I woke up at 10:30. I eventually got outside at 11:34 to move my car. My dad runs errands each Saturday morning.

I did a few things around the house before the president's son (PS) called me. He told me that the folks delivering his fridge, washer, and stove were coming between 14:00 and 15:00. I told him to call me after the delivery was done.

During our conversation, he had to put me on hold to answer an incoming call. I don't mind call waiting, except when I'm waiting for a longer period than I had imagined. I must have waited for nearly five minutes before I just hung up. He could call me back. He did about ten minutes later about tonight.

So, the delivery was made. I told him that I had to pick up my Guster tickets at a Ticketmaster. I went to the one in a Food Basics at Markham and Sheppard. The woman had left her store for a bit. I waited for her for no more than five minutes. She wasn't the most friendly woman. I just picked up my tickets, signed for them, and left. I then drove to PS's place. He was walking from Pizza Pizza to his place. I saw him. I had a feeling that I'd get there before he would.

The security guy recognized me and let me through. That was terrific. I parked in the guest lot by backing into a spot. PS and I then went up to his condo. He wanted to show me all the renovations.

His place looks terrific. I took pictures for him. He's so pleased with all the renovations.

PS wanted to get his cats an automatic litter scooper. I suggested going to the pet store in Pickering where he had first seen the product. He said we should go to the pet store in Scarborough Town Centre. I went with it, backing into a parking spot there, too. We went to the store, but the same product wasn't available. I then suggested going to the place in Pickering. He felt bad about his suggestion, but we still had time left to get there.

So, he bought the product in Pickering. We then drove to his dad's house where he is staying while his condo's renovations are taking place to drop the cat product off. He then let me take a look around the house. It's huge and nicely decorated. I was flattered to take a peek.

I then drove us downtown and parked, backing into a space. I seem to do this often as of late.

We went to the Eaton Centre to grab a bite at the food court. We had Arby's and chatted before heading to Massey Hall. There wasn't anything we wanted in the merchandise section, so we proceeded to our seats and chatted.

Raine Maida opened the show with a spoken-word number. What he said was from the point of view of an African immigrant. It was harsh, sad, dark, but different.

A cellist, violinist, and drummer joined him on stage. You could tell that his wife, Chantal Kreviazuk, was playing the piano, despite her wearing a hood. Just her piano playing gives it away. If you needed proof, her backing vocals said it all.

Raine sounded more like Bob Dylan than his usual with his band, Our Lady Peace. He was good. It was such an intimate setting. He did manage to do "Innocent," which was great. He thanked everyone playing with him on the same stage and said he was happy to be playing in his hometown.

At around 21:00, Chantal appeared on the stage without her hooded outfit. Instead, she wore a one-piece black dress with black tights and boots. She looked great. Raine played guitar on several of her songs.

When you see Chantal in concert, you truly appreciate her vocals and piano playing. She has one heck of a set of pipes. She sounded so flawless. Her piano playing is superb. It was such a treat.

She sang a number of amazing crafts of music: "Beside you," "Ghost of you," "Time," "God made me," .. it was incredible that she belted out song after song. She asked us all to stand when she played "Time." It was brilliant and moving.

She had a great mix of songs, both new and old, like "All I can do," "Wayne," "Wonderful," and "Asylum." They were subtle reminders that I should play her music more often than I should these days.

Chantal was funny. She pointed out that she tends to say um a lot. Instead, she replaced that with right then, like the Brits tend to say. It was cute.

She pondered over whether there were young kids in the audience. She asked if it was okay to swear, such as, "This song is about someone I f*ckin' hate." She then apologized to her father-in-law in the audience for cursing.

She has a good sense of humour. She talked about meeting people through chat lines. The women chatting in those commercials made her wonder where their mothers were. She said that she has friends who are looking for love. She has one in New York City who can't find someone. She suggested standing in Times Square. Someone is bound to ask her friend out that way. Then, she talked about her friend in Regina who feels that she has to move because her town's small and she has slept with every guy there.

At one stage, she heard Lucas, her son, cry. She brought both her sons to come join her for a rendition of "Baa baa black sheep." It was cute. She then carried them off the stage, came back, apologized, said that some probably hated that moment, and then proceeded with, "Well that's too bad." She's a hoot.

The song that moved me the most was her rendition of "Leaving on a jet plane." She has such an incredible vocal presence. I teared up, which I don't normally do.

Her song "Before you" holds a special place in my heart. I sang along to that. It was the last song, she claimed. She said we could change this fact by asking her to return to the stage and sing some more. It was another cute moment.

This seems to happen to be now and again at Massey Hall. I was taking pictures. A female usher came up to me and warned me to stop recording. I said I wasn't recording. She said I was. I told her again that I wasn't recording -- that I was actually taking pictures. It was to the point where I felt like giving her my camera so she could figure out that I indeed did not have a single movie on my camera. She let me go. Meanwhile, PS noticed that the woman in front of us was recording practically every song Chantal was singing. Geez, that's incredibly fair.

Anyway, I continued to take pictures. Chantal came back after the encore to sing "Far away" with her sitting on the edge of the stage, strumming on her acoustic guitar, without a microphone. It was incredible.

She ended with "Surrounded." One of her sons came with her to sit quietly as she belted the song out. She ended the song by hugging him. It was a sweet, loving moment.

After the show, we walked over to HMV. I couldn't find the new Erasure CD there. I did manage to get a CD and DVD before we walked over to the gas station across from where we had parked. I got a bottle of pop for PS, and a bottle of diet Dr Pepper for me. We then drove off, which consisted of my taking the DVP/401 route to Pickering to drop him off.

I got home at 01:00. It was a nice night, despite the idiot usher at Massey Hall.

Oh, I may win this week's office hockey pool match-up. Sadly, I'm down to one health goaltender. What is up with my bad luck in the goaltender department in these pools?

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Song that's stuck in my head: Chantal Kreviazuk's "Before you"
Yummy food eaten today: Roast beef sandwich with bacon and cheddar
What I crave: A bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon

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