Radiohead - Vancouver - August 19 2008

Vancouver, rain, Radiohead, perfection.
Thom Yorke begins the show announcing that they had brought the rain. Thankfully, we were in the stadium portion dry. As usual, I was terribly overdressed in a sleeveless dress, no jacket and heels.

The backdrop for the band was amazingly simple therefore making it keenly beautiful. Opening song was 15 Step, a track from In Rainbows. Playing a variety of songs from past and present. I was so pleased to hear Talk Show Host, one song that makes me shiver to my core. I love it so much. After an amazing set, and two encores and lots of rain. The night was complete.

EXCEPT.....that Vancouver transit didn't think it necessary to arrange for special transit to accommodate the over 20,000 people in attendance! In pouring rain, in a dress (thankfully I was lent a coat)....walking to the street to hopefully catch a cab in the middle of nowhere (also known as Thunderbird Stadium). Not a cab in sight! So we walk in the rain, with some broken umbrellas that we found at the gates to arrive at a bus stop filled with people and buses passing by FULL. We decide to walk to the beginning of the line to hopefully get on or catch a ride in a cab that miraculously appears. No cabs but a huge lineup of people at the bus stop. Even if you were trying to outsmart the bus and get on before it reached the starting point, you were promptly kicked off the bus once it arrived to wait in the line. After about an hour of this, finally got on the bus, soaked,cold and thinking this would be my legitimate excuse for missing work if I was unable to make my flight.

I spent the next day drinking too much coffee and therefore talking a mile a minute for hours on end with my friend Clint. We wondered the streets of Vancouver in the rain. I wonder why I do not live there. I will one day, just not yet.

Avenue Q - Toronto - August 16 2008

Another beautiful weekend in Toronto! A day shopping on Queen Street (again I exercised restraint! YEAH ME!) Sitting in Trinty Bellwoods park with a good friend discussing our hopes, dreams, futures and humorous bad dates.

The main objective of this trip is to see the Tony Award winning musical Avenue Q as it is traveling through Toronto. This hilarious musical confirms for me that "It sucks to be me", "Everyone is a little bit racist" and "There is life outside your apartment" -- with the use of characters I can relate to -- Sesame Street type puppets (*Note: As clearly articulated in the program Jim Henson does in no way endorse this musical) This musical is a humorous and somewhat realistic yet adorable skit about life. Smart, college-educated twenty- and thirty-somethings can relate to the songs that ask "What Do You Do With a B.A. in English?" It allows us all to laugh and realize that we are more the same than perhaps we care to admit.


The weekend was completed with coffee at my favorite coffeeshop Niche where I unfortunately can not enjoy the lovely baked goods due to a recent discovery of some food sensitives. Instead I join one of my best girlfriends and her boyfriend (a truly wonderful couple that I am honored to call my friends) for a delicious meal at Fressen, a vegan restaurant that is an excellent brunch spot.

Off to the airport, to return to Calgary to feed my cat so that I can leave for Vancouver!

Ottawa - August 8 2008

I was in need of some serious girl time and was fortunate that my lovely friend Lynn was willing to play hostess! Lynn is someone that I hold dear to my heart. She is the kind of girl that is rare to find and I am fortunate to call her my friend.

The main purpose of visit aside from the usual shopping at Trustfund, shopping at M.A.C, walking in the ByWard Market Square downtown was to see the Sex and the City movie. Lynn had still not seen this! So after a full day of shopping (where again, I showed restraint), girl talk, laughing and drinking coffee (only me) we went to the cheap Rainbow Cinema to enjoy this cinematic masterpiece. I must say that I enjoyed it even more the second time.

The next day we spent the day at the National Gallery of Canada. The exhibit that I was interested in was 1930s The Making of "The New Man". The exhibit was extremely interesting as it showed the changing role that artists played leading up to the Second World War. The collection contain many accomplished artists including Salvador Dalí, Pablo Picasso, Vassily Kandinsky, Max Ernst, Jackson Pollock, Walker Evans and Alex Colville.

Then back to the airport. Again on another flight home. Heading back east in four days time. Hardly cause to unpack my overnight bag.