A Picasso or a Garfunkel

Some things in life are just not meant to be. For me, I think that is seeing Art Garfunkel. Two years ago, Karla & I had tickets to go and hear him in Michigan. After a full day of shopping, we arrived at the venue to find out he was sick and the concert had been cancelled. 

I decided to try again when I heard he was coming to Toronto. How could it be more perfect? Hearing that angelic voice in the fantastic acoustics of Massey Hall...great! My friend Adam & I got tickets. Unfortunately, the week before the concert, I got an ear infection in both ears! I was really hoping and praying my hearing would return before the concert, but alas, it didn't. I could "hear" but not fully appreciate the fullness of his voice. And the instruments sounded out of tune and "clangy".

He did lots of his Simon & Garfunkel classics including several of my favourites, Homeward Bound, American Tune, For Emily Wherever I May Find Her, Kathy's Song and of course Bridge Over Troubled Water.

After the concert, I really wanted to try and get an autograph. I had heard it was a really easy place to get one, so we headed to the "stage" door and waited with about 25 other people. To be completely honest, I was surprised to see so many people waiting...it was, after all, just Art Garfunkel. Some of them were really quite obsessed. It was a little disturbing. Anyway, when he finally came out, I didn't recognize him. He had a Tilly hat on and looked like an old man. Which, I guess he is!! Adam, being 6'7" tall, had an advantage and snapped the above photo. Unfortunately, he did not sign autographs. (Adam or Art)

Being Sick Sucks!

Ok, I've had enough of lying in bed in my pajamas. For the past week I've had a sinus infection that moved to my ears resulting in BOTH eardrums rupturing. I haven't had an ear infection since I was a kid, and the whole process has been horrible.

 Fortunately, my sister Jo-Anne and her husband Nick picked me up and took me to their house for 4 days and looked after me. How do you say thanks to something like that? I'm so lucky. (well, not lucky about being sick, but lucky I have such a great sister) Anyway, I'm back to work today, but I still can't really hear. Should be an adventure. A wonderful way to spend Valentine's Day, that's for sure.

Happy Birthday Madison!

Tomorrow is my niece Madison's third birthday. We celebrated on the weekend complete with a WIGGLES cake. Look carefully and you'll see Madison is on the cake with the Wiggles. Oh, the magic of photoshop!

Auntie Janice

My nephew Jesse & I had our photo taken this week. I'm quite pleased with the result.

Hodge Podge

Well, it has been for-absolute-ever since I've posted and I apologize. I went for lunch with Chris & Dana today and Chris was commenting on my lack of posts. I complained that I had nothing to write about, but alas, blogs are just about everyday life...so I always have something to write about.
Today is my 11th day in a row at work. Yuck. Since Monday was Canada's federal election, we had rehearsals all weekend and on Monday I worked from 10:30am-2:00am. Wow, was that ever a long day. After being live-on-air for 5 hours, we finally finished and I could go home. It was actually an amazing show with very few glitches. I think we ended up looking pretty professional.

I recently saw the amazingly talented Jacob Moon http://www.jacobmoon.com with special guest Evan Champagne. I had never seen Evan before but he is a very talented guy too. http://www.evanchampagne.com It was a great show and I highly recommend seeing either of these guys.

We continue to have crazy weather. Yesterday was a snowstorm and tomorrow the temperature is rising to +8 C. I'm not complaining as the winter cannot end soon enough for me. In fact, we have been pretty lucky so far. I thought we were off to a bad start with a few snowstorms back to back, but overall, it has been pretty mild with not a lot of accumulation. Fine by me...bring on the summer.
Speaking of summer, Char & I have decided (more or less) to do a trip to New York this summer. I can't wait. I've always wanted to go to New York...there's so much to see and do. We need to start planning right away. If anyone has any suggestions or tips, please let me know!

In other "breaking news" my nephew Jesse cut his first tooth yesterday. Way to go Jesse! (making his dental hygienist mom proud!)

The Curious George movie is coming out soon. I'm not sure I'm excited about the actual movie, but the soundtrack should be amazing with songs by Jack Johnson, Matt Costa, Ben Harper and G. Love. Wahoo...what a great line-up. Should be great. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000CR7RDE/103-0007761-3095855?v=glance&n=5174

I'm heading to see Art Garfunkel in February. He is playing at Massey Hall in Toronto which, in my opinion is the perfect location to hear his voice. I think I'm equally excited about the possibility of getting him to autograph my "Old Friends" concert poster. Apparently Massey Hall is a great place to get an autograph.

That is all for now...

this is me & Kaelyn at Christmas.

