Catching Tigers in Red Weather

It didn't matter how hard we tried

2011-08-19T12:14:00.001-04:00

I've seen you stumble
I've seen you fall
I've seen you brought down
Feathers and all
Picked your self up
For the ones that you call
Your best friends

I know you've been fighting
What we can't see
Sometimes it takes many faces to be
It takes a time and a place to be free
But in the end

Who would be so cruel
To someone like you
No one but you
Who would make the rules

For the things that you do
No one but you

I woke up this morning
Looked at the sky
I thought of all of the time passing by
It didn't matter how hard we tried
Cause in the end

Who would be so cruel
To someone like you
No one but you
Who would make the rules
For the things that you do
No one but you

-Doug Paisley

Tigran Hamasyan

2011-03-03T15:08:00.002-05:00

I just discovered this jaw-dropping pianist Tigran Hamasyan.

Yeah, I know right?

White Denim

2011-02-11T00:14:00.002-05:00

I absolutely LOVE this record! It screams road trip. The musicianship is super smart and catchy. New favourite band!

I've been editing photos all night from a clothing line called Las Valentias I photographed last weekend. My eyeballs are ready for bed. "Some Wild Going Outward" is a good signing off song. Night.

Blalock

2011-01-21T23:18:00.009-05:00

My Great Grandma Lil and Papa Gore

Today was a great day. It started with the evening before last and the evening before that. Songs are coming to me in gangs. Ideas are here. Ways to go. It's always a relief.

My friend Ross introduced me to these mixtapes by Blalock. They are all so fantastic. My favourite right now is available here.

There's a lot more to come.

V

Part of a postcard book I found in China

2011-01-06T20:49:00.000-05:00

Land Of Talk - Troubled

2010-12-21T11:07:00.000-05:00

2010-11-27T23:27:00.004-05:00

Now he is gone
as you are gone.
But he belongs to me like lost luggage.

-anne sexton

The Shriners

2010-11-24T14:25:00.019-05:00

My favourite part of the Santa Claus Parade in my hometown of Fort Erie: The Shriners. Shriners on go-karts, on boats, on the back of cabooses dressed up as frowning clowns. They sure had me laughing.

There were one hundred firemen at the front of the parade, convenient for any Shriner emergencies. But they had emergencies of their own when an antique firetruck broke down in the middle of Catherine Street.

My Nephew Elliott enjoyed the horses most.

You gotta love those barely washed marching band uniforms from the 70's that make you look like a life size Christmas ornament. My high school's float was lead by at least twenty cheerleaders this year, a real school spirit improvement from the pre-2000 years when we had about four (before the squad folded under the weight of assembly harassment).

There were a lot of tow truck companies in the parade because I guess they're the only ones with flatbeds.

These photos are from my first roll using a 1950's Soviet FED-2 camera I bought on Kijiji. I had been eying this camera online for a couple of years and finally found one that didn't need to be shipped from Russia.

Tommie, I Sure Feel Sorry For You

2010-11-22T22:25:00.003-05:00

My Great Grandmother (upper left) at the lake with friends. Her girlfriend on the right must have given her and her husband Tom this photo (her friend is on Tom's shoulders). The back reads "Tommie, I sure feel sorry for you."

I was passed down a box of my Great Grandmother's photos. I find half of them familiar, having rummaged through them many times growing up.

This is the first thing I've wanted to share on my blog for a very long time.

Godzilla Haiku

2010-03-12T15:25:00.003-05:00

This site is so fun.

longer and brighter days

2010-03-03T09:31:00.007-05:00

Here's a great song to play while our days are getting longer and brighter. It lifted my spirits on this sunny Wednesday:

The Amazing - Dragon MP3 Download Link

I actually just picked up this not-so-new record by The Amazing (s/t). I recommend it, but good luck finding them online. With the name The Amazing, various things come up in the search engine. I recommend searching "The Amazing Swedes" or "The Amazing Swedish Band". Ha.

Here's their Myspace!

tweet tweet

2010-02-10T17:41:00.005-05:00

Hey,
If you haven't checked out my twitter page, take a look now. I just posted a tweet from Buck 65. Him and I wrote/recorded a little song last night/this morning in celebration of his 2000th follower.

BUCK 65's TWITTER PAGE!

VAL'S TWITTER PAGE!

I feel a Photography Website update coming in the next few weeks. I have some new stuff I'm excited to share.

Bye!

satellites

2010-02-09T18:44:00.005-05:00

I love toy cameras. Cherry Beach in Toronto is such a strange area. I used to work down there at a music studio and I will never forget a crazy man coming in off the streets and insisting that he could have a mystery paperback novel off our book shelf. I was alone and terrified, so I let him have it. As long as he didn't take any equipment, I wasn't going to fight him.

