Ricky Scaggs Rocks

As the sun started to go down, Steven Segal (yes that Steven Segal) introduced his good friend . I’ve never been a big fan of Ricky or Bluegrass. I was excited because those around me were excited.

He hit the stage and from the outset it was infectious. I remembered the voice from hearing it in my youth. I don’t know what songs he sang but I did recognize some as bluegrass standards. The place was turned into a hoedown. The whole audience was up and dancing. The air was electric with his energy.

I just might have been converted.

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Roar….

Today I was lucky enough to see “The Lion King”. I have wanted to see it for a long time and in a lot of ways I was really blown away by it. The story is a bit weak, I found some of the /words hard to hear but the costumes were amazing. I loved how the masks would come down over the lion’s faces as they leaned in to the person they were talking to (for emphasis). Scar was menacing, Mufasa was strong and Simba was calm. The death of Mufasa was amazing. You really felt as though you were living through a herd of charging wildebeests, and then when Scar tossed him off the cliff you really felt the evil of the moment. In the movie this was one of the scenes that has haunted me for years, and I have to say the cast did it justice in this production.

Timon and Pumba were cute, but not nearly as funny or engaging as one would expect.  I was left wondering why they did Timon as a man and a puppet.  Perhaps it was to be accurate on the size, but it got a bit annoying.  I loved Rafiki (Brenda Mhlongo) and she had an amazing voice.  It was a shame that it was lost in the sound system.

The major annoyance was the audience.  I know I went to a matinee so there would be lots of children there but please…parents….shut your kids up.  They just chattered non stop and wouldn’t shut up.  It’s not cute and yes, for a brief moment in time, I could see myself going to jail for strangling a child.  Teach your kids some manners…namely that they don’t sit and talk through productions!

After the show we went to another of my favourite restaurants in town La Bodega.  It’s a Spanish tapas restaurant and the food is good.  I have never had a bad meal there yet!  The staff are friendly, the atmosphere is relaxed and the sangria is the best in the city.

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Music Fills The Soul

Today is the first day of the Folk Fest. I used to come every year but stopped for no reason a few years ago. I think we had a couple of years of bad weather and I just got out of the habit. Last year put me back into the groove

I am currently immensely enjoying the Avett Brothers. I first heard their on a tv show or a movie and then listened to everything they had. They appeal to my punky side as well as my folky side. It’s fun to see how they got everyone up and dancing.

We got a brief taste of ‘Po Girl. Hopefully we will hear a lot more of them. This is just a great venue for the festival. I’m looking at sailboats, the city (in the distance) and the mountains. It makes it easy to forget the stresses of the day when sitting here.

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Vacation Warning For Hotel Users

Ok, so I got this in my email.  I read it and thought about it – somewhere in the back of my mind I knew this.  I then went to Snopes.com and checked it out.  It is true.  It is worth repeating here.

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Always  take a small magnet on your holiday, they come in handy at the end of  it.

Have you ever  wondered what is on your magnetic key card?
Answer:
A.  Customer’s name
B.  Customer’s partial home address
C.  Hotel room number
D.  Check-in date and out dates
E. Customer’s  credit card number and expiration date!

When  you turn them in to the front desk your personal information is there for  any employee to access by simply scanning the card in the hotel scanner.. An  employee can take a hand full of cards home and using a scanning device, access the information onto a laptop computer and go shopping at your expense.

Simply  put, hotels do not erase the information on these cards until an employee reissues the card to the next hotel guest. At that time, the new guest’s  information is electronically ‘overwritten’ on the card and the previous guest’s information is erased in the overwriting process.

But  until the card is rewritten for the next guest, it usually is kept in a  drawer at the front desk with YOUR INFORMATION ON IT! The  bottom line is: Keep the cards, take them home with you, or destroy them.  NEVER leave them behind in the room or room wastebasket, and NEVER turn them into the front desk when you check out of a room. They will not charge you  for the card (it’s illegal) and you’ll be sure you are not leaving a lot of valuable personal information on it that could be easily lifted off with any simple scanning device card reader.

For the  same reason, if you arrive at the airport and discover you still have the  card key in your pocket, do not toss it in an airport trash basket. Take it  home and destroy it by cutting it up, especially through the electronic  information strip!

If you have a small magnet, pass it across the magnetic strip several times. Then  try it in the door, it will not work. It erases everything on the  card.

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Canadian Economic Stimulus Package

This appeared in my mailbox.  I’m not sure where it originated, but I thought it was funny and worth sharing.

Sometime this year,  we taxpayers will again receive another ‘Economic Stimulus’ payment. This is indeed a very exciting program,  and I’ll explain it by using a Q & A format:

Q.  What is an ‘Economic Stimulus’ payment ?
A.  It’s money the federal government will send to taxpayers.

Q. Where will the government get this money ?
A.  >From taxpayers.

Q.  So the government is giving me back my own money ?
A.  Only a smidgen of it.

Q.  What is the purpose of this payment ?
A.  The plan is for you to use the money to purchase a High-definition TV set,  thus stimulating the economy.

Q.  But isn’t that stimulating the economy of China  ?
A.  Shut up.

Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the Canadian Economy by spending your stimulus check wisely:

*  If you spend the stimulus money at Wal-Mart,  the money will go to China  or Sri Lanka  .
*  If you spend it on gasoline,  your money will go to the Arabs.
*  If you purchase a computer, it will go to India , Taiwan  or China
*  If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico ,  Chile , Honduras and Guatemala .
*  If you buy an efficient car, it will go to Japan  or Korea .
*  If  you purchase useless stuff, it will go to Taiwan .
*  If you pay your credit cards off, or buy stock, it will go to management bonuses and they will hide it offshore.

Instead, keep the money in Canada  by:

1)  Spending it at yard sales, or
2)  Going to Hockey games,  or
3)  Spending it on prostitutes,  or
4)  Beer or
5) Tattoos.

(These are the only  Canadian businesses still operating)

Conclusion:

Go to a Hockey game with a tattooed prostitute you met at a yard
sale  and drink beer all day!

No need to thank me,  I’m just glad I could be of help.

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