I walked into work with the quality assurance woman. She is recovering from a cold, but is feeling much better.

iPod boy (DJ) came in early. I said good morning to him first and welcomed him back. I asked how his cruise went. He said really well. He is certainly darker than before. He's kind of pale, like me. We both don't tan all that easily.

We talked about his cruise for a bit. He told me that his camera got busted. He doesn't know how. We talked about his cruise before I managed to say that I have put my deposit down to go on one next January. He was curious to know which cruise I was going on. After we both did some searching, we found out that it was a Carnival one, which was what he and his family were just on.

He said that the ship I was going to be on was great. He told me to pack light and would lend me his Cruises for dummies book. He also said I'd have the best time. He continued to talk with me, saying that his family went snorkeling and he had to get waterproof, disposable camera.

The moocher came to visit me. He was dressed nicely in a dark blue shirt and grey slacks. I knew he was off to an interview. He was. He was heading uptown for it. I wished him luck, although I don't think he truly needs it.

The sales coordinator gave me tons of candy today. I felt like I was on a permanent sugar high at one stage.

At around noon, DJ came over to me to start a brief conversation with me:

"I'm running away," said DJ to me.
"You're joining the circus?" I asked him.
"Yes," he said.
"At least you don't need any training," I pointed out.
"I work here?" he questioned briefly.
"You work with a lot of clowns," I stated.
"I'm just going to grab some lunch," he said to me.
"Have fun," I said, for it looked like he wanted to go out by himself.

I went to heat up my lunch. There was some pizza left from a luncheon. I took a slice with sausage and black olives. It was strange that I was eating this pizza slice while I was heating up my lunch. Afterwards, I brought everything back, and told DJ that there was pizza in the kitchen. Little did I know that when he went in there, that the president's son (PS) had taken the remaining slices for the production lead and for himself.

In a conversation with the new project coordinator, DJ said that at least I was sincere about the whole pizza slice news. I was. I didn't realize that they would disappear so soon.

The sales coordinator asked if I was doing anything tonight. I said that I was. Later on in the day, she asked if I was going to be home tonight. I said nope. It sounded like she wanted to do dinner with me. I had a concert to go to.

PS called me on my cellphone and said he was outside. I said I'd be out there soon. I could tell that DJ had heard me. I came back to my desk after I had signed out and said goodnight to him. He looked at the newspaper in my hand.

"Are you going to the movies?" DJ asked me. The movie times were at the back of the newspaper.
"Nope, this is the Jann Arden concert review that someone gave me," I said to him.
"That was last week, right?"
"Yep," I replied.
"How many times did you see her this time?"
"Twice," I said. "I'm mellowing a bit. I did meet Jann Arden."
"Oh, good," he said.
"This was my second time meeting her."
"Shouldn't it be that it was her second time meeting you?" he asked.
"I'm just a peon," I said.
"It sounds better," he said, as I was slowly walking away. "Two more visits, and you could be doing lunch with her."

So, PS and I hopped in my car and we drove downtown. Traffic was heavier than usual. Still, we got there just after 18:00. I paid for parking, for PS didn't have any cash on him. Instead, he treated me to dinner at Quiznos. I had the mesquite chicken and DJ went with the black angus steak. We got free Tic Tacs again.

PS is like an old man a lot of the time. He was looking for the tickets and couldn't find them in his manpurse. He then assumed that he had left them in my car. Luckily, we weren't parked far away. We walked over there. Sure enough, they weren't in there. He searched his manpurse again and found them. Argh!

I had to visit an ATM to take out some money. We then made it to the Air Canada Centre. These 19:30 starts are interesting. It's nice that we didn't have to line up to get in.

PS is more of a Ricky Martin fan that I am. Frankly, I didn't know what to expect. He got a keychain and a t-shirt. I just went for a white teddy bear with a picture of Ricky on the bear's shirt.

We were seated off to the side, but close to the stage. It was awesome. There wasn't an opening act, which was kind of refreshing tonight. The security guy said that Ricky would be on-stage at around 20:00.

The reviews pretty much sum up my experience there. I had a good time. I'll point out a few things afterwards.

I first read a review on the show in the Toronto star today:

Singer, dancer, humanitarian

Ever the Spanish showman, Martin proves he's not just about La Vida Loca
May 01, 2007 04:30 AM
Ashante Infantry
pop & jazz critic

That Ricky Martin sure knows how to throw a party.

From the moment he took the stage at the Air Canada Centre last night, the former teen heartthrob was an energetic, entertaining force.

For most of the two-hour set, the singer's capable voice took a back seat to the tremendous physicality of his capoeira-style moves (replete with handstands and buoyed by six dancers); the technical wizardry of his massive stage (which included conveyer belts, trap doors and mesh screens); and the expertise of the muscular band backing him both electrically and acoustically.

Then there was the body that is Ricky: often barefoot, buff in jeans and tank tops (though not leather pants) through half a dozen costume changes, or unveiled in all its nude, tattooed glory on gratuitous video clips.

