Christmas week a family affair

On December 21 the Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular wrapped up its run with an afternoon performance at the Port Theatre in Nanaimo. Having lived with the show since November 18, it was difficult not to feel a certain loss. Suddenly you realize you won’t be playing through your piano score ever again, and many cast members who you got to know well over the last month may never cross your path again. When a show goes dark it’s almost like a death. However, it’s part of showbiz and such inspired journeys inevitably end.

On Monday it was time to move on and get ready for Christmas. My wife Pat was cruising the malls searching for gifts. My job was to shop for the provisions needed for our big family feast, which we traditionally have on Boxing Day. By 8:00 am on Christmas Eve day I was out the door and loading a supermarket basket in advance of the crowds I knew would be jockeying for parking lot space by mid-­‐morning. By noon I had everything packed away in our kitchen cupboards or stacked inside the refrigerator, ready for Friday’s marathon turkey-­‐cook day.

With Pat wrapping Christmas gifts during the afternoon of Christmas Eve, I decided to take in a movie matinee. A good choice I thought would be a new Ailm version of the Broadway musical Annie that had just opened at the Galaxy theatre here in Nanaimo. Having performed the Broadway version with a student group during my high school teaching years, I know the live show well and was looking forward to seeing the new 2014 movie version. I recall in the process of rehearsing students using the very popular and well-­‐done 1982 film as a teaching tool.

Unfortunately my decision to attend the matinee was a mistake; the 2014 film update is an absolute disaster. According to all the preview hype, this new version of Annie was supposed to build a new generation of fans for the musical. Well, sprinklings of these young folks were at the same screening I viewed Wednesday afternoon and most looked bored out of their minds.

Some things in classic film fare should never be tinkered with. The Wizard of Oz would be one. No remake could ever top the first one. Gone With the Wind is another. Sadly this 2014 version of Annie is nothing more than an attempt by the Sony movie studio to fleece trusting parents looking for some respectable holiday entertainment for their children. I understand the film was also one of those stolen in the recent cyberattack by North Korea of the company’s computers. Perhaps Kim Jong-­‐un wanted it for a private screening.

I recall Carol Burnett being hilarious as Miss Hannigan in the 1982 film. In this updated version the role is played by Cameron Diaz who screams her dialogue at such a shrill pitch that my ears haven’t yet recovered. As far as her singing goes, it was pure torture. The character of Daddy Warbucks in this ill-thought-out mess has been renamed Will Stacks, a rich industrialist who is running for mayor of New York City. Oscar-­‐winner Jamie Foxx literally sleepwalks through the part. And what about Annie herself? I need to be fair here. Quvenzhané Wallis, who in 2012 was the youngest actress ever to receive a nomination for an Academy Award for her role in Beasts of the Southern Wild, does a pretty good acting job although her vocal chops are fairly thin.


Singing is obviously a key component in any musical. Sadly in this new version it was decided to update the classic Charles Strouse score to fit with the popular music of today. What a dumb idea. As an example, the musical’s big hit ballad Tomorrow had a backbeat so heavy it sounded like the Rolling Stones were doing a stadium sound check. The film’s soundtrack has been processed to a synthetic muddle and the vocals auto-­‐tuned to the point that any real musical emotion has been literally squeezed from every bar. Basically every song has been made to sound like your typical pop tune complete with electric drums and banks of synthesizers.

About an hour in I couldn’t take it anymore and headed for the theatre exit.  

  

PHOTO: Pat prepared a superb Boxing Day dinner in our Nanaimo home. From L to R – Brother Terry, daughter-­‐in-­‐law Jessica, grandsons Nathan & Matthew, Pat, son Cory, daughter-­‐in-­‐law Dorianne and son Brock. 

PHOTO: The turkey. I can hardly wait to start carving. 

PHOTO ABOVE: My father cut out this group of carol singers in the 1940‘s from a sheet of 1⁄4 inch plywood. I display it every year at our front door. Back in those days lead was still a key ingredient in paint so the colours have never faded.

PHOTO ABOVE: 16 years ago Pat & I conducted our last School District #70 Christmas Candlelight Concert. As a gift, the students in the choir had melted down all the candles used over the years for rehearsal purposes and made one gigantic one for us. Every Christmas Pat and I light the candle at our family dinner. 

PHOTO: Son Cory gave me a painting by Port Alberni artist Michelle Peffers. It was painted from a photo of me climbing down from the cab of APR Locomotive #7 during a switching operation in the Port Alberni Rail Yard. I hung the painting on my office wall. 

