Beautiful People. I joked with her that she’d have to change the title to The Fifty Most Beautiful People and That Ugly Brown guy. She didn’t laugh as long as I thought she would.

I kid.



Solo

Pamela eventually struck it out on her own. She lived a short distance away from me, so it was pretty exciting when she asked me to do some publicity stills for her.

So we booked an afternoon and took some shots. It’s not really hard when your subject is photogenic. However, the intimidating part was to produce images that would show her character. It’s hard to portray what someone might sound like through an image, but it’s possible. I’ve always felt that managed to capture some of the magic that is Pamela.

A little while after that shoot, Pamela was part of a show at Hugh’s Room called “Girls Doing Guys” in which female artists did cover tunes from their favourite male artists. It was at that show that Pamela and Lori Cullen did a version of Mercy, Mercy Me by Marvin Gaye that was (and I kid you not) better than the original. I swear to God.

Since then I’ve tried to get out and see her. It’s been tough, what with having Baby J and all.

Pamela has worked hard on her album called One Hundred Photographs for the last “Four Years, Two Months, Fifteen Days, Seven Hours, Twenty-Two Minutes and Forty-Two Seconds. Approximately.”, according to her.

The hard work certainly shows. I really enjoy listening to her stuff.

Check it out..

Filed under: Anecdotes, Announcements, Friends, Interest | 1 Comment »

Do You Like Good Music?

Posted on February 20, 2009 by Jorge

Are You a Fan of Great Music?

Then click here.


You’re welcome.


Filed under: Friends, Interactive, Interest | 4 Comments »

Egads! A Meme? HERE?

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Jorge

I Gave In

So, a good friend of mine tagged me with this task. I don’t normally give in, but I was pretty entertained by her list, so I figured I would do it…


Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you.


Of course, I am not going to be tagging anyone else with this, as I hate doing that. However, I figured coming up with 25 random things might be fun. In fact, I might come up with more. So here goes…



30 Randumbs

  1. My name means earth worker.
  2. The word meme means boob in Turkish.
  3. I have two brothers and they are both taller than I am (I’m 6’1).
  4. I enjoy practicing martial arts.
  5. I normally dislike the hell out of memes. I only fulfill them once in a while. And even when I do I don’t follow the instructions.
  6. I play several kinds of musical instruments. Of course, I don’t play any of them as well as I would like to.
  7. I’m actually quite shy.
  8. I also don’t like Facebook Apps (for the most part).
  9. I honestly believe that there are not enough true compliments in the world. Too many people spout crap because they think they have to, or because they want to get ahead. If I truly like something, I will tell you. If I don’t, I will tell you, or more likely I will say nothing about it.
  10. While I appear to have a lot of friends, most of them are in the periphery. I have a cadre of close friends whom I cherish. Of course, if you have to ask if you’re in it, you might not be. 😉
  11. This made me very happy. This year will see the addition of many more of these to our circle. It’s an exciting time.
  12. In University I studied Russian, Spanish and French. I will never admit to speaking any of these.
  13. Naruto and Lord of the Rings are two of my favourite sagas.
  14. I used to love to read. I’m rediscovering that love again.
  15. Putting a beloved pet to sleep is not easier than pulling the plug on a person. I don’t know if that sounds wrong or not, but it is certainly true.
  16. I think Facebook is an interesting idea. However, it takes all of the insecurities and complexes we used to have and puts them in electronic form. Most of the time I find that people just like to have friends to say they have them. I don’t usually say no to friend requests because of my insatiable curiosity. But I have had more failed “let’s do lunch” requests than I care to count.
  17. On the flip side… Recently I had lunch with a friend who I last saw about twenty years ago. She was one of the only girls in my class that always managed to make me feel like a somebody. It was great to reconnect. It’s amazing how much and how little we change. I enjoyed myself immensely. I realize that the people that I would like to spend time with are not necessarily the “close friends” I had back then (there are exceptions). In fact, there are a small number of people who I’ve always found interesting that I would like to rekindle friendships with.
  18. I write articles for this site. The editor-in-cheese is a great friend of mine.
  19. Every year for the last few years I’ve participated in a 24-Hour Movie Marathon. Not all the movies are good.
  20. I am an amateur photographer that wishes to become more someday.
  21. I have a black belt in Goju-Ryu Karate-Do. I’ve been doing some form of Martial Art or another for many years. I finally settled on this particular discipline because I really like my Sensei and the work ethic.
  22. Being a parent is about toeing the line between praising too much and too little. Insecurity lies on either side of the tightrope. I don’t know if I’ll be the best parent ever, but I’m going to give it my best shot.
  23. When my daughter was born I gained all kinds of fears about my own mortality. I also gained a new kind of energy and a different kind of happiness than I had before.
  24. I can’t stand it when people place themselves above others, especially when there is no real basis for it.
  25. Algonquin Park will always be one of my favourite places in the world. I know it’s not crown land, and it’s not free to camp there. But for some reason it resonates with me.
  26. I have a hero complex.
  27. I love to cook.
  28. My wife and I once made a deal that I was not allowed to die before her. In 2001 I had a serious car accident. The first thought that went through my head was, I am not allowed to die. Mrs. J would be really pissed off.
  29. My favourite colour is Blue.
  30. I love my family.


Filed under: Anecdotes, Friends, Interactive, Interest, Ponderings | 5 Comments »

Welcome, Teddy

Posted on January 24, 2009 by Jorge

Humpy Ahoy!

A little while ago, Dave made a twenty dollar bet with his wife that their newborn son would look more like him than her.

Well, on Tuesday he won that bet. Allow me to introduce you to Teddy…



A spitting image of his dad.
Click to enlarge…



Okay, Maybe I’m Lying

Perhaps he doesn’t look exactly like that, but hey! I’m just trying to help a brutha’ out!


Now stop gawking and go go wish them well!

Filed under: Announcements, Friends, Humour | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

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