He sang mostly in Spanish, but addressed the crowd in English and delivered a frenetic version of his biggest American hit, "Livin' La Vida Loca."

One of the sillier segments found him singing more than half of a ballad behind a screen, seemingly to tease the crowd through separation. They deserved it though, screaming to hoarseness whenever he moved a hip or arched a brow.

Then, just when you were ready to dismiss the 35-year-old Puerto Rico native as lightweight eye candy, he delivered a sombre five minute spiel on gratitude, faith and the pursuit of simplicity as an introduction to "Somos La Semilla (We Are the Seed), which he sang before a scrolling photo montage depicting poor, ill and war-torn people.

Then, the entertainer, who came of age in Latin boy band Menudo (which is being revived) before debuting as a solo artist in 1991 and selling 55 million records worldwide, dedicated a song to the 12-year-old self that he says he left behind in the pursuit of fame and excellence.

Martin has been flexing his political muscles of late, shilling for global charities and sending President George W. Bush a middle finger during a concert over the protracted war in Iraq.

His live show is a reflection of his enduring showmanship and personal growth.

Here's the concert review from today's Toronto Sun:

ACC, Toronto - April 30, 2007
Ricky Martin rocks ACC crowd
By JANE STEVENSON -- Sun Media

TORONTO - Ricky Martin is currently touring in support of last year's MTV Unplugged disc made up entirely of Spanish-language songs.

So, as you can imagine, the Latin pop star's latest stop in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre last night was wildly different, in terms of a set list, than at the height of his English-language success in 1999-2000 when he crossed over with such hits as Livin' La Vida Loca, Shake Your Bon-Bon, and She Bangs.

Thankfully, his shows haven't changed that much in tone since his English-language heyday.

The 35-year-old Puerto Rican native still knows how to put on a big production, mostly high-energy concert while shaking his well-toned you-know-what.

It helped that he was backed by an 11-piece band and eight dancers on a slick-looking stage decorated with an enormous white peace sign, two catwalks with built-in moving sidewalks and a curved semi-circular video screen onto which different effects and images were projected.

ATHLETIC BODY

Still, the real star of the evening seemed to be Martin's athletic body.

To huge screams and catcalls, he gyrated rather suggestively alongside a female dancer during the opening number, Pegate, before seguing into This Is Good and I Don't Care from his last English-language album, 2005's Life.

In fact, the hour-and-40-minute show was divided into four parts -- beginning with an upbeat African- and Eastern-inspired segment that was followed by a rather snoozy "unplugged" section that included such Spanish-language songs as Vuelve and Fuego De Noche, Nieve De Dia -- this one inspired a major singalong -- and She's All I Ever Had from his 1999 self-titled breakthrough.

Too often, Martin resorted to sleepy ballads when he's clearly way more engaging when he's moving his muscular frame, like during It's Alright, a drastically rearranged version of Livin' La Vida Loca, and the night's standout, The Cup Of Life with it's "Ole! Ole! Ole!" chorus.

The pop star first appeared on that curved video screen, shirtless and under water to huge cheers and applause, but it was a nearly naked film segment later in the show that had the crowd in full swoon.

POLITICAL MESSAGE

Still, pretty-boy looks, hot body and impressive dance moves aside (he also did cartwheels and handstands), Martin does preach for political change now, like during such songs as La Semilla de Cambio with images of impoverished children projected all around him.

The singer plays Montreal's Bell Centre tonight before heading back to the U.S. where he'll eventually play four shows in Texas next week, the home state of U.S. President George W. Bush.

You may recall that Martin gave Bush the finger as an anti-war statement during a concert in his native Puerto Rico a few months ago.

There was tons of energy, which was great. I wasn't crazy about the spiritual speech that he made. It was far too long. However, he did say something which made me laugh. He was saying that everyone gets enthusiastic about trying to change the world. After we all say that we want to, the next step is questioning, "How the f*ck do we do that now?"

The fans went crazy when "Livin' la vida loca" was out there. The use of conveyor belts was terrific. The band was great. Regardless of whether or not Ricky is gay, he certainly has a nice body to admire.

The show ended at around 22:00. PS and I headed over to Timmy's to try out the mint chocolate iced cap. It was more on the minty side. I didn't go for the whipped cream. PS did. The weird thing is that the picture has chocolate sauce drizzled on top. The woman at Timmy's put caramel sauce on his. I'm so glad that I don't like whipped cream.

We sat down there and had a pretty good discussion about things at work. It definitely helps when PS takes his iron pill, because he didn't fall asleep once. I was so proud of him.

I drove him home, wished him a good night, and then proceeded home. I stopped at the gas station to fill my car up. The price was $1.05 a litre. I spent $45 on gas and proceeded home.

Well, I think I was far too hyper after having the medium iced cap. It's now 02:00 and I'm up.

I am liking Facebook. The networking aspect is cool. I've also written to a couple of people since I got into the application this weekend.

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Song that's stuck in my head: Ricky Martin's "Livin' la vida loca"
Yummy food eaten today: Raspberry lemonade
What I crave: An iced cap

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