My Life is Like a Song

Keep Breathing

2009-12-08T09:57:00.002-05:00

Christmas is on the way...which means stress for a lot of people.

This year, I have to keep reminding myself to Breathe...Just Breathe.

I am trying to have a low stress Christmas. I am trying to get things done early...but I know that I will still get stressed out because so much can not be done early.

I haven't accepted the fact that everything will not get done yet...but I do keep reminding myself to relax and breathe with music being a good helper to remind me.

So many different songs this year are about breathing.

First U2 released Breathe on their 2009 album:

Then Ryan Star released his song called Breathe:

I first came upon Ryan Star when I got a ticket to go see David Cook. Ryan Star was opening for him at the time so I downloaded some of his songs in case he would open for David when I would see him (unfortunately he didn't).

I loved the song Breathe instantly, then in October he debuted the video and I have been meaning to blog about it since because it has such a great message. He used real people out of work in his video and started a website called Breathe4Jobs in order for employers to hire the people in the video.

Then, last month, Ross Copperman released an EP. I was so happy to get some new material of his...including...Breathe (ok, I already had heard this song when he had uploaded it on his MySpace page), but still. Here's an acoustic version of his song:

On Twitter last week, Q Music's track of the day was Just Breathe by Pearl Jam.

While looking over the Grammy Nominations this week, I noticed that Colbie Caillat is nominated for Best Pop Vocal Collaboration twice. Once for Lucky with Jason Mraz....and the second, you guessed it...a song called Breathe with Taylor Swift.

Yesterday afternoon, I was in the car with the radio playing. I was enjoying a song and was going to look to download it. The DJ announces that it's Breathe by Moist (from 1997). I hadn't heard the lyrics that well to have noticed "breathe" so when she said the title of the song, I figured, there's my post for tomorrow.

I'm starting to think that I should make myself a Breathe Playlist. I also have a few favourites from past years:

Breathe In, Breathe Out by Mat Kearney
Keep Breathing by Ingrid Michaelson
Harder to Breathe by Maroon 5

So as the stress of the holidays gets to me, I hope to remember to breathe...

Let it Snow!

2009-12-07T12:56:00.002-05:00

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow!

I have just seen my first sprinkle of snow of the season...not that it's staying or anything. It's a little sprinkle in the air....but it's still snow...and a few snowflakes were visible on puppy's black fur before melting.

He didn't seem to notice his first snowflakes. Will he take note of his first snowfall? I can't wait to see his reaction when snow stays on the ground, especially a lot of it. I can imagine him rolling around in it. Although I'm not looking forward to having him come in the house all wet every day...but I have been spoiled lately with the nice weather in November.

Toronto did not have any snowfall in November this year. This has not happened in over 160 years. We did end up getting a sprinkling in the very early morning of December 1st, but I missed it since I and most of the city were sleeping. I heard that the last time we got close to not having snow in November (but it snowed on the last day) was in 1998. Less than two months later, the city infamously called in the army to help with our record snowfalls. Let's hope we don't have that kind of snowfall this winter.

My daughter told me at lunch that the kids were so excited to see the snowflakes at recess. I think most people are excited about the first snowfall...it's the months of snow shovelling, car scraping, flight and traffic delays, snow bank street parking and seemingly never-ending winter that we find difficult.

So for now, I am singing...Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

A Cookie a Day

2009-12-06T14:07:00.004-05:00

Counting down...26 Days until 2010...

One thing that I associate with Christmas time is baking. My mom would bake weeks in advance, dozens and dozens of a dozen different cookies. We had a chest freezer in the basement and it would be half full of cookies, pies (and tourtières/meat pies, salmon pies and chicken pies). We entertained a lot back then and would share as well. I still remember the counters being full of cookies cooling.

So this Christmas Advent calendar on The Toronto Star's website made me think of my childhood...even if they don't have my childhood favourite recipes (peppermint patties, sweethearts (jam-filled cookies with tiny marshmallows on top), butter tarts and shortbread.

You can view the Cookie a Day calendar here.

One of my fondest memories was sneaking into the freezer to eat the frozen cookies (even if my mom would tell us not to eat them...and especially not frozen...but why maman, my sister asked her once...because it's not good for you to eat them frozen...why? my sister asked...and my mom was stumped...she hadn't thought of asking the extra why to her mom when she had been told it wasn't good to eat frozen cookies).

So yes, my mom knew we were eating the frozen cookies, but we thought she wouldn't notice if one or two were missing...or should I say one or two dozens?

Happy Baking!!

All You Need is Love

2009-12-05T12:40:00.006-05:00

On Monday morning December 7th, at 8:30am EST, Starbucks will host a global sing-along online at their StarbucksLoveProject website in support of the Global Fund to help fight against AIDS in Africa.

Here is what is written on the project's Facebook page:

In one amazing moment, the world will come together to sing about the one thing we all have in common– love. People from around the world will sing the legendary hit “All You Need is Love” in a single voice on December 7, 2009 at 5:30amPST/8:30amEST. The global sing-along is part of our continuing efforts to help fight AIDS in Africa. In just one year in partnership with (RED)™, Starbucks has generated money equivalent to more than 7 million days of medicine to help those living with HIV in Africa.

You can watch the event, and lend your own voice, when you visit StarbucksLoveProject.com. Watch streaming video from countries around the world and then join in by singing “All You Need is Love” yourself. For each video submitted, Starbucks will make a contribution to the Global Fund to help fight against AIDS in Africa. You can also help increase the Starbucks contribution to the Global Fund by submitting a drawing to the Love Gallery.

Join us Monday at StarbucksLoveProject.com.

The timing is a little tricky as that is when I normally leave to walk my daughter to school, but I will make an effort to participate in the sing-along if it runs on schedule. I have submitted my love drawing (they also make a donation for every drawing) and will be checking out their (red) products.

How about you?

I am concerned about the website though. It's already slow, so I can't imagine them being able to handle the traffic on Monday morning, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that it will work out.

2010 World Cup Draw

2009-12-04T19:30:00.004-05:00

Counting down...28 days until we ring in the New Year.

Since this is my life is like a song...it's only appropriate for me to start by sharing the Official 2010 World Cup Song.

K'naan, a Somalian-Canadian has been chosen for the official song. In case you don't know who he is, you can read my concert summary as we saw him a few months ago and you can read about it here.

He has changed some of the lyrics to "Wavin' Flag" (and the tempo) for the official World Cup song.

So, although once again, Canada will not be participating in the competition, we are represented musically.

So, this afternoon was the World Cup draw where they decide who will play in which group. I was checking all the sports stations to see if it would be televised, and couldn't find it. A twitter search for 2010 World Cup draw helped me to find an online video so we began watching it on the computer, until being shocked that Canada was not showing it on television, I thought of checking news channels...oh there it is...CBC Newsworld. I guess it's more news than sports!

Charlize Theron (a South African) was a co-host (the World Cup is being played in South Africa in 2010). She was quite cute and entertaining...making what could be a boring process a little more interesting.

A number of prominent Africans were choosing the positions of the countries and placements in the groups, along with David Beckam.

For me, the most interesting draw was USA being chosen to play in the same group as England. With David Beckam on the stage, who plays for LA Galaxy with and against prominent US players, Hollywood could have written that script.

My first reaction was "NO"...but as long as they both move on, I get to see my favourite two teams in the tournament play against each other on June 12. As long as England wins that game (they have lost to USA before), I hope USA win the other two games of the pool and move on as well as England.

South Africa as the host country has an interesting group. They will play Mexico first. I'm not as fond of Mexico because of past behaviour by some players against Canada...but it will be interesting to watch anyway. Another interesting team to watch in that group is France who arguably don't deserve to be there...yes, I said arguably. I'm sure something like Henry's handball happened in past decades to allow a team a birth into the World Cup...but perhaps they didn't have as great video replay back then.

In my opinion, France got into the World Cup because of a handball that was not called. The mistake was by the ref/linesman. There is a possibility (in my mind) that there was bribing involved...it wouldn't be the first time, but I don't think that Henry should have called himself on the pitch. This isn't ultimate afterall (a sport I used to play) which is known for its "Spirit of the Game" by self-officiating (meaning plays and fouls are called by the players on the field).

FIFA have dropped the ball on this situation, in my opinion...but that's a blog post I should have written a week or two ago...when it was more timely.

