The Lazy Sunday Workbook

This past weekend I didn’t do much at all which is the second weekend in a row where I had no big travel plans.  It feels…odd to be at home thinking of things to do.  It is the calm before the storm of midterms next month so I’m taking it in stride.  On Friday Vero came over and we watched a DVD of her Lavalleeville play that she did last year.  It must be strange to see yourself act in a play as you never really get to see how you act.  I found it entertaining and it is a good keepsake.

The most ridiculous part of the DVD was the fact that the actors names weren’t in the credits nor were they found anywhere on the packaging!  Imagine watching a film and not knowing who acted in it!  They had credits for the production team (of course) which I thought was ludicrous.  With a few beer in me, I wrote an email in French to send to the guy who created the DVD and Vero corrected it for me.  I did receive a response the next morning saying the next batch would have the error corrected but one wonders how many of these DVDs they will actually produce.  Methinks this was the one and only batch.

The next morning I got up early to take a look at the Smashing Pumpkins tickets that were on sale.  Here’s a little history on the subject…

I found on Thursday night that the two-day package for the Pumpkins would be on sale on Friday morning at 10AM.  This posed a little dilemma for yours truly as I would be in the middle of a course.  I managed to bring my laptop into the course and had the hotel’s computer in the corner as a backup plan.  At 10AM I excused myself for a few minutes so I could order the two day package.  I couldn’t manage to get the laptop up and running in time so I used the hotel computer and was dismayed to find that they changed the whole setup and I couldn’t get the two day package as a presale that day and even if I wanted one, I needed a password!

Argh!  I scoured message boards and official websites for mention of the password and there was nothing.  Defeated, I returned to the course like a man who had lost his trustworthy dog.  I was in a bad mood for the rest of the morning but picked up after heading to Gooney’s sandwich shop (a shop that I shall forever thank Maren for introducing me to) for a great bite to eat.

When I got home on Friday, I logged on to see if there was any word on the password situation and sure enough, I did find the password and I found out that the two day package was now available as a presale AND they were giving away some bonus unreleased tracks if you ordered the two-day package.

I went to order some tickets and found a ticket in the center floor in Row R.  A quick look confirmed that Massey Hall ends around Row T I believe…so the seats are pretty well at the back.  Hmm…well that isn’t the MOST ideal situation but Massey Hall IS fairly small anyhow.  It would probably be the distance I am in a normal arena concert anyhow.  I did try different methods in the next hour…rechecking the ticket site, calling Ticketmaster, etc. but in the end, I decided to not take the chance and get Row R on the center floor as Vero and I were in the balcony for Our Lady Peace three years ago and I would have much preferred to be on the floor.

I didn’t regret my decision until I posted on a message board my concerns and someone mentioned that they would guarantee I could get better tickets the next day during the regular sale. This put a whole lot of doubt in my head and in the morning I woke up to see if I could get better tickets and thought of what I could do if the case were true.  The only thing I had going for me was the fact that the Pumpkins were selling VIP packages which guaranteed spots in the first 20 rows and if you all know where the letter R stands inside the alphabet, you know I wasn’t too far off from their reserved block of seats anyhow.

In the end, I couldn’t manage to get better seats and I do wonder if there will be better ones opening up later, but I am satisfied that I shall be in Massey Hall to see the Pumpkins play for two nights where no two songs will be duplicated over the two nights!  This 20th anniversary tour shall be fantastic!  PLUS they are selling soundboard recordings from the concerts so I will have a memory of the concert I went to.  I’m really pumped.

Plus it looks like I’ll be able to work from Toronto for the Monday and Tuesday so I don’t have to dip into my holidays.  My old manager managed to get me a workstation for the Monday and she is looking into it for the Tuesday.  Look at me…a big wig working downtown Toronto.  At least I think that’s where the offices are!

All in all, it’s looking to be a great trip for me.

The rest of Saturday was spent helping Vero draft up some questions to ask some Aboriginal veterans that she will be filming this upcoming week in Thunder Bay and Winnipeg.  She will be gone from Tuesday – Sunday so we all know that I am now a free man and there will be a week-long party at Chez Losier/Palmer.  Ha ha, all kidding aside, I hope she has a great time and I think it’s pretty cool that she gets to interview these veterans.

We also watched Air Guitar Nation which I shall write a review about later.

Saturday night we headed out to James and Ferda’s place for a shindig.  I quickly spied Dr. Mario being played so I jumped on that opportunity.  They have a few additional controls to get used to on the Wii but overall I did pretty well (except vs. James who was a master.  Kudos).  We did put in Guitar Hero for the rest of the night and had a hoot playing it, especially the song by Dragonforce.  Thanks to James and Ferda for the great get-together!

iplaying: This Heaven – David Gilmour (On An Island)