Off to Orillia
 

I'm heading out momentarily. Play nice. Ignore the SPAM.
Check out the CBC website ONE ON ONE programme to see if it can be viewed online/live..perhaps not until it's airing on CBC tomorrow at noon.
http://www.cbc.ca/thenational/watch/

Another glorious (and unusual) weather day. Orillia is at a lovely 55F ( 13C ) Dropping to 45 tonite.)
I love it!

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Hey Char.

I'm with you in spirit albeit an envious one. You lucky gal!!

Enjoy and I'll see you Wed.

Maybe I'll stop by McVeigh's pub for a pint of Guinness before the concert.

Cheers, RJ.

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Lucky you. For interested parties, here's the link to a recent Orillia Packet & Times article "Back in Fighting Form":

http://www.orilliapacket.com/Article...aspx?e=2176138

Sorry if I haven't posted much lately. Our daughter gets married two weeks from today, so we've been a wee bit busy - with me mostly writing checks to the florist, baker, photographer, DJ - you get the picture. I cannot believe the good weather we've had for November. Everybody keep their fingers crossed for the 28th that we don't get a nor'easter or ice storm. I'm hanging my rosary beads in the window ahead of time. Rachel's wearing a white strapless gown with deep red embroidery on the bodice. We do NOT want a white backgroud to match, lol. At least I managed to find a red wrap for her shoulders for a little warmth.

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Thanks Annie. It was great reading this and catching up on all the Orillia news.

I love that little town. Would love to spend some vacation time there and catch a few of the Monday night song circle events they have there.

Sure is a wonderful way for communities to bond through the powerful medium of song and what better place than any like Orillia for fans of Gordon Lightfoot.

Cheers, RJ.

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Congrats Annie and for sure I'll wish the good weather upon that day (and the days before and after too). That's my cousin's daughter's name too - she just got married a few weeks ago (a piping steamy hot Disney one).

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Home from Orillia!! ..and another wonderful Lightfoot experience! 700 very happy concert goers enjoyed the songs (and corny jokes) of The Man..Gorgeous weather too! Didn't get to speak with him tonight but there's always this coming week at Massey. Snapped a few pics and will post later today along with the set list!

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Here's the text to the Orillia article in case it disappears from their site: ( He did "I Used To Be A Country Singer and Ponyman - little Jesse Vick has the same birthdate as gord and has his mothers names)

Back in fighting form
With medical setbacks far behind him, Gordon Lightfoot hits the stage tonight
Posted By JOHN SWARTZ, SPECIAL TO THE PACKET AND TIMES
Posted 17 hours ago

When Gordon Lightfoot performs at the Opera House tonight and tomorrow night, he'll already have the order of the songs he'll do worked out, including the requests.

So it is when your songbook is full of hits and it's a rarity that someone doesn't ask for one of them.

"If I have to field any requests, I can fit them in without taking my sequence too badly out of line," Lightfoot said in an exclusive interview with The Packet & Times.

"This time I already have two or three requests for the Orillia show -- like my little second cousin, Jessie Vick. She needs to hear Pony Man. She's 11 years old and Pony Man is one of her favourite tunes."

These two concerts, just days before his 71st birthday on Tuesday, are benefits for the Soldiers' Memorial Hospital Foundation and the Opera House.

"I always have done that ever since I started doing those concerts in Orillia -- split the money between the hospital and the hall itself."

As luck would have it, they fall just days before Lightfoot's annual Massey Hall series of concerts, which take place next week.

"I think a lot of my relatives are going to be there. This year, they've decided to come to the Orillia show. Normally, they would have come down to Massey."

One of those is likely to be Steve Eyers. Eyers is one half of a popular nightclub duo called Even Steven. The other half is Steve McEown and McEown wrote a song called I Used to be a Country Singer, which Lightfoot recorded.

"We'll be doing their tune. We'll be doing that one for sure. They won't have to ask."

Surely, there are few Canadians who don't know Lightfoot suffered an abdominal aneurysm in his dressing room at the Opera House in 2002. Once the shock subsided for fans, the concern was -- would Lightfoot ever perform again? -- which, of course, he has.

But few know that Lightfoot had another brush with illness.

In September 2006, Lightfoot suffered a stroke while doing a sound check prior to a show in Escanaba, Mich.