PHOTO : Every December I display this model steam engine that my brother Terry & I received as a gift from our parents on Christmas Day in 1946. 

PHOTO : This black and white photo shows my brother (L) and myself admiring the model train that my father had built and set up for us on Christmas Day 1946. 

PHOTO: My Christmas gift this year was a new workbench. It took my son Brock and myself over two hours to assemble it. The hardwood top looks almost too good to repair stuff on. 

Final weekend for Christmas Spectacular

Thank you to all those readers who emailed to say they were pleased I’d returned to blog-land. I’ll try to post on a more regular basis in the New Year.

As you know from last week’s blog, I’m again performing in the band accompanying the Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular. Last Sunday evening we wrapped up the run at the Cedar Community Hall, performing 6 shows between Friday and Sunday. Playing this many shows in such a short space of time was a first for me. 

This week the cast has been enjoying a few days off before moving the production into Nanaimo’s Port Theatre for the final four performances. The run in Cedar was very successful with many patrons expressing their preference for the Christmas ambiance the rural setting provides. However, equally there are those who like the Port Theatre run due to the better sight lines and comfortable seating inherent in a sloped floor venue. 

The shows at the Port Theatre are Dec.19 (7pm), Dec. 20 (2pm &7pm)  & Dec. 21 (2pm). Tickets can be ordered for the Port Theatre shows on-line at www.porttheatre.com or by phone at 250-754-8550.

PHOTO: Setting up for the Port Theatre run of the Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular. View of the stage from the Sound Board. 

Last Saturday morning at 6:30 am I left our home in North Nanaimo and drove over the hump to Port Alberni to help set up for the Timbre! Choir’s dress rehearsal in the ADSS Theatre. Playing the Yellowpoint show meant I wouldn’t be able to attend the choir’s public performance the following day. However, I was able to stay at the dress rehearsal long enough to hear the concert’s first half before scooting back over the hump to Cedar to play a Yellowpoint matinee.   

In the half of the rehearsal I heard, the choir was in top form and the sound in the theatre was magnificent. The program was called Simply Christmas and my wife Pat as musical director had chosen a potpourri of both old and new carols. Excerpts from Messiah by Handel held its traditional place on the program alongside such new songs as Let It Go from the recent movie box office hit Frozen and a beautiful ballad by Gordon Lightfoot, newly arranged by Larry Nickel, titled Song for a Winter’s Night. Other new arrangements programmed included Huron Carol and I Saw Three Ships.  Accompanist for the concert was our niece Danielle Marcinek who recently returned from the United Kingdom and is now based in Vancouver. Judging by the emails that Pat received from audience members following the concert, Simply Christmas was a resounding triumph.

                 PHOTO; Timbre! preparing their concert on the ADSS Theatre stage last Saturday.

Christmas Time is Movie Time 

During December the major movie studios invariably launch an array of new films. Many are vying for an Academy Award nomination before the year‐end deadline. For a movie fan such as myself it’s a virtual film feast. So far I’ve seen The Theory of Everything, the extraordinary story of astrophysicist Stephen Hawking. Two days ago I survived the 2:24 minute running time of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. Having seen all the movies in the series (this is the final installment), I’m definitely Hobbited out. Topping the list of films I’ve seen so far is Interstellar, which is about a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage. The movie blew me away. The 3 hours just flew by. I plan to see this one again just to understand everything. However, on the flip side, one movie to skip is Top Five starring Chris Rock. The film is just plain bad and vulgar to boot. I left the theatre before it was over. 

PHOTO: During the immense rainstorm last week I made a quick run out to Sproat Lake to check our summer house. I’ve never seen the lake so high. The gangway in the photo above normally slopes down to the float.   

It’s been many months since I’ve blogged. However, it’s the Christmas Season, my favorite time of the year, a busy time for Pat and myself with our musical endeavors and I wanted to bring readers up to date.  

Once again I’m performing in the band accompanying the Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular. The production is in its 8^th season and I’m thrilled to be still playing the show. The last two weeks in November I spent working as the rehearsal pianist for the young cast of professional singers and dancers from Vancouver. This past week the show was put together on stage with the orchestra with a soft invitation only performance on Thursday. We opened last night.

