Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Blog Numba One

Hello everybody! Welcome to my first blog. I don't really know what to write about here so hows about I start with some background on Enter the Haggis?

Basically, ETH is a band that came out of desperation and poverty. I was a starving artist living in an upside-down "loft" (there really was'nt much that was "lofty" about it) near the busy intersection of King and Spadina in downtown Toronto. I made a living in three ways: I taught bagpipes; I worked as an extra for tv shows and film; when I did'nt have enough for the rent, food or bills, I busked with my bagpipes on the street. It was'nt that I could'nt get a "respectable, normal" job, it's just that I could'nt work in an office or for anybody else. Such an atmosphere was stiffling for me - I hated office politics - the hierarchy of b.s., the receiving of numerous, useless memos, and so forth.

After being hired and fired a few times, and complaining about it to a friend, I was asked, for the first time, "..what is your dream". It was strange. No one had ever asked me this question. In fact, I had never even asked it of myself. Well, my dream was to make a living as some kind of performance artist. Possibly as an actor or musician. These were dreams that I'd had as a child, but left behind as I tried to get a "real" job. I realized at that time that I had left my dreams behind, and that these "real" jobs were not for me.

George Burns once gave out his advice for happiness: "If you want to be happy, fall in love with what you do for a living". That was good advice, and I took it. An opportunity came up to serve an apprenticeship in theatre at the Toronto Studio Players Theatre Company. I was on my way...

...( to be continued after I walk the dogs and bring in the garbage cans and make a run to the supermarket...)