On Friday, Gary and I went down to the Copps Coliseum in Hamilton for the Dierks Bentley/Brad Paisley concert. He claims it's the last show in Hamilton he's ever going to because the venue is situated right in the middle of the downtown area and it's surrounded by narrow streets and even worse than that, ONE WAY streets. We were so close to the place, but we couldn't get to it. He got a bit frustrated. Anyway, once we got inside, we had a lot of fun....there's nothing like a good country concert, contrary to what most of my Canadian friends believe. I was so amazed that literally none of my friends or co-workers had ever even heard of Brad Paisley before! Country is not a music genre that is often listened to here, and even though I'm not an enormous country fan, now that I live in Canada, it is somewhat of the "forbidden fruit," so Gary and I listen to it a lot more. Dierks Bentley opened the show, and he sounded great! The way the stage was set up allowed the performers to go out into the audience a bit, and even though we were on the second level, we could see really well. When Brad came on, I think Gary was really surprised because not only is he a great singer, he's also a phenomenal guitarist, and he definitely showcased it in his show. He's also an ENTERTAINER in every sense of the word. His show had all kinds of graphics and other country stars incorporated into it, for example, during "Whiskey Lullaby," a holograph-type image of Alison Krauss came on the screen in the corner, and it was life sized, so it almost looked like she was sitting on the stage on a stool. It was really cool. He played for a really long time, probably close to three hours. We heard on the radio on the way home that he was really sick, too, but the way he performed, you never would have known. Gary said it was definitely one of the best country shows he's ever been to. It was my second time seeing him, and I think I enjoyed this one more than the first. Here are a couple pics from the show:
Dierks Bentley
Brad Paisley
On Saturday, we embarked on our downhill skiing adventure. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures of it, because I left my camera at home for fear that it would get wet or too cold or I would fall on it and break it or hurt myself. Since it was my first time downhill skiing, I was quite nervous at the start, especially considering that we parked in front of a double black diamond hill (in layman's terms, a REALLY FREAKING BIG hill!) I said, "Um, I'll go home right now if you think I'm going down that one!" Gary assured me that there were plenty of bunny hills for me to try. After the eternity it took to get our gear rented and get measured for skis and poles, we finally made it to the slopes. I couldn't figure out how to move at first, and my arms are definitely out of shape, because I barely had the arm strength to get myself going! I finally did, though, and Gary took me to the bunny hill. After three trips down and NO FALLS, I felt pretty confident, so we moved up to the next two stages of hills. I never did fall down the entire night, which I'm pretty proud of. I never even wiped out on the lifts! Skiing is really fun, although I'm still not very good. Even though I never fell, I felt like I didn't have complete control of what I was doing at least half of the time. I guess it takes practice, and I'd definitely be willing to try it again! On our way home from the hill, since it was Valentine's Day, we stopped at Starbucks for a nice warm-up drink and we got some new books to read--I got a digital photography how-to type of book, plus a book by Cesar Millan (The Dog Whisperer--he's a genius!) and Gary got a book about globalization. Sounds boring, I know! :) Then we went home, and he let me watch Moulin Rouge since it was kind of a girly holiday! He didn't complain at all, and he didn't fall asleep until the end! I was way impressed!
This was basically our day on Sunday---we needed a day to relax, and Delilah is never far away when we're on the couch relaxing, as you can see from the photo below. Plus, she just is so cute I couldn't resist putting this up!
Monday morning was also very relaxing, but we had yet another concert to go to on Monday night. It was Brett Dennen with Angel Taylor opening for him. Brett's not a big name, but he has been in Rolling Stone magazine and on vH1 as an "Artist to Know." His songs have been background music in various TV dramas, and one of them was even featured on a hotel chain commercial in the States for a while. This concert was at the Mod Club Theatre in downtown Toronto. It was another really cool little club--those are the best kind. We are always really close to the stage, they're usually not too crowded, and the talent is always good, because they're not well-known enough yet to let it get to their head. When we got to the club, the doors were just getting ready to open. There was a big line up, and walking up and down the line was a very tall guy in a sock cap. He came closer to us, and I realized it was Brett Dennen himself! He was just walking up and down the line chatting with people. There was a 9 year old kid in front of us, and Brett introduced himself, and the kid was so stoked because it was his first concert ever! He kept his cool while Brett was talking to him, but when he walked away, he was so excited and talking a million miles a minure. It was so cute. Most definitely a moment that kid will never forget. The show was pretty good, too. We were about 15 feet from the stage, and minus all of the huge tall guys with big heads that kept standing in front of me, I really enjoyed myself. Here are some pics:
Angel Taylor--She sings a song about my favorite Starbucks drink: Chai Tea Lattes!
The very tall and very witty Brett Dennen....as one girl yelled during the concert, and I quote, "Brett, you're a lyricist genius." Ha. 
I was reminded this weekend of all of the great stuff there is to do in the Greater Toronto Area. We haven't even scratched the surface of it all, and we've lived here a year and a half. That's amazing to me. I've made a list (imagine that) of all of the big things I want to do and the places I want to see. I'm just going to keep checking them off as we go!
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