excess verbiage

So I went to the show last night at BC Place. Had total nosebleed seats but at least they were directly across from the stage rather than on the side, so we could see the whole show. Thank goodness for screens because that's the only way I could tell it was actually her. Otherwise, she was the size of an ant. It's weird to coordinate looking back and forth between the stage and the screens. I didn't want to watch the screens the whole time because that would just feel like I was watching tv. But you kind of have to fairly often, otherwise you can't tell what's happening.

I had a good time and really liked her remix of Get Into The Groove, Borderline, Like a Prayer, and Ray of Light. But a lot of the other stuff was just kind of... okay. I will give that woman credit for her energy and stamina. At one point she was jumping rope on stage and the dance routines were full-on aerobic sessions. There was a part where she had on a bunch of... I don't know what they're called... a mariachi band sort of thing? And like, Spanish flamenco dancing. It was interesting to watch, but it's not really the type of thing that hypes me up during a concert.

I go to a lot of concerts every year, so I've seen good shows, okay shows, and shows that put me on a high for a week afterwards. The last two U2 tours have blown me away. You know it's a good show when you're in the nosebleeds and everyone is on their feet singing the words to every song and you just get that feeling. This one, most people were sitting in our section. I don't like sitting at concerts, but I did for this one, for part of it anyway.

Jenny said she didn't feel Madonna energized the crowd enough, and I agree. I think the problem is that when you have so many upbeat dance songs, why would bring it down and do the slow ones? It pretty much kills the buzz you have. Or, I guess slow songs are okay if they're the kind that are sort of epic, that everyone sings along to, and are really melodic or something. But she sang that song from Evita, which, you know, is kind of whatever.

There were a lot of video montages in between songs, where her backup dancers basically filled up the time while she changed outfits. But I was confused because as far as I could see, she wasn't really wearing any pants the whole time so I don't know what sort of costume changes there were. Was basically throwing on another jacket or a hat or something.

But don't get me wrong, I still had a good time and I'm glad I went. The good songs were great. If only she had the energy from Ray of Light throughout more of the show, that would've been great.

It's both. See, that was a trick question! More on this later.

UPDATE: 10/31/2008

No one in our office dressed up this year at all. I think that's pretty funny and awesome. I think that all the people with spirit are on flex today. The rest of us suck. haha

So is it a fun holiday? I guess so. Candy's always good and the costumes are pretty amusing. Some guy came in here this morning - not from our office obviously - dressed as Slash from Gn'R, and I saw a Sarah Palin in the hallway.

I guarantee that if you go out to a party tonight, there will be lots and lots of girls dressed in lingerie. It's kind of a green light for some chicks to dress like skanks. I don't really get the fascination with wanting to look like a stripper or hooker, but it seems to be pretty popular for whatever reason.

And the thing is, it'd be funny if the chicks dressing like skanks were really prim and proper and frumpy on a regular basis, so the skank thing would actually be funny. But really, the chicks you see in lingerie are the ones who dress skanky anyway. It's just that they feel guilt-free and justified about it on that one day.

Still, it's all amusing nonetheless. It's even more amusing that our office has united in its lack of effort on this day. That's what I call teamwork!

The other day, my coworker was talking about a song that she couldn't remember the name of, plus she couldn't remember the band either. But she described it to me like this: "It's a band from the time when Blur was popular. In the video, there's these people dancing and the singer is really skinny."

Two seconds later, I said, "Are you talking about Common People, by Pulp?" And she said yes, that's the one. haha.

I have no idea why I knew that from her vague description, but for some reason I did! I later emailed a friend of mine to see if she could guess, and yep, on her first guess, she got it too. LOL. In all fairness, we were both really into all that type of Britpop music back in the 90s, but still, I think it's funny that we both managed to get that so quickly.

So in honour of my coworker and my friend who guessed it, here's the video of the skinny guy with a bunch of people dancing from the Blur era.

LOVE when the leaves turn colours and start falling. So pretty! It's strange, but it feels like we've had a sunnier October than usual. What a difference a little sun makes. It's still cold, but somehow the sunshine make it all that much more bearable. Love it! (I'm in a strangely upbeat mood for a Monday.)

I've noticed lately that a lot of the newer bars and pubs are no longer called bars and pubs. Seems to be more fashionable to be called a public house or social house. Or even a microbrewery or gastropub. But not a plain ol' bar or pub anymore. I think they're all good to some degree.

