Some Shockin' Sad - Lloyd Candow, my friend, passes

I heard the sad news that Mr Lloyd Candow died on Friday Dec 3rd,2010. But happily he did not die alone but at the Western Memorial Hospital in Corner Brook with his son Chris by his bedside. That was always my worry, ...that this witty humorous old gentleman would die alone in his cabin in Pasadena. I thank God he didn't.

Lloyd Candow will always be remembered by many as the man who wrote the Newfoundland song "Some Shockin' Good". It's a cute song about the grandkids from "Upalong" travelling back home to stay with their grandparents and all the neat stuff they do back home in Newfoundland...which of course is all "Some shockin good!"

But to me Lloyd will be remembered as the man I used to visit often in his little recluse cabin in the woods. I enjoyed his wit, his humour, his outlook on life, and his inventions. He was truly an entrepreneur who made up games that should have been marketed. He was also a creator and collector of witty sayings and,... after telling him many times that he should write a book,... he did!

Lloyd Candow complied a 139 pages of witty sayings,... all one finger pecked on a computer his son Chris gave him as a way to pass the time. He made a special friend named June in Australia through an internet chatroom and both of them put together an entire manuscript...cover and all...and published it in Calgary since a local publishing firm in Corner Brook asked too high a price. The book was called: "A Collection of Some Shockin' Good Smiles - For Seniors!" and it was a hit. Some stuff was pretty risque, but when I mentioned that to Lloyd his response to me was, "Hey you young pup...what are you reading that for? It's for Seniors!"

I'm not sure where Lloyd got them but he said to me one day, "Mike, I'm reading a book about anti-gravity and I just can't put it down." Well Lloyd's book is like that......you just keep turning and turning the pages with the big print for Seniors and smiling.

I'm not sure when Lloyd was born, but this octogenarian was at least 84 and was born in a part of Corner Brook, Newfoundland, called Georgetown, Bay of Islands. His good friend and buddy since youth, Dr. Charlie O'Connell, said this of Lloyd: "Lloyd Candow is a true son of Newfoundland. He loves the people, the songs, the music and the culture that makes this island what it is. I am some shockin' lucky to be among his friends."

I too was happy to be his friend who got to know him, help him, and laugh with him. I'm sure if Lloyd could still be around, he'd be singing his own words from his famous song,

"A grand old place to visit, we'd stay here if we could,

It's nice to live where everything is some shockin' good."

Lloyd, may you rest in Peace.

My sincere condolences to his son Chris and all his other family members and friends!

Grand Bruit, Newfoundland, I'll miss you!

I had only been to Grand Bruit once in my life and now it is gone forever.

Yes, this little community on Newfoundland's South coast is now resettled and exists no more. What I feel bad about is that of all the communities I have visited in Newfoundland, I thought this little place was the best. It had character, beauty, history, peace, solitude, and a small population. But what made it picture perfect was how it looked from from Cindy Billard's house and cabins on the hill. You could see everything and walk from one end to the other in about 12 minutes. See the painting above next to the arial shot? No roads, no cars....yet the paths were paved. It had won the Tidy Town Award as each property was kept wonderful and clean. The old merchant's house just across a small causeway was old, slanted
and immense. There's definitely history and the Newfoundland way of life there for sure!

I hope somehow I can return to this community. If anyone knows how, please let me know as there is no ferry service there now.

Grand Bruit...a place of no roads, no pollution,... and now - no people. Sad indeed.

Ben Sands, a wonderful singer from Ireland

Whenever I look at the picture above, I smile. Here is Kathy, the love of my life, Ben Sands, and me sitting at the table, happy as can be. We were over at LLoyd Hollets house for a meal with Ben and his lovely wife. Ben promised to us that evening that he would sing a song off his cd that we love called Lady Take your Time. It's a beautiful song that means so much to us....a song about decision making....and a decision we made for ourselves and our future. And I'm glad Kathy and I did. Ben may or may not be aware, but his song drove home the fact of being happy and being together.

So Ben sang the song in Woody Point that special evening and we ended up buying a house in Woody Point that summer. It's all connected.

Ben is a wonderful man who told me that sometimes the musician is also the listener, the doctor, the therapist, the "friend" to many. I know what he means. But it's good to have poets who are good singers and "friends" to listeners like us.

