All posts by Raymond Tomlin

About Raymond Tomlin

Raymond Tomlin is a veteran journalist and educator who has written frequently on the political realm — municipal, provincial and federal — as well as on cinema, mainstream popular culture, the arts, and technology. View all posts by Raymond Tomlin →

Buy Nothing Day vs the Siren Call of All the Black Friday Specials

November 22, 2018Diversions, Food & Health, Pop Culture, Vancouver, VanRamblings, Web & TechRaymond Tomlin

Buy Nothing Day is an international day of protest against consumerism.
Founded in September 1992 by Vancouver-based artist Ted Dave, and subsequently promoted annually by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz, the founders of Adbusters magazine, Buy Nothing Day was designed as a means to examine the issue of overconsumption.
Early on, a decision was taken to hold Buy Nothing Day on Black Friday, the Friday of the American Thanksgiving long weekend, one of the ten busiest shopping days across North America, the day that signals the beginning of the holiday shopping season, and the day when retailers across North America discount consumer goods by 50% or more.
Although Black Friday is not an official holiday, many American states designate Black Friday as a holiday for state government employees. For many non-retail employees and schools who will celebrate the Thanksgiving long weekend (Thanksgiving in the United States is a more important holiday down south than Christmas), since 1952 Black Friday has marked the beginning of a four-day Thanksgiving weekend — the net result: to both increase the number of potential shoppers and boost the economy.
If you’re like me, your social media feeds are likely rife with posts imploring you to not to buy anything this upcoming weekend, to boycott Black Friday, and not give in to consumerism. God knows we’re a society of waste, we focus far too much on acquisition of consumer goods over building community, and our landfills are laden high with perfectly well-functioning consumer items that have been discarded for no reason other than waste.
Still and all, if you’re a pauper like me, a senior living on a fixed income of under $20,000 annually, or if you’re a minimum wage worker just barely getting by, yet you’ve had your heart set on finally buying the much-talked, and indispensable Instant Pot (on sale all over town at around $65, rather than its usual price of $130), or if you’re looking to make your first foray into Smart Home technology — because, why should the Smart Home be just the preserve of the wealthy? — or if there’s a sweater or a jacket that you see discounted at 70% off that you’ve had your eye on, would it really be an offense against God and all that is right and proper to treat yourself to a consumer good that you have long desired and can now afford.

Not being a particular follower of fashion, and as much as we agree with the principle behind Buy Nothing Day, we also see that there’s a class issue involved. All well and good if you’re earning the average $65,000 median wage for those resident in Metro Vancouver, and whether you pay $129.99 (plus tax) for the Instant Pot, or the one-day Black Friday sale price of $64.99 (plus tax) makes no never mind to you, for seniors and others living on a fixed income, or for the working poor, the $72.80 (including sales tax) saving for the most popular Instant Pot model, the 6-quart Duo, or if you’ve got a large family, the $102.03 (including sales tax) saving on the 8-quart Instant Pot model, that’s a chunk of change in savings for those who’ve been waiting for the Instant Pot to go on sale — and the only day that happens is, you guessed it, Black Friday, in 2018 … on November 23rd.

Word to the wise: if you want that Instant Pot at the sale price, there are some conditions that have to be met. Whether it’s Canadian Tire, Best Buy, Walmart or Real Canadian Superstore, Instant Pots at the sale price are in short supply — retailers bring in only 100 Instant Pots to each store, which means that if you want one, you’re going to have to line up no later than 6am to get one, cuz let us assure you, there’ll be a great many folks waiting in line to purchase their new Instant Pot at a 50% or better saving.

The Breville Smart Oven Pro Convection Toaster Oven, on sale at Best Buy at $240 (a $134.39 saving, including tax), reliable, long lasting, great for seniors and singles, a virtual replacement for your oven & a kitchen appliance people swear by, including me.

Now, we’ve written at length about the Instant Pot, and why it has become an essential kitchen tool — we feel the same way about our Breville Smart Oven Pro Convection Toaster Oven — which, by the way, is on sale for $126 off (including tax) its regular price, at Best Buy, the best deal in town for the Breville, the virtues of which one customer extols here.

