Normally, I complete my memes either towards the end of an entry, or somewhere in the middle. Since I have lots to say today, I'm doing them now.

It's another fun week of doing Theatre Thursday:

• What moment from what movie still makes you laugh out loud - no matter how many times you see it?
  That's kind of tough. I laugh at practically everything! I'm drawing a blank. I'd probably answer this one a lot better if I had more sleep. I laughed a lot watching Mambo Italiano when his parents found out that Angelo was gay. His father kept saying that they should have given their son hockey lessons growing up. He was also talking about "the village". Mom asked dad, "How come you know so much about the village?" It's funnier to see than my describing it, for the parents had that traditional, old-world, stereotypical Italian mentality.

• What moment from what movie still makes you cry like a baby - no matter how many times you see it?
  I always cry at the end of Dead Poets Society. It's also predictable for me to cry when Todd Anderson successfully "writes" a poem up with the help of Mr Keating.

• What moment from what movie made you actually turn your head from the screen - either in fear, revulsion, or contempt for the fact that you actually paid money to see the film?
  Any scene that seems rather gory to me. For example, in Face/Off, when the camera was showing Troy's face (I think... it's been several years since I last watched the flick) being slowly ripped/peeled off, I had to look away.

BONUS: What is one single moment from a film that is indelibly etched in your brain? Not a scene or a sequence exactly, but three or four seconds from a movie that contain an image or phrase or concept that transcends normal movies?
In Hannibal, when he was taking slices of a victim's frontal lobe and frying it in a pan for consumption. I can't get rid of that scene from my mind.

Thursday also means the Thursday Threesome is available for answering:

• Onesome: If-- Ever hear of that guy Murphy? If you have a story that can add to his legacy, can you share it here?
  Let's see if I can think of a from-bad-to-worse story. Well, over a year ago, I went to my doctor for a routine checkup. X-rays were done and it was found that one of my lungs was two-thirds filled with fluid. Went into the hospital, and stayed there for six days to drain it with medication and to figure out the cause. I spent my stay with folks who were generally much older than I was.

• Twosome: it can-- What is it that you can never remember to get correct? Is it which way to turn the wrench to loosen the screw? How about directions to that one restaurant? ...or maybe it's people's names? What is it you call for assistance on?
  I can never figure out where to turn to drop friends off. I don't really suck at road directions or anything. It's more the fact that I drop them off maybe once or twice a year, so I don't visit their neighbourhoods often. They're nice by letting me know where to turn, but it's kind of embarrassing at times.

• Threesome: go wrong...-- ..and the big finish: what was the last thing you had go so gloriously wrong that all you could do was just stare in awe at the aftermath? I mean, come on, you can tell us <g>...
  Probably changing one of my windshield wipers a few weeks back. I took off the broken one and tried to install the replacement one. I struggled with it for a bit. My dad came over and did the same thing. Finally, after maybe ten minutes of tinkering over such an easy task, we decided to use the old hinge and snap the new wiper on it. Yep, that worked. If it weren't for my dad, I'd probably be driving around with a missing wiper, or the broken one.

My guess-a-hump answer yesterday was... yes, my Madonna concert ticket. If I knew where my digital camera USB cable was, I would have taken a picture of it and would have a picture for folks to see. Everything I own seems to be in boxes right now. I'll post it one of these days.

After I had posted my guess-a-hump, I thought that a number of answers would work, such as tickets from movie premieres, musicals, ballets, etc. I'm not great at this game. It is fun, though.

What did I do last night? Well, I'll tell you.

After work, I went to pick up my friend and then head downtown. I had to find a bank, and passed by a Loblaws. Perfect! I have a PC Financial account, so I took out some money there. I was in my old neighbourhood of the Beaches (or the Beach, as it's now called... have a tough time getting used to that). There was a moose craze a few years ago, where each moose statue, I suppose, was placed in different parts of Toronto and painted. The moose outside Loblaws had sites that represented the Beach -- the life house, Kew Gardens, the forestation, ... it was nicely done. I'll have to remember to bring my camera over there and snap a picture of it. Seems weird to bring a camera to a grocery store, but the moose was painted nicely.