"I was blasting out In My Fashion. I remember it quite well."

"That's a very little-known episode. I never talk about it much. It was a bit of an inconvenience."

"I lost the use of my right hand and arm for about three-and-a-half months."

But, as serious as it sounds, Lightfoot didn't cancel one show on that mid-western United States tour.

"The band carried the back up and I just fingered chords with the left hand. After about the fifth day, I started to get the strum back and we got some rosin at a music store, the kind of rosin you put on a bow for a fiddle, got that and put that on the picks and it helped me hold onto the flat pick and I just used the thumb on my right hand for the next two months. The thumb was working but the fingers weren't working."

It could have been much more serious. Two days after the stroke, Lightfoot saw a specialist in Minneapolis, Minn.

"We went and had an MRI. He showed it to me. He said, if it had been half a centimetre to the left, he said, you'd have had a speech problem."

When that tour ended, Lightfoot returned to his regimen of daily workouts in the gym and the effects of the stroke are barely noticeable now.

"It's back to about 98%. It's good enough to hold onto the flat pick."

Lightfoot credits his workouts for being able to stay on the road each year, and to speedy recoveries from life's maladies.

"I'm one of those guys: I go to the gym. I like to store energy. It's not so I can lose weight. It's not so I can build muscle. It's so I can store energy because I know it will help my show and help my singing. To me, it's part of the job. To do great shows I must be in good physical condition."

Oddly, he says being on the road doesn't suck too much of that energy away.

"I usually feel rejuvenated when we come off one of those trips."

This little side trip will bring a bonus to somebody. While Lightfoot is here, he will autograph a Martin D18 guitar similar to the one he's used since 1948.

According to Nicole McCahon, executive director of the Soldiers' Memorial Hospital foundation, the hospital's director of community relations, Terry Dyni, came up with the idea and did the leg work to have Martin Guitars, through our own Gilbert Guitars, donate the D18 to the foundation.

It will be auctioned on eBay beginning at 7 p. m. Monday. McCahon said doing the auction online should draw a larger pool of bidders and hopefully attract bids well in excess of the $2,500 retail price tag of the guitar.

"It's a great guitar," Lightfoot said. "You get the intonation right on it and it sounds really good."

And Lightfoot, along with his band, can't wait to hear themselves once again in the room that bears his name.

"I'm excited about it. We're all looking forward to it."

Both concerts have been sold out for some time. Good luck finding a friend who all of a sudden can't use their tickets.

Re: Off to Orillia
 

We behaved very well, I think RM was out tonight so it was easy to be good. You know he is the one that leads us astray, we are just innocent followers. ;)

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Really happy you had a great time Char... to actually experience a Gordon Lightfoot concert in his hometown must be 'FAR OUT'. ;)

Re: Off to Orillia
 

there will be a review in the monday edition of the Orillia Packet and Times and probably photos as well. http://www.orilliapacket.com
Here's a few snaps I took (camera police were in force) near the end of the show and the marquee out front of the Opera House. - Lisa's fave guy who we saw last month here in Whitby, George Canyon is there on Dec.2..we may be heading to Orillia again.!

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Playbill:

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Great pics Charlene "GORDON LIGHTFOOT AUDITORIUM"... Super Cool !!! ;)

Re: Off to Orillia
 

The playbill is chock full of yummy pictures. That could make a nice fundraiser in itself.
Kimberly

Re: Off to Orillia
 

SET LIST:
Gordon Lightfoot
November 14, 2009 – 1st of 2 nights – Benefit concerts for Orillia Soldier’s Memorial Hospital and the Orillia Opera House.
Orillia Opera House-Gordon Lightfoot Auditorium
700 seat capacity – both nights – SOLD OUT
Concert Number 68 of 73 for 2009 touring year. Yet co come- Sunday concert in Orillia and 4 nights at Massey Hall, Toronto. Nov.18,19,20 and 21/2009.

Unseasonably warm temperatures but grey/overcast skies with a peak at the sun as it was setting over Orillia.