Do you remember how we were writing about the Smart Home above?
Well, the Google Home Mini is on sale Black Friday, all over town for only $35, rather than at its regular $80 price — which makes for a pretty skookum $50.40 in savings (including tax), if your looking to tech enhance your life. Not bad. The Google Home Mini does all the same things the Google Home pictured in the ad above does, and much, much more (because more functionality is added each and every month by Google).
At $40 (last year, on sale), we bought a Google Home Mini during the holiday season — partly because we’re a tech-y guy, partly out of curiosity, and partly because it was on sale, and we are a parsimonious guy.
So, what do we use our Google Home Mini for?
To turn the lights off and on. When we’re away, using the Google Home app to turn up the thermostat while we’re on our way home, and to turn on the lights in our sensuous hovel just prior to opening the door to our home. We listen to BBC News, news from the American networks, CBC news and podcasts, and all of our other favourite podcasts, to check on the temperature and the weather forecast, as an alarm, and to listen to our favourite music or be introduced to new music.
In the holiday season, we use the Google Home Mini to automatically turn our balcony holiday light display on at 4pm, and off again at 8am. We use it as an aide when we’re cooking — and, if we were of a mind, to turn on our 4K TV to the Netflix, or the channel we want to watch or record.
Could we live without our Google Home Mini? Yes. Do we want to? No.

Here are some Black Friday Flyers

Walmart Black Friday flyer;
Best Buy Black Friday flyer;
Canadian Tire Black Friday flyer;
Real Canadian Superstore Black Friday flyer;
London Drugs Black Friday flyer.

The Sharp 55″ 4K Smart TV, at $450, at the Real Canadian Superstore (also on sale at Visions Electronics, for $448) seems like a pretty sweet deal, if you’re in the market for a 4K Smart TV. Here’s an even-handed review.

Now, we’re not saying that you should purchase items that you don’t need — we’re a firm believer in the stripped down, simple life. Still and all, if you’ve got your heart set on something, and you either need it, or really, really want to have it, and you’ve saved up your sheckles to buy it (we don’t buy anything on credit ourselves), we’re saying “why deny yourself”?

#VanPoli | Politics Comes to Park Board | Woe is Us

November 20, 2018#VanPoli Civic Politics, BC Politics, Park Board, Politics, VancouverRaymond Tomlin

Park Board Commissioners, l-r: John Irwin, John Coupar, Dave Demers, Gwen Giesbrecht and Tricia Barker (both obscured), Stuart Mackinnon, and Camil Dumont. On the far right (with a beard), the one, the magnificent Malcolm Bromley, Park Board GM.

VanRamblings has spent much of the month stating to anyone who would listen that there’ll be some politics at City Hall, and a whole bunch of politics at School Board, but the saving grace in municipal politics in Vancouver is our Park Board — where there’d be no politics, just good caring folks who have the best interests of Vancouver’s parks & recreation system at heart. Oh how wrong and naïve we were. Alas and alack.

The same sort of procedural wrangling that infected Council last week visited Park Board last evening.

Once again it was an amendment to amendment hellscape, this time around it was at the Park Board table, though, with a no-nonsense, takes no truck from anyone, by the book Gwen Giesbrecht in the Chair. Before we continue, note should be made we believe Ms. Giesbrecht can do no wrong — we’re so in her corner, we’ve moved in and set up permanent residence.

The first item on the agenda: setting up a VanSplash Advisory Committee, to advise Park Board on how to move forward on the VanSplash report.

VanRamblings happens to know that the eminence gris at Park Board (and one of the finest men we know), John Coupar (along with his colleague Tricia Barker) believes that the controversial VanSplash Aquatic Strategy has been talked and consulted to death, and that any reasonable person would know that Park Board should just get on with things, build much-needed community neighbourhood pools, preserve, renovate & update Templeton and Lord Byng pools, and jettison the neighbourhood-intrusive Olympic destination pool the authors of the VanSplash Aquatic Strategy threw their support behind — a plan vehemently opposed by community pool advocates, and the neighbourhood surrounding Connaught Park.

In an effort to play nice (realizing he and his colleague didn’t have the votes to quash the VanSplash Advisory Committee), Commissioner Coupar moved an amendment that would turn the attention of the Advisory Committee to preserving both the Lord Byng and Templeton pools (both recommended for closure in the original iteration of the VanSplash Report).

