"Resourceful, powerful and tougher than me, Tiny birds foraging is an incredible sight to see."
It was the dishevelled state of the ground and needles on the walkway during a recent snowfall alerted me to this being an excellent area to monitor for ground feeding birds.
The birds who visited this site to forage were the varied thrush, black eyed juncos, sparrows and spotted towhees. You will see that these ground foragers are very aggressive with each other, preferring not to share even with their own kind. We are pretty pleased to be able to share this for those who love birds and nature to be able to enjoy. Moments like this are medicine, they help strengthen our spirits and our souls which we all need a steady supply of.
Be good to each other!
'Wandering on a snowy day, Wondering which way, To go and play!'
Snow is incredibly delightful but fairly rare so when it falls it is like magic. The only trouble is deciding which way to go exploring before it melts.
Down at the sea shore it began to snow heavily and was very cold but the seagulls and geese didn’t mind. It is at this time that rational people go indoors and wait for the weather to break, I however opted to pull out my sweet little wildlife camera and tripod and record a bit of the storm for everyone to enjoy.
It is always amazing to me how incredible and different the snow makes everything look, it is like taking a holiday without going anywhere. The hush and silence that the snow brings with it is just as brilliant and also a welcome change. It was a wonderful day tromping around in the snow and photographing lovely sites and getting soaked and cold. On my way back I took another short video of the same location, albeit shot from different vantage point of the same region that the snow had been falling on shortly before, what an incredibly difference and a perfect ending to a wonderful day.
Cocky chick, Cocky chick, Itching for a fight, Until it gets too real, Then he opts for flight.
This little animation was inspired in part by an encounter I had with a young grouse chick who was attempting to intimidate me with his incredible moves. Rather than flee in terror I watched the display and was impressed with this brave little chick. But also when Paul Clifford sent me his musical number Woke Dreams that my imagination was inspired and soon after this little Grouse and his moves became a video. Why? Simply for my own amusement I guess, there is no deep thought or meaning in this number, nor does it reflect actual Grouse reality or culture in anyway but is meant as a portrayal of human culture. Be aware that I did create it with a younger audience in mind, with the intent of bringing a smile to a child’s face so maybe this video is not so shallow or meaningless after all.
Several species of Grouse are common in Coastal Salish territories, they are numerous and are a food source for both people and other wildlife. Personally I love to hear the sound of their drumming coming from the edges of the forest, it is both a magical and haunting sound from a beautiful and brave little bird.
Like what you hear, Woke Dream the music from this video along with other amazing audio loops created by Paul Clifford’s Jawshop Adventure Recording Studios will soon be available at our coming soon new loop shop SpiceRack.
I am delighted to be sharing more of Bob Hamm and Paul Clifford with you all. These two seasoned professionals and University or East Hastings Alumni have teamed up again to bring us another brilliant tune and music video. This tune is titled Working Man and was written in their honour so we invite all you working men and the people who love them to give it a listen, unlike most things these days it won’t cost a dime.
Working Man Words and Music composed by - Bob Hamm Performers: Bob Hamm on Guitar and Vocals Paul Clifford on Drums Video Production - The Jawshop Adventure Recording Studios
We invite you to check out this new music video ‘Travelin’ On’ composed and performed by Bob Hamm, vocals and guitar, accompanied by Paul Clifford, on drums.
This video was created at the Jawshop Adventure Recording Studios in Ontario, Canada. If you would like to check out more from the Jawshop Adventure Recording Youtube Channel by clicking the link below.
We invite you to check out Paul Clifford and the Jawshop’s latest podcast as he starts out the new year with a brilliant interview with South African/Canadian Poet, Musician Croc E Moses.
These two seasoned musicians and composers take a deep dive into their experience recording and filming Moses’s song ‘Devious Honesty’ at the Jawshop Adventure Recording’s Main Studio. This tune was recorded at began in March of 2022 the elaborate on the lengthy technical polishing process that they undertook to obtain the final product. Moses also speaks about the lyrics and what motivated him or create this musical piece, which as a simple music fan I found quite interesting.
They begin to muse of the present global state we are all in and how it has inspired the song, through word deception from the media in impacting us all. And how word play and inversion of meanings are being used against people and culture in very unhealthy and unhelpful way. They touch on people who identify as cameras and where this leaves the artists or is it our destiny to go extinct and be replaced by those who identify as cameras. The delve into their personal experiences at the Trucker Convoy and how it differs completely from the media narrative which was dishonest and how that experience has effected this song and their work.
I won’t give it all away the podcast is there to be listened to but personally I like this conversation and this song because it touches on subjects that many of us are have on our minds. The struggle of the artist in this toxic political climate with the risk of being cancelled looming over your head and how you have to reflect on what and why we are artists and to think deeply about the grave times we are in. This struggle however is not limited to just artists, or truckers it includes most of the people in our communities and on our planet. And upon undertaking this self reflection it becomes clear, I hope, that money is not why we do what we do, that there is deeper and more loving communal motivations that compel us to create and share our work, to take care of each other and ourselves, to make sure the situation is good for us to be productive people who help our communities out. Because frankly, loving supportive communities that allow us to express ourselves are better for everyone and something many people have fought and even died for other to obtain and I think it would be truly shameful to throw that away for mere money or simple fame. If nothing more this conversation makes one feel a little less alone and lost in the bigger toxic political nightmare that dominates our lives.
If you want to check out more Croc just click this link to go to his site.
Join recording artist Paul Clifford as he explores small vessels and unlocks their acoustic environments, from suitcases to metal tubes and drums, and give examples of how they sound.
shíshálh prayer by muswiya Robert Higgins with photographs of the Traditional Territories of the Salish People.
In this episode ride along with Paul on his mobile audio recording adventure above the falls to record ice with a hydrophone, contact mics and a condenser mic.
The hydrophone is placed under the ice with the contact mic on the surface. Complex bass and creaking sounds result.
