George Meanwell

Burke Brook

2011-09-19T05:19:00.001-07:00

Stratford Walk

2011-09-14T10:06:00.001-07:00

Route: Stratford
Shortened Google Maps URL: http://j.mp/q3VrnE
Started: 2011-09-14 8:19:26 AM
Walk Time: 1:48:00
Stopped Time: 0:00
Distance: 6.22 miles

Blythewood Ravine Park

2011-09-12T05:18:00.000-07:00

Rob Ford / Naheed Nenshi

2010-10-25T18:23:00.001-07:00

I have never before considered moving to Calgary. Thanks, Rob!

Maintenance

2010-02-09T17:38:00.001-08:00

My father used to say that there are two kinds of maintenance: cosmetic and preservative. Sometimes these goals can be combined, as with a coat of paint. That's why, when people ask me for the unvarnished truth, I never comply; simply because varnished truth is more attractive, and lasts longer.

John Maynard Keynes

2009-11-22T15:42:00.001-08:00

With thanks to Charles Small for drawing this to my attention:

Capitalism is the extraordinary belief that the nastiest of men, for the nastiest of reasons, will somehow work for the benefit of us all.
-- John Maynard Keynes (1883-1946)

Quitting Time

2009-11-20T14:12:00.001-08:00

Gone With The Wind (1939):

"Quittin' time!"

"Who says it's quittin' time? I says it's quittin' time. I's the foreman and I's the one who says when it's quittin' time at Tara. Quittin' time! Quittin' time!"

The Globe and Mail this morning (above the masthead):

The words: "Quitting Time" beside a headshot of Oprah Winfrey.

Idiots.

Jango.com again

2009-10-25T06:01:00.001-07:00

I've uploaded "Let's Do Lunch" which should be live tomorrow, along with "Late" and "What Have You Done With My Heart". My favourite fan comment so far: "好".

Please log on to www.Jango.com and listen to the tunes. The more demand there is, the heavier rotation will be. Sounds like radio to me...

Plato, who knew everything...

2009-10-18T14:52:00.001-07:00

"You know Phaedrus, that is the strange thing about writing, which makes it truly correspond to painting. The painter's products stand before us as though they were alive, but if you question them, they maintain a most majestic silence. It is the same with written words; they seem to talk to you as if they were intelligent, but if you ask them anything about what they say, from a desire to be instructed, they go on telling you just the same thing forever". Plato: Phaedrus 275d

Jango.com

2009-10-18T12:45:00.001-07:00

"Late" and "What Have You Done With My Heart" available for listening at Jango.com. Check it out!

My Favourite Martini Recipes (first of a series)

2009-08-25T20:15:00.001-07:00

Alec Guiness:

1. Pour a glass of gin (they all start this way)

2. Make an obeisance in the general direction of the vermouth bottle.

Gerry Loweth:

1. Pour a glass of gin

2. Have someone call you on the telephone. Hold the telephone receiver over the glass of gin while your interlocutor says "Vermouth".

Dave MacDougall:

1. Pour a glass of gin

2. Tap the glass of gin lightly with the vermouth bottle.

If they can reach the moon...

2009-07-15T09:47:00.001-07:00

Why can't they figure out whether or not I need to dial "1" before an area code?

Exception that proves the rule

2009-07-01T09:25:00.001-07:00

When God closes one door, He opens another - unless He's locking your keys in your car.

When Gods Verb

2009-04-17T09:42:00.001-07:00

From Stephanie Zacharek's review of " "Slang: The People's Poetry" by Michael Adams in Salon
(http://www.salon.com/books/review/2009/04/16/slang/)

In the final chapter, Adams digs into the role slang plays in the way our brains process information. He cites, for example, an academic study in which the subjects' brain activity was measured while they read Shakespeare's "Coriolanus": It would jump whenever they encountered one of the Bard's trickier and more playful uses of the language -- for instance, when he'd recruit a word typically used as a noun for use as a verb, as in "He godded me." Adams writes, "It wasn't as if the brains were confused, exactly, but rather as if they had been awakened from linguistic boredom."