If you like good music and well written lyrics, I suggest you try a cd by Ben Sands. He's at www.bensands.com
You'll love him.

A cinquain on "Wine"

Well, actually I am waiting for a cinquain on wine. This other Mike Madigan I bumped into on the blog site lives in California and writes about his love for wine. So I recently wrote him this:

Hi Mike,
I was wondering who are your readers. I was once in a class in the 70s where a prof taught us a poetry form called the Cinquain. Seemed pretty elementary, I thought. He basically said it was five lines, each line increasing by one word until you reached the last line which was one word again. The method was first line - topic....using one word. Second line was two words describing topic. Third line was three words expressing an action of the topic. Fourth line...and most crucial line, was four words expressing an emotion about the topic. Then the fifth line, back to one word, was to be a synonym of the topic. Then the prof said to us, "Okay, try a cinquain...any topic will do." So I chose to write a cinquain about my younger sister Angela. I wrote this in class:
Angela
My sister
Growing up fast
Without my being there
Miss

The prof gave me an A+...and said the last line was especially good, as it served a double purpose.
So Mike Madigan, if you were to write a cinquain about "Wine", what would it look like?

So I am hoping this other Mike will write me about wine in cinquain form.

I read about former student Ryan Cleary today

I read today that a former student of mine, Ryan Cleary, has resigned from the NDP. Good for him. I've no doubt it was an eye opener for him (as he says) but I think journalism is his passion. In fact I think he can do more for Newfoundland politics with his pen than with his mouth. However his mouth is pretty darn good too.
I remember Ryan as a student at St Francis High School in Harbour Grace. Quite the thinker and in those days of one-finger typing and black ink stencils, I moderated our newspaper called "The Spindrift". Ryan was clever, a go getter, and just a smart kid. In fact he was more than just a smart kid...he was intelligent. I liked that about him. Years later when I read The Independent I enjoyed his articles and his ability to slice and dice and bring out the full flavour on the political scene. His keen eye and Johnathan Swift style of writing made me think. Journalism was and is his passion for sure!
As a teacher you hear lots of stories of former students and what they are doing these days. Some are opening mines and some are opening minds. Ryan Cleary has opened mine for a long time. I look forward to his next illuminating article.
Now, where in the old trunk did I put a copy of a 1977 Spindrift, I wonder?

Amazed at Let Them Be Kids

I'm in Woody Point today checking on my new house there near the lighthouse and dropped into the Post Office and Library to sign up. The wonderful librarian there told me all about the Let Them Be Kids project. I will not be able to attend their 25th special day of September they have in Trout River for the playground construction, but I offered three cds of our music (One Room School cd) (and our two latest ones) to sell and keep 100% of the sale. Hope folks will buy them for at least 10 dollars each.
Good luck to all who are making this playground a success and most of all to the kids...play often, play fair, and play well!
Cheers~~~Mike Madigan (box 56 Woody Point Bonne Bay Nfld A0K 1P0) mike_madigan@yahoo.com www.thesharecroppers.net

Living on the Humber River

The Humber River is quite the beautiful place to live next to here in Steady Brook Newfoundland. I'm staying for the month of August in a beautiful chalet where I can literally throw in my salmon line. Yes, I have a license too! The chalet is made of wood, has about 15 windows, and overlooks the Humber River. Now and then a canoe or small boat will go by and work up the 4 mph flowing current.
It's great and what's really wonderful is my special friend, companion, confidante and wife will be with me on August 7th to share in the joy here. (No, that's not 4 people I'm referring to!! )lol
My mom's old fiddle adorns the fireplace mantle and my big bass fiddle rests in the corner. The stereo system here is good and I have been practicing both those instruments as well as my guitar in this special acoustically sound place.
Well my coffee is ready and I must go in the canoe today.....who knows....maybe it'll be salmon for supper!