I'm sure if I looked at the draw in more detail I would have more thoughts on it, but I didn't really think about my calendar when I said I would blog every day. We have had family visiting the last couple of days and a friend the night before. Today was also parent-teacher interview day, so I was gone for a couple of hours. This is making me realize that blogging over Christmas while we are hosting my husband's family will be difficult...I may have to do advance writing.

I'm sure as the World Cup starts, I will have more to say about it...so until then...I will let my soccer thoughts rest. See you tomorrow!

later edit:
I probably should have included the World Cup draw results. You can see them here.

And I should have added my apologies to my American family and friends...but I can't take the chance of England not advancing out of the pool to cheer for USA when they play against England.

My favourite Grammy Nominations

2009-12-03T11:21:00.004-05:00

Counting Down...29 Days until 2010.

I woke up to news that some of my favourite artists were nominated for Grammy Awards.

Funny thing is...these artists were also nominated last year and the songs are from albums that were released in 2008.

You can see the list of all 109 nominations here.

Want to read my rants and raves about last year's nominations? You can read them here.

Has 2009 been such a poor year for releases? OK, I guess that's only a fair question for the music I have been listening to in 2009. The 2009-released albums nominated are by Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Black Eyed Peas and Dave Matthews Band - none of which I have albums for (I have a couple of tracks by some of them because I liked the songs - or they were offered as the free daily song on my download site and thought I'd try them)

So who is nominated that I love or like?

Coldplay for 2 awards for Life In Technicolor II (ok, they did have a new release in November of 2008 following Viva La Vida from June of 2008) but this song is an extended version of the instrumental song on Viva La Vida.

Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat are nominated for pop collaboration for the song Lucky which is from the same album as last year's Song of the Year nomination: I'm Yours. Lucky won Best Collaboration on my blog last year.

Kings of Leon won for Sex on Fire last year and are nominated for Use Somebody this year...same album.

Adele is nominated for a song off her 19 album that had 4 nominations and a few wins last year (maybe all 4? can't remember)

I also think that the people choosing the nominations don't have a good understanding of Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Kings of Leon, Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga are nominated for both categories. Really? You couldn't come up with a little more originality than that? Perhaps they shouldn't have two separate categories - ok, the winner will probably be different...but still.

Interesting to see MGMT as best new artist when last year, a Justice remix of Electric Feel won the Grammy for best remix. Also happy to get "Wikipedia" confirmation (can we trust wikipedia?) that the band and label have confirmed that the proper pronounciation is to spell out the letters M-G-M-T. Other new artist nominations include The Tings Tings and Silversun Pickups.

One of my readers will be happy to see that Bon Jovi are nominated in the "Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals".

Love seeing Harry Connick Jr nominated for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album. It's a reminder to me that I still don't have this one and should check it out.

Drake (a Canadian rapper) is nominated although according to the news I saw this morning, he hasn't released an album yet...so will he be nominated again when the album gets released? lol Noticed Nickelback nominated for something, so there is a bit of Canadian content there...but not for our polka king as the polka category has been removed this year.

U2 and Green Day who released albums in 2009 are nominated in the rock categories (along with Coldplay and Kings of Leon).

The Twilight soundtrack (which includes a Muse song) is nominated for Best Soundtrack along with Slumdog Millionaire. I stand corrected for something I said this morning when I thought Slumdog Millionaire should have been nominated last year. The soundtrack wasn't released until the end of November last year (I thought the movie was released in August, but it was only at a Film Festival in August and had a limited US release in mid November)...so I stand corrected, I guess that wasn't in time to get Grammy recognition.

For the 2010 awards, the eligibility period is October 1, 2008 to August 31, 2009. This really annoys me. Why not January 1st to December 31st like the Academy Awards? So it's at least relevant...although there would still be problems with singles released later.

Why am I so annoyed? First, I like the beginning and the end of a year, so the awards are for the best of that year. I understand that singles get released at different times to albums. I understand that albums don't instantaneously get discovered by the general public, so just because it was released a while ago, it may have become popular later (is that why the period ends in August but awards handed out in February?). I just think that the Grammys should be more proactive to introduce us to artists who deserve the accolades and have their win be a platform for their careers to grow. Kind of like Adele winning last year. It was timely, she was fresh...but I guess to counter that...many people last year were probably asking who she was and people probably like seeing their favourites win.

OK, this opinion could be debated for both sides...but I just feel that my favourites have moved on from those albums...or better said, I have moved on...I find it difficult to get excited about the nominations when I downloaded some of them over 18 months ago.

I guess that's the problem. Most of the time, an album comes out and I find my favourite tracks on it right away. When a single is released 6 months later, it's not new to me...and I do get annoyed at radio stations who will say, and here's a new song by so and so when the album came out the year before.

Well, that's my rant for today. Anyone out there excited about the Grammy Nominations?

See you tomorrow, when I will give my thoughts on the World Cup 2010 draw that will be announced tomorrow...unless I don't find anything to say about it...should Ireland be in? I guess I can comment on that. Until then...I'll be counting down.

Songs of the Decade...Xfm version

2009-12-02T14:44:00.003-05:00

30 Days until the New Year...countdown continues...

Although I have been thinking about my Songs of the Year and my Songs of the Decade...I'm not nearly prepared to reveal my choices yet.

But Xfm have already revealed their songs of the decade.

www.xfm.co.uk/songofthedecade

There are tons of songs I love on their list...but there are some big omissions for me - the problem when it's a radio station's list. Only the type of music they play will make the list, so if your taste has a wider range than that, then some of your favourites won't make it.

I am shocked by the #1 - Mr. Brightside by The Killers. I wish I had my own video to show of this song. At Air Canada Centre last January, I only have less than 30 seconds - either I decided to enjoy the song or my card was full (probably the earlier). I recorded it at Molson Ampitheatre, but we were so far, it's not really worth uploading. So here's someone else's video from ACC - he/she must have had a camcorder, because it's as far as I was at the Molson Ampitheatre (or farther) but there's a great zoom....like unbelievable (it zooms out half way through)

I absolutely love this song...to this day, I can still listen to it and think "I LOVE this song". I just didn't know there were enough listeners who felt the same way and would have voted that much for it.

From my quick look, it looks like Muse is the band with the most songs on the list. I counted 8! I counted 7 songs for Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian and Kings of Leon while The Killers were close behind with 6. I guess when Xfm love a band, they really love a band. There are definitely more repeat bands than single entries.

One of those that I noticed was the lone Canadian entry...Arcade Fire with Rebellion (Lies).

I would be interested to know how many different bands there are. The five bands listed above have 35 of the top 100. There are many other bands that I saw with multiple entries. Does this mean that there wasn't much variety on their playlists in the last decade?

I did notice two from this year though with single entries (from what I remember): Florence and the Machine and Temper Trap. The latter may be the highest rated Australian band (Jet are a bit lower on the list). It will be interesting to see if these two have any staying power for the next decade.

It's always difficult to make these lists as recent releases are so much fresher in our minds that those from 9 years ago...although if a song from earlier in the decade makes the list...you know it's good!

Counting Down...starting with World Aids Day

2009-12-01T10:42:00.008-05:00

This morning, my daughter put the snowflake into the first slot of our Christmas countdown calendar. (No traditional Advent calendars for us)

This calendar reminded me that often, bands will have online Calendars. I went to see if anyone was doing it...of course, The Stereophonics was the first one I found. You can view it here.

I haven't found any more yet. Let me know if you do. Keane have done it in the past, and I'm hoping they will this year as well...maybe starting a little late? Fingers crossed. Remember 25 bands of Christmas from last year? Hope to find another gem like that this year.

But, I have a very busy month planned (like every year and like most people), with Christmas preparations, but on top of that, we are hosting my husband's family this year. All work and no play makes me a cranky person though...so I decided that I would try to post a little something every day...maybe until the end of the year (rather than Christmas)...so not necessarily a Christmas calendar, but a year end calendar....how's that? So 30 more days until 2010!

So in honour of World Aids Day today, rather than writing something original which would take more time than I have:

I will link to last year's blog post I wrote here (and read it again).

I changed my profile photo on Facebook to this (prompted by Coldplay):

I posted on Facebook and on Twitter about World Aids Day. Twitter is posting World Aids Day related tweets in red today. Love it!!