But Park Board Committee Chair Gwen Giesbrecht, no fool she, and one of the most well-experienced Board chairs in Park Board history, was having none of that palaver, no siree, Bob.

Not only would the amendment hamstring the new Advisory Committee, the mandate of the Committee had not yet been made clear — the amendment was ultra vires. On the advice of the clerk — with whom Commissioner and Park Board Committee Chair Giesbrecht consulted, and who advised the amendment was not an amendment, but a whole separate motion that would have to be put on notice for a future meeting — causing Ms. Giesbrecht to rule the amendment out of order. Bear with us — the amendment will live on to fight another day, in another form (and pass).

Lulled to sleep, yet? Okay, okay — we’ll leave VanSplash for now.

Topic 2: Where the (Ugly) Politics Comes in.

Chair Giesbrecht called for a 5-minute break after the contentious “debate” on the questionable VanSplash Advisory Committee. Fine & dandy with us!

Given that we’re a snoop, we listened in on a conversation Park Board Chairperson Stuart Mackinnon was having with former Park Board Chair, Anita Romaniuk, where he was exclaiming to her how he’d consulted with all of the Commissioners before assigning them to their Park Board liaison and other responsibilities.

Migawd, it’s been a long time since we’ve heard such codswallop.

Earlier in the day, we had been advised that Chairperson Mackinnon had not assigned John Coupar as the liaison to the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens — perhaps the meanest, most off-putting, partisan act by an elected official in this or any other term. Colour us mightily disgusted.

The Bloedel Conservatory, now inexorably linked to the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens, is entering its 50th year, which it will celebrate next December 9th. John Coupar’s claim to fame in Vancouver politics, as a former member of the Board of Director of the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens, was in convincing the Gardens Board to take over the Bloedel Conservatory at Queen Elizabeth Park, when the previous Vision Vancouver Park Board wanted to shut it down. John fought against the closure, found the funding to keep the Conservatory alive, such that the Conservatory thrives to this day. John Coupar loves the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens and the Conservatory atop Queen Elizabeth Park.

At their worst and their meanest, the Vision Vancouver Park Board Commissioners would never have dreamed of denying John Coupar the job of liaison to the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens and the Queen Elizabeth Park Conservatory / Aboretum. But Stuart Mackinnon has done just that.

And in its 50th anniversary year.

Whose father was the founding curator of the Bloedel Conservatory? Gosh, could it be John Coupar’s father? Hmmm, yep, it was.

And who was present at the opening of the Bloedel Conservatory / Arboretum on December 9th, 1969, standing next to the father he loved, and who passed on to him his love of parks? Gosh, could that boy standing next to his dad at the opening of the Conservatory on that chilly Tuesday morning, December 9, 1969 be John Coupar? Yer darn tootin’ it was …

John Coupar had asked Mr. Mackinnon to be re-appointed as the liaison to the Conservatory in its 50th year, so he might help prepare for the anniversary. But Stuart Mackinnon?

He all but told John Coupar to go to hell.

VanRamblings being VanRamblings, we queried Stuart Mackinnon on his decision to strip John Coupar of his liaison responsibilities to the Conservatory, particularly in its anniversary year, and the Van Dusen Botanical Gardens. His voice dripping with a haughty and indifferent mix of derision and condescension, he simply looked down on us and said, “Thank you for the input, Ray,” and walked away, nose held high in the air.

In Vancouver folks, this is what we call petty politics of the worst kind.

Update: Park Board Chair Sober Second Thought. John Coupar Appointed as Liaison to Van Dusen + Conservatory for 2019

Consistent with everything VanRamblings knows about Park Board Chairperson Stuart Mackinnon — whom we have long known to be a heart-filled person of conscience, and one of the finest men it has been our privilege to come to know — Chairperson Mackinnon, engaging in sober second thought, re-thought his original assignment of responsibility to the Bloedel Conservatory and the Van Dusen Botanical Garden, and less than 18 hours after the publication of today’s VanRamblings column, appointed Commissioner John Coupar as Park Board liaison to the Bloedel Conservatory + Van Dusen Botanical Garden for the 2019 calendar year.

VanRamblings would like to thank community members Dave Pasin and Elvira Lount for helping bring the above matter to resolution.

