Life in the Universe? Your views, please...

To help kick off the launch of "Kiss Me Like That" this Sunday, May 24th, I thought I'd do an informal poll to see what people think about life in the Universe. "Love in outer space", one of the songs I wrote on the album, alludes to the SETI programme - that's the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. So it seems like a good fit.

In the 70s, radio-astronomers beamed a message into space with information about Earth (our position from the sun, numbers from 1 to 10, basic DNA building blocks). That's some of what "Love in outer space" is about. You can find a picture of that message here on the kissmelikethat.com website.

Some researchers believe the building blocks of life are quite common in galaxies, but that the actual formation of life is a much rarer event.

Other scientists believe that primitive bacterial life may well be widespread. (There are theories that life may have formed on Mars and later been brought to Earth in meteorites. Sounds like sci-fi, eh?) But beyond that, many think that the further evolution to intelligent life is extremely rare, and highly unlikely.

Others say the Earth is completely unique, as are we. The recent discovery of a host of exotic planets orbiting stars in our not-so-distant neighbourhood is straining that theory. (It has to be said, though, that no Earthlike 'class M' planet has been found yet. But it may just be a matter of time).

What do you think? Take the poll, it only takes 30 seconds!

After you take the poll, please feel free to write a bit more about your feelings on this topic in the comments section. All opinions and points of view are welcome!

Spring at last!

I am overwhelmed by the wonderful e-mails and guestbook posts people have written in after I was Mary Ito's guest today on "Fresh Air." Thank you all for listening, and for your lovely comments. Mary is such a charming, interesting lady. We had a great discussion about all sorts of things, from music, to physics, and lots in between. They very kindly provided me with a recording of the interview, so I'll try to post that soon.

As for my garden, I'm delighted to report that my spinach got through that April frost and it's thriving! I've been picking huge bowls full of baby spinach for fresh salad every evening. And the arugula is coming along great, as are my bok choi seedlings. The beet seedlings are a bit delicate still, but the lettuce is getting big. Just a week or so more and I can finally put my tomatoes in the ground. They're getting too tall for their little pots.

We've made a special page with all the Hugh's Room gig details for Sunday, May 24th, so there's a map, a button for reserving, and a link for listening to songs. If you know people in the Greater Toronto Area who might like to come along, I'd be very grateful if you could forward this link to them:

http://www.kissmelikethat.com/hughsroom.html

Thanks so much everyone!

Diane

p.s. I have a dream of growing okra in a pot this summer. Has anyone ever tried okras in containers? The flowers are so pretty, they look like hibiscus...

Winter revisited

It snowed all day yesterday and much of today.  How utterly strange it feels to wake up and momentarily think you've traveled back in time. I must confess sheepishly that I planted some spinach last weekend. Chalk it down to the follies of spring. The warm weather and sun went to my head. Then I listened to Marjorie Harris's gardening segment on CBC's Fresh Air, and I could almost see her wagging her finger at us all in admonishing tones. She told everyone to just cool it and resist the urge to rake and meddle in the garden. "It's too early!" she scolded. Well, she was right and I feel foolish as I watch my raised beds shiver under several inches of snow.

I'm getting excited about the CD launch concert at Hugh's Room on May 24th. There's been so much interest in the new album, I feel blessed and thrilled all at once!  And, in addition to Joey Goldstein, Kieran Overs and Anthony Michelli, who all played so fabulously in Guelph at War Mem Hall last week, we'll be joined by Kelly Jefferson who plays on six tracks on the album. So I'll have the whole band with me and I'm really looking forward to that. Hope to see you there!

Meanwhile, I can report that, though the spinach might be doomed, my little tomato seedlings are going like gangbusters on the window sill...

The first weekend of spring!

I just received some advance copies of "Kiss Me Like That" form the CD manufacturer. It's always agony after the master is sent off to the factory. One wonders, "Will it turn out okay? Have I misspelled something in the booklet, or (much worse) forgotten to thank someone? Will the CDs all be in good condition etc?" Well it all turned out great and I'm so pleased! Can't wait to see what other people think... I just love how this great team of musicians came together, and am so grateful everything has worked out so well...

This week has been very weird indeed for us here in Canada. Science and religion clashed in back-to-back headlines in a single day. Our minister of science seemed to imply he doesn't believe in evolution. And the Pope denied that condoms help fight AIDS. I felt I'd woken up in the Twilight Zone. 

But here on my kitchen windowsill, nature is doing its thing, ignoring politics and posturing... My little Opalka seeds are peeking above their peat pots... 

Working on my new album and dreaming of spring.

Hi everyone,

This is my first post! As you can tell, I'm new to the whole blogging scene... 

Today I'm holed up at home, feeding logs into the fire on a brilliantly sunny but freezing February day. Yesterday I awoke to the sound of rain and a balmy temperature of 7 degrees.  By nightfall it was -17 C. Very weird.

So it's a perfect day to stay home and finish writing the booklet for my new CD. I'm really excited about this project. The band played so beautifully on it, and I had such a blast recording it over two very cold, snowy days this January. I hope you'll like the final result! I've posted some clips on a new website: kissmelikethat.com.  

There are some song clips on there, as well as a lot of interesting info about each song and how it relates to astronomy, the sky, the stars. I've also tried to find nice photos that illustrate each of the songs. The NASA website was so helpful in this. They're very generous with their pictures, in that many are public domain and copyright-free. There are also some pictures from the recording session. In the coming weeks, we'll add video and more song clips and photos. It's very much a work in progress.

Tomorrow I'll start sprouting some tomato seeds so I can start off my seedlings in March. To me, that's one of the great joys of gardening. I get to dream of spring while there's still snow on the ground... Last year I had to grow all my toms in containers, because my neighbours have black walnuts on either side. This year, I'll be trying Mel Bartholomew's 'Square Foot Gardening' method for the first time. I made two 4' x 4' raised bed boxes last fall. They're all lined and ready to be filled with compost and earth in the spring. 

According to Mel, you can grow 32 different crops in those two boxes, one in each square foot. I'll be reserving at least seven for my tomato plants. Opalka, bright lights, white and red currant, sweeties, beefstakes and yellow boy. Mmmm. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!