I Found My Camera Charger!

So I was finally able to download my pics onto my computer. Here are some of the things that have happened during the abscence of the charger.

Get-together at Ian and Jodi's house. Somehow in the process of wearing all of his hats at once Jodi's mitten was lost forever.

Xavier Rudd concert. Left to right in first row: Elaine, Guillaume, Dave. Second row: Katie, Jodi, Jose, Derrick's arm (I accidentally cut the rest of him out.)

Joey's birthday tiara

One of Joey's many birthday shots (which eventually led to birthday vomit)

Chaos

I went to Banff on Saturday night to see K-Os with Cory and some of his friends. The concert was at Wild Bills, which seemed odd. We had dinner and drinks at Cory's place in Canmore before squishing into a cab and heading to Banff. We continued drinking when we got to the bar, with the end result of everyone being extremely hammered.

Although the venue wasn't the best, the concert was great. K-Os put on a good show, although he didn't play Crabbucket, which is a kick-ass song in my opinion.

I woke up this morning feeling really good, and wishing I had brought my ski gear with me. The story from everyone who had gone was that the hills are in really good shape. Oh well, I'll head out next weekend, or perhaps sometime this week. At least I can feel good about the fact that I practiced some restraint.

Holy Fuck!

I went to see the Cat Empire tonight and they managed to overtake Gogol Bordello as the best concert I have ever seen! They were absolutely bitchin'!

Catching Up

Since I've been a Debbie Downer lately I have not even had the gumption to blog. For a while my excuse was that I had forgotten my camera at Katie's house and didn't have any pictures to put up, but that excuse ran-out as of Wednesday. Excuses expired, photos in hand, spirits high and a lot of wine in body, I can now catch up with what I've been neglecting.

Last Friday, a week ago (that's how far behind I am), I met up with the ladies for a few martinis downtown at Escoba. It was good girl-talk time, and of course it turned to sex eventually... because I talk too much and don't have the social limits that others do. Good times were had by all.

From left to right: me, Tamara (gimpy shoulder and all), Katie and Anne

After I left the girls I met up with Guillaume who had an extra ticket to the Matt Costa concert at the Liberty Lounge. I had not heard Matt Costa's stuff before but I really like it. I will be sure to buy a cd very soon.

Great shot of Guillaume!

Matt Costa

Hob Nobbing in Santa Barbara

Sorry, this will be an extended post as I'm going to do the whole trip in one go. I know I tend to be a little long-winded so there are some of you who are not even going to read this part... I know who you are, you lazy shits who only look at the pictures (Dino!) Those of you who are still reading, thanks, and I'll keep it to the important stuff. Also, I'm making it photo-heavy for those of you who picture-only people.

I arrived at the cutest little airport ever in Santa Barbara on Thursday at 11:30 pm. Pete was there to pick me up and it was unbelievably wonderful to see him again. We took a drive through some of the ritzy neighbourhoods of Montecito and sat at the beach outside of the Four Seasons Biltmore Hotel for a bit before going back to his Dad's house and hitting the hay.

The next morning we slept far too late, then got up and had breakfast outside, with the most incredible view ever. Pete Sr. and Emily (Pete's dad and stepmom) have a beautiful house up on a hill overlooking the Pacific. They have a patio set out front, and this is where we had breakfast every morning. Definitely a lifestyle I could get used to pretty quick.

After breakfast we went for lunch with Pete's brother Gary, who works from home. Gary went back to work and we went for coffee and then to the beach. The water was beautiful and so was the beach. Post-beach we picked up Gary again and went back to Chez Dempster for Burger Night. The burgers were accompanied by a LOT of wine, and we proceeded to put a dent into Mr. Dempster's Cabernet Sauvignon collection.



Bird taking a bath at the Garden Market cafe at Parado Beach.

