Let's get the bad stuff out of the way today, provided that I'm energetic enough to write everything I have to say.

One of my friends in Winnipeg had a bad fall yesterday and was diagnosed in the emergency department at St. Boniface Hospital that he had a broken nose. He broke (no pun intended) the news to me this morning in an e-mail. It's a good thing that I'm returning to my former adopted hometown this weekend. I can see how he's doing.

I said hello to the cheerful receptionist this morning. She informed me that self-centred chick was let go late last night. As much as she had got on my nerves, particularly the first couple of months of her three-month probation period, I grew to like her. Yesterday, I had just cropped three images for her to use in her business proposal. She's gone. I feel bad for her right now.

This will sound really bad, but I asked my manager if I could have her phone and compliance woman (CW) asked if she could have her laptop. Yes, we looked like vultures, but it really was to liven up the atmosphere.

Moving to more cheerful thoughts, I laughed so hard at work when I was trying to help CW with a submission letter yesterday. She had a run-on sentence that consisted of roughly twenty-four words. I read it at least six times out loud and didn't get it. Eventually, we rewrote it, but I could not stop laughing about it. It was horrible. You had to be there.

I did manage to find some information for CW regarding renewing her Ontario driver's licence. She told me that she couldn't find anything on the website. Naturally, I like a good challenge. Since her licence had expired over a year ago, she only has to visit a DriveSafe location and have her vision tested. That's cool. So, I have offered to drive her over there one of these days on our lunch break. The place is open weekdays from 08:30 to 17:00, which is roughly my hours at work, except that I generally stay well past 17:00.

I left work yesterday at 17:05, which has been the earliest departure time for me for months. I backed out of my parking spot with four of my colleagues watching, guiding, and then waving at me. They were helpful.

I was kind of pressed for time last night. Traffic can be pretty bad in this city, particularly heading downtown. I was heading that way and decided to get something fast to eat. I visited a McDonald's drive-thru. Don't ask me what possessed me to go there. I'm going with the notion that I visited the one in the Beaches, reminiscing about going there as a kid.

I am exceptionally polite for someone ordering a Big Mac combo at a drive-thru. I always say please and thanks when I order. Yesterday, that kind of made me a bit sick, but it was a lovely day with all that sunshine.

So, I drove up to the first window and fumbled to find some money to pay for my food. An equally friendly high school student greeted me.

"You have a great car," he told me.
"Oh, thanks!" I said, overly happy to be wearing my sunglasses on a warm and sunny spring day.
"Is it new?" he asked boldly.
"Nope, it's a 1999. It's six years old this month," I said, kind of surprised that my baby Grand Am is getting older.
"You keep it in very good condition," he said. He seemed rather impressed. He then gave me my change.
"Thanks again," I said.

My car and I are inseparable to some degree. It has been good to me.

So, I headed towards the Air Canada Centre (ACC). I normally park next to it. This time, I decided to walk a bit further to make a faster getaway after the show. I parked in the underground lot at BCE Place. I saved $5 doing so, while getting in some exercise walking over there. Mind you, I got even more exercise than I had bargained for. I had to return to my car to get my digital camera.

I waited for my best friend, her boyfriend, and her friend that I have never met in front of the ACC. This must have been around 18:30. I saw the first two. They had been there for forty minutes. CHUM FM dubbed yesterday Duran Duran day. The radio station was giving away a trip to see the band in New York City. You had to obtain a pass. So, we went outside so that I could get mine.

We had to wait for her friend. She's a punctual gal, but I was told that she's not great with directions. We eventually saw her at around 19:00. She had taken a walk around the place. Anyway, it was nice meeting her. All four of us have the same personalities, which was kind of weird and neat all at once.

So, the gals ended up getting t-shirts for souvenirs. They both went with a pink t-shirt. I bought a black one with white and pink lettering. Great t-shirts, I must say. All our shirts went for $40, which is okay. My habit of getting a t-shirt at each concert I attend continues.

All three of them paid me for the tickets right there. It felt like payday yesterday.

We had floor seats, sixteen rows away from the stage. All three of them were impressed by how close they were. I was, too. If only I were this close to the stage for Madonna... oh well. I still had pretty good seats then.

A group came on to warm up a bit. After two songs, they apologized for the "extreme technical difficulties". The band sounded pretty good to me. Unfortunately, they never introduced who they were. Strange.

So, the four of us chatted for a bit after that, eventually sharing a box of popcorn. It must have been 08:30 by the time Duran Duran came on stage. I'm not a big time person these days.

Moments later, all the members of DD came on stage, standing there for at least a minute. The crowd went wild. It was a sold-out show. Folks were up in level four of the joint.

