I told you “No wire coat hangers” at this memorial!

On Apr 23 of this year Parachute Club drummer Billy Bryans lost his fight with cancer. 11 days after I won mine. Needless to say the news hit me hard. Billy and I were fixtures on the Queen St West music scene of the early 1980s and had collaborated on many music projects. Most notably the art-rock band "The Government" and "V", Billy and Lorraine Segato's project band that you, today, know as "Parachute Club" ("Rise up, Rise up")

As part of our collaboration I documented a lot of band performances along Queen St West during the early 1980s. With Billy's death I wanted to draw from that material and do a tribute. But going through my archives I didn't really find anything that suited. My recording of V's "Alien-Nation" is clearly a precursor to the Parachute Club version, but I cannot bring anything new to it.

I finally chose "Joan Crawford", a The Government recording from Nov 1981. It's a great band line-up, with Andrew James Paterson and the late Robert Stewart fronting the band they co-founded, Billy Bryans doing his awesome percussion thing that later artists such as Manu Katché would take to new heights, and, of all people, Jeremiah Chechik, director of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, on scratch guitar. Those were interesting times my friend.

Here is my mashup, with The Government song "Joan Crawford" illustrated with public domain and fair use images of the ultimate Hollywood glamour queen, Joan Crawford.

Bye' Billy. We hardly knew ye.

Joan Crawford Live at the Cabana Room Nov 14, 1981

When I was a Pink Chiquita

Filmmaking in Canada in the 1980s was insane. Very crafty producers were using very generous tax credits to fleece every doctor, dentist and lawyer in town. Whilst we were doing lines of coke off strippers' V-tanned derrieres, has-been actors were flying into town daily to star in the worst films ever made.

I was never that fortunate. My film debut did not feature the has-been Sylvester Stallone, but his never-was brother, Frank Stallone. Pink Chiquitas was reviewed as “a film where familiar faces from TV do 33 rpm schtick at 78 in a desperate attempt to get laughs.” The film is unique in the history of cinema as the only time anyone promoted a sound editor to direct a picture. Lousy direction. But the soundscape is brilliant.

Click the pic to watch the vid

Herein I present a bootleg clip that features a 30-year younger me, 2 minutes in. Shout-out to my scene-mate the still-hot Jan Anderson.

Queen's Park's Whitney Block Tower

The Whitney Block Tower is a Modern Gothic structure added in 1932 to architect F. R. Heakes 1928 Whitney Block. It is faced with Queenston limestone. Due to the building being situated on the street racing part of Queen's Park Crescent most people take no heed of it.

As first built it was an eclectric complex for a Provincial Government headquarters, featuring

• a bowling alley in the basement
• An early form of conditioning that used blocks of ice
• The sixth floor contained animal pens used by the provincial veterinary services that were housed there. Cows were brought up to the lab in an adjacent service elevator.
  
• The elevator is not automated but has to be hand cranked

As imposing as the Whitney Block tower is, it is an abandoned building.

The building hasn't been inhabited since 1968, when it was deemed a fire hazard. There is only one staircase, which makes it unsafe in the event of an emergency evacuation. As well, there is no central mechanical ventilation system. The only way to get fresh air into the building is by opening the windows.

Foods that prevent cancer

This weeks blogpost comes to us via 50plus magazine:

"An unhealthy diet is linked to about one third of all cancer cases. Here are the top "all-star foods" that can protect you."

Foods that prevent cancer

Alan takes the Allen

Alan takes the Allen is my valentine to Allen Road from a subway train. It is a companion piece to Stations of the crosstown subway stylistically. What I like most about it is that about half the effects are "photographic", meaning that's the way I captured the image using an iPhone The other half of the effects are digital image processing. The idea is to find new patterns and shapes in the ordinary.

A shout out to my son Philter Fox for letting me use his house mix Blip Bounce as the soundtrack.



