A Technological Anniversary

I really don't know what got me thinking about this topic — music players in my lifetime. Maybe it was reading something about the thirtieth anniversary of the Walkman; maybe it was simply down to the odd shuffle that is always randomizing inside my head. I never know what thoughts and images are going to pop up on my invisible-to-others screen, and I really don't seem to have much control over the playlist. Maybe it was reading about the anniversary of the Walkman. Maybe not.

Yes, it is now just over thirty years since Sony introduced this little miracle. I don't think any of us would have or could have predicted where this technology would end up (and maybe we still can't). We didn't even have computers back then for goodness sakes (although we were getting close to the revolution). From the way things have worked (i.e. Sony's diminished market share), it's more than probable that Sony's vision wasn't exactly prescient either. For just as they and their Beta format lost the VCR wars, Sony also seems to have become a minor player in personal digital players. However, I don't think we need to feel to sorry for this particular corporate giant.

On the BBC site, there's an article about a present-day kid familiarizing himself with the original, cassette-playing Walkman. He found it large and cumbersome and frustratingly limited as it could only hold about twelve songs per side. In fact it took him a while to realize that there could be another twelve songs on the other side of the tape. He also found the lack of a shuffle function rather disappointing. For awhile he'd hit fast-forward in an attempt to simulate a shuffle — until he was told of the fragility of tapes. He reported other problems as well: such as background hissing of the tape, a really short battery life, and the pant-pulling-down mass of the object.

I did own a Walkman, you know, pretty much like the one shown to the left, but it was not thirty years ago. In fact it was less than ten, sometime in the early part of this decade. It was a mini disc player. I guess I was talked into buying it when mp3 players were pretty new. I went to the local Future Shop to inquire about these newfangled things, but the salesperson who was a former student of mine steered me to the mini disc player. Although he may have been correct at the time, and it certainly sounded good in my ear, it was still limited as to the number of songs it could hold at any one time. While it wasn't a puny twelve per disc as in the early cassette player, it certainly wasn't the many, many hundreds of the iPod either. When my daughter left on a trip across the globe a few years later, she took my mini disc player rather than her iPod. and I don't know what happened to it, and it doesn't matter because I had my own iPod by then.

But the bulky, cassette playing Walkamn did start something, didn't it? Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that portable iPod or iPod-like devices have become the de facto norm for music listening for the majority of us the majority of the time: perhaps not the majority of the ancient types who tend to click into this old blogger's site, but still ...

Alright then, as I indicated at the outset, I was going to get into my own personal memories a little or music playing devices beyond my Walkman, but the reader's patience must not be tested too severely, so I'll save the rest for another day.

Local Weather and Signs

(The Ottawa Citizen)

It's official. Ottawa's July precipitation has broken all records with 234.2 mm (> 9") which is about 10 mm over the previous record. Two winters past we only missed record snowfall by a very small margin, so we're certainly experiencing unusual wetness in general. Also, there are areas with flooded basements. Supposedly the system can handle anything except what is termed a hundred year storm (defined as between 90 -98 mm falling within a 24 hour period). Statistically, there's only a one percent chance of such a storm occurring; therefore, it should only happen once every hundred years. Somebody forgot to explain that the the atmosphere because there have been three such storms in the past 14 years. So, this is the third flooding of basements for some, and, apparently, the finances still haven't settled from the 2002 flood.

I have seen two signs (or photos of signs) recently that I am posting below. The first, I took at the local nursery; it made me feel good for some reason.



The next was in the newspaper. It amuses me to some degree although many might find it tasteless and unworthy of AC. It's of a sign at the entry to one of the communities within the city limits of Ottawa. The city left the bottom right square blank (outlined in red), so one wiseacre filled it in quite authentically because it fits in with the rest of the sign really well (in terms of graphic design anyway): so well that there have been inquiries. :) According to the newwspaper report, the sign has been removed and will be redone — with no section left blank.

(The Ottawa Citizen)

Dogging It

Yes, I confess that I've been dogging it a bit lately, for I have been enjoying the occasional hot dog, or to be more grammatical, occasionally enjoying hot dogs.

Two or three years ago, when Thesha asked what I would like for my special Fathers day meal, I chose grilled hot dogs. Of course, this was partly to save them a bit of money but also because I hardly ever get an opportunity to eat indulge in these tubular delights. Cuppa doesn't like them, you see, so we've seldom had them in the house.