I will go buy (red) laces for Nike's Lace Up Save Lives program. You can find out more here (prompted by Steve Nash).

I'll download once again (for the fourth year), The Killers' Christmas song they recorded for and with proceeds going to (red):

I have also subscribed to (red)'s youtube channel. I was already following them on twitter, but added them to Facebook today, so that this is not just a one day event, but I get reminded throughout the year.

I'm wearing my Inspi(red) t-shirt (no this is not a photo of me from today):

And will feel inspired to have a wonderful, productive and enjoyable holiday season while also thinking of the less fortunate. Do They Know It's Christmas?

So much for me wanting this to be a quick post...but it was infectious as I saw people tweeting, posting on MySpace or Facebook about World Aids Day. I wanted to see every link...then share them.

It's Christmas Time

2009-11-25T09:15:00.005-05:00

Today is the day that I put Christmas music on. November 25th...one month until Christmas Day.

It was 25 years ago today that Do They Know It's Christmas by Band Aid was recorded so every year, I start with that song, on that day.

Unlike every other year when I would play the vinyl, today I started by watching the video on youtube.

My favourite part has to be seeing Sting sing "the bitter Sting of tears"... Phil Collins on the drum (love the drumming on this song) and seeing Paul Young start the song. Love him ... I should probably add him to the list of artists I would love to see live. I also love the "1, 2, 3, 4" before the beginning of the chorus. I swear I sing that in my head when the song is playing.

I will have to get the vinyl out anyway because I love listening to the B-Side "Feed The World"...ok, I don't need to, it's on youtube...of course! My favourite part and why I remember the date...Bob Geldof saying..."this record was recorded on the 25th of November, 1984. It's now 8 am on the morning of the 26th. We've been here 24 hours and we think it's time we went home. So from me Bob Geldof and Midge we say good morning to you all and a million thanks to everyone on the record. Have a lovely Christmas. Bye" Not sure if you noticed on the Do They Know it's Christmas video, but it was 48 hours later when they finished putting the video together on November 28th.

So now, I am listening to Band Aid 20 on CD. It's not as good as the original, but it has some of my favourite artists of all time on it, so I love it as well.

My favourite part is when they show the starving child in the 1980's transform into the woman of today (although it edits out Tom Chaplin (Keane) and Chris Martin singing Feed the World - would have loved more camera time for them) but I do love how much camera time Fran Healey (of Travis) gets. Isn't Dido lovely? Love her part too...and most importantly love that Bono redid his line...so much better than if the guy from The Darkness had done it (I think he's the one who was wanting to do that line). Am I the only one who thinks that Thom Yorke looks like Chris Martin when he's playing piano? I initially thought it was Chris Martin until I looked closer (maybe it was just wishful thinking).

The original is nostalgic while Band Aid 20 is current (and passé as there are some very pop artists that were popular in Britain at the time but are no longer). Interestingly as I look at the Band Aid 20 video, 5 of the artists/bands I have seen live this year (Keane, Coldplay, Travis, U2, and Snow Patrol - ok, I'll need a bigger screen or more time to spot Snow Patrol but according to Wikipedia, they are there). On the original version I have only seen U2 live.

So how many from each Band Aid have you seen live or would you like to see (or would have liked to have seen)?

Band Aid list of performers can be seen here.
Band Aid 20 list of performers and musicians can be seen here and who sings what can be seen here.

Singing Along with David Cook

2009-11-18T10:47:00.014-05:00

It's a daily anthem
Would you sing my song,
At the top of your lungs?
And we'll all sing along,
We'll all sing along...
Oh, woh, woh, woh, woh, woh, woh, woh
Oh, woh, woh, wohohhhhh,
(A Daily AntheM by David Cook)

On Monday night, I drove 100 minutes north of the city in order to go see David Cook in concert at Casino Rama. I wish the photo above was of David getting us to sing along to A Daily AntheM (yes the last M is supposed to be capitalized - the capital letters in the song title spell his brother's name who passed away last spring after battling brain cancer for over a decade), but unfortunately, he didn't play that song that night (he mixes up the setlist night after night), but we still had an amazing setlist and other sing-alongs! I guess it's a good sign when you love every song played and there are still songs that couldn't fit in...ok, I didn't love the Van Halen song he covered, but his version and the audience participation was great. Like they would say on American Idol...he could sing the phone book and I would love it.

At Casino Rama, they warn you when you buy tickets that the front row may be blocked because the artist may ask the audience to go down to the stage. When the lights went down, I could barely see (it was really dark) but managed to see people at the stage so I went down and managed to get inside the marked area before it filled up.

They kept the center section of the stage open for a video camera that was shooting video for the big screens. I was one person over from that empty section and had a perfect unobstructed view of David at his microphone.

There had been an announcement before the show that cameras and recording devices of any kind were not allowed, but I was thankful that they were lenient with photos. Unfortunately I didn't get many good photos when he was at the mic (and only a few great ones when he was closer) - concert photography blog post coming soon!!

My favourite photo is the third photo I took when he came in front of us during the opening song, Mr. Sensitive:

Unfortunately, I was close to a security guard so I was not able to take videos. Security really earn their pay at Casino Rama. At most concerts I go to, security are there more as a precaution and to keep people safe at the front. At Casino Rama, I felt like a little kid being watched by a teacher at a school assembly. Casino Rama have rules and they like them to be followed. Security would talk to each other on their headsets about who is trying to take video or who is standing outside of the marked area and would assist each other in reaching those who were not following the rules.

I considered moving away from the security guard, but I had such a prime location with a perfect view that I decided to just enjoy the show and not worry about the video memories. I also hoped that others would post on youtube for me to have access to them anyway...and what great videos they have posted.

Last year when I wrote about the bands I would love to see live, I didn't write David Cook because I figured I had talked about him enough on my blog, so figured I would give my readers a break. But he was definitely on my list. Now that I haven't talked about him much in the past year, I am making up for it ;-)

Leading up to the concert, I was actually worried that he wouldn't live up to my expectations. I was driving up all that way, on my own to a venue that I knew I wouldn't be fond of and really hadn't really seen him perform since his American Idol days. I had seen a few videos on youtube that weren't that great from concerts, but it's hard to tell if it's him or the camera that has the bad sound. In the end, he more than exceeded my expectations. He was so personable with the audience and I really felt like I was at a small intimate show with a couple hundred of his friends. He joked with people and with his bandmates. The sound was great and his voice was perfect.

The highlight for me I think has to be Lie. I love this song already, but the way he sang it live was incredible. When he moved back from the microphone and sang on his own, I was so thankful I hadn't read that he would do that. I loved the surprise. I'm also thankful that it was posted on youtube and that photogirl52 got such great videos.

Interestingly, I noticed after writing about the security that she comments on one of her videos that security wasn't stopping them from recording. I guess I had a very eager security guard on my side. While searching on youtube, there are a lot of videos from the right side, but I can only find one and a half videos from my side. It looks like they're taken from where security stopped someone recording (she wasn't in his line of vision but he got a call on his headset from someone who told him where she was).

I had planned on trying to video the last song (what will security do when it's the last song?) figuring it would be Come Back to Me (my absolute favourite) or Declaration (it is the Declaration Tour afterall)...BUT, he didn't perform Declaration :-( and he performed Come Back to Me as the last song before the encore. He had the crowd sing the first verse which I was happy to "at the top of my lungs" - ok, not really since I didn't want to annoy everyone around me, but I did sing out loud. So, in a way, it worked out because I would rather record David singing the song, not the audience...and I would rather sing my favourite song (and enjoy the moment) than be busy recording (although the advantage of having the video to relive the moment is worth it too).

For the last song I Did It For You, David left the stage and went to the back section to finish the song. He then walked through the crowd to get back to the stage passing by this video-taker:

There are some artists that I love because of their music. Whether they talk or not at a concert doesn't really matter. Of course I enjoy bands to at least acknowledge where they are and get the crowd into the concert, but I'm there more for the music and don't really know much about the musicians.

Since David Cook was on American Idol, we got to see his personality and get to "know" him. I love his humour, wit and personality so I have to say that one of the best things at his concerts is how comfortable he is on stage and how easy he finds interacting with the crowd and the band. As much as people are posting his songs online, they are also recording his banter and posting that.