The Peanut

I didn't have any pictures of Jesse opening his gifts, but this is the little cutie in the hat I gave him for Christmas. How adorable?!?!

Peter Pan for Christmas

This Christmas when I asked my 4 year old nephew what he wanted, he replied "A Peter Pan Set". When I asked what that was, his answer was so obvious "so you can dress up like Peter Pan and Captain Hook" ...why of course! Unfortunately, this is not an item you can buy in the store, so I set about to create this present. After finishing the hat the night before (with the help of my super-talented, miracle-working mom) I think the end result was worth the effort. He LOVED it... and is he ever a cute Peter Pan!

Tickle Trunk

Keeping with tradition, I made a tickle trunk (almost an exact replica of Mr. Dressup's original) for my niece Madison. I even filled it with dress-up clothes. It was a big hit on Christmas morning. Sadly, I doubt she's actually watched an episode of Mr. Dressup.

I was able to capture the excitement when my niece Abby opened her My Little Pony Dance Studio. It was all she asked for...so, what's an auntie to do? :)

Merry Christmas!

Well, the big day has finally arrived! I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas filled with memories to treasure in the years to come. Enjoy the day and Merry Christmas!

Snow Snow Snow

Have I mentioned how much I hate winter? For the past few weeks, we have been digging out our cars in the morning and driving through sloppy, slushy streets. I've had enough and it's only just begun! Yikes. Last week I drove to my parents and halfway there I completely lost the road. It was so scary. I hit the rumble strips a few times and fortunately was able to follow a Ford Escape until I was out of the white out. It was horrible. Bring on the sun & hot weather. If it weren't for family and friends I would be seriously considering a move further south.

However, at this time of year, I can put up with the snow simply because it's the Christmas season. I love it. The music, the cookies, the shopping, the crazy schedule...it's so fun. I can't believe it's almost here again. Only 12 more days...hey, just like the song!

Jacob Moon

I saw the most phenomenal guitar-player on Sunday night. His name is Jacob Moon and he is from the Hamilton area. I first saw him about 2 years ago and have been telling my friends about him since! His CD is great, but until you see him live, you can't fully appreciate his incredible talent. His fingers fly over the frets and strum, pick and slap the strings. He plays alone, but makes it sound like there are at least 3 or 4 playing with him!

http://www.jacobmoon.com/video/leaving.html

I'm not sure of technical terms, but he uses a little foot-pedal to "record" certain parts and them plays them back and layers on top of himself. It is SO COOL! He played a Peter Gabriel song "Come Talk To Me" and got this really cool sound by "slapping" the strings. So amazing. As a bonus, he played a Paul Simon song, (my favourite artist) Under African Skies. He is coming back to London in January, so if you're in the area, you should plan on going to see him.

I also coined a new word on the weekend. Following a misunderstanding, I came up with "indecitis" which, of course, the disease where you can't decide anything! Feel free to use it in future conversations.

The Man In Black

I just had a Johnny Cash-packed weekend. I have been anticipating the release of "Walk The Line" since I heard it was in production. The date finally arrived! My friend Char and I had plans to see it on release night. (I even dressed all in black) I had heard all the hype about this movie and was prepared for an "oscar-worthy" performance, but I just could not get over how bang-on he was. Joaquin Phoenix became Johnny Cash. Now, I might be a tiny-bit biased since I love Johnny Cash, but I thought the movie was amazing. I'd see it again in a heart-beat. One of the really cool things in the movie was when he proposed to June...it was in LONDON ONTARIO!!! The rest of the weekend I spent listening to his music, watching various specials on TV and reading anything I could find about the Man In Black. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who has any interest in Johnny Cash.

Halloween

I'm not a big fan of Halloween, but I saw October 31st as an opportunity to wear my favourite hat. Living in the city, I just don't feel I can wear it as much as I'd like. So, here are a couple of pictures of me & fellow co-workers. (my friend Matt is the 70's cop...the other is local celebrity, Nick Paparella as himself)

EHR

This weekend, I discovered EHR...Extreme Hay Riding. This, of course has a lead-up story!
Several month ago, I suggested that since my friends Wayne & Sharon have a great piece of property in the country, they should host a hay ride. There was just one problem with this idea...they don't have a wagon, tractor, horse, even hay! They did, however, decide to host a "harvest" party. I kept bugging Wayne about a hay ride, but in reality, thought it wasn't going to happen.

Well, as it turns out, Wayne & Sharon rock and they rigged together the best hay ride I've ever been on! When I arrived, it was drizzling rain and Wayne was in the shop putting a tarp on the top of the UNIMOG. In case you have no idea what a Unimog is (because I didn't have a clue until last night) it is an old army-type vehicle. I felt like we were on M*A*S*H. There were benches down the sides in the back and a "chair of hay" for me to sit in at the front!! I was pumped.

