Christmas for Kate

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Every year, for many years now, I've prepared a "Xmas for Kate" CD of tunes to remind us of the year that has past, events we've been to and places we've been. You can find these playlists on my iTunes and YouTube channels (click on the image for the 2024 YouTube playlist).

Kate's car has a CD player, our Honda CRV does not. The portable CD player I have for my computer, which I use to create the CD for Kate, failed recently and was replaced.  I'm not sure how long we'll continue with physical media like CD's. What was once the state of the art is now dated and obsolete.

This year we did get to do some travels. We returned to Austin for our winter long stay; we hadn't been back since 2020 when the pandemic hit. A lot has changed in Austin. In the spring/early summer we were back in Australia; Kate had a conference in Fremantle, we visited with friends in Brisbane and had a short say on Lady Elliot Island. In the early fall we drove out to New Brunswick to visit with our neice Paula. And then there was the US election in November, Christmas in December.

What follows is an annotation of the music selected on this year's playlist.

1. "Amarillo Highway (For Dave Hickey)", from "Lubbock (On Everything)", by Terry Allen (1979). In Austin we saw David Rameriz do a swaggering version of this song at a Moody Theatre event. I really liked the expression "I don't wear no Stetson, But I'm willin' to bet son, That I'm as big a Texan as you are!"
2. "No Tom Petty", from "Invisible Mary - Single", by Kimmie Rhodes (2024). We saw Kimmie at a house concert and then at the Saxon Pub in Austin. " ...we're livin' in a world with no Tom Petty, the world was bad enough already".
3. "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", from "Songs Of Kristofferson", by Kris Kristofferson (1988). Original release 1969/70. The world got even worse, Kris died in September.
4. "Dollar Bill Bar", from "Trail Of Flowers", by Sierra Ferrell (2024). Hot album and artist on the Americana charts. A bar tale.
5. "Old Familiar Drunken Feeling", from "El Viejo", by Corb Lund (2024). Another hot Americana artist, this time Canadian. And another hard drinkin' bar tale, this time with a THC twist.
6. "I'm Waiting for the Man", from "The Power of the Heart: A Tribute to Lou Reed", by Keith Richards (2024). When hard drinkin' leads to very hard livin'. I really liked Lou Reed's work in the 1970's, Keith Richards survived that hard livin'.
7. "The Painkillers Ain’t Workin’", from "In The Throes", by Buddy & Julie Miller (2023). This appeared on last year's CD and I'm sorry to say they're still not workin'.
8. "Sleeping On The Blacktop", from "Imaginary Appalachia", by Colter Wall (2015). Another hot Canadian on the Americana charts. I recognized this tune in a TV series we were watching. We saw him at Waterloo Records a few years ago.
9. "I Already Know", from "Someday, Maybe Sooner", by Barbara Nesbitt (2020). An Austin singer we've seen several times. The song is a woman "done wrong" and planning on revenge: "She [momma] hated being married, knows where all the bodies are buried, And thinks you'll fit right in."
10. "Down Home Girl", from "Give the People What They Want", by Rainbow Girls (2019). Paula sang this one for us on her deck in the woods. A very funny love song.
11. "Right Back to It (feat. MJ Lenderman)", from "Tigers Blood", by Waxahatchee/Kathryn Crutchfield (2024). Another hot Americana artist. I love the voice and melody, but haven't figured out the story.
12. "Sun in an Empty Room", from "Reunion Tour", by Weakerthans (2007). A nice tune Kate likes; it's used in a podcast she listens to. A Canadian band from Winnipeg — Kate's home town.
13. "California Stars", from "Mermaid Avenue", by Billy Bragg & Wilco (1998). I keep bumping into this lovely tune. Lyrics are by Woody Guthrie; there was no music with the lyrics. An invention by Bragg and Wilco that works very well.
14. "Dumb Things", from "Paul Kelly's Greatest Hits: Songs From The South, Volumes 1 & 2", by Paul Kelly (1987). Paul Kelly is an Australian institution and, like him, we've done some dumb things.
15. "What If You Were a Refugee", from "What If You Were a Refugee - Single", by Lynn Miles (2015). There's a lot of folks blaming immigration for our woes, they need to have some empathy and imagine themselves as refugees.
16. "The Lunatics (Have Taken over the Asylum)", from "The Fun Boy Three (Extended Version)", by Fun Boy Three (1981). How true! On November 6, 2024 the "Don" from Mara-Lardo is elected president of the USA — we are surely in for some "interesting times".
17. "Grateful for Christmas", from "KMAG YOYO (& Other American Stories)", by Hayes Carll (2011). We like Hayes Carll, he's grown on us. We did get to see him a few years ago at Waterloo Records.
18. "She Left Me For Jesus", from "Trouble In Mind", by Hayes Carll (2007). Another Hayes Carll. The premise, that his girl friend left him for Jesus, and he thinks Jesus is some guy: "If I ever find Jesus, I'll kick his ass!" I wonder how Steve Earle feels about Allison Moorer leaving him?
19. "When I'm Dead", from "Voices", by Eric Bogle (2016). Another great Australian singer. We saw him while we were in Brisbane and feel particularly blessed. This is just a funny song, but makes you think — no one gets out of this game alive.