Pretty fountain and statue at the Garden Market

My Petey at the Garden Market

Me at the Garden Market

Two-thirds of the Dempster brothers (shamelessly promoting their dad's wine)















Saturday morning Pete and I got up and had breakfast overlooking the Pacific again, and then went for a nice hike in the mountains behind the house. We came home, had lunch, got clean and headed out for the Foo Fighter's concert at the Santa Barbara Bowl. While standing outside having a beer before the concert we had a good view of the back-stage entrance area. We were
just sipping and chatting when this guy on a Harley drove up to the gate. Pete and I looked at each other, both said "Was that...?" and then, "Yeah, I think it was!" We still weren't sure until the concert started and Dave Grohl walked out. Sure enough, it was him.

The concert was friggin' amazing! The Santa Barbara Bowl is this big amphitheatre in the hills that overlooks the ocean. There's not a bad seat in the house, we certainly weren't complaining about our 11th row-center seats! Santa Barbara was the last show of the Foo Fighters' acoustic tour and it was very clear they had perfected things. The sound was amazing, and Dave Grohl was hilarious. The mandolin and violin-playing chick also sang a couple of songs and she was phenomenal.

After the show we got some Thai take-out and then went to bed. Another typical epic day with Pete.



The breakfast view














Pete and Mr. Dempster enjoying morning coffee












Us mid-hike

Pete mid-hike

Me mid-hike

There were lizards everywhere, but they're cute, so it's okay

Disgustingly cute picture of Pete and I

Pete at the concert

Me at the concert

Me at my 11th-row seat!

The Foo Fighters













The next morning we got up and had brunch with Mr. and Mrs. Dempster. Then we went over and picked up Gary and Sandie (Pete's sister-in-law) and went for lunch at the Garden Market and then to the beach. After the beach we had sushi and then left for LA.

The purpose for the journey to LA was to see DJ David Mancuso spin in the ballroom of the Queen Mary. What can I tell you, it was again "epic." The Queen Mary is such a surreal place to be, walking on the same wood decks that carried people across the Atlantic so long ago. Mancuso was the epitome of oozing cool by being extremely un-cool. He had a big beer gut, a scruffy beard and greasy hair. He didn't fuss with mixing the songs, just simply put on the record and stood back and waited for the next. He didn't even have a bit of skip in his step or groove in his heart. Different than anything I'd ever seen before.



Gary, Pete and Sandie at Parado Beach

Pete and I at Parado Beach

Cool stacked rocks

Pete and Sandie on the beach

Cute little shore bird

Pete, Gary and Sandie on the Queen Mary

Pete and I on the Queen Mary

Pete on the Queen Mary... how cool is that???

Me on the Queen Mary

All of us on the Queen Mary, with Long Beach in the background

Gary and Sandie

Pete and I

Goofy shot of the gang

DJ David Mancuso

Dancing!

After the show on the Queen Mary we stayed at the Long Beach Hilton. We slept extremely late (past check-out, in fact) on Monday morning. As we realized we were going to be very late for our afternoon barbecue engagement, we decided to take our time making it back to Santa Barbara. We had lunch in Santa Monica and then shopped and people-watched on the Promenade. From there we continued along Highway 1 through Malibu and eventually back to Santa Barbara. Dinner was just ready when we arrived back at Chez Dempster and it was uber-delicious! After dinner, ping-pong ensued. Apparently the French are really good at ping pong, which was evident as Sandie handily kicked everyone's asses. I was not good at all, I think I'm going to stick to biking and skiing.

I have come to learn that if you live in California, and particularly in wine country, you know your stuff about wine. And you drink it a lot. I was fortunate enough to get a chance to try a lot of great wines. Monday night, while hosting Jeff Fink, one of Tantara Winery's winemakers, Mr. Dempster pulled out a very expensive bottle. I smelled it and immediately picked up on something very strange. I didn't want to be rude or naive, so I whispered to Pete "it smells like poop." He kinda chuckled and we continued drinking it. Then Mr. Dempster and Jeff began discussing it. Apparently I was quite right to pick out the poop smell, which they likened to a horse. I was informed that this is a natural yeast which is considered a flaw in wine, but has become acceptable of late. I was so proud of my nose!

