It’s Gonna be a Great Week!
A few years ago I published a portion of My Bucket List and while I still hold true to the items on that list, I left a few very important items off and this week I am fulfilling two from my (unpublished) bucket list.
#1 – Jury Duty – That’s right. I am the lame-o chick who’s always wanted to fulfill her civic duty and a month ago my name got drawn…I’ve been called for jury duty. Whoo hoo!
Well, technically I’ve been called to jury duty selection but we’ll keep our fingers crossed on that. I’m looking forward to it.
#2 – See Lynyrd Skynyrd in concert.
Blue Rodeo, Lynryd Skynyrd, The Band (and the New Kids on the Block, clearly) are all bands on my bucket list. And I’ve been fortunate enough to have seen Blue Rodeo (several times AND meeting Jim Cuddy) and NKOTB
Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy and a crazy fan
New Kids road trip to Montreal – Dream Come True (that’s me with the red necklace)
Unfortunately, since half of The Band is deceased, it saddens me that that dream won’t become a reality (thank goodness for The Last Waltz).
But, next weekend I’ll be front and center with Lynyrd freakin’ Skynyrd!! Color this girl EXCITED!
Keep your fingers crossed for me on the jury selection. 🙂 And tell me…what’s on your bucket list?
Cheers.
RIP James Gray
It was a shocker yesterday when I heard of James Gray’s sudden death. Mr. Gray was the former keyboardist for Blue Rodeo. Gray suffered a fatal heart attack while walking home after a performance in Toronto on Monday. He was 52. Those who know me know that I am huge Blue Rodeo fan. I love them. They’re my favorite band (to the point where friends have been sending me condolence emails and messages on Gray’s passing. And that I read of his death on Blue Rodeo drummer Glenn Milchem’s Facebook wall).
RIP James. You were a great Canadian talent.
In honor of his passing I’m going to introduce (or, for some, reintroduce) you to some great Canadian music. You’ve probably heard of Bryan Adams (I mean, who hasn’t??), Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Corey Hart, The Band (at least a good portion is Canadian), Bieber (although, some of us are trying to forget this one)…but I’m sure there are tons of great Canadian artists out there that you haven’t heard of. And Canadian music, although not thought of as mainstream, is friggin’ rockin’!
So, that being said, for Mr. Gray, here is one of my favorite Blue Rodeo songs.
Stay tuned….
~Cheers
Songs of My Youth
Back in the summer of 1991 when I was a mere 8th grader, I fell in love with a song of the summer….I’ll Be There by The Escape Club.
The song was probably the saddest I’d heard….I think it’s still the saddest today, right up there with Pull Me Through by Jim Cuddy. It’s a terribly heart-breaking song and it and the movie “Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead” are the two things that remind me of that summer…if nothing else, I have those two memories.
Back in that summer, long before iTunes and downloading music, I would sit in my room Sunday mornings and listen to the weekly countdown with my stereo ready so that I could record the songs I liked. I had a little notepad which I would write the name of the song and the artist(s) and then I would either color-code or number the tape (yes, tape, not CD, not MP3) with the corresponding song list. I was very cool.
But I loved that song. I fell in love with The Escape Club. The song resonated with me deeply at the time as a neighborhood kid had died after being hit by a car while riding his bike. He’s just graduated. To me, at that time, this song was meant for him. I cried every time I heard it. I have thought about the song here and there but hadn’t heard it in so many years (although I still have all of those mixed tapes, I need to find a decent tape deck that will play songs smoothly without dragging or unwinding them). Then one day a week or so ago it sorta just popped into my head. Not necessarily the song or the melody but the memory of it. And yesterday I downloaded it. As soon as it started those feelings came welling back up. Those sad, heartbreaking feelings of loneliness and loss and devastation were right there on the surface and before I knew it there were tears in my eyes.
It’s funny how our minds and our hearts work like that. A song I haven’t listened to in close to 20 years still has the same emotional impact on me as it did back in 1991.
And I guess it seemed sort of fitting that I played that song on a morning when I woke to news that another young musical talent has left this world. RIP Cory Monteith. You helped change the world’s views on school choirs and glee clubs.
