U2360EDM "Faraway, So close up with the static and the radio"

Woke up Tuesday Morning and knew I should get out to the Commonwealth right away, just in case the line up for GA (The general Admission line) had started. I went for a run, had a quick shower, ate breakfast and thought, I have plenty of time, I will be back home soon and can get my stuff packed. But I packed my chair and umbrella....just in case.

If there is one thing I have learned this week it is be flexible when it comes to GA. After 18 months of planning, you just have to roll with it. I pulled into the parking space at commonwealth, it was a flurry of activity. Trucks were lined up and the inner claw works were just being put up from Winnipeg. They seemed to be behind a bit. I rounded the corner and the GA line had started. They were already giving out numbers. It's was 9:44 a.m. the day before the gig. I had to make a decision. Get in line now? Come back later? I asked GA Joe what his rules were. Took it all in and decided I was in. I got my number.

#12! Never thought I would be that close. It a split second I realized...this was it, my chance had come to be front row for U2. Then I called my friends and told them to hustle down to get their numbers too! I went back to my car and got my chair...thank god I jammed it in the trunk!

I sat myself down and had a moment of "what the hell am I doing? How did I end up here?"


Really, if you told me I would wait more than a day in line for any band I would have laughed at you. And yet...there I was.


Getting to be number 12 means many things. First off, you earn that number. You have deal with the constant media attention, it's like being in a fish tank. You get to meet all the other people in line behind you. We all took turns giving out numbers and explaining the rules, answering a billion questions....well actually it's just the same 3 questions over and over.


It also meant a full 2 days of perhaps the most fun I have had. Sitting around waiting and chatting with U2 fans from all over. It's nice to be able to talk about U2 without having to explain shit. These people, this travelling band of GA family members, they just get it.




I may have been in my home town, but in that GA line I felt like I had finally come home...to a place where everyone knows your name and shares the passion you have. I took a break from 1-2 and went back home and got together all my stuff. Thankfully, I had organized that before I left for Winnipeg. So all I had to do was pack the cooler and load up my car. I got back in line and thought I would be leaving again, but as it turned out, that is where I stayed for the next 14 hours. You'd think it would drag right? Nope. All of a sudden it my reinforcements were there with supper. I looked at my watch and it was almost 6 p.m.


Friends came to visit. The other U2 fans who had seats or Red Zone tickets came by to say hi. It was flying by!


We would take walks around Commonwealth to see the claw build in action. By 8 p.m. a tent city was forming as we all nestled in for a chilly evening. Everybody was having a great time, so many friendly faces and we laughed and laughed. After dark we could see they were doing the light checks on the stage so we walked around again just before midnight. When I saw the Claw all lit up, my tummy did a little flip and I realized this was going to be such an incredible gig. There is nothing like seeing U2 at home. My line mates were so amazing. A kind gentleman, who shall remain nameless, may have snuck some Guinness into the line...which he shared with me. Sitting there sharing a pint...I will never forget that.


I went to sleep for 2 hours then Ernesto, who took the first shift, woke me so I could take the 2nd one - 2:30-5:30 shift. I did it so that Joe (#1) and Christopher (#2) could get a good night sleep, they deserved it, and I figured I would get to sleep during the day. Sitting there in the dark, listening to the wind rustle the trees, and the gentle idling of the trucks, and the cars whooshing by I thought of how lucky I was. I was cosy and packed into my sleeping bag with my touque and mits to keep me warm. I passed the time by listening to music and tweeting. Roll call for the GA was at 7 a.m. By 5:30 we had almost 150 in line.

"I know I'm going home, that's where the heart is.."

Having just touched down after Winnipeg I had the day to get ready to do it all again.
Quickly got ready for the giant fan gathering we planned at O'Byrne's and returned to the airport to pick up my fellow U2 gypsies. When I returned to the West jet parkade, the same driver from the a.m. recognized me. I doubt they get a lot of customers returning on the same day.

Even though I had just seen them it was nice to see Dave and LJ and welcome Dave from York and Cathal from Derry to Edgemonton. I dropped them off at the hotel and then made my way to O'Byrne's.