Street performer in Santa Monica

The Promenade in Santa Monica

Tuesday was to be my last day in Santa Barbara, or Fantasy World, as I like to call it. Pete and I slept in again and had our last breakfast out on the lawn. We finished some things up around the house and I packed up all of my stuff. Sandie had given us some gift certificates from the Enterprise Seafood Company so we went down there for lunch. I ate a lot of fish and actually enjoyed it. We met Sandie for coffee after lunch. As we were getting up to leave, this little man with a crazy long white beard said "I had such great models, and now you're leaving!" He had been drawing a caricature of Sandie and I and said he was almost finished, so we stuck around until he was done. I then went back to the cutest little airport on earth and sadly came back home. Alas, Pete and I will surely see each other again soon, but not soon enough.

Pete petting the caricature-man's dog, Roxy. She was in absolute ecstasy.












Santa Barbara from the air

Fog pouring over one of the Channel Islands

I don't think I need to comment on this

Wilco

Went to see Wilco at MacEwan Hall last night. Enjoyable time, but I must say that the highlight of the night was driving my new car. It's such a joy! Don't forget to get your suggestions in for the nameless car. My engineer's wife had a baby yesterday and they named him Otto... I like it a lot but it's a little too obvious for a car.

Wilco

Da Laydeez at Wilco: Katie, Tamara and Anne

Torpedo, Crows, Poking and Pork

What are "things I have been up to the last 2 days" Alex? Yes, that is correct Kate.

On Sunday night Tamara, Dan, Rob, Katie and I went to see the Black Crows at the Jubilee Auditorium. I was just as excited to see the opening band, Matt Mays and El Torpedo, as I was to see the main act. I had seen them open for Blue Rodeo last summer and then as headliners at the Whiskey this winter and they always put on a good show. Not to mention the fact that they are a bunch of maritimers, the quirky keyboard player is from New Brunswick!!! Way to represent! They were really good as usual, playing some new stuff that I really liked. I'm looking forward to a new cd from them.

The Black Crows did not disappoint. They were the consummate rockers, with their bell bottom jeans, long stringy hair and lots of guitar. We all agreed that there were a few too many long guitar solos and the sound could have been a bit better, but overall it was a good show. As I have never been a fan to the point of owning any of their albums, there was a lot of stuff they played that I had never heard. But they finished off the show with a bunch of their big hits, my favorite being "She Talks to Angels." It was a blast from the past, bringing me back to junior high school dances... I guess I do actually have some fond memories of those years.

Today was my first acupuncture appointment. I really liked it! The acupuncturist (I'm not sure if that's an actual word or not) was awesome. She was extremely thorough with my medical background and really got to the root of the problem. She seems to genuinely care about what's going on in my life and is really eager to help me find some solutions. The treatment was pretty cool. It didn't hurt at all and I was able to really relax, something that I don't do very often. She placed the needles down either side of my spine, targeting the different organs. She concluded that I was extremely tense (something I already knew) and that redness occurred around the needles that targeted my heart, liver and kidneys. According to Chinese medicine, the heart and liver indicate problems with emotion and stress and the kidneys are where we hold fear. No surprises there! I have another appointment on Friday where she is going to take a look at my tongue and my pulse to figure out some other stuff that might be going on and suggest some herbal supplements to help out. I'm very much looking forward to it.

I came home long enough to put on a pair of jeans and grab Omar and then went over to Katie's for dinner. She made pork with mushrooms, capers and olives in a chicken broth, asparagus, and salad with pine nuts, strawberries and feta cheese. Yummy! It's always nice to have dinner with some friends rather than alone on my couch, and the food was much better than anything I've been motivated to cook lately. We'll have to do it more often.

Tomorrow, massage then running!

Matt Mays and El Torpedo







Beautiful view from the Jubilee Auditorium. Spring is finally here... although I drove home in the snow tonight.








Katie, Dan, Rob and Tamara during intermission.








The Black Crows rockin' out.