Ahh, Camping we went

Hello all. I apologize for not writing a new entry in a long while. Things have been happening at work and elsewhere, but that's for another time.

This entry is about a week late, but better late than never. Two weekends ago, my friends and I went on a camping trip. My friends have been going for a few years now, but this was my first trip along. And it was fun.

Granted the weather wasn't the greatest; was cloudy with some rain (including a good downpour on the Friday night) most of the weekend, and the sun came out just has we were leaving. Of course! :-) But it was still a fun time. And we were really roughing it, this year. We rented a cottage with 2 bedrooms, satellite tv, etc. Oh yeah, real rough. LOL!

We got there on the Friday afternoon and unpacked and made dinner on the BBQ. We wanted to build a fire, and we did get it started, but the sky opened up and we were forced to go inside. SO we broke out the board games. We first played Buzz word, and that's a very fun game. For one team at least. My team got spanked hard! (But we liked it :-P) then we played another game which I can't remember the name. But that one didn't last long. Andrew had brought a movie, in case it rained. So we watched "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes"... ... ...yeah. It was ridiculous; it was what I would call a bad B-movie. But as Andrew said "Best 100 pennies I ever spent."

The Saturday was still gray, but it didn't rain as much. So people were able to take the canoe out on the lake. There was also a row boat, which we took out in the afternoon. But since I was rowing (that's harder than I thought it would be), we kept going around in a circle. Curse my right arm being stronger than my left! We didn't go out far cause I didn't have a lifejacket that fit. Again the curse of being a big guy. In the afternoon, Steve, Perry, Tia and Dawn went to town, Maniwaki and Gracefield, and got lost on the way back. Andrew and I stayed at the cottage. That evening, we were able to get the fire going, thanks in part to Pyro (aka Dawn), who I'm sure would've burned anything available (All the wood, the boats, the cottage, Andrew) if we hadn't stopped her. Hehehe, just kidding, love ya Dawn! But the fire did burn and we stayed out from 8:30 to 11:30. Lots of laughs and sex talk, and the change of seeing Andrew go through the folding chair he'd brought. That was hilarious! Then Sunday, we packed up and drove back home.

It was a good weekend, and I'm looking forward to going back next year. I apologize if you were all waiting for something more exciting (but I doubt it. Hehehe), I will have something more interesting to say soon.

Still Rocking After 25 Years

Last night was my group of friends' monthly poker night. It's always a great time, with lots of laughs and good times. But this month, I was absent from the game. The reason for the absence is because I went with my sister to the Corel Centre to watch her all-time favorite band: DEF LEPPARD.

I also like Def Leppard, although not as much as my sister, that's for sure. They were my second favorite band back in the 80's, after Europe. For those of you who don't know Europe, one of their hits, and it might have been their only big hit, was The Final Countdown. Aaahh, memories.

But I will always remember that talent show while I was in 6th grade, where a classmate of mine did a dance routine to the tune Pour Some Sugar on Me. At that moment, I thought "That's a kick-ass song!" And I went and bought the album. My sister also liked them from that point on, I believe, and while my taste in music has changed a bit, she has remained a true Leppard fan. And with good reason. After 25 years, the guys can still rock the house!

The show started with the mandatory Canadian content, the Tea Party. I don't know many of their songs, but most of the ones I do know were played (Temptation, Heaven Coming Down, and that's about it :-P). Then the main show started. The crowd went into a frenzy. What I enjoyed most about the show was that since it was to promote the band's 25 years and their new greatest hits album Rock of Ages, they mostly played their hits. Only once did I have to ask my sister "What song is this?" Turns out it was Promises from one of their later albums, after my time. But the show was great! And they saved the best for last by playing Pour Some Sugar on Me during the encore. All in all, a terrific show.

Earlier in the evening, my sister and I had gone to see the area where the tour buses were parked. So after the show, my sister asked if I wouldn't mind going back and maybe she could get a picture of the guys as they were coming out of the Corel Centre. I said sure, I'm not working today :-). So we went to the area where a small crowd had also had the same idea. After a while, wouldn't you know it, Rick Allen, the one-armed drummer came out and saluted the crowd. He was followed by Vivian Campbell. Viv went to put his bag in the bus...and then came over to sign autographs. well, the crowd loved that! He was joined by the others as well. So my sister didn't just get some pics of the band members coming out of the building, she got pics of her WITH the band members. And their autographs. I'm think that made her day.

The only down part was that the singer, Joe Elliot came out last and was signing autographs and taking pics, but some jackass took a pic without telling him and I think it kinda blinded him and pissed him off ("Okay, that really wasn't necessary." we heard him say) Not long after this, he said he had to go. So a few people in the crowd didn't get an autograph from him or a picture, including my sister. She was disappointed about that. I know that the late hour was a factor but I beleive it's more the flash that upset him. But as my sister said, now she'll just have to come back to the next show. :-P Maybe she can bring Andrew this time.

All in all, a great show and a great evening. Rock on!