At first we seemed a little coy to get up and sing in front of eachother. Perhaps afraid to butcher some of our favourite songs. So thanks to the Regina crew, LJ and Dave got us started, so did the pints. We had a blast. The highlight of my night was a duet with my new friend Cathal. We both are ginger kids so we got up together to perform Angel of Harlem, which hence forth shall be named "Ginger of Harlem", because when ever we heard it from that point on, we totally changed the lyrics.

I knew then that this U2 week was going to be the best week of my life and that I best hang on and enjoy the ride. By 11:30 I was so tired I had to call it a night because I knew the next morning would be filled with GA and wanted to get an early start!

"Let me in the Sound" Winnipeg U2360

Dreams came true this weekend! It may have been a butterfly inducing wait but the U2 360 show in Winnipeg was worth every second of that insane anticipation!
I left on Saturday morning for Winnipeg and once I arrived it was full steam ahead. We went to the stadium, it still stuns me to see the stage built-- as we walked around we stopped to talk to the people in GA line, then we went to a fan gathering at Shannon's Irish pub where I met such incredible people. U2 fans prove to be, on the whole, intelligent, inspiring and gracious! We partied until we knew we should get to bed...only one more sleep!



I woke up early, GIG DAY! Too excited to go back to bed I went down to the pool for a quick swim to start the day off well. From our hotel room you could see the claw, the stage U2 builds in each city, and that gave us a ton of entertainment. From the pool I could see it too..and it was hard not to feel just a tiny bit guilty thinking of all those freezing fans in the General Admission line up. It was rather chilly in Winnipeg so GA was a bit of a challenge, and I was very aware of how lucky I was to have Red Zone tickets.

After the swim we went for breakfast and to pick up our wristbands. There is such energy around the stadium leading up to the show. Many people ask you questions, fans introduce themselves, strangers stop and talk to each other and find they either met on line at some point or know the fans you know through other fans. It really is proving to be a wonderful community of fans and we had a blast with them.

We returned to stand in the Red Zone line, we arrived first which was exciting so we started the line. Plenty of giggles while we waited. It went by super fast too...and then the band arrived and I was standing on the curb whenBono, with his window rolled down, drove past and as they slowed down I said, Hi Bono! He gave me a wave and they pulled in and started to sound check.



We waited, I got so nervous...it was such an odd feeling! We got to our spots with no difficulty...it almost seemed too easy. Then the wait. The Fray opened.
Then a flurry of activity and the butterflies started. The anticipation built up and every time the song on the PA would end I was hoping the next one would be Space Oddity, and then it finally came!
And then there they were!
Even Better Than The Real Thing was like a fist in your chest it was such a great opener!
I Will Follow made me bounce and that song live still, after all these years, manages to make me feel like I am a teenager again.

Get On Your Boots featured a very nice Canadian theme and was pumped up on the bass.
Magnificent was performed with a new intro...It was Arch Bishop Desmond Tutu, who Bono referred to as The Arch. LOL! But there was no video just the audio. They were having a tough go of things in Willie Williams land. We forgave them for spelling it "Winipeg" and for calling the province a State by accident. Everything else made up for that about a 1000 times over.

Mysterious Ways, Elevation, Until The End Of The World were so good because they were so well received by the audience, they were jet engine LOUD! I was so proud of my fellow Canadians (and many other nations) when they cheered that loudly! It was intense and we loved it!


All I Want Is You came a shocker for me as I had been ignoring set list for the last 5shows and had no idea it was coming. At the beginning TheEdge was having guitar problems so Bono said they had a "new" tech, and intro'dspan> Dallas Schoo. It was funny and light. Actually Dallas was the only one who got an intro, Bono must have forgot that bit as he never gave us the fun of his band intro'sspan>.


Then after the emotional tide of All I want is You washed over us...I was stunned again. I have never heard anything off the album Zooropa and Stay is a song that means a lot to me. A lot. I was praying I would hear it and imagined they MIGHT play it later this summer in Montreal...but I didn't have to wait for July!

Stay, Faraway So Close! Which made me bawl...god I LOVE that song.
"If I could stay.. then the night would give you up>Stay, and the day would keep it’s trust
Stay, and the night would be enough"

The lyrics are heartwrenching and even now, typing this, I well up. That a song that reminds me of a time when...you know...you can't let go and are clinging to the hope it is not over because your heart aches? Yeah...the emotions bubbled up as soon as Bono started to sing. The harmony Edge adds...JAYSUS...that is an incredible voice, so haunting and emotive.

