A nice find

It's good to spend time in bookstores -- especially those bookstores that specialize in used books because they sell other things, like old CDs. I was lucky to find a Dave Brubeck album that has some great jazz from the 1950s and 60s. It was a lucky find. Brubeck produced the first ever million-selling jazz tune, Take Five, and it's on this album! Woohoo. He's also the composer for a lot of the tunes in the old Charlie Brown cartoon specials. I also stocked up on half a dozen paperbacks... enough to get me through October. So it's a good Saturday night. Warm whiskey. Cool jazz. And a good book.

Doors Open at McIntyre Mine

I dusted off the old miner's hat, literally, Saturday, to act as a tour guide for the Doors Open event. I was out at the old McIntyre Mine and couldn't believe that more than a hundred people toughed out the weather and dropped by. Some of the stories of the old miners were better than anything I had to say. Thanks to Mark Joron for snapping a the photo.

The most annoying thing . . .

It's very annoying at five oclock in the morning when the furnace kicks on and its only the second week of September! The temperature in Timmins was two degrees and the sound of the furnace coming on -- the first time since April -- woke me up. I am so cheap. I think I get it from my Dad. Whenever we left the front door open when we were kids, he'd yell "close that jesus door..."
Oh well, time to put away the canoe and dig out the snowshoes.

Treat yourself... i dare you!

Some friends used to snicker about the fact I have a few opera albums that I listen to. Yeah, I like rock and country too. But good opera is nice. I’ve never been to an opera, but I’ve followed it for some time. Well it’s Sunday morning and I am having tea, doing a bit of housework and I have the speakers cranked up as I listen to the late, great Pavarotti. It’s sad that he died last week, but my goodness what a gift he had. His voice was magical. I’d listen to him sing Nessun Dorma and I’d get goosebumps. It’s the aria he sang at the opening ceremonies at the Turin Olympics. It’s a fabulous piece of music. I’ve even got a CD of Aretha Franklin, yes Aretha, singing that same aria. I dare you to treat yourself. Listen to Nessun Dorma and then tell me you don’t like opera.

Labour Day in your jammies

It was nice to visit Jennifer and the boys for the Labour Day weekend. I think the only way I can relax these days is to get right out of Timmins. So it was a nice four-hour drive south to Sudbury. I feel right at home at her place. Jenn lets me eat leftovers and drink day-old coffee... but she wouldn't touch the stuff. After eating a big breakfast Monday, Jenn and the boys sat around on the back porch in their pyjamas while Scott worked on the new garage. The boys seem to get bigger every time I see them... maybe they're just growing eh.

I bumped in to Jack Layton this evening who came north to see the new De Beers diamond mine... it's something of a big deal up here in gold country. The gold mines are used to spending lots of money... they usually talk about hundreds of millions of dollars. De Beers is the new kid on the block... they got everyone's attention spending more than a billion dollars. Layton is a not a bad politician. I don't always agree with his style of politics... but I've never caught him lying.