"Wipe your tears away..."

Feb 11, 2011. What a day this has been!

The Military Council in Egypt dissolved the Parliament and the government today. A dictatorship has fallen and Tahrir Square becomes a place of hope again. I found out via Twitter. Actually, over the last 2 years of being on Twitter, I get the majority of my news from the micro blogging site. I think what I like the most about it is hearing from people who are not paid to be there, unlike the media who seem to always get it wrong, or make the story about the media. Instead on twitter you get to wade through a mix of personal reports, emotional outbursts with twitpics and educated blogger's tweets.

This morning on Twitter I followed some fellow U2 fans around a special tour of the FNB stadium in Johannesburg prior to the big gig there coming up on Sunday. I saw pictures from the other side of the world instantaneously. It gave me a thrill. It's the 21st anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela today...I imagine the concert on Sunday will be very emotional and uplifting, as always, and I bet Willie Williams will have prepared something special (and spectacular) for the fans at FNB Sunday night. What will their performance of Sunday Bloody Sunday bring us? I can't wait to see videos from my fellow fans via YouTube.

Being so connected on the Internet is a double edged sword for me; it allows me to connect to places around the globe in a way I never thought possible but it also shows you exactly what you are missing. I would never give it up but, you have to get really good at stopping the thoughts of wishing to be everywhere your heart desires, it could drive you mad.

Then there are the places where life is becoming more difficult for people. Places like southern Sudan.....These events seem so much closer to us if you care to read about them I guess. Hundreds of people are dead because all they want is freedom. It weighs heavy on my mind and my heart breaks for the children and parents who have lost their loved ones, who will wipe their tears today? Can they find the strength to continue their fight? Today the news is filled with splendid hope and horrific despair, as usual, but the juxtaposition of these events remind me to be grateful to live in Canada (...although secretly I wish I was in South Africa, shhhh...).

Song Du Jour: The End By Kings of Leon

"It's never gonna be enough, I just wanna be there when your all alone, thinking about a better day...."

"I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside..."

I went into a meeting to talk about my pending vacation requests and while we were talking the radio was playing lightly in the background in my bosses office. All of a sudden I hear the opening bars of Where The Streets Have No Name by U2 start. I can't believe my ears. The fact that I am taking time off to go see U2 and their (arguably) best live song comes on the radio at that moment is like the universe saying, there you go...all that worry for nothing!

I knew at that moment my request would be approved and by the time Bono sang "when I go there I go there with you it's allllll I can do..." my vacation request have been approved!

I love my life.

*108 more sleeps*

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness” ~ Mark Twain

I am in a travel prepping mode with 3 trips to plan this summer and I've just submitted my official 2011 request for vacation. Now I have to wait. Wait until my request is approved and the waiting is pretty much killing me. So to be proactive I have been a keener looking up websites, trying to establish where I will need to be, how I will get there...wondering what is nearby, is this the best hotel? I just had the foolish thought that it would just be so much easier if I could just travel there before the concert to check it out. Then I rolled my eyes at myself.

I will admit I am just a bit over-the-top excited about my trips this summer...I could use the word elated...but that just does not sum it up...more like ridiculous. I am excited to get on planes, see new places I have wanted to visit my whole life, meet new people, see old friends, visit new friends, wring some adventure out of life...oh and see U2.

Now I find great things in all these amazing cities and have to stop myself from booking them and just WAIT.
I do not possess the virtue of patience.

*taps pen*
*waits*

Song Du Jour: Boy by Ra Ra Riot

"The man who has begun to live more seriously within begins to live more simply without" ~ Ernest Hemingway

Well Hello 2011.

I am hoping for more blue skies this year and not in some fanciful figurative way, no, just literal and mundane weather talk here. Currently my city is blanketed in snow piles so high it feels surreal like we are on a movie set. It sure looks like a winter wonderland and I keep getting caught up in its beauty and have to smile and give a little sigh. Today for about 15 minutes the sun came out from behind the grey, it washed over the stark and cold landscape and cheered the place up! When I walk around my neighbourhood I find the sight of the drooping trees, branches laden with heaping white mounds, very beautiful. It's like everything is frozen in some beautiful postcard except I have to drive to work in it every day and carry on like the city is not limping along with only one lane open.