Then came around right in front of us. Then he looked at me and to my left and reached his hand out to the girl next to me and to her delight she got hauled up on stage with her friend.



The two girls and Bono read the lyrics to You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet, but the one girl got so flustered--it was so sweet--and Bono was such a gentlemen. He helped them both down and bust into Beautiful Day!

Then came the sing along and Pride followed by a riveting performace of Miss Sarajevo, how the hell Bono sings that...well, it is amazing live. He does the opera parts and to hear his voice change and hit that high note...well, L'Amour indeed!

Then came Zooropa and I jumped up and down when I heard it! They pulled the screen down to it's max and only lit up the inside of it where the band performed in near darknes. It added such intensity to it because it felt deep and dark, even mysterious. They have new jackets that light up and those looked great!



The 3 sparks of City Of Blinding Lights, Vertigo and Crazy Tonight with a snippet of Discothèque brought the whole place to its feet! Spectacular!
Then Sunday Bloody Sunday followed by a song of OCTOBER! My first...lots of Firsts; Zooropa and October songs, the first time they ever played them in Candada. Scarlet was ethereal and Bono took a chance to tell us about Aung San Suu Kyi and her freedom and moved me with the passion in his voice, it truly is amazing she is free. Cue Walk On and we all sang Happy Birthday in honour of Amnesty International's 50th Birthday at the end of May.

One was very moving with a very inspiring speech by Aung San Suu Kyi. Her harrowing fight for her country is not over but she thanked us and reminded us that we all have a voice. One led right into Streets and I braced myself for it. Possible the best live song I have ever seen, and it gives me goosebumps everytime without fail. The whole place lit up red and I'm pretty sure we all bounced together, even the people up in the bleeds!
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me and With Or Without You were the icing on the cake, they either ran out of time before Moment of Surrender or it was just too cold (Edge and Larry both put on scarves and outerwear, as the wind was cutting)

Lights up and there is that familiar exilaration that comes and you can see it on the face of those around you. As we left crews were already hastily pulling it all apart. I know they got to get it to the next destination, but they sure don't fuck about. WOW!

I'm already SO pumped to see it all again in 2 more sleeps. I love my life.

Song Du Jour: Stay, Faraway So Close Live in Sydney from the ZooTV tour.
**I will post pics once I can get my computer to cooperate.

"I'm digging the ditches of someone else's luck..."

Sooohooo...it's Friday the 13th. Do you believe in the superstition? I don't really believe in that stuff...actually, I am just glad it's the last day of the work week. Woohoo!

My mother passed away on a Friday the 13th so as I was growing up I used to wonder if that would set the stage for more terrible experiences on that day...but none have come. Thankfully. Maybe one big terrible blow out Friday the 13th is all I will have to endure in my life. Though I don't think I would plan for anything on a day like today, like a wedding for example, I don't truly believe any one day is more lucky than any other. I guess, for me now, it is all about making my own good luck and not relying on something else to bring it to me.

Why is adversity deemed unlucky? Adversity has sometimes been a blessing in my life! It has taught me more than success ever has. Perhaps I am just so very, very lucky to have had all manner of adversity to struggle through because I could have turned out to be such a shallow, selfish person without those experiences. Seems to me the luckiest people are just those of us who believe, without fail, that they are lucky and look at life's ups and downs as just par for the course.

I know a lot of superstitious people and many of them are hockey players. They only lace up their skates in certain ways, or they are the last off the ice during practice, or they tap the goal posts in the same way for every game. Is that why there is no playoff game tonight? Perhaps the NHL recognized that neither the Bruins or The Lightning players would be too keen starting the semifinals tonight.
I enjoy watching the rituals hockey players conjure up for good luck and when fans get in on it by also growing playoff beards, etc. Are there other sports like hockey that take superstition to the nth degree? I can't think of any other sport that celebrates a conference final win by presenting trophies that none of the players will touch.

Today will be as lucky for you as you think it will be. I personally feel that this just may be the luckiest day of my life! I hope it is for you too!

Song Du Jour: Lucky by Radiohead




U2360 countdown: T-Minus 16 more sleeps!!

