no surprise, no mystery

Lame, camera phone picture of an incredible night.

Last night Steve, Christine, Stewart and I went to see The Police perform at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. I've always been a huge fan but last night, my love for Stewart, Andy & Sting was renewed and strengthened. They freakin' rocked the house!

Having never seen them live before I was completely blown away by their musical ability. Especially Stewart Copeland! He's an absolute monster on the drums! In addition to an amazing drum kit set up, he had a full array of percussion including countless cymbals, sound plates, timpani, crotales and a 60" gong! My absolute favourite moment in the show was "Wrapped Around Your Finger" when Copeland made full use of his gear. Sting and Summers were just as amazing. The trio played for nearly two hours solid and never let up. They played every song that I expected, plus a few pleasant surprises. The set list:

Message In a Bottle
Synchronicity II (yes!)
Walking On The Moon
Voices Inside My Head
When The World Is Running Down, You Make The Best Of What's Still Around
Don't Stand So Close To Me
Driven To Tears
Truth Hits Everybody
This Bed's Too Big Without You
Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (the first Police song I ever remember hearing)
Wrapped Around Your Finger (one of my most favourite songs ever)
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da
Invisible Sun
Walking In Your Footsteps
Can't Stand Losing You
Roxanne

The encore consisted of:

King of Pain
So Lonely (another personal favourite)
Every Breath You Take
Next To You

I should also mention the opening act. Even though we only caught about half of their set, Fiction Plane was really good. Similar to The Police they are a trio whose singer has a rather unique vocal quality. Sound familiar? Well it should! Fiction Plane's lead singer and bass player is Joe Sumner, Sting's son. To me, the band sounds like a cross between The Police and Rush and I mean that in a very positive way! Once I got past the nepotism factor I was thoroughly impressed. In fact, I was impressed enough to download their latest recording from iTunes.

A fabulous night and one that I will remember fondly for a very long time. Now if only we could bring Freddie Mercury back for a Queen reunion tour...

these shoes rule...

This one's been on You Tube for a while but I recently rediscovered it and laughed my ass off. Definitely influenced by Kids in the Hall but very original and funny!



More at Liam Sullivan's website.

squirrel cam

Life has been crazy hectic lately and I'm behind on a ton of stuff. Especially the blogging. I have about 10 posts in the works but can find the time to get them done. For now though, I will entertain you with a little video I took up at the cottage.

if we took a holiday...

I'm off to the cottage and will be offline for the next 8 days. Wonder what I'll be doing without internet access? This might answer the question.

stir it up

Obvious advertising for a product but pretty freakin' entertaining. Check out this YouTube channel.

My personal favourites are the iPod, the tiki torch and the magnets.

crocodile rocking

When the Crocs phenomenon first hit, I was one of those people scratching their heads, thinking, "my god those things are ugly." I swore I would never buy a pair. So last year, at our annual Girl's Weekend, Melanie was sporting a pair. When I voiced my dismay at the hideousness of this trendy footwear, Melanie threw her shoes my way and told me to try them on. From that moment, I was hooked. Holy crap, these things are comfortable! I still think they're butt ugly and completely inappropriate for daily wear but if I could, I would wear them 24/7. And as much as I hate trendy things, I own 3 pair. That's right folks, I have drunk the Croc kool-aid! I have a silver pair for outdoors, a red Mickey Mouse pair for indoors and a new pair of Primas in pearl. I should add that I am also coveting the Mary Janes in army green and plan to add those to my collection soon. Sad but true, blogfriends. I am not a slave to fashion, but a slave to comfort.

the taste of delicious

It's been quite a while since I've done one of my incredibly amateur wine reviews. For the last little while I've been sticking to the wines I know. A few days ago, I was killing time at Yorkdale Mall waiting for my husband to pick me up after work and I decided to visit the tiny LCBO store. The selection is very limited due to the size of the store, but they always have some interesting bottles. Case in point:




Nothing I've ever heard of, but I was lured by either the $1 off the regular price or the Bonus Air Miles. Can't remember which, not that it matters at this point. It turns out that the Deen De Bortoli Vat 8 2004 Shiraz was quite a fine little wine. Not nearly as bold as the typical Australian Shiraz, but very tasty with lots of ripe berry and woody flavours and strong tannis. I would definitely buy this one again. At the LCBO, $13.70 until June 24. $15.20 after that. Totally worth it!

super duper!

After a stressful day at work this totally perked me up. Mel Brooks is a comic genius and Young Frankenstein is one of my favourites. Can't wait to see in on stage!

the times they are a-changin'

One step closer to a DRM free world.

"Apple's iTunes begins selling unlocked songs"

Have I mentioned that I love Apple?

...in the sky with diamonds...

I work next door to the Royal Ontario Museum. We are really very lucky to have such a fantastic museum. If ever in Toronto, it's a must visit destination.

The museum is a gorgeous stone building dating from the early 1910's that was expanded in the 1920's and 30's. In the past few years, the ROM has been undergoing a major expansion with the addition of the Michael Lee-Chin Crystal designed by architect Daniel Libeskind. I have watched this thing being constructed from day one and since that day, I have been torn as to how I feel about it. That's why this article from the CBC caught my eye. I am all for modern architecture but I also believe in the preservation of history. I understand why the ROM needed to expand. I just don't get why they choose such a contradictory and intrusive design to accompany the stately original building. I have spent the last few years walking by this construction site several times a day and waffling about how I feel about the new addition. With the building almost complete I can honestly say, I don't like it. Honestly, I find it offensive. Call me a traditionalist, I don't care. I still love the ROM, but I don't have to like the crystal.

whatever you do, don't do that

But wait. There's more.

Yet another Canadian songstress thought it wise to cover this classic rock anthem.



I must admit, that this one isn't nearly as horrible as the Celine Dion version, mostly because the backing band, Alison Krauss and Union Station, are fantastic musicians. But as much as I love cover songs (and believe me, I'm a cover song junkie) there are some tunes that should be left alone. So people, please, for the love of God, stop covering this song!

my mind was aching...

This is just wrong. On so many levels.