Of course, there are more important things to discuss than the weather; like Tunisia or Sudan where politics and freedom (and nation building) are at war. I am riveted to the events in those countries and struck by the way 2011 has already started with a brash notion of hope. For those who dare to hope I wish you plenty of blue skies too!

Song Du Jour: Do You Love Me - Guster

"I still owe money to the money to the money I owe"

I know it is only November, but my favourite album of 2010 is High Violet by The National.

You really need to go buy it.

That is all.

Song Du Jour Bloodbuzz Ohio by The National

"I need the darkness, someone please cut the lights..."

When I found out Arcade Fire was finally coming back to Alberta I quickly got my posse together and bought tickets through the fan club and got GA! I was going to be on the floor to see this...I could not believe my luck! The Coral in Calgary seats about 7,000 so this was like a dream come true!

We drove down to Calgary on the day of the concert and like a keener I went down to the Stampede grounds to check out the GA line up. Sadly, the kindly, older gentleman at the gate had never heard of "The Arcade Fires Band" so he checked his list and told me..."The Fires Band doesn't start until tonight, you have to come back later..."

I did my best to explain the intricacies of General Admission process to this fellow, "but there will be fans in line already so if I could just...." and while I spoke the look on his face told me, 'shush now, he's never going to let you in....'

And he didn't (There was a line up of hard core fans that I met later, but they walked in and did not have to deal with the gatekeeper). So, plan B, I went over to get my friend JT and he was reluctant to go back when I wanted to so by the time we got there they were just about to open the gates. I met some of my fellow U2 fans in line, which came as no shock to me.

We piled to the front of the GA (Edgeside) and with only 2 other people in front of us and I was pretty impressed with our spot given we had just arrived. Then the wait began and for me it was business as usual but there was a moment where I turned to JT and said, "seriously are you just going to complain the whole night?" GA is really all about patience. I have learned to wait it out because it is worth it, but JT was not so sure, and I knew I could not convince him, we'd have to wait for the show to start for him to appreciate it. And he did. Oh...he did.

The opening band, Calexico--and I forgot my sombrero--played an accordion and all manner of odd instruments! Bizarre.

Listen, I knew I was in for a great show, I had seen Arcade Fire on Austin City Limits and even through my TV I could tell it was something special, but HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

The energy level they exude is unbelievable and the way their live show builds in intensity is really incredible. They fired up a phenomenal set list and we were off!

Ready to Start
Month of May
Keep the Car Running
Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
No Cars Go
Haïti
Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains)
Modern Man
Rococo
The Suburbs
The Suburbs (Continued)
Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
Ocean of Noise (with Calexico)
We Used to Wait
Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
Rebellion (Lies)
Encore:
Intervention
Suburban War

Wake Up

Actually, I found myself really enjoying the new songs the most! The ethereal Sprawl II still sticks in my mind, it was so beautiful, almost haunting.

Wim is on the piano in this one...loved that, they are all over the place!

The last song of the night was Wake Up when I look at this I can't believe how awesome it was to sing that with everybody, I was fist pumping and singing..."ooooooooh, oooooh, ooooooooh, oh, oh, oh, oooooooohhhh... At the 3:24 mark I thought I was going to bounce right out...the whole floor pulsated with people there!

When Regine steps forward at 5:15 she touches my hand in there, I told her I loved her. LOL! I was all high off the concert....seriously concerts are like my biggest addiction....that song, it just explodes! The passion they play with, it is phenomenal. (I need better adjectives, there is nothing I can find to describe how it hits you in the chest!) I loved the whole show, it went really fast and was over before I knew it. The most intense song was Rococco...really intense. More than I ever could have imagined. Wim (lead singer) got really focused before he started and it was very powerful. A night I will never forget.....

Song Du Jour ~ No Cars Go by Arcade Fire

"Once I had a love and it was a gas...it soon turned out to be a pain in the ass.." Blondie

Over the weekend I steeped myself in music culture and took in Blondie on Saturday night and got up close and personal on Sunday night with Fran Healy from Travis. A very satisfying weekend, indeed.