And don’t think that it was Mr. Coupar alone who was made subject to Stuart Mackinnon’s non-consultative decision-making. John Coupar’s good-hearted NPA colleague Tricia Barker had asked Stuart Mackinnon if she might be the liaison to the Seniors Advisory Committee at City Hall — given that Ms. Barker is a certified personal trainer who works with seniors in building a healthier, more productive life, while facing the challenging aspects of aging. Chairperson Mackinnon assigned Ms. Barker as the liaison to City Hall’s Youth Committee instead.
Commissioner Barker asked Stuart Mackinnon if she might be assigned as liaison to the Dunbar and Kerrisdale Community Centres, where she knew and had worked with staff. Instead, Stuart Mackinnon assigned Ms. Barker as the liaison to the Champlain Heights and Killarney Community Centres.

Note. Revised Park Board Liaison appointments by Park Board Chair Stuart Mackinnon have been made, that correspondence to Commissioners dated November 20th, the appointments effective January 1, 2019, or sooner.

Lest you be left with the impression the Park Board Committee meeting room is Dysfunction Junction, let us assure you that is not wholly the case.

Whatever Mr. Mackinnon’s faults — after all, whom among us does not have faults? — he cares desperately about Vancouver’s parks and recreation system, and long has been a staunch advocate for our parks system. The same is true for each of the other electeds at Park Board: truth-teller Camil Dumont, take no guff Gwen Giesbrecht, heart-filled Dave Demers, passionate John Coupar, parks advocate extraordinaire Tricia Barker, the mighty, velvet-gloved and oh-so-bright John Irwin, and just about our favourite person on Earth, Park Board General Manager Malcolm Bromley.

Parks and recreation is in great shape with the above-named persons.

On to the second to last item in today’s VanRamblings column, as our beloved and persons of conscience Park Board Commissioners unanimously approved a $35,000 grant to the Queer Arts Festival, the motion moved by Commissioner John Coupar, seconded by Tricia Barker, and amended by Gwen Giesbrecht to raise the sum to $35,000 — which motion and amendment passed with, as we say above, unanimous consent.

In 2019, the Vancouver Park Board will meet 21 times, with a month break in August, and only one meeting in each of March (spring break), October and December. Chances are the Board will meet more often than that, tho.

For instance, although the Park Board Commissioners meet in open session, next, on Monday, December 3rd, Chairperson Mackinnon announced to his fellow Commissioners on Monday night that there’ll be a Budget Committee meeting on the evening of Wednesday, December 5th — chances are, there’ll be more than one budget committee meeting, as there will also likely be community consultative meetings throughout the year.

Compensation for all their hard work? The Park Board Chair receives $21,346 per year in compensation, whereas our Park Board Commissioners are paid $17,077 for each year of their tenure — for what generally works out to be a 35 – 40 hour week, although most Commissioners put in more hours than that, in their liaison work, and in work in the community.

Little known fact: the Park Board meeting schedule mirrors that of Vancouver City Council, with Park Board meeting on Monday evenings, and Council meeting all day Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

#VanPoli | Hope | City Council Finds Collegial Transcendence

November 19, 2018#VanPoli Civic Politics, BC Politics, Politics, Vancouver Votes 2018, VanRamblingsRaymond Tomlin

Here they are: your new Mayor & City Councillors, in chambers and ready to get to work

Last Tuesday morning, November 13th, the first “business meeting” for Vancouver’s new Mayor and eight recently-elected, and two re-elected City Councillors, VanRamblings was seated in the balcony area above the round that is the seating of council chambers at Vancouver City Hall.
At 9:29am, standing for just a moment, peering over the guard rail down onto the now seated Mayor and Council, we glanced over to our left to see Christine Boyle turning to her seat mate, Rebecca Bligh, seated to her right, when a smile washed over Ms. Boyle’s face that simply lit up the room, the smile wordless, but saying so much: “Well, Rebecca, the next phase of our lives is about to begin. I don’t know what the future holds, but I do know this: we’re in this together, all of us in this room.”
Rebecca Bligh smiled back at Christine Boyle, centred and calming and utterly supportive of her new Council colleague, a zen presence in Council chambers, as serene as we’ve ever seen anyone around the Council “table”, utterly poised and composed, prepared for life to unfold before her.
VanRamblings then looked over at the new Mayor and each of the other Councillors who, although they may not have witnessed Christine Boyle’s beatific and reassuring smile, felt the impact of that smile, Colleen Hardwick also serene, as was the case with Pete Fry sitting next to her, Adriane Carr away for the first part of the meeting, fulfilling her responsibility as a Councillor to be present at the provincial government’s announcement of 4,950 new units of affordable housing across the province, a good number of which will begin construction in neighbourhoods across the City of Vancouver in the months to come.
Looking to our right, Sarah Kirby-Yung could also be seen smiling, utterly at peace around the Council table, as was the case with the seatmates to her right, Lisa Dominato, Michael Wiebe, Jean Swanson and Melissa De Genova.
The Vancouver Courier’s very fine civic affairs reporter, Mike Howell, yesterday published a column titled, Top 20 observations of new Vancouver council. We had already planned to do something similar today — but it would be unfair not to acknowledge that Mike got their first.
Last week, on Twitter, we published the following …