Back on Newfoundland soil

Well I'm back. If I look at this in reverse, it took me twenty hours to cross the gulf and only 18 hours to get to North Sydney from West Chester Pennsylvania. Funny, eh? Took longer to cross the Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland than it did to drive from down south.. I crossed on the Atlantic Vision which I now call the Atlantic Delusion!
I'm staying in a boarding house in Corner Brook! Neat place...5 bedrooms, kitchen, computer room, tv room, nice couches, basement, washer and dryer and private parking. Location...Broadway! Near McHugh's pub. Near the Newfoundland Emporium. Near the Mill which blows its whistle faithfully at 8 am and wakes me up in time to make coffee for the other 4 guests here. All are under the age of 32; I guess that makes me the father type. They are all nice people and one is an exchange student/researcher from Asia.
I look forward to every Sharecropper Performance we have this summer. If you are near Pasadena on July 16th, come to the beach at the Oasis Grill. We play there at 9pm till 11pm.
If you are on the Northern Peninsula in August, come to Woody Point on Aug 14th at the Heritage Theatre there for our show at 8 pm. If in Cow Head on the 16th, our show is there at Shallow Bay at 8 pm. They should all be entertaining!
You can have a brew at these three places too. That means you can raise a glass during "Fine Girl Ye Are!" or sing along to our well loved One Room School song!
Hope to see you this summer. Please be sure to say hello! You can check our progress at www.thesharecroppers.net
But best of all this summer, my beautiful wife Katie Rose is coming to Nfld to be with me on July 1st. I'm all smiles!!!
Have a great summer 2010!

They Call me A Wry Man by Ged Blackmore

If you know of my friend Ged Blackmore or even the Folk of the Sea, you will know we are dealing with an extraordinary human being. Ged was a highschool principal in a couple of schools that I taught in, and I know well his leadership, passion and kindness towards others. His musical accomplishments with fisherfolk during the cod moratorium will always be remembered as he took that hardy crowd not only across Newfoundland but Canada itself.
His song They Call Me a Wry Man has always touched me with its lyrics and moving musical score. I was delighted to see many of Ged's own musical masterpieces compiled on a cd charismatically titled "All We have is Now". I was even more pleased that our wonderful native Newfoundland actor, Gordon Pinsent, was asked to narrate and sing this song They Call me a Wry Man.
I can say so much more.... but I will leave you with some lyrics and the tune itself
if you email me at mike_madigan@yahoo.com

They call me a wry man that kicks 'gainst the goad
But I'm just a wise man that's tired of his load
I sowed in the ocean, took fish from the sea
Bringing gentlemen riches and me - poverty!!

Vikings Winds - my song written up in L'Anse aux Meadows, NFLD

You know of course the Vikings settled in Newfoundland around 999AD ! I've spent many hours exploring this Viking UNESCO World Heritage site way up the Northern peninsula of Newfoundland, and it is breathtaking. The remnants of the old sod huts are still there next to the replica ones they have built to Viking precision. Of course the land, beach and hills have never changed for a 1000 years.
When you leave the interpretation centre and walk down to the settlement and water, you really do enter an earlier milleninum. To think Leif, Eriik's son of course, lived on our lisand of Newfoundland long before John Cabot discovered it in 1497! Thought provoking, isn't it?
Although my Sharecropper Trio's second cd is appropriately named This New Founde Lande, the song I penned right there next to these Viking sod huts is named Viking Winds.
It's now a song captured on video by my good friend, Lynda Bruton, who first met our trio when we played aboard her visiting cruise ship to Newfoundland. Please have a look at her marvelous photography and her professional video, and enjoy my original song, Viking Winds. May the Vikings enter your dreams tonight!
(scroll down this page of songs till you see it):
http://www.downhomekitchen.com/posts.php?id=18392&page=2

A Newfoundland song you've probably never heard

I have been touched by a song I have at my Downhome Kitchen site that is probably a song from Newfoundland that you have never heard. It's a song about a man who purposely sinks his fishing boat off some point and he explains why he does this.
I see this song, called Sir, Beyond that Point, being especially effective in an Arts and Culture stage setting. Here's what I mean. There's a darkened stage and on it is a wharf. A fisherman walks out and suddenly a small spotlight comes on him as he approaches the edge of the wharf. He looks sad as he seemingly eyes the horizon. Then he says:
Sir, beyond that point that's the open sea,
And, mister, that's where I want to be;
Where my father went, and his father before,
And where it appears I'll go no more.

I really appreciate the lyrics and musical score in this piece by Sheldom McBreairity. I love the way the music builds. I'm sure you will too. Just email me at mike_madigan@yahoo.com and I can send you the song.