First, Saturday night, I made my way out to the tent at River Cree Resort and Casino which was packed to the rafters and AMEN they've stopped allowing smoking inside so there was no thick haze to wade through. Now I came to this Blondie show with ridiculous notions and all of them were completely obliterated by the time they performed Rapture.

You see, the first memory I have of Blondie is from my 5 year old mind, my Mother loved Blondie and listened to them all the time and we would dance in the living room to Call Me.
They are cool defined I thought, and as I grew up Blondie always managed to avoid that awkward, 'everybody hates Blondie stage' and we still used to party to Blondie and dance and sing if they played Blondie in the bar...But, I never did see them live, never thought I would have the chance. From history I thought Debbie Harry would be brooding and sullen and 'angsty'.

Wrong. I was amazed when out pops this wee firecracker in a see through white tutu and punk rock jean jacket and belts and busts into D-Day. Debbie Harry, looking great, sounding phenomenal and strutting up there like Dolly Parton sans the giant knockers, she was AWESOME! Funny and entertaining and they sang some new songs and then...then came Rapture. The first rap song. Ever. I am not kidding, look it up. She rapped. I can now say that I have witnessed that, it is awesome. And so was Blondie.
From the 1970's fast forward 20 years or so to '98 when my co-worker Bryony Stone from Scotland says one day, "hey you would love Travis, ever heard of them?" And...They became one of my favourite bands. And Bryony and I are still pen pals to this day.

Then this summer rumours were flying that Fran Healy, lead singer of Travis, is working on a solo album and might tour so imagine my delight when I actually got tickets.

Sunday night Fran Healy came to the Starlite Room-- just him and his guitar and he sang, sang, sang and talked, talked, talked and we never wanted it to end. The place was crawling with U2 fans. You couldn't have swung a dead cat without plowing down some U2 fans. And not just part-timers, hard core, uber U2 fans who have seen way more gigs than I have. One guy I spoke to had never heard of Travis at all, but had come with his buddy. His buddy was the dude crying 'man tear' after 'man tear' and closing his eyes and singing every word of every song with Fran.

Fran sang some new songs, I thought of Alan Cross and how much he would love this, cause he's a music geek too and he would have loved knowing all the tidbits about each song. He spoke of love when he sang his new one, "Buttercups" and wowed us with tales about Meko Case and Paul McCartney who are both featured on his new one, Wreckorder (out October 5th). Oh and it is pronounced, "recorder"...he wanted me to pass that on.

Fran spoke of becoming a father when he wrote "My Eyes". Then he sang 20:

I was 5 feet away! He talked to the audience and we got to ask a few questions, "how many push ups did you have to do for the video shoot of Turn?" LOL! His answer was hilarious because it involved many takes and he was vibrating through most of it! LOL! He explained the genesis of all the songs he sang, then he sang them--that voice...I love his voice.

I think every music fan daydreams about the opportunity to sit and talk about music with a talented songwriter...so throughout the night at Starlite Room I kept catching my mouth agape with awe, trying not to be so struck by the incredible songs and stories pouring out of Fran on that stage. I just could not believe I was lucky enough to be a part of that.

Then he sang Driftwood: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzUdJ-5fscA . Then he sang The Humpty Dumpty Love Song and I cried, it was so beautiful.

It was over too fast. It came to the point where he was to "do the encore thing" which we all agree is so over. He admitted what they, the band, do in that in between (whilst the audience is supposed to kill itself clapping and begging for more) for a moment or two backstage, "mostly tripping over wires in the dark". LOL! So he proposed a postmodern encore. He said Goodnight...then he walked to the curtain and back and then turned and came right back and picked up his guitar for more. (For the record, apparently the same night in San Fransisco, Kings of Leon also rebuked the traditional bullshit of the encore and played through, saying they didn't want to waste any time that could be filled with song-- these steps towards abolishing the whole archaic encore shite warms my heart...but I digress)

The encore was great, he did 3 more songs for us, filled us up with a bit more joy and sent us on our way. It was a really special night. A night I will not forget and my friend Bryony will be super jealous of when I tell her in my next letter. Muwahaha!

Currently my favourite song off Suburbs is:

Song Du Jour: City With No Children by Arcade Fire

And guess who just got GA for the Calgary gig in September? SO EXCITED to finally get to see Arcade Fire live.

"What you got, they can't steal it, No they can't even feel it..."

