RECORD STORE TALES #1200: Birthdays, Castles and Cornfields
My goal when making drone videos is never to invade privacy, only to make cool videos of the things around me. Ever since 2022, Jen and I have been driving past this cool “castle” in the middle of nowhere. We have stopped to take pictures because it is such a whimsical looking place. I have long wanted to do a drone video of the castle we once called Deke’s Palace.
I woke up around 5:30 AM on my birthday. I chatted with friends and enjoyed a birthday steak for breakfast. I thought about driving somewhere to make a drone video. Around 8:00 I decided to wake up Jen and make a run into town. I packed up my Potensic drone and made our way up to the castle. We waited for three cars to pass, and then I was airborne. I saw no vehicles for the entire flight, but I did soar close enough to the castle to see its ramparts, battlements, and three turrets. I also hovered over a winding river, and zoomed low over a cornfield.
I always like to try to accomplish something new creatively when I can, and this counts as a brand new location. I am very happy with the resultant video.
After my flight, we went into the essential hobby store Leisure World, and I treated myself to a birthday gift.
Simply a wonderful birthday, enjoyed in the best place in the world.
RECORD STORE TALES #1198: Happy 101st Birthday to Doris Anne Winter
One year ago today, we wished my Grandma Dolly a happy 100th birthday. She was visited by friends, and family from afar. She enjoyed cake and balloons. She legitimately had a good time. She actually had two parties: One for friends and neighbors and one just for close family and friends. She was exhausted by the end of it. Heck I’d be exhausted if I celebrated my birthday over two consecutive days, and I’m half her age.
Grandma is still with us today despite the odds, and will be celebrating 101 years. She doesn’t look the same anymore. The last six months have taken a toll as she has battled time and illness. Something in her just refuses to give in. Back in January, I did a special show with John Clauser as a tribute to my grandma, thinking we’d be losing her imminently. Now it is July.
Today she will just have a few visitors. There won’t be a lot of celebrating happening. She’s just too tired and weak. But she did truck on for another year, hitting another milestone. 101 years. Imagine being there for the roaring twenties, the dirty thirties, the Second World War and the baby boom. Picture living through the rapid advances of the 1950s amd 1960s, when television became the norm and Grandpa worked for Bell telephone, connecting all the neighbours with the latest technology for communication. Grandchildren arrived in the 1970s amd 1980s, and Grandma had a whole new adventure ahead of her, spoiling us. For us, when we were kids, being babysat by Grandma was a treat. She’d let us eat Rice Crispies with lots of sugar.
All this and more. Living through the 1990s when her Grandson learned to drive, and started taking her out on weekends. She’d make dinner for me every Thursday night when I was at school doing night classes. Anthropology 101. I loved that class. I would arrive stuffed full of her famous pork chops in mushroom soup. Onto a new millennium, and finally a global pandemic that closed her in as we tried to keep her safe. She survived two bouts with Covid. Imagine that.
I’m really proud of my Grandma for hanging on as hard as she has. We thought she was gone many times over the past three or four years. I brag about her a lot. A 100 year old is a rare thing, but a 101 year old is even more so. It doesn’t look like an easy existence, being 101 years old, but she lives for our visits. They are the highlight of her week. Fortunately she has lots of visitors. My mom goes to see her several days a week and she has friends visiting on the other days. Where she used to babysit me, now when I visit I sort of babysit her. She asks for the TV to be changed to the baseball game, or she asks for me to find her glasses. She can’t see very well anymore, but she likes the sound of the TV. She still loves her Blue Jays.
You never know what to expect when you go and visit Grandma these days, but I hope she has a good day today.
Happy birthday Grandma. We all love you. We just want you to have a nice day today, and we’ll see you very soon.
After you hit the big 50, it seems birthdays are less important and a little hum-drum. My 52nd birthday fell on a Friday, so I decided to take advantage of that and have a little long weekend for myself. My week ended on Thursday, which coincided with one of the boss’ birthdays at work. He was turning 65, so we had a bit of an upscale lunch to celebrate both birthdays. My coworkers and I enjoyed an afternoon at Milestones in Cambridge. I had a delectable penne pasta with shrimp, mushrooms, bacon and a creamy truffle sauce. The sauce was aromatic, and quite deliciously pungent. It was almost more an experience of smell rather than taste, but I enjoyed it thoroughly. A wonderful start to the birthday weekend.
Thursday night was an evening to chill. I bought a Lego set, the Atreides Ornithopter set which will give me my first Jason Momoa, Oscar Isaac and Josh Brolin minifigs for my collection. This difficult set kept my hands occupied while I enjoyed a traditional movie treat. I went with 1984’s The Last Starfighter, a movie that I watched with Bob Schipper the summer it came out 40 years ago. “Better than Star Wars!” I told my parents when I got home. Watching it again today, it’s definitely derivative of Star Wars though able to deliver new things in a grounded Earthly setting. I smiled the whole way through.