Lately though, I've bought a couple of packs and I've been enjoying a hot dog for lunch periodically. I find these President's Choice, Angus Hot Dogs quite yummy. Still, as exotic as the Angus part makes them sound, I do know that they're not exactly health food. Therefore, having satisfied a craving, I'll refrain from adding any more packages to the cart on my next foraging in the meat department.

In the meantime, I have been enjoying my little splurge. The good news is that there's one more that's been beckoning me seductively from its shelf in the fridge . The bad news is that there is only one ... which I know is also good news in a way ...

Guess what's for lunch later today.

Hitting the Books

I must admit to finding myself a trifle embarrassed the other night at Lorna's when everybody but me were able to discuss their current reads. In point of fact, I haven't been reading lately and haven't felt like it. Maybe it's the time of year, or maybe it's because my current three books (if I can still call them current after gathering much dust) haven't exactly gripped me.

They're all non-fiction, two about Christianity (the scriptures etc) and one about the Celts. I have read a number of religious books with interest, but the latest two simply haven't grabbed me. Consequently, I haven't been grabbing then either. And for the book about the Celts, there's much good information, but it's done by an academic and not a real writer in my opinion. Page after page reads like a list of names of either people or places or both to me, and there are so many that they all become one meaningless blur. Frankly, for one who simply desires some general knowledge, it's mind numbing stuff.

However, our dear Ginnie had recently recommended The Welsh Girl, and Cuppa found it at the library for me. (In our division of labour, she's evolved into the library finder outer). Due to my ennui, the novel sat here for a few weeks without tempting me, but after being embarrassed the other night, I decided to get on with it. For a brief while, I was put of because who really wants to read a World War II account? But only for a very brief while.

Really, the book just happens to be set in that time period in Wales and is really about character and growth and not about the war: not really although it gives reason to the plot. The guy, Karsten, is a German who is placed in a POW camp in Wales. The girl, Esther, is a sheep farmer's daughter and a barmaid at the local pub. I'll leave it there except to say that Rudolph Hess is in the book as well as his interogator, Rotheram, a German Jew.

It's not exactly a they all live happily ever after tome, but it does work out more or less satisfactorily in the end as they all get on with their lives with a new sense of self.

Photos from Last Week

It's not a bad day weather-wise — temporarily at least. Internally, I am less than 100%. Don't you just hate picking up a summer bug? What a waste!

Although it's neither Foto Friday nor Silent Sunday, I have a plethora of photos to share. Last week, while Daddy convalesced, we spent a lot of time supervising The Bonnie Wee One, even more than usual. So ... on with the show!

We managed to find enough of a break in the clouds for a little pool time. While the weather still wasn't ideal for waterplay, it wasn't as cold as our first venture the week before. She was much less nervous this time around and was so anxious to get in that she didn't allow Buppa ease-in-gently time.





On Saturday morning after her fourth night of sleepovers, I was grilling chicken in my pajamas (me, not the chicken) at breakfast time (you read that right). The grass, mostly clover actually, was wet and high (it's hard to find a long enough dry spell to cut it), but Nikki Dee went out and had a blast. Mostly, she was attracted to the fresh, wet, black earth that I had just laid around our new, little sapling (or maybe it's a big sapling ... or little tree). That resulted in her first entire wardrobe change of the day — the day which had hardly begun.






Before proceeding, let me reassure you that even Canadians do not normally grill chicken at breakfast time. In my defense, it wasn't for breakfast. Rather it was a case of "We've had this chicken thawed in the fridge for several days now and we need to cook it or toss it." So, I did ... cook it.

Moving right along ... here is just one more Nikki Dee photo (I'm weary, so that's all you get no matter how much you clamour for more). It's from one of our little walks. We like to tire her out in the vain hope that she will be a trifle less rambunctious. Hah! Fat chance! She'll probably grow up to claim child abuse over the restraint that we use, but, meanwhile, it makes life much easier.



Oh phooey! One more of her before moving on. She has taken to frequent porting of both an apple and orange. It began with one orange in her grocery store visits. Then, she added an apple, and then she began carrying the two in the house and around the neighbourhood. We attribute her more bizarre proclivities to the French side of the family. Also of note: she says "Ornage." All the letters are there: just in different order.



