May Day - May Day

No, I'm not in need of dire assistance. I haven't had an "I've fallen and I can't get up" moment (at least not today). It's the first of May, so happy May Day! Thank God we've survived the month of April here in Wisconsin. You just never know if you're going to have winter or spring. At least the first half of the month was more winter. Warmer, dryer days are in sight though, and with that means more riding. I need to start prepping and planing for our family trip to Madelaine Island in July (it'll come quicker than I realize). Camping with a toddler will be an interesting experience. I'm blessed to have a wife that enjoys camping as much as I do. She realizes camping means in a tent, not in 100 foot travel trailer that has more amenities than most peoples houses. I also need to keep training (and hard) for the 100 Miles of Nowhere. I'm into week 4 of the 100 Push up Challenge ( http://hundredpushups.com/ ), and I'm feeling every one. Here's my reading and listening picks for the month.

Trail Dog’s Book Club – May ‘09

“Late Nights on Air” – Elizabeth Hay

Another book off of Neil Peart’s latest recommended reading list. The title alone brought back visions of my childhood, as I lay in bed with my small radio tucked beneath my pillow, listening to the music that no one would play during the day (probably one of the reasons I’ve never been a mainstream music lover). Then, I was brought to my early twenties, when, for extra cash, I worked Sunday nights at local radio station, broadcasting the Sunday Night Baseball game.

If a book can bring back memories just from the title, I thought it deserved a read. This one started out slow. So slow in fact that for the first few chapters, I though maybe Neil had gone a little crazy with his recommendation. I’m very glad I gave it a chance. From the days (and nights) in the Yellowknife radio station, to the erstwhile canoe trip in search of a path taken by a historical figure and long forgotten, this book was extremely well written. Hay’s use of getting in depth with multiple characters was rather refreshing, as there was no “main character”. Didn’t expect the ending of this one either, which in my opinion made it just that much more worthwhile.

Note: Check out my shelfari.com book shelf for more of the books I've read.

Tunes from the Trail

Eric Johnson - "Ah Via Musicom"

Had to dip into the archives for this one. Released in 1990, this was guitar virtuoso, Eric Johnson's break through recording. I remember seeing Eric Johnson open up for Rush on their "Roll the Bones" tour in '91. The first thing I did the next day was run over to Nickelodeon (the local record store) and buy this album. I bought his next offering "Venus Isle" as well, but hadn't kept up with Eric since then. His last studio album was entitled "Bloom" and has been on tour with Satriani and Vai on G3 in the past. Here's a live performance of "Cliffs of Dover" (the first big song off of Ah Via Musicom) from The Grove in Anaheim, CA in 2006. The actual song starts at about 4:50 of the recording. Enjoy.



http://www.ericjohnson.com/



Leave No Trace - Kippis



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