I ended up driving along Lake Shore Boulevard. In my lifetime, I don't think I've driven that stretch more than six times. I either take Eastern Avenue or am on the Don Valley Parkway. Anyway, it was busy, but flowing nicely for 18:00 or so in the evening. I parked next to the Air Canada Centre (ACC). Parking was fairly expensive at $25. My friend paid for it, so that helped me out. It was humid (supposed to be 38ºC with the humidity factored in), so we didn't bother finding cheaper parking farther away. We were next to the Flight Deck, which is the entrance that leads to you one of the gates of the ACC and a walkway to Union Station. The Flight Deck is the practice court of the Toronto Raptors basketball team. The Maple Leafs also play hockey at the ACC.

So, outside the gates, Madonna merchandise was everywhere. I did my ritual at concerts of buying a t-shirt. It's rare that I buy merchandise before a show. I normally do that afterwards. I wanted one white t-shirt with Madonna on it, but I thought that the large wouldn't fit me, which happened to be the largest size available for that style. I went with a black shirt in XL. Last night, I tried it on, and it's fairly roomy. Perhaps I should have bought the first t-shirt in a large. Oh well. I also got a tour book. The tour book that I got back in 1990 cost me $30. Madonna's current tour book is $40. The increase isn't so bad when you look at it that way. Still, it gets expensive to see such a concert. My view is that I don't see her often, so I might as well shell out a bit of money to keep me content with such lovely souvenirs.

We headed back to my car so I could put my newly purchased souvenirs away. There are perks to parking so close.

The downside to the ACC's location is that it's located in the heart of Toronto's business district. After six at night, very little is open. Sure, we could have had dinner at a fast food joint in the train station. It was packed, though, and we wanted a quieter place to eat and chat. After walking a bit north on Bay Street, we were pleased that a restaurant called Far Niente. was open It's a bit pricy, but the food there is amazing. I ordered tiger shrimp with udon noodles. I highly recommend it. We got our food in ten to fifteen minutes. Fast! I guess it's used to folks going to concerts or theatre performances. I was impressed. Even better, if that's possible, is their dessert menu. Yes! I had a molten chocolate cake that was flourless. I was in heaven. It was an expensive $9. It was worth every dollar for all the high-quality chocolate that was packed into it.

I've noticed over the years that whenever I'm dining with a guy, that the server gives the bill to the guy. Last night, the guy gave it to me and asked if that was correct. I was pleasantly surprised that he anticipated well. Needless to say, he got a good tip.

The restaurant has a nice restroom. It has a small mirror in each stall, and ribbons that decorated each roll of toilet paper. I've never seen those features in a public restroom before. I liked that added touch.

We left the restaurant at 19:45 and headed back to the ACC. The concert was supposed to start at 20:00, but I don't recall any of her previous concerts starting on time. Security is interesting. The guards there weren't asking folks to open their backpacks or purses for illegal drugs, guns, or weapons. If you had a bottle of water, you had to discard it. The place wants you to buy their expensive water instead of bringing your own. I didn't bring any water, so I was fine.

We found our seats and sat down at around 20:05. We were on the first floor where the seats are starting to rise and were seated just left of centre stage. Pretty good seats, as I didn't had a choice when booking online. I was thrilled to get tickets, frankly!

The show started maybe forty minutes later. The crowd did a successful wave a few times around the place. I enjoy observing what folks wear to concerts. Some folks do not know how to dress up. Some women were wearing tops that were three sizes smaller than what they should be wearing. To be polite, it was unflattering to witness, for things that shouldn't be popping out wanted to and had their agenda (by the way, agenda is plural and gets mistaken these days for being singular... agendum is its singular form... another minor annoyance of mine). You have your typical Madonna fans dressed up in wedding dresses, western outfits, skimpy skirts and such. I've never been into that sort of thing. I'm more into comfort.

I did admire a few guys wearing kilts. They looked great in them. I want a kilt, too!

Madonna's setlist doesn't change from city to city. Some will argue that it's better to have a standard setlist and change the encore songs a bit. I think it was smart for her to be consistent no matter where she performs. You don't have to struggle with figuring out what to sing or do. I do miss the planned encore, though. There wasn't a begging-for-more-music period. Still, it was fine.

On the whole, the folks in my row were polite. I didn't care much for the guy next to me who was screaming every minute and then leaving to either hit the washroom or buy some more beer. The screaming got so bad that I literally had to stick my finger in my right ear, for its drum was aching more after each scream.

It started off with her "The beast within" monologue, with an accompanying video in the background. She appeared on stage and started "Vogue". The platform was smack in the middle of the stage, and slowly raised itself. She did a handstand as one of the poses. There's hope for me when I'm in my forties to do that, I suppose.

