it's time

I'm sitting up tonight with my little old Cairn Terrier Patrick. He's been slowing down over the past several years and is almost completely blind (he might be completely blind now), so he's been quite limited in what he can do. Still, until just recently he's seemed pretty content to putter around in the yard when I take him out (not so much since it's been cold and snowy -- that's been hard lately), and just kind of lounge around the house and munch his food. We had his parents and sold him as a puppy. When the woman who bought him went back to work her children didn't want to take care of him, so we took him back. He's always be a good, happy little guy. When he was younger he quite enjoyed hanging out with the other dogs and as he got older he just enjoyed doing his own thing.

But over the last couple of days he's really gone downhill and yesterday he stopped eating. This is a dog who loves food, so that's not good. He's now stopped drinking in the last several hours. He also started having trouble controlling his bowels and bladder and now seems to have no control at all. I've been fighting a losing battle to keep him fairly clean. He also seems to be having trouble breathing. Right now I have him laying on a big towel on the sofa where I was trimming off a lot of his fur so I can clean him up a bit. He's sleeping now, so I hate to bother him by giving him a little sponge bath (he really smells bad). He seems more comfortable than he has in several hours now, but I suspect it's because he's too weak to fight anymore.

I'm going to stay up the rest of the night with him so I can try to make him as comfortable as possible and in the morning I'll call the vet and have him put to sleep.

Dabble

I'm always a bit surprised when people dismiss Dabble for not being very finished or for sounding as if it was done on a whim. Well DUH! That's what dabble means! From what I understand from reading interviews etc about the making of the album it was a very quick and casually made album.

If it purported to be a major effort -- even by SK's standards; all his solo albums seem to be kind of casually made -- I could see the criticism more. But I don't remember it ever really being pushed as much more than something SK did on a whim. And as that it's fantastic. It's true a few of the songs on it don't really go anywhere, but some of them are excellect, no matter if they were made on a whim or carefully crafted over months. I do think that given it had been several years since the last proper SK solo album a lot of fans expected it to be more "proper" than it is.

From what I understand SK had gotten together in Delaware with another musician his wife knew and they kind of hit it off musically. SK suggested they get some studio time and record. The other guy supposedly said "but I don't have any songs to record." SK said "Neither do I. We'll just make 'em up as we go." (or something along those lines). So it is what it is, but being what it is, I find it amazingly remarkable. Sure some of the songs are just ok (I'm not sure "Aloha Biggles & Star" is even that), but I love "Blessed One", "Keeper", "Temptation of St. Anthony", "Time To Say Goodbye" (very probably because of what when I played it) and a couple of others.

Well worth him making and well worth me buying.

Gersey

I've been a fan of Gersey since first hearing Storms Dressed As Stars a few years ago. They are one of the few bands which instantly grabbed me -- I couldn't stop listening to that album when I first got it. I've recommended them to several people over the years and although a few have liked them a bit, I've never had anyone have the instant or intense reaction I did. I guess they just aren't for everyone. I bought it based solely on a short review Steve Kilbey did on it on the Newspapertaxi site. His description sounded so good to me I had to order it. I didn't even listen to the couple of mp3s up, I wanted to hear the whole thing fresh.

I have to admit I didn't expect to love it as much as I did, but it just clicked with me. A few weeks later I ordered their first full length cd Hope Springs and I loved that right away too. I looked for their first ep Bewilderment Is A Blessing but I was only able to find it one place and they were asking $40 or $45 (US) for it. I decided that was a bit high for an ep and didn't get it. Good thing too, as last year they re-released both Storms and Hope and the ep was included on the re-issue of Hope Springs. I would have been kind of irritated if I had paid that much for it only to have it re-released soon there after. Plus more of the money I spent went to the band this way. The re-issue of Storms Dressed As Stars has several live songs as bonus material including a song named "Soldiers" which I'd not heard before, but really like a lot. Plus there was a very nice set of liner notes by SK in the booklet. Since Newspapertaxi went poof those notes are a nice reminder of the review that got me to buy my first Gersey cd. Plus it's really complimentary of Gersey, so it must be cool for them too. Always nice to hear good things about your work.

In 2005 they released an ep Eyes Are Wide Tonight which was a bit of a departure for them in that it was a bit "harder" sound. The songs on first three releases were lush, shimmery, and swirling as they built to a crescendo. These new songs got there quicker and while I quite enjoyed them I was worried I would be disappointed with a full album if they continued in the same vein.

Last year saw the release of their third full album No Satellites and they did indeed continue on the path they started down on the Eyes Are Wide Tonight ep. I bought the album as soon as I knew it had been released and when it came I ripped it to itunes and listened to it once. I was so disappointed. Where was the Gersey I loved? ...it just didn't seem like my Gersey. I knew they have to develop and change in ways that work for them, and I knew that new direction sometimes isn't what works for me. So I didn't feel betrayed or that they had "lost" it, but I did feel sad. I felt a bit as if I'd lost a friend. Still...I did have two albums and an ep I absolutely loved (and I did quite like the second ep too) and that's not at all bad.

Earlier this year I was checking out the Gersey Myspace page and I heard this song and thought "I kind of like that" and I noticed it was "Searchlights" from No Satellites. Hmm. Maybe I should give that album another listen. So I put on my new good headphones (nice Sennheisers - I figured I had to give this the best chance to impress me this time around) and listened.

Damn. Damn! It was good! And not only was it good, but it really was still my Gersey. Yeah, it's different, but not completely different. Think of it this way -- you get foreplay, some wham bam, thank you ma'am, and then the afterglow. In the current Gersey the wham bam part is more prominant than it has been. That can be a very good thing!

Adventures in pot pie

I just made the best homemade veggie pot pie ever! 2 medium potatoes (one was a left over baked potato from earlier this week); 2 carrots; 1/4 medium onion, 1/2 cup frozen peas; a leftover Quorn patty (removed the breading and chopped it up); a couple teaspoons flour (can probably add less next time); a half teaspoon of vegan chicken-style flavouring; and some water. Cooked it until almost tender then put it into a casserole dish, topped it with a bit of homemade pie crust and baked until the crust was nicely cooked through.

Cheap and delicious. And the crust was heavenly -- I make damn good pie crust. Perfect for a winter evening. I even have leftovers! I might add a few other veggies next time, and I could use tofu instead of the Quorn to make it vegan (or just to change it a bit) if I wanted.