Now, we got heck for posting the above Twitter comment, as if somehow we were being critical of our new, well-intentioned, wholesomely democratic Vancouver City Council — which observations by our critics couldn’t be further from the truth. Rather, our intention was to point out that during the course of a 12+ hour initial Council meeting, not a lot got done, the meeting bogged down (as pointed out by the observant Mr. Howell) in amendments, amendments to amendments, and a well-intentioned procedural hell that was not only frustrating for observers and Councillors, but for those reporters covering that first meeting.
All of us reporting out on, and observing, that first Council meeting realize that these are early days, and given the wit, the intelligence, the heart, the collegiality and the good will clearly evident around the Council table, sooner than later, the new Council will find their feet, accomplish that which needs doing, and build for themselves, and for all of us, a legacy of achievement that will stand in Vancouver civic history as an outstanding contribution to the livability of our city, towards building the city we need.
So, that’s the pre-amble to today’s column …
Random Observations on Vancouver City Council’s first week …

Colleen Hardwick was mute throughout the entirety of the morning of the first Council meeting. In meetings such as this, Councillors most often feel compelled to weigh in on issues that come before Council — but, as we say, Ms. Hardwick remained mute the entire morning;
When Council broke for lunch, just outside of Council chambers, Colleen (we’ve been friends, so we’re going to refer her by her Christian name) greeted us warmly and in a friendly manner, for the first time in months. We were both bowled over, and grateful. Then Councillor Hardwick proceeded to initiate a scrum with reporters in the third floor foyer, where she blasted her Council mates. More on this in a moment;
On the second morning, Christine Boyle moved a motion that would ensure that all of Vancouver’s 23 neighbourhoods would be participant in a “building out” of affordable housing. Pete Fry, in support of Ms. Boyle’s motion, suggested an amendment that would include the words spatial justice, a term with which the distaff Councillor was obviously unfamiliar, as she rejected the suggested amendment by her colleague outright;
Later on that second day, Ms. Boyle suggested a supportive amendment to the wording of a motion placed before Council on 58 West Hastings. Christine Boyle’s suggested amendment was entirely supportive of the intent of Jean Swanson’s motion, but Ms. Swanson swatted away Ms. Boyle’s suggested amendment, as if it was the most irksome thing she’d heard at Council that day, or on any other day of her life;
Sarah Kirby-Yung, as may well be expected, emerged as the most articulate, well-reasoned Councillor, and contrary to her usual habit of speaking just a tad too quickly, around the Council table she spoke more slowly, injecting both a gravitas and authority that was quite something to witness (may we say, “Good on you, Sarah!” — note should be made that Ms. Kirby-Yung is pretty much the only Councillor that can stand to be around us, although the rest of the Councillors make a game effort to be kind to this old, if voluble, gentleman);
In the zen sweepstakes, Mayor Kennedy Stewart — who we have to say just knocked our socks off, friendly, reasonable, articulate, bright, and zen to a degree that is took more than a year for Gregor Robertson to develop (which he did, very much to his credit) in the Chair, and around the Council table the next couple of days — would seem to have competition from Rebecca Bligh. Now, as we’ve written previously, we were admiring of Ms. Bligh the first time we met her, as the most authentic and socially skilled person with whom we’d come into contact in years (there is greatness in this woman).
Now, as anyone who knows us soon realizes, VanRamblings is bereft of even a hint of social skills (alas) — we tend to greatly admire those possessed of skills of which VanRamblings is completely incapable (another example: we will never be as articulate, well-spoken or as superb a writer as Pete Fry — it just is, and we’re grateful that his voice will be heard in Vancouver’s, and British Columbia’s, civic affairs) — the fact that Ms. Bligh also brings a zen approach to matters before Council, as well as a fine intellect, an ability to listen & peer into your soul, and a well-developed social conscience … just colour us mightily impressed!;