Titanic Survivor -My great Aunt Maggie

I'm not really sure if she is my great aunt, but Maggie Madigan did survive the Titanic's sinking on April14th-15th 1912. Both she and my great grandfather, John Madigan, were born in the small town of Askeaton, Co Limerick, Ireland. I didn't know any of this until a woman from Ohio, Karen Thomas, emailed me out of the blue and asked if I was related to Maggie Madigan.
Karen had just visited the Titanic Exhibit in Cleveland Ohio and upon entering the exhibit people are given a replica ticket of one of the passengers who sailed that fateful voyage. Karen was given the ticket which bore the name: Margaret "Maggie" Madigan -Third Class and when Karen finished the exhibit 4 hours later, she noticed Maggie Madigan was on the wall of survivors.
So who was this Maggie Madigan? How old was she? Where did she end up? Who did she marry? All these questions Karen pondered, and she thought the internet would give her the answers. But no! Nothing had been written on Maggie Madigan as Maggie had drifted into obscurity unlike most of the other Titanic survivors. No one knew where Maggie had gone as just a few facts about her had risen. History had lost Maggie Madigan!
Karen was puzzled about this. We began corresponding and I became fascinated with the story too. With thoughts from Karen, I wrote a song about Karen, myself and our quest to find the true story of whatever happened to Maggie Madigan. And because I put it on my SharecropperTrio's third cd "Home,Boys!", the wheels started turning in the academic thinkers of Encyclopedia Titanica. But that's a story for later !
For now why not drop into my music site at the popular KITCHEN of the online Newfoundland Downhome Magazine site and have a listen to my song Maggie Madigan-Titanic Survivor
at http://www.downhomekitchen.com/posts.php?id=18392&page=10
Just scroll down that page till you see the song and verse:
Maggie Madigan — Titanic Survivor
Third class passenger saved that night;
Lowered in a life boat with sixty-five others,
Adrift off Newfoundland — Oh, what a fright!

A tumbling Iceberg almost killed me

Yes, an Iceberg off Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, tumbled right over as I approached it in a dory. What's a dory? It's a unique old style boat here in Newfoundland that fishermen used to row to go fishing. They were also used on schooners off the Grand Banks.
But on this particular day I rowed out to try to get a chunk of ice off this iceberg that had come into the mouth of the harbour. I was told the ice makes a nice cracking and fizzing sound if you put a piece of it in a glass of rum. Well low and behold, as I approached the iceberg, didn't the darn thing suddenly shake and vibrate and then it "turtled" over as quick as a piece of ice will do in a glass. The wave it produced headed right toward my dory and I barely had time to react. But I did drop down low in my dory and thankfully all that happened was the dory lifted right up and down and never rolled over. It was that fast. I was lucky!
Then I heard the most strangest voice!! Really!
Why don't you click on over to this site and find the song, lyrics and the tune called Iceberg Towering Over Me. Just scroll down the page till you find it.
http://www.downhomekitchen.com/posts.php?id=18392&page=2
You can hear it and feel the chords I use on my guitar as they will explain how weird and scary all this was. Enjoy!

Never too late to Blog, eh?

Hello all SharecropperTrio fans and folks!
I am presently blogging some great music at the Newfoundland Downhome "Kitchen" site at:
http://www.downhomekitchen.com/posts.php?id=18392
and the music chosen there by me is mostly Newfoundland folk. But I've thrown in some Irish and blue grass and many have contributed their own songs and comments. It may take 30 seconds or so for the song to download when you click the blue "here" button beneath the comments,..... but it'll be well worth it. There are a few old style songs that people have presented but most of the songs are the newer performed ones with great lyrics and music. Ear phones or good speakers is a must! With earphones the bass comes through which is so necessary.
So have a look and listen,...and enjoy. There must be 25 pages there so far!!! There are even a few of our Sharecropper songs there and a few of my own originals like Maggie Madigan-Titanic Survivor and a song about my experience with an iceberg as I rowed out to see it. Didn't the darn berg flip right over when I was just 10 meters away!!! I called the song Iceberg Towering Over Me.
Oh, and that song above about Maggie Madigan?? Both she and my great grandfather, John Madigan, were born in Askeaton, Co. Limerick, Ireland. Maggie survived the sinking of the Titanic on April 14th/15th, 1912. Thank God great Grandpa John never crosssed on the Titanic, or I might not be writing this blog!
You can reach me at mike_madigan@yahoo.com