Colour, stereo, 2:23

I am cured of cancer

Well now I have the result of my treatment - I have been completely cured of Stage 3 Oropharyngeal (tonsil) cancer. And I know you've all been thinking of me at different times since my journey began last November. And I know that has been part of what has given me the strength to make this journey when I didn't know where it was going to lead to.

When I started writing this post I began to look back at each of you, and what you have achieved in the same time period as my treatment - Nov 3 2011 to Apr 12 2012.

• My son Erin quit his job and moved in to take care of me for the first two months of my illness
• Sabrina and Colin, and Lily and Matt, got engaged
• Stephen Wilson moved in with his beloved
• Daryl and Dayna were married. The bride was beautiful!
• Marlena had her baby boy Stokeley
• Stephanie was Marlena's birthing companion and started a new personal development program
• Martine bought her house and Mark and Sarah bought their house and Marianne's daughter purchased her first home & moved into it on Feb 18
• Ashley has been accepted at Sauder School of Business
• Lily started Paramedical school
• Tammy completed her MA in psychology and Carol completed her MA in counselling psychology
• Pet is slowly working her way up the health-care ladder
• Lois and Rick went to Washington
• Someone at work was let go
• Karina started doing Standup Comedy and Competitive weightlifting (a natural fit)
• Matthew took hundreds of photos of the kids
• Jim sold Gabby's (my local pub) to Ricky
• Diane Matthews made shortbread cookies
• The very motivated Mary graduated from U of T, has been accepted into a Speech and Language Pathology Program and most recently played Played Amber Von Tussle in "Hairspray". And she's on a 4 month tour of Europe.
• The very motivated Donna started doing Osteo Pilates at Pilates Emporium; put Ian and herself on Weight Watcher's; and is going to training with Ian for their new business
• Tara did her first feature
• The very busy Andrew James Paterson travelled to DokFest in Kassel, Germany for a world premiere of his video Roman Spring Leakage, coordinated the 5th annual 8 Fest for small-gauge film in Toronto, and wrote an essay on the history of the Images Festival for the catalogue of their upcoming 25th edition.
• Greg helped his mom sort through and catalogue his late dad's vast body of artwork
• Peter had his knee surgery
• Kat has been supporting someone near and dear to her who was in an accident that has bizarrely resulted in permanent physical disability, and trying to help them cope, mentally and physically.
• Sandra launched the new brand and welcomed a new baby into her cousin's family
• Terri turned 50 and became a Nana to beautiful Adalyn Kate born on Dec 9
• Lisa finished her screenplay

And every week my mother and father drove 2 hours each way to bring me chicken noodle soup, and love.

The energy of this life force is a mighty river, greater than Niagara or the Amazon, and we are all being pulled along in its power. That is what makes community. We would all be happy if we could live forever in that time when everything is perfect but that can never be. In our journey through life the good times never last, but the bad times never last either. When we harness that energy, good or bad, and move it in a new direction, that is when we become difference makers.

Today I give thanks that I got my life back. But more importantly, I celebrate all your lives, and the lives of those you know and love. You are all been so supportive during my journey, and every kindness has made a difference.

But I have to say my biggest hero is my daughter Chloe, who has been living with a crippling form of arthritis for over a decade. For me, every time the pain got too much to take, I just remembered what Chloe goes through every day was that much worse. And I sucked it up, and manned up, for her.

Thanks to the radiation oncology team of Dr Andrew Bayley and the chemotherapy team of Dr Lillian Siu, the technicians at the linear accelerator treatment unit #5, and countless others at Princess Margaret Hospital.

Erin & Dad

Song

Trooper We're here for a good time, not a long time

Stations of the crosstown subway

Stations of the crosstown subway* is my valentine to our beleaguered TTC. Using my iPhone I videotaped each station to capture some aspect of it. Then I edited it and applied heavy visual effects and a custom music theme to create three "movements". The second movement is very naturalistic and features images of the new T1 Toronto Rocket subway trains in far-flung suburban stations. The third movement is my favorite. It shows how robot viewing systems see us (humans)



Color, Mono, the length is 4:23

*Inspired by the Catholic Easter observance titled "The Stations of the Cross"