Eric Siblin - The Cello Suites (Anansi)

2009-04-13T07:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Eric Siblin

Please ignore the Queenan.

First of all, he's a world famous idiot (or "twerp", in Richler's usage). He gets paid to mercilessly rip to shreds what he obviously doesn't get. (What the New Yorker said about Tom Wolfe's "The Painted Word" - "He makes people feel superior to things they don't understand".)

Second of all, yours is a really good book, interesting for all three story lines, and an absorbing read. Obviously a Bach scholar would find less in it that was new to him than a civilian, but that doesn't mean it's not a fascinating response to the Suites, and and a perceptive answer to the question: "What do they mean now?" - which said idiot completely avoids. Queenan also ignores the fact that a wide range of people have responded to so-called "classical music" in widely divergent contexts over the years - his own preference for enjoying it in a museum says more of his need for reassuring context than anything else.

Also, there is nothing more mean-spirited than denigrating someone's honest and astonished initial response to the Suites (or to anything). It comes down to some kind of dopey "I'm the king of the cultural castle, 'cause I got here first". He doesn't argue for another approach to the Suites, and he just comes off as exactly the kind of sour sneering snob (sorry) that classical music is famous for - people for whom status matters, but what's going on with the music, not so much.

And Bach writes a very fast barrage in the Gigue of the Third Suite, and finishes it with extremely powerful and chromatically crunchy double stops - I think the Led Zeppelin analogy is right on - he was doing what he could with the resources he had to make as big a statement as possible.

Basically, if I had to choose, I'd go with what Simon Winchester (you know, the well-known writer) said ("This is one of the most extraordinary, clever, beautiful, and impeccably researched books I have read in years") and ignore said idiot, about whom nothing like that will ever be written.

All best

Re: Public Benches

2009-03-28T10:15:00.000-07:00

To whom it may concern:

I commend the city's recent actions to provide new recycling/litter containers and benches on the streets of Toronto. They improve the cityscape and delight the eye. However, I would like to observe the following:

For most of my adult life I have existed in a state of near-exhaustion. I am like that bicycle which cannot stand up by itself because it is two tired. Those who know me will acknowledge that I spend most of my time semi-alert for the next horizontal surface: I have successfully slept on the floors of airports, the corridors of trains, the reclined driver's seats of cars (stationary), in the bottom of canoes, and across the most deliberately and diabolically uncomfortable bench seating on the ferry between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. I am sure that those who have seen me in these accomodations have dismissed me as indigent. Fortunately not; just knackered.

I do not understand why a public bench has to have an armrest halfway along it other than to prevent someone from stretching out comfortably. In fact, I think that is the only reason, and a hostile one, for designing such an armrest. It does not enhance the enjoyment of sitting on a bench (in fact, it reduces the number of close friends able to sit down in a row). But it is a slap in the face (or an armrest to the kidney) for anyone wishing to sleep.

I am aware that there may be some who feel that a man sleeping on a bench is an eyesore, especially if the man looks as if he has no fixed address. I tell you what is an eyesore, and that is trying to keep them open. How one is dressed doesn't come into it.

With the weather improving, I would recommend that everyone avail themselves of the older benches throughout the city. All of them were designed by people who knew that there is nothing more pleasant than a drowsy hour passed on a mild afternoon, lulled by the distant sounds of the city, and the closer sounds of children playing, dogs barking, and the man on the next bench snoring.

Especially when you have been looking since you woke up for a place to lie down.

Yours, etc.

Post Purple

2009-03-19T17:22:00.001-07:00

After five glorious weeks in the pit with the touring company of The Color Purple, the sun has come out. Stuff coming up on 'cello (see schedule), and the Loss Leaders are rehearsing!

George is astonished and delighted

2009-01-22T16:37:00.000-08:00

Beginning at noon, Tuesday was a good day.

OBAMA!

2008-11-05T07:00:00.001-08:00

Yes.