SETLIST:
1. Cotton Jenney
2. Carefree Highway
3. Sea of Tranquility – Gord talked about the barber he had when he was in Orillia and asked the crowd if they remembered Gary Cook (?) and another fellow at the barbershop who told him an old joke. He then told his ‘hare on a rabbit’ joke. It seems the old barber is responsible for it. Gord spoke to the hometown crowd like they were old friends sitting around the kitchen table recalling stories of days past. It was very sweet.
4. 14K Gold
5. Never Too Close
6. A Painter Passing Through
7. Let It Ride
8. Rainy Day People
9. Shadows
10. Beautiful
11. Watchman’s Gone
12. I Used To Be A Country Singer – he spoke of the fellow who wrote this song and introduced him from the audience. After the song he thanked Steven McEown for providing him with a great song to add to his repertoire. Steven then thanked Gordon.
13. Ribbon of Darkness – nobody chimed in with “over me” even tho Gord swept his arm across his body inviting someone to do so. He seemed quite surprised when no one did and carried on into:
14. Sundown
15. The Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald – he said he realized it was Toledo but Cleveland made for a better rhyme and that it was two Irishmen that pointed out to him that it sounded like an old Irish ditty.
BREAK
16. Ponyman – this was done for his 11 year old second cousin who shares his birthday..(and who is also named for Gord’s mother – Jesse Vick)
17. Triangle
18. Restless
19. Clouds of Loneliness – after the song he said he wrote that at the time he knew marriage number two was gonna go..
20. Waiting For You
21. If You Could Read My Mind
22. Don Quixote – he then said the next song was a tune called “Meet Me By The Rockpile Honey and I’ll Get a Little Bolder” – possibly another joke courtesy of his barber ..
23. Baby Step Back
24. Early Morning Rain – “the one that bought the ranch..is that the word?”
25. Couchiching – before the song he said this was quite a prophetic song a few years ago when he sang it on that very stage for the first time and the night before he fell ill. He then recited the lines: “When I get my final slumber, when I pawn my diamond ring
I will do my final number, by Lake Couchiching”

BAND INTRO

26. Old Dan’s Records

ENCORE

27. Song For A Winter’s Night – before he sang he said “this is that time of year.”

He was in fine voice for the most part with a bit of breathiness now and then and after the song he would fist bump the middle of his chest with a look of ‘wow – that was tough/glad I got through it’..

He did not do The Trilogy. The crowd seemed to be hometown folks for the most part and was pretty quiet. When he first came onstage he was given a huge standing ovation and again at the break and after Old Dan’s Records and the encore.

Unlike a few years ago when he finished SFAWN and we walked out to a cold, snowy Orillia night last night was a balmy 50F. The ride home down Hwy#12 had many patches of dense fog so we took our time and got in around midnight. The band was staying in Orillia overnight and I had only a moment outside with Terry as he was getting in his car to head to the hotel. I’m sure the backstage event was filled with old time friends and family from the area. Beverley Lightfoot was there but I didn’t recognise anyone else. There was also the signing of the donated guitar that is being auctioned off.

So they’ll do it all again tonight, then head back home to Toronto and prepare for opening night at Massey on Wednesday Nov.18 – a day after The Man turns 71. Wow.

It’s always exciting to attend a Lightfoot concert. To see him in his long ago hometown of Orillia one night and then a few nights later at the Church of Gord on Shuter Street for 4 concerts where he has made Massey Hall his home for decades makes this week a bit more heartwarming for me..his face is smiling at me in the Toronto and Orillia papers, he’s on the TV, and I am wrapped warmly in this prelude to the cold winter coming with a blanket of Lightfoot memories for which I am so thankful and with a hope to make many more.

Thank you Gordon.

Re: Off to Orillia
 

wonderful char:) glad home safe, Lisa driving now? I remember that footage from Orillia 2001 when she was just a tyke!

hey, on page 12, top left, that's not GL with the afro is it? I'm pretty sure it's actually Weird Al~

need to blow up that shot of GL, Bev and the 2 wee old folks:)

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Very interesting to hear that Char, given that he told Peter Mansbridge if there's was no heath problems he would hope to be able to do concerts for a few more years. :)

Re: Off to Orillia
 

afro

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Madam Moderator,

That was a sterling report. Your appreciation for the man and his music shines through. Thank you.

Is that Afro really for real ? It looks like a parody of the back cover photo on the Endless Wire album.

Re: Off to Orillia
 

it just might be...;)

thanks for the thanks!

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Thanks for the review and the pix, Char. Sounds like Gord was in great form. I admit I'm envious of all of you who were able to attend this show and have Massey to look forward to. Have a doubly good time for those of us who cannot attend but REALLY want to!