The first trip was fun but rather uneventful. We headed inside for a huge spread of food and once it got dark, headed back out for a much wilder ride. This time we headed for the bush where we rolled over anything that got in our way (more or less) The adventure was heightened by the fact that the headlights were periodically going off, at which point we used a flashlight! By the time we got back, we were all cold but had a great adventure. It was time to warm up by the wood stove with a coffee or hot apple cider.

Wayne & Sharon, thanks for hosting such a great event! Looking forward to next year!

The Cute One

Paul McCartney...what a legend! I remember seeing a broadcast of his Off The Ground tour and thinking "wow if I could only see Paul McCartney one day... " Well, I did!

Monday afternoon Karla & I headed to Toronto to see if we could catch a glimpse of the former Beatle. There were a few people (25) standing around the end of the ACC where he would enter for sound check. As we waited, the crowd swelled to about 200. The anticipation was great... we were going to have an up-close encounter with Sir Paul.

Several vehicles came and went, including his tour bus. Each time, the crowd held their breath. However, there was no denying when the icon arrived... complete with sirens and a police escort that stopped traffic! True to form, the window was down and Macca was waving and giving alternate thumbs up and the peace sign.

Although we had practiced getting the camera ready, when the time came, I was awe-struck and was a little slow on the draw. This left me with a photo of the back of the car! Fortnately Karla was a bit more composed and snapped the photo shown above.

It was so cool to have such a close up encounter with someone I have admired for SO long!
We headed out for dinner and ran into my friend Mark and his wife Cathy. I, of course, told them the story and showed them the pathetic photo on my phone! When we finally got to the ACC we had to wait in this super-huge line, but it was ok as the anticipation was building. Inside I ran into several more people I work with that were there for the concert. Then we started our ascent to the TOP of the arena. Yep, that's right, our seats were in the very last row of the top section! (although there was a row of people behind me that had "standing room only") Although, our location wasn't too bad as we were almost beside the stage, so it worked out ok. After sitting through a DJ and 10 minute McCartney bio, the curtain rose to the sound of Magical Mystery Tour. The stage was a kalaidescope of colour as it was actually all video screens...very cool. Magical Mystery Tour was followed by Flaming Pie and Jet.

The whole night was just amazing. This guy never stops....63 years old and he's running all around and singing like it was 1964. I'm just struck by how adorable he is. He's this mega-star (and has been since he was basically a teenager) and he just acts like he's going to sing us a few songs, you know, whatever! A great concert by a fabulous entertainer. (and his guitar-hotties weren't too bad either!) Looking forward to seeing him next time around!

Girls' Weekend

What a great weekend! The weather was absolutely perfect. On Friday I headed to a cottage in Grand Bend with 5 girls from my book club. It was so fun. The cottage was pretty much right on the lake and the weather was just beautiful. Friday night we headed into "the bend" for dinner and later headed to the beach for a bonfire. We then had a late night card game and stayed up late chatting and laughing. It was like being in junior high again! Good times. The weather was gorgeous again on Saturday and we were able to eat breakfast outside and spend some time walking on the beach.

I finally headed home and in the evening had some friends over to play board games. Frankly, I think board games are underrated. Maybe it's my competitive nature or my love of all things fun...who knows, but I love board games. We started off with a rousing game of OUTBURST and split up to play FLASHBACK (70's, 80's & 90's TV trivia) in one room and CONJECTURE in the other. Conjecture just might be my most favourite board game. It is similar to Pictionary but it is played with playdough. It might sound a little strange and intimidating, but once you play a round, you're hooked!
Wayne was my partner after his wife Sharon tossed him aside like last week's trash. She apparently didn't think he had any artistic abilities, but we rocked! Of course, Sharon's feeble attempt at a tooth fairy (see photos) was proof of her own artistic talents.
All in all, a fun evening. I've already had requests for the next one!!

Well, another post, another concert! This time I'm looking forward to seeing SIR Paul McCartney! On Monday I'm heading to Toronto to see one of my favourite Pauls. (the other being Paul Simon) After talking with my fellow-beatle-fanatic-co-worker Mark Finch, I've decided to try and get an autograph. I know it's a long-shot, but I've been reading some online reviews of other concerts and some fans have been successful. Also, he apparently picks about 20 people to attend the sound check. I'm making every effort to be one of those people!! Really, what do I have to lose?? I'm so pumped. I'll post a full review next week.