We have 4 shows this weekend at the Cedar Community Hall south of Nanaimo before moving to the Sid Williams Theatre in Courtenay for two evening shows December 9 and 10. Then it’s back to the Cedar Hall for afternoon and evening performances on Dec. 12, 13 & 14 . The Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular then moves to the Port Theatre in Nanaimo on Dec 19, 20 & 21.

This year’s Yellowpoint extravaganza includes an Elton John tribute (I get a heap of playing in this section), songs from West Side Story, disco hits including songs by the BeeGees’s and Gloria Gaynor, a Dolly Parton tribute, highlights from The Grinch, plus an array of traditional Christmas favorites. Tickets can be ordered for the Cedar & Nanaimo shows on-line at www.porttheatre.com or by phone at 250-754-8550.

Monday is a day off from the Yellowpoint show so I’m driving over the Hump to Port Alberni to help Pat’s choir Timbre! set up for a rehearsal in the ADSS Theatre for their annual Christmas concert which will play the venue on Sunday, Dec 14, at 2:30 pm.  Since I’m playing piano for the Yellow Point Christmas Spectacular I plan to catch the choir’s early morning dress rehearsal the previous day and then scoot back over the Hump to Cedar for a matinee and evening performance of the Yellowpoint show. 

Timbre!’s concert is called Simply Christmas and this year my wife Pat as musical director has chosen a potpourri of both old and new carols. Excerpts from Messiah by Handel will hold its traditional place in the program alongside such new songs as Let It Go from the recent movie box office hit Frozen and a beautiful ballad by Gordon Lightfoot titled Song for a Winter’s Night. New arrangements of Huron Carol and I Saw Three Ships have also been programmed. 

Accompanist for the concert will be our niece Danielle Marcinek who recently returned from the United Kingdom and is now based in Vancouver.

Last September Pat announced that she would be retiring as the musical director of Timbre! at the choir’s spring show on May 3rd, 2015. However, as the choir’s fall rehearsal schedule rolled on, Pat began to mention to me how she was going miss working with the choir. Last week, at no surprise to me, she has decided to put off her retirement and conduct the choir for another season. I confess I’m thrilled as I know what a void it would present in her life. Is a 50^th anniversary concert a possibility?

This past fall I made an exploratory trip north to Woss Lake with members of the Western Vancouver Island Industrial Heritage Society. The trip was to assess the possibility of moving steam locomotive #112 from the Nimkish Valley to the Alberni Valley by highway on board a flat deck truck. Western Forest Products has offered the locomotive, situated in their Beaver Cove rail yard, to the Heritage Society. It was decided to go ahead with the move and, with a donation of $10,000 from the BC Railroad Association, society members have been working several weekends in preparation for the steam locomotive’s relocation. 

Incredible music heard at Idaho Jazz Festival

The first time I watched the Winter Olympic Games on television was in 1960. The games that year were held in Squaw Valley California and I was attending Music College in Los Angeles. To watch, together with my two apartment roommates, we rented a small black & white set for $5. 

The 1960 Olympics in Squaw Valley ushered in the era of the modern, televised Winter Games. The CBS network paid $50,000 for the broadcast rights, an astronomical sum for a sports event in those days. The 13 hours of coverage was criticized by newspaper columnists to be a risky financial move that would result in nothing but gallons of red ink for CBS. As usual the Pundits were wrong. Today television networks bid billions for the rights to cover the games. My most vivid memory of those 1960 Olympics was Walter Cronkite leering into the camera and informing America of the U.S. hockey team’s gold-medal upset of the Soviets. Overall in the round robin schedule Canada was runner up and received the silver medal.

Fast-forward 54 years and the recent Olympic Games in Sochi. I watched 11 days worth of the TV coverage on my giant HD TV at home. However, on day 12, I shut off the set at 6:00 am and had Pat drive me to the BC Ferry Terminal at Duke Point. I was scheduled to meet the Alberni District Secondary School Band Bus on their way to Moscow (the one in Idaho) to attend the International Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. The school’s band director Sarah Falls had asked me if I’d like to come along as a chaperone. The clincher was that I could do the piano accompaniment for my grandson Nathan’s trumpet solos at the festival - an opportunity not to be missed. I confess I was somewhat apprehensive about surviving the 12-hour bus trip. However, the time seemed to pass quickly with movies playing on the bus TV set and reading a supply of the latest Time, Newsweek and MacLean’s magazines I’d downloaded to my iPad. 

Photo above: It was a special moment for me at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival held last week in Idaho being able to accompany our grandson Nathan Miller in the trumpet solo class. In another class Nathan received an honourable mention for his solo on The Nearness of You. Michael Addy (Bass) and Devon Barker (Drums).

