Month: October 2019

Wednesday Night’s Alright for Fighting

On By Widow BadassIn Good Times, Music60 Comments

Anyone who knew me as a young teenager knew that one of the artists whose music I was obsessed with was Elton John (not yet a Sir). (Aerosmith and Queen were among the others, in case anyone was interested.)

1975. 16 year-old me at Camp Wabanaki sporting my Elton John t-shirt. Wish I still had it but I wore it to death, like most of my clothes from that time period. Also still wish I was at that weight. I remember wishing I could lose about 10 pounds, back then. HAH. Young, dumb and broke, indeed!

I first saw Elton John live in Orchard Park (just outside of Buffalo) in 1976 (or maybe it was 1975? Doesn’t matter. I think EJ likely didn’t know what year it was either 😉 ). I took a bus down to the US, with a high school friend. Elton was headlining, and Boz Scaggs and J.J. Cale opened for him. I don’t remember much more from that show except I got rained on, and Elton John DID NOT play Crocodile Rock, much to my absolute fury crushing disappointment dismay. Even though the whole stadium was screaming for it. Instead he told us he was gonna play “Your Song” – apparently a real fucking treat for us poor slobs as he hadn’t played it live in a long time. I was not impressed. I LOVED Crocodile Rock and had no idea at the time that he did not actually like this song, thinking of it as “disposable pop”. Really, Queen Elton? I still shudder at some of the crap you put out when you were a drug-addled mess, in years to come. Makes Crocodile Rock sound kinda alright now, don’t it? But you know me – I do don’t hold a grudge.

Anywho! Ahem. Back to the NOW, sorta.

Two years ago I heard Sir Elton was doing a farewell tour. So I joined his RocketClub fan club in order to have a better chance at decent tickets. Well, my name wasn’t drawn for the those shows so I thought it wasn’t to be. BUT then he announced he was coming back to Toronto the following year and whaddayaknow this time I got an email saying I was being offered the chance to purchase tickets more than a year in advance. Yup – October 9, 2018 I purchased 4 tickets (maximum allowed) to the October 23rd, 2019 show. My sister was staying with me at the time and immediately she snatched up one of the extra tickets (and my good friends Kenn and Jonathan seized the other two). In order to get these decent seats, I had to buy something called a VIP package, which came with a bunch of stuff that I promptly forgot about until I came home from Vancouver Island to find a big box of goodies delivered in my absence.

Inside the box was this “lithograph” accompanied by a certificate of authenticity – what anyone else would call a poster, I guess. But we have to be ultra because ELTON JOHN. You can see I framed it and hung it on the wall already. Because OBVIOUSLY. DUH!
More of what was in the box – 1 of each for each ticketholder, along with the poster lithograph. Tote bag, journal, pen and pencil set, passport holder and luggage tag, key chain, and VIP lanyard and “pass” which got you exactly NOTHING at the show. Except maybe, I dunno: bragging rights?!?

Finally the long-awaited day arrived and we made it to Toronto, to the ScotiaBank Arena, for THE SHOW!

How excited are me and Sister Badass for the show to begin? PLENTY. PLENTY EXCITED.
Jonathan, Kenn, and I. Also plenty excited for the show to start! I really must get better at this selfie thing. Sheesh.
The Stage. Pretty damn ornate, if you ask me. You can barely see it in the next photo – how the edges of the stage are “carved” with symbols representing Sir Elton’s interests and career, e.g. the GUCCI logo was one of them.
One of the cool graphics playing on the huge screen. The many faces of Sir Elton John.
The man himself. First outfit of the night.
EJ wheeled out this demure number after he got changed during the spooky intro to Funeral for a Friend. I love his brooch. Must be a favourite piece as I have seen pictures of it numerous times, pinned to His Person.
Good ol’ Captain Fantastic! I think this cartoon ran during Someone Saved My Life Tonight. (from the Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy album)
Psychedelic graphics – forget to which song. Too busy rockin’ out. Sorry. Not sorry.

The show was incredible, and Elton’s voice was still strong. I had low expectations because I knew he had had throat surgery and couldn’t reach the high notes anymore. I was blown away by how good his voice still was. He really belted out those lyrics.