Back to Colleen Hardwick for a moment. VanRamblings officially calls for a truce between Ms. Hardwick and VanRamblings. Here’s what we figure about Colleen Hardwick on Council: Ms. Hardwick does not suffer fools gladly (those not agreeing with her fall into the category of ‘fools’). Ms. Hardwick was elected because she is outspoken — we believe that’s what those who supported her and voted for her expect, that she’ll speak her mind, and although she may be viewed as being impolitic from time to time, clearly Colleen believes there’s work to be done, and has every intention of lighting a fire under Council to get moving on her agenda, for which she expects Council’s co-operation. Council’s unanimous support for her call for development of a City Plan must be seen as a win for Councillor Hardwick — even if her motion calling for the revocation of duplexes as a housing type would seem destined for defeat (the motion was referred to staff — a general sign of death for a motion as originally drafted). Colleen Hardwick will be just fine on Council. As we say: truce;
For us, the most heartening development on Council is the well-deserved respect that Lisa Dominato is being afforded by her Council mates, something that we thought was unforgivably missing during her brief tenure on School Board. We continue to believe that Ms. Dominato is, and will be seen to be, a powerhouse on Council. We will live to our dying day regretting not endorsing her candidacy for Council — one cannot ask for forgiveness for the unforgivable, though, so we’ll simply be tremendously supportive of Councillor Dominato going forward, in all she does (reserving the right, of course, to be critical — as would be the case with her fellow Councillors — from time to time — but, respectfully);
We’ve already elucidated how we feel about Councillor Pete Fry — our enthusiasm for the work Pete will take on at Council is boundless, our good will for Councillor Fry unrelenting.
And, oh yes, Councillor Fry missed a portion of the meeting last week: Pete was off doing work with the Union of B.C. Municipalities, to which body he is Council’s delegate. And, oh yes, part deux, Councillor Bligh missed a bit of Thursday’s Council tête-à-tête, as she was back east as Council’s delegate to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities;
We have to say, we feel pretty much the same thing about Councillor Michael Wiebe, who each hour and each day moves from strength to strength to strength. Michael’s potential to do good is … limitless;
Councillor Melissa De Genova — long one of our favourite electeds, for the record — moved the motion to refer Jean Swanson’s 58 West Hastings motion to staff, but while doing so and in her capacity as City Hall Budget Director stated her full and unwavering support for Councillor Swanson’s motion — although Ms. Swanson may not get the 130 units of income assistance level supportive housing she and others have so long fought for, we’re willing to bet that Council will achieve something pretty darn close to that, finally moving on a project that Vision Vancouver had kept in abeyance for seven years;
Adriane Carr: democrat.
The voice of the people. Honestly, does anything more have to be said about Vancouver’s favourite City Councillor? Nope. Continue your good work, Councillor Carr.

And, finally, on the other good news front: Councillors Pete Fry and Christine Boyle’s motion to establish a Renter’s Office at City Hall (more on this another time) passed with flying colours, which is to say, unanimously — which is good for all of us, and most particularly, renters.
When most of the rest of the world seems to be falling apart, we here in Vancouver and in British Columbia, seem to be doing just fine — for which the voters and the citizens of our city and of our province, and the members of our new City Council and our new and glorious and humane NDP government, deserve our undying gratitude.
As Mike Howell writes … the next Council meeting, December 4th.

