Testing out the WordPress app for the iPad. Vero and I just munched on some tasty nachos from byward taps at YOW. We are wondering if the flight to Paris will have personalized tv screens in the seats in front of us.
Troy and I used those going to BC and they were sweet. Especially when Troy started watching European Vacation and there was a nude scene and the lady next to us was wondering what kind of person watches nudity in a plane!
Surprising addition…grapes! Vero said this was about half of them! Too bad we won’t have enough time to figure out how to make wine from them!
I am very impressed with my cayenne and habanero peppers this year. I ended up dehydrating them as per Troy and Connie’s suggestion. I think I may have dehydrated the habanero a little too much, but I guess I’ll find out when I bite into it!
On Thursday morning, Vero and I walked around Montreal, getting a bite to eat for breakfast, heading down to the Old Port, and ending up at Les 3 Brasseures for lunch before hitting the road back to Ottawa.
But down at the Old Port, we headed towards the Montreal Science Museum for the Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology exhibit! Benoit had gone to it the week before and said it was great.
When you enter, the give you a little video pad that you listen to commentaries on, interact with the exhibits, and feel like an archaeologist! For example, if you swipe the video pad across a pillar with a number on it, it will indicate that you have to find four items within the room and swipe your pad next to them. If you find all four items, then you obtain a piece of a statue. In the end, if you go into each room and solve their puzzle, you will obtain a completed virtual statue which you can then display on the final room’s video screen with your name under it. It was quite fun just to try and figure out the puzzles.
I personally loved the movie props and artwork…I wish I could have seen a week’s worth of material! Costumes, props, storyboards for action scenes (like the rolling boulder from Raiders)…it was all there. You can punch in a number corresponding with a prop into your video pad and they may show you behind the scenes videos, or a commentary about it.
Plus, there was the element of historical fact throughout the entire exhibit. They may talk about the ancient temples that Indiana and company were exploring and why it was so important in the archaeological world.
Other rooms had actual archaeological items within them…digs from Macchu Pichu, or documentary clips about the Naska lines over in the Middle East. It was fascinating stuff. Vero really was into that portion of the exhibit. I actually completed the exhibit a good hour ahead of her and then she made me realize that I had just skimmed over some of the stuff so I went back and educated myself a little more.
I believe the exhibit is only in Montreal for a few more weeks before it leaves the continent so if you are a fan, I would definitely recommend going fast!
Vero and I descended into Montreal on Wednesday for Pearl Jam! Traffic was touch and go once we hit the 15, but the excitement in the air was intoxicating. We arrived at the Best Western which turned out to be a great call on my part as it was just down the street from the Bell Center!
I convinced Vero (let’s be honest, she didn’t need much convincing!) to head down to the Bell Center to pick up our tickets and maybe grab a poster. Luckily for us, they had a merchandise booth outside of the venue which was PERFECT for me to buy a poster and drop it off at the hotel. I ended up picking up a poster and a great t-shirt which looks like an old Molson Canadian beer label on the front. I was really digging this year’s merchandise (compared to the awful t-shirt I got from Toronto 2009).
Ten Club tickets were picked up and while I didn’t win the lottery for better seats, I couldn’t complain about the seats we had. Section 113, Row DD which was pretty well 17 rows away from the stage. FANTASTIC! Thanks Ten Club!
When we walked into see Mudhoney, it was LOUD. I’m talking Grady loud. I could see Vero was in discomfort so we seeked out some earplugs from the customer service desk after their set. I can’t say I know Mudhoney all that much, but for the last few songs that we heard, I was entertained.
Pearl Jam took the stage around 8:50 and started off with a surprising opener…Elderly Woman…but the crowd ate it up. The Montreal crowd ROARED as soon as they hit the stage. It was incredible. This is why I love coming to Montreal for a show.
The hits came coming…Last Exit, Hail, Hail (first time I saw my favourite song live!). I was surprised to hear Setting Forth with the full band complement as it’s a Eddie solo number. Eddie said we should thank Matt Cameron for that.
The crowd never let up and the band felt it. It was going to be a great night! Our section was great…dancing, cheering, singing along. I couldn’t have asked for anything less.
My personal highlight was hearing Hail, Hail as well as Come Back…a great, great song. It was good to hear Sleight of Hand even though Eddie flubbed the second verse. I was thinking the band was going to stop the song at one point! I can’t figure out if Black was more powerful in Montreal or in Ottawa 2005…the crowd was intense.
Eddie spoke quite a bit about how great our country is, and how he loved how he could use the same plugs for his electronics. He also pulled out a horoscope which said something to the effect that in order to keep yourself happy today, surround yourself with a large group and sing with them.
Crazy Mary had Boom and Mike trading off solos and I was glad to hear Yellow Ledbetter as it’s always the ultimate closer for me.