Late notice: Tonight at the Glenn Gould Theatre

2008-10-04T10:47:00.000-07:00

La Nuit Blanche en français venez chanter avec

Les Héritiers de Champlain,

Samedi, 4 octobre à 20 h, Studio Glenn Gould, 250 Front O. (Edifice Radio-Canada). Présenté par Francophonie en Fête et le CSDCCS

Les Héritiers de Champlain

Un spectacle phare, pendant la Nuit Blanche !

Dans la foulée des festivitées du 400^e anniversaire de la présence francophone en Amérique ; six étoiles montante de la scène vous offrent un spectacle éblouissant qui rend hommage aux franco-ontariens passés et présents !

www.heritiersdechamplain.ca

ViVie et le dernier métro, En première partie

ViVie (Geneviève Cholette, artiste de comédie musicale) et ses deux musiciens (Éric-St-Laurent et George Meanwell) nous offrent Un cabaret de chansons originales, de grands classiques et de comédies musicales, aux odeurs de Berlin 1940 mais à saveur d'aujourd'hui.

Adulte: 15$ Ainés/étudiants: 10$ Gratuit avec le passeport du Salon du livre

Guichet Glenn Gould (Radio-Canada) (416) 872-4255 (pour ce spectacle seulement) Achat en ligne : www.francophonie-en-fete.com ou www.roythomson.com

CBC 2 this Sunday at 5:00

2008-09-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

Jurgen Gothe will be playing some music from "Late" on his new weekly show "Farrago" this Sunday the 14th between 5 and 6 pm. I'm proud to say he's a fan.

Kind words from Jurgen Gothe + Concert alert

2008-09-07T13:41:00.000-07:00

Apologies for the long silence. I was in Siena for most of the summer "resting", as they say in the theatre.

A warm endorsement from Jurgen Gothe, host of the new CBC 2 show "Farrago" (Sundays 5-6), is now up on the website on the "Reviews" page.

This is your early warning of a show I'm looking forward to doing with Stephanie Martin (www.stephaniemartin.ca) November 8 at the Enwave Theatre in Toronto. We're combining our bands for a great evening of original songs. She has a spectacular voice and compelling delivery of beautiful material, and it will be a memorable event.

Last weekend

2008-06-18T19:43:00.000-07:00

A great weekend starting on Friday night at Eastminster United Church with a concert by Whiskey Jack and the Gala String Quartet, and MC'd by Erin Davis of CHFI. Like being on the radio, only better!
Saturday morning saw The Loss Leaders at Cedarvale Park for the Strawberry and Asparagus Festival - Ray and Rick came down from their cottages to play for an hour. That's dedication! Dave MacDougall came from Mississauga. That's dedication! Chad Irschick walked across the park. That's dedication!
Saturday evening our street band, The Appletones, played for a couple of hours for the annual barbeque. Street closed, neighbourhood open.
Sunday morning played cello at Metropolitan Community Church for the music director Diane Leah, accompanying Cindy Church, the great singer and member of Quartette.
Sunday afternoon I played the 5th Suite for Unaccompanied Cello at St. James' Cathedral.
The last gasp of this current madness is this Friday at 7:30 at St. James' Cathedral: The organist Andrew Ager has written a chamber work for violin and cello concertante accompanied by viola, flute, two oboes, bassoon, and piano. I'll also be playing the Bach again.

On the horizon: July 5th at The Rusty Snail in Peterborough with Clifford Maynes, guitar, Chad Irschick, bass, and Dave MacDougall, percussion.

Make sure you stay up all night on the 21st; it doesn't take as long at this time of year...

Stanley Fefferman's review of "Late"

2008-05-07T15:16:00.000-07:00

From "ShowtimeMagazine.ca":

"It is a terrific album... The opening tune - “What Have You Done With My Heart” - is so good, it ought to be a big hit. I played it for my son-in-law, who likes Blue Rodeo and he liked it. I played it for my 16 year old grandson who likes Kanye West and Bob Marley, and he liked it. I like to let this tune haunt my head, which it does, quite a bit. And somehow, rhythms or bits of melody of the other Meanwell tunes are called to join the party in my head...
Behind it all is Meanwell’s flexible, gentle, capable voice giving music to words that feel sincere. This honest work is shared by Meanwell’s band, The Loss Leaders, which includes Rick Whitelaw, Ray Parker, Chad Irschick and Dave MacDougall."