When I was teaching music at EJ Dunn and Alberni District Secondary School, students looked towards the annual band trips as the highlight of the year. In combination with my wife Pat’s three choral groups we both have wonderful memories of the numerous festivals we performed at across the country. However, after 35 years as a school band director, this trip to Idaho represented my first trip as a chaperone.

The concerts the students heard live were, as the kids would say, “awesome”. Over three evenings at the University of Idaho we heard an unbelievable potpourri of some of the world’s finest jazz musicians including pianist Geoff Keezer, vocalists Sheila Jordon and Rene Marie, the Seattle based vocal jazz ensemble Groove For Thought, a stunning young 21-year old saxophonist/vocalist Grace Kelly, the Grammy award winning instrumental combo Yellowjackets, veteran composer/saxophonist Benny Golson and vibraphonist Jason Marsalis who soloed with the Lionel Hampton Big Band. The 18-piece ensemble included some of the late band leader’s original players. The list of performing jazz stars goes on and on. If you’re a jazz fan check out the festival’s website at www.uidaho.edu/jazzfest 

Main Stage at the Lionel Hampton Festival

The bus trip home from Idaho was a slippery one. Leaving Moscow in a snowstorm at 6:00 am on Sunday, we got over the Snoqulamie Pass east of Seattle moments before a chain-up order for buses was ordered. Along the way we got the news that Canada had won the men’s hockey game. 

Around Bellingham we hit the west coast version of the Pacific bred snowstorm but cleared customs with just enough time to make our ferry reservation at Tsawwassen. The bus dropped me off at the Woodgrove Mall in Nanaimo where I managed to get a cab. Pat’s car was buried under a snow bank making it impossible to get out and up the steep hill near our house. Before trundling off to bed I zipped through the recording of the Canada/Sweden hockey game to view the goals. It’s much less stressful watching when you know the outcome.  

Thanks to Sarah Falls and her wonderful students for taking me along. I had an absolute blast!

Photo above: At the close of each day clinicians select outstanding soloists to perform at a venue called Hamp’s Club. Titled the Young Artist Concerts Series, students experience what it feels like to perform in a real life gig situation. Professional musicians accompany the students.

Here ADSS vocalist Arlene Oldale performs the ballad Misty. Alberni Valley student Erin Netzer was also selected to perform her version of Dream a Little Dream which she sang in French. Other Alberni students receiving honourable mention were George McNally (trombone) and vocalist Danil Sim.

Photo above: Grandson Nathan also performed as part of a piano trio with Michael Addy (Bass) and Devon Barker (Drums).

Photo above: A bronze statue of bandleader Lionel Hampton occupies a corner of the main stage during festival 

January - Overture to another year

As a youngster, returning to elementary school after New Year’s Day characteristically meant our class would be asked by our teacher to write a short composition on what we’d done during the Christmas break. Recording one’s thoughts about a trip off the island to the big city or the gifts we’d received was typically central to the exercise. So here I am, many decades later doing the same thing.

With my brother Terry, my wife Pat and I spent New Year’s Eve having dinner at the Chemainus Festival Theatre followed by their Christmas Musical It’s a Wonderful Life. The next day Pat and I drove out to Tofino through a typical west coast monsoon, fully expecting our packed raingear would receive major usage. However, miraculously by the following morning, the Pacific storm had blown itself out and given away to a cloudless sky of pure blue followed by four days of brilliant sunshine. 

Sunset on Jan 3rd, 2014 at Pacific Sands Resort in Tofino

It was a year ago this Christmas that I retired our older TV and replaced it with one of those humongous flat-screen sets. A few days after getting the unit up and running, I signed up for a service called Netflix. For those who may not be familiar with Netflix, basically it’s an internet television network with millions of subscribers world-wide who for a monthly fee of $7.99 can watch as many TV shows and movies as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any internet-connected screen. Also making Netflix popular is that the user is always in control, able to play, pause and resume watching at will, all without having to endure the never ending landscape of mindless commercials that clutter the regular TV channels these days. 

For a movie junkie such as myself, Netflix ended my trips to the local video store and the need of having to scramble to reserve popular movies in advance. However, I must confess that I’m still addicted to viewing first run Hollywood films at the movie theatre. The smell of stale popcorn and watching a film in the crowded company of other movie fans remains a compelling draw.