And…HE PLAYED CROCODILE ROCK! I also had no very low expectations of that happening and just about passed out with joy when the song started. No matter that he could no longer sing the falsetto “lah lalalalalahs” – WE sang them for him. “For the fans” flashed across the screen during the number – his not-so-subtle way of letting everyone know he still hates this song, I guess.

It only took 43 years, but I finally got my wish and heard Elton John play Crocodile Rock live. So,

Sir Elton Hercules John, if you’re reading:

All is forgiven.

Love,

The Widow Badass

As if all the wonderful music wasn’t enough (none of the his “coked-out MOR crap” dreck made it to the set list, thankfully), it was also heart-warming to hear him speak of his life and his struggles, and to see his emotional response to us – wiping away tears caused by the love the crowd was showing him.

I probably won’t ever see Sir Elton John in concert again, if he makes good on his promise of no more world tours. But I saw him on Wednesday October 23rd, and once before when I was very young (probably not a Wednesday though), and that will have to do.

Rock on,

The WB

P.S.

Elton’s Memoir – I was going to wait and get it from the library. Then I read all the great reviews on GoodReads so decided I couldn’t wait. And then I was going to get a digital copy. Because of: Moving to BC. Until I realized the photos would be much easier to see in hardcover. I should have this book done by the time this post is published. Yet one more thing to pack. So worth it. It’s all good. Hehehe!

P.P.S. links to reviews of the show Here and Here

Vancouver Island October 2019

On By Widow BadassIn Good Times, Move to Vancouver Island, Roadtripping, See the Beauty42 Comments

After a spring and summer filled with shenanigans (hehehe!), I had 4 vacation days left to use before my end of year retirement and it only seemed right to use them for a quick trip back to Vancouver Island to see my daughter and her boyfriend, in their new abode in Ladysmith.

I’ve been back home for over a week already, and only getting around to this post now – apologies, especially to Donna and Erica (two lovely bloggers I went hiking with during my recent visit) who were able to post already on the fun time we shared here and here.

Sleep deprivation, staff vacations, Elton John (more about this later!), and my sister coming for a visit all contributed to lack of blogging, and after catching up on rest this past weekend I feel mostly human again, and capable of stringing a few words together.

However, I think I’ll let my photos (and captions) do most of the talking. Behold:

Spotted this rascal on a walk along the Nanaimo waterfront on my first day back on the Island. I still can’t believe how close he/she let us get. Herons in Ontario are less bold.
Sunday found us doing some exploring via island hopping, since our planned whale-watching excursion got cancelled last minute due to “rough seas”. Uh huh. This photo was taken on Hornby Island – looking out towards Denman Island (with Vancouver Island in the distance). Note rough seas.
Waiting for the ferry to Denman Island. I still can’t believe we dared to take all those ferries in these rough seas.
View from the ferry, approaching Vancouver Island. Wait, are those actual waves?
Went to do some forest-bathing with these two rascals. The wonderful Donna and Erica. It’s always a great day for a hike when you have such lovely ladies for company. We talked about all the important things like we’d known each other for years. Even blogging!
Donna in her cute yellow rain jacket – being used here for scale!
Beautiful Holland Creek Trail
On my last full day, we went to Victoria to do some exploring in the capitol of BC. Chinatown was fun (and delicious!), as always.
This fine fellow greeted us as we entered Chinatown.
Of course we had to shoot a selfie in Fan Tan Alley.
After Chinatown, we walked through the city with the goal of getting to Fishermans’s Wharf. This is a statue of the artist, Emily Carr. That is a monkey on her back, that she is turning her attention to. I assume it was a pet – like her little dog, and not a statement about any struggles she may have been going through! The Empress Hotel is in the background. I enjoyed the high tea experience there, back in 2003. Fancy!
Mizz J (and K) looking towards Fisherman’s Wharf – our objective – which was eventually reached – although everything was closed when we got there.
We still had fun walking around and admiring the unique homes on Fisherman’s Wharf.
Fisherman’s Wharf warning sign. Point (get it? 😉 ) taken.

The week just flew by and was over far too soon. The beauty and charm of Vancouver Island continues to astound me. I wonder if I will ever get used to it. I hope not!

