Old News

August '03 Update:

Well well well, time does fly by sometimes. My last update was in April, so it's time to get caught up!

Back in early April I began working at my first day job in ten years! A local bike shop, McCrank's Cycles was in need of help during the busy Spring season, and I'm still there! Adding a 35-hour work week to my existing schedule of performing and teaching music (as well as my volunteer postion as director of the re-Cycles Bicycle Co-op) made life rather hectic for a while. But as of now (Aug.1) my hours at the shop are being cut back as things slow down for the summer, so I now have time to get this website updated (among other things...).

My brother Mike was in town a while back, visiting for the first time in many moons, as he has been living in Tel Aviv, Israel for the past few years. He joined me and the HPVOoO gang as we took part in the St. Patrick's Day Parade. In the photo below Mike is on the left, riding my early 50's CCM roadster, and I am of course on my rainbow chopper, wearing official parade garb.

OK, so I'm think I'm turning into one of those bike geeks! And with this update I'm finally adding pages for each of my various steeds. You can see the above-mentioned Rainbow Chopper, and elderly CCM Roadster, as well as the fabulous Cow Bike, my 32 year-old Raleigh Superbe, and lastly, an update on the Raleigh Twenty folder. Also, over the past few years I've receievd many emails requesting more details on how I built my bike trailer. So, I drew up some very basic sketches and added as much text info as I could. If you still can't figure it all out then you're on your own! [wink]. Check it out at my Trailer page.

Trevor Finlay recently released an acoustic CD, and Barry and I played on a few tracks. Trevor is in the process of updating his website, and you can check it out at TFBand.com.

Coming in September: the new Jivewires CD! (Finally...) I'll keep ya'll posted as to when it's actually available.

My friend Tori King, who is an actor and playwright living in Los Angeles, was a print model for an IBM/Lotus ad in both the New York Times and several issues of Forbes Magazine (and they managed to make her look quite secretarial!). Check it out at her a website (and the direct link to the photo is here).

New project: I'm embarking on building a utility trike for hauling my drum kit to local gigs. The design if front-wheel drive with two wheels in back supporting the trailer section. My friend Juergen (from the HPVOoO gang) has an oxy-acetylene welding rig, and has offered to help me put this beast together (or as he says it, mine is the prototype, and we'll get it perfect on the second one, which will be his! [grin]) To get an idea of what it will look like, check out Dan Kavanaugh's Organic Engines website, as he kindly gave us permission to copy the design of his SUV (Sensible Utility Vehicle).

April '03 Update:

Ah, April is such a good month, what with Spring in the air, and my birthday as well! And I'm excited because I've just moved into a lovely little house in Ottawa's Chinatown district. I have this place for four years while the owners are out of the country. The property is more or less given over to an Old English-style garden, and there are two beds where I can grow some veggies and herbs. All the maintenance involved with this will keep me busy! But there are two things I really like about this place: I now have a music room, where I can actually play a drumset for the first time in many years, and out back of the property there's a shed that can hold lots of bikes!

The HPVOoO gang had a fabulous time at the recent St. Patrick's Day Parade, with yours truly once again riding the rainbow chopper. Members RGB and the Juergen-meister designed and welded up a 4x8 foot trailer to tow behind RGB's recumbent trike. That in itself is cool enough, but it's what was carried ON the trailer that put things over the top: a Hammond C3 double-manual organ, with pedalboard, bench, and huge Leslie speaker cabinet! Plus the power supply to run it for two hours, AND of course, the organist himself!! This exercise in musical and logistical excess won us the Parade award for "Best Novelty Act". All the details are at RGB's trailer-organ page.

I've been taking part in many of the local anti-war protests, helping my fellow marchers along with some drumming. There is usually a fine contingent of drummers for these events, and I personally find that it's good to get everyone around us boogying a bit to help blow off steam. Some photos of this have been added to my Music photos page.

