Happy Holidays! Happy Hannukah everyone!

It's monday night and I have not written a word for over 4 days.
I've been on hiatus from writing. Been reading lots of newspapers and listening to
the radio, watching TV. Muting the commercials is a habit i can only make regular.
Commercials are getting on the nerves more and more.

I had restive weekend. Slept a few extra hours and consummed a few extra calories.

It's almost 2006 and what have we done?

it's late at night and i'm off to bed.

all the best!!

TCB

Schmelvis

To my good friend...
Man oh man...what a night it was!
First of all, yesterday was the 19th day of the month of Kislev. A Chassidic Holiday which marks the celebration of the Alter Rebbe who on this day was released from prison. The story goes that in the middle of the 18th century The Alter Rebbe was incarcerated by the Russians because he sent money to feed poor jews in Israel. at the time the Turks ruled over Israel and the Turks were also enemies with Russia,
the russians thought that he was sending money to help the turks. PS...he ended up in Jail.
Later on the Russians realized that the whole thing was a bunch of BS.
Well, today we celebrate the release of the alter Rebbe from prison. Funny enough it is a day of redemption or a coming out of prison, out of exile and into salvation. So today also marks my redemption and what a celebration I had at 'Chabad house down town with Rabbi Mahn & a few good friends and I'm sorry you were not here but i missed you all. We'll have to drink some L'chaim's when you get here. I know you must have a pint near by so I'm not worried bout you...We drank "Wild Turkey" 101- bourbon. The stuff is great for those wild winterish windy nights when the snow blows and one thing for sure, that Turkey stuck hard to the bones and warmed me up real swell.

TCB.

Haven't seen this much snow since 1979. At least that's what the demographic 'guys' tell us. It's gonna be a white "holiday' season . There's enough shovelling to do in the city till the 'cows come home'. St.Catherine street is still full of people shopping like there is no tomorrow. 'For the good times' is one of my favoirte songs these days written by Chris Christofessen. Prolly misspelled his name but the man is a genius in every sense of the word when it comes to song writing. Jim Reeves and Elvis both do a great rendition of the song. Schmelvis does nice rendition to it too. hehehe.

TCB

We're off to David Letterman in Feb.06. The Schmelvis band and the 3 Rabbi's are gonna be in New York City. We're excited for sure. I wander if Kimmel will invite us or Jay Leno or Connan O'brien. Time will tell...

TCB

Today we played our third Christmas gig. Playing churches is very similar to playing synogoges. The setting is always at the main hall or basement, the buildings are generally older and the people are genrally about the same age which is elderly-folks and have that same 'i love G-d' look in their eye. For some reason as people get older they like to return to their roots or to the foundations or heritage. The last show went very well. People were very friendly and enjoyed the songs. The requests for Elvis songs like 'Love me Tender' or 'don't be cruel' proved to me that Elvis is ageless and everyone enjoys his songs from old to young.

It's very cold today in the city. Feels like -20c. Brrrrrrrrr...winter crept in very quickly and it is almost the end of December. Time flies when you're having fun!!!!

TCB

This year Hannukah falls on the 26th of December. And 'so it begun'... on the day after Christmas. It's been along time since Hannukah started after Santa's bash.
I see lots of potential in the holiday of lights other wise I wouldn't celebrate it.
Most of the people react so positive to Hannukah that the reaction is a light in itself.I only want this holiday to be joyous for everyone ten fold.
It's a win-win situation!
Yesterday at the mall I heard that milk and dairy products are a venom or a 'no-no'.
More about dairy products later on...enjoy the tofu and Chai-Soy latte...

TCB

Schmelvis

It was room 1742 & 1738 at the Queen Elizabeth. Where John & Yoko recorded "Give peace a chance". Tommy Schnurmacher baby sat Yoko's daughter and was there to witness the historic recording.
Oscar Wilde said, "better to be talked about then not talked about at all".
The Schmelvis movie put Diversus on the map and buried me in the process. They projected me as an 'incompetent' musician. I was furious cause they forgot the word 'lazy' infront of the incompetent....heheheh... Nonetheless, the publicity the movie recieved did stir some media attention. It is totally up to me now to ressurect the idea of who 'Schmelvis' is as a musican. Last Show went extremely well, the crowd loved it from start to finish. Looking forward to doing more corporate gigs.
The funny thing about Oscar Wilde's last words in that Paris Hospital bed were: "Either this wall-paper goes or I go"...and then he passed on. My good friend Todd the magician relayed that to me the other day.

