Now that that’s out of the way and I won’t get slammed for stealing precious intellectual property, I have a few things to say to my unborn child.

Stephen Hawking has just announced that time travel is possible. With that in mind, even though I don’t have a large hadron collider and a rocket ship faster than the speed of light, I’d still like to imagine I can visit you 20 years down the road and ask you all the things you wish I would have done differently. My hope is that you’ll love me dearly and tell me you don’t regret one moment of being my son/daughter.

In reality, you’ll probably tell me you really wish I’d bought you that computer/phone/apple gadget you wanted so badly when you were 16. I’d like to think I will teach you not to place such value on material things, but I know I like shiny things with buttons and touch screens and such, so how could I deny you of the same wants?

Here’s a few things I promise to do with you as you grow up. I’ll keep it bulleted, cause I know how kids these days hate reading.

• Take you to your first, seventh and twenty-third concert. Rock, folk, indie, funk, soul … we’ll vary it up. Just no emo/screamo/justin bieber. for the love of all that is sacred. no justin bieber.
• Let you beat around my old guitars. Get a ukulele / mandolin / schroeder’s piano from peanuts in your hands at age 5. maybe sooner, if your mom allows it in between all the books she’ll have you reading.
• Talk to you like a human being (in addition to all the gibberish baby talk).
• Teach you to sing (and harmonize with your dad). Remember it comes from your diaphragm, not your throat! Unless you’re Ray LaMontagne. Then it comes from that cloud of smoke inside your lungs that you never exhaled. On that note, don’t even think about being a smoker.
• Read to you. You’re going to get literature totally crammed down your throat by your mother, but I want some input, too. I’m going to read you cool shit like The Age of Spiritual Machines, High Fidelity and when you’re ready, 1984, For Whom The Bell Tolls and Fight Club. I’ll leave the ones about kids with magic sticks, rings and hats to your mom.

That’s all for now … you’re going to get such an amazing cultural education at home, that I can promise you. Oh, and before I forget, we’re going to love the absolute shit out of you.

Sincerely, your dad.

Imagine

Control (Acoustic) by Doug McArthur

Don’t get me wrong, there are interesting things about places in Saskatchewan. Saskatoon has a decent music scene, but not nearly as good as Winnipeg. Watrous’ claim to fame is both the Manitou Springs Mineral Spa and the fact that it was selected as a location for TSN’s Sportscentre broadcast in August 2009.

As I tweeted about on Thursday, I was mighty disappointed with the music scene on a Thursday night in Regina. I want to go into a bit more detail than 140 characters will allow.

It was Thursday night and I had just finished a long day of client visits. None of my Regina coworkers were up to anything but I had a rental car and some free time, so I decided to check out what was going on downtown. I hit up a sushi place first and then popped next door to a pub called O’Hanlon’s to see what was going on. I took a little tour around the pub, which looked really nice. High ceilings, just the right amount of Guinness and Keith’s ads (and mirrors) on the walls. So I go up to the barkeep, a nondescript looking chap wearing plaid, as cool kids do, and asked him if there was to be a band at the pub that night. No, but a DJ is spinning tonight. Okay, no thanks, unless it’s RJD2, Kid Koala or Girl Talk, I’ll pass.

So I ask him if there are any other venues around with live music tonight. His reply? “No, not on a Thursday.”

Not on a Thursday? Maybe Winnipeg has spoiled me, but I expect there to be live music happening somewhere pretty much every night of the week. Especially Thursday through Sunday. That’s a given, isn’t it?

I implore you, people of Regina – either do a better job of promoting your music, if in fact there is music happening that said bartender is unaware of, or just make it happen. That’s all. Have a lovely weekend.

1. Martin Sexton – Happy (from Seeds) [bonus - here's a making of Happy video from Martin in the studio]
2. Ron Sexsmith – Happiness (from Retriever)
3. Rufus Wainwright – California (from Poses)
4. Amos Lee – Bottom of the Barrel (from Amos Lee)
5. Jenny Lewis featuring Elvis Costello – Carpetbaggers (from Acid Tongue)

And now it’s your turn to help me out … input, please!