October 31, 2014 Today would have marked my mother’s 90th birthday. In honour of her, I wrote the following poem, inspired by something she said on the verge of her 80th birthday. (You can also read it on Medium.) October Moon When my mother was a whirling girl The moon was a thing pure The lily of the night Understood as untouched On the cusp [continue…]
Their near-ubiquity is obviously a testament to the fact that “listicles” work. For the uninitiated, listicles are those articles that use a list theme. As Copyblogger points out, one of the main reasons they work is because of the “attention-grabbing power of the headline.” “7 Reasons You Should Not Let Your Dog Drive.” “10 Best Ways to Avoid the Zombie Apocalypse.” “75 Things You Need [continue…]
Friday June 27, 2014 I completely forgot about this until I stumbled across it recently while looking through my files. During the 2011 federal election, the Globe and Mail ran a photo caption contest each day on their Facebook page. For the March 28 edition, they chose my submission. (Click on the image to see it in better quality.) share: Recommend on Facebook Share on [continue…]
Throwback Thursday Ottawa’s Kelp Records is celebrating their 20th Anniversary with a special shindig tonight at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern, featuring The Acorn, Jim Bryson, Evening Hymns, Andrew Vincent, Andy Swan, Rhume and more. For this Throwback Thursday, I’ll resist the urge to trot out an ancient, semi-embarrassing selfie and instead take us back to the summer of 2001. There were so many fantastic indie [continue…]
Flashback Friday! In honour of Neko Case’s awesome Twitter response to Playboy and others yesterday (which gets extra marks for dropping a superb “Mad Men” reference: “DON’T PEGGY OLSEN ME, MOTHERFUCKERS”), here’s the story I did on her in December 2002 for SOCAN: “Neko Case: Honourary Canadian, Proud SOCAN Member.” I had interviewed her by phone at her home in Chicago. If I recall correctly, [continue…]
March 17, 2014 It’s said that travel is transformative. In June of 2006, I stepped for the first time onto Irish soil, the country from which my maternal great-great-grandmother, Mary Keoughan Delahanty, had left more than 150 years earlier, sailing to Canada with five of her six children. It’s also the country of my father’s ancestors – Kelly being the second most popular Irish name [continue…]
I’ve been noticing something about the Winter Olympics now taking place in Sochi, Russia: There’s lots of exciting competition, but you seem to get a few varieties of the same sport. Ski Slalom. Ski Racing. Ski Jumping. Ski Freestyle. Cross-Country Skiing. Cross-Country Relay. Cross-Country Skiing with Guns. 2-man Bobsleigh. 4-man Bobsleigh. Single Luge. Double Luge. And the same thing only face-first is called Skeleton (let’s [continue…]
I was away for the holidays when I heard about Phil Everly passing away. It’s sad to think that we’ll never hear those two voices together again. Thinking back to music you became aware of as a child, there are always a few artists who seemed to stand out for some reason. I can vividly recall watching TV on Sunday nights on our family’s old [continue…]
I like to consider myself pretty knowledgeable when it comes to the topic of the Beatles. I’ve been an ardent fan of the legendary band going on 35 years or so now, ever since I was old enough to buy records. I’ve read at least 15 books about them – on the collective, the individuals, their songs, their recording techniques, even a book that details [continue…]
There’s been much written about mondegreens – aka misheard song lyrics – and I’m happy to add some more. There are so many of these to choose from – even just from my own experience. Of course, there’s the classic “Hazy” hearing of Hendrix, “‘Scuse me while I kiss this guy…” And the ever-mondegreen of Springsteen’s “Blinded by the Light” which millions still sing as “Wrapped [continue…]
follow: RSS