Anyway, I found a bunch of satellites in that area on a Sunday drive. Beam me up!

Val-entine's Day Show At The Drake - Toronto

2010-02-02T17:08:00.002-05:00

Hey Everyone!
Six more weeks of ugly smugly winter! I have a few things to keep you warm. Well, I will do my best.

This Thursday, February 4th, I will be playing a solo set at The Local in Toronto. I am on at 9:30pm. Cat Fur Omelette is on at 10:30pm.

This Saturday, February 6th, I will be performing two songs on CBC Radio One's GO program. It's on at 10:30am here in Toronto. Check your local listings. Live audience tickets are available on CBC's website.

Come celebrate Valentine's Day at The Drake Hotel. Steve Dagg on drums, Devon Henderson on bass, and David French on saxophones and whatnot. Details Here.

In other news, Sparrow can be heard on Episode 8 of MTV's Over The Bolts. I found a link here, that unfortunately does not stream outside of Canada. My music starts around the 4:20 mark and goes to the end of the clip.

when I was sixteen on the beach

2010-01-23T18:10:00.004-05:00

Photo by Valery.

Calmness overtook the distant black
Cluttered with the flashing digits of
industrial price tags

Water carelessly sliding
into my feet and wandering off-
refused and complacent
much like the emotions
that were bowling in from
distant countries
hitting me hard with
empty whispers

Just do your job.

2010-01-13T21:30:00.002-05:00

Oh Seinfeld.

......you did all of this for a pinky toe?

Another Year - video

2009-12-23T09:23:00.006-05:00

I met Mitch Fillion when I was in Guelph, and performed Another Year for his video website Southern Souls.

VALERY GORE - Another Year Filmed by Mitch Fillion - Southern Souls.

January 8th Eddie Orso and Valery Gore at The Rivoli

2009-12-10T17:33:00.004-05:00

Why?

2009-12-08T19:26:00.002-05:00

I presently have two favourite bands. Why? and Wilco. They are at the very end of my iPod list. I make the slow trip often and gladly.

Why? has a new video for two songs "These Hands" and "January Twenty Something", off Eskimo Snow. If you've never heard of them, check out Alopecia first. But Eskimo Snow is a great follow up. Elephant Eyelash is also incredible (Gemini Birthday Song is a fav on that record).

Musicophilia

2009-12-04T15:06:00.006-05:00

I've given up for an hour on trying to figure out Re-Wiring Reason software to ProTools, and succumb to writing a blog entry which is much like a 'tweet' or f-book status these days. But anyhow, I like sharing things that I find interesting.

A Friend of mine passed on this wicked music website. Someone has made these rare compilations that are strung with such variety. Some of it is amazing and some of it is more of a challenge. PS: these videos are nothing to look at, they just provide a full song listen.
Musicophilia Blog

These songs are from those compilations.
Sibylle Baier - The End. Very haunting stuff.

Cymande. I love songs like this. It makes me want to drive across Big Sur in an old Cadillac convertible.

I dig it Donovan!

And this one is Les Mogol with their song Madimak, 1971

A little Roy Ayers never hurt anyone!

One of my favourites

2009-11-19T11:29:00.000-05:00

I thank my label owner John Kong for introducing me to Ellen McIlwaine a while back. This album is super fantastic and addictive.

Shirley Ellis

2009-11-18T16:18:00.002-05:00

I really like this song

Joe Henry - KCRW session

2009-10-14T10:41:00.006-04:00

I really like Joe Henry. He was performing on Morning Becomes Eclectic and you can listen to it here:

My favourite album of his is Tiny Voices. It probably has mostly to do with all the crazy ass improv horns, weaving all these layers behind his songwriting. I enjoy his lyrics as well. I think my favourite song is Flag.

New Photography Website

2009-10-13T14:21:00.002-04:00

I've created a new website full of my photography. Not that I'm a professional or anything, but I've always loved taking seven cameras with me wherever I go. Click on the image below to visit the site.

in the red

2009-10-01T19:07:00.004-04:00

call it in the red
I forget, but
carry weathered memories
of outdoor evening wind whirled times
running through mysterious grass
to landings where the moon could
not be higher

call it in the red
I forget
all aside from the dodging disasters
with skin as thick as leather
trenches so wide, with the eyes of 100 neighbours
watching
waiting for mistakes and stories

I don't need stories
the drama within them
I stand at the epilogue with
plans for you yet
if your palm
remains so flat
and smooth
and open as it did
in the sun
that day