U2 > News > 'The Ones You Remember'

U2 > News > 'The Ones You Remember'

"All human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice and experience of them.” ~ Socrates

I'm going to the Oilers final home game of the season tonight (YAY! and GOILERS!) where they will pay tribute to a gentleman named Paul Lorieau who has been the singer of our national anthem since 1981.

There is wonderful thread that connects a community when they gather en masse to sing their national anthem together (it's why they write anthems, I'm pretty sure...). I suppose it is important to note that I personally love the anthem singing at any game or event, and I go to A LOT of hockey games, heck I announce hockey for the Panda's 8 months of the year so I sing it twice a weekend. I even sing along when Garner Andrews plays Oh Canada every morning on Sonic 102.9 radio to start his broadcast. I also love our Canadian National anthem and know the lyrics in both English and French, mostly I sing it in French as I prefer that version, I just think it is so beautiful. "Des plus brillants exploits!!!" I suppose it is silly to call Mr. Lorieau an institution but he really is because every Oilers fan knows who he is and has sung with him at least once in their lives.

I think this will be a very emotional night for him and for long time fans of the Oilers. I have met Mr. Lorieau 3 times in my life, I gushed terribly the first time like he was a rock star or something, as he came to Clare Drake to sing the anthem at important University of Alberta Bears hockey games. I hold a special respect for Mr. Lorieau because I cherish him as a part of my earliest memories when I was young and learning about hockey from my adoptive father. Later, as we were all gathered at the Stanley Cup Finals at Rexall Place, (at the next game after the opposing teams fans had booed the Canadian National anthem in game 2) Mr. Lorieau stepped onto the ice and thousands of fans sang the American Anthem as loud as they possibly could, with encouragement from him. There would be NO booing in our rink. The rush of pride I felt was for this community...one that would not take the low road...instead we honoured the American anthem and showed our respect.
Then Mr. Lorieau did the most astounding thing. We were all on our feet cheering as he began to sing Oh Canada and we joined him as usual but the entire place, I mean every fan and seemingly even the concession workers, joined in. It was so beautiful and then, after a few lines, Mr. Lorieau simply raised his hand, with the microphone out to us and allowed us to sing the rest....Goosebump city!



It is a gesture I will never forget. Throughout the rest of that playoff run we continued to sing the anthems together in that fashion and something changed. The team took some of that momentum and built on it, the fans felt more connected than ever, and the community came together.

To Mr. Lorieau I would like to thank him for what he has meant to me and for the moments each night he sang for us and I hope we have given him the same level of respect he gave to us. Those moments are some of my favourite memories as an Oilers fan and an Edmontonian. I wonder if he knows how much he will be missed?

Song Du Jour: Close to Me by The Cure

"The more we take, the less we become a fortune of one that means less for some" ~ Sarah McLachlan

It's the start of the 41st election here in Canada and I am pissed off already.
I feel frustration at the lack of choice and a complete feeling of hopelessness. None of these political parties seems to be talking about what we really need. Electoral reform should be the jumping off point, affordable housing and affordable daycare need to be addressed now. Instead all I have seen are a bunch of old white guys trying to say the right thing and hit the right notes for the sound bite. It is atrocious.

And my fellow Canadians are going to vote (in record low numbers) for a government they think will protect them when they are rich...even though they are low to middle class right now. Stop that Canadians, just stop it.

Government should be there to make the tough decisions, the hard ones, like a parent who makes you eat your veggies and go to sleep at bedtime. None of us should be asked to vote on their popularity. Would you have voted for your Mother and Father if you had to elect new parents every time you disagreed with them or questioned why they were being so hard on you? Doubtful, you would have voted in new parents who made all sorts of promises. But we are not children and we need to recognize that the status quo is not working and election promises should reflect the state of our economy right now. This is not the time. It is time to get serious.

The process is broken. BROKEN. Would someone please run a campaign that will initiate actual changes? No, because they are all too afraid of losing "power".
So we will continue to suffer, our votes not counting, our government unwilling to change the very system it perpetuates. Power politics piss me off because I'm left feeling used and ignored.
And you know what? Nobody cares. None of my friends give a rat's ass about this election. They are just happy to think this is all there is or that they are helpless to change it. Apathy is apalling.

There is nothing at stake any more for voters because no matter who is in charge nothing is being done to improve the lives of low to middle class Canadians.
It is all such bullshit.