I couldn’t sleep that night. We had water coming into the home office, and after the shelf disaster of three weeks ago, it kept me up at night. I also slept on my arm in a way that pinched my nerves and left me with two numb fingers on my left hand. Ah, 52. But I had morning plans.
I wanted to head down to the Grand River at 6:00 am when nobody is around, and take the drone up. With Jen at my side on second camera, we had a quick flight over the fog at sunrise and got some remarkable footage. First birthday goal accomplished!
I wanted to do something special for my birthday meal, and so I chose a lunch instead of a dinner. Why? Because as you get older, bed time gets earlier. I also wanted to do something different that we don’t usually do. And so, Jen sucked up a Benadryl for me, and we hit up Ye’s Sushi. There was plenty of stuff that Jen could eat, but an allergic reaction is impossible to avoid, so precautions were taken. I really appreciated this sacrifice on her part. Her favourite was the edamame, while mine was the beef short ribs. For me, generally, beef won the show. Dessert was deep fried banana with chocolate dip sauce.
Jen had to crash for a couple hours after the allergy meds kicked in, but she enjoyed her first sushi outing and I really appreciate her doing it. Next year we’ll do something different, but this was a first for us and it was really special.
At that point, it was time to get ready for Grab A Stack of Rock at 3:30. I warmed up my coffee and jumped in front of the camera. I had originally thought of taking my birthday off from the show, but as the week wore on, I felt like I wanted to celebrate a bit with my friends. So, I scheduled a show and Jex Russell, Tim Durling and John Clauser joined me for gifts and memories. And much more.
All Jen’s gifts came from Encore Records in Kitchener. They were:
Ratt – Rarities (2024)
A good compilation of demos and live stuff. There’s a 1989 demo called “Love on the Rocks”, which is a Pearcy/Crosby composition that never made it onto an album. Good song, and a CD that is hard to find.
Black Country Communion – V (2024)
I hear good things! I am missing a few BCC releases, but there has never been a better time to jump back into the band. I’m spinning it now and enjoying that bluesy rock groove with just a hint of Zeppelin that I love so much.
Prince and the Revolution – Live(2022)
From the Purple Rain tour, I figured this release would make a great accompaniment to my Purple Rain deluxe edition. It will go well in the car on a future cottage trip. Contents: two CDs and a blu-ray, including favourites of mine like “Computer Blue” and “I Would Die 4 U” . Closing the set is nearly 20 minutes of “Purple Rain”. This will be epic!
The gifts were just a precursor to the main event, which caught me by surprise and knocked me out of my chair. With the help with Tim Durling, Jex arranged special surprise birthday messages in a video that we ran live on the show. I was blown away by the words and sentiments from so many people!
Jex Russell
John Clauser, performing an acoustic version of “Grab A Stack of Rock”
Rob Daniels from Visions in Sound, with some kind words that hit me in the heart
Aaron Stewart of the KMA
Harrison Kopp with Lego art
Uncle Meat with some comments that left me head over heels…
Martin Popoff with some more kind words that left my jaw on the floor
Dr. Kathryn Ladano (with Molli, Daisi, Winston and Bruce)
Grant Arthur from the Rock Warehaus with good advice
Metal Roger with metal vocals
Todd Evans of the Contrarians to grab a stack of cake
Tom Brislin, keyboard player from Kansas
Jen Ladano right from the bowling alley
D’Arcy Briggs from darcyska on YouTube!
Marco D’Auria with a funny name mix-up and more kind words that I don’t think I deserve
Brent “the Doctor” Doerner of Helix to grab a stack of beer
Steve Deluxe and some wise words about B-sides
Tim Durling, who helped connect some of these people with Jex
Peter Kerr of Rock Daydream Nation with a pretty excellent vocal performance
Chris Preston of MyRockandRollHeaven on Twitter
My Aunt Lynda and cousin Geoff with embarrassing stories
Matt Phillips of GoNorth Design, with a custom Lego Stratocaster
My mom and dad
By the end of it, I was emotionally exhausted…so much love and encouragement from people I really look up to. The one common recurring thread was a message I really need to hear: keep doing what you do.
What better birthday gift could anyone want?
The rest of the weekend will be spent enjoying music, and reflecting upon the blessings I have in my life.
I cannot thank you, my friends, enough for this very special birthday. No matter how hard I try to search for the words, they remain out of my reach. My words cannot sum up the feeling of a full heart.
The birthdays keep coming, relentlessly as the tides, but Jex Russell ensured that this one was special and different indeed.
