More music desires than funds...

Well, I certainly hope everyone is going to Ben Miller's fundraiser at Lula tonight...I will have to catch him later when I have the cash....I wish him every success, he is a talented young bass player and a fine young man, plus, the cause is fantastic...raising money for instrument purchase for kids in Regent Park here in Toronto. Ben I owe you $50 or more.... Also, found out today my hero, the most amazing jazz singer on the planet, the man who makes my insides melt...yes Kurt Elling is coming to T.O. in December....now of course the question is, will I be there? Here's hoping....need to practice my "unlimited abundance" affirmations and some Feng Shui or get a job of course....

Laid low by the common cold....

This is what I need to be consuming lots of these past few days.

I took Cold F/X, Vitamin C, got an immune boost drink from "Fresh" however, the cold is winning.

Perhaps I was overdoing it by going to my Pilates Ball Level 2 -3 class today...but I figured maybe I could sweat those germs out!

I should be back in action in a couple of days to my full jazz appreciation strength.

Ori Dagan

Checked out my friend Ori Dagan's gig on Wednesday night at Dazzling Restaurant, 291 King Street West. In case you didn't know Ori is an up and coming singer with a wonderful rich baritone voice and great scatting ability. He was performing with the fabulous Dave Restivo on keyboard, Jordan O'Connor on bass and new to me - Jeff Taylor on blistering violin (if violins can blister or perhaps burn since they are wood?) The restaurant offers pan Asian cuisine which lots of lovely looking sushi included. $3.50 Martinis are available on Wednesdays. Ori's gig there is on Wednesday and Sunday from 6 - 10 p.m.....spend a whole evening there or take in a set before the theatre... Visit his website www.oridagan.com or on myspace....

The fabulous Tim O'Brien

It is a rare thing when you are completely mesmerized by a performer and this happened last night at Hugh's Room with the return of Tim O'Brien.

I was first introduced to Tim's music through a CD recommendation (and one of my favourite recordings) "Red on Blonde" a great series of bluegrass covers of Bob Dylan tunes.

Tim is a redhead...:)

I had the pleasure of hearing him live a couple of years ago in the same venue and couldn't wait to hear him again!!

He is the consummate musician and entertainer, battling the tail end of a cold as he explained, the "gravel" in his voice he seamlessly switched between guitar, mandolin and fiddle with witty reparatee and even banjo jokes in between as he was tuning.

His first tune was a beautiful and haunting traditional melody "Pretty Fair Maid in the Garden" which was enchanting.

The audience ate it up and loudly applauded and whistled after each tune. He has a new recording called "Chameloeon" and performed said tune with audience participation. His second set included requests such as "Senor" from "Red on Blonde".

"Like I used to do" was a paen to enduring love and some political tongue in cheek with "The World was made for Everyone" (and especially for me)...about U.S. sense of entitlement...

Well, he did do a fundraiser for Mr. Obama...

Another poignant tune about unrequited love "The Garden".

Can't wait to see him again. Check him out at http://www.timobrien.net/. You can find out where he's performing next, he mentioned New England and Albany, NY .

A Sad Note

My mom, Betty Murray (nee Whitley) passed away today - she was 81. She had been diagnosed in the summer with several brain tumours and the cancer had also spread to one of her lungs.

This is the last photo I have of her at my niece Meredith's wedding in July. My sister Kathleen is on the left and has been a wonderful support for my dad through this trying time - looking after him and also visiting my mom.

Thank you mom for feeding me, teaching me to cook and bake, love old movies and music, giving me a lifelong love of reading, the arts, an interest in the metaphysical and unknown, listening to me while we did the dishes, comforting me when life seemed so hard especially through the difficult teenage years.

I loved hearing your stories of Belfast and what it was like growing up there, through the Great Depression and the Second World War.

Bless you for all that and I feel at peace knowing you are on a new journey surrounded by those you loved and lost and you will be remembered by many here on earth, including Harry, my dad; Alan and Colin my brothers and their wives Becky and Kathy; Kathleen and her husband Les; grandchildren Meredith, Connor and Frances.