A David Cook concert definitely has a band feeling, not an artist feeling. He had toured with two of his bandmates before American Idol, so it helps that they have this history between them and it shows how close they are. He happily shares the spotlight with them (often calling them by name when he talks to them, so his fans get to know them too).

I think that having been a struggling artist before Idol has made him appreciate that without the fans, he doesn't have the career of his dreams, so he really appreciates every one of his fans. He mentioned how 3 (or 4) years ago, he was playing in a bar with the bartender being the only spectator. I'm not sure if he's exaggerating, but it's nice to know that he hasn't forgotten where he started.

After the concert, he came outside in the cold and stayed for an hour chatting, signing autographs, or getting his photo taken with every single person who waited. (No, I didn't stay even if I was parked close to the tour bus and saw people linger - Knowing that if it's possible he does go outside to meet fans, I had warned hubby that I might if I didn't get to the stage (or didn't get a good photo), but I left the concert completely satisfied from the experience and having a 100 minute late evening drive back home was motivation to get on the road as soon as possible).

Getting to the front of the stage and sharing the experience with others who love his music made the concert that much more special. I'm hoping that the next time I have the chance to see him in concert, it will be in a better venue (with a larger standing area) and that I'll get the chance to record my own memories.

Setlist (courtesy of DCO):

Mr. Sensitive
Heroes
We're Only Honest When We're Sleeping (2007, unreleased)
Souvenir (2008, unreleased)
Kiss on the Neck (w/Hotel California snippet)
Lie
Bar-ba-sol
Make Believe (2009, unreleased)
Hot for Teacher (Van Halen cover)
Come Back To Me

Encore
Light On
I Did It For You

Dream Big

2009-11-15T13:59:00.002-05:00

When I was a little boy
I swore that I would change the world
when I grew up
Nothing else would be enough

I see it everyday
We settled for safe
And lose ourselves along the way

'Cause if you don't dream big
what's the use of dreaming
(Dream Big by David Cook)

Last spring, I saw a presentation from Mothers On Fire. You can read what I wrote about it here in case you want the background to this post.

This fall, I saw a second presentation from Mothers on Fire. I was going to write about it, but then got sidetracked when I read what I wrote about the first presentation and was reminded that I hadn't been a "mother on fire" since that first presentation (which was a couple of days after getting a puppy). You can read that post here.

So now, I will write about the second presentation by Brenda Jasmin of Mothers on Fire.

This presentation didn't resonate as much with me as the first one, maybe because it's not as much fun as the first one "Finding Your Inner Fire". It was about "Getting Over Guilt".

I guess I do feel guilty about some aspects of parenting and homemaking but I rarely feel guilty about having time for myself like a lot of mothers do.

I believe that the main reason I am like this is because of my husband. He always believed in the importance of his activities and his friends and always encouraged me whenever I had an opportunity to go out with my friends or for activities I enjoyed. It has been a give and take for us. I never questioned the activities that were important to him and he never questioned the activities that were important to me. We supported each other.

The timing was good to hear about guilt though (and to revisit that first presentation) because I struggled with the first few months of having a puppy. Being at a mother's group and listening to moms talk about feeling guilty for not being able to accomplish as much as they used to, it reminded me that I am a new mother. I hadn't really made the realization that I do have a newborn that I have been taking care of...it's just not a human newborn but a puppy.

Brenda also talked about being a "good enough" mother and not a "perfect" mother. This again, was not an ideal topic for me. I don't think I ever pretended that I could be a perfect mother. I think I let go of perfection in motherhood early on. (I do have perfectionist tendencies though but that's a different topic altogether) So when we were talking about what a "perfect" mother is like, I never tried to achieve the characteristics of the "perfect" mother.

Could I be a better mother than I am? Yes I could, and I keep trying to improve but perfect was never what I tried to achieve.

This presentation was a great reminder for me though to let go of the guilt of the past few months and make sure that as I try to make my dreams come true, I don't feel guilty in the future.

My favourite items on the Top Ten List for Getting Over Guilt include:

Resist the urge to compare yourself and your children to others.
Find times to be present for your kids.
Take time to acknowledge what you have accomplished.
Let go of the opinions of others (and society) and listen to your own inner voice.
Remember that when you also take care of your own needs and do things that make you happy, your loved ones benefit.
Connect your activity to your deeper values and dreams.

Mothers on Fire has reminded me to follow my dreams. I have been writing a lot about it in the past few months. With the Olympics being held in my country in less than 100 days, my dream of attending the Olympic Games has been my focus.

I am one step closer today to realizing that dream. After over four hours of two computers refreshing every 30 seconds and my fingers redialing for tickets yesterday, I managed to secure a ticket to the Opening Ceremony.

There are still some walls to surmount before I get there, but this is the first step. Now that I have a ticket, I will continue to work at fulfilling my dream by booking a flight, arranging accommodation, arranging for my kids and puppy care and of course, work on my finances (this is not a cheap dream). The biggest challenge will be ensuring that Mother Nature doesn't wreak havoc with my dream. It will be February in Canada. Snow storms happen. Flights get cancelled. I am trying to make sure that I take all these "walls" into consideration as I plan my trip.

I do believe that if I had not been introduced to Mothers on Fire, I would not be going to the Olympic Games this winter. I had given up on that dream last year when I looked at getting tickets for my whole family and realized financially (and logistically) it was not realistic. The timing of those two presentations was perfect for me. Would I rather go to the Olympics with my family? Absolutely!! But going alone is better than not going at all and going alone is realistic and doable.

When trying to make dreams come true, we will come up against walls. You can read my post about "they're just walls" here. These walls are not meant to stop us, but to make us show how much we want something. Unfortunately, I learned this lesson late in life (but fortunately not too late). I used to give up on my dreams too easily.

I hope that my going to the Olympic Games will teach my children to Dream Big. We don't know what we are capable of until we climb over, dig under, go around or knock those walls down.

'Cause if you don't dream big what's the use of dreaming

A Pittance of Time

2009-11-11T18:01:00.003-05:00

Take two minutes, would you mind?
It’s a pittance of time
For the boys and the girls who went over
In peace may they rest, may we never forget why they died.
It’s a pittance of time
(A Pittance of Time by Terry Kelly)

I attended the Remembrance Day celebration at the Veterans' Memorial at Queen's Park today.

Yes, I know I already blogged about Remembrance Day, but I wanted to add to what I said this morning after seeing a video that was shared on Facebook.

There was quite a crowd at Queen's Park and although I couldn't see the ceremony itself, I could clearly hear every word.

I have thought over the past few years that public support for our troops has increased. I didn't used to go to Remembrance Day celebrations (although would try to observe two minutes of silence). Perhaps that is because I used to work (and not downtown where I could hop over to a ceremony), but perhaps it is like what was said today at the ceremony that resonated with me: in times of peace, we take peace for granted.

In the past decade, the world has not been as peaceful so the sacrifice that our troops make are brought to the surface of our consciousness. It is more difficult in today's world to take peace for granted.

After the ceremony, I walked along the beautiful Veterans' Memorial wall and pinned my poppy to the people's wreath. I hope to return to fully appreciate the Memorial when it's not so crowded. It has only been there since 2006 and I hadn't seen it before.

Many Facebook friends had comments today about Remembrance Day. Many shared personal stories of loved ones or videos. I wanted to share this video that was shared in particular. Terry Kelly wrote this song in 1999 after an incident in a drug store on Remembrance Day. The lyrics also remind me of the time when our troops were mostly involved in peacekeeping missions. It's amazing how the world has changed in 10 years. I hope that times of peace will be upon us again soon and that there will not be a need for convoys along the Highway of Heroes.

You can read the lyrics here.

Watching this video (and Highway of Heroes that I posted this morning) may be added to my yearly tradition on Remembrance Day...because it's a "pittance of time" and the very least that I can do.

Day to Remember

2009-11-11T07:57:00.004-05:00

Now it’s our turn to stand
It’s our turn to stand
It’s our turn to stand on guard for thee
(Highway of Heroes by Bob Reid)

Although today is not the only day that we think of the members of our Canadian Forces as well as our veterans, Remembrance Day is the day where most of us think of them collectively.