This birthday, I was joined by Jex, John Clauser and Tim Durling for a fun Friday afternoon that turned quite epic by the end. Before that surprise unfolded, we took a look at my new shelving and a large chunk at my CD collection. We discussed favourite birthday memories and a movie in its 40th anniversary this year: The Last Starfighter. (This led into a side discussion on Howard the Duck.)
Jen joined us for gifts at the halfway point of the show. She gifted me with two new releases and one deluxe live album. You’ll have to watch the show and see! (Clue: royal rodents and the Phoenix lights.)
As a finale, Jex unveiled his surprise. With the assistance of Tim Durling, it was like an episode of “This Is Your Life”, or a Cameo with all my favourite people. Jex’s presentation included friends both famous and infamous. There was even an acoustic version of the Grab A Stack of Rock theme song performed by Johnny Metal himself. Thank you, John!
Here is Jex’s presentation:
By the end of it, I was flattered and honoured, and maybe my eyes were a little wet. I’m not crying, you’re crying. All my reactions to the kind words and surprise guests are live and unfiltered.
I’m the guy who usually has all the words. I don’t have any this time. If a picture is worth 1000 words, just watch my face.
Thank you everyone for everything. Here’s to another year.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man Episode 65: Celebrate Mike’s Birthday on Grab A Stack of Rock – Live!!
(There will NOT be cake)
I was going to take the day off, and just chill on my birthday. No Friday show. “I deserve a break,” I reasoned. We had the Great CD Avalanche of 2024, a physically & emotionally & financially taxing event in recent weeks, and it will be many weeks more before all the CDs are alphabetized again. So, my birthday was going to be spent going out to a quiet lunch with Jen, and then watching Doctor Who and the Acolyte at home.
Then I started to think, that sounded a little too lonely. I wanted to celebrate with my friend Jex. So, I asked.
“Brother, whatever you want to do on your birthday, show or no show, I support you man!” came his response.
I thought about it for two days. I decided that I wanted to celebrate my birthday with Oojaboojagan.
Today’s show is a no-list, no-pressure, just chill-and-join-us event! I’ll be stuffed full of food by that time, and I may even have a birthday drink, so you never know what you will get! There is no theme, but I promise you this much:
Grant Arthur from Grant’s Rock Warehaus plans to attend.
I will open my gifts from Jen live! (She shopped at Encore Records.)
Jex has “something” planned.
You will get the first look at the new show backdrop, with my new shelving, and I will be able to show you a whole bunch of CDs if you want to see them. They’re not all alphabetical yet, but I’m in good shape to retrieve most things from the collection. This is the first episode of Grab A Stack of Rock to feature the new hardware, and I’m excited to have my music looking good again.
Join us this afternoon at 3:30 PM E.S.T. for “Operation: Oojaboojagan”! Seriously, I have no idea what Jex has planned.
Friday July 19 at 3:30 P.M. E.S.T. / 4:30 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy onYouTube or on Facebook!
RECORD STORE TALES #1141: 100 Years Old and Counting! Weekend Report – Parties Complete, CD Re-organizing Continues
It’s official! Grandma turned 100, and she had not one but two parties. Seems appropriate given the circumstances! It was a whirlwind of a weekend and difficult to sum up.
Friday afternoon began with a reunion of cousins! I have not seen Cousin Geoff in over 10 years and I swear he is still growing. I gave him a big hug, and the chitter chatter did not cease for the entire time. It was like no time had passed, even though we had so much to catch up on. He’s now a dad with two kids.
That day, we had a birthday party at the home for Grandma. She was fashionably late, as is her right. She received some nice gifts and plants, but was not impressed with her letter from King Charles. The plants she got from people she knew meant a lot more than the King. I am sure that Charles is now weeping at this rejection. He certainly tried!
Funny thing about 100th birthdays. They are very difficult to find cards for. In fact, Grandma received three identical cards due to lack of selection!
We had a barbecue for family that night, and resumed the 100th birthday party the following day. This party was for family only, which didn’t stop a couple people from the old folks’ home from trying to gatecrash! I can’t say I blame them. The food and cake were incredible. The cake was probably the best I ever had, while I also stuffed myself with six sandwiches. By the end of the celebrations, I think I was as exhausted as Grandma. But that wasn’t the end of the weekend for me.
Who knew that a 100th birthday party would be so exhausting? I’ve never even met a centenarian before, let alone partied with one. I can tell you that centenarians like cake.
As for me, I had CDs to file. I bought a third shelf, assembled it, and began filing. I am done A and B, moving onto C.
It feels good to have all of A and B on shelves again. I keep finding the odd A and B within the rest, but we’re getting closer every week. I’m going to buy a couple more shelves in the near future, but here’s what the situation looks like this week.