And another year begins... There are some big changes coming up in my life, one of which includes finally moving out of my current apartment and into a house! Yes, a real, live house, with room for all my bikes and drums and other music gear. And some very nice gardens and a few veggie beds so I can grow some food! More on all of this in the next update...

Back in the Fall a friend emailed me about a great website spoof. It's a Mad Magazine parody of the Iraq situation, done up as a Star Wars movie poster.

Revised Page:

I've made a bunch of changes to my winter bike, which entailed building my first wheel(!) and turning the bike into a 3-speed. More about that at my Winter Bike page.

October '02 Update:

Things continue to motor along as usual. It was a busy summer gig-wise, and it felt like I performed at almost every festival in town and elsewhere! Speaking of music, the Jivewires are finally getting to the end of our rehearsal process for our upcoming CD, now titled "Laughing in the Poorhouse" (also the name of one of Steve's tunes). We hope to actually begin recording in December. I have two songs written for this, and am looking forward to the recording process of all our new tunes. Getting my songs published and out into the world is a big step, and gives me the courage and incentive to continue work on my own music in my little home studio.

My storage options where I live got changed up a bit, and I decided to get rid of one bike, so my trusty Raleigh Sports 3-speed was donated back to the Re-Cycles Bike Co-op (where I originally got it from). I'll keep its page up for now, since it has some good info on these fine old bikes.

Oh, and more fun pics have been added to my Fotos page.

(Yet another) New Page:

Over the past year I've had the wonderful experience of reuniting with some of my old high school friends. There was a good-sized group of us that were part of the Music Department, and we've had a grand time doing the old "remember when" and "whatever happened to so and so?". More about that at my John Rennie High School page.

As mentioned in the my last update, I was about to make my acting debut in our local Fringe Festival. Well, that has come and gone, and it was a blast! I've been performing music onstage for years, but this was whole new experience for me. My fellow cast and crew members were wonderful, and we played our show to good houses. We rehearsed the play for almost three months, and with all that time together (plus all the shows), close bonds were developed. Our stage manager Wayne has some pics and stuff at his website.

Once it was all over, I think the others felt a bit bereft, but I didn't have too much time to be sad, as then our local BluesFest (2nd largest one in N. America) started up, with two weeks of great music. I performed on the main stage with the Trevor Finlay Band, and got to take in some of the new backstage accoutrements, such as hot tubs and a masseuse! Sign me up for next year please! I was also profiled in a local downtown newspaper, which had called me up wishing to do a feature on local artists performing in the festival. Ah, my name and picture in the press - something to send to Mom! Right after BluesFest came our JazzFest, which I performed at with the Steve Berndt Quartet. The festivals never stop in this city during the spring and summer, as this is Canada's capital, after all...

May '02 Update:

The sad news is that Sally the Cat has left this Earth (or has at least left me). She was apparently struck and killed by a car at the end of my street, but I never did get final confirmation on this. I miss my kitty dearly, and have had to change her page from one of silliness to one of remembrance. If you wish, please read it here.

The cool news is that I will be making my acting debut this month, as I will be appearing in a friend's play at the Ottawa Fringe Festival! I don't have a huge speaking part, and but will be on stage a fair bit. The play is an original work titled "Canadian Toast", by Weiner Productions. It's based on the idea of the U.S. taking over Canada in order to increase "National Security", but to placate us it sets aside a little area for True Canadians. But to win a place in this new Canada, one has to compete in game shows, so we spoof "Who wants to be a Millionaire?" and "Weakest Link", among others. Fun stuff indeed! For more on us and the Fest in general, check out the Ottawa Fringe.

May 2002. A local restaurant held their anniversary bash, and invited some local drummers to come and raise the roof. You can find some pics from the event at my Music Photos page.

The Jivewires are still(!) in writing mode for our next CD, and we hope to begin recording sometime in July. I've now written two tunes for the band, and I'm also writing some music of a different sort for myself in my small home studio. More on that as it develops.

