Record Cover of the Week

Face Off

Ultra-rare original soundtrack recording from the 1971 Canadian hockey movie starring Art Hindle as Toronto Maple Leafs rookie Billy Duke and Trudy Young as hippy folk singer Sherrie Lee Nelson. The score was by composer/arranger Ron Collier, with five songs written by actor Frank Moore, who played Sherrie’s sidekick Barney. Moore and Young did their own singing in the movie. The film was a hit in Canada, because, well… you know… hockey. I’m not sure if the soundtrack album was ever released commercially – I think it may only have been issued to radio stations to promote the movie.

Art Hindle went on to have a long acting career that included starring roles in David Cronenberg’s The Brood and the tv series ENG.  Trudy Young began on tv as the teenage co-host of the CBC afterschool program Razzle Dazzle (replacing Michelle Finney). She seems to have dropped out of show business after her role in the 1982 film Melanie (co-starring Burton Cummings in his only movie role). Frank Moore, a stalwart of Toronto theatre, is still acting in movies and tv in character roles.

Click on image above to enlarge back cover. Spoiler alert: The liner notes give away the movie’s ending.

Face Off was one of the few Canadian movies to be parodied by SCTV (Goin’ Down The Road was another). Their version was a movie-of-the-week called Power Play.

Dave Thomas as William Shatner as Coach Kirk of the Toronto Bay Leaves, with John Candy as Darryl Sittler as Billy Stempovolitchky.

…with Rick Moranis as Al Waxman as “The Chief.”

The SCTV parody even pokes fun at the movie’s doggedly earnest title song “Billy Boy,” reprising it with different lyrics several times throughout the sketch to comment on the action:

Billy, my Billy boy
You’re gonna be a man someday
Oh oh oh
Billy, my Billy boy
Where you goin’ with your life?
(your life, your life)
Did ya try the big city?
Don’t you know it’s so pretty?

Over the end credits:

Billy, what does it mean?
Did you really hurt someone?
Billy, was it just a symbol
Of the violence in our society?
Will we ever know
What happened to you
Billy boy

The Week in Thrift

Salvation Army:

I think those dingle balls are made from bingo dabber tops.

Value Village:

Seniors’ Association rummage sale. This awesome sale has everything:

books

magazine, lots of records

a room of Christmas treasures

housewares, jewelry, clothing, furniture, electronics, crafts, baking, snacks

all at crazy cheap prices.

Maybe you remember that last year at this sale I passed up buying a mounted fish for a buck.

This year I succumbed. This is no Bigmouth Billy Bass (though it sure looks like it) – this is the real, non-singing, deal. Just be careful not to cross me or you’re getting it for Christmas.

The Culling XII: File under “cat”

Stencil 4: election edition

Record Cover of the Week

Another “improved” Elvis cover.

Good Eats

La Shish. Busy Lebanese take out just off Jasper with a few tables and a windowside counter for eat in. Little cups of complimentary Lebanese coffee go great with baklava.

Vegetarian platter: tabouleh, hummus, felafel, potatoes, zucchini, cauliflower, eggplant etc.

Purple eggs at Lucky 97 Market.

The Culling XI: Faithfull Forever

The second most popular search term that brings people to this blog is “Marianne Faithfull” and it refers to this post. I feel a little guilty that so many faithful Faithfull fans have been drawn here for so little, so here’s some more lovely young Marianne for you to gaze on, from the covers of her 1965 self-titled album.

I’m fast approaching the end of the female vocals section. As you can see in the picture below, I’ve managed to shelve a lot of the records that were piling up on the floor (there are more records on the floor just out of frame, but still a lot less than before).

Score
sampled: 1672
salvaged: 1305
scuttled: 367

It’s a big world after all

I’ve pretty much abandoned my swankola.com website since starting this blog, but this week I updated It’s A Big World, my “big things” travelogue, by adding a trio of big things in Washington state. Check it out.

big wagon, spokane wa

big commie, seattle wa

Lovers of big roadside stuff might also be interested in One Week, a new Canadian movie I saw last week at the EIFF. Not a great movie, I thought, but it was fun to see Joshua Jackson’s character visit more than a dozen big things on his cross-country motorcycle odyssey, including:

Muskoka chair. Gravenhurst ON (I think – there are several in Ontario)
World’s Largest Photo Mosaic. Port Carling ON
Nickel. Sudbury ON
Canada Goose. Wawa ON
Huskie The Muskie. Kenora ON (there are lots of big fish in Ont, but I’m pretty sure this was the one)
Inukshuk. Schomberg ON? (lots of inukshuks in Ont.)
Fire Hydrant. Elm Creek MB
Sara the Camel. Glenboro MB
Pipe. St. Claude MB
Paper clip. Kipling SK
Teepee. Medicine Hat AB
T-Rex. Drumheller AB

Reasons To Be Cheerful

(With apologies to I’m Learning to Share)

This has been a fine week all around.

1. Film Feast

I went to a mess o’ films at the EIFF (Edmonton International Film Festival).

Bruce McDonald (Highway 61, Hard Core Logo) and Stephen McHattie, director and star, respectively, of the cerebral Canadian “vampire” film Pontypool.

Steve “Lips” Kudlow of the Canadian heavy metal band Anvil. Sacha Gervasi’s documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil was a real charmer. I also liked Man On Wire about Philip Petit’s guerrilla highwire walk between the twin towers in 1974, and the Spanish horror film [REC], a movie so wonderfully scary grown men were screaming like little girls.

2. Indian Summer

The weather has been wonderful – as nice a fall as you could ask for. As often as I could I walked downtown to festival screenings, about an hour each way through the river valley.

3. You can always go…

saturday farmer’s market, 104th street

Downtown doesn’t seem as desolate as it’s been. I guess all the new condos are starting to make a positive impact with lots of new stores and services starting to pop up to meet the demand, and human activity taking place at street level.

I’ve  been taking pictures of my favourite downtown buildings. Above and below: The Federal Public Building, sort of a truncated art deco skyscraper.

It’s been vacant since 1989 but it’s being refurbished and will reopen in 2011.

Above and below: Free Masons’ Hall.

4. Birthday Brunch

For Sandra’s birthday we took her to the Santa Maria Goretti Community Centre for Sunday pranzo (lunch).

She looks amazed and appalled by my present.

5. Velvet Vahine

I found an authentic fake Leeteg black velvet painting at the Sally Ann for 5 bucks. If it was a genuine Leeteg it would be worth a few thousand, but it’s an authorized copy, apparently painted in Japan in the 60s. I’m still happy – it will look nice in my home tiki bar (when I have one).

6. Up From Down Under

My niece returned from nearly two years in Australia. We took advantage of the good weather to hang around at outdoor cafes.

She took this picture of me that delights me so much I think I’ll use it as my avatar for everything.

7. Moai-to-Eye

We discovered this flock (is that the collective noun?) of Moai at a landscaping place near my favourite Goodwill store.

That’s all.

good advice

The Week in Thrift

washing machine fountain

corner table

82 shopping days

velvet vahine

authentic copy