Full text here.

Spring Cleaning

2008-05-04T04:58:00.001-07:00

Somewhat new website appearance, with a header bar which lets you cycle through clips from both CDs, and click-throughs to Indie Pool's retail site. Let me know if there's anything I've missed...

A few things...

2008-04-27T08:45:00.000-07:00

In the "just in time" model so favoured by hedge fund managers, we bring you the following news:

1. Tomorrow night (Monday April 28) at Mitzi's Sister (1554 Queen West) I'll be playing an acoustic set of about half an hour starting at about 10:45. (These are songwriters - you can add another "about" anywhere in the previous sentence.) My sound will be fleshed out (hand-drum joke) by the distinguished Loss Leader Dave MacDougall on conga.

2. Stephanie Martin, a great singer and songwriter (did I mention she sings on Late?), will be appearing with her band at the Rivoli (334 Queen Street West) on Tuesday at 6:00 pm sharp for a 45 minute showcase. All you hedge fund managers can stop off for your highballs there instead of your usual Bay Street watering holes.

3. We're repeating (only better) the Whiskey Jack / Gala String Quartet concert (so successfully floated last month) on June 13 at Eastminster United (310 Danforth Avenue - 8:00 pm). Whiskey Jack is a seasoned and talented folk / country / bluegrass band which will be strung out (!) by the Gala String Quartet led by Daniel Kushner. I'll also be playing a couple of tunes on guitar, unless they think better of it.

4. "Late" is now available on iTunes and Puretracks, so those of you who are technologically enabled can download some or all of it to your compatible device ("As I said to my compatible device yesterday morning during breakfast... etc.). Although, really, downloading only one track is like leaving someone a dollar in your will so they can't say that you forgot them.

5. Late is getting a fair amount of airplay on the CBC. All the shows both national and local have access to a copy so I'd be grateful if any of you who wouldn't regard it as just another knife in the corpse of classical music would email or call your favourite host and ask her or him to play a track or two.

And remember, Hillary's ahead in the popular vote if you count Florida and Michigan...

Dylan fan becomes thoughtful...

2008-04-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting in my office listening to an old jazz compilation CD (Ellington, Ella, etc.) and suddenly there's Bing singing "Where The Blue of The Night" and I think "I've heard this tune in a different context!"

Here, thanks to Google, is the awful truth:

http://dylanchords.info/45_modern/index.htm

Duncan Fremlin of Whiskey Jack

2008-04-13T16:26:00.000-07:00

Kind words from Duncan Fremlin eminence not-quite-yet grise of Whiskey Jack:

Old Friends
There was a CD release celebration/concert at Hugh's Room last night. George Meanwell was showing off his new songs and treated the audience to a terrific show of clever, intelligent and entertaining songs. That in itself was a treat given the number of third rate songwriters out there(...) Not only were the songs terrific, the band was amazing and full of old friends that I hadn't seen in 23+ years. On bass was the generous soul who took Whiskey Jack under his wing 25+ years ago and produced our two most successful albums, One More Time and Whiskey Jack. His name is Chad Irschick. He owns and operates Inception Sound here in Toronto. He has since gone on to fame and fortune producing the Rankins, Joe Sealy, Susan Aglukark, the Barra MacNeils and the like. He's even won a couple of Junos I believe.

On piano was the fellow who performed on our third album and to this day, I enjoy putting his tracks on the turntable and listening to his magic. His name is Ray Parker and last night, he was a joy to listen to. He had his Hammond B-3 and of course, that stole the show.

Such class. Such talent.

Follow the link above to the original March 26 post. Small world!