Rock on,

The WB

The Devil’s Lettuce, A Psychedelic Train Tunnel, and Slap-Happy Sexcapades: Another Blaze n’ Badass Weekend

On By Widow BadassIn Badassery, Good Times, Roadtripping, See the Beauty52 Comments
On the weekend agenda!

How’s that for an click-baity enticing title, eh? Last weekend was planned several months ago, after coordination with another blogging buddy and IRL friend, Karen Hume. Joanne (aka trail name: Blaze) and I visited Karen last in the summer of 2018 and another visit was definitely overdue!

Joanne asked me if there was anything in particular I wanted to see on our little road trip (besides Karen, of course) and without much hesitation I said “Tweed, in Smiths Falls!” This was more than cool with our intrepid Joanne as well, so off we went on Friday morning to see what this facility that grows cannabis was all about. Joanne wrote about her observations on our tour here and she has some great pictures of pot production at “Ganga University” as I call it, because our tour guide kept referring to the facility as a “campus”.

So, without replicating Joanne’s photos…we were both snapping away so a lot are the same…here are some of mine, from our tour:

There was a bit of a museum at the beginning of the tour, along with a video presentation on the history of cannabis. Worth watching!
These overhead lights are depicting the chemical structure of THC – the stuff in weed that gets you high.
These vials were filled with cotton balls doused in the different terpenes found in weed (also found in other organic items such as lemons and pine) – the chemicals that contribute to the taste and scent of cannabis. So we sniffed away, and cleansed our nasal palates in between with coffee beans. Apparently there are people who smoke weed for the flavour so descriptions of cannabis products talk about this. Sorry highly informative and cute little tour guide: I have yet to talk to someone whose first concern is the flavour of the weed they are smoking despite you assuring me of the existence of such unicorns connoisseurs.
Here is the source of one of Joanne’s disappointments : a chocolate room not making chocolate, even though it was supposed to be Day One of production. So clean! So shiny! So devoid of activity and chocolate! Sorry, Joanne! 🙁
Smiling despite the lack of chocolate and free (or otherwise) cannabis to try.

After a couple of hours spent gaining an education about ye olde electric lettuce, bhang, mary jane, dank, green goddess etc., we were off to meet up with Karen for some pub grub and plans for our Saturday together. Which included visiting:

The Brockville Farmer’s Market! Bursting with fall produce.

And the Brockville Railway Tunnel, Canada’s first:

Joanne and Karen admiring the mineral deposits forming in the tunnel interior.
Our tunnel experience included quite the light and music show! But you know what was missing though? Some Tweed product samples would have put the cherry on the icing on the cake of our railway tunnel visit, doncha think? 😉

While visiting with Karen, we stayed at a lovely little complex on the banks of the St. Lawrence River:

St. Lawrence sunrise, from the deck surrounding our rooms.
Signs of a beautiful fall all around us.

And it really was lovely, except for the paper thin walls between the rooms. On Saturday night Joanne and I turned in early, in our respective but far apart rooms – we’d had a full day of catching up and touring the area with Karen, and had filled up on some delicious Chinese food for supper as well. We were both looking forward to relaxing with a good book and catching up on our (a-hem) beauty sleep.

Joanne was treated to a loudly battling father and son in the room next to hers while I was treated to something else entirely.

There I was, safely tucked into bed and enjoying a good book, when I heard the unmistakeable sounds of…er…knockin’ boots, from the other side of the wall behind my headboard. Which was not at all unusual I suppose, except that I was also treated to some loud and (I sincerely hope) playful slapping going on, besides! Talk about your “slap and tickle” – it was a veritable slap and tickle festival happening next door to me. Hah! Thankfully it was at a decent hour in the evening and the festivities um climaxed died down before they cut into my ability to sleep.

The next morning we shared our experiences at breakfast while I scanned the couples in the complex’s dining room to try and figure out who was the slapper and who was the slappee of the previous evening. I think I figured it out. Not only that, we ran into those same people at a highway rest stop on the way back to our respective homes later that morning! The woman seemed in quite a jolly mood so I inferred from this that apparently all that slapping was done in a loving and consensual manner.

Joanne asked me how long I had to listen to this symphony of slap-happy sex. I said long enough that I didn’t have to feel sorry for the female partner. 😉

Have you ever had your rest interrupted by a loud couple next door? Do tell, and…

Rock on,

The WB