Films I viewed in the theatre this past holiday season included The Wolf of Wall Street, American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, Captain Philips (all nominated for Best Picture Oscars), The Hobbit, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. One film I particularly enjoyed seeing with Pat was called Saving Mr. Banks. The movie tells the story of how Walt Disney acquired the rights to make the classic film Mary Poppins. Set in the 1960s, the author of Mary Poppins Pamela Travers is seen struggling financially and is convinced by her lawyer that has no choice but to sell the rights to her children stories to the iconic filmmaker Walt Disney. Disney is played by Tom Hanks and Travers by the English actress Emma Thompson. Sadly in my opinion both were overlooked for best actor nominations in the upcoming Academy Awards.

At home on Netflix I’ve been watching Season 1 of a TV series called Homeland, an American political thriller about a Marine who is hailed as a hero after he returns home from eight years of captivity in Iraq. However, a US intelligence officer suspects that he may have been turned and is planning a terrorist attack on home soil. The series is pretty exciting.

In November Oxford Dictionaries announced selfie as their international Word of the Year 2013. A selfie is a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website. Here’s ours taken at Cox Bay near Tofino on January 5th.

At this point you may have drawn the conclusion that I wrapped up 2013 watching nothing but television and movies. Not so. Christmas gifts included two beautiful un-digitized books that can’t be read online – Vancouver Island’s Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway: The Canadian Pacific, VIA Rail and Shortline Years (1949-2013) by Robert Turner & Don MacLachlan and The Land of Heart’s Delight: Early Maps and Charts of Vancouver Island by Michael Layland. I’ve had hours of enjoyment wading through the extensive text and studying the wonderful photos and drawings included in these masterful volumes of island history.

As previously mentioned, Pat and I spent four days out on the west coast staying at Pacific Sands Resort. We normally try to make it out to the outer coast in early spring. However, we took a chance at an exceptional January price offer and as luck would have it we were rewarded with four days of glorious sunshine with balmy (compared to the rest of Canada) 8-degree daytime temperatures. During the four days we walked every accessible beach on the peninsula and hiked over the newest section of Ucluelet’s Wild Pacific Trail called the Ancient Cedars loop. We continued north on the new trail to Rocky Bluffs, a location storm-watching connoisseurs will definitely relish. We’ve hiked the older sections of the trail in the past but the new section was truly worth the additional visit. 

Rocky Bluffs - Wild Pacific Trail, Ucluelet

Our beachside suite at Pacific Sands Resort looked out on the expansive vista of Cox Bay, a west coast Mecca for the surfboarding crowd. I’d love to give surfing a try but I’m not convinced a condom-like layer of black rubber stretched over my frame could possibly permit my survival in such frigid water. However, the surfers I saw trotting back to their condos looked warm although I confess were much less than half my age. 

Our suite had cooking facilities so we prepared most of our own meals although we did venture out to some local restaurants. However, west coast cuisine we found to be pretty expensive and portions definitely on the tiny side. One restaurant we really enjoyed was called The Shelter. We went twice due to its funky west coast atmosphere and wonderful Fish & Chips served up on a wooden plank.

Railway Vandalized near Port Alberni

As volunteer conductors during the summer months on the Alberni Pacific Railway, Pat & I were shocked to learn last week that quad-riding vandals have been ripping up sections of the historic (1911) E&N railway in the Alberni Valley in order to drive over the rails more easily. Apparently rails were removed by using a cutting torch. Personally I can’t comprehend the stumpy mindset of individuals that would carry out such reckless activity.

Railway accidents akin to the one at Lac-Megantic last July have ramped up the media spotlight on rail transportation ever since. Can you imagine what would have happened if any railway equipment had been travelling along the tracks pictured above? The photo shows APR conductor Kevin Hunter standing at the vandalized area. The Port Alberni RCMP are investigating and can be contacted at 250-723-2424 or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS. 

Have bomb packed and ready to travel 

Am I missing something? I thought all the security searches I’ve endured at airports over the years was to stop individuals who might be bent on blowing up an airplane.  Evidently last September at the Edmonton airport a teenager was found to have a homemade pipe-bomb in his baggage. It was immediately confiscated which you’ll agree was the smart thing to do. However, bizarrely he was still allowed to board the aircraft and fly off for a Mexican holiday. It seems the Edmonton airport security staff thought about it for a few days and finely phoned the RCMP. The teen was arrested when he returned home. I’d say some rules need to be fine-tuned.  

