A few things on the horizon for us as our hemisphere warms...
Sat. April 7th Elizabeth Riley Band (duo version - Jen and Patricia) will be part of an Easter Vigil at St. Luke's church on Somerset. Show (known in the church world as 'service'... do I sound irreverent?) starts at 9. We'll be playing music on the steps as people arrive, playing and singing along with some of Barclay McMillan's choral singers during the service, and doing a short set afterwards in that beautiful acoustic space during coffee, tea, goodies and fellowship. Very much looking forward to it.
Sun. April 22nd Elizabeth Riley Band has an Elmdale show - 3 to 5 pm, all ages - openers are Heather Farrow and Richard Cote. This duo is a wife-and-husband team with amazing original songs, Ric is great on mandolin and all kinds of other instruments and Heather's voice is just incredible. (They normally play with Faraway Star.) So you gotta come hear them. Then our current Rileys will take over with the help of Sally Robinson on bass. Sally is kind of like a force of nature... judging from our practices so far, she seems to be able to eat, play, sing and crack jokes simultaneously... all while whipping us into shape with her impeccable ear and rhythm.
Then waaaay in June.... June 2nd to be exact, we will be playing Spiritfest, Sharon ON! It is "the alt/anti festival" with "warm intentional family/community vibe" according to David Rankine. We are incredibly excited to be participating in this festival and playing in the Sharon Temple, known among musicians for its beautiful acoustic space. So get out the VW micobus and come join us!
Monday, March 12, 2012
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
under the covers
Have not been performing or even seeing my band much lately but I've been doing covers by request over on youtube... check it out if ya want.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Astronaut Love Triangle News!
So I was pinching myself not too long ago when the band I'm in, Elizabeth Riley Band, got an email from Astronaut Love Triangle suggesting a collaboration! We gathered in December for a practice and it was another moment of surreality for me to actually PLAY Astronaut Love Triangle songs WITH Astronaut Love Triangle! wow.
This is Manny Blue from ALT - she is holding a genuine Salvation Army tambourine and case...
These are three of the four points on the triangle... Dave, Manny Blue and Jimmi Jetz.
We played: Large American Car, I don't deserve this and a new one about a roller derby girl...
Will keep y'all posted as the collaboration continues - they promised to help us 'space-punk' some of some of our numbers...! :)
We played: Large American Car, I don't deserve this and a new one about a roller derby girl...
Will keep y'all posted as the collaboration continues - they promised to help us 'space-punk' some of some of our numbers...! :)
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Riot police on campus
On November 10th, some students peacefully occupied an administration building at McGill, in a protest against potential tuition hikes.
By the end of the day, police in full riot gear had pepper-sprayed and forcibly dispersed students, faculty, and others outside the building. Some were there to protest peacefully. Some were on their way to class.
This has sent shock waves through my new academic community, McGill. I have heard people saying "I have to figure out how to continue to be a faculty member at this university." And "This is not my McGill or my values. I'm not proud to be here anymore."
Some others, who were not there, are actually questioning if it really happened, or if it was really as bad as people say. This is understandable - on a human level - because no-one wants to feel unsafe going about their daily life. However, those police were called in by administration, not for the security of students, but to remove students who were not doing anything wrong.
Teach-In
A few weeks ago, I attended a Teach-In regarding this event and its aftermath as people try to process what happened. Connections were made between this violent quelling of a demonstration at McGill in connection with other events on and off campus:
1) At McGill, a striking non-academic staff of 1700 people in its third month of trying to bargain with an administration that is putting more effort into spin-doctoring their communiques than engaging with the very real, meaningful and REASONABLE issues raised by these workers (the lowest paid university staff in Quebec);*
2) the use of riot police to remove peaceful protesters at TWO other university campuses in the same short time period ( Nov 9, UC Berkeley, with batons; Nov 18, UC Davis, with pepper spray). Please note that the Principal of McGill, Heather Monroe-Blum, is an advisor to the Chancellor of UC Davis;
3) the ongoing privatization, corporatization and commodification of Education nationally and globally, which has been quietly reshaping governance structures at university campuses across Canada and the U.S. for some time, making it more and more likely - structurally - that tenured professors, Chairs and Deans in universities will feel fearful that any criticism or perceived criticism of their university or administration will result in personal, departmental, and faculty level repercussions of some kind.