Cory Monteith
~Cheers
The JUNO CUP Runneth Over
So, somehow I missed the Juno Awards this past Sunday night. The Junos are kinda like the Canadian version of the Grammy Awards. Canada has a lot musical talent and we like to recognize that. I’m a huge supporter of Canadian music (Blue Rodeo is my fave) and I don’t know what I was doing or what rock I was living under the last few weeks because I honestly had no clue the show was scheduled to be on…..I think maybe I’ve been catching up on The Walking Dead a little too much.
But, missing the Juno Awards also means I missed the Juno Cup. (The Juno Cup is a yearly hockey game held in conjunction with the Juno Awards, first conducted at the 2004 Juno Awards. The games match National Hockey League alumni with artists and entertainers as a charitable benefit for MusiCounts, a music education charity operated by the CARAS. The Juno Cup has helped raise more than $700,000 for MusiCounts (formerly known as the CARAS Music Education Program) which in turn supported music programs across Canada. Each game features a team of current or former NHL players (NHL Greats) who competes against a team composed of musicians (The Rockers). The NHL Greats have won each Juno Cup except in 2009.)
I love the Juno Cup…it’s a fun experience and the money raised goes to charity, and since my main man Jim Cuddy (of Blue Rodeo, duh) has often been a team captain of the Rockers, of course I’m always stoked to watch. So obviously I’m a little bitter that I missed it.
So, imagine my delight when I received an email from the Blue Rodeo website (yes, I’m a dork huge fan) with some highlights from the Cup, including this great Locker Room Rock Out to “Life is a Highway” to honor the great Tom Cochrane.
Great idea and made my evening (well, that AND a few drinks with the girls). And you can see for yourself that drunken, sweaty, just-played-a-crazy-game-of-hockey-for-charity-before-an-awards-show Canadians certainly are talented.
Cheers!
Reasons Why Norman Reedus and I Should Be Friends
So, now that I’ve given in to Blair and Jesse suggesting I watch The Walking Dead, I’ve gotten over my fear of the Zombie Apocalypse taking over my home and I’m completely obsessed with addicted to obsessed with the show and am doing my best to play catch up with the episodes.
And can I just say that I’ve totally jumped on the Daryl Dixon bandwagon.
The dude is completely badass and, the same way I feel that Drew Barrymore and I should be friends, I fully believe that Norman Reedus and I should be buddies (I loved him in Gossip). Here are just a few reasons why:
1) Norman likes to wear a fedora
I like to wear a fedora
2) Norman has a titanium eye-socket (a result from a car accident in 2005)
I just had eye surgery
3) Norman likes to flip off the camera
I like to flip off the camera (this is usually following a bottle glass or two of wine
4) Norman takes great group shots with his friends
Steven Yeun, Norman Reedus, Andrew Lincoln
I love taking group shots with my friends
I’m the bookend on the left
Still the bookend on the left
5) Norman can rock a tiara
I can rock a tiara AND I’m already kind of a princess
6) Norman makes this face
Bitch please, I’m always making this face
7) Norman takes pictures of his cat
I’m eventually gonna end up the crazy cat lady
8) Norman wears cool concert Tees
Jim Cuddy totally signed my concert shirt
9) Norman likes to stick out his tongue
I find absolutely nothing wrong with it
10) Norman likes to give rabbit ears
Amy yelled at me after this photo was taken
11) Norman likes to wear sunglass…a lot
I never leave home without them
The bigger, the better
12) Norman and his friends know how to take a good pic
I like to train my peeps
13) Norman rides a motorcycle
I had a dirt bike growing up (which I drove into a guardrail, tore my kneecap half off and was soon fitted for my plastic bubble)
14) Norman parties with Chewbacca
I grew up on Star Wars, plan on naming my first born after his father, HARRISON FORD (Hahaha) and verily believe that the only pet better than my 20 lb cat is a Wookie!
15) THIS PICTURE:
I bought this shirt: https://welcometosandyland.wordpress.com/2013/01/28/here-kitty-kitty/
Well, there you have it….just a few reasons why Norman Reedus and I should definitely be friends. The only reason I won’t be friends with him – this video:
He says “amazing” way too many times and y’all know how I feel about that: https://welcometosandyland.wordpress.com/2013/02/27/1875/ Tsk Tsk.
