Marty

Coming off a great weekend.

Kar was out of town on Friday, so i hit the ballpark for the Jays game. They lost, and badly... blew a four run lead with poor pitching and an error in the 4th inning. But a good time regardless. And they won out the weekend, might I add, which leaves them at 10-4, and atop the AL East by 2 games. Gonna go to a game this week. Texas is coming to town.

Then on Saturday, we went to see Martin Sexton at the Mod Club. Dude is heavily talented... solo show, just guitar and voice. He's got a voice like nobody I've ever seen. After the show, Nik turned to me and said.. 'man, that guy commands your attention.' Absolutely.

This clip isn't from our show, but the same tour. The guy who comes out to sing with him was the opener.. also great stuff.

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Lining up a trip to NYC next month. Summer in the city. yeeeaaaap.

Latergator.
JB

New Addition to the fleet

2009 American Standard Telecaster
Specs. = Ash body, Maple neck
Tone = Glorious
Fun Value = Incredibly High

The Wager

I write, today, from a position of extreme confidence, bordering on pride that would push the biblical limits of decency. Allow me to elaborate: Chuck and I have made a bet.

The fundamental details of this legal arrangement are complicated, and, frankly, beyond the scope of this discussion. Suffice to say that when the Toronto Blue Jays finish this regular season with more wins than the Detroit Tigers, I will win a free large coffee from Tim Hortons.

Steady now... I sense your knowing smirk and mildly bemused chuckle. But friends, this, unfortunately, is not a battle of superior intellect and cutting wit. No, this particular war is, in fact, much less firmly in-hand. And yet, I approach this challenge, today, with the same blind optimism with which I made the original wager in the first place.

You see, it is with a profound smugness that I await the arrival of the end of this ever-elongating tunnel. In short, one day, Toronto will rise again as a relevant sports town. And when that day comes, and we're firing on all cylinders, it will truly be a paradise to behold. Of course, the Raptors will never win. The Leafs, however, are getting there. For the first time, 'rebuilding' is more than a catch-phrase.

And the Jays. Let's be honest. Let's, to turn the phrase, call a spade a spade. At some point, the level of disparity in the American League East will reach such a level that Bud Selig will be forced to invoke some form of little known, 'polar-reverse clause.' Memo: from this day forward, by order of the commissioner of Major League Baseball and all affiliates and associations there-in, The Boston Red Sox will trade rosters and coaching staff with the Toronto Blue Jays effective immediately and to be enforced in perpetuity.

But I digress. To the original point of discussion: the bet. A fiercely biased, completely untruthful, far less enjoyable account of the wager, as well as various opinions, both right, and pro-Tigers, can be found at www.dueckman.blogspot.com. Feel free to stop by and leave unfriendly, aggressively pro-canadian comments... much the same as you'd leave a flaming bag of dog crap on the front step of your arch-enemy's house before ringing the doorbell and running away.

JB

Baseball is Back

Hey guys! Just a quick update on life around here. (above) Playing at Sarah's Cafe, Acoustic Afternoon this past weekend. I've been doing a few of these things, trying to get a gig around town. Most of the places I'm looking to play are swamped with artists looking for gigs, so they do their booking by hosting weekly open mics. You show up, play a few tunes, and hope they like what they hear. So I've been talking to pub owners and trying to get something set up. It's a great way to meet other players in the meantime. It's a pretty broad range of talent/style that comes out to these things, so I'm always learning something new and getting better at my own gig at the same time.

I'm finding that I'm learning a ton in terms of the art of performing. There's a lot of guys who can play. But when it comes to performing, some of them really stand out. Especially when it comes to the whole 'singer/songwriter' thing.. you know, just a guy and his guitar.. some of them are just so.. believable. They could be playing a campfire singalong, and you still just wouldn't be able to turn away. I'm learning that there's a big difference between being able to play guitar well in my basement, and being able to hold a crowd in a busy pub.

Anyway, here's hoping something lands soon!!

Other than that, Kar and I are headed home to Leamington this weekend. I don't think we've been home since Christmas, so it feels like it's been a really long time. I had dreams of early morning rounds of golf with Steve, but I think recent atmospheric events have basically put the kibosh to that idea.

And finally, the Jays home opener was last night, and they hammered the Tigers, 12-5. Look out beantown.

JB