Category: Music

All matters musical

‘Cabbage boilin’ tunes’ with Rebecca Bruton, Wednesdays in October

My friend Rebecca Bruton will be performing excellent and intriguing music every Wednesday in October. She is doing a residency at ‘Somewhere There’ – a creative music venue near the Landsdowne metro station in Toronto.

The music

Rebecca describes the event as:

“Cabbage boilin’ tunes with:

  • Rebecca Bruton – Voice, breastbone-fiddle, mandolin
  • Doug Tielli – Voice, banjo, guitar
  • Rob Clutton – Voice, banjo, guitar, bass, plethora”

Getting there

The easiest way to get to the venue is to start by taking the subway to Landsdowne station, on the green east-west subway line.

Do not be deceived by the address: 227 Sterling Road. The venue is not on Sterling Road, exactly, and it certainly isn’t adjacent to either 225 Sterling Road or 228 Sterling Road.

Rather, it is at the nearby corner of Ruttan Street and Merchant Lane.

Here is how to get to the venue from Landsdowne subway station:

And a photo of the venue:

(The dog may not be there.)

The music will be happening at 8pm, every Wednesday night in October. The event is pay-what-you-can, with a suggested donation of $10.

[Update: 4 October 2012] You can hear some of Rebecca’s music at: http://lilman.bandcamp.com/

Replacement Etymotic mc3 earbuds

I’ve written before about the durability of Etymotic headphones.

On 5 August 2011, before leaving on my trip to New Orleans and Washington D.C., I bought a pair of Etymotic mc3 earbuds, with a built-in microphone for use with my iPhone.

A few weeks ago, they failed in the ordinary way. At the connection points between the wire and the audio-in jack, the constant bending of the cable led to structural failure. The sound became distorted and intermittent. With other pairs, I have had the same thing happen at the junction point between one of the wires and one of the individual earbuds.

I sent them back to Etymotic with a copy of my Amazon receipt and a short note explaining the problem and today I received a brand new pair of mc3s in the mail. I think every pair of headphones I have ever purchased from Etymotic has been replaced free of charge (starting back in Oxford in 2005 or ’06).

My expectation when I buy Etymotic earbuds is that they will last for one year of heavy daily use. Then I will get them replaced once under warranty. Then, after about a year, the replacement earbuds will fail and I will buy a new pair.

I don’t know if their more expensive models are more durable. I may try a pair next time, to see whether the sound is better and whether the construction better withstands the abuses of life.

None of this should be taken as evidence that I am unsatisfied with Etymotic products. They are pretty great. The sound is good and they block off outside noise very effectively. It’s pretty amazing to have a product that fits in such a tiny space and which can turn anywhere into quite a good listening environment.

[Update: 19 December 2014] My latest pair of Etymotic earbuds failed today – one of the wires inside seems to have broken right near where it connects to my music player. Now, there is only sound in one ear. I will naturally need to replace them, and will probably go with another pair of Etys.

Steve Jobs

I was sorry to hear this morning that Steve Jobs has died. I think he is a man who changed the world significantly, particularly in terms of how human beings and computers interact. Most of what has gotten better about computers since 1980 or so has been the ease and intuitiveness of using them, and Apple is responsible for a lot of that. Apple makes elegant machines that are pleasant to use and allow you to do good work on them. The iPod also substantially changed how people experience music, and brought a great deal of enjoyment to millions of people.

I hope computers and electronics in general continue to develop in that direction, though perhaps with less of the obsessive controlling quality that has also been part of the Apple philosophy.

I know very little about Steve Jobs as a man, but I appreciate the work he did and regret that he died so young.