But Norman is still cool.
Cheers!
Feeling Blue
Last week I, once again, saw my favorite band, Blue Rodeo, in Halifax.
Blue Rodeo in Halifax
If you know me or have been following my blog for several years you will know that I am obsessed with love these guys. These guys have been playing together for more than 25 years (this is actually their 25th Anniversary Tour) – although Jim and Greg have been writing and performing music together since the 70’s – and it was an honor to be a part of this concert experience.
They played to a gracious crowd and, as always, gave an incredible performance. But this concert was different than their other, more high energy concerts (or maybe I was the high energy one). This concert was very intimate.
Jim Cuddy sits at the piano and plays us a tune
A lot of the music was from their upcoming album, tho they did play some of their traditional hits. They shared stories from their experiences from way back when they were releasing their first record and playing their first tours (of course I was already familiar with these stories – being a true fan and all). It was a great night.
My friend Melissa and I had floor seats – as always – and we had a thoroughly enjoyable night. Toward the end of the night the band invited guests to come to the front of the stage and dance and sing and have a blast and, with my shoving her urging, Melissa and I were up and participating with the other hundreds of people on their feet.
Honorable Blue Rodeo guitarist Colin Cripps and the incredible Jim Cuddy.
Blue Rodeo has a history of performing incredible encores. And they did not disappoint this time. They played a few songs, including their hit Lost Together where they stand back and encourage the audience to sing and kinda take over the concert. It’s always so much fun.
Part of their first encore – Lost Together
At the end of their encore set the guys all gave great thanks and exited the stage once again. But, as we’re all gathering up our coats and other belongings something happened….Greg and Jim came back to the stage and sang a beautiful rendition of their “duet” Is It you?. Something unexpected but wonderfully exciting and appreciated. The crowd went wild with applause and cheers.
Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor – second encore
It was such a great night. I love this band. I love their music. I love the energy at their concerts. I love how gracious they are to all their fans and for the continued support over 25 years.
This was one of my favorite of their concerts. The first of course being in 2008 when I finally got to meet Jim Cuddy. Boo Yah!!
If you’re sexy and you know it…(And yes, that’s him on my shirt)
I encourage you to go to YouTube and check them out (Try, Rose-Coloured Glasses, Rain Down On Me, House of Dreams, After the Rain and Jim Cuddy’s Pull Me Through are some of my favorite songs ever) and check out http://www.bluerodeo.com for info, history, sound bites, tour dates and just for kicks.
Cheers!
Blog Challenge #23 – MY CELEBRITY CRUSH
#23 – My Celebrity Crush:
Ahhh….celebrity crushes. We all have them. They’re wonderful little slips on reality and let us drift off to the land of glamour.
I have had a massive celebrity crush on Cole Hauser since I was 15 when I saw him in School Ties. He’s one of those actors who doesn’t get nearly enough recognition or appreciation. He’s so good in everything he does. And he is the reason I originally boycotted Friends back in the day (his show High Incident was on opposite of Friends and couldn’t compete with the ratings of Must See TV and after two superb seasons it was cancelled). He’s been in tons of movies and several tv shows, yet, not nearly enough people know who he is. So I’m telling you: COLE HAUSER IS THE SHIT!!!!
Honoroable mentions:
Scott Caan – I’ve already talked about his Bromance on Hawaii Five-0 and his Golden Globe nomination. He’s so adorable. I enjoy Monday nights with him.
Harrison Ford – Hello!! He is THE MAN. I grew up watching everything Harrison Ford – from Star Wars to Indiana Jones to Hollywood Homicide (*yawn*). He is the King of Hollywood. I love him. He will forever be referred to as “my future husband” (as is how I referred to him in high school and beyond).
Jim Cuddy – The man with the rich voice. I can remember, vividly, the first time I heard Blue Rodeo’s Try. I was 11. It was a song that stopped me in my tracks. I had no idea people could sing like that. And Pull Me Through reignited that flame. I was lucky enough to meet him a few years ago and he was so funny and gracious. I even bought the man a glass of wine. Definitely a highlight of my pathetic little life. 🙂
Cheerio, y’all.
Sandy the Social Butterfly 