The Rheostatics will reunite as part of an event honouring Canadian author, playwright, screenwriter and musician Paul Quarrington next Saturday.

To see the full article, go to http://www.chartattack.com/news/75725/rheostatics-reuniting-for-one-off-performance

The Paul Quarrington Chair at the Leacock Museum is a fund started in 2009 to honour the contribution to the arts, especially the literary arts, of Leacock Medal for Humour winner Paul Quarrington. Each year the museum will designate a writer as the Paul Quarrington Chair recipient and invite him/her to visit Orillia and participate in the annual Leacock Summer Festival. The Paul Quarrington Chair Fund is established to offset the costs of hosting the annual designate including travel and accommodation. In this way, Paul?s contribution to the Leacock Museum and the Leacock Medal for Humour will be established as an ongoing legacy. Contributions can be sent to the address below, payable to the Leacock Museum ? PQ Chair, and are tax deductible.

Leacock Museum National Historic Site
P.O. Box 625, 50 Museum Drive
Orillia, ON L3V 6K5

or visit www.leacockmuseum.com

Paul Quarrington talks to Drew Hayden Taylor, award-winning author, playwright, screenwriter and comedian. At the risk of dating himself, Hayden Taylor reveals that his first television writing credit was for the Beachcombers! Who knew? At THIN AIR 2008, Winnipeg’s writers festival, he read from Me Sexy (the sequel to Me Funny), a collection of stories written by some of Canada?s most esteemed First Nations writers, a number of which joined him on stage. First funny, then sexy…we can’t wait to see what’s next for Drew.

Here’s the poem to date:

In The Rock Hall

Of course you must go!

When next in Cleveland, you must
Visit the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Which sits on the shores of Lake Erie
(Itself a monument to ancientness.)

Of course you must go!

You will be disappointed.
There are clothes,
Vestments and albs worn by the luminous,
But they seem to have been laundered
Many, many times.
Not never, which is what you would expect.

And the clothes are so small.

(You have become tremendous.
You own a belly that drapes over a golden belt buckle
And hides it from view
Even though the buckle is so enormous
That it would seem to have been bestowed by some
Transgalactic wrestling league?

(But you do not worry, of late, about your appearance.
You squeeze your shoulders into a denim jacket
That you have had for years,
At least, for the years that meant anything,
The years that felt anything,
The years that you keep in your back pocket
Along with the condom of optimism.
There is no chance of fastening the fastens,
But that?s all right, the jacket
Never could withstand even the weakest
Of Elements.

(Your hair is gone, or
Streaked like a crazy lady?s cheek.
Your hair has become absolutely
Unmanageable.)

These clothes on display,
They are so small and, now,
You so large,
you would have trouble
Forcing your fist into them and
Working them like handpuppets.

But you must go!

Because at the end of the day
You will stumble outside
Blinded by tears, and you will
Fall into Lake Erie
(Itself a monument to ancientness)
And you will,
Finally,
Mourn your youth.

2)

Here are some things that should be on display:

Elvis?s sneer (not the he used on-stage, the one that crimped his mouth when Colonel Parker suggested he try on the suit in the closet)

Jerry Lee Lewis?s hymnal.

Robert Johnson?s lost nickel (for he telephoned his manager, at least, the white man who was exploiting him, and said, ?There?s a lady here wants fifty cents, and I lacks a nickel.?)

Her Boy Lollipop.

The Land of a Thousand Dances. I?ve calculated that if we confine ourselves to popular dance steps of the 20th and 21st century?the Lindy Hop, the Pony, the?we are currently stalled at number 999. What grand luck! So there should be an exhibit, a room where people enter and dance and someone will finally do something brand-fucking-new and the Land of a Thousand Dances will all of a sudden appear in atlases. Wilson Pickett may even come back to life, we can only hope.

The dildo that Jimi Hendrix used when he was too fucked up to fuck.

Neil Young?s blue ears and fingertips, the result of venturing outside in Winnipeg, Manitoba, wearing only a too-small denim jacket as protection against the Elements.

The scream that came out of the mouth of Brenda Boychuk, age 13, of Don Mills, Ontario,when Paul McCartney shook his hair in Toronto?s Maple Leaf Gardens.

The best move I ever made,
Which was made in front of a mirror?
I was the same age as Brenda Boychuck, indeed,
It was Brenda I was possessed by,
The sight of a bra strap escaping from a
Cream coloured sweater
Resulting in what our
Gym and Health teacher Mr. Luik
Called ?penile engorgement,?
But?where was I going with this??
I once draped my Zenon guitar
Over my shoulder and struck an
E chord with such engorged insouciance
That Brenda Boychuck would have
a)??? forgotten about Paul McCartney forever
b)??? allowed me to do whatever sex was

Okay? never mind.
I?m going out now for a few drinks.
Wearing my denim jacket
Even though it is too small and unable to
Withstand any of the Elements.

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Dr. Landy’s prescription pad with whatever drug made Brian and Ozzy walk and talk the way they do. (Helen Musclow)

(copyright 2007, Paul Quarrington)
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So… any suggestions? Post them here or send them to paul@paul.quarrington.org. Together, who knows, we may win the Griffin Prize!!

We are big fans of Emmylou, and her music has been a continuing influence. (We’ve also admired her guitarists: Ricky Skaggs, James Burton, Albert Lee, Daniel Lanois, Buddy Miller and now Colin. Whew!)

We therefore feel a special connection to both Colin and Emmylou as well as to blues singing sensation Roxanne Potvin who guests on our new CD and has a impressive new release of her own, produced by… Colin Linden.