Tomorrow Night - Ensemble Polaris

2008-04-11T19:28:00.000-07:00

So I lucked into playing once again (they don't learn) with this mildly (!) eccentric group Ensemble Polaris that specializes in Northern folk music (Scandinavian, Canadian, etc). A tabla player (Debashis Sinha), a hurdy gurdy player (Ben Grossman), a guitarist (Terry McKenna), a cellist (usually Margaret Gay, but tomorrow, me) a soprano / fiddle- and now nyckelharpe player (Katherine Hill), a recorder- traverso- and sljefloyte- player (Alison Melville) , a clarinet-, recorder- and bass clarinet-player (Colin Savage), and the amazing Kirk Elliott, formerly (with me) of Short Turn and now Swedish bagpiper, Irish bagpiper, fiddle-, harmonica-, mandolin-, and accordion-player to the stars.
A show not to be missed: tomorrow night in Mississauga at First United Church 151 Lakeshore Rd. West Mississauga 8:00 pm.

Thanks, and tomorrow

2008-03-29T05:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all (120) of you who came out on Tuesday night to Hugh's Room to make the evening such a success, and thanks to Stephanie Martin, Joseph Macerollo, and Clifford Maynes who lifted the already brilliant Loss Leaders (Rick Whitelaw, Ray Parker, Chad Irschick, and Dave MacDougall) to a new level in the last tune of the evening "Another Street"...
Tomorrow afternoon at Eastminster United Church, I'll be taking part in a concert featuring the wonderful Whisky Jack and The Gala Quartet, playing great tunes and quartet rep, sometimes in combination. Show starts at 3:00.
Apparently we're going to get a high of 14 on Tuesday. About time.
Turn your lights out for an hour at 8:00 this evening. As my father used to say: "When not in use, turn off the juice..."

Tonight at the Enwave Theatre, Harbourfront

2008-03-20T07:07:00.001-07:00

Vivie and the Last Métro will be opening for Brazilian sensation Bia in the closing concert of the Semaine de la Francophonie. The incomparable Geneviève Cholette fronts this dynamic trio which includes Eric St-Laurent and myself. Showtime at 8:00. Tickets 30.00

"Late" Available Now!

2008-03-18T14:34:00.001-07:00

Roly Platt did a fabulous job with the package, and Chad Irschick did a sublime job with the contents. It's out there. Buy one now... :-)

"Late" sneak preview this Sunday on CKLN.FM

2008-03-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

My good friend, guitarist/writer and host Noah Zacharin will be playing a track or two from the new CD "Late" on the CKLN show "Acoustic Routes" this Sunday evening (March 16) between 7:00 and 8:00 pm. 88.1 FM in Toronto, or live on the internet at www.ckln.fm. Featured on the show will be Jeff Oussoren and Dom Deluca, both worth hearing.

Still, the days aren't this long in January...

2008-03-09T05:24:00.000-07:00

I don't mind the snow, really, although the city gets on my case for not shoveling my walk. On the other hand, when the snow melts, it's apparent that I haven't raked my leaves... There actually isn't quite as much snow on the front lawn as appears; part of it is a large (2.5 ton) basaltic rock salvaged from street repair operations, and part of it is our Christmas tree, which I trust the city will remove when it finds it...

Master submitted

2008-03-03T13:49:00.000-08:00

I wrestled the master out of Chad's hands today at 1:00 and delivered to Indie Pool. Countdown to the 18th. Drivers on the 401 and Don Valley Parkway were surprised to see Chad running beside the car offering me CDrs of alternate mixes...

Tonight at the Concord Café

2008-03-01T04:51:00.000-08:00

I'm taking part in a performance of two pieces by composer (and neighbour) Nano Valverde this evening at the Concord Café on Bloor Street west of Ossington: Water, and Milonga Trunca. Written for an ensemble of two guitars, quena, flute, cello and double bass, they also include parts for spoken and sung voice, and multimedia. This is a repeat performance of last Saturday's premiere, which was standing room only. Get there early. Show starts at 9:00...

The CD artwork is finished, the snow is falling...

2008-02-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

As Chad Irschick and I gradually squeeze the last little bit of headroom out of the master (kidding)... The deadline is Monday the 3rd. In our hot little hands on the 18th. HUGH'sRoom on the 25th...