TCB

A few years back water was 'free' where as now it is a valued commodity. Everyone is talking about silver and gold. 'Buy gold', my friends are saying. For now i can only afford to buy water. People are stocking up like it's the end of the world. My friend's daughter moved out recently went to a shopping center and bought $500 worth of food like it is the end of time. What is going on? Is this a regular thing to do? Do lots of people buy food for the up & coming months? It's not like she lives in a remote country location or lives with the dears and bears and needs to stock up. She just did it cause she will likely hybernate for the winter in modern suburbia.
Are you stocking up too?

Well this is it. Preparing new material for up coming gigs. Printing out song lyrics. Shows on Thursday and Friday this week. It's a beautiful monday here in Montreal. Weather is nice, crisp, sharp. It's cold but fresh. Enjoy!

TCB

S:)

"The sword is broken!"
The fight is done!
Can't continue, I feel spent. Time to recharge. Snow is coming down, down, down. The TV is on, on, on.
All these channels. On sunday it is mostly American football. The bets are on and the game is exciting. The odds are tight.
The modern gladiators are on the field. Everyone as a favorite team. I personally do not care who wins the game. I'm more of a player then a specatator. Yeah, I enjoy watching a game or two but really it inspires me to get up and play. To go out there in the real world and jog with the I-pod on or play tennis against a good opponent. I do like a good fight that is for sure. The reason why I enjoy the work out is that at a certain point into it I really feel awake and the adreneline of the sport and challenge awakens all senses in the body. I find that a great feeling and need to get out at least 30 minutes per day.

Now a days, most people forget about that 30 minutes that is so vital to rejuvinate the soul. The dog is barking, my external alarm just went off again. Goitta run. Catch you later....

TCB


S:)

The start of a new week. The' Dance of the knights' by Prokofiev sunders in the background. Woke up early this morning, was awakened early by my daughter. Of course she wanted to see a movie. The guitar stands next to me on guard awaiting to be strummed. I'm going out for a long walk with the dog and a coffee somewhere along the line. Gotta dress warm today it's -5c. It's 11am, the streets in the west end are mostly barren of people. Cars hardly pass by, must be the price of gaz or just the cold air which keeps people inside today. The air feels crisp to the lungs like the arm of a child tagging a mothers dress for support. In the bath last night i felt like I was finally immersing all my thoughts into this body of water. It was a feeling of content mixed with cleansiness. Lately, I cannot sleep without a pillow. I used to sleep without them all together but lately I yearn for a pillow at night, mind you, my pillow can't be too thick or thin but just right size and i prefer the feathery kind. wow, all this pillow talk is making me groogy all over again and i feel like taking a nap. Well it is sunday and i think i will indulge for another 45 minutes.

TCB

S:)

The start of a new week. The' Dance of the knights' by Prokofiev sunders in the background. Woke up early this morning, was awakened early by my daughter. Of course she wanted to see a movie. The guitar stands next to me on guard awaiting to be strummed. I'm going out for a long walk with the dog and a coffee somewhere along the line. Gotta dress warm today it's -5c. It's 11am, the streets in the west end are mostly barren of people. Cars hardly pass by, must be the price of gaz or just the cold air which keeps people inside today. The air feels crisp to the lungs like the arm of a child tagging a mothers dress for support. In the bath last night i felt like I was finally immersing all my thoughts into this body of water. It was a feeling of content mixed with cleansiness. Lately, I cannot sleep without a pillow. I used to sleep without them all together but lately I yearn for a pillow at night, mind you, my pillow can't be too thick or thin but just right size and i prefer the feathery kind. wow, all this pillow talk is making me groogy all over again and i feel like taking a nap. Well it is sunday and i think i will indulge for another 45 minutes.