The band kicked off with "(Reach up for the) sunrise". Simon LeBon still looks boyish and cute after all these years. The boys dress so well. My picture-snapping activities took place. Frankly, the band members look great, now that everyone's in their forties.

This is DD's second stop in Canada, ending its Canadian leg tonight in Montreal. Simon comments on how he saw "many beautiful people" in the audience. He went on to say that we looked much better than our "neighbours to the south". We cheered. It's always nice to see folks of the mother country embrace its children.

As for swear words used, the favourite word of the night was the four-lettered word that starts with the letter f and ends in k. Oh, and all its derivatives count, too. To keep this clean, for I reserve my swearing for "special" occasions, I'll substitute the f word with the word fudge, for I'm in the mood for something sweet right now.

Anyway, John came on stage after a saxophone solo and said, "You are loud motherfudgers!" when everyone was screaming. I have missed the on-stage talking and buddy-buddy stuff that John and Simon exchange. Everything from them singing from one microphone, to Simon singing with his arm kind of draped over John's shoulder.

At one stage, Simon mouthed the words, "You are all fudging awesome!" I love his stage presence.

A lot of songs came from Astronaut, DD's latest CD. Probably "Nice" is my favourite song off the album. It's happy, sweet, and it was great hearing it performed.

The most poignant song that DD did was "Come undone". If I had that special someone, I'd be holding him tight during that entire number. "Save a prayer" was cool. Simon urged us to use our lighters, cellphones, digital cameras,... basically anything that emitted light to be pointed at them. Out of the bunch, I had my digital camera with its cool screens (yes, I have two).

My favourite song, "The reflex," was great. Nope, there wasn't a huge wave that came pouring down on us. It would have been fun, though. My friend's favourite DD song is "The chauffeur". I wanted to ask her yesterday, for I never bothered to ask. She beat me to it by saying it after the first few notes were played. Cool.

The end of the show was terrific. The show just kept on getting better. Every member was introduced at that stage. Simon picked out a lucky fan from the audience to introduce him as "the incredibly sexy Simon LeBon." Cute and so true.

Andy Taylor is one heck of a guitarist. He had a cigarette in his mouth a couple of times. I had no idea he smoked. He reminded me of Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones, except that Andy looks much better.

I was so happy to see this white Apple notebook logo by Nick Rhodes. Wonderful. The white case complimented Nick's platinum hair. He looks the same. He has yet to age.

Of course, I cannot forget about the drummer. Roger was in fine form. I have a thing for drummers. They seem so distant, tucked away from everyone, but they aren't really. It was one loud, fun night.

Anyway, when John was introduced by Simon, he started to chant, "Play that fudging bass, John!" Soon, the entire crowd was singing along. It was fun.

The concert ended with "Rio," which apparently is standard. I'm glad that it did. The band brought the house down. Not a single person in there was disappointed.

My friend turned to me at the end of it and said, "I don't want this to end." I couldn't have agreed more with her. It brought back a lot of happy memories and made some more. I had a blast. We were on our feet for 2.5 hours. It didn't feel like it.

Before I forget, here's the setlist:

Duran Duran
Air Canada Centre
April 5, 2005
(Reach up for the) sunrise
Hungry like the wolf
Planet Earth
Hold back the rain
Astronaut
I don't want your love
Come undone
What happens tomorrow
Chains
Tiger tiger
The chauffeur
A view to a kill
Ordinary world
Save a prayer
Bedroom toys
Notorious
Nice
The reflex
Careless memories
Wild boys

Encore:
White lines (don't do it)
Girls on film
Rio

Naturally, my ears were ringing from how loud the music was. We all walked over to Union station after the show, eventually chatting with a couple of mutual acquaintances that were in row 8. She knew someone who worked at Ticketmaster. I didn't do too badly with my tickets.

Well, I hugged my friend, and said goodnight to everyone. My friend's boyfriend offered to walk me to my car, but I said that I'd be okay. That's really the Torontonian in me. I've always felt safe walking late at night by myself, and it all started in this city.

I walked to BCE Place, found my car in the Heritage area (the Hockey Hall of Fame is in this building), and drove out. Funny, but my ears seemed so clogged that I couldn't hear my music. It was like a vicious circle. I had to crank up my music even more to hear it. Funny. It would have been more fun had I had all the windows opened. Nothing like disturbing the peace like I generally do.

I do like driving at night. I left the downtown area at roughly 23:24, and got home at 23:50, doing a conservative 110 km/h on the DVP in a 90 km/h zone. That worked out okay.

I'm so dead today, though. So, if this doesn't make sense now, that's okay. It'll always make sense to me.

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Song that's stuck in my head: Duran Duran's "Nice"
Yummy food eaten today: Teriyaki chicken
What I crave: 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