February '02 Update:

Things are motoring along as usual. The Jivewires are still in writing mode for our next CD, and it looks like we'll begin recording sometime in April. I'm busy trying to come up with some more tunes for this band, and I'm also writing some music of a different sort for myself in my small home studio. More on that as it develops.

Sally has two new pics on her page .

I've added some pics of my new "wood-skinned" drum to my Hand Drumming page.

I did a bit of a re-write to both my enviro and cycling pages. I also added details about my Raleigh Twenty to my folder page, and both my recumbent and my winter bike get their own pages, which leads us to:

In addition to the recumbent and winter bike pages, I've also compiled all my cycling links onto their own page. See the links below for access.

Another new page features photos I or my friends have taken, or ones that I've during my Net travels. I have lots of pics scattered throughout the site on their relevant pages, but I thought it would be fun to have a place for photos that don't fit anywhere else. Check it out at my Fotos page.

December '01 Update:

I've made a slight change to the layout of this site. Until now, there has been an index at the bottom of every single page, which meant that I had to edit and upload each and every page any time I added a new one. Now, I've got a comprehensive index on this home page, and all others will have a link to bring you back here (or of course you can use your browser's Back button). Not terribly exciting news, but it simplifies my life, and that makes me happy!

I've added a page on my adventures with old folding bicyles. This subject is even more obscure than recumbents, as far as the general cycling world is concerned. Read all about it at my Folder page.

October '01 Update:

I've made a change to the layout of this site. Until now, there has been an index at the bottom of every single page, which meant that I had to edit and upload each and every page any time I created a new one that was added to said index. Now, I've got a comprehensive index on this home page, and all others will have a link to bring you back here (or of course you can use your browser's Back button). Not terribly exciting news, but it simplifies things, and that makes me happy!

I've had an article published in an online magazine! Bryan Ball, the Editor of "Bent Rider OnLine", a recumbent cycling zine, saw my reply to a cycling newsgroup posting about simplifying one's life. He emailed me and asked if I would like to write further about this subject. You can read my contribution in the last issue (vol. 9) under Elegant Simplicity.

June '01 Update:

It's been a while since my last update, but I finally have some new things to add.

First off, I've made site navigation more consistent. Links to other pages on my site are now in blue (at least on my Mac!), and offsite links are in red.

Secondly, my Music Photos page has been reformatted, with more pics added.

Thirdly, there's a link to the results of a local Winter Cycling Survey on my Cycling page.

And lastly, I've added a bit about our local "re-Cycles Bike Co-op" to my Enviro page.

(And yes, I'm still doing all my HTML by hand. Call me a neo-techno-Luddite...)

A continuing passion for me: discovering new ways to have fun hitting things with sticks (and hands)! There is a group here in town called Samba Ottawa, and their music is in the style of authentic Brazilian street music (if you know the music of Carnaval in Rio (also known as Mardi Gras in New Orleans), well that percussion-heavy groove is what we do). All the details at my Samba Drumming page.

The Trevor Finlay Band has just released its second CD, titled "Bumpy Roads". More details at the band's website, tfband.com.

The Trevor Finlay Band is opening up for none other than the legendary Mr. James Brown himself at this year's Ottawa BluesFest! More details at the BluesFest website.

The Jivewires are also writing new material, and should begin recording in the Fall.

My Dad, at the age of 84, has recently had his first book published! His career has been in the field of metallurgy, and he has always wanted to challenge a few existing notions about how people first started working with metals and other fired substances. His book, titled "The Mastery and Uses of Fire in Antiquity", is published by McGill-Queen's University Press, and while not exactly for the lay-person, it is the first text of its kind on this subject. You can read some info about it (or order it) from the publisher's website.

My Dad's book has been nominated for the Governor General's Literary Award!! (For non-Canadians, the G.G. is the Queen's representative in Canada. These are a series of awards in the Arts.) This is quite something; Dad is now 85, and his first ever book gets selected! It's never too late to do some of your best work...