Another time that Canadians collectively think of our troops are when a fallen soldier returns to Canada and people line the side and the bridges of the Highway of Heroes to honour their ultimate sacrifice. It is something I have often thought of doing, but have not done yet.

It is something on my list of things I want to experience and share my gratitude, but hope that I never have to...meaning that I hope that Canada doesn't lose another soldier. Of course, that is not a realistic hope, but I am a dreamer and I will keep dreaming.

Bob Reid experienced the Highway of Heroes and wrote a song about it. I saw the video yesterday and thought it would be a perfect way for My Life is Like a Song to mark Remembrance Day.

Lest we forget.

Princely Luck in the City

2009-11-06T13:34:00.008-05:00

Someone get me down on the floor
What's the point of living in the city?
(Clap Clap by The Waking Eyes)

I had quite a bit of luck this morning, well in some ways.

I planned to go to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair where Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall would be officially opening the fair.

I almost didn't go. I woke up late. I had kids to get off to school and a dog to take care of. But then, the song Clap Clap came into my head...

"what's the point of living in the city?"

One of the advantages of living in the city is that I am potentially close to events that I would not otherwise be able to enjoy. So with Prince Charles visiting Toronto, I thought, why not go and experience royalty first hand? It doesn't happen every day, every year or every decade.

Traffic was horrendous though as I weaved my way southwest from home to get to Ricoh Coliseum trying to avoid the rush of cars heading downtown and the construction that seems to be everywhere.

So, traffic wise, I was not very lucky (it took at least double the normal time to get there)...but I managed to get into the stadium at least half an hour before their arrival.

The couple arrived to my surprise in a horse-drawn carriage that went around the arena a couple of times.

There was a short presentation on the stage and then Prince Charles declared the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair "officially open":

Then they left the arena and were walking towards the exhibition hall. The crowd was quite large at this point. I managed to capture this photo and was quite satisfied.

I thought about leaving, but then figured that since I was there, I may as well go around and see the exhibitions to determine if I would return with my daughter.

Half an hour later, I am now heading towards the exit when I came upon the Duchess of Cornwall's entourage. I first capture this photo:

then move to the next aisle where it looks like she is heading. She stopped at a booth that was selling and sampling jams. She tasted some and asked the exhibitor some questions about them. She then walked towards where I was lined up and she stopped and shook my hand.

The diamond maple leaf-shaped broach that she is wearing was borrowed from the Royal Collection. In 1939, it was given to the Duchess of York (Queen Mother) by the people of Canada in 1939.

At this point, the morning has exceeded my expectations. As I start walking towards the exit again, I notice an obsessive monarchy fan asking multiple questions to a photographer about where the Prince was. He had a schedule of Prince Charles' walkabout, so I find out where he was at that precise moment. I thought that perhaps the crowd would be smaller now, so head that way....the crowd is not smaller, but I happen to be at the right place at the right time as Prince Charles walks by.

So as I leave thinking about the great luck I had of being at the right place at the right time, twice...and figure I would leave before the Prince (and the crowd), I have to laugh as I walk around the parking lot trying to remember where I left the car. I don't believe I have ever forgotten where I parked the car before. I tried to lock the car (to get the beep of the alarm)...to no avail. Five minutes later, I find the car and leave the parking lot, but that 5 minutes was enough to get stopped on Lakeshore as they close it, awaiting for the royal motorcade to go by. I turned off my car knowing it would still be 5 or 10 minutes (from the photographer's schedule) and relaxed enjoying my music and knowing that I would take the luck of seeing the royal couple versus the luck of traffic. The drive home would take longer than the drive down...but it was all worth the effort.

I love living in the city!

Partial Dream Come True

2009-11-04T10:06:00.010-05:00

They say that when we write our dreams down, we should be specific. In case you have missed my recent posts about my dreams, go back a few posts to fill in the gaps.

After one friend called to share his viewing of the Olympic Torch going by in Victoria, another friend of mine got to carry the Olympic Torch in the Olympic Relay.

What a wonderful surprise I got while I was preparing dinner last night to have that friend (who had just flew home that day) show up at my door with a long box containing THE Olympic Torch....ok, HIS Olympic Torch (since there are over 12000 of them)....but an Olympic Torch that has been lit with THE Olympic Flame!

To make things even better, he leaves the Olympic Torch with me to enjoy for 24 hours.

Seriously???? He's going to leave it with me?

A friend of mine described this photo of me with the words..."it looks like you're a kid in a candy store". Imagine if I actually got to run in the relay...what would that photo look like? LOL

So last night, I called my family and some friends to share my happiness. More than one person said, isn't your dream to carry an Olympic Torch? This could be your dream come true.

I did think that this could be as close as I get to my dream this year. I will watch the Torch Relay run past down the road from where I live. I will go downtown to see the Torch Relay Celebration...but I am now actually TOUCHING and HOLDING an Olympic Torch. I probably won't get to hold a lit one so this could be as good as it gets.

I may not get to Vancouver to be AT the Olympic Games.

So last night, we had dinner with the Olympic Torch on the table. I toasted with the favourite Canadian wine I had (Weir Wine Pinot Noir) and felt very blessed to have a friend who shared his experience with me.

I think it's very beautiful. It's long and curvy with the Vancouver 2010 inukshuk logo. It is heavy when you first pick it up, but for its size I didn't find it too heavy. I could easily run the 300m distance with it. The inspiration for its shape was:

"Canada’s open land, vast potential and smooth, fluid lines left in the snow and ice from winter sports"

This is what it looks like when it's lit:

You can see the evidence left behind from the lit flame on this photo.

On the one side, it has a bilingual inscription of
"With Glowing Hearts"
"Des Plus Brilliants Exploits"

On the other side there is a beautiful (because we know how much I love...) a maple leaf.

The stainless line on both sides are supposed to represent the blade of a skate.

I did look to see what I wrote as my dream in my book (whether it was to carry the torch or not). It says to...

"attend the Olympic Games" and then thinking that travelling across the country (or to another country) being a little unrealistic amended it to...

"be a torchbearer for the 2010 Olympics".

So, to those saying that I have realized my dream...just carrying an Olympic torch is not my dream...it is to BE a torchbearer for the 2010 Olympics. I was specific ;-)

It does not look like this dream will happen. I may be a torchbearer for a later Olympics. Who knows? And to be quite frank, I am a dreamer enough to still believe that somehow perhaps something could happen to make me a torchbearer. The Relay hasn't reached my province yet. But I am realistic enough to fully appreciate the experience I had last night...and today as I sit to write this with the Olympic Torch in sight.

I will chalk this up to a partial dream, and learn from the experience if the full dream doesn't happen.

They're Just Walls

2009-11-03T08:27:00.004-05:00

It doesn't matter what's in front of you
It's smaller than it seems
So don't you stop
Until they fall
They're just walls
(Walls by Ross Copperman)

A few weeks ago, I read The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. If you think back a year or two, you may remember the professor who had terminal cancer and gave a "last lecture" - Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.

My mother was reading it over Thanksgiving weekend and I got it the following week to read.
The timing of me reading this book was perfect since the possibility of me achieving one of my childhood dreams is just around the corner.

You will know that in the last month, I have been thinking about my Olympic dream and trying to find out how to make it happen.

My favourite quote from The Last Lecture is:

Brick walls are there for a reason:
they let us prove how badly we want things.

I have been talking about brick walls a lot in the past few weeks. I have been thinking about all the brick walls I have come across with relation to my Olympic Dream in particular (and my other dreams).

Yesterday, one of my favourite singers posted a song on his My Space page. I couldn't believe my ears when I heard it. You can listen to it at www.myspace.com/rosscopperman

Here are the lyrics (as I hear them):

Maybe it's the way they look at you
Their eyes telling you
That everything you do
Is never going to be good enough
They'll try to crush
The love you have inside
When you're just about to fly

So don't give up
Find your way around
Yeah don't give in
Til they all come crashing down
It doesn't matter what's in front of you
It's smaller than it seems
So don't you stop
Until they fall
They're just walls

I'm my own worse enemy
Sometimes I can't see
The forest through the trees
I get lost
I get paralyed
Then I realize
That I can see a light
Breaking through the other side

So don't give up
Find your way around
Yeah don't give in
Til they all coming crashing down
It doesn't matter what's in front of you
It's smaller than it seems
So don't you stop
Until they fall
They're just walls

When I told my husband (who has a blog about coincidences) he said (and this is my favourite quote for today):

"That's not a coincidence, that's the definition of synchronicity".