Seeing a Pearl Jam show is an intense experience and we left feeling wasted. We gave it our all, and the band gave it their all. This may have been my favourite PJ show I’ve been to. Time will tell though. I plan to go to at least one show a year.
Setlist:
• Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town
• Last Exit
• Hail, Hail
• The Fixer
• Amongst The Waves
• Severed Hand
• Setting Forth
• Corduroy
• Given To Fly
• Insignificance
• Daughter / Blitzkrieg Bop
• Glorified G
• 1/2 Full
• Do The Evolution
• Unthought Known
• Why Go
Encore 1
• Even Flow
• Come Back
• Sleight Of Hand
• Down
• Black
• Arms Aloft
• Lukin
• Porch
Encore 2
• Better Man
• Crazy Mary
• Alive
• Yellow Ledbetter
PJ20 Destination Weekend — Pearl Jam’s 20th Anniversary, originally uploaded by Peter J Preston.
Vero and I are headed to Montreal tomorrow to catch Pearl Jam on their 20th anniversary tour.
I’m quite excited by the fact that PJ has entered an era in their lives where they do a little tour each year and I’m making it a point to travel the world to see them at least once a year.
It’s a shame that our Eurotrip coincided with their upcoming Canadian tour because I always had a dream of a road trip across Canada and following PJ. Until the next time!
Excellent photo taken from Flickr user: Peter J Preston…from the PJ20 Weekend in Alpine WI this weekend.
Well, I must say that I had a great time at Maureen and John’s wedding. Sure, being an MC is trying at times…dealing with microphone issues, ensuring people have a laugh…it’s a job, really. But I would work my ass off any day of the year for my sister and John.
You know, someone mentioned how they look at each other and the love in their eyes and I realized that’s so true. They click more than a mouse in a game of Quake.
I had the great honour of being part of a grand surprise which was John surprising Maureen with a honeymoon in Punta Cana instead of a week in Niagara Falls. I thought the delivery (proposed by John) was fantastic! I had a good laugh when Maureen thought that Vero and I had bought her a trip to Punta Cana when we pulled the reservations out of the magic box!
The time on stage with Troy was one of my favourites of my life. It was hard to play with the drums and when the monitors cut out, but that’s all things performers deal with, I suppose. I really enjoyed it and I sometimes wonder why the heck I’m not pursuing it a little more.
I could write for days about the wedding, but all that I care about is that Maureen and John had an amazing time! The Popes and the Palmers came together, organized the hell out of the place and it was a super night.
Too bad I forget to ask Uncle Pete to say Grace. Feel bad about that one, but oh well. I can’t remember everything.
Not much to write about here other than the fact that I asked Gaetan for permission to marry his daughter. He challenged me to a bricklaying duel which I barely won, but in the end, I earned his respect and he gave his blessing.
I’m glad I’ve joined up with the volleyball team again. It was a great summer at Mooney’s Bay although I would say that the losses outnumbered the wins. But you know what? Who cares? Each night I get to spend time with friends on a beach during the summer!
Here’s the team after a final game. Mark somehow managed to score some half price pizza that night. It was a shame that Team Captain Mikey couldn’t make it, but boy, that was some great pizza.
It’s due time for another trip down to the Coast and with a good reason…celebrating Nanny’s 80th birthday!
First stop, a trip to Saint-Jacques des Leeds to visit Vero’s grandma and her family. I really enjoy this village as it’s nice to see the rolling hills. Vero’s cousin also bought the gas station in town so it was interesting to chat with him to find out how hard it is to have a gas station in a small town like that. An evening of fun times was had and it was nice to see everyone.
It’s really great to have Saint-Jacques des Leeds as a stopover on an otherwise 12 hour trip to Gaspe! We woke up early and hit the road. Once we hit the coast we realized we were starving and stopped in to a chip stand.
We stopped in and grabbed an epic poutine. In fact, this may have actually been featured on ‘Epic Meal time’. In theory it sounded amazing, but when we saw it, I couldn’t help but have my stomach turn.
It was called La Poutine des Navigateurs and it consisted of the standard fries, gravy and curds but coupled with ground beef, ham and bacon and there must have been other things in there that I couldn’t even identify! The bacon seemed to have hit the frying pan for one second and then put into this concoction. Also, the bottom of the poutine became this interesting soup which consisted of the gravy as well as the grease from the bacon and the ground beef.
In the end, the poutine was finished between the two of us, but there was a mound of bacon left on the side and a sick stomach for the rest of the trip! Please don’t try the Navigator poutine on your way down the coast! Blech!
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. It was raining most of the way and when we showed up to the cottage, everyone jumped at the chance to speak with us. Turns out that it had been raining all week and there was a case of cabin fever coming over everyone!
Spent the rest of the night having a great time drinking some homemade beer as well as playing some guitar with John. I also showed Vero the excellent trailer that we would be living in for the next few nights. Favourite moment of the day was dropping by Eric and Kay’s and Vero says “Wow, you have a nice big deck.” and Eric says “I have a nice big WHAT?!” Hilarity ensued.