Nathan Hiltz trio and a pie baking compulsion

Drat...forgot the camera again...must put it by the door to take photos of gigs! I still prefer pumpkin pie, though I did make a carrot pie just to try it...and made another pie on Monday since the first one was eaten by my family.... If you're looking for some wonderful jazz be sure to check out the Nathan Hiltz Trio at Joe Mama's on King Street West, every Sunday from 6 - 10. Nathan, a great guitar player is joined by Bernie Senensky on Hammond B3 and Sly Juhas on drums. There was a small but enthusiastic crowd for a Thanksgiving Sunday. The performance was being videotaped and they were rocking the place...more bodies needed, please! Nathan is going to be a guest on "Jazzology" on JAZZ FM in January...I'll let you know when to listen. He is studying at U of T...in graduate studies I believe... King West seems to be becoming a lively area for jazz now, what with "Quotes" on Fridays from 5 - 8 with CJQ as the house band and always a great guest soloist sitting in with them. I'm going to try and catch the fabulous singer Ori Dagan at another new venue, Dazzling Restaurant at 291 King West from 6 - 9, I believe. Also the lovely and talented Madeline Forster from Rochester N.Y is at the Rex tomorrow at 9:30 p.m. and Thursday Hendrik Meurkens, harmonica is in from New York City. I'm going to try and catch the jazz jam tonight too, Justin Gray is hosting and he is one of my favourite "Jazzology" kids...:)

Giving Thanks and Providing Sanctuary

Yes, it's time for Thanksgiving. I am in charge of dessert for the family dinner and as pictured have made a Carrot Pie on the left and a Pumpkin Pie.

My friend Richard swears by Carrot Pie, more orange and uses less sugar. We shall see which pie people will choose as I'm sure they're both yummy. Also as a topping, Cashew "Creem" made with raw cashews and all vegan....

Speaking of vegan...the Farm Sanctuary fundraiser at the Rivoli was fun last night. Lots of great raffle prizes and music. Yvette et al (our pet sitter) of tailblazers.ca did a wonderful job. Check out http://www.moove.ca/ which raises fund to help out abandoned neglected and abused animals also, Farm Sanctuary's website (http://www.farmsanctuary.org/) which " works to end cruelty to farm animals through rescue, promotes compassionate living through rescue, education and advocacy" (from their website). Both well worth your attention and support!!

Again, forgot my camera to take in visually the haunting vocals of the talented Miwa Gemini from New York and the energetic and captivating band from Vesta Varro. All acts waived their fees as part of the fundraiser and were previous winners of Indie Week in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I am thankful for health, joy, love of friends and family, music, a peaceful country, being literate, being able to vote and speak my mind, enough to eat, a roof over my head and a sense of wonder and magic at what each new day will bring, and finally but not least laughter. I could go on endlessly with my list as I truly feel blessed.

Great sounds and sights

Checked out Jen Sagar performing with Alan Lightstone at Harlem on 67 Richmond Street at Church...and they sounded lovely. This is a cozy venue and I hope to hear more jazz. They are renowned for their soul food..mmmm...

On Saturday night, joined the throngs (well, small throngs) of people checking out Nuit Blanche, which is a nightlong conceptual art fest here in Toronto 7 p.m. - 7 a.m.ish. Liberty Village was really fun and less congested that Queen West last year.

The above photo is not Jen's gig but rather an exhibit about "fugitive chickens" where you could call their friend? negotiator and ask questions...I should have called and asked if they had names or aliases. The artist painted their portraits using a fork...

There was a waterfall coming out of a former prison chapel from the 3rd floor...photos didn't turn out well and a gathering of "mascots" at Lamport stadium...

This was a beautiful mandala made of coconut....

And this was just fun...

Yes, it IS the happiest place on earth!!

After years and years of seeing the teacups on Wonderful World of Disney..I finally got to ride in them...it was the first thing I wanted to go on and it was everything I expected.

It's very hard to be sad about anything when you're spinning around in these colourful cups and listening to children laugh...

Such fun and a very hot day...not as busy as I would have expected but it was off season...even though there were school age children there...playing hooky?

Checked out Tomorrowland, rode the Matterhorn, took the train, went on the Jungle Adventure..which was delightfully cheesy and loved the Peter Pan ride, flying in a ship over London..

The most magical part was the evening parade featuring floats of most of the Disney films and character, like Pinocchio, Lion King, Little Mermaid and all the princesses: Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty...

I almost missed the parade because I was shopping and couldn't resist these lovely ears...

Still more California...

Going up the Pacific Coast Highway en route to Santa Barbara, we stopped here for a picnic lunch. I believe it was called Sycamore park.

There was a camera crew filming a scene of a man falling over face down in the sand while a box drops from his hands and drifts out to sea....

How Californian...

This little lizard came to say hello when we stopped for a gorgeous panoramic view above Ventura.

No sightings of mountain lions, although there were lots of warning signs...i.e. can you tell the difference between a mountain lion and a bobcat? Are you going to have the presence of mind to stop and notice the differences?

Disneyland is next as I try and conclude my trip to California....