Quick trip to the big city:

Last Wednesday Pat received an urgent request from the Toronto Conservatory asking if she could whip over to Vancouver and fill in for a piano examiner who had taken ill. It meant a bit of a scramble as Pat rescheduled some piano students before we rushed off to catch the last ferry sailing from Departure Bay, getting to the Surrey Sheridan Hotel at midnight. After a day of examining on Thursday we scooted back over the Port Mann Bridge (my first time driving over the new tolled structure) and checked into the Metrotown Hilton Hotel.

I have over the years enjoyed such examination jaunts with Pat as I get to play tourist during the day. So what did I do on this one you ask? I’ve been trying for some time to find a fish-poaching pan. I had already checked every store in Nanaimo and proceeded on this trip to check kitchen stores around the lower mainland. I had no idea such an item would be so hard to find. I was constantly told that no one stocks them due to low demand. However, a clerk in the Coquitlam IKEA told me I might find one at the Gourmet Warehouse on East Hastings Street in Vancouver. Subsequently I contacted the store via Facebook. They informed me within minutes they had one in stock priced at $50. I drove to the store Saturday morning and picked it up. Later in the day I found the same branded item in a kitchen store in the Metrotown Mall. Their asking price - $149.50. It pays to shop around. 

And yes, I did see a few more first run movies while on the mainland - namely August; Osage County and Dallas Buyers Club, both with Academy Award nominations for their stars Meryl Streep and Matthew McConaughey respectively. I also caught the opening day screening of the new Jack Ryan flick Shadow Recruit. Wow! Absolutely a high-powered knockout thriller. Hollywood has returned to making Russians out to be the bad guys. Strange in this Olympic year. I wonder if it’s due to Russian President Putin’s homophobia. Hollywood would find that particularly disdainful and rightfully so. 

I viewed Shadow Recruit in Silvercity Metropolis’ new Ultra AVX theatre. The theatre has big lounge type leather seats that tip way back and you choose your seat on a touch screen when you purchase your ticket. The screen is huge and the sound system has been upgraded to a new Dolby platform called Atmos which pumps out 128 channels of pure audio bliss. It was the most crystal-clear sound I’ve ever heard in a movie theatre.

Curling’s getting hot

Sitting in a Vancouver Restaurant last week, a curling game was being shown on the barroom TV set. Not unusual for curling at this time of year with the Olympic Games and the Canadian and World Championships in the sport just on the horizon. However, what surprised me was the game was being played in the sun-drenched desert city of Las Vegas, in front of thousands of spectators, many of whom I would guess had never seen a curling game before.

I lobbed my first curling rock down a sheet of ice in the early 1950’s. It was at the Alberni Valley Curling Club that had been a WWII army drill hall at the north end of 10^th Ave in Port Alberni. I loved the game and played competitively for three decades before drifting away from it for reasons that escape me.

It’s really quite remarkable to observe the growth the game has had over the years, to the point where 18 countries will have a curling team competing at the 2014 Olympic Games next month in Sochi, Russia.  Still, watching a curling game being played in Las Vegas was a real head-turner. To relate to this new Vegas entertainment option one could now paraphrase the old saying to read, “what slides in Vegas, stays in Vegas.” 

Perfect Pitch from a Pill

I was reading in the National Post newspaper on the weekend that a new study undertaken at the University of British Columbia has found that people with little to no musical training who were administered the drug Valproate (which treats epilepsy and mood disorders) could learn to identify musical pitches out of thin air with no reference points. For many a musician, this is the Holy Grail.

Musicians call this rare and strange phenomena Perfect Pitch and researchers have estimated that one in 10,000 people possess it.  Obviously far from all musicians have it. I for one don’t, although I know several colleagues that do. I’ve also taught music students during my teaching career that had it. To musicians who don’t possess perfect pitch, the phenomena seems kind of magical and we usually work throughout our lifetime training our ears to develop the best next thing, relative pitch. Simply put, this means when one has identified, say one note on a recording, one can deduce what the other notes will be. 

The National Post article went on to say that the most frustrating thing about perfect pitch (for those who don’t have it) is that, “it appears to be developed exclusively in childhood — the prime window being between ages four to six. By the time you get to 12 years old it’s pretty much closed off.” 

Who knows, in a few years taking music lessons might include a prescription for Valproate to “restore the brain plasticity necessary for people to learn skills that are generally developed only during early, critical periods in a human’s growth.” Perhaps the pills could be coloured black and white - to match the piano keyboard.