Similar to the Jann Arden concert, Madonna belted out song after song. The screens were amazing with all the graphics. The Canadian flag appeared on the main screen, behind her and her dancers, during "American Life". Lots of cheers from the crowd -- I did so, too. It was a huge production, with a v-shaped catwalk above a bunch of lucky fans. Cool.

I liked her use of a moving walkway again -- very effective use of it. I also liked her pulling out an electric guitar for "Burning up". Oldies can be goodies, you know. She also did "Nothing fails" on an acoustic guitar. Loved that!

It has been said in a few reviews that the circus-themed part of the concert was weak. I thought it was perfect. Perhaps I'm a biased fan. It was nice to see breakdancers and skateboarders. I think you needed a cute rendition of "Hanky panky". Yes, it's not my favourite song of hers, but it suited the theme well.

I enjoyed her singing "Don't tell me" with the Verve's violin and drums from "Bittersweet symphony" superimposed. Brilliant. Sheer brilliance.

"Get into the groove" was amazing, too. Lots of bagpipes and kilts. Of course, her ending her concert with "Holiday" is always a crowd-pleaser. Tons of red-and-white confetti were dropped on everyone. They did the catwalk thing again, too. Being the huge fan that I am, I took some confetti home.

She said some cool things throughout the show, although she was the least talkative out of all the concert artists I've seen so far this year. She dedicated "Crazy for you" for "All the fans who have supported [her] for the last twenty years." That was nice. It hit me that I've been a fan of hers for that long last night.

She didn't want the night to end, wanting to stay in Toronto for a month and asking us to stage a protest. She suggested that she could sing all her songs, which would last for hours. She also made fun of herself. Citing a few lyrics from "American life", she made these remarks:

• Do I have to change my name?
  "Well, I've already done that. Don't call me Esther! All because I've changed my name doesn't mean that you have to call me by it."
• Am I gonna be a star?
  "You think?"

It was hilarious afterwards when she blurted out, "This is so unprofessional. I don't give a f*ck!" Cute.

I think she's likes Toronto. She went to the Sick Children's hospital a couple of days ago to visit the kids there and read stories. That was a nice gesture by her.

Madonna sang a cover of John Lennon's "Imagine". His picture was on the stage's screen for a bit, receiving huge cheers. She wished that she had written the song, and hoped that there would one day be peace throughout the world.

I had a blast last night. I've now seen her in concert three times. The first one will always be memorable for me, as it was my first big concert. Last night's Re-invention tour is my favourite out of the three. She gets better and better. t was a great mix of songs. I sang along to every one of them. It was worth the effort and money to see her again.

Here's the setlist. I got it from my tour book this morning!

• The beast within (spoken word)
• Vogue
• Nobody knows me
• Frozen
• American life
• Express yourself
• Burning up
• Material girl
• Hollywood (instrumental)
• Hanky panky
• Deeper and deeper
• Die another day
• Lament
• Bedtime story
• Nothing fails
• Don't tell me
• Like a prayer
• Mother and father
• Imagine
• Get into the groove
• Papa don't preach
• Crazy for you
• Music
• Holiday

I drove my friend home. Mix 99.9 had a Madonna-thon of songs, so we sang to that (well, me, really) in the car. I got home at 00:16. Went to bed at 01:38. Got up at 07:00. Surprisingly, I'm still awake. I can make it through today. As long as I have my diet Coke with a bit of caffeine, I'll be okay.

My chiropractor yesterday asked what was new with me. I told him that I was going to the Madonna concert. We seem to talk about music a lot. He asked me, "What kind of music do you like?' I like all sorts. It seems like an easy way of answering such a question, but it's true. I told him about John Mayer. He thought I was into strictly into blues. Nope, I like a good mix. Variety is good. I told him that I'm all over the map. I like music. As long as I have access to it, I'm pleased.

Well, I should get back to editing that hardware guide. I got some comments back from my quality assurance-trainer colleague. That will help me out a lot.

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Song that's stuck in my head: Madonna's "Burning up"
Yummy food eaten today: Rice noodles with beef
What I crave: More sleep

Recent thoughts:
Readings, lights, and random thoughts - 2009-03-15
Thoughts about work, school, and peeps - 2009-03-09
Working from home and a mini life update - 2008-12-19
The weekend is here! - 2008-01-06
A new year - 2008-01-01