Weblog and Playground of Gord Fynes

Happy belated birthday Dave!

Winter has hit back fairly hard here in Toronto for the better part of the last month. Just when the snow was starting to melt, and it wasn’t exactly toque and gloves weather, we get hit with a couple of storms and some major dips in temperature to keep ya indoors. Groundhog didn’t see his shadow? He was probably blinded by the light reflecting off the blankets of snow that are replenished weekly. Either that or the entrance to his home was frozen shut like the doors of a 1990 VW Golf at eight o’clock in the morning when you’re late for work and still have to drop the boy off at daycare. Then, the car stereo won’t accept a CD ‘cuz it’s too frickin’ cold. I’m guessing here.

The lack of outdoor activity had lead to watching piles of DVDs, trying to catch up on some reading, listening to music, messing about on the guitar and generally neglecting any updates/entries on this site. Oh yeah, that plus a trip to the dentist and Elliot being down with a fever and a bout of tonsillitis for the better part of a week. Never a dull moment. Sorry to those who actually read this stuff for not keeping current. Both of you.

In case you hadn’t heard by now, Toronto-based tech/culture Shift Magazine’s now last issue has landed on newstands. I’d been reading Shift for the better part of the last five years, including one subscription and one renewal. I loved the mag enough to get my pal Terry a subscription one Christmas. I’m very saddened to see them fold (hopefully just temporarily). At least there’s still the Shift Filter for the time being.

Congratulations to our friends Christine and Tim on their very recent marriage in London, ON. Beautiful location. Beautiful ceremony. Beautiful people. Thanks for including us on your big day!

Soundtrack for the drive to the wedding and back;

There:

Out Hud – Street Dad
The Beatles – Magical Mystery Tour
Orchestra Baobab – Specialist In All Styles

and Back:

Kraftwerk – The Mix (great driving music)
Joy Division – 1977 to 1980
CBC Radio One for the home stretch

One of my favourite discs of last year is The Notwist’s “Neon Golden” which has had plenty of play around the house, in the car, etc. Elliot now asks for “notischt” on a regular basis. The real kicker was that this past Friday we put it on for him (it’s been some time since it was last played) and he started to SING ALONG with it. My jaw hit the floor. The kid turned two a couple of months ago and is singing Notwist!? He’s even familiar with some of the arrangements and lets me know when the “clapping” part comes up in the opening track. Air-drumming….in time (thank you very much) with other parts. He even calls out “Pick Up the Phone” when it starts off. I’ve asked him if he wants to go and see the band with me when they’re in town in April, but of course he won’t be old enough to get into the club and it’ll probably be on a school/daycare night.

Thanks to our friend Melissa for the introduction to the sombre world of Strindberg and Helium. Man, and I thought I could have a bleak outlook at times! Around the house my wife and I now use the “helium” voice to repeat certain words or phrases. The fact that the boy’s around should justify that one.

I’d mentioned a while back that my two year old son has become a fan of Robyn Hitchcock via the “Storefront Hitchcock” DVD that we’ve had since the summer. As my acoustic guitar playing is coming along, I’ve lifted a few of his licks here and there and figured out the intro/chorus of his tune “The Yip Song.” Elliot now screams “Yiiiippp” when I strum those four chords. The boy’s already got a musical ear. I also picked up a Beatles songbook a few weeks back to learn some tunes. My intro to playing these tunes has been his intro to hearing them. My brother had remarked that I’d better get the boy into the Beatles before he grows up only on stuff like the Chicago Underground Duo!

Congratulations Gillian and Robert!!!

New Year’s Eve found me sitting in front of the television watching the great Dazed and Confused on Bravo. I hadn’t seen that flick in about eight years – back when my pal Dave and I watched the scene at the drive-in restaurant about twenty times in a row, memorizing Wooderson’s lines and trying not to laugh ourselves sick.

Okay, now we all know that keeping a New Year’s resolution is next to impossible for longer than a couple o’ weeks at the most. However, I’ve come up with one that I’ve already started and will probably have little or no trouble keeping with since it’s absolutley not a big deal, but something I never usually do. I’ve started to actually (don’t laugh now) tuck in my shirt for work. A co-worker a few weeks back jokingly asked me if I actually had a waistline. Since the tuckin’ in began, I realize that my gut doesn’t appear to be as big as I thought it would be. Now if I could keep to the idea of doing sit-ups again…..