To me, the public or social houses are a bit more trendy, while the gastropubs are a bit more upscale in the food. Microbreweries are all about fancy beers and the food is pretty good. Pubs are about comfort food and an easy-going atmosphere. And bars are kind of dumpy. I like the idea of the gastropubs, but it seems weird to pay so much for food at a pub, even if it's more upscale. I haven't been to any of the public houses or social houses yet, because whenever I walk by one, it usually looks too crowded, like places to see and be seen. But I'll have to try one before I can really comment on it.

I generally don't care for bars because the ones I've been to are all kind of gross. I think the ones I like best are the microbreweries. I'm not really a beer drinker, but at least when I go to these places, they have different types and flavors that are more interesting (apricot ale - yum!). The food is usually pretty consistent and above average too, so it complements the higher quality beers they serve.

So if anyone wants to go to a social house or public house, let me know. It's in the name of research. ;)

Happy Friday.

When I heard that there was finally a national "do not call" list, I was like, it's about friggin time! Let's face it, telemarketers are annoying and quite frankly, the bane of everyone's existence. I remember the days before caller ID, when I'd actually speak to these people. Well, I didn't really speak to them. It was more like, you say hello, and then they start reading off of their script, and they're so into it that there's no real moment for you to cut in and say you're not interested. Sometimes I felt sorry for them because I could imagine that they were sitting in some cubicle, just trying to make their quotas for the day. So I'd let them do their thing, and then when they'd ask what I did for a living, I said I worked in marketing, even if I didn't, just because they can't ask people who work in marketing.

And ever since caller ID came about, I haven't answered any of those calls. But it's amazing to see how many times some of these places call you in a day. Kind of stalkerish, actually. And they call from all over the place. I get a lot of calls from Ontario and Michigan. I don't know what company is calling me from Michigan but they call me about 3 times a week. They must really need to sell me something.

So a few weeks ago, my brother called me to tell me that he was signing up for the "do not call" list, and that he went ahead and added my number on my behalf. Here's the thing - apparently, it doesn't cover every telemarketer. There are exemptions like political parties, charities, and newspapers. (See the full list here.)

Wtf is that about? What's the point? Solicitations are solicitations, I don't care who they represent, even if their intentions are good. If it's a legit charity, sorry, still not going to answer. I, like many other people, do not give out money - or specifically credit card information - over the phone. If you're legit, then put a pamphlet in my mailbox and I'll read it then. Otherwise, just go away.

I'm still getting calls, and apparently I still will for the first 31 days. So I can't tell quite yet. I'll have to wait and see. Hopefully, it'll at least reduce the amount that we all get though.

Last week I had a whole post written, and somehow pressed the wrong key combination (stupid firefox!) and the whole tab closed. sigh... Oh well, anyway, all I was going to talk about was this decluttering seminar that I went to at a health symposium at work. I'm a total clutterbug, and I'm going to blame my family for training me that way. But it was an interesting seminar. Wasn't anything I hadn't heard before, to be honest, but sometimes, it just helps to sit there in that type of forum and hear someone say those things out loud.

Her best tip that I've taken to, is to try just 15 minutes per day to clear out a particular area, whether it's your sock drawer, your coffee table or whatever. She said that a lot of times, we talk ourselves out of cleaning because in our head, the stress associated with it is so much worse than what it actually is.

Getting myself used to doing this all the time is going to be hard though, but I guess the thing about the 15 minutes tip is that you can at least do little by little. (Just try not to create more clutter in the process!)

I feel like such an asshole. I've been so absorbed in my own stupid superficial crap that I've been neglecting certain people in my life. Just found out some upsetting news that basically jolted me out of my bubble and back into reality. I'm so mad and ashamed at myself for being such a self-absorbed loser. It's not who I am, but it's who I've been lately.

I'm not very good at dealing with emotional situations. Depending on the circumstance, I either emotionally shut down and never say a word and just cry. Or else on the other end of the spectrum, I get so angry that things come out of my mouth that surprise even me. But in this situation, I feel like shutting down a little, but I'm going to try not to. The good thing about this is that it was the smack in the face that I needed to get my priorities back in order. I've been wasting too much time worrying about things that, in the big picture, just don't matter. It's time to snap out of it and get it together.