I have also repaired my Metallica Live Sh*t box set lid.
It’s not perfect, and you can see the glue from the inside easily, but it’s solid again.
Things are finding themselves in order again, though it will likely take the rest of the summer to get everything organized again. Which is good, because when Grab A Stack of Rock returns for its 3rd season in the fall, I’ll be really ready to grab stacks of rock once again – in alphabetical order!
Next party: mine! Join us Friday at 3:30 PM EST. Let’s keep it rolling.
RECORD STORE TALES #1140: Happy 100th Birthday to my Grandma
100 years ago, Doris Ann Drumm was born. With a name like “Drumm”, I suppose it’s no wonder that my sister and I grew up to be so musical! In fact, my grandmother can trace her family line to Alsace-Lorraine, and musicians on her side of the family. As for her, even though she likes singers such as Michael Buble, she had no problem buying me Ozzy Osbourne and Van Halen tapes when I was a teen. Later on, she’d just write me a cheque for my birthday. “Buy one of your CD records,” went the inscription inside one birthday card.
The pandemic was hard on my grandma. In the first three months, we lost my Uncle Don Don. That was difficult for everyone, but especially her. She still lived in her own home at age 96, and losing Uncle Don Don left her lonely. Due to pandemic rules, we couldn’t hug her when we went to visit on her back porch. At age 96, you simply don’t want to take any chances. Though she survived two rounds with Covid, she got depressed and we nearly lost her three times. The last time she came so close, I took half the day off work and wrote her obituary. That’s how bad she was, February 23 2023. Fortunately now she’s now in a good senior’s home where she doesn’t miss meals or medication.
Today, she’s happy living in her new home, and making new friends. She still misses her old house, and her old cottage, but she recognizes that it wasn’t sustainable.
She likes to sit with us out in the courtyard of her building, in the shade, enjoying the weather. She enjoys watching the Blue Jays on TV, even when they’re not doing so well. She loves to talk! All she needs is an ear to listen. I enjoy bringing over my cottage videos, and watching them with her. She hasn’t been to the cottage in a decade.
I’m so happy we made it to this incredible milestone. It seemed like it was not going to happen. But it did and here we are! She’ll be receiving a letter of congratulations from the King, and family is flying in from Alberta to celebrate.
People always told us that grandma looked like the Queen. To us, she is the queen! Leave a happy birthday wish for my grandmother, and celebrate with us on this special day!
Please join me in wishing the beautiful Jennifer a happy birthday today! I know all she wants for Christmas is the Leafs to win the Cup, but let’s wish that for her birthday too. They need all the help they can get if they wanna hoist the cup in 2024.
OK, so now I’m in trouble on her birthday.
But seriously, she’s the best Jen in the whole world and if it wasn’t for her I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing today.
Happy birthday Sweetie Cutie.
No show tonight as we celebrate a special day. Instead we are re-running the awesome Arkells Appreciation episode from last summer with Nurse Kat. Enjoy and we’ll be back next week with surprises and recap!
Thank you Grant, Aaron, Tim & Harrison for celebrating my birthday with me! We did a Nigel Tufnel Top Ten – Mike’s favourite birthday years. We showed off all his gifts this year, and looked at photos and gifts from years past.
Tim treated us to a guitar solo, and the guys had cool stuff to show us as always. Aaron’s signed Mystique poster was a highlight!
Lastly, Mike unboxed the new Grab A Stack of Rock theme song picture disc by vinyart.co. Tee Bone Erickson’s first vinyl. Now I need him to sign it! Thanks for celebrating everyone!
1981
Lego Technic Bulldozer set #856 from 1979 – “best present ever!”
1984
Michael Jackson – Thriller
Culture Club – Colour By Numbers
Transformers – Skywarp and Windcharger – my very very first two!
MOVIE: Saw The Last Starfighter for Bob’s birthday.
GRAB A STACK OF ROCK With Mike and the Mad Metal Man
Episode 29: Happy Birthdays to Us!
It’s that time of year again! We didn’t celebrate last year, because the LeBrain Train ended on July 15 2022. But we’re back and we’re celebrating 2023 in style. Join us, won’t you?
Special guest for this show will be Grant Arthur of Grant’s Rock Warehaus! Thanks for celebrating with us!
We are expecting lists! Unboxings and de-packagings! What are the best birthday gifts you’ve ever received? Mike will be listing, year by year, the most memorable albums he received for birthdays past, from 1984 to the 1990s, everything that he can remember! He even still has a few of the oldest ones to show you. What are the best albums you have received for your birthday?
Please join the party tonight. We’ll be ready to bring it!
Friday July 21 at 7:00 P.M. E.S.T. / 8:00 P.M. Atlantic. Enjoy onYouTube or on Facebook!
mikeladano.com 