So, my dream to attend the Olympic Games may still not come true. I'm not saying that just because I read a book or sing a song that I will be able to surmount the walls I keep coming up against, but it is giving me motivation to try to scale them, go around them or knock them down.

If my dream doesn't come true, I will remember another great quote by Randy Pausch:

Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted.

2010 Olympic Relay

2009-10-30T19:52:00.009-04:00

The Olympic Torch Relay began today. Is Canada excited?

I got invited (along with million others) to join the world's "longest wave". Petro Canada is broadcasting people on webcam doing the wave. You can view it here. But seriously...I want to be there!! Not doing the wave in my living room. Is that too much to ask?

I think I was excited in 1988 when Calgary hosted. From where I am presently sitting, I can see my "Share The Flame" book from the '88 Torch Relay.

So, we have another Torch Relay in this country...and it makes me want to cry rather than cheer.

At the moment, I can't imagine wanting to buy a book about the 2010 Torch Relay if I'm not part of it. I can barely watch the news about it. I feel that I should be excited about the torch arriving in my home country...about us hosting the Games. I was so excited when it was first announced (at the time I thought I would be there)...but now it makes me want to cry...thinking that I won't be a part of it.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not bitter enough to not want to go to the Toronto celebrations when the Torch arrives (it's been on my calendar all year - although it's been in my calendar with the assumption that I would be carrying the torch...but it's still in my calendar now that I know I won't).

The relay is described as reaching most Canadians...going within an hour or of 90% of Canadians. At the moment, I want to find a friend who will be carrying the Flame and go cheer him/her on wherever they are rather than watch a stranger carry the flame on Yonge Street at the end of my street!! I'm also planning on being downtown for the celebrations.

I have been on the mailing list for the games for a couple of years. I looked into getting tickets when they first went on sale, then chickened out when I realized how much it would cost for a family of 4 to go to Vancouver for the Games.

I mentioned on an earlier post about the dreams I listed in 1996. One was to attend the Olympic Games.

In 2008, I amended that dream to running in the Torch Relay (instead of attending). I figured this was a more realistic goal. At the time, it never occurred to me that I wouldn't be chosen. I figured that for my dream to be to go to the Olympics...running in the relay would be so much easier...no travelling involved...and really, being involved with the Olympics is my destiny, right?

Apparently not!

I am still trying to make this dream a reality...but it's not easy.

The relay was depressing me...except that two of my favourite Olympians got to carry the torch today...Simon Whitfield and Alexandre Despatie...that brought a smile to my face.

and really, if Simon Whitfield and Catriona Lemay Doan don't get the torch to themselves (and Alexandre Despatie and Silken Laumen get to share, what chance do I have?)

This post is changing to a chronological event...

7:52pm I start writing this blog
8:30pm my husband comes upstairs to ask me a question...but changes it to "have you been crying?"
I let him read the beginning of my blog...he starts to understand my mindset and is hugging me when the phone rings.

8:35pm our friend calls. I think he's calling because of my question I asked him about accommodation in Vancouver during the Olympic Games (he said he would call me rather than email)...

When I get on the phone with him, I realize that he is calling because the Olympic Torch is about to reach where he is and he wants to share it with us.

I put him on speaker...we call the kids up and we all hear he, his family and friends cheering as they watch the Olympic Torch go by in Victoria.

Tears of joy this time!! So happy to see a wonderful friend experience the magic of the Olympic Flame!! I look forward to having my turn in a couple of months...even if I won't get to touch it.

Perfect timing?

Living my Dreams

2009-10-27T14:12:00.008-04:00

Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)
This is what I wanna be
Suddenly I see (Suddenly I see)
Why the hell it means so much to me
(Suddenly I See by KT Tunstall)

Four months ago, I attended a presentation by Brenda Jasmin of Mothers on Fire. You can read what I wrote about it here.

This morning Brenda returned to my mother's group for another presentation. I had meant to write about this morning's presentation, but reading that last post has sidetracked me. I will write about this morning on another post soon.

Reading that last post I wrote about Mothers on Fire, I don't know whether to laugh or cry...or both.

I was so hopeful...even when I chipped my tooth while writing it....but I had our new puppy for 3 days at that point...I didn't know what was to come.

If I was to look back over the last four months, I have had so many wonderful experiences (I should go back and look at my calendar and photos to be reminded)...but they have been mixed with some lows. The lows may not be many...and in the big picture of life are minor lows...but I have been letting them get to me.

I have recently started to come out of it...and am kind of annoyed at myself for not having handled the situation better...but live and learn.

Last week, I was going through my notebook where I had listed some dreams I wrote in early January of 1996. My dreams were:

Two children by the end of year 2000 (born end of 1996 and 1999)
Own a house with yard (bought it in 1997)
Own grand piano (with my house...not going to happen and perhaps not that important)
Have comfortable sitting area by bay window (I used to have this...but it became our son's bedroom...hmmm)
Get big dog and dog house
Write a song I like (Jan 29, 1996 - the first dream I realized)

etc. (there were 56 dreams)

Wait a minute...let's go back to #5. Did I really write get a big dog? Am I in the process of realizing a dream and didn't realize it?

(The dog house was for my mother's sake so I had somewhere to put the dog when she visited...turns out that a dog house is not realistic because there's no way I would want my dog outside with the racoons (I grew up in a small town with dogs living a couple of doors down in a huge fenced in area and huge dog house)...so a dog sitter will have to do in the city).

So that was last week. I think this was a turning point for me. No I'm not past the hardships of adjusting to a puppy in my life. I will still have down times...but I am hoping to accept them better in the future.

I wrote in that Mothers on Fire blog post about the dream collage. At some point, I had read or been told to just collect images of things that spoke to you (made you happy, were beautiful to you, made you go aaahhh, etc.). I'm happy to have found those magazine clippings I mentioned I couldn't find. A few weeks ago, I looked for photos of dogs...was this part of my dreams (I hadn't looked at my dreams notebook at this point)? I didn't find any.

I just went through the folder again to see what kind of clippings I did have. There are probably over 100 images including:

couples
tidy houses ;-) and beautiful closets
beautiful scenery (of all seasons)
travel scenes
a woman reading in bed (book club anyone?)
baking with a daughter
a mother taking a photo of her son's first steps with a D-SLR (it's an ad for the Nikon D40...with the tagline Your First Digital SLR for all of life's "Firsts") I would end up receiving a D80 for my birthday a year later (although I think taking the photo of family moments was more my attraction to this photo)
girlfriends toasting with red wine
on the back of an autumn scene is a Free The Children ad (didn't know about Free the Children when I cut it out)
"Golf is Taboo" ad (with fall colours...it's one of Mike Weir's official courses, so it's been a dream of mine to play there..maybe with my son?)
downtown scenes
James Blunt in concert (huh...his song just began in my random playlist (of 400 songs) after I wrote that)
sleeping scenes

This is SO me (ok, perhaps not with a smile like that early in the morning...but I'll try)...but I love that extra 10 minutes...it may be hard to tell with the smaller copy of this ad, but the photo beside her is of a dog! Didn't notice until I went to scan it.

I also found this one:

I don't know why I didn't notice it the last time I looked. So having a dog was definitely in my dreams.

I was thinking in the past week about when I had babies. Every time things weren't going the way I hoped and I didn't know how to resolve the issue, I would grab a parenting book and research on how to parent better. I would talk to my friends, my mother, my older sister (who had 4 kids) or anyone who seemed to have wisdom.

So I realized that this is what I need now. Like parenting when I had no experience with babies (never babysat or taken care of kids), I have no experience with dogs. I liked them, but more from afar.

I had bought a number of books on taking care of a puppy (and got as much as I could find from the library), but that was generic initial puppy training. I read them before getting the dog (and in the first month or so), but now my needs are different. More specific help on the type of dog I have would be helpful.

Yesterday I bought a book entitled High-Energy Dogs: A Practical Guide to Living With Energetic and Driven Canines. There are lots of references to Australian Shepherds!!

So when I have difficult days I will remind myself that I am living one of my dreams. Who says that dreams are supposed to be easy?