Come Sunday, the Amma and the Buppa were ready for a rest. We headed up to the local nursery where the daylillies were in full bloom. In an odd turn of events, the sun came out, and we were actually too darn hot out there in the field. So, we headed to the shade garden where I took this photo of my Cuppa.



That's all I've got folks. I'm knackered. have a good day.

Oogley Googley Natalie ...

... where both oogley and googley must be pronounced with three syllables as in Natalie and as in Google with an ee added at the end.

Hold on; I'm not completely mad; let me splain.

Let's begin with Natalie ... as in Natalie McMaster ... the Natalie McMaster ... the most renown Canadian fiddler, Natalie McMaster. yeah, that one. Last night, she performed at a free outdoor concert with the NAC orchestra (our local symphony). As the photo below will show, the crowd was large and we were a long way back. Being a free concert, however, I was fine with that.

I took the photo just before the performance commenced, and in it I have outline a gentleman who was standing (almost in the middle of the photo). Would you believe that he remained standing throughout the whole concert? Fortunately for him, it wasn't a terribly long concert, but my old bones certainly wouldn't have preferred to stand for that long. Maybe this was his uninformed version of a mosh pit. If so, he needs help rather desperately.

To the point then: Natalie was fantastic. I've heard a lot of wonderful fiddlers in the last few years, and I think she has moved to the top of the list. Not only is she a great fiddler, but she has stage presence. She remains standing and constantly dances around the stage. And she's also durn purddy. In addition, some fiddle music is better to my ears than other, and she packs a pretty nice, primarily Cape Breton repertoire. Cape Breton music is Scottish in origin and has maintained it's old roots well, so it's pretty authentic, centuries old stuff.



Even with our little 3x optical zoom (which I admit isn't much), this was as close a shot as I could manage. I've outlined Natalie at the bottom of the stage.



So what about the Googley bit, AC? Cause you're losin me man.

Well, a few weeks ago, an ad for the concert appeared on my sidebar in Google Mail, aka GMail. I seldom notice these ads, but I saw this one. For whatever reason, the concert wasn't publicized too much until just a few days ago, so I may not have known about it otherwise.

But wait ... there's more.

I knew that a fellow local blogger, Lorna from Lorna in Wonderland actually lived across from the venue, so I wrote to ask her about parking in that area. She invited us to use her building's visitors parking and to stop in for a pre-concert visit and snack.

So, you see, Google not only provided me with the information about the event but also with company since we both as do all Blogger bloggers blog on a Google hosted service. While Lorna and I have been blog visiting back and forth for several years, we have never met despite living in the same city and each of us knowing approximately where the other is located.

Now we have been able to personalize our relationship a little, and IMO, the visiting went pretty darn well before, during and after the concert over coffee at her place. I think that's where the warm and fuzzy oogley part comes in, but I confess that I am reaching. Here are Lorna and me just before the concert began.



And here is Cuppa, Lorna, and her husband, Dave, during the concert. Both Dave and Lorna were wonderful hosts. I was fairly confident that this meeting would work well as we have done this type of thing a few times previously. I was right; they're a great and hospitable couple.



Finally, here is Natalie in a YouTube clip. It's long, so you won't want to watch it all, but if you don't know her, it will introduce you to a fine, Canadian treasure.

Dedicated ...

... to Barry and Russ

There was an amazing and extremely touching dance on So You Think You Can Dance this week. It was a tribute to and reflection upon a battle with cancer. In this particular case it was breast cancer, but where this miserable disease occursin one's body is surely beside the point.

I can't embed this video, but I can send you to the site where you can view it (just scroll down).

Barry is a wonderful blogger who is waging a courageous battle against cancer and hopefully winning the fight. If you folks haven't read An Explorer's View of Life, you need to amend that right now.

Russ, I have met once, and will likely never meet again. He won't know that I am dedicating this to him, but that doesn't matter. I jammed with him the other day and would never have dreamt from his spirit and demeanour that he was battling cancer. I was only told about his struggle later.

Here's the link to the video once again: http://shrunklink.com/cuaa

Update: Apparently, I can embed it. I just had to watch it to the end in order to find that option.