These songs span our life with the earliest being by Kris around 1969. There are quite a few about/by heroes who are no longer around; some are obvious, like Tom Petty, Kris Kristofferson, and Lou Reed; others are subtle like Terry Hall (1959-2022) of Fun Boy Three and others long gone like Woody Guthrie (1912-1967). So I guess the outro song by Eric Bogle fits pretty well. When the story ends, we can plan for it, we can laugh about it.

Home From Overseas (1945)

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A clipping from the Markdale Standard November 1, 1945 as posted December 15, 2024 to the Markdale Standard Memories Facebook group by Helen Ward. Google extracted the following text (with minor edits) from the image of the newspaper clipping.

"Home From Overseas

A member of the 1st Hussars to return home this week after four years of army life in the front lines is "Mac" Dixon, son of Mr. and Mrs. Russel!! Dixon of Markdale, and formerly of Walters Falls. This regiment was one of three who were assigned the special task, after months of training, of forming the spearhead on the Normandy beach on D-day, and Mac is one of the few survivors of their regiment whose experiences would, no doubt, fill a book. Mac Dixon went overseas with the Ist Hussars, the 6th Armoured Regimen:, in 1941. After landing in England they were broken up, and with troops from the Grey and Simcoe Foresters and other regiments, his detachment formed the 2nd Armoured Brigade. During three years in England they were on guard duty, and for seven months were trained for the task of Invasion under the British 79th Army Division.

It has just recently "been told how their tanks were made to actually swim the channel under water, and in the crossing Mac was one who had his share of thrills as well as good fortune. By means of a canvas hood, air-filled inner-tubes and other gadgets, their steel tanks carrying a crew of specially trained men, were given the task of landing on D-day. It so happened the sea was heavy that morning and the floating tank carrying Mac with four other crew sank — which must have felt like the end of everything. But the Hussars were prepared for that, and equipped with suits much like that of pearl divers and special oxygen masks, when they hit bottom and their tank filled with water, the pressure was released and they reached the surface. Three were able to reach the floating air raft, leaving Mac and his pal still in the water. While still floating his pal met death, and Mac was picked up two hours later by a small craft of  L. O. P. All went well till their craft hit a mine, and they were thrown out. Of the crew of five Mac was lucky enough to be still in one piece and to float in with the tide about two hours after the first tanks had landed on the beach.

The rest of their squadron continued on into France, and it was here that W. E. Harris was in command and was wounded shortly after he took over. At the Belgium border Mac was slightly wounded and rested in hospital for fifteen days.

When he returned to the field a new regiment was being formed to carry the infantry to the front lines — the youngest Regiment in existence in the Canadian Army, and called the Armoured Carrier Regiment (the Kangaroos). It was formed from various detachments of men and their Canadian Ram tanks with the turrets removed were used as carriers for the infantry. It was on this assignment that they went into their last attack on V-E day in Germany. It was also while carrying wounded back to the clearing station that he met Pte. Isaac Lemon, an old school fellow from Walters Falls.

After V-E day this Regiment was broken up in Holland, and he was reposted to the 1st Hussars. While there he was posted for home, and enjoyed leave in England before sailing. At the Coliseum, Exhibition grounds, in Toronto on Sunday, he received a warm welcome from his parents and other members of the Dixon family.