The Music of One’s Life | Kasey Chambers | The Captain

November 18, 2018A & E, Jude and Megan, Music, Pop Culture, VanRamblingsRaymond Tomlin

As the year draws to a close, the thoughts of music lovers everywhere is the anticipation of the discovery of new music made extant through the publication of the various year-end lists by respected music critics of the best new, under-the-radar music releases of the previous 11 months.
Such was the case during the holiday season in 2000, when the then not-discredited Charlie Rose had on the then not-discredited longtime New Yorker music critic Sasha Frere-Jones on his show to discuss the best albums of 2000. Mr. Frere-Jones found himself able to talk about one artist and one artist alone: Kasey Chambers, a then 23-year-old woman raised in the southern Australian outback who, he insisted, had released the best album of the year, the best country album he’d heard in years. Mr. Frere-Jones could not help himself from extolling Ms. Chambers’ many virtues as a singer-songwriter, going on to insist that Mr. Rose, and his other guests around the table that evening — and everyone tuned into PBS’ The Charlie Rose Show first thing the next morning repair to their local record store to secure, or order, Kasey Chambers’ début album release, The Captain.
Enthusiasm exhibited by a usually taciturn critic is a rare commodity at the best of times — critics being a cynical lot, by nature — leaving the viewer of that evening’s episode of The Charlie Rose Show no option other than to purchase The Captain first thing the next day — which, of course, I did.
Kasey Chambers’ music is timeless, as is the case with every song on The Captain. If you’ve not heard The Captain prior to this, you can listen to each of the songs on the album through YouTube, after which I assure you, you’ll want to download the entire album, and make it a part of your music library, and the soundtrack of your life, going forward. Important, really.

Click or tap on this link to listen to & savour Kasey Chambers’ The Captain in its entirety

Kasey Chambers was born in Mount Gambier, the second most populated city in South Australia (urban population: 28,684) early on the Friday afternoon of June 4th, 1976, the younger sister of brother Nash, who was born in 1974. Kasey’s parents, Diane and Bill, were musicians, itinerant farmers and hunters, who wanted nothing to do with big city life.

Mount Gambier’s crystalline Blue Lake

As money was often tight, on the few occasions when the family came to town, given that all members of the family were fine, well-respected musicians, arrangements were made for the family to play a series of concerts, the monies earned enough to pay for supplies until the next time the Chambers family came to town. By 1986, when Kasey was only 10, the family had formed a band called the Dead Ringer Band, so-named because Nash and Kasey looked like younger versions of their parents.
From the outset, it was clear to anyone that heard Kasey Chambers that she was a preternatural talent, Kasey Jo Chambers providing vocals and writing songs for a series of albums released by her parents between 1987 and 1993. When interviewed by the press — word of Kasey’s talent spread quickly across Australia, almost from the outset — she often cited Emmylou Harris as one of her primary influences, recalling that Harris’ music was frequently played by her parents, ever since she was a child.
Kasey Chambers recorded her début solo album, The Captain in July and August of 1998, with her brother Nash producing, and her father Bill on guitar (her parents were in the throes of divorce, so mother Diane played no role in the recording of the album). Joining the family on the recording were American country musicians, Buddy Miller and Julie Miller, who added guitars and vocals to four tracks. The Captain was released in Australia in May 1999, and worldwide, in June 2000 by Asylum Records.
And, as is often said, the rest is transcendent & salutary musical history.
Cry Like a Baby went on to win the country music Song of the Year award in 2000, The Captain winning the same award the following year. The next year, Kasey Chambers toured across the globe as the supporting and opening act for Lucinda Williams, who was touring to support her breakthrough, multi-award winning album, Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.
At my insistence, my friend J.B. Shayne (not a fan of country music) and I attended the Lucinda Williams concert at The Vogue in late 2001 — a three-hour concert that blew the roof of the venue — J.B. commenting to me afterwards, “That was like attending a Doors concert. I don’t think I’ve ever heard better musicianship. Lucinda Williams and her band (two drummers / percussionists, two lead guitarists, a rhythm guitarist, a slide guitarist, an organist, and a pianist) are probably the finest band I’ve heard in years. It’s maybe the most stoned concert I’ve ever attended.” And so it was.
Kasey Chambers, of course, was the opening act — and proved to be everything and more that I’d promised J.B. Within minutes, she had the audience in the palm of her hand, clapping, cheering, shouting, and head over heels in love with this Aussie girl who just knocked their socks off, not only performing most of the songs off The Captain, but previewing songs from her new album, Barricades & Brickwalls, produced by her brother Nash, the song Not Pretty Enough going on to win CMA Song of the Year.