Yesterday My Cousin was admitted to the Bar. We, her family, friends, teammates, and colleagues, packed into the Law Courts (first we removed our shoes and belts and got searched -holy security!). It was a really nice ceremony, in a courtroom with a judge, and her Principle who was recommending her roasted her a bit which made it really funny (and embarrassing for her) and took the edge off the very formal nature of the proceedings.

To be there to see that moment with her was really something special, and it really showed me how many people it takes to support us through our lives. All those people that gathered there yesterday have touched her life, each in a special way, which made her who she is today. Just like she has made me who I am today with her support of me. It was all very joyful and I needed my tissues. a lot.

Then we went back to her firm and got loaded on free beers. She also has a really cool office and it makes her look so damned official.

Kinda weird to see her all grown up and to hear other people, (older, professional people!) talk about her with such admiration. It was a total love-in. LOL! I am so proud of her.

But you know the best part? She is still just MCD.

Song Du Jour: Walk On by U2 (of course....)

Let your soul and spirit fly into the mystic - Van Morrison

Finally got to see the man himself last night, the one and only, Mr. Van Morrison.


My first experience at the Folk Music Festival was rather magical. The backdrop of the city combined with the most beautiful sunset and a mass of humanity on a hill soaking up the musical offering...man, it was awesome. I really enjoyed all the violin, it was amazing, he has such an awesome band.
They gave us candles on the way in and as twilight fell to darkness each concert goer lit there wee candle to create a milky way. Seeing all those lights on that hill from the top to the bottom made Van jump right into Gloria to get us up off our butts, which were asleep by this time, and watch all those candles sway with the dancers! It was a perfect ending.

The Edmonton Folk Music Festival really has an incredible infrastructure running it, from the volunteers to the security, it was so well organized. Although I did not eat anything I could see plates (yes, actual plates they will wash and use again!) of heaping salads, fruits, healthy Curry dishes and Bison Burgers with Saskatoon Berries. They also have the crap you want like those wee crack 'donuts' but, I was impressed with how much fresh food was available. It would have been awesome if I could have filled up my water bottle on site, instead of having to buy those 2 blue bottles.
I love that they really keep their eco footprint small and all the "Folkies" clean up after themselves and don't leave anything behind.

Song Du Jour - Suburbs by Arcade Fire....I mean seriously the album is out, you should get it.
Here is a link to the Video

"As hard as it can get, there are still moments where the four of us can shut out the world." - Adam Clayton

"The editors of SPIN have ranked the most influential releases since the magazine's 1985 beginnings - and Achtung Baby (AB) comes in at No.1. 'U2's most immediately dynamic music since 1982's War, and its most emotionally frank songs to date, capturing that particular early-'90s rub of boundless possibility and worn-down despair... 'One' became an indelible anthem because it admitted 'we're not the same' but urged that we've gotta 'carry each other' nonetheless. The squalling swagger of 'The Fly' resonated due to the rock star at its center confessing he's a liar and a thief. And for 'Mysterious Ways,' the Edge somehow concocted a jubilantly snarling riff that transformed Bono's gospel come-on...' "

I love that article in Spin.

I think I love what AB means to me, over and above it being one of the best albums musically and lyrically. It reminds me of my 1992 adventure through the Rockies to see U2 in concert for the first time. I can't listen to that album without feeling the way I felt then. When I think of Vancouver it is this album that is the soundtrack behind my memories. On the bus ride down, listening on my NEW "discman"! One-- the epic breakup song...Is there anyone that doesn't struggle to find the words to express how much that song means to them? It is so personal. So intimate.

It is bound by our humanity and AB puts to music the feelings I find so hard to express; Pure Joy and happiness to complete heart searing loss.
I love the way AB can make me smile and dance and think and cry. It also rocks!

Track List
Zoo Station Lyrics
Even Better Than The Real Thing Lyrics
One Lyrics
Until The End Of The World Lyrics
Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses Lyrics
So Cruel Lyrics
The Fly Lyrics
Mysterious Ways Lyrics
->Song Du Jour: Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World Lyrics
Ultraviolet (Light My Way) Lyrics
Acrobat Lyrics
Love Is Blindness Lyrics

Youtube Playlist