The next day turned out to be the best of the week. We brought the sunshine with us! Everyone was excited. Uncle Gerry hopped on the bike as soon as dawn hit and I don’t remember seeing him all day!
Dad brought me up the hill on the ATV. It’s quite the steep hill and I’m glad she showed me the ropes before bringing Vero out on it. I think I would have a lot of fun ATVing around Gaspe. Supposedly there are great trails going for 100km.
That afternoon we went downtown with Maureen and John to see a street festival. It was quite fun but hit legendary status when we noticed some street performers called Papirock (sp?). They dressed up like old people and played music and acted just plain silly. It was amazing. We were trying to figure out how to hire them for Maureen and John’s wedding!
John and I modeling some Lucha Libre masks.
In the evening, we headed to Nanny Ruth’s 80th birthday party at the Legion. I have never been to a louder event in my life! I couldn’t figure out if it was due to the amount of people there, or the fact that 80% of them had hearing aids! Incredible! We had a great time and it’s always great to see Nanny have a good time. I think she is quite like me…loves to entertain and chat with friends.
We headed back to Ottawa with Maureen and John in tow. I had a good laugh when we were commenting on the town names in Quebec along the coast and John said “I bet this town has something to do with either a mountain or a Saint.” Turns out it was St-Anne-Des-Monts!
It was quite the long trip and we decided to take the Northern route over Montreal. Not sure which is the better option to be honest considering there was a lot of construction going on. I think the entire family was happy when we ended up back in Ottawa!
While London burns, I have been thinking of burning something around me.
A nest of yellowjackets.
Last week I spied a couple of holes in the backyard with some flies roaming around it. Not thinking much of it, I ignored it until a few days later when I got a closer look at it and realized that it must have been more than your average housefly…they were yellowjackets.
Research has shown that yellowjackets tend to find holes dug out by rodents and build nests into the ground. Not unlike a hornet or wasp, these suckers are meant for one thing…and that one thing is to sting.
I started drowning the ‘jackets hoping that would do the trick but the water just kept going in after an hour…damn drought! In the meantime, when I went to get the hose, I felt a piercing pain on my left calf. It got me!
I ran like a bat out of hell from the area and I started to panic. As far as I can remember, I have never been stung by an insect so I had no idea if I’m allergic or not. I ran inside the house to get Vero in case I would start losing my breath. She sat me down and asked “Well, can you breathe?” and I realized that I am not allergic! She took a credit card to remove the stinger (which we found out does not happen with yellowjackets) and put some ice on it.
Now the plan had to begin to get rid of these pests.
After much reading, I discovered the trick is to go out at night when they are all in the nest sleeping. So Friday night Vero and I bundled up in all manners of clothing in case they tried to sting us. I didn’t really know what to expect. The day before, there were dozens of ‘jackets flying around when I was hosing them down. How many would there be at 11:30 at night?
In the end, we assaulted them with some hornet spray AS WELL AS some foam which is supposed to kill the nest. I think I may have seen ONE ‘jacket in the grass which I sprayed.
That was that! I was surprised at how easy it was.
The next day I spied from afar our handiwork and realized that there were two gaping empty holes where the foam had done its business. Mission accomplished!
Later on in the day, I decided to get proactive and dig out the nest as I had read that if you leave the nest, other yellowjackets can fly in and make another home. So I figured I would quickly grab the shovel, test the ground and fill it in.
Of course, here I was in the plain daylight with my flip flops and shorts not thinking there was any danger. There was no activity around the area. I dig a little here, dig a little there and no problems are encountered. I was smart enough to grab the remainder of the spray cans.
Lo and behold, I decided to move my shovel a little to the right and I hear a crunch. In an instant a swarm of yellowjackets erupts from the ground willing to go in for the kill. That kill was me!
Armed with the spray, I unload the can in 2 seconds (guess there wasn’t much left!) and foam the suckers! However in the meantime they manage to sting my ankle as well as crawl up my shorts and sting my thigh! Argh! I’m in pain, Vero is coming out to ask me something and I’m warning her to stay away. In the end I admitted defeat as I had run out of foam and it was just too dangerous to stay.
A couple of days later I spy into the hole and I don’t see anything moving. I’m not falling for this trick again so I foam the hole again just in case. I wait until dusk and take the shovel to the hole ever so gently but in the end, nothing happens. I guess the rest of the foam I unleashed on this swarm killed them.
My only fear now is that there are still a few yellowjackets roaming the area after I scared them out of their nest and then subsequently foamed it. With nothing to return to, they may very well try and find another home…hopefully not around the house!
That was my first adventure with yellowjackets and it wasn’t pleasant at all! But I hope I got the best of them.
iplaying – Here Tomorrow Gone Today – Lifehouse (Smoke and Mirrors)