On one of his previous leaves in England Mac had visited the grave of his only brother, Sgt. Pilot Walter Dixon, who had been killed in England in April, 1942."

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The article is pretty accurate. The Duplex Drive tanks are better described in Wikipedia. They did not "swim" so much as "float" and they didn't do that very well. We have visited Juno Beach (2020) where Mac's tank, the Bold, is on display. It raised from the sea in 1971 having been a fishing obstacle fouling nets for many years. Juno was one of the several beaches at the D-Day landing of June 6, 1944. I was aware that Mac went on to serve with the "Kangaroos" but this is the first place I've seen that explained. 

Mac Dixon was Reg's uncle. The younger brother of his mother Margaret Dixon. She describes the family ordering:

"My brothers and sisters were Edna (1916-1959), Grace (1917-2012), Walter (1919-1943), Margaret (1920-1997), William (Mac) (1922-1999), and Iva (1925-1997).  Walter died during in England training as a pilot during the war. Mac drove tanks and similar equipment during the war, he landed at D-day and returned home safely." — See Grandmother's Album (2021) in this blog.

You may notice the date was December of 1945 when Mac returned home — VE-day was  May 8, 1945. The reason for the delay was Mac was single and married men were returned home first. For more see Going Home 1945-46 at the War Museum. Uncle Mac went on to marry Aunt Shirley (nee King) and raised four children: Nancy, Walter, Dianne and Gordon.  It was Dianne who drew my attention to the Facebook posting.

See also 

• William (Mac) Dixon posting (2020) in this blog
• Sgt Walter A Dixon posting (2021) in this blog
• "Mac" Dixon and the Bold and In Her Father's Footsteps (2024) at the Juno Beach Center.

Toys for Tots

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Yesterday, Sunday December 8, Kate and I went into London to see some of the "Toys for Tots" show at the Palasad. Apparently this is the 12th anniversary of the show — the goal is to have some fun and in the process raise funds and collect gifts for needy boys and girls. They have arranged for something like 13 different bands to play starting at 1pm and ending at 9 (see the poster for all the bands and the sponsors). That kind of time line is a little beyond our endurance — we arrived around 4pm and left around 7pm having caught these acts: Stunning, Distgusteen and Boys from Nowhere. Each were great, well worth the drive into the city.

We arrived just as Stunning (with Scott, aka Steven R. Stunning, on lead voice) was starting their set. We had brought a toy to add to the donation pile and found a table near the stage where we joined Rena & Dave (pictured, credit: Kate) who were sitting with Debbie. It turns out that today (Monday) is Debbie's birthday. We were greeted warmly with hugs exchanged. We would have first met Debbie at our London home back in the early 1980's. At the time she was dating Peter from 63 Monroe. It turns out that 63 Monroe was the closing/headline act for the evening, we weren't able to stay until the bitter end.

After the Stunning set (sic!) I bumped into Scott and Oscar at the bar. I bought Oscar a beer and he tells me he's currently playing in three different bands. Scott was pleased to see me, I even got a hug and a peck on the cheek. He asked about Kate and came around to say hello later. I gather Scott is one of the driving forces in organizing this event.

Disgusteen is a very competent Teenage Head tribute band. I recognized the tunes while chatting with Scott and Oscar at the bar. Stunning and Boys from Nowhere are punk/rock & roll. From the stage Scott had announced the tunes they performed were from a soon to be released album. The singer from Boys from Nowhere commented on how the audience was mostly older/mature folk like us and them who still like to rock and roll — we just jiggle now as we're all carrying some extra weight. There were lots of young people as well but mainly aged rock and rollers dressed in leather, denim or ugly Christmas sweaters.

The photos in the album (at least at the moment) are digital. I thought it might be fun to try the old school method and shoot a bit of film with my Nikon F, a Nikkor 80-200 zoom, and a Vivitar 3900 handle flash (see my Senseless Collection (2023)). I must confess that the old school is awkward, heavy and constrained. The Canon t6i with a 18-135 is far easier to use. Kate dropped off a roll of film for processing this morning and asks, "Why would you spend $20 to get film developed when you can shoot digital for free? And then you have to wait until January for the results!". Good question. My only answer is GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) — My name is Reg and I'm an addict.