And speaking of my dreams...I also have to include this clipping I found in my folder. On and off I have been talking about going to the Olympic Games since Vancouver were awarded the Games (well actually since I was a kid, but was considering actually doing it since Vancouver got the Games). I will expand on this story in another post...but read the first "thing to do while you're alive" in this ad:

I'm thankful to have seen Brenda again this morning which prompted me re-reading my post and make me realize that perhaps I haven't been a Mother on Fire since I last saw her, but that doesn't mean that I can't be in the future.

We Are The Take & The Temper Trap

2009-10-21T09:39:00.013-04:00

Isn't it fun when something unexpected happens?

Last week I wrote about not having found many new bands this year. You can read that post here if you missed it.

So I started listening to Absolute Radio UK and one of the bands that caught my attention was The Temper Trap. One of their songs is on their A-list which means it gets played a LOT.

On Sunday I spent some time downloading some of their songs and I was enjoying them.

Monday morning, I saw a post by a local band that we like saying they were playing The Horseshoe Tavern the next night. I started making plans to go, but they weren't concrete.

Seeing this post, I thought about signing up to get news from The Temper Trap (and other new bands and artists I was finding) and as I'm doing that I saw that they were playing The Horseshoe Tavern on the same night as We Are The Take....and the concert was free!! This blows my mind...how can a band from Australia and based in London (since May) who are on Absolute Radio's A-List of songs, come to Toronto as the 2nd band of a 4 band free evening then be on Jimmy Kimmel two nights later? (Check them out on Thursday night) Kudos to The Horseshoe for this one.

I was looking forward to a fun night of music, I knew I would enjoy We Are The Take again, but because I don't know The Temper Trap's music that well, I didn't expect to be blown away by them...but I was.

We Are The Take played some new songs and were as good as they were the last time we saw them...the bummer for me was that the batteries (that I had just charged) ran out on my camera so I only got one video :

We had the D-SLR for photos so got some good photos.

Another disappointment is that they didn't play one of my favourite songs, but I guess it's a good sign that they have a lot of material to choose from.

The funny thing I found is that the whole front row were photographers with D-SLRs (except for one who was a loyal fan or a friend of the band's). The Horseshoe is one of the few good venues that allow any type of camera so it's a great opportunity to catch some great shots without a photo pass.

After We Are The Take, my husband left to go buy batteries. How lucky for me because The Temper Trap were amazing and I managed to get some great video.

I look forward to seeing these two bands when they are headlining. It's like we have seen them from their early days and there can only be great days ahead for them.

Best Song of the Noughties

2009-10-19T09:50:00.005-04:00

Absolute Radio are kicking off voting today for the Best Song of the Decade (or Best Song of the Noughties).

You can vote for any song that has been in the UK charts (top 75) at any point in the last decade.

It's so difficult to choose. In a way I wish there was a list of all the songs, but in another, I guess it forces you to think of which songs are still in your mind...so forget Crazy Frog or Bob The Builder (got to love the UK Chart) who made it to #1 on the weekly chart but hopefully won't for the decade list.

Often I am choosing the most popular song by some artists because for it to represent the decade, it shouldn't be personal to me although obviously the artists are personal to me (so no Rihanna, Shakira, Justin Timberlake, Madonna, Girls Aloud, Pussycat Dolls, Britain's Got Talent/X-Factor/Pop Idol, etc. who will be high on the list but don't do it for me).

I also tried to select from various years and various styles. I could easily have chosen 10 for each year and 10 bands, 10 female, 10 male, 10 Brit, 10 Canadian, 10 American...you get the idea. There has been some amazing music in the last decade!!

So here are my top choices.

Viva La Vida by Coldplay
Somewhere Only We Know by Keane
Beautiful Day by U2
Where is the Love by Black Eyed Peas
American Idiot by Green Day
You're Beautiful by James Blunt
Bad Day by Daniel Powter
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol (spent almost 2 years on the charts - 91 weeks)
I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor by Arctic Monkeys
All These Things That I've Done by The Killers
These Things by Natasha Bedingfield
Smile by Lily Allen

Well, that's my top 12 (I couldn't keep it to 10)...what are your choices?

Check out www.songofthedecade.com to see if your favourites are eligible (it's the UK chart so not much Canadian content (Nelly Furtado, Shania Twain, Hot Hot Heat, Nickelback, Arcade Fire, Avril Lavigne, etc.) or American rock (there is Bon Jovi though, just for you C.)...there's lots of rap and dance though.

You can view #1's over the years here.

Absolute Dave Gorman

2009-10-16T11:17:00.000-04:00

I got an email last week that said that Dave Gorman (I will explain who is in in a minute for those who don't know him) was going to have a radio show on Aboslute Radio UK!! I love Dave Gorman. Many years ago, I saw him perform his "Googlewhack Adventure" in Toronto. My husband saw an article in the Globe and Mail in the morning and he called to get tickets for the show that evening.

It was the best comedy show I ever saw. He is hilarious.

Now, perhaps it's not fair to say that I love Dave Gorman, because I did start following him on Twitter a while ago, but then stopped following him. I can't remember if it was that I didn't follow what he was twittering about or if it was the language he used. I'm trying to find a clip of his Googlewhack Adventure on You Tube, and am reminded that he does use the F word quite a bit (that's an understatement).

Here is how wikipedia describes his Googlewhack quest:

At 31, Dave decided to give up his stupid ways, grow a beard and write a novel. As a result Dave believes people took him more seriously and a new novel was commissioned. While trying to write a novel for his publisher (Random House), Dave became obsessed with Googlewhacks when someone notified him that his site had one (Francophile Namesakes), and caused him to travel across the world finding people who had authored them (one of whom turned out to be one of the Dave Gormans he had met in his first adventure). He eventually spent his publisher's advance on the quest, and had to create the Dave Gorman's Googlewhack Adventure show to pay them back.

By the way, a googlewhack is a Google search using two words (without quotes) that gets one result.

To give you an idea of what he's like when he performs, here's an excerpt (but please remember the F word warning - although this video isn't as bad (language wise) as the other one available on Youtube).

I have never laughed as hard as I did that night. Perhaps some of the appeal was that I arrived not knowing what to expect. So the way he performs, the speed, the PowerPoint presentation, his facial expressions and the hard to believe story is hilarious.

So now, Dave Gorman has a radio show that I am listening to now on podcast. The live show is at 10 am on Sundays (in the UK, so 5 am where I am). I look forward to listening and hopefully laughing out loud.

Blog Action Day - Climate Change

2009-10-14T14:11:00.005-04:00

If I could fix everything for you, believe me I would
Do you feel the same, feel the same as me?
Its hard for me to know, well maybe I should just let go.
But what if it all means something?
(What if it all Means Something by Chantal Kreviazuk)

I was happy when Climate Change was the topic chosen for Blog Action Day, but it is such a vast topic. Climate change is one of the major problems in the world today. It has such consequences but it is something that we can all do something about.

Last year, I was writing "Green Tips" for my mothers' group to give ideas on how we can live greener lives. There are multiple websites where we can sign up to show support for living greener lives including the World Wildlife Fund and A Million Acts of Green.

Most of us know what to do though...simply put...Reduce Reuse Recycle, so I didn't want to blog about what we can do.

I could have gone in so many directions with this topic, but my recent visit to the Toronto Zoo got me inspired to write about polar bears.

I have a daughter who is an animal lover. Being exposed to her love of animals every day has raised my awareness of issues facing animals today.

We often go to the Toronto Zoo. This summer, the new 10 acre Tundra Trek was opened and three polar bears came back after being in Northern Ontario during the renovation.

Along with getting a chance to see these beautiful animals, the zoo is using the new exhibit in order to educate the public to the dangers of climate change to the Arctic.

Polar bears are one of the animals most threatened by climate change. They depend on ice platforms in order to hunt seals. Climate change is causing less ice to be formed, or for it to be formed later in the season. This is causing many bears to die of starvation. The leading cause of death in cubs in Hudson Bay was found to be lack of food or lack of fat in nursing mothers.

Lack of opportunity for hunting is also causing polar bears to venture into villages and towns.

There is less sea ice because we humans are producing more green house gas emissions which is making the earth warmer.

In 2008, the Arctic sea ice shrank to its second-lowest level since satellite measuring began in 1979, ending the year 34% below the long-term average for 1979-2000.

