Darren’s been complaining about the lack of posts. Sorry dude!
People have been asking me how the deck is coming. My standard “smart assed” answer has been that I’m never hiring that contractor again - he’s always doing something else, camping, eating, travelling, fishing… you name it. Ha
Anyway, other than the stair, phase one is pretty much in. And it looks pretty darn good if I do say so myself. Things are about to kick into action for the next phase(s). Tomorrow should be good as I’m not going into work, and looks like the weather is gonna be grand. I should be hanging joists in the morning. Of course “the contractor” also has to do some packing and prep for camping/fishing/hiking this weekend…
Tonight we had bbq’d lamb chops for dinner. Or did we? I’m thinking we had..
Grilled Lamb Lollipops with Garden Fresh Mint, Rosemary and Cracked Coriander Rub paired with Garlic and Pine Nut Whole Wheat Linguine and Organic Greens. Yum!
Well the votes are in, the judges have deliberated and the final list of Canada’s Seven Wonders is:
The Canoe
The Igloo
Niagara Falls
Old Quebec City
Pier 21, Halifax
Prairie Skies
The Rockies
All in all, I’m thinking this is a pretty good list! No doubt there is something you think should or shouldn’t be on there, but hey, you can’t please everyone. I think there is a nice balance geographically as well as man-made vs. natural.
You can see more, as well as hear the judges final reasoning by clicking here.
There were so many good submissions that the powers that be made up some alternate lists. You can see them here.
Well, it has come and gone for another year, but we were not disappointed. Some highlights were certainly Manu Chao, Beastie Boys, Bjork and Arcade Fire.
Bjork headlined the first night. Now Craig is gonna say that I’m crazy, but I don’t think she was a great choice for the top slot. She put on a good show, my god can that woman sing - what a voice!, but her music was very moody, mellow and ethereal. Not quite what the crowd was into unfortunately, and they showed it by steadily streaming out of the grounds after her first song. Bit of a shame really. See what I mean…?
Manu Chao, for those of you who don’t know him, is a spanish basque who has a unique world reggae rock sound and is a great performer to see. His songs are in english, spanish and french - sometimes all three are in one song! Good stuff. We first discovered his music in China of all places, walking the streets of Yangshuo with friends. None of us new him at the time, but we all loved it. Didnt’ take too long to find the pirate CD’s in the same shops blasting his tunes. Been fans ever since. His live show is quite different from what we expected as he rocked out the songs, got political and really worked the crowd. You know it’s gonna be good when the band come out and do the final soundcheck themselves and have a blast doing it. They were fun to watch and sing along with.
The Beastie Boys. What can I say? This was a concert that allowed me to scratch one more of the lifetime “need to see in concert” list. They did not disappoint either. In fact they impressed by not only playing classics like Intergalactic and Sure Shot, but also lots of great, grooving instrumental jams. I didn’t know the Boys could play so well. But no, they are not just rappers. Drums, guitar and bass baby! You can’t, you won’t and you don’t stop!
For my money The Arcade Fire is about the most interesting band out there these days, and really the main reason we wanted to attend Sasquatch this year. I’m gonna find it hard to express just how good they were. The grainy, shakey vid below hardly does the performance justice and the sound sucks, but it does show how they rocked out!. After Manu Chao was finished, Mich said that she didn’t think anyone could be better than them. She certainly changed her mind after AF was finished. They had a cool stage set up, 10 people on stage, crazy energy and a tight, clean sound, especially considering the number of people all playing at once. It was stunning. That’s all I have to say about that.
Well, the public voting has closed. Hopefully you found time to vote. You can see the results of over a million votes by clicking here. Of course, the voting is only ONE part of the process. The judges spent last weekend considering what the people have said and decided the final seven.
The final list will be revealed Thursday night on The National and on Friday morning on Sounds Like Canada. I tell you, The Canoe had damned well better be there!
Well, it’s been a while since we’ve had a good Nessie sighting. This one was good enough that the BBC covered it. If anything, this vid is worth seeing just to hear those great Scottish accents!
…gets hot! It went up to 50 a few minutes after I took this pic. 
