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Accordion, Instrument of the Gods It Happened to Me

I’m Honoured

In the process of prototyping an application for Blogware (the blogging tool used in creating this blog) that made use of its stats package, I noticed some incoming referrals from Wikipedia, of all places. It turns out that I’m listed under the “Accordionists” section of the Accordion entry. I’m listed alongside some serious bright lights: Guy Klucevsek, Weird Al, Lawrence Welk and my accordion role models John Linnell (from They Might Be Giants, for making the accordion cool) and Art van Damme and Dick “Daddy-O” Contino (hipster accordion legends, who made the accordion sexy).

It’s sort of odd that I’m listed among these people: with the glaring
exception of me, they’re all pros; I’m an amateur and a seriously
goofball one at that. I’m deeply honoured.

Wikipedia, being a wiki, is designed to accepting editing and
contributions from anybody. One of the necessities of such a design is
a history for each entry, which allows you to see what changes were
made, when they were made and who made them. Thanks to the history page for the “Accordion” entry, I know that a contributor named Bob Jonkman added me to the list on April 13, 2004. Thanks, Bob!

I’ll have to add some people to the “Accordionists” list: Jason Webley and Domenic the Accordion Beatles Guy both of whom have been doing accordion rock far longer than I, Astor Piazzolla, the undisputed king of accordion tango. And I can’t forget my accordion partner in crime, Karl Mohr, without whom I wouldn’t have become the Accordion Guy.

Categories
Accordion, Instrument of the Gods

“I’m Lookin’ Queen-Spadina…and Feelin’ Minnesota…”

I’ll be wearing my American flag tie deep in the heart of America on
the 4th of July, as I have been invited to play accordion at the Dystopia Party, which takes place at the CONvergence science fiction conference in Minneapolis this weekend.

According to the Dystopia Party site:

The Dystopia Party is a recurring theme party held at CONvergence, an
annual science fiction & fantasy convention in the Twin
Cities, Minnesota over Fourth-of-July weekend. We offer music,
fun, food, and stifling oppression in a dark, dystopian-future
themed environment. 2003 was our first year hosting a con
party and we took the place by storm. We intend to go to even
greater lengths this year.

…

For 2004 our party will run from 7pm ’till 3am both Friday,
July 2nd and Saturday, July 3rd. We’re in Room 230 of the
Sheraton (nee Radison) on Highway 100 south of 494. Just come
on by the hotel and you’ll see us immediately upon entering the
pool/cabana/party space.

I’ll be there, as will my lovely girlfriend, The Redhead.

Dystopia is organized by some friends. Bridget, Dystopia’s promotions and staffing person, was the first and only person to ever PayPal me a beer, and she and Joe came to Accordion City in late 2002. Ry4an
(no, that’s not a typo), the party’s money guy, is a coworker from
those heady dot-com days at OpenCola. These fine people saw fit to
cover my plane ticket and hotel expenses, so you’d better believe I
will be perfoming my brains out.

It’ll be good to see Bridget, Joe and Ry4an, and I’m also hoping to see swarming network guru and Roshambo champion Justin Chapweske and his wife Natz, big fun guy Dave Polaschek and Luke Francl, the Lizard Picture King. As a special treat, I shall make Dave Ahrens a very happy man by performing Brecht and Weil’s Alabama Song (the Doors’ version) with him.

If you’re attending CONvergence, drop by the party. It’ll be fun!

(By the bye, this entry’s title is a riff on the lyrics to Soundgarden’s anthem, Outshined.)

Categories
It Happened to Me

Happy Birthday, Canada!

July 1st is Canada Day, and this one marks the 137th birthday of this fine country, my adopted home since January 1975.

Happy birthday, Canada!

And just for kicks…

(The story behind the banner is here.)

Categories
In the News

The Election Result

I would say “let the gnashing of teeth begin,” but it’s already under way.
More commentary later when I get a little time, but I’ll leave you with
a little something that might surprise a few people who know me:

I was hoping for a Conservative minority government.

Chew on that for a while, and I’ll explain later.

Categories
In the News

Guile’s Election Goodies

My co-worker Guile (who, like me, occupies Centerville on the political map) has the best line about the Liberal Party of Canada:

“I think the Liberals need to take a time out, stand in the corner and think about what they’ve done.”

He’s also come up with a great way for followers of the Canadian federal election to spend tonight: playing the Election Night Drinking Game.

Special advice to protest voters: If you must protest by spoiling your
ballot, do it by voting for Ross Rader as your write-in candidate. Look at that trustworthy face:


Vote for Boss Ross: whaddaya gonna do, vote for the Green Party?

Categories
It Happened to Me

Back to Work

After just over a week’s worth of vacation (a weekend of outdoor bacchanalia at the Om Festival followed by a week of hanging out with the lovely Wendy), I’m back at work, fully recharged are rarin’ to go.

I largely avoided the Web and email, so there are probably a few people
to whom I owe some return correspondence. If you’re one of these
people, I will get in touch with you today.

Categories
Uncategorized

Canadians: Go and vote!

Today, Monday, June 28th, is Election Day. If you’re eligible to vote in the Canadian election, make sure you vote!