Of course, I have to add a musical reference. Chantal Kreviazak visited Churchill and spoke with a polar bear expert for Polar Bears International.

So what can we do to ensure the polar bears don't go the way of the dinosaurs? We can continue to do our share to help decrease greenhouse gas emissions. We can encourage our governments and companies to do the same.

The Toronto Zoo is going more green every year. They have information on their website about their conservation and green programs. They are even offering a one day event for executives to teach them how they can make their companies green.

The bottom line is that Climate Change is a problem that can be solved if we all work together to make a difference.

Thankful Lyrics

2009-10-12T14:32:00.000-04:00

Happy Thankgiving, Canadians!!

I don't think that I could outdo my Thanksgiving post from last year (or I would just repeat it all)...so if you would like to read that one, you can read it here...for this year, I thought I would share lyrics about giving thanks or being grateful.

I want to thank you
for giving me the best day of my life
Oh just to be with you
is having the best day of my life
(Thank You by Dido)

Thank you India
Thank you providence
Thank you disillusionment
Thank you nothingness
Thank you clarity
Thank you thank you silence
(Thank U by Alanis Morrissette)

Some call it faith, some call it love.
Some call it guidance from above.
You are the reason we found ours,
So thank you stars
(Thank you, Stars by Katie Melua)

Who can live without it, I ask in all honesty
What would life be?
Without a song or a dance what are we?
So I say thank you for the music
For giving it to me
(Thank You for the Music by Abba)

Didn't expect any of this
But it's really nice,
Didn't want you to cause a fuss
But it feels alright.
So thank you very much,
It's really nice to know
That you enjoyed the show
(Thank You Very Much by Kaiser Chiefs)

And I thank you for choosing me
To come through unto life to be
A beautiful reflection of his grace
See I know that a gift so great
Is only one God could create
And I'm reminded every time I see your face
(For Zion by Lauryn Hill)

Got my dreams, got my life, got my love
Got my friends got the sunshine above
(Happy by Natasha Bedingfield)

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
(Lucky by Jason Mraz)

And I thank you for bringing me here
For showing me home
For singing these tears
Finally I've found that I belong here
(Home by Depeche Mode)

Well tonight
Thank God it's them instead of you
(Do They Know It's Christmas by Band-Aid)

Who will rise?
It would be so nice to hear you say
"Thank you for the good times"
Before the good times fly away
(Thank you for the Good Times by Oasis)

Oh its such a perfect day,
I'm glad I spent it with you.
Oh such a perfect day,
You just keep me hanging on,
You just keep me hanging on.
You're going to reap just what you sow,
(Perfect Day by Lou Reed)

Generosity is the key
Yeah
Thank you very much
(15 Minutes Away by K'naan)

Nothing is perfect man
That's what the world is
All I know is I'm enjoying today
You know cause it isn't everyday
That you get to give
(Take A Minute by K'naan)

Outside the sun is shining,
seems like heaven ain’t far away
It’s good to have you with us
Even if it’s just for the day
(Exitlude by The Killers)

Ah la la la la la life is wonderful
Ah la la la la la la life is meaningful
Ah la la la la la life is full of
Ah la la la la la life is so full of love
(Life is Wonderful by Jason Mraz)

And finishing with a song of the beauty in the world...

I see trees of green........ red roses too
I see 'em bloom..... for me and for you
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue..... clouds of white
Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty...in the sky
Are also on the faces.....of people going by
I see friends shaking hands.....saying...how do you do
They're really saying......I love you.

I hear babies cry...... I watch them grow
They'll learn much more.....than I'll never know
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world
(What a Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong)

Happy Thanksgiving!! Do you have any lyrics to share?

Attention Deficient

2009-10-08T13:04:00.004-04:00

I currently have 30 tabs open in my browser (and a few more on the PC).

Some are basic ones I always keep open...gmail, yahoo, twitter, etc. but others are mostly of articles I want to read or things that caught my attention. It's funny because everyday I will go look at my favourite sites looking for interesting articles to read...but often, they end up as opened tabs to read "later".

Seeing how many there were, I figured I should start at the oldest and deal with them in order to make my browser more manageable.

I had to laugh at the title of the article in my oldest tab:

"Information Rich-Attention Poor"

It was an article in the Globe and Mail from September 15th.

I haven't read the article yet, but the title makes me think that there is so much information out there, but how much time do we spend on each topic? I am so guilty of this. I will see an article that I am very interested in, yet will not take the time to read it because something else catches my attention.

So what does this say? I am interested in a lot of things, but not enough for them to hold my attention for 15 minutes? Or do I like to savour the anticipation of having something to read? Or am I afraid that I will miss something by taking the 15 minutes reading one article rather than scanning the headlines, twitter updates or websites?

How often does someone say to me, did you hear about...? and I know what they're talking about because I saw the headline or have saved the article...but never actually finished it?

Many of the articles I have opened are not earth-shattering.

4 tabs are reviews of the U2 concert I saw at Rogers Centre
3 tabs are finance articles
1 tab is about rock concert photography (which I wanted to blog about)
1 tab is about dreams (that I was thinking of blogging about)
1 tab is an article about my neighbourhood terming it "yonge and restless"
1 tab is the girl impact blog (the group my friend is with in Africa at the moment and blogging daily)
1 tab is about Free The Children (Me to We) who had an event in Toronto on Monday
3 tabs are about the author of the book series I'm reading - she's in Toronto next week - and I had not read some interviews I had seen before finishing the 6th book which was out 3 years ago. Now that I did this week, I thought it was now safe to go read those old interviews and Q&As (she wouldn't reveal anything about the new book that I just started...but ugghhh...I still find out something I didn't want to know that I guess she had planned for the 5th book, but hasn't been revealed yet)
1 tab is an article about why we should own music
1 tab is about Stonehenge (and a new finding close by)
1 tab is a reminder to put a Corinne Bailey Rae song on iTunes (from my CD) that I heard on Being Erica. I searched for it wondering if it was new material...hoping it was new material, but it wasn't.
1 tab is for the President's Cup which is starting today.

So you get the picture...lots of information...all of it interesting to me..ok, maybe not the finance articles...but I figure the information would be useful with the state of my finances these days.

On top of these 30 tabs, there is also my Google Reader that has lost control. I used to keep up with the information that used to come into Google Reader...but lately, I haven't had the interest in it. I have unsuscribed to a lot of blogs or sites I used to get feeds from. Some of them, I actually miss and wish I could remember what they were to find them again. But now that I have over 2500 items unread, I find it overwhelming to look at it. Perhaps I should just mark everything as "read" and start over.

So is it better to have a wide range of information...but not so much depth or is it better to have in-depth knowledge of a few topics?

I just read the Globe and Mail article and am reading the comments about it. Funnily, one of the comments talks about people having 50 or 60 tabs open in Firefox...I'm not doing too badly then ;-)

So now, I'll go and read the U2 reviews to see if they did a better job of reviewing the concert than I did. And I will make a stronger effort to keep my focus on topics that interest me for longer periods of time (which I guess was the point of starting this blog a year and a half ago...if I look back at my first blog post)...and even spend time to think about them and have real discussions about them because really, that's what I want deep down.

Perhaps this lack of attention is part of the problem I am having lately. I'm bored of the superficial and want more depth...not just with knowledge, but with life as well.

Best Music of 2009

2009-10-06T17:06:00.005-04:00

You may think I'm a little early if you thought I'd tell you my picks for the best of 2009. I am realizing though that we are in the last quarter of the year and I started thinking about what I would pick as my favourite songs of 2009.

It's been a great year for music for me. I have been to more concerts this year than possibly the last two or three put together. So we can't say that I didn't love music this year.

Here's my dilemma. I don't think I have discovered anyone that I absolutely love this year. It has been a year of new music by artists I already loved or liked. Looking at my iTunes library, most of the music I have downloaded this year has been by artists I already knew.

There have been many other artists and bands that I have read about but haven't taken the time to really listen to. Many of them, at first listen didn't appeal to me, even if they are getting rave reviews from critics and friends.

So in order to try to make a more comprehensive list of my favourite songs of 2009, I resolve to take more time to listen to new music instead of just my old favourites...but then, perhaps the new artists of 2009 are not for me. We'll see in the new few months.