Changing the profile photo and More California

Notice my profile picture change...I am wearing a "Tinkerbell" tshirt and earring in honour of Disneyland and that I like fairies and sparkly stuff...:) I took the train down to San Diego and it was wonderful...such great scenery...for most of the trip the train hugs the coastline and you can practically reach out and touch the Pacific! This is one of the beautiful structures at Balboa Park, which include a theatre and art gallery. I believe the buildings were built for a World's Fair over 100 years ago and are still there...so gorgeous! This is a photo of my dear friend Nancy and me at Balboa Park in San Diego on our way in to a lovely dinner at Prado. She was so gracious in showing me around her city including visiting the old section where we were serenaded by musicians at lunch.

Coming installments....trip up to Santa Barbara and Disneyland....

Chaos Theory at Tequila Bookworm

The "kids" sounded great or "wicked" as one off kilter Queen West character declared them...constantly...at least she enjoyed the music, although not George Bush as she also repeated.... Kudos to Jonathan Kay and Andrew Kay on saxophones, Justin Gray on bass and Adam Teixeira on drums... And yes, I forgot my camera again...

Earlier I was indulged at a Thierry Mugler event at the Bay with noshes (lovely cheeses and fruit and bread) and also wine! I experienced a makeup session and tried out some of the newly repackaged and limited edition body products of the "Angel" line...a lovely perfume that I always get compliments on... I am also dreaming of new fall clothes and shoes...and the funds to purchase them with...

Eating my way through Santa Monica

Lemons and oranges and artichokes...all organic...this is how you know you're not in Kansas or Canada anymore..

This photo was taken on a Saturday at the Santa Monica Farmer's Market.

I enjoyed tiny local grapes, plums, oranges, pistachios, tomatoes and apples...I did not have means of cooking the artichokes or those would have been purchased too!

Not everything is best cooked though, in fact many things can be prepared in a delicious fashion raw or "living"...that's my segue to talk about Juliano's Raw in Santa Monica.....

The amazing concotions are a "grilled cheese" sandwich made with cauliflower "cheese" nuts and avocado on a type of cracker bread.

Closest in the photo is the mango salad which had some sort of creamy nut dressing...both were fabulous as was the pomegranate drink.

We were seated in a separate area with lovely Stargazer lilies on the tables...it's like they knew we were coming...my favourite flower..

Talk about the celebrity treatment.

I was feeling a little under the weather and asked if they had any iron boosting drinks. Our waiter, who resembled a blond Dennis Miller suggested "Alien Blood" a very savory drink kind of spicy with burdock root..that he said a lot of people swore by but was not to his taste...so I gave it a go....

It was so tasty...and energizing that I got one the next day too.

We ate at Real Food Daily on Santa Monica Boulevard for dinner which was yummy too. We had the "Vermont Harvest" with veggies and quinoa and wild rice and the "TV dinner" which is tempeh meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy and veggies.

For dessert, a "Bombay Chocolate Cake" with bananas and curry....mmmm

Forgot to take the camera along...

Cookies sampled from their takeout area earlier in the day were also yummy...

Tomorrow I will describe my train trip to San Diego and my visit with my dear friend and mentor, Nancy.

Tonight, I will try to get out for some jazz at Tequila Bookworm at 9 p.m. - Chaos Theory with Andrew and Jonathan Kay, Justin Gray and Adam Teixeira.

Some former Jazzology guests from Humber College....

Seaview Motel

Very retro, funky, close to everything including the beach..

There was also a great little coffee shop next door, Cora's - which was very popular and tiny.

Patio/terrace area...plus a table and chairs outside the room...

The room itself was huge...

Plus, a lovely lemon tree....

More tomorrow including Food in Santa Monica, trip to San Diego, trip up the coast to Santa Barbara....and of course, Disneyland!!

Back from the land of Endless Summer

Dude! How Californian is this? Check it out! Okay, enough...

This is taken on a Sunday morning at Santa Monica Beach, a short walk from the Seaview Motel...where I was staying...more on that later.

It was wall to wall or wave to wave surfers and it was actually mesmerizing. I loved having the ocean wash over my bare feet and I can see how surfing could become a lifestyle...it seems to be all about figuring out which wave to try, being calm, riding into the wave...very Zen.

These dudes are in serious shape as well.

The ubiquitous palm trees....taken at Pacific Palisades Park above Santa Monica beach.

About 88 degrees Fahrenheit that day...this was on the tour of LA I took, which gave a taste of everything, Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Farmer's Market, Santa Monica, Venice Beach...

I will try and fill in more as I go along...I took ALOT of photos...

Tomorrow San Diego, lemons and lizards...