Seminar discussion
Following the teach-in, my seminar class met and we spent the rest of our class time talking about all of these events. One of the students had been sitting on the steps of the administration building as part of the human chain, and she described being pepper-sprayed by police. That description has lingered in my mind ever since, along with some related discussion about police actions in general - and some disagreement about how to see this kind of police action.
There were a range of positions, including the point of view that police officers are basically well-meaning, good people with a difficult job, and they don't get out of bed in the morning gleefully anticipating beating people up; and the view that in fact SOME police officers, on the contrary, do enjoy violence; and the view that the police as an organization are instruments of the state with a license to use violence on citizens; also the view that there is a difference between distrust of policing/police organizations and personal distrust of/antipathy to police officers; and the view that the members of our society who get funnelled into these difficult and dangerous jobs tend to be those who are less advantaged economically - by being working class, by belonging to a visible minority, for example.
The woman who had been peppersprayed expressed a certain feeling of solidarity with police officers as human beings, while expressing outrage about the actions that were taken on that day and being on the receiving end of those actions.
Questions...
In an email to the McGill staff and students on November 21, Heather Munroe-Blum said: "As Principal of McGill, I am responsible for what happens on our campuses. The events of November 10 have served as a wake-up call for me about problems we have with respect to how we communicate, plan and interact as a community, and I commit to work with the McGill community to explore and find solutions to these problems, and to implement them."
The cynic in me wonders - To what extent have solutions been pre-determined? How much listening is she actually prepared to do? How much change are she and her administration actually willing to embrace? How much of this statement is dictated by P.R. sensibility and a desire to safeguard a career path and how much is it a sincere statement of caring?
In practical terms, I question - Can the person responsible for ordering riot police to come in also be the person to inspire enough trust to broker a meaningful and healing resolution? She retains all her power - how safe will students and faculty feel to speak frankly? If they speak frankly, will their eloquence have any results?
*update about strike: the workers and McGill have reached an agreement (through conciliation) that has been ratified - today (Dec 6) is the first day back at work for MUNACA members.
By the end of the day, police in full riot gear had pepper-sprayed and forcibly dispersed students, faculty, and others outside the building. Some were there to protest peacefully. Some were on their way to class.
This has sent shock waves through my new academic community, McGill. I have heard people saying "I have to figure out how to continue to be a faculty member at this university." And "This is not my McGill or my values. I'm not proud to be here anymore."
Some others, who were not there, are actually questioning if it really happened, or if it was really as bad as people say. This is understandable - on a human level - because no-one wants to feel unsafe going about their daily life. However, those police were called in by administration, not for the security of students, but to remove students who were not doing anything wrong.
Teach-In
A few weeks ago, I attended a Teach-In regarding this event and its aftermath as people try to process what happened. Connections were made between this violent quelling of a demonstration at McGill in connection with other events on and off campus:
1) At McGill, a striking non-academic staff of 1700 people in its third month of trying to bargain with an administration that is putting more effort into spin-doctoring their communiques than engaging with the very real, meaningful and REASONABLE issues raised by these workers (the lowest paid university staff in Quebec);*
2) the use of riot police to remove peaceful protesters at TWO other university campuses in the same short time period ( Nov 9, UC Berkeley, with batons; Nov 18, UC Davis, with pepper spray). Please note that the Principal of McGill, Heather Monroe-Blum, is an advisor to the Chancellor of UC Davis;
3) the ongoing privatization, corporatization and commodification of Education nationally and globally, which has been quietly reshaping governance structures at university campuses across Canada and the U.S. for some time, making it more and more likely - structurally - that tenured professors, Chairs and Deans in universities will feel fearful that any criticism or perceived criticism of their university or administration will result in personal, departmental, and faculty level repercussions of some kind.
Seminar discussion
Following the teach-in, my seminar class met and we spent the rest of our class time talking about all of these events. One of the students had been sitting on the steps of the administration building as part of the human chain, and she described being pepper-sprayed by police. That description has lingered in my mind ever since, along with some related discussion about police actions in general - and some disagreement about how to see this kind of police action.