Re: Off to Orillia
 

just looking back...

and that afro pic is of our own Ron Jones from back in the day.. lol

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Yes, that sure is guess who?

Another basket I am carrying along the way friends; but there is an explanation that I hope will provide a little exoneration if I may request.

For me to try and scan stuff on a computer is a major challenge in my living day so I hope this works. If not I may have to call on Char for assistance. She the pro but is still waiting for the big bucks to arrive eh, Char?

The Gord room here is packed with stuff and these items are filed away as
"undesirable items."

Re: Off to Orillia
 

Unfortunately Ron has attached not actual image files but a
pair of pdf files that each contains the image he wants to bring to our attention
I think Ron uses an Apple product and I have had previous experience of an Apple user (Brian Walters in UK) trying to send me an image by email that also arrived as a pdf file
This was in that case an unwanted complication and when I expressed surprise Brian explained that was how an Apple treated image attachments or something to that effect.
(One more reason why personally I detest Apple computers and their unecessary aberations)
Although all users should be able to open a pdf one way or another and see those 2 images
they will then find that unlike images displayed on a web page it is not possible to simply right click on it and "save picture as", because Adobe's PdF system does not easily cater to any such fundamemntal meddling with their precious products
instead for Wndows users there are two workarounds
1 make a screenshot
If you have Windows 7 or 8 you could use the built in Snippng Tool
or any other screen grabbing program at your disposal
(I would by preference use my favourite Gadwin Printscreen)
Otherwise the simplest way to do that is press your Printscreen key (if your computer has one that is)
That will make a full screenshot of the entire display area
then open Windows Paint and paste the screenshot in
then use it's rectangular area selection tool to select the area of the image then crop it
then save the cropped image
adjusting the overall size if necessary
the resulting images can then be uploaded to one of the many online facilities for storing images
(think imageshack.us., photobucket, Flickr and even Facebook)
or my new favourite cloud facilities
Dropbox.OneDrive or GoogleDrive
Once there one way or another gets its internet address (a.k.a. its URL)
Then use the URL and corfid's built in image insert tool to easily display the image here
2 Alternatively extract the image from the pdf, which I admit is unecessarily much easier said than done in fact
I now use the non free PDF viewer Nitro in preference to my previous use of the very nice and completely free Foxit software because Nitro has the ability to
"convert your PDF files into individual image files"

https://nwqwvq-dm2305.files.1drv.com...ter.jpg?psid=1

which I did enlarging them both by using Paint as an image editor
Here is the letter that Ron sent to request the removal of a picture of himself (the Gord clone) as it was not actually a picture of Gord

https://nwqwvq-dm2305.files.1drv.com...er2.jpg?psid=1

Here is Ron's stunning "rogue" picture
https://nwqwvq-dm2305.files.1drv.com...&wa=wsignin1.0

Re: Off to Orillia
 

here's the pic in a thumbnail;

Re: Off to Orillia
 

I wish to make the serious observation that trying to attach a thumbnail nowadays is as useful an informational tool as the filenames and zero visibility of Ron's original pdf files (the thumbnails only show cryptic filenames for example like Name SDC-10604-labelled.jpg
It is interesting to note that earlier in this same thread. long beforethvthumbnail non appearance problem began Char was able to attach a thumbnail of Ron that is still being displayed
I had earlier searched through recent pages of postings
and found that the non display of thumbnails began last June
and as of now the system appears to have broken at the time of Char's posting on page 7 at:-
http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showpost.p...25&postcount=2
which exhibits a weird "hybrid" format wherein three of the four images she tried to attach failed but one did although it looks suspiciously blurry and would not now open for me anyway
https://nwqwvq-dm2305.files.1drv.com...rid.jpg?psid=1

Re: Off to Orillia
 

I can open 3 of the 3 thumbnails at the link you provided..the blurry one is not a thumbnail..
I don't attach a thumbnail I do all the same steps as always when posting a picture.
it just ends up as a thumbnail when I post it. Some didn't open before but all I've done recently have opened. Florian did something and he also increased the file size allowed to post..
I don't know why it's of interest to anyone what the filenames are of the thumbnails or photos posted..
p.s. the thumbnail in your last posting doesn't open..