| Newfoundland 2005 |
| As I sat there looking across the River and the highway, and listening to the radio, I heard GBS's Penelope. What a pleasure it is to come to a place and hear music that I like on the radio! I rarely listen to anything but Public Radio at home because of the plethora of Top 40 stations that occupy the frequencies. If I don't like hip-hop and kiddie Pop, I am out of luck! I've heard Penelope, Consequence Free, Ordinary Day, Can't Stop Fallin' and Clearest Indication in the short time I've had the radio on in the past weeks here in Canada. I sure do wish I'd hear more of Jim's stuff on radio stations other than CBC. We really have to work on that! We had an early supper and went to Erin's to see the Pantings again. No complaints from here! There were even more people there tonight and we saw Wayne and Sheila who looked like they had recuperated from their Canada Day BBQ. The Pantings were a lot livelier tonight than last night and Dave was a panic. He began to sing a song a capella in the wrong key and when the other came in with the instruments, it was obviously not the right key. Everyone had a good laugh about it and he began again, telling Sean, "Gimme a G!" Their sets were wonderful and I was sad when the evening of entertainment ended and they put away the instruments. It was just closing time when a busload of people burst in the door - Greg Walsh's wedding party. Greg had gotten married that day and the party had now moved to Erin's. What a hoot!I enjoyed talking with John the bartender, who is attending school and will have his BBA in a matter of weeks. Good on him! We left at 4 AM because I was falling asleep. Jim and Lillian stationed themselves in the back yard and continued the good time we had left at Erin's. I was way too tired to join them and trudged off to bed. Turns out, they had a grand time singing with the birds who were announcing the morning. As they sat enjoying the moments between night and dawn, they noticed a choir of birds singing one at a time, one right after the other. The last would always do some combination of the previous three. After they could predict lag times between bird songs, Jim and Lillian decided to put themselves in the chorus by whistling in between the third and 4th birds. At first, the birds seemed confused, Jim said, but then they just incorporated the new song into their chorus! Isn't that amazing? I'm sorry I was asleep for that. |
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| St. Patrick's Church on Patrick Street is where I ended up for 11 AM Mass this Sunday. Last year when we went to 8 AM Mass I was disappointed that there was no music. Not a problem this time, with my knowing all the hymns but one. It was about as crowded as church at home these Sundays - not very. But there were enough people there to sound good singing. I am spoiled by our organist at home. Donna puts in these little flourishes and makes the hymns sound extra special. I was wishing Donna was there. The cantor and the organist hadn't agreed on intros apparently and the cantor was often measures behind the organist at the beginning. I guess I shouldn't be so critcal but Donna makes sure us cantors at home have our acts together before we get up on the altar. And they say the Apostles Creed up here rather than the Nicene Creed we say at home. Same God though, so it's all good! After Church I went off to the K Cafe and surprised myself by ordering a Newfoundland breakfast - eggs, fried bologna, home fries and beans. Mmmmmm. |
| I went up to Shea Heights again and brought up the IRLP radio to talked to Vic on the Ham Radio. Leaving tomorrow. *sigh* It just gets harder to leave every time I come up here. And it seems although this time was not the longest period I've stayed, it will be the hardest to let go of. I lingered up there in Shea Heights, enjoying my vantage point of the city of St. John's. I left a bit after saying goodbye to Vic and was a little teary at the thought of leaving. I really can't wait to retire so I don't HAVE to leave at a certain time. Then I'll be able to leave when I WANT to. Back to Jim's to upload photos and listen to Jim put another podcast together. I am enjoying this. He really puts a lot of time into the almost-hour-long prduction! It's fascinating to me to see the makings of a podcast. I listened to the evening I recorded on the iRiver after hours one Festival night/morning. It was the night Ger ended up singing "Your Cheatin' Heart" and Darrell sang a John Spillane song. But Jim can't put it on the podcast because it wasn't "podsafe" - public domain music that you don't need to worry about copyrights for. So I was disappointed because most of what was sung at the session that night was not podsafe. Darn! We had sung Beach Boys and 50's doo wop songs, country songs and just had a grand time. Oh well, I was there, so I can relive the experience in my memory whenever I want. I drank it all in that night and will remember it fondly for a long time. It's a shame we can't share it though. I hope I've described it well enough for you to imagine. Jim was looking for a certain old song and spent a few minutes clicking on audio files on his console. Oh boy, did I enjoy that hour! I heard old versions of songs of Jim's that I love and GBS song versions that didn't make it on any CDs. Acoustic versions of songs I had only heard on albums and live stuff recorded oh-so-many years ago by various bands. The stuff Jim had saved from when he was 16-17 was a hoot! Such a young voice! Now the voice has a certain depth that only maturity brings. It was fascinating also to hear the evolution of songs that finally made their way to an album in 1999. And so many songs that Jim wrote and recorded that didn't make it to any albums yet - what amazing music is yet to be shared with the world! I'd love to hear a compilation album of all of Jim's music that hasn't been officially released yet. The best moment came though, when Jim asked me if I'd like to listen to the whole version of the podcast theme music, Genesis. Of course I jumped at the chance and was surprised when Jim directed me to his chair at the console, handed me the earphones and directed me to punch the big red console button. Whoa! For the next 8 minutes, I sat in the "producer's" chair, oblivious to the world around me, immersed completely in the glory that is "Genesis." A little more than midway through the instrumental piece, I heard the Apollo astronauts reading a selection from Genesis on Christmas Eve so many years ago, hence the title. I closed my eyes and floated with the astronauts through space. Jim does this very well. He can write and record music that takes you wherever he wants it to take you or wherever you feel you can go. He is a master at painting landscapes and seascapes and portraits with his music and words. His latest album is a prime example of that. If you want to know Newfoundland, listen to Gypsy, Friendly Fire and Midnight Rover. Your next step will be to buy a plane ticket here. His music is that powerful and I am thrilled to have it shared with me. We celebrated better times and Jim and Lillian bought a BBQ grill. Took a while to put together, but supper was delicious and then we were off for my last visit to Erin's Pub this year. Lillian stayed a while and then went home because work called too early in the morning. Jim and I stayed till closing and then wound our way to Bridie's on George Street. Con O'Brien and Graham Wells were finishing up their Sunday night set. Graham joined us afterwards for a pint and I wondered, but didn't ask, if he had called Sheilagh for his photo shoot. *giggle* We closed Bridie's too and stopped for a sausage dog down George Street. On our way back to the car, Jim asked me why I found it harder to leave each time I come to Newfoundland. I fumbled for words to explain my feeling of belonging here and each time he'd counter with his ever-present "why?" I'm still trying to come up with an adequate way to explain what I feel. I know I belong in Newfoundland, but I belong home, too. But I LONG to be in Newfoundland when I'm not. I can't explain it. I dropped into bed, frustrated with my lack of vocabulary to explain. I hope someday to be worthy of the title Jim introduced to me dring one of our discussions at Erin's this trip - NBC - Newfoundlander By Choice. Some are Newfoundlanders by birth and never come back. Some are born here and die here. Some are born elsewhere but are but visitors for a while - CFAs (Come From Aways). But the ones who come and contribute and love the place enough to consider it home, they are the NBCs, Newfoundlanders By Choice, and are worthy to be called "Newfoundlander." I fall asleep, wondering if I can ever meet the criteria for being a Newfoundlander By Choice. |
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