TCB

S:)

The start of a new week. The' Dance of the knights' by Prokofiev sunders in the background. Woke up early this morning, was awakened early by my daughter. Of course she wanted to see a movie. The guitar stands next to me on guard awaiting to be strummed. I'm going out for a long walk with the dog and a coffee somewhere along the line. Gotta dress warm today it's -5c. It's 11am, the streets in the west end are mostly barren of people. Cars hardly pass by, must be the price of gaz or just the cold air which keeps people inside today. The air feels crisp to the lungs like the arm of a child tagging a mothers dress for support. In the bath last night i felt like I was finally immersing all my thoughts into this body of water. It was a feeling of content mixed with cleansiness. Lately, I cannot sleep without a pillow. I used to sleep without them all together but lately I yearn for a pillow at night, mind you, my pillow can't be too thick or thin but just right size and i prefer the feathery kind. wow, all this pillow talk is making me groogy all over again and i feel like taking a nap. Well it is sunday and i think i will indulge for another 45 minutes.

TCB

S:)

The start of a new week. The' Dance of the knights' by Prokofiev sunders in the background. Woke up early this morning, was awakened early by my daughter. Of course she wanted to see a movie. The guitar stands next to me on guard awaiting to be strummed. I'm going out for a long walk with the dog and a coffee somewhere along the line. Gotta dress warm today it's -5c. It's 11am, the streets in the west end are mostly barren of people. Cars hardly pass by, must be the price of gaz or just the cold air which keeps people inside today. The air feels crisp to the lungs like the arm of a child tagging a mothers dress for support. In the bath last night i felt like I was finally immersing all my thoughts into this body of water. It was a feeling of content mixed with cleansiness. Lately, I cannot sleep without a pillow. I used to sleep without them all together but lately I yearn for a pillow at night, mind you, my pillow can't be too thick or thin but just right size and i prefer the feathery kind. wow, all this pillow talk is making me groogy all over again and i feel like taking a nap. Well it is sunday and i think i will indulge for another 45 minutes.

TCB

S:)

It's so hard to leave the house when it's so warm and comfy inside and outside might look like Texas but it's 'freakin' windy and cold and most folks have automatic car starters so that when they plant their behinds on the car seat it's alrady warm and comfortable. It's hard to return to a cold city from warm climate. The good thing for winter enthusiasts is that you can skate and ski and 'snow-shake your booty' as much as you please in this town. Regardless, the streets are not empty in this weather. People get out and walk around and shop and visit restaurants and tourist attractions and theatres like it's the first of july. Yeah, they don't give up. Of course, some are home more often and some do go away for a little while to bask in sandy beaches or just tune out infront of the Tv but case cera cera, it's the winter season and this is a clastrophobic reminder that snow is all around and there is nothing to do but go on with our daily lives and make the best of it. Funny thing, the winter creeps up on us like an accident waiting to happen.

I'll leave it at that and don't forget to dress warmer then usually cause the cold get's under the skin that' s why /i carry the American Express card...hehe

TCB

S:)

Robert H. my guitarist can't do a gig cause he is booked somewhere else. Mike the drummer is down with the flu. It's one them weeks. Luckily I got Adam C. to sit on guitar. Music is one of them industries where you always got to have a back up plan. Thank G-d it's Friday! Looking forward to spending some time at home. Looking to ecord some music this holiday season and do a video perhaps of one of my "Gifelte-Fish" songs. Also, spoke to Tali, he'll have more time now to finish our "Vitamin-Schizzy" project which been sitting on the back burner for some months now. WE'll have practices with band now Tuesday evenings instead of the monday or sunday.
It's overcast here in the city. Snow coming down eal slow. It's like Hannukah all over again.
This year the holiday parallel's Santa's in that it stats on the 25th and ends on the 1st or 2nd of January. The Holiday of Hannukah is always a treat for the kids and a treat for Adults too.
Have a great Shabbat!

TCB