Song Du Jour:

Share Glasvegas - The World Is Yours

Share Glasvegas - The World Is Yours

"We long for an affection altogether ignorant of our faults. Heaven has accorded this to us in the uncritical canine attachment" ~George Eliot

I've been house sitting/dog sitting for a friend whilst she traipses about Europe this month.
Meet Marleau, isn't she cute? She is such a sweet dog, but for some reason I keep calling her Kitty Cat...it just suits her. She cleans herself like a cat which, at 3 a.m., is a rude awakening. Lick, lick, lick...ugh. She eats her poop too and, if I'd let her, I think she would eat other dog's poop. Dogs are gross, hey?

I always say how much I want to get a dog but, as a sad realization this month, really I don't want the responsibility of being a pet owner. It's a shock to have realized this. I like other peoples dogs...mostly because the owners have to do the dirty work. I don't really enjoy going for a walk and having to manhandle the excrement of the pooch and carry it in a bag with me. But who does right?

The part I like is coming home to someone who is so excited to see you they pee a little on the floor. I just don't like having to wash the floor after all that excitement.

This got me thinking there is always a give and take in life, no matter what, like the universe is a teeter-totter that has bad and good at each end in perfect balance. Every time good goes up, wheeeeeeee....bad's weight brings it back down and vice versa.
Lately, I have been trying to weigh the good side in my favour....trying to upset that balance so that I can only reap the good. But it never works like that does it? Most of the time Bad just topples over the handle and Good gets launched skyward only to come crashing down hard on its arse.

"Every moment of your life is infinitely creative and the Universe is endlessly bountiful.
Just put forth a clear enough request, and everything your heart desires must come to you."
~ Mahatma Ghandhi

Ok, Mahatma, I am working on it.

Song Du Jour: Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People

What is it with songs with whistling in them? I seem to love them. Roger Whittaker would be so proud.

"...When there's all kinds of chaos and everyone is walking lame you don't even blink now do you or even look away..."

On Thursday night I was up late and was just about to go to bed when CNN started to show live images from an earthquake in Japan and I could not believe my eyes. Watching the destruction live on my TV was heart wrenching and I had a feeling of helplessness as I watched that tsunami crush and mangle peoples lives before my eyes. All I could think about were the families torn apart and was there anything I could do to help?

On Friday we were told via various news reports that this horrific crisis in Japan has a confirmed 1000 deaths and no, all seems to be alright out at the nuclear plant...Just a bit of a leak, but they are handling it. I thought to myself, a 1000 dead and no nuclear fall out, can that really be true? There is no way I thought. I mean did you see the destruction? How could there not be thousands more dead?

Then I felt really bad for thinking that because, although I am not hoping for high casualty numbers or some sort of nuclear fall out, I just don't think the news coming out of Japan is accurate and I immediately wondered if they are keeping the truth from us to mitigate the financial fall out. Probably.



Clearly, the TSX and Nikkei think the worst given their plunge this morning and this concerns me greatly. I know it will take months for Japanese authorities to confirm number of deaths, sheesh, it will probably take that long just to gain access to some of those washed out communities but given the level of destruction is there any one out there who thinks it will be less than 30,000 casualties claimed? Now with rolling black outs and supply channels cut off, how will the Japanese cope? It is hard to sit here and watch as this unfolds knowing there is nothing I can do to help (except give to the red cross and hope my donation actually makes it to someone in need). It's also hard to understand news reports that say there is no nuclear fall out when we've witnessed explosions at reactors, do they think we are morons? And already the insurance companies are calculating "losses" . This also pisses me off because calling these 'record" losses for the insurer seems redundant to me. They are INSURANCE companies!

I read The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein and now I can see, even in these first brutal days after this tragedy, the vultures are descending. One of the first reports I heard after the news was a report about Canadian lumber and how timber companies shares spiked after the Japan quake. I acknowledge that this is reality. Finance and economy come first, got it, but that still doesn't make it any easier to stomach.

I hope the people of Japan are not taken advantage of while they are struggling to comprehend this tragedy but what do I do with the knowledge that there will be plenty of advantage taken?
I supposed it bothers me that in our world the people who look at this situation, who rub their hands together gleefully and think ooohhh...how can we make a buck, will not be held accountable or even be criticized. Post-Earthquake Reconstruction will be big business and that seems to already be the focus.

Song Du Jour: When I Look at The World by U2