There were a range of positions, including the point of view that police officers are basically well-meaning, good people with a difficult job, and they don't get out of bed in the morning gleefully anticipating beating people up; and the view that in fact SOME police officers, on the contrary, do enjoy violence; and the view that the police as an organization are instruments of the state with a license to use violence on citizens; also the view that there is a difference between distrust of policing/police organizations and personal distrust of/antipathy to police officers; and the view that the members of our society who get funnelled into these difficult and dangerous jobs tend to be those who are less advantaged economically - by being working class, by belonging to a visible minority, for example.
The woman who had been peppersprayed expressed a certain feeling of solidarity with police officers as human beings, while expressing outrage about the actions that were taken on that day and being on the receiving end of those actions.
Questions...
In an email to the McGill staff and students on November 21, Heather Munroe-Blum said: "As Principal of McGill, I am responsible for what happens on our campuses. The events of November 10 have served as a wake-up call for me about problems we have with respect to how we communicate, plan and interact as a community, and I commit to work with the McGill community to explore and find solutions to these problems, and to implement them."
The cynic in me wonders - To what extent have solutions been pre-determined? How much listening is she actually prepared to do? How much change are she and her administration actually willing to embrace? How much of this statement is dictated by P.R. sensibility and a desire to safeguard a career path and how much is it a sincere statement of caring?
In practical terms, I question - Can the person responsible for ordering riot police to come in also be the person to inspire enough trust to broker a meaningful and healing resolution? She retains all her power - how safe will students and faculty feel to speak frankly? If they speak frankly, will their eloquence have any results?
*update about strike: the workers and McGill have reached an agreement (through conciliation) that has been ratified - today (Dec 6) is the first day back at work for MUNACA members.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Feeling Thankful
Just a quick post this morning... because I really need to get back to reading an article by Rick Carpenter about disability as a metagenre. I was really excited to find this article because it brings together the two main areas of theory that I want to use for my dissertation project: writing studies (specifically Rhetorical Genre theory) and disability studies (critical perspective on disability as socially created/constructed). I'm slowly plowing my way through the article, making notes, looking up his sources and trying to decide what I agree with and don't agree with, and how he is using this idea and whether I can use this idea. My way of reading things when I read deeply is really slow and sometimes I feel impatient with myself. But I've accepted that this is my process for better or for worse. It works for me, ultimately. Thinking and writing come out of it.
I'm feeling thankful. I feel thankful to be doing my academic work. Thankful to be nestled in bed in a quiet house with my computer, reading and writing. Thankful that my kid's dad is such a good dad and I never have a moment's worry when my son is at his dad's place. Thankful that I got to go to the Santa Claus parade with my boy yesterday afternoon. Thankful that I went to my parents' church last night and heard my dad sing his original songs, and that I got to sing as well. Thankful for the gig we had, lo - only one weekend ago! at Raw Sugar - it was amazing to talk to the people who came out to hear us, to meet new people, to share a venue with Birdie Whyte and with Of Two Minds, to meet John Carroll, to play music with my dear good friends Patricia and Carmel. Thankful. Thankful.
I'm feeling thankful. I feel thankful to be doing my academic work. Thankful to be nestled in bed in a quiet house with my computer, reading and writing. Thankful that my kid's dad is such a good dad and I never have a moment's worry when my son is at his dad's place. Thankful that I got to go to the Santa Claus parade with my boy yesterday afternoon. Thankful that I went to my parents' church last night and heard my dad sing his original songs, and that I got to sing as well. Thankful for the gig we had, lo - only one weekend ago! at Raw Sugar - it was amazing to talk to the people who came out to hear us, to meet new people, to share a venue with Birdie Whyte and with Of Two Minds, to meet John Carroll, to play music with my dear good friends Patricia and Carmel. Thankful. Thankful.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
At Raw Sugar Nov 19: Birdie Whyte, Elizabeth Riley Band, Of Two Minds
Birdie is a banjo player and singer who loves the old timey stuff and has a unique style all her own. She's also sexy as hell. She plays regularly at the Branch in Kemptville, often with Frank Western ("The Frank and Birdie Show"). She is also at the Laff regularly hosting and gracing open mics there. Of Two Minds are a mysterious bunch... I don't know much about them except that they just changed their band name... trying to get away from the law? income tax? international art thieves...? probably! Speculation is rampant.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)