This is my life
by JoeFriday, January 19th, 2007 at 1:31 pm (1 year, 10 months ago).
I've been working on a song about the town I was born in, and as I thought about my young years in St. John New Brunswick, I remembered a series of photographs that brought it all flooding back to me.
There was a young man named Ian MacEachern running around St. John with a camera photographing his little world for posterity. It just so happens that that little world was also my little world. 
I ran across this series of photographs a couple of years ago, and couldn't believe my eyes! I practically expected to see myself popping up in one of these shots. (I'm not in any of them, but I might as well be any one of the kids pictured)
My eyes watered up as I re-lived the streets and backyards of my youth. This is where I come from. This is who I am. Yes, we were dog poor, we just didn't realize it until somebody told us……….
I remember walking over this bridge. It's Rockland road. The street we lived on!
I remember this 'Export "A"' sign -it was the brand that my mother smoked.
This shot could have been taken anywhere near my house.
We lived up on the hill to the left and behind Union Station. (note: wrong side of the tracks!!!)
I remember getting in touch with Mr. MacEachern and thanking him. He sent me back a nice little email talking about those days.
Unfortunately, he never met up with my father, who was a professional photographer his whole life, and who at that time, worked out of Harvey Studios in St. John.
Ironic, huh?
Take a look at some of the other photos on Ian MacEachern's site. He was hip enough to catch 'The Velvet Underground' at McMaster University in Hamilton in '66, and yet sensitive enough to grasp the tragedies at the old Queen st. Asylum.
Of course I'm biased here, but even without the 'St. John' series of photographs, I'd still have to say that MacEachern is one of the greatest photojournalists that I've ever seen.
In my life.
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1 year, 10 monthsago, Saturday, January 20th, 2007 at 8:11 pm
Beautiful. Nice to get a glimpse of your biographical and geographical and metaphysical, as opposed to musical, roots . But speaking of musical roots, it just so happens that I was listening to Bettye LaVette's new Joe Henry-produced album while reading your post and viewing the pix–it fits. I got to get out there, preferably at a time when you can give us a guided tour of Toole's St. John. There's got to be some great old taverns no? Maybe a place to sing some sea-shanties while getting falling-down drunk?
1 year, 10 monthsago, Saturday, January 20th, 2007 at 11:08 pm
Oh, you can bet that there's some seedy bars out there!
"Two drafts please", and there's a salt shaker on every table. You know the type….. we're not talking sawdust floors, those places are for the tourists; we're talking REAL DIRT floors.
My kinda' drinking establishment.
1 year, 9 monthsago, Monday, January 29th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Toole's St. John? Sounds like a nice trip. Can I come, too? Just one question, me being the ignorant European immigrant: what are the salt shakers for? Do people in seedy bars put salt into their beer? Or is it for the wounds after bashing each other with broken beer bottles. Sounds tough and rough…. . Dirt floors as opposed to dirty floors? That's something new.
By the way, love your blog. Had a few laughs in the last couple of days. Keep up the good work and drop by my blog: http://www.myspace.com/clausmeister .
When are we going out for a beer?
1 year, 9 monthsago, Monday, January 29th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Howdy Clausmeister! Good to hear from you pal.
Yes, the salt is for the beer -draft in thse places is notoriously horrible! Then again, I'm sure it makes a great 'temporary